Jesse Ryder confirmed his recovery from the groin injury that forced his withdrawal from the IPL, as he cracked a rapid 64 from 30 balls, including five fours and five sixes, to lift New Zealand to a matchwinning 187 for 5 in their opening Twenty20 warm-u

Cricinfo staff27-Apr-2010New Zealand 187 for 5 (Ryder 64) beat Ireland 147 for 9 (Porterfield 34, McCullum 3-25) by 30 runs

ScorecardJesse Ryder muscled his way to 64•AFP

Jesse Ryder confirmed his recovery from the groin injury that forced his withdrawal from the IPL, as he cracked a rapid 64 from 30 balls, including five fours and five sixes, to lift New Zealand to a matchwinning 187 for 5 in their opening Twenty20 warm-up against Ireland at Providence.After New Zealand won the toss, Ryder opened the batting alongside Rob Nicol, who made 31 from 30 balls in an opening stand of 104. Paul Stirling made the breakthrough by bowling Ryder in the tenth over, but Martin Guptill replaced him with similar bravado at No. 3, and rattled along to 50 from 35 balls.It wasn’t until George Dockrell, the 17-year-old left-arm spinner, entered the attack that Ireland managed to apply a brake to the scoring rate, as he removed Nicol, Scott Styris and Gareth Hopkins in a superb four-over spell of 3 for 24. But Daniel Vettori biffed 18 valuable runs from 12 deliveries to give the total a late lift.In a valuable pointer as to the conditions that can be expected at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, spin continued to play a major role when New Zealand’s turn came to bowl, with Nathan McCullum taking the new ball and striking in his first over as Stirling was bowled for a duck.McCullum added two more wickets in his spell – Niall O’Brien for 12 and Gary Wilson for 31 – both stumped by Hopkins – as Ireland’s hopes of victory evaporated. Trent Johnston smacked two sixes in a 12-ball 16 before becoming Hopkins’ third stumping of the innings, this time off Styris, while Kevin O’Brien was run out for 28 from 19 balls.

Bangladesh’s captain, Shakib Al Hasan, has confirmed he received an approach from an unknown person whom he believed wanted him to manipulate the result of a one-day international against Ireland

Andrew Miller at Lord's26-May-2010Bangladesh’s captain, Shakib Al Hasan, has confirmed he received an approach from an unknown person whom he believed wanted him to manipulate the result of a one-day international against Ireland.The incident is believed to have taken place in Dhaka in March 2008, and involved a brief phonecall on the eve of an ODI series against Ireland in which Shakib, who was not captain at the time, was offered “sponsorship” in return for his under-performance.In accordance with the strict guidelines of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, Shakib immediately reported the approach to a Bangladesh Cricket Board official and to Colonel Qaza Noor, the ACSU’s regional manager, and never heard from the caller again. Bangladesh had been expected to win the contest, and duly did, by a comfortable 3-0 margin.”It was a long time ago, probably two-and-a-half years ago, in our home conditions against Ireland,” Shakib said on the eve of the first Test against England at Lord’s. “I didn’t talk to him much because we had a team meeting to go to, so I told him ‘I’ll talk to you later’ and immediately told a member of the board and the ICC guy. They took action and after that he never called me again.”Shakib’s revelations come on the same day that the Daily Telegraph revealed that a senior county cricketer was asked to “name his price” to fix the result of televised one-day matches in English domestic cricket, and the ECB later confirmed two players had reported approaches to them. It confirms the fears of the outgoing head of the ACSU, Lord Condon, that the threat of match fixing will never be entirely stamped out, and that it could “spread like a rash” if the game’s players and administrators relax their vigilance.”Cricket probably has the strongest anti-corruption code for players and support staff of any international sport,” said Condon. “The modern generation of players know that if they bet on games, underperform for fixing, or even if they don’t report an approach that is a disciplinary offence in itself. If we have due reason we can ask for their phone records, and they have to provide them.”We introduced an education programme so that anyone who wanted to play international cricket had to go through a programme that raised their awareness of who the fixers were, how they fixed, and how they groomed players. That has been very well thought out and very useful, because we now have a generation of players who are supportive of what we are trying to do, and aware of how the fixers operate. They are the providers of the most important intelligence that we get.”Shakib added that the exact nature of the deal that the phone-caller was proposing was never fully revealed. “We didn’t have time to discuss all the things, and what I should do,” he said. “I took the phone, and from the way he was talking, I thought he might do something, so I told someone. He never exactly told me he wanted me to fix a match, he just told me he wanted to be my sponsor.”I can’t speak for anyone else, but as far as I’m concerned my head wasn’t turned at that time,” he added. “What I feel is I do not care about the money. I want to play for my country, because that is a great pride for me, and I want to continue to do well for my country. As far as my family is concerned we are settled enough to lead our lives, so I am not concerned about those monies. If I play well for the next ten years, the money will come and I won’t have to worry about it.”England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, said: “I’ve never heard or had any reason to suspect that a game I’ve played in has been fixed in any way. If it is happening, it needs to be stamped out straight away. There’s no place for it in any form of cricket, and we’ve got a duty as players to make sure that if we hear of it, or are approached by someone, we come forward and report it straight away.”It’s the only way of ironing it out. For players to be tempted by taking money is ludicrous in my mind. The authorities are doing everything they can, but there is a huge responsibility on the players to make sure it doesn’t take hold and spread.”

