A round-up of the matches on the first match-day of the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2012A star-studded Lahore Lions batting line-up comfortably overcame Karachi Zebras‘ total of 135 in Rawalpindi, to get their team off to a winning start in the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup. Ahmed Shehzad, who recently topped the run-chart in the Bangladesh Premier League, continued his Twenty20 form, scoring 61 not out off 52 balls to guide the chase. Umar Akmal’s 43 off 26 balls gave the innings impetus after a sluggish start, and though Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed and Abdul Razzaq all failed, Lahore won by six wickets, with 13 balls to spare. Karachi had got off to a brisk start after choosing to bat, but their top-order batsmen did not convert starts and their 135 for 5 was not enough.Ali Waqas held his nerve to give Faisalabad Wolves a win off the penultimate ball of their chase against Peshawar Panthers, in Rawalpindi. Faisalabad needed 128 to win and looked comfortable at 106 for 3 in the 17th over. A collapse of five wickets for 19 that included three run-outs meant they still needed three runs off three balls in the final over. Waqas, who had been at the crease since the fourth over, got the required runs off the next two balls, finishing with 43 not out off 49 balls. Faisalabad’s bowlers had picked up wickets consistently to limit Peshawar to 127 for 8, left-arm spinner Hasan Mahmood taking 3 for 11 in his four overs. They gave away 17 runs in wides however, which could have cost them.

Glen Chapple provided a masterclass in the art of transforming his team’s fortunes against Warwickshire

Myles Hodgson at Aigburth20-Apr-2012
ScorecardSimon Kerrigan struck late to remove Jim Troughton•Getty Images

If any further evidence were needed of Lancashire’s ability to prosper
in difficult situations, captain Glen Chapple provided a masterclass
in the art of transforming his team’s fortunes with an impressive
all-round display against Warwickshire.Having consistently fought back from dire positions last summer to pip
Warwickshire for the title against all expectations, it was perhaps
fitting that Lancashire chose the same opponents to deliver a
determined performance every bit as good as those last summer in cold
conditions by the Mersey.Facing the prospect of a second successive match without batting
points, Chapple’s aggressive innings guided them to a competitive 250
in bowler-friendly conditions before contributing two late wickets –
including Ian Bell – as Warwickshire lost five quick wickets before
the close.It continued Chapple’s great record against Warwickshire, against whom
he has scored two of his six first-class centuries while his 78
wickets against them represents his best return against any side other
than Durham. In delivering another superb all-round display, he has
also transformed the momentum of a match that looked to be heading
firmly away from Lancashire.”It’s a good day from where we were overnight,” Chapple said. “We
grafted a lot yesterday but obviously lost a couple of wickets that we
didn’t want to and that can change the face of the game. Today we
worked really hard and came out on top.”Arriving at the crease with Lancashire struggling on 170 for 7,
having battled their way through an attritional morning when they
added only 47 runs in 32 overs, Chapple chose to play aggressively and
dominated a crucial 60-run eighth-wicket stand with Luke Procter:
Lancashire’s emerging allrounder.While Proctor reined in any attacking instincts to battle for three
and a half hours for his 46 runs, Chapple raced to 44 from 49 balls
and by the time he became one of four victims for Darren Maddy,
Lancashire were in sight of a second batting point.”It’s risky playing aggressively but batting lower down the order
sometimes you can say you haven’t got the tools to deal with it for a
long time so you get a bit of a licence,” explained Chapple. “It’s the
way I play best, if I show a bit of intent, but you need a bit of luck
when you do it.”If Chapple was fortunate with bat in hand, there was nothing lucky
about his immediate impact with the ball. Tempting Varun Chopra into
edging an outswinger behind with his fourth ball was a classic Chapple
dismissal that has occurred consistently during his 21 seasons with
Lancashire.Perhaps trying to mimic Chapple’s earlier aggression, Warwickshire
chose to open with Neil Carter for the second successive match and he
responded by breaking the windscreen of the refreshment van with a
pulled six off Kyle Hogg. Revenge was swift, however, when he also
edged behind during an impressive opening spell from the River End.Chapple was forced to take painkillers after jarring his ankle in the
footmarks from the Pavilion End during his opening spell, and his
absence from the attack allowed Bell to make tentative progress in
his first innings of the season. No batsman, even one of Bell’s
obvious class, can ever feel too secure in such bowler-friendly
conditions, however, and he also fell in Chapple’s first over back
into the attack to another catch behind.Fearing the day would end prematurely for bad light, Chapple quickly
turned to his two spinners, Simon Kerrigan and Gary Keedy, who
responded by claiming a wicket apiece before the close to suggest they
may also have an increasing influence in the second half of the match.

