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A round-up of the first day of the third round of Pentangular Cup matches

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2012Five wickets from left-arm fast bowler Saad Altaf helped Federal Areas bowl Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province out for 205 on the first day at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. An unbeaten 67 from Afaq Raheem then got Federal Areas to 130 for 1 to give them the clear advantage in the match. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chose to bat but were soon 33 for 3 after strikes from Sohail Tanvir and Iftikhar Anjum. Altaf then ripped through the middle order as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa could not string together partnerships. Yasir Shah, batting at No. 8, top scored with 49, and his 73-run partnership with Waqar Ahmed for the ninth wicket helped Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa get to 200. Federal Areas replied with an 86-run opening partnership and scored their runs at 4.06 an over to leave Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in trouble.A century from Usman Salahuddin led a strong batting performance by Punjab against Baluchistan at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Punjab reached 335 for 4 by the end of the first day with Salahuddin batting on 103 not out. The platform was laid by a 105-run opening partnership between Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed. Shehzad missed out on a half-century but Jamsehd went on to make 80 off 116 balls. Salahuddin played the anchor role, while first Jamshed and then Shoaib Malik (60 off 78 balls) played aggressively around him. Rahat Ali picked up three of the four wickets to fall but was also the most-expensive bowler, going for 109 off his 24 overs.

Sourav Ganguly has said Sachin Tendulkar needs to reconsider his decision to keep playing one-day cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2012Sourav Ganguly has said Sachin Tendulkar needs to reconsider his decision to keep playing one-day cricket. Ganguly said Tendulkar should only continue his ODI career if he thought he was capable of playing one-dayers regularly because it would not help Tendulkar or the team if he only played every eight or nine months.”Sachin has to ask himself whether he is good enough to play one-day cricket day in and day out; whether it’s helping him missing tournaments and playing a one-day series after eight-nine months,” Ganguly told news channel , “whether it’s helping him as a one-day player or if it’s helping the Indian one-day team. If Sachin can’t get an answer to these questions, he has to go.”Tendulkar is playing the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia after not having played an ODI since the World Cup final in April 2011. “It affects everyone’s form if Tendulkar keeps coming in and going out of one-day tournaments,” Ganguly said. “I said after the World Cup that Sachin needs to look at his one-day career because he has achieved everything in one-day cricket.”Ganguly’s comments come after another former India captain, Kapil Dev, said Tendulkar should have quit one-day cricket after the World Cup. Another former captain, Sunil Gavaskar, said the selectors should tell Tendulkar if they felt he did not have a future as a one-day cricketer. “Maybe if the selection committee feels that Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t have a future in the Indian one-day team, they should take him aside and speak with him,” Gavaskar said on . “They should allow him to call it a day.”Ganguly, however, said it was unrealistic to expect the Indian selectors to tell someone of Tendulkar’s stature that he needed to retire. “I don’t see any of the selectors stepping in,” Ganguly said. “They are not going to stand in front of Sachin Tendulkar and say ‘Listen little champ, you need to go’. That is never going to happen.”Gavaskar said Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors, was the right man to have a word with Tendulkar since he captained Tendulkar. “I think Srikkanth can do it. He was Tendulkar’s first captain,” Gavaskar said. “Tendulkar made his debut under him and today Srikkanth is the chairman of selectors. If his selection committee feels Sachin has no one-day future, then Srikkanth is just the right man to tell Sachin that.”Tendulkar has averaged 18.00 in five games in the CB series so far. In the same tournament, Ricky Ponting averaged 3.60 in as many games, and was dropped from the Australia side, causing him to announce retirement from ODIs.India’s form in the CB series has dipped after they won two of their first three games, and they are now bottom of the table. Ganguly said India needed a separate captain for ODIs. “The time has come for the selectors to decide three captains for three formats,” he said. “At the moment there is too much cricket, too many formats.”Ganguly also did not agree with MS Dhoni’s reasoning that Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir could not play in the same XI because they were too slow in the field. The three openers have been rotated during the CB series. “Dhoni can’t just jump and say these guys can’t field so they are being rotated,” Ganguly said. “If a guy who can field averages 15 on the tour, what sense does it make? We have to find a way to balance players and make a team.”Dhoni has backed the young India players and given them the opportunity to play as many games as possible in the CB series, keeping in mind the 2015 World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand. Ganguly, however, said Dhoni needed to stop being fixated on certain players.”Every captain will feel that this player is more talented than the other. The point is he is too stuck on someone for too long because of his mindset. [Suresh] Raina has to go but the problem with Dhoni is that he is thinking too far ahead: the 2015 World Cup.”I bet if Raina doesn’t improve his technique then he is going to struggle in the 2015 World Cup in Australia. People are going to bounce him out. Nobody is going to pitch the ball up to him. The selectors will have to look at young players who can perform.”Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Darren Sammy’s run-out with two balls to spare and the scores tied meant that neither West Indies or Australia could claim victory

