All posts by n8rngtd.top

The West Indies captain Darren Sammy admitted that their goal ahead of the Bangladesh tour had not been fulfilled after they won two out of the three formats

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur10-Dec-2012The West Indies captain Darren Sammy admitted that their goal ahead of the Bangladesh tour had not been fulfilled after they won two out of the three formats. Their win in the one-off Twenty20 international ensured they left in good spirits, but the ODI series loss was still hurting the visitors.”We won the same amount of series as we did last year so we haven’t achieved what we set out to do,” Sammy said. “Bangladesh played really well, especially in the ODIs. We are disappointed losing the ODI series.”However, Sammy was pleased to win the Twenty20 match, West Indies’ first game as World Twenty20 champions after their back-from-the-head victory against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Marlon Samuels played a stellar hand in that game, with a superbly crafted 78, and he did a similar job in Mirpur as he held the innings together with an unbeaten 85 off 43 balls.”The way Marlon was playing that innings, it surely reminded me the game against Sri Lanka,” Sammy said. “This was our first game after the victory and we won. We won, that’s all we had to do.”We have guys who can be match-winners for us every day. It is good to see Marlon do well after two years out of international cricket. He has been brilliant for us.”Bangladesh started their pursuit of 198 in strong style, but Sammy said he was not too concerned when Tamim Iqbal cut loose in the first over which cost 17 followed by 26 from the next two.”We expected them to come hard at us. You have to go hard all the time when the run-rate is ten an over. Although they only lost one wicket, they were short by 18 runs. I wanted to win and end the year in a good note.”Sammy pinpointed Bangladesh’s achievement of keeping Chris Gayle quiet for ten innings in a row as a notable part of the tour. Gayle made 166 runs across all formats over the last four weeks, an aspect of the contests which the Bangladesh captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, called a “big achievement” for the hosts.”They managed to keep Gayle quiet throughout the series, something that not many teams have done in his career,” Sammy said. “They executed well against him. Every player goes out there to do their best. I know because I try and it doesn’t happen all the time. It is up to the individual to go back and think about his game. Chris will come back as he is a world-class player.”

Dhaka Gladiators made it two wins out of two by beating Rangpur Riders by 35 runs

The Report by Mohammad Isam19-Jan-2013
ScorecardDhaka Gladiators made it two wins out of two after another comfortable win, this time beating newcomers Rangpur Riders by 35 runs. Mohammad Ashraful played like the old, carefree approach he’s been known for with a 47-ball 73. He struck the ball sweetly to set up the win, as Riders couldn’t do enough to reach the target that had a required rate of more than 10 an over.Nasir Hossain and Niall O’Brien steadied the Riders’ innings after they lost three early wickets by the sixth over, which included the wicket of Kevin O’Brien. They added 118 runs for the fourth wicket, the first century partnership of the tournament. A confident Nasir struck half a dozen sixes and five boundaries in his 49-ball 80 which kept the small crowd entertained. He had support from Niall who didn’t contribute a boundary during the partnership, but fed him the strike regularly. He ended up with an unbeaten 40 off 35 balls with a solitary boundary.Earlier, Ashraful began his innings by playing second fiddle to Luke Wright, Dhaka’s latest arrival from the Big Bash League. Wright looked set for a big innings but mistimed left-arm spinner Amit Kumar in the fifth over. The former Bangladesh captain then dominated the second-wicket stand, worth 57 runs, with Anamul Haque as he reached a half-century off 30 balls.Shakib Al Hasan came and went after hitting a six and a four, after which Ashraful and Owais Shah added 36 runs for the fourth wicket. Ashraful, with eight fours and three sixes, dictated the Riders bowling attack that lacked the pace to unnerve him, but it was the final push from Shah and Joshua Cobb that got Gladiators to their second score of over 200 runs. The pair added 54 off just 25 balls, with excellent running and good hitting from Cobb who struck two fours and two sixes in his 17-ball 34.Riders bowled poorly, despite their local experience in the form of Tapash Baisya, Mohammad Sharif and captain Abdur Razzak, though it was Nasir Hossain’s tidy off-breaks that gave away least runs in the innings.

