All posts by csb10.top

Watchman by night, conman by day
Last night, it was a surprise when India chose to send in Ishant Sharma after Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissal 12 minutes before stumps. But the nightwatchman did his job, and more. Yesterday he played most of the bowling from the time he came till the players went off the field – 15 balls out of the 19 bowled since his arrival yesterday.Today, unintentionally, he may have done India another favour by getting out to a short, rising delivery. Australia went in with that plan afterwards for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly, too, and the two received the gifts with ferocity and gratitude.Wise move of the day
In the 128th over of India’s innings, Dhoni disproved the law of equal and opposite reaction. Cameron White bowled him a gentle, flat delivery, but it was sent back to him about 1367 times the pace. White smartly didn’t go for the catch. With 465 already given away already, four runs wouldn’t have cost Australia a lot. But White did make sure his tour didn’t end right there, because had he got his hands to the ball, only God could have blessed his fingers.Zaheer – 3, Hayden – 0
Harbhajan Singh versus Ricky Ponting is history, for there is a new one-sided love story playing at a stadium near – or away – from you. Zaheer Khan has found a liking for Matthew Hayden, and the external forces have started conspiring to make the love materialise. Zaheer got some help from Asad Rauf in dismissing Hayden off the third ball of the innings. He dismissed Hayden in the second innings, too, lbw this time with one that might have just slid down leg. Again, in Hayden’s third innings of the series, Hayden contrived to get out. The ball hit his pad, then his inside edge, and then the middle stump. Poor old Matty. He had spent more than nine hours on the field.Mended when broke
In the fourth over of the morning, when Brett Lee tried to run Ishant out, he failed to collect cleanly a throw that was wide of the stumps. He split his webbing on the right hand in the process, and had to go off to get two stitches on the webbing. But when he came back later in the day, he seemed back to full fitness. He took a catch, falling backwards at long-ff, to dismiss the centurion Ganguly.Oops, Rudi did it again
What he gave to Ganguly yesterday, Rudi Koertzen took from Dhoni today. When he didn’t consult the third umpire before turning down an appeal for a stumping – Ganguly’s foot was in air then – he gave him a chance to get to a hundred, which he dutifully did. But when Dhoni looked close to a hundred, he came face to face with the wrath of Rudi. When he was given out lbw off Peter Siddle, it appeared he had played the ball, and at any rate it hit Dhoni outside the line of off stump. What are the chances Dhoni would give Kumar Sangakkara a call in the evening?There’s no such thing as pain
Dhoni came out like a happy hooker today, dismissing everything short. But when Lee, bowling from round the stumps, tuck him up with a perfect short-pitched delivery, straight, and shoulder high, Dhoni played it out in his own original way. The bat stayed low, and seeing there was no way to move out of the line, he took the blow on his body. The scene, though, looked like a tennis ball hit a brick wall. And Dhoni went back to hooking.

Walter Chawaguta, Zimbabwe’s coach, hopes his side can pull off an upset win during the Canada Cup Four Nation 20/20 in October. An unfancied Zimbabwe side had defeated Australia during the World Twenty20 last year, and Chawaguta was aiming for a win against Pakistan or Sri Lanka in addition to beating hosts Canada.”In Canada, I have no doubt we will beat Canada but we would love to beat one of the top sides Sri Lanka and Pakistan” he told the . “We have posted a shock victory in Twenty20 cricket before and it is possible to beat Pakistan or Sri Lanka. I will be happy to win two of the three matches.”Zimbabwe, who replaced West Indies for the Canada Twenty20 event, will then travel to Kenya for a triangular tournament featuring the hosts and Ireland, both Associate members of the ICC. Zimbabwe are ranked one place below Ireland in the ICC rankings, but Chawaguta, who took over as coach from Robin Brown in August, expected his team to win the tournament.Ireland had held Zimbabwe, then coached by Kevin Curran, to a tie during the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. Forty-four of Zimbabwe’s players have been preparing for the upcoming tours, with practice games being held in Harare. Zimbabwe leave for Canada on October 8. Their three league games are scheduled for the 10th, 11th and 12th, with the final on the 13th. They depart for Kenya on the 15th and will play two stages in the round-robin league, with the top two teams qualifying for the final.

