All posts by h716a5.icu

Mushfiqur Rahim has urged the Bangladesh side to shake off complacency and focus on sweeping the Test series against Zimbabwe 3-0

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong11-Nov-2014The entire Bangladesh team had turned up at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium for what the BCB had said would be an optional training session on the eve of the third Test. Nets were running smoothly near the Bangladesh dressing-room, where fielding coach Richard Halsall was giving catches. Nearly every player with a chance to play in the third Test against Zimbabwe had a bat, while Sohag Gazi, who is undergoing remedial work on his bowling action, was one of the bowlers in the nets. Even Imrul Kayes turned his arm over for a while.A couple of hours later, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim spelled out exactly where his side stood and how great the feeling of being 2-0 up in a three-match series – a first in Bangladesh’s history – was for him and the rest of the team. He warned against complacency but stated that the advantage and momentum was with the home side, as they sought a 3-0 win.”It is a rare feeling to be 2-0 up before a third Test,” Mushfiqur said. “I can’t remember when it had happened the last time. Of course it is good to feel this way. But the reality is that we are heading into a tougher test than the first two games that we have won. They have been here for three weeks so they have got an idea of our bowling and conditions. Having said that, we would remain confident of playing well and making it a clean sweep.”I don’t think there is any room for complacency, especially having lost so many matches this year already. We have a lot to prove. We don’t play a lot of Tests like other teams, so we have to value each one of them. We don’t usually get the chance to make it 3-0, so we should make it count.”Asked if he had noticed any change in the dressing-room over the last three weeks after ten months of disappointment, Mushfiqur said that the only change has been a better grasp of tight situations and the presence of Shakib Al Hasan, the world’s No 1 Test allrounder.”There hasn’t been too much of a change,” he said. “In the past we didn’t perform in tight situations but now it has happened for us. Things are falling into place for us. Batsmen are getting set and batting for long. Shakib [Al Hasan] is a big plus for us and at the same time, he makes our opponents think.”The sign of a good team is for the form players to carry on for longer and for the others to take every opportunity to perform. This is also our overall goal.”The Bangladesh captain was also quick to point out two areas in which he would like to see improvement: catching and longer innings from the batsmen.”Firstly, we would like our fielding to improve. We have dropped a few catches,” he said. “I think we got away with it because we are playing against Zimbabwe. We have been successful in creating more chances. But batsmen from bigger teams wouldn’t give us more than one chance.”We have to concentrate for longer periods. We have made some small mistakes with the bat, which we should avoid. I would hope the set batsmen in this Test would go on to make a big score.”While it is likely that Bangladesh will go in with two seamers – Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain – Mushfiqur didn’t rule out playing with only one seamer as the pitch in Chittagong is slower and offers less bounce than other grounds. He also urged the pacers to provide the early breakthrough.”There isn’t much bounce in the Chittagong wicket. We know it aids the spinners but we haven’t decided on the selection yet. If we do employ the single pacer, we will pick an extra batsman.”In Chittagong, the pace bowlers are not likely to pick up five or seven wickets. They don’t get that many overs to bowl, too. But their initial breakthrough is important, so we have also kept that in mind. I don’t think there will be too many changes from the last match.”Mushfiqur was happy his side had leapfrogged over Zimbabwe in the ICC Test rankings and said the side needed to keep winning in order to send the world a message that Bangladesh could dominate a team.”Ranking is a major factor. It works both ways. It does keep us under pressure because ultimately teams have to win and earn points. Rankings also motivate the players,” he said. “We play less Test cricket than other teams, so winning a series 3-0 is a message which says Bangladesh are dominating a team.”

Chris Rogers, the Middlesex captain, welcomed his team’s ten-wicket win over Nottinghamshire as the “perfect start” to their Championship campaign

