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Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, has said indiscipline, a lack of mental strength and demoralising tactics by the coach Intikhab Alam were responsible for Pakistan’s poor show on the tour of Australia

Cricinfo staff20-May-2010Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, has said indiscipline, a lack of mental strength and demoralising tactics by the then coach Intikhab Alam were responsible for Pakistan’s poor show on the tour of Australia. Afridi – whose statements were revealed on the leaked video of the PCB committee hearings – was questioned about the possibility of match-fixing during that winless tour but he denied knowing any player who deliberately under-performed.When asked if the defeats against Australia were deliberate, and if there was a specific member of the team who lost the match intentionally, Afridi said: “If you watch all the matches we have played recently, we have not been beaten in the matches, we have given away those matches. I think the reason is that we are not mentally strong. We had decided in our heads that we cannot beat Australia even before the match had started.”I have heard from others that such things (deliberately losing) exist but I do not know of any such player myself.”Afridi was also asked if the players were playing for themselves, and he replied: “As far as the fielding is concerned, we do very well in the practice sessions but we have a few players who perform well with the bat and then do not concentrate while fielding. They stand near the boundary, sign autographs and talk to girls. I have my eye on a few such players.”Afridi also complained of not being told in advance of his being made captain during the ODI series against Australia. Mohammad Yousuf had led Pakistan in the first four games and Afridi filled in for the last one. “I told our coach Intikhab Alam very clearly to tell me well in advance if I were to captain the team in the ODIs against Australia,” he said. “But I was still made the captain only 40 minutes before the match.”The coach was blamed for contributing to the team’s demoralisation, as Intikhab was shown to have placed little confidence in his team. “Even as I prepared to go for the toss, undue pressure was put on me to win the toss,” Afridi said. “And I was told we will win the match only if we win the toss. I told Alam, he should not demoralise the players. I am sure comments like those can be avoided.”Yawar Saeed [the manager] is a disciplinarian and we need to ensure people like him enforce strict discipline in the team. No one should be spared.”He also called on the selection committee to appoint captains for longer tenures, of at least a year. “Also, the selection committee needs to give the captain of the team a longer run. Whoever is made captain should be allowed a stint for at least a year.”

England’s women squeaked home to a one-wicket victory in the final over of the first one-day international against New Zealand at Taunton

Cricinfo staff10-Jul-2010

ScorecardCharlotte Edwards was the key to England’s victory with 70•Getty Images

England’s women squeaked home to a one-wicket victory in the final over of the first one-day international against New Zealand at Taunton. After half-centuries from Maria Fahey and Sophie Devine had taken New Zealand to 231 for 8, Charlotte Edwards anchored England’s chase with 70 before she was dismissed in the midst of a late collapse. But Katherine Brunt sealed the game when she cracked a boundary off Devine with three balls remaining.England had stumbled at the beginning of their chase too, slipping from 72 for 1 to 79 for 4 in the space of three overs before Edwards and Jenny Gunn combined in a 48-run fifth wicket stand. After Gunn departed for a run-a-ball 31, Laura Marsh picked up the mantle and she and Edwards took England past 200 with a rapid 81-run partnership.But after Amy Satterthwaite snared Marsh, Nicola Browne steamed in to bowl Danielle Hazell in the 47th over. England were 224 for 8 when Edwards was run out in the next over, and Browne then had Holly Colvin caught by Aimee Watkins with just five runs still needed from the last seven balls. Crucially, Brunt snatched a single from the final delivery of the 49th over to keep the strike, and then pushed Devine for two before sealing the win with a boundary.England’s bowling effort was built around the good work of Brunt and and Jenny Gunn. New Zealand had worked themselves into a good position with Fahey and Satterthwaite sticking together to reach 104 for 2 by the 25th over but two wickets fell in quick succession as England clawed back. Satterthwaite offered Gunn a chance off Colvin before Sara McGlashan fell one over later run out with Gunn again in the thick of the action.It brought Devine to the crease and together with Fahey the pair added 42 over the next 10 overs. Needing a breakthrough Edwards turned to her strike bowler Brunt, who duly delivered by castling Fahey for a patient 61. Brunt struck again three balls later, rattling the stumps of Browne to leave New Zealand wobbling on 148 for 6.Thereafter Devine took control hammering four fours and two sixes to reach her fifty of 62 balls before falling to Laura Marsh. The tail rallied, with Lucy Doolan and Rachel Priest pushing the score up to 231 but it wasn’t enough.”I’m really pleased to get the series off to a winning start,” said Edwards. “Katherine put in a fantastic bowling performance and there were some good contributions from the batters. I always enjoy batting here, I was pleased to get a good score today, I’m looking forward to coming back on Monday.”

