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Wilfred Mukondiwa, managing director of Zimbawe Cricket, has said the board has proposed a tri-series with South Africa and Australia, and to host Ireland for four-day matches, in 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2013Zimbabwe Cricket is reportedly exploring the possibility of a tri-series against South Africa and Australia in 2014. ZC managing director Wilfred Mukondiwa also hinted at a four-day matches against Ireland next year, in the . Sri Lanka’s scheduled tour of Zimbabwe later this year, meanwhile, is very unlikely to go ahead, with the newspaper reporting that the two boards have agreed to postpone the tour on Zimbabwe Cricket’s request.”We have proposed a triangular series with South Africa and Australia next year after the World T20, which will be played in Bangladesh,” Mukondiwa said. “We are exploring that option so that it’s more competitive and lucrative. The World T20 and the visit by the two nations are the major events for us next year.”The Future Tours Programme for 2014 has Australia visiting Zimbabwe for a three-match ODI series in July, with South Africa following soon after for a full tour featuring the same number of one-day games, in addition to two Tests and a Twenty20 spread over July and August. ZC are hoping to replace the two ODIs series with a tri-series.Mukondiwa added there could be a “possibility” of hosting Ireland for four-day matches. “It is one of the programmes that have been proposed for Full Members, to engage Associate members. So Ireland is one of them and, depending on the schedule, playing them is a possibility.”We played them a couple of years ago and we would be happy to engage them again, but it all depends on the calendar as to where we can slot that in.”Zimbabwe had enjoyed relative success series during Ireland’s visit in 2010, winning the one-day series 2-1 and drawing the only four-day game.ZC is looking at “more lucrative” options as it has been beset by financial problems. Delays to players’ salaries almost jeopardised the series against Pakistan, and Sri Lanka Cricket had confirmed the Zimbabwe board wrote to it, asking to postpone its team’s tour – hosting Sri Lanka would further hit Zimbabwe’s already depleted finances.Last month, SLC had approached the boards of West Indies, New Zealand, Australia and England to fill the void in Sri Lanka’s calendar should the Zimbabwe tour be postponed.

Gareth Rees scored 84 not out on his first appearance of the season as Glamorgan fought back on the second day of their LV= County Championship Division Two clash with Hampshire at Cardiff.

09-Jul-2013Glamorgan 196 for 3 (Rees 84*, Goodwin 57*) trail Hampshire 341 (Dawson 72, Vince 80, Hogan 3-48, Cosker 3-82) by 145 runs
ScorecardGareth Rees scored 84 not out on his first appearance of the season as Glamorgan fought back on the second day of their LV= County Championship Division Two clash with Hampshire at Cardiff.Out of favour all summer, left-handed opener Rees was only in the Glamorgan side because of an injury to Will Bragg.But Rees and veteran Murray Goodwin put on an unbeaten 112 in 39 overs for the fourth wicket as Glamorgan finished the day on 196 for 3 in their first innings, 145 behind.Hampshire’s last five wickets could only add a further 67 runs before they were bowled out 10 minutes before the lunch interval.Seamer Hogan broke through as early as the fourth over of the day to have Liam Dawson caught at slip by Jim Allenby, who then had Sohail Tanvir caught behind.Adam Wheater and Danny Briggs stopped the rot to add 47 for the eighth wicket, but Wheater was caught at point trying to reverse sweep slow left-armer Cosker.David Balcombe edged Mike Reed behind before Cosker wrapped up the innings to have James Tomlinson caught at slip by Allenby only 10 minutes before lunch.In reply Glamorgan had reached 114 for 3 by tea with opener Rees reaching 50 from 110 balls with eight fours.But he had to watch as he lost three partners in the afternoon session. Ben Wright was caught behind chasing a wide one from Tomlinson. And 24 for one became 35 for two when Stewart Walters went for a nine ball caught at slip by Sean Ervine off Tanvir.Rees and Marcus North combined to put on 49 for the third wicket but North was stumped by Adam Wheater going down the pitch to the first ball of left-arm spin he had faced from Briggs.From 84 for 3, Rees and Goodwin took their stand to 100 just before the close, and in the last over of the day Goodwin completed his half-century from 115 balls with seven fours.

