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Brad Hodge scored his second century of the week at Adelaide Oval to drive Victoria to a comfortable five-wicket win over South Australia

Cricinfo staff04-Nov-2009Victoria 5 for 248 (Hodge 114*, McDonald 58, Tait 3-57) beat South Australia 9 for 247 (Borgas 90, Pattinson 3-34) by 5 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrad Hodge finished unbeaten on 114 and confirmed Victoria’s five-wicket win•Getty Images

Brad Hodge scored his second century of the week at Adelaide Oval to drive Victoria to a comfortable five-wicket win over South Australia. After Cameron Borgas struck a career-best 90 and gave the Redbacks a defendable total, Hodge batted throughout the chase and finished unbeaten on 114 to add to the 195 he posted in the Sheffield Shield match.South Australia didn’t help themselves with three missed run-out opportunities against Hodge and his main supporter Andrew McDonald and the Bushrangers at one point threatened to gain the bonus point. Hodge and McDonald combined for a 125-run partnership that made victory a certainty after Shaun Tait gave the Redbacks hope with a couple of wickets.Hodge, who turns 35 next month, has started the summer in peak form and scored at better than a run a ball, despite looking scratchy early in his innings. McDonald’s 58 was fluent and it was a well-timed innings for him personally as the Australia ODI team in India consider flying in an extra player to cover for their injury problems.The Victorians were on top since the early stages of the match after the stand-in captain David Hussey sent South Australia in on a good batting pitch. The Redbacks slipped to 3 for 46 in the 11th over and it was left to Borgas and Daniel Christian (45) to rebuild and give their bowlers something to defend.Darren Pattinson was especially impressive with the ball and collected 3 for 34, finding some movement off the seam. The Bushrangers lost Damien Wright to a hamstring injury after he had bowled eight overs but it was the only negative in Victoria’s opening match of the tournament, while South Australia have now slumped to three losses from three games.

South African players are in favour of the proposed new schedule for the tour of India next year

Nagraj Gollapudi12-Dec-2009The South African players have come out in support of the new schedule for their Indian tour next year which proposes two Tests and three ODIs instead of the originally planned five-ODI series. Following Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola’s admission on Friday that it was possible to accommodate the BCCI’s request, the South African Players Association [SACA] said the players were open and happy to play more Tests instead of ODIs on the tour scheduled for February-March 2010.”We as players are actually in favour of that,” Tony Irish, SACA’s CEO , told Cricinfo. “We would prefer to go there [India] and play two Tests and three one-dayers rather than playing five-ODI series.” Irish also said SACA had been aware of the BCCI’s request because the players’ body was closely involved in the planning and finalising of tour schedules.Explaining the reasons behind the players favouring the new proposal, Irish said the most important factor was that the teams would get to play more Test cricket, which would be a boost for the longer form of the game. “Firstly we played so little Test cricket this year [2009] so we are keen to play [more] Test matches. Then we also want to play because India are No. 1 and we are No. 2. It is also good for Test cricket as this shows support for the longer version.”Players have been up in arms against the existing Future Tours Programme due to the the dearth of Tests in the calendar. This year India played just six Tests and are scheduled to play seven in 2010 (not including the proposed two matches against South Africa). That figure could be trimmed to five as the two Tests against Zimbabwe are yet to be finalised. South Africa are scheduled to play five more Tests in 2010 compared to the six in 2009. “We believe that it is vital to play as much Test cricket as possible because the players believe it is the pinnacle of cricket,” Irish said.Irish admitted that the last-minute request from the Indian board was not “ideal” but felt it was necessary to “compromise” for the betterment of Test cricket. “It is not ideal but scheduling in cricket is not ideal because of the way everyone is packing more and more cricket in. But there has to be a set of compromises and we are making some now in order to play Test cricket.”Asked if there were any concerns the players had Irish said they did not want to miss out on playing the Pro20, South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 competition, and hence were keen that both boards try and work out the right dates to enable the players to get back in time to play the tournament. “One of the downsides is that our national players might miss the semi-finals and the finals of the Pro20 domestic competition,” said Irish. “If that can be accommodated that will be good.”The first round of Standard Bank Pro20 semi-finals are due to start on February 24, with the second round beginning on March 3 and the final on March 12, so the CSA is trying to push back those dates by at least a week to accommodate the BCCI request. “There are a couple of issues about getting the dates right: we would need to arrive earlier than what was proposed by India,” said Irish. “We would also need to get our ODI specialists early because there is a very small gap between the end of the proposed Test series and the ODIs.”

