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Two potential future stars announced themselves in Paarl as the South African Invitational XI made the New Zealanders’ bowlers work hard

The Report by Firdose Moonda in Paarl29-Dec-2012
Scorecard File photo: There was belated success for Trent Boult on a flat pitch•Getty Images

Two potential future stars announced themselves in Paarl as the South African Invitational XI made the New Zealanders work hard on the second day of their warm-up match. Rassie van der Dussen and Matthew Kleinveldt scored seventies before Trent Boult ensured the day was not a complete waste with two wickets in an aggressive spell in the final session.The New Zealanders declared overnight to give their bowlers a decent run but soon found the going tough on a pitch that only got flatter under sunny skies. Van der Dussen, who has played for the North West amateur team and Kleinveldt, cousin of Rory, were untroubled by all three seamers who bowled within themselves and in short spells throughout the morning.Both batsmen were strong off the front foot with Kleinveldt showing slightly more intent. They wore down the New Zealanders, who eventually had the spinners, Jeetan Patel and Bruce Martin operating from either end. The hosts went to lunch at 81 without loss before Kleinveldt brought out his more flamboyant side in the afternoon session.His half-century came in the second over after lunch while van der Dussen continued to play conservatively, although he also reached his milestone. With both set to record hundreds the New Zealanders appeared to be on a futile mission but Martin tempted Kleinveldt with flight, drew him forward and BJ Watling completed the stumping.The tourists’ most profitable period came after tea. Colin Ackermann was caught by Martin Guptill at slip off Neil Wagner. The umpires had to confer about the legitimacy of the catch after Shaun George, who was at the bowler’s end, thought it was taken off a bump ball.Boult got his first wicket when van der Dussen played an aerial shot into the covers and Dean Brownlie took the catch. Brownlie was on the field substituting for Peter Fulton, who will take no part in the Tests after injuring tendons in his knee while batting.Having suffered a severe stomach bug, Brownlie appeared to have returned to health and may even ask for special permission for bat on the third day. He was not named in the original 12 because of his illness but has progressed well since then and because the match does not have first-class status his request may be granted.In his next over, Boult produced a beauty that swung into Pite van Biljoen and upset the stumps. The New Zealanders caused a mini-collapse when Uwe Birkenstock was given what could have been seen as a harsh lbw dismissal against Martin. The ball looked to be missing leg but Birkenstock left without complaint.All the New Zealanders’ quick men returned for a final burst in the last hour and Chris Martin was the only one to have some reward. He picked up the scalp of promising wicketkeeper-batsman Bradley Barnes to an lbw that few could have argued with.The inability to bowl out an inexperienced, composite side made up of players from the amateur and under-19 competitions may see the New Zealanders cop some criticism but they should not be vilified just yet. The attack on display is unlikely to be their Test arsenal with Doug Bracewell sitting out and the pitch at Newlands should offer a little more bounce and carry than the unresponsive Boland Park strip.Luckily, it was the only lifeless part of the ground. A healthy crowd sat under the oaks to watch the match and a sponsored event, which involved some cricket and much music, took place on the lawns at the back of the stadium. In attendance were acting CSA chief executive Jacques Faul, former national assistant coach Vincent Barnes, who now works on the High Performance Programme, current bowling coach Allan Donald and many former players from the area including Henry Williams and Johnny Kleinveldt, Matthew’s father.

Sairaj Bahutule, the former India legspinner who played two Tests and eight ODIs, has called time on his 21-year first-class career

