All posts by csb10.top

Ijaz Butt, the newly-appointed chairman of the PCB, announced yesterday that Geoff Lawson’s contract as Pakistan coach will not be renewed, but Lawson himself has not been told anything by the chairman. Nevertheless, Lawson is getting on in the immediate future with”business as usual.”In the two weeks since he was appointed, in fact, Butt has had nocommunication with Lawson at all. Most tellingly, the chairman met withthe captain Shoaib Malik and the temporary chief selector Saleem Jaffar onSaturday but not with Lawson.Unsurprisingly, the development has increased speculation that Lawsonmight leave before his contract finishes, though understandably he wasreluctant to comment on the matter. “I have not had a meeting with orindeed heard a single word from the Chairman since he was appointed,” hetold Cricinfo.”At this stage it is business as usual for all the coaching staff as weprepare for the Pentangular Cup, the West Indies ODI series [in Abu Dhabi]and give players tasks to perform during the Pentangular Cup as we alsobegin preparation for the India Test series in January.”Though Butt said Lawson will leave after April 2009, the original contracthe signed runs up to August 2009. If that is the case, then it meansLawson is likely to be at the helm through the India series in January2009, the Twenty20 World Championships and the tour to Sri Lanka nextsummer. Favourable results in any of those contests would raise questionsabout why the decision to not retain him was taken so early.One senior player also raised the possibility of the changed dynamics ofthe player-coach relationship and its likely effect on the team. “Knowingthat he is leaving will change how players respond to him and deal withhim,” the player told Cricinfo. Maybe they could have taken the decision closer to the time, or told him privately,”Butt was unusually harsh on Lawson’s performance in his comments,concluding ultimately that “we [PCB] have no utility for Lawson.” Thereason cited for keeping him on till April was financial: Butt said theboard would suffer a “huge financial loss” if the contract was terminatedimmediately.

Stuart Law, who captained Lancashire in 2008, has been released, with his ICL links being one factor in the decision.There had been speculation over the future of Law, who turns 40 next week, during the latter part of the summer, and that culminated in the announcement that he had not been offered a new contract. Glen Chapple will lead Lancashire in 2009.”Stuart has been a top-class player and has served us superbly in the time he has been here, but the club is committed to giving younger members of the squad the opportunity to grow and the cricket committee felt the time was right for other players to take on added responsibilities,” explained Jim Cumbes, the county’s chief executive.And in what could be a sign of things to come with a number of counties, Cumbes made clear that Law’s continuing association with the ICL was taken into account. “Although not a determining factor, any player’s allegiance to the ICL does make it difficult, simply because the ECB are tightening regulations on unauthorised competitions, as are the ICC.””Stuart was one of my very first signings when I took over as cricket manager, and has always given tremendous service to the club,” Mike Watkinson, the Lancashire coach, said. “He is a quality player who takes great pride in passing on his knowledge to anyone who needs a helping hand. He is highly-respected in the dressing room and popular with both Members and Supporters. We wish him and his family all the best for the future.”Law joined Lancashire from Essex in 2002 as the club’s overseas player, although he subsequently gained British citizenship. In 2003, he was named Lancashire Player of the Year, and in 2008 took over the captaincy after Mark Chilton stood down to focus on his own game. During his time with Lancashire, Law scored almost 12,000 runs in all competitions.Chapple, meanwhile, was delighted at being handed the captaincy. “It’s a privilege to play for such a big county, and an even bigger honour to be captaining the club I’ve been involved with for the past 18 years. I’m a product of the Lancashire system, and I look forward to leading a very talented squad of players to future success.”

Aaqib Javed, the Pakistan Cricket Academy coach, believes some of the academy’s top performers merit selection to the Test side. Aaqib oversaw his team’s successful tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya this month where it won all its matches.”We have a few exceptional fast bowlers in the Pakistan Academy side and at least one of them – Anwar Ali – is now ready to play Test cricket,” Aaqib told Pakistan’s . Ali, a right-arm medium-fast bowler, who took ten wickets in a closely fought four-day game against Kenya, had earlier played a pivotal role in Pakistan’s victory against India in the Under-19 World Cup final in 2006, taking 5 for 35 in a low-scoring game.According to Aaqib, Ali was ready to take the new ball against India in the Test series starting in Pakistan in early January. “I’m really impressed with Anwar,” Aaqib said. “He is getting faster and can swing the ball both ways effortlessly. He is Test material, definitely.”Ali took 11 wickets at 17.09 each in three matches on the academy’s tour of Zimbabwe in August-September after which he picked up 18 in four games against Kenya.In Mohammad Talha, Ali’s new-ball partner for the academy, Aaqib felt Pakistan had discovered a bowler with a natural yorker. “He can beat the best of the batsmen with his yorker,” Aaqib said. “He is also ready for Pakistan duty.” Talha took 15 wickets at 17.66 in four matches during the tour of Zimbabwe and 11 against Kenya.The absence of Umar Gul due to injury, and Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif for reasons of indiscipline, has left a void in Pakistan’s pace attack that Ali and Talha could potentially fill.Among the batsmen, allrounder Fawad Alam, whose performances against Kenya included a triple-century, received his team manager Haroon Rashid’s approval for a place in Test team. “Fawad is exceptionally talented and has matured immensely. He can play Test cricket anytime now,” Rashid said. Alam has already featured in ten ODIs for Pakistan. Rashid was also impressed with Pakistan Cricket Academy’s captain Khurram Manzoor, who aggregated 365 runs on the tour.

