All posts by csb10.top

Australian all-rounder Andy Bichel claimed a career-best 6-44 asWorcestershire wrapped up ther first CricInfo County Championshp DivisionTwo success of the season with a 252-run triumph over Gloucestershire inBristol.Bichel has already provided several important contributions with the batsince his arrival at Worcestershire this season, but this was comfotably hisbest performance with the ball.The 30-year-old Queenslander bowled an excellent line and generated impressive speed at times on an easy-paced pitch.With Alamgir Sheriyar offering notable support, Worcestershire’s win wasnever in doubt as Gloucestershire, 35-3 overnight, were bowled out for 155 inpursuit of 408 for victory.The home side continue to set the pace in one-day cricket, but theirfour-day form has been poor this season.Chris Taylor and Kim Barnett were dismissed early on as they chased widedeliveries from Sheriyar and Bichel respectively to give catches towicketkeeper Steve Rhodes.The Worcestershire wicketkeeper snaffled another catch when Mark Alleyneedged Sheriyar in front of first slip and, from 76-6 in the 36th over, therewas no way back for Gloucestershire.Jeremy Snape and Reggie Williams provided resistance with a seventh wicketstand of 51, but both fell quickly after lunch.Williams departed for 28 to the third ball after the break when he wascaught at second slip by Graeme Hick off Bichel.Then it became 146-8 when Snape, having struck eight fours in his 42, waswell caught at gully by Philip Weston from Bichel’s bowling.James Averis skied a catch to Stuart Lampitt off Matthew Rawnsley’s left-armspin and victory was completed in the next over when Bichel had Jon Lewiscaught at first slip.It was the first time Lewis had been dismissed this season in nine inningsin all forms of cricket.

Top of the table Hampshire will select the same side that defeated Derbyshire this week, for the CricInfo Championship second division clash with neighbours Sussex on Wednesday at West End.The Eleven: Giles White, Derek Kenway, Will Kendall, Robin Smith (captain), Neil Johnson, Lawrence Prittipaul, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Adi Aymes (wicket-keeper), Shaun Udal, Alex Morris, Alan Mullally.Sussex also have no injury problems and chose from 12:Richard Montgomerie, Murray Goodwin, Michael Yardy, Bastiaan Zuiderent, Chris Adams (captain), Umer Rashid, Robin Martin-Jenkins, Matthew Prior (wicket-keeper), Mark Davis, Robert Kirtley, Jason Lewry, C Hopkinson.Umpires: Tony Clarkson and Bob White

Trevor Ward struck a brilliant unbeaten 160 – his second CricInfo Championship century of the season – to lead Leicestershire to a nine-wicket win over Northants with a day and a half to spare at Grace Road.It was a spectacular innings from Ward who hit 28 fours and a six as the home side made light work of their victory target of 232.With the weather forecast threatening storms for the afternoon, they knocked off the runs in 53.3 overs, Ward smashing three successive fours off Kevin Innes to clinch the victory and 15 points, an hour after lunch.That brings Ward’s total Championship runs this season to 436 in six innings and he has an average of 87.2 – stark contrast to last summer when, in his first season at Leicestershire, he managed only 110 runs in seven matches and averaged just over 12.A delighted Ward put it down to a return of his confidence and self-belief and said: “I have been striking the ball well and it was nice to have a knock like this in a match we needed to win.”Leicestershire began the third day at five without loss, requiring 227 more runs to complete the win they needed to lift themselves up the table and leave Northants marooned in bottom spot.By lunch the match was as good as won with Ward and Iain Sutcliffe sharing an unbeaten partnership of 157 dominated by Ward.He enjoyed two moments of good fortune when he was dropped at square leg and at slip on 30 and 50 but they were both extremely difficult chances. Other than that he totally dominated the bowlers, striking the ball beautifully both sides of the wicket.Although Sutcliffe was out soon after lunch, caught at slip off Darren Cousins for 55, Ward continued to pound the Northants attack. He hit Cousins for three successive fours, pulled Lesroy Weekes for a six and reached his century off 127 balls.By the time he had won the game with his flurry of boundaries off Innes, the Leicestershire opener had faced 172 balls and hit 28 fours and a six.

