Kyle Coetzer, the Northamptonshire opener, has been named as Scotland’s new captain

ESPNcricinfo staff14-May-2013Kyle Coetzer, the Northamptonshire opener, has been named as Scotland’s new captain, after Gordon Drummond stepped down last week. His first match in charge will come on Friday, when Scotland take on Pakistan in the first of two ODIs.Coetzer, 29, has represented Scotland since Under-15s level, captained the side at the Under-19 World Cup in 2004 and was their leading run-scorer at the 2009 World Twenty20. Although he has not been in good form for Northants, with 109 runs in eight innings this season, he recorded his maiden ODI century against Afghanistan in March and averages 49.45 in the format.He will lead the side in all formats, with Preston Mommsen appointed vice-captain. Mommsen will take over captaincy duties during the YB40 and whenever Coetzer is retained by Northamptonshire.”This is a massive year for Scottish cricket, and personally a huge honour to captain my country,” Coetzer said. “I will be trying my very best to help Cricket Scotland continue to move forward in world cricket.”Scotland will host Pakistan in two matches in Edinburgh over the weekend, as part of Pakistan’s preparations for the Champions Trophy, which starts next month. Cricket Scotland will announce their squad on Wednesday.

Namibia moved to second place in the T20 Quadrangular lead with a 45-run victory over Netherlands

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2013
ScorecardNamibia moved to second place in the T20 Quadrangular lead with a 45-run victory over Netherlands.Put in to bat, Namibia began well but lost regular wickets, with no batsman reaching a personal score of thirty. They were struggling at 98 for 5 in the 16th over, before a late charge by Sarel Burger and Jaen Kotze took them to 147 for 6.In reply, Netherlands were in trouble after the fast bowling pair of Hendrik Geldenhuys and Jason Davidson struck to claim five wickets for 12 runs in the space of three overs, leaving Netherlands reeling at 36 for 5. Davidson, who took two wickets in his second over finished with figures of 3 for 7 off four overs. Michael Rippon and Tom de Grooth tried to revive the innings with a 32-run stand but once they were dismissed, Netherlands folded for 102.

Paul Collingwood’s highest one-day score for two years helped Durham to beat Derbyshire by 43 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method at Chester-le-Street.

27-May-2013
ScorecardPaul Collingwood rediscovered his one-day form•PA Photos

Paul Collingwood’s highest one-day score for two years helped Durham to beat Derbyshire by 43 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method at Chester-le-Street. Collingwood had a top score of 32 in the competition last year but made 79 from 83 balls as Durham totalled 273 for 6.The hosts took 69 off the last six overs with Gordon Muchall scorching to a 30-ball half-century and remaining unbeaten on 57. Derbyshire were 70 for 3 after 16 overs, Graham Onions taking all the wickets, when the drizzle became too heavy for play to continue.Left-arm paceman Mark Footitt was the pick of Derbyshire’s weakened attack, taking three wickets, while 19-year-old off-spinner Peter Burgoyne also performed creditably.Back at his original club, Mark Turner’s first three overs cost 25 and it was a surprise when Phil Mustard stepped back in the seventh over in an attempt to hit him over extra cover and missed a straight ball.Mark Stoneman had holed out at deep backward square leg in the second over, so Collingwood went in at 40 for 2. He had made six off 12 balls when he drove 21-year-old medium pacer Alex Hughes for a straight six.Otherwise he was content to accumulate steadily in taking the score to 109 after 20 overs. He pulled Turner for his third four to reach 50 off 59 balls and fell in the 36th over, lbw when trying to hit a swinging yorker from Footitt to leg.Scott Borthwick made 43 and Ben Stokes 40, both scoring at around a run a ball, although Stokes made a quiet start. On 14 he was dropped at deep midwicket by Billy Godleman, who had just made a brilliant stop.But when Turner returned, Stokes drove two straight fours in an over which cost 14 then hammered a straight six off left-arm spinner David Wainwright before driving Footitt to mid-off.Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen tried three overs of his own off spin but in the third Muchall lofted three successive balls over mid-off for four. He also drove Footitt over long-on for six and cleared the midwicket rope off Wainwright as the 38th over yielded 15 runs.In Derbyshire’s reply Chesney Hughes hit Onions’ third and fourth balls for four then fell lbw to the fifth, trying to turn a yorker to leg. Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 11 before he played back and edged to Mustard in the seventh over and in Onions’ final over Paul Borrington departed for 32 when he pulled a catch to midwicket.That left them well behind the asking rate when the match was brought to a halt by the elements.

