Half-centuries from both Guyana openers ensured a draw against the Pakistanis

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2011
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Trevon Griffith and Shemroy Barrington, and solid contributions from Narsingh Deonarine and Shivnarine Chanderpaul ensured Guyana’s two-day game against the Pakistanis in Georgetown petered out into a draw. Openers Griffith and Barrington made sure the Pakistani bowlers would have to earn their stripes as they added 77 together. Barrington, who eventually fell leg-before to Saeed Ajmal, was the top scorer with 58, while Griffith made 55.Chanderpaul, who was named in the squad for the first Test, and Deonarine backed up the openers with 44 and 40 respectively. Five bowlers picked up wickets, with only Umar Gul missing out. Ajmal was the most successful, with figures of 2 for 41 from 15 overs.

Shane Warne has said the Australian selectors should not have stopped with Simon Katich when they chose to remove ageing players.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2011Shane Warne has said the Australian selectors should not have stopped with Simon Katich when they chose to remove ageing players from the list of Cricket Australia contracts.After Katich decided whether or not to continue playing and announced he would speak about his future at the SCG on Friday, Warne argued that other players – namely the 30-something trio of former captain Ricky Ponting, the middle-order batsman Mike Hussey and the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin – should also be making way.”Katich losing his contract was a bit disappointing because I think he’s been a true performer for a while. But I understand the logic of leaving him out,” Warne told the radio station .”The one thing about Cricket Australia I would say, and the current [group]; if you’re going to say you’re in transition, I think for the fans and the public and everyone out there who wants to support the Australian cricket team, let’s see some youngsters in there.”Don’t hang on to the older guys in there, say ‘we’re in transition, give us a bit of time’, but have 35 or 37-year-olds still playing Test cricket or one-day cricket. Get them in there, to get some experience and say ‘we’re in transition’.”Let’s stop sliding down to No. 5 in the world; [if] we keep playing the same players but saying ‘we’re in transition’, it doesn’t work.”Warne’s sentiments were pointed in their direction at the likes of Ponting and Hussey, and also an indication that he would like to see the new captain Michael Clarke granted the chance to build his own team.Katich, meanwhile, has taken time to reach his decision, which may involve cricket irrespective of whether or not he decides to play on. Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, has said that for Katich to be lost to Australian cricket altogether would be “a bad outcome” for the game.Katich has, however, found support in former Australia opener Michael Slater, who unlike Warne, felt that Katich’s age was irrelevant given his consistent performance. “I think he has been appallingly hung … If his replacement (Phil Hughes) came in scoring hundreds and was red hot, then I can understand an injury stopping someone in their mid-30s,” Slater told the . “But that clearly hasn’t happened.”The system that is being reviewed at the moment around the country, what are they reviewing? The first thing they should be reviewing is the selectors and the selection process and I’d start with the chairman of selectors.”

Somerset spinner Arul Suppiah took world-record Twenty20 figures of 6 for 5 in his side’s five-wicket Friends Life t20 victory over Glamorgan at Cardiff

05-Jul-2011 98 by five wickets
ScorecardSomerset spinner Arul Suppiah took world-record Twenty20 figures of 6 for 5 in his side’s five-wicket Friends Life t20 victory over Glamorgan at Cardiff.The home side, who were put into bat by Somerset, had no answer to Suppiah and the other two spinners, Murali Kartik and Max Waller, as they were dismissed for just 98 – their second worst total in the tournament – in just 17.4 overs of an 18-overs-per-side contest which was reduced because of rain.Suppiah’s record figures, which bettered Sohail Tanvir’s 6 for 14 for Rajasthan against Chennai in Jaipur in May 2008, came from 3.4 overs as all 10 Glamorgan wickets fell to the Somerset spinners.In reply Somerset got over the winning line with 21 balls to spare, Kieron Pollard finishing unbeaten on 31 from 20 balls.On the turning pitch, which had been used for two previous t20 matches, the Welsh county’s first two wickets to fall came through attempted reverse sweeps.Captain Alviro Petersen was out for a duck to the fifth ball of the innings to Kartik’s slow left-armers – caught at extra cover – and Gareth Rees was trapped leg before wicket by Waller at the start of the sixth after smashing 34 from 20 balls including two sixes.From 41 for 2 Glamorgan sank to 54 for 3, Mark Cosgrove holing out to long-on off Waller having scored just nine from 15 balls. And with Kartik virtually unplayable on a spin-friendly surface Mark Wallace found himself stumped down the leg-side as Glamorgan stuttered to 72 for four.It did not get any better for the home side as Suppiah entered the attack and they were soon reduced to 83 for 7. Kartik finished with 2 for 15 from his four overs – he went for just 13 singles and a two – while Suppiah accounted for the last four wickets to fall as Glamorgan set Somerset 99 to win.The visitors also struggled on the tricky wicket and found themselves 44 for 4 within eight overs, Marcus Trescothick caught at short fine leg off Dean Cosker for 16. Robert Croft struck twice to remove both Peter Trego (11) and Kartik (11) before Pollard struck Simon Jones for three fours in an over to take the pressure off the Somerset chase.

