Gloucestershire have finally landed their man for the Friends Life t20 by signing Australian allrounder Dan Christian

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2013Gloucestershire have finally landed their man for the Friends Life t20 by signing Australian allrounder Daniel Christian.John Bracewell, Gloucestershire director of cricket, had expressed his frustration at not being able to seal a deal for an overseas player. He is targeting a place at finals day and it was essential that any signing would be available for the whole T20 competition.Christian, 29, will hope to help them to a first semi-final since 2007. He has played a handful of internationals, 17 ODIs and 11 T20Is for Australia, and has a good record in domestic T20 with almost 1,300 runs at a strike rate of 131.57 and a bowling average of 25.43.Christian is well-known to new Gloucestershire captain Michael Klinger, who also plays for South Australia. But it was with Brisbane Heat that Christian won the Big Bash League in January. He also won the Friends Life t20 with Hampshire in 2010 and was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for this season’s IPL.”I couldn’t be more pleased about signing Dan,” Bracewell said. “He is a power-hitter and a vicious competitor, as is the nature of the new breed of top T20 players, who want to win every ball. Dan will bat in our top four and can bowl in the middle of an innings and at the death. He is a hugely exciting recruit.””I am excited to be joining Gloucestershire,” Christian said. “Having played in 2010 for Hampshire, I have already had a taste of county cricket and I am really looking forward to playing in England again.”I have two months in India for the IPL prior to joining the club which will be great preparation ahead of the English T20. I look forward to joining John Bracewell, Michael Klinger and the rest of the boys in June and pulling on a Gloucestershire shirt for the first time.”

Leicestershire have signed Australia batsman Joe Burns as an overseas player for part of the 2013 county season

George Dobell07-Mar-2013Leicestershire have signed Australia batsman Joe Burns as an overseas player for part of the 2013 county season. Burns will stand in for Ramnaresh Sarwan once the latter leaves for international duty with West Indies.Burns, 23, scored 145 runs, including a century, for Australia A against the touring England Lions in February. He was voted the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year by his fellow Australian players for his achievements in the 2012-13 season. All cricketers who have won the award since its inception in 2000 have gone on to represent Australia in at least one format. While Burns has yet to play international cricket, he can gain a work permit through a UK passport. He appeared briefly for Sussex second XI in 2010.Sarwan is expected to play the first five and last four Championship games of the season, leaving Burns to cover the middle of the campaign and the FLt20 competition. He will arrive on May 15 and leave on August 30 and his spell will comprise seven county championship games, the whole of the FLt20 competition and 11 CB40 matches.”I’ve heard great things about the club’s set-up and players and I am very motivated
with the ambition of promotion in the county championship,” Burns said. “I’m looking forward to joining up with the team in May and contributing to a successful and enjoyable
season.””We are delighted to have signed the up-and-coming batsman Joe Burns,” Leicestershire’s chief executive, Mike Siddall, said: “We are hoping he will have a similar impact at Grace Road as previous Australian overseas players, Brad Hodge and Michael Bevan. Joe is on the fringes of the Australian team and will be keen to impress during an Ashes year in England.”Leicestershire are expected to add another overseas player for the FLt20, with Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan believed to be a frontrunner for the role.

After his five-wicket haul on the first day in Roseau, offspinner Shane Shillingford has said the support shown by his team-mates and the management was indicative of his good work

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2013Much of West Indies’ control over Zimbabwe in the Test series so far has come through Shane Shillingford. With a five-wicket haul on the first day in Roseau, the offspinner has already taken his tally to 14 for the series. The support shown by his team-mates and the management, he said, was indicative of his good work.”(I’m) looking forward to even getting 12 in this match. Once I get the support from the captain, and the players as well, the coach and everybody, I know I’m doing a good job,” he said.Shillingford said that he changed his approach to bowling a little wide outside off stump to counter the sweep which was being employed by the right-handed batsmen.”For the right-handers, when they tried to sweep I tried not to bowl too straight but to bowl a little wider of the off-stump. I noticed they then changed their game plan. I felt our change of tactics worked quite well and we held them very tight. They had to look for other ways to score their runs.”His spell of 5 for 59 helped his side bowl Zimbabwe out for 175, 20 minutes after tea. In the only other Test he played here, against Australia last year, he took ten wickets.”Absolutely feels good, especially coming back home and performing. Coming straight from the first-class season, getting the first match and now the second match. It’s always a pleasure playing with home support and everything.”To be honest, every time West Indies come here, the guys are happy. Because they know the type of crowd they’re going to get. What I really appreciate is that Dominican people support good cricket.”But unlike Shillingford’s last Test here, the crowd is likely to see a West Indies victory this time round.

