A round-up of the action from the first day of the sixth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2011A strong bowling performance helped top-of-the-table Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) knock over Islamabad for 232 on the first day of their game at the Diamond Club Gound in Islamabad. Islamabad made a strong start with the openers adding 83 before Afaq Raheem was caught behind for 44. They were still well placed at 130 for 1 but then began to lose wickets in bunches. First they lost 5 wickets for 10 runs, with Naved-ul-Hasan and Sarfraz Ahmed picking up two apiece. Imad Wasim and Naeem Anjum briefly stemmed the rot, adding 35 together, before another 3 wickets fell for 20 runs. It was only an obdurate tenth-wicket stand worth 37 between Wasim and Nasrullah, who made 7 from 52 balls, that took them past 200. Naved was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 4 for 66 from 28.5 overs.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) made a strong start to their match against Abbottabad, piling up a score of 305 for 3 at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Three of ZTBL’s top five batsmen made half-centuries, two of them unbeaten, as Abbottabad’s decision to bowl first backfired. After opener Sharjeel Khan went without scoring, Imran Nazir and Yasir Hameed added 121 before Hameed was out for 48. Nazir fell agonisingly short of a hundred, trapped lbw on 99, but that was the last success of the day for Abbottabad as Shahid Yousuf (77*) and Haris Sohail (73*) put on 142 and take their side to stumps.Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria picked up four wickets as Faisalabad struggled to 219 for 8 against Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Habib Bank chose to bowl and Fahad Masood removed the openers with only 14 on the board. Kaneria then took two wickets to end burgeoning partnerships, before Zeeshan Butt and Naved Latif came together to add 98 for the fifth wicket. Kaneria picked up his third wicket when he bowled Butt for 66. The home side were 207 for 5 at that stage but Zeeshan’s dismissal triggered a mini-collapse and Faisalabad lost another three wickets for 12 runs, including Latif for 51, to hand HBL the advantage.Asad Baig’s unbeaten century guided Karachi Blues to a total of 247 for 4 against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at the National Stadium in Karachi. Baig batted for six and a half hours to make exactly 100, and shared in three substantial partnerships. He added 56 with fellow opener Shahzaib Hasan (33), 87 with Khalid Latif (51) for the third wicket and 104 with Wajihuddin for the fourth before the latter was caught behind off Wahab Riaz for 48 off the last ball of the day.Rameez Raja’s painstaking half-century carried State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to 162 for 4 against Rawalpindi at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Only 68 overs were bowled in the day, and the openers started cautiously. Waqar Orakzai needed 101 balls, and two and a half hours, to make 20, while his partner was somewhat quicker, taking 51 balls, and 80 minutes, to make 27. Rameez Raja continued to bat in the same vein and progressed to 69 not out by the end of the day. Mohammad Rameez and Barbar Naeem took two wickets each.Kamran Sajid’s century ensured Sialkot toiled in the field and took Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a strong 253 for 2 after the first day at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Opener Agha Sabir was bowled by Naved Arif for a duck but it was all PIA after that. Sajid added 153 for the second wicket with Sheharyar Ghani (68) and then a further 97 with Faisal Iqbal. He was not out on 122 at close, with Iqbal on 46.

New South Wales gained the advantage over Western Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, bowling them out for 150 and reaching 2 for 48 in response

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2011
ScorecardNew South Wales gained the advantage over Western Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, bowling them out for 150 and reaching 2 for 48 in response. After most of the first day was washed out, 20-year-old fast bowler Josh Hazlewood caused problems on the second morning. He bowled Marcus Harris with an offcutter and then dismissed Travis Birt. Wes Robinson fought and got a half-century but Hazlewood took two more wickets and Josh Lalor grabbed three to bowl Western Australia out for 150.Nathan Rimmington struck early but Tim Cruickshank and Phil Jacques steadied the innings before Cruickshank was dismissed just before play ended for the day. Captain Simon Katich joined Jaques, who finished the day 38 not out.

