All posts by h716a5.icu

Queensland have signed another member of the McDermott family with teenage batsman Ben McDermott joining the state on a rookie deal for next summer

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2013Queensland have signed another member of the McDermott family with teenage batsman Ben McDermott joining the state on a rookie deal for next summer. The brother of Queensland-contracted fast bowler Alister and son of former Test bowler Craig, the 18-year-old McDermott recently toured New Zealand with the Australia Under-19s and played as both a wicketkeeper and as a specialist batsman.Opening batsmen Greg Moller and Alex Kemp were also added to the contract list, while Andrew Robinson, Wade Townsend and rookie batsman Corey Barsby were left out. Queensland had a successful 2012-13, winning the Ryobi Cup and finishing as runners-up in the Sheffield Shield, while the Brisbane Heat took out the BBL title. But coach Darren Lehmann said there remained plenty to work on.”We had a pretty good summer but in our post-season reviews, the players all identified areas where we needed to be better,” Lehmann said. “It’s going to be a big year for Australian cricket and we believe there are big opportunities to be had for our group if we can improve our skills and consistency across the board.”We had a lot of fun last season but now we know it is time to start again, put in the hard work, and look forward to enjoying our cricket when the season comes around.”Queensland squad Cameron Boyce, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Luke Feldman, Jason Floros, Peter Forrest, Matthew Gale, Cameron Gannon, Ryan Harris (Cricket Australia contract), Chris Hartley, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, Alex Kemp, Usman Khawaja, Chris Lynn, Alister McDermott, Greg Moller, Michael Neser, Luke Pomersbach, Nathan Reardon. Rookies Nicholas Buchanan, Ben McDermott, Ronan McDonald, James Peirson, Nicholas Stevens.

BCCI president N Srinivasan has denied knowledge of a reported ICC warning to the board about his son-in-law and top Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2013BCCI president N Srinivasan has denied knowledge of a reported ICC warning to the board about his son-in-law and top Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan, who is now under arrest on charges of betting.”I have no information on the ICC warning about Gurunath Meiyappan,” Srinivasan told NDTV. He also told PTI that he had checked with other BCCI officials and no such warning had been received.Srinivasan’s response was in reaction to widespread television reports in India that, in a transcript of a recorded conversation, Gurunath had told Vindoo Dara Singh, an actor also arrested for alleged contact with bookies, that the ICC had warned the BCCI about his activities at the start of IPL 2013.On Friday, before reports of the ICC warning emerged, a Mumbai court ruled, for the second time since their arrest, that Gurunath and Vindoo would have to remain in police custody until June 3. That news came after a third suspect with alleged links to Gurunath and Vindoo – a Chennai hotelier who had been summoned by police – appeared before the Mumbai Police on Friday.Gurunath was arrested by Mumbai Police on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud on May 24, after being summoned to Mumbai for questioning over alleged betting and links to bookies. Police investigations suggested that Vindoo and Gurunath were in frequent telephonic contact. Vindoo was also seen in the CSK box at IPL matches.Gurunath’s arrest heaped plenty of pressure on his father-in-law Srinivasan to step down as BCCI president. Srinivasan has so far insisted that he won’t quit as he had personally done nothing wrong.The Chennai Super Kings has also tried to distance itself from Gurunath, who was pretty much the face of the franchise till his arrest. Gurunath was suspended by the BCCI “from any involvement in the sport of cricket and in particular from any involvement with the Chennai Super Kings team” pending further investigations.The IPL governing council had also appointed a three-member committee, including two independents, to look into the complaints against Gurunath and India Cements, the owner of the Super Kings franchise.1245 GMT This story has been updated to include N Srinivasan’s reaction to reports of an ICC warning to Gurunath

Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist could have played his last competitive match as he pulled out from the Caribbean Premier League due to an ankle injury.

