All posts by csb10.top

Bangladeshis 309 for 7 dec (Rahim 115*, Rafique 54) drew with Northamptonshire 230 for 6 dec (Shafayat 76, Afzaal 47*, Hossain 4-113)
ScorecardMushfiqur Rahim gave the Bangladeshis a much-needed boost ahead of the first Test, with an unbeaten century on the third and final day of their rain-affected match against Northamptonshire. The match petered out into a predictable draw, but Rahim’s innings enlivened proceedings and gave Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, some unexpected selection dilemmas.Rahim, who is only 16, was originally picked on the tour as understudy to Khaled Masud, the established wicketkeeper, but he has shown the best form of all the batsmen in the last two warm-up matches. Following his gutsy 63 against Sussex he struck 15 fours and a six here, adding 91 with Masud and 87 with Mohammad Rafique, who made a quickfire 54 from 52 balls.Rahim has put his name in the frame for Lord’s as a specialist batsman, after the Bangladesh top order suffered another slump. The Northants attack did not feature any first-team players, but still caused plenty of problems. Charl Pietersen disposed of Javed Omar (6 for 1), while Matthew Friedlander removed Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh and Mashud as the Bangladeshis slumped to 105 for 5.Northants had earlier taken their first-innings total from 149 for 5 to 230 for 6. Usman Afzaal made a run-a-ball 47 and Andrew White struck an unbeaten 30. Anwar Hossain Monir picked up his fourth wicket, but conceded nearly six an over throughout his 20 overs. He is unlikely to feature at Lord’s and, although Rahim’s innings is a boost for the Bangladeshis, the XI who take the field on Thursday know that that will be the true test.

Are the winds of change blowing through Indian cricket? © Getty Images

On June 20, 1996, Rahul Dravid was handed a Test cap at Lord’s, in the second Test against England, after Sanjay Manjrekar twisted his ankle in the first. Since then he has not looked back, and has played a record 91 straight Tests. Manjrekar played just two more Tests in his life. On Thursday, an injury to Sourav Ganguly precipitated Dravid’s appointment as captain of the Indian team for two back-to-back series – his longest stint to date – and signals that the end of the road is near for Ganguly, almost certainly as captain, and most likely as player too.That the selectors chose to give Dravid two tours at the helm, instead of the customary one, is the strongest sign yet that the tide has turned against Ganguly. When the current season began, and India were headed to Sri Lanka with Ganguly’s participation in doubt thanks to an ICC ban for slow over rates, Dravid was made captain on a stop-gap basis. He did a decent job, both with the bat and as leader, even as the team slumped to defeat. When the team came back from Sri Lanka, Ganguly was reinstated captain for the tour of Zimbabwe, and Dravid relegated to behind-the-scenes with a quiet, “Thank you for your services”.Dravid won’t let on, but he was furious at the decision of the board. It became increasingly clear that he was not interested in the captaincy on an ad hoc basis. He had no time to implement his ideas, and more often than not was left carrying the can when it came to answering tough questions about things going wrong. Dravid has not granted a single interview since that period, but seasoned followers of his line of thinking would tell you that two things changed irrevocably after India’s return from Sri Lanka. Firstly, Dravid would not accept the captaincy as a stand-in, merely keeping the seat warm for Ganguly. Second, if Ganguly were named captain for a long duration – till the 2007 World Cup as some sections demanded – Dravid would step down from the vice-captaincy and give up all ambitions of leading India.Not long ago, in an interview to , Dravid said, “I have been vice-captain for a few years, and that means you are, in some sense, prepared to be captain. But to be honest, captaincy is not the be all and end all of things. If at some stage the captaincy came along, well and good. I won’t lose a night’s sleep over it. I haven’t so far.” He meant that in a different context; now, taking over the reins with the team struggling and close to the bottom of the ladder, he may well lose some sleep. For it would be a mistake to view this appointment as a victory for Dravid over Ganguly, or Chappell over Ganguly. It was simply the only way forward. It’s not merely important to do the right thing, but to do it at the right time.Greg Chappell has been entrusted with rebuilding a team that has been on a downward spiral for more than a year. He was appointed with the responsibility of bringing a long-term vision and faithfully implementing it. And for a variety of reasons this has not been possible in the short time he has been coach. Chappell has not got the players he wanted, he has not had a free enough hand to reward certain attitudes or punish others, and his captain had not bought into the vision enough to give it a solid chance of working.And make no mistake, while the Ganguly-Chappell relationship has been downright confrontational, the Ganguly-John Wright one was far from rosy. The two barely sang from the same hymn sheet, but Wright accepted what he had to work with and got on with the job. With the appointment of Dravid India now have a chance for coach, captain and team to work together, getting to the root of the problems afflicting the team and sorting them out in time for the 2007 World Cup.The mantra all season has been “take India to the next level”. With young talent busting at the gut for a place in the side – the Challenger Series threw up more than one cricketer with definite promise and reinforced the stature of others on the fringes – there’s no reason why India cannot make it to the next level.But to believe that Dravid’s appointment, as Chappell’s earlier, will cause the team to transform itself overnight into the New Australia, is silly. Dravid is patient, hard-working, dedicated and committed to excellence. But he is also someone who won’t find it as easy to handle the problem characters in the team as Ganguly. He won’t bring the same in-your-face aggro to the field. He certainly won’t come to the job with the unequivocal support of the powers-that-are in the BCCI that Ganguly did. What Ganguly did for this team – not just 76 ODI and 21 Test wins – is something perhaps Dravid could not have, had he been appointed captain five years ago. Today, Ganguly cannot do what Dravid can. The wheel has turned, and Ganguly’s time is over.For all he has contributed to this team, Ganguly deserved a better farewell – if indeed that’s what this is – than being abruptly dropped. He deserved to walk away into the sunset, head held high, not be nudged out, first by coach, then the media, the public, and finally the selectors. But then again, with his batting, his behaviour and his almost stubborn refusal to let go, he barely gave anyone a chance to do any better by him.

