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Nineteen wickets fell on day two of a frantic Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and South Australia at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2012
ScorecardNineteen wickets fell on day two of a frantic Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and South Australia at the MCG.After bowling the Redbacks out for 100 before lunch, the Bushrangers were themselves 9 for 104 before the No. 11 Jon Holland top-scored with a well-struck 55.His innings set SA a distant 302 for victory, and they slipped to 3 for 55 by the close, Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper at the crease to provide the visitors with the faintest hope of a recovery.The Redbacks’ first innings was shattered by Andrew McDonald, who claimed 5-21 with his medium paced seamers on a pitch offering movement to the quick bowlers throughout. Peter Siddle, in his first extended stint since the Tests against India, claimed 3-34.Chris Rogers and Rob Quiney made a rapid start to the Bushrangers’ second innings, but from 0 for 56 the hosts tumbled at the hands of Sayers, Joe Mennie and Carl Tietjens. SA could glimpse an unlikely chase of 230 or less until Holland’s intervention to add 77 for the last wicket with Ryan Carters.

Nuwan Kulasekara, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, will join the national squad for the ODI series in South Africa after four months on the sidelines

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2012Nuwan Kulasekara, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, will join the squad for the ODI series in South Africa after four months on the sidelines. Lasith Malinga, Upul Tharanga and Kosala Kulasekara will also be part of the one-day leg of the tour, while Chanaka Welegedara, Kaushal Silva, Thilan Samaraweera, Tharanga Paranavitana, Dimuth Karunaratne and Kanishka Alvitigala will not be involved after the Test series concludes.Sri Lanka picked a different spin attack to the one they played against Pakistan in the UAE, their previous one-day series. Suraj Randiv, Jeevan Mendis and Seekkuge Prasanna, who were in the squad against Pakistan, were left out, with the selectors sticking with Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis, who are already in South Africa.Nuwan Kulasekara, who has not played for Sri Lanka since picking up an injury in their home ODI series against Australia in August, was initially set to join the squad for the second and third Tests in South Africa. Sri Lanka’s sports ministry, however, vetoed his selection and the uncapped Kanishka Alvitigala was picked instead. Alvitigala did not get a game in the Test series and has now been replaced by Kulasekara.Malinga, who is retired from Test cricket, and Tharanga were the expected additions to the squad in South Africa, while allrounder Kosala Kulasekara, who played only one Test and one ODI on the tour of the UAE, retained his spot.Herath, who is considered more suited to Tests, was kept for the ODIs after he took nine wickets in Sri Lanka’s upset of South Africa in Durban. Ajantha Mendis, meanwhile, did not play a Test but was picked in the ODI squad after being dropped for the series against Pakistan. He was chosen ahead of Prasanna, who took just four wickets in five ODIs in the UAE.Squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vc), Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Kosala Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath, Dhammika Prasad, Dilhara Fernando, Lahiru Thirimanne

Yuvraj Singh had asked the BCCI not to consider him for selection for the ODI series against West Indies because he has been recovering from an “illness that threatened his career”

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2011Yuvraj Singh, the India allrounder, had asked the BCCI not to consider him for selection for the ODI series against West Indies because he has been recovering from what his family has called an “illness that threatened his career,” caused by an “abnormal tumour” on his lung. The tumour has been found, after tests, to be non-malignant.According to a statement released by his mother, Shabnam Singh, Yuvraj had been troubled by bouts of coughing and vomitting during the 2011 World Cup but had ignored the problem during the tournament, “assuming it was due to stress.”When the problem persisted after the World Cup, Yuvraj sought medical advice and tests revealed “a golf-ball sized” growth on his left lung, the statement said. Initial reports had suggested that Yuvraj “had what in medical terms is called an abnormal tumor called lymphoma. The danger was, we were told, that it could be malignant.”Early medical treatment and therapy led to Yuvraj feeling better than he did during the World Cup and he “was eager to resume his India duties.” However, after returning from the tour of England due to a finger injury sustained during the Nottingham Test, Yuvraj went through several rounds of tests, scans and a recent biopsy in order to ascertain the exact nature of the tumour. “Further reports have indicated that the tumour is non-malignant and non-threatening and can be treated through proper medication and therapy. In medical terms, Yuvraj is now in a much better state and on his way to a full recovery.”Yuvraj had informed the BCCI president N Srinivasan of the findings and wanted to regain his fitness. It was why he had “sought some more time … and asked not to be considered for selection in the one-dayers versus West Indies.”In the statement Yuvraj’s mother said he “did not want to rush things, wants to be 100% fit before resuming his cricket for India and has started working hard on both his fitness and his cricket. He is already preparing himself to play the one-day series in Australia.”Yuvraj was not included in the Test squad for the tour of Australia.

