All posts by csb10.top

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, believes the five-match ODI series against Pakistan starting in Dambulla on Thursday will be the first step towards their preparations for the 2011 World Cup.”We are trying to build as strong a side as we possibly can going forward, and looking at one-and-a-half years of cricket towards the World Cup,” Sangakkara said. “The best way to build strong sides is to win matches and win series. This is going to be the first hurdle and the first step towards that goal. We hope to go out there and put up a great performance.”The batting, which has been the bane of Sri Lanka in recent ODIs, will once again be the key to their success. “We got a very good bowling set up and we’ve got to support it with good totals, or chase down targets clinically,” said Sangakkara. “We’ve got new faces in the one-day side and all of them are capable of contributing towards a victory.”We’ve done work on a bit of individual skills and a bit of technique work. What we’ve done more is really think about what role each player is going to play. Once every player knows what his role is it becomes a lot easier.”The hosts took the three-Test series 2-0 and Sangakkara pointed out that adjustments would be needed. “Test cricket and one-day international are two completely different formats of the game,” Sangakkara said. “It’s a fresh start – new combinations, new players coming into the side and a lot of regrouping to do. We had three to four good days talking about what we should be doing, practising it in the nets. But come tomorrow it’s about going out there and putting it into practice. That’s the key to all forms of the game, keeping your disciplines and playing good competitive cricket.”Sri Lanka have lost their last three bilateral home series, twice against India and once against England. Sangakkara hoped that they could get off to a winning start despite the uncertainty of the pitch in Dambulla. “Over the years it’s been a tough wicket to read,” he said. “It’s had various scores on it from low to high, the highest being 282. The key is not having a negative mindset going out there. It’s best to go out there with an open mind, assess the conditions very quickly and communicate it to the dressing room. Those few little basics that we talk about in building partnership are going to be the key.”Thilan Samaraweera and Lasith Malinga will be returning to the one-day fold in this series. Samaraweera was recalled after more than three years, thanks to his wonderful performances in Tests in the recent past, while Malinga, who was Sri Lanka’s leading bowler in the World Twenty20 in England, will be making a comeback after a knee injury.”Samaraweera is definitely in the mix,” Sangakkara said. “There are a lot of hard choices to be made. We’ve got [Thilina] Kandamby whose been among the runs. Samaraweera has had great Test form, three to four bowlers are in great nick and with Murali coming back into the side a lot of tough decisions will have to be made. The expectations on Lasith haven’t changed. He plays a unique role for us. We got to make sure we give him every opportunity to exploit his talents.”Sangakkara also said that it was a great opportunity for Upul Tharanga to prove himself as an opener and put some pressure on the others at the top. “We have [Tillakaratne] Dilshan on the sidelines,” Sangakkara said. “He’s had a great year with the bat in the opener’s berth. We are looking forward to having him back in the side when he is fit, but until then two of the openers have to really put their hands up and do the job for us. Sanath [Jayasuriya] and Upul are very capable. Hopefully, Upul can get a consistent run and show us what he can do. “

If India’s cricketers have a challenge on hand in motivating themselves for an ill-timed series of four matches in a format fighting for its existence, the selectors have a similar task in picking the personnel for those games. The selection committee meets on Wednesday to pick the team for the four ODIs in the West Indies and is faced with fatigue and injuries.Coach Gary Kirsten said he worked with a tired team in England and there is merit in that comment. Virender Sehwag is out with the shoulder injury while Zaheer Khan didn’t look like he had recovered fully from his. While the former is not available, there is every chance the selectors will not send the latter either, which should pave the way back for RP Singh, and Munaf Patel should retain his ODI place.And then there’s the Sachin Tendulkar situation. Reports suggest he wants to be rested for the tour though one selector contacted by Cricinfo said he was yet to receive any official advice on the matter. If this is the case, India will need a new opener. They could go the World Twenty20 way, where Rohit Sharma didn’t do too badly in compensating for Sehwag’s loss at the top – though what was not readily observed was that there was no one to make up for Rohit’s loss in the middle order.If Tendulkar doesn’t go, there are two batting places up for grabs, one of which should go to Ravindra Jadeja, his last Twenty20 innings notwithstanding. There is a variety of names to choose from, for various reasons: Manish Pandey (his IPL exploits), M Vijay (opener in a more conventional sense, and the third-best opener in Tests), Dinesh Karthik (can be the back-up wicketkeeper and was in good batting form in the IPL) and Virat Kohli (his form in domestic one-dayers, 534 runs at an average of 89 and strike-rate of 108.53). Although Karthik was part of the 16-member squad in New Zealand, only 15 should go to the West Indies and Karthik will have to take an absentee’s place if he is to make it.There could be a surprise or two in the selection, given that India are unlikely to risk major injuries to any other player who could be fatigued. In any case, MS Dhoni might not get a break in the absence of vice-captain Sehwag.