The Report by Daniel Brettig20-Mar-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShane Watson and Darren Sammy shake hands – but neither was satisfied by the result•Associated PressAny lingering thoughts of a Caribbean holiday were swept decisively away from Australia by a thrilling and courageous West Indies chase to force a dramatic tie at a heaving Arnos Vale Ground. Tuesday had been declared a public holiday in St Vincent and a sold-out crowd was kept on its feet throughout as the two sides finished locked on 220 apiece on a pitch almost as lively for spin bowling as for dancing at the boundary’s edge.The West Indies needed only one run from the final three deliveries to be bowled by Brett Lee, but a mix-up between the captain Darren Sammy and the last man Kemar Roach saw both stranded at the striker’s end as Lee broke the stumps at his. However, the hosts’ fight to level the scores having been mired as deeply as 78 for 5 will provide plenty of belief for Sammy’s men, while also showing Australia’s players that they cannot afford to misstep quite so badly as they have done at times in the three matches so far.This time the fault lay with the batsmen, who squandered the best of the conditions and failed completely to cope with the crafty spin of Sunil Narine. But there was also a cautionary note for the stand-in captain Shane Watson, who spoiled an otherwise admirable bowling stint with a no-ball that reprieved Andre Russell at a critical time. Watson fumed over the episode and may need to calm himself more rapidly on future captaincy assignments, not least on this tour.Having built a sound platform to chase the 221 required at 52 for 1, the hosts lost four wickets for 26 as Xavier Doherty and Watson cut through the batting with a combination of spin, changes of pace and alert field placement. However a series of doughty contributions from Johnson Charles, Kieron Pollard, Russell and Carlton Baugh brought the West Indies to the brink, and Sammy would have taken his side home without a moment of running impulse from Roach.In front of a teeming Kingstown gathering that caused a long trail of morning traffic to the ground, the Australians had been briefly delighted to find a pitch offering more pace than had been found in either of the first two fixtures here. However, they lost their previous enthusiasm when the offspinner Narine used it, along with the sharp spin that had been on offer all week, to cause considerable torment.Smart stats

The tie is the third in West Indies-Australia ODIs and the second between the teams in a bilateral series after the tie in Guyana in 1999. Overall, it is the ninth tie that Australia have been involved in and the sixth for West Indies.

The 112-run stand between Michael Hussey and George Bailey is the first century stand of the series. It is also the ninth century stand for the fourth-wicket for Australia against West Indies and the second Hussey has been involved in.

The half-centuries scored by Bailey and Hussey are the only fifty-plus scores in the series so far. Bailey was the top scorer in the first ODI which Australia won by 64 runs.

Sunil Narine followed up his 4 for 27 in the second ODI with a three-wicket haul in the third game. He now figures twice in the top five bowling performances by West Indian spinners against Australia.

The 64-run stand between Andre Russell and Carlton Baugh is the second-highest seventh-wicket stand for West Indies against Australia in ODIs.

Only once before has Shane Watson conceded fewer runs than the 30 he conceded in the third ODI (completed ten-over spells only). However, on that occasion, he did not pick up a single wicket while he managed three in Kingstown.

