Jacques Kallis was the only member of the South African squad who did not train on Tuesday ahead of the second Test in Adelaide

Firdose Moonda in Adelaide20-Nov-2012Jacques Kallis was the only member of the South African squad who did not train on Tuesday ahead of the second Test in Adelaide. The tourists held a segmented session with AB de Villiers leaving early and Imran Tahir arriving late as they looked to spend minimal time in the 37-degree heat.”It is optional practice because we’ve had two really good sessions already and it’s very hot,” Mohammed Moosajee, the team manager, told ESPNcricinfo.The afternoon practice was the first conducted under coach Gary Kirsten in preparation for the second Test after he returned from a whistle-stop trip back to South Africa. While the squad dispersed on Wednesday to various destinations around Australia, Kirsten went home to spend some time with his wife and three children and was not present at the compulsory practices on Sunday or Monday.South Africa held four-hour and three-and-a-half-hour sessions respectively, both of which were full practices incorporating everything from their football warm-ups to extensive nets. Contrastingly, Australia’s only optional session will be the day before the Test, Wednesday, while they have been putting in at least three and half hours every other day.The difference in the amount of training is likely to lead to accusations of South Africa being undercooked, especially having had the worse of the Brisbane Test. But Alviro Petersen dismissed that suggestion bullishly. “We had a break in England as well, so it’s nothing new,” Petersen said. “We could start the Test tomorrow. We’re happy to have a few days to freshen our minds.”Although the team had significant gaps between the three Test matches in England and took occasional breaks, such as a day in Leeds to go to the Olympics, they did not ever split up for more than one day. They also played tour matches between each of the Tests and two before the test at The Oval. No practice match was scheduled for the eight-day break between Tests in Australia, though.The Kirsten way focuses on smart work instead of hard work and places the responsibility on players to decide how intensely they need to prepare for the next match. It is a method that the previous team he coached, India, said helped them thrive. The South Africans have also warmed to that approach, which newcomer Dean Elgar said allows them to “be treated as adults”.Elgar replaced JP Duminy in the squad after his tour was cut short with a ruptured Achilles tendon, but Elgar seems unlikely to play. Instead, Faf du Plessis, who was batting in the nets, appears destined to make his Test debut.The other likely change will be the straight swap of Tahir in for Rory Kleinveldt as South Africa look to include spin in their line-up. Thami Tsolekile, the specialist wicketkeeper, was also padded up and batted in the nets, although his inclusion to relieve de Villiers off the gloves will depend on whether South Africa continue to employ the seven batsmen strategy.Robin Peterson is one of the other options and he bowled a significant amount in Tuesday’s session. Dale Steyn, who was recovering from gastro, played a small part in practice, although he is certain to be in good health come the Test. Kallis choosing to rest instead of train is part of the continued process to manage the allrounder as South Africa look to get the best of his batting and bowling on match days.

Nazmul Hassan has said the decision to tour Pakistan is still “two to four days” away after his Pakistan counterpart Zaka Ashraf claimed that the BCB had confirmed that the tour was on

Mohammad Isam22-Dec-2012Nazmul Hassan, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president, has said the decision to tour Pakistan is still “two to four days” away after his Pakistan counterpart Zaka Ashraf claimed that the BCB had confirmed that the tour was on. The BCB is awaiting a security assessment to be conducted by the ICC before making an announcement.”In my opinion, we can reach a final decision in the next two to four days,” Hassan told BBC Bangla Service on Saturday. “We will ask the ICC to complete their security assessment for match officials and the moment they finalise their stance, we can give our confirmation.”It [the decision to tour] will somewhat depend on the ICC’s decision. We need to know their security assessment. Our security team that had gone to Pakistan said the security is adequate.”Earlier in the day, Ashraf said the BCB had communicated its willingness to tour Pakistan. “We were in constant touch with the BCB officials and they have conveyed to us that the tour is confirmed,” Ashraf told AFP. “They have also got approval from their board members and we are in touch for the schedule.”Hassan said that having agreed to tour Pakistan, there was no question of backing down. “We have committed to travel to Pakistan and it is my understanding that the commitment is minuted in an ICC meeting.”Since we have made a commitment and if we think the security is satisfactory, I think we should go. We will see the ICC’s security assessment and conduct our own assessment. We will adopt every possible precaution before going.”Bangladesh has reached a stage in world cricket where it won’t be wise to not keep a commitment. It could be used as an example in future.”Bangladesh’s proposed tour to Pakistan hit a snag earlier this year when, on April 19, a Dhaka court order embargoed a series between the two scheduled for the end of April.

