Shahid Afridi has been banned for two Twenty20 internationals after being found guilty of ball-tampering during Pakistan’s two-wicket loss to Australia at the WACA in Perth

Cricinfo staff31-Jan-2010Shahid Afridi
has been banned for two Twenty20 internationals after being found guilty of ball-tampering during Pakistan’s two-wicket loss to Australia in the ODI at the WACA. Afridi, Pakistan’s captain in Twenty20 cricket, was charged with an article 2.2.9 offence of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to “changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket”.Afridi, leading Pakistan in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf, was caught by TV cameras apparently biting the ball on a couple of occasions. This was reported to the on-field umpires by the TV umpire and, after a chat with Afridi, the umpires changed the ball.Afridi was called into a hearing with the match referee Ranjan Madugalle immediately after the match. Madugalle said Afridi pleaded guilty to the charge, apologised and regretted his action.In later public comments, Afridi admitted to tampering the ball but added the practice was common among all teams. “I shouldn’t have done it. It just happened. I was trying to help my bowlers and win a match, one match,” he told , a Pakistan-based news channel. “There is no team in the world that doesn’t tamper with the ball. My methods were wrong. I am embarrassed, I shouldn’t have done it. I just wanted to win us a game but this was the wrong way to do it.”Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan coach, said: “It’s unacceptable. It shouldn’t have happened but it happened and I feel sorry for him. Being a captain you should be above everything but unfortunately it’s happened.”The punishment poses a quandary for Pakistan, who end their tour of Australia with a Twenty20 in Melbourne on Friday. Yousuf, who captained Pakistan in Tests and ODIs, is not part of the Twenty20 squad and Younis Khan, who was captain before the tour of New Zealand which preceded this one, has retired from the format. Shoaib Malik, who was captain in all three formats this time last year, might be one of those in the running to take charge. Afridi will also now miss the first Twenty20 against England in Abu Dhabi in February.Another candidate is Kamran Akmal, the Pakistan wicketkeeper and vice-captain. However, his own form with the gloves has been poor. He was dropped for the third Test in Hobart, following a debacle in the previous Test in Sydney, where he dropped Michael Hussey thrice to give Australia a chance to sneak back into the match and eventually beat Pakistan by 36 runs.Afridi’s conduct was part of a bizarre finale to the game, which sealed a 5-0 win for Australia. Opener Khalid Latif was tackled by a fan who broke through the security cordon and ran on to the field. Police have spoken to Latif, who is not thought to be seriously injured. But action is likely to be taken against the spectator and Pakistan’s management will also look at the incident in further detail.”I thought it was disgraceful,” Australian seamer Clint McKay said. “Something you don’t want to see ever. For someone to go out there and to touch one of their players is not on. Hopefully it all gets put to bed and he gets a right whack. It’s probably the worst thing that can happen on a cricket field, so hopefully it gets stamped out and we don’t see it again.”

Ricky Ponting doesn’t bury himself in statistics but he knew he hadn’t scored a one-day hundred at the Gabba. He has one now after his 106 provided the platform for a 3-0 series victory over West Indies

Peter English at the Gabba14-Feb-2010Ricky Ponting doesn’t bury himself in statistics but he knew he hadn’t scored a one-day hundred at the Gabba. He has one now after his 106 provided the platform for a ground-record score of 7 for 324 that set up a 3-0 series victory over West Indies.It was Chris Gayle’s men who started a testing summer for Ponting, but over the past eight days he has scored 49, 57, 22 and 106 against them to return to something approaching peak form. “I have been working pretty hard with the coaching staff on a few little things and I have probably had a few better situations to bat in as well lately,” Ponting said. “I have been in a little earlier and it has freed me to play a few shots against the new ball, which I always enjoy doing. I have also been able to get off to some reasonable starts with my scoring rate which generally makes things a little easier.”Ponting told his players before the game not to let an opportunity slip to post a big score and they followed the message on the way to a one-sided, 50-run victory. “To bat first and post that sort of a total – the highest total ever at the Gabba – that is really satisfying and is a great reward and great result for the team,” he said. “We were a little disappointed with our batting as a group in Sydney and a couple of games before that we have been in good situations and not capitalised. But I thought we were terrific today.”The result was basically sealed when Gayle departed in the seventh over, but Narsingh Deonarine, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith reached half-centuries as the game wound down. In the Test series, West Indies lost 2-0 while performing strongly over extended periods, but this result reflects the quality of the unit, which is missing seven of its main men.”We’re disappointed we lost the series 3-0 so far,” Gayle said. “We’re up against a top team, a good all-round team, and we test ourselves as players and characters. It’s a learning experience for them.”Gayle expected Australia to come back hard after they were held to 225 in Friday’s washout and realised in the early stages that his side was in trouble. “We knew they were going to do their homework after the last game in Sydney, they were in a bit of a negative zone, and they wanted to show from ball one,” he said. “Shane Watson got off to a flyer and Ricky played a beautiful innings in getting a hundred. They set the tone for a decent total and we were asking for trouble given they started so well.”

