All posts by csb10.top

Australian captain Ricky Ponting is satisfied with the manner in which his team handled an approach from a suspected illegal bookmaker after the Lord’s Test. As revealed by Cricinfo on Wednesday, a member of the Australian squad was approached in the bar of the team’s London hotel, the Royal Kensington Garden, and immediately raised the matter with the team management.Australia’s team manager, Steve Bernard, filed a report to the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, and the matter is now under investigation. Ponting said the issue was now the ICC’s to resolve.”As the players and as a team we did everything that we were supposed to do by the letter of the law,” Ponting said. “We reported it to the ICC. It’s now under ICC investigation. There’s no more that we can say about it because of the investigation going on. I don’t want to talk about it too much because of the investigation happening at the moment. We’ve got other things to worry about than that. We’ll let the ICC look after it.”The ICC has since confirmed its investigators have received the report from the Australian team management on the approach to the player. The ICC said that there was “no evidence of any illegal activity” and praised the player concerned and the Australian team management for reporting the issue.”There is no indication that any matches in the current Ashes series or the ICC World Twenty20 2009 have been affected by corruption in any way and the ICC is confident the issue is under control,” it said in a statement. “The ICC does not intend to reveal specifics of any approaches to players because doing so would have the potential to be counter-productive to any investigations and also to relationships of trust the ACSU has developed.”Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, stressed the need for ongoing vigilance in defending the game from corrupting influences. “Cricket is more popular than ever before and with that popularity comes the opportunities for growth but also challenges such as the one highlighted by the approach to an Australian player,” Richardson said.The ACSU is investigating a number of approaches made to players during the World Twenty20. newspaper reported on Thursday that a member of the Australian Twenty20 squad was approached by a man with suspected links to illegal bookmaking during that tournament.

ScorecardA fine spell from Azeem Rafiq wasn’t quite enough for England as a delayed start to the final day against Bangladesh ultimately cost them victory although they still took the series 1-0.Rafiq, the Yorkshire offspinner, took 5 for 77 but time ran out for England, who set a target of 375 after declaring on their overnight total, as the Bangladesh lower order battled hard. A gutsy, unbeaten 51 from Shabbir Rahman, which included six boundaries, played a key role in keeping his team afloat after they had slipped to 103 for 6.Rafiq’s threatened to run through the Bangladesh line up after removing Anamul Haque and Mahmudul Hasan for ducks and his performance capped off an impressive series after he took seven wickets in the opening TestThe two teams now prepare to face each other in a five-match ODI series which starts at Grace on Saturday.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentaryLauren Ebsary crashes one through the off side•Getty Images

