Paul Nixon and Australia allrounder Andrew McDonald helped Leicestershire to their first batting bonus points in four games against top-of-the-table Glamorgan in their County Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road

24-May-2010
ScorecardPaul Nixon and Australia allrounder Andrew McDonald helped Leicestershire to their first batting bonus points in four games against top-of-the-table Glamorgan in their County Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road.Veteran Nixon, opening the batting because of an injury to Will Jefferson, made 90, while McDonald scored his first half-century since joining the Foxes as their overseas player a month ago. McDonald was unbeaten on 86 as Leicestershire closed the first day on 263 for 8. Young seamer James Harris was Glamorgan’s most successful bowler, taking three for 62 in 24 overs.Having won the toss, Leicestershire made steady progress in the morning session, with Matt Boyce and Nixon putting on 81 by lunch. Boyce rode his luck at times, edging just short of slip and then being dropped by James Allenby off Will Owen when he was on 33.Nixon looked the more solid of the opening pair, picking up two boundaries with trademark clips off his legs through midwicket. But the partnership was broken soon after lunch with Boyce (40) caught behind as he tried to force David Harrison away off the back foot.His departure triggered a mini-collapse as the impressive Harris snapped up two wickets in two overs, trapping both Tom New and James Taylor lbw to leave Leicestershire at 104 for 3. Nixon, however, found some much-needed support from McDonald and the fourth-wicket pair steadied the ship with a stand of 57.Then Nixon, who was looking set for a century, was out in the 90s for the second time this season. Pushing forward to left-arm spinner Dean Cosker, Nixon edged to Jamie Dalrymple, who held onto a juggling catch at slip.Nixon, who fell seven runs short of his century against Sussex four weeks ago, this time made 90 off 178 balls, with 13 fours. It was then left to McDonald to take up the battle for the home side. After an uncertain start, he grew in confidence and produced some glorious shots through midwicket as he reached his first 50 for the county off 111 balls, with six boundaries.But Josh Cobb, Jigar Naik, Claude Henderson and Nathan Buck all fell cheaply as Glamorgan’s attack fought back hard. However, McDonald secured a second batting point with two glorious shots through the on-side off Harris and, at the close, had struck eight boundaries in his 163-ball innings.

Acting captain Daryl Mitchell and newcomer James Cameron dragged Worcestershire out of a deep hole against Leicestershire in the County Championship at New Road

29-Jun-2010

ScorecardActing captain Daryl Mitchell and newcomer James Cameron dragged Worcestershire out of a deep hole against Leicestershire in the County Championship at New Road. Still 75 behind on losing the fourth wicket in their second innings, the home side survived the remaining 35 overs and eased into a lead of 34 on reaching 168 for 4.Teenager Nathan Buck led Leicestershire’s early charge by taking the first three wickets for 19 runs, but they missed a potential short cut to victory by dropping three slip chances from Mitchell before he completed his half-century. The opener made the most of the reprieves in compiling an undefeated 63 and Cameron hit two sixes and six fours on his way to a maiden 50 from 87 balls.With the left-hander on 62 not out in only his second Championship match, their unbroken partnership of 109 has already transformed a game that seemed in danger of finishing on the second day. Although the New Road pitch assisted the seamers from the outset, it has never been a minefield and ECB inspector David Hughes said he was happy with the surface when Worcestershire were dismissed for 175 in the first innings.Leicestershire began day two in a promising position, resuming only 12 runs behind at 163 for 3, and their batsmen pressed home the advantage as they progressed to 309 and a lead of 134. Nightwatchman Buck became a first victim for Matt Mason in a spell of 2 for 9 and James Benning, in his first Championship innings of the season, chipped in with 29 until caught at first slip off Jack Shantry.James Taylor, awaiting England Lions duty later in the week, dug in for nearly two hours for 27 and when he edged Mason to slip, it was left to Tom New to make the most of support from the lower order. Always positive, the left-hander hit 11 fours in making 58 – his fourth half-century of the season – before he played on to Richard Jones and Leicestershire were well in charge even when Gareth Andrew mopped up the last three wickets.Worcestershire desperately needed to improve on their first innings, but Phil Jaques made a disappointing exit in his last Championship game before Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan takes up the overseas position. A nick to first slip from Buck’s second delivery resulted in the Australian’s sixth duck in 15 first-class innings.Buck, who played for England in the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in January, kept the batsmen under pressure as he removed Moeen Ali (24) and Alexei Kervezee in successive overs.

