All posts by csb10.top

Mannofield Park in Aberdeen, which has hosted one-day internationals, has lost the services of most of its pitches for the start of next season after the ground was hit by vandalism early this year. The extent of the damage has only just come to light.Ken McCurdie, the groundsman, initially thought the problem had been caused by a burst hose which had spilt oil during the season but when he tried to reseed the problem areas he noticed the issue was more serious. The square has 12 pitches available of which 10 have been damaged.”I called in a soil expert and they soon told me it was caused by a type of weedkiller that isn’t for normal use and damages the soil,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “They say it can take six months to work through the system and because it’s freezing cold here at the moment all I can do is wait. I live at the ground and each morning I open the curtains and just wish I could fast forward the next six months. I’m just hoping for a mild spring.”Whoever did this clearly knows something about cricket because it is the ends of each pitch that have been damaged. It’s not as though someone has just come in a sprayed this stuff randomly.”The ground was due to stage two CB40 matches next summer which have already been moved to alternative venues and the Intercontinental Cup match between Scotland and Canada in July is also under threat.Cricket Scotland are keeping tabs on the situation but won’t be getting involved in the investigation. “We are leaving it in the hands of the club,” Roddy Smith, the chief executive, said. “We only rent the venue off them to host games. Hopefully it will be alright later in the summer but if we have to move more matches we have other options.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Overnight and early morning rain, and a damp outfield under overcast conditions, ensured there was no play on the second day of the first Test between Bangladesh and West Indies in Chittagong. Rain had been forecast for the first two days of the Test; though it stayed away on the first day on which Bangladesh reached 255 for 4, it arrived to play spoilsport on the second. There were several wet patches around the field and the overcast weather didn’t give the umpires much hope that the ground would dry quickly. They decided to abandon the day’s play after an inspection at 11.15am local time. Play is scheduled to start half-an-hour early on day three, at 9am local time.

Paul Harris, the South Africa left-arm spinner, has suggested South Africa play two spinners against Australia in the first Test in Cape Town, a move that would be a radical departure from the usual make-up of the starting XI and something that South Africa has rarely done.Harris and Imran Tahir, the Pakistani-born legspinner, are the two spinners in the 14-man squad and it is expected that the pair will not play together. Tahir, who is touted as South Africa’s first attacking spinner since Paul Adams, has had a dizzying rise to prominence since becoming eligible to play for South Africa in January and debuting at the 2011 World Cup. His success was thought to signal the end of Harris’ international career. Harris is no longer a CSA contracted player and said he did not think he was part of the side’s future plans.Now that he is in the squad, Harris hopes to work with Tahir, who is, essentially, his biggest competitor. “I didn’t think I was going to be in the squad in the first place. It was a nice surprise,” Harris said. “It’s good having Imran here as well because he is an attacking option and he deserved his call-up. It would be nice to bowl with him.”Harris and Tahir spent three seasons playing together for the Titans franchise, in which time they won the SuperSport Series once. “We bowl well together, we know each other’s games and we get on quite well, so it’s something we can exploit in the future,” Harris said. “To have two spinners in South African conditions will be quality.”Newlands is the venue of the first Test and Harris said it was one of the places where South Africa could consider playing two spinners. “This is one of the grounds where you can do it, it does turn here. If they can get the pitch prepared to turn, it’s a very good option.”Harris has not seen the pitch yet but understands that much will depend on the weather, which is expected to be cool and rainy in the lead-up to the Test. He said if the rain stayed away and a track that suited spin was prepared it could provide South Africa with “an area that we can exploit,” since Australia do not have the same spin weapon they once did in Shane Warne.Playing two spinners, Harris said, would also lessen the load on Jacques Kallis, the 36-year-old allrounder who is reaching that stage of his career where being managed does not refer to appearing in television advertisements. “I think he will bowl less if we play two spinners. He shouldn’t bowl as much as he used to and if you can get one spell, maybe one-and-a-half spells, out of Jacques every day, that’s all you want from him.”While all Harris’ reasons are fairly logical, the cynic may hear them as a desperate plea from a man who does not want to lose his spot in the national side. Harris has been South Africa’s premier Test spinner since January 2007, when he took five wickets in his debut match against India. Despite dealing with heavy criticism throughout the last four years, Harris has not been dropped once. Test captain Graeme Smith has praised him for playing a key, containing role and has maintained that Harris is an essential part of South Africa’s attack.In the current domestic season, Harris is third in the list of wicket-takers in the SuperSport Series, with 14 wickets from three matches at an average of 15.78. He said that was enough to merit his inclusion in the Test team, along with Tahir, but was philosophical about being left out. “May the best man win,” he said at the conclusion of his two-spinner theory.The domestic statistics this season are in Harris’ favour: Tahir has taken 10 wickets in two matches and sat out the third due to a fitness concern. He has been expensive, although he has played on pitches that have not suited his type of bowling. Importantly though, both Tahir and Harris have had match practice, something that players like Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers have missed out on because of injury.South Africa appeared undercooked in the Twenty20 and ODI series against Australia, and Harris said the emphasis on preparation had been increased. “Most of the guys who haven’t played any first-class cricket recently are the senior guys and they’ve been around for a while; hopefully they will be able to adjust quite quickly. The preparation hasn’t been ideal but we’ve got three days now, and we’ll prepare as best as we can. It would have been easier to prepare if we had the Tests first and the one-dayers second.”Like many fans, Harris also lamented the series being shortened to two Tests from the usual three. “It would be nice to play at least three Tests against Australia. Dale Steyn made a comment the other day that he was on holiday longer than the series is going to last, so it is a bit disappointing.”