Andre Adams is one of Essex’s overseas players for 2005© Getty Images

Andre Adams, the New Zealand allrounder, has signed a one-year contract with Essex for the 2005 summer as an overseas player, subject to the approval of the New Zealand board. He played for them in the second half of 2004, first replacing Danish Kaneria, the Pakistan legspinner, and later the Zimbabwean Scott Brant.This year Kaneria and Adams fill the two overseas berths, though Grant and Andy Flower, who have together played more than 500 internationals for Zimbabwe, are in Essex’s squad as Kolpak players. The Kolpak ruling, which has been in force since 2003, allows anyone with a work permit from a country with an associate trading agreement with the European Union to have the same rights as a European worker.Adams, 29, plays for Auckland in New Zealand, has a highest first-class score of 124, and has taken five five-wicket hauls. “I am looking forward to coming back to Essex after a thoroughly enjoyable few months with the county last year,” he said. “Hopefully I can make a full contribution to turning the club’s fortunes around in 2005.”Ronnie Irani, the Essex captain, was also happy with the signing: “I am absolutely delighted about the re-signing of Andre Adams. He is a player who contributes in every department. He put in some great performances for us last season with both ball and bat as well as consistently awesome fielding displays. His attitude as a senior and overseas player was first class, while always willing to put himself out for others. We look forward to his contributions for a whole season this time.”