England’s double World Cup-winners came crashing back down to earth with a bump as Australia romped to a comprehensive, revenge-seeking win in the one-off Twenty20 at Derby. Karen Rolton ensured Australia’s competitive 151 for 3 with a perfectly paced 43, while Shelley Nitschke produced a fine all-round performance to pick up the Player-of-the-Match award.Demonstrating their confidence – perhaps their over-confidence – England decided to omit Katherine Brunt and Caroline Atkins and include Isa Guha and Ebony Rainford-Brent, and their attack was all the less incisive for it. Guha has struggled to force her way into this strong, confident England side, but her lack of match-form showed, and she was no replacement for Brunt, who bent the ball viciously in a devastating opening spell of 3 for 6 from her four overs in the ICC World Twenty20 final.Australia – sensationally beaten by England in a memorable semi-final last week – came out hard from the off, with a momentum-seizing opening partnership of 55 between Leah Poulton and Nitschke. England adopted their usual, yet still unusual, tactic of opening with Laura Marsh, the offspinner, but she was taken for 20 from two overs as Poulton carved her through extra cover before elegantly flicking another through midwicket. Guha struggled with her lines, offering leg-side strays and rank long-hops to the two Australia openers, with Nitschke clattering another half-volley through the covers for four.England looked a little shell-shocked at the assault which brought Australia 47 from the first five overs, and Nicky Shaw – initially at least – couldn’t improve on Marsh and Guha’s wayward opening spell. But she quickly rediscovered a much fuller length to stifle the runs. Holly Colvin, too, was taken apart early on by Poulton – four over long-off, then long-on, but England’s young spinner showed impressive resolve to bowl Poulton, who heaved across the line, for a slick 33 from 22.The wicket enlivened England’s fielders, but it didn’t prevent a number of uncharacteristically sloppy mistakes in the field. Nevertheless, Shaw was beginning to assert some control on proceedings, and had Nitschke well-caught by Claire Taylor, swiftly moving to her left at mid-off. After 10 overs, Australia were 74 for 2, and England had clawed back the momentum in impressive fashion.To the crease marched the daunting figure of Karen Rolton, but she too was contained and restricted to picking up singles and twos, with nudges off her hip and one deft late cut off. Only in the last two overs did Australia accelerate, largely thanks to Lauren Ebsary who smashed the innings first and only six, a wonderfully clean mow over midwicket off Jenny Gunn. That shot alone appeared to spur Rolton on, and she hammered Charlotte Edwards down the ground for another four.England were ill-disciplined, to say the least, at the back-end of Australia’s innings, with sloppy fielding and careless mistakes creeping in as Rolton and Ebsary put on exactly 50 in under six overs of urgent power-hitting. Australia marched off the happier side with 151 for 3 on the board and, unlike England, their opening bowlers were tidy and accurate to stifle the hosts’ response.Rene Farrell gained encouraging swing to the right-hander and had Sarah Taylor chipping to mid-on while Edwards holed out to deep midwicket and whereas Australia cracked 47 from their first five overs, England limped unconvincingly to 17 for 2. Those two wickets brought Claire Taylor and Beth Morgan, the stars of England’s thrilling run-chase to beat Australia in the semi-final of the ICC World Twenty20, to the crease. Taylor began to open up in the ninth over, pulling Kirsten Pike over midwicket for a powerful and much-needed boundary. It was followed by a wonderful back-cut, timed to perfection to beat both square-leg and third man and she made it three in three with perhaps the day’s most authoritative off-side drive, stepping outside leg and fairly thrashing Pike over extra cover for four.It didn’t last, as she miscued to long-off and Morgan followed in the next over when she found deep midwicket. Lydia Greenway briefly threatened, but became Erin Osborne’s second wicket when she was deftly stumped by Jodie Fields, captaining Australia for the first time.England, truth be told, lacked the dynamism which brought them their second world trophy in three months and looked a little tired and jaded. With five ODIs and the crucial Ashes Test around the corner, this has served as a vital reminder that for all England’s undoubted success, Australia will always fight tooth and nail against the old enemy.

India’s win in the ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 means they’re the top ranked team this time•Getty Images

