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Essex were indebted to tail-enders Bryce McGain and Tony Palladino for achieving some semblance of respectability in their County Championship battle against Warwickshire at Southend

04-Aug-2010
ScorecardNeil Carter claimed the key wicket when he trapped Ravi Bopara lbw for 1•PA Photos

Essex were indebted to tail-enders Bryce McGain and Tony Palladino for achieving some semblance of respectability in their County Championship battle against Warwickshire at Southend. Between them they were responsible for over a third of Essex’s total of 149 for 9 before rain in mid-afternoon washed out further play.Coming together at 91 for 8, Palladino and McGain added a valuable 43 before the Australian fell lbw to Rikki Clarke for 24 spanning 63 deliveries. Before the rain came Palladino, in his first Championship outing of the summer, had struck 31 that included five fours.The only other batsman to hold up Warwickshire for any length of time was Matt Walker who battled the way through 19 overs in making 29 from 56 balls. He was finally undone by Chris Woakes, another lbw victim, on a day when the visiting seam attack were the dominant force.Their ability to swing the ball proved the decisive factor as bottom-of-the-table Warwickshire enjoyed one of their more successful days in the field against opponents also struggling to preserve their First Division status.After Woakes trapped Mark Pettini lbw for a single with the 14th ball of the match, Neil Carter was to pile further misery on Essex with a devastating spell that brought him three wickets in the space of eight deliveries at a personal cost of two runs. Tom Westley edged to Darren Maddy in the slips, Jaik Mickleburgh was bowled and Ravi Bopara fell lbw for just a single.That left Essex 31 for 4 and three runs later captain James Foster was left regretting his decision to bat even more when he became another victim of Clarke. Clarke and Carter had so far picked up three for 26 and three for 48 respectively, while Woakes had figures of 2 for 39.The one bit of encouraging news for Essex is that Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is likely to play in the Friends Provident Twenty20 finals day at the Rose Bowl on August 14. Kaneria has been axed from the Pakistan Test squad currently touring England and Essex are planning to re-register him for the remainder of the season. They are now seeking approval from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

England’s players might end up being stopped from using online social networks but Australia’s cricketers are being encouraged to tweet, blog and use Facebook

Peter English23-Aug-2010England’s players might end up being stopped from using online social networks but Australia’s cricketers are being encouraged to tweet, blog and use Facebook.”You won’t see us banning our players from doing that sort of stuff,” Ricky Ponting said at the team’s camp in Queensland. “It is your job as international players to promote the game and be the best you can for the game. If we can use social networks, if that brings people closer to the game, brings people through the gates to play, then that’s what it is all about.”Cricket Australia hosted a conference this month in which it was told it needed to reach out to the younger generation. One of those changes is the split-innings format for domestic one-day games, but another is not being afraid of social media.Almost 11,000 people ‘like’ Ricky Ponting’s Facebook page, which he updates regularly, and Michael Clarke has almost 41,000 followers on Twitter. “The biggest thing we face as international players is … everyone knows us with the helmet on but very few in Australia, or around the world, actually understand what we are like with the helmet off,” Ponting said. “If there are ways to express yourself then feel free to do that. I am totally all for that, as long as it is done the right way and within reason.”Michael Brown, Cricket Australia’s operations manager, said there would be no social networking bans placed on the players. “At this stage it’s really important that we are about growing the game and embracing the future, and young people are a critical part of it,” he said. “We want young people to be associated with the game.” The coach Tim Nielsen has signed up to Twitter and even the team manager Steve Bernard is using it.Phillip Hughes, whose tweet about his dropping scooped the official announcement by hours in Birmingham last year, hasn’t used his site since he had lunch with Sachin Tendulkar last September.

