All posts by csb10.top

Warwickshire players, Graham Wagg and Jim Troughton, will not fly to Australia on Sunday 13 October with the remainder of the National Academy squad due to injury.Wagg has a stress fracture of the back and Troughton has stress fractures inthe fibula bones of both legs. Whilst both players will attend the NationalAcademy programme introduction at Loughborough next week, neither willtravel to Adelaide before Christmas. They will re-habilitate with Warwickshire CCC.They will undergo medicals in December and it is hoped both will be able tojoin the Academy squad in Adelaide in early January next year.No replacements will be made for this initial training phase of the programme.

Michael Vaughan’s graduation to world-class batting status has ensured the close attention of the Australian camp as they prepare for the third Ashes Test in Perth, which starts on Friday.The Yorkshire opener scored 218 runs in England’s innings defeat in the second Test defeat at Adelaide, moving up to fifth place in the world batting ratings as a result.But the Australians believe Vaughan’s tendency to go for his shots from the outset will always give their bowlers m a chance, and they aim to exploit a Perth wicket regarded as the quickest in 20 years to probe his weaknesses.”He’s the danger man in the England line-up,” said seamer Andy Bichel, who is tipped to retain his place ahead of Brett Lee in Australia’s bowling line-up.”He comes out and plays his shots – that’s aggressive cricket and that’s what we play and he attacks all the time. He’s going to give you a chance playing like that, but you can also go for some runs against him.”There’s no doubt during his innings he looked uncomfortable at times against short-pitched bowling and we’ll be targeting him at certain times.””We’ve talked about their team and there’s going to be a lot of short-pitched bowling in this game, but teams can get a bit carried away with that at Perth.”In their game against Western Australia at the start of the tour, the English bowled pretty short, especially Steve Harmison and Simon Jones, and that’s a trap you can fall into – you’ve got to use the pitch in the right way.”I’ve had a lot of success here before for Queensland and it’s one of the pitches you want to play on as a fast bowler. There’s plenty of bounce in the wicket and there’s a little bit of swing.”The groundsman at the WACA, Richard Winter, believes the pitch, which was regarded in the 1970s as the quickest in world cricket, could be the fastest Test wicket there in years.”It’s probably going to be a bit pacier than it has been in previous years,”Winter predicted. “It’s hard and flat and we’re expecting it to be a lot more bouncy than it has been in the last few years.”It’s been our plan to get the pitches back to what they used to be like and we’ve done a lot regenerative work on them for that reason.”Meanwhile Andrew Caddick is to have a second injection in 48 hours in a bid to overcome the back spasm that has made him a major doubt for the Perth Test.He was given a steroid injection yesterday.Caddick benefited from the Perth surface earlier in the tour by claiming four for 49 against Western Australia.

Australian International Shane Lee will fill Worcestershire’s overseasplayer slot for the final two months of the season as a result of AndyBichel’s return to Australia. Bichel’s final match for his adopted Countywill be on Sunday 28th July against Yorkshire and Lee is expected to playhis first game against Glamorgan on Sunday 4th August.Lee has played 45 One day internationals for Australia since his debutduring the 95/96 Season against West Indies. He has a strike rate of 95.4with the bat and a bowling average of 25.9. He is regarded as one ofAustralia’s leading contemporary all-rounders and has experience of playingin England during 1996 with Somerset when he topped their batting averages.Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, welcomes the arrival of such an experiencedand seasoned performer to replace the popular Bichel. “Shane has been ableto rest during the Australian winter and will come to us fresh and ready togo. Every Australian cricketer is striving for a World Cup place this yearand his two months with us gives him an early opportunity to impress. Hewill play a vital role in our final push for honours this season.”Shane Lee was surprised but delighted to receive the call from Tom Moody. “Ithoroughly enjoyed my season in England back in 1996 with Somerset and amreally looking forward to joining a Worcestershire team striving hard forsuccess in a number of competitions. I’ve even promised I’ll try to bringsome warm weather over with me!”Moody also paid tribute to the departing Bichel. “Andy has been a top classsigning for the County since his arrival last year. He has cemented hisplace in the Australian Team and his work ethic and consistent level ofperformance has been a great example to all his playing colleagues.”For further information contact Tom Moody on 07770570802 or Mark Newton on01905 337926 or 07768 558096.

