South Africa lived to fight another day in the Champions Trophy as their bowlers, woeful against India but wolfish against an fragile line-up, defended a barely-par total

The Report by Firdose Moonda at Edgbaston10-Jun-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHashim Amla’s 81 underpinned a total that proved well beyond Pakistan•AFP

A taxi driver in Birmingham has bought a ticket to watch Pakistan every time they played in the city for the last 30 years, except this time. He simply did not have the confidence in their batting to bother. It turns out he was right.South Africa lived to fight another day in the Champions Trophy as their bowlers, woeful against India but wolfish against an fragile line-up, defended a barely-par total. In the absence of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe led the pack with maturity while debutant Chris Morris added energy and Ryan McLaren backed them up at the death.Misbah-ul-Haq was again Pakistan’s lone ranger and again he could not take them over the line. He lacked support from everyone except Nasir Jamshed. By contrast, South Africa’s anchor, Hashim Amla, enjoyed small contributions throughout the middle order.In an almost exact replica to the England-Australia match that was played here on Saturday, Amla’s 81 was as valuable as Ian Bell’s 91 but it may never have swelled to that had Pakistan held on to an early chance. Amla was on 7 when he slashed at a short, wide delivery off Mohammad Irfan and presented a tough but takeable catch to Umar Amin at point. Amin dived, got fingers to it and then he watched it slip through. It was a moment that taught him a tough lesson: don’t’ drop Amla.Over the last year, England, Australia and New Zealand have paid for that mistake. Pakistan may do so twice. They put Amla down at the Wanderers in March, he went on to score 122. Both then and now, South Africa came out winners.Conditions could not have been more different to Johannesburg than they were in Birmingham. There it was a belter of a track on which runs rained. Here it was a sluggish surface that did not facilitate a free flow. Both teams started slowly, Pakistan ended that way too.Mohammed Irfan and Junaid Khan kept South Africa to 36 runs in the first 10 overs and did not take wicket, although they could have had Amla. Morris, Tsotsobe and McLaren restricted Pakistan to 18 for 2 in the same period, which immediately made Pakistan’s task more difficult.By the 19th over, their required run rate had already ballooned to six an over and considering no one had scored at that rate at any stage of the game, it seemed unlikely Pakistan would. But Misbah marshalled proceedings in his usual, calm way. He saw off the good balls – and there were many which South Africa bowled – and waited to take advantage of anything that was occasionally tossed up or slightly wide.AB de Villiers did a fine job of rotating his bowlers and was spoilt for choice with three seamers and three spinners. He used JP Duminy before Robin Peterson and it paid off, when Shoaib Malik was bowled by a delivery that rolled back onto his stumps, and brought Tsotsobe back at exactly the right time, after a first spell of five overs for six runs.The left-armer used his variations well and bowled Jamshed an offcutter that he fed back. The tall man got down low and plucked it in his follow through. Misbah knew he had to battle on his own.After 49 boundary-less deliveries, he cleared Morris over mid-on to release pressure but he was soon stranded. McLaren removed Umar Amin when he tried to go big and was caught at cover and Kamran Akmal, who was caught at point, in the same over and Pakistan’s chase seemed over.Misbah responded with a six over long-on and then his fight was also extinguished. He picked out midwicket from a Tsotsobe slower ball and left it to the tail to have some fun at the end. Instead, it was McLaren who helped himself to four wickets for five runs to ensure South Africa rounded up a convincing win.They would not have been confident of that at the halfway stage. With 51 runs scored and six wickets falling in the last 10 overs of their innings, it seemed they had squandered the chance to build on a well-laid platform.Even though Pakistan’s three spinners cost them only 107 runs in 26 overs, Amla’s 69-run stand with Faf du Plessis and the 41 put on by de Villiers and Duminy helped negate the collapse later on. South Africa will remain concerned about the four run-outs but showed significant improvement and will eye the last four.Pakistan now look at the semi-finals from a greater distance and, although they are not out of the competition, they need West Indies to beat India on Tuesday. If Pakistan then beat India and West Indies triumph over South Africa in the final group games, three teams would have won one match and net run-rate will come into the equation.

