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Pakistan struck thrice in the morning but New Zealand’s lower order resisted in the afternoon to push the score past 400

The Report by Abhishek Purohit18-Nov-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:22

Sodhi and Craig contribute with both bat and ball

Smart Stats

156 Overs played by New Zealand in the first innings – the fourth time they have batted 150-plus overs in a Test innings this year. The only year they had played 150-plus overs more times was in 1972 – five innings.

30 Number of years since New Zealand posted four 50-plus partnerships in an away Test innings against Pakistan. The last time was in at Karachi in 1984.

24 Number of years since New Zealand have had a bigger seventh-wicket stand in an away Test against Pakistan. BJ Watling and Mark Craig posted 68 for the seventh wicket – the fourth highest in the list.

18 Number of runs Ish Sodhi needed to score to become the first player to make three 50-plus scores in Tests while batting at No. 10 or 11. Sodhi was unbeaten on 32 when New Zealand were bowled out for 403 in their first innings.

30 Years since New Zealand made a 400-plus score in an away Test against Pakistan. The last time was at Karachi in 1984. During this period, they have made 400-plus three times in India, and four times each against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Pakistan struck thrice in the morning but New Zealand’s lower order resisted in the afternoon to push the score past 400. They also kept Pakistan on the field for more than five sessions, something Misbah-ul-Haq’s men hadn’t endured during their three successive previous wins in the UAE, over Australia and New Zealand.The hosts’ batsmen were then at the receiving end of spin for once in the 19 overs they had to negotiate till stumps. There was no swing for the new-ball pair of Trent Boult and Tim Southee but Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi took out the fresh pair of openers. Sodhi spun a flighted legbreak through the gate to hit Shan Masood’s middle stump and Craig had Taufeeq Umar stumped as he failed to drag his back foot in after missing on a forward push.The late strikes capped a proper scrap of a day for New Zealand after they had lost their overnight batsmen within the first three overs. Corey Anderson gifted his wicket to Ehsan Adil, and Rahat Ali removed Tom Latham on his overnight score of 137. Jimmy Neesham fell to Yasir Shah after an hour of resistance, and had Rahat not dropped Craig off the same bowler, New Zealand would have lost four before lunch.Anderson had managed to scrap and survive against the second new ball on the first evening but he tried to drive his fourth delivery of the second morning and only spooned it to cover. Latham, meanwhile, had carried on in his calm manner, leaving assuredly, and defending solidly off either foot, when Rahat produced a beauty. He made Latham play with one pitched up on off, the opener ensured he pushed straight, but his feet did not move much for once, and the slight away movement took the nick through to the wicketkeeper.The spinners set about the new batsmen BJ Watling and Neesham with slightly more help from the surface compared to day one. The first ball from Zulfiqar Babar turned and bounced past Watling’s forward push, and the last ball of the same over squared him up and went over the stumps.Neesham was troubled by the legspinner Yasir with men at forward short leg and leg slip. The occasional straighter ones outside off were another challenge, beating the left-hander. Watling was content to block and awkwardly block some more, but Neesham, eager to break the stranglehold, walked out to Yasir, failed to reach the pitch, and chipped a catch to midwicket.Craig swung Yasir cleanly over midwicket but skied a slog in the same over on 9, only for Rahat to overrun the ball running in from the deep, even as Asad Shafiq looked on from nearby at square leg.It was back to attrition for New Zealand till lunch. They had managed 24 runs in 14 overs in the first hour, 28 in 15 in the second, and had still not reached 300.Pakistan reprieved Craig, on 13, again after the interval. Adil induced an edge in the first over upon resumption but the keeper Sarfraz Ahmed did not go for the ball a couple of feet away to his left. In Adil’s next over, Craig punched just short of a diving Shafiq at gully. Craig was beaten several times outside off stump, especially by Adil’s excellent lines, but he hung on.Watling and Craig went through five successive maidens and it was only off his 78th delivery that Watling picked up his first boundary with a cut off Yasir. The fifty of the partnership came in the 24th over when Craig pulled and Watling cut Rahat for fours.Misbah-ul-Haq turned to the part-time legspin of Azhar Ali, and off his third ball, Watling failed to keep a cut down on 39. It was Azhar’s second Test wicket after he had dismissed Kumar Sangakkara leg-before for 211 in October 2011 in Abu Dhabi.In the next over, Craig missed a pull off Babar to depart leg-before for 43. Ish Sodhi batted very competently once more and remained unbeaten on 32, and Tim Southee hit a couple of big ones before Babar ended the innings in the 156th over to finish with figures of 45-8-137-4.The most overs Pakistan had bowled in the previous six innings was 103.1. Their batsmen had posted 450-plus totals in each of their three previous first innings. Reaching that mark this innings will be a challenge.