The last Test of Australia’s home summer is a dead rubber but for several members of Ricky Ponting’s side, it’s anything but

Brydon Coverdale in Hobart13-Jan-2010The last Test of Australia’s home summer is a dead rubber but for several members of Ricky Ponting’s side, it’s anything but. Marcus North is barely clinging on to his No. 6 spot, Peter Siddle needs wickets to ensure he remains a first-choice bowler, and Ponting himself is in danger of completing his leanest home Test summer in a decade.It means that, with a tour of New Zealand two months away, there are plenty of reasons for the Australians not to ease up as they search for a 3-0 cleansweep over Pakistan. Victory in Hobart would give Australia five wins from six Tests this season but they have relied heavily on Shane Watson, Simon Katich and Michael Hussey for runs, while the wickets have come primarily from three of their four bowlers.Consider this: Nathan Hauritz has scored more Test runs than North this summer and has a better batting average than both North and Ponting. In the same period, Siddle has one more wicket than Ben Hilfenhaus, who only played the first Test of the season.Hilfenhaus’ knee injury has let the selectors avoid the decision on whether to drop Siddle, a question that will be raised in the lead-up to New Zealand. Ponting defended the Victorian fast man, whose six wickets for the summer have come at 68.33, while Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Hauritz have each collected 20-plus victims.”I’m not that worried about the wicket column next to his name because what he’s doing at the moment is forming part of a really good bowling attack,” Ponting said. “That’s one thing that I’ve stressed with the selectors the last couple of years – it’s about making sure we pick an attack and not just trying to look at the next best bowler that’s going around the scene. I think it’s important that the bowlers in the line-up really complement each other well.”Sids has had to do the bullocking sort of work and charging from one end and pretty much keep the run-rate down and not worry about attacking too much. It could have been a different story last week – he had a chance put down at first slip early on in Sydney and that could have changed things for him but what he’s been able to do is still bowl consistently well and bowl good spells. What that does is make life a bit easier for the guy he’s bowling in tandem with.”While Siddle can keep running in all day in an effort to turn his results around, North is anxiously aware that one mistake could be enough for the axe to fall. He is a feast-or-famine batsman, who 13 times in Tests has been out for less than 20, six times has made 60-plus, but only once has scored in the 20-60 range.Most worryingly for North, he has not passed 10 in his past four innings and is not yet well-enough established in the side to sustain a prolonged period of poor form. Ponting, who himself has made only two half-centuries for the season, can sympathise with North and said the No. 6 had not been told that Hobart was a make-or-break match for him.”We sat down during the second innings of the Sydney Test match last week together,” Ponting said. “I think we’re both feeling a bit the same about the game at the moment, it feels like the game has got hold of us both a little bit and won’t let us go. Talking to him about it, it feels like every little mistake that we’ve made has tended to mean that we’re out.”But it’s probably only a couple of games for him. It’s not that long ago that he was our standout batsman in our line-up. If you look back at the Ashes, he was our best player right through the Ashes series and started the summer well in Brisbane. It’s only a couple of games ago that he was on top of his game and that’s how quickly it can change.”North was one of Australia’s best performers during the Ashes but with only five Tests – Hobart, two in New Zealand, and two against Pakistan in England – until the return series, he is no certainty to be part of the push to regain the urn. However, Ponting said results like the unexpected triumph in Sydney have given Australia’s players in general a greater feeling that they belong at Test level.”There’s a lot more self-belief around the side than there probably was at the start of this summer,” he said. “It’s one thing we’ve lacked a little bit in the last couple of years. We’ve had moments in most Test matches that we’ve played in the last couple of years to put sides away and haven’t been able to do it. A lot of that comes down to that inner belief and self-belief that you’ve got the ability to get the job done.”Nobody can question Ponting’s self-belief. This is the perfect time for North and Siddle to display it as well.

