All posts by csb10.top

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Indian board, has said that there would be no confusion over player contracts during forthcoming ICC tournaments. The Press Trust of India reports that the players and the board have agreed that the terms followed during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa would be followed for the time being.The lead up to the last World Cup was dogged by the controversy of several leading Indian cricketers refusing to sign an ICC contract that would allow them to take part in the tournament as the new contract raised conflicts with pre-existing contracts the players held with individual sponsors. This centred mainly around the clause that stipulated that players could not endorse any product that was in competition with the official sponsors of the ICC tournament for a period of 30 days on either side of the tournaments. This was later amended to apply only for the duration of the tournament.Dalmiya, speaking on the eve of his departure to London to attend the annual ICC meeting, said that there was no confusion now, and that all parties involved knew exactly what the procedure was. During the last World Cup the ICC’s executive committee decided to enforce a contract with altered terms that meant that the anti-ambush marketing clauses in place would apply only for the duration of the tournament. Also, the imaging clause, which allowed the official sponsors to use images of players, has been restricted to a duration of three months after an ICC tournament.This latest statement from Dalmiya reassures sponsors and players that the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England will proceed smoothly and that there will not be a repeat of what happened last year.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Some strange soul brought a banner into the VCA Stadium in Nagpur that read, “A cheerful loser is a winner”. Neither of these teams had any sympathy for that sentiment. The first day of the third Test between India and Australia was bitterly fought, with both sides playing intense, determined cricket, desperate to end the day with an advantage. The Aussies, on 362 for 7, had the upper hand at close of play thanks to Damien Martyn’s ninth Test century, but the Indians were still emphatically in the hunt.All day, memorable things happened. To start with, Rahul Dravid walked out to toss, and handed Adam Gilchrist a teamsheet that lacked the names of Sourav Ganguly (groin strain) and Harbhajan Singh (flu). Gilchrist won the toss and chose to bat on a much-hyped pitch that he described as “almost Australian-looking”. And an Australian-looking start ensued, as Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden added a quick 67, before India struck back with three wickets.Australia, praised during this tour for having replaced aggression with attrition, then counter-attacked furiously, as Martyn and Darren Lehmann added 148 off 181 balls. Martyn completed his second century in successive innings, but the Indians fought back once more with a flurry of late wickets. But Michael Clarke, with a flamboyant 73 not out, turned things around again.The highlight of the day was Martyn’s 114. Combining a craftsman’s patience with an artist’s flair, Martyn constructed his fourth century in the subcontinent this year. Whether stepping out and driving, or rocking back and cutting, he was always assured and confident. He began quietly before lunch, as, joined by Lehmann, he began a reconstruction of the Australian innings. A demolition of the Indian bowling followed after the break.Anil Kumble had tormented Australia at Chennai, but Martyn and Lehmann smashed him out of the attack shortly after lunch, with 21 runs in the space of two overs. Kumble didn’t bowl for the rest of that session. Lehmann hustled and bustled, moving around at the crease, charging the spinners often, and evoking Javed Miandad with his inventive strokeplay. His 70 came off just 83 balls, and his dismissal, caught by Dravid off Murali Kartik, brought an even more exciting strokeplayer in Clarke to the crease.

Of the bowlers only Zaheer Khan bowled with venom all day, but he was unlucky throughout, with many edges falling short of fielders, or going over their heads. Kartik, unafraid to give the ball air, got into his groove in the second half of the day, picking up three wickets. Ajit Agarkar was inconsistent, while Kumble, going at almost four an over, was attacked by batsmen undeterred by the damage he had caused in the last Test.Martyn’s graceful innings eventaully came to an end when he tried to hit Kumble out of the attack for the second time in the day. He stepped out and smashed him for a massive six over long-off, but holed out next ball trying to repeat the shot. Kartik then deceived both Gilchrist and Shane Warne, but Parthiv Patel’s keeping prevented further breakthroughs.Patel reprieved Clarke twice, first missing a straightforward stumping off Kumble, then dropping a regulation catch off Zaheer. He fumbled many collections through the day, his body wasn’t moving fluidly enough, his eyes went off the ball at times, and he often appeared to be more of a soccer goalkeeper than a cricket wicketkeeper, blocking rather than collecting. Even Dravid, who normally comforts him after his errors, berated him after that last drop, as the young man’s nightmare got steadily worse. With the kind of rope he has been given so far, he could build a bridge to Colombo.Earlier, it hadn’t taken long for worries about the pitch to be allayed. Ganguly had reportedly battled, in vain, with the curator of the ground in an effort to get him to shave the grass off. There was little in it to worry the batsmen, though. The bounce was even, the pace was good, and the ball came on to the bat in a manner to suit strokeplayers. Zaheer and Agarkar obtained a fair amount of lateral movement in the first hour, but the early breakthrough eluded them, as Langer (44) and Hayden (23) brought up yet another fifty partnership. Zaheer accounted for both of them in his second spell with wonderful away-going balls, then Kumble had Simon Katich caught at bat-pad for 4 (86 for 3).That brought Martyn and Lehmann together at the crease. Attrition? What’s that?

