All posts by csb10.top

Captain Piyush Chawla and medium pacer Abu Nechim shared eight wickets to bundle out New Zealand for 147 and power India to a comprehensive victory by an innings and 50 runs in the first four-day Under-19 match at Lincoln today.Legspinner Chawla followed up his century in the first innings with a haul of 5 for 19 while Nechim took 3 for 55 in the New Zealand second innings.For New Zealand there was nothing of note except a knock of 42 by Michael Taiaroa in the second innings. New Zealand trailed India by 197 runs in the first innings and were forced to follow on.Earlier, India had declared their first innings on 499 for 8 after being put in to bat with Ravi Teja, Virat Kohli and Chawla slamming centuries to which New Zealand replied with 302. Medium pacer Ishant Sharma took 5 for 55.India lead the three-match series 1-0. The second four-day match is at Carisbrook, Dunedin from January 27 and the final match is from February 2 to 5 at Lincoln.

Queensland 6 for 245 (Watson 69*, Love 62) lead South Australia 237 by 8 runs
Scorecard

Shane Watson’s unbeaten 69 steered Queensland to an eight-run lead over South Australia as they finished a hard-working day at 6 for 245. The Bulls scrapped to the initial target of 237, a task which had became more difficult when Ryan Harris removed Chris Simpson (10) and Ashley Noffke (2) in quick succession.Martin Love’s 62 and a slow 32 from Jimmy Maher put Queensland on track for the small total, but once Maher departed things started to get a bit shaky and they were 6 for 190 when Watson was joined by Chris Hartley. Watson’s innings was also a calm one, taking 136 balls and including only six fours, but it was essential to Queensland achieving first-innings points late in the day.The visitors started the morning on 0 for 8 and lost Greg Moller to Harris for 3 before Jason Gillespie captured Ryan Broad, his first wicket in his final game for the state. Harris returned 3 for 68 while Mark Cleary captured the wickets of Maher and Love.

The potential of an English Premier League to counter the dominance of its Indian counterpart may be gathering momentum, but already there is a split among the county chief executives.Last week Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, spoke candidly about his vision for the future and insisted that if England are to create a viable competition to the IPL, the 18 first-class counties must merge into six regional sides. Bold though the plan is, the counties are less certain.”My aim is to knock this idea on the head,” Richard Gould, the Somerset chief executive, told the BBC. “We are hugely against regionalising – that would lead, eventually, to the domestic game being reduced to eight regional franchises for all forms of the game.”I don’t have a problem with an EPL, as long as it involves the 18 counties. Otherwise it would drastically reduce the number of English-qualified players available. The Test-match playing grounds might benefit, because they would host the matches but the rest of county cricket would not.”Similarly, Neil Davidson, the Leicestershire chief executive, is concerned that the franchise system might threaten the game’s tradition.”Franchises would be a negative and could turn a lot of people off the game,” Davidson said. “As long as the idea is a revenue generator that favours the game as a whole, I’m in favour. But we need to think about everyone, the minor counties, grassroots cricket and the Test match grounds.”Lancashire’s Jim Cumbes, however, has greater confidence in the idea.”There’s really no need for us to merge, or Yorkshire or a number of other counties, but I think it could work in some areas of the country where the counties are pretty close together,” Cumbes said. “We should be seriously looking at setting up our own Premier League. I could envisage two divisions, with promotion and relegation between the two, like the football Premier League.”And I think it could happen as early as next year, with the top nine teams from our Twenty20 competition this year forming a Premier League.”