The biggest challenge for defending champions India at the World Twenty20 is maintaining the fitness of their players. For the moment India are sweating on the fitness of Zaheer Khan, their strike bowler, who is yet to recover completely from the injury to his bowling arm, picked mid-way into the IPL recently. Indian captain MS Dhoni said Zaheer will not be seen in the two warm-up games in the lead-up to the main event, which starts on June 5. A day later, India play their opening game against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge.”Zaheer is going to miss the warm-ups and we are hoping he will be fit for the first game,” Dhoni said during the captains’ media conference at Lord’s. In another likely setback, Virender Sehwag is recovering from a shoulder injury he picked after the IPL. Team sources revealed to Cricinfo that Sehwag, too, will miss tomorrow’s practice match against New Zealand at Lord’s.”Keeping every player fit and maintaining their fitness is going to be our challenge,” a senior member from the team management said.India arrived on Friday evening and have already had two optional net sessions. On Saturday, Harbhajan Singh was the only one missing while today, Zaheer, Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma decided to opt out.Despite the injury concerns, Dhoni is still quietly confident about India defending the crown, which they won in a fairytale fashion in 2007 after being the last to embrace the Twenty20 format. It was also Dhoni’s first captaincy stint. He has pleasant memories, no doubt, but is not getting carried away this time.Though the majority of his players were in prime form in the recently concluded IPL in South Africa, Dhoni is still wary of the dangers of complacency and injury in the fast-paced Twenty20 environment. He is also not getting bogged down by the pressure of defending the crown. “We are not thinking about the results,” he said. “We have just come into the tournament and will take on one team at a time. This will help us rather than thinking what we will look like at the end of the tournament.”India have played five games after their 2007 triumph, winning two and losing three – the last two ending in defeats to New Zealand. Dhoni is unperturbed about the twin losses though. “By the second game, we had got the hang of the local conditions and it ended in a close finish, customary in Twenty20. But now, we are fresh from IPL.”During the IPL, Gary Kirsten, the India coach, had told Cricinfo that mental fatigue could affect the Indians, a view echoed by both Sachin Tendulkar and Dilip Vengsarkar recently.But Dhoni disagreed, saying the players are now used to the itinerant lifestyle. “Personally I don’t think it hampers us too much because we are used to it. We play throughout the year. If you look at the plus point, we are the most experienced side when it comes to the Twenty20 format.”In the last three years there have been less changes in the side, so we gel well as a team. Almost each individual has played around 80 to 90 games and they come up with ideas. If you have 50 ideas you can pick and choose. We have made loads of difference but we have to keep improving.”Dhoni added that the highlight of India’s campaign in 2007 was the positive attitude which helped script the improbable after the first game was washed out. “From then on we were in a do-or-die situation. I think the aggression we showed was particularly important and we backed each other very well. Hopefully it will work for us this time also.”

