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Big Bash defending champions Victoria have begun their 2011 campaign in perfect style with a clinical display to account for Queensland in game two at the MCG

The Bulletin by Alex Malcolm02-Jan-2011Victoria 4 for 188 (Finch 58, Hussey 42*) beat Queensland 9 for 155 (Hopes 36, McKay 3-26) by 33 runs

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Aaron Finch clubbed 58 off 38 deliveries•Getty Images

Big Bash defending champions Victoria have begun their 2011 campaign in perfect style with a clinical display to account for Queensland in game two at the MCG.The home side rewarded the 29,429 locals who turned out with a dominant display on a sluggish drop-in wicket.The Victorian openers set the tone, Aaron Finch and Brad Hodge clubbing 98 from the first 64 balls of the innings after Cameron White won the toss. Anything back of a length or shorter Hodge cut or pulled with typical ease. Anything fuller and straighter Finch clubbed to the sightscreen or into the long-on bleachers, which he did on three separate occasions.Finch’s brutal 58 from 38 balls earned him Man-of-the-Match honours. His dismissal and some tight bowling from Bulls’ captain James Hopes slowed the Bushrangers momentarily, but the classy veteran David Hussey (42 not out) sussed the conditions quickly to produce a gem of an innings to take the total to 4 for 188.It was always going to be a tough ask against a barrage of Victorian quicks. New-ball pairing James Pattinson and Dirk Nannes removed the Queensland openers in consecutive overs to put the Bulls well behind in the game. Hopes, on return from a broken thumb, clubbed five boundaries in 36 but his demise to a slower ball from Clint McKay signalled the beginning of the end as Queensland battled to 9 for 155.McKay claimed three wickets with off-speed bowling, Nannes three with blistering pace. The Victorians are going to be hard to beat again with the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Cameron White and Matthew Wade playing just minor roles in tonight’s first-up win.

South Africa Under-19 completed a 5-0 spanking of Zimbabwe Under-19 with a 71-run win in the fifth match at Newlands

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2011
Scorecard
South Africa Under-19 completed a 5-0 spanking of Zimbabwe Under-19 with a 71-run win in the fifth match at Newlands. Home captain Keaton Jennings opted to bat first after winning the toss, and half-centuries from Quinton de Kock and Malcolm Nofal boosted South Africa to 276 for 6. The Zimbabweans were never really in the running, but some gritty batting from Brian Chari and Ryan Burl did at least give them the satisfaction of passing 200 against opponents who have proved stronger in every discipline in the course of the series.Jennings, who was named Man of the Series for his 208 runs and three wickets, had a torrid time negotiating Vuyisile Mapala’s outswing early on but settled in and contributed 26 to a 64-run opening stand. His dismissal barely slowed de Kock down as he soon raced to fifty, and after he ran past one of Liberty Nherera’s offspinners to be bowled for 69 Nofal took up the attack.He had made 78 before he was caught at long-on in the final over, and with support from Shaylin Pillay (40) and a brutal 12-ball 31 from Johan du Preez – who hit the last three balls of the innings for a six and two fours – South Africa reached a total that appeared well out of reach of Zimbabwe.Chari and Matthew Bentley put together a bright 44-run partnership for the second wicket to help their team weather the early loss of Kevin Kasuza, but after Bentley got an edge to an attempted dab down to third man South Africa chipped steadily away at the Zimbabwean line-up. Nofal, who was named Man of the Match, did most of the damage with three quick wickets that ripped the heart out of the middle order.Chari’s defensive knock reached fifty in the 34th over, by which time the asking rate had edged close to nine-an-over. But for a couple of lusty hits from Chari and Burl thereafter, Zimbabwe might not have reached 200 at all and once they were dismissed the innings quickly capitulated.The teams now face up in two Twenty20s, with the first being played at Paarl on Saturday.

