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Joe Root scored a classic maiden first-class century to put Yorkshire back in
the match on the second day of their County Championship clash against
Sussex at Scarborough

George Dobell at Edgbaston18-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Dimitri Mascarenhas made 33 as Hampshire slumped to 141 all out•Getty Images

One hundred years ago, a charismatic all-rounder named Frank Foster made a huge impression on Warwickshire cricket.Foster was invited by a desperate committee to captain a side in disarray and, with his incisive left-arm swing bowling and swashbuckling batting, responded by becoming the youngest man to lead a side to the Championship title. He was just 22 and it’s a record that remains to this day.Now, on the anniversary of the club’s first success, it is the turn of Chris Woakes to take centre stage at Edgbaston. Woakes, also just 22, may not have assumed the captaincy just yet but, with bat and ball, he’s playing a huge role in taking Warwickshire to an almost equally surprising Championship title. Woakes may just turn out to be the best all-rounder the club have produced since Foster.Foster’s career didn’t reach the heights it should have done. Although his leg-theory bowling played a large role in England’s Ashes success in the winter of 1911-12, the combination of alcoholism and mental illness proved disastrous. Foster never played after the age of 25 and died – alone, in poverty and disgrace – in an asylum. It’s a story beautifully told by Robert Brook in his excellent new biography of Foster – The Fields Were Sudden Bare. It makes Jude The Obscure seem joyful.There will surely be a happier ending to the Woakes story. While he may possess more than a little of the Foster brilliance, Woakes lacks the demons. He is reliable. He is solid. He is professional and disciplined. More than once, Ashley Giles has been heard to say he wishes he could clone Woakes. In time, no doubt, someone at Loughborough will be charged with doing just that.It was not that Woakes bowled outrageously well on the first day of this game. More that he didn’t bowl badly. Not at all. Not even a ball. He pressed and pressed at Hampshire’s batting, banging away on an off stump line, moving the ball a fraction this way or that and waiting for the error. Few men were dismissed by unplayable balls, but the sense of stifling pressure Woakes built up was suffocating. It’s what McGrath used to do. And Lillee. And Garner. While it’s flattering Woakes a fair bit to compare him to those great cricketers, he certainly is becoming a very fine player.Let’s be clear: this is not a poor pitch. The bounce is even, the assistance to seamers only moderate. But Woakes is masterful in such conditions and, against a batting line-up lacking confidence, he was murderously effective.He was well supported, too. Boyd Rankin and Rikki Clarke bowled superbly, with sustained pace and aggression, while Warwickshire’s catching behind the wicket remains excellent. Clarke’s diving effort to remove Dimitri Mascarenhas – slashing wildly – was the highlight of the day. No-one has more than Clarke’s 30 catches in the campaign.Warwickshire came into the season as one of the bookies’ tips to suffer relegation. Instead, however, they must now be considered genuine title contenders. They have won 10 of their last 14 Championship games across the last two season and, unless Hampshire can stage a major recover on day two of this game, they are well poised to make it 11 out of 15.A huge part of that success