All posts by csb10.top

Bryce McGain’s tour of India is officially over after Cricket Australia announced he would be flying home due to his lingering shoulder injury. McGain, the legspinner who was rated a strong chance of making his Test debut on the trip, has been unable to bowl properly since straining his right shoulder while playing for Australia A last month.Australia have not yet decided whether to send a replacement player for the four-Test series, which begins in Bangalore next Thursday. Beau Casson, the left-arm wrist-spinner, would be the most likely candidate for a call-up after playing a Test in the Caribbean this year, while the offspinner Jason Krejza is for now the only specialist slow bowler in the squad.Australia’s physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said McGain would have been unable to bowl through most of the tour had he stayed with the squad. “Bryce’s injury was first sustained in an Australia A match in September,” Kountouris said.”Despite his workload being managed throughout the early stages of this tour, he suffered a setback at training on Tuesday in an attempt to be available for Australia’s four-day match currently being played in Hyderabad. As a result, it has been decided that Bryce will not be available for selection for the majority of the tour.”McGain, 36, was considered the first-choice spinner in the squad after beating Casson for the sole wrist-spinner’s position. Had he played in India, McGain would have been Australia’s oldest Test debutant since his fellow legspinner Bob Holland in 1984-85.

The Australian Cricketers’ Association has rejected suggestions that it ignored a comprehensive report on the security situation in Pakistan when making its decision to advise Australia’s players not to tour. The ACA chief executive Paul Marsh said the organisation relied heavily on an assessment from the Australian security expert Reg Dickason, who visited Pakistan briefly in June.But the Pakistan Cricket Board believes a more detailed and more positive report was supplied by Nicholls Steyn & Associates, the security firm engaged by the ICC, who investigated the situation in Pakistan for months. Pakistan are concerned that the ACA made its decision without taking enough note of that analysis, a claim that Marsh denied.”Without getting into the specific details of the Nicholls-Steyn report, if you were to read that you’d probably share our concerns,” Marsh said. “From a player’s perspective we need to be absolutely sure that if we’re recommending that players go into an environment like this that we need to be comfortable that they’re going to be safe, and reading that report we couldn’t be.”However, Marsh conceded that Dickason’s advice played a large part in the ACA’s decision to recommend Australian players do not visit Pakistan for next month’s Champions Trophy. “We’ve relied on Reg’s recommendations for 12 years,” Marsh said. “Reg has never let us down, so, yes, we put a lot of faith in what he has to say.”Our job is to assess whether it’s safe for the players to go. We’ve done that and we do that through independent sources, it’s not as though we just read the newspaper and make the decision.”Those newspapers have in the past few days carried stories on the resignation of Pakistan’s president Pervez Musharraf. While Marsh said that development had not affected the ACA’s decision, general terrorism concerns and the assassination of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto last December remained in the back of their minds.”There are other issues here at play,” Marsh said. “The level of terrorist activity in Pakistan over this year and last year – and I could quote you some statistics that are from our perspective relatively scary – they’re at play without Musharraf standing down.”There are external threats, and you only have to go to the DFAT [Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] website to be able to get a bit of a handle on that, and there are internal threats, the ability to actually secure the team. Once again we could probably point to a Benazir Bhutto situation to see whether the team could be secured.”Such comments will do nothing to diminish suggestions from Pakistan that Australia had made up their minds some time ago that they did not wish to tour. Marsh said while there was virtually nothing Pakistan could do to change the ACA’s stance, he did not expect a final decision to rest with Australia’s players.”If [the ICC] decide that it will take place in Pakistan then it will I guess become Cricket Australia’s decision as to whether Australia participates. If Cricket Australia make the decision to send a team, then and only then will it become a player’s decision. Talk of a boycott and all of those sort of things are some way off and I don’t expect that it will get to that point.”