However diligent their preparation and practice, Somerset cannot exert any control over rainfall that they feel afflicts the west country more than anywhere other than Old Trafford. A third severely interrupted day ensured that there was no time for their

Jeremy James at Taunton20-Aug-2011
Scorecard
However diligent their preparation and practice, Somerset cannot exert any control over rainfall that they feel afflicts the west country more than anywhere other than Old Trafford. A third severely interrupted day ensured that there was no time for their second innings at Taunton. A draw, the probable outcome on the third evening, became an inevitability once no play was possible before lunch. It was a question thereafter of how many points could be gathered in.For Somerset, that amounted to a mere six, for Samit Patel, called up by England for the one day international in Ireland next week, collected the 30 runs he needed to reach his century and finished with 128 in all off 163 balls with 20 fours and a six. Long before then, there was fulmination over the weather from Brian Rose, the director of cricket. It is undoubtedly true that Taunton suffers more rainfall than most other grounds in the country – but best not to tell him that this is a part of the charm of cricket.It remains to be seen whether poor weather will prevent Somerset becoming county champions for the first time, a repeat, in their opinion, of what happened last year. Yet they neither batted well nor bowled accurately in this match. Whereas Andre Adams had maintained a disciplined off stump line in bowling them out for 177, their own quicker bowlers were more profligate when bowling at Patel and Riki Wessels, who struck 82 from 79 balls with ten fours and two sixes, entertainment indeed.Still, there were two wickets in successive balls for George Dockrell, the slow left arm bowler who should play against England for his native Ireland. He dismissed Patel and had Steven Mullaney taken at the wicket, but was unable to take a hat-trick not least because Chris Read, the Nottinghamshire captain, has become accustomed to coming to the crease in such circumstances. Dockrell was a little expensive, but will have an opportunity for so long as Murali Kartik is injured and there is indecision over his future with Somerset.Nottinghamshire, unable to make runs sufficiently quickly to enable them to attempt to bowl out Somerset a second time, as was the intention of Mick Newell, their coach, batted out the day. For all Somerset’s concerns over their antiquated drainage system, which according to Rose is 120 years old, there is nothing that can be done about rain weekly, monthly and perennially sweeping across their county from Cornwall.”This was a pretty average day for us,” admitted Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset captain. “We did what we could to salvage something from losing 225 overs in the match and were pleased to pick up three bowling points. We now have two massive matches to come – against Hampshire here, Yorkshire at Leeds – followed by playing the leaders, Lancashire in our final fixture. Realistically, we need to have two victories by the time we face them.”

Surrey strengthened their bid for a place in the last four of the ClydesdaleBank 40 with a nail-biting three-wicket win over Warwickshire at Guildford

24-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Surrey strengthened their bid for a place in the last four of the ClydesdaleBank 40 with a nail-biting three-wicket win over Warwickshire at Guildford.The result was sealed with just seven deliveries to spare when Zander de Bruyn,who made an unbeaten 84 off 92 balls, cut Neil Carter through extra cover forfour.Yasir Arafat, who took five for 45, also starred for the Lions, who were madeto work hard for their victory after Rikki Clarke hit a dazzling 76 off 61 ballsfor the visitors.Having won the toss, Warwickshire posted 225 for 8, which looked barelyadequate given the compact surroundings. Arafat struck twice in the sixth over, with Carter caught at deep square leg and Varun Chopra snapped up at backward point – both by Matthew Spriegel.Will Porterfield was caught at the wicket four overs later off Tim Linley, butthen Tim Ambrose (39) shared in stands of 53 and 55 with Jim Troughton andClarke respectively.The visitors only sparked into life when former Surrey man Clarke came to thecrease in the 23rd over, following the loss of Troughton to Zafar Ansari’sleft-arm spin for 27, though the Bears’ skipper had previously swept ChrisSchofield for six.Clarke lifted Ansari over extra cover for a maximum on his way to a 51-ballhalf-century, which the former Surrey man brought up with a cover drive for fouroff Jade Dernbach.Arafat’s return to the attack produced the wicket of Ambrose, who, backingaway, had his bails trimmed by the Pakistan all-rounder. Clarke and Chris Woakes added 55 in five overs, during which Clarke clipped Arafat over wide long-on for six. But then Arafat had Woakes caught at extra cover and Clarke at deep mid-wicket to register his best figures in one-day cricket for three years.Surrey’s reply got off to the worst possible start when Rory Hamilton-Brown wasbowled for a duck by Jeetan Patel and Jason Roy (seven) danced down the pitch toWoakes and cut the ball on to his stumps.Steven Davies (23) was caught at short extra cover off a leading edge, but TomMaynard and De Bruyn then set about laying the foundations for a successfulassault.Surrey were up against it when Maynard (39), Matthew Spriegel (20) and Arafatall fell to catches in the deep but Ansari’s 22 in 16 deliveries, which includedtwo pulled sixes, finally provided the impetus his side needed. And De Bruyn completed the job in tandem with Schofield (13 not out).