Allrounder Marlon Samuels was voted West Indies’ Overall and ODI player of the year for 2012 at an awards function

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2013Allrounder Marlon Samuels was voted West Indies’ Overall and ODI player of the year for 2012 at an awards function hosted by the WICB and the West Indies Players Association in Trinidad on Thursday. Shivnarine Chanderpaul was recognised as Test Player of the Year. Stefanie Taylor, 22, was adjudged Women’s Cricketer of the Year.During the event, WICB president Dave Cameron also presented commemorative gold rings to the 15 players and eight-member management that won the World T20 in Sri Lanka last October.After a Watson-blitz and rain helped Australia get the better of them, and a comprehensive nine-wicket loss to Sri Lanka, West Indies regrouped to steal a thrilling Super-Over victory against New Zealand to book their place in the final four. Chris Gayle powered West Indies past Australia in the semi-final and Marlon Samuels followed a vital half-century against Sri Lanka in the final, during which he clobbered Lasith Malinga for 39 runs in 11 balls, with a spell of 4-0-15-1 to lead West Indies to victory.”This is a truly special honour – one that all of us will cherish. On behalf of the team I want to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who came up with this idea and all those who made it possible,” said Darren Sammy, who captained West Indies to their first world title triumph since the Champions Trophy in 2004. “We played an amazing brand of cricket to win over in Sri Lanka; to win the trophy for our people. Now it feels really great to be honoured, in this way, here at home.”Spinner Sunil Narine bagged two awards, the T20 Player of the Year and Regional Limited-Overs Player of the Year. Kieran Powell, who has three centuries in 15 Tests, was voted Emerging Player of the Year. Jamaica won the First-Class Team of the Year award and one of their players, left-arm spinner Nikita Miller was the First-class Player of the Year. Barbados won the Under-19 Team of the Year and Jeremy Solozano of Trinidad & Tobago claimed the award for Under-19 Player of the Year. Left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie was named the Caribbean T20 Player of the year.Former West Indies wicketkeeper Jackie Hendriks, who also served as president of the Jamaica Cricket Association and director of the WICB, was given the inaugural WICB Lifetime Achievement Award, while the WIPA counterpart went to Winston Reid, who collected 205 wickets for Barbados in a career spanning 15 years.

Opener Ruvindu Gunasekera’s fifty and unbeaten hundred in consecutive innings, and a collective bowling performance, saw Canada win the two-day Auty Cup match against the United States on the basis of a first-innings lead.

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2013
ScorecardRuvindu Gunasekera put up strong performances in both innings for Canada, scoring 72 and an unbeaten 100•Canadian Cricket Association

Opener Ruvindu Gunasekera’s fifty and unbeaten hundred in consecutive innings, as well as a collective bowling performance, helped Canada win the two-day Auty Cup match against the United States on the basis of a first-innings lead.Canada, chosing to bat, made a strong start with a 105-run opening stand between Gunasekera and wicketkeeper Trevin Bastiampillai. However, once left-arm spinner Ryan Corns broke the partnership, Canada lost regular wickets and were eventually dismissed for 228. Gunasekera top-scored with a 164-ball 72, which included six fours, while Bastiampillai made 55 off 91 deliveries. USA captain and legspinner Timil Patel took four wickets for 66 runs, while Corns ended with 3 for 21.USA made a poor start to their innings, losing openers Steven Taylor and Alan Dodson for just 28 runs in 11 overs. But a 79-run, fourth-wicket stand between Ravi Timbawala and Karan Ganesh stabilised the innings, before Ganesh fell for 35 to left-arm spinner Salman Nazar. From there on, USA slumped from a stable 134 for 3, to 183 all out. Nazar and medium-pacer Harvir Baidwan picked up three wickets each, as USA conceded a 45-run lead.Canada’s batsmen played freely in the second innings, scoring at more than five runs an over. Gunasekera led the way again, scoring an unbeaten 93-ball 100, which included 11 fours and three sixes.The two teams will play a 50-over match on July 27, as well as two Twenty20 matches on July 28.