Regrets? He’s had a few. Waqar Younis bows out© Getty Images

Press conferences, especially pre or post-match, can be many things; routine, mundane, ritualistic. But almost without exception they lack in occasion, meaning and magnitude. All the better, then, when one comes along that evokes a rush of wistfulness and longing, such as that which marked the end of Waqar Younis’s illustrious career.Looking comfortable and relaxed in a snug-fitting beige top with jeans, with family in tow, Waqar’s press conference marked the close of a period in which Pakistan’s fast bowling richness rivaled, in quality if not quantity, that of the Caribbean pace attacks in the 1970s and `80s. While Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami struggle to match up, it merely sharpens the nostalgic images of Waqar’s contribution to Pakistan’s success for much of the swinging `90s.He may not have been the granddaddy of reverse swing – Sarfraz Nawaz will undoubtedly put in his two cents here – but he became its most glamorous and potent poster boy. Nobody, not Imran, not Wasim and certainly no-one from the current crop of Pakistan pacers, exploited a battered old ball and 90mph pace, with the "threading a needle" accuracy, as devastatingly as Waqar did. He may not have had the variety of a Wasim (very few do) but if he was a one-trick pony, then what a trick it was. And like his partner in swing, Wasim, his retirement will also evoke a curious and unsettling blend of sadness and relief.Sadness, definitely, for at his peak, the Burewala Express was a magnificent sight and a destructive force. Sadness, because we will most likely never see another spell like the one Waqar bowled at Durban in 1992-93 against South Africa – a spell which, incidentally, he recalled as one of his most memorable. Coasting along at 159 for 1, chasing a seemingly inadequate 209, Waqar scythed through a batting line-up including Andrew Hudson, Hansie Cronje and Daryl Cullinan, picking up five wickets for 25 runs.Sadness, because if bowlers in the `90s, as Gideon Haigh has argued, are becoming less ambitious and have been "taut, trained, restrictive and repetitive," then Waqar’s attacking raison d’etre was a glorious rejoinder to that notion. Sadness because of the bombast he brought to the game – while his economy rate in Test cricket was 3.25 and in ODIs, almost 5, his strike rates were among the best of all time (43 in Tests and 30 in ODIs) – if he wasn’t giving away runs, he was taking wickets.But there is also relief; because like other Pakistani cricketers, he too stayed on considerably past his peak. Although he developed into a bowler of some nous and skill in his latter years, his effectiveness was never the same. Relief because, as he said himself, he left the game with regrets – some, like the ’92 World Cup were unavoidable and thus more painful, but some, like his ongoing rivalry with Wasim, were avoidable and thus annoying.Relief also because his involvement in player politics brought an era of rampant factionalism and controversy within the Pakistan team. And relief because, during his captaincy, Pakistan lurched from disaster against Australia in Sharjah, to shame in South Africa in the World Cup.What lies ahead for Waqar? At the press conference, he revealed that an autobiography, predictably and depressingly tell-all in nature, was in the works. Then the media or maybe even, as is strongly rumoured, a stint as bowling coach for the national side. Probably, as is increasingly popular, it will be a combination of both. His success in what PCB Chairman Shahrayar Khan calls his "second innings" will depend heavily, however, on the who’s and how’s of the PCB power paradigm.His retirement undoubtedly book-ends an era in which, along with Wasim, he was more often than not the difference between a mediocre Pakistan and an extremely dangerous, if inconsistent, version. He began by stating that, for once, at a press conference, he wasn’t under any pressure. Thankfully, for once, we too were present at a press conference with some meaning.

Ian Bell: ‘It is a hell of a long winter for all of us especially with Freddie batting, bowling, fielding and captaining the side’ © Getty Images

Ian Bell has called on the England team to support Andrew Flintoff during the Ashes series so that his workload doesn’t become too much. Flintoff was handed the captaincy for the tour of Australia after being narrowly favoured ahead of Andrew Strauss, but concerns linger that he has a lot on his plate as England aim to defend the Ashes.But Bell believes that Flintoff will lead from the front and take the challenges in his stride, although does concede that he can’t do it all on his own.”Even without his captaincy, Freddie is a leader in whatever he does, whether it be batting, bowling or fielding,” he told the Press Association. “It will be great to have him back on the park and great to have him lead us out there [in Australia].”But we are going to have to support him because it is a hell of a long winter for all of us especially with Freddie batting, bowling, fielding and captaining the side against the number one team in the world in Australia.”It is going to be a long winter for him so we all need to be with him and making sure he is not doing too much. That is probably a danger. The last thing you want is for Freddie to be burnt out. It’s a good thing in a way we’ve still got people there like Straussy [Andrew Strauss] and Tresco [Marcus Trescothick] around. These guys can talk to him and make sure he doesn’t do too much.When Flintoff led England in the Test series against Sri Lanka he bowled 51 overs in the second innings of the Lord’s Test. Those in favour of having Strauss as captain said he would have been able to manage Flintoff’s workload better than the man himself.”With Freddie being captain, he’ll want to do things from the front and makes sure everything is done properly and sometimes he does too much himself,” Bell said. “He needs to have that support from everyone in the team to say: ‘Freddie, you just look after yourself a bit more rather than doing too much’.”It’s great for us to have Freddie but we need to be aware he is a key player for us for the whole winter and we need him all the way through.”

