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Andrew Strauss endured another unproductive day at Uxbridge as Middlesex’s County Championship Division Two match against Gloucestershire ended in a dull draw

30-Jun-2011
ScorecardAndrew Strauss endured another unproductive day at Uxbridge as Middlesex’s County Championship Division Two match against Gloucestershire ended in a dull draw. Strauss finished the game as he had started it, fielding at first slip and failing to hold onto any catch that came his way, as Gloucestershire opted not to try to manufacture a result on the final day despite winning themselves a 134-run lead by wrapping up the Middlesex firstinnings for 325 inside the first hour.Gloucestershire, to the displeasure of a sparse crowd, then opted to bat through to the close at 229 for 8, refusing to set Middlesex a target and – more realistically – giving themselves an outside chance of a win which would have catapulted them above their opponents and into second place in Division Two.Strauss missed two catches in Gloucestershire’s first innings, with the declaration not coming until the third morning because of a weather-hit second day in which just 10.1 overs were bowled. He then scored only two before being trapped leg before wicket by Jon Lewis – and that became Strauss’ only innings of the match due to Gloucestershire’sultra-conservative approach.Needing time at the crease in a bid to recapture some batting form ahead of the Test series against India, which starts on July 21, Strauss will now have two weeks without any cricket before guesting for Somerset in their three-day tourist fixture against the Indians at Taunton, starting on July 15.Angus Fraser, the Middlesex director of cricket, confirmed that Strauss has no plans to play any club cricket in the next fortnight. Middlesex second XI, meanwhile, have no scheduled matches in this period.Middlesex required 27 runs to avoid the follow-on when they resumed on 283 for 7 and, despite the early loss of Tim Murtagh who fell lbw to Lewis for seven, a ninth-wicket stand of 39 between Chris Rogers and Anthony Ireland ensured the hosts would not be asked to bat again.Rogers was eventually bowled middle stump by David Payne for 148, made in just over six hours at the crease and featuring two sixes and 17 fours from 263 balls, and Payne then yorked Ireland (16) to uproot his off stump.Murtagh sent back Hamish Marshall (9), with a smart low catch in his follow-through, Chris Dent (19) and Chris Taylor (8) in an excellent new-ball spell, and when Steven Crook bowled first-innings centurion Ian Cockbain for eight the Gloucestershire second innings was wobbling a little on 65 for 4.Strauss, however, put down a relatively straightforward waist-high chance when Richard Coughtrie was on nought, off Crook. That would have left Gloucestershire on 75 for 5 but, instead, Coughtrie scored 40 and stayed with Kane Williamson, who made a fine 73 from 98 balls, to add 94 for the fifth wicket.The match drifted to the draw after tea, which Gloucestershire took 331 runs ahead at 197 for 6, with Strauss given one over of his left-arm slow-medium to relieve the boredom.

Umpire Tony Hill has said he doesn’t mind being proved wrong by the DRS, as long as the correct decision is arrived at

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2011Umpire Tony Hill has said he doesn’t mind being proved wrong by the DRS as long as the correct decision is arrived at. While the technology is not fully perfected yet, the concept is “magnificent”, Hill said at a seminar for umpires in Nelson, New Zealand.”I can see no reason why you can’t be sitting in your lounge at home and see I’m wrong. I’d much rather have the decision right and get on with the game,” Hill was quoted as saying by . “I also find that the players tend to get on better with each other out on the paddock when DRS is in use, because the little niggles that can occur when a mistake’s made, they’re taken out of the game.”The hardest areas for umpires to judge, Hill said, are the “little fine edges down leg side off gloves”. Hot Spot to help detect faint edges, along with Virtual Eye to help with lbw decisions, though not absolutely foolproof, are preferable to no assistance at all he said.The ICC’s new rule that abolishes runners, he said, makes sense since bowlers don’t receive similar assistance. “The way [the ICC] have explained it, it does make some sense in that if a bowler gets injured, you can’t replace him with another person to do the bowling. I think it has some merit.”There’d be a few [batsmen] over the years, I’d imagine, who wouldn’t have picked up hundreds without a runner coming out to help them get there. Nobody comes in for the poor old bowler to help him get his sixth wicket.”Hill, who has officiated in 23 Tests and 84 ODIs, has been part of the ICC’s international panel since 1998 and the elite panel since 2009.

