All posts by h716a5.icu

Former India allrounder Ravi Shastri has said that though he will be in charge of the team, head coach Duncan Fletcher has not been sidelined

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Aug-2014Former India allrounder Ravi Shastri, the newly appointed team director for the ODI series in England, has said that though he will be in charge of the team, head coach Duncan Fletcher has not been sidelined.”My role is to oversee everything. All of them report to me,” Shastri told ESPNcricinfo in an interview where he expanded on his role. The decision by the BCCI to bring in Shastri along with the three Indian assistants – Sanjay Bangar (batting), B Arun (bowling) and R Sridhar (fielding) – and “give a break” to fielding coach Trevor Penney and bowling coach Joe Dawes ignited speculation about Fletcher’s future.But Shastri emphasised that Fletcher would not be sidelined. “Absolutely not. He stays as the head coach. And these two (Bangar and Arun) will be his assistants. I am there to oversee.”Immediately after the BCCI made public his appointment on Tuesday morning, Shastri went to the team hotel in London where he had a two-hour chat with both MS Dhoni and Fletcher to chalk out plans for the five-match ODI series which starts in Bristol on Monday. “We had a chat about where things are at the moment and how things have to be addressed. And how important communication will be.”Shastri has been blunt in his assessments in the wake of India’s 3-1 defeat against England in the five-match Test series. Although he picked inexperience as the deciding factor behind India’s defeat he described the team’s performance as “spineless”. “On this tour I saw India’s greatest ever overseas win I have seen. I know it because I have never seen a track like that and with this kind of inexperienced side, for them to pull it off… Then I also saw some spineless cricket over the last three Tests matches. Spineless means stomach for a fight. People would have accepted 3-1 if there was a little more fight.”Shastri said that it was painful to watch batsmen not learning from their mistakes during the series. “My only disappointment was players at times making the same mistake,” Shastri said. “That disappointed me. Everyone makes a mistake, but you want to try something different.”In his newspaper column, published the day after the Oval defeat, Shastri wrote: “Five sessions and not five days have been enough to nail them. But move on we must. Sit back and watch if these glam boys are ready for penance.” Asked who exactly were his targets, Shastri revealed it was the top-order pair of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli.”I was hard on Pujara and Kohli specifically because they came here with big reputations. And they have been brought down to earth with their techniques being found out against the moving ball. And there is nothing wrong in that, it has happened to the biggest players. Now the true test of their character will be: how they bounce back. I have absolutely no doubt that not only will they bounce back, they will excel very, very soon.”

Northern Districts coach James Pamment’s contract has been extended by two years till the end of the 2016-17 season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2014Northern Districts coach James Pamment’s contract has been extended by two years till the end of the 2016-17 season. The extension was agreed by the Northern Districts board and Pamment before the team’s recent trip to India for the Champions League T20, where they qualified for the main round.Pamment completed the first of a two-year term as coach in the 2013-14 season, in which Northern Districts won the domestic Twenty20 competition and finished runner-up in the one-day tournament.”When we were recruiting for a coach before the start of last season, our brief was to find the coach that would best maximise the individual and team performances of our next great crop of players,” Northern Districts CEO Peter Roach said. “We have seen nothing in the past 18 months to indicate that James is not the very best person to achieve this goal.”In James we have someone that really believes in ND’s philosophies around individual player development, and understands fully where we wish to head as an organization.””I am honoured to continue to coach this group of men, and proud that the organisation have seen fit to extend my contract ahead of time,” Pamment said. “We are an extremely proud region comprising our six districts, and I look forward to continuing to work with them and their players over the next three seasons.”We look forward to the coming season with great optimism. We have a strong core group of senior players, and some really exciting talent that we expect to keep developing.”

