These are the five innings that have made the ESPNcricinfo awards shortlist for ODI innings of 2009

Cricinfo staff17-Feb-2010A Sachin Tendulkar special, a century that nearly chased 414, a hundred in the Champions Trophy final, a ton despite pain but in vain, and a match-winning hand against the old enemy. These are the five innings that have made the ESPNcricinfo awards shortlist for ODI innings of 2009.Leading the list is Tendulkar’s 175 against Australia in Hyderabad, an innings that evoked memories of his more explosive years. He single-handedly kept India alive in their pursuit of 351 but his dismissal in the 48th over resulted in defeat. A few months later, Rajkot was witness to another unbelievable century during a chase. Tillakaratne Dilshan clobbered 160 off 124 balls as Sri Lanka got within three runs of India’s 414 but no further.The other three contenders for the awards are innings during the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa: Shane Watson’s unbeaten 105 which led Australia to victory in the final against New Zealand, Graeme Smith’s desperate and cramp-ridden 141 against England in a failed attempt to keep South Africa’s campaign alive, and Shoaib Malik’s 128 which methodically dismantled the Indian attack.The top five were drawn on basis of votes from a 14-member jury that includes some of the leading cricket experts in the world and Cricinfo’s senior editors.A departure from the usual year-end awards looking at overall performances, ESPNCricinfo’s honours are in two categories: a jury-based award looking at the year’s best batting and bowling performances and a stats-based award using numbers from Cricinfo’s extensive database.The winners for all the awards will be announced on February 19.

West Indies A will replace their New Zealand counterparts as tourists during the English season

Cricinfo staff20-Mar-2010West Indies A will replace their New Zealand counterparts as tourists during the English season.New Zealand Cricket had requested to postpone their A-team tour which was scheduled to include a triangular tournament with India A and England Lions as well as a number of first-class matches and two Test matches against the India side.West Indies will now step into their place, which will be a boost to the WICB who are looking to increase the overseas exposure of their younger players and those on the fringes of international selection. They will now take part in the one-day tournament and face India in the two Tests.The West Indies players are required back in the Caribbean in mid July so the original programme has been altered to include the four-day and three-day matches before the triangular series rather than afterwards.Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Under-19s will now visit in place of Australia Under-19s for a tour in July and August which includes two Tests, two Twenty20s and five one-dayers.

Daryl Harper has not been chosen to officiate at the World Twenty20 in West Indies

Cricinfo staff10-Mar-2010Daryl Harper has not been chosen to officiate at the World Twenty20 in West Indies although the ICC insist the decision has nothing to do with his controversial role in the fourth Test between England and South Africa, at the Wanderers in January, and is based on “general performance reasons”.Harper came under the spotlight when he was the third umpire in control of the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) in Johannesburg. He gave Graeme Smith not out under the review procedure when he was unable to hear a clear noise as the ball passed the edge.It was suggested at the time that Harper hadn’t had the volume level turned up when listening to the replay, although there were counter-claims that it was a problem with the original feed from the host broadcaster which they denied.”It will be noted that Daryl Harper…has not been selected for this event,” the ICC said. “This decision was taken by the selection panel for a number of general performance reasons. It must be categorically stated, however, that none of these reasons is related to his role as third umpire in the fourth Test between South Africa and England in Johannesburg earlier this year.”It wasn’t the first time that Harper had been involved in controversy either in the TV umpire’s chair or out in the middle and the ICC’s statement that his omission from the World Twenty20 is for general performance suggests it has been a build-up of errors.Harper isn’t the first umpire to miss a high-profile tournament. In 2007, Aleem Dar, Steve Bucknor, Billy Bowden and Rudi Koertzen were stood down from the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa – along with match referee Jeff Crowe – following their part in the chaotic conclusion to the 2007 World Cup final in Barbados. The game ended in virtual darkness when the umpires didn’t realise enough overs had been completed to register a match.While Harper won’t be in the West Indies, three international panel umpires – Marais Erasmus from South Africa, Australia’s Rod Tucker and Shavir Tarapore from India – will join their elite colleagues.The decision on the umpiring appointments was taken by a four man committee comprising of Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager, Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC chief match referee, David Lloyd the former England coach and now TV commentator and Srinivas Venkataraghavan the former elite umpire from India.Umpires Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Billy Doctrove, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Rudi Koertzen, Asoka de Silva, Simon Taufel, Asad Rauf (all from the elite panel of ICC umpires), Marais Erasmus, Shavir Tarapore and Rod Tucker (from the international panel of ICC umpires).Match referees Ranjan Madugalle, Alan Hurst and Jeff Crowe

