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Rapid half-centuries by Riki Wessels and David Hussey helped Nottinghamshire maintain their 100% start to the Friends Life t20 campaign

08-Jun-2011
ScorecardRiki Wessels continued his good form with a rapid 70•PA PhotosRapid half-centuries by Riki Wessels and David Hussey helped Nottinghamshire maintain their 100% start to the Friends Life t20 campaign with a 28-run victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston.The Outlaws piled up 193 for 7 and made it three wins in three outings as Warwickshire sank to their second home defeat in four days. With Darren Pattinson and Luke Fletcher sharing nine wickets, they could only muster 165 despite a valiant 61 from 36 balls by Darren Maddy.Wessels set the tone for the match by pulling two sixes in Neil Carter’s first over and Hussey also cleared the ropes twice as the left-arm seamer finished with 2 for 61 runs, the most expensive return by a Warwickshire bowler in the competition.In his attempts to find a yorker length, the 36-year-old Carter bowled a number of full tosses which were dispatched over the shorter boundary. His main consolation was the wicket of Hussey with a comfortable catch by Maddy at deep point.Hussey made 56 from 31 balls and will go into the next match against Leicestershire at Grace Road on Friday needing seven runs to beat Brad Hodge’s world record total of 3,690 in Twenty20 cricket.Yet if anything Hussey was outshone by Wessels’ performance at the top of the order. Taking his cue from the early bombardment of Carter, he also hit two sixes in an over from Steffan Piolet and faced only 43 balls before he was run out for 70 by Maddy’s return from extra cover.Warwickshire stumbled at the start, crumbling to 36 for 3, but they found some momentum when Jim Troughton put on 54 in six overs with Maddy before Pattinson bowled the Bears captain for 30.Patel became a target for Maddy as the all-rounder smashed three of his five sixes off the offspinner. The other two came off Andy Carter – but the return of Pattinson killed off Warwickshire.Maddy and Keith Barker (20) put up straightforward catches from successive balls and when Pattinson accounted for Piolet and Tim Ambrose in his last over he had taken 5 for 25, the best figures in the competition for Nottinghamshire. Fletcher also picked up two more wickets for a personal-best Twenty20 return of 4 for 30.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has reportedly zeroed in on South Africa’s assistant coach, Vincent Barnes, as a candidate to coach the national team

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2011The Bangladesh Cricket Board has reportedly zeroed in on South Africa’s assistant coach, Vincent Barnes, as a candidate to coach the national team following the departure of Australian Jamie Siddons after a disappointing World Cup campaign. Stuart Law, the interim coach of Sri Lanka, is also in the running but there are reports of his chances failing due to a disagreement over conditions with the BCB.”We are still in negotiations with Stuart Law. We are interested in him but we have given him some conditions,” BCB president Mustafa Kamal told . “If he accepts those, we’ll go for him. It means our talks with him are not over.”If it doesn’t go through with Law, we will take a final decision on Barnes. If we take him, it is nothing to be worried about because we’ll take a specialist coach for batting and bowling.”The BCB hopes to ratify the appointment of a new coach at their board meeting on Saturday, June 4, and Kamal said talks with Barnes were at “an advanced stage”.When contacted by ESPNcricinfo, however, Barnes only said, “I’ve been approached [by the BCB] and that’s where it ended.”Cricket South Africa are also scheduled to unveil their new coach on Monday, June 6. Although Barnes did not apply for the South Africa job, CSA could still consider him a candidate, and he was said to be considering a role in the future set-up.

Australia edged home off the last ball to complete a nail-biting three-wicket win against India in Chesterfield