Jesse Ryder has been banned for six months after testing positive for a banned substance. He will, however, be able to play again after October 19 once the retrospective ban ends

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2013New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has been banned for six months after failing a drug test in March. He will be available to play again after October 19, once the retrospective penalty ends.Ryder underwent a routine drug test while playing a Ford Trophy match for Wellington on March 24. He tested positive for 1-Phenylbutan-2-amine (PBA) and N, alpha-diethyl-benzeneethanamine (DEBEA), which are banned in sports.Ryder was informed of the result on April 12 and attended a hearing before the New Zealand Sports Tribunal earlier this month, where the ban was handed down. The batsman will not contest the decision of the tribunal.According to the Tribunal, Ryder “‘may not during the period of ineligibility participate in any capacity in a competition or activity authorised or organised by New Zealand Cricket or a cricket club or other member organisation”.The mandatory punishment for a drug violation is a two-year ban, but Ryder was given a lighter sentence because he could establish that he did not use drugs to improve his performance. He was also able to attribute the source of the drugs to a dietary supplement that he was taking as part of a weight-loss programme.According to news reports, Ryder made some enquiries about the supplement on his own and decided to take it after concluding that it did not contain any banned substances. However, he did not contact Drug Free Sport, an anti-doping organisation, to check whether the product was on its list of banned substances. After he tested positive, he commissioned an independent forensic analysis, which confirmed the presence of the substances and traced them to the dietary supplement.In a statement released by the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association, Ryder said: “I’m devastated by this situation. I’ve never taken drugs and to be in this situation distresses me greatly. I simply took the supplement alongside a training programme I was completing to help me lose weight. I have attended anti-doping education seminars during my time in cricket and am a strong supporter of Drug Free Sport New Zealand. I’m aware of the precautions you need to take; I did take steps to check the supplement but ultimately it was my responsibility and I accept that. Whilst everyone is aware of my well-documented battles with alcohol, it’s important for me to state that I abhor drug use of any kind, both recreational and performance-enhancing in sport.”Ryder, who has played 18 Tests and 39 ODIs for New Zealand so far, took a sabbatical from international cricket in 2012, choosing to focus on his fitness and domestic cricket. Earlier this year, Ryder was assaulted outside a bar in Christchurch and spent two days in a medically induced coma before making a recovery. In July, Ryder announced his decision to leave Wellington and represent Otago in the forthcoming domestic season.

Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka Cricket’s chief selector has confirmed that fast bowler Lasith Malinga will miss the tour of Zimbabwe, which starts in the first week of October

Sa'adi Thawfeeq30-Aug-2013Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka Cricket’s chief selector, has confirmed that fast bowler Lasith Malinga will miss the tour of Zimbabwe, which begins in the first week of October. Malinga had requested permission from SLC to skip the tour, stating that he wanted to be with his wife and family, as they expect their second child late in September. He has already made himself unavailable for the Champions League T20 tournament.”The selection committee has accepted Malinga’s request and we have given him permission to forego the tour,” Jayasuriya said on Thursday.Jayasuriya also elaborated on the selection policy for the Zimbabwe tour, saying the selectors would focus on a balanced side, especially for the Test series, because the conditions required the presence of seniors in the side.”We are thinking of bringing in youngsters whenever we can but the Test series is very important for us. We need the senior players in the team also,” Jayasuriya said. “We need to have a serious discussion on how we are going to approach the Test series especially. Just because it is Zimbabwe, we should not get carried away and select a very young side. The conditions are different in Zimbabwe and we will require the services of the senior players, especially for the Test series.”Jayasuriya also said that Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have indicated to the selectors that they will be available for selection until the 2015 World Cup.”Our policy is to give as much exposure to youngsters but, in this regard, we must also be careful as to how we go about it,” Jayasuriya said. “In Tests and ODIs, we cannot experiment too much with youngsters, we need the three seniors around. As you may have noticed, it is the seniors who have won us matches in these two formats over the last couple of years.”We had a tough series against South Africa and, in the ODIs, we had the three senior cricketers and at least six youngsters. For the T20 series, we tried bringing in youngsters because we thought that is one format they can adjust to very quickly.”Jayasuriya also stressed that the team would face a few losses, while experimenting with youngsters in the playing XI.
On the exclusion of allrounder Jeevan Mendis and opener Upul Tharanga from the 27-member squad named for the Zimbabwe tour, Jayasuriya said that Mendis. had been given enough opportunities and the selectors had decided to back another player. He shared a similar opinion about Tharanga”Upul has not performed to our expectations,” said Jayasuriya. “He scored a big hundred in one game but after that he never showed the consistency that we expected from him.”We have retained Kusal Perera because he is young and he has talent. He has shown what a destructive batsman he can be on his day.”Sri Lanka are scheduled to play two Tests, three ODIs and two T20s on their tour of Zimbabwe.

