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Australia have arrived in Ireland for the opening match of their tour of the British Isles, but they will have to shake off some rust ahead of the ODIs against England

Cricinfo staff15-Jun-2010Australia have arrived in Ireland for the opening match of their tour of the British Isles, but they will have to shake off some rust ahead of the ODIs against England. They begin with a one-off one-day international against Ireland on Thursday and Cameron White conceded the Australians might be out of practice, having had a month off since the World Twenty20.”There probably will be a little bit [of rustiness], no doubt against Ireland,” White told AAP. “The important thing is by the time were down to Southampton we should be up and going and ready to go. The three or four weeks that everyone has had since the World Cup will be good and hopefully we can hit the ground running.”The five-match series against England begins at the Rose Bowl next Tuesday, before the Australians move on to two Twenty20s and two Tests against Pakistan. The Ireland game will be an especially useful warm-up for the six members of the squad who were not in the World Twenty20 group, including the captain Ricky Ponting.The pitch in Dublin is likely to be slow and low, which could help Ireland become more competitive. The Ireland veteran Trent Johnston said his colleagues were aiming to give the visitors as tough an introduction as possible on their six-week tour.”When we get out there and execute our plans the way we want to we can be a pretty dangerous team,” Johnston said. “The last thing they’ll want to do is play England after being beaten by Ireland.”We’re not going to kid ourselves, the 11 guys will have to play the games of their lives to be close to Australia. People didn’t give us much chance of beating England last August and we should have beaten them, we lost by three runs; that was quite disappointing. We’re going to get out there and give it a go, that’s all we can do.”

Medium-pacer Maurits Jonkman has been ruled out of the ICC World Cricket League Division One due to injury, and has been replaced by Bernard Loots

Cricinfo staff08-Jul-2010Medium-pacer Maurits Jonkman has been ruled out of the ICC World Cricket League Division One due to injury, and has been replaced by Bernard Loots. Netherlands have won and lost two of their four games thus far in the competition and face Ireland in a crucial encounter in Amstelveen on Friday.

Yorkshire have been left needing to slash their spending after poor crowds for the neutral Test between Pakistan and Australia led to a significant short fall in revenue of up to £750,000

Cricinfo staff27-Jul-2010Yorkshire have been left needing to slash their spending after poor crowds for the neutral Test between Pakistan and Australia led to a significant short fall in revenue of up to £750,000 ($1.16 million).It had been expected that the local Pakistani community would support the match but crowds failed to materialise as only a few thousand watched the action each day at a venue capable of holding 18,000 spectators. This was despite Pakistan’s strong performance where they skittled Australia for 88 on the opening day and won the Test by three wickets on the fourth morning.Although advanced sales for the match were poor it was hoped that walk-up fans on each day would swell the crowds – and Yorkshire’s finances – but the Test failed to capture the imagination of the locals.While Yorkshire have conceded the returns for the game were a major blow to the club they have insisted there won’t be any panic measures and that the county’s playing budget for coach Martyn Moxon will remain untouched.”We don’t see swingeing cuts at all – there is no alarmism here,” Colin Graves, the Yorkshire chairman, told BBC television’s Look North programme on Monday. We had a board meeting last Thursday while the Test match was going on, anticipating what was going to happen.”And Graves admitted being surprised by the lack of last-minute support for Pakistan. “I think we expected them to be using credit cards in January, February, March,” he said. “Unfortunately, they didn’t. But they also didn’t turn up on the day – which was a surprising thing, from our point of view.”Tickets for a full day’s play cost £30 and, although prices were cut after tea on each day, Graves believes the pricing structure was fair. “Yes, we could have reduced the prices – that can be levelled at us – but we think 30 pounds was fair value for a good day’s cricket.”Stewart Regan, the Yorkshire chief executive, put a figure on the losses the club will face as more than half a million pounds. “The match has cost us several hundred thousand pounds in terms of lost ticket revenue,” he told the . “I would say we’re in the region of 500,000-750,000 pounds short of what we were expecting, which is a big disappointment.”

