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Scorecard

Steve Tikolo, Kenya’s captain, powered his side into a dominant position with a stunning 220 on the first day of the Intercontinental Cup semi-final against Bermuda at Windhoek. Kenya declared on 403 for 6 from 79 overs and Bermuda replied with 13 for 1 by the close.Tikolo came in at 32 for 2 after he had won the toss and elected to bat and was soon joined by No. 5 Hitesh Modi with Kenya looking shaky. The two blasted their team towards 400, with Tikolo hitting his highest first-class score as Bermuda saw their chances of a final place evaporate.While Tikolo’s knock came off just 233 balls with 27 fours and a six, Modi played the straight man. Tikolo declared with Modi unbeaten on 98 from 161 balls with only three boundaries. He was just two runs from his maiden first-class hundred.Dwayne Leverock, who came into this match with 16 wickets at 9.93 in Bermuda’s two group matches, eventually accounted for Tikolo but took some real punishment, conceding 105 from 23 overs. Bermuda lost Curtis Jackson as they made a painstaking 13 from 13 overs.

Brad Haddin’s elevation to the Australia Test squad has forced New South Wales to boost their keeping stocks by picking up Peter Nevill from Victoria. The arrival of Nevill, who was behind Adam Crosthwaite and Matthew Wade in the Bushrangers’ plans, will push Daniel Smith for first-team appearances as Haddin steps up following Adam Gilchrist’s retirement. Smith played three Pura Cup matches last season as cover for Haddin, but he has also played as a specialist batsman.The Blues handed a deal to the fast bowler Burt Cockley who, like Nevill, is aged 22. Cockley made his Pura Cup debut in February after impressing in the Sydney grade competition. Craig Simmons, Tim Lang and Martin Paskal were left off the 19-strong full-contract list. With ten other Blues players on Cricket Australia deals as well, the state list has been afforded a strong emphasis on youth, with seven rookies also in the fold.Rookies Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Stephen O’Keefe, Steven Smith and David Warner were rewarded with full contracts after strong seasons. Hughes averaged 62.11 in seven first-class matches, including his initial century in the successful Pura Cup final. He was vice-captain of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup side this year and won the state’s rising star award.Khawaja, a left-hander, was the leading run scorer at grade level, making 1134 runs at 59.68. On Pura Cup debut he made a mature 85 at home in February against the eventual finalists Victoria. Smith, a leg-spinning allrounder who was also in the national Under-19 squad this year, has the chance to further push his claims for a regular spot after debuting in both Pura and FR Cups last season and impressing in the Twenty20 competition.Josh Hazlewood, the 17-year-old fast bowler who was the youngest member of the Australia Under-19 World Cup squad this year, earned a rookie contract, as did Daniel Burns, a left-arm orthodox bowler who was also at the youth World Cup, and former junior internationals Sam Robson, a legspinning allrounder, and Mitchell Starc, a left-arm fast bowler.James Crosthwaite, Adam’s brother and like him a wicketkeeper, also picked up a deal after representing Scotland and ACT. Joshua Lalor, a left-arm fast bowler, and the left-hander Scott Henry complete the rookie set.The New South Wales chief executive David Gilbert is happy with the depth of the squad but warned that every player must play his part. “The absence of our Australian players will make the 2008-09 season a very challenging one,” Gilbert said, “so it will be imperative that the younger players rise to the occasion.”The Blues have lost three players from their 2007-08 group. Matthew Nicholson announced his retirement earlier this year while Aaron O’Brien and Tom Cooper have both transferred to South Australia. The Redbacks were also chasing Greg Mail and Grant Lambert but both decided to stay in New South Wales for study or family reasons.Squad Aaron Bird, Mark Cameron, Burt Cockley, Ed Cowan, Scott Coyte, Peter Forrest, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Grant Lambert, Greg Mail, Peter Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Dominic Thornely, David Warner.Import Peter Nevill.Rookies Daniel Burns, James Crosthwaite, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Henry, Joshua Lalor, Sam Robson, Mitchell Starc.Players on the transfer list Craig Simmons, Tim Lang and Martin Paskal.

