Two days ahead of Women’s World Twenty20, ICC has launched T20I players’ rankings for women in Colombo, with Lisa Sthalekar and Sarah Taylor in the lead

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2012Two days ahead of Women’s World Twenty20, the ICC has launched T20I players’ rankings for women in Colombo, with Australian allrounder Lisa Sthalekar and England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor heading the bowling and batting rankings respectively. The top spots are dominated by Australian and English players, with at least half the spots among the first 20 in both categories claimed by players of the two countries.West Indies’ Stefanie Taylor also figures in the top five rankings for batsmen. Stefanie Taylor had won the ODI Player of the Year award, and Sarah Taylor the Twenty20 Player of the Year award, in the ICC Awards on September 15.Taylor, also No. 3 in the ODI rankings, was pleased to find herself at the top. “I’m delighted to be No. 1 in the batting rankings and excited that [her team-mate] Charlotte Edwards is at No. 2. I’ll be looking to extend my form into the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.Her captain, Edwards, who won the Women’s Player of the Year award in 2008, pointed to the rising status of women’s game.”I’m pleased to know that players in the women’s game are being recognised in the T20 format with the introduction of the Reliance ICC T20I Player Rankings for women. The rankings highlight how the women’s game continues to develop across the world with more and more T20 cricket being played.”The ICC’s general manager, Campbell Jamieson, said the time was right to introduce the T20I rankings keeping in mind the “quantum and quality” of women’s T20I cricket.The Women’s World Twenty20 begins on Wednesday, with hosts Sri Lanka taking on South Africa in Galle.

Punjab batsman Mandeep Singh and Rajasthan’s Ashok Menaria made big unbeaten centuries as India A hammered New Zealand A’s bowling

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2012
ScorecardAshok Menaria was unbeaten on 164 off 169 deliveries•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Punjab batsman Mandeep Singh and Rajasthan’s Ashok Menaria made big unbeaten centuries as India A hammered New Zealand A’s bowling on the first day of the second unofficial Test in Lincoln. Mandeep and Menaria put on 294 for the fifth wicket as India A scored at nearly five an over to pile on 433 for 4 by stumps after choosing to bat.Such a dominant day didn’t look likely for the visitors early on as both openers, Abhinav Mukund and Unmukt Chand, were dismissed early. Anustup Majumdar scored a quick half-century to lift India A above 100 by lunch, but Northern Districts’ right-arm fast bowler Brent Arnel gave New Zealand A the edge as he removed both Majumdar and Suryakumar Yadav in quick succession.There was no more success for the home side after that, though, as Mandeep and Menaria made light of an attack which had four players who represented New Zealand over the past year. Mandeep, 20, brought up his fourth first-class century off 147 deliveries with a steer to third man, while Menaria, 21, was even quicker, needing only 90 balls to reach his hundred. Both batsmen remained aggressive till the end of the day, with Otago’s Sam Wells proving the most expensive of the bowlers, giving away more than a run-a-ball.

Sandeep Patil’s selection panel is set to reveal their plans for India’s revival in Test cricket when they pick the team for the first of the four Tests against England

Amol Karhadkar04-Nov-2012Sandeep Patil’s selection panel is set to reveal their plans for reviving India’s Test fortunes on Monday when they pick the team for the first of the four Tests against England, starting in Ahmedabad on November 15.Though the five new selectors met in Chennai on October 24 to pick the India A squad for last week’s tour opener in what was their first formal selection meet, this will be the first time they will announce a Test squad after taking over from Kris Srikkanth’s panel at the beginning of last month.Despite Patil’s belligerence on the field during his playing days, he is unlikely to make any drastic changes to the squad that featured in the two-Test series against New Zealand in August-September. The selectors are likely to first get their eye in before starting to play the big shots, especially if there are no fitness worries with the squad.As of now, there were minor concerns over two first-choice players. Virender Sehwag had a cut on his right index finger, which prompted him to move down to No. 6 for Delhi in their Ranji match against Uttar Pradesh, though he batted for an hour till stumps. The other worry is Zaheer Khan, who walked off mid-over in the final session of Mumbai’s match against Railways after seemingly indicating a problem with his groin.One big change from the squad for the New Zealand series is likely to be the widely expected recall of Yuvraj Singh after being on the sidelines for almost a year. He was diagnosed with a germ-cell cancer soon after he was dropped for the third Test against the West Indies in Mumbai in November last year. Since making his return to international cricket during the Twenty20 international against New Zealand and the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, Yuvraj has continued to take rapid strides towards a Test spot. His 208 for North Zone against Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy on his return to first-class cricket last month was followed up with a 59 and a five-for against England for India A at the Brabourne Stadium last week.As a result, one of the two reserve batsmen during the New Zealand Test series – Ajinkya Rahane and S Badrinath – is set to make way for Yuvraj from the squad that featured against New Zealand. With Rahane making a statement with a second-innings fifty against England and a big hundred against Railways in the Ranji opener, it could be the unlucky Badrinath who is excluded from the squad yet again.The other change will be in the spin department. Piyush Chawla, the Uttar Pradesh legspinner who was surprisingly brought in as the reserve spinner against New Zealand, is yet to recover from a thumb injury. As a result, don’t be surprised if Harbhajan Singh, who was recalled for the T20s against Kiwis without having done anything remarkable during his year-long hiatus from the national team, returns to the Test squad. Despite Harbhajan having gone wicketless in his 21 overs for Punjab against Hyderabad in Mohali, the selectors don’t have many options to look at as the third spinner, especially as Amit Mishra is far from his best at the start of the domestic season.