The former West Indies captain, Richie Richardson, has welcomed the appointment of Ottis Gibson as the new head coach of the WICB,

Andrew Miller02-Feb-2010The former West Indies captain, Richie Richardson, has welcomed the appointment of Ottis Gibson as the new head coach of the WICB, and believes that the over-arching nature of his new role is precisely what cricket in the Caribbean has been crying out for.In a departure from previous appointments, Gibson has been given responsibility not only for the top-level West Indies sides, but all representative teams across the Caribbean. Announcing the appointment on CBC Radio on Monday, the chief executive of WICB, Ernest Hilaire, explained that Gibson would be given “an opportunity to stamp a particular style of coaching a West Indies way”.That announcement is music to Richardson’s ears. “I’ve always said that whoever comes in has to be responsible for cricket throughout the Caribbean, and not just the top Test players,” he told Cricinfo. “The coach has to be at the top of a pyramid that goes right through West Indies cricket, from the grass-roots right through to the top. That’s how we are going to make a difference.”Richardson, who was Gibson’s captain during his Test debut at Lord’s in 1995, believes that the new man has the presence and personality to thrive in the role, as well as the fundamental coaching skills that have been honed during his lengthy stint in English cricket, firstly at Durham and since 2007 as England’s bowling coach.”I have no doubt that he will do well,” said Richardson. “Ottis is a person who gets on with other people and players, and when he was playing for West Indies, he was a good team man. He’s a very passionate cricketer and a very good coach, and I just hope he gets the support he needs, from the WICB, and the people throughout the Caribbean.”It doesn’t matter how good you are as a coach if you are just given the best players,” he added. “If those best players came from nowhere, you are going to struggle. [The coach] has to be able to do something at the grass-roots level, so that he knows the young players as they come through the system and, when they reach the highest level, he already knows how to work with them, and they know exactly what is expected of them.”He just has to be given the time and the opportunity to prove himself, because I know he’s going to give everything. He loves West Indies cricket and he wants to see them do well.Gibson, who expects to be in situ in time for the home series against Zimbabwe next month, is West Indies’ first full-time appointment since the former coach, John Dyson, was sacked in August following the team’s strike-affected defeat against Bangladesh. However, the team is currently on a relative high, having silenced many of their critics with a spirited performance in a 2-0 Test defeat in Australia before Christmas.Central to West Indies’ current fortunes is their captain, Chris Gayle, who put his role in the player dispute to one side as he carried his bat for a magnificent 165 at Adelaide before following up with a blistering 72-ball 102 at Perth. His relationship with Dyson was never entirely smooth, but Richardson is confident that Gibson’s easygoing style of man-management will appeal to his laid-back nature.”It’s very important for the captain and coach to have a good relationship and understanding, but I’ve no problem that they’ll see eye-to-eye,” said Richardson. “Chris Gayle is a very cool guy, Gibson is a people’s person, so I don’t envisage any problems. They may have differences, but they will realise the importance of working as a partnership for the betterment of the team, and of West Indies cricket.”It so happens that Gibson is the first West Indian head coach since Roger Harper was in charge of the side at the start of the millennium, and follows on from a trio of Australians in Bennett King, David Moore and Dyson. Richardson, however, does not believe his nationality is as significant as his job specification.”I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter who coaches the team, as long as that person is going to contribute to the development of West Indies cricket,” he said. “When you bring in high-level coaches and pay the big money, but then they only coach the Test team, then that is misguided. It’s good that he’s a West Indian, but most importantly, that he is responsible for cricket throughout the region.”I’ve never had any doubts about the talent that we produce, my concern was always about the structures and systems that we had in place. We’ve never had the right or proper structures for [nurturing] the grassroots in the Caribbean. That’s what we got to look at, how to get the young players coming through.”

