All posts by csb10.top

The ICC has written to the PCB asking for details into the appearance of Mohammad Amir in a friendly club match. Amir is currently provisionally suspended from all levels of cricket facing charges of spot-fixing placed by the governing body in the aftermath of the Lord’s Test during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.Amir took part in a game in Rawalpindi on Monday, though the contest is not believed to carry any official status. But under the ICC’s anti-corruption code of conduct, Amir – and Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, the other two players suspended – are not allowed to play even at club level if those clubs are affiliated to the regional cricket body – in this case the Rawalpindi Cricket Association – which is in turn, affiliated to the PCB. It is believed that the club Amir turned up for is not affiliated to the Rawalpindi association.A spokesman for the Pakistan board said they were also investigating the matter. “Yes, we have come to the knowledge of Amir playing a match in Rawalpindi and we are investigating the matter,” Nadeem Sarwar told .At the moment it is believed that the ICC has only asked for details of the appearance, after which it will decide whether or not it constitutes a breach of the code. Local officials in Rawalpindi say Amir apologised after appearing in the game, saying he wasn’t sure whether or not he could play in a game at that level.Amir, along with Butt and Asif, was suspended by the ICC after the spot-fixing row centering around pre-planned no-balls broke during the Lord’s Test between England and Pakistan.An ICC anti-corruption tribunal heard the case relating to the three suspended players in Doha, Qatar, last month and is due to announce its verdict on February 5.

Just one cursory look at the scorecard is enough to leave India disappointed. And no, it’s not the final score of 183 for 6 that they will rue that much. The genesis of their regret lies in individual scores. On a day that perhaps every batsman applied himself better than he did in similar – if not slightly less testing – conditions in Centurion, not one batsman fell for a single-figure score, and yet nobody crossed 38.It could be a positive sign for them too, in that the conditions seem to be such that nobody can ever feel settled in here, but it will be premature to arrive at that conclusion. Legend has it that when the sun beats down on the Kingsmead pitch, it becomes a flat belter. Going by how South Africa have got every small thing right at the right moments over the six days of this series – the bowling, the batting, the freak catches, the tosses – who will bet against a gloriously sunny day when their turn to bat comes? Which is why, although India are one handy partnership away from what seems a par score in day-one conditions, VVS Laxman, who looked in as much control as was possible with the ball seaming around, was left dissatisfied.”The bowlers are always going to be in with a chance because this is one of those wickets,” Laxman said. “Having said that, it would have been ideal if one of the batsmen had carried on and remained unbeaten on 60 or 70 at the end of the day. All of us got starts but were not able to convert that into a big score. That was a bit disappointing.”Laxman suggested that the pitch, in terms of bounce and pace, was truer, but he didn’t expect it to flatten out as the one in Centurion did. “The wicket here is much quicker and the bounce is also more. The Centurion wicket was soft and slow. I think the conditions will remain the same at least for three days here. In Centurion, because of the heat, the wicket really eased out.”The conditions, though, are not in India’s hands. Nor is the toss for that matter. India have now won just one out of their last 15, and Laxman admitted it would have been a good toss to win. “When you’re playing international cricket you have to take whatever challenge comes your way. It would have been great to have bowled first on this wicket. But the toss is something you cannot control.”Every batsman in the top order showed the restraint and application to face up to the challenge in front of him, but they all found ways to not convert those starts. India could certainly have avoided giving Lonwabo Tsotsobe his two wickets. Sachin Tendulkar and Cheteshwar Pujara made mistakes on the day. Tendulkar pushed away from the body without intent, and Pujara hooked unconvincingly. Laxman, who was out to an incredible catch that Tsotsobe produced at straight midwicket, said the quick wickets of Rahul Dravid and him were a turning point. .”It would have been ideal [to have lost two wickets fewer], Rahul and I were out in quick succession. It was important that both of us carried on our partnership. That would have put a lot of pressure on the South African bowlers and the team.”I think how we start tomorrow will be very important. Anything above 250 will be a good score, assuming the conditions remain the same.”Laxman said he had enough confidence in the lower order to take them to a fighting total. “I’m sure they will give their best, because, as I’ve always mentioned, they take a lot of pride in their batting. Over the years, all of them have delivered for as at the right moment – as recently as the New Zealand series where Bhaji made two brilliant centuries and put us right on top. I’m sure the lower order will contribute, work really hard and not throw away their wickets.”

