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Andy Waller, the Zimbabwe coach, admitted that recent run-ins with Zimbabwe Cricket had affected the morale of the players, but the situation was not a factor in their 108-run defeat to Pakistan in the third ODI in Harare

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2013Andy Waller, the Zimbabwe coach, admitted that recent run-ins with Zimbabwe Cricket had affected the morale of the players, but the situation was not a factor in their 108-run defeat, and subsequent series loss, to Pakistan in the third ODI in Harare.The Zimbabwe players aborted training on Friday morning over unpaid dues and have also set Zimbabwe Cricket a deadline, which could put a cloud over the two-match Test series.”We talked about it and we obviously went out there and gave a 100%,” Waller said after the match. “But unfortunately the situation, and the way it all went about yesterday, it doesn’t matter who you are, it’s all going to be in the back of your head. And without making excuses, because Pakistan played damn good cricket, it’s very hard to say to the guys, ‘Please, let’s just try and focus today, concentrate on cricket and forget about what’s happened’. Unfortunately, it’s always going to be there. You need to be incredibly mentally strong to push it aside, which I am not sure can be done.”Having beaten Pakistan in the first ODI, expectations were high for Zimbabwe to pull off a rare series win. However, a top-order collapse, which saw them lose four wickets for 21 runs, made it difficult to chase the target of 261 after their bowlers had done a good job.”When I spoke to the guys at the break, I said to them, we probably could have chased down 260,” Waller said. “So, we believed that we could do it. Unfortunately, we went there and some of our senior players in the top order didn’t play the shots that should have been played and that was the problem, I think.”Waller also commended the side for the self-belief they had shown, stating that the series against India and now Pakistan were important learning experiences.”I think, we lost today but we gained a huge amount since India have come. Against India, the first two games were okay, then we didn’t play well. And to then come back, for our guys to believe they could have beaten Pakistan tells me that our guys have suddenly got the belief and I think we showed during the series that we have got some quality cricketers,” he said. “I think it’s the mental side we need to improve on and it’s very difficult, with the little cricket we are playing, to learn to handle the pressure, because basically, pressure got to us today.”Pakistan have a world-class bowling attack and I think the way we played them in the T20 and in the first two ODIs, we showed that we could play their quality bowlers, we showed that we could play their quality spinners and we did that and that’s all added to huge belief for our guys. I think that we can do more on a slightly more regular basis.”With the current scenario of delayed player dues and issues with ZC, Waller admitted there was little he could do to help players, except get them to focus on cricket.”I am trying to do the best I can as far as the players’ side of it is concerned. Unfortunately, I have no control over the other issues that are going on. I have just got to try and get them to push those problems away as much as they can and focus on the cricket, which is really the only thing I can do and just hope they can try and be mentally strong to be able to handle that situation.”

Ottis Gibson is looking forward to returning to Wales with his West Indies team during the Champions Trophy with fond memories of his time there for Glamorgan

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2013Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, is looking forward to returning to Wales with his West Indies team during the Champions Trophy, for what could be a group decider against South Africa, holding fond memories of his time there for Glamorgan.Gibson played for the county from 1994 to 1996 and remembers the support he received from crowds that have “passion and love” for the sport and hopes that can be replicated on June 14.West Indies play their opening two matches at The Oval in London, against Pakistan and India, where they will like to think they can latch onto the Caribbean community which used to support the team in force during their heydays of the 1980s but the fans have been a far smaller presence in recent years with the side struggling.However, the Welsh public have had few chances to see West Indies in their backyard – they have only played a single ODI, against New Zealand, in 2004 – and Gibson has asked them for a strong display of support.”I played for Glamorgan in the early stages of my cricket career and people welcomed me into the county. It was a really good time and the people of Wales were nice and good to me,” he said. “The people there are very passionate about their team. I believe if we can get there early and get the support of the locals that would be great for us”I had many highlights from my time there; I got over 60 wickets and made 700 runs in my debut season, so that was a very good start to my county cricket career in the UK. I had a very good time and great experience.”When I was at Glamorgan, we also had amazing support when we played around the county circuit and at Cardiff Wales Stadium and I know that support has continued over the years. It’s a wonderful place for sports and you always feel the passion and love for sports over there.”However, Gibson’s first priority will be to ensure his team still have a chance of progressing to the semi-finals when they reach Cardiff. October’s Twenty20 success gave the long-suffering fans in the Caribbean a moment to savour, but Gibson knows it is vital the team build on that especially with a World Cup to follow in 2015.”This is a good opportunity for us as a one-day team to see where we are compared to the other guys. This tournament format is similar to how the World Cup is going to be – you have to get out of the group stage to advance to the second phase.”We hope the success and the experience we had in Sri Lanka will help everybody to stay calm when the pressure is on. We believe we can win these big tournaments. So, this is something that we are really looking forward to.”