Alice Springs will host an international cricket team for the first time in 13 years after Cricket Australia announced England would play a tour match there during the 2013-14 Ashes

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2013Alice Springs will host an international cricket team for the first time in 13 years after Cricket Australia announced England would play a tour match there during the 2013-14 Ashes. Traeger Park is set to host a two-day game between England and the Cricket Australia’s Chairman’s XI on November 29 and 30 after the original venue, Manuka Oval in Canberra, had to withdraw due to scheduled resurfacing work.The last time an international team played in Alice Springs was when the West Indies side led by Jimmy Adams played a one-day match there against a Northern Territory Cricket Association Invitation XI in November 2000. The England game will take place after the first Ashes Test in Brisbane and before the second Test at Adelaide Oval.”When we were informed that Canberra could not host this year’s Chairman’s XI fixture, we wanted to bring the match to an iconic part of Australia,” Andrew Ingleton, CA’s executive general manager of game and market development, said. “Alice Springs, set against the backdrop of the MacDonnell Ranges, is an iconic part of our great country and an ideal setting for the game.”Matt Conlan, the Northern Territory’s minister for sport and recreation, said it was exciting for the territory to be part of the Ashes battle.”The Ashes is one of the biggest events in Australian sport and for Alice Springs to have a slice of the action in between the first and second Tests of this highly anticipated series is incredibly exciting,” he said. “It’s been 13 years since Traeger Park hosted an international cricket team and I’m delighted this drought we now be broken in November.”

Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming was frank in admitting his side was under extra pressure with the controversy surrounding the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2013Just like the administrators, big India players stayed away from making any contact with the media. On the eve of the IPL final, both sides sent out their coaches, and Michael Hussey, to address the delegation, a task traditionally handled by the teams’ captains. Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings coach, was quite frank in admitting the side was under extra pressure with the controversy engulfing the IPL.This press conference was a day after Super Kings’ former team principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, was arrested by the Mumbai Police for investigations into alleged betting. Fleming started by reading a prepared statement, insisting the players were not aware of any wrongdoings, and were playing to the best of their ability.”The players and support staff are distressed by the allegations and news reports against the CSK franchise, the IPL and Indian cricket,” Fleming read out. “We have played every match to the best of our ability, and we are very proud of our record of having appeared in the playoff stage of all six seasons of the IPL.”The players and support staff have no knowledge of either the betting, or the separate spot-fixing allegations. As difficult as it is, all our focus is on appearing in the final tomorrow.”Fleming didn’t deny the existence of the crisis. “It is a great record so far but we are up against a very good side in Mumbai,” Fleming said. “We have had some great battles against them this year.”I guess one of the other issues is what was involved in the statement. That puts more pressure on the side, but we welcome that. Chennai are a side that has risen through a lot of challenges. We are very proud to have come this far. We are very much looking forward to a big final.”Hussey, the leading run-getter this IPL season, was asked what role he played as a senior player in this situation. “We are just trying to focus on the game,” he said. “There is a lot of stuff going on in the periphery, and there can be distractions, but from a player’s point of view it is important we focus on our game and come out and give our best performance. If we can do that, we give ourselves a good chance to win.”The boys will be very excited to get on the ground tomorrow and put all the controversies behind us. I think it is going to be a fantastic match. It is a fitting finale for a great tournament.”

Cricket South Africa will interview three candidates, including former ICC chief Haroon Lorgat, for the chief executive’s job next week