George Dobell at Trent Bridge13-Apr-2013Chris Rogers, the Middlesex captain, welcomed his team’s ten-wicket win over Nottinghamshire as the “perfect start” to their Championship campaign and gave particular credit to his opening partner, Sam Robson, who scored 131 runs in the match.While Robson, a player of considerable potential, has given equivocal answers to questions on his commitment to England or Australia, Rogers seemed more certain. There may be a few ahead of Robson in the queue for an England place at present but, when he becomes eligible on the grounds of residency in a year’s time, it could become relevant very quickly.”Australia are particularly unlucky to have lost Sam,” Rogers said. “I think he’s made up his mind. He did consider going back, but he is enjoying everything about being at Middlesex and he is being very well looked after. I think his future is in England.”That season he first game into the side, a couple of years ago, he batted through an entire day about five times. I’ve done that about five times in my career. I saw he was compared to Mike Atherton the other day and that makes a lot of sense to me. I rate him very highly.”Nottinghamshire were deeply unimpressive in the match. They batted with carelessness and bowled with a lack of discipline and control, not so much defeated as self-defeating. It was an oddly shoddy display and one that left Mick Newell, their director of cricket, underwhelmed.”I’m disappointed and surprised with the way we’ve played,” Newell, who held one-to-one chats with each of his players after the game, told ESPNcricinfo. “We were sloppy with the bat and our bowling was not up to any sort of standard. The players know that. They feel the same way.”Middlesex were the better team. But the thing that disappoints me is they beat us playing the sort of cricket we usually play. They did the basics well.”Our bowling on the second day, in particular, was not good enough. We bowled one good ball an over, but you can’t build any pressure if you do that. The bowlers have thrown selection open a bit. And with the bat… maybe we relaxed against Dexter. You wouldn’t expect him to take five wickets. There weren’t too many jaffas or great deliveries in there. The fact that none of our batsmen scored more than 61 tells its own story.”

Preview of the match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mohali

The Preview by Nikita Bastian05-May-2013Match factsMay 6, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)For Kings XI Punjab, a lot will depend on David Miller extending his smashing run•BCCIBig PictureRoyal Challengers Bangalore finally scored away points, their first in five games on the road in IPL 2013, against Pune Warriors on Thursday. While the winning margin of 17 runs seemed comfortable enough in the end, Royal Challengers must have been worried as Robin Uthappa had a feisty go at the target of 188. To remove all remaining doubts, for themselves, the fans and the experts, they would have to score again in Mohali.Apart from the psychological benefits of consecutive away victories, it’s imperative that they win to allow themselves a bit of a cushion on the points table. Royal Challengers currently sit at No. 2 with 14 points from 11 games. But Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals all have the same numbers too. With five games to go in the group stages, Royal Challengers will want to break away from the pack without much delay.Kings XI Punjab sit just outside of that mid-table cluster, with eight points from 10 games. With nine wins being the number widely agreed upon as the number required to stand a serious chance of making the playoffs, they must win five of their remaining six matches. While Royal Challengers – with the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli all having delivered at different times in this tournament – might seem like a daunting challenge for the relatively low-profile Kings XI, they can take heart from their previous two showings. After almost pulling off a giant-killing in Mumbai, they were spirited in their chase of 187 at Chepauk. Now, back at home in Mohali, they will be hoping to finally close out a game. Time is running out for them, and they can’t afford any more almost-theres.Form guideRoyal Challengers Bangalore: WLLWW (most recent first)
Kings XI Punjab: LLLWWPlayers to watchRoyal Challengers Bangalore bought Saurabh Tiwary for US$1.6 million at the 2011 auction, following his fine IPL 2010 with Mumbai Indians. Till last Thursday, he was yet to score a half-century for Royal Challengers. A few days ago, coach Ray Jennings said it is imperative Tiwary – who had missed the first couple of weeks of the tournament due to injury but has played all five of Royal Challengers’ games since – betters his performance. He responded with 52 against Pune Warriors, but scored at a rate of 115 even as his team got to 187. Royal Challengers will be hoping he can go that mile further against Kings XI.Praveen Kumar might have had an off-day in his previous game, going at 9.50 against Chennai Super Kings, but he has been having a very tidy IPL on the whole. Even after that showing at Chepauk, his economy rate in 10 games is 6.75, the third-best among pace bowlers (35 overs min) in the tournament behind Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But he has missed out on selection for the Champions Trophy in England in June. He last played for India a little over a year ago, before being sidelined by injury. On recovering, he had expressed “frustration” at being ignored by the national selectors. Then, he had discipline issues in domestic cricket. Now, he might be feeling a bit hard done again. He’ll be keen to prove a point.Stats and Trivia Both teams have very even records against each other: they’ve played 10 in all, winning 5 each; they’ve played 4 in Punjab, winning 2 each; they won one apiece last year, both sides winning their away games Kings XI’s David Miller leads the tournament’s batting-average charts at the moment, with 251 runs in six games at 83.66 Beware Chris Gayle the bowler. He has claimed three wickets in the two overs he has sent down in the tournament so far

