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Steve O’Keefe’s dramatic rise from New South Wales fringe player has continued with him replacing Nathan Hauritz in Australia’s Test squad for the two games against Pakistan

Cricinfo staff30-Jun-2010Steve O’Keefe’s dramatic rise from New South Wales fringe player has continued with him replacing Nathan Hauritz in Australia’s Test squad for the two games against Pakistan. O’Keefe, a left-arm spinner, impressed with nine wickets in Australia A’s two matches with Sri Lanka A over the past two weeks to gain an unexpected promotion.Nathan Hauritz was sent home with a foot injury suffered in the opening ODI against England, leaving the legspinner Steven Smith to eye a Test debut in the opening match at Lord’s from July 13. O’Keefe, 25, is also from New South Wales and he stood out in the opening “A” fixture this month by taking 7 for 35 and scoring 61 and 47.Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said O’Keefe deserved his chance. “Stephen has performed strongly in the recent Australia A series against Sri Lanka A in Queensland and is a good young all-round cricketer,” he said.However, he has played only eight first-class matches and was a surprise selection for Australia A, gaining a spot while Victoria’s Jon Holland and Tasmania’s Jason Krejza had off-season surgery. O’Keefe was born in Malaysia and spent two years there before his father, who worked for the Royal Australian Air Force, was posted back home.When he spoke to Cricinfo last week O’Keefe said he was hoping the “A” series would set him up for next summer at New South Wales, where he is one of seven slow bowlers fighting for a spot. “From my point of view I can’t really rest, knowing those guys are around,” he said. “A couple have played Test cricket, one will, there are some young guys, who knows how good they could be?” O’Keefe is now an outside chance to show his wares to the wider world.

An unbeaten 73 in his last County Championship game from allrounder Robin Martin-Jenkins put Sussex in a decent position halfway through their Division Two game with Gloucestershire at Arundel

08-Jul-2010

ScorecardAn unbeaten 73 in his last County Championship game from allrounder Robin Martin-Jenkins put Sussex in a decent position halfway through their Division Two game with Gloucestershire at Arundel. Martin-Jenkins, 34, who retires later this month, was the only Sussex batsman to go on after four of his top-five colleagues fell for between 37 and 49. The home side still closed on 314 for 6, a lead of seven.Gloucestershire stayed in contention thanks to some probing left-arm spin from Vikram Banerjee on a pitch offering increasing turn. Banerjee took four wickets while seamer Gemaal Hussain continued his excellent form with two more wickets to take him to 41 for the season.Hussain’s new-ball away swing accounted for opener Michael Thornely, who pushed to second slip, and Banerjee struck in only his second over when Chris Nash, one short of his half-century, was surprised by extra bounce and edged to slip. When Ed Joyce, who had looked assured in making 43, popped up a catch to short leg to give Banerjee his second wicket Gloucestershire had a measure of control, but the game swung back Sussex’s way either side of tea with three half-century stands.Murray Goodwin and Matt Prior put on 55 until Goodwin, on 44, was leg before to a full-length delivery from Hussain. Prior played well within himself for his 37 but had just started to accelerate when he mistimed a drive at Banerjee and gave an easy catch to cover.Sussex were still 105 behind at that stage but Martin-Jenkins came in to play with the freedom of someone under absolutely no pressure. He soon overtook his partner Joe Gatting with a succession of flowing front-foot strokes as 55 runs were added for the sixth wicket in 14 overs.Gatting has endured a wretched summer, with just 100 Championship runs in five games, but seemed to have found some form as he moved to a season’s best 25 before he was too late on a defensive push to become Banerjee’s second leg-before victim. Martin-Jenkins pressed on though and negotiated the second new ball in an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 57 with Yasir Arafat. He has struck 12 fours in 108 balls so far.Earlier, Gloucestershire’s last-wicket pair added a further 21 runs to their overnight 286 for 9 to secure a third batting bonus point before last man Steve Kirby feathered a catch off Arafat, who finished with a season’s best 3 for 55.

