All posts by csb10.top

Bangladesh coach Richard Pybus doesn’t expect any major changes to the squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka next month. He was also pleased that some of the players had improved their Twenty20 skills after the tours to Zimbabwe and Europe over the last two months.Barring three players who are participating in the ongoing Sri Lanka Premier League, the rest began training at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, though they were forced indoors due to the Dhaka rain. This camp will be the final preparation at home before the World Twenty20, as their next destination is Trinidad and Tobago, where they will play a four-nation Twenty20 tournament as part of the island’s 50th independence day celebrations.”It is important for us that we have a core group of people to work with, as the side is quite settled now and I don’t see any major changes in the team when we go forward to Trinidad and the World Cup,” Pybus said. “A lot of these players would transfer over to the one-day squad. I have been able to see the attitude and skills of the guys. Now I need to underline it with very specific formats with specific skill-sets.”I think we have reasonably settled on that, though that doesn’t mean we are where we need to be. We have certainly grown. After two months, I have understood what we need to do not just for the [Twenty20] World Cup but even after that. The World Cup is a benchmark which will let you know where you are.”During their tour of Europe, Bangladesh made a clean sweep of Ireland, but in the Netherlands, they were beaten by Scotland and the hosts, ending with four wins out of six.”We didn’t play the way we would have liked to in the three games in Holland. But it was important for us to get that experience and get to the ground after the high of winning the Ireland series and have our focus brought back to the fact that we are still a growing, emerging cricket nation,” Pybus said.Despite the results, Pybus was also happy with the players’ accommodating outlook after encountering difficult weather and ordinary facilities.”I am very happy with their attitude, especially in Ireland where it was not that easy for the touring side as there was rain and the wicket was damp,” Pybus said. “There were limited tour facilities but the guys got into it, they did a lot of fielding work and conditioning.”We even had to go to a school to train but the guys took it as an opportunity and that showed that they wanted to learn and get better. In Ireland and Holland you won’t get all the facilities but there was no complaining, they just went about being busy. This was a really positive mindset and we will build a good team.”He also said that Shakib-Al-Hasan was “reasonably happy” with his recovery progress from a knee injury. “We are just going to build him up gradually before bringing him back to play cricket. I chatted with him in the morning and he was confident,” Pybus said.

England have replaced Australia as the top ODI side in the ICC rankings after the annual update of the tables, while Australia have slipped to No. 4. It is the first time that England have achieved the top spot since the inception of team-ranking tables in 2002.England lead the table with 121 rating points, closely followed by South Africa, while world champions India are placed third with 120 points. Australia, who are eight points behind India, dropped to their lowest-ever ranking, after being the top ranked one-day side since September 2009. The change in the rankings has not affected the positions of teams below Australia.The ICC ranking tables are updated annually in August to reflect teams’ recent form. The updated tables only include results from matches played after August 2010, with older results from between August 2009 and July 2010 being discarded. The drop in case of Australia is significant as their successful run of 30 wins from 40 matches in 2009-10 is excluded from the updated tables.England, however, lost their top T20 ranking to South Africa to be placed a close second with only one rating-point difference between the two. The teams are followed by Sri Lanka, India and West Indies. Australia, who were sixth before the update, have dropped to ninth with 93 rating points – 2 below eighth placed Bangladesh.Like the Test championships tables, the ODI and T20 tables could also see a new leader when South Africa complete the limited-overs leg of their England tour.

Sri Lanka squad for second Test

Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Angelo Mathews (vc), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Parnavithana, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Dilhara Fernando, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Pradeep, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis

