All posts by csb10.top

Captain’s celebration
It’s Ricky Ponting’s birthday on Tuesday and he was planning to stay up till midnight while toasting his Ashes-winning present. “Actually, it’s 3 o’clock now so I might not make it,” he said. His on-field staying powers are obviously better than his off-field ones.Missing man
Damien Martyn has been in a mystery location since his retirement and the Australians were hoping to include him in the victory song. “We’ll give Damien a ring when we sing it, but I’m not sure he’ll answer,” Ponting said. Martyn has been a text-messaging recluse since making the decision.Crowd call of the day
The Barmy Army appealing to the first five balls of Shane Warne’s first over, a joke that continued until Monty Panesar’s dismissal gave Australia the Ashes.Courageous act of the day
The seagull who flew across the pitch just as Brett Lee was above to deliver. Fortunately Lee stopped and the bird survived.Dismissal of the day
Ricky Ponting’s run out of Geraint Jones from silly point. It was a stunningly fast underarm and Jones’ foot remained on the crease for an easy decision for the third umpire.Quote of the day
“Every time we got our foot in the door they closed it on us.” Andrew Flintoff sums up the series

Scorecard

St Vincent and the Grenadines made a meal of the target set by Trinidad & Tobago and handed them a 59-run win and a spot in the semi-finals of the Stanford 20/20.Dwayne Bravo plundered 62 off 34 balls and added 86 with William Perkins (56) to revive the T&T innings following a poor start. T&T had scored 55 for 3 in the first ten overs. By the 15th – with Bravo and Perkins on the offensive – 55 more were added without the loss of any wicket. Bravo hit a six and two fours off Romel Currency’s first over that went for 18 runs. But the T&T batsmen’s urgency to score runs was evident though ill-advised with four of the seven wickets falling to run-outs. Keon Peters was St Vincent’s most successful bowler, removing Perkins and Bravo in successive overs.St Vincent’s chase was checked right from the second ball when opener Miles Bascombe was caught off Mervyn Dillon for a duck. It hit further snags on the way and at the end of the first ten overs St Vincent were 37 for 6.Legspinner Samuel Badree dried up the runs, conceding only nine from his four overs, and took two wickets off successive deliveries. Deighton Butler was St Vincent’s top scorer with an unbeaten 33.On February 15 T&T will play the winner of the match between Barbados and Grenada to fight for a spot in the final.

Steve Waugh has sent out a message to the ageing members of the current Australian side to retire when they feel it’s best for each of them, rather than getting caught in unnecessary media publicity.”It’s a high-profile sport. As a player, you can make the decision and let everyone know and then get on with it,” Waugh told the . “Just go ahead and do it, if that’s your plan.”Waugh’s comments follow Justin Langer’s, who hinted that he may retire after the Ashes series early next year. Langer cautioned other players of announcing their decision too early, as it would be a huge distraction and that it was up to each individual to decide how much attention they wished to attract.Waugh was speaking out of personal experience. He went public with his retirement plans before the 2003-04 home series against India. Waugh also pointed out that such a situation could put a lot of pressure on the new captain.”It’s different when you’re a captain compared to being a player,” Waugh said. “As captain, you get all the talk about who is going to be the next guy in charge.”We were able to deal with that. Ricky [Ponting] was given the job almost straight away so that was taken care of. People had been talking about whether I was going to stop playing for so long and I wanted to put an end to it.”With these guys, if a few of them are leaving, there won’t be just one bloke caught up in it. Ideally, you probably want to leave the game without all the fuss. That would be perfect, but it can’t work that way.”The Australian side has quite a few players in their mid to late 30s, including Matthew Hayden, Langer, Shane Warne, Damien Martyn and Stuart MacGill. With next year’s Test tour of Zimbabwe in doubt, Australia’s next Test series after the Ashes probably won’t be until 2007-08.”Most of us have already been on our last overseas Test tour together,” MacGill said. “I’m not saying it’s impossible to be playing the next Test series but, realistically, that’s a long way away. I wouldn’t count on myself being a definite starter and you’ll find a lot of players my age are in the same boat.”MacGill added that the Australian public ought to know if they were seeing the greats of the game for the last time. “It’s not just Australia versus England next summer and it’s not just Australia trying to get back the Ashes,” he said. “It’s the last time most Australian crowds are going to see a lot of these players.”

