Category Uncategorized

Adaptable South Africa face Adelaide adjustment

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

South Africa struggled with the conditions at the Gabba and they will hope not to be similarly surprised at Adelaide Oval

Firdose Moonda in Adelaide19-Nov-2012One of the pillars on which South Africa’s six-year unbeaten run away from home has been built is adaptability. On the sub-continent, they took on spin with all the footwork and flair needed; in England, they had the quicks to take advantage of seamer-friendly and swinging conditions; and the last time they were in Australia, they had the batsmen to negate the home attack.This time, they would have said they have all that and more. The current squad has the potential to field a seven-man batting line-up with two in reserve, includes four frontline seam bowlers, each of whom offers something different, a legspinner and a left-arm slow bowler on the bench. The variety led bowling coach Allan Donald to claim it was the best South African attack he had ever seen but they looked a few shades off that in Brisbane.On a pitch that delivered almost none of what it promised, the much-hyped fast bowlers were reduced to nothing but workhorses. Most of the team, including batsmen Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla and vice-captain AB de Villiers, admitted South Africa expected more from the surface which drove their decision to leave out Imran Tahir and opt for a pace battalion.Quietly, Australia may have been chuckling that their opposition misread conditions, having not played a Test at the Gabba since before isolation. It was an error that proved even in an age where information is easily accessible thanks to technology, there is still great value in experience. Morne Morkel suggested as much ahead of the second match in Adelaide.”There is a lot of talk about the ground and the wicket and that sort of thing,” Morkel said. “For me, it’s important to listen to those sorts of things and to try and learn from them but also to experience those things for myself. As soon as you get caught up in different stories, you could go down the wrong avenue.”No-one in South Africa’s current touring party had ever played a Test at the Gabba before and the coach Gary Kirsten said they were scrambling to get “information from as many sources as possible” in the lead-up. The biggest hint they could have taken was England’s Ashes score in 2010-11, when they piled on 1 for 517 in the second innings, but it seemed that South Africa chose to focus on the “juice,” that Graeme Smith spoke about at the Gabba instead.They will not want to appear similarly ill-informed in Adelaide, where they also have limited first-hand knowledge to draw on. At least Jacques Kallis and Kirsten have played Test cricket at the venue, when South Africa last appeared there in 2001, and Donald took five wickets there in 1994, but neither Morkel nor Steyn have played a Test there, while Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir have not been to Australia as international cricketers before.Philander has already battled to some degree. He is wicket-less on this tour, something that a source close to the team has put down to batsmen starting to play him better by leaving him more rather than any glaring fault of his own. Tahir bowled extensively in the tour match and is expected to make a comeback into the starting XI, which will give the quicks some rest and provide another option.While the team has not been announced, a frontline spinner is expected to play, and it is likely to be Tahir ahead of Robin Peterson. “It will be great to see Imran back, he is a quality guy, quality player and also attacking,” Morkel said. “Imran has been bowling well in nets and working hard on his game.”On a track that is known to deteriorate and offer up inconsistent bounce as the match wears on, both Tahir and Morkel could come into play in the latter stages. With that only being hearsay for Morkel for now, he said he wouldn’t change much about his approach ahead of the match and would concentrate on “creating more pressure” on the Australian line-up and stick to basics like “starting well in that first 20 balls”.One of South Africa’s other goals is to ensure that no more wickets fall off no-balls. They overstepped 23 times in Brisbane and although Morkel was only responsible for two of those, both would have resulted in dismissals.”It’s about having discipline. We’ve been working on it,” Morkel said with shake of the head after being reminded of his no-ball history, most recently at Lord’s in August, when Matt Prior was given a reprieve after being caught off a Morkel no-ball. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow especially because you know the quality of the batsmen and you don’t want to give them another chance. When it happens to me, I try to get on with the job and think that if can get the batsman out once, I can do it twice.”

