All posts by csb10.top

Aftab Ahmed, the Bangladesh batsman, will miss the forthcoming tri-series at home and the Asia Cup in Pakistan, after sustaining a fractured finger during training at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, on Saturday.Aftab was struck on the ring finger of his right hand, while trying to fend off a rising delivery from the seamer Mahbubul Alam. His place has gone to the allrounder Alok Kapali while Rajin Saleh will replace Kapali in the Bangladesh A squad for the upcoming tour of Ireland.The Bangladesh Cricket Board has confirmed the finger was also dislocated. Aftab will require surgery and is ruled out for six weeks. “There is a lot of pain on the finger and it has also swelled,” Aftab told the .This is Aftab’s second injury in the last three months, after he top-edged a Jacques Kallis delivery onto his face while batting in the Chittagong Test against South Africa. He missed the three one-dayers which followed and returned for the ODI series against Ireland at home.The first match of the tri-series, also featuring India and Pakistan, will be played on June 8 in Mirpur.

Surrey County Cricket Club is very pleased to announce that Alec Stewart MBE has been awarded a Testimonial in 2003. Alec made his County debut in 1981 and was the Club’s Beneficiary in 1994.Paul Sheldon Chief Executive Surrey County Cricket Club stated:”Alec has shown tremendous loyalty and service to both England and Surrey County Cricket Club over the past two decades. The Club is delighted to mark Alec’s career and achievements by making this well deserved award.”Alec Stewart stated:”Playing for Surrey throughout my career has been a fantastic privilege. I have been lucky enough to play with some great players and particularly to be a part of the huge success the Club has achieved over the last six years. I hope that I can continue to contribute both on and off the pitch in years to come.”Richard Thompson Chairman of Cricket Surrey County Cricket Club stated:”A Testimonial is only awarded to a player whose contribution is exceptional, in Alec’s case it could not be more appropriate.”

Nashua WP cricket selectors have named a strong team to play Easterns in the Supersport Series final at Willowmore Park starting on Friday.

MEDIA RELEASE:Competition:SUPERSPORT SERIES FINALNASHUA WESTERN PROVINCE VS EASTERNSWillowmoore Park Cricket Stadium, 1-5 November 2002Western Province Team:1) Gary Kirsten2) Herschelle Gibbs3) Graeme Smith4) Jacques Kallis5) Ashwell Prince6) Neil Johnson ( C )7) Thami Tsolekile8) Claude Henderson9) Alan Dawson10) Quinton Friend11) Charl Willoughby12TH man) J.P. DuminyCricket Manager:  Peter KirstenARTHUR TURNERCEO – WPC

											

Somerset Sabres return to one day action tomorrow when they travel to Birmingham to play against Warwickshire Bears in the NUL Division One National League.Over the years Edgbaston has not been a very happy hunting ground for Somerset, and on the last occasion that the two sides met on April 28th in the zonal round of the Benson and Hedges Cup Warwickshire were the victors in a rain affected match.The Sabres will be heartened by the inclusion of their two England players Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick, and the return of fast bowler Richard Johnson who has been missing from the scene for several weeks recovering from injury.However Steffan Jones is still not fully fit, so doesn’t make the trip to the midlands. Instead, Steffan will be playing in two club matches over the weekend to see how he fares before knowing whether he will be fit to play in the championship match at Bath on Wednesday.The full Somerset Sabres squad is: Marcus Trescothick, Jamie Cox, Peter Bowler, Mike Burns, Keith Parsons, Ian Blackwell, Rob Turner, Keith Dutch, Richard Johnson, Andy Caddick, Simon Francis and Matt Bulbeck.Earlier today Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "It’s great to have Caddy, Tresco and Johnno back in the team, and apart from Steffan we are at full strength."What were his thoughts going into the game at Edgbaston I asked. Kevin told me: "Warwickshire are on the back of a good win in the Bensons and will either be on the crest of the wave as a result, or will be shattered like we were when we played a couple of days after winning the C and G last season."He added: "However we have had a good break and everybody is ready for the next game tomorrow."Veteran batsman Peter Bowler was in no doubt about the importance of the game tomorrow when I spoke to him earlier this week. He told me: "This is a must win match for us. We can’t afford to lose another. With the competition being played over 16 matches not many teams can recover from three defeats on the trot."He concluded: "However it’s not all doom and gloom. The general feeling of confidence is good, and hopefully the win over the Yorkshire Cricket Board will give us the lift we need."

