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New Zealand Cricket is organising a meeting of its former captains in the New Year in order “to open better lines of communication” regarding the development of the sport

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2012New Zealand Cricket (NZC) is organising a meeting of its former captains in the New Year in order “to open better lines of communication” regarding the development of the sport in the country. The move came after several players had criticised the board for its handling of the captaincy issue, and for not accepting their help in taking New Zealand forward.”Former captains will be invited to attend the meeting which is intended to be an annual event designed to provide quality input from both the former captains and the players who were part of their era in cricket,” NZC said in a statement. “Creating a vehicle for former captains and players to directly communicate their ideas and observations to NZC is complimented by the current constitutional review process that the board has committed to in the early part of next year.”Martin Crowe, Dion Nash, Simon Doull, Craig McMillan and John Parker were some of the former New Zealand players who had criticised the board, saying it had turned down their offers.NZC chief executive David White also said it was “time to draw a line” under the Ross Taylor captaincy controversy. “We’ve already acknowledged mistakes were made on this issue and we have learned from those mistakes,” he said. “Team management has given an undertaking to improve communication and to ensure nothing similar occurs again. The board and management of NZC make that same commitment.”NZC believes it now serves no useful purpose to further rake over the events of the captaincy change. We now need to focus on the tour of South Africa. This is going to be a challenging tour against one of the leading teams in the world, so it is important that the team now focuses and prepares to ensure it is competitive in this series.”New Zealand begin their tour of South Africa with a Twenty20 international in Durban on December 21.

Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s vice-captain, has said his side is “professional” enough to adapt to the UAE heat

Umar Farooq27-Aug-2012Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan’s vice-captain, has said his side is “professional” enough to adapt to the UAE heat. Pakistan haven’t won an ODI series against Australia since 2002 but Hafeez said he wasn’t looking too much into past records.”We always try not to keep the past in mind and we’re thinking [about this] as a new series,” Hafeez said. “Pakistan have been playing away for the last three years and every time we come to this part of the world we always have to adjust. As professionals, we have to adjust according to the situation and conditions. Pakistan have been a better side in last one-and-a-half years and hopefully we’ll give our best shot.”Captain Misbah-ul-Haq said the fact that they have not beaten Australia in so long could inspire his team. “Whenever there is such an [instance], it charges the team up extra, [and that helps because] it needs an extra effort to combine and beat an opponent who we have not beaten for some time.”Pressure is always there, because we are going to play against a top team. But if we win, then we have an advantage and it will help us in future. It helps us improve when we play a top team.”Pakistan have left out Umar Gul and Younis Khan for this series and dealing with their absence could be a challenge. The middle order includes captain Misbah-ul-Haq, while the spinners – Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Hafeez – are likely to be relied on heavily.”Our spinners got some success here against Sri Lanka and England… Ajmal is one of the best in the world and [we have] Afridi. So we have got good spinners for the conditions,” Hafeez said. Hafeez, recently, replaced South Africa seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe as the No.1-ranked bowler in the ICC ODI rankings.Pakistan’s players didn’t get a chance to watch the one-off ODI between Australia and Afghanistan in Sharjah but the contest was on their minds when discussing tactics. “Seven or eight wickets fell to quick bowlers, but maybe they [Australia] will be playing more spin on Tuesday,” Dav Whatmore, Pakistan’s coach, said.”Pakistan’s attack won’t revolve around spin, but it’s a fairly decent component of our attack and that will certainly be true for us. We are going to bowl more spin than the quicks and it’s important that we do that well. In return, whatever they deliver we need to be on our toes to ensure we are good enough to chase totals or set good totals.”Whatmore suggested his team would have the upper hand against Australia, who are without the injured Shane Watson and fast bowler Brett Lee, who retired last month. “Australia have had a retirement or two and an injury so I suppose we can have an edge to start with,” said Whatmore. “The timings are different, but it’s interesting given the time of the year and the exhausting schedules.”The opposition is licking their wounds a little bit from their recent performances, Watson is not in the ODIs and Brett Lee has retired and results are not going their way but they can come back pretty hard and try reverse that.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAB de Villiers was involved in a match-winning stand with Chris Gayle•AFP

