All posts by csb10.top

Shoaib Akhtar has appealed against the Rs 300,000 (US$5,000) fine handed to him by the Pakistan board last week for leaving the Karachi training camp early and failing to appear at the subsequent disciplinary hearing.”I have appealed against the fine because I think I was not given the chance to give my version of events,” Shoaib told . The fine was imposed last Wednesday after Shoaib failed to turn up for a hearing the day before. Shoaib maintains he was made aware of the hearing two days it had taken place.Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s chief operating officer, held a meeting with Shoaib today to discuss the events of last week. On Friday, Shoaib reportedly clashed with board officials over the fine at Gaddafi Stadium. Naghmi told , “There appears to have been some miscommunication which was probably the cause of this incident. An appellate committee will be set up to look into his stance now.”Naghmi added that Shoaib had assured the board he was fit and looking forward to playing for Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Championship, dismissing some reports which said he had threatened to pull out of the tournament.

ScorecardJamie Overton produced an impressive opening spell•Getty Images

If you were to judge by the statistics, Jamie Overton shouldn’t enter into the thoughts of the England selectors. He went into this game averaging 37.19 for his first-class wickets, after all. Will Gidman, by comparison, has taken his first-class wickets at an average of 23.28.But who is more likely to win England an Ashes Test? And there are moments, just moments, when everything clicks together and Overton looks a terrific prospect. Blessed with height and pace, he also has the ability to gain movement. Put that together and you have a bowler who can overcome flat surfaces and good line-ups; the sort of bowler who might have been made for Australian surfaces.He enjoyed such a moment on the first day of this Championship match at Taunton. His five-over spell accounted for both Warwickshire openers and contained a number of all but unplayable deliveries that pitched on off and straightened to beat the bat of Jonathan Trott.While it’s true that Warwickshire’s openers – Ian Westwood and Andy Umeed – are not quite up the standard of those England will face in Australia, the balls that dismissed them were reward for fine bowling. Westwood, hit on the body earlier in the over as he attempted to pull one that was on him quicker than he anticipated, played on as he attempted to force one on off stump that may have bounced a little more than he expected, before Umeed was yorked – and perhaps beaten for pace – by one that may have left the batsman just a little in the air.The only boundaries he conceded – two of them – came off the edge of the bat: the first when Trott played one down and past the slips and the second when Ian Bell cut over the cordon. While there were still a couple of leg stump deliveries that, another day, might have been punished, it was a spell – albeit a relatively short one – that hinted at improving consistency.Somerset would, no doubt, have wanted Overton to bowl a bit more at Trott and Bell when they came to the crease. But a five-over spell is probably plenty for a bowler of such pace and, in a side containing only three seamers (and Peter Trego has yet to take a Championship wicket this season), they wouldn’t have wanted to exhaust him too early in the game.His brother, Craig, soon accounted for Bell, anyway. A demanding spell, not as quick as Jamie but perhaps more consistent, brought an attempted back-foot force that flew high to second slip where Marcus Trescothick plucked down a sharp catch.But it was, not for the first time, Jamie who had caught the eye. And, with James Anderson injured again – and those injuries are starting to come with ominous frequency – Overton’s performance will not have gone unnoticed by the selectors.He impressed Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, last year. Bayliss was at Edgbaston last May when Overton utilised a slightly uneven surface – it was rated poor by the umpires – to such an extent that there was talk of the match being abandoned for a while.Presented by an England bowler offering the skills that Australia have in abundance – pace, height and aggression – Bayliss was said to be much taken with what he saw and, had Overton not suffered a stress fracture, he might have pushed for further recognition already. These are early days and slim pickings on which to judge – rain washed out most of the first day here – but Jamie Overton’s attributes are not common and he certainly has the potential to go a long way in the game.”That has to be one of the best spells that I have bowled since I came back from injury,” Overton said afterwards. “I want to bowl in short, sharp spells and as long as I don’t go for 10 an over, I’m pretty happy. Today I think I went for less than four an over so I was pleased with that.”I’ve worked hard on my control and today I think I made the batsmen have to play me. I’m using my bouncer sensibly now – and batsmen now know that I have got one to bowl – so it’s a very handy weapon to have.”While Somerset will have been delighted with his performance, they might have been a little concerned at the lack of spin. Despite playing this match on a surface used in a couple of limited-overs games, there was little if any assistance for Jack Leach (who was presented his count cap by former Somerset and England spinner Vic Marks during the day) and Dominic Bess. Bess dismissed Bell and Trott in successive deliveries on Championship debut last year but here was taken for three boundaries – two cover drives and a pull – from Trott as he struggled to find the appropriate length.It’s an important game for both sides. Currently at the foot of the table – Somerset have played one game fewer – it may well prove to have a bearing on the relegation situation at the end of the season. Warwickshire, anticipating a spinning surface, awarded a Championship debut to left-arm spinner Sunny Singh and a first-class debut to seamer Grant Thornton, who is only on a three-month contract with the club but who impressed in white ball cricket. Chris Wright is recovering from injury.Sam Hain and Umeed were also recalled with William Porterfield on international duty and Ateeq Javid dropped. Warwickshire also announced they have signed a 17-year-old seamer, Henry Brookes, on a three-season deal.While nobody could argue with the early decision to abandon play – there has been torrential rain and hail in Taunton – there was an odd disruption earlier in the day. It transpires that there is an ECB directive that strongly advises umpires to ensure the playing area is vacated by everyone – including the groundstaff – should there be any thunder and lightning in the vicinity.So, despite sunshine, play was delayed in early afternoon as the directive suggests that, once the gap between thunder and lightning becomes more frequent than 40 seconds, the playing surface should be cleared for a minimum of 30 minutes. The fact that the stands at Taunton were well populated by bemused spectators who are, presumably, equally at risk of lightning strikes, appears to have escaped the attention of which ever official came up with the guidelines.