Nottinghamshire could face an uncomfortable final day after getting the worst of a rain-ruined match against Sussex at Trent Bridge

Les Smith24-Jun-2013
ScorecardNottinghamshire could face an uncomfortable final day after getting the worst of a rain-ruined match at Trent Bridge. Sussex ended the third day firmly in control with the pace and accuracy of Chris Jordan breaking through the top order before Monty Panesar made more incursions by the close.At the start of play both Ed Joyce and Rory Hamilton-Brown had achievable personal objectives: Hamilton-Brown a century and Joyce a double. Both would come to pass. Hamilton-Brown went on to 113 before Luke Fletcher, Nottinghamshire’s stand out bowler in the innings, had him caught behind. Joyce went on his merry way though, and brought the innings to its conclusion in explosive style.When Samit Patel came on at the pavilion end to bowl his first over of the day you could almost hear the sound of Joyce licking his lips as he eyed the short leg side boundary. Sure enough, he hit three sixes over mid wicket, in addition to a 4 and a single. The over yielded 26 runs, Joyce had 23 of them, and when the last 6 took Sussex beyond 500 and Joyce beyond 200, he promptly declared.Notts made it through seven overs before lunch, though not without discomfort in the case of Riki Wessels. That Steve Magoffin struck him very unpleasantly was made clear over lunch. Wessels tweeted, “That really hurt”. The tweet was accompanied by a frightening photograph of a shattered item of protective equipment.The mood and momentum of the innings shifted when Chris Jordan replaced Magoffin at the Radcliffe Road end to bowl the 14th over of the innings. He was hostile and accurate from the start, and soon had Wessels beaten for pace, his attempted pull spooning up off the top edge to the safe hands of Monty Panesar at mid-on.Next he skittled Steven Mullaney before unleashing two brutish deliveries which did for Samit Patel and David Hussey. Patel was caught at short leg after an act of justifiable self-protection, and Hussey gloved a bouncer to Matt Prior.Not so long ago James Taylor was playing in England’s Test middle order. He is only a year older than Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, but seems to have been around longer.He demonstrated the skills and application that saw him selected for his country. He was busy and, as so often, particularly effective on the back foot and through the leg sideBy the close, he had made 81 not out with eight boundaries, and in doing so passed 6000 first class runs.His captain Chris Read provided pugnacious support until Panesar bowled him with one that turned. Paul Franks followed in Panesar’s next over, offering a bat pad catch to Rogers, leaving it all to for Notts on the final day to avoid having to follow on.

Danza Hyatt and Vernon Philander robbed 41 runs in 14 balls to post just enough for Jamaica Tallawahs as they beat Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel by five runs

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAdrian Barath’s wicket triggered a middle-order collapse for T&T•Getty Images

Danza Hyatt and Vernon Philander smashed 41 runs in 14 balls to post just enough for Jamaica Tallawahs as Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel failed to muster similar momentum to overhaul an achievable target at Port-of-Spain on Wednesday and lost their third match in a row.Jamaica were benefited by a swift and solid start after being invited to bat with Chris Gayle and Ahmed Shehzad collecting 44 runs before the latter holed out in the sixth over. But stifled by lack of pace, Jamaica scored 13 in the next four overs. That pressure resulted in four quick wickets as Jamaica stumbled to 81 for 5 after 15 overs and then 107 for 6 in 18. Danza Hyatt, whose 42 off 26 balls was the source of most of Jamaica’s runs during that time, was joined by Vernon Philander and they dismantled T&T captain Dwayne Bravo’s bowling in the 19th over, collecting 26 runs courtesy three sixes and a four. The final over yielded 13 more to set up a target of 147 that looked unlikely after the slowdown during the middle overs.A 62-run second wicket partnership between opener Adrian Barath and Ross Taylor kept T&T steady. However, Barath’s wicket triggered a middle-order collapse as Taylor and Darren Bravo followed him to leave T&T at 82 for 4 in 14 overs. Dwayne Bravo and Nicolas Pooran kept the home team in the game, but neither was able to tackle a constantly swelling required rate which had reached nearly 13 by the last five overs. Bravo fell in the penultimate over and his team was left six runs short of victory.

It would be quite the embellishment to say Michael Clarke basked in Australia’s 88-run victory over England at Old Trafford but there was certainly some relief evident having secured their first major victory since February

