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Andrew McDonald took his first five-wicket haul in one-day cricket as he helped Victoria to a 12-run win over Queensland

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2011

ScoreboardAndrew McDonald took his first five-wicket haul in one-day cricket•AFP

Andrew McDonald claimed 5 for 38, his first five-wicket haul in one-day cricket, as he helped Victoria to a 12-run win over Queensland and moved them to third place in the table.Defending 237, McDonald had Peter Forrest caught behind for 27 to reduce Queensland to 4 for 61 before James Hopes’ 39 formed a 79-run partnership with Nathan Reardon. Hopes fell to Clint McKay, whose 10 overs conceded 29, and Reardon was then run out by David Hussey for 53.Again, though, Queensland fought back as Steve Paulsen (36) and Michael Neser (22) added fifty to bring the requirement down to 37 from 33 balls when McDonald removed both batsmen in three deliveries. Cameron Gannon hit four boundaries in his 22 to keep Queensland’s chances alive, but fell to McDonald at the start of the penultimate over.Aaron Finch had led the way for Victoria with 71 from 106 balls but he received little support as Victoria slipped to 6 for 145. However, they were revived by Glenn Maxwell, who struck a 37-ball 50, and Robert Quiney (38) in a stand of 67 for the seventh wicket before Alister McDermott wrapped up the innings to finish with 4 for 30.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will hold a teleconference on Saturday in an effort to resolve the impasse between the board, the Guyana Cricket Board (GICB) and the Guyanese government

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2012The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will hold a teleconference on Saturday in an effort to resolve the impasse between the board, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Guyanese government. Earlier this month, the GCB was locked out of its premises by the Guyana government, which appointed an Interim Management Committee (IMC) headed by Clive Lloyd to govern the sport in the country.Lloyd is also a non-member director of the WICB; last week, Anand Senasie, the secretary of the GCB which has been replaced by the IMC, wrote to the WICB president Julian Hunte, asking him to remove Lloyd from his role as non-member director.The WICB refused to recognise the IMC, and the impasse, it was feared, would prevent Guyana from competing in the Caribbean T20, though that didn’t happen. But the board is set to meet ahead of the Regional Four Day Competition, the first-class tournament starting on February 3.”The WICB is making every effort to find a solution. On Saturday we will be holding a teleconference to discuss it as well as an issue with Jamaica. Both (the GCB and IMC) have been at each other and clearly that can’t continue. The players’ business must come first,” WICB director Dr Allen Sammy told .The IMC has named a provisional 30-man squad, with Ramnaresh Sarwan as captain, for the first-class competition, and the WICB said efforts should be made to ensure the players are not distracted by the ongoing problem. “What is most important is that players must be given an opportunity to play for their country and without any burden on their mind. They are playing to win for Guyana and to get on the West Indies team but the right environment must be there for that to happen,” Sammy said.The current standoff between the Guyana government – represented by sports minister Frank Anthony – and the GCB, and by extension the WICB, dates back to the disputed Guyana board elections in July 2011.

Peter Siddle will be unleashed in the West Indies as a Test match spearhead rather than taking part in Australia’s forthcoming ODI assignments, the national selector John Inverarity has said

