All posts by csb10.top

ADELAIDE, Nov 29 AAP – Tasmanian all-rounder Daniel Marsh capped a wonderful game with bat and ball, taking the crucial wicket of South Australian centurion Greg Blewett to sew up a 22-run victory in their day-night ING Cup cricket match at Adelaide Oval tonight.In reply to Tasmania’s 6-282, SA made 7-260 with only some lusty hitting from SA wicketkeeper Graham Manou (56 not out from 33 balls) at the end of the innings preventing a much bigger Tigers win.Manou’s half-century came off just 29 balls, the fastest in the competition so far this season.But it came too late to detract from the superb performance of Marsh.The man of the match scored an unbeaten, inventive 62 off 50 balls at the tailend of Tasmania’s innings.He shared in a fifth wicket partnership of 92 off 77 balls with top-scorer Graeme Cunningham (77 off 77 balls) to push the Tigers to their huge total.SA looked competitive in its run-chase while skipper Blewett, who opened the innings, was at the crease.Blewett, who scored an unbeaten 109 in SA’s previous one-day match against Western Australia, made 102 from 123 balls with 13 boundaries tonight and guided the Redbacks to 4-158 in the 34th over.But Marsh, in his second over, drew a thick inside edge from an attempted lofted straight drive from Blewett and had him caught at midwicket to end SA’s hopes.None of the other batsmen in SA’s top seven reached 30, highlighting the lack of support for Blewett, who had scored almost two-thirds of his team’s runs at the time of his dismissal.Marsh also picked up the wicket of all-rounder Michael Miller near the end of the innings to finish with the excellent figures of 2-45 from nine overs.Opener Michael Dighton was another good performer for Tasmania with 60, while Shane Watson made 40 from 43 balls early in the Tigers’ innings and chimed in with 1-53 from 10 overs.Tasmanian opening bowler Damien Wright took 1-33 from 10 tight overs.Marsh said it had been a great comeback for the Tigers, after losing outright to New South Wales in a Pura Cup match in Hobart earlier in the week.”We came out and played really well, especially the batters played well today, and to win against South Australia away from home is a great effort from us,” Marsh said.”We were pretty confident when we got 280, I think it’s our highest ever score against the Redbacks, if we can’t defend that we’re going to struggle.”He said the wicket of Blewett was the key.”Greg Blewett batted particularly well and we were all pretty relieved when he got out,” he said”I was just trying to keep him to ones, stop the boundaries and try to tie up Mick Miller, who was batting at the other end.”Obviously the run-rate was going up and he had to play a risky shot, so lucky for me and the team he hit it straight to the fielder.”There were a few worrying moments when Graham Manou was hitting us around at the end there, but I think we were all pretty confident in the end.”

Channel Four cricket presenter Dermot Reeve was married to Fiona Parkes at Hornsbury Mill, near Chard at the end of last week.Dermot enjoyed a highly successful cricketing career and played in 3 Test Matches and 29 One Day Internationals for England. He also led Warwickshire during their record breaking run in the 1990’s before joining Somerset as First team coach in 1997.He may have left Somerset during the 2000 season to enable him to further develop his media work, but many agree that the successes of the current team are a legacy of the time that he spent at the club.The couple met through cricket just over a year ago, whilst Fiona who hails from Sydney in Australia was working for a cricket hosting company.The wedding at Hornsbury Mill was a private function with several of the brides family making the journey from Australia to be present at the occasion.The couple hosted a reception at their house in North Curry in Somerset last night that was attended by a large number of their friends and sporting colleagues.The couple have no plans to go away in the immediate future. Dermot told me: “The rest of my life will be my honeymoon.”

Chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Tim Lamb, has spoken in a radio interview about the timescale for contract negotiations with England coach Duncan Fletcher. He hopes to have it all sorted out before the start of the Ashes tour, in the best interests of the national side.”The detail of the discussion must remain confidential – but we are talking to Duncan on the possible extension of his contract,” Lamb said.”Those negotiations are ongoing, and we hope we will have them resolved before touring Australia in mid-October. Duncan has put it on public record that he wants to continue, and we are talking to him on that basis at the moment.He added: “I think English cricket has moved forward since Duncan took over as head coach and Nasser Hussain as captain – and that is why we are talking to him now.”

