All posts by csb10.top

Grand Old Duke of York
There was more than a frisson of worry in the England camp when Trent Johnston and Andrew White started to find the boundaries late in the innings. Michael Vaughan turned to Andrew Flintoff, and he settled it, spearing the ball into the blockhole to devastating effect. One-day tactics have evolved constantly down the years, but there’s still no match for the yorker at the death.One for the auld enemy
The wicket of Flintoff – chopping one on – and two sixes in a breezy cameo would have been satisfying for most allrounders, but perhaps Johnston relished it a little bit more because of his New South Wales roots. He tries to play it down now that he’s Irish captain, but some old rivalries linger.Look who’s clucking now
Johnston had unveiled the chicken-dance celebration when he dismissed Mohammad Yousuf in the famous victory against Pakistan, and there was a reprise as Flintoff became another prized victim. Chickens don’t fly though, and England plucked his feathers ruthlessly, with 47 coming from the last five overs he bowled.SuperColly
The ICC rankings may have Kevin Pietersen at the top, but Paul Collingwood’s the man in prime form. A soaring six over midwicket was one of three that he hit as 56 came from the last 31 balls that he faced.Palm Pilot
No, we’re not agents for Johnston, but he had a hand, literally, in the day’s exceptional fielding moment as well. Collingwood was on course for a century when Andrew White’s throw from mid-on came arrowing in. Stationed in front of the stumps, Johnston palmed it on with his left hand.I’m an Irishman, get me out of here
For Ed Joyce, this was a day to forget. Boyd Rankin got him shouldering arms to one that nipped back, and Ireland’s top scorer in the 2005 ICC Trophy trudged off with just one to his name. Later, with Niall O’Brien on 9, Joyce appeared half-asleep when he grassed a high chance at midwicket off Sajid Mahmood. O’Brien cashed in to the tune of 54 more runs. Joyce’s two matches against his old mates have now fetched him 11 runs. Ouch.Seen and heard
During a slow phase of play, the roaming cameras zoomed in on a little fella in an orange vest. Perhaps aware that millions of eyes were on him, he took guard and executed a textbook loft over midwicket. Not content, he took guard again and bent low for a sweep shot, holding the pose for about five seconds. The gloves were a size too big, but he certainly looked the part.

Pakistan’s continuing troubles with their opening combination have forced the selectors to call up Khalid Latif and release Mohammad Hafeez from the 15-man squad to face South Africa in the third ODI in Faisalabad on Tuesday.Pakistan have tried two opening combinations in two games so far and Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal have provided starts of 18 and 1. Hafeez was dropped for the second ODI and the highest score by an opener remains Nazir’s 16 in the first ODI.The 21-year old Latif has been on the fringes of selection to the senior squad for some time now. He first came to national attention when he led the Pakistan U-19 team to victory in the 2004 World Cup in Bangladesh.He was unlucky to miss out on selection for the ICC World Twenty20 despite impressing during the various training camps held before the tournament. But solid performances in the recent home series against Australia A have finally paid off.Latif ended the three-match ODI series in September as the leading scorer on either side. His tally of 228 runs included one fifty and a spectacular unbeaten 142 in Lahore as Pakistan successfully chased 332 against an attack that included Jason Gillespie, James Hopes and Dan Cullen.”We are struggling with an opening pair at the moment,” Salahuddin Ahmed, the chief selector, told Cricinfo. “We are already playing Kamran as an opener to make place for an extra bowler.”Latif is a very good, upcoming youngster and was in brilliant form against Australia A recently. He fully deserves his place in the squad. Hafeez has been released and he will go back to regain his form in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.”It is understood that Latif will not play in Faisalabad but may get an opportunity later in the series. Still, Pakistan are likely to go in with their third different opening pair in as many matches; Nazir’s continuing run of poor scores means Yasir Hameed will most likely open the innings with Akmal.And in light of an impressive bowling performance in the second ODI, Pakistan will not risk Mohammad Asif for the third game. Asif sat out the first two matches with an elbow injury that flared up during the second Test in Lahore.