Stuart Law is expected to take over as Australia’s batting coach for the remainder of the series against South Africa if Justin Langer is confirmed as Western Australia’s new coach

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2012Stuart Law is expected to take over as Australia’s batting coach for the remainder of the series against South Africa if Justin Langer is confirmed as Western Australia’s new coach. Langer is likely to be put in charge of the Warriors after the end of the Brisbane Test, and Australia’s management has already sounded out Law, an assistant coach at the Centre of Excellence, about filling the post for the Adelaide and Perth Tests.Law was working with the Australians in the nets ahead of the Gabba Test and he could be the front-runner for the full-time role if Langer departs. Prior to joining the Centre of Excellence, Law served as the coach of Bangladesh and was Sri Lanka’s interim coach after the 2011 World Cup, having first joined them as an assistant in 2009.”I’ve had word from both Pat Howard [Cricket Australia’s team performance manager], and the Australian team management that providing that Justin takes the West Australian job they would like me to be around the group for the summer for the preparation stages of each Test match,” Law told the .”To be the national team batting coach would be a huge honour. I’m actually flattered that I’m even thought about in this position. I’m relatively new to coaching, I’ve been coaching international cricket for three years, but I’ve got a lot of knowledge. I’ve played a lot of cricket in all sorts of conditions against all sorts of opponents. There is no better environment than coaching around the likes of the Pontings, Clarkes and the Husseys and Warners of the world.”Although Langer has not officially taken the job as Western Australia’s coach, he is expected join the Warriors after completing his national team duties in Brisbane. The state’s mentor, Lachlan Stevens, quit last week, soon after the captain Marcus North also announced his resignation.

Piyush Chawla believes the Indian batting hasn’t failed, the bowling unit has been doing well, and that there is no need to panic.

Sidharth Monga14-Dec-2012Piyush Chawla believes the Indian batting hasn’t failed, the bowling unit has been doing well, and that there is no need to panic. Replying to England’s 330 on a tacky surface, India – 2-1 down coming into the decider – were 87 for 4 with prospects of batting last on the pitch that can start breaking up any time.”We have lost a few wickets, but we have two quality batsmen [Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni] at the crease,” said Chawla. “They are having a good partnership, they are seeing the ball really well, and hope for the best because the way these guys are middling it, we will like to have a good session in the morning.”Asked if the batting failures have affected the bowling unit’s morale adversely, Chawla said: “There are phases. It’s not as if they have flopped a lot. We’re still we are scoring 300-350 every match. I don’t think it has affected the bowlers much. We are doing well as a bowling unit.”Chawla said it was just one partnership – between Joe Root and Matt Prior – that thwarted them otherwise they restricted England well. England began the day at 199 for 5, and Chawla said they would have been happy if they had bowled India out for under 300. “We thought if we get one wicket at the start, we can stop them around under 300, but Prior and Joe Root batted really well,” he said. “Once we broke that partnership, we recovered well.”Asked about how disappointing conceding lower-order runs were – England having been 139 for 5 at one stage – Chawla said, “As I said before, they got one big partnership, but after that we restricted them well.”Chawla, who took 4 for 69, made a surprising comeback to the Test side in a season that he has averaged 54.30 with the ball. His first-class averages over the previous two seasons have been 40.61 and 41.04. He said the stats were bad because he has bowled on seaming tracks, and he hasn’t been getting long spells.Chawla was asked – citing Cheteshwar Pujara’s disappointment at being given out caught off the elbow and pad – if it was high time that India agreed to using DRS. “Replays suggested that it was not out, but it is part and parcel of the game,” Chawla said. “At the end of the day, umpires are also human, so you can’t really say.”

