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The season’s top two run-scorers, Robin Bist and Vineet Saxena, disappointed today but the top two wicket-takers, Ashok Dinda and TP Sudhindra, did not

The Report by Abhishek Purohit in Indore12-Feb-2012
ScorecardThe season’s top two run-getters, Robin Bist and Vineet Saxena, failed but the top two wicket-takers, Ashok Dinda and TP Sudhindra, did not. Dinda continued his outstanding form, taking his tally for the first-class season to 56 wickets, but it was little-known Shami Ahmed who surprised Central Zone with pace, zip and bounce as the hostscrumbled against relentless seam bowling. Sudhindra gave it back to East Zone with two strikes, but Anustup Majumdar ensured the visitors stayed on top.Fifteen wickets had fallen on this ground on the first day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final between Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai in January. Thirteen wickets went down today. The similarities went further. Mohnish Mishra and Naman Ojha had steadied the innings in both games. Against Mumbai, Mishra had gone, Ojha had followed and Madhya Pradesh had collapsed. Today, Mishra went, Ojha followed and Central collapsed.The grass on the Holkar Stadium pitch is known to retain its bite for the first day, and East understandably chose to bowl. Central instantly got a sample of what was in store, Dinda hitting Ojha on the box off the fourth delivery of the game and forcing the batsman to go off the field.Saxena and Mohammad Kaif survived several close moments in the first hour. Dinda kept bouncing and seaming it in from short of a good length, the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha taking most deliveries with his gloves pointing skywards. After a glut of plays-and-misses, lbw appeals and inside edges, Kaif was adjudged leg before when he shouldered arms to an incoming Dinda delivery.With Basant Mohanty’s gentle medium-pace at one end, Dinda soon gave way to Shami, but there was to be no respite for Central. His run-up and delivery stride resembling Aqib Javed’s, Shami bowled slightly fuller than Dinda had, but still found similar bounce and more seam movement. Saxena’s block-or-leave policy lasted 48 deliveries and yielded three runs before Shami knocked his stumps out with a pitched-up delivery that came in.Ojha had recovered enough from the blow to come back at Saxena’s fall, and the score slowly started to move. Ojha has the useful ability to softly guide good deliveries past the slip cordon, and that method brought him some boundaries. Mishra, who hardly holds back when he drives, slammed Shami straight down the ground through the bowler’s hands. When they ended the first session only two wickets down, Central seemed to have got through the most difficult part of the day.After the break, Mohanty, whose run-up is as innocuous as his pace, got one to kick at Mishra, and Saha took the edge to end the partnership. In the next over, Shami got one to straighten and bounce at Ojha to give Saha another easy catch.When Bist flicked a harmless Shami delivery straight to square leg, Central were left reeling at 91 for 5. Mohanty now mustered up enough zip to uproot the last specialist batsman Parvinder Singh’s stumps.Piyush Chawla tried to gather some quick runs through a mixture of slogs and a steer over the slip cordon but Dinda took no time to rip through the tail. Shami was unfortunate to be denied a deserved five-for with a couple of catches being dropped in the slips. There was nothing unfortunate about Central’s capitulation, as the last eight wickets fellfor 51 runs, 26 of those from Chawla’s bat.Central’s bowlers came out determined to make as much use of the live grass as East’s had. Sudhindra, with whom accuracy is guaranteed, also found steep bounce, and bowled Manish Vardhan in his second over.Rajasthan’s Ranji hero, Rituraj Singh, playing in place of the injured Pankaj Singh, produced a stunning first ball. He swung a full delivery sharply into Dheeraj Jadhav, who left the ball on angle, only to find it curving in to knock back off stump.Sudhindra had Ishank Jaggi lbw off an inside edge to make it 48 for 3, but Majumdar, as short but built slightly heavier than the wafer-thin Saha, kept pinging the off-side boundary with confident drives. The captain Chawla bowled both his overs with a sweeper cover and the East Zone batsmen happily took singles to that fielder.Shami’s comment after stumps that he expected the pitch to help seam movement for the next two days should give Central some hope of making a comeback though.

