All posts by csb10.top

Rain has forced the third match of the delicately poised women’s one-day series between Australia and England to be abandoned. The game, which was scheduled for Drummoyne Oval in Sydney, was cancelled following the wet weather in the city over the past week, which made it impossible to prepare the ground.England won the first fixture at the MCG before Australia levelled the five-match series in Melbourne on Monday. The final games will be played at the SCG on Sunday and Monday, with the one-off Test to be held in Bowral from February 15.

Morne Morkel has rubbished a story in the South African media which claimed AB de Villiers intends to retire from Test cricket at the end of the England series., an Afrikaans newspaper said several of de Villiers’ current and former team-mates revealed to them “events in recent years have led him to seriously reconsider his Test future,” but Morkel indicated that was not the case.”I think it is a story. He is still very keen to play for South Africa and to break records,” Morkel said.He did not go into any further detail about the newspaper’s claims which cited the selection controversy at the 2015 World Cup – in which Vernon Philander was inserted into the semi-final XI, ahead of in-form Kyle Abbott, despite carrying a hamstring injury for most of the tournament – as one of the incidents which has contributed to what the publication called de Villiers’ “unhappiness,” with the current South African set-up.The extent to which the selection for that game was influenced by a conversation between de Villiers, the coach, Russell Domingo, and Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive of CSA only became clear in the weeks following the tournament. However, sources close to the team revealed de Villiers was reluctant to play in the match because of what was perceived as interference.A similar incident took place in the three months before Graeme Smith retired in March 2014, when CSA denied that the then-captain was considering quitting over transformation pressures.In the time since Smith’s retirement, CSA’s transformation has been enhanced by greater guidelines at franchise level – which now require at least six players of colour in each team, of which three must be black African – and has extended to the national team as well. Since the World Cup semi-final, South Africa have fielded at least one black African in their team in every match in every format.Factor in de Villiers’ workload – he is now keeping wicket as well as batting a place higher in the Test team – and it’s easy to see why the pressures of international cricket may be becoming too much for him. But that did not show on the second day in Kingsmead, when his 49 held together a line-up once again troubled by a misfiring top order.Morkel explained how de Villiers’ role was not limited to what he did on the field and that his behind-the-scenes contributions remain crucial to the South African changeroom. “AB is the ultimate sportsmen. He is the rock of our batting line-up,” Morkel said. “Even though there was a lot of pressure on him, he has seen this movie before and he knows how to play it. The talks he gives in the dressing room give us a lot of hope. It’s very inspiring and every dressing room would love to have him.” also claimed Dale Steyn, who made his debut alongside de Villiers at Port Elizabeth during the England tour in 2004-05 but who has been plagued by eight injuries in the last two-and-a-half years, is considering hanging up his boots, as is Philander, who is currently sitting out the first two Tests against England as he recovers from ankle ligament tears. However, Morkel was not asked about the fates of either of his pace-bowling partners.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Ahmed Shehzad made 42 off 31 balls, with five fours and a six•AFP

To have any chance to end in the last four of the BPL, Sylhet Super Stars needed to win the game against Comilla Victorians in 10.4 overs or less, to finish equal with Dhaka Dynamites on eight points and trump them on net run rate. Let alone trying to win the game quickly, Sylhet imploded badly to be bowled out for 79 runs in 13.5 overs.Their 71-run loss meant Dhaka made it to the last four even before they played their last game, against Barisal Bulls.Sylhet were comfortable at 33 for one in the fifth over when they collapsed, losing their next seven wickets for 24 runs in the space of 5.3 overs. Junaid Siddique had already been dismissed for 10 in the fourth over. The rot started with Abu Hider taking a good running catch to send back Josh Cobb for 21. Andre Russell then danced and took his sweet time to break the stumps at the bowler’s end, as Mushfiqur Rahim and Ravi Bopara almost ended up next to each other, with the latter getting run out.Shuvagata Hom had Mushfiqur caught at deep square-leg before Liton Das brilliantly stumped Sohail Tanvir in the same over. Shahid Afridi played all around an Ashar Zaidi delivery in the ninth over to leave Sylhet 48 for 6 which soon became 50 for 7 in the ninth over when Nurul Hasan was trapped leg-before by Zaidi. When they reached the cut-off point of 10.4 overs, Sylhet were all but gone at 58 for 8. Imrul Kayes and Shuvagata collided while the latter took Mohammad Shahid’s catch at long-on, which made it nine down before Russell finished the game with a yorker to Rubel Hossain.When Comilla batted first, Liton was caught behind off Mohammad Shahid in the second over before Kayes and Ahmed Shehzad added 68 runs for the second wicket. Shehzad was severe on anything on his legs, at times served by compatriot Sohail Tanvir who was struck for two fours early on. Kayes struck Rubel for a six over midwicket before Shehzad picked up his first six, off Abdur Razzak and back over his head. Kayes struck Afridi for two fours in the ninth over but Shehzad fell in the following over, for 42 off 31 balls. Kayes followed next over, giving Afridi a simple return catch after making 27.Alok Kapali, surprisingly sent to bat ahead of Andre Russell, struck Rubel for a six over cover and Shahid for a four through midwicket but struggled to connect regularly in the slog overs. He struck a six in the last over, ending on an unbeaten 32 off 26 balls. Zaidi added 31 off 29 balls with two fours and a six over midwicket but Comilla missed a trick by not sending Mashrafe or Russell much ahead. It ultimately didn’t matter as Sylhet collapsed in a heap.