England have removed James Anderson from their ODI squad to tour Sri Lanka due to a “pre-existing left knee injury”

David Hopps04-Nov-2014England have removed James Anderson from their ODI squad to tour Sri Lanka due to a “pre-existing left knee injury”. The ECB said that Anderson had experienced some knee discomfort during the summer and that he was being rested in order to ensure his fitness for the World Cup.The decision means that England will contest the series in Sri Lanka without their two most proven fast bowlers, Anderson and Stuart Broad, who had surgery on a knee injury in early September to cure the tendonitis that has persistently dogged him in recent series.If the absence of England’s two leading strike bowlers would normally be a cause for regret, it might be regarded as opportune that they have necessarily been ruled out of a trip expected to be fought out in demanding pace bowling conditions – even if that does mean they will have to forego what Anderson himself termed an unparalleled focus on one-day cricket by England leading into the World Cup next year.Anderson will at least be spared a year of hotel rooms as England embark upon a period of virtually non-stop cricket in an ever-crowded international schedule, but his downtime will not last for long as he undergoes what England have termed a “graded” recovery.He will instead go to South Africa in December with the fast bowling element in the England Performance Programme in preparation for next year’s tri-series against Australia and India before the World Cup.There are no immediate plans to replace him in the squad for the Sri Lanka tour. The lack of a replacement suggests that England might be tempted to rebalance their squad away from a prototype World Cup squad for Australia and New Zealand, with a heavy emphasis on pace bowling, and instead strengthen their spin bowling hand in Sri Lanka with somebody like Adil Rashid, Yorkshire’s legspinning allrounder, and seek to build momentum by winning the series.They would certainly have plenty of options on hand in Colombo were they persuaded to go down that route. England also have a batting and spin camp in Colombo as part of the Performance Programme and could choose from not only from Rashid but the likes of Stephen Parry and Samit Patel.An additional fast bowler would have to be summoned from another camp in Potchefstroom in South Africa. None of the seven quick bowlers on that trip immediately stand out as a one-day specialist, although England have resisted Ireland’s overtures about fielding Boyd Rankin in the World Cup so they have not yet abandoned thoughts of him extending his international career.Anderson is England’s most successful ODI bowler in history with 257 wickets at 29 apiece and he is expected to equal the record jointly held by Graham Gooch and Alec Stewart of appearing in four World Cups. He and Broad have taken more than 400 ODI wickets between them.But England have fast bowling cover in the form of Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes as they face seven ODIs in less than three weeks, the first in Colombo on November 26. One of them is unlikely to make the trip to the World Cup assuming England’s most celebrated pair recover fitness.England begin their World Cup campaign with a group match against co-hosts Australia in Melbourne on February 14.

Several of India’s batsmen got decent workouts on the second and final day of the warm-up game, against Cricket Australia XI, in Adelaide

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2014
ScorecardSeveral of India’s batsmen got decent workouts on the second and final day of the warm-up game, against Cricket Australia XI, in Adelaide. M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Wriddhiman Saha and Karn Sharma all got fifties, as the team easily overtook CA XI’s 219, ending on 8 for 363.Vijay and Pujara, the not out batsmen overnight, retired soon after completing their fifties, before Kohli took over to top score in the innings. Ajinkya Rahane could not make use of a chance to spend time in the middle, lasting only four balls, but Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina did slightly better – Rohit batted out 46 balls for 23 before falling lbw, while Raina made a brisk 44 off 49.Wicketkeeper Saha and legspinner Karn Sharma finished off a satisfying day of batting for India. Both were quite aggressive in their batting: Saha made 56 not out off 75 with five fours and a six, while Karn, batting at No. 10 hit 52 off 54.

A second consecutive fifty for Ben Smith took Central Districts to the top of the Ford Trophy points table with a five-wicket win over Auckland

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2015A second consecutive fifty for Ben Smith took Central Districts to the top of the Ford Trophy points table with a five-wicket win over Auckland in Palmerston North.Though the target was only 226, some complications arose when Matthew Quinn removed the openers by the third over. Smith steadied the wobble and led two fifty partnerships in the middle order to finish with an 81-ball 74, one short of his highest List A score made in the last match. He was the fourth man out, but by then Central Districts needed only 83 more to win with 136 balls remaining. A straightforward task that was completed in the 46th over.Auckland’s troubles had begun early after captain Rob Nicol and the rest of the top order found the going tough after choosing to bat. They were 58 for 4 in the 21st over . A half-century from Colin Munro and a 39-ball 45 from Colin de Grandhomme provided stability but neither could push on and though the tail only managed to play out the 50 overs, their total was a bit underwhelming.