Ishant Sharma bowled only 5.3 overs on the first day of India’s tour match in Canberra, the most notable episode in a forgettable start for the tourists

The Report by Daniel Brettig in Canberra15-Dec-2011
ScorecardIshant Sharma went off the Manuka Oval early in the day and returned only to carry drinks•Getty Images

Stiffness, jet-lag, an ankle in need of re-strapping, or just micro-management on the part of Duncan Fletcher? Theories abounded as to the reason for Ishant Sharma bowling only 5.3 overs on the first day of India’s opening tour match against a Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI in Canberra, the most notable episode in a forgettable start for the tourists.An uncertain 2 for 45 after being sent in to bat by the acting Indian captain Rahul Dravid, the local XI ultimately reached a bountiful 6 for 398, led by dashing centuries from Wes Robinson and Tom Cooper. Umesh Yadav was the most incisive of the visiting bowlers, striking once in the first session and twice at the end in gathering gloom. They were watched by the CA chairman Wally Edwards, while the Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s partner Tim Mathieson was also in attendance to observe Ishant’s enigmatic introduction to the summer of 2011-12.Taking the new ball on a sleepy surface at Manuka Oval, Ishant went off the field twice in the space of his brief spell, and after his second exit midway through his sixth over, did not return. An Indian team official explained that Ishant had only planned to deliver six overs for the day, and when his ankle strapping came loose before it was concluded, he felt no need to return. Ishant was seen on the field later, but only to help run the drinks.As a tall fast bowler still recovering from the duration of the flight to Australia plus a four-hour bus trip into Canberra, Ishant was understandably below his best, and will take time to find his rhythm over the course of the week. There is sound reasoning for India to monitor Ishant’s left ankle carefully, given the debate about whether or not he required ankle surgery to repair ligament damage he sustained in the third Test against England at Edgbaston in August.In Ishant’s absence the rest toiled without much success against studious batting by the West Australian Robinson and the more attractive strokes of South Australia’s Cooper. Robinson showed more flair the further his innings went on, following Cooper’s example and ultimately blooming in a stand of 226. Pragyan Ojha and Vinay Kumar were on the receiving end of the most aggressive strokes, though no member of the bowling attack shone too brightly against batsmen largely considered surplus to the requirements of the imminent Big Bash League.Yadav enjoyed early success when he had the Chairman’s XI captain Ryan Broad edging behind to Wriddhiman Saha, and Ojha’s subtle variations of pace and flight proved too much for Joe Burns, bowled on the back foot by a flatter delivery. But the afternoon session passed without another wicket, as Robinson and Cooper built momentum against an attack that called on eight bowlers.A solid 2 for 186 at the tea interval, Robinson and Cooper accelerated with vigour on resumption, swatting boundaries to all parts. Ojha was subjected to particularly heavy punishment to return 2 for 149 from 25.3 overs. Robinson swung Ojha to the leg-side boundary no fewer than five times before he perished in the attempt to add a sixth.Alex Doolan provided unobtrusive company as Cooper reached his century, but both he and Glenn Maxwell were beaten on the crease by Yadav in light that became increasingly murky. Dean Solway, a Canberra product, edged Vinay behind shortly before the close.Cooper’s display was both pleasant and authoritative, demonstrating why he is now being watched by the national selectors as a possible contender for the Australian side.

Graeme Swann, the England offspinner, has said there are no lingering doubts about his fitness for the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Tuesday

