All posts by csb10.top

Surrey coach Keith Medlycott has confirmed that Pakistan have approached him over the job of national coach in place of Richard Pybus.Medlycott, who guided Surrey to the B&H Trophy in last Saturday’s final at Lord’s, told CricInfo: “I have been asked for a CV. That’s the level it’s at so far.”The 36-year-old continued: “I’m in year one of a four-year contract at Surrey so I’m happy here. There’s no real information on me leaving at the moment.”However, he said: “If someone came in and offered £500,000, you never know.”Having led Surrey to back-to-back championships, Medlycott, a former Surrey and England A slow left-armer, is currently the most successful coach in the English game.As such, sources disclosed it was unlikely that Surrey would be keen to let him go unless it was to coach England.

Dominic Cork and Darren Gough left West Indies reeling at Lord’s today after taking six wickets with a ferocious late afternoon spell of pace bowling.Both finished the first day’s play of the Cornhill Test with four wickets a piece after a day that started poorly for England and finished on an unexpected high.West Indies had dominated proceedings from the first over of the morning, progressing easily to 180 for three at tea but the progress slowed noticeably in the last 20 overs in which England’s seamers, who had bowled loosely for most of the day, suddenly discovered untapped resources of energy, pace and aggression.They were led by Cork, who was recalled to England for this Test after an 18 month absence from the international scene. He set the ball rolling following a half hour delay for bad light which seemed to have the effect of buoying England’s confidence.For two and a half hours, right hander Hinds entertained with his natural timing and powerfully struck cover drives but on 59, he edged a delivery from Cork and the catch was taken by Stewart.It was Cork’s 100th Test wicket and a reminder of the form that earned him career best figures of 7-43 on his debut against West Indies at Lord’s in 1995. He then swept away Ridley Jacobs, caught behind for ten and Curtly Ambrose, who was snapped up by Mark Ramprakash at short leg and by the close, his figures were 4-39 from 24 overs.Amid this clatter of wickets, Darren Gough was also finding his rhythm after an indifferent spell this morning. He tempted Lara into chasing a delivery veering down the off-side and then trapped Jimmy Adams, the West Indian skipper who made 98 at Edgbaston, lbw for a single.A menacing looking Franklyn Rose, who’s fitness had been in doubt for this Test, frustrated the bowlers towards the close with some big-hitting and young Matthew Hoggard was dealt a blow when Rose lifted him high into the Mound Stand for six in an over that yielded an expensive 16 runs.There were another four boundaries as the Jamaican bowler made a quickfire 29 from 30 deliveries until Gough applied the brakes with a ball that thudded hard into his pads and was plum.When Rose went with the score 253 for eight, West Indies had lost six wickets for 78 runs and with them, the strong position so industriously secured earlier in the day. That position looked even less tenuous in the penultimate over the day when Gough picked up his fourth wicket, from an inswinger to Shivnarine Chanderpaul that was played on.Chanderpaul had been trying to play the anchor role while the mayhem went on around him, and made just 22 runs from 61 balls over two hours before Gough brought his innings to a close, the score 258 for nine. Two balls before the scheduled close, umpires once again offered the batsmen the light and with the score 267 for nine, the players came off.