For Sri Lanka, the series had reached a point where writing about them could be dealt with in one phrase: “Insert previous comments here.” However, the fifth match at Colombo on Friday was refreshingly different with Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekara capping hard-working efforts in the series with personal bests, as Sri Lanka managed a consolation win in their second successive ODI series defeat at home.The success of the two bowlers is special, as they may not have got as much playing time had Lasith Malinga and Farveez Maharoof been in the squad. Thushara, tall and lanky, and Kulasekara, short and bustling with energy, have been two distinct bright spots for Sri Lanka in the one-day leg of this series. While far more illustrious names like Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan have been surprisingly off-key, these two allrounders have taken the opportunity to impress. The dead rubber of the series was a fitting reply from the two non-descripts to stake their claims for the future.Today, Irfan Pathan took two wickets in four balls to wrest the advantage back India’s way, and RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha applied further pressure. With only Jehan Mubarak, in his first outing of the series, left to bat with, Thushara took the lead in hitting out. Once confident, he backed away and slashed the ball hard, almost always finding the gaps. Suddenly Indian shoulders dropped. Thushara hustled for singles and doubles and struck the ball with a fluidity lacking in some of his far more established top-order team-mates. Perhaps the pressure didn’t get to him, being a relative unknown. Thushara and Mubarak ensured Sri Lanka could win this game, especially since conditions at the Premadasa did not favour the team batting second.Thushara’s lower-order batting had been a real positive for Sri Lanka throughout the series. In the second match he top-scored to carry his team to a poor 142; in the third he made 30 in a hopeless late-order stand with his captain; in the fourth he capped his maiden five-wicket haul with a 29-ball 40. Today, walking in at 133 for 6, Thushara batted superbly for his maiden ODI half-century.Equally impressive, after a disappointing Test series, was Kulasekara’s performance. He repeatedly took wickets at the start in every match, and under lights he dealt three swift blows. With a decent total to defend, Kulasekara proceeded to snap India’s spine. There wasn’t a lot of movement for the seamers, and so he bowled a disciplined off-stump line and pitched the ball up. The result was 4 for 40, his best return in 37 ODIs. All four came in a decisive first spell, either side of a rain delay, with the new ball.His first two overs were maidens, a rarity in one-day cricket. Gautam Gambhir was then smartly caught by Kumar Sangakkara, standing up to the stumps, Virat Kohli was caught in front, Suresh Raina was hustled for pace, and a poor decision got rid of Rohit Sharma. But full credit to Kulasekara, who landed the ball in the right areas and got it to skid on. His effervescent smile when he took the last catch was endearing. He has been a regular feature since the World Cup, and this was reward for perseverance.For Thushara, looking to cement his place, this was a path-breaking series. With regard to both the new ball and bowling first-change, he has plugged away, taking at least one wicket every game. He has struck blows in both the early and middle overs. His double-wicket maiden over in the second match, as Sri Lanka tried desperately to defend a poor score, hurt India. In the fourth ODI, India had powered themselves to 224 for 3 in the 41st over when Thushara, who had never taken more than two wickets in a match, struck. He removed Suresh Raina and didn’t look back, taking two wickets in the final over to complete his five-for. India had lost seven wickets for 34 runs. If not for his efforts, Sri Lanka would have been routed in both matches.