has been the form of Woakes. Perhaps he lacks the pace to prosper at the highest level. Perhaps, in this golden era for English cricket, he will simply find other very fine cricketers in his way as they jostle for inclusion in the national side. Perhaps international pitches will lessen his potency.But, at this level, and on such surfaces, Woakes really is a very fine cricketer. Having played just seven-and-a-half Championship games this season, he already has 45 wickets at an average of only 17 and 406 runs at an average of 45. It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work out that, should Woakes be able to sustain such form across a whole campaign, he’d be close to achieving the double. No-one has managed that since Franklyn Stephenson in 1988.International calls may prevent Woakes from fulfilling that ambition. Indeed, they may hinder Warwickshire’s Championship ambitions. Already missing Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott, they will lose Rankin and William Porterfield to Ireland next week and possibly Woakes to England, too. Their ‘bench strength’ will be tested to the limit.This game isn’t over, either. Hampshire actually started pretty well. Keith Barker, inexplicably given the new ball, was punished for a series of boundaries as he struggled with his length. But when Jimmy Adams, driving loosely at a wide one, edged to gully, it precipitated a sharp decline as Hampshire’s entire top six departed for the addition of just 22 runs.At one stage Hampshire lost four wickets without scoring as Woakes found Michael Carberry’s edge with a good one demanding a shot that was angled across the left hander, before Liam Dawson left a straight one, James Vince pulled directly to the fielder and Michael Bates steered to gully as if providing catching practise. It wasn’t the most convincing of strokes from a fellow whose batting is under some scrutiny at present.A stand of 64 between Sean Ervive and Dimitri Mascarenhas provided some hope for Hampshire but, when Woakes persuaded one back between Ervine’s bat and pad, Hampshire fell away again. It says much about Hampshire’s batting that there have been only three seven-wicket hauls in an innings of Division One cricket this season and Hampshire have been the batting side on each occasion. They don’t lack talent or good intention, but somehow the sum of the parts is less than the individual elements. They look worryingly flimsy.Warwickshire didn’t have things all their own way in reply. Ian Westwood was trapped by an inswinger, Porterfield pulled to long-leg and Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s debut lasted just five deliveries after he was drawn into poking at one that left him and edged to slip.Varun Chopra steadied the ship with his sixth score over 50 in the campaign and passed 1,000 first-class and Championship runs for the season in the process. But, when he was caught on the crease by a good inswinger, it provided Hampshire with a chance to fight their way back into the game on the second day. Bad light caused an early close moments later.”It’s a pretty good pitch,” Woakes said afterwards. “There’s a bit of help off the pitch, but there’s no way it’s a 14 wickets a day sort of pitch.”We bowled really well as a unit, but it was just my turn to take the wickets. I’ve bowled better this season and not taken many wickets, but today they played a few loose shots. Really, I just put the ball in those good areas, probed around and had some luck.”It was a typically modest comment. In Woakes, Warwickshire have a gem.