Plays of the Day from the match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at the Brabourne Stadium

Cricinfo staff25-Mar-2010Harbhajan v Hayden
Matthew Hayden came out with the larger Mongoose, slapped four consecutive boundaries off Zaheer Khan’s first over, and threatened to impose himself. So Sachin Tendulkar made a smart move by bringing a spinner into the attack. Not just any spinner, but Harbhajan Singh, who had previous with Hayden all through the noughties. After seeing out a wide and missing the next ball, Hayden tried to push at the third with bat slightly behind pad. Harbhajan had slipped in the quicker one and had his man in front of off stump. He was off on his trademark victory dash in a flash.Tendulkar does a Laxman
It’s been painful to watch during the IPL: an artist forgoing his brilliance and resorting to ungainly methods to score. VVS Laxman’s done it and today Tendulkar joined the list. He attempted a wild swing against a short ball from L Balaji, which climbed over his head, and did not connect with the hook. It wasn’t pretty. Incidentally, he got out playing a similar slog against the same bowler later in the innings.Joginder forgets his field
Six men patrolled the off side, five in the circle and a third man. But Joginder Sharma, in his first over, kept pitching on Shikhar Dhawan’s pads and the batsman took advantage, hitting three fours in four balls to midwicket and square leg.Ball of the match
Having bowled five ordinary balls, including a wide, in his first over, Joginder made amends with the ball of the match. The outswinger started on middle stump before swerving slightly outside off, just enough to beat Tendulkar. He had lined up for a pre-mediated wristy flick to midwicket but was eventually squared up.Thissara’s wake-up call
With 48 runs needed off the last five overs, Chennai were looking to force the pace Joginder had been hit for 23 off his first two overs and MS Dhoni decided to give the IPL debutant Thissara Perera a bowl. Perera was unaware that his captain was waving animatedly at him and the move eventually backfired. He delivered a succession of friendly full tosses and leaked 19 runs.

Afghanistan have named their squad for the World Twenty20 which starts at the end of April, with Shabir Noori and Sayed Nasrat coming inclusion at the expense of Aftab Alam the only changes from the 14-strong squad that won the qualifying tournament in F

Cricinfo staff01-Apr-2010Afghanistan have named their 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 which starts at the end of April, with Shabir Noori and Sayed Nasrat’s inclusion at the expense of Aftab Alam, the only changes from the 14-strong squad that won the qualifying tournament in February.Afghanistan enter their first global tournament in Group C, alongside South Africa and India but are buoyed by a recent a run of success that saw them win the qualifier and chase down 494 to beat Canada in the Intercontinental Cup.Afghanistan squad Nawroz Mangal (captain), Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Rais Ahmadzai, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Mohammad Shahzad, Hamid Hassan, Samiullah Shinwari, Noor Ali, Asghar Stanikzai, Shahpoor Zadran, Shabir Noori, Sayed Nasrat, Shafiq Shafaq.

David Payne served up the best-ever figures by a Gloucestershire bowler in
Limited-overs cricket but still finished on the losing side in their CB40 match with Essex at Chelmsford

09-May-2010Essex 267 beat Gloucestershire 225 by 42 runs

ScorecardDavid Payne served up the best-ever figures by a Gloucestershire bowler in
Limited-overs cricket but still finished on the losing side in their CB40 match with Essex at Chelmsford.Payne, a 19-year-old left-arm paceman, claimed 7 for 29, including four wickets in as many balls, but was unable to prevent a 42-run defeat.
Thanks to a superb 116 by Grant Flower and a swashbuckling 84 from Ryan ten
Doeschate, Essex posted 267 all out, to which the visitors responded with 225 in 37.3 overs.Essex lost their last five wickets in a remarkable 40th over bowled by Payne. He took wickets with the first four deliveries, including that of Flower who was caught on the long-off boundary after collecting 11 fours and one six in his 103-ball effort. Chris Marshall was then run out from the last ball of the innings.Having got rid of Ten Doeschate and Graham Napier in his previous over, it
meant that Payne had picked up six wickets in the space of eight deliveries. But his efforts were to go unrewarded because of the magnificent partnership between Flower and Ten Doeschate who came together following the dismissal of Alastair Cook for 37.His departure came in the 20th over at which point Gloucestershire looked
firmly in control. But the fourth-wicket pair were to take the initiative away from the visitors with a stand of 166 in 18 overs.Ten Doeschate was especially ruthless as he plundered 84 from 53 balls. It was a contribution that contained nine fours and two sixes and was brought to an end when he was caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty.By then the 39-year-old Flower had completed his second successive CB40 century at Chelmsford as he again confirmed what a superb batsman he
still is in the one-day game.Gloucestershire were soon in trouble when they replied, losing Batty and James Franklin in the first couple of overs. William Porterfield and Hamish Marshall revived them with a partnership of 81 in a dozen overs but never really looked a dominating force.Both were dismissed by left-arm spinner Tim Phillips, Porterfield departing for 65 from 64 balls when he put up a simple return catch after striking nine boundaries. After that, Gloucestershire’s challenge faded, despite an
aggressive innings from Steve Snell. He struck a belligerent 57 from 42 deliveries before he was last out, but he was never able to mount a serious threat to Essex’s imposing total.

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.