With the retirement of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, Australia could be in need of a seasoned specialist batsman, and David Hussey, at 35, could fit that role

Brydon Coverdale31-Dec-2012Just as Mark Waugh’s Test debut came at the expense of his brother Steve, David Hussey is now dreaming of a possible baggy green call-up, thanks to the retirement of his brother Michael. The chances might be slim, given that he is 35 and has struggled for Sheffield Shield form this summer, but Hussey knows that the gaping hole left by the departures of his brother and Ricky Ponting could send Australia’s selectors in search of a veteran.Usman Khawaja is the most likely man to be given a chance at No.6 for the upcoming tours of India and England, but the coach Mickey Arthur has conceded that the unexpected departure of Hussey could force a rethink in the way the selectors approach their task. Without naming names, Arthur has raised the possibility of looking to an older, wiser head with Australia facing such a busy year of Test cricket.”When you have Ponting, Hussey and Clarke, it was all about injecting some youth into our side,” Arthur told the . “The ground rules have changed now because we’ve lost a massive amount of experience. That’s why we need to sit down and chat. Is it another experienced player, or are we happy to go with a young gun? There’s a lot of guys who come under consideration now.”With Test matches in India and England, we’ve got to sit down [and ask], ‘Do we want to have a look at a guy who is a proven run-scorer, who has the right stats both in Australia and outside of Australia and can get hundreds’?”If the selectors do go for experience abroad and a proven century-maker, David Hussey would be a leading candidate, while another option would be bringing the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin back as a specialist batsman. Chris Rogers falls into the same category, but as a specialist opener, he would be the fifth such man in the Australian line-up, alongside Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson.Hussey has 12,459 first-class runs to his name at an average of 53.70 and he has plenty of experience in England, having piled up runs for Nottinghamshire over the years. The first Ashes Test is scheduled for Trent Bridge, the Nottinghamshire home ground, and a venue where Hussey has made 3353 first-class runs at 76.20, including a remarkable 15 centuries.Statistically, Hussey has done enough over his career to warrant selection. He has made centuries in 15.89% of his first-class innings, a higher percentage than any of his rivals for the Test position, and higher even than Michael Clarke, whose figure is 14.23%. By comparison, Khawaja scores a ton 10.6% of the time, Alex Doolan 7.93%, Rob Quiney 7.5%, George Bailey 9.03%, Rogers 13.93% and Haddin 6.14%.However, his form this summer has been disappointing: in seven first-class innings this summer he is yet to pass fifty. If he was to debut at 35, he would also be the oldest specialist batsman to make his Test debut for Australia since Ken Eastwood, who played one Test in 1971 at the age of 35. Hussey said he hoped his age would not be held against him.”I desperately want to play Test cricket and I haven’t had the opportunity,” Hussey said. “I think Michael Clarke always says that age is no barrier. If you’re making runs at 17 or making runs at 45, you’re still going to be in the frame for selection. My advantage is I’ve played for a long time, I know my game pretty well, I’ve made a lot of first-class runs. Allegedly I’m a very good player of spin, so I’d love to prove myself against the Indians.”Hussey’s best chance to impress the selectors with current form and remind them of his credentials will come in the second half of the Sheffield Shield season, which begins in late January, after the completion of the Big Bash League.

Dhaka Gladiators returned on top of the points table after posting their seventh win in the competition

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur09-Feb-2013
ScorecardDhaka Gladiators returned on top of the points table after posting their seventh win in the competition. They crushed Barisal Burners by eight wickets and with 44 balls to spare as the Burners’ hopes of a final four finish took a beating.Shakib Al Hasan’s half-century hastened the victory and ended the night game early. Shakib struck 54 off 31 balls with seven boundaries and a six, and was helped on the way by Tillakaratne Dilshan who made an unbeaten 49 off 39 balls. The pair came together after Mohammad Ashraful fell to a pull shot off Azhar Mahmood in the second over of the small chase, and added 92 runs for the second wicket.Shakib was particularly attacking and played some splendid shots off the four-pronged seam attack of the Burners. Afghanistan fast bowler Hamid Hassan’s debut match at the BPL ended without a wicket as he went for 28 off his four overs.But batting seemed more difficult when the Burners batted first after they were stifled to 114 for 9 in 20 overs. Mahmood made 30 off 33 balls but found no support as Brad Hodge fell for 12 and Sabbir Rahman, the other in-form batsman in the Burners line-up, made only 18 off 14 balls.Mashrafe Mortaza, Alfonso Thomas, Shakib Al Hasan and Chris Liddle took two wickets each.