Jason Roy, the Surrey batsman, has signed for a three-match stint with Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2014Jason Roy, the Surrey batsman, has signed for a three-match stint with Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.He will act as a replacement for Eoin Morgan, the new England one-day captain, who will link up with the national squad when they arrive in Australia early next month for the triangular series in preparation for the World Cup.Roy, 24, was the leading run-scorer in the 2014 NatWest T20 Blast, stacking up 677 runs at 48.35 with a strike-rate of 157.07. Later in the season he made his England T20 debut against India at Edgbaston.He will play against Hobart Hurriances, Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Stars during his time in Australia – the last of the three matches bringing a head-to-head with Kevin Pietersen – before leaving to join the England Lions one-day squad on their tour of South Africa.”The Big Bash is a huge competition for an overseas player to be involved in,” Roy said. “I’m looking forward to getting over there and playing in front of the big crowds with an amazing squad.”Hopefully I can get my name out there and show people what I’m about and help win some games for the Thunder. Growing up in South Africa, I watched Jacques Kallis play a lot. To be able to play alongside him is going to be an amazing experience and I’m looking forward to picking his brain along the way.”

Despite the absence of Mitchell Johnson, Australia have had no trouble finding wickets or aggression, as Mitchell Starc has slotted in nicely as the team’s strike bowler

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG18-Jan-20151:22

Mitchell Starc the difference between the two sides

Mitchell Johnson might be the fourth-ranked ODI bowler in the world, but Australia have had no trouble covering for his absence in the first two games of the tri-series. Johnson has stayed home in Perth after missing the Sydney Test due to a minor hamstring injury, but his namesake and fellow left-armer Mitchell Starc has ensured Australia have not lacked anything without Johnson.Against England in Sydney, Starc curled the ball back into the right-handers to pick up two wickets in the first over of the match, and against India in Melbourne, he again struck in the opening over of the game. Starc’s work with the new white ball has been so impressive that it will be tempting for the Australians to stick with him as their opening bowler even when Johnson returns.”We all know our roles really well and whenever Mitch is around you know he’s going to be bowling fast and very aggressive,” Starc said. “We’re all trying to pick up the slack and when he does come back into the side it’s going to be great as well. In the meantime it’s nice to take wickets and try and bowl fast and do my role for the team.”It is as yet unclear when Johnson will return, with Australia’s next match set for Friday against England in Hobart. For now, Starc is basking in his 6 for 43 against India after claiming 4 for 42 against England, and he has now collected more five-wicket hauls in ODIs for Australia (4) than anyone but Brett Lee (9) and Glenn McGrath (7), a remarkable effort considering he has played only 30 games.He also finds himself currently holding the world record for the best strike-rate for any bowler with at least 50 ODI wickets, his 59 having come at the rate of a wicket every 24.2 deliveries. His record in one-day internationals is in contrast to his less consistent work in Tests, where he has failed to hold his place for two consecutive matches in a series since his debut series against New Zealand in 2011.Four of Starc’s wickets at the MCG came when he returned to bowl in the dying overs. His penultimate over was a wicket maiden and he followed that with another double-wicket over that cost only five runs, meaning his final two overs – the 45th and 49th of India’s innings respectively – brought him figures of 4 for 5.Mitchell Starc – “We’re all trying to pick up the slack and when Mitch does come back into the side it’s going to be great as well. In the meantime it’s nice to take wickets and try and bowl fast and do my role for the team”•Getty Images”It’s something we all work really hard at,” Starc said of bowling at the death. “For a number of games now it’s something we really want to nail. It comes back to the training and we do a lot of it, the whole bowling group do a lot of it. It’s great that we have so many options of guys who can bowl at the death. It’s something I really enjoy.”It’s not always going to be that you come in and take the wickets, sometimes you’re going to lose games. But I enjoy the challenge and there’s something I work really hard at. I’m really confident with my white-ball game and you’re going to find you’re going to string a few games together where that execution is really good, which I think the bowling unit has found the last two games.”Starc said collecting wickets at important moments in India’s innings was key to Australia’s victory in Melbourne, where India’s only partnership of more than 10 overs was the 126-run stand between Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. India were unable to get a run of wickets in Australia’s top order but fought back with some late strikes, before James Faulkner again finished the job with the bat.”They played some good cricket tonight,” Starc said. “With the ball, we took some key wickets at key moments in the game to really restrict them to under 300, which was a good effort from our bowling group. They pulled it back with the ball after we were 2 for 200 and they took some wickets and really got on top of us. It was a fantastic finish to the game and I’m glad we were on the good side of it.”

