All posts by csb10.top

Henry Olonga has been granted a five-year visa to remain in Britain. Olonga hit the headlines earlier this year when he and team-mate Andy Flower staged a protest against the Zimbabwe government during their first World Cup game. The players claimed they were mourning the “death of democracy” in Zimbabwe.Both players decided to retire from international cricket after the World Cup. Olonga, who said he was threatened by the ZImbabwean police, quit the country and moved to England, while Flower now divides his time between playingcounty cricket for Essex in England and in domestic cricket for South Australia.Olonga, who is a talented singer and is planning a musical career, is due to undergo knee surgery later this month and believes he may not play first-class cricket again. “I’ve torn about a square centimetre of cartilage which is floating around in my knee,” he told the BBC Sport website. “It’s got to be taken out and then they’ve got to find the source. The specialist reckons it’s from the back of my knee but he can’t say how bad the damage is until he goes in.”My knee is the latest in a whole string of injuries that have spanned mycareer. I’m 27 and I’m starting to feel 40.”Olonga worked as an analyst for Channel 4 in England last summer, and also joined the BBC’s Test Match Special radio commentary team during Zimbabwe’s tour. And he also played for Lashings, a Kent-based club side, which now employs him as a public-relations officer.Olonga and Flower were awarded life membership of MCC recebtly inrecognition of their stand against the regime of Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe.Olonga concluded: “I’m not sure if and when I’ll return to Zimbabwe. If thecurrent regime stays in power, then I’ve got no chance. If things were to change, it may well be that I won’t stay here all that time – but I will plan my life as if I’m going to be here for those five years.”I’m not going to make any predictions but where I end up staying andworking will be determined by the next moves I make in my career, whether it becricket or music. If it’s cricket, I may well go back. But if music takes a central role in my life, it’s unlikely I’ll go back to Zim.”

The Wisden Verdict

Somerset lost to Warwickshire by 19 runs at Taunton
Scorecard

Trevor Penney launched Warwickshire to the largest total of the day as they ran out comfortable winners over Somerset. Penney, in his benefit year, turned back the clock with an electric 52 from only 28 balls, and with help from Collins Obuya (34 not out), Warwickshire raced to 188 for 7. Somerset’s reply got off to a good start with Keith Dutch smacking 70 from 52 balls, but once Jamie Cox was out for 47, wickets continued to fall regularly in their search for quick runs.

Hampshire beat Sussex by 5 runs at Southampton
Scorecard

James Hamblin picked up the Man of the Match award with a quickfire 34 in Hampshire’s nail-biting win over Sussex. A large and partisan home crowd saw a blistering start from Hampshire as Hamblin and Derek Kenway (35) smashed an opening stand of 66. However, Sussex hit back with some good bowling from Mark Davis (3 for 13), and chasing 154, they needed 10 off the last over, but were foiled by their old boy Ed Giddins who bowled a tight last over in an exciting match … and there’s still a concert to come.Surrey beat Middlesex by 4 wickets at The Oval
Scorecard

James Ormond took the first five-for in the Twenty20 Cup with an impressive 5 for 26 from his four overs. Ormond dismissed Ed Joyce and Simon Cook in successive balls as Middlesex made 155 from their 20 overs. For Surrey, Ian Ward (31) and James Benning (27) got them off to a good start before the middle-order saw them home with four balls remaining.Worcestershire beat Northamptonshire by 1 wicket at Worcester
Scorecard

Worcestershire’s Stephen Moore cracked a match-winning 39 not out at No. 8 in a scintillating one-wicket win with two balls to spare over Northamptonshire. After David Taylor had crashed 46 from only 20 balls, Worcestershire were well on course to better Northants’ 150, but then Ricky Anderson struck four times in quick succession as Worcestershire crashed to 84 for 6. However, debutant Moore made a name for himself with his cameo knock as Worcestershire sneaked home in a tense finish.Durham beat Nottinghamshire by six wickets at Chester-le-Street
Scorecard

Jason Gallian’s blistering 62 from 48 balls for Nottinghamshire wasn’t enough to prevent Durham racing to their target of 158 with five balls to spare. Vince Wells picked up 3 for 39 in Notts’ 157 for 7, and then Nicky Peng, who blasted 49 from 29 balls, and Ashley Thorpe (35*) led the way in Durham’s victory.

Over the weekend the prospects of Chris Read being named as the successor to Alec Stewart as England’s wicketkeeper as soon as the second Test were being talked up in many newspapers. But on Sunday Read damaged his hand during Nottinghamshire’s National League game against Sussex, and an X-ray has revealed that he has broken his thumb.That rules him out of contention for the Chester-le-Street Test, as well as making him extremely doubtful for inclusion in the squad for the matches against Pakistan and the NatWest Series which is announced on Thursday (May 29).”It’s really bad luck for Chris, because he’s made an excellent start to the season,” Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket told the BBC. “I believe if he was fit he would have been named as England wicketkeeper. I hope once the thumb heals he will be involved in the national set-up.”