If the batsmen were looking for trouble, boy, they came to the right place

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga11-Apr-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outPiyush Chawla was Man of the Match for his terrific spell•Indian Premier League

If the batsmen were looking for trouble, boy, they came to the right place. The Feroz Shah Kotla track was back to its Champions League shenanigans, and Kings XI Punjab, having seen Delhi Daredevils fail to read its nature soon enough, kept their heads in what seemed a meagre chase on paper, also keeping alive their remotest of outside chance to make it to the semis. Only 21 boundaries were hit in 38.2 overs on a pitch that offered variable bounce and appreciable turn right from the first ball, and whose slowness made it hard to time shots.The Punjab bowlers were smart and accurate, two of Delhi’s big three were consumed by silly running, the others collapsed, and hence the below-par total. While Punjab were sensible in the chase, they couldn’t create a comfortable gap between their run rate and the required rate until Yuvraj Singh hit a four and a six in the 14th over.The nature of the pitch was not so apparent in the first four overs of the afternoon. Delhi had got off to another flier when madness struck: Gautam Gambhir and David Warner were run out within three balls of each other, and only 69 runs came in 15.5 overs after that. The spinners bowled 12 overs between them for 55 runs – four of them inside the Powerplay, and Juan Theron, the specialist pace bowler, was used only for two overs, that too at the death.Even after Virender Sehwag’s dismissal to the first ball he faced, Punjab would have been disappointed with the first 3.4 overs: without hitting even one shot in the air, Delhi raced away to 39, including two sets of five wides. The next delivery, though, Gambhir cut straight to short third man, was called for a single by Warner, and then sent back with no chance to get in. Either way there would have been a run-out: there was no single available. Two balls later, Warner played a similar shot, and Paul Collingwood responded in similar manner.From there on, Punjab spinners employed a vicious vice grip on the batsmen: only two boundaries came in the rest of the innings. Following Powar’s opening act, Piyush Chawla feasted. Collingwood’s lbw wasn’t as bad as it looked; it was worse. He sat back and intended to read Chawla off the pitch, and was caught dead plumb to a straight topspinner. Daniel Vettori was defeated by a perfect Chawla googly. Thirty-nine for 1 in 3.3 had become 58 for 4 in 10 overs, and it was down to Dinesh Karthik to take Delhi to a fighting total.Karthik tried various tricks to get quick runs, sweeps, reverse-sweeps, moving in the crease, but could never get away. When he tried to force the pace off the coming-back Irfan Pathan, he holed out to long-on, for 17 off 35. Mithun Manhas, Delhi’s middle-order mainstay for years in Ranji Trophy, played sensibly after that, and managed to go at about run a ball for his 26, an effort that took Delhi beyond 100.Mahela Jayawardene walked out to open with Irfan, sent presumably to get some quick runs, but it was the classier batsman who made sure Punjab didn’t crumble in the chase. While Irfan holed out to deep midwicket, Jayawardene kept playing the orthodox shots and scored at a run a ball, which was better than the rate required.In the fourth over of the chase, he scored a lovely inside-out boundary and followed it up with the first six of the match, a clean strike over long-on. Still even Jayawardene found it difficult to time the ball, a few of his attempted big shots ended up inside the infield, and on this pitch a collapse couldn’t have been too many corners away.When Jayawardene fell at the end of the 11th over, for a 35-ball 38, he had left Punjab 47 to get off 54, which soon became 41 off 42. In the 14th over, though, Yuvraj managed two clean hits in quick succession, a cluster by the standards of this match. He guided Rajat Bhatia past short fine, followed by a heaved six over midwicket. After that the equation was manageable, and the late hiccup through Kumar Sangakkara’s wicket only teased Delhi for having over-aimed during their innings.