“We still have five matches left, and everyone is looking ahead,” – Tamim Iqbal

Sidharth Monga in Dhaka21-Feb-2011Tamim Iqbal says that Bangladesh have put behind them the defeat against India in the World Cup opener, and are feeling good about their chances of making it to the quarter-finals. After a week of frenzied anticipation, Bangladesh went down to India in a disappointing manner, especially with the ball letting India to score 370 runs.However, Tamim said, “We are not thinking about the India match at all. We still have five matches left, and we are looking ahead. Today’s practice I feel was the best session we had in the last one-and-a-half months. Everybody was enjoying, and we were all very relaxed. We are now totally focused on the Ireland match. As a player I am very satisfied about how it went today.”As a player in the first game, though, Tamim struggled, and was the face of Bangladeshi surrender after the first two wickets fell. It was as if Bangladesh had decided early on in their innings that 370 was too much, and they would not even go for it. Before that happened, though, Imrul Kayes, usually the anchor to Tamims pyrotechnics, started aggressively, scoring 34 off 29. Tamim spoke about both the innings.”The way Imrul struck the ball against India has been a huge benefit for the team,” Tamim said. “I think if Imrul can play like that he can take his game to the next level. As for my innings I was not timing the ball well. Somehow the ball was not coming on to the bat that well. So I thought not to throw the wicket and hang in there. One thing I believe is that even if I play 20-30 balls more, I am capable of recovering my strike-rate later.”Three-hundred-and-seventy-one was a huge target to chase. I thought if we got them somewhere around the 300 to 310 mark, we could have made a match out of it, considering their bowling attack and our bowling strength.”In one way perhaps, Bangladesh take confidence from having reached close to 300, for not every team will set them 371 to chase, and their bowlers are also expected to improve and be more effective against non-subcontinent sides. One of those teams will be Ireland, who have beaten them in the World Cups of both limited-overs formats.”Against Ireland we have plans for each and every player in their side,” Tamim said. “We have played quite a few matches against them, and its the same set of players they have got. We know their strengths and weaknesses. If we can execute our plans we will definitely win.” Three of those quite a few matches against Ireland have come at home for Bangladesh, and they have won all three, which will give them heart.Tamim, though, said there was no room for complacency. “In the World Cup there are no easy matches,” he said. “You cannot relax. The moment you take something lightly you stand a chance of losing. We will approach all the matches the same way, similar to the way we approached the India match.”Bangladesh know that progress to the next round will only be possible if they beat both Ireland and Netherlands, apart from beating one of Test-playing teams in their group. A loss against Ireland can knock Bangladesh out. “If you take pressure, there are a lot of pressures,” Tamim said, “[But] the boys are mentally very tough, and they are ready. We know we have to play our best if we want to beat any team we play against, whether it’s South Africa or whether it’s Ireland.”

Aravinda de Silva, the outgoing chairman of selectors, has said that Sri Lanka’s failure win the World Cup final is something he could not bear

