All posts by csb10.top

Dean Park:
Dorset 339 & 101 (S Rintoul 57, C Shreck 5 for 60)
Cornwall 300 (G Edwards 63, B Price 65) & 4-0South Wilts
Devon 368-8 & 173-6
Wilts 228-8d (MJ Glassman 54)Luctonians:
Herefordshire 291-9
Cheshire 264-8Grantham:
Lincs 375-7d
Buckinghamshire 165 & 41-2Welwyn Garden City:
Cambridgeshire 297 & 76-3
Hertfordshire 247-9 (SG Cordingley 60, P Such 6-75)Lamphey:
Minor Counties Wales 273 (NA Denning 8-66)
Berkshire 13-1Tamworth:
Bedfordshire 364-5 (Shankar 104, D J Roberts 80, J A Knott 62)
Staffordshire 172-8 (M W Patterson 5-41)

After the demoralising Test defeat at Lord’s, I expected India tocome out fighting at Trent Bridge. Regaining lost pride issomething that Sourav Ganguly must have deeply desired. Butdespite rain washing out almost a day’s play, India almost contrivedto lose the match.

Ganguly’s decision to bat first in conditions favouring swingbowling showed the amount of trust he has in the inexperiencedIndian seam attack.Matthew Hoggard relishes bowling in such circumstances and he was soon making the Indian batsmen dance to his tunes. The prodigious movement that heextracted from the pitch and those wonderful outswingers provedwhy he has strong claims to being the best swing bowler in worldcricket today.Moving on, the manner in which Wasim Jaffer got out, playing awayfrom the body to drag the ball back onto the stumps, is preciselywhat every opening batsman must avoid. Granted that Jaffer’stechnique has a major flaw but even more annoying is his lack ofwill to survive. In comparison, a great opening batsman likeSunil Gavaskar always had both the technique and will to survive. simply hated to lose, and it is precisely this attitude thatthe present cricket team should try to acquire – the sooner, thebetter.One other Indian cricketer whose name and deeds should beremembered by every Indian player is Mohinder Amarnath. was a born fighter; his performances during the greattours of Pakistan and West Indies while making a comeback to thenational side are now part of our cricketing folklore. I do notknow how many people remember the fact that he was the Man of theMatch of the World Cup final in 1983. But, before that famousWorld Cup, amassed runs in Tests against Pakistan and WestIndies – against what should only be called as top-class bowling.Imran Khan was in his prime and so were the Windies pace battery.Why I am mentioning these heroes of yesteryears is because Iwould like the current crop of players to look back andunderstand the legacy these great players left behind. It hurt those great men to lose a Test match – it hurt their pride and they foughthard. I expect our current players too to show the same fierce desire to do well everytime they step out on to the field.Returning to the match, the Indian batsmen, after their dismalperformance at Lord’s, showed greater commitment at Trent Bridge.To score 350-odd runs in the first innings in not-so-suitablebatting conditions is indeed an achievement. The resolve theyshowed in the second innings to save the Test match wasparticularly laudable. I am glad that Sourav Ganguly, RahulDravid and Sachin Tendulkar fought hard to avoid defeat. A drawis far worthier than meek surrender. Now that they have survived,India can plan and play for a win.The Achilles heel of all touring Indian sides up to now has been theirfragile batting against the opposing pace attacks. AtTrent Bridge, however, the willow-wielders were not to be blamed. If there was any let down in the second Test, it came in the failure of the pace bowling attack of Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Agarkar. They were most disappointing in favourable conditions.It shocks me that someone like Agarkar who has the ability to swing the ball couldn’t do anything at Trent Bridge. The two left-arm bowlers were also a big let down, bowling too short and never at full pace. It is not the kind of effort that you expect to see from an Indian player; you need guys who are willing to give more than 100%. It is appalling that they allowed Craig White and Hoggard to add 103 runs for the ninth wicket.

Harbhajan Singh, for his part, had an opportunity to prove that he is the numberone spin bowler in the country. His line and length, though, wasa huge disappointment. I would be surprised if he is played aheadof Anil Kumble in the next Test match – that is if indeed Indiadecide to play a spinner at Headingley.I still have hope for this Indian team. Look at the spirit ofsomeone as young as Parthiv Patel. The kid has loads of talentand I hope that the team management persists with him. He has alsoshown enough skill with the gloves to prove that he is worthy ofhis place in the team. And if there was any doubt about hisbatting skills, watching the last one-hour of the Test match wassimply good enough. Now, if only the bowlers showed the samelevel of application and commitment.