Mark Turner took the first five-wicket haul of his career as Derbyshire took control on the third day of their match with Division Two league leaders Northamptonshire at Wantage Road

George Dobell at Wantage Road22-Jul-2011
ScorecardUsually when Derbyshire are in the news, it’s because some halfwit is claiming they are just the sort of club which should be bull-dozed in an attempt to ‘improve the intensity’ of the county game.While that argument might not hold much water, Derbyshire haven’t always helped themselves. They have not produced an England player since Dominic Cork (who some might argue was a product of Staffordshire), have not played in the top division of the County Championship since 2000 – the first year of two divisions – and they are the only team in the land to never achieve promotion in either limited-overs or first-class cricket. They have, for a while, struggled to justify their existence. It’s harsh to state, but they’ve flirted with irrelevance.Perhaps, however, all that is starting to change. Just two months after they sacked their former director of cricket, Jon Morris, the signs are that the ‘new’ team is emerging as genuine promotion candidates. Indeed, if they win this game, they will have put themselves right in the thick of the promotion chase. It would not be too much of an exaggeration to state that their whole season could be defined by the final day of this game.The simple fact is this: going into the last day, they lead by 260 runs. While that might not sound too impressive, it should be understood that the pitch is showing increasing signs of uneven bounce and batting last could prove very tricky. Had 23 overs not been lost to rain and bad light on the end of the third day, their position would have been even stronger.If they do go on to win, they will be particularly grateful for the contribution of Mark Turner. The 26-year-old fast bowler, now with his third county, produced the first five-wicket haul of a first class career that began in 2005 to help earn his side an 89-run lead on first innings.While Turner has often bowled with pace, here he also demonstrated excellent control, claiming his last four wickets at the cost of just two runs, including a spell of three for none in 18 balls. The wickets of Niall O’Brien and Lee Daggett, stumps sent flying by swinging yorkers, were especially pleasing.Wes Durston also batted well. Durston, another former Somerset man, took several painful blows on the arms as the ball reared horribly, but thrashed a run-a-ball half-century to snuff out Northants’ hopes of a counter-attack. Hitting the ball with unusual power, Durston was
particularly severe on the spin of Rob White and James Middlebrook, plundering 41 off them in their four overs including an enormous straight six off the latter.Northants didn’t really help themselves. Chaminda Vaas, who is starting to look every one of his 37 years, has bowled 10 no-balls in this match, with the most costly of them inducing an edge from Wayne Madsen that was comfortably taken at slip. Madsen, on 7 at the time, went on to score 48 and added 87 with Durston.Daggett bowled well, however. Hitting a better length than his colleagues, he was able to exploit the uneven bounce and, with his first delivery, dismissed Martin Guptill, caught off the glove from a brute of a ball that reared, before Durston’s valuable innings was ended by a similar delivery.Northants’ season is also at something of a crossroads. Their lead at the top of the Division Two table – a lead that looked unassailable a few weeks ago – is starting to look precarious, with the team having surrendered their unbeaten record in all competitions and enduring a
horrible run of form in the FLt20.It appears increasingly unlikely that fast bowler Jack Brooks will be with them next year, too. Northants have now received five formal 28-day approaches from other counties keen to talk to Brooks and Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, was at Wantage Road on the third day to take a closer look.It was not, perhaps, the most distinguished performance of Brook’s season, but he has proved himself a decent performer over the last year or so and has bowled as well as anyone in county cricket this season. The clamour for his services also says something about the scarcity of fast bowlers in the county game at present.There was one more notable visitor at Wantage Road. Winston Davis, the former West Indies fast bowler who spent fours season with Northants between 1987 and 1990 returned to the club to attend the annual former players’ day.Sadly the years since have not been as kind to Davis as they might have been. Davis, who memorably took 7 for 51 against Australia in the 1983 World Cup, suffered horrific injuries after he fell from a tree in 1998 and was paralysed from the neck down. Needless to say, he
was afforded a very warm welcome on his return to the club.