Ryan McLaren has much to do if he is to secure a place in the South African team for the Champions Trophy

Firdose Moonda08-Mar-2013Barring a few minor tweaks, the squad Gary Kirsten has for the current series against Pakistan is the one that will represent South Africa in the Champions Trophy in June. As a result, almost everyone in that unit knows they are not playing for their place but to enhance their skills and accumulate match practice. Almost.Ryan McLaren is one of those who is not.As the current first-choice allrounder, McLaren is likely to compete with Jacques Kallis for a spot in a major tournament XI and it does not take a rocket scientist to know who will win that battle. It puts McLaren in a tricky position because, although it may not be as harsh as him clinging on by his fingernails, it could get there.Kallis does not play bilateral one-day series anymore as part of his management programme. Kirsten said after 18 years of service that is a more than acceptable concession. But Kallis wants an ICC medal as much as the next South African cricketer, so management remain “in negotiation” with him for the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.Whether he will be at either of those events will depend on his fitness after the IPL and his own willingness. If he makes himself available and his body agrees, Kallis will definitely be part of the squad. McLaren will not be discarded completely but he may be an understudy. He remains the ODI all-rounder and all indications are that he will be given a fair run.Like Robin Peterson did when he was offered an extended rope, McLaren will have to do something with that to keep ahead of the likes of Chris Morris, who is emerging as another option at bay. Currently, one of the only things to choose between them is experience and McLaren’s is more valuable in time than numbers.His international record reads like that of a bit-part all-rounder. Ideally, he would like his batting and bowling statistics swapped around. In 16 matches over the last four years, McLaren averages 10.66 with willow and 32.52 with leather. His most memorable performance was probably only one moment long – the one in which he hit James Franklin for six off the last ball to win the third ODI against New Zealand in January in a series that South Africa had already lost.Domestically, McLaren has enjoyed far greater success. In 132 List A matches, he has scored eight half-centuries and averages 32.57. He has taken 157 wickets at 27.56 and is known for his dependability above everything.Noble a quality as that is, it is also forgettable because it is overshadowed by exciting talents who produce dramatic performances. McLaren knows that he has to come with a few of those in this series. “We know that when we go to the Champions Trophy, we will try and take the strongest squad available so there are a few guys in this team that want to try and cement a place in the side and put their hand up to make sure they go along,” he said, distancing himself from the obviousness of who those players are.Batting at No.7 and bowling behind the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Kyle Abbott may not give McLaren much opportunity but there will be a role for him to play. South Africa’s middle order is notoriously soft and often leaves it to the end for something to happen. A quickfire 15 or 20 runs are not immediately classed as valuable but when they prove the difference between two sides, they are exactly that.To that end, McLaren has been preparing for ways to break free with the bat, especially against the Pakistan attack. “Their strength is in their spinners and our preparation has been specifically focused on how we are going to play their spinners,” he said.In the bowling department, South Africa have lacked at the death but also appear to freeze when confronted with a batsman who has had the confidence to take control. Martin Guptill in the festive Twenty20 against New Zealand and Kane Williamson in the ODI series which followed are classic examples, as is Mohammad Hafeez’s 86 in the Centurion T20.For much of Hafeez’s innings it looked as though the better he got, the more South Africa’s bowlers allowed themselves to shrink away. No-one could come up with the breakthrough and it took a bizarre of hit wicket to end his knock. Guptill and Williamson were both unbeaten because South Africa could not apply sufficient pressure.McLaren said there has been much introspection from the attack in the aftermath. “There has been reflection. As bowlers, we got together and had a chat about what we learnt and what we felt we could improve on. It’s an on-going process, every game is about building for the Champions Trophy.” And for McLaren, it will be about ensuring he is part of the group that travels there.