Daniel Brettig at Old Trafford08-Sep-2013Given the end-of-term atmosphere that permeates any limited overs series to follow an Ashes contest, it would be quite the embellishment to say Michael Clarke basked in Australia’s 88-run victory over England at Old Trafford. But there was certainly some relief evident in Clarke, for this was the first significant international win he had been part of since early February, and the first he has taken part in against England on a tour that began four months and three Prime Ministers ago.As results go, the Manchester margin was handsome, hurried along by a grand partnership between Clarke and his deputy George Bailey that pushed the tourists to 315 for 7, then secured by an even bowling display in which Mitchell Johnson was particularly menacing and everyone contributed at least one wicket. In a year largely barren of Australian success away from home, the win in Manchester will help establish the winning habit Clarke spoke of in the aftermath.”Winning’s always pleasing and that’s one thing I’ve emphasised to the Test boys but also the one-day guys,” Clarke said. “Sometimes it might not look pretty or feel great, but if you get over the line and get that winning feeling it’s a nice side of the fence to be on.”In the Test matches we showed in patches some really good cricket. Our performance today was a good start, but we won’t take anything for granted and I won’t look too far ahead, but I think at the end of the day it’s nice to have won a game against England on this tour.”It was nice to contribute, I’d like to play every Test and one-dayer at Manchester, I seem to score runs here. It’s about trying to help the team win and fortunately today I played my part. But everybody contributed today. There’s still three important games to go but it’s a nice feeling to be sitting here having won the first one of this series.”Surmising what his men had to do for the rest of the series, Clarke said the posting of a high total that increased the element of risk for England’s batsmen was significant, as was the plucking of regular wickets to ensure that no partnerships could be established. “England have got a lot of destructive players,” he said. “So I think for us taking wickets was crucial throughout our bowling innings, and batting as well as we could to set a target to make England take risks is something we’re going to have to continue to do throughout this series.”I wasn’t surprised by their team or that they bowled first, I think they’ve been doing that a lot in the shorter form of the game for a while now. We’ve got to make sure we keep working to get better because England will get better than today.”Eoin Morgan, England’s stand-in captain, certainly hopes so, and conceded his bowlers had allowed Australia around 40 runs too many on a dry, slowish Old Trafford strip. “It was probably more of a 275 type of pitch,” Morgan said. “It was hard when you got in but when you developed a partnership you found yourself without any effort going at five or six an over. Today we lost wickets through the whole innings. They played particularly well and put our bowlers under a lot of pressure.”James Tredwell was notably targeted by Australia’s batsmen, his usually efficient and tidy 10-over spell ended two overs short of that quota by Morgan, having already conceded 60. “It did make it difficult yeah,” Morgan said. “He’s a fantastic bowler and been a great performer, in the Champions Trophy he was one of the best bowlers in the tournament. Because they kept coming there was a feeling that he would create an opportunity to take a wicket, so it worked both ways. We ended up getting Finch because they played so hard, and I don’t have to tell you how good Michael Clarke is at playing spin.”

Ravi Bopara warmed up for England’s two-match Twenty20 series against Australia later this week, and the NatWest series to follow, with 130 against Lancashire at Old Trafford, his highest List A county score since June 2008

26-Aug-2013Essex 297 for 4 (Bopara 130, Smith 78) beat Lancashire 227 (Smith 97, Phillips 5-42) by 70 runs
ScorecardRavi Bopara found his best form ahead of England’s limited-overs matches against Australia•Getty Images

Lancashire and Essex both failed to reach the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-finals after Essex won a high-scoring contest by 70 runs at Old Trafford, underpinned by a superb 130 by England’s Ravi Bopara ahead of the one-day series against Australia.Tom Smith hit an excellent 84-ball 97 but the home side’s task was too stiff. Tim Phillips nipped in with 5 for 42 from 7.4 overs with his niggardly left-arm slows as Lancashire lost their last eight wickets for 41 runs, slipping from 186 for 2.Bopara warmed up for England’s two-match Twenty20 series against Australia later this week, and the NatWest series to follow, with his highest List A county score since June 2008, including nine fours and three sixes in 102 balls.After James Foster elected to bat, Bopara and Greg Smith ensured an impressive recovery from the early loss of India international Gautam Gambhir as they shared 159 inside 23 overs for the second wicket.Bopara hit Ashes-winning left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan, who was playing in the fifth Test at the Oval 24 hours earlier, for six over long-on in the 18th over before hitting off-spinner Steven Croft straight down the ground for his second maximum. He later hit his third off Kabir Ali over square-leg, taking 22 off the former England man in the 36th over.After Kerrigan had Smith stumped for 78 off 77 balls, Bopara shared 61 in 5.1 overs for the fourth wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate before he top-edged Kyle Hogg to short third-man in the search for quick runs. Ten Doeschate also hit three sixes in 46 not out off 23 balls, helping to take 76 runs off the last six overs.Smith and Stephen Moore gave Lancashire a good platform with an opening stand of 79 in 11 overs for the first wicket, and despite Reece Topley getting Moore caught at long-leg and bowling Ashwell Prince inside four overs, Lancashire had
wickets in hand.An accumulative partnership of 95 inside 15 overs for the third wicket between Smith and Paul Horton kept Lancashire in the hunt. But when Smith was bowled by Topley to leave the score at 186 for 3 after 29 overs, things started to go downhill quickly.Phillips had Horton, Croft, Karl Brown, Arron Lilley and Kerrigan all caught playing expansively. Horton was brilliantly caught by a diving Bopara running towards the sight-screen from long-on to start the run of wickets and add further lustre to his magnificent day.