Faruque Ahmed, Bangladesh’s chief selector, has a full plate to deal with ahead of the meeting to pick the squads for the upcoming tour of the West Indies

Mohammad Isam23-Jul-2014Faruque Ahmed, Bangladesh’s chief selector, has a full plate to deal with ahead of the meeting to pick the squads for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. The limited-overs side is likely to be announced in the next few days after he submits it to the BCB, along with the players included in the Test squad.Changing conditions in the Caribbean, Bangladesh’s worrying batting form and bowling resources, and the absence of their top cricketer are among the many factors he will have to consider.Shakib Al Hasan’s six-month suspension means that for the first time Bangladesh will not select him though he is fully fit. “Shakib is a very important player but this is part of cricket,” Faruque said. “Some players get injured, though Shakib has been suspended. We have played without him in the recent past. From the point of view of the chief selector, we have to add an extra player when replacing Shakib. I think we can fill his place by picking an extra batsman or bowler.”When fit, Shakib Al Hasan has always been the first name on Bangladesh’s team sheet•AFPBangladesh won eight out of 21 ODIs that Shakib missed in the last six years; four since March 2013. However, they have lost all their ODIs in 2014. Tamim Iqbal’s form is a major concern, as are Mahmudullah and Nasir Hossain’s lean patches.”Apart from a stray innings or two, our batting in the last few series hasn’t been up to the mark,” Faruque said. “We couldn’t win a low-scoring match in the India series, so the batting department needs our attention. Many of our players have lost rhythm, which we also have to consider. These bilateral series are important ahead of the World Cup. We want to win, and at the same time see these series as preparation.”I am seeing them batting against short-pitched bowling in the indoor nets, so they are training on particular skills. I hope they can turn the corner and get past their shortcomings.Faruque did not explicitly say he is considering Tamim, but he is making arrangements with an eye on the opener’s form. “Tamim is one of our best players. We hope that most of our key players return to form before the World Cup. When they go through a bad patch, we keep an eye whether they are doing the other things properly. He is working hard, trying. But it is not clear when he will return to form. We have options, so we are making a team in that way.”Thirteen players out of the preliminary squad of 25 were part of the ODI series against India in June, with only Ziaur Rahman being cut. There will be talk of Imrul Kayes, who scored a Test hundred and an ODI fifty in his only opportunities this year, while also top scoring for Bangladesh A in their largely unsuccessful tour of the West Indies in May and June. Robiul Islam and Shafiul Islam will also be considered, though Robiul only for Tests.Rubel Hossain could be considered, though he hasn’t played competitive cricket since March, while Arafat Sunny will also be discussed due to Shakib’s absence. Faruque all but ruled out picking an uncapped player for this tour.”We learn a lot about players in these A tours. We sent a combination of senior players and youngsters to West Indies this time. It will have an effect on the team selection. We will keep in mind those who performed there. I thought Mominul, Nasir, Imrul and Shuvo played well.”We always think of adding one or two new boys. I am not saying there won’t be anyone new in the team this time but we are mindful of the conditions and the challenges of playing in West Indies.”Faruque was not sure whether pace or spin would be Bangladesh’s stronger suit in the Caribbean. In the second and third ODIs against India, Mashrafe Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain and Taskin Ahmed impressed in helpful seaming conditions, but in the last 12 months spinners have taken the most wickets for Bangladesh. However, Abdur Razzak and Sohag Gazi have struggled this year.”We have had to consider recent conditions in the West Indies before we select the team,” Faruque said. “There used to be a lot of bounce in wickets there but it has changed, become a lot more varied. Maybe there is a thought of not taking too many fast bowlers there, but at the same time we must realise West Indies will play to their strength. We have to consider our strength too, whether that is spin or pace.”

Nottinghamshire may feel suddenly that their title challenge is a little under-resourced after being held in check on the first day of their Championship match against Durham.