Kumar Sangakkara will deliver the eleventh MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on July 4 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2011Kumar Sangakkara will deliver the eleventh MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on July 4 2011.He will become the first Sri Lankan and the first current international cricketer to be invited to speak at the annual event which comes a day after Sri Lanka meet England at Lord’s for the third ODI of the series.Sangakkara will also take over from 2009 speaker, Adam Gilchrist, as the youngest man to deliver the lecture, which has been given by people such as Geoffrey Boycott, Desmond Tutu and, most recently, Imran Khan.The lecture was inaugurated in 2001 in memory of the late Colin Cowdrey, a past president of MCC, who – together with another former club president, Ted Dexter – was instrumental in the Spirit of Cricket being included as the Preamble to the 2000 Code of the Laws of Cricket.Christopher Martin-Jenkins, the commentator and current MCC President, said: “Sri Lanka have been so consistently successful in world cricket that it is very appropriate that a distinguished cricketer from this beautiful country should be giving the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture.”Kumar Sangakkara is widely respected in cricket not only as a brilliant player but as a highly intelligent one. His views on topical matters will be truly illuminating and many people will be looking forward to hearing what he has to say.”

James Anderson’s scheduled fitness test became a victim of the weather when Lancashire’s Friends Life t20 fixture against Worcestershire at New Road was abandoned without a ball being bowled

12-Jun-2011
James Anderson’s scheduled fitness test became a victim of the weather when Lancashire’s Friends Life t20 fixture against Worcestershire at New Road was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Recalled to the England squad earlier in the day, the 28-year-old seam bowler was hoping to confirm his recovery from a side strain by bowling four overs for his county.But a steady downpour set in at dawn and with up to an inch of rain forecast for the Worcester area, it was no surprise when umpires Jeff Evans and David Millns called the game off at 2.30pm. Having missed the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka because of his injury, Anderson will now be without competitive match practice before the selectors have to decide on the final XI for the third and final match in the series at the Rose Bowl on Thursday.For Worcestershire the loss of a crowd-pulling fixture was another setback, coming on top of the complete washout a week earlier in the their opening Twenty20 home game against Durham.The only other year in which they lost two home matches in the competition was 2007, when they had to leave New Road in the second half of the summer because of flooding at their headquarters.

Pakistan were still swooning from Ross Taylor’s blitz when they came out to bat, and the seamers destroyed the top order