Phillip Hughes is hoping to get back on the field before the end of the English summer as he continues to recover from a serious shoulder injury

Cricinfo staff02-Jun-2010Phillip Hughes is hoping to get back on the field before the end of the English summer as he continues to recover from a serious shoulder injury. Hughes had surgery on his left shoulder four weeks ago after hurting it during boxing training and it has ruled him out of Australia’s Tests against Pakistan in England in July.However, Hughes could consider a stint in county or league cricket to get some game-time ahead of the Australian season. Although he will be hard-pressed to fight his way into the side for the first Ashes Test with Simon Katich and Shane Watson the established openers, Hughes knows that the more matches he plays before then the better his chances of international action.”Time wise, three months from now if I’m back fully fit three months from now I’ll be very happy,” Hughes told AAP. “It might not take as long or it might take a bit longer depending on how rehab goes.”England is something I could be thinking about, for now I’m just worried about my shoulder, and then when it’s closer to 100%, depending on timeframe and where I am and what’s around, I’ll definitely be looking at playing something.”Hughes’ last taste of Test cricket came in Wellington in March, when he hared to 86 in Australia’s chase of 106. The injury at least came during his off-season and he was content with the progress he had made since the problem arose.”I can move it now, it’s been three weeks and I’ve been doing a little bit of rehab, but I’ll start fully into rehab every day next week,” Hughes said. “It could’ve been a lot worse [timing] but it’s never a good time to get injured.”I’ve been quite lucky with injuries, never had big injuries like this before in the last four or five years of my professional cricketing career, so I’ve been lucky, but if there’s a positive to come out of it, it’s good that it happened now and not in the middle of summer.”

Graeme Smith is hoping the pitch in Barbados offers more than the dull surface in St Kitts following a dozy draw in the second Test

Cricinfo staff22-Jun-2010Graeme Smith is hoping the pitch in Barbados offers more than the dull surface in St Kitts following a dozy draw in the second Test. South Africa declared after tea at 235 for 3 to end a match containing only three innings, including scores of 543 for 6 declared and 546.”This was not an exciting surface on which to play Test cricket,” Smith said. “We were all looking for a good, even battle between bat and ball. Hopefully, Barbados will have a little bit more in the pitch, and it will be more of a fair challenge for both sides.”The match drifted terminally on the fourth morning when West Indies added only 39 runs for the opening session. Smith was surprised the hosts didn’t push on in an effort to level the series at 1-1.”Our tactics [on the fourth day] were that West Indies had batted themselves into a position, and being 0-1 down, we felt they had an opportunity to make a play,” he said. “They didn’t make the play, and they were defensive, which played into our hands, so we had to bat out today, and we head to Barbados still up 1-0.”However, Chris Gayle said he was “very happy with the result”. “Our batting has been struggling, and to get over 500 runs is a great achievement,” he said. “We must commend the guys for the way they batted. Shiv [Chanderpaul] and [Brendan] Nash getting hundreds was always going to be good for us.”The main thing Gayle took out of the match was the side’s better batting performance in the first innings, even including the period on the fourth morning. “I am satisfied because our plan was to bat out the day, and when you looked at the way they bowled at us it was always going to be difficult for us to score,” he said. “So we just tried to bat as many overs as possible.” The final Test begins at Kensington Oval on Saturday.