David Hopps14-Jan-2012Graeme Swann, the England offspinner, has said there are no lingering doubts about his fitness for the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai on Tuesday. As if to prove it, he followed up his statement by diving from a racing yacht into the warm waters of the Persian Gulf.Swann needed a scan on a sore thigh before playing in England’s 100-run victory against a Pakistan Cricket Board XI. He described himself as “100% fit” as he joined team-mate Alastair Cook for a quick flight to Abu Dhabi and a ceremonial plunge off the racing yacht Azzam, Abu Dhabi’s official contender in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12.Swann, 32, admitted he had briefly felt his age as injury threatened to disrupt a tour that gives him the opportunity to reassert himself as one of the world’s leading spin bowlers. “I was a bit nervous going into the last warm-up game because my thigh felt like a 32-year-old’s rather than a 22-year-old’s,” he said. “But it managed to get through and I felt great by the end of the game. So touch wood I’ll be 100% fit for the first Test.”If there had been any injury doubts, Swann’s jaunt to Abu Dhabi would not have been countenanced. The players donned heavy-weather, waterproof safety gear to join a short-sprint course that officially started the third leg of the race from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, China.Swann was left to marvel at the camaraderie on the yacht, skippered by Britain’s double-Olympic medallist Ian Walker, a useful reminder shortly before the start of what England expect to be a gruelling Test series against Pakistan.”Ian told us that Azzam translated as determination in Arabic,” Swann said. “That seems a perfectly apt name having seen the unbelievable camaraderie and teamwork the crew put in during our short stint on board.”Swann became the first England spinner to take 50 Test wickets in a calendar year in 2009, as he made a spectacular entry into international cricket. His success has been more hard-won over the past year as he has needed all his know-how to survive a series of unsympathetic pitches, but he has high hopes of greater assistance in the UAE.He has already bowled 70 overs in the two warm-up games and can expect his workload to remain heavy, with three Tests, four ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals to follow. He was overshadowed by Monty Panesar against the PCB XI, taking only two wickets in comparison to Panesar’s match-return of 8 for 103.Swann told the he would prefer to have Panesar alongside him in the opening Test. “I like the rhythm of spinners at each end and I’d go with two in this part of the world. He has shown he can be a matchwinner when he’s back to his best. I spin the ball in, he spins it away and a partnership like that can be formidable.”The decision to use the same pitch for England’s first two matches gave both spinners encouragement. “The ball does spin, especially on a six-day old pitch,” Swann said. “I should be getting a lot of work out here. It’s obviously hot, and the seamers can’t do the job they do in England because it’s just not the same conditions.”

Dean Jones, technical director of the Chittagong Kings, has said the tournament will help young Bangladesh players, as they will have the opportunity to play alongside international stars

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2012Dean Jones, the former Australia batsman and technical director of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) franchise, the Chittagong Kings, has said the tournament will help young Bangladesh players, as they will have the opportunity to play alongside international stars. The Kings have Tamim Iqbal as their icon player, and bought West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo and Jerome Taylor, and Muttiah Muralitharan in the auction.”The great thing about this tournament is that the players can rub shoulders with Murali, Tamim and Dwayne Bravo,” Jones said. “[For the young players], getting to see how good they are against experienced players is really important. I think it will really bring the best out of some players. Some players will fail but some players will do very well.”The BPL has been hampered by some of the high-profile buys pulling out due to international or domestic commitments. The Kings will be without Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan allrounder, and West Indies opener Lendl Simmons. “Everyone has got that problem,” Jones said. “We’re looking for replacements now as we speak; who they are I’m not going to disclose.”We’ve got players coming in on the morning of February 10 [date of the opening fixture] because they are playing first-class matches in Pakistan and the West Indies or something. We’ve just got to roll with the punches, get them ready and off we go.”The Kings will be coached by former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud and have Michael Bevan, the former Australia batsman, as their batting consultant, with Jones advising the coaching staff. “Khaled Mahmud is my eyes and ears; he is helping me communicate with the Bangladeshi boys and understand their roles as well,” Jones said. “Of course we have Michael Bevan and we have bowling and fielding coaches. I am very happy with my coaching staff.”Jones said the BPL would help Bangladesh cricket because it will give the local players the experience of playing under the spotlight. “I think it will give them more exposure, more awareness, it will put them under more pressure, under lights, in front of big crowds. Sometimes you’ll get hurt and get beaten. And then you’ve got to work on your strengths and weakness to come back.”I think it couldn’t come at a better time really for the Bangladesh people and the players. They needed this, I think they wanted this. They need to get out of their comfort zone and now they are going to find out how good they are.”