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

Bangladesh fought bravely in the first half of the day but were then swept away by a tidal wave of South African pace, and a clever little spell of left-arm spin from Robin Peterson. Having been asked to follow on 324 runs behind, and with Aftab Ahmed in hospital under observation, Bangladesh slid inexorably towards defeat as the evening shadows lengthened, finishing the day on 54 for 5.A positive start was essential for Bangladesh at the second time of asking but once again, Dale Steyn’s pace was a huge stumbling block. Junaid Siddique, who had batted so well in the second innings in Mirpur, went without scoring, hanging his bat out at one, and with Tamim Iqbal marooned on 0 for 28 balls, it was left to Shahriar Nafees to pick off some runs.Nafees had anchored the first innings with a solid 69, but he once again flirted with danger in the quest for runs. There was once classy pull for four, but several of his boundaries came either off the outside edge or the glove as South Africa’s bowlers persisted with a barrage of short-pitched deliveries.The breakthrough though came courtesy spin. Tamim had already been dropped by Kallis at slip earlier, but a needless heave after a sashay down the pitch only found the man at mid-on. Three balls later, Peterson landed one in the rough and a squared-up Nafees could only edge to slip. This time, Kallis made no mistake.The last act was left to Steyn. Mohammad Ashraful was softened up by bouncers, and a delivery that lifted outside off stump was poked through to Mark Boucher. Soon after, Shakib Al Hasan got into an awful tangle, and could only fend one off the glove to forward short leg. Bangladesh were reeling, and the offer of light from the umpires only served to delay the inevitable till the fourth morning.It hadn’t always been such one-way traffic. In the morning, Nafees had chiselled out a fine innings and enjoyed significant partnerships with Abdur Razzak, the nightwatchman, and Aftab, before Shakib took over the mantle after lunch. His departure just before tea, significantly impacted Bangladesh’s hopes of saving the Test, as did the nasty injury to Aftab.Graeme Smith’s lucky charm turned out to be Makhaya Ntini, who returned just before the interval to have both Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim caught behind. Shakib had struggled at times against the short ball, but was otherwise composed, striking some lovely fours down the ground and through midwicket. But when he tried to cut one that was too close to him, Boucherhad an easy catch to take.Ntini bowled round the wicket for that dismissal, but minutes earlier, he had struck with his traditional weapon, the ball that angles back in to the right-hander. Mushfiqur got the edge, and Ntini went past Allan Donald (330 wickets) on South Africa’s all-time list.South Africa had reason to rue some uncharacteristically sloppy fielding too. Shakib was dropped when he had yet to score, with Johan Botha putting down a low chance at gully off Steyn. Another edge from Mushfiqur evaded Smith at first slip, and South Africa were left to celebrate only the one wicket in the first hour after lunch.