Azeem Rafiq, the Yorkshire offspinner, has been suspended from all cricket for one month and ordered to pay costs of £500 after being found guilty of two breaches of the ECB Directive

Cricinfo staff04-Aug-2010Azeem Rafiq, the Yorkshire offspinner, has been suspended from all cricket for one month and ordered to pay costs of £500 after being found guilty of two breaches of the ECB Directive following his foul-mouthed Twitter attack on the England Under-19 coach John Abraham.Rafiq, who captained England to a 199-run defeat in the first Test against Sri Lanka U19s, reacted to his omission from the second match at Scarborough (which England won) by firing a scathing attack on Abraham via Twitter, which read: “What a f***ing farsee … John Abrahams is a useless ****… ECB prove it again what incompetent people are working for them!!”And he hadn’t finished there when he added: “John Abrahams is a useless w****r.”A Cricket Discipline Commission panel – comprising Edward Slinger, Ricky Needham and Matthew Wheeler – convened at Lord’s on Tuesday to consider two charges, firstly that there had been a breach of ECB Directives by personal attack in a public statement, and also that the game had been brought into disrepute by that public statement.According to an ECB statement, Rafiq pleaded guilty to both charges and apologised unreservedly for his actions, but was suspended from all cricket under ECB jurisdiction for a period of one month from July 26, and ordered him to pay £500 towards the costs of the hearing.”The panel considered this to be a serious breach of the regulations particularly given Rafiq’s position as captain of the England U19 side,” continued the statement.Rafiq’s county, Yorkshire, had already suspended the player indefinitely for his outburst, with Stewart Regan, the chief executive, stating: “Azeem’s behaviour was totally unacceptable and the club will not tolerate it. Our professional players are role models to aspiring young cricketers and need to behave as such.”England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, was asked about the incident as he prepared for the first Test against Pakistan. He had experience of a player getting into trouble over Twitter when Tim Bresnan was forced to apologise for a comment he posted during the Champions Trophy last year and Strauss said players, at whatever age, must take responsbility.”What I would say is that if you haven’t led by example and have let yourself down you’ve got to take it on the chin and learn from it,” he said. “For a start players should be aware that what they write on Twitter is going to be seen by people they might not want it to be seen by. We’ve had a number of occasions of that happening, so I’d say to be very careful on that.”The other thing I’d say is that there is a right way to react to things and there is a wrong way and venting your frustration is not the right way to do it especially if you have been in the wrong. You need to take it on the chin and learn from it otherwise there are plenty of other people who can do it better than you.”It isn’t the first time Rafiq has been caught in controversy although the previous occasion was much less his fault. Yorkshire played him in their 2008 Twenty20 Cup quarter-final against Durham without realising he wasn’t properly registered and didn’t hold a British passport.Graeme Swann is the most prolific ‘tweeter’ in English cricket with an avid following and has just about avoided pushing the boundaries too much. James Anderson also tweets regularly and the pair often take part in extensive banter. However, Australia batsman Phil Hughes had less success when he announced he’d been dropped for the third Test of the Ashes last year before the team wanted it revealed to the public.

No play was possible on the second day of the County Championship Division Two match between Northamptonshire and Worcestershire at Wantage Road

26-Aug-2010
Scorecard
No play was possible on the second day of the County Championship Division Two match between Northamptonshire and Worcestershire at Wantage Road.Rain fell throughout the night in Northampton and with the forecast suggesting no respite, umpires Mark Benson and Nick Cook decided to abandon the day in the afternoon.It was another blow to Northaptomshire’s flagging promotion hopes as they looked to stabilise their innings and will resume on the third day on 96 for 3, with Stephen Peters unbeaten on 38 and Rob Newton yet to score.Worcestershire, who have Division One aspirations of their own, will look to keep up the pressure tomorrow, with Alan Richardson looking to build on his figures of 2 for 21.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting hopes the two-Test series in India next month will be a step towards reclaiming the number one Test ranking

