Sussex openers Chris Nash and Ed Joyce took their four-day form into one-day cricket as their side crushed Derbyshire by eight wickets at Hove

15-May-2011
ScorecardSussex openers Chris Nash and Ed Joyce took their four-day form into one-day
cricket as their side crushed Derbyshire by eight wickets at Hove to go top of
Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A.The pair have already compiled four century stands in the County
Championship this season and they put on 161 in 26 overs as the Sharks made
light work of their target of 197 to make it three successive wins after they
had lost their opening game to today’s opponents a fortnight ago.Their partnership was a new county record against Derbyshire in one-day
matches, beating the 137 by Alan Wells and Martin Speight in 1990, and the
fourth highest stand for any Sussex wicket in List A cricket. Both scored freely against a toothless attack on a flat pitch and the only disappointment was that neither scored a century.Nash needed treatment after he was struck on the left hand by a bouncer from
Jon Clare and was on 78 when he mistimed a drive to mid-off off slow left-armer
Chesney Hughes. Joyce fell to Hughes for 90, which included 11 fours, when he holed out to deep midwicket but debutant Lou Vincent hit the next ball for six and Sussex wrapped
up victory with 9.5 overs to spare.Earlier, Derbyshire had collapsed badly after a fourth one-day half-century of
the season from Wes Durston appeared to have put them on course for an imposing
total. Left-armer Chris Liddle picked up openers Usman Khawaja and Hughes in
successive overs before Durston led the fightback by adding 48 in 11 overs with
Greg Smith.Naveed Arif was convinced he had run out Durston on five when he claimed to
have deflected Smith’s straight drive onto the stumps and on 28 he survived
another alarm when a pull dropped just short of the diving Nash at deep
midwicket.Smith, who was dropped by Vincent on 16, fell two balls later when he drove to
midwicket but Durston and Wayne Madsen played well in a punishing stand of 91
from 98 balls for the fourth wicket. The visitors took their batting powerplay in the 33rd over but then their innings started to unravel as five wickets fell for just six runs in 15 balls.Sussex skipper Mike Yardy had Madsen caught off a mistimed slog sweep and in
his next over Yardy struck with successive deliveries. Durston was deceived by a
change of pace and bowled for 85 off 103 balls, which included seven fours and a
straight six off Monty Panesar.Luke Sutton was leg before wicket to the next delivery and although Steffan
Jones blocked the hat-trick ball he holed out to long-on in the next over, the
second success for Rana Naved who had earlier yorked Jon Clare.Garry Park and Azeem Rafiq halted the collapse but on a true pitch a target of
197 was never going to seriously extend Sussex and so it proved.

Patrick Cummins has been ruled out of the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe due to a back injury

