New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has admitted that his side was outplayed by Bangladesh, after conceding the five-match ODI series 0-3 with one game to go

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2010New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has admitted that his side was outplayed by Bangladesh in conceding the five-match ODI series 0-3 with one game to go. Bangladesh strung three wins on the trot against top opposition for the first time in their history to clinch the series, leaving New Zealand with some serious questions to address ahead of the World Cup on the subcontinent.”Bangladesh have played better cricket than us and deserved the victory,”
Vettori said after the nine-run defeat in the fourth match. “They have shown us how to play in these conditions.”New Zealand began the must-win game well, reducing the hosts to 44 for 3, before Man-of-the-Match Shakib Al Hasan turned the tables with a century, setting a target of 242 in slow and low conditions. Bangladesh’s bowlers kept the chase under control and it was down to Kane Williamson, who became the youngest centurion for New Zealand, to give his side a chance. His effort, however, was not enough to take them past the line.”Kane’s hundred is the positive to take out from this game,” Vettori said. “We should have adapted quicker than we have. We put ourselves in tough positions with the bat. One game left, must win for us. We must restore some pride in the last game.”

Left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz has been ruled out of the ongoing Test series between Pakistan and South Africa due to a muscle strain

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2010Pakistan left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz has been ruled out of the ongoing Test series against South Africa due to a muscle strain. His absence is a blow to Pakistan, who are left with Umar Gul as their lone frontline seamer in their current Test in Dubai.”Riaz has suffered a side strain on the right side and needs four to five weeks for recovery before rehabilitation, so he will return to Pakistan after the first Test,” Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan team manager, told . He added there would be no replacement for Riaz in the squad, and that leaves Mohammad Sami and Sohail Tanvir as possible new-ball partners for Gul in Abu Dhabi for the second Test which starts on November 20.Riaz, 25, had an impressive start to his Test career, with a five-for on debut against England at The Oval earlier in the year. On Friday, he picked up two wickets in South Africa’s first innings but was unable to bowl on the second day of the Test as a result of his injury. Gul and the spin pair of Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal stepped up, however, to bowl out South Africa for 380 after they had dominated the opening day.

Michael Clarke has said sorry for not walking during a dramatic last-over dismissal that swung the second Test further towards England

Peter English at Adelaide06-Dec-2010Michael Clarke has said sorry for not walking during a dramatic last-over dismissal that swung the second Test further towards England. Clarke was 80 when he glanced Kevin Pietersen’s part-time offspin to Alastair Cook at short leg, leaving Australia 137 runs from forcing the tourists to bat again.Clarke took a series of steps towards the dressing room before stopping when he realised the umpire Tony Hill wasn’t going to raise his finger. England immediately referred the decision and the first replay showed Clarke was out.”Just want to apologise for not walking off the ground tonight when I hit the ball,” Clarke tweeted. “I was just so disappointed, my emotions got the best of me.”Michael Hussey, who was at the other end, saw the nick and his first instinct was to turn to Hill. “I just remember looking back at the umpire and yelling no, no, no,” he said. “So I didn’t know what was going on down [Clarke’s] end. By the time I turned around they pretty much referred it straight away and I could tell in Michael’s body language that he thought he was out.”He said Clarke was “pretty distraught” and had not spoken in the dressing room. “It was a real sombre way for us to finish the day because we fought pretty hard and it would have been nice to go in three-down,” Hussey said. “It would have really capped off a great day because he played awesome cricket today. He played like the Michael Clarke we love and have loved watching play over the last few years.”Clarke combined for a 104-run stand with Hussey that gave Australia a chance of saving the game, and they were 4 for 238 at stumps. Now that task has been passed on to Hussey and Marcus North, who is once again under pressure to hold his spot.”If we can draw the match, England will see it as a loss so that’s got to drive us on,” Hussey said. “We’ve certainly been outplayed, no question, but if we can get away with 0-0 it will be a great result for us. We’ve got a bit of hard work to do, with maybe a bit of luck and hopefully some weather to help us along the way.”North has scored 1 and 26 in this series and despite registering a century in Bangalore three matches ago, his hold on his place is loose. “He’ll definitely score runs,” Hussey said. “He’s a champion player, a champion guy to have around the team, and we want him around the team. We’re behind him all the way.”However, Hussey has the main job of navigating through the crisis after reaching 44 not out. “I’d be lying if I said I loved it, but it’s certainly rewarding to come into a pressure situation and get your team into a position to win the match or save the match,” he said. “It gives you a lot of satisfaction. I wish I could come out like Bradman and smash them everywhere, but unfortunately the game doesn’t work that way.”