That came in the very first over, with Nafees edging Steyn to Smith to end his morning of defiance. Soon after, Bangladesh’s innings was in further trouble, with Aftab top-edging a Kallis delivery into his face – ball just squeezing between helmet peak and grille. He was stretchered off it was left to Shakib and Mushfiqur to resurrect the innings.The morning had belonged to Bangladesh, with Nafees wresting the initiative, and Razzak providing sterling support. Steyn and Ntini tested both men with the short stuff, and searing pace in the case of Steyn. There were a couple of streaky strokes down to third man, but the initial stages were characterised more by defence. Steve Bucknor expressed his unhappiness at Steyn running on the pitch, but otherwise, there was little to talk about.That changed once the batsmen grew in confidence. Nafees started to cut and pull with power and precision, and with Ntini and Mornè Morkel below par, the runs started to mount. And when Hashim Amla wore a sweep from Nafees on his ankle, Smith’s worries merely increased.The wicket, when it came, arrived from an unlikely source. Peterson had been tidy rather than threatening, but after Razzak slogged one over midwicket, the encore flew off the top edge to point. Aftab might have gone early, but the bat-up-like-periscope response to a Morkel bouncer fetched him four to third man instead.With Nafees playing some gorgeous drives off the expensive Morkel, the fifth-wicket partnership reached 50 at almost five an over, and it was Bangladesh that went to lunch the happier. But Ntini’s dramatic four-wicket intervention either side of tea being brewed was decisive, and South Africa were always on course thereafter to tie up another crushing victory. Barring rain, it should come on the fourth morning.

Scorecard

West Zone won a close battle for the first-innings lead despite a career-best 160 by Central Zone captain Mohammad Kaif, before their openers proceeded to press home the advantage with an unbeaten 99-run stand.Resuming at 237 for 5, in response to West Zone’s 411, it was always going to be a battle between Kaif and the bowlers. Kaif added 64 to his overnight score, but ran out of partners pretty soon. He was the ninth man to get out, with Central still 49 short. He had partnerships going with lower-order batsmen: 134 with overnight partner Mahesh Rawat, 51 with Sanjib Sanyal and 38 with Murali Kartik, but they lost wickets at crucial junctures, falling short by 27 runs.Left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv took two of the wickets that fell today to finish with figures of 4 for 84. Munaf Patel added Sudeep Tyagi’s wicket to his overnight haul of two wickets.Ajinkya Rahane and Sahil Kukreja, the Mumbai openers, repeated their solid first-innings performance to frustrate the Central bowlers and virtually bat them out of the contest. Rahane scored his second half-century of the match, while Kukreja closed in on his second.
Scorecard
North Zone turned in another solid bowling performance to dismiss South Zone for 211 in the second innings, before knocking off the required 70 runs to get off to a great start in the Duleep Trophy.South resumed on the third day at 95 for 2, having fallen behind by 142 in the first innings, and Amit Mishra, with 4 for 51, made sure North wouldn’t have to chase a steep target. The South Zone batsmen got starts, but nobody went on to compile a meaningful score, with M Vijay top scoring with 39. D Kalyankrishna stayed unbeaten on 31, to add to his first-innings resistance that also yielded 31 runs. Vikramjeet Malik and Rajat Bhatia chipped in with two wickets each.North missed out on the bonus point, as they lost Aakash Chopra and Sachin Rana before they could reach the target.