Cricket Australia’s security officials will sit in on a security briefing for ICC officials in Dhaka, on December 28 and 29, in view of the Under-19 World Cup that is scheduled to begin in Bangladesh on January 27. CA have not raised any specific concerns in public yet concerning its junior team’s participation in the tournament; the Australian security officials’ visit could be seen as a precautionary step, given the senior team’s tour to Bangladesh was cancelled in October due to security seasons.CA’s head of security Sean Carroll, who had visited Dhaka in September after the Australian government had issued security alerts for their citizens in Bangladesh, will arrive in Dhaka on Monday. Following that visit, CA had eventually cancelled their tour to Bangladesh due to the increased security risk. In November, Cricket South Africa had also cancelled their women’s team’s tour to Bangladesh.The ICC held meetings in Dhaka in November and December regarding security measures being taken for the U-19 World Cup, which is to be held in eight venues in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar.An ICC spokesman said the briefings on December 28 and 29 would be a follow up to those previous meetings. “The ICC and the BCB are working together to ensure complete safety and security of the event. In relation to this, and as follow up to the meetings held in November and December, the CA and ICC security officials are visiting Dhaka and receive security briefings on Monday and Tuesday,” the spokesman said.BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that a visit similar to CA’s was recently made by the security representative of two other boards, so he sees this as a routine visit. He also said that CA will be directing all its communication towards the ICC, who is the tournament organiser. “Reg [Dickason] came during the last ICC visit, possibly for England and New Zealand,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo. “One part of a board’s inspection team is security. So CA can send anyone as a routine matter.”We don’t directly communicate with the participating boards. They have to communicate with the host [the ICC]. If it was a bilateral series, only then the communication is between the two boards.”Chowdhury reaffirmed that the BCB has made plans to provide the highest security levels for the participants. “As the host nation, our concentration is on making the event successful. The level of security offered for this particular U-19 event is unprecedented. There hasn’t been such measures taken for an U-19 tournament in the past and I doubt if it will be done in the future.”

Scorecard

Ian Harvey played anchor for nearly the entire innings as Chennai Superstars chased down 147 with one ball to spare against Chandigarh Lions in Panchkula.Harvey top scored with 48 and batted till the 18th over, but it was the team effort of the Superstars that saw them through in a thrilling run-chase, the highest in the tournament so far. The scores of the other batsmen read 12, 18, 17, 17, 13, 1, 11, with 10 extras, as the required run-rate never climbed over nine an over.Chris Cairns bagged three wickets for 17 from his four overs, but the other bowlers failed to sustain the pressure, with Cairns’ New Zealand Daryl Tuffey compatriot conceding 40 from his four.Earlier,Chandigarh Lions, who opted to bat, were all out for 146, but completed their alloted 20 overs. After losing two early wickets, Tejinder Pal Singh and Manish Sharma put on a 70-run stand for the third wicket, before a 16-ball 27 from Chetan Sharma boosted them to 146. However, it wasn’t to be enough on the day.