Rajasthan’s strategy, according to franchise officials, will be to use players such as Rahul Dravid and Shane Warne to attract and mould younger, talented domestic players.

Tariq Engineer10-Jan-2011Faced with a reduced budget of $7.1m at the IPL player auction, the Rajasthan Royals were limited to buying just eight players (of which only two were Indian) and now face another problem – how do they fill out the rest of the squad? The solution, according to franchise officials, will be to use the star power and proven leadership qualities of players such as Rahul Dravid and Shane Warne, and the presence of two current national Twenty20 captains, to attract and mould younger, talented domestic players.Rajasthan were widely considered to have the weakest team on paper in 2008, but their combination of experience and young talent gelled under Shane Warne’s inspired leadership, and they confounded the pundits to lift the trophy in the tournament’s inaugural year. The same blueprint will be in place this time around, which is why Sean Morris, the Rajasthan chief executive, says they honed in on players who have captained their national Twenty20 sides, such as Johan Botha and Paul Collingwood.”We had to be focused and have specific targets,” Morris told ESPNcricinfo. “I think we’ve got the kind of dressing room you would build if you wanted a dream dressing room of leaders. We’ve surpassed our expectations. [There is] lots of talent that we can bring in to the dressing room that is full of international experience, creating a blend of incredible experience with the young, local players.””All these Indian boys can have Dravid as a mentor,” Raghu Iyer, spokesperson for Rajasthan, said. “The strategy is to have a blend of youth and experience. That is what delivered for us in season one. Yusuf [Pathan] was not the star he is now. [Ravindra] Jadeja was not the star he is now. They have all delivered for us and done extremely well.”There is a second incentive the team can offer talented, young players that other franchises might not be able to match – the opportunity to play regularly in the IPL. Over the first three years, a number of domestic players merely sat on the sidelines and watched while the more established players in the squad were picked for matches. They still benefitted from training with and being exposed to international players, but there is no substitute for competitive games.”Our players are going to be playing a lot of cricket for us,” Morris said. “The young Indian players will be looking at all the teams and players and thinking who am I going to compete with and when I am going to play? And they will look at Rajasthan and will be thinking I have a fantastic chance of playing.”The franchise plans to begin augmenting its squad with players from Rajasthan’s Ranji Trophy team, which has had an excellent domestic season, knocking off heavyweights Mumbai and Tamil Nadu on their way to the finals against Baroda. “The domestic players from Rajasthan are going to get a lot of focus,” Iyer, said. “They have done very well this season. There is a loyalty there and talent as well. We need to be riding that wave.”Among the players the franchise is looking at are 18-year-old Deepak Chahar, who made a huge splash on his first-class debut by taking 8 for 10 to dismiss Hyderabad for a Ranji record low-score of 21, and 20-year-old Ashok Menaria, who captained India in the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2010, after which he bagged an IPL contract with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Rajasthan’s wicketkeeper, Rohit Jhalani, is another player the franchise has its eye on as they failed to pick up a keeper in the auction. In addition, the team is hoping to re-sign players that were part of its development squad for the first three years.Naturally, the franchise is also attempting to sign some of the more prominent domestic players, such as the Mumbai pair of middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane and seamer Dhawal Kulkarni, by offering them the same carrot of regular cricket alongside established stars.”At the end of the day, the domestic players are going to make a lot of difference,” Iyer said. “It [the squad] is going to be lean and mean. Everybody has learnt that.”