International cricket could next year be held in Australia in April for the first time since 1877, with the possibility of Canberra hosting the national team for the first time

Brydon Coverdale29-Mar-2012International cricket could next year be held in Australia in April for the first time since 1877, with the possibility of Canberra hosting the national team for the first time. The has reported that Australia are likely to host New Zealand in two limited-overs matches in the first week of April 2013, as part of the city’s centenary celebrations.Canberra’s Manuka Oval has been the venue of two one-day internationals, between South Africa and Zimbabwe in the 1992 World Cup, and between India and Sri Lanka in 2007-08. It is also the site of the annual Prime Minister’s XI game, but it is the only state or territory capital yet to host the Australia team in a full international match.”We’re looking at the centenary year as not just a one-off big party, it’s about setting the groundwork for longer-term legacies,” Andrew Barr, the Australian Capital Territory’s sports minister, told the paper. “There certainly was interest from Cricket Australia as a longer-term goal to look at having more international cricket in Canberra and they’re seeing the centenary year as a great opportunity.”This is obviously a big thing for Canberra, we’ve never had the national team in the national capital so Cricket Australia, the Australian government, the ACT government were all very keen for that to occur and have worked very hard behind the scenes to get us to this point.”Should the plan go ahead, it will be the first occasion international cricket has been held in Australia in April since the second Test of all, which started at the MCG on March 31, 1877. A Cricket Australia spokesman confirmed that CA was keen to hold cricket in Canberra next year as part of the centenary celebrations, but said details were yet to be finalised.

George Dockrell claimed his second six-wicket haul at Taunton this season to bowl Somerset to an unlikely three-day win over Durham

24-May-2012
ScorecardGeorge Dockrell gave another demonstration of his talent•Getty Images

George Dockrell claimed his second six-wicket haul at Taunton this season to bowl Somerset to an unlikely three-day County Championship win over Durham.Dockrell, the 19-year-old Irish left-arm spinner, took 6 for 29 as the visitors were shot out for 167 in their second innings, having conceded a first-innings deficit of 16. Set 152 to win, Somerset were 17 for 2 at one point. But Arul Suppiah (73) and James Hildreth (31) eased any nerves with a third-wicket stand of 83 as the hosts romped home by five wickets.The day began with Somerset 357 for 8 in their first innings. Peter Trego extended his overnight score of 67 to 89 with some meaty blows before losing his middle stump to Jamie Harrison, who claimed 4 for 112 on his Championship debut.Dockrell and Jamie Overton scored the remaining 11 runs for maximum batting points and Hildreth immediately declared, hoping his bowlers could take advantage of some rare cloud cover.Jamie Overton responded by having Michael Di Venuto (26) caught in the slips with the total on 36, but there was no sign of the carnage to come as Durham progressed to 69 for 1.Then three wickets fell without a run added. Mark Stoneman was taken at first slip trying to withdraw the bat from a Craig Overton delivery, Ben Stokes fell to a catch at third slip off the same bowler and Will Smith was snapped up at second slip off Alfonso Thomas.Paul Collingwood and Ian Blackwell looked to be steadying the ship, only for four wickets to tumble with the total on 131, all to Dockrell, bowling from the River End. Blackwell gave a return catch just when threatening to break loose. Phil Mustard was caught at short-leg off bat and pad, Liam Plunkett was well caught above his head by Craig Overton at mid-off and Callum Thorp was taken by Jamie Overton in the covers.Suddenly it was 131 for 8 and Durham led by only 115. Collingwood did his best to lift the total before edging a big shot to Hildreth at slip, giving Dockrell his fifth wicket. He soon made it six by having Harrison caught by Jos Buttler running in from cover, but his figures were not a season’s best. He took 6 for 27 in the opening Championship game against Middlesex.After losing Alex Barrow first ball and Nick Compton for 8, Somerset needed a positive response. Suppiah supplied it, moving to an attractive half-century off 72 balls, with five fours and three sixes, before falling lbw to Smith with only 23 needed.Compton’s dismissal means he still needs 59 for 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May. He will probably have one Championship innings on the first two days at Worcester next week to achieve the milestone.

