All posts by n8rngtd.top

Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and David Hussey have all been given the chance to impress the selectors in Australia’s only ODI before the World Cup squad is named

Brydon Coverdale11-Jan-2011Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and David Hussey have all been given the chance to press for World Cup selection after being named in Australia’s squad for the first ODI against England. The match in Melbourne on Sunday will be the only one-day game Australia will play before their 15-man World Cup group needs to be finalised, so there is plenty at stake for several fringe men.Nathan Hauritz was also chosen, having not been part of Australia’s team in any format since he was axed before the first Ashes Test. Hauritz, Xavier Doherty and Steven Smith are all in the 14-man squad, and with the World Cup to be played on spin-friendly subcontinental surfaces, they will all be keen to impress in the 50-over format.Michael Clarke, who last week announced his retirement from Twenty20s, will captain the side with Ricky Ponting still sidelined by his finger injury. Brad Haddin was picked and will be Australia’s first-choice gloveman at the World Cup, despite the selectors giving Tim Paine the vice-captaincy for the two Twenty20s against England this week.Lee will be aiming to play his first ODI since October 2009, after a severely injury-disrupted 2010, and he has already made clear his ambition to be part of Australia’s World Cup defence. He will form part of a quick attack with Tait, Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle forming the rest of the fast-bowling group.One of the most interesting selections was that of David Hussey, who hasn’t played an ODI since a one-off match against Scotland in August 2009, and has been considered a Twenty20 specialist by the national selectors since then. Despite having scored only 143 runs at 23.83 in the split-innings Ryobi Cup this summer, Hussey has been give a chance ahead of his Victorian team-mate Brad Hodge, who is the competition’s leading run scorer.There was no room for Callum Ferguson, although that might be because he is already considered a lock-in for the World Cup, while Shaun Marsh was also overlooked. A new squad will be chosen for the remaining six ODIs against England, and that is likely to comprise the 15-man World Cup group, as it will be their final hit-out before flying to India.”We’ve given David Hussey the opportunity to push for inclusion in the World Cup squad as we think he will be well suited for the sub-continent conditions which will be faced in the World Cup,” the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said. “Ricky Ponting is recovering from a finger injury sustained during the Ashes, which gives Michael Clarke another chance to lead the one-day side.”His vice-captain will be Cameron White, who has had a real impact on this form of the game in the last year and Cameron will be coming off leading Australia in the two Twenty20 internationals this week. We have some explosive fast bowling with Shaun Tait, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle all selected in this squad. Shaun and Brett will therefore have an opportunity to impress in this form of the game before World Cup squad selection.”We’ve included Nathan Hauritz, who has been a key part of our one-day side for some time now and Xavier Doherty in this squad, who played well against Sri Lanka at the start of the summer. This gives us a chance to look at both of them prior to the World Cup.”Squad Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Xavier Doherty, Peter Siddle, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger.

Shahid Afridi has been named captain of Pakistan’s World Cup squad

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2011Shahid Afridi has been named captain of Pakistan’s World Cup squad, a decision that ends weeks of uncertainty over who will lead the side in the global tournament starting later this month.Pakistan were the only side of the 14 participating teams not to have named their captain when the World Cup squads were announced in January, fuelling debate over whether Misbah-ul-Haq, the Test captain, could take over from limited-overs leader Afridi. Misbah was named vice-captain of the World Cup squad.Afridi has been Pakistan’s ODI captain over the last year but, just before the ongoing New Zealand tour, a number of key players and team management officials raised concerns with the board over his captaincy. The development placed the board in a quandary, caught between players and the captain, ultimately compelling them to delay the announcement of a leader.PCB chairman Ijaz Butt travelled earlier this week to New Zealand, where the team has just recorded its first one-day series win in more than two years, to hold discussions with Afridi, senior players and management officials over who should lead the side.”I had detailed discussions with team management and players in New Zealand regarding captain and vice captain,” Butt said, “and am pleased to state that everyone fully endorsed these decisions.”Pakistan play the final match of their six-ODI series against New Zealand on Saturday in Auckland.