Daniel Brettig23-May-2011Patrick Cummins, the promising New South Wales pace bowler, has been ruled out of the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe due to a back injury. Though Cummins has avoided the more lasting problems of stress fractures, it is a further blow to Australian pace bowling stocks that have taken hit after hit over the past 18 months as a succession of young bowlers succumbed to ailments.The injury adds Cummins to a list that has included Josh Hazlewood, Ryan Harris, Ben Cutting, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle, Burt Cockley, Doug Bollinger, Mitchell Starc and Clint McKay. Following a debut season for the Blues in which he startled many batsmen with his sustained speed, bounce and movement, 18-year-old Cummins complained of discomfort in his lower back, and examinations showed up a strain.Greg Chappell, the national selector, said Cummins was still “two or three” years away from maturity as a bowler and a man, but did not rule out Australian duty for him in the intervening years.”We know that young bowlers are vulnerable until their bones mature. We’ll have to be very careful with him,” Chappell told . “The advice we were given was that it would probably be too early for him to go to Zimbabwe and give it another couple of months it gives him a chance to recover from the soreness and also start building that body up.”He’s going to need two or three really good pre-seasons in him before we could expect him to be at his full strength and fitness, but we also see him as someone we could possibly use in that intervening period, so we’ve got to give him the best opportunity to be right for the critical moments. Zimbabwe it wasn’t important that we try to rush him to get him for that.”We know he’s right there, he’s performed in first-class cricket, he’s done well at that higher level so he has the potential to go the whole distance. But as with Hazlewood, [James] Pattinson, Starc, we’re just going to have to be really conscious of that management process, albeit wanting to get as much bowling into them as they can so they gain experience and gain knowledge to help get them there faster.”Players and observers had marvelled at Cummins’ ability at such a young age to keep hurling the ball down in lengthier spells than the brief bursts he was permitted in Twenty20 cricket, impressing particularly in the last two Sheffield Shield matches of the season.Against Western Australia at the SCG he delivered one spell from around the wicket that seriously threatened the health of the two Warriors batsmen at the crease, while in the Shield final against Tasmania his fiery bursts were maintained over the course of a marathon bowling stint. Cummins’ tally of overs for the match was a gargantuan 65, 48 of those in the first innings when he returned the figures of 3 for 118.Brett Lee, who fought a lengthy battle with an elbow problem to be fit in time for this year’s World Cup, has said that fast bowlers should expect to get injured in their early years as part of learning how to manage their body.”It is about making sure that guys are looked after and understand too that it is such an unnatural action, and not be put in a class where they think you’ve got to be rested and can only bowl a certain amount of balls,” Lee said during the Indian Premier League. “Because you’ve got to be hardened as well for a fast bowler, you can’t be put in the nets and be told you can only bowl 30 balls for that week and then see you next week type of thing.”Your body and your bones have got to get used to that stress going through it. The old saying goes that through all the impact of bowling you get bone on bone and it creates a stronger platform to leverage off. If you haven’t got that, your bones are soft and you haven’t done the work, you can’t expect to go bowling in the SCG nets at 130kph twice a week, then go into a Test match and try to bowl 150 clicks for five days straight – the jump is massive.”It’s a massive catch-22 [situation] because you’ve got to do the work but you’ve also got to be fresh somehow. I don’t really know what the answer is but I think it comes down to the individual. As bowlers get older they definitely got to know their body a lot better. I certainly know now the stiffness that might be my legs, might be my elbow, might be my back, I just know its stiffness because I haven’t bowled for a week or because I’ve bowled for 10 overs flat-out, it’s been hot, it’s been humid, you’re dehydrated.”Cummins is on a modified training program as he recovers from the strain and hopes to join other scholars at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane later in the year. George Bailey, the Tasmania captain and leader of Australia A last winter, is also missing the tour due to his rehabilitation from surgery on his right shoulder

In a match studded with players returning to the international scene, it was Sri Lanka’s comeback stars who had, by far, the biggest influence on proceedings

Andrew McGlashan at Bristol25-Jun-2011For Sri Lanka the next three weeks is what their tour of England is really all about. They tried their best in the Tests, where the draws at Lord’s and the Rose Bowl were commendable results, but were never going to have a serious chance of winning with such a threadbare bowling attack. Limited-overs cricket, of both the 20- and 50-over variety, is a very different story and the performance at Bristol showed what makes them such a dangerous team in coloured clothes.In a match studded with players returning to the international scene, it was Sri Lanka’s comeback stars who had, by far, the biggest influence on proceedings. Lasith Malinga, no longer a Test cricketer due to his dodgy knees, led the way with a frugal four overs that cost 15 with few of England’s players able to lay a bat on him. Even those who could, such as the in-form Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan, only managed to take him for one boundary.Malinga has lost the highlights from his hair since last appearing for Sri Lanka at the World Cup, but none of the sparkle from his bowling. It’s a huge shame his body can’t withstand the longer format – especially having seen some of those who are trying to replace him in the Test team – but, in a factor often overlooked by those who curse the Test verses Twenty20 debate, the short game ensures he can still dazzle on the world stage.”With Lasith in your side it’s very easy because he is a world-class bowler,” Thilina Kandamby, the Sri Lanka captain, said. “I knew whenever he had a chance he would pick up wickets. He’s the best in the world in that role.”It wasn’t far off a perfect Twenty20 bowling display. Malinga’s first over, the last of the six-over Powerplay, cost just three runs to ensure England collected a disappointing 33 for 2 from the fielding restrictions. The last ball of that over was clocked at 90mph and with the ‘sling’ imparted by his action was comfortably the fastest England have faced this season.Stuart Broad knew Malinga’s four overs had played a major role in changing the game. “They have some very good death bowlers,” he said. “You only have to look at Malinga who is one of the best in the world and we didn’t find the boundaries we needed.”Malinga isn’t just about toe-crushing yorkers. He provided the key breakthrough by removing a rampant Morgan with a bouncer that was pulled to deep square-leg. Off his next 15 balls, a mixture of slower deliveries and others up at 90mph, just eight runs came from the bat and only one of those in the last over when Chris Woakes and Broad connected with nothing but fresh air. Nobody in the England side comes close to bowling yorkers so consistently.However, it wasn’t just Malinga who was important with the ball. Nuwan Kulasekara, not long ago the No. 1 bowler in one-day cricket, kept up early pressure and the subsequent stand of 83 in nine overs between Pietersen and Morgan was the only time Sri Lanka lost control. The man who helped restore their grip was their most controversial inclusion. Sanath Jayasuriya’s left-arm darts have not lost any effectiveness in his two years away from the international scene and as a farewell to Twenty20 internationals his 2 for 18 was a handy return.His skiddy angle defeated Pietersen’s cut and also bowled Ravi Bopara the ball after he’d hit the only boundary in the final eight overs. His effectiveness makes it even odder that he wasn’t willing to extend his international farewell for the duration of the one-day matches. As it is, the last England will see of Jayasuriya will be at The Oval on Tuesday. Malinga, though, will be around for longer and that is likely to give the home side more problems.

