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A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group A matches on December 9, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2012
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On a day when Ravindra Jadeja got his first call-up to the Indian Test squad, he extended his purple patch in the Ranji Trophy by troubling Bengal with bat and ball to put Saurashtra in command in Rajkot. He had already top scored with 70 on the first day, and he backed that up with a four-wicket haul to reduce Bengal to 112 for 9. The only Bengal batsman to resist was Manoj Tiwary, who made a battling 55 before being forced to retire hurt due to a muscle pull. Jadeja was not done yet. On a track where pretty much everyone else found it difficult to score, he walked out and slammed an unbeaten 57-ball 67 to increase the lead to 231, with six wickets still in hand. It leaves Bengal needing to score the highest total of the match to win the game.
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Rajasthan captain Hrishkesh Kanitkar’s 28th Ranji Trophy century was the cornerstone of the first-innings effort of 294 against Gujarat. It was his second ton in two matches and it left him only behind Ajay Sharma and Wasim Jaffer in the list of most hundreds in the tournament. Gujarat’s left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurve took six wickets to restrict Rajasthan, before Gujarat’s top order provided a solid start to the chase. Smit Patel, who was India’s wicketkeeper when they won the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, and Samit Gohel, who was closing in on his third first-class half-century in three matches, put on 45 for the first wicket. Then, Gohel and Bhargav Merai stayed together till stumps, adding 59.
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Madhya Pradesh held the advantage after the second day in Bhubaneshwar, as their bowlers nipped out three early Railways wickets. MP extended their first-innings total to 377 thanks to 22-year-old Rameez Khan’s maiden first-class hundred, and Anand Rajan’s first half-century of the season. The pair put on 94 for the sixth wicket, lifting MP from a slightly troublesome 210 for 5. Sanjay Bangar was the most successful of the Railways bowlers, taking four wickets, but his side will need him to contribute substantially with the bat as well if they are to get within MP’s first-innings total.

Shiv Thakor, the Leicestershire allrounder, has been ruled out of the England Under-19 tour of South Africa with a broken finger

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2013Shiv Thakor, the Leicestershire allrounder, has been ruled out of the England Under-19 tour of South Africa where he was captain after sustaining a broken finger in the opening match of the trip.He is expected to be out of action for six weeks after suffering the blow against a Western Cape Invitation XI. In the first innings of that match he made 30 then took 2 for 11 but did not bat in the second innings.Oli Stone, the Northamptonshire player, will replace Thakor as captain for the remainder of the tour and Thomas Alsop, from Hampshire, has been named as the replacement batsman. Alsop is part of the Under-17 squad and trained with the U-19s at Loughborough before the tour.Jamie Overton, the Somerset bowler, will be added to the squad for the one-day series next month after being released from the England Performance Squad fast bowling programme.The two-match Test series begins on January 27 in Cape Town.

Nathan Lyon, the Australia offspinner, believes Australia should field two spinners in the Test series against India, which begins in two weeks’ time