It hasn’t been developed as a firm policy yet but if it should Marcus Trescothick, England’s utility wicket-keeper, is prepared to put the work in to give his side options for matches.Trescothick was the choice when full-time ‘keeper was given a rest in Saturday’s National Bank Series game against New Zealand in Wellington.For the moment he still regards himself as a specialist opening batsman, but he admitted he was enjoying redeveloping the ‘keeping skills that he employed until he was about 17 years of age when he made the choice to concentrate on his batting.He found on Saturday that the task of ‘keeping for 50 overs had not tired him out for batting and his only frustration was that he didn’t spend longer at the crease to see just how much more it would have taken out of him in a full match situation.No decision has been made by England yet on their team for the all-important One-Day International which will decide whether the tourists can get back into the series.He said he had felt his muscles after he first did the job in one game on the tour of India.”But I have done a little bit more practice since then so the muscles are starting to get used to it.”If it gives the extra option of getting another key player into the team then fine, at the moment I don’t see it as being a massive option unless things change dramatically, I don’t foresee it being a long term development.”If I wanted to do it I would have to do a lot more work, I haven’t done it for years. There would be a lot more work involved and a lot more practice,” he said.Trescothick has been working with James Foster in rekindling his skills and he may have a chat with former England ‘keeper Bob Taylor later in the week.His New Zealand counterpart Chris Nevin didn’t practice his batting at the training session today. He took three blows on both hands from England fast bowler Darren Gough in the first game in Christchurch and was not batting today as a precaution.The blows did not affect his hands for wicket-keeping, just batting.Chris Harris also had the afternoon off with a bruised right wrist. But there was no doubt about his availability for Wednesday’s game.

Venue Event Event Day Capacity AttendanceBoland Park, Paarl12-Feb Holland vs India Pool A Match 9014 367419-Feb Canada vs Sri Lanka Pool B Match 9014 329825-Feb Holland vs Pakistan Pool A Match 9009 5508Buffalo Park, East London16-Feb England vs Holland Pool A Match 13428 484027-Feb Canada vs South Africa Pool B Match 13428 9279De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley16-Feb Namibia vs Pakistan Pool A Match 6055 292826-Feb Bangladesh vs New Zealand Pool B Match 6055 371204-Mar Kenya vs West Indies Pool B Match 12110 4587Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein10-Feb New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Pool B Match 13894 376622-Feb Bangladesh vs South Africa Pool B Match 13894 767203-Mar Holland vs Namibia Pool A Match 13894 2939Harare Sports Club, Harare10-Feb Namibia vs Zimbabwe Pool A Match 7357 389913-Feb England vs Zimbabwe Pool A Match 0 019-Feb India vs Zimbabwe Pool A Match 7326 5800Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban11-Feb Bangladesh vs Canada Pool B Match 19884 1048226-Feb England vs India Pool A Match 20010 1835303-Mar South Africa vs Sri Lanka Pool B Match 19993 19744Nairobi Gymkhana Stadium21-Feb Kenya vs New Zealand Pool B Match 0 024-Feb Kenya vs Sri Lanka Pool B Match 6036 6000Newlands, Cape Town08-Feb The Opening Ceremony 23591 2416909-Feb South Africa vs West Indies Pool B Match 23076 2418015-Feb Canada vs Kenya Pool B Match 22985 1259022-Feb England vs Pakistan Pool A Match 23097 2279628-Feb Sri Lanka vs West Indies Pool B Match 23020 19382North West Cricket Stadium, Potchefstroom12-Feb Kenya vs South Africa Pool B Match 10169 736420-Feb Australia vs Holland Pool A Match 10169 437627-Feb Australia vs Namibia Pool A Match 10169 5966Pietermaritzburg Oval14-Feb Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka Pool B Match 7093 290023-Feb India vs Namibia Pool A Match 7088 4805Queens Sports Club Ground Bulawayo24-Feb Australia vs Zimbabwe Pool A Match 6469 500004-Mar Pakistan vs Zimbabwe Pool A Match 6469 400028-Feb Holland vs Zimbabwe Pool A Match 6469 4860St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth13-Feb New Zealand vs West Indies Pool B Match 18106 965919-Feb England vs Namibia Pool A Match 18106 975602-Mar Australia vs England Pool A Match 18131 15987SuperSport Park, Centurion15-Feb Australia vs India Pool A Match 21156 1769423-Feb Canada vs West Indies Pool B Match 21156 1163001-Mar India vs Pakistan Pool A Match 21156 19679The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg11-Feb Australia vs Pakistan Pool A Match 30488 2708116-Feb New Zealand vs South Africa Pool B Match 30568 3130501-Mar Bangladesh vs Kenya Pool B Match 30623 17897Willowmoore Park, Benoni18-Feb Bangladesh vs West Indies Pool B Match 9812 432303-Mar Canada vs New Zealand Pool B Match 9812 5114Grand Total for matches in SOUTH AFRICA 569253 399435