Sri Lanka have recalled fast bowler Dilhara Fernando to the squad for the second Test against Pakistan, which begins at the SSC on June 30, as a replacement for the injured Chanaka Welegedara. The selectors were short of options, with several back-up seamers nursing injuries.Fernando’s last Test appearance was the Boxing Day match against South Africa in Durban in 2011. His inclusion is the only change to the Sri Lanka squad that won the first Test in Galle by 209 runs.”Fernando has recovered from a shoulder injury and we have included him in the 15, but I am not sure whether he will play,” chairman of selectors Ashantha de Mel said. “The team management will take a call on who should support Nuwan Kulasekara.”Nuwan Pradeep bowled impressively but he has a history of injuries so I don’t know whether he will play back-to-back matches. If Pradeep is rested his place is likely to go to either Thisara Perera or Fernando.”De Mel said the two other bowlers who would have been in contention, Suranga Lakmal and Shaminda Eranga, were both nursing injuries.”Lakmal has a serious ankle injury and he is out for at least six months, and Eranga is having a nerve problem in his back,” De Mel said. “We have sent Dhammika Prasad to South Africa with the Sri Lanka A team to gain fitness and to bowl many overs in the four-day unofficial Test matches. These bowlers cannot play an entire Test series without breaking down or getting injured.”

ScorecardIt is one thing to have a 26-point lead in the Division Two table, but quite another to look to extend that on a first morning at Nevil Road. Even if Jon Lewis was not bowling. Derbyshire won the toss and, full of bounce and optimism following their first victory at Chelmsford since 1937 and near-runaway progress altogether this season, were bowled out by Gloucestershire for merely 95.True, they did muster no more than 130 against Glamorgan earlier this summer and, two years ago on this same ground, were bowled out for just 44 yet won the match. This innings, though, which finished shortly after lunch, was quite a surprise, not least because Gloucestershire possess what could be termed an emerging attack. David Payne had not played since suffering a side injury at Canterbury on April 21 and yet captured the first three wickets, including one with his first ball. Will Gidman accounted for four other batsmen and there were two indefensible run-outs.There was no ECB pitch inspector on the ground – at least that Gloucestershire knew about or could be spotted – and there was no necessity for one given that the movement there was occurred through the air and not notably off the pitch, which was far from green in hue. The slip fielding was very smart, particularly by Chris Dent, who in taking one of his two catches at second slip unluckily broke the small finger on his right hand as he did last May. This fracture, according to the Gloucestershire physio, is not as bad, but inevitably he will be out of action for a while.Dent’s first catch, to remove Wayne Madsen, gave Payne his third wicket following the dismissals of Martin Guptill, who played on, and Matt Lineker (no relation to the footballing Gary, incidentally) who was playing for the first time this season and who was taken by Jon Batty. There was enough movement hereabouts for the bat to be beaten with regularity, and there was another fine catch, this by Ian Saxelby, to hold onto a top-edged pull by Dan Redfern. For Will Gidman, this was the first of three wickets in seven balls.Wes Durston was smartly taken by Dent – this was the catch that broke his finger – and David Wainwright lost his off stump. Away swing from Saxelby accounted for Jon Clare and Tom Poynton. Two run outs finished off the innings: Ross Whiteley was sent back by Tony Palladino, who was himself beaten by a throw from Will Gidman. So poor judgement and the occasional extravagant shot, but the accuracy of the bowling merited praise.It was David Allen, the president of Gloucestershire and former England offspinner, who summed up the conditions correctly – in other words, that it was possible to score runs. In the afternoon, when the sun was out and the bowling, at least after Batty had been dismissed fencing outside off stump at Palladino and Benny Howell was held at first slip off Tim Groenewald, appeared altogether less hostile, Kane Williamson and Alex Gidman batted with assurance in adding 81 off 31 overs.Or maybe it was simply because Williamson is the best batsman playing in this match. Driving attractively, he reached his half-century with ten fours and had made 56 in all when Poynton held a diving catch off Groenewald. Gidman, partnered productively by Hamish Marshall until the latter lost his off stump driving at Whiteley, had reached 72 by the close.