The preview of the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran12-Jun-2012

Match facts

Wednesday, June 13
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)Kumar Sangakkara hasn’t been at his best so far in this series•AFP

Big Picture

After the Twenty20s in Hambantota and two ODIs in Pallekele, the series now shifts to Sri Lanka’s third World Cup venue – the R Premadasa Stadium. It’s hard to predict how the third ODI will pan out: almost nothing seemed to go Sri Lanka’s way in the first one-dayer when they limped to 135 for 8, but two days later, and on the same pitch, their batting was back to near its best and they piled up a match-winning score.One thing that didn’t change for Pakistan over the two matches was the abysmal fielding. Catches were generously put down in the first ODI and a number of run-out opportunities were spurned in the second. While Pakistan were largely unpunished by the mistakes in the field in the first game, Tillakaratne Dilshan made the most of his reprieve in the second game, going on to make an unbeaten century.After Dilshan pushed Sri Lanka to a big total, the lack of depth in Pakistan’s batting was shown up. Younis Khan has been out of sorts in recent matches, and the unpredictable Shahid Afridi comes in at No. 6 – one position higher than his usual slot in recent years – putting plenty of pressure on the remaining four batsmen. Sarfraz Ahmed played a crucial hand in the Asia Cup final, but is yet to convince as a long-term No. 7. In the absence of allrounders such as Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik, Pakistan may consider playing an extra batsman in an attempt to shorten the tail.For Sri Lanka, the thinktank will be pleased Dilshan shrugged off a run of low scores. One difference from his century on Saturday to previous recent innings was that he took his time early on to gauge the conditions, instead of going on an all-out assault right from the start. The decision to shift Mahela Jayawardene down the order also worked as he struck an innovative half-century to pilot Sri Lanka’s late charge.The one thing the home board will be worried about is that heavy rain is predicted for Wednesday afternoon and evening in Colombo.

Form guide

Pakistan LWWLW (Most recent first)
Sri Lanka WLLLL

Watch out for…

Azhar Ali has often been pegged as a Test specialist given his leisurely rate of scoring (slowest in Tests among all current cricketers with more than 1000 runs), but showed in the second ODI that he could adjust to the demands of the limited-over formats. Thrust in as an opener, he scored at a run-a-ball early on.Kumar Sangakkara is the second-highest run-getter in ODIs this year, but hasn’t been at his best in this series, and was off-colour during the IPL as well. Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, though, wasn’t concerned about the lack of runs. “I don’t worry about Kumar’s form for a second,” he said. “He’s a kind of batsman who needs to spend just half an hour in the middle and you will see what difference he makes.”

Team news

Pakistan are still waiting on the fitness of fast bowler Mohammad Sami, who is recovering from a thumb injury but not yet 100%. If he is deemed fit, he will take the place of he listless Rahat Ali. Shahid Afridi was down with a stomach bug, but is expected to recover in time to play.Pakistan (likely) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad Sami/Rahat AliSri Lanka have already made one change to their squad, bringing in 34-year-old left-arm-spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon in place of Rangana Herath, who has been rested ahead of the Tests. They have to decide which of the three spinners in the squad to pick: Weerakoon, Jeevan Mendis or Sachithra Senanayake.Sri Lanka (likely) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Upul Tharanga, 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Lasith Malinga

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have won eight of their previous nine ODIs at the R Premadasa stadium.
• Left-arm spinner Weerakoon, who is yet to make his international debut, has 693 first-class wickets
• Dinesh Chandimal averages 15.50 in his eight ODI innings against Pakistan, but averages 45.04 in 29 ODIs against other opposition

Quotes

“Our fielding has been an on and off problem for us for a long time now. We have not been consistent in this department. In the last few days everybody has been practicing hard on their fielding.”

“I think I have done enough to convince them that I deserve a place in the Sri Lanka team.”