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2013Nathan Lyon, the Australia offspinner, believes Australia should field two spinners in the Test series against India, which begins in two weeks’ time. Lyon was one of eight members of the Australia Test squad who landed in Chennai on Thursday, to acclimatise ahead of the series.”I personally think so [that two spinners should play]. It’s going to be a big challenge for all of us in the different conditions over here,” Lyon said. “Hopefully there’ll be an opportunity where two spinners will be able to go out on the field together for Australia.”Lyon pointed to the success the English slow bowlers enjoyed in India last November-December as evidence that more spinners is a strategy that is likely to work. He took note of a few things that he would like to emulate, he said. “I certainly watched [Monty] Panesar and [Graeme] Swann. They bowled quite well. I did watch Swann very, very closely and I hope to take in a few things and put the same method into practice against India. And India, they even played four spinners in the last Test against England.”Both India and England had played at least two spinners in all four Tests of that series, with India playing only a single quick in the second and fourth matches. The wicket charts, expectedly, were dominated by the spinners: Swann and Panesar took 20 and 17 wickets respectively, comfortably ahead of the next highest for England – James Anderson with 12. For India, while Pragyan Ojha and R Ashwin took 34 wickets between them, all their other bowlers combined tallied 17.Australia have a second spinner in left-armer Xavier Doherty, and spinning allrounders in Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell. The squad also includes 19-year-old Western Australia left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, in a development capacity: he will bowl at the touring batsmen in the nets and is likely to play the first warm-up game. This abundance of spin options will create healthy competition, Lyon said. “It’s going to be a good challenge for all of us, and it’s going to be really good pushing each other along for spots in the first Test side.”Dennis Lillee, the former Australia fast bowler, is in Chennai too and will work with the Australian team, researching why several of their young fast bowlers seem to be breaking down. “I’ll be consulting when there are technical issues or injuries, but I’m not going to be travelling with the team,” Lillee told the . “I’m looking into a lot of things, certainly their training methods, but also technique. My focus is on fitness, strength, and flexibility. So there’s a lot I’ll be researching and thinking about.”Australia will play the first of two tour games from February 12, against the Indian Board President’s XI in Chennai. The first Test starts on Feburary 22, also in Chennai.

Yorkshire were unable to return to profit in 2012, despite a sharply increased turnover

George Dobell05-Mar-2013Yorkshire were unable to return to profit in 2012, despite a sharply increased turnover. The club have declared a post-tax loss for the year of £118,000, against a turnover figure of £7.8m. Both figures are an improvement on the 2011 results, which saw the club declare losses of £460,000 against a turnover of £5.4m.In a statement Yorkshire expressed confidence that they would have declared a surplus had it not been for a series of one-off events. The impact of the Olympics on Test corporate hospitality sales was one factor, while 37% of playable overs were lost to rain over the season. The ODI against West Indies at Headingley in June was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to the poor weather.”The servicing of the club’s debt, incurred to substantially develop the club’s infrastructure and facilities, continues to exert pressure with £1m paid in interest in 2012,” the statement said. “However, the fact that the club has a guaranteed Test match and ODI every year until the end of 2019 provides some assurances over income streams.”Yorkshire described their trading position in 2012 as “very healthy” and reported an operational surplus (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of £1.2m – compared to £393k in 2011 – on the back of a return of Test cricket to Headingley.

Brendon McCullum was full of praise for his bowling attack’s “phenomenal” attempts to force victory against England