For a while, Kings XI Punjab showed some fight. Azhar Mahmood turned a middling total into a seemingly challenging one. Parvinder Awana jolted Royal Challengers Bangalore with three early strikes. But the visitors had Chris Gayle. And AB de Villiers. A nearly risk-free partnership of 131 at more than ten runs an over followed, shutting Kings XI out totally.At 25 for 3 facing an asking-rate touching nine-and-a-half, Royal Challengers should have been pushed much more than they were. That they were not was down to the class of Gayle and de Villiers and the lack of depth in the Kings XI attack.When they needed someone to increase the pressure after Awana’s initial burst, Kings XI instead had Harmeet Singh delivering innocuous legbreaks from a long run-up on a greenish pitch. They were also confronted with two batsmen who were so much in control of the situation that they did not even bother to attack as much as they usually do.Gayle kept the big strokes away as long as he could rein himself in but that did not deter him from scoring boundaries at will. Awana had just taken out Mayank Agarwal and Virat Kohli in the space of five deliveries. Gayle responded with consecutive fours off Praveen Kumar in the next over.Awana had Saurabh Tiwary top-edging to the wicketkeeper off the first ball of the sixth over. Gayle responded with another pair of boundaries. He softly turned deliveries through square leg for runs while de Villiers found his timing as soon as he arrived.De Villiers, in fact, went along at a faster clip than Gayle initially, tapering off towards the end as the latter finally decided to display his range with some huge straight hits.The game went to the last over only because Gayle and de Villiers fell on the brink of victory. In the end, Royal Challengers had just too much power for a ragged Kings XI unit. That Kings XI even set the visitors a reasonable chase was down to Mahmood, the former Pakistan allrounder debuting in the IPL as a British citizen. He breathed life into a stuttering innings after Kings XI had once again been let down by their batsmen. Coming in at No. 7 in the 16th over, Mahmood smashed 33 off 14 deliveries as Kings XI posted their highest total of the season.Despite three of five bowlers used going for around six runs an over, Royal Challengers discovered there were still enough weak links in their attack for even a shaky Kings XI line-up to exploit. Harshal Patel disappeared for 44 and Vinay Kumar for 40 as Kings XI took 51 off the final four overs.Kings XI had sleepwalked to 105 by the 15th over, and the departure of David Hussey off the last ball of that over had further dented their hopes of posting a decent total. Mahmood walked in and completely changed the tempo of the innings. Harshal was thumped over mid-off and midwicket for consecutive boundaries; Vinay was calmly dabbed between the wicketkeeper and wide slip for four.Royal Challengers had been on top till Mahmood’s arrival. Only Shaun Marsh and Hussey had dominated them in a three-over span. Even that partnership had been terminated before it could cause much damage. After playing some pleasing cover drives, Marsh was bowled for 26 as he tried to late-cut Andrew McDonald.Marsh’s fall came after Zaheer Khan, enjoying the bounce on the Mohali pitch and bowling with control from both sides of the wicket, had removed the Kings XI openers early. Stand-in captain Hussey, leading in place of the injured Adam Gilchrist, kept the home side going steadily but fell when they were in need of a late boost. It was to come from Mahmood, and gave their medium-pacers some leeway to exploit a favourable pitch. Awana did that, but Gayle and de Villiers were unstoppable.