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, heaped praise on his bowlers for decimating Pakistan and setting up a ten-wicket win at Cape Town. “It’s one of the best bowling performances I’ve seen from this team,” he told reporters. “The bowling unit took a bit of flak after Durban [where Pakistan scored 351 for 4 to win by 141 runs] but they’ve been superb for the past few years and today they were fantastic.”Put into bat, Pakistan were bundled out for 107 in the 46th over before Smith and AB de Villiers knocked off the target in just 14 overs. “Every bowler hit fantastic lengths,” added Smith. “I don’t think the wicket did that much after eight overs, but the pressure we built on them and the way we fielded was an incredible effort.”Shaun Pollock, who bowled brilliantly for his 2 for 13 off ten overs, said a responsive pitch helped South Africa, and singled out a classy fielding unit. “It definitely did a bit for us this morning, but once the heavy roller came on it flattened things out. Every bowler kept the pressure on and gave them nothing for free, and the fielders were also superb.”Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, said he hoped his team would prove more competitive in the final match on Wednesday: “Credit goes to the South African bowlers, but we definitely played poor cricket. I would have said 230 or 240 would have been a good total on this track, then we could have put some pressure on the South Africans.But we’re confident that we can play hard cricket in Johannesburg to level the series.”South Africa have an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series ahead of the final match.

Greg Maybury, a promising 14-year-old swing bowler, has become the second young Bermuda player to enrol at Oakham School near Peterborough in England, and is to further his cricketing career by attending a University Centre of Cricketing Excellence (UCCE).”I am really looking for to this challenge,” Maybury told . “They [Oakham] have great coaches with good philosophies and excellent facilities. I can only get better in the sport as well as in academics, so there is no better place to do these two than in England.”Like Stefan Kelly, who joined Oakham in 2003 and is now studying for his A-Levels, Maybury’s further education in England is sponsored by the Bank of Bermuda Foundation, and he was given financial support by the government last week who pledged $4,000 to aid his training and development.”I would like to thank the Bank of Bermuda and the Bermuda Cricket Board for giving me this opportunity and I want to tell players behind me that there are great opportunities out there for them and they can succeed and do even better then me,” he said. “There is no pressure from the expectations placed on me. I am looking forward to the challenge and the experience I will gain from this exposure.”I can end up at one of the UCCEs and continue to be a professional cricketer or succeed in the office, whichever I chose.”

Division One

Day one
Sussex twice fought back from poor positions against title rivals Lancashire at Hove as the first day finished with both sides still neck and neck. Lancashire enjoyed the perfect start when Dominic Cork struck twice in his opening spell but was later forced to leave the field for stitches in a hand injury. Michael Yardy and Murray Goodwin began the rearguard with a stand of 99 but Sussex then stuttered again at 161 for 5. However, with Cork and with Simon Marshall struggling with cramp, Lancashire couldn’t ram home their advantage. Matt Prior produced a mature half-century – much more circumspect than some of his dashing displays – as he and Robin Martin-Jenkins put Sussex back on course for a decent total.Matt Walker and Tyron Henderson both made half-centuries to take Kent to 285 all out against Hampshire before bad light stopped play at Canterbury. Geraint Jones looked set for a fifty of his own, but couldn’t quite send a strong reply to the England selectors for dropping him; he made 39 before Shane Warne trapped him lbw, one of three wickets. Kent will be annoyed at wasting a number of promising starts but, Hampshire, trying to keep pace with Lancashire and Sussex at the top of the table will be aiming for a lead on the second day.Day two
There was no play at all on the second day between Durham and Nottinghamshire at Chester-le-Street, with rain washing out proceedings.

Division Two

Day one
Claude Henderson and Stuart Broad helped Leicestershire to work their way through Gloucestershire‘s line-up at Cheltenham. Alex Gidman and Stephen Adshead made fifties for the home side,while most of their batsmen made starts, but couldn’t capitalise. Henderson took 5 for 76, while Broad continued his dazzling streak, this time he took 4 for 47. Gloucestershire eventually made 282, but their bowlers struck early, removing Darren Robinson for 4.Half-centuries for Daryl Mitchell and Roger Sillence quietened Glamorgan as Worcestershire took charge at Colwyn Bay. Vikram Solanki just missed out on a century, he made 49 before he was run out. Still his knock, at least, will be a handy run-out in celebration of his recall to England’s one-day squad. Worcestershire’s batsmen played well in pairs and will be happy with making nearly 400 by stumps.Andrew Caddick took five wickets as Somerset ran the rule over Essex at Southend-on-Sea. However, another former England paceman hit back before the close as Darren Gough grabbed two wickets. Ronnie Irani played a captain’s innings to just about hold Essex together; he struck 80 to lift them from 126 for 6 to 252, sharing a seventh-wicket partnership of 102 with Tim Phillips. Phillips made 44. Grant Flower and Mark Pettini had got the home side off to a solid start, with a stand of 68, but Caddick did the damage, with 5 for 83 to leave Essex in trouble. Charl Willoughby was also in the wickets; he grabbed 3 for 46For a full report of Surrey‘s match against Northamptonshire click here.

