Category Uncategorized

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSt George’s Park, the oldest of South Africa’s international venues, stayed true to its nature by overseeing a one-day international with an old-fashioned flavour on an inhibiting surface. A keenly-fought affair, in which both innings seemed locked together throughout, had the makings of a last-over nail-biter. Instead, thanks to Jos Buttler’s sudden lift of tempo, it fell England’s way by five wickets with 20 balls to spare.Inhibitions? Not when you have just won your first IPL contract and are nearly £400,000 richer. Buttler gave the impression he would have played just as freely on the cobbled streets of his native Somerset as he logged an unbeaten 48 from 28 balls.Three successive fours off Kyle Abbott, the first of them streaky (where was South Africa’s slip?) then three sixes in a row off Imran Tahir in the following over sent England scooting to victory. South Africa’s pace bowling had gone up a notch since their defeat in Bloemfontein but they now trail 2-0 in the five-match series.It was Alex Hales’ 99 from 124 balls that placed England for victory, although there was work to be done when he was fifth out with 59 needed from 52 balls – caught down the leg side pulling at Abbott with visions of a hundred. Front-foot pushes and crafted singles had supplanted what has become the common avalanche of sixes but the incoming Buttler recognised only a day of dreamy blue skies.Hales has played more exciting innings, he has played fine innings in more draining conditions, but this was one of his most judicious ODI affairs. The Test series did not advertise the emergence of a rounder game, but his selectivity did here. With the exception of AB de Villiers, whose 73 from 91 balls was a notable return to form, he managed the conditions better than anybody.Abbott, fit again after hamstring trouble, put in a combative shift, a bowler of great physicality, nipping one through to gate to bowl Jason Roy for 14 – Norton anti-virus would insist on a patch to stem that weakness. Root was at his most conservative, labouring 64 balls over 38 before he tried to advance to Abbott and deflected a rising ball into his stumps.Eoin Morgan came in at No 4 – shrewdly, no promotion for Buttler on this occasion with grafting to be done – and kept England in touch with the rate with judicious sixes against Imran Tahir and Farhaan Behardien before Morkel defeated his blow-down-the-ground shot with a wide cutter.Stokes’ fate was an eventful duck. Tahir nearly had him twice in an over, sweep and reverse sweep both failing in turn with a review needed to spare him on the second occasion. In the next over he deflected Morkel into his stumps. The pressure was on England, but not, it became evident, on Buttler.Financially, Chris Morris was even better served than Buttler by the IPL auction – he was sitting on a cool million dollars after a bidding frenzy that eventually saw him move to Delhi Daredevils. No matter: he had to watch from the outer. South Africa, seemingly of different persuasion, dropped both him and his Bloemfontein new-ball partner Marchant de Lange.The match did not turn solely on Buttler’s late merrymaking – Chris Jordan also played a crucial part in South Africa’s innings. De Villiers came into the match with three successive ducks to end the Test series and 8 in the opening ODI, but he did the hard yards, his form flooded back and he signalled his intentions as South Africa reached the last 10 overs by lashing Jordan over midwicket for six.But Jordan is a multi-faceted cricketer, dangerous with the bat, outperformed by few at slip and in the deep, and when de Villiers failed to middle another mighty hit over the leg side off Ben Stokes in the following over, Jordan was equal to the challenge.It was a hugely difficult catch, a white ball falling out of a blue sky, a swirling breeze strong enough to fleck the sea and shake the branches of the trees outside the ground holding the ball just within range: Jordan’s range anyway as he dashed back full tilt to take the ball over his shoulder at mid-on with remarkable poise.De Villiers had built his own stage in the early part of South Africa’s innings but the final onslaught which could have carried the game away from England never materialised. Only 64 came from the last 10 – respectable but not a game changer.By the 20th over, South Africa had been three down for 98, Hashim Amla bowled when Reece Topley’s semblance of inswing developed into something straighter, Quinton de Kock’s bountiful run of form ended when Stokes had him lbw with a fullish delivery, and du Plessis’ confident innings fell just short of a half-century when Adil Rashid found drift and turn to have him caught at slip.Rashid and Moeen Ali throttled the mid-innings, both stints completed by the 37th over. That left a lot of onus on Jordan, and he could have done without Buttler spilling a very acceptable catch, one-handed to his left, when JP Duminy tried to run him to third man on 37. Five overs for 33 did not flatter him, but the catch released him from his troubles and Topley, maintaining a full length, squeezed South Africa to a chaseable total.A slow pitch was to get slower still. The breeze was lifting. The match was in the balance. Hales got a break on 17 when he scrunched a full toss from Tahir into no-man’s land and played with great responsibility. Then came Buttler, the liveliest breeze of all.

