All posts by csb10.top

Brett Lee is confident he has plenty of cricket left in him despite not making Australia’s team for any of the Ashes Tests. Lee has made a strong comeback in the limited-overs matches after a side strain and then a settled pace attack scuppered his Ashes hopes.Lee had been favoured to play the first Test in Cardiff after picking up seven wickets in the tour match in Worcester but the injury sidelined him for the first four Tests. He said he was frustrated to have been ruled out for the fourth Test at Headingley, where he felt he was 100% fit.”It was very disappointing,” Lee said in the . “I’d worked extremely hard after I got injured in the Boxing Day Test and it felt really good in that Worcester match, then I fell at the last hurdle. I’ve only had two muscle tears in 20 years of cricket and that fell at the wrong time.”I gave myself every opportunity to return during the Ashes. I know when I’m right to go and I was 100% fit at Headingley, but people thought otherwise. I’ve dealt with it now, it’s behind me and I’ve not taken any ill feeling about it.”During the one-dayers, Lee has shown that at his best he is still a major weapon, having picked up 2 for 22 from a fast and hostile 8.1 overs in the victory at Lord’s. Lee will be 33 by the time Australia’s home summer begins and he is keen to prove that he can remain a force at international level.”Any chance I get to play cricket, I always try to play my best,” he said. “I’m hungrier than ever. In fact I’m starving. I still get excited when I take wickets and if I’m still getting that buzz I’ll keep playing.”

Durham City Council has stepped in to ensure that the redevelopment of the Riverside at Chester-le-Street is not scuppered by the recession, by earmarking £1.25million of taxpayers’ cash as part of a support package to help transform the venue as a key feature of the county’s cultural revival.The loan is expected to be paid back over 15 years at a commercial interest rate of 4.75%, with an initial two-year grace period. The council’s decision follows a commitment from the development agency, One North East, to buy part of the ground to build a hotel.”Durham County Cricket Club makes a very important contribution to County Durham’s sporting and economic wellbeing and we are pleased to support the ambitions of the club,” said Simon Henig, leader of Durham County Council. “We have approved a financial package that was important to the bid to guarantee international cricket to the region up to 2016.”The move is not without controversy, with a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Alliance telling the Evening Chronicle that the council had “no remit to act like a bank”. However, Durham were left struggling after their promised source of funding dried up due to the recession, and Henig’s executive team was entitled to take action to benefit the local community.”The level of support and co-operation from our two key public sector bodies has been outstanding,” said David Harker, Durham’s chief executive.

Greg Chappell, the former India coach, visited the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on Monday as part of an exposure trip with a team from Australia’s Centre of Excellence.Chappell coaches at the Centre of Excellence and his team is here to play a few matches with a Maharashtra team and possibly one from Karnataka. The Centre of Excellence team spent a few hours at the NCA and will proceed to nearby Mysore later.Chappell, the former Australia captain, was coach of India from 2005 to 2007 before he chose not to renew his contract following India’s disastrous campaign in the 2007 World Cup where the team failed to make the Super Eights stage.

Scorecard
Bangladesh Under-19s won the ODI series against England Under-19s after a thrilling one-wicket victory in the deciding fifth one-dayer at Hove on Friday.In a low scoring game, Bangladesh needed six runs to win in the final two overs with two wickets in hand, but Nur Hossain was run-out to give England a sniff of victory. However, Bangladesh scrambled past the finish line with a single when England missed a run-out opportunity to hand the tourists a win.Bangladesh’s chase was led by captain Mahmudul Hasan, who top scored with 70 from 85 balls. Coming in after his team was reduced to 59 for 4, Hasan anchored the innings, and was well supported by Alauddin Babu, who stayed till the end with an unbeaten 24 off 30 balls.Earlier, England could not generate any momentum while batting, and the in-form Sam Northeast scored the only half-century of the innings. The Bangladesh bowlers kept a tight leash, limiting England to 196 for 8 in 50 overs.Bangladesh won the ODI series 2-1 after losing the two-match Test series 0-1, and will finish their tour of England with two Twenty20s beginning on Tuesday at Lincolnshire.