Lahore Ravi‘s opening bowlers – Abdul Ghaffar and Asif Ashfaq – combined to skittle Peshawar out for 118 to give the hosts a 56-run win in a low-scoring affair at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. A day after his 20th birthday, Ghaffar started the rot by removing Israullah and Gauhar Ali with consecutive deliveries, before Ashfaq got in the act by having Mohammad Fayyaz caught for 18 to leave the visitors tottering at 28 for 3. Sajjad Ahmad and Tariq Khan then attempted to get Peshawar’s chase of 175 back on track, but Tariq was run-out for a painstaking 17 and Ashfaq trapped Sajjad in front for 35. Riaz Afridi then fell first ball to Ghaffar to reduce Peshawar to 90 for 6, and effectively end the game as a contest. The pair then ran through the lower order, with Ghaffar ending up with 5 for 46 to give him match figures of 9 for 103, and Ashfaq picking up 4 for 46.Wajid Ali’s unbeaten hundred could not prevent Abbottabad from following-on against Karachi Whites at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Resuming on 60 for 4, Riaz Kail took his side past 100 before he was dismissed for 50. The next three batsmen got starts but fell in their twenties as Wajid – who came back at the fall of the fifth wicket after retiring hurt the day before – ran out of partners. Abbottabad were eventually bowled out for 272, Mohammad Sami finishing with 3 for 59. They reached 19 without loss in their second innings but still trail by 292 runs.In a see-saw battle for the first-innings lead, Hyderabad recovered from 166 for 6 to reach 351 for 9 in pursuit of Lahore Shalimar‘s 355 at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Aqeel Anjum (89) and Lal Kumar (85) led the recovery with a 105-run seventh-wicket stand after Lahore’s new-ball pair of Emmad Ali and Hasan Dar had wreaked havoc upfront. Dar trapped Anjum leg-before with the score on 271, but Kumar carried on after that to bring Hyderabad on the threshold of taking the lead.Umair Khan’s unbeaten 96 extended Pakistan Television‘s advantage against State Bank of Pakistan in Islamabad. Saad Altaf and Zahoor Khan had taken seven wickets between them earlier to restrict SBP to 320 and gain a 106-run lead for their side. Rameez Alam (55) and Afsar Nawaz (48) had resisted in the morning before being caught behind off Altaf and Zahoor. The tail hung around briefly but PTV finished well in front. Mohammad Naved and Rizwan Haider had PTV reeling at 61 for 5, but Umair and Naeem Anjum ensured PTV’s grip on the game didn’t loosen with an unbeaten 111-run partnership that gave them an overall lead of 278 by stumps.

Group A

A combination of rain and bad light curtailed play on day one in five of the six third round Plate League matches. In the one match that did see a complete 90-over day’s play, Goa’s Reagan Pinto scored his maiden first-class century, taking his team to 315 for 4 against Jharkhand in Porvorim. Goa’s problem this season has been their first innings scores. They managed to draw both their first two matches, but conceded first-innings leads and as a consequence have just two points. Goa’s captain Sagun Kamat decided to bat first and would have feared another poor total after he was dismissed with the score on 4. Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and Vaibhav Naik put on 87 for the second wicket to set a solid platform and then Pinto and Ajay Ratra capitalised. Ratra, whose 204 not out in Goa’s last match against Rajasthan took him to the top of this season’s run charts, got 54 off 62 balls, while Pinto hit 12 fours in his 105.Tripura crumbled to 122 for 6 as Hyderabad seamer Pagadala Naidu took 4 for 25 in his second first-class match. Play on day one at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad was reduced to 54 overs, but that was enough for the home team to take an advantage into day two. Tripura’s batting has really struggled this season: their highest score has been 255 and have been bowled out twice for less than a hundred. Things were no different on Wednesday as Naidu took three quick wickets to have Tripura wobbling at 42 for 3. Opener Rajib Saha waged a lone battle, getting 71, but wickets kept falling at the other end and when Saha fell to left-arm spinner Lalith Mohan, Tripura, who have no points so far this season, were staring at another batting failure.Only four overs were bowled at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur in the Group A top-of-the-table match between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, as rain washed out play. MP put Rajasthan – who have scored 400-plus totals in each of the two innings they have played this season -into bat and Akash Chopra and Vineet Saxena reached 4 for 0 before play was stopped. Madhya Pradesh have made just one change to the side that beat Goa in their last encounter, bringing in seamer Anand Rajan for Ishwar Pandey. Rajasthan offspinner Madhur Khatri and legspinner Vivek Yadav come in for their first game of the season, replacing left-arm spinner Gajendra Singh and seamer Raman Chahar.