ScorecardLeicestershire and Derbyshire were frustrated by the weather as rain wrecked the prospect of an exciting finish to their Division Two match at Derby. Leicestershire set 314 in a minimum of 69 overs but heavy showers forced a draw at 5pm with Martin Guptill stranded on 67 from 75 balls in Derbyshire’s 91 without loss.Leicestershire had started the final day in a strong position with a lead of 220 and nine wickets in hand but they needed to press on to give themselves enough time to bowl Derbyshire out with rain forecast.Matthew Boyce and Jacques Du Toit took their stand to 109 in 42 overs and had just started to accelerate when Du Toit fenced at a rising ball from Jon Clare and was caught behind for 48.Ramnaresh Sarwan flicked David Wainwright over midwicket for six but Boyce drove back a return catch in the left-arm spinner’s next over after scoring 65 from 134 balls. Sarwan went in the next over when he sliced a drive at Mark Footitt to cover. The declaration came at 169 for four.That left Derbyshire with a potentially tricky four overs to negotiate before lunch but Guptill dealt harshly with some short balls from Robbie Joseph to score 20 by the interval.Several heavy downpours delayed the restart until 3.15pm and cut the number of overs by 25 which left Derbyshire needing another 293 and Leicestershire 10 wickets in 40 overs. After yet another hold up, Guptill made the most of a drab situation to reach his second fifty of the season.Leicestershire took nine points and Derbyshire, who stay top of Division Two, six.

ScorecardMichael Powell scored his first century in the County Championship for three years as Kent took control on the second day of their match against Northamptonshire.In just his second game since his move from Glamorgan, Powell piled on an unbeaten 128 off 227 balls, including 19 fours, as Kent were bowled out for 368. Jack Brooks was by far the most effective bowler in taking 5 for 98 before Northants struggled in reply to close on 50 for 4, 186 runs behind the visitors.Kent began the day on 127 for 3, just five runs behind their opponents, with West Indies batsman Brendan Nash resuming on 40 and nightwatchman Mark Davies on 2 yet neither would see out the first over. But Davies was to depart to the third ball of the day when he pushed Brooks out to cover, only for David Willey to hit direct hit at the bowler’s end.Nash, who also failed to add to his overnight total, followed him in the final ball of the first over when Brooks took out his middle and leg stumps. Darren Stevens made just 8 before he was pinned lbw by Chaminda Vaas.Powell, however, was to reach a half-century off 77 balls and he went on to complete his 26th first-class ton – and his first since July 2009, for Glamorgan against Essex – off his 173rd delivery.Former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones then patiently went past 50 off 135 deliveries before he departed on 53 when bowled by Willey to end a crucial partnership of 165 with Powell. In the fifth over of the evening, Brooks bowled James Tredwell (10) before Matt Coles (17) was stumped off James Middlebrook. Charlie Shreck then presented Brooks with the fourth five-wicket haul of his career when he allowed a straight delivery to clatter into his stumps.In reply, Northants were to lose opener Stephen Peters for a single in the fourth over when he edged Shreck to Tredwell at second slip. Rob Newton then fell victim to Coles when he was superbly caught by a diving Jones before the same bowler trapped Kyle Coetzer lbw four balls later.To compound the problems Alex Wakely threw his wicket away by chipping Shreck to Kent captain Rob Key at mid-on, leaving his team in a desperate position going into the third day.

