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Steven Crook returned only the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career against Northamptonshire but could not prevent them taking control against second-placed Middlesex at Lord’s

13-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Steven Crook returned only the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career against Northamptonshire – the county that let him go two years ago – but could not prevent the Division Two leaders taking control against second-placed Middlesex at Lord’s.A responsible half-century from Niall O’Brien helped the visitors gain a first innings lead of 82 before Chaminda Vaas, who had taken five wickets against his former county in the first innings, trapped Middlesex openers Scott Newman and Sam Robson leg before wicket.Then Andrew Hall claimed Dawid Malan lbw and had Neil Dexter brilliantly caught by Rob White at second slip in the space of three balls and Middlesex closed on 58 for 4, 24 runs behind.Crook, a 28-year-old fast-medium bowler who was born in Australia but has a British passport through his English parents, did not play at all last season but was given the chance to resurrect his career by Middlesex after a trial during the winter.He had already taken two wickets when Northamptonshire resumed at 188 for 2, 129 runs behind, and swung the ball at a good pace to pick up three more wickets and finish with five for 94 from 19 overs. Mal Loye added only seven to his overnight 80 before he was caught behind
pushing forward to Tim Murtagh and after that the Northamptonshire batting was a curious mixture of obdurate defence from Alex Wakely and flashing strokeplay from Rob Newton, Hall and James Middlebrook.They all threw the bat and all perished to Crook, Newton miscuing a hook to midwicket, Hall edging to first slip and Middlebrook driving to cover where he was superbly caught by Dexter diving to his left. In between times, Wakely, who was strokeless for long periods as he spent two
hours 10 minutes adding 20 to his overnight 12, was finally undone by a good ball from Corey Collymore which took out his off stump.Northamptonshire were still four runs behind at 313 for 7 but O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper, curbed his attacking instincts and went on to make 50 off 88 balls – including six fours – before Jamie Dalrymple had him caught at mid-off.Vaas, who had joined O’Brien in an eighth wicket stand of 38, and Lee Daggett then added another 39 and by the time Middlesex went in again a sunny afternoon had turned cloudy and created ideal conditions for the swing of Vaas.

Suryakumar Yadav, the batsman who was omitted from the Mumbai Indians squad for the Champions League T20 on account of injury, has scored an unbeaten 182 in an under-22 tournament in Mumbai on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2011Suryakumar Yadav, the batsman who was omitted from the Mumbai Indians squad for the Champions League T20 on account of injury, has scored an unbeaten 182 in an under-22 tournament in Mumbai on Thursday. Yadav’s omission from the MI squad on September 22 had left them with seven Indian players, which prompted their request for an additional overseas player for the tournament and resulted in theirs being the only team allowed to field five foreign players in the final XI.Yadav was captaining the Chandrakant Pandit XI against Dilip Vengsarkar XI in a three-day match of the Shalini Bhalekar Trophy; on Wednesday he had fielded the entire day and bowled 6.3 overs as well, according to . The paper also reported that he’d had surgery on an injured finger, which was the reason for his being withdrawn from the Mumbai Indians squad.”As soon as we heard he was available, we picked him for this tournament,” Yadav’s team coach Deepak Patil told ESPNcricinfo. “We wouldn’t play an unfit player. Our selectors had assessed and approved his fitness, and picked him to play.”The current event is aimed at selecting the Mumbai squad for the CK Nayudu Trophy, the national Under-22 tournament. Yadav is seen as a sure-shot pick and a possible captain.He was one of six Indian players to be ruled out of MI’s CLT20 campaign, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ali Murtaza and Dhawal Kulkarni.In addition to those six injured players, the CLT20 technical committee had announced that they had also received medical reports ruling out two more Mumbai players – Aditya Tare and Pawan Suyal – from the tournament. That left eight out of Mumbai’s 23 contracted players unavailable for selection. It also meant the final 14-member squad had an equal number of Indian and overseas players, without a buffer to handle any potential injury to an Indian player. The organisers then allowed Mumbai to field five overseas cricketers in their playing XI, though other other IPL sides continued to be limited to four.The MI media manager refused to comment on the issue.

