All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardDelhi laid the base for a strong reply to Baroda’s 561, setting up a fight for the first-innings lead on the final day at Feroz Shah Kotla. Half-centuries by Mohit Sharma, who was playing his second first-class game, and Unmukt Chand led the hosts to 215 for 3 at stumps. They need 347 more to earn three points.Having batted for 168 overs in two days, Baroda chose not to declare and played another 10 overs before being dismissed for 561. Resuming on 525 for 7, Ketan Panchal and Gagandeep Singh, who were batting on 72 and 70 respectively, added little to their overnight scores as seamer Parvinder Awana claimed their wickets quickly.Opener Shikhar Dhawan started Delhi’s innings aggressively, but Baroda captain Ambati Rayudu set a defensive field to counter it. When left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt bowled to Mohit, there was a long leg, a deep midwicket and long-on to stop the boundaries.After fast bowler Murtuja Vahora dismissed Dhawan for 30, Mohit played patiently and added 87 with Unmukt. Unmukt played a lot of drives, but due to the presence of a sweeper cover, many of them were singles. The stand was broken when Bhatt got a delivery to pitch on middle-stump line and turn to clip the off bail. Unmukt seemed disappointed and reluctant to leave the crease.Mohit added 78 runs with Mithun Manhas, playing smartly to take singles and doubles to negate the defensive field. Seamer Firdaush Bhaja trapped Mohit lbw 5.4 overs before stumps.Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya wanted his batsmen to score more after getting set, because it will not be easy for the hosts to chase Baroda’s score successfully on a slow pitch. With fading light not allowing the required number of overs to be bowled in the day, there is also a possibility of a draw without two completed innings.

The son of the man regarded by many as the finest batsman the WestIndies has ever produced is lamenting the way Caribbean players arebeing coached these days.Ron Headley, off-spring of the late great George Headley, is adamantthat modern West Indian coaching methods follow too much text-bookfashion.I can see that the players have the ability, but they are notexpressing themselves because of the stereo-type coaching that my dadwould always have been against, Headley said after the unveiling of astatue of George Headley at Sabina Park on Friday.He never coached me. He guided me. I held the bat wrong, but it wassuccessful for me, said Headley, who played two Test matches for theWest Indies on the 1973 tour of England.My dad was always a great believer in allowing natural ability toflow.The younger Headley pointed out that his father also did a few thingsthat were not considered orthodox. Yet, as a feared No. 3 batsman, hesmashed ten hundreds in only 22 Tests in which he scored 2 190 runsand averaged 60.83, the highest by any West Indian with more than 2000Test runs.My old man had a two-eyed stance and he shuffled, said the youngerHeadley, who has been resident in England for several years.When the bowler was running up to bowl, he could see all the stumps.By the time he let the ball go, you couldn’t see anything. He was onthe move. That was his way. That was his natural way and you must dothings naturally, within the context of your ability.Ron Headley, a qualified coach for several years, scored more than 21695 first-class runs and 32 hundreds, most of which were made in theEnglish county championships for either Worcestershire or Derbyshire.Much of what he is saying was written in a five-page letter to theWest Indies Cricket Board almost five years ago.The 61-year-old Headley, whose son Dean represented England in Testcricket up until recently, also believes that regional authorities arenot utilising the best available resources as they seek to improve theWest Indies’ recent fortunes.We need to have coaches who are able to impart the game, to bring thebest out of each player’s natural ability. That is obviously nothappening, he said.Rohan Kanhai’s knowledge of the game is immense. We’ve got theabilities and people with those abilities aren’t being used.Headley, too, would relish the opportunity to work with current WestIndian players.I would love to have a session with some of these guys. It’s all aboutgiving the guys the confidence and looking and seeing whateverweaknesses they are, he said.I say to people that as a coach I can’t do anything for the players. Ican’t go out and bat for them and field for them. They are the onesthat have got to go out and do it.Headley also referred to the success Australia gained in recent yearsand pointed to differences in style.I love West Indies’ cricket it is not a loose statement but it needsto recognise there is a problem, he said.Until we recognise it and accept it, we are not going to solveanything. Look at all the Australians, they all bat differently. Lookat our players, they all bat the same, apart from (Brian) Lara.Somebody is doing something to them which is not natural to them.Headley added that he hoped the Headley legacy could be expanded.One day, I hope, maybe stemming from this we may see a George HeadleyAcademy right here in Jamaica and a foundation that can pick upyoungsters and give them the right coaching guidance so we can startto begin to produce, he said.

Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan coach, is pleased with his team’s performance in the Twenty20 series against Australia so far, after they won the first two matches to make the third and final T20 on Monday a dead rubber. Pakistan routed Australia in the first game, bowling them out for 89, but the second game was a much closer affair, with Pakistan prevailing off the final ball of the Super Over.”I am very much delighted,” Whatmore said. “Can’t do any more than to win two out of two, it was an exciting finish (in the second T20), different from that I thought it would be, but it’s good to have the experience of the Super Over leading up to the World Twenty20. We haven’t played too many Super Overs, so that was good.”The current series was a chance for Pakistan to prepare for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this month and Whatmore said his side were where they wanted to be going into the tournament. “You want to have some confidence going into it, no point entering a big competition without having some wins under your belt. Where we are in the world standard, there is a world ranking but it is still difficult to gauge. I think it boils down to who can play their best cricket over a small period of time.”Whatmore wanted Pakistan to win Monday’s final T20 and sweep the series. “You cannot say it is as big a game as if the series was 1-1, but it still important for us,” he said. “The pressure is off, we will be a bit more relaxed. There will be a change or two in the team, it is an opportunity to look at one or two other players but to remain as competitive as possible as winning is important.”Whatmore also said allrounder Shahid Afridi is unlikely to play on Monday as a precautionary measure, and that offspinner Saeed Ajmal had recovered from his shoulder problem. “Afridi has an impact injury (on his left hand), I reckon he might be close to playing, but I don’t think we will risk that. Another knock on that left hand might put him back another couple of weeks, which will be very bad for us. Saeed has a recurring problem with that left shoulder, but I am confident that he will play.”

Scorecard File photo: Michael Papps’ 59 against Auckland went in vain•Getty Images

Luke Wright and Craig Cachopa gave Auckland a victory in their first match of the HRV Cup, against Wellington. Chasing 158, Auckland won with only one ball to spare despite having six wickets in hand.They were off to a shaky start by losing openers Jeet Raval and Martin Guptill to Brent Arnel within the first five overs. Wright and Cachopa put them back on track from there with a partnership of 76 in under ten overs. Wright scored 56 with the help of three fours and as many sixes as the duo took the score past 100. But Arnel struck again and sent Wright back in the 14th over.Auckland now needed 52 from 36 and were dented further with the wicket of Gareth Hopkins ten balls later, with 39 still required. Colin de Grandhomme joined Cachopa to take them home with a quickfire 25 off 13, which featured two fours and a six, and Cachopa was unbeaten on 42.Wellington had also lost their openers early when they were put in to bat. Michael Papps and Stephen Murdoch then scored 57 for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed for a 24-ball 35. Franklin also departed soon and Papps registered his fifth T20 fifty, before Luke Woodcock’s cameo of 30 off 15 powered them past 150. However, wickets on the last three balls of the innings, a team hat-trick, meant they finished on 157 for 7.

Shane Watson has sent a major scare through Australia’s Ashes planners only 19 days away from the first Test in Brisbane by pulling up with a hamstring injury during the final ODI against India in Bangalore.Running in to deliver the first ball of his sixth over at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Watson stopped sharply before completing his delivery stride and immediately left the field. He later batted at No. 8 in Australia’s doomed chase and appeared to aggravate the injury while hitting a six during the course of his rapidfire 49.”Shane encountered soreness in his left hamstring during last night’s ODI in India,” a Cricket Australia spokesman said. “He received initial treatment from team medical staff and showed that he was able to bat when needed. He will have the injury assessed in detail this week following his return to Australia. At that point we will have a clearer picture about his availability for the first Test.”Watson’s innings was played in a fury after he was mocked by the Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who mimicked a limping man after fielding a drive at mid off. The pair exchanged words subsequently and there were further angry scenes when Watson was dismissed, appearing to receive a send-off from several Indian players.Though the seriousness of the problem is still to be assessed, hamstring problems have dogged Watson on numerous occasions throughout his career, often resulting in extended breaks from the game. He has missed major chunks of each of the past two home summers due to leg strains, and flirted with muscle problems during the Ashes series in England earlier this year though continuing to play.Most of Australia’s likely Test squad are building into form at home, but Watson, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, James Faulkner and the prospective No. 6 batsman George Bailey have all exerted themselves on the subcontinent. Concerns about Johnson’s ability to transfer from limited-overs matches to the longer form of the game in time for the Ashes resulted in the team performance manager Pat Howard sending the left-arm seamer home before the final ODI in Bangalore, but Watson remained to play in the series decider.Australia’s medical and fitness staff may face a significant battle to ensure his fitness in time for the Gabba Test. Watson’s availability will greatly affect the balance of the team, with the likes of Bailey, Faulkner and even the Tasmania No. 3 batsman Alex Doolan all possible inclusions should Watson be unfit.”I don’t want to sound biased, (because) I’ve played a lot with Jimmy, but I just can’t speak highly enough of him,” Bailey said of Faulkner. “I don’t know how many games he’s played of one-day cricket but he almost leads our bowling attack. He bowls in power plays. He bowls at the start. He bowls at the death. He loves that responsibility.”I think we’ve just seen him come into his own with the bat as well with a bit of confidence. Teams will certainly fear him. It’s just that energy he brings is wonderful. The competitiveness he brings is something you love playing with. He’s got a pretty bright future.”

