All posts by csb10.top

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.”

Tom Moody has called for Sri Lanka to round off the honeymoon period of his coaching tenure with a resounding victory against Bangladesh in the second Test on Tuesday.Sri Lanka waltzed to a comfortable two-and-a-half day, innings and 94-run victory in the first Test and are expected to win the second game easily to complete a 2-0 clean sweep. It comes on the heels of a 2-0 series win over the West Indies as well as winning the triangular Indian Oil Cup, that included India.But Moody realises that after two months in charge, a period during which he has quickly gained the respect and trust of the players, life is about to get tougher with tours to India, New Zealand and Australia fast looming on the horizon.”We have had a great run over the last two months and it is important for us to finish off on a positive note as we will not be playing at home for some time now,” Moody told AFP after the team’s final training session.Moody expects the batsmen to deliver: “I don’t think the conditions were ideal for batting [in the first Test]. The wicket didn’t represent a good Test pitch. I believe we’ll be playing on a very good cricket wicket here and if we don’t score heavily and get some big scores, then I would be a little disappointed.”Sri Lanka look set to call-up Russel Arnold for his first Test in 14 months after Tillakaratne Dilshan injured his right elbow during the practice session. Dilshan was hit painfully on the elbow joint by one of the net bowlers and was unable to flex the joint on Tuesday evening.Sri Lanka’s only other possible change may be the third seamer. Dilhara Fernando bowled only four overs in the first Test and the selectors may consider the option of an allrounder or extra batsman. But with the P. Saravanamuttu pitch set to offer better batting conditions Fernando is likely to get another chance.Bangladesh, meanwhile, are looking to salvage some pride after what has been a disappointing tour. Their successes in England had raised expectations, but they’ve never challenged Sri Lanka’s superiority and have badly missed the extra pace of Mashrafe Mortaza in their bowling attack.After their spectacular collapse against Muttiah Muralitharan last week they took a two-day break to refresh and regroup. When they resumed practice on Saturday afternoon Habibul Bashar, the skipper, noticed a new spring in the step of his players.Dav Whatmore pinpointed the first day collapse from 155 for 2 to 188 all out as the pivotal period of the last game. “A score of 155 for 2 gives every indication that the boys can go and put up a decent total,” he said. “It is unfortunate that they didn’t as I know they are capable of being more competitive.”Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Russel Arnold, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Dilhara FernandoBangladesh (probable) 1 Javed Omer, 2 Shahriar Nafees, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Aftab Ahmed, 6 Tushar Imran, 7 Khaled Mashud, 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Syed Rasel, 10 Enamul Haque, 11 Shahadat Hossain.

