Category Uncategorized

A senior official of the Canadian Cricket Association has denied accusations that the pitch being prepared for the Intercontinental Cup tie between Canada and Bermuda at Sunnybrook, Toronto will in any way be substandard.Several individuals contacted us in recent days to voice their concerns that the grass pitch at Sunnybrook will not be adequate for a first-class match, pointing out that preparations started too late on a ground where there have been no matches played on anything other than artificial surfaces since 2001.But speaking to Dave Liverman of the canadacricket.com website, Ron Aldridge, a long time volunteer and supporter of Canadian cricket and chair of the successful ICC organising committee, explained that the situation was not as portrayed.Aldridge denied that the move to Sunnybrook was made as late as last week, insisting that the original intention to play the game at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club (TCSCC) had been scrapped because of the financial demands of the TCSCC. He said that the TCSCC had been approached in April, although a source close to the club remained adamant that no formal approach had been made until the end of July.Two other alternatives with decent grass pitches – King City and Ajax – were dismissed by the CCA as King City’s wickets were said to be in a poor condition after a harsh winter, and Ajax had had little cricket played on grass and there was thought to be insufficient time to prepare a wicket.As a result, Aldridge said that pitches had been prepared at Sunnybrook and Ross Lord (the latter as a back-up) but that he was confident that the playing surface would be ready for the game starting on August 13. He added that many of the criticisms levelled at the state of the pitch were incorrect. He also explained that there would be adequate facilities available on the ground.For the sake of Canadian cricket it has to be hoped that Aldridge is right, although this venture still appears to be a considerable gamble.Click here for the full canadacricket.com report.

Otago Cricket is resuming its off-season coaching programme for coaches this winter with the first stages starting on July 6.New Zealand Cricket’s Level One prgramme will be held at the Otago Cricket High Performance Centre at the Edgar Sports Centre on July 6, 13 and 20.The Level Two programme will be held on July 25-27, then on August 2-3, also at the HPC.Any enquiries about the courses should be made Otago Cricket’s director of coaching, Mike Hesson.

A timid batting display and another early spray-gun bowling performancecondemned Zimbabwe to another defeat at the hands of South Africa, giving the tourists a clean sweep of the three-match one-day series. This timeit was by six wickets, although it might have been much worse were it notfor two controversial umpiring decisions.Same weather, same type of pitch, same Zimbabwean team, but the Zimbabweans wentinto this match hoping it would not be the same cricket. They have playedwell below their best throughout this tour, especially in the bowlingdepartment, and only in the Bulawayo Test were able as a team to cause theSouth Africans any trouble.Two-nil down and in this ‘dead match’ of theone-day series, they had a last chance to give the tourists something toremember them by.Remarkably, Zimbabwe made no changes to their losing team when they couldwell have given some youngsters experience or gambled on the pace of HenryOlonga, bowling well in the nets, or brought in a specialist spinner on awearing pitch.South Africa did take that opportunity, bringing in BoetaDippenaar, Justin Ontong and Justin Kemp in place of Gary Kirsten, Andre Neland Makhaya Ntini.Zimbabwe won the toss for the first time and decided to bat, which couldv haveproven to be an advantage on a slow pitch that was wearing the day before.Whether they would be able to take advantage of it was another matter.Alistair Campbell went in with his third opening partner in as many matches,Hamilton Masakadza, who is still struggling in one-day cricket. He made 5before being trapped lbw by Justin Kemp, who opened the bowling with ShaunPollock.Campbell and Stuart Carlisle then became bogged down against good bowlingand superb fielding, and after 13 overs the score was only 25, with Pollockconceding just nine runs off six overs.Then the arrival of thesecond-string bowlers enabled the batsmen to score a little more freely.The fifty came up in the 20th over, and Campbell was finally beginning toopen up when Claude Henderson bowled him through the gate for 40 off 77balls in the 24th over; Zimbabwe 92 for three.Andy Flower, under pressure to score quickly, scored only 4 before he triedto hit Henderson over the top and was well caught overhead by the leapingHerschelle Gibbs at midwicket.Carlisle finally reached his fifty off 96balls, but then holed out to long-off off Ontong for 51. Zimbabwewere now a mere 118 for four in the 38th over.Dion Ebrahim and Grant Flower tried to make up for lost time, but with mixedresults and many swings and misses. Ebrahim was eventually run out for 41attempting a desperate second, with the score 172 for five in the 48th over.The fielder was Dippenaar, who had a fine day on the boundary andfinished it by catching Grant Flower off the final ball of the innings for27. The total was only 184 for six wickets.Zimbabwe’s bowling opened in a way sadly appropriate to the way they hadperformed throughout the tour: two leg-side wides by Travis Friend, followedby five more runs in the opening over, and 17 runs in his second over asDippenaar and Gibbs enjoyed themselves.By way of contrast, Gary Brent at the other end found line and length fromthe start, but Mluleki Nkala was little better than Friend at first,conceding 15 runs in his first over as the batsmen happily plunderedeverything astray. The fifty came up in the sixth over, but then Nkalasettled down and the batsmen had to work harder.Then came two controversial lbw decisions by umpire Mumtiaz Esat. Gibbsfell controversially for 39, well down the pitch, while the tall Kemp(1) was given his marching orders when struck by a rising ball above theroll of the pad, both to Nkala. Then Dippenaar (22) was also given out lbw,this time to Brent and adjudged by Graeme Evans, but the television appearedto confirm this decision as probably correct.Neil McKenzie and Justin Ontong dug in grimly, while Brent finished anexcellent ten overs on the trot with one for 22. Ontong found his fluencyfirst and hit Whittall for a huge six over the sightscreen, but on 32 hit areturn catch to Grant Flower. McKenzie passed 50 and hit 13 in the 41stover, bowled by Strang, to win the match and complete a clean sweep forSouth Africa in the series. He finished with 69 and Mark Boucher with 15.