Hamstring injuries are not known to be fatal to the individual that suffers them

George Dobell at Taunton12-Sep-2011
Scorecard
Glen Chapple struck early but soon suffered an injury•PA Photos

Hamstring injuries are not known to be fatal to the individual that suffers them. For Lancashire’s hopes of claiming their first outright Championship title since 1934, however, the injury sustained by their captain, Glen Chapple may well prove to be the final nail in the coffin of their hopes. Indeed, if you were looking for a metaphor for Lancashire’s title aspirations, the sight of Chapple limping in to bowl was as accurate as it was painful.The Lancashire captain, now aged 37 but still the side’s leading seamer, sustained a hamstring injury in just his fifth over that reduced him to bowling off a few paces for much of the day. Clearly in great discomfort, it says much for his perseverance that he continued. His effectiveness was, however, greatly diminished and there’s little chance of his bowling playing much of a role in the rest of the game.It was not atypical of a day on which Lancashire endured little fortune. From the moment Chapple lost an important toss – the 13th time in 16 games he has done so and quite a blow for a side containing two spinners – little went the visitors’ way. Edges either dropped short of the slips or squeezed past the stumps and the scores filtering in from The Rose Bowl would have done nothing to lift the mood. When Jos Buttler drove Chapple to mid off only to see the ball bounce just in front of Luke Procter and travel to the boundary, it summed up Lancashire’s day.While it would be tempting to simply blame fate for their predicament, however, it would also be disingenuous. Lancashire also failed to accept a couple of important chances. Most obviously, Tom Smith, at second slip, could not hold on to an edge offered by James Hildreth off Procter when the batsman had just 21. It was not, by any means, an easy chance, but it should have been taken. A run-out chance, offered to Stephen Moore, was also missed when Hildreth was on 83. The fact that he ended the day unbeaten on 161 tells you all you need to know about the importance of such moments.Most of all, however, Lancashire came up against two high-quality batsmen on a good pitch. Hildreth and Buttler added 170 in 51 overs, both men producing some fine, positive strokes and Hildreth recording his highest score – and only the second century – of a disappointing season.Hildreth may never go on to represent England now. He has, it is widely suggested, shown too much frailty against pace and bounce and scored too many of his runs on the flat wickets of Taunton. Against modestly-paced bowlers, however, and on a pitch holding few terrors, he looks a very fine player. Here he played delightfully straight, caressing a series of boundaries either straight back past the bowler or through wide mid-on and the manner in which he reached his century – a drive over long-on for six off Gary Keedy – underlined his dominance.”He didn’t put a foot wrong,” Keedy said afterwards. “He played brilliantly. Obviously if you win the toss here, you bat. But we’re quite happy with that. Spin is going to play a major role in this game and we can still win this.”Buttler also impressed. While he is not the finished article, some of his shots bare the hallmark of real class: two lovely drives, one on the up off Chapple and another, after he skipped down the pitch and drove Simon Kerrigan through extra cover, spring to mind. On other occasions he was fortunate to survive after he came down the pitch to the spinners only to be beaten and just squeeze the ball away off pad or bat. Talk on the circuit also suggests he might be exposed by good-quality short-pitched bowling. It’s worth remembering he celebrated his 21st birthday only four days ago, however. He is an outrageous talent and surely has a golden future.In the shorter term, Somerset supporters could also be encouraged by the sight of Marcus Trescothick running on the outfield at lunchtime. No decision has yet been taken on whether he’ll be fit for Saturday’s CB40 final but, on this evidence, it’s looking good.That Lancashire’s title Championship hopes remain alive is largely due to the continuing excellence of their two spinners. Despite gaining little help from the pitch, Keedy and Kerrigan bowled with superb variation and control and, by frustrating the batsmen, dragged their side back into the game with a couple of important wickets.Indeed, so successfully did they restrict the scoring that Somerset failed to hit a boundary for 41 overs at one stage and added only 63 in 40 overs in late afternoon. That pressure brought wickets. First Buttler tapped a full-toss – perhaps the only poor ball Keedy delivered – straight back to the bowler, before Peter Trego, who took 22 balls over his one run, attempted to drive one not quite there for the shot and gifted a catch to cover. It was, by any standards, impressive bowling.Hildreth, however, refused to give anything away. His first 50 runs occupied 66 balls; his second just 52 and his third 134. But, by keeping his head and retaining his patience, he survived to take full advantage of the benign pitch and take some consolation for a season that started with an England place within reach and has ended with him unlikely to even win selection for the Lions tour.”I haven’t scored the runs I wanted this year,” Hildreth admitted afterwards. “I don’t know why. I’ve done all the same things as last year, but it just hasn’t happened. But I wanted to cash in here. They have two very good spinners, but it’s a really good pitch.”Lancashire had started well. Alex Barrow was caught behind prodding tentatively at one on off stump, before Chris Jones’ inside edge on to his pads looped up to gully. When Chapple found a way to nip the ball back through the gate of a perfectly reasonable forward defensive from Arul Suppiah it left Somerset on 89 for 3 and precariously placed. Instead of being able to attack with Chapple, however, they were obliged to utilise Smith and Procter. It allowed Buttler and Hildreth to settle in and build Somerset a decent platform in the game.It would be quite wrong to suggest that Lancashire’s title aspirations are over, however. Hildreth reasoned that a score of 400 wasn’t enough to be considered par on this wicket and, given fair weather, Lancashire could yet win this match. Both sides anticipate that the pitch will provide more assistance to the spinners as the game progresses and the Somerset tail is not the strongest. It’s not over.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt denied ever asking Mohammad Asif or Mohammad Amir to cheat and bowl pre-planned no-balls, a court heard on Friday