New Zealand paceman Chris Drum all but guaranteed a walk up start in next month’s triangular one-day cricket series by inspiring a four wicket win over the Prime Minister’s XI here today.Late tour replacement Drum took 5-34 including an opening eight over spell of 4-8 to help reduce the Prime Minister’s XI to 7-217 before Nathan Astle (85 notout) guided New Zealand to 6-222 with two overs to spare.Astle brought up the winning runs with a six but stand-in Kiwi captain Craig McMillan said little could be read into their performance before the up-coming one-day series which will also feature Australia and South Africa.The win continued a promising tour for New Zealand which came within three wickets of upsetting world champions Australia in their recent three-Test series.”We surprised a lot of people (who) didn’t expect us to compete as well, or get as close to Australia, as we did (in the Test series drawn 0-0,” he said.”A lot of people are sitting up and taking notice of us now.”We’re looking forward to coming back here after Christmas and giving the one day series a real shake.”New Zealand will contest a two-Test series at home against Bangladesh before returning to Australia for the triangular one day series starting in January.As a nursery for future Australian international cricketers, the match here today provided a few helpful pointers to Test selectors who watched the game.Wicketkeeper/batsman Brad Haddin (35) gave his usual big-hitting display before becoming the first of Drum’s victims.PM’s XI skipper Greg Blewett brought his side’s innings together with 41 and local ACT player Jack Smith, who hit a century against the Black Caps during aprevious tour game, top-scored for the side with 48 not out.Paceman Stuart Clark (2-36) and leg-spinner Cameron White (2-44) turned in economical performances for the Prime Minister’s XI.The game completed a dismal Australian tour for batsman Matthew Bell who scored a duck today after being dropped from the Test side in the Australian series.

Were the Barbados cricket selectors correct in exposing so many young players at the start of the 2002 Busta Series?The evidence of the first three matches might suggest not.Results could sometimes be misleading and one might want to read too much into the fact that Barbados have lost two of their first three games.What one needs to do is to examine the approach of the players.A careful analysis will show a mix of varying levels of success.Kurt Wilkinson, Ryan Austin and Sulieman Benn, three 20-year-olds into their second season of first-class cricket, have demonstrated that they are learning.The first-timers have been disappointing for the most part, although Tino Best’s pace, aggression and emotion have left tongues wagging at Kensington Oval and Sabina Park.Others like 16-year-old opening batsman Martin Nurse seem to be plagued by problems with footwork and he is also a weak link in the field.Dwayne Smith, 18, is an exciting batsman who possesses all the strokes in and out of the coaching manuals, but he appears to have forgotten which strokes are to be played to which balls.Shirley Clarke, 25, is not as young as the others, but had played in only one Busta Cup match prior to the start of the season. He is usually solid as a batsman, but has failed to compile a significant score in four innings.The two 19-year-old fast bowlers, Fidel Edwards and Antonio Thomas, have not had ample opportunities to be properly assessed. The fact that both have been given only one match may suggest a lack of confidence in them.Captain Philo Wallace has, on more than one occasion, knocked the youngsters for not performing up to scratch and has attracted public criticism for his comments.There is, however, some merit to what Wallace is saying. The youngsters must be told when they are going wrong and must be told that mediocrity will not be accepted at this level.At the same time, we must appreciate that it is a learning experience for some of them and some will take longer than others to develop. The question is how quickly will they learn?The game of cricket is such these days that the period of apprenticeship is not as long as it used to be.At international level, there are young players who have slotted easily into their teams. Abdur Razzaq, still only 22, has already scored three Test centuries and is a vital all-rounder for Pakistan in both versions of the game.Another question that has to be asked is, has the Barbados selectors opted for the adequate balance of experience and youth? It stems from the fact that as many as eight of the 13 that travelled to Jamaica last weekend were below the age of 21.In all fairness to the selectors, they might not have expected that four Barbadians, including captain Sherwin Campbell would have been selected for the West Indies team which is currently playing Pakistan in Sharjah.The situation was also compounded by Dale Richards’ withdrawal because of injury on the eve of the tournament.With four other experienced players having been discarded, it translated into Barbados taking to the field for the first match without eight regulars of recent times Campbell, Ryan Hinds, Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins, Roland Holder, Adrian Griffith, Hendy Bryan and Dave Marshall.It left stand-in skipper Wallace often depending on the few seasoned players to pull the brunt of the weight. The fact, too, that they have been somewhat inconsistent has had something to do with the disappointing results of the last two matches.The youngsters might not have lived up to expectations, but we must be prepared to persist with them. Some may appear to be out of their depths, but they can only get better if they are given a chance.There is no doubt that the likes of Wilkinson, Benn, Austin, Smith and Best have the ability to progress to another level.We therefore should not be too hasty in wanting to write them off. They are as talented as any of the young players in the region and they must be encouraged as much as possible.But they must remember that potential must be translated into performance. It will no doubt take time, but we will not be prepared to wait forever.