For the time being at least, West Indies’ brittle pride has been restored. Brian Lara’s world record brought an uplifting closure to a depressing Test series against England, and was followed by an impressive display from a youthful one-day team. But woe betide any player who thinks their winter’s work is done. Because the ultimate indignity could be lurking just around the corner.The Bangladeshis have arrived for their inaugural tour of the Caribbean, and if there’s one team that West Indies could do without facing at the moment, it’s the side with absolutely nothing to lose. The first of three one-day matches starts on Saturday; the second of two Tests finishes three weeks later. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it stopover, but if anything should go wrong, the world will be wide-eyed in its condemnation.On the face of it, a West Indian defeat is an absurd notion – Lara’s majesty alone could put the series out of reach, while Tino Best and Fidel Edwards are fully equipped to expose Bangladesh’s notorious shortcomings against high-quality pace bowling, just as Jermaine Lawson did the last time the teams met – his second-innings figures of 6 for 3 at Dhaka in December 2002 sealed a West Indian victory by an innings and 310 runs: the heaviest and most humiliating of Bangladesh’s 26 Test defeats in 28 matches.But, as England occasionally demonstrated on their pre-Christmas trip to Bangladesh, the fear of failure can be paralysing. “We are not far away from our first Test win,” said Habibul Bashar, Bangladesh’s captain, as the squad stopped over in Jamaica en route for St Vincent, and the facts back him up. They came within one wicket of victory over Pakistan in Multan last September; held the upper hand for much of the inaugural Test against England in October and, under the astute guidance of Dav Whatmore, are developing a head for heights to complement their undoubted enthusiasm for the game.Lara, for one, is taking nothing for granted. “I’m not going to write off Bangladesh,” he said recently. “The way we’re playing right now you can’t write off anybody at all.” His caution is utterly justified. According to the latest ICC Test rankings, West Indies are cut adrift from the rest of the established Test nations – a 14-point margin separates them from Sri Lanka in seventh place, who in turn are just 11 points behind England in third spot. With Zimbabwean cricket in ruins, this series has suddenly become the battle of the basement.Not that West Indies would acknowledge that fact. Their capitulation against England was characterised by complacency – from the anonymity of their middle-order batsmen (Lara included), to the partying in the stands that followed their first-Test hammering in Jamaica. Bangladesh, on the other hand, are approaching the series from an entirely opposite perspective. Their expectations are nil, and yet their confidence somehow remains sky-high.

That mysterious blend of pride and humility is all down to Whatmore. In the ten months since he took charge of Bangladesh cricket, he has been at pains to stress how little victory or defeat matters to him. But all of a sudden, with a one-day victory against a [pre-boycott] Zimbabwe to lift the spirits, he is daring to push the envelope just that little bit further. “On their day,” he told a press conference in the Caribbean, “Bangladesh are capable of upsetting any side in world cricket.”It was an uncharacteristically bullish statement, but he was doubtless aware that the reverse is equally true. On their day, West Indies are capable of losing to any side in world cricket, and what is more, they know it as well.It promises to be a nervy series for Caribbean supporters. West Indies have hardly paused for breath since arriving in Southern Africa in November, while Bangladesh are refreshed after a lengthy winter break and a low-key trip to Zimbabwe. What is more, their recent habit in Test cricket (the strongest of their suits) is to compete eagerly for three days before fading away on the fourth and fifth, so the probability of lengthy rain breaks can only help to channel their focus over the full distance.West Indies should still prevail, however, and by some distance. Man for man, they are simply too powerful, and the momentum they have gained in the past few weeks must surely count for something. But after their schizophrenic efforts against England, they do not dare take anything for granted any more.