The full text of the letter Sreesanth submitted to the BCCI’s disciplinary committee earlier this week

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2013″The police have mentally and physically harassed me and obtained signed statements”•Associated Press

Honoured Sirs,I am beholden to the BCCI for granting me an opportunity to submit this explanation highlighting the whole truth regarding the issue involved and engaging the attention of the BCCI.Cricket is my pride and passion. I have given my entire life to it and in return cricket had given me whatever I have in life: name, game, admiration and recognition. In fact my commitment in life is entirely to cricket. There is no life to me without cricket.I adore it like anything and worship it as my own mother. It will therefore be impossible for a son to sully the image of one’s own mother. Even a mild indication or suggestion like that will send shudders through my spine. I love the game so much and I am prepared to put in my entire life into it.I had to undergo six surgeries on my left big toe & right toe. I have been training hard to make it back. Lot of other injuries too but I never stopped. All I ever want is to play again and win matches for my country and injuries which did not deter me any manner from playing cricket spiritedly and with the same fervour. Though I was in crutches for a considerable number of months I forced me to be present in the play ground on the advice of my well wishers. Even at that time my performance was not in any way affected. After 10 months later due to back injury when I resumed to play in the very First International I was declared the “Man of Match” award.With the commitment and devotion I had and with the blessings of God I became a proud member of the Indian Team which won the World Cup and I may not be misunderstood as blowing my own trumpet if I am permitted to describe in brief my career in cricket.I have played a number of international games and was part of the Indian National Team, which won the inaugural T-20 World Cup, 2007 and the I.C.C World Cup in 2011. My commitment to the cricket and my reputation as one of the Fast Bowlers in the world cannot be doubted by anybody. Even in the enquiry report this has been acknowledged. To cut short a cricket life like that solely on the basis of unreliable media reports, suspicions, generalizations, statement by accused etc will be too distressing to bear for me. I am accused of conceding 14 runs for a paltry sum of Rs 10 lakhs, which is a preposterous suggestion as far as the remuneration of a First Class cricketer in the country is well known to everybody.Till date I have not done anything wrong or improper to bring the name of cricket down in any manner whatever. I cannot think of any reason why I should be charged with a false and fantastic allegation of aligning with the bookies. Nothing of the kind has ever happened and will not ever happen in my cricket life.As regards the charges I respectfully beg to submit that all of them as has been conceded in the report itself are based on media reports and not any concrete and reliable evidence. Fortunately the enquiry officer himself has recorded that his report is made in breach of all principles of natural justice in that before submitting the report no opportunity was given to me or to any others to know what is being put up against me or shown which materials are going to be relied on. It is respectfully pointed out the BCCI is an august body enjoying status and held as a “State” or “other authority” under the Constitution of India and therefore, all its actions must be fair and free of bias and consistent with principles of fairness and natural justice. The enquiry report itself proceeds on the basis that the aforesaid principles could not be fully complied with for the reasons stated above.As regards the charges, I respectfully beg to submit as follows:i. Fixing — There is absolutely no reliable material even to find out a charge of fixing against me. What is relied upon is the alleged conversation between my friend Shri Jiju Janardhanan a fellow cricketer and some others. Shri Jiju Janardhanan is very much familiar with my mannerism and habit in the cricket field as he knows me from the age of 18. It is not uncommon to use a towel in afternoon matches particularly in a place like Mohali in the month of April-May. Enough photographs are there to show that in many of the earlier matches I played, white colour towel had been used by me. In fact even other well known cricketers use white towel as a matter of habit. Even in the very same match towels were used by other players. Apart from sheer coincidence nothing culpable can be attributed to me by reason of using a towel. The allegation that in the first over no towel was used cannot be correct.ii. What is alleged as warming up against me is not really warming up but a manner of play which I did in other plays also.iii. As regards conceding of 14 runs I may respectfully point out that there was no guarantee that the Captain will ask me to bowl in a particular over and if so, depending on the field, the pitch, batsman etc. the bowler will have to bowl. It may be stated here that my bowling is considered pace bowling estimated at an average of 135 km per hour and there is no guarantee for a bowler regarding the runs he is likely to concede unless deliberately either a no ball or wide is bowled. Conceding runs therefore, cannot be manipulated as alleged. There is no allegation that in the concerned second over any wide or no ball was bowled.iv. As regards seeking, accepting, offering or agreeing to accept any bribe there is no trace of evidence pointing out to any such incident at all.v. There had been no failure or refusal on my part to perform my abilities in the Matches as all the balls bowled by me will show that I have done my best in bowling that day also.vi. The charges of soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing etc under Article 2.1.4 cannot be even indicated against me as there is no trace of evidence.vii. As regards Article 2.2.3 my explanation supra will answer and no knowledge of any bet can be attributed to me at all by any acceptable evidence.viii. No gift and payment has ever been recovered by me and no evidence is available even with the police of any acceptance.ix. Since there is no breach of conduct in violation of the BCCI rules there is no need on my part to disclose to the BCCI any such events.x. It is alleged that Rs 5.5 lakhs has been recovered from bookie Abhishek Shukla based on information provided by me and Jiju Janardhanan. While I do not know what Shri Janardhanan said, I have not given any such information. If it has been so recorded it is false and forcibly obtained. The further allegation that the telephonic conversation between me and Jiju Janardhanan referred to sum of Rs 10 lakhs is false. No inference can be drawn that just for Rs 10 lakhs I will be throwing away a brilliant cricket career forgetting my duties to my country and the game of cricket.xi. All the expenses made by me in Jaipur have been spent from my money as will be seen from the statement of accounts maintained by my bank. This has been referred by me in my application in a Delhi Court, which had accepted it. Every pie that has been spent is my own money. The allegation that in JW Marriot Hotel in Chandigarh, an unidentified girl was seen late night is false. It is common knowledge that number of girls stay in that hotel and the girl was not seen with me but was photographed in the passage of the hotel. It will be unfortunate to connect ladies who are seen in the passages with me or my friend, even without enquiry into who that lady was. The allegation is based entirely on tendentious media reports which cannot be taken into account in destroying a successful cricketer’s career.xii. There is no confusion recorded by me willingly to the police. The police have mentally and physically harassed me and obtained signed statements. Annexure-1 may be referred to in this regard. The conclusion arrived at by the Commissioner of Enquiry that I have committed offences in Para 9, it is submitted is based on conjectures, guesses, inferences, and inadmissible police reports. The police have not intercepted any conversation between me and any others in support of the wild and fantastic charges levelled against me which has put me into manifest injustice and prejudice as I had no opportunity to refute them. Before relying on that police reports, the Commissioner who conducted the enquiry has also not put them to me to ascertain my version. That is the reason why the Commissioner himself has recorded in the report in Para 13.