Zimbabwe probably forfeited their place in the Coca Cola Cup finalwhen they lost to India by four wickets at the Queen’s Sports Club inBulawayo on Wednesday. They put up a spirited fight against a ratherbelow-par Indian team, but luck was definitely against them on thisday.First, they suffered a serious body blow with the withdrawal ofcaptain Heath Streak due to an abdominal strain. For the thirdsuccessive match, Zimbabwe had a different captain. Guy Whittall tookover the reins for the first time but the home team were without theirtwo world-class players as Andy Flower is still injured. India, fortheir part, were without the injured VVS Laxman.Cricket did its usual job of attracting the rain overnight, andalthough the morning dawned clear, the start of the match was delayedfor 15 minutes to ensure that parts of the field had dried out.Although the pitch was hard and firm, it had quite a bit of grass andwas slightly damp on top, so once again it was a very important tossto win.And once again the inflexible rule stands: if the toss is important,Zimbabwe will lose it. Sourav Ganguly had no hesitation in puttingZimbabwe in to bat again.Zimbabwe lost Campbell (2) almost immediately, driving Zaheer Khanstraight to mid-off without employing any footwork. In the same overStuart Carlisle (0) played back to a superb full-length delivery thatcut back sharply and trapped him lbw. At 7 for two, it looked like thesame old story for Zimbabwe. Khan’s wickets, though, came off raregood balls in an erratic spell that conceded a number of extras.Ashish Nehra was similarly profligate.The first four only came in the tenth over, when Craig Wishart crackedKhan past mid-off. Dion Ebrahim, though far from fluent, hung on andsurvived three chances, two difficult and one a simple return catch toAjit Agarkar, before reaching double figures. Gradually he found histouch, and he and Wishart produced a splendid fighting partnership forZimbabwe.Wishart (46) spoilt a fine innings with a tame catch to mid-off offGanguly to make Zimbabwe 94 for three. The 100 came up in the 28thover, but Ebrahim (42) fell soon afterwards, lbw hitting across theline to Khan, who was reaping unexpected dividends from erraticbowling. He finished with rather flattering figures of four for 43.With the end of the innings in sight, Grant Flower and Whittallstruggled to keep the score moving at an acceptable rate. Khan struckagain to have Flower (45) caught at mid-off just as they were comingto terms with their task. Andy Blignaut hit 11 off nine balls beforebeing well caught at long-on by Harbhajan Singh off Agarkar from ahuge skier, while Whittall ran to his fifty off 52 balls.As many as 85 runs came in the final ten overs. Whittall finished on58 and Zimbabwe ended with the fighting total of 234 for six. Indiahad caused to be disappointed with the inability of their bowlers toexploit the conditions – 28 extras were conceded – but against anattack without Streak they were still considered favourites.India began slowly, but in Blignaut’s third over Ganguly unleashed twohandsome drives for four, one through the covers and the otherstraight. It was not until the tenth over, though, that he reacheddouble figures for the first time in an international match on thistour. Tendulkar (9) fell first this time, caught low in the covers offStrang when playing an uppish drive; he seemed strangely out of touchon this occasion.Strang, ignored by the selectors until Streak’s temporary resignationled to a change in policy, was to keep the Indians quiet with anopening spell of eight overs for 16 runs, but none of the otherbowlers was able to exert similar pressure. Zimbabwe fieldedheroically but were unable to stem the tide as India accelerated. ThenMongia (37) swung David Mutendera to square leg and was superbly takenby Whittall; India were 91 for two in the 26th over.Ganguly reached his fifty by hammering Whittall for a four to long-onand then swung him over midwicket for six. Rahul Dravid too battedaggressively against bowlers not consistent enough to drag them out oftheir comfort zone, and this pair steadily took Zimbabwe out of thegame. The end appeared to be in sight when Ganguly (85) was caught onthe midwicket boundary off Flower for an innings that to him must havebeen like a welcome downpour after a drought. In the same over HemangBadani was bowled by the first ball he faced.Dravid reached 50 off 44 balls, whereupon Flower had Shewag (2) caughtat long leg and then caught and bowled Sameer Dighe for 9. India were210 for six in the 46th over and a good finish was still possible. Butwithout Streak, Zimbabwe had no strike bowler and Dravid (72 not out)took them home comfortably with four balls to spare, aided by somelusty blows from Agarkar (13 not out). Flower’s four for 44 was hisbest one-day return.

