All posts by csb10.top

Ten of the 14 players who played for USA at ICC WCL Division Three in Hong Kong, including vice-captain Sushil Nadkarni, have been replaced for the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament from July 18 to 23 in Florida.”Sushil Nadkarni, for me and the rest of the selectors, is an ODI player, a 50-over player,” chairman of selectors Sew Shivnarine told ESPNcricinfo on Monday. “In T20 you’ve got to have fitness and you’ve got to be strong out there. Sushil is a good batsman. I’m not taking anything away from Nadkarni, but in T20 we need fitness. That’s one of the main reasons.”Nadkarni finished fourth overall on the runs list at the first ever USACA Twenty20 nationals on June 18 and 19 in New Jersey. Last year in Bermuda, Nadkarni, 35, was USA’s leading run-getter when they won the inaugural ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 Championship.Among Nadkarni’s many astonishing feats was a 54-ball century in 2010 against Cayman Islands, one of USA’s opponents next month. USA will also be squaring off against Suriname in the tournament, a side Nadkarni blitzed for a career-high 197 in 2008.Since making his debut for USA at the ICC Americas Division One tournament in 2006, no one has scored more runs while representing the national team in that time span than Nadkarni. He has 1538 runs in all forms of cricket including four centuries and nine fifties. He was the Man of the Series at ICC WCL Division Four in Italy last August but had a disappointing series in Hong Kong, scoring 105 runs in six innings with a high of 47 against Italy.Among the other players dropped was left-arm spinner Asif Khan, a former first-class cricketer in Pakistan, who made an impressive debut for USA in Hong Kong with six wickets in five innings. He also made a vital contribution with the bat against Oman, scoring an unbeaten 31 as part of an unbroken 71-run ninth wicket partnership in a two-wicket win. At the USACA Twenty20 Nationals, Khan took four wickets in two matches, including three batsmen out stumped. When asked to explain why Khan was left out, Shivnarine responded, “Who’s Asif Khan?” He did not sound as though he was being sarcastic.Japen Patel, Nauman Mustafa, Quasen Alfred, Bhim George and Samarth Shah are the five uncapped players who have been brought into the squad.”I think Shah is a good left-arm spinner. At the trials, he impressed the selectors,” Shivnarine said. “We feel that Shah is fitting in that team as the extra left-arm spinner. The primary left-arm spinner is Bhim George. The coach wanted extra spin so that’s why we have Shah in the team. Japen Patel scores a lot of runs in his league. He’s one of the big run-getters in the Atlanta area. We see a lot of talent in him. We can use him as an allrounder. He’s one of the fittest guys in the team and I think he deserves to be in that 14 because we feel that he has a lot of potential for the future.”Clayton Lambert will return to coach the team in Florida. No captain has been named yet According to Shivnarine, the intention was to select Neil McGarrell, the former West Indies spinner, and make him the captain but he still does not qualify to play for USA because he has not been a resident for a minimum of four years prior to the start of this tournament.USA squad: Quasen Alfred, Timroy Allen, Orlando Baker, Akeem Dodson, Bhim George, Muhammad Ghous, Adrian Gordon, Steve Massiah, Aditya Mishra, Nauman Mustafa, Japen Patel, Gowkaran Roopnarine, Samarth Shah, Usman Shuja.