Sunil Narine has signed for the Sydney Sixers, Kemar Roach will play for the Brisbane Heat and Kieron Pollard will turn out for the Adelaide Strikers in this summer’s Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2012Sunil Narine has signed for the Sydney Sixers, Kemar Roach will play for the Brisbane Heat and Kieron Pollard will turn out for the Adelaide Strikers in this summer’s Big Bash League. The West Indian trio signed on the final day of the initial contracting period, as all eight teams were required to submit lists of at least 14 players by Friday afternoon.However, Cricket Australia granted an extension to the Sydney Thunder, who were unable to finalise two signings by the 5pm deadline and have been given more time to push their numbers up to 14. Teams have until the end of November to top up their squad to 18 players and the Perth Scorchers remain the only side to have named a full 18-man group already.In other deals on Friday the Sydney Sixers signed Brett Lee, Steven Smith, Dominic Thornely and Ian Moran; the Brisbane Heat signed Peter Forrest and Cameron Gannon; and Darren Pattinson joined the Melbourne Renegades. But the big movements surrounded the three West Indians, with Narine’s signature a major boost for the Sixers after he was the Player of the Tournament in the IPL this year.”Sunil is a huge win for us as well and will bring another level of excitement to the team that we know Sixers fans will enjoy,” Stuart Clark, the Sixers general manager, said.Pollard will return to Adelaide after playing for South Australia in the Big Bash in 2009-10 and 2010-11. He was to be part of the Strikers squad last summer but was ruled out due to injury, and this year he will join the captain Johan Botha as the two overseas players this season.”Coming back to Adelaide has always been on my mind,” Pollard said. “It’s always been a great set-up for me as a cricketer. Last year was obviously frustrating for me so I definitely feel I have some business to take care of. I still know a lot of the guys which is pleasing, and there are some quality players in the line-up.”I see Taity [Shaun Tait] is back and that’s good news for us. I enjoy what he brings to a side, so I am definitely looking forward to catching up with him again. Having Johan Botha there to captain the side is going to bring some fresh ideas for sure as he is an experienced leader as well as a quality cricketer, and senior players like Maxy Klinger and Andrew McDonald give a lot of strength to the line-up.”Roach will be part of the BBL for the first time and the Brisbane Heat coach Darren Lehmann said he was expected to be available for five or six matches.”We are super excited to come to terms with Kemar Roach for BBL02,” Lehmann said. “He’s a great young bloke and while he is still learning the T20 side of things, he’s done well at Test and ODI level and has those raw ingredients of pace and aggression that you want in a fast bowler.”I think he will be a great addition to the Heat playing list and will give certainly the fans in Brisbane something to talk about when he comes along for the series. All going to plan he will play around five or six games which we expect him to make an impact in.”Roach is one of ten overseas players to have been signed already, with the Melbourne Renegades, the Melbourne Stars, the Hobart Hurricanes, the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder all able to sign another one or two internationals.Despite having played a Test for England, Pattinson does not count as an overseas player for the Renegades because he lives in Australia and has not played for England in more than four years. He said he was looking forward to a cross-town rivalry with his younger brother James, who is part of the Stars squad.”We’ve played together a few times but that’d be the first time playing against him,” Pattinson said. “There have been plenty of battles in the back yard but playing him at Etihad Stadium would be great. I fancy bowling against him but not facing him.”The squads so far
Adelaide Strikers Theo Doropoulos, Callum Ferguson, Jon Holland, Phillip Hughes, Michael Klinger, Nathan Lyon, Andrew McDonald, Michael Neser, Gary Putland, Nathan Reardon, Kane Richardson, James Smith, Shaun Tait. Overseas players: Johan Botha (capt), Kieron Pollard.Brisbane Heat Joe Burns, Daniel Christian, Ben Cutting, Peter Forrest, Cameron Gannon, Ryan Harris, Chris Hartley, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, Luke Pomersbach, Shane Watson. Overseas players: Kemar Roach, Daniel Vettori.Hobart Hurricanes George Bailey, Travis Birt, Aiden Blizzard, Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, Ben Dunk, Michael Hogan, Jason Krejza, Ben Laughlin, Tim Paine, Ricky Ponting, Timm van der Gugten, Jon Wells. Overseas players: Owais Shah.Melbourne Renegades Meyrick Buchanan, Tom Cooper, Aaron Finch, Daniel Harris, Jayde Herrick, Michael Hill, James Muirhead, Peter Nevill, Aaron O’Brien, Darren Pattinson, Nathan Rimmington, Ben Rohrer, Will Sheridan. Overseas players: Muttiah Muralitharan.Melbourne Stars Jackson Bird, James Faulkner, Peter Handscomb, John Hastings, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Clive Rose, Matthew Wade, Cameron White. Overseas players: Luke Wright.Perth Scorchers (complete) Ashton Agar, Tim Armstrong, Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Ben Edmondson, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Marcus North (capt), Tom Triffitt, Adam Voges. Overseas players: Herschelle Gibbs, Albie Morkel.Sydney Sixers Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Josh Lalor, Brett Lee, Nic Maddinson, Ian Moran, Steve O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic Thornely, Overseas players: Sunil Narine.Sydney Thunder Sean Abbott, Cameron Borgas, Ryan Carters, Mark Cosgrove, Adam Coyte, Scott Coyte, Luke Doran, Jason Floros, Rhett Lockyear, Dirk Nannes, Gurinder Sandhu, Chris Tremain.