A round-up of the opening round of matches of Sri Lanka’s Under-23 Youth Tournament Division 1 2010-11

Sa'adi Thawfeeq06-Jul-2010Sri Lanka’s 2010-11 domestic season began with the Under-23 Youth Tournament Division 1 matches being played over three days instead of the usual two as in the past. Sri Lanka Cricket tournament committee chairman, Ravi de Silva, said that the idea to make it a three-day tournament came from the selection committee chairman Aravinda de Silva, who wanted the younger cricketers to get used to playing for longer hours in the middle. He however stated that it would not enjoy first-class status because of the age limit.”It is a brilliant idea because this age group is the platform for young cricketers to build their future careers,” Ravi said. “We want the players to play longer innings and for bowlers to bowl longer spells. It has been done for the longevity of Sri Lanka cricket.”The tournament got off to a flying start with former Sri Lanka Under-19 World Cup captain Ashan Priyanjan hitting twin centuries for Tamil Union against Colombo Colts in a drawn match at Havelock Park. Premier League Tier A champions Chilaw Marians showed they had plenty of talent in their reserve bench when their U-23 side thrashed Burgher RC by an innings and 68 runs at the BRC grounds. Offspinner Umesh Karunaratne’s match haul of eight wickets coupled with Buddhi Samarawickrame’s cautious unbeaten knock of 111 off 235 balls contributed to the victory.Ragama CC and Bloomfield also began their campaign in style with victories over Moratuwa SC and Air Force SC respectively. The left-arm spin of Sameera Perera (match haul of 10 for 123) and Kaushalya Gajasinghe’s century (123) were responsible for Ragama’s win at De Soysa Stadium in Moratuwa.
An opening stand of 193 between Nipun Karunanayake (100) and captain Madawa Warnapura (93), laid the foundation for Bloomfield’s victory at Rifle Green. Despite running up the highest total for the week – 403 for 9 declared, Sinhalese SC ran short of time to pull off a victory over Seeduwa Raddoluwa CC at the SSC grounds. SSC had the visitors on their knees at 160 for 9 in their second innings after forcing them to follow-on, but with the ninth wicket falling off the penultimate ball of the match, the last ball was negotiated safely much to the relief of Seeduwa Raddoluwa.The legspin of Sanka Ramesh Abeyruwan (match haul of 7 for 63) and fast bowling of Suresh Wickrema (match haul of 6 for 139) proved decisive but not quite.Moors SC held the strong Nondescripts CC to a draw at NCC grounds. Moors captain Chaturanga de Silva (97 and 41) and Yasoda Lanka (86 and 78) ensured Moors come out honourably despite NCC gaining a 104-run first innings lead.

Stewart Regan, the Yorkshire chief executive, will leave his post with the county to take up the CEO role at the Scottish Football Association (SFA)

Cricinfo staff28-Jul-2010Stewart Regan, the Yorkshire chief executive, will leave his post with the county to take up the CEO role at the Scottish Football Association (SFA).Regan has been with Yorkshire since 2006 and he leaves with the club facing a difficult financial future following the expensive ground redevelopments at Headingley and the poor turnout for the neutral Test between Pakistan and Australia last week.However, on the field the team have shown positive strides this season and currently sit top of the County Championship and Clydedales Bank 40 competition.”It has been a great honour and privilege to be chief executive of Yorkshire and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the club,” Regan said. “I will look back with pride at the progress we have made both on and off the field. In so many ways we have a great organisation with passionate supporters and I sincerely hope we can win some silverware this season to top it off.”Whilst we have experienced a difficult few months from a cashflow perspective we have some fantastic financial backers, not least our own chairman, Colin Graves and the club will survive and grow again.”Colin Graves added that the club won’t be seeking an immediate replacement for Regan and will assess their situation next year. “We will be sorry to see Stewart go but the position he has been offered is a huge opportunity for him and we all fully understand his decision to move on,” Graves said.”Much has been said of the club’s cashflow problems following last week’s neutral Test but that is a temporary blip,” Graves added. “We will recover and with the support of our partners continue to build for the future.”I have told my board colleagues that I intend to take the role of executive chairman for a period of at least six months after Stewart’s departure after which we will then decide on the most appropriate structure to manage the club going forward.”