`Aisa koi saga nahin, jisko hamne thaga nahin.’ (There is no relative whom we haven’t conned); `Badnam kulfi.’ (Infamous kulfi). Caught your attention? These banners definitely caught mine. There are numerous ways of marketing a brand, but I have never seen one like that. Thaggu ke laddu is the name of the shop, renowned for its delicacies – mostly dairy products like sweets and kulfis. Kanpur is famous for many things, but your reporter was not prepared for this.Even though it is the biggest industrial city in Uttar Pradesh, there is hardly anything modern here. And the best way to guage that fact is the mode of commuting: the simplest, fastest and the best way to get to a place is by the cycle rickshaws.Initially you feel bad, seeing a fellow human grind and sweat and work his way through the busy streets to take you to your destination. But you end up in a cycle rickshaw anyway, as the other common modes of transport – buses and tuk-tuks – are very badly maintained and always drop you midway at the chourahas (crossroads). After having experienced a ride in the bus, where I had to park myself on a seat which stood on a vertical line of bricks, I decided to opt for the lesser mode of transport. No wonder the kids were shouting “phatichar” as the bus went past, which means atrocious.Once famous for its leather production, Kanpur, which was Cawnpore during the British rule, is one of the most polluted, dirty, messy and unregulated towns in the country. It votes in six Members of Parliament, and was named one of the eight metropolises in India, but still doesn’t have an airport. But it is an attractive town to visit.One of the chief attractions in the small towns of India are the people. Complete strangers stop you, strike up a conversation, ask you for an autograph, wave at you and treat you as if you are a celebrity. Their simplicity is heartening for a person living in the woeful big cities.This simple fact was visible when the Aussies umpiring duo of Simon Taufel and Daryl Harper, here to officiate the game, were invited to a UNESCO function to spread the polio immunization awareness campaign at the team hotel. As if the grown up men don’t test their patience on the field of play, parent after parent put their young ones into the hands of the umpires to take photographs. It was an endearing moment to see both men playfully chat with the kids and their parents, and patiently answer all the questions. The way the umpires transformed themselves into baby-sitters was the attraction of the evening.A young girl of 12 insisted on meeting Irfan Pathan. Why Irfan? Blame it on television Irfan has acted in commercials that show children around him, with Irfan becoming one of them, joining them in their games. The girl was attracted to that simplicity, and she wanted to meet him because of that. She goes away disappointed. But she will come back again. Just like her hero.Outside, the haziness in the air refuses to vanish, and the cycle-rickshawallah lounges on his breadwinner, smoking a bidi, waiting for the next customer. This time even I am waiting for my next ride.

Plate Group
ScorecardVidarbha beat Rajasthan by seven wickets at the Vidarbha Ground in Nagpur, securing victory on the third day of a low-scoring game. Amit Deshpande, who scored 34, shared a 53-run stand for the second wicket with Alind Naidu, who remained unbeaten on 33 to see Vidarbha through to the target of 96.
ScorecardKerala trailed Himachal by 414 runs as they battled to survive at Fort Maidan in Pallakad. They were dismissed for 215 in the first innings, which featured a quick 63 by Koragappa Chandrasekhara, and were 23 for 1 in the second. In between, Himachal declared at 187 for 7 after Tinu Youhannan took 3 for 48.
ScorecardMandar Phadke hit a face-saving hundred for Goa, but his effort was not enough to avoid the follow-on. His 130 came off 131 balls and contained 21 fours and a six. The next-highest score was 37. Goa were all out for 244, and were 16 for 1 in the second innings, still 247 behind Services.
ScorecardAt the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium, Haryana replied strongly after dismissing Tripura for 288, reaching 118 for 2 – a total built on patient knocks by Chetan Sharma (50 not out) and Ishan Ganda, unbeaten on 43. They recovered from a shaky start (13 for 2) to erase Tripura’s 88-run lead. Earlier, the bowlers did well to limit Tripura after they had reached 221 for 4. Mishra picked up three of the six wickets to fall, and ended with figures of 4 for 52.

