The second ODI of Sri Lanka’s India tour, on November 18, has been shifted to Nagpur from the original venue, Visakhapatnam, following concerns over security arrangements

Cricinfo staff14-Dec-2009The second ODI of Sri Lanka’s India tour, on December 18, has been shifted to Nagpur from the original venue, Visakhapatnam, following concerns over security arrangements. Visakhapatnam has been in the eye of a storm due to protests by students and activists at the federal government’s decision to create a new state in the northern region of the state of Andhra Pradesh.”The prevailing situation is such that all the city police are deployed in the maintenance of regular law and order, and to conduct the match in ordinary circumstances we need to deploy 80% of the city force,” said Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Sambhasiva Rao. “We have mentioned it to organising locals here that it not possible for us to commit any amount of force for the conduct of the match at this stage.”The match in Nagpur will be a day-night affair, said the Indian board.

Karnataka’s success so far this season has been based on the blossoming of young talent but it was one of the most experienced players in world cricket, Rahul Dravid, who drove them to a dominant position

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore04-Jan-2010
Scorecard
Rahul Dravid’s effort was also an object lesson for Karnataka’s youngsters in making the most after getting a start•AFP

Karnataka’s success so far this season has been based on the blossoming of young talent but it was one of the most experienced players in world cricket, Rahul Dravid, who drove them to a dominant position at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday. His fifth Ranji double-century flattened Uttar Pradesh and left them needing a monumental batting effort to make their third consecutive final.UP were shaken further during the seven overs they had to play out before stumps once Dravid declared soon after reaching his 200. Opener Tanmay Srivastava punched a couple of boundaries in the first over, but it was a nervy period after that, with fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun’s pace causing the visitors problems. Shivkant Shukla was run out by a direct hit from Amit Verma at square leg after the batsmen hesitated before going for a sharp single. Then, nightwatchman Bhuvneshwar Kumar lasted all of one ball, trapped lbw by Mithun and UP hobbled to 11 for 2 by the end of the day.That batting effort came after a sapping 176 overs bowling on an unresponsive track, with nothing in it for either the quicks or the spinners; UP tried out as many as nine bowlers as they desperately searched for wickets through the day. Even early in the morning, with a ball that was only a handful of overs old, Praveen Kumar’s deliveries were reaching the wicketkeeper on the second bounce. There had been some slow turn on offer for Piyush Chawla on the first day, but even that was not in evidence on Monday.It was Dravid who was the headline act, though, and he had a solid support cast backing him up – involved in four century partnerships. His effort was also an object lesson for the home side’s youngsters in making the most after getting a start – all the other Karnataka batsmen, except the
nightwatchman, made it to the 30s but didn’t reach 70.There was an air of inevitability about a big score from Dravid. He had been extremely patient on Sunday, and was in no hurry as well at the start of the second day as well, watchfully playing out the morning spells of Praveen and RP Singh.Once the slow bowlers were brought on, both he and left-hand batsman Amit Verma opened out. Verma made room and crashed left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta through covers and followed up with a clever glide past the keeper. In the next over, Dravid whipped Chawla through midwicket before striking a classical on-drive to a flighted delivery. The run-rate remained sprightly all day after that.About 10 minutes before lunch, the pair raised their century stand, but Verma was stumped giving the charge to Chalwa off the next delivery. Chawla bowled round the wicket and into the pads in an attempt to slow the runs, Dravid responded with whips through midwicket and leg glances, one of which brought up his century; his first fifty had taken 146 balls, the second 63.UP tried to snare the new batsman, CM Gautam, by keeping three slips and making RP bowl well outside off. The ploy would have worked too, had it not been for Mohammad Kaif grassing a simple catch at second slip with Gautam on 13. After that, it was another period of toil, as Gautam and Dravid effortlessly picked off the runs. Again the wicket came soon after the hundred partnership and not too far from an interval – Gautam bowled by Praveen Gupta attempting an ambitious lofted on-drive.That brought together the most experienced players in the match, Dravid and Sunil Joshi, who hurt UP further with yet another century stand, 101 runs in only 138 deliveries. Dravid combined paddle-sweeps with powerful aerial drives while Joshi blasted the game’s first six, straight over the sightscreen to keep Karnataka accelerating. Even the third new ball, taken after 172 overs, didn’t rein in the batsmen, who also capitalised on UP’s falling fielding standards.To top off a thoroughly dispiriting day for UP, their captain Mohammad Kaif became the latest bowler to be no-balled for a suspect action, when he came on for a two-over spell an hour after lunch.

