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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.

Lancashire wound up with more to do than they anticipated on a day in which Kyle Hogg demonstrated for the second time in five days that he may be entering his peak years as a bowler

Jon Culley at Southport26-Jul-2011
ScorecardKyle Hogg ran through Nottinghamshire but they fought back impressively•PA PhotosLancashire wound up with more to do than they anticipated on a day in which Kyle Hogg demonstrated for the second time in five days that he may be entering his peak years as a bowler after a decade bedevilled by injuries and frustration.Hogg, who played the starring role in the Roses victory last week that put Lancashire on the heels of Division One leaders Durham, maintained his form here, completing his third five-wicket haul of the summer and raising his overall wickets tally to 36, the best of his career.At the height of his powers, he took three wickets in the same over without conceding a run, first getting lift and movement to defeat Alex Hales, caught behind off an outside edge at just the moment he was hoping to celebrate his call-up for the England Lions side to face Sri Lanka A next week.He then had Adam Voges leg before, on the front foot but not forward enough, two balls before seeming to surprise Steven Mullaney with a ball that the former Lancashire player edged on to his stumps. Hogg does not have lightning pace but his line here was immaculate.At that point, Nottinghamshire were 27 for 5, which was not what they had in mind when Chris Read won the toss and chose to bat first. In fact, after limping to 27 for the loss of Neil Edwards, who had nibbled one to the wicketkeeper in Hogg’s fourth over, Nottinghamshire had surrendered four wickets for no runs in the space of nine deliveries, Riki Wessels having played across one from Tom Smith.Before lunch arrived they were seven down, Read having played back to one from Glen Chapple to be leg before and Samit Patel, another in the Lions squad, having suffered a rush of blood against Gary Keedy. Lancashire’s principal left-arm spinner had bowled only two balls when Patel attempted to hit him out of the ground over mid-wicket. The ball instead soared into the sky off a leading edge, with Smith safely under it at mid-off.Yet Nottinghamshire did fashion a recovery. Graeme White was also tempted to test Keedy’s equilibrium and succeeded, twice hitting him for six, the second of which crashed on to a roof in Harrod Drive, which borders the south end of the ground, and had to be retrieved from the guttering.But Andre Adams was the real revelation. The New Zealander normally adopts the Patel approach from the off but this time was a model of restraint, with 33 off 54 balls, as he and White added 65 for the eighth wicket, even if the manner of his dismissal, caught at long on, was familiar in the end.Yet, for unexpectedness, Adams was trumped by Darren Pattinson, a man with only two scores above 30 in 67 previous first-class innings. The ball had lost its hardness and the Lancashire bowling a little of its venom, while neither Keedy nor Simon Kerrigan were getting much turn, but Pattinson played admirably straight and collected six boundaries before Chapple had Luke Fletcher caught at second slip, the last wicket pair having added a further 55 runs to claim a batting point, and Pattinson top scorer with 35 not out.Lancashire’s three bowling points cut Durham’s lead to two, enabling Paul Horton and Stephen Moore to lead the reply with confidence high. As they reached 67 without loss, Nottinghamshire will have wondered if the moment was right to bring their two spinners, Patel and White, into the action.But then their perspective changed rapidly as Adams at last made the breakthrough, trapping Moore with an inswinging delivery. When he then dismissed Horton and Mark Chilton to catches at the wicket in his next over, the former nibbling but the latter wafting at a wider ball, Lancashire were suddenly 68 for 3. Pattinson soon bowled Karl Brown and there is work to do on the second morning if the result – almost certain to be positive here, one way or another, unless the weather has some say – is not to go against them.Results have been plentiful for Lancashire this season, which is why few Lancashire members will have many complaints that not one Championship match will now be staged at Old Trafford this year.It had been planned, after the realignment of the square, that the last game of the season, against Hampshire, would serve as a small consolation to Old Trafford members disappointed with this season’s switch to Liverpool but Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s director of cricket, explained that with only five pitches to pick from, none of which would be in ideal condition, it had been decided to give a sixth match to Liverpool.As it happens, all four Championship matches at the Aigburth ground so far this season have produced results, three going to Lancashire, and there has not been a draw there in 10 matches since 2004. Little wonder it has become a popular venue, although not as popular, it seems, as Southport, where the first day of Championship cricket since 1999 attracted 2,606 paying spectators, the largest number for a Lancashire home Championship day this season.

