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New Zealand A won their second consecutive one-dayer in the UAE when their pacers demolished Afghanistan for 99 for a 105-run win in Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2014
ScorecardFile photo: Mitchell McClenaghan scored a 24-ball 26 and took two wickets•AFPNew Zealand A won their second consecutive one-dayer in the UAE when their pacers demolished Afghanistan for 99 for a 105-run win in Dubai. Defending 204, New Zealand A were led by three wickets from Kyle Mills and two each from Mitchell McClenaghan and Doug Bracewell.New Zealand A were in a spot of bother after they opted to bat, being 81 for 4 and soon 117 for 6. Opener Anton Devcich led the top order with a 74-ball 55 as three wickets fell in front of him. He fell in the 21st over before Colin de Grandhomme (34) and Nathan McCullum (44) took them past 100 with a stand of 36. The lower order took them to 204 as Mills scored a patient 13 off 37 and McClenaghan an unbeaten 24-ball 26.Afghanistan were in trouble early at 7 for 3 after four overs. The pacers did not allow any substantial partnership to flourish as they were soon 35 for 6. Mirwais Ashraf (30) and Afsar Zazai (21) stalled the fall of wickets with a partnership of 56 for the the seventh wicket. Once that was broken by Grandhomme, the New Zealand A bowlers took 33 more deliveries to wrap them up within 39 overs.

Warwickshire took 17 Durham wickets on the third day to claim an innings win and strengthen their Championship challenge while leaving Durham in the mire

Press Association15-Jul-2014
ScorecardJeetan Patel’s five-wicket burst brought untold gloom for Durham•Getty ImagesWarwickshire are on the march up the Division One table. After beating title rivals Nottinghamshire in their previous match they routed the team who succeeded them as champions last year, winning by an innings and 188 runs inside three days.Durham are left in a scrap with Lancashire and Sussex to avoid relegation, with Northants’ demise already looking certain.Durham coach Jon Lewis said: “Warwickshire’s bowlers were really disciplined. If you keep batsmen under pressure you get wickets, but we didn’t do that on the first day.”We came into the game hoping a win would take us up towards the top, now we are looking at the other end of the table and our next game at Old Trafford will be a crucial one.”Keith Barker followed up his 6 for 46 in dismissing Durham for 171 by reducing them to 4 for 2 when they followed on 301 behind. But the real capitulation began after Keaton Jennings and Michael Richardson had stayed together for 35 overs to add 71.With the fourth ball of his 12th over Jeetan Patel had Richardson caught at short leg and went on to take 5 for 9 in 22 balls, finishing with 5 for 49.Boyd Rankin took 3 for 16 as Durham subsided from 75 for 2 to 113 all out to slide deeper into relegation trouble.They began the day on 62 for 3 in their first innings and Barker took two wickets in the seventh over. With Chris Wright off the field with a stiff back, Warwickshire had Rikki Clarke operating from the other end and Durham made comfortable progress in the first 20 minutes.Gordon Muchall then fell lbw and two balls later Paul Collingwood pushed forward to a ball slanted across him and edged Barker to Clarke at second slip. Three wickets had gone down for five runs when Phil Mustard drove at Clarke and edged to Will Porterfield at third slip.At 83 for 6, John Hastings joined Scott Borthwick and they enjoyed some respite when Barker was rested with figures of 18-7-33-4.Borthwick went for 46 when played back to a ball from Rankin which kept low and had him lbw. Hastings hit Patel for six on his way to 51 off 66 balls before Barker returned after lunch to have him caught at first slip.When Durham followed on, Mark Stoneman fell second ball on the day he received a penalty under the ECB’s discipline code for showing dissent when given out lbw to Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth at Headingley last week.He followed an away swinger he could have left and edged to third slip, where Will Porterfield clung on again to remove Borthwick in Barker’s next over.Patel, turning the ball out of Barker’s footmarks, had been threatening for some time when he finally Richardson caught by Sam Hain at short leg for 30.Two balls later Muchall was lbw for the fourth successive innings, then Jennings played on for 37 against Rankin and three wickets had fallen for no runs. Collingwood swept Patel for four and was then pinned lbw by Rankin, then Mustard drove at Patel at edged to Clarke at slip.Hastings drove to long on and 75 for two had become 91 for nine before Mark Wood swung lustily to make 18 before he was bowled by Rankin.