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-2013Marquee players and coaches

Antigua: Marlon Samuels and Ricky Ponting, Head Coach: Vivian Richards, Assistant Coach: Phillip DeFreitas

Barbados: Kieron Pollard and Shoaib Malik, Head Coach: Desmond Haynes, Assistant Coach: Robin Singh

Guyana: Sunil Narine and Mohammad Hafeez, Head Coach: Roger Harper, Assistant Coach: Curtly Ambrose

Jamaica: Chris Gayle and Muttiah Muralitharan, Head Coach: Paul Nixon, Assistant Coach: Junior Bennett

St Lucia: Darren Sammy and Herschelle Gibbs, Head Coach: Andy Roberts, Assistant Coach: Matthew Maynard

Trinidad & Tobago: Dwayne Bravo and Ross Taylor, Head Coach: Gordon Greenidge, Assistant Coach: David Williams

Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist could have played his last competitive match after he pulled out from the Caribbean Premier League due to an ankle injury.Glichrist turned up for Kings XI Punjab in this year’s IPL after saying he was “finished” last year and signed off by claiming his first wicket in a two-decade career. Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik has replaced Gilchrist in the franchise player line-up.The league also announced the line-up of marquee players and coaches for each of its six franchises. The full squads of each franchise will be determined through a player draft on June 5.Preparations for the tournament, which starts on July 30, have not been entirely smooth, with CPL operations manager Carlisle Powell expressing concern that the venues for the leagues have not been finalised yet.”We’re dealing with six different governments,” Powell said at a press conference on Tuesday. “As a former minister of government (in Nevis), I can tell you things do not always move fast in government.””Do I wish for anything to change? Yes. If I had the choice, all the venue agreements would have been signed a month ago, and all the sponsorship arrangements would have been completed,” he said. “If we don’t have signed venue agreements, we simply do not have homes for our franchises.”With the tournament scheduled to begin in two months’ time, Powell met with the Ministry of Tourism and the respective venue owners to enlist their help in fixing the venues as soon as possible.”What I have to do as operations manager now is follow (up) very closely with those governments, because we need venue agreements signed,” he said. “We are asking for the Ministries of Tourism to partner with us in each of the six franchise locations.”

New Zealand have picked batsmen Hamish Rutherford and Tom Latham have along with left-arm spinner Roneel Hara in the squad for the two Twenty20 matches against England next week

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2013New Zealand have picked batsmen Hamish Rutherford and Tom Latham, along with left-arm spinner Roneel Hira in the squad for the two Twenty20 matches against England next week.New Zealand have excluded the injured trio of Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee and Grant Elliott, while Kane Williamson and the out-of-form wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi will also return to New Zealand.Rutherford, who scored a century on his Test debut earlier this year, has played all three of his T20 matches against England during their tour to New Zealand in March earlier this year. Latham has played three T20s, while Hira has played 13 games for New Zealand.Vettori underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon injury, after he struggled through the Champions Trophy, his first ODI tournament in two years. Vettori bowled 11 overs in two matches but looked in discomfort, even receiving saline injections for pain during the match against Sri Lanka.Elliott suffered a calf injury prior to the Group A match against England and was replaced by Corey Anderson in the Champions Trophy squad. Southee, too, missed the match against England after he was ruled out due to an ankle injury.The two T20 matches will be played on June 25 and June 27 at The Oval.Squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Corey Anderson, Doug Bracewell, Ian Butler, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Roneel Hira, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Ross Taylor

The Delhi police has named Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan among 39 people – including Dawood Ibrahim, India’s most wanted criminal – as accused in its chargesheet in the IPL spot-fixing case

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2013The Delhi police has named Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan among 39 people – including Dawood Ibrahim, India’s most wanted criminal – as accused in its chargesheet in the IPL spot-fixing case. While Chandila is still in jail, the other two cricketers are out on bail, which the police has formally moved the court to cancel.The 6,000-page charge sheet names 39 persons as accused for offences under the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). “The players and others have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and dishonesty,” special public prosecutor Rajesh Mohan told .The prosecution witnesses include Rahul Dravid, the Rajasthan Royals captain, Royals bowlers Siddharth Trivedi and Harmeet Singh, and franchise officials.Police told the trial court that the accused were “part of a larger betting syndicate” controlled by Ibrahim and his aide Chhota Shakeel, according to Mohan, and “knowingly abetted the operation of this international organised crime syndicate.”Sreesanth and Chavan had been granted bail by a Delhi trial court on June 10 along with 17 others, also arrested in relation to the case. They had, however, been asked to surrender their passports. Chandila has not applied for bail yet.While granting bail, the judge had said the Delhi police had not produced enough evidence to charge the players under the MCOCA, a special law passed by the Maharashtra state government to tackle organised crime syndicates and terrorism which contains far stricter provisions relating to bail and admissibility of confessions compared to the Indian Penal Code.Sreesanth, Chavan and Chandila were arrested on May 16, following which they were suspended by the BCCI pending an inquiry. They were charged under the Indian Penal Code sections 420 and 120B, which deal with fraud, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. Section 409, which deals with criminal breach of trust by a public servant, which was earlier brought about by the Royals management, has been dropped as the police could not gather sufficient evidence to substantiate the charge.* Royals also suspended the contracts of all three players, who were allegedly promised money ranging from US$36,000 to 109,000 by bookies for under-performing.* – 0300 GMT, July 31, 2013 – Details of Section 409 was added to the copy