Ireland have been rewarded for their successful WCL Division One defence by having four of their players named in the team of the tournament

Cricinfo staff11-Jul-2010Ireland have been rewarded for their successful WCL Division 1 defence by having four of their players named in the team of the tournament.Ireland defeated Scotland by six wickets to seal the title on Saturday and their leader, Trent Johnston, was chosen as captain of the combined squad. Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien, and George Dockrell, the 17-year-old left-arm spinner, were the other members of Ireland’s team chosen. Mark Jonkman, the Netherlands paceman, was also included despite being reported for a suspect bowling bowling action.The side was chosen by a panel of experts that included Adrian Griffith, the former West Indies batsman, and Kumar Dharmasena, the Sri Lankan off-spinner who featured in the 1996 World Cup winning side.Team of the tournament 1 Paul Stirling (Ireland), 2 Ashish Bagai (Canada) (wicketkeeper), 3 Tom Cooper (Netherlands), 4 Nawroz Mangal (Afghanistan), 5 Kevin O’Brien (Ireland), 6 Neil McCallum (Scotland),7 Thomas Odoyo (Kenya), 8 Samiullah Shenwari (Afghanistan), 9 Trent Johnston (Ireland) (captain), 10 George Dockrell (Ireland), 11 Mark Jonkman (Netherlands), 12th man Gordon Drummond (Scotland).

South Africa A opener Dean Elgar scored a century to steady a stuttering batting line-up on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka A at the SSC

Cricinfo staff16-Aug-2010
ScorecardSouth Africa A opener Dean Elgar scored a century to steady a stuttering batting line-up on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka A at the SSC. Elgar remained firm amid falling wickets and remained unbeaten on 118 at stumps.The South Africans made a promising start after they chose to bat, with openers Stephen Cook and Elgar adding 62. Cook’s dismissal for 26, however, started a trend in which the visitors would begin to have a partnership but the Sri Lankan bowlers would cut it short before it did any damage. Middle-order batsmen Rilee Rossouw, Stiaan van Zyl, Jonathan Vandiar and Heino Kuhn entered double figures but no one got past 30.Elgar, however, batted steadily to reach his century and led his team to 235 for 6 at the close of play. Sachithra Senanayake and Janaka Gunaratne were the most successful Sri Lanka A bowlers, taking two wickets apiece.

Somerset were left nervously watching Nottinghamshire’s quest for bonus points at Old Trafford after they were denied victory by Durham at Chester-le-Street as they failed to chase down a near-impossible 181 in 17 overs

Andrew McGlashan at Chester-le-Street16-Sep-2010
ScorecardMichael Di Venuto struck a fine 129 to frustrate Somerset•Getty Images

Somerset’s quest for their maiden Championship title was ended in the cruellest of manners while they watched and waited on the pavilion balcony at Chester-le-Street, as Nottinghamshire pulled off their desperate quest for bonus points down at Old Trafford by posting a total of 400 before snatching three quick wickets in 4.4 overs at the end of their contest against LancashireSomerset had been in pole position going into the final day of the Championship season, but they were denied victory by Durham as they failed to chase down a near-impossible 181 in 17 overs. With the game finishing earlier than normal to allow the visitors to reach Newcastle Airport this evening, to head to London for the CB40 final, they left the field not knowing whether the draw was enough to secure them their first Championship title with Nottinghamshire having reached 400 for 9.That total had been sufficient to give them their fifth batting point, and when Samit Patel clung onto an edge from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, they drew level with Somerset on 214 points, but snatched the total with seven victories to Somerset’s six.For Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset captain, it was the second agonising near-miss of the season after losing the Friends Provident t20 final to Hampshire on virtue of wickets lost. “It’s gutting, with it being our first we realise how special it will be when we finally get there,” he said. “To get so close – level on points – is so tough but we’ll just have to wait another year now.”It’s terrible. It’s something that will live with us for a long, long time. To know we were so close, touching distance to the trophy, but so far away when Nottinghamshire got that third wicket.”Somerset could have removed all the uncertainty with a victory here, but Durham showed impressive character to battle through the final day. Michael Di Venuto continued his fine innings although he edged short of slip as Charl Willoughby found some swing before bring up his third hundred of the season from 155 ballsBen Harmison laboured to 15 off 72 balls in a third-wicket stand of 68 before was caught down the leg side off Alfonso Thomas, but it was looking increasingly likely that the results elsewhere would now be important for Somerset’s changes.Di Venuto, Durham’s leading batsman in a poor run-scoring season for the defending County Championships, continued to move along untroubled while Ian Blackwell began clubbing the ball with an end-of-season freedom. However, moments before lunch Peter Trego made his latest vital mark on this match when he found Di Venuto’s outside edge to rekindle Somerset’s hopes of forcing the outright victory.Then, two balls into Murali Kartik’s next over, Blackwell got a big inside edge into his pad which ballooned up to short leg as Somerset left the field with a spring in their step with the prospect of a chaseable fourth-innings target.But Phil Mustard and Dale Benkenstein formed another stubborn partnership which ate away at 15 overs before Mustard was trapped lbw by the tireless Thomas. Benkenstein, batting at No. 7 after being off the field yesterday, and Scott Borthwick dead-batted through 10 more overs.Somerset, though, wouldn’t give up and Trego squeezed a yorker through Borthwick which had just enough force to dislodge the bails and Willoughby swung one back into Liam Plunkett to trap him straight in front. The target was already getting out of hand but Chris Rushworth top-edged a pull and Benkenstein’s resistance ended with an edge to slip.Trescothick and Craig Kieswetter renewed their Twenty20 opening partnership, but 181 in 17 overs was a tough ask even by their standards of fast scoring especially as Durham could bowl almost where they liked and spread the field. Kieswetter missed a swing against Blackwell, Trescothick carved to cover and when Trego was stumped by miles they played out time. Then they were left to wait, and were ultimately denied.

