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Ahmed Jamal, the Pakistan Customs fast bowler, has won a ‘King of Speed’ competition, a nationwide search to unearth new pace talent

Umar Farooq29-Apr-2013Ahmed Jamal, the Pakistan Customs fast bowler, has won a ‘King of Speed’ competition, a nationwide search to unearth new pace talent. His fastest delivery was clocked at 143kph and won him Rs 1 million in prize money.Jamal, 24, is from Abbottabad in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 68 miles north of Islamabad. He took five wickets on first-class debut for Pakistan Customs in 2009, and has 127 wickets in 34 games.Jamal was one of four quicks selected for Wasim Akram’s camp from a countrywide talent hunt earlier this month. The others were Muhammad Imran from Karachi, who bowled 136 kph, and Faisalabad’s Abdul Ameer and Faisal Yaseen, who both bowled at 135kph.”I am thrilled and very happy,” Jamal said in Karachi. “My feet were on the ground before I won this and will remain on the ground after winning the prize as I want to make a name for myself. I had planned to spend this money, but I am not going to disclose it now.”Jamal was among 24 bowlers who were undergoing a 10-day training camp led by Wasim Akram. He said Shoaib Akhtar was his inspiration. “I was always inspired by Shoaib Akhtar who was very fast so I wanted to bowl like him.”At the camp, Akram worked with the country’s best fast bowlers, including members of the national team and some new talent. It was organized ahead of the Champions Trophy in England, amid growing concerns about the depth of Pakistan’s fast-bowling reserves. “These ten days are the best of my life,” Jamal said. “What I have learnt during these days are a big thing for me and I want to move from strength to strength.”Akram was optimistic about the future of fast bowling in Pakistan after the camp. “I am happy to see that we still have great fast bowling talent in Pakistan, we just need to find that talent and polish our youngsters,” he said. “Fast young bowlers like Ahmed Jamal are the future of this country; they can become part of our national team and take Pakistan cricket to new heights of glory.”It was a short camp and we will not stop here. I feel captain’s role is very important in grooming the fast bowlers, if a bowler is low on confidence then the captain can lift it by backing his bowler and that raises the confidence.”I am sure that [Mohammad] Irfan and Junaid [Khan] will improve with time,” Akram said. “Irfan is a rare talent and should be used properly and Junaid is also showing great improvement. I feel the boys showed great passion for learning and because of that my passion also increased. I think we have talent in pace department.”

Kevin Pietersen played one of the great Test innings to leave England scenting victory in the second Test during a day of high drama in Mumbai

The Report by David Hopps25-Nov-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKevin Pietersen followed Alastair Cook with his 22nd Test hundred•BCCI

Kevin Pietersen played one of the great Test innings to leave England scenting victory in the second Test during a day of high drama in Mumbai. Pietersen bestrode the first two sessions with a brilliant 186 and England’s spinners did not waste the opportunity he had provided as Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar terrorised India’s second innings in turn.Rarely has a Test of any era had such an emphasis upon spin bowling, and the result has been a compelling contest. India will start the fourth day precariously placed with a 31-run lead and three second innings remaining. Swann and Panesar, yet to win a Test in tandem for England in eight attempts, proved themselves at least the equals of India’s spinners. However, there is just a glimmer of hope for India: England will not chase any fourth-innings total above 100 with certainty.This was a historic day as Pietersen and Alastair Cook both equalled the record for most England Test centuries, it was an enthralling day of virtually perpetual spin, it even had an element of controversy in the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow, but it largely swooned in the presence of the batting genius of Pietersen, who unveiled one of his most exceptional innings for England, 186 from 233 balls on a wickedly turning pitch, an innings played with utter conviction, awash with moments of rare skill.The quality of his innings – and, in a different key, that of Cook – was emphasised by what followed. England’s tail collapsed in quick time and then India caved in in turn, only Gautam Gambhir gamely assembling an unbeaten half-century. Panesar and Swann outbowled their India counterparts on this occasion, even if the difference was overstated because of Pietersen’s brilliance, with Panesar’s extra pace making him a particularly challenging proposition on a surface where he could also turn the ball markedly.Nearly eight overs elapsed before England, holding a lead of 86, made an impression, Panesar drawing Virender Sehwag cagily forward and Swann taking a catch at gully. Cheteshwar Pujara, England’s scourge, was caught at short leg off an inside edge as Swann followed suit in the next over.The stage was set for what might prove to be Sachin Tendulkar’s final Test innings in Mumbai, but there was no heroic script, no summoning of powers of old. Tendulkar survived a stumping appeal off Panesar by a whisker as his back foot momentarily lifted and was then late on his shot against Panesar to be lbw.Was it the pressure, or merely carelessness, which then caused Virat Kohil to mistime a full toss from Swann horribly to mid-off where the substitute, Joe Root, held his nerve? Yuvraj Singh followed off the glove to short leg; MS Dhoni, a captain who had demanded turning surfaces to expose England, found himself exposed as he edged Panesar to slip. A breathless third day ended with R Ashwin’s failed attempts at adventure and a skied catch to Samit Patel at extra cover.Panesar has 10 wickets in the match to date, the first time an England spinner has done that since Hedley Verity in the 1930s. His quicker pace than India’s slow left-armer, Ojha, on a pitch where both could find substantial turn, made him a more difficult proposition.But as the dust settled – and there was lots of it – the emphasis remained with Pietersen. This was an innings of daring and presumption, one that could only be played by a batsman of great talent and even greater ego. India’s spinners waited for the storm to abate in the knowledge that only when it did normal life could be resumed.