Martin Guptill, the New Zealand batsman, believes his franchise Guyana Amazon Warriors can win the inaugural Caribbean Premier League

Renaldo Matadeen22-Aug-2013Martin Guptill, the New Zealand batsman, believes his franchise Guyana Amazon Warriors can win the inaugural Caribbean Premier League. Guptill has been one of the linchpins of the Guyana batting but a broken bone in his right hand ended his stint even as his franchise prepares to take on Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in Thursday’s semi-final.”I definitely think we can (win the title),” Guptill said. “We showed we can with our chase of a decent total against Antigua (last Saturday). We got to the last ball and we came through. The spirit is good in the camp and hopefully we can take that forward to the semi-final and hopefully the final.”Guptill and his national team-mate James Franklin have impressed for Guyana and former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor has also done decently for Trinidad & Tobago. Guptill hoped these performances would further raise the profile of New Zealand’s cricketers, although he believed they needed to play more Test cricket.”James Franklin and I have had reasonably successful tournaments. It puts us out there and hopefully people will take notice. From what I read, Sir Richard’s (Hadlee) comments were more to do with (New Zealand’s limited amount of) Test cricket than anything else and we are struggling a little in the Test game at the moment. The only way we can get better is by playing more Tests and if that can come in the next few years and we can keep developing as a team then who knows where we can go from there.”Guptill joked he was filling a dual role in the Guyana side – opening the batting and also acting as a spy in the camp, trying to pick up some inside information on West Indies players ahead of the Caribbean side’s tour of New Zealand in December. That information has included an attempt to decipher the skills of Sunil Narine, although, as Guptill admitted, trying to read the spinner has been anything but easy.”I have only faced him once in the nets and he was only bowling offspin then so I do not know what is going to happen when he comes to New Zealand at the end of the year. I have been trying to see when he bowls how he does what he does but it is pretty hard to pick it up.”

South Africa is home to more world-class allrounders than any other nation, according to former Test captain and administrator Ali Bacher

Firdose Moonda10-Sep-2013South Africa is home to more world-class allrounders than any other nation, according to former Test captain and administrator Ali Bacher. In his new book, Bacher and author David Williams pay tribute to the country’s premier allrounders, who Bacher believes are the stand-outs in their field.”David and I are of the opinion that this country has produced more great allrounders than any other Test-playing nation,” Bacher told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the publication’s launch. “Most other teams only had one great allrounder at a time but South Africa had many.”Bacher made reference to the likes of England when Ian Botham starred for them and Pakistan in the time Imran Khan played and compared that to South Africa’s stocks. “There were two periods when South Africa had four allrounders in the same team. I captained Eddie Barlow, Tiger Lance, Mike Proctor and Trevor Goddard. And then if you look at the team Hansie Cronje led, they had Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and Brian McMillan.”In addition to the names mentioned above, Jimmy Sinclair, Aubrey Faulkner, Basil D’Oliveira, Tony Greig and Clive Rice make up the other men the book examines. While Bacher says “Garfield Sobers remains the greatest cricketer of all time,” he hopes to shed light on the talent South Africa has produced.He is particularly proud of the comment Steve Waugh made during an interview with him at Lord’s this year. “Steve Waugh called Jacques Kallis ‘one of the greatest cricketers of all time,’ and that is really a compliment worth sharing,” he said.Although Bacher had personal interactions with 10 of the 13 cricketers, writing the book “told me things I didn’t know about them.” For example, he spent time with Basil d’Oliveira’s family in Cape Town. “They showed me the house where he was born and from which the family were evicted when the Group Areas’ Act came into being. And I also went to the point where he would run at Signal Hill. It was a wonderful day spent with them,” Bacher said.D’Oliveira’s fitness regime was not the only one Bacher took note of. Rice, the only inclusion in the book who did not play Test cricket, was also known for his athleticism. “He was one of the first cricketers to really place an emphasis on physical fitness. After training he would sprint around the field and he always said he just wanted to be the fittest cricket around so when the time came to play Test cricket he would be ready,” Bacher said.Rice never donned the whites for South Africa (he played three ODIs) but many believe he would have been exceptional if he did. “Mike Proctor said of him, ‘He always gave his best shot. If given the opportunity at Test level, he would have been considered one of the best allrounders in history,’ Bacher recalled.Proctor himself called South African provincial matches among “the toughest he played,” according to Bacher, which speaks of the quality of the allrounders the country has produced. Through the work, Bacher would find a common thread running through all the men he featured. “They all have tremendous commitment and passion and they all work hard at their skills,” he said.Bacher does not have an answer for why the number of South Africa’s seam-bowling allrounders has dwindled in recent years but is hopeful more will be discovered soon, because he thinks it can only be to the benefit of the national team. “As a captain, it’s definitely easier when you have allrounders in your side,” he said. “You can effectively be playing with 13 or 14 men on the field. That’s a huge plus.”