One thing is dominating the sporting minds of South Africans. And it isn’t the World Twenty20, even though the football World Cup doesn’t start until June 11

Andrew McGlashan01-May-2010

Overview

AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis will be crucial to South Africa’s chances•Getty Images

One thing is dominating the sporting minds of South Africans. And it isn’t the World Twenty20, even though the football World Cup doesn’t start until June 11. Given the team’s record at global tournaments perhaps that isn’t a surprise, and Graeme Smith’s downbeat assessment of his side’s preparation didn’t suggest they were primed to end their trophy drought.Other than Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn the IPL wasn’t a huge success for South Africa. AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher were shunted out of their franchises’ XIs, Smith broke his hand again and Charl Langeveldt was also injured. Still, it would be ridiculous to suggest they don’t have a chance over the next two weeks.It has been a period upheaval since the end of England series with Mickey Arthur resigning as coach just days before the India tour and Mike Proctor, the convenor of selectors, also losing his job in a radical shake-up. Corrie van Zyl took charge of the team and under the circumstances a 1-1 Test series in India was a notable success.Having had a couple of months to formulate plans, van Zyl will now have a better idea of the task ahead. Can he be the coach to bring back that elusive silverware? And, while the football World Cup is nearing, will anyone notice if he does?

Twenty20 pedigree

A shared series against England was a disappointment, but the way they pulverised the visitors at Centurion Park in racking up 241 for 6 showed their batting packs a punch. Last time out at the World Twenty20, South Africa produced a slick display to reach the semi-finals only to be undone by Pakistan, to leave Smith facing familiar questions having been a similar situation when the team bottled it against India during the 2007 event.

Strengths and weaknesses

The batting is full of powerful strokemakers with Jacques Kallis, especially, having reinvented himself in this year’s IPL. A couple of years ago it appeared South Africa had moved on from him in Twenty20, but now he is central to their hopes. The problem in recent times has been the balance of the team as they try to squeeze two spinners, Roelof van der Merwe and Johan Botha, into the line-up. They will also miss the wicket-taking ability of Wayne Parnell who is an IPL casualty. As ever, the ‘c’ word is never far away, either.

Key men

AB de Villiers was dropped midway through the IPL as Delhi tried to juggle their batting resources, but he’s a guaranteed starter for his country. His average of 23 suggests he has underachieved in Twenty20, although sometimes that has been down to a lack of time in the middle. However, just as a vital is his fielding that is capable of winning matches with a catch or a run out.Dale Steyn, meanwhile, produced some express spells in India and, although four overs doesn’t leave much time to make an impact, he can influence matches with early wickets. Often during the IPL, he wasn’t used in the death overs and it will be interesting to see how Smith utilises his strike weapon.

X-factor

Maybe Smith’s underwhelming comments are a secret plan. South Africa have often entered global events under the weight of expectation. Could the captain be trying some reverse psychology? On the field, Loots Bosman has been a revelation in recent T20s and was unlucky not to get an IPL deal. If he gets going, Caribbean grounds won’t be big enough.