Smart stats

• Kevin Pietersen’s 186 is the third-highest score by an England batsman in India. It is also the highest score by an England batsman in Mumbai surpassing Graeme Hick’s 178 in 1993.

• Pietersen and Alastair Cook, who scored 122, now have 22 centuries each and are joint-highest on the list of England batsmen with the most centuries.

• The 206-run stand between Pietersen and Cook is the third-highest third-wicket stand for England against India and and the highest such stand in Tests in India.

• Pietersen’s strike rate of 79.82 is the sixth-highest for a 100-plus score by an England batsman against India. It is also the third-highest strike rate for Pietersen in away Tests (100-plus knocks only).

• The century is Pietersen’s tenth score of 150 or more in Tests. He is now joint-highest with Wally Hammond and Len Hutton on the list of England batsmen with the most 150-plus scores.

• Cook became only the fifth England batsman to score two or more centuries in a Test series in India.

• Monty Panesar’s 10 for 190 is the second-best match haul for an England spinner against India. The best is Hedley Verity’s 11 for 153 in 1934.

• The lowest target successfully defended in Mumbai is 107 by India against Australia in 2004. India went on to win the game by 13 runs.

Pietersen’s hundred was achieved with a reverse sweep against Harbhajan Singh, outrageous, yes, but caressed with such composure there was not the merest hint of excess. For his 150, he performed an exceptional pick-up over mid wicket off Pragyan Ojha. There was also an extraordinary loft over cover for six against Ojha, which he deposited there as if in a dream.Ohja finally got his man, drawing a lavish drive which he nicked to the wicketkeeper, and when it was all over, and Pietersen fell, utterly fulfilled, England’s last five wickets fell for 31 in nine overs as the spinners restored the natural order of things, just as houses and shops are repaired and reopened after a storm has left townEngland’s collapse was quickened by the soft run out of Matt Prior, who half-attempted a stolen offside single and was then sent back by Stuart Broad, Dhoni’s rapid retrieve and throw beating his desperate dive for the crease. The rest fell quickly, with Harbhajan nipping in for two tail-end wickets and Panesar slogging Ashwin to deep midwicket. Perhaps he was desperate to get the ball in his hands.The stand of 206 in 53 overs between Pietersen and Cook moved them alongside Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott with 22 Test hundreds. Even if one India fielder looking on, Tendulkar, had the right to remark that they had barely started, the sense of achievement was palpable in a year that has brought England little joy.Such achievements are years in the making, and they have been reached by two very different individuals following two very different routes, but they came within two overs of each other on a sunny Sunday morning in Mumbai.Cook reached his hundred with a perfectly fashioned off drive against Harbhajan, lips licked in anticipation as he leant into the shot with such poise that when his career ends a representation of the shot should rightly stand alongside Henry Moore’s Old Flo. Pietersen would be better celebrated with a dance song, complete with laser show.Cook, who continued his unparalleled record of hundreds in four successive Tests as captain, fell for 122, 35 minutes before lunch, caught at the wicket by Dhoni as Ashwin found turn and bounce. Cook and Pietersen, introvert and extrovert, loyalist and rebel, had been at the peak of their game.India took the second new ball immediately upon Cook’s dismissal and they struck again on the stroke of lunch as Bairstow, controversially, became Ojha’s third victim as he tried to work him against the spin into the leg side and got a leading edge to Gambhir at silly point. England felt they had a case that Bairstow should have been reprieved on the grounds that the ball had struck the grille of Gambhir’s helmet.England’s director of cricket, Andy Flower, approached the match referee, Roshan Mahanama, to ask for the decision to be reversed, but as Bairstow had left the field of play, the decision could only be withdrawn if India’s captain, Dhoni, withdrew his appeal. Dhoni, with the support of his coach, Duncan Fletcher, chose not to do so. By the close of a remarkable day, it all seemed quite inconsequential.