How the groups were madeThe 12 teams competing in this year’s World Twenty20 are the nine Full-Member countries and three Associates who made it to England through the qualifying tournament, which was held in Belfast. They have been divided into four groups of three each based on their seeding, which depended on their standings in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 (for the teams that took part in it). Since India were champions they were seeded first, their opponents in the final, Pakistan, were ranked second, while the losing semi-finalists Australia and New Zealand were seeded third and fourth. The top four seeds were then put in four different groups for this year’s tournament.The best among the rest, South Africa, were seeded fifth and put in the same group, D, as the team seeded fourth -New Zealand – while Sri Lanka and England, the 6th and 7th seed, were placed in groups C and B. Had West Indies at least finished eighth in 2007, there would not have been a ‘group of death’ this year. But they did not even win a single game, losing to Bangladesh because of an inspired innings from Mohammad Ashraful, and were seeded 11 and placed in Group C. Bangladesh, who qualified for the Super Eights in 2007 but didn’t win a game in that round, were eighth and put in India’s group.Group A – India (1), Bangladesh (8), Ireland (9)Group B – Pakistan (2), England (7). Netherlands (10)Group C – Australia (3), Sri Lanka (6) West Indies (11)Group D – New Zealand (4), South Africa (5), Scotland (12)Each team will play the other in its group during the preliminary round and the top two will qualify for the Super Eights. What this means is that either Bangladesh or Ireland, or both, are assured of a place in the second stage, while one of Australia, Sri Lanka and West Indies will crash out after round one, leading to the possibility of another group of death in the next World Twenty20, in the Caribbean in 2010.If two teams in a group have equal points at the end of the first round, the one with more wins will be placed higher. If they have equal points and the same number of wins, a likely scenario, then the team with the higher net run-rate will be ranked higher. Should net run-rate also fail to separate the sides, then the one with the higher number of wickets taken per balls bowled in the group stage in which results were achieved, will be preferred. And if the teams remain in a deadlock, then the winner of the group match between the sides will prevail. If all of the aforementioned tie-breakers fail, the teams will be separated by drawing lots.And should the weather in England wreck all the three matches of a particular group, the top two seeded teams in the group will progress. No points, however, will be carried forward from the group stage into the Super Eights.The Super EightsThe teams in the Super Eight will be designated as A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 C2, D1, D2 depending on which group they qualified from. If the top two seeds from a group qualify, they will be seeded 1 and 2 respectively for the Super Eight regardless of which team actually finished first and second in a group during the first round. For example, if Bangladesh are first and India are second in Group A, Bangladesh will still be A2 while India will remain A1 for the Super Eight because India were seeded 1 while Bangladesh were 8. However, if the third seeded team in the group knocks out a higher seed, it will take the place of the knocked-out opponent. For example, if Bangladesh and Ireland qualify from Group A, then Ireland will be A1 for the Super Eight stage. If India and Ireland qualify, then Ireland will be A2.During the Super Eight, the teams will be split into two groups of four – A1, B2, C1 and D2 are in the first group, while A2, B1, C2 and D1 are in the second. Each team will play the others in its pool with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals. If teams are tied on points in a Super Eight group then the same parameters which were used to break a tie in the preliminary stage will be used, the difference being that only the Super Eight matches will be taken into consideration for most wins, net run-rate etc.If all of the matches of a Super Eight group are ruined by rain, the teams will be ranked on basis of most points, most wins, net run-rate during the group stage and the top two will go through. If the teams still cannot be separated the semi-finalists will be picked based on the original seeding for the tournament.A one-over eliminator, or Super Over, will be used to break a tie in a semi-final, if one should occur. However, if weather prevents the Super Over from taking place after a tie, the team which progresses to the final will be determined by looking at who has the most wins, better net run-rate, higher number of wickets per balls, the only difference being that this time both group and Super Eight matches will be taken into consideration.The final, however, has no such provisions. If the final is tied, the match will be decided by a one-over eliminator. If the eliminator cannot take place because of bad weather, then the two finalists will be declared joint winners.

Dirk Nannes, the Delhi Daredevils bowler from Australia who has no international experience, has said he was apprehensive of the huge expectations from him after being picked ahead of the legendary Glenn McGrath.”I was very nervous when I was fielded in the first match. I knew there would be lot of expectations from me and I would have to perform outstandingly,” he told the official IPL website. “May be one day, I will tell me grandchildren that I was responsible for keeping out the greatest fast bowler of all times of a playing XI.”It was his early strikes, getting rid of the dangerous pair of Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs, that set Delhi on their way to ending Deccan Chargers’ unbeaten run in the tournament on Thursday. “I think it was great, just the start we needed in the match,” he said. “I got the ball moving and was enjoying every moment of it. I didn’t do too well in the last match but the guys backed me and it is good to live up to the expectations of the team.”Nannes gained an IPL contract after taking 12 wickets at 13.83 in the Australian domestic season to help Victoria qualify for the Champions League.His pace has proved a handful in the IPL as well, conceding only 6.43 runs an over which has convinced Delhi to retain him in the side for all five of their games so far, ahead of McGrath and Farveez Maharoof, who were outstanding last season.

