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South Africa coach lauds his team for playing “the pressure moments pretty well”

Firdose Moonda14-Jan-2022For Mark Boucher, the toughest thing about watching South Africa’s chase against India was that there was nothing he could do about it.”As a player, you feel like the buck can stop with you. As a coach, your hands are tied behind your back. You haven’t got the chance to go out there and change the state of the game,” he said afterwards. “From a nerves perspective, it was up there with one of my more nervous days.”Though South Africa have previously chased 236 at this ground (and it remains their highest successful here), that was a decade ago and Boucher was in that XI. He spent that innings while Graeme Smith, currently director of cricket, and Hashim Amla, who is now doing commentary, batted South Africa to a memorable win. This time, South Africa needed 24 fewer runs but did not have players of the experience of Smith and Amla in their line-up, so Boucher was careful with how much he believed.”When you’re in the batting change-room, the runs always seem a mile away. When you’re in the fielding change-room, you always feel like there is never quite enough. So it was trying to find a bit of a balance,” he said. “We knew the conditions were going to be really tough.”Related

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• South Africa seal come-from-behind series win as India fall apart

• Elgar: We were thrown under the sword and responded brilliantly

• Petersen the hero of South Africa's iconic home victory

South Africa’s inexperienced line-up were against the best Indian pace attack that has ever visited these shores on a surface with uneven bounce, but their hope was that the weather and the opposition bowlers’ workload in the series so far would help cause them to wilt. “It was really hot outside. We knew that the amount they bowled in the first innings (76.3 overs) would eventually play it’s part so getting through the first hour unscathed was very important. It just settles the change-room,” Boucher said.Keegan Petersen and Rassie van der Dussen put on 47 runs in the first hour and though they looked like they might be dismissed at any moment, they weren’t. “I liked the intensity the guys batted with. We went out saying we’ve got to look to score,” Boucher said.He was particularly impressed with Petersen’s performance, which ended with a career-best 82 and earned him the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards. “Keegan probably didn’t start off as well as what he would have liked in West Indies. He didn’t start too well at SuperSport Park but he has always shown signs of the player we’re seeing right now,” Boucher said. “He just stuck to his guns.”He is in a good position to have a guy like Dean [Elgar] next to him, who really does back him and he is a tough nut. Batting at No. 3, you’ve got to be tough, you’ve got to know your game, you’ve got to be technically sound. It’s a very tough position to play in, in South Africa, in our conditions, batting at No. 3. The way he has come through in this series, I am lost for words. In a big series like this, against big players, to be man of the series is fully deserved.”Petersen did not bat South Africa over the line, though. That was left to van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma, who finished on 41 and 32 not out respectively. Bavuma was also at the crease when South Africa completed their chase at the Wanderers and even though he has still not added to his century-count, he has proved himself to have the temperament to take responsibility when its needed and is one-half of the leadership duo that is shaping the new-look South Africa.”We’ve got Dean who led from the front. We’ve got Temba as the vice-captain, who is the same sort of fighter with the same spirit. When you’ve got two leaders like that, the guys are going to follow,” Boucher said. “Both of them stood up with regards to their own games. If you’ve got the fighters as leaders and they are prepared to show it with bat or ball, it’s probably going to be the character of the team.”Asked if this series win represents a turning in the very long corner of losses, Boucher left it for all of us to decide. “It’s up to you guys to make that call whether we’ve turned the corner. I believe we turned a corner quite a while ago. Our results have been pretty solid over the last six months to a year,” he said. “We are in a good space at the moment. Our feet are firmly on the ground.”We are by no means the finished product, but we’ll enjoy this win. This team is on their own mission. If people want to jump on the back of that, that’s great and that will be much appreciated. We’ve been through some tough times of late. The team is driven in a way that is pretty special. It’s a special change-room to be in. I am incredibly proud of where they’ve come from over a short period of time and the results are starting to come through, which is fantastic for everyone.”Specifically, the way South Africa are approaching big moments has Boucher feeling as though he may not get the urge to go out there and change the state of the game himself again. “We played the pressure moments pretty well. We are not winning all of them but when we were losing a session, we were not losing it badly and that keeps us in the game. When we lost that first session in the first Test, we lost it so badly, we couldn’t get back into the game. Although we did try very hard, we probably lost too much in one session. Now, our guys are playing good pressure cricket at the moment.”