Harbhajan Singh has played just one Test since the end of the England tour in the middle of 2011 and made no pretensions of the fact that he’s on a comeback trail and is keen to be selected for the Test series against Australia

Siddhartha Talya at the Wankhede Stadium05-Feb-2013Harbhajan Singh has played just one Test since the end of the England tour in the middle of 2011 and made no pretensions about the fact that he’s on a comeback trail and is keen to be selected for the Test series against Australia starting later this month. The Irani Cup game against Mumbai starting on Wednesday, he said, “is the best game I’ve got” ahead of the series to make a lasting impression.”I just want to be relaxed and look to bowl rather than running after wickets,” Harbhajan told reporters on the eve of the Irani Cup game. “The wickets will come, today or tomorrow, but my aim is to bowl well. I’m sure I’ll get those rewards if I bowl well.”Harbhajan led Punjab in five Ranji Trophy games this season, picking up 16 wickets at 32.25. He has an impressive record against Australia, picking up 90 wickets at 29.35, and shot to fame against them in 2001 in a three-match series at home in which he collected 32 wickets. “I always look forward to playing cricket, whether it’s against Australia or England or Mumbai. It’s one of those things that’s there in my blood. I want to be there, play cricket, and enjoy the moment. Australia, I’ve done well against them, if I get a chance to play against them I’ll try to repeat what I’ve done against them.”At 99 Tests, Harbhajan is just one game away from becoming the 10th Indian cricketer to have played 100 or more Tests. Though he admitted it did play on his mind, his experience, he said, has taught him to not pay undue attention to such landmarks. “Somewhere it does get into your head, you’re close to 100 Test matches, even when you’re batting between 90 to 100 or when you’ve taken four wickets and looking to get five. But somehow as a player you just need to go with the game rather than thinking too much ahead. If you just concentrate on the process, things will automatically happen for you. If not today, tomorrow it will happen.”Last year onwards, I’ve been trying too many things to play my 100th Test, but when I started playing I never thought I’ll come this far. I’ve come this far because I was just looking to enjoy the game, just looking to go back into the whole system of trying to enjoy the game and playing with lot of passion, things will start happening.”

Ryan Harris conjured a sizzling final over to snatch for Queensland a domestic limited overs final that Victoria seemed to have in their keeping

Daniel Brettig27-Feb-2013
ScorecardRyan Harris delivered victory for Queensland with two wickets in the final over of the match•Getty Images

Ryan Harris conjured a sizzling final over to snatch for Queensland a domestic limited overs final that Victoria seemed to have in their keeping after a night of many fluctuations on a lively MCG surface kept fresh by rain.Needing five runs from 10 balls with three wickets in hand following a pair of sixes swung by Clint McKay, the Bushrangers lost Will Sheridan without addition but still needed only five from Harris’ final over of the match. It was a task he had been saved for while the hosts took advantage of some wayward bowling by Cameron Gannon.After a pair of singles, Harris whizzed down a lifter that McKay did well to edge and Chris Hartley better still to catch, leaping well off the ground to claim the chance. Next ball Fawad Ahmed pushed apprehensively at a delivery of immaculate line and length and Peter Forrest held another sharp chance at second slip, a cue for jubilant Bulls and disconsolate Bushrangers.Under the astute yet uncomplicated helmsmanship of the coach Darren Lehmann and the captain James Hopes, the Bulls now hold both the Sheffield Shield and limited overs titles, while the Brisbane Heat carried off the Big Bash League in January. They have shown a knack for finding something extra in tight moments.In a strong reminder that he will be a more than useful Ashes tourist should his fitness hold up, Harris made a lively start to the innings also, nipping out Aaron Finch while keeping the runs down. Along with James Hopes, Alister McDermott and Gannon, Harris ensured regular wickets always kept the Bulls in the match, until McKay’s sixes had threatened to finish it.Peter Handscomb and Cameron White came closest to establishing a match-winning stand, but the Bushrangers captain succumbed to one of several short balls that leapt threateningly across the evening – symptomatic of a contest in which no batsman passed 50.Queensland had seemed unlikely winners when the match was stopped for rain after 20.1 overs in the afternoon, a scoreline of 4 for 69 relating how their batsmen struggled on a pitch offering movement and bounce to the seamers.The delay reduced the match to 32 overs per side, and for some time after the resumption the Bulls did not look like setting any sort of total for Victoria to chase, slipping to 7 for 97 when Ahmed deceived Peter Forrest in the midst of another teasing spell of leg spin.However Jason Floros summoned his cleanest hitting to capitalise on Victorian errors of length in the closing overs, crashing the first three balls of the final over, bowled by John Hastings, for six, four and six. In all 18 came from that final over, runs that would give Harris just enough room to seal a thrilling victory.