Roger Twose, New Zealand’s transplanted Englishman, will be a little sorryto see the back of Zimbabwe after his adopted country’s 64 run win in thequarter-finals of the ICC KnockOut at the Nairobi Gymkhana Club on Monday.In four one-day innings played against Zimbabwe over the past few weeks,Twose has moved progressively through 70 not out in Harare, 64 and 63 inBulawayo to his 85 in Nairobi. It was an innings that won him theman-of-the-match award and set up New Zealand’s 265 for seven, a total whichproved just too much for Zimbabwe who were bowled out for 201 in 42.2 overs.Afterwards New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming became the second captain insidethree days to suggest that a score of around 300 might be par for thisground with its close boundaries, perfect batting strip and slick outfield.Australia’s Steve Waugh made the claim on Saturday and Fleming echoed hisviews.”We thought 260-odd might not be enough,” said Fleming. “With the size ofthe ground and the boundary, 280-300’s a score that’s going to placepressure.”Interestingly, though, Sri Lanka’s 287 for six against the West Indies hasbeen the highest total posted in six matches in the tournament and is theonly score to go above the 260s.Whatever Fleming’s concerns, though, the target set for Zimbabwe was enough.Despite a second-wicket stand of 64 between Alistair Campbell, who timed theball beautifully for his 47 before he was given out leg before to ChrisHarris – much to his evident disgust – Zimbabwe lost wickets too regularlyto mount an effective chase.New Zealand – Adam Parore, mainly – had taken 19 off Henry Olonga’s lastover of the innings, and Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak picked out two mainreasons for defeat.”I think one thing was the last over,” he said. “I think we should havecontained them to about 250 and we lost wickets consistently.”While Carlisle was there, Zimbabwe just about kept themselves in the match,but his dismissal for 67 at 168 for six put New Zealand in the box seat.Fleming, however, was still not confident of victory.”Captaining the side, I thought it was close all the way through,” he said.”It only takes a cameo of five overs of clean hitting and Heath Streak’sshown he can do it. From that point of view it was always game on until itwas over.”In a tournament that has suited batsmen, off spinner Paul Wiseman picked upthe first four wicket haul. Apart from dismissing Carlisle, he also claimedthe key wickets of the Flower brothers and ended things off when MlulekiNkala tried to hit him all the way to the coast.New Zealand’s reward is a meeting with Pakistan on Wednesday in a repeat oflast year’s World Cup semi-final. On that occasion Pakistan swept NewZealand aside, and Fleming picked Moin Khan’s team as the slickest outfit tohave gone on show so far.We shall see whether New Zealand have learned from last year’s mistakes.