Scorecard

Graeme Aldridge’s stunning spell caused Canterbury to crumble under pressure as Northern Districts wrapped up a thrilling six-run victory at Aorangi Oval in Timaru. Canterbury were cruising along at 86 without loss, chasing 149, but Nathan Astle’s dismissal for 45 triggered off an amazing collapse. Aldridge, the fifth ND bowler to be used, snapped up Astle, Michael Papps, Peter Fulton, Craig McMillan and Chris Cairns for a career-best haul of 5 for 34 and Canterbury never recovered from the blow. Even though Stephen Cunis and Brendon McCullum made a brave attempt at clinching it at the death, helped by two dropped catches, ND had done enough to scrape home.It took a piece of individual brilliance from Scott Styris to seal the win. Fielding in the slips, he picked up a ball dropped by Peter McGlashan, the wicketkeeper, and noted that Chris Martin had been tempted to run on the error. Styris picked up the ball and threw a direct hit into the stumps at the bowler’s end as Martin attempted to regain his ground. He couldn’t, and ND had celebrated their dramatic win.Earlier in the day ND struggled with the bat after electing to bat, a reasonable decision given the match was being played on the same pitch for Saturday’s game against Wellington. ND struggled to get any impetus and only Daniel Vettori, the captain, and Llorne Howell added 41 with Vettori smashing 28 off 26.Howell found himself having to play the anchor role while batting for 104 minutes to score 30. Hamish Marshall attempted to lift the rate but couldn’t get beyond 23 and the ND batsmen struggled against the medium pace of Nathan Astle. Astle, who reckoning that he would not bowl again in his career before rolling his arm over in the last match, took 4 for 19 off his 10 overs. His brother-in-law, and for the moment temporarily discarded international team-mate, Craig McMillan also had a good game with the ball and ended with 2 for 5.Apart from a late-order assault launched by Peter McGlashan who scored25, Northern Districts had to make do with what appeared to be adisappointing 148. Aldridge ensured that it was just enough.
Scorecard
Otago’s batsmen continued on their record-breaking form and posted 299 for 9 against Central Districts at Pukekura Park. Central Districts were never in the hunt, with the ever-escalating asking-rate, and ultimately fell short by 95 runs.Otago’s total surpassed the 295 they scored on New Year’s Day, but this was more of an allround display. Craig Cumming top-scored with 57 off 62 balls and enjoyed another good opening stand, of 61, with Chris Gaffaney. Once Gaffaney was out, Aaron Redmond continued the momentum with 23 off 30. The support keptcoming with Mohammad Wasim scored 23 and Gareth Hopkins 55 before Nathan McCullum finished the innings with a flourish – his 34 off 24 contained two sixes and three fours. The heavy artillery kept firing as Brad Scott went even better to score 29 off 16 with two sixes and two fours.CD’s bowlers took a pounding. Andrew Schwass went into the last overhaving three wickets at a reasonable return, but he ended with 3 for 66 at the end of the innings. The usually economical Michael Mason took 1 for 60 off 10.CD learnt at the break they had been docked an over due to their ownslow over-rate, and that made their task all the harder. With CraigSpearman dismissed when the total was 12, CD had lost a vital component in their armoury for a big chase. There was depth in the line-up, but the inability to up the ante saw the run-rate mount beyond their reach. Jamie How made 55 but CD could not find the impetus needed for the full scale assault.
Scorecard
Luke Woodcock and Mayu Pasupati added 37 vital runs towards the end of the game to help Wellington ease to a three-wicket win at Basin Reserve. Chasing 188 for victory, Wellington were in trouble at 116 for 6 after Tama Canning’s burst of 3 for 6. But Woodcock and Pasupati fashioned a suitable recovery, utilising the overs that were still in hand to carry Wellington home. Woodcock scored 41 and Pasupati, hitting out at the end, was 42 not out.Earlier, Auckland’s poor run of batting form continued. Matt Horne andRichard Jones, the openers, got away to a start with 23 each, but it took a 91-ball innings of 52 from Rob Nicol to hold things together. The number of allrounders in the middle order never really fired, especially against the offspin of Jayesh Patel, who conceded only 27 in his 10 overs. Though he didn’t take any wickets, he kept the batsmen on a leash while Pasupati marked his return to the side with a bag of 4 for 37, close to his career-best of4 for 33. James Franklin backed up with 3 for 35 as Auckland were all out for 183.

