All posts by csb10.top

The Indian selectors have sprung a major surprise by recalling Virender Sehwag to the Indian team for the four-Test series against Australia. Although he was not in the list of 24 probables Sehwag has got a recall after Gautam Gambhir was advised three weeks rest with a sore shoulder.There was also place in the 16-man squad for Pankaj Singh, the young Rajasthan fast bowler. Munaf Patel, who was thought to be a front-runner for a spot has been advised to play more domestic cricket before he will be considered for selection in the future.All season Pankaj has impressed with his performances for Rajasthan. Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, has spoken highly of Pankaj on more than one occasion. A string of good bowling for Rajasthan Under-19 pitchforked Pankaj into the the first-class team in 2003. But it was in late 2006 that he really showed signs of maturing by leading the Rajasthan attack and taking them to the plate league final. In 2007 he broke into the India A team and was successful in the tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe and then played in the home series against South Africa A.Sehwag makes his return to the Test team after being ignored after India’s tour to South Africa in 2006-07. His last Test was in Cape Town, and since then he has played only ODIs and Twenty20 internationals. Sehwag hasn’t been in great touch in the Ranji Trophy, with 66 runs in five innings for Delhi.Dinesh Karthik held onto his place in the squad, after scoring a half-century on the final day of the drawn third Test against Pakistan. Also included in the squad are Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan, who were included in India’s squad for the final Test against Pakistan after a spate of injuries to fast bowlers.Ishant, who took five wickets in Pakistan’s first innings, said he was happy on being selected though he hadn’t been mulling over it during the Test in Bangalore. “I didn’t think my performance in Bangalore would have played such a part in my selection,” Ishant told Cricinfo. “My aim was to bowl properly and I didn’t stress myself by thinking ”will I be picked or not. The Australian wickets will surely be an advantage to my style of bowling, with the bounce and pace, and my job now will be to hit the right areas.”From the current squad there was no place for Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner, but this was expected given the fact that India were only going to take two spinners on a tour of Australia.With Sreesanth unfit the pace attack is led by Zaheer Khan and backed up by RP Singh, Ishant, Pathan and Pankaj.Commenting on the selection, Ricky Ponting told Cricinfo in Adelaide that he didn’t think were too many surprises. “I must admit I didn’t think Sehwag would make the final touring party but he’s here and he had some successes against us last time,” he said. “A terrific 195 or something. He can be a dangerous player but we will worry about that once we’ve got this Chappell-Hadlee Series out of the way.”India’s Test squad for Australia
Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble (capt), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Pankaj Singh.

Despite going down to Australia in the VB Series finals, Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, drew several positives from the tour and was confident of putting up a better performance in the forthcoming series against India.”It is disappointing to lose the VB series finals 2-0 but I remain optimistic that the boys will show improvement in India, a tour which is very important for us,” said Inzamam. “These last couple of games, we have really worked hard and played good cricket. The India tour is crucial for us. The boys are playing well and hopefully they will continue this.”Pakistan had a poor tour of Australia, losing all three Tests and winning just three games out of eight in the VB Series, while Inzamam’s captaincy was severely criticised, most notably by Imran Khan, who called the team’s performance “spineless”. Their batting was extremely disappointing in the finals, when they failed to chase targets of 238 and 240 in the two matches, but their displays in the field were far more encouraging.Inzamam had earlier indicated that he might step down from captaincy before the Indian tour, but he has since received full backing from Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan board, to lead the side. “I am looking forward to leading the side against India. For the boys any match against them is special. It would be the high point of my career leading the side in the full series in India.”Inzamam’s record as a Test captain is quite ordinary. He has led in ten matches, with just three wins and five losses. He will have an opportunity to improve that statistic in the three-Test series against India, which begins next month.