He stands elegantly in the lounge of the MCC Club in Kingston where, once upon a time, his mother worked as a cook to earn her living. He owes much to the club; the officials sent little Courtney Walsh to school at the expense of the club.Walsh is not so little any more, physically or figuratively. The gangly fast-bowler became the most prolific wicket-taker in Test history, but he shows no regret as Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne have his mark of 519 wickets firmly in their cross-hairs. By his own admission, Walsh is “a satisfied ex-cricketer” with no intention of involving himself in the sport for the moment.Instead, Walsh runs Courtney Walsh Sports – a shop adjacent to the MCC Club building – and enjoys life in his spare time. “For 17 long years, I played continuously,” he says. “Now my body and mind deserve rest, and I am eager to provide them with it.”To get from 400 Test wickets to 434 took you some time. But once you got past 434, it seems like you just zipped to 519.Yes, that happens sometimes. No matter how hard you try, you may not get wickets. But after that (the 434-wicket mark), luck was probably on my side.Now that you hold the record at 519 wickets, have you ever thought that it may not stay in your name for long?I did not think of it that way. When I left the international arena, I was the highest wicket-taker in the world, and I left cricket with my head held high. I was satisfied.Your partner with the new ball, Curtly Ambrose, is now playing guitar, and your skipper Richie Richardson is running a pub. Do you have any plans to do such things?At the moment, no. I am too tired. I need rest, and I have not thought about what to do in future. It can wait a bit. When I am fresh, I’ll consider different options and decide what I’ll be doing.If the West Indies Cricket Board offers you the post of the coach of the national team, will you accept it?Again, at the moment, there is no such possibility. I’ll do everything, but only after resting myself to the content of my heart as well as my body. I had had no hurry to do anything in my life even when I was playing, and I have no such hurry now.People are saying that the West Indies are slowly returning to a team of some strength. What do you think, as a former skipper of the team?At least they are playing better in this series. Each of them is playing with motivation, and that is evident from their performances in the ongoing series. That augurs well for the future.The West Indian on the road thinks you and Ambrose could have given two more years, which would have let the new crop of bowlers adjust to the pressures of international cricket. The current bowling would be better, and you could have increased your tally too.I think I retired at the right moment, and I have no regrets. My body was not permitting it any more. I played for the country, led the country, and enjoyed my cricket fully in those 17 long years. But during those last days, I was not enjoying it as much as I used to. I am thankful to the Almighty that he has given my body the power to resist the toil of bowling relentlessly for 17 years. Believe me, I am really enjoying every moment of rest now, being far away from cricket and living the cool and composed life of a retired person.

Redlynch & Hale must be wondering what they have to do to climb out of the Southern Electric Premier League Division 3 relegation zone.With Iain Souter hitting an unbeaten 107 and sharing a 119-run stand with Steve Fox (59), they posted a healthy 272-5 against Ventnor at Steephill.But the Islanders romped home by six-wickets, veteran Jeff Hose bludgeoning 91 and Academy teenager Mark Miller (60) marking his return from a back injury with a supporting knock.Richie Morgan (84) helped leaders Alton beat Leckford by five wickets, while South African Willen Prozesky took 4-54 and then hammering 153 not out as Purbrook overhauled Hartley Wintney’s 262-8.Third placed Flamingo swept to a fifth successive win, beating Waterlooville by 33 runs and St Cross Symondians got home by five wickets against Hambledon.Hursley Park continued their improvement with a healthy 65-run victory over Bashley (Rydal) II.