Simon Katich says he has no hard feelings towards the Australia selectors after spending nearly two and a half years out of the Test side. Katich finally earned his recall in a 15-man squad to tour the West Indies following a record-breaking domestic summer during which he made 1506 Pura Cup runs at 94.12.It might take an injury to one of the established top six for Katich to play his first Test since late 2005, however he is just pleased to be back in the mix. “The last time I was dropped I knew I deserved to be,” Katich told the . “I wasn’t playing well enough. I had a poor Ashes series and I was bitterly disappointed.”I do know my game a lot better now. I have experienced a lot in that time. Having been in and out of the team has taught me a lot of lessons. This time around I probably appreciate it a lot more. I know that the older you get, the more you realise that you just never know when the end is near.”Despite his outstanding year Katich was still surprised to receive the call, given the quality of players in the Test frame in recent years. It is fair to say he was not half as shocked as his New South Wales team-mate Beau Casson. The left-arm wrist-spinner moved from Perth to Sydney last season and struggled with a shoulder injury, collecting seven wickets at 72 before improving in 2007-08 and being chosen as the back-up for Stuart MacGill in the Caribbean.”I’m a little bit hazy,” Casson said while sitting beside Katich and Michael Clarke, Australia’s vice-captain, at an SCG press conference after the announcement. “I feel on cloud nine. I’m not sure if it’s actually real. Just sitting next to those guys was a huge thrill. I idolise those guys.”Casson said he had taken a little while to settle in at New South Wales but was now confident with where his cricket was heading. “In the first year in a team, you are a little bit timid, not showing your full personality and lacking self-belief,” Casson said.”But it’s been great with Simon [Katich], he has given me a chance and given me the confidence to be Beau Casson. My girlfriend has made it incredibly easy for me. It’s been a fantastic ride. I was down in the dumps last year with the shoulder and Sally kept me up through all the down times.”The same elation was not so evident when Ashley Noffke reacted to his inclusion in the Test squad. Although he was pleased to take another step towards a baggy green that eluded him during the 2001 Ashes tour and his 2003 trip to the Caribbean, Noffke had other things on his mind when the team was announced and he spoke to the media outside a hospital on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.”My three-year-old daughter Breanna was going in to get her tonsils out this morning so the focus was on that really and how she was going to react,” Noffke told . “I didn’t even know when it was being selected. It was a pretty traumatic thing for her to go through. Even though it is minor in the scheme of things I didn’t really enjoy today very much.”After collecting a sensational double of 51 wickets at 19.03 and 741 runs at 46.31 in the Pura Cup, Noffke is likely to be Australia’s first-choice reserve fast man in the West Indies. That means Ben Hilfenhaus, who was also picked, is unlikely to see any Test action. But after a summer that brought a disappointing 28 wickets at 43.82, the Cricket Australia-contracted swing bowler was simply pleased to be considered.”It shocked me at first, and probably still is,” Hilfenhaus said in the . “I thought I would spend the winter playing some golf and working out in the gym. It’s obviously a real buzz. It tells me the selectors have real faith in me.”

Durham have signed Shaun Tait, the Australian fast bowler, for the remainder of the season. Tait, 21, took 33 wickets in the Pura Cup last season, and is on the fringes of the Australian national side. He was called into the squad for the Australian tour to Sri Lanka as a replacement for the injured Brett Lee earlier this year, though he didn’t play a game, and has played for Australia A. He also attended a pre-tour training camp prior to Australia’s cancelled Test series against Zimbabwe.Durham enlisted the services of Andy Blignaut, one of the Zimbabwean rebel cricketers, last week, but he is only on a one-month contract, and injuries are still keeping out several Durham players.Tait has been in the news recently for his interesting batting technique. He currently bats right-handed, but has said he wants to try switching to a left-handed stance, and possibly even "switch-hitting", where he could bat both rightand left-handed during a single innings. It was reported that he has been talking about these options to John Buchanan, the Australian coach, who is a known advocate of switch-hitting.