While the Indian cricket team trying to shrug off allegations of druguse by some of its members and retaining focus on the Coca Cola Cuptri-series final against West Indies on Saturday, physio Andrew Leipushas come up strongly in defence of his side.Leipus termed the allegations “laughable” and said he felt extremelylet down by the story.A news magazine last week quoted former Indian cricketer and coachAnshuman Gaekwad alleging certain players took performance-enhancingdrugs. Gaekwad had subsequently denied the comments attributed to him.”Personally it puts me in a bad light. All the hard work that I havedone to get the players fitter and better has been washed away withthis allegation,” Leipus said. He categorically stated he had “neverinjected a player except when it is for acupuncture” and denied evergiving a steroid to any Indian player.On the charge that he had imported some “stuff” from Australia for theplayers, the physio retorted, “It is myoplex, a nutritional powder,and it is secured from South Africa and not Australia. Also, it is nota steroid.”Steroids help people in the gym enormously. If you are in to heavyweight training, steroids will help you. But our guys, when in thegym, do not train so hard. Their training is not really intensive.Whoever has done the story has little or no knowledge of thedifference between diet supplements and steroids”, he said.”Fingers have been pointed at us,” said a senior cricketer oncondition of anonymity. “But nobody cared to remember that quite a fewIndian cricketers, like Javagal Srinath, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble,Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, have played county cricket inrecent past where drug regulations are in place and they have alsobeen repeatedly tested.”The England and Wales Cricket Board and the Australian Cricket Boardare the only two national cricket bodies where drug regulations areenforced and random tests are carried out on cricketers. However,these laws are applied at the first class level and not in theinternational arena.Sunil Gavaskar, who heads the cricket committee of the InternationalCricket Council, says the issue does not fall under the jurisdictionof his unit.”We handle only the technical matters of the game internationally,though I did broach this subject with the chief executive (MalcolmGray) at the executive meeting of the body in Nairobi last October andwork on it is underway,” he said.ICC’s Anti-corruption unit chief Sir Paul Condon also mentioned theallegations of baggage and equipment on tours being used to facilitatemovement of illicit drugs.Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower said it was time the respective cricketboards had a sound drug policy in place. “If everyone feels the gameis clean, why not put in place a sound drug policy to avoid anyrumours gaining ground”.Craig Smith, the long-serving physiotherapist of the South Africanteam, termed the allegations in the magazine as outlandish and farfetched.”A cricketer is not like a sprinter, whose success depends largely onpower. There are so many variables in a game of cricket and a batsmanrelies on technique and timing and a bowler on technique and rhythm.Those are not things you can find in a bottle. A lot of the topplayers take nutritional supplements, such as carbohydrates andproteins, or Creatine, which is legal and advisable, but to say thereis widespread use of steroids, beta-blockers or amphetamines is justan attempt at sensationalising the issue.”It is not the first time though that suggestions have been made on theusage of drugs by Indian cricketers. During the Commonwealth Games inKuala Lumpur in 1998, some leading Indian bowlers were not included inthe team because they were taking cortisone injections to ease bodypains. Cortisone is a taboo as per the International OlympicCommittee’s medical commission.ICC spokesman Mark Harrison said cricket bodies around the world willsoon be forced to submit players to stern drug testing, most certainlyby the 2003 World Cup. The ICC would have, by then, recognised whichdrugs are illegal and which are only energisers, he said.