Hampshire held their nerve to secure a gripping six-wicket victory and book their spot in the Friends Provident t20 final on their home ground.

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan at The Rose Bowl14-Aug-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAbdul Razzaq gave early impetus to Hampshire’s chase•Getty Images

Hampshire held their nerve to secure a gripping six-wicket victory and book their spot in the Friends Provident t20 final on their home ground. Michael Carberry, sprinting between the wickets, and Neil McKenzie closed out the run chase with four balls to spare after the innings had stuttered following an opening stand of 67 between Abdul Razzaq and Jimmy Adams.After Essex stumbled with the bat against Danny Briggs, the impressive 18-year-old left-arm spinner, they gave themselves a chance with a determined effort in the middle of the innings and fancied their chances when Hampshire needed 42 from four overs. However, Dwayne Bravo had a day to forget after being flown in purely for finals day.
After an opening spell that cost 21 runs he returned to use his death-bowling expertise but was dispatched for a four and six by Sean Ervine to swing the momentum back Hampshire’s way.In a fluctuating contest Bravo then struck back with a perfect yorker to remove Ervine but no sooner had Essex been given a lifeline then Chris Wright went for 12 in the 18th over before Bravo’s last went for a decisive 12 with a boundary apiece for Carberry and McKenzie.
Carberry then sealed the victory with a thumping straight drive as heavy lashed the ground.But despite Bravo’s poor match, Essex captain James Foster defending the short-term signing. “Unfortunately, you aren’t going to perform at your best every day,” he
said. “I still think it was the right move, but obviously it didn’t work out for
him.”We had Scott Styris [earlier in the season], so Bravo was a like-for-like
replacement. He is a class, class act. We are in finals day and he is a
proven performer at international level for the West Indies, Mumbai and Trinidad.”Razzaq and Adams, comfortably the tournament’s top-scorer, guided the early stages of the chase in confident style. After Bravo’s struggles Danish Kaneria was thumped for a straight six by his former Pakistan team-mate Razzaq and the chase threatened to become one-sided.However, Essex are a gusty team and didn’t give up. Razzaq was caught off a top edge as he tried to heave over the leg side then Kaneria had James Vince stumped, although James Foster didn’t have his best day having earlier missed a chance to dismiss Adams for 22. Ravi Bopara eventually removed Adams and the asking rate was climbing, but Hampshire held their nerve to show why Kevin Pietersen wasn’t required.”Our policy was whoever got us through to the semi-finals plays the final,” Dominic Cork said. “There would have been a selection dilemma if Michael Lumb was fit, but
that was the only one really.”The club, which includes myself, felt it was right that the young guys are
the guys that lead us out there. I can not praise these younger guys enough – they are a breath of fresh air.”Briggs was Hampshire’s star in the field and enhanced his reputation as one of the brightest spinning talents in England with 3 for 29 as Essex lost ground after Mark Pettini, who top-scored with 55, and Alastair Cook added 79 for the first wicket. Briggs struck a key blow when he had Bopara, moved down to No. 3 with Cook’s inclusion, caught behind off a bottom edge then had Ryan ten Doeschate caught at long-on before ending Pettini’s excellent 55 as the former captain heaved across the line.It took Briggs to 30 scalps, one behind the tournament’s top wicket-taker Alfonso Thomas, and Essex’s problems were compounded when Bravo was run out at the bowler’s end by a direct hit from Chris Wood at long-off.Cook had earlier been able to cast aside some of his stresses from Test cricket and batting with increasing freedom during his 22-ball innings. There were a couple of wild mows early in the innings, but when the bowlers dropped short he twice latched on with sixes over the leg side. He fell to delivery which should also have been dispatched when he managed to find short fine-leg with a clip off his hip. How much value it will have provided as Test preparation will only be known next week.