Vital stats

Salman Butt, the mainstay of Pakistan’s batting in the recently concluded World Twenty20, believed that his success during the event was based on understanding that the youngest format of the game was not about just slogging

Cricinfo staff25-May-2010Salman Butt, the mainstay of Pakistan’s batting in the recently concluded World Twenty20, believed that his success during the event was based on understanding that the youngest format of the game was not about just slogging.”Twenty-over cricket has a place for what I would term “proper stroke-makers” – batsmen who play their shots on the merit of each delivery,” Butt told . “Bowlers are fighting back when it comes to this form of the game and they are finding new ways to innovate and to restrict the batting side. As a batsman I think you have to play the high percentage shots, the shots that you know you can play, the shots that you feel you can score off effectively.””If you think about it, get four or five singles in an over and one boundary in the same over, and you have accumulated eight or nine runs in that over, which if you can maintain and you will end up with 160-plus. It’s not just about the fours and sixes”. Butt was the third highest run-getter in the tournament, with 223 runs at 44.60, and a strike-rate of 131.17. Interestingly, he hit only four sixes during the tournament, fewer than anyone else in the top fifteen.His top score came in the Super Eights match against New Zealand, which Pakistan contrived to lose by one run, when tail-ender Abdur Rehman spooned a catch into the deep off the last ball, with Butt stranded at the non-striker’s end on 73. Butt had run a bye off the penultimate ball to relinquish the strike, and he backed his decision in hindsight.”We needed 11 off the last over and then three off two deliveries after I managed to hit two boundaries. Rehman and I had a chat before the penultimate delivery and decided that we would go for a bye even if I did not connect with the ball. We scampered a bye and then had another chat before the final delivery. We decided that again we would run for anything and we were confident that if it went to the super over, in Mohammad Aamer we had a bowler who would see us to victory.Rehman had not batted previously in the tournament as of course it was his first match, so I said to him to at least look for a single. However when the ball was bowled by [Ian] Butler, Rehman’s eye’s lit up at the leg-stump half volley. He went for a boundary and connected really well. If the ball had been a few yards either side of the fielder it would have gone for a boundary. Thinking back I thought the planning was satisfactory and it was really painful when we did not at least score a single on that final delivery,” Butt said.Despite that loss, their second in two Super Eights games, Pakistan roared back into the tournament with a fine victory against South Africa to enter the final four. They dominated their semi-final match against Australia from the outset and looked on course for their third consecutive World Twenty20 final before running into a rampaging Michael Hussey, who stole 18 off the final over to put it past them. Butt admitted there was little his side could have done to deny Hussey in that kind of form.”Yes we can be satisfied with reaching the semi-finals, but the target is always to win trophies. We came back very well after the New Zealand defeat to beat the South Africans and I thought we were gaining enough momentum and on our way to the final.
“We made the highest score any team made in the tournament against Australia, but it was one of those occasions where you have to credit Mike Hussey for his batting. I would say that rather than Pakistan losing the semi-final, it was more a case of Hussey winning the match for Australia,” Butt said.Butt credited his coaches, Ijaz Ahmed and Waqar Younis, for his fine run of form in the West Indies. “They really backed me during the tournament and gave me a lot of self-belief and confidence. As a batsman once you receive the backing and you have the self confidence, then that is half the battle,” Butt said.Butt hopes to feature in Pakistan’s next assignment, the Asia Cup one-day tournament which will be held on the bowler-friendly wickets at Dambulla in Sri Lanka. “Hopefully I will get selected. The conditions in Dambulla are very tricky for top order batsmen as the ball seams around a lot in the first hour or so. Winning the toss could be pivotal in the result of the matches in Sri Lanka,” he said.After the Asia Cup, Pakistan embark on a tour of England where they will face the hosts and Australia in six Tests, and Butt is up for the potentially tough examination. “Facing the Australian and English bowling attacks will be a tough test. They are amongst the best bowling attacks in the world at the moment and they will thoroughly test me and the other Pakistani batsmen. However when you face tough opponents, it helps you to develop your game and to work harder at improvements in your game and technique,” Butt said.Butt’s name has done the rounds as a potential captain for Pakistan in Test matches, following the retirement of Mohammad Yousuf, but he has not dwelled much on the possibility. “I have read a few articles in the press and I know that a few ex-players have suggested that I should be given the opportunity. Of course it would be an honour to lead my country, but it is not something I have been thinking about. I would much rather concentrate on my batting in the upcoming Asia Cup and tour of England,” he said.