The race for the three available semi-final places in the MTN Domestic Championship went down to the wire with the Cape Cobras nabbing the final spot despite defeat against the Dolphins.The Cobras went down by 56 runs in Durban to hand the Dolphins a bonus point, but it wasn’t enough because of their inferior win record and the Cobras went through on the back of their six victories. The Cobras now play the Titans at Centurion Park while the other semi-final is between the Warriors and the Eagles.The crucial match of the final week came in Cape Town when the Cobras handed out the Titans’ only defeat of the round-robin stage. They recovered from 73 for 5 with an unbeaten stand of 124 between Andrew Puttick (87 not out) and Ryan Canning (64 not out).The Cobras had become the latest victim of an improving Zimbabwe team when they fell to a three-wicket defeat in Paarl where Regis Chakabva hit a match-winning 71. Zimbabwe finished the tournament on a strong note when they beat the Eagles by two wickets off the final ball in a thrilling encounter. Tatenda Taibu hit an unbeaten 98 and he managed to score 14 off the final over. The defeat meant the Eagles missed out on a home semi-final.The Warriors secured their home semi-final with a six-wicket against the Lions after playing their last five matches in eight days. The Lions ended a miserable tournament bottom of the table.

Scorecard

Suresh Raina’s quick century – his second in three matches this season – and VRV Singh’s five-wicket haul set up an exciting contest for the first-innings lead between Uttar Pradesh and Punjab at Mohali. At stumps, UP trailed by 29 runs and had three wickets in hand.After taking Punjab’s last three wickets for 57 runs and then making a solid start, UP lost three quick wickets to be reduced to 91 for 3. That’s when Raina joined Mohammad Kaif and counterattacked immediately. By the time Kaif got out for 66, they had put on 153 in 28.1 overs and brought UP right back into the game. It was Raina, though, who took the fight to Punjab and scored 123 runs in 130 deliveries, 88 of them coming in fours and sixes. After Raina’s dismissal, Piyush Chawla (30 off 28 balls)and Praveen Kumar (20 off 14 balls) brought out some big hits and took UP close. In 26 balls, their unbeaten partnership had scored 28.VRV Singh, although pretty expensive, kept Punjab in the game with 5 for 102. This is his first match this season, as he was recovering from an injury. His last international match was the Chittagong Test. by 277 runs
ScorecardTamil Nadu turned the screw on Karnataka, reducing them to 144 for 6 after their batsmen carried on from a good first day to score 421 in the first innings. Karnataka still need 77 runs to avoid the follow-on, which should be critical for Tamil Nadu to look for an outright result.R Rakmumar, the left-arm spinner, followed his cameo with the bat with three wickets for 32 runs. He is now one short of 100 first-class wickets.Earlier, S Badrinath scored his 13th first-class century and made sure Tamil Nadu capitalised on a century scored by Ranji debutant Abhinav Mukund. Badrinath, who scored 143, got able support from the lower-order, especially Ramkumar, who scored 65 in 76 balls.
ScorecardSairaj Bahutule, who had helped Venugopal Rao resurrect Maharashtra’s first innings, took 5 for 29 to dismiss Himachal Pradesh for 83 and put Maharashtra in the box seat in Dharamsala. To make matters worse for Himachal, they lost two wickets for 41 after being asked to follow on.Himachal had a poor start, losing a wicket in the first over itself. Only Maninder Bisla, their wicketkeeper-batsman, offered some fight, but his unbeaten 23 could do only so much.Earlier, Rao scored his first century for Maharashtra to take them past 300. After the 151-run seventh-wicket stand with Bahutule yesterday, Rao put on 68 for the eighth wicket with Salil Agharkar, who made 46.
ScorecardHemal Watekar, Andhra’s opener and an occasional offbreak bowler, took five wickets to bowl Orissa out for 140, which gave Andhra a 39-run first-innings lead. Orissa had made a cautious start and after losing three quick wickets got a partnership going to take them to 83 for 3. From there Watekar reduced them to 100 for 7 and then came back to dismiss Halhadar Das, who top scored with 30.Andhra had scored 67 for 2 at stumps and looked good to set Orissa a challenging target in the fourth innings.
Scorecard
The Mumbai bowlers kept their first-innings deficit to within manageable proportions before Sahil Kukreja gave them a superb start, as Mumbai ended the second day 89 runs in front with eight wickets in hand. Kukreja’s unbeaten 89, coming off 119 deliveries, was an uncharacteristically fast innings and brought Mumbai right back into the match.Earlier, Gautam Gambhir missed a century, Rahul Bhatia a half-century, and Delhi a big lead as their last six wickets fell for 82 runs. The first session on the Wankhede track is often the most difficult and that was the case again, as the Delhi batsmen handed back the initiative that they had grabbed on the opening day.