Shaun Marsh and Michael Hussey drove Australia into a powerful position at stumps on the second day in Pallekele

The Report by Brydon Coverdale09-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShaun Marsh showed impressive concentration in his first Test innings•Associated PressShaun Marsh grew up dreaming of wearing a baggy green just like his father Geoff, and realised that ambition on Thursday. By Friday night he was able to go to bed dreaming of a long future in Test cricket and a potential century on debut, after he and Michael Hussey drove Australia into a powerful position at stumps on the second day in Pallekele.Marsh was unbeaten on 87 and Hussey was on 76 when bad light stopped play shortly after tea, and although both men were within sight of triple figures, the most important figure was the 90-run lead they had built for their team. With seven wickets in hand and three days still to play, it would take something miraculous for the Sri Lankans to get out of this hole.At least they know they have what it takes to trouble Australia; three top-order wickets before lunch proved that. But once Hussey and Marsh came together, two calm left-handers at opposite ends of their careers, all the momentum was sucked away from Sri Lanka.When Australia were 116 for 3 following the loss of Michael Clarke, a first-innings lead was still up for grabs. At the close of play, Australia were 264 for 3, and the only question was how many Sri Lanka would have to make to force the visitors to bat a second time.As the partnership grew, things became so desperate for Tillakaratne Dilshan that he even turned to Kumar Sangakkara, desperately hoping his arm would prove as golden as Hussey’s had for Australia on the first day. But Sangakkara’s sub-100kph seamers made Hussey the bowler look like Brett Lee, and the Australians had no problem seeing him off.Sangakkara even took the new ball during his second over, an extraordinary move for a man whose only first-class victim was Elton Chigumbura in a match against Zimbabwe A seven years ago. It was a sign of how helpless Marsh and Hussey had made the Sri Lankans feel.That’s to be expected of Hussey, but the composure shown by Marsh was remarkable. If he reaches his hundred, he’ll be the first Australian to score a century on debut since another patient Western Australian left-hander, Marcus North, who achieved the feat in South Africa in 2009.Smart stats

Michael Hussey’s 76 is his second half-century of the series following the 95 in Galle. He has now scored 921 runs in the subcontinent at an average of 57.56 with two centuries and five half-centuries.

Shaun Marsh became the third Australia batsman after Ricky Ponting and Stuart Law to make a fifty-plus score on Test debut against Sri Lanka.

The 148-run stand between Hussey and Marsh is the second-highest fourth-wicket stand for Australia against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. The highest stand is 206 between Darren Lehmann and Damien Martyn in Galle in 2004.

This is only the eighth time that Sri Lanka have conceded a lead at the end of the second innings in home Tests since 2000 (matches when Sri Lanka have batted first). They have won two and lost four on the seven previous occasions.

Since 2000, Australia have gained the lead at the end of the second innings (batting second) in 39 matches, including this one. They have won 33 and lost just two on the previous 38 occasions. All three draws, have, however come in matches played since January 2008.

But North was shielded down at No.6; Marsh was sent in at No.3, and saw wickets tumble around him early in his innings. Initially, he found his runs largely through singles, taking no risks, and even when the boundaries began to flow they were usually dispatched safely along the ground.He brought up his half-century with a classy off-drive for four off the legspin of Seekkuge Prasanna, using his feet to reach the pitch of the ball and directing it wide of mid-off. He put away three boundaries in that over, but all were safe strokes.Meanwhile, Hussey was punching through gaps, cutting late and finding runs with his usual ease. His only lean patch came when he spent 39 balls working his way through the 40s, before his half-century came up with a vicious pull for four off Suraj Randiv.Hussey had survived a tight run-out chance on 39 when he dived full-stretch to make his ground after sprinting through for a quick single to mid-off. It was another incredible display of athleticism for a 36-year-old, but was hardly surprising after his flying catch at gully on the first day.The direct hit from Lakmal would have found most batsmen around the world short of their ground, and it just added to the frustration for Sri Lanka after their first session had gone so well. The day started with a wicket before Australia had scored a run, as Shane Watson shouldered arms to Lakmal and lost his off stump.It was a terribly poor piece of judgment: the ball was too full and too straight, and Watson should have learnt from the previous delivery, which had narrowly missed off stump when he also chose to leave it alone. By contrast, Clarke probably should have stayed away from the ball that got him for 13; he followed the angle from the left-armer Chanaka Welegedara and loosely edged to slip.The other wicket to fall in that brief period of Sri Lankan dominance was Phillip Hughes, who worked hard for his 36 before he was caught at short-leg, having inside-edged onto his pad against the offspin of Randiv. It wasn’t a failure of an innings for Hughes, but nor was it a triumph like Marsh’s effort.At stumps, Usman Khawaja was padded up ready to come in next, which created an interesting subplot for Australian fans: when Ricky Ponting returns for the third Test, Marsh, Hughes and Khawaja will be battling for two spots.By then, the series could be decided. And Marsh might have been the man to decide it.

Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is not getting ahead of himself despite his side’s powerful position in the second Test against West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2011Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is not getting ahead of himself despite his side’s powerful position in the second Test against West Indies. Pakistan need only five more wickets to beat West Indies and level the series 1-1, while the hosts require 297 runs for an unlikely victory, or to bat all day to salvage a draw.”Until the time you’ve taken the last wicket, the match is still not finished,” Misbah said after stumps on the fourth day in St Kitts. “It’s a game of cricket and you have to finish the game otherwise it’s really half the job done.”Pakistan had Misbah to thank for giving them an excellent chance at victory, after he and Taufeeq Umar both made centuries in the second innings. It was Misbah’s third Test hundred and he was unbeaten on 102 when he declared with a lead of 426, a fine effort for a 36-year-old in his sixth Test as captain.”It’s really, really good to have a hundred, especially when you are captain,” Misbah said. “For your own confidence and for the sake of the team, it’s really important that the captain chips in and perform at all stages in the game.”West Indies made a poor start to their chase, with two of the top four out for ducks, and by stumps they were 130 for 5 and relying heavily on the vice-captain Brendan Nash (30 not out) to salvage something on the final day. Abdur Rehman caused the biggest problems with three wickets, all of which came soon after the tea break and shattered West Indies’ hopes of ending the day in a reasonable position.”At tea, my coach [Waqar Younis] and my captain came to me and said, ‘Go back there and go back to your normal bowling,” Rehman said. “Don’t give them flight, just tight, tight, contain and you’ll get the wickets’.”To rescue West Indies, Nash will need not only a major innings himself but also help from the lower order, including Carlton Baugh (7 not out) and the next man in, the captain Darren Sammy. West Indies won the first Test in the two-match series.

Stuart Clark, the former Australia fast bowler, is keen to play another season with New South Wales, despite being in contention to become chief executive of one of Sydney’s two Big Bash League sides

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2011Stuart Clark, the former Australia fast bowler, is keen to play another season with New South Wales, despite being in contention to become chief executive of one of Sydney’s two Big Bash League sides. Clark, who will be 36 by the time the next Australian season begins, has been interviewed for the role with one of the new city-based teams.The former international coach John Dyson is also considered a frontrunner, and both men could end up with jobs, with Cricket New South Wales set to make the appointments later this month. Sydney’s two Twenty20 sides for next summer’s new competition are the Thunder and the Sixers, and Clark must decide whether he wants to take charge of one of those outfits or extend his on-field career.”I’m leaning towards playing cricket at the moment,” Clark told the . “There’s no personal goals left. I’m lucky enough to have done pretty much everything in cricket [that I wanted to].”As much as I love playing cricket, there’s also life after cricket and what I want to do with life. It’s a tremendous opportunity; I’ll never shirk away from that. One of these Big Bash teams – I suppose that’s the future of cricket and gives me an opportunity to be involved and involved at the highest level.”As a player, Clark’s experience is valuable to the young New South Wales side, which he captained last season when Simon Katich was away on Australian duties. However, with Australia looking to younger bowlers, Clark won’t add to the 94 wickets that he collected in 24 Tests, the last of which he played on the 2009 Ashes tour.