Former Test batsman Hashan Tillakaratne has replaced Hemantha Wickramaratne in Sri Lanka’s new selection panel

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Jan-2013Former Test batsman Hashan Tillakaratne has replaced Hemantha Wickramaratne in Sri Lanka’s new selection panel, after Wickramaratne stepped down due to work commitments, new chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya said.Tillakaratne had been among the nominees sent to the sports minister by Sri Lanka Cricket, but had not been appointed in the five-member panel on Monday. Tillakaratne is a member of provincial council for the United National Party, which is in opposition to the United People’s Freedom Alliance of which Jayasuriya and the sports minister are members.Wickramaratne had resigned because he was called upon to become one of the two full-time selectors on the panel, but was unable to relinquish his other commitments. “He can’t be a full time selector with us because of his work,” Jayasuriya said. “Because of that we’ve got Hashan Tillakaratne in our panel, who has played a lot of international cricket and brings that experience.”Tillakaratne will be a full time selector alongside former fast-bowling team-mate Pramodya Wickramasinghe, while Jayasuriya, Eric Upashantha and Chaminda Mendis will be employed part-time. Tillakaratne had been a critic of the current administration, and had even alleged political interference in the last SLC elections. He said he would continue to hold his post as a member of provincial council, while he worked as a full-time selector.”I took this job because I see it as a duty,” Tillakaratne said. “I played for a long time and benefited from the game, and I think if I can help take Sri Lanka cricket forward in any way, I have a duty to do that.”I do have the time to be both a member of provincial council and a full time selector, and it is after considering all that that I decided to accept this position. Sanath was one of the best cricketers in the world and I’m enthusiastic about working with him and the rest of the panel. I think we will be able to do something good.”SLC had said it would endeavour to cut its ties with politics after Haroon Lorgat issued his report recommending less political influence in the board, but with two politicians now on the selection panel and the with no moves having been taken to cut the sports minister out of the selection process, superficially, politics has become even more embedded in cricket administration.Jayasuriya was adamant however, that his panel’s sole focus would be on cricket, and that the selectors’ political affiliation would not affect their work for SLC. “We’re not concerned with the politics of either party on this panel. What we are concerned with is Sri Lanka’s cricket and that will be our top priority. We should thank the sports minister for choosing someone like Hashan, who has played for Sri Lanka and also been a good captain.”The sports minister has given us the freedom to act independently of political affiliations and it was encouraging to hear that. We will stay focused on improving Sri Lanka’s cricket.”Tillakaratne was a stylish left-handed batsman who played 83 Tests and 200 ODIs for Sri Lanka. He captained the side in 11 Tests between 1999 and 2004, and was a member of the World Cup winning side alongside Jayasuriya and Wickramasinghe in 1996.

Robin Peterson hadn’t been able to stem the runs when Pakistan were batting, but on the third day it was Pakistan who couldn’t stop the runs when Peterson was batting