A powerful performance from South Africa A’s top order made short work of National Performance Squad otal of 252 in the third-place playoff of the Quadrangular Series in Darwin

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2014
ScorecardA powerful performance from South Africa A’s top order made short work of National Performance Squad (NPS) total of 252 in the third-place playoff of the Quadrangular Series in Darwin. The visitors’ top three – Reeza Hendricks, Rilee Rossouw and Cody Chetty – made half-centuries to complete the chase with 69 balls to spare.After winning the toss, NPS relied on fifties from opener Alex Keath and No. 4 Travis Head to set up their score. Keath made 55 of 96 balls, while Head’s 60 came off 61. Seven of the other nine batsmen made it into double figures, but Sean Abbott’s 24 was the highest. NPS slipped from 2 for 130, when Keath was dismissed, to 8 for 218 and did not have the propulsion they needed at the finish. South Africa’s quicks – Marchant de Lange, Beuran Hendricks and Hardus Viljoen took eight wickets between them.Chasing 253, South Africa made a cracking start with the openers added 138 in quick time. Rossouw’s 69 took only 53 balls and Hendricks’ 90 came off 75. They were dismissed by Mark Steketee and Keath respectively, but Chetty made brisk, unbeaten 55 at No. 3 to see the chase through to the finish. It was done in 39.3 overs.

The feud between the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation has taken a new twist, as both governing bodies have been asked to supply letters of allegiance from their members to the ICC

Peter Della Penna25-Apr-2014The feud between the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation has taken a new twist, as both governing bodies have been asked to supply letters of allegiance from their members to the ICC.The ACF was created out of the ashes of the 2012 USACA election and their membership has grown to the point where they formally sought recognition in February from the ICC as a national governing body.Since 2012, there has been a lack of clarity between the number of leagues the USACA has claimed to be its members, and those which actually are, particularly with respect to those who haven’t paid annual membership dues to USACA in the last three years. The ICC’s request for USACA and ACF to supply confirmation letters could play a deciding factor in the ongoing dispute in order to decide which body is legitimately in control of cricket in the USA. Having two national governing bodies could potentially result in an ICC suspension for the USA, a fate that occurred in both 2005 and 2007.According to the recently-released minutes from USACA’s last board meeting on March 23, ICC president Alan Isaac sent a letter dated March 11 to USACA president Gladstone Dainty requesting updated information on a series of topics including USACA’s current membership. USACA board member John Thickett sent a notice to all USACA member leagues requesting them to provide a letter to USACA chief executive Darren Beazley, to pass on to the ICC, in which the USACA member leagues confirm USACA as the sole governing body for cricket in the USA.ESPNcricinfo has obtained communication from an ACF member league in which ACF chief executive Jamie Harrison reached out to ACF members on March 29, asking for each ACF league to supply a similar letter confirming ACF as the governing body for cricket in the USA.”As part of the process by which a new national governing body will be certified for the United States, the ICC has requested that each ACF member league submit a letter asserting that it recognizes the ACF as the USA’s national governing body,” Harrison wrote to his members.The communication is an indication that the ICC is willing to step in to mediate the dispute that is growing between the two factions. USACA is currently the ICC recognized governing body for cricket in the USA, but the ACF has grown considerably in the last 12 months as more and more member leagues have left USACA to join the upstart ACF. This includes America’s largest league, the 72-team Commonwealth Cricket League in New York City.USACA continues to claim on its website that it has 52 member leagues, but those figures are dated 2012, before USACA disenfranchised 32 member leagues ahead of the 2012 election. A dozen of those leagues have since joined ACF while many others have stopped paying membership fees to USACA. Seven leagues that were not previously affiliated with USACA have also joined the ACF.A separate layer also exists with leagues like the Southern California Cricket Association, which has hedged its bets by paying membership fees to both organizations while the dispute over national governing body superiority is ironed out. SCCA hosted the inaugural ACF National Championship in 2012, but has still maintained USACA membership in an effort to allow their star players to remain eligible for selection to the USA national team.