The Irani Trophy match between Mumbai and Rest of India in Rajkot has been postponed by five days and will now begin on October 6. The change in schedule was necessitated to avoid it clashing with South Africa A’s tour of India which concludes at the end of September.”The postponement by a few days was necessary as the South Africa A series ends only at the end of September,” Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, told PTI.South Africa A’s tour includes two four-day matches, followed by three one-dayers. The final one-dayer, also in Rajkot, is scheduled for September 30.The five-day Irani Trophy match is traditionally a curtain raiser for the Indian domestic season.

Herschelle Gibbs will meet with Indian police to be questioned over his involvement in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal when he arrives ahead of the Champions Trophy.It will be Gibbs’s first tour of India since the 2000 trip which led to match-fixing hitting the headlines a few weeks later. The rest of the South African squad left Johanneburg on Wednesday, but Gibbs is not flying until October 10. He will then have a brief meeting with Indian police when he arrives in Delhi.”Herschelle will fly on the night of October 10 straight to Delhi and will be accompanied by his lawyer,” said Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach. “He has an appointment with KK Paul [the Indian policeman leading the match-fixing investigation], which we are led to believe will take an hour-and-a-half.”He will then join the rest of the team in Mumbai ahead of the practice game on the 13th. His legal team has it all under control, Herschelle just has to get through it all, but I fully expect him to be fine. He’s really determined to have a big season.”Following the meeting Gibbs will join up with his team-mates and prepare for South Africa’s opening match of the tournament, against New Zealand, on October 16.The police prosecution department in Delhi also confirmed that the case remains on file against Gibbs. “We will re-open the case and if some kind of interrogation is required then it will be done,” Y.S. Yadav, Director of Prosecution, told AFP.

Division One

Points TableMiddlesex produced an efficient all round display to leave Lancashire clinging to their first division status. Ed Smith and Owais Shah laid the foundation for Middlesex’s 263 and Jamie Dalrymple then caught the eye with a brutal 63 from 33 balls – with 10 fours and two sixes – as more than 100 runs came in the last 10 overs. Lancashire began the chase confidently but lost wickets at regular intervals and only Glen Chapple’s 71 gave them any real hope.Essex picked up the National League trophy – after winning the title last month – and crowned the day with a four-wicket win against struggling Worcestershire. Vikram Solanki’s 79 was the major contribution for Worcestershire but the tail fell away against Andre Adams. Alistair Cook and Grant Flower then did the bulk of the scoring for Essex as they reached the target in the final over. Worcestershire face Lancashire next week in a likely relegation decider.

Division Two

Points TableDurham claimed their second promotion in two days with a convincing win against Somerset. The seam attack ran through Somerset’s batting reducing them to 53 for 7. Wesley Durston’s 46 at least pushed the total past three figures as Neil Killeen and Paul Collingwood grabbed three wickets each. Durham eased home with nearly 14 overs to spare and will now be of the top division in both leagues next season.Sussex maintained their lead at the top of the table with a 61-run with over Kent. Richard Montgomerie laid the foundations for a decent total with 73 and Carl Hopkinson gave the closing stages a flourish with 26 off 14 balls. Kent then continued the batting slump which handed Notts the Championship title yesterday, as James Kirtley and Robin Martin-Jenkins took three wickets each. From 48 for 5 there was no way back despite 51 from Michael CarberryNick Knight ensured Warwickshire avoided a second defeat against Scotland with a controlled century. He and Jonathon Trott added 109 to break the back of chasing 221. Fraser Watts and Ian Stanger made determined half-centuries for Scotland as they posted an useful total