ScorecardIt was never designed to be a contest, and so it proved, as Pakistan’s new-improved unit overwhelmed the rookies of Zimbabwe by 144 runs in an echoingly underpopulated Multan stadium. But for the first 40 overs of the match, Pakistan’s prospects were not quite as cushy as they seemed, and it required a blizzard of sixes towards the end of their innings for the prospect of an upset to be completely banished.After a woeful start to their innings and a cautious rebuilding process, Pakistan had slipped to 146 for 6 when Shahid Afridi came out to join a cautious Adbul Razzaq, whose 95-run partnership with Inzamam-ul-Haq had rescued the team from a sketchy 38 for 4. Without so much as a by-your-leave, Afridi set about the bowling with typical fury, smacking four sixes and five fours in a 26-ball 58, and Razzaq took up the cudgels as well, racing to his second one-day century – 107 not out from 114 balls – of which the second fifty came from just 21 balls.At 292 for 7, that was effectively that, although Vusi Sibanda did his best to hold up Pakistan’s victory surge with a spirited half-century, as Zimbabwe trickled to 148 all out in 38.3 overs. He received little meaningful support, however, apart from an adhesive 29 from Dion Ebrahim that, if anything, erred a little too far on the side of caution given the massive asking-rate. Nevertheless, it was a useful learning experience for the Zimbabwe team, especially their bowlers, who could not have been expected to prosper on a typically batsman-friendly subcontinental wicket.But instead, they came storming out of the blocks. The last time Tinashe Panyangara had been called upon to bowl the first over of a one-day international – against England at Edgbaston in the Champions Trophy – he had sent down seven wides in a fretful performance. Today, however, he was right on the money immediately, as Yasir Hameed edged his first ball straight into Tatenda Taibu’s gloves behind the stumps (0 for 1).Matters got worse before they improved for Pakistan. Douglas Hondo struck with his fourth delivery, as Shoaib Malik attempted to whip across the line and was adjudged lbw by an inducker for 1, and even Yousuf Youhana couldn’t turn the tide. Youhana had amassed 405 runs in five matches (average: 405) on Pakistan’s previous trip to Zimbabwe, but this time he feathered a good-length ball through to Taibu off Hondo, as Pakistan slumped to 6 for 3.Panyangara then struck for a second time to remove the debutant opener, Bazid Khan – son of Majid – for 12 (38 for 4), and all eyes were on the captain, Multan’s favourite son, Inzamam. He had attracted immense criticism for his decision to bat first in the Champions Trophy, but this time he was utterly blameless for his team-mates’ shortcomings, even though he might have been a part of the collapse, had Taibu held onto a thin leg-side tickle when Inzamam had made 7.But surely and maturely, Inzamam set about rebuilding the innings, in partnership with the cool and collected Razzaq, who picked the gaps and stole the singles off Zimbabwe’s second-string pairing of Elton Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya. Razzaq had one moment of good fortune, when a checked drive burst through Stuart Matsikenyeri’s fingers and clattered him on the nose, but in the very next over, Utseya removed Inzamam for 73, courtesy of an unfortunate lbw decision.When Moin Khan was stumped off Brendan Taylor’s speculative spinners for 7, Pakistan looked set for a second wobble, but Afridi had other ideas. He and Razzaq launched into their brutal onslaught, and before long, Zimbabwe’s spirited start to the match was just a distant memory.Sibanda did his best to forge a reply, batting with great common-sense for his 57 from 69 balls, which included a six over long-on to bring up his fifty. But the rest of Zimbabwe’s top-order found survival rather harder to cling to. Matsikenyeri was pinned lbw by Naved-ul-Hasan for 0, before Brendan Taylor had his off stump plucked out of the ground by a fizzer from Shoaib Akhtar, that would have cleaned up many more experienced players (8 for 2).It was left to the spinners Afridi and Malik to wrap up the match. Afridi’s spell was particularly buoyant – he bowled Taibu for 3 with his very first delivery, and caused havoc among the tailenders as he whistled topspinners and legbreaks past cagey defensive shots. He even sent down a venomous 76mph bouncer, before wrapping up the innings by bowling Hondo for 1.

Darren Gough’s international career could yet be revived in the West Indies, despite his scathing criticism of the England selectors in a Sunday newspaper.In an interview in the Sunday Telegraph, Gough had made it known in no uncertain terms how disappointed he was not to be selected for the winter tours to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies. “I feel like I’ve been sh*t on, to be honest,” was his frank admission. But David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, has revealed that Gough remains very much in England’s thoughts.”Darren can blame us as much as he likes,” Graveney told the Daily Mail. “But we have had a perfectly legitimate concern about what has been a very serious knee injury. I would rather players get angry when they’re dropped, than take it lying down. What he has to do is show he’s fit.”Gough has taken 188 wickets at 24.96 in 121 one-day internationals, and was Man of the Match in his most recent outing, the NatWest Series final against South Africa at Lord’s last summer. That fact has not been lost on Graveney, who intends to add two fasting-bowling options to the 13 men already selected for the one-dayers in the Caribbean.”You look at fitness and who might be available,” added Graveney, “and you don’t have to go too far before you come to the name of Darren Gough.”

