All posts by csb10.top

Encouraged by, if not fully satisfied with, their collective performance in the second Cable & Wireless Test, the West Indies are set to retain their once prescribed formula of four fast bowlers for the crucial third, starting at Kensington tomorrow.Merv Dillon, Cameron Cuffy, Adam Sanford and Marlon Black shared all but one of the wickets at the Queen’s Park Oval as India were bowled out for 339 and 213, Dillon and Cuffy despatching the last six wickets for 13 in the second innings.That success, even in a match lost by 37 runs, the history of Kensington and a pitch with a mat of grass on a length is enough to influence the selectors into keeping the same structure.The only change is in personnel as the left-armer Pedro Collins has already been named instead of Black in the squad of 13.But coach Roger Harper has put them on notice that he expects more.Although we bowled India out twice in Trinidad, we’re capable of bowling better, he said. If we do that, we can limit them to further low scores.He called no names but his comment is particularly appropriate to Dillon, the most experienced of the bowlers with 23 Tests and 82 wickets.He has emerged as the leader of the attack following the retirement of Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker, Courtney Walsh, a year ago but has bowled spasmodically in the two Tests with six expensive wickets.Queen’s Park was the first time in 14 Tests under Carl Hooper’s captaincy that the West Indies reverted to the four-pronged pace alliance that had been their trademark throughout their unprecedented domination in the 1980s and only the fourth time his bowlers had dismissed the opposition twice in a match.Leg-spinners Dinanath Ramnarine and Mahendra Nagamootoo and left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell had all featured in the interim.Ramnarine, who has had nine of his 12 Tests under Hooper, is in the 13 but only because Nagamootoo was injured in a bus crash in Guyana last week.Nagamootoo was preferred in the first Test but a strained hamstring put him out of the second and medical advice is that his latest misfortune will sideline him for the next month.When included against South Africa last year, Ramnarine became the first specialist spinner used by the West Indies in a Kensington Test since present team coach Roger Harper served up his off-spin against New Zealand in 1985.Ramnarine responded with a career-best five for 78 in the second innings and his four for 49 return against the Indians for the Busta XI in St Lucia last weekend has kept him in contention.But, if he wasn’t chosen in his native Trinidad when summoned as cover for Nagamootoo, he surely won’t be here.Not surprisingly, India will also retain their rare preference for pace above spin that served them well at Queen’s Park.They created a furore back home by omitting their most successful bowler, leg-spinner Anil Kumble (318 wickets in 69 Tests) in favour of 21-year-old left-arm fast-medium swinger Asish Nehra on the morning of the match. But Nehra vindicated their decision with five wickets in the match, including Brian Lara and Carl Hooper early on the last day.The one spinner’s spot is between Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Kumble is likely to watch from beyond the boundary once more.We have to go with three pacemen when we’re playing abroad, captain Saurav Ganguly said yesterday.Significantly, when India last played at Kensington in 1997, they went for three fast bowlers: Venkatesh Prasad, Abey Kuruvilla and Dodda Ganesh. They lost, their batting collapsing to 81 all out when needing 120 to win, but they bowled the West Indies out for 298 and 140 and Kumble took only one wicket.