Lasith Malinga took the 22 yards out of the equation in low-scoring thriller, but New Zealand survived him to register their first win over Sri Lanka in four years

The Report by Sidharth Monga09-Jun-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan smiled the last smiles•AFPLasith Malinga took the 22 yards out of the equation in a low-scoring thriller, but New Zealand survived him to register their first win over Sri Lanka in four years. The pitch has hardly ever mattered less. It was flat, the sun was out, the ball was not swinging, but Malinga’s dipping slower full tosses had New Zealand batsmen hopping and hoping in what was expected to be an afternoon stroll. Nathan McCullum, first, and then Tim Southee batted with just the maturity New Zealand desperately needed to see them through with one wicket in hand.The chase swung dramatically. From coasting at 48 for 1 New Zealand stumbled to 49 for 4. From 70 for 4 they fell to 80 for 6, but then, crucially, they were allowed to get away with a relatively quieter phase when Malinga was taken off and brought back only after brothers McCullum had taken off 31 off the requirement. Malinga came back and seemed like he could strike with every ball, but Sri Lanka will be left asking themselves – especially because Malinga brought them so close – if they had kept Malinga’s four overs back for too long.DRS, or the way it was used by the sides, made its presence felt too. Kane Williamson wasted New Zealand’s review by asking for a replay when he was caught dead plumb by a thigh-high dipping full toss. Daniel Vettori later copped a rough one when he had hit another similar full toss into his pad. Sri Lanka had exhausted theirs early in the innings, and had to do with two not-outs towards the end that they could have got overturned on replay.Amid loud unending appeals almost every ball, it was supreme drama with the balls remaining taken out of the equation: New Zealand still won with 13.3 overs to spare and took a bigger net-run-rate boost than England did in their facile win over Australia.Going by how they went either side of the lunch break – their chase began early because they had bowled Sri Lanka out in 2 hours and 55 minutes – New Zealand should have finished it much earlier. It was all going swimmingly for them until Malinga got Williamson in the eighth over. In the next couple of overs, Rangana Herath and Shaminda Eranga – preferred to Sachithra Senanayake and Nuwan Kulasekara – struck. Herath trapped Ross Taylor with one that went on with the arm, and Eranga got one to bounce from short of a length outside off, taking the edge from Martin Guptill, who had raced away to 25 from 24.Still it should have been easy for New Zealand, but they fumbled further to spin. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Herath almost cut out all singles, and Dilshan got James Franklin with the right-arm spinner’s version of the earlier Taylor dismissal. Sri Lanka were now sensing room for a miracle here, and brought Malinga back for his sixth over. On cue he struck, but Vettori could not get the obvious howler overturned because his team-mate had earlier challenged a call he was merely not sure about.Strangely, though, Malinga was taken off immediately after he took Vettori’s wicket. When he was brought back, New Zealand had reached 111 for 6, needing only a further 28. Both Brendon McCullum and Nathan McCullum had been allowed to take the singles, and they did so. The period did involve a thin edge from N McCullum in the 28th over when the score read 100, but only the keeper heard it. Even the bowler Eranga hardly appealed. Did the excessive appealing leading up to that – Sri Lanka had been spoken to at the end of the 21st over – have any part to play in that decision? We will never know.It is credit to Malinga’s genius, though, that he came back and immediately took B McCullum out with another one of his loopy, alarmingly dipping full tosses. B McCullum played all across it, and the ball reached the off stump on a half-volley. New Zealand now needed 24 runs with three wickets in hand. Quite clearly, it was Malinga v New Zealand, and you wonder if it would have been different if it had been 44 runs to play with, and not 24.Malinga, however, kept producing the magic. In his next over, he took out the other McCullum, who had wizened up to the slower ball, with a quick inswinging yorker. New Zealand still had 17 to get, and Malinga had 2.4 overs to go. The next four balls were a slower yorker, a quick yorker, a slower length ball, and another slower yorker, all on target. This was insanely good bowling, and Tim Southee and Kyle Mills somehow survived. As they did the next over, from Herath.Malinga now had 12 balls to bowl, and 11 runs to defend. He began the 34th over with a quick inswinging length ball, which was only clipping leg, and the umpire Bruce Oxenford ruled not out. He had ruled N McCullum out on a similar delivery, and under DRS both decisions stand. However, the next one would have been changed by DRS. It hit Southee on the toe plumb in front, went to the third-man boundary for four, but Tucker called it runs. It was a huge moment in the game. Not only did New Zealand not lose Southee, the target was now down to eight.Much chatter went on. The players had to be separated at the end of the over. Southee was not losing his cool, though. The same couldn’t be said of Mills. Southee dug one out towards mid-on in the next over, and took the fielder on. Thisara Perera missed the stumps at the non-striker’s end narrowly, but he was lucky the ball went to hit the other set of stumps. Mills, though, was not desperate to make it, and was caught short. New Zealand still needed five, and Malinga had one over to go.For once, Malinga made a mistake. He began his final over with an attempted yorker that went down the leg side. Southee cautiously played out the rest of the over. Don’t bother about whether the No. 11 will be on strike for the next over. Just see Malinga off.Sri Lanka now made another interesting choice. Dilshan was given the ball. You could see why. Mitchell McClenaghan, a left-hand batsman, was on strike. He could get the lbw with the straighter one, or a bat-pad catch. But forget short leg for the inside edge, there was no man catching for Southee. And New Zealand needed only four. They were granted two easy singles, followed by a wide down the leg side, which also went for a bye. McLenaghan was nearly run out taking the second because they were not sure of the wide, but the end finally was a little insipid.There was nothing insipid about New Zealand’s effort in the field. Sri Lanka had gone with just three strike bowlers, but New Zealand replaced the injured allrounder, Gran Elliot, with a bowler, Vettori. You can imagine a few captains sitting back and allowing easy singles once the early wickets were taken, but there were no soft partnerships here. If you wanted to score runs, you either played exceptional shots or took risks. The risks brought New Zealand timely wickets.It all began when B McCullum went parallel to the ground at second slip to send back Kusal Perera with the first ball of the match. All other New Zealand signs were there. Mills struck his usual early blows, Vettori – the first spinner to bowl inside the mandatory Powerplay in this tournament – took a wicket in his first ODI over since the 2011 World Cup, and McClenaghan kept cutting partnerships short. McCullum chipped in too, there was a run-out, and Sri Lanka were bowled out in the 38th over.Kumar Sangakkara was one of three batsmen to reach double figures, but the only one to go past 20. He looked a cut above every other batsman on the day, but looking for quick runs he sliced an N McCullum offbreak to backward point. Sangakkara knew knocking around wouldn’t help, and had been taking risks for a while now. This one didn’t come off, though. As didn’t the move to bowl Dilshan without wicket-taking intent in what proved to be the final over of the match.