Yorkshire fell just short of an audacious attempt to secure victory over Sussex after being set 344 off a possible 54 overs in their County Championship match at Scarborough

20-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Yorkshire fell just short of an audacious attempt to secure victory over Sussex after being set 344 off a possible 54 overs in their County Championship match at Scarborough. The White Rose closed on 312 for 6, just 32 runs away from the winning line, as they settled for a draw.The platform for the chase was laid by acting captain Jacques Rudolph, who thrashed 120 off 125 balls with 12 fours and five sixes, in an opening stand of 174 in 39 overs with Joe Sayers.When Rudolph was dismissed the Yorkshire chase stepped up another gear again as the hosts sent in Jonny Bairstow in a brave bid to keep the momentum going.Bairstow celebrated his call-up by England for the one-day international with Ireland by reverse sweeping Chris Nash for four to get off the mark. The final hour arrived with Yorkshire needing 162 off 16 overs and consecutive sixes by Bairstow off Nash kept them in the hunt.But after he had slammed 26 from 13 balls, Bairstow was taken on the long off boundary by Wayne Parnell who threw the ball in the air before stepping over the line and coming back to complete the catch. Gary Ballance and Sayers took up the challenge until Ballance was lbw to Kirk Wernars to make it 236 for three in the 45th over and a mid-wicket six for Anthony McGrath off Parnell and two hits into the crowd by Sayers off Monty Panesar increased the tension.At 270 for 3, Yorkshire required 74 from seven overs and McGrath slapped a full toss from Parnell to Luke Wells at long on. The target became 45 from four overs when Richard Pyrah was held in the deep and the chase was effectively over when Sayers was caught on the point boundary by Murray Goodwin off Amjad Khan for 84 from 136 balls with seven fours and four sixes.The drama began after Sussex captain Mike Yardy had hit his second century of the match before declaring on 333 for 6. Yardy followed up his first innings 130 with 122 to become the first visiting player to hit a century in each innings on a Yorkshire ground since 1976 when Alan Jones achieved the feat for Glamorgan at Middlesbrough.Both Yorkshire and Sussex took nine points from the draw and Sussex’s director of cricket, Mark Robinson, said his team had hesitated over whether to declare because of a sickness bug which was sweeping through the camp.”It started with Mike Yardy and then Monty Panesar, Wayne Parnell and James Anyon all felt unwell at various times,” said Robinson. “We didn’t particularly want to be in the field for a long while but felt there was just a chance of forcing a win if Yorkshire lost a couple of early wickets,” he said.Sussex resumed on the final morning on 126 for 3 with an overall lead of 136 and the feeling in the Yorkshire camp was that they needed to take wickets in the first hour if they were to stand any real chance of forcing a victory.Rashid raised expectations by getting Goodwin caught behind when attempting to cut with the score on 150 but nightwatchman, Anyon, was rarely troubled as he built up a 153-run stand with Yardy – the third fifth-wicket stand in excess of 150 in the match. Yardy wasted few scoring opportunities, pulling consecutive balls from Ryan Sidebottom to the boundary and hurrying to his 50 off 67 balls with seven fours before striking Rashid for a leg side six.He was dropped by Ballance at backward point shortly before lunch but soon after the interval went to his century off 105 deliveries with 10 fours and a six. Anyon moved steadily to a career-best 53 from 116 balls with five fours and was then bowled by Rashid and Yardy’s innings ended when he drove the leg-spinner to substitute fielder, David Wainwright, at long on, the declaration quickly following.

West Indies have followed up their 3-1 win in the ODI series by taking the Twenty20 series by the same score line, but they needed a Super Over to get past Pakistan in the 4th T20, in Guyana

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2011
ScorecardWest Indies have followed up their 3-1 win in the ODI series by taking the Twenty20 series by the same score line, but they needed a Super Over to get past Pakistan in the 4th T20, in Guyana. After both teams reached 72 in their allotted overs, Stacy-Ann King struck two fours in the Super Over, and got nine runs off the five balls she faced. A wide from Sadia Yousuf made it 10 runs in the over. That was always going to be a difficult target in a match when both sides had scored at 3.60. Pakistan could only get seven and West Indies took the series.Both teams’ innings had followed almost identical paths. Pakistan, put in to bat, lost their first five wickets for 33 runs, while West Indies, chasing, lost their first five for 31. Both teams were 52 for 7 and then 8 for 64. They both had three fours each in their innings, though Pakistan had one six. It was the two fours in the Super Over that made the difference for West Indies though.Anisa Mohammed, who has been West Indies’ best bowler over the ODIs and Twenty20s so far, was actually their most expensive bowler on the day, giving away 24 runs in her four overs, though she did take two wickets. Shanel Daley put in an all-round performance taking 3 for 9 and then top-scoring with 28 off 42 runs.

