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Zimbabwe’s historic 24-run win in the second Test to level the series 1-1 made Pakistan drop from fourth to sixth in the ICC Test rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2013Zimbabwe’s historic 24-run win in the second Test to level the series 1-1 made Pakistan drop from fourth to sixth place in the ICC Test rankings. Zimbabwe also returned to the rankings for the first time since May 2007 and are at ninth place, 24 rating points ahead of Bangladesh who are at the bottom of the table.Pakistan, on the other hand, conceded five rating points and dropped behind Australia and West Indies. They had moved to fourth position only last month after England beat Australia 3-0 in the Ashes.Zimbabwe had started the series unranked and would have finished ninth irrespective of the result of the series. They had pulled out of Test cricket in January 2006 and returned with a series against Bangladesh in August 2011, but could not find a place on the rankings table until now having not played the requisite eight qualifying Tests.Pakistan’s next Test series will be against No. 1 ranked South Africa with the first of two matches starting on October 14 in Abu Dhabi.

In contrasting styles Chesney Hughes and Wayne Madsen combined to give Derbyshire the best of the day at Headingley

Les Smith at Headingley29-Apr-2013
ScorecardChesney Hughes helped Derbyshire to their best day of the Championship season so far•Getty ImagesIn contrasting styles Chesney Hughes and Wayne Madsen combined to give Derbyshire the best of the day at Headingley. Hughes dominated with power to make his highest first-class score, while Madsen manipulated the ball with the wrists of the international hockey player he is, and together they put on 258 for the second wicket.This after Andrew Gale had won the toss and, to no one’s great surprise, put Derbyshire in to bat on a damp morning and a greenish pitch. Early morning rain and bad light delayed the start of play by 45 minutes, and the prospects for batting looked grim.There was optimism among the crowd as Yorkshire returned home after a thrilling victory over Durham, whereas Derbyshire had drawn their opening fixture against Warwickshire and then lost to Middlesex But Madsen and Hughes spent most of the morning and all of the afternoon causing consternation among the locals in the stands and, at times, those on the field.Hughes is just 22 but played with the authority of a more experienced cricketer. When signed by Derbyshire he became the third player from Anguilla to enter county cricket following Cardigan Connor and Omari Banks. A powerfully built left hander, Hughes plays very straight and is an excellent judge of when to leave the ball. He looks sound temperamentally, too. Approaching his fifth first-class century, rather than shrink into his shell he bludgeoned two big sixes although the shot of the day was an extra cover drive to the boundary off the first ball after tea.Hughes and Madsen came together in the seventh over after Tim Bresnan, Yorkshire’s most threatening bowler on the day, found the edge of Billy Godleman’s bat and Joe Root, celebrating his selection as captain of the England Lions, took a sharp catch to his right at third slip.For the next 70 overs almost nothing went right for Yorkshire. A strong westerly wind got to work on the ground, and on the poor souls in the eastern stand, and the green tinge on the pitch perceptibly faded. The second time Bresnan induced an edge, when Hughes was on 70, Jonny Bairstow was unable to cling on to a difficult chance behind the stumps just a few days after spilling a chance against Durham.When Madsen was eventually caught seven short of a century off Steven Patterson there was a sense of surprise in the crowd, as if something inevitable had just been prevented. A few minutes earlier a cheery soul in the eastern stand had observed to his friend, “They’ve over 250 and we haven’t even see Chanderpaul yet”. He needn’t have worried; Chanderpaul fell to Adil Rashid and Adam Lyth’s second catch of the day after just ten balls.There was one further cheap wicket when Liam Plunkett dismissed Wes Durston, but at the close Hughes was still standing tall – in every sense.April 30, 10.15am: This story was corrected to amend Derbyshire’s results

Gurunath Meiypappan and Raj Kundra could find themselves in big trouble at the end of the inquiry by two retired Tamil Nadu High Court judges, into the allegations of corruption in the IPL