Romesh Kaluwitharana, Sri Lanka’s pinch-hitting wicketkeeping batsman, has retired from international cricket in the aftermath of his ommission from a 20-man training pool for Sri Lanka’s tour to New Zealand in December.”I have decided to call it a day,” Kaluwitharana told reporters. “I started my Test career on a high note with a century against Australia and I’m happy to end it with a half-century against Pakistan.””Prior to the Pakistan tour I was thinking about retiring at the end of the year, but I’m still struggling with the wrist injury I picked up in Pakistan and having not been picked for New Zealand the time is right.””There is a right time for everything in life and, although this is very emotional time and that I know I have more cricket left in me, I’m happy that this time has come,” he added.Kaluwitharana had made several previous comebacks to the national team,including a return to Test cricket last year when the selectors asked Kumar Sangakkara to concentrate on his batting, but with his 35th birthday approaching, he felt the time had come to bid farewell.”I would like to thank everyone – family, team-mates, fans and friends – for all the support over the years and I wish Sri Lankan cricket all the best for the future.”Kaluwitharana was an extremely popular cricketer in Sri Lanka, loved for his perma-smile behind the stumps and his electric batting, especially his pinch-hitting exploits during the triumphant 1996 World Cup campaign, when he teamed up with Sanath Jayasuriya to help change the face of the one-day game.But Kaluwitharana’s high-risk approach contributed to a reputation forinconsistency and his final Test average of 26.12 in 49 matches, including three hundreds, does not do his obvious natural talent justice. In 189 one-dayers, he finished with 3711 runs, which included 23 half-centuries and 24 ducks.Kaluwitharana is unsure about his future, but he hopes to continue hisinvolvement with Sri Lankan cricket, although in what capacity he iscurrently unclear. For the time being though he will be concentrating on his job with the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.Kaluwitharana, who captains his current club side, Colts Cricket Club, will retire from first-class cricket as well at the end of the season.

Viv Richards, chairman of the West Indian selectors, has defended the inclusion of inexperienced Bajan fast bowler Fidel Edwards in the squad for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Jamaica.”I was very very impressed when I first saw him at the Academy in Grenada, and there are a few people who did say a few things about him,” Richards told reporters at the Beausejour Cricket Ground after the first Test. “There are a few scouts around who did say their little bits about that individual. This is what selection is all about if we are looking to rebuild and maybe to move forward in future.””That, I think gives you the sort of inspiration for us to do what we are doing at present. This is what it is all about,” said Richards. “We had made some enquiries about him this season, not having played for Barbados with his injury or whatever. Certainly, I saw him as being a product that we could work with in the future.”Richards added that he appreciated Edwards’s attacking approach and round-arm action. “It is an unusual action, and I felt that we need people like him at this stage if we are looking to improve further in the future. We felt that he does attack the crease with pace.”

Roland Perry on Saturday asserted that his chronicle of the Dream Teamwas an authentic version of Sir Donald Bradman while seeking to put atrest doubts raised by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar.”I can vouch for its authenticity. The Bradman Museum Director and SirDonald’s son, John Bradman, have also fully supported the book. Thisshould lay the controversy to rest,” Perry told PTI in Sydney.In a recently published book ‘Bradman’s Best’, Perry has chronicled 12all-time great players who he claimed had been selected by Bradman forhis ‘Dream Team’. Sachin Tendulkar is the only current cricketer inthe team while two other Indians, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar, whowere in the initial short-list of 69 players, failed to make it to thefinal team.Gavaskar had questioned Perry’s claim saying Bradman would not haveliked to get into such a controversy.Perry differed with Gavaskar on the latter’s opinion that Bradmanwould never criticise a player. “It is not true. There are manyinstances of constructive criticism of players and analysis ofcricketers in his autobiography ‘Farewell to Cricket’ published in1950,” he said.On Gavaskar’s own credentials in the eyes of Bradman, Perry said, “SirDonald regarded Gavaskar’s batting style as technically perfect inevery way. He bracketed him with Sir Leonard Hutton, the openingbatsman and captain of England.”The choice of the (Dream) team is from his (Bradman’s) own mould andhe thought that Gavaskar’s chief fault was a lack of aggression,”Perry said.