Cameron Green flexed in a timely Gabba Ashes warm-up while teammate Cameron Bancroft’s unbeaten century anchored Western Australia in a run-fest one-day cup victory over Queensland.Western Australia won the toss and made the most of the perfect batting conditions in Brisbane on Monday, posting 3 for 361 from their 50 overs.Queensland briefly threatened to chase down what would have been the second-largest total in domestic one-day history until Jimmy Peirson and Joe Burns fell in successive AJ Tye overs.They were eventually bowled out for 291, a 29-run last-wicket stand denying Western Australia a bonus point from their win.Earlier Bancroft (124 not out off 105) was the mainstay for WA while Green’s 55-ball 70 and then Ashton Turner (71 off 41) provided the fireworks.Bowled by the medium pace of Marnus Labuschagne without offering a shot in the recent Sheffield Shield win, incumbent Test allrounder Green ensured there was no repeat ahead of the first Ashes clash at the same ground from December 8.The 22-year-old dispatched one innocuous delivery high into the top tier of the Gabba and then followed it up with two more sixes – there were five in total for Green – over the leg-side boundary.Josh Philippe and Nick Hobson had got Western Australia away brightly, Mark Steketee the only Queensland bowler to go for less than a-run-a-ball.In reply, Usman Khawaja picked out the only man on the leg-side boundary before Labuschagne, Max Bryant and Matt Renshaw all enjoyed bright starts. Their premature exits left too much for the middle and lower to do.Peirson and Burns did their best, combining in a 124-run partnership that suddenly put the heat back on the visitors. But then Peirson’s well-hit cut shot speared to a diving Hilton Cartwright, before Burns holed out to square leg as Western Australia improved their standing on top of the one-day ladder. D’Arcy Short ran through the tail, while Matthew Kelly took two wickets.Jostling for a spot in Australia’s Ashes squad, bowlers Michael Neser (hamstring) and Jhye Richardson (rested) both missed the clash for Queensland and Western Australia respectively.

It’s been a lengthy wait for everyone between men’s T20 World Cups – five years – but it’s been even longer for Mitchell Starc who missed the 2016 event due to injury.He has played in two ODI World Cups since his last T20 version, back in 2014, in which he was the leading wicket-taker in 2019 and joint-leading in 2015. The two limited-overs formats have their differences, but Starc’s role does not vastly alter, it just happens over a shorter period with perhaps the middle part taken out: try and take a wicket or two with the new ball in the Powerplay then close out the innings at the death.Whether it plays out quite like that in the UAE remains to be seen based around the balance of Australia’s attack, but regardless Starc goes into the World Cup with a clear mind when it comes to his white-ball game.”I guess the white-ball formats are probably the ones that I’ve played the most consistently in comparison to Test cricket, or felt more at home for a longer period of time than in the red-ball game,” Starc said. “One of the things I take from all my cricket, across the three formats, is trying to keep my game plan and my role pretty simple.Related

• Starc set to face Sri Lanka after 'nervous moments' following blow on knee

• Kane Richardson: 'If the World Cup had been in June, I wouldn't have gone'

• Mitchell Marsh's No. 3 success could force Steven Smith into middle order

“Certainly my role in white-ball cricket hasn’t changed a hell of a lot over the last 10 years and I think having that clarity there helps me keep it simple and know what I need to do for the team to get us in some really good positions.”I’ve always tried to keep my cricket simple and I’m not someone who comes out with 24 different types of slow balls, certainly for T20 cricket. I’ve got a bit of speed on my side and focus on obviously my death bowling as well so I think that’s key for me, focus on doing a few things really well rather than doing a lot of things okay.”Mitchell Starc will likely be given the job of closing out the innings•AFP/Getty Images

Starc played six of the 10 T20Is on the recent tours of West Indies and Bangladesh which brought just four wickets (his form the ODIs in the Caribbean sandwiched in the middle was outstanding with 11 wickets in three matches) and during those games he became the first Australia men’s bowler to 50 T20I wickets. That it has taken so long for an Australia bowler to make that mark is an indication of the relative lack of matches in the format; Starc himself played just one T20I in a three-year period between late 2016 and late 2019.However, in West Indies Starc secured Australia’s one victory of a tough series when he pulled out the type of over that could decent crunch moments of a World Cup as he denied Andre Russell when there was 11 to defend. Starc trusts himself with the yorker – a delivery that has become his trademark with all colours of ball whether old or new – but knows there can be a fine line.”I can’t sit here and say I’ve nailed the death every time,” he said. “I’ve certainly been beaten a number of times so for me the way to go about at the death is what your strengths are. What you see at the other end, it’s not one shoe fits all.”I like to try and stick to what I can do really well. That could be different for any number of bowlers. Josh [Hazlewood] and Pat [Cummins] probably see it different to the way I see it. For me, I’m going stick to my strengths at the death and not worry too much about what other guys are doing at that stage of the game.”Following the conclusion of the IPL, Australia now have their full squad together ahead of warm-up matches against New Zealand and India before facing South Africa in their first group match on October 23.

