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Surrey are set to announce that South Africa’s JP Duminy will replace Graeme Smith’s stand-in Ricky Ponting for the last two months of the Championship season.

David Lloyd at Guildford07-Jun-2013
ScorecardBoyd Rankin’s substitution worked well for Warwickshire•PA PhotosSurrey are set to announce that South Africa’s JP Duminy will replace Graeme Smith’s stand-in Ricky Ponting for the last two months of the Championship season. The way things are going here, they could do with all three of those international batsmen playing together on the final day against a Warwickshire side suddenly sensing a chance of victory.While Ponting – whose current spell in English cricket will conclude towards the end of July – stood firm during a dramatic final session that was completely at odds with what had gone on before, the hosts lost three wickets in the space of six telling deliveries from Boyd Rankin (and 5 for 37 in all) to lurch into real trouble.They had been a seemingly solid 232 for 2 at one stage, still 250 runs away from saving the follow-on, admittedly, but with Ponting and Arun Harinath enjoying each other’s company for the second time in as many matches.But unlike at Derby last week, where the pair added 180, they were parted here after putting together a mere 63 with Harinath slapping a catch to cover. And, from then on, the Bears were pawing at the ground against opponents who suddenly looked like the second from bottom outfit that they are.Rankin, who only joined this match at the halfway stage after being released by England, bowled an expensive first spell. But when he rejoined the action from the Railway End with a ball old enough to produce reverse swing, a relatively serene picture for Surrey quickly turned into a nightmare.The big Irishman bowled Zander de Bruyn off his pads, made a nonsense of the decision to send out Stuart Meaker by ripping through the nightwatchman’s defence and then boomed a delivery back into Gary Wilson to earn a leg before decision.Three wickets for two runs in five balls looked bad enough. But Surrey’s day became even worse when Jason Roy chose to play an expansive drive against Keith Barker during the final over to be splendidly caught by a diving Jim Troughton at point.The crowd were stunned. And so was Ponting, judging from the way he marched off without even waiting for the sheepish Roy to join himSurrey will start the final day requiring another 213 runs to avoid the follow-on and with Ponting – who completed an 84-ball half-century amid the late mayhem – having only the tail for company.Even assuming they are made to bat again, this match should be saved. But it should never have come to this on a pitch where Warwickshire made more than 600 and the hosts made good progress after 37 overs were lost to rain on the third morning.Harinath and Vikram Solanki settled to the task confidently enough. And if Ponting felt even a smidgen of pressure after waiting for two days and two session to bat in front of a ‘home’ crowd, he certainly did not show it. Off the mark with a pushed single against rookie spinner Ateeq Javid, the 38-year-old was soon threading drives through the covers, pulling powerfully and, when the opportunity arose, depositing Javid beyond the rope at wide long-on.But now even a second consecutive big century, after his 192 at Derby, is likely to save Surrey from the follow-on. Game on – and a full blown crisis, too, if defeat is the end result.

Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen has said that if Mohammad Ashraful is handed a ban, it will be a “huge loss” for the team

Mohammad Isam11-Jun-2013Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen has said that it will be a “huge loss” for the team if Mohammad Ashraful was banned from cricket for his involvement in match-fixing. Jurgensen said there was some “disbelief” when the news about Ashraful’s confession emerged, but he did not comment on any other aspects of the controversy.Jurgensen, who returned to Dhaka on Monday from Brisbane, had to face several questions about the issue, but the Bangladesh team management is trying its best to shift the focus back to cricket, before a fitness camp begins in Mirpur on June 13.Ashraful will not be a part of the camp because he has been suspended by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) until the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) report is submitted. Given his confession, there is doubt whether he will play for Bangladesh in the near future.”If he is banned, it is a huge loss in the batting order for us,” Jurgensen said. “But that’s all I am really going to say. I don’t know the findings of the investigations. He’s batting well and if he’s banned, we will miss him. There was a little bit of disbelief there, but I am not going to comment any further.”Jurgensen said it was imperative that everyone concerned with the cricket team returned to the game rather than dwell on the controversy. “It is important [to shift focus]. It has to be business as usual as far as cricket is concerned,” he said. “We have some really important cricket coming up. We have all had a really nice break after a long international and domestic season. Now we have to focus strongly on what’s coming up.”The camp will be Bangladesh’s first prolonged fitness programme in more than two years. Many of the players involved will head to different tours for the Bangladesh A side as well as the Under-23 side in the next two months.