ScorecardAlex Hales needed stitches after a blow from Ajmal Shahzad•PA Photos

A record ninth-wicket partnership between Ben Phillips and Andre Adams rescued Nottinghamshire from the follow-on and should ensure the defending champions avoid defeat against Yorkshire.While half-centuries from Neil Edwards and Alex Hales had got Nottinghamshire off to a relatively good start, tail-enders Phillips and Adams still needed to add 94 to the home total of 291 for eight when they came together to make Yorkshire bat again.The pair promptly blasted 114 off just 16 overs to eclipse the previous club record against Yorkshire for the ninth wicket, which had stood since 1930, Adams caught for 54 off 47 balls after hitting seven fours and three sixes. Phillips finished unbeaten on 71 from 104 balls with eight fours and three more sixes as Nottinghamshire were eventually bowled out for 428, with Yorkshire 17 for none in their second innings at the close.Nottinghamshire began the day with a target of reaching 385 to avoid the follow-on, and in bright, sunny conditions opener Edwards looked in good touch as he rattled up his 50 from only 47 balls, with 10 smoothly-struck fours.Partner Mark Wagh was less confident and was bowled for 16 by Richard Pyrah’s second ball of the day – although the opening partnership of 88 was still Nottinghamshire’ highest since August 2008. Edwards was eventually undone for 64 as Pyrah’s sharply rising delivery was gloved to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, while Samit Patel edged his first ball just short of Adam Lyth at first slip.Boundaries remained plentiful as Yorkshire’s bowlers went at more than five an over, until Patel’s back-foot force off Pyrah was edged to second slip and Hales was forced to retire hurt on 28 after being hit on the jaw by an Ajmal Shahzad bouncer.Shahzad then had Adam Voges lbw on the stroke of lunch but the momentum swung again after the interval as Steven Mullaney and Chris Read put on 64 for the fifth wicket. Read was removed by a reflex catch from Joe Root at forward short leg off Adil Rashid, at which point Hales returned to continue his innings, passing 50 with a square drive for four.His dismissal for 59 came in brainless fashion, pulling a long hop from Rashid straight to deep square leg, and with Mullaney edging to slip for 49 and Paul Franks bowled by Root, Nottinghamshire looked deep in trouble.Phillips and Adams opted to free their arms and their attacking approach did the trick as Yorkshire proved helpless to stem the flow of runs until Adams’ skied Shahzad to Bairstow, with last man Luke Fletcher hitting three successive fours off the England seamer’s next over before he was caught at deep midwicket.

ScorecardA magnificent opening partnership of 189 between Varun Chopra and Will Porterfield propelled Warwickshire to a crushing eight-wicket victory over Leicestershire in their Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B clash at Grace Road.Porterfield hit 95 off 98 balls and Chopra 86 off 99 balls as Warwickshire chased down a target of 206 with more than three overs to spare to send the Leicestershire crashing to their fifth defeat in six games at the halfway stage of the competition.Despite half centuries from Josh Cobb and former Gloucestershire batsman Kadeer Ali on his debut, Leicestershire could only post a disappointing 205 for 9 after being put in to bat. Darren Maddy starred with the ball taking four for 29 against his former county.But it was Chopra and Porterfield who took the game away from Leicestershire with a blistering assault on the home attack during their stand spread across 32 overs. Porterfield blazed his way to 10 fours and two sixes while Chopra helped himself to five boundaries plus two sixes before both batsmen fell to left arm spinner Claude Henderson with victory assured. The winning runs came with a boundary from Jim Troughton midway through the 37th over.Leicestershire looked on course for a much bigger total after reaching 92 for 1 in the first 17 overs. Cobb and Jacques du Toit shared an opening stand of 30 in six overs before du Toit was spectacularly caught by Tim Ambrose off Andrew Miller. The wicketkeeper taking the catch one-handed leaping high to his right.But Cobb, boosted by a double century for the second team last week, looked full of confidence and hit one superb six over midwicket off Rikki Clarke. James Taylor also looked in good touch after his call up for the England Lions, striking four sweetly timed boundaries on his way to 32 before being run out by an excellent throw from Maddy.It ended a stand of 62 in 11 overs and signalled the start of a rapid decline to the Foxes innings despite the efforts of Cobb and Ali. Cobb, having reached his 50 off 57 balls, was out without adding to his score as he was beaten and bowled as he pushed forward to a full length delivery from Steffan Piolet.After that it was left to Ali to hold the innings together on his first-team debut after being released by Gloucestershire at the end of last season. He batted solidly to reach a half century off 53 balls with just one boundary but received minimal support. Wickets fell regularly at the other end as the innings subsided.Matt Boyce was stumped off left arm spinner Paul Best and Maddy then came on to claim four of the last five wickets for 29 runs in six overs. Ali became one of his victims holing out to long-on for 60 off 59 balls with three boundaries. When Maddy then yorked Harry Gurney with the final ball of the innings Leicestershire had lost seven wickets for 91 runs in 18 overs.