One of the off-field entertainments in place during this tournament is the dancers placed around the boundary edge who jump onto stage with each boundary that’s hit or wicket which falls. It’s a miracle none of them collapsed of exhaustion the way Bangladesh flew out of the blocks at Newlands. Few, if any, innings, even in Twenty20, have begun in such astonishing style and after 4.2 overs the score line read 58 for 4. There’d barely been a ball where the dancers hadn’t been up on their podiums.Bangladesh batted with a freedom of a team who knew they were already in the next stage, but you sense that they wouldn’t have played much differently if the situation hadn’t been so comfortable. They have some of the most naturally aggressive batsmen in the game – one of the reasons their Test growth has been much more stunted than in limited-overs cricket – and once the big shots began it was hard to stop them.There has never been any doubting their ability to play shots, but even in Twenty20 there is a judgment call to be made. Mohammad Ashraful opened his innings with a majestic first-ball six over square leg then scooped his next delivery over short fine leg. Ten in two balls is plenty, but the adrenalin was coursing through Ashraful’s veins and he couldn’t stop, miscuing his third ball to Graeme Smith at mid-on.Aftab Ahmed also quickly found his over drive setting, mauling Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini in the early overs. It was an audacious period of striking and the packed crowd were lapping it up. England captain Paul Collingwood was spotted in the crowd, trying to collect a few tips for Sunday’s key Super Eights game, but he seemed as equally baffled by what was going on.If the likes of Ashraful and Ahmed are going to play with such abandonment, they also need to learn when to step back for a moment. The phrase, ’20 overs is more than you think’ has been used so much by domestic players that, in five years, it is already a cliché but it does hold true. Ahmed had given his side such an early kick-start, he could have taken a few overs to consolidate, but instead fell to an awful swing across the line.

Deriders of Twenty20 say it is not much more than glorified slogging. But the innings of Chris Gayle and Sanath Jayasuriya already in this tournament have been a compacted version of how they play in ODIs. Jehan Mubarak’s 13-ball 46 against Kenya was clean, straight hitting, not slogging. However, some of Bangladesh’s shot selection did lurch back towards the hit-and-hope variety. “We wanted to play our natural game,” said Ashraful. “We have good strikers in the top six but while the run-rate was good we lost too many wickets.”Their age can be put forward as a significant factor in their defence – no one in the side is older than 25 – and the passion they put into their cricket is a joy to watch. They want to succeed every time and Ashraful could barely tear himself away from the crease after his dismissal. Against West Indies Ashraful and Ahmed guided the team to victory, but even though the batting was no less aggressive there was a touch more selection. That, however, was in a chasing situation and, as expected, it is quickly becoming clear that hunting down runs is the way to go.In the end they weren’t a million miles away from a decent total, which is where some restraint would have paid dividends. It is still difficult to judge what a defendable score is when batting first and as Bangladesh’s approach suggested they did really know what they were aiming at. But it cost them nothing having a go and if ever there was a game to try something different this was it. As with everything in their development, it will have been a valuable learning experience.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Ken Gordon has addressed in detail the issues leading to the cancellation of the Stanford 20/20 Super Match and the resignation of Windies great Michael Holding from the WICB’s Cricket Committee.At a news conference at the WICB office on Carlos Street, Woodbrook, yesterday, Gordon provided the media with e-mail documentation between billionaire Allen Stanford and himself, the WICB and the International Cricket Council (ICC), as well as correspondence between himself and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that he said “outlines the detailed sequence of events”.Addressing what he termed “the major allegation which has been made”, Gordon disputed the claim that the WICB “did not seriously attempt to facilitate the Stanford 20/20 Super Series”.”What are the facts?” Gordon asked rhetorically, before referring the media to a letter written by ICC cricket operations manager Clive Hitchcock.Hitchcock’s correspondence, dated September 8, was in response to Stanford’s request to the ICC official for an explanation of how the dates of November 10 to 12, given to the Stanford Board as “open” by the ICC, “came to be in direct conflict with” the West Indies tour of Pakistan.Hitchcock detailed 25 points describing the entire process of the sequence of events from October 6, 2005, when Laurie-Ann Holding of Stanford 20/20 tournament organiser Kelly Holding Ltd wrote the ICC advising of the Stanford 20/20 initiative to the announcement of the cancellation of the US$5 million Super Match between a Stanford All Star selection and South Africa.Figuring among Hitchcock’s concerns was the need for ICC approval for the Super Match, which originally was to include ICC full members South Africa and Australia.According to Hitchcock, ICC approval was only granted on March 22, and not on January 22, as indicated by Stanford.”The All Star matches were approved on the basis that they would take place on the weekend of November 8 to 11, 2006,” Hitchcock reminded in his reply to Stanford. “These dates were acceptable on the basis that they did not clash with the ICC Future Tour Programme (FTP).”It went on: “You will note that the ICC Champions Trophy was scheduled to conclude by the first week of November and the West Indies tour to Pakistan was scheduled to commence in the third week of November 2006 after the date of the proposed Stanford 20/20 Super Match.”The ICC official further explained that in June the dates of the WI-Pakistan tour became known and only then did the ICC note the conflict before immediately advising the WICB of the clash in dates. He added that official confirmation of the commencement of the tour only came on July 25.And after discussions between ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed and Gordon, the WICB president decided to take up Speed’s offer made by e-mail on August 21 for the ICC to approach the PCB to resolve the issue.However, the PCB stuck to their original schedule, stating that a scheduled 20/20 tournament of their own, to take place at the end of the West Indies tour, was mandatory for their national players, following which they would need at least a two-week break to recuperate before the Pakistanis left for their next tour of South Africa on January 1.When advised of the PCB’s position on August 22 , Gordon was to then raise the option with PCB chairman Shahryar Khan of them shifting their 20/20 competition to the start of the tour. That became redundant after the cancellation of the Stanford 20/20 Super Match.Dealing with Holding’s allegations of side-stepping the Cricket Committee, Gordon said “there is absolutely no merit to this argument”.