ScorecardAndre Adams picked up four wickets to help edge Notts further away from the relegation places•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire eased their relegation worries by picking up two valuable bowling bonus points at Lord’s before their Championship Division One game against Middlesex ended in a weather-ravaged draw.Chris Rogers took his overnight 67 to 108, the fourth first-class hundred of a memorable summer for Australia’s Ashes opener, but then became the first of four scalps for Andre Adams as Middlesex, who resumed on 96 for 0, reached 353 for 7 declared.Somerset’s win against bottom club Surrey pushed Nottinghamshire down into seventh place in the Division One table, but on 132 points they are 12 ahead of Derbyshire, who crashed to defeat against Durham.After the final day’s first session was ruled out to more bad weather it was just a case for both teams of playing for bonus points after a resumption at 1.10pm following an early lunch. Rogers was in aggressive mood, flashing Adams between third slip and gully for one of his eventual 12 fours and then uppercutting a short ball from Harry Gurney to square third man for six.A superbly timed back-foot force to the ropes through point off Luke Fletcher took Rogers to his century but the left-hander fell just five runs short of completing 1000 Championship runs for the season – in only his 11th appearance for Middlesex. Going for another pull, this time against Adams, the Middlesex captain skied to Fletcher at mid-on after batting for 155 balls and dominating an opening stand of 151 with Sam Robson, who edged behind on 41 in Adams’s next over.Dawid Malan had helped Joe Denly to add 49 for the third wicket when, to Samit Patel’s second ball of the day, he aimed a drive and was bowled for 15 by the left-arm spinner. Denly, 42 not out at tea, went on to reach 63 from 76 balls before being bowled by Gurney, with the left-arm paceman squaring him up with a fine delivery from around the wicket.Neil Dexter then thick-edged Gurney to Michael Lumb in the gully as, on 9, he pushed hard at another ball angled in but straightening a little off the pitch, while Gareth Berg fell for 26 to the second new ball when he gave Adams a return catch.John Simpson’s punchy 51 not out, though, from 74 balls and with six fours, guided Middlesex past 350 and a fourth batting point, despite Ollie Rayner falling lbw to Adams.Nottinghamshire’s David Hussey suffered a finger injury while fielding that caused a cut, but he should be fine for next Saturday’s Yorkshire Bank 40 final against Glamorgan. Director of cricket Mick Newell said: “It’s not dislocated and it’s not broken so it shouldn’t be any problem with regard to next week’s final.”

When Boyd Rankin’s second ball of his England one-day debut – against an Ireland side who he had represented 37 times at the same level – disappeared so far down the leg side that Jos Buttler couldn’t gather it there was a fear the occasion may get the better of him. That he ended with a career-best 4 for 46 provided Rankin with a major tick in Ashley Giles’ coach’s notebook at the beginning of a period where the depth of England’s next generation will be assessed.Rankin, who has spent much of his county career under Giles at Warwickshire, overcame his early waywardness in Malahide with the scalps of Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce, then later in the innings he removed William Porterfield and Jonny Mooney to earn him the best figures of a bowler on England debut since Chris Tremlett’s 4 for 32 against Bangladesh in 2005.He formed a tall opening attack with Steven Finn which is likely to be the combination used for most of the series against Australia with England having rested James Anderson and Stuart Broad alongside the injury-enforced absence of Tim Bresnan. His chances of breaking into England’s Ashes party for the Test series in Australia this winter are already being talked up.Giles told ESPNcricinfo that the nerves had been evident. “All credit to him. He was probably more nervous yesterday than if he’d been playing against Australia,” he said, “with him going home and all the talk around the Irish players playing for England. His first couple of overs were a bit nervous but he settled very quickly. To finish with four: what a great debut. He’ll take that confidence into the next match.”Boyd Rankin dismisses William Porterfield on his way to the best debut figures by an England bowler for eight years•Getty Images

