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Adam Gilchrist has raised doubts over Shaun Marsh’s dismissal against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday, saying that he was not convinced the ball carried through to the wicketkeeper.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2012Kings XI Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist has raised doubts over Shaun Marsh’s dismissal during their eight-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday, saying that he was not convinced the ball carried through to the wicketkeeper.Marsh was controversially dismissed in the 14th over, when his edge off a Brett Lee delivery was taken low by wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla. The on-field umpire then ruled him out, even though TV replays suggested there was a doubt. Kings XI relied on Marsh to give them momentum, after Gilchrist pulled a hamstring in the 11th over while completing a quick single. Until Gilchrist’s departure, Kings XI were going along at 7.50 but post-Gilchrist, it had declined to 5.93.”I am not convinced it was out, but I think there’s a huge element of doubt there,” Gilchrist said. “Shaun asked the wicketkeeper, which I must say is the way I like to play the game, you ask the fielder and the wicketkeeper told him ‘yes I caught it’, so Shaun walked off.”Following the dismissal, Gilchrist stepped in to quash a debate between the team owner Preity Zinta and match officials. “I saw her on the sidelines and all I said was ‘let me handle this’ and she responded and sat down.” Gilchrist said.After the match, Knight Riders medium-pacer Rajat Bhatia said that Gilchrist’s injury and Marsh’s dismissal helped them restrict Kings XI to 124. “Bisla never said that he took the catch. He said that ‘I think I took the catch’. If the umpires would have given it to the third umpire then the decision would have been different. That really helped us, to be honest,” Bhatia said.Having lost three matches and won two in the IPL, Gilchrist said that consistency is important to succeed in the tournament. “We all need to contribute as there’s a full batting line-up there. It’s up to all of us to get the runs. We’ve been inconsistent and that’s an area where we can improve.”Gilchrist also said he was concerned about the security of players after an intruder ran on to the field during the match.”There’s always concerns when you get pitch invasions in any sports,” Gilchrist said. “We’ve seen historically there’ve been some terrible things happening. When someone runs on like that and runs towards players, we can never be too sure what’s going to happen. It is a concern and no doubt the ground authorities will try and improve on security and ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

The rest of the Plunket Shield will be covered via an internet live stream in addition to the regular updates provided on Radio Sport

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2012The rest of the Plunket Shield will be covered via an internet live stream in addition to the regular updates provided on Radio Sport. New Zealand Cricket and Radio Sport announced there would be a live stream on and that would alternate between the three games played simultaneously in each round. Four rounds of matches in the Plunket Shield have been completed; another six remain.Radio Sport’s decision to replace live commentary of Plunket Shield matches with intermittent updates caused a stir among fans in New Zealand, and an online petition was started to change the network’s mind. The live internet stream will appease the fans, according to David White, the CEO of NZC. “Cricket fans have a strong emotional attachment to the Plunket Shield and they want to be able to remain connected to the matches throughout each day’s play,” he said. “We believe this will provide fans with choice and it will certainly increase the channels by which fans can follow their teams.”Dallas Gurney, general manager of talk programming for The Radio Network, said the response from fans to the decision to scrap live commentary had influence the move to provide a live stream. “There was a strong amount of passion and we are delighted to be working with NZC to respond to that passion with this initiative,” Gurney said.

Michael Clarke believes the added responsibility of captaincy has been a factor in his remarkable year as a batsman