Pakistan got back into their winning ways with a commendable 28-run victory over Sri Lanka in the second game of the Morocco Cup Wednesday.Pakistan, beaten by South Africa Monday, earned their success through a disciplined performance that displayed their firepower with the bat, athleticism in the field, and bite and penetration in bowling.Put into bat by Sanath Jayasuriya, Pakistan rode on excellent half centuries from Saeed Anwar,Inzamam-ul-Haq and Man-of-the-Match Younis Khan to post an imposing 279 for five.Waqar Younis’s men restricted Sri Lanka to 251 for eight after they had made a breezy start by putting on 82 for one in the first 15 overs. Pakistan were, however, fined five per cent of their match fee for slow over-rate.Saeed’s return to his majestic best or Inzamam’s ability to carry the innings through or Younis’s and Abdul Razzaq’s whirlwind finish with a ruthless slaughter of Sri Lankan bowlers in the death overs was no big surprise because they all are well capable of doing this.Usually lethargic and lazy fielders were on their toes throughout the 50 overs. They backed their bowlers by cutting off ones and twos, held all the catches that came their way except Inzamam, who dropped Upal Chandana when the ball was lost in the sun, and Imran Nazir who grassed a sitter of Atapattu in the fifth over.Also impressive was Pakistan’s bowling in the absence of Shoaib Akhtar. After Jayasuriya (36 off 33) took the attack to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, the young guns in Sami, Razzaq and Shahid Afridi rose to the occasion and bowled intelligently, according to the field.Sami’s inclusion gave the attack the option that was missing in the absence of Shoaib Akhtar. Sami bowled almost regularly at 143kph that made it difficult for the batsmen to adjust and throw their arms around. Shahid made full use of a bouncy track by bowling to a teasing line and length while Razzaq was as mean as ever to end up with three for 36.It was this young trio that tightened the screws around Sri Lanka when they conceded 111 runs from their 30 overs. Such was the accuracy of the three that when Chandana hit Shahid was a six in the 35th over, it was the first boundary in 81 balls. For a change, it was Wasim and Waqar who got the hammering. The two old war horses gave away 133 runs between them, with the skipper being hit away for 77 after grabbing five for 38 only a couple of days back.In the batting, there was purpose, planning and strategy evident from the way they handled spin king Muthiah Muralitharan. None of the batsmen took chances against him and concentrated on keeping their wickets intact but missed no opportunity to punish bad balls.Saeed showed his class and wristy elegance with some exquisite stroke-play. But he must be regretting the opportunity of missing his 20th century, his first in two years, when he was bowled by Chandana while trying to manufacture a single after having hit a six and four in three balls. Saeed scored 70 off 77 balls that included seven boundaries and a six.Inzamam played the role of the most seasoned player with perfection while contributing 63 off 95 balls that included five fours and a six. But it was Younis Khan’s clean hitting that helped Pakistan collect 99 off the last 10 overs, including 55 from the final five overs. The best stroke of the match also came from the willow of Younis when he swept fast bowler Dilhara Fernando for an incredible six over square-leg. Younis slapped five fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 39-ball 56.Together with Razzaq, who scored 29 off 11 balls with two fours and as many sixes, Younis put on 50 runs for the unfinished sixth wicket from 22 balls. The two were also responsible for spoiling Chaminda Vaas’s figures when they hit him for 35 runs in his last two overs, including 25 in the final over of the innings.