Sri Lanka completed their third Test victory in five matches, and their largest win over Pakistan on the fourth day in Galle

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran25-Jun-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Asad Shafiq made a solid half-century•AFP

For a year and a half after Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement, every match Sri Lanka played was accompanied by questions about their ability to be a top Test nation in the absence of the game’s greatest wicket-taker. Those questions will be less frequent after Sri Lanka completed their third Test victory in five matches, and their largest win over Pakistan on the fourth day in Galle. The result also snapped Pakistan’s winning streak, which included a 3-0 blanking of world No. 1 England, at five Tests.It wasn’t one-way traffic on Monday, as it had been on the three previous days as Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan defied Sri Lanka for nearly two sessions. Younis gave another demonstration of his fourth-innings mastery, while Shafiq once again showed his appetite for a scrap, as he had in his two previous Tests, against England. Their resistance stretched the game to the final minutes of the fourth day, but Sri Lanka were never in any serious danger, remaining firmly in control all through.Pakistan’s only casualty in the morning was the nightwatchman Saeed Ajmal, run-out in the second over of the day after a direct hit by Suraj Randiv from cover. An early finish to the game looked on the cards when Younis started to walk off after seemingly holing out to mid-off, but there was some doubt over whether Tillakaratne Dilshan had got his fingers under the ball as he took a low catch. It was hard to tell from the replays, and Younis was given the benefit of the doubt.The only other clear-cut chance in the session for Pakistan was when Kumar Sangakkara put down a tough catch at midwicket off Shafiq ten minutes before lunch. There were a few mild lbw appeals, and Shafiq’s french-cut for four early in his innings, but for the most part, Younis and Shafiq were more comfortable than any other Pakistan pair has been this match.They didn’t go into a defensive shell, looking to score even though the target was well out of sight. Younis used the sweep, mostly the conventional version but on one occasion the reverse as well. Shafiq capitalised on the deliveries bowled on his pads, and also pulled out some hard-hit lofted shots as Sri Lanka’s bowlers were made to wait for a breakthrough longer than they have had all match.The pattern continued after lunch as well, as the pair negated the generally slow spin easily. Both batsmen confidently used their feet against spin, and were quick to put away the loose deliveries. Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers weren’t at their best, not testing the batsmen enough and being inconsistent with their lines, while the spinners patiently plugged away. The slow bowlers managed to find a few edges which didn’t carry to slip on several occasions.As the session progressed, it seemed Sri Lanka’s best hope of a wicket would be once the new ball was taken, but Herath got one to spin off the pitch with pace, and Shafiq nicked it through to slip, via the wicketkeeper’s gloves, to fall for 80.Younis went on to become the first Pakistan batsman to complete 1000 runs in the fourth innings, but he couldn’t become the first man to score five centuries in the fourth innings of a Test. Sri Lanka hadn’t needed to wait for the second new ball to break the Younis-Shafiq stand but when they did take it, they got the big wicket of Younis in the very first over. Nuwan Kulasekara, who has been a huge threat with the new ball, got one delivery to hold its line, and not dip in as his deliveries usually do, causing a faint Younis nick to the keeper.With those two strikes, Sri Lanka were in sniffing distance of a win. Debutant Mohammad Ayub, the last of the specialist batsmen, hung around for an hour and a half before becoming fast bowler’s Nuwan Pradeep first Test victim.In a disappointing match for Pakistan, one of the bright spots for them was the wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal. Not only was he competent behind the stumps, he showed promise with the bat as well, besides conveying a sense of enjoying the game. He battled for an unbeaten 40, shielding the tail from the strike as much as he could, but couldn’t take the game into a fifth day as Sri Lanka’s spinners completed the job a few minutes before stumps.

Mickey Arthur, former South Africa coach, has accused former South Africa fast bowler Makhaya Ntini of stabbing him in the back, in his autobiography

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2010Mickey Arthur, the former South Africa coach, has accused former South Africa fast bowler Makhaya Ntini of stabbing him in the back in his autobiography, but says he still has a lot of respect for him. The book, which will be released on Monday and is titled , claims that Ntini betrayed Arthur by complaining to senior administrators after he was dropped from the team, according to .Arthur alleges that Ntini did not handle being dropped well and took the issue to some of the country’s senior cricket administrators, including Cricket South Africa President Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka and former president Ray Mali, which Arthur considered a big letdown. “It was disappointing at the back end of my time that he let us down by running to administrators, but I suppose he was insecure,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo.Ntini was dropped from the one-day international side at the start of the 2008/9 season. In the book, Arthur says the incident caused him to see a side of Ntini he didn’t know, and as a consequence he, “lost a bit of respect for him.” He has since added to that comment, saying, “I still have the utmost respect for him and that is reflected in my book. He still is a huge role model in SA cricket, and there are passages in the book where I am very positive about him.”Arthur’s memoir is far more critical of Nyoka, whom he called a “gutless interferer.” According to Arthur, he had a breakfast meeting with Nyoka, Mali and Ntini in 2008, where Nyoka apologised to Ntini for his absence from the one-day side and apparently guaranteed him a place in place in the national team for the following series against Australia. So that was it,” Arthur writes. “Makhaya would be selected for the one-day squad for Australia, no matter what the coach or the selectors felt was appropriate.”Nyoka and another former CSA president Norman Arendse were vocal about the need for a black African player in the national team and almost caused a player boycott in 2008. Nyoka also criticised Arthur’s team selection in January, when there were no black, African players chosen to play the third Test against England. Ntini was dropped for that Test, and South African news services reported that he had accused Arthur and captain Graeme Smith of not wanting black players in the national team. Both insisted that Ntini was not included in the squad to face England in Cape Town because of poor form.Ntini would not play for South Africa again and announced his retirement earlier this week. He will be given a farewell during the Twenty20 international between South Africa and India at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on January 9, when he will make his final appearance for South Africa.Arthur resigned after the England series, saying that that he had a different vision to that of the administrators, but it was widely speculated that he was quitting because of interference in team selection.Arthur was a surprise choice for coach of the national team in 2004. Under him, South Africa won away Test series in England and Australia for the first time since readmission, and were ranked number one in both Tests and ODIs, although they did not win an ICC trophy. Arthur has since moved to Perth, where he coaches Western Australia.

