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Titans’ batsman AB de Villiers praised the side’s bowlers for their efforts against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday but said that the wet outfield and the wet ball made it difficult to control run-scoring

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2013Titans’ batsman AB de Villiers praised the side’s bowlers for their efforts against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday but said that the dew-affected outfield made it difficult to control run-scoring and also resulted in some erratic bowling from the South African side.De Villiers had blasted a 36-ball 77 to help Titans reach 185 for 5 before Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina and Dwayne Bravo set up a good chase for Super Kings, ensuring a four-wicket victory in the 19th over.”The field was quite wet and so the ball got wet very early on, which meant it skidded on and made it easier for the batsmen. Our bowlers tried everything they could – all the variations – but nothing worked,” de Villiers told the website.According to de Villiers, the damp conditions also affected the Titans bowlers as they conceded 24 runs in wides: “The guys tried to bowl with a very attacking mindset – a straight line, trying to get them out – but the wet ball made it very difficult.”On his knock, de Villiers said that he fed off the crowd’s enthusiasm to finish with an innings that included three fours and seven sixes at a strike rate of 213.88.”The Indian crowds are very loud and it’s nice to give them some entertainment and something to cheer about,” de Villiers said. “These big crowds really get me going as well. I love playing in Ranchi; I was here during the IPL and had a great experience. I look forward to coming here again.”

India have name an unchanged squad from the one playing in the Champions Trophy for the ODI tri-series in the West Indies, which begins on June 28

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2013India team for tri-series v WI, SL

MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan, Amit Mishra, Vinay Kumar

India have named an unchanged squad from the one playing in the Champions Trophy for the ODI tri-series in the West Indies, which begins on June 28. The continuity is reflective of the team’s success in the ongoing tournament, where they have reached the semi-finals after winning all their group matches.The squad includes five seam bowlers in Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Irfan Pathan and Vinay Kumar, and three spinners: R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra. MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay constitute the batting.India will travel to the West Indies following the Champions Trophy, for the series that also includes the hosts and Sri Lanka.The make-up of the squad indicates that the Indian selectors, in relation to the one-day team, have turned their focus firmly on World Cup 2015. India had fielded a new-look team for the Champions Trophy, dropping seniors like Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh. These players as well as others – including Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh – who had been central to India’s success over the previous decade but have had form and injury issues of late, remain sidelined.

Australia A’s bowlers showed their Ashes potential as they ripped through Scotland’s batsmen in Edinburgh, wrapping up a win by 360 runs with a day to spare.

Callum Stewart at The Grange09-Jun-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Pattinson took seven wickets in the match•BCCIAustralia A’s bowlers showed their Ashes potential as they ripped through Scotland’s batsmen in Edinburgh, wrapping up a win by 360 runs with a session to spare.Only four Scottish batsmen made double figures as Chadd Sayers and James Pattinson impressed with both pace and swing to share seven wickets between them.It was a dismal Scotland second innings but rather than the first innings when the Scots got themselves out, this innings was much more down to the prowess of the bowling and fielding.Moises Henriques and Ashton Agar built on Australian A’s overnight lead, both claiming half centuries, before their second declaration of the match put the Scots in to bat before lunch. By the break they had lost three wickets and it only took another 19.1 overs for the tourists to wrap up victory in the afternoon session.Sayers claimed three wickets, taking a good catch off his own bowling to remove Josh Davey. He also induced a drive from Richie Berrington that he edged to second slip and gave Moneeb Iqbal a pair by trapping him lbw.Pattinson took four, taking two top order batsmen, including Matt Machan with a yorker, before cleaning up the tail. He ended up thanking the Scots for being such great hosts, and said he is looking forward to the rest of the tour.Calum MacLeod top scored for Scotland again, finishing with an unbeaten 30, hitting Nathan Lyon for four boundaries.Australia A now head off to Ireland for a four-day game, joined by the much-hyped Fawad Ahmed who arrived in Edinburgh today after a long journey from Melbourne via Dubai and London for a net session.