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran16-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Robin Peterson slammed 84 to cut into Pakistan’s first-innings lead•Getty ImagesA fascinating Test in Cape Town provided its third day of unexpected twists as the man who was the weak link for South Africa on the first day made amends with his first Test half-century in almost a decade to even up the contest. Robin Peterson hadn’t been able to stem the runs when Pakistan were batting on the second day, but on the third it was Pakistan who couldn’t stop the runs when Peterson was batting. With AB de Villiers also scoring a half-century, South Africa showed their resilience as what could have been a game-deciding lead for Pakistan was trimmed to just 12.In their second innings, Pakistan’s top order once again folded cheaply and South Africa were threatening to run away with the game. However, they were thwarted by a patient partnership between Azhar Ali and Misbah-ul-Haq in the final hour-and-a-half before stumps to leave the match evenly poised. The day ended with a bit of bad news for the hosts, as Morne Morkel sustained a leg injury. He is unlikely to bowl again in this Test.In the morning, de Villiers had survived another intense examination from the outstanding Saeed Ajmal to play an innings that married classical drives and cuts with chutzpah, as shown by an inventive dink over the slips for four when the ball was banged in short. He reached his half-century off a rare poor ball down the leg side from Ajmal, and if he was beginning to feel comfortable in the middle, Ajmal followed up with a ripping delivery similar to the one that accounted for Faf du Plessis. De Villiers got the edge again but the keeper couldn’t hold on to the catch.Ajmal had begun the day by adding Dean Elgar’s wicket to make it six out of six and briefly raised visions of him joining the elite club of Jim Laker and Anil Kumble as the only bowlers to take all ten wickets in an innings. Thoughts of that spectacular feat came to an end when the seven-footer Mohammad Irfan struck with the new ball to dismiss de Villiers for his first Test wicket. He then showed that even in the intense battle of Test cricket there is space for levity, as the towering fast bowler raised his arms in celebration after his team-mates huddled around him, forcing them to jump to high-five him.Pakistan could have taken total control of the match once de Villiers was dismissed but Peterson again showed how much his batting has improved. He swept Ajmal when the ball was on the pads, cut powerfully when width was provided, and generally began to look more and more settled in the middle. With the help of Vernon Philander, he brought the deficit below 100 before lunch.Peterson had just begun, though, and opened out after the break with a series of drives as 77 runs came off 13 overs. Besides the scorching drives, there was even a switch-hit off Ajmal. As the score went past 300, Peterson set his sights on a maiden hundred, going for his shots even as he lost his partners. The crowd loved it, and when last man Morne Morkel solidly defended a few deliveries, the fans welcomed it with rousing cheers. Peterson finally perished on 84 as he looked to clear long-on, though he had already done enough to hurt Pakistan by then.The turnaround continued when South Africa had the ball in hand as, yet again, they removed both openers cheaply. Pakistan’s opening stands this series now read 0, 10, 7 and 9. Steyn struck in his first over, with an indipper that had Mohammad Hafeez lbw. Philander joined in with a wicket in his first over, sending back Nasir Jamshed lbw for a duck. Though South Africa’s quicks kept asking questions around off stump, Younis Khan and Ali negotiated the new ball till tea. A pumped-up Steyn then delivered the quickest spell of the match, regularly threatening to hit the 150kph mark, and it culminated with him getting Younis to chop on to the stumps.While the second session was full of runs, the third was the opposite. Ali began with a boundary past square leg that took him to 23 off 23 balls, but he then went into a shell, especially against Peterson, playing out maiden after maiden. He couldn’t work the singles, at one stage had managed only five runs off 53 deliveries against Peterson, and just survived a confident lbw appeal.At the other end, Misbah wasn’t in any hurry either, and the pair went through 34 scoreless deliveries early on in their partnership. Misbah was patient as ever, except when he pulled off three of those out-of-the-blue straight sixes he loves to hit.Many times, the strategy to just block everything against a high-quality attack doesn’t work because the lack of runs means the pressure isn’t lifted, and when there is a breakthrough, the batting side hasn’t made much progress. It worked for Pakistan on the day, though, as it sucked the momentum from a rampant South Africa attack, and steadily increased the lead above 100, setting up an intriguing fourth day.

Bangladesh were kept under pressure by Zimbabwe for short periods in both innings, but the hosts were always only a partnership or a wicket away from taking command, and duly went up 4-0 in the five-match series with the 21-run win in Mirpur

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Mirpur28-Nov-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:22

