All posts by csb10.top

Simon Jones has welcomed his return to fitness and, after spending the past week at Dennis Lillee’s bowling academy in India, can’t wait to return to bowling for his country.Jones suffered an ankle injury during the summer, forcing him to miss the final Ashes Test against Australia and England’s subsequent tour to Pakistan. For the past week, he has been honing his skills at Dennis Lillee’s MRF Pace Foundation at Chennai.”If I can achieve half as much as Dennis did, I’ll be well chuffed,” he told the . “He still talks to me as an equal, he doesn’t talk down to you.”We’ve just worked on a few technical aspects, like the alignment of my front arm and front leg in delivery stride, and his advice is top-drawer,” he said. “He keeps things simple and realistic and he doesn’t try to over-complicate your action. Yet every time I’ve come away from a session with Dennis I’ve felt as if I’ve learned something new.”He told me that, around 40 years ago, he jumped over a fence at the WACA stadium in Perth to watch my dad bowl for England and he reckons I’m a real chip off the old block.”England fly to India on February 12 for three Tests and seven one-dayers, and will want to drastically improve upon their performance in Pakistan in November. Jones, whose absence arguably affected England greater than they anticipated, says his expertise of reverse-swing could be a deciding factor in the series.”It’s been ideal preparation for the tour – it’s nice to get outside and bowl again because you can go stir-crazy when you’re stuck indoors all winter,” he said. “I’ve also had a sneak preview of the conditions, and although we will be using a different type of ball to the ones we used during the Ashes, there is a bit of reverse swing over here.”A couple of years ago I took five wickets in an innings twice for the A team, so I know my style of bowling can be effective on Indian pitches. They say you always become a better player when you are not in the England side, and a lot of people have been saying they missed me in Pakistan before Christmas.”I wouldn’t know about that, but I’m looking forward to linking up with the boys again and trying to start us off on another winning run – and I know the last week out here in Madras has put me in good stead for the tour.”

ScorecardRobin Uthappa struck his third successive century this season, while Mayank Agarwal stroked his maiden first-class century as Karnataka flattened Delhi in a marquee top of the table clash in Hubli. It rained runs on what appeared to be a green top, with Karnataka racing away to 358 for 3 when stumps were drawn. Pawan Suyal, the medium pacer, was the most successful bowler for Delhi with the wickets of R Samarth (17) and Agarwal (118).Uthappa’s 148 was studded with 16 fours and six sixes, with the highlight of the day being his two fours and four sixes in a single over off Dhruv Shorey to race from 95 to 127. It also happened to be his 17th century in the Ranji Trophy to put him joint-second with Rahul Dravid in the list of century makers for Karnataka. Brijesh Patel tops the charts with 26 centuries.
ScorecardAbhimanyu Easwaran’s 88 was the highlight on a day in which 20 wickets fell in Kalyani as Bengal took charge against Odisha despite being bowled out for a paltry 142 in the first innings. While Easwaran was the batting mainstay, Aamir Gani, the offspinner, returned career-best figures of 6 for 34 to skittle Odisha for 107. Easwaran and Sayan Mondal then added 20 without losing a wicket in nine overs as Bengal ended a frenetic day with a 58-run lead.On a day in which little went right for Odisha with the bat, their bowlers gave a good account of themselves, with Dhiraj Singh, the left-arm spinner, taking 5 for 58. Suryakant Pradhan, the medium pacer, had three scalps.
ScorecardPankaj Singh made an impact immediately upon returning from a hamstring injury by taking 4 for 10 in 14.2 overs as Haryana were shot out for 112 in Lahli. Virender Sehwag, who returned to lead the side after missing the last two games because of his commitments with the All-Stars T20 series in USA, top scored with 29, while Mohit Sharma, batting at No.10 contributed 23.Rajasthan’s openers started well with Manendar Singh and Vineet Saxena added 61, before Ashish Hooda broke through to dismiss the debutant for 22. Saxena and Puneet Yadav ensured there would be further casualties as Rajasthan ended the day on 75 for 1, bringing the deficit down to just 37 with the heart of their batting still to come.No play was possible at the MCA Stadium in Pune after overnight rains and a wet outfield forced the players indoors for most parts of the day. When the outfield was good enough for the match to start, the light deteriorated sharply, with umpires calling off play at 4.10pm. Play will begin 15 minutes early on the remaining three days.