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin10-Mar-2013Brendon McCullum was full of praise for his bowling attack’s “phenomenal” attempts to force victory against England after chipping away during the final day to ensure the visitors were not completely safe until midway through the final session.It took New Zealand more than an hour to break through, removing Nick Compton for 117, but a fiery eight-over spell from Neil Wagner, to claim the scalps of Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen, gave New Zealand a glimmer which flickered a little brighter shortly after tea when Steven Finn, the nightwatchman, was finally dismissed and Joe Root was run out without scoring.”I thought even up until the last couple of overs we were a red hot crack, if we could get into those bowlers with the ball still new,” McCullum said. “I think we gave it everything we possibly could. I thought the bowlers were huge today to stand up and bowl as well as they did and for as long as what they did on a pretty unresponsive pitch, which was obviously still only a day four pitch, it was a phenomenal effort.”They will be stiff and sore tonight but they will know they were standing up trying to bowl us to a win and you know that’s exactly what you want from your bowling line-up.”The quick men had a tremendous workload in the fourth innings. Wagner, who was impressive throughout the match to finish with seven wickets, sent down 43 overs which was the most by a New Zealand fast bowler in an innings since Daryl Tuffey delivered 49 against Pakistan in 2001 while Trent Boult ended with 35 and Tim Southee 36.”Neil was huge today, 40-something overs as a quick,” McCullum said. “He kept running in, bowling nine or 10-over spells at times and I thought he was phenomenal.”The other main star for New Zealand was Hamish Rutherford who made 171 on his debut to suggest that there may be a long-term option to what has been a very problematic position for the team. In the previous series, against South Africa, McCullum took the responsibility to open on his shoulders but feels his role his better suited to the middle-order.”It’s a dream debut and not just for him and everyone else who was at the ground and also in the changing room,” McCullum said. “It was an amazing effort to turn up on debut and in an area where we’ve struggled in the past. And not just make runs but the way he made then runs.”To have someone who scores at such a clip put us in a position in a four-day Test match where we able to try and push for a result. He was outstanding and he never changed his mood from before the Test match till after it, so that’s a good sign for the future.”After a nightmare Test series in South Africa, where they never held any position of strength in either match, this contest gave McCullum the opportunity to pull the strings himself. He is only three matches into his captaincy tenure, after the difficult transition from Ross Taylor, and while he realises this was still only a draw it he believes it has given them a base to build from.”We know the public’s crying out for the Test game to improve, and we’re crying out for our Test game to improve as well,” he said. “This is a big step for us to look at where we were and where we are now and show ourselves and also our fans what we’re capable of achieving against good teams too.”The challenge now is to back it up for Test two and Test three and continue to put yourself in positions where you’re dominating and dictating the test match. That’s what we were able to do in this Test and the game’s a lot easier when you’re dictating rather than being dictated to.”

The ECB aims to ‘own the summer as England prepares to host the Champions Trophy and an Ashes series

George Dobell15-Apr-2013The ECB has unveiled a raft of measures it hopes will capitalise on a golden summer in which England hosts both the Champions Trophy and an Ashes series and inspire more people than ever before to play and watch the game.They are also mindful that, for once, there are relatively few high-profile rival sporting events – such as the Olympics or a major international football tournament. As Steve Elworthy, managing director of global events and marketing, put it, “We want cricket to own this summer.”Ashes tickets are selling as well as anticipated – 95% of tickets have sold for the first four days of all Ashes Tests, with some grounds having sold out of fifth-day tickets – though the Leeds Test against New Zealand was described as “needing some support.” The Champions Trophy is also meeting expectations, with anticipation at Edgbaston and The Oval particularly high.The initiative will include free tickets for -16s at 40 Yorkshire Bank 40 matches in August (a maximum of four U-16s will be permitted per paying adult) and free on-line highlights of every YB40, County Championship and home international match. The ECB are also investigating the possibility of live-streaming the women’s Ashes Test.

Touts warning reiterated

Gordon Hollins, ECB’s managing director of professional cricket, has repeated the ECB’s uncompromising warning that anyone buying a pre-sold ticket to this year’s international games face a high risk of wasting their money.
“Tickets are not transferable,” Hollins said. “We use various technical methods of tracking tickets that are re-sold and they will be void. People should not buy from unofficial sources.”
As well as opposing ticket resale websites, the ECB has also vowed to monitor ticket touts outside the grounds.

To encourage more people to play the game, the ECB will launch ‘The Ashes School Challenge’, a scheme which will offer free teaching and learning resources to primary schools using cricket to educate nine to 11-year-olds in the Key Stage 2 curriculum across all subjects. The ECB is also hoping to expand the ‘Last Man Stands’ format – an eight-a-side format lasting two-hours per game – which is designed to appeal to ‘lapsed’ cricketers who may not have the time or fitness to continue to play club cricket.As for the thorny topic of the absence of international games on free-to-view television, the ECB will offer cricket clubs around the country incentives to allow members and non-members the opportunity to watch games for free. Competitions will offer chances to watch the Ashes in Australia and for a team to play at an international venue.While the overall financial value of an Ashes series is now worth far less than a series against India – the value of overseas broadcast rights means the India series is estimated as at least 30% more lucrative – the power of the Ashes brand in England and Wales remains vast and the ECB hope that can utilise the profile of it to create a legacy to see the game through less obviously commercial seasons.While the next three years offer a raft of high-profile Test series (Australia are the principle tourists in 2013 and 2015, with India playing a five-Test series in 2014), there is some concern about the commercial value a few of the years immediately following that. Tickets for series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the tourists in 2016, have not always sold well.”Not every summer can be iconic,” Gordon Hollins, Managing Director of Professional Cricket at the ECB said. “But three years is a long time and we hope the plans we put in place now will help us if there are tougher years ahead.”

