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Junaid Siddique, the Bangladesh opener, has been ruled out of the unofficial four-day Test series against South Africa after injuring his hand while fielding on day two in Mirpur

Cricinfo staff25-Apr-2010Junaid Siddique, the Bangladesh opener, has been ruled out of the unofficial four-day Test series against South Africa after injuring his hand while fielding on day two in Mirpur. Junaid, captaining Bangladesh A, hurt himself while fielding in the slips and faces at least a ten-day lay-off.”He had three stitches in his right hand and needs at least 10 to 12 days to recover from it. There is no chance for him to play the second four-dayer also,” said the Bangladesh chief selector Rafiqul Alam.The second unofficial Test begins April 28. Bangladesh will then host a one-day tournament against South Africa A and West Indies A. They will then play two four-day games against West Indies A.

Azhar Mahmood, who had been appointed on a temporary basis for the New Zealand series, will continue as the assistant coach in all formats

Danyal Rasool28-Apr-2024Jason Gillespie, the former Australian fast bowler, has been announced as Pakistan’s new Test coach, while former South African batter Gary Kirsten has been named their white-ball coach. Azhar Mahmood, who had been appointed on a temporary basis for the New Zealand series, will continue as the assistant coach in all formats.The three coaches have been appointed on two-year contracts following a recruitment process.The position of the head coach had been vacant since Grant Bradburn, who took over from Saqlain Mushtaq last year, quit in January to join Glamorgan as head coach. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had approached other high-profile names, including Shane Watson, who ultimately pulled out of the race.Kirsten is expected to take over from the England tour, which will feature a four-match T20I series starting on May 22 in Leeds. The last game of the series will be on May 30 before the team will fly out to the USA and the Caribbean for the T20 World Cup. Gillespie’s first assignment will be the Bangladesh series in August, a two-Test series.The announcements were made by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi at a press conference in Lahore.”Their stellar track records precede them, and I warmly welcome them to the Pakistan cricket family,” Naqvi said of Kirsten and Gillespie.”Jason’s coaching career has been marked by success both at the domestic and international levels, with a focus on player development and achieving excellence in team performance. Gary’s coaching career has been marked by his ability to instill a winning mentality, develop young talent, and achieve success at the highest levels of the game, making him one of the most respected and sought-after coaches in cricket.”In this background, I have every confidence that their expertise will guide our players to reach new heights, aligning with their inherent talent and the expectations of our passionate fans. These high-quality appointments also present a remarkable opportunity for our players to glean insights from these seasoned professionals, refining their skills and fortifying their cricketing acumen.”The PCB is unwavering in its commitment to furnish the national team with top-tier resources and facilities, fostering an environment conducive to unlocking their full potential and consistently delivering stellar performances.”Gillespie has held various coaching roles around the world, though he has never been head coach of an international Test side. He enjoyed considerable success as head coach of Yorkshire, where they were promoted from Division Two in his first season and went on to win titles in 2014 and 2015. He has also taken up T20 coaching roles with Kings XI Punjab and Adelaide Strikers, as well as Sussex and South Australia.Kirsten’s most famous coaching achievement came as head coach of India, where he worked from 2008-11, and won the 2011 ODI World Cup. He was head coach of South Africa for the two years that followed, and is currently Gujarat Titans’ batting coach.Crucially, Naqvi said that Kirsten and Gillespie will be with the Pakistan side for the entire length of their contracts instead of flying in for specific tours and series. In the past, this has been a sticking point for overseas coaches, with PCB’s negotiations with Watson thought to include clauses that permitted him to be away from Pakistan when the white-ball side wasn’t in action. Naqvi also said he hoped to have Gillespie involved with domestic red-ball cricket, instead of focusing solely on the Test side.That the PCB have eventually managed to land two of the highest profile coaching names – the first time Pakistan have appointed split coaches for different formats – has internally been viewed as a significant win for the board at a time of considerable tumult. While the PCB did not declare the details of their financial agreements, it is believed Gillespie and Kirsten’s recompense will be higher than head coaches have ever been paid in Pakistan cricket before. This is both a reflection of the challenges of attracting bigger names to commit full-time to Pakistan cricket, as well as the bolstered financial strength of the PCB thanks to ICC revenue, which rose from an $16 million to $34 million in the current rights cycle.