Barcelona and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry showed why he is referred to as one of the best strikers of all time while on punditry duty on Wednesday.

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Henry has a kickabout with RichardsStuns with Richards with body feintRichards left speechless after the trickWHAT HAPPENED?

Ahead of the Champions League clash between Arsenal and Lens, Henry and fellow pundit Micah Richards went head-to-head in a small kick-about, with the Frenchman showing levels to the former Manchester City defender with a very simple body feint that had Richards lose track of the ball. Richards was left shocked as he could not believe that he had just been done like that, while Henry simply passed the ball to Jamie Carragher and nonchalantly went to pick up his broadcast microphone.

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Henry has had a stellar footballing career having won the Premier League Golden Boot a record four times. He also boasts a World Cup and Euros to his name, won with France in 1998 and 2000, respectively, and a Champions League in 2009 with Barcelona.

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The Frenchman is now also the French U21 manager and has become a stellar pundit alongside the CBS cast of Kate Abdo, Carragher and Richards. Fans across the globe adore the group as CBS has posted record audiences for their Champions League broadcast – although Lionel Messi won't be attending anytime soon.

Prasanna Jayawardene will go to hospital for X-rays after he was hit on the thumb by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer during Sri Lanka’s first innings at the MCG

Andrew Fernando at the MCG26-Dec-2012Prasanna Jayawardene has suffered a hairline fracture to the top of his right thumb after being hit by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer during Sri Lanka’s first innings at the MCG. That delivery was the last Jayawardene faced, as the ball caught the shoulder of the bat after hitting his thumb, and ballooned to Phillip Hughes in the slip cordon. Jayawardene made 24.Team management are yet to determine whether Jayawardene will keep wickets on day two, but in the meantime Kumar Sangakkara has taken the gloves in his stead, and will keep for the remainder of day one.Sri Lanka’s 12th man Dinesh Chandimal also keeps wickets, but cannot stand in behind the stumps as he is a substitute. A year ago, he replaced Jayawardene on Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa as wicketkeeper-batsman.”There was some bruising on his thumb after his innings, so we thought we’d better check,” team manager Charith Senanayake said, before X-rays revealed the extent of the injury.December 26 5.35am GMT This story has been updated to include news of Jayawaradene’s hairline fracture

If ever there was an example of the fluctuating nature of T20 cricket, Stuart Broad has experienced it over the first two matches of the series