George Bailey could be “working in a coalmine or flipping burgers at McDonald’s” if not for the money poured into cricket by Channel Nine, according to the network’s executive producer of cricket, Brad McNamara

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2013George Bailey could be “working in a coalmine or flipping burgers at McDonald’s” if not for the money poured into cricket by Channel Nine, according to the network’s executive producer of cricket, Brad McNamara. Bailey last week defended the Australia side he was leading from criticism it was a “B-team”, but said he could understand such talk coming from Channel Nine as the network enters a new negotiating period over cricket’s television rights.The Australians rested Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade from the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka, which led to criticism from Channel Nine’s head of sport, Steve Crawley. However, in a stinging rebuke on Thursday, McNamara said Nine was not guilty of disparaging the one-day format and that ratings had been good for the first two ODIs in Melbourne and Adelaide.”Nowhere has Channel Nine ever talked the one-day game down, nowhere have we ever said this is a ‘B team’,” McNamara said on Sky Sports Radio. “It’s rubbish and George should stick to playing cricket and leave rights to the people who know what they’re talking about. I reckon he’s got his hands full as it is. He needs to concentrate on staying in the side.”And he needs to understand where his money’s coming from. Without the TV rights deal, George is probably working in a coalmine or flipping burgers at McDonald’s. All this talk about the death of one-day cricket, it’s not coming from us. Given we were lacking star quality, we were very happy [with the ratings].”Bailey has been Australia’s leading run scorer in ODIs in the past six months and made an impressive 89 during the win at the MCG last Friday. He has handed control of the one-day team back to Clarke for the third match against Sri Lanka, to be held in Brisbane on Friday.

Marlon Samuels was delighted to return to international cricket with a four-wicket haul that helped restrict Zimbabwe to 211 in the Barbados Test, saying he could be called “comeback kid”

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2013Marlon Samuels was delighted to return to international cricket with a four-wicket haul that helped restrict Zimbabwe to 211 in the Barbados Test, saying he could be called “comeback kid” after the number of comebacks he has made in his career. For him, he said, cricket was all about enjoyment, and that showed through in his keenness to contribute in all departments.”Cricket for me is basically fun, with batting, fielding, bowling. Whenever I get a chance to bowl I enjoy it. They call me ‘lucky arm’ now, I’ve been picking up some wickets recently. I’m just having fun and enjoying being back in international cricket,” Samuels said at the end of the first day’s play in Bridgetown.Zimbabwe chose to bat, and seemed to building a solid platform at 100 for 2, before the introduction of offspinner Shane Shillingford turned the innings. They lost eight wickets for 111 runs, with Shillingford and Samuels claiming seven between them.Samuels struck with his first ball, bowling Craig Ervine for 29. “He just pushed the wrong line and missed it. He had wanted me to bowl to him in a practice game, I told him I didn’t want to bowl,” Samuels said with a laugh. “So I finally got to bowl to him and got him out first ball, it was great.”The Zimbabwe batsmen, he said, might have been a bit complacent after seeing off the pacy trio of quicks – Tino Best, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel. “After Zimbabwe faced our fast bowlers, maybe they became a bit relaxed against our slower bowlers. Everyone was looking [for us] to blast out the Zimbabwe batsman, but that didn’t happen today.”There was some wonderful bowling by Shillingford. He showed that the slower you bowled on the wicket you could also get some bounce as well and he did a great job.”But the day was not all rosy for West Indies, as they lost two wickets cheaply in reply (including nightwatchman Roach), going to stumps on 18 for 2. The pitch demands that their batsmen work hard on day two, Samuels said: “A couple of balls were very quick and a couple held up, so it’s a pitch where you have to apply yourself and runs will come. If you work hard as a batsman you’ll get some runs.”Runs on the board are already on the board. So we need to get past it [Zimbabwe’s total] first and then we’ll see where it goes from there.”Samuels is back for West Indies following two months out due to a facial injury; he was struck on the face by a Lasith Malinga delivery at the Big Bash League in Australia in early January. The time away helped him reassess his game, he said. “It was time for me to sit back and relax with the family, and reflect on what I’ve been doing around the world. I used the time to reflect on my work and put myself back in a position to achieve the goals I set out to get in international cricket.”

With the retirement of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, Australia could be in need of a seasoned specialist batsman, and David Hussey, at 35, could fit that role