A lethal spell of swing bowling from Mitchell Starc led the Sydney Sixers to a 17-run win in a rain-affected game over cross-town rivals Sydney Thunder at Stadium Australia

Andrew Fuss08-Jan-201216 overs
ScorecardA lethal spell of swing bowling from Mitchell Starc led the Sydney Sixers to a 17-run win in a rain-affected game over cross-town rivals Sydney Thunder at Stadium Australia.Starc, who has been added to the Australian Test squad for Perth next week against India, showed why he’s rated so highly, by destroying the Thunder’s top order, narrowly missing out on a hat-trick on his way to 3 for 17.Brett Lee bowled brilliantly in tandem with Starc, the veteran quick claiming the vital wicket of Chris Gayle for a duck.With five overs required to constitute a match, the early stages of the Thunder’s chase was always going to be vital and the par score was well above the 4 for 29 they finished on when the match was called off.Earlier, Fidel Edwards used the moist conditions to his advantage, swinging and seaming his way through a dangerous four-over spell to start the match. The Sixers middle order then collapsed, losing 4 for 6 in the space of just two overs, including a rare diamond duck to Dominic Thornely.Ben Rohrer led a lower order fightback, smashing four boundaries and a six before the allrounder Sean Abbott claimed him for 38 (off 24 balls). Edwards was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 1 for 21 off his four overs while fellow West Indian Gayle was miserly, conceding just 18 runs off his three overs.The Sixers move into the top four with a key away clash against the Adelaide Strikers on Tuesday to determine their finals’ fate. The Thunders host Perth Scorchers on Wednesday in a must-win game if they are to make the finals.

None of the senior players is retiring as of now, the India team has said

Sidharth Monga at Adelaide Oval28-Jan-2012None of the senior players is retiring as of now, the India team has said. There have been reports during the series that VVS Laxman (during Perth) and Rahul Dravid (during Adelaide) might have played their last Test match. After India’s 0-4 whitewash, though, the team spokesperson read out a statement saying the reports were rumour and incorrect.”The team takes note of the stories in the media suggesting the imminent retirement of a member of the Indian team,” the spokesperson said. “We would like to clarify the situation by stating categorically that these are not correct and are baseless.” The statement didn’t name any of the players. “No players from the Indian team will be retiring. It is a rumour. Baseless. Incorrect.”Virender Sehwag, the stand-in captain, said, “I clarify that there is no need for retirement from anybody in this team. And they will take their call when they need it and when they think that their time is up.”The speculation, though, remains rife, especially because India don’t play an away Test for the next two years, and it doesn’t make sense to carry any player further unless he will be fit and ready for those overseas tours. When asked if he felt the seniors should be phased out, Sehwag said it wasn’t his decision. “That’s the team management and selectors who will decide,” he said. “It is not me or anyone else who will decide. If they think we need something to change, they will do that. If they think we should carry on with the same, and just wait for other players to perform, and if you perform, they will take the call.”Sehwag also supported coach Duncan Fletcher, under whom India have lost eight away Tests in a row. Fletcher’s record as a coach in Australia now reads one Test win and 13 losses. “He is a good coach,” Sehwag said. “He is talking to a lot of the batsmen and giving his input and making a lot of strategy. When you can’t execute your strategy, nothing happens.”Why should I blame him [Fletcher]? It’s the players who let the team down, not the support staff. They are very good. They are giving everything the players ask for. They were throwing to a lot of the batsmen. Thanks to the support staff. They are working hard to make sure the players perform. Make sure they give a good atmosphere for the players to perform.”