Amol Karhadkar06-Jun-2013Gurunath Meiypappan and Raj Kundra could find themselves in big trouble at the end of the inquiry by two retired Tamil Nadu High Court judges, into the allegations of corruption in the IPL.Meiyappan, the Chennai Super Kings management member and son-in-law of BCCI president N Srinivasan, was released on bail after being arrested for allegedly indulging in betting during the IPL. According to the Delhi Police, Kundra, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, admitted to have bet on matches involving his team.The original task for judges T Jayaram Chouta and R Balasubramanian, the two independent members of what was originally a three-man panel, was to look into the complaints against Meiyappan, and the owner companies of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals – India Cements and Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt Ltd.ESPNcricinfo understands that they will now also examine the alleged involvement of Kundra, who bought 11.7% stake in Royals franchise ahead of the 2009 edition, in betting. The decision is likely to be announced after the working committee meeting in New Delhi on June 10.If Kundra and Meiyappan have indeed indulged in betting, police investigations aside, they can be found guilty of having breached IPL’s Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials and IPL’s Anti-Corruption Policy. Besides, both the franchisees could also be terminated for having violated clause 11.3 (c) of the franchise agreement.IPL’s Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials defines a team official as “(i) in relation to the Team any employee, coach, manager, selector, team official, doctor or physiotherapist (ii) any other person employed by or representing any Franchisee or Team including any director, secretary or officer of the Franchisee or (iii) any duly authorised (express or implied) agent of a Team or Franchisee.”Depending upon the seriousness and context of the breach, article 2.1.8(b) of IPL’s Code of Conduct prohibits the following: “(a) public acts of misconduct; (b) unruly public behaviour; and (c) inappropriate comments which are detrimental to the interests of the game.”Clause 11.3 (c) of the franchise agreement mentions the agreement can be terminated if “the Franchise, any Franchise Group Company and/or any owner acts in any way which has a material adverse effect upon the reputation or standing of the League, BCCI-IPL, BCCI, the Franchise, the team (or any other team in the League) and/or the game of cricket.”Since “material adverse effect” isn’t defined in the agreement, it is considered as a subjective term. However, it would be strange if it is applied to only one of the two teams.Besides the code of conduct, both Kundra and Meiyappan may be found guilty of having breached IPL’s anti-corruption policy, which makes it clear that any direct or indirect involvement with betting would be liable for suspension. Even though the word “owner” isn’t mentioned in the policy, it refers to “Player Support Personnel” as “Any coach, trainer, manager, selector, team official, doctor, physiotherapist or any other person employed by, representing or otherwise affiliated to a playing/touring team or squad that is chosen to represent a National Cricket Federation in any Domestic Match or International Match or series of such Matches”.If found guilty, Kundra and Meiyappan can face sanctions between two and five years each on charges of corruption (Article 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3 and 2.1.4), betting (Article 2.2.1, 2.2.2 and 2.2.3) and misuse of insider information (2.3.1, 2.3.2 and 2.3.3) according to the anti-corruption policy.”The BCCI Disciplinary Committee shall have the discretion to impose a fine on the Participant up to a maximum of the value of any Reward received by the Participant directly or indirectly, out of, or in relation to, the offence committed under this Anti-Corruption Code,” adds clause 6.2 of the policy.The code defines reward as: “A person acts ‘for Reward’ if he/she arranges or agrees that he/she or some other third party will receive any direct or indirect financial or other benefit for that act (other than official prize money and/or contracted payments under playing, service, endorsement, sponsorship or other such similar contracts), and the term ‘Reward’ shall be construed accordingly.”Even if either of the two officials are found guilty to have breached multiple clauses, their suspension cannot increase for more than five years since both the code of conduct and the anti-corruption policy clarify that the sanction will be imposed “concurrently” and “not cumulatively” if a player or team official is found guilty on more than one charge.With Meiyappan charged by the police under 12 different sections, the probability of the code of conduct not being observed is quite high. As a result, even though the legal system may take a long time in pronouncing the duo guilty (or otherwise), experts think the BCCI should be able to establish that their rules have been broken.In their defence, both franchises might argue that Meiyappan – whom Super Kings have distanced themselves from – and Kundra were not team officials. However, it will be of little help.”The designation doesn’t matter. The moment you are a part of team management – whether employed or otherwise – you are entitled to adhere to the code of conduct and anti-corruption policy,” an IPL insider said. “Both these individuals are undoubtedly members of team management, so if their involvement in the alleged [illegal] activities can be substantiated, they would obviously be punished according to the BCCI’s rules.”

