Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, believes that his bowlers can take plenty of positives out of the series against Pakistan despite the home team losing the final Test in St Kitts

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2011Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, believes that his bowlers can take plenty of positives out of the series against Pakistan despite the home team losing the final Test in St Kitts. Pakistan levelled the 1-1 with a comfortable 196-run victory, denying West Indies the chance to win a Test series for the first time in more than two years.”We did a great job getting the win in Guyana and we were looking for similar success here in St Kitts, but things did not go our way,” Sammy said. “Pakistan played some good cricket and you have to give them credit. Our bowlers did all that was asked of them all throughout the series. They bowled with heart and that is what we asked. This is one of the positives we could take out of the series.”We had momentum coming into the match, and we had them on the run in the first innings but the last-wicket stand switched the momentum a bit and took it away from us at that stage. When we batted we did not put enough runs on the board and we were always playing catch-up from that stage.”Especially impressive were Ravi Rampaul, who collected 11 wickets at 20.90 during the series, and Sammy himself, who took 10 at 17.90. The challenge for West Indies now is to regain their focus for the upcoming series against India, who will soon arrive for three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20.”It’s all about hard work and putting into play what we worked hard on during the training sessions,” Sammy said. “We have a full series against India coming up and it will be a tough series. We have to continue to put in the hard work and look to put totals on the board so the bowlers will have runs to work with. We are a confident group of young men and we will go into that series with the belief that we can win.”The first match against India is the Twenty20 in Trinidad on June 4.

Nottinghamshire Outlaws extended their lead at the top of the Friends Life t20 North Group as they thrashed Durham Dynamos by 54 runs

16-Jun-2011Nottinghamshire 213 for 4 beat Durham 159 by 54 runs
Scorecard
Alex Hales cracked 67 to help boost Nottinghamshire past 200•PA Photos

Nottinghamshire Outlaws extended their lead at the top of the Friends Life t20 North Group as they thrashed Durham Dynamos by 54 runs.Alex Hales (67 from 39 balls) and skipper David Hussey (54 not out) were the star performers with the bat as Nottinghamshire racked up 213 for 4 after winning the toss – the highest score against Durham in the history of the competition.Steven Mullaney then took 3 for 26, including Durham captain Phil Mustard for 29, as the visitors lost five wickets inside the opening nine overs and were eventually bowled out for 159, Gareth Breese top-scoring with 34.In front of England selector James Whitaker, Hales was once again hugely impressive, striking eight crisp fours as he got the Notts innings off to a flying start in partnership with Riki Wessels.Wessels made 31 before he was lbw to Chris Rushworth, and Adam Voges kept up the momentum while making sure Hales was given as much of the strike as possible. The pair put on 72 in just over seven overs before Voges was adjudged to have feathered an attempted pull off Liam Plunkett to wicketkeeper Mustard for 39 off 24 balls.Hussey was straight in the action, hitting his fourth ball for a straight six, and although Hales and Samit Patel were both bowled by Mitch Claydon, Hussey continued to smash the Durham attack to all parts. He brought up his half-century – from just 24 balls – with his fourth six off the final ball of the innings from Liam Plunkett.Needing more than 10 runs an over, Durham had no option but to swing hard from the start and did not enjoy the luck they needed to pull off an unlikely chase. Gordon Muchall drove to cover in the second over and with four further top order wickets falling in five overs, Durham’s hopes were all but extinguished.Breese hit a breezy 34 but was then caught at short third-man off Andy Carter, with Darren Pattinson finishing off the tail as he claimed 3 for 33.

Nottinghamshire were denied the opportunity to take advantage of Hampshire’s poor four-day form after heavy rain washed out day one at the Rose Bowl

20-Jul-2011
ScorecardNottinghamshire were denied the opportunity to take advantage of Hampshire’s poor four-day form after heavy rain washed out day one of the Championship Division One clash at the Rose Bowl.Nottinghamshire, currently sixth in the table with three wins from nine games, were unable to get on the field after steady rain began in earnest just after 11am.The start of play had already been pushed back to 11.30am to allow the ground to recover from Hampshire’s one-day game with Durham the evening before, but the weather stepped in to further delay proceedings.Umpires Nigel Llong and John Steele made numerous trips to the middle throughout the day in a bid to get the game under way, but after a final inspection at 5pm, the persistent drizzle around the ground forced them to abandon play for the day.The sides did announce their teams, however, with Hampshire – still searching for their first win in the Championship this season – without influential skipper Dominic Cork due to an illness in his family and deciding to bat first. Fellow former England quick bowler Kabir Ali was also rested for the hosts, with Chris Wood and David Griffiths drafted in.Nottinghamshire made three changes, bringing in one-cap England seamer Darren Pattinson, Charlie Shreck and spinner Graeme White. Stuart Broad could yet figure if he is left out of England’s XI for the Test Match with India at Lord’s.