Lack of regular game time has contributed to Wayne Parnell’s erratic form, according to former South African captain Shaun Pollock, who admitted to empathising with the left-arm pace bowler

Firdose Moonda25-Feb-20152:39

‘India loss a knock to SA’ – Pollock

Lack of regular game time has contributed to Wayne Parnell’s erratic form, according to former South African captain Shaun Pollock, who admitted to empathising with the left-arm pace bowler.”You feel for him because he didn’t go great in that last game. It is difficult when you are on the outside always looking in and you come in for one game and then out for another. From a confidence perspective you are always looking over your shoulder,” Shaun Pollock told ESPNcricinfo at an ICC event in Sydney. “A period of time allows you to settle in and understand exactly what your role is, from his side I can feel for him but then in times he has come in, a number of times he hasn’t performed and has just ended up putting himself under more pressure.”Parnell has only appeared in two full series for South Africa in the last three years, in which they have featured in 12 rubbers. He took complete participation in five matches against England in August 2012 and three against Zimbabwe in August 2014 but was only used sporadically in series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Pakistan, India, Australia and West Indies since then.Parnell has only marginally been able to improve on his average  – 29.76 since the beginning of 2012 compared to 30.10 overall – and economy rate – 5.24 in the period under consideration versus 5.57 overall – while his strike rate has got worse from 32.4 to 34.0. Although he made his name on swing and pace, his reputation in recent times has been about watching batsmen take swings at him, and South Africa seem to know that.”One day he’s going to get you four, and the next he’s going to go for some runs. We understand that; that’s the way Parney plays,” Faf du Plessis said. “We want match-winners as part of our team because they blow games open. If he is in the side again, I expect him to blow the next game open. You never expect him to go at three runs an over and get one or two wickets. He either gets four wickets or he goes for runs. We’re very comfortable with that because that’s the kind of bowler he is.”But after a hefty defeat to India in which Parnell was the most culpable bowler – conceding at 9.44 runs per over – Pollock is not convinced he will keep his place in the starting XI for the match against West Indies. South Africa would want some extra protection with both bat and ball, especially after their collapse at the MCG and with the news Vernon Philander has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.”Kyle Abbott would be a natural fit. He bowls with the new ball, gets it to swing upfront and gives an extra option at the death too. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make that change,” Pollock said. “Then, it will be the same conundrum as it’s been for the last few months. Is it Parnell or is it [Farhaan] Behardien?”If it’s batting depth that South Africa are looking for, Behardien would be their choice even though he has a slightly lower international batting average (21.20) than Parnell (23.31). Behardien’s domestic prowess was made with bat in hand, where he has been among Titans’ best performers over the last handful of summers.But Pollock thinks history more recent than that will bring Behardien into contention for the West Indies game. “Behardien had a good innings here against Australia and maybe they’ll go back to him,” he said. Behardien’s top score of 63 came at the SCG last November. Since then, he has played six ODIs but only batted in three, and Pollock believes he has something to offer in the middle order, even if it is just security.”I don’t think you can really judge Behardien on his first performance against Zimbabwe. He had a back issue and he didn’t get an opportunity to bat,” Pollock said. “After what’s happened with the batting, from a comfort perspective, they will maybe go the route of getting the extra guy in from a batting side and they see Behardien as the stronger batter.” Which may mean Parnell will have to wait on the sidelines again.

Sri Lanka sports minister Navin Dissanayake said he set up the interim committee to run Sri Lanka cricket so that there “is no system corruption” within the board

Sa'adi Thawfeeq02-Apr-2015Sri Lanka sports minister Navin Dissanayake said he set up the interim committee to run Sri Lanka Cricket so that there “is no system corruption” within the board.”We want the finances our cricketers earn and bring to SLC used in the proper manner and dispersed properly,” he said. “We have to protect our cricketers – cricketers like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara had a lot of problems with the previous body. The time is right for cricket to be put on the right track. There is no room for politicians and individuals.”Jayawardene and Muralitharan to assist SLC

Former Sri Lanka cricketer Sidath Wettimuny, who heads the interim committee, said Mahela Jayawardene had agreed to assist them as an honorary consultant to help develop cricket at grassroot level and improve the school cricket structure.
Wettimuny also stated that Muttiah Muralitharan had also made himself available to assist them.
Jayawardene, a former captain retired from all formats of the game at the end of the 2015 World Cup.