Zimbabwe made their victory charge just a little too late, losing by 13 runs to India, their second successive defeat in the Champions Trophy in Sharjah. On an evening when there was much less dew in the outfield, the Indian attack spearheaded by Zaheer Khan were able to hold off Zimbabwe, but not without a measure of discomfort. A gallant 118 run third wicket stand between Andy Flower and Stuart Carlisle laid a sound platform for the final surge. Flower was the more adventurous of the two, always ready to take a risk or two in order to disrupt the rhythm of the bowlers.He fell for 63 (68 balls), sweeping at Tendulkar but failing to clear Joshi at midwicket. Carlisle had been an able lieutenant, opening out after a slow start to play some rasping pulls through the midwicket region. When Joshi bowled him for 60 (99 balls) as he made room to cut, it left Zimbabwe at 165/4 in the 37th over. The loss of both these protagonists in quick succession as they sought to raise the ante did not quite leave Zimbabwe out of the picture.Grant Flower and Guy Whittall then added 49 at a run a ball and entering the final six overs, Zimbabwe were actually ahead of India at the corresponding stage. But they were unable to match the Indian tailenders in making optimum use of the final few overs. Flower was caught at the edge of the circle by an Agarkar slower ball and then although Heath Streak struck the same bowler for a massive straight six in the penultimate over, the target was just out of their reach as they settled at 252/6.Zaheer Khan was declared man of the match for his brilliant spell of 3/37. His fifth ball had seen Alistair Campbell, back after a onematch suspension, offer a stinging catch to the left of Rahul Dravid at second slip which was put down. Zaheer was not to be denied as Doug Marillier found out in the fifth over, having his offstump knocked back to leave Zimbabwe at 21/1. Prasad had a good leg before shout against Campbell turned down by Daryl Harper but the in-form opener failed to make the most of his chances. Zaheer got one to cut back sharply and cannon into off stump as the batsman tried to steer it square of the wicket.Earlier the Indian tail wagged with abandon to provide a breezy climax to an innings built around a rocksolid 85 by Rahul Dravid, promoted to open the batting. None of Dravid’s colleagues at the top of the order were able to show similar application, throwing their wickets away after getting set. Yuvraj Singh played a delightful cameo of 34 which gave some momentum in the middle overs but it was really the efforts of Vijay Dahiya and his cohorts at the fag end which bolstered India to a once unthinkable 265. Ironically it was Dravid’s fall that provided the impetus as the 5.4 overs post Dravid produced a mammoth 59 runs.Inserted to bat, India began quietly with Dravid and Tendulkar playing out a maiden apiece. Having survived a dropped chance by Guy Whittall at short midwicket, Tendulkar was enticed into a full blooded drive off a lovely outswinger that was pitched up from Streak, the faint edge being snapped up by Andy Flower.Vinod Kambli, he of the wretched luck, arrived at No.3 and promptly took charge of the situation. The Zimbabwe bowlers erred in line, pitching on Kambli’s legs, and the lefthander, fluently but chancily, kept whipping the ball off his legs through midwicket and squareleg. Travis Friend replaced Streak and Kambli pulled him to the midwicket fence to bring up the fifty.Friend surprised Kambli with a lifter that struck him on the forearm and the physio came on for some treatment. After the break, another short delivery was fired in at shoulder length, and Kambli pulled it to the man at square leg on the edge of the circle. The batsman looked beseechingly at both umpires for any sign of a no-ball call. No response was forthcoming and Kambli departed for 18.Ganguly had suggested in his pre-match comments that he was shunting himself down the order to handle Zimbabwe’s two spinners. Well, Friend scotched any such pretensions by getting rid of the Indian captain in the 23rd over. Friend had been unafraid to bounce Ganguly, even if it meant giving away a stray no-ball or two. Following one such delivery which ruffled Ganguly just a bit, he slipped in an innocuous ball down leg which the batsman glanced loosely to Andy Flower who gathered the catch well.Left arm spinner Dirk Viljoen was brought on by Streak and he immediately copped some punishment from Dravid who, with no sweeper stationed, rocked on the backfoot to get him away to the cover boundary. That brought up the hundred in the 24th over and Dravid posted his half century in the same over off 74 balls. Yuvraj took a little while to adjust himself to the pace off the wicket but it was a treat when he finally cut loose. He picked out Grant Flower for some choice treatment, lofting him into the first tier of stands over long on and then flatbatting the bowler in his second over for another six over midwicket.But it was that man Friend who struck again. Coming back for his second spell, he hustled one round Yuvraj’s legs that just nicked the leg bail on its way through to Flower. A blissfully ignorant Daryl Harper had actually signalled wide before his eyes homed in on the fallen bail and Yuvraj was on his way for a swift 34 off 39 balls.The fifth bowler’s duties had been apportioned between the three slow bowlers – Viljoen, Flower and Campbell – who went for 65 in their ten overs. Robin Singh was unfortunately run out and Dravid who was nearing the end of his tether now holed out to Grant Flower on the square leg boundary for 85 (121 balls).Sunil Joshi, who’d stepped in for the injured Anil Kumble, (19 off 13) belted a nice juicy full toss from Friend over the bowler’s head for six before his stumps were rearranged by Streak. Dahiya mauled Friend’s figures further in the penultimate over of the innings, slicing a full toss to deep backward point for four and following it up by lifting a half volley for a straight six. He fell for 32 in 23 balls, but Ajit Agarkar provided the icing by blasting Streak into the first tier of the stands over long on in the last over. Friend who was taken for plenty in his last spell finished with the best figures of 4/55.