Karachi, Oct 22: England geared up for the three-match one-dayinternational series with a 10-wicket victory over Pakistan A in aone-day match here on Sunday in front of empty enclosures.England raced to the victory target of 170 in just 29.4 overs byruthlessly destroying the second Pakistan string bowling. Theirfielding added to their miseries when they dropped Marcus Trescothickand Alec Stewart who eventually ended their agony by retiring hurt.The sufferer on both the occasions was paceman Mohammad Sami whodespite conceding 35 runs from his six overs, left a big impact. Hisfigures might have been different had Shiraz Haider picked up astraight forward catch at square-leg of Trescothick when he was 36 andHumayun Farhat held on to a regulation catch of Stewart when he was 8.Trecothick followed up his Friday’s 102 with 59 while Stewart hit 50.Trecothick, who capitalized from some very short of length bowling bycutting and pulling at will, struck five fours and three sixes in his55-ball innings. Stewart hit five boundaries in a 68-ball knock.The openers retirement provided some more batting practice to skipperNasser Hussain who finished with 31 off 44 balls.Earlier, Hussain deciding to field to get a taste of the Pakistansummer, did an exellent job in the field by making life difficult forthe Pakistan A batsmen. There was nothing unusual in their bowlingexcept they kept the ball in three sticks.It was disappointing to see the future Pakistan batsmen bat so poorly.Batsmen like Hasan Raza was bowled when he danced down the track,Salman Butt was caught behind while fishing around, Bazid Khan givingStewart his second catch while cutting. Experienced Ijaz Ahmad Junior,who last played a Test in 1995, was run-out with a direct throw fromHussain.Pakistan A headed for an embarrassing end to their innings when theyreached 92 for six before Naumanullah and Fahad Khan came to theirrescue by adding 66 runs for the seventh wicket from 81 balls. Naumanbatted with great courage and concentration to score a fluent 64 off88 balls. His innings included four boundaries and sixes off DarrenGough and Ashley Giles.Fahad remained unbeaten on a 50-ball 28.For England, the most encouraging news was the form and fitness shownby Warwickshire’s left-arm spinner Ashley Giles. Giles, who missed theICC knockout tournament because of calf injury, bagged three for 34from nine overs. Andrew Caddick was economical, successful andimpressive when he picked up three wickets for 15 runs from his quotaof 10 overs.England take on Pakistan on Tuesday in first of the three back-to-backone-day internationals.

SK Nair and S Haridas were elected president and secretary of theKerala Cricket Association in the elections of the Kerala CricketAssociation at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Nair, who is thechairman of the Finance Committee of the Board of Control forCricket in India has been elected president for the first timewhile Haridas was re-elected to the post.The other members elected for a four year period (2001 to 2005)were: Vice Presidents : Dr KN Raghavan, GK Shetty, S RamachandranNair, and C Sneharaj. Joint secretary : Niaz Ahmed Treasurer: TCMathew

Nasser Hussain still finds run eluding him but he shared the joy of his Essex team as they thrashed Gloucestershire by 109 runs at Bristol.On a wicket where the bounce became more variable as the third day wore on they shot the home side out for 85 in two and a quarter hours.If it shook Gloucestershire almost on the eve of their Benson & Hedges Cup final with Glamorgan at Lord’s the win, the second in succession, was no surprise to Essex’s Ronnie Irani.”With the new ball we could end it in the evening session and when the early wickets fell we knew we would even without claiming the extra half hour” he said.For Gloucestershire’s part having bowled Essex out the second time for 1999 with Jon Lewis returning six for 47 they believed the victory could be theirs.But by the end of the 18th over they had crashed to 39 for five with the seam attack of Mark Ilott, Irani and Ashley Cowan finding some balls bouncing on the tinder dry surface and others shooting through low.All this was largely academic for Hussain who had elected to play in this second division match in a bid to find batting form after his failures against Zimbabwe in the previous test.Out for three in the first innings he fared even worse in the second falling to his fifth ball for a duck. After varying all the balls he received Lewis dug in a faster one quite short. The England captain swayed away but the ball shot off the top of the bat to wicket keeper Reggie Williams for the most important of the five catches he held in the match.The wicket was already showing signs of uneven bounce and only Paul Grayson of the top Essex order played it with any real confidence, defending and waiting for the one to hit.It explained the nine fours in his 52 before he was undone just before lunch by Mark Hardinges, a 22-year-old seamer from Bath University, bowled by one that kept low.In the first over after the break Hardinges followed this by having Irani caught in the slips for 42 with the score still on 127.With six wickets down Essex now relied on the commonsense of Darren Robinson who faced 124 balls for an unbeaten 32 and then a late heave from Cowan – a six and three fours in a quick 21 – to give them the right platform.The home side shed wickets rapidly with only three of them, headed by Tim Hancock, getting into double figures. Opener Hancock top scored with 26 and was left shaking his head in disbelief when a leg before shout went against him.Gloucestershire’s New Zealand coach John Bracewell claimed: “We lost this one in the first innings when we failed to take a lead of 100 runs but I pledge this result, bad as it was, will have no bearing on the cup final. The lads have always showed they can raise their game in the one dayers.”While Irani finished with 3-30 off 11 overs the celebrations were all for Danny Law. He came on late in the second innings with his seamers and wrapped up the win in 4.4 overs with four wickets at a cost of just 15 runs.