Full coverage of former New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns’ libel suit against former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-2012January 7, 2010
News – Chris Cairns to sue Lalit Modi
March 23, 2010
News – Distressed by Modi’s claims – Cairns
March 5, 2012
News – Accusation reduced my career to dust – Cairns
March 6, 2012
News – Cairns’ former team-mates allege fixing demands
March 7, 2012
News – Rumours made Cairns ‘barking’ angry
March 7, 2012
News – ICL officials had their own ‘agenda’March 8, 2012
News – Cairns fixing investigation ‘shambolic’ – Beer
March 9, 2012
News – Cairns’ fury as Modi fails to give evidence
March 12, 2012
News – Players stand by Cairns accusations
March 14, 2012
News – Judge refuses late witness for Modi
March 16, 2012
News – Cairns a ‘scapegoat’ court hears
March 26, 2012
News – Cairns wins libel case against Modi

England will have to achieve a record fourth-innings score of 340 if they are to win the first Test of the series against Sri Lanka in Galle

The Report by George Dobell28-Mar-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jonathan Trott ended day three 40 not out as he and Pietersen set a platform to provide England with hope of chasing 340 to win•Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott earned England an outside chance of a remarkable victory with a resolute partnership against Sri Lanka on the third day of the first Test in Galle.
England, set a daunting 340 to win, reached 111 for the loss of both their openers before the close. Bearing in mind that England have been dismissed for under 260 in six of their last seven Test innings and have never successfully chased more than 332 to win a Test, the weight of history and logic is against them.Statistics at Galle also provide little comfort. No team has scored more than 253 in the fourth innings of any of the 18 previous Tests on this ground and the highest successful fourth-innings chase at the ground is just 96.England – and Trott and Pietersen in particular – had reduced the requirement to 229 by the close in an unbroken stand of 63, playing straight, using their feet and keeping their cool despite the pressure of the match situation. The pitch held no terrors, either. It has provided assistance to spinners, certainly, but it has not crumbled into the bowling paradise that some predicted. Not yet, anyway. The result, against an honest but modest attack, is not quite a foregone conclusion.If Sri Lanka did go on to win – and they still should – it would not only mark their first home success without Murali, but would mean England have lost four Tests in a row. For a side who retain, for now, the title of No. 1 Test side, that would represent an acute embarrassment. The title rings very hollow at present.Sri Lanka, by contrast, will have many reasons to thank their pair of unrelated Jayawardenes: Prasanna and Mahela. While it was the latter’s first-innings century that plotted the direction of this game it was the former’s second innings half-century that drove the defining nail into England’s coffin.Prasanna has kept impressively – his stumping of Trott in the first innings and neat take of Alastair Cook in England’s second were fine pieces of work – but equally valuable was the way he helped Sri Lanka eke out 87 runs from the final two wickets. He was watchful for the most part, but still took the opportunity to attack when appropriate, pulling sixes off James Anderson and Stuart Broad and driving Monty Panesar for another.Prasanna received admirably obdurate support from Chanaka Welegedara and Suranga Lakmal as England, hoping to wrap up the innings well before lunch, were kept in the field until the tea interval was in sight. In the end, it took a run-out to end the Sri Lankan innings and, understandably, England’s spirits and shoulders drooped just a little in the heat.
Win or lose, England must reflect on their many missed opportunities in this game. Not only have their batsmen continued to underperform – to be bowled out within 47 overs was woeful on a day two Test surface – but they have also squandered several chances in the field. Mahela was reprieved four times during his century, while on the third day Broad made the sort of error that, in this era of professionalism, could reduce a bowling coach to tears of rage.Broad thought he had finished off the Sri Lankan innings on 168 when Prasanna Jayawardene top-edged a return catch to the bowler. But a review by umpire Rod Tucker showed that Broad had overstepped – his eighth no-ball of the game – and England’s bowlers were obliged to continue their efforts. No other bowler from either side has overstepped in the game.Perhaps Samit Patel, on the deep midwicket boundary, might also have done better with a chance offered to him by Jayawardene off Graeme Swann on 53. In attempting to parry the ball back into play, however, Patel’s momentum saw him tread on the boundary rope and concede six. While the incident may fuel the suggestion that Patel’s fitness remains an issue, it was a fiendishly tricky chance.Prasanna Jayawardene’s resilience took the gloss off a fine performance from Swann. The form of England’s off-spinner has been much debated of late with critics seeming to overlook the fact that he actually had the best strike-rate of any England bowler in the Test series against Pakistan in the UAE. Here, however, his performance brooked no argument: he gained drift from the breeze, turn from the pitch and produced the dip that renders him so dangerous. He comfortably outbowled Panesar and finished with 6 for 82. It was the 12th five-wicket haul of his Test career and his best of his eight five-wicket hauls outside England.How Andrew Strauss could do with a similarly uncompromising performance. Here England’s captain was drawn down the pitch by a flighted delivery and drove to mid-on – the idea was fine; the execution horrid – and now has one century in his last 48 Test innings and an average of 25.50 in the last calendar year. While England were winning that may be ignorable. Once they start losing, it becomes a major issue.Alastair Cook might consider himself unfortunate. Originally reprieved by the on-field umpire, Tucker, Cook was adjudged to have edged to Prasanna by third umpire Bruce Oxenford. Oxenford privately suggested that he could see a change of direction and so overruled Tucker: it was not all that obvious to television viewers.The rest of the day belonged to England. Trott, sweeping with rare command, survived a reviewed LBW decision on seven, but otherwise looked admirably solid, while Pietersen, on eight, cleared mid-off by inches as he miscued a lofted drive and was then dropped on 12 at leg slip by Kumar Sangakkara off Suraj Randiv. It was a hard chance but, in a game of full of errors, it may yet prove to have been a turning point.

