Category Uncategorized

7 for 41 – India’s collapse in the last 17 overs. After 33, they were 227 for 3; at a similar stage in their innings, West Indies were 217 for 3.4 – The number of boundaries for India after the 20th over. In the first 20 overs they slammed 20 fours and two sixes.316.67 – Robin Uthappa’s scoring rate against Dwayne Bravo. In six deliveries, he hammered Bravo for 19 runs.4 for 39 -Bravo’s bowling figures, which are his best in an ODI and a testament to how he came back after the initial mauling. These figures beat his earlier record of 3 for 14 against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy last year.42.22 – Marlon Samuels’s ODI average against India in India, which is much better than his career average of 29.37. In only 11 such games, he has hit one hundred and three half-centuries.33.50 – Brian Lara’s ODI average against India. His 83 at Chennai was only his sixth fifty-plus score in 41 games against them.16 – The number of ducks for Chris Gayle in ODIs, which puts him level with Brian Lara as the two batsmen with the most number of zeroes for West Indies in ODIs.7.73 – Sreesanth’s economy rate in the West Indian innings (67 runs in 8.4 overs). It was the sixth time in 24 ODIs that he has gone for more than seven runs per over.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, had some good news for Umar Gul, the discarded young medium-pace bowler, on Saturday. Inzamam told that Umar figured very much in the plans for next month’s Test series against India and could be selected in the Test squad. “He is a fine bowler and we wanted him to go and play some domestic cricket after his recovery from his back problem,” said Inzamam. “He is definitely in our plans for the series against India and I would like the selectors to invite him for the conditioning camp we set up from January 6.”Umar last played for Pakistan in April 2004 against India in the second Test at Lahore and set up a victory with a first-innings haul of five for 31. The 21-year-old from Peshawar is a fine controlled seam bowler who has taken 25 wickets in five Tests and another 19 in 15 one-dayers with a best of 5 for 17. Umar is currently playing for his employers PIA in domestic cricket and Inzamam said that the more he played the better he would become after being out of the game for a more than a year.Umar was sidelined for more than a year with a stress fracture of the back after the Test against India and made a comeback to domestic cricket this season, but was not considered for any of the international games including the tour matches against England.”Our strength lies in our pace bowling with all our bowlers doing really well against England,” said Inzamam. “But with Mohammad Asif also having a good debut match we are keen to develop a reservoir of pace bowlers against India.”

The rebellion against Zimbabwe Cricket was snuffed out before it ever really began, with the Mashonaland Cricket Association backing down in the face of allegations of financial and constitutional irregularities.Speaking to the Zimbabwe Independent, Cyprian Mandenge, the MCA chairman, said: "We’ve realised it’s cricket that will suffer, so we are negotiating so that our concerns are addressed. All we want is a democratic constitution."Less than a week ago the MCA had seemed set on a collision course with ZC, and there was a possibility that other provincial associations might join the opposition. But stories began to emerge that that a payout from ZC intended to help seven Mashonaland clubs all went to Takashinga Sports Club, and at the end of the week the MCA’s stance was further weakened when all but two of its club sides elected to honour their national league fixtures.Behind the scenes, Tavengwa Mukuhlani, the former MCA chairman who was ousted in December, is thought to be consulting lawyers to try to get the decision overturned as being unconstitutional. Mukuhlani met with Peter Chingoka, ZC’s chairman, last week and it is believed that Chingoka made it quite clear that he expected Mukuhlani to get a grip on the province and reassert control.The Independent said that other provinces had backed off or condemned the rebellion, quoting Macsood Ebrahim, the Masvingo Cricket Association, as saying that he told the rebels to "go to hell and made it clear to them that we would not entertain individuals agitating for a coup." Given that Ebrahim is a close associate of Ozias Bvute, ZC’s general manager and is a key figure inside ZC,that is hardly a surprising response.Ahmed Essat, the chairman of the Matabeleland Cricket Association, said that his province had not supported the coup but, nevertheless, still had serious concerns about the way that ZC had undertaken an expensive rebranding exercise without any consultation."The Matabeleland province wants to understand who is responsible for the re-branding," said Essat. "But we can’t say because of that the whole ZC board has to go. Like in any other business, all we want is for people to be accountable."Hemant Patel , chairman of the Midlands Cricket Association, explained that his province had withdrawn support for Mashonaland after "constitutional flaws and irregularities in the special general meeting held in Mashonaland" emerged.Some sources claim that ZC brought pressure to bear on other provinces, but it seems that Mashonaland failed to get its own house in order before taking on ZC.