Dynamic all-rounder Ian Hewett and rookie fast bowler Rob Cassell have been included in the Bushrangers squad to take on the Queensland Bulls in Friday’s Pura Cup clash at the MCG. Prahran leg-spinner Bryce McGain was also included, whilst Mathew Inness has been left out after sustaining a torn hamstring against Tasmania.A squad of 15 has been named as precautionary measure, due to the injury concerns of pace trio Shane Harwood, Ian Harvey and Mick Lewis. Harwood suffered back soreness following last week’s Pura Cup match against Tasmania, whilst Harvey reported lower back and hamstring soreness after the ING Cup match against the same side. Lewis strained his groin in the opening Pura Cup match against the Southern Redbacks.Hewett 26, has played three matches previously in the Pura Cup, whilst Cassell 19, will make his first-class debut if selected.Bushrangers Coach David Hookes said the selectors would cull the squad after tomorrow’s final training session. “We’ll have a light session tomorrow and talk to the boys that pulled up sore from last weekend’s matches and assess their condition accordingly. At this stage I’m confident that they will be ok, but if not I think that Ian Hewett and Rob Cassell are two promising young players that will acquit themselves very well”.BUSHRANGERS
Darren Berry (c), Jason Arnberger, Will Carr, Rob Cassell, Matthew Elliott, Ian Harvey, Shane Harwood, Ian Hewett, Brad Hodge, Nick Jewell, Mick Lewis, Bryce McGain, Jon Moss, Graeme Rummans, Cameron WhiteMATCH DETAILS
Victorian Bushrangers v Queensland Bulls
Date: Friday, November 8 – Monday November 11
Time: 11.00am – 6.00pm

Tony Middleton will be strapping on his pads for the first time in almost five years when he leads the new Hampshire Academy XI into Southern Electric Premier League action against Division 2 rivals Sparsholt on the Rose Bowl Nursery ground on Saturday, 1pm.But Middleton, who scored over 5,000 First Class runs for Hampshire prior to his retirement in 1995, plans to bat well down the order and allow his young, relatively inexperienced charges do the hard work.Ian Brunnschweiler, James Schofield and off-spinner Irfan Shah are the three full-time professionals in Middleton’s team, which has seven teenagers, including 15-year old Peter Hammond, from Sarisbury Athletic.Ironically Middleton’s rival captain will be his old adversary, Rob Savage, who is to take charge of Sparsholt this summer.”Rob and I go back a long way – to the days when we both played in the Southern League’s Under-25 side – but it’s ages since we played against each other,” Middleton chuckled.Former Hambledon batsman Archie Norris makes his debut for newly promoted Winchester KS, who face a tough opener against United Services at Burnaby Road. But Sussex pace bowler Billy Taylor, on current duty in the Benson & Hedges Cup zonal matches, is not expected to play against a reshaped US side.Lymington’s Western Australian all-round import Aaron Heal plays under new skipper Danny Peacock in the demanding visit to Hungerford, who were relegated last season.Hampshire’s Jason Laney will open for Hungerford, who have also snapped up former Sussex wicketkeeper Nick Wilton. Also playing for the former Southern League champions will be ex-Bournemouth seam bowler Paul Warren and left-hander Steve Wyatt, who has returned to the Berskhire club after a short stay at nearby Falkland.It’s very much as you were for Old Tauntonians & Romsey, whose 2002 make-up shows little change, except as skipper Stuart Tulk puts it : “We’re all another year older.”OTs host newly promoted Rowledge, who grabbed the Division 3 runners-up spot behind Winchester last season after ten straight wins.But skipper Dave Booton is worried that university commitments may seriously weaken an initial Rowledge challenge at the higher level.”We’ve got five or six lads away for the college term and they won’t be back until mid-June,” he explained.Trojans go into the potentially ‘spikey’ clash with Easton & Martyr Worthy minus knee injury victim Giles Lancaster, whose run contribution will be sorely missed this summer. But Lancaster plans to give skipper Simon Williams some technical backing from the sidelines.”I’ll be bringing my lap top along to the games and doing an few analytical things for the lads, which should help out.”I can’t see myself playing for some time. I’ve virtually had my knee rebuilt, Lancaster explained.Easton, who face a Wadworth 6X Village Championship replay against Flamingo at Cockets Mead on Sunday, parade Australian newcomer Francis Gilly.