George Bailey, promoted to No. 4, and Michael Hussey provided some measure of stability to the innings, from an uncertain 58 for 3, but neither batsman could quite attain command of the bowling. Hussey’s dismissal signalled another flurry of wickets, this time the giddy loss of five for six runs. Marlon Samuels and Roach both contributed with clever spells, but it was Narine’s deception of the touring batsmen that was most complete, their muddle exemplified by two run-outs in the slipstream of Narine overs.When West Indies chased, Charles and Kieran Powell enjoyed a more fruitful stand than their one-ball effort in the second ODI, and Watson had to introduce Doherty’s spin in the seventh over as he sought a wicket. Powell hammered Doherty over the wide long-on rope, but next ball the spinner took revenge by running a delivery across the opener to draw a clear stumping for Matthew Wade.Watson used a slower ball to tunnel through Samuels’ defence, and in the same over Darren Bravo was confounded by a delivery that disturbed the surface and sent his drive straight to Bailey at short cover. A similar dismissal accounted for Charles, though he could have fewer queries about how the ball had reached him off the pitch, and Doherty used another straighter variation to cramp Dwayne Bravo’s attempt to cut and coax an edge into Wade’s gloves.Pollard had seen the West Indies home on Sunday, but had a far sterner task ahead of him this time. For a while he delighted team-mates and spectators, sending one mighty swipe at Lee clean out of the ground. To rid him of this threat, Watson called on Nathan Lyon, Pollard’s sometime compatriot in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 competition.As he has done before, Lyon was not afraid to sacrifice a six in search of a wicket: Pollard cleared Doherty at long-on once, but found him when attempting to repeat the stroke two balls later. Russell maintained the fight in the company of Baugh, smiting a rival to Pollard’s earlier six when he crashed Clint McKay down the ground and beyond it.The required rate crept up gradually, aided by Watson’s thrift, and when Russell was bowled attempting an impatient heave the game appeared up. However replays showed that Watson had overstepped, and Russell’s rearguard went on. As if to frustrate Watson further, Russell was also to be bowled by the resulting free-hit.As he and Doherty had almost exhausted their overs, Watson called on McKay to probe for the clinching wickets. As the crowd clung to rum-fuelled visions of victory, he seemed to do just that: first teasing an edge out of Russell that Wade dived to claim, then prompting Baugh to send an attempted flick skyward for Daniel Christian to pouch.Not willing to give up, Narine hit out boldly to reduce the requirement, and Sammy showed the sort of composure he is beginning to make a habit of. However Roach ran on the third-last ball as though it was the last, and Australia salvaged something.Having won the toss, Watson had expected a similar surface to those previously encountered in Kingstown, but noted more evidence of dryness. In the first few overs he and David Warner timed the ball more successfully than at any stage of the first two games, and it was with the score a promising 33 for 0 that Sammy called on Narine. His first over saw the ball popping and spinning far more excitedly than the batsmen were expecting, and Watson’s response in the next over was to chase a tight single that became fatal when Russell threw the stumps down.The wicketkeeper Wade, back to No. 3 in the shuffle that had Peter Forrest dropped to make room for Lyon’s spin, struggled mightily in his brief time against Narine, also narrowly avoiding a run-out. Shuffling too far across his crease, it was no great surprise when Narine spun a delivery around Wade’s pads to bowl him for a fretful 2 from 11 balls. Narine’s analysis told a tale of bewitchment: 5-1-5-1.Bailey and Hussey were vigilant as they built a significant union, tallying 112 before they were separated by Samuels. His role in the dismissal was more technical than practical, a short ball pulled venomously by Bailey – he had just struck a compelling straight six – straight into the hands of Bravo behind square leg. Bailey cursed his exit, just at the moment when it seemed Australia had wrested the advantage, and they would prove to be prescient oaths.Michael Hussey misread Samuels’ length and turn to be stumped by a distance. Next over David Hussey was deceived completely by Roach’s perfectly pitched slower ball and bowled, and after a first-up wide Brett Lee fell to the same variation, this time dragging a shorter offering onto his stumps. The innings had lost its way; it so very nearly cost the match.

West Indies rode on cameos from Adrian Barath and Johnson Charles to reach a satisfactory position at the half-way stage

