On a surface that even New Zealand’s tail made seem friendly, three of Sri Lanka’s big four batsmen could not manage better than single figures, and Kane Williamson said the value of those wickets could not be understated

Andrew Fernando at the P Sara26-Nov-2012On a surface that even New Zealand’s tail made seem friendly, three of Sri Lanka’s big four batsmen could not manage better than single figures, and Kane Williamson said the value of those wickets could not be understated, given the pitch remained good for batting.New Zealand amassed 412 on the P Sara surface, thanks in the main to a 262-run partnership between Ross Taylor and Williamson, which was almost chanceless beyond the first hour of their union. In reply, however, Sri Lanka were reduced to 12 for 3 inside the first six overs of their innings, with their most experienced men in the top order all falling to New Zealand’s opening bowlers.Angelo Mathews then joined Tharanga Paranavitana at the crease and the pair survived the remaining 11.5 overs until stumps, but two boundaries that Mathews ventured in one Tim Southee over suggested the wicket had plenty more runs to give. The New Zealand bowlers also had far less assistance from the conditions than in Galle, achieving only a fraction of the movement they had showed themselves capable of gaining in the first Test.”It’s great to finish the evening the way we did, getting those three wickets,” Williamson said. “I guess that makes our first innings total look a lot better, and there is a lot of pressure going on the Sri Lankan side tomorrow.
“But as Mathews showed towards the end when he started playing some shots, it is still a good wicket.”Few would have imagined New Zealand would be in a position to pursue a large first-innings total only a few days ago, after their batsmen had collapsed woefully in their second innings in Galle, recording their lowest total in an already bleak year. Williamson’s doughty 135 and a measured 142 from Taylor were the backbone of New Zealand’s innings and Williamson said time in the nets had been key to their turnaround, in the absence of adequate match practice. The limited-overs leg of the tour was ravaged by rain, and the match schedule did not allow New Zealand time to play a warm-up before the Tests.”It’s been tough not having time in the middle and batting in the one-dayers, the circumstances didn’t allow you to figure out whether you were hitting the ball well or not. I’ve been practising hard this week and it was very nice to put together an innings. I had a lot of time with batting coach, and hit a lot of balls.”Williamson’s century was the third of his Test career and his second in the subcontinent, but he had only passed fifty once since his last hundred, a match saving 102 not out in Wellington. He said encouragement and insight from his more experienced team-mates helped him overcome the dry spell.”I talked to Brendon McCullum and a few of the other batsmen, just to get my head around a few things because I hadn’t scored for a few Tests. They all helped out and the team were supportive. Having not scored in the first Test, it was good to get the word from them on how things played here and take that into this match.”Despite their terrific position, New Zealand must still take 17 more wickets on a surface showing few signs of wear, if they are to score an unexpected triumph. Thilan Samaraweera moved down the order after he received stitches on his hand for split webbing, but he is expected to bat in Sri Lanka’s first innings, and beyond the batsmen, the tail is one of the more capable Sri Lanka have fielded, with last man in Shaminda Eranga having made a first-class ton.”They’ve got some seriously good cricketers, and to bowl them out twice is not going to be an easy feat,” Williamson said. “We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves and we know we have to play good cricket each time we go out there.”

Hurried along at a cracking pace by Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith, South Africa’s lead over Australia is already a vast 292 runs at the end of day two in Perth

Daniel Brettig01-Dec-2012South Africa 225 and 2 for 230 (Amla 99*, Smith 84) lead
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRicky Ponting was lbw for 4•Getty Images