Gautam Gambhir has said that he should be fit in time to play the first match of the Indian Premier League against Delhi Daredevils on April 3

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2013Gautam Gambhir has said that he should be fit in time to play the first match of the Indian Premier League against Delhi Daredevils on April 3. Gambhir, who was dropped from the Test squad against Australia for the first two Tests and then missed out due to a bout of jaundice, had resumed training and was keen on getting back into the groove.”I started out slowly as I hadn’t played for 10 days, and the fatigue is still there,” he said in an interview to the . “But I should be available for the first match (April 3). We have a long break after that, which should give me enough time to recuperate.”Gambir, who captained Kolkata Knight Riders to their first IPL title last year and was the second-highest run-getter in the season, said that he didn’t regret not being part of the side that beat Australia by a historic margin of 4-0. “Playing for India is my biggest motivation, but not the only one,” he said. “As a sportsperson, I want to keep performing. I hadn’t played for Delhi in a long time, so it felt great to be back. That we won the Vijay Hazare Trophy after 17-18 years made it doubly special. I just want to make runs that help my team win. I don’t want to complicate things. I want to keep my cricket and my life simple by scoring runs.”His lack of match practice going into the IPL, however, isn’t a cause for concern. KKR coach Trevor Bayliss said that Gambhir and Jacques Kallis were players who would prove their experience once the competition begins. “At the same time, we have a squad with highly effective players in the middle order, who can handle the responsibility they have been entrusted with,” Bayliss added.Bayliss also admitted there would be pressure on KKR in the tournament as they seek to defend their title. “In a way, our achievements last season do bring in a bit of extra pressure,” Bayliss said in an interview to the . “But at the end of the day, it’s a good feeling to start a competition as the defending champions. We need to carry on with the momentum we had gained last year.”England batsman Eoin Morgan, Lakshmipathy Balaji and left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla joined the team in Kolkata on Thursday.

Uncapped right-hand batsman Shamsur Rahman will replace an injured Tamim Iqbal in the Bangladesh squad for the remaining two ODIs against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2013Uncapped right-hand batsman Shamsur Rahman will replace an injured Tamim Iqbal in the Bangladesh squad for the remaining two ODIs against Sri Lanka. Tamim suffered a hairline fracture on his right thumb while fielding in the first ODI in Hambantota after scoring 112.Shamsur has scored 978 runs in 48 List-A matches at an average of 21.73 with a high score of 67. He was the third-highest run-scorer in the Bangladesh Premier League, in which he represented Rangpur Riders, with 421 runs from 12 matches at an average of 42.10 and a strike rate of 130.74, including six fifties. He is expected to join the Bangladesh side on Monday.Tamim will return to Dhaka on Monday for further examination to determine the extent of his surgery.Meanwhile, Shahadat Hossain, the replacement for Nazmul Hossain, will join the squad today and is expected to be available for the second ODI to be played in Hambantota tomorrow.

James Taylor missed the chance to further bolster his impressive England Lions record when he fell cheaply on a rain-ruined day

Andrew McGlashan at Grace Road11-May-2013
Live scorecardJames Taylor missed the chance to further bolster his impressive England Lions record when he fell cheaply on a rain-ruined day but Joe Root continued to add to his early season tally to start building a lead, while New Zealand picked up an injury worry over Tim Southee.Taylor, who came in after the nightwatchman Chris Wright had edged to slip, pushed at a delivery quite wide of off stump and feathered to the wicketkeeper to give Trent Boult his second scalp of the morning during the 22 overs of play that were possible before frequent heavy showers wiped out the rest of the dayBoult had problems with his front foot on the second day, sending down eight no-balls, but was in far better rhythm this morning after shaking off the early tour rust. He shaped the ball in nicely to the right handers, then it was the straighter deliveries that found the edges of both Wright and Taylor.His opening bowling partner, Southee, bowled five overs in the morning before being sent to see a specialist about a problem with his left foot and would not have bowled again had rain allowed further playRoot continued to look at ease, and even when he was almost beaten in the flight by a delivery from Bruce Martin he was confident enough to go through with his shot and found the deep midwicket boundary. Root now has 610 first-class runs this season at 203.33.Jonny Bairstow, who was earlier confirmed in England’s Test squad alongside Root, made a brisk start to his innings as he tried to follow his Yorkshire team-mate’s route (the pair’s careers have evolved together since they earned scholarships aged 13 and 14) and score some early points against the New Zealand bowlers before Lord’s.”I’ve got a few runs under my belt at Headingley and still not out in this game, which is pleasing,” he said. “There have been a lot of players scoring runs this season and I’m lucky enough to be picked. Hopefully I’ll do myself justice.”Martin bore the brunt of Bairstow’s attacking display but the suggestion remains that New Zealand favour a balanced attack for the Test rather than playing four quicks. Doug Bracewell has been steady here, and was denied Root’s wicket yesterday when he was dropped at slip, but has not completely convinced that he would be a better option to Neil Wagner – although if Southee’s problem is serious there could be room for both.