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the former vice-captain of West Indies, has refused to accept vice-captaincy of the Guyana squad for the ongoing Carib Beer regional competition, with a view of giving younger players a chance to lead the side and gain valuable experience.Speaking to before the start of the round 6 four-day match against Trinidad and Tobago, Sarwan said, “I won’t be around for long due to international commitments. It won’t be right on my part to take up the position and leave half-way. It would be a good opportunity for a younger player to take up the vice-captaincy and [he] can be groomed in the team.”In place of Sarwan, the Guyana board appointed the 23-year-old Damodar Daesrath as the vice-captain and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the captain. Daesrath had led the side in the absence of Chanderpaul with mixed results: one win, one loss, two draws and a no-result in the away matches.Sarwan was also replaced by Chanderpaul as the vice-captain of the West Indies side in the recently-concluded VB Series. Sarwan, who was identified as the future captain, was appointed as Brian Lara’s deputy in 2003, during Lara’s second stint as captain. Sarwan enjoyed his best year in Test cricket in 2004, when he crossed 1000 runs with an average above 50. Though the selectors did not offer any explanations for replacing Sarwan, it is reliably known that they wanted him to concentrate on his batting.

Brett Lee has said that missing out on the Perth Test against Pakistan was the most disappointing moment of his career. Lee’s pace would undoubtedly have harried a brittle Pakistani batting line-up, but the selectors opted instead to retain faith in Michael Kasprowicz, who vindicated that with a superb five-wicket burst in the first innings.In a column for the newspaper, Lee wrote, “When I found out on Wednesday night that I would not be in the starting XI for this Test match against Pakistan I was totally gutted. I would go as far as to say that it was the worst feeling I’ve experienced in my career.”Lee said that he had expected to be given a go in Perth, given the condition of the pitch and how he had been bowling in the nets. “The fact that I didn’t get a chance left me feeling awful and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement,” he wrote. “I was devastated.”Lee admitted, however, that he had no quibbles with the attack chosen. “Dizzy, Pigeon and Kasper are completely on top of their game and are bowling superbly.”I completely respect the selectors’ and captain’s decision. I’m not angry with them. It’s simply my own frustration about not playing for Australia, especially under such favourable conditions.”Lee missed out on New South Wales’s Pura Cup match against Tasmania as well, and he said that the lack of match practice was becoming a worry. “I bowl my best when I’m fittest and the best way to get fit is to bowl. That’s how you get your rhythm. You can’t really find a rhythm by bowling in the nets.”Despite his disappointment, Lee said he was delighted for Kasprowicz, who has cemented his position as third seamer over the past few games. “We are great mates and I was first to give him a hug after play on Friday when he got five wickets,” wrote Lee. “I don’t want to see it as a competition between me and him because he deserves all the rewards he is getting now.”

Andrew Flintoff has begun the slow path back to bowling fitness with a few gentle overs during Lancashire’s training and is targeting an England return as early as the first Test against New Zealand on May 15.Flintoff has been undergoing a very cautious rehabilitation since the ankle operation – his fourth – he had late last year and his four overs, off two or three paces, was the first time he’d bowled since the ICC World Twenty20 in September. His recovery programme has included a spell with the England Lions in India, where he played two one-day matches as a batsman, and he is now preparing for Lancashire’s pre-season trip to the UAE.”I’ve had a good few weeks, I was in India for three weeks with the Lions and the academy of Lancashire and this morning was the first time I’ve turned my arm over,” Flintoff told . “I bowled off about two or three paces for four overs and it feels fine, but I think the acid test is when I get back playing properly, probably halfway through the summer to see if stands up to what it needs to.”I’m hoping to start the season fully fit batting and bowling. I think the first game we’ve got is at the Oval for Lancashire.”However, a possible international return during New Zealand’s visit in May is a far more positive prognosis than had previously been suggested. Flintoff was expected to spend much of the summer with Lancashire with a possible comeback against South Africa for the second series of the season – at one stage the following winter tour was the target.”I’m going to have to perform for Lancashire to put my name in the hat for England,” he said. “So first and foremost I’m concentrating on this Dubai trip and starting the season well for Lancashire and hopefully I can be playing on May 15 at Lord’s.”If Flintoff’s pre-season trip with Lancashire goes to plan and he doesn’t suffer any reaction in his ankle he is also expected to play for MCC against Sussex in the season-opening fixture at Lord’s, starting on April 10.