Former Tamil Nadu captain Sridharan Sharath will head the BCCI’s newly appointed junior selection committee which also includes Pathik Patel (West Zone), Ranadeb Bose (East Zone), Krishnan Mohan (North Zone), and Harvinder Sodhi (Central Zone).The new committee takes over from Aashish Kapoor (South Zone and chairman), Debasis Mohanty (East, now senior selector), Gyanendra Pandey (Central), Rakesh Parekh (West), and Amit Sharma (North).Sharath was the first player to represent Tamil Nadu in 100 Ranji Trophy matches and scored 8700 runs in the first-class format after playing 139 matches in a 15-year career. He struck 27 centuries and 42 half-centuries in first-class matches, and another four hundreds and 20 fifties in 116 List A games for a total of 3366 runs. His first-class average of 51.17 was also better than his List A average of 44.28. He also played for Assam towards the end of his career. After retiring in 2007-08, Sharath was also a BCCI match referee, most recently in the Tamil Nadu Premier League last month.Bose, a former Bengal fast bowler, has the experience of 91 first-class matches, 82 List A games and 11 T20s, including one in the IPL.Sodhi is a former fast bowler for Madhya Pradesh from 1990-91 to 2003-04 when he played 76 first-class games and 55 one-dayers. After retirement, he also briefly served as the bowling coach and manager of MP and a BCCI match referee.Patel is a former wicketkeeper from Gujarat and played 32 first-class and 28 List A games from 1992-93 to 2000-01.Mohan is a former Punjab player with 45 first-class and nine List A games from his eight-year playing career from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s.Under-19 domestic games in India are set to begin with the Vinoo Mankad Trophy (one-day), starting September 28, followed by the Under-19 One-Day Challenger in early November.The next Under-19 World Cup will played in the West Indies in 2022.

ScorecardMiddlesex were frustrated by a combination of bad light and lower-order resistance as Essex clung on for a draw in the Specsavers County Championship at Lord’s.The champions were on course for their first win of the season when they reduced Essex, who were chasing a notional target of 452, to 130 for 7 in the first over after tea. But eighth-wicket pair Neil Wagner and Simon Harmer blunted Middlesex’s attack for 15 overs and as the light deteriorated home skipper James Franklin was forced to employ slow bowlers at both ends.Legspinner Dawid Malan immediately had Harmer lbw as he tried to defend off the back foot but only two more overs were possible before umpires Ian Gould and Paul Baldwin took the players off for the third time in the day with 13 overs remaining, Essex 160 for 8 and Wagner unbeaten on 16.It was harsh on Middlesex whose three-man seam attack, backed up by offspinner Ollie Rayner, had chipped away all day on a wicket which hardly deteriorated, even though cloud cover did encourage the ball to swing.Toby Roland-Jones finished with 3 for 42 and Steven Finn 2 for 39 while it was Rayner who picked up former England captain Alastair Cook, caught at short leg for 37 with his third delivery of the day. Cook had passed 20,000 first-class runs when he reached 16 and looked in the mood to repeat last week’s century in Essex’s win over Somerset, particularly when he drove first Tim Murtagh and then Roland-Jones back down the ground for four.Apart from Cook, Essex’s main resistance came from Ravi Bopara who dug in for just over two hours before he was seventh out in the first over after tea to a ball from Finn which jagged back sharply to knock back his off stump.Conditions were as good as they had been all day at that stage but Harmer and Wagner defied Finn and Roland-Jones for ten overs to give them their team the chance of escape.Franklin had the luxury of runs on the board and enjoyed the happy knack of making bowling changes which brought immediate reward. Middlesex’s slip fielding was faultless too with Malan epitomising their catching performance when he dived to his left to remove Adam Wheater for a duck in the first over of a new spell from Roland-Jones.Essex had added 19 runs to their overnight 19 for 0 when Murtagh made the breakthrough, bowling Nick Browne through the gate.Cook and Tom Westley took the score to 74 when Westley was lbw to a ball from Roland-Jones that kept a touch low. Cook fell without addition to the total and after lunch Essex lost two wickets on 104 when Dan Lawrence was held at slip driving at Finn before Wheater’s dismissal.Ryan ten Doeschate became Roland-Jones’ third victim but rain and bad light forced the teams off for an hour after a two-over stoppage during the morning.Bopara’s dismissal on the resumption left the Essex tail with 30 overs to survive but with a little help from the weather they were able to do so.