Sa'adi Thawfeeq07-Apr-2011Aravinda de Silva, the outgoing chairman of selectors for Sri Lanka, has said that Sri Lanka’s failure to win the World Cup final is something he could not bear. “When we took over I remember telling Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara) that I don’t want it to be mentioned that the 1996 team was the only one who won a World Cup,” de Silva, a member of the 1996 World Cup winning Sri Lanka side said. “It’s time we changed that.”This was the best opportunity we had to go out there and give 200% and try and change it. To have not succeeded is definitely a very big disappointment for me. But at the same time the players gave 200% and they were committed. “Sri Lanka were beaten by India in the World Cup final in Mumbai on April 2. Lasith Malinga reduced India to 31 for 2 in their chase of 275 before the Indian middle order blunted the Sri Lankan attack to take the title by a comfortable six-wicket margin. Even Muttiah Muralitharan, in his final international game, went wicketless in his eight overs that cost 39 runs. There were questions raised about whether Muralitharan, who had been battling various niggles, should have been risked for the final, but de Silva said he is willing to take responsibility for that decision.”Murali some would say was not 100% fit but we are prepared to take the blame because I was one guy who told Murali that even on one leg he should play because he would still be a better bowler. That responsibility we were ready to take. That’s the sort of commitment a senior player like Murali has given to the cause.”de Silva said a new set of selectors was needed to take Sri Lankan cricket forward and focus on the 2015 World Cup. “A lot of changes need to be made; the correct decisions need to be taken both long-term and short-term. We have only two more weeks before our term expires so us making such decisions is not going to be of any consequence. We took an overall decision thinking of the future.The emphasis going forward should be on fast bowlers, de Silva said, as the next World Cup was in Australia and New Zealand where the pitches are more favourable for seamers. “[Also] the opening batsmen should not be too flashy but ones who can consolidate, being technically more solid because on those wickets the new ball assists the fast bowlers.”It’s not the current openers, but we must look for more solid openers for Australia and New Zealand. Changes have to be made and tough decisions taken, therefore the next chairman of selectors must be strong to implement them.”de Silva said that he would have to think hard about continuing as a national selector if he is asked again. “When I took over this job I said I would take it only on one ground that I won’t be able to travel with the team when they are on tour but spend time as much as possible at home and be with them. Over the last eight months, except for the final against India, I didn’t go on any of the tours mainly because for that reason.”Spending two hours with my family makes me happier than sitting through and arguing about teams for seven hours. But that commitment was an obligation on my part for Sri Lanka cricket for all that it has given me in the past. At the same time the other three selectors have done the same and I appreciate very much the amount of work they have put in. We were able to do a clean job and be very transparent with whatever we did for that reason I am very happy. There were no interferences and we were able to do a job with a clear conscience.”The other members of the selection committee were Ranjith Fernando, Amal Silva and Shabbir Asgerally. Fernando said that the committee had endeavoured to be transparent and approachable by the players. “Our belief is that every young boy in this country wants to play for Sri Lanka and if we don’t open the doors for them no one else will,” Fernando said. “So we at all times told them what they had to do and where they have failed.”That sort of transparency needs a lot of time. I don’t think we can afford that time in that fashion so easily. Those are the things that we have to consider if the job has to be done long term.”Fernando said that de Silva probably had the best cricketing brain in the country. “I have been his mentor when he was a young kid and I am proud to serve under him. Sri Lanka cricket needs to utilise his talents in some form in the future even if it is not of a selector.”His knowledge of every young cricketer at Under-19 level is virtually at the back of his brain at any given moment. That is the type of cricketing guy we need to take cricket forward. There are others as well but I am just talking about one.”

Sri Lanka Cricket is ready to take on any charges levelled against them with regards to corruption and misappropriation of funds, secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said

Sa'adi Thawfeeq10-May-2011Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said the board is ready to take on any charges levelled against them with regards to corruption and misappropriation of funds. He was reacting to a report in the Sri Lankan newspaper on Monday that the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), a government body to oversee financial discipline in public corporations, was prepared to summon the board on those grounds.”So far we have not heard from them [COPE] officially. I have also read the news report, and we are quite prepared to answer any questions, with regard to whatever charges they want to bring against us,” Ranatunga said. “We have been transparent in all that we have done and are quite prepared to co-operate with whoever is levelling charges against us.”Ranatunga also said that the media report that the Sri Lankan Supreme Court had ordered the board to hold elections within two months was incorrect. “What the Supreme Court has suggested is that both parties come to a settlement on the issue and report back to them within two months, possibly with a view to holding elections.”United Southern Cricket Club president Asoka Mendis had filed a fundamental rights petition against Sri Lanka Cricket last year, on the grounds that an interim committee – first instituted in 2005 – had been appointed by the Sports Minister without the prior approval of the member clubs, bypassing the democratic process of elections. The club wanted the Supreme Court to prevent the interim committee members from holding office and functioning until the hearing is over.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Kochi Tuskers Kerala in Chennai

The Preview by Sriram Veera17-May-2011

Match facts

Wednesday, May 18, Chennai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Brad Hodge has had a disappointing IPL. Will he come good against Chennai?•AFP