Waqar Younis, who quit as Pakistan coach after their tour of Zimbabwe in September, has said his successor should be someone from within the country

Umar Farooq26-Oct-2011Waqar Younis, who quit as Pakistan coach after their tour of Zimbabwe in September, has said his successor should be someone from within the country. Opinion has been divided on whether Pakistan should look for a Pakistani coach or a foreign one; the PCB committee in charge of appointing the permanent coach received applications from foreign coaches as well as local ones. Waqar said they should choose from among the latter because someone from within the country would understand the system better.”I think it is ideal to have a local coach for many reasons,” Waqar told ESPNcricinfo. “A Pakistani coach actually understands the nature and mental approach of the players, and has a stronger understanding of the system. If I had a successful stint with Pakistan it was only because I came up through the system and hence understand it quite well.”The PCB is yet to appoint a permanent replacement for Waqar with Mohsin Khan being appointed interim coach for the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE. They have drawn up a shortlist of five names but are yet to make a final decision.Waqar coached Pakistan through a difficult period, with the spot-fixing scandal during the England tour in 2010 being followed by Zulqarnain Haider’s abrupt departure on the eve of a one-day match due to threats from bookies. However, despite the shock those events sent through Pakistan, results remained fairly consistent: Pakistan drew a Test series against South Africa before winning one in New Zealand, and then reached the semi-finals of the World Cup. Waqar announced his resignation just before the Zimbabwe tour citing health reasons and has since joined the commentary team for the ongoing Test series in the UAE.He said he was undergoing treatment which prevented him from doing rigorous physical activity. “I am undergoing a treatment that comes with a precaution to avoid pressure and exhausting field work, which I would have been doing as coach. It’s working fine so far and I hope things will be better in near future.”After Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies earlier this year, it was revealed that there had been friction between Waqar and then one-day captain Shahid Afridi during the trip. Afridi was subsequently sacked as captain and he announced a conditional retirement, saying he would only play for Pakistan if there were changes in the board and management. After Waqar’s departure and the replacement of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt by Zaka Ashraf, Afridi said he wanted to return to the national team. Waqar said he did not think it was right of Afridi to have quit international cricket temporarily and said he should only be allowed back if he could prove he deserved it.”I never had a personal problem with Afridi but I believe it wasn’t fair to Pakistan cricket the way he acted, but these are his decisions and his way of handling things. It [his conditional retirement] actually left a negative impact on the minds of the young players in the country and is not a good example for the upcoming players.”There must be sufficient criteria for his return to the national setup. It should be ensured that he has played enough cricket recently and has done enough to be recalled.”Waqar said he was impressed with the way Pakistan had played for most of the first Test against Sri Lanka, and saw them continuing to do well. However, he said it was important that the new coach was given a selection role for the team to progress.”What’s the definition of coach for a national team? The coach must have a role in selecting the best team to work with and hand over to the captain in the field. Pakistan needs to have a clear selection role for their coach. After all, you need to have someone responsible for results and interestingly it’s always the coach who gets sacked if results are not good.”Pakistan are headed in the right direction. They are doing a wonderful job and they could have won the first Test but failed to finish well. You can’t just criticise them for that because they had dominated the opponent for most of the game.”