The trip to the Caribbean earlier this year provided Thushara with a second crack at international cricket, following strong performances in domestic competitions (capped by ten wickets for Sinhalese against Chilaw Marians), and his success (eight wickets at 38.62) earned the praise of Mahela Jayawardene. His ability to bring the ball into the right-handers was evident in the Test series and the Asia Cup, and against India he used it repeatedly to throttle runs. With Vaas at the end of his career, and Maharoof out with injury, Thushara’s performance this series has been extremely positive. He finished the series as Sri Lanka’s second-highest run-scorer with 168 and the third-highest wicket-taker in the series.It has been a stark contrast to the first part of Thushara’s international career, when he made his Test debut against West Indies at Jamaica in 2003 and went wicketless due to some rather erratic bowling and subsequently faded. His steady progress thereafter – he had a stint at the SCL Academy as well as league cricket in England – as an allrounder will definitely please Sri Lanka.”These two have been very consistent, especially Kulasekara, and this is what happens when you give opportunities to youngsters,” said Jayawardene. “It creates competition in the team. Vaas is still great so we have a good balance. None of our fast bowlers are alike, so we can use them at different times.”Sri Lanka needed to win this game, if only for morale reasons, and the two workman-like characters prevailed.

Ireland and Netherlands had to settle on sharing the World Twenty20 Qualifiers trophy after persistent rain lashed Belfast, but they both already had the main prize in their pockets – a place at next year’s tournamentin England. Netherlands were due to bat after Ireland won the toss, but that was as far as proceedings got and the game was finally called off at 4.30pm.Netherlands captain Jeroen Smits said: “Obviously it is disappointing because as a cricketer, you want to go out there and try to give your best performance instead of sitting in the dressing room and waiting for the match to start.”As an Associate team, we would like to play as many Twenty20 matches as possible and when one match is washed-out, it’s an opportunity lost. But as it has panned out, we are joint-winner and a winner is a winner. So I am happy.”Ireland’s next engagement is the Intercontinental Cup on Thursday against Canada in Malahide, while on the same day Netherlands meet Bermuda for the first of two one-dayers at Amstelveen.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Kumar Sangakkara’s flawless century was backed by a disciplined bowling performance as Sri Lanka took a giant stride towards the final with a comfortable 64-run win over Pakistan at the National Stadium in Karachi. Sohail Tanvir’s five-wicket haul couldn’t prevent Sri Lanka from piling 302 for 7, and a lacklustre batting performance all but ended Pakistan’s hopes by the halfway mark of their chase. For the hosts, a win here was crucial and the result severely dents their chances of progressing to the final.Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, opted to field today, perhaps wary after India had chased 300 in their previous game. However, once again his bowlers failed to make an impact barring Tanvir, who varied his pace and angle of attack intelligently. He got precious little support from the other bowlers, and the batsmen picked easy runs on a docile pitch. In contrast, each of Sri Lanka’s bowlers played their part on a slowing track to limit Pakistan to 238 for 9. After the fast bowlers had throttled the runs, Ajantha Mendis sliced through the middle order with his bag of tricks to completely derail the chase.Sangakkara’s ninth ODI century – his second of the tournament – was the fulcrum of Sri Lanka innings, and the three sizeable partnerships he was in involved in boosted Sri Lanka to a 300-plus total. Sanath Jayasuriya was trapped lbw by the impressive Tanvir early, but the old firm of Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene set about steadying the innings with a 40-run stand.The pair rarely had to take any risks, watchful against the good deliveries and putting away the loose ones on offer. As Sri Lanka progressed smoothly, Tanvir was brought back in the 14th over and he made an immediate impact, getting Jayawardene to cut one to Misbah-ul-Haq at point. That brought in Chamara Kapugedera, who gave Sangakkara solid support, sensibly working the singles while using his feet to unleash a couple of huge sixes.Sangakkara was his usual classy self, compiling his runs in an assured manner, with an impeccably-timed push down the ground for four off Tanvir being the highlight of his knock. He was initially content playing from the crease against the spinners but danced down the track to them as the innings progressed.Kapugedera had moved to 43, and added 88 for the third wicket, when he perished attempting to sweep a ball from outside off, only to top-edge it to midwicket, handing debutant legspinner Mansoor Amjad his first ODI wicket. Chamara Silva didn’t learn from Kapugedera’s dismissal and was lucky to see a sweep fly to the third-man boundary.With Malik sending down some hit-me deliveries and the other spinners ineffective as well, Sangakkara and Silva kept the runs flowing. Yet again Malik turned to Tanvir to limit the damage, and the bowler responded by removing Silva with a delivery that angled in. After bringing up his hundred, Sangakkara threw his bat around before being bowled by Tanvir for 112. Thilan Thushara justified the decision to send him ahead of Tillakaratne Dilshan by crashing a 20-ball 28.