Hilfenhaus helps keep Bulls to 287

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Ben Hilfenhaus picked up some confidence-boosting wickets after he was axed from the Test team earlier this year, as he helped Tasmania fight back into the match against Queensland

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2011
ScorecardBen Hilfenhaus finished with 4 for 57•Getty Images

Ben Hilfenhaus picked up some confidence-boosting wickets after he was axed from the Test team earlier this year, as he helped Tasmania fight back into the match against Queensland. At tea on the first day, the Bulls were cruising at 2 for 180, but by stumps they had been dismissed for 287, with Hilfenhaus collecting 4 for 57 and Luke Butterworth taking 3 for 54.The openers Wade Townsend and Ryan Broad (57) were in control during the early part of the day, although Townsend had two lives on his way to 82. The wicketkeeper Tom Triffitt put down a simple chance off the bowling of James Faulkner, having earlier watched another of Townsend’s edges sail between himself and the first slip.However, Hilfenhaus ended the 150-run stand and got rid of both openers before tea, Broad edging to slip and Townsend tickling a catch to Triffitt from a ball that swung away and bounced sharply. After the last break, the Bulls struggled, with Hilfenhaus and Butterworth running through the middle order as the Bulls lost 5 for 3 in a four-over period.A last-wicket stand of 41 between Cameron Boyce (26 not out) and Steve Magoffin pushed the Bulls towards the 300-mark, but failing to reach that goal was a disappointing end after such a promising start. Stumps was called after the fall of the final wicket, Magoffin caught for 15 off the bowling of Jason Krejza.

USA has talent but lacks good system – Pick

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The USA has an abundance of natural talent but its development and cricketing future face several roadblocks, says ICC’s Americas Development Performance Officer Andy Pick

Peter Della Penna13-Oct-2010The USA has an abundance of natural talent but its development and cricketing future face several roadblocks, including funding, that need to be addressed more effectively by the USA Cricket Association (USACA). That’s the opinion of Andy Pick, the ICC’s Americas Development Performance Officer, who is working with the association to streamline things.”I think they have an abundance of natural talent, which is one of the things that is leading to them winning,” Pick told ESPNcricinfo in a recent interview. “If I’m brutally honest, they have at the moment little framework beneath it to continue providing and developing their best players. That is part of my role, to try to work with the US to see if we can help rectify that situation.”Pick, who worked for the ECB for 10 years prior to taking up his current position and also coached Canada at the 2007 World Cup, says that while the USA faces many logistical roadblocks to get players together to train, not much is being done by USACA to deal with them.”My concern would be when that natural talent retires and some of the older players aren’t playing – how they are going to look to replace those players? I went to the Under-19 World Cup and they’ve got some talent in their Under-19 team, a couple of 19-year-olds but also three or four under-17s who will be available for the next World Cup, and it’s disappointing in a way that nothing has been done to develop those players. USACA itself is not doing anything to help develop those players. There are no coaching courses. There are no elite player programs. It’s down to funding.”Pick is concerned that the window of opportunity for developing several of USA’s players for the next U-19 World Cup is closing. Five players who were part of the 2010 squad in New Zealand are eligible to participate in 2012: Salman Ahmad, Abhijit Joshi, Greg Sewdial, Hammad Shahid and Steven Taylor. Joshi played league cricket in England this summer while Taylor spent time training in Jamaica before joining the senior team in Italy for WCL Division 4. However, Pick feels not much else has been done to chart anyone’s progress through a programme.”I don’t doubt for a minute that they won’t put together a programme,” said Pick. “I would imagine that Don [Lockerbie, the chief of USACA] has probably got a draft programme ready to go because he will have given it some thought, because it’s reliant on funding. But you can’t afford for nothing to be happening while you’re chasing the funding. How long has it been since the World Cup, seven or eight months? The young players who starred at the World Cup, especially the Under-17s who could be stars at the next World Cup, have had no coaching. So depending on what they’re getting from home, wherever they live and whatever coaches are available to them there, invariably they could be standing still.””That’s where the USA will lose out next time because in other countries, those 17-year-olds that played in the previous World Cup will have developed and come through and be really dominant players at the next one,” said Pick. “If you don’t do anything to improve your dominant players over that two year period, that’s when you don’t make the progress. That experience in New Zealand will count for nothing unless some work is put in in the meantime.”Pick is also hoping that more of the U-19 players are able to graduate into the senior team in the near future. Opportunities need to be presented to them or else he fears there could be a drastic drop off once the current group of senior players start to exit.The victorious USA team at the World Cricket League Division 4•International Cricket Council