Claire Taylor and Isha Guha showed their class as England booked their spot in the semi-final with an emphatic 71-run victory against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Taylor hit 75 off 54 balls, an important innings with the rest of the batting less productive, then Guha produced exemplary figures of 2 for 4 from her four overs as Sri Lanka limped to 69 for 8.Guha wasn’t even meant to be playing in this match, but was drafted in at the last minute after Katherine Brunt was hit on the head. As with Nicky Shaw in the World Cup final, Guha made the most of her chance. England made a steady start to their innings as Sarah Taylor scored at more than a run-a-ball, but the middle order failed to fire as the hosts slipped to 68 for 4. However, Claire Taylor, who was dropped on 7, came to the fore with a classy innings and added 47 for the fifth wicket with Jenny Gunn, then Caroline Atkins chipped in with a useful 13 off eight deliveries as Eshani Kaushalya claimed 4 for 18.Sri Lanka’s chase was soon in trouble at 12 for 3 with Guha proving a real handful. England’s spinners then tied the innings in knots as Holly Colvin collected two wickets to continue her impressive form.”We had talked about trying to score 180 or 200 but some of their bowling was brilliant. They kept pulling these yorkers out,” Taylor said. “I was a little worried with five overs to go and we were well short of par. It was just a matter of seizing the right moment. When I got 16 off an over we thought: ‘Let’s go from here.'”Australia undid a gutsy batting effort from West Indies, beating them comfortably by eight wickets in Taunton. Australia also boosted their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals, recovering well from the defeat to New Zealand earlier in the competition.A target of 136 was competitive, but Australia made little work of it with the foundation laid by opener Shelley Nitschke, who smashed a 38-ball 56, including nine fours and a six. Nitschke was involved in two important partnerships, adding 50 for the first wicket with Leah Poulton (who only scored 8) and 33 for the second with Lisa Sthalekar, who herself starred in an all-round effort. Sthalekar (34 not out) then knocked off the remaining runs with Rene Farrell (31 not out) to seal victory with 16 balls to spare, propelling Australia’s net run-rate which may come into play in the unlikely event of a three-way contest for a place in the semis.It had seemed Australia were facing a greater challenge when West Indies opener Deandra Dottin scored the fastest half-century in Women’s Twenty20 internationals, off just 22 balls. But there was little support from the middle order as Sthalekar (2 for 23) and Sarah Andrews (2 for 19) stemmed the flow. A guarded 24 from Cordel Jack took West Indies to 135, but as it proved, the score was too inadequate.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outAndrew Symonds was gutted when he got out, but made up with his aggressive fielding and body language, and smart bowling•Associated Press

Deccan Chargers invoked the bull in their emblem to successfully defend a modest total, beat Royal Challengers Bangalore and win a tournament they had ended up last in the previous season. They bowled with fire, fielded aggressively and sledged and hustled – almost literally – to victory in a final that twisted and turned and lived up to the occasion.The last of those turning points was the 15th over, bowled by Andrew Symonds, who matched his verbal skills from earlier in the night with the wickets of Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli off back-to-back deliveries. Bangalore were 99 for 6 when the over started, and Taylor had looked dangerous during his 20-ball 27. That Symonds over, though, was symbolic of the night: every time a batsman got away from the bowling, a breakthrough pulled the batting side back.Defending a total three less than what Bangalore chased easily in the semi-final, Deccan came out pumped, their energy reflecting in their behaviour. Symonds shadowed the latest tyro, Manish Pandey, all the way from the dugout to the crease. Pandey was a marked man during his innings. Symonds followed him wherever he went, giving him lip. Ryan Harris matched the aggression with the ball, clocking 145kmph constantly in the first over, a maiden.Jacques Kallis looked to take the pressure off his 19-year-old partner. In Harris’ next over Kallis took two boundaries to get the chase going. RP Singh brought the balance back when Kallis pulled onto his stumps but out came Roelof van der Merwe, who used adrenalin to push Bangalore further towards the target.