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2010Ricky Ponting hopes the two-Test series in India next month will be a step towards Australia reclaiming the No. 1 Test ranking. Australia are presently fourth in the ratings, 14 points behind top-ranked India, and a 2-0 win for the visitors will narrow the gap to four.”It’s an important tour for all of us,” Pointing said before his side’s departure to India. “I don’t expect miracles, but I expect a very high level of performance over the next few weeks. If we happen to play the cricket I know we are capable of in India, and we can win that series, that will do great things for us to get back up near the No. 1 ranking.”Australia and India have been neck-and-neck in Test cricket over the past decade: India won seven matches, including two away, while Australia prevailed in six. Their last tour to India was one of the more one-sided contests, which the hosts won 2-0. In the build-up to this tour, there have been suggestions that it wasn’t ideal preparation ahead of the Ashes that begin later in the year. Ponting, however, dismissed those claims.”There’s been a bit of talk the last few weeks about our preparation into what we’ve got later in the summer, and I definitely couldn’t be happier with it, playing Test cricket at this time of year. I think it will be great to be challenged by a very good team and by the conditions. I think it will be great for us when November (and the Ashes) comes around.”Ponting also called upon the ICC to act quickly on the spot-fixing allegations that have marred Pakistan’s ongoing tour of England. “The events of the last couple of weeks have had a big impact I’m sure around the world on the way that the game is viewed, but that’s completely out of our hands. The ICC needs to be doing whatever it can to get on top of these things as quickly as possible.”Three Pakistan players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – were provisionally suspended by the ICC after the spot-fixing controversy broke during the Lord’s Test. Yesterday, the ICC launched an investigation into the third ODI at The Oval, after receiving information from newspaper prior to the game on Friday, alleging bookies were aware of certain scoring patterns that occurred during the match. Ponting lauded the ICC’s moves to curb the menace, and said there was little players could do except play honest cricket.”They’ve done a pretty good job over the last few weeks already and with this latest allegation, hopefully they will get to the bottom of this pretty quick as well,” Ponting said. “There’s nothing we [players] can do about that. As an Australian cricket team, all we can do is play the best brand of cricket day in and day out.”I think if we all do the right things on the field, hopefully there will be something positive coming back on the newspaper pages about the game of cricket, which is what we will try and achieve.”

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies batsman, has said that he wasn’t surprised at being dropped from the WICB’s list of contracted players

Cricinfo staff04-Sep-2010Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies batsman, has said that he wasn’t surprised at being dropped from the WICB’s list of contracted players and that the disappointment would not affect his focus in leading Guyana’s Champions League Twenty20 campaign in South Africa.Sarwan said he had been expecting the setback. “I knew for about three weeks now and even before that I was reading between the lines,” he told CMC. “I am disappointed that it seems I am most times singled out for special attention by the board. At times I get the impression that some people believe that I deliberately get injured and that could be more frustrating than the injury. I continue to be fully committed to representing the West Indies and at this point I am fitter than I was a year ago.”Sarwan’s immediate assignment, is to captain Guyana in the financially-lucrative Champions League, which begins on September 10. “My focus is on ensuring our team represents Guyana and the entire region in the best possible way in South Africa,” he said. “We have a job to do in South Africa and me not getting a contract is not a distraction. They (WICB) made their decision and they must have their reasons.”The WICB announced its list of contracted players on August 31 and later released a statement backing the selection committee’s decision to cut Sarwan. “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 the statement. It also said that contracts had not been awarded to fast bowler Jerome Taylor and batsman Narsingh Deonarine because of their fitness issues.

Sunil Gavaskar has refused an offer to be part of the IPL governing council because he felt that the league was a commercial enterprise and that those working for it should be remunerated