“If they go to the World Cup in 2015, how many of these players will be there? They need to have a timeline and look to start drafting some people in.” The perfect example, he said, was Ryan Corns, who beat Ireland’s Paul Stirling to be named Player of the Tournament at the 2009 U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Canada. While Stirling has a contract with Middlesex and is a regular in Ireland’s senior squad, Corns has never played for USA’s senior team. In September, the 20-year-old posted the highest score of anyone at USACA’s 2010 Senior Conference Tournaments with 119 off 77 balls.”Ryan was talked about to me as if he was the next great player coming through yet it worries me to see that he doesn’t make it on the trip to Bermuda and not made it [to Italy]. If he is a quality player, then he should at least be able to find his way into a 14-man squad. You’ve got to play and got to develop because you won’t always have this naturally talented bunch of players and USA, they only have to look as far as Bermuda to see what can happen if a large part of your team all come to the end of their careers at the same time.”Another major issue peculiar to the USA – and Canada – is the geographical spread, making travel difficult and expensive. “Geographically it’s huge and financially to cover that amount of area, if you want to get players together, you’ve got to fly players. It’s not like in England where they get in a car and drive for two hours and everybody gets together. So that’s difficult.”Pick met with USACA CEO Don Lockerbie and the vice-president of operations Manaf Mohamed over the summer in Toronto and says he stressed the importance of outlining and implementing plans to make sure players get the training they need. While there aren’t too many opportunities to bring a team together all at once for a training camp, he feels there are equally effective ways to do it on a regional basis.”If you’ve only got seven players in a region, but they’re all in with a chance of hopefully developing into players that will play at national level, you have to provide them with development,” said Pick. “If you don’t, then you’re just leaving them and they’re not going to develop. So instead of thinking in terms of the bigger picture, where you’ve got to get a camp of 20 players down to Florida, let’s look at it differently. Look at doing the work in the regions initially. By all means, if you can get them to Florida once a year for a camp, great. But because you can’t get everybody down there, that’s not a reason to not do anything.”Pick is hoping to set up two pilot projects in America for this winter, as part of which the ICC will help USACA run an elite player program in two separate regions, based upon which regions are able to supply the most players for the program, making it cost efficient.The junior and senior nationals next month in Florida will provide key preparation for USA’s upcoming international fixtures. USA will be participating in the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 in Hong Kong next January while an U-19 team will be selected to begin the path towards qualification – for the second successive time – for the 2012 ICC U-19 World Cup by playing at the Americas Qualifier.As USA aims to qualify for WCL Division 2 on their rise towards potential World Cup qualification, Pick is hopeful that the team can continue the success they’ve had in 2010 after winning the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 title in Bermuda as well as WCL Division 4 in Italy. However, they need to be prepared to meet the demands of the increased level of competition that they will encounter going forward.”It could be a really exciting time for US cricket. They’ve got a talented bunch of players at the moment who are getting cricket on the map,” said Pick. “As they get bigger and they get to a higher level, they will eventually come up against teams where they’ll get beat more often than they win and that’s when having a structure and a framework underneath it to support it will be critical.”

Dhoni upbeat despite Gambhir's absence

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

India are in a positive frame of mind ahead of the final Test. The uncertainty, if any, could be on one front: the absence of Gautam Gambhir, who opted to attend a family obligation