Ben Stokes, the England allrounder, could miss at least the first month of the season following surgery on the wrist he broke thumping a locker during England’s final T20 against West Indies in Barbados

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2014Ben Stokes, the England allrounder, could miss at least the first month of the season following surgery on the wrist he broke thumping a locker during England’s final T20 against West Indies in Barbados.Stokes’ frustration got the better of him after his first-ball dismissal to Krishmar Santokie and he took it on the dressing-room furniture, the resulting break ruling him out of the World T20 and the opening phase of the English season with Durham.An ECB statement said: “Ben Stokes has had an operation on the fractured scaphoid bone in his right wrist. Stokes will be reviewed in six weeks and a schedule for his return to full training will be determined following the review.The timeframe means England’s one-day international against Scotland, on May 9, appears tight for him to make a return and he may have to wait until the T20 and ODIs against Sri Lanka later in the month. The restructuring of the international season – moving the first Test series into June instead of May – means he should have plenty of time to be ready for the Tests against Sri Lanka.

Steven Finn has insisted that the collapse in his bowling form has been exaggerated and that after leaving England’s tour of Australia prematurely he can make a quick return next summer

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2014Steven Finn has insisted that the collapse in his bowling form has been exaggerated and that after leaving England’s tour of Australia prematurely he is confident he can quickly make the technical adjustments necessary to return to the international side next summer.Finn did not play in a single Test during England’s 5-0 whitewash but pronounced himself “knackered” by his perpetual attempts to sort out his malfunctioning bowling action in the nets. Giving his only interview to ecb.co.uk – English cricket’s in-house website – he said he had felt his action was “close to clicking on numerous occasions and dismissed some media coverage as “uninformed”.”I have worked very hard on this tour,” Finn said in an interview also freely available on the ECB’s YouTube site. “I have put lots and lots of hours in to try to make my bowling action right. I arrived on the tour very confident I could play a full part in the Ashes series. As the series went on, and as we moved into the one-day leg of the tour, it is clear that there are a couple of technical issues I need to address.”At times it has felt like I have been banging my head against a brick wall, trying to make it right and trying to be prepared to play and take myself out of this environment, a competitive environment, and work with people what I’ve worked with before, I’m really looking forward to it.”We will address what needs addressing, make a plan and stick to that religiously. There have been times on this trip when it has felt so close to clicking. Bowling in the nets before the Prime Minister’s XI game I bowled nicely, I bowled with decent pace, I bowled quite consistently, but it’s the infrequency with which that has happened which has probably led to me going home.”It’s close to clicking and it’s not going to take too much to get me back where I want to be.”Finn echoed the belief of Angus Fraser, director of cricket at Middlesex and a long-time confidant, that he needed to fall in love with the game again.”I’d love to stay out here and put myself up for selection… It’s got to a point on the tour where I suppose the constant setbacks I’ve had in the nets it’s going to be good for me to get away and clear my head for a couple of weeks and, as Angus said, just fall in the love with the game again. I do love the game but at times it’s been hard to love it because I’ve been fighting myself so much.Steve Finn says it will not be too long before he is putting his hand up for selection again•Getty Images”It’s tough for me to leave the tour, I’m upset I’m leaving the tour because I want to be helping England win games of cricket… but I do feel that it’s best if I go home now.”Finn accepts that he has minimal chance of being included in England’s World Twenty plans in Bangladesh as he will have no matches to prove that his troubles are behind him. His target is England’s one-day series against Sri Lanka in mid-May.”As far as the West Indies tour goes, it;s going to be difficult to put up my hand for selection… the focus for me is getting back for Middlesex and playing some early season cricket and try to put my hand up for those one-dayers in mid-May.”He did not give an interview to the media to give an honest appraisal of the situation he was in, but still attacked some of the coverage as “uninformed”.”I am nowhere near as far away as some people have been suggesting in the press,” he said. “It is quite an uninformed view from people who haven’t seen me bowl much. I have been doing a lot of bowling away from people’s eyes. I feel it is not far away from clicking but I have had two-and-a-half months feeling like that.”In terms of the technical things, they are not massive things. I’ve aligned my run-ups – my run-ups are nice straight line to the crease now – I did a lot of work on that last summer – and it’s just about getting the timing of my arms and legs working at the same time. Sometimes a little thing can throw you out on either of those things but once my arms and my legs start working together again I feel I can come out of this a better bowler.”I am not sure I will take a Test wicket or an ODI or T20 wicket for granted ever again.”When you are busting a gut every time you step into the nets, sometimes it can be a case of trying too hard. I am knackered come the end of this tour now because I have spent so many hours in the nets trying to put things right.”It’s not massive things. I’ve not forgotten how to bowl.”