Big Picture

Chennai Super Kings’ strength is their batting; they have crossed a total of 175 four times and four batsmen have accumulated over 300 runs. They have done just about enough with the ball to keep rolling out the wins. Three bowlers are in the list of top ten wicket-takers this season and the team has gelled as a unit. You might be able to make a criticism of the table-toppers Bangalore that they are heavily dependent on Chris Gayle but you can’t pick too many holes in the Chennai campaign.This could well be the last IPL game of the season for Kochi Tuskers Kerala. They have a mathematical chance of making the top four but to topple Kolkata, the only team they can get ahead on points, they have to beat Chennai by a huge margin. They have to then hope Kolkata lose both their remaining games convincingly. In contrast to Chennai, they have only one batsman, Brendon McCullum, who has tallied over 300 runs. To make things worse, they will be without the services of Mahela Jayawardene; Parthiv Patel will lead the side.

Form guide (most recent first)

Chennai: WWLWW (second in points table)
Kochi: WLLWW (sixth in points table)

Team talk

It will be interesting to see if Chennai continue with Wriddhiman Saha or get in S Anirudha, who can at least belt the ball lower down the order. In Jayawardene’s absence, Muttiah Muralitharan might get a game.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team Selector.

In the spotlight

Brad Hodge, who made 33 in the last game against Rajasthan Royals, hasn’t had a great IPL season, tallying 234 runs. Much was expected from the man who had the most number of runs in the Twenty20 format but he hasn’t sparkled. Will he leave his imprint against Chennai?
Dwayne Bravo has just played two IPL games and has done the job with the ball. With fellow West Indian Gayle firing in style for Bangalore, it will be interesting to track Bravo’s progress in the remainder of the tournament. He will slip in the slower yorkers and cutters, and be restrictive with the ball; will he get a chance to showcase his prowess with the bat?

Prime numbers

• With three ducks this season, Kochi’s Raiphi Gomez is second on that inglorious list, behind Mithun Manhas’ four zeroes. Kochi have three more men on that list: Brendon McCullum, Parthiv Patel and RP Singh have two ducks.
• With 16 sixes, McCullum is sixth on list of batsmen with most sixes. Chennai’s MS Dhoni is seventh on that list with 14.

The chatter

“We are still disappointed. Every team wants to get to the final four. We had our chances but didn’t grab on to them. Like I said we lacked consistency in the tournament.”

“To be honest, Twenty20 is a game of luck. There is a lot of luck in it because the risk is more for a batsman, for a bowler or for that matter, even for a fielder. And when the risk is more, you need luck.”

James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, doubts any action will be taken against Simon Katich.

Daniel Brettig and Brydon Coverdale10-Jun-2011James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, doubts any action will be taken against Simon Katich for his tirade against CA and the national selectors.However Sutherland has taken issue with Katich’s contention that the naming of a 17-man squad prior to the first Ashes Test in Brisbane last year, in order to appease the demands of the CA marketing department, had destabilised the team.CA were sent scurrying for a response by Katich’s bold address at the SCG on Friday morning, and Sutherland emerged from a concurrent board meeting to say it was unlikely that Katich would be penalised before his central contract expired on June 30.”I understand that Simon’s disappointed and that he’s made comments along those lines today but I don’t see that CA will be taking action for those comments,” Sutherland said. “My view and the Cricket Australia board’s view is that it is right for people to be able to make their subjective judgements but it crosses the line when there are any suggestions about the integrity of individual members of the selection panel, the panel as a group, or the processes they engage in to make these selections.”I am not necessarily saying Simon has entirely called them into question in that fashion but Cricket Australia stands by them in terms of their integrity and the process they go through.”Sutherland said he was “not happy” with Katich’s public pronouncements but would seek him out personally to discuss them rather than charging him with bringing the game into disrepute over public comments, an area usually within the remit of the head of cricket operations, Michael Brown.”The simple answer is yes, Simon could have expressed his views more privately. But he chose to do that in the manner that he did,” Sutherland said. “I’m not making a complaint about that. I know Simon did have some discussions with the Australian Cricketers’ Association to explore that. If that’s not some sort of avenue to at least understand what his rights might be then I’m not sure what is.”More divisive was Katich’s view that the Ashes campaign had been damaged by the selection of a 17-man squad that could be announced via a public event at Sydney’s Circular Quay. The announcement was a fizzer, attracting few spectators or television viewers, and things would only get worse from there.”It’s fair to say that has come up from time to time in discussions, certainly something in the review. My personal view on that is that as professional sportsman you live in a world of competition,” Sutherland said. “You compete against other teams, you compete against other people for spots in teams, and if the process of selection means you have a squad of 13 or 14 or whatever it might be before a Test match, or even 17, well so be it.”People live in that competitive world, and if anyone can cope with that, it is elite athletes, elite cricketers. I don’t see how someone who has the mental toughness and strength to compete in Test cricket at the highest level how that should affect them too much. At the same time I acknowledge that it wasn’t an ideal situation, and perhaps looking back on it we would’ve done it slightly differently.”As for the growing tide of opinion that the selectors should be full-time employees, Sutherland said there were “no immediate plans” to change the current system, but hinted that may change after the Argus review had concluded.”At the moment we have a selection panel of three, Greg Chappell is a full-time employee, there are no immediate plans for that, but there is a review under way and it is quite obvious that one of the topics of discussion within the review process has been about selection,” he said.