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court14-Oct-2011Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt denied ever asking Mohammad Asif or Mohammad Amir to cheat and bowl pre-planned no-balls, a court heard on Friday during the eighth day of the alleged spot-fixing trial in London.”There’s no way I could tell Amir or Asif (to cheat),” Butt said in a police interview played to the court. “They are the two players that most teams would want to have. When we pick our team those are the first two names that we have to write.”The jury at Southwark Crown Court heard a transcript of police interviews with Butt in September last year, shortly after the publication of an undercover investigation into alleged corruption by the Pakistan cricketers and Majeed, released in the .The transcript was read out in role play format between policeman at the time Detective Constable John Massey and Sarah Whitehouse for the prosecution. Butt sat in the dock, wearing a dark grey jacket and royal blue shirt, following a printed transcript of the interview. He was sandwiched by Asif and a female interpreter.In the first police interview, in which Butt attributed Majeed’s predictions of the no-balls coming true as “a freak occurrence”, he denied ever accepting money for corrupt purposes. Butt also said Majeed had no influence over him as the agent had boasted during the investigation.”I don’t think anybody could influence me to cheat my country,” Butt said. “I play this game for the love of the game and for the love of my country.”He added: “I have played at all levels for Pakistan and in ten years of playing for Pakistan I have never had any charge against me. This is the first time I have had a charge (against me).” He also denied knowing of a culture of cheating in the Pakistan team.Butt said he had been happy with Majeed as his agent because he brought him generous earnings from endorsements outside of his cricket duties. These included payments of £16,000 and £30,000 for endorsing Majeed companies Blue Sky and Capital Cricket.Butt also was heard to say on the tapes that Majeed arranged a sportswear and cricket equipment deal for him with Adidas that earned him £800 per international match plus bonuses. “He brought me things like the Adidas contract,” Butt said, “which was a big thing to me as no other Pakistani had that.”The opening batsman also revealed how Majeed had “talked about” a potential sponsorship agreement with Tag Heur watches, in which he would received a new £3,000 watched every three months, plus money after six months. A contract with a shoe company was also discussed that would see his name sewn into the shoes.Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-determined no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.The case continues.

Cricket Scotland began a celebration of their history by launching the Scottish Cricket hall of fame in Edinburgh

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2011Cricket Scotland began a celebration of its history by launching the Scottish Cricket Hall of Fame in Edinburgh to showcase the cricketers that have all played an integral part in the development of Scottish cricket.Twelve players were inducted into the Hall of Fame in recognition of their pioneering spirit that has helped develop the game in Scotland. From 2012 two further inductees will be announced each year.Among those included at the launch are Gregor MacGregor, who played eight Tests for England between 1890 and 1893, Mike Denness – England captain for 19 Tests and former ICC match referee – and former Scotland captain Gavin Hamilton.”I’m very proud and privileged to be among the first inductees into the Scottish Cricket Hall of fame,” said Hamilton. “It really makes all the hard work over the last 20 years worthwhile.”Hall of Fame

Leslie Balfour, Gregor MacGregor, John Kerr, James Aitchison, Jimmy Allan, Mike Denness, George Goddard, Brian Hardie, Iain Philip, Dougie Brown, Gavin Hamilton, Craig Wright

ESPNcricinfo previews the second one-dayer between India and West Indies in Visakhapatnam

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya01-Dec-2011

Match facts

Friday, December 2
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)At a venue that shot MS Dhoni into the limelight in 2005, the Indian batsmen will want to cash in•AFP

Big Picture

As the tour moves to the YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, the contest between the teams – which seemed rather predictable to begin with – has acquired a more exciting taste following a couple of manic finishes in the lead-up to this game. A draw with the scores level in the third Test and a nail-biting finish in Cuttack, during which Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav provided an insight into the intricacies of human behaviour under pressure, have spiced up a home season characterised by one-sided contests and poor crowds.Visakhapatnam should not worry about poor crowds – it’s only hosted three internationals in six years and it would be an exception if the game doesn’t entertain. A high-scoring venue, teams have gone past 250 in each of the six ODI innings here – twice while chasing successfully. In what could be a battle of the bats at a venue that shot MS Dhoni into the limelight in 2005, the Indian top order will not want to fall victim to the “soft dismissals” that their captain Virender Sehwag criticised them for after the Cuttack game. Even more so for West Indies. They were troubled by India’s seamers in Cuttack, but are now at a venue where the bowlers’ skills and variations have been of limited value in past games.