Isam: Not enough effort from Zimbabwe

Bangladesh were kept under pressure by Zimbabwe for short periods in both innings, but the hosts were always only a partnership or a wicket away from taking command, and duly went up 4-0 in the five-match series with the 21-run win in Mirpur. ​Zimbabwe did however record their best bowling figures, highest opening partnership, first 100-plus partnership, and first 200-plus score. But none of these could produce their first win on tour. They restricted Bangladesh to 256 for 8 in 50 overs, but could only muster 235 for 8 in reply.Brendan Taylor top-scored with 63 but it was Solomon Mire who impressed with his second ODI fifty, which featured a number of ferocious hits. He was dropped on 32 by Abul Hasan at deep fine-leg, and made good use of it. He and Taylor added 106 runs for the fourth wicket and were threatening to have a tilt at the 257-run target. But once the pair got out in successive overs, with Zimbabwe still needing 85, the visitors never really got back on track.Taylor struck seven fours, while Mire smashed four fours and two sixes each over long-on and midwicket, with the second one bringing up his fifty. Mire, however, was also the first to fall in the partnership, giving cover a simple catch as he drove without moving his feet against Jubair Hossain. Taylor got out trying his brand of the trampoline shot with Zimbabwe entering the second Powerplay.Elton Chigumbura could not provide the required fireworks, adding just 11 runs in 4.3 overs following the fifth wicket. Peter Moor and Regis Chakabva looked like the wrong batsmen at the slog overs, as the required run-rate soared out of their grasp.Bangladesh had earlier based their innings on two partnerships which counter-balanced two batting collapses. Mahmudullah was the common factor in both stands, adding 134 for the fifth wicket with Mushfiqur Rahim, and 65 for the eighth with Mashrafe Mortaza.Mahmudullah made 82, his highest ODI score and his first half-century in 18 months. He struck six fours in his 112-ball knock, an innings of supporting nature that had its share of attractive strokes. He made sure Mushfiqur and Mashrafe were fed the strike and remained on the attack.The pitch also offered a bit of movement and slow bounce, which made it difficult to keep shots under control. The seamers Neville Madziva and Mire took three wickets each, and though they took a bit of a hammering towards the end, kept the Bangladesh batsmen on their toes. Legspinner Tafadzwa Kamungozi was disciplined in his 10 overs, taking two crucial wickets.Bangladesh did not enjoy as good a start with the bat as they did in the second and third ODIs. The opening partnership lasted just four overs when Anamul Haque missed a straight ball that would have hit middle-stump had it not hit his back leg. Having struck his second boundary in the tenth over by backing away and steering the ball through the off side, Tamim Iqbal tried the same shot in the next over and picked out sweeper cover. Hamilton Masakadza did not have to move and Mire had picked up his first international wicket.Four balls later, Brendan Taylor snapped up a one-handed catch as Imrul tried to hit one over his head at midwicket. In the very next over, Shakib scooped a Mire slower ball to mid-off. It was fun times for Zimbabwe as the haze took over Mirpur.But from 32 for 4, Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah wrested back the initiative. Mushfiqur drove business-like through the covers, clipped through square-leg and brought out the square drive against the offspinner Vusi Sibanda. He was severe on the short ball and lofted over cover with aplomb. He hit one four, with his favoured slog sweep, but it was this shot that also brought his end in the 38th over.Mushfiqur made a 78-ball 77, with seven fours, but it felt like an innings cut short in its prime due to the batsman’s impatience. Two more wickets fell soon after. Sabbir Rahman’s sweep found the deep square-leg fielder off Kamungozi, while Abul Hasan spooned one to mid-off to give Mire his third wicket. Mahmudullah, however, remained steady and joined with Mashrafe to take charge of the last ten overs, as they made sure Bangladesh neared the 250-mark.When Zimbabwe replied, Shakib Al Hasan provided Bangladesh with the first two wickets by getting rid of Masakadza and Sibanda. The latter was the first to fall, trapped leg-before as he pressed forward and was struck in front. Masakadza was beautifully opened up with Shakib’s arm-ball and soon after, Jubair got his first ODI wicket off his fifth ball, beating Timycen Maruma with a googly as Zimbabwe slipped to 60 for 3 by the 17th over.Shakib was excellent till the tenth over, taking 2 for 28, while Rubel Hossain and Jubair also picked up two scalps apiece. Jubair was slightly expensive, but as only the second specialist legspinner to play an ODI for Bangladesh, he did a decent job.Ultimately, Zimbabwe’s batting recovery, from 60 for 3, was not as effective as Bangladesh’s fifth or eighth-wicket stands, and now the visitors find themselves just one loss away from a double whitewash.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab in Hyderabad