Eighteen-year old Chinelle Henry has been named in West Indies women’s squad for the tri-series against New Zealand and England in Barbados, while Stacy-Ann King has been recalled after a year-long hiatus

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2013Eighteen-year old top order batsman Chinelle Henry has been named in West Indies Women’s squad for the Twenty20 tri-series in Barbados, while left-armer Stacy-Ann King gets a recall after a year-long hiatus. The squad will play against New Zealand and England in a tournament which begins on October 14.West Indies women will also play a three-match ODI series against New Zealand in Jamaica before the tri-series, but the one-day squad has few surprises. Merissa Aguilleira will lead both teams.”Henry is a wonderful talent and we want to give her an opportunity at the international level,” Head coach Sherwin Campbell said. “She has fitted in well in the camp and looks ready to make the move up. It is good to have King back in the squad and she brings experience. She is very good in this format with her explosive batting and deceptive medium-pace bowling.”Campbell said the core of the ODI squad had been together for some time, and that the Twenty20 tournament in particular would provide good match practice in the approach to next year’s World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.West Indies will also play a three-match ODI series against England in Trinidad after the Twenty20 tournament, though that squad is yet to be named. This is the first time Women’s internationals will be played in Jamaica’s Sabina Park.Squad for New Zealand ODIs: Merissa Aguilleira (capt), Shemaine Campbelle, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Natasha McLean, Anisa Mohammed, Subrina Munroe, Shaquana Quintyne, Tremayne Smartt, Shakera Selman, Stafanie TaylorSquad for T20 tri-series: Merissa Aguilleira (capt), Shemaine Campbelle, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kyshona Knight, Anisa Mohammed, Juliana Nero, Shaquana Quintyne, Shakera Selman, Tremayne Smartt, Stafanie Taylor

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made a mockery of a target of 360, getting India home with nine wickets and 39 deliveries left