MS Dhoni has said all the players in India’s squad will get a game before the knockout stages, meaning R Ashwin and Suresh Raina will be in the XI on Sunday, against West Indies

Sharda Ugra in Chennai19-Mar-2011The reception given to MS Dhoni at his pre-match media briefing before India’s final group match at the World Cup reflected none of the heated arguments on in print or television, or even outside the media conference room at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Rather than a barrage of unpleasant questions about captaincy, the Indian team’s batting performance in Nagpur, Ashish Nehra’s 50th over or R Ashwin’s debut, the treatement could be described as cordial. “Happy Holi, Mahi,” a reporter said, referring to the famous festival of colours that will spread across most of India over the weekend. Dhoni wished the reporter back warmly. When the question about the batting did turn up, Dhoni decided to leave the colourful quotes behind and tried splashing some whitewash over Nagpur.Dhoni was asked whether there had been a thorough debrief after India lost their last nine wickets for 29 runs in their defeat to South Africa. He replied: “The beauty of our batting side is that you don’t need to always pinpoint what went wrong or what needs to be done. The amount of experience we have got, the moment you commit a mistake you realise, okay, this is what exactly went wrong.” What happened in Nagpur, he said did not “need to be addressed in a big way. Most of us have played over 100 games. But the better sides are the ones who do not repeat their mistakes in short intervals.”India’s biggest mistakes in its two matches against top-flight teams – England and South Africa – he said, had been to take their foot off the pedal after the best of starts. “It’s not only about how well you have started the game and how long you have dominated, you can’t say you have won a game till it’s over. It is a big learning and hopefully we won’t repeat the same mistakes that have happened so far. We are human beings; we are always supposed to commit mistakes. Hopefully the interval between two will be long.” All of India will be wishing that the interval would at least be longer than the next two weeks.R Ashwin is likely to get a game after cooling his heels for the previous group-stage matches•Associated Press

After being pretty tight-lipped about team selection through the tournament so far, Dhoni stuck his neck out this time, and said “everyone” on his team “would have played at least one game before the knockout stage.” Translated that means that the two men who have not had a match so far, Suresh Raina and R Ashwin, will be in the XI on Sunday.Dented reputation or not, what India still has is belief within the batting and the fact that the unit as a whole is “due”. Their captain said so with emphasis. “Our seven batsmen have not fired at their best. If we get a really good day on the field with the batting department, we have the capabilities of putting huge totals on the board and it will definitely be a par plus score.”The question that produced the response was one about the batting. But, as if on autopilot, Dhoni produced a spontaneous, unsolicited comment on India’s fielding, just in case anyone would slip the question in. “I do not see plenty of improvement in the fielding department. We are definitely not as good as some of the teams in the present World Cup but on our own we have shown that we are improving. Our good fielders are doing better every game and our safer fielders are getting better in each and every game.”Sunday’s match would be the last game for India with a safety net of any kind – Bangladesh’s loss on Saturday has guaranteed their path to the quarter-finals – yet an unconvincing performance against West Indies is, unlike one of India’s practice sessions, not an option.

England allrounder Paul Collingwood has undergone successful routine arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to remove ‘loose bodies’ and correct cartilage damage

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2011England allrounder Paul Collingwood has undergone successful routine arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to remove ‘loose bodies’ and correct cartilage damage. Collingwood will begin his recovery and rehabilitation period with Durham and is expected to be available for them ahead of the Twenty20 and one-day international series against Sri Lanka in June.Collingwood, 34, had been struggling with a knee injury since England’s one-day series in Australia prior to the World Cup, and is missing the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League due to his injury.He retired from Test cricket after the Ashes in January and repeatedly said he wanted to prolong his one-day and Twenty20 career despite a prolonged slump in form.He was dropped for two of England’s six group matches at the World Cup and didn’t play in the crunch game against West Indies or the quarter-final defeat to Sri Lanka, but remains the Twenty20 captain.He had been due to take up a deal with Rajasthan Royals after the World Cup, but has since been replaced in their squad by New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram.

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has praised the composure shown by legspinner Devendra Bishoo, who picked up four wickets on Test debut

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2011West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has praised the composure shown by legspinner Devendra Bishoo, who picked up four wickets on Test debut, as Pakistan were bowled out for 160 in their first innings in Guyana.”Judging from his debut in World Cup a few months back he has showed signs of being a very intelligent bowler,” Ottis said. “He showed he has the ability to handle himself when he’s put under pressure and that’s a very good sign.”He only had 226 to bowl at but he didn’t show any nerves. He has been very adaptable and handled the situation very well. Today, Umar Akmal came at him quite hard and he responded very well. He varied his pace and demonstrated he knows exactly what he’s doing.”Bishoo, who was the highest wicket-taker for his side with figures of 4 for 60, said his focus had been on getting the ball “in the right areas”. “I tried to stick to what I normally do,” Bishoo said. “I came here today and I knew once I got the ball in the right areas I would get some wickets.”When I came on to bowl I didn’t look too far ahead. I concentrated on what I wanted to do with each ball and how I would attack each batsman. I got a lot of support from the guys on the field and everyone in the dressing room. It was also good the crowd was behind me.”Bishoo, who was the highest wicket-taker for West Indies in the ODI series, said the wicket of opposition captain Misban-ul-Haq, who became his first Test victim, lbw for 2, set the tone for him for the rest of the innings.”My first wicket was a relief,” Bishoo said. “I knew I got him ‘dead’ in front. He’s the main batsman so to get him so early on was a great feeling. The team needed me to come in and do the job at that stage and I was happy I delivered.” Bishoo’s other three victims were Asad Shafiq, Akmal and Mohammad Salman.The hosts ended the second day on 34 for 2, giving them an overall lead of 100 runs.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in Chennai