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran07-May-2012Match factsTuesday, May 8
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Will Adam Gilchrist get a place in the starting XI even if fit?•AFPBig PictureKings XI Punjab have developed a reputation of being one of the best teams on the road, beating four of the top five teams in away matches. At home, they haven’t been as good, losing their previous four matches at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali.The last of those was a heavy defeat to Rajasthan Royals, which their captain David Hussey termed one of their worst matches in IPL. Kings XI aren’t considered among the top teams in the competition, and rarely go into a game as favourites, but against a demoralised Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad, they won’t be the underdogs for once.They are still waiting on the fitness of their regular captain, Adam Gilchrist, who has missed their previous six matches with hamstring problems. If he is fit in time for tomorrow, Kings XI will have a difficult choice to make: which of their overseas players to leave out? Shaun Marsh has been one of the most consistent batsmen in the IPL across seasons, Hussey is also a confirmed starter, Azhar Mahmood provides muscular hitting as well as four bankable overs with the ball, while Ryan Harris took four wickets in his previous game.Kings XI still have a realistic chance of reaching the play-off but Chargers don’t after an AB de Villiers onslaught on Sunday pretty much confirmed a second miserable season in a row for them. In 2011, they managed to save face by winning the final three games of the campaign to finish seventh, climbing three places in the final week. They have been bottom of the pile virtually the entire tournament this year, and will hope for another winning run to avoid becoming the first team to finish last twice in the IPL.Form guide (completed games, most recent first)
Deccan Chargers: LLWLW
Kings XI Punjab: LWWLWPlayers to watchDale Steyn has produced some of the most testing spells of the tournament, but has also had some forgettable days. In the two matches against Mumbai Indians, he proved nearly unplayable but against Rajasthan Royals and Pune Warriors he went wicketless and leaked runs at 11 an over or more. On Sunday against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he was very good at the start – bowling a maiden to Chris Gayle – before being taken apart by de Villiers at the death, with his 23-run over turning the match. Which Steyn will turn up on Tuesday? And will Chargers pick Rusty Theron ahead of him?Praveen Kumar hasn’t had the best of seasons, struggling to pick wickets and make an impact in a side where he is the leading Indian quick bowler. He was outstanding against Royal Challengers, sending down one of the most economic spells in IPL history, but Kings XI will expect more from him than just three wickets in 11 matches.Stats and trivia Chargers have tried 23 players this season, more than any other team. Mumbai and Royal Challengers are next with 22 players each. Chargers’ fielding has let them down all tournament, reflected by the fact that they have the least number of catches among all teams this year.Quotes”I don’t think it’s difficult to motivate us because we want to play our best cricket. We know if we play our best cricket, we will climb up the table.”

Sachin Tendulkar’s return to the Mumbai Indians squad for today’s match against Deccan Chargers looks uncertain

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Apr-2012Sachin Tendulkar’s return to the Mumbai Indians squad for today’s match against Deccan Chargers looks uncertain, after he said on Twitter that the finger injury he sustained in the opening game against Chennai Super Kings did “not look good”.Tendulkar posted a photograph of the injured finger on his right hand and tweeted around noon on Monday.

Finger still not looking good. Had to aspirate blood from my finger twice in 4 days. yfrog.com/o0j2iduj

— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) April 9, 2012

Tendulkar had to retire hurt on 16 after being struck on the glove by Doug Bollinger in the ninth over of the IPL’s opening game between Mumbai Indians and Super Kings. He then missed Mumbai Indians’ first home game, against Pune Warriors, and if he does not play today his next game could be against Rajasthan Royals on April 11.Just before the start of IPL 2012, Tendulkar had handed over the leadership of the Mumbai Indians to Harbhajan Singh, because he wanted to take a “break from the responsibility of captaincy”. Harbhajan had led Mumbai Indians to the Champions League T20 title last year and was an automatic choice to take over the captaincy.

Jamie Siddons, the former Bangladesh coach who is now in charge of Wellington, has questioned whether coaching standards in New Zealand are up to providing players, particularly batsmen, for the national side who can cope in alien conditions