Sri Lanka’s new head coach, Geoff Marsh, has said that he is keen to extend his two-year contract with Sri Lanka Cricket and help them win another World Cup. The former Australia batsman and coach succeeds another Australian, Trevor Bayliss, who retired at the end of the 2011 World Cup in April after coaching the Sri Lanka team for four years.”If Sri Lanka Cricket wants me to extend my contract till the 2014 World Cup its open from my end for discussions,” Marsh said on Thursday after taking over officially as head coach of Sri Lanka. “At the moment it’s a two-year contract and we haven’t talked about the finish yet. Hopefully the World Cup is something that I love to be through having won two (as a player and as a coach), but my immediate focus is preparing the team for the next test match which is against Pakistan next month.”Marsh, 52 was a member of the Australian side that won the World Cup in 1987 and was coach of Australia when they won the World Cup again in 1999. He said that he will treat all three formats of the game – Test, One-Day International and Twenty20 cricket – the same.”We got to basically sit down and plan for Test cricket, ODI cricket and T20 cricket we won’t favour one. Obviously the World Twenty20 is important but the most important game we play next is the first Test against Pakistan, that’s exactly what we will be targeting.” Sri Lanka take on Pakistan in the UAE next month. They will host the ICC World Twenty20 in September 2012.Marsh coached the Pune Warriors in the 2011 IPL and said taking the Sri Lanka job was a way to get back into international cricket. “I retired after Zimbabwe and I had a break just to spend a little bit of time with my own two boys. In the last couple of years I got that hunger to get back into it and my two boys have said to me ‘get out there and coach’.”Being good friends with Tom Moody, he said that it was a fantastic place to come to. To be a part of Sri Lanka cricket was a great experience for him. That’s how it all started. It’s always been in the back of my mind that if I took on a coaching role it had to be out of Australia because it’s a conflict of interest to coach my kids (Shaun and Mitchell) in state cricket and for Australia. When you look around the world, Tom was always saying that this was a great place to come and coach and the people are fantastic. That’s how it came about.”