New Zealand’s need to regroup after their Test defeat against England before the Champions Trophy has been made doubly difficult by the possibility that they will lose Trent Boult for the tournament because of injury

David Hopps at Headingley28-May-2013New Zealand’s need to regroup after their Test defeat against England before the Champions Trophy has been made doubly difficult by the possibility that they will lose Trent Boult for the tournament because of injury.Boult has carried the fight for New Zealand with 19 wickets at 25.47 in five Tests, home and away, against England, but his side strain is not responding to treatment and he will have a scan in London on Wednesday to assess the damage.”He’s not looking great,” New Zealand’s captain, Brendon McCullum, lamented. “He is still not moving that freely which is a shame because he’s been a revelation for us this season.”Until a fateful Sunday at Lord’s, New Zealand had pressed England all the way, but their capitulation for 68 in only 22.3 overs against Stuart Broad and James Anderson was an experience from which they never recovered.”Right up until that point our self-belief was very high and that ripped our hearts out and just started to create some self-doubt among us, which is a horrible thing in this game,” McCullum said. “That’s what unfolded in this Test. We still had periods where we dominated but they didn’t last long enough and the periods of England dominating seemed to last a lot longer.”We saw in this Test match England flexing their muscles and us not being able to respond. It’s incredibly disappointing. If you look back on the last five Test matches we’ve played some good cricket and taken some strides forward but it’s fair to say this one was a step backwards.”McCullum has seen enough to favour England in the Ashes later this summer. “England are red-hot favourites at home, their ability to swing the Dukes ball is huge,” he said. “Any team that plays at home is familiar with the surroundings.”There will be no overreaction to New Zealand’s batting failures if McCullum gets his way. He insisted that he retained faith in the potential of the group that, until the past ten days, had begun to promise a brighter Test future.”If you fast forward 18 months, we’ve got the makings of a very good cricket team,” he said. “I’m a big fan of protecting the people who have performed for a period of time and that’s what we’ve seen from this group of players. We’ve got the right mix and the right balance in this group and we need to keep improving as a team and smooth out some of our rough edges.”Brendon McCullum’s early dismissal helped England push on for victory on the final day•Getty Images

He dismissed suggestions that New Zealand, six down overnight, were caught on the hop when they did not bother with morning nets before the Test resumed under sullen Leeds skies. The forecast had left Leeds on the edge of a bank of heavy rain but it only suffered light drizzle and a delayed start and a couple of interruptions were not enough to halt England’s charge to victory.McCullum, one of the not-out batsmen overnight, fell early to a superb return catch by Stuart Broad, who dismissed him in all four innings in the series. After that, Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell chose to counterattack – Southee seems to know no other way – and then Neil Wagner and Boult sought to block. As rain was a constant threat, it seemed an idiosyncratic approach towards trying to save a Test.New Zealand’s emphasis now turns to the Champions Trophy. They have eight squad changes but the first player McCullum needs to consider when it comes to reintegration is himself. Having stepped in as wicketkeeper because of an injury to BJ Watling, he now has to decide whether to continue in the role or hand over the gloves to Luke Ronchi.”I’ve always said I’d never have any regrets through my career and that doesn’t change,” he said. “Obviously I wasn’t as fluent as I would like to be, like when I was 21, and I wasn’t able to contribute with the bat as much as I wanted, but it was a decision we made and I’ll stand by it. It didn’t affect my batting, I’d love to say it was an excuse for why I didn’t get runs but I can’t claim that.”The keeping role is something we need to talk about in the next 24 hours before we start to nail down the one-day team. It’s definitely up for discussion. Luke is definitely going to play as an opener. We need to work out what’s comfortable for both of us and the team.”