Leicestershire’s James Taylor posted his third century in four matches against Middlesex to leave this County Championship clash at Lord’s intriguingly poised

11-Aug-2010

ScorecardLeicestershire’s James Taylor posted his third century in four matches against Middlesex to leave this County Championship clash at Lord’s intriguingly poised going into the final day.
The 20-year-old right-hander occupied the crease in NW8 for a shade over six hours in reaching an unbeaten 106 with only eight fours to help his side reach 282 all out, a useful first-innings lead of 63.Batting again by 2pm, Middlesex made a good start with an enterprising opening stand worth 119 in 33 overs either side of tea between Scott Newman and John Simpson. Former Surrey left-hander Newman counter attacked with 11 fours in his 110-ball half-century, but was first to go soon after tea for 70 when his top-edged cut to a turning, lifting ball from Claude Henderson looped to Jacques du Toit at slip.Left-arm spinner Henderson struck again in his next over when Simpson (44) walked across his stumps aiming to work through the leg-side only to fall lbw. Attacking with spin at both ends, Leicestershire struck again through Jigar Naik when he tossed one up from the Pavilion End to draw Dawid Malan into an ill-advised drive that he edged to slip.Three overs from the close, home skipper Neil Dexter (18) was trapped on the crease by a Nadeem Malik offcutter to go leg before but nightwatchman Toby Roland-Jones (one) and Owais Shah (25) survived until stumps to reach 168 for 4, a lead of 105 to take into the fourth and final day.The third day of this fluctuating tussle had started with Leicestershire on 186 for 5, still trailing by 33 runs after a rain-ruined Tuesday. Unbeaten on 65 overnight, Taylor soon lost sixth-wicket partner Naik (36) when he played back to the sixth ball of the game by occasional legspinner Malan to go leg before to a quicker delivery.In tandem with Henderson, Taylor added 57 for the sixth wicket and ground his way to a fifth career hundred and his second off the Middlesex attack this summer. His unbeaten 106 here followed his 206 not out against them at Grace Road in May.In the past three seasons the former England Under-19 batsman has amassed 483 runs against Middlesex at an amazing average of 161. The Leicestershire innings then tailed off badly when Roland-Jones made good use of the second new ball to claim three wickets for two runs from 26 balls either side of the lunch interval.He got Henderson to edge behind on 31 before trapping Nathan Buck (one) lbw and having Matthew Hoggard (four) caught by Shaun Udal. He finished with 4 for 52 and Pedro Collins 4 for 72, yet neither of them could dislodge the obdurate Taylor who marched off with a smile after his
230-ball study in concentration.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has backed the decision of its selection committee not to offer central retainer or developmental contracts to Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor or Narsingh Deonarine

Cricinfo staff02-Sep-2010The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has backed the decision of its selection committee not to offer central retainer or developmental contracts to Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor or Narsingh Deonarine. When these three, along with Denesh Ramdin and Travis Dowlin, were cut from the contracts list it was suggested that the fitness of Sarwan, a former captain, and Deonarine was “deemed unsatisfactory”.Taylor, the fast bowler, was not helped by his limited availability and alleged questionable approach to his rehabilitation following a back injury when the WICB contracts for the period from October 1 were announced.”The team management, selection committee and the WICB are concerned about Sarwan’s extremely indifferent attitude and sporadic approach towards fitness, particularly in recent years,” read a statement released by the board.”It is the considered view of the selection committee, following consultations with the specialists in the team management, that Ramnaresh’s less-than-satisfactory and fluctuating fitness levels have directly contributed to multiple injuries thereby causing him to be unavailable for selection to the West Indies team.”Sarwan, who was most recently affected by a hamstring problem, has not played a Test since 2009 although he appeared in four ODIs and seven Twenty20s this year. He has a top score of 100 not out against Ireland but was less effective when facing the better teams. Taylor was sent home from the tour of Australia late last year with back stress fractures and has made only nine limited-overs appearances since then.”The WICB is disappointed with Taylor’s lack of commitment to his own rehabilitation following injuries sustained in Australia in 2009 and in the ICC World Twenty20 2010,” continued the statement. “Jerome, despite being under retainer contract, has not shown the expected attendance and commitment to pursue the required assessment and consequent rehabilitative programmes that would be required.”Further it has been explained to Jerome that his physical make-up requires a specific programme of fitness and exercise to ensure his availability to play cricket at the highest level and avoid frequent breakdowns. There has not been a demonstrated commitment to achieve that level of fitness and ensure that he can perform consistently at the highest level.”The statement also made particular mention of Deonarine as a player whose attitude towards fitness and training continued to be unsatisfactory “despite the official notice”.”Deonarine’s level of fitness is regrettably, unacceptable for an international cricketer,” read the statement in a hard-hitting indictment of the player’s physical condition. “His results are below par in the majority of fitness tests conducted by the team management specialists. Narsingh, despite numerous opportunities, continues to show gross disregard for his fitness. Team management has pleaded with, beseeched and cajoled Narsingh to improve his overall fitness but to no avail.”

Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s one-day captain, says his team is looking forward to getting back to cricket after four days of being in the headlines for the wrong reasons

Cricinfo staff01-Sep-2010Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s one-day captain, says his team is looking forward to getting back to cricket after four days of being in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Pakistan play Somerset in Taunton on Thursday in their first game since the spot-fixing controversy broke.”We had a very good practice session yesterday [Tuesday],” he said at Somerset’s County Ground. “What has happened has gone. We are here to play good cricket. It’s a big challenge for me personally, playing in English conditions is always difficult.”Myself and the coach [Waqar Younis] are trying to keep morale high. It’s always very difficult in these conditions against a good team but they are all really focused.”Three members of the squad – Test captain Salman Butt, and fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – have left for London, where they are due to meet top administrative and diplomatic officials on Thursday.Afridi, who resigned the Test captaincy after Pakistan’s 150-run loss against Australia in July, joined the squad after the Lord’s Test, which ended in controversy a day after the broke its spot-fixing story.
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The rest of the tour – a mix of Twenty20s and ODIs – is in some doubt but Afridi insisted his players would be able to put the furore to one side and concentrate on the task at hand when they faced Somerset. “We are all looking forward to it. It has been really difficult but we can forget everything, get out, play the cricket and entertain the people.”There were protests outside Pakistan’s hotel in London but there were none at their Taunton hotel and the Somerset chief executive Richard Gould was confident Thursday’s match would pass off without spectator unrest.”We are not anticipating anything of that order,” Gould told reporters. “We’ve got a really good family atmosphere generally in the ground and I think that’s going to be all-pervading tomorrow (Thursday).”I suspect there might be a little bit of humour thrown in, with a few comments, but we won’t let anything go beyond light-hearted banter.”

The long-running battle between Younis Khan and the PCB has finally been resolved, after a meeting between the former Pakistan captain and the chairman of the board Ijaz Butt

Osman Samiuddin20-Oct-2010The long-running battle between Younis Khan and the Pakistan board has finally been resolved, after a meeting between the former captain and Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman. Younis, a former Pakistan captain, was cleared for selection almost immediately and picked in the limited-overs squad for the series against South Africa in the UAE later this month.The meeting took place early on Wednesday and board officials familiar with the meeting told ESPNcricinfo that all outstanding issues were resolved amicably. A resolution had been on the cards since the board sent a letter to Younis asking him to meet the chairman. Younis responded positively, telling reporters in Lahore he was keen to meet and play again for Pakistan.At a press conference later in the day in Karachi Mohsin Khan, chief selector, announced that Younis had joined the training camp in Lahore. “The chairman [PCB] has given clearance this afternoon to Younis Khan and that is good news,” Mohsin told reporters. “I discussed with the selection committee and we picked him straight away. He is fit, playing top-class cricket.”There was some confusion, however, over whether Younis had also been inducted into the Test squad. “For now he is in the limited-overs squad,” Mohsin said. “We will see his progress over the ODIs and then make a decision for the Tests after that.” Over in Lahore though, at almost the same time, Intikhab Alam, the team manager, indicated to reporters that Younis was back in the Test side as well.Younis’ return has also been hastened by the pullout from the ODI squad of Mohammad Yousuf. Yousuf has not been training over the last two days at the camp at Gaddafi Stadium and has a grade 2 abductor muscle tear. Mohsin said he is likely to be out for 2-3 weeks, though added that Younis would have been selected even if Yousuf was available.Younis was one of four players the board either banned or decided would not be selected for an indefinite period in the aftermath of a disastrous tour of Australia in 2009-10. Three others were fined heavily.Alongside five others, Younis appealed against the punishment to a one-man appelate tribunal. Shoaib Malik, the Akmal brothers and Shahid Afridi had their fines reduced and bans lifted soon after, while Rana Naved ul Hasan had his one-year ban lifted recently. Yousuf didn’t appeal, announcing his retirement instead, though he was asked by the board to return for the England tour, his punishment apparently waived away.Younis’ case, however, had stalled. The tribunal “set aside his order” and referred it back to the board, as it did with the others. The other players then apologised to the board and accepted their mistakes, clearing the way for their return. Younis refused to do so, insisting through his lawyer that he had done nothing to apologise for and had instead maintained that he wanted to clear his name fully of the charges laid against him.The board released a statement with few details, referring only to the meeting and that the matter now “stands closed.”Over the last few weeks the board and chairman in particular had come under severe pressure from a clutch of former cricketers as well as the national assembly’s standing committee on sports to bring Younis back into the fold.