Amol Karhadkar01-Jan-2013Sairaj Bahutule, the former India legspinner who played two Tests and eight ODIs, has called time on his 21-year first-class career. Bahutule, 39, who took over the Vidarbha captaincy last season, had made up his mind after Vidarbha finished their Group B campaign in Nagpur on Tuesday.”It was on my mind for a while but I was waiting for the right time. I feel this is the right time since Vidarbha’s Ranji season is over,” Bahutule told ESPNcricinfo.Since his debut for Mumbai in December 1991, Bahutule has emerged as one of the most successful spinners in the domestic circuit. Though his international career lasted only ten games, earlier this season, Bahutule became only the ninth bowler in Ranji Trophy history to surpass the 400-wicket mark.”It has been an enjoyable ride over the last so many years. I have surprised myself by playing 21 years of first-class cricket. God has been kind in many ways. Not only have I been able to play for India but also the body has remained fit over these years. Obviously, the rigours of two decades were reflecting in the body, so I had to take a call with regards to that as well.”Bahutule featured in six Ranji finals, all for Mumbai, victorious on all occasions. While the first Ranji final he featured in was in 1993-94 against Bengal, the last one was in 2008-09 when he played his final game for Mumbai, against Uttar Pradesh. The most special of those finals was the one in 2003-04 when he led Mumbai to the title, scoring a useful 92 lower down the order.Bahutule has always been a handy lower-order batsman. This helped him in many ways during his short stints with a host of weaker sides over the last eight seasons. After moving from Mumbai to neighbouring Maharashtra in 2005-06, Bahutule also had stints with Assam and Andhra before moving to Vidarbha.”It’s been a very good experience. When you play for Mumbai, you always go in with the attitude of being a winner. Whereas, with the developing teams, it is about how you can inculcate that attitude into those teams. They don’t really know the process of winning. So I had to perform with the bat and the ball, besides trying to make sure that the team plays as a unit. For that, I avoided making too many changes and backing players despite initial failures,” Bahutule said.His only grudge was the inability to make the cut for an IPL franchise. “Because that is the only form of cricket I haven’t played in. I have played Ranji, I have played international cricket, I played club cricket in England for 14 years, but somehow couldn’t feature in the IPL. It came at a time when I feel I had it in me to succeed in the first two seasons, but chalta hai (it’s okay),”he said.He will still be involved with Vidarbha this season, as a coach for the upcoming zonal one-dayers and Twenty20 competitions. “Since I was contracted with them for the whole season and having decided to stop playing, they have asked me to be responsible for the team’s performance in the shorter formats. I am looking forward to it,” he said.

Sri Lanka continued their inconsistent run in this World Cup, losing to South Africa by a massive-110 run margin in their last Super Six game in Cuttack on Wednesday

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2013
ScorecardSri Lanka continued their inconsistent run in this World Cup, losing to South Africa by a massive 110-run margin in their last Super Six game in Cuttack on Wednesday. Set a target of 228 for victory, Sri Lanka folded for a paltry 117 with just two batsmen reaching double-figure scores. Sri Lanka will play South Africa again on Friday for fifth place.Opener Chamari Atapattu scored 63 of her team’s 117 runs, the only batsman to offer any resistance to the South African bowling that was led by legspinner Dane van Niekerk. Atapattu’s 61-run, fourth-wicket partnership with Sandamali Dolawatte took Sri Lanka past 100 and the duo looked good to build a platform for Sri Lanka’s chase. However, Atapattu’s run-out triggered a batting collapse as Sri Lanka lost six wickets for 13 runs.Earlier, South Africa, who were put in to bat, recovered from a top-order stutter to score 224 runs. Sri Lanka dismissed openers Yolandi Potgieter and Trisha Chetty for 24 runs before the middle order, led captain Mignon du Preez, steadied the innings. Cri-zelda Brits and Shandre Fritz added 70 runs for the fourth wicket, while Fritz added another 71 runs with van Niekerk. Medium pacer Chamani Seneviratne took three wickets for Sri Lanka.

