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.

Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, will not captain Kerala in the 2010-11 domestic season but has been included in a list of 24 probables for the same

Cricinfo staff29-May-2010Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, will not captain Kerala in the 2010-11 domestic season but has been included in a list of 24 probables for the same. Allrounder Raiphi Gomez replaces Sreesanth at the helm with batsman Robert Fernandez as his deputy. The reason for a change in leadership was the uncertainty over Sreesanth’s availability.”We need a captain who can lead the side for a few years at least to help develop our young team,” TC Mathew, the Kerala State Cricket Association secretary told Cricinfo. “The last time Sreesanth was appointed he had to leave after the first Ranji Trophy match because he had to join the Indian team last year. So we felt the need to appoint Gomez, who has been leading right from age-group cricket.”A significant exclusion from the list is medium-pacer and India’s first Test cricketer from Kerala, Tinu Yohannan. He played three Ranji Trophy Plate League games last season and went wicketless.Sreesanth was only marginally better, grabbing one wicket in three games while conceding 146 runs at over four-an-over.Kerala drew their first two games Ranji Trophy last season before losing the next two to Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana by substantial margins.Kerala probables list: Raiphi Gomez (capt), Robert Fernandez (vice-captain), Sreesanth, Rohan Prem, Abhishek Hegde, Karimuttathu Rakesh, VA Jagadeesh, Sony Cheruvathur, Sachin Baby, Arun Paulose, Sebastian Antony, Padmanabhan Prasanth, Sambasiva Sarma, CP Riswan, Arjun NK, Jineesh, Ramesh Kumar, Surjith, Kanakkatharaparambu Sreejith, Sunil Thomas, Chandra Tejas (wk), Prasanth Pramaeswaran, Manu Krishnan, Nizar Niyas.

Nottinghamshire tightened their grip at the top of the Friends Provident t20 North Group with their ninth win in 12 games, beating Leicestershire by seven wickets in a high-scoring match at Grace Road

04-Jul-2010

ScorecardNottinghamshire tightened their grip at the top of the Friends Provident t20 North Group with their ninth win in 12 games, beating Leicestershire by seven wickets in a high-scoring match at Grace Road. The Outlaws chased down a target of 183 with nine balls to spare as Ali Brown and Matthew Wood led the victory charge with quickfire half-centuries.It was the Foxes’ fifth home defeat in a row despite a brilliant century from Australian Brad Hodge that steered them to a competitive total of 182 for 3. But with Brown hammering 55 off 34 balls and Wood hitting 61 off 37 balls the Outlaws made light work of the runs chase on an easy paced pitch.The innings of the match however came from Hodge who scored his first Twenty20 century for the Foxes off 65 balls with seven fours and four sixes before being run out for 103. The Australian, who played for the Foxes in 2003 and 2004 and has rejoined them this season for the t20 competition, had a previous best score of 97 that he made in his first game seven years ago.Hodge and James Taylor shared a third wicket partnership of 121 in 12 overs to gain the initiative after the Outlaws had the Foxes at 44 for 2 in the seventh over. Both batsmen produced some dazzling stroke play and brutal hitting as the Foxes scored 116 runs off the last 10 overs with 70 runs coming off the final five.Hodge, after reaching his 50 off 40 balls with four fours and a six, stepped up the pace with a blistering second half century as Taylor joined in the big hitting, contributing an unbeaten 56 off 38 balls. It needed a magnificent throw from Scott Elstone to run out Hodge but Leicestershire’s score looked good enough to set Notts a stern challenge.But the Foxes’ bowling never matched the quality of their batting and the Outlaws paced the run chase perfectly. Openers Alexander Hales and Brown scored 47 in the first five overs and then Wood joined Brown in a stand of 74 off seven overs that took the game away from the home side.Brown blazed 50 off 32 balls including three sixes and two other boundaries and Wood’s 50 came off just 29 balls. Even when Brown fell to a catch at cover off the bowling of Nathan Buck the Foxes were unable to stem the flow of runs and, after Wood’s departure for 61, Samit Patel and Steven Mullaney saw the Outlaws safely through to victory with nine balls to spare.