Facing criticism about an inadequate anti-corruption protocol, the ICC has denied any laxity in the work of its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU)

Sharda Ugra and Osman Samiuddin31-Aug-2010Facing criticism about an inadequate anti-corruption protocol, the ICC has denied any laxity in the work of its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) and pointed out that the body lacks the powers available to conventional law enforcement agencies.Three days after what could be the sport’s biggest scandal came to light, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat told Cricinfo he was not worried about the fact that it was broken following a tabloid sting operation.”The ACSU’s working is not that of a policing agency or a newspaper,” Lorgat said. “They have no power to arrest or seize, or carry out a sting operation.”Criticism of the ACSU began shortly after the arrest of Mazhar Majeed on Saturday, on charges of ‘conspiracy to defraud bookmakers’. Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, was quoted as saying, “We’ve had an anti-corruption unit for how long? Why does it take an English newspaper to bring this out?”The ICC spent $640,000, excluding staff costs, on the ACSU last year. That’s less than 1% of the ICC’s profit of $84.7 million.Defending the ACSU, Lorgat said it had played its own part in assisting the Majeed case, to which the names of at least three Pakistani cricketers have been linked. “There is a lot of evidence we have given to the police in this investigation so we are not worried about how it is working at all”, he said.The ACSU was set up in 2001, in response to the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal, as a means of establishing and publicising very specific anti-corruption and security measures for players, support staff and administrators.The game has changed since then, with the advent of Twenty20 cricket, and so has technology but Lorgat indicated the ACSU didn’t need to change to stay in sync. “In the context of what is going on, I think its work is going fine,” he said.The onset of the World Cup, less than six months away, was not, Lorgat said, a special cause for concern for the ICC. “Never mind the World Cup, there is never a good time of the year for something like this to happen. This kind of bad news is not acceptable and cricket can do without it at any point of time.”The ACSU’s functioning is limited primarily to ICC events and begins with seminars about the anti-corruption code, which takes place in the under-19 World Cup, the women’s world cup and the three main events in the men’s game: the World Cup, the Champions Trophy and the World T20. The seminar is followed by a technical briefing for support staff to discuss anti-corruption issues among others. The players are advised on how to deal with approaches by unknown individuals – they must report it immediately to the manager, much in the manner of Shane Watson and Brad Haddin. Every dressing room has a sign on the wall with the numbers of the ACSU’s hotline. The approach room or corridor leading to the dressing room is watched over by CCTV cameras, whose footage is removed by the ICC’s security police after each day’s play and stored for inspection and reviews when needed.The mugshots of those allowed access to the dressing room – team and support staff – are posted outside the doors and only the manager is allowed to use a mobile phone inside the room; all the cellphones and ‘communication devices’ during the match are banned. While wi-fi access is password restricted, only the manager is given the password to supply to the team’s data analyst. At an ICC event the only other person allowed to enter a dressing room is the event manager – “even the CEO doesn’t have access to the dressing room,” an ICC official said.National boards are supposed to follow identical anti-corruption rules in much the same manner and for the most part seem to be doing so. On the evening before a big international game, the security team inspects the venue. According to a regular ground-operations expert in India, the daily visitor pass to the dressing room has a stamp that fades to prevent it from being re-cycled the next day. In newer stadia – Nagpur, for example – no one else is allowed access even into the separate corridors that take the player from bus to changing room.Yet the rules stop at the ground at the end of the game. The rest, says the ICC staffer, rests on national boards and the player’s own sense of self. “We can’t tap phones or shadow players because that is an invasion of privacy. We can’t control the hotel and we can’t control the individual beyond what he does on the field.” An ICC security man said that the shift from ‘fans’ approaching players to several claiming to be ‘agents’ and ‘managers’ for the players had made the ICC’s vigilance all the more complicated. The fan can be hustled away, the legitimate business partner of a cricketer just won’t budge.The ICC’s anti corruption code has been updated and amended as of October 6, 2009, but the official says there is a chance that the ICC’s chief executives meeting in Cape Town on September 14-15 will discuss the issue of allowances made for the age of cricketers found guilty of colluding with bookies.