Jon Culley at Chester-le-Street31-Aug-2014
ScorecardChris Read’s smart stumping accounted for Michael Richardson•Getty ImagesThere were significant developments at the end of all three sessions and it will be the last ball of the day that preys on Nottinghamshire minds. It saw Samit Patel out for 26, edging a ball from 21-year-old seamer Paul Coughlin to Scott Borthwick at second slip, a dismissal that leaves them four down and feeling more anxious about Yorkshire’s progress at Old Trafford than they had probably anticipated.With no Alex Hales, the loss of Michael Lumb for 18 and James Taylor for a first-ball duck were blows they could have done without. Having added New Zealand allrounder James Franklin to the mix for his first-class county debut, they still bat down to No. 7. Yet a substantial score from Patel, who has managed only two half-centuries in his last 14 innings, would have made them feel a good deal more comfortable.All in all, on a day when they brought former Lancashire left-arm spinner Gary Keedy came out of semi-retirement to make his county debut, Nottinghamshire may feel suddenly that their title challenge is a little under-resourced.The depth of their bowling, as might be deduced from Keedy’s inclusion, is being tested in particular. With Harry Gurney (38 wickets) away on England duty and no replacement found for the Australian fast bowler, Peter Siddle (37 wickets), it has taken only an injury to Andre Adams (36) to raise questions about whether they can see the title challenge through.Adams, who has struggled for the last couple of years with recurrent calf problems, now has a knee injury. Nottinghamshire are keen that he can turn out against Yorkshire next week, if only to give the Kiwi stalwart a fitting send-off in his last season before departing – almost certainly to Hampshire – but they are having to keep fingers crossed.To be fair, Keedy’s recall was not an entirely desperate measure – the 39-year-old, who doubles now as spin-bowling coach and assistant physio, was always seen as a potential pick if conditions were right – but the alternative was to give a debut to 19-year-old left-arm seamer Luke Wood. With such a lot at stake, it was probably Keedy’s experience that got him the nod.This ground is not one at which spinners queue up to play, of course, yet Keedy bowled 12 overs and looked back in the groove from the first delivery. Hard to think he had not bowled in a competitive game for a year. The only thing missing was a wicket.As it was, a seam attack led by Luke Fletcher and Ajmal Shahzad served their side well enough. Shahzad took two useful early wickets to remove Keaton Jennings and Borthwick and Fletcher gave away few cheap runs. Allrounder Steven Mullaney’s medium pace proved a useful weapon not for the first time when he bowled Mark Stoneman off an inside edge with his second ball.Stoneman had looked reassuring solid in making 55 and it was a surprise to see him go, just before lunch, although he will not have felt as frustrated as Michael Richardson, who had played nicely for his 73 and looked to have a third century of the season his for the taking when, with tea in sight, he took an unnecessary liberty with Patel and was stumped.Patel had just taken over from Keedy to bowl more left-arm spin from the Finchale End and Richardson presumably saw an opportunity to take the upper hand. He should know, however, that going down the pitch with Chris Read standing behind you is a risky business. It was Patel’s second ball, too.Missing Ben Stokes and with Phil Mustard ruled out by injury for the first time in two years, Durham’s 253 felt like a below par score. Nottinghamshire would have batted first as well.Moreover, their bowling resources are in worse shape than Nottinghamshire’s, with Graham Onions, Mark Wood, Jamie Harrison and Usman Arshad all currently injured. Peter Chase, a 20-year-old Irish seam bowler who does not have a squad number, came in for his debut.Yet, with Australian allrounder John Hastings sharing the new ball with Chris Rushworth, Durham enjoyed a dream start. Hastings took two wickets in two balls in his first over, removing Mullaney via a catch behind before Taylor, just named in England’s Twenty20 squad after a string of impressive performances, walked into a swinging delivery to be out first ball.Lumb and Patel set about the reconstruction work, but had not progressed very far when Lumb was adjudged to be leg before to Rushworth for 18. If that was a setback, the loss of Patel, pushing tentatively at a ball that moved away, was a bigger one still.

Disappointed at Delhi Daredevils’ performance this season, JP Duminy has said his team will need to look in the mirror, identify their mistakes and improve so they can come back strong next season