Michael Vaughan praised the character of his team and admitted thatEngland “were on the brink of something special” after theirnerve-shredding three-wicket in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, a resultthat carried them into a 2-1 series lead and to within touching distanceof their first Ashes series win since 1986-87.”Anyone who expected England to stroll after watching the previous threegames should probably have realised it was going to be hard work,” said arelieved Vaughan in the post-match press conference. “Shane Warne andBrett Lee bowled really, really well but full credit to our team. Onceagain they produced a performance of high standard and really putAustralia under pressure for sustained periods.””Simon Jones bowled exceptionally well in the first innings, so afterlosing him, the bowlers in the second innings deserve a lot of credit,”added Vaughan. “They kept running in on a placid wicket that was reallyvery slow. We had to use all our resources to whittle out those tenwickets and restrict them to a total where we only had to chase 130.”Even so, that target almost proved too much, as England’s top-orderimploded in the face of Shane Warne and Brett Lee. “When you’re chasing atotal of 220, you tend to bat time,” explained Vaughan, “A lot of teamshave done similar to us in the past, when they’ve lost a few wicketstrying to play their shots. The bowlers get a bit of momentum and thepressure mounts and sometimes it can be tricky. But I’m just delighted wegot over the line. To go 2-1 up in an Ashes series is not something we’vedone for a long, long time.”The obvious question on everyone’s lips is now: Can England win the Ashes.”We’re playing good cricket,” said an understandably evasive Vaughan.”Challenges have been thrown at us over the last few weeks and we’ve donealright in the last few. The Oval I’m sure will be an epic like the lastthree. Can we do it for the last game? I’m not too sure if we can but surewe will do.”If the match was unbearable for the spectators, then Vaughan was quick toremind them that the real nerve-jangler has already been and gone. “It wastense, but it wasn’t as tense as being out on that pitch at Edgbaston thatSunday morning,” he said, still wincing at the horrific alternativeuniverse that the team flirted with that day. “It helps that we’ve wongames like this before – we chased down runs against New Zealand here lastyear. We’ve liked to have won by a few more wickets, but that wasn’t tobe.”Vaughan added that he’d been happy enough to enforce the follow-on,despite the risks it entailed. “At the time there were clouds about and ithad swung nicely in the morning, and we expected the same in theafternoon. But to lose Simon Jones, ten overs in, was a huge blow, so fullcredit to the remaining four bowlers and Ian Bell. To restrict them to40-odd in a session this morning was a tremendous effort on that wicket.”Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, rued his team’s first-day performance as hefaced up to the reality of Australia’s situation – that they need to winat The Oval next month to save the Ashes. “It’s difficult to cope whenyou’ve given away too big a start,” he admitted. “We didn’t make as manyas we should, and ended up with our backs against the wall. If I’m beingrealistic, we once again got closer than we should have done.”The fight was there but not for long enough,” Ponting continued. “Englandhave been on top from the moment the last ball of the first Test wasbowled and now we’ve got no option. If the guys can’t get up for a gamelike the one we’ve got coming up, then they shouldn’t be playing.”

Suspended cricket officials have warned that Cricket-Aid, a tsunami charity set-up up by the board to provide emergency relief and rebuild housing, is in danger of collapsing after the sports minister’s decision to appoint an interim committee to manage the cricket board.According to the officials, one welfare centre for 200 tsunami refugees in Matara is now struggling to cope because it cannot be properly managed in the current impasse. A foster parenting scheme to care for 1000 children is also apparently under threat”We are obviously concerned as we have done some wonderful things and achieved something,” Chandrishan Perera, the public relations coordinator of Cricket-Aid told the Daily Mirror. “We are now desperate to sort things out. We’ve got to stick to our promises and commitment especially for the children.”Perera also voiced concerns that donors who have already pledged or who were considering a pledge will not adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ approach and freeze payments while the administration crisis continues. “It is difficult to gauge their [international donors] reaction”, he said.The charity’s chairman, Thilanga Sumathipala, has hit-out at what he calls “detractors parachuting in to run cricket”. “We have given hope to these people [tsunami victims] and we don’t want to hurt them. We are in the process of talking to donors and reaching a working arrangement in the best interest of the people”, said Sumathipala.Cricket-Aid’s future is also uncertain because questions have been raised over the legality of program’s NGO status. The government is believed to be in the process of launching an investigation into the charity’s registration.Meanwhile, the suspended executive committee has been partially successful in the first round of a legal fight with the government, successfully arguing in the Court of Appeal for a temporary restraining order preventing the sports minister from making any further orders over Sri Lanka Cricket during the next two weeks.Sumathipala’s committee has also complained in a media release of a politically motivated mud-slinging campaign, warning publishers to be wary of a “spurious and scurrilous set of concocted minutes purporting to be the minutes of the ICC Executive meeting in Delhi” that is being “maliciously circulated” in Sri Lanka.The media release claimed that the ICC’s president Ehsan Mani had confirmed to Sumathipala on Friday that the draft minutes of the Delhi meeting had not been completed. During the course of the two-day meeting, board members were briefed on the ongoing ICC Code of Ethics inquiry into Sumathipala’s links with the gambling industry.