New Zealand Cricket’s journey towards the unconventional has continued with the appointment of a little-known Australian lawn bowls administrator as their new national selection manager

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2011New Zealand Cricket’s journey towards the unconventional has continued with the appointment of a little-known Australian lawn bowls administrator as their new national selection manager (NSM). Kim Littlejohn, who has spent the past seven years with Bowls Australia, was preferred ahead of the interim selection manager, Mark Greatbatch, along with other former cricketers including Ken Rutherford and Glenn Turner.It was a bold move from an appointment panel led by the NZC’s director of cricket, John Buchanan, who in June announced the disbanding of the existing selection panel in favour of a two-man panel made up of the NSM and the national coach, John Wright. Buchanan said the new role was very different to the traditional selection role and required a specific skill set.”A key part of the role will be accessing and utilising the wealth of knowledge that already exists within cricket, including first-class coaches, high performance staff and New Zealand’s cricket experts – in that respect it is more inclusive than previous models,” Buchanan said. “The selection panel agreed that Kim was the right fit for the role.”Kim brings extensive experience from Bowls Australia where his operational skills and understanding of high performance sport were highly regarded. Although he is new to cricket in New Zealand I am confident his will mean he has no issue getting up to speed with new selection system, performance focused management, people management, and cultural change.”It is worth noting that Mark Greatbatch provided invaluable input and expertise during his time in the acting NSM role. However, the selection panel decided that Kim was the candidate who best matched the requirements of the role with the appointment also endorsed by John Wright.”Greatbatch declined to comment on the decision on Friday. Earlier in the week, before the appointment was confirmed, the former selector Dion Nash said he held some concerns about the way Buchanan appeared to be experimenting with New Zealand’s setup.”You can feel it’s a changing of the guard. It’s not surprising,” Nash told the . “My only reservation is that I feel like we’re being exposed to a huge experiment. To me it’s uncharted territory.”We’re putting a lot of faith in John Buchanan and the new system, which is not to say it’s a bad thing, but it is quite experimental. The shame for me would be if someone who deserved to be picked, wasn’t picked.”Littlejohn has been the high performance manager and national team manager with Bowls Australia, and he previously worked as operations manager for Baseball Victoria. He started his career as an investment banker, but he does have some cricket in his background, having played in the club competition in Western Australia and coached with Melbourne University.Under the new structure, Littlejohn will be responsible for the selection of national teams for both men and women, and the under-age sides, and he will be advised by the six domestic first-class coaches. However, Wright has the final say on selection, which fits with Buchanan’s push for more accountability.Littlejohn will begin in his new role on September 19. The appointment panel consisted of Buchanan, the former fast bowler Shane Bond, and the NZC board member Brent King.

Mohammad Nabi played out 153 balls, and along with Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari took Afghanistan to a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2011
ScorecardMohammad Nabi was resolute as Afghanistan drew with UAE•ICCUAE were on course for their second win in the Intercontinental Cup when they had Afghanistan six down with more than 40 overs to get the remaining wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. But Mohammad Nabi played out 153 balls, and along with Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari took Afghanistan to a draw.It was always going to be a matter of survival for Afghanistan, as they were left chasing 363 in a little less than a day. Given the way Afghanistan’s lower order had collapsed earlier in the game, all odds were on a UAE win when they had the visitors 82 for 6 in 36.1 overs. Nabi had scored a century batting up the order in the first innings, but only came in at No. 7 in the second by which time Afghanistan were 71 for 5. He only got 35 runs but it was the time he spent at the wicket which mattered.For company, Nabi had first Stanikzai who used up 53 balls for his 10, and Shenwari who played a remarkably patient innings of 6 off 78. They ended up reaching 131 for 7 by the end of the day leaving them just behind UAE in the Intercontinental Cup table.UAE had started the day on 213 for 5 with their main dilemma being when to declare. Afghanistan, though, took the option away from them, running through the tail and bowling the hosts out for 228. They could not carry any momentum from that late fightback into their innings, and were reduced to 30 for 3. Javed Ahmadi followed up his 80 in the first innings with 49 in the second but he was only one of the top six to make a contribution. Afghanistan shuffled their batting order, with Mirwais Ashraf and Hamza Kotak moving up the order. Ashraf negotiated 70 balls for his 10, but Afghanistan still needed a rearguard from the lower order.