If the first two matches are an indication of what is to come, bowlers at the Under-19 World Cup will be queuing up to bowl at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, and bowl first

George Binoy in Townsville12-Aug-2012If the first two matches are an indication of what is to come, bowlers at the Under-19 World Cup will be queuing up to bowl at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, and bowl first. England were shot out by Australia for 143 and on that same surface India were dismissed for 166 by West Indies. Both the chases, although successful, weren’t easy either.There’s been swing and seam for the quick bowlers, and once the balls got older there was turn for the spinners too. The bounce was true on the first day, and extremely high, and it was variable on the second. Unmukt Chand, India’s captain, spoke of the challenges of batting on such a surface after getting sent in by West Indies.”The pitch was seaming a lot, really difficult to bat out there. The cracks had opened up and the ball was doing quite a bit after pitching,” Chand said. “It was something we were not expecting.”After one opener fell in the second over, India’s focus became survival until the conditions eased out. Runs slowed to a trickle, though, and the challenge was how long Chand and Baba Aparajith could remain calm under sustained pressure from the West Indian quicks. With experience, it becomes easier to assess the conditions quickly without feeling the need to score from the get-go.”That was the test, it was very important to stay patient and be there for as long as we could,” Chand said. “The ball wasn’t coming on to the bat well, and I had a difficult time batting.”Aparajith cracked first, trying to hook a bouncer from Ronsford Beaton and gloving it to the wicketkeeper. Thereafter, dismissals occurred at frequent intervals as India’s batsmen were continuously tested by pace and seam movement even during the middle overs.”Yesterday’s match was played on this wicket, it was a used wicket,” Chand said. “That’s why the cracks had opened up. If you look at the other wicket, it’s not like this. The cracks were creating a lot of problems for us. Once the ball pitched there it used to either go up or along the ground.”Chand lasted up until the 20th over, facing 61 deliveries for his 22, compiled when batting conditions were the hardest. His innings was ended by Kyle Mayers, who came on second change but sustained the pressure built by the quicks before him. Mayers’ first spell was 6-0-17-1 and he finished with 2 for 35 before a match-winning 43 earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.”My role in the team is basically to bowl tight,” Mayers said. “We have a lot of allrounders, especially medium-pacers who can bat a bit. My role mainly is to bowl tight, with the bat try my best and give it my all.”West Indies used a different length to attack India, when compared to the one Australia used against England. While Australia’s fast bowlers were full most of the time, with the bouncer deployed as a surprise, West Indies were mostly back of a length, pinning the Indians in their crease before delivering the fuller ball.Roddy Estwick, the West Indies coach, said the bowlers had “responded magnificently” to the plans prepared for India, after playing them in the subcontinent in September 2011.”Anywhere in the world, when you look at Indian batsmen, they tend not to like short bowling,” Mayers said. “It was alright for the wicket, because it had lot of bounce and pace.”A fresh pitch will be used for the game between Australia and Nepal on Monday, but Craig McDermott, the former Australian fast bowler, had said he’d been told that it would be quicker and bouncier than the ones that undid both England and India.

John Wright, the outgoing New Zealand coach, has signed off from his role with the team with stern words for the batsmen

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2012John Wright, the outgoing New Zealand coach, has signed off from his role with the team with stern words for its batsmen. The New Zealand batsmen, Wright said, have to be “accountable” for their on-field actions.”You have to have self-responsibility and be accountable for your actions in the middle,” Wright was quoted as saying by . “You just can’t come off [after being dismissed] and wave it away with phrases like ‘that’s the way I play’ and ‘I didn’t quite execute’.”You have to be very brutal in your self-analysis and very honest. It’s [also] very helpful if your team-mates are brutally honest with you and if you play an inappropriate shot at any stage, then you know that if you go back into that dressing room you’re going to not exactly get a welcome.”The tour of the Caribbean was Wright’s final assignment with New Zealand, in which they were blanked 0-2 in the Twenty20 and Test series’ and lost the ODI series 1-4. In the one-dayers, none of the New Zealand batsmen aggregated 200 runs, while in the Tests, none of the batsmen, apart from Martin Guptill, touched 130 overall. In what could have been the most embarrassing result of the tour, however, the batsmen struggled in the warm-up game prior to the Tests, against the WICB President’s XI, before narrowly avoiding an innings defeat.Wright had decided not to extend his coaching contract following differences with New Zealand’s director of cricket, John Buchanan. Mike Hesson, who previously coached domestic side Otago and Kenya, takes over as coach for New Zealand’s next assignment – the tour of India that begins on August 23 – and Wright said he hoped Hesson would get “what he needs” to help lift New Zealand.Wright thanked the fans for their support during his stint. “It has been an incredible privilege for me to coach my country and I’ve had fantastic support from the cricketing public,” he said. “I very much appreciate that.”