All posts by h716a5.icu

R Vinay Kumar, the India seamer, has said he is confident of adapting to playing conditions in Australia and believes he is good enough to play Test cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2011Vinay Kumar, the India seamer, has said he is confident of adapting to playing conditions in Australia and believes he is good enough to play Test cricket. A regular in the ODI squad over the last couple of years, Vinay was included in India’s Test squad for the first time when he was named as a last minute replacement for the injured Varun Aaron for the tour of Australia.”I have been to Australia earlier on three occasions with the Karnataka team, and once with India A,” Vinay told the . “So the place is not new to me and I know the conditions. I don’t think adapting will be a problem for me.”I know I am good enough to play in the longer formats. In 2007, I was the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy and repeated the feat two years later. I really enjoy bowling long spells. I will have to adjust my line and length in Australia. Hopefully, I will get to play in the practice games and I will bank on my previous experience in Australia.He is not taking anything for granted though, and plans to speak to former India players about what it takes to succeed at the highest level of the game. “I will speak to former medium-pacers like Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad who know what it takes to excel at the international level. The India team bowling coach Eric Simons has been of great help and the same goes for coach Duncan Fletcher. Fletcher has told me in the past that I have the game for Test cricket.”Asked about this potential as an allrounder, Vinay said it was important for everyone down to No.11 to be able to bat. “I started my career as a batsman. Today, even the No. 11 needs to be a decent bat. Last year, Ishant [Sharma] had a partnership with VVS Laxman in the Mohali Test against Australia, which helped us win the game. It was a wake-up call for every bowler, with regard to how valuable a contribution with the bat can be.

The agent at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations tried to impress an undercover journalist, posing as an Indian businessman

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court10-Oct-2011The agent at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations tried to impress an undercover journalist, posing as an Indian businessman, with a series of boasts that included a meeting with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt about setting up a domestic Twenty20 tournament, a court in London has heard.Agent Mazhar Majeed also told journalist Mazhar Mahmood that he knew actor Brad Pitt “very well”, tennis legend Roger Federer and was good friends with former England cricketers Mike Gatting, Phil Tufnell, Geoffrey Boycott, ex-Pakistan skipper Imran Khan and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi among others.He also bragged how he managed ten Pakistan players including Salman Butt, Kamran and Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik, and had access to other world stars like Chris Gayle, Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh. A potential meeting with their mutual contact – former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf – was also referred to.The name-dropping and boasting from Majeed was heard in a recording while Mahmood was in the witness box at Southwark Crown Court in central London, on the fourth day of the trial of Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who are alleged to have bowled pre-determined no-balls for cash. Both players deny the charges.The jury also had a written transcript of the recording to follow. It was taken from the first meeting between the two men, when Mahmood had secret microphones on him that preceded an eventual global controversy after Mahmood exposed his trap. The journalist took his position in court behind a screen to hide his identity to the public and media.Mahmood lured Majeed to the meeting posing as an Indian businessman from “Tata Equity” with the promise of setting up a Twenty20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates, which would be sponsored by Etihad Airlines.The boasting raised smiles of disbelief in the court as Majeed was heard to also own seven ice cream parlours – which he has Pakistan players appear at for free, “the biggest property company in Surrey”, football club Croydon, and told of how he lived at different times in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Malaysia and Turkey as he studied religion and gave lectures.The court heard Majeed explain why he did not wish to manage former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi because “you have to kiss his arse every day”. Incredibly he also revealed how he regrettably turned down the chance of involvement in the hit movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.Majeed, who said he worked very closely with the PCB, said of the meeting with Butt: “I had a meeting with Ijaz Butt about doing a domestic tournament. What we were going to do was look at putting a sponsor with each region and do a Twenty20 league because Pakistani people are not getting any cricket to watch. They will come in droves.”In-court sketches and visible descriptions of Mahmood were not allowed to be published. His evidence is key to the prosecution and his appearance in court is expected to run into a second day. In his sting operation, Mahmood said he was backed by a Far East betting cartel, and eventually lured Majeed into revealing a corrupt plot during Pakistan’s 2010 tour of England.Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following that Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown.