Group B

Kerala seamers Sony Cheruvathur and Prasanth Parameswaran struck three times each to reduce Vidarbha to 134 for 7 before bad light stopped play on day one in Malappuram. Vidarbha, who were bowled out for 61 in the second innings of their previous match against Maharashtra, continued to struggle with the bat and lost their first four wickets for 21, with Cheruvathur and Parameswaran taking two scalps each. Opener Akshay Kolhar held firm through the early collapse and got to his second half-century of the season, putting together a 67-run stand for the fifth wicket with Himanshu Joshi. The two then fell in the space of ten overs and Ranjit Paradkar fell to left-arm spinner Sreekumar Nair before the umpires called off play after 61 overs.Maharashtra’s batsmen were cooling their heels until tea, as rain delayed play in Visakhapatnam, but were then faced with a storm from the Andhra Pradesh bowlers to be reduced to 66 for 4 at the end of day one. Andhra’s leading wicket-taker this season, P Vijaykumar, dismissed Ameya Shrikhande in the second over of the match, and then seamer Gnaneswara Rao got Sangram Atitkar and Ankit Bawne out for ducks. Maharashtra still have their season’s leading run-getter Harshad Khadiwale at the wicket on 39 but need a recovery act tomorrow if they are to maintain their 100% winning record.Fading light was again a problem in the Group B bottom-of-the-table clash between Services and Jammu & Kashmir at the Harbax Singh Stadium in Delhi where just 43 overs of play was possible. Services ended the day at 119 for 2 after electing to bat. Tahir Khan’s first first-class innings for two years didn’t last long as he was out caught behind to Samiullah Beigh. J&K seamer Raman Dutta dismissed Sumit Singh before Jasvir Singh and Sarabjit Singh put up an unbeaten 50-run stand.

The Bombay High Court has adjourned the hearing of Rajasthan Royals’ petition challenging their expulsion from the IPL to October 29. Rajasthan had filed the petition against the BCCI’s decision to terminate the franchise on October 25.The Court was told that the team tried to discuss the issue with the board prior to filing their petition, but their request was ignored. The franchise has also asked that they be allowed to keep using the brand name “Rajasthan Royals”. According to , Shilpa Shetty, part owner of Rajasthan, hopes “fairness prevails” now that the judicial process has begun.The BCCI’s decision to end the franchise’s IPL affiliation was taken on October 10, on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to “shake the very foundation of the tender process”. The Kings XI Punjab’s IPL connection was also terminated the same day.In a statement issued at the time of going to court, Rajasthan said, “We do not understand what we have done wrong, and it is therefore our duty to the fans of the IPL, our employees, our players and our partners to pursue the matter.”The BCCI contended that Rajasthan violated the franchise agreement on three counts:* The original bid document was picked and signed by Manoj Badale, representing Emerging Media (IPL) Limited, a UK-based company, which wins the bid for the Jaipur franchise. The shares of the franchise, however, were held by two individuals, Ranjit Barthakur and Fraser Castellino, who are the only two shareholders representing Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Limited, the firm which signed the final franchise agreement on March 31, 2008. According to the BCCI, this amounts to stepping into the shoes of the original bidder without being a “group company or entity controlled by the bidder,” which violates the tender process.* The franchise agreement states that no change of control can occur in the first three years. However, the BCCI claimed Rajasthan restructured its ownership pattern twice – in March 2008 and January 2009.* The board felt Rajasthan had provided wrong information about the corporate structure of Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Limited. The board also raised the inclusion of Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Limited as “incorrect” as the firm holding the franchisee rights.