The allrounder will bring his superb career to an end at the conclusion of the current BBL

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2023Dan Christian, one of the most decorated T20 cricketers in history, has announced he will retire at the conclusion of the ongoing BBL with Sydney Sixers.Currently Christian, 39, has played 405 T20s amassing 5809 runs and taking 280 wickets. Selection permitting, he will have at least four more matches with Sixers guaranteed two shots at reaching the BBL final having finished in the top two of the regular season.”Yesterday at training I told my Sydney Sixers team-mates that I’ll be retiring from playing at the end of the BBL season,” Christian posted on Twitter on Saturday morning. “Sydney Smash tonight, followed by our last round game against the Hurricanes, and then the finals.”Hopefully we can go all the way again this season, but regardless, it’s been a great run. I’ve achieved things and made some memories that I could only have dreamt of as a kid.”
Christian has enjoyed success all around the world over the last decade as his career became increasingly focused on T20. Since 2010, he has won nine domestic T20 titles, most recently the 2020-21 BBL with Sixers, two years after he helped Melbourne Renegades to the prize.Those two BBL campaigns showed the impact Christian can have: in 2018-19 for Renegades he made 254 runs and claimed 15 wickets (including being player of the match in the low-scoring final) then in 2020-21 hit 272 runs with a strike-rate of 182.55 and claimed 15 wickets.His last first-class match came in 2018 although there was a surprise return to Australia’s ODI side in 2021 when he played against West Indies in the Caribbean with the side missing several first-choice players due to Covid restrictions.Dan Christian’s T20 titles•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

He returned to T20I cricket at the same time, after a gap of four years, featuring against West Indies and Bangladesh before being named as a reserve for Australia’s 2021 T20 World Cup campaign.”What I didn’t expect to learn as a kid though, is how many people I was going to come in contract with that have had an influence on my career and ended up becoming lifelong friends,” he added. “I’m looking forward to now having the time to catch up with you all and not having to use the excuse: “Sorry, I’ve got cricket.”Christian is a chance to head into coaching. He worked as a coaching consultant for the Netherlands at the recent T20 World Cup in Australia.

South Africa Test captain tunes up ahead of the series against India in mid-December

Firdose Moonda22-Nov-2021South Africa’s Test captain Dean Elgar signalled his return to full fitness from an abductor injury with a hundred in his third red-ball innings this summer as the Titans registered their first win of the season. Elgar, who sustained the niggle during the T20 domestic competition, was one of four centurions for the Titans, who beat Western Province by an innings and 139 runs.”The most important thing was that he got an opportunity to spend time at the crease and he took it. He has had a difficult few weeks so his goal was to make sure he is batting for a long period of time, knowing that if he does that, the runs will come,” Mandla Mashimbyi, Titans coach told ESPNcricinfo.Elgar and his opening partner Grant Mokoena, who top-scored with 154, shared in an opening stand of 231 before Jiveshan Pillay and Ayabulela Gqamane contributed 113* and 117* respectively to take the Titans to 647 for 7 declared. Despite the towering total, Mashimbyi indicated batting at Newlands was not as straightforward as the scorecard made it seem. “It was not a typical Cape Town wicket. It was a bit slowish so the batter really had to knuckle down,” he said. “We found that once guys got in, things became a little easier.”Western Province batters barely managed that. There were only two scores over 40 in their first innings as Simon Harmer’s 7 for 76 forced the follow-on, 452 runs behind. Harmer finished the match with 10 wickets, with Western Province bowled out for 313 in their second dig, where Daniel Smith and Kyle Verreynne made half-centuries.The win puts the Titans in fourth place on the table and, with one round of fixtures to go before a break, Mashimbyi is hoping for a second victory in the Cape, over Boland this week, to consolidate their position in the top-half. For Elgar, the fixture will be doubly important as he seeks to maximise his competitive batting time ahead of South Africa’s three-Test series against India, that begins in mid-December.”Dean just wants to work on a couple of specifics: things like getting into good positions and watching the ball and it’s just about emphasising those points,” Mashimbyi said. “He knows his game well and he has been playing a long time, so with some more time in the middle, he will be ready for the Tests.”