ScorecardDriven by an unbeaten half-century by Kycia Knight, West Indies Women chased down 99 by a relatively comfortable margin against Pakistan Women, to take the one-off Twenty20 in Loughborough. West Indies won with only one ball to spare, but had eight wickets in hand.Pakistan chose to bat, but none of their batsmen bar Bismah Maroof and Javeria Khan could make any contribution of note. Mahroof and Javeria were the only two to get into double digits, making 36 and 37 out of Pakistan’s 98. Medium-pacer Shemaine Campbelle produced the best figures for West Indies, her 3 for 20 including the wickets of Mahroof and Javeria and preventing Pakistan from getting a final surge.The West Indies top order batted around Knight in the chase. She made 50 off 67 with five boundaries, while Deandra Dottin knocked off a four and a six in a 12-ball cameo at the end to help push West Indies across the line in the nick of time.

As cricket’s footprint on the Australian summer grows in unprecedented fashion, Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland insists that the burgeoning Big Bash League is acting as a complementary, not competing, agent to the traditional Test summer.A staggering crowd of 80,883 at the MCG for the Melbourne BBL derby on Saturday night was followed up by another record gathering at the WACA Ground. A strong SCG crowd of 32,086 for day one of the New Year’s Test between Australia and the West Indies – despite indifferent weather – will be followed up by a gathering in the region of 25,000 for another BBL fixture at the Gabba, meaning more than 150,000 spectators will have watched the game over two days across four cities.When combined with uniformly strong television audiences, including a groundbreaking 372,000 average for the curtain-raising WBBL match at the MCG ahead of the Stars’ BBL defeat of the Renegades, the game’s hold over the first week of 2016 in Australia is complete. Talk of the MCG crowd as transformational is understandable, but it should also be combined with concurrent attendances in other parts of the country.While it has been suggested more than once that the BBL is detracting from Tests, Sutherland told ESPNcricinfo that the tournament was always intended to complement the five-day game – and that it had given CA the ability to draw crowds across the country in ways previously unheard of during the international programme.”One of the things that people forget from time to time is the thing the BBL has allowed us to do, [it has] allowed us to provide cricket content in other parts of Australia during the Test cricket season,” Sutherland said. “Right now we’re playing in other parts of the country and people are watching the cricket during the day [on TV] then saying ‘Let’s go and watch a Big Bash League game’.”One of the unusual things about Test cricket is it’s the premium format but it goes for a week and your best players can’t be playing anywhere else but where they are. We’re such a big country, it’s not as if people from Brisbane can just easily turn up to a Boxing Day or New Year’s Test match, but we can give them quality cricket content to supplement what they’re seeing on TV, and I think that’s one of the great benefits in a complementary sense about the way the BBL is working.”The contrast with the previous instance in which the struggling West Indies team were a part of the summer Test schedule is stark. In 2009-10, international matches were watched by the poorest crowds and slimmest television audiences in some years, and CA ran at a considerable loss for the season, cutting into cash reserves.A sense of stagnation hung over CA at the time, fuelling the advent of the Australian Cricket Conference, which was the catalyst for numerous reforms including the BBL and long overdue changes to CA’s governance. Though the Caribbean side have deteriorated since that visit, Australian cricket no longer relies exclusively upon international matches to maintain interest and balance the books, and in many ways can now build a wider audience than previously. Sutherland spoke of a “symbiotic” relationship between T20, Tests and ODIs down under where the game benefits overall.”There’s no doubt the BBL is on a trend line upwards in terms of its popularity and part of that is an awareness thing,” Sutherland said. “I think there’s a growing awareness and a growing allegiance to teams and the whole concept of the BBL, which is pleasing. Clearly we’re targeting certain markets for growth and bringing new people to the game and it’s so far been successful in doing that.”How you then overlay that increase with the natural ups and downs you get from our four-year cycle of international cricket, which has been going for 40 years … we have always got bigger crowds to Ashes matches. At the moment India is probably the second biggest drawing country, and South Africa has been strong as well. But if you go back 20 or so years, it was West Indies who were the big drawcard behind an Ashes series, so there’s that natural fluctuation.”We haven’t done a major review of this season just yet, we’re right in the middle of it, but it’s all positive and I think we’ll find to some extent they’re working together. Our aim is to have them working in a complementary fashion and to have some sort of symbiotic relationship between the three formats of the game that keep the game on the radar in a positive sense.”As for the crowds and broadcast audience numbers generated over the past 48 hours, Sutherland was understandably chuffed. “To have more than 100,000 people attend Big Bash League matches on the same day was a great occasion for our sport and a genuine milestone in the short history of the league,” he said. “And of course, these crowds were complemented by big TV numbers of more than a million viewers.”Although the Big Bash League is continuing to develop, it is successfully delivering on its purpose to attract kids, families and females to cricket. We took as much delight from the WBBL results. Almost 13,000 people came to watch the local derby at the MCG, with the TV audience peaking at more than 400,000 viewers on Ten’s main channel. It just goes to show the potential for women’s cricket in Australia.”