Hashim Amla’s 19th Test hundred put South Africa in control on the opening day in Port Elizabeth

The Report by Andrew McGlashan11-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHashim Amla did what he does so often – score a hundred•Getty ImagesFor significant parts of the opening day in Port Elizabeth, New Zealand pushed South Africa reasonably hard, which is much more than happened last week at Newlands. There were spells of testing bowling, a fair amount of playing and missing and some blows for the batsmen to take. However, the final scoreline, anchored by Hashim Amla’s 19th Test hundred, is a story of South Africa dominance on a surface that certainly was not placid.Whether South Africa’s bowlers would have got more out of the pitch in the first session will remain unknown, but Brendon McCullum certainly looked relieved when he did not have to make a decision at the toss when the coin fell Graeme Smith’s way. Few expect New Zealand to draw level in the series, but they needed to build on the improvement shown after the horrid start in Cape Town when McCullum won the toss, chose to bat and they were bundled out for 45.Without putting South Africa on the back foot at any stage they at least ensured it was not one-way traffic. They bowled better before lunch than one wicket suggested, although struggled to build pressure with a steady supply of loose deliveries, and the first hour of the afternoon brought the significant blows of Smith and Jacques Kallis to leave South Africa 137 for 3.The key moment of the day, though, came a few moments later when Amla, 48, failed to keep a back-cut down against Trent Boult but Kane Williamson could not hold on at gully. During New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka late last year, Williamson held some stunning catches. This one was tough, but easier than those – and one New Zealand desperately needed to take. From there, Amla’s century felt inevitable.Three balls later he went to his fifty with a square cut, and it was the same shot that took him to a hundred during the final session from 187 balls. It was not Amla at his most flamboyant, as was the case in Australia on occasion, and for that New Zealand’s bowlers deserve some credit even if the finishing touch was still often missing with a boundary-ball offered to keep the scoreboard moving. Neither is patience a problem for Amla and he was happy to wait, rather than try to manufacture too much on the first day.Amla’s catch was not the only missed opportunity for New Zealand. Facing the second new ball, Faf du Plessis gloved Boult down the leg side but was given not out. After some deliberation McCullum did not review only for HotSpot to clearly show the touch. Du Plessis, much to the amusement of the South Africa changing room, tried his hardest not to let on what had happened. He also had some problems against Jeetan Patel with one edge falling tantalisingly short of McCullum at slip.Smart stats

Hashim Amla’s century is his 19th in Tests. He is fourth on the list of South African batsmen with the most Test hundreds. Jacques Kallis is on top with 44 centuries.

Amla’s average of 88.50 is the third-highest among batsmen with 750-plus runs against New Zealand. Wally Hammond is on top with an average of 112.77.

Amla and Michael Clarke have scored the most centuries (5) since the beginning of 2012. Both batsmen have done so in the same number of matches (12).

The 102-run stand between Amla and Faf du Plessis is the third-highest fifth-wicket stand for South Africa against New Zealand and their highest against New Zealand in home Tests.

For the 12th time overall and the second time since the start of 2012, South Africa had three fifty-plus stands in among wickets 1-5. The only time they had four fifty-plus stands for wickets 1-5 was in Auckland in 1999.

However, like Amla, du Plessis was hungry to make New Zealand pay for their mistake. He went to his fifty with a crunching pull that cleared deep midwicket and benefited from the second new ball as the extra hardness helped it run away. The fifth-wicket stand was worth 102 by the close. In reality, this was still men against boys.There was early movement on offer in Port Elizabeth’s first Test since 2007. The crowd was not massive although, hopefully, over the weekend that will improve. For their sake it was good that New Zealand could not be blown away in a session again. Alviro Petersen did not survive the opening hour, top edging Doug Bracewell to fine leg when he was not fully committed to the shot.Bracewell was the pick of New Zealand’s seamers and troubled Smith, who was not at his best, including clonking him on the back of the helmet as Smith turned his head away from a bouncer. Smith needed a few minutes to compose himself and was close to being lbw a few moments later. That was a curious piece of cricket: the umpire said not out, McCullum decided not to review and replays showed it was hitting middle but Bracewell had overstepped.Smith’s outside edge was located by all three seamers, but he was good enough to keep the ball short of the slips and benefited from a couple of boundaries to third man. Neil Wagner, the left-armer who was recalled in place of Chris Martin, caused some tricky moments but had a tendency to bowl a touch short.As Smith so often does, he stuck in and reached fifty from 80 balls but then glanced a delivery from Wagner down the leg side. For Wagner it was an emotional wicket against a side that includes former team-mates. His later contest with AB de Villiers, who went past 6000 runs, certainly had an extra level of intrigue.Kallis began with an imperious pull but got an inside edge driving at Bracewell, leaving Amla and de Villiers to ensure there was no significant wobbles in the middle of the day as they consolidated against the workmanlike attack. The pair added 86 for the fourth wicket until de Villiers lazily gave his innings away when he chipped Patel to midwicket. It was a waste from de Villiers, a mistake that Amla was not going to make.