Irfan Pathan, the fast bowler who has been out of the Indian team since January, believes that he has regained his rhythm and is confident of making a comeback to international cricket.Pathan was training at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai for six days and said that he had made some technical changes to his bowling. “I am back to my usual bowling rhythm,” Pathan told PTI. “You see the light in my face. I am happy to come back to the Academy to take corrective measures.”He felt he had lost the rhythm during India’s tour of Pakistan in 2005-06 and taking advice from too many experts did not help.”It took just two seconds for Sekar [the chief coach at the Academy] to tell me where I am going wrong. He worked on a few technical aspects of my bowling. From last Monday, I have been trying to make amends. I have been bowling with old, semi-old and new balls at the nets here.”Sekar will never have nice words but he is clear about what he says. Today, he told me that he was satisfied. I had to work hard to get back to the team by proving myself in the domestic circuit. I am oozing with confidence to play competitive cricket after my stint here.”Pathan last played a Test in the West Indies in June 2006 and did not play a single match during India’s 2007 World Cup campaign .

Brett Lee says missing the World Cup with an ankle injury was a blessing as it allowed him to enter a hectic campaign at full fitness. Lee, who had surgery before the Caribbean tournament, has added some extra bulk in the off-season and believes he’s the fittest he’s been as he prepares for the first Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday.”The ankle problems I’ve been playing with for six or seven years are also gone,” Lee said in the Daily Telegraph. “Getting that surgery done, even though it meant missing the World Cup success, has turned out to be an absolute blessing.”Lee will have some competition from his team-mates in the battle of the fastest this summer after Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait were named in the 13-man Test squad. However, setting the radar alight is not his priority.”I’ve reached 160kph a few times now so it’s not at the top of my Christmas wish list,” he said. “But with everything that’s happened there’s no reason why as a fast bowler I can’t bowl with great pace, great speed.”Damien Fleming, who played 20 Tests, believes both Lee and Tait can pass 160kph. “Brett’s been bowling 150kph for a while now but who knows how much those ankle problems he had were holding him back. We might be about to see the very best of Brett Lee.”

Five counties will enjoy more competitive pre-season warm-ups than usual when they travel to the UAE to take part in the Pro ARCH Trophy, a limited-overs series which starts on March 12.Essex, Lancashire, Somerset, Sussex and Yorkshire will play four matches each, three against other counties and one against the UAE national side, with eight matches in Abu Dhabi and four in Sharjah.The most high-profile game will be on March 21 when Lancashire and Yorkshire meet in a Roses match far away from home.One county spokesman told Cricinfo that the tournament offered the guarantee of meaningful cricket, adding that too often on overseas trips the standard if opponents and the quality of grounds can vary considerably.A four-team schools event will run alongside the main competition with teams from Eastbourne College, St Bede’s, Wellington College and Worth School featuring.Click here for the full fixtures

On May 2, Taesongsan Park in Pyongyang will be the host venue for the first ever formal cricket matches in North Korea.Two teams from Shanghai and the newly-formed Pyongyang Cricket Club will take part in a triangular Twenty20 tournament with the winners receiving the inaugural DHL Pyongyang Cricket Friendship Cup. This landmark event will take cricket into one of the last countries left where it has neither been played nor witnessed in the hope that it may start one of the most unlikely development programmes the game has ever seen.An trio comprising a Scotsman and South African both living in Shanghai and a North Korean enthusiast from Angola have been the driving force behind an initiative that has been eight months in the planning and which will feature players from ten nations, including one 14-year-old schoolboy.In recent years there has been a rapid expansion of the game in China where the 2010 Asian Games will include cricket for the first time. The Shanghai Cricket Club has played a key role in the game’s expansion in the country.