A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group A matches on December 4, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2012
ScorecardJiwanjot Singh made his third century in five first-class games as Punjab completed the formalities on the final morning with a nine-wicket demolition of defending champions Rajasthan. Punjab needed 55 more runs to reach their target of 204, and needed 12 overs to make them. Jiwanjot cracked 21 fours in his unbeaten 110, while Ravi Inder Singh finished on 60, his second fifty of the match. Punjab have 29 points now, having won four out of five games, and are way ahead of second-placed Madhya Pradesh, who have 11 from four.
ScorecardWith Bengal motoring to 116 for 0 in an improbable chase of 391, the final day at the CCI looked set to end in a tame draw. Mumbai allrounder Abhishek Nayar conjured up a six-for out of nowhere, and Bengal were made to work hard for avoiding defeat. Nayar took all but one of the Bengal wickets to fall, and had figures of 19-12-13-6 to go with his twin half-centuries in the game. He had the openers Rohan Banerjee and Arindam Das caught behind for fifties, and also bowled Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary for 14. Seven overs were left when Nayar bowled Laxmi Shukla for a duck, but Wriddhiman Saha, who was put down by early by Kshemal Waingankar, batted out 152 deliveries to ensure a stalemate. Mumbai now have ten points from four games, while Bengal have seven from five.For more on this match, click here.
ScorecardGujarat, having piled up 566, dismissed visitors Hyderabad for 375 in Valsad to take three points. With only six points from their first four games, Gujarat then enforced the follow-on, but Hyderabad were steady at 124 for 2 before the game was called off. Rush Kalaria and Rakesh Dhurv picked up three wickets each in the Hyderabad first innings, which had three half-centuries but no hundred. Akshath Reddy, Hanuma Vihari and B Sandeep could not go on to make big scores like the Gujarat batsmen had.
ScorecardSaurashtra did what Gujarat had done, and asked Railways to bat again after taking a huge lead, but could not break through in the second innings. Kamlesh Makvana picked up six wickets, and Ravindra Jadeja three, as Railways crumbled from a strong 168 for 1 to be dismissed for 335. The overnight batsmen Shivakant Shukla and V Cheluvaraj could not add too many in the morning. Parag Madkaikar and Murali Kartik made sixties, but it was not enough against Saurashtra’s mammoth total. Saurashtra now have nine points, as many as Gujarat have, while Railways are on six.

Perhaps unsurprisingly after the side has been rolled for 45 in a Test match tensions remain apparent at the top of the New Zealand management structure

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2013Perhaps unsurprisingly after the side has been rolled for 45 in a Test match, tensions remain apparent at the top of the New Zealand management structure with John Buchanan, the director of cricket, admitting to a difficult relationship with chief executive David White which stemmed from the controversial demotion from the captaincy of Ross Taylor.Buchanan, who joined New Zealand Cricket in April 2011, had not spoken to the media since Taylor was dumped as captain following the Sri Lanka tour and is not in South Africa. He has been monitoring events from Australia before heading back across the Tasman to resume his duties watching domestic cricket and scouting for talent.A host of former New Zealand players, led by the vocal Martin Crowe, have been severely critical of the change of captaincy and the way Taylor, who opted out of the South Africa tour, has been treated. Neither has Buchanan agreed with everything but is hopeful of improving the situation with White.”It can be frosty at times, but he’s got a job to do, as I have,” Buchanan told the . “We certainly don’t always meet eye-to-eye, there’s no doubt about that. But I am very confident he gives me every possible support he can and takes my views and represents them quite candidly to the board.”He also said his relationship with the coach Mike Hesson had “received a bit of a road bump” due to events in Sri Lanka but he has spoken to Hesson since the defeat in Newlands to offer his support”I’ve always let it be know to Mike that I’m available,” he said. “I’m not one that really wants to spend every moment ringing or intruding into the coach’s domain. Having been a coach myself, I know there are good times, and there are times when you need to talk to people.”Buchanan retains the belief that there are players available to turn New Zealand’s fortunes around and that he does not have any second thoughts about his job.”It’s a a fantastic role,” he said. “That’s why I took on the job and I still say that. I still maintain the opportunities in New Zealand Cricket are immense, in terms of what could be achieved in a short period of time – provided we all get on the same page.”