Christchurch’s Jade Stadium contributed another chapter to the book of cricket records after another day of run scoring on the third day of the first National Bank series Test.Highlights were:Graham Thorpe’s highest Test score of 200 not out was the third fastest double century. It was scored off 231 balls – Adam Gilchrist (212) and Ian Botham (220) were ahead of him and he pushed Gordon Greenidge (232) one rung further down the ladder.His 50 was scored off 51 balls, his 100 off 121 balls, his 150 off 183 balls.In his 71st match Thorpe beat his previous highest Test score of 138, scored against Australia in England in 1997, and repeated against Pakistan last summer in England.The 281-run sixth wicket stand he shared with Andrew Flintoff was the best by all nations against New Zealand for that wicket. It surpassed a stand of 254 between Gary Sobers and Charlie Davis for the West Indies at Bridgetown in 1971/72.The partnership was also England’s highest for the sixth wicket against any opponent, beating the 240 made by Peter Parfitt and Barry Knight against New Zealand at Auckland in 1962/63.Thorpe’s Test runs now stand at 4800 scored at 42.47, up from 40.91 before the innings.Flintoff scored his maiden Test century off 114 balls. His previous highest score in his 13-Test career was 42. It was scored against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1999/00.His 50 was scored off 49 balls. When out for 137, he had faced 163 balls and had scored 23 fours and four sixes.Flintoff now has 396 runs at 18.85, up from 13.63.England set New Zealand 550 to win, the world record for successful chases is 406 scored by India against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1975/76. The target is the 19th highest ever set in Tests. Eight of those Tests were timeless Tests and two were six-day Tests.The highest target New Zealand has successfully achieved is 324 runs, against Pakistan on this ground in 1993/94.The 550 is the highest target New Zealand has ever been set in a Test match, surpassing the 511 England set them at Nottingham in 1983.The highest target ever set in a match was 836 by England against the West Indies in a timeless Test at Kingston, Jamaica in 1929/30.

Hampshire Cricket is holding a Family Open Day at the Rose Bowl this coming Sunday 14th April from 11:00am to 4:30pm.The Open day is an opportunity to showcase the new facilities at the Rose Bowl site.The programme of events is as follows:

All Day Activities

Bouncy Castle
Throwing-the-cricket-ball competition
Meet Harry Hawk
Strolling Calypso Band
The Hampshire Shop – Half price sale
Coca Cola penalty shoot-out competition
Bowling-at-the-stumps competition
Watch coaching in action in the Cricket Academy


All welcome, admission is Free

Look forward to seeing you there …

Baroda, inspired by a career best first class score of 181 by Nayan Mongia, finished with an imposing first innings total of 568 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Orissa at the Gujarat State Fertilizer Corporation ground in Baroda on Friday. By close, the visitors had just commenced their long haul by scoring four without loss in one over.Resuming at 319 for two, Baroda did well to get to their final total. Mongia and skipper Jacob Martin resumed their third wicket association but at 342, Martin was leg before to Jayachandra for 86. The former India player batted almost four hours, faced 172 balls and hit 13 fours. Tushar Arothe joined Mongia and the two proceeded to figure in a fourth wicket partnership of 75 runs off 16 overs before the India wicketkeeper was finally dismissed. Mongia, whose previous best first class score was 165, was caught by Parida off Mohanty.He batted 7-1/2 hours, faced 317 balls and hit 25 fours and a six.There was no respite for the Orissa bowlers for Arothe and HR Jadhav (21) then added 47 runs for the fifth wicket off 16.4 overs. Then Sanjay Raul got among the wickets and Baroda slid from 464 for four to 499 for eight. Among those dismissed was Arothe who made 86. In a stay of 3-1/2 hours, he faced 156 ballsand hit 15 fours and a six.However the tired Orissa bowlers encountered one last, unexpected hurdle with Valmik Buch (29) and Irfan Pathan (40 not out) adding 56 runs off 24 overs for the ninth wicket. The Orissa bowlers had a trying time in adverse conditions against a strong batting line-up. Mohanty sent down 41 overs to take three for 110. Two other bowlers conceded more than 100 runs – medium pacer Ajay Barik who captured one for 126 off 26 overs and off spinner Sanjay Satpathy who finished with two for 120 off 38 overs. The toil of the Orissa bowlers ie best exemplified by the fact that the Baroda innings lasted 760 minutes and 177 overs.