Firdose Moonda10-Jul-2013Former ICC boss Haroon Lorgat is one of three candidates who will be interviewed by CSA for the position of CEO next week. The body has been without a permanent replacement for Gerald Majola since he was sacked last October although its leadership position has been fluid for the last 16 months, since Majola was suspended in March 2012.CSA has been through one acting boss, Jacques Faul, who is now in charge of the Titans franchise and are currently on their second. Naasei Appiah, the organisation’s CFO has been heading it since March this year as the timeline for appointing a CEO continues to shift.Initial talk out of CSA’s offices was that it would appoint its new CEO by April this year. In May, it announced that the process was still “running on schedule,” and the seat would be filled by the beginning of July. This has now been moved a third time.ESPNcricinfo understands one of the reasons for the delay was caused by difficulties in drawing up a shortlist. Despite receiving over 200 applications, CSA’s board was not satisfied with the overall calibre of the people who expressed interest in the job and extended the process to see if they could attract other candidates.Some of the contenders who are up against Lorgat are believed to be Bheki Shongwe, MD of Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa’s current football champions, university professor Denver Hendricks and head of Kagiso media Murphy Morobe. Previously Lorgat was understood to be competing with CSA’s cricket operations manager Mike Gajjar, Border Cricket CEO Thema Lupuwana and CSA’s transformation manager Max Jordaan and the concern was that the majority of candidates lacked significant business experience.Now, Lorgat remains the favourite but for a different reason: he could be the only one with extensive cricketing knowledge. Lorgat has been involved with South African cricket in the past, as convenor of selectors, ran the ICC for four years and has been involved at consultancy levels with Sri Lanka and Pakistan in recent months.The biggest obstacle to his challenge for the job appears to be from another cricketing country – India. The BCCI has made clear its preference that CSA does not appoint Lorgat because of the Indian board’s acrimonious history with him. Lorgat is believed to have irked the BCCI in his time at the ICC. As a result, India threatened to pull out of the upcoming tour to South Africa if Lorgat was given the job, according to CSA’s lead independent director Norman Arendse, who revealed the BCCI’s stance in March.CSA has since made public the fixtures for India’s tour to South Africa between November and January, which includes seven ODIs, two T20s and three Tests. India have objected to the itinerary, saying CSA released the schedule without the BCCI’s consent and that they would prefer fewer ODIs to give their players time off before they head to New Zealand.While the BCCI claim to have notified CSA of its grievances, CSA say it has not received any formal complaint. The already tense relationship between the two boards, who were previously on excellent terms, may only escalate as Lorgat moves closer to the top job.

Scotland improved their chances of World Cup qualification by defeating Kenya on Duckworth-Lewis

The Report by Callum Stewart in Aberdeen03-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNeil Carter claimed three wickets on the first day to help restrict Kenya•ICC/Donald MacLeod

Scotland improved their chances of World Cup qualification by defeating Kenya on Duckworth-Lewis in a match that was completed on the reserve day due to poor weather. The win moved them above Netherlands into second place in the ICC’s WCL Championship, with the top two teams gaining automatic World Cup spots for 2015.After a nail-biting 12-run victory on Sunday, Scotland’s second win over Kenya was just as close but under very different circumstances. Captain Kyle Coetzer made a half-century before another rain interruption meant Scotland’s target was revised down to 139 from 35 overs. They got there with eight balls to spare but not without a few scares on the way.After Tuesday’s rain delay, the match continued with Scotland openers Coetzer and Freddie Coleman on 22-0 chasing 184 for victory, Kenya having been reliant on Tanmay Mishra’s 59 to give them a competitive total. However, what looked to be a straightforward task became a little harder when Coetzer was bowled for 57 by one that kept low. Three of the top four were bowled under their bat, and Matt Machan was caught at mid-off trying to accelerate the run-rate.The flurry of wickets gave Kenya hope but with the fall of Calum MacLeod, leaving Scotland 106 for 4, the rain started to fall again. Scotland were ahead by nine runs after 28.2 overs on D/L. When the players came off at 1.20pm, everyone thought that was it but just over an hour later the covers and sheets were removed with the rain still falling lightly. By 2.45pm, the players were back out and the rain had stopped.Calculations were made, leaving Scotland needing another 33 runs off 40 balls with their remaining six wickets. Some thought it was safe and some thought it was madness to return with a damp outfield but Scotland nerves grew when Preston Mommsen was caught behind after managing only 5, the requirement having risen to 22 off the final four overs.Rob Taylor didn’t hang about as he hit a quickfire 16 off eight balls, including a maximum off Ragheb Aga into the sight screen that just about saw Scotland home. He was caught trying to hit the winning runs but two more singles wrapped up victory by four wickets.Kenya’s innings began the day previously, with Scotland winning the toss and electing to field. Duncan Allan opened the batting for Kenya after being left out of the side for the previous game but could only make 18. His partner, Alex Obanda, was trapped lbw by Neil Carter for the second time in as many matches.Carter also got rid of Morris Ouma and Kenya’s captain Collins Obuya, in at No. 4 and playing his 100th ODI, spooned a leading edge to midwicket for 25. That was to be the second-highest score of the innings and the last boundary came in the 27th over, as Scotland bowled tight lines and fielded well on long boundaries. Mishra was again the only player to offer a decent tally as he scored his second consecutive fifty but Kenya were bowled out with 21 balls to spare.Netherlands, who play WCL Championship leaders Ireland in two crucial qualifiers next week in Amstelveen, are a point behind Scotland in third, while fourth-placed Afghanistan can make up the four-point gap when they play Namibia next month. Scotland have played 12 games, two games more than the rest, and have to take on Ireland in the final round of fixtures in September. Kenya, in fifth, cannot finish in the top two but will seek a measure of revenge in the first of two T20s in Aberdeen on Thursday.