ScorecardNew Zealand Under-19s saved their best until last as they squared the one-day series against England Under-19s with a convincing six-wicket victory at Northampton. Michael Bracewell and captain Kane Williamson led the run chase with composed half-centuries as they hunted down the total with 13 balls to spare.It was an impressive performance from New Zealand’s batsmen, especially considering the floundering display yesterday when they were 109 for 7 before rained washed out the match. This time, though, they were much more positive against England’s spinners while none of the bowlers were quite on top of their game.England did well to set 239 after slipping to 33 for 4 against Greg Morgan having been put in. Tom Westley made an attractive 85 and Liam Dawson hit 50, but New Zealand stole back the momentum through an opening stand of 80 between Bracewell and George Worker. They were ahead of the required rate and maintained the pace as Bracewell and Williamson added 62 for the second wicket.Dawson broke through when Bracewell offered a return catch, but Fraser Colson’s 32 off 35 balls meant England couldn’t build any pressure. Any late wobbles were avoided as Morgan hit 29 off 27 balls, enough to earn him the Man-of-the Match award following his bowling efforts.Morgan swung the new ball and took out England’s top three before a recovery came from Westley and Dawson who added 118 for the fifth wicket. Both batsmen found fielders as they tried to accelerate, but Ben Brown played neatly for his 31. England’s attack, including first-class experience, would have fancied defending the runs but New Zealand had other ideas.

First Division

Callum Thorp’s fourth five-wicket haul put Durham to the top of the table – overnight at least – and level with Yorkshire on 77 points but with a game in hand. Thorp worked his way through Yorkshire’s line-up at Headingley, with Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett lending handy support who grabbed the other five between them. Michael Vaughan spent valuable time in the middle for his 72 although he survived a confident caught behind appeal on 59, when a no-ball was called because Durham had three men behind square on the leg side. He was also dropped on 66 and was eventually bowled by Harmison. Adam Lyth provided the other main resistance and top scored with 80 to set Durham 111. After a brief scare against Matthew Hoggard, Michael Di Venuto (65) combined with Paul Collingwood to finish off the job – Collingwood’s unbeaten 44 will lift him ahead of the first Test against South Africa after his first-class form has been shaky recently.Nottinghamshire are well placed against Hampshire at The Rose Bowl, requiring a further 134 with nine wickets left after another four-wicket haul from Andre Adams. He ended with match figures of 8 for 108 after helping to dismiss Hampshire for a second time to leave Nottinghamshire with a target of 188. Charlie Shreck backed him up with three wickets, Darren Pattinson took two and it was only Chris Tremlett’s fourth first-class fifty that held them up following a mid-innings burst. Michael Brown had earlier contributed a half-century. Nantie Hayward nipped out Matthew Wood for 7 as the visitors began their chase, but by the close Will Jefferson and Mark Wagh had steadied proceedings. Hampshire, however, are by no means out of it and they will search for early wickets.Click here for a full report on the third day between Surrey and Kent at The Oval.Click here for a report on all the action at Hove, where Lancashire are still handily placed against Sussex.

Second Division

Worcestershire pushed up the table with a 10-wicket destruction of second-placed Leicestershire to win inside three days at Grace Road. Although Leicestershire reached 346 in their second innings- helped by Paul Nixon’s 92 – it was their first which was their undoing. Claude Henderson at least helped Nixon prolong the fight as the pair added 103 in 27 overs before Gareth Andrew produced a beauty to take Henderson’s off stump. Andrew and Kabir Ali shared seven wickets and the visitors needed only 88 for the victory, which Daryl Mitchell and Stephen Moore collected between them. Mitchell ended with 40 and Moore 46.Ian Bell’s double-century, in a third-wicket stand of 221 with Jonathan Trott, was the undoubted feature of the day, helping Warwickshire to a hefty 528 for 8 declared against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston. Bell was finally caught off Hamish Marshall but not before he had racked up 215 from 288 balls with 32 fours. A double ton is always handy, but particularly when there have been concerns over Bell’s form and after his failure to build on starts in the one-day series. Trott himself racked up 165 before the declaration, with a lead of 194. Gloucestershire began chipping away at the deficit by the close, but face a day of survival tomorrow.Ben Scott and Eoin Morgan turned round Middlesex‘s second innings after Johann van der Wath continued his bowling assault for Northamptonshire. Scott reached his third first-class century and was unbeaten overnight on 141, while Morgan fell for 93, to lift Middlesex from 35 for 4 to 377 for 8 – a healthy 240-run lead at Uxbridge. The home side began the day at a pallid 4 for 2 and slipped further when they lost Billy Godleman and Owais Shah cheaply to van der Wath who has so far collected five wickets. Then came the rescue act which has left Northamptonshire with a big task on their hands on the final day, weather permitting.A solid all-round day from Essex put them within five wickets of victory against Derbyshire at Chelmsford, where the visitors needed 184 further runs to overhaul what was becoming an increasingly out of reach target. Chasing 372, Derbyshire made a strong start and were 184 for 3 when a pair of late wickets severely dented their chances. Dominic Telo had guided the innings with 69 and Rikki Clarke was a useful ally with 44, but when both men fell it meant a stumps score of 188 for 5 on a day when they had knocked over Essex for 238. The hefty first-innings deficit Derbyshire had conceded was coming back to bite them as four-wicket hauls to Charl Langeveldt and Graham Wagg failed to stop Essex posting the challenging target. Ravi Bopara, fresh from one-day duties with England, made 71 from 82 deliveries and an unbeaten 55 from Ryan ten Doeschate continued his excellent match after he made a century in the first innings, and fittingly it was he who removed Clarke just before stumps to bring the goal closer for Essex.

