All posts by csb10.top

Scott Styris will join Durham as an overseas player this week, bringing to three the number of New Zealand squad members in county cricket this season. Styris will be hoping for a less dramatic trip than last year, when he injured his back while playing for Middlesex.He aggravated the problem at the Champions Trophy and ended up missing the home series against Sri Lanka and the start of the CB Series. However, Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand team manager, said he had no issue with Styris returning to England as he would be with Durham for only two months from June 1.”This year he goes away with a pretty good bill of health and we have no concerns,” Crocker said. “He’ll still have about six weeks off before our next competition which is the Twenty20 World Cup, so it’s a nice length of break for him.”Styris joins his former New Zealand team-mate Paul Wiseman at Durham, and he will be the county’s second overseas player alongside Australia’s Michael Di Venuto. Durham, who are second on the points table, will be hoping Styris brings with him the form that made him New Zealand’s leading run-scorer at the World Cup.”He took his cricket to a different level in the World Cup and he’s learned a lot, things like batting into the later stages of a match,” Crocker said. “He wants to keep that momentum going and keep putting the things he learned into practice.”Three New Zealanders are now listed as overseas players in the county competition. The others are Stephen Fleming, who is the captain of Nottinghamshire, and Hamish Marshall, who is at Gloucestershire.

In a surprise move, Lancashire have announced the signing of former Yorkshire captain, David Byas. Byas made his debut for Yorkshire in 1986 and last season led the county to the first county championship success since 1968. It came as a shock when, no sooner had the title had been secured than the captain announced that he was retiring from first-class cricket.At the time he said: “I have had a wonderful career and playing cricket for Yorkshire has taken me around the world. I wanted to go while I am still at the top. It has been an unforgettable experience and it has been a great honour to captain the side and to lead the side to the first championship title for 33 years.”No-one can take that away from me and it will stay with me forever. I am leaving the team at the top and I sincerely hope it goes from strength to strength from here.”In his time with Yorkshire he scored 14,398 runs at an average of 35.37. He was several times spoken of as a potential Test player, without ever forcing his way into the side, meaning that the championship victory was the pinnacle of his career. That was understood, and Yorkshire even delayed the announcement of a new captain until after Byas had taken the side to Buckingham Palace in November for the traditional presentation of the trophy by HRH Prince Philip.Now his many Yorkshire admirers will find it hard to come to terms with the fact that, not only is he to return to first-class cricket, but he is to move over the Pennines to Yorkshire’s traditional rivals, Lancashire.Cricket manager at Old Trafford, Mike Watkinson, is naturally enough delighted with the move. He said: “Hopefully the signing of David will provide some experienced competition at the top of the batting order. The retirement of Michael Atherton along with Neil Fairbrother’s injury problems have left us looking a little thin in this area. Although we are firmly committed to developing the best young players within the county, the services of David will help provide some short term stability to the squad.”Byas himself explained his reasoning behind the decision. “I was happily retired after a very enjoyable career at Yorkshire culminating in championship success last season, but after a little persuading, I see the prospect as an exciting challenge. I’m looking forward to joining up with the squad and hopefully my experience will complement the promising younger players at the club.”Now 38, the statement from Lancashire specifically referred to the fact that Byas had been signed for the 2002 season. It comes at a time when they are they are in dispute with another experienced middle order batsman, former captain John Crawley who wants to terminate his contract. Byas will bring experience that can be of benefit to younger players and new captain, Warren Hegg.

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.

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.

Surrey were celebrating at Old Trafford today after retaining the countychampionship. But they did not play like champs on the opening day of thefinal match, allowing Lancashire to fight back from 154-7 to reach a total of323.Even coach Keith Medlycott admitted: “It wasn’t one of our bestperformances. There was a lack of basics – and we have excelled in doing thebasics all season.”But it was a mere blemish on another triumphant season for AdamHollioake’s side and, appropriately, it was the Surrey captain who clinchedit, with a brilliant slip catch to dismiss Sourav Ganguly. That earned Surreytheir first bonus point, the only one they needed to retain the title.