Michael Vaughan
“Throughout my short career to date this is my best Test victory. [South Africa] were 362 for 4 after the first day on a good batting pitch, and to show the character we did and come back was a fantastic team effort. Steve Harmison was fantastic and Martin Bicknell on his home ground was exceptional.”Marcus Trescothick
“It’s just been a great gig and a great game of cricket for all of us. I’ve worked hard throughout the whole series. There have been some tough wickets and things had not gone my way but I worked hard for this and will enjoy the moment. I still had to fight hard, I did not play all that well for the first hour. I needed a bit of luck but that’s the way it goes.”Graeme Smith
“I’d like to have had 700 in the first innings. The run-outs didn’t help, and one or two little things go against you, but that’s Test cricket. I don’t think we’re chokers. England played good cricket in this match. But at Headingley [where South Africa won the fourth Test by 191 runs after being 21 for 4 and 142 for 7] we fought back well. England are allowed to play good cricket but it’s obviously disappointing not pushing on from 2-1. Test cricket is about pressure and we didn’t cope with it in this match."England batted superbly on what was a good Test wicket – one big partnership up front really set the tone of the innings and then Freddie [Flintoff] came in and took the game away from us."It’s been a hard-fought series, neither side has wanted to give an inch and hasn’t given an inch. You’ve had to fight for everything you’ve gained. I thought my boys had a fantastic series. Three months away from home, they really fought hard for the whole series and put up a fantastic performance."We have to learn to be a bit more ruthless. But apart from this match, when we’ve got into trouble, someone’s got us out of it and that’s given me a lot of satisfaction.”The retiring Alec Stewart
“I said before the Test it was not all about Alec Stewart. It was the perfect sendoff and I wish the team all the best for the future. There was some good batting, some good bowling and it was an excellent wicket here.”Obviously that debut [a win over West Indies in 1989-90] is still clear in my mind. To start and end with a win is perfect. I won’t forget Barbados, the Headingley win to beat South Africa last time they were here, and the series wins in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.”I’m going to enjoy the next few weeks and finish the season with Surrey. Then I’ll put the cricket kit away and get out the golf clubs and the Chelsea shirt. I’ve had some good offers, a good one from here at The Oval. I’ve got some things in the pipeline."

Joshua Jeyaraja and Anwar bin Arudin struck sparkling half-centuries for Malaysia, who trounced Oman by 51 runs to notch up their second victory in the Youth Asia Cup match at the Quaid-e-Azam Park in Karachi. In today’s other match at National Stadium, Hong Kong defeated Thailand by four wickets.

Jeyaraja scored 82 off 125 balls, including nine fours and a six, while Anwar hit a 51-ball 71 with six fours and two sixes to guide Malaysia to 278 for five from 50 overs. Oman, who had their target revised to 209 in 30 overs due to afternoon rain, were restricted to 157 for 9 – thanks to Maxwell Stephen, who took 3 for 16.Malaysia now have 13 points from three games, while Oman have 10 points from as many games.At the National Stadium, Thailand batted first and were dismissed for 174 in 46.2 overs with No. 9 batsman Kwan Chand top-scoring with 39. Openers Darshil Shah (37) and Saurabh Dhanukha (31) put on 41 runs, but the middle order failed to handle the offspin bowling of Zain Abbas, who finished with 4 for 22.In their chase, Hong Kong were helped by Thailand’s generous helping of 38 extras which helped the winners’ cause. Courtney Kruger was the top-scorer with a 56-ball 45 which featured five boundaries. Sahan bowled well for Thailand and finished with figures of 4 for 34.Scores in brief:
Thailand 174 in 46.2 overs (Kwan Chand 39, Darshil Shah 37, Saurabh Dhanuka 31, Zain Abbas 4-22) lost to Hong Kong 178-6 in 36 overs (Courtney Kruger 45, Sahan 4-34) by four wickets.Malaysia 278-5 in 50 overs (Joshua Jeyaraja 82, Anwar bin Arudin 71) beat Oman 157-9 in 30 overs (Derrick Ruston 38, Rustam Ali Khan 30, Maxwell Stephen 3-16) by 51 (D/L method).Tuesday’s fixtures:
Singapore v Nepal at Asghar Ali Shah Stadium; UAE v Maldives at PCB Regional Academy ground.