The two Barbados sides scheduled to participate in a T20 competition against six English counties have pulled out just hours before the event was due to start.

George Dobell16-Mar-2013The two Barbados sides scheduled to participate in a T20 competition against six English counties have pulled out just hours before the event was due to start.Six English counties – Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Hampshire and Northamptonshire – are currently in Barbados preparing for the new county season, but their preparations have been hit by the withdrawal of both local sides from what was to have been the showpiece event of the trip.ESPNcricinfo understands that the Barbados side made a late request for payment in the region of BBD 3,000 (just under GBP 1,000) and, after this was declined, refused to play. As a result it was decided that the other local side, the Combined Campuses and Colleges team, should also withdraw from the competition in order to allow the six county sides to contest between themselves.The location of the games has also been changed. Organisers originally claimed that the two-day competition, on March 16 and 17, would be played at the Kensington Oval but the first day has been rescheduled for the Three W’s Oval on the University of the West Indies, Barbados campus.The reputation of pre-season tours to Barbados was increased greatly by the subsequent success of the counties that travelled to the country in March 2012. Warwickshire, who went on to win the County Championship, Hampshire, who won the limited-overs double, and Derbyshire and Yorkshire, who both won promotion in the championship, were among the counties who attended.

Shakib Al Hasan has been fined 75% of his match fee after pleading guilty to showing serious dissent at the umpire’s decision

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2013Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, has been fined 75% of his match fee after pleading guilty to showing serious dissent at the umpire’s decision in the second ODI against Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe team was also fined, for maintaining a slow over rate.Shakib had been adjudged lbw for 34 though the ball seemed heading down the leg side, and there was a hint of an inside-edge as well. Shakib reacted by violently slamming the bat on his pads, accidentally brushing the Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor’s pad as he ran in to celebrate the wicket. Shakib immediately apologised to Taylor. He later agreed that he had shown dissent at the umpire’s decision.The match referee Chris Broad deemed it to be a Level 2 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct. “This type of a reaction from a senior player and a former captain is unacceptable,” Broad said. “When the umpire’s finger goes up, the batsman must leave the crease without showing his emotions regardless of what he thinks of the decision.”The other fine levied in the match was for Zimbabwe’s slow over rate, deemed to have been one over short in their allotted time. Taylor, the captain, was fined 20% of his match fee, and the rest of the side was penalised 10%.The one-day series is tied 1-1, and will be decided by the final match on May 8.

