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England Lions, led by Craig Kieswetter’s century, registered their second successive win in the one-day series in Dambulla

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2012
ScorecardEngland Lions, led by Craig Kieswetter’s century, registered their second successive win in the one-day series in Dambulla. Kieswetter made an unbeaten 112 off 99 balls to help the Lions to 293, and Sri Lanka A fell short by 67 runs.The Lions didn’t have the best of starts, losing three wickets for 57 after choosing to bat. The lower middle-order pair of Jos Buttler and Samit Patel hit 40s to rally around Kieswetter. Buttler added 48 during his stand with Kieswetter before he was dismissed by Seekkuge Prasanna. Patel and Kieswetter then scored a quick 100 off 12.4 overs to put the Lions on course for a substantial score. Kieswetter smashed six fours and as many sixes in his innings.Sri Lanka A’s chase began quickly, with the openers Mahela Udawatte and Dimuth Karunaratne adding 64 in just over ten overs. However, quick strikes by Danny Briggs and Nathan Buck dismissed the pair and the middle order failed to compile significant partnerships to keep Sri Lanka A in the game. The sixth-wicket pair of Kushal Perera and Kosala Kulasekara added 65, but with five wickets down and the required rate increasing, the Lions held the edge. Patel and Briggs took three wickets apiece to bowl out Sri Lanka A for 226.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, will not seek to renew his term of office once it ends on June 30, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2011Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, will not seek to renew his term of office once it ends on June 30, 2012. Lorgat will have led the ICC for four years by the time he steps down after the 2012 annual conference scheduled in Kuala Lumpur.Lorgat was offered a three-year extension to his initial three-year term, which ended in June 2011, but he accepted an extension of only one year. “My sense is to step aside after having delivered a successful ICC Cricket World Cup and the new global ICC strategy which is now in place,” Lorgat said. “In 2010, I felt there was much work for me to complete during 2011 which included protecting the integrity of the game and restoring the reputation and image of the ICC.”Having dealt decisively with the spot-fixing issues, delivered a highly successful ICC Cricket World Cup and adopted a new global strategy, I feel the time is right to move on.”I am hopeful that the independent governance review currently in progress and due to be published after the next board meeting would find acceptable outcomes and thereby leave a legacy for future generations.”Although disappointed that the Test World Championship will not be played in 2013, I am confident that with the strategic restructures we have undertaken, all three formats can be sustained at international level.”The ICC’s nominations committee will use an executive recruitment agency to advertise and identify a successor for Lorgat. ICC vice-president Alan Isaac will manage the recruitment process.Sharad Pawar, the ICC president, said Lorgat had helped the ICC overcome several challenges during his term. “Haroon Lorgat has steered the ICC through some tricky situations, such as the rescheduling of the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy, the location of the ICC headquarters in Dubai, the response to the Lahore attack, several doping issues, the recent spot-fixing hearings and the highly successful ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.”I am satisfied that his contribution to the ICC and to cricket leaves us in a solid position.”

Zaka Ashraf, a top banker and businessman, has replaced Ijaz Butt as the chairman of the PCB

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2011Zaka Ashraf, a top banker and businessman, has replaced Ijaz Butt as the chairman of the PCB. The appointment, made by Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari, is only “until further order,” though, and not for the usual three-year tenure stipulated by the board’s constitution. Butt’s tenure as PCB chairman had ended on October 8.Ashraf had said on October 11, before his appointment was officially confirmed, that his priority was to improve Pakistan cricket’s image abroad after a series of high-profile scandals. “I will work day and night to live up to President Zardari’s confidence. My top priority will be to improve Pakistan’s cricket image and to stop bookies and match-fixers.”He also said he would try to improve relations with other cricket boards – including India, with whom sporting and diplomatic ties have stalled after a terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008. “People in both Pakistan and India love cricket so I will try to resume ties,” he had said.Ashraf will resign as president of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), according to an AP report. He is a close confidant of Zardari, who is Patron of the board. ZTBL is one of Pakistan’s top public-sector banks and is also represented by a team in Division One of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the domestic first-class competition. The team features several players who have played for Pakistan, including Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Hameed, Imran Nazir and Zulqarnain Haider.Apart from being president of ZTBL, Ashraf is co-chairman of the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, Punjab zone. He reportedly studied with Zardari in college and stayed in the same hostel.Butt had attended the ICC executive board meeting in Dubai on October 10 with an extension of his tenure under consideration. His term was plagued with controversies, including the armed attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore that resulted in Pakistan being denied the chance to co-host the 2011 World Cup, the spot-fixing scandal and the problems with the ECB in its aftermath when Butt made controversial accusations against the England team, Zulqarnain Haider’s fleeing to the UK mid-way through a tour after receiving threats from bookies and, most recently, a much-publicised clash with Shahid Afridi.