Pakistan wicketkeeper warns “it will be very difficult for them too” after marshalling lower-order resistance

Danyal Rasool14-Aug-2020England might feel they have had the better of two truncated days in Southampton, reducing Pakistan to 223 for 9 after the visitors had won the toss and opted to bat. But wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan dismissed the idea Pakistan were up against it, saying their seamers had showed what they were capable of at Old Trafford, and would test England here in “seaming conditions the likes of which I have never seen” before.”They were difficult conditions, not too dissimilar to some of the wickets in the north in Pakistan,” Rizwan said. “Places like Abbottabad and Peshawar, particularly. But this was the first time in my career I saw the ball seam after 75 overs, right until they took the new ball. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’ll be very difficult for England, too. They won’t find batting easy.”It feels strange to say Rizwan was under any pressure coming into this test, and from within the team management, that might never have been the case. His glovework at Old Trafford was inspired, as evidenced by a few excellent catches keeping up to Yasir Shah, who at times turned the ball square. He was unafraid of standing up to the 80mph Mohammad Abbas to keep England’s batsman honest when they strayed out of the crease, never in the slightest appearing out of his depth.ALSO READ: Alam and the cruelty of batting: 10-year wait ends in a duckBut two failures with the bat, combined by the somewhat intimidating presence of former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed waiting in the wings as back-up, led to questions about whether Ahmed might not be the safer choice, particularly with bat in hand. As such, Rizwan may have felt the need to showcase his ability when he walked out to bat alongside Babar Azam in Southampton, and after negotiating a torturously difficult first hour during which runs seemed a distant dream, the 27-year old began to grow into the role.”When we had Babar with me, I was being compact,” he said. “But when he got out and the tail came in, I knew I would have to go searching for the runs. In this format, you have these phases. At times, you have to stay calm and work hard to preserve your wicket. It would be silly to throw your wicket away when you have Babar alongside you, but the situation changed when he got out. When the tail came in, I attacked, and that worked out very nicely.”This was a new experience for me. When I play domestic cricket, I bat in the top five, so here, batting with the tail was a learning process for me. When we were coming on and off [due to rain and bad light], I spoke to Misbah[-ul-Haq] and Younis [Khan], and they gave me plenty of advice on how to play. But to negotiate the situation batting with the tail, and how to build up the innings for myself and the team, is very much a learning process and this was a good start.”It was the partnership with Mohammad Abbas that especially spruced up Rizwan’s outlook. After Pakistan crumbled to 176 for 8, Shaheen Afridi falling to some characteristically tailender running, even 200 seemed a distant prospect. Rizwan started farming the strike, and as England spread the field, he found the stifling pressure lift. Aided by some dodgy tactics from England, particularly around allowing too many loose singles later on in overs, he struck up a breezy 39-run partnership with Abbas, bringing up his half-century along the way.”We have fought back and our position is decent,” Rizwan said. “If we add 30-40 runs, we have lots of chances. Even if we don’t, and get them out within our own score, the match is on. You look at our bowlers, and they did the job for us in Manchester. England had the fortune on that final day, but our bowlers did a very good job. We expect them to repeat that here, given the ball seamed all the time for England. They had a bit of good fortune in that when we kept coming off, they got a bit of rest between their spells, allowing them to bowl longer spells. But our bowlers are young and capable, and we expect to contain them to within our total.”Mohammad Rizwan threads one through extra cover•Getty Images