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2013If ever there was an example of the fluctuating nature of T20 cricket, Stuart Broad has experienced it over the first two matches of the series between England and New Zealand.England captain Broad, who claimed his best Twenty20 figures of 4 for 24 as his side won the first match on Saturday, suffered the second worst figures (none for 53) of his international T20 career in the second game in Hamilton. New Zealand claimed a 55-run win to leave the series levelled 1-1 with one game to play. The only time Broad has conceded more runs in a T20 came in 2007, when Yuvraj Singh thrashed him for six sixes in an over in Durban.While Brendon McCullum’s excellent innings of 74 from 38 balls was the key ingredient in New Zealand’s victory, Broad admitted afterwards that his own performance – both as bowler and captain – were partly to blame. Not only was Broad’s bowling expensive – culminating in his last over costing 22 runs – but he also expressed his regret at inserting New Zealand after he had won the toss. Batting appeared to become more difficult as the game progressed, with the evening dew rendering it more difficult to time the ball.”I made the wrong decision at the toss to bowl,” Broad said. “The dew did change the wicket quite a bit and the ball swung.”The guys said it came off the wicket a bit two-paced as well. New Zealand just bowled length, and that’s all they had to do. We didn’t adapt to the conditions as well as we could have done. We bowled pretty similar lengths to Eden Park, but New Zealand probably were expecting that a bit more. They had a little bit of luck as well, with top-edges for six, but that can happen.”On such a small ground, we thought it would be hard to defend virtually anything. But New Zealand took early wickets and as soon as you do that, you have a hold of the game.”We got certain parts of the game wrong tonight and in such a short format you can’t afford to do that. This was pretty much a role reversal from Saturday, but that can happen in the shorter game.”McCullum played fantastically well. Anyone who can get 70 odd off 30 balls has played a fantastic knock. After 15 or 16 overs, I thought we were really in the game. But I got it slightly wrong at the end and it was always going to be a tough ask.”Broad’s guilt will have been assuaged a little by McCullum’s admission that he, too, would have inserted the opposition had he won the toss.”We were going to bowl as well,” he said. “It’s one of those pitches that does get better, and we saw towards the end as well that if you do manage to have wickets in hand you can access those boundaries quite easily.”We knew that, whatever score we had, we were going to have to get early wickets in that second innings.”They certainly did that. New Zealand claimed two wickets in the second over, bowled by Mitchell McClenaghan and, by the time England were reduced to 47 for 5 in the 11th over, they needed a miracle to win. “We needed to keep wickets intact,” Broad said. “But we didn’t do that and, as soon as we lost three in the first six overs, we were struggling.”The only areas of consolation for England were the bowling of Luke Wright – who sent down four tight overs – and the batting of Jos Buttler. Buttler scored 54 from 30 balls and, though his task was always hopeless he again underlined his potential.”Jos proved that if we had kept wickets in the hand he could have been dangerous at the end,” Broad said. “He’s a wonderful striker of the ball.”He’s had a really good tour so far, and the way he can hit the ball 360 degrees is pretty frightening. He’s going to be a very exciting player for us.”The deciding game of the series takes place in Wellington on Friday.

A blistering 85-run opening stand between Imran Nazir and Ahmed Shehzad and a cool finish from Angelo Mathews helped Nagenahira Nagas overhaul Kandurata Warriors’ 159 for 7 in the final over