One of the most treasured artefacts remaining from the 125-year history of Canterbury cricket returns home this weekend for the first time in three decades.The ball with which Albert Moss took all 10 wickets in an innings on his Canterbury debut in 1889, creating a record that has never been matched, was lost to the Canterbury Cricket Association in the early 1970s.On Sunday it will be displayed at Addington Raceway in Christchurch as part of a function when the best Canterbury men’s and women’s teams will be announced in a competition run by The Press.Moss was a 26-year-old from Leicestershire, England, who emigrated to Christchurch to avoid the tuberculosis that killed his bootmaker father.A fast bowler, Moss took 10-28 against Wellington at Hagley Park in December 1889, forever etching his name in the history books. The ball was mounted and decorated with a commemorative plaque. It became Moss’ most valued possession.Yet Moss played just three further games for Canterbury and a drink problem led to his wife leaving him and taking Moss’ valued momento with her.Moss fled Christchurch in shame for South America. From there, still an alcoholic, he travelled to South Africa, still looking for deliverance.The fast-bowling clerk’s decision to join the Salvation Army in South Africa changed his life around and Moss became a respected figure in Pretoria for his good works for the Army.His wife, Mary, back in New Zealand, chanced upon a copy of War Cry, the Sallies magazine, which mentioned Moss’ rehabilitation and the work he was doing in South Africa.She sent him the ball and then remarried the reformed Moss after following him to South Africa.After Moss’ death in 1945 his famous ball was sent to Lancaster Park, as was his wish.In the early 1970s the Salvation Army rediscovered the story and recovered the ball for use as a prop when telling the salutary tale.Only last week was the ball refound by the CCA and will be seen for the first time in 30 years by the cricket fraternity on Sunday.However, the ball will be returned to the Salvation Army’s Major Rodney Knight after it is exhibited at Addington. Back in the seventies the CCA did not realise the full value of the ball and there was some dispute when it tried to recover the heirloom in the late 1980s.Only now has an agreement been finalised to allow to ball to be exhibited by the CCA on special occasions like this Sunday’s celebration, when the amazing tale of Albert Moss will be revived once more.

Somerset fans will be delighted at the news that they will have the services of their two England players Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick for some of their early season matches before the start of the home test series and the triangular one day international tournament.Both players will be missing from the match against Cardiff UCCE at Millfield School, and they will also miss out on the County Championship opener against Sussex at Hove on April 24th, plus the first three Benson and Hedges matches.However Caddick and Trescothick will be available to play for the Cidermen in the Benson and Hedges games against Gloucestershire at Bristol on Sunday May 5th, and against Worcestershire the following day at the County Ground, and the pair will also be able to play in the county championship match against Yorkshire, which starts on Wednesday May 8th.Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me: "As last year we are disappointed that they are going to be missing from the first three Benson and Hedges matches, but we will just have to get on with it. However we are delighted that they will be available to play in the Queens Golden Jubilee match against reigning champions Yorkshire."The Somerset Chief added; "We have also had it confirmed that Richard Johnson will not be a centrally contracted England player and will be available to play for Somerset from the start of the season."Meanwhile Marcus Trescothick who returned from New Zealand last Friday was at the County Ground watching his county team-mates play a forty over match between themselves on Saturday and also again when they beat the West of England Premier League XI on Monday.

North Zone made a relatively easy entry into the Vijay Hazare TrophyUnder-16 tournament with the help of the massive 198-run first innings leadover West Zone in the semifinal match at the Maharaja Jayachamaraja WodayarSports Centre in Bangalore on Tuesday.Resuming at 160 for three, West Zone’s overnight pair of opener SOKukreja (79) and CR Suryavanshi (74) took the socre to 207. Kureja was thefirst to be dismissed on the final morning, stumped by Bhupinder Singh offAbhinav Bali. During a 224-minute stay at the crease, Kukreja faced 185balls and hit eleven fours and two sixes. Yousuf Pathan (6) did not lastlong and in the 63rd over was trapped leg before by Paras Dogra. ParagMadkaikar (54) then joined Suryavanshi and forged a 68-run partnership forthe seventh wicket. Suryavanshi was the next to be dismissed, caught byRahat Ali off Gaurav Gupta. During a stay of two hours at the crease,Suryavanshi faced 121 balls and hit six fours. Thereafter, an eighth wicketstand worth 52 runs ensued between Madkaikar and Sunasura (32). ThoughMadkaikar battled at one end he lost partners and the innings folded up at359.North Zone in their second innings scored 107 for 1 in 25 overs. OpenersRahul Arora (25) and S Dhawan (66) added 72 runs in 17.3 overs. Arora wasthe only casuality of the day for North, when he found himself run out.Then Kuldeep Rawat (12) and Dhawan took the team to stumps.