Darren Lehmann wants the number of overseas players in the IPL to be lifted from four to five per franchise in next year’s competition.Lehmann covered for South Africa’s Graeme Smith in the first two matches for the Rajasthan Royals and would be keen for more overseas representatives to get involved. “The IPL should be played as a boutique tournament for international players,” Lehmann told the Advertiser.He has also added his voice to the growing clamour – mainly from English players – for all countries to be able to take part in the IPL. English cricketers, Dmitri Mascarenhas excepted, are currently looking on enviously as they are prevented from participating in a huge payday owing to a clash with their domestic season.”They could add another overseas player to rosters and open up the window for all international teams including England to play,” Lehmann said. “I feel a bit sorry for the English boys but think we can work around it to help get things across the line.”The ECB are considering setting up a rival Twenty20 league, but that is unlikely to happen until 2010. Another possible solution, from the English point of view, would be to move the IPL to November. The London Telegraph reported on Wednesday such a shift is a strong possibility as the month “is perceived to be a more productive TV advertising window”. David Collier, the ECB’s chairman, had earlier dismissed the idea as “unlikely” owing to a clash with international tournaments such as the Champions Trophy.The BCCI’s Lalit Modi reportedly told Lehmann that, contrary to speculation over the IPL’s financial feasibility, the tournament is a monetary triumph. “I have had good discussions with Lalit Modi and they can’t believe the success of the IPL,” Lehmann said. “It is out-rating all the big TV shows.”

Venkatesh Prasad, the coach of Bangalore Royal Challengers, has asked for patience and trust in those who are managing the team after the Indian Premier League’s second-richest franchise sacked its chief executive following a string of poor performances in the inaugural season of the Twenty20 tournament.Terming Charu Sharma’s dismissal as “unfortunate”, Prasad feared it could send the wrong signal. “It was the management’s decision to sack him,” Prasad told Cricinfo. “Having known him, he is a fantastic individual. But it was unfortunate and it could send a wrong signal to the individuals.”The hire and fire policy might work in the corporate world, probably,” Prasad said. “But we are building a team which came together two days before the tournament. So what is very important is to have a lot of faith in the team and build the trust and faith factor. You need to show patience and trust the people who are managing the team.”Asked about pressure from the franchise on the team, he said, “I understand the franchise has put in loads of money and for them what is important is the performance, the outcome basically. You can’t do anything when performance is the key and so much is at stake.”Prasad also said that though he was the designated coach of the team, he effectively “started handling the duties of the bowling coach as Martin Crowe, the Chief Cricket Officer, and Rahul (Dravid, the captain) handle the team selections and all the other duties”. He revealed that he had briefly thought about resigning from the job following media reports that the franchise wanted to sack him too.On Tuesday, the Bangalore franchise replaced Sharma with Brijesh Patel, the secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), which runs the game in the team’s home city. A Royal Challengers spokesperson said that the CEO had stepped down due to personal reasons, but Sharma said that he was dismissed by the franchise, which is owned by Vijay Mallya, the chairman of United Spirits Limited. Mallya later clarified that he had complete confidence in Prasad, the “bowling coach” and the team.”There was confusion in terms of my role and how to define it,” Prasad, the India bowling coach, said. “But both Rahul and Martin have supported me throughout. My job was more about making sure specific strategies were being worked out during the net sessions while they took care of the overall running of the team.”Prasad said that he was upset over the media reports which suggested that he was being sacked, too.”The thought (of resigning) did cross my mind when the rumours surfaced. But I didn’t want to take a decision in haste. I did chat with Rahul and the support he and the team showed in me was tremendous,” Prasad said. “I was angry as the fingers were pointed towards my commitment and integrity which I’d built over a period of a time. And now suddenly I was in the middle of this. As I said, there is a lot of money at stake but for me what matters more than the monetary aspect is being committed and organised. And as far as I’m concerned, I do it to the best of my ability.”Prasad, a former India swing bowler, admitted that it was “extraordinary” that the Challengers have not been able to get their act together in the tournament – the team lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by five runs on Thursday and is at the bottom of the table with just two wins from eight games.”With the players we have, we don’t belong to the bottom of the table,” Prasad said. “In fact, we should be in the first two for sure. It’s extraordinary that we are not getting our act together as a team, even if there have been a few individual performances which doesn’t help much in a team game. We need to get our act together. Our bowlers have done well and we have one of the best bowling units in the IPL with five international bowlers.”The Royal Challengers will take on Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Monday.