For all of Rizwan’s talk about the team, this was a deeply personal innings. Some of the criticism flung his way following the first Test was ill-judged at best and spiteful at worst, not to mention being well wide of the mark. But in Pakistan cricket, what people say about players matters a great deal, and for all the brilliance Rizwan showed with the gloves, wicketkeeping, like perhaps umpiring, is often only noticed when done poorly. Rizwan needed a contribution with the bat to completely silence those who questioned his place in the team.”I don’t care about my critics,” Rizwan said. “I don’t listen to any of them. I see the cricket ground in front of my eyes and I know what I have to do in the nets. I work hard and leave the rest up to God. I don’t even read the news or watch TV. I keep working hard, and hope that what I’m doing produces results. That’s all I know how to do.”Rizwan’s story has been one of excelling where no one can see him. He toiled away in domestic cricket for years, clocking up first-class runs – nearly 4700 of them at 42.58 – which no one really watched beyond grainy YouTube feeds accumulated from the few occasions the PCB had a couple of cameras at the ground. All people saw, however, was Ahmed lead the side form strength to strength in international cricket; he was so obviously the first-choice wicketkeeper Pakistan didn’t even take a reserve to England for the World Cup last year.In the Manchester Test, Rizwan continued his progress by demonstrating he was fit for his primary role, and kept wickets immaculately. All people noticed, though, was the lack of footwork when he had bat in hand, and the scorecard, which showed he had managed just 36 in two innings.While his quality behind the stumps has never been in question, this might have been the day Rizwan demonstrated he is a half-decent cricketer in front of them, as well. He remains unbeaten, and not just on the overnight scorecard.

Andrew Miller at Lord's10-May-2019Lancashire 304 for 4 (Jennings 96, Vilas 70*) beat Middlesex 284 (Harris 117, Simpson 74, Mahmood 4-38) by 20 runsThere is, in case you missed it, quite a kerfuffle at present about the sudden availability of a genuinely quick new-ball bowler, a man with the potential to add a new level of pizzazz to England’s World Cup attack. But not even in his wildest dreams could Jofra Archer hope to hoover up 25 wickets at 18.88 in his first nine matches of the tournament, to propel his team into the semi-finals.Saqib Mahmood has done just that for Lancashire in the Royal London Cup. In spite of a startlingly heroic fightback led by James Harris, whose maiden List A hundred included a sixth-wicket stand of 197 with John Simpson that carried a spirited chase deep into the penultimate over, the ferocity of Mahmood’s new-ball burst was an intervention that could not be patched over in the final analysis.It was, nevertheless, the most improbable sporting thriller since … well, the midweek Champions League fixtures. Somehow, Middlesex clawed their way back from oblivion at 24 for 5 in the tenth over, as a batting line-up that had been denuded by injury and international call-up – with Paul Stirling, Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan all missing from their first-choice XI – instead found itself relying on a makeshift No.6 whose previous highest List A was a paltry 32.Harris arrived in the middle with his side in freefall and Mahmood enjoying the ultimate Master-and-Apprentice learning experience alongside the ageless Lord of Lord’s, Jimmy Anderson, who produced yet another Pavilion End masterclass, and even topped and tailed his day with a pair of direct-hit run-outs.Screaming to the crease with the biomechanical purity of Brett Lee, allied to a splayed-limb final flourish that evoked Waqar Younis in his pomp, Mahmood blew away Sam Robson and Stevie Eskinazi – the latter to a rabbit-in-the-headlines hook that spiralled to square leg – before producing an off-stump snorter that a batsman with the class and form of Ross Taylor could only steer to slip.The game was a goner – and long before half-time this time – so Harris decided to trust both his eye and his partner, and enjoy the rare opportunity to set out his stall for the bulk of a 50-over innings.For a full 30 overs, he thrived – bossing the change bowlers, not least the legspinner Matt Parkinson, on a pitch that Lancashire’s own batsmen had already demonstrated was full of runs. Without ever exerting themselves, Lancashire had eased to a total of 304 for 4, with Keaton Jennings’ 159-run stand with Stephen Croft providing the backbone before Dane Vilas’ 70 not out from 67 had applied some late urgency.However, it seemed for a long while that Lancashire would regret not getting more of a wriggle on against a Middlesex attack lacking the senior statesmen, Steven Finn and Tim Murtagh, and which at times seemed to be relying on a combination of bluff and guts to stay in touch. No-one had epitomised that better than the medium-pacer George Scott, whose early diving catch at midwicket to remove Liam Livingstone was the outstanding fielding moment of the day, and whose looping leg-stump yorker somehow wriggled into Jennings’ timbers to extract him for 96 and complete a notable maiden List A wicket.But Harris simply kept his composure, and once Mahmood and Anderson had been withdrawn after six overs each, he correctly ascertained that by batting through the overs, the runs would have to come on a pitch as true as Lord’s. He brought up a superb century from 90 balls, with nine fours and two sixes in consecutive overs off Parkinson and Graham Onions, and the increasing frequency of Lancashire’s brains trust gatherings was a clear indication of their mounting doubts.But then, in the 41st over, everything changed again. Swinging across the line to Parkinson, Harris let his back foot twitch fatally as his toe strayed out of the crease, and then two balls later, calamity struck, as the new man, Scott, slapped an inside-out drive to mid-off, and sold Simpson a dummy as Anderson’s dead eye pinged down the stumps at the far end.Though Scott made amends as best he could, with Toby Roland-Jones also digging deep in an eighth-wicket stand of 45, Mahmood would not be denied. Back he came at the death, finding his yorkers at will to strangle the scoring rate, before earning a somewhat fortuitous fourth wicket, as Scott was pinned on the knee-roll by an inswinger, albeit outside the line.With the situation getting frantic, Nathan Sowter ran himself out with a suicidal single to the keeper, before Roland-Jones picked out deep midwicket one ball later to end Middlesex’s spirited campaign. It’s been 31 years and counting since they last won a List A title – but there has been much to admire in their white-ball endeavours this year.Lancashire, meanwhile, march on to face Hampshire in the semi-final on Sunday, and with a world-class strike bowler bubbling up in their ranks, they may yet believe that this hard-fought win was but a dress rehearsal for their own overdue return to trophy-winning ways at Lord’s.