ScorecardRajasthan collapsed from 92 for 1 to 149 for 6 as Saurashtra took charge of the match in Jaipur. Saurashtra, resuming at 220 for 5, managed 307, thanks to an unbeaten 46 by the left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv.For Rajasthan, Gagan Khoda and Nikhil Doru looked good in their 73-run second-wicket stand, but both fell at the same score. Dhurv came back to haunt them as he dismissed Khoda to break the partnership. There was a 48-run stand between Vineet Saxena and Robin Bist, but they too fell within five runs of each other to leave Rajasthan struggling.
ScorecardIrfan Pathan recovered from an ordinary first day as Baroda took the last six Hyderabad wickets for 44 before Connor Williams took charge with an unbeaten 91.Hyderabad, resuming at 220 for 4, collapsed without a fight against the new ball. Irfan’s angle from round the stumps and Sumit Singh’s disciplined bowling did the trick for Baroda. In reply, Williams and Azharuddin Bilakhia made the Hyderabad bowlers work hard, as they finished the day at 191 for 2, only 70 adrift. Bilakhia fell just before stumps for 68. (Click here for full report.)

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

Two completely contrasting half-centuries from Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels led a remarkable West Indies performance on the opening day in Port Elizabeth. Gayle blitzed 66 from 49 deliveries, while Samuels faced four times the number of balls to get to 94; together, they guided West Indies to an impressive 281 for 4.Graeme Smith, leading South Africa for the 50th time in Tests, chose to field after winning the toss, and he could hardly be blamed for the decision – the West Indian batting had been in shambles on the tour thus far, and the wet weather leading to the game suggested the pitch would have plenty for the fast bowlers. In short, the conditions were ideal to unleash Dale Steyn and Co on the out-of-form West Indian top order.The one factor in West Indies’ favour was the return of Gayle, who, after much uncertainty, was declared fit after recovering from a hamstring injury. He made an immediate, and stunning, impact on the game.Both Gayle and his opening partner Daren Ganga relied on slices of luck to get through the first five overs – there were inside edges which flew past the stumps, and other deliveries which beat the bat, but once the first 30 minutes had been negotiated, Gayle suddenly went into overdrive.Makhaya Ntini, easily the most listless bowler on view, felt the heat the most, twice conceding three fours in an over as Gayle crashed drives through the covers and stood tall to bludgeon the ball down the ground. Ganga, who was batting with Gayle for the 50th time in Tests, played his role well too, batting within his limitations and rotating the strike. A South African attack which started off expecting quick wickets were suddenly thrown into disarray, and so completely pushed onto the back foot that Smith was forced to post a long-off within the first 90 minutes of the match.The pace attack were also hampered by the pitch, which offered none of the assistance it was expected to. The swing was minimal, the bounce was generally around knee high, and there was little to bother the batsmen. Steyn, South Africa’s main weapon this season, struggled with his radar and rhythm, regularly straying outside off and leg. None of that cost his team as much as his tendency to overstep, though: he had Samuels, then on 14, edge a drive to slip, only for umpire Aleem Dar to signal no-ball. Steyn finally nailed his man, but by then Samuels had done plenty of damage.Coming to the crease after South Africa had removed both openers in the space of three balls – Ganga slashing to Mark Boucher off Nel and Gayle edging Paul Harris’ second ball of the match – Samuels was patience personified. He has often been accused of throwing it away with poor shot selection, but here he batted with a determination and purpose that suggested he understood the value of the No. 4 position, a slot he got ahead of Shivnarine Chanderpaul.Displaying sound technique, he defended delivery after delivery, as if answering Clive Lloyd’s call for “stickability”. With Runako Morton showing plenty of staying power as well, the rhythm of the game changed from a boundary an over to a plethora of dot balls and maiden overs. The second session produced only 60, but more importantly from West Indies’ point of view, Morton was the only casualty. His replacement was the even more solid and limpet-like Chanderpaul.The tea break – and a short rain delay immediately thereafter – did little to disturb the batsmen. Chanderpaul was content to leave everything that wasn’t directed at the stumps – forcing the bowlers to bowl at him – while Samuels continued with his monk-like concentration. His 50 took all of 142 deliveries, before he finally opened up with a flurry of breathtaking strokes. Nel, trying all his usual histrionics to unsettle the batsman, was silenced with three splendid shots in one over: a drive that went rocketing past mid-off, a lofted shot in the same direction, and a pull to the midwicket fence. Next over, Harris, who bowled impressively on the first-day track, met with the same fate, as Samuels used his feet and broke the shackles that he had imposed on himself.West Indies were on course to see off the day without further alarm, when Samuels threw away the chance to get his second Test century, slashing at a wide one to be brilliantly held by Jacques Kallis. The second new ball had done the trick for South Africa, but there was no doubt about which team took the first day honours.