Details of Hayden’s inningsMins      Balls    Balls for 50s50         167        107        107100        308        208        101150        343        242         32200        412        292         50250        463        321         29300        529        362         41350        588        402         40380        622        437          –

Highest Test scores380    Matthew Hayden     Australia v Zimbabwe    Perth          2003-04375    Brian Lara         West Indies v England   St John’s      1993-94365*   Garry Sobers       West Indies v Pakistan  Kingston       1957-58364    Len Hutton         England v Australia     The Oval       1938340    Sanath Jayasuriya  Sri Lanka v India       Colombo        1997-98337    Hanif Mohammad     Pakistan v West Indies  Bridgetown     1957-58336*   Walter Hammond     England v New Zealand   Auckland       1932-33334*   Mark Taylor        Australia v Pakistan    Peshawar       1998-99334    Don Bradman        Australia v England     Leeds          1930

Highest Test scores by Australians380    Matthew Hayden    v Zimbabwe   Perth         2003-04334*   Mark Taylor       v Pakistan   Peshawar      1998-99334    Don Bradman       v England    Leeds         1930311    Bob Simpson       v England    Manchester    1964307    Bob Cowper        v England    Melbourne     1965-66304    Don Bradman       v England    Leeds         1934

Highest Test scores for Australia at Perth380    Matthew Hayden    v Zimbabwe     2003-04219    Michael Slater    v Sri Lanka    1995-96200    David Boon        v New Zealand  1989-90197    Ricky Ponting     v Pakistan     1999-00176    Bob Simpson       v India        1977-78171    Ian Redpath       v England      1970-71

Hayden’s Test runs in last four calendar yearsRuns     Avge2000       267     33.372001      1391     63.222002      1160     72.502003       837     76.09

Most sixes in a Test innings12  Wasim Akram       Pakistan v Zimbabwe          Sheikhupura          1996-9711  Matthew Hayden    Australia v Zimbabwe         Perth                2003-0411  Nathan Astle      New Zealand v England        Christchurch         2001-0210  Wally Hammond     England v New Zealand        Auckland             1932-339  Chris Cairns      New Zealand v Zimbabwe       Auckland             1995-969  Inzamam-ul-Haq    Pakistan v New Zealand       Lahore               2002

Highest totals by Australia in Tests758-8d    Australia v West Indies     Kingston             1954-55735-6d    Australia v Zimbabwe        Perth                2003-04729-6d    Australia v England         Lord’s               1930701       Australia v England         The Oval             1934695       Australia v England         The Oval             1930674       Australia v India           Adelaide             1947-48668       Australia v West Indies     Bridgetown           1954-55

The annual challenge match between Nashua WP and All Gold Boland will be played at Newlands on Wednesday afternoon and not today (Tuesday) as previously advertised.The reason for the change was to accommodate players representing the SA “A” team against India in East London. Ironically this match was abandoned yesterday morning because of rain. The match is scheduled to start at 15h45 and will be played according to Standard Bank Cup rules. The WP selectors announced the WP team on Monday and are resting several players who have minor injury problems ahead of Sunday’s opening Standard Bank Cup match against Easterns in Benoni. Not withstanding injuries WP field a powerful side, which sees the return of Aswell Prince and Lloyd Ferreira.The WP team is;

MEDIA RELEASE:NASHUA Western Province Vs All Gold BolandNewlands Cricket Ground14 November 2001Nashua Western Province  Squad:1) Graeme Smith2) Andrew Puttick3) Jonathan Trott4) Ashwell Prince5) H.D. Ackerman ( C )6) Lloyd Ferreira7) Thami Tsolekile8) Alan Dawson9) Claude Henderson10) Roger Telemachus11) Quentin Friend12) Renier MunnikCoaches: Eric Simons, Vincent Barnes