It is understandable that Leicestershire haven’t been entirely focussed since their Twenty20 triumph on Saturday

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's01-Sep-2011
ScorecardIt is understandable that Leicestershire haven’t been entirely focussed since their Twenty20 triumph on Saturday, but after five days the foggy post-celebration haze lifted a little at Lord’s as they showed some fight in the follow-on against Middlesex. However, it won’t be enough to prevent their ninth defeat of the season while, in turn, a victory will send the home side momentarily top of the Division Two table.Even as summer turns to autumn, the same rules apply at Lord’s. If the sun is out, life is a lot tougher for the bowlers. England have previously found to their cost that asking a side to follow-on here can be the path to some hard toil and Middlesex’s bowlers had to earn their rewards – although that isn’t a bad thing because often this season Division Two wickets have fallen too easily.Middlesex only gained two breakthroughs up to tea, as Greg Smith hit 84, his first Championship fifty of the season, but inroads came during the final session including James Taylor for a determined 85. He faced 164 balls, in front of England selector James Whitaker, before gloving Tim Murtagh, armed with the second new ball, down the leg side although Middlesex were convinced they’d got him caught behind in single figures.Taylor’s display will help ease some of the frustrations of being left out of England’s Twenty20 and ODI squads having made his international debut against Ireland last week. Unlike in Dublin, where he fell to a top-edged pull, the shot was in good working order today . Overall, Taylor’s numbers for the season are impressive but it hasn’t been the most productive of summer’s in the Championship for him so a strong finish would be timely.Given he isn’t in the current England squad it appears unlikely he will make the tour to India next month (unless another player is rested) and, based on the recent India Test matches, remains behind Ravi Bopara in the pecking order for the reserve batsmen. It may be that Taylor has to be content with another winter of development for the Lions, which would actually be more beneficial than a couple of tours carrying drinks with the senior side.In the more immediate future he will need to decide where his county career lies. Leicestershire are going to offer him a new deal, but a move away – which would enable his current club to cash in – is still the likeliest option.Someone who may feature with Taylor for the Lions before next season is Toby Roland-Jones. He he has yet to gain any representative honours, but has registered interest with his economical action and ability to plug away on a nagging length. He may have already advanced further if shin splints hadn’t limited his season – this is just his sixth Championship game – but his spell post-tea was impressive.He had Josh Cobb, one of the heroes of finals day, caught behind from a loose drive that was well taken by John Simpson diving forward then produced an excellent delivery which lifted from a length to remove Ned Eckersley. When Wayne White was trapped lbw to the second new ball and Taylor followed shortly afterwards a three-day finish was on the cards but Robert Taylor and Jigar Naik erased the deficit.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Irani Cup match between Rest of India and Rajasthan in Jaipur

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya30-Sep-2011

Match facts

October 1, Jaipur
Start time 0930 IST (0400 GMT)Had they not been involved in the Champions League, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina could have been part of the Rest of India team•Getty Images

Big Picture

Not for the first time the first first-class game of the Indian domestic season will be reduced to a sideshow. Last year, the Irani Cup clashed with Australia’s two-Test series in India, and this time it will fight a losing battle with the four-day game’s ultimate foe, Twenty20 cricket. It’s not so much a battle for hearts and minds of most of Indian cricket fans – that appears to have been settled – but one for putting the best team available on the field.