Karen Rolton is on target to be the second player in the history of the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) to score 4000 runs. Rolton, the Australian captain, needs just 18 runs to reach the milestone first achieved by former captain Belinda Clark.Rolton will lead the South Australia Scorpions on their away trip to Sydney next week, which will feature a practice match v ACT, prior to the WNCL matches against New South Wales.Two new players join the squad: fast bowler Leanne Davis, and Tegan McPharlin, the middle-order batsman. Both players have been chosen following strong grade/district performances.England’s Jenny Gunn, who plays grade cricket in Sydney, will also play for the Scorpions for the second successive year.

Shaun Tait is due to make his long-awaited comeback from elbow surgery after being named in South Australia’s FR Cup squad to face Victoria on Friday. The problem forced Tait out of Australia’s tours to South Africa and India and prevented him from playing in South Australia’s humiliating Pura Cup defeat to the Bushrangers this week.While Tait is expected to play, Darren Lehmann is still missing after injuring his hamstring in the pre-season. The Redbacks have chosen Andy Delmont, the uncapped allrounder, in the squad after he posted 134 for University in the Adelaide grade competition.Delmont has been working with the new coach Mark Sorell to make his game more consistent. “I am rapt this has paid off and that I have been given this opportunity,” he said.Victoria’s successful Pura Cup debutant Matthew Wade has been overlooked and Adam Crosthwaite is set to take the gloves. Victoria will also be boosted by the inclusion of the fast bowlers Shane Harwood, Mick Lewis and Clinton McKay, while Aaron Finch and Aiden Blizzard could slot into the batting line-up.Wade, Nick Jewell, Dirk Nannes and Gerard Denton were left out of the one-day squad despite being part of the side that thrashed South Australia. Denton and Nannes each took five wickets in the first-class win, while Wade marked his debut with 83 and six catches.Harwood’s pre-season was hampered by a shoulder injury but he has been included in the 13-man squad after a successful performance for his club side on the weekend. A state debut for Finch, 20, would be a pleasing turnaround after he was suspended from the Centre of Excellence in July for keeping his room continually untidy.Cameron White said the additions would strengthen Victoria’s chances in the 50-over format. “It was a pretty emphatic win this week, but then again the Redbacks’ form in the FR Cup has been stronger than the Pura Cup in recent seasons,” he said. “There’s no doubt we’re hell-bent on leaving Adelaide with points in both matches and the inclusion of guys like Shane Harwood, who’s been our best one-day bowler, gives us a great boost.”South Australia squad Matthew Elliott, Daniel Harris, Cameron Borgas, Mark Cosgrove, Nathan Adcock (capt), Andy Delmont, Graham Manou (wk), Mark Cleary, Dan Cullen, Jason Gillespie, Ryan Harris, Shaun Tait.Victoria squad Michael Klinger, Robert Quiney, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Aiden Blizzard, Aaron Finch, Andrew McDonald, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Harwood, Clinton McKay, Bryce McGain, Peter Siddle, Mick Lewis.