Rankin and Finn were the only two frontline quicks selected against Ireland – Jamie Overton and Chris Jordan were overlooked – and for large chunks of the bowling performance England did feel a specialist bowler light, especially when Eoin Morgan turned to Michael Carberry’s basic offspin. Giles, however, was impressed by the role of Ben Stokes who bowled for the first time in ODIs, ending with none for 51 in his 10 overs.”Ben was our third seamer and his bowling has really developed over the last 12 months, and I thought he bowled pretty well yesterday. We have an inexperienced attack for these one-dayers and it’s going to be a steep learning curve. In terms of the balance it was great to look down and see Stokes at No. 8, and at one point it looked as though we might need it. I think we are lucky in his case as he’s a genuine allrounder and can fill two spots.”Giles was alluding to England’s top order collapse as they slipped to 48 for 4 chasing 270 before being rescued by a world-record fifth wicket stand 220 between Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara. Although Giles would have preferred not to see the team in such a tricky position he believes they could yet feel the benefit of it further down the line.”It was a very useful exercise. Obviously there are areas we can work on. Ireland setting us a challenging target was, in hindsight, good for the side because it put them under pressure. It was a bit closer than we’d have liked to be at one stage but overall for us to firstly see some of those guys in an international environment, and then for Morgan and Bopara to get us home was extremely worthwhile.”The side that faced Ireland resembled more a Lions team that a full England one-day side and although three players – Kevin Pietersen, Joe Root and Jonathan Trott – return to face Australia the bowling will retain a callow feel for the five-match series.Giles has not been able to able to pick a full strength team during his time as one-day coach (Pietersen was injured for the Champions Trophy) but acknowledges the need for rotation and also sees the benefit of judging different players under the pressure of one-day cricket.”Myself and Andy Flower, in our conversations, have always accepted that this would have to happen to manage the player workloads. We want to keep their services for the long-term. In the Champions Trophy we had our No 1 side out, barring Kevin Pietersen and that’s our aim: to have our best sides available for the key tournaments.”Between times we are going to have to rest and rotate. It does give us a chance to look at some of the young talent coming through, particularly with an eye on 2015 World Cup. We could say our best team – the one that played the Champions Trophy plus Kevin Pietersen – could get us to the World Cup. It might be, but it might not be and some of youngsters might be needed.”And he insists the split coaching roles which have been in place since January are dovetailing effectively. “It’s going pretty smoothly. Myself and Andy have a good relationship. I feel, and I hope Andy feels the same, that we can talk about where we are and what we want. I’m looking at the one-day squad then have to take into account what Andy wants for the Test team. We certainly haven’t had any fallings out.”As part of NatWest’s “Big Cricket Ticket Giveaway” cricket fans still have the chance to win tickets to the remaining NatWest Series matches this summer. Follow @NatWest_Cricket on Twitter for your chance to win.

In the Sunday double-header, Canada prevailed on both occasions, with a disciplined bowling effort from Canada‘s bowlers helping them to a five-wicket win over United States of America in the first T20 match in King City. USA chose to bat, but lost regular wickets through the course of their innings. Only four batsmen were able to get into double digits as all of Canada’s bowlers struck at least once. Henry Osinde picked up figures of 2 for 23, as USA reached 106 for 9 in their 20 overs.Canada’s innings started in a similar fashion, with Rizwan Cheema out for 9 with the score on 18. However, Ruvindu Gunasekera and Usman Limbada put together a 41-run partnership to steady the innings. Gunasekera, who has been in prolific form, top-scored for Canada once again with 58 off 50 balls, as Canada reached their target inside of 17 overs.In their second match, Canada once again had the better of USA with a 78-run victory. Canada batted first, with openers Gunasekera and Cheema putting on 63 in just over five overs. Once Cheema fell, Nitish Kumar and Gunasekera put on a further 56 runs to put Canada in the ascendancy. Each of Canada’s batsmen got into double digits as they posted 189 for 5. Timil Patel had best figures of 3 for 40.Facing a steep target, USA’s chase came undone in the first couple of overs itself as they struggled to maintain the required rate while safeguarding their wickets. Only wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson played an innings of note, with his 44 off 36 balls. Salman Nazar’s 3 for 27, Harvir Baidwan’s 2 for 25 and Junaid Siddiqui’s 2 for 32 ensured USA were unable to make a decent fist of the chase.