Scorecard2:02

I was a bit worried about how I’ll do – Gurkeerat

India A’s robust lower middle order contributed three half-centuries to help the side to a strong total before their bowlers scuppered the visitors’ chase.Gurkeerat Singh had the biggest role in his team’s victory as he followed up a fifty with five wickets, while Rishi Dhawan first smashed an unbeaten 56 off 34 balls and then claimed two wickets. Sanju Samson (73) and Mayank Agarwal (56) provided calmer counterpoints to the late-order blast that eventually ensued. Samson put on 102 runs with Gurkeerat for the sixth wicket, before adding 78 for the seventh with Dhawan.Chasing 323, Bangladesh A were off to a wobbly start as left-arm seamer S Aravind dismissed the top three batsmen for a cumulative score of 34. The visitors were reduced to 87 for 5 after Dhawan removed Bangladesh A captain Mominul Haque and Sabbir Rahman. Bangladesh A, however, were roused by a 120-run alliance for the sixth wicket between Nasir Hossain (52) and Liton Das (75). But, once Gurkeerat removed both the batsmen in the space of three overs, the chase headed south, and they were bowled out with 7.3 overs still remaining.While Nasir and Liton were at the crease, however, India A had a genuine scare, as the duo looked untroubled against spin and pace. This was significant given how Aravind had made things difficult by moving the ball sharply, even dismissing Soumya Sarkar and Anamul Haque with successive deliveries. Nasir and Liton mixed cheek and alacrity to ensure Bangladesh A’s scoring rate never really sagged. However, wickets at the wrong time pushed them out of the game.Earlier, having been inserted on a surface that had generous grass cover, India A began briskly. This was partly a result of Bangladesh A’s largesse with the ball: Taskin Ahmed conceded 14 runs in wides in his first two overs even as Mayank Agarwal and captain Unmukt Chand breezed to 44 runs inside five overs. Taskin struck the first blow and sent Chand back. After bowling one that nipped back appreciably off a length, Taskin got one delivery to hold its line and Chand’s airy waft was pouched by the keeper.Meanwhile, Shafiul Islam, who was less profligate, used the bounce on offer judiciously and had Manish Pandey caught behind three overs later. Suresh Raina walked in to cheers from a sparse crowd and, along with Agarwal, sought to stabilise the innings.While not always assured, Raina struck a couple of eye-catching cover-drives. But, Nasir trapped him in front of the stumps in the 16th over with one that didn’t turn much, and Raina did not offer a more confident forward stride. Nasir was in the thick of things again four balls later, as he threw down the stumps to catch Kedar Jadhav short of the crease for a three-ball duck.Agarwal, in the company of Samson, repeatedly played the slog-sweep, but also fell to the shot, finding the fielder at deep midwicket after scoring 56.Samson continued to play steadily for his 73 even as Gurkeerat delighted in some street-smart play in his 65, bisecting Sarkar between point and short third man for successive boundaries. After Gurkeerat was trapped lbw by Arafat Sunny, Dhawan produced an innings that was an amalgam of hacks, dabs and squirts. His innings allowed India A to ransack 98 runs in the last 10 overs, aided by underwhelming fielding from Bangladesh A.

There is still a month to go till the World Twenty20, but no side other than India can claim to know their first XI so much in advance. In the team that beat Sri Lanka 2-1, thus retaining its No. 1 ranking in T20Is, there will only be one change made – Virat Kohli replacing Ajinkya Rahane – barring an extraordinary pitch or an opposition full of left-hand batsmen, but MS Dhoni also knows the fickle nature of the T20 format. He knows his side will be difficult to beat, but he also knows his side can be beaten. Two of the areas that can derail India’s campaign are a big hitter in the opposition and India’s somewhat suspect lower middle order, which can struggle to play the big shots from ball one.”We are always a top contender when it comes to shorter formats,” Dhoni said after India beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets in Visakhapatnam. “Also with the World Cup to be held in India we know the spinners will come into action. It gives us the added benefit. Also the exposure of having played the IPL over here. Out of the eight seasons we have played seven seasons in India. We have got a lot of players, especially ones who are the part of the team, who have got very good experience of playing in India.”All of that will definitely count, but what the shortest format really does is, it narrows down the difference between the two teams. What you have to do is keep the [opposition’s] big hitters out of the game. Also the knockout games, you have to be at your best. Once the knockout stage starts it is more like lottery cricket. To be consistent is something that is very important.”Asked if any aspect of his side was untested, Dhoni spoke of the lower middle order. “Everybody has not got a chance to bat, but we will keep facing this problem,” Dhoni said. “Because also our batting line-up is quite deep. We will try to give batting to a few of the players who haven’t batted so far. But usually people who are batting close to 6, 7 and 8, will have to develop more of going in and straightaway play the big shot. That’s something that will certainly be very important for us. It is not about how many runs you score at that point of time. You may be facing just three or four or five deliveries. If you can get 10 or 12 runs, that will be of real benefit.”But overall, other than that everybody has got an opportunity to bowl, which is a good thing. I think, in the last three games, everybody has gone for runs a bit. If it is the spinners or the fast bowlers, to an extent. They were under pressure at some point of time, which is a good thing for them. Overall we are looking good, but a bit more batting to the middle order will help.”One of the final ticks is R Ashwin’s performance with the new ball after Dhoni had tended to bowl the six Powerplay overs with his quicks in Australia. Ashwin’s success – he has claimed eight wickets in the two matches that he has taken the new ball against Sri Lanka – takes away that predictability from India’s attack. “Ashwin is the pick of the bowlers when it comes to giving him the new ball, [with seven men] in the circle. He still flights the ball, asks the batsmen to step out and play the big shot. That is crucial in this format. At times you tend to bowl too flat, but he is somebody who mixes it up really well.”He gives us that liberty of using the fast bowlers in the middle overs, especially when you are playing with just two fast bowlers. Gives us the liberty of mixing up the bowlers at different levels. But it’s something we will keep doing throughout the coming games. We will see the conditions and the opposition at the same time, how many left-handers they have, and how many right-handers they have. Also what gives me that option is having Suresh Raina in the mix. You have literally two proper offspinners, especially when it is turning, and you have two left-arm spinners in [Ravindra] Jadeja and Yuvraj Singh in the XI so even if one of them has to bowl upfront it doesn’t really matter because the others can do the job.”