The fast bowler has been handed a Category B contract after the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit investigated allegations pertaining to the board’s code of conduct and found that no further proceedings were warranted

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2018The BCCI has included Mohammed Shami in Category B of its annual contracts list. The board had earlier withheld the fast bowler’s name pending investigation into various allegations made by his wife Hasin Jahan.While the Kolkata Police is investigating criminal charges filed by Jahan against Shami and his family, including attempt to murder, the BCCI had concerned itself with particular allegations pertaining to the provisions of its code of conduct. The Supreme-Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), which is currently supervising the BCCI, had asked the board’s anti-corruption unit to investigate if Shami had collected money sent to him by a UK national through a Pakistani woman in Dubai.”We are only concerned with what the Anti Corruption Unit is investigating, not his [Shami’s] personal life,” Rajiv Shukla, the IPL chairman, had said on Wednesday at a press conference in Mumbai.On Thursday, the BCCI stated in a press release that “no further actions/proceedings under the BCCI anti-corruption code are warranted in this matter”, after Neeraj Kumar, a former police commissioner of Delhi and the head of the board’s anti-corruption unit, had submitted his report to the CoA.Shami joined KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma and Dinesh Karthik in Category B of the BCCI’s contracts list, and will earn INR 3 crore for the period between October 1, 2017 and September 30, 2018.

Afghanistan bulldozed rivals Ireland by 10 wickets in the final of the inaugural Desert T20

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Dubai20-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:03

Afghanistan champions of Desert T20 challenge

Afghanistan rubbished any claim that Ireland might pose a threat to the Asian side’s Associate hegemony in limited-overs cricket, bulldozing their rivals by 10 wickets in the final of the inaugural Desert T20. Ireland appeared to be in perfect symphony building to the crescendo of the final, and remained in tune through the first eight balls.But they hit their first duff note on the ninth, Stuart Poynter cutting Farid Ahmad to Rashid Khan at point, and the rest of their innings continued to be played in the wrong key. Afghanistan fed off the rhythmic chanting and clapping of the 15,000 strong crowd and played a fast and funky chart-busting ditty, which culminated in a record margin of victory and defeat respectively.Paul Stirling lasted until the sixth over to top score with 17, but Greg Thompson was the only other player to reach double-digits, ending on 10 not out when Craig Young was bowled by Mohammad Nabi to wrap up the innings for 71 in 13.2 overs. Nawroz Mangal and Mohammad Shahzad then knocked off the runs in 47 balls with the Afghanistan squad sprinting on to the field as Shahzad struck the final boundary to clinch victory, sparking one more raucous wave of roars from the crowd.Man of the HourNabi’s Twitter handle is @MohammadNabi007. He may be a cricketer in name but in practice he bowled as if he was a super spy experimenting with a fresh series of prototype gadgets designed by Q to subdue Ireland’s line-up.One might say, “he’s only bowling offspin”. But Ireland’s batsman were on the receiving end of deliveries that appeared normal out of the hand before morphing into exploding pens and dart-shooting cufflinks in true James Bond fashion. By the end of the Powerplay he had figures of 3 for 9 in two overs, claiming Stirling, William Porterfield and Kevin O’Brien. He came back at the end to bowl Young, sealing Man of the Match figures of 4 for 10 off just 14 deliveries. Nabi was also named Man of the Tournament.2:08