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne 27-Feb-2012Michael Clarke believes the added responsibility of captaincy has been a factor in his remarkable year as a batsman. Clarke won his third Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on Monday and it was no surprise after a 12-month period in which he topped Australia’s run tally in both Test and one-day international cricket, and took over the captaincy from Ricky Ponting.In contrast, the previous year was much leaner for Clarke, who averaged 31.30 in Test cricket in the 12 months up until last year’s Allan Border Medal. The highlights of Clarke’s 2011-12 were his triple-century against India at the SCG and his double-hundred in the Adelaide Test two games later, but he made a ton in each of Australia’s four Test series and topped the run tally in three of those.”I think the added responsibility of captaining the team has probably made me stand up and lead from the front,” Clarke said. “People see the rewards when you stand up on the big stage, they don’t see the hard work you do off the field. When you have the chance to go and bat for Australia in the middle of the SCG or the Adelaide Oval, that’s the fun part, that’s the part where you just walk out and enjoy yourself because the hard work has been done.”With some young guys coming in to our team this summer it’s been crucial that the senior players have stood up. It’s a great reflection when you look at that leadership board for the Allan Border Medal you’ve got myself, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson – the senior players are on that board and I think that’s played a big part in the success we’ve had over the last 12 months.”And it has been a prosperous year for Clarke’s team as well as for himself. He is yet to lose a series as captain and started his tenure in the Test role with victory over Sri Lanka and over the past two months helped his side whitewash India 4-0. But in among those triumphs there have been lower points: their 47 all out in Cape Town and the loss to New Zealand in Hobart in particular.”I think it could have gone better, definitely,” Clarke said of his first year as captain. “I think over the past 12 months we’ve played some really good cricket but there’s been some patches that we’d like to forget as well. I think we’re heading in the right direction as a team. When you’re the No.1 one-day team in the world it’s really hard to stay on top of your game all the time; you have to keep finding new things, new ways to improve. You have to keep working hard, you can’t take anything for granted. Getting to the top of the tree is very hard but staying there is even harder.”The job we face as a Test team is we have three other teams in front of us. We know we have a lot of work to do. We see that every single day with the ICC rankings, we see very clearly where we sit. We have very clear goals there. I think we’re a long way from the team we want to be but I do believe we’re heading in the right direction.”Clarke won the Allan Border Medal by quite a distance from the second-placed Hussey and Watson, who came in third. Ponting was fourth, followed by the emerging fast man James Pattinson in fifth position and the batsman David Warner, who came sixth.

A consequence of Simon Katich’s removal from the Australian team is that Ricky Ponting is the only member of the Sri Lanka tour squad to have played a Test match on the island.

Daniel Brettig04-Aug-2011A consequence of Simon Katich’s removal from Australian team is that Ricky Ponting is the only member of the Sri Lanka tour squad to have played a Test match on the island.Australia’s captain, Michael Clarke, was a member of the touring squad in 2004 but did not make his Test debut until the visit to India later that year.Australia’s 3-0 victory in 2004 arrived in fighting fashion. The hosts led on the first innings in all three Tests before the batting of Damien Martyn and Darren Lehmann, among others, allowed Shane Warne to spin out Sri Lanka in the fourth innings.It was a momentous way for Ponting to start his captaincy, but now he will be the man handing out advice on Sri Lankan climes to his successor Clarke and his team-mates.”As it turns out I think I am the only player that has played Test cricket over there so I will be giving him [Clarke] advice all over the place I think when the Test matches come around,” Ponting said with a smile before flying to Sri Lanka.David Hussey has already spoken of the challenge to be posed by pitches designed to favour the hosts, but Ponting said his best advice would be to play the conditions on merit, not suspicion.”One thing we can’t afford to do, especially when you go anywhere on the subcontinent, is worry too much about wicket conditions,” Ponting said. “In the past we have talked ourselves into what we think conditions are going to be like before we actually started, and made things increasingly difficult for ourselves. There wont be any talk about that.”We’ve got plenty of time to get prepared. We’ve got five days of training before the one-dayers come around and Michael and I are not playing Twenty20 cricket, but we’ve got five one dayers before the tour game, so there is plenty of opportunity for us and there should be no excuses come Test time.”For his part, Clarke said Ponting’s presence would be far more of a help than a hindrance when he is figuring out how to combat a Sri Lankan team that possesses one of the deepest and most statistically accomplished batting line-ups in world cricket.”We’ve caught up a few times over the last couple of months. We spent a lot of time up in Brisbane chatting about the team and a few of my ideas and I was trying to get a bit of guidance from him,” Clarke said. “That’s the advantage the team has, we have such a great player around the group, who’s had some amazing success not only as a batsman but as a leader, and we’d be silly not to utilise that as much as we can.”One thing he’s said to me is that he’s there for me, anything I need he’s more than happy to help. With him not being captain it’s given him the chance to spend more time with the younger players. He’s been spending time with Usman [Khawaja] over the last couple of days, so I’m really looking forward to working with Ricky.”He was great to me when I was vice-captain and he taught me a hell of a lot, and I feel comfortable in my position knowing that I have learned a lot from him and that he’s right there as well if I need any help or guidance.”