According to a report in The Island newspaper today, former nationalspinner, Roger Wijesuriya, has been appointed Chairman of a seven-memberJunior National Selection Committee.This is the first time that a Junior Selection Committee has been appointed.They will have selectorial responsibility for Under 19, 17 and 15 nationalsides.The committee includes Champaka Ramanayake, Don Anurasiri, RanjithMadurasinghe, all of who have played Test cricket, and Jayantha Seneviratne,Joe Samarimuttupulle and Aubrey Kuruppu.

Match facts

October 9, 2012
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)Naved-ul-Hasan is one of Sialkot Stallions’ seasoned T20 campaigners•BPL T20

How they qualified

Auckland Aces: Winners of the HRV Cup, New Zealand’s domestic competition
Sialkot Stallions: Winners of the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup, one of Pakistan’s T20 domestic competitions

Big Picture

At long last, a Pakistan team will make its debut in the Champions League T20, when Sialkot Stallions face off against Auckland Aces. Sialkot were scheduled to play in the inaugural CLT20 in 2008, but the Mumbai bomb blasts caused that event to be postponed and the resulting freeze in India-Pakistan relations kept them out of the tournament since. At that time, they were midway through compiling one of the most awesome records in cricket – a streak of 25 successive wins in T20s, the most fickle and egalitarian format of the game.Their recent form is just as impressive, and were barely troubled during their run to the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup title. Their dominance was reflected in the margin of victories: five wickets, nine wickets, seven wickets, 40 runs and, in the final, eight wickets. They lack the star power of some of the other teams, but they have several experienced T20 campaigners including captain Shoaib Malik, opener Imran Nazir and fast bowler Naved-ul-Hasan. One of the revelations of the World T20, left-arm spinner Rana Hasan, is also part of the squad.Auckland Aces also have little experience at the CLT20, though they are making their second appearance in the tournament. Last season, they lost both their qualifying matches, but were agonisingly close to winning both: they went down by two runs to Kolkata Knight Riders, and were trumped off the last ball by Somerset. Their captain, Gareth Hopkins, insists last year’s experience will help the team this time round, and that Auckland have realised the importance of preparation as they come into the tournament after a long winter break. Their campaign could last only two days but they are making sure they are thoroughly ready for it, having arrived in South Africa as early as two weeks ago.

Players to watch

While Naved-ul-Hasan hasn’t managed to nail down a spot in Pakistan’s T20 side, he is a fixture in the short-form leagues around the world. This year itself, he has represented Uthura Oryxes (in the SLPL), Derbyshire (in the Friends Life t20), Sialkot Stallions, Dhaka Gladiators (in the BPL) and Hobart Hurricanes (in the Big Bash League). In Hobart, he has become something of a local cult hero with his ability to regularly take wickets, and his flamboyant mullet. A master of bowling at the death, with great control over the slower ball and the yorker, his form will have a huge role in determining how far Sialkot progress in the tournament.Another experienced Pakistan player, Azhar Mahmood will be critical to Auckland’s performance. With Auckland unfamiliar with the games of many of Sialkot’s players, Mahmood will be able to provide them some insight on the opposition. He can turn matches with either bat or ball, as he has repeatedly shown in T20 leagues in several countries.

Quotes

“We’re not looking to qualify but to win this tournament. That spirit is special.”

“We have the ingredients to become champions as we’re a balanced team. Our biggest positive is our captain who has proved himself a great leader in crunch situations.”
Sialkot coach Naved Anjum thinks his team can go far in the tournment