When Richard Jones was told he wouldn’t be offered a new contract by Worcestershire at the end of the 2008 season, it looked as if his career could be over

George Dobell at New Road29-May-2010
ScorecardWhen Richard Jones was told he wouldn’t be offered a new contract by Worcestershire at the end of the 2008 season, it looked as if his career could be over. There was never much doubt over his ability. As a teenager, he had earned selection for England U19s and appeared set for a bright future. Yet, aged 21, his progress had stalled and Worcestershire’s patience had started to wane.Fortunately for both bowler and club, however, their patience had not evaporated entirely. Instead of washing their hands of Jones, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, told the young fast bowler that he had the winter to prove himself. He could train with the club and, if they were suitably impressed, he would be offered another contract.It proved to be an inspired piece of man management. The tactic focused Jones’ mind and provided the motivation to force him into long gym sessions. Though 2009 was a grim year for most at New Road, Jones’ progress provided one of the few silver linings. He finished the season with 22 championship wickets at 34 apiece and fully merited his new, one-year deal and his place in the England Performance Squad.”It was brilliant management,” the 23-year-old Jones admits now. “The whole experience was a massive wake-up call. Which was exactly Bumpy’s [Rhodes] plan. I’m massively in debt to him.”It changed my outlook completely. Before then, I had fallen into bad habits. I just did what I was asked at practise without ever doing anything more. I just thought it would all happen for me without having to work for it. I’d played for England U19s and I guess I thought it would all happen easily”In my heart of hearts, I knew it [the news that he wasn’t automatically to be offered a new contract] was coming. I hadn’t performed anywhere near as well as I should have done and, looking back, when I went to the ground in the morning, it was in the knowledge that I might not have a job by the end of the day.”I was told that I had the winter to prove myself. So, in October, when everyone else had the month off, I went to the gym six days a week. Now I’m working hard. I know I’ve been given a second chance and I’m determined to take it.”Jones is still not the finished article. An economy rate above four-an-over betrays a lack of consistency but, with an ability to swing the ball away at pace the sharp side of fast-medium, he is a dangerous bowler with more than a hint of James Anderson about him.
Jones was certainly the pick of the bowlers on the first day of this match. Following on from the career best 7 for 115 he took in his last game, against Sussex, he claimed the first two wickets as reward for a probing opening spell. Only Gloucestershire’s Gemaal Hussain, who was rested for this game, has now taken more than Jones’ 31 championship wickets this season.Indeed, such has been his improvement, that Worcestershire may face a fight to keep him. He’s out of contract at the end of the season and sure to attract interest from a number of counties. They really aren’t too many bowlers of Jones’ pace, ability or potential in the English game.He had some assistance from the batsmen here. Though Gloucestershire are currently third in the division two table, they have earned the position in spite, rather than because, of their top order batting. Chris Dent (21.07), Jonathan Batty (20.14) and Steve Snell (19.50) all have horribly low averages (though Snell made 98 in the victory over Derbyshire earlier in the week) and, in testing, damp conditions that delayed the start until 3.15pm and brought an early finish, their decision to bat first was, perhaps, something of a surprise. So, too, was their decision to omit Kadeer Ali, who scored a polished 74 against Derbyshire.Snell was first to go, reaching for one he could have left and edging to second slip, before Dent top-edged a pull to long leg. Neither man will look back on their stroke with much affection. Batty was unfortunate. After weathering a tough start, he was just beginning to unveil some handsome cuts, as well as a pleasing drive through extra-cover off Shantry, when he turned one off the full face of the bat into the hands of short-leg. It was cruel fortunate for a man who has passed 50 just once in the Championship this season.
It was due reward for another impressive spell from Alan Richardson, however. The 35-year-old seamer, with 27 championship wickets already this season, has fully vindicated Rhodes’ decision to sign him and scarcely delivers a poor ball.The same cannot be said for poor old Matt Mason. The 36-year-old, playing his first game of the season after a back injury, looked a shadow of the fine fast bowler he once was and is now reduced to operating at a pace somewhere between slow and stationary. Suffice it to say, if you saw him on a bus, you’d offer him your seat.