Nathan Lyon’s state coach, Darren Berry, hopes the offspinner is given an extended run in the Test side after being named in Australia’s squad to tour Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2011Nathan Lyon’s state coach, Darren Berry, hopes the offspinner is given an extended run in the Test side after being named in Australia’s squad to tour Sri Lanka. Lyon was the most unexpected inclusion in the 15-man group, with only four first-class matches to his name, and he will compete with Michael Beer for the spinner’s spot in the three-Test series.Although Berry, Lyon’s mentor at South Australia, was wary of rushing the inexperienced spinner, he said it was a brave selection and he was confident Lyon could make the step up to Test cricket. However, given Australia’s recent history of discarding young spinners as quickly as they’ve been chosen, Berry said it was crucial that Lyon was not treated the same way.”I think that now they’ve shown their hand and they’ve been brave enough to pick him … they’ve got to give him every chance … not one or two Test matches and then say he’s not ready,” Berry said. “They’ve picked him, it’s their responsibility now and in Australian cricket we need to embrace this young spinner and give him an extended run.””He absolutely has the tools to be successful. He’s a very, very talented offspin bowler. He does the rare thing that not many offspinners do in the current day – he hangs the ball in the air and he has wonderful flight and variation. He’s an exciting talent. That said, no doubt Nathan this morning was quite shocked, as have many been, at his selection.”Shocked was an understatement. Lyon, 23, was not included in Australia A’s first-class matches against Zimbabwe recently, and although he performed well in the one-day matches on the trip, a Test promotion was not on his radar and the call from chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch caught him off guard.”I looked down at the phone and saw Andrew’s name pop up and thought ‘geez, what is going on here’,” Lyon said. “It has certainly come out of the blue but I’m not going to knock it back, that is for sure.”The New South Wales fast bowler, Trent Copeland, was equally surprised at his call-up, which he described as “beyond belief”. He said he was looking forward to the challenge of facing Sri Lanka and he hoped that his successful Australia A tour of Zimbabwe would hold him in good stead for the possible step up to Test cricket.”Having played against Zimbabwe for the last month, and South Africa A in a few one-dayers as well, in Zimbabwean conditions which were quite flat, slow wickets, hopefully that gets us in tune for Sri Lanka, which are renowned to be quite flat as well,” Copeland said. “Not only that, we’re coming up against some top-notch cricketers.”To win a spot in Australia’s starting line-up, Copeland will have to wait for an injury or jump ahead of one of Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle or Ryan Harris, who are expected to have the front-running for the first Test in Galle. Harris had been one of Australia’s best bowlers during the Ashes until an ankle fracture ended his series, and he is keen to resume his place in the baggy green.”It’s been very frustrating getting the injuries in the first place,” Harris said. “That broken ankle came out of nowhere. I didn’t have any warning. That’s the frustrating part about it. It’s been a hard road back, but it’s been worth it. Anything’s worth it to play for Australia. It’s great to be back in there. My bowling is going well.”

Sri Lanka’s captain Tillakaratne Dilshan believes the experience of his slow bowlers will provide a useful advantage over Australia’s rookie spinners in the first Test in Galle