Match facts

Saturday, April 26, 2008
Start time 16.00 (local), 10.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

The top-of-the-table Kolkata Knight Riders have made a rousing start to their IPL campaign, but they will face a stiff challenge from the Chennai Super Kings, who, like them, are unbeaten after two rounds of matches. The feature match of the weekend assumes added significance as both teams stand to lose out on their trans-Tasman recruits at the end of the month as commitments to their respective national teams bring their Indian sojourn to an end.

Watch out for …

… another highly productive day for the batsmen. Kolkata’s thrust will be led by Brendon McCullum, who will want to wrest the ‘orange cap’ – worn by the highest cumulative run-scorer in the tournament, from Kumar Sangakkara. Ricky Ponting is yet to fire, and his probable duel with Muttiah Muralitharan will be one to watch. Ishant Sharma has lived up to his US$950,000 billing but he faces his first real test against a formidable batting line-up. Chennai’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be keen to match the batting exploits of his peers. Matthew Hayden, after his masterly 81 against the Mumbai Indians, is another potential match-winner.

Team news

This will be Kolkata’s penultimate match where they can use the services of McCullum and Ponting, but David Hussey will stay on as he is not part of Australia’s Test squad. While Kolkata have the option of using Umar Gul, the Pakistan seamer, Mohammad Hafeez’s all-round abilities may ensure he retains his place.Kolkata: 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt) 2 Brendon McCullum 3 Ricky Ponting 4 David Hussey 5 Mohammad Hafeez 6 Laxmi Ratan Shukla 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk)8 Ajit Agarkar 9 Ashok Dinda 10 Murali Kartik 11 Ishant SharmaMichael Hussey and Hayden, along with Ponting, will leave India on May 1 for a preparatory camp ahead of the West Indies series. Chennai’s batsmen have clicked in both matches, but their bowlers have been on the expensive side. P Amarnath, the right-arm seamer, was taken for a record 57 runs in his four overs by Mumbai, and he may be benched in favour of the offspinner, R Ashwin.Chennai: (probable)1 Parthiv Patel 2 Matthew Hayden 3 Michael Hussey 4 Suresh Raina 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt and wk) 6 Jacob Oram 7 S Badrinath 8 Joginder Sharma 9 R Ashwin 10 Manpreet Gony 11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jaywardene has said that his side will look to capitalise on Andrew Flintoff’s absence when they take on England in the five-match one-day series starting at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium on October 1.Flintoff was forced to pull-out of the series due to a troublesome left ankle. He also missed the last bilateral one-day series between the two teams in 2006 where England were walloped 5-0 at home.”Andrew is a top-class allrounder,” Jayawardene told , a Colombo-based daily. “England have a more balanced attack with him in their side because he is a batting allrounder who bowls really well. He is a matchwinner and his absence is obviously an advantage for us.”Jayawardene indicated that the England one-day side was stronger than the one they faced last year. “They have got some really good allrounders coming through,” he said. “We met them in the World Cup and it was a very close game. England will be a good challenge for us. It’s a big season ahead and we need to make sure we start on a very good note.”They also have some quality batsmen who play different roles, some we haven’t seen. We need to understand what those are and try to counter-attack them.”Commenting on the Sri Lankan squad, Jayawardene said it was a tough call for the selectors to pick allrounder Kaushal Lokuarachchi ahead of fellow legspinner Malinga Bandara.”Loku’s been performing really well in one-day internationals. We know what Bandara is capable of doing. Thinking of the future, you never know how long Sanath [Jayasuriya] is going to continue playing. We might have to fit in a spinning allrounder in the middle of our batting line-up. It’s good for us to try a few things right now, see what Loku has to offer and how we can have different combinations going forward.”On Muttiah Muralitharan, Jayawardene doubted whether he would be fit for the series. Muralitharan is recovering from a strained right bicep which he sustained while bowling long spells during his county stint with Lancashire.”It’s good to have Murali around but the reality is that he won’t be around for a long time. He won’t be playing all the matches. We need to give him adequate rest. Even the workload on [Chaminda] Vaas must be limited. When opportunities arise we have to try out new blood. There are a few guys we have earmarked. We will them bring slowly into the system.”Chanaka Welagedera, Mahela Udawatte and Dilruwan Perera are some of the players in the short list.