A round-up of the final day’s play of the fourth-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Super League 2009-10

Cricinfo staff27-Nov-2009

Group A

Scorecard
Chandrasekar Ganapathy and L Balaji put in superb performances with the ball as table-toppers Tamil Nadu stormed to a win against Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala. With nine wickets between them, they helped Tamil Nadu cement their position at the top of the points table. Resuming on 199 for 5, the visitors were boosted by Ravichandran Ashwin’s fluent fifty and an unbeaten 44 from Ganapathy. They were bowled out in the 25th over of the day, not before setting HP a target of 247. Ganapathy had the top order in tatters, accounting for five of the top seven batsmen. Balaji proved to be the perfect foil picking up four wickets, as HP failed to hold on to first-innings points. Vikramjeet Malik was their top scorer with 45, but the day well and truly belonged to Ganapathy.
Scorecard
Gujarat slipped further down the points table with an innings defeat against Punjab in Mohali. They were staring down the barrel at 227 for 7 yesterday, and the Punjab bowlers wasted no time, taking just under 19 overs to wrap up proceedings. There was to be no fight from Rujul Bhatt, who added just two to his overnight score of 93. Manpreet Gony ended as Punjab’s most successful bowler with four wickets – a total of eight in the match – while Harmeet Singh finished with three. With the defeat, Gujarat fell to fourth position, handing the No. 3 spot to Punjab.
Scorecard
Railways would have to thank Marripuri Suresh and captain Murali Kartik for helping them avoid defeat against Mumbai at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Beginning on 174 for 7, with a slender lead of 77, Railways were lifted by Suresh’s patient fifty. The overnight partnership with Karan Sharma finally ended on 81, but Suresh combined with Kartik to add another 83 for the ninth wicket. Suresh remained unbeaten, having struck 11 boundaries, as the innings came to an end in the 49th over of the day. The target of 213 could have tempted Mumbai to go on the offensive, but they chose to be content with first-innings points, as the openers put on an unbeaten stand of 69.
Scorecard
Anirudh Singh hit a combative half-century to carve out a thrilling draw for the home team after left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh had nearly pulled off a sensational win for Orissa in Hyderabad. Chasing an improbable 321 for win, Hyderabad were on the brink after being reduced to 191 for 9, but Anirudh held out for 43 balls along No. 11 Lalith Mohan. Earlier today, resuming at 159 for 4, Orissa declared their second innings in the 24th over of the day, setting Hyderabad a stiff 321 for victory. Basanth Mohanty and Alok Chandra Sahoo shared four top-order wickets as Orissa pushed for the win. Dhiraj polished off the middle and lower order with a four-wicket burst to draw them closer. Orissa though, had the consolation of three points, courtesy their first innings lead, while Hyderabad managed one.

Group A

Group B

Scorecard
Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay Kumar shared the spoils for the second time as Karnataka duly completed an innings victory over Maharashtra at the Poona Club Ground. Resuming on 254 for 5, Maharashtra’s hopes lay entirely with overnight centurion Ankit Bawne. He held fort to add 40 along with Ganesh Gaikwad, before Sreesanth Aravind had him caught by Robin Uthappa. The end came about quickly after that, with Vinay Kumar adding two wickets to take his match tally to eight. Mithun, who wrecked the Maharashtra top order yesterday, picked up one more today to finish with seven in the match. Karnataka took six points from the win, opening up a five-point gap at the top of the table.
Scorecard
Virat Kohli’s fighting century notwithstanding, Delhi surrendered tamely by an innings and 22 runs to Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow. Delhi’s hopes of salvaging a point from this game lay with the overnight pair of Kohli and Puneet Bisht. They did try their best, adding a further 104 to the overnight third-wicket stand, before Kohli departed, having hit 22 boundaries. Suresh Raina then got into the act, picking up three wickets with his part-time offspin to hasten the end. Rajat Bhatia made a watchful 56 but ran out of partners as Delhi were badly hampered by Shikar Dhawan’s absence in both innings. The six points helped Uttar Pradesh become the new No. 2 on the points table, at the expense of Bengal.
Scorecard
Arindam Das ensured that Saurashtra did not force an innings defeat, though the visitors gained first-innings points at the Eden Gardens. With victory out of the question, Bengal began the day hoping that Arindam and Manoj Tiwary would continue their partnership and challenge Saurashtra’s mammoth first-innings score. However, their hopes were dashed when both batsmen fell early, sparking off a collapse in which Bengal lost eight wickets for 132 runs. Ravindra Jadeja picked up 4 for 71, as Saurashtra enforced the follow-on. Rohan Banerjee’s early loss in the second essay gave the visitors some hope of a win, before Arindam and Deep Dasgupta joined hands for the second time to steady the ship. Both reached fifties before play was called off after 32 overs.