A disciplined effort from the bowlers, in which they bundled Port Qasim Authority for just 72, helped Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited secure a seven-wicket victory

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2013
ScorecardTaufeeq Umar’s unbeaten 45 led a straightforward chase for SNGPL•Pakistan Cricket BoardA disciplined effort from the bowlers, in which they bundled Port Qasim Authority for just 72, helped Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited secure a seven-wicket victory. It was SNGPL’s first win of the tournament and snapped table-toppers PQA’s three-match winning streak.PQA won the toss and elected to bat, but were in all sorts of trouble after Samiullah Khan and Yasir Shah tore into the top order to reduce them to 29 for 6 at the halfway stage. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Salman tried to hold the innings together with his 24, but wickets continued to tumble at the other end. PQA were eventually dismissed for 72 off the penultimate ball of the innings. Yasir Shah took an impressive 3 for 11 off his four overs, and was ably supported by Samiullah Khan’s 2 for 4 off three overs, and Bilawal Bhatti’s 2 for 18.With a low score to chase, SNGPL started well with a 37-run partnership that ended any chance of a turnaround for PQA. Despite losing a few wickets, the batsmen were not troubled, as Taufeeq Umar anchored the innings with his unbeaten 45. SNGPL crossed the line in the 15th over to beat PQA by seven wickets.

More than six weeks after Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat offered to “apologise” to anyone who he had offended in the BCCI, Jagmohan Dalmiya, the interim BCCI chief, has welcomed Lorgat’s offer

Amol Karhadkar04-Sep-2013More than six weeks after Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat offered to “apologise” to anyone who he had offended in the BCCI, Jagmohan Dalmiya, the interim BCCI chief, has welcomed Lorgat’s offer.”Lorgat is a nice gentleman but it would be nice of him if he apologises,” Dalmiya said in Kolkata, when asked about his reaction to Lorgat’s offer that was made immediately after he was appointed the CSA chief executive despite the BCCI raising its objections.While this may appear as softening of the BCCI’s stand with Lorgat, the deadlock over the BCCI going to trim what was till a few days ago a tour of three Tests, seven ODIs and two Twenty20s, prevailed for another day.While Dalmiya reiterated what the BCCI president N Srinivasan had said three days ago that “the tour is on”, there was no formal exchange between representatives of the two boards. Even though Srinivasan, board secretary Sanjay Patel and treasurer Ravi Savant were together for most of the day along with other key executives at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, it was understood that the South Africa tour itinerary “wasn’t even mentioned” in their discussions.”The sole purpose of the meeting was to proof read and sign the annual report before it goes for printing ahead of the AGM,” said an insider who was a part of the proceedings.Across the continent, CSA indicated it would send out a release on Wednesday afternoon to reassure the fans and thank them for their support, but later said they would “try for tomorrow”. Officials contacted at various franchises said they had no knowledge of any progress on the BCCI-CSA issue and were awaiting further instructions, although many of them expressed concern over a curtailed tour.It appears that unless CSA accedes to the cricket bosses in India, the situation is unlikely to change. At least till the BCCI AGM on September 29.

Manish Pandey and B Aparajith slammed double-hundreds to help South Zone reach a mammoth 553 for 7 at the end of the second day against West Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Chennai

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2013
ScorecardB Aparajith became the fourth batsman to score a double-hundred on Duleep Trophy debut•ESPNcricinfo LtdManish Pandey and B Aparajith slammed double-hundreds to help South Zone reach a mammoth 553 for 7 at the end of the second day against West Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarter-final in Chennai. The two batsmen were not very far from their hundreds at the start of the day and while it was the third first-class double-hundred for Pandey, Aparajith went past 200 for the first time as 98 overs were bowled after a curtailed first day. Aparajith became only the fourth batsman to score a double-century on a Duleep Trophy debut after Mohammad Azaharuddin, Sanjay Manjrekar and Rakesh Parikh.Pandey was retired hurt on the score of 104 and Aparajith was joined by wicketkeeper CM Gautam, who was trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar for a duck. Rohan Prem and Aparajith put on 91 for the fifth wicket, out of which Prem made 35 before he was dismissed by Murtuja Vahora. Pandey rejoined Aparajith at the team score of 333 and both batsmen then put on another 140 runs for the sixth wicket.Their partnership was ended by a run-out when substitute fielder Harshad Khadiwale dismissed Aparajith for 212 after he had struck 17 fours and a six. Pandey crossed the score of 200 soon after but fell short of his highest score of 218 by five runs when he was given lbw to Rakesh Dhurv. Malolan Rangarajan and captain Vinay Kumar saw them till stumps with unbeaten contributions of 26 and 19, respectively. West Zone used seven different bowlers but none apart from Vahora could take more than one wicket.