The pitch was pancake flat and slow, the disheartened India A bowling a little listless, and the fielding poor. However, West Indies A balanced it out by throwing away wickets, not taking full advantage of three dropped catches, and failing to convert two

The Report by Sidharth Monga in Shimoga02-Oct-2013
Scorecard
The crowds came in huge numbers, but the action didn’t quite live up to their enthusiasm•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

An enthusiastic holiday crowd of over 10,000 packed under – and on – the trees that surround the cricket ground of Shimoga’s Jawaharlal Nehru College of Engineering, but what happened on the field of play didn’t match their enthusiasm. The pitch was pancake flat and slow, the disheartened India A bowling a little listless, and the fielding poor. However, West Indies A balanced it out by throwing away wickets, not taking full advantage of three dropped catches, and failing to convert two half-centuries into hundreds. They ended at 283 for 6 with Kraigg Brathwaite and Assad Fudadin scoring fifties, and Leon Johnson and Chadwick Walton cushioning the blow of two quick wickets with a 68-run partnership for the sixth wicket.The day began with pleasantries for West Indies A. First they won the toss on the benign pitch, and then as they waited to go out to bat they were treated to a rendition of “Rally Round the West Indies”. Similarly hospitable bowling followed from Mohammed Shami and Zaheer Khan, who couldn’t manage movement in the air. There wasn’t going to be much off the pitch anyway. The openers got through the quicks’ opening spell without having to play at many deliveries.Against spin, though, Kieran Powell and captain Kirk Edwards lost their heads. Powell holed out to cow corner, and Edwards walked past one soon after he was dropped and hit a six off left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt. Narsinh Deonarine played across the line to Zaheer, and was given out lbw.West Indies A had gone from 55 for 1 to 98 for 3, but Brathwaite wasn’t about to lose his mind. He ground the runs out with the spinners – Bhatt and Parvez Rasool offered enough cutting and driving opportunities, sometimes off successive deliveries. Fudadin wasn’t as alert as Bratwaite, but he was dropped by VA Jagadeesh and Mohammad Kaif on 12 and 27 at square gully and backward point. Abhishek Nayar and Shami were the unfortunate bowlers.Either side of tea, the two added 117 runs. After the drops, the game settled into a lethargic little stroll with easy runs for the two. Zaheer bowled a third spell, but wasn’t effective. After Zaheer was taken off after two overs in that spell, spin came on at both ends, and pretty much only a mistake was going to get any batsman out. The mistakes duly arrived. Fudadin fell lbw while sweeping Bhatt, and Brathwaite edged to the keeper while cutting Rasool.The twin breakthrough didn’t buoy India A enough to overcome conditions, and Johnson and Walton began to accumulate runs again. Both of them showed preference for clearing the infield, and kept managing to find vacant spaces to put the ball in. Johnson did that five times in one Rasool over, taking 20 off it. He ended the day unbeaten on 36.India A didn’t claim the new ball, but in the 88th over of the day Walton handed them fillip by trying to square-drive a wide ball and offering Uday Kaul an easy catch.

From being homeless, Rajasthan Royals have gone winless in no time. Delhi Daredevils, on the other hand, seem to have started getting it right, with their first-choice eleven finally available for selection

The Preview by Amol Karhadkar02-May-2015

Match facts

Sunday, May 3, 2015
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:43

O’Brien: RR seem to have lost it after a good start

Big Picture

From being homeless, Rajasthan Royals have gone winless in no time. Delhi Daredevils, on the other hand, seem to have started getting it right, with their first-choice eleven finally available for selection.After winning their first five matches of the season, Royals have failed to win any of their last five. With two of those games washed out, Royals have seen an addition of two points to their kitty. That has helped them retain their top-two standing. But with just four matches remaining, Royals would know they are running out of time to get back to winning ways.Delhi Daredevils have no such problems. After a slowish start, they have started appearing as a more consistent unit and have moved from the bottom of the pile into the Playoffs cut-off. A win against a higher-ranked team would bolster their chances to make the cut.It is supposed to be a home game for the Royals but the Brabourne Stadium will see its first game of the season. Royals may hold the edge, not just because of a strong presence of Mumbai players in their squad, but also due to the fact that they had a pre-tournament camp at Cricket Club of India. Delhi would also be far from alien to the conditions, with Mumbaikars Zaheer Khan, Shreyas Iyer and Pravin Amre being vital cogs in their set-up.