Andrew Fernando at the R Premadasa Stadium13-Aug-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThisara Perera clobbered 72 off 33 balls and yet ended up on the losing side•Ron Gaunt/SPORTZPICS/SLPLA blistering 85-run opening stand between Imran Nazir and Ahmed Shehzad and a cool finish from Angelo Mathews trumped perhaps the innings of the tournament so far, from Thisara Perera, as Nagenahira Nagas overhauled Kandurata Warriors’ 159 for 7 in the final over. Nazir blasted five sixes and four fours in his half-century, and left his side needing just 75 from 68 at his dismissal – a task Mathews ensured never got out of hand.Fleet of foot was the key to Nazir’s success, as he routinely skipped down the track to change the lengths of both the spinners and the quick men, as well as backing away in his crease on occasion to line up the extra cover fence. Sohail Tanvir’s second over cost 20, as both Nazir and Shehzad took full toll of some hittable lengths, before the next over, from Perera, disappeared for 15 to get Nagenahira well ahead of the required rate.Kaushal Lokuarachchi beat Nazir in the flight in consecutive deliveries when the batsman was on 41, only for the wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva to fluff both straightforward stumping attempts, losing sight of the ball as it passed between bat and pad. Shehzad had been dropped on the boundary earlier too, and the mistakes continued to stack up for Kandurata, who bled at least 15 more runs through misfields alone, leaving aside the runs they might have saved had those chances been taken. When Mathews arrived at 110 for 2 from 12.3 overs, he showed off his improving knack for finishing innings by calmly taking his side over the line to make it two wins from two.In the Kandurata innings, Perera arrived at the crease with his side stagnating at 61 for 4 from 10.5 overs, and though he took seven balls to get going in earnest, when the explosion came, it was dramatic and effective. A towering six over midwicket, followed by a scorching boundary to the same area set the tone for his assault; the Nagenahira bowlers would continue to offer him length throughout the innings, and he rarely missed an opportunity to pepper his favourite midwicket boundary. Amid the heaves to cow corner there were clobbered fours down the ground and to third man as well, but few balls cramped him for space or posed a genuine threat to his technique. When he fell at 149 for 6, he had contributed 72 of the 88 runs scored during his stay. In the end, Kandurata’s total wasn’t enough to challenge their opponents.

Young cricketers from England and Australia will take important steps towards their career development when the two sides meet on the opening day of the ninth Under-19 World Cup

George Binoy in Brisbane10-Aug-2012At the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, James Taylor was like every other kid. He’d be seen around the Sunway Hotel, watching the ice-skaters on the rink and spending time on his iTouch at Starbucks in his free time. Last week, Taylor was seen making his Test debut against South Africa at Headingley, and he held his own against the world’s fastest bowlers. He is the second from the England Under-19 batch of 2008, after Steven Finn, to make it to Test cricket, a timely reminder for his juniors of the possibilities ahead as they prepare to open the 2012 World Cup in Townsville.England’s first opponents are the hosts, Australia, who have blooded more young cricketers at international level in recent years than they did in the past. From the squad that went to the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh have had a morsel of senior limited-overs cricket.In both these teams, however, you’d have to be prodigiously gifted like Ricky Ponting, or have the tenacity to perform when talent meets opportunity like Alastair Cook did, to convert a young debut into a lasting career. Taylor and Finn got where they are now through the grind.”Our aspirations for our players are that they go into first-class cricket, quite a few of the boys have played first-class cricket, then to supply the Emerging Player Programme,” Tim Boon, the England coach, said. “They then go on to the Lions … so by the time they’re 24-25 they’re knocking on the England door. There’s no direct pathway through. All these players have got to go and earn their stripes. They’ve got to go and perform in county cricket. The great thing is there’s a big queue developing.”Stuart Law, who played the first youth World Cup in 1988 and would have had many more than the one Test cap had he been in most other Australian eras, is the coach of their Under-19 side. He too said his players would have to go through the club and state route, but also that there were more opportunities for bolters at this time in Australian cricket.”When the likes of Darren Lehmann and myself were playing, there were about 15 guys who could have played Test cricket who weren’t even in the Australian team,” Law said. “[Australia] haven’t quite got that now. It has changed. Young kids are getting an opportunity earlier, which may not be the greatest thing for Australian cricket, but some kids, you throw them in the deep end and if they start swimming, you’ve found a couple of winners.”If any of these guys have a real good tournament, obviously their home states will sit up and take notice and they’ll start being let through. But it’s not just about performing well here, they’ve got to go back to their club sides and start the season well.”The Under-19 World Cup is an opportunity for a head start. Performance here could catch the eye of Australia’s National Talent Manager, Greg Chappell, who’s travelling with the team, and that could mean quicker access to an elite training environment, which in turn could widen the gap between the selected player and those he’s outrun.While several countries want for adequate youth programmes, England’s Under-19 cricketers, Boon said, were fortunate to be part of a fully integrated body, with players at higher levels keen to help those below them. “In December last year we went to South Africa. We had six international England bowlers – [James] Anderson, [Stuart] Broad, [Chris] Tremlett etc – and six Lions bowlers wanting to bowl at our Under-19s. They were there on a training camp,” he said. “That stood the lads in good stead. Our bowlers partnered with Broad and those guys, and the batters were able to face high-class internationals and tap into their experience. It was daunting and very rewarding.”A common yet significant problem several teams face at the World Cup is adjusting quickly to the unknown: strange conditions and unfamiliar playing styles. To aid their development in this regard, England toured Bangladesh and also visited Townsville for a quadrangular series in April 2012. Their results weren’t too hot: losing 5-2 in Bangladesh, and losing the semi-final of the quadrangular after winning all three league matches. They had also lost a home series to South Africa (2-4) and an away series to Sri Lanka (1-3) in 2011.”Our aims are to challenge the players under pressure, to give them really intense periods of cricket. We look at skill learning and then and testing those skills. In doing that we go to places like Bangladesh. It was very tough, very different,” Boon says of the experience. “The lads played against spinners they’ve never seen before. [They were exposed to a] different lifestyle and culture, that was also really important. It’s about grooming their skills so that they can stand independently, without a coach overlooking them.”