New Zealand’s on-field misery matched the Wellington weather as South Africa sauntered to 246 for 2 after rain accounted for almost four hours of play for the second consecutive day

Andrew Fernando24-Mar-2012
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJP Duminy, playing his first Test in two years, showed skill in picking gaps in the field•AFPNew Zealand’s on-field misery matched Wellington’s weather, as South Africa continued their domination via an unbeaten 140-run partnership that took them to 246 for 2. Alviro Petersen went to stumps four short of a third Test hundred, while JP Duminy was on 76. Not even a furious tailwind from the Vance End, nor heavy cloud cover, could conjure a breakthrough for New Zealand, after rain accounted for almost four hours of play first up. Seven overs into the second session, evening gloom set in to end a frustrating day for the hosts, who are quickly running out of time to affect a series-levelling win.Alviro Petersen had been obdurate on the first day, as he fought to make his first substantial contribution of the tour, but adopted a brighter approach early on the second with a fifty beckoning. Chris Martin’s fourth ball was slapped through midwicket, before an edge from an attempted cover drive brought up the milestone. Positivity paying off, he continued in the assured vein, missing few chances to pierce the field when New Zealand erred.Duminy eased to his half-century too, crisp cover-drives characterising his first Test innings in two years as South Africa’s third-wicket stand swelled beyond 100. Adept at finding gaps in the field, Duminy matched his lively partner for pace and outlook. An inside edge over the stumps and a top-edged hook that took him past 50 were the only bumps in an otherwise uncomplicated innings.Ross Taylor might have rued not placing a third slip when second-slip Martin Guptill dived over, then palmed two edges off Petersen, but in between the chances, the New Zealand bowlers rarely looked like taking wickets in the wind. Martin swung the ball modestly early on, but could not maintain the movement for long, while Mark Gillespie’s gun-barrel straight deliveries were navigated without complaint. Daniel Vettori battled the northerly for much of the day, darting balls in to keep his end secure rather than attacking with flight. But even he could not help being unsettled by the gusts, as he regularly offered long hops the batsmen happily dispatched square.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

About 100 cricketers contracted to Sri Lanka Cricket, including the national players, have not been paid their salaries since Sri Lanka co-hosted the 2011 World Cup, BBC Sinhala reported

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2011About 100 cricketers contracted to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), including national players, have not been paid their salaries since the 2011 World Cup, co-hosted by Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, BBC Sinhala has reported.There were also doubts over whether the SLC would be able to pay salaries in the next two months. “There is a truth in those media reports to a certain extent,” SLC chairman Upali Dharmadasa was quoted as telling BBC Sinhala.Dharmadasa said efforts were being made to pay the players as soon as the SLC received the remaining payments from the ICC for staging the World Cup. “The ICC still owes us $4-5 million,” he said.The board had revamped the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and built two new grounds in Pallekele and Hambantota for the tournament in February and March, and the capital expenditure incurred is reported to have left it in debt.