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2010Sunil Gavaskar has turned down the BCCI’s offer to be part of the IPL’s governing council, saying he felt that the league was a commercial enterprise and those working for it should be remunerated. The Indian board had said on Wednesday that members of the reconstituted council would no longer receive a salary.”I have been contacted and I have declined because after yesterday [Wednesday] I had second thoughts,” Gavaskar told NDTV. “The IPL is a commercial enterprise and non-BCCI members, former cricketers included, should be remunerated for the expertise, experience and time that they bring to the table.”Gavaskar had, on Wednesday evening, said he was willing to work in an honorary capacity but said this was not a turnaround. “Let me tell you for Indian cricket I am always there, but the IPL is a commercial enterprise.” Under the old system, the three former cricketers on the council – Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi – were paid Rs 1 crore (approximately $220,000) for their services.Doing away with salaries was only one of the wholesale changes the BCCI made to the governing council at its annual general meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday. It dissolved the existing body and set up a new one with Chirayu Amin as the chairman. The council also included five other members – Arun Jaitley, Ranjib Biswal, Anurag Thakur, Ajay Shirke and Rajiv Shukla – and two former cricketers, one of whom was Shastri, who had agreed to work in an honorary capacity.Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, had said that he needed to check with Gavaskar and Pataudi whether they were willing to serve on the council without remuneration.

Surrey batsman Mark Ramprakash faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines and an operation after damaging ligaments in his left knee while playing football

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2010Surrey batsman Mark Ramprakash faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines and an operation after damaging ligaments in his left knee while playing football.Ramprakash, 41, sustained the injury during a charity match and will now miss Surrey’s pre-season schedule as well as the start of the 2011 county season. It’s a major blow for Surrey who struggled last year, especially with the bat, and won just four matches in the Championship.Despite this Ramprakash was the leading run-scorer in Division Two of the Championship making 1595 runs at 61.34 but now could be out of action until May.”The injury is quite serious but I’ve been to see a specialist and it was pretty clear cut that I need an operation,” Ramprakash told Surrey TV. “Hopefully that will go well and I’m going to be on crutches for around seven to ten days – after that it’s following the long road to recovery.”I was playing in a game of football on Saturday and quite early in the game I managed to get tangled up with another player. It was a bit freakish really – there was no malice involved – and I managed to twist my knee quite badly. There is a little bit of damage to the medial ligament, a very small tear in the cartilage and damage to the anterior cruciate ligament, which the one that is a bit of problem really.”Hopefully there will be no complications”, he added. “If there are none then it’s possible that even around the ten day mark the physios will decide they can stick me on an exercise bike with no resistance and get the leg turning round. Of course, I expect there will be a lot of work in the swimming pool as well.”After that it’s just a case of seeing how it reacts and building those exercises up more and more. Right now, moving in a straight line is not a really problem so I’m hopeful that things will go smoothly.”The specialist was saying that my knee is in excellent condition considering I’m a professional sportsman and have been for a long, long time, so hopefully that will all help.”In terms of cricket – it’s my left leg so when you’re playing forward it’s important that you’ve got flexibility in that knee; running between the wickets of course and running sideways in the field and being able to move to your left or your right at speed. Those of sorts things will be the ultimate goal but before that there will have to be a lot of work.”

Former Tamil Nadu batsman Tirumalai Srinivasan died on Monday morning after a long struggle against brain cancer

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2010Former Tamil Nadu batsman Tirumalai Srinivasan died on Monday morning after a long struggle against brain cancer. The 60-year-old had had two surgeries and was due to have a third when he passed away.Srinivasan was first noticed when he hit 112 for South Zone against North Zone in the Duleep Trophy in the 1977-78 season. A string of consistent performances, culminating in an innings of 129 in the 1980-81 Deodhar Trophy final and an unbeaten ton against Delhi in the Irani Trophy, earned him a place in the India squad for that season’s tour of Australia and New Zealand. A famous anecdote from that tour captured Srinivasan’s witty outlook to life. When he landed in Australia, Srinivasan allegedly told a local press reporter, “‘Tell Dennis Lillee TE has arrived”. He could, however, not make an impact on the field, scoring 48 runs in his solitary Test in Auckland, and failing in two one-dayers.In an era that included the likes of Kris Srikkanth, Srinivasan was considered by many to be the best batsman of his times to play for Tamil Nadu. Though his international career did not take off, he was quite successful when he turned out in the Yorkshire League for the local outfit Wodehouse. Former England captain Michael Atherton, in his autobiography , documented his appreciation of Srinivasan’s strokeplay in the league. “A swashbuckling batsman from Madras, Srinivasan was everything that [Sri Lanka’s Sidath] Wettimuny was not – wild, aggressive, and totally unorthodox,” Atherton wrote. “He was a stalwart for Tamil Nadu, in India, for many years.”S Venkataraghavan, the former India and Tamil Nadu offspinner, recalled Srinivasan as being a wonderful friend. “He enjoyed his cricket as much as he enjoyed life,” he said. “In my opinion, he was one of the best I have seen. His death is a great personal loss to me.”The latter part of Srinivasan’s life was dominated by his protracted battle against cancer. He underwent his first surgery immediately after being diagnosed with a malignant tumour at the age of 54, following which he managed to lead a near-normal life. However, a risky second surgery to remove the residual tumour and scar tissue, that had formed due to his treatment, left him almost paralysed and speechless. He responded remarkably to an advanced second line of therapy recommended by doctors from New York University. Having put up a brave front against the disease, Srinivasan was keen to help cancer patients and dreamt of setting up a hospital or a foundation to that end. Unfortunately, he could not live long enough to see the cause through to its completion.