The PCB are expected to meet on Friday to decide on a successor to Shahid Afridi as Test captain for the series against England

Osman Samiuddin16-Jul-2010The PCB are expected to meet on Friday to decide on a successor to Shahid Afridi as Test captain for the series against England. Salman Butt is the tour vice-captain and would normally be in line to take over, but that will not, according the the PCB chairman, happen “automatically.”Afridi caught everyone, including the PCB, off-guard by announcing his retirement from Test cricket immediately after his first Test as captain – and first Test in four years – which Pakistan lost to Australia by 150 runs at Lord’s. He cited a side strain and temperamental incompatibility to the demands of the five-day game as factors behind the decision. The second Test at Leeds -fitness permitting – will be his last.Yawar Saeed, the team manager, told Cricinfo that the vice-captain should take over, as per procedure and Waqar Younis, the coach, also suggested that Butt would take over but it is not inked in stone yet. “Shahid has officially informed me of the decision and we will meet tonight to discuss who will take over,” Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, told Cricinfo.”Salman Butt is the vice-captain but that does not automatically entitle him to take over just yet. A decision will be made soon.” The meeting will include inputs from Waqar and Yawar and given Afridi’s side strain, it could be that the new man takes over from the Headingley Test.Options are not exactly bulging at the moment. The last two Test captains Pakistan have had – Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf – are both out of national reckoning; Yousuf has retired, though that is an impermanent state in Pakistan and though Younis’s ban has been lifted, the PCB is still not keen to bring him back into the squad.Media speculation in Pakistan suggested that Yousuf had been contacted by the board and asked to come to England, though it was unclear whether as a player or possible captain. But Butt said no contact had been made with Yousuf or Younis , who is currently playing for Surrey, though when asked about the possibility of them appearing at some stage of the tour, he refused to rule it out or in. “It is only one Test so far and I have not contacted either of them. I don’t want to comment on it anymore. We will have a meeting and decisions will be made in that,” Butt saidShoaib Malik, who was captain until February 2009, is in England with the side but was not even picked for the Lord’s Test. From the playing XI, only Kamran Akmal and Butt have the kind of experience which might begin to form the basis of a credible alternative. It seems inconceivable that they will appoint someone from beyond that trio.Ijaz Butt had appointed Afridi as recently as the end of May, uniting the captaincy of Pakistan in all formats under one man again. “We must respect his decision,” Butt said. “He came to me and told me categorically that he feels he is not suited to Test cricket and that he has taken the decision himself. It is very honest of him and we must respect that decision.”Afridi is keen to continue his career in ODI and Twenty20 cricket and though he has not clarifiied whether he would do so as captain, Butt hoped that he would.

Paul Hawkins says the players’ doubts simply reflect a lack of understanding and is confident of altering the mindset if given a chance to explain the technology to them