The SLC will hold an important interim committee meeting on Thursday to decide on the future of ICL-contracted players, including former captain Marvan Atapattu.Nishantha Ranatunga , the interim committee chairman, said that chairman DS de Silva was keen on lifting the ban and allowing past cricketers to be involved in the game, and it was likely that a positive decision would be reached.With the BCCI allowing all its cricketers associated with ICL to return to official cricket if they cut all ties with the unofficial private league by the end of May, other boards are likely to follow on the same lines.Ranatunga said that SLC was also exploring the possibility of hiring another former great Aravinda de Silva as a full-time consultant coach. SLC have already appointed another former Sri Lanka cricketer Romesh Kaluwitharana as temporary coach of the Sri Lanka A team after Chandika Hathurusingha, another former Sri Lanka cricketer was promoted to become the shadow assistant coach of the senior team.Ranatunga stated that SLC has advertised for permanent coaches for the Sri Lanka A team, Development Squad and the Academy Squad. “After we close applications an independent committee will evaluate the prospective candidates for interviews,” Ranatunga said.SLC will also look at hiring a full-time manager for the senior team. At present former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon Kuruppu has been appointed to the post on a tour-by-tour basis. Ranatunga said that SLC was keen to have Kuruppu involved in the capacity of a national selector or a coach, but they would speak to him before making the appointment.Ranatunga also said that they had received about 40 applications for the post of media manager. “We will be shortlisting them very soon for interviews,” he said.

West Indies’ spring tour of England could be severely undermined after it emerged five senior players are threatening to withdraw from the series to play in the IPL. Donald Peters, the chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board, said a statement would be issued within the next two days detailing whether the players – including the captain Chris Gayle and senior batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul – will make themselves available for the tour of England.”We have players who have been selected for the IPL, and we have a policy on how to deal with this,” Peters told Cricinfo. “At this point, the negotiations are still ongoing, and we will inform people of the decision at the appropriate time. We have agreed with the players’ association not to make any comment until after the talks. We expect to issue a joint release either later today (Thursday) or tomorrow.”Gayle and Chanderpaul, along with Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor, are understood to be angered that the tour of England, which coincides with the IPL, was organised last October without their consultation. The series was arranged bi-laterally between the WICB and the ECB after the withdrawal of Sri Lanka – whose players demanded they be allowed to play in the IPL – and falls outside the Future Tours Programme.The West Indians are due to play their first tour match in England on April 21, just three days after the IPL launches in South Africa, with the first Test scheduled for Lord’s from May 6. The players are understood to have been ordered to arrive in England no later than May 1, restricting their IPL availability to just 12 days after the tournament’s start date was wound back from April 10 to April 18 to accomodate its shift from India to South Africa. IPL contracts are paid on a pro-rata basis.Gayle and Chanderpaul are the pair most likely to stand down from international duty should negotiations between the WICB and WIPA break down over the next two days. Gayle signed with Kolkata in the inaugural IPL auction for $US800,000, while Chanderpaul was bought by Bangalore for $US200,000.”We need to know what’s going on soon because we are picking our squad for the England tour next week,” John Dyson, the West Indies coach, told Cricinfo. “The chairman of selectors, in particular, needs an answer soon.”A similar dispute arose last year prior to Australia’s tour of the West Indies. Several senior West indian players considered withdrawing from the first two Tests of the series to remain in the IPL, but returned after the WICB allowed them to skip a pre-series training camp. Chanderpaul, Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan arrived in the Caribbean just days before the first Test at Sabina Park.Initial talks this week between the WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association ended after two days without any progress in their ongoing dispute. Peters told Cricinfo the talks would resume on Wednesday, but declined to elaborate on whether the contractual dispute would likely be resolved.A major obstacle that could stand between the West Indies players’ and their desire to play in the IPL is the need for them to obtain No Objection Certificates from the WICB. But when confronted with a similar situation last year, the IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, left the door open for West Indies players to join the lucrative Twenty20 tournament without the blessing of their board.”We will request them to talk to their board first and seriously think about their situation,” Modi said at the time. “Players should realise their respective boards are their bread and butter. Earning a few thousand dollars is not worth the risk of compromising your relationship with the home board in the long term. At the end of the day, if you are not representing your country, the IPL does not want you. So players should always be mindful of the importance of their relationship with their home board.”As things stand, most of the senior West Indies players are on central contracts which expire at the end of the England series. These were supposed to have been renegotiated some time back, but one insider close to the negotiations told Cricinfo the board was “not protecting the interests of sponsors and key stakeholders” by failing to do ensure that was done.The insider said the players were “exceptionally greedy” adding that “it’s Groundhog Day every year”.Last Friday, players refused to start three domestic one-day matches, while the national team blanked out Digicel branding on their kit with masking tape during the ODI against England. A number of them also boycotted a Digicel event in Guyana at the weekend.Dinanath Ramnarine, WIPA’s chief executive who resigned from the WICB executive last week, refused to comment as he left talks in Bridgetown. It is believed that further meetings are planned for early next week.