Hampshire vastly improved their chances of remaining in the top flight of the LV= County Championship by extending their lead over Kent to 294 with four wickets intact going into the final day of this clash against their fellow strugglers

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2010
ScorecardHampshire vastly improved their chances of remaining in the top flight of the LV= County Championship by extending their lead over Kent to 294 with four wickets intact going into the final day of this clash against their fellow strugglers.Half-centuries from Michael Carberry, Jimmy Adams and Liam Dawson helped the visitors to reach 272 for 6 when rain interrupted and stopped play just after 4.20pm. Match umpires Rob Bailey and Nigel Cowley inspected just after five o’clock and called the game off for the day.Resuming on their overnight score of 16 without loss, Hampshire’s openers Carberry and Adams showed great resolve throughout much of the opening session to churn out a first-wicket stand worth 92 in 47 overs. Though it made for dour fare for a small St Lawrence crowd the partnership may yet prove crucial in terms of Hampshire’s survival in division one.Adams lit up proceedings, albeit temporarily, by clubbing a brace of sixes off the bowling of England off-spinner James Tredwell on his way to a 138-ball 50, but soon after the left-hander missed a slog sweep against Malinga Bandara to go leg before.Australian Phillip Hughes did his utmost to accelerate the scoring rate with three boundaries in a cameo 38 until he also fell lbw to a Tredwell arm ball that appeared to shoot on to the left-hander’s front pad.As Kent’s weakened attack continued to toil, Dawson also caught the eye in reaching 50 from 71 balls. In search of inspiration Kent took the second new ball and that reaped immediate dividends when to the very next delivery, Dawson nudged an away-swinger to first slip against Kent’s golden arm seamer Darren Stevens.Sean Ervine feathered the next ball to slip where Tredwell initially juggled the chance only to catch it at the second attempt and send Ervine packing for a golden duck. As the storm clouds gathered, Stevens took his tally to three for 37 by having Michael Bates caught behind off an expansive drive by wicketkeeper Geraint Jones.With a 300-plus lead comfortably within their grasp Hampshire would now appear firm favourites to secure a last-day victory which would likely condemn Kent to life in division two.

Cricket South Africa turned its back on an independent committee review of its bonus payouts controversy

Firdose Moonda19-Oct-2010Cricket South Africa turned its back on an independent committee review of its bonus payouts controversy, because the decision to go for an external inquiry was not unanimous at the time and had been seen as “overreaction to the media storm”.A source close to CSA told ESPNcricinfo, that the setting up of an external review committee headed by Judge Pius Langa had “not been approved by all the relevant stakeholders” in South African cricket. The u-turn came about as CSA’s annual general meeting held on August 21 constituted a new board which overturned the decision on the Langa inquiry, but offered no explanation until today.The ‘media storm’ broke in early August after external auditors Deloitte announced irregularities in CSA’s report. On the same day, CSA issued a statement declaring that bonus payouts totalling R4.7m were given out to 40 employees without authorisation from the CSA remunerations committee (REMCO). The South African board added that the bonuses had been paid out after the 2009 Indian Premier League and Champions Trophy, and that Judge Langa been appointed as head of an independent committee to examine the auditing discrepancy pointed out by REMCO.The new board held a teleconference before the Langa commission was due to begin its work in mid-September, in which it was decided to move from an external to an internal inquiry. The board had unanimously agreed on the decision to disband the committee as “all the internal procedures had not been exhausted”. Only when that exercise had been completed, the source said, could the CSA decide on whether an external review into the matter was necessary.Andy O’Connor, a newly appointed CSA member told ESPNcricinfo he was “very comfortable with the decision taken”, believing that it was the right thing to do. “Because the Board comprises independent members, there are checks and balances in place,” O’Connor said.However, not all parties believed that the CSA’s turnaround was appropriate. A South African cricket insider said that CSA had “backpedalled” by disbanding an external commission and replacing it with an internal inquiry. “When that happens it affects transparency and credibility”, he said.The internal commission headed by CSA vice president AK Khan has completed most of its work and is in the process of compiling their report, hoping to have it ready in time for the next board meeting on November 19. The Khan commission report, the source said, would concentrate on two main issues which need clarification.”They will look into why the payments were not reported on initially by REMCO or the auditors, and whether the allocation of payments followed precedent or not.” The precedent being referred to here is the practice of paying bonuses to employees after staging major tournaments, which began after the 2003 World Cup.