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2011
ScorecardShelley Nitschke anchored Australia’s successful chase with 78 from 100 balls•Getty ImagesAustralia Women edged home off the last ball to complete a nail-biting three-wicket win against India Women in Chesterfield. The victory was crafted on two fine all-round performances from Shelley Nitschke and Sarah Coyte, who helped Australia overcome a tenacious India side.Set 216 for victory, Australia were given an excellent platform from Nitschke who made 78 from 100 balls. All the top order contributed, though, with Meg Lanning adding 23 before she was run out, Leah Poulton 34 and Alex Blackwell 23.While coasting on 121 for 1 the game looked set to be an easy win for Australia, but four wickets fell for 47 runs to drag India back into contention. When Gouher Sultana had Lisa Sthalekar trapped in front for 6 Australia were 168 for 5 and wobbling. But a calm 11 from 22 balls from captain Jodie Fields steadied things, before Coyte helped Australia over the line with an unbeaten 17 from 19 balls.It meant no reward for India who would have been frustrated to end up all out for 215, having been 163 for 3 at one stage. Poonam Raut made a stodgy 60 from 106 balls, sharing a 75-run partnership with Mithali Raj, who made a brisk 49 from 61 deliveries. The only other sizeable contribution came from Harmanpreet Kaur, who made 31.Coyte and Nitschke took three wickets each, with fast-bowler Clea Smith also chipping in with 2 for 32 from her 10 overs.

Andrew Strauss warmed up for next week’s first Test by taking the early honours at the start of the head-to-head with Zaheer Khan on his guest appearance for Somerset

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan at Taunton15-Jul-2011
Live scorecardArul Suppiah cracked an unbeaten 145 on the first day of India’s tour match against Somerset•Getty ImagesAndrew Strauss warmed up for next week’s first Test by taking the early honours at the start of the head-to-head with Zaheer Khan on his guest appearance for Somerset, and Arul Suppiah hit an unbeaten 145 as the Indians were made to toil at Taunton. Strauss and Suppiah added 101 for the first wicket before Suppiah and Nick Compton put on 223 between two stoppages for rain to take the home side to an imposing 329 for 2.Strauss struck 11 boundaries in bringing up his half-century from a sprightly 63 balls. All his shots were in good working order as he drove, pulled, and glanced his way into form ahead of Lord’s next week. He did have a couple of close shaves: firstly on 20 when Zaheer had a big lbw shout turned down by Graham Lloyd, and then on 64 when Wriddhiman Saha, the reserve wicketkeeper playing in place of the rested MS Dhoni, dropped an edge off Amit Mishra. However, the keeper took the next chance when an edge bobbled off the pad and looped in the air as Strauss departed for 78. In the context of the runs that followed, he missed out.The loan deal for Strauss had provoked debate, both about the whether the structure of domestic cricket does all it can to help the England team, and also what Somerset gained from the move. Despite coming off a four-day Championship match, the county fielded several first-team regulars, including England Lions captain James Hildreth, and somebody missed out to let Strauss play. However, he received a warm ovation as he left the field following his innings and, wearing his Somerset kit, appeared to have been adopted at least for the day.”He looked very good, he was moving his feet very well and striking the ball out of the middle,” Suppiah said of Strauss. “It’s just a shame he got out, he probably could have got a hundred but he played really well. He looks hungry for runs, left the ball well and played straight which is the main thing for an opener.”The battle with Zaheer was a gentle precursor of what will follow in the Tests as the bowler eased himself back into action after a lengthy lay-off following the IPL. The initial overs of Zaheer’s first spell were friendly, but he started to generate a touch more pace and find some swing later in an eight-over burst.Zaheer is the only one in this Indians’ attack certain to play at Lord’s next week with Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar rested following their workload in the Caribbean. It meant a chance for Sreesanth and Munaf Patel to stake a claim for the third seamer’s slot, although neither made a compelling case. The attack actually looked toothless – Suresh Raina’s late wicket of Compton came when the batsman reverse-swept to short third man – but India will back themselves to lift for the major challenge.Sreesanth was tight to begin with but Strauss started to take to him with three boundaries in an over as he moved to his half-century. Patel, meanwhile, was steady but didn’t provide much threat. Mishra began with three no-balls in his first three overs and Strauss picked off the legspinner with ease, pulling him over midwicket and driving through the off side, before the bowler struck back.While Strauss’s runs will be welcome, he’ll know that they don’t guarantee a successful start to the Tests. Ahead of the Sri Lanka series he scored two hundreds – one of them against the visitors at Uxbridge – but then struggled to convert that when the internationals began, and ended with 27 runs from four innings.With the focus understandably on Strauss, Suppiah was a quiet partner in every sense at the other end. He didn’t register a boundary until the start of the second hour when he played a lovely straight drive, but a sign of the gentle nature of the surface was that he, too, didn’t have many alarms.Rain brought a lengthy stoppage shortly after lunch but when the skies cleared, Suppiah and Compton made positive progress as the Indians found wickets elusive. Suppiah became increasingly positive on either side of his half-century, but the Indians missed a chance to break the partnership when Compton, on 24, was dropped at square by Sachin Tendulkar, when he pulled Sreesanth.Compton cashed in on his chance with a series of well-timed boundaries, one of which was a stand-and-deliver cover drive off Zaheer, who was the pick of a disappointing seam attack, as he reached a half century from 74 deliveries. Mishra was taken at more than four-an-over and also dropped a tough caught-and-bowled chance off Suppiah, who was on 71. Mishra was forced to leave the field mid-over for treatment on his finger but was said to be fine. The 17 overs shared by the part-time spinners, Raina and Yuvraj Singh, cost 110 runs including 18 off one Yuvraj over.The resumption after tea was delayed by further rain, but the final hour was possible which gave Suppiah the chance to register his sixth first-class hundred from 179 balls, and he is closing in on a new career-best. It’s been a good time for Suppiah: he registered world record Twenty20 figures of 6 for 5 in a Friends Life t20 game against Glamorgan last week. And it won’t have done him any harm to score runs in front of the England captain.