A round-up of the National Cricket League matches that ended on February 22, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2014Khulna Division captain Ziaur Rahman’s eighth first-class hundred paved the way for the team’s nine-wicket win against Sylhet Division.Ziaur struck nine fours and 13 sixes during his 167, as Khulna ended their first innings at 352 with a lead of 229. Earlier, Dolar Mahmud and Rajibul Islam had notched four scalps each to run through Sylhet for 123 in their first essay.Sylhet would’ve hoped for a better outcome in the second innings, but while most of their batsmen made starts, none could produce a fifty. Nahidul Islam and Murad Khan shared eight wickets between them to bundle Sylhet out for 245, leaving Khulna just 17 to get a victory. The side achieved the target in 8.4 overs for the loss of one wicket.

Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore has affirmed the promise of batsmen Sharjeel Khan and Sohaib Maqsood ahead of the second ODI against Sri Lanka

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Dec-2013Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore has affirmed the promise of batsmen Sharjeel Khan and Sohaib Maqsood ahead of the second ODI against Sri Lanka. Sharjeel stroked a run-a-ball 61 in Sharjah to set Pakistan’s commanding total in motion, before Maqsood consolidated his team’s advantage alongside Mohammad Hafeez in the middle overs, hitting 73 from 68.They were impressive hands from Sharjeel, on debut, and Maqsood, in his sixth ODI, and although Whatmore was careful not to overstate their potential, he lauded their hunger, as well as their intent at the crease.”It was a very good innings by Maqsood. He’s somebody that’s shown the selectors and myself that he wants to play,” Whatmore said. “When you lose eight to ten kilos in a relatively short space of time, that’s a big effort. Just on that alone I reckon it was worth selecting him. He’s rewarded us with some terrific performances.”Sharjeel debuted yesterday, but in my pre-match talk at the ground, I completely forgot it was his debut because I got the feeling he’s been around so much recently in the T20s. We eventually all congratulated him and he showed the sort of potential that he has. I’m not going to say he’s going to be a great player, but he’s got the potential to be a very good contributor. I’m pleased with that.”Sohaib Maqsood happens to tell me Sharjeel is his childhood friend. During Sharjeel’s innings, Maqsood sat next to me and gave some useful predictions about this kid. They were both very true – on the money. It’s good that each of these guys know each other’s games.”Whatmore also praised Hafeez for his 122, which held the Pakistan’s innings together. Hafeez struggled for batting form in home and away series against South Africa, and had not crossed 35 in his eight previous ODI innings.”Hafeez was really keen yesterday to get back amongst the runs,” Whatmore said. “He’s been a very good contributor in some ways. He had a lean patch against South Africa and was very keen to get back into runs – you might have seen his celebration after the hundred. To me, Hafeez is an automatic selection because he is a multi-dimensional player – the sort we need more of in Pakistan.”Whatmore said the option of batting Hafeez lower down his customary No. 3 had been brought up within the team but he expressed confidence that Hafeez could contribute from anywhere in the side.”There has been some discussion about dropping him down the order, particularly when he wasn’t getting runs against South Africa, which was a disappointment for him, more than anything else. But he knows what I think and I speak to him directly. I think he’s got many, many more years to serve the country and whether he does it successfully at number three or whether he does it successfully lower in the order is something somebody else will have to agree on, because I finish in the next few weeks. He’s certainly a valuable player for Pakistan.”