“I also do not have access to any of the arrested persons including the arrested players and therefore, I am not able to question them on the allegations against them or give them a chance to explain their conduct. Even though I have no means to complete the process of natural justice, my hand is being forced to complete the report within 15 days in view of the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”

The report and the materials relied upon do not even come anywhere near broad probabilities in arriving at conclusions against me. In fact they are only guess work based on exaggerated media reports which were never put to me, or their veracity tested in any manner. It will be unduly harsh and unfair to end a person’s cricket career and deprived him of his life and livelihood solely based on media reports which will not be touched by a Court of Law. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is a high powered body, which is expected to act fair, avoiding arbitrariness and without infracting any person’s fundamental rights. I am put to very serious prejudice by not being given an opportunity to controvert the contents of a report before or at the time when it is prepared. It will be indeed hard on me to draw conclusions on such a report, the maker of which himself concedes it is incomplete, to put an end to my career as a cricketer and to cast indelible stigma forever. It is my reputation that will be adversely affected, which cannot be repaired at a later stage. I therefore, request the Board to desist from making conclusion on such imperfect, incomplete and unjust report.xiii. There was no conduct on my part that will fall within the category of any offence.I am therefore, constrained to deny all the charges put to me by the Board as wholly unsustainable, not even prima-facie established and I reiterate there is no violation of any of the quoted codes referred to in the notice under reply.I therefore, emphatically deny all the charges subject to my reservation and restriction to give a full picture since the entire matter is pending trial before a criminal court. Suffice to say that the enquiry officer has not relied upon any material which will bear legal scrutiny even in a court of law. He has relied on media reports, statements of top police officers, newspaper clippings etc. none of which the apex court has held, will be evidence in a court of law, or in any enquiry leading to adverse consequences.On such materials since I have already suffered ignominy of suspension from play from 15th May, 2013 till date, no further action like suspension etc. is warranted on the facts and circumstances unfolded before the BCCI. Whatever I had given in the statement marked as Annexure-1 represents the truth. Under the threat of arrest of my close relatives a statement was forcibly taken in the manner directed by the police. That cannot form the basis or material for presentation before a body like BCCI consisting of eminent persons well-versed in law. The principles of natural justice, fairness and transparent procedure are applicable to proceedings before the BCCI and since the enquiry officer himself has conceded that in view of the Supreme Court direction he did not comply in full with those principles, that may be particularly noticed.Since the matter is subjudice I crave permission not to elaborate. However, it will not be out of place to mention that the court in which a charge against me and others was laid, the court on the 10th of September, 2013 expressed an opinion that not even any proved direct connection had been found on the materials presented before the court to any cricketers with the crime. The court has also observed there are missing links in the investigation. Prima facie therefore, as such present advised I take the liberty to point out that none of the charges levelled against me will hold-water.However, considering the fact that the courts do take long time to ultimately adjudicate the issue, on such unsustainable charges if I am forbidden from entry in the cricket field which has become part of my life and is my life itself it will be a travesty of justice. I am determined to bring greater glory to the country by putting in my best in cricket again and will feel extremely distressed if I am prevented from participating in that game solely on the ground of some cooked up and false charges which cannot even be prima facie sustained at all by any material evidence. Such an action I crave leave to point out will amount to cutting short my cricket life forever without strong and sound reasons and will be violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. This I bring to the notice of a high power body like the BCCI, shall not be permitted to happen.I therefore, humbly request that the BCCI may be pleased to declare that I have the necessary permission to play in national as well as International cricket despite the pendency of certain proceedings initiated against me without any supporting materials.I shall be extremely grateful to the BCCI if it is pleased to consider the matter in the above perspective and graciously grant me the permission requested for.Thanking you,Yours obediently,
(S. Sreesanth)11..9..2013