Cricket South Africa’s board has passed a vote of no confidence in President Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka at a special general meeting on Saturday

Firdose Moonda12-Feb-2011Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) board has passed a vote of no-confidence in president Mtutuzeli Nyoka at a special general meeting on Saturday. The motion was not unanimous but was passed by a majority vote and Nyoka was removed with immediate effect.Nyoka’s ousting is the culmination of an ongoing spat between him and chief executive Gerald Majola, which reached its peak during the bonus scandal. Nyoka was in favour of an external inquiry into the R4.7 million (US$ 671,428) that was paid out to Majola and 39 other CSA staff members after IPL 2 and the Champions Trophy in 2009.CSA initially announced that they would have an external commission evaluate the situation but then moved the investigation internally in order to exhaust its own procedures first. Majola was cleared of all charges of wrongdoing by the internal commission, although it did recognise that he had made an error of judgement, and Nyoka said he accepted the findings.That spat was believed to have caused a “general breakdown” in the relationship between Nyoka and Majola, according to an insider, who also said that it became apparent that there was “only room for one of them” in CSA. Two months after the findings of the internal commission were made public. Nyoka was served with written notification of a motion of no-confidence proposed against him that was signed by all 11 CSA affiliate presidents.Four days after Nyoka received the letter, South Africa’s sports minister Fikile Mbalula intervened in the conflict, because the ministry felt it may negatively impact the country’s World Cup campaign. The minister met with the CSA board sans Nyoka, who was unavailable, and reassured the public that the cricket fraternity was not in crisis and the ministry would meet with the board again on February 12, to receive a report on the commission inquiry and the actions of Nyoka.That meeting took place today, again with Nyoka an absent party. He chose not to attend on the advice of his lawyers. The motion of no confidence was passed by the board, with an insider confirming that the split was “more than 8-3.”Nyoka is the second successive CSA president to leave office in this fashion. Norman Arendse, his predecessor, also had a motion of no-confidence tabled against him before he resigned. Vice-president AK Khan will take over as acting President until the next election, which is scheduled for CSA’s AGM in August.

Southern Rocks remained rooted to the bottom of the Logan Cup table after slumping to a 98-run loss against Mid West Rhinos at the Kwekwe Sports Club

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2011
ScorecardVusi Sibanda’s second-innings century proved the difference between the teams•CricInfo

Southern Rocks remained rooted to the bottom of the Logan Cup table after slumping to a 98-run loss against Mid West Rhinos at the Kwekwe Sports Club.It’s their fourth defeat in 10 matches and means the Rocks continue to be winless in the tournament. They were well in the game after bowling the Rhinos out for 181 but Justin Lewis’ seven wickets restricted their first-innings lead to just 18. Vusi Sibanda’s second-innings 104 took the Rhinos 309 runs clear and it proved too tough a chase for Rocks to pull off, despite a heroic 324-ball 93 from Rocks captain Stuart Matsikenyeri.Rocks final-innings chase did not get off to the best start, with three wickets – two more for Lewis – falling in the first 14 overs. Matsikenyeri desperately held up one end but was powerless to intervene at the other as wickets continued to tumble. Offspinner Simon Mugava, removed Sikandar Raza and wicketkeeper Robertson Mutumbami until Matsikenyeri finally found some support in Chinyengetere again. In 50 overs the pair added 105, dragging their team towards safety until Roland Benade snared Chinyengetere three short of a well-deserved half-century. His dismissal signalled the slide and Rocks fell 98 runs short.It had all looked so optimistic for Rocks after being asked to bowl first. Rhinos were soon struggling at 88 for 5 before Remembrance Nyathi built some resistance with the lower order. Nyathi hung around for 136 deliveries, striking five boundaries to reach a valuable half-century and help hoist the total up to 181. Though hardly imposing, Lewis’ heroics stormed Rhinos right back into the match. He took six of the first seven wickets to fall, leaving Rocks tottering at 71 for 6, before Robertson Chinyengetere’s painful resistance stopped the rot alongside Blessing Mahwire. The pair built an impressive 119-run stand, with Mahwire hitting two sixes and five fours in his 66. At the other end Chinyengetere was a picture of stoicism, striking a solitary boundary in an epic 194-ball 46. It was enough to earn his side a slender lead.The response from Rhinos top order was imposing and proved the decisive move in the game. Gary Ballance and Friday Kasteni put on a careful century opening stand before Sibanda stroked his way to fluent century. Ballance hit nine fours before becoming Hilary Matanga’s second wicket. He captain, Sibanda, was then supported by the middle order as Rhinos pressed ahead. He struck nine fours and a six before edging behind to Matanga for 104. He had laid the foundation for the 309-run lead which proved enough for his team.