The prospect of being confronted by some of his critics is understood to be one of the main reasons BCCI president N Srinivasan decided to call off the working committee meeting in Delhi on Friday. Although the BCCI cited technicality being the main reason for cancelling the meeting, even that was contested by some of its members.The working committee was scheduled to discuss the inquiry commission report on the IPL corruption scandal immediately after the conclusion of the league’s governing council meeting. However, once the governing council had decided that the BCCI would challenge the Bombay High Court order that had called the constitution of the probe panel as “illegal”, senior board officials  decided that there was no agenda for the working committee to discuss.Incidentally, BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel had pointed out that the meeting was cancelled owing to technical reasons. “Every member knew what the meeting was called for. The meeting was called off as there was a slight mistake in issuing the notice,” Patel told an unscheduled media briefing. “By mistake the word ’emergent’ was not written. A normal working committee meeting requires more time. Unfortunately it was just four days time. To avoid the technicality of it, the meeting was cancelled.”A working committee member, who had travelled to Delhi, echoed Patel’s statement. “Usually there are seven days needed for a working committee meeting to be convened but this time the period was too small. And since we were never told it was an emergent working committee meeting, there was no point sticking around,” he told ESPNcricinfo.However, that it was not a unanimous sentiment became clear when another working committee member told ESPNcricinfo that raising the technicality was the “most convenient way out” for Srinivasan to avoid being questioned about the High Court order on the two-member probe into allegations of breach of IPL code of conduct by Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra. According to this member, Srinivasan had already faced the heat at the previous working committee meeting on June 2, when former BCCI president IS Bindra openly questioned his role in the formation of the probe panel amongst other things. It was the same day Srinivasan had handed over his seat to Jagmohan Dalmiya temporarily.”The president wanted to avoid a scene like last time. When he got a sense that at least one of the members was going to question him if he sat in the meeting – whether he presided over the meeting or attended it as a TNCA representative – the technicality came as a huge relief for him,” the member said.He also felt that there “was no other reason” left for the working committee to discuss in the absence of the probe panel report which was only revealed to the five-member governing council. “It was always going to be a single-point agenda for the meeting,” another member said. “Had the governing council passed on the probe panel report to the working committee, we would have been able to deliberate on it. But since the governing council under its purview unanimously decided to move Supreme Court, there was no purpose for the working committee to meet.”At the outset of the meeting, the general consensus was that Srinivasan would resume as the president but today’s events delayed that. According to insiders privy to the governing council meeting, Srinivasan remains confident that the Supreme Court could overrule the Bombay High Court order. “He is confident about returning soon, well in time to fight the elections during the BCCI AGM [in September],” a board official pointed out.

ScorecardTim Ambrose saw Warwickshire home in a nervy chase•Getty Images

A gritty 47 from Tim Ambrose on a turning Uxbridge pitch led to a maximum points victory but Warwickshire were made to work hard for their five-wicket win over Middlesex.Ambrose dug in for 91 minutes and hit six fours only to succumb with Warwickshire 12 short of the winning line as the visitors overcame a case of the last-gasp jitters to secure victory.With two sessions of the match remaining in which to score the 110 required for only their second success of the campaign, Warwickshire soon realised they had a fight on their hands after losing two wickets within 21 balls.With little option but for all-out attack, Middlesex opened with offspinner Ollie Rayner from the Gatting Way End a ploy that quickly reduced the Bears to 5 for 2. First innings double-century maker Varun Chopra chipped Rayner’s fourth delivery to short midwicket then Laurie Evans advanced to drive only to pick out Neil Dexter at mid-on.In an attritional period of play, Middlesex turned to spin at both ends for half-an-hour but it was the re-introduction of Corey Collymore that led to Ian Westwood’s demise when he feathered to Adam Voges at third slip. Ateeq Javid and Ambrose added a useful 33 inside 15 overs before Javid nicked a Gareth Berg leg-cutter to the keeper to leave Warwickshire on 77 for 4 at tea – still 33 shy of their target.Ambrose fell just before the end, caught off inside edge and then pad to a catch at silly point when trying to flick to leg but Rikki Clarke marched in to win it in style with a brace of boundaries.At the start of the final day Voges continued his role as the major thorn in the Warwickshire side as the Australian once again showed most resolve and offered the hosts their main chance of saving the game. Making his first-class debut for the county, Voges followed his first innings 150 with a patient yet stylish 88-ball 50, but, as with the Middlesex first innings, wickets continued to fall at the other end.Toby Roland-Jones propped forward to Jeetan Patel to proffer a bat-pad catch to Chopra at silly point then Berg was caught behind off the same bowler when looking to cut one that popped off the surface.Voges’ resistance ended four balls after his 50 when, in aiming to push drive straight against Woakes, he chipped a return catch to the bowler. Rayner gave Patel a third scalp when he aimed to sweep only to balloon a bat-pad catch to Clarke running back from slip toward fine leg.The last-wicket pair at least made Warwickshire play extra time but, 10 minutes after the scheduled start to the lunch break, Ravi Patel nicked an attempted drive through to the keeper as Middlesex were dismissed for 286.