The Sri Lankans controlled their final warm-up before running into Australia as they recorded a 22-run victory over New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2010Sri Lankans 4 for 167 (Jayawardene 59) beat New South Wales 2 for 100 (Khawaja 32*) by 22 runs on D/L method

ScorecardMahela Jayawardene was quick off the mark, racing to 59 in 35 balls•Getty Images

The Sri Lankans controlled their final warm-up before running into Australia as they recorded a 22-run victory over New South Wales in Sydney. After the visitors posted 4 for 167 from their 20 overs, the local innings was interrupted by rain – the target was reduced to 123 in 14 overs – and they finished at 2 for 100.The game started 15 minutes late because the Sri Lankans were caught in traffic on the way to the ground at Blacktown in western Sydney, but the captain Mahela Jayawardene quickly put on the accelerator after he won the toss. Jayawardene, who replaced the resting Kumar Sangakkara, raced to 59 in 35 balls as he and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened with 57 in 5.3 overs.Dilshan fell for 21 as the main batsmen found some decent practice ahead of Friday’s Twenty20 international against Australia in Perth. Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews both collected 24 while Chamara Kapugedera picked up 26 off 18. Brett Lee was upset to be overlooked by Australia this week, but did not impress in giving away 44 runs in his four overs, including being hit for six twice by Kapugedera.New South Wales started well in their reply but rain interrupted them at 0 for 32 after 3.3 overs. The offspinner Suraj Randiv then struck twice to halt the hosts’ momentum and finished with 2 for 13 off three.Daniel Smith was lbw for 13 and Phillip Hughes (30) departed after Randiv took a fine running catch off his own bowling. The assignment was too tough for the locals and Usman Khawaja was left unbeaten on 32.The Sri Lankans beat Queensland on Friday in a 50-over fixture before Sunday’s game in Sydney was washed out. The three-match ODI series begins in Melbourne on Wednesday.

As next-door neighbours and useful sparring partners, Zimbabwe are regular opponents in the early stages of South Africa’s international season, with 20 of their previous 36 encounters taking place between late August and early November

Andrew Miller and Sahil Dutta07-Oct-2010

Match Facts

Friday, October 8, Bloemfontein

Start time 6:00pm (1600 GMT)All eyes will be on Grant Flower to see if he can reproduce his Essex form on the international stage, six years after last playing for Zimbabwe•PA Photos

The Big Picture

As next-door neighbours and useful sparring partners, Zimbabwe are regular opponents in the early stages of South Africa’s international season, with 20 of their previous 36 encounters taking place between late August and early November. On paper, therefore, this short series would appear to be just another unequal struggle, especially given that Zimbabwe have only ever won two encounters against the regional heavyweights, none of which have come in the past decade.Unusually, however, the true focus of this tour is Zimbabwe’s resurgence, rather than South Africa’s search for early-season fluency, and the first match in Bloemfontein – which will also be the first time the two teams have met in a Twenty20 international – will be a significant indicator as to the extent of the country’s redevelopment. Everything about the team, from the return of Grant Flower at the age of 39 to the announcement that Reebok will be their new kit suppliers, suggests that the traumas of the recent past are dissipating, and a bright new dawn is in the offing.Whether the dawn is bright enough for them to pull off a surprise victory in the coming weeks remains to be seen, but with Graeme Smith having stepped down from his Twenty20 role in favour of the spinner Johan Botha, there’s a hint of inexperience upon which they’ll hope to capitalise. Besides, in the shortest form of the game, there’s a much greater scope for upsets, as Zimbabwe proved in beating Australia at the 2007 World Twenty20.Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwe’s captain, has promised his team will come out with a new aggressive approach, having talked his tactics through with a brains trust that includes Alan Butcher, the former head coach at Surrey, as well as several stars of Zimbabwe’s brief golden era of the late 1990s, most notably Flower, Heath Streak the bowling coach and Alistair Campbell, the chief selector. With the 2011 World Cup fast approaching, this brief encounter could prove more instructive than past history would suggest.