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, will not be able to enter the UAE for this month’s Twenty20 series against England

Cricinfo staff07-Feb-2010Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, will not be able to enter the UAE for this month’s Twenty20 series against England. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had last week made a fresh appeal to Dubai authorities requesting them to revoke the travelling restrictions imposed Asif, who was banned from entering the UAE after being stopped with a small quantity of opium in June 2008, but it has been dismissed.”We made a request with the UAE authorities but they turned it down as it’s not possible under their laws,” Wasim Bari, the PCB’s chief operating officer, told .The PCB had earlier attempted to get clearance for Asif, 27, to play in the UAE last year for the New Zealand series, but failed in its attempt.Having been slapped a year-long suspension for testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone, Asif made his limited-overs comeback during the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. A Test return soon followed when Pakistan toured New Zealand for a three-Test series.Pakistan are set to play two Twenty20 internationals against England in Dubai to warm up for the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies at the end of April. Pakistan may also invite South Africa to a Test and ODI series later in the year in the UAE, with South Africa ruling out a visit to Pakistan for their scheduled tour in October-November this year due to security concerns.

Kamran Akmal has paid the price for his fumbles in Australia by being dropped from Pakistan’s Twenty20 squad to take on England in Dubai

Osman Samiuddin08-Feb-2010Kamran Akmal has paid the price for his fumbles during the Australian tour, as well as his repeated statements to the press in the run-up to the Hobart Test, by being dropped from Pakistan’s Twenty20 squad to take on England in Dubai on February 19-20.The team will be led by Shoaib Malik, who captained in Shahid Afridi’s absence in Melbourne, for both games. Afridi, Pakistan’s regular Twenty20 captain, has been banned for two matches after being found guilty of ball-tampering in the fifth ODI against Australia in Perth. Having already sat out the Melbourne game, he will miss the first match against England on February 19.Akmal was vice-captain for the tour, but dropped four crucial catches during the second Test
in Sydney as Pakistan crashed to a shattering defeat. Until the last international of the tour, he didn’t produce much with the bat either, a 33-ball 64 in the Twenty his only international fifty on the entire tour.A series of belligerent comments to the Australian press in the aftermath of the Sydney Test, when he insisted he would be retained for Hobart, despite the PCB already having sent Sarfraz Ahmed as replacement and stated that he will play, has also not been looked upon kindly and is expected to lead to further sanction. The matter will be investigated by a board evaluation committee later this week, pending the submission of the tour manager’s report.There are other significant changes to the squad that toured Australia. Abdul Razzaq has replaced Naved-ul-Hasan, and Yasir Arafat has also returned. The fast bowlers Mohammad Talha and Wahab Riaz, with the Pakistan A side to play against the England Lions in Dubai, are also part of the squad, and Mohammad Aamer has been named in the reserves. Aamer picked up a groin injury that ruled him out of the last three ODIs and the Twenty20 in Australia. The selectors have also kept middle-order batsman Aamer Sajjad in the UAE with the senior squad – he is vice-captain of the Pakistan A team – as a reserve along with pacer Rao Iftikhar Anjum.Pakistan are currently without a chief selector, Iqbal Qasim having stood down last week after Pakistan’s Australian whitewash. He was asked to continue but refused to do so. This squad was selected, it is believed, with inputs from PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, the board’s chief operating office Wasim Bari, and the existing selection committee. It is believed that Yawar Saeed, a former manager of the side and close to Butt, was also involved in the process, leading to speculation that he might be the new head of the committee.Mohammad Asif will not be able to enter the UAE due to the authorities having refused to revoke the travelling restrictions imposed on the Pakistan fast bowler.Pakistan squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Khalid Latif, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Talha, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul.Reserves: Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Aamer Sajjad, Mohammad Aamer.