After his side drew with Sussex on a rain-affected final day at Hove, Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, has said Sanath Jayasuriya is still in the equation to play in the second Test against England at Edgbaston on Thursday, after the two openers in contention for a place failed to come up with any outstanding contributions.With Jehan Mubarak making 26, and Michael Vandort scratching scores of 44 and 1, the door to Jayasuriya making a comeback to Test cricket has not been shut completely.”None of the guys had a good outing,” Jayawardene said after the game. “It is still open for us to do exactly what we want to do. Sanath is still in the picture. Depending on how the pitch is going to play everyone is in the picture.”What we wanted to do was to give the young guys the opportunity because they are the ones who came with the original squad. The selectors sent Sanath to use him at our discretion for the Tests. He is there for the one-dayers,” he said.Jayawardene admitted he was disappointed with the performances of Mubarak and Vandort. “Mubarak threw his wicket away after starting so well in the first innings on a pitch like that. It was a very good pitch to bat on,” he said. “Vandy, as well, got a 40 and got out. Those are opportunities that they should get their hands on and make sure they perform.”With the pitch at Edgbaston expected to be conducive to spin, Jaywardene admitted that Jayasuriya’s slow-left-arm spin could sway the selectors into picking him.”Sanath [has] been having net sessions since he arrived here. With his experience I am sure if he is called upon to do a job he is capable enough to do it. He’s that kind of a person. It is not a problem,” he said.Jayawardene had reason to be satisfied with the bowling of Lasith Malinga, who missed out in the first Test, and the form of middle-order batsmen Tilan Samaraweera and Chamara Kapugedera. Both made hundreds along with opener Upul Tharanga.

“Malinga has been pushing us a lot in this tour. Every time he played he’s been showing us a lot of character. At the end of the Lord’s Test I said [we] needed to figure out a way of getting 20 wickets. If Malinga is going to be the answer, so be it,” said Jayawardene.With the middle-order also getting runs Jayawardene said another option available to them was to elevate one of the middle-order batsmen to open the innings, thus playing five bowlers.”But if the wicket is going to be turning then we can go with three quicks and two spinners,” he said. “If it is flat, Malinga probably has a better chance of getting wickets. He actually does not need any assistance from the pitch to get wickets.”The only problem we have with him is if it is a seaming wicket he does not hit the seam so there is no movement for him whereas Nuwan Zoysa and Nuwan Kulasekera can be effective.”If the guys are in form it’s fine. We’ll make the tough decisions. Some guys will be disappointed but that’s how it is. Only 11 can play. We have to make sure that the best balanced combination plays,” he said.Persistent rain ruled out the chance of reserve wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene making a claim for a place. “We were looking forward to bat him at No. 4 in this match today because he has been getting a lot of runs for us in the county games, but unfortunately he could not get an opportunity. It puts Prasanna out of the equation,” he said.He added that Tillakaratne Dilshan had recovered from his mild hamstring injury and would be fit for the second Test.

England will have a review reinstated after the supplier of Snicko technology admitted an operator error may have cost them the wicket of Alex Carey on the opening day of the Adelaide Test.ESPNcricinfo understands that Brendon McCullum and Wayne Bentley, England’s head coach and team manager respectively, held talks with Jeff Crowe, the match referee, after the close of play to air their grievances. The ECB will also encourage the ICC to review their systems to improve their decision-making processes in future.TV umpire Chris Gaffaney upheld Ahsan Raza’s on-field “not out” decision after Carey, on 72, flashed at a ball from Josh Tongue outside off stump. There was a clear spike shown on the Real-Time Snickometer (RTS) several frames before the ball had passed the bat. “There’s a clear gap, no spike,” Gaffaney said.But Carey, who went on to score 106, admitted after play that he thought he had hit the ball, saying he had “a bit of luck” and was “clearly not” a walker. BBG Sports, the supplier of RTS, later suggested that an operator had “selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing” and took “full responsibility for the error”.David Saker, England’s bowling coach, said on Wednesday night that the dressing room has harboured concerns about the reliability of RTS all series. “We shouldn’t be talking about this after a day’s play, it should just be better than that,” Saker said. “In this day and age, you’d think the technology is good enough to pick things up like that.”The ICC’s playing conditions allow player reviews to be reinstated at the match referee’s discretion if a player review “could not properly be concluded due to a failure of the technology”. There is precedent for the decision from England’s tour to India in early 2021, when Ajinkya Rahane was incorrectly given not out in the second Test in Chennai.Related