James Taylor, the Leicestershire batsman, will captain England Lions in their four-day and one-day matches against Sri Lanka A next month

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2011James Taylor, the Leicestershire batsman, will captain England Lions in their four-day and one-day matches against Sri Lanka A next month. The squads include Scott Borthwick, the Durham legspinner, Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales while Ben Stokes, the Durham allrounder, is included for the one-day matches.Taylor takes over the Lions captaincy from James Hildreth who led them on the tour of West Indies and against Sri Lanka, at Derby, earlier this season. Taylor has already faced Sri Lanka A for Leicestershire and scored an unbeaten 168 in the recent four-day match with began their tour. When he faced the full Sri Lanka team in May he scored an excellent 76 in tough conditions.However, the really interesting selections are those players who haven’t appeared for the Lions before. Borthwick has moved ahead of Adil Rashid as a legspinning allrounder after taking 19 wickets at 30.57 in the County Championship along with scoring 348 runs at 38.66.Hales has impressed at the top of the order for Nottinghamshire and has made 592 runs in the Championship, including a career-best 184 along with 214 runs in the CB40 and 409 in the Friends Life t20 at a strike-rate of 149.81. The other new faces in the squads are Joe Root, the 20-year-old Yorkshire batsman, an interesting choice as he has yet to score a first-class hundred, and pace bowlers Jack Brooks and Stuart Meaker from Northamptonshire and Surrey respectively.Stokes, meanwhile, may already have played for England this season if it hadn’t been for an untimely broken finger after he began the summer in fine form. Overall he has 609 Championship runs included three hundreds – one a career-best 185 – and has chipped in with 17 wickets.It isn’t just fresh faces who make up the squads, however, with Ravi Bopara included in both parties and Steven Finn for the three one-day matches along with Warwickshire allrounder Chris Woakes who has played ODI and Twenty20 cricket for England.The four-day match takes place at Scarborough from August 2-5 with the three one-day games on August 12, 14, and 16 at New Road and Wantage Road.Four-day squad James Taylor (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Jack Brooks, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, James Harris, Craig Kieswetter, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Joe Root.One-day squad James Taylor (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Danny Briggs, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, James Harris, Stuart Meaker, Chris Nash, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.

They may have dragged the match into a fourth day, but Somerset will surely stumble to their fourth defeat of a bitterly disappointing first half of the Championship season early on the final morning. With nine second-innings wickets down, they lead Warwi