Callum Ferguson has been added to Australia’s squad for the remaining two one-day games against England after Shaun Marsh became the latest casualty in Australia’s batting line-up

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2011Callum Ferguson has been added to Australia’s squad for the remaining two one-day games against England after Shaun Marsh became the latest casualty in Australia’s batting line-up. The hosts began the series without Ricky Ponting (finger) and Michael Hussey (hamstring) and Marsh joined the injury list during the series-clinching win on Sunday when he hurt his right hamstring.Marsh entered Sunday’s game with a question-mark over his hamstring and he has been ruled out of the rest of the series after scans showed a low-grade injury, although it is still unclear how long he will be sidelined. Marsh is not part of the World Cup squad, but was viewed as the most likely candidate to be included if Hussey’s recovery did not allow him to make the trip.The problems have allowed a late-season call-up for Ferguson, who missed a year due to a serious knee injury and did not bat in his only appearance for Australia since his return, in a game against Sri Lanka in Brisbane in November. Ferguson had been gearing up to be part of South Australia’s side for Saturday’s Big Bash final, but will instead be pushing for a place in the Australia team.”Callum has an excellent record in one-day internationals for Australia and is in good form this season,” the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said. “We are sure Callum will seize the opportunity that comes following the unfortunate hamstring injury suffered by Shaun Marsh.”The series against England concludes with matches in Sydney on Wednesday and in Perth on Sunday, and the players have virtually no break before heading to the World Cup for their title defence. That means a call will need to be made on Hussey, who has had surgery on a serious hamstring injury he suffered during the opening ODI against England.”At the moment it’s only sort of two weeks since the surgery and basically in those two weeks I’ve been able to hit every target that we’ve set so far,” Hussey told the ABC on Monday. “So that’s a good start but I don’t want to get too carried away. I just want to keep keep hitting my target.”I’ve certainly got exercises I’ve got to be doing two or three times a day, physio probably three or four times a week. The first sort of week-and-a-half I was struggling a fair bit to get around but just the last four or five days it’s been a lot easier to get around. I’ve seen some improvement everyday which has given me a lot of hope.”

Online tickets for the knockout rounds of the World Cup will be available by via a system of online lottery

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2011Online tickets for the knockout rounds of the World Cup will be available via an online lottery system after a heavy load crashed the tournament’s official ticketing website on Monday.Organisers are working out the exact schedule and details for the online lottery by which people will be given an extended period in which to put their names into the ballot on the World Cup’s official ticketing website, Kyazoonga.com. The lottery will take place after the period to register is completed. This will be the first time that there will be an online lottery for a sports event held in the subcontinent.Organisers say the lottery is a common practice at other global sporting events where there is a heavy demand for tickets. The lottery for the London Olympic Games in 2012, for example, opens on March 15, 2011. Each winner will be restricted to just two tickets, however. “This way at least more people will have a chance to get the tickets,” Ratnakar Shetty, the tournament director, told .Kyazoonga says that they had suggested a lottery system at the start of the tournament as one means of ticket distribution, but the idea had been rejected because of its novelty in the subcontinent. At one stage on Monday, the website had 500,000 concurrent users trying to buy tickets to the World Cup final. Of the 4000 tickets being put on sale for the game, only 1000 will be available online.

West Ham United cruised to a 4-0 victory against already relegated Norwich City to provide a huge boost to their hopes of finishing the Premier League season in a European spot.

They remain seventh but increase the gap to Wolverhampton Wanderers in eighth who have a game in hand to play on Wednesday. The win also means they can put the Europa League woes behind them after they crashed out of the competition at the semi-final stage on Thursday.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-west-ham-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more” title= “Read the latest West Ham news!”]

The Hammers dominated the game with Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen grabbing the headlines with their two goals and two assists respectively. However, it was defender Craig Dawson who we think stole the show against the Canaries.

The veteran defender has been a key part to West Ham’s successes, and whilst he might get the appreciation from the supporters, he is often overlooked by those outside of the club.

He impressed greatly against Norwich winning 100% of his duels which was vital in ensuring that West Ham kept a clean sheet. He also received a SofaScore rating of 7.5 which was only beaten by his teammates mentioned above and Declan Rice.

The 32-year old made the move across London permanent at the start of the campaign joining from Watford after impressing on loan last season.

It’s been an unexpected rise for a player who has spent the majority of his career playing for a club either in a Premier League relegation battle or in the Championship.