On a Jaipur pitch that offered no help to the bowlers, the Rest of India batsmen made merry on the opening day of the Irani Cup tie against Mumbai

The Bulletin by Abhishek Purohit01-Oct-2010Day 1
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Abhinav Mukund struck his ninth first-class ton•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

On a Jaipur pitch that offered no help to the bowlers, the Rest of India batsmen made merry on the opening day of the Irani Cup tie against Mumbai. Abhinav Mukund dominated proceedings with an unbeaten 156 and was supported by half-centuries from opening partner Shikhar Dhawan and S Badrinath. Mumbai, the Ranji Trophy champions, toiled hard but there was also enough indiscipline on offer from their bowlers. Their fielders didn’t help matters by dropping the couple of chances that came their way.Yuvraj Singh called correctly in the morning and had no hesitation to bat on a pitch that seemed to have very little moisture; whatever little there was, evaporated soon under the harsh sun. There was hardly any movement, in the air or off the seam, for Mumbai’s new ball pair of Ajit Agarkar and Dhawal Kulkarni. It was evident in the ease with which Dhawan got going as early as the third over, driving Agarkar twice in three balls for four through the gap between extra cover and mid-off.Mumbai had a golden opportunity to get an early breakthrough in the next over bowled by Kulkarni, when Mukund edged a delivery outside off between second and third slip. Omkar Khanvilkar dived across from third slip, got both hands to the ball but failed to hold on. Mukund was on eight then. He capitalised on that lapse by driving Kulkarni to the extra cover fence in his next over.Dhawan and Mukund shut the door on Mumbai after that, defending the ones pitched on a good length and punishing deliveries bowled full or short. Mumbai missed a third seamer, someone like Aavishkar Salvi who could have hurried the batsmen, as Usman Malvi was steady at best. Spin was introduced in the 14th over in the form of Ramesh Powar, and though the veteran off-spinner flighted the ball tantalisingly, there was neither much turn nor bounce on offer to trouble the batsmen. Moreover, Powar was guilty of overstepping eight times.Jaffer juggled his bowlers around, using as many as eight during the course of the day. Abhishek Nayar got some deliveries to skid a bit off the pitch but he was far too erratic to cause any worries for the batsmen. If Powar could not get anything out of the surface, it was unlikely that Iqbal Abdulla could; he was smashed for three consecutive fours by Dhawan in his third over.Mumbai’s second and last chance came a couple of overs before lunch when Malvi, running in from long leg, failed to latch on to a top-edge from Dhawan at deep square leg off Agarkar, despite diving and getting both hands to it. Rest of India went into lunch at 128 without loss.Dhawan and Mukund unleashed a flurry of boundaries after lunch as Mumbai wilted under the hot Jaipur sun. However, Dhawan – who had looked the more fluent of the duo – tried to hit one too many and struck a Rohit Sharma full toss straight to Abdulla at midwicket to depart for 83.At 167 for 1, Mumbai ran into the broad bat of Badrinath, who hardly looked ruffled throughout his stay, and hit some pleasing drives, and the only six of the day off Powar. Mukund meanwhile reached his ninth first-class hundred with a straight-driven four past Malvi, after being stuck on 99 for 14 deliveries.Mukund’s timing only got better after tea and one shot off Kulkarni pretty much summed up the day. Mukund straight-drove a full delivery and the ball sped past the mid-on fielder before he could even react. It was that kind of day for the Ranji Trophy champions. It sped past them in a blur of runs.