Stephen Parry claimed his first five-wicket haul in one-day cricket to help Lancashire to a stunning victory over Surrey in the Yorkshire Bank 40

19-May-2013
ScorecardStephen Parry claimed his first five-wicket haul in one-day cricket to help Lancashire to a stunning victory over Surrey in the Yorkshire Bank 40 Group B match at Old Trafford.The left-arm spinner claimed 5 for 17 as Lancashire, who at one point were 59 for 5, claimed a seven-run win – which was all the tighter for Surrey having been awarded six runs due to Lancashire’s slow over rate. Seamer Wayne White chipped in with 4 for 35, while Karl Brown hit 80 as Lancashire recorded their first YB40 win of the season.Steven Davies and Jason Roy got Surrey off to a flier in reply to Lancashire’s 176 for 9, scoring at more than seven an over until Parry bowled Roy for 18 with his first ball to end the 60-run stand. He bowled Davies for 36 in his next over and then claimed two wickets in three balls, holding a catch off his own bowling to account for Vikram Solanki and then trapping Gary Wilson lbw.Parry, Steven Croft and fellow spinner Simon Kerrigan continued to strangle Surrey, who went 13 overs without a boundary, and when Croft bowled Rory Burns for four they were 91 for 5.Zander de Bruyn and Gareth Batty upped the rate, but Kerrigan pulled off a great catch off White to end Batty’s resistance. White then struck twice in the 36th over as de Bruyn went for 37 and Jon Lewis 10. Parry then trapped Chris Tremlett lbw to claim his fifth wicket and, despite being penalised six runs for a slow over rate, Lancashire secured victory when Jade Dernbach was caught by Kerrigan off White from the final ball.Earlier Lancashire, who suffered a blow before the game with stand-in skipper Simon Katich forced out with a back spasm, struggled after being put in. Stephen Moore fell in the first over, caught at cover by Solanki off Dernbach for 9, then Lewis clinched the wicket of Ashwell Prince, caught by de Bruyn at short midwicket for 7. Tremlett accounted for Croft, caught at slip by Wilson, and captain Paul Horton who was caught behind by Davies.Gary Keedy, returning to face Lancashire for the first time since leaving at the end of last season, struck with his first ball with White edging him to Davies for 5. Gareth Cross and Brown’s 30-run stand was ended when Cross was trapped lbw by Batty for 15.Kyle Hogg fell for 12 as he was bowled by Lewis and Oliver Newby followed eight balls later, caught and bowled by Batty for a duck. Brown and Parry smashed 40 off the final three overs, with Parry scoring 23 off 25 balls. Brown was caught in the deep by Burns off Batty – who finished with 3 for 35 – with four balls left.

Misbah-ul-Haq said Pakistan were ready for to the Champions Trophy after a tricky warm-up in Scotland and Ireland