George Dobell at Edgbaston22-Jun-2011
Scorecard
They may have dragged the match into a fourth day, but Somerset will surely stumble to their fourth defeat of a bitterly disappointing first half of the Championship season early on the final morning. With nine second-innings wickets down, they lead Warwickshire by just five runs. More was expected of a team that started the year with high hopes of a first Championship title.It doesn’t take too much analysis to work out Somerset’s faults. They have a tail longer than a diplodocus and they’re overly reliant on Marcus Trescothick. Zander de Bruyn, who they allowed to go to Surrey over the winter, has been sorely missed. Their bowling, with Geemal Hussain struggling to make the step-up to the top division and Charl Willoughby beginning to show signs of wear, has also lacked bite. It may yet be matters at the wrong end of the table that occupy them come September.Here their middle-order was blown away by some well-directed pace bowling from Boyd Rankin and, in particular, the distinctly sharp Rikki Clarke. At one stage Clarke took three wickets in 25 balls. On a pitch that remains slow, flat and blameless, that’s a fine effort.Only Trescothick and Nick Compton showed any meaningful resistance. No-one else scored more than 15.There’s little that is entertaining about Compton. He’s so far batted for just six-minutes short of five hours in this innings and, at one stage, was scoreless for 33 minutes. Had he been sprayed silver, passers-by may have thrown money at him.But Somerset could do with a few more batsmen of his ilk. For, until the admirable Steve Kirby joined him in a ninth-wicket stand that thwarted Warwickshire for 53 minutes, there was remarkably little resistance from a middle-order of whom more is expected.James Hildreth, whose hopes of forcing his way into the England side are receding by the week, was trapped in front by one that nipped back, before Lewis Gregory’s middle stump was sent cartwheeling by a perfect yorker and Peter Trego played-on as he was hurried by Clarke’s extra pace. Geemal Hussain, again beaten for pace, jabbed his bat down on a full ball and squirted a catch to leg gully before Murali Kartik attempted the most hideous sweep shot imaginable and departed lbw. Earlier Arul Suppiah clipped obligingly to square leg.Maybe Somerset can consider themselves a little unfortunate. While Trescothick was at the crease, a draw looked well within their grasp. There was even some talk of a challenging fourth-innings run chase.So to lose him in such unusual fashion was wretched luck. Middling a ferocious slog-sweep, Trescothick looked on in dismay as the ball thumped into Ian Westwood – hardly the largest of obstacles – at short-leg and somehow lodged itself in the fielder’s clothes. While both Westwood and Trescothick were left in pain, the smile was far quicker to return to the face of the Warwickshire man. Trescothick was also dismissed in unfortunate circumstances in the first innings; caught down the leg side as he attempted to glance.But Somerset can’t rely on their captain to save them every time. The likes of Hildreth – who has yet to score a century this season – also need to contribute far more.It was a particularly grim day for Craig Kieswetter. England’s newly recalled keeper departs with on international duty having just suffered the first ‘pair’ of his first-class career. His second innings dismissal, playing across a straight one from his new England colleague, Chris Woakes, meant Kieswetter had faced just nine balls in the match. Incidentally, Kieswetter and Woakes’ places on the final day of this game will be taken by Jos Buttler and Keith Barker respectively, though it’s hard to see either man making much of an impact.Earlier Warwickshire extended their first innings total to 448. It’s their highest score at Edgbaston this season and the highest score they’ve managed anywhere in their first innings since they last played Somerset. When they wrap-up victory on the final day, it will be the first time they’ve achieved home and away victories over Somerset in 50 years. While it might be pushing it to suggest that their fifth Championship victory of the season will revive their title hopes, it should, at least, ensure they are not looking over their shoulders in the final weeks of the season.Meanwhile Warwickshire finalised the signing of West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul as overseas player for the second half of the season. He’ll join them from mid-July.

The England & Wales Cricket Board could be forced to put next summer’s disputed West Indies Test back out to tender

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jun-2011The England & Wales Cricket Board could be forced to put next summer’s disputed West Indies Test back out to tender, after they appeared to undermine their own bid process by accepting an offer from Glamorgan that was up to 40% less than the £1million put forward by the MCC.In a situation described by one board spokesman as “very delicate”, the ECB’s apparent desire to bolster the appeal of Test cricket in Wales has hit a number of stumbling blocks, with last month’s Test against Sri Lanka resulting in a reported loss of up to £1.5million.Glamorgan bid a hefty £2.5 million for the Sri Lanka Test, but a combination of poor weather and spectator apathy left their chairman, Paul Russell, talking of a “conceptual difficulty” in marketing the game outside of England.A meagre 922 spectators witnessed England’s remarkable victory on the final afternoon of the match, and the size of the loss has raised concerns that the county would not be able to bear the costs of hosting another five-day Test in 2012.The simple solution would be for Glamorgan and MCC to instigate a straight swap, with Lord’s taking over the West Indies rights for 2012, and Cardiff picking up the visit of New Zealand in the Ashes summer of 2013. However, with MCC themselves nursing a loss of £2.5 million for 2010-11, their own preference would be for the process to be put back out to tender. Given the current economic climate, they could expect to gain the rights for a knock-down price.According to Hampshire’s chairman, Rod Bransgrove, whose own county hosts their first Test match at the Rose Bowl on Thursday, the problem of marketing five-day cricket might not be limited to Glamorgan. He suspected that, in the long term, the ECB’s current preference for seven Tests a summer might have to be reconsidered.”I do think that seven Test matches every summer is a big ask,” Bransgrove told ESPNcricinfo. “Audiences are beginning to show us that’s a difficult quantity to sustain. But I do think that there is ample international cricket to go round the nine grounds that we now have, even if it means that everybody won’t have everything they want every year.”The one surefire crowd-puller remains the Ashes, with Durham already selling tickets for their 2013 contest to ease their cash-flow problems, even though the dates of the series have yet to be announced. However, the arrival of India in the second half of this summer promises to be a windfall for the cash-strapped counties, with ticket sales already topping 700,000.