Many who would presumably have found a place in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup are representing their IPL franchises in the Champions League Twenty20. Those yet to prove a point in Test cricket, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli for example, are unavailable, and so are those who could have a Test future – R Ashwin and S Badrinath.Fans are not the only ones neglecting the start of the first-class season. The Irani Cup could have done without the selection fiasco that raised questions about the selectors’ professionalism and their communication with state associations vis-à-vis the availability of players. At a time when Indian domestic cricket is struggling to stay relevant to the needs of upcoming cricketers in the wake of other, more lucrative, options, the selection blunders and the scheduling are all the more concerning.For many players with an eye on India’s international assignments in the months to come, this is the first opportunity to attract attention. Seven members of Rest of India are part of India’s ODI squad against England, and will also be keen to stake their claim for the home series against West Indies in November.Ajinkya Rahane impressed in the limited-overs games in England, and his selection owed much to his prolific run in the previous domestic season, during which he averaged 87 in the Ranji Trophy. He’s part of a strong squad with an attacking batting line-up – Manish Pandey was the fourth-highest run-getter in 2010-11, the captain Parthiv Patel is back in the Indian squad and opener Shikhar Dhawan will want to make a return to the national side.The bowlers will be under greater scrutiny. Many would have liked to have a look at the Jharkhand seamer Varun Aaron during the ODIs in England, and he is likely to share the new ball with Umesh Yadav, who had a satisfactory tour with India Emerging Players to Australia and is in the ODI squad against England. Rahul Sharma, the legspinner, shone in this year’s IPL and won a national call-up, and joins the race for the regular spinner’s spot in the absence of Harbhajan Singh.Rest of India’s opponents, Rajasthan, made history by winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time but had problems in the build-up to this match. Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar, the seamers who took 20 wickets in three Super League games and 63 in the Plate League, have suffered injuries. Pankaj is out – he was replaced by Aniket Choudhary – while Chahar reportedly split the webbing of his palm, but may play. The veterans Aakash Chopra and Hrishikesh Kanitkar are key to the batting line-up and Rajasthan will hope Ashok Menaria and Rashmi Parida, who are returning from injuries, perform in the middle order.

Players to watch out for…

Abhinav Mukund made 620 runs in nine Ranji Trophy games last season, but had difficulty against the moving ball in the Tests in the West Indies and England. Abhinav will feel he could have had a better start to international cricket, and with the home series against West Indies coming up, he’s back in friendlier batting conditions. Vacancies may fill up with the return of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, but he won’t want to waste time getting into the groove should an opportunity arise.Ashok Menaria led India in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, and after recovering from injury was elected by Rajasthan for the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals last season. He answered their call with centuries in each knockout game. He has had a run in the IPL, cracked 112 in a high-scoring game in the Emerging Players Tournament, and also bowls left-arm spin. Against a formidable Rest of India line-up, much may depend on how Menaria delivers for Rajasthan.

Pitch and conditions

The track at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur reportedly has some grass on it, and Parthiv didn’t mind that. “We have three very good medium-pacers in side in Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav and R Vinay Kumar. So, we are not concerned about the grass,” he told .”This time it has more grass on it. Last year, it turned out to be a run feast but I hope it is a sporting one this time,” Rajasthan captain Kanitkar said. “We did not have any say in it and the chairman of the BCCI pitch committee was here to supervise.”

Stats and trivia

Geoff Marsh, the former Australia batsman and coach, has been appointed coach of the Sri Lankan team, filling the vacancy created by Trevor Bayliss’ departure after 2011 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2011Geoff Marsh, the former Australia batsman and coach, has been appointed coach of the Sri Lankan team, filling the vacancy created by Trevor Bayliss’ departure after the 2011 World Cup. Marsh’s two-year term begins on September 27 and he will not continue coaching the Pune Warriors IPL franchise.”I told Pune Warriors and they were very good about it. Coaching an international team takes a lot of time and being able to fit both of them in just wouldn’t have happened,” Marsh, who was with Pune during IPL 2011, told ESPNcricinfo. “They’re very comfortable with it. I enjoyed my year at Pune Warriors. They’re a fantastic family. They could see that coaching an international team is an honour, so it was all good.”Marsh had been in talks with Sri Lanka Cricket when he was in the country during Australia’s recent tour. His appointment ends a period of upheaval in Sri Lankan coaching following Bayliss’ exit. Stuart Law, who was Bayliss’ assistant, took over for the England tour before quitting to coach Bangladesh. Rumesh Ratnayake was in charge of the Sri Lanka side for the home series against Australia.Marsh played 50 Tests and 119 ODIs for Australia, and was a member of the World Cup winning side in 1987. After retirement, he became a level 3 qualified coach and was at the helm of the Australian side from 1995 to 1999, when he became the first – and so far only – cricketer to win the World Cup both as player and coach. Subsequently, he took over as coach of Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2004. He was also a national selector for the Australian team.Marsh continues the trend of Australians coaching Sri Lanka, after Dav Whatmore, John Dyson, Tom Moody, Bayliss and Law.