BRISBANE – Captain Ricky Ponting says Australia’s batsmen must find away to defuse the likes of Shoaib Akhtar to prevent one bad day fromruining their World Cup defence next year.Shoaib reminded the Australians their World Cup in Africa could unravelin just a few overs during a lightning spell for Pakistan at the Gabbalast night.He claimed 5-25 from eight overs, enabling Pakistan to cruise to a91-run victory in the deciding match of the Super Challenge series.Ponting was the first of Shoaib’s victims, skittled by a blisteringinswinger, and the Rawalpindi Express claimed Damien Martyn and DarrenLehmann with his next nine balls.Australia opens its World Cup defence against Pakistan on February 11 inJohannesburg – a renowned fast bowlers’ playground because of thealtitude.”He bowled well, he bowled quick and he got them in the right areas,”Ponting said.”When you’re bowling 150km/hour and swinging the ball you’re alwaysgoing to be hard to play.”But we’ve got to find a way to combat that when the World Cup comesaround. We have to identify when someone is bowling well and get throughthose tough times.”We couldn’t do that this time and he ripped the heart out of ourinnings.”Australia’s batsmen were disappointing in the last two matches againstPakistan, folding for 167 and 165 against some pinpoint bowling.Australia’s bowling also had its patchy moments, the home team conceding87 runs from the final 10 overs last night.”We have a few areas we need to address and everyone as individuals hasto improve a fair bit before the next time we play,” Ponting said.”But I don’t think it’s a bad thing that we’ve lost. It’s going to be agood wake-up call to all of us.”When the World Cup comes along we can’t afford to have one game likewe’ve had over the last two games.”We’re losing wickets in patches as well and we haven’t got partnershipsat the top of the order and that’s something we need when the World Cupcomes around.”We’ll give the guys a bit of time to think about it and hopefully goaway and improve their games.”Australian selectors will also think about the all-rounder role becauseyoung Tasmanian Shane Watson didn’t nail the position against Pakistan.Watson was the sole all-rounder in the squad after selectors overlookedAndrew Symonds and Ian Harvey, but he conceded 0-46 from five overs lastnight.The 21-year-old has a mediocre economy rate of 5.49 runs per over fromhis first seven one-day internationals.”He struggled in the last game but the previous two games I thought hedid a pretty good job for us,” Ponting said.”He’s got some improvement to do with the ball, there’s no doubt aboutthat, and his batting is getting there as well.”There are a few areas in his game that he wants to improve on and he’llgo away and do that because he’s a very hard worker and has a greatattitude.”I’m sure he’ll come back a better player next time.”The Australians left for their homes or to English county teams today,awaiting news on their proposed upcoming series against Pakistan.

