All posts by csb10.top

Former England opener and Cricinfo contributor David Lloyd has called on the Lancashire League to scrap the long-standing arrangement whereby clubs pay for a professional player to boost their ranks.Lloyd speaks with authority about the Lancashire League. He made his debut for Accrington in 1963 as a 16-year-old and played regularly for them before and after his first-class career. He returned to play for them in a few games this summer at the age of 61.In the heyday of the league some of the biggest names in the game turned out, but the admission of overseas players into the first-class ranks and the spread of the paid professional to clubs across the country has made attracting big names all but impossible. That, allied to the financial problems facing many sides, caused Lloyd speak out.”In my opinion professionals are unsustainable in the league,” Lloyd told the Lancashire Telegraph. “It’s such a burden to continue to try and find the money and a number of clubs, financially, are on the edge.”Last summer, Lloyd highlighted the financial crisis threatening the future of his own club. “Even after the success we have had this year we are still in quite a parlous state,” he told the paper. “We have had an unbelievable season and the support has been fabulous but we are still not making money and we are having to work hard to get things right.”It’s pretty obvious that that the days of a crackerjack professional have gone because they are elsewhere and another unsatisfactory thing is that with so many professionals coming and going there are that many sub pros, which is another complication for clubs. I’m not saying knock it on the head straight away, but it might be worth having a moratorium for a season or two to see how it goes and starting a debate.”Perhaps it will be an incentive for the amateurs to do more.”

Salman Taseer has resigned from the three-man Appellate Tribunal, which is hearing Shoaib Akhtar’s appeal against a five-year ban imposed on him by the Pakistan board, citing his commitments as the Governor of Punjab, a post to which he was appointed on May 15.”The chairman of the board [Nasim Ashraf] will now appoint someone to replace Taseer after consulting the head of the tribunal, Justice (retd) Aftab Farrukh,” a PCB official told the .Taseer’s resignation comes days before the tribunal was set to reconvene on June 4 to resume their hearing into Shoaib’s appeal. The tribunal had, last month, suspended Shoaib’s five-year ban to allow him to take part in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League.The tribunal was constituted by the Pakistan board in April, and is headed by a retired justice, Farrukh, who was the former Judge of the Lahore High Court, and also includes former Test cricketer Haseeb Ahsan.

Leicestershire captain Vince Wells is likely to be out of action for the remainder of the season after breaking a finger in last Sunday’s Norwich Union League win over Yorkshire at Scarborough.It means he will miss this week’s floodlit match against Somerset at Grace Road and the Championship game against the same side which begins on Thursday.He is also unlikely to be fit for final Championship game away to Surrey and the last Norwich Union League match against Worcestershire at New Road.Wells will be replaced for the floodlit clash with Somerset by young all rounder Damien Brandy who has been impressing recently for the second team.Indian seamer Javagal Srinath will be rested for that game with Phil DeFreitas coming back into the side along with Carl Crowe who is fit again after a hip problem.Srinath will return for the Championship game which will see Rob Cunliffe replacing Wells.