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Dec-2009India go into this game 1-0 up in the series, having secured a record innings win in the previous match in Kanpur and eyeing a leapfrog over Sri Lanka and South Africa to the No 1 spot. Yet there is one gaping hole they must contend with – the absence of Gautam Gambhir, India’s form player of the year and of this series too.MS Dhoni did not comment on Gambhir’s decision to place his sister’s wedding ahead of a crucial encounter, saying only it was an “individual’s decision”. But Dhoni knows only too well that the opener’s absence has given Sri Lanka a toehold in the game.Such has been Gambhir’s impact over the last two years that he has converted half his starts into hundreds. In the 14 games he’s played since the end of 2007 – he only played one Test that year – he has scored seven hundreds to tally 1869 runs at an average of 72. Gambhir’s figures are staggering considering the next batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, who averages 54 in 27 Tests since the start of 2007, has just one more century to his name.Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was also keen to take advantage of the situation. “The absence of a quality player like that leaves a gap, but it also means that the new guy coming in will be really hungry to make a mark. To exploit it is our responsibility.”However, Dhoni believed Gambhir’s replacement Murali Vijay, who had a solid debut last year in Nagpur against Australia, would be up for the challenge. “The last time he [Vijay] played he did well for us,” Dhoni said. “In the domestic games also he has done well so we are hoping that he gets off to a good start and gives us a good start as well.”A good beginning is crucial, as demonstrated in Kanpur, when the belligerent opening stand between Gambhir and Virender Sehwag helped India raise a 400-plus total on the first day and put Sri Lanka immediately under the pump, from which they never recovered. Luckily, despite the slow nature of the Green Park pitch, Sreesanth bowled with purpose to force the visitors into meek surrender.Even if 11 of the 17 Tests played at the Brabourne Stadium have yielded no result, the pitch this time around looks promising, with both captains describing it as lively. Dhoni was confident that if his bowlers could prosper on unhelpful pitches in Ahmedabad and Kanpur, they could definitely take advantage of the helpful Brabourne track. “The first session would be crucial, as well as the evening one (where) the fast bowlers, If they maintain the ball, would be able to swing in the last half hour.”So far in the series, India have been lucky on a few fronts: Dhoni has won the toss twice, Sehwag was dropped twice early on and made the visitors pay for their errors with a fifty on the first occasion and a breathtaking hundred in Kanpur. But India had done the hard yards to make those breaks count, and they will have to repeat it one more time in Mumbai to claim their place at the top of the Test pile.

Swepson moves to Melbourne Stars on deadline day

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Swepson moves to Stars on a three-year deal after 10 years at Heat, including being acting captain for a period last season

Alex Malcolm06-Feb-2025Melbourne Stars have signed Queensland legspinner Mitchell Swepson on a three-year deal on the final day of the BBL’s first player movement window.Swepson, 31, had been Brisbane Heat’s acting captain during the most recent BBL season when Colin Munro was injured, with permanent skipper Usman Khawaja playing just one game for the season. The legspinner played for Heat for 10 years and was a key contributor to their 2023-24 BBL title win but did not have his best season in 2024-25 taking just four wickets in nine games with an economy rate of 8.93.Swepson was not one of the 10 players contracted to Heat prior to the player movement window and Stars have pounced to sign him to a three-year deal on the final day of the window.Related

  • Marsh and David set to re-sign as BBL, WBBL contracting embargo ends

  • Melbourne Renegades sign Doggett, Jewell set to follow

  • Finch keen for BBL auction, Maxwell questions power surge

  • Beau Webster returns to Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL

  • BBL watches Hundred sales process amid 'shifting' landscape

“First of all I’d like to thank the Brisbane Heat for all the opportunities they gave me and kickstarting my T20 career,” Swepson said.”I’ll be forever grateful for all of the support they’ve given me and my family over the years.”I’m really excited to sign for the Stars and watching from afar this year, the team took some huge steps forward.”I can’t wait to head to Melbourne and the MCG next summer and get stuck in to working with Stoin [Marcus Stoinis], Peter Moores and the team.”Swepson has played T20I cricket for Australia but has not played international cricket since 2022. Stars only had one specialist spinner among their nine contracted players and were pleased to add some experience to their list.”We’ve been on the lookout for a high performing domestic spinner and Mitch will form an important part of the Stars attack over the next 3 years,” Melbourne Stars General Manager Blair Crouch said.”As well as his talent with the ball, Mitch is a very experienced T20 player in Australia, will provide valuable leadership and support to Marcus Stoinis and, at 31, is at the peak of his powers.”Stars were not able to land any other big fish in the player movement window despite trying to lure Tim David and Mitchell Marsh to the franchise. Crouch is set to depart his role in April but coach Peter Moores is set to continue despite being out of contract.Caleb Jewell will now ply his trade for Melbourne Renegades•Getty Images

Elsewhere, Melbourne Renegades confirmed the signing of Hobart Hurricanes title-winning opener Caleb Jewell on the final day of the player movement period. Jewell was contracted to Hurricanes but has been traded to Renegades on a two-year deal.Renegades were the most active club during the player movement window having already signed free agents Jason Behrendorff and Brendan Doggett.A number of high quality players remain uncontracted to BBL clubs including David, Marsh, Matthew Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne and D’Arcy Short among others. It is expected that most of those players will remain at their current clubs but will not be able to be formally re-signed until March as the BBL enters a contracting embargo period.