Hosts Goa lived to fight another day in their South Zone Ranji Trophyencounter against Andhra at Margao on Saturday. After Andhra declaredat their overnight 514/5, presumably satisfied by a handsome lead of351, the hosts progressed to 249/5 before stumps were drawn. The pickof the batsmen was Goa import Tanveer Jabbar who made 94 before beingrun out in the final session of the day.Goa were in troubled waters at lunch, going into the break at 87/3.The top three in the batting order, Messrs. Rane, Kolankar andAmonkar, all fell in their twenties, failing to push for a big scoreafter getting their eye in. Jabbar and Sagun Kamat gave Goa somesolace, batting through the post-lunch session. Their 110 run standwas finally broken when Kamat gave off spinner YS Ranganath his thirdwicket of the innings.Jabbar found another dependable partner in Anant Bhagwat, the pairadding 51 before the former fell just 15 balls before the curtain wasbrought down. His 94 had come off 174 balls and included 11boundaries. Bhagwat who made a brisk unbeaten 41, negotiated Goathrough to close of play in the company of skipper Pravin Amre on whommuch will depend if the hosts are to provide any semblance ofresistance on Sunday.

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

Shaun Pollock led a stand-out seam-bowling performance as the Mumbai Indians notched up the most convincing win of the tournament, and their fifth in a row, handing the Kolkata Knight Riders an eight-wicket drubbing at the Wankhede Stadium. None of Kolkata’s batsmen came to terms with the seamer-friendly pitch, crumbling to an embarrassing 67 all out – the lowest score of the tournament and the fifth-lowest in all Twenty20 matches – before Sanath Jayasuriya hastened the finish with a 17-ball 48, as Mumbai sailed home with 87 deliveries to spare – a record in all Twenty20 games – significantly boosting their hopes of a semi-final berth.The visitors were put in by Sachin Tendulkar, who won his second toss in a row, but even he wouldn’t have dreamed of the display his bowlers served up. The pitch helped significantly, offering bounce and plenty of seam movement to each of the five bowlers who were used – in fact, so good were the conditions for seam bowling that Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner who made his IPL debut, wasn’t even pressed into the attack.The start was deceptively normal, with Salman Butt moving away to club Pollock down the ground for four, and then carving Ashish Nehra for the 400th six of the IPL. From then on, only one team did all the celebrating.Pollock led the way, bowling with impeccable control, seaming the ball both ways from a perfect length, and giving the batsmen no chance. Against a top four that has an equal mix of right- and left-handers, Pollock kept his line around off stump against both, extracting bounce and seaming the ball away to induce the edge. Butt was the first to perish to the movement, getting a leading edge while trying to flick, offering Tendulkar the first of four catches.Thereafter, the slide was swift. Kolkata made the situation worse when Aakash Chopra was involved in his second mix-up with Sourav Ganguly in three games, charging down the pitch even as Ganguly didn’t respond. Another perfect delivery in the corridor from Pollock accounted for David Hussey, and when Tendulkar decided to bowl his four overs on the trot, Pollock responded by inducing an edge off Mohammad Hafeez, which was snaffled by Robin Uthappa at a wide second slip.Pollock was done, finishing with figures of 3 for 12, but there was no respite for Kolkata, as Dwayne Bravo continued from where Pollock had left off, getting exaggerated seam movement in both directions. Wriddhiman Saha was defeated by the bounce and movement, and slashed to Tendulkar, and Kolkata had lost half their side for 29.With the conditions so friendly for the seamers, Tendulkar cleverly decided to use Dominic Thornely and Rohan Raje, both medium-pace bowlers, and the results came almost instantly. Raje removed the dangerous Laxmi Ratan Shukla with a superb delivery which pitched on middle and seamed away to take off stump.