In a major setback to the Rajasthan Royals, their opener Graeme Smith has been ruled out of the IPL due to a finger injury and allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas will be heading back home due to an injured ankle

Cricinfo staff16-Mar-2010In a major setback to the Rajasthan Royals, their opener Graeme Smith has been ruled out of the IPL due to a finger injury, as has allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas after turning his ankle. Smith fractured his right middle finger while fielding during Monday’s match against Delhi Daredevils in Ahmedabad, and is now in a race to be fit in time for the ICC World Twenty20 which starts on April 30. Mascarenhas hurt his ankle during his run-out in the same game, but put in a brave effort with the ball, taking two wickets off successive deliveries.Smith confirmed his absence on his Twitter page, as did Shane Warne on his, while also mentioning Mascarenhas’ setback. “Unfortunately Smith and Dimma [are] going home due to injury,” said Warne on Twitter. “Big setback for us as Smith and Dimma are very good players for Royals and their experience will be hugely missed.”We wish them a speedy recovery and hope to see them back in Royals colours again soon; had some one on one chats with players, spirit is good.”Smith hurt himself while pulling off a diving catch to end Sehwag’s onslaught on 75 in a match Rajasthan lost by six wickets. “I have a double fracture in my right middle finger, so will be missing the IPL,” Smith said on his Twitter page. “I hurt it taking the catch off Sehwag last night, when I landed my finger got hooked in the ground.”The injuries add to the all-round worries of Rajasthan, who have had a poor start to their campaign, losing their first two games. Warne’s team is already missing Australian allrounder Shane Watson (busy with the Tests in New Zealand till the end of March) and Indian allrounder Ravindra Jadeja (banned from this season’s IPL), while the big-hitting Yusuf Pathan also picked up an injury in the previous game.The overseas batsmen now available for Shane Warne’s team are Hampshire’s Michael Lumb and Australian pair of Damien Martyn and Adam Voges.This is the second finger injury Smith has picked up in little more than a month. He had hurt his little finger on the left hand during the build-up to the Eden Gardens Test in February, which kept him out of the one-dayers against India.South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl said he was awaiting medical reports from Rajasthan Royals to determine the seriousness of this injury. “It’s difficult to speculate without all the facts. Doctor (Mohammed) Moosajee said that an injury like that usually takes three to six weeks to heal,” he told Sport24. “We are hoping that he will be able to start training again after four weeks to be ready for the first game [of the World Twenty20].”Over the last two years, Smith has had several long-standing injury problems. He first suffered a tennis elbow injury during the IPL in India in April 2008 and that forced him to miss the last three ODIs against England the same year. He later broke his hand while facing Australia’s Mitchell Johnson in the third Test in Sydney but batted in the second innings to try and save the game. He missed the subsequent ODI series and decided to delay the surgery on his injured tennis elbow until after the return series against the Australians at home last year.

English county cricket faces a test of its integrity with two Essex players under investigation for what is believed to be ‘spot fixing’

Andrew McGlashan and Nagraj Gollapudi11-Apr-2010English county cricket faces a test of its integrity with two Essex players under investigation for what is believed to be ‘spot fixing’, where bets are placed on elements of a match rather than the actual result. On Friday Essex police confirmed they were involved over ‘match irregularities’ and since then speculation has been rife over the depths to which potential corruption has spread.Sources close to the investigation have told Cricinfo that anyone found guilty would face “very serious punishments” but the concern for the game is how to crack down on the illegal betting market in an era of satellite television and easy internet access.It is somewhat ironic that it is the global reach of the county game – a format many believe passes by virtually unnoticed – that has created this situation. It is understood that the match in question was a televised Pro40 game last season, which was broadcast on the subcontinent.Any county game that is shown on television in the UK is also available in India and Pakistan through a reciprocal agreement and that opens the way for the illegal market of betting, which is still believed to be rife on the subcontinent despite extensive attempts to clean up the game in the wake of the Hansie Cronje scandal in 2000. However, despite the links to the subcontinent, the source said a strong UK-based involvement shouldn’t be ruled out.Unlike traditional match-fixing, where the end result is the important aspect, spot fixing is based on betting around small moments within a match, for example how many runs will come off a certain over, or how many no-balls or wides will be sent down. There is the potential for these elements of a game to be manipulated with the final result being unaffected.Even the most insignificant extra can be worth huge sums of money and the other ‘advantage’ for the bookies is that it only requires a couple of players to be tapped up instead of a whole team. A source said this method was very much the preferred option these days.Since the lid was blown off match-fixing at the start of the last decade the game has gone to great lengths to stamp out the problem. International teams are now briefed extensively on what to look out for and not to talk to individuals they don’t know, but at last year’s World Twenty20 in England it was revealed that approaches had been made at a team hotel in London. The ICC and its anti-corruption unit (ACSU) are aware of the current situation in England but are leaving it in the hands of Essex police.