Billy Godleman hit a career-best 130 as Essex moved into a commanding position at the end of the third day of the County Championship match against Leicestershire at Grace Road

12-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Billy Godleman hit a career-best 130 as Essex moved into a commanding position at the end of the third day of the County Championship match against Leicestershire at Grace Road. Essex closed on 306 for 4 in their second innings to lead by 354 runs, leaving bottom of the table Leicestershire facing an uphill battle to save the game on the final day.Godleman and Tom Westley laid the foundations with an opening partnership of 104 and then Owais Shah hit an unbeaten 84, joining Godleman in another century stand for the second wicket.It completed a day totally dominated by Essex after seamer David Masters had claimed Leicestershire’s last three wickets in the morning session to finish with 5 for 67. The home side, who began the day on 245 for 7, were dismissed for 274 giving Essex a first-innings lead of 48.Masters made short work of the Leicestershire tail – having Claude Henderson caught at slip, trapping Tom New lbw and then dismissing last man Harry Gurney, who was caught behind by wicketkeeper James Foster.From that point on Essex took total charge as a lacklustre home attack failed to make any inroads into the visitors’ batting line-up. Godleman and Westley had cruised to a lunch score of 55 in the first 16 overs with very few alarms and soon after the interval Westley reached his half-century off 55 balls with nine boundaries.Westley was the dominant partner and when he and Godleman put on 100 it was the first century opening partnership for Essex for two years. But it was finally broken in the 34th over when Gurney breached Westley’s defences to bowl him as the batsman went onto the back foot. Westley was out for 67 off 95 balls having hit 11 fours.Shah then joined Godleman in another big stand with neither batsmen looking like being out against a toiling Leicestershire attack. Godleman reached his half-century off 139 balls and after the tea interval Essex looked to accelerate, with Nadeem Malik conceding 23 runs in his first three overs after the break.Shah, looking in confident form, went to his 50 off 76 balls and the next landmark was Godleman’s first century of the season, which arrived off 225 balls and contained 12 boundaries. He celebrated with a six off Jigar Naik but as Essex looked for quick runs in the closing overs the off-spinner claimed three quick wickets.He had Godleman lbw to end a stand of 177 off 43 overs, trapped Ravi Bopara lbw as he tried to sweep and then had Matt Walker caught at long on. But it was all too little, too late for Leicestershire, who now face a difficult final day as they try to save the game.

Cricket Kenya has awarded central contracts to three up-and-coming players

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2011Cricket Kenya has awarded central contracts to three up-and-coming players. Duncan Allan, Irfan Karim and Dominic Wesonga have each signed their first national contracts and will be part of the Kenya squad to travel to the Netherlands next week for the ICC Intercontinental Cup game and the two ODIs which follow.Allrounder Allan, aged 19, was recently named Player of the Tournament at the ICC Under-19 Global Qualifier in Ireland while wicketkeeper-batsman Karim, 18, recently scored a fine century against Indian tour team Andhra Pradesh. Dominica Wesonga, 23, appeared recently against the UAE in the Intercontinental Cup and has been training with the national squad in recent months.”These three players fully deserve their contracts on the back of some impressive performances,” board chief executive Tom Sears said.” Just as important is their desire and commitment to improve as cricketers and willingness to learn and embrace what the responsibilities of having a National contract involve.”Duncan and Irfan will be studying overseas but both are at excellent universities with outstanding cricket programmes and national coach Mike Hesson will be liaising with them and their coaches closely to monitor their progress and ensure they are available for key dates when they will be needed for Kenya.”