Karachi Blues won the Quaid-e-Azam trophy for the ninth time, beating Sialkot by nine wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKarachi Blues won the Quaid-e-Azam trophy for the ninth time, beating Sialkot by nine wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday. Karachi, led by Khurram Manzor, remained unbeaten in this tournament, winning seven matches and drawing three. This win gives the city of Karachi its twentieth Quaid-e-Azam title in 59 years, won by teams with different titles – Karachi, Karachi A, Karachi Urban and Karachi Whites.This match was a one-sided contest as Sialkot never looked in control with the bat or the ball over five days. On a slower pitch, with rain affecting play on day one and day three, Karachi’s domination proved crucial.Sialkot, who were asked to bat first, failed to put up a big first innings total. Mohammad Ayub was the top scorer with 72 while Majid Jahangir scored 54 as the side was dismissed for 229.Karachi, led by Akbar-ur-Rehman who scored 178, dominated a weak bowling attack. Fast bowler Bilawal Bhatti picked up four wickets in the first innings but none of the Sialkot bowlers failed to check Karachi, who piled up a 199-run lead.In the second innings, a 98-run, fourth-wicket stand between Ayub (69) and Sialkot captain Mansoor Amjad (60) defied Karachi but it was not enough. Once the partnership was broken, the rest of the line-up did not contribute much to the total.Sialkot began the fifth day at 189-5, trailing by 10 runs. Minutes before lunch, they were all out for 248, adding 59 runs in the first session. Tariq Haroon picked up five wickets for 74 runs as Karachi faced a target of 50 runs in 63 overs with two sessions of play left.The chase was brisk as Akbar-ur-Rehman and Fakhar Zaman went for a 10-wicket win before Mohammad Ayub’s splendid catch at gully dismissed Zaman for 20. Rehman then knocked off the remaining runs to take his side to a comfortable victory, finishing as the tournament’s top run-scorer with 986 runs.Karachi were awarded a prize money of Rs. 1.5 million while Sialkot won Rs. 1 million as runners-up.* 0920 GMT, March 1, 2013: The report earlier mentioned the win as the tenth title. This has been corrected.

Lahore Lions beat Sialkot Stallions by 46 runs in a rain-affected match to secure a spot in the Faysal Bank One-day Cup final

Umar Farooq20-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLahore Lions beat Sialkot Stallions by 46 runs in a rain-affected match to secure a spot in the Faysal Bank One-Day Cup final, which will be at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on March 23. Saad Nasim’s late unbeaten half-century proved the difference as Lahore Lions posted a fighting total.An overcast day led Sialkot to opt to field first. Lahore Lions were reduced to 31 for 2, losing their captain, Azhar Ali, and Raza Ali Dar, for ducks. Umar Saddiq (59) and Usman Salahuddin (44) held their nerve though, stringing together a 62-run partnership for the third wicket. However, rain intervened during the innings to reduce the overs to 44 a side.Salahuddin anchored another 60-run stand, for the fourth wicket, with Fahad-ul-Haq (32) to keep things on track before Lahore Lions’ middle order slumped, losing five wickets for 30 runs.Nasim fought hard as he waged a lone battle to keep Lahore Lions in the game. He smacked eight boundaries including four sixes in his unbeaten 55 off 44 balls, muscling his side to a respectable 232. Bilawal Bhatti and Nayyer Abbas took three wickets each.Requiring 5.2 runs per over, Sialkot replied confidently, with Mukhtar Ahmed clubbing two back-to-back boundaries in the very first over. But Sialkot began to stall as they were reduced to 117 for 6 inside of 29 overs. Shahid Yousuf (40) along with Ali Khan (36) resisted for a while, but the required rate was getting out of hand.Abbas (20) and Ali battled for a 42-run cameo stand for the seventh wicket, but were pinned down by Lahore Lions’ disciplined bowling. They eventually were dismissed for 192, with Ashraf being the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 33.Karachi Zebras and Karachi Dolphins will go head to head tomorrow at the same venue to decide who Lahore Lions will face on Saturday.

Zimbabwe’s cricketers will consider a boycott ahead of their series against Bangladesh in protest against unsatisfactory payments from their board

Firdose Moonda07-Apr-2013Zimbabwe’s cricketers are considering a boycott ahead of their series against Bangladesh in protest against unsatisfactory payments from their board. A source close to the players told ESPNcricinfo that non-centrally contracted players may not play in an upcoming warm-up match between Zimbabwe’s cricketers, “to contest ZC’s offer of a daily allowance” instead of a winter contract.