Barisal Burners came out on top in the battle to avoid the bottom spot in the league, thanks to Azhar Mahmood’s all-round performance

The Report by Mohammad Isam04-Feb-2013
ScorecardBarisal Burners came out on top in the battle to avoid the bottom spot in the league, thanks to Azhar Mahmood’s all-round performance. They crushed Khulna Royal Bengals by seven wickets to remain in contention for a top-four finish, while the Royal Bengals are more or less out of the race.The Burners captain Brad Hodge made it an easy passage for his team. His 63 off
47 balls led the chase of 145. Hodge hit six fours and two sixes over long-on, using the pace of the bowlers whenever it was offered on a slow wicket, but mostly worked the angles to collect singles.He added 93 for the third wicket with Azhar Mahmood, who was unbeaten on a 33-ball 52 with seven boundaries and a six. The experienced pair sensibly played out the dangerous Shapoor Zadran before attacking the rest of the bowlers, who looked insipid at most times. Hodge and Mahmood batted at more than 10 an over, making sure the target was reached in 17.5 overs.Mahmood had success with the ball too, taking 3 for 23 to keep the Royal Bengals to a sub-150 score. After bowling tightly with the new ball, he picked up three wickets in his last two overs, including the top-scorer Shahriar Nafees. The three-wicket burst stifled the Royal Bengals in the final few overs.Nafees had made 66 off 50 balls with nine boundaries, but never got support after Nazimuddin fell in the ninth over. Before his dismissal, Nazimuddin had blasted two boundaries and two sixes in his 30-ball 33, but after the opening partnership was broken, their foreign batsmen in the middle-order failed. Once Travis Birt, Daniel Harris and Riki Wessels were removed, the lower order hardly made an impression.Apart from Mahmood, Alok Kapali and newcomer Farveez Maharoof took two wickets each.

Mohammad Ashraful and Mominul Haque firmed up their chances of playing the first Test with significant innings on the last day of the tour game in Matara

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Matara05-Mar-2013
ScorecardMominul Haque (left) and Mohammad Ashraful shared a 178-run stand for the third wicket•AFP

Mohammad Ashraful and Mominul Haque firmed up their chances of playing the first Test with significant innings on the last day of the tour game in Matara. The Bangladesh batsmen made best use of a sunny, windy day as their three-day game ended in a draw.Ashraful made 102, his 17th first-class century, and Mominul fell on 99, but missing the landmark wouldn’t deter the young batsman because he made his case for selection for the Galle Test. Mominul batted more than three hours, scoring 99 off 138 balls, and went through phases that were Test-like.He took time to settle down but latched on to anything that made him comfortable. Early on, he used his feet well against the spinners. Mominul was picky against pace, square cutting or driving Lahiru Gamage. He started the second session with a clipped boundary off Kasun Madushanka, and followed up with a cover drive in the same over. He got to his 50 off 74 balls, and then hit a huge straight six against left-arm spinner Dulanjana Mendis. He was batting freely as he neared a fourth first-class century but perished to the pull shot, giving mid-on a simple catch in the final session.Mominul needed to score after a lean BPL to justify his position ahead of Marshall Ayub in this line-up. He was picked to replace Shakib Al Hasan in the side, and thankfully for the selectors the other replacement, Ashraful, also did well.Ashraful left more than he played at in the first session, letting Mominul have a lot of the strike. After lunch he was a different batsman, racing past Mominul to reach 50 when the left-hander was on 47. He moved quickly to his century, off 144 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six. He fell a few minutes later to a terrific catch by Ashan Priyanjan, diving high to his right at first slip.Mahmudullah, the captain Mushfiqur Rahim and Sohag Gazi got some batting practice, making the best of the limited time in the final session. Mahmudullah made a quickfire 56 off 49 balls with three fours and three straight sixes. The fall of his wicket, though, started the fun-phase for Mushfiqur and Gazi as the two added 112 runs in 12 overs. Mushfiqur scored 81 off 69 and Gazi hit 13 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 82.Opener Jahurul Islam had earlier made a good start but fell for 29 off 74 balls, edging Ishan Jayaratne. Jahurul had been more assured at the crease than Anamul Haque, who struggled to get the ball through the inner circle, and fell for 6.The bowling attack provided less of a challenge to the Bangladesh batsmen, especially on such a good batting pitch that offered almost no lateral movement to the young pace bowlers Madushanka and Gamage. The main spinner, Mendis, is at an early stage in his career and found little assistance in the wicket to challenge the batsmen.