Mark Ramprakash’s milestone of reaching 35,000 first-class runs was overshadowed by Alviro Petersen’s double century

25-May-2011
ScorecardMark Ramprakash’s milestone of reaching 35,000 first-class runs was overshadowed by Alviro Petersen’s double century as Glamorgan ended day two in control of their County Championship clash with Surrey at the Oval.In response to the visitors’ 419, Surrey ended the day 179 runs adrift with four first innings wickets intact having found themselves in trouble at 18 for 2. Jason Roy fell leg before to Chris Ashling, who struck again two overs later when Rory Hamilton-Brown was caught at the third attempt at third slip for 12.But thanks to Ramprakash (67), Surrey recovered to 113 for 3 at tea, having also lost Zander de Bruyn, who became Alex Jones’ maiden first-class scalp when he was caught and bowled off a leading edge.Ramprakash cut Will Owen for four to go 39th in the all-time list of first-class run-makers, overtaking Brian Close and, five balls later, went past the 35,000-mark by despatching Owen to the rope at extra cover.He raised his 69-ball half-century with a cut four off Robert Croft and added 90 in 24 overs in tandem with Steve Davies before driving loosely at Ashling to be bowled via an inside edge for 67. With support from Tom Maynard, Davies then shared another half-century partnership and moved to his own fifty in 94 deliveries.With 11 overs to go, Mark Wallace, leading Glamorgan in the absence of Petersen, who did not take the field after his marathon knock, appeared to be running out of ideas when Davies slashed at Owen and was caught at first slip. The Welshmen were given a further boost when Maynard shouldered arms to Owen in the penultimate over.Earlier, Glamorgan lost their last six wickets for 64 runs to leave their card looking decidedly top-heavy. Tim Linley could have picked up six wickets in the first half hour, but two chances went to ground and another flew at a catchable height in-between second and third slip.In the third over of the day, Maynard pulled off a brilliant catch at third slip to see the back of nightwatchman Owen. Four overs later, Wallace was snapped up at first slip before Croft, who was caught down the leg side, started his 41st birthday with a second ball duck.Resuming on 178, Petersen duly became the fourth Glamorgan batsman to make a double century against Surrey when he cut Chris Jordan for four in the 113th over. It had taken the Glamorgan skipper seven hours 40 minutes, 326 balls and it included 23 fours and six.Just before lunch, Jordan struck twice in the space of three deliveries when he accounted for Dean Cosker, who was caught at first slip, and Petersen (210), with one that nipped back off the seam.

India captain, MS Dhoni, has admitted his side fielded poorly against England, but said that improving their fielding wasn’t an option given their limitations