Tariq Engineer12-Aug-2010The use of the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) in India is still in the balance given the opposition of several Indian players, including India captain MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, and the indifference of the BCCI. But the inventor of Hawk-Eye, the ball tracking technology that is most often used for the UDRS, has said the players’ doubts simply reflect a lack of understanding and is confident of altering the mindset if given a chance to explain the technology to them.India were part of the first trial of the referral system during their tour of Sri Lanka in 2008. They struggled with their referrals, getting most of them wrong. The team has been reluctant to use the technology since. However, the technology used in that series was Virtual Eye, a different technology from Hawk-Eye.”The issue of whether to use it or not has nothing to do with cost issues,” Paul Hawkins, managing director of Hawk-Eye Innovations, said. “I think it is mainly whether the Indian team has confidence in the technology. If the Indian players take some time to understand the system fully, that it wasn’t Hawk-Eye [in Sri Lanka]; if it was explained to them properly, those concerns would go away.”Hawkins said he would like to sit down with the players and show them how Hawk-Eye works. He has met with India coach Gary Kirsten in the past and says a lot of Kirsten’s questions were answered.”We are trying to get to speak to some of the players,” Hawkins said. “I think Dhoni has expressed an interest in coming and learning a little bit more. You need to sit down for half-an-hour and explain things properly. Hopefully he [Dhoni] will find the time when it suits him.”Prior to the 2010 India – Sri Lanka Test series, Sri Lanka wanted to use the UDRS but India objected. “It’s still not a 100% correct system,” MS Dhoni said at the time. “Let’s wait and see until the ICC comes up with a foolproof plan.”The ICC’s minimum requirements for the referral system include ball tracking technology, super slow-motion cameras and a clean audio feed from the stump microphone. Hawk-Eye uses triangulation to map the trajectory of the ball as it travels from bowler to batsman. Seven high-speed video cameras record the ball’s path and bounce and relay the data frame by frame to a computer system. This data then allows the system to predict the future movement of the ball. While there is a margin of error involved, Hawkins says it is relatively small (2.6 mm) and the margin is built into the modus operandi of a referral.”Our system’s margin of error is so small, given the protocol that is used, it is kind of irrelevant. You have the zone of uncertainty built in, which is effectively a model of the umpire’s zone of uncertainty.”It is this incorporation of traditional umpiring philosophy into the UDRS that allows the system to be used without completely changing the traditions of the game. For example, when a batsman is hit more than 2.5 metres down the wicket, the umpire is not required to abide by Hawk-Eye’s prediction.”That would massively change the game,” Hawkins said. “Not because of the accuracy of the system, but because it has never been given out in the last 100 years.”Hawkins says the most difficult prediction for Hawk-Eye to make is where the ball travels less than 40 cm after pitching, though it is rare for an LBW to occur when the ball has travelled such a short distance (there has been only one such referral so far). In those instances, it is best to let the umpire decide whether a batsman is out or not.”If there is less than 40 cm of travel, in that instance a good umpire should be giving greater benefit to the batsmen,” Hawkins said. “That is the most difficult – less than 40 cm – as a model. It [the protocol] also protects the tracking system when there has been little data.”

Sri Lanka have rescheduled their domestic calendar for the coming season in order to give their players ample match practice ahead of the 2011 World Cup

Sa'adi Thawfeeq19-Sep-2010Sri Lanka have rescheduled their domestic calendar for the coming season in order to give their players match practice ahead of the 2011 World Cup, which begins in February. Sri Lanka have only eight ODIs scheduled ahead of the World Cup, three against Australia and five against West Indies, but the new domestic calendar, which starts in December, gives them the opportunity to play more one-day cricket.”We drew up the domestic schedule after discussion with chairman of selectors Aravinda de Silva, coach Trevor Bayliss and SLC [Sri Lanka Cricket] secretary Nishantha Ranatunga,” Ravi de Silva, the tournament committee chairman, said. “We have found out through past experience, and in consultation with the meteorological department, that the months of October and November have the highest rainfalls.”The major change to the domestic calendar is that no matches will be played in October and November. “We looked back at the past five years and a great majority of matches have been affected due to the bad weather,” de Silva said. “We have decided to keep October and November free and give the cricketers some recovery time. This means the Premier League will be pushed back to January.”The limited-overs season begins with the Inter-club Premier tournament in the first week of December and ends with the Inter-provincial event on January 28, three weeks before the World Cup. The first-class Premier League (Tiers A and B) starts on February 20 and continues till April, running concurrently with the World Cup.

The Lions against South Australia in Centurion on Sunday is a pretty even match

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit11-Sep-2010

Match facts

Sunday, September 12
Start time 1330 (1130 GMT)Shaun Tait will be a key figure with the ball for South Australia•Getty Images