Old Georgians shrugged off Mutare Sports Club’s dominance of club cricket this season to win the Castle Lager National First League knockout final by 12 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method at HarareSports Club on Sunday 17 March.The victory was, in a way, a consolation for OGs after they had narrowly missed out on the National First League title. They finished equal on points with champions Mutare but lost out by virtue of an inferior net run rate.The environment at the international venue made a mockery of the final. There was a small crowd of not more than 100, with the majority housed in the new VIP stand while a few were having drinks at the Keg. A `Jumping Castle’ mounted for the kids was largely deserted for the better part of the day and there was no need to operate the big scoreboards at the ground which were last used during the one-day series against England in October last year.In the field all-rounders Gus Mackay and Craig Evans set up the Old Georgians victory with an outstanding display with both the bat and the ball. Evans, batting at number four, hit a six and six fours in making his 53. He had looked comfortable until the first ball of the 36th over when he was brilliantly caught by a diving Taylor at long on while attempting a six.Mackay provided entertainment for the small crowd with an aggressive batting display that saw him score 87 off just 59 balls, smashing six sixes and three fours. Off the first ball of the 45th over, bowled by Guy Whittall, Mackay smashed a big six that landed on the roof of the VIP lounge, and it took almost five minutes for a groundsman to locate the ball. The umpires were already making arrangements for a new ball.When play resumed Mackay smashed another huge six, which disappeared behind the VIP lounge but this time it was located quickly. When he tried another big shot off the third ball he only managed to reach IanCoulson at deep fine leg to leave the score on 237 for eight. OGs were eventually bowled out for 248 after 48.4 overs.Richard Sims claimed three wickets for 32 off 10 overs while Whittall finished with expensive figures of 10-2-62-2.Mutare’s innings was then interrupted by a heavy downpour, which pounded the capital in the afternoon, resulting in 13 overs being lost. Their target was then revised to 213 off 37 overs.The visitors lost wickets regularly with all-rounder Richard Sims being the only defiant batsman. Batting at number three, he scored 84 runs off 85 balls while the second-best contribution came from opener Neil Ferreira, who scored 31.With Evans taking four wickets for 43 off eight overs, Mutare Sports Club could only reach 201 for eight off their allotted 37 overs to concede the match by 12 runs. The result meant that they could not emulate former champions Old Hararians’ feat of claiming both the league championship and the knockout title.While the game marked the end of Mutare’s domestic club season, OGs still have a chance of grabbing another title when they take part in the Mashonaland Knockout Shield which starts on 20 April. OGs will take on Takashinga in the first round while Universals meet Harare Sports Club.Old Hararians will meet the winner of the Universals/HSC match while Alex will play the winner of OGs/Takashinga in the semi-finals on 27 April. The final will be held on 4 May. The first round and the semi-final will be played over 35 overs while the final will be played over 40 overs.NATIONAL FIRST LEAGUE KNOCK-OUT FINALMUTARE SPORTS CLUB v OLD GEORGIANS SPORTS CLUB
Played at Harare Sports Club on 17 March 2002Old Georgians won by 12 runsOld Georgians
248 all out in 48.4 overs
Lance Malloch-Brown 29, Barney Rogers 30, Craig Evans 53, Angus Mackay 87, Glen Barrett 20
Leon Soma 1 – 17, Jonathon Brent 2 – 42, Justin Lewis 1 – 59, Guy Whittall 2 – 62, Richard Sims 3 – 32Mutare
201 for 8 wickets in 37 overs
Neil Ferreira 31, Richard Sims 84, Andre Soma 25, Jonathon Brent 17
Angus Mackay 1 – 31, Wadington Mwayenga 2 – 27, Craig Evans 4 – 43, Barney Rogers 1 – 26
Rain interrupted play when Mutare had score 99 for 4 wickets off 21.4 overs. 13 overs were lost due to the interruption and Mutare were given a revised target of 214 runs.

Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday joined the group of legendary cricketers whose names embellish the Wankhede Stadium with the Mumbai Cricket Association deciding to name the MCA pavilion after the Indian battingmaestro.The proposal to honour Tendulkar after he became the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, was cleared at the MCA’s marathon four hour meeting on Tuesday night which was chaired by vice president of the association Pravin Barve.Barve while making the announcement said, "the Mumbai star who achieved a milestone during the recent home series against Australia and was awarded the prestigious Maharashtra Bhushan award by the state government would be felicitated by the association on May 23 at the Wankhede stadium."The 28-year old Tendulkar, the recipient of `Padmashree’ and`Maharashtra Bhushan’ awards, will now join the ranks of former Indianstars Vijay Merchant, Vinoo Mankad, Polly Umrigar, Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Manjrekar after whom certain sections of the stadium have been named.The East and West Stands have been named after Gavaskar and Merchant, while the two main gates of the stadium are known as Umrigar and Mankad Gates and the dressing room has been named after Manjrekar.

Overview

New Zealand are Twenty20 cricket’s Even Stevens. This year, they have won four T20 internationals and lost four. Their record at the World T20 is eight wins and eight losses. Overall in the shortest format they have won 25 and lost 25. It is a respectable enough record for a country whose talent pool is not the deepest. But the thing about breaking even is that while you don’t go bust, nor do you reap any kind of profit. And that’s the situation New Zealand find themselves in at this year’s World T20. It might be a case of stating the obvious, but if New Zealand want to add another major piece of silverware to sit alongside the 2000 ICC Knockout Trophy, they must find a way to win more than they lose. Does that mean taking more risks? Perhaps. Whatever the case, there is enough individual talent in their batting line-up to suggest that they can post some decent totals in this format. Remarkable as it may seem, New Zealand are the only team with two of the top five batsmen in the ICC’s T20 rankings: Brendon McCullum at No. 1 and Martin Guptill at No. 5. And only Australia have hit more sixes in T20 history than New Zealand. The challenge is to turn those figures into something tangible.Finding a way to bowl teams out cheaply could be New Zealand’s problem. In the past three years they have conceded three 200-plus totals, the same as India, while no other country has conceded that many more than once. It will help that Daniel Vettori has come out of retirement from T20 internationals for this tournament. His career economy rate of 5.50 is outstanding; among players in this tournament only Vettori and Ajantha Mendis have sustained such a low economy rate for any length of time. He and Nathan McCullum, who is fifth on the ICC’s rankings for T20 international bowlers, will form a tricky spin duo and should ease the burden on the seam attack. But the fast men cannot afford to leak too many runs, because to have any chance of reaching the final stages of the World T20, New Zealand need all parts of their game firing simultaneously.

Key Player

It’s no surprise that Brendon McCullum is the No. 1-ranked T20 international batsman in the world. He has scored more T20 international runs than any other player, he has passed fifty more times than anyone else, hit the most sixes and struck the most fours. In any team he would be the most important player; in a side like New Zealand, even more so. His ability to clear the boundary, and to sustain that throughout an innings, will go a long way to determining how far New Zealand can go in this tournament.

Surprise package

At the last World T20, James Franklin was not considered good enough to earn a place in New Zealand’s squad, and he promptly went away and reinvented himself as an excellent T20 batsman, sometimes as an opener and sometimes in the middle order. Only Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor and Scott Styris have scored more T20 runs among New Zealanders than Franklin, who has enjoyed playing in the subcontinent during his time with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He will also provide a useful bowling option if New Zealand go in to matches with a spin-heavy attack.

Weakness

There is firepower in New Zealand’s batting, but they must find a way to restrict their opponents when bowling. The problem is their fast men. Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Doug Bracewell and Franklin all have T20 career economy rates of more than eight an over. The only seamer in the squad with a figure below that is Jacob Oram. His economy rate is 7.99. Vettori and Nathan McCullum can only do so much.

World T20 history

New Zealand reached the semi-finals of the inaugural World T20, losing to Pakistan, but they didn’t make it past the Super Eights in 2009 or 2010. Their win-loss record at the World T20 is eight wins and eight losses.