Brendon McCullum has said tracks in Barbados should give his team’s top-order batsmen a better opportunity to post bigger scores

Cricinfo staff06-May-2010Brendon McCullum has said tracks in Barbados, the venue for New Zealand’s first Super Eights clash against South Africa on Thursday, should give his team’s top-order batsmen a better opportunity to post bigger scores.”I think the wickets in Barbados will be a little bit quicker and it will present an opportunity for us top-order batsmen to play with a little freedom as well and hopefully we will see one, or two, or three of the top four go on and make some sizeable totals in the next few games,” McCullum said. “The pitches in Guyana were a little more conducive to the slower bowling which probably doesn’t suit out batsmen quite as much but while it wasn’t flash and wasn’t flamboyant we got the job done in both games. And at the end of the day that is all you can ask for.”McCullum said South Africa present a different challenge compared to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, whom New Zealand beat in the first round. “South Africa’s a quality team, everyone knows that. We’ve all seen how good they are in all three forms of the game and in Twenty20 they’ve got some dangerous players right through the line-up and they offer a different challenge to what Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe have offered us so far with a bit more predominant seam attack,” he said. “Having said that they have a couple of quality spinners as well.”The star player for New Zealand this tournament has been McCullum’s brother Nathan. His all-round show against Sri Lanka clinched a thrilling win for his team and he followed it up by taking 3 for 16 against Zimbabwe. McCullum said his brother’s success was important for New Zealand’s progress in the tournament.”I’m pleased for him because I know how hard he has worked and I know how much he wants it and I know how much he loves playing for New Zealand,” he said. “He’s a vital member of our team at the moment in this form of the game and this country and certainly the role he has to play is going to play a big part in our ability to progress through this tournament.”

Fourteen wickets tumbled on the second day at Sophia Gardens but Glamorgan held the edge with a lead of 236 runs with four wickets in hand

Cricinfo staff06-Jun-2010
Scorecard
Fourteen wickets tumbled on the second day at Sophia Gardens but Glamorgan held the edge with a lead of 236 runs with four wickets in hand. The hosts had the experience of Robert Croft to lead the way with a four-wicket haul to bundle out West Indies A for 151 and then score a crucial unbeaten 33 to rescue his team from a top-order collapse.Resuming on 11 for 2, the West Indies top order failed to get any partnerships going as the seamer Chris Ashling made early inroads. Andre Fletcher resisted patiently before he was trapped lbw by Ashling for 26. The seventh-wicket stand of 68 between Chadwick Walton and Imran Khan was the best for West Indies A. Croft broke the stand by dismissing Walton before Will Owen claimed Imran. Croft bagged two more lower-order wickets to finish with 4 for 39 while Owen and Ashling took three apiece.Having conceded a lead of 110, the West Indies seamers came out firing, removing four top-order wickets for 27. Gavin Tonge and Lionel Baker were on target, getting four lbw dismissals in their favour, and by the 21st over, Glamorgan were struggling at 46 for 5. Croft and Nick James began the recovery stand, adding an exact 50 and extending the lead past 200 to make it competitive for the tourists when they begin their chase.