Michael Hussey has admitted that Sydney Thunder were “below ground zero” when he had joined the side. Two seasons on, he departs Thunder, having been cellar dwellers in the tournament’s first four seasons, as champions. Hussey has also said that joining the club is “the best decision” he has made.”Sometimes the most challenging and hardest decisions turn out to be the best,” he said. “I’ve learnt so much about myself as a person and learnt so much about what it takes to build a winning team and it’s been a great education for me. I’m just really proud of everyone and happy for everyone that has been involved.”This is what you plan for and you hope to achieve but when you actually do it, it takes a bit of time for it to sink in. There’s been a bit of heartache along the way, but to reach the summit with these guys has been reward for a lot of hard work, not just by the player but by the backroom staff too.”Hussey walked out to bat to a guard of honour, and left the field, with the game still not won, to a standing ovation. While flattered and a touch bashful afterwards, Hussey was, as ever, keen to deflect attention from himself, and admitted his head was thoroughly in the game.”That was all really nice,” he said. “As I was walking out it wasn’t something I was expecting. So it was a nice touch. As I walked off I was more annoyed with myself for playing such a silly shot at that stage and I wanted 35 more runs. But I did think to myself I’ve got to give myself a couple of moments and soak this in because this is an amazing stadium to play at and as a player it’s a privilege and honour to play on this hallowed turf. Soak it in, then the stress started again as we had to get those 35 runs.”Without question, Hussey leaves Thunder in good shape. They have benefitted from a well-balanced, experienced list (at an average of 33y, 52d, theirs was the oldest team to play a T20 final) that has not been hit too hard by national call-ups.What would the younger players learn from playing with him. “A good work ethic,” Hussey said.”To keep calm under pressure. That it’s important to have good players, but equally important to have good characters in a successful team. That’s what we have tried to bestow on our players. To win humbly, be modest, be respectful of the game and each other.”There remains a nagging sense that Hussey is not quite done yet. He said ending now was “all part of the plan,” but is so fit and able that it feels almost wasteful to bid him farewell. “I was going to finish last year but through succession planning and building the squad further it was prudent to play one more season. It’s never been about me, it’s about building the club for sustainable success. There’s no point hanging on too long.”

Worcestershire 172 for 5 dec and 337 for 4 (Smith 98*, Moore 65) beat Yorkshire 319 and 188 for 5 (Rudolph 92*, Rashid 73*, Ali 4-40) by six wickets
ScorecardWorcestershire registered their first Championship win of the season in superb fashion. Set 336 to win in 65 overs by Yorkshire at Kidderminister, they applied a mixture of courage and good fortune in racing home by six wickets with eight overs to spare, in what was inevitably a declaration match. It was a good team performance, with Ben Smith’s top score of 98 not out sealing the victory.Yorkshire resumed their second innings on a shaky 32 for 4. The day began with a wicket, as Doug Bollinger yorked Gerard Brophy for his overnight 13. Then the balance swung back in Yorkshire’s favour, as Jacques Rudolph and Adil Rashid responded aggressively. Rudolph produced many aggressive drives through the covers, one of them bring him his fifty off 63 balls, while Rashid, not content to rest on the laurels of his first innings century, looked like a specialist batsman as he played with vigour and maturity. The bowlers began to look innocuous as the batsman scored almost at will, but they did better than they had first time round in conceding only four extras, compared to 48. Kabir Ali this time lacked the inspiration to break through.Yorkshire, as desperate for victory as Worcestershire, declared at 188 for 5 and Worcestershire were left to score 336 to win in a minimum of 65 overs; some felt this generous on a good pitch, but the home team’s batting has not inspired much confidence this season.They were given a cracking start by Phil Jaques, who hammered 44 runs off 33 balls, mixing powerful drives with boundary snicks and actually having 40 on the board, out of 49, before his partner Stephen Moore, who had little of the strike, got off the mark. He was out in the ninth over (62 for 1), but his innings was crucial. It set the spirit for the run chase and Worcestershire never lost it.Vikram Solanki found some good form with a brisk 44, while Moore played the anchor role with 65. Graeme Hick helped with 31, including three fours in an over from Darren Gough, but the man to see the side home was Smith, whose place in the side had been questioned due to his poor form. He was left stranded on 98 at the end, denied the century he deserved for an innings full of strokes all round the wicket and superb running.Worcestershire did enjoy considerable luck, scoring quite a proportion of runs through edges that all seemed to reach the boundary, but fortune favoured the brave; Yorkshire, for their part, were at times sloppy in the field. Rashid was unable to follow his batting scores with bowling success; though the attack never fell to pieces, neither did it ever look dangerous.County matches are always difficult when much time is lost to the weather, but the two captains, Solanki and Gough, deserve credit for doing the best they could to turn a lemon into lemonade, and bringing about a good finish without reducing the play at any time to a farce. For Worcestershire, although still bottom of the table, the victory will lift their spirits; for Yorkshire, the result will almost certainly extinguish their Championship hopes for this year.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