The Report by David Hopps23-Mar-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKieron Pollard scored his second ODI hundred with a brutal display of power hitting in St Lucia•Associated PressKieron Pollard at his most brutal left Australia with an insurmountable challenge at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia as West Indies took a 2-1 lead with one to play in an ODI series that is rivalling their wildest dreams. Pollard produced a memorable display of power hitting, 102 slugged from 70 balls to vanquish an Australian side that West Indies had come to regard as virtually unbeatable.After a demoralising run against Australia of 13 defeats in 14 ODIs (the other being a no-result), West Indies now have two wins and a tie from their last three games. No side had ever scored more on this ground batting second than West Indies’ 284 for 5 to beat England in 2004 and Australia had little chance to buck the trend once they had lost half their side for 112.That they got so close owed much to a considered half-century by David Hussey and a wrathful late assault by Brett Lee, who was struck on the arm by a beamer from Kemar Roach and, despite fulsome apologies, was sore enough in mind and body to take 24 from Roach’s next over, following three fours with two sixes flayed over long-on.When Lee struck Andre Russell down the ground for two successive sixes, he surpassed his highest ODI score of 57, in his 216th match – and Russell had done nothing to vex him at all. Roach finally got his man in his final over, last out, caught at long-off, with 22 balls remaining.Pollard had reached his hundred in the final over of West Indies’ innings when he slugged a short ball from Lee over midwicket for six, a shot that looked as ponderous as it was effective. It was only his second ODI hundred in 55 attempts (he had only passed 50 four times before), but his threat is growing as an ODI average rising from 19 to 26 in the last year testifies. “It’s only one of two,” Pollard said. “I’m just trying to learn my craft. Some of those sixes I didn’t middle.”Smart stats

With their 42-run win in the fourth ODI, West Indies are on the verge of winning their first ODI series against Australia (bilateral series) in 17 years. Their last series win was in 1995 at home when they won 4-1. In the 1999 series, they drew 3-3 with one tie in Guyana.

The century is Kieron Pollard’s second in ODIs after his 119 against India in December. He now has 1255 runs at an average of 26.14 with two hundreds and four fifties.

Pollard scored 102 off just 70 balls to push West Indies to 294. His strike rate of 145.71 is the highest strike rate for a 100-plus score by a West Indian batsman against Australia and the fourth-highest overall for such a score by a West Indian.

Pollard, who hit eight sixes during his knock, is now level third on the list of West Indian batsmen with the most sixes in an ODI innings. Pollard also holds the second position too with 10 sixes in Chennai against India. The eight sixes is also a record in an ODI innings against Australia.

West Indies scored 134 runs in the last 11 overs of the innings. This is the second-highest aggregate for them in the last 11-over period since 2005. The highest for them is 141 against Pakistan in Adelaide in 2005 when Brian Lara made 156.

The 19 sixes hit in the match is a record for the most number of sixes hit in a West Indies-Australia ODI.

West Indies’ score of 294 is their third-highest overall and their second-highest first-innings total against Australia. They have lost on only one occasion after scoring over 280 in their first innings.

Sunil Narine’s economy rate of 2.10 is the best for West Indies against Australia since Mervyn Dillon’s spell of 4 for 20 in ten overs in 1999 (ten-plus over spells).

Brett Lee made his highest ODI score. Lee hit five sixes during his knock and took 24 runs off Kemar Roach’s ninth over.

West Indies’ innings, stagnating for long periods, finished in a mood of revelry. They took 23 from the final over from Lee, Darren Sammy rounding things off with 31 not out in 13 balls as if he briefly imagined himself Pollard reincarnate.Shane Watson’s decision to bowl first was out of character for an Australian captain. Perhaps the excitement of the journey north to St Lucia got the better of him as Australia finally escaped the slow surfaces of St Vincent. Instead, on a surface offering more pace and bounce – disconcertingly steep bounce on occasions – they ran into Pollard’s meaty destruction. “I wouldn’t do anything differently,” said Watson. “Pollard was impressive, no doubt. It was a beautiful wicket, but if we had taken our catches it would help.”After 39 overs, West Indies were 160-5, four overs of a Powerplay had brought only 15 runs and their innings was close to stagnation. Then Watson, whose seven overs had cost only 15, conceded 17 runs from his eighth as Pollard moved into overdrive. He had a lively ally in Andre Russell during a sixth-wicket stand of 94 in 11 overs that changed the complexion of the match.Pollard had his moments of good fortune and most of them involved Peter Forrest. Like most touring cricketers, he might not have known the whereabouts of St Lucia in relation to St Vincent but his sense of direction was equally lacking when it came to the exact position of the boundary rope at deep backward square.Pollard was only 15 when a venomous, flat pull flew through Forrest’s hands as he came in a couple of yards closer than he had to. Another mishit against Lee on 24 narrowly evaded David Hussey as he sprinted back at midwicket. Much punishment later, Xavier Doherty dropped a simple chance; and Forrest might also have caught Pollard on 81, but it required several TV replays before the third umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, decided that Forrest’s catch was illegal. It was hard to tell whether Forrest’s boot had brushed the rope but in any event his decision to throw the ball back infield as his momentum carried him over the rope was a lackadaisical effort.Pollard can destroy a fielding side’s bearings. He blocks more balls than most, but when he hits, he hits so powerfully that his blocking becomes irrelevant. Even when he did not quite middle a pull against Watson, late in his innings, leaning back like a boxer on the ropes, it careered for six over long-on, an area where he got roughly half his runs.Johnson Charles’ innings was made of different stuff. He is only the second cricketer from St Lucia to represent West Indies and was playing in front of his home crowd for the first time. He was angsty, understandably so, needing 30 balls to reach double figures. He encouraged the crowd into excitement with a straight six against Clint McKay but fell for 37 soon after the mid-point, holing out at long-on to an unusual dancing catch by Lee.Adrian Barath, back in the side after a hundred for Trinidad against Guyana a week ago, provided early impetus with nine fours in all in his 41 from 31 balls. But Marlon Samuels’ contribution was excruciating and Dwayne Bravo fell first ball.Australia’s reply malfunctioned as early as the second over when David Warner, one of the few batsmen capable of matching Pollard’s slugging style, spooned a drive against Dwayne Bravo to mid-on.Watson played smoothly for a while, only to pull Darren Sammy’s loosener to mid-on. Sammy’s short ball, not often regarded as devilish, enjoyed further spoils in his next over when Charles plunged forward at third man to hold a top-edged hook from Forrest and leave for ice pack treatment on a damaged shoulder.If Sammy’s breakthroughs frustrated Australia, two wickets in an over for Russell would have irked them even more. Russell, defying a knee complaint, could barely muster a limping celebration as he first had George Bailey caught at the wicket, cutting, and then two balls later defeated Mike Hussey’s attempted pull.Edited by Alan Gardner