ScorecardThis was not your typical one-day match. In awkward batting conditions, Yorkshire appeared to have done most of their job in restricting Surrey to 184, but then, after a good start, they totally lost their way in mid-innings. Surrey’s match-winners were Matthew Spriegel, whose fighting fifty led his team to a competitive total, and Chris Schofield, whose bowling precipitated Yorkshire’s sudden and sorry demise.Everything started right for Yorkshire in their chase, apart from the early dismissal of Andrew Gale. Rana Naved was sent in first wicket down as a pinch-hitter and did a fine job, bringing up the 50 in the 11th over with some exotic strokes, including a pull for six high over long-on off Andre Nel. The turning point came when Jacques Rudolph (14) was stumped off Schofield for 14. This brought in Michael Vaughan, who was not in touch. Not only did he scratch around for 32 balls to score 10 runs, but he also deprived Naved of the strike, causing the latter to lose his rhythm. This was to prove critical.When Vaughan flashed at a ball from Grant Elliott and was caught at the wicket, the match was in the balance. Surrey closed in, while Yorkshire responded in dismal fashion, losing their heads and their wickets en masse. Five wickets fell for five runs, including that of Naved for 49, perhaps unluckily adjudged caught at slip, but he had been all at sea against Schofield – as indeed were his team-mates. When Elliott took two wickets with successive deliveries, Yorkshire were 83 for 7 and virtually stone dead in a matter of minutes. A few balls later the local clouds decided the situation was too disgraceful to be allowed to continue, and opened up, driving the teams from the field.When play resumed Yorkshire’s equation was an impossible 82 more off 4.5 overs. Elliott, whose medium pace was ideally suited to such conditions, and Jade Dernbach polished off the innings to give Surrey a timely tonic. After they contrived to lose yesterday’s match by one run against Durham it was vital they secured their first win of the season.Light early-morning rain delayed the start for 45 minutes and the match was reduced to 47 overs per side. The light was poor for most of the match, the outfield was heavy, the pitch allowed some seam movement and run-scoring was never easy. Surrey enjoyed what was, in the context of the match, a very good opening partnership of 39 between Scott Newman and Michael Brown.Then Naved and Richard Pyrah, bowling superbly in tandem, swung the balance of the match for the first time. Naved yorked Brown and came close to having Mark Ramprakash lbw without scoring; however the veteran made only 5 before he slashed and was caught at the wicket. There ensued a tight struggle for runs, but the bowlers held sway until the score was 82 for 5. They were aided by some superb wicketkeeping from Simon Guy, who took two catches and a stumping.It was Spriegel who led the fightback, in company with the wicketkeeper, Gary Wilson, the Irish international. Both batted well, taking advantage as the most dangerous bowlers were rested from the attack, and added 67 with growing confidence. It took some fine fielding by Pyrah off his own bowling to run out Wilson (34), too eager to start for a run. Spriegel reached his fine fighting 50 off 82 balls, and in the last over Schofield swatted a full toss from Ajmal Shahzad for six over midwicket. At the time it looked as though it gave Surrey nothing more than an outside chance – in the end it proved more than enough.

Statement of the dayAside from his brief debut innings, about the only error that Graham Onions made on a memorable second day came with his first delivery, a long-hop loosener that was belted for four by Devon Smith. Twenty-four hours and five wickets later, he dropped short again with his first ball of the second innings, but this time he did so with far greater intent. Lendl Simmons stood tall and attempted to pull, but the ball was onto him far quicker than anticipated, and struck him flush on the helmet.Belated arrival of the dayThere are, in case it escaped your notice, two debutants competing in this contest. But while Onions has been the toast of the Test, his fellow newbie, Tim Bresnan, has been left to graze in the outfield and ponder his personal misfortune. He received a shocker of an lbw decision while batting on the first day, he was surplus to requirements during the first-innings rout, and his solitary over on the second evening came moments before the offer of bad light. It wasn’t until 2.15pm on the third afternoon that he was finally given a proper chance to turn his arm over, but his six-over burst made little impression.Arrested developer of the dayDevon Smith has been living on past glories for longer than most cricketers have ever managed. In a six-year career, he has