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the second ODI between Australia and Sri Lanka in Adelaide

Daniel Brettig12-Jan-2013Match factsAjantha Mendis will hope to have greater influence on the contest in Adelaide•Getty ImagesJanuary 13, Adelaide Oval
Start time 1350 (0320 GMT)Big PictureUnjustly labelled a B-team ahead of the series opener in Melbourne, George Bailey’s Australian side demonstrated plenty of hunger and no little skill in dispatching Sri Lanka by 107 runs at the MCG. The emphatic nature of the result, and the composure shown by the team in achieving it, reflected handsomely on the national selectors’ decision to refresh the squad following six Tests, allowing Phillip Hughes and Bailey in particular to enhance their reputations as limited overs batsmen.A calf injury to Mitchell Starc should mean further opportunity for the bowlers in the squad, as one of Ben Cutting or Kane Richardson will get the chance to charge in at the Sri Lankans in Adelaide. Ahead of the looming returns of the captain Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade to the squad, Bailey’s team will be doubly keen to push on to another victory in game two, in order to give the selection panel further welcome headaches about their options. Not everyone excelled in Melbourne of course, with Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja especially enthused about the chance to make significant scores before they return to the reserves bench.Sri Lanka’s display in game one reflected the difficulties experienced by the Test team on harder, bouncier surfaces than they are used to at home. Also perplexing was the lack of impact provided by Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis. The likely loss of Dinesh Chandimal to a hamstring strain is a further source of consternation for the visitors, who must win or otherwise be only a game away from forfeiting the series.Form guide(Most recent first)
Australia WWLWW
Sri Lanka LWWWLIn the spotlightUntil he fashioned a direct hit run out from mid off as Sri Lanka’s chase stalled badly in Melbourne, Usman Khawaja had not enjoyed the best of ODI debuts. With the likes of David Warner and Michael Clarke expected to come back into the squad for the third match in Brisbane and Phillip Hughes already staking his claim for a more permanent place with a century in Melbourne, Khawaja will want to argue his own case more forcefully with a substantial score in Adelaide, the scene of some of his most fruitful innings for New South Wales before his move to Queensland.When Ajantha Mendis was called into the ODI side for Melbourne, leaving Rangana Herath to sit on the sidelines, figures of 1 for 62 from 10 overs were not the sorts of returns he was after. Though Mendis did not have much difficulty getting past Aaron Finch, he struggled for impact against the rest, as the Australians quickly found that the MCG pitch did not offer enough spin for the bowler’s variations to be truly dangerous. Adelaide may be a somewhat different case however, as the surface generally offers a little more lateral deviation for slow bowlers.Team newsBen Cutting for the injured Mitchell Starc is the most likely change to Australia’s line-up, though the call-up of Kane Richardson as cover fro Starc will tempt the selectors to play the 21-year-old South Australian on his home ground.Australia (possible) 1 Phillip Hughes, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 George Bailey (capt), 5 David Hussey, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Ben Cutting, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Xavier Doherty.Dinesh Chandimal’s strained hamstring is Sri Lanka’s major concern, with the uncapped Kushal Perera poised to come into the team for him in Adelaide. Rangana Herath may also be in line for a call-up.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Lahiru Thirimanne, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Kushal Perera (wk), 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Ajantha Mendis.Pitch and conditionsAdelaide’s forecast is for a mild and overcast day, while the pitch can be expected to be dry, even and potentially offering a little more turn to the spin bowlers as the game goes on.Stats and trivia Australia have won seven of nine encounters with Sri Lanka in Adelaide, though the visitors have been victorious in two of the past three matches Kushal Perera will be the fourth Sri Lankan to don the wicketkeeping gloves on this tour should he debut in Adelaide Mahela Jayawardene needs 29 runs to go past Adam Gilchrist and move into third on the list of alltime ODI run scorers in matches between Australia and Sri LankaQuotes “The confidence is quite high. I’ve never played an international game at Adelaide Oval, so it’s something I’m really looking forward to. I really can’t wait to get there on Sunday and hopefully score another big one and set up hopefully another win.”