A round-up of the third day of the fourth round of matches in Division One of the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2010Rawalpindi ended day three needing 142 more runs to win with nine wickets in hand in their match against Sui Northern Gas Piplelines Limited at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Rawalpindi added only one run to their overnight total of 271 for 9 but then bowled SNGPL out for 193 to put themselves in prime position to pick up what would be their second win of the season. The wickets were shared among the Rawalpindi bowlers with seamer Rizwan Akbar and captain Babar Naeem taking three apiece. SNGPL fast bowler Asad Ali got Naved Malik out lbw in his first over to leave Rawalpindi at 3 for 1 at stumps.Three wickets from left-arm seamer Mohammad Khalil gave Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited a chance to push for their second win as they reduced Islamabad to 197 for 4 at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Islamabad need another 135 runs to make ZTBL bat again with a day to play. Seamer Junaid Zia became ZTBL’s third first-innings centurion as he scored his maiden first-class ton of 89 balls, taking ZTBL’s overnight score of 413 for 7 to 583 all out. From then on it was always going to be a matter of trying to save the match for Islamabad. Half-centuries from Nauman Masood and Zeeshan Mushtaq gave them some hope as they reached 189 for 2, but two quick wickets from Khalil at the end of the day meant that Islamabad will be looking up a very steep cliff tomorrow. Khalil’s three wickets took him to the top of the list of wicket-takers in Division One this season.Faisalabad’s match against Pakistan International Airlines at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad is heading towards a draw after Faisalabad reached 334 for 8 at the end of day three in response to PIA’s 438. PIA were on top at start of the day, but were thwarted by Zeeshan Butt and Naved Latif’s 112-run partnership. PIA had another chance to seize control after Latif and Ijaz Ahmed jnr were out in quick succession to leave Faisalabad in trouble at 167 for 5. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman came to Faisalabad’s rescue scoring a quick 95 and putting together a 124-run stand with Butt, who scored 93. Faisalabad have drawn their previous three games but have no points and look set to continue that pattern as they need another 105 runs to gain a first-innings lead.National Bank of Pakistan and Karachi Blues’ set up what could be an interesting last day at the National Stadium in Karachi as NBP took a 229-run lead with four wickets in hand in the second innings at the end of day three. They started the day by taking Karachi Blues’ last five wickets for 61 runs to gain the first-innings lead. Karachi Blues had lost two wickets late on day two and their slide continued as fast bowler Mohammad Talha wiped out the tail to finish with figures of 6 for 90. Offspinner Misbah Khan then took 5 for 50 for Karachi Blues as NBP reached 172 for 6, with Fawad Alam contributing 85 of those runs.Habib Bank Limited finished on top against Silakot after a topsy-turvy day three at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. HBL seemed to have squandered the advantage after collapsing from their overnight score of 194 for 3 to 275 all out. Azhar Mahmood (48), the former Pakistan allrounder, and fast bowler Shahid Nazir (13) were the only two of HBL’s last seven batsmen to reach double-figures as they took a three-run first innings lead. Fast bowler Waqas Ahmed took 4 for 54 for Sialkot on his first-class debut. Sialkot then collapsed to 121 for 6 to leave themselves 118 ahead with one day to play. Mahmood and left-arm fast bowler Kamran Hussain did the damage for HBL with two wickets each.

Jacques Kallis reached 100 faster than he has ever done in Tests and Hashim Amla pushed his Test average against India this year beyond 600 as South Africa ended the day 230 ahead with eight wickets remaining

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran17-Dec-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Hashim Amla pushed his average against India this year over 600•Getty Images

South Africa had a near-perfect day in Centurion to move into a position of such dominance that, after just 125 overs of play in the Test, India will be as interested in the weather forecast as the scorecard for the remainder of the match. On a sunny second day at SuperSport Park, along with the clouds, the demons on the pitch went missing, and South Africa’s batsmen capitalised. Jacques Kallis reached 100 faster than he has ever done in Tests and Hashim Amla pushed his Test average against India this year beyond 600 as South Africa ended the day 230 ahead with eight wickets remaining.

Smart Stats

• India’s 136 was their fourth score below 150 in Tests in South Africa. All three previous scores came on the 1996-97 tour.

• Morne Morkel’s 5 for 20 is his fourth five-wicket haul and best bowling performance in Tests.

• The century partnership between Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen was South Africa’s fourth for the opening wicket in Tests against India. Smith has been involved in two of them.

• Hashim Amla has scored 1030 runs against India in 10 Tests at an average of over 73. In his last four innings, he has scored a double-century and three centuries.

• Jacques Kallis scored his 38th century in Tests and fourth against India. Kallis is now third in the list of batsmen with the most centuries in Tests and just one hundred behind second-placed Ricky Ponting.

• Kallis’ strike-rate of 70.83 is the fourth-best among all his 100 plus scores in Tests.

• The double-century stand between Amla and Kallis was their second for the third wicket against India. It is also the 14th for the third wicket for South Africa. Kallis has been involved in nine of them.