The ICC could allow Australian and English umpires to stand in the Ashes series later this year

Brydon Coverdale at Bellerive Oval18-Jan-2010The ICC could allow Australian and English umpires to stand in the Ashes series later this year as its confidence with the umpire decision review system continues to grow. Despite the controversial video-official judgments in the Johannesburg Test over the past few days, David Morgan, the ICC president, said the UDRS was proving successful enough for the ICC to consider scrapping the neutral-umpire system.”The decision review system is making good progress,” Morgan told Cricinfo. “There have been problems at the Wanderers that I can’t go into because that’s being investigated by the International Cricket Council. But I think the progress with the DRS has been extremely good indeed, to the extent that I think we should be thinking about the best umpires being appointed to Test match cricket irrespective of whether they come from the participating teams or not.”That could mean the man judged as the world’s best umpire for five of the past six years, the Australian Simon Taufel, being able to officiate in Ashes games. Apart from the Super Test of 2005, Taufel last stood in a home Test in 2001. Five of the 12 members of the ICC’s elite panel of umpires are from Australia or England, leaving only seven neutrals to choose from when the two countries meet.Morgan did not rule out abandoning the neutral system in time for the 2010-11 Ashes in Australia. “It’s a possibility,” Morgan said. “I wouldn’t put it any higher than a possibility but I think that in the fullness of time it’s more probable than possible.”Morgan’s comments have come after a fractious England-South Africa Test at the Wanderers, where the Australian third umpire Daryl Harper was under fire for ruling Graeme Smith not out despite a loud noise from the stump microphone when the ball passed the bat. Smith went on to score a century and it prompted England, who are not in favour of the review system, to make an official complaint to the ICC.Despite England’s objections, Morgan was confident the ICC’s member nations could be convinced to discard the notion that neutral umpires were necessary. “I haven’t put that to the test,” Morgan said. “But I know that certain countries are very supportive and certain countries were wishing that it should happen even before DRS was thought about.”Not since 2002 has the ICC appointed umpires from participating countries to Test matches. The small panel and ever-increasing schedule means that the elite officials travel more than ever, and it is a job that before his retirement last year Steve Bucknor described as a sometimes lonely profession.Taufel, who has a young family, has previously stated that he was taking his future year by year and in the past 12 months has stood in international matches in seven nations. The English official Peter Willey declined an invitation to join the elite panel due to the amount of travel involved, and Morgan said he thought the ICC’s umpires would be supportive of doing away with the neutral-umpire system.”I imagine so,” Morgan said. “If you think of the international cricket schedule, with the exception of Pakistan, all international cricketers play about half their cricket at home. International umpires stand in away games only. That makes it a much more difficult lifestyle for them, to the extent that some very good umpires have declined appointment to the elite panel simply because they don’t want to be away throughout the working schedule.”

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam has accepted responsibility for Pakistan’s poor showing on their tour of Australia