Andrew Flintoff was content with his return to first-class cricket but insisted that his fragile left ankle will require constant supervision for the rest of his career.Flintoff’s ankle was operated on over the winter and he made his comeback for Lancashire in their drawn match against Surrey at The Oval over the past four days. He only made 23 with the bat but returned the encouraging figures of 1 for 72 from 28 steady overs in Surrey’s mammoth 537 for 5 declared.”From a fitness point of view I thought I kept my pace up all the way through my spells, maybe there is a little bit more in there but not a great deal,” Flintoff said at The Oval, when the fourth and final day was washed out. “It was quite a placid pitch and it was about focusing on getting it in the right areas given the players they’ve got in their team.”I have always been confident coming back but when you’ve had four operations you have a bit more knowledge about your ankle. I just turned up here to play a game of cricket under no concern about how my fitness was going to be.”I just turned up here to play a game of cricket under no concern about how my fitness was going to be.”In the past, Flintoff has rushed his comeback from ankle surgery. Combined with his heavy workload this has caused a recurrence of the injury but, this time round, he hopes it might be fourth time lucky.”Coming out of the operation, hopefully it is cured clinically but then probably from a workload point of view – I have come back from the previous operations and played for a period of time – maybe if I played for a period of time, for 10 or 12 months, and break the cycle of bowling 150 overs, 200 overs and breaking down I will be happy,” he said. “But I am going to have to keep working on my ankle, my left leg and calf in particular.”So I will probably be on some sort of rehab programme now for the rest of my career.”With the first Test against New Zealand only a month away, Flintoff admitted his keenness to be selected but remained cautious about his chances.”I would love to be involved on May 15, there is obviously no change there, but I know I have to perform,” he said. “It’s nice to get 28 overs under my belt and bowl quite nicely but I have to score some runs as well, which I am working hard to do and fully aware of.”

New Zealand Cricket has moved to improve the standards of umpiring in the country by establishing an elite panel of eight officials. The development means umpires will be expected to be available on a full-time basis throughout the 2007-08 season.Brian Aldridge, the NZC umpires manager, said forming the panel was an important moment for the game in New Zealand. “Historically, umpiring has been a part-time leisure activity for individuals engaged in other careers,” he said. “This initiative points to a commitment to upgrade the standing, standards and professionalism of umpiring. Being engaged on a full-time basis, especially at first-class level, is expected to lift the standards of umpiring. “Billy Bowden is the only New Zealand umpire on the ICC’s elite panel while Gary Baxter and Tony Hill are the country’s representatives on the international group. Evan Watkin, who is registered with the ICC as a third official, joins the trio on New Zealand’s books along with Barry Frost, Phil Jones, David Quested and Derek Walker.

Michael Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler, is confident that the Stanford’s initiative, not just the game of Twenty20, will help in the development of West Indies cricket.”What Stanford is doing is not just having a Twenty20 tournament. As youknow he has started some Pro Teams,” Holding told the Caribbean Media Corporation.”There are four [St. Lucia, Anguilla, Antigua and Nevis] at the moment and he intends to expand on that. He has given a lot at the different islands’ board level, money to helpwith their development, infrastructure and preparation of their teams and that will do a great deal to help West Indies cricket.”Holding had expressed reservations to the Twenty20 form of the game but recently joined the Stanford board of directors. He believed that the funding provided by Standford would help in upgrading the standard of cricket.”I think with that funding and the infrastructure that has been going intothe islands, especially the lesser islands that you don’t usually think ofproducing Test cricketers, that it will improve the standard of their play.”And if they are improving the standard of their play, the standard of thetournament will rise, and that is what we are hoping for.”