The Preview by Nitin Sundar03-May-2011

Match facts

Wednesday, May 4 Chennai
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)”Well of course, let’s play poker”•Associated Press

Big Picture

The invincibles at home face off in back-to-back games over the next five days. Chennai go in as favourites for the first leg, but will not take things for granted. The Chepauk pitch has behaved a lot like the strip at the Sawai Man Singh – dry, slow and with lots of help for spin. The afternoon start will recreate the heat of Jaipur as well, and Shane Warne’s men might feel at home playing here. It will be up to the gladiatorial stands at Chepauk, and the vociferous fans filling them, to remind Rajasthan that this is an away game.Both sides are on the ascendancy, and will be keen to extend their three-game winning streaks. The game could be decided by the respective spin attacks. Both teams have used three-spinner arsenals to great effect in this tournament. Johan Botha has been flexible, opening the attack at times and coming in late at others – much like R Ashwin has done for Chennai. Shane Warne has rolled the years back in the middle overs, while Ashok Menaria has surprised everyone including himself with his guile. Chennai will look for the same kind of impact from Shadab Jakati and – if he plays – Suraj Randiv. Both have been inconsistent so far this year.

Form guide (most recent first)

Chennai: WWWLL (fourth in points table)
Rajasthan: WWWLL (third in points table)

Team talk

Chennai will review Randiv’s role in the side. MS Dhoni likes to have three specialist spinners in the XI for home games, but Randiv has only managed five wickets in six games, and has gone at 7.69 runs per over. Jakati’s figures are worse, but he has improved dramatically in the last three games. Will Faf du Plessis be in line for an IPL debut? Or will Nuwan Kulasekara get another game?Stuart Binny has bowled only three overs and faced 24 balls in five games. Warne may consider benching him in favour of either a specialist bowler or a batsman.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

One of them is the best captain Australia never had. The other has nothing left to win – he leads the world’s ODI champions and the No. 1 Test side, and has World Twenty20, IPL and Champions League trophies in his cabinet. MS Dhoni and Shane Warne are diametrically opposite in demeanour and leadership styles, but bring the same innate flair and magnetism to their craft. Will they face off on the pitch tomorrow?We are three-and-a-half seasons into the IPL, and Rahul Dravid is yet to stamp his excellence on the tournament. He’s got starts in almost every innings this year, and has shepherded a couple of chases with his trademark assurance and correct shots. IPL glory can’t mean much to a man with over 10,000 runs in each of the formats that matter, but Dravid will still want to make a statement one of these days.

Prime numbers

• Suresh Raina is the only batsman with over 1500 IPL runs. MS Dhoni is ninth in the list with 1191 runs, while Rahul Dravid is 13th with 1074
• The last time these two teams played in Chennai, they scored a combined 469 runs in 40 overs – the highest aggregate in any single IPL game.

The chatter

“Once you have dismissed Sachin, you just develop a certain confidence. Any other wicket looks quite ordinary.”
“I am happy with the way we fought back. We play well in our home conditions and we showed that today. If we play with the same intensity we showed today, we will get far into the tournament.”

Reece Topley has been rewarded for his sterling start to the season with a one-year contract with Essex

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2011Reece Topley has been rewarded for his sterling start to the season with a one-year contract with Essex.A product of the Graham Gooch Essex Cricket Academy, the 17-year-old left-arm seamer made his first-class debut in April and took 14 wickets for Essex in his three opening Championship matches – including five-wicket hauls in each of his first two games against Kent and Middlesex.His season was interrupted after a sensational start as he had to return to Royal Hospital School in Suffolk to start revising for the summer exams, and he will make a decision on his academic commitments at the end of the end of the season.”I am really happy and excited to have signed a contract with the club,” said Topley. “This is where I have been playing since the age of nine years old and I’ve grown up watching the players, which I now play alongside. In the future, I look forward to performing for Essex and developing as a player with the club.””Reece is a very exciting prospect and I am delighted for him that he signed his first professional contract with Essex,” added Paul Grayson, Essex’s head coach.”He has already made a big impact in First Class cricket at a young age taking two five-wicket hauls against Kent and also versus Middlesex at Lord’s. He will now look to continue developing and learning all the time as a player.”