Offspinner Anisa Mohammed routed Pakistan for the second time in three days with another five-wicket haul, sending the visitors crashing to another big defeat

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Offspinner Anisa Mohammed routed Pakistan for the second time in three days with another five-wicket haul, sending the visitors crashing to another big defeat. Mohammed accounted for four of the top six Pakistan batsmen and finished with remarkable figures of 10-5-7-5 to add to her return of 10-6-5-5 in the first ODI.Javeria Khan and Rabiya Shah had put on 40 upfront but Mohammed’s introduction in to the attack started the slide for Pakistan. Nine wickets tumbled for 33 runs as only Bismah Maroof managed to get in to double figures apart from the openers. The last pair scratched around for 84 deliveries between them for three runs with the bat, typifying Pakistan’s woes.Merissa Aguilleira, the West Indies captain, and Shanel Daley had earlier helped their side recover from 45 for 3 after they were put in to bat. Daley’s dismissal for 42 led to a collapse but Aguilleira dug in to take West Indies to 175 and ended up with her highest ODI score.West Indies lead the four-match series 2-0.

Kevin Pietersen has tried to put to bed talk about his future in one-day cricket by insisting that he wants to play for England until at least the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2011Kevin Pietersen has tried to put to bed talk about his future in one-day cricket by insisting that he wants to play for England until at least the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Pietersen is back in the ODI set-up for the series in India, having been rested for the last month of the home season, but is under pressure to perform after a lean two years in the 50-over format.Pietersen is likely to slot back in at No. 4 when the series starts next week following two warm-up matches although in his absence the likes of Ravi Bopara and Jonny Bairstow have staked their claims. Before leaving for the tour Alastair Cook, the one-day captain, spoke about wanting Pietersen involved all the way to the next World Cup but also said that players had to earn their selection with consistent performances. Pietersen hasn’t scored an ODI hundred since November 2008 and over the last two years his average has languished in the low 20s.”I don’t know how many times I need to say it till you stop asking the questions,” Pietersen said. “I want to continue playing until the 2015 World Cup, and then we’ll reassess. No one’s ever guaranteed their place – for their country, for their county, for their club side.”There’s a lot of different permutations and different things that can happen. It’s just a case of enjoying every day, and also realising how fortunate we are. If there’s any place you want to come and play one-day international cricket, it’s here in India.”Pietersen used his break from the game – which included missing the one-dayers against India and the Twenty20s against West Indies – to completely get away from cricket. He moved house in London and spent time with his family, which has become an increasingly important part of his life and the main reason he has admitted to not being a fan of long tours.He has also said that, while retaining the hunger to play all three forms of international cricket, he enjoyed not having a gruelling schedule of training. “I wanted to take a complete break, and get that bug back for training. That’s the first break I’ve had without an injury for England. It was much appreciated.”The hardest part of playing all three forms of the game is turning up on training day and doing warm-ups – I think it takes a couple of years off your career. To not have to turn up to training days was an absolute blessing. But you do miss the cricket, participating and competing – because we’re all competitors.”After he was left out of the one-day squad last month, it emerged that Pietersen had a wrist injury that required some management and he had an injection before leaving for India. “I’ve got something in my wrist,” he said. “I had a cortisone injection a few days ago, and cortisone just before I left. It’s just a case of getting through this tour and seeing where we are at the end.”Pietersen, though, will need to fight through some minor discomfort because England won’t wait for him to rediscover his one-day mojo forever.