The West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) has filed a US$20 million lawsuit against the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and a High Court judge has reportedly given the board six weeks to respond. The WICB had earlier confirmed it had received documents relating to the lawsuit filed by WIPA that “related to the issuance of no objection certificates (issued to players by WICB) which require players to fulfil international duties for the West Indies team if selected”.According to a report by and , Justice David Harris of the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, who presided over the filing of the claim last week, has also told the region’s cricket administrators that they will have 16 days to appear before the court.The claim comes on the back of a bitter and protracted dispute between WIPA and WICB over player rights and pay. The two bodies are currently in the middle of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement and memorandum of understanding in an attempt to resolve their differences but the suit is bound to complicate that process.There has been no public statement from WIPA but in the 46-page motion filed before the court, the association stated that the WICB “has engaged in a malicious, wanton and wilful campaign to breach the express and implied terms of the collective bargaining agreements as well as impose unlawful and unreasonable restraints of trade on West Indian cricketers”.At the heart of the case are allegations by WIPA that the board has refused ‘to grant an unconditional NOC to players who have no contractual obligations to the WICB or any teams under its jurisdiction’. According to WIPA, such actions constitute “an unreasonable restraint of trade” since they prevent the “players from freely plying their trade as free agents.”Under the current system, players require a no objection certificate (NOC) from their member boards to participate in domestic tournaments in other countries such as the IPL in India and the Friends Life t20 in England.In the case of West Indies, some of their most prominent players – Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo – have all managed to forge remunerative careers in domestic Twenty20 leagues over the last few years. Last September, the trio turned down the West Indies board’s central contracts, which require the players to make themselves available for the West Indies team at all times. The WICB had then talked about tightening the rules for providing NOCs, but so far have never refused to grant a player one, giving all three players permission to play in the 2011 IPL.However, WIPA argued in its suit that the WICB’s decision not to issue unconditional NOCs to those players who are not contracted to the board has resulted in the players not being “compensated for the damages they have suffered and continue to suffer” and that “WICB’s actions are designed solely to exploit and profit from players and various members of WIPA to their detriment” (WIPA claims that it represents at least 300 cricketers with no more than 25 players signing retainer contracts with the WICB at any one time).WIPA asserts that the WICB’s conduct is so egregious “that while the WICB purports to act on the player’s behalf without their authority, and despite the existence of gross conflicts of interests, the WICB profits from the players’ plight by being paid a sum equivalent to 10 per cent of the player’s salaries earned by the players participating in overseas matches – all while causing millions of dollars in damages to WIPA and its members.”The players’ association claimed that WICB has refused to resolve these issues and has therefore forced WIPA to take legal action. “Simply put, the WICB cannot justify its intentional and malicious conduct and must be stopped to prevent further damage to WIPA, West Indian cricketers and West Indies cricket on the whole.”WIPA wants the High Court to redress the situation by declaring the WICB’s position on unconditional NOCs to be “oppressive, illegal, contrary to public policy and constituting an unlawful restraint of trade” and to compel the WICB to issue “unconditional NOCs to players not retained or contracted by the WICB when requested’.Further, the players’ body is seeking “not less than” $10 million in actual damages to “compensate WIPA and its members for the WICB’s breaches of the Agreements and Member Contracts as well as for lost earnings to individual players and a further $10 million in actual and exemplary damages to compensate WIPA and its members for the WICB’s wilful and malicious actions”.The WICB said its legal team was studying the documents and a further statement will be made at the appropriate time.

A battling century by Neil McKenzie held up Worcestershire’s Alan Richardson-inspired victory charge at New Road but Hampshire are still in danger of being cut off at the foot of Division One in the County Championship

20-Jun-2011
Scorecard
A battling century by Neil McKenzie held up Worcestershire’s Alan Richardson-inspired victory charge at New Road but Hampshire are still in danger of being cut off at the foot of Division One in the County Championship. With the 36-year-old Richardson taking 9 for 114 in the match, the south coast visitors followed on 164 runs behind after folding for 239 and edged into a slender lead of 105 when reaching 269 for 9.Having opened the season with six consecutive defeats, fast-improving Worcestershire can now aim to wrap up a second successive win which would put them 36 points clear of Hampshire.McKenzie’s resistance may only have delayed the inevitable. After a sketchy start, the South African-born batsman went on to make 106 from 221 balls and put on 143 with Nic Pothas, who completed his second half-century of the match before falling for 72.The ever-willing Richardson got Worcestershire back on track when Pothas edged the first delivery after tea to second slip, and after an interlude of spin, with two wickets for Shakib Al Hasan, the strike bowler was back with the new ball. In his second over he finally broke McKenzie’s resolve, an lbw decision ending the 39th hundred of his career, but the last pair, James Tomlinson and Imran Tahir, survived until the close.Hampshire’s batting generally lacked confidence or conviction and the theory that they would benefit from a winning run in Twenty20 cricket was blown apart. Straight away they were back to where they left the Championship in a heavy defeat by Lancashire in their last match.Worcestershire, in contrast, are perhaps exceeding expectations, and once Hampshire’s fragility had been exposed, largely through the efforts of Richardson, they were relentless in driving home their advantage. From James Vince’s departure in the first innings to his second dismissal on the third morning, Hampshire lost 10 wickets for 69, the scale of the collapse underlining why they are the only side without a Championship win this season.Resuming at 232 for 7, they lasted for only 25 minutes as Richardson and Bangladesh spinner Shakib mopped up the tail for the addition of seven runs. More worrying for Hampshire was the way the top order imploded in the second innings.Liam Dawson avoided a ‘pair’ with an edged four through the slips but Richardson saw off the openers in his first five overs – Jimmy Adams taken at second slip and Dawson by wicketkeeper Ben Scott. Jack Shantry may lack Richardson’s zip but the young left-armer bowled a good line and backed up the senior seamer by removing Michael Lumb and Vince with catches in the slips by Vikram Solanki and Daryl Mitchell.

