All posts by csb10.top

Several officials of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) got panicky and left the New Zealanders and ICC officials fuming with anger after the incident of bomb blast on Wednesday.A senior PCB official disappeared from the team hotel and took refuge in the National Stadium along with two of his staff officers. He later left for Lahore by 6:30pm flight. Interestingly, the New Zealand flew for Singapore on way to Christchurch by the 7:25pm flight.Another PCB official vanished from the depressing morning scenes and left matters in the hands of director Brig Munawar Rana who kept a cool head and tactfully handled the tricky situation. He was seen interacting with the visitors, the home team players and match officials.The most disgusting conduct was shown by another senior PCB official who approached the New Zealand cricketers at noon and demanded the refund of daily allowances for the remaining days of the tour.New Zealand, who were scheduled to leave on May 13, were entitled a daily allowance of Rs2,000 which was delivered to them for eight days when they arrived in the city Monday. The total amount paid to the board to the touring contingent was Rs288,000.The visitors, who felt humiliated, virtually threw the money in Stephen Fleming’s room while expressing anger. Later, team managaer Jeff Crowe took the matter to the PCB director who apologized on behalf of the PCB.Probably scared by the events and fearing his own life, the man in charge for the team officials also left for Lahore by 6.30pm flight leaving behind disappointed and bewildered match officials Mike Procter, Rudi Koertzen and Steve Bucknor.The three were later rescued by the liaison officer of New Zealand team who ensured that the trio boarded the Emirates flight for Dubai at 11:00pm. Also on the flight was Crowe who was unhappy with the way his team was treated.”I am disappointed because we were left all alone. I tried to locate General Manager Operation, Zakir Khan, but he was not available. Anyway, we were rescued by our team’s liaison officer,” Crowe said shortly before his departure.Crowe had returned to the hotel after seeing off his team that left the hotel under state protocol at 4:30pm. Crowe finally checked-out at 8:30pm.The Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), who were the organizers of the match, also failed to make their presence felt at the airport to say good-bye to the visitors. The local association officials were present at the airport when the team arrived on May 18.While Crowe proceeded to Frankfurt from Dubai, New Zealand physiotherapist Dayle Shackel was given 10 days paid holidays by his employers.Shackel, who suffered a minor bruise during the bomb attack, had decided to avail the incentive in Dubai.

Brentwood:
Essex 179 (C Williams 59*)
Surrey 182-3 (23.2 overs)
Surrey won by 7 wicketsTaunton:
Somerset 312 (PD Trego 101, A Suppiah 124*)
Worcestershire 313 (WPC Western 95, GS Kandola 110*)
Worcestershire won by 2 wicketsVine Lane, Uxbridge:
Sussex 307-3 (WJ House 58*, JR Carpenter 53)
MCC Young Cricketers 281-8 (NJ Wright 103*)
Sussex won by 26 runsStratford upon Avon:
Middlesex 231-7 (D Alleyne 73)
Warwickshire 171 (TA Hunt 5-36)
Middlesex won by 60 runsHeadingley:
Nottinghamshire 245-9 (P Johnson 72)
Yorkshire 249-6 (SA Richardson 92, PJ McMahon 4-44)
Yorkshire won by 4 wickets.Southport:
Lancashire 262-3 (AJ Swann 63, MR Currie 59)
Derbyshire 145 all out (40.1 overs)
Lancashire won by 117 runs.