As Tino Mawoyo left the end-of-day press conference, with his path firmly directed towards “getting some sleep”, he was stopped by an unlikely fan. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq interrupted Mawoyo’s beeline for the team bus with a rough jolt of the shoulder.”Well batted,” Misbah said. “You’ve had a long day and I thought you played really well.”Mawoyo gave him a warm smile and they shook hands. It was a smile that expressed more satisfaction than Mawoyo had shown throughout his innings, which was carefully structured and hugely impressive, a knock that called on his all powers of concentration.The ten-hour and forty-five minute marathon was paced exquisitely. There was never a passage of play in which Mawoyo changed gear, no acceleration in the middle, no sprint to the finish, just a steady progression from beginning to end. There were few emotions, of joy or otherwise, and it was that stern focus that led Mawoyo to his highest score in all forms of the game.”I had been saying to the coach that I felt as though I kept getting starts but I wasn’t pushing on,” Mawoyo said. “I wanted to make one of those starts count and I think it worked this time.”It was only Mawoyo’s second Test but already he felt the pressure to do something more than an accomplished 30 or 40. The sense of demand came from periods in Mawoyo’s domestic career when he had been under fire, phases in his first-class career when he was dropped from his provincial and franchise sides. “I perform well under pressure, it gives me a little extra drive to do well,” he said.Mawoyo has now answered enough questions to give him a credit balance in the criticism account, but he is not getting over-excited about his performance. “I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet, and really, I’m just happy to have contributed. We spoke about getting the team past 400 and I am happy to have been a major part of that.”Mawoyo’s lack of animation at his achievement may seem drab, but it’s the one quality that helped him survive Saeed Ajmal’s doosra, which threatened to undo him every time it was bowled. “It is very tricky to pick,” he said. “I thought I had started reading him a little yesterday, but when he bowled from the Airport End today, I had no idea. I do know that the seam is usually a little bit more upright than when he bowls the offbreak.”The rest of the bowlers were not as challenging, although Mawoyo found that good field placement when the seamers were on made it difficult to score. Aizaz Cheema mowed through the lower order but there was little else to talk about. Misbah could not find the heart to chastise his quicks on a pitch that is flatter than the Bulawayo countryside. “They bowled their hearts out, even on the second day, they were running in and bowling bouncers.”The batsmen-friendly pitch had Mohammad Hafeez in his element as he raced to 79 off 93 balls and Misbah predicted more of the same as the match entered its middle period. “On such a good wicket, the batsmen can’t control themselves and they will play their shots,” he said. With some turn expected, Misbah said Ray Price was the bowler his team will have to “keep an eye on.”