Gary Kirsten, Vincent Barnes, Duncan Fletcher, John Buchanan and Richard Pybus are understood to be on the six-man shortlist for the South Africa coaching job. Tom Moody and Stephen Fleming are also rumoured to be in contention for the position.Kirsten, who ended his tenure with India after winning the World Cup, is said to be the favourite, but has reportedly not submitted a formal application. Insiders have confirmed that he is on the shortlist and has been in contact with CSA chief-executive Gerald Majola. Kirsten had said he wanted to take some time off after his stint with India ended, which may be why he hasn’t officially applied.South Africa’s next series is scheduled for October, against Australia, which would allow Kirsten a five-month break. Kirsten is understood to have shown interest in the position and CSA may have placed him on the shortlist to keep him in the running, despite the fact that he has not applied. Majola said in an interview in Colombo that CSA would not consider anyone who wasn’t on the shortlist.Although Kirsten is the popular choice, CSA are also considering other candidates, including the long-serving assistant coach Barnes. He has been in the national set up for the past eight years, since the 2003 tour to England, and had applied for the head coach’s position when Mickey Arthur was appointed in May 2005. Barnes started off as the bowling coach and has been credited with being part of the reason behind the success of the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Barnes’ obvious advantage is that he has worked with the national squad for a significant amount of time and has been a part of their recent successes, such as the series wins in England and Australia.Fletcher has also been involved with the current crop of players, having joined as a batting consultant in the 2009-10 season. He previously coached England and was at the helm of their Ashes triumph in 2005. Buchanan also has much lauded international credentials to his name, having won three Ashes series and two World Cups with Australia. He is most recently known for his controversial coaching methods which involved a proposed captain-rotation policy at Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.Pybus is the only one who is working in the South African domestic set up. He took Cobras to a double title this season, winning both the first-class SuperSport Series competition and the Pro20. Having previously been involved with Titans and the Border province, before the franchises were formed, Pybus has an intricate knowledge of local cricket and has seen many of his charges progress to national honours. He coached Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini, Steyn, both Morkel brothers and Paul Harris, among others. He is known for his diverse, out-of-the-box thinking and was also head coach of Pakistan during the 1999 World Cup.All six candidates, whose names cannot be officially released for confidentiality reasons, will undergo a rigorous interview process by a six-man panel appointed by CSA to choose the new coach. The committee consists of Majola, Andy O’Connor, chairperson of the cricket committee, Boeta Dippenaar, cricket association representative, Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors and Corrie van Zyl, outgoing coach. Johann Coetzee, a human development consultant and consulting psychologist, was added to the panel last week and.Interviews will be held on May 16 and 17, and the panel will make its recommendations at a board meeting on May 28. CSA hope to appoint the new coach at the beginning of June.