Left-arm spinner Sadia Yousuf’s five-wicket haul demolished Ireland Women’s chase to help Pakistan Women complete a 89-run win to take the series 2-0.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2013
ScorecardLeft-arm spinner Sadia Yousuf’s five-wicket haul demolished Ireland Women’s chase and helped Pakistan Women complete a 89-run win to take the one-day series 2-0.Chasing 249, Ireland suffered an early loss but an 84-run partnership between opener Clare Shillington and Cecelia Joyce kept the innings going. Yousuf got the big breakthrough for Pakistan when she had Shillington caught behind for a steady 39 in the 19th over, bringing an end to the only substantial partnership in the Irish innings. Yousuf struck again to dismiss Joyce for 49 in the 21st over and Ireland’s chase seemed to lose steam thereon, as they kept losing wickets regularly. Having dismissed three of Ireland’s top-order batsmen, the left-arm spinner came back to clean up the tail and the Irish innings folded for 159, 89 runs short of the target.Pakistan, who chose to bat, followed a similar trajectory in their innings. The openers began steadily, adding 49 runs, before a 94-run partnership between Javeria Khan and Nain Abidi built a solid platform for Pakistan to attack in the last 10 overs. Abidi fell for a 69-ball 50, while Javeria scored 81 off 105 balls with eight fours. In-form batsman Bismah Maroof hit a few attacking shots and looked good to take Pakistan to a big score. However, the side managed to lose their last five wickets in the last three overs, and three of those wickets fell to run-outs. From the relative strength of 237 for 5, the Pakistan innings ended on 248, with Bismah the last batsman out.The win caps off a successful series for Pakistan ahead of their Women’s T20 World Cup qualifiers against Thailand, Zimbabwe and Netherlands, which will be played on on July 23, 25 and 27.

Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh shared an opening stand of 246 – the second-highest Australian partnership for any wicket in ODIs – in a clinical dissection of Scotland, who were beaten by 200 runs.

The Report by Jonathan Coates 03-Sep-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAaron Finch peppered the boundary with seven sixes and 16 fours•Getty Images

Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh shared an opening stand of 246 – the second-highest Australia partnership for any wicket in ODIs – in a clinical dissection of Scotland, who were beaten by 200 runs.The pair erased Geoff Marsh and David Boon’s Australia record of 212 for an opening partnership, made against India and a record that had stood proudly since 1986. That wasn’t the only record to fall. Australia’s 362 for 3 surpassed the 345 they scored against the same team, made here four years ago, and the 334 for 6 they made against Scotland at the 2007 World Cup.In the field, the hosts were athletic and efficient, but their bowling was blunt. They didn’t concede any boundaries for six overs, after choosing to field first. The score was 12 for no loss at that stage but Scotland simply couldn’t stem the flow of runs that followed.Finch didn’t quite reprise the brutality of his world-record Twenty20 score in Southampton, but played impressively, waiting for the right ball and picking his spot. He may have set Twenty20 records last week but he only had 107 runs from seven ODI innings before the trip to Edinburgh. On 24, he advanced to Majid Haq’s second ball of the day and was beaten. To the bowler’s dismay, the ball also deceived Northamptonshire wicketkeeper David Murphy.At the other end, Marsh did not look comfortable for a long time and struggled to adjust to the lack of pace in the pitch; but the batsman grew in confidence after punching offspinner Haq for two fours in consecutive overs.Few will remember those early difficulties when scrutinising the scoreboard in years to come. It took Marsh 87 balls to get to 50, but 61 deliveries later he had 150. He struck 16 fours, the same as Finch, and five sixes to Finch’s seven in a display of breathtaking acceleration.Gordon Drummond, who combined with Iain Wardlaw to make life difficult for the Australia batsman at the start, was the only bowler other than Haq to manage finish with respectable figures as Scotland tried in vain to build confidence for their final World Cricket League Championship matches in Belfast later this week.Australia’s strategy was simple: build the run rate from five an over to six and seven, keep wickets in hand and then go ballistic. When the Powerplay was called after after 33 overs, Wardlaw came back on with Finch 108 and Marsh 62 and the score at 181 for no loss.It was civilised carnage from then on, at least until the 48th over when Wardlaw had Marsh and Shane Watson caught off successive deliveries by Gordon Goudie in the deep. In those 15 overs, Australia added 166 runs. The first wicket went to Haq, as Finch mishit a big shot, but the batsman’s departure did nothing to slow the scoring.The two young Scotland openers, Freddie Coleman and Hamish Gardiner, came out to bat under a warm sun and dropped anchor in a steep chase, and soon Mitchell Johnson and Clint McKay had a wicket apiece.Matt Machan, who has impressed this season for Sussex, constructed an attractive 39 before holing out and Preston Mommsen, Scotland’s captain in the absence of Kyle Coetzer, was run out attempting a single.Faulkner deceived Berrington with a ball out of the back of his hand and Fawad Ahmed claimed his first ODI wicket as Scotland laboured to 162 all out in 44 overs. Johnson picked up the early wicket of Coleman and then came back to dismiss three tail-end batsmen in successive overs.