The Report by Abhishek Purohit16-Oct-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIndia’s openers put on 176 in 26.1 overs•BCCI”Now this is another fine mess you’ve got us into,” goes the constant refrain from India’s batsmen to their bowlers. At times, the mess is so huge the batsmen fail to clear it up, despite their best efforts. At times, the batsmen do such a thorough job, their refrain to the bowlers changes to, “So that’s all you’ve got?” It was the latter occasion tonight. India’s bowlers leaked 359, the same score they had in the 2003 World Cup final. Only once had a bigger target been chased in ODI history, the famous Wanderers 438 game. Leave alone 359, India had never chased even 300 successfully against Australia.All that changed, as Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made a mockery of the target, if a mockery can indeed be made of a target of 360. India got there with nine wickets and 39 deliveries to spare. Kohli registered the fastest ODI century by an Indian, in 52 balls. Rohit, accommodated by the team management and scrutinised by the media and fans for years, made his third hundred in 104 games, and his first since 2010. But it was Shikhar Dhawan, the golden boy of 2013, who set up the chase with a bludgeoned 95.Dhawan and Rohit racked up 176 for the opening wicket in 26.1 overs, and Rohit and Kohli 186 for the second in only 17.2 overs. India began solidly against the fast bowlers and went through a short lull against the spinners before Dhawan hit a flurry of boundaries that more than made up for the brief let-up. During his brief career, Dhawan has made sure he makes let-offs and good fortune count. He was put down on 18 off Clint McKay and survived a very close stumping appeal on 42 against Xavier Doherty. After both reprieves, he let loose a volley of imperious strokes. He charged the fast bowlers, especially Shane Watson repeatedly, to power them through the covers. He pulled with confidence, and even the extra pace of Mitchell Johnson could not rein him in.Rohit wasn’t as free-flowing at the time but that did not take away from his contribution to the stand. He was strong through and over the covers against the quicks. He ended the fallow period of five overs for 18 runs against the spinners by stepping out and lifting Glenn Maxwell for six. Barring that insignificant sequence, Australia were never able to build any pressure, conceding boundaries regularly.The only challenge in front of India now was whether the rest would be able to keep up with the frenetic pace the openers had set. Kohli came in and stepped up the tempo so emphatically, the conclusion was foregone long before India arrived home.The openers had ensured India stayed in sight of an asking-rate of over seven; Kohli made it drop rapidly. As soon as he arrived, he started stepping out and muscling sixes, against seam and spin alike. Kohli hit seven sixes in all, and on the whole, the match descended into a Twenty20-style innings where one boundary merged into each successive one with the collective impact of deflating the bowlers and rendering them almost irrelevant.Rohit played second fiddle in both partnerships, but was always in control of the situation. As he pulled a six to move to 75, he collapsed in pain from a cramp in his leg. He’s been accused of being soft, of lacking temperament, but he took treatment and nearly doubled his score. He hared back for twos as the non-striker, and celebrated an emotional and long overdue century with screams and invectives.It was improbable to even imagine Australia losing after making 359. Their first three batsmen delivered the platform with three half-centuries and George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell savaged an already clueless India attack. Roughed up by Aaron Finch, Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson, India’s bowlers leaked 96 in 8.3 overs against the fourth-wicket duo of Bailey and Maxwell, and 122 in the last ten overs. It was the first time the first five batsmen had made fifties in an ODI. But it was also to be the night India executed their highest successful chase.

Reg Simpson, the former Nottinghamshire and England batsman, has died at the age of 93. He had been England’s oldest surviving Test player

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2013Reg Simpson, the former Nottinghamshire and England batsman, has died at the age of 93. He had been England’s oldest surviving Test player.A tall, stylish opener, Simpson played 27 times for England, scoring four centuries, and captained Nottinghamshire during the 1950s. His most memorable Test innings came against Australia in 1951, when he made an unbeaten 156 as England won an Ashes Test for the first time in 13 years. After retirement, he served on the Nottinghamshire committee and as a director of batmakers Gunn and Moore.”Reg was a superb opening batsman who excelled against the fastest of bowlers,” Nottinghamshire’s chairman, Peter Wright, said. “He served Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club with distinction firstly as a player, and then as chairman of finance and president.”He was an excellent talent and would undoubtedly have achieved even more in the game if his career had not been put on hold for the outbreak of war in 1939. His achievements outside his playing career, firstly during the War as a pilot, and later as managing director of Gunn and Moore will always be remembered.”Simpson was born locally but made his first-class debut for Sind, in India, while serving in the RAF during World War II. He went on to make more than 23,000 runs for Nottinghamshire, as well as 1401 for England at an average of 33.35, after making his Test debut in 1949. In 1950, he was named as one of ‘s Cricketers of the Year.After retiring, Simpson became a member of Nottinghamshire’s committee, on which he served for 37 years, between 1961 and 1998. He most recently visited Trent Bridge during last summer’s Ashes Test.The ECB’s chief executive, David Collier, said: “Reg Simpson was an elegant opening batsman who served his country with distinction both as a pilot in the Second World War and as a fearless player of fast bowling.”His 156 in Melbourne led England to our first post war Test victory in Australia and Reg succeeded Sir Alec Bedser as England’s most senior player in 2010. He held a deep passion for the game and for his beloved Trent Bridge . On behalf of everyone at ECB we extend our deepest sympathy to Reg’s family.”