Ashton Turner ruled out of BBL after knee surgery

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Defending champions Perth Scorchers will need to find a new captain

Andrew McGlashan22-Dec-2023Perth Scorchers have suffered a significant blow to their BBL title defence with captain Ashton Turner ruled out for the remainder of the tournament following surgery on his knee.Turner limped off the field after bowling one delivery against Hobart Hurricanes on Wednesday, but initially the prognosis had sounded reasonably hopeful. However, he underwent surgery on Friday morning to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee and won’t feature again in this BBL campaign.Related

  • Hardie named stand-in Perth Scorchers skipper

  • Hardie looks to add bowling impact to breakout BBL batting

  • Hardie and Crawley help Scorchers chase 173 in 16.1 overs

  • Tom Curran banned for four games for intimidating umpire

“The incident saw him leave the field and take no further part in the match, with subsequent scans revealing surgery was required,” a Scorchers statement said. “An exact timeframe for Turner’s return will be determined in due course.”Turner had been managing the knee problem throughout the season and did not feature in Western Australia’s last two Sheffield Shield matches before the BBL break. It’s understood that surgery had always been on the cards but Scorchers had hoped to get him through the competition.Scorchers are now working through who will replace Turner as captain with a decision to be made before they face Melbourne Renegades at Optus Stadium on Boxing Day.

Australia wicketkeeper Josh Inglis is the official vice-captain, although other names could also come into consideration, including allrounder Aaron Hardie, who shared leadership duties against Hurricanes after Turner went off.Turner secured an IPL deal worth AU$178,000 with Lucknow Super Giants, who will be coached by Justin Langer, in the auction on Tuesday. That tournament is due to start around March 22.Scorchers, who are aiming for a hat-trick of titles, are currently second in the table with two wins from three matches. Their first game of the season against Renegades in Geelong was abandoned due to a dangerous pitch.

Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir to lead teams in Legends League

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan have been named captains of the other two teams

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2022Former India players Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan have been named captains of the franchises at Legend League Cricket (LLC). Sehwag will lead Gujarat Giants and Gambhir will take charge of India Capitals, while Pathan and Harbhajan will captain Bhilwara Kings and Manipal Tigers respectively.The upcoming edition of LLC will feature four teams contesting 16 matches across six cities. It starts on September 16 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata followed by games in Lucknow, New Delhi, Cuttack and Jodhpur.Related

  • Ganguly and Morgan to captain star-studded teams in Legends League

  • Ganguly, Muralidaran, Misbah among 53 players in Legends League

“I am excited to get back to the cricket ground again,” Sehwag said on his appointment. “I have personally always believed in playing fearless cricket and I will continue to propagate the same brand of cricket here too. We are extremely excited and eagerly waiting for the draft to pick our team.”Gambhir said: “I have always believed cricket is a team game and a captain is as good as his team. While I will be leading the India Capitals team, I will be pushing for a spirited team who are passionate and eager to go out and win as a team.”Harbhajan was quoted as saying: “Playing alongside all great players over the years, I have picked the nuances of the game which has made me a better cricketer. I love leading from the front and I hope I can do justice to the responsibility and faith shown on me.”Pathan, who played the inaugural edition earlier this year, said, “You need to enjoy what you are doing and giving 100% to that effort is all that matters. This opportunity is unique but am confident we as a team will make some heads turn.”LLC had also announced that former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly will lead India Maharajas in a curtain-raiser exhibition match against a World Giants team, led by former England captain Eoin Morgan, on September 16.In all, 53 former players have been signed by the league, including Muthiah Muralidaran, Misbah-ul-Haq, Jonty Rhodes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shane Watson, Ross Taylor and Dale Steyn.The squads for the exhibition match are as follows:India Maharajas: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Stuart Binny, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Naman Ojha (wk), Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, Reetinder Singh SodhiWorld Giants: Eoin Morgan (capt), Lendl Simmons, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Sanath Jayasuriya, Matt Prior (wk), Nathan McCullum, Jonty Rhodes, Muthiah Muralidaran, Dale Steyn, Hamilton Masakadza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Asghar Afghan, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Kevin O’Brien, Denesh Ramdin (wk)Tendulkar to lead India legends in Road Safety World Series
Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, will captain defending champions India Legends in the second edition of the Road Safety World Series (RSWS).The tournament, aimed at creating awareness on road safety, also features teams from Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, Bangladesh, England and, for the first time, New Zealand. It starts on September 10 in Kanpur, with other games set to be played in Indore, Dehradun and Raipur, where the final will be played on October 1.