ESPNcricinfo previews Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2012

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Apr-2012

Big picture

They have one of the world’s fastest bowlers (Brett Lee); they have the most destructive batsman behind Chris Gayle in world cricket (Brendon McCullum); they have the most dependable batsman in all formats (Jacques Kallis); they have the world’s best allrounder in ODIs (Shakib Al Hasan). And they are one of the most popular teams in the IPL, run by owners who rarely intrude on the team management. Probably, Kolkata are most balanced team in the IPL.After the controversies and shenanigans in the initial years involving Sourav Ganguly’s stubbornness and John Buchannan’s radical coaching methods, Kolkata appeared more settled last year with a new captain in Gautam Gambhir. Dav Whatmore has left to coach Pakistan, and a fellow Australian Trevor Bayliss has come in as replacement. Rudi Webster has been hired as a mental skills coach to help youngsters in dealing with high-pressure situations that are frequent in the Twenty20 format. Essentially Kolkata possess the perfect package which could help them progress from the fourth position – their best in the IPL – they finished at last season. The time has come for Kolkata to shed the pretender’s role.Probably they can learn from Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, the state where the franchise has its home base. Banerjee is known for her ruthlessness, her radical decision-making and her daring – qualities that the team can imbibe if it wants to win the title.

Key players

Jacques Kallis: Consider this: Graeme Smith is South Africa’s top run-maker in Twenty20 internationals with 982 runs in 33 matches. Kallis has played half that number (17) but already has 573 runs. In fact, Kallis has more fifties in all-time Twenty20 history barring Brad Hodge – 23 against Hodge’s 29. After the franchise bought him at the auction last year, Kallis repaid the owners by finishing as the team’s highest run-maker. At 36, Kallis plays with the hunger of a rookie. His durability at the top of the order, his gift to combine patience with aggression, along with his nifty medium-fast bowling, make Kallis not only a go-to man but also one of the most dangerous players.Gautam Gambhir: Gambhir’s Test career as an opener might be facing a crisis, but in the shorter formats Gambhir is a force to reckon with and is India’s top scorer in Twenty20 internationals. Last year, Gambhir was uncertain about opening along with Kallis, and might face the same problem with the inclusion of Brendon McCullum, but he could be the perfect No.3, a position from where he can not only anchor the innings and give it a right direction for the big-hitters to flourish at the end. The stakes are high for Gambhir: after being deposed as India vice-captain, he would like to let his performances catapult him back into the leadership role.Yusuf Pathan: The IPL website has an illustration depicting Yusuf diving forward to take a catch while a banner floating on his back reads (the Pathan palanquin). Indeed, Yusuf’s broad shoulders and broad bat can carry his team’s burden without breaking much sweat. But last year, Yusuf’s influence was barely visible considering he would walk in at the fag end of the innings. He was then out of the Indian team due to poor form. Just like Gambhir, it is redemption time for Yusuf – to come out and play the role of the impact player and elevate himself back into the national reckoning.