Preview of the match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians in Jaipur

The Preview by Rachna Shetty16-Apr-2013

Match facts

April 17, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

Big picture

Except for their opening match, which they lost narrowly, Mumbai Indians have been living up to their reputation of a big-ticket team. Their opening combination still hasn’t fired but then, these are men who have more than 60,000 international runs between them. If the match against Pune Warriors is any indication, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting are finding their groove in the IPL.To add to Rajasthan Royals’ worries, Mumbai have perhaps the most formidable middle-order. Between them, Dinesh Karthik, Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have scored 479 runs in the team’s four matches and the Royals will have to dismiss them early to dominate the match. In the bowling department, with the hard pitch at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Mumbai might ponder picking Munaf Patel or Jasprit Bumrah ahead of Pragyan Ojha, adding more power to the pace attack of Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson.Royals have always punched above their weight and their record against Mumbai is not as one-sided as many would presume. Of the nine matches the teams have played, Royals have won four times. Their bowling won them the match against Kings XI Punjab and the onus on restricting Mumbai’s powerhouse batting would again fall on Sreesanth, Siddharth Trivedi, James Faulkner and Kevon Cooper. Their batting in the last two matches – with a habit of losing wickets in clusters – is an area of concern. They made heavy weather of what should have been a straightforward chase against Kings XI and, although they huffed to a six-wicket win, against Mumbai’s better bowling, that kind of batting would mean handing the match to Mumbai on a platter.There’s another undercurrent to this match – Sreesanth and Harbhajan will play against each other for the first time since the former revived the ‘slapgate’ episode on Twitter last week.

Players to watch

James Faulkner was the third-highest wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield and did well with the bat, too. Watching him bowl to Ponting will be interesting given that the two play for Tasmania. He’s batted at No.6 before and can be a good lower-order batsman for Royals.On a wicket that’s been friendly to pace bowlers, Lasith Malinga will be a handful for the Royals’ batsmen. He’s already on top of the bowling charts in the IPL with 85 wickets, but he doesn’t have a great record against Royals, with seven wickets from seven matches at an average of 25.71. This match is a chance to change that statistic.

Stats and Trivia

• Rohit Sharma has scored the most runs for Mumbai against Royals. In 10 matches, he has scored 302 runs at an average of 33.55.
• Royals’ wicketkeepers Sanju Samson and Dishant Yagnik are ranked second behind MS Dhoni in the list of wicketkeepers with the most dismissals in an innings in this season of the tournament.
• Royals have won 21 of their 31 home matches, a victory percentage of 67%. In the history of the IPL, that’s second only to Chennai Super Kings’ home record of 25 wins from 38 matches.

Quotes

“We have been banking on our medium pacers… We hope they give us early break throughs and we are able to capitalise on it.”

Faf du Plessis has been ruled out of the remaining two ODIs against Pakistan and the first four weeks of the IPL with back trouble

Firdose Moonda19-Mar-2013Faf du Plessis has been ruled out of the remaining two ODIs against Pakistan and the first four weeks of the IPL with back trouble. Du Plessis will require six weeks rest and has been replaced by Quinton de Kock in the South Africa squad.”Faf has been troubled by low back pain over the past while,” Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager, who is also a medical doctor said. “He was recently diagnosed with bony inflammation in the lumbar spine. His symptoms have worsened over the past two weeks to the extent that it has become necessary to withdraw him immediately in order to allow for rest and rehabilitation as well as a course of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to further facilitate healing.”Du Plessis revealed after the second Twenty20 in Centurion just over two weeks ago that he did not bowl himself in the match because of his back condition, although he was tempted to call on his own legspin. “The doctors advised that I don’t bowl for a while, until this is sorted out,” he said then.Since that has not happened, du Plessis will be sidelined for six weeks. He is certain to miss the first nine matches of the IPL, where he plays for the Chennai Super Kings, and is expected to make a comeback in the week starting April 29. If his recovery goes as planned, he should play seven matches for his franchise as well as any knockout contests in preparation for the Champions Trophy in June.Du Plessis’ unavailability leaves a gap in South Africa’s middle order which young de Kock may be required to fill. Also in the squad is Dolphins batsman David Miller who could play in du Plessis’ place as well.De Kock was dropped from the ODI squad after the series against New Zealand, in which he kept wickets and opened the batting with limited success. He will not be handed the gloves in this series, because AB de Villiers has gone back to wicketkeeping permanently in ODIs, neither will he bat upfront so he will have a change of roles.”As disappointing as Faf’s injury is, it must be seen as an opportunity for Quinton,” Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors said. “He made a good start to his international career during the previous series against New Zealand and this is a chance for him to build on that.”De Kock will play for his domestic team, the Lions, in Tuesday’s T20 match against the Titans in Centurion before joining the national squad tomorrow. The fourth ODI takes place in Durban on Thursday and the final match of the series will be played in Benoni on Sunday. Should de Kock feature in both, the Lions will have to do without him on Friday when they play the Warriors but they may have already qualified for the tournament final by then.

