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.”

Graeme Swann has urged caution ahead of England’s final Test against India, warning that the hosts will be desperate for a victory in Nagpur that would tie the series

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2012Graeme Swann has urged caution ahead of England’s final Test against India, warning that the hosts will be desperate for a victory in Nagpur that would tie the series.Back-to-back wins in Mumbai and Kolkata have put England on the verge of their first series victory in India since 1984-85 and, while Swann expects to play a prominent role alongside Monty Panesar on another spin-friendly pitch, he recognises the danger of playing a team looking to salvage their eight-year unbeaten run at home.”It is tough, but sometimes it’s a good position to be in,” Swann said of India’s situation. “If there’s only one possible result you can get, you can go all out fighting. The last Test of a series, if you know the result hangs on it, is normally a very exciting one.”India have rung the changes ahead of the final Test, which starts on Thursday as they look for a response from their under-fire squad. Batsman Yuvraj Singh and seamer Zaheer Khan have been dropped, while spinner Harbhajan Singh misses out despite playing no role in the defeat in Kolkata.”I’m sure India will come out fighting because they have to win the game,” Swann said. “Equally so, I’m sure we’ll approach the game thinking attack is our best form of defence. I think that’s what has proved crucial in the last couple of games.”Swann and a number of his England colleagues have been in a similar position before, winning the final Test in Sydney in 2011 to claim a 3-1 Ashes victory in Australia, England’s first triumph Down Under in almost a quarter of a century.”Back in Australia, we didn’t get carried away before that Sydney game,” Swann said. “We spoke of how important it was to keep our feet on the ground. That’s all we’re doing here. We’re not taking anything for granted, we don’t sit down and pat ourselves on the back and say ‘Look how well we have played the last two games’. That’s a very dangerous place to get in.”On Thursday morning we’ll assess the pitch, play accordingly and hope to win this game, because we obviously want to get home for Christmas having won this series 3-1. Whatever the pitch is we’ve got to try and win the game, that’s all we ever try and do.”

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.”