The IPL closely following the World Cup has meant that the franchises’ squads have not had much time to prepare as a unit, but Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said that it also means the players can hit the ground running.”With most of our players being in action during the World Cup, lack of match practice will not be an issue,” he said. “Playing the best teams in the world and on our home grounds is the best build-up any player could hope for. We are quietly confident of our prospects. Our core team remains the same, so we look forward to another successful run [Chennai are the defending champions].”Captain MS Dhoni also said he is pleased with the team composition, but a lot will depend on players’ fitness, with key players like Doug Bollinger and Dwayne Bravo currently on the injured list. “The new team is very good. But I have always maintained it’s not about how good the team looks on paper, but how we’re doing on the field. If everyone is fit and all 24 players are available for selection, it’s a very good side.”Chennai retained Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Albie Morkel and M Vijay from the first three seasons’ squad and bought back Michael Hussey, Bollinger, R Ashwin and S Badrinath, among others, during January’s auction. New players in the squad include Faf du Plessis, Bravo, Suraj Randiv, Ben Hilfenhaus, Scott Styris and Tim Southee, while the biggest loss remains Muttiah Muralitharan who will play for Kochi this season.”We have Vijay to start off, and Badri, me, Raina, Albie, Du Plessis … Scott Styris is an allrounder. Michael Hussey [who is in Bangladesh with the Australia team] will also be joining us shortly,” Dhoni said. “So I think we have quite a few players who can get runs when it matters. Murali is a great cricketer, a very good influence in the dressing room, with plenty of ideas. We’ll definitely miss him. We’ll also miss Balaji [who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders in the auction].”One player they bought at the auction who will not be available is Australian fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus, who is out of the tournament with injury, according to the team’s website. Tim Southee, who was added to the team after the auction, following his strong show in the World Cup, will take Hilfenhaus’ spot in the side.Chennai play Kolkata in the opening IPL match on April 8 at home.

Niall O’Brien said he knew that his kid brother Kevin, was warming up for a big one when he saw him on the field in Ireland’s match against England on Wednesday night. There were, apparently, some signs of smoke. O’Brien Junior had misfielded, wrenched his knee and Niall, told ESPNcricinfo, he knew the runs were going to come because, “in the field he was grumpy, he was moping around… when he’s like that, he tends to kinda take the bull by the horns as it were.” Niall, 29, said, “I don’t know why he was grumpy, I think he just slept badly or something, he had misfielded few balls, he hurt his knee and I just knew, that he had that kind of look in his eye.”The look in the eye turned into the power of Kevin’s bat, “he’s got that strength and the ability to hit the ball out of the ground,” his brother said. Kevin’s stormtrooper century (113 off 63b), the fastest at the World Cup (100 off 50 balls), set the record for the highest World Cup chase, and threw England’s campaign into total turmoil after an upset three-wicket win.Niall, wicketkeeper and Man of the Match during Ireland’s stunning victory over Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup called the Irish win on Wednesday night, “regulation.” The distance travelled by Ireland in the last four years, he said, should have prepared cricket for last night’s performance. “In the last four years, we’ve come a long way. In 2007, we were only a few professional cricketers and we created a lot of shocks. These aren’t shocks.”Everyone is surprised, there is a lot of media hype, but for us, this is regulation. We should have beaten Bangladesh, we have beaten England.” Ireland, he said, expected to win every game they played. “We play India on Sunday, we expect to win, we want to win. We have respect for every team we play against, equally they all have respect for us.” Ireland’s victory has now thrown open the group.The next step for the team, O’Brien said, would be regular matches against the world’s frontline teams, “We want to play cricket full-time, we want to play cricket all around the world, we want to travel to Australia, travel to India, travel to Sri Lanka, New Zealand, everywhere. We want to play cricket on the future tours programme.” He said the team wanted to “give ourselves the chance” to play a good number of ODIs and T20Is every year. “They probably play 20-30 one day games, and 15-20 Twenty20s per year and we would love to do that for two-three years and see how we pan out. If after two-three years we are not good enough, so be it. At least we could try. I think we’ve got a great squad of players and we’ve got, I think, the strongest team spirit in this tournament.”The support given to the Irish by the Indian crowd, he said, meant that Ireland had the “Indian public behind us.” The next step would be, “to play well for another two or three weeks and hopefully Indian cricket and the BCCI will get behind us, the strongest power in world cricket.” The possibility of an IPL contract excited both brothers, “so hopefully we can do well and hopefully they will come and speak to us so that myself and Kevin come and live in India for a bit.” Did he see himself on one of those giant advertising hoardings featuring cricketers now found on Indian streets? “It would be nice to get me and my brother up there, two very good looking men.”