With a 5-1 lead and one eye on the plane home, South Africa’s cricketers could be excused for taking preparations for the seventh and final one-day international against the West Indies a little easy. In fact, they have the perfect excuse – none of their training kit had arrived on the island by Monday night and practice was set to be little more than a chance for the players to familiarise themselves with the Arnos Vale ground and have perhaps the final touch rugby game of the tour.No matter how low key the preparations, the game will have particular significance for one member of the squad. On Wednesday, Jonty Rhodes will become the first South African to play in 200 One-Day Internationals.”I haven’t been big into milestones and statistics in my career and may be that’s a fault of mine,” Rhodes said as he relaxed on the beach outside the team hotel. “Maybe I wouldn’t have been left out of the Test side for a season and a half if I had a higher average.”Especially with a guy like Hansie around who was always going to play every game, it wasn’t as if I was ever going to be the most capped player. 200 was never really a milestone, the next World Cup is my goal. But there are 25 year-olds in the team who have already played 120 or 140 games – they’ll be playing 250 or 300, so it’s not that big a deal. I’m just grateful to have played 2, let alone 200.”I always thought through the years of sports isolation that I would end up like a Clive Rice or a Jimmy Cook or a Peter Kirsten, just playing county cricket and that was the extent of your international exposure,” Rhodes said.Rhodes admits his decision to retire from Test cricket has added an extra burden of pressure to perform when he pulls on his international colours these days. But if there were any doubts at all of the extra dimension he adds to the South Africa team, he has emphatically erased them since joining the tour in Jamaica a month ago.He is averaging comfortably over 50 with the bat and his standards in the field remain the highest in the world. A blinding catch to dismiss Chris Gayle in Jamaica and the match-winning run out of Brian Lara in Trinidad are only two of the highlights of a display which has had local fans and journalists alike slapping their thighs and exclaiming to the heavens in astonishment.Nothing short of the Arnos Vale ground slipping into the sea (which is not entirely impossible – it is perched between the airport runway and a palm-fringed beach!) would seem to be able to prevent Rhodes winning his 200th cap on Wednesday. Andre Nel is less likely to earn his second after pulling up lame during his impressive debut in Trinidad, but Boeta Dippenaar has made a full recovery from the twinge which forced him off the field in the same game.The desire to rotate roles within the side could also present JustinOntong with an opportunity to bat higher up the order – a chance snapped up by Justin Kemp in Trinidad whose 46 in a partnership of 92 with man of the match Neil McKenzie was the backbone of the South African effort.

Ricky Ponting’s dramatic century in Cape Town had the leadership hallmarks of a future Test skipper but he’s reluctant to see it that way.Ponting declared his 100 not out – reached with a six in the final to secure Australia’s four wicket win in the second Test against South Africa – among the best of his 10 Test centuries.The 27-year-old is still to earn the tag of match-winner from his 55 Tests but his Cape Town knock should erode some of his reputation as an inconsistent batsman under pressure.But Ponting laughed off a question about whether it was the innings of a future Test captain.”I don’t know about that,” Ponting said.”As far as my personal innings in a vital situation it was probably as good as any. That wicket out there was pretty good for batting as you could see by the scores.You had to bowl very well.”Ponting boosted his batting average to 45.09 and continued an impressive record since he was woken in Potchefstroom last month with the news he was Australia’snew one-day skipper, replacing Steve Waugh.He scored a century the following day against South Africa A and he showed maturity by remaining steady when Australia’s run chase hit bumpy ground in CapeTown.His first 50 runs were spiced by some dangerous moments but the Tasmanian put his head down after lunch on the final day to help steer Australia home.”I certainly took it upon myself once the top few batters were out and I wanted to make sure I was there at the end to give ourselves the best chance to win thegame,” Ponting said.”I think I played the situation pretty well.”As it turned out I paced things really well. It was just nice to be there at the end to hit the winning runs in a Test match.”

Uttar Pradesh won the Vijay Merchant Trophy (under-16) knock out tournamentat the Eden Gardens on Monday. The three day final against Delhi ended in a draw but UP, having taken a first innings lead of 82 runs, were declared winners.In fact, UP were on course for an outright win early on the final day. Opener Pritipal Singh was run out for one and then Vishal Francis bowled the other opener Shikhar Dhawan for 27 and had Niraj Sharma leg before for six. Delhi were 40 for three at this stage.But a fourth wicket partnership between Kuldeep Rawat and Himanshu Mehtathwarted UP’s victory bid. The two added 150 runs before Mehta was stumped by Md Amir off Praveen Gupta for 76. He faced 149 balls and hit seven fours and two sixes. The stand was broken just before tea and by this time, Delhi had made the match safe.Rawat and Abhishek Nag (19) then added 42 runs for the fifth wicket and the match was called off the moment Rawat got his century. For his unbeaten 100, Rawat batted 254 minutes, faced 212 balls and hit eleven fours and two sixes. Delhi were 245 for five off 86.3 overs when the match ended.