It was a frustrating day for South Africa’s cricketers, as they watched their prospects of a series-levelling victory recede with every passing over, but for Andre Nel, there was at least a silver lining. In his first Test since sustaining a severe injury to his lower back five months ago, Nel bustled in to record career-best figures of 6 for 81, and afterwards revealed his full character to the assembled press corps."You guys don’t like me very much," claimed Nel. "But I play with heart and passion, and if people don’t like my aggression, then so be it." His first eyebrow-raising act of the Test had been to rugby-tackle Matthew Hoggard during a warm-up on the rain-abandoned first day, but it was during a feisty tussle with Ashley Giles that Nel really got his blood up."It was all good, clean fun," said Nel, who attracted the attention of umpire Bucknor as he backed up his actions with words. "I bowled a terrible bouncer to Giles, who told me `I wasn’t so mean now!’. But I replied: `Nice one big-mouth, we’re on a flat wicket now, wait til I catch up with you in England next summer …’ It’s aggressive, but fun. I’m allowed to say a few things, as long as I don’t swear."Although Nel conceded that the prospects of that series-leveller were bleak, he refused to abandon hope entirely. "There’s still a small chance," he said. "England bowled us out in three sessions at the Wanderers, so you never know what can happen. I know its not the same wicket, but we still believe that if we can go out tomorrow, get quick runs and a lead of 200, there’s a small glimmer of hope."Although there is something of the pantomine villain about Nel’s approach to the game – and he admitted that the chorus of good-natured boos he received from the Barmy Army had fired him up – there is a serious side to his game as well. And that had to surface when he suffered his back injury last year."It was disappointing, but everything happens for a reason," said Nel. "In that time, I’ve grown as a person and become more dedicated in life, and I’ve got smarter and wiser as a cricketer. I’ve learnt to control my aggression, which is a big step for me because I used to get carried away sometimes. Today was not the quickest wicket, so it was important to be patient and stick to our plans.There was, however, still room for the spectacular in his performance, and the ball that dismissed Graham Thorpe – a searing leg-stump yorker – would have dismissed any batsman in the world. "That worked out nicely," he said afterwards, "I must confess, that’s the best ball I’ve ever bowled in Tests."

Australia’s current side is the country’s best-prepared unit, but Ricky Ponting’s planning for the first Twenty20 international against New Zealand tomorrow was a hasty affair. Rather than skimming airport novels or greyhound form guides, Ponting swotted rules and game plans on the flight to Auckland as Australia push for a trifecta of successful Test, one-day international and Twenty20 debuts.Ponting played one similar match for Somerset last year and the success of the game in England has guided third-generation cricket into the global arena. “I haven’t actually captained one yet, so I’m going to have to put my thinking cap on and work out what to do and work out what the field restrictions are,” Ponting said.On the flight Ponting would have learned bowlers are restricted to four overs, two close catchers are needed for the first six overs and new batsmen have 90 seconds between dismissals to reach the crease. No-balls in the 20-over innings are worth two runs and are further punished with a free hit from the next delivery.Ponting said the shorter game could help the 50-over format by producing even larger scores. “Everyone’s talking about the one-day game being a bit old and a bit boring,” he said. “The more Twenty20 cricket you play, your skills will get better and that will rub off in a 50-over game. If there are bigger scores being made in 50-over cricket then it will be attractive again.”Martin Crowe, who helped introduce third-generation cricket, believes a simple change to the fielding restrictions, which require a maximum of two players outside the inner circle for the first 15 overs, could bring the one-day game back to life. Crowe told NZPA the rule should be increased to 20 overs an innings, with the fielding captain choosing to apply them in four blocks of five overs. Under the plan there would be 10 overs of restrictions in each half of the innings.”That’s all one-day international cricket needs,” he said. “Everything else is fine. It’s just taking away the predictability of one-day cricket and bringing back that uncertainty, and giving it a bit more strategy and choice for the captain.” Crowe does not believe Twenty20 will threaten the mid-length game.Ponting does not expect players to pick up bad habits from the slog-fests and pointed to the 50-over game for examples. “If you have a look at what one-day cricket’s done for Test cricket, I think it’s been very positive,” he said. “Who would’ve thought you could score 400 runs in a day of Test cricket, going back even 10 years?”Australia won the first Test in 1877 at the MCG and the opening one-day international at the same ground in 1971, when an experimental match of 40 eight-ball overs was quickly scheduled as the third Australia v England Test was washed out.