Cricinfo staff07-Feb-2010Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam
has accepted responsibility for his team’s poor showing on their tour of Australia, where they were whitewashed in the three Tests, five ODIs and the one-off Twenty20. Intikhab, however, has refused to resign
like chief selector Iqbal Qasim did, and is prepared to face an inquiry.”I will not run away and will face an investigation,” Intikhab said after the team’s return to Karachi on Sunday morning. “I am not going to comment on any resignation but I will take full responsibility for the defeat.”Pakistan dropped several catches during the tour and let go of a great opportunity to win the second Test in Sydney, where they collapsed chasing 175. The Pakistan board appointed a six-member committee to investigate the defeat. This was Pakistan’s fourth-successive Test series whitewash to Australia.”It was a disappointing tour but if you look into the history, Pakistan has never performed well on a tour of Australia,” Intikhab said. “Our fielding was very poor and the batsmen lacked determination and their shot selection was bad. I will give a detailed report on team’s performance on the tour and hope a fair analysis is done.”He also denied rumours of a rift in the team and asked the fans to be patient and not jump to conclusions.”Talk of grouping is baseless. Such things come when the team loses.Australia is still the best team in the world and they played well. Australia lost a home Test series against South Africa, were defeated in Tests in India and handed Ashes to England in the last two years, but their people backed them and they have regrouped. We should also back our team.”Pressure has mounted
on the top men of Pakistan cricket to step down, including the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. The captain Mohammad Yousuf is also in danger of losing his job, after Butt announced midway through the tour that a new captain could be named. A disappointed Waqar Younis, the bowling and fielding coach, said he will explain the reasons for the team’s defeat to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports.

Half-centuries by Priyanka Roy and Mithali Raj rescued India from a top-order wobble and helped them post 199 – a total didn’t look defendable till England made a meal of the chase

Cricinfo staff19-Feb-2010
ScorecardPriyanka Roy starred with the bat and Jhulan Goswami with the ball in India’s 35-run win against England•Getty Images

Half-centuries by Priyanka Roy and Mithali Raj rescued India from a top-order wobble and helped them post 199 – a total didn’t look defendable till England made a meal of the chase in the first ODI in Bangalore. Jhulan Goswami and Gouher Sultana took three wickets apiece as the hosts won by 35 runs.
Play began after the teams observed a moment’s silence for the death of Audrey Collins, the former England batsman and famed administrator, at the age of 94.At the end of 27 overs England needed another 100 to win and hand six wickets in hand. They had lost their well-set batsman Ebony Rainford-Brent, who played an attacking innings and negotiated the spinners with ease. Along with her cautious partner Lydia Greenway, Rainford-Brent repeatedly swept the spinners – especially left-arm spinner Preeti Dimri. She finally fell while attempting the same shot against the other left-arm spinner Sultana, who kept a tight line and bowled full even as the other bowlers were leaking runs.
Rainford-Brent’s dismissal slowed England down but her 83-ball 64 ensured they were well ahead of the required run-rate.Greenway and Caroline Atkins steadily accumulated the runs, mostly through singles, and it looked like England would make it home with overs to spare. However the second turning point of the innings was Goswami’s return in the 40th over. She changed ends, coming to the Pavilion side, and struck Atkins plumb in front off her first ball. New batsman Jenny Gunn gave a catch to Priyanka Roy off the third ball and England fell to 145 for 6. Greenway’s presence meant the visitors still had a chance but they lost that in the 43rd over when she was run-out after a terrible mix-up with Nicky Shaw. England had lost their last six wickets for 19 runs.They did better bowling and fielding but were frustrated by Raj and Roy’s stand which was only broken when Raj played a tired-looking shot off Charlotte Edwards and lofted a catch to Greenway. Fast bowler Katherine Brunt had got the first breakthrough in the fifth over when she had Anagha Deshpande caught at slip for 16. Raj and Thirush Kamini added 41 for the second wicket before England struck in quick succession, effecting two run-outs, to leave India four down by the 20th over.Raj and Roy rebuilt the innings during their 100-run partnership which lasted 25.3 overs. Raj hit only two fours in her knock of 62 off 116 balls, while Roy was more aggressive, hitting six fours in her unbeaten 69. Roy and Amita Sharma added a quick 36 off the last five overs.The second ODI will be played on February 21 in Bangalore before the teams move on Visakhapatnam.