Mahela Jayawardene expressed disappointment that Marvan Atapattu had decided to opt out of the upcoming three-Test series against Bangladesh starting on June 25 at the SSC.”I just got to know over the weekend about Marvan’s opting out of the series. I am disappointed because it would have been great to have him around. The experience that he brings to the team would be immense,” Jayawardene told a press gathering held to welcome the Bangladesh cricket team at Hotel Taj Samudra on Monday.”Marvan’s absence definitely opens doors for new players. Hopefully they will grab it. That’s how I see it. We’ve already have a couple of young guys in the squad and we were thinking in the lines of giving them some exposure. I haven’t still sat with the selectors and finalized what the outcome would be after the news we’ve heard from Marvan. All of us have to take responsibility and look forward to the series,” said Jayawardene.Atapattu announced over the weekend that he was unavailable for the Test series citing personal reasons.When it was pointed out that two other experienced cricketers Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan would not be playing in the one-day series, Jayawardene stated: “We have to manage these players in the long term. Four years down the line we never know what will happen. We need to give opportunities to other cricketers to get the exposure and give them the experience.””Those were the lines that we’ve been thinking when we selected the sides. Vaasy and Murali have been playing a lot of cricket especially in the counties. If we could give them a break in between it would be ideal because after September onwards we’ve got a lot of cricket ahead of us. We need to make sure we manage them properly,” he said.On the opposition they will be encountering Jayawardene said that Sri Lanka would not take anything lightly. “Bangladesh has made a lot of strides forward from the time they were last here. The more exposure you get in international cricket the players mature. We know how good Bangladesh are. We knew how good they were in the World Cup. They were in our group and we knew how dangerous they could be. We had to play a really good game to beat them in Trinidad,” said Jayawardene.”There are a lot of our guys who want to prove a point. Test cricket for us is all about pride. Personally, for me that’s the ultimate challenge or for any cricketer. We are simply looking forward to this series. We haven’t played in Sri Lanka for almost one year and we are keen to go out and play good cricket and have the fans behind us,” he said.Trevor Penney who has taken over the role as coach of the Sri Lanka team after the departure of Tom Moody said the strategy for the series would be very much the same as it has been in the last few years.Penney hoped that the new coach who would take charge of the team would not interfere with it too much.”The two years Tom and I had dealt with the side we leave a bit of a legacy to go forward. I hope the new coach who comes in doesn’t try and change too much of what we’ve done with the side. We have made them a real team unit who believe in themselves and playing for each other,” said Penney who would also be leaving to join Moody in Western Australia at the end of the series.Sri Lanka Cricket on Friday signed another Australian Trevor Bayliss as the new coach to succeed Moody. Bayliss is expected to officially take over the national team from the first week of September.Mohammed Ashraful, Bangladesh’s new captain, said his team were hopeful of putting up a better performance in the Test series than their last tour to Sri Lanka which former captain Habibul Bashar described as one of the worst.Bangladesh on that occasion was routed 0-2 in the Tests and 0-3 in the one-day series. “We have been practicing hard and every day we are improving. One day cricket we have improved a lot but Test cricket we have some way to go. Our intention is to improve our Test cricket. We will play hard on this tour to achieve that,” said Ashraful.Bangladesh will play a full series of three Tests and three one-day internationals during their one month tour of Sri Lanka. They begin the tour with a three-day practice match at the Colts grounds on Wednesday.

ScorecardNicky Boje produced a fine all-round display, following three wickets with an unbeaten 74 as Northamptonshire eased to a six-wicket win, continuing Warwickshire’s alarming slump in form. Boje was well supported by Riki Wessels and David Sales as they chased down 231 with four overs to spare.Warwickshire looked like making a game of it when they removed both Northamptonshire openers early, but Boje and Wessels, who clubbed 52 off 29 balls, added 77 to put the chase on course.Boje then combined with Sales, who faced 52 balls for his runs and hit seven fours and a six. Ant Botha claimed two wickets on his Warwickshire debut, but it wasn’t enough.None of Warwickshire’s batsmen went on to produce a major innings, six of them falling between 24 and 41. Jonathon Trott top scored and some late hitting from Nick James and Alex Loudon boosted the total, although Northamptonshire made it appear well under par.

New Zealand’s constantly changing squad will welcome Scott Styris when they arrive in Melbourne on Wednesday. Styris joins Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram and Lou Vincent as late additions to the squad following recoveries from injury and the retirement of Nathan Astle.Styris, the allrounder, has been troubled by back problems since the Champions Trophy in October and he also picked up a calf injury. However, he has proved his fitness on the domestic scene and will now attempt to show he is ready for a spot at the World Cup.”Scott needs to be reacquainted with the squad systems, which have moved on significantly since he was last in the team,” Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand Cricket general manager, said. “It is also an opportunity for him to get back on to the international stage and the extra pressures that it brings.”Hamish Marshall has been dropped from the squad and will return to New Zealand on Wednesday. He played only one match against Australia and was dismissed third ball for zero.