In a thrilling finish, Joshua Hall hit the penultimate ball of Ireland Under-19s’ innings for four to give them a one-wicket victory against United States of America Under-19 on the opening day of the ICC Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament in Dublin. After stuttering early in their chase of 178, Ireland had recovered through a couple of solid lower-order partnerships and had brought the equation down to six runs required off 21 balls with three wickets in hand. But a wicket fell in the 47th over and then Adam Coughlan, who had led Ireland’s recovery, was trapped lbw by seamer Mital Patel to bring USA back into the game. Ireland needed just three runs off 15 balls then but then next 13 deliveries yielded just one run before Hall’s boundary.USA had managed their total of 177 thanks to some lower order contributions after they were 82 for 5 at one stage. Jodhbir Singh was their top-scorer with 36. In the chase, Ireland collapsed to 86 for 6 before Coughlan and Graeme McCarter began the comeback.Nepal Under-19s spinners Rahul Vishwakarma and Prithu Baskota ran through Afghanistan Under-19s batting line-up to deliver their team a win. Nepal had been bowled out for 154 in 44.3 overs but left-armer Vishwakarma’s 4 for 23 and offspinner Baskota’s 3 for 19 helped them skittle Afghanistan for 112. Afghanistan had made a decent beginning to their chase with Hashmatullah Shaidi and Shir Shirzai putting together a 53-run stand for the second wicket. After that though, wickets fell in clusters, and in the end the victory margin was 42 runs. Nepal had reached their total thanks mainly to opener Subash Khakurel’s steady 54, the only half-century in the match.Canada Under-19 prevailed in a closely-fought encounter against Scotland Under-19 in Dublin. They were boosted by a century from opener Nitish Kumar, who smashed 11 fours and two sixes in his 93-ball knock. Nitish’s partnership of 78 with Kyle Edghill and a quickfire 44 from Rayyan Pathan, off just 24 balls, took Canada to a challenging 212 in 35 overs.Seamer Jobanjot Singh’s early strikes hurt Scotland in their response but the middle order stepped up. Freddie Coleman made a quick 36, Mathew Cross made scored 21 at better than a run a ball, Peter Ross contributed 43 and Aman Bailwal gave Scotland hope by top-scoring with 63. With Bailwal at the crease, Scotland were very much in it but when he fell with the score on 201 in the penultimate over, the lower order didn’t last long and the innings folded for 206 with two balls to spare. Jobanjot finished with four wickets.Namibia Under-19 eased to an 89-run win over Papua New Guinea Under-19 at the Hills Cricket Club Ground. There was no standout performer in Namibia innings but the team was helped by a series of valuable contributions: a quick 49 from opener Justin Baard, a steady 44 from captain Stephen Baard, 44 from Zhivago Groenewald who smashed four sixes and an unbeaten 33 from Christopher Coombe. The effort propelled Namibia to 232, a score their bowlers comfortably defended. Coombe and Groenewald shared six wickets in the chase and an unbeaten 41 from Toua Tom at No.9 was the only significant resistance from a PNG batsman. PNG were bowled out for 143.Kenya Under-19 thrashed Vanuatu Under-19 at the Merrion Cricket Club Ground. Opener Kennedy Ochieng made 85 and was assisted by Duncan Allan, who made 47 in 38 balls, and a half-century from wicketkeeper Irfan Karim. Their contributions took Kenya to 238 for 4 in 38 overs, and proved too much for Vanuatu. Allan struck two early blows in the chase and though the middle order attempted a recovery, the target proved well beyond the batsmen. Nalin Nipiko top-scored with 25, but the batting could not withstand the offspin of Rahul Vishram, who took 4 for 9. Vanuatu were skittled out for just 102.

A rollicking opening stand between Thilan Samaraweera and Rumesh Buddika set up defending champion Wayamba‘s seven-wicket victory over Ruhuna at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Ruhuna chose to bat and made 150 for 7 on the back of Dinesh Chandimal’s 88, which came from just 57 balls and contained nine fours and two sixes. Samaraweera and Buddika set about the chase in earnest, adding 119 in 12 overs before they were separated. Both openers made 57, with Buddika scoring marginally quicker, needing 36 balls to Samaraweera’s 39. Comfortably ahead of the required run-rate by then, Wayamba coasted home with 16 balls to spare.Kandurata cantered to a ten-wicket win over Combined Provinces in game reduced to nine-overs-a-side by rain. Put in to bat, Combined Provinces were immediately in trouble as Muttiah Muralitharan struck twice in the first over, and it was only thanks to a quickfire 27 from Chaturanga de Silva that they managed 61 for 8. Kandurata openers Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana chased that total down in just 6.4 overs, as Sangakkara smashed 37 from 19 balls.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC’s chief executive, has said that the increase in the number of players reporting illegal approaches by bookmakers was because cricketers were now better educated against the dangers of corruption.”What I can say is that we have substantially more players coming forward and reporting approaches made to them and I think that’s a result of the education process, the awareness that we’ve created among all of the international players,” Lorgat told Radio Five Live’s programme.”Who’s to say there were not as many [approaches by bookmakers] in years gone by that were not reported? The fact is players are far more conscious today. The vast majority certainly play the game in the right spirit and they have the integrity to play the game properly, and they are coming forward and reporting such approaches; so that’s a good thing.”Earlier this week Steve Waugh had revealed that substantially more cricketers were reporting illegal approaches compared to 2009, when only five players came forward. Waugh also suggested that players willingly submit to a polygraph test to prove their innocence, a proposal that was soundly criticised by FICA.”I don’t know if the ICC is doing enough. I’d like to have some conversations with them,” Waugh told . “They are doing some good work because last year 56 players reported an approach by a bookmaker and the year before it was only five, so that suggests the players have confidence in the system and confidence that it will work.”Lorgat, however, did not know how Waugh had come by the information that 56 players had reported approaches.”I’m not sure where Steve Waugh gets that figure from because we do not publish any such information,” Lorgat said. “In fact there’s one individual in the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit that maintains such records and he does not even know the figure himself, simply because he had not compiled it. So I’m not sure where Steve Waugh gets that figure from.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outRahul Dravid relied on slow-and-steady cricket•AFP