Zak Crawley's old-fashioned elegance belies the ambition of youth

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

England batter’s 90 lifts Kent from 63 for 3 before Yorkshire strike back

Paul Edwards06-May-2021
Zak Crawley’s batting recalls a more leisured age. One can imagine Neville Cardus rhapsodising his finest drives as ‘noble’ and ‘patrician’ or RC Robertson-Glasgow musing whether a cricketer possessed of such natural grace should have someone on hand, a valet of some sort, to run between the wickets for him. Such impressions are both true and unfair: true because Crawley’s strokeplay invites them, and unfair because the Kent and England batter is a modern professional cricketer whose innings of 90 on the first day of this match contained as much technique as art. But, of course, it is the art that lingers in the mind…One’s other reflections are probably even less suited to our obsessively egalitarian times. For 23-year-old Crawley is an old-school batter and a typical product of Tonbridge, his old school. To mention that early cricketing education neither venerates nor excoriates privilege. It merely suggests that the certainty and poise with which he cover-drove Duanne Olivier or forced Ben Coad through the off side recalled another Old Tonbridgian, Colin Cowdrey. Crawley is plainly a very different batter from Cowdrey – he is assuredly a different shape – yet his best strokes offer spectators similar joys and one recalled Ed Smith, the former national selector, saying that until he played at Lord’s the best wicket on which he had batted was The Head at Tonbridge.Of course no school can inculcate professional discipline and nous; that is the county coaches’ job and Crawley’s mentors at Kent will no doubt have been as irritated as the batter himself when he followed a Kodak square cut off Steve Patterson with the hesitant push at his next ball that merely miscued a thick-edged catch to Joe Root, at short cover. That wicket ended his 79-run stand with Jack Leaning and it was also the prelude to the further wastefulness that spoiled what had promised to be a particularly good day for Kent after they had been asked to bat first and had been lowered to 65 to 3.Related

  • James Anderson vs Marnus Labuschagne ends in early knockout blow for the bowler

  • Gareth Berg, Ben Sanderson claim five-fors to slice through Sussex

And even if some of Crawley’s strokes recalled golden eras and good chaps, his reaction to his dismissal reveals only an ambitious young man, one who is still making his way in a hard world. “I have high standards for myself, and I’ve definitely been below those so far this year,” he said. “I feel like I played well, but I was angry when I got out. I didn’t even want a hundred. I wanted a lot more than that.”Leaning was joined by Ollie Robinson with whom he put on another 63 runs, thus taking the visitors to 206 for 4. However, having shepherded Kent’s innings to within two overs the new ball the former Yorkshire batter attempted a wild drive at a wide ball from Harry Brook. Adam Lyth duly took his third catch of the day and Leaning departed for 47, comfortably his best score in seven innings since the first match of the season against Northamptonshire. Given these travails and his pair against Yorkshire at Canterbury, his application was impressive – it had taken him 29 balls to get off the mark – and that only made the manner and timing of his dismissal all the more disappointing.Yorkshire’s bowlers were to receive a further gift when Robinson, having stroked an attractive 38 off 71 balls, clipped Coad’s new ball straight to Jordan Thompson at midwicket, and Darren Stevens’ edge behind off the same bowler in the next over meant Kent ended the day on 224 for 7. This was hardly the harrying Patterson had envisaged when he won the toss but better than he might have feared when Crawley and Leaning were batting well.The day went deceptively well for Yorkshire, whose players are developing the knack of having the best of sessions and games even when their cricket does not appear startling. Both the skipper and the highly-regarded Thompson had bowled tightly on a wicket where the ball rarely misbehaved but it was Coad whose figures of 3 for 45 look the best of the day.Patterson had been able to keep two or three slips in place throughout the sessions and they had stood with their hands in their pockets, hoping the ball would come to them while fearing it might do so at finger-breaking velocity. Three times in the morning session it did so and on each occasion the fielders made no mistake.Indeed, the signs had looked grim for Kent when Daniel Bell-Drummond edged Coad’s sixth ball of the match to Brook, and even more so when both Jordan Cox and Joe Denly nicked catches to Lyth at slip. Although Cox could have got further forward and Denly was playing too far from his body, one could have concluded that Kent had been reduced to 65 for 3 without batting very badly. Cox’s four fours of Duanne Olivier had promised more and Crawley’s gunshot straight drive off Coad in the seventh over was the shot of the morning, if not the day. And yes, it is such art that lingers in the mind.