Brydon Coverdale31-Dec-2012Just as Mark Waugh’s Test debut came at the expense of his brother Steve, David Hussey is now dreaming of a possible baggy green call-up, thanks to the retirement of his brother Michael. The chances might be slim, given that he is 35 and has struggled for Sheffield Shield form this summer, but Hussey knows that the gaping hole left by the departures of his brother and Ricky Ponting could send Australia’s selectors in search of a veteran.Usman Khawaja is the most likely man to be given a chance at No.6 for the upcoming tours of India and England, but the coach Mickey Arthur has conceded that the unexpected departure of Hussey could force a rethink in the way the selectors approach their task. Without naming names, Arthur has raised the possibility of looking to an older, wiser head with Australia facing such a busy year of Test cricket.”When you have Ponting, Hussey and Clarke, it was all about injecting some youth into our side,” Arthur told the . “The ground rules have changed now because we’ve lost a massive amount of experience. That’s why we need to sit down and chat. Is it another experienced player, or are we happy to go with a young gun? There’s a lot of guys who come under consideration now.”With Test matches in India and England, we’ve got to sit down [and ask], ‘Do we want to have a look at a guy who is a proven run-scorer, who has the right stats both in Australia and outside of Australia and can get hundreds’?”If the selectors do go for experience abroad and a proven century-maker, David Hussey would be a leading candidate, while another option would be bringing the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin back as a specialist batsman. Chris Rogers falls into the same category, but as a specialist opener, he would be the fifth such man in the Australian line-up, alongside Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson.Hussey has 12,459 first-class runs to his name at an average of 53.70 and he has plenty of experience in England, having piled up runs for Nottinghamshire over the years. The first Ashes Test is scheduled for Trent Bridge, the Nottinghamshire home ground, and a venue where Hussey has made 3353 first-class runs at 76.20, including a remarkable 15 centuries.Statistically, Hussey has done enough over his career to warrant selection. He has made centuries in 15.89% of his first-class innings, a higher percentage than any of his rivals for the Test position, and higher even than Michael Clarke, whose figure is 14.23%. By comparison, Khawaja scores a ton 10.6% of the time, Alex Doolan 7.93%, Rob Quiney 7.5%, George Bailey 9.03%, Rogers 13.93% and Haddin 6.14%.However, his form this summer has been disappointing: in seven first-class innings this summer he is yet to pass fifty. If he was to debut at 35, he would also be the oldest specialist batsman to make his Test debut for Australia since Ken Eastwood, who played one Test in 1971 at the age of 35. Hussey said he hoped his age would not be held against him.”I desperately want to play Test cricket and I haven’t had the opportunity,” Hussey said. “I think Michael Clarke always says that age is no barrier. If you’re making runs at 17 or making runs at 45, you’re still going to be in the frame for selection. My advantage is I’ve played for a long time, I know my game pretty well, I’ve made a lot of first-class runs. Allegedly I’m a very good player of spin, so I’d love to prove myself against the Indians.”Hussey’s best chance to impress the selectors with current form and remind them of his credentials will come in the second half of the Sheffield Shield season, which begins in late January, after the completion of the Big Bash League.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second Test between Bangladesh and West Indies in Khulna