van der Merwe got a mouthful from Symonds and Harris, but he responded by hitting two sixes off one Harris over. Despite the maiden, Harris had gone for 23 in three overs. Even after Pragyan Ojha got Pandey with the first ball he bowled, van der Merwe’s pyrotechnics kept Deccan at a distance.One ball summed up the adrenalin rush van der Merwe was feeling. Beaten in the flight by Ojha he managed an edge which saved him from being stumped but he also dropped his bat. He picked his bat up as he ran the first run, and turned a two into a three, saving himself from the run-out by sprinting down the middle of the pitch and diving into the stumps at the non-striker’s end.One six later the adrenalin got the better of van der Merwe as he jumped out to Ojha and was stumped. The tension was palpable, and it sort of got to a senior pro like Rahul Dravid too. As Bangalore targeted Harmeet Singh, Dravid missed a scoop and was bowled. Bangalore still held the edge, though, with Taylor and Mark Boucher in.Taylor looked like taking Bangalore home coolly, hitting three fours and a six, until Symonds got him on the pull, with a touch of extra bounce. Adam Gilchrist pulled off a smart stumping down the leg side next ball, and it was all down to Boucher now.Gilchrist tried to get through Harmeet’s last over, during which the youngster claimed Boucher on the cut. The bowling allocation was planned perfectly: RP had two left, and Ojha and Harris one each. Bangalore, with two wickets in hand, needed 27 from the last two overs, and 15 from the last, but RP Singh and Ryan Harris kept their cool despite a six from Robin Uthappa.Amid the tension of the second innings one felt for Anil Kumble, who spent the most of the last over at the non-striker’s end and saw his dream crash. Earlier Kumble had celebrated like a teenager but bowled like the veteran champion he is, and kept Deccan down to a manageable target.He bowled the first over of the match, took Gilchrist out, then came back in the ninth to dismiss Symonds. That wicket was crucial because Symonds had been dropped on 5 by Dravid, and was reminding Bangalore eerily of the line his batting partner Herschelle Gibbs was apocryphally told during the 1999 World Cup. Kumble again came on in the 17th over to break a dangerous 52-run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Gibbs, when the two had taken Deccan to 110 for 3.Towards the end Gibbs played a bizarre little innings. He had been inconspicuous in his struggle to score runs earlier, and didn’t make much effort to farm the strike in the end. He faced only six balls in the last three overs, and kept taking twos in the last over to hand the strike over to Harris. He had batted the whole 20 overs for less than 60, much like Sachin Tendulkar, in more trying conditions, had in the first match of the tournament. Somehow they both ended up winning.