Big Picture

If the Lions’ game against Mumbai Indians was akin to David taking on Goliath, this one is more even. The South African team meets South Australia, who are without their star players Kieron Pollard and Shahid Afridi, and have now gone 14 years without a domestic title since their Sheffield Shield win in 1995-96.The Lions at least have a domestic Pro20 crown from 2006-07 to show for their efforts. The last time South Australia won anything, they were led by current Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons. That just goes to show how barren their cupboard has been in recent times. So they surprised even themselves by winning four games on the trot in the last Big Bash – Australia’s domestic Twenty20 tournament – before being thrashed by Victoria in the final. Pollard and Afridi had a big role to play in that run and to say that they will be missed is an understatement.South Australia have arrived with a new leadership team of Michael Klinger and his deputy, Callum Ferguson. Neither batsman has a reputation for being a hitter and Ferguson, who has a T20 strike-rate under 110, hasn’t played since injuring his knee in the 2009 Champions Trophy final. The batting hopes will rest on Daniel Harris, whose 62-ball 98 against Victoria is the highest T20 score by a South Australia batsman.The Lions, meanwhile, will be upbeat after beating star-studded Mumbai, giving them one of the biggest wins in their history. Their bowlers came back after Sachin Tendulkar looked to be running away with the game, and will fancy their chances against a South Australian batting line-up that lacks its big guns.

Watch out for…

After recently ruling out a return to Test cricket, Shaun Tait will be keen to show once again that he belongs in the shortest format in which a tearaway spell of a couple of overs, something that he is quite capable of, can change a game.Though the batsmen set up the Lions’ win on Friday, Shane Burger applied the finishing touch with his medium-pace, bowling Tendulkar and Pollard in consecutive overs. He will look to be on target once again with his full-pitched deliveries.

Key contests

Jonathan Vandiar v Tait: Vandiar started nervously against Mumbai before swinging some big hits over the leg side, including one six off Lasith Malinga that went 87 metres into the crowd, to top-score with 71. Tait is similar to Malinga in action and likes to bowl full and fast like the Sri Lankan.

Stats and trivia

• Centurion was the most batsman-friendly venue in IPL 2009, leading in both run-rate, 7.64 an over, and average, 27.46 per wicket.
• Neil McKenzie is the most-capped Test cricketer among both teams, having played 58 Tests for South Africa. Lions’ captain Alviro Petersen, with four Tests, is a distant second.

Zimbabwe Cricket has announced a US$1 million-plus kit sponsorship deal with sports manufacturer Reebok

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2010Zimbabwe Cricket has announced a US$1 million-plus kit sponsorship deal with sports goods manufacturer Reebok.”We have reached an agreement with Reebok to sponsor our national team and domestic league for three years,” Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute told . “The agreement is worth nearly US$400,000 annually.”The deal, which was reached earlier this month, with Reebok brings to an end a long-term tie-in with the local manufacturers, Faith Wear. Reebok, a subsidiary of the German sports manufacturer Adidas, has also secured kit deals with the Sri Lanka and South Africa teams.The sponsorship deal is the latest in a series of positive measures taken as Zimbabwe bids for re-entry into the Test arena. Earlier this month, Zimbabwe Cricket said it planned to renovate two of the country’s main venues, Harare Sports Club and Mutare Sports Club. The work will result in an increase in crowd capacity and an improvement in playing and spectator facilities.

Laura Marsh helped England take an unassailable 2-0 series lead by top-scoring with 30 and taking two wickets as England eased to a 17-run win in the 2nd Twenty20 against Sri Lanka at Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2010
Scorecard
Laura Marsh helped England take an unassailable 2-0 series lead by top-scoring with 30 and taking two wickets as England eased to a 17-run win in the 2nd Twenty20 against Sri Lanka at Colombo.It was captain Charlotte Edwards’ allround effort that inspired England’s opening victory and though she did not play this match Marsh followed in a similar vein after Sri Lanka opted to field first. Despite losing opening partner Danielle Wyatt early she was aggressive and struck three boundaries in her 26-ball innings. Contributions from Fran Wilson (17), Lydia Greenway (16) and stand-in captain Jenny Gunn (13) dragged England up to 114.If the target looked gettable at the halfway stage it would have seemed much harder after Isa Guha removed Chamari Polgampola, caught behind, with the first ball of the innings. Inoka Galagedara tried to rebuild the innings with a careful 28 before becoming the first of two wickets for Wyatt.Marsh then got into the action, snaring Shashikala Siriwardene, the Sri Lanka captain, for 10 and having wicketkeeper Dilani Manodara out stumped soon after. Chamani Seneviratna (15 not out) held firm to keep the hosts in touch but three run outs ruined the lower order and gave England the series.