managed a solitary century in 30 Tests – against England in Jamaica in March 2004 (Harmison’s Test, no less), and until his 55 at Barbados two months ago, he had not posted a half-century for three-and-a-half years. In this Test, the qualities that have enabled him to retain his place melded perfectly with the reasons why he should be evicted. After a composed 46 in the first innings, he followed up with 41 in the second. The ball that did for him was a jaffa – full, fast and zipping back late – but the failure to progress was sadly familiar.Improbable failure of the dayShivnarine Chanderpaul has rightly earned the reputation as the rock of West Indies’ batting line-up, so his twin failure in this match has been a hefty set-back to their prospects. After a first-baller in the first innings, he managed 4 from five today, as Graeme Swann once again got the better of him at a crucial juncture of the innings. It was a notable double-whammy for Chanderpaul, whose tally of four runs in a full two-innings Test match is the lowest he has ever recorded in 15 years and 120 Tests. With Kevin Pietersen also registering a golden duck, the two most notable batsmen in the contest have faced seven balls between them.Resistance of the dayIn Chanderpaul’s absence, West Indies’ rearguard was placed in the hands of his acolyte, Brendan Nash. Another nuggetty left-hander with powers of concentration far in excess of those of his team-mates, Nash produced a gem of an innings, at once obdurate, defiant and counterattacking. He made his maiden Test century when these teams last met in Trinidad, and continued in that confident vein with 81 from 139 balls.Partnership of the dayAfter a collapse of 3 for 9 in 12 balls, West Indies looked to be hurtling to a defeat as ignominious as England’s own first-Test hammering in Jamaica three months ago. But then, belatedly but encouragingly, they rediscovered the grittiness that had been their hallmark during the Caribbean campaign. The sun came out and the swing disappeared, but nevertheless, while Nash and Denesh Ramdin were adding 143 for the sixth wicket, a sheen of pride was restored to a tarnished performance.Drop of the daySeconds after Ramdin had raised the hundred stand with a fierce cut past point, he offered up the chance that could have sealed the contest before tea. It was nothing more than a limp poke back towards the bowler – the ball looped off the leading edge after stopping a fraction in the pitch – but Onions was caught unawares in his followthrough, and having reached out with his right hand, was unable to cling on. By the time Broad extracted Ramdin with an off-stump beauty, the innings defeat had been all but obliterated.

It was lunch time and New Zealand had recovered from 23 for 3, but one man was not moving from his position to the right of the sightscreen. Mark Greatbatch didn’t want to move because he was superstitious. His boys, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder, were doing well, and he didn’t want things to go awry.Greatbatch stood there through the middle session, talking to various people, but didn’t move a lot from his position. Not a wicket fell in that session. After tea, with the “boys” firmly entrenched, he finally relented, and moved. But he still couldn’t talk looking at you, it was a dream come true for Greatbatch who knew the two would play Tests for New Zealand from the time he first met them, about 13 years ago. Now they were putting together a world-record stand to rescue New Zealand, and Greatbatch was one of the most satisfied people at McLean Park.”[When I met him first] Ross was 12 years old I was playing a first-class game in Wairarapa, and this little guy – no he was a big lad – came up to me and asked if he could be the 12th man,” Greatbatch remembers. “I said, ‘You can do the scores and sometime I will give you a day.’ He came in during the drinks with the gloves and all that, and he was a good lad. Very nice and very polite and stayed all the four days with us. I took him out for some batting one night, and I saw that he was quite a strong hitter of the ball. We got him to the Central District Under-15 team, and based here he got two hundreds, one of which was a 150. He wasn’t playing much cricket in the Wairarapa so we got him to Palmerston North.”Taylor had just crossed his hundred then, there were 35 overs left in the day, and Greatbatch reckoned he could get to 250 by stumps, if he stayed there. He has known all the while the power Taylor can pack into his stroke, and the pace he scores at once he is in. In the next 15 overs he had got another 50, and wouldn’t have finished far off 250 had he carried on till stumps.Taylor’s power, his hitting technique, Greatbatch reckons, could have come from Kilikiti, the Samoan version of cricket. Kilikiti is played with a heavy