The jury at the trial of the alleged spot-fixing case involving Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were on Tuesday shown footage of how the alleged fix was arranged and subsequently unravelled

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court11-Oct-2011The jury at the trial of the alleged spot-fixing case involving Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were on Tuesday shown footage of how the alleged fix was arranged and subsequently unravelled.On the fifth morning of the trial at Southwark Crown Court, relating to one of cricket’s biggest controversies, footage from a secret video camera was shown while the undercover journalist responsible for the sting operation was in the witness box, hidden from the media and public with a screen.After the journalist, Mazhar Mahmood, handed over £140,000 (£10,000 had been handed over at a previous rendezvous) from a briefcase in a hotel room at the Copthorne Tara, off Kensington High Street in London, Majeed counted the money and then delivered the key information.Majeed told the journalist that Mohammad Amir would bowl a no-ball on the first ball of the third over – “no signal it will just happen”, that Asif would bowl a no-ball off the sixth delivery of the tenth over and then the third no-ball would be bowled by Amir with the last ball of an over he would signal by going around the wicket to the right-hander Jonathan Trott for the first time (presuming one of the left-handed openers would be out by then).Majeed was so confident that his players would deliver the necessary no-balls for him that he told the journalist, “If they don’t do it I will give you your money straight back,” adding, “You will see these happen and then you will be confident.”The jury was then shown an edited recording of the first innings of that Lord’s Test and witnessed the first two no-balls occurring when Majeed said they would. The third did not happen only because rain brought an early finish to the day’s play.Later that night, a phone call between Majeed and Mahmood agreed the third no-ball. Majeed told Mahmood, after checking that he was comfortable now that he had proved his influence over the players, that the third no-ball would be delivered off Amir’s third ball of his third over that day.The court was then told that on August 26, a Thursday evening, the first day of that fourth Test, how Majeed mistakenly sent a text message to Mahmood, meant for Amir, saying: ‘Third ball of your third over’. After this Majeed texted Mahmood to call him, which allowed the journalist to set up his recording equipment.The court then heard how Majeed tried to back out of the third no-ball but after Mahmood insistence that his (fictitious) cartel in the Far East had already bet on that event, he said he would happen.When Mahmood asked Majeed if Amir had been briefed on that third no-ball, Majeed replied: “He’s briefed. He just texted me to ask shall I do it or not”.Before the third no-ball was actually delivered when Majeed said it would be, Amir was bowling exceptionally well and had reduced England to 47 for 5. It was at this time, the court heard, that Majeed sent a text message to Mahmood saying ‘not on’, referring to the fix.A recorded phone conversation just after explained why Majeed sent that message. Majeed said: “He (Amir) has only bowled nine balls and he’s already got three wickets. All I’m saying is that he might not do it, he might not.”But Amir did subsequently bowl that no-ball and at the start of a conversation later that evening, on August 27, the court heard a recording of Majeed saying: “I’m not a joker bruv.”Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with agent Majeed, Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-determined no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.The case continues.

The lawyer of former Pakistan captain Salman Butt argued there is no reliable evidence for a jury to hand down a criminal conviction