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has said they have to play to their potential, after they weren’t even at “half their ability” in Galle, in order to get a result in the Colombo Test.The visitors were crushed by 259 runs, with their bowlers lacking enough penetration while their batsmen were unable to bat out crucial periods in the game. Fielding too remained ordinary, dropping three chances on the fourth day alone. Mushfiqur was the standout performer, playing with conviction and batting long periods.

Mahmudullah to remain in Sri Lanka

Mushfiqur Rahim said that Mahmudullah will remain with the team during the Colombo Test, adding his presence won’t affect the team much.
“He is possibly not playing in the second Test but since he is in the ODI squad, he will stay with the team. It can happen to any cricketer that he might fall into a bad patch. It won’t have much of an impact in the team but he is a senior cricketer so you feel bad. But we are 1-0 down, so whoever plays, has to focus on making it 1-1,” he said.

“We couldn’t even play to half of our ability in Galle which was very disappointing,” he said. “We have to try to get the result in our favour in Colombo. We have to take every chance that comes our way. We weren’t sticking to the basics, so we must improve on those things.Throughout their Tests this year in Wellington, Christchurch, Hyderabad and Galle, seamers Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Rubel Hossain have been slack in the third session. Mustafizur Rahman has relied on cutting down his pace in latter spells.Courtney Walsh, Bangladesh’s bowling coach, said one of the areas they are looking at is the pace bowlers’ physical ability to bowl later in the day.”They are not fully experienced on how to come back in the third spell,” Walsh said. “You get it by playing a lot. It is something that we have been working on, how to bowl that last spell. Our seamers have been little bit jaded in the last session of most of the Tests we’ve played. It is obviously an area of concern and it is something that we are looking to fix.”Walsh said that despite their lack of experience, the Bangladesh fast bowlers are wicket-takers.”It is not unjustified [to expect them to take 20 wickets] because they are going to learn at some point in time. When you play Test cricket, you have to take 20 wickets. It is going to be hard work because of the inexperience. They will get better the more they play, but the other factor is that they are playing in different tracks.”By the time they realised what happened in New Zealand and India, we had left those places. And now we are here. It is about adapting quickly. So far I think we are getting reasonable batting tracks. With more experience, you will only get better. I am hoping on the special occasion of the 100th Test, pride alone will kick in and the boys will do everything that they can to try to win this Test match,” Walsh said.Mushfiqur also believed they are capable of winning the milestone Test. “There are expectations about every Test,” he said. “But Bangladesh cricket is in such a stage that they are expected to win a Test, ODI or T20. This itself is a big achievement, which inspires the players to give their best in the field. We didn’t fulfill our expectations in the last game but we will give our best in the next game. Our main target will be to play consistently.

England allrounder Ben Stokes has become the most expensive overseas player ever bought at an IPL auction, going for INR 14.5 crore (USD 2.16 million approx) to Rising Pune Supergiants. He is also the second highest paid player among those currently active in the IPL, behind Virat Kohli, who is paid Rs 15 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore per season.England fast bowler Tymal Mills also set a new record price for a specialist bowler: he was the second most expensive sale at the tenth player auction, in Bangalore on Monday, and bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 12 crore (USD 1.8 million approx). Allrounder Chris Woakes was the third England player to get a hefty payday; he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 4.2 crore (USD 625,000 approx).Three other England players bought – all at base price – were: batsman Eoin Morgan for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx) to Kings XI Punjab, batsman Jason Roy for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000) to Gujarat Lions, and allrounder Chris Jordan for INR 50 lakhs (USD 74,000) to Sunrisers Hyderabad.While demand for England players was expected, Afghanistan allrounder Mohammad Nabi, 18-year-old legspinner Rashid Khan, and UAE batsman Chirag Suri became the first Associate players after Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate to get an IPL bid. The Afghanistan players were bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad – Rashid for INR 4 crore (USD 595,000 approx) and Nabi for INR 30 lakh (USD 44,000 approx) – while Suri went to Gujarat for INR 10 lakh (USD 14,000).Delhi Daredevils were the most active team in the early bidding. Their purchases of Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx), New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx), South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for INR 5 crore (USD 750,000 approx) and Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins for INR 4.5 crore, (USD 670,000 approx) exhausted their quota of nine overseas players in the first 90 minutes of the auction.6:07