PTI25-May-2014Disappointed at Delhi Daredevils’ performance this season, JP Duminy has said his team will need to look in the mirror, identify their mistakes and improve so they can come back strong next season. Daredevils ended their campaign with their ninth defeat in a row as Kings XI Punjab thrashed them by seven wickets.”There are a lot of lessons to be learned,” Duminy said. “No doubt, one of our poor seasons in terms of brand of cricket. So as much we want to forget it, I think we need to really look at ourselves in the mirror, take responsibility, and see where we can improve as players and how we can represent Delhi a lot better in the coming season.”Asked what exactly went wrong for Daredevils, Duminy said, “On the whole we just didn’t put it all together. When we batted well, we never bowled well and when we bowled well we didn’t bat well. At times, we let ourselves down in the field as well.”Our skills needs to be improved dramatically if we want to compete in this tournament and that includes myself. You know, we can all improve in every area of our games.”We are professional cricketers who take pride in our performance, not only as individuals but also as a team. Even though we all come from different countries, when you cross that rope you are playing for the badge that you are wearing. Very disappointing this season has been, but we need to take out lesson from it.”Duminy, however, said there were a few positives Delhi could take out of the tournament, most notably the spirit within the team.”As a team we have connected well. Nobody has blamed each other for dismal performances,” he said. “Throughout the tournament, we stuck together as a team and encouraged each other each and every day. We are probably one of the few teams which is a completely fresh team, nobody was retained.”Obviously there are a lot of different cultures within the group, so creating friendships and creating relationships between each other was obviously a plus.”

Sri Lanka’s cricketers have agreed to sign the board’s annual contracts after SLC decided to award the players a 10% cut of the ICC and ACC-events participation fee for the next five years, bringing the seven-week dispute to a close

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Apr-2014Sri Lanka’s cricketers have agreed to sign the board’s annual contracts after SLC decided to award the players a 10% cut of the ICC and ACC-events participation fee for the next five years, bringing the seven-week dispute to a close. The players have not yet put pen to paper, but Test and ODI captain Angelo Mathews had struck a deal with the three-member SLC committee appointed to review the issue, after a meeting on Tuesday, an official release said.”After discussions, the committee in consultation with the office bearers of the SLC’s executive committee, offered 10% of the participation fee from the ICC and ACC events to the players which will be applied for the next 5 years and will be non negotiable,” the release said. “The above offer was accepted by the players and they have agreed to sign the annual contracts in due course.”The players will not receive a cut from the 2014 World T20, and will instead get US $1.5 million for their victorious campaign, which amounts to roughly 16.5% of the amount SLC received from the ICC.The news comes one day after the players raised the stakes by attending a national practice session in their own training gear, instead of donning SLC’s uniform, which bears the team sponsors’ logo. The dispute had been fierce at times, with the board even having threatened to send a second-string side to the World T20 in the 24 hours before the team departed for Bangladesh.The three-member committee had been composed of CEO Ashley de Silva, treasurer Nuski Mohamed and vitally, chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, who had been central to the resolution of 2013’s contracts crisis. Last year, following a 24-hour lockout, the players had agreed to forego their cut of the ICC event fee on the understanding that payment would be reinstated in future years, which promised to be more profitable for SLC. Jayasuriya had brokered that deal and had also fielded the first demand from the players in 2014, when they asked for 20% of the ICC participation fee.The board initially refused to award a percentage cut, proposing an incentive-based bonus scheme for global tournaments instead. But as negotiations progressed, the players lowered their demand to 12%, and the board replied with a 6% offer, before the sides eventually settled at 10%.The players had received 25% of the ICC participation until 2012, after it had first been introduced into central contracts in 2003. That payment is intended to compensate players for their image rights, which are ceded to ICC for commercial purposes, during global tournaments.The agreement restores some semblance of stability to top-flight cricket in the country, a day after head coach Paul Farbrace resigned from his position to take up a role with the ECB. In recent weeks, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have also had a public row with members of the board, which has resulted in their comments and actions being reviewed by an SLC disciplinary committee, despite SLC having earlier announced it would take no action on the issue.