The Bulletin by George Binoy08-Mar-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ross Taylor hurt Pakistan with an explosive hundred after they let him off twice•AFPThe fans who travelled through the hills to watch the first one-day international in Pallekele witnessed a Pakistan team in shambles: they saw a glut of extras, three dropped catches, the worst possible display of end-over bowling and a batting implosion from a shell-shocked team. They also saw a struggling New Zealand side take advantage of their opponent’s extraordinary failings, slowly at first, before Ross Taylor launched an assault so brutal that Pakistan were gutted and rendered defenseless by the end of the innings.Stronger opponents would have made Pakistan regret their shoddy performance – in which Kamran Akmal played the lead and Shoaib Akhtar a supporting role – sooner in the piece, but New Zealand’s batsmen did not until the end. Then, though, they did so without mercy. Martin Guptill was their solitary performer in the first half of the innings, and Taylor needed massive slices luck to get going. But in the last six overs Taylor broke free with unprecedented violence, taking 28 off a Shoaib over before plundering 30 – a new tournament record – off one from Abdul Razzaq. It began to rain sixes and fours and Pakistan’s helplessness was startling as New Zealand plundered 114 off the last six overs to reach 302.Pakistan’s batsmen were still swooning from Taylor’s rope-a-dope when they began their chase and the inevitable collapse came to pass. The contest had ended before the mandatory Powerplay was over and, after the innings had been reduced to 23 for 4 and 66 for 6, Abdul Razzaq merely delayed the inevitable with a half-century. The only worry for New Zealand was the fitness of their captain – Daniel Vettori hobbled painfully off the field after injuring his knee in the sixth over and did not return. Taylor, who took over the captaincy, however, had ensured that Vettori’s bowling wasn’t needed on the day.New Zealand’s formidable total didn’t take shape until very late though. When Pakistan’s spinners dismissed Guptill and James Franklin to reduce the innings from 112 for 2 to 113 for 4, New Zealand were slipping. When Scott Styris, who was dropped by Kamran Akmal, was trapped by an Umar Gul yorker in the first batting-Powerplay over they were only 175 for 5, in sight of a middling total. That changed in a blink.In the 47th over, Shoaib bowled wide deliveries, length deliveries and full tosses that Taylor savaged through cover point and over the deep-midwicket boundary. That exhibition of how not to bowl at the death was outdone by Razzaq, whose medium-pace at poor length was meat and drink for a marauding Taylor. Fielders looked on helplessly, Shahid Afridi tore his hair out metaphorically and Taylor continued to batter a ragged Pakistan. He had added 35 in 3.5 overs with Nathan McCullum, who initiated the acceleration, and then 85 in 3.4 overs with Jacob Oram, who muscled 25 off 9 balls.Before the massacre was The Comedy of Errors. The litany began off the first ball of the innings, when Shoaib overstepped and umpire Nigel Llong didn’t spot it. Llong called Shoaib’s next three foot-faults, though, and the New Zealand batsmen sent all those free-hits to the boundary. Brendon McCullum, however, missed an incutter soon after pulling the first free-hit for six and his dismissal brought in How, playing for the unwell Jesse Ryder.How’s problem was he couldn’t get the ball off the square. Pakistan gave the new ball to a spinner for the first time in 13 years and Abdur Rehman’s left-arm darts were hard to score off. Shoaib, at the other end, was in a generous mood, throwing a ball he fielded on his follow through wide of Kamran Akmal to concede four overthrows. That Pakistan allowed 45 during the mandatory Powerplay was largely due to Shoaib’s largesse. It was also due to Guptill’s ability to focus despite the drama around him. He dragged New Zealand forward with no help from his partner.How’s misery mercifully ended in the 13th over, when Gul’s incutter struck him so plumb that the ball would have hit the middle of middle stump. He’d made 4 off 29 balls.In walked Taylor, on his 27th birthday, and he received two enormous gifts. Before he had scored, Taylor edged the second ball of Shoaib’s second spell. Akmal moved to towards his right, then stopped and looked expectantly at first slip, where Younis Khan was in shock as the ball sped between them to the boundary. Two balls later Taylor edged again, this time the simplest of chances straight to Akmal, and survived. In between those deliveries, Taylor had slashed to the point boundary.Taylor, whose early struggle was substantial by normal standards but incomparable to How’s, slowly grew in confidence. Then Pakistan went to pieces and, though he shoudn’t have been, Taylor was there to hurt them. He finished unbeaten on 131 off 124 balls.The day’s ironic moment came when Kamran Akmal edged to slip and watched Taylor, whom he had dropped twice in single digits, take a low catch without even the faintest fumble.Match Timeline

Just when it looked like Imran Farhat’s century was going to take the game away from them, PIA’s Aizaz Cheema and Kamran Sajid sparked an HBL middle-order collapse that left the game finely poised at the end of the second day