Kent reached 345 for 5 at the close as Yorkshire were made to work hard for their wickets on the first day of the Championship

Myles Hodgson at Headingley05-Apr-2012
ScorecardKent piled on the runs on a good batting wicket at Headingley•Getty ImagesIf Geoffrey Boycott, Yorkshire’s newly elected president, was studying the scores at Headingley on the opening day of the season during the early hours from his hotel in Colombo, he could have been forgiven for believing his beloved county had suffered a dismal start to their campaign.Tipped as one of the Division Two promotion candidates, they lost the toss and despite the ground being under snow and ice 24 hours previously, failed to claim a wicket for 37 overs. They finished the opening day with only five wickets to their name against a strong Kent line-up including six winter recruits.Even the most optimistic of Yorkshire supporters would struggle to suggest it was a good day but it was by no means disastrous and, having had little help from the conditions, they stuck to their task on a good batting wicket that reflected well on the Headingley groundstaff, given their limited preparation for the opening fixture.”I was a bit undecided about the toss with the pitch being under the covers yesterday and all the snow, so I think it was a good toss to lose,” Andrew Gale, Yorkshire’s captain, said. “There was no moisture in it really and it was a good-looking pitch – you would expect that pitch in June and July, not the first week in April.”Wayward early on, although that might be explained by early season rustiness, they fought back well after a 141-run opening stand between Scott Newman, on loan from Middlesex, and Rob Key.Inevitably, Ryan Sidebottom picked up where he left off last summer by provided the breakthrough, removing Newman’s middle stump with a yorker shortly after lunch and giving the impetus for a late Yorkshire rally just as the doom-mongers in the crowd were warming up.Key played the innings of the day, showing patience and an ability to judge quick singles until that capacity deserted him with his century only three runs away when he pushed to mid-on and lost the race with Gale’s direct throw at the non-striker’s end.Adil Rashid, who has slowed his run up to almost walking pace, had Ben Harmison caught at slip shortly before tea, but looked to have made a crucial error in dropping West Indies batsman Brendan Nash at slip after he had raced to his half-century off 47 balls.Ajmal Shahzad ensured the miss was not too costly when he induced an edge that was sharply taken by Anthony McGrath at slip and Rashid completed an encouraging comeback by winning an lbw appeal against Michael Powell in the penultimate over of the day.”It’s the first day of the season and ideally you want to have a great first day,” Gale said. “It hasn’t gone to plan but by no means is it the end of the world. I want the lads to come back, hold the heads up high and show what they can do.”I thought we stuck to our task well. Throughout the day we didn’t build enough pressure. Just as I thought we were starting to put a few maidens together we bowled one or two bad balls an over. There were too many boundaries today, but it’s not over yet. It’s a good pitch and I think we can bat as well on it.” Boycott, no doubt, would have nodded approvingly over his breakfast in Sri Lanka.Edited by Alan Gardner