Gordon also reiterated that he had been truthful when he reported that the selectors had decided to defer selection of the West Indies team based on the recommendation of WI skipper Brian Lara.As for Holding’s claims that Gordon had changed the terms of reference of the Cricket Committee, the WICB president said a special advisory committee, which was to involve Holding, was not approved by the WICB. He also said Holding declined membership of the “Win World Cup” and was never part of this committee which is entirely different to the advisory status of the Cricket Committee. “It is therefore a non-issue to suggest that there was some duplicity about changing the terms of reference,” Gordon stated.Gordon expressed disappointment about Holding’s approach. “I regret that one whom I have long admired as one of our cricketing greats should have so readily descended to personal abuse and even defamation without regard to the facts,” he stated.

Peter Fulton is likely to open and Hamish Marshall will slot in at No. 3 in New Zealand’s first Super Eights match against West Indies on Thursday. Marshall should slip straight into the side when he arrives in the Caribbean as New Zealand’s top-order injury worries continue.Marshall replaced Lou Vincent in the squad after Vincent suffered a broken wrist during a practice session, while a hamstring strain should keep Ross Taylor out of Thursday’s game. Stephen Fleming said the enforced changes were not ideal but Fulton and Marshall had the ability to help New Zealand progress.”Pete is a different type of player [to Vincent] and if anything his form is outstanding,” Fleming told . “To leave him out of the first couple of games was incredibly difficult.”The positive is he gets a chance, and a consistent chance, to bat in one spot for a while. Pete’s played up and down the order knowing he was going to be a utility batter.”Fulton has only opened once in an ODI, on debut in 2004. He was in strong form in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series in February but has only had one opportunity at the World Cup, making 47 against Canada.Fleming said coming to the West Indies and being asked to play immediately would be tough for Marshall, who made 80 in New Zealand’s domestic State Championship on Monday. “It’s going to be a big challenge for Hamish and certainly the team realises that,” he said.”We’ll do everything possible to make sure he’s ready to go. It’s a pretty important 36 hours but I guess knowing he’s going to play, coming off some runs at home and being back in the team will give him some energy and adrenalin.”Fleming said New Zealand hoped to put their eventful few days behind them and move on to the important business of trying to win Super Eights matches. “It’s been a dramatic week with Lou going and Rosco [Taylor] working hard on getting back, it has changed the balance of the side,” Fleming said.”But the core is still there and the bonus has been we’ve had six days to adjust – it hasn’t been thrown on us the day before a game so we’ve been able to prepare mentally for it. The best thing is the [first-choice] bowlers are still intact, they’ve been the usual suspects.”New Zealand’s match against West Indies is at Antigua and the hosts will have to play three days in a row after their game against Australia on Tuesday was interrupted by rain. West Indies would have to bat on Wednesday, the reserve day, before facing up to New Zealand barely 24 hours later.

Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, has backed Darrell Hair in the aftermath of the Oval Code of Conduct hearing and said that he wants him to stand again in international matches.In an exclusive column for Cricinfo, Speed emphasised that Hair remained a member of the ICC’s Elite panel. “His decision-making marks him out as one of the ICC’s top officials and I very much hope he will stand again at the highest level. And in that regard it was pleasing to see comments from both Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shaharyar Khan last weekend expressing similar sentiments.”Speed also emphasised that there was “nothing sinister” about the decision to withdraw Hair from the Champions Trophy. “Prior to the hearing we received a letter from the BCCI president Sharad Pawar raising his concerns about a potential negative reaction from some followers of the game there and the security implications this may have.”We listened to this view and sought independent security advice which highlighted a heightened risk and the need for 24 hour protection. In the circumstances we decided it was in the best interests of Darrell and the tournament not to send him to the event.” The BCCI, however, has denied that it raised specific security issues with the ICC.Speed also admitted that ideally the hearing into events at The Oval should have happened sooner but “for a variety of reasons that was not possible this time, not least because the issue confronting everyone involved the real world, was unprecedented and provoked high emotion.” He added: “Cricket must learn from this experience.”Far from undermining the authority of the umpires, as some have claimed, the hearing maintained it. By banning Inzamam-ul-Haq for four matches, Ranjan [Madugalle] confirmed players cannot take the Law into their own hands, no matter how wronged they feel. The fact the Pakistan Cricket Board have not appealed the ban is a clear indication it accepts that.”But he also acknowledged that the issue of ball tampering needed “careful consideration” by both the MCC, who are responsible for the Laws, and the ICC’s own cricket committee.

Nottinghamshire have signed Kyle Hogg, the Lancashire allrounder, on a month-long loan deal to cover for an increasing injury list.Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, is down to the bare bones of a pace attack with Charlie Shreck, Andy Harris, Paul Franks and Mark Footitt currently out of action and Ryan Sidebottom committed to England duty”I’m delighted to have Kyle on board and it’s a great opportunity for him to play some first-class cricket and prove a point,” said Newell. “He’s a talented young seamer who has been struggling to claim a regular place in a strong Lancashire team.”We have been keeping an eye on him for some time and although he will only be with us for a month initially, who knows where it might lead.”It will be Hogg’s second loan spell of the season after spending time with Worcestershire during the first half of the summer. He has struggled to find a regular spot in the Lancashire side, even though there have been a number of injuries at Old Trafford.