Karnataka’s annual state-level Twenty20 tournament, the Karnataka Premier League, has hit a roadblock

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2011Karnataka’s annual state-level Twenty20 tournament, the Karnataka Premier League, has hit a roadblock. According to reports, six of the eight franchises have asked for this year’s event – scheduled to be held from September 1 to 15 – to be postponed and have also complained about lack of assistance from the host Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) during previous editions.The franchises told the KSCA in a letter that rains could mar the tournament in September and there was hardly any time for doing promotional activities. The owners also expressed concerns over losing key Karnataka players as the KPL clashes with the BCCI’s corporate limited-overs tournament. They have requested that the tournament be held in February 2012.In another letter, the owners along with the title sponsors have said that the KSCA has not done enough to promote the tournament, especially during its second edition. The tournament was launched in 2009 under the SN Wadiyar-Brijesh Patel-led administration.Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath, who is the secretary of the Anil Kumble-led KSCA administration which took over in November last year, said the matter would be resolved shortly. “We thought that September would be ideal and had also finalised July 27 as the player-auction date,” Srinath told the . “The owners have now sought a change in dates and we will look into it but we have to look at the BCCI calendar too and at the moment we are not sure about the international games we will get.”If there is a suitable window later we can have the tournament then. Even if Bangalore is not in a position to host some of the games, we will take the tournament to the rural centres. These are all operational issues and I am sure we can find a way and work around it.”

Martin van Jaarsveld’s 78-ball century put Kent on the way to an 86-run win against Worcestershire in a battle of the Clydesdale Bank 40 strugglers at New Road

31-Jul-2011 beat Worcestershire 205 by 86 runs
Scorecard
Martin van Jaarsveld’s 78-ball century put Kent on the way to an 86-run win against Worcestershire in a battle of the Clydesdale Bank 40 strugglers at New Road. The South African, continuing as captain in the absence of Rob Key, made 124 towards a total of 291 for 7, which proved to be way beyond Worcestershire’s capabilities as they were dismissed for 205 in the 35th over.Kent brought in four of their youngsters – including Daniel Bell-Drummond and Adam Ball from England’s Under-19 one-day series with South Africa – as director of cricket Paul Farbrace responded to a miserable run of results at first-team level. Farbrace spoke of a “horrible” period in which they lost to Holland and Derbyshire in CB40 group games and crashed to an innings defeat to Gloucestershire in a County Championship fixture at the Cheltenham Festival.Benefiting from a week off to regroup and consider options, they came out firing in the midlands and comfortably reversed an early-season defeat when the teams met at Canterbury. That was Worcestershire’s only win in the 40-over competition this season and any chance of making it a double was quickly extinguished by Van Jaarsveld’s high-quality ball-striking for a dozen fours and two sixes.Sam Billings, the 20-year-old wicketkeeper, launched the innings with five fours in reaching 26 and Van Jaarsveld initially had no need to rush while Bell-Drummond advanced to 42 from 30 balls with five fours and two sixes. Coming into the side after four fifties in seven England Under-19 innings this month, the young opener, who will be 18 on Thursday, looked comfortable on his List A debut until he was caught by Daryl Mitchell at slip off Saeed Ajmal.It was then that Van Jaarsveld stepped up the pace, putting on 59 with Darren Stevens and making 75 of the 107 added for the fourth wicket with Sam Northeast (30). Offspinner Ajmal was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 42 and Jack Shantry also took three wickets, although the seamer only salvaged an expensive return with two wickets in his final over. His dismissal of Van Jaarsveld owed much to Moeen Ali’s sprint around the boundary to take a catch at long on.Moeen then gave Worcestershire some hope with 55 in 35 balls – including 23 off a first over by 19-year-old off-spinner Adam Riley – but the challenge petered out when he fell to Simon Cook (3 for 40).Riley held Moeen’s mis-hit drive to wide mid-off and, to his credit, he later retrieved his bowling figures when coming back for five overs at a manageable cost of 22. On-loan paceman David Balcombe finished the innings with 4 for 38 and Gareth Andrew’s 33 was the best of the rest for Worcestershire.