Zimbabwe’s coach, Alan Butcher, thinks it’s unlikely his team will beat the defending champions on Monday. The captain of Australia, Ricky Ponting, is not expecting a surprise loss

Brydon Coverdale in Ahmedabad20-Feb-2011Zimbabwe’s coach, Alan Butcher, thinks it’s unlikely his team will beat the defending champions on Monday. The captain of Australia, Ricky Ponting, is not expecting a surprise loss. The bookmakers have Australia as almost unbackable favourites. But somewhere in the back of the minds of this Zimbabwe group is a sliver of hope, the knowledge that upsets can happen.And that if their three spinners can make use of an Ahmedabad pitch that could provide assistance, it might be just enough to bring Australia back down to a more even footing. Of course, everything must go right for Zimbabwe, who have not beaten Australia in an ODI since their shock win at the 1983 World Cup. Everything would also need to go wrong for Australia, who have not lost a World Cup match since 1999, back in the era of Steve Waugh and Alistair Campbell.”The longer a winning run goes, the closer it must be to coming to an end,” Butcher said on Sunday. “It may not be us that ends it but someone has got to. All we’ve done is tried to prepare as well as we can, on the basis that if we play as well as we can in six matches during this World Cup, we can’t do any more than that. If on the way one or two of the big sides have a bad day and slip up, hopefully we will take advantage of that.”If we play confidently, play our best cricket and Australia don’t, then we may have a chance. Let’s be honest, if both sides play their best cricket, it’s very likely that we’ll lose.”Butcher is nothing if not a realist. But the Zimbabweans have kept an eye on Australia’s performance during the warm-up matches, when they struggled against top-quality spin. Ray Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer are not quite the same as Harbhajan Singh, but spin is the strength of Zimbabwe and Australia will need to force the pace for much of their innings.It’s nearly seven years since the teams have met in a one-day international, although the Australians will remember with frustration being upset by Zimbabwe at the 2007 World Twenty20. In the past year, Zimbabwe have had ODI wins against India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Bangladesh, so they know how to beat good teams, but Ponting is confident his side will have their measure.”We had a good team meeting last night and talked about all their players, individually, and went through batters and bowlers,” Ponting said. “They’ve got a lot of spin options, even a couple of part-time spinners and a quality left-arm offspinner and a legspinner as well, that I wouldn’t be surprised if they play.”We’ve had a good look at them. We know what their strengths and weaknesses are. We’ve also seen their record, and their record is not that strong either, and that’s against some of the smaller nations. We’d expect to play well tomorrow and hopefully get the tournament off on the right note.”And after powerful performances from India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka against weaker sides in the opening matches of the tournament, it seems likely Australia will continue the trend. Zimbabwe’s most ardent fans might say that it means a surprise is due.