Daniel Brettig22-Feb-2012Peter Siddle will be unleashed in the West Indies as a Test match spearhead rather than taking part in Australia’s forthcoming ODI assignments, the national selector John Inverarity has said.In a sign that the selectors are shaping Siddle into Michael Clarke’s equivalent of the kind of role Merv Hughes performed for Allan Border in the 1990s, Inverarity said the panel wanted Siddle to maintain the “lionhearted” standards he set against New Zealand and India, rather than adjusting his plans for the demands of ODIs.In a similar fashion, Hughes played few limited-overs matches for Australia, as the panel then chaired by Laurie Sawle preferred the Victorian fast man to give his all in Test matches, where he commonly took the critical wickets in sharp spells. Siddle now appears to be treading a path similar to the one that took Hughes to 212 Test wickets.”His bowling during the Test matches was outstanding, and we really look forward to letting him loose in the West Indies,” Inverarity told ESPNcricinfo. “He was lionhearted and wonderful [against India] and we look forward to him returning there. But just at the moment he’s not in our short-term ODI plans.”Under Clarke, Siddle has commonly been used in shorter, more incisive Test match spells than those he delivered under Ricky Ponting, also benefiting from the fuller length and discipline advocated by the bowling coach Craig McDermott – Hughes’ former pace partner. Against India he repeatedly broke key partnerships before Ben Hilfenhaus and others cleaned up in his wake, until Siddle had his reward with a Man-of-the-Match haul in the final Test in Adelaide.In his absence, the Australian limited-overs squad is re-assembling in Hobart for Friday’s ODI against Sri Lanka.
Xavier Doherty, the Tasmanian left-arm spinner, will play his first international on his home ground, and said there would be a decidedly different feel to the dressing room in Ponting’s absence after he was dropped from the one-day side.”It’s going to be very different,” Doherty said. “Having Ricky around for the last 15-16 years, he’s the guy who’s got all the energy in the group so that role’s probably going to have to shift to someone else now. So it’s going to be a very different feel and probably different for the public to come to watch.”Like Ricky said, if you don’t put the runs on or take the wickets then you leave yourself up for this sort of outcome. It is unfortunate that this is the way it’s gone, but in professional sport that is the way things go.”Doherty has bowled reliably across the series, often entrusted with later overs in the innings, where his variations in pace, accuracy and occasional spin have prospered.”Early on in the tournament I probably took wickets, which is the credit for some of the other guys doing the hard work,” Doherty said. “In the last couple of games it’s probably me doing some of the hard work and they’ve been the ones to get the rewards, so I feel pretty comfortable in the team now, it’s taken a little while to settle in, but I feel like I can do whatever’s asked of me.”As a limited-overs spinner, Doherty said he had been aided by his experiences in Twenty20 matches, which placed greater emphasis on him to be precise every time he delivered the ball.”There’s no doubt that T20 cricket is having an impact on the other forms,” he said. “You have a look at Dave Warner’s progression, Malinga, it’s cut-throat stuff in T20, whereas in 50-over cricket you do get a little bit more leeway so the skills of T20 are definitely rubbing off on some of the other forms. A lot of people have negative things to say about T20 but I think from my point of view it’s all positive.”

The eclectic talents of Italy almost caused a major upset in Abu Dhabi, as Ireland squeezed home by two wickets with two balls to spare

The Report by Ger Siggins in Abu Dhabi15-Mar-2012
ScorecardGary Wilson’s composed innings ensured Ireland didn’t suffer a second upset in three games•Barry Chambers/International Cricket Council