A second death-overs meltdown in two games let Pakistan get close, but nerves were finally held and South Africa sealed a two-run win and secure a 2-1 series lead

The Bulletin by Osman Samiuddin02-Nov-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Hashim Amla made his fifth ODI century of the year•AFP

They fell apart again at the death but ultimately a hundred from Hashim Amla and four wickets from Morne Morkel were just about enough to sneak South Africa home in the third ODI in Dubai. A second death-overs meltdown in two games let Pakistan come within two runs, but a 2-1 series lead was secured.South Africa were exceptional for 42 overs in defending 229. Pakistan had just lost Abdul Razzaq, they needed 76 on a sluggish, boundary-shy surface: game over. But Morkel, Rusty Theron and Lonwabo Tsotsobe lost their minds, nerves, lengths and lines. Fielders began to drop catches as Wahab Riaz, of all batsmen, smashed an 11-ball 21 and, with Fawad Alam, pillaged 56 runs in the Powerplay. Ultimately, despite a panic-stricken last over from Theron, Pakistan just didn’t have enough batsmen. Alam remained unbeaten on 59, valiant but not deal-sealing.Before that, Morkel and Tsotsobe had opened with sterling spells. The visitors have made light of Dale Steyn’s absence, mainly because Tsotsobe has had a fine series. He is uncomplicated, using the natural left-arm angle well and has subtle changes in pace. If he hasn’t bowled an outstanding spell that will stick in the mind, neither has he bowled a poor one. Today was no different.Having Morkel at the other end, bowling with unspeaking meanness, helps. Morkel gave nothing away for long, not on width, not on length; both the pace and bounce added to an unceasing atmosphere. One over to Younis Khan was particularly good, five dot balls which left him nowhere to go but out, and he was, off the last ball.The first ten overs ceded 23 and one boundary. With Pakistan not going anywhere, the fielding took over. In any case Imran Farhat was as lively as a library and as awake as a morgue to scoring opportunities. The arrival of Asad Shafiq got things moving but so tightly did South Africa police the field that a run-out looked inevitable. Eventually it came breaking a labored but vital 85-run stand. Soon after, a cramping Shafiq went the same way. Morkel returned, just as mean, and dismissed Shahid Afridi. He set the tone for Razzaq, bowling short or shortish, and giving him nothing remotely full and that should have been that.

Smart Stats

• Hashim Amla averages 82.16 at a strike rate of 103.13 in ODIs in 2010, with five centuries and three fifties in 13 innings.

• Amla scored 52.19% of South Africa’s total, which is the fifth-highest in all ODIs for them. The highest is Gary Kirsten’s unbeaten 188 out of 321 (58.56%) against UAE in the 1996 World Cup. The others are Herschelle Gibbs (59 out of 101 against Pakistan), Gibbs again (118 out of 211 against England); and Dave Callaghan (169 out of 314 against New Zealand).

• This was Jacques Kallis’ first ODI duck in more than three years – the last time he scored one was in October 2007 against Pakistan in Lahore, 42 innings ago.

• For Younis Khan, on the other hand, this was his sixth duck in his last 43 innings.