Big names in

Brendon McCullum: It was McCullum who lit the IPL dynamite in 2008 with a blitzkrieg century (158 not out) in the tournament’s inaugural match in Bangalore. He was bought by the now defunct Kochi franchise last year, but McCullum – Twenty20 international cricket’s highest scorer (in fact he is the third highest run-getter in Twenty20 history) – is back to Kolkata and is likely to double up as a wicketkeeper in addition to walking in as an opener.Trevor Bayliss (coach): Bayliss was Sri Lanka’s coach in the 2011 World Cup when the team lost in the final to India and has replaced fellow Australian Dav Whatmore, who is now Pakistan’s coach. Unlike the previous two Australian coaches with Kolkata, Bayliss’ strengths are he remains low-key and virtually inconspicuous in the media. That way he can put in all his energies into the cricket, allowing players to make the headlines.

Big names out

There remains a question mark over the availability of Australia wicketkeeper batsman Brad Haddin, who has decided to take time off cricket to resolve some personal issues.

Below the radar

Sunil Narine Sunil Narine turned heads last year when he came to India with the Trinidad & Tobago to play in the Champions League Twenty20. The talent, the trickery in his offspin made coaches and teams wanting him on their roaster. Kolkata paid a handsome $700,000 to buy Narine in a stiff competition with rival franchises. Narine, who bowled impressively under pressure in the two Powerplays in his debut ODI against India last year in Ahmedabad (the only match West Indies won on their tour), finished as the highest wicket-taker in the recent drawn ODI series at home against Australia. Kolkata would hope Narine brings his current form against Australia to the IPL when he lands in May. Iqbal Abdulla Abdulla won the IPL award for the best young bowler with his allround skills. A left-arm spinner, Abdulla was utilised smartly by Gambhir during pressure situations and the Mumbai player did not disappoint. Coupled with his good fielding and thrifty batting skills, Abdulla can once again play a leading role for Kolkata.

Availability

The only problem for Narine could be his availability with the first half of the IPL clashing with West Indies’ Test series against Australia.

2011 in a tweet

New beginning, new energy, but fell painfully short of a top-3 slot

Andre Adams took a career-best 7 for 32 before Nottinghamshire’s openers helped built a solid lead over Lancashire

Jon Culley at Old Trafford03-May-2012
ScorecardAndre Adams recorded career-best first-class figures to help skittle Lancashire•PA Photos

You cannot help but conclude that there is something odd going on when Glen Chapple and Andre Adams, quite probably the two finest bowlers on the county circuit, can reach the combined age of 74 and have only one Test cap between them.Chapple’s extraordinary overlooking by the England selectors has been noted with incredulity on several occasions during an exemplary first-class career and there is bemusement, too, that Adams stepped out for a five-day game only once, against England in Auckland, his home town, a decade ago.No one now bowls with greater consistency, both in terms of economy and strike rate, than the 36-year-old Adams, who hit another peak with career-best figures of 7-32 to give Nottinghamshire an unlikely first-innings lead on which they have so far built solidly enough to suggest that Lancashire, the defending champions, will struggle to avoid a third defeat in a season only four matches old.He was the chief architect of a post-lunch implosion that saw Lancashire’s last six wickets fall for 15 runs inside 12 overs, conceding a lead of 23 that Nottinghamshire did not envisage when they were bowled out for 169 on Wednesday, their downfall in no small part down to Chapple’s impressive support for a luckless James Anderson.Adams dismissed Steven Croft and Gareth Cross with consecutive deliveries to add another five-for to an impressive tally that now stands at 28 in his career, 13 of which have come in the last three seasons. He had set the ball rolling by bowling Karl Brown with the third delivery of the day and ended what was shaping up as a potentially threatening innings by Stephen Moore when he produced the ball he seems able to summon at will, drawing the batsman forward but not allowing him to drive and moving it away just enough to take the edge.His maturing years have been his best, yet he has no regrets that they did not come sooner and has never considered trying to force his way back into the New Zealand team.”I shut the door on international cricket when I came to Nottinghamshire as a Kolpak and to be honest my last few games for New Zealand were not an enjoyable experience,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to go back.”When I was in New Zealand I was always fighting for a place and in those circumstances you sometimes forget about getting better as a cricketer. At Nottinghamshire I have been able to work in an honest environment, where I’m responsible for what I do and I’m not fighting for my place. To be here enjoying my cricket is a big deal for me.”I know what I have to do, which is essentially to be as annoying as I can be with the ball, by which I mean trying to put the ball in the right place as often as possible. It is what makes Chapple so good. He is a fine bowler and he is very annoying in that he hardly misses.”Adams’s miserly economy, backed up by similarly tight bowling from Ben Phillips and Graeme Swann, tended to show up Stuart Broad’s less-than-economical figures more perhaps than they otherwise might. On an essentially slow pitch that afforded few chances for fluent strokeplay, the England strike bowler went for 60 runs from 14 overs.In his defence, it was his first competitive bowl since his calf injury in Sri Lanka and his natural pace probably worked against him as the only bowler who offered speed off the bat.”He has a great record for us and it is good to have him here,” Adams said, offering some sympathy. “He had not bowled for a while and maybe he bowled a bit too short at times but having not been able to make a contribution so far he will be really up for it when he bowls again.”Fortunately for Nottinghamshire, Adams more than compensated, as did Swann, who took perhaps the most important wicket of the day when he had Ashwell Prince caught at bat-pad and wrapped up the innings on a hat-trick after bowling his friend and England team-mate Anderson first ball.Anderson remains in the wars. Having damaged his thumb on Wednesday, he bowled only one over on Thursday, although not because of the pain but because of a flu-like virus which affected him overnight. He signalled to Chapple, his captain, that he was feeling unwell and left the field immediately and was not seen again for an hour and 40 minutes, reappearing only because he thought he would have to be in the field for as much time as he had been off it in order to bowl on the third morning. As it happened, the umpires were able to tell him to return to his impromptu sick bed in the dressing room because the slate would be wiped clean overnight.Nottinghamshire will resume with a lead of 145 and eight wickets in hand and the opportunity to build a lead of 200-plus that could be as much as they need if Broad clicks and Adams merely continues where he left off. Against a depleted attack they have batted with respect for the pitch, in particular Neil Edwards and Michael Lumb, the latter revealing the kind of diligent approach for which he wants to be appreciated more.