England, the reigning World Twenty20 champions, have been unveiled as the top T20 side as the ICC launched their rankings for the shortest format of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2011England, the reigning World Twenty20 champions, have topped the ICC’s inaugural rankings for the shortest format of the game. England batsman Eoin Morgan tops the batting ratings, Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis is the top bowler and Australia’s Shane Watson the No. 1 allrounder.England have 127 points and are ahead of Sri Lanka, who have 126 in the rankings, announced on Monday. If England win their T20 against India at Eden Gardens on October 29, they will have a four-point lead over Sri Lanka. If they lose, though, they will slip below Sri Lanka and India.”The introduction of rankings for international Twenty20 cricket provides real context to the various series played between member countries on an ongoing basis,” England’s team director Andy Flower said. “Until now we haven’t had the chance to play a large number of Twenty20 Internationals so this will offer a benchmark as to who is performing at international level.”The next four teams – New Zealand (117), South Africa, India and Australia – were separated by only six points. Pakistan, who won the World Twenty20 in 2009, were ranked seventh followed by West Indies, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.Bangladesh, along with Associate Members Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland, which have T20 international status, will join the table as soon as they have played sufficient matches (at least eight T20s since August 2009) to qualify for a ranking.Since August 2009, England played 20 T20s, winning 12, losing six and two no-results. Pakistan played the most matches (24) during the same period, but lost more than 50% of its matches, which contributed to its low rating.Brendon McCullum and Kevin Pietersen were No. 2 and 3 behind Morgan in the rankings for batsmen, while spinners occupy seven of the top ten spots for bowlers. “I believe spin bowlers have adapted to T20 cricket better than most,” Daniel Vettori, who has retired from T20s, said. “To see spinners succeed in a tough environment is great for the game and means bowlers can enjoy Twenty20 cricket, most of the time!”Watson, the No. 1 allrounder, is followed by Shahid Afridi, David Hussey and Mohammad Hafeez. Abdul Razzaq, at No. 10, is the third Pakistan player among the top ten allrounders.

Western Australia have finalised their revamped squad for next season after naming a 17-man contract list

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2011Western Australia have finalised their revamped squad for next season after naming a 17-man contract list. The key changes for the Warriors had already been confirmed earlier in the off-season, with the axing of Steve Magoffin, David Bandy, Aaron Heal, Matt Johnston, Michael Swart and Luke Towers, while Ashley Noffke and Brett Dorey both retired during the summer.The coach Mickey Arthur last week confirmed the addition of the Tasmania batsman Travis Birt, the Queensland fast bowler Nathan Rimmington and the New South Wales fast man Mark Cameron to the group in an effort to force strong competition for places. There were no other surprises in the final list, with the fast-bowling pair Matt Dixon and Joel Parris added to the rookie list.The impressive left-arm fast man Ryan Duffield was upgraded from a rookie deal to a full contract after a summer in which he collected 33 Sheffield Shield wickets at 22.90, while the opening batsman Marcus Harris was also promoted. Arthur said the squad was one he and the captain Marcus North could put their stamp on.”I am really comfortable with our new signings and the list that we have put together,” Arthur said. “We cut seven players from the squad and lost two to retirement at the end of 2010-11 and have only recruited three players from interstate, so we are backing our outstanding local talent to return the Warriors to the top of Australian cricket.”We have brought in some experienced players in Travis Birt, Mark Cameron and Nathan Rimmington and they will play big roles for us, but we must not forget that we have an exciting bunch of young cricketers as well. I feel that we have got our list almost right with a mix that will set us up for years to come, and in the next year or two we will have it spot on. I am really confident with the direction we are taking WA cricket.”The Warriors finished fourth on the Sheffield Shield table last season, Arthur’s first in charge, and they were also fourth in the Ryobi Cup. But there were some positive signs, with Duffield, Harris, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Tom Beaton emerging as players to watch.Western Australia squad Michael Beer, Travis Birt, Mark Cameron, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Davis, Ryan Duffield, Marcus Harris, Michael Hogan, Michael Hussey (Cricket Australia contract), Mitchell Johnson (CA), Brad Knowles, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh (CA), Marcus North, Martin Paskal, Luke Pomersbach, Nathan Rimmington, Wes Robinson, Luke Ronchi, Adam Voges.Rookies Tom Beaton, Jason Behrendorff, Matt Dixon, Michael Johnson, Joel Paris.