New South Wales kept the race to host the Sheffield Shield final well and truly open by rolling to victory over Victoria inside three days at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-2013
ScorecardNew South Wales kept the race to host the Sheffield Shield final well and truly open by rolling to victory over Victoria inside three days at the MCG.After nine games, the Victorians still lead the table on 28 points but their defeat can allow Queensland and South Australia to pass them or Western Australia to draw close in the remaining two games of the penultimate round.The Bushrangers started the day with the chance of setting a testing target with Cameron White and David Hussey at the crease, but both were to depart early at the hands of Steve O’Keefe and Gurinder Sandhu.From there the visitors mopped up the innings effectively, leaving themselves a chase for only 150 to take the six points.At 3 for 60 the pursuit looked a little shaky, but the captain Ben Rohrer, Peter Nevill and Brad Haddin played nervelessly to reel it in.

Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan coach, has criticised the ICC’s decision to ban the captain Misbah-ul-Haq from the Galle Test

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Galle24-Jun-2012Dav Whatmore, the Pakistan coach, has criticised the ICC’s decision to ban the captain Misbah-ul-Haq from the Galle Test because of an over-rate offence committed during the fifth ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo earlier this week. Whatmore suggested that instead of banning a player, a better alternative would be to impose penalties during the match in which the offence was committed, rather than let the punishment affect the next game.”I find it very difficult to understand why a good player, a captain, is barred from playing,” Whatmore said after the third day in Galle. “I know there’s rules with it. People want to see the best teams participating, particularly in Test matches where there is some discussion on the popularity of it. You want your best players playing all the time. I think we need to reassess and revisit that.”During the fifth ODI, Pakistan were found to be three overs short of their target even after time allowances were taken into consideration. As this was Pakistan’s first serious over-rate offence in the past 12 months, the match referee Chris Broad handed Misbah two suspension points while each of his players received a 40% fine. It meant Misbah had to sit out the Galle Test, since suspension points are to be applied to the subsequent international matches in which Misbah was most likely to participate on a chronological basis immediately following the announcement of the decision.Misbah was replaced by Mohammad Hafeez as captain, and his place in the side went to a debutant, Mohammad Ayub. In Misbah’s absence, Pakistan struggled in response to Sri Lanka’s 472 and were bowled out for 100. They are 36 for 3 in the second innings, chasing 510 for victory.

Warwickshire produced an outstanding team performance to beat the Unicorns by 10 wickets at Wormsley.