A round-up from the latest action at World Cricket League Division Six in Kuala Lumpur

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2011Guernsey turned in a disciplined performance to beat hosts Malaysia by five wickets at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur in the World Cricket League Division Six, ensuring their promotion to Division Five. Malaysia, second on the tournament’s points-table after five games, also move up to Division Five. Apart from captain Suhan Alagaratnam, none of Malaysia’s line-up could get going after they chose to bat, and they managed only 170 for 9 in their 50. Alagaratnam made a patient, unbeaten 68. The Guernsey bowlers shared the wickets around, but left-arm spinner Jeremy Frith was the pick, claiming 3 for 16 in his 10 overs. Four of Guernsey’s top five batsmen then produced solid cameos – opener Lee Savident top-scored with 40 – to ensure the side got home without much drama and 26 balls in hand. The two teams will now meet in the finals of the tournament on September 24.Guernsey’s captain Stuart Le Prevost said the side had put in a fine all-round show in the tournament. “I think we’ve had a really good all-round week with both our batting and our bowling – Jeremy Frith has been great as usual, plus Lee Savident and Ben Ferbrache have also shown great stuff out in the field.” Malaysia’s Alagaratnam said the side needed to work on their batting. “We’ve played well this week but our batting has let us down in the last few games. Hopefully we can continue to improve and win promotion in February [during the Division Five tournament] too.”Kuwait eased to a five-wicket win against Nigeria at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur but were behind Malaysia on net run-rate, meaning they lost out on promotion. Kuwait’s chase was propelled by a solid opening stand from Irfan Bhatti and Abid Mushtaq. Choosing to bat, Nigeria’s total of 182 for 8 was built almost single-handedly through a 96-run partnership between Sean Philips and Olajide Bejide. Opening bowler Mohammed Naseer finished with the best figures for Kuwait – 3 for 20 with six maidens. Bhatti and Mushtaq then steered the chase, putting on 99 in 15 overs. While Bhatti was solid with 73 off 85, Mushtaq attacked, smacking 66 off 46 with ten fours and two sixes. A half-century partnership followed between Bhatti and Sibtain Raza, putting the game beyond Nigeria despite a flurry of late wickets.Jersey beat Fiji by 28 runs at the Selangor Turf Club in Kuala Lumpur but it wasn’t enough to take their net run-rate ahead of Malaysia’s. Jersey put up 247 for 6 after being asked to bat, driven by half-centuries from captain Peter Gough and Samuel de la Haye. The pair came together at a wobbly 102 for 4 and put on a century partnership to carry Jersey to a competitive total. Fiji’s top order all got starts, but none of them went on to play a long innings. The middle order failed to build on a steady platform, and Ben Stevens and Charles Perchard made inroads with three apiece to give their side a comfortable win.

MS Dhoni reckons England might need to change their strategy of verbal intimidation considering it has not actually worked in their favour in the ongoing series