England, as expected, have resisted the temptation to recall Andrew Flintoff to the squad for the first Test against South Africa at Lord’s next week, and have instead put their faith in the same squad of 12 players who carried them to a 2-0 series victory against New Zealand last month. If, as is widely anticipated, the same starting 11 is named on the morning of the match, England will become the first country ever to name an unchanged side for six matches in a row.England have won four out of five Tests since taking the dramatic decision to drop Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison for the Wellington Test back in March, and so it would appear that consistency breeds consistency. Miller, however, was ready to play down suggestions that the Test team become a closed shop.”It is not a cosy club,” he said. “There are people knocking on the door, youngsters and seniors, and everyone has got to perform. We left bowlers out in New Zealand, and that made a difference, and at one stage we left Andrew Strauss out. It’s not a cosy club at all. If there was someone in the situation where they could overtake them and we thought they could perform better, then we would do that. But at this moment in time we feel we have got solid players, strong in technique and good mentally as well.”The one man who could really destabilise the status quo is Flintoff, who bowled with pace and hostility for Lancashire against Sussex earlier this week, before sealing victory with an unbeaten 62, his first half-century since May last year. “We’ve had long chats with Andrew and we’ve been in constant communication with him,” said Miller. “We need to see a few more miles in the legs and runs from the bat, but England are a better side, as we know, with a fully-fit Andrew Flintoff. We just need to see a little bit more from him.”Miller did, however, concede that if Flintoff’s comeback continues as it has begun, he would be in the frame for the second Test at Headingley, which gets underway on July 18. With that in mind, there are a host of players in the current settled line-up who might fear for their spot, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood among the batsmen, and James Anderson and Stuart Broad among the bowlers.”Our focus is for the first Test, we’ll see what that produces, then we’ll reassess for the second Test,” said Miller. “Andrew’s got a chance and he knows it, but we’re looking for him to be involved in all kinds of cricket – five-day, one-day and Twenty20 – so it’s essential that we monitor him properly. We want him to be involved for a long time now.”The other threat to England’s current settled situation is the fitness of their captain, Michael Vaughan, who reported soreness in his troublesome right knee while playing for Yorkshire against Durham earlier this week. He did, however, make 72 before being bowled by Steve Harmison – another player who is “knocking on the door” – and Miller reiterated his belief that there was no question about his availability. “It’s an injury he’s had operated on, so he’s going to get niggles and twinges,” said Miller. “But I had a chat with him in Yorkshire, we’re monitoring him, and he’s fine.”Such is England’s confidence in their captain, they have once again chosen not to name a deputy. “We have contingency plans for the captaincy, but we won’t make that decision until we have to,” said Miller. “We’ve got senior players who’ve captained the side in different modes – Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen – so we’ll make that decision when we have to.”Test squad Michael Vaughan (capt), Tim Ambrose (wk), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Strauss, Chris Tremlett.