19-Aug-2012
ScorecardWarwickshire produced an outstanding team performance to beat the Unicorns by 10 wickets at Wormsley.Chris Woakes, fresh from his his exertions with England Lions over the last couple of weeks, returned to the Warwickshire fold to take 4 for 24 from eight overs as the hosts were all out for 185.Will Porterfield and Varun Chopra made light work of the target, with the former striking a magnificent 100 not out from 89 balls while his partner struck the winning runs with a boundary in the 30th over to take him to an unbeaten 73.Bottom-placed Unicorns had just one win to their name from 11 matches and they were put into bat this afternoon, at one point slipping to 5 for 4. They were under pressure immediately as opening bowlers Chris Wright and Woakes conceded just one run between them in the opening three overs.The pressure eventually told as Vishal Tripathi was bowled by Woakes, who then dismissed Tom New and James Ord in his next over after Bradley Wadlan had fallen to Wright. In danger of sinking without trace, they then fell to 12 for 5 as 23-year-old Woakes accounted for Unicorns captain Keith Parsons. Although a helpful 35 from Lewis Hill helped to relieve some pressure.Glen Querl, batting at number nine, added 64 runs alongside Hill for the eighth wicket before the latter became Wright’s second scalp. Querl fell six runs shy of a half-century – falling lbw to Warwickshire debutant Ian Blackwell – after a magnificent 44 from just 27 balls.At 112 for 9, any hopes of posting a competitive total looked remote but last man Paul Hindmarch put his top-order colleagues to shame. In just his second List A match, Hindmarch, the 24-year-old Cumbrian, made exactly 50 off 49 balls to take his side to what looked like a defendable, if not competitive total.Chopra and Porterfield took their time to get to grips with the surface, with just one boundary coming in the first five overs. But they refused to panic and settled to their task thereafter, with Chopra hammering successive fours off Luis Reece.Porterfield was the first to his half-century with his ninth four and brought up three figures in the game’s penultimate over with a single off Querl. It was then left to Chopra to finish off the match in style with his 10th four as Warwickshire sealed victory with more than 10 overs to spare to boost their hopes of qualification from the group.

ESPNcricinfo previews the 20th match of IPL 2012 between Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers in Jaipur

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran16-Apr-2012Match factsTuesday, April 17, 2012
Start time 1600 (1030GMT)Dale Steyn needs more support•AFPBig pictureDeccan Chargers have had a week to get over the last-ball heist by Rohit Sharma in Visakhapatnam, a game the Chargers shouldn’t have lost. For a team struggling on form and balance, they had an opportunity to put one across the tournament contenders, but panicked. It could have been a different story if they hadn’t bowled so many full tosses, and if Dale Steyn had more support. Against Rajasthan Royals, they will start as underdogs.The Royals hit the summit of the points table after their win against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Ajinkya Rahane slaughtered the relatively inexperienced Indian bowlers in the attack and the Chargers bowling attack isn’t the most threatening. There could be a case to give Brad Hodge an opportunity right at the top of the order, if Rahul Dravid moves down.Players to watchAt this point, the Chargers would love to have a bowler as good as Dale Steyn to partner him. His countryman Richard Levi got a working over in Visakhapatnam, playing, missing, weaving and losing his middle stump. He bowled with the kind of pace rarely seen on Indian pitches and conceded just 12 off his four overs for his three wickets. In hindsight, his captain should have bowled him for the final over.Siddharth Trivedi has been an unsung hero for the Royals, picking up 47 wickets in 50 games overall. He compensates for his lack of pace with his nagging line, bowled from back of a length. He attacked the stumps regularly against Royal Challengers, getting all wickets bowled. On a slow pitch, he can be difficult to get away.2011 head-to-headThese teams played each other just once last season, with the Royals chasing down 138 easily winning by eight wickets in Hyderabad. Johan Botha was the top scorer for the Royals with an unbeaten 67.Stats and triviaThe Royals have an overwhelming advantage in the head-to-head record, winning six out of seven games. In the game between Royals and Chargers in 2008, Royals chased down 215, still a record for the highest successful chase in the IPL.Quotes”We had got into a winning situation but failed to close the match (against Mumbai Indians). When we get into situations like that, we need to clinch the games and win.”
“That’s the beauty of Rajasthan Royals. We don’t have too many big names apart from one superstar (Shane Warne) who used to play here and now he is retired.”