Lahore Blues pulled off a sensational one-wicket victory over Karachi Whites to clinch the 43rd Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Cricket Championship on the third day of the five-day final at the National Stadium on Monday.The visitors held their nerves on a day of high drama to win only Lahore’s fourth title. On the last occasion Lahore City won a low-scoring final, also by one wicket, inside three days was at Thatta in 1996-97 because debutant Abdur Razzaq claimed a career-best seven for 51 and then struck the winning runs.On this occasion, it was another tailender, Waqas Ahmed, who had the satisfaction of striking the winning hit when he top-edged a pull just beneath the sightscreen for a boundary that brought the proceedings to an end at 5.40 p.m.Karachi Whites had all but sealed the match when they had their opponents on the ropes at 66 for six. The target of 184 seemed a long way off at that point for Lahore Blues. However, from then onwards everything started to go wrong for the home side.Wicket-keeper Humayun Farhat, a gutsy right-handed batsman, chanced his arms to wrest the initiative. Humayun, who turns 20 on Wednesday, lashed 63 off 53 balls with eight boundaries which changed the entire complexion of the match.Luck also played a huge part in Humayun’s daring innings. When he had reached 15 in his side’s score of 96 for six he was caught and bowled by Sami off a no-ball. On 27, Humayun survived a vociferous LBW appeal when umpire Nazir Junior gave him the benefit of doubt. On 40, Mohammad Masroor floored a fierce cut in the gully off Sami.Left-hander Mohammad Hussain also played an invaluable innings, slamming 29 off as many deliveries in a partnership that produced 63 off 51 balls in just 37 minutes.Lahore Blues were lucky to have a man of Wasim Akram’s vast experience coming to the crease at the dismissal of Hussain at 128 for seven. The former Pakistan skipper not only becalmed Humayun’s exuberance but also struck some lusty blows in making 23 off 30 balls with four boundaries.Akram was run out after the pair had put on 50 runs off 52 deliveries in 42 minutes. Humayun’s luck finally ran out when he holed to deep mid-off with only five runs required.Karachi Whites’ strategy of playing only two specialists pacemen proved fateful. Mohammad Sami bowled a marathon first spell of 14 overs on the trot. Having sent down 24 overs barely 20 hours ago, it was asking a lot from the 19-year-old frail-built fast bowler. Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who bowled just one over on Sunday, was never utilized at all on a pitch that had hardened considerably on Monday.Earlier, it was the formidable Test duo of Akram and Razzaq that had Karachi Whites in tatters. Akram captured three wickets each in two spells and never let any batsman face him with a degree of confidence. Swinging the ball both ways, the 34-year-old left-arm demon pacer returned splendid figures of six for 36 in 17.5 overs.Razzaq bowled unchanged from the pavilion end to finish with four for 54 in 21 overs and gave the 21-year-old his his first match haul of 10 wickets in first-class cricket.Karachi Whites may claim that they were at the receiving end of some questionable umpiring by Aleem Dar. Shadab Kabir had the mortification of bagging a pair but he was given caught behind when it was obvious that the ball had not hit anything on its way to the keeper. Zeeshan Pervez was struck in line of the stumps but only after he had got a thick inside edge.Shahid Afridi was forced off the field when he struck a painful blow on his right elbow by Razzaq. He returned at the fall of fifth wicket but scored only two more before sliced a catch to cover.Moin Khan batted the longest – 79 minutes – for a dogged knock of 18 off 55 balls with two boundaries until he fell to Akram with the score on 104. Kaneria bagged a pair by losing his middle stump off the very next ball.

ScorecardMichael Carberry scored his second century of the match before rain washed out any hope of a positive result against Durham at Basingstoke. Carberry, capped once by England against Bangladesh in March, hit 162 in the first innings and followed that with another 107 in the second innings. But when rain intervened Hampshire were 203 for 5 in their second innings, a lead of 304 with 44 overs of the match allocation still remaining.Hampshire were in a hurry when they resumed their second innings at 41 for 2 with Carberry and Michael Lumb putting on a rapid 150 for the third wicket in 47 overs. Both players made full use of the small boundaries at May’s Bounty with Lumb hitting four sixes and Carberry three.Lumb was the first to go at 191 when he lofted Ian Blackwell into the deep where Steve Harmison took the catch. Lumb, who had made 158 in the first innings, had to settle for 64 this time as Hampshire accelerated towards a declaration.Carberry fell when the score was 200, stumped by Phil Mustard going down the wicket to Blackwell. His innings also included 13 fours and came off 176 balls. James Vince became left-arm spinner Blackwell’s fifth victim when he was bowled without scoring but then it rained.Blackwell finished with creditable figures of 5 for 79 from his 25 overs but former England pace bowler Harmison bowled only six completed overs as Durham captain Mustard turned to his spinners.Hampshire dominated the first day by making 421 for 5 with Carberry and Lumb sharing in a record-breaking stand of 314 for the second wicket. But rain also accounted for most of the second day’s play so that only 11 overs were bowled.