When the critical moment of the series arrived, South Africa grabbed it with a ruthlessness entirely befitting the world’s No. 1 team. On the day they had hoped for a valedictory Perth century from Ricky Ponting to capitalise on a strong opening to the match, Australia were instead dismantled with the bat and run ragged in the field. Hurried along at a cracking pace by Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith, South Africa’s lead is already a vast 292 runs.Dale Steyn joined Smith and Amla in turning in a command performance, and the hosts’ response was limp, with only the isolated batting resistance of Matthew Wade and a pair of startling catches standing out amid mediocre batting and worse bowling. Ponting’s rapid exit was a sombre subplot as South Africa’s bowlers clambered all over Australia’s batsmen, and Michael Clarke’s team were simply overwhelmed in the final session by the poise and aggression of Amla and Smith. Much like Steyn, they identified the time to strike with fearful precision.United when Alviro Petersen fell shortly after tea to Mitchell Johnson’s thrilling return catch, Smith and Amla tucked into poor spells from John Hastings and Mitchell Starc in particular. While Smith enjoyed a series of deliveries directed heedlessly at his pads, Amla toyed with Australia’s bowling and fielding placings by moving across the crease with impunity to flick to the legside or drive handsomely through the off. He finished the day only a run shy of a century in the final session.

Smart stats

• Australia’s total of 163 is their lowest in the first innings in Perth since January 1993, when they scored 119 against a West Indies attack of Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop and Courtney Walsh. In 19 Tests at the WACA between these two matches, Australia had never scored less than 200.

• For only the second time in the last 75 years, and the fourth time ever, each of Australia’s top seven batsmen scored less than 14 in their first innings of a Test.

• The 178-run stand between Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla, which came off 153 balls, is the third-fastest 150-plus stand recorded in Test cricket.

• Dale Steyn is one of only two bowlers to dismiss Michael Clarke seven times in Tests. Ishant Sharma is the other. Clarke is one of four batsmen to be dismissed seven times by Steyn.

• Since the beginning of 2007, only once has Amla had a spell of more than four successive innings without at least a half-century in Tests.

• South Africa’s 414 for 4 in 2008 is the highest winning fourth-innings total in a Perth Test.

Smith too deserved a century, but was thwarted in his quest by a hook he did not quite control and another stunning catch, this time by Nathan Lyon. Whatever succour Australia took from this moment was to be greatly reduced when Lyon appeared to lose his footing and spilled a simpler chance offered by Jacques Kallis shortly after – the drop more representative of the hosts’ foggy approach to the evening’s play, which completed perhaps their worst day’s cricket at home since Clarke became captain.It was almost as though Australia’s players had been overcome by melancholy at the events of the morning. Granted an opening by David Warner’s poor stroke to Dale Steyn’s first ball of the day, the visitors produced bowling of the highest quality on a WACA ground pitch that had quickened overnight to rumble the hosts for 163.Quieter than usual for most of this series, Steyn pounced on what may come to be remembered as this series’ most pivotal day, moving the ball at high pace and conjuring arguably the ball of the series to find the outside edge of Australia’s captain and batting cornerstone Clarke. Vernon Philander contributed the wicket of Ponting, his skidding trajectory winning a second lbw of the innings on a surface not lending itself to such dismissals with its steep bounce.Robin Peterson extracted a measure of revenge for a pair of earlier sixes by defeating Wade after lunch, and the left-arm spinner added the wickets of Mitchell Johnson and Hastings to round up the innings and more than justify his selection.Resuming at 2 for 33, Warner and the nightwatchman Lyon were charged with setting a foundation for Ponting and others. Warner kicked his commission away however with a flat-footed swish at his first sight of Steyn, an edge clearly audible though the opener compounded his error by calling haltingly for a review. With no strongly contradicting evidence available on replays, Richard Kettleborough’s finger was raised a second time.Ponting nearly shovelled his first ball to midwicket, but found a sharp single to get off the mark in his penultimate Test innings. That brought Lyon on strike to face Steyn, and first ball he was turned around by a well-pitched outswinger and the snick was held in the gully.Willed on by a capacity crowd and countless television watchers, Ponting swivelled into one pull shot from Philander, the stroke looking attractive but not timed with the precision of his younger days. It was to be his only signature moment, as Philander whirred one down the line of middle and off to pin Ponting lbw. For what seemed reasons as much emotional as tactical, Clarke unwisely allowed Ponting to refer the decision, which confirmed the right call had been made, thus stripping the hosts of their remaining review.Dominant as he has been this year, an outstanding delivery was required to dismiss Clarke, and Steyn duly provided it. Angling into the stumps before bending away treacherously late, Clarke did well to edge it, and South Africa rejoiced Australia’s punch-drunk tally of 6 for 45. Wade and Hussey resisted for a time, the wicketkeeper taking the attacker’s role while the senior batsman tried to weather a hostile spell from Morne Morkel.Wade’s innings showed that runs could most certainly be scored, but he lost Hussey not long before lunch as he pushed indeterminately at a Morkel delivery from around the wicket and presented a slips catch to Smith. Hastings fought out the remaining minutes of the morning, and after lunch gave Wade some stout company.The stand was worth 40 when Wade miscalculated against Peterson, ending an innings that might have tilted the match had it been allowed to continue for another hour. Johnson’s defeat was the result of subtle variations in flight from Peterson and a not-so-subtle response from the batsman, while Hastings was last out when Petersen took a steepling chance and then regathered it after stepping momentarily over the boundary rope at long off.The opening overs of South Africa’s innings featured a couple of nervy moments for Smith in particular, but all 10 wickets remained intact when tea was called. Alviro Petersen would be lost shortly after the resumption when he popped up a bouncer off glove or bat handle that Johnson did wonderfully well to catch after an athletic chase and dive, but the rest was to be a procession. South Africa are not quite hoisting the ICC’s Test Championship mace yet, but after this day’s domination they may as well be.