Dan Goldstraw is within eight victims of becoming only the fourth bowler in Southern League history to take 50 wickets in a season.Since the competition began 34 years ago, only Bob Laishley, Andy Hooper and South African Angus Small have ever claimed a half-century of wickets in a summer session.Laishley did it for Winchester way back in 1980, taking a record 58 wickets at a time when there were no restrictions on bowlers.Andy Hooper took 56 scalps with his left-arm spin for Andover in 1989, while Small, who played provincial cricket for Eastern Province and Natal, took 50 wickets to help South Wilts to their only SL title success a year later.Now Goldstraw is homing in on a place in the Premier League’s order of merit.The 6-54 return in last week’s abandoned match against Portsmouth lifted Goldie’s tally for the season to 42 wickets."Dan’s bowling better and better as the season goes on," praised BAT skipper Dave Banks."We’ve been able to let him off his leash in the nine-week session of all-day games, where there are no restrictions."But now we’ve resumed 50-over cricket, he’ll have to get his wickets inside the only ten overs he’s allowed to bowl, which will doubtless concentrate the mind."Goldstraw looks a near certainty to lift the Premier Division 1 bowling award for the second consecutive season.Team-mate Damian Shirazi went into today’s match with South Wilts with a 63-run deficit to make up on Bashley’s Western Australian star Luke Ronchi.Latest individual statistics:Premier 1
Batting: Luke Ronchi (Bashley Rydal) 617, Damian Shirazi (BAT Sports) 554, Russell Rowe (South Wilts) 508, Paul Draper (South Wilts) 494, Matt Swarbrick (Bournemouth) 492, Neil Thurgood (Bashley Rydal) 483, Roger Miller (Andover) 468, Alistair Gray (Liphook & Ripsley) 457, James Hibberd (Calmore Sports) 420, David Banks (BAT Sports) 359, Richard Hindley (Havant) 340.Bowling: Dan Goldstraw (BAT Sports) 42, Malcolm Hobson (Havant) 29, Paul Draper (South Wilts) 29, Richard Dibden (BAT Sports) 26, James Hibberd (Calmore Sports) 26, John Whiting (Bashley Rydal) 25, Kevin Nash (Bashley Rydal) 25, Shaun Adam (South Wilts) 24, Kirk Stewart (BAT Sports) 23, Richard Hindley (Havant) 22, Richard Taylor (Andover) 22, Christof Bothma (Calmore Sports) 22, Terry Rawlins (BAT Sports) 21.Premier 2
Batting: Charles Forward (OT & Romsey) 582, Aaron Heal (Lymington) 453, Danny Peacock (Lymington) 447, Iain Brunnschweiler (Hampshire Academy) 435, Tim Richings (Sparsholt) 416, Owen Dawkins (Hungerford) 413, Jason Laney (Hungerford) 406, Jeff Anning (Rowledge) 406.Bowling: Nick Wood (OT & Romsey) 30, Damien Carson (United Services) 27, Steve Green (Easton & Martyr Worthy) 25, Aaron Heal (Lymington) 24, Danny Peacock (Lymington), David Wheeler (Hampshire Academy) 22, Jason Williams (Hungerford) 22, Raj Naik (Winchester KS) 21, Owen Dawkins (Hungerford) 21, Jeff Anning (Rowledge) 20.Premier 3
Batting: Will Prozesky (Purbrook) 717, Mark Parker (St Cross Symondians) 612, Chris Baumann (Waterlooville) 605, Matt Digweed (Hartley Wintney) 539, Michael Heffernan (Alton) 456, Jimmy Castrisos (Hartley Wintney) 452, Michael Howard (Leckford) 429, Simon Greenfield (Havant II) 428, Colin James (Paultons) 411, Steve Watts (New Milton) 385, Ian Hunter (Purbrook) 381.Bowling: Nathan Collins (Gosport Borough) 35, Neil Dodds (Ventnor) 26, Julian Ballinger (Alton) 25, Bob Paul (Bashley Rydal II) 23, Andy Cattle (Leckford) 23, Andy Snellgrove (New Milton) 22, Ben Neal (New Milton) 22, John Barrett (Hambledon) 22, Nick McMurray (Flamingo) 21, Mark Stanley (Purbrook) 21, Stuart Charman (St Cross Symondians) 21, Peter Anderson (New Milton) 21, Darren Bartlett (Hook & Newnham Basics) 21, Matt Truckle (Redlynch & Hale) 20.Wicketkeeping: Dave Coles (Lymington) 19, Martin Miller (Bournemouth) 19, Dave Banks (BAT Sports) 18, Warren Gilmour (United Services) 17, John Burton (Redlynch & Hale) 16.

Gerald Dros will captain two South African ‘A’ teams to play India ‘A’ in one-day games in Lenasia on April 18 and in Benoni on April 22.The teams are:SA ‘A’ v India ‘A’ in Lenasia:Loots Bosman (Griqualand West), Jacques Rudolph (Northerns), Martin van Jaarsveld (Northerns), Justin Ontong (Boland), Hashim Amla (KwaZulu-Natal), Gerald Dros (captain, Northerns), Gulam Bodi (KwaZulu-Natal),Thami Tsolekile (Western Province), Justin Kemp (Eastern Province),Brendan Reddy (Easterns), Andre Nel (Easterns). 12th Man to be confirmedSA ‘A’ v India ‘A’ in Benoni:Loots Bosman (Griqualand West), Ashwell Prince (Western Province), Ahmed Amla (KwaZulu-Natal), Justin Ontong (Boland), Hashim Amla (KwaZulu-Natal), Gerald Dros (captain, Northerns), Gulam Bodi (KwaZulu-Natal), Thami Tsolekile (Western Province), Justin Kemp (Eastern Province), Brendan Reddy (Easterns), Andre Nel (Easterns). 12th Man to be confirmed