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.

Celtic have seen a raft of new players make moves to Parkhead during the previous summer and winter transfer windows.

While most joined on permanent deals, the Hoops also have some players in their squad who are only there on loan until the end of the current season.

As the Bhoys are on the verge of securing the Premiership title, it seems as though a update has emerged regarding some behind-the-scenes activity at Lennoxtown over a couple of potential deals which could take place in the summer.

What’s the news?

Speaking in his latest press conference before the 4-1 win over Hearts on Saturday, Postecoglou touched upon the current situation regarding the futures of on-loan Celtic duo Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers.

The 56-year-old said: “We are in discussions with them obviously, and as I have said all along, with these kind of things it’s never a simple process.

“But both have had unbelievable years for us and been outstanding contributors and both are really happy here.

“Our intent is to try and keep them at our football club, but these things need a point where all parties agree. I am hopeful we will get to that point but at this point, we are not quite there yet.”

To highlight how crucial the duo have been for the Hoops this season, with Carter-Vickers in defence and Jota in attack, Postecoglou’s side have the best record in terms of scoring and conceding goals in the league, with the loan pair both playing big parts.

Focusing on Jota, with nine goals and 10 assists to his name in 27 league outings, the winger is listed as the highest-rated player currently in Celtic’s squad according to WhoScored, averaging a superb match rating of 7.59 for the campaign.

Meanwhile, Carter-Vickers has been a rock at the back for the Bhoys, with a total of 38 interceptions and 20 tackles under his belt as their main centre-back alongside Carl Starfelt.

Taking this into account, it’ll be great news for the Celtic fans to hear that their club are intent on securing permanent deals for the dynamic duo in the summer.

If the club are able to sign both players for good, this would put Postecoglou’s side in great shape to repeat their successes this season in 2022/23.

In other news – Enquiry made, then joined rivals: Celtic had the last laugh over “huge” 161 G/A dynamo

South Australia is fighting to make New South Wales bat again after hundreds to Peter Nevill and Nathan Hauritz put the hosts in a commanding position

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2010
ScorecardCallum Ferguson holds the key for South Australia after finishing unbeaten on 55•Getty Images

South Australia is fighting to make New South Wales bat again after hundreds to Peter Nevill and Nathan Hauritz put the hosts in a commanding position. The Blues declared after lunch at 8 for 461 and had the Redbacks 4 for 178 at stumps, still 95 behind with a day to play.Callum Ferguson delivered a timely reminder to the national selectors with 55 not out while Daniel Christian was unbeaten on 43 as the battling visitors finished with a promising stand of 76. South Australia were in trouble after Tom Moffat finished his first game with 0 and 11 after nicking Trent Copeland, while the captain Michael Klinger (9) was caught behind off Stuart Clark. Steven Smith picked up his first wicket when he had Tom Cooper stumped on 41 and also had Aiden Blizzard lbw for 3.It was much easier batting for New South Wales and Nevill, the wicketkeeper, gained his second Shield century. He collected 12 fours and a six and stormed from his half-century to his hundred in 38 balls.Nevill built on the work of Hauritz, who became the highest scoring nightwatchman in the competition. His 146, which ended when he edged Christian, overtook the 134 of Victoria’s Ray Jordon in 1963-64.