Craig Meschede’s maiden hundred rescued Glamorgan against Surrey in a match which will live long in the all-rounder’s memory

Press Association21-Apr-2015
ScorecardCraig Meschede maiden hundred edged Glamorgan beyond the follow on•Getty Images

Craig Meschede’s maiden hundred rescued Glamorgan against Surrey in a match which will live long in the all-rounder’s memory.Meschede might have wondered whether the spotlight would ever be his after being farmed out on loan by Somerset, the move happening after fellow all-rounder Jim Allenby had made a winter switch across the Severn Bridge in the opposite direction.But in the space of three days Meschede has gone a long way to proving the wisdom of his season-long move and winning the affections of Glamorgan supporters into the bargain.On Sunday, he grabbed the headlines by ruining Kevin Pietersen’s attempt to impress the England selectors by having his fellow South African native caught at slip for only 19.The 23-year-old was back with the bat on Tuesday with Glamorgan in dire straits at 293 for 7 in this Division Two contest, still needing 121 to save the follow-on after Surrey’s massive 563 for 7 declared, and far exceeding his previous career-best 62 to make an unbeaten 101.”It means the world to me,” he said. “I have been longing for this moment for my whole professional career and finally it has happened, so it is really special for me. It’s just nice to finally get a big score under my name and kind of have some belief in myself, knowing that I can do it. That’s the main thing.”If you score runs, hopefully you can go up the order, but I am also a bowler and I have got to take that aspect in my game as well.”His 130-ball innings, which featured 16 fours and a six, guided a relieved Glamorgan to 419, although there was late anxiety when the supporting Dean Cosker was ninth man out with the hosts two runs short of their target of 414.Preventing the follow-on appeared a tall order yet, in tandem with Cosker, Meschede frustrated a Surrey attack who had hitherto provided variation and penetration and shared the wickets around on a batsman-friendly surface.Meschede revealed a full range of shots either side of the wicket but kept his best for a sweetly-timed straight drive off the economical Gareth Batty which belonged to a top-order batsman, let alone an aspiring all-rounder batting at No. 9.Two games into his new career he already has a place in the Glamorgan annals, his partnership of 119 with Cosker eclipsing the club’s previous ninth-wicket best of 88 against Surrey between Robert Croft and David Harrison at Swansea in 2006.Meschede was still five runs short of a century when Cosker departed but Andy Carter hit a single and he then struck a legside boundary before moving to three figures with his first false shot of the day, an uppish pull which just cleared the retreating fielder at midwicket.Glamorgan’s innings appeared to have turned earlier on a remarkable run out after they had just passed the 200 mark with Colin Ingram, the South African one-day international batsman, posting a first fifty for his new county.Ingram had lost his morning partner Will Bragg, bowled around his legs by Matt Dunn for 37, but the Kolpak signing and Chris Cooke were motoring along against the soft ball. But then Cooke pushed the ball firmly through the covers and it was only the enthusiasm of Zafar Ansari which prevented it going all the way to the boundary.Cooke set off for a third run but he soon realised he was in danger and to his horror he was stranded by Ansari’s direct hit from fully 70 yards. The bizarre dismissal had the effect of unsettling Ingram and he soon fell for 56 when striking Tom Curran to cover.Mark Wallace and Graham Wagg set about repairing the damage against the new ball with an entertaining post-lunch partnership which had reached 55 when the latter was bowled playing back attempting to cut Batty.Last week Wallace became the first specialist wicket-keeper in Glamorgan history to reach 10,000 runs and once again he illustrated that losing the captaincy to Jacques Rudolph at the end of last season has had no effect on his commitment to the cause.Wallace played diligently to reach his half-century from 87 balls but, after Batty had punished David Lloyd’s ill-judged sweep, Curran took his edge while he was defending and removed him for 51.At that stage Surrey must have felt they would be enforcing the follow-on at some point after tea, but Meschede and Cosker had other ideas to set up what could yet be an intriguing final day.