India have dropped Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh for the Nagpur Test

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2012India have dropped Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh for the Nagpur Test. Delhi fast bowler Parvinder Awana and Saurashtra allrounder Ravindra Jadeja have received their first call-ups, and legspinner Piyush Chawla replaced Harbhajan.Zaheer’s is the biggest fall. This is the first time he has been dropped from the Test side after his rousing comeback in 2006-07. He has taken 15 wickets in eight Tests in 2012 at a strike rate of 98 balls per wicket. In this series, he has taken four scalps at a strike rate of 133. Moreover, his fielding has been below par for some time. His replacement, Awana, took 5 for 81 against Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy match a day before the selection meeting. Reputed to be brisk, Awana has taken 21 Ranji wickets at an average of 21.57 this season.Yuvraj, called back after a double-century in the Duleep Trophy was deemed enough to prove his fitness, did not take his chance either. He scored 125 runs in five innings in the series. He has now played 40 Tests over various comebacks for three centuries and an average of 33.92.Yuvraj’s replacement, Jadeja, recently scored his third first-class triple-century in 13 months. He was dropped from India’s limited-overs squads earlier this year, but the two triples in one month this season and 18 Ranji wickets at 23.72 have put him ahead of Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary in the queue for a middle-order slot. Jadeja told he had hoped to get his chance after his run in domestic cricket: “I have proved my ability to stay at wicket for a long time, which is necessary while playing Test cricket, and I was hoping after making two triple centuries I would be selected for Test cricket.”Even as the squad was being debated, Tiwary was busy rescuing Bengal with 55 out of a score of 112 against Jadeja’s Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy. Four of Bengal’s wickets, though, fell to Jadeja. Tiwary retired-hurt with a pulled muscle, but that happened after the squad was announced.Harbhajan was recalled for the Tests without any improvement shown in domestic cricket, but a lacklustre show in Mumbai means he will be stuck on 99 Tests for a while. Not that his replacement, Chawla, has set the domestic scene on fire, with nine wickets at an average of 48.33.Awana and Jadeja made it to the T20 side too. Uttar Pradesh allrounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar joined them in place of the injured Irfan Pathan. Virender Sehwag and Zaheer, left out of T20 squad, were unavailable for reasons the BCCI didn’t state. Ajinkya Rahane took Sehwag’s place. Harbhajan has been dropped for T20s as well.Squad for Nagpur Test: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Parvinder Awana.Squad for T20Is: MS Dhoni (capt &wk), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwary, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Parvinder AwanaBy Sidharth MongaThis selection should drive home what a bad state Indian cricket is in. Piyush Chawla’s bowling averages over the last three first-class seasons tell you all you need to know about the reserves: 48.33 this season, 40.61 in 2011-12 and 41.04 in 2010-11. He was picked for the Nagpur Test against England despite that. No wonder Harbhajan Singh came back into the side without taking wickets at domestic level. The spin cupboard is bare, and the choice was between Amit Mishra and Chawla. The selectors overlooked Mishra, who at least has better stats than Chawla.There are better options in the fast-bowling department, but they are all injured. Most noteworthy among them are Umesh Yadav, Praveen Kumar and Sreesanth. Parvinder Awana, reputed to be a quick bowler, has had a decent season and looks a good pick with others unavailable. If the pitch in Nagpur is not a raging turner, at least one out of Awana and Ashok Dinda should debut.Ravindra Jadeja’s selection seems driven by numbers alone. His two triple-centuries this season, to go with one in 2011-12, have pushed him ahead of two specialist batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary, who have been on the fringes for a long time. It could also be Jadeja’s left-arm spin, something that was supposed to be in Yuvraj Singh’s favour when he jumped the queue. The problem with this selection, on the evidence of what we have seen in international cricket, is that Jadeja is neither a top-six batsman nor a top-four bowler.