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2011India captain, MS Dhoni, has admitted his team fielded poorly against England, but said there were limits to how much it could improve its fielding. Instead, he said, the team needed to focus on its strengths.”Maybe if we would have fielded slighted better, we would have won the game by one run because you realise in these games the importance of one run,” Dhoni said. “I don’t think we can improve the fielding very much because we have got quite a few slow fielders in the side.”So I think if we were a different fielding side it would have been slightly better, but then you need to realise your strengths and definitely fielding is not a big part of it.”Apart from a dropped chance off Andrew Strauss early in his innings and one off Ian Bell at slip, India conceded quite a few runs by way of misfields.The hosts amassed 338 on the backs of another Sachin Tendulkar century on Sunday in Bangalore, but Strauss made a century of his own and the match ended in a dramatic tie after some lusty lower-order hitting from England. During England’s innings, Dhoni was seen discussing fielding and bowling changes on a number of occasions with Virender Sehwag.Munaf Patel took a clever return catch to dismiss Kevin Pietersen, rare bright moment for India in the field•AFP”If you are not 100% sure of something, you have got experienced players in the side whom you can always approach because at the end of the day the motivation is to take the best decision at the right time. That’s what I was interacting with him since he was close to me.”Dhoni said he likes to let his bowlers choose their own field and it is only when things don’t go to plan that he steps in. “I always give the liberty to the bowlers to set the field,” he said. “If the fast bowler wants a particular field, even if i am not very happy with it, I believe in the skill of the fast bowlers, and give him the first preference to pick his own field. If it is not successful, then I implement my own field.”

Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to spend much time in the Surrey dressing room but faces the prospect of some serious ribbing after falling to a team-mate

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2011Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to spend much time in the Surrey dressing room this summer, but faces the prospect of some serious ribbing after falling to a team-mate who was playing for Cambridge MCCU during his comeback match at Fenner’s. To add further spark to Pietersen’s dismissal the bowler who had him caught at slip, Zafar Ansari, is a left-arm spinner.Ansari, 19, is on the Surrey staff and highly rated by the coaching team but on this occasion was playing against the county for his university team. He had one previous first-class wicket to his name so Pietersen was a notable second scalp when he fell shortly after lunch.Pietersen, who was playing his first match since leaving the World Cup with a hernia in March, came to the crease in the 16th over. Unsurprisingly after a lengthy lay-off his innings had scratchy moments but he also struck two straight sixes until he was well caught by Chris Park.Ansari went on to claim an impressive 5 for 33 before Pietersen, captaining what is effectively a Surrey second XI, declared at 234 for 9.After a second innings in this game Pietersen will have a County Championship match against Essex at Whitgift School next to week to increase his preparation ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the end of the month. If Pietersen feels he needs extra batting, and the ECB release him to play, Surrey have a CB40 match against Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday and another against Hampshire on May 22.

Arsenal may have found their next Aaron Ramsey in youngster Charlie Patino.

The 18-year-old attacking midfielder, who is capable of “mazy” runs with the ball, as per The Athletic writer Art de Roche, has impressed for the Gunners’ academy sides and could be set for a first-team breakthrough under Mikel Arteta.

Comfortable operating anywhere along the spine of the team, the teenager bears similarities to Ramsey, who was eased into the first-team during the 2008/09 season. Arsenal will be hoping that Patino can have a similar impact and go on to become a key player for the club over time.

Arteta has shown a willingness to give youth a chance, as evidenced by the frequent inclusions of Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli and more recently Eddie Nketiah in his line-ups.

Also, with the Gunners lacking depth across the engine room, amidst links to Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans, Arteta may have an in-house option in Patino from the Hale End production line.

The 18-year-old is clearly on the cusp of first-team action, having been eased in as early as December against Sunderland in the Carabao Cup. In his ten-minute cameo that night, the England under-19 starlet 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Whilst his integration into the first-team has been gradual, it is surely only a matter of time before we see Patino handed his debut in the Premier League.

In 15 appearances for the under-23s this season, the 18-year-old has demonstrated an ability to score and set up goals, having notched one assist in Premier League 2, although his game seems to be much more well-rounded.

It is worth noting that six of those appearances have been from a central midfield position, while three have been as a defensive midfielder.

At this moment, it is difficult to accurately quantify the 18-year-old’s potential based on the lack of availability regarding in-depth statistics, but having featured twice for the senior team this season and demonstrating versatility within his game, it is surely only a matter of time before we see more of the Arsenal youngster, who could be a new version of Ramsey at the Emirates Stadium.

In other news: “Arsenal are..”: Romano drops exciting transfer claim that’ll leave supporters buzzing