After a sterling IPL, Ashish Nehra has expressed his disappointment at not being considered for national selection for the last four years

Gaurav Kalra01-Jun-2015After a sterling IPL, where he claimed 22 wickets to finish fourth in the wicket-takers list, Ashish Nehra has expressed his disappointment at not being considered for national selection for the last four years. Nehra’s last match for India was the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan, but despite being a regular on the domestic circuit he hasn’t been considered for either ODIs or T20 internationals.”I don’t speak to media too much but last three-four years have been really harsh,” Nehra told ESPNcricinfo in an exclusive interview in Delhi. “India has tried out a lot of bowlers in T20 and one-day cricket which are the formats I was still playing and I was the highest wicket-taker between 2008 and 2011 by far. In fact, I was in the top three in the whole world.”Till now, I don’t know what exactly happened and nobody ever told me. Whenever I played with the current lot – I am not saying they are not good, I am giving an example – be it in the Challenger Trophy or the Deodhar Trophy, I have been at par with them or better than them at times. They have tried 20 or 25 bowlers but not Ashish Nehra. I don’t know where I went wrong.”Nehra was the standout performer for Chennai Super Kings this season, winning three man-of-the-match awards, and in fact was the top Indian fast bowler in the tournament. He missed only one out of CSK’s 17 games and bowled 62 of the possible 64 overs over the course of the season. Nehra also emphasised that he was called upon to bowl in the most difficult phases of the game – in the powerplay overs and in the death overs – underlining his utility to the team.”It is not like I am bowling the easier overs in the middle,” he said. “I am still doing the toughest job and that gives me a good kick. Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey are there who have played for the Indian team but at the same time I get the satisfaction of bowling the tough overs under the Indian captain. I still miss the India cap when I go to sleep. People were saying I will go to the World Cup after the Champions League but I was not even in the 30 probables. Even after the IPL, in ten days people will forget me.”While 36-year-old Nehra’s performances in the IPL earned him a lot of praise from both observers and fellow cricketers, he was more sanguine about the returns, saying there is greater “recognition” if there is more to show for in the wickets column.”IPL is the kind of format where sometimes you’re bowling well but you don’t pick wickets. People don’t notice unfortunately in this country,” he explained. “I’m the same Ashish Nehra. The way I bowled in 2009, 2010 and 2011, I have been bowling the same way in the last three years. I was trying my best. This year I have picked more wickets. So, people do recognise you more. I got a good team like CSK in the last two years. It does make a difference.”One of the enduring themes over Nehra’s career has been recurring injuries. As a result, his Test career has been limited to merely 17 matches, the last of which came in 2004 against Pakistan at Rawalpindi. Nehra, who was only 25 at the time, says that not returning to the longest format of the game will remain a “regret.””I do miss playing Test cricket,” he said. “I could have played a lot more. I don’t want to give a number. A bowler like me shouldn’t have ended his test career at the age of 25. In 2008-09, Dhoni and (Gary) Kirsten (then India coach) wanted me to play Test cricket. When I look back, I regret not saying yes. I should have worked harder because I was only 30 then.”While a Test recall is no longer viable, Nehra is hopeful that after his IPL success, he may reappear on the radar of the national selectors for the shorter formats. When asked if Harbhajan Singh’s call up for the one-off Test in Bangladesh makes him believe players of his generation can make a case again, Nehra said all he was keen to see was a consistency in approach while selecting Indian teams.”I have always felt that I am good enough to play for India,” he said. “I still am good enough. It is a thought process, not because Harbhajan is back that I should be picked. I believe that whoever performs should be picked. It is not about the age. If I am doing well at 36 and the other guy is 26 and as good as me, you should go with him. You should not pick someone just because he is 20; not just with me but with everybody.”