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2011ScorecardImran Farhat laid a solid foundation for HBL with his 109•Getty ImagesThe tea break came to Pakistan International Airlines’ rescue on the second day at the National Stadium in Karachi. Just when it looked like Imran Farhat’s century was going to take the game away from them, left-arm seamer Aizaz Cheema and their captain Kamran Sajid sparked a middle-order collapse that saw Habib Bank Limited lose six wickets for 28 runs in the last session and left the game finely poised at the end of the day.HBL still managed build a lead of 52 thanks to a rearguard action by fast bowler Fahad Masood, but PIA will hope they can knock off the two remaining wickets tomorrow and then improve on their first-innings batting performance to set HBL a decent total.At the tea break, HBL were cruising. Farhat and his captain Hasan Raza had put together 104 for the third wicket and they were already within 14 runs of PIA’s total with eight wickets still remaining. It came down to Cheema, who has led PIA’s bowling attack almost single-handedly at times this season, having taken more than twice the number of wickets any of the other bowlers have, to make the breakthroughHe got one to nip back in sharply from outside off to Raza, in the first over after tea, and had him out lbw for 38. That suddenly opened the floodgates for HBL. Sajid, who had only bowled one three-over spell in each of the first two sessions, brought himself back in the attack and struck in his third over, bowling Aftab Alam for a duck with an inswinger. In his next over, he got the big one: Imran Farhat was struck in front of middle stump, swinging across the line, but he was unlucky as the ball had pitched well outside leg stump.PIA built on their luck, though. Cheema went on the rampage, bowling wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat with another late inswinger and then startling Danish Kaneria with a short ball that he could only fend to short leg. By the time Kaneria went, HBL were suddenly 242 for 8, only 14 ahead of PIA, when at tea they would have been dreaming of a lead of well over 100. PIA would be slightly disappointed they didn’t finish the job as tail-enders Masood and Mohammad Aslam saw off nine overs with the new ball at the end of the day.Before the dramatic collapse, Farhat had played a well-paced innings. Having come to the wicket in the fourth over after Kamran Hussain fell early, he started off slightly scratchily – three of his first four boundaries were thick edges to the third-man boundary – but settled in once the spinner Shoaib Malik came on to bowl, picking him for boundaries on either side of the wicket. He favoured the off side against the quicks, driving and cutting as HBL built a solid foundation for a big score.Unfortunately for Farhat, HBL’s scorecard looked very similar to PIA’s first-innings one: one batsman scoring big while the others struggled. For PIA it had been Sajid, and for HBL none of the middle-order players could build on Farhat’s start.

Trevor Bayliss, the Sri Lanka coach, has singled out Suranga Lakmal for special praise after Sri Lanka’s comeback with the ball against West Indies on the second day at Pallekele

Sa'adi Thawfeeq at Pallekele02-Dec-2010Trevor Bayliss, the Sri Lanka coach, has singled out Suranga Lakmal for special praise after Sri Lanka’s comeback with the ball on the second day at Pallekele. “He [Lakmal] has bowled extremely well although he’s got only wicket,” Bayliss said. “He is the least experienced in the team but I thought he’s probably been one of our better bowlers.”Lakmal had dismissed Chris Gayle with the first ball of the Test but went wicketless on Thursday. Sri Lanka grabbed three West Indies wickets in the 167 minutes play possible on the second day to reduce them to 244-5, after they resumed overnight at 134-2.Bayliss said bowling in partnerships was the reason for Sri Lanka’s success and where Lakmal excelled. “He was able to bowl the ball in the right areas and kept it fairly tight this morning,” Bayliss said, “and we managed to take a wicket or two at the other end. That’s what you’ve got to do; bowl in partnerships.”Bayliss defended Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara’s decision to bowl first, saying there was a chance to take a few early wickets on the first morning. “We did that with the first ball [take a wicket],” he said, “but we needed to take three or four early wickets, and on this occasion we didn’t quite bowl the way we would have liked.”We had a discussion last night that we didn’t bowl as we should have done on that wicket. It’s good to see the guys come back today and put the ball in the right spots.”He was less emphatic on Sangakkara’s choice to wait till the 59th over to introduce Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner. “There’s no reason for it,” Bayliss said. “You’ll have to ask the captain because I am not sure. Sanga made a judgement that the other boys were doing the job for him at that stage.”After the first day, when we didn’t bowl enough balls in the right areas, we wanted to at least keep it tight and put a little bit of pressure on the batters that way. At times, the captain has to make an on-field decision. It’s not necessary to bowl someone in the team just because they are there.”With the fickle weather conditions, Bayliss was uncertain whether a result could be obtained with three days of the Test remaining. “There’s still enough time in the game as it stands now,” he said. “From our point of view if we can take the last five wickets and bat big that would be our plan and then hope to knock them over in the second innings. But with the weather around I am not sure whether it’s going to be possible.”Sri Lanka struck two quick blows at the end of the day’s play, but before that Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brendan Nash both got half-centuries. Chanderpaul’s was his first of the series and it took him 145 balls to get to 54. “Nash has been batting well in the tour so far. He’s got three fifties. I haven’t got any, so I had to play a different game,” Chanderpaul said. “I couldn’t play as freely as the other guys because they have been scoring lots of runs. I don’t discuss personal goals but hopefully I can get some runs on the tour.”Chanderpaul said the game was still in the balance and West Indies had a chance to win. “There’s still a lot of work to be done,” he said, “and if we can get Sri Lanka out twice that’ll be good. We’ll try to bat as much as we can and then have a go.”