Thilan Samaraweera, who was shot on his leg during the armed attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, has undergone a two-hour surgery and is reported to be safe and stable.Samaraweera, who scored successive Test double-centuries in Pakistan, was the worst affected from the terrorist attack and was admitted to a private hospital on arrival in Colombo on Wednesday. He had the bullet removed from his left thigh muscle the same day.Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said the decision to remove the bullet was made to protect Samaraweera’s long-term playing career.”The bullet, which fortunately missed all nerves, was relatively close to the knee joint so the safest course of action was to remove it,” Jayawardene said.Samaraweera will spend the rest of the week recuperating in hospital and is only expected to resume physical training in two months.After the operation he said he was relieved to be home and with his family after the ordeal. “I am feeling better and I’m very happy to be back in Colombo with my wife Erandathie and my children,” Samaraweera said. “This has obviously been a very difficult time for them, but we are all relieved the operation was successful.”The surgeon told us that it must have been a ‘lucky bullet’ because somehow it missed all the important bits of nerve tissue, tendons and ligaments. I certainly feel lucky to have survived and I would also like to sincerely thank the [bus] driver Mohammad Khalil for showing such courage to get the team bus away from the gunmen.” Samaraweera, hoped to resume playing cricket in June.Kumar Sangakkara and Ajantha Mendis also underwent further surgery for removal of shrapnel from their bodies. Sangakkara had shrapnel removed from his shoulder on Wednesday and was said to be out of danger. He is expected to leave hospital today.Mendis underwent two operations on Wednesday to remove more shrapnel from his head and back. He is still detained at the hospital although he is out of danger. Mendis is expected to be out of action for at least four to six weeks according to medical authorities.Newcomer Tharanga Paranavitana and assistant coach Paul Farbrace are the other two team members detained in hospital. But neither were operated upon. Paranavitana is expected to be discharged later on Thursday while Farbrace, who had a large piece of shrapnel removed from his right arm by surgeons in Pakistan, is under observation.

New South Wales fast bowler Burt Cockley has been signed by the King’s XI Punjab for the 2009 IPL season. Cockley, 22, will join fellow Australians Brett Lee, James Hopes, Shaun Marsh, Luke Pomersbach and Simon Katich among the franchise’s 10 international players.Cockley has played only five first-class matches and two List A games for New South Wales and hasn’t made a Twenty20 appearance for his state yet. Kings XI Punjab coach Tom Moody said that Cockley’s appeal was his ability to bowl fast.”He’s got genuine pace,” Moody told the at the start of the month. “We’re aware that he hasn’t played any Twenty20 cricket, but we know that one of the ingredients for a successful side is to have someone who can bowl upwards of 140 kilometres an hour. He’s got that, and with a bit of experience and a bit of exposure, he can continue to grow.”Cockley hoped that his IPL experience would enhance his prospects at New South Wales. “I hope that playing in the IPL will improve my chances of playing more for NSW,” he said. “It can only improve my cricket, playing with such good players and learning and getting experience.”