Form guide

India WWWWW (Most recent first)
West Indies LLWWW

Watch out for…

The decision to rest MS Dhoni has given Parthiv Patel an opportunity to stake his claim for a place in the limited-overs side to Australia, where he toured as the first-choice wicketkeeper in 2003-04. He didn’t have the best home series against England, getting starts but not going beyond 38 in four games. His recent form, though, has been good. He scored centuries in successive games for Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy, and will hope to extend this run into international cricket.Lendl Simmons didn’t play in the Test series against India, left out of the squad after Adrian Barath returned from injury. An attacking batsman upfront, Simmons, while not an automatic pick in the longest format, has been in good touch in the 50-overs version. In 2011, he averages 56.41 in 13 games with seven half-centuries and one ton. He took a while to get going in Cuttack before falling for 19. Will Vizag be different?

Team news

Manoj Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane are part of the squad but unless there are niggles or injury concerns, India could go in with the same team that won in Cuttack.India (possible) 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 R Vinay Kumar, 10 Varun Aaron, 11 Umesh Yadav.Legspinner Anthony Martin had some success against India when they toured West Indies earlier in the year, but will the visitors go in with Sunil Narine for this match? An offspinner, he made a name for himself during the Champions League T20. He dismissed Dhoni and Suresh Raina, and used a variation he calls the “knuckle ball” that takes the ball away from the right hander.West Indies 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Adrian Barath, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Danza Hyatt, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Andre Russell, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Sunil Narine/Anthony Martin.

Stats and trivia

• India’s win in Cuttack was only their second by a one-wicket margin in ODIs. The previous instance was in Auckland in 2003, against New Zealand, when Ashish Nehra hit the winning runs.
• Twenty years ago, on December 6, 1991, these two teams were involved in a tie, in Perth.
  

  Quotes

  “There is no excuse for anybody not scoring runs.”
  
  

Seeing the scorecard at tea on the second day, you’d be forgiven for thinking the surface at the Chinnaswamy Stadium had transformed overnight from the featherbed it was on the first