Zimbabwe’s training squad

Brendan Taylor, Tino Mawoyo, Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza, Regis Chakabva, Malcolm Waller, Kyle Jarvis, Keegan Meth, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Raymond Price, Graeme Cremer, Chamu Chibhabha, Tino Mutombodzi, Natsai M’shangwe, Sikandar Raza, Shingi Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Charles Coventry, Brian Chari, Kevin Kasuza, Richard Muzhange, Nathan Waller, Richmond Mutumbami, Edward Rainsford, Tawanda Mupariwa.

The latest setback comes 10 days before Zimbabwe begin a series against Bangladesh, and threatens to disrupt their preparations. Although a large number of the players involved in the upcoming series are contracted to the board and do not have the same financial concerns, they are expected to support those on the fringes who have asked for winter contracts and been denied.Zimbabwe’s fringe players were contracted to their franchises and paid through Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) grants, which were distributed to the franchises. All those agreements were only for the summer and ended on March 31, leaving most cricketers in need of work over the winter. Some of them have done so by obtaining club cricket deals in the UK – a source of stable income – which they will have to forego to spend the next few weeks in Zimbabwe playing in the Bangladesh series, and in later matches against India (three ODIs) and Sri Lanka in July and August. The lack of clarity on the renewal of contracts has also left coaches uncertain about their future.The players, who declined to comment on record, are willing to stay in the country if they have a contractual agreement guaranteeing them a winter salary. ZC, who are steeped in debt, can only afford a daily allowance, which has been described by a source as “pittance”.
As a result, the players have decided they may not take the field for an internal warm-up match before the Tests to show their discontent with the situation. Some media reports in Zimbabwe also claim the players have not been attending training.In case the franchise players decide to honour their club cricket arrangements abroad, Zimbabwe will be left with fewer cricketers to choose from for the series. Interim coach Stephen Mangongo promised changes after the team lost all seven matches on their recent tour of West Indies, but he may not be able to follow through with those changes if players are unavailable.A similar financial hurdle hit Zimbabwe the last time they played Bangladesh, on their Test comeback in August 2011. Then, Tatenda Taibu, who has since retired, complained of non-payment and said nothing had changed from the dark days of the country’s cricket. Shortly afterwards, Zimbabwe introduced a central contract system which allowed for 15 players to be put on national books.

Doug Bracewell was not convinced he had done enough to force his way into New Zealand’s plans for the first Test at Lord’s if Tim Southee’s foot injury clears up

Andrew McGlashan at Grace Road12-May-2013Doug Bracewell was not convinced he had done enough to force his way into New Zealand’s plans for the first Test at Lord’s if Tim Southee’s foot injury clears up to give them a fully fit squad to select from on Thursday. The tourists also have concerns over the lack of middle time for Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor.Bracewell claimed two wickets on the rain-shortened final day against England Lions to take his tour tally to nine, but was not thrilled with the way he bowled at Grace Road. He was perhaps being harsh on himself – he had Joe Root dropped at slip when on 23 – but is now keeping his fingers crossed that there will be a place for him at Lord’s, a ground where he has only ever watched, rather than played, cricket.”I think I could have done more,” he said. “I guess I’m a little disappointed with how I went in this game, I would have liked to have taken a few more wickets and scored some runs. But I can’t do anything about that now, I’ve just got to turn up to training, work hard, and hopefully I get picked. I’ve never played at Lord’s, but have heard all about the slope. I’m looking forward to it.”There could yet be no need for debate if Southee’s problem is more serious than indicated, although there do not appear too many concerns around the New Zealand camp. He went for scans on Saturday, which have not shown anything major, although further results are being awaited before a definitive statement is made.It was a difficult few days in Leicester for New Zealand, after the match had begun promisingly for them with Hamish Rutherford hitting an aggressive hundred. The rest of the batting failed to impress and the bowlers struggled to make swift inroads into the Lions as Root hit 179 and fellow England middle-order batsman Jonny Bairstow contributed 68.New Zealand will spend the next few days assessing their tactics to Root, who is in the form of his life heading into a first home Test. “I think we bowled a little short to him and on wickets which are pretty slow you can’t afford to do that because it sits up,” Bracewell said. “We’ll look at some footage in the next couple of days and hopefully work out some good plans.”The other impact of Root’s long innings – and other useful contributions throughout the order – was to deny New Zealand a second bat, which means that McCullum and Taylor have had only one proper innings each before the Test series. “From a team point of view we didn’t get an extra innings with the bat, which isn’t a great thing, but we’ve got a couple of day’s training before the first Test which should be enough,” Bracewell said.Ashley Giles, who was coaching England Lions for this match, said their approach had always been to try to win rather than just deprive the opposition of another innings and was uncertain over whether New Zealand would feel any negative impact going into the Test.”Maybe,” he said, “only they can tell you that, but conditions have not been ideal – and I don’t think McCullum played a lot at IPL either. The main thing for us was putting them under pressure and making it as difficult as possible. You could look at it two ways – grind them down in the dirt and make them suffer, or get them in and knock them over again.”