The eclectic talents of Italy almost caused a major upset at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, running Ireland to the final couple of deliveries.Italy rely heavily on players of Italian heritage – rather than those born in the country – and were a match for Ireland until the very last over. Italy’s batting was below par, barely scraping past 100, but the slow bowling and fielding ensured a tight finish for Phil Simmons’ men. In the end the margin was two wickets with just two balls to spare as Gary Wilson kept his head in a tense finale.The left-arm spin of Damian Crowley was almost Ireland’s undoing as the Nottinghamshire 2nd XI player took 3 for 12 off four magical overs.Gary Wilson admitted it had been a “smash and grab” win for Ireland. “All we can take from the game are the two points – and run,” he said. “Two or three guys got starts and didn’t go on so we wouldn’t have been in that position if one of them did.”William Porterfield was even more critical of his batsmen. “We made it hard for ourselves in the middle order with a couple of soft dismissals,” he said.Italy won the toss and batted on a slow surface. The Irish fielding was its usual tigerish self and the Italians struggled to get on top of disciplined bowling. Ireland kept the boundary count down once again, conceding just three fours and a pair of late sixes clouted by captain Alessandro Bonora.Ireland offspinner Paul Stirling was given the new ball and responded with two immaculate overs costing just one run, as well as picking up the scalp of Andy Northcote. There was also the novel sight of a 37-year-old New South Welshman bowling to a 38-year-old Tasmanian. Trent Johnston won that contest, bowling a maiden first up, but Michael Di Venuto played a backbone role to top score with 23 off 44 balls as wickets fell around him.After five overs Italy had made just 16, and the half way score of 39 for 2 was no platform for expansion. Middlesex allrounder Gareth Berg stuck around for 19 before he played an awful shot to square leg to give his club mate Stirling a second wicket.Berg and Di Venuto had taken the score to 55 but the Italians lost five wickets for 22 runs as first the spinners cashed in and then Boyd Rankin returned.The 6ft 8in paceman had recorded a T20 career best the day before, and improved on that with two lethal deliveries to send Crowley and Hayden Patrizi back to the pavilion. The Warwickshire bowler has concentrated on bowling at the stumps and was rewarded by seeing the poles cartwheel twice in a fiery second spell.Max Sorensen, who came in for Andrew White, was entrusted with the 18th and 20th overs, and picked up Carl Sandri to a catch in the deep. Bonora took the total into three figures when he just cleared the fielder on the square-leg rope.”If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” they say, but Ireland failed to heed that old saw and separated the pairing of Stirling and William Porterfield that saw them to a ten-wicket win over Kenya. Kevin O’Brien was promoted and carved the first ball to the third-man boundary but perished to the first delivery of the second over, bowled by Carl Sandri. The Melbourne-born offspinner has been in fine form in the tournament and picked up two more scalps to take his total to eight.Porterfield and Stirling put on 25 before the Italians found their range and the Middlesex man edged behind to Patrizi. Ireland then made heavy weather of getting the runs as the middle order departed in a flurry.Crowley caused all sorts of problems as Ireland almost became unstuck.A fantastic piece of fielding by Di Venuto saw John Mooney depart to a direct hit and Ireland were confronted with the serious possibility of an early departure from a tournament they were expected to win.As the tension mounted the cool head of wicketkeeper Wilson was required and he tapped judicious singles before taking on Northcote in the final over. With eight wickets down Ireland still needed seven off five balls, but a reverse sweep reached the fence, followed by a two and a clubbed straight hit to leave Wilson unbeaten on 30 and Ireland joining Italy on two wins out of three.Edited by Alan Gardner

Tamim Iqbal, one of Bangladesh’s senior players, has said he had no idea that the national coach Stuart Law was going to resign

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Apr-2012Tamim Iqbal, one of Bangladesh’s top batsmen, has said he had no idea that the national coach Stuart Law was going to resign. He was talking hours after Law announced his decision to quit as Bangladesh coach.”I’m completely taken by surprise,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo. “But family comes first.” Law was stepping down less than a month after guiding Bangladesh to the final of the Asia Cup.Tamim said Law had added to the professionalism brought in by his predecessors as coach, the Australian pair of Dav Whatmore and Jamie Siddons. “Law gave us the belief that we can do it,” Tamim said. “And that only pumped up the players. He used to give us tremendous amount of confidence. A team like us needs the confidence and he always supported us.”The relationship between a coach and the players takes time to develop usually and with Stuey, we were almost there. Everyone was enjoying his presence in the dressing room and he was enjoying being with us as well.”Tamim also gave a personal example of Law’s influence. “When I was going through a rough patch during the Pakistan series (last December) he kept pushing me to work hard. There is one line I can never forget. He said: ‘Someone is hurt now and someone will be hurt in the Asia Cup.'” Tamim made four half-centuries in four matches in the Asia Cup and finished as the second-highest run-maker in the tournament.Tamim said he was also disappointed as he felt Law’s departure was a bit of a backward step for Bangladesh cricket. “We will miss him definitely. This is the tragedy with Bangladesh cricket: whenever we do something good, something bad happens.”Edited by Siddarth Ravindran