In other results:

Division One

• The Lions maintained their place at the top of the points table with an innings-and-30-run victory over Boland at the Wanderers. After bowling Boland out for 170, new ODI call-up Ryan Rickelton scored 117 as the Lions took a 180-run lead after their first innings. Boland were skittled out for 150 in their second innings with Duanne Olivier taking 5 for 57. Olivier finished with eight wickets in the match and is the competition’s leading bowler with 20 wickets at an average of 12.30.
• The Warriors have climbed to third on the log after their 130-run win over North West in Potchefstroom. Edward Moore, Lesiba Ngoepe and Diego Rosier scored half-centuries to take the Warriors to a first innings 334. North West took the lead, scoring 350, thanks largely to Wesley Marshall’s 94 before a big second innings from the Warriors swung the advantage their way. Matthew Breetzke’s 152 and Rudi Second’s 103* allowed them to declare on 342 for 2 and set North West 349 to win. They were bowled out for 218.
• Despite the win, the Warriors could not leapfrog the Knights, who are in second place after a draw against the Dolphins in a weather-affected match in Durban. The Knights bowled their hosts out for 226 and then declared their first innings closed on 397 for 4, with Matthew Kleinveldt contributing 177 but their 171-run lead could not force a result. The Dolphins second innings had reached 174 for 5 by the end of the fourth day.

Division Two

• Sean Whitehead became the fourth South African to take all 10 wickets in an innings as South Western Districts earned a 120 run win over Easterns. Whitehead’s performance came in the fourth innings of the match, with Easterns set a target of 186 runs to win. They were dismissed for 65. Whitehead took 15 in the match all told and is now joint-third on the overall bowling charts. Leus du Plooy’s 91 and 85* made him the match’s highest run-scorer.
• Kwa-Zulu-Natal Inland lead the Division Two points table after a seven-wicket win over Border. Thomas Kaber’s 103* helped Border post 384 in their first innings which KZN Inland matched exactly. Tshepang Dithole scored 162 while Kaber took 5 for 109. Luke Schlemmer’s 6 for 31 saw Border dismissed for 106 in their second innings and KZN Inland reached the target after losing just three wickets.
• In Polokwane, Limpopo and Northern Cape played out a draw despite a result appearing agonisingly close. Northern Cape were set 126 to win the match and finished on 121 for 7 with captain Aubrey Swanepoel unbeaten on 44 at the end. Earlier, Swanepoel took 7 for 56 as Northern Cape bowled Limpopo out for 290 and replied with 350, after Rivaldo Moonsamy’s 101. Limpopo were dismissed for 185 in their second innings, which gave Northern Cape an opportunity to go for victory but they were unable to close out the game.

Richard Gould believes many IPL franchises are “striving” to create such a healthy structure

George Dobell27-May-2020The much-derided ownership model of most county cricket clubs has given them the best chance of surviving the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Surrey’s chief executive.With some now advocating English cricket adopts a similar finance model to that seen in the IPL, Richard Gould believes that it is the continuing predominance of members’ clubs – where no shareholder claims dividends and all profits are invested back into the club – which has afforded them a chance to “weather the storm” of recent months.And he believes many IPL clubs are “striving” to create such a healthy structure.ALSO READ: County Championship could include Lord’s finalGould made his comments while unveiling record financial returns for Surrey. Against a turnover of more than £45m, Surrey declared a pre-tax profit of £6.3m. The profit is a 112% increase on the £2.75m made in 2018 and a 42% boost in year on year turnover. The club also has 13,500 members and a squad containing 13 England internationals, eight of whom developed through the club’s academy. The news comes days after Lancashire declared almost as impressive returns.While both clubs are benefiting from a 2019 season which included hosting an Ashes Test and numerous World Cup games, they are now heading into a season in which incomes are going to be hit severely. But Gould believes that Surrey’s survival through 175 years underlines the benefits of its ownership model.”I find it interesting to look at the ownership models of other sports,” Gould said. “With county cricket largely featuring members’ clubs, you know that in years when money is made, it’s not being taken out of the sport by shareholders or used to re-finance the purchase of the club, which seems to be the American way of doing things.”When cricket makes money, you know it goes right back into the sport. We build bigger capacities to get bigger revenues or we invest in developing players. So the money we’ve been making at Surrey has gone into cricket – men’s and women’s cricket – and we take a lot of pride in young Surrey players going on to play for England.”I’ve worked in football and I’ve seen the different models of team ownership. The issue for me is team versus club. Pop-up teams are all well and good, but clubs do so much more for their community and their environment.”Teams in the IPL are actually striving to get what we have now. Look at Rajasthan Royals trying to create its own academy set-up. We take it for granted we’ve got an academy we invest in heavily. That’s what you get with clubs.”There is a role for teams, even pop-up teams, but when it comes to it, celebrating our 175th anniversary this year, the long-term value both for the sport and the community rests with clubs.”Although the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic will clearly be damaging to the club, the successes of last year have enabled us to approach the situation with confidence and resiliency. Our finances do give us a little bit of a cushion which should help us weather the storm.”Richard Gould, Surrey chief executive•Getty Images