Tim Ambrose has been called up to England’s one-day squad for the series against New Zealand. Ambrose, who took over from Matt Prior in the Test side earlier in the year, replaces Phil Mustard and is the only uncapped player in a 14-man squad.Ambrose made his mark for England during the Test series in New Zealand, when he produced a maiden century in his second appearance at Wellington, to turn the tide of a series that England eventually won 2-1. He has now been given his opportunity at one-day level as well, despite managing only three runs in two innings in the current Test series.Mustard has been omitted after averaging 22.8 in his ten appearances in Sri Lanka and New Zealand last winter. He performed fitfully in his pinch-hitting role at the top of the order, often starting with a flurry of pulls and drives only to play one shot too many, although he did make an impressive 83 from 74 balls in his penultimate appearance, the tied ODI in Napier.”Tim Ambrose has already shown that he has the temperament and the ability required to succeed in Test cricket and his selection reflects our desire to use the same wicket-keeper in both the long and short forms of the game,” Geoff Miller, England’s national selector, said. “Phil Mustard will, of course, be disappointed not to have been selected on this occasion but he remains a player of terrific potential and we will continue to monitor his performances closely along with a number of other wicketkeepers in domestic cricket.”Another player who will feel unlucky to have missed out is Matt Prior, whom Ambrose replaced in the Test side, but whose forceful performances for Sussex have since powered him to the top of the first-class averages. He, however, will have to wait his turn for a little while longer. “We’re aware of the need to identify a player who can take over the opener’s role from Phil,” said Miller, “and play in a positive manner at the start of the innings.”The offspinner, James Tredwell, also misses out from the party that toured New Zealand in February, while the selectors did not consider a recall for Andrew Flintoff, whose comeback for Lancashire has been hampered by a side strain that will keep him on the international sidelines at least until the arrival of South Africa in July.”Andrew is still recovering from a side strain and we would prefer to wait until he is 100 per cent fit before considering him for selection,” said Miller. “We will be guided by the England medical team as to when the best time would be for him to return to international cricket. His rehabilitation is progressing well at present and we are optimistic that he will be available for selection later in the summer.”England one-day squad Paul Collingwood (capt), Tim Ambrose, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, Luke Wright.

The State Central Hinds team to play the State Northern Spirit at Westpac Park, Hamilton on December 7 and 8 in the State League is:Aimee Mason (captain), Abby Burrows, Cindy Forsyth, Megan Graham, Erin McDonald, Sara McGlashan, Zara McWilliams, Elizabeth Perry, Kate Pulford, Toni Street, Nicole Thessman and Donna Trow.The coach is Warren Marr and the manager is Jacqui Gardiner.