Daniel Brettig in Galle30-Aug-2011Sri Lanka’s captain Tillakaratne Dilshan believes the experience of his slow bowlers will provide a useful advantage over Australia’s rookie spinners in the first Test in Galle, which begins on Wednesday.The hosts are leaning towards playing only two of the three spinners in their squad, as doubts remain over the allrounder Angelo Mathews’ ability to deliver significant spells following his recent knee problem. Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv would appear to be the frontrunners for those two spots over Ajantha Mendis, who has played more ODI cricket than Tests of late.Herath, who made his Test debut against Australia on this ground in 1999, and Randiv both have vast experience of the Galle pitch and the sea breezes that influence the flight. By contrast, neither Michael Beer nor Nathan Lyon had ever set foot in Sri Lanka before they were picked for this tour.”Yes definitely [experience is an advantage], our spinners have bowled here in practice games and they’ve played club cricket here,” Dilshan said. “They know how to adjust to this wicket and the wind, I think that is a small advantage.”[Beer and Lyon] bowled well in the practice game, the left-arm spinner and the offspinner. The thing is, we have to bat really well. In the last [home] series against India we faced Harbhajan [Singh], one of the best spinners in Asia. [So] I think our guys can handle their spinners.”Experience was clearly a priority for Dilshan and the Sri Lanka selectors. They chose to omit the fresher-faced trio of Seekuge Prasanna, Shaminda Eranga and Dhammika Prasad who had featured in the limited-overs squads, even after Prasanna and Eranga had impressed in the one-dayers. The 13 that remain will be trimmed on the morning of the match.”It’s an important match starting tomorrow here and I want to try and play the experienced guys who’ve been playing well for us the past few months,” Dilshan said.Mathews captained the Sri Lanka Board XI against the Australians in their only warm-up match before the Tests, and though he batted solidly on the final day he did not bowl at all. Dilshan said Mathews would only be capable of ten to 15 overs in an innings, hardly the stuff of a new-ball bowler – a role he would have to fill, if Sri Lanka are to play all three spinners – in any conditions.”He’s fit enough to bowl maybe ten to 15 overs for one innings, not long spells. Three-over spells might be his sort of thing,” Dilshan said. “Angelo is a good batsman, he has batted at No. 7 in the last few years. I could manage [juggle] a little bit in the middle, he might be available to bowl tomorrow.”History suggests that Galle is all but guaranteed of producing a result, unless the weather intervenes, and Dilshan said he was confident his batsmen would be able to compile enough runs to put pressure on Australia.”We have had a very solid [Test] batting line-up in the last three or four years,” he said. “From No. 1 to No. 6 we’ve batted really well. Especially in the last series, we batted well with six batsmen in England. I have confidence in my line-up, with Thilan [Samaraweera] in the middle order and Prasanna Jayawardene.”

Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, will serve as the team’s interm coach for the series against Sri Lanka beginning in October in the UAE

Umar Farooq03-Oct-2011Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, will serve as the team’s interim coach for the series against Sri Lanka beginning later this month. Mohsin steps in to fill the vacancy created by Waqar Younis’ departure after the tour of Zimbabwe as the PCB is in the process of appointing a full-time coach. Ijaz Ahmed will be the team’s assistant coach.The PCB committee tasked with finding the new head coach had shortlisted five names for the position out of a list of thirty-seven applicants. Twelve foreign and 25 local coaches had applied for the job. Those in contention for the top job reportedly include Dean Jones, Dermot Reeve and Aaqib Javed. The committee hadn’t finalised on a candidate, though, in time to take over before the Test, ODI and Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka in the UAE.Mohsin was appointed chief selector in March 2010 and was also involved in the PCB’s fast-track coaching program at National Cricket Academy, where he coached batsmen. Colonel Naushad Ali will take charge as associate manager for the Sri Lanka series and the tour of Bangladesh. He will function as manager for the Tests against Sri Lanka, though, in the absence of Naveed Akram Cheema, who will take over as manager for the limited-overs leg. . Cheema, a PCB governing board member and also the managing director of WAPDA, was appointed manger for the Zimbabwe series, replacing Intikhab Alam.The Pakistan squad will assemble in Lahore for a pre-series camp between November 10 and 13.

Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson, trainer David Dwyer and legspinner Abdul Qadir will be called as character witnesses in the alleged spot-fixing trial of Salman Butt

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court19-Oct-2011Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson, trainer David Dwyer and legspinner Abdul Qadir will be called as character witnesses in the alleged spot-fixing trial of Salman Butt.Their witness accounts will be read from a statement. Butt was an opening batsman under Lawson’s tenure in 2007-08, while Dwyer worked with Butt for a number of years in his capacity as Pakistan’s strength and conditioning coach. Qadir, who hails from Lahore as Butt does, had a son who allegedly worked for agent Mazhar Majeed. Statements from family members will also be heard.They will be read to the jury once the prosecution has completed its cross examination of Butt, which will resume on Wednesday morning.Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test last year when they allegedly conspired with agent Majeed, fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.The case continues.

Ryan Broad’s century and an unbeaten 78 by Peter Forrest pushed Queensland to a 320-run lead over Western Australia after rain marred day three of the Sheffield Shied match

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2011
ScorecardRyan Broad’s century enhanced Queensland’s position•Getty Images

Ryan Broad’s century and an unbeaten 78 by Peter Forrest pushed Queensland to a 320-run lead over Western Australia after rain marred day three of the Sheffield Shiled match at the WACA ground.Resuming at 2 for 140 after rain washed out the first session and much of the second, Broad went to his eighth and highest first-class century before he skied a catch to long on from the bowling of Adam Voges.Forrest played sensibly to stretch the visitors’ advantage, but only 41.5 overs were bowled for the day and the rain may have helped WA by limiting the size of the lead the Bulls could establish with enough time to bowl the hosts out.