Six months ago Graham Onions was pencilled into England’s Ashes squad, but his hopes of taking on Australia in November are now hanging by a thread after the toughest time of his career

Andrew McGlashan30-Jun-2010Six months ago Graham Onions was pencilled into England’s Ashes squad, but his hopes of taking on Australia in November are now hanging by a thread after the toughest time of his career which began with him being dropped before he developed knee and back injuries.Onions’ last act in an England shirt was to heroically survive the final over from Morne Morkel at Cape Town to secure the team a last-gasp draw for the second time in three Tests after he had fended off Makhaya Nitni at Centurion just over two weeks before. However, just days after his Newlands rearguard he was surprisingly omitted at Johannesburg and since then his year has gone from bad to worse.He arrived in Bangladesh with what started as a minor back problem but was later diagnosed as a stress reaction that could have developed into a fully blown stress fracture. Although that worst case scenario hasn’t occurred Onions, who also had surgery on his knee problem, hasn’t played this season and is unlikely to take the field before September, which leaves him precious little time to secure a berth to Australia amongst a crowded England pace attack.”The last few months have been massively frustrating,” he told Cricinfo. “When you’ve had a place in the team for a while and you lose it it’s hugely disappointing and hurts a lot. Before the injury everything had been like a dream for me, all I ever wanted to do was play for England, but the last six months have been tough. Now it’s about me channelling that frustration.”The rehabilitation is going well, but I can’t give you a definite answer of when I’ll be back,” he added. “I had a bit of a rest when I came back from Bangladesh, but probably tried to come back a little too early. It’s just a case of doing all I can and there are three our four Championship matches in September which I am aiming for. Fingers crossed by mid-August I will be bowling pain free.”In Onions’ absence England’s pace ranks have been swelled by the emergence of Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad. Finn is a certainty for the Ashes after his impressive start to Test cricket, while both Bresnan and Shahzad have a good chance of travelling along with the established pair of Stuart Broad and James Anderson.There could be one more fast-bowling slot on the plane, but this England management team are unlikely to take a risk on anyone who has had a recent serious injury and Onions knows he faces a race against time.”It’s out my hands,” he said. “If I can play in September that’s as good as I can aim for at the moment. Then if I get wickets it’s up to the selectors to decide. That’s all I can ask for, and ask of myself. If I’m not fit I won’t be selected and that’s fair enough, but if I can take a few wickets I can give myself a chance.”But although it has hurt for Onions to watch others enjoy success for England, he has been very impressed with the recent performances of the bowling until. “It hasn’t just been Steven Finn, Shahzad has started well and Bresnan, who is a good friend, has done really well.”Now those three need to stay injury-free and keep winning games,” he added with a hint of ruefulness. “They are all producing the goods and the England team is a great place to be at the moment.”Sadly for Onions, he isn’t part of it at the moment and it could be a while before he finds his way back. Graham Onions officially marked the start of the npower Urban Cricket World Record Attempt in Nottingham, where 2010 children participated in a mass game of cricket to set a New World Record

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said the organisation might send a hand-picked side to Pakistan late next year

Cricinfo staff17-Jul-2010ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has said the organisation might send a hand-picked side to Pakistan late next year to give fans an opportunity to watch international cricket as he is worried the lack of top-level cricket will affect the popularity of the game in the country.”It will always be dependent on the expert advice of the security experts, but we think that perhaps towards the end of next year we must start looking at what the horizon looks like and if it is at all possible [to send a team to Pakistan],” he told .Lorgat said the ICC could not let the status quo continue indefinitely and that he would accompany any team that did go to Pakistan.”We will assess the situation very, very carefully. We know that we can’t leave things as they are if it is at all possible to play in Pakistan,” he said. “I’m not just suggesting a bi-lateral series; it may be an ICC XI. Whether it’s a youth team, an older team, or whatever… I would go with that team as well.”We need to look at it. We shouldn’t just sit back and do nothing. But we certainly would not do something that is not properly calculated.”In another attempt to bolster cricket in Pakistan, the ICC has appointed Mike Brearley and Greg Chappell as ambassadors to support the PCB. The two former Test captains have been tasked with getting the global cricket community to support the PCB and its players at a time when Pakistan is unable to host matches at home.Teams have refused to play in Pakistan since March 2009, when seven Sri Lanka players were injured after gunmen attacked the team bus on its way to Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

Somerset limped to their seventh Clydesdale Bank 40 win in seven games by beating the Unicorns by three wickets at Exmouth