Through the destruction at the other end, Ganguly hung on patiently, hoping to weather the storm and guide Kolkata to a respectable total. He came in to bat in the third over and stayed till the 13th, but was stuck at the non-striker’s end most of the time, facing only 20 deliveries as the batting line-up was destroyed at the other end. He finally perished in tame fashion, as Yogesh Takawale hung on to a catch with his second attempt as Ganguly tried to cut. With Kolkata’s last hope falling, the rest followed quickly.Kolkata’s only hope of avoiding complete embarrassment was for Shoaib Akhtar to do an encore of the previous game. He began with a fiery first over, having Jayasuriya dropped at slip off the first ball, and then winning his personal battle with Tendulkar, who nibbled one to the wicketkeeper, slightly dampening the spirits of the home crowd.Jayasuriya’s response to that dismissal was emphatic, as he waded into Ishant Sharma and Shoaib in the next two overs. After clipping Ishant unconvincingly over mid-on, he found his timing perfectly in Shoaib’s next over: a flick and a short-arm pull both sailed over the boundary, while two crisp drives raced through the covers in an over which leaked 23, more than one-third of the target.The Shoaib threat was over, and the end came soon after, as Jayasuriya flicked a no-ball off Ishant for his 17th six of the IPL, the highest for a batsman in the tournament, and then finished it off next ball. Mumbai now have the best net run-rate, and with ten points from nine games, have given themselves an excellent chance of making the last four.

Debutant left-arm spinner Bert Chikomba’s 5 for 36 set up Mashonaland Eagles‘ five-wicket win over Mountaineers in the second round of the Pro50 Championship in Harare. Chikomba’s five-for skittled Mountaineers out for 167 before a 71 from opener Cephas Zhuwao and an unbeaten 35 from Gary Chirimuuta took the side to a win with more than 16 overs to spare.Mountaineers got off to a slow start after opting to bat, and struggled to lift their overall scoring rate as the innings progressed. Innocent Kaia scored 52 but the rest of the batsmen were all dismissed for less than 25 as Chikomba ran through the middle order in his second spell. The spinner took four wickets in three successive overs between the 38th and 41st – including the wickets of Shingi Masakadza and Kudzai Sauramba off successive deliveries.Zhuwao and Kudzai Maunze shared an 111-run opening stand to give Eagles a strong start but the side soon slipped to 141 for 4 following wickets from Roy Kaia and Tatenda Mupunga. Chirimuuta, who had scored an unbeaten fifty in the last game, saw the Eagles through to their second win.Fifties from Mbekezeli Mabuza and Taffy Mupariwa guided Matabeleland Tuskers to a six-wicket win against Mid West Rhinos, their first of this tournament. The pair also shared a 99-run partnership for the fourth wicket, helping the side overcome a shaky start that had them struggling at 19 for 2 in the eighth over.The early breakthroughs for Rhinos came from fast bowler Carl Mumba but Mabuza anchored the side – first with a 72-run partnership for the second wicket with Nkosana Mpofu and then his stand with Mupariwa. Mabuza was finally dismissed for 87 off 121 deliveries but by that time the score had moved to 190 for 4. Mupariwa, who finished unbeaten on 67 off 64 deliveries, struck a flurry of boundaries to guide the side home.Mabuza made an equally important contribution with the ball and, along with left-arm spinner Keith Dabengwa, finished with a three-wicket haul. Their strikes ensured that Rhinos were limited to 230 for 7 despite fifties from their openers Tarisai Musakanda (82 off 118 deliveries) and Tendai Maruma (55 off 92 balls). The batsmen were involved in a 135-run opening stand but a mid-innings slide saw Rhinos squander the advantage as they dropped from 167 for 1 to 199 for 6.