Jason Gillespie, the former Australia fast bowler, has been named as Yorkshire’s new coach

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2011Jason Gillespie, the former Australia fast bowler, has been named as Yorkshire’s new coach as the county undertake a major restructuring following their poor 2011 season which saw them relegated in the County Championship.Gillespie played for Yorkshire from 2006 to 2007 and has been appointed on a two-year term alongside Paul Farbrace, the former Kent coach, who will take charge of the second XI. Phil Jaques, the Australia left-hander, has rejoined as overseas player having previously played for Yorkshire in 2004 and 2005.The new coaching structure will work under Martyn Moxon, the director of professional cricket, after the club opted for a clear-out. Craig White, who was the previous second XI coach, has moved into a career as an umpire while Steve Oldham, Kevin Sharp and John Blain, who all held various coaching position, were not retained having been invited to reapply for their positions.Gillespie, 36, only has previous main coaching experience with the Zimbabwe domestic team MidWest Rhinos, but he also spent time as a bowling coach with Kings XI Punjab in the IPL and Australia A. He played 71 Tests for Australia, taking 259 wickets and also scored an unbeaten 201 in his final match against Bangladesh in 2006.”To be able to go back there in a coaching capacity is a fantastic opportunity,” Gillespie said in a statement issued from Zimbabwe where he is seeing out his current contract. “When opportunities like being first team coach at Yorkshire come up you don’t turn them down.”The one thing I’ll be bringing to Yorkshire is a bit of fun and enjoyment, but making sure our preparation is spot on and leaving no stone unturned.”Jaques, meanwhile, will add strength to a top-order that struggled last season and will build on an already handsome record for Yorkshire which measures 2477 runs in 24 matches at 61.92. He has also had prolific county spells with Northamptonshire and Worcestershire but his international career was limited to 11 Tests and six ODIs. He has more than 13,000 first-class runs.

Brian Vitori ran through Bangladesh’s top order to become the first Zimbabwe bowler to take five wickets on his ODI debut

Mohammad Isam in Harare12-Aug-2011It was the first time Brian Vitori was going to have a crack at Tamim Iqbal since the batsman’s “ordinary” jibe during the Test. After ten balls in 5.4 overs of constant pressure, Vitori dismissed Tamim with a short-of-a-length delivery that the batsman charged at and miscued to mid-on. No words were said or heard, just a simple celebration from Vitori.”It wasn’t really about me and Tamim,” Vitori said after becoming the seventh bowler in ODIs, and the first from Zimbabwe, to begin his career with a five-wicket haul. “It was about setting the tone and I actually had an idea how to bowl at these guys after the Test match.”Vitori’s opening burst was sensational but he had help too. Christopher Mpofu was disciplined from the City End, Bangladesh’s top order attacked after Tamim’s charge failed and Brendan Taylor gave Vitori two slips to work with.Shahriar Nafees found it hard to handle Vitori’s angles. A left-arm bowler can be easier for a left-hand batsman to handle, but Vitori has an inherent liking for left-handers. After spending a few overs working out Nafees, Vitori bowled one that went between his bat and pad and crashed into his leg-stump.Imrul Kayes, a left-hand batsman slightly out of form, missed a similar delivery that straightened and was leg-before. A ball before Kayes’ dismissal, Mohammad Ashraful had mistimed a hook because the ball came on to him quicker than he expected.The wicket of Shafiul Islam made Vitori the first Zimbabwe bowler to take a five-for on debut. Gary Crocker, Everton Matambanadzo, Bryan Strang and Duncan Fletcher each had four-wicket hauls on debut.Vitori’s 5 for 30 is in the same league as Fletcher’s effort against Australia in 1983 and according to Bangladesh coach Stuart Law, his performance struck a chord. “The Test win last week has given them a springboard to go forward,” Law said. “The young Zimbabwe players are keen to play, they want to play for their country. That speaks volumes, they have a lot of pride.”Zimbabwe were up for it. It was evident from ball one really, their fielding in the ring was fantastic. They were quick to the ball, accurate with their throws [and] that puts a batting line-up under pressure. We probably could have gone about it a bit differently. We looked too conservative, worrying about losing wickets. And once we worked out the ball wasn’t doing a great deal, it was up to us to work out a plan on how to knock the Zimbabwe bowlers off their length. That proved difficult to do.”For a man who struggled to buy a pair of boots only two years ago and had to lose extra weight, Vitori has come a long way and his figures could have been better if Hamilton Masakadza had taken a catch off Vitori’s final delivery. “I didn’t mind that,” he said. “I got five wickets already.”