Gould also cautioned against simplistic valuations of the game. Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, recently used his Telegraph column to claim that County Championship cricket ran at a financial loss but, as Gould sees it, those games help create the Test team which contributes heavily to the broadcast deals.”People say the championship loses money but I don’t think it does,” Gould said. “Most of the value from the Sky broadcast deal is from Test matches which is fed by the county system delivering quality players. I can do you a P & L on a Championship match day and say it loses money but it doesn’t if you look at all of the money coming into the game.”Despite Gould’s long-term optimism, he has warned that county cricket has a “specific issue” which makes it even more important that play resumes this summer. For if there is no county cricket this summer, clubs would go into the 2021 season having not welcomed spectators for 18-months.”Cricket has a specific issue,” he said. “We’ve been talking about whether we can get crowds in towards the end of this year. We’re not going to be suggesting anything other than following very strictly the government guidelines. But we hope at some stage they will allow some crowds in.”If that doesn’t happen, we’re in a unique position. There’s no other sport, industry or leisure sector that has the risk of going a year-and-a-half without anybody in the ground.”Around 10 percent of our revenue comes from the Sky broadcast deal, 90 percent comes from people coming into the ground. It makes sense we’re protecting the Sky contract first. But our greater risk is going a very long time without people coming into the ground. There have to be baby steps at some stage to get back to some sort of normality.”Gould also suggested there would have to be a review into the spending involved in launching The Hundred. In particular, he cautioned against excessive spending in case it resulted in cuts to county staffs. Some 134 male county players are out of contract in October.”We’ve been told there are no sacred cows and all elements of the game are going to be evaluated in terms of costs,” he said. “Can we afford it? I don’t know what we can afford next year. Whether it’s The Hundred, county cricket or international cricket. I know the ECB are doing a lot of work on the finances to understand the options.”There are nearly 150 players out of contract at the end of the season. We have to make sure that there is enough money to keep every player in the game who is worthy of another year. We need to make sure money is used appropriately.”It would seem incorrect for clubs to have such money difficulties that they have to let more players go than they otherwise would when we’re creating another tournament where even more money is going in. But I’m sure that balancing act will be done over the next three or four months.”

Kolkata Knight Riders made several comebacks in a game full of ebbs and flows, but Delhi Capitals managed to hold their nerves in the Super Over to pick up their second win of the season

The Report by Varun Shetty30-Mar-20191:41

Credit to Russell for batting and bowling despite bruised shoulder- Karthik

Prithvi Shaw’s free-flowing knock was stopped at 99. Delhi Capitals needed only 12 runs for their second win when it happened, and they had six wickets and nine balls left to get them. But true to the theme of their fluctuating fortunes on the night, they allowed the game to meander into a Super Over, where a world-class over from Kagiso Rabada was required to seal the win. Kolkata Knight Riders had come back from being 61 for 5, and then defended six off the last over, but they couldn’t muster a third miracle in Delhi.Both teams hit only a boundary each in the Super Over, but Rabada kept Knight Riders to only three off their last five balls. Andre Russell had struck a 28-ball 62 and Dinesh Karthik a 36-ball 50 to shift the control halfway into the game, but they were both powerless against Rabada in the tie-breaker.Knight Riders blindsidedShreyas Iyer admitted that batting first Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday was a mistake. Here, they decided to bowl and made four changes. Two of the replacements, Sandeep Lamichhane and Harshal Patel, made immediate impacts.Nikhil Naik, a batsman known for his power-hitting and, on the night, replacement for the injured Sunil Narine, got a boundary first ball against Rabada via an inside edge, but his next three runs cost Knight Riders 15 deliveries as Lamichhane, Rabada, and Chris Morris piled the pressure on him with straight lines. He was out lbw, reviewing because he thought he had inside-edged Lamichhane’s googly. Knight Riders’ unproductive Powerplay ended with Uthappa missing an offcutter in front of middle against Harshal.Off the next seven balls, Capitals picked up two wickets with short balls; Lynn grabbed down leg side to Rishabh Pant and Nitish Rana ramping a short ball to Rabada’s right at fine leg off Harshal. The two combined again two overs later. Rabada slid to his left from sweeper to parry the ball to a backtracking Harshal, whose throw caught Shubman Gill short on a lazy third-run attempted at the non-striker’s end. Knight Riders fell to 61 for 5 at this point.