There were few surprises in the list of 25 probables for India’sforthcoming tour of Zimbabwe which Board secretary JY Lele announced at theGujarat State Fertilizer Corporation ground in Baroda on Sunday. Only threeof them have not represented India before in either Tests orODIs: medium pacer Rakesh Patel and rookie wicket keepers Ajay Ratra andDeep Dasgupta. Amongst the probables are three protagonists from the ongoing Ranji Trophy final: Zaheer Khan and Rakesh Patel from Baroda andHarvinder Singh from Railways.Chairman of selectors Chandu Borde and his four colleagues Madan Lal, AshokMalhotra, TA Sekhar and Sanjay Jagdale conferred with Indian skipper SauravGanguly before exercising their verdict. The squad includes seven mediumpacers, four spinners, three wicket keepers and eleven batsmen, many ofwhom can bowl to varying degrees of proficiency. The only major hiccup wasthe exclusion of both Nayan Mongia and Vijay Dahiya. In their absence SamirDighe is pitchforked into the hot seat as India’s No.1 wicket keeper. CoachJohn Wright indicated after the series against Australia that the Indian team needed players with ‘attitude’ like Dighe. The 32-year-old Mumbai skipper’s brief but spunky knock in the climactic stages of the Chennai Test doubtless sealed the vote in his favour.He will however have two young pretenders breathing down his neck at thepreparatory camp. Haryana’s Ajay Ratra is fairly well known for hisexploits at the junior level. Earlier this year he skippered the IndiaUnder-19s to victory over their English counterparts in both the Test andone-day series. But Bengal’s Deep Dasgupta is still something of an unknownquantity. Dasgupta, 23, began his first class career as a specialistopening batsman and struck a century on debut in the Super League againstBaroda at the Eden Gardens in 1998/99. Next season he took additionalcustody of the keeper’s job but flitted in and out of the side untilfinally shaking off the shadow of veteran Saba Karim.Nine of the 11 batsmen operate in the middle order, leaving no reserve opener apart from Ramesh and Das who were not entirely convincing in the Test seriesagainst Australia. While the pair need to be persisted for the moment, itwould have been ideal to have someone pushing them like Baroda’s SatyajitParab who struck four centuries in the Ranji Trophy this season, thehighest by any batsman.The preponderance of seamers is in accordance with the hard, grassy wicketsexpected in Zimbabwe but contrary to general impression, India’s spinnershave received plenty of purchase on two previous tours of Zimbabwe. In twoone-off Tests India played in Harare, 16 of the 34 Zimbabwean scalps fellto the slow bowlers. Three of the four spinners from the third Test squadat Chennai are retained while Rahul Sanghvi gets an opportunity toresurrect his career, having been harshly jettisoned after the pipeopenerin Mumbai where Saurav Ganguly gave him ten overs in five spells, in whichhe took two wickets.Of the quicker bowlers, Rakesh Patel, lively and industrious, collected 34wickets in the Ranji season. But for a knee injury which severely curtailedhis participation in the final he might have ended up as the highest wickettaker in the competition. Harvinder Singh who played two Tests againstAustralia in 1997/98 is slightly luckier to earn a recall; although hebowled well in bursts his presence seems more a token concession to theemergence of Railways as a domestic power. A better choice would have beenYere Goud whose unruffled temperament is admirably suited to the demands ofTest cricket; the 29 year old tops the Ranji aggregate this season with 898runs going into the final day. Indeed only one of the top 56 run getters inthe Ranji Trophy figures in the probables: Dinesh Mongia who finished 28thin the final standings. It makes one wonder whether domestic performancesreally count.Separate teams are likely to be chosen from the probables for the Test andone-day legs of the tour. India begin their engagements with two three daywarm-up games, followed by two Test matches, and wind up with a triangularone-day series also involving the West Indies. A five day camp for theprobables will kick off in Bangalore from May 13 and the final team is tobe announced on May 18.The probables:Saurav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman,Sadagopan Ramesh, Shiv Sunder Das, Hemang Badani, Yuvraj Singh, VirenderShewag, Dinesh Mongia, Mohammed Kaif, Sameer Dighe, Ajay Ratra, DeepDasgupta, Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Debashis Mohanty,Ashish Nehra, Rakesh Patel, Harvinder Singh, Harbhajan Singh, SarandeepSingh, Sairaj Bahutule and Rahul Sanghvi.