The 2012 Asia Cup has been rescheduled to avoid conflicting with the ODI tri-series in Australia that also includes Sri Lanka and India

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2011The 2012 Asia Cup has been rescheduled to avoid conflicting with the ODI tri-series in Australia that also includes Sri Lanka and India, the Asian Cricket Council has said. The tournament was originally supposed to be played from March 1 to March 11, but with the tri-series ending on March 8, the tournament will now be played from March 12 to March 22. The venue, Dhaka, remains unchanged.The 2012 Asia Cup will be the 11th edition of a tournament that has had something of a rocky existence, being played at irregular intervals and tacked on as an afterthought to the already jam-packed schedules of the big four teams of Asian cricket – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India are the defending champions, having beaten Sri Lanka in the final of the 2010 edition in Dambulla.

A round-up of the action from the second day of the semi-finals of the Regional Four-Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2011Kavesh Kantasingh and Ryan Austin wrested the advantage away from the Windward Islands by cutting a swathe through their top order, before Kantasingh and Carlos Brathwaite completed the job to knock Windward over for 173, and hand Combined Colleges & Campuses an unlikely 83-run first-innings lead at the Three Ws Oval in Bridgetown. CCC extended that lead to 168 for the loss of three wickets, with Romel Currency once again at the forefront with an unbeaten 32 following his 95 in the first innings.The left-arm spin of Kantasingh and the offspin of Austin were introduced early on a pitch that had rewarded the Windward spinners when they bowled, and the move paid off immediately with Kantasingh trapping West Indies opener Devon Smith plumb in front for 6. Austin got into the act shortly after, picking up two quick wickets, and when Kantasingh added two more, Windward were tottering at 54 for 5. Kantasingh’s third wicket was his 100th in first-class cricket, and came when he had Andre Fletcher (31) snapped up at silly point by Shacoya Thomas. A 68-run partnership between the two James, Kevin and Lyndon, added some respectability to the innings, but Brathwaite bowled both men, and Kantasingh snapped up the last two wickets to finish with 5 for 38. Austin picked up 2 for 53, while Brathwaite had figures of 3 for 24.Brendan Nash powered to his maiden first-class double century and Wavell Hinds added an unbeaten hundred of his own as Jamaica amassed 574 for 7 against Trinidad & Tobago at Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground in St. Augustine. Nash had already been involved in two century stands when Hinds joined him after Tamar Lambert fell for 41, and the pair made sure there was no respite for the T&T bowlers, adding a further 166 for the fifth wicket. Nash was eventually dismissed by West Indies allrounder Kieron Pollard, who had him caught behind for a career best 207 from 349 balls, an innings that included 20 fours and two sixes.Hinds continued the momentum after Nash’s dismissal, getting to his second hundred of the season and ensuring that Jamaica are in pole position to reach the final. Nash and Hinds are now the second and third-highest run scorers in the tournament, with team-mate Marlon Samuels leading the way.

ESPNcricinfo previews the game between Chennai Super Kings and Pune Warriors

The preview by Sidharth Monga24-Apr-2011Match factsMonday, April 25, Chennai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)The two will be on opposite sides on Monday, trying to arrest their respective IPL team’s slides•AFPBig pictureHow many times must a team fall before it is considered to be in freefall? Two? Maybe not. Chennai Super Kings and Pune Warriors, both on two-match losing streaks after good starts to their competition, are not yet in freefall, but by midnight on Monday one of them will have lost three in a row, and will have a lot of worrying to do.