We’ll attack, thanksBut Knight Riders finished with 185, a staggering 124 runs off their last 10.5 overs, despite having only one recognised batting pair left. It was reminiscent of their game against Super Kings last season, where they made 202 after being 89 for 5 in 10 overs. The protagonists were the same, and the turnaround began in the 12th over.Lamichhane began the over with figures of 3-0-12-1, and had gotten into four balls of his final over with only a boundary scored by Karthik. His last two balls, however, were dispatched over midwicket and long-off by Russell from a low base.There was a brief lull in the overs after that, particularly in the 14th when Russell was hit on the left shoulder by a Harshal beamer, and the over following that when Morris twisted his ankle in his delivery stride. But both players were back to business after treatment, but Russell’s belligerence was umatchable.It began with lofting Morris over his head soon after the treatment, and took full swing against the man who had hit him: Harshal’s next over went for 20, 12 of them coming over wide long-on from Russell’s bat. By the time his blitzkrieg ended – in a flurry of boundaries before he top-edged Morris – Knight Riders had full control. Karthik brought up his fifty, and even Chawla and Kuldeep had their fun.But Knight Riders didn’t have Narine, and fifth bowler, Russell, wasn’t a hundred percent.Boy geniusShikhar Dhawan fell for a crisp 8-ball 16, but Shaw made scoring look simple with his languid strokeplay off the back foot even as Shreyas Iyer struggled for rhythm. At the end of the Powerplay, Capitals had 45 for 1, with Shaw flat-batting three fours and a six, and Iyer on 4 off 11.But Knight Riders’ weakend bowling attack was going to be shown up soon, particularly because Shaw and Iyer went after their No. 1 bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who conceded 33 off his first two. Their decision to replace Narine with a pure batsmen would have stung even more, as a visibly hurt Russell conceded three boundaries in an over. He eventually had Iyer, who picked out midwicket, but Capitals had caught up with the asking rate at 116 for 2 in 12 overs.The depleted bowling became even more apparent when Nitish Rana bowled the over immediately after the wicket. Shaw enjoyed himself through the middle overs – he punished any width, going square on the off side, and in front of square on the leg side. Full deliveries kept going over the bowlers’ heads and for poetry’s sake, he even brought out some scrumptious inside-out shots over the covers.But on 98, he under-edged a bouncer onto his right shoulder cap and was clutching it before taking guard on 99 against. It turned out to be another short ball and this time he got the top-edge, to be taken at short third man. Knight Riders haven’t conceded a century in the second innings since 2011.Before that, however, Kuldeep had redeemed himself, going around the wicket to Pant and having him drag a length ball to deep midwicket in an 18th over that went for only three.He began the 20th from around the wicket as well, to the left-handed Colin Ingram who went with the turn but couldn’t find runs off the back foot in the off side. Kuldeep kept going slow, untill he went seam-up against Hanuma Vihari, playing his first IPL game since 2015, and got him to toe-end a pull to deep midwicket off the penultimate ball. This left Capitals needing two off the last ball. Ingram had crossed over, but his decision to sweep meant he couldn’t make a reasonable attempt at completing the second run as Robin Uthappa threw in on the bounce from deep backward square.Holding onCapitals opted to open with Iyer and Pant and Prasidh Krishna dug three slower balls into the pitch. After Iyer fell following a four to fine leg, Pant’s attempt at swatting and reverse-ramping got Delhi five off the last three.Rabada’s first ball immediately put Knight Riders ahead. With 11 needed, Russell clipped his miscued first-ball yorker to the midwicket boundary. But an inch-perfect yorker took out Russell’s middle stump two balls later with no runs being added.Karthik had one ball to face in the over and, predicting Rabada’s length, promptly went down for the ramp. But Iyer had fine leg placed very fine, specifically for that shot and 6 off 2 became 5 off 1. Uthappa went straight batted against the final yorker – a four would have meant a Knight Riders win by virtue of making more runs off the last ball of the Super Over. But he couldn’t get it past mid-off.