Yorkshire Phoenix demolished Warwickshire Bears for 59 in 15.2 overs to win their Norwich Union Division One day-night match at Headingley by the substantial margin of 175 runs.It was Warwickshire’s worst ever effort in one-day league cricket, dipping below the 65 they scraped together against Kent at Maidstone in 1979.But Warwickshire did well even to reach 59 after slumping to 12 for six in the first half-dozen torrid overs from Chris Silverwood and Steven Kirby.Silverwood, who finished with four for 21, began the slaughter by having Neil Carter caught behind off the second ball of the innings and the next was a yorker which knocked back Mark Wagh’s middle stump.Kirby, not to be outdone, weighed in by finding the edge of Nick Knight’s bat before having Dougie Brown pouched in the slips by David Byas.The debacle continued as Silverwood bowled Mike Powell with another yorker and Kirby wrecked David Hemp’s stumps.Kirby suffered from bowling three no-balls, the resulting free hits being belted for a six and two fours but he still boasted career-best figures of three for 35 when withdrawn from the attack after five overs.The running out of Trevor Penney ended a brief Warwickshire recovery and after Silverwood had bowled Ashley Giles, Ryan Sidebottom finished off the match in daylight by dismissing Keith Piper and Vasbert Drakes.Earlier, Matthew Wood cracked a career-best 68 to guide Yorkshire to their formidable final total of 234 for six.The opener put on 68 in 19 overs for the second wicket with Anthony McGrath, who was playing in his first game since recovering from a groin operation, and then 63 in ten overs for the third wicket with Australian Darren Lehmann.Wood batted steadily for 38 overs before he was caught at mid-wicket by Knight off Drakes, having hit six fours off the 107 balls he received.McGrath (30) and Lehmann (39) both played some good shots but the best knock came from Gary Fellows who plundered 40 from 24 balls with five fours and a six.Fellows smacked Giles for a six and two fours off consecutive balls in an over which gave away 20 runs.Carter, Drakes and Giles each picked up two wickets for the Bears but their most economical bowler was Mo Sheikh whose nine overs cost him only 28 runs.

Lack of funding has forced the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) toput on hold the appointment of its first chief executive officer(CEO).BCA president Stephen Alleyne said, however, the board of managementwas still committed to filling the position, which was to play a vitalrole in the reorganisation of the association’s administrativeoperations.Last August, the board finalised the terms, conditions and mandate forthe appointment of a CEO and the post was advertised in the media thefollowing month.At the time, we had anticipated a particular source of funding. In theend, that did not eventuate and the board felt, looking at itsfinances, it was not something that we could support, Alleyne said inresponse to a question from the SUNDAY SUN over the delay.We have chosen to defer that until such time as we can put theappropriate finances in place.His comments came against the background of BCA losses of $657 344during the financial year which ended March 31.Before the job was advertised, the BCA, as an interim measure,retained the services of former civil servant Selwyn Smith as aconsultant with responsibility for day-to-day management of the officeon a short-term basis. Smith is still performing duties as aconsultant.The search for a chief executive was undertaken with the assistance ofa leading accounting firm. Earlier this year, there were reports thatSmith, former West Indies Cricket Board executive secretary, AndrewSealy, and former Barbados Consul-General to New York, Ricky Craig,were front-runners for the job.When appointed, the CEO will be responsible to the BCA board for theimplementation of its policies and for all aspects of its dailyoperations, including strategic planning, financial management,personnel management, public relations, member services and customerservices.

Is the ACU really taking a weird turn?
If one believes recent media reports, it’s unfortunate the ICC’s Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) having done a good job, is now taking a weird turn that may lead them into a jungle from which they will never find a way out. The reports allege, in an attempt to enlarge the scope of match fixing investigations, the ACU has now set themselves on the path of `suspecting’ the shots on which players get out.With so much cricket being played round the year and players getting out in different styles, such an investigation is like jumping into the sea to catch a rare fish. Since the method seems to lack the vital ingredient of proving the intention of a player except through hypothesis, the players could not possibly be charged for `throwing away the wicket leading to match fixing’.According to a press report the trio of Inzamam-ul Haq, Wasim Akram and Brian Lara are in the first list for such a special investigation. As per the news item, keeping Inzamam under suspicion for some time, the ACU has focussed on his performance against Australia in the one-day match at Cardiff on June 9, in which Inzamam was out second ball, stumped by Adam Gilchrist off Shane Warne for a duck.While sensible observers of the game termed Inzamam’s sallying down the pitch to be a reaction to the stationing of a `silly point’, the ACU is looking into whether it could have been the part of a "betting operation". While Brian Lara is under investigation by Elliott Mottley of the West Indies Cricket Board, Wasim Akram’s name appears again, despite having been already tried and punished with a fine and invaluable loss of captaincy.In its vigorous pursuit of the subject the ICC must realise that while players like Mark Waugh, Alec Stewart and Martin Crowe (for allegedly selling information) and Arjuna Ranatunga and Arvinda de Silva (for alleged match fixing) have been cleared out of the net, the efforts of the media continue to trap mostly Pakistani players time and again.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been upright and prompt in taking action against its players even on the slightest suspicion. One can only wonder if this is just reward of such honesty that Pakistan players continue to be the targets of the sordid match-fixing episode? One hopes that all player performances, like the way of getting out, are being closely monitored the world over. It’s obvious that dark clouds of suspicion cast on the players will adversely affect their performance, jeopardizing the spirit of competition that the game generates.Inspection of facilities
It has become a common practice for the visiting teams to send a representative to inspect facilities in the host country prior to launching a tour. The New Zealand team is scheduled to arrive Pakistan on September 14 for a series of 3 one-day matches followed by 3 tests. The Manager designate, Jeff Crowe, visited Pakistan recently to inspect the playing as well as the boarding and lodging facilities that exist in the country.It is not the first time that the New Zealanders are visiting Pakistan. Having played a test series here as recently as 1996-97, they would have known about the grounds, stadiums and hotels well, plus the standards of hospitality. Having organised the World Cup twice, there could not be a doubt about the playing facilities that exist in Pakistan.It is possible that an official of a touring team visiting match centres in the host country to inspect facilities may be regarded as insulting by the hosts. With frequent exchange of visits between teams, the host countries even know the food habits of their guests.The hosts always offer their best to the visitors. I remember, as ex-Secretary of the PCB, I had to direct all match centres to arrange a special bed for Joel Garner when the West Indies team was on a visit of Pakistan. Such are normal courtesies, which the host countries are pleased to provide their guests.It would be a matter of great pleasure if an official of the visiting team visits the host country in advance to discuss matters of mutual interest with the Board, but no inspection of facilities please. To eliminate the feeling of the hosts being subservient to the guests, such a practice should better be discontinued. I feel we ought to meet each other and treat each other on absolutely equal basis.