In quest of what would have been their most successful chase against Sri Lanka, Pakistan got off to the worst possible start when Salman Butt inside-edged Chaminda Vaas’ first delivery on to his stumps. Only three runs had come off the first three overs before Malik and Younis Khan peppered the off side with boundaries to plunder 26 runs off the next two.Just as the hosts thought the floodgates had been opened, Sri Lanka hit back with a bunch of miserly overs to maintain the stranglehold. Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara bowled a tight line and length, and once Thilan Thushara recovered from a poor start to curb the runs, the pressure began to tell.After Younis fell miscuing a pull to midwicket, Mohammad Yousuf and Malik consolidated, picking up the singles, but struggled to keep up with the asking-rate. With the pitch assisting spinners as the match wore on, Mendis added to his growing reputation by deceiving Yousuf (19) with a straighter one and Malik (52) with a legcutter.By the time Shahid Afridi got out to a customary ill-advised swipe, the asking-rate had ballooned to nearly ten and there was no way back for Pakistan. All Misbah’s 70-ball 76, during which he repeatedly carted the spinners over midwicket, could do was make the margin of defeat a little more respectable.India and Sri Lanka are now both on four points, and Pakistan will have to win both their remaining Super Four matches to keep alive their thin hopes of qualifying for the title clash.

Giles Clarke’s hopes that the deal with Allen Stanford would blunt the appeal of the IPL appears to have been overly optimistic. An annual poll by the Professional Cricketers’ Association has revealed that half of the current England side are prepared to cut short their international careers to play in India.”You can’t blame the England players for thinking that way,” Dougie Brown, the PCA’s chairman, told the Daily Telegraph. “We’re all in the game for a short period of time, and those people who spend a lot of time travelling the globe must find the idea of the IPL very appealing. These guys will be faced with the choice of spending 300 days away a year, or going to India for six weeks, and getting paid the same if not more money. There will be a fair bit of pressure coming from the family.”Forty-five per cent of players said that they would consider playing in the ICL, regardless of a ban.A sign of the changing priorities came in the results when players were asked what is the most important domestic competition. Before the start of the summer, 88% replied it was the Championship. Now, that figure is down to 62%. However, 90% of players stated that the Pro40 tournament was almost worthless.The PCA also asked counties whether the number of Kolpak and overseas players should be limited. Fourteen said they wanted a minimum of eight England-qualified players per match, three suggested nine and one seven.

A reward for patience
You would think there are better ways to spend a Sunday than travel to the Shere Bangla National Stadium and brave the rain, hoping the monsoon would be kind enough to spare the tournament opener. Rain, at some point, was a certainty yet the crowds streamed in to fill the half where the less expensive stands were located. They spent the first hour and a half scuttling from their seats in the roofless stands towards shelter as it rained in short, but sharp, bursts. The toss finally happened around half past four but just as the Bangladesh players were preparing to take the field, the covers came on yet again, perhaps as a precautionary measure. Luckily the rain stayed away.One-man show
Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal opened the batting but for the first eight overs it was one man who kept Pakistan going at nearly six an over. Butt raced to 40 off 38 with balls with eight fours and at the same stage Akmal had managed to score only 5 off ten balls. Akmal, however, hit the first six, a slap over long-off in the 11th over.So nearly a dream debut
The 19-year-old Dolar Mahmud, a medium-pacer, came on to bowl his first over in ODIs with Pakistan at 51 for no loss. His first ball came slowly off the pitch to Akmal, who tried to play a forceful drive, and an inside-edge went perilously close to the off stump. Instead of striking first-ball, Mahmud had gone for four. However, he did come back to induce an edge and remove Akmal in his next over.Still at the IPL
Bangladesh’s sole representative at the Indian Premier League was left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak and his first over today was an extension of his IPL experience, where he went for 29 off two overs in his only match for the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Akmal muscled his second ball for six over long-off and later in the over Butt caressed a square drive through cover. Eleven runs came off Razzak’s first over but he recovered to concede only 24 off his next 6.3, picking up three wickets in the process.