Phil Jaques: out in the cold© Getty Images

Phil Jaques is unlikely to play for Northamptonshire this season after they decided to abandon their bid to have him classified as an English-qualified player.Jaques, who was born in Australia but has a British passport, scored more than1400 runs in all competitions last summer, but jeopardised his England-qualified status by turning out for New South Wales in Australia this winter, which effectively re-classified him as an overseas player in the eyes of the ECB.Northants considered challenging the ECB’s registration regulations in court in order to hang on to Jaques, but have now decided not to pursue the case. In a statement issued today, they said: “As a result of detailed discussions with the ECB, Northamptonshire have recognised that as Phil Jaques opted to qualify for Australia by playing for New South Wales during the winter, he contravenes current ECB regulations and would therefore not be able to play for Northamptonshire as a ‘qualified’ player in the 2004 season.”After considerable thought and consultation, the committee fully supportthe need for regulations which focus on the development of cricketers who arecommitted and qualified to play for England. In view of the above, the application to register Phil, as a result of holding a British passport, has been withdrawn.”Northants have already signed the South Africans Martin van Jaarsveld andJohann Louw as their two overseas players for the coming season, leaving no place for Jaques.Simon Schanschieff, Northamptonshire’s chairman, said: “Phil is an outstanding talent and we were delighted with the way he grasped his opportunity with us last season. We were naturally keen to retain his services, but we also support the governing body in their efforts to produce a successful England team. It is very disappointing for us, but it will give emerging players in our squad the opportunity they want to perform in first-division cricket.”And David Kemp, the chairman of the ECB’s Registration and Contracts committee,was delighted with the decision. He said: “The committee are very pleased this issue has been resolved. We are charged with drafting and implementing registration regulations agreed by the first-class counties, and we always aim to ensure these regulations best serve the interests of cricket in this country whilst being in accordance with the law.”

Not much that is new in cricket is left as a challenge for the all-conquering Australians, but a home Test match against Zimbabwe is one of them, and Test cricket’s second-youngest participants arrived in Perth yesterday for their first crack at the world champions on their home soil. Even international cricket’s newest country Bangladesh have played Tests in Australia before Zimbabwe.It is a task as difficult as any the African nation has faced in the game. They arrived in Australia severely depleted and not fully representative of the advances the side has made since they played their first Test, against India, in 1992-93. They have lost wicketkeeper-batsman Andy Flower, who retired from international cricket after the World Cup to pursue a career with South Australia, his brother Grant Flower cruelly suffered a broken finger just before the side left for the tour and one of its more promising bowlers, Henry Olonga, made a political statement at the World Cup, along with Andy Flower, about events in Zimbabwe, and decided to follow a singing career in exile.For a country so ill-equipped in resources, these were body blows and when captain Heath Streak says his side will be aiming to draw their Test matches it is an indication of the reconstruction the side is having to go through. “If we walked away with a draw, I think that would be a huge achievement for Zimbabwe cricket,” Streak said. “If we had the opportunity for a win, then obviously we are going to go for it. But I think it is going to be a huge learning curve for us on this tour.”If we can take some big positives out of this tour, Zimbabwe cricket will be the better for it. Hopefully, we can come back in a couple of years’ time as a more experienced side and one that can maybe play in a three-Test series.”The first Test of the tour is to start in Perth on October 9, the earliest Test in an Australian season but one that is indicative of the greater pressures on all countries to fulfil their obligations under the five-year plan in the International Cricket Council’s Test championship.In their 67-Test history Zimbabwe have won seven Tests, five of them at home but it has been two years since their last victory, and with such a depleted side at the moment the chances of the next being in the two matches with Australia are slim.Coach Geoff Marsh, the former Australian opener, said the emphasis would be on the batsmen in the series. “The key for us is our batting,” he said. “If we can get to 300, we will be competitive given our bowling line-up. But getting to 300 will be the big test.”Zimbabwe’s official opening match is on Wednesday against the Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI at Lilac Hill but since the announcement of the tour itinerary, an unofficial 12-a-side, three-day match starting on Sunday has been arranged against Rockingham Mandurah at Settlers Hill, Baldvis. After the Lilac Hill match Zimbabwe will have a three-day warm-up match against Western Australia, before the first Test. The second Test is in Sydney from October 17-21.The Zimbabwe touring squad is: Heath Streak (captain), Andy Blignaut, Gary Brent, Stuart Carlisle, Dion Ebrahim, Sean Ervine, Craig Evans, Gavin Ewing, Trevor Gripper, Douglas Hondo, Stewart Matsikenyeri, Ray Price, Tatenda Taibu, Mark Vermeulen, Craig Wishart.