The BCCI has asked the Delhi High Court to reverse the decision that set aside the five-year ban imposed by them on Ajay Jadeja. It has also accused the arbitrator who ruled in Jadeja’s favour of bias.After Jadeja had appealed against the BCCI’s ban to the Delhi High Court, the court had appointed Justice JK Mehra to to rule on the case. Mehra had decided in favour of Jadeja, contending that K Madhavan’s report, which formed the basis of the BCCI ban, was "illegal and against the prinicples of natural justice".The BCCI’s counsel, CS Vaidyanathan, referred to Mehra’s ruling as a "perverse finding". He mentioned that Mehra had disallowed cross-examination of Jadeja on his telephone calls to Uttam Chand, a Chennai bookie, printouts of which were already on record.Vaidyanathan further hit out at Mehra’s comment on "natural justice" by pointing out that the BCCI counsel’s request to re-call Jadeja for further cross examination was rejected by Mehra, who did not deem it necessary to offer a reason for his rejection. Was this not in violation of the principles of "natural justice", queried Vaidyanathan.Vaidyanathan went on to clarify that Madhavan’s role had been merely to investigate the matter, and not to take any action. That onus was on the BCCI’s disciplinary action committee, which had, in accordance with the prinicples of "natural justice", given a full hearing to Jadeja before deciding to impose the ban.Jadeja’s counsel, PP Malhotra, was not quite as convincing as his counterpart. He began the proceedings by submitting hotel records to the court in support of his contention that the BCCI counsel had earlier sought adjournments despite being in town, and had thus tried to vitiate the proceedings. The court ignored him. It asked Vaidyanathan to file a synopsis of his submissions within a week. It also directed Malhotra to file a synopsis of his arguments a week after Vaidyanathan submitted his.July 15 has been fixed as the date of the next hearing.

An unbeaten hundred from RVC Prasad and his remarkable 168-run with No. 9 Hemal Watekar brought Andhra within shouting distance of Gujarat’s first-innings score of 499 on the penultimate day of the five-day Ranji pre-quarterfinal between the two sides at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad.Earlier, Andhra, who resumed at 250 for six, lost two early wickets in the morning. The score was 269 for eight when Watekar joined Prasad. In the 86 overs that followed the two men resuscitated Andhra hopes. When stumps were drawn, Prasad was batting on142 off 378 balls, a knock which included 20 fours, while Watekar was batting on a patient 61. All is now set for an engrossing first session on the final day. Whichever team secures the lead will make it to the quarterfinal. Gujarat needing just two quick wickets are still the favourites. But as anyone who has followed Andhra’s fairytale run would tell, one would be writing off the latter at one’s own peril.

The technical committee of the Asian Cricket Foundation which met inKolkata on Thursday, decided that the matches of the Asian TestChampionship will be supervised by neutral umpires.The last time the tournament was played two years ago, the umpireswere from the ICC. This time, the committee decided to use one umpirefrom the ICC and the other from the countries playing in thechampionship."This is being done to give more exposure to the umpires in this part of the world," said Jagmohan Dalmiya, chairman of the ACF which implements the ACC programmes.However, he informed that both the umpires would be neutral. "An India-Sri Lanka match will be conducted by an ICC umpire and one from either Pakistan or Bangladesh." The match referee will however be from the ICC.Dalmiya also said that for all the ATC matches, members of thetechnical committee will be present as observers. "In the first matchbetween India and Pakistan, Asanta de Mel will be present. In thesecond game between Pakistan and Bangladesh, Zaheer Abbas will don themantle. The India-Pakistan match will be attended by Sunil Gavaskarand Gazi Ashraf Hussain of Bangladesh.The ACF also selected three development officers to promote the game invarious parts of the continent. The three are Roger Binny (India),Iqbal Sikander (Pakistan) and Rumesh Ratanayake (Sri Lanka). However,Dalmiya added that all those who had applied for the post would beused for coaching. It should be mentioned here that from India, AshokMalhotra, WV Raman and Madanlal had applied for the post.Amongst the other decisions taken was the tie up between the ACC andthe New Zealand Sports Turf Institute to prepare grounds and wicketsin various parts of the Asia. A workshop for coaches and physicaltrainers will also be conducted. "The coaches workshop will beconducted by people from Australia," said Dalmiya. He also added thatDr. Vece Paes has been appointed by the ICC to look after the physicaltraining and the sports medicine aspect. He will also train thephysical trainers, he added.