The Australian team believes the upcoming two-Test series against India will be really tough, but its inexperience shouldn’t hurt its chances. Australia’s likely first XI will have four players – Marcus North, Tim Paine, Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus – who haven’t played a Test in India, and a specialist spinner who played only one Test back in 2004.Coach Tim Nielsen said the inexperience wasn’t much of a concern, given that some of those who hadn’t played a Test in India had toured the country in various capacities. “I honestly believe it’s not just about playing Test matches,” Nielsen said. “It’s the whole experience – the travel, the fanatical following, the heat, the rain, different food, different culture, different ideas, different ball. Our boys are lucky to have experienced that before.”We are a better prepared team now. Mitchell [Johnson] has been around for three-four years. A lot of other players have been here before, be it for ODIs, A tours, the IPL or the Champions League. Their understanding of conditions in India and their culture is much better.”One such player is North, even though he doesn’t play the shorter versions of the game. “I have played here a lot,” North said. “I’ve toured Bangalore twice with Western Australia and I’ve been here with the Australia A team before the last Australian Test tour. I’ve been to the MAC spin academy [in Chennai] a number of times.”I have had quite a bit of experience in the subcontinent, not at this level obviously. But I have enjoyed all my trips to India. I have enjoyed the challenges of different conditions as well. It’s not foreign to me. I know what’s coming ahead and I am just looking forward to the series.”Doug Bollinger, one of the bowlers who’ll be playing his first Test in India, has played with Chennai Super Kings and Tim Paine was here with the ODI team last year.Michael Clarke, Australia’s vice-captain, said his team was looking forward to the challenge. “Playing against India in any conditions in any form of the game is tough,” he said. “But Test cricket here is especially hard. We need to be as well prepared as we possibly can be and that’s why we’re here so early before the first Test. To get a practice match against a very good Board President’s XI team, to get that feel of the conditions under the belt is very important.”All these guys have played a lot of first-class cricket and some Test cricket,” Clarke said. “We just haven’t played much Test cricket as a team in India. But we’re excited about that. If we can play our best cricket, I’m confident we can beat India in this series.”One of the challenges for Australia will be to not look too far ahead, at the Ashes series that follows their tour of India. North said the team is not running that risk. “Obviously the next seven Tests are pretty exciting,” he said. “Each of these Tests is going to be a big one for us. We respect the baggy green, and respect very Test match we play.”And playing a Test series in India is up there with the Ashes or playing Test matches in South Africa. Especially now, as India is No.1. I am really excited about playing here. That pressure-cooker cricket that India play in their conditions, with their crowds behind them. We all know Test cricket in India is tough, but Australians love tough cricket, we have never shied away. We can’t wait for the Test series to start.”

ScorecardNeil Davidson’s future could be decided before the end of the current Championship match•PA Photos

Neil Davidson’s future as Leicestershire chairman could be decided within the next 24 hours. All five members of the Leicestershire CCC board, with the exception of Davidson, will meet on Thursday to discuss the contents of a letter signed by the club’s captain and coach (Matthew Hoggard and Tim Boon respectively) demanding the immediate removal of the chairman. The board are expected to release a statement clarifying their position shortly afterwards.The letter, which claims to represent the views of the entire playing staff, the coaches, groundstaff and club’s administration department, asks Davidson to resign immediately or for the board to dismiss him. It also highlights a number of grievances against him.While Davidson is currently on holiday in Italy, two other members of the board have returned from their own holidays to attend. Meanwhile a members’ petition calling for a Special General Meeting will be presented to the club on Tuesday. At the meeting, the members intend to call a vote of no confidence in Davidson and the board.Davidson has previously stated that he would step down if he didn’t feel he had the support of the board and the members. Early indications suggest that the board is split on the issue, though Davidson may not be able to survive without anything other than their unequivocal backing.Meanwhile, on the pitch, Gary Wilson resumed on 94 and soon recorded his maiden first-class hundred. The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland, who made his maiden ODI century for Ireland against the Netherlands last week, carved his 13th boundary over point to reach his chanceless century from 207 balls. He fell shortly afterwards, slicing a drive to point.The most impressive batting of the day, however, came from 20-year-old debutant Jason Roy. He became the first Surrey man to score a Twenty20 century when he thrashed 100 from 56 balls against Kent earlier this season, and here hit three sixes and nine fours in his 76 from just 65 balls. One of the sixes, a lofted on-drive off the left-arm spin of Claude Henderson, cleared The Cricketers pub.Clearly blessed with remarkable self-confidence, Roy demonstrated a powerful whip off his legs and a willingness to hit over the top off seamers and spinners alike. Medium-pacer Wayne White, who has endured a tough game so far, was particularly severely punished, with one length ball smashed back over his head for six.Had his Surrey team-mates not collapsed so quickly, Roy may even have recorded a century before lunch. The last four wickets fell for the addition of just seven runs, however, with Gareth Batty miscuing to mid-wicket, Chris Tremlett edging an indeterminate prod and Jade Dernbach slicing a wild swing to slip. Roy was last man out, caught on the long-off fence, looking for his fourth six to provide Henderson with his 50th wicket of the Championship season.Earlier Mark Ramprakash fell without addition to his overnight score. In a rare moment of fallibility, he left a straight one from Hoggard that sent his off stump cartwheeling. Only 12.2 overs of Leicestershire’s reply were possible before rain intervened. Tremlett, watched by national selector Geoff Miller, beat the bat several times, but Leicestershire survived without loss and will resume on the third day requiring 334 just to avoid the follow-on.