The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has announced a 12-man squad, featuring all three Redbacks rookies, to compete in South Australia’s second Cricket Australia Cup match of the season.South Australia plays New South Wales in the four-day game starting tomorrow October 27 on Bankstown Oval. The team will be captained by Redbacks batting all-rounder Ben Johnson, in what will be his first captaincy role for a State side.Johnson said that it is an honour to be selected to lead a South Australian team.”It really is an honour to lead a representative side for the State. We have an excellent group of young players and I look forward to seeing how they perform against a strong New South Wales side,” he said.”This is a good opportunity for the squad, particularly Ferguson, Duval and Cameron, our three rookies, to display their talent at a State level.”The South Australian squad, which is coached by Redbacks assistant coach, Jamie Siddons, is:

Ben Johnson (captain)	Trent Kelly
Ben Cameron	Jim Plant
Mark Cosgrove	Muhammad Sheikh
Daniel Cullen	Oliver Thomas
Chris Duval	Jeff Vaughan
Callum Ferguson	Luke Williams

The Cricket Australia Cup is a tournament for each State’s second XI team to gain quality match practice throughout the season. Each State, including the ACT, plays each other once throughout the season.

Allan Lewis: his spell crushed the Redbacks ©Getty

ScorecardVictoria virtually assured itself a place in the Pura Cup final with a crushing 197-run victory over South Australia in Adelaide. Allan Wise took a five-for as South Australia collapsed to 156 all out, having started the final day on 2 for 75.South Australia’s hopes of salvaging something from the game rested with Greg Blewett and Darren Lehmann, but they were able to add only 14 this morning before Wise got Blewett to edge one through to Darren Berry. And Mark Cosgrove lasted just 13 balls before going the same route, as South Australia slipped to 4 for 99.Graham Manou (0) and Michael Miller (7) didn’t trouble the scorers unduly, and when Lehmann fell for 45, the fat lady could begin to clear her throat. Within eight overs, it was all over.Berry, the Victoria captain, admitted that the death of David Hookes had left scars on the players, but added that his team would use to inspire them to greater heights. “What he would want us to do is continue in the fashion that he was leading us, with positive cricket, and that’s what we’ve done all season.”So without dedicating it to David, quietly each and every member of this side knows what we want to achieve.”Lehmann was bitterly disappointed by the defeat, which all but ended South Australia’s hopes of making the final. “It’s just very disappointing the way we’re playing,” he said. “I make no bones about it, we’ve been disappointing for the last few games … we’ve played reasonably well in the one-day set-up but very poorly in the last few Shield games. So we’ve certainly got some work to do, and you know we’ve certainly got to look to the future probably now.”Victoria will most likely face either Tasmania or Queensland in the final next month.

Northampton’s Wantage Road ground is gradually becoming synonymous as one where the batsmen are not relishing the prospect of playing at. And there was no change to that theory on the rain-affected first day of their latest Frizzell County Championship Division Two fixture.Even though 41 overs were lost, there was still time for Hampshire to be bowled out for 125 after being put in and for Northamptonshire to totter to an unsure 20-3 by the close of play. It was no surprise to see Peter Walker, one of the nominated ECB pitch inspectors, on the ground all day.But the damage was not done exclusively by the spinners, as had been the case in their most recent game against Derbyshire. Debutantes Damian Wright – Northants’ replacement overseas player while Andre Nel is on South Africa duty – and former Gloucestershire seamer Mike Cawdron making the Hampshire batsmen hurry.Hampshire included university returning trio John Francis, James Tomlinson and James Bruce to the starting lineup for rested Ed Giddins and injured Alan Mullally and Wasim Akram, whose bruised toe was declared unfit last night.Asked to bat first, Cawdron snapped up the first three wickets to fall before Robin Smith struck an excellent 41, including eight crunching fours to restore some order as he added 60 with skipper John Crawley for the third wicket.But their dual dismissal within a run of each other started a flow of wickets with Wright claiming Will Kendall and leading run-scorer Nic Pothas in successive balls before spinner Graeme Swann, the main protagonist in his sides’ controversial game recently completed, extracted plenty of turn to snare Francis, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shaun Udal to pick up 3-11 from just 3.1 overs to finish the innings.Udal declared the wicket as “very much bowler friendly” is his post match considerations, especially after seeing the home side lose influential skipper Mike Hussey and fellow opener Mike Powell to James Bruce, on just his second championship outing. Jeff Cook also perished to become the 13th wicket of the day, all of whom were dismissed caught!Despite there being almost a third of the day lost to the weather, this game is already well progressed but it is certain that Shaun Udal will be looking forward to his bowl on this surface.