England are increasingly confident that Andrew Flintoff will be available for the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford which gets underway on July 27. Flintoff missed out on England’s calamitous one-day series against Sri Lanka and has undergone extensive rehabilitation on his injured ankle, spending time at Bovey Castle in Dartmoor with the England physio Dave Roberts.He will make his return to competitive cricket this afternoon in a Twenty20 clash for Lancashire against Nottinghamshire, one of two Twenty20 matches he will play. It was confirmed by England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, that he will also take part in a Championship match against Kent on July 18.”Everything is on course. It is very positive,” Graveney told BBC Radio 5 Live. “All things being equal, he will be available for the second Test.”He is going to play in two Twenty20 games for Lancashire and then a county championship game.”Last week, Flintoff was named as the official stand-in to Michael Vaughan who was ruled out of the Ashes this winter; while Flintoff continues to recover from his injury, Andrew Strauss will lead the side at Lord’s on Thursday.

New Zealand have announced winter contracts for the first time with seven players, including Grant Elliott, on the list. The deals run from May to September and cover the Emerging Players Tournament in Queensland in July and the New Zealand A tour of India in September.”All players contracted will be under consideration for winter tours by the New Zealand A or Emerging Players Tournament sides, or even the Blackcaps,” a New Zealand spokesman confirmed to Cricinfo.”These contracts have been awarded in recognition of their performance in the last domestic season,” Glenn Turner, one of New Zealand’s selectors, said. “We have identified them as possible future Blackcaps, or as players who we expect to build on existing international experience. There is an expectation that they will keep working on their game during the winter.”The allrounder Elliott, 29, made his Test debut against England last month but was overlooked for a full contract two weeks ago. However, the winter deal gives him hope his international career will not stall at one match.Nathan McCullum is one step closer to joining his brother Brendon in the national set-up again after receiving one of the seven contracts. His only match in New Zealand colours came at the World Twenty20 last year, when he made 1 and was not required to bowl against South Africa.Neil Broom, Martin Guptill, Greg Hay, Bradley Scott and BJ Watling were also included in the list. McCullum, Broom and Scott have played together for New Zealand A in 2007, the trio appearing in the Emerging Players Tournament final in Australia where they lost to South Africa.Guptill, 21, is a former New Zealand Under-19 player who made his first-class debut two years ago while Watling, 22, played his initial first-class match in the 2004-05 season. The deals begin on May 19 and continue until the end of September, before the resumption of major association contracts.

ScorecardJust like the full England side, the under-19s are finding life on the subcontinent tough this winter. After being whitewashed in the five-match series against a BCB High Perfomance Side, their poor start to the triangular tournament got poorer with a second defeat, this time to Sri Lanka.Angelo Mathews was the star for Sri Lanka, smashing 70 not out from 74 balls to boost their total to 225 after Dimuth Karunaratne and Sameera de Zoysa put on 54 for the first wicket to set a solid platform.Rory Hamilton-Brown fared the best for England’s bowlers, taking 3 for 44 and playing a part in causing a mid-innings wobble and give Sri Lanka the jitters at 156 for 8. But Mathews stood firm to help lift the score with two fruitful stands with Muthumudalige Pushpakumara and Rajeeva Weerasinghe which yielded 69 runs.England lost early wickets which set them on the backfoot from the off. Varun Chopra stood firm to add a quick 34 from as many balls, but when he fell to Hans Fernando and Woodman went for 40, the momentum fell away from the innings (83 for 3). There was no way back for England and when they lost three quick wickets for six runs late on – Weerasinghe struck twice and there was a run out – the writing was on the wall (180 for 8).They folded not long after, with Ben Wright left stranded on 40 not out, as Sri Lanka recorded victory by 13 runs.