All posts by csb10.top

On the pitch
It’s a very placid track. Whatever we have achieved in this game is because of the huge score that the batsmen put on the board. Once they scored 675, there was enormous pressure on the opposition. But whatever is said about the pitch, I think the credit should go to the team who have been able to get a result out of it. This team truly believes that it can win, no matter what the conditions.On the prospect of becoming the first Indian team to win in Pakistan
We thought it might be possible today, but we have to come back tomorrow and pick up one wicket. It’s going to be a great achievement. We’re playing in Pakistan after 15 years, and to win our first Test here will be a source of tremendous satisfaction.On comparisons to his ten-wicket haul at Delhi in 1999
It’s difficult to compare. What is important is the team winning.On how quickly he got into the groove after a spell on the sidelines
At times today, with the number of overs I bowled, I felt like I hadn’t left off in Sydney. After a couple of overs in the first innings, the ball was coming out nicely. It’s no secret that I love to bowl, or that I like to be involved as much as possible.On how the team coped for such a long time without the injured Zaheer Khan
I thought Irfan [Pathan] and Balaji bowled great spells early on. Yuvi also took a crucial wicket, and ran Inzamam out. And it also helped that we have guys like Sachin and Veeru, who are capable of picking up wickets rather than just turning their arm over.On whether this will quieten his critics, who claim he’s effective only on helpful pitches
I’m not here to prove anybody wrong. They will say that this is still the subcontinent [laughs]. They will say that I don’t spin the ball. But ultimately, all that matters is the number of wickets, and how you contribute to the team’s success.On Irfan Pathan
It was fantastic to see a 19-year-old run in so hard in just his third Test. He has made big improvements in every aspect of his cricket, and that augurs well for the future of Indian cricket.On looking back at his career, and looking ahead to 400 wickets
I look back with a bit of pride. As for the 400 wickets, I’ll take things one at a time, and hope I get there soon.On Yousuf Youhana’s century
He’s a quality batsman. It would have been nice to get him out today, but we’ll have to come back tomorrow for that.On whether he had thought of how India’s famed spinners had been savaged here in 1978
I don’t like to go back to history. I came here with a lot of confidence, having done well against Pakistan in India [in 1999].On what has changed in Indian cricket, allowing the team to become more consistent and successful
I’d put it down to the belief that we have now. The players have worked very hard, and have been helped by the support staff. Credit needs to go to John [Wright], Andrew [Leipus] and Greg [Allen King], and also Adrian [le Roux] who was there before Greg. They have instilled confidence in us, and the work ethic is also great. The players have also made a tremendous effort.On how the result here will affect the rest of the series
We hope we can take the confidence we have gained here to Lahore, and win the series.

Greg ChappellOn experimenting with new players and the squad for the game
We intend to play all the players over the next three games. We haven’t taken a final decision on the squad yet and haven’t even decided on the 13. We will take a call depending on the conditions tomorrow. We need to give everyone a chance. You need more than 11 or 12 players in your side. It’s also good to keep freshness going and managing your assets well. It keeps everyone going and guards against injury and bad form.On the dew factor tomorrow
Yes, it’s a factor to consider and we will think about it. But I think we’ve done well either way. It should not be too much of a concern.On Harbhajan Singh’s improvement in this series
He has worked very hard. He did well in the Challenger Trophy in Mohali. He’s made technical changes with his flight and bounce and he’s such a good bowler when he’s getting bounce.On Yuvraj Singh’s poor run in the last four games
He’s done well in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and saves us a lot of runs on the field. You need everyone to contribute in at least two out of the three aspects of the game and I think we’ve got quite a few allrounders in the side – Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj, Sachin Tendulkar. It would be great for him if he scores runs, but he’s contributing well to the side.On Mahendra Singh Dhoni
He’s a confident individual without any cockiness. He has a good mind as he showed with a power innings one day and a finesse innings on another day. His great form with the bat is rubbing off on his wicketkeeping as well. It’s also rubbing off on the others in the side.On the players talking much more about cricket in the dressing-room
It’s good for all the players. I think we’re talking much more about cricket, discussing scenarios, debriefing after the matches. It’s important to know what different players think of each other’s games. It’s been great with the seniors getting involved. Sometimes, only when someone asks you a question do you become aware that you know something. The best way to learn is to teach someone.Tom MoodyOn the pitch and conditions for tomorrow’s game
It’s another good cricket wicket. Obviously, being a day-night fixture, we’re going to be faced with difference in conditions from afternoon to evening. But both teams have to face it and we need to rise for the challenge.On nothing working for the team during the series
I don’t think it’s quite that blunt. I think India came out in the earlier part of the series punching and their chances came off. They shuffled their batting order and that came off. We performed a lot better in the last two games but have fallen short in a couple of areas.On the lessons from this series
We need to be realistic. We didn’t perform upto our usual level. Playing here is different and playing in Sri Lanka is different. We’re enjoying the challenge. What we have to realise is that one-day cricket is played all over the world in different conditions and we need to adapt to it.Mahela Jayawardene
On the team’s performance
In the last two games, I thought the guys performed really well. We almost won the last game before Raina and Dhoni took it away. We’re lacking that final blow, the killer instinct. But as a team everything is coming together and we hope to win in the last three games.On what Sri Lanka learnt in the last four games
There are a lot of positives to be taken from this series. We came back even after the Indians attacked. We will look at this as a three-match series from now on and push ourselves to the limit. That will help us get some momentum for the Tests.