A round-up of the Premier League Tournament matches that ended on February 2, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2014Group BFile photo: Seekuge Prasanna picked up seven wickets in Sri Lanka Army Sports Club’s big win•Getty ImagesSri Lanka Army Sports Club captain Asela Gunaratne’s maiden double-hundred paved the way for the team’s comprehensive innings and 138-run win against Badureliya Sports Club in Maggona.Gunaratne blasted 22 fours and five sixes during his 170-ball 200 not out, and put up big partnerships with Ravindra Palleguruge and Nuwan Liyanapathirana for the last two wickets to lift SL Army to a mammoth 494 and in the process, secured a 315-run first-innings lead.This was because Badureliya had been bowled out for 179 in their first outing. Most of their top order made starts, but no one could produce a fifty, as Shalika Karunanayake, Seekuge Prasanna and Liyanapathirana notched seven wickets between them to run through the team.Badureliya needed at least 315 to make SL Army pad up again, but their batting in the second innings was no better than in their first. Prasanna took four wickets to increase his match tally to seven, and helped skittle Badureliya out for 177 inside 47 overs, as none of the batsmen made more than 39.Chaturanga de Silva’s unbeaten 23-ball 46 helped Moors Sports Club beat Colombo Cricket Club by five wickets to stay unbeaten at the top of Group B. Set a modest 112 to chase, Moors were struggling at 8 for 2 and then 56 for 5 before de Silva’s 56-run partnership with Harsha Cooray took the side to victory in the 16th over.Moors had earlier scored 282 in response to Colombo CC’s first-innings score of 302. The Moors chances of victory, however, were boosted when their bowlers scuttled Colombo for 91. Vimukthi Perera took 3 for 25, while Dilhara Lokuhettige and Janaka Gunaratne took two wickets each.Earlier, Colombo CC had posted a strong 302 based on contributions from Lasith Abeyratne (71), Indika de Saram (57), Hasantha Fernando (49) and Chaturanga Kumar (35). Left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara and Lokuhettige took five and four wickets respectively.Moors responded with 282, although their innings looked promising until Shehan Jayasuriya (108) and Cooray (89) were at the crease. They lost their last six wickets for 50 runs, however, to give Colombo a 20-run lead. Lakshan Rangika was the most successful bowler for Colombo, with first-innings returns of 5 for 53.Colts Cricket Club (CCC) took first-innings points in a draw against Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC) at the NCC ground. The hosts were put into bat and were given a solid start by their openers Upul Tharanga and Sandun Weerakkody. Weerakkody fell for 66 before NCC stumbled to 173 for 5, with Thisara Perera taking two wickets. A 109-run stand for the sixth wicket between Kosala Kulasekara and Farveez Maharoof revived NCC. Maharoof scored his sixth first-class century and he was the last wicket to fall, at 332. The left-arm spinner Sachith Pathirana cleaned up the lower order to finish with 4 for 67.CCC’s response was shaped by a third-wicket stand of 135 between Milinda Siriwardana and Kusal Perera, who scored 77 and 117 respectively. However, NCC hit back via the seamer Chaminda Vidanapathirana and at 287 for 8, looked good to take an innings lead. However, half-centuries by Kanishka Alvitigala and Akila Dananjaya gave CCC the crucial lead and their 82-run stand took them to 401. Vidanapathirana finished with 6 for 117. A draw seemed the only outcome when NCC took guard for their second innings on the final day. Pawan Wickramasinghe missed a debut first-class century by five runs when he was dismissed by Dananjaya. He smashed six fours and as many sixes in his knock. Both teams stayed at third and fourth respectively in Group B.Group ALeft-arm spinner Upul Indrasiri took a five-for in both innings to help set up Chilaw Marians Cricket Club’s three-wicket win against Panadura Sports Club at the Panadura Esplanade.Indrasiri finished with 5 for 35 to run through Panadura’s line-up in the second innings, and bundled them out for 98, meaning that Chilaw needed 175 for victory. The team overhauled that paltry total in 45 overs for the loss of seven wickets, as Geeth Alwis, Sahan Wijeratne and Vidura Adikari all chipped in with crucial contributions to take the team home.Panadura, electing to bat, had made 263 in their first innings, thanks to a 92 from the opener Sasheen Fernando and a 54 from Supeshala Jayathilake. However, Indrasiri’s 5 for 83 meant that Panadura couldn’t build on that score. Nonetheless, Panadura still managed to wrest a first-innings lead as Chilaw could only muster 187 from their first essay with the bat. Umesh Karunaratne’s 73 was the team’s only major source of runs, as the team holed out in just 53.1 overs.Panadura, however, were unable to build on this advantage and slumped to their third straight defeat of the tournament.Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club captain Jeevan Mendis bowled his team to their first win of the season, claiming a match haul of 9 for 107 with his legspin to see off Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club by 76 runs in Colombo. It was a match dominated by the spinners; offspinner Tillakaratne Sampath played the supporting act to Mendis, taking 5 for 38 in the chase, and the pair undid the work of Bloomfield offspinner Suraj Randiv who claimed 10 in the match.Bloomfield chose to bowl and kept Tamil Union to 235. Several Tamil Union batsmen got starts, but none could convert them even as the bowlers shared the wickets around. Only Sampath could get past fifty, while Randiv was the pick with the ball, taking 3 for 46. However, Bloomfield’s batsmen could not do much better, taking only a seven-run lead. Mendis claimed four of their top five on his way to 5 for 60. Randiv was destroyer-in-chief in Tamil Union’s second innings, taking 7 for 76 even as several of his team-mates were taken apart by the batsmen as they looked to get quick runs and declare. The declaration came at 264 for 9, leaving Bloomfield with 258 to get. They fell well short, bowled out for 181, with Sampath and Mendis knocking over nine between them.