Sri Lanka Cricket have confirmed the dates for the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will be from July 19 to August 4, 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff12-May-2011Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have confirmed the dates for the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League will be from July 19 to August 4, 2011. The seven provinces will play 24 matches over the 18 days, all of which will be telecast live globally. That suggests a format in which all the teams will play each other once in a league stage, before two semi-finals and a final.Each team will only be allowed five overseas players in their squad, of which only four can be named in the XI. Several foreign players including Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs have already been signed for the tournament.SLC also unveiled the team names for the provinces. The seven teams will be: Basnahira Bears, Kandurata Kites, Nagenahira Nagas, Ruhuna Rhinos, Uthura Oryxes, Uva Unicorns and Wayamba Wolves. The board plans to add two more provinces to the tournament within three years.

A round-up of the third and fourth quarter-final games of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2011Wriddhiman Saha and Ashok Dinda turned in top-drawer performances to propel Bengal to a convincing 49-run win against Maharashtra at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal. It was not all smooth-sailing for Bengal after they chose to bat, as Akshya Darekar and Kishore Bhikane dismantled the top order with five cheap wickets, including captain Manoj Tiwary for 21. Coming together at 68 for 5 in the 12th over, Saha changed the complexion of the game in Arnab Nandi’s company. Saha smote six sixes and five fours in a brutal display of hitting that was worth 85 off 41 balls and took the score to 171 for 5. Still reeling from the onslaught, Maharashtra’s chase sputtered against Dinda who finished with 4 for 13. Harshad Khadiwale and Nikhil Paradkar saved their side from complete embarrassment, but the result was never in doubt.Haryana completed the semi-final line-up in a more closely-contested game against Kerala, also played in Uppal, where they prevailed by 20 runs. Haryana openers Sonu Rathee and Rahul Dewan launched their innings with a 43-run stand in 5.2 overs to set up the platform. Dewan and Hemang Badani got identical scores – they both made 43 – but in contrasting styles. Dewan consumed 44 balls for his effort, while Badani hit five fours and a six in 28 balls. Haryana’s innings never gathered momentum thanks to a spate of run-outs in the latter stages, and they closed with 155 for 8. Kerala’s chase was spiked by Haryana’s two most feted bowlers – Joginder Sharma (2-25) and Amit Mishra (2-14), and the sluggish chase went nowhere until VA Jagadheesh scored a fluent 49 from No. 5. However, like in the other game, the effort was not to prove enough for the team batting second.

Ricky Ponting has said that Australia’s batsmen will have to step up their game if they are to win the World Cup after their dramatic collapse in the warm-up match against India in Bangalore