Rachin Ravindra’s half-century and four-wicket haul vaulted New Zealand to the top of Group A, thereby setting up a quarter-final against Afghanistan in Christchurch

Shashank Kishore in Mount Maunganui20-Jan-2018Rachin Ravindra’s half-century and four-wicket haul vaulted New Zealand to the top of Group A, thereby setting up a quarter-final against Afghanistan in Christchurch. South Africa, who fell short by 71 runs to finish the preliminary stage with two wins in three matches, will play Pakistan.New Zealand’s margin of victory after they posted 279 for 8 could have been much bigger if not for Hermann Rolfes, who struck a 124-ball 108 to lift South Africa from the pits of 76 for 4 in the 23rd over. In Jean du Plessis, he found a steady accumulator who was more than happy to remain in the background. During the first 50 runs of their 106-run stand, Rolfes’ share was more than three quarters of it.Hermann Rolfes celebrates his century•ICC/Getty Images

Rolfes was adventurous and the only South Africa batsman to commit himself into strokes against Ravindra’s loopy left-arm spin. Off the fast bowlers, his picking of lengths to play the pull was particularly impressive.Going into the last 10 overs, with South Africa needing close to ten an over, he decided to take it upon himself completely. It resulted in one big shot too many and was pouched at long-off by Dale Phillips. Du Plessis’ dismissal in the 44th over, soon after he made a half-century, with South Africa still needing 81 off 41 effectively killed the chase. South Africa were eventually bowled out for 208 in 46.2 overs.Earlier in the day, Ravindra and his Wellington Under-19 mate Jakob Bhula put together 108 for the opening wicket in 19.5 overs. But at no stage did South Africa feel completely out of it. Bhula, coming off a world record 180 in the previous game, was quite tentative as runs flew off edges and he mistimed drives to third man. After a number of pokes and misses, he kept slicing his off-side strokes behind square. Ravindra, in comparison, was more stylish and free flowing.Once the opening stand was disturbed, Finn Allen, who made a sparkling hundred in New Zealand’s opening win over West Indies, showed urgency right from the outset, hitting a six and four off Jade de Klerk to signal his intention. But a mix-up with Ravindra coupled with a sensational under-arm flick by de Klerk to the striker’s end caught him short.South Africa tightened the noose after Allen’s dismissal. A mix of rash strokes and lack of application resulted in them losing five wickets for 28 in the middle overs to slip to 174 for 6. It needed a record seventh-wicket stand for New Zealand at the Under-19 World Cup to lift them close to 250.The orchestrators were Dale Phillips, brother of international batsman Glenn Phillips, and Max Chu. The pair put on 77, thereby surpassing the previous record set by Anton Devcich and Sam McKay against Bangladesh at the 2004 edition, to help New Zealand to 279. Those extra runs gave them some breathing space in the middle overs on the face of a terrific Rolfes century that went in vain.

Preston Mommsen, Scotland’s captain and one of their leading batsmen, has announced his retirement from international cricket to pursue a career outside of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Nov-20160:53