In a country that has endured a winter marred by grating weather, a foot andmouth epidemic, a one-sided Premiership, and some stuttering performances inthe World Cup qualifiers, the cricket fans are still smiling. England’scricketers enjoyed a winter of unprecedented success and their supporterswill now be looking forward to a prosperous summer.So far the battle for the Ashes has dominated the back pages, but theprospect of a clash between Pakistan and England is an intriguing one. Inthe one corner there is England, a team who played slow, methodical,determined, and prolonged cricket throughout the winter. A side whoremorsefully ground down their opposition over the first four days of theTests, before making a push for victory on the final one.In the opposite corner is Pakistan, led by the Waqar Younis and coached byPybus, who are the very antithesis of England. The low tempo, sustainedconfrontation is not for them. They come out of the blocks running, eager todismantle the opposition in the most spectacular manner possible. When onsong their prodigiously talented team produces a brand of high intensitycricket that no team in the world can match.Nasser Hussain will be praying that Pakistan don’t play to their potential.On paper, they have a fearsome battery of fast bowlers, most of whom arealso genuine all rounders. Who in the right minds would cherish the prospectof facing Wasim, Waqar, Akhtar, and Razzaq on a damp May wicket?Nevertheless, I expect England to win the two-Test series because they areconfident, mentally strong, and playing to a game plan in tune with theirnatural skills. The batting order typifies their newfound form. The toporder has to ability to compile a big score, but also to recover from a poorstart. The lower order put a high price on their wickets and they aretherefore a very difficult side to bowl out.Their bowling department may not match Pakistan’s for it’s sheer naturaltalent, but it is far more consistent. When they are bowling well they canrun through a side, but, crucially, when they come off the boil they usuallyremain tight and runs are still hard to find, which maintains the pressureon the batsmen.Everyone recognises Darren Gough as a world-class performer. He would playin any international side. The renaissance of Andrew Caddick, however, hasbeen a vital component of their recent success. If he was knocked about twoyears ago his head would invariably drop because of his sagging self belief.Nowadays though he is playing with terrific confidence, appears mentallystronger, and his performances are therefore consistently impressive.England’s biggest weakness at the moment is their spin department. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michael Vaughan was the sole spinner in the side for muchof the season and England employs four fast bowlers. With the slippery Whiteand probing Cork to complement the opening duo they should be able to pilethe pressure onto the Pakistani top order.It should be a great series. No one quite knows how Pakistan will perform,but they looked together in Sharjah and Waqar appeared to be a captain incontrol. If that kind of unity prevails this summer then England will havetheir work cut out to record their fifth consecutive series win.

Australia’s one-day captain Ricky Ponting is convinced that Shane Watson’s progress is such that the search for a quality all-rounder is almost over for the world champions.Watson had been making progress in leaps and bounds, Ponting told a media conference at the Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo on the eve of today’s ICC Champions Trophy semi-final with Sri Lanka.”That has been one concern for us – the all-rounder’s position. We have tried a few players over the last few years, they been rotated on different times. Nathan Hauritz has also been working hard over here and things are going along nicely for him,” Ponting said.Ponting also spoke about the Australian policy of having two different captains for the two versions of the game.”Knowing the way I am about my position and knowing the way Stephen [Waugh] is about his, I know there won’t be any sort of conflict. When the Test matches come around, I will obviously step aside and Stephen takes over as the boss of Australian cricket again, which is what he still is.”Ponting outlined the reasons for Australia’s overwhelming success over the last decade in international cricket.”We try to get the best out of the talent in our side. We play a fairly aggressive style of cricket, not only in one-dayers but in Test cricket as well. That is how Australian cricketers are brought up, playing that brand of cricket.”We have a talented side, and when you have a talented side, you always try to improve yourself and look ahead,” he added.Ponting does not believe that there is a big gap between Australia and the rest of the world when it comes to cricket.”So far the results have been good to us. We know that we are a good side, and we know that if we play to our best; we are going to be hard to beat.”Ponting also commented on the increased role of the third umpires in the ICC Champions Trophy: “I am very happy at the way it has worked. There have been minimal delays as well, which is very good as far as I am concerned.”It was during the 1996 World Cup that Australia decided to skip the games which were to be played in Sri Lanka. And most of the Islanders have not taken that issue too lightly. But, given the changing political climate in Sri Lanka and the road to peace becoming a reality, there is a sense of security all around.Even the Aussie one-day skipper seems to enjoy the new Sri Lanka.”This has been a fantastic tour so far. I am really surprised at the feeling and change in mood in the last few years. It is a great feeling at this moment to get around the shopping centres and the streets.”