Chennai will be more desperate to stop the slide having lost three out of their five matches. A loss on Monday will leave them needing at least five wins out of their last eight. Pune, who have lost two out of four, are one defeat short of moving into the situation Chennai find themselves in. They’ll want to avoid it.Form guide (most recent first)Chennai LLWLW (8th in points table)
Pune LLWW (7th in points table)Team talkChennai have two choices to make. The first one is simpler, picking one out of Tim Southee and Suraj Randiv. The other choice is difficult: both Shadab Jakati and Joginder Sharma have struggled so far. Will they make a choice between the two or pick a new bowler, perhaps Sudeep Tyagi or Yo Mahesh?
Pune will need to tweak their line-up as Manish Pandey is now available after serving his four-match ban. Pandey could come in for Graeme Smith, who is struggling for form and fitness. It will be interesting to see if they persist with Tim Paine if Smith can’t make it. Paine made 2 off 9 balls against Mumbai Indians on his IPL debut.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.In the spotlightNone of the Pune bowlers features in the top 12 wicket-takers in the tournament so far. Yuvraj Singh is their leading wicket-taker with four strikes. They will be looking for a bigger effort from the specialist bowlers.

South Africa’s national team doesn’t want him, but MS Dhoni finds enough work for Albie Morkel, who bowls ahead of Doug Bollinger and has delivered Chennai’s only maiden of the tournament.Prime numbersWith five catches and a stumping, Robin Uthappa has statistically been the second-most successful wicketkeeper, behind Kumar Sangakkara with eight dismissalsS Anirudha has taken six catches this season, the most for a fielder other than a wicketkeeper The chatter”We have won two home games, so if we win the rest of the home games, we are going to be close to the play-offs. We have to keep winning matches and not worry about the run-rate. If you have one good week, you find yourself at the top of the table.”

Shaun Tait is about to embark on his second World Cup, confident he made the right decision to stop playing first-class cricket two years ago

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2011Shaun Tait is about to embark on his second World Cup, confident he made the right decision to stop playing first-class cricket two years ago. Tait played the last of his three Tests in January 2008, after which he took a break from the game to deal with physical and mental fatigue, and he has no plans to return to four-day cricket any time soon.Although he has sometimes broken the 160kph mark in the shorter formats, and he is an especially dangerous weapon in short Twenty20 bursts, Tait knows his body can’t handle the rigours of the longer game. He also knows there will always be critics of his decision, but he is certain that giving up the four-day game was the best thing he could have done.”People are probably disappointed and think I’m copping out and turning my back on my country, which is not the story at all,” Tait told reporters in Ahmedabad on Thursday. “The reason I’m not playing first-class cricket and not playing as much cricket as people maybe think I should be, is because of my body. I’d love to be able to play all forms of the game but it’s just not the case.”You try to do the best you can to keep your body right and stay on the park but you can’t do anything about it. You read things and get a little bit cranky at times but who cares? It’s my career, not theirs. There’s going to be critics all the time and ‘back in our day we were tougher’ and all this sort of bollocks.”There’s a lot of people out there who have different thoughts but they’re not in the inner circle and they don’t know the full story. When you’re injured, people get on your back. When you’re not performing well, people get on your back. You put a decent performance in and everyone takes an interest again.”Tait’s slingy action is hard on his body, and elbow surgery at the start of this season seemed to have hurt his chances of making the World Cup squad. But the Australians were always keen to have Tait, who turns 28 next week, in their armoury alongside other fast men including Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger.A key part of Australia’s triumph in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, when he was the equal second-leading wicket taker at the tournament with 23 at 20.30, Tait is yet to play an international on the subcontinent. He will need to find some speed from the expected slower conditions to give Australia hope of defending their title and winning a fourth consecutive World Cup.