Daniel Smith stunned Victoria with a rollicking 183 not out from 123 balls to take New South Wales to its first domestic points of the season in the limited overs match at North Sydney Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2011
ScorecardDaniel Smith’s belligerence won the day at North Sydney Oval•Getty ImagesDaniel Smith stunned Victoria with a rollicking 185 not out from 123 balls to take New South Wales to its first domestic points of the season in the limited overs match at North Sydney Oval.Having never previously made a century for his state, 29-year-old Smith crashed a competition record 11 sixes to rush the Blues past the visitors’ seemingly imposing 7 for 317 with all of 49 balls to spare. The innings was also the highest by a NSW batsman in a domestic one day match.Smith was helped in the chase by Tim Cruickshank, who made 75 in a second-wicket partnership of 167 as the Blues made remarkably light work of the target.Simon Katich, who on Sunday was reported by Cricket Australia for comments he made about the Australian Test captain Michael Clarke, made only 13 but was shown support by members of the crowd in the form of numerous banners.Victoria appeared to have tallied a strong total on what was an admittedly small ground and docile pitch, with Brad Hodge gliding to 144 from 116 balls while Rob Quiney swung freely for his 92 from 58.Moises Henriques had nabbed three early wickets as the Bushrangers slid to 4 for 78, the slow start ultimately costly on what was otherwise a day dominated by the batsmen.

Wasim Jaffer was proud of having made the semi-final with a team missing so many first-choice players but also felt the toss had an important role to play

Abhishek Purohit at the Holkar Cricket Stadium05-Jan-2012They arrived to play a knockout match without two star batsmen, a keyallrounder and two premier fast bowlers but in the end, Mumbai foundsomeone to do the job, as they have throughout the season. Not only wereMumbai missing Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar, theirremaining two important batsmen, Wasim Jaffer and Suryakumar Yadav, alsofailed in the quarter-final. They were 60 for 5 in pursuit of 192 on apitch that was still doing something on the second morning.But they found a savior in Kaustubh Pawar, who blunted the MP fast bowlersfor eight hours in his debut first-class season. His 160 off 328deliveries, and later, Ankeet Chavan’s century, were instrumental inbuilding a big lead for Mumbai. Jaffer was proud of having made thesemi-final with a team missing so many first-choice players but also feltthat the toss had an important role to play. Mumbai were able to makefirst use of a fresh wicket to dismiss MP cheaply after which the pitcheased out for the remainder of the game.Jaffer rated Pawar’s effort as one of the best he had seen in a knockoutmatch. “Pawar’s innings was tremendous, especially for someone playing inhis debut season. We were in trouble at the end of the first day havinglost five wickets for 60,” Jaffer said. “But to take a massive lead of 242from that position is a big achievement. If you look at the side we have,it is creditable that we have come so far [in the tournament].”Mukesh Sahni, the MP coach, said his batsmen had a lot to learn from Pawar’sunwavering patience and his ability to put away the risky strokes.Jaffer also praised Chavan, saying that he had performed whenever he hadbeen given the opportunity. Chavan made his maiden first-class hundredfrom No. 9, showing the depth in the Mumbai batting line-up. SulakshanKulkarni, the Mumbai coach, said Chavan played like a specialist batsman.”I do not treat him as a tail-ender. If you see, he wasplaying so straight and was comfortable against both pace and spin.”Chavan’s act has relegated a steady performer like Iqbal Abdulla to thesidelines for now but Kulkarni said that competition was always healthyfor a side.Whether they are full-strength or not, Mumbai are always expected to winthe Ranji Trophy. Jaffer said that would always be the case and Mumbaiwould have to try hard with whatever players were available. “We cannotsit back and lament that we are missing so many players. The expectationswill always be there. It is up to us to try our best with the squad wehave.”The way his fringe players have been delivering, Jaffer will not beoverly worried ahead of the semi-final against heavyweights Tamil Nadu.