It was on March 3 last year that the terror attack on the buses of the Sri Lankan cricket team and match officials in Lahore changed cricket in Pakistan forever

Cricinfo staff03-Mar-2010The first anniversary of the attack on the buses of the Sri Lankan cricket team and match officials in Lahore has been marked by ceremonies and tributes to those who were killed and the hope that Pakistan will regain its status as an international cricket venue.Rana Sanaullah, the police and law minister of Punjab province, laid wreaths at the scene of the attack in Liberty Square, in memory of the six policemen and two civilians who died; PCB officials and players are scheduled to also hold a memorial ceremony, lay flowers and observe a minute’s silence.”It was tragic and shook our cricket,” Wasim Bari, the PCB’s chief operating officer, told . “We must remember all those who gave their lives to save the Sri Lankan cricketers.”Bari, though, hoped for a better future. “We hope that as ground realities change, things will improve and international cricket will be revived in Pakistan. For the sake of millions of people who love the game of cricket, international events will come back to Pakistan. I sincerely hope this is not very far.”The Sri Lankan players were on their way to the Gadaffi Stadium for the third day’s play in the second Test when terrorists opened fire and hurled grenades at their bus. Seven players and assistant coach Paul Farbrace were injured and eight Pakistanis – security personnel, the driver of the match-officials bus – were killed. The match was abandoned and the Sri Lankan team flew home, but the bigger consequence was the end of Pakistan being a host for international matches in the near future. The ICC moved the 2009 Champions Trophy out of the country and stripped Pakistan of its quota of matches for the 2011 World Cup.Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja spoke on those consequences of the attack but also mentioned the resilience of Pakistan cricket. “Pakistan is suffering not only in cricket but also in other sports as we have not been able to host any international sporting event since then,” he said. “But I salute Pakistani fans for keeping the interest in cricket alive, despite having no matches.”Pakistan have been forced to play their home series in United Arab Emirates and New Zealand, the most recent being the two Twenty20 internationals against England in Dubai in February. They are also due to ‘host’ Australia, who haven’ t toured Paksitan since 1998, in two Twenty20 matches and two Tests in England later this year.

Cricinfo previews the return match between Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan Royals at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium

The Preview by Nitin Sundar04-Apr-2010

Match facts

Monday, April 5
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)
Will Andrew Symonds try to get under Yusuf Pathan’s skin once again?•Indian Premier League

Big picture

Deccan Chargers are on a four-match losing run that threatens to end their IPL campaign early. Going into their return match against Rajasthan in Nagpur, Deccan will be anxious to snap the streak and reignite their title-defence.Rajasthan Royals, coming off two successive losses, have worries of their own to deal with. In both defeats, their bowlers, who were at the forefront of their earlier resurgence, have wilted under pressure from attacking batsmen. Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay made them sweat on the field, while Gautam Gambhir talked them down off it. Shane Warne’s men have already silenced their critics once this season, by stringing four consecutive wins after an abject start to the campaign. Monday offers a chance to reprise their favourite script.They will find comfort in the fact that their opponents are not only going through a bigger crisis of confidence, but also suffer from the same weakness as they do – a bowling attack that leaks runs in the end overs. Deccan have conceded 11.81 runs in the last six overs, often undoing their good work at the start of the innings. Rajasthan have not fared much better, and the team that bleeds lesser from this Achilles heel is likely to gain two crucial points in Nagpur.At this stage, only Mumbai and Delhi seem assured of semifinal spots, while five other teams are closely matched in the fight for the remaining two. Deccan and Rajasthan currently languish just above bottom-ranked Punjab, and victory on Monday will make the difference between moving into the midfield and stagnating on the scrapheap.

Form guide (most recent first)

Deccan Chargers: LLLLW

Rajasthan Royals: LLWWW

Team talk

Sumit Narwal picked 3 for 36 in the defeat against Delhi, but on either side of that performance conceded a whopping 90 runs in five overs against Chennai. Siddharth Trivedi, who missed the last game, should take his spot. Shane Watson’s inclusion has strengthened the batting, which means Paras Dogra is likely to miss out again.Deccan are nowhere near solving their fast-bowling problems. Kemar Roach, who conceded 10 runs an over in his two games, was replaced by Ryan Harris, who went at exactly the same rate against Mumbai. Chaminda Vaas, who lost his spot to these two on reputation, deserves to reclaim the new ball. In five matches, he has eight wickets at 6.66 runs per over and could help Deccan’s attack rediscover discipline. Two of the three Singhs – RP, Jaskaran and Harmeet – should make up the rest of the pace attack, but Adam Gilchrist will be counting on his in-form spinners, Pragyan Ojha and Rahul Sharma, to deliver.