An outstanding Test got the nail-biting finish it deserved, as a match which neither side deserved to lose finally went Sri Lanka’s way by the narrowest of margins – one wicket. Mahela Jayawardene’s magnificent 123 took them to the brink of the 352-run target but South Africa fought back spectacularly after lunch only to be denied right at the end, as Sri Lanka achieved the sixth-highest successful run-chase in Test history. A series scoreline of 0-2 does scant justice to the contest that unfolded.When the players trooped off for lunch on the final day at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium, with Mahela unbeaten on 117 and Ferveez Maharoof giving him company on 24, it was easy to imagine that only the formalities remained – the target was 19 runs away with four wickets in hand, Mahela was batting with utter serenity, and with Maharoof had overcome an iffy start to post a 62-run stand. As it turned out, that one-hour passage of play after lunch was fraught with heart-stopping tension and excitement, as Sri Lanka lost three wickets and managed just 19 runs in 13.3 overs.The drama heated up as a South African side which had seemed flat before lunch suddenly appeared to have perked up, with a definite game plan in mind. The loss of Makhaya Ntini – he didn’t take the field on the fifth day due to a hamstring injury – was a huge blow, but the rest of the bowlers made up for his absence. Dale Steyn started proceedings after lunch with a ring of three close-in fielders on the leg side, while Nicky Boje kept it tight and attacked with close-in fielders. Neither batsman was given room to play his strokes, and the pressure gradually told: after just eight came off seven overs, Mahela attempted to ease the pressure, charging down the pitch to play his favourite extra-cover drive. This time, however, he only managed to edge it to Herschelle Gibbs at slip, who finally made amends for the mistake he had committed when Mahela was on 2 (341 for 7).That suddenly brought South Africa back in the contest. Chaminda Vaas was completely tied down, as seven came off the next five overs, and when he tried to break the shackles, AB de Villiers plucked an amazing left-handed catch at gully to further put the result in doubt (348 for 8). Sri Lanka were now one big hit away from their target, and the next man in, Muttiah Muralitharan, attempted to do just that. It worked partially, when a lusty blow fetched him two, but then Hall bowled one perfectly straight, Muralitharan missed, the stumps were rattled, and Sri Lanka were 350 for 9. Maharoof took a single, and amid mounting tension, Lasith Malinga finally sealed the issue, clubbing a drive down the ground for the winning run.The drama at the end took the spotlight from the man who became only the fifth player to score more than 500 runs in a two-Test series. Over the last four months, Mahela has shown that he is ready to step up one notch from an elegant and stylish batsman to one who can deliver at the crunch. At Lord’s earlier this year his 119 helped saved the game from a near-hopeless position, and while his triple-century in the first Test wasn’t under extreme conditions, it still showed his ability to bat for long periods. Today, and over the last two days in fact, the pressure on him and his side was immense: a total of more than 350 had never been chased before in the fourth innings in Sri Lanka or by Sri Lanka, and while the pitch wasn’t a minefield, it was helping the bowlers enough to suggest that the task would be a tough one.On the fourth day Mahela was all class and assurance, and today he continued in similar vein, as Sri Lanka started the day with 90 needed. Unflustered by the bowlers or the match situation, he started the day in glorious fashion, creaming a flawless cover-drive off Andrew Hall, and then following it with a perfect cut shot when Boje pitched it short. The batsmen at the other end struggled – Prasanna Jayawardene was trapped in front by an inswinging delivery, while Maharoof survived two reprieves off consecutive balls – but Mahela was hardly bothered, clipping Hall down the ground and then slashing past point for successive fours to get to 98. The century came in the next over, with an easy drive down the ground for a single. And when the new ball was taken, Mahela remained immoveable, defending solidly against Steyn – who slowed down in pace but was far more consistent with his radar – and Shaun Pollock, accurate but hardly threatening.