Ireland’s hopes of a third successive Intercontinental Cup win have suffered a blow with Boyd Rankin ruled out of next month’s match against UAE. He will also miss the three one-day internationals against Bangladesh.Rankin, who joined Warwickshire on a three-year deal from Derbyshire at the end of last season, suffered a stress fracture in his foot shortly before Christmas, and neither county or country want to risk him returning to action too soon. He is currently spending time with Allan Donald, Warwickshire’s bowling coach, on remodelling his action.”The injury has healed, and I have started back doing bowling drills with Allan Donald, adjusting a few things in my action just this week,” Rankin said. “It was decided between everyone that it would be too soon to be back bowling at full fitness for the Intercontinental Cup match and the ODIs in Bangladesh. I’m concerned that if I come back too soon it might not fully recover and I could break down again.”Phil Simmons, Ireland’s coach, said: “Hopefully with Allan working on remodelling Boyd’s action, we’ll get a fitter and more confident fast bowler.”However, Rankin’s loss is partly offset by the unexpected availability of opening bowler Dave Langford-Smith, who has had a change of heart after initially ruling himself out of contention for the first half of the year due to work commitments.”Dave’s work is going better than he anticipated and thankfully he is able to get the necessary time off,” Simmons said. Ireland take on the UAE in Abu Dhabi from March 6, and play three ODI’s in Bangladesh on March 18, 20 and 22.

Babar Azam’s sluggish start in the BBL continued as a typically lionhearted Jamie Overton delivered a superb all-round performance to inspire Adelaide Strikers over Sydney Sixers at the SCG.Overton claimed 2 for 22 from four overs to help restrict Sixers to a middling total in good batting conditions before making an invaluable 30 off 20 balls in a tense chase. Strikers reached the 160-run target with four balls to spare to notch their first win at the SCG since 2017.After Sixers were sent in to bat, all eyes were on Babar who made just 2 from five deliveries in Sixers’ season-opening loss to Perth Scorchers at Optus Stadium. But he fared only slightly better with 9 off ten balls after hitting tamely to midwicket in a similar mode of dismissal to his BBL debut.Sixers did recover through Josh Philippe’s 46 off 28 balls but were unable to kick on with a number of batters throwing their wickets away. Strikers were able to regularly make breakthroughs with Overton, Luke Wood and legspinner Lloyd Pope combining for seven wickets.Pakistan quick Hasan Ali struggled to find his lengths and finished with 0-36 from 4 overs in his BBL debut. It continues a tough start for Pakistan players in the competition with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan having also endured lacklustre debuts.Sixers’ total appeared under-par, but they have a knack of defending smaller totals at home. Matt Short and Chris Lynn blazed away in the early overs, but the dangermen fell in consecutive overs in the backend of the powerplay to lift Sixers’ spirit.Liam Scott made 51 off 32 balls to get Strikers back on track but regular wickets, including a brilliant one-handed catch by Dan Hughes at short fine-leg to dismiss Harry Nielsen, kept things interesting.Overton was calm and collected before falling with six runs needed off seven deliveries. There were no late wobbles, however, as Strikers clinched an impressive opening victory while powerhouse Sixers slumped to 0-2.After struggling to handle the bounce in Perth during his brief innings in a tough BBL initiation, Babar hoped to hit back in his home debut on a good batting surface.Luke Wood starred with three wickets•Getty Images