Cricket Australia will not finalise its next candidate for the ICC vice-presidency until August

Peter English09-Jul-2010Cricket Australia will not finalise its next candidate for the ICC vice-presidency until August after its board decided only to review the events that led to John Howard’s rejection last week. Australia and New Zealand must make another joint nomination for the role, which includes two years as the global organisation’s president from 2012, and there will not be a swift conclusion to this complicated episode.Jack Clarke, Cricket Australia’s chairman, led the teleconference from London on Friday and briefed his board on the way Howard’s appointment was blocked at the ICC’s annual conference in Singapore. Howard has not withdrawn from the race but will stand by Cricket Australia’s decision if it does not retain him.No names were discussed as possible new candidates and the board will not be asked to consider a nomination until its next meeting on August 13. “Jack gave a highly detailed debrief to the directors and one of the key things he stressed was that Australia and New Zealand were joined at the hip throughout this process,” a Cricket Australia spokesman told Cricinfo. “They want to remain that way as they move forward.”New Zealand Cricket’s board will discuss the situation on July 23 before further talks take place between its chairman Alan Isaac and Clarke. When the ICC board rejected Howard’s elevation it gave the organisations until the end of August to provide another option.One person who is definitely not in contention is Mark Taylor, the former Australia captain. He has ruled himself out due to his commentary, business and family interests. Allan Border, a former board member and Test leader, is also not interested.In the early stages of the process New Zealand promoted its former chairman Sir John Anderson for the role, but Howard, 70, won the nomination following a decision made by an independent panel. That move was stopped in Singapore when six board members from Asia, Africa and the West Indies signed a letter opposing Howard. The issue did not even get to a vote.

Kumar Sangakkara said the target of 269 was achievable but his batsmen lost the advantage when five wickets fell in the first 15 overs

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Dambulla24-Jun-2010Following Sri Lanka’s comprehensive 81-run defeat in the Asia Cup final, the captain Kumar Sangakkara said the target of 269 was achievable but his batsmen lost the advantage when five wickets fell in the first 15 overs. He added that the fielding was not up to the mark especially in an important game like this.”Unfortunately, our batting style wasn’t probably apt for the conditions. Maybe it would have been a bit tighter and we should have been a bit more positive in executing our strokes,” Sangakkara said. “If we had got through that difficult period, it may have been a couple of wickets down for 60 on the board in the first 15 overs and it would have been a great run chase.”We weren’t the greatest on the field. We had a lot of missed goals that cost us boundaries, 19 extras really doesn’t help the cause especially when you know that you are facing the tougher conditions batting second. We dragged it back in the last 12 overs which cost us only 60 runs but unfortunately, India had a great start, a couple of good partnerships in the middle and 268 was always a very good score on a track like this. We probably gave India about 15-20 runs extra but it wouldn’t have mattered in the end because we got only 187.”Although his team could not make it three Asia Cup wins-in-a-row, Sangakkara said the entire squad showed a lot of character and ability.”What you’ve got to learn is when you get to a final that’s probably where you should play your best cricket, just lift your standards up as high as you can and really go for the blow,” he said. “Unfortunately we had three great games where we outplayed the opposition.”Under Sangakkara’s leadership, this defeat was third in a tournament final, twice to India (first at the Compaq Cup last year) and once to Pakistan (ICC World T20).”We always manage to get into the final unbeaten, then not really perform in the final. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to lift our standards,” Sangakkara said. “You can always talk about the toss at R Premadasa Stadium (Colombo) and at Dambulla but it’s always the mentality that really counts in the end.”The defeatist attitude once the toss goes up and doesn’t come our way is not the right way to go playing cricket. You’ve got to work a lot harder, especially in the first 15 overs.”Commenting on the conditions at Dambulla, Sangakkara said: “We were expecting the ball to move anyway under lights in Dambulla. Both sides played three seamers, unfortunately for us we couldn’t deal with the movement. They bowled good lines and lengths that were tight and hitting the right areas more often than we did at the start. We can talk about swing and seam and all of that, but at the end of the day technically we could have dealt with it a lot better. Getting through difficult periods is the key, not everything goes your way every day. When it doesn’t that’s when the character shows.However, Sangakkara said the fielding was a big disappointment. “We had three great games fielding wise but in the final again we probably saw a big lax in really stopping the ball and converting half chances,” he said. “Especially in a final the margin for error is very little. Conditions or form don’t affect fielding, it is the one thing that you are totally in control of.”