Quick Facts: Preston Mommsen

Preston Mommsen, Scotland’s captain and one of their leading batsmen, has announced his retirement from international cricket to pursue a career outside of the game. Mommsen, who has been a vocal advocate of Associate nations being given greater support, said he had received “a very exciting and attractive opportunity in the corporate world”.Mommsen, 29, took on the captaincy in 2014 and led Scotland at the World Cup a year later. At the 2016 World T20, he oversaw Scotland’s first victory at a global ICC event, at the 21st attempt.His finest hour as a Scotland player came at the 2014 World Cup Qualifier, when he scored 520 runs at 86.66 on the way to being named Man of the Tournament. Having replaced the injured Kyle Coetzer as captain after the first two matches, he went on to lead Scotland to victory in the final, making 139 not out against UAE – his highest ODI score.Mommsen remained a key member of Scotland’s batting line-up and his retirement will leave them with a significant hole to fill in the middle order. In August, he scored 111 not out and 80 not out as Scotland beat UAE 2-0 in their WCL Championship fixtures, leaving them well placed to reach the 2018 World Cup Qualifier.During the first match against UAE, he passed 1000 ODI runs for Scotland and talked about becoming the first to reach 2000. However, he has now decided to step away from the game and take up a career in property investment.”After much thought and reflection, I have taken the decision to step down as the captain of Scotland and not renew my contract with Cricket Scotland, in order to pursue a very exciting and attractive opportunity in the corporate world,” Mommsen said. “It has been an incredibly difficult decision but one that I felt I had to make at this stage in my life.”I would like to thank everyone involved at Cricket Scotland, both past and present, for giving me the opportunity to fulfil my dreams and supporting me on my journey. I am enormously proud of what we have achieved over the last few years, and I have no doubt that the team and the organisation will continue to grow its presence on the global stage in the future.”I leave the team in a very healthy position with a world-class management setup and a group of players that are demonstrating the skill and hunger to push Scotland cricket into the top 12 in the world. I would like to wish both the team and the organisation all the very best.”Mommsen’s decision to step away from cricket is likely to have been influenced by scant opportunity to perform at the highest level. With the 2019 World Cup reduced to ten teams – and the top eight qualifying automatically – Scotland face a stiff task to reach the tournament in England. The 2018 qualifier would likely pit them against Afghanistan, Ireland, Zimbabwe and either Pakistan or West Indies for one of two spots.Scotland also took part in the last World T20 – although Mommsen was critical of the format, where the first round saw eight teams, including six Associates, compete to make it through to the Super 10s – but the next one is scheduled for 2020, with a proposed 2018 event still uncertain.At the 2015 World Cup, Mommsen was among several players from Associate nations to call on the ICC to help create a more level playing field, with increased fixtures against Full Members.He retires having played 146 times for Scotland, averaging 32.38 with the bat in ODIs and 34.91 in T20 internationals. Born in South Africa, where he played for the Under-19s, Mommsen moved to Edinburgh in 2006 and was first capped in 2010 after completing the qualification period.Scotland’s head coach, Grant Bradburn, said: “This is a bittersweet situation for our team and for Cricket Scotland. Above all we are very happy for Preston to be offered such an exciting opportunity. Preston is intelligent, well respected and ambitious, so for him to be moving into a corporate field that he is passionate about is just brilliant.”Preston Mommsen offers the team many qualities that will be difficult to replace, he will be a big loss. A quality experienced batsmen at the peak of his skills, consistently our fittest player, top fielder and of course our leader with a tough uncompromising attitude. Preston has proudly been a champion for the Associate game and a role model who has helped bring next tier nations to global attention, always striving to give Associate cricket the growing credit it deserves.”Preston should be very proud of his many achievements as an international player and we wish him every success in his new career.”

The two greatest batsmen of their generation will now get a chance to bat together as captain Sachin Tendulkar drew Brian Lara’s to play in the Sachin’s Blasters squad for the Cricket All-Stars series

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-20150:52

Cricket All-Stars rosters announced in New York

The two greatest batsmen of their generation will now get a chance to bat together as captain Sachin Tendulkar drew Brian Lara’s name along with 13 other players as part of the “Sachin’s Blasters” squad for the Cricket All-Stars series beginning at Citi Field on Saturday.In a random draw conducted Thursday in Times Square, Tendulkar drew Lara as well as former Indian teammates VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. Tendulkar also no longer has to spar with Glenn McGrath, having picked the Australian pacer for his side in a bowling group that also includes Curtly Ambrose, Shaun Pollock and Muttiah Muralitharan.While the luck of the draw meant that Tendulkar wound up with his Indian batting brethren, Shane Warne wound up drawing a slew of his former Australian teammates to play for “Warne’s Warriors” including Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds. Warne also wound up with a dream fast bowling trio of Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald and Wasim Akram.While the first 26 players were drawn by lots, Shoaib Akhtar’s status was decided by a coin flip. Warne called heads, but the coin came up tails, drawing a big sigh of relief from Tendulkar. The first All-Stars match begins on November 7 at Citi Field in New York with two more in Houston and Los Angeles on November 11 and 14.Sachin’s Blasters: Sachin Tendulkar (c), VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene, Carl Hooper, Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock, Moin Khan, Graeme Swann, Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shoaib Akhtar, Curtly AmbroseWarne’s Warriors: Shane Warne (c), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Michael Vaughan, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Symonds, Jonty Rhodes, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram, Daniel Vettori, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald, Ajit Agarkar