Aryaman Birla takes 'indefinite sabbatical from cricket'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The 22-year-old MP batsman has cited ‘severe anxiety related to the sport’ as the reason for his decision

Shashank Kishore20-Dec-2019Aryaman Birla, the Madhya Pradesh batsman, has taken an “indefinite sabbatical from cricket”, citing “severe anxiety related to the sport for a while now”. Birla, 22, has been through a number of injury setbacks and hasn’t played competitive cricket since January this year. Rajasthan Royals, the IPL team he was part of for two seasons, released him in November.”I’ve felt trapped. I’ve pushed myself through all the distress so far, but now I feel the need to put my mental health and wellbeing above all else,” he wrote on Instagram. “We all have our own journeys and I want to take this time to understand myself better, open my mind to new and varied perspectives and seek purpose in my findings.”Birla, the son of the billionaire industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, left his hometown Mumbai as a 17-year old who was unsure of his immediate future as a cricketer trying to “fight for survival” in the city.Not wanting to lose time, he decided to take the plunge by enrolling for district trials in Madhya Pradesh in 2014. Prior to that, he had a three-month stint in England under former Middlesex cricketer Paul Weekes, playing for West Hampstead Cricket Club and the London Schools Cricket Association.Birla spent four years in the junior circuit in Madhya Pradesh before being handed a Ranji Trophy debut in October 2017. He has so far featured in nine first-class games, eight of which came during the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy. The highlight was his backs-to-the-wall maiden first-class century against Bengal at Eden Gardens in his third first-class game, which helped Madhya Pradesh salvage a hard-fought draw.”When I first came to MP, I was known more by my last name,” he told ESPNcricinfo last year. “I kept hearing ‘I was Birla’s son, Birla’s grandson.’ But through my performances, I changed perceptions, they started seeing me differently. That’s been my biggest achievement so far. Recently someone came and told me ‘you’re so (simple and straightforward), we didn’t even know you’re from the Birla family.’ That to me was a sign of change.”He further wrote on Instagram: “This phase has been difficult, but it has also helped me realise who my real friends and well-wishers are. I truly believe I’ll emerge from this phase even stronger than before.”

Gavaskar to BCCI: 'Why aren't Dhoni, Dhawan playing domestic cricket?'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

The former India captain said more questions will be asked of Dhoni’s World Cup spot if he doesn’t do well in Australia and New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2018Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni’s decision to skip India’s domestic tournaments has not gone down too well with Sunil Gavaskar. The former India captain has questioned the selectors for allowing this practice even as India gears up for a hectic next six months, culminating with the World Cup in May-June 2019.”We shouldn’t ask Dhawan and Dhoni ‘Why you are not playing domestic cricket?’. We should, in fact, ask the BCCI and selectors why are they allowing players to skip domestic cricket when they are not on national duty,” Gavaskar told . “If the Indian team has to do well, players have to be in prime form and for that they have to play cricket.”Dhawan isn’t part of the Test squad in Australia, and is currently in Melbourne, where he lives during the off-season. He hasn’t been part of the long-format plans since the tour of England in September and was replaced by Prithvi Shaw for the two home Tests in West Indies.Dhoni who hasn’t played long-form cricket since his Test retirement in 2014, is in the middle of an enforced break in international cricket following the ODI series against West Indies last month. Dhoni was dropped from India’s T20I squad for the series against West Indies and Australia, the first time he’s been dropped since his international debut in 2004.In all likelihood, his next assignment could be the three ODIs in Australia in January, which effectively means he wouldn’t have played any cricket over a two-month window.”He (Dhoni) didn’t play the T20Is against Australia, before that he didn’t play the West Indies Tests, and then he is not playing the Test series against Australia,” Gavaskar said. “So, he last played in October and will next play in January, which is a huge gap. But if he doesn’t do well on tours of Australia and New Zealand, then there will be more questions asked on his place in the World Cup.””As you grow older and if there is a gap in your [competitive] cricket, your reflexes will slow down. If you play any form of cricket at the domestic level, you get an opportunity to play long innings, which serves as a good practice for you.”

Game
Register
Service
Bonus