Ian Harvey blasted the fastest first-class century of the season asGloucestershire piled up 418-5 on a one-sided opening day at Bristol.The Australian all-rounder came in at number five, with the total on 290-3,and proceeded to reach three-figures in just 61 balls, with 6 sixes and 12fours.Four of the sixes were pull shots off seamer Graeme Welch, while the othertwo dispatched spinners Lian Wharton and Nathan Dumelow straight back overtheir heads.It was a devastating exhibition. Harvey took 35 deliveries to reach fiftyand had faced only 65 balls in his 68-minute innings when bowled by Welchattempting another big hit.His amazing effort eclipsed an earlier fine innings from opener DominicHewson who hit a career-best 168, batting for five minutes short of fivehours and hitting 29 boundaries in his 252-ball innings.For struggling Derbyshire the tone of another disappointing day was set whenskipper Michael Di Venuto dropped Hewson at second slip before he had scoredin only the third over of the match, sent down by Welch.Hewson, whose only previous first-class hundred had come against declarationbowling at Derby this season, played with increasing confidence and treatedspectators to some sweetly-timed shots, particularly through the off-side.He eventually fell lbw swinging across a straight ball from left-arm spinnerWharton. But that only brought in Harvey to dominate to such an extentthat Kim Barnett contributed only three to a fourth-wicket stand of 95.Barnett was bowled by Nathan Dumelow, having made 34 of the 52 runs heneeded to reach 1,000 for the season. And by the time Harvey had his stumpsscattered by Welch, aiming another big hit, Gloucestershire had passed the400-mark.

West Indian fast bowler Marlon Black lost his place in international cricket as well as income of $A100,000 following an attack on him early this year, a court in Melbourne was told today.Three men – Brian Siali, 24, of the Melbourne suburb of Burwood; Gideon Tuinauvai, 21, also of Burwood, and Sione Puamau, 21, of Ringwood – have pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury in the assault that took place on 11 February outside Colonial Stadium.The Victorian County Court heard that Black was punched and kicked repeatedly to the head and body by the three men and struck with a garden stake before being left unconscious.Crown prosecutor Jack Vandersteen stated that Black took four months to recover from the beating.Mr Vandersteen added that his client had been forced out of the West Indian team’s home series against South Africa (which began in March) as a result and that he had suffered severe financial and emotional loss.Black, 26, has played in a total of four Tests and four One-Day Internationals for West Indies, and has also been a member of Trinidad & Tobago representative sides since 1993-94. He appeared in each of the first three matches on West Indies’ five-Test tour of Australia last summer, claiming 4/83 in Brisbane on his international debut.The pre-sentencing hearing is continuing.