The briefest of innings
Younis Khan’s first innings of the tournament was a non-starter. He came in at the fall of Akmal’s wicket and was immediately at the other end for the first ball off the 13th over. Butt pushed off the back foot to midwicket and the batsmen set off for the single but Raqibul Hasan’s sliding stop to his right at midwicket made Butt send Younis back. He hurried to make his ground but his bat was just short as Razzak broke the stumps. Younis was gone without facing a ball.Two misses, one hit
Pakistan’s three biggest flops at the IPL were Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq. Afridi glimmered briefly today, striking one powerful pull before mistiming his several subsequent attempts at finding the boundary during his 20 off 17 balls. Malik’s innings, 9 off 19, contributed to Pakistan’s loss of momentum during the final overs. Misbah, however, shook off his awful form with Bangalore and struck 39 off 22 balls, including two sixes over long-on and deep midwicket.The final straw
The Bangladesh fans that came out to support their team went through a lot. They sat through the rain patiently and then watched Pakistan’s top-order rattle up a sizeable target. They had something to cheer about when Bangladesh’s bowlers took 7 for 55 in the final ten overs of Pakistan’s innings but that joy was short-lived as the run-chase failed to get off the ground. However, they stuck around even as wickets fell. Hopes of winning faded from difficult to practically impossible and yet they did not leave the stadium. Mashrafe Mortaza’s duck was the final straw. As soon as he edged Umar Gul, they started leaving though some stuck around near the exits. They started filing out again when Dolar Mahmud was bowled for another duck soon after.

THE Western Australian Cricket Association is proud to announce WA’s largest electrical retailer Retravision as major sponsor of the state’s Junior Cricket program.Retravision will sponsor Junior Cricket throughout the state as well as School Holiday coaching clinics in metropolitan and country centres.Retravision General Manager, Mr Lester Gamble, said his company is committed to taking an active involvement in the community."That’s why we’re proud to announce our support of Junior Cricket in WA," Mr Gamble said today."We believe this is a great opportunity for children to have fun learning to play the sport while discovering the benefit of teamwork."The WACA’s Junior cricket program reflects Retravision’s own values of family and community and we look forward to our ongoing involvement."

• Retravision COMMUNITY SUPER 8’s After school competition for boys and girls aged 9-12-years played in all metropolitan regions (approx 15 centres, 1000 participants).
• Retravision Regional Junior Carnival Days
  Junior cricket in the regions is coordinated by the WACA via six (6) regional boards and the WACA regional Development Officers.The carnival days consist of junior cricketers (boys and girls) coming together to play `Super 8′ cricket games through out the day.The Retravision Regional Junior Carnival Days are promoted to all regional junior cricketers and there are spaces for approximately 1,280 participants to played in the following towns across Western Australia:
  • Karratha, Broome, Kununurra, Port Hedland, Newman
  • Geraldton, Carnarvon, Northam, Merredin, Kalgoorlie
  • Esperance, Albany, Narrogin, Bunbury, Collie, Busselton.
• Retravision Holiday Clinics
  Metropolitan junior school holiday clinics targeted at boys and girls during the October and April school holidays and played at the WACA ground. Clinics are promoted throughout the metropolitan regions. This is a very popular event with 100% participation for the past 12 months.
• Retravision will promote the sponsorship to customers by giving them an opportunity to win tickets to Western Warrior games throughout the summer.