The T&T Cricket Board has arranged for Denesh Ramdin and Lendl Simmons to work on their batting under Gordon Greenidge

Cricinfo staff08-Sep-2010Denesh Ramdin, the Trinidad and Tobago wicketkeeper who was cut from the West Indies contract list, will get a chance to work on his batting flaws under the supervision of former West Indies opening batsman Gordon Greenidge.Ramdin lost his central contract following “less than favourable” performances over the past year, prompting the T&T board to arrange for him to work with Greenidge. Ramdin averaged 15.75 in Tests during 2010, over seven runs below his career average, and his performances weren’t up to the mark in the shorter versions either.T&T selector Rangy Nanan said Ramdin “needs some assistance at this point in time and they don’t want to forsake him. He has talent but something is not going right with his batting and the board thinks that he can play much better than what we are seeing at present.”Lendl Simmons, the aggressive opener who has fallen out of favour with the selectors, will also train under Greenidge. Simmons was one of West Indies’ most impressive performers in the 2009 World Twenty20, making 150 runs at 30.00 and taking six wickets. However, he was dumped for the 2010 edition, following the appointment of Ottis Gibson as coach, and has been overlooked for international duty and developmental A tours since then.

Ed Cowan and Travis Birt continued Tasmania’s undefeated run in the Ryobi Cup by setting up a 72-run victory over New South Wales, who were on top at the halfway mark

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ed Cowan’s unbeaten 131 set up Tasmania’s victory•Getty Images

Ed Cowan and Travis Birt continued Tasmania’s undefeated run in the Ryobi Cup by setting up a 72-run victory over New South Wales, who were on top at the halfway mark. In the second block, Cowan and Birt combined for a 172-run partnership that drove the Tigers to 286 for 7, before the spin of Jason Krejza and Xavier Doherty sank the Blues.New South Wales remained in the contest while Phil Jaques was at the crease but when he was trapped lbw by Doherty for 95, it sparked a collapse. The Blues lost their last seven wickets for 30 as Krejza spun the ball sharply and varied his pace to finish with 3 for 55, while Doherty was equally impressive with 3 for 35.It was a surprising turnaround after Jaques and Brad Haddin (56) earned a point for the Blues by taking them to 1 for 91 after the first block, well ahead of Tasmania’s 3 for 76. But the partnership between Cowan and Birt changed everything; Cowan anchored the innings with sensible strokeplay while Birt provided the muscle.Birt’s 87 from 62 balls featured five sixes and it took a classic Brett Lee yorker to halt his push for a hundred. Cowan was not prevented from reaching the mark, although he survived a strange incident on 74 when he was given caught behind off Stuart Clark and reprieved when Haddin said he was unsure if the ball had carried.Replays showed the catch was clean but the umpires are not permitted to refer such takes to the TV official, and it allowed Cowan to compile his highest one-day score. He finished unbeaten on 131 and saw the ball so well that in the final over he reverse-paddled a fullish Lee delivery to third man for a boundary.Tasmania, the defending champions, sit on top of the table with three wins from three games, proving themselves equally adept at the new split-innings format. New South Wales have won just one of their three matches.

South Africa stamped their authority firmly on their northern neighbours in the final ODI of Zimbabwe’s tour in Benoni, sealing a massive 272-run win – a record margin of victory for them

The Bulletin by Liam Brickhill in Benoni22-Oct-2010
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
JP Duminy’s highest ODI score set up South Africa’s 272-run win against Zimbabwe in the final ODI in Benoni•AFP