Ireland, who have been controversially excluded from the next World Cup, could still play up to 15 one-day internationals against Full Members each year between now and 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-2011Ireland, who have been controversially excluded from the next World Cup, could still play up to 15 one-day internationals against Full Members each year between now and 2015. Cricket Ireland chairman David Williams, who visited India last week and met with BCCI chairman Shashank Manohar, confirmed that he had received support from several of the ICC’s Full Members willing to accommodate Ireland.”One of our ambitions is to increase our ODI exposure against full members to between 10 to 15 per annum, and we received some support from Full Members to accommodate us,” Williams said. “There is, without question, among all the Full Members chairmen I spoke to, considered to be very clear water between us and the rest of the Associates.”Both South Africa and Bangladesh reportedly lent support to Ireland’s push for more games against Full Members, but chances of a bilateral series against world champions India remain slim, and Zimbabwe have withdrawn an invitation for a repeat of Ireland’s trip to the country in September last year. Zimbabwe cited the lack of a gap in their programme due to playing commitments as the reason for the cancellation, although the ICC’s Future Tours Programme does show that they have no international cricket scheduled between the end of October and the beginning of December.”We had hoped to play a four-day game – an unofficial Test match – against Zimbabwe and three ODIs. That would have been a very nice tour. But that tour will not take place,” Williams confirmed.However, Ozias Bvute, ZC’s managing director, insisted that Zimbabwe’s priority in that period was their domestic programme, rather than furthering their international commitments.”We have taken a deliberate decision to try and ensure that all our players turn out for the respective franchises, we have thus tried to separate our international calendar with our domestic fixturing on that basis,” Bvute told ESPNcricinfo. “Our strategy moving forward is to grow our domestic cricket to a point where in itself it becomes financially viable and sustainable. To attract the crowds and sponsors we need all our players in attendance.”Williams, who was re-elected as chairman for a fourth year at Cricket Ireland’s annual meeting, had travelled to India with the intention of securing a qualifying tournament for the next World Cup, ensuring a promotion and relegation system in ODI leagues and canvassing for support for more ODIs for Ireland. “I didn’t get the first, but the second was delivered and I am hopeful that the last will happen,” he said.”Mr Manohar was charming, as expected, but he said he felt the Full Members did not have time to adjust to a qualifying tournament for the 2015 World Cup and it would disrupt the Future Tours Programme. But I don’t think they are arguments which could not be overcome.”There will be qualifying for the 2019 tournament but that is six years away, but the promotion and relegation between ODI leagues is a very significant step for us as well. In the meantime, though, you are handing an opportunity for our best players to go to England because they have no alternative [if they want to play in the next World Cup].”We have all gone into print expressing our disgust but now we must move on and, in association with our Associate friends, we will leave no stone unturned in seeing what our options are in having this iniquitous decision overturned.”Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom believes any action to get the decision overturned will have to be inclusive of all the Associate nations and multi-lateral if it is to be successful. “We need to work with the other 94 Associate countries,” Deutrom said at Cricket Ireland’s annual meeting.”They feel disenfranchised and it is not just the High Performance countries that have been in touch. Sports lawyers have also been in contact with me but that will be the last resort. All other remedies must be exhausted first and the first opportunity to challenge the decision is at the annual conference in June.”

Gloucestershire clinched their second win in three County Championship Division Two games with a 45-run success over Kent at Canterbury