Fidel Edwards is an injury doubt for the triangular series in Canada after pulling up in training with a back problem. He will have a scan on Wednesday, but it is unlikely a replacement will be called up for the short tournament.”Fidel pulled up while bowling in the nets with a back strain,” Omar Khan, the team manager, told the agency. “He will undergo a scan tomorrow morning to determine the seriousness of the injury. When we get a diagnosis, we will decide if he can continue this tour.”West Indies take on Bermuda in their first match – the first time the two sides have met in an ODI – and are down to three fit fast bowlers; Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell and Kemar Roach.

An ICC panel of experts will meet soon to assess the umpire review system used during the recent India-Sri Lanka Test series and decide whether it’s appropriate to implement the system for the Champions Trophy next month and subsequently, Cricinfo has learnt.Considering that the Champions Trophy is starting in Pakistan on September 12, the panel is expected to meet over a teleconference to arrive at a decision in time. An ICC spokesperson has confirmed the development.It’s understood the system will be assessed by a sub-committee of the ICC cricket committee, and will comprise Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager (cricket), umpire Simon Taufel, Clive Lloyd, the ICC cricket committee chairman, Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka vice-captain, and Anil Kumble, the India captain.Taufel will represent the umpires’ views on the system and also present the feedback of the umpires who were involved with the implementing it in Sri Lanka, including Rudi Koertzen, Mark Benson and Billy Doctrove. May will present the views of cricketers worldwide on the system and Lloyd, a former match referee, will bring in a match official’s perspective.All the members of this panel, except Kumble, are part of the governing body’s cricket committee. The ICC spokesperson said Kumble was co-opted to the panel as he was “directly involved with the system, and would also represent the viewpoint of the Indian players who were part of the reviews during the recent three-Test series”.The ICC had implemented the review system after it was recommended by its cricket committee this May. It was initially expected to be implemented during the England-South Africa Test series but was initiated in Colombo instead, and has since sparked a debate on its effectiveness after a mixed response from the players.Kumble has asked for a re-look at the system while Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain who led his team to a 2-1 win this week, said that he welcomed the ICC initiative.

The bowl-out has been used in two Twenty20 international games so far, but those could well be the only instances of its implementation in an international match. In the ICC Annual Conference which starts in Dubai on Sunday, the Chief Executives’ Committee will discuss the possibility of replacing the bowl-out with a one-over eliminator in the case of a tied game.Under the rules for the new tie-breaker, each team will nominate three batsmen and one bowler. Each side bats one over, with the innings being declared closed if it loses two wickets. If the teams finish tied on runs scored in that one over, the side with the higher number of sixes in its full innings and in the one-over eliminator will be declared the winner. If the teams are still tied, the one with the higher number of fours in both innings will win.This tie-breaker has already been introduced in the ongoing Asia Cup in Pakistan, and will come into play if the final of the tournament ends in a tie. If approved, it will also be applicable in the semi-finals and final of the Champions Trophy later this year and the World Twenty20 in England next year.

A cricket pavilion has been burnt to the ground following a confrontation between members of Hatch End Cricket Club and a mob of teenagers. The incident took place on Saturday at Shaftesbury Playing Fields near Harrow in North West London, and caused the match against Old Camdenians CC to be abandoned.”There were lots of youngsters hanging around the park,” a Hatch End player told The Harrow Observer. “They were really young – 14 or 15 – and they were drunk. They started to nick the boundary flags and we went over to them because of the disruption. It just escalated. It wasn’t a brawl, just pushing and shoving. No-one got hurt.”According to the newspaper, the incident escalated after the match had been abandoned midway through the afternoon. As the players returned to the pavilion, the youths gathered friends and even parents for a tense showdown.”Lots of people came down – 50 of them – and they came with lots of weapons: poles, sticks, logs and bricks. They came into the clubhouse causing aggravation and threw a couple of cricket balls, but didn’t hit anyone because they knew the police were coming.”It took four police officers to separate the two groups, but according to Hatch End officials, the police escorted the cricketers off the site by 7pm, but chose not to move the teenagers. Within an hour, the pavilion was on fire.”It’s the same kids because they didn’t leave the park,” said the player. “The firemen are saying the fire started from the inside so the youths must have broken in.”Graham Wild, a Hatch End CC committee member, told the newspaper: “There was a group of cricketers trying to defend the clubhouse – it was a siege mentality.”