A pivotal unbeaten 68 and the wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul made this dramatic day a contender for the title of Ryan Harris’ best in Test cricket. Yet Harris was in no mood to talk about himself as he focussed on completing a stirring turnaround to defeat West Indies in Bridgetown – a task that may yet be difficult for Australia’s batsmen in the fourth innings on a pitch playing more tricks with every delivery.Always a batsman of capable appearance, Harris has never quite done justice to his compact technique and considerable power. After Michael Hussey and Matthew Wade both fell with the West Indies’ first-innings total still off in the distance, Harris had to play a long innings, which he went on to build in the company of a determined Nathan Lyon. Michael Clarke’s declaration meant both fell short of milestones – Harris six runs shy of the top score, Lyon 10 short of 50 – but they couldn’t have cared less.”No he [Lyon] didn’t care about that [50]. All he said when we spoke about it was that he wanted to win the Test match. Those were his first words,” Harris said. “He also said he hopes he plays for the next 15 years, so he should have enough time to get it.”To score some runs was good but I’m just trying to win this Test match. We’re in a good spot now. We have one more day to go. We just want to get some wickets early in the morning and win this Test match. At one stage today we thought it was probably going to peter out to a nice slow draw but that’s Test cricket. This is the way it can turn around pretty quickly.”Following Harris’ stand with Lyon, Ben Hilfenhaus snipped the top off West Indies’ batting in three sharp overs before tea. Harris sensed the hosts were put off balance somewhat by the timing of the closure, having waited two hours either side of lunch for the final wicket to fall.”I don’t think they were expecting it [to be batting before tea],” Harris said. “[Since we were] nine down, they were probably thinking about it, but the way we were going they probably weren’t sure when that would happen. So to declare and put them in straight away, it probably didn’t give them a chance to get their head around batting. I think it showed, obviously, taking three or four quick wickets.”When Chanderpaul walked to the middle at the fall of the third wicket, he faced up to Australian bowlers who had recalibrated after his first innings century. Harris said the angle around the wicket had been rejected as a first plan of attack, but with significant footmarks in which to land the ball in the second innings, and little swing, it became the ideal fall-back method to cramp Chanderpaul.”Yeah, we obviously have plans for him and to be honest, around the wicket, when we were bowling the other day we said we weren’t going to do it,” Harris said. “But with the ball not swinging and quite a flat wicket, there’s a bit of rough outside that off stump, so that’s what we wanted to aim for.”Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, called for patience with his side as they fell at the same third-innings hurdle that had confronted them in India last November. While not yet prepared to concede the match, Gibson admitted it would take time for the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite and Adrian Barath – both out to Hilfenhaus before tea – to be able to maintain their energy and focus for five days.”That is the challenge and that is the continuation of where we are at the moment,” Gibson said. “We have to be mindful this is a team where Brathwaite is 19, Barath is 22. It’s a very young team. It’s a developing team. We went to India, we were in similar situations and we didn’t learn. It would seem we haven’t learnt that lesson yet, but we’re learning it all the time.”We’re dominating top teams but in Test cricket … a bad hour can be the difference between winning and losing. Today we had that bad hour when Hilfenhaus bowled a great spell. We’re still in there fighting and we’re learning all the time. In terms of our development this is a good opportunity for us to learn and I think we’ve got the right guys around to help us develop.”As for the declaration, Gibson said his men had to expect it as Australia’s natural posture was to attack. However he said the extra half hour before lunch, in which Harris and Lyon had batted to stretch the morning session to three hours, had sapped the hosts significantly.”You plan for two and a half session but with the extra half an hour, guys started to flag a little bit – that probably gave them a few more runs than we expected,” Gibson said.”We toyed with the idea they might do that [declare] because we’re playing against Australia and they’re always frontrunners. The fact we’ve dominated them for three days isn’t going to change the way they play their cricket. Hilfenhaus came out and bowled a great spell. [We had] some tired legs, batsmen didn’t move their feet and he got a couple of wickets. [Narsingh] Deonarine and [Darren] Bravo, their 50-run partnership managed to settle everyone down and tomorrow’s going to be a very interesting day.”

Peter Siddle, the Australia fast bowler, will play for Essex during this season’s Friends Life t20 competition. He becomes the county’s second overseas signing after Alviro Petersen, who is due to arrive at the County Ground, Chelmsford for a two-month stint at the start of April.Essex were linked with Siddle last season but a deal could not be agreed. Instead, Lonwabo Tsotsobe was brought in for an ill-fated spell, before New Zealand pair Scott Styris and Tim Southee joined for the FLt20. Styris has agreed to play for Sussex in the competition this season, while Southee is likely to be unavailable to due his international commitments.Siddle has recently been earmarked as a Test specialist by the Cricket Australia selectors, suggesting that he won’t be needed for Australia’s ODI series against England in June and July. Subject to clearance, he will experience county cricket for the first time on June 13 against Surrey – and may have to decide which side to cheer on two weeks later when the Australians arrive for a 50-over tour match against Essex.”We are delighted to have signed Australia’s premier bowler in Test cricket,” Essex head coach Paul Grayson said. “Australia are looking keep him fresh for their schedule and for Peter, this will be a chance for him to enhance his one-day skills.”With Tim Southee not coming back, it leaves us light in our bowling line-up so it will be good to bring him alongside Graham Napier. We are all very excited to be bringing in a world-class bowler for our FLt20 campaign.”Siddle, who claimed a hat-trick in the first Test of the 2010-11 Ashes, has taken 114 Test wickets at 29.03 since his debut in 2008 but last played limited-overs cricket for Australia in 2010. He was a member of the Melbourne Stars squad for the Big Bash League – although he didn’t play a game due his involvement in the Test series against India – and has taken 15 T20 wickets, with an economy of 7.45, in his career.Essex have reached T20 finals day three times – most recently in 2010, when their decision to bus in Dwayne Bravo as a one-off signing backfired – but despite their reputation as a strong one-day side have never won the competition. Last season they finished sixth in the South Group, with as many wins (seven) as defeats.