Recent form

New Zealand’s tendency to break even has continued this year, as they have won four T20s and lost four. They beat Zimbabwe 2-0, suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of South Africa, lost 2-0 to West Indies in Florida and then beat India 1-0.

At the end of another eventful day, East Zone were scenting victory intheir Duleep Trophy match against South Zone at the Maharaja BirBikram College Stadium in Agartala on Friday. Eleven runs behind onthe first innings, South Zone were all out for 177 in their secondknock. Requiring 167 runs for victory, East Zone were 71 for two atstumps. With only 96 runs more required and eight wickets in hand,they must start the third day as favourites.Resuming at three for no loss, South Zone were again rocked byDebasish Mohanty who dismissed both openers Sridharan Sriram (14) andA Nandakishore (18) with only 42 runs on the board. However, SouthZone’s fortunes were, for a short while, in the safe hands of RahulDravid and VVS Laxman. The two India stars added 67 runs for the thirdwicket off 18 overs and at 109 for two, South Zone seemed poised for achallenging total. However Assam left arm spinner Sukhbinder Singh hadLaxman caught and bowled for 40 and there was precious littlesubstance in the South Zone batting thereafter. Laxman faced 66 ballsand hit seven fours.Mohanty came back to dismiss Vijay Bhardwaj (1) for his 13th wicket ofthe match. Sukhbinder then had VST Naidu leg before for eight. SunilJoshi became the third successive lbw victim when he was dismissed byMohanty. Aashish Kapoor and Javagal Srinath were dismissed offsuccessive deliveries from Sukhbinder and South Zone had slumped to138 for eight.Dravid was holding one end up and he now found an able partner in WDBalaji Rao with whom he added 35 runs for the ninth wicket off eightovers. However Sukhbinder brought the innings to a swift end when inone over he had the wickets of Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad. Dravid,who batted a shade over three hours for 66, faced 143 balls and hiteight of them to the ropes. But the chief honours were claimed bySukhbinder who finished with six for 57. Mohanty’s bag of four for 45gave him a match haul of 14 for 91.East Zone required only a modest target but were rocked by Indianpacemen Srinath and Prasad. While P Jai Chandra was bowled by Prasadfor three, RR Parida was bowled by Srinath for a duck. East Zone werein trouble at eight for two. But Indian opener Shiv Sundar Das andSanjay Raul weathered the storm with an unbroken third wicketpartnership of 63 runs off 29.3 overs. By close, Das was batting on 49compiled off 108 balls with seven fours. Raul was on 15.

Two partnerships, both involving Jon Dakin, saved Leicestershire’s blushes after they had declined to 88-6 in mid-afternoon, the first, with Neil Burns, yielding 59 and the second, with Carl Crowe, putting on 92.There was some early life in the pitch, which had spent the first two days under the covers, and Ed Giddins soon had Iain Sutcliffe lbw with an inswinger before finding Darren Maddy’s outside edge with one that left him.Ben Smith and Aftab Habib brought about a partial recovery that ended when Smith chipped Martin Bicknell tamely to mid off. Bicknell followed up by having Habib and Darren Stevens caught in the gully and Daniel Marsh lbw.Bicknell’s burst of four for five in 11 balls left Leicestershire dismally placed but Burns and Dakin counter-attacked boldly, their 50 partnership containing 11 fours, six of them to Dakin whose first 24 runs came entirely in boundaries.When Ian Salisbury came on Burns immediately drove a full toss to mid on but Crowe quickly established himself, playing skilfully wide of mid on. Dakin, meanwhile, controlled his aggressive instincts as Leicestershire moved steadily out of trouble.Giddins returned to have Crowe caught at cover, Dakin caught at mid-wicket hooking, and James Ormond caught behind to finish with 5-48 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 246. Surrey raced to 46 without loss in the seven overs remaining, Nadeem Shahid being missed at slip by Habib when 17.