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2011MS Dhoni reckons England might need to change their strategy of verbal intimidation considering it has not actually worked in their favour in the ongoing series in which India have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead.On the eve of the Mohali one-dayer the England pair of Tim Bresnan and Samit Patel had stressed on the importance of unsettling their opponents with “a little bit of a word or a look or a stare”. The planned aggression cost Bresnan 7.5% of his Mohali match fee, after he was found guilty of breaching the ICC’s code of conduct by snatching his cap from umpire Sudhir Asnani at the end of the 18th over of the chase. Players from both teams have been involved in a few verbal confrontations and Dhoni said he did not mind a little bit of “chit-chat” as long as long as his players did not step over the line or make personal remarks.”A bit of chit-chat is fine because it makes things interesting. You don’t always want a friendly series. But I think they should change their strategy for the next two games,” Dhoni said after the five-wicket victory in Mohali.Dhoni also did not want to get carried away and term this series victory as “revenge” for the disastrous summer India had endured in England, where they lost the Test and one-day series and the solitary Twenty20 match. “I don’t think the word revenge should be used. On the one hand we talk about the spirit of cricket, and on the other hand there’s this talk of revenge, which I don’t think is right.”In Mohali, India were cruising in the chase before a few quick wickets left Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja 64 to get off 50 balls. Dhoni said he just wanted to bat till the end because he knew the bowlers would eventually feel the pressure. “You always want to stay till the end because you reach a stage where the bowlers and batsmen are under pressure, and then whoever executes better wins. We knew that if Jadeja and I are there in the end then even if we needed 20-25 runs off the last two overs, Twenty20 cricket has taught us that is possible.”Dhoni also pointed out that he would not like to disturb the winning combination and instead would persist with playing their young batsmen at the top of the order because they needed time in the middle. “The youngsters need to be batting 20-25 overs. Once they are more experienced, then we can experiment with batting them lower in the order. Nos. 6 and 7 are difficult places to bat because there’s only one or two batsmen behind you so it’s better players are only tried there when they have a few games under their belt.”After having been thumped in the first two matches, England gave a better account of themselves in Mohali, but their captain Alastair Cook said that did not make the loss any easier to bear. The match once again threw the spotlight on Jonathan Trott’s position in the one-day side. Though Trott scored 98 not out, he took 116 balls to get there and struggled to hit boundaries in the end overs. Cook, though, insisted Trott played his role perfectly.”Trott played the anchor role and did it nicely,” Cook said. “Fifty overs is quite a long time to bat and you need people to bat around him. Three hundred was a decent score and was defendable. Trott’s instructions are the same as everyone else’s: to play positively and try to get 300. Today we did that and he got 98 at a strike rate of 80-odd, so he did his role.”Cook again highlighted his side’s fielding as the most disappointing part of their performance but said the team would still battle in the last two games. “One of the toughest challenges in sport is to lift yourselves when you’ve already lost a series. But there’s still desperation to win.”

Trent Copeland agrees a bleak injury prognosis for Shane Watson has greatly enhanced his chances of taking part in the first Test against New Zealand