HOBART, Nov 22 AAP – New South Wales and Tasmania battled through a long and wintry day to share the honours in the Pura Cup match in Hobart today.At stumps on the first day the Blues, after being sent in, were 6-280.It was a day of attrition and fluctuating fortunes under grey skies, with a bitter wind sweeping the ground. As Tasmania relied entirely on pace, it didn’t end until 6.45 (AEDT).With the Bellerive Oval wicket lively and the Tasmanian bowlers mostly maintaining good line and length, the formidable Blues batting lineup never dominated.When Michael Slater (35) and Michael Clarke (one) fell just after lunch, NSW was a precarious 3-72.But Michael Bevan and captain Simon Katich stabilised the innings with a stand of 104.Bevan, who hit a double century against Tasmania in Sydney a fortnight ago, struggled with his timing and never got on top of the bowling.When he finally went for 70, cutting in the air to gully where Damien Wright took a juggling catch, he’d batted for 233 minutes. It was valuable, but hardly vintage Bevan.Katich, who regularly banqueted at Bellerive in his Western Australian days, played with greater assurance as he produced his biggest innings since moving to NSW.With Mark Waugh, he finally broke the shackles and ensured the Blues finished the day with a decent total.Katich timed his drives beautifully and never looked like getting out. His greatest discomfort came when Shane Watson forced him briefly off the field by slamming one into his groin.Waugh was uncertain early and needed 17 balls to get on the score board.But the longer he went the better he looked, though one French cut went perilously close to his stumps and he survived a vociferous lbw appeal.In between, he hit 10 trade mark boundaries before, and to his apparent surprise, he was given out caught behind off Wright for 48.Two runs later Katich gave workhorse Shane Jurgensen a deserved wicket when he was caught at third slip and the strong position NSW had worked so hard for had been eroded.Katich’s 84 took 243 minutes and included 11 fours.Brad Haddin (5) and Don Nash (12) will continue the battle tomorrow.Tasmania, which has struggled for wickets this season, kept up the pressure well and conceded almost nothing in the field.Adam Griffith, a husky 24-year-old from Launceston, made a promising first class debut and finished with 2-64. He should treasure the scalps of Slater and Bevan.

England have begun their tour of Australia with a 58-run defeat, going down to the ACB Chairman’s XI for the first time in the traditional opener to the Ashes series at Lilac Hill. The home side made 301 for seven, the highest-ever total in this annual fixture against Australia’s tourists, and England subsided to 243 all out.England lost Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher in the first three overs to leave England struggling on 11 for two, but Nasser Hussain (65) then joined Robert Key (68) to add 135 runs in 21 overs, reviving England’s hopes of victory. But the two were dismissed within four overs of each other, and that effectively terminated England’s challenge.The last five wickets fell for just 33 runs in nine overs, with only Alec Stewart (35) playing a further innings of substance. There were five wickets for Western Australia’s slow left-arm bowler Brad Hogg, and two apiece for Michael Clark and Paul Wilson.England had not helped their cause with a wayward performance in the field as the Chairman’s XI racked up their imposing 50-over total. Both Stewart and James Foster missed chances behind the stumps, and Steve Harmison bowled 16 wides in his seven overs, including eight in one over that lasted 14 balls. Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Caddick also struggled, while the sixth-wicket pair Mike Hussey and Kade Harvey added 152 runs in just 21 overs.England could draw some encouragement from the performance of Simon Jones, who managed eight overs and took two wickets, including one with his first ball, on his return from the side injury sustained on his Test debut at Lord’s in the summer.The Chairman’s XI started well, with the left-handed West Australian opening pair Chris Rogers and Marcus North putting on 57 for the first wicket. Hoggard then accounted for North, who had made 22 when he gave a straightforward catch to Hussain at cover. Jones struck 12 runs later, forcing Rogers (30) to give a catch to John Crawley at gully.After Harmison’s nightmare, Ashley Giles steadied England with three wickets as the Chairman’s XI slipped to 122 for five. Ryan Campbell (14) and Hogg (0) fell in the same over, followed by the former Test batsman David Hookes (10).Harvey then joined Hussey to provide huge entertainment for the 10,000 capacity crowd before Hussey (69) became Jones’ second victim after being dropped by Foster earlier in the over. Harvey’s 114 came off just 88 balls and included six sixes before he was caught on the boundary in the final over by Trescothick.