A 15-over-per-day limit prevent Talha Jubair from trying for all ten wickets in an innings against Rangpur Division

Mohammad Isam01-Dec-2012Dhaka Metropolis medium-pacer Talha Jubair took the first eight wickets to fall in the National Cricket League match against Rangpur Division in Bogra, but he was prevented from trying for all ten because of a new rule implemented by the Bangladesh board to protect players from injury. From this season, a seamer is allowed to bowl a maximum of 15 overs per day in Bangladesh’s domestic first-class tournament.Jubair took eight wickets in an opening spell that lasted 13 overs and spanned the entire first session. His last wicket came in his 11th over, and he sought permission to bowl more overs but the match referee Hemayet Ahmed did not allow it after Rangpur turned down the request. Left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny took the remaining two wickets.”Pace bowlers this season have been asked to bowl no more than 15 overs per day,” said Hafiz Joarder, member secretary of BCB’s tournament committee. “The technical committee has made this recommendation before the NCL started, and our physician has also approved of it.”Many of our pace bowlers have had back and leg injuries in the past few seasons due to the hard grounds across the country. Not every outfield is like the one in Khulna or Mirpur.”Joarder said the BCB can enforce such a decree on the pace bowlers because it is a domestic tournament. “We can do it because it is being held domestically. We follow all the ICC rules and playing condition but we can include our own rules too.”Jubair’s 8 for 35 is the best bowling figures in an innings for a Bangladeshi seamer in first-class cricket, beating Al-Amin Hossain’s 7 for 37 from the 2011-12 season.

Sanjay Bangar, the former India allrounder, has retired from first-class cricket, bringing to an end a career that spanned over 20 seasons