Daniel Vettori lamented an unsatisfactory batting effort as New Zealand lost the fourth ODI by two wickets in Napier. The hosts slumped to 79 for 5 on a McLean Park pitch favourable for batting, as they completed yet another top-order capitulation on a tour that has been fraught with dreadful performances from New Zealand’s top five batsmen. A familiar lower middle-order recovery was then launched through half-centuries to James Franklin and Nathan McCullum, and New Zealand posted 262 for 7. The total was not enough to keep Pakistan from going 2-1 up in the series, however, and the visitors chased down the target with an over to spare.”I think we walked off the park thinking 300 was a par score, so we were short,” Vettori said. “We knew we had to scrap pretty hard to give ourselves a chance, which I think we did.”James Franklin made 62 to provide the foundation for New Zealand’s innings. Franklin took New Zealand out of immediate danger alongside Brendon McCullum, as the pair put on a valuable 61-run stand, before he raised another 64 runs with Nathan McCullum, who made an unbeaten 53 from 58 balls to provide impetus to the New Zealand innings towards the end. Their efforts were not enough to compensate for a string of soft dismissals at the top of the order, however, as Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson all got themselves out playing ill-advised strokes.”Five for 80 at McLean Park is unacceptable because it’s a great batting deck. I’m pleased with the way that the two McCullums and James Franklin scrapped to give us a score and give us a little bit of credibility, but 5 for 80 was just not good enough. Some guys got out to balls that you shouldn’t really get out to. I know they’ll be disappointed with themselves and they’ll be looking to rectify it in the next game. “The New Zealand bowlers performed creditably on the flat surface, giving their side a hope of a win with breakthroughs right through to the penultimate over of the match. But Vettori’s gamble of bowling out his strike bowlers in search of wickets backfired when the first three balls 48th over, bowled by Scott Styris, were dispatched for eleven runs, effectively swinging the game in Pakistan’s favour. “The bowlers, particularly Hamish Bennett and Scott Styris, stepped up and gave us a chance of winning and in the end we just ran out of resources really. I hoped to win in the 45th or 46th but it wasn’t to be. Asking the likes of Scotty to bowl in the death, which is not his normal role, is tough. We were looking good up until that over.”Vettori also praised Misbah-ul-Haq, whose 93 not out provided the backbone for Pakistan’s innings for the umpteenth time on the tour. Misbah built steadily alongside Younis Khan during the middle overs, before accelerating towards the end as the asking rate began to climb. His innings in Napier was his highest one-day score. “I don’t think [Misbah] has missed out, he’s got almost over 50 in every match. He’s played well and he’s been their rock really, and that’s what we require – a guy who can bat through the innings and set it up for the big hitters. He’s managed to do that almost every game.”The New Zealand captain was confident his team could bounce back to win the last two games to take the series, but claimed it would take special individual performances to get his side over the line. “There’s still an opportunity to win the series with two games coming up. I think the teams are relatively level. It’s just that one individual performance wins the game and I think Misbah tonight, the way he battled through early on and then finished it off for them – it was a great innings. We need two of those really to give ourselves a chance in Hamilton and Auckland.”He also hoped to play in the fifth one dayer in Hamilton on Thursday despite picking up a hamstring niggle while bowling. “About my third over I twinged my hamstring so I’ll see how I go over the next couple of days. It’s important for me to play [the next game] if I can, but the unfortunate thing about three games in five days is that it makes it difficult to recover.”