Perhaps it was the number of times he was called ‘ageing warhorse’that prompted Angus Fraser to retire from playing cricket and move onto writing on cricket. Perhaps it was the fact that the bowler sofamous for ‘knackering’ batsmen with his line and length ended moredays knackered himself instead. Whatever the reasons, it’s a pleasureto have the measured and soft-spoken Middlesex and England seamer inthe pressbox, tapping away at his laptop with the same determinationthat saw him scalp 177 wickets in 46 Tests for England. Englandcaptains called on him time and time again to bowl a good line and tieone end down. There’s a twinkle in his eye when he speaks about hisart – and an art it is, though less glamourous than the flashing bladeof a Lara, the tweak of a Warne, or the sheer pace of an Akhtar. Overto Angus.Angus, you would have liked to have a bowl, the way the Indiansbatted today. What’s it about the wicket that’s meant that Englandhave been able to dominate so much?I think it’s still a pretty good pitch. The odd ball is keeping a bitlow, especially when the ball hits one of the cracks on this wicket.It’s a dry pitch and is crumbling a bit. Mind you, when England playedthe West Indies here in 1995 it was a similar sort of wicket. Havingsaid that, there hasn’t been a great deal in the wicket for thebowlers – the England bowlers have done very well. This, combined withsome indifferent Indian batting has meant that England are in totalcontrol.It’s not easy to sustain a good line and length over the course ofa whole session? Can you even remember the last occasion when abowling attack did so well?The fact that India were bowled out for just 221 is a huge credit tothe bowlers. They were bowling to a 7-2 offside field without havingto land the ball a yard and a half outside the stumps. That would havemade it easy for the batsmen to leave the ball. The bowlers kept up amagnificent line and the batsmen had to play at almost everything.They did the same against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford and many timesagainst India in the winter. So it’s not really a one-off thing oranything. I agree that it is hard to bowl a sustained good line over asession but you’ll find that England have bowled well together as aunit before.And this is a very weakened bowling attack in the absence of Goughand Caddick…This is a good second string of bowlers for England. Hoggard andFlintoff have a bit of experience but, by and large, they are aninexperienced lot. Despite this, they’ve shown in the winter whatthey’re capable of. In a way it’s nice to see Caddick and Gough werenot missed at all – either against Sri Lanka or here. England are nottotally reliant on that pair and that’s a good thing. There is lightto look forward to after the pair has retired.Does the performance of the second string make it difficult for theselectors?I don’t see Gough playing for England all summer, to be honest.Caddick will be fit, if at all, for the third Test against India. Ifthis lot of bowlers stay fit, they’ll get a decent run and theydeserve it after the way they’ve bowled here at Lord’s. If anything, Ithink Tudor is the likeliest to come in to this side and that would befor either Jones or maybe White.Craig White coming back into the team and doing so well is a bit ofa surprise, isn’t it?I think it’s the right decision to pick White, although I must say Ithought that the selectors would go for experience and take theDominic Cork option. White bowled with discipline and the ball camethrough with good pace. If you had a look at the speed gun you wouldhave noticed he was consistently at the 83-85 miles per hour mark. Ilike the look of White as a cricketer. He’s not express pace but hasenough in him to let the batsmen know he’s around.

Why is it that some teams implement bowling to a plan so muchbetter than others? You yourself were a master of line and length.What does it take to do that?It’s the quality of the bowler to be honest. It does require a certainamount of skill to land a ball on a line and length consistently.Also, you must not get frustrated. You have to have patience and goodconcentration to stick by a plan. Bowlers need to try and bowl theball in a way that it pitches on leg stump and hits the top of offstump. I’m not a big fan of the tactic of the left-arm spinner bowlingover the wicket into the legs. I don’t like that at all. I’d rather heattacked the stumps, but if the seamers bowl it as well as they did onthe third day, I’m perfectly happy with it.And how do you motivate yourself to bowling one line even whenyou’re getting a bit of stick?The basic idea is not to get stick (laughs). You can’t hide the ball.Some days you just have to accept that the batsman is better than you.No matter what you do you’re going to have your work cut out for youas a bowler. You just have to keep running in and hope to bowl the oneball that gets the batsman out. Like any game, you need to make sureyou don’t bowl bad balls. If you bowl well and the bloke hits you forfour, you just say, ‘well played, that’s a fantastic innings.’Finally, what’s it been like moving so quickly from playing tobecoming the cricket writer for ?I haven’t yet missed playing. I still turn up at a cricket groundevery day which is half the joy of being involved with the game. Youget to a stage in your career when the pain outdoes the pleasure andyou can’t do what you once could. You can’t force the issue likebefore and make things happen. When you get an opportunity to stay inthe game after your playing days, you just sort of take it. AlecStewart is three years older than me and he seems to keep going. Ihave a lot of time and admiration for the way he does that. Mind you,you won’t see too many fast bowlers going on past 35!