The Ashes have not been kind to Simon Katich. After posting a modest 15 on debut at Headingley in 2001, he was cut adrift from the Australian side for more than two years. And following a 2005 campaign in which a series of poor umpiring decisions eroded already fragile confidence, Katich survived just two more Tests before selectors again banished him to the first-class wilderness for a further 30 months.A less redoubtable personality might have relented after the latter episode, particularly as it coincided with the additional body blow of the loss of a central contract. But Katich is no such wallflower. Rather than bemoan his misfortune, he used the disappointment of 2005 as the catalyst to improve technique and temperament, and now stands poised to return to the Ashes fray in the relatively new role of opener.”I guess I look at someone like Justin Langer – I remember on the 2001 tour that I was on, he missed out, and I remember him thinking at the time that that was it for him,” Katich told . “He managed to reinvent himself and become a great opener. Given that he had batted at No. 3 pretty much most of his first-class career, I guess we’re very similar in that regard. I batted pretty much my whole career at No. 3 and have now managed to get a chance opening the batting.”It’s probably been a bit of luck really, because I wouldn’t have played in the West Indies if Matty Hayden hadn’t have been injured and then obviously when Phil Jaques got injured the opportunities were both at the top of the order. It was a bit of luck and it probably helped me that I batted at the top of the order for so long in my career.”Luck had little to do with it. A day after Katich learned of his delisting by Cricket Australia, he plundered 221 for Derbyshire. And if that signal of intent was not clear enough, he followed with a record-breaking domestic season for New South Wales, during which he compiled an astonishing 1,506 runs at 94.12. The selectors, who had cut him at the age of 31, had little choice but to re-evaluate his case for national selection.A year has passed since his Test recall in the Caribbean, and Katich, perhaps for the first time, feels at ease with his place in the side. His last 15 Tests have netted 1,389 runs at an impressive 53.42, including five centuries – as opposed to his 1,260 runs in his previous 23 appearances – and his combination with Phillip Hughes in South Africa provided Australia with a solid platform from which to launch their successful riposte to the home series defeat.Unlike Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Michael Clarke, Katich was not afforded the opportunity to exorcise the demons of 2005 in Australia’s ensuing 5-0 Ashes victory on home soil. And while he insisted redemption was not foremost on his mind ahead of the tour of England, Katich did concede extra sentiment would be attached to this series.”I don’t actually sit and think about [the 2005 Ashes] too often,” he said. “So much has changed since then. I guess the only thing that does stick out is in that last Test at The Oval, even on that last day I still thought we were a chance to break even and get back to 2-all in the series. But England played well and deserved to win it.”Obviously it was disappointing to lose last time and to play the way I did. I think going into this series, it is totally different for me as well because of the fact I’m playing a totally different role, opening the batting, which I’m comfortable with, given that I’ve always pretty much batted at the top of the order in first-class cricket. Even though I hadn’t opened a lot I have gotten used to it, and I quite enjoy getting out there straight away now and knowing where I’m batting, rather than sitting around and waiting. I’m looking forward to hopefully having an impact compared to last time.”I feel settled, but I also feel that in the last couple of years the hard work I did on my game when I was out of the team has started to pay off. I knew that when I was dropped I wasn’t playing well enough and I knew I had to make improvements if I was going to get back to playing international cricket – not only volume of runs but also work on those areas that were costing me in the 2005 Ashes. It has helped me to become more consistent and keep making runs at that level. I know this will be a tough series, but I also go in with the confidence that I know I’ve been playing well the last year in Test cricket.”Katich’s role in England will not be confined to batting. A reluctant left-arm wrist-spinner, Katich is now prepared to answer Ponting’s call and lend slow-bowling support where required, as he did in the latter stages of the South Africa tour.In that series, Katich, 33, surprised even himself by claiming five wickets at 10.80 in the final two Test matches. His performance in Cape Town was all the more notable for its contrast with Bryce McGain, who could scarcely keep the ball within the Newlands precinct in the face of AB de Villiers’ brutal onslaught. The spell proved an awakening for both Ponting and Katich, and the latter has spent much of his time in the IPL working on his wrist-spin in the nets.”There are no mystery balls,” he quipped. “When you bowl full tosses and half-trackers and the odd good ball, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. I’ve just been keeping it simple really – bowling plenty of leggies and the odd wrong’un here and there and just practising getting my action as consistent as possible.”Since the Indian trip both Ricky and Tim Nielsen have wanted me to bowl lots in the nets and I’ve been doing that throughout the summer. That has varied depending on how much we’ve been playing and how I’ve been pulling up, but of late I’ve been doing quite a bit of bowling in the nets here in South Africa and I am continuing to do that. The body feels good, and I know I really enjoyed the opportunity to have a crack at the tail in South Africa. It’s always a bit of an advantage as a spinner to get a crack at the tail, particularly if they can’t pick your wrong’un. That worked to my advantage.”Around the time of Katich’s infamous verbal tirade at Trent Bridge in 2005 – an incident that followed a dreadful lbw decision on 59 to Steve Harmison, and sent Australia spiralling towards a series-deciding defeat – Hughes was completing his Year 10 certificate at Macksville High School on the north coast of New South Wales. The comparison amuses Katich, the battle-scarred veteran, whose trials and tribulations at Test level contrast sharply with those of the free-scoring Hughes to date.”The thing that he’s got going for him is that he’s got a great temperament,” Katich said. “Nothing seems to faze him. Even after he got that duck [on debut in Johannesburg], he was disappointed but he didn’t sit around and mope or anything. That’s the beauty of the way he plays – he trusts his game, he knows it really well and he sticks to it. As much as people will look at him and think that he looks unique, he knows how he plays. He’s been making a lot of runs for a long time and he’s now just showing it at first class and Test level. I’m sure that he’s going to have a great career.”He doesn’t say much. He gets in and gets the job done. The thing about the South African series was that their bowling attack is as good as we’ll face in terms of quicks going around. They had four good quick options … and a spinner who did a good job for them. He came up against as good as an opponent as he’ll get early in his career and he came out of it with flying colours – because he’s very talented and because he is so combative.”

As the dust settles on the ICC World Cup Qualifiers – aside from Sunday’s rather pointless play-offs – we highlight what each team comes away from South Africa with.Qualification for the 2011 World Cup
Canada, Ireland, Kenya, NetherlandsODI status for four years
Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, ScotlandIntercontinental Cup 2009-10
Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, Netherlands, Scotland, UAEICC World Cricket League Division 1
Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands, ScotlandICC World Cricket League Division 2
Bermuda, Namibia, Uganda, UAEICC World Cricket League Division 3
Denmark, OmanICC High Performance Programme grant funding 2009 and 2010
Afghanistan, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, Netherlands, Scotland, UAE, Uganda