Vernon Philander has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth, which starts on Friday

Firdose Moonda08-Jan-2013Vernon Philander has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth, which starts on Friday, after suffering a recurrence of the hamstring injury that had him in doubt for the first Test. Rory Kleinveldt will replace him.Philander bowled 30 overs in the Cape Town Test and took seven wickets. His six overs in the first innings saw him claim his eighth Test five-for. He had to leave the field after his final five-over spell on the third day when he felt pain in his left hamstring.The same injury forced him to pull out of a first-class match two weeks ago and he required a two-week rest period but was ready for the first Test. With the second niggle coming so soon after the first, team management have decided not to risk Philander.”Vernon’s hamstring strain will require a seven to 10 day recovery period at the very least,” Mohammed Moosajee, South African team manager – who is also a medical doctor – said. “Although he is responding to treatment received over the past few days, we feel it’s unlikely that he’ll recover in time for this week’s Test match. With the Pakistan series less than a month away, it’s not worth the risk of aggravating the injury.”South Africa’s three Test series against Pakistan starts on February 2 and Philander will target that to make his return. He will have missed three of the 16 Tests since he made his debut in November 2011 through injury. He missed the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka in 2011 with a knee problem, the Adelaide Test against Australia because of back spasms and now this coming match with a hamstring problem.As a result, Kleinveldt will play his third Test for South Africa. Kleinveldt debuted in Brisbane where he was so nervous, he overstepped 12 times in the match and went wicketless. But he kept his place ahead of Philander in Adelaide and, despite another 11 no-balls in the match, redeemed himself by removing the Australian top three in one second-innings spell. He has only played two first-class matches at St George’s Park and this will be his first Test on home soil.

David Harker, chief executive at Durham, will step down from his role in May to pursue a private business venture.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2012David Harker, chief executive at Durham, will step down from his role in May to pursue a private business venture. He will continue as a non-executive director.Harker has worked at Durham throughout their transformation from fledgling first-class county into one of the leading clubs in the country. He initially joined as a financial controller in 1991 and became chief executive in 1999.A local-born businessman, Harker has overseen the development, and rebranding, of Chester-le-Street into an international venue, securing a first Ashes Test next summer. Under Harker’s watch, Durham secured their first major trophy by winning the Friends Provident Trophy in 2007 and back-to-back County Championship titles in 2008 and 2009.But the lure of a new business venture has proved too good an opportunity for Harker to pass up. “I have enjoyed a fantastic 20 years with Durham,” he said. “The club has changed beyond recognition since I joined the team, and it’s a real honour to have played a part in the fantastic achievements made here.”But with the Ashes secured in 2013 – something we could once have scarcely imagined happening in Durham – and a very strong and committed management team now on board, I had been thinking that the coming year may be the one in which I looked for a new challenge.”Of course, whatever you achieve, there is always the temptation to stay on and reach the next goal and the next one after that – which explains why I have been here for such a long time – but it does feel like now is the time to step aside and pass on the reins to someone else.”Harker leaves considerable boots to fill and as such, Clive Leach, Durham chairman, said there will be no rush to find a replacement. “David has made a significant contribution to the club during the course of his career and we’ll now be taking stock and ensuring that we make the decision that is right for the long term future of the club.”We are very sorry to see David go,” Leach said. “He has been so good for the club and has helped to take it from the bottom – both as a business and sports team – to the top. Durham is now an organisation that is recognised on a national and international stage and this is, in no small part, down to the hard work of David and his management team.”