Having not yet faced a delivery, Babar had a nervous moment when he was almost run out on the second ball of the innings but a shy at the striker’s end from Scott at backward point narrowly missed the stumps.The smattering of fans garbed in magenta made plenty of noise when Babar whipped through midwicket on his second delivery to register a maiden boundary in the BBL.But Babar only lasted until the third over much to the disappointment of those in the terraces. There were shades of Marnus Labuschagne’s wicket earlier in the day in the third Ashes Test when Babar meekly jabbed a hard length delivery from Wood straight to midwicket.Sixers had initially done well to recover from Babar’s early dismissal. Having played in the ODI and T20I series against India recently, Philippe was a shining light against Scorchers and carried over his form with three early boundaries.Hasan entered the attack after the four-over powerplay, but made an inglorious start to his BBL career when Hughes whacked a half-tracker into the stands over deep backward square leg.Even though Hughes holed out on 11, Sixers appeared well placed at the halfway point as Philippe rolled towards a half-century. Philippe’s eyes lit up on 46, but he could only hit Pope straight to long-off.Pope can be expensive but has been relied upon in recent seasons to be a strike weapon for Strikers. He furthered his reputation by rattling the stumps of veteran Jordan Silk on the very next delivery.Sixers rallied somewhat through allrounder Jack Edwards, who backed up his big-hitting efforts against Scorchers, but their total ultimately proved not enough.There was a moment of silence before the game to honour the victims of the Bondi terror atrocity, with increased security measures put in place at the venue.

Scorecard

The Kolkata Tigers squeezed past the Delhi Giants in Gurgaon to move into the semi-finals of the ongoing Indian Cricket League tournament. Lance Klusener carried his bat through for the Tigers, before the spinners choked the Giants to claw out a thrilling one-run win.In a virtual quarter-final, Craig McMillan chose to bat, and the Tigers’ openers – Deep Dasgupta and Klusener – gave their team the upper hand with a 50-run stand in seven overs. Dasgupta fell for 35 off 21 balls, but Klusener anchored the innings with an unbeaten run-a-ball 62.However, despite having wickets in hand, the Tigers could manage only 142; for the Giants, Shane Bond gave away only 15 runs in 3.4 overs before he was taken off the attack for bowling two beamers.Avishka Gunawardene and Monish Mishra blazed away during the Giants’ reply; after six overs, they were going at ten an over, and with nine wickets in hand. However, the Tigers cut down the run-rate in the next few overs, with spinners Upul Chandana and Shibsagar Singh scalping five wickets in six overs to leave the Giants stuttering at 105 for 6 after 16 overs.Chandana conceded only 15 for three wickets off his four overs, while left-arm bowler Shibsagar took two wickets for the same number of runs in three overs. It finally came down to 13 off the final over. Klusener added to the drama by bowling a no-ball on the penultimate ball – Bond ran two after holing out to deep midwicket, and smacked the free hit that followed over cover to make it three off one.They could manage only one leg-bye though, as the Tigers pulled off another nail-biting win, having pulled off a stunning one-run win over the Mumbai Champs in their first game of the tournament. They will face the in-form Lahore Badshahs in the semi-final on April 3, while the other semi-final will be contested between the Chennai Superstars, the defending champions, and the Hyderabad Heroes.