On the second day of the Frizzell County Championship Division One match featuring the leaders, Surrey, Ian Blackwell led Somerset to a 33 run first innings lead at The Oval. When he was out lbw to Ian Salisbury, he was just two short of a century and had faced 112 balls, striking 15 fours. Had anyone else other than Rob Turner and Jamie Cox with 34 apiece been able to support Blackwell, Somerset’s lead would have been that much greater. Martin Bicknell was Surrey’s most successful bowler with four wickets.In Surrey’s second innings, Mark Butcher fell early to Andrew Caddick and Mark Ramprakash was run out when Surrey had moved one run in front. They had lost Graham Thorpe before the close at which point they led by 54.Although Shaun Udal played a useful innings of 43 not out for Hampshire at Headlingley, a major contribution to the total came from extras. There were 54 of them, including 36 no balls. Matthew Hoggard came through a difficult time for him with four wickets. Michael Vaughan had an innings of 54 for Yorkshire, which at least negated the extras, and Craig White played an uncharacteristically slow innings to be 49 not out at the close from 132 balls as Yorkshire finished 180 runs in arrears.Robin Martin-Jenkins made sure that Leicestershire could not make significant progress from their overnight position by taking the last three wickets to fall to finish with seven for 51 at Horsham. Richard Montgomerie then carried his bat to finish 122 not out as the rest of the Sussex batting collapsed in the face of Devon Malcolm. The 39-year-old paceman finished with seven for 76. Batting again, Leicestershire extended their first innings lead of 17 to finish the day on 94 for two.In Division Two, there were runs all down the order for Durham as they declared on 470 for eight at Chester-le-Street against Gloucestershire. Top scorer was Andrew Pratt who was run out for 93, while acting captain Paul Collingwood and Gordon Muchall both recorded half-centuries. Gloucestershire soon ran into trouble when they batted, losing six wickets before the hundred has been posted. At the close, they trailed by 375.At Trent Bridge, Tony Penberthy and Darren Cousins extended their last wicket partnership for Northamptonshire to 81 before Cousins was out, leaving Penberthy undefeated on 106. Andrew Harris took the last wicket to finish with four in the innings. Cousins then entered into a bowling partnership with Carl Greenidge as the Nottinghamshire top order failed to show the same resilience as the Northamptonshire tail. When bad light stopped play, the home side were 184 for seven, still 93 runs behind.

Stephen Fleming’s defending champions touched down in Sri Lanka on the weekend, confident that they could retain their crown in this year’s ICC Champions Trophy.The Clear Black Caps clinched a surprise win in ICC Knockout 2000 – the forerunner to the current tournament – overcoming Zimbabwe and Pakistan before defeating India in the final.And despite a relatively poor run in the two years since – only 18 wins in 56 matches – Fleming believes good planning and hard work gives his side a good chance of success.”We are excited by the prospect of defending a championship that we won pretty well last time and arrive here in very good heart,” he said, speaking from the team’s Colombo hotel.New Zealand prepared for the tournament with four state games in Sydney, winning them all, and now have plenty of time to prepare for their first game on Sept 15.”Australia was all about getting into the swing of playing again,” he said. “The conditions will be very different here but just getting outside was the first step for us.””We were lucky to have good weather and we come here early with a good programme in place for our preparation. We have two tough practice matches to get used to the heat and, in a weeks time, we should be ready to go.”Unfortunately, however, they need to defeat world champions Australia, who have been in ominous form during a tri-series in Kenya, to stay in the competition.”We have confidence in our preparation and are going to be well prepared by the time that we play Australia,” he claimed.”We respect them as a cricket side and you have to be at the top of your game to compete well with them, but we back ourselves to do that through hard work and good planning.”He admitted, though, that the unavailability of injured Chris Cairns, who scored a match-winning hundred in the 2000 tournament, was a major blow.”The absence of Chris Cairns has affected the balance of the side because he is a world-class all-rounder, but it has given an opportunity to younger players and they have come to the fore.”He singled out fast bowler Shane Bond and all-rounders Scott Styris and Jacob Oram as the players to look out for.”Shane Bond – in excellent form after a stint with Warwickshire – is an exceptional talent, a fast bowler with genuine that we are very lucky to have. Jacob Oram is an exciting all-rounder and Scot Styris had a successful tour of the West Indies.”New Zealand have an unfortunate history in Sri Lanka, their tours frequently coinciding with terrorist attacks and security concerns.Tours in 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2001 were all marred by security fears and three players refused to tour this time.But Fleming appeared relaxed: “Everything has been very smooth so far. We have been here quite a few times so know what to expect and have looked forward to the visit.”He looked forward to the ICC’s experiment with enhanced technological support for umpires during the tournament, including the use of replays for lbw decisions.”The players are just waiting to see how it goes. This is the opportune time to try it out before the World Cup and we hope it goes well, adding another dimension to the game.”