But if nothing else, Amla’s fifth hundred of the year, a masterful knock deserved the win. But for him South Africa would’ve been nowhere and we would’ve been lauding a match-winning spell from Shoaib Akhtar.From the start, there were two pitches, one for Amla and another, sluggish one, for the rest. He hit nine out of his side’s total 12 boundaries. Two in the first over solidified the impression that he has batted in one unbroken stretch since the first ODI. Where others couldn’t time it, he glided along, utilizing the modern batsman’s get-out clause – a dab to third man – liberally.Occasionally he improvised, but mostly he just stayed cool. That helped, given the outrageous decision that sent back AB de Villiers. An important partnership had been constructed when in Afridi’s first over, TV umpire Zameer Haider chose to give de Villiers out stumped when he was distinctly in. Others gave Amla some support but it was a one-man job.A brace of boundaries paved the way for a hassle-free fifty just before the halfway mark. Then he disappeared, quietly picking off runs here and there. He emerged once on 78, when Shafiq dropped a sharp chance at cover, and again when cutting Saeed Ajmal twice to move into the 90s.A dab to third man – what else? – brought up the hundred just before the batting Powerplay became mandatory. He then found the odd boundary, a classy drive past mid-off and a rare, ungainly pull, but most importantly he stayed unbeaten till the end, not sweating at all.Shoaib’s work thus took a back seat. Amid standard turmoil this year, Shoaib has quietly managed as impressive a comeback as any of his previous ones. He still has the pace, but the shortened run-up and seemingly permanent limp, reduces the visual a little. The smarts are very much intact.He stifled South Africa at the start, rolling in casually and mixing up some solid length bowling with excellent changes of pace; no less a man than Jacques Kallis, returning for Robin Peterson, was deceived by one. Colin Ingram could only pop another slower one back soon after.This was the 11th ODI in a row Shoaib has played since his return earlier this year for the Asia Cup , the longest, unbroken stretch he has had since 2002 (joint-second longest ever in his career). Any questions over his fitness were forgotten in later spells. He gave one run in two overs during the middle, even making the set-as-cement Amla jump around. He then came back to rattle and shake Johan Botha, only a poor last over to regret. Eleven came off that, important in the big picture.

Ricky Ponting rates himself “a good chance” to play with his broken little finger on Boxing Day, but won’t be too proud to stand down if he’s not fit

Peter English at the WACA19-Dec-2010Ricky Ponting rates himself “a good chance” to play with his broken little finger on Boxing Day, but won’t be too proud to stand down if he’s not fit. Ponting has learned from last year, when he went into the biggest game of the summer with a serious elbow tendon problem, and expects to wait until the morning of the fourth Test to decide whether he can lead.The injury ensures another bumpy lead-up for Australia and means Michael Clarke will be on standby for his first Test as captain. Greg Chappell, the selector, said yesterday Clarke, the current deputy, was not ready for the top job but changed tack today.Ponting, who will not pick up a bat until later in the week, did not field on the final morning as Australia raced to a 267-run victory that levelled the series at 1-1. “I have to have treatment and look after it for a few days and rest it,” he said. “I think I have a really good chance of playing, it is only a small fracture. It is a bit sore and angry at the moment, but I’ll be right.”He suffered the break when he spilled the edge of Jonathan Trott at second slip on the third afternoon, with the rebound popping up to Brad Haddin. X-rays last night showed a small crack and he spent the morning of his 36th birthday in the dressing room to protect the injury. He walked out after the victory had been secured to congratulate his team-mates while keeping his left hand out of everyone’s way.Ponting was in a similar fitness race this time last year as he battled to be ready for the start of the series against Pakistan. His right elbow had been hit by a Kemar Roach short ball at the WACA, and the problem disrupted his batting for the rest of the summer.He was determined to play on despite the discomfort, but this time he will consider a different approach if the injury hasn’t healed. “I honestly think with it being a little finger on my left hand, I don’t think it’s as significant as being the top elbow last year,” he said”I’m not going to be silly and put myself ahead of the team. If I don’t think I can function well, I won’t play. If I feel like I can function and play somewhere near – I won’t say how I’ve been playing, better than I have been playing – then I will play the game.”Ponting not only has a hurt finger, but he also hasn’t been in form with the bat, scoring 83 runs in six innings in this series, and averaging 38.95 in 24 Tests since the start of last year. The lack of output has resulted in increased pressure on his leadership, although that has eased with the strength of this victory.Clarke, 29, has also struggled for runs and been facing scrutiny as the captain in waiting. Chappell attempted to back-track today after telling Channel 9 yesterday that nobody was in the right frame of mind to step into the captaincy. The comments came before Ponting was hurt.”In that discussion I was being very careful not to make suggestions against Ricky and I didn’t speak clearly to get that message across,” Chappell told the ABC. “Michael is our next captain, whenever that might be. We’re very happy, he’s done the job before, and we have no doubt he’s ready for it.”What I was trying to say was that when the handover comes we’d love him to be in peak form. I’m not trying to suggest there was a problem there.”Yesterday Chappell said: “If we’re going to replace Ricky, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got someone that we’re confident has the right frame of mind who can take over and do a good job,” Chappell said. “And I don’t know that we’ve got somebody that we feel we want to rush Ricky Ponting out the door at this moment. There is nobody absolutely ready for it. I don’t think there are too many other players I’d want to put that pressure on.”Chappell said today that Ponting will be given time to turn around his batting form, just like Michael Hussey was at the start of this series. “In the nets he’s batting well,” Chappell said. “Perhaps the pressure of this series, he built it up as a very important series, perhaps he hasn’t had the mental freedom to bat. Hopefully the win here might give him the freedom in Melbourne.”