‘Lost too many wickets early’ – Porterfield

Man of the DayShahzad clobbered a disdainful 80 against Oman just after noon. A little more than nine hours later, he was putting the finishing touches on another half-century, hitting an unbeaten 52 off 40 balls to make it 132 runs in total on finals day. His first boundary was driven off Boyd Rankin’s fourth ball over mid-off to loud cheers and as the ball bounced over the rope another chorus of screams went up as the crowd realised the umpire had signaled no-ball. The free hit was then cracked past point for another boundary before he laced a flat six over the leg side on the fifth legal ball of the over.Perhaps the biggest roar went up for Shahzad on the first ball of the sixth, bowled by Young. He rocked back to cut but the ball careened towards Jacob Mulder at backward point. The legspinner lunged to his right and got two hands to it but it burst through with enough momentum to go to the rope for Shahzad’s seventh four. For a brief moment the crowd was almost hushed, something William Porterfield said in the press conference afterward his side gets motivated to accomplish in front of a big game crowd such as this. It didn’t happen and the party continued through the rest of the night.Team-mates carry Nawroz Mangal on a victory lap•Peter Della Penna

Man of the DecadeNawroz was feted with a red-carpet ceremony 10 minutes prior to the first ball. His Afghanistan team-mates created a guard of honour, arcing their bats for him to walk through and on to the field at the start of play. Former team-mates not in the current squad such as Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan flew in to be at the game not only to support the entire team but as a sign of respect for their beloved ex-captain.At the start of the seventh over, with eight runs left to win, the stadium shifted their chant from “Afghanistan Zindabad!” to “Mangal! Mangal!” After the final ball was bowled, the Afghanistan team sprinted on to the field to hug him and Shahzad. Dawlat Zadran then hoisted Nawroz up and walked an entire victory lap with him on his shoulders as Nawroz waved to the crowd, who continued cheering and chanting his name.When the lap was finished and Dawlat lowered him back to earth, Hamid and Shapoor were two of the first two give him hugs, along with ACB chairman Atif Mashal and chief executive Shafiqullah Stanikzai. They then backed away and gave him space to soak up the crowd one more time. As he walked off, Nawroz patted his heart. He gave so much of it, along with his soul, to the nation and in return they provided him a fitting send-off on a historic night in Dubai.

Virat Kohli, India’s Test captain, has spoken out against what he believes is an atmosphere where the Indian media and public at large are focusing on the team’s weaknesses and not enough on its positives