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran at the Chinnaswamy Stadium14-Dec-2011
Scorecard
Seeing the scorecard at tea on the second day, you’d be forgiven for thinking the surface at the Chinnaswamy Stadium had transformed overnight from the featherbed it was on the first. Punjab had sauntered to 278 for 4 on Tuesday, but ten wickets went down in the first two sessions today for 154. It took a free-swinging unbroken 83-run stand between Stuart Binny and CM Gautam in the evening to show that there were no gremlins in the track.The collapses in the first two sessions came about more due to poor strokes than the bowling, which was tight without being overly threatening. Despite folding well before lunch, Punjab ended the day ahead as Karnataka’s top order put in a feeble performance. One of Karnataka’s strengths this season has been that they haven’t been overly dependent on any single batsman – five of their players have already made 300 or more runs this Ranji season. From a seemingly hopeless 100 for 5 in reply to Punjab’s 357, Binny kickstarted a revival that at least gives them an outside chance of taking the first-innings lead.Both sides are fielding virtually second-string bowling line-ups – Punjab are missing the injured Harbhajan Singh, Manpreet Gony and Love Ablish while Karnataka are without Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar and fast bowler SL Akshay. To add to that lengthy list, Karnataka’s spearhead S Aravind was also sidelined on the first afternoon with a knee injury.A day for piling on the runs, then? It seemed as much when Punjab began with a couple of boundaries in the first three overs, but when the new ball was taken, it asked more questions of the batsmen. Binny got it to swing around, while NC Aiyappa made Amitoze Singh nervously survive a bottom-edge towards slip, an lbw shout and a caught-behind appeal in the same over.It was the left-arm spinner KP Appanna who made the big breakthrough, removing Mayank Sidhana caught-behind down the leg side for 92. The batsman couldn’t believe the decision, and his disappointment was more than just at missing out on a century. Amitoze soon became the second run-out victim of the innings, and two balls later Bipul Sharma nicked to slip. Punjab’s lower order was rolled over quickly, and Karnataka were batting earlier than they would have expected.It didn’t begin well though as the biggest name in the line-up, Robin Uthappa, flicked the first delivery of the innings to give square leg a catch. Debutant fast bowler Baltej Singh bowled with pace and troubled the batsmen, getting the ball to jag past the outside edge on several occasions. KB Pawan and Ganesh Satish responded with an overly cautious approach, and though the bowling became less troublesome once the shine went off the ball, they plodded to 50 in 28 overs.Satish perished as he attempted to release the pressure with a lofted drive, only to chip it to point. Bharat Chipli also fell to a botched drive that ended as a caught & bowled. Pawan survived two dropped chances, on the second of which the bowler Rahul Sharma set off on an extravagant celebration before realising it had been put down at slip. Rahul did get a chance to reprise it later as he had Pawan top-edging to the keeper for a nearly three-hour 32.Binny came out biffing sixes, and seemingly wondering what the top order had been worried about. He muscled boundaries through cover and point, and a swipe over midwicket brought up his half-century in 49 deliveries. Gautam was no slouch either, though most of his runs came through fours behind the wickets, either controlled sweeps or glides to third man. They took Karnataka halfway to the Punjab total, but the visitors will still be the happier side halfway through the match.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has stepped down as Sri Lanka captain, a day after the ODI series against South Africa concluded

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2012Tillakaratne Dilshan has stepped down as Sri Lanka captain in all three formats, a day after the ODI series against South Africa concluded.”Dilshan has resigned as Captain in all three formats of the game,” a Sri Lanka Cricket release stated. “Members of the Executive committee take this opportunity to thank Dilshan for his commitment and dedication during his tenure as the National Captain. We also wish him well as he continues to represent Sri Lanka as a National Player.”Dilshan took over as captain from Kumar Sangakkara after the 2011 World Cup, led his team on tours to England, the UAE [against Pakistan] and South Africa and at home against Australia. His captaincy came under severe criticism as Sri Lanka lost both the Test and ODI series against all the four countries.Dilshan’s form with the bat dipped during his captaincy as well and despite a historic Test win in Durban, Sri Lanka’s first in South Africa, the loss in the Test series as well as the five-match ODI series put him under added pressure.Sri Lanka Cricket was expected to offer the captaincy to Mahela Jayawardene, who said he will take some time to think over it after the offer was made.Dilshan led Sri Lanka in 11 Tests since May 2011, of which his team won one Test and lost five. His own average during his tenure was 33.60, as opposed to his overall average of 40.89. In the same period, he led in 21 ODIs, winning eight and losing 13. His batting suffered more on the ODI front, as he averaged 20.95 in comparison to his overall figure of 34.68.Dilshan’s resignation has become part of a series of changes in Sri Lanka’s leadership during and since the tour to South Africa. SLC appointed a new selection panel with Ashantha de Mel as chairman, replacing the one led by Duleep Mendis, and Geoff Marsh is to be replaced as coach by South African Graham Ford.

Misbah-ul-Haq has led an impassioned defence of his captaincy and urged the media not to destabilise Pakistan cricket by pursuing “their own agendas”