Kris Srikkanth, India’s chief of selectors, has described India’s tour of England as a “bad dream” and said it is time for the team to move ahead

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Sep-2011Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of India’s selection panel, has described India’s winless tour of England as a “bad dream” and said the team needed to move ahead and focus on upcoming series, including the tour to Australia that begins in December”Australia is the next target,” Srikkanth told the . “We have a couple of home series [against England and West Indies] before that and from those matches we’ll try and pick the best possible combination for Australia. We have to make up for the loss in England.”Srikkanth, whose tenure was extended by the BCCI at the AGM on September 19, welcomed the appointment of Mohinder Amarnath to the selection panel as the North Zone representative. “Jimmy [Amarnath] is going to add a lot of value,” he said. “We are delighted to have him around us. He comes across as someone who has plenty of cricket experience and that will help us in selection matters.”India were beaten 0-4 in the Test series in England, 0-3 in the five-match ODI series and lost the solitary Twenty20 as well. Srikkanth said the team’s performance was the “worst” during his tenure as selector. “It happens and we have to be patient with the team,” he said. “We have to take corrective measures to ensure that things fall in place. You can’t forget all the good things that happened before the England series.”We won the World Cup and our cricketers didn’t get time to soak in the celebration. Prior to that, we have done well in different conditions. This is a testing time for Indian cricket and we need to try out different things to ensure that we are able to come back with a bang.”Srikkanth said that while England were clearly the “best side” and India were “outplayed in every department”, a number of fitness issues had compounded the team’s problems. The way the youngsters performed, Srikkanth said, was one of the positives to emerge from the tour.”In my opinion, the youngsters fought well in the series. All the matches were affected by rain and the D/L method,” he said. “Plus there were a few injuries as well. What can someone do if Rohit Sharma breaks his finger off the very first ball he faces? You can’t really control injuries. Now we have to move on and the next big challenge is to play to our full strength against England at home.”

The former England fast bowler, Graham Dilley, has died aged 52 after a short illness

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2011The former England fast bowler, Graham Dilley, has died aged 52 after a short illness.One of the quickest bowlers of his generation, with a memorable surge to the crease, Dilley took 138 Test wickets at 29.78 for his country but his best-remembered contribution to the England cause came with the bat – he made 56 supporting Ian Botham in a 117-run partnership which helped England to a famous Ashes Test win over Australia at Headingley in 1981.In a ten-year international career, Dilley played in 41 Tests and 36 ODIs. Remarkably, he finished on the winning side in just two of those Test appearances, but in an era of limited success for the England team, those two victories were among the most loudly acclaimed of the decade – in addition to Headingley, he also played a key role in the first Test of the 1986-87 Ashes triumph, at Brisbane, where his first-innings figures of 5 for 68 condemned Australia to the follow-on.In the entirety of his first-class career, Dilley claimed 648 wickets at 26.84 for Kent, Worcestershire, England and Natal, although his highlight was arguably the role he played in spearheading Worcestershire’s back-to-back County Championship title-winning sides in 1987 and 1988.”I had a lot of great times with him,” Botham told Sky Sports News. “He had a good sense of humour and always wanted to be a part of the party. He was quiet and reserved until you got to know him. It’s a very sad day. We both joined Worcestershire at the same time together, almost within minutes. We had a great run of about six trophies in five years.”Dilley’s international career was curtailed in 1989 by his decision to join Mike Gatting’s rebel tour of South Africa, but by that stage his jolting delivery stride had already taken a heavy toil on his knees. In his later years, he was troubled by osteo-arthritis, and he retired in 1992.In the immediate aftermath of retirement, Dilley suffered financial problems, but found a new lease of life after moving into coaching. He enjoyed spells as an assistant coach with England and then bowling coach to the England women’s team, before taking up a position as head cricket coach at Loughborough University. One of his pupils there was Monty Panesar, “So sad to hear my Uni coach passed away,” Panesar tweeted. “Great man and top coach. [He] did a lot for me.”A delighted Dilley when he made it two out of two by claiming the wickets of Gordon Greenidge and Faoud Bacchus off successive balls at Old Trafford in 1980•PA Photos

ECB chief executive David Collier said: “Graham made a life-long contribution to the game of cricket at all levels and we are deeply saddened by the sad news this morning. He will be fondly remembered for his contributions both as a player and a coach.”Graham inspired many young cricketers through the University programme and was a highly respected coach to our representative teams. Few will forget his contribution during the historic Ashes win at Headingley in 1981 and the part he played in two Ashes series victories. Graham will be sadly missed by all his friends throughout cricket and ECB sends our deepest condolences to Graham’s family. ‘Hugh Morris, the managing director of the England team said: “This is very sad news for Graham’s many friends and colleagues in cricket both in this country and overseas. As well as being a bowler of the highest class, Graham made an immense contribution to our game as a coach and his ability to impart his knowledge and wisdom to future generations of young cricketers will be sorely missed. “