Now he’s at the heart of the West Ham defence fighting for a European finish. He’s been described as “outstanding” by journalist Matt Law with manager Moyes praising his performances in Europe this season.

He also didn’t put a foot wrong when it came to his passing against Norwich. Dawson recorded a pass accuracy percentage of 95% during the game, proving that he is just as good in possession as he is battling one on one with an opponent.

For a player who rarely gets talked about, he produces performances that without, West Ham would find themselves struggling at the back. Luckily he has hardly missed a game for them this season with 48 appearances in all competitions.

IN other news: Imagine him & Said: West Ham set to move for 22 y/o “hurricane”, he won’t cost a penny…

Big Bash defending champions Victoria have begun their 2011 campaign in perfect style with a clinical display to account for Queensland in game two at the MCG

The Bulletin by Alex Malcolm02-Jan-2011Victoria 4 for 188 (Finch 58, Hussey 42*) beat Queensland 9 for 155 (Hopes 36, McKay 3-26) by 33 runs
Scorecard
Aaron Finch clubbed 58 off 38 deliveries•Getty ImagesBig Bash defending champions Victoria have begun their 2011 campaign in perfect style with a clinical display to account for Queensland in game two at the MCG.The home side rewarded the 29,429 locals who turned out with a dominant display on a sluggish drop-in wicket.The Victorian openers set the tone, Aaron Finch and Brad Hodge clubbing 98 from the first 64 balls of the innings after Cameron White won the toss. Anything back of a length or shorter Hodge cut or pulled with typical ease. Anything fuller and straighter Finch clubbed to the sightscreen or into the long-on bleachers, which he did on three separate occasions.Finch’s brutal 58 from 38 balls earned him Man-of-the-Match honours. His dismissal and some tight bowling from Bulls’ captain James Hopes slowed the Bushrangers momentarily, but the classy veteran David Hussey (42 not out) sussed the conditions quickly to produce a gem of an innings to take the total to 4 for 188.It was always going to be a tough ask against a barrage of Victorian quicks. New-ball pairing James Pattinson and Dirk Nannes removed the Queensland openers in consecutive overs to put the Bulls well behind in the game. Hopes, on return from a broken thumb, clubbed five boundaries in 36 but his demise to a slower ball from Clint McKay signalled the beginning of the end as Queensland battled to 9 for 155.McKay claimed three wickets with off-speed bowling, Nannes three with blistering pace. The Victorians are going to be hard to beat again with the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Cameron White and Matthew Wade playing just minor roles in tonight’s first-up win.

Vaughn van Jaarsveld’s contract with the Highveld Lions has come to an immediate end. The batsman, who played two one-day internationals and three T20s for South Africa, has joined the Dolphins franchise

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2010Vaughn van Jaarsveld’s contract with the Highveld Lions has come to an immediate end. The batsman, who played two one-day internationals and three T20s for South Africa, has joined the Dolphins franchise.Van Jaarsveld’s contract with the Lions ran until the end of April 2011. He was initially only due to join up with the Durban-based franchise at the beginning of the 2011/12 season, but signed for them without informing the Lions.According to an IOL report from last week, Lions’ coach Dave Nosworthy only discovered van Jaarsveld’s intent to leave the franchise during the Lions SuperSport Series match against the Dolphins, while talking to his Dolphins’ counterpart, Graham Ford.Van Jaarsveld was cut from the Lions’ MTN40 squad while acting CEO Jacques Faul was in talks with Dolphins’ CEO Jesse Chellan and the South African Cricketers Association over the deal. The parties came to a decision to release van Jaarsveld to the Dolphins immediately.”It is important for us that Vaughn plays cricket and is available to play for South Africa, if selected. We, however, have to provide opportunities to many talented players and thus it makes more sense to release him immediately,” Faul said.”He will add significant ball-striking ability to our batting unit, for both the MTN40 and Standard Bank Pro 20 competitions,” said Chellan. “At 25, Vaughn is entering his prime as a batter and we look forward to his contribution on and off the field.”The left-hander has been involved in contract clashes with the Lions before. In 2008, he signed for Warwickshire, claiming he wanted to qualify for England. He was still a contracted Lions player and the signing was considered an infringement on that contract.Chellan confirmed that van Jaarsveld will be available for the Dolphins MTN40 match against the Titans in Centurion on Friday.