Previously…

Deccan 1, Rajasthan 4Rajasthan have the upper hand in contests between the two teams so far, and the Ahmedabad hammering earlier in the tournament emphasised their dominance. Shaun Tait struck at crucial junctures to restrict Deccan to 148, before Yusuf, who was egged on by a verbal exchange with Symonds, smashed eight sixes to finish the chase in 15.4 overs.

In the spotlight

Shane Warne‘s dismissal of Herschelle Gibbs in Ahmedabad was reminiscent of his pomp, when the elements of turn, loop, drift and bounce all came together. While he has only managed six wickets in nine games, Warne has kept things reasonably quiet in the middle overs. The Rajasthan captain has the knack of lifting his game when it matters the most; expect a stirring performance from the greatest legspinner of all-time in this crucial game.Herschelle Gibbs and Andrew Symonds have scored the most runs for Deccan this season – 237 and 232 respectively – but neither has been able to convert their uncharacteristically watchful starts into big contributions. Both of them have scored at strike-rates close to 120, and Deccan will hope that they can step it up on Monday.

Prime numbers

• Adam Gilchrist’s form has mirrored his side’s – in the first four games he scored 149 runs, but in the next four, he could manage only 29. Deccan have lost each of those games.
• With 12 wickets to his name, Pragyan Ojha is joint-second highest wicket-taker in the tournament, but with an economy rate of 7.80 per over, he is the most expensive of the top six bowlers in the list
• Yusuf Pathan is fifth in the race for the orange cap with 278 runs. Of batsmen with at least 200 runs, he has been the second-fastest run-scorer, striking at 179.35, second only to Robin Uthappa

The chatter

“We have to win five out of the next six games. We have to get our act together or else we are out of the tournament.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced that its board has been expanded in size from twelve to fourteen members – and will for the first time include two women directors

Cricinfo staff07-May-2010The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced that its board has been expanded in size from twelve to fourteen members – and will for the first time include two women directors.The former England women’s captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint has been appointed as the women’s game representative while Jane Stichbury, former Chief Constable of Dorset, will be an independent director.In addition, Yorkshire Chairman Colin Graves will join the board after his nomination was unopposed. He will fill a position which was made vacant by the retirement of the Surrey Chairman David Stewart.”I am delighted that Jane and Rachael have been nominated to serve on our Board,” said ECB Chairman Giles Clarke. “Rachael was an outstanding captain of England women and has worked tirelessly on behalf of cricket for many years – particularly for the Lady Taverners.”Jane was the first woman to be appointed as one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Constabulary and her knowledge and experience will be invaluable.”Heyhoe-Flint epitomised English women’s cricket during her playing career, and continued to promote the sport through her strong media presence and personality after her retirement. One of the first women admitted to the MCC, in 2004 she became the first woman elected to the full committee.”It’s an enormous honour for us both to be the first women to be nominated to serve on the ECB’s Board,” added Heyhoe-Flint. “I am very keen to continue my involvement in the administration of the game and to help maintain the very significant progress the women’s game has made in recent years.”

Eoin Morgan admitted he was surprised to have been fast-tracked into the Test squad for Thursday’s first Test against Bangladesh, as the England selectors opted to take a punt on his temperamentSteven Finn has drawn a lot of attention with his prodigious