Dwayne Bravo wants to bat higher in West Indies’ order as they aim to defend their World T20 title with Sunday’s opener against India looming

Renaldo Matadeen19-Mar-2014Dwayne Bravo wants to bat higher in West Indies’ order as they aim to defend their World T20 title with Sunday’s opener against India looming. Bravo, who hit 43 off 31 balls in the warm-up win over Sri Lanka, believes that a move up will allow him his desired role as the fulcrum of the West Indies’ middle-order.”In this format of the game, I always fancy myself batting higher and as early as possible to give myself that extra time to get set and take the game right down to the end [of the innings],” he said. “Obviously, we have a lot of power-hitters in our line-up but my role is to hold the middle and help us lay a good foundation.”Bravo pointed to Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell as the batsmen he would be able to take on the responsibility of big-hitting as he felt his best role was as a “stabiliser” in the team. He praised the openers, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith, for relieving the pressure off the middle-order and thinks they will be a key duo, particularly by allowing him to bat freely in the crease.However, Bravo added that all the batsmen were high on confidence after series win at home against England, followed by warm-up wins against England and Sri Lanka in Bangladesh, and thinks that his team have already adjusted to the World T20 conditions.”It’s good to win these practice games and we’re looking forward to Sunday [against India]. We left the Caribbean after winning the series against England with good momentum and after these warm-ups, we feel confident and reassured as these are the conditions we’ll be playing the big games in. We expect the conditions to be good for batting. It’s a bit on the slower side so try not to be predictable as a bowler.Bravo also said that while focus would be placed on their spin bowlers, one player who would be a huge asset would be left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie for his variations, swing and slower-balls. Bravo believed that Santokie, coupled with Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine, was one of their most formidable T20 bowling attacks to date.West Indies, though, are aware of the dangers of becoming complacent but added that their experience in T20 cricket would counter this, especially as the core of the 2012 title-winning squad was still intact.”Compared to the last World Cup, this one is harder as it is fewer games and we are in a tough group,” he said. “We still have most of our players [from 2012] and we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. But we’re playing good cricket and once we continue to show this form, we’ll fancy our chances to defend the title. It might be the last World Cup for some of us in this format of the game.”

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has played down the impact of the West Indies Under-19 team’s withdrawal from its tour of Bangladesh, following an explosion near the team hotel in Chittagong, on the country’s hosting of the World Twenty20

Mohammad Isam09-Dec-2013BCB president Nazmul Hassan has played down the impact of the West Indies Under-19 team’s withdrawal from its tour of Bangladesh, following an explosion near the team hotel in Chittagong, on the country’s hosting of the World Twenty20. Once the general elections (scheduled for January 5) are held the violence is likely to dissipate, Hassan said, so he is “not worried” about hosting the World T20 in February.”The impact won’t be severe,” Hassan said. “The situation can’t be like this all the time. We are hoping that before the start of the World T20s, there will be a solution to our political situation. If there is no solution then the games won’t work, but by January all these solutions will come. So I am not worried about the future games. I am not worried about the World T20s. I am hopeful that all the instability will be over by December.”The West Indies players and staff have remained within the premises of Hotel Agrabad in central Chittagong, but are expected to move to Dhaka on Tuesday morning. The WICB had said on Sunday that it was making arrangements for the players to leave the country, but the BCB wants to discuss resuming the tour with the West Indies board. Hassan said had directed his acting CEO, Nizamuddin Chowdhury, to discuss the matter with his counterpart at the WICB.”Now whether they [West Indies] are thinking about the future, and that because the elections are coming closer there might be more danger, I don’t know,” Hassan said. “We will have a telephone conversation with them on [Monday] evening.”The ongoing troubles in Bangladesh have seemed to escalate over the past two months, as the two main political parties have been at loggerheads and taken it out to the streets. Hassan said he would appeal to the political parties once again, but pointed out that cricket has always been shielded from the violence.”I have always appealed to all the political parties to leave cricket aside and I have always received their support. I might appeal again that such things don’t interfere with the cricket. There is a bit of political instability, this has always happened, but I don’t believe that we have reached a scenario where the games would be called off.”