George Dobell in Dubai24-Feb-2012Misbah-ul-Haq has led an impassioned defence of his captaincy and urged the media not to destabilise Pakistan cricket by pursuing “their own agendas”.What should have been a moment of celebration for Misbah and his team was soured when Pakistan’s captain was asked about his own position in the press conference following victory over England in the first of three Twenty20 internationals.It is not hard to understand why Misbah might have been irritated. He assumed the captaincy of Pakistan in late 2010 with the team disgraced and defeated. Not only that, but he was denied some of the nation’s best players due to their involvement in the spot-fixing controversy.He responded better than most could have dreamed possible. Not only did Misbah restore the good reputation of Pakistan cricket on the pitch, he has done so off it, too.He has led Pakistan to five Test series victories out of seven – the other two series were drawn – including the recent 3-0 whitewash of England, the No. 1-ranked Test team. On Thursday he led Pakistan to victory over the No.1-rated T20 team in world cricket and afterwards vented his frustration at the media – and the Pakistan media in particular – who seem to want Shahid Afridi restored as captain.”Even after when we won the Test matches, I continuously told the media we should be patient and consider the realities,” Misbah said. “We go on to discuss things that don’t need to be discussed – when we perform badly we should talk about that, we should talk about weak areas in the team. People in the media make comments based on furthering their own agendas, not ground realities. This needs to stop; the media should think positively.”I won’t comment on any specific individuals, but you can hear it yourself when you listen to the reports in the media. I also say even after winning we shouldn’t go overboard – we should base such discussions on facts. Appreciate the attributes in the team which are to be admired – even after winning, pinpoint specific mistakes – if a player isn’t making centuries, or a bowler is not taking wickets, then discuss those points.”What we shouldn’t do is start speaking ill of individuals. As a team we lost the ODI series: don’t blame one player or just the captain. The dramatic changes highlighted are unnecessary. It is these players that have won you six series. If we made mistakes and lost a series against a top team, then we should be backed. If the proposed changes highlighted by the media were implemented, we would have six captains and six different teams up to the World Cup in 2015.”We cannot improve if we continuously ask for captains and teams to be replaced after losing one series. You have to back your players at a certain level.”Misbah’s real problem – and it is a problem without a solution – is that he is not Afridi. The populist adoration for Afridi – for his charisma, his talent and his aura – is boundless. Misbah, with his more prosaic qualities of reliability, calm and consistency, is overshadowed by comparison. While logic might back Misbah, emotions are with Afridi.When Afridi drops a batting glove a nation stoops to pick it up. When Afridi fails with the bat – and, unpalatable though it will be to Pakistan supporters, he fails with the bat rather too often – a nation mourns his ill fortune. When Misbah scores 50, a nation frowns upon the slow pace at which he scored it. Misbah could invent a cure for cancer and someone will claim that Afridi would have done it with more panache.Afridi is a cricketer – a man, even – of immense charm. He is a magnificent limited-overs bowler, a courageous fielder and a batsman who has, upon occasions, dazzled. But he was fired as limited-overs skipper in May 2011 after returning early from the tour of the Caribbean and following the disintegration of his relationship with Waqar Younis, the coach at the time.His record as captain is also modest: Afridi has captained Pakistan in one Test, 34 ODIs and 19 T20Is. The Test was lost, as were 11 of the T20Is, though he led his side to 18 wins in ODI cricket.Compare that with Misbah’s record as captain. He has led in 15 Tests (nine wins, five draws and just that one loss against the West Indies), 19 ODIs (14 wins and five losses) and six T20Is (all of which have been won). In the light of such figures, it is somewhat bewildering that Misbah is obliged to continually defend his position.Misbah was frank about Pakistan’s greatest weakness: the fielding of his side remains poor. He warned there will be no short-term solutions, but suggested with the bowling attack he has at his disposal, Pakistan will always be capable of success. Afridi, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal are the top three wicket-takers in the history of T20Is and Misbah felt it was Gul’s bowling that made the difference on Thursday.”It’s a natural phenomenon,” he said. “We don’t focus on fitness and fielding at grass roots level. Our fielding is much improved from before, but we have to put in a lot of effort to improve. It’s not a problem that can be solved overnight.”When you have Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi, three of the top bowlers in T20 cricket, top wicket takers, you always have a chance. They bowled well and kept the pressure on. When a bowler is at his best it’s difficult to play him. Gul bowled well. There was no answer to his bowling.”The win was important considering the situation in which we were in. The senior players had to perform and Umar Gul’s return to form was necessary. Shoaib Malik showing form was also important. It was a much-needed win to bring our confidence back.”