England 236 for 5 (Flintoff 43*, Prior 27*) v West Indies
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

He may no longer be England’s captain, but on a torrid first day at Sabina Park, Kevin Pietersen ensured he would remain the most talked-about cricketer in the land, both for the innings he produced – a guts-and-glory 97 from 172 balls, out of a team total of 236 for 5 – but also for the manner of his dismissal. In a passage of play reminiscent of last summer’s Edgbaston Test against South Africa (a match, incidentally, that England went onto lose) Pietersen turned on the style only to tumble off the catwalk with one bold stroke too many.The beneficiary, then as now, was an under-rated left-arm spinner. For Paul Harris, read Sulieman Benn, whose end-of-day figures of 33-10-64-2 did scant justice to the discipline and menace that he brought to the West Indian performance. The tallest man in the game at 6’7″, Benn used his height superbly to create leaping bounce and extract sharp turn even before lunch on the first day. In between whiles he beat the edge almost at will, not least that of Andrew Flintoff, who endured grittily to reach a vital 43 from 138 balls at the close.Sabina Park may not be the fear factory of days gone by – images of Patrick Patterson tearing in from the sightscreen have long since faded to sepia – but survival was nonetheless a fearful prospect for England’s batsmen. Between them the spinners, Benn and Chris Gayle, bowled 51 of the 88 overs in the day, and bouncers were such a rarity that Flintoff was struck painfully on the elbow by one of the few that pitched in the bowler’s half. It wasn’t exactly the bloodlust with which tours of the Caribbean have traditionally been launched, but the day was no less fascinating for that.Andrew Strauss, in his first appearance as England’s official captain after five stand-in performances in 2006 and 2007, won a good toss on a typically dry and brown-baked wicket, but any blithe assumptions about the challenge that lay ahead were soon scotched. Strauss himself cut an anxious figure in a curious 15-ball stay. He might have been caught in the slips twice in consecutive overs off Jerome Taylor but then edged the same bowler to the keeper in the third, while his opening partner, Alastair Cook, fared little better. He hung around for longer in reaching 4 from 20 balls, but then flapped a rare short ball from Daren Powell to mid-on.At 31 for 2, Pietersen already had a rebuilding exercise to deal with, and he got off the mark in typical fashion – a hop across his stumps and a suicidal quick single to midwicket. Thereafter, however, he settled into his natural attacking rhythm, imposing at the crease but (until his fatal final flurry) rarely over-reaching. At the other end, it was Ian Bell who earned England’s initial style points. No-one, not even Pietersen, had entered this match under so much scrutiny, and yet Bell raced into the 20s with some typically silken strokes including a clip through midwicket and a sweet drive down the ground. But looking classy has never been Bell’s problem, it’s the substance behind his innings that has been more problematic, and when he edged Chris Gayle’s arm-ball to slip with moments to go before lunch, it was another untimely black mark against his temperament.England went to lunch on 73 for 3, and perfectly set up for a fall. After the break, it was over to Benn, who bowled unchanged all the way until the 79th over of the day. Pietersen danced in his crease in an attempt to break the shackles, but found the field with every attacking stroke. Paul Collingwood was the right sort of attritional cricketer to have for such a situation, but after adding 23 runs in 17 overs, he attempted an over-ambitious sweep against a full-length delivery from Benn that struck him so plumb in front of middle that there was no point in wasting one of England’s two reviews on the decision.Pietersen did cut loose a touch in the session – he brought up his fifty (from 115 balls, his second-slowest in Tests) with two fours in three balls against Powell, then later laced a rare long-hop from the same bowler through midwicket. But it was nothing compared to the jawdropping passage of play that eventually led directly to his downfall.Pietersen emerged from tea with his mood transformed. Suddenly he was clobbering the ball to the boundary at will, and a 16th Test century seemed an inevitability. Benn, so long his tormentor, was scorched through the covers for four, then back down the ground for another four, then hoisted into the stands for a massive six. Gayle, to his credit, refused to scatter his close fielders, and Benn carried on flighting his deliveries. Having hurtled from 83 to 97 in three brutal deliveries, Pietersen went for the big wind-up, got a spiralling top-edge, and was trooping back to the pavilion even before Denesh Ramdin had claimed the catch.At the other end, however, Flintoff continued to graft relentlessly. He is never the most comfortable batsman against spin, and Benn came close to finishing him on numerous occasions with a succession of ripping deliveries that burst off the pitch and over his stumps. But by the close, he was still there with Matt Prior steadfast alongside him. The pair, almost unnoticed in the aftermath of Pietersen’s frenzy, had added a crucial unbeaten stand of 56 to ensure that England finished a tough day with their noses ever so slightly in front.