Dale Steyn has said some of the Indian batsmen were frightened in the first ODI, and that their bowling needs an injection of pace if they are to bother South Africa

Sidharth Monga in Durban07-Dec-20130:00

‘India have a weakness in the middle order’ – Steyn

Dale Steyn has carried on from where he left off in Johannesburg. This time, though, with words. After bowling a sensational spell of seam and swing against India in the series opener, Steyn has said some of the Indian batsmen were frightened, and that their bowling needs an injection of pace if they are to bother South Africa. India were thrashed by 141 runs at the Wanderers on Thursday, a spicy pitch awaits them at Kingsmead, and Steyn feels there might already be scars that will go beyond the first ODI.”I would say so,” Steyn said when asked if South Africa’s bowlers might have frightened the Indian batsmen enough to last them through the remainder of the tour. “I would definitely say so. I didn’t see many of our guys walking off the field with bloody fingers or ice packs on ribs, so it definitely was a wake-up call for the Indians. It’s not Mumbai where the ball doesn’t get higher than the stumps. It’s going to be hard to play here.”But they are not the No. 1 ODI side in the world for no reason. As MS [Dhoni] said in his pre-match [press conference], they have toured the world and have come to South Africa a couple of times, so maybe give them a week or two, one or two more games and they will start getting used to it before the Test matches. But [it was] definitely an eye-opener for them. Because it didn’t look like that when they were bowling to us.”While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli toughed it out against Steyn and the new balls, Steyn was not quite impressed with what followed in the middle order. “I think our intensity the other night really blew them away,” Steyn said after the mandatory disclaimer that he expected the visiting batsmen to come back hard. “I think we also showed them that they have a weakness in the middle order. [Suresh] Raina, [R] Ashwin, Yuvraj [Singh], other batters in the end, they didn’t really look like they wanted to get in line. So hopefully we can exploit that a little bit more. But they have batters who can play and score. Shikhar’s [Dhawan] another guy who can really bat. So we are prepared for that too. Everyone is a target, to be honest with you.”Steyn’s summation of Indian bowling wasn’t flattering either. When asked what advice he would give to the Indians, he said, “I am really not going to give them any advice, you know. I think they are doing fine.”If you really want to look at it though, with the ball they lack someone who can really bowl with pace up there. They need that one guy there bowling so. They have got Ishant [Sharma] sitting on the sides, he is the one guy that can bowl over 140kmph. And we have got really good batters like [Jacques] Kallis, [Hashim] Amla, [Quinton] de Kock, [AB] de Villiers in some good space now. I think you need guys who can spin the ball a mile or can bowl quickly.”Wanderers didn’t offer the turn the other night that Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja could have got, but it did offer something off the deck and pace, and they didn’t have that the other night. We did have it so we kind of blew them away with that. Morne [Morkel] bowled really quickly, [Ryan] McLaren bowled with good pace, and in good areas, backed up by Wayne [Parnell], myself and Lonwabo [Tsotsobe]. So if you don’t have that then you will be struggling in South Africa.”Conditions underfoot promise much of the same. Steyn said he couldn’t tell the pitch from the outfield when he had a look at it from the balcony. However, there might be some respite for India because Kingsmead has lost a bit of its pace over the years. “Conditions are always different here in Durban,” Steyn said. “Especially different from Johannesburg. Bit more bounce in Jo’burg. This wicket has seemed to have got a little bit flatter, a bit slower over the years.”Steyn, though, was a little circumspect about what lay overhead – it has been overcast in Durban since the teams arrived on Friday. “Hopefully we can get a game because there is a lot of rain around here in Durban,” Steyn said. “We discussed it in the morning. We could go out there for 20 overs each, which is a bare minimum and still constitutes as a one-day international. So if there is a bit of rain around, we have to be prepared to face whatever comes.”

It is, perhaps, a sign of the times that, just as the County Championship season should be reaching a peak, the demands on its resources are at their greatest. Maurice Chambers’ loan signing demonstrated so.