Daniel Brettig24-Nov-2011Though Trent Copeland does not want to be considered Australian cricket’s best reserve, he agrees a bleak injury prognosis for Shane Watson has greatly enhanced his chances of taking part in the first Test against New Zealand in Brisbane.Having performed creditably in his first three Tests in Sri Lanka, Copeland found himself out of the team in South Africa, shaded first by Peter Siddle and later Pat Cummins.However the likelihood of Watson’s hamstring strain keeping him out of the Gabba Test means that Copeland’s knack for long spells will be valuable to a team lacking an allrounder. His ability to field in the slips, where Watson is usually posted, is another useful attribute.”That does help, and now I’m not in the XI, it may give me an extra opportunity,” Copeland told ESPNcricinfo. “But I certainly don’t look at it that way, I want to be in the best XI at all times, not just when people are injured.”In Sri Lanka I was picked where there was not one bowler in Australia injured but I was able to be in the best XI for three Tests. Provided the right situation occurs and the right conditions are there, then I’m still in the mix no matter who’s fit or who’s firing and all that kind of stuff.”Copeland will turn out for New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at the SCG from Friday, having been ruled ineligible for Australia A’s fixture against New Zealand, beginning a day earlier, due to his 12th man duties in Johannesburg.Originally ruled out of the Shield fixture as well as the tour match, Copeland was given permission to play a match ahead of the Gabba Test by Australia’s captain Michael Clarke.”Talking common sense as he does, he thought this Shield game starts the when the Test squad gets named and it is a good opportunity if I’m in that squad to get some match practice in beforehand, having bowled in the nets for quite a while the last couple of weeks,” Copeland said. “If I’m not in the squad then it gives me the opportunity to take some wickets and put my name back up in lights.”The scheduling quirk may also work in Copeland’s favour, for Ben Cutting, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus were given some harsh treatment by Brendon McCullum at Allan Border Field.The match at the SCG is set to be played on a green tinged pitch due to a series of downpours in Sydney over the past week, and Copeland said his objectives were singular – making sure his control was at the precise level it needed to be to conquer international batsmen.”I want to go through the things I want to achieve, and whether I take no wickets or 10 wickets I’m not too fussed about that,” Copeland said. “It’s about being comfortable, ticking the boxes and getting preparation right in terms of building pressure, and when I want to bowl the ball in a certain spot that I actually land it there. My main asset is my control and my persistence and that sort of stuff, so I just want to be able to execute that well this week.”Copeland’s time on boundary’s edge in South Africa made him a keen observer of others, as he learned how best to meet the needs of the playing XI. But it also filled him with motivation to return to the team, on merit as well as through injuries to others.”You can’t help but learn things about how other people cope in pressure situations and how you can help and how you can contribute as the 12th, 13th, 14th man on tour,” Copeland said. “I learned a lot about that, but it also gives you the drive to get back into the team so you don’t have to do that, you can just worry about your own performances and helping the team win the game.”The Wanderers victory was significant for many reasons, not least the emergence of Pat Cummins, but Copeland disagreed with the contention that a defeat would have sent the team into another spiral of self-doubt and poor results.”It is probably a catalyst for good things to happen,” Copeland said. “The question has been posed that it was a necessary win and really we were on the brink of bad things and all this kind of stuff, but you wouldn’t feel that if you’re in the group. Michael Clarke’s got a very positive attitude about things, and honestly believes we’re on the cusp of good things, and so do I.”We weren’t far off producing a really good first Test, apart from that second innings batting display, and we really turned it around in the second Test and unearthed a potential superstar in Pat Cummins. There’s good things happening all around the place, everyone wants to get better every day, and no doubt Mickey Arthur is going to help that. It could prove to be one of those summers where Australian cricket turns a corner.”

The BCCI has terminated its contract with Nimbus Communications, the rights holders for India’s home domestic and international games

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2011The BCCI has terminated its contract with Nimbus Communications, the rights holders for cricket in India, ESPNcricinfo understands from reports. The contract, which was to run till 2014, had recently run into issues regarding payments.”They have defaulted,” IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, who is also a BCCI vice-president, told PTI. “They have not made the 50 percent advance payment for both the England and the West Indies series and the board had no choice but to terminate the deal.”The decision is believed to have been taken at the BCCI’s working committee meeting in New Delhi on Monday but there was no customary post-meeting media release till midnight. However, the story received widespread media coverage through the day but Nimbus’ Harish Thawani, when contacted by ESPNcricinfo, said: “We have no official word from BCCI regarding the rumour in a section of the media hence will not be issuing any statement today.”On October 14, broadcast of the one-day international between India and England in Hyderabad began only after three overs had already been bowled, as a result of a dispute over the payment of a bank guarantee from Neo Sports, Nimbus’ channel, to Prasar Bharati, the government agency responsible for uplinking live telecasts out of India.More recently, Nimbus had reportedly asked the BCCI for an extension on their payment deadline. The board turned down the request and decided to scrap their deal instead. The board has also claimed Nimbus’ Rs 2000-crore (approx. $380 million) bank guarantee as a penalty along with the termination of the contract.Nimbus, one of India’s leading television marketing companies, had been awarded the rights for four years in January 2010, its second consecutive four-year deal with the Indian board. The agreement was valued at approximately Rs 2000 crore (then $436 million) for a minimum of 64 international matches and 312 days of domestic cricket until 2014.Nimbus also held the broadcasting rights for the previous four years, for which it paid $612 million – subsequently negotiated to $549 million – in February 2006.While India’s domestic international engagements have concluded for the next ten-odd months, its first-class season has just hit its stride and the Ranji Trophy is entering its crucial phase. However, the latest round began with the broadcast of one match on Tuesday morning*.*