The news of Mohammad Ashraful’s admission of involvement in alleged match-fixing and spot-fixing has generated emotional reactions from Bangladesh fans. Here are some of them

Mohammad Isam06-Jun-2013Riyad Ahmed: “Ashraful was always the guy I had to back in arguments with friends. Now he has done this”•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I am not angry at Ashraful, because he admitted his mistake. I am angry at those who brought him in this situation. He is a brave boy. Not many people have the guts to tell the truth, but he does.”
“As he accepted his wrongdoings, there is no room for withdrawing the allegations against him. It is okay to suspend him right now and the final decision may be taken by following the ICC rule, so the punishment is their concern. If he is banned for life by the law, I have no problem though I shall feel sad for him. But there is no room for corruption in cricket.”
“I will miss him if he’s banned. In my dreams I played his pull shot many times. If I were Habibul Bashar, then I would be caught at deep square leg; when I played it like Ashraful, it went for four.”
“I have never met Ashraful, but I am angry with him. For some reason or another, Ashraful was always the guy I had to back in arguments with friends. Now he has done this.”
“One always has a choice, always! In these kind of situations one is either stupid or greedy or in most of the cases, both.”
“Ashraful’s admission of guilt is not enough to save him from the punishment which he deserves. But I think he is only a small piece at the end of the funnel in this unethical game. Authorities should ensure that the major criminal responsible at the top end of the funnel beginning from the financier to each and every one in this chain is taken care of.”
“There’s no one else to blame for Ashraful’s actions. He is not a [little boy]. Ultimately, we are all responsible for our actions given the will to choose.

The scorebook does not lie, although here, surely, was the exception. It stated that Marcus Trescothick, the pre-eminent county cricketer, was out for a pair against Sussex, which equated to his fourth duck in succession

Ivo Tennant at Taunton09-Jul-2013
ScorecardMichael Yardy’s 156 gave Sussex a very useful lead•Getty Images