Durham skipper Phil Mustard’s unbeaten 71 ensured his side avoided the follow-on at home to Lancashire and the rain-ruined match meandered to the inevitable draw in pleasant sunshine

23-Jul-2010
ScorecardDurham skipper Phil Mustard’s unbeaten 71 ensured his side avoided the follow-on at home to Lancashire and the rain-ruined match meandered to the inevitable draw in pleasant sunshine.Durham were all out for 216 shortly after lunch to trail by 128 and Lancashire reached 91 for 4 in their second innings. It could have been different had Glen Chapple’s superb final fling with the ball brought even greater reward than his eventual figures of five for 65.The key moment came when Durham were 20 runs short of the follow-on target with three wickets standing. Mustard, on 39, survived a sharp chance to Paul Horton at first slip off Chapple and hurriedly picked up the required runs at the other end.Durham still needed 11 when Chapple yorked Callum Thorp with a ball which swung from outside leg stump, but Mustard gathered them all in one over from Tom Smith. He twice ran Smith to third man either side of driving a lofted straight four which took him to 50 off 86 balls.With 99 needed when Durham resumed on 96 for five, the target looked like presenting no problem as Mustard and Ben Stokes comfortably added 50 in the first 55 minutes. Both left-handers started confidently as Stokes leg-glanced Chapple for four and Mustard drove him to the extra cover boundary.After bowling three overs, Chapple gave Sajid Mahmood his first bowl of the match but he began with a leg-side wide and his accuracy scarcely improved in an over which also featured two no-balls. His five overs for 25 did Lancashire no favours.Other than when he flashed wide of off stump at Anderson and edged over first slip for four, 19-year-old Stokes coped admirably against the England bowler. But he grew over-confident and sliced a drive to backward point to fall for 37, Anderson sending him on his way with a few words.Anderson had bowled unchanged for 27 overs, taking three for 74, when Chapple replaced him and quickly had Liam Plunkett caught behind. Thorp swiftly followed but by the time Chapple wrapped up the innings by bowling Steve Harmison second ball it was too late.Stephen Moore, Mark Chilton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul passed 20 as Lancashire meandered to the close, Ian Blackwell recording eyecatching figures of 9-6-5-1. Lancashire took nine points from the match and Durham seven.

The weather dealt another blow to Warwickshire and Essex with play called off at lunch on the second day of their Division One relegation clash in the County Championship at Edgbaston

26-Aug-2010
ScorecardThe weather dealt another blow to Warwickshire and Essex with play called off at lunch on the second day of their Division One relegation clash in the County Championship at Edgbaston.Umpires Rob Bailey and Jeff Evans made two inspections before taking the inevitable decision as steady drizzle continued to soak the ground following heavy rain over a 24-hour period.With nearly half of this game now washed out, there was further bad news for the teams – still the bottom two in Division One – when Hampshire improved their chances of survival by taking maximum bonus points against Yorkshire at Scarborough.Warwickshire will still be hoping to make up for the time lost since they took seven wickets for 90 on the first morning, but Essex’s situation is becoming increasingly bleak with only one more game to play against Durham at Chelmsford.