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court24-Oct-2011The lawyer of former Pakistan captain Salman Butt argued there is no reliable evidence for a jury to hand down a criminal conviction against his client, and accused the prosecution of “working backwards from an assumption of guilt”, a London court heard on Monday.On day 14 of the trial, Butt sat listening intently in the dock throughout the closing speech by his representative Ali Bajwa QC, as the jury heard why he should not be handed a guilty verdict. This followed a three and a half hour speech from prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC, who highlighted Butt’s “corrupt relationship” with agent Mazhar Majeed.Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif face charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage paceman Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.Bajwa played on the conscience of the jury and asked them to consider if they had really heard enough genuine evidence that links Butt to the no-balls in question. He referred to a great, British tradition of justice and also sought to undermine the credibility of Majeed, as he has done consistently throughout the trial.”Every phone call he makes, every text he receives, every pound he earns has been presented to you as suspicious,” Bajwa said to the jury, after apologising for sounding indignant following on from Jafferjee’s speech. “But what I suggest to you is going on is that Mr Jafferjee has been working backwards from an assumption of guilt.”Salman Butt’s life has been torn apart to the point of analysing his bank records, his every move and even anything his mother does or planned. If I worked backwards from any of your lives (the jury) I could find or twist things about what you have or might not have done.”What we are asking you here is to stand back from this case and uphold that strong tradition of justice and say we are not going to presume that there is no smoke without fire. That is no basis for justice.”When you came into this court room for the first time you all took an oath to say you will give a verdict according to the evidence and nothing but the evidence. In the case of Salman Butt there simply isn’t enough evidence to find Salman Butt guilty. There seems to be a fix between Mazhar Majeed and Mohammad Amir and you must decide if that fix involved Mohammad Asif. What reliable evidence does the prosecution have that Salman Butt was involved in the fix of the Lord’s no-balls?”When all is said and done and after I remove the sand that has been thrown in your eyes suggesting the claims that have been thrown at you (from the prosecution), it all comes down to August 26 and 27 and the News of the World journalist and the words of Mazhar Majeed at the Copthorne Tara Hotel on August 25.”There was £2,500 of marked News of the World money discovered in Butt’s room during a police raid, though Butt claims that money was handed to him by Majeed as a half payment towards a fee for opening an ice cream parlour in tooting, London. Bajwa reminded the jury how they had been told that Butt had confirmed earnings of £548,000 between mid-2007 to 2010 and how that was hardly “peanuts” by British or Pakistani standards but it “suited Majeed” to say as much.Bajwa, who told the jury that Majeed will not be cross-examined, added: “Is it right that we can condemn someone on the words of a man without his evidence being tested in court? You are being asked to give a criminal conviction on the strength of Majeed’s evidence. Majeed was £704,000 overdrawn and on the verge of bankruptcy.”This is a man who claimed be good friends with Brad Pitt, Roger Federer and former England players like Mike Gatting, Geoff Boycott and Phil Tufnell – who won ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’. Well I say Majeed is the celebrity and we need to get him out of here.”The case continues.

Ben Hilfenhaus, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Ben Cutting will duel for the Test spot likely to be left open by the injured Ryan Harris when Australia A face New Zealand in Brisbane

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2011Ben Hilfenhaus, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Ben Cutting will duel for the Test spot likely to be left open by the injured Ryan Harris when Australia A face New Zealand in Brisbane from November 24.The pace quartet was named in a 12-man Australia A squad, the first to be chosen by Cricket Australia’s new selection panel of John Inverarity, Rod Marsh, Andy Bichel and the captain Michael Clarke.The team will be led by Tasmania’s highly-regarded captain George Bailey, while the batsmen selected include the national team’s current “next reserve” David Warner, Ed Cowan, Nic Maddinson, and Tom Cooper, who has previously represented Holland but is enjoying a strong start to the season for South Australia.The wicketkeeper Matthew Wade can place enormous pressure on the incumbent gloveman Brad Haddin with a strong showing against the tourists.”The National Selection Panel has chosen an exciting group of players in this 12-man Australia A squad who we believe have considerable potential and are therefore having opportunity invested in them,” Inverarity said.”There is obviously a great deal of interest in each of these players in terms of higher honours but first we look forward to this Australia A team being well led by Tasmanian George Bailey and giving a strong overall performance against the New Zealanders next week.”Ryan Harris’ current hip injury means the fast bowlers selected in this squad will be carefully monitored with six Test matches in succession throughout the Australian summer.”Australia A squad: George Bailey (capt), David Warner, Michael Beer, Tom Cooper, Ed Cowan, Ben Cutting, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nic Maddinson, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade (wk).