rubber ball and a long three-sided bat, which makes it difficult to predict the direction of the hits. Taylor’s mother was from Samoa.There wasn’t much cricket in Wairarapa though, and Taylor had to be taken away to Palmerston North where he studied in boarding school, whose headmaster had been there from Greatbatch’s time. But his parents were not really well to do. “We had to find money for him to board at the school,” Greatbatch says. “Money for his lodging and stuff. He had the money to go to school, but other things cost money. Myself, CD and some people around here used to do raffles for him.”Ryder, too, was spotted early by Greatbatch, during a club match. “I watched him get 260-odd when he was playing second-grade club cricket,” Greatbatch says. “He was a boy playing like a man. Very skilful, but quite wild, and it is great to see him play at the highest level. This kid can be world class. You can see how at ease he is. He belongs there.”Ryder though, didn’t have parents who were as supportive as Taylor’s, who took five minutes to decide in favour of Ross going to a good school and playing cricket. The Ryder family was a troubled unit, and Jesse had to be on his own all the way. He studied in Napier Boys High School, which is not too far from McLean Park.Greatbatch’s association with Ryder wasn’t a long one, but he thought it was perhaps best for Ryder to move on. “His talent is quite good but there were other things too,” says Greatbatch. “So I told him he needed to go to some other place to sort things out. I didn’t sack him but he made the decision. That was the best things that could have done. He went to live in Wellington, and played for them.”After just six matches together at the first-class level, Ryder moved to Wellington. But they would soon be reunited at Test level. Greatbatch had foreseen that long ago. Perhaps he had seen that during one of their big partnerships at Nelson Park.”It is a lovely feeling to watch them play together,” Greatbatch said. “When I first saw them, I thought that they will both play for New Zealand. They were pretty talented though that doesn’t always get you there. You know – in different ways – they have got there.”

Western Australia 210 and 4 for 248 (Bandy 87*, Robinson 51) drew with New South Wales 8 for 526 dec
Scorecard
Points table

New South Wales’ title defence ended in the wooden spoon after David Bandy’s 87 not out guided Western Australia to safety with help from rain. The Warriors finished the season fifth after posting 4 for 248 and preventing the Blues from climbing over them on the ladder.Bandy continued on from the resistance shown by the top order in staying for almost four hours before the weather closed in with Western Australia still needing 68 to force the hosts into a second innings. Luke Pomersbach was unbeaten on 22 at stumps after Adam Voges made 27.The Warriors suffered an early setback when Wes Robinson was run out by Ben Rohrer on 51 and Luke Towers also left before lunch, crawling to 48 from 198 deliveries. It was slow going, but it was what Western Australia needed to avoid the threat of dropping to the bottom.

The ECB has decided to terminate, with immediate effect, its contracts with the Stanford group. That means it will not participate in any further Stanford Twenty20 matches in Antigua or the Stanford-sponsored international quadrangular Twenty20 events in England.But the announcement failed to appease the continuing pressure on Giles Clarke, the board’s chairman, and David Collier, the chief executive, and revelations in the Daily Telegraph that the ECB was warned to tighten its operating standards before signing the Stanford deal will hardly help them. It also revealed only Clarke and Collier had access to the details of the Stanford contract.”The ECB was shocked by the charges filed against the Stanford organisation and personnel earlier this week by the SEC,” Collier said after a meeting at Lord’s. “Within minutes of the announcement, the ECB determined to suspend any further discussions with Stanford and the board has now agreed to terminate the ECB’s agreements with Stanford.”Given the uncertainty of the financial markets and the sponsorship dispute between Digicel and the West Indies Cricket Board over the matches in Antigua in 2008, the executive committee and board, when setting the 2009 budgets, took a prudent position in creating a contingency in case the Antigua matches did not proceed,” he said. “For that reason, ECB was able to confirm immediately … there would be no impact on fee payments in 2009.”But for many the move is too little, too late. “More and more allegations are going to be made about Stanford as every day passes,” said Leicestershire chairman Neil Davidson. “The link with the ECB is always going to be there. Giles has got to fall on his sword.”