Amol Karhadkar01-Jan-2013Sanjay Bangar, the former India allrounder, has retired from first-class cricket, bringing to an end a career that spanned over 20 seasons. He announced this decision when his team Railways failed to qualify for the quarter-finals after defeating Bengal in their final Group A match in Kolkata.”At the start of the season, I thought about giving it another shot. But having not qualified for the quarterfinals, that was it for me. Winning Ranji would have been ideal. We missed out narrowly on making it to the knockouts. But it has been a very satisfying season and a satisfying journey,” Bangar, who is the oldest player in the Ranji Trophy this season, told ESPNcricinfo from Kolkata.He shocked his Railways teammates by breaking the news after their victory against Bengal. “The decision was made today. After we came to know about the Saurashtra result, which meant that even a victory won’t be enough for us to progress, then I made up my mind,” Bangar said. “When I told the teammates, they were not ready for it. They were slightly taken aback but that’s fine.”Bangar played 12 Tests and 15 ODIs between 2001 and 2004. Besides playing a crucial role in securing Railways’ maiden Ranji title in 2001-02, and then repeating the feat in 2004-05, Bangar was instrumental in converting the team from also-rans to serious title contenders in the domestic circuit. The man from rural Maharashtra, who shifted base to Mumbai only to pursue his dream of playing cricket as a teenager, had, thus, no regrets looking back at his career.”Overall, it’s been a very satisfying journey. Played for the country, contributed to winning Test matches away from home. Winning five [domestic] championships for Railways. Making Railways a force to reckon with. I cannot ask for more. No regrets at all,” Bangar said. “It’s ended on a good note as well. Even though it was disappointing to have missed out narrowly on qualifying for the knockouts, it feels nice to have crossed the landmarks of 8,500 runs and 300 wickets [in first-class cricket].”Though it was “too early” for him to mull over his future, Bangar promised to be involved in the game. “I will surely be associated with cricket in some way or the way. Let’s see how it turns out.”

Gladstone Dainty has cited insufficient investment to cover initial operational costs and a lack of turf wicket venues in key markets for another delay to the proposed domestic Twenty20 league

Peter Della Penna04-Feb-2013USA Cricket Association president Gladstone Dainty has cited insufficient investment to cover initial operational costs and a lack of turf wicket venues in key markets for another delay to the proposed domestic Twenty20 league. ESPNcricinfo reported last week that Cricket Holdings America LLC, the partnership headed by USACA and New Zealand Cricket to stage a Twenty20 league in the USA, has pushed back the starting date for the league from 2013 to 2014.According to Dainty, who is also the chairman of CHA LLC, the organisers did not want to rush the start of the league with partial funding. They hope for enough revenue to make up the balance so that incidences of players not getting paid in time – as in last summer’s T20 All-Star exhibition match in Toronto and reportedly, in the Bangladesh Premier League last year – can be avoided.”The bottom line is that we did not get all the money to have a quality league,” Dainty told ESPNcricinfo. “We got enough money. We can go start a league but you’ve heard the stories. Players not getting paid, vendors not getting paid. In America, that could be trouble. We don’t want to get involved because we’re not a Full-Member country and we’re really not trying for people to say, ‘Well this is a Mickey Mouse league.'”Besides operational costs, the other key issue revolves around the type of facilities available. While CHA LLC chief executive Neil Maxwell told ESPNcricinfo last year that the proposed league would be played on artificial pitches in order to take advantage of bigger metropolitan markets, Dainty has said that it would be harmful to the league’s image if games were not played on turf.”As long as the ICC says it’s turf wickets, I’ll vigorously defend that position,” Dainty said. “If the ICC changes to artificial wickets, then I’ll change but I don’t think we should be going and starting a league with artificial wickets, at least not in America. I don’t think that our cricketing pedigree is as such that we should be initiating those changes.”Currently the only ICC ODI approved turf wicket venue in the USA is in Florida. Dainty says that more funds should be raised for installing turf wickets in the New York metropolitan area, rather than use any artificial wicket venues that currently exist in the city, for the league to be successful and seize the sizable expatriate fan base there.”You need these wickets to have a quality league. As far as I can see, most of the games are going to be played close to each other, maybe New York-New Jersey, New York- Washington D.C., depending on whether we can get wickets rather than spreading ourselves all over the country. I don’t think we should compromise quality of play and turf wickets, I don’t think you can have the best quality without turf wickets.”Even though the league is expected to be the key driver of revenue to USACA from licensing fees through the CHA LLC agreement, revenue can also be generated from staging other events. Dainty says he is confident there will be as many as three series arranged this year in the USA which may include Full Members or “international club teams”, hinting that IPL franchises may be sought to tour in the same way that European soccer teams have often played exhibition fixtures around the USA outside of their own domestic seasons.The concept of having IPL teams tour the USA was first broached in 2010 when former USACA chief executive Don Lockerbie met with former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi. Although CHA continues to target New York as the base market, Las Vegas has been identified as an ideal destination to host a one-off series. A new cricket stadium would need to be constructed in Las Vegas if such a series were to take place.”I feel confident that that’s one of the places [Las Vegas] we’re gonna have cricket this summer,” Dainty said. “This summer we’re hopeful to maybe have one or two events in Vegas. Vegas is hot in terms of putting a facility together. We have a couple of strong groups putting packages together to have cricket in Vegas, a couple of strong groups that the CHA LLC supports.”If any series are organised for this summer, they would be the first genuine CHA LLC revenue-generating events since the partnership was formed in December 2010. The pair of Twenty20s held in Florida last summer between the West Indies and New Zealand were organised by the West Indies Cricket Board after CHA LLC, which holds the rights to stage Full-Member matches in the USA, sold those rights for the series to the WICB for $1.”It was more important to have the games and to make it work than to make money, so technically it’s a loss but that’s the way we had to do business. It’s the game first and building the game. Everybody’s treating this as maybe the next El Dorado. The streets are just paved with gold and once you find the city you’re rich. Well, we’re planning to build a city.”