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2015Virat Kohli, India’s Test captain, has spoken out against what he believes is an atmosphere where the Indian media and public at large are focusing on the team’s weaknesses and not enough on its positives. Kohli also voiced his displeasure with former players in the media criticising the team, saying they should speak to current players in private, and felt those who had not played for the country had no right to comment on international cricketers.Kohli’s comments, part of an interview with , come in the context of a series where India’s win over South Africa was played out to a parallel theme of bad pitches, especially in Nagpur.”It is a pity. The series happened in our country and our own people are looking for weaknesses and areas of criticism, and not speaking enough about the kind of good cricket we played,” Kohli said.”They have been talking about the pitches and how that has been a factor. In this series, four of the top five run-getters were Indians. Top two wicket-takers were Indians. We have had no excuses, we played honest cricket and we got the results in our favour. We are proud of what we have done and how we have played.”Throughout the South Africa series, Kohli maintained that the pitches had little to do with India’s success, despite a number of television pundits claiming otherwise. Kohli admitted that he was “hurt” by former players who he once “looked up to” putting pressure on India by over-analysing the side’s limitations when he felt they should have instead been throwing their weight behind the team.”It obviously hurts when people who have played the game themselves make such comments,” he said. “I am not saying all of them do it. Some of them understand the mindset of the players, having gone through similar situations in their careers. They lend you support, say the right thing and even help you with certain technicalities.”But some people like to focus on the negatives. It feels bad as an Indian cricketer. Growing up, you have looked up to these people, and when you hear such comments from them you lose a bit of respect for them. It would be more respectful of them to come up and speak to a player individually if they feel there is some flaw that needs to be corrected.”And someone who hasn’t played for the country has no right to comment on an international cricketer anyway. I don’t think that has any kind of logic. You cannot sit there and say how you would have done something differently when you have not been in that situation yourself and don’t have the mindset of a cricketer.”This is not the first time Kohli has spoken out against what he perceives to be unfair treatment from the media. During the World Cup in March, Kohli was officially warned by the BCCI for using abusive language against an Indian journalist. A month later, he lashed out at critics who he felt should be “ashamed of themselves” for going personal. Kohli reiterated those views even on Thursday, suggesting that the Indian media could not wait to criticise a player.”You go to Australia or other countries, they keep showing a player’s past good performances and talk about how good he is even when he is not in form. It helps the player gain confidence as well. It shows him that the whole system supports him. That’s what we don’t get. This has been a pattern over the years in India – players are criticised unnecessarily. When you lose, it’s fine, but here, even when we are winning, they find new ways to criticise the team. It is completely bizarre.”It is something we have started ignoring as a team, but it is important to put this out there because the public believes what has been said by those on the TV and in the media. The fans will form their opinion based on what they hear on the TV – the analysis done on a player and the comments made about him.”And they will repeat the same thing to the player when they come across him anywhere. The player is subjected to snide comments wherever he goes on a daily basis, and it is a serious area of concern. It is very important for a player to be backed by his own people, and it is something we deserve. We are Test cricketers, we work hard every day and never take things for granted.”

Ajmal Shahzad bowled with pace and aggression to check Sussex’s progress after half-centuries from Luke Wells and Ed Joyce

Paul Edwards at Aigburth01-Jun-2013
ScorecardAlex Gidman was the chief resistance for Gloucestershire on day four•PA Photos

A match which had never lacked interest throughout its four days had a fitting conclusion when Gloucestershire’s No. 11 Liam Norwell played Andrea Agathangelou’s final delivery of the game safely to gully to secure a draw against Lancashire.That outcome will have cheered Michel Klinger’s men, some of whom had defied Lancashire’s six-man attack with outstanding technical skill, but it was, of course, a colossal frustration for Glen Chapple and his team, who probably thought that Aigburth was going to supply them with another victory that would shred the nerves before lifting the heart.But when they review this match the Lancashire hierarchy will assess their decision to bat on for 6.3 overs at the start of the day add 31 runs to their overnight score and extend their lead to 358. Gloucestershire’s batsmen never appeared remotely interested in chasing this target down but the same may not have been quite so true of the overnight lead of 327.Batting a side out of the game has become the norm for many teams these days in preference to setting a tempting target and invites a more attacking strategy. For spectators and players this diminution of cricket’s tactical nuances is a great shame. Many Lancashire supporters were hoping their team would declare overnight; many others were bemoaning the decision not have done so when Gloucestershire’s last pair survived. It was difficult to supply an effective counter-argument. Sometimes you really do have to run a slight risk of losing a match in order to give yourselves the best chance of winning it. It’s an old song but it’s still a good ‘un.None of which sermonising should detract from the enthralling sport which both sides provided for the Liverpool public. No Gloucestershire batsman scored a half-century and no Lancashire bowler took more than two wickets and this was strangely appropriate too: these four days have been more about collective effort than individual brilliance.Nevertheless, the major contributors to Gloucestershire’s resistance on the last day of this match were Alex Gidman, who made 46 before becoming Agathangelou’s first Championship victim when he played back to the offspinner’s quicker ball, and Hamish Marshall, who faced 206 balls for his technically accomplished 44.Agathangelou was to claim the ninth wicket, that of Graeme McCarter, in addition to taking the catches at short leg and slip that disposed of Michael Klinger and Craig Miles. Agathangelou , a South African-born Cypriot, is rapidly turning into a mighty useful first-team cricketer.All the same, in the middle portion of the innings, Lancashire’s bowlers never took wickets with the sort of rapidity required if they were to win the game. Kyle Hogg removed both Chris Dent and Dan Housego and Simon Kerrigan claimed the key wicket of Klinger to leave Gloucestershire 60 for 3 just after lunch but Gidman and Marshall’s fourth-wicket stand of 54 occupied 29 vital overs. Marshall then found Benny Howell an equally obdurate partner until Kerrigan trapped Howell lbw for 17 to begin a period of play which saw four wickets fall in twelve overs and the refrain of “Oh Lanky, Lanky” echo around the ground.In the event it wasn’t quite enough. Ed Young defied a wrist-injury to come out and bat 6.1 overs with Graeme McCarter, this after Marshall had been dismissing fending Wayne White to Ashwell Prince. White even hit McCarter on the head but he held out until the penultimate ball of the 99th and last over of the innings. Norwell then needed to show a bit of nerve in facing the last delivery. He did so, and Gloucestershire survived. What’s more, no one could really begrudge them their draw.