Form guide

South Africa WWLLW

Zimbabwe LLLLW

Watch out for…

Grant Flower’s return to the fray after a six-year absence has been the biggest talking point of the tour. Despite a visa glitch that left him stranded at Harare Airport while the rest of the team set off for Johannesburg, he has now caught up with the squad and is ready to resume an international career that already encompasses 67 Tests and 219 ODIs. Assuming he’s fit and ready to take part in his first Twenty20 international, Zimbabwe will hope he can rediscover the form he displayed for Essex in the 2010 English summer, in which he was especially effective in the CB40 competition with 511 runs at 73.00 in 10 innings.David Miller had already created a stir by the time he made his international debut – age 20 – earlier this year against West Indies. He didn’t disappoint – making 33 from 26 balls down the order to help revive a flagging total and set up a narrow win. His blend of power and dexterity, alongside a clear-headed confidence makes him an ideal finisher who could prove the catalyst to South Africa’s improvement in the way Eoin Morgan has done for England.

Team news

South Africa may have followed their lethargic showing in the World Twenty20 with a pair of wins over West Indies but suspicion remains they are still groping for a combination capable of challenging the best teams in this format. They have a new-look team for this series with Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis resting and AB de Villiers out with injury. The exciting prospect Colin Ingram will make his debut and Heino Kuhn gets another chance behind the stumps in place of de Villiers. Wayne Parnell’s return from injury gives the home side a boost while Ryan McLaren, who was surprisingly overlooked for the original squad, comes in for Albie Morkel, who picked up a side strain while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Loots Bosman, 3 Colin Ingram, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Heino Kuhn (wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Johan Botha (capt), 8 Ryan McLaren, 9 Morne Morkel, 10 Wayne Parnell, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe.Grant Flower’s presence in the top order dominates the team news while Ed Rainsford should get his chance after a strong showing in the ODI series against Ireland where he picked up 10 wickets in the three matches.Zimbabwe (possible) 1 Brendan Taylor, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Grant Flower, 4 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 5 Charles Coventry, 6 Chamu Chibhabha, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Shingirai Masakadza, 10 Ed Rainsford, 11 Chris Mpofu.

Pitch and conditions

There has not been an international match played at Bloemfontein since South Africa eased to an innings victory over Bangladesh almost two years ago. Back then there were runs aplenty for the home side before Bangladesh’s batsmen struggled. Twenty20 conditions should be benign and with the forecast set fair runs should be on offer.

Stats and trivia

• 39 may not seem the normal age for newcomers but Grant Flower will make his Twenty20 International debut at Bloemfontein.
• Flower can at least claim to have some good form behind him. In his last international game, six years ago, he took 3 for 36 before top-scoring with 59 to help Zimbabwe edge to victory over Bangladesh.
• Since clubbing 94 from 45 balls against England at Centurion Loots Bosman has made 8, 0, 7, and 0 in Twenty20 Internationals.
  

  Quotes

  “Pro20 cricket is about who is the better team on the day, the uncertainty of this format is what makes it so exciting.”
  
  “When I have a bat in my hand and when I am hitting the ball, I feel in my element.”
  
  

The Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi has been reinstated as an international venue with effect from January 1

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2010The Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi has been reinstated as an international venue with effect from January 1, the ICC has said. This means it is formally cleared to host the four World Cup matches scheduled at the ground next year.The decision follows an inspection by Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s pitch consultant, who observed the pitch first-hand during a Ranji match between Delhi and Gujarat over the past week.The venue was suspended as an international ground following the abandonment of an ODI between India and Sri Lanka in December 2009, and has been under a process of repair monitored by the ICC. Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, said it was pleased with the remedial work carried out and felt the playing surfaces were now back to the standard expected for international matches.The DDCA, to protect the pitch, has decided minimise cricket at the venue ahead of the World Cup, including shifting the next two scheduled Ranji matches out of the Kotla. “We want to keep the wicket in good shape, so [we thought] why not move the Ranji games to other grounds that are available,” Venkat Sundaram, the chairman of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, told Cricinfo. “There are 12 days of cricket scheduled for this track before the World Cup and they can lead to a lot of wear and tear on the wicket, with players running onto it with spikes. “He also said the onset of winter meant the grass won’t grow very quickly, so it would be better to let the turf settle rather than have a lot of cricket on it before the World Cup.The last international played at the Kotla, on December 27 2009, was abandoned after 23.3 overs after the match officials decided the pitch was of “extremely variable bounce and too dangerous for further play”. The immediate fallout of the fiasco was the sacking of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, followed by the resignation of their Delhi counterparts.