Sunil Narine hopes to draw from the experience of playing in the IPL to help Trinidad & Tobago succeed in the Champions League

Renaldo Matadeen17-Sep-2013West Indies and Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine hopes to draw from the experience of playing in the IPL to help Trinidad & Tobago succeed in the Champions League T20.Narine impressed in his maiden IPL season in 2012, picking up 24 wickets and finishing one behind the leading wicket-taker Morne Morkel, when Knight Riders won their only title. His consistency continued in the next season as he took 22 wickets.”Having played in India and learning a lot with Kolkata [Knight Riders] I think I can use the Indian conditions to my best ability,” Narine said. “Playing in the IPL is a plus I have and having won the T20 crown with West Indies last year, I think I’m equipped for this challenge.”Trinidad & Tobago’s first match is in Ranchi, which Narine believes to be advantageous. Ranchi was Kolkata’s second home venue during the IPL last year and the spinner has fond memories of the JSCA ground, having claimed a four-wicket haul against Royal Challengers Bangalore.”I have experience playing at Ranchi and have done well there. I think that I can share my knowledge with my team when it comes to the venue and also to some of the teams,” he said. “So far we have studied the teams that we are going to meet and the players have knowledge of them going in. We have the right crop for the title-run.”Brian Lara, who is traveling with T&T, said they could replicate their heroics from the inaugural Champions League in 2009, when they made the final.”We have a great chance. It’s a young team but there is experience in Denesh (Ramdin) and Sunil Narine, as well as (Ravi) Rampaul, so I can see us making the final four,” he said. “T20 is our kind of game and we’ve shown this as a country but also as a region.”T&T swept all their matches in the Caribbean T20 tournament, barring the opening game which was rained out, and beat Guyana by nine-wickets in the final, qualifying for the CLT20 directly for the first time this year.

Pacers Sian Ruck and Rachel Candy, and legspinner Erin Bermingham picked up two wickets each, as a sudden batting collapse from West Indies Women helped New Zealand Women secure a nine-run win in a low-scoring encounter in Bridgetown

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2013
ScorecardRachel Priest smashed 26 off just 17 to take New Zealand Women to 101•WICBPacers Sian Ruck and Rachel Candy, and legspinner Erin Bermingham picked up two wickets each, as a sudden batting collapse from West Indies Women helped New Zealand Women secure a nine-run win in a low-scoring encounter in Bridgetown.West Indies, chasing a modest 101, were comfortable at 44 for 0 after 10, but the wickets of the opener Juliana Nero and Deandra Dottin off successive deliveries from Bermingham in the next over, turned the game in New Zealand’s favour. Stafanie Taylor, who top-scored with a 36-ball 24, was then soon removed by medium-pacer Nicola Browne, leaving West Indies at 57 for 3, and needing 45 from a run a ball.The hosts tried to push on, but couldn’t recover from their top-order wobble, as the other batters could only add 35 in the remaining overs . A paltry 10 each from Kyshona Knight and Stacy-Ann King aside, no one else could produce more than six runs, as Candy and Ruck stifled West Indies’ middle and lower order to restrict them to 91 for 8 in 20 overs.New Zealand, electing to bat, were earlier helped largely by a 30-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Maddie Green and Rachel Priest, enabling them to recover from a loss of early wickets. Shaquana Quintyne, the leading wicket-taker of the the tournament, followed up her five-for in the previous game against England Women with two more wickets, dismissing Sophie Devine and Katie Perkins for her sixth and seventh scalps of the series.The visitors were precariously placed at 50 for 4 after 11.2 overs, but Priest added a late surge by blasting three fours and a six during her 17-ball 26, to help take New Zealand to 101.

Nepal captain Paras Khadka has said his team is hungry to compete against Full Member nations, as they prepare for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2013Nepal captain Paras Khadka has said his team is hungry to compete against Full Member nations, as they prepare for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE and aim to seal their passage to the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.Nepal is in Group B, along with Afghanistan, Netherlands, Scotland, Kenya, Bermuda, Denmark and Papua New Guinea. Khadka said his team had been focusing on fitness and skills in the lead-up to the competition, which begins on November 15.”The boys have been working really hard for the last two months. We’ve also toured India, with a trip to Delhi for some practice games and that has helped the team gain some momentum ahead of the tournament,” Khadka said. “Some of the newer players have come through our U-19 set-up, as well as the U-23 set-up. We have a balanced set-up, especially when it comes to our fast bowlers and spin bowlers. We have a couple of allrounders followed by a strong batting line-up, we’ve got it all there.”Nepal has not yet made it to a World Cup or World Twenty20 and Khadka said his team would strive to be able to play against the major teams. “It means everything to us, we want to be there as we have worked very hard to be here. We are hungry to get to the top and compete against the Full Members in the pinnacle of Twenty20 cricket.”All the teams must have prepared really well so we cannot take any team lightly. Everyone wants to make it to the World Twenty20 so it will be really competitive, but we’re ready for the challenge and we are looking forward to playing positively and concentrating on our strong points.”Nepal’s first game is against Denmark on November 15.Nepal: Paras Khadka (capt), Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Amrit Bhattarai, Mahesh Chhetri, Shakti Gauchan, Subash Khakurel, Avinash Karn, Gyanendra Malla, Anil Mandal, Jitendra Mukhiya, Sagar Pun, Basant Regmi, Sharad Vesawkar, Rahul Vishwakarma