West Indies Women made a winning start to the five-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka Women, winning by 23 runs in Barbados

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2012
ScorecardPlayer of the series from the ODIs, Shanel Daley, extended her top form•WICB

West Indies Women made a winning start to the five-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka Women, winning by 23 runs in Barbados. Shanel Daley, who was adjudged player of the series during the ODIs, continued her fine form, top scoring, picking up a wicket and effecting a run out in the game.Useful partnerships from the West Indies top order – 30, 21 and 39 – ensured they set a competitive target for the visitors. Daley narrowly missed her half-century; she scored 48 off 28 balls to push the scoring-rate in the second half. She was out on the penultimate ball of the innings to Shashikala Siriwardene, who also accounted for Anisa Mohammed off the next ball.Sri Lanka chase began steadily as well, as they go to 48 for two after eleven overs. But a few tight overs and two wickets off consecutive balls followed, accounting for Deepika Rasangika and Sripali Weerakkody and derailing the chase. Stafanie Taylor and Anisa shared four wickets between them, stalling any chances of recovery by the visitors.

India’s visit to Australia in 2011-12 has ushered the return of the limited overs tri-series and the reinstatement of the Australia Day Test match at Adelaide Oval.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2011India’s visit to Australia in 2011-12 has ushered in the return of the limited overs tri-series and the reinstatement of the Australia Day Test match at Adelaide Oval.The summer from which Cricket Australia makes the lion’s share of its total income, via the sale of television rights for India matches, features two Tests against New Zealand in December, and four against the Indian tourists, starting on Boxing Day at the MCG.Sydney, Perth and Adelaide will round out the Test summer, before Sri Lanka arrive to be the third team in the revived triangular tournament.Other notable fixture choices include the Sydney Olympic Stadium’s elevation to international status for the first time, to host a Twenty20 international between Australia and India on February 1, while Bellerive Oval will welcome the New Zealand tourists for the second Test of the Trans-Tasman series.The tri-series, which was last seen in Australia in 2007-08, has been redeployed as a way of providing the requisite number of matches for subcontinental television rights, and pits the world’s top three limited overs sides – Australia, the World Cup champion India and the finalist Sri Lanka – against one another.”ICC Cricket World Cup winner India is also the number one-ranked Test team in the world at the moment,” said James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive. “Sri Lanka has also been in great form as we saw in the World Cup, while we know New Zealand is always a formidable opponent that thrives when playing Australia.”With the commencement of the ICC World Test Championship we know that every Test win is vital and the Australian team will be keen to start the home season positively against New Zealand.”Australia’s November series in South Africa and the late arrival of the Indian touring party means the international summer will stretch well into March, again leaving CA to battle with the onset of the football season and its various codes, for crowds and television ratings.As has become customary, India will have only one tour warm-up match before the first Test, while New Zealand have not been granted any.Test SeriesDecember 1 – 5: Australia v New Zealand, BrisbaneDecember 9 – 13: Australia v New Zealand, HobartDecember 26 – 30: Australia v India, MelbourneJanuary 3 – 7: Australia v India, SydneyJanuary 13 – 17: Australia v India, PerthJanuary 24 – 28: Australia v India, AdelaideTwenty20 InternationalsFebruary 1: Australia v India, 1st Twenty20, SydneyFebruary 3: Australia v India, MelbourneLimited Overs SeriesFebruary 5: Australia v India, MelbourneFebruary 8: India v Sri Lanka, PerthFebruary 10: Australia v Sri Lanka, PerthFebruary 12: Australia v India, AdelaideFebruary 14: India v Sri Lanka, AdelaideFebruary 17: Australia v Sri Lanka, SydneyFebruary 19: Australia v India, BrisbaneFebruary 21: India v Sri Lanka, BrisbaneFebruary 24: Australia v Sri Lanka, HobartFebruary 26: Australia v India, SydneyFebruary 28: India v Sri Lanka, HobartMarch 2: Australia v Sri Lanka, MelbourneMarch 4: 1st Final, BrisbaneMarch 6: 2nd Final, AdelaideMarch 8: 3rd Final, AdelaideTour matchesDecember 18 – 21, CA Chairman’s XI v India, Manuka OvalTBC, PM’s XI v Sri Lanka, Manuka Oval