Kumar Sangakkara believes the role of player agents has been misunderstood by Sri Lanka Cricket and said they were not a detriment to the game

Sa'adi Thawfeeq25-Feb-2013Kumar Sangakkara believes the role of player agents has been misunderstood by Sri Lanka Cricket and said they were not a detriment to the game. His comments came after the Sri Lankan board had said it will not recognise agents any more and will deal directly with the players instead.”There is a lot of misunderstanding and an even bigger case of miscommunication as to what the role of a player-manager or agent is,” Sangakkara said. “They are not here for the detriment of the game.”SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga had said agents “bring more negatives than positives” to Sri Lanka cricket, but Sangakkara said that was not the case. He said that if there were issues with the role of agents, there should be a provision for dialogue where problems could be solved.”If at anytime the player manager issue has a massive negative impact on the game, it is important there is a forum where it can be discussed with the players and Sri Lanka Cricket and then come to an understanding and a decision taken,” Sangakkara said. “There has been quite a lot of media pressure as well, and pressure from former players on player management, so Sri Lanka Cricket has taken a stand where they will avoid any complications or misunderstandings that can arise in the future by saying we will communicate directly with the players. I don’t see anything wrong in that. A statement was also made that the players can go ahead and employ anyone of their choosing, which is of course their freewill and their right to do so.”Sangakkara said he had benefitted from having an agent manage his off-field affairs during his career because it had freed him up to focus on his cricket.

Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim called his side’s hustling victory against Sri Lanka a “calculative chase”, even though there were many moments of panic

Mohammad Isam28-Mar-2013Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim called his side’s hustling victory against Sri Lanka a “calculative chase”. It did not seem so deliberate. They won by three wickets to level the ODI series 1-1, but only after many moments of panic in the dressing room and out in the middle.Following a rain break of more than two hours, the equation for Bangladesh was to score another 105 runs in 13.2 overs from a position of 78 for 1 in 13.4 overs. They lost six wickets in the process and some of the batsmen looked too eager to finish off the game. But the staying power of Nasir Hossain, amid the tension, gave them the edge.”We wanted to play cricketing shots to get a 30-40 run partnership up early,” Mushfiqur said. “We are not used to playing in such tight circumstances against such tough opponents, so I think some of us panicked. I would still call it a calculative chase because we took risks and lost some wickets, but in the end we had one guy holding things together.”The underlying theme of this series has been how poor Bangladesh’s resources has been. They lost several players to injuries, but the biggest were those to Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Mortaza. These are senior players in a very young team that does not win often and yet carries the swelling expectations of a cricket-mad nation.To beat Sri Lanka in their backyard has given Mushfiqur the pride to tell his players that all is not automatically lost when the stars are absent. “If Shakib was here, he could have won the man-of-the-series award probably, because he has done it quite a number of times in the past,” Mushfiqur said. “But some of the others have stepped up this time. The team will now believe that without big stars, Bangladesh can still do well.”The captain also showed appreciation for Nasir who has progressed into a batsman keen to finish games off during tight chases. “Hats off to Nasir,” Mushfiqur said. “I firmly believe that he can break all batting records in the Bangladesh team if he continues in this vein. He has played really well. He does well when the team needs him to score. It is his most important trait.”With such a long gap between what effectively was two parts to the game, it was easy to forget Abdur Razzak’s earlier achievement, and the unassuming manner in which he led the attack. The left-arm spinner finished with his fourth five-wicket haul in ODIs, which held back Sri Lanka’s surge towards an even bigger score. More significantly for Razzak, his fifth wicket on the day was also his 200th in ODIs for Bangladesh.Mushfiqur was full of praise. “I congratulate Razzak bhai for becoming the first bowler from Bangladesh to take 200 wickets. He is a tough guy, and he can bowl at the top and at the end so well. Sometimes bowlers feel uncomfortable at certain situations, but he has never said no to me.”The manner in which Mushfiqur managed to get the best out of the five bowlers will remain as a notch in the captain’s belt. The spinners impressed and the pace bowlers just about managed to get away with their ten overs, but it was the management of these spells that was vital in keeping Sri Lanka quiet after such a good start, and in taking wickets later when the final slog was supposed to be in full swing.”I wanted to use Mominul or Nasir, but they had a partnership going till the 35th over,” Mushfiqur said. “Using occasional bowler against set batsmen would have been tough on them given the fielding restrictions these days.”Bangladesh take on Sri Lanka one last time on this tour, in a Twenty20 game at the Pallekele International Stadium on March 31.