A round-up of the seventh-round matches of the Premier Limited Overs tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2013Group A
Bottom-placed Badureliya Sports Club caused the upset of the round, chasing down Colombo Cricket Club’s 201 with four wickets to spare, at Colombo CC’s home ground. The victory comes in spite of a 114-ball 110 to Chamara Silva, who was the only Colombo CC batsman to cross 25. Colombo CC were reeling at 96 for 6 when Silva formed brief partnerships with each of the last four batsmen. Colombo CC were dismissed in the 48th over, when Thilan Thushara took Silva’s wicket. Badureliya’s four seam bowlers claimed eight wickets between them, with Wikum Sanjaya picking up the best figures of 3 for 39.Badureliya began firmly in response, as the openers put on 57 together, before Hashan Gunathilleke formed three more helpful partnerships, on his way to 63 from 95. The middle order shook off a brief waddle to finish the team’s first victory of the season, in the 46th over.Colts Cricket Club remained the only unbeaten team in the competition after six matches, as they demolished Sri Lanka Army Sports Club by 73 runs, to cement their position at the top of the Group A ladder. Sachith Pathirana had overseen Colts’ recovery, after they had slipped to 78 for 5, hitting an unbeaten 90 from 93 – much of which was in the company of the tail, who helped him see out Colts’ 50 overs. They made 226 for 8.SL Army began poorly, losing wicketkeeper-batsman Rishan Kavinga second ball, before fellow-opener and 41-year-old captain Lasie Thabrew collected his fifth failure in six matches. This is Thabrew’s first season in domestic cricket, and he has opened the bowling and batting for SL Army in all but one of their games. The remaining batsmen offered little sustained resistance, as Colts’ spinners made ground in the middle overs, and Army were all out in the 43rd over.Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club also earned their first victory of the season, defeating Panadura Sports Club by 19 runs, at Panadura’s home ground. Having chosen to bat, SL Air Force fell to 123 for 8 in the 39th over, before recovering through nos. 9 and 10, Pishan Hewage and Sahan Jayawardene, who put on 65 together. SL Air Force ended up making 193, having lost three batsmen to run-outs in the innings.The same pair would prop up the bowling performance as left-arm seamer Jayawardene and offspinner Hewage took two wickets apiece to bring down Panadura for 174. Several Panadura batsman got starts in the middle order, but none could progress beyond the 30s. From 128 for 4, four wickets fell for 30 runs, and the tailenders could not match the batting output of Air Force’s lower-order men and Panadura were all out in the 46th over.

A round-up of the first day’s play of the ninth-round Group A games of the Ranji Trophy 2013-14

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Dec-2013
ScorecardPunjab need an outright win if they are to ensure a place in the knockouts, and on day one against Jharkhand in Dhanbad, Manan Vohra laid the platform for them to do just that. In his sixth first-class match, the 20-year-old Vohra struck his first century, and made sure it was a big one; he made 187, and at a brisk rate too, as Punjab motored to 380 for 4 by stumps. He was chiefly supported the other opener, Jiwanjot Singh, who made 78. Uday Kaul and Yuvraj Singh got off to starts but could not kick on. Legspinner Samar Quadri picked up two wickets, but was the most expensive of the Jharkhand bowlers, going at 5.20 in his 25 overs. Jharkhand will need to take the lead to make sure they are not relegated.
ScorecardHaryana too are in a must-win situation, but for them it is all about avoiding relegation. Their opposition, Odisha, are also at the wrong end of the Group A table, and they need to at least take a point from this game, by drawing it, to keep from dropping to Group C. At stumps on day one in Bhubaneswar, Odisha got to 221 for 9, meaning neither team had the clear advantage. The innings was built around openers Girjia Rout’s 94. While two others in the top four got into the 30s, neither could make it count, and a mini-collapse ensued primarily courtesy Haryana captain Amit Mishra. Odisha slid from 173 for 4 to 208 for 9 as Mishra picked up four and offspinner Jayant Yadav claimed three.Read the full report of Gujarat v Mumbai here: Misfiring batting leaves Mumbai in a hole.Read the full report of Delhi v Karnataka here: Vinay four-for leaves Delhi in disarray.