In typical fashion, MS Dhoni has sought to downplay the Durban win, saying this win is as special as ones that came in Kanpur, Eden Gardens or anywhere else

Sidharth Monga at Kingsmead29-Dec-2010In typical fashion, MS Dhoni has sought to downplay the Durban win, saying this win is as special as ones that came in Kanpur, Eden Gardens or anywhere else. Just one win, he said, neither justifies the team’s No. 1 ranking nor earns the respect here in South Africa, where they were doubted and questioned by the media, the former players and the opposition. “Then what about what we have been doing in the last few years?” Dhoni said. “All those wins have an impact on the confidence and morale of the side.”India came to Durban bruised and battered from Centurion, and lost the toss on an overcast morning. But through some sensible batting and bowling, sensational catching, and a couple of lucky breaks when bowling in the first innings, India – through their first win in a Boxing Day Test – levelled the series. In the process, Dhoni joined Mohammad Azharuddin as the second-most successful Indian Test captain. While Azhar got his 14 wins in 47 Tests, Dhoni’s side has taken only 23 Tests to get to that mark, which means that Dhoni’s success-rate among players who have captained sides for more than 20 Tests is behind only that of Steve Waugh, Don Bradman, and Ricky Ponting.”It means I’ve got a good side,” Dhoni said of his captaincy record. “What it means is that we’ve played consistent cricket over a period of time. We started this process around September 2008 and two years hence we’re in a position where we can say we have done well in most places. Of course it’s a proud moment. As a team, whether it’s batting, bowling or fielding, we’ve done consistently well. We’ve taken some good catches despite not being a brilliant ground-fielding side. It feels really good that we’ve done well together.”There can be a situation where the team is doing well and the captain is labelled as doing a good job. But it’s the 16 guys in the squad that have to perform well as a unit. When it comes to the Indian team, it’s about how the youngsters coming in contribute as we face a lot of injuries to the fast bowlers and batsmen also. I’m fortunate to have people who are willing to go onto the field and do their best.”Dhoni quickly moved on to talking of another record that he needs to protect in three days’ time, that of never having lost a series as a captain. Four years ago, India went to Cape Town 1-1, but lost on a turning track. “We had a brilliant first innings and then a disappointing second innings, because of which we lost that Test,” he said. “It’s important to be at our best in all three departments.”The confidence of this side – a departure from the ones before Sourav Ganguly and John Wright started taking India ahead – shows in the kind of track Dhoni is expecting in Cape Town. “The greener the better,” he said. “Most of our bowlers are skill bowlers. Even if we bowl only 135 to 140k, we are swing bowlers, which means the greener the wicket the better it is because the bowlers can swing it a bit more.”Dhoni was full of praise for the two key protagonists in this win, VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan. “Hopefully it [Laxman’s back] will be okay for the next few years,” Dhoni said. “We always count on Laxman. Whenever you see him not scoring in a couple of innings, you know something very special is coming. It was one of those wickets where it was quite tough to convince yourself that you’re set because one odd ball may do something and get you out. At the end of the day the 96 runs that he made mattered. It would have been lovely if he got to a hundred, but you don’t always get what you want.”The bowling unit’s reliance on Zaheer – not necessarily for wickets, but also for the leadership – is a bit of a concern, but Dhoni chose to look at the positives. “The youngsters are getting groomed under Zaheer,” he said. “Of course, it’s the coach’s job to groom all the players but when you have someone like Zaheer it reduces the coach’s workload by 50%. Also Zaheer is very good under pressure. He doesn’t panic in tough situations, and he convinces bowlers about the fields they should set and the lines and lengths they should bowl.”