IPL auction trends – ‘Left-arm quicks in high demand’

Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, did not bid for any of the first 22 players up for sale despite having a squad of only 13 available players before the auction. They were successful in the first player they bid for, buying New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult for INR 5 crore (USD 750,000 approx).Of the first 108 players that went on sale in the main draw of the auction, only 33 were bought and among them only two from Australia: Mitchell Johnson to Mumbai Indians at his base price of INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx), and Cummins to Delhi. More Australians – Nathan Coulter-Nile, Billy Stanlake, Dan Christian and Ben Laughlin – were bought in the second round of bidding after lunch. Coulter-Nile was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 3.5 crore (USD 520,00 approx.) while Stanlake, Christian and Laughlin went at base prices.The trend among Indians was for the more experienced players to get no bids – Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Cheteshwar Pujara, Parvez Rasool and RP Singh were unsold – while several uncapped players were picked up at high prices.Fast bowler Mohammad Siraj was bought by Sunrisers for INR 2.6 crore (USD 390,000 approx), left-arm seamer Aniket Choudhary by RCB for INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx.), K Gowtham by Mumbai for INR 2 crore ($300,000), T Natarajan by Kings XI for INR 3 crore (USD 445,000 approx), Basil Thampi by Gujarat for INR 85 lakh (USD 125,000 approx), Karn Sharma by Mumbai for INR 3.2 crore (USD 475 approx), Eklavya Dwivedi by Sunrisers for INR 75 lakh ($110,000), Varun Aaron by Kings XI for INR 2.8 crore (USD 415,000) and M Ashwin by Delhi for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000).India allrounder Pawan Negi, who was bought for INR 8.5 crore last year and then released by Delhi, was bought by RCB for INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx).

Jos Buttler has admitted that he is facing a clash of priorities in the build-up to England’s Champions Trophy campaign, with the scheduling of a two-match ODI series against Ireland in early May set to clash with the final weeks of his IPL stint with Mumbai Indians.Buttler, who participated in the full IPL season in 2016, said it was a “tough question” as to which of the two competitions would provide better preparation for the Champions Trophy, which takes place on home soil in June and represents a very good opportunity for England to claim their maiden 50-over title in a global event.”End of the day, you want to play for England and represent England,” he said. “Obviously, the management will make the call on the players and the availability for the Ireland games. I understand that it is a tricky sort of situation – the IPL is a great experience but playing for England is obviously a fantastic opportunity and a privilege as well. It’s a tough question.”The ECB last year relaxed their attitude towards overseas franchise leagues, seeing them as a vital part of their players’ preparations for international white-ball tournaments. With Buttler making his mark at the IPL, and others, such as Adil Rashid starring for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash, England’s progression to the final of the World T20 in India last year was early proof that the new approach could bear fruit.However, with the schedule for England’s home summer focusing on one-day cricket from the outset, instead of the usual early-season Test series, the timing of the Ireland tour threatens to disrupt the availability of England’s IPL hopefuls. Two ODIs are scheduled for Bristol on May 5 and Lord’s on May 7, and the captain, Eoin Morgan, is one such player who is expected to have to make himself available for those matches instead of completing a full IPL stint.Buttler, who was retained by Mumbai Indians for the upcoming season, also hoped he would get to see more of his England team-mates participate in the IPL, but said it would be up to the individual players to decide.”I think it is always going to be a little bit of an individual decision. I can only speak from my own experience; I think the IPL is probably the best cricket experience I’ve ever had. I’ve learnt as much, not just about T20 but about myself, about all forms of cricket, about what it takes to become a top cricketer. It’s only the best experience I’ve had as a cricketer.”Whether other people will feel that, I don’t know. I could only have good things to say about it. So hopefully, from my point of view, there are more English guys involved in playing in these conditions, in front of these crowds, under the pressure of being overseas players. It can only stand you in good stead, looking forward to when you play for England, and when you play in different competitions and knockout competitions, I think it is a great experience to be part of.”