Thirty points from the final two matches against Hursley Park and Ventnor will give Purbrook the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 3 championship.If the goal is achieved, it will be the first time in 14 years – since 1989, when as Purbrook and Portsdown they lifted the Hampshire League County Division 2 title – has The Heath seen any silverware.Purbrook, who will have things virtually buttoned up if they emerge victorious at The Quarters, took an emphatic step towards the crown with a six-wicket win which ended New Milton’s aspirations.Kelvan Finch (4-43) and Mark Stanley (3-31) reduced New Milton from 96-2 to 153 all out – Nick Gargaro and Dean Miller both hit 37 – before Ian Hunter’s 52 not out steered Purbrook home.St Cross Symondians, 14 points behind the leaders, trimmed Ventnor by eight wickets at the Royal Green Jackets Ground.Stuart Charman (3-19) was particularly impressive as Ventnor tottered at 110-8 before teenager Phil Baldwin (49) lifted the final total to 155-9.Mark Parker (46) was within sight of his seventh half-century of the season when he was trapped leg before, but Steve Shaw (45) and Graham Barrett (35) eased St Cross to a comfortable win.Hursley Park skipper Rob Lowe could hardly believe his luck when Leckford pitched up with only seven players at Bakers Farm.The rest of the team had been delayed in heavy M25 traffic on the way home from Mike Howard’s Hertfordshire wedding the previous day.Leckford’s five ‘out-fielders’ ran their socks off as Hursley openers Jason Marr (55) and Raman Prendergast (42) shared a 100-run start.But worse was to follow as Matt Harvey lashed an unbeaten 134 to sweep Hursley towards a massive 366-5.Leckford’s wedding guests finally arrived in the 28th over, certainly in time to watch Mark Costin (52) notch his maiden half-century in a 188 all out (Lowe 5-55 ) reply.Gosport Borough have climbed into fourth spot after whipping Alton, the mid-summer leaders, by 183 runs at Privett Park.John Adams (67), Mike Rees (47), Nathan Collins (45) and the promising Stewart Magee (43) got the lion’s share of the Borough’s 233-5.Alton, whose season has completely fallen apart, were skittled for 50, with Paul Jenkins (5-3) and Richard Edwards (4-15) inflicting the damage.Australian-based Dean Oliffe hit 121 and shared a handsome third-wicket stand with Tim Joy (77) as Portsmouth II totted up 308-5 against relegation-threatened Hartley Wintney at St Helen’s.Aussie Jimmy Castrisos hit 94 in Hartley Wintney’s 244 all out.Wicketkeeper Colin Jolley was playing his final game of the season before begging a two-match suspension imposed by the club following an incident in the recent visit to Hook & Newnham Basics.Hook continued their climb towards mid-table security when half-centuries by Keith Lovelock (53) and Lee Moore (51) established a useful 214-7 at Flamingo’s.The Corhampton club’s slide down the table continued as Flamingo replied with 194-9, Hampshire Under-16 prospect Tom Cledwyn hitting a classy 59 not out.Hambledon’s recent form mirrors that of Flamingo’s, except that the Don’s, having lost a host of front-line players, are languishing in third from bottom position.Things didn’t get any better at Havant, where knocks by Nick Scutt (52) and Mark le Clerq (42) proved in vain as Hambledon reached 201-7.Havant polished off the runs with some ease, Matt Ward (56), Ollie Jones (50) and security chief Jon Owen (49) leading the way.But there was some long overdue joy for Redlynch & Hale, who hadn’t won since Flamingo’s visited Woodlands in early May.The long wait for that elusive win came when off-colour Paultons came to the village – Lee Wordley’s 52 helping Redlynch to 178 before Steve Moody (4-18) ripped out the visitors top and bottom.Opener Colin James carried his bat for 61 and watched all ten partners get out.There’s no stopping Waterlooville’s Aussie import Chris Baumann, who hit 101 in the 283-run spree against Bashley (Rydal).Baumann, who is challenging Purbrook’s Will Prozesky for the Premier 3 batting prize, dominated a 157-run start with Martin Shephard (36) before Paul Russell (38) and Paul Spinks (42) made hay.Only Iain Britton (69) made much of a fist of it as Bashley surrendered at 183 all out.