The Preview by Mohammad Isam in Khulna20-Nov-2012Match factsNovember 21-25, Khulna
Start time 0930 (0330 GMT)
Tamim Iqbal passed his fitness test and will open in Khulna•Associated PressBig PictureWest Indies will press for a 2-0 win, having come back hard against Bangladesh in the final two sessions of the Mirpur Test and seizing the momentum. Though they weren’t defending a big total, with enough overs for the opposition to chase it down, they were tactically far ahead of Bangladesh when it mattered. The use of the short delivery worked wonders, as Tino Best completed a maiden five-for in Tests with some hostile pace and by bowling bouncers at well. Ravi Rampaul’s control and Sunil Narine’s performance in the second innings, together with debutant Veerasammy Permaul’s accuracy, made taking 20 wickets possible.With the bat, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieran Powell and Denesh Ramdin got big runs, and the failures of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels didn’t have a serious impact on the team.The major highlight for Bangladesh was debutant offspinner Sohag Gazi’s returns of nine wickets in the game. Rubel Hossain fought back in the second innings and Shahadat Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan had their moments, but they were inconsistent.Bangladesh, however, will be watchful of how their batsmen react after their capitulation in the second innings. They posted their first-ever 500-plus score, in the first innings, and even gained a small lead, but the chase went poorly. Just as Bangladesh faced the prospect of a Test victory, their feet froze and West Indies took advantage. Bangladesh’s plan would be to make West Indies work hard for wickets, but it still could be a stiff task on a track on which not a lot of cricket has been played recently.Form guideBangladesh: LLLLD (Completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies: WWWDL
Players to watchMahmudullah got a half-century in the first innings but his effort in the second stood out. He withstood a barrage of short balls from Best, was hit thrice in the space of two overs, but ultimately replied with a hooked six. He survived for 83 minutes, as was the need of the hour, and made his team’s highest score in the second innings.Chris Gayle will be expected to come back hard against Bangladesh, after he was thwarted by spin in the first innings and pace in the second in Mirpur. A fast start with his strokeplay could diffuse Bangladesh’s plans.Pitch and conditionsBy accounts from players and the scorecards of the last two first-class matches played here, the pitch at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna has generally been batting-friendly but is likely to offer turn on the last two days.The weather has been unpredictable over the last two weeks. There was a cold spell earlier this month but ahead of the Test it has been hot and sultry with a threat of rain due to a depression at the Bay of Bengal nearby.Team newsTamim Iqbal had an elbow injury but passed a fitness test on Tuesday and will play the second Test. The team management may likely replace Junaid Siddique, the other opener, with Nazimuddin on the account of the former’s struggle against the short ball and problems with slip-catching. Still, one will not be too surprised if Tamim and Anamul Haque, the batsman flown in as his cover, go out to open.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Nazimuddin/Anamul Haque, 3 Shahriar Nafees, 4 Naeem Islam, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Mahmudullah (vice-capt), 8 Nasir Hossain, 9 Sohag Gazi, 10 Shahadat Hossain, 11 Rubel Hossain.Darren Sammy has hinted at continuing with the same line-up that played in the first Test. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who didn’t field for much of the previous game, is fit, and the likelihood of using Fidel Edwards as a third pace bowler has diminished due to Permaul’s impressive debut.West Indies (possible): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Veerasammy Permaul, 11 Tino BestStats and trivia Khulna will be Bangladesh’s seventh Test venue. The last time West Indies won four Tests in a row was between January and April of 1993 when they beat Australia home and away.Quotes”We had a plan to play session-by-session, take one day at a time without keeping the result in mind, although we had one poor session and that cost us the match. I hope we can do this in the Khulna Test, as it will help us in gaining consistency.”

“Last year we drew the first Test, this year we won it. We have one more Test to go and we’d do everything to win this Test match. We want to win the series 2-0.”

Junaid Khan, the Pakistan left-arm fast bowler, has received a no-objection certificate from the PCB, paving the way for his return to Lancashire for this season’s Friends Life t20

Umar Farooq21-Apr-2012Junaid Khan, the Pakistan left-arm fast bowler, has received a no-objection certificate from the PCB, paving the way for his return to Lancashire for this season’s Friends Life t20.The decision was delayed as PCB wanted to ensure that the seamer had fully recovered from his patella (knee cap) injury. The PCB has released the bowler just for the Twenty20 tournament, to manage his workload and make sure he remains in the best shape for Pakistan’s forthcoming tours. He was cleared after appearing in a two-day fitness test and will be applying for his UK visa next week.Junaid sustained a fracture of the patella during the Twenty20-leg of Pakistan’s series against England in UAE in February and has been out of action since then. Junaid, 22, debuted for Pakistan in April 2011 but his fledgling career has been hurt by injuries in the last few months. Junaid was selected for the England series after he had recovered from the abdominal tear he picked during the ODI series against Sri Lanka last year, which ruled him out for six weeks.Pakistan’s next international assignment is a full series in Sri Lanka followed by the ‘home’ series against Australia, also to be played in Sri Lanka, before the ICC World Twenty20.Apart from his promising international career, Junaid excelled on county debut in last year’s Friends Life t20, taking 12 wickets in eight games for Lancashire at an economy-rate of 6.00.Recruited last season on the recommendation of Wasim Akram, Junaid made a big impact on the FLt20 and helped Lancashire reach finals for the first time in four years, only to miss the climax of the competition after being selected for Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe.”Junaid showed last season his ability to win a game from almost any situation,” Peter Moores, the Lancashire head coach, said. “His strength at bowling in Powerplays and at the end of the innings in one-day cricket adds another dimension to the squad and it will be great to have him back.”Edited by Devashish Fuloria

New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson led Gloucestershire’s resistance to make sure their County Championship Division Two match at Derbyshire finished in the dullest of draws.