South Africa stamped their authority firmly on their northern neighbours in the final ODI of Zimbabwe’s tour in Benoni, sealing a massive 272-run win – a record margin of victory for them. On a day for records, South Africa first racked up a monstrous 399 for 6, Jean-Paul Duminy and AB de Villiers both racing to centuries in the course of a record-breaking 219-run stand for the third wicket as the runs flowed without cease. The cracks in Zimbabwe’s brittle attack had been in evidence on the unforgiving tracks in Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom, but the visitors’ bowlers finally crumbled completely, and their batting followed suit.Duminy and de Villiers’ partnership lasted 31.4 overs at just under seven-an-over as they shared ten fours and seven sixes, with no bowler spared before a tiring de Villiers finally departed for a 99-ball 109. Duminy added three further boundaries and had raced to 129, his highest ODI score, before he eventually fell with the score well past 300. Together they had surpassed the previous South African record for the third wicket, de Villiers and Zimbabwe also having been involved in the previous effort, and also made the third highest overall partnership for South Africa in one-dayers.Any hope that humid conditions at the start and patches of green on the wicket might assist the seamers had soon evaporated as Ian Nicolson – in just his second match in national colours – came in for some fearful punishment, his first two overs being spanked for 32. The treatment of his new-ball partner Shingirai Masakadza was not nearly as harsh, but captain Elton Chigumbura was still forced to turn to spin as early as the sixth over.The change brought immediate results, Prosper Utseya luring Graeme Smith out of his crease with a wonderfully flighted offspinner and Hashim Amla suffering his first failure of the series as a lifter on off stump from Shingirai Masakadza found a thin edge and South Africa were pegged back to 59 for 2 after an electric start.Zimbabwe were visibly lifted by the breakthroughs, but Duminy and de Villiers soon wrested the initiative back as they took up the offensive with great vim and vigour. Nicolson’s return to the attack was greeted with a volley of rifling strikes through the off side, and Graeme Cremer’s third over was spanked for 18 as the batsmen matched each other shot for shot in a race to fifty.Duminy got there first – from his 53rd ball – but de Villiers’ half-century took just one delivery longer and as their partnership developed the chance of a gettable total for the Zimbabweans began to evaporate. In a display of imperious, almost bored powerhitting, no bowler was spared.Hamilton Masakadza, the eighth bowler tried by a desperate Chigumbura, finally brought an end to the torment as de Villiers set himself to thrash a sixth six but a skewed top edge landed safely in the hands of the younger Masakadza, running in from the deep midwicket boundary. Duminy departed soon after, but the left-handed trio of Albie Morkel, David Miller and Colin Ingram prolonged the assault and took the score to the brink of 400.Zimbabwe’s chase was soon in ruins as their batsmen subsided on either side of a plucky 47-run stand between Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine. The seamers made the first incision as three wickets fell inside the first seven overs, and Johan Botha then struck twice in an over to tear the heart out of the middle order and Zimbabwe collapsed in a heap to 127 with more than 20 overs left.If Zimbabwe were to get anywhere near South Africa’s mountainous total, a positive start was vital but they were immediately on the back foot as Brendan Taylor upper-cut Lonwabo Tsotsobe into Rusty Theron’s waiting hands at third man with the score still in single figures. Hamilton Masakadza was not long in following him to the pavilion, splicing an attempted pull to give Theron his second catch at mid-on. Chamu Chibhabha briefly flattered to deceive, swiping a back-of-a-length delivery from Tsotsobe into the stands at deep cover and sending Morkel diving for cover with a rifling straight drive, but when he fell to a low catch by Amla at mid-off Zimbabwe slipped to a perilous 30 for 3.Taibu and Ervine were determined not to give up without something of a fight, and when they kick-started their partnership with five boundaries in the space of two overs it seemed Zimbabwe were still up for the challenge. But Botha’s introduction sealed both of their fates as his first delivery, a flighted offspinner, deceived Taibu and his sixth rushed between Ervine’s bat and pad to clean-bowl both batsmen.Immediately afterwards Zimbabwe slipped to 80 for 6, Chigumbura bowled by Theron off the inside edge, and an early finish to the evening appeared a foregone conclusion. Wayne Parnell knocked Keith Dabengwa off his feet with a pinpoint yorker, trapping the batsman lbw in the process, and then bullied Graeme Cremer into a top-edged pull to leave Zimbabwe staring at humiliation.Some determined resistance from Utseya, and a pair of massive sixes off the younger Masakadza’s bat, briefly kept that fate at bay but Theron’s return soon brought a swift end. More often than not, Zimbabwe have battled gamely with the bat on this tour, but faced with an impossible chase today they were back to their diabolical worst.

Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha have have taken a combined 13 wickets from the two Tests against New Zealand, but MS Dhoni is not too concerned

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2010Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha have struggled to pick up wickets over the last year, and have only managed 13 wickets between them in the first two Tests against New Zealand, but MS Dhoni has said he is not too concerned with their bowling form.”There is always a bit of pressure on him [Harbhajan] since Anil [Kumble] bhai retired. He has always to deal with the fact that he is the main spinner and is always supposed to take three or four wickets, if not five wickets, in every innings he plays. He has been part of the side 10 years now.”He is been bowling well, he hasn’t been lucky because quite a few catches have gone down. The important thing is he is bowling well; you can’t always get wickets. As long as you are bowling at right pace and line, at some point of time you will start taking wickets. If he continues to bowl the way he is, he will get wickets.”Harbhajan found some support from the opposition camp as well. “I have stated on a number of occasions that he is one of the guys that I really admire watching in world cricket,” Vettori said. “I think he is a fantastic spinner. He probably hasn’t got the results he would have wanted this series, but we are always very mindful of him because he has such a vast repertoire and he is a very good bowler, and he has proven himself for a number of years. So there is no way we will underestimate him.”In the ongoing series against New Zealand, Harbhajan has taken six wickets, including two tailenders, at an average of 50.83, and averages 41.19 from 11 games over the last 12 months. Ojha has taken seven wickets at 46.42 in the same series, and averages 42.51 from 10 Test matches over his career.Dhoni also said that Ojha’s job is to be economical and allow the other bowlers to attack. Ojha’s career economy rate is 2.84, and he has rarely operated, or been used, as a strike bowler. Often, he has gone over the stumps and bowled restrictive lines. “His role is to contain the batsmen,” Dhoni said. “The three other bowlers are our attacking bowlers, which means they will give a bit of runs. Ojha contains runs which means he will end up taking two or three wickets. He allows the other bowlers to bowl with attacking fields and is doing his job really well.”The Test pitches in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad were flat and Dhoni has already voiced his displeasure with them. He hoped that the track in Nagpur will offer a bit more for the spinners. “The pitch looks a bit dry but there is a bit of grass. We will have wait and see. I am hoping there will be turn and bounce. India is known more for its turning tracks but I haven’t seen such tracks in the past few Tests.”Dhoni ruled out the possibility of playing five bowlers. “That’s out of the picture. You might get some reverse swing here [Nagpur] but the conditions are not enough to play three seamers. We will go in with two seamers and two spinners. Suresh Raina will be the part-timer, and maybe Sachin [Tendulkar] now and then. We are protecting [Virender] Sehwag before the World Cup as he has some shoulder niggles. That will be our strategy.”

Tasmania comprehensively dominated the first day against Western Australia, where Mark Cosgrove almost made as many as the entire Warriors side

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2010
ScorecardMark Cosgrove finished unbeaten on 90•Getty Images

Tasmania comprehensively dominated the first day against Western Australia, where Mark Cosgrove almost made as many as the entire Warriors side. At stumps, Cosgrove was unbeaten on 90 with Alex Doolan on 48, as the Tigers moved on to 1 for 146 and extended their lead to 38 runs following their excellent bowling effort.James Faulkner skittled the Western Australia top order after George Bailey sent the visitors in, and Luke Butterworth also helped run through the Warriors, who were dismissed before lunch for 108. Marcus North, fresh from his Test axing, could only manage 2 before he was trapped lbw by Faulkner, who finished with 3 for 15.Faulkner had kicked off the chaos by throwing down the stumps in his follow through to have Wes Robinson run out for 9, and he soon got rid of Liam Davis, who top-edged a pull on 20, and Adam Voges caught behind first ball. The Warriors were lucky to even reach triple figures after crashing to 9 for 62; only a last-wicket stand between Ryan Duffield and Michael Hogan saved their blushes.It looked like Tasmania might struggle just as much when Hogan struck in the third over with Ed Cowan caught at slip for a duck, but Cosgrove and Doolan steadied proceedings. Michael Beer ended the day with 0 for 27 from eight overs after being released from the Test squad to get some overs under his belt.