On a Sabina Park track with plentiful turn and unpredictable bounce Rahul Dravid gave a resounding reminder of his value to the side with his 32nd Test century that put India on top in Jamaica. After his painstakingly constructed innings left West Indies an exacting target of 326, the home side’s openers began the pursuit with an exhilarating flurry of strokes before a pair of superb catches slowed West Indies’ charge. Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo resisted for the final hour to keep the home side’s hopes alive.Dravid, the oldest active Test cricketer, put together a masterclass reminiscent of his 2006 heroics, silencing any murmurs about his place in the side being in doubt after a barren South African tour and the emergence of a slew of youngsters. Darren Sammy captured four wickets, but he will probably still be regretting the simple slip chance he put down when Dravid had made just 6.In an innings where the next highest scorer was No. 10 Amit Mishra with 28, Dravid prospered with the method that has worked so well for him over the past 150 Tests: playing old-school defensive cricket, shelving the fancy strokes and grinding down the opposition.India got an early sign of the troubles ahead for the batsmen when the second ball of the day shot through, barely rising off the ground. Later in the day, a delivery from legspinner Devendra Bishoo bounced viciously, forcing the wicketkeeper to jump and try to collect it overhead.Dravid was patient as ever in the morning session, making only 23 in two hours, even his defensive shots ending with an exaggerated freeze of the bat. A couple of milestones came up through fours past gully, both controlled glides – the first brought up his half-century, and the next pushed India’s lead past 200.His overnight partner Virat Kohli didn’t last long on the third morning, gloving a short ball down the leg side to the keeper. Suresh Raina, confident after his first-innings 82, hung around longer. He wasn’t at his most assured though, edging one between second slip and gully, as the West Indies bowlers kept probing away.A sore knee delayed the introduction of Bishoo, who made an immediate impact, inducing Raina to swipe at a ball spinning down the leg side. It was unclear whether there was any bat or glove involved but umpire Daryl Harper was convinced there was after the ball ricocheted off the wicketkeeper’s thigh pad to leg slip.That brought in MS Dhoni, who seemed a man in a hurry, clouting Bishoo for a straight six. He had moved to 16 off 15 balls before slashing Bishoo to point moments before lunch. Replays showed that Bishoo had cut the return crease when delivering the ball.Soon after lunch, India lost a third batsman to a dicey decision, when Harbhajan Singh was given lbw with the ball likely to have sailed over the stumps. Expect more UDRS headlines.When Praveen Kumar was bowled by Sammy for a second-ball duck, India were eight down with the lead 256; a quick end to the innings would have raised West Indies hopes. Instead they were flattened by a dogged Dravid, who added 56 vital runs with Mishra for the ninth wicket. Dravid shielded the tailender at times though Mishra was rarely in too much discomfort.

Smart stats

• Rahul Dravid’s 112 is the sixth century by an Indian batsman In Jamaica. The highest remains Dilip Sardesai’s 212 in 1971.

• Dravid surpassed Sunil Gavaskar to become the highest run-getter among visiting batsmen in the West Indies. He now has 1412 runs at 70.60 with three centuries and ten half-centuries.

• The 56-run stand between Dravid and Amit Mishra is the seventh-highest ninth-wicket stand for India against West Indies and their third-highest in the West Indies.

• Devendra Bishoo’s 4 for 65 is his best bowling figures in Tests surpassing his 4 for 68 against Pakistan in Guyana in 2011.

• Darren Sammy’s 4 for 52 is his fifth four-wicket haul and best bowling figures in Jamaica.

• If West Indies manage to chase the target successfully, it will be the sixth time that a 300-plus target has been chased in Tests in the West Indies. While West Indies have done so on three of the five previous occasions, India and Australia have also successfully chased 300-plus targets in Tests in West Indies.