As the champagne flowed in the Surrey dressing-room, Medlycott touched onthe factors behind Surrey’s success, saying: “I’ve heard a lot of talk aboutSurrey’s showboats and you tend to get that when you are becoming asuccessful side. It means you are doing something right and people areprobably fearful of you.”We are a quality squad. We can pick from 18 or 20 players and they canall come into first-class cricket and produce match-winning performances.The majority of the side are in their prime and that usually lasts three orfour years.”On the influence of Hollioake, he said: “I can use a boxing term for him.If we get a side down he knows how to knock them out – that makes him afantastic leader.”Saqlain Mushtaq claimed 4-81 from 34 overs on a hard, shiny pitch – thesort on which England might have to face him in Pakistan – but Warren Heggfollowed up his century against Leicester last weekend with another actingcaptain’s innings for Lancashire, hammering an unbeaten 93.Surrey lost a couple of early wickets and Hollioake was hurt by a ballfrom Glen Chapple but he recovered to lead his side to 28-2 before acceptingthe championship pennant and going to the other Old Trafford with histeam-mates to watch Manchester United’s European tie.

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 Caddick, the former England fast bowler, feels Steve Harmison and others in the current national set-up need to return to county cricket to “learn their trade”. Harmison was recently dropped after an abject display in an embarrassing defeat at Hamilton and Caddick believed he should not have been in New Zealand in the first place.”I don’t think Steve Harmison has ever learned his trade at domestic level. I know Stuart Broad hasn’t, and I don’t think Chris Tremlett really has either,” Caddick told the . “I’d like to see a lot more players out there playing at a domestic level, especially at this time of year. You shouldn’t have players like Steve Harmison after a losing Ashes series saying, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m going to wait for Mr Fletcher to tell me what I’m doing’.”What he should have done is turned round and said, ‘I had a shocker, I need to get back, get some overs under my belt, play for Durham and put my name in the hat and say I’m back and this is what I’m prepared to do to get back’. If I was honest, and it’s a harsh thing to say, I wouldn’t pick him against New Zealand. I’d say, ‘Go away and learn your trade again’.”While Geoff Miller, England’s chairman of selectors, has insisted Harmison is part of England’s immediate plans for the forthcoming season, Caddick felt Harmison should focus on the County Championship which starts on Wednesday. “I would not pick Harmison for the first Test with New Zealand. He’s got to sort himself out before he should be considered,” he told the . “Does he want to play international cricket? If he wants to play then he has to play at a very high standard. If he’s not able to do that then sorry, he must not be picked.”Harmison’s has been a troubled career, especially away from home, and a back injury cut short his England summer last year. He was subsequently asked by the England management to prove his fitness and form in the South African domestic circuit and though he returned for the tour of Sri Lanka, he was dropped after the first Test against New Zealand in March.Caddick was critical of the number of players introduced before they were prepared for the demands of the international game, and also voiced a word of caution for Andrew Flintoff. “Freddie now has to spend half a season playing for Lancashire building his strength up and bowling and batting his way back to somewhere near his best,” he said. “Anybody in their right mind is desperate to get him back into the England team as soon as possible. But we must think what is best for English cricket and for Freddie long-term.”Caddick, who took 234 wickets in 62 Tests, also felt the ECB needed to follow Australia’s example of properly grooming bowlers before blooding them at international level.

For Mohammad Kaif, who is to lead the India A team for the tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe, this will be a great opportunity to make a comeback to the national side. Both Kaif and Irfan Pathan, who too has been in the wilderness for sometime now, are in the list of 30 probables for the Twenty20 World Championship, also announced on Saturday.The squad for the African tour also includes the likes of Piyush Chawla and VRV Singh. Parthiv Patel has been named the vice-captain for the tour.Recently, Dennis Lillee, under whose watchful eyes Pathan underwent training at the MRF pace foundation in Chennai, said that the fast bowler was close to being back to his best. Pathan would be hoping to prove him right, and with a strong showing on this tour, he can stake a claim for a berth in the Indian team for the elusive spot of a bowling allrounder.Apart from Kaif and Pathan, this tour can prove to be a stepping stone for youngsters like Chawla, VRV Singh, Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma. Especially since Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of the selection committee, had recently said that the rotation policy is the way to go, keeping in mind the packed international schedule ahead.The last time the India A team had toured Zimbabwe and Kenya was in July-August 2004 and players like Gautam Gambhir , Munaf Patel , MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik, who played in that tour, subsequently went on to play for India.The team will be coached by Chandrakant Pandit, the former India wicketkeeper. Pandit guided Mumbai to consecutive Ranji Trophy triumphs in 2003 and 2004. In August 2005 he took over as Maharashtra’s coach.The squad
Mohammad Kaif (capt), Parthiv Patel, Robin Uthappa, Cheteshwar Pujara, S Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, Rajesh Pawar, Mahesh Rawat (wk), Piyush Chawla, Arjun Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Irfan Pathan, V R V Singh, Yo Mahesh, Pankaj Singh, Niraj Patel

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.