Faisal Iqbal, a middle-order batsman who is set to make his third comeback to the Pakistan team when they tour Sri Lanka this summer, is eager to cement his place in the Test side once and for all this time

Umar Farooq13-May-2012Faisal Iqbal, a middle-order batsman who is set to make his third comeback to the Pakistan team when they tour Sri Lanka this summer, is eager to cement his place in the Test side once and for all this time. Meanwhile Mohammad Ayub, who is set to debut on the same tour, is wary of the ‘tight competition’ in Pakistan’s middle order.Iqbal has played 26 Tests across the past decade, the last of which was in January 2010 and, he said, it took mental discipline to keep him going. “I have been surviving only because of my mental toughness,” Iqbal told ESPNcricinfo. “In the past I have been playing mainly as a replacement player [in the national team], which is why I wasn’t able to cement a permanent place. But now I think I can make it.”This recall has been triggered by Iqbal’s steady performance in the Quaid-e-Azam 2011-12 season, where he averaged 46.87. He also scored two hundreds in the two games he played for Sind in the Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup, aggregating 263 runs at an average of 87.66 in the tournament.”The last two years have been tough but I kept my fingers crossed and was optimistic, believing that Pakistan’s doors are never shut on any active player,” Iqbal said. “I kept my fitness levels high, never experimented with my position and scored all the runs as a specialist middle-order batsman.”Being the nephew of former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad only added to the pressure on him, Iqbal said, insisting that he didn’t take any shortcuts as a result of this connection. “Being a nephew of Miandad, you [journalists] knew very well how my cricket suffered. It’s very tough to cope with such pressure.”I was a soft target for many and my selection was criticised on grounds of nepotism though my performance was a convincing one. All these things were setbacks to my career but at the same time I was getting mentally strong.”Ayub, 32, has been close to national selection for several years, having been among the top performers on the domestic circuit and having scored heavily since 2009. He was in contention even before the series against England in the UAE earlier this year.”My performance was satisfactory for the last few years but being selected for national side wasn’t in my control,” Ayub told ESPNcricinfo. “Though my call-up to the national squad is a bit late, I think the chance being offered to me is fair enough and I am happy. I have been disappointed before and was hurt too each time I was snubbed, but remained optimistic that I will be rewarded for my hard work.””The process of learning has never stopped. My cricket has matured, the key to my success is the experience I have got from playing an ample amount of first-class cricket.”Ayub understands that the Pakistan Test team is currently in good shape and he doesn’t have too much time to establish himself. “Expectations are high and the competition is tight, but have faced a similar situation for many years. You have competition at every level. I have worked very hard and I deserved this chance, and I will live up to the expectations.”

Australia will play an international match in Canberra for the first time next summer, as part of the national capital’s centenary celebrations

Brydon Coverdale08-Jun-2012Australia will play an international match in Canberra for the first time next summer, as part of the national capital’s centenary celebrations. Cricket Australia and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government have agreed that Manuka Oval will host an ODI as part of the 2012-13 Commonwealth Bank Series, although it is yet to be confirmed who Australia’s opponent will be.Sri Lanka and West Indies are scheduled to visit Australia for the one-day portion of the summer, which is expected to take place in January-February, ahead of Australia’s Test tour of India. Sri Lanka have played an ODI in Canberra already, against India in 2007-08, and it was only the second international held at Manuka Oval, which also hosted South Africa and Zimbabwe during the 1992 World Cup.Canberra could also be in line to become a venue for the 2015 World Cup, to be shared between Australia and New Zealand. Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland said a planned upgrade to the ground would hold it in good stead to become a more regular international venue in future.”This is an historic moment for cricket in the nation’s capital and a great way to help celebrate the Centenary of Canberra,” Sutherland said. “Canberra continues to play an important role in Australian cricket producing some of our best national players and hosting the annual Prime Minister’s XI match.”The ACT government’s commitment to upgrading Manuka Oval will not only help to position it to host future international and domestic cricket matches, including matches in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, but it will also help grow the game of cricket in Canberra and surrounding areas which is critical to our vision for cricket to be Australia’s favourite sport.”Apart from hosting the annual Prime Minister’s XI match and occasional tour games, Canberra has largely been off the radar of elite cricket in the past few years. The ACT fielded a side known as the Comets in Australia’s domestic one-day competition in the final three years of the 1990s, but the team did not last into the 21st century.The city has helped develop some of Australia’s current Test cricketers, though. The wicketkeeper Brad Haddin learnt his cricket in the Canberra area and played for the Comets before attracting the attention of New South Wales. The offspinner Nathan Lyon also has fond memories of Manuka Oval, where he was a groundsman while playing club cricket in Canberra, which led to him spotted by South Australia.