David Hopps29-May-2013Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, has just turned 39 and he was asked at his side’s introductory media conference ahead of the Champions Trophy how he would celebrate it. “Just going for practice,” he said.There have been more exciting birthdays, but there have been few more wisely spent. What Pakistan need more than anything is a quiet time in their first appearance in England since a spot-fixing scandal in 2010 ended with three of their players serving custodial sentences and their reputation once again dragged through the mud.This is a tournament where for the sake of Pakistan’s cricketing future they need to rebuild the respect of the many as well as excite the passions of their committed supporters.Even as Misbah tried to give an impression of solidity, one of his greatest attributes since the day he took charge, the headlines were again suggesting that all was not well. As he sat down, attention centred upon the suspension of the PCB’s chairman, Zaka Ashraf, by the High Court in Islamabad pending investigations of what Justice Shaukat Siddiqui called a “polluted” election process.Once that had been digested, talk turned to Asad Rauf’s protestations of innocence after he had been withdrawn from the Champions Trophy umpiring panel amid media reports in India that he was under police investigation as part of the IPL betting scandal.Surrounded by all of this disruption, Misbah and the Pakistan coach, Dav Whatmore, strive to create a competitive side for the present and a bold vision for the future.Pakistan’s supporters must despair of better times. Their side will invariably possess volatile talent and their supporters can be expected to be out in force, especially in Birmingham, where they play two of their three group matches, against South Africa and India. Just for once, though, they would benefit from a lot less fun and a lot more sense. The fans deserve better.Their warm-up matches have not augured well. They were rained on in Scotland and in Ireland they came perilously close to becoming the first Full Member nation to lose a series to an Associate. Ireland tied the first game thanks to Kevin O’Brien’s blistering 84 from 47 balls in Clontarf and then seemed to have the second match won only for Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz to pull off a spectacular run chase.Misbah, having experienced Ireland and Scotland, is probably the only Champions Trophy captain to arrive in England thinking that when it comes to the swinging ball things can only get easier.”I think coming from Pakistan it’s really difficult to adjust to the conditions, especially the weather,” he said, “but we have played a game in Scotland and then in Ireland two games, so it really helped us to acclimatise here, especially now it’s really cold here also.”In Ireland especially, the ball was really moving in the air. So everybody has suggested that, and they’re ready to just face those sort of conditions. I think in England especially it will be better than Ireland, so I think mentally everybody is ready and now getting ready for this tournament.”Misbah has been a solid upholder of the faith in such taxing times for cricket’s itinerant nation. There is a staunchness about him that goes down well after the reign of Salman Butt, who initially charmed the English media with his sharp wit and well-modulated accent, but who became regarded as a latter-day snake-oil salesman after a tabloid newspaper sting led to the captain and two fast bowlers, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, bringing shame upon Pakistan cricket.Birmingham’s large number of Pakistan supporters should help them feel at home, their loyalty never wavering despite constant slights upon it. The final group match against India on June 15 sold out in three hours and, in a group also containing South Africa and West Indies, there is every chance it could prove critical to at least one of the side’s chances of reaching the semi-finals.”I’d say it’s special for us because a lot of fans here are for the Pakistan cricket team,” Misbah said. “I haven’t played before here, but Pakistan really had a good record here. Even in the last series, Pakistan won a Test match and played really well. We’re really looking forward to enjoying these games.”Pakistan’s Edgbaston record is actually not remotely as spectacular as Misbah imagines. In all competitions, they have won six, lost nine and drawn three. They lost their last Test in Birmingham against England three years ago and also lost their last ODI on the ground in 2006. Misbah has never lost at Edgbaston – but then he has never played at Edgbaston.He was right about his 39th birthday, though, even if the rain did affect his attempts to practice.

South Africa will play Pakistan in two Tests, five one-day internationals and two T20s in the UAE beginning October 14

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2013South Africa will play Pakistan in two Tests in the United Arab Emirates from October 14, ending their eight-month absence from the Test arena. Their last Test series was at home in February against Pakistan, as their tour to Sri Lanka in July has been adjusted to drop the Tests. The tour will also include five one-day internationals and two T20s.South Africa, who arrive in the UAE on October 5, will play a three-day practice match to prepare for the first Test in Abu Dhabi. The teams will move to Dubai for the second Test on October 23 before switching to coloured clothing in November. Sharjah will host the first and fifth ODIs while Abu Dhabi also gets two games with Dubai hosting the remaining one-dayer and both T20s.Pakistan had little success on their tour to South Africa earlier this year as the home side won all three Tests and then beat Pakistan 3-2 in the five-match ODI series. Pakistan claimed the two-match T20 series 1-0 though, by winning the second game after the first one was washed out without a ball bowled.