Cricket Australia’s Youth Selection Panel named a 14-player squad for the Under-19 quadrangular series, which begins in India on September 23, making six changes to the squad that played in the U-19 tri-series in Darwin last month

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2013Cricket Australia’s Youth Selection Panel named a 14-player squad for the Under-19 quadrangular series, which begins in India on September 23, making six changes to the squad that played in the tri-series in Darwin last month.Right-hand batsman Jaron Morgan, left-hand batsman Kelvin Smith, legspinner Tom Andrews and pacer Ben Ashkenazi have been recalled to the side, while medium-pacer Guy Walker and fast bowler Billy Stanlake’s inclusion is subject to their fitness. Joel Logan, Josh Dunning and Jeremy Maher have been placed on standby for the series. Gabe Bell, Alex Gregory, Tom Leaver and Matthew Short, who played in the tri-series against India and New Zealand, have not been included in the squad.Pacer Cameron Valente, the leading wicket-taker at the 2013 U-19 National Championships, has been retained in the side along with Jake Doran and wicketkeeper Ben McDermott, the top run-getters for Australia in the tri-series.”This Quad Series in India is part of our preparation for next year’s ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup and to ensure that our emerging talent is exposed to international competition and conditions that challenge and build our players technically and mentally,” Greg Chappell, CA National Talent Manager, said. “A number of these players have already had a taste of international cricket against top-quality opposition. This year, our U-19s played New Zealand in New Zealand, as well as India in Darwin. Matthew Fotia also worked with Glenn McGrath at his MRF Pace Foundation academy in India.””We’ve selected a strong bowling contingent, with Cameron Valente’s clever medium pace variations and quality pace bowlers in Matthew Fotia, Ben Ashkenazi, Guy Walker and Billy Stanlake,” Chappell added. “India’s dry wickets will offer turn for our spinners Tom Andrews, and Riley Ayre, while top-order batsman Kelvin Smith can also provide support with his part-time offspin.”Australia are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka after the quadrangular seriesAustralia U-19 squad: Sean Willis, Jaron Morgan, Kelvin Smith, Damien Mortimer, Ben McDermott, Jake Doran, Matthew Kelly, Tom Andrews, Cameron Valente, Matthew Fotia, Ben Ashkenazi, Guy Walker, Billy Stanlake, Riley Ayre

In a further blow to the already delayed Dhaka Premier League, BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said he wouldn’t perturbed if it didn’t take place.

Mohammad Isam25-Jul-2013In a further blow to the already delayed Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said he wouldn’t be perturbed if it didn’t take place as the preparation of the grounds in Sylhet, Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka and Chittagong for the World Twenty20 in March 2014 was his priority.”We are trying our best to hold the Dhaka Premier League in the first week of September instead of August 29. If it happens, it happens; if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen,” Hassan said. “The World Twenty20 should get top-most priority, ahead of all domestic tournaments. The month of August is a very important one for me because the ground inspection team is coming, and all the grounds are undergoing work at the moment.”The comment comes a day after the tournament, which will primarily require the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka where the groundstaff have only just started to repair damaged parts of the outfield, was postponed for the fourth time in five months.Earlier in June, Hassan expressed anxiety over the mentions of more Bangladesh players in the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit’s report on corruption in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). He said at the time he was not confident of holding the Dhaka Premier League, because he might have to pull up players from clubs after the transfer/recruiting programme is completed. The league was subsequently delayed from July to the end of August, and now it has been shifted to September.Hassan said that the league’s delay was because of the space the BCB needed to create in the calendar to hold the BPL this year. But the fact remains that the Dhaka Premier League clubs were reluctant to compete when the national cricketers were away in Sri Lanka in March, when it was first scheduled to be held. It was two weeks after the BPL ended on February 19.”We needed to correct the slot because of the BPL,” he said. “I personally feel that the Dhaka Premier League is a very important league, and it has the biggest contribution to our cricket. It should get top priority.”We have asked for the full calendar on July 29. I am not too worried if for some reason the games don’t take place. The old thing could be interrupted to make room for the new tournament,” he said.In this case, the schedule of the National Cricket League (NCL), the first-class tournament, has become vulnerable as the Dhaka Premier League could spill over to after the New Zealand tour in October, when the NCL was supposed to be held. BCB are also planning to host the Bangladesh Cricket League, a zonal first-class tournament, and the BPL, after the New Zealand’s tour to Bangladesh.If the BCB president’s comment is anything to go by, Bangladesh’s domestic season could be compromised to prepare and host the World T20. The last time the Dhaka Premier League was not held in a season was when the Under-19 World Cup was held in Bangladesh in 2004.