Group B

Fixtures were cancelled with players going on strike in the final stages of the second season

Matt Roller23-Jul-2025A T10 tournament in the Cayman Islands featuring David Warner, Shakib Al Hasan, Alex Hales and Carlos Brathwaite has been plunged into uncertainty with fixtures unfulfilled over allegations of unpaid salaries.The Max60 Caribbean event was launched last year, but its second season has been blighted by off-field issues. ESPNcricinfo has learned that five fixtures on Tuesday were cancelled after strike action from players, the majority of whom had not received a payment that was due to be cleared 30 days before the start of the tournament.On Tuesday evening, Max60 posted on Instagram that all games had been cancelled “due to off-field issues” and announced that the final would take place on Thursday at 2pm local time between Caribbean Tigers and Vegas Vikings, who were first and third respectively in the league table.This post was later deleted and on Wednesday morning, the fixture was replaced by a “runner-up playoff” between Grand Cayman Falcons (who finished fifth) and Vegas Vikings, followed by a trophy presentation.Players have been supported in their strike action by the World Cricketers’ Association (WCA), which said that the non-payment issues were the latest example of contracts being treated like “worthless pieces of paper”.”It’s disappointing to hear that players still haven’t been paid what they’re owed under their contracts,” Tom Moffat, the WCA’s chief executive, said. “Players have fulfilled their commitments in good faith the whole way along, but it’s unreasonable for anyone to expect them to continue to turn up and put on the show if the terms of their contracts have flagrantly been breached.”This isn’t an isolated or new issue. It’s another example of an officially sanctioned cricket event treating player contracts like worthless pieces of paper, and of the lack of protections for players who compete in events that have been sanctioned by the ICC or its members.”There are simple solutions to these issues and the game’s global leadership and regulations should protect the whole sport, and people within it.”Max60 is run by BMP Sports, a Dubai-based company which claims to be a “global market leader in cricket league ownership, sponsorships, franchising and more” on its website. It is affiliated with the Braves franchise, which has featured in T10 leagues in Abu Dhabi, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.BMP Sports and Max60 were both contacted for comment but did not respond at the time of the publication of this report.

He found success on India’s slower surfaces last year, and with the WI and USA offering somewhat similar conditions, Behrendorff hopes to make the same impact

Tristan Lavalette05-Feb-2024Again fit and firing, and coming off an eye-catching year where he enjoyed a breakout IPL season, left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff hopes his success on slower surfaces will prove alluring as the national hierarchy contemplate Australia’s squad for the T20 World Cup.Behrendorff will be pushing his selection case in the upcoming three-match T20I series against West Indies starting on Friday in Hobart. He is one of four quicks in Australia’s squad with Behrendorff likely to play in two of the matches, including game three at Optus Stadium in what will be his first international appearance on his home ground.”There’s probably going to be a bit of rotation [with the quicks],” Behrendorff told reporters in Perth. “Anytime you get to play cricket for Australia in a World Cup year… it’s a great opportunity to put your name up. I’m really happy that I’m involved in the squad. Hopefully, I can continue to play some good cricket.”Behrendorff, 33, has long been identified as an appealing option for Australia. Towering at 6 foot 4, Behrendorff generates an awkward bounce and can swing the ball sharply. Behrendorff was once considered a potential Test replacement for Mitchell Johnson, but constant back issues meant he had to focus on the shorter formats.He has not played a first-class match since late 2017, but continually starred, over the years, for BBL powerhouse Perth Scorchers and for Western Australia in the 50-over Marsh Cup.Related

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Behrendorff occasionally played white-ball cricket for Australia and memorably claimed a five-wicket haul at Lord’s during the 2019 World Cup, where he ripped through eventual champions England in a 64-run Australia victory.But Behrendorff’s body constantly betrayed him and he appeared to be overtaken by a slew of emerging quicks, including state team-mates Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris.As he entered his 30s, there were fears that Behrendorff might have missed his chance but he’s been able to stay on the park for the last couple of years leading to a revival at the international level.”I’ve had a decent run at just playing cricket and staying on the park, so I’ve been able to develop my game and just get that consistency,” he said. “That was the thing with those injuries from 24 to 29, I played maybe six months out of every 12.”Hopefully I can really tack that [years] onto the back end of my career and play as much as I possibly can into my late 30s.”After an impressive IPL season with Mumbai Indians, where he claimed 14 wickets in 12 matches, Behrendorff last September ended a two-year international absence when he took 2 for 25 in a T20I against South Africa in Durban.He subsequently was a standout for Australia during the now-forgotten T20I series against India in the immediate aftermath of the World Cup. In uncompromising conditions for quicks, Behrendorff was outstanding in four matches with 6 wickets at 17.83 and an economy rate of 6.68.Behrendorff had an epic performance of 1 for 12 in four overs, including 17 dots, to defy the conditions in Guwahati as India racked up 222 for 3 in game three.He was a constant threat with the new ball in trademark fashion but also showed his prowess at bowling through different phases in the innings as he unfurled his repertoire of canny slower balls, cutters and yorkers. It led to Behrendorff recently being named Australia’s T20I player of the year.”I played four out of five games and there were short turnarounds, so that was really a big confidence boost for me in terms of getting on the park day after day,” Beherendorff said. “I was able to execute my skills, that was the biggest thing for me.”It was a great learning opportunity for me and getting to bowl in different phases of the innings in an international match.”The slower surfaces in India are somewhat similar to the pitches in the Caribbean, where Australia will be entirely based at the T20 World Cup also co-hosted by the United States.Australia haven’t toured the Caribbean often in the past decade, but Behrendorff did play two T20Is in Saint Lucia in 2021. Australia will travel there to play Scotland in a group fixture on June 15.”It was an amazing experience to play over there…get used to those sorts of wickets which are a bit different,” he said. “Some of them are similar to what we faced in India in recent times.”So I guess drawing on that bank of knowledge, knowing what I do really well but also adapt to those conditions and the size of the grounds [if he plays].”While he waits for his T20 World Cup fate, Behrendorff will soon return to Mumbai as he looks to build on last season’s IPL campaign.”It’s an exciting period with Hardik Pandya coming back and it’s going to be a great feel around that group again,” he said. “Hopefully we can get back up towards the top of the table.”