Brendon McCullum will not take legal action against former New Zealand captain John Parker, following an apology from Parker for his references to McCullum in connection with the Ross Talyor controversy

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Apr-2013Brendon McCullum will not take legal action against former New Zealand captain John Parker, following an apology from Parker for his references to McCullum in connection with the Ross Talyor controversy. McCullum’s laywers were expected to file proceedings in the High Court in Hamilton this week over the document titled “The Taylor Affair”, which they claim was written by Parker.When he made public his intention to seek legal redress against Parker, McCullum had said he was not seeking monetary damages but wanted Parker’s “acknowledgment that the claims he makes are completely false”.Now, through McCullum’s legal team, Parker released a statement saying he did not mean to discredit McCullum. “John Parker’s focus in preparing the document was on addressing shortcomings in governance at New Zealand Cricket,” the statement said. “However in the document John Parker stated that Brendon McCullum knew of the coach Mike Hesson’s movements all along, according to certain players. John Parker did not intend this to mean that Brendon McCullum was involved in the decision to replace Ross Taylor as captain. John Parker did not intend to discredit Brendon McCullum and sincerely apologises to him for any harm to his reputation which may have been caused. Both John Parker and Brendon McCullum have examined and resolved their differences successfully, and no legal proceedings by either party will occur.”Parker, in his document, had been critical of Taylor’s removal as captain in controversial manner, as well as the wider governance of New Zealand Cricket.Following McCullum’s declaration that he was seeking legal action last week, coach Hesson too had issued a statement saying was seeking his lawyer’s advice on the matter.

Rain produced a stop-start afternoon and evening session that Kent ended up handling better, thanks to a 145-run partnership between Darren Stevens and Ben Harmison

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Chelmsford23-May-2013
ScorecardDarren Stevens added to his four wickets with an unbeaten 91•Getty Images

Rain greeted Chelmsford’s early birds and, while it didn’t affect the start time, it did return to produce a stop-start afternoon and evening session that Kent ended up handling better, thanks to a 145-run partnership between Darren Stevens and Ben Harmison. Coming together at 43 for 4, the pair worked patiently to see off the rain delays – 25 overs’ worth – and give Kent a first-innings lead for the first time this season.The arrival of Stevens injected calmness into proceedings, as he kept his concentration to bat throughout the day while also staying alert to any error in line or length from the bowlers. As the sun shone late into the evening session and batting conditions improved he took the attack to the bowlers – Ravi Bopara in particular feeling the brunt of Stevens’ wrath.The 37-year-old seems to relish his encounters with Essex – averaging over 45 with the bat and under 28 with the ball – and after his four wickets on the first day it seemed almost inevitable that he would excel again. Fitting, too, that he would be the one to score the runs to take Kent past Essex.Harmison, a slightly smaller yet fuller version of his brother Steve, went under the radar somewhat, content to play out maidens without even a glance at the scoring rate. He stirred in the forties, crashing two fours of Ryan ten Doeschate in three balls to take him to his half century, before chasing a wide one off the same bowler to depart for 55.The moisture in the air coupled with overhead conditions helped David Masters and Reece Topley in the morning. Masters beat the outside edge of Sam Northeast’s bat on more than one occasion; unfortunately for Masters, when he did find it, first slip was found wanting. But the bowler at the other end had more to smile about thanks to an excellent five-over spell that earned him two wickets for only seven runs.It’s hard not to be excited by Topley; his approach to the crease is smooth, with an action easy on the body, losing none of his 6ft 7in at the crease and, unlike Steven Finn, he might even be taller than his own run-up. His wicket to get rid of Brendon Nash was a thing of beauty – the ball angling into the left-hander, before arching away slightly and nipping off the pitch to just miss the bat and catch off stump, flush. For his next wicket, Topley squared-up the right-handed Mike Powell, who could only edge to Tom Westley at third slip.When Northeast was strangled down the leg side, you would be forgiven for thinking Kent were on for successive disappointments with the bat, after being skittled by Worcestershire and Alan Richardson for 63 last week.But Stevens and Harmison came together and rebuilt the innings in an impressive 48-over stand. If anything, they were aided by the rain delays as Essex’s bowlers struggled to get into any real rhythm or build on their morning success. Leaving the field four times would not have helped that. Even then, Masters thought he had Stevens caught behind until umpire Alex Wharf said otherwise, and then Michael Gough at the other end was asked to adjudicate on a ball from Graham Napier which did not bounce and hit Harmison on the pad. It looked very close but he too turned down the appeal, much to the bowler’s dismay.