Hampshire threw away the chance of a second successive Rose Bowlchampionship victory against Gloucestershire.Needing 56 off the last ten overs of the match they had dominated, blindpanic saw them finish on 55 for six.At the start of the day it seemed they might finish off Gloucestershire intime to take in the final action at the Dell for the visitors were 181behind with only eight second innings wickets standing.And, when shortly before lunch three more prime batsmen had been sentpacking by Alex Morris and Alan Mullally, they were still 102 adrift.There seemed no escape but Dominic Hewson and Jeremy Snape turned thingsaround and finally showed the bottle to make a fight of it.Hewson, whose career-best 87 had come against Hampshire on his debut fivesummers ago, and Snape added 119 in 31 overs before Snape was leg before toMascarenhas.Hewson’s maiden century beckoned until on 89, after five hours at thecrease, he was bowled by Mascarenhas.The last three wickets squeezed the total to 272 and Hampshire’s target was56 but where a cool head was required they went for the big yahoo and whenthe last over came they still needed eight runs to win.That was reduced to four from the last two balls but they managed only threeand Gloucestershire escaped with a draw.

Match facts

September 25, 2012
Start time 1930 local (1400 GMT/1500 BST)Mushfiqur Rahim’s side has a shot at qualification, but it’s a difficult one•ICC

Big Picture

Pakistan began their World Twenty20 campaign with success, after being made to wait for five days, beating New Zealand by 13 runs. But they looked a better side than the margin suggested; it was narrowed thanks to a late, and failed, onslaught by Ross Taylor.Their opponents, Bangladesh, who were beaten convincingly by New Zealand in their first game, can only hope to qualify for the Super Eights if they beat Pakistan by a sizeable margin. Bangladesh need to win by more than 36 runs to finish with a higher net run-rate than Pakistan. In the event that they win by exactly 36 runs, thus finishing with the same net run-rate as Pakistan’s, they will still go through by the virtue of having won the head-to-head contest. Should Bangladesh be chasing, their net run-rate requirement will depend on the target set. For instance, if they’re chasing 150, they’ll have to score those runs in 15.4 overs or quicker. On current form, it seems like a struggle for Bangladesh.Pakistan have the best bowling line-up and their fielding is in good shape with Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal patrolling the hitting zones. Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez are a threat to Bangladesh’s left-handers at the top of the order. Both Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan are good players and will be expected to bounce back strongly. The middle order is a capable one, comprising Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Nasir Hossain.Bangladesh’s bowling remains a worry, with Shakib and Tamim having said after the game against New Zealand that spinners would require some help from the conditions. Mushfiqur’s captaincy will also be tested in a game in which his team is the underdog, but is expected to produce a much-improved performance.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)Bangladesh LLWLW
Pakistan WLWWW

Watch out for

Nasir Jamshed has already made a mark, but he also knows the Bangladesh team well, having played in the Dhaka Premier League for three seasons, including the most recent one. He played in the Bangladesh Premier League for Chittagong Kings, and his performance for them contributed to his selection in the Pakistan side. The shot that stood out during his half-century against New Zealand was the lofted drive over extra cover. He did it twice against Nathan McCullum, and it’s something Bangladesh’s spinners will watch out for.Shakib Al Hasan will be one of them. His four overs will again be crucial for Bangladesh, as will his role with the bat at No 3. New Zealand was a bad outing for Shakib, who has the ability to fight back in the only way he knows: runs and wickets.

Team news

Pakistan left out Mohammad Sami and Abdul Razzaq for the opening game. It’ll be interesting to see if one of them gets a go, with qualification not yet secured.Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Nasir Jamshed, 4 Kamran Akmal (wk), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Yasir Arafat, 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed Ajmal.Mashrafe Mortaza injured his shin during practice, but is confident of recovering for the game. Having been clobbered for 117 runs in 12 overs, the Bangladesh spinners would, presumably, not be very high on confidence. Mushfiqur and coach Richard Pybus have a decision to make about who, if at all, to leave out. Mushfiqur said at the pre-match conference that Bangladesh could consider going in with an extra seamer.There is a possibility that Abul Hasan could replace left-arm spinner Elias Sunny or fellow seamer Shafiul Islam, depending on what the team management believes is the right bowling combination. However, any tweaks in the batting line-up are unlikely.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Mohammad Ashraful, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Nasir Hossain, 7 Ziaur Rahman, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Elias Sunny/Abul Hasan, 11 Shafiul Islam.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch is again likely to favour batting but the seamers can expect some movement after sunset. Group D has been unaffected by rain so far. On Tuesday, the forecast is for clear skies.