Soon after Dravid reached his century with a single to the off side, Mishra swung a few boundaries before holing out to third man attempting a flamboyant hit. A rare sight then followed, a six from Dravid in Tests – only his 19th in 261 innings. Another Dravid attempt to mow the ball only reached mid-on, closing the innings and giving Bishoo his fourth wicket.India were in command at that stage, but instead of being demoralised by the large target, West Indies’ openers, Adrian Barath and Lendl Simmons, unleashed a counterattack that would have pleased the onlooking Chris Gayle. Barath was the leader, crashing two sixes in an over that ended Ishant Sharma’s spell. Simmons was unbothered by being beaten by a perfect Praveen outswinger, powerfully square cutting the next ball for four.With the boundaries flowing, the pair sprinted past 50 in the 10th over. Soon after, Praveen induced an edge off Barath to the vacant third slip. Dhoni strengthened the cordon and in the same over another nick flew to third slip where Raina plucked a sharp, overhead catch. Three deliveries later, Virat Kohli latched on to an even tougher chance, throwing himself to his left at gully to extend Ramnaresh Sarwan’s miserable run.When Ishant cleaned up Simmons with a terrific delivery that straightened, West Indies had slid from 62 for 0 to 80 for 3. Another familiar collapse seemed to have begun, but Bravo and Chanderpaul scrapped till stumps. Both had some anxious moments – Bravo chancing his luck by cutting deliveries too close to his body and Chanderpaul facing some loud lbw shouts – but the pair persevered, adding 51 runs to set up an intriguing fourth, and likely final, day.

Trent Johnston, the Ireland allrounder, has stressed on the importance of beating Pakistan in the second ODI in Belfast, saying that another Full-Member scalp will strengthen Ireland’s case to be considered for the 2015 World Cup. Ireland are 0-1 down in the two-match series after losing the first game, in which they were dismissed for 96, by seven wickets.”It’s important we put in a performance because Ireland and the next World Cup are in the limelight,” Johnston told the BBC. “The issue is on the tips of people’s tongues that the Associates and Ireland should be allowed a qualification process [for the 2015 World Cup]. Because of that we really need to keep the fire burning and produce a performance against Pakistan.”We know it is not the be all and end all, because we have been consistent in our performances for a while now and think we deserve a chance. But at the same time we can help our cause if we beat Pakistan tomorrow and get another Full-Member scalp.”The ICC will re-evaluate its decision to limit participation in the 2015 World Cup to the Full Members at its annual conference in June, after there was widespread criticism over their move to axe the Associates from one-day cricket’s showpiece event. Ireland were the best Associate team in the 2011 World Cup, beating England and Netherlands, and running West Indies and Bangladesh close.Ireland’s cause, and that of the Associates, received a boost at a recent meeting of the ICC’s Cricket Committee, which unanimously supported a qualification system for the 2015 World Cup. Johnston was the Associates representative at the meeting at Lord’s and was encouraged by what he heard.”It was pretty resounding among the people at the meeting that they were happy with a 10-team World Cup, but they were uncomfortable with it being a closed-shop,” he said. “The consensus was that it is unfair and that there should be some sort of qualification process.”You look at the last World Cup and while there were some lop-sided results with the minnows, ourselves and Holland had some pretty good performances, while a young emerging team like Afghanistan should be given a chance as well. It was pretty unanimous and we even had the CEO of New Zealand [Justin Vaughan], which is a Full-Member nation, back us as well so that is reassuring.”The final decision, however, will be down to the same people who took the initial decision to shut out Ireland and the other Associates from the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. “The committee that will discuss it next month is the one that made the decision for a ten-team, closed-shop World Cup,” Johnston said. “Obviously the talk around the cricket world has been they got the decision wrong initially, so hopefully they look at what’s been said and decide differently this time.”There is a lot of backing for us, people have come out and said it is unfair. The only thing we can do now perhaps is help our cause with a better performance against Pakistan on Monday.”