Match Facts

September 27, 2012
Start time 19.30 local (1400GMT/1500BST)Moving on: Stuart Broad has tried to brush aside England’s demise against India•AFP

The Big Picture

You never really know what you will get from either of these two teams. West Indies can take apart any bowling line-up but can also let it slip in the field. England can live with the best teams on their day but also lose in embarrassing style. It makes for a fascinating contest.West Indies have yet to play a full game in this tournament after losing on D/L against Australia and then rain arrived before they could bat against Ireland. It means, like England in 2010, they have progressed without winning a game yet remain a challenger for the title. This time England have managed a victory, but it is their crushing defeat against India which is the game most are talking about.Darren Sammy could barely contain his smile as he spoke about the potential of Sunil Narine bowling against England in the Super Eights. His confidence is not misplaced. And that is before West Indies’ batting power is considered. England’s bowling attack is their strength; it will be sorely tested by Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard and the rest.The most recent Twenty20 meeting between these two teams ended with England completing their highest T20 chase at Trent Bridge but that was at the tail-end of a tough tour for West Indies. Perhaps a more relevant match to consider is the second of the back-to-back encounters at The Oval last year when a young England side – featuring a number of players in the current squad – were dismantled for 88 on a pitch offering some turn.Still, for all the familiar questions posed by the defeat against India it does not have to be terminal to England’s hopes. The side have responded to adversity in the past and fortunes can change very quickly. A charge for the title looks unlikely, but that was also so in 2010.

Form guide

(Most recent first, completed matches)
England LWWLW
West Indies LWWLW

Watch out for…

It is often said that a players’ standing grows in his absence and that was certainly the case for Samit Patel when he was left out against India. His left-arm spin would have been very useful and he is one of the more competent batsmen in the squad against spin – although on recent evidence that judgement is starting at a low base. He at least has the wrist work to place the ball into the gaps and the confidence to use his feet. But he is only one player.When Sunil Narine was unleashed on England earlier this year it did not go very well for him. In a Test, two ODIs and a Twenty20 he managed a solitary wicket. The expectation won’t have helped and he was also battling the damp conditions of an English summer. The challenge for England in Pallekele will be very different. Not that it is likely to spin square, but it does not have to to dumfound England’s batsmen. He just needs to be careful about his front foot. There are no excuses for overstepping.

Team news

Patel is likely to return in place of Tim Bresnan to give the side a more balanced look. A complete rethink of tactics is unlikely, although Danny Briggs would be an interesting option if he could be slotted in. Michael Lumb and Ravi Bopara are the other batting choices, but the current top six will probably be given another chance.England (probable) 1 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Luke Wright, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Stuart Broad (capt), 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Steven Finn, 11 Jade DernbachDwayne Bravo missed the Ireland game with a groin strain and will slot back in, probably for Andre Russell, if fit again which is looking likely after he came through a net session. There will be a temptation to play the legspinner Samuel Badree although that would mean leaving out either Ravi Rampaul or Fidel Edwards who both bowled well against Ireland.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Fidel Edwards

Pitch and conditions

There was some pace and bounce in the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh – enough for Bangladesh to get carried away with the short ball – which encouraged stroke-making and that bodes well for the Super Eights. What does not bode so well is the continuing threat of rain and as far as that goes it is just a case of fingers crossed.

Stats and trivia

• In a neat coincidence, West Indies qualified for the Super Eights by scoring 191 in a rain-affected defeat then having a no result against Ireland, which is exactly what happened to England in 2010.
• England and West Indies have played eight times in T20Is with West Indies 5-3 up on the head-to-head.

Quotes

“Winning World Cups is about winning the important games. There is no point playing like a dream all the way through to the semi-final and losing that one, so it is about developing momentum.”
“I think everyone who comes on to bowl has a big part to play, but Sunil is our trump card. He has done well for us, and we hope he’ll have a big impact on the English batting line-up.”