Scorecard

Devon Smith led Windward Islands’ innings on the first day of their Carib Beer match against Guyana at the Bourda Oval in Gerorgetown, Guyana. His 105-run partnership with Alvin la Feuille for the second wicket formed the backbone of the Windwards’ innings. Smith made 81 before he was bowled by the former Test legspinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, while la Feuille provided stout support with 43. However, the fall of wickets at regular intervals, with several batsmen getting starts but not moving on, meant that the Windwards ended the day on 240 for 5.
ScorecardWavell Hinds inspired Jamaica to a healthy 310 for 4 from 89 overs against Barbados at Chedwin Park in Spanish Town in Jamaica. After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Hinds led from the front, rattling up 144 not out from the top of the order. The early departure of Chris Gayle, for only 12, did nothing to deter the Jamaicans, who answered through Marlon Samuels. Hinds and Samuels put on 194 for the third wicket, defying Barbados’s bowlers for an impressive length of time. Samuels was dismissed for 74, but Jamaica still managed to pass 300 before the end of the day.
ScorecardLeeward Islands got off to the worst possible start against Trinidad & Tobago at Montserrat’s Salem Oval, but recovered well to post 336 for 9 by the end of the first day. The Leewards won the toss and chose to bat, but lost Shane Jeffers without a run on the board. Then Runako Morton made a good fist of things, scoring 106 from No. 3. Wilden Cornwall provided good support with 60, but the other batsmen failed. Amit Jaggernauth, the offspinner, was the pick of the T&T bowlers with 4 for 81.

A shoulder injury, a run drought and a bout of pleurisy have given Matthew Hayden a wretched summer, but entering the second Test tomorrow he feels as hungry as when he was pushing his way back into the Australia side five years ago. Despite being put under intense scrutiny this season he said careers ebbed and flowed and he had enjoyed the extra challenge.”I’ve heard all sorts of things in the last 12 months. It wasn’t an easy summer,” Hayden told the Courier-Mail. “When you first start, you’re battling to get in the side and I still feel I’m maybe at that stage. But that’s not a bad marker to have because it makes you feel sharp and hungry. But no matter what mental or physical state I’m in, I really do try hard when I’m playing cricket.”Hayden could have sat out the first Test last week, when he made 35 and 15, but he was desperate not to give up his place, and a solid training regime has him in better shape for tomorrow’s second Test at Wellington. “It’s a case of not cutting a sucker an even break,” he said. “Even as of the first Test I wouldn’t have been capable of playing a one-day game, but Test cricket is a little different. I just want to play.”Hayden has doubled the time spent in the nets by his teammates, but his shoulder injury will still affect his fielding, which was obviously hampered at Christchurch. “The last time in New Zealand [in 1999-2000] it was a waiting game and it hasn’t been dissimilar to this trip,” he said. “I’ve played pretty well and then I’ve been hanging back and waiting to go.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

New South Wales clinched the Pura Cup with a thrilling one-wicket win against Queensland at Brisbane. Requiring 183 for victory in the fourth innings, New South Wales seemed to be cruising at 4 for 158. However, three wickets fell at that score, and then two more at 161, before Nathan Bracken and Stuart MacGill put together 22 for the last wicket to see the Blues home. It was Queensland’s third successive defeat in a Pura Cup final.Earlier, a splendid 116 by Martin Love lifted the Bulls to 268 in their second innings. Love’s knock came off 269 balls and included 19 fours, and was easily the stand-out effort in an innings in which the second-highest score was Shane Watson’s 39. Matthew Nicholson was the star bowler for the Blues, dismissing Love and then wrapping up the tail to finish with 5 for 60.The Blues lost wickets regularly in the run-chase, but Brad Haddin, who had made an unbeaten 68 in the first innings, followed it up with an aggressive run-a-ball 41 to put his team on the brink of victory, before Queensland fought back. Joe Dawes and Andy Bichel took five wickets for just three runs to swing the match Queensland’s way, before MacGill joined Bracken. Queensland had a final chance to snatch victory, but Wade Seccombe, the wicketkeeper, dropped a difficult chance from Bracken with only two required for victory.

After the match, Jimmy Maher, the Bulls captain, was distraught, describing the defeat as the “toughest moment in his career”. “Everyone’s pretty emotional and pretty upset,” Maher said. “It’s like someone’s ripped a great big piece out of your heart. This hurts more than anything. Anyone with any sort of a brain knows that we gave it all we had but it still feels like we let everyone down.”Two points separated us all year and one wicket separated us in the last outing so, as I said before the game, it was the right final. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the ledger but full credit to them, they played well.”Haddin, meanwhile, indicated that the Blues had complete faith in the batting prowess of MacGill. “I knew there was a twist and he’s spent a lot of time on his batting. If he gets through the first couple [of balls] he’s got a very good eye and he usually does the job for us.”