Maninder Singh, the former Indian left-arm spinner, was granted bail on Wednesday by a Delhi court for allegedly being in possession of 1.5 grammes of cocaine, an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.On Tuesday, the narcotics branch of the Delhi police brought in Maninder for questioning after raiding his residence. “Maninder has confessed that he was a drug addict and consumed drugs to deal with family problems. He first took drugs 10 years ago in Holland,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Narcotics) AS Cheema told Indo-Asian News Service. The bail was granted on a personal surety of Rs.50,000 (approximately $ 1160).An Associated Press report quoted police spokesman Rajan Bhagat as saying that local club cricketer Sayyam Siddique, who was with Maninder when police raided his apartment, was arrested for carrying 100 grams of contraband “charas” [hashish]. “They were arrested while exchanging the drugs. Maninder told us that he used to procure drugs from Siddiqui, who purchased them from a south Delhi based drug peddler,” Cheema said.The amount allegedly found in Singh’s residence is less than a “commercial quantity” and puts the case in the category of possession of a banned substance for personal use, thereby increasing his chances of being granted bail. However, Bhagat said police were investigating whether Maninder kept the cocaine for his personal use or was involved in the drug trade.Maninder, who played 35 Tests for India between 1982 and 1993, surged intoprominence when only 17 years old. His prodigious talent promptedcomparisons to Bishan Bedi, but consistency was to elude Maninder. Heenjoyed tremendous success on India’s tour of England in 1986, and thenpicked up a bagful of wickets against Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home, butsoon after the wheels came off. Maninder had problems with discipline,lost the loop and control that were his strengths and was dropped from theteam. He attempted more than one comeback but met with limited success.Since retiring from cricket Maninder has been involved with the game as acoach in Delhi, where he lives, and as a television commentator. WhileManinder is often remembered as a cricketer who promised much and lost hisway, the one thing that he is most famous for was being the last Indianvictim – given out lbw to Greg Matthews by umpire Vikram Raju – in thetied Test against Australia at Chennai in 1986-87.Chetan Chauhan, the former India opener and Maninder’s Delhi team-mate, told Indian news channel : “I am completely surprised. I have played with him for Delhi, for two or three seasons. I had no inkling of any previous instances involving him. I can’t believe this. “

Interest in the Twenty20 Championships were piqued when Gujarat pulled off an upset of sorts, beating Punjab by 11 runs on a still, warm humid evening at the Brabourne Stadium. Powered by a sensible knock from Niraj Patel, who was unlucky not to becoming the second batsman to score a century in this tournament, falling short by seven runs, Gujarat posted a decent score and then bowled well enough to defend it.When they finished on 153 for 8 Gujarat probably had just enough on the board to make a fight of it. Punjab’s bowling attack had done well early on, but both the spinners and the medium-pacers failed to prise out Patel, who concentrated on running hard between the wickets, only going for the big shots when he had the room to free his arms and time the ball.Patel, who has been on the domestic scene for a while now, has always been an industrious sort of player. Small and not especially powerfully built, he has relied on working the ball into the gaps and picking up the ones and twos to keep the score ticking over. He did that especially well on the day, and perhaps the Punjab bowlers did not see him as a major threat because he doesn’t possess the really big shots.He was still good enough to his 12 fours and two sixes in his 65-ball 93. And when he was dismissed, in the first ball of the last over, it was through a bit of bad luck. Mohnish Parmar hit a return catch to Dinesh Mongia, who cleverly realised that Patel was backing up too much. Mongia made to drop the ball and effected the run out at the non-striker’s end. With no player appealing for the catch the umpires had no choice but to rule Patel out.There was a bit of confusion over who was dismissed – as per the laws of the game if a catch is taken cleanly the ball is then dead and there’s strictly no need for an appeal from the bowling side. However, the umpires reckoned that Mongia was not fully in control with of the ball soon after taking the catch, and that he had not held the catch, but in fact effected the run out. At any rate, it only dented Patel’s personal score, not Gujarat, who mustered 153.With a strong batting line-up and more than one international with some Twenty20 experience in the mix, Punjab should have had no difficulty chasing down the target. However, they did not, at any point, really get going, and with the highest partnership of the Punjab innings only amounting to 37, unbroken for the last wicket, there was never a time when they were ahead of the required rate.Parthiv Patel pulled off a terrific stumping off the medium pace of Hitesh Majmudar to account for Yuvraj Singh. Dinesh Mongia, who made 32, was bowled by Ashraf Makda. Harbhajan Singh tonked three sixes, but that only got the sparse crowd excited in vain as Punjab fell well short.