Ed Giddins, the former England fast bowler, has been fined £5000, plus £1000 costs, and banned from playing in any match under the jurisdiction of the ECB for five years.Giddins, 32, was found guilty by an ECB disciplinary panel of breaching a directive while a contracted county player, by placing a bet of around £7000 on Surrey (his county at the time) to lose to Northamptonshire in a National League game in August 2002. Giddins pleaded not guilty to the charge, but did not dispute any of the facts brought before the panel, which was chaired by His Honour Judge Slinger, and also included David Gabbitass and Richard Bevan.The five-year suspension was the maximum available to the panel, and, according to the ECB, “reflects the seriousness with which the discipline committee views any attempt by a registered cricketer to bet on the result of any match under ECB jurisdiction”.The ban won’t affect Giddins unduly, since he retired at the end of last season after a subdued year with Hampshire, his fourth county. He parted company with Sussex, his first club, after a drug offence in 1996. He also played for Warwickshire and Surrey, and won four Test caps, taking 12 wickets at 20.00, including 5 for 15 against Zimbabwe at Lord’s in 2000.

ScorecardThis match continued to go India A’s way. After bundling out Kenya for 116, powerful batting performances got them to 429 for 4 at the end of the second day. The only success for Kenya was the dismissal of Sridharan Sriram, who scored a century before Peter Ongondo did him in. It was a day that showcased India A’s batting might. Venugopal Rao ran up an unbeaten 157 to pile on the runs further, and he was helped in this cause by Ambati Rayudu, who remained not out on 61.Sriram’s dismissal ended a 199-run partnership on a hot day where Kenya toiled for few gains. His 220-ball innings ended two overs before tea. Rayudu and Venugopal then put up 147 runs.Admittedly, India A were up against a weakened Kenyan side, but clearly, no favours were granted. They raced along at nearly three-and-a-half an over, and with the lead they’ve built, a result in the next two days looks quite possible.

Scorecard

The decisive third Test between Sri Lanka A and West Indies A is heading for a close finish after a third day at the Saravanamuttu Stadium. West Indies ended the day with an overall lead of 126 runs and six wickets in hand. The slow left-armer Sajeewa Weerakoon tilted the scales slightly in favour of Sri Lanka when he snapped up the wickets of the opener Lendl Simmons for 52 and Marlon Samuels for 16 within nine runs of each shortly before the close for West Indies to finish on a shaky 114 for 4.If they are to make any headway towards winning, Sri Lanka will need rely on Weerakoon: he has captured 22 wickets in the series so far. Earlier in the day, West Indies bowlers kept the free-scoring Sri Lankan batsmen pegged down with some tight bowling to give their team a slender 12-run lead at the end of the first innings.Sri Lanka resumed at a promising 181 for 3 but failed to build on that total and were dismissed for 312 in reply to West Indies’ first innings of 324. Shantha Kalavitigoda added only one to his overnight score of 74 before edging a catch to Simmons behind the wicket off Washington in the third over of the morning.The captain Russel Arnold – who hit a match winning 159 in the second Test – and the vice-captain Prasanna Jayawardene followed in quick succession as Sri Lanka slid to 194 for 6 within 36 minutes of play in the morning. Washington grabbed two of the three wickets to fall at the end: he finished with figures of three for 31.The slide was halted by the fast bowlers Farveez Maharoof (16) and Danushka Lokuhettige (57) who figured in a seventh-wicket stand that produced 59 runs. Weerakoon chipped in with a useful 27 not out, sharing a last-wicket stand of 38 with Suraj Mohamed which took Sri Lanka past the 300-run mark. The series stands tied at one-all with West Indies winning a at Dambulla by 57 runs and Sri Lanka at Colts grounds by an innings and 16 runs.

England 281 for 7 (Edwards 102, Newton 65) beat South Africa 162 by 119 runs
ScorecardEngland’s women won the second ODI against South Africa at East London by a handsome 119 runs, to draw level in the five-Test series. After winning the toss and batting first, England breezed along to 281 for 7 in their 50 overs, a total that proved to be well out of the reach of South Africa. None of their batsmen made more than Daleen Terblanche’s 27, as they were bundled out for 162.Laura Newton and Charlotte Edwards gave England the perfect start by taking advantage of some ill-directed bowling from the South African pace attack. They both rattled along to their half-centuries, although on 108, Newton survived a run-out opportunity in the most bizarre fashion imaginable. She was beaten by a direct hit from mid-off and was all set to return to the pavilion, but the bails, which had leapt 5cm in the air, somehow settled back into their grooves, and the umpires had no option but to recall her.Newton eventually fell for 65 (142 for 1), but Edwards was in superb touch and had reached 102 before being clean-bowled by Sune van Zyl. South Africa’s fielding matched their bowlers for waywardness – 19 wides were bowled in the innings, several of which eluded the wicketkeeper Shafeeq Pillay and raced off to the boundary.Lucy Pearson grabbed an early victim in South Africa’s reply, but it was Helen Wardlaw who removed the key wicket of Johmari Logtenberg, who had singlehandedly won the opening game with a hard-hitting 67. But she made just 10 this time around, and South Africa’s momentum died away, as they were eventually bowled out with nearly seven overs to spare.