Warwickshire are expected to confirm Dougie Brown, their assistant coach and Academy director, on Thursday morning

George Dobell30-Jan-2013Warwickshire are expected to confirm Dougie Brown, their assistant coach and Academy director, on Thursday morning as the successor to Ashley Giles as their new director of cricket.Brown has fought off other leading candidates for the job such as Graeme Welch, his former Warwickshire team-mate and the county’s bowling coach, and the West Indies coach Ottis Gibson, who has also been discussing the details of a promised new contract with the national side.Brown, who worked in close association with Giles as Warwickshire won the Championship last summer, and also reached the final of the CB40, is a former England and Scotland allrounder who can be sure to bring a passionate approach to the role. He is also a former PCA chairman.Other candidates for the Warwickshire role included David Parsons, the ECB performance director, David Hemp, former Glamorgan and Bermuda captain and now coaching at Solihull School and Andy Moles, the former Scotland, Kenya and New Zealand coach, who was discounted before the interview stage.

Kamran Akmal and former captain Shoaib Malik have been told that they will not be in contention for World Cup selection unless they submit documents listing their assets and bank accounts to the PCB by December 30

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2010Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal have until December 30 to provide the PCB with the necessary documents to clear their names for World Cup selection.”The PCB has asked them to submit the documents about their assets and bank accounts by December 30 to be considered in the list of probables for the World Cup,” Subhan Ahmad, the board’s COO, told .The ICC had extended Pakistan’s deadline for the submission of its preliminary 30-member squad for the tournament to January 5, after receiving a request from the board. Kamran and Malik have not played for Pakistan since their controversial tour of England in August and were left out of the tour to the United Arab Emirates. They have also been denied permission to play league cricket in Bangladesh. The PCB has remained fairly tight-lipped about the reasons for their exclusion.Kamran and Malik had both questioned the board’s decision to not clear them for the New Zealand tour. Kamran had written to the ICC asking if he was under investigation and got a clean chit from them. The ICC had sent him and Salman Butt notices during Pakistan’s tour of England in August, seeking information about events related to the 2010 World Twenty20 held in May.Legspinner Danish Kaneria, who has not figured in Pakistan’s one-day plans in recent times, was also earlier given until the end of the year to submit his replies to the board’s integrity committee’s queries, in order to gain clearance to play for the country.

Peter George swerved through the New South Wales batting after Dan Christian’s unbeaten century had lifted South Australia to an intimidating 478 on day two of the Sheffield Shield match

Daniel Brettig at Adelaide Oval18-Oct-2011
ScorecardPeter George claimed Phillip Hughes among his five victims•Getty ImagesPeter George, the sometime Australia Test bowler, swerved through the New South Wales batting after Dan Christian’s unbeaten century had lifted South Australia to an intimidating 478 on day two of the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval.Largely forgotten as a national team prospect since taking three wickets on his debut against India in Bangalore in 2010, George bowled a full length and gained devious swing on a warm afternoon to pluck 5 for 28 and send the Blues sliding to 7 for 133 at the close.His success was helped by the heavy legs the NSW batsmen gained across nearly nine hours in the field, as Christian ensured a first day platform of 4 for 309 was not wasted by the lower order.The visitors had begun the day in decent fashiion, Mitchell Starc swinging the second new ball to have Aiden Blizzard lbw and Tim Ludeman bowled between bat and pad in the second over of the morning.However Christian found a willing ally in Kane Richardson, and together they set about disheartening a Blues team that continued to miss Beau Casson, in hospital after the recurrence of a congenital heart condition.After Richardson fell and Christian had reached his century, George provided an indicator this might be his match by heaving Starc’s full toss for a mighty six.He followed up by curving the ball dangerously into a NSW team stacked with left-handers. Nic Maddinson was first to go, bowled off his pads, then Phil Hughes may have had reason to question his lbw verdict.Next ball, to widespread disbelief, Simon Katich flicked a slower ball to midwicket, and George continued his merry march through the batting after tea by finding Moises Henriques’ outside edge and Usman Khawaja’s front pad.Christian also contributed, coaxing an edge from the NSW captain Ben Rohrer then having Sean Abbott painfully lbw via an unpadded back thigh, and stumps arrived with SA in complete command.