Overcast conditions and a sporting pitch gave the bowlers the edge in
Canterbury, where 15 wickets fell on the opening day of Kent’s County
Championship Division Two clash with neighbours Essex

31-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Overcast conditions and a sporting pitch gave the bowlers the edge in
Canterbury, where 15 wickets fell on the opening day of Kent’s County
Championship Division Two clash with neighbours Essex.Having rolled over the visitors for 144, Kent limped to 160 for 5 for a
meagre lead of 16 on a wicket that might yet catch the eye of ECB pitch liaison
officers come day two. Responding to Essex’s modest first-innings total, Kent – who were without
injured captain and opening batsman Rob Key – posted 51 for the first wicket
before Daniel Bell-Drummond was stumped by James Foster off former Kent seamer
David Masters.In-form Joe Denly coasted to a 48-ball 50 and appeared in little until another
one from Masters kept a little low to snare the right-hander leg before and make
it 79 for 2. Sam Northeast fenced at one from Masters that climbed off the pitch to steer a
catch to first slip, then Darren Stevens paid the price for an ambitious drive
against Ryan ten Doeschate that rattled middle and off stumps.Martin van Jaarsveld limped to 17 before he too went leg before, although he
appeared to get a slight inside edge on the delivery from ten Doeschate, but
James Tredwell (15 not out) and acting skipper Geraint Jones (16no) took Kent
into the lead in surviving through to the close.Visitors Essex lost five wickets during an overcast first session after winning
the toss and electing to bat first. After an accurate new-ball stint from Matt Coles and Stevens, it took the sixth ball of the day from on-loan David Balcombe to fashion Kent’s first breakthrough
after 14 overs.Billy Godleman’s late decision to shoulder arms proved costly when the ball
jagged back in to trim the left-hander’s off stump and make it 25 for 1. Owais Shah lasted five deliveries before he pushed down the wrong line of a swinging delivery to go leg before to Stevens.And, with 31 against his name, Tom Westley drove airily at a Steven’s away
swinger only to snick to second slip. Balcombe, in the second month of his temporary move from Hampshire, impressed again by having Adam Wheater caught at backward point after the diminutive right-hander had seemingly checked and sliced an attempted cover drive.In the over before lunch Jaik Mickleburgh, in trying to withdraw his bat, only
succeeded in gloving the ball onto his stump to give Balcombe a third wicket.
The batsman then spent much of the afternoon having his hand X-rayed.The Essex innings simply unravelled after the break as they lost their last
five wickets for 69 runs to be dismissed just after 3pm. Captain James Foster top-scored with a watchful 38 from 75 balls before skying a slower ball to extra cover as Balcombe marched towards career-best figures of 6 for 51.It was Balcombe’s third haul of five wickets or more in an innings in his four
championship starts for Kent, and took his championship wickets tally to 20.