Cricket Australia’s chief executive, James Sutherland, has described as “baseless and outlandish” the claims heard in a London court that Australian players were the biggest match-fixers in the game

Brydon Coverdale11-Oct-2011Cricket Australia’s chief executive, James Sutherland, has described as “baseless and outlandish” the claims heard in a London court that Australian players were the biggest match-fixers in the game. The court heard recordings made during last year’s sting in which Mazhar Majeed, the agent and alleged fixing conspirator, claimed to act for Nathan Bracken and knew Ricky Ponting’s manager.Bracken’s manager, Rob Horton, vehemently denied the claims and told the Daily Telegraph that his client was considering taking legal action in London to protect his name, while Ponting’s manager, James Henderson, also dismissed the allegations. Sutherland said he was confident that if the ICC had any inkling of fixing by Australian players, he would have been aware of it.”There is nothing that I have at hand to suggest that these are anything but baseless and outlandish allegations,” Sutherland said. “I’m very confident that through my dealings with the ICC that if there was issues of concern or players who were being monitored or looked at closely that I would understand more about that. The ICC have not told me of anything and on that basis I’m very confident that these are nothing but baseless and outlandish.”These sweeping statements unfairly malign Australian cricketers. If there is one skerrick of evidence we will investigate Australian players. But in my dealings with the ICC I’m very confident that I would know and I would understand if there were concerns about Australian players, or allegations about players, or investigations afoot in regard to Australian players. I have heard none of that.”Sutherland said he would speak to ICC officials on Tuesday about the claims. He said if any Australian player was found to have taken part in match-fixing, Cricket Australia would have no hesitation in issuing a life ban from the game.”There’s no doubt that the game needs to continue to be vigilant,” he said. “The publicity around this is a very clear reminder that there are people out there who want to corrupt the game. It’s very important that we take a position to protect players and officials and the sport itself from being anything but a proper contest.”If there is any issue or any concern, we will investigate them. If we charge players and we find them guilty, we will have no qualms about issuing a life sentence on players who are found guilty of match-fixing.”Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, said it was “appalling” that the reputations of Australian players had been stained by “someone with a highly questionable reputation”.”Let’s not forget that all of our matches are scrutinised by the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit and there is no evidence whatsoever of Australian players being involved in any form of match fixing,” Marsh said. “In the event that any meaningful, credible information came to light on this issue, we would welcome an investigation, however unless this occurs we should view these allegations as baseless.”Australian cricketers are very well educated about the dangers and consequences of match and spot fixing, and have a strong history in reporting incidents where they have received suspicious approaches. The players and the ACA believe there is no place in the game for match fixing and support the strong penalties in place under the respective ICC and Cricket Australia codes.”

Lancashire have been warned to expect losses of up to £3million for 2011 before the club’s finances begin to recover

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2011Lancashire have been warned to expect losses of up to £3million for 2011 before the club’s finances begin to recover with the completion of rebuilding work and the benefit of hosting an Ashes Test in 2013.Last week the club announced losses of £2.1million for 2010 and David Hodgkiss, the club treasurer, said there will be one more tough set of results before a healthy turnaround is expected following Old Trafford’s success of securing international cricket until at least 2016.”In 2013 the picture changes significantly,” Hodgkiss told the . “We forecast the club will be heavily into profit with a turnover in excess of £20m. And we will remain in profit until at least 2016, at which stage we will be a very profitable business.”It has been a tough few years for the club which missed out on the 2009 Ashes and was then caught up in a costly legal battle over their redevelopment which they finally won earlier this year.The ongoing work at Old Trafford meant all Lancashire’s home County Championship matches were played at outgrounds in 2011 with Aigburth, Blackpool and Southport staging games. Lancashire’s four-day relocation to Liverpool is cited as one of the key reasons behind their Championship success as the pitches were far more conducive to results than has often been the case at Old Trafford.Championship cricket will make a partial return to Old Trafford in 2012 with four matches due to be held at the county headquarters with the other four remaining at outgrounds due to the impact of the building work that will continue throughout the season. New media and player facilitates are being constructed while work will also start on renovating the pavilion.However, all Lancashire’s home CB40 and Friends Life t20 matches will be staged at Old Trafford while the ground will host two England matches; a one-day international against Australia and a Twenty20 against South Africa.

George Dockrell wants to put behind him a frustrating 2011 and begin the new year in style when he faces England in Dubai next month