*Sodhi to lead Punjab in Ranji league matchesReetinder Sodhi will lead Punjab in the first three league matches of the Ranji trophy in the absence of Vikram Rathore, who shifted to Himachal Pradesh this year.MP Pandove, secretary of the Punjab Cricket Association, who made the announcement, added that the Punjab team will take on Baroda in the first league match at PCA stadium, Mohali from November 9 to 12.The other member of the 15-member team are Ravneet Ricky, Samrat Sharma, Ankur Kakkar,Harminder Jugnu, Navdeep Singh, Amit Uniyal, Gagandeep Singh, Vineet Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Pankaj Dharmani (wicket-keeper), Sandeep Sawal, Harish Puri, Munish Sharma and Sanjay Mahajan.*Zuffri to lead Assam in Ranji TrophySyed Zakaria Zuffri has been named as the Assam captain for the 2002-03 Ranji Trophy season. Among the 14 other players are new recruits Kiran Powar and Sunil Viswanathan.Assam launch their challenge with a match against Orissa at NFRSA Stadium, Maligaon from Nov 9- Nov 12.Squad: Syed Zakaria Zuffri (capt), Parag Kumar Das, Sukhvinder Singh, Kiran Powar, Sumit Ranjan Das, Arland Konwar, Manoj Joglekar, RM Gohain, Mark Ingti, Zaved Zaman, Sunil Viswanathan, Mrigen Talukdar, Mansoor Ahmed, Samarjit Nath and Sourav Bhagawati.Coach: Lalchand Rajput Manager : Sanjay Dey.*Sutane to lead Vidarbha in Ranji TrophyStaff ReporterParesh Sutane will lead 14-man Vidarbha team in the 2002-03 Ranji Trophy leagues matches against Saurashtra and Services.Ali Akbar, meanwhile, will lead the under-19 team> Chandrasekhar Atram has been named the vice-captain.Squad: Paresh Sutane (captain), Alind Naidu ( vice-captain), Amit Deshpande (wicket-keeper), P Vivek, Rupesh Shahane, Ulhas Gandhe, Samir Khare, Chandrashekhar Atram, Madhusudan Acharya, Abhijieet Piprode, Nitin Gawande, Swaroop Srivastva, Sandeep Singh, Rahul JadhavStand byes: Amol Jichkar, Amit Date, Umesh Patil, Ketan Kaore, Adwait ManoharCoach: Murthy Rajan Manager SN AbhyankrVidarbha Under-19: Ali Akbar (captain), Chandrashekhar Atram (vicecaptain), Faiz Fazal, Virat Mishra, Anup Fulper, Owamir Afzal, Saurabh Ambedkar, Mohammad Hashim, Akshay Wakhare, Ashwin Rajan, Abhijeet Gaidhane, Vaibhav Rajurkar, Azhar Sheikh, Madhup Aney.Stand byes: Srikant Kotlikar, Mangesh Bhoyar, Amit BhomleCoach: Praveen HignikarManager: Shrish Joshi

Former manager of Pakistan team, Fakir S. Aizazuddin, has called for a democratic cricket board in this country.In a statement, released Thursday, Aizazuddin says “this oligarchic system of governance by the board where a small coterie holds sway taking all the decisions must stop if any real and worthwhile progress is to be made in the rehabilitation of the present team.”Aizazuddin, who toured England as member of national squad in 1967, argues that all sports bodies in the country have democratically elected councils except the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).”This speaks volumes for the self interest seeking ad hocists, deeply entrenched who are eating into the vitals of the board and are desperate to maintain status quo,” he said.Aizazuddin believes it is cricket board’s ad hocism that is the root cause of all ills which was damaging the morale and destroying the unity of the team.”It was the ad hocism on which the board and itsfactotums were operating,’ he says and adds, “arbitrary appointments and dismissals, ill-planned action, unfair selections generally the pattern on which the functionaries were working. Hasty orders issued and just as hastily withdrawn.”Further, Aizazuddin points out that this kind of working was playing havoc with the team discipline and cohesion thus emboldening the players, encouraging them to form power groups and strut about like prima donnas caring little for authority.Aizazuddin, who managed the Pakistan squad in New Zealand last year, gives a couple of suggestions to improve the situation.Firstly, he says, the institution of the board has to be put on a sound footing by providing it with a constitution in which all the members are democratically elected and they should be technocrats who have played the game at the highest level.Secondly, the elected council will discuss the points of the agenda and after obtaining a consensus from all the participating members of the council decisions will be taken which will then bear the stamp of authenticity and legality and as such will be respected and followed by all including the players.Lastly, Aizazuddin added that all other cricket playing countries have their boards working on democratic lines and the system has proved highly successfully, so why not adopt the same for PCB.

Leicestershire have signed Paul Nixon on a three-year contract with the 32-year-old wicket-keeper returning to Grace Road after a three-year spell at Kent.Leicestershire general manager Kevin Hill said: “I’m delighted that we have won the chase for Paul’s signature.I believe his considerable experience, ability and enthusiasm will help the club achieve continued success in the future.”This is the first of what we hope will be a number of signings that will be announced that will put together a squad for 2003 and beyond, that will challenge for all four domestic competitions.”Nixon who first played for Leicestershire from 1989 to 1999 said:”I am very excited and thrilled to be rejoining Leicestershire. I am confident I will be able to play my part in helping to achieve the success that everyone at the club is striving for.”It was a big shock to be told that Kent were not renewing my contract, but it is great to get back to my roots. I spoke to a few other counties but, in the end, returning to Leicestershire was a family decision. It will be lovely to be back.”