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, will go on one month’s leave following the ICC’s five-day annual conference that begins on Sunday in Hong Kong

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2011Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, will go on one month’s leave following the ICC’s five-day annual conference, which begins on June 26 in Hong Kong. In Butt’s absence, chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed will take over as acting chairman and governing board member Naveed Akram Cheema will look after the board’s financial matters, Pakistan newspaper reported.Butt’s term as PCB chairman is scheduled to end in October but there is the option of it being extended by the Pakistan president, who is also the Patron of the board.Butt, whose tenure has been dogged by controversy, received harsh criticism from the Pakistan public after a much-publicised clash with Shahid Afridi. His relationship with other boards has also been rocky: Butt had problems with the ECB after making controversial accusations against the England team during Pakistan’s tour in 2010.

Praveen Kumar, the India seamer, has been fined 20% of his match fee after pleading guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during the first day’s play at Trent Bridge

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jul-2011Praveen Kumar, the India seamer, has been fined 20% of his match fee for arguing with umpire Marais Erasmus over an unsuccessful lbw appeal on the first day at Trent Bridge. Praveen pleaded guilty to the charge of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct.The incident occurred in the 18th over of the day, during which Praveen appealed for a leg before against Kevin Pietersen. Erasmus turned it down. Praveen was disappointed by the decision and argued with Erasmus before being ushered away by Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina.Pietersen had been struck in line and, though he had made a big stride forward, replays suggested the ball would have clipped the bails. The absence of DRS for lbws during this series, at India’s insistence, denied Praveen a chance of a referral.Praveen was found to have breached Article 2.1.3 of the Code of Conduct, which relates to “arguing or entering into a prolonged discussion with the umpire about his decision.” Praveen admitted to the breach and accepted the fine imposed by match referee Ranjan Madugalle.Praveen bounced back later and bowled an outstanding spell of 6-4-7-2. He removed Andrew Strauss, for 32, and Eoin Morgan in the space of three deliveries. He could have had Ian Bell’s wicket had Rahul Dravid not spilled an easy chance at first slip. Earlier in the day, MS Dhoni had given the new ball to Praveen on an overcast morning despite Sreesanth being in the side in place of Zaheer Khan. Praveen swung the new ball both ways and made use of the two-paced pitch with the old ball. He dismissed Graeme Swann with a ball that reared from a length and smashed the glove before lobbing to gully.In his short Test career, Praveen has had several run-ins with umpires. Billy Bowden warned him at Lord’s for running on the danger area of the pitch. Praveen had been removed from the attack for a similar offence in the first Test in the West Indies after two warnings from Daryl Harper.

James Adams and James Vince each scored centuries as Hampshire hammered
Scotland by 115 runs at the Rose Bowl

29-Aug-2011
ScorecardJames Adams and James Vince each scored centuries as Hampshire hammered
Scotland by 115 runs at the Rose Bowl.Adams and Vince came together with the score on 22 for the early loss of
debut-making Tim Ravenscroft and compiled a stand of 233 for the second wicket. Scotland captain Gordon Drummond used seven bowlers in a bid to stem the flow of runs, and he was hampered by the loss of medium-pacer Josh Davey who was injured while bowling his third over. Vince was the first to his century, his first in limited-overs competition, and Adams followed soon afterwards.Vince was the first to go at 255 after making 131 in an innings of 110 balls
that including 13 fours and, by then, the total was already well out of
Scotland’s reach. Michael Carberry was third out on 266 and Adams followed 10 runs later, caught in the deep after making 113 from 103 balls.His innings included nine fours and a six and he became the third victim for
Gordon Goudie as Scotland attempted to salvage some pride from the battering
they took at the hands of the Hampshire batsmen.Hampshire finished their innings with a mammoth 302 for four, and Scotland were
never in with a chance of winning this group B encounter once they had lost Ryan
Flannigan in the fifth over.New Zealander George Worker and Ollie Hairs ensured respectability with a stand
of 50 for the third wicket, but Scotland’s hopes were extinguished when Worker
was caught at mid-wicket by Ravenscroft off Hamza Riazuddin four runs short of
his half-century. Chris Wood and Riazuddin chipped away at the middle order as Scotland attempted to accelerate with four wickets falling for 33 in a vain run chase.Majid Haq and Gaudie held up Hampshire with a brisk ninth-wicket stand of 26
but, when Wood returned to bowl Haq, Scotland had reached 187 for nine,
signalling the end of their resistance because Davey was unable to bat.Wood finished with figures of four for 34 from his eight overs and Riazuddin
took three for 37, but the match was over as a contest long before the
conclusion at the end of the 35th over.Hampshire were left to regret losing four of their first five matches in the
competition, while Scotland captain Drummond was pleased to have chalked up two
victories over the course of the season, although it was not enough to lift them
from the bottom of the group table.