It may be only be a conditioning camp, with as many as 27 players in the mix, but for Al-Amin Hossain and Sohag Gazi, being called up to be among them is a huge relief. Out of contention for roughly the same time, both bowlers now have a platform from which to get back into the Bangladesh team for the upcoming Test series against Australia in October.The training camp will mainly focus on fitness. Skill work will begin from September 5. The National Cricket League first-class competition is also being preponed to get the Test players some game time ahead of the Australia series.Al-Amin hasn’t played international cricket since November 2014. So this is a chance for him to reconnect. He had been part of the World Cup squad, but was sent home midway through due to disciplinary issues. Since his last international outing, he has taken 12 first-class wickets at an average of 32.58 in five games.Although Bangladesh struggled for penetration in their pace attack in the Tests against Pakistan, India and South Africa, Al-Amin was kept out. He is taking the training camp as a sign of being “in the selectors’ plans” again. He had also been part of the Players of National Interest (PONI) camp recently in the National Cricket Academy.”I am feeling great, a lot relieved,” Al-Amin said. “I was in the PONI camp but I didn’t feel really sure of my future. But getting called in this camp means at least now I am in the selectors’ plans. I can work on my fitness, and I am getting a chance to prove myself.”Spending the last six months out of the national side, he said he has understood that the team’s composition is changing and the competition within it has gone up as a result of recent victories.”I have seen both sides [being in and out of the squad] in a very short span of time. I learned a lot. I also understand the team is not what it was a year ago. There’s a lot of competition. I have to prove my worth,” he said.Gazi’s story is similar. He served a short suspension at international cricket for an illegal action, got the clean chit from the ICC in February this year and has already played a T20 for Bangladesh in July. He also felt the call-up to the training camp was a sign that he remains in contention for the national side, but felt hard done by having to sit out most of the 2014-15 season.”I was disappointed,” Gazi told . “I played for the senior team recently but from there I was nowhere. It is hard to explain this feeling. It is good to be called up to the camp. I can tell myself now that I am in contention.”It is hard to assess fitness after just one T20. But I will improve my fitness, which goes down when you are out of the team. This is a chance to make it better. The National Cricket League is coming up so I will use the conditioning camp for my own benefit. Doing well in the domestic circuit will surely bring me more opportunities. “It is, however, likely that both players could end up playing for Bangladesh A in their African tour in October and November, the same time as the Australia tour.

Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore refused to panic after his side’s crushing innings defeat at the hands of South Africa on Sunday.Sri Lanka lost by an innings and 64 runs inside three days, their seventh defeat in 12 matches against the South Africans.But Whatmore tried his hardest to look on the bright side: "There is no point in getting too emotional about this defeat. There were some real positives and we have to put South Africa under more pressure next time.""We bowled them out for 386 despite all the extras and Ruchira (Perera) being forced out of the attack. With a little bit more effort in the batting department in the first innings, we could have been in a position to put pressure on them in the second innings – batting got harder and harder as the match progressed."Sanath Jayasuriya defended his brave decision to bat first on a lively pitchthat offered the South African seamers plenty of movement on day one."I have no regrets," said Jayasuriya. "I thought we had a good opportunity when we won the toss but we failed to score the runs that we had expected."He couldn’t hide his frustration with his wayward bowlers: "The bowling was very disappointing. We bowled on both sides of the wicket. All the South African bowlers bowled in the right areas."South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock was delighted with his team’s performance, their fourth consecutive Test victory."We got on top very early and kept up the momentum," said Pollock. "We had alittle bit of a hiccup in the middle of the order, with a few loose shots,but Jacques (Kallis) came through for us.""They were always on the back foot after we got that lead and wickets often fall quickly when a side is under pressure like that."Our bowling was very good, especially on the day when we kept up the pressure after being a little bit unlucky in the morning. You have to be disciplined in the bowling department to win Test matches and that was an area we had identified for improvement."Pollock said he would have bowled first if he had won the toss: "We were always going to bowl first after we picked five fast bowlers – that was our game plan. There was some assistance on the first day."Man of the match Jacques Kallis, who took three crucial middle order wickets on the first afternoon and then scored a painstaking five-hour 75, believed his partnerships with Mark Boucher and Pollock were crucial."It wasn’t one of my prettiest innings but it was one of those days that we had to graft. The partnerships with Bouch and Polly were crucial, taking the game away from them – we didn’t want to bat last on that wicket."