A round-up of the action from the first day of the fourth round of matches in the Ranji Trophy Plate Division 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2011Led by Mohammed Khader and Anwar Ahmed, Hyderabad skittled Goa for 147 on the first day of their Ranji Trophy game in Porvorim. Khader and Ahmed combined to take 6 for 50, and India spinner Pragyan Ojha took 2 for 43, as the hosts failed to generate any momentum. Swapnil Asnodkar, returned after serving his two-match ban for calling off a potentially achievable chase against Maharashtra, returned to the side, but failed to make an impact, falling for 8 as Goa crawled to 22 for 1 from 14.3 overs. The scoring-rate hovered around two for the duration of the innings, and only two batsmen managed to go past 20. Vaibhav Naik crawled to 23 from 81 balls while Abhishek Raut top-scored with 41 from 78 balls. Akshath Reddy got Hyderabad’s reply off to a positive start, remaining unbeaten on 41 as the visitors ended the day on 61 for 2.Dheeraj Jadhav’s 18th first-class century and a supporting hand from Amit Sinha gave Assam the first-day honours against Jharkhand at the Railway Stadium in Dhanbad. Assam began well after choosing to bat, their openers Jadhav and Pallavkumar Das adding 58. Sinha went along patiently at No.3, reaching 79 by the close off 198 balls, and guiding Assam to 234 for 3. Jadhav and Sinha put on 135 for the second wicket before the centurion fell for 102, dismissed by Samar Qadri who picked up two wickets. Sibsankar Roy fell cheaply but Sinha saw Assam through to the close with no further hiccups.Andhra Pradesh made the Kerala batsmen struggle on a rain-curtailed day at the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Left-arm medium-pacer Takkami Atchuta Rao and left-arm spinner Shankara Rao. Takkami did the early damage, dismissing opener VA Jagadeesh and No.3 Robert Fernandez off successive deliveries in the eighth over. Those early strikes slowed down the innings considerably. Though the Kerala batsmen consumed several deliveries, their batting stagnated, and AP made steady inroads to reduce them to 95 for 5 in the 58th over. That became 110 for 6 soon after, Takkami ending the day with three and Shankara with two.Jammu and Kashmir batted out the first day at the Chatrapati Shivaji Stadium in Ratnagiri, reaching 302 for 8, against the in-form Maharashtra. Opener Adil Rishi top-scored with 88, backed up by important contributions along the way. He added 116 with wicketkeeper Manish Dogra, and was the third wicket to fall, with the score on 166. For Maharashtra, left-arm spinner Akshya Darekar grabbed 4 for 60 and his team would have felt confident of bowling out J&K for under 300 after reducing them to 236 for 7 at one stage. Captain Hardeep Singh and Samiullah Beigh, however, added 59 for the eighth wicket that made it possible for J&K to reach 302 at the close.Vidarbha had the better of the first day against Tripura at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala. Medium-pacer Sandeep Singh picked up four wickets to help restrict Tripura to 246 for 7 at stumps on the first day. Opener Rajib Saha made 77 and wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant also scored a half-century; this, after Tripura were struggling at 38 for 3 at one stage. Debabrata Chowdhury and Udit Patel chipped in with 37 and 38 respectively, ensuring Tripura reached a respectable score at stumps.A determined rear-guard action from the lower order rescued Himachal Pradesh from 95 for 5 and took them 262 for 6 at the close of the first day against Services in Dharamsala. Having been put in, Himachal lost wickets at regular intervals and when Nishan Singh removed Sridharan Sriram for a painstaking 16 from 94 balls, it looked like the hosts would capitulate quickly. However, captain Ajay Ratra and Amit Kumar turned things around with a 112-run partnership for the sixth wicket before Ratra became Nishan’s third wicket of the day, caught behind for 52. Kumar (76*) then found another willing ally in Rishi Dhawan (29*), and the pair addeda further 55 to give their side a share of the honours on the day.

Nigel Harrison, the former Barbados first-class umpire, has died aged 77 after a brief illness

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2011Nigel Harrison, the former Barbados first-class umpire, has died aged 77 after a brief illness. He stood in Shell Shield and Red Stripe Cup matches through the 1980s. His last first-class game was a tour match during England’s tour of the West Indies in 1990.He also served as the president and treasurer of the Barbados Cricket Umpires Association (BCUA). He was also a former managing director of Corbin Compton, a leading local advertising company.”He was a good umpire. I don’t think he ever had a bad report,” Lloyd Barker, a former international umpire, told the Barbados Cricket Association website. “He knew the game and was always very involved in the training of new umpires.”Joel Garner, the former West Indies bowler and current president of the Barbados Cricket Association, said in a West Indies Cricket Board release that Harrison had enjoyed the confidence of the players he worked with. “As a player I came into contact with Mr Harrison on many occasions while playing at the club level and in regional cricket and he was always a strong, firm umpire.”He was a good communicator and won the confidence of all the players. He made a huge contribution to the game at the club level in Barbados and also helped with the development of regional cricket as well.”WICB president, Julian Hunte, praised Harrison’s contribution to umpiring in the Caribbean. “It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Nigel Harrison, who was one of the leading umpires in Barbados and West Indies cricket. He carried himself with dignity and made a significant contribution to the game he loved. He helped to lift the standard of umpiring across the region and was a standard-bearer.”Harrison also played club cricket for the Spartan Cricket Club, where he played alongside former West Indies players Wes Hall, David Holford, Cammie Smith, Tony Howard and Peter Lashley.

Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald buried Sydney Sixers in an avalanche of big hits to set up Melbourne Renegades’ second successive win, moving them into the top half of the Big Bash League table for the first time

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jan-2012
ScorecardAndrew McDonald hit seven sixes and no fours in his 60•Getty Images

Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald buried Sydney Sixers in an avalanche of big hits to set up Melbourne Renegades’ second successive win, moving them into the top half of the Big Bash League table for the first time.Chasing a challenging 162 to win, the Renegades were given a power-packed start by Aaron Finch who clubbed Brett Lee for a six over square leg in the first over, en route to 25 off 15 balls. Glenn Maxwell failed at No. 3, bringing McDonald to the crease in the fifth over, and thereafter the innings steadied itself before taking off in style.No boundaries were scored in the six overs following Maxwell’s exit, as the asking-rate mounted to leave the Renegades needing 97 off the last 10 overs. McDonald had nudged his way to 10 off 18 balls by then, while Hodge was on 25 off 24. The scene rapidly changed colours thereafter, with McDonald signalling the end of the cease-fire by launching Stuart MacGill over long-on for two sixes in the 11th over.A six each came in the next two overs, before Hodge plundered Lee for three fours in the 14th over, reducing the equation to 51 off six overs. Hodge proceeded to thump Dominic Thornely for two more sixes in the next over, before McDonald turned his guns on Steve Smith, slugging him for three sixes. The ferocity of the assault meant that Renegades were home with 14 balls to spare. In all, McDonald hit seven sixesin 60 off 37 balls, while Hodge cleared the ropes three times in his 72.The Sixers would have expected a closer contest after hustling their way to 161 in the first half of the game. Dwayne Bravo’s early exit was overcome by a chirpy 46-run stand between Michael Lumb and Nic Maddinson. As is his wont, Shahid Afridi produced the breach, getting Maddinson stumped for 29. Smith kept the momentum going, but Shane Harwood removed him just as he began to look dangerous. The closing flourish came from Moises Henriques, who hit three fours and a six in 40 off 31 balls, but his fireworks fizzled in front of the fusillade that was to follow.

A round-up of the second day of the third round of Pentangular Cup matches

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2012Mohammad Khalil ripped through Baluchistan to allow Punjab to enforce a follow-on on the second day at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Punjab, resuming on 335 for 4, added 105 runs before declaring on 440 for 8. Harris Sohail missed his half-century by two runs, and Mohammad Zohaib and Raza Hasan played useful cameos of 23 and 27 runs respectively. Rahat Ali was the most successful bowler for Baluchistan; he took 5 for 138 in 35 overs. Baluchistan got off to a poor start, losing their openers with only 4 runs on the board. Rehan Rafiq, along with Saeed Anwar Junior, steadied the early wobble but both failed to capitalise on starts, and were dismissed by Khalil. Punjab kept picking up wickets and bowled Baluchistan out for 107. Baluchistan were 10 for 1 in their second innings at stumps.A century from Shan Masood, and half-centuries from Umar Amin and Babar Naeem, gave Federal Areas a lead of 248 at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province had to toil in the field, and only managed to take six wickets in the day, with Waqar Ahmed and Khalid Usman taking two each. Afaq Raheem and Masood resumed the day on 130 for 1. Raheem missed a century – he was dismissed for 83 – but Masood and Amin put together a 76-run partnership to take Federal Areas past Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s total of 205. Masood went on to score 127, and a quick 57 from Naeem cemented Federal Areas’ dominance. They ended the day on 453 for 7 and could extend their lead on the third day.

The spinner- and batsman-heavy nature of the Chittagong Kings squad is a Khaled Mahmud trademark, a no-nonsense approach on Bangladesh pitches that offer low bounce and limited turn

Mohammad Isam07-Feb-2012

Big Picture

The most expensive BPL franchise does not have a lavish set of players. The owners of Chittagong Kings, SQ Sports, wisely handed over the team’s reins to the coach Khaled Mahmud, the former Bangladesh captain who is now the most sought-after team builder in domestic cricket.The spinner- and batsman-heavy nature of the Kings squad is a Mahmud trademark, a no-nonsense approach on Bangladesh pitches that offer low bounce and limited turn.
Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Jamshed are the side’s attacking batsmen, while Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik will be expected to use the momentum from the Dhaka Premier League to make important contributions. Jahurul Islam is the in-form local batsman and will give the middle order solidity, while Ziaur Rahman and Shamsur Rahman will add firepower.Ultimately a lot will depend on Dwayne Bravo and the captain Mahmudullah, allrounders who will play key roles towards the middle and end of the Twenty20 matches.Muttiah Muralitharan, Enamul Haque and Jerome Taylor will be the attacking bowling options, while Arafat Sunny and Sanjamul Haque will be expected to contain. Lendl Simmons will share wicketkeeping duties with Jahurul, a balance that could work wonderfully for the franchise.

Star Attraction

The success of the Kings could depend largely on Tamim Iqbal‘s form. Among the two top names in Bangladesh cricket, the left-hand opener is a potential match-winner in this format. Tamim, however, hasn’t had the best of times of late. He’s suffered from poor form, injury and the odd controversy. A tournament like this could wake him from the slumber with the bat.