At this age, you need to play, the more you play the better it is. They’ve got to live the game to understand what they can do and can’t do in games of cricket.Stuart Law, Australia Under-19 coach

If World Cup warm-up results are any indication, England have adjusted quickly after arriving in Australia a week ago. They beat Pakistan, a perennially strong Under-19 side, before brushing aside Zimbabwe.Australia, on the other hand, had mixed results in the warm-ups, losing to West Indies and then thumping Scotland. They had a tough workout in the weeks leading up to those matches, losing a series to Pakistan 2-1 in Gold Coast. And in the quadrangular in India in September 2011, they had won two out of seven matches, while in the quadrangular at home in April 2012, they won three out of five games.Law, who’s been with the team for only five weeks, said that all match practice at this level was immensely beneficial. “We haven’t played together a hell of a lot. We played Pakistan in a three-match series down the coast, and you can see they have been playing together for quite a while,” he said. “At this age, you need to play, the more you play the better it is. They’ve got to live the game to understand what they can do and can’t do in games of cricket.”On Saturday, both these teams will be living and learning in the most momentous match of their lives. Win, and the chances of topping a group that includes Ireland and Nepal are significantly higher.

The president of the Guyana Cricket Board, Ramsay Ali, has resigned after police and court officials raided his home, and the homes of other board officials

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Feb-2012The president of the Guyana Cricket Board, Ramsay Ali, has resigned after police and court officials raided his home, and the homes of other board officials. The raids were the latest development in an ongoing impasse between the GCB and the Guyana government.Ali said the court officials seized financial documents and other papers from his office and home, and from the homes of board secretary Anand Senasie, former president Chetram Singh, and another trustee, Lionel Jaikarran.Guyana’s assistant police commissioner Seelall Persaud confirmed the raids had occurred on Monday, February 27. “Police were there only to ensure peace was kept,” he told .The conflict between the GCB and the Guyana government began when the Guyanese government dissolved the GCB due to a dispute over its July 2011 elections. The elections, in which Ali became president, were boycotted by some of the board’s constituent members, one of which, the Berbice Cricket Board, took the GCB to court, claiming the new administration was not properly established. The Chief Justice recommended that “there may be immediate need for the minister responsible for sports to impose his executive will in the national interest.”Following that ruling, Guyanese sports minister Dr Frank Anthony appointed an Interim Management Committee, headed by ex-West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, to run cricket in Guyana. The WICB, however, refused to acknowledge the IMC, in keeping with the ICC’s stance against government intervention in cricket administration, and said the only authority it would recognise was the GCB. The impasse has led to several problems, including Guyana nearly missing the Caribbean T20, the shifting of a West Indies-Australia Test from Providence to Dominica and the resignation of Lloyd as a non-member director of the WICB.The officials of the GCB have had to endure being locked out of their offices, in January this year, and having now had their homes invaded, the president has decided to resign.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Stuart Law has resigned as Bangladesh coach after nine months in the job, citing personal family problems

