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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.

Ajit Chandila, the only Rajasthan Royals player yet to be out on bail in relation to the IPL spot-fixing case, has been remanded to judicial custody until July 2.A Delhi court had sentenced Chandila to police custody for three days on June 17 and also deferred his bail plea, along with that of five others including former Ranji player Baburao Yadav, till June 22 after being informed by the police that some statements of the bookies arrested in the same case had to be placed on record.The Delhi Police said they had completed their custodial interrogation, following which a vacation judge ruled that Chandila would be sent to Tihar jail for 12 days.Ajit Chandila, Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan were arrested, along with 11 bookies, on May 16 and charged under the Indian Penal Code section 420 and 120B, which deal with fraud, cheating and conspiracy.Sreesanth and Chavan had applied for bail before Chandila and were released from Tihar jail on June 11.

Ravi Bopara had a mixed day. It started with him being named in the England Lions squad, then two wickets followed but he failed with the bat as Essex stumbled

Tim Wigmore at Chelmsford29-Apr-2013
ScorecardDavid Masters’ return boosted the Essex bowling attack•Getty Images

It was a day for comebacks. First Ravi Bopara heard he was in the England Lions squad to face New Zealand: a surprise comeback. Then Adam Wheater, returning to the club he left last winter in search of more wicketkeeping opportunities, misjudged a hook to fall for one: a comeback that disappointed. And finally there was Alastair Cook: a comeback innings that Essex will hope is not yet complete.Cook closed unbeaten on 25, playing circumspectly while lashing a couple of trademark cut shots through point. With Essex closing on 72 for 5 and trailing by 125, he will need to do plenty more batting tomorrow.One of county cricket’s many attractions can be, as The Kinks sang, “Lazing on a sunny afternoon”. But when the England captain is batting the chitchat stops; everyone shuts up and watches the game. After all, Essex do not see much of Cook: since his last Championship appearance almost a year ago, he has assumed the Test captaincy and scored three hundreds in England’s series win in India.Yet Cook’s most significant contribution of the day was an unfortunate one when a powerful straight drive was diverted onto the stumps by bowler James Tomlinson to run out Tom Westley, who had been playing nicely for 16. By the close Danny Briggs had trapped Bopara playing half-forward, bringing a sour end to his day, and Sean Ervine’s outswing had claimed two wickets to make Hampshire’s total seem far more significant.After Hampshire had won the toss and chosen to bat few would have expected seeing Cook do anything more than man second slip. Hampshire claimed maximum batting points in both of their first two fixtures. Meanwhile, Essex coach Paul Grayson was so appalled by their innings defeat to Northamptonshire that he issued an official apology.Cook may have had an invigorating impact, but the really significant Essex returnee was David Masters, whose experience and nous were sorely missed at Wantage Road. His pace might barely bother motorway speed cameras, but he troubles the batsmen rather more, nibbling the ball both ways with unrelenting accuracy.After a spell of 5-3-3-0 from the River End – hardly too shabby itself – Masters switched ends and ran through Hampshire’s top order with 3 for 10 in five pre-lunch overs. The most intriguing contest was with George Bailey. Mixing natural intent against the short ball and obvious frailty against seam movement it was possible both to see why he was Australia’s Twenty20 captain and he only averaged 18 in the last Sheffield Shield season. Uncertainly groping forward, Bailey was surprised by an inswinger that he inside-edged into his pads to be taken at second slip.With Bopara celebrating his Lions call-up with two useful wickets, Essex were able to deny Hampshire even the 200 runs necessary to earn a solitary batting point. Only Ervine and James Vince passed 23 against some testing bowling, with Ervine’s crunching square of the wicket shots dragging them to an eminently modest 197.Wheater would have hoped for something rather better on his Chelmsford return. After a warm welcome from the crowd – notably more so than that afforded to Rory Hamilton-Brown at the Oval last week – his natural attacking instincts were strangled by some impressive bowling until he hooked a well-directed bouncer from Reece Topley to long-leg.Topley, bowling a consistently threatening line outside off stump and using the short ball as a weapon of shock rather than stock, deserved his three wickets. They took him to 50 first-class scalps, only two months after his 19th birthday. As his career develops, he will receive much advice. That received from Masters should be heeded more than most.

Third defeat from three for visitors as Glamorgan pull off steep chase with over to spare