Graeme Swann is on course to return to action early in the English season after undergoing elbow surgery in the United States

Andrew McGlashan14-Mar-2013Graeme Swann is on course to return to action early in the English season after undergoing elbow surgery in the United States.The ECB described the operation in Rochester, Minnesota, during which bone fragments were removed from the elbow, as “uncomplicated” and said Swann will now begin a six-eight week recovery period, which gives him a timescale of returning to cricket in May.England’s first internationals of the season are two Tests against New Zealand, the first of which begins on May 16, but the realistic aim for Swann would appear to be the Champions Trophy in June, which precedes the Ashes. A decision will need to be made over whether it would benefit him more to play first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire instead of ODIs.Swann, 33, was ruled out of the current tour of New Zealand on the opening day of the series in Dunedin after it was decided he needed a second operation on his right elbow, which was previously dealt with in 2009. He had felt pain – to a greater degree than he has managed over the last four years – during the warm-up match in Queenstown and was sent for scans.The ECB statement said: “England and Nottinghamshire offspinner Graeme Swann has undergone an uncomplicated operation on his right elbow to excise excess bone formation that had re-accumulated following his previous operation four years ago.”Swann will now commence a six-eight week rehabilitation and back to bowling programme before returning to competitive cricket early in the summer.”The surgeon, Dr Shawn O’Driscoll, who earlier this year operated on Tim Bresnan’s elbow, told the . “The operation went exactly as we had planned, and no complications have been experienced. So we’re hoping it will be a routine rehabilitation programme and following that we’ll be able to say better what his return to fitness will be.”Before heading home from New Zealand, where he spent a couple of days before travelling to the US, Swann was feeling positive about his prognosis and said that the problem did not feel as bad as when he had his first operation in 2009. “It doesn’t seem anywhere near as dire as last time around when it was like a bomb had gone off in there.”Swann’s recovery will involve being strapped into a machine that keeps his elbow moving constantly. Bresnan used the same process during his recent recovery and it was the part of the rehab Swann was not looking forward to after it “drove him around the bend” in 2009. If the reward is being fit for a potentially career-defining back-to-back Ashes campaign any sacrifice will be worth it.

Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh batsman, has said the biggest inspiration for his century was his Test opening partner, Jahurul Islam

Mohammad Isam in Hambantota23-Mar-2013Tamim Iqbal had a long talk with Jahurul Islam on the eve of the first ODI against Sri Lanka. In the discussion between one batsman who hasn’t scored an international hundred for nearly two years and another who is known to possess a perceptive mind, the dominant topic had to be the hundred that wasn’t coming for Tamim.When it finally came in the form of 112 runs that gave Bangladesh a genuine chance to win the first ODI, Tamim was quick to thank his opening partner from the Colombo Test and someone he has known for a long time.”The biggest inspiration for this hundred was Jahurul Islam,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo. “We stayed up till 11.30 last night and discussed some important points. It really worked for me.”I was talking to myself every ball after reaching 50. I wanted to keep my process in shape but then after I had hit a boundary, a current passed through my body. I gave a catch but it got dropped. Riyad told me to go to the 70s and then think clearly. Nasir helped out too.”Jahurul’s advice wasn’t just from outside the field. When he would walk in with the drinks as one of the substitutes, there were more words of encouragement for Tamim. “He reminded me of what he had talked about last night. He told me to that if I try to bat for 40 overs, I can score a hundred. So I would like to thank him. Jahurul is a big part of this century.”He also said that if a batsman makes 30, he starts thinking of a 50. So when you will reach 70 or 80, you will automatically start thinking of a 100. There was a gap for a long time, but I hope it won’t be a longer gap next time.”Tamim hadn’t scored an international hundred since June 2010, and no ODI hundreds since February 2010. In the meantime, he had scored 18 fifties in all formats, and eleven in ODIs and his batting average during the hundred-less period has actually been better than his career averages.His first three hundreds came in 74 games, but the fourth one has taken him another 45. He has often batted at a high strike-rate, but hasn’t played the long innings often enough. There was no serious criticism of his inability to convert half-centuries into hundreds but it was a concern for him and he had mentioned it a few times over the past year.He took his time on Saturday, moving from 80 to 100 in 41 deliveries and moved from nine to ten boundaries in 45 balls. Before and after however, he was at his best. He brought out some excellent shots, and though he survived an easy drop by Angelo Mathews on 54, he didn’t want to look back or give it away again.”I got a hundred after two and a half years. Someone asked me if I have the passion to be one of the best players in the world. That stuck on my mind and I continued to think about it.”I was sharing with [Jahurul Islam] Omi last night the wrong things I have been doing or what I should do. I was a bit lucky today, I got a life on 54. I think I batted brilliantly after that.”On the day that he ended his century drought, Tamim suffered a hairline fracture while fielding which will sideline him for the next four-six weeks.

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.

South Australia’s interest in the Victorian legspinner James Muirhead has cost them a $15,000 fine after they were found to have breached Cricket Australia’s rules on player movements

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2013South Australia’s interest in the Victorian legspinner James Muirhead has cost them a $15,000 fine after they were found to have breached Cricket Australia’s rules on player movements. Muirhead, 19, was given a rookie contract by Cricket Victoria in July last year and made his Sheffield Shield debut against the Redbacks in Adelaide in January.But a Cricket Australia grievance tribunal has found that during the 2012-13 season, the South Australian Cricket Association held discussions with Muirhead before informing Cricket Victoria, thus breaking the rules regarding to contracted players. The tribunal made its ruling on April 3 but delayed a decision on its penalty until reconvening this week.Rule 4 of Cricket Australia’s Rules for Interstate Competitions states that a “state association must not (and must ensure that its constituent clubs do not) hold discussions with a CA contracted player or a state contracted player who is bound to another state association concerning the possible transfer of that player without first informing the player’s home state association”.Keith Bradshaw, the SACA chief executive, said: “SACA has always maintained that it has not breached Rule 4 of the Rules for Interstate Competitions but accepts that the Cricket Australia grievance tribunal process is now complete and a $15,000 penalty issued”.Muirhead had made his BBL debut for the Adelaide Strikers in the 2011-12 summer before he was given his rookie deal with Victoria. However, he switched to the Melbourne Renegades for the 2012-13 season.