A round-up of fifth-round matches of the Regional Four Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Mar-2013
ScorecardShane Shillingford’s match-winning effort against Barbados helped Windward Islands go to the top of the league•WICB Media

Shane Shillingford took his good form from the Test series against Zimbabwe into the Regional Four Day Competition, taking 12 wicketsto set up a 216-run win for Windward Islands against Barbados. Shillingford, who took 19 wickets in two Tests at an average of 10.52, bowled well in both innings to help dismiss Barbados for 64 and 205. The win puts Windwards at the top of the points table with 48 points.Batting first, Windwards managed 184 in their first innings. Ashley Nurse and Sulieman Benn took four wickets each as Windwards crumbled after a strong start. In reply, Shillingford and medium pacers Nelon Pascal and Keon Peters dismissed Barbados for a paltry 64.Openers Devon Smith and Tyrone Theophile extended Windwards’ 120-run lead, with an opening stand of 170. While Theophile fell for 91, Smith smashed an unbeaten 150 as Windwards declared at 301 for 4, setting Barbados 422 runs for a win.Shillingford then spun out Barbados for 205, picking up eight wickets for 82 runs off 37 overs. Barbados opener Kraigg Braithwaite held on end up, scoring an unbeaten 91 off 266 balls but Shillingford’s dominance proved too much for Barbados.
ScorecardTrinidad & Tobago routed Combined Campuses and Colleges by 10 wickets in Port of Spain. Put into the bat, T&T were in trouble at 19 for 3 before a 117-run fourth-wicket stand between Jason Mohammed and captain Dwayne Bravo lifted them to safety. Mohammed anchored the T&T innings, stitching together partnerships of 80 runs and 104 runs with Kieron Pollard and Stephen Katwaroo respectively, and scored his second first-class hundred. T&T declared their innings at an imposing 406 for 9.CCC began their reply well and a 107-run partnership between captain Kyle Corbin and Raymon Riefer for the fourth wicket took them to a solid-looking 168 for 3. However, the innings went downhill after Corbin was dismissed for 62, with the score at 168 for 4. CCC lost their next six wickets to fast bowler Rayad Emrit for just 20 runs to be dismissed for 188.CCC were in danger of facing an innings defeat, tottering at 53 for 5 after T&T enforced the follow-on with a lead of 218 runs. Floyd Reifer and Chadwick Walton added 98 runs for the sixth wicket to lend some stability to the innings while a 72-run stand between Walton and McClean helped CCC edge past T&T’s lead. Another lower-order collapse – four wickets in five runs – ensured that T&T needed a mere 11 runs for a win. The T&T openers took two overs to reach the target and bring their side to second place on the points table, level with Jamaica.
ScorecardLeft-arm spinner Nikita Miller’s 11-wicket haul set up Jamaica’s 170-run win over Leeward Islands. Put in to bat, Jamaica were dismissed for 209 in their first innings. Leewards offspinner Justin Athanaze picked up four wickets , while Quinton Boatswain took 3 for 21 in nine overs.In reply, Leewards crumbled to 108 all out as Miller picked up seven wickets, conceding a miserly 13 runs in 20.2 overs. Jamaica struggled in their second innings and were 116 for 9 at one stage, before a 109-run tenth-wicket partnership between Odean Brown and Sheldon Cotterrell took them to 225. Brown scored his second first-class fifty before he was dismissed by Athanaze for 59.Leewards had a poor start in their chase of a steep target of 327 runs. Quick wickets from fast bowler Andrew Richardson and Cotterrell reduced them to 20 for 4. A 91-run partnership between captain Sylvester Joseph and Jahmar Hamilton restored some stability to the chase but Jamaica were on top after Leewards lost their next four wickets for just 11 runs. Miller dismissed Hamilton for 52 and took three more wickets to give Jamaica a convincing win.