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay06-Jun-2025A magnificent Kiran Carlson 93 led Glamorgan back to winning ways against a winless Essex at Sophia Gardens.The captain’s knock was the catalyst in a successful chase of 184 and a six-wicket win. He had support from Will Smale with 43 as the opening pair set a strong platform for Carlson to continue through the innings.Essex’s strong total put the visitors in a strong position, led by Michael Pepper’s 30-ball 60 which included five sixes, his second half-century already in this competition. But it was not enough to prevent a third defeat from three.After being put into bat with rain expected in the second innings, Essex started cautiously, taking just three from Timm van der Gugten’s first over. Adam Rossington struggled once again, as the Essex batters have done in their opening two defeats. But a dominant partnership from Dean Elgar and Pepper worth 58 set the Eagles well on their way for a big total at 93 for 2 at the halfway stage.Ben Kellaway was expensive but ended Pepper’s powerful innings, having previously removed Elgar. After two consecutive sixes off the ambidextrous finger-spinner, Kellaway had the dangerous Pepper caught off a left-arm delivery to leave Essex 120 for 4 in the 13th over.The momentum continued to swing over by over with Matt Critchley not firing off the back of his half-century last time out and Charlie Allison supplying a cameo of 21 from 14.Glamorgan started in the innings as they knew they had to continue. After a similar powerplay to Essex, Smale and Carlson kicked on to the 91-run opening partnership that tipped the game their way.Carlson raced to 32 from 19 while Smale had faced just three balls. Carlson maintained a high tempo, hitting exquisitely over extra-cover as his partner joined the action with slog-sweeps against spinners and seam alike.Smale found himself a life in the ninth over but couldn’t take advantage as a near identical ball to that dropped at deep-cover by Elgar found his hands later in the same over.Kellaway kept up the attack, striking three boundaries in an eight-ball stay. While Carlson continued on the hunt for a second career T20 hundred, Essex chipped out wickets at the other end, continuing to ensure a new batter remained at the crease.Needing 42 from the final six overs, Carlson’s back-to-back sixes off Simon Harmer looked to ensure no way back for the Eagles until his untimely departure, leaving just 10 runs to be knocked off by Chris Cooke and Asa Tribe in nervy fashion after the captain’s innings was ended by a brilliant Pepper diving catch.

Calls for Khawaja to open grow louder after a roaring start to the Shield season

Alex Malcolm09-Nov-2021Usman Khawaja believes he can bat anywhere in Australia’s top-order if he were to get an Ashes call-up but he says a middle-order place would make more sense than opening.The Queensland captain has started the Sheffield Shield season in exceptional form, with back-to-back centuries, and calls for him to return to the Test side for the first time since the 2019 Ashes series have been growing louder and louder.Khawaja has another chance to impress selectors at the Gabba on Wednesday when Queensland host Western Australia in a Shield clash, but he is already expected to be named in Australia’s extended Ashes squad ahead of the three-day intra-squad trial game scheduled for December 1-3 in Brisbane. The team for the Ashes opener will be selected from there.There have also been calls for Khawaja to open in the first Test at the Gabba. However, Khawaja himself downplayed that suggestion given he has opened just three times in 29 first-class innings since the 2019 Ashes tour for returns of 30, 4 and 2. His last 14 innings have been played exclusively at No.4 for Queensland.”If you’re talking about me opening, and what not, but I’ve been batting four for Queensland for the last two years,” Khawaja said. “So for me batting, if there’s a spot at five it’s as likely as opening the batting. It probably makes more sense in some respects. So for me, I think I’ve talked to selectors about it, I’ve told them I can bat anywhere along the order.”Khawaja does have an outstanding record opening the batting in Test cricket from a small sample size. He’s opened in seven innings across five Test matches in Australia and the UAE, scoring two centuries and two half-centuries at an average of 96.80. One of those centuries was in a pink-ball Test under lights against South Africa in Adelaide in 2016.He last opened in a Test in Sydney in 2019 before losing his place in the side during the 2019 Ashes after Marnus Labuschagne took his spot at No.3 following three consecutive half-centuries, having come in as Steven Smith’s concussion replacement at Lord’s.Khawaja is flattered by the support and well wishes he has received from people who want to see him back in the Test side, but he is content even if he isn’t recalled.”It’s just lovely to see all the support I’ve been getting from, you know, online, social media, just people coming up to me,” Khawaja said. “It’s nice to see, but for me, honestly, I guess I’ve been through the grind.”I played Test cricket. I haven’t. I’ve been playing professional cricket now for 14-odd years. I’m in a really good spot. And I have a lovely family, a beautiful wife, and a beautiful daughter. I’m really enjoying my life at the moment. I’ve got a lot of things to be grateful for.”I’d love to play for Australia. If it happens, if it doesn’t, honestly, it’s not in my thinking because I’m out here trying to score runs for Queensland.”Khawaja couldn’t resist the urge to poke fun at some criticism levelled at him by former Australian captain Ian Chappell, who told Channel Nine he didn’t think Khawaja was a good enough player at Test level to warrant a recall.”To me, it’s water off a duck’s back honestly, as Chappelli will have his opinions,” Khawaja said. “I guess you just have to, as a player, just concentrate on things you’re good at. I mean Chappelli is not even the best player in his family. So if I’m going to take advice I might take it from his younger brother maybe [laughing], who I get along with very well too, GC [Greg Chappell]. He’s a legend.”Khawaja was excited about the announcement that Australia will do a full tour of Pakistan early next year, given Khawaja was born there and recently played in the Pakistan Super League in the UAE.”It’s amazing, fingers crossed everything goes well,” Khawaja said. “I know CA is going to send a couple of people over in the not too distant future to just have a view of Pakistan.”It’s massive for Pakistan cricket, something they haven’t had for such a long time, a country that absolutely loves cricket. Even though [I was] born in Pakistan, for me, it’s just about spreading the beautiful game of cricket.”

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.