South Africa Under-19s registered an easy seven-wicket win against Bangladesh in the third ODI in Pietermaritzburg on the back of a solid 89 from Liam Smith

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSouth Africa Under-19s registered an easy seven-wicket win – their first victory of the series – against Bangladesh in the third ODI in Pietermaritzburg on the back of a solid 89 from Liam Smith.After being put in to bat, Bangladesh started slowly before Said Hassan was run-out in the fourth over. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals as Bangladesh quickly collapsed to 66 for 5 in the 23rd over. However, a 42-run sixth-wicket stand between Zakir Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin(25) consolidated for Bangladesh. Another clump of wickets fell following Hasan’s dismissal and Bangladesh slumped to 123 for 9 before Mosabbek Hossain’s 29 took them to 165. Offspinner Dean Foxcroft picked up 3 for 31, while pacers Wiaan Mulder and Conor McKerr took two wickets each.Chasing a modest total, South Africa lost Rivaldo Moonsamy in the second over. Foxcroft and Smith resurrected the innings with a solid 58-run stand which was again followed by two wickets in quick succession. However, Mulder (39) and 18-year-old Smith added an unbeaten 93 to complete a convincing win with 73 balls to spare. Smith struck 13 fours and a six and was named Player of the Match.”It’s a bit of a relief really to finally get a win,” Smith said. “We’ve been working really hard building up to this series and I think we were all disappointed with ourselves for not being able to execute our game plans the way we wanted. This is exactly what we needed going forward with four games still to go.”

B Aparajith and Vijay Shankar are looking forward to the prospect of working with India A coach Rahul Dravid and picking up various inputs

Arun Venugopal02-Jul-20154:29

Rohan Gavaskar: Dravid is the complete package as coach

Vijay Shankar and B Aparajith have fond recollections of the TNCA first division league final in June 2012. Not only did they finish on the winning side, Vijay CC, but they also got to play alongside Rahul Dravid, who was called up to lend more muscle to an already formidable batting unit three months after his retirement from international cricket.Both youngsters hung on to every word Dravid had to offer then. Three years on, Aparajith and Vijay Shankar are just as excited about the prospect of interacting with Dravid, who is now coach of the India A side. Dravid’s first assignment will be the two four-day games against Australia A in Chennai later this month, and the two Tamil Nadu players are part of the 15-man India A squad.Aparajith said he was eager to hear Dravid’s appraisal of his game so far. “I still don’t know what to expect though,” Aparajith told ESPNcricinfo. “I am going to be open and listen to what he has got to say. Anything small from him is going to be a big thing for me.”Aparajith, however, felt there might not be enough time to run the technical nitty-gritty of his batting by Dravid. “It’s going to be match-based, so I am not sure how much (any conversation on) technical correction is possible. Maybe close to the tournament, I will discuss with him things that are on the top of my head at that point. I am not predetermining anything now.”Shankar, along with Aparajith, has established himself as a player of considerable potential recently. He was a key part of a young Tamil Nadu side that made the Ranji Trophy final last season. Shankar racked up 577 runs at an average of 57.70, including scores of 111, 82 and 91 in the quarter-final and semi-final.Evidently elated at his selection, he is looking forward to take in Dravid’s input on every aspect of the game. “I didn’t know how to react. It’s a very big thing,” Shankar said of his selection.”Last time when I met him (Dravid), I was asking him about converting starts. I would just love to work with him. Whenever we go there and practice I am sure he’s going to give some input and I am just keen on noting it down. I hope there will be enough practice sessions so that he will have time to see how we are batting.”Both Shankar and Aparajith were happy that the matches were played in their hometown, but refused to attribute too much importance to it.In contrast to Shankar, Aparajith had a lean run in the Ranji Trophy, with his 553 runs coming at an average of 29.10. Aparajith admitted there wasn’t a specific pattern to his game last year, but that he had put in “extra hard work” to sort out what he regarded as problem areas.”It’s a fresh start for us, a season opener of sorts,” Aparajith said. “I have analysed what I need to do. There is no specific area (of improvement). The reason why I failed last season could be because of a thought-process mistake. Nothing to do with my skill alone, [except] maybe in one or two games.”Every game I need to set pattern for long innings. Last season, I didn’t find the pattern or rhythm. Once I make it a habit, I will be more consistent.”Shankar, for his part, spoke about taking his batting to the next level. “I have been batting well in the recent past. But whenever I get a start, I get out for 80 or 90,” he said.”I just want to make sure when I get a start, I want to make it really big. Definitely, I look at it (the selection) as one more step towards the senior team. Whenever we go out and play, we put ourselves under some pressure. But last year, I just wanted to enjoy myself. Obviously pressure is going to be there, but I look at this series as an opportunity to gain enjoyment and good experience.”