Lalit Modi, in his reply to the second show-cause notice served on him by the BCCI – which was prompted by a letter from Giles Clarke – has said that Clarke’s allegations were “motivated” and “not worthy of credence”

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Jun-2010Lalit Modi, in his reply to the second show-cause notice served on him by the BCCI – which was prompted by a letter from Giles Clarke, the ECB president – has said Clarke’s allegations were “motivated”, given their “history of run-ins”, and “not worthy of credence”. His reply – a copy of which is with Cricinfo – also said that the board, knowing this background, should have backed him and sought his comment before issuing the notice.The notice was issued to Modi on May 6, ten days after he was suspended from his position as IPL chairman. It followed an email sent by Clarke to BCCI president Shashank Manohar alleging activities by Modi that were “detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and world cricket at large.” Both communications referred to a meeting Modi held on March 31 in Delhi with representatives of three English counties in which he is alleged to have discussed a parallel IPL in England and Wales.In his reply, which runs to 24 pages and has five supporting documents, Modi has cited specific examples of his differences with Clarke which, he claims, began during the inaugural season of the IPL. “It is well known in informed cricketing circles that Mr. Clarke holds a personal grudge against me. This started as far back as 2008. Mr. Clarke came to India at the time of the IPL Season 1 and noticed that the IPL was a resounding success.”He has mentioned the ECB’s brief relationship under Clarke with Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire, which ended in early 2009 when the latter was charged with fraud. The contrast between that scenario and the IPL, which was “going from strength to strength”, is offered as a reason for the animus.Other examples cited include the ECB’s decision to not accept the stakeholding offered to it for the Champions League; the IPL’s decision to stage the second season in South Africa instead of England; the general scheduling of the IPL, whose later games clashed with the English domestic season and the scheduling of the 2010 Champions League; the IPL’s insistence that its franchises be given the preference by players taking part in the Champions League; and the status of English players with the unofficial ICL.Part of his reply dealt with the way the issue has been handled by the BCCI and he has some strong words for N Srinivasan, the board secretary, who sent him the notice. “The manner in which, on completely flimsy and frivolous grounds, a Show Cause Notice has been issued shows the prejudged, premeditated and biased mind set with which the Hon Secretary is working. The fact that Hon. Secretary had chosen to act on the basis of an email which was merely a perception of the sender with no confirmation or acknowledgement at any stage by me itself shows that the 2nd Show Cause Notice has been issued on flimsy and/or non-existent grounds.”He also repeated his request to Manohar and Srinivasan for them to step down from the probe against him and instead appoint an independent panel to adjudicate the matter.