Cricinfo staff26-May-2010Steven Finn has drawn a lot of attention with his prodigious pace and bounce, but the 21 year-old seamer idolises bowlers of a different ilk, who made their mark with accuracy and persistence.”I have my idols, people like Glenn McGrath who was a fantastic bowler, best bowler in my opinion who has ever played the game,” Finn told reporters at Lord’s. “It would be nice to play in the sort of environment he was playing in a few years ago and see how I can do.”While he watched McGrath from afar, he learnt the ropes from another equally worthy proponent of seam and swing. Finn is filled with gratitude for the role Angus Fraser has played in his development.”Angus Fraser who has been a very big help, is a great believer in just bowling, bowling and bowling. That will get you fit and that will teach you how to bowl. I believe in that too.
“At the moment I am still learning about my game. I’ve spoken a lot to to Gus about this. I don’t want to be like anyone else, I want to be Steven Finn,” he said.The 6′ 7″ fast bowler, who made a surprise debut during the Bangladesh tour earlier this year, is already developing the sort of miserliness that defined his heroes in their pomp.”Gus has brought discipline, an analytical approach to the way I bowl. There’s a lot more thought process that goes in to what I do, the working out of batsmen, the way it really hurts me when I give away runs.”I hate it, just as much as Gus did. He would stand there swearing, punching himself. He’s helped bring in to my game a lot more discipline and I think that’s important I carry that into any sort of cricket I play,” Finn said.While early signs suggest that Finn has the pace to hustle top-notch batsmen, the bowler himself is not getting carried away. “It would be nice to have a lot of pace and be able to control it. That’s the ideal fast bowler. At the moment, I am somewhere in between the two. By no means am I the finished article,” he said.Despite the prospects of featuring in the Ashes defence later in the year, Finn is firmly grounded in the present and wants to enjoy the moment. “I wasn’t expecting this 18 months ago or even six months ago. I wasn’t expecting an international debut in 2010, I just take each game as it comes. That’s all I can do and I think it will stand me in good stead,” he said.

Warwickshire’s plans to introduce some innovation to bowling by using the double-bouncing ball during their Friends Provident T20 game against Derbyshire was quashed by the ECB, which outlawed the delivery

Cricinfo staff10-Jun-2010Warwickshire’s plans to introduce some innovation to bowling by using the double-bouncing ball during their Friends Provident T20 game against Derbyshire was quashed by the ECB, which outlawed the delivery. The reported the ECB issued a directive to county coaches and umpires that the ball, if delivered, would be declared a no-ball – despite not breaching the laws of cricket – for it was against the spirit of the game.”Further to an ECB Cricket Committee recommendation, it is confirmed that the practice of bowling a ball that bounces twice should be disallowed with immediate effect. It is considered inappropriate for the image and spirit of our game,” the Daily Telegraph quoted the ECB directive as saying.The idea to use the double-bouncer is the brainchild of Warwickshire bowling coach Graeme Welch. The decision to experiment with such a delivery was prompted by the accidental instance of Derbyshire offspinner Nathan Dumelow bowling a double-bouncing delivery that had then Leicestershire batsman Darren Stevens flummoxed. Though the ECB’s decision would have thwarted Welch’s plans, he received encouragement from the MCC, the guardian of the laws of the game, which declared the delivery legitimate. As a result, the delivery can be used in tournaments like the IPL or the World Twenty20, over which the ECB has no control.”We don’t think it is against the Spirit of Cricket or contrary to the Laws of the game,” the newspaper quoted Keith Bradshaw, the chief executive of the MCC, as saying. “We see it as the same as the switch-hit and unless it changes the balance between the bat and ball we see no reason to change our view.”According to the laws, a ball can be declared a no-ball if it bounces than twice and the umpire deems it to have been delivered intentionally. Law 24 states: “The umpire at the bowler’s end shall call and signal No ball if a ball which he considers to have been delivered, without having previously touched the bat or person of the striker, either (i) bounces more than twice or (ii) rolls along the ground before it reaches the popping crease.”Welch said he was disappointed at the ECB’s ruling and claimed the delivery required skill, just like the switch-hit, pioneered by Kevin Pietersen. The MCC had then deemed the shot legal for the same reason Welch feels the double-bouncer should be allowed. “Not just anyone can do it and it takes skill,” Welch told the , adding the ball was of greater assistance to fast bowlers. “The margin of error is small.”The batsman thinks it is a bouncer and by the time he has realised it is not he has cut down his reaction time. You need a bowler who can bowl out of the back of the hand and bounce it as close as he can in front of him so that when it bounces again it is on its way down.”The trick is getting the pace right on the second bounce. I am disappointed about it [being outlawed]. Batsmen are smacking it out the ground and this is just the way the game is evolving. We are always trying to think of new things. I am a bowling coach and my job is to do that.”