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is on the verge of forming a two-tier cricket league that will involve domestic leagues in four countries and an international league. It’s believed to be along the lines of professional football, with clubs being able to hire players from wherever they like to play in a Twenty20 format. Cricket Australia (CA) is believed to be involved in the process and the International Management Group (IMG), the event manager, is putting it all together.IMG is set to meet with officials of four cricket boards – India, Australia, South Africa and England – next week in Singapore, to finalise the details. According to the deal, details of which first appeared in Hindustan Times, there will be domestic leagues in these countries, where the cricket economy can support such a structure. Players from other countries, including Pakistan and Sri Lanka, will be able to take part in any of these leagues.Further, the top sides from each of the four leagues, likely to be called Professional Cricket Leagues, will then take part in a Champions Cricket League, similar to the Champions League in football.If this plan does work, it would be a severe blow to the fledgling Indian Cricket League, which has targeted the same sector – format, players, audience – but has the disadvantage of not being recognised by the BCCI, with whom it is effectively in hostile competition.Lalit Modi, from the BCCI, and James Sutherland, from CA, are believed to be spearheading this venture, and have been planning it for several months.Officials from IMG recently met Sharad Pawar, the Indian board president, and made a presentation. But it was not put before the working committee of the board – which is the body that will make a final decision on the matter – to ensure it stayed under wraps till the deal was through.A CA spokesperson, when contacted, did not deny the possibility of such a league but refused to confirm any developments. “All I can tell you is that Cricket Australia is not in a position to make a comment at this stage. We are regularly approached by all sorts of people who have exciting ideas. We’re always keen to look at these ideas and see what’s possible,” he said. “Until we have ink on a contract we don’t believe in making public statements. On this issue it would be more appropriate if you spoke to the BCCI.”It has been learned, however, that plans for this league have been on for a while now, and this is not a reaction to the formation and launch of the Indian Cricket League. The idea is that each of the countries staging the Professional Cricket League will hold auctions for team franchises. Corporates can buy a team and then staff it with 15-20 players, although it is expected that there will be a cap on the limit a player can be bought or sold for. What this will mean is that there will be more employment for cricketers, an opportunity for domestic cricketers to earn more. This will also result in the creation of related jobs – coaches, administration, scorers and other peripheral roles associated with the running of any tournament.