Celtic are on the road again tonight as the Hoops take on Dundee United at Tannadice to try and finally clinch the Premiership title.

Their previous outing saw Ange Postecoglou’s side overcome an early scare by beating Hearts 4-1 at Parkhead.

With just three minutes on the clock, Hearts striker Ellis Simms fired past Hoops goalkeeper Joe Hart to give the away side an early lead.

Much to the delight of Postecoglou and the home supporters, the Bhoys not only equalised but took the lead by half-time thanks to goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda.

Second-half strikes from Matt O’Riley and Giorgos Giakoumakis sealed the victory for Celtic and set them up nicely for tonight’s showdown.

On the chalkboard

One player who should be in the Celtic starting XI to take on Dundee United but didn’t start against Hearts is winger Forrest.

After replacing Jota on Saturday after 81 minutes, the Scotland winger certainly made the most of his short cameo. With just 10 touches of the ball, the winger set up Giakoumakis’ late goal and even managed to have one shot on target himself.

This display earned the 30-year-old a solid overall match rating of 7.2/10 from SofaScore, which is a higher rating than Maeda posted.

Speaking of the Japanese winger, after he recently spoke about how much he’s looking forward to having a rest after playing such a hefty amount of football over the past 18 months, this could sway Postecoglou into taking him out of the team on this occasion and finally unleashing Forrest.

Having only made two substitute appearances since early March, now could be the ideal time for the 56-year-old to put the winger back in the starting XI.

The attacker was previously described by former Celtic interim manager John Kennedy as being “frustrated” with missing chances. Given his lack of regular game-time in recent weeks, there’s every chance he could be frustrated by that as well.

Taking into account how Dundee United have only been able to keep one clean sheet in their past 10 league games, there’s every chance that Forrest can be a real attacking threat against a team with such a weak defence, potentially firing his side to the title.

In other news – “Postecoglou knows”: Insider drops Lennoxtown claim, Celtic supporters will be elated

Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport have shared a big Manchester United transfer update involving Juventus forward Paulo Dybala and incoming new manager Erik ten Hag.

The Lowdown: ten Hag revolution underway?

The 52-year-old, coming as the latest elite boss in a long line tasked with steering United back to the Premier League summit, has already been making his mark behind-the-scenes – according to reports.

Ten Hag is allegedly working on summer transfer targets with a central defender first and foremost on the Red Devils agenda, as per reporter Rudy Galetti, but that hasn’t stopped the Old Trafford side also making pre-summer moves for attacking targets.

ESPN journalist James Olley revealed just the other day that they had made an approach for soon-to be free agent and Juve star Dybala with La Gazzetta, a big name newspaper, now backing this update with their own bit of news.

The Latest: La Gazzetta make big Dybala claim…

According to the publication in their print edition, as shared by Sport Witness, United have indeed made ‘first contact’ to sign the Argentine.

Following on, they claim that ten Hag could play a major role in luring Dybala to Manchester, even wanting to hijack Inter Milan’s move for the player.

Indeed, while the European heavyweights are also in contact over signing the £222,000-per-week star, it is believed ten Hag could ‘cut them out’ with his own ‘speech’ – meaning he may be able to personally persuade Dybala to choose a move to England instead.

The Dutchman is also apparently a huge fan of the player as United take a step pre-summer by making early contact.

The Verdict: Good move?

A proven attacking threat in Serie A, scoring nearly a century of goals in the division combined with 51 assists (Transfermarkt), signing the £36 million-rated man for nothing would be a real statement by ten Hag and the club.

English pundits, like former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson, have previously raved over the ‘world class’ Dybala as a potentially ‘massive addition’ for any squad (Football Insider).

Set to become one of the biggest free agents of 2022, the race will be competitive for his signing, but perhaps ten Hag’s allure and United’s status as a household name could tempt Dybala.

In other news: Rangnick has set his sights on another one of Serie A’s brightest talents…find out more here.