Rudi Koertzen, the former South African Elite Panel umpire who recently retired from international matches, has said the Australian players were quite a handful to officiate, singling out former fast bowler Glenn McGrath.In an interview earlier this month, Koertzen said Shane Warne was the hardest bowler to umpire purely because of the pressure he used to exert. However, he wasn’t always pleased with McGrath’s conduct on the field. McGrath, who ended his successful Test career as Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker with 563 wickets, had a few run-ins with match referees and umpires.”He wasn’t one of the happiest guys. He always moaned and whinged,” Koertzen told . “If he wasn’t getting wickets and the batsmen were hitting him for a few fours, he got a bit personal and upset. I thought I was very fortunate to get on with probably 99% of the players in world cricket.”There was always the odd individual who had to be babied all the time. You had to be like a policeman to them. A fielder like Matthew Hayden or Andrew Symonds, you always had to be alert when they were on the field because something was going to happen. If you didn’t pick it up as soon as possible things were going to get out of hand.”Koertzen also sounded out a warning for players to not let their emotions get the better of them. He referred to the incident where the England fast bowler Stuart Broad flung the ball back to Pakistan’s Zulqarnain Haider, striking his shoulder. Broad apologised for his spontaneous act and was fined 50% of his match fee. Koertzen felt that Broad, who’s not shy of showing his aggression on the field, was deserving of that punishment, or else it would have led to a bad precedent.”It’s so unnecessary for a bowler to pick up the ball and throw it at the batsman. It’s just not part of the game,” Koertzen said. “He is a good lad, honestly he is. But sometimes he gets a bit too emotional. When it happened I thought: ‘Here we go’.”It had been breeding for a while and the first thing I was waiting for was to see whether he was reported or not. He was reported and that was a good thing. If he gets away with it on one day, then the next day he is going to take advantage of players and umpires again.”Koertzen is a strong backer of the Umpire Decision Review System and wants it to be implemented across all series. The system has been used haphazardly as cricket boards like the BCCI have shown little or no interest in implementing it.”The guys are, probably, 75% happy with the system. The problem is, why should you have England against Australia or England against South Africa with the system, but India versus Sri Lanka without it?”

ScorecardDavid Warner hit six fours and a six in his quickfire 37 as Middlesex racked up 173•Getty Images

Essex still have plenty to smile about, even though they suffered an 11-run defeat in their final Friends Provident t20 group match against Middlesex at Chelmsford.Results elsewhere meant that they still secured second place, and, with it, a guaranteed home tie in the quarter-finals. In contrast, Middlesex missed out on a place in the last eight because of an inferior run-rate.Overcoming the loss of Neil Dexter in the opening over, Middlesex went on to total 173 for 7, with Gareth Berg and Ben Scott the main contributors. Berg was caught on the long-on boundary after smashing four sixes in his 41, while Scott’s unbeaten 43 from 33 deliveries contained five fours.But the early impetus was provided by David Warner, whose 37 from 20 balls included six fours and a six. Five of his fours came from successive deliveries sent down by Maurice Chambers during an over in which the young paceman and the batsman were involved in heated exchanges that led to umpire Martin Bodenham stepping in.Warner was eventually stumped by James Foster to provide veteran Grant Flower with his solitary success. Essex were soon in trouble when they replied. Alastair Cook drove Pedro Collins to short mid-wicket in the second over of the innings, while Ravi Bopara put up a simple catch to short fine leg in Tim Murtagh’s opening over.Bopara’s dismissal came in the fifth over, at the end of which only 29 had been scored, such was the disciplined bowling and alert fielding. At the halfway stage, Essex had only 59 on the board, and it was only the late efforts of Scott Styris, playing his final game for the county, and Foster that enabled them to make a fight of it.They added 58 in just under five overs, but they were never able to get in a position to threaten Middlesex’s superiority.Styris finally fell to the last delivery of the innings for 42, an effort spanning 30 deliveries and including two fours and two sixes, while Foster finished unbeaten with 35 from 17 balls.Collins picked up 2 for 20 from three overs, while Murtagh and Dexter picked up one wicket each for 29 and 27 runs respectively, each sending down four overs.

Kruger van Wyk, the Canterbury wicketkeeper and former captain, will represent Central Districts in the next domestic season. van Wyk, who captained Canterbury for almost three years, and led them to victory in the State Championship in 2008, is South African-born and represented the South African Board President’s XI in 2001-02.”I have enjoyed my time with Canterbury immensely and I am very grateful to Canterbury Cricket for providing me the initial opportunity to further my cricket career,” van Wyk, 30, said. “No longer being captain of Canterbury enables me to focus on my ambition to play international cricket and moving to Central Districts will provide me with a fresh start and the opportunity to pursue this goal. I am looking forward to new challenges with my new association.”In 83 first-class games van Wyk averages 35.02, with his highest score being an unbeaten 178. Behind the stumps, he’s grabbed 249 catches and 13 stumpings. His List A record with the bat is better, with an average of 43 in 102 games. He’s taken 111 catches and effected 14 stumpings in the same format.