29-Apr-2011
ScorecardGloucestershire clinched their second win in three County Championship Division Two games with a 45-run success over Kent at Canterbury.Will Gidman proved the West Country hero with a return of three for 37 including the scalp of Azhar Mahmood, who had looked capable of seeing Kent home to an unlikely victory target of 291.Mahmood, the former Pakistan Test all-rounder, hit 10 boundaries in a 119-ball innings of 70 as injury-hit Kent made a brave tilt at their target. Number 10 Robbie Joseph, hampered by a thigh strain, came out with a runner to help the cause and then last man Joe Denly, who broke his thumb in the field on Tuesday, emerged to try to help Azhar to the winning line.With 45 needed Azhar worked across a good length ball from Gidman only to be given out leg before and give Gloucestershire their 21-point win. Resuming on their overnight total of 52 for 2, Kent appeared to be set for the long haul as Martin van Jaarsveld and Geraint Jones dug in, adding only 49 in the opening hour.In all, the third-wicket partners added 64 in just under 19 overs before Kent’s run chase quickly unravelled with the loss of four wickets for seven runs in the space of 16 balls. Jones (40) missed an expansive drive to be bowled by promising left-arm seamer David Payne then Darren Stevens (three) was squared up on the back foot by Hamish Marshall to spoon a catch to short extra cover via a leading edge.Van Jaarsveld’s 89-minute stay for 32 ended when he opened the face and attempted a run-down to third man against Payne, only to be superbly caught one-handed at second slip by Ian Cockbain to make it 124 for five.After a change of ends, Cockbain was in action again to catch the very next ball at slip, this time at the second attempt, after James Tredwell’s firm-handed push at a Marshall leg-cutter. Azhar and Adam Ball (13) survived until lunch but soon after the resumption Ball’s audacious attempt to pull through mid-wicket against Ian Saxelby ended up in the hands of Jon Lewis at mid-on.Simon Cook then joined forces with Azhar to add an entertaining 70 in 20.4 overs for the eighth wicket but, with 69 still needed to win, Cook got an inside edge to a Gidman delivery that jagged back off the seam and Jonathan Batty pulled off a sharp catch.Batty was again at his best to hold on to a thin edge off Gidman from Joseph, then opening bat Denly emerged as an emergency number 11 despite his fractured thumb as Kent pushed all the way. But it proved in vain as the hosts ended up with just four points from the match.

Australian cricket’s marketing experiment with split innings limited overs matches has been thrown out.

Daniel Brettig01-Jun-2011Australian cricket’s marketing experiment with split innings limited overs matches, and a bevy of exotic proposed rules for next summer’s expanded Twenty20 competition, have been thrown out by the Cricket Australia playing conditions committee.The committee, which serves a similar function to the ICC’s cricket committee by deliberating on issues within the game, will forward these conclusions to the CA board for final approval at its next meeting. Committee members observed that the global body’s commitment to 50-over cricket for the 2015 World Cup, and the success of the 2011 tournament on the subcontinent, made further split innings experimentation redundant.Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers Association, sat on the committee alongside the CA chairman Jack Clarke, Greg Chappell and Mark Taylor – Matthew Hayden and Shane Warne were absent – and said that no other decision could have been made.”It was really the only decision the committee could take from our perspective given that the ICC have now elected to push forward with the 50-over format towards the next World Cup,” Marsh told . “It wouldn’t have made sense to have our players playing a different format domestically, heading into the next World Cup, so it was a sensible decision.”The remit of the playing conditions committee, there’s various things we look at but one of them is that it has to be a realistic chance of getting up at international level, but there’s a time to trial things, and last year was that time. While we [the ACA] didn’t think it should’ve been trialled, it was and now we’ve got to go back to keeping ourselves in-line with what the international format is.”Clarke noted that other elements of the domestic competition, “such as using two balls, one from each end, reducing restrictions on the number of overs bowlers can deliver or increasing the number of bouncers allowed”, had been accepted as possible innovations by the ICC.However a raft of outlandish proposed rules for next summer’s T20 competition, presented to the public via a survey, were given short shrift by committee members, who reasoned that gambits like letting the crowd keep the ball or overs worth double runs were simply unnecessary.”Common sense prevailed there,” Marsh said. “The committee I know from the ACA’s perspective we’re supportive of initiatives that will promote the Big Bash and get the most people through the ground, and we’ve talked through a few alternative things there to help achieve that.”The matter of domestic playing surfaces was also addressed, and while general assessments of pitch conditions last summer were favourable, often achieving scores of 4.33/5 or better, groundsmen will be reminded of the need to prepare surfaces that reflect the challenges of Test cricket. Numerous players, coaches and the CA chief executive James Sutherland, have all pondered whether or not last summer’s pitches did not help to equip Australia’s players for the Ashes, where England’s batsmen repeatedly ran up tall scores.”The focus should most certainly be on trying to have wickets or pitches around the country that are as close to international pitches as you can get, that’s the best preparation for players,” said Marsh. “But there’s no doubt the weather played a part in it last year, we’ve thought in some cases that states are prioritising result pitches over preparation for international cricket.”