Somerset were left facing a major headache after another batting collapse left them staring a third defeat of the season after just the first day at Horsham.

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2013
ScorecardSomerset had no answer for Steve Magoffin•Getty Images

Somerset were left nursing a major headache after another batting collapse saw them staring at a third defeat of the season after just the first day at Horsham. Having dominated champions Warwickshire at Taunton at the end of April, they now resemble relegation candidates rather than title challengers.Director of cricket Dave Nosworthy admitted Somerset have an issue after his side were routed for just 76 by Steve Magoffin’s career-best 8 for 20. They lasted only 23.4 overs as Magoffin ran through them, including a blast of five wickets in 13 balls.”There are no excuses we didn’t get it right,” Nosworthy told “We won the toss and chose to bat but it didn’t work for us.”I think the lads are all very disappointed, you train as hard as you do and try your best but at the end of the day you have got to be responsible for your own innings and get out there and perform, which nobody has managed to do for us today.”Nor have many managed to perform at all this season. A poor show with the bat in the opening match at Durham seemed to be an aberration for Somerset as they found form at The Oval and then racked up over 400 against a much-vaunted Warwickshire attack. But a slip at Headingley, where a draw was declared with Somerset 61 for 6 in their second innings, became a harsh reality after a thumping defeat at home to Middlesex.Their batting order is ageing, inexperienced or out of form. They have been reliant on 37-year-old Marcus Trescothick and overseas player Alviro Petersen. Here, Petersen failed and Trescothick’s 20 was one of only three double-figure scores.Somerset can also not turn to their bowling attack for much comfort. The first three into the attack here, Peter Trego, Steve Kirby and Alfonso Thomas, have a combined age of 102. Together with Jamie Overton and Jack Leach – two youngsters whose development is essential for the club – they shipped 298 runs at over four an over to close day one 222 behind.They had envisaged progress at a similar rate themselves with the bat but had no answer for Magoffin who bowled 11 overs unchanged to produce the best performance by a Sussex bowler since Mushtaq Ahmed took 9 for 48 when the county clinched the Championship title against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 2006.He started by bowling Arul Suppiah through the gate – Suppiah’s sixth single figure score in eight innings this season – then a touch of inswing proved too much for Petersen. But the real damage was done after James Hildreth was caught low down at slip in the 12th over.From 42 for 3, Somerset subsided to 43 for 7, with Magoffin taking three wickets in four balls in the 14th over. Trescothick was caught behind playing away from his body before Trego and Thomas fell in successive deliveries.Somerset’s last three wickets put on 33 to avoid total ignominy but there was no stopping Magoffin. After Jack Leach was caught behind, Magoffin bowled top scorer Jos Buttler for 22 to pick up his eighth wicket and record the best bowling performance at Horsham since Northamptonshire’s Vince Broderick took 9 for 35 in 1948.Chris Jordan took the other two wickets and Sussex openers Chris Nash and Luke Wells were soon putting conditions into perspective with a stand of 83.Thomas dragged Somerset back into contention when Nash, captaining Sussex on his home ground in the absence of Ed Joyce, played on before Joe Gatting edged his second ball to second slip.A typically fiery burst from Kirby was rewarded with the wicket of Wells while Mike Yardy, who hit three successive balls from Kirby to the boundary, squandered a good start when he was bowled by Peter Trego at the start of a new spell.But Sussex regained control in a fifth wicket stand of 85 between Rory Hamilton-Brown and Matt Machan before the latter was run out by Leach’s direct hit from midwicket.Somerset fought back after tea by taking five wickets, including Hamilton-Brown – whose 77 included 11 fours and two sixes and was his highest score since returning to the county before he became one of four victims for Thomas.Despite the clatter of wickets, ECB pitch inspector David Capel said he was perfectly happy with the surface.