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2012
ScorecardGloucestershire ground it out on the final day to make sure their County Championship Division Two match at Derbyshire finished in the dullest of draws.Although the spectacle offered no warmth to the few souls who braved the weather, Gloucestershire did all they needed to do by seeing out the remainder of a game in which they struggled from the start.With New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson (128) and his compatriot Hamish Marshall (90) taking their third-wicket partnership to 166 in the morning, there was little chance of Derbyshire being able to press for victory on a flat wicket.Gloucestershire, who were made to follow on after trailing by 182 in the first innings, finished on 408 for 4 in their second innings.They began the day with a small lead of 37 and Derbyshire needed to make early progress if they were to wrestle back control of the contest.The second new ball, available after only eight overs of the morning session, offered them their best chance and Derbyshire thought they had made their breakthrough in the third over with it when they appealed for a catch behind the wicket with Marshall on 53 and were crestfallen when umpire David Willey was unmoved.They were made to wait until shortly before lunch for their first wicket, which came when Jon Clare beat the defensive push of Williamson and wicketkeeper Tom Poynton took the catch. Williamson, a rising New Zealand batsman, at 21, faced 272 balls and hit 16 fours.The main focus of the afternoon was whether or not Marshall would get his first century for the county in almost three years but he fell 10 runs short when Tim Groenewald had him lbw. Ian Cockbain (63 not out) and Will Gidman (33 not out) comfortably batted out the remainder of the game.Derbyshire’s wicketkeeper, Tom Poynton, was the only Derbyshire not to have a go at bowling before a Gloucestershire declaration 10 minutes before the start of the final hour signalled the end of the match.

Mahela Jayawardene is confident Sri Lanka can take plenty of positives from the tri-series even if they fail to beat Australia at the MCG and qualify for the finals

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne01-Mar-2012Mahela Jayawardene is confident Sri Lanka can take plenty of positives from the tri-series even if they fail to beat Australia at the MCG and qualify for the finals. However, the Sri Lankans have by no means given up on the tournament, despite a loss to India in Hobart that could have left them demoralised.In his first series back in the captaincy, Jayawardene has the chance to guide Sri Lanka in to the best-of-three finals against Australia. To get there, they need either to beat Australia or share the points through a tie or an abandoned match, and while there will be showers in Melbourne on Friday it is unlikely there will be enough to force a wash-out.Jayawardene said the loss on Tuesday, when India picked up a bonus point and stayed in contention by chasing 321 within 37 overs, was less a result of poor Sri Lankan bowling than wonderful Indian batting, which was a good sign for his side. And with two wins from their last two games against Australia, Sri Lanka have a strong chance to progress.”Going in to the last game it’s in our control, what we need to do,” Jayawardene said. “It’s a good position for us to be, rather than depending on someone else to do some favours for us.”From where we started on this tour, I think we’ve improved as a team and maintained a consistency. That’s very important for us going forward. Whatever happens tomorrow we will definitely get a lot of positives out of this. Our challenge will be to try and keep this consistency going, because if we play the way we’re playing now … we’ll win more matches than we lose. We’re quite happy with that.”One of the most impressive aspects of Sri Lanka’s series is that it has not just been the veterans who have stood up, although Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara were the centurions in the last match. Dinesh Chandimal has continued to develop as a dangerous middle-order batsman and Thisara Perera, 22, is second only to Lasith Malinga on Sri Lanka’s wicket tally, which pleased Jayawardene.”Going forward we’ve always wanted to have two or three allrounders in a team,” he said. “These guys are taking responsibility. Angelo [Mathews] in the long run will probably be more of a batting allrounder than a bowling allrounder. We’d like Thisara to be more of a bowling allrounder so it fits in well.”Plus [Farveez] Maharoof is a guy who can bat as well and he’s bowling pretty well, he just needs to have a bit more confidence in his batting. All these three guys will be good options for us going forward. We just need a couple of spinning allrounders to come through and we’ll have a really good balanced team.”Sri Lanka won’t have Maharoof for Friday’s game, however, after he suffered from lower back pain during the Hobart loss. His absence was a factor in Sri Lanka failing to defend their big total and Jayawardene said, while Virat Kohli had taken the match away from Sri Lanka, there were things his bowlers could learn from the experience.”The [fast-bowling] guys did go to their strength, which is yorkers and stuff like that, but I think they [Indian batsmen] handled that pretty well,” he said. “We didn’t try too many things, that was probably due to the way the Indians were batting as well … we probably just went with the momentum rather than trying to change it in the middle.”Those are areas in which we can improve as a team … bowlers taking a bit more time and maybe having a bit more of a plan about what they want to do. Even if it’s something out of the box, something totally different, there’s no harm in trying something like that – which we didn’t do. That’s something we’ve spoken about with the bowlers because you have to expect these kind of situations in the future, we have to be prepared. Every game is a learning curve for everyone.”