08-Aug-2010

ScorecardSomerset limped to their seventh Clydesdale Bank 40 win in seven games by beating the Unicorns by three wickets at Exmouth.Marcus Trescothick’s side shook off the loss of their skipper to a second ball duck to chase down their target of 167 with two overs to spare. A second-wicket stand of 67 in 14 overs between Nick Compton (64) and Craig Kieswetter (30) broke the back of the semi-professional team’s resistance. The result was rarely in doubt after the Unicorns made just 166 for 9.Trescothick was bowled by an inswinger from Neil Saker for a duck, but the ex-Surrey seamer’s opening partner Jonathan Miles then received some punishment from Kieswetter and Compton as they took advantage of the powerplay.Kieswetter eventually pulled medium-pacer Glenn Querl to deep backward square-leg and Devon star Neil Hancock forced Zander de Bruyn to play on in the next over. Compton reached his 50 from 66 balls with four fours and one six, a lofted cover drive off Miles. And Compton and James Hildreth took the game away from the Unicorns with a stand of 58 in 13 overs before the latter was adjudged lbw to Tom Sharp for 29.Jos Buttler has developed a reputation as a one-day finisher in his first full season at senior level and he and Compton took the powerplay in the 34th over. Buttler smashed Querl straight for six but Compton attempted the same shot and picked out long-on. Pete Trego and Ben Phillips then both popped up catches off Querl but by then the game was already over as a contest.De Bruyn had been the pick of Somerset’s bowlers with 3 for 27 from his eight overs. Alfonso Thomas had Jackson Thompson caught behind in the third over before Josh Knappett pulled Trego to square-leg. Chris Murtagh cut de Bruyn to Compton at point before home captain Keith Parsons edged Murali Kartik to Trescothick at first slip for 20.Sean Park flayed de Bruyn high to Trego at third man before top-scorer Michael O’Shea’s 40 came to an end when he skied leg-spinner Max Waller to deep mid-off. Waller had a second wicket in as many balls when Hancock went back and missed a cut to be bowled for 19.De Bruyn’s third wicket saw Sharp edge him behind and Kieswetter also caught Saker to give Phillips a third wicket before Querl (28 not out) helped reach respectability.

Anil Kumble has said the speed at which teams adapt to the pitches in South Africa will be crucial to their success in the Champions League Twenty20

Siddarth Ravindran04-Sep-2010Anil Kumble, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, has said the speed at which teams adapt to the pitches in South Africa will be crucial to their success in a short tournament like the Champions League Twenty20. He also said it was too late to bring in Kevin Pietersen, who has no international commitments during the Champions League after being dropped from England’s limited-overs squads.The tournament will be played from September 10 to September 26 in South Africa. In most countries except England, the cricketing season usually kicks off in September or October, which means many sides will be rusty.”It is the first tournament for a lot of teams,” Kumble said after an interaction with more than 50 Bangalore fans on the eve of the team’s departure from India. “In South Africa, it is the beginning of the season and it is the first game of the season for some of the players in RCB as well. The biggest challenge is how quickly you acclimatise to the conditions and the need to start well in the tournament.”Bangalore reached the finals of the IPL in 2009, when it was held in South Africa, and the team’s coach and several players come from that country, giving them an advantage over other overseas teams. “We can take some confidence going to South Africa having done well there in IPL 2. Our coach Ray Jennings also understands the South African conditions well. With Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn around, those conditions should suit our bowling as well.”The team’s batting is bolstered by heavy-hitters such as Ross Taylor and Cameron White, but they will miss the services of World Twenty20 Man of the Series Pietersen, who was their big-ticket signing last year. “It’s a bit too late,” Kumble said. “We had to announce our squad about a month ago, which we did.”Most IPL players signed three year contracts in 2008 that come to an end after the Champions League. It has been nearly two years since Kumble, who will turn 40 in October, announced his international retirement and he was unwilling to commit on how much longer he would continue to play the IPL.”Once you retire, you have to take it one step at a time,” he said. “So you don’t plan and say that I am going to play for the next three years. Hopefully I will be in good shape for the six games this month and we come back victorious. That will be a great motivation to get into the next year. To think of the next year is very premature.”A week ahead of the Champions League, the cricketing headlines are dominated by the spot-fixing controversy in London. Kumble was confident the right steps would be taken to avoid such episodes during the tournament in South Africa. “Every tournament, every international match that happens is under a perceived threat,” he said. “I don’t think we need to be worried about these things but we can’t close our eyes. ACSU is there to deal with it.”

Graeme Smith’s rapid half-century helped South Africa make light work of the 169 they had been set by a promising batting performance from Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein

The Bulletin by Sahil Dutta08-Oct-2010South Africa 169 for 3 (Smith 52, Miller 36*) beat Zimbabwe 168 for 4 (Masakadza 72, Chibhabha 52, Parnell 2-29)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGraeme Smith may not have been captain of the side but his powerful fifty led South Africa to victory•Getty Images