Shane Warne is expected to make a decision next week on which Big Bash League to play for, and Cricket Australia will contribute a marketing bonus to encourage him out of retirement

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2011Shane Warne is expected to make a decision next week on which Big Bash League to play for, and Cricket Australia will contribute a marketing bonus to encourage him out of retirement. Warne said last month that he was “definitely going to play a few games” but he had not yet decided for which team, with his hometown sides the Melbourne Stars and the Renegades the likely options.The reported that Cricket Australia was so keen to entice Warne, 42, to play that it would kick in a cash allowance on top of the salary cap, believed to be less than $50,000, to market the new eight-team BBL. Mike McKenna, CA’s Big Bash project owner, told the paper Warne would be considered a terrific asset for the new tournament.”We made that offer to all the teams of an amount of money in exchange for him doing things like making appearances for us,” McKenna said. “He is an asset, he will excite people across the league not just the team he plays for. Coming out of retirement would make it extra special.”If Warne is keen to return to the MCG, the Stars would be his best option, and the team’s CEO, Clint Cooper, said the organisation was doing everything it could to secure his services. The Docklands-based Renegades are Warne’s other Melbourne option, and while teams in other cities would be keen to sign Warne, it is expected he would choose to play in Melbourne, where his children live.Warne has not played elite cricket in Australia since he retired from Test cricket in January 2007, when Australia whitewashed Andrew Flintoff’s England side in a memorable Ashes series. However, he has continued to play Twenty20 and retired from the IPL earlier this year.

Shaun Marsh has been ruled out of the second Test against South Africa and has been replaced in Australia’s squad by David Warner

Brydon Coverdale in Cape Town13-Nov-2011Shaun Marsh has been ruled out of the second Test against South Africa and has been replaced in Australia’s squad by David Warner. Marsh struggled with a back injury during Australia’s humiliating loss in Cape Town, where he suffered the problem while running between the wickets during his first innings of 44.Warner will join the tour on Monday ahead of the Johannesburg Test, which starts on Thursday, but Usman Khawaja, who is already with the squad, is the likely candidate to replace Marsh at No.3. Cricket Australia confirmed Marsh would fly home after he showed only slow improvement from his back problem.The injury was so troubling for Marsh that on the second day in Cape Town he was at the team hotel and was not expected to take the field at all. But he refused to stay on the sidelines as Australia collapsed and he batted at No.10, although he was clearly hampered as he walked out to the crease.”He was in considerable pain and was obviously restricted while batting in the second innings,” Alex Kountouris, the team physio, said. He is slowly improving but will return to Australia for further investigation and treatment as he will not recover in time to play the second Test in Johannesburg.”The loss of Marsh is a significant one for Australia after their capitulation for 47 in the second innings at Newlands. Although he has played only three Tests, Marsh has been one of the team’s most in-form batsmen, scoring a century on debut in Sri Lanka followed by 81 in his second Test and a pair of half-centuries in Australia’s tour match in Potchefstroom.His absence will be felt, with senior players including Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson struggling for form. Warner scored 148 in last week’s Sheffield Shield match against South Australia and has been in irresistible form this year, but it would still take a brave selection panel to include him at the expense of one of the existing squad members.”David has been in tremendous form for New South Wales in all forms of the game including a recent century for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield competition,” Andrew Hilditch, the outgoing chairman of selectors, said. “We are certain that should the opportunity present itself he will be ready to perform at Test level.”Australia were due to train at Newlands on Sunday but rain in Cape Town was complicating their plans. The squad flies to Johannesburg on Monday.

The Division One final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s first-class tournament, will be played with a pink ball, under floodlights, the Pakistan Cricket Board has said

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2011The Division One final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s first-class tournament, will be played with a pink ball, under floodlights, the Pakistan Cricket Board has said. The final of last year’s tournament was also held under floodlights but was played with an orange ball.Last year, the two teams in the final, Habib Bank Limited and Pakistan International Airlines, practised with both an orange and pink ball before the match. The decision to play with the orange ball was made after receiving inputs from both teams.This year, however, the PCB has decided to use the pink ball in the final, which will be played from December 20-24 at the National Stadium in Karachi, after receiving advice from the ICC.The QEA final will become part of ongoing trials to determine whether Test match cricket can be played under lights, and what ball will be most suited to a day-night Test match. Earlier this year a County Championship match between Kent and Glamorgan at Canterbury was played with a pink ball. The MCC versus Champion County match, which has been staged in Abu Dhabi for the last two seasons, has also been played under floodlights with the pink ball and the 2012 edition will be played under the same conditions.