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2013Jamie Siddons, the former Bangladesh coach who is now in charge of Wellington, has questioned whether coaching standards in New Zealand are up to providing players, particularly batsmen, for the national side who can cope in alien conditions. After New Zealand suffered a second ODI whitewash against Bangladesh, Siddons suggested that the team’s overall skill levels were not high enough.Siddons was in charge of Bangladesh when New Zealand lost 4-0 on tour in 2010 and he said that little seemed to have changed when it came to playing on foreign pitches. Having been involved in New Zealand’s domestic set-up for more than two years, he pinpointed “the coaching … the technical side of things”, as well as saying that soporific surfaces at home were part of the problem, with batsmen only comfortable when “it’s not swinging and it’s not spinning”.”It looked pretty similar,” Siddons said of New Zealand’s efforts, three years after their last visit to Bangladesh. “The conditions are a bit foreign to the boys, not that they turned a lot, just slower pace and facing some reasonable spinners with a bit of variation.””I don’t think [Bangladesh] were clearly better. I think they utilise their conditions pretty well and we weren’t prepared for it or good enough to handle it.”Despite some encouraging results under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum – New Zealand beat England and South Africa in away ODI series earlier this year and drew with England in the home Tests – a fragility in the batting has been a repeated motif. Even when they managed to pass 300 in the third match against Bangladesh, their opponents overhauled the target with four wickets and four balls in hand.”We need to practice tougher. We need to have wickets that turn, practice how to face faster bowling and swing bowling,” Siddons said. “As soon as it’s tough your batsmen are vulnerable and it’s the coaching, it’s the technical side of things, it’s the mindset. It’s certainly not mental.”I hear a lot of people say it’s mental problems with the players, but everyone’s trying. These guys don’t get out because of mental mistakes, it’s the skill levels. It’s hard work on the road. Those guys will come back here and it’s flat and it’s not swinging and it’s not spinning and they’ll be okay. But as soon as you go away and you’re under pressure again against something you haven’t practised against, then you’ll have problems.”Despite being generally competitive in one-day cricket, New Zealand were dismissed for 45 in the Cape Town Test at the start of 2013 and then 68 at Lord’s in May. They also only managed to scrape past Sri Lanka’s total of 138 in Cardiff during the Champions Trophy, a tournament which they exited at the group stage.Siddons, who amassed 11,587 first-class runs and was capped once by Australia during his playing career before going on to be his country’s batting coach, acknowledged that it was difficult for Mike Hesson and his New Zealand staff to make technical corrections while on tour. The problems arose further down the system, he said.”It’s near-impossible – they’re supposed to be ready when they get there. Supposed to be,” he said. “Under our system I’m supposed to have these guys ready and they ask me about my guys and I tell them the truth. I say he’s not ready, he’s not going to be successful, wait, give him time, he’s got this problem, he’s got that problem.”They [New Zealand’s coaches] can get them up and talk about plans and stuff, but if they haven’t got that ability to run down the wicket, they can’t run down the wicket. If they don’t have the sweep shot before they get there, they’re not going to develop one.”

James Taylor’s century and Ben Stokes’s fifty set up a series-clinching 135-run victory for England Lions over Sri Lanka A at Northampton

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2011
ScorecardJames Taylor’s century and Ben Stokes’s fifty set up a series-clinching 135-run victory for England Lions over Sri Lanka A at Northampton.It was Taylor’s second hundred in three games and helped the Lions bounce back emphatically from their 10-wicket drubbing the game before. Taylor and Stokes helped the Lions recover from 38 for 3 to post 282 before the bowlers finished the job in style, skittling Sri Lanka A for 147 with over 20 overs to spare.It was a captain’s innings in the old sense from Taylor, anchoring the recovery at one end while Stokes was more positive from the other. Tharanga Lakshitha had done the early damage taking each of the first three wickets before the fightback started.The pair added 98 with Stokes reaching his fifty first – from 45 balls – hitting seven fours and three sixes in his 65-ball 73. He fell just past the half-way stage to legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna. Though he had time to score plenty more his contribution would not have gone unnoticed by the England selectors who will be considering their squad for the upcoming India series.Taylor was more restrained, taking 91 balls to make his half-century but steadily increased his pace as the innings wore on. At one stage – when the Lions slipped to 178 for 6 – it looked as though he may run out of partners but James Harris offered him sound support with 29. It took Taylor just 37 deliveries to go from fifty to his century and by the time he was last man out in the final over, he had struck eight fours and a six in his 111.283 looked a challenging target and it proved much too difficult for the visitors. The promising four-pronged seam attack, which included Ireland’s Boyd Rankin for the first time, shared seven wickets, while Lancashire left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan took the other three. The chase was as good as done by the third over when Sri Lanka A were reduced to 7 for 3.Captain Dimuth Karunaratne resisted grimly for 30 from 43 balls in a stand with Sachithra Chaturanga, who made 35. Aside from them, though, wickets kept tumbling. It needed a 38-run ninth-wicket stand to push Sri Lanka A towards 150 but Kerrigan and Woakes finished off the match to give the Lions the series.