N Srinivasan has said he will stand for re-election as BCCI president at the Indian board’s annual general meeting, to be held in Chennai on September 29

Amol Karhadkar19-Sep-2013N Srinivasan has said he will stand for re-election as BCCI president at the Indian board’s annual general meeting, to be held in Chennai on September 29. The announcement is not a surprise but his success, a foregone conclusion a few months ago, is now hostage to several legal and judicial issues that are beyond his control and may crystallise formal opposition to him.Under BCCI rules, any presidential candidate has to be nominated by two associations from the incumbent’s home zone – south zone in Srinivasan’s case, and that is where the focus is shifting.As Srinivasan left the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Thursday after attending a meeting of the board’s marketing committee, he was asked if the other members from south zone were standing besides him. His response was succinct: “I am going to stand,” he said, before taking a dig at the media for speculating on the numbers game in the event of an election.While Srinivasan has made his candidature public, it cannot be ascertained at this point if the murmurs within the board opposing Srinivasan’s stubbornness to hold on to the chair will turn into a credible organised lobby sufficient to match Srinivasan both in terms of stature and power. The early runner seems to be Shashank Manohar, Srinivasan’s predecessor, a lawyer with a no-nonsense yet low-profile attitude.Manohar hasn’t yet made any concrete or public move towards returning to job he left in 2011 but it is believed that efforts are on to persuade him to contest against Srinivasan. One official privy to the developments told ESPNcricinfo that Manohar has shown interest but he is still gauging his support, especially from the south zone.Manohar, who hails from the central zone, will need a proposer and a seconder from the south zone – most of whose members are staunch Srinivasan loyalists. It is believed that the anti-Srinivasan lobby – comprising senior politicians in New Delhi who are also part of the BCCI top brass – has been exerting political pressure on the Goa Cricket Association to shift its allegiance from Srinivasan.The same lobby is also working on the Andhra Cricket Association to be the other member needed to set up a candidate. “Our stand is still undecided. We will discuss with our member units and then decide, since there is no hurry as such,” an ACA official said on Thursday.Both sides also have an eye on two important legal developments that could impact the election. One involves the IPL fixing case, in relation to which Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was arrested in May. Mumbai Police is expected to file its chargesheet any day and the gravity of the charges against Meiyappan could play a part.Srinivasan himself has already been chargesheeted – in his capacity as managing director of India Cements – in a corruption case involving a top political leader from Andhra Pradesh. If he is arrested in this case – and it is not impossible, given the high-level political machinations at work – then the board might agree to replace him as the BCCI president, even though the issue has nothing to do with cricket. “If that happens, we will have to find a new face,” a Srinivasan confidant conceded.It is these uncertainties that the Cricket Association of Bihar has sought to tap into through a public appeal to the BCCI members. The CAB – which is not a part of the BCCI – had filed the petition in Bombay High Court against the constitution of the IPL probe commission and on Tuesday made a “sincere appeal” to BCCI members to reject Srinivasan’s candidature. “He continues to be in a ‘step aside’ situation as president,” the appeal said. “The BCCI cannot afford to have a president who will be in a permanent state of ‘step aside’ and not be involved in its day-to-day affairs.”Despite all this, Srinivasan remains the most powerful person in the board and the man to beat in the elections. He has the support of many member associations but, as the BCCI AGM draws closer, the equation within the board could yet change dramatically.