Graeme Smith’s rapid half-century helped South Africa make light work of the 169 they had been set by a promising batting performance from Zimbabwe at Bloemfontein.Smith butchered 58 from 29 balls and received able support from Loots Bosman, JP Duminy and David Miller as South Africa rushed to an easy victory. He stepped down as South Africa’s Twenty20 captain to give himself a breather in the hectic international schedule but he came to the fore to spare his successor, Johan Botha, any embarrassment after a shoddy fielding display from South Africa gave Zimbabwe hope at the half-way stage.While Zimbabwe’s batsmen, led by fifties from Hamilton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhabha, may have shown the optimism surrounding the side is not entirely misplaced, the bowlers – shorn of the services of fiery left-arm spinner Ray Price – were not up to international standard.Though Bosman was under some pressure after making 8, 0, 7, and 0 in his last four innings he responded by smiting 33 in 16 deliveries to leave Zimbabwe’s new-ball bowlers reeling. Any time he found the ball in his half he cleanly dispatched it, with a pair of sixes off Ed Rainsford ending up in the stands over cover.Smith, meanwhile, had been almost anonymous in the field, but was back into the thick of the action with the bat. He punished the gentle new-ball offerings with his customary clubbing into the leg side and greeted the part-time medium pace of Masakadza with utter disdain on his way to a 26-ball fifty.By the time he was out, missing a sweep off Graeme Cremer to be trapped on the back pad, South Africa were coasting at 95 for 2 off 7.3 overs but they were given a slight scare as debutant Colin Ingram fell soon after.David Miller and JP Duminy ensured no slip ups though, as they followed in Smith’s aggressive vein. The 21-year-old Miller impressed on his Twenty20 debut against West Indies earlier this year and he again showcased his ability to see his side home. One over from Cremer was taken for 18 as he used his quick feet and power to punish the legspinner. Duminy finished the job in style, smashing a four and a six off the hapless Prosper Utseya as South Africa cantered to victory with 25 balls to spare.The rout masked a lethargic fielding effort from South Africa. Catches were put down and the ground fielding was clumsy as they responded poorly to the pressure placed on them from Zimbabwe’s lively line-up.
Coming into the game all the talk was of the return of 39-year-old Grant Flower after a six-year hiatus but it was Zimbabwe’s young batsmen who impressed as Flower was left marooned at home, unable to leave the country due to a problem with his visa.Flower, who is also the team’s batting coach, would have been impressed with what he saw as Chibhabha broke the record for the quickest Twenty20 international fifty by a Zimbabwean, reaching the landmark off 29 balls, while Masakadza anchored the innings before finishing with a flourish to end on 72 off 63 balls.After a slow start in which South Africa’s new-ball bowlers impressed, Zimbabwe used the injury to Morne Morkel, who limped off the field after twisting his ankle, to their advantage and added 102 in the final ten overs. Though it looked like carrying the tourists to a good total, Smith’s onslaught ensured it wasn’t nearly enough.

The faction-ridden Kochi franchise has asked the BCCI for more time to sort out its ownership disputes in a letter to the board president.

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Oct-2010In a last-ditch attempt to save itself, the Kochi franchise has reportedly asked the BCCI for a ten-day extension to resolve the dispute over its ownership pattern. The request was filed by two sets of solicitors representing the rival factions of the Kochi franchise a few hours before the BCCI deadline, within which time the owners were expected to form a joint venture company, lapsed.The members of the Kochi franchise were issued a show cause notice by the BCCI on October 12 ordered them to form a joint venture company to settle their internal ownership differences. The two factions, one headed by the promoters of the franchise Rendezvous Sports and the other by Mehul Shah of Anchor Group, had responded to this notice by sending identical requests this evening.”We have requested a ten-day extension because we are at an advanced stage of resolving the issue,” a Kochi franchise official told ESPNcricinfo.The groups within the five-partner consortium had failed to come to an agreement after a series of meetings held late on Tuesday night, but after talking to their solicitors decided to ask for more time rather than walk away from the discussions. The official explained that the groups would require more time, “to resolve all pending disputes in order to tie up amicably to form a fruitful joint venture into a regular company”.Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said the Kochi franchise had, “held a few meetings in the last two or three days and submitted a letter, which has been sent to the president.” The BCCI’s legal team was looking into the letter, Shetty said, but added that no meeting of the IPL’s governing council had yet been scheduled. “The president will study it, our legal team will study it before taking a decision.”By asking for more time, Kochi have prevented the rest of the IPL franchises from getting any clarity on all the major issues around the fourth IPL season, which until now has been dogged by drama and controversy. At the moment, it is not yet known how many teams will be involved, what format it would follow or how many matches would be played.In responding to the query about the doubts around IPL four, a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo that despite all the uncertainty, the number of teams in IPL 4 was not in doubt. “All our contracts around the IPL tell us that the minimum teams will be eight, so I don’t think that’s a problem, we just have to get this sorted out and see what happens when the president responds to the letter from Kochi.”An IPL franchise official said that it was unlikely that the BCCI would field fewer teams in IPL4 than in its first three seasons, “Look at the Board’s attitude to Lalit Modi, there is no way they want the first IPL without Modi’s involvement to be smaller than the old IPL which Lalit controlled.”The Kochi franchise has been controversial from its very inception in March. Rendezvous Sports World, a consortium of five companies, became the tenth IPL franchise after a successful bid of US$333.33m, but almost immediately ran into trouble over the composition of its ownership, after the discovery of a few “secret partners” in the consortium. A new agreement was then signed by both the parties but fresh controversy broke when Lalit Modi, the then IPL chairman, made the ownership details public on his Twitter feed.Six months after the auction Kochi has still failed to resolve its various internal disputes, which revolve around the distribution of shares in the consortium. The investors are unhappy with the promoters, who do not want to give up the rights to lead the franchise. Despite several lengthy meetings over the past few days, the two factions remain at loggerheads.

A masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead

The Bulletin by Andrew Fernando25-Nov-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Bravo’s classy 80 ended in the day’s penultimate over•AFP

A masterful 80 by Darren Bravo was all that stood in the way of Sri Lanka, as they closed out the third day of the second Test 222 runs ahead. Darren Bravo was assured as he notched up his second half-century in as many innings in Tests, even as his more illustrious team-mates struggled to come to terms with the skill and variation of the Sri Lankan attack. The visitors looked good to end the day just three down as the gloom set in over Premadasa Stadium, but a double-strike from Tillakaratne Dilshan minutes before stumps meant Sri Lanka were still well in the hunt for a win and the visitors were left to ponder how they might save the Test.Darren Bravo was difficult to tie down in his 129-ball stay, happy to settle into a steady rhythm of singles for the majority of the afternoon, but taking the attack to the spinners and forcing Kumar Sangakkara to adjust the field when it became too tight for his liking. He hit four sixes and they may as well have all been carbon copies of each other. Thrice he waltzed down to left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, getting to the pitch of the ball to launch him over long-on and long-off, while Mendis, too, was treated to a lofted wallop that sailed over the ropes in the same area.Darren Bravo fell in the penultimate over of the day to a stunning catch. Having watched Brendan Nash perish two balls prior, Darren Bravo tried to hit out against Dilshan, but his attempted slog over midwicket – perhaps the first rash stroke he played all day – took the leading edge and looped in the air on the off side. Herath, who was fielding at backward point, ran towards cover and flung himself horizontally, arms outstretched, and the ball landed in his palms mid-flight and his ecstatic teammates converged to congratulate him.Sri Lanka looked to step up the scoring in the morning, as they attempted to force a win in the rain-hit match, declaring at 387 for 9, after the tail had chipped in with some valuable runs. Kumar Sangakkara departed early on, having hit a couple of imperious boundaries off Kemar Roach, and Prasanna Jayawardene’s 34 guided Sri Lanka steadily towards a formidable first-innings total.Herath batted well in the company of the other lower-order batsmen, and exploited some negative field placements to make some quick runs, tempering occasional aggression with a series of canny ones and twos. He remained unbeaten on 24 when the declaration came and the hosts had left themselves just enough time before lunch to knock over Adrian Barath.Chris Gayle began the afternoon session with some typically brutal strikes off the wayward Suranga Lakmal and his 30-ball stay was littered with glimpses of the kind of arrogance with which he flayed the Sri Lankan attack during his triple-ton in Galle. Gayle drilled boundaries through cover and point, but was not always his domineering self, as he survived a couple of close lbw shouts off Lakmal, who bowled the odd good delivery amid the rubbish. Gayle was out hooking for 31, top-edging a steepling bouncer to Angelo Mathews, who shuffled around at the square-leg boundary to snaffle the chance, giving Lakmal his first wicket in Tests.Shivnarine Chanderpaul didn’t last too long, falling to a Mendis legbreak and Nash never looked comfortable at the crease during his strained 29. The spinners tormented him outside the off stump while Lakmal, too, caused some nervous moments with the short ball. He was given a reprieve on 15 when a well-directed bouncer from Lakmal induced a top- edge, but Prasanna Jayawardene’s valiant effort – running full tilt towards backward-square for about thirty metres – was not enough to end his stay, the ball brushing past the wicketkeeper’s gloves as he put in a full-length dive. He was eventually adjudged lbw by Asad Rauf, giving Dilshan the first of his two quick wickets. Bad light intervened soon after Darren Bravo had departed and caused yet another premature end to play, with two days remaining in the Test.