Andrew McGlashan18-Dec-2011George Dockrell, the Ireland and Somerset left-arm spinner, wants to put behind him a frustrating 2011 and begin the new year in style when he faces England in Dubai next month.Dockrell, 19, has been named in the ICC Associates and Affiliates team that will play England in their first warm-up match before the Test series against Pakistan. He is already a highly regarded bowler and has just completed his first year on the Somerset books, but a dislocated shoulder at the World Cup meant he wasn’t able to quite make the strides he wanted in the county set up. He made just one County Championship appearance although did play in the Friends Life t20 semi-final against Hampshire and at the Champions League in India.”It was a tough year after the World Cup,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I was hoping to take my form into the English season but the injury set me back a bit which was annoying. These things happen and I’m now just looking forward to next year and playing a lot of cricket. If I have a good winter with Ireland then that will set me up well for the next English summer.”The three-day match against England will also allow Dockrell an extended bowl against a Test-match batting order rather than the four-over and 10-over stints he has been restricted to in his previous Twenty20 and ODI outings.”I’ve played them before in the World T20, the World Cup and again in Ireland but this will be something different in the longer form and it will be more of a test bowling more overs,” he said. “The longer form of the game is the one side I want to develop most at the moment so it will be great to bowl against the No. 1 Test team and hopefully I’ll get plenty of overs under my belt.”Dockrell will line up alongside Ireland team-mates Will Porterfield, who will captain the ICC team, and Boyd Rankin with the latter also part of the England Lions set up. Dockrell has already been tipped as another Ireland cricketer who could press for Test honours with England in the future but is adamant none of those thoughts are crossing his mind yet.”I’ve only been playing for two seasons and I’m still trying to break into the county scene so that is where my mind is focused at the moment,” he said. “I need to make huge developments in my game before I look too far into the future.”Although the match in January is a nice bonus for Dockrell it is not the most important cricket he has coming up in the early part of next year. In March, Dubai will also host the World Twenty20 qualifiers involving 16 teams of which only two will qualify for the full tournament in Sri Lanka next September. Having elevated themselves to the leading Associate nation, Dockrell is aware that it is crucial that Ireland continue to reach these global events.”Only two teams qualify and it’s a huge thing for Ireland,” he said. “It’s quite a long tournament and our focus is getting to that World Cup because it’s massive for the team to ensure we stay on the world stage.”

Doug Bracewell has said that New Zealand expect a more competitive limited-overs leg of the series against Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2012In some ways, New Zealand’s last few months can be personified in the journey of one of their new fast bowlers, 21-year-old Doug Bracewell. In four months, Bracewell has won all but one of the matches he has played in, including three Tests, and is part of what is becoming a braver, bolder New Zealand side.”I couldn’t ask for more. I may as well hang the boots up,” Bracewell joked. “It’s been good, it’s been awesome. Hopefully we can continue the form and can continue the momentum into the ODIs and Twenty20s.”An outsider without a central contract a short while ago, Bracewell is now part of all three international squads and has been a significant part of the continuity in the country’s cricket. “I like to play all forms,” he said. “I enjoy the T20s and the one-dayers. I’ve been going alright in T20s for Central Districts and hopefully I can take that form onto the international stage.”
Bracewell took nine wickets and scored 181 runs in the T20 HRV Cup recently and if his domestic form in that format mirrors his performance in first-class compared to Test cricket, New Zealand should ready themselves for a another star.They play Zimbabwe in three ODIs and two T20s and Bracewell said they expect a more competitive limited-overs leg of the series. “They [Zimbabwe] are probably more of a shorter-form team so we won’t be taking them lightly and we’ll want to back up this performance.”Validating one performance with an equal or better showing the next time is something that has become a mantra for New Zealand. After their victory against Australia in Hobart, which was engineered by Bracewell, New Zealand have concentrated on making sure they build on that. “We talked about backing up that Hobart performance and not taking Zimbabwe lightly,” Bracewell said. “Finishing a Test match in three days is unreal and the boys are feeling pretty confident. We’ll take a few days to let it sink in and our next target is to win these one-dayers.”Having been part of the touring party to visit Zimbabwe in November last year, Bracewell has first-hand knowledge of Zimbabwe’s potential. He was not part of the XI that were put to the sword by Zimbabwe’s batsmen in their record chase in the third ODI in Bulawayo but watched from the change room and made this observation. “They’ve got a few guys in the top order that can strike it pretty clean and if they get away, they can be hard to stop,” Bracewell said, alluding to the likes of Brendan Taylor and Malcolm Waller. ‘We don’t give them anything; we have to keep going hard.”While being careful not to show the smaller Southern African side less respect than the bigger one, Bracewell acknowledged that some part of New Zealand’s vision is trained on the series against South Africa. “Zimbabwe coming out here is a good test for us before South Africa,” he said. “Hopefully our batters can get into some form before they come out and our bowlers can do the same.”The bowling group has come under particular scrutiny, after New Zealand opted for a four-seam attack in their last two Tests. A clutch of young pacemen consisting of Bracewell, Tim Southee and Trent Boult are being lead by the veteran Chris Martin and the growing relationship between the four is adding to New Zealand’s strength. “Chris just does his own thing. He doesn’t get too wound up and he just backs himself,” Bracewell said. “He has been pretty good with me and Boultie [Boult]. He is a great bowler and he has a few decent words to say and I respect the way he goes about his game.”