Form guide

Rajasthan Royals LLLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Delhi Daredevils WLWLW

Watch out for…

It took him seven innings to score his first fifty of the season but Sanju Samson would still be cursing himself for having failed to see his team through against Mumbai Indians on Friday night. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been shuffled in the batting order as much as Steven Smith’s horizontal movement at the crease. Samson appeared comfortable at No. 3 and would look to build on his good form.Zaheer Khan was considered to be more of a bowling coach rather than being a player. But the injury-prone bowler made his presence felt in the first game he played for a year by dismissing Virender Sehwag off his second ball. If Zaheer can keep himself fit, Daredevils would have a lethal pace combo in him and an in-form Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Stats and trivia

• Ajinkya Rahane is six runs shy of becoming the 20th batsman to tally 2000 IPL runs. With 1846 of his 1994 IPL runs having been scored for Royals, Rahane sits behind Shane Watson (2197 runs) in leading scorers for Royals in IPL.
• Amit Mishra needs one wicket to become the first bowler to earn 50 wickets for Delhi Daredevils in IPL.
• Rajasthan Royals are one win away from joining Chennai Super Kings (75) and Mumbai Indians (60) to join the 60-win club in IPL.

Quotes

“In our team even if you don’t do well you can see so many people coming to you and talking positive things to you.””We now have to win 4 out of the remaining 6 games. That’s how we are looking at it.”

Jason Gillespie said that if it had been up to him to choose from the candidates on England cricket director Andrew Strauss’s shortlist then he would also have picked Trevor Bayliss

Jon Culley25-May-2015Jason Gillespie took the news that he has apparently been snubbed for the vacant England head coach’s job with typically jocular sangfroid and said that if it had been up to him to choose from the candidates on England cricket director Andrew Strauss’s shortlist then he would also have picked Trevor Bayliss.He said that in his final telephone conversation with Strauss before play began on the second morning of Yorkshire’s match at Taunton he had been told only that there was a “preferred candidate” and had been given to understand that his fellow Australian Bayliss was the ECB’s choice to succeed Peter Moores.But he exonerated Strauss from any blame in what appears to have been another embarrassing leak, with news that Bayliss had accepted the job gathering pace even with no official announcement.”I knew before the news came out,” Gillespie said. “That’s one thing the ECB may need to work on because things do seem to be coming out but I spoke to Straussy early this morning and one thing I was impressed with is that Andrew was able to contact me and let me know. So I’ve absolutely no problem with that.”He fully endorsed Bayliss as the best man for the position following his successes in Australia with New South Wales and the Sydney Sixers, with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and with Sri Lanka, whom he took to the 2011 World Cup final.”England wanted a coach with a proven track record, and if it is Trevor, as it appears likely, his track record’s absolutely unbelievable,” Gillespie said. “I’ve got absolutely no qualms about that. If I put myself in Andrew’s shoes, I’d probably make the same decision if I’m honest.”He is a very good operator and I’ve only heard good things about him. Farby [England’s interim head coach Paul Farbrace] speaks very highly of him from the time he worked with him in Sri Lanka so I can’t say anything negative. I wish him well.”Gillespie, the 40-year-old former Australia bowler, admitted he would have almost certainly taken the job had it been offered but found plenty of positives to balance his disappointment.”I have always seen it as a win-win from my end,” he said. “I have got two great jobs – here with Yorkshire and with Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash. If I had have got offered an international job I would have had to have seriously considered it, that’s for sure. Either way, I don’t see any negatives.”My thoughts were: ‘what is the worst that can happen?’ Go and sit for an interview, which is another experience for me. I can only be better for that, I saw I had nothing to lose.”Straussy said to me, ‘You interviewed very well, but we have made a decision that we are going to go with another candidate.’ I said, that’s fine, mate. I wish you well. You’ve got to believe in your decisions and this is what your job is.”Gillespie admitted there were elements of the job as it was presented that were not ideal, but that the ECB’s refusal to readmit Kevin Pietersen to the fold was not one of them.”They made it very clear they’ve got a stance with Kev,” he said. “I didn’t have a problem with it. That certainly wasn’t any issue.”Where he might have had second thoughts was over the length of time he would have been required to stay away from his young family. “It is a massive commitment and you are away from home a lot. It would have been something I would have had to consider, but I think if I did get offered it I would have jumped at it.”