Inzamam-ul-Haq’s decision to bat after winning the toss surprised many. It is the host captain and the coach who not only have a say in the preparation of the pitches, but also have better knowledge of the local conditions than anyone else.It was believed that the pitch was supposed to take turn later in the day and that made Inzamam put India in. But in the subcontinent, the matches are so tilted towards batting that anything less than 300 runs becomes an achievable target. Although the pitch did encourage some movement in the initial few overs of the first innings, using that condition to the hilt without wasting a ball remained the crucial factor.I have seen no bowler more dangerous than Irfan Pathan, who can make use of those helpful conditions. Under such conditions, most of the bowlers may beat the bat several times and appear good but Irfan gets wickets. Seldom does he miss out on such opportunities.Sreesanth, who struggled in the previous game, came out with flying colours at Rawalpindi. He mainly shaped the ball out, used the short-pitched delivery effectively and in the end bowled some good slower ones to bring in variety. His bowling speed, averaging 136 kmph, keeps the batsmen in two minds. He could be an asset only if he adds accuracy to his bowling. Apart from his bowling, what impressed me most was his attitude. For someone who was ill and down the previous day, he played the game with verve. It’s an irony in cricket that often when a player is coming out of a niggling injury or a brief illness, he puts up a performance which is above expectations.Sreesanth could learn quite a few lessons from these two outings. He must understand the significance of being preferred over more experienced colleagues like Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan. Opening the bowling for the country straightaway is a rare but great opportunity in one’s career. Only the bowlers who have missed out on it or messed up when the opportunity came would realise it.The Indians, after taking four early wickets, let Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan establish a decent score. One might even think that the bowlers could have done a better job from that position of strength. I believe the Indians missed a regular fifth bowler. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag are effective on real turners but not on the flat wickets in Pakistan. It was risky to rely on them for 10 overs.Pakistan’s mindless batting continued from where they had left it in Peshawar. In this game, Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi’s wickets cost them the match. The wicket of Yousuf, the backbone of Pakistan batting, was too important to be lost so soon. One can understand Afridi’s dismissal as that is the way he generally plays, but Yousuf should have dropped anchor. His dismissal made things easier for India.Once it used to be a normal practice that the team would always bat first and put the pressure on the team chasing. These days, the batting conditions are so good that the team winning the toss wants to field first to let the bowlers make use of the early conditions. In hindsight, if Inzamam had opted to bowl, it could have been Asif who would have relished the conditions instead of Sehwag. Now with the series evenly poised and the next couple of games being day-night affairs, the teams’ think-tank must put their heads together to read the conditions well before picking the final XI.

ScorecardFor the third day running rain washed out play at Ayr, as Scotland and UAE took three points each from their Intercontinental Cup meeting. The only play possible had been on the first day as UAE reached 174 for 4.Scotland now move straight into their one-day international against Pakistan at Edinburgh, but will be without two of their county players.Kyle Coetzer has opted to stay with Durham and Dougie Brown has injured his Achilles. The situation surrounding Coetzer is similar to the problems which faced Ireland with their county players recently, and it has left Ryan Watson, the Scotland captain, concerned.”It’s a tricky situation and we’re going to come up against it a lot, county versus country. Kyle’s under a bit of pressure,” said Watson. “The disappointing thing is they [Durham] don’t actually have a game on the day.”Kyle’s in his final year of his contract, so I think he’s looking to get that extended. He’s having a good season so it is a pity he’s not available. I don’t really know the ins and outs too much, as to why he’s not available, but he would love to play for Scotland at any opportunity so you would have to say there is a bit of pressure being put on him.”

Jacques Rudolph feels that the conditions in Sri Lanka fit his batting style “like a glove” and is confident of cementing his spot in the South African team in the absence of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. Rudolph was included in the squad to tour Sri Lanka because Smith pulled out after undergoing surgery for an ankle injury.”This is definitely a big chance for me to regain my place in the squad. We all know Graeme and Jacques Kallis will return,” Rudolph told News 24. “Whoever performs the best out of AB [de Villiers], Hashim [Amla] and Boeta [Dippenaar] on this tour, stands a good chance to remain in the squad when Graeme and Jacques do return.””It’s the fourth time that I’ll be touring Sri Lanka and I’m used to the conditions. I’ve toured with the South Africa A team in the past and I’ve been successful. On the last tour I hit a century in Galle. Hopefully I’ll be successful again.”Rudolph admitted that the absence of Smith and Kallis, who is recovering from elbow surgery, had considerably weakened the side. “It’s also an opportunity for us as a team, probably a less experienced and weaker team than usual, to show what we can do. Some of the guys will definitely have to take the lead and show more determination in the absence of those guys [Smith and Kallis].”