The Bangalore team is perceived to be full of people who are more conducive to Test cricket than Twenty20. What’s your take?
There is a propensity for the perception that we are here to play five-day cricket! To me, they are very classy, stylish, intelligent cricketers. There are no egos, no controversies surrounding them. They are going to be very solid citizens and it’s the kind of players we want our group to be represented by.This is the Twenty20 royal team of the championship. We are going to behave like that, play like that and that describes the bunch we have.So has the way you play influenced the branding or has the branding influenced your planned style of play
It starts with the name: Royal Challengers. It’s a very regal term and I am sure it was by design the kind of people we chose for the team. Rahul had the vision, he wanted this sort of player and that’s why he asked me to come in with this kind of role.You won’t see us play wham-bam cricket, you will see an intelligent and well-organised kind of cricket.My role will be to help the youngsters think out of the square and fit in with the vision. It’s a branding exercise, it’s a marketing exercise and people have to come in to watch not a region but a city franchise. I will be the intermediary between sponsors, team and the fans.What exactly is your job description?
I am the chief cricket officer which means I am sort of overseeing the way the team is operating in terms of its thinking, how it can win the tournament and how can it connect with its fan. So it will involve marketing and branding as well. I will work closely with Rahul Dravid in putting strategies in place. It’s a group of varied people coming together for the first time and trying to play consistent cricket to win 14 games and qualify for the play-offs.You said your job will involve marketing. Can you elaborate?
This is a new exciting concept with a city franchise and not only we want to connect this group of players with the local fans but we want the Royal Challengers to be known all throughout India as a side that is intelligent, classy, stylish and calculated. That will be our brand core. I will be the intermediary between the franchise as a whole, the team and the message from the team to the fans as to how we want them to embrace us.What can a coach do in a Twenty20 format and over a 44-day period?
I am not big on coaches. That’s why I am not the cricket coach here. I am a big believer in the captain. This will be Rahul’s team. Venkatesh Prasad will look after the nets and physical [aspects], while I can help the batsmen, it’s going to be a strategic role for me. Prasad has proved himself as a team coach and I will let him handle that side of the things.

I got a real passion for Twenty20 having done Cricket Max in New Zealand and I have some ideas of how this game can be played. You need to treat this as a scientific project. It’s not like a Test match, it’s not about durability and concentration over long periods. It’s about having lots of small goals and getting everyone strategically positioned. Our aim will be to get more wickets than the opposition. That would mean swinging the ball, great fielding.What is going to be your cricketing strategy?
To put simply, it would be to take more wickets than the opposition. Build partnerships, throw in some great fielding, our general attitude and win by our all round skills. In a nutshell, with a scientific approach. The first six overs, with the field up, is when you really get your runs, the next eight overs are the middle overs while the last six will be the death overs.What is the future of Twenty20 and will its success mean the death of 50-over cricket?
The game is here to stay; it is the future. What we are seeing a correction in 50-overs cricket. We had a over-saturation of that form, lots of meaningless cricket was being played. This Twenty20 would offset that.I see 50-overs cricket being played over four innings. Four Twenty20 innings and I see this happening in ten years time. One-day cricket would become a mini Test match. There fore Twenty20 becomes the precursor to that eventuality. As of now we have Twenty20 and Test cricket while the one-day game is going through an identity crisis.

Offspinner Sunil Narine, who was suspended from bowling in international cricket due to an illegal action in November last year, has been named in West Indies’ squad for the upcoming World Twenty20, which will start from March 8 in India. The squad will be led by Darren Sammy.Narine was reported for a suspect action during the third ODI on West Indies’ tour to Sri Lanka in November. An independent assessment revealed that all variations of his deliveries exceeded the 15-degree limit.The offspinner was also picked in West Indies’ squad for the 2015 World Cup but later withdrew to work on his bowling action, which was reported during the 2014 Champions League T20.The squad for India features 11 players who were part of West Indies’ title win in 2012. The new faces include West Indies’ Test and ODI captain Jason Holder, who is a part of a World T20 squad for the first time, and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn who has not represented West Indies in the format since January 2015. Andre Fletcher and Jerome Taylor are the two other players who were not part of the 2012 squad.The squad also includes Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard who were controversially axed from the ODI team for the South Africa tour in 2015 and the World Cup, and have since featured only in T20 internationals.Incidentally, Bravo and Pollard were among six senior players who were not given annual retainer contracts by the West Indies Cricket Board for the period between October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016. Gayle, Sammy, Andre Russell and Narine were also not offered contracts, although Michael Muirhead, the WICB’s chief executive, had stressed this would not be a factor in the selection of the World T20 squad.Currently ranked No. 1 in the T20s, West Indies are in Group 1 of the Super 10 stage at the World T20, along with England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and a qualifying team from the first round of the tournament. The squad will assemble in the UAE for a preparatory camp between February 22 and March 6, and will travel to India on March 7. West Indies are scheduled to play two warm-up matches in Kolkata, against India and Australia on March 10 and March 13 respectively, before travelling to Mumbai for their first league match against England on March 16.West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Jerome Taylor