South Africa almost pulled off a remarkable win in the end, but they only had themselves to blame for finishing second-best. The series scoreline could easily have been 1-1 had they held the chances that came their way. Gibbs had spilled Mahela when he was on 2, and as if that wasn’t enough, there was more largesse in the field on the final day, with Maharoof being the beneficiary: Mark Boucher missed a stumping off one which spun, bounced, and beat Maharoof’s defence, while Hashim Amla made a hash of a bat-pad chance at silly point off the very next delivery. Maharoof was then on 2, and ultimately finished on an unbeaten 29. Those blemishes, though, had a huge hand to play in making this match one of the most memorable in recent Test history.

Prasanna Jayawardene lbw b Hall 30 (279 for 6)
Mahela Jayawardene c Gibbs b Boje 123 (341 for 7)
Chaminda Vaas c de Villiers b Hall 4 (348 for 8)
Muttiah Muralitharan b Hall 2 (350 for 9)

Cricket East Cape has appointed Russell Domingo as the new Mercedes Warriors coach. Russell, who has been employed by Eastern Province Cricket since 1997, was born and bred in Port Elizabeth and his selection is in line with Cricket East Cape’s philosophy of developing players, coaches and administrators from “within”.Domingo has extensive coaching experience having coached teams at various levels, including tours to Kenya and Australia with the National Academy and the South Africa A team. In 2004 he coached the national Under-19 team which at the World Cup in Bangladesh. He has over the past years worked with top local and international coaches including Bob Woolmer, Graeme Ford, Hylton Ackerman, Adrian Birrell and Kepler Wessels.For the last number of years Domingo has coached the Eastern Province B and Amateur teams and has done an outstanding job as the Head Coach of the EP Academy. He has served a long apprenticeship and given the experience gained over the years he is in an excellent position to build the Mercedes Warriors into a competitive unit.”We are delighted that Russell has been appointed,” said Raymond Uren, chairman of Cricket East Cape. “He has come through the ranks and has done an outstanding job coaching at various levels. He is a committed and driven individual with excellent inter-personal skills and we are sure he has the necessary skills to lead the Mercedes Warriors.”

Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI 364 for 7 (Langer 151, Bowden 75) v Sri Lankans
Scorecard

Justin Langer showed no ill effects from his foot injury, smashing 151 to guide the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s XI to 364 for 7 at the close of play on the first day of the tour match against the Sri Lankans at the Marrara Oval in Darwin.Langer bruised his left foot during training yesterday, but that hardly hindered his movement around the crease, as he and Rhett Bowden (75) revived the innings by piling on 181 for the third wicket. Lasith Malinga had earlier given the Sri Lankans some early success, nailing Ian Redpath and Simon Katich for ducks as the Minister’s XI slumped to 4 for 2. Malinga took two more wickets later in the day to finish with 4 for 75.Langer, who offered one chance when he had 90, was finally the sixth wicket to fall, bowled by Farveez Maharoof (274 for 6). Martin Brown and Darren Treumer then added 90 more for the seventh wicket before Brown was out for 45 just before the close.This is Sri Lanka’s only match before the Test series, which starts at Darwin next Thursday (July 1).

Scotland’s stunning start to their National League season suffered a setback today at The Grange, when Derbyshire beat them by six wickets in a rain-affected match. But it was by no means a walkover for Derbyshire, as Scotland continued to show that they can handle life with the big boys.Jon Kent led the way for Scotland with a gutsy 85 from 93 balls as Scotland reached 206 all out from 44 overs. Conditions then got worse as Derbyshire’s innings was altered to 139 from 27 overs, and despite a blazing 35 from 19 balls from Shahid Afridi, they were never comfortable chasing the runs. And when Michael Di Venuto was out for 5 and the score was 67 for 2, Scotland felt they could be in with a shout, especially in the appauling weather.However, Dominic Hewson, who had earlier taken 4 for 25, settled Derbyshire’s nerves and guided them home with five overs to spare, smashing 29 from 18 balls in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 44 runs with Chris Bassano.