John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, has confirmed that he has held talks with Gloucestershire about possibly returning for next season.Bracewell enjoyed a successful period as coach of Gloucestershire at the turn of the century, inspiring them to a clutch of one-day trophies before New Zealand lured him back in 2003. At the start of their tour of England this summer, Bracewell hinted that a return to Gloucestershire was not out of the question, and it now seems certain that a return to Bristol is on the cards”Myself and Tom [Richardson], Gloucestershire’s chief executive] are in discussions at the moment,” Bracewell told PA Sport. “There are several options available in world cricket at the moment within the ICL and IPL and you don’t know where Twenty20 is going to be within the next nine months.”But Gloucestershire is a positive option because I enjoyed the environment of it so much. It is one option and it is a good one. I didn’t say it is the only option but it is one of several and, at this stage, it’s a leader.”I’m in contact with Tom a lot and he is fully aware of where I’m at and we are fully communicating.”With New Zealand losing two series in succession against England, the call for Bracewell’s head has become louder with every loss that they suffer. Gloucestershire, he says, gives coaches the chance to “develop guys over a period of time and see them grow.””The difference between that and international cricket is that you never get the same sort of chance,” he said. “You get them off the field, you patch them up and you’ve got to get them back into battle. All the coaching you are doing is about ‘what can I do today to get you over today?'”The thing I really loved about cricket over here is that you actually had quality time to be able to coach and develop guys through coaching itself as opposed to just patching things up and getting guys back on the field. That is international as opposed to domestic cricket.”There is no possibility of staying on with New Zealand. You just get worn out by the other stuff other than coaching.”The people themselves and the players are great. But you just can’t get a piece of them all the time so it makes it hard.”

Finally an Argentine selection was defeated at the South American cricket championships. Chile pulled off a resounding 96 run victory over Argentina A at Longchamps, and thus break a winning streak maintained by the full Argentine side at the first three tournaments and by the A side at the last championship.And it was a fully deserved and comprehensive victory. Chile batted first and compiled a daunting 249 for 3 in their allotted 40 overs. Opener Paul Hollis continued his blazing form with an undefeated 114 to follow his unbeaten double century of the previous day, with solid support from Simon Shalders (58).In reply, Argentina A were bundled out for 153 in only 26,3 overs. Player-coach Grant Dugmore top-scored with 50, with other contributions coming from Sunyog Chauhan (31) and Alejandro Ferguson (28). Overall a sustained Chilean seam attack proved too accurate and consistent for the Argentine batsmen, with Jason Anglin providing the bulk of the damage with 7 for 32 off 7 overs.In the other match of the day played at Pinazo, Brazil were too strong for a valiant Andean Masters combination. Brazil made 250 for 5 in their 40 overs, and then restricted the Masters to 206 for 8 to win by 44 runs.The final day of the round-robin league sees Chile take on Brazil at Belgrano, while Argentina A host the Andean Masters at Pinazo. Wins for Chile and Argentina A will see them through to the final on Sunday, but if Brazil should beat Chile, the three teams will have equal points, and the finalists will be decided by nett run-rate.

The England team management today announced that Darren Gough is to fly tothe ECB National Academy in Adelaide tonight to continue his rehabilitationfrom a long-term knee injury.Gough will undergo intensive treatment at the Academy and also see a kneespecialist later this week for a further assessment of the injury that haskept him out of competitive cricket since mid-July.The 32-year-old Yorkshire pace-bowler reported swelling and discomfort inhis knee yesterday after bowling two separate spells in the nets at BorderField on Saturday.With the Durham pace bowler, Stephen Harmison, also suffering fromshin-splints, England have decided to call-up Surrey’s Alex Tudor from theECB National Academy Squad and he will join up with the Test Squad inBrisbane later tonight.England Coach, Duncan Fletcher, said: “Darren had been making good progressin his recovery from injury and it’s very frustrating for him and the teamthat he should suffer a setback at this stage.”He has done everything that we have asked in terms of conditioning andstrengthening work and we were hoping that he could play grade cricket thisweekend. But our priority now is to ensure that he gets intensive 1-1treatment for his injury and expert medical advice.”At this stage, we can’t put a time-frame on Darren’s recovery and we willhave to wait for further guidance from the specialist as to the extent ofhis involvement in the rest of the winter tour programme.”Darren Gough said: “It’s very disappointing as I felt that I was nearlythere with my recovery and ready to start playing again. What I want to donow is work hard at the Academy and give myself the best possible chance ofgetting myself fit again for the remainder of the winter.”