Australia Women won the third Twenty20 international against India Women to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2012
ScorecardAustralia Women continued their dominance of India Woman, wrapping up the T20 series with a convincing 63-run win at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The win gives the vistors a 3-0 lead in the five-match series.Having chosen to bat, Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy got the visitors off to a rousing start, adding 112 in 14.5 overs. Healy was the more aggressive of the pair, though Lanning was not exactly a slouch, making 42 from 44 balls, with six fours, before she fell to Archana Das. Healy continued to punish the bowlers in the company of Alex Blackwell, who was also content to play the supporting role. She was finally dismissed off the last ball of innings, run out for 90, having struck 10 fours and two sixes in her 61-ball knock, and having carried Australia to 151 for 2.India’s chase began in disastrous fashion, with four wickets falling in the first five overs. From that point on, it was merely a matter of survival. Mithali Raj’s wicket made it 21 for 5 in the eight over, before Sulakshana Naik and Reema Malhotra provided some resistance, adding 60 for the sixth wicket in 11.4 overs before Naik became Sarah Coyte’s third victim. Malhotra was left unbeaten on 32 as India finished on 88 for 6. Coyte was the pick of the bowlers, with 3 for 19, while Ellyse Perry took 2 for 8.The fourth came will be played at the same venue on March 22.

Leicestershire staged an astonishing fightback against Glamorgan on a dramatic opening day of the new County Championship season at Grace Road.

05-Apr-2012
ScorecardRamnaresh Sarwan made 41 on his Leicestershire debut•Associated Press

Leicestershire staged an astonishing fightback against Glamorgan on a dramatic opening day of the new County Championship season at Grace Road.They recovered from the shock of losing two wickets to the first two balls of the game to post a competitive total of 249, with Claude Henderson scoring an unbeaten half-century and Ramnaresh Sarwan making a vital 41 on his Leicestershire debut.Then Matthew Hoggard, Robbie Joseph and Nadeem Malik had Glamorgan reeling with devastating spells as the Welshmen staggered to 25 for 5 in 11 overs at the close of a remarkable day’s cricket.Joseph, making his debut after being released by Kent, struck first with a successful lbw shout against Stewart Walters. In the next over Hoggard dismissed Gareth Rees in similar fashion and then clean bowled Ben Wright.Joseph picked up his second wicket when William Bragg edged to Sarwan at slip and Moises Henriques was caught behind in Malik’s first over, meaning 15 wickets had fallen in the day for 274 runs.The start to the game was one of the most dramatic openings to a season seen on the ground. After putting Leicestershire in to bat on a damp pitch, Glamorgan had them 1 for 3 from three overs.Huw Waters took two wickets with his first two balls, having Greg Smith caught at short leg by Gareth Rees and then pinning Jacques du Toit lbw. He struck again with the fifth ball of his second over when Matt Boyce popped up another catch to Rees at short leg and there seemed no way back for the hosts who finished bottom of the Second Division last season.But a brisk 26 from Josh Cobb, who hit two fours and two sixes, and then some stout and sensible batting from the middle and late order batsmen pulled Leicestershire out of trouble.Sarwan, who had to come in and face the hat-trick delivery from Walters, looked impressive in his 110-ball stay at the crease. He mixed solid defence with some sweetly timed boundaries, six in all, before being trapped lbw by Graham Wagg.Henderson then spearheaded the recovery as he did a year ago in the same fixture, when Leicestershire beat Glamorgan on opening day to claim their only Championship win of the season. He made an unbeaten 80 on that occasion and once again frustrated the Welshmen with another 57 not out. His half-century came off 108 balls and included a six and two fours.He was given excellent support by Ned Eckersley (25), Wayne White (37) and Joseph (29) before Leicestershire’s seamers completed the stunning fightback.