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke does not believe the nation’s cricketers are making unreasonable demands of Cricket Australia in their ongoing pay negotiations

Brydon Coverdale14-Jun-2012Australia’s captain Michael Clarke does not believe the nation’s cricketers are making unreasonable demands of Cricket Australia in their ongoing pay negotiations. Clarke and his one-day side flew out for England on Thursday with the looming possibility that their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cricket Australia will lapse during the trip, if a new deal is not struck by June 30.That would place Clarke in the unenviable position of leading the Australian side through a potential player strike, a scenario that neither the players nor Cricket Australia want to see happen. But as negotiations were set to continue between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), one or both parties will need to concede ground to ensure a deal is done by the end of the month.The ACA believes Cricket Australia’s proposal to change the definition of cricket revenue could leave the players worse off, but the board maintains the players will receive more money as a result of the alterations. James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said last week the players would be $80 million better off over a five-year period under the new proposal.”That was news to me,” Clarke said of the $80 million figure. “One thing I do know about the players is we’re asking no more than what we’ve had. We believe the most important thing is giving back to this game, not just for the players that are playing today but for the future of the game. We want what’s fair. We want the game to continue to be the number one game in this country and hopefully in the world. As captain of the Australian team we will do whatever it takes to make sure this game continues to grow. We’re asking for nothing more.””Hopefully it will be sorted sooner rather than later, for all parties. I think there’s a meeting scheduled tomorrow with [Cricket Australia general manager of team performance] Pat Howard and [ACA chief executive] Paul Marsh … The last thing we want to do is go on strike. I don’t want to miss any cricket for Australia. I think it’s best for everyone the sooner it gets done the better.”As well as the disagreement over the way cricket revenue is divided, Cricket Australia’s push for performance-based player contracts was also a sticking point in negotiations, although one that appeared more likely to be resolved. Clarke said the existing system already rewarded and punished players based on their output.”I believe our contracts are already performance-based,” Clarke said. “We have 25 contracted players; 90% of those guys are on one-year contracts and if you don’t perform in that 12 months you no longer have a contract, so you’re looking for another job.”Australia play an ODI against Ireland and one against England before the June 30 MoU deadline. A further four ODIs against England are scheduled for the first two weeks of July.