Somerset had to settle for eleven points from their vital championship match against Kent which ended in a draw in Taunton today after the rain played it’s part in yet another of their championship results.Resuming this morning on 265 for 4 the Cidermen lost Peter Bowler early on for 81 and took their score on to 316 for 9 before they declared late in the morning leaving their opponents a target of 377 for victory.With the half century in sight paceman Simon Francis struck three times in a single over to reduce the White Horse county to 50 for 3, before the players left the field for rain.By the time they returned almost forty minutes had been lost. The visitors lost a further wicket with the score on 116 but when eventually the game concluded after 61 overs they had taken their score onto 171 for 4, with Francis ending with 3 for 44.After the close of play Kevin Shine told me: "This was a rain effected day which spoilt the outcome for us. Simon Francis took three wickets in one over, but immediately afterwards the rain came down and we lost some time and vital overs. When we resumed the game had lost a bit of momentum and Kent weren’t so interested in the run chase."Looking ahead to tomorrow’s NUL National League game between the Sabres and the Spitfires which gets underway at 12 noon at the County Ground the coach told me: " We will be giving some of the young players another chance tomorrow, Arul Suppiah, Wes Durston and Pete Trego will all be playing."The full Sabres team will be: Jamie Cox, Piran Holloway, Arul Suppiah, Pete Trego, Ian Blackwell, Rob Turner, Wes Durston, Keith Dutch, Matt Bulbeck, Simon Francis and Steffan Jones.

Essex captain Ronnie Irani has been released from England’s squad for the final Test against India at The AMP Oval.Irani had reported at the ground yesterday saying he was fully fit for the Test following an operation on his right knee, but after a look at the pitch England have allowed him to return to Essex for their Frizzell County Championship match against Middlesex at Chelmsford.Meanwhile Marcus Trescothick believes he is a likely starter in the Test, despite playing in just two one-day games since breaking his thumb in a C&G match at Taunton six weeks ago. Trescothick had a net session yesterday against a bowling machine delivering at up to 85mph.”If I was pushed I would say I’m more likely to play than not,” he said. “There were a couple of balls from Matthew Hoggard in Saturday’s C&G Final which I felt, but it’s been like that in nearly every net session.”Once you get through the pain barrier it seems to be all right. It is a mental barrier for me to get over – it was a bad break and it’s all a question of me getting over it because it’s mainly a confidence thing.”We cranked up the bowling machine at just short of a length because playing off the back foot is when it causes me the most problems, but the more I practice, the happier I feel about batting.”