Sriram Veera14-Feb-2011Ricky Ponting has said that Australia’s batsmen will have to step up their game if they are to win the World Cup after their dramatic collapse in the warm-up match against India in Bangalore. Chasing 215 to win, Australia were 118 for 1 at one stage, but the middle order disintegrated in stunning fashion to be shot out for 176 on a turning track.Ponting blamed the “under-prepared” pitch for the batting debacle. “It was an unusual ODI wicket, I don’t remember the last one-day wicket I’ve played on that spun that much,” Ponting said after the 38-run loss. “You have to find a way sometimes to combat good spin bowling on tough conditions like that. Who knows as the tournament goes on, we could face conditions like that somewhere else, and I would like to think that we can play a lot better. Otherwise, we can’t win. Hopefully some of the younger guys in the middle order can learn a little bit about starting in tough conditions.”Australia lost their last nine wickets for 58 runs but Ponting said he wasn’t overly concerned as he felt the pitch made batting an arduous task. “Yes, we were disappointing and should have played better, but by the same token even the Indian batsmen would have found it difficult to bat in those conditions. I have played a lot of one-day cricket here in India and Sri Lanka, but I don’t think I have ever played in an ODI game with so much spin. We only arrived here two days back and will get more practice as things move on.”Though Australia’s batsmen wilted, their seamers, led by the impressive Brett Lee, turned in a good show to restrict India. They also conceded 25 wides but Ponting said that the bowlers know their job. “It’s unacceptable to bowl that many wides in one-dayers but the bowlers know that, we know that. Lee and Mitchell Johnson were terrific, John Hastings bowled very well and we still should have chased that many runs. We were 1 for 100 when Tim [Paine] and I were in …”Ponting also spoke about his spinners and how he plans to use them in the World Cup. They rested Steve Smith and played Jason Krejza yesterday, but Ponting assured that Smith will be one of the key players for Australia in the tournament. “Smith will definitely bowl a lot of overs in the tournament. Jason Krejza will learn from his outing today, [Michael] Clarke can bowl when needed but Smith will play a lot.” Cameron White, the other batsman who can bowl some spin, has already admitted he is no longer an allrounder and will play as a pure batsman. “Just lost a bit of confidence as a bowler to be honest,” White said. “I am just concentrating on my batting and enjoying that role.”Ponting’s batting was one of the major positives to emerge for Australia. He made 57 before becoming the seventh wicket to fall, stumped after missing a slog sweep against Harbhajan Singh. Ponting had suffered a finger injury during the Ashes and didn’t play in the seven-match ODI series against England. In the absence of Michael Hussey, there will be immense pressure on Ponting to deliver and he was happy that he could spend some time in the middle. “My fingers are ok. It was nice to spend 80-odd minutes in the middle. It was my first game in six weeks. I certainly wasn’t at my best but it was difficult out there and I should be better for the outing.”I have to be a consistent run-scorer. I certainly wasn’t that in the summer. It was nice to get some runs but it doesn’t count for much. The runs I score in the bigger games will be important. I am feeling good; I have worked as hard as I can since my finger surgery. I feel good with my body and felt good with my batting tonight. Hopefully I can get some more runs in the next warm-up game and carry that form through the tournament.”

West Ham United boss David Moyes is desperate to sign a new striker target as news emerges on Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins, as per insider reports.

The Lowdown: Irons eye striker…

The Irons and Moyes, reportedly convinced that Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata had signed in the late hours of January, thereby ending West Ham’s long search for a forward, were left bitterly disappointed (The Evening Standard).

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Phone calls to the Colombian’s representatives were unanswered with the 31-year-old going AWOL, leaving Moyes stranded without a senior back-up option for the second half of 2021/2022.

Their quest to add a new central striker now continues into the next summer transfer window, and according to club insider Claret & Hugh, the Hammers boss is very keen on Premier League star Watkins.

The Latest: Moyes sets sights on Watkins…

Moyes has allegedly been ‘seriously tracking’ the 26-year-old in his quest to finally fill the striker’s position.

Watkins is the Scotsman’s top target, and despite Steven Gerrard’s side being adamant they won’t sell, it is believed that won’t stop West Ham from attempting a move.

A ‘key London Stadium insider’ told C&H: “It’s become clear Villa are not interested in selling the player but that won’t stop us trying.”

The Verdict: Move on…

There are various stumbling blocks to this move, not just Villa’s strict no sale stance, but also the fact he could cost around £60 million, according to reliable reporter Luke Hatfield.

Moyes’ interest is certainly understandable given Watkins’ status as a fairly young England international with proven goalscoring ability over the last few seasons.

He’s also been called ‘unbelievable’ by Villa pundits like Dan Bardell (via This is Futbol), but given the appear to make West Ham’s life difficult in attempts to land the striker, it could be best to move on for now and look at alternatives.

In other news: West Ham insider makes contrary Rice claim in big boost for Moyes, find out more here.