Simon Harmer collected another five-wicket haul but Yorkshire mustered 208 before taking three Essex wickets

David Hopps at Chelmsford07-Jul-2019If any county had a right to come to Chelmsford this season with preconceptions about the frenzied cricket that was surely bound to ensue it was Yorkshire. They managed to collapse to 50 all out here last year, an experience so maddening for their coach, Andrew Gale, that he reflected this week that at one point he asked the coach driver if he could put his bag on the bus.The Yorkshire coach was parked up with its doors open during the morning session, presumably just in case Gale decided to make a run for it, but he stayed put on the balcony to watch Yorkshire dash to 208 at more than four an over.Don’t scoff – that’s the highest first-innings score in nine attempts at Chelmsford in a season where Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter have reigned supreme, although Essex’s response to be 122 for 3 at the close made them marginally the happier of the two sides. All this came, incidentally, after Yorkshire’s captain Steve Patterson won his 11th successive Championship toss (when tosses have been necessary), a sequence with odds of 2048-1.Last season’s match produced a staggering turnaround. Yorkshire restricted their first-innings deficit to 92, Jonny Bairstow was promoted to open the batting in gung-ho fashion, Harry Brook followed up with a maiden Championship hundred (still his only hundred) on the second day and Yorkshire wrapped up the game on the third morning.Yorkshire’s preconceptions that this match will follow a similar course were justifiable enough because a dry pitch seamed and turned all day, but Alastair Cook has helped fashion two of Essex’s four victories here – against Kent and Somerset – by providing method alongside the madness, so it is not the only way to go.Harmer has exposed the fallibility of county batsmen against top-level spin all season and he duly returned 5 for 76 in 18.3 overs – his sixth five-for of the season, his Championship tally now swollen to 54 wickets at 17.05 – but Brook played him as enterprisingly as anyone, showing decisive footwork in making 46 from 60 balls on the ground where he made his greatest impact.Brook, a former England Under-19 captain, was playing here in place of Jack Leaning, who made a pair earlier in the week at Scarborough. Brook began the season as an opener, where he played most of his age-group cricket, but he has a decent range of strokes and has a look of the middle order about him. As about 98% of batsmen in the country fit that description perhaps that should be no surprise.Not that coming it at No. 5 exactly saw the shine off the ball. He took guard with Yorkshire 43 for 3 in the ninth over. Porter had two, Adam Lyth driving a wide, overpitched ball to cover and Will Fraine caught at the wicket after a quickfire 29. Gary Ballance had been cunningly silenced by Peter Siddle, who bowled him behind his legs, leg stump, as he shuffled back and across the crease.Tom Kohler-Cadmore then succumbed to a big-turning long hop to give Harmer his first wicket, but Yorkshire countered with an enterprising stand of 59 in 12 by Brook and Jonny Tattersall. Harmer was briefly repulsed, but he bowled Brook on the outside edge to instigate lunch and struck again with his first ball after the resumption when Tattersall cut to the wicketkeeper.Harmer ended the next salvage operation, too – 49 for the seventh wicket between Matt Fisher, who was playing because David Willey pulled out for personal reasons, and Keshav Maharaj. Both survived chances, but two lbw decisions silenced them, with Maharaj so befuddled in the flight that he attempted a stand-up sweep to a yorker. His task as the match progresses will be to match his fellow South African, Harmer. It will not be easy.Harmer is now only three wickets short of his 57 victims last summer and with five matches remaining after this one needs only 21 wickets to surpass his tally when Essex won the Championship in 2017.Tom Westley’s second Championship fifty of the season stabilised Essex, but Yorkshire will be happy to have seen the back of Cook, caught at the wicket off Patterson. Patterson might never be ennobled in the Queen’s New Year Honours, but he knows how to bowl on a pitch like this. The odds on the wicket then? Considerably less than 2048-1.