A lack of game time has cost Doug Bollinger his spot for the first Ashes Test despite him being Australia’s most potent bowler of the past 12 months

Peter English in Brisbane24-Nov-2010A lack of game time has cost Doug Bollinger his spot for the first Ashes Test despite him being Australia’s most potent bowler of the past 12 months. Peter Siddle won the final place in the XI on his pre-injury reputation, but the same set of guidelines did not apply to Bollinger.Bollinger picked up 47 wickets at 22.02 in his past 10 matches but the numbers were not enough to regain his position after hurting his stomach in the first Test in India. While Siddle, who has appeared in 17 Tests, has completed a solid workout in the domestic and limited-overs sides, Bollinger was limited to one four-day fixture for New South Wales.”Lack of bowling [for Bollinger] over the last few weeks has been as much to do with it as anything,” Ricky Ponting said as he announced his side. “Just the fact this line-up had good success in South Africa and at times in England last series. We feel that [Ben] Hilfenhaus and Siddle are very well advanced in their preparations for this series and [Mitchell] Johnson has a lot of cricket under his belt. We think this attack is good enough to take 20 wickets at the Gabba.”Johnson has the most victims for Australia over the past 12 months with 52, but Bollinger’s strike-rate of a wicket every 41.7 balls is seven better than Johnson’s. Siddle has not played a Test since January after suffering a back stress fracture that kept him out of tours to New Zealand, England and India.For the past two years the Australians have raved about the Johnson-Siddle-Hilfenhaus pace attack because of its stunning work in the opening two Tests of the 2008-09 series in South Africa. The trio also led the overall wicket list during the 2009 Ashes but it wasn’t enough to set up a series victory.Ponting briefly considered a four-man pace attack for this game but quickly changed his mind when he saw the pitch. The surface is light green and Ponting said it looked like a normal Gabba wicket, but he was cagey when asked if he would still bat first. “We will wait and see what happens,” he said.The forecast cloudy conditions and humidity will add to the dangers offered by the wicket, but Ponting still wanted the safety of a spinner and Tasmania’s Xavier Doherty will make his debut. The bowlers are expected to control the match and even though the Australians have had trouble on seaming surfaces lately, Ponting believed England would have more difficulty handling the extra bounce.”History suggests that every touring team coming to Australia generally finds here and Perth the places harder to adjust and adapt to,” he said. “England have been here a while and in Hobart last week it seamed around a little bit. But history suggests we handle these conditions very, very well and opposition teams struggled a bit.” Australia have not lost a game at the Gabba since they were beaten by West Indies in 1988-89.Michael Clarke batted strongly in the nets and completed a fielding session as well to secure his place. “I’ve got to wait till tomorrow morning to see how I pull up, but it felt good today,” he said during training.Ponting said there was no danger in using Clarke, who needed injections after a recurrence of his persistent back problem two weeks ago. “I wouldn’t have thought there would be a risk involved,” he said. “It’s a big game for us at the start of the series and you don’t want to go with a cloud hanging over anybody. That was why he was asked to do as much batting as he did yesterday and again today. We couldn’t afford to leave any stone unturned as far as preparation is concerned.”

Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis will appear before the ICC’s anti-corruption tribunal that will decide the case against the three suspended Pakistan players

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2011Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis have been asked to appear before the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Tribunal hearing the case of the three Pakistan players who have been accused of spot-fixing.”Both of them will appear before the ICC Tribunal either in person or through teleconference depending on their convenience and subject to their professional commitments,” the PCB said in a statement.Afridi, Pakistan’s limited overs captain, will not be involved in the Test matches in New Zealand, which coincide with the January 6-11 hearings. Younis, the Pakistan coach, will be in New Zealand.Though there was no further comment from the PCB or ICC, ESPNcricinfo understands the players’ lawyers had been informed of the development. The pair will appear, effectively, as witnesses for the prosecution.It is likely the pair will be asked about statements they had made to the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission during Pakistan’s series with South Africa in the UAE recently . Those comments appeared in Pakistani press last week; Younis is quoted as saying that Mohammad Amir’s infamous no-ball during the Lord’s Test had surprised him “greatly” because it was very different from his normal delivery stride. He said he’d taken up the issue with the bowler, only for the then captain, Salman Butt, to intervene before Amir could reply.Afridi was also questioned and subsequently quoted in the report on his thoughts about the three players.The hearing, which will be held in Doha from January 6 to 11, will determine the fate of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. All three have denied their involvement in any spot-fixing.