ADELAIDE, Oct 18 AAP – A discarded Victorian spinner, a rookie who had taken just two previous first-class wickets and an occasional medium pacer today bowled South Australia to the first outright victory of the Pura Cup season, against Victoria at Adelaide Oval.The Bushrangers were out for 303 in their second innings shortly before the scheduled final day tea break, giving SA a 208-run outright win after Victoria had taken first innings points.Victoria, which trailed SA by 511 runs heading into its second innings, started today at 2-94 and never looked likely to save the game, losing four wickets in the opening session, and another four in the second session.All-rounder Ian Harvey top-scored with an unbeaten 63 and Darren Berry made 52.Ex-Victorian off-spinner John Davison, in his first match for SA, was the chief destroyer.Having not made the Bushrangers’ side in either form of the game last season, Davison showed he still had plenty to offer at first-class level, taking 4-107.His wickets included the key scalps of Victorian openers Matthew Elliott (21) and Jason Arnberger (42) yesterday, as well as the prize wicket of Brad Hodge (22) today, the first three Bushrangers to fall.Davison, 32, joined SA this season after failing to earn a place in the Victorian side since the 2000/01 Pura Cup final, which Victoria lost to Queensland.Paceman Ryan Harris, who had played just two previous Pura Cup matches for his state and taken only two first-class wickets, finished today with 3-64.And all-rounder Ben Johnson, who top-scored with 165 in SA’s second innings, took the final three wickets of the match, finishing with 3-4 from just three overs after being introduced for the first time in the 100th over of Victoria’s innings.Johnson was named man of the match.SA skipper Greg Blewett said he was pleased with the number of players who made vital contributions, particularly Davison and ex-NSW recruit Mark Higgs, who made a second-innings century, and all-rounder Michael Miller, who took seven first-innings wickets after not playing a game last year.”It was just a great team effort, just about everyone did something,” Blewett said.”I’m particularly pleased with Davo, the first three wickets against his old side, I’m sure he would have been pretty rapt with that.”We haven’t had an off-spinner here for quite a few years, so he’s certainly a handy recruit.”Victorian acting skipper Elliott resigned from the role after the loss.Elliott, who was officially the team’s vice captain under Shane Warne but would have led the side in most matches given Warne’s commitments with the Australian team, handed over the reins to former skipper Berry for the rest of the season.Elliott said he felt the captaincy affected his batting.”It’s certainly not a reflection of what’s going on with the team, it’s an exciting time for us with all the people we’ve got involved, it’s just that I feel like I’m not putting my best playing foot forward,” he said.

ADELAIDE – Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie is confident ofplaying in tomorrow’s second cricket Test against England at theAdelaide Oval despite his troublesome calf injury.Gillespie will be given until tomorrow morning to prove his fitness butthe South Australian was pleased with how he bowled during Australia’sfinal net session today.Gillespie said he awoke today with no stiffness in the injured area,which initially caused him problems during the first Test in Brisbane.Captain Steve Waugh said any decision on 12th man would be delayed untilGillespie’s condition is decided.England was holding its final training session at the Adelaide Oval,with young Yorkshire off-spinner Richard Dawson likely to replace AshleyGiles, who broke his wrist yesterday.

After India were put in to bat by South Africa at the CPT-India Pistons ground in Chennai, they would have been a touch wary after reaching just 285 for six in their allotted 40 overs. This World Cup Cricket for the Blind has been an extremely high-scoring tournament, with one team yesterday even making a game chase of a 400-plus target.Sure enough, that story repeated itself today. The patient innings of B Vishal Kumar, the top-scorer for India with 75 off 105 balls, went in vain as South Africa chased down the target of 286 with almost four overs to spare. PA Le Roux anchored the South African chase with a splendid innings of 88 off 75 balls, while RW Liebenberg made a smart 68 off 62 balls earlier in the innings.South Africa finally cruised home with two wickets to spare, the Indian target just not proving enough for the mighty batting line-up.

New Zealand are set to try out high-tech bowlers’ trousers, specially designed to put shine on the ball, for the third Test against England at Trent Bridge.The trousers – manufactured by New Zealand-based outfitters Canterbury – were set to be used only from October, but they have been tried in practice. Also included is the micro-slide version for fielders, and the IonX BaseLayer performance underwear which is claimed to improve performance by 2.7%.Reports said several pairs were “smuggled in” during the second Test at Old Trafford, and one or two players tested the trousers with the logos covered by tape during the side’s tour match at Northampton.The trousers were developed under the supervision of Dipal Patel, a former engineering student. “When I came into cricket I was surprised to find there are no regulations about what materials you can and can’t use,” he told the .”To start with, we looked at putting two patches on the bowlers’ trousers – one to shine the ball, and one to scuff it up, in case you wanted to produce reverse-swing. But we have since dropped the abrasive patch. I’m a member of MCC, and I didn’t want to lose my membership for going against the spirit of cricket.”An MCC spokesman told the BBC that there was no issue with the trousers. “We believe they conform under law 42.3, so we don’t see a problem with them,” he said.