Victoria captain Matthew Wade has been suspended for one Sheffield Shield match for pitch tampering during his side’s win over Tasmania at Bellerive Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2013Victoria captain Matthew Wade has been suspended for one Sheffield Shield match for pitch tampering during his side’s win over Tasmania at Bellerive Oval. Wade, who scored 119 during Victoria’s first innings on Thursday and Friday was found guilty of breaching the Cricket Australia Code of Behaviour while batting, after the umpires Ian Lock and Sam Nogajski reported him for “unfair play”.”While batting during Victoria’s first innings, umpires determined that Wade had tampered with the pitch,” Cricket Australia said in a statement. “Both umpires considered the change to the pitch, which resulted in the creation of a long valley within the protected area, had been created by means other than natural wear and tear.”Wade denied the charge and a full disciplinary hearing was held, led by Daryl Harper, the match referee and former Test umpire. Harper upheld the guilty verdict and Wade was penalised 50% of his match fee and received two suspension points, which will result in him missing Victoria’s match against Western Australia in Perth starting on Friday.However, Wade has the right to appeal the decision, which would have to be lodged within the next 48 hours. Tony Dodemaide, the chief executive of Cricket Victoria, said the state would review the finding against Wade before deciding on its course of action.”We are currently reviewing the events in their entirety before deciding whether to lodge an appeal and will not comment further until that decision has been made,” Dodemaide said.

With three straight defeats, Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel captain Dwayne Bravo admits he is still maturing as a captain

Renaldo Matadeen08-Aug-2013Following another Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel defeat in the inaugural Caribbean Premier League (CPL), captain Dwayne Bravo is emphasizing that he is still maturing in his role as a captain. Bravo recently came in some flak following disappointing home series against India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which also saw a dip in the all-rounder’s form. With fans mulling over his leadership qualities, Bravo made it clear, “I’m backing myself to do well as a captain of any team I lead.”The most recent CPL loss to Jamaica Tallawahs has reignited talks over Bravo’s ability to captain, as Trinidad’s dismal form has been compounded by three consecutive losses. “I know fans in the region, and in Trinidad, may be questioning my ability to lead, but I ask them to bear with me. I’m growing as a captain. I see it as a learning curve and a patient process. It’s not easy to adapt but I am trying. I’m confident I’m the man to do the job and I just need folks to rally around me.”In Jamaica’s five-run victory, Bravo bowled the 19th over and was slaughtered by Vernon Philander and Danza Hyatt for 26, when the likes of Samuel Badree (0 for 7 in two overs) and Suliemann Benn (0 for12 in two overs) were expected to finish at the death of the innings. “I know we have good bowlers but I had good figures up until that point and I was confident as the most experienced bowler. I’ve been in this pressure situation many times [before] and pulled it off, but unfortunately today, it didn’t work out. If we had won the game, people wouldn’t be talking about the over, but we lost so it stands out more,” he admitted. “I’ll accept responsibility. I have to work on my bowling because it’s been letting me down recently, but today I was glad to give a good batting display.”Bravo confessed that he would remain undaunted in his capacity to deliver. “80% of the fans will be for you when you’re going through a rough patch. The other 20% would say otherwise, but I just need a win and some good individual performances to convince everyone otherwise.”Everyone has ups and downs as captain – Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and even Ricky Ponting, when he lost Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne to retirement. But history doesn’t remember those periods as much, it remembers they were great captains. I aspire to be that same thing,” professed Bravo rather dejectedly.The loss exacerbated a miserable start by Bravo’s unit, but he ensured that he was ready to make changes, reassess and lead the right eleven out in the future. He did say that it was frustrating coming off the heels of some off-key West Indies performances of late. However, he indicated that his role as mentor to the younger players was not deterred. Nicholas Pooran, who turned in another elegant cameo against Jamaica Tallawahs, is a player he wants to groom.”He has the ability and talent [and I] can see him become the next Kieron Pollard. I’m the captain and I would like to see Nicholas continue playing his natural game, freely and organically, and we’ll guide him. This keeps him grounded and we should support players like this. He can bat both left and right-handed, and I’m urging him to show this at some point in the CPL. I’m there to encourage youngsters to give it their all.”A captain is as good as his team. I am aiming to improve for my franchise and the West Indies. It’s a dream come true to lead my country and the West Indies, ever since I was a little kid. But I wasn’t groomed in my career to lead. I’ve been learning through playing and it’s been challenging. But I’m gathering experience and I’m hoping for support from the regional fans. I know I’ll win you over and bring joy to you soon.”