The United States of America claimed the final spot in September’s ICC Champions Trophy tournament, pipping Scotland by 0.028 on net run rate to win the Six Nations Challenge in Dubai.The USA overhauled Scotland’s 206 to win by five wickets in the 48th over, to scupper the Scots’ hopes. Meanwhile Holland, the tournament’s overnight leaders, blew their chances by losing to the United Arab Emirates. In an exceedingly close-fought competition five of the six teams finished up with six points (click here for the points table), but America squeaked home by virtue of a superior net run rate. Canada, conquerors of Bangladesh at the 2003 World Cup, lost all their five matches.The USA now take their place alongside the ten Test-playing nations and Kenya at the Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to take place in England in September. The Americans face group games against Australia, the world champions, and New Zealand. They will be the USA’s first official one-day internationals.

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.

Pakistan has promised to provide fool-proof security to the Indian cricket team including air surveillance during the Test and one-dayer at Karachi.The five-member delegation – led by Yashovardhan Azad, inspector general of police – which assessed the venues during a recent visit to Pakistan was apprehensive about the Indians playing a Test in Karachi but agreed later. “The delegation was against holding a Test in Karachi but on assurances from the Pakistani Government and Shahryar Khan, PCB Chairman, they agreed to play there,” sources told PTI. “The delegation was told that high-class security would be provided to the Indian team and after checking with all the security apparatus with the Karachi administration, they agreed.”The delegation also expressed security concerns on account of Moharram which would require large deployment of security forces. But they were told that a three-ring security blanket would be provided, complete with barricades around the team hotel. The delegation included Ratnakar Shetty, executive secretary in charge of the BCCI, GS Walia, a member of the BCCI media committee and two government officials. Azad was sent for his “expertise” in security related issues.Karachi is the commercial capital of the country and the visiting Indian delegation was urged to agree to a match there as “this would generate a lot of revenue for PCB”.

Mark Richardson’s decision to retire from all forms of cricket after one more first-class game for Auckland is a direct result of the nature of the itineraries around the world. Richardson’s style of batting meant that he was branded a Test specialist, and with tours increasingly consisting of more one-day internationals and fewer first-class games, he got fewer opportunities – and it finally took its toll on the mental side of his game. Richardson admitted that the constant demand to turn up for international matches with very little matchplay contributed to 99% of the burnout factor that forced him to retire.Richardson has been an inspiration to less-fashionable cricketers in New Zealand. Driven by the desire to represent his country from the age of ten, he started off as a left-arm spinner, then completely redefined his game and developed his batting after suffering from a case of the bowling yips. His was a classic example of what could be achieved by sheer determination and hard work.A player with immense powers of concentration, he was undisturbed by the pace of events around him. However, he revealed that he started contemplating retirement as long ago as last season, during the home series against South Africa. He was taking a long time to recover from his disappointments, and not getting so much joy from his successes. One of his best Tests was against England at Lord’s earlier this year, when he scored 93 and 101. However, after that game he felt he had left some desire out in the middle. After the series in England, he was further convinced that his time in cricket was limited: “When I came back from England I was absolutely exhausted and although I trained and worked hard, when it came to leave for the next series I just didn’t feel I wanted to be playing cricket.”A player who enjoyed a laugh, something that not many of today’s cricketers can claim, he also spoke his mind, and it was no surprise that having made the decision to retire he did it so promptly, without looking back. There is time for one more game, a match against Canterbury at Hagley Oval which will allow him the chance to score the 41 runs he needs to pass the 10,000-run mark.”I do not want people to think I’m quitting in the face of adversity. If this was the case I would have walked away a long time ago. I’m leaving in advance of the home series [against Sri Lanka] because I feel it would be doing my team-mates, the country and the Black Cap a disservice to carry on half-heartedly. I believe it is best for all parties that I retire now and give someone else the opportunity to bring some new talent and positive energy into the team.”I believe I am not leaving the game on a downer. I am leaving having achieved enough goals to be personally proud. I have a Test bowling average that is better than Sir Richard Hadlee’s, and a 50-50 record in the end-of-series running race.”Richardson said he had never been able to switch off from cricket and that was probably why his international career was shorter than it could have been. He thought it was a fault of his character that he tended to get too down after his failures and too up after his successes.He ends his career having played 38 successive Tests and scored 2776 runs at 44.77, including four centuries and 19 half-centuries. Richardson rated the Australian Test attack New Zealand had just faced as the most ruthless he had ever faced, and certainly a tougher opposition than New Zealand had experienced in the summer of 2001-02.His challenge to opposing sides for their slowest man to race him at the end of a Test series has become synonymous with Richardson’s approach to cricket. He retired with a 50-50 record in the races, his most recent success having been at Darren Lehmann’s expense.New Zealand have had problems with their top-order batting, and now have to find a replacement for Richardson as well. As a player who captured the attention of the nation for his distinctive approach from the game, he will be missed on the field, but there is every chance that his desire to get involved in sports journalism will see him still attached to the game.