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Apr-2012Stuart Law has resigned as Bangladesh coach after nine months in the job, citing family reasons. He will stay on till the end of June, when his contract expires.His decision to quit comes less than a month after Bangladesh reached the final of the Asia Cup, widely seen as one of their finest achievements.”It is with great regret and a heavy heart that today I announce my stepping down as the head coach of Bangladesh,” Law said.He said he will move back to Australia after two and a half years in the subcontinent, which included a coaching stint with Sri Lanka. “Living away from the family and not seeing people growing up, I think we all understand that family comes first,” he said. “Cricket has been a huge part of my life but over the years I have realised that there is nothing more important than the family and if they are not happy then I am not happy and something had to give.”Law had taken over as national coach last July, and though the initial results were disappointing – including losses to Zimbabwe – the home season ended with Bangladesh upsetting India and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, before losing the final in a last-ball finish.The BCB did not give any indication of who would replace Law. However Dean Jones, who had a brief stint in the Bangladesh Premier League as technical director of Chittagong Kings, announced his presence in the fray. “Yes the Bangladesh Cricket Board has asked me if I would be interested to coach the national team.. Considering options,” he tweeted.Law’s decision appeared to have come as a surprise to those in the team. Tamim Iqbal said he was completely unaware about Law’s intentions after the Asia Cup. “I’m completely taken by surprise. But family comes first,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo.Bangladesh media committee chairman Jalal Yunus said the board understood Law’s decision. “As he (Law) has said the family was his priority and that should be the case for all of us,” Yunus said. “We are sorry to see him go, especially at a time when under his guidance the Bangladesh team is doing really well and showing good consistency.”

The first edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will kick off on February 9, 2012 with the final to be played on February 29

Tariq Engineer28-Dec-2011The first edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) will kick off on February 9, 2012 with the final to be played on February 29. The 20-day tournament will feature six teams that will play each other twice each in a round-robin format over 33 matches to be held in Chittagong and Dhaka.Teams will be allowed to field five foreign players in their XIs, as opposed to four in the IPL. Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Kamran Akmal are among at least 25 foreign players who have made themselves available for the tournament.”The main thing is the Bangladesh players have to be available,” Arun Lal, a consultant to Game on Sports, the tournament organisers, and also a former India opener, told ESPNcricinfo.As in the first season of the IPL, each team will have an icon player. The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced yesterday that Tamim Iqbal will be the icon player for Chittagong, Mohammad Ashraful for Dhaka, Alok Kapali for Sylhet, Shahriar Nafees for Barisal, Mushfiqur Rahim for Rajshahi and Shakib Al Hasan for Khulna. The players will be paid 5% more than the amount received by the highest paid player of each franchise.The franchise auction will take place on January 5, either in Dhaka or the sea-side town of Cox’s Bazar. Companies wishing to bid for a franchise will submit their offers on the same day, and bids will be opened in front of all those present, with the franchises going to the highest bidder. The player auction is scheduled to take place 10 days later. Each team will have to spend a minimum of US $2 million and can spend up to a maximum of $5 million.The BPL will be televised on a new sports channel in Bangladesh and the organisers are believed to be in discussions with Ten Sports to broadcast the tournament in India. However, India’s domestic 50-over tournament begins on February 20 and therefore could restrict Indian participation. “India is a problem,” Lal said. “In the first six or eight games, they [India players] could play.”The organisers are also hoping that the winner of the BPL will be given a place in the Champions League Twenty20 next year.Game on Sports paid US$44.3 million for the rights to the BPL for six years. This article was amended on January 4 to remove James Anderson’s name