National selector Geoff Miller admitted England are taking a step into the unknown in the new year when they travel to the UAE to face Pakistan.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2011England’s national selector, Geoff Miller, admitted England will be taking a step into the unknown in January when they travel to UAE to face Pakistan. England have never played at Test match in the Middle East and begin a three-match series on January 17.Pakistan can call on recent local knowledge having made UAE their second-home after being exiled from playing on home soil following the terrorist attacks of March 2009 when the Sri Lankan team bus was shot at travelling to a Test match in Lahore.They first played in UAE in 2002 and since their return to the region in 2010 have drawn 0-0 with South Africa before beating Sri Lanka 1-0 in October. England have only appeared in limited-overs matches, most recently drawing a Twenty20 series 1-1 in February 2010.”It’s something different for us,” Miller told . “Pakistan, who are playing very good cricket at the moment, are used to playing in the region,” he said. “We’ll do our preparation as we always do. We’ve watched cricket over there and there are a couple of matches before we go into the Test matches but [the players] can adapt, they’re good enough to adapt to all conditions and all surfaces.”Under team director Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss England’s preparation for Test series has been meticulous. They played three first-class matches ahead of the last Ashes series in Australia whereas India had one match before their four-Test series in England earlier this year and none before an earlier tour of South Africa.”Whatever the opposition you’ve still got to get used to the pitches and the conditions and that’s exactly what we’ll do,” said Miller, aware that Pakistan are unbeaten in Test series for 2011. “We’ll get our house in order,” he added. “We need to fly right from the word go.”England will have to carefully consider the make-up of their bowling attack. They have operated with four specialist bowlers in all but one Test – in Chittagong – since the 2009 Ashes series when Andrew Flintoff retired. Monty Panesar has been included in the squad if England require two spinners and Miller is confident there is the strength in depth to consolidate their position as the no. 1 Test side in the world.”The options are there for the two Andy’s to select the side they require. We’ve got variations in our seam attack for the different kind of bowlers we may need and we’ve got the variations in the spin as well,” said Miller. “We’ll wait and see what the surfaces are like. [Flower and Strauss] are pretty good judges of how wickets are going to play so we’ll just have to see how the pitches play in the warm up games and select accordingly.”

A round-up of two matches of the SuperSport Series 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Dec-2011The Dolphins made a brave fist of a target of 442, riding on Divan van Wyk’s century, but fell 91 short against Warriors at St George’s Park. van Wyk’s was a lone effort, considering that no other batsman managed to cross fifty. Basheer Walters and Simon Harmer shared seven wickets between them in the second innings to hand Warriors their first win of the season.The Warriors opted to bat but found themselves in trouble on the first day at 26 for 3. Colin Ingram and Wayne Parnell began the repair work with a stand of 81 for the fifth wicket. Parnell struck Tabraiz Shamsi for a six to bring up the 150, but at 44 perished to Robert Frylinck, who took two wickets in an over. Ingram was supported by Walters, who made an exact 50 at No.11. Ingram went on to score 121 before he was dismissed by Kyle Abbott, who took four wickets. Frylinck too finished with a four-for.Parnell was in good form with the ball on the second day, taking 3 for 17 and sharing six wickets with Rusty Theron as the pair shot out Dolphins for 223. Friedel de Wet made 73, but he was the only batsman to pass fifty as his team conceded a lead of 72.The Warriors strenghthened their advantage the following day, thanks to JT Smuts, who made a century, and Arno Jacobs, who made 51. The opener Kelly Smuts gave Warriors command with 49, before his brother took over. Jacobs and JT Smuts added 110 for the third wicket but the Dolphins hit back with middle-order strikes. Parnell and Athenkosi Dyili frustrated the opposition with a stand of 65 for the seventh wicket. The Warriors declared at 369, with Abbott and Frylinck taking three-wicket hauls.Faced with a target of 442, Dolphins took off confidently. Van Wyk and Khaylihle Zondo scored quickly, adding 80 for the first wicket before Harmer got one to turn and bounce, forcing Zondo to fend to silly point. Van Wyk progressed to 102 on the final day. Harmer had him caught eight overs before lunch. The Dolphins went into the final session at 310 for 6 but failed to stick it out as they were bowled out for 350.In another high-scoring encounter, at Bloemfontein, Knights and Titans played out a draw, as the latter came close to chasing down 336. Martin van Jaarsveld blasted an unbeaten 167, off 161 balls but it wasn’t enough as the Titans fell short of the target by 33 runs.The Titans chose to field, but were made to regret that decision as the Knights piled on 438 in just a