Defending champions Sinhalese SC clung on to their lead in the Premier League Tier A competition with a stunning victory, coming from behind to beat Moors SC by eight wickets at Maitland Place. The game was described by SSC coach Avishka Gunawardene as a ‘must win’ if they were to retain the championship title.SSC looked likely to concede the top position to Colombo Colts CC, who are not far behind after a four-wicket win against Bloomfield at Havelock Park. At the end of the penultimate day, SSC were in no position to win after being shot out for 126 in the first innings, trailing Moors by 275 runs. However, on a dramatic final day, SSC captured the remaining five Moors wickets for 31 runs, with offspinner Sachithra Senanayake taking 6 for 84. However, SSC’s task – a target of 307 off 71 overs – was still difficult to achieve. Their chase was not helped by a poor start: they lost their first two wickets for 25. However, captain Tharanga Paranavitana and Sri Lanka Test batsman Thilan Samaraweera came together for a massive match-winning partnership of 283 and steered their team home.”In the end, we won comfortably with nearly 15 overs to spare,” said Gunawardene, the former Sri Lanka opening batsman. “We had to score those runs in two sessions and it was not easy. But knowing the history of the SSC track, once you get settled, you have a very good chance of making runs. That is what Thilan and Tharanga did.” Both batsmen completed unbeaten centuries – Samaraweera finished on 154 and in the process completed 10,000 runs in first-class cricket, and Paranavitana ended with 123, his second hundred in successive matches. The win kept SSC seven points ahead of Colts, who still have a game to play.The architect of Colts’ two-day victory was left-arm spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon who became the first bowler this season to take 12 wickets in the match. His 12 for 70 on an under-prepared pitch (including a career best 7 for 40 in the second innings) helped rout Bloomfield for 159 and 119. However, Colts also faltered, falling for 87 in the first innings, but managed chase down a target of 192.Bathiya Perera’s century coupled with Sachith Pathirana’s all-round contribution (40 runs and 5 for 41) enabled Colombo CC to record their second win of the season. They beat Ragama CC by ten wickets at the Maitland Crescent and moved to third spot in the standings. Left-hand batsman Hemantha Wickremaratne, a former SSC cricketer now with Ragama, also completed 10,000 first-class runs during the match, and became the third batsman to reach that landmark this season after Lanka de Silva and Thilan Samaraweera.Nondescripts CC managed to avoid relegation when they picked up first-innings points against Sri Lanka Army at Panagoda. Kanchana Gunawardene and Sahan Wijeratne contributed 103 and 94 respectively to help nullify the spin threat of Seekkuge Prasanna (5 for 162). Nalaka Kaluarachchi’s century was in vain for Army fell short by 129 runs in the first innings.Jeewan Mendis’ all-round effort, 125 and six wickets in the match, ensured Tamil Union picked up first-innings points in their drawn game against Chilaw Marians at the Saravanamuttu Stadium.The search for the winner of Premier Tier B had to be put on hold after the crucial match between second-placed Panadura SC and Sebastianites, who are fighting to avoid relegation, had to be abandoned because of a poor pitch. The umpires called off the game after the pitch at the De Zoysa Stadium at Moratuwa broke up.A huge chunk of the pitch – about four and a half feet – came off at one end making it impossible to continue the match. At that stage, Sebastianites were 24 for 1 replying to Panadura’s first-innings score of 175. The tournament committee will fix another date for the match. Table leaders Saracens and Panadura are vying for the Tier B title which would earn them promotion to Tier A next season. At the bottom of Tier B, Sebastianites were fighting hard to avoid relegation to the Sara Trophy competition. They need first-innings points at least against Panadura to avoid that embarrassment.Third placed Seeduwa Raddoluwa lost a great chance to finish runner-up in the Premier Tier B competition when they were beaten by five wickets by Air Force in their final match of the season. The match, which was abandoned due to a terrorist bomb explosion on January 4, was continued at the same venue.Player of the Week – Tharanga Paranavithana
One of the inspirations behind Sinhalese SC’s bid to retain the Premier Tier A championship has been the leadership of their top-order batsman Tharanga Paranavitana. He had his first experience of leading a top club at the SSC last season when, as a result of circumstances, he was left to captain the team – the third player to do so during the season. The extra responsibility brought out the best of Paranavitana’s batting. He began in grand style, scoring 177 in the penultimate match against Bloomfield and then following it up with a career best 236 against Colombo CC – an innings which won them the title. He was the season’s leading run-scorer with 893 runs. Paranavitana, the regular captain, once again led from the front this season with back-to-back hundreds against CCC and Moors SC. “What is so unique about him is that he has a good cricket brain and a near-perfect batting technique. He may not look so elegant at the crease but he is very effective with his run-making,” Gunawardene said.