Isuru Udana, the left-arm fast bowler, has been picked in Sri Lanka’s 15-man squad for the five ODIs against India, which begins on July 21

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2012Isuru Udana, the left-arm fast bowler, has been picked in Sri Lanka’s 15-man squad for the five ODIs against India, which begins on July 21. Udana, 24, has played six Twenty20s for Sri Lanka, but is yet to debut in one-dayers.Batsman Chamara Kapugedera, who last played for Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup in March, has made a comeback. Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was rested for the final three ODIs against Pakistan, is also back in the squad.Sri Lanka squad for India ODIs

Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Nuwan Kulasekara, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lasith Malinga, Chamara Kapugedera, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake, Jeevan Mendis, Isuru Udana
In: Isuru Udana, Chamara Kapugedera, Rangana Herath
Out: Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Sajeewa Weerakoon

Fast bowlers Dilhara Fernando and Nuwan Pradeep, and spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon – who came in as a replacement for Herath – are the players to miss out from the squad that played against Pakistan.Udana had played five of his six Twenty20 internationals in 2009, before being recalled for the Twenty20s against Pakistan last month. In first-class cricket in the 2011-12 season, he had picked up 26 wickets at an average of 25.76 for Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club. He is currently playing a tri-series with Sri Lanka A in Harare, against Zimbabwe and South Africa.Kapugedera has been in and out of the Sri Lanka team. Last year, he played the home series against West Indies and was picked in the World Cup squad. He was then sidelined for almost a year, before making a comeback in the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia earlier this year: he was called up to the squad for three finals of the CB series, after Sri Lanka suffered several injury blows. He also played the Asia Cup that followed – he was out for a duck against India, and scored 62 in a losing cause to Bangladesh – before being left out for the limited-overs games against Pakistan. Kapugedera, too, is currently playing the tri-series in Zimbabwe.

Only 57.4 overs could be played and Northamptonshire have set themselves up nicely to pass Yorkshire’s first-innings total

Jon Culley at Northampton02-Aug-2012
ScorecardAdil Rashid, here during his only other appearance of the season, believes he is finding form again•Getty ImagesOn the face of it, this was not a helpful day in Yorkshire’s pursuit of promotion. Only 57.4 overs could be played and Northamptonshire have set themselves up nicely to pass Yorkshire’s first-innings total, thanks to an unbroken partnership of 69 between Stephen Peters and Rob Newton. But in a season during which they have spent almost as much time in the changing rooms as on the field, they are used to finding a positive nuance in an unpromising script.On this occasion, they did not have to look very far. Adil Rashid, whose prowess as a legspin bowler had waned so severely he was dropped from the Yorkshire team before these sides met at Headingley in May, has been recalled for only his second Championship match since. In what was, in effect, his first proper bowl in that time – he had just one over in a rain-wrecked contest at Colwyn Bay in June – he looked in surprisingly good order.In two spells totalling nine overs, he gave the ball a loop, found some turn, conceded only one boundary and claimed only his 10th wicket of the season with a delivery that spun and bounced and had Alex Wakely caught at second slip. If lack of confidence had been a problem to him during a difficult 12 months, it did not seem to be a handicap this time.Indeed, he confirmed afterwards that something of the old Rashid, the one that was picked to tour India with England in 2008, was beginning to resurface.”I felt good, my areas felt good, I felt I was threatening, I didn’t bowl many bad balls,” he said. “There is still a long way to go and I need to get a lot more overs under my belt to get some real rhythm but once I get a few wickets I will come back into my own again.”Rashid’s form had been on the slide since early last season, when an 11-wicket haul in the opening match against Worcestershire proved something of a false promise. By the end of the summer he had taken only 28 more in first-class games. This season, he has found no momentum at all.”It has been difficult to get that confidence back and the lack of bowling has not helped,” he said. “And when I have come back into the side I have put myself under a lot of pressure.”But they have told me to relax, to see my role as a wicket-taker, and that if it goes round the park, so be it. And that mindset helps take the pressure off me.”I can only take one match at a time but I felt as good today as I have in a while. I have been out of the side for a couple of months so I have had a long time to work on my action and on the mental side of things and now I just want to have the match practice and basically to bowl and bowl.”It is getting there slowly and hopefully I can get more overs under my belt in the next month or so. With where we are in the season it would be a good time to get back into form.”Every player, even the best players in the world, go through bad patches. I’ve been up and down and hopefully I can come back on a high.”An effective Rashid would clearly be a boon to Yorkshire in their efforts not to blow their chance of going back up at the first attempt following last summer’s relegation from Division One.If there are question marks over whether they have what it takes, they concern their bowling. Steve Patterson, their leading wicket-taker in the Championship with 29, has been asked to carry a heavy burden of responsibility and has done so pretty well but the support for him has been a little lightweight.Richard Pyrah is a solid, well-organised seamer but has no history of bowling sides out. Strike bowler Moin Ashraf and offspinner Azeem Rafiq, meanwhile, are young men with their best years ahead of them. Ryan Sidebottom will be back soon, assuming his recovery from a calf muscle injury is not set back when he plays for the second XI next week, but it would be useful and timely if Rashid could re-emerge now as a force.His first priority, along with Patterson and company, is to ensure Northamptonshire do not build a substantial advantage from the platform built by Peters and Newton. Rafiq, into the attack in the first hour, had Kyle Coetzer well caught at backward point cutting, and Pyrah found the edge to have David Sales taken at second slip by a tumbling Adam Lyth just before lunch, but the fourth-wicket pair looked well set when rain swept in at tea.