Stats and trivia

• Sohail Tanvir still hasn’t been dismissed for a duck in his T20 international career, having played 10 innings in 24 games so far.
• Nasir Hossain, Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Ashraful are the only batsmen in the Bangladesh team to have scored two half-centuries in T20 internationals.

Quotes

“Pakistan are world class in all sectors and they have a Twenty20 pedigree in abundance. However, no team is unbeatable in this format. We have to be at our best and hope that best is good enough on the day.”
“We are not thinking as if we have already qualified [for the Super Eights]. We have to play well against Bangladesh. On certain days in T20, anybody can win. We are not going to take any one easy.”

The best way to save a game is to win it.Canterbury’s position at the bottom of the table meant they had not much to lose by remaining positive. But blameless young batsman Marcel McKenzie completed 40 balls for four runs at a crucial time, after being scoreless for 45 before being given out in the first innings.This first innings go-slow, along with the second innings crawl did not save Canterbury from defeat, and probably stopped them having a chance of winning.The away team, Otago, said they were going to “bowl our guts out,” in their quest to go top of the Trophy table. Match-winner Craig Pryor, who removed the last four Canterbury batsmen to force the win, told CricInfo, “It would be great to stay there. It’s a very even competition and it will be interesting cricket over the next 16 days.”They were always dictating the tone of the match, right from day one. The Southerners certainly fought hard to win. Canterbury also battled, but it was never sure if they had enough confidence in their ability to go for victory.A third consecutive draw on the good batting surface at QEII looked likely, until Otago’s Pryor ended Aaron Redmond and Carl Anderson’s unlikely sprint for victory. He broke their 72 run, 117 ball stand, then had Stephen Cunis lbw first ball.Otago entered the final hour needing two wickets in 15 overs.Pryor bowled Carl Anderson for 52 and had Wade Cornelius lbw next ball, to give him 5-70. There were just 22 balls left.He was delighted with his career best performance, but was more pleased “from a team perspective really. To get 20 wickets on a deck like that was a pretty good team effort.”He told CricInfo, “it was a little bit touch and go, but if you believe enough you never know what might happen. It was a great day for it and great to be a part of.”Otago coach Denis Aberhart laughingly said, “We were always confident.” Pryor and co also never seriously never doubted their ability to force the win.With regard to his own performance, Pryor belives he “has a little bit more belief” in his bowling these days, having played for Auckland between 1997 and 1999. His move to Otago has been a successful one, with 19 wickets in this, his first season. He did not play provincial cricket last summer. All his first-class wickets have come to the 27 year old this year.”I’ve been sorting a few things out technically,” he said. “I don’t think I’m quite there yet, there’s a long way to go. One performance doesn’t make a summer, but I was happy just to be on the field.””I was elevated to the third seamer’s role, so I had a job to do. The expectations are quite high within this team. To have those expectations put on your shoulders always lifts you a little bit.”Wickets in consecutive balls on two occasions gave Canterbury four ducks to add to the three in the first innings. Both Cunis and Cornelius bagged pairs.Warren McSkimming, whose first innings 6-39 was the third best domestic bowling figures this season, after Daryl Tuffey’s 7-12, which won Northern Districts their sixth round game against Wellington, and Warren Wisneski’s 7-151. Tuffey is a new selection in the ODI team for Tuesday, predictably taking hapless Andrew Penn’s place.He had dismissed five of the six Canterbury batsmen out yesterday without scoring in the day. McKenzie failed to add to his overnight 39, and five men made ducks.The earlier record 178-run third wicket stand for Canterbury against Otago between Robbie Frew (111) and Michael Papps (68) revitalised the home side, after a poor third day. But it was not enough.Of the 20 centuries in first-class cricket in New Zealand this season, seven have been at the Village Green.Andrew Hore’s 100 and his 77 in the second innings, along with McSkimming’s bowling, ultimately almost gave Otago just enough time to force a hard won victory against an improving set of Canterbury youngsters.But it was Pryor who was the match-winner in the end.