George Dobell at Edgbaston28-Aug-2013
ScorecardMaurice Chambers made an immediate impact for Warwickshire•Getty ImagesIt is, perhaps, a sign of the times that, just as the County Championship season should be reaching a peak, the demands on its resources are at their greatest.Over the next couple of weeks, teams vying for the title or fighting to avoid promotion and relegation will lose players to England, Ireland and Scotland. Other players will be rested after the rigours of international campaigns. Few of the Ashes-winning squad will make another appearance in the county game this year.All of that is understandable. The England team pays the bills for the county and the recreational game and it is entirely reasonable to demand the players are used and rested as the team management see fit. Equally, it is quite appropriate for Ireland and Scotland to call upon their best players as they seek to progress in world cricket.But there is a downside. The endless withdrawals – be they for Lions game or international fixtures – that stretch through the season, not only threaten the integrity of the premier domestic competition, but threaten to drive a wedge between the international game and the county game. And if that happens, the difficulty of county players taking the step-up to international cricket will grow.There was a time such withdrawals were masked by the presence of experienced, older players or strong overseas or Kolpak registrations. But now, with young player incentives and tougher work permit criteria, that depth has been diminished.With such factors combining, the dilution of the county game is both obvious and dangerous. It may well, in time, return to bite the England set-up. You could construct a strong argument to suggest it was one of the key mistakes made in Australian cricket a decade or so ago.Certainly Warwickshire are a shadow of the team that won the County Championship title last season. As well as having lost seven players to various England squads at some stage of the season (Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes, Varun Chopra, Boyd Rankin, Chris Wright and Keith Barker, four of which are absent from this match) they have lost Freddie Coleman (to Scotland) and William Porterfield (to Ireland).In this game, they are further weakened by injuries. Their captain, Jim Troughton (back) is absent, two of their leading allrounders, Rikki Clarke (ankle) and Woakes (who hurt his thigh batting for England) are absent, several seamers – such as Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Wright, Richard Jones, who has joined on-loan despite carrying an injury – are absent as are two spinners in Chris Metters (who has been released due to injury) and Paul Best. As a result, their attack in this game consisted of a 20-year-old – Tom Milns – and two other seamers – Recordo Gordon and Maurice Chambers – with two first-class wickets between them this season.But such setbacks offer opportunity. In this game, Warwickshire drafted in Chambers, unwanted at Essex, on loan in a deal that stretches to the end of the season. Chambers, a 25-year-old longer on talent than achievement at this stage of his career, bowled with impressive pace and decent skill and discipline to suggest he may be able to persuade another county to invest in him. He will hope to follow the path of former team-mate Wright, who benefitted considerably from leaving Chelmsford and working with former Essex bowling coach Graeme Welch, who is now at Edgbaston. At present, Warwickshire are interested more in finding a solution to their availability crisis and have looked little further ahead than that.But they have opened talks with unsettled Somerset keeper, Jos Buttler. They are one of three clubs to have made an approach for the player and are likely to have offered him the chance to keep in all white-ball cricket if he joins. The difficult economic times are likely to result in far less movement in this year’s close-season than has been the case in the previous two or three years.It appeared for the first half of the day that Sussex would take full advantage of Warwickshire’s weaknesses and winning an important toss on a flat, dry pitch. Though they played and missed a few times, Chris Nash and Luke Wells put together a composed opening stand of 121 taking full toll of anything straying in line or length and of an unusually short boundary. Indeed, with Warwickshire struggling for pitches after a busy season, they were required to gain special dispensation for the 49-yard boundary on the Eric Hollies Stand side of the ground. Wells, tall and upright, was strong on the drive, while Nash, dropped by Jeetan Patel on 24 at slip off Gordon, cut particularly well.But Sussex squandered much of their hard work. After Nash played slightly across one, Sussex subsequently lost 6 for 39 runs in 21 overs as their middle-order surrendered their wickets in an array of soft, impatient strokes.If Michael Yardy, undone by late swing, was the victim of a fine delivery, Wells, caught at mid-on as he mis-timed a flick to the leg side, and Rory Hamilton-Brown, caught at short mid-on at he skipped down the wicket and attempted to drive, had less excuse. Ed Joyce fell to a loose drive at a wide ball, Matt Machan top-edged a pull and Ben Brown, caught on the crease, looked as if he were beaten for pace.At that stage it appeared Sussex, who are still outside contenders for the Championship title, might struggle to gain even a couple of batting bonus points. But Chris Jordan, perhaps the signing of the season, and Will Beer, demonstrated the patience and determination that so many of their top-order colleagues failed to exhibit, in adding 83 unbeaten runs for the eighth wicket before stumps. It was Jordan’s second half-century of the campaign, to complement his 51 Championship wickets.The Warwickshire attack, green as it was, were impressively tight and, in Chambers and Gordon, had bowlers of considerable pace. The pitch may well provide help to spin later in the game, presenting quite an opportunity for Will Beer and, perhaps, highlighting the absence of Monty Panesar for Sussex.