Former Test opener Sidath Wettimuny leads the nine-member committee that took control on April 1 because the posts held by existing officials, led by president Jayantha Dharmadasa, had become null and void. The laws governing all sports bodies in Sri Lanka require annual elections to be held on or before March 31. SLC’s elections, however, were postponed until the end of April due to the World Cup, which ended on March 29.Dissanayake had wanted to hold the elections on April 30, but the results of an investigation he had begun into the previous regime authorised by the then sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had turned up financial irregularities which needed to be addressed.So he appointed the interim committee which has “been given the right to take cricket forward,” in Sri Lanka and said they will ensure: There are no personal agendas in this cricket committee No secret deals with anybody and everything is to be transparent Provisions for TV rights and also devise a plan for ICC funds of $16 million”We want to clear all this up and we don’t think an election is going to help that process but only complicate it,” Dissanayake said. “Improving the cricket structure, changing the voting system for the elections, we feel this interim committee will bring those changes. Anybody who takes over after that will have to adhere to it. It’s a very transparent process.”

South Africa will host the first Africa T20 Cup as a curtain raiser to the domestic season

Firdose Moonda21-Apr-2015South Africa will host the first Africa T20 Cup as a curtain raiser to the domestic season. Makhaya Ntini, the former South Africa fast bowler, is the face of the 16-team event, which will see 13 South African provincial sides compete with Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya and will run for a month from September 4 to October 4.The dates coincide with the window that the Champions League T20 would have been played in, further fueling speculation that the tournament will be cancelled. In previous years the CLT20 has been held from mid-September to early October, during which no international fixtures were scheduled but with its possible cancellation, it seems South Africa are making other plans.

Pool A (Sept 4-6, Benoni) Easterns, Northerns, Zimbabwe, Western Province
Pool B (Sept 11-13, Potchefstroom) North West, KZN Inland, Border, Boland
Pool C (Sept 18-20, Kimberley) Griquas, Namibia, KZN, Eastern Province
Pool D (Sept 25-27, Bloemfontein) Free State, SWD, Gauteng, Kenya

CSA were one of the three shareholders in the CLT20 and its franchises have the most to lose from its culling. The participation fee of US$200,000 was more than the prize money available for any of South Africa’s domestic competitions and the compensation of $150,000 received for South African players who chose to represent their IPL franchises was always welcomed. Franchise CEOs around the country expressed to ESPNcricinfo their concerns that if the CLT20 did not take place, it would leave them in a financial quandary.The Africa T20 Cup may not immediately solve that but it could have some spin-off benefits particularly if it attracts sponsorship. South Africa’s provincial teams, which are semi-professional sides that make up the tier below franchise level, have not been able to generate much money in the past and have lacked for a tournament with profile. CSA are hoping to change that.”This tournament is an exciting new concept for our cricket,” Haroon Lorgat, the CSA CEO, said. “It should provide impetus at the start of a season with exciting and competitive playing opportunities plus revenue generating potential for each team.”The 13 provincial sides will each be allowed to field a maximum of four franchise players and one international. They will also be required to have at least two Under-21 players and have to fulfill the transformation quota of at least six players of colour including at least three black Africans. No such restrictions apply to the three international sides.The 16 teams have been divided into four pools and will play at four upcountry venues in the Gauteng and Free State province. The tournament has been confined to those regions given the early season, which would mean coastal venues would not have been ready in time. All four of the stadiums – Potchefstroom’s Senwes Park, Benoni’s Willowmoore Park, Kimberley’s Diamond Oval and Bloemfontein’s Mangaung Oval – are international grounds that do not receive as much as cricket as the bigger arenas.The four group winners will advance to the semi-finals with the venue for those matches and the final yet to be confirmed. What CSA have sewn together are some broadcasting rights for the competition. SuperSport will screen 10 days of the tournament, including the knockouts. There will be two matches a day for the duration of the tournament.”We are keen to lead the way in developing an Africa-wide competition,” Lorgat said, while Ntini, who has not had an official role within CSA since retiring four years ago, confirmed his desire to see the game grow on the continent. “The development of the game on the continent is something that is close to my heart,” Ntini said.