The scorebook does not lie, although here, surely, was the exception. It stated that Marcus Trescothick, the pre-eminent county cricketer, was out for a pair against Sussex, which equated to his fourth duck in succession. To stretch credulity even further, Nick Compton, also out without scoring in the first innings, was dismissed for a single figure score by the same bowler. An Australian.For the second time in this match, Trescothick had received the kind of ball most batsmen would have struggled to contend with as soon as they had come to the crease. In the first innings, it was a snorter from James Anyon which he was good enough to touch. Now, coming in again after Sussex had achieved a 119-run lead, he was beaten by away swing and caught behind.As he departed for the futuristic pavilion, Trescothick seemed to acknowledge the crowd by raising his bat in what appeared to be a mock gesture in response to some ribald comment on the boundary. He has played for Somerset for 20 years – and it would seem there will be more to come. He, at any rate, has always declared he will continue until he is 40, even if, at present, he describes his batting as “a work in progress.”It should be noted that two of the Somerset captain’s four ducks came in t20 matches, so in a sense that does not count. But these are worrying times, both for him and his team, who not for the first time this season have been outplayed by Sussex. Nor did it seem a particularly sensible idea not to play a specialist spinner in the expectation that George Dockrell would return from playing for Ireland in time for the third day of this match. That looks too late.As for Compton, yorked by the under-rated Steve Magoffin, he had to put up with shouts of ‘Joe Root!’ from the Sussex supporters. All this after both dedicated opening batsmen had been in the nets two hours before the start of play on the second day.In addition, Somerset lost Alviro Petersen, well held low by Yardy at third slip, Craig Meschede – who batted on account of the fact that he will stand down when Dockrell arrives in time for the third day’s play – and James Hildreth, who made 49 before Magoffin had him caught in the slips, before achieving a lead.The salient innings in this match was played by Mike Yardy, who struck 26 fours in reaching 150 and made 156 in all. The explosion of boundaries in the partnership of 275 in 52 overs between him and Matt Machan, whose maiden century came from 138 balls, was owing to some ineffectual change bowling.Yardy reached the 20th century of his career when he pulled Jamie Overton for four soon after the resumption of play. Machan, whose previous highest first-class score was 99 against Oxford MCCU, was missed on 84 at short extra cover, but otherwise appeared thoroughly competent and confident.He will drop out of this match when Ed Joyce appears, at the same times as Dockrell, which is all very bizarre and baffling insofar as the uninformed spectators were concerned.

England opener Nick Compton missed out on the chance to press his Ashes claims as Tony Palladino celebrated his return from injury with a four wicket haul for Derbyshire on a rain affected second day against Somerset at Derby.

22-Jun-2013
ScorecardTony Palladino gave Derbyshire the edge with four wickets•PA Photos

England opener Nick Compton missed out on the chance to press his Ashes claims as Tony Palladino celebrated his return from injury with a four wicket haul for Derbyshire on a rain affected second day against Somerset at Derby.Compton made only 15 before he fell to Palladino, who took 4 for 75, and now has a possible three more first-class innings before the opening Test against Australia at Trent Bridge on July 10.It was another struggle for Somerset’s batsmen on a day when 45 overs were lost, with only skipper Marcus Trescothick reaching 50 as Derbyshire reduced them to 180 for 6 at the close, still 86 behind.It had been a different story at the start with Compton and Trescothick playing confidently until the first of three rain delays held up play for 35 minutes and when the game resumed, Derbyshire’s bowlers took control.Palladino had been out for seven weeks with a side strain and Derbyshire’s leading wicket-taker for the last two seasons showed how much the team has missed him when he sent back Compton with the total on 56.Compton, who had scored a century in the previous Championship match against Durham at Taunton, had failed to hit a boundary in his 70-minute innings which ended when he edged a drive and was caught by Wes Durston at first slip.Trescothick had looked in command but Derbyshire’s seamers bowled with discipline to restrict his scoring opportunities to the extent that he took 21 overs to move from 35 to 50.The game was held up briefly when one of the sightscreens was blown over before Tim Groenewald got the wicket Derbyshire wanted when Trescothick pushed at one that left him and was caught at third slip which was the first of five wickets to fall for 65 runs.South African batsman Dean Elgar looked to be set when he drove Palladino tamely to cover and Craig Kieswetter’s brief innings was ended when Palladino had him caught behind four overs later.A lot now rested on James Hildreth who timed the ball well to hit five fours in his 36 but he also fell to a poor shot when he played across the line at Palladino and was lbw.Alex Barrow also went cheaply and after a two-and-a-half hour break for rain, only three more overs were possible with Palladino having Peter Trego dropped at second slip before another shower drove the players back to the pavilion for the last time.