Yorkshire, once known for only selecting players born within the county borders, hope their attempts to bring in former Australia international Phil Jaques as a non-overseas player won’t be blocked by the ECB. Jaques has chosen to turn his back on Australian cricket after being offered a two-year contract by Yorkshire, who want to take advantage of the fact he has a British passport, thanks to English parentage.However, Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, has said that ECB regulations could mean Jaques has to fill the county’s one overseas player slot for the season. The 32-year-old opener, Jaques, has previously played for Yorkshire and Worcestershire as an overseas signing but, before being capped by Australia, turned out for Northamptonshire as British-qualified. It is now up to the ECB to decide whether he can make the switch back.”We’ll need agreement from the ECB to allow him to come as a non-overseas player,” Moxon told the . “As a British passport holder, you can come and work in England without a work permit. That’s not the problem. It’s the ECB regulations where we have to make sure all the boxes are ticked.”We need clarification on whether they are happy with that. They may not allow it, but hopefully they will, given the time span between statuses.”If Jaques is allowed to return as a local player to the county he played for between 2004 and 2005, then Yorkshire will look to bring in a further recruit from abroad. “We’ve got a few irons in the fire,” Moxon said. “But, obviously, we can’t act on them until Phil’s been cleared. If we get Phil’s clearance, we probably would sign somebody else.”As it is, Jaques will not be available for Yorkshire’s opening match of the County Championship, against Kent on April 5, because it clashes with preparations for his wedding. The 32-year-old, who made 11 Test appearances for Australia before a back injury curtailed his international career, is expected to be in the UK in time to make his first appearance against Essex two weeks later.

Australia have decided against using the allrounder Daniel Christian in the Boxing Day Test, while the left-armer Mitchell Starc has also missed out from the 13-man squad. The captain Michael Clarke announced the starting line-up on Saturday, two days before the game, with Ben Hilfenhaus to play his first Test since the Ashes last summer.Shaun Marsh was named at No.3 after making an impressive return from his back injury in Thursday night’s Big Bash League match, while the opener Ed Cowan will make his debut. Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, the two under-pressure senior members of the middle order, have retained their positions.The decision to go in with only four frontline bowlers could be viewed as a gamble against a strong batting line-up including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman. However, Clarke said he would call on his batsmen to provide some overs if required.”I’m confident we’ve got the best XI to win this Test match in these conditions,” Clarke said. “I can use Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting and myself to bowl a few overs. David Warner can bowl a few legspinners. I feel we’ve got the right XI to give ourselves a chance of winning this Test match.”DC [Christian] offers a lot with both bat and ball but unfortunately for him right now we can’t fit him into the XI.”Hilfenhaus won his recall in part due to his ability to bowl long spells, which without an allrounder will become more important.”I think it plays a part,” Clarke said. “His control, he’s a very good new ball bowler. He can bowl long spells. He’s had success against India as well. There’s a few reasons we decided to go with Hilfy.”While the bowling gains experience with the return of Hilfenhaus, the batting line-up will also welcome back an important man with Marsh to play his first Test since the Cape Town debacle last month. Clarke said he was confident Marsh was fit to play despite his serious back problems over the past six weeks.”His back is fine,” he said. “He’s taken it easy yesterday and today to make sure he’s fully recovered and ready to go come Boxing Day. I’d imagine you’ll see Shaun out here tomorrow facing some bowlers or at least having some throwdowns. He’s 100% ready to go.”Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.