India’s away record may have improved dramatically over the past decade but their performance so far in Centurion is reminiscent of the terrible travellers of the pre-Sourav Ganguly era. The South African openers, Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen, made half-centuries to nearly equal India’s total on their own, before Amla and Kallis utterly demoralised the world’s No. 1 side with an unbroken 200-run stand.India’s vaunted batting order had been dismantled on the first day, and there was more punishment in store on the second morning as the South African openers added 111 without any trouble. Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma got the new ball to move, and though the batsmen swished-and-missed some times, there were no genuine chances through most of the morning.Petersen was scratchy early on, and it was Smith who did the bulk of the scoring in a watchful start. After six overs, South Africa had moved to 9 for 0 and the run-flow increased only after the introduction of the 19-year-old rookie Jaidev Unadkat. His third delivery was a gentle half-volley that was driven fluently past mid-off for four by Smith, and bowling in the late-120s, his bouncers were easy put-aways too.With Petersen also finding his touch, the run-rate began to rise, and Dhoni turned to spin in the hope of a breakthrough. Harbhajan Singh didn’t have the best of starts though, slapped for a couple of fours in his first over and then dispatched over midwicket for six in the next. Smith was using the cut effectively against Harbhajan until his downfall, minutes before lunch, when he top-edged a delivery that bounced extra.The second session began with Petersen stabbing a wide delivery past point for a boundary, and set the tone for another two hours of superiority as India looked woefully short of firepower. A lovely bunch of drives suggested Petersen was set for a second Test century before he walked on a very thin inside-edge to short leg.India were buoyed by the dismissal of the openers, but had very little to cheer during the rest of the day. Amla, with the confidence that comes from scoring a wagonload of runs, made a cavalier century, which lacked his customary serenity. In a rare spell where the South African batsmen were troubled, Harbhajan nearly had Amla caught behind after getting one to turn in sharply from outside off. The response from Amla was to swipe the next ball over midwicket for six. Amla kept looking to pull the quicks and paddle Harbhajan from outside off, while also indulging in his trademark cover drives and slashes past point.Keeping him company was Kallis, who was in an even more adventurous mood. Initially, he carted the part-time hit-me deliveries of Suresh Raina, depositing a couple over deep midwicket for sixes though there was a fielder for that shot. With the frontline bowlers not making an impact, Sachin Tendulkar was called on to bowl his all-sorts, which didn’t curb the runs either – 125 runs came in the 28 overs that were bowled in the second session.The battering continued after tea, Kallis and Amla picking up 130 off 32 overs. The punishing rate was maintained though there wasn’t too much high-risk batting, with the Indians regularly providing boundary balls. The closest India came to a wicket was a french-cut from Amla on 65. Otherwise, it was a lesson in run- accumulation. With the pitch easing up and the opposition waiting for the end of the day, Amla and Kallis displayed their appetite for big scores and batted India out of the match.Both batsman reached their hundreds towards the end of a flawless day which had been given the perfect start by Morne Morkel. He removed MS Dhoni with the third ball of the day – the Indian captain walking after being struck in front of middle stump. Morkel finished with career-best figures of 5 for 20, and India were bowled out for their overnight score of 136, their third-lowest total in South Africa.After much talk about an evenly matched top-of-the-table clash, the first two days in Centurion could scarcely have been more one-sided.

Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager for cricket, has firmly ruled out the possibility of international cricket returning to Pakistan in the near future

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2011Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager for cricket, has firmly ruled out the possibility of international cricket returning to Pakistan in the near future. Pakistan has not hosted an international series since the Lahore attacks on Sri Lanka’s cricketers in March 2009, and as long there isn’t an improvement in the security situation there was no point talking of bringing international cricket back to the country, Richardson said. Instead, he claimed the way forward was to promote the domestic setup in Pakistan.”It’s useless to talk about bringing back international cricket to Pakistan,” Richardson told reporters in Karachi. “I think once there is an improvement in the security conditions and arrangements then teams can be convinced to start looking at playing in Pakistan again.”Pakistan was stripped of its rights to co-host the 2011 World Cup with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the aftermath of the Lahore attacks. Amid the decline in cricket in the country, the domestic competitions deserved more attention, said Richardson. “It might take a lot of time but it doesn’t mean that the game cannot progress here. The PCB should concentrate on promoting the domestic structure. According to me, that’s the only way to keep the game going.”Richardson is in Karachi to watch the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, which is being played under lights at the National Stadium. It’s an unprecedented event in Pakistan domestic cricket and one of the ways the PCB is trying to promote domestic cricket in these difficult times.”The ICC is working on several recommendations to make Test cricket more interesting and the day-night option sounds very interesting. I am here to see whether it’s feasible to conduct Test matches under lights using orange balls.”The PCB has taken a good decision to hold the final of the five-day domestic tournament under lights and it will help popularise the sport as well.”