• Starc calls for ICC to foot the DRS bill

• Snicko supplier takes 'full responsibility' for Carey error

• Ehantharajah: England bowlers chase Christmas No.1

• Carey and Khawaja stand out on juvenile batting day for Australia

• Carey keeps Australia afloat as Ashes refuses to find slower gear

Crowe’s decision means that England will have two reviews available to them on the second day in Adelaide, with Australia set to resume their innings of 326 for 8. It may be scant consolation to them given Carey was able to bat on and score a further 34 runs after being incorrectly given not out.The ICC has two approved “sound-based edge detection technology” suppliers: RTS, which is used in Australia, and UltraEdge, which is used in the rest of the world. Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, said on Thursday morning that umpires “can’t trust” RTS and suggested that UltraEdge is superior.”This technology that we are using here is simply not as good as technology that’s used in other countries,” Ponting said while commentating on Channel 7. “You talk to the umpires, they’ll tell you the same thing. They can’t trust it.”They’ve got a third umpire sitting up in there that’s got to make decisions based on what he’s seeing that the technology is providing, and sometimes they have a gut feel that it’s not right. “That can’t happen. You’ve got to be able to trust the technology that’s in place.”The ICC did not respond to a request for comment.

Monde Zondeki, the South African quick bowler, has talked about how difficult he found it to join the recent tour of India after the controversy that surrounded the squad selection.Zondeki’s domestic figures from 2007-08 – 54 wickets at 20.16 for the Cape Cobras – certainly show he was good enough to earn selection for India, but his place came about after Charl Langeveldt withdrew from the squad. Langeveldt had been selected ahead of Andre Nel, who is now playing for Essex, as Cricket South Africa needed to maintain their quota allocation. However, Langeveldt didn’t feel mentally able to go on the tour, something that Zondeki can sympathise with.”It’s wasn’t easy for me to accept my selection for that tour,” he told the . “Not easy at all. It was an awkward way to be selected. It wasn’t the way I’d hoped it would happen. It wasn’t an easy decision to go. It was hard for me to accept. In the end I just didn’t want there to be any more controversy.”The thing is, I did have a really good season. I talked to the coach [Mickey Arthur] and he said I should see it as reward for that. He helped me a lot.”Zondeki didn’t end up playing in any of the three Tests as the series was drawn 1-1, but has arrived for his county stint with Warwickshire in confident mood and will provide a much-needed cutting edge. Warwickshire only escaped with a draw in their first Championship match against Worcestershire because of rain on the final day. But how long Zondeki will remain available is still unclear with South Africa touring during the second half of the summer.”I’ve talked to Dale [Steyn, who played for Warwickshire in 2007] about playing here and I’m not expecting quick and bouncy wickets,” he said. “I know that I’m going to have to work hard and I know I’ll have to look after myself. He really enjoyed it.”I’m looking forward to it. The main reason I’ve come is to learn. I want to suck up as much information as possible. Pretty much every bowler who has come to play county cricket has improved and the chance to work with Allan Donald was too good to miss. It was him who contacted me and he is a major reason for coming.”Clearly, too, it won’t harm his international ambitions to get regular cricket ahead of South Africa’s four-Test series which starts in July. “There’s a good chance that I will be selected,” he said. “By the time they arrive, I should have got the hang of the conditions. If I do well here, I have a great opportunity.” Warwickshire should make the most of him while they can.