Ray Price, the Zimbabwe left-arm spinner who was part of Heath Streak’s rebel strikers in 2004, is to return to international cricket after being handed a call-up for Zimbabwe’s series against the West Indies later this month.Price returned from England two weeks ago after rejecting a new contract with Worcestershire where he spent four seasons. In 2004, he was one of 15 players who went on strike to oppose Zimbabwe Cricket’s (ZC) regime. But despite his apparent wish to one day play for England – he is three years into a four-year qualifying period – Price is rejoining the country of his birth.He has taken 69 wickets in 18 Tests at 35.86, but he was most productive in the 2003-04 season, taking 33 wickets at 22.42 from five Tests.He is understood to have been given a contract by ZC after consulting Streak, Trevor Gripper and other former team-mates.

On how it unfoldedJust prior to the electricity problem, the light was deemed to be bad, andit was offered to the batsmen. They wanted to stay on the field. When thelights went out, they decided they would continue. The first ball afterthe lights went out, when VRV Singh almost got a wicket, they tried to stay ona little longer. But eventually they decided they wanted to go off thefield.Then, the lights came on after electricity supply was restored. When wewent out, the light had deteriorated and was at a lower reading from whenit was initially offered. Asad [Rauf] and I decided we would see what itwas like. We had an over from my end [Zaheer Khan]. Then, when [VRV] Singhbowled from the north end, it was decided that the light had deterioratedto the extent that it was unfit for play.There is a perception at times that it is only the batting side that needsto be taken into account, and that is correct to a degree. They are theones that will be offered the light, which they were. But sometimes, itgets to the stage that the umpires have to make a call, whether it’s unfitfor cricket or not.On whether the reading was the same as the initial oneI can’t give you a correct answer on that as replacement umpire. Asad wasleading the situation. He was using those guidelines that were used forthe past two days as well.On whether the batsmen were offered light the second timeThe light wasn’t offered to them again. We get to a stage when we’reunhappy with the lights and we offer it, and they say yes or no.On what conditions they deem unfit for playFor picking up the line of the ball, background plays a role. For the overthat came from my end, Asad was struggling to pick up the ball from sideon.

Victoria have been bolstered by the return of Cameron White and Mick Lewis from Australian one-day duty for Sunday’s ING Cup match against Tasmania at Launceston. White will be back as captain and he said a win was crucial at the half-way mark of the competition.”Getting the points in Launceston will have us sitting in second position on the table and with plenty of momentum going in to the second half of the season,” he said. Tim Welsford was cut from the squad that comfortably beat Queensland last weekend.Victoria squad Jon Moss, Michael Klinger, Lloyd Mash, David Hussey, Liam Buchanan, Graeme Rummans, Grant Lindsay, Cameron White (capt), Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Harwood, Peter Siddle, Gerard Denton, Mick Lewis.Tasmania Michael Di Venuto (capt), Tim Paine, Travis Birt, George Bailey, Michael Dighton, Adam Polkinghorne, Dane Anderson, Adam Griffith, Xavier Doherty, Shannon Tubb, Ben Hilfenhaus, Darren McNees.