The Pakistan Cricket Board has backed out of a potential face-off with the ICC and the BCCI by dropping three ICL players from its list of 30 probables for the ICC World Twenty in June.In a face-saving measure, the PCB has placed Abdul Razzaq, Imran Nazir and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan on standby pending ICC approval. They have been replaced by Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Jan and Mohammad Hafeez. However, it’s understood that the ICC is highly unlikely to grant any such approval when its board meets in Dubai on April 17-18 to decide on the issue.”We have written a letter to the ICL to get status of their contracts, whether these [contracts] have been rescinded permanently or rescinded temporarily, but we have yet to get any reply on that,” said the PCB chief operating officer Salim Altaf.However, sources told Cricinfo that the ICL trio insisted they would be able to provide only a temporary release from the unauthorised league unless the board provided them with central contracts.The PCB on Monday officially broke ranks with the Indian board, a traditional ally, by naming the three ICL players without approval from the ICC, the tournament organisers. The 17 ICL-contracted players from Pakistan were allowed to participate in domestic cricket after the Sind High Court temporarily lifted the ban in February.Wicketkeeper Zulfiqar is the only uncapped player among the three replacements. Ajmal, the offspinner, last played in the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Lahore this January while batsman Mohammad Hafeez hasn’t represented his country since October 2007.Pakistan Squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Amin, Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Kamran Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Aizaz Cheema, Mohammad Aamer, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Rehman, Yasir Shah, Kamran Akmal (wk), Sarfraz Ahmed, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Jan, Mohammad HafeezICL players initially included: Abdul Razzaq, Naved-ul-Hasan, Imran Nazir

One of the criticisms that Harbhajan Singh has had to live with is his performance overseas. After all, how many times had he won India a Test outside the subcontinent? One has to strain the mind to think of such instances. Harbhajan’s 10-for at Galle last year was perhaps his only genuine match-winning performance outside India.A difference of about 12 points in his average at home and overseas is well documented. Before the Hamilton Test, Harbhajan had taken 17 five-fors at home, which didn’t compare well with five away, in 10 fewer games. For the most successful offspinner of a country that has a proud spin tradition, it didn’t make for good reading.Harbhajan’s remarkable figures of 6 for 63 today have come against a New Zealand side lacking in classy batsmen who can face up to spin. The batsmen allowed Harbhajan to settle into a groove, hardly using their feet against him, allowing him to bowl where he wanted to. Nontheless, it is an important performance for him – his first five-for against New Zealand and one that has resulted in a famous win. He talked about that missing five-for last night with his team-mates. It is missing no longer.”Though there wasn’t much help for the spinner, they didn’t go after him,” Dhoni said. “Once you allow a bowler of his calibre to get on top of you, more often than not he will get wickets or contain you, which is as good.”It will be important to see him through throughout the Test series, because he is the kind of bowler if he starts getting wickets, game after game, he will continue to do so.”Another criticism Harbhajan has lived with is that he is one of those spinners who look lethal when they are doing really well, and lacklustre when things are not going their way. The longer he takes to get a first wicket, the faster and flatter he starts to bowl. That persistence, that willingness to purchase wickets, is sometimes missing. But in New Zealand’s second innings, Harbhajan remained persistent, varying his pace as opposed to quickening it, and utilised the minimal rough that was available to him.The pitch at the Seddon Park wasn’t entirely to Harbhajan’s liking. There was not much pace off the track, and hardly any assistance in terms of break. Daniel Vettori toiled for 35.4 overs for two wickets, albeit against much better batsmen. And since the pitches in New Zealand don’t deteriorate fast there wasn’t much rough to work with.When Harbhajan came on to bowl for the first time yesterday, New Zealand had a partnership going. Martin Guptill looked really good in the way he attacked the medium-pacers, and though he got most of the criticism for the shot he played, a lob-drive to mid-off, the fact was that the ball turned out to be shorter than he had expected. It was these small nuances that Harbhajan had to rely on, rather than the big-spinning, spitting offbreaks or the bigger-than-legbreak doosras.Jesse Ryder was caught plumb to a ball that straightened just enough from round the stumps, and Franklin scooped a flighted delivery that drew him into the shot. That he wasn’t up against a famed batting line-up does takes some gloss off his figures, but the flat track perhaps restores it again.Another aspect that shone through for Harbhajan in the second innings, was that he looked to be the leader of the attack, coming from the knowledge that he is the No. 1 spinner in the team. The feisty character that he is, he has invariably risen to the occasion whenever he has had to lead the spin attack. In the 21 Tests that he has played without Anil Kumble, he averages 26.19 as opposed to a career average of 30.58.There is no doubt that playing alongside Kumble helped Harbhajan grow as a spinner, but towards the end of Kumble’s career, the time had perhaps come when he needed that extra responsibility. It perhaps showed in that he had become a much better bowler in one-day cricket than in Tests. All through the final stages of Kumble’s career, there were fears over whether Harbhajan could take over the mantle of being India’s No. 1 spinner. Much of it had to do with his overseas performances. With 22 wickets in four Tests since Kumble’s retirement, and a match-winning five-for in New Zealand, Harbhajan seems to be on the right track.