Australia’s captain William Bosisto, who was in the middle when Jimmy Peirson was Mankaded by Bangladesh’s Soumya Sarkar, said a lesson had been learned from the experience

George Binoy in Townsville19-Aug-2012Australia’s Jimmy Peirson was dismissed between the fourth and fifth deliveries of the 11th over of the chase in the World Cup quarterfinal against Bangladesh. He was ‘Mankaded’ by the bowler Soumya Sarkar: run out after backing up too far before the bowler had entered delivery stride. The Mankad, and one without at least one warning, is perhaps not in the Spirit of Cricket, which is a vast expanse of grey, but it is certainly in the rules of the game, which are more black and white.Defending 171 in a high-stakes game such as a quarter-final, Bangladesh were within their rights to punish Peirson for trying to take an advantage he shouldn’t be taking. These Under-19 cricketers are on the cusp of their careers in professional sport, where no inches are given, and Australia’s captain William Bosisto, who was in the middle when the dismissal occurred, said a lesson had been learned from the experience.”We certainly won’t be getting out like that again,” Bosisto said, after steering Australia to a five-wicket victory with his fourth unbeaten knock in as many innings. “It was obviously disappointing from our perspective but that’s within the laws of the game and I think our boys will learn a lesson from that.”Peirson had been given no warning by Sarkar before the bails were whipped off, according to Bosisto, who then spoke to the Bangladesh captain Anamul Haque to try and resolve the situation in Australia’s favour. Even after the umpires spoke to him, Anamul did not withdraw the appeal and Peirson had to go, leaving Australia on 33 for 4.Stuart Law, Australia’s coach, did not see the Mankad live, and there are no television facilities at Endeavour Park since the matches from the venue are not being broadcast. He said the lesson learned was a valuable one. “It is in the laws of cricket. If you are out of your crease and they decide to uphold the appeal, it is out,” Law said. “You don’t have to give the warning. The guys now realise that they can’t leave their crease before the ball is bowled.”In the aftermath of the Peirson dismissal, the game heated up, with the Australian supporters who’d come to watch voicing their disapproval. Travis Head joined Bosisto with Australia needing 139 and they went on to have a 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket.”To go out there, there was a bit of emotion, which is good,” Head said. “A few of the boys were getting stuck into each other. It was good, hard cricket and it was good to go out on that stage and try and prove my skills I guess. In my own head, I probably went out there and wanted to obviously do it for my team. It gave me a little bit more emotion and ticker I guess, to stay in.”Head made 44 off 49 balls, his pace of scoring reducing pressure, while Bosisto continued accumulating. He ensured the Peirson run-out did not cost Australia the match, and set up a semi-final clash against South Africa on Tuesday.