Rest and rotation of fast bowlers has become a contentious, and much-discussed, subject in recent years. Ask Graeme Smith, South Africa’s former captain, however, and he will tell you it is all modern day mumbo-jumbo that messes up a team’s mojo. Little wonder that Kagiso Rabada agrees.”Resting is when you’re off,” Rabada said. “When you get time off that’s when you must rest. When you need to bowl is when you need to bowl, to get yourself to the highest level you can be at. There’s no room for you to rest if you’re not bowling well.”After his first Test at a level slightly below excellent in Port Elizabeth, where Rabada was down on pace and lacked his usual aggression, his workload has become a topic of conversation. Rabada has played every Test since January 2016 (10) and all but two ODIs (15) and one T20 (nine) but the 21-year old denied suggestions that he is fatigued. Instead, he went the other way and, much like Dale Steyn used to say, claimed that the more he bowls, the better he feels.”I didn’t feel good rhythm in Port Elizabeth at all but I’ve just bowled more and got better rhythm through bowling,” he said.Before the St George’s Park match, Rabada was on a three-week break after the Australia tour. He was not required to play for his franchise, Lions, in the T20 tournament and he was not called on for the exhibition match between the national cricket and rugby teams. His captain, Faf du Plessis, said he believed Rabada had “had enough rest” ahead of the series and was ready to go.Rabada’s view is clear, although he would consider accepting a prescription of rest on the advice of higher-ups. “If it’s recommended you have to be open-minded about it,” he said. “The people that are in your area, you have to respect their opinions because they’re employed for a reason. Take their advice because they know what they’re talking about.”But you have to make the choice – it’s about how you feel. So you take their advice and then see what you think of it. It’s a broad topic. If you’re bowling well, you feel good. You don’t have to bowl as much. But I guess it comes with experience, because everyone’s different – knowing yourself and knowing when to rest.”Does the same thing apply to batting? With Hashim Amla struggling for fluency and form on the eve of his 100th Test, it has been suggested he could also do with a break, but Rabada was quick to defend the team’s most senior batsman. “He is not a robot so he is not going to play well all the time. He is a great player so he knows what to do to get back into form. You don’t do so well for so long by fluke. He knows what to do.”

Ross Taylor has been cleared by eye specialists to play the Hamilton Test against Pakistan, which is set to begin on November 25. However, the batsman needs surgery on his left eye, which will be done after the Test, thereby ruling him out of the ODIs in Australia in December.Taylor has a benign growth on the eye, called a “pterygium”. The growth is currently not obscuring his vision in any way, according to New Zealand’s physiotherapist Tommy Simsek, but will have to be removed before it gets larger.”Ross has a pterygium on his left eye, which is gradually getting bigger,” Simsek said. “Both the specialists he has seen in recent days have advised Ross still has 20/20 vision, and Ross himself feels confident he is ready to play.”But Ross will still need to undergo a medical procedure on his eye to remove the pterygium before it gets any larger. He’ll have surgery following the Test, which rule him out of cricket for approximately four to six weeks.”New Zealand are leading the two-Test series against Pakistan 1-0. After it ends, they travel to Australia to play three ODIs for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, between December 4 and 9. Their next international assignment is a visit by Bangladesh, which kicks off with an ODI on Boxing Day in Christchurch.Northern Districts batsman Dean Brownlie had been put on standby by the selectors, as cover for Taylor, when New Zealand Cricket announced the squad for the second Test against Pakistan. Allrounder Mitchell Santner returns to the squad for that Test, having recovered from a wrist fracture.