Just when it looked like Imran Farhat’s century was going to take the game away from them, PIA’s Aizaz Cheema and Kamran Sajid sparked an HBL middle-order collapse that left the game finely poised at the end of the second day

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2011ScorecardImran Farhat laid a solid foundation for HBL with his 109•Getty Images

The tea break came to Pakistan International Airlines’ rescue on the second day at the National Stadium in Karachi. Just when it looked like Imran Farhat’s century was going to take the game away from them, left-arm seamer Aizaz Cheema and their captain Kamran Sajid sparked a middle-order collapse that saw Habib Bank Limited lose six wickets for 28 runs in the last session and left the game finely poised at the end of the day.HBL still managed build a lead of 52 thanks to a rearguard action by fast bowler Fahad Masood, but PIA will hope they can knock off the two remaining wickets tomorrow and then improve on their first-innings batting performance to set HBL a decent total.At the tea break, HBL were cruising. Farhat and his captain Hasan Raza had put together 104 for the third wicket and they were already within 14 runs of PIA’s total with eight wickets still remaining. It came down to Cheema, who has led PIA’s bowling attack almost single-handedly at times this season, having taken more than twice the number of wickets any of the other bowlers have, to make the breakthroughHe got one to nip back in sharply from outside off to Raza, in the first over after tea, and had him out lbw for 38. That suddenly opened the floodgates for HBL. Sajid, who had only bowled one three-over spell in each of the first two sessions, brought himself back in the attack and struck in his third over, bowling Aftab Alam for a duck with an inswinger. In his next over, he got the big one: Imran Farhat was struck in front of middle stump, swinging across the line, but he was unlucky as the ball had pitched well outside leg stump.PIA built on their luck, though. Cheema went on the rampage, bowling wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat with another late inswinger and then startling Danish Kaneria with a short ball that he could only fend to short leg. By the time Kaneria went, HBL were suddenly 242 for 8, only 14 ahead of PIA, when at tea they would have been dreaming of a lead of well over 100. PIA would be slightly disappointed they didn’t finish the job as tail-enders Masood and Mohammad Aslam saw off nine overs with the new ball at the end of the day.Before the dramatic collapse, Farhat had played a well-paced innings. Having come to the wicket in the fourth over after Kamran Hussain fell early, he started off slightly scratchily – three of his first four boundaries were thick edges to the third-man boundary – but settled in once the spinner Shoaib Malik came on to bowl, picking him for boundaries on either side of the wicket. He favoured the off side against the quicks, driving and cutting as HBL built a solid foundation for a big score.Unfortunately for Farhat, HBL’s scorecard looked very similar to PIA’s first-innings one: one batsman scoring big while the others struggled. For PIA it had been Sajid, and for HBL none of the middle-order players could build on Farhat’s start.