Top player

One of the top players in the Twenty20 market, Dwayne Bravo can be powerful with the bat, accurate with the ball and athletic in the field. In a team reliant on spin, Bravo could turn out to be the only seam option.

Below the radar

Jahurul Islam is having a dream run in the Dhaka Premier League, scoring two centuries for Victoria Sporting Club before the BPL player auction. He ended up being one of three local cricketers to attract six-figure bids and the competition for the wicketkeeper-batsman was justifiable. His valuation of $110,000, higher than experienced local players like Faisal Hossain and Enamul Haque, was also not much of a surprise. Jahurul’s exclusion from the national side had baffled many and some runs in the BPL should be enough to secure his place.

Sri Lanka’s bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake has brushed aside any concerns about Lasith Malinga’s form

Mohammad Isam in Dhaka 12-Mar-2012Sri Lanka’s bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake has brushed aside any concerns about Lasith Malinga’s form, saying that with the number of games Sri Lanka have been involved in Malinga was bound to have a poor game or two. Malinga comes in to the Asia Cup after an inconsistent performance in the Commonwealth Bank series in Australia, in which he was the leading wicket-taker with 18 scalps in 11 games but went at 6.21 runs per over.Ramanayake discovered Malinga when Malinga was bowling for his college in Galle, mentored him at Sri Lanka’s cricket academy and describes Malinga as his “rock”. He said conditions in Australia and the fact that Sri Lanka had such a packed schedule there – they played five games in 10 days at the end of the tournament – affected Malinga.”In Australia there was not much reverse swing, so he struggled a bit,” Ramanayake told reporters at the team hotel in Dhaka. “So I hope he’ll learn new tricks. He’s okay; everyone can have a bad game or two when you play 11 games in such a short time.”One particularly poor game for Malinga was the Hobart match against India, in which Virat Kohli took him apart. The 96 runs Malinga conceded in that game was the most he has conceded in his eight-year ODI career, and his economy-rate of 12.52 in the match was the worst for any bowler who has conceded over 80 runs in an ODI game. He recovered almost immediately, taking 4 for 49 against Australia to help put Sri Lanka in the finals. More ups and downs followed in the finals: after getting hit for 74 runs in eight overs in the first final, he hit back with 3 for 40 in the second before ending the tour with a wicketless 10-over spell that went for 69 runs.Despite that, Malinga is almost certaint to play in Sri Lanka’s first game of the Asia Cup, against India on Tuesday. Ramanayake said it was likely Sri Lanka would pick two other medium-pacers in the XI. “We haven’t decided it yet but I think any team will play three quicks with the Powerplays these days.”Also, the two new balls mean taking three medium-pacers is necessary and reverse swing is still there; the Pakistanis did it last night. In Dhaka, the weather is dry right now so reverse is possible, though it is not like the days when we had just one new ball.”All the four teams participating in the Asia Cup were cooped up in their hotels on Monday due to a political gathering in Dhaka. Ramanayake knows Bangladesh well, having been bowling coach of their national side from 2008-2011, and said it was disappointing the teams could not go out, but they understood the situation.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Rubel Hossain, the Bangladesh fast bowler, has been advised surgery on his injured right shoulder

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2012Rubel Hossain, the Bangladesh fast bowler, has been advised surgery on his injured right shoulder. The operation could keep Rubel out of cricket for up to six months. He had picked up the injury during the home Test series against Pakistan in December, and was forced off the field after bowling just two overs in the opening game of the Bangladesh Premier League.”We have done double MRIs and had to [crosscheck things], and that took some time,” Debashish Chowdhury, the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s physician, told the . “We have submitted the official report yesterday [Sunday]. We have suggested that he needs an operation and it should be done in South Africa. It is getting a little late regarding Rubel [he should have the surgery at the earliest], and the operation is [expected to be] very complicated. We have no first-hand experience of it.” The extent of the damage, and subsequently the degree of complication of the surgery, will be known only after Rubel consults with the doctor in South Africa.”After the operation, he will [most likely] need six months to recover. If he [only requires a simpler] surgery, he will need six weeks to come back. He needs the operation because he can’t throw or dive, though, he can still bowl.”Shafiul Islam, another of Bangladesh’s injured fast bowlers, has also been asked to consult with a specialist in Cape Town. He too is hampered by a shoulder problem – he had done his shoulder some damage during last month’s Asia Cup. Chowdhury said, however, it did not look as though Shafiul would require any surgery. “Shafiul can continue the conservative treatment that he is undertaking.”