Damien Martyn was shocked by his Test recall for the series in South Africa after scoring only 142 runs at 23.67 in three Pura Cup matches this season. Martyn, who was sacked following a dismal Ashes showing in the same year he was named Australia’s best Test player, said he didn’t think he was in the running for a tour spot.”I hadn’t really thought about it, it’s a shock for me,” Martyn told . A veteran of 61 Tests, Martyn scraped 178 runs at 19.77 in England and was cut for the Super Test. “My bad series came at the wrong time,” he said. “It probably came at a wrong time for a lot of us. It was disappointing, too, because we lost and the side didn’t do well and we had to fall on the sword and get dropped for it.”Martyn was also sacked after the SCG defeat to South Africa in 1993-94 and said he tried not to get too excited about his return because he knew the downside. “When you get dropped it hurts,” he said. “For me I’m at a point at my age I’ve been through the ups and downs and been dropped I don’t know how many times now. I try to keep an even keel.”Martyn said not being part of the side was hard to swallow and admitted it was painful to watch the Boxing Day Test on television. “That’s when it hits home,” he said. “Because you’ve been a part of it so much, you always think about it. For me, just winning a Test match and singing the team song again – just simple things like that.”Michael Kasprowicz, Shaun Tait and Michael Clarke have also been recalled to the Test squad and Martyn said the players were hungry to regain the Ashes urn. “To win it back, you’d almost like the same side to go out there and give them a run for their money,” he said. “But I’m not looking that far ahead, because I hit England batting well and I missed out after that. I’ll just try and get through this tour.”Clarke, 24, faced a public axing in November following criticism that his technique was not tight enough. “My batting at the moment is a lot better than it has been, both mentally and technically,” he said. “As much as you hate getting dropped, it certainly gave me some time to re-assess.”

Bermuda lost a practice match against a local club W Connection Wanderers by 47 runs at Port of Spain on Tuesday. Set at target of 244, they were dismissed for 196 at the Gilbert Park Ground. Bermuda, who are pitted against Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh in the group stage of the World Cup, are on a warm-up tour of the Caribbean.After winning the toss, Wanderers reached 243 for 9 off 50 overs. Jason Samuel top-scored with 68 while Clifton Hall and Kenroy Williams, the Barbados youth captain, chipped in with 43 and 41. Dwayne Leverock was Bermuda’s best bowler with 3 for 46.Clay Smith, Bermuda’s opening batsman, led the chase with 37 and he received support from David Hemp, who made 35. But after they were dismissed the innings fell apart with several batsmen failing to convert their starts. Janeiro Tucker scored 28 and OJ Pitcher and Lionel Cann contributed 30 each but Bermuda’s last three batsmen were dismissed for ducks.

Division One

Points TableDavid Hussey struck 157, his third for Nottinghamshire this season, as his side reached 336 on the first day of their match against Gloucestershire at Nottingham. Choosing to field first, Gloucestershire picked up three quick wickets: Jason Gallian, run out for nought, Darren Bicknell and Younis Khan. Tottering on 43 for 3, Hussey was joined by Russell Warren (60) and the pair put on 136 for the fourth wicket to stabalise the innings. Warren fell to Jon Lewis, who then bowled Chris Read first ball as Gloucestershire struck back. Graeme Swann swung freely at the end, striking five fours and a six in his brief knock of 38, but the home side were bowled out in the 82nd over. Lewis ended the day with 4 for 80 from 19 overs.

Scorecard

Queensland were fighting hard to avoid the follow-on at the SCG after Simon Katich continued New South Wales’ heavy run-scoring with an unbeaten 205. Led by Ryan Broad’s 73 not out, the Bulls were 2 for 168 at stumps and needed another 295 to make the home side bat again.Katich’s performance was his best for the state and he was boosted by a late flurry from Daniel Smith, who pounded three sixes in a 33-ball 51 that created further damage to a sorry bowling attack. Katich resumed on 102 with Dominic Thornely, who edged Grant Sullivan on 119, and he controlled the innings before closing it at an intimidating 4 for 613.His partnership of 106 with the debutant Peter Forrest (40) was quickly overshadowed by the 90-run stand with Smith. Katich, the captain, finished with 24 fours and two sixes from his 290 deliveries and gave his team a strong chance of staying in touch with Tasmania, the competition leaders. Matthew Nicholson struck twice with the wickets of Jimmy Maher (3) and Greg Moller (44), but Broad and Clinton Perren ensured there were no further mishaps before stumps.