Decision referrals should be taken out of the hands of players and left as a tool of international umpires, Australia’s vice-captain Brad Haddin believes

Daniel Brettig16-Jul-2013Decision referrals should be taken out of the hands of players and left as a tool of international umpires, Australia’s vice-captain Brad Haddin believes. A central and heroic figure in the closing passage of the Trent Bridge Test, Haddin also admitted he knew he had hit the ball that ended the match, and had no problem at all with Stuart Broad’s decision not to walk after a much thicker edge on the third evening.The drawbacks of a review system used by the players became clear at Trent Bridge, as the one most obvious errors was left to have a huge bearing on the result while a string of other more marginal calls were debated over due to the players’ instincts to review anything they thought was out. As wicketkeeper, Haddin was a key man in Australia’s flawed use of the system during the match, and said it was a consistent challenge to take emotion out of decision referrals.”I personally think the umpires might as well use the reviews. I don’t think they need to be in the players’ hands, to be honest,” Haddin said. “I see nothing wrong with what Stuart did. The umpire is there to make the decision and he has seen it different to everyone else.”That’s what the system was brought in for, the howler. The system is the same for both teams, we just haven’t used it very well. That’s the bottom line. We have to take emotion out of the decision and go on what we see. If you think it’s out, challenge it. We obviously got it wrong this Test but it might be different next Test.”Haddin’s views on the use of the system mirror those of the former umpire Daryl Harper, who said decisions should be left with the appointed decision-makers rather than turned into a tactical device by the players. “If this current system is the best we can come up with then something is wrong,” Harper told . “If the reviews were taken out of the players’ hands and given to the umpires then eventually the stronger performing umpires would emerge and be identified by the lesser number of reviewed decisions.”In the third umpire’s chair, a full time television umpiring analyst would act swiftly and without fear or favour. That is what the umpires wanted in the first place, five years ago. Once Australia frittered its reviews away with poor judgment, then the door was opened for a howler and Stuart Broad’s non-dismissal was a howler.”Broad’s reprieve was a telling moment of a great match, but so too was Haddin’s innings on the final day, when he guided the tail to within 15 runs of victory before succumbing to the thinnest of edges behind from the bowling of James Anderson. Haddin made a calculated attack on Steven Finn, and said Australia had to do their best to tire Anderson, taking advantage of the fact that England rely on him so much more than any other bowler.”Obviously Jimmy was the difference. He was at you the whole time. I had the opportunity when Finn came on to force the game a little bit,” Haddin said. “I had the feeling England didn’t really want to bowl him. I was always going to go then and see where it got to, see if they could bring Jimmy back quicker than they wanted to. In the end it worked against me, he got me in the end.”He has shown over a long period of time that he has got a pretty big engine. It’s obvious he is the one we’ve got to work through. He bowled extremely well in difficult conditions for fast bowlers. It’s important to get him bowling a lot of overs. My mindset was to take the game to Finn because I had the feel England didn’t really want to bowl him when the pressure was on.”Australia’s response to pressure was variable across the match, but Haddin’s innings reflected a fearless approach first taken by the 19-year-old debutant Ashton Agar. “He was pretty relaxed actually, bulletproof. A 19-year-old kid playing in his first Test match with no fear,” Haddin said. “Whether he understood the enormity of the situation he just watched the ball, blocked the ones on the stumps and hit the ones off the stumps. He was just enjoying the whole time. He showed us how to play, he didn’t play on reputation, he just played on watch the ball and hit it.”He’s a pretty intelligent kid, he knows what he’s trying to do with the ball and the bat. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles the second Test after all the emotion of your first Test.”