ScorecardA determined bowling performance from West Indies women helped them level the three-match series against India women at 1-1 with one to play.The visitors made a poor start after choosing to bat, with Deandra Dottin falling for a duck in the first over, but Juliana Nero and Stafanie Taylor steadied West Indies. They added 54 for the second wicket, but once their partnership was broken, the innings collapsed. Priyanka Roy worked magic with her legbreaks and spun through the middle order, taking 4 for 19. West Indies slumped from 54 for 1 to 88 for 7. The tail dragged them towards three figures and the innings ended on 107.The Indian chase suffered from a frequent fall of wickets, which crippled any attempts to build momentum. Of the top seven batsmen, only Poonam Raut and Harmanpreet Kaur made double-figure scores. Their contributions of 30 and 33, however, weren’t enough to secure a series win. Tremayne Smartt picked up 3 for 9, while Anisa Mohammed took 2 for 17, helping restrict India to 104 for 8.

Although Gladstone Dainty has announced an ambitious plan for a national Twenty20 tournament in the USA starting in 2012, the USA Cricket Association has been hit with a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by the North American Cricket League (NACL).NACL, which describes itself as a “sports media and entertainment company dedicated to promoting cricket throughout the world, including so-called Twenty20 format cricket in the United States” claims that it has an existing deal with USACA which is in direct conflict with the board’s new initiative.A statement from NACL said that there were “nine causes of action” including breach of contract, fraud, misappropriation of proprietary business information and theft of trade secrets. It accuses USACA of embarking on a “fraudulent scheme to extract money from NACL and its investors”.NACL’s case centres on an agreement it says it entered into with USACA to promote and organise an official Twenty20 league in the United States. “The parties signed an interim agreement that granted NACL an exclusive period of negotiations during which USACA was contractually bound to cease negotiations with any third parties for the same rights.”While NACL continued to negotiate a master agreement in good faith, USACA had no intention of honouring the terms of the interim agreement and engaged in a fraudulent scheme to extract money from NACL and its investors.”The complaint further alleges that while NACL was negotiating with USACA in good faith, USACA entered into additional agreements with third parties from which USACA also accepted large cash payments for the licensing of the same commercial rights.

Shakib Al Hasan has expressed unhappiness at having the Bangladesh captaincy thrust upon him, and at not being given a free hand with selection following the nine-run defeat in the first one-dayer against Zimbabwe in Mirpur. Shakib, who had earlier turned down leadership of the side, was forced to take over from Mashrafe Mortaza when the seamer injured himself at the start of the New Zealand series. Shakib impressed, both as captain and player, as Bangladesh won that series 4-0. Despite Mortaza’s return, he was asked to continue as captain for the Zimbabwe one-dayers.”I was not prepared to take the job [captaincy],” Shakib said after the defeat. “And I am also not satisfied with my role as a captain. The reasons are numerous, and I cannot detail all of them right at the moment.”Bangladesh’s problems against Zimbabwe began when their seam attack, led by Mortaza, allowed the visitors to get off to a strong start despite conditions that aided the new ball. Their fielding was also substandard, with the Zimbabwe openers surviving several run-out opportunities. Bangladesh’s spinners then brought their side back into the game, dismissing Zimbabwe for 209, but the batsmen – barring Shakib who top-scored with 63 – collapsed in a rash of poor strokes and run-outs.Shakib hinted that he was saddled with a XI that he did not completely agree with. “The captain should have a clearly defined role, but anyway I don’t want to talk about the team. What I can say is that I gave my 100 % as a captain in the field.”Fielding-wise we could not expect more from this team because we had two good fielders in Raqibul Hasan and Naeem Islam out of the team. Those who were in the team are not capable. Actually we can’t expect more from this team as they did what they are capable of.”Raqibul played in the New Zealand series, but made way for Mohammad Ashraful who was given yet another opportunity to revive his flagging international career. Ashraful was a part of the batting failure in Mirpur, a recurring problem that Shakib felt had bogged the team down even in the New Zealand series.”Ordinary batting was the main reason [for the defeat]. The simple thing is we didn’t bat well though the wicket was really good for batting in the second innings. In the end, one can lose the match but the fact was that we played poor cricket today.”We didn’t bat well against New Zealand too and it’s really worrying that we have batted badly five matches in a row. We will lose more matches if we play like this.”