Kim Hughes, the former Australian captain, has said lack of match practice against world-class bowling is one of the main reasons for Australia’s batting problems on the current Ashes tour. Hughes felt the Australian batsmen had fattened their averages thanks to some ordinary bowling on the international scene and their tecniques were exposed when confronted with a quality attack.”Once you get to 32 or 33, the only time you’re exposed is against pace,” Hughes said in . “Our blokes could go back and play the rest of the Test countries over the next two or three years and still average 55, and they’d do that standing on their head, because there is no other decent attack. They [England] have exposed a lack of footwork and technique. The rest of the series will be a real test for them.”Hughes, who captained Australia in 28 Tests, said the pace of Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff, who consistently bowled at speeds of 150 kmh, highlighted an ageing Australian side with only three players below 30 – Michael Clarke (24), Lee (28) and Simon Katich (29). “Our batting has looked very, very ordinary,” he said. “Spear-headed by Harmison and Flintoff they’re a good attack but you certainly wouldn’t say they’re the West Indies of 20 years ago – far from it.”Hughes also pointed out that the general standard of world bowling over the past decade or so was “pathetic”. “Honestly, the standard of world cricket has been very, very ordinary for a number of years,” Hughes said. “As a former player you never want to say that because it always looks like sour grapes.”The West Indies are pathetic, Pakistan had half a bowler last season. The two sides out here last season [New Zealand and Pakistan] wouldn’t have won our Sheffield Shield.” Both New Zealand and Pakistan suffered humiliating whitewashes at the hands of the Australians last season and New Zealand received another thrashing in the home series that followed.The Australians have a one-day match against Scotland on Thursday and a two-day game against Northamptonshire beginning on Saturday before the fourth Test at Trent Bridge.

Ricky Ponting has called for more specialist coaches under John Buchanan after being overwhelmed by England’s list of support staff during the Ashes. “One of the big things that stood out to us was the resources they had available right through the series,” Ponting said in a lengthy interview with .”There’s no doubt they’ve sat back, had a look at us and studied what we’ve done over the last three or four years with the structure around our team and coaching staff. They had so many hands on deck with lots of specialist coaches.”One of Australia’s strengths since John Buchanan joined as coach in 1999 was their meticulous and successful planning, but Duncan Fletcher went even further and was rewarded with the 2-1 victory. “They were certainly very well managed, well planned and well skilled,” Ponting said. “If you look at the way some of our individuals struggled through the tour, it’s a pity we didn’t have any expert coaches there or available to help those guys out.”While Australia had Buchanan and Jamie Siddons, the assistant coach, England used the full-time batting and bowling coaches Troy Cooley and Matthew Maynard, the former first-class players. Buchanan’s contract expires next month and there has been much speculation about whether he will retain the position.”I’ve loved everything that Buck [Buchanan] has done as coach,” Ponting said. “He’s probably approached things a different way to some but he’s certainly taken the Australian cricket team to a place it has never been before. We can all get back there again with Buck as coach.”Ponting’s place has also been criticised, with Dennis Lillee calling for him to be sacked as captain, and he said he was hurt by the comments. “I’m doing everything right by my team-mates and by everyone concerned with Australian cricket, I will always feel I’m doing my job right,” he said. “For Dennis to sit back and say I should be sacked and be replaced by Shane Warne, it hurts to a certain degree.”Ponting predicted in the paper that there would not be many changes – if any – for next month’s Super Series Test and one-day matches, and he said they had learned lessons from the Ashes. “I and a lot of guys have found out how tough sport at the highest level can be,” he said. “We’ve had an unbelievably good run over a long period but it’s all changed fairly dramatically over the last few weeks.”