New Zealand’s tour of England next year is likely to overlap with the 2013 IPL season, forcing some of their senior players to choose which series to take part in

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2012Schedule of NZ’s England tour in 2013

May 4-6: Three-day game v Derbyshire

May 9-12: four-day game v England Lions

May 16-20 First Test

May 24-28: Second Test

May 31: First ODI

June 2: Second ODI

June 5: Third ODI

June 22: T20 v Kent

June 25: First T20

June 27: Second T20

(The Champions Trophy will be played between the ODIs and the T20s)

New Zealand’s tour of England next year (see schedule alongside) is likely to overlap with the 2013 IPL season, forcing the likes of captain Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori to choose which series to take part in. Next year’s IPL is set to start on April 3 and is expected to run till the end of May, while New Zealand’s warm-up matches begin on May 4.The clash in schedules seems to violate the terms of the eight-year agreement between NZC, the players’ association and the six major domestic associations that called for a clear IPL window for New Zealand’s cricketers.Since the deal was signed in August 2010, there has been only one IPL season during which there were no international commitments for New Zealand’s players. Five New Zealand cricketers – Vettori, Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum and Jesse Ryder – currently on a central contract have signed up with IPL franchises.While Ryder’s New Zealand contract will come to an end in June, other IPL players like allrounder James Franklin and fast bowler Doug Bracewell will be in line for contracts.So far New Zealand, unlike West Indies, have not had to field a weakened side due to the IPL.

It might be a case of stating the bleeding obvious, but the New Zealand allrounder Nathan McCullum knows there is one simple way his side can get back into the series against West Indies. Get Chris Gayle out cheaply

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2012It might be a case of stating the bleeding obvious, but the New Zealand allrounder Nathan McCullum knows there is one simple way his side can get back into the series against West Indies. Get Chris Gayle out cheaply. Perhaps “simple” is the wrong word, for Gayle has demolished New Zealand in all four matches on this tour so far, scoring 85 not out and 53 in the two Twenty20s, and 63 not out and 125 in the one-day internationals.Gayle has had support from Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels and Kieron Pollard, but none of them have terrorised New Zealand with the same consistency as Gayle. In the third ODI in St Kitts on Wednesday, Gayle has the chance to score his fifth consecutive fifty-plus score for West Indies across all formats, something he has never before achieved, and if he manages it West Indies will be well on the way to taking an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the one-day internationals.”At the end of the day we’ve just got to get him out. We’ve got some plans in place that we’re pretty sure are going to work,” McCullum told reporters in St Kitts. “Let’s hope they do, but we’re determined to take his wicket and get them under pressure at the top of the order.”We’ve just got to win. We’ve got to be determined to win and find any way possible. We’ve got to take more wickets, burn through their top order and see what their bottom order has got under pressure, and if we bat first we’ve got to score hundreds and put big partnerships and big runs on the board.”That part of the equation will become a little easier if Brendon McCullum, who was initially rested for the limited-overs games but is being flown in early due to injuries in the squad, joins the side for the third ODI. However, the New Zealand coach John Wright said it remained to be seen whether McCullum, who arrives in St Kitts less than 24 hours before the start of Wednesday’s game, would be considered.”We’ll see how he feels,” Wright told New Zealand reporters. “It’s a long journey, but that may be a little bit tight.”The left-arm fast bowler Trent Boult could come into contention to make his ODI debut on Wednesday as New Zealand search for a way to bolster an attack that has taken only six wickets in the first two matches. The West Indies captain Darren Sammy said his focus was simply to secure the series win as soon as possible, which would end a four-year drought in which West Indies have not won an ODI series against anyone but Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and the ICC associates.”Since we started off the series in Florida we’ve been playing some really good cricket,” Sammy said. “It’s good to see that we’ve been consistently good in whatever we’ve been doing. We’re just looking to continue again. Wednesday will be a chance to clinch the series, so we’re looking to do that.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has said it has paid its cricketers their outstanding dues, which had been pending since last year’s World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2012Sri Lanka Cricket has said it has paid its cricketers their outstanding dues, which had been pending since the 2011 World Cup. The ICC had paid 42.36% of the dues to the players directly, in December, out of the participation fee due to Sri Lanka from the tournament. SLC announced in February that it would pay the remainder of the dues by the end of the month, after the state-owned Bank of Ceylon agreed to release 600 million rupees (approx US$5.07 million) to the board, following discussions with sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage.The board now said the players “have been paid all their dues in full up to date.””We extend our sincere thanks to the sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and the secretary, ministry of sports for assisting Sri Lanka Cricket to source these funds at this very difficult time in order to pay our players,” a board release said.The Sri Lanka players had been owed around $4.3 million by SLC in December before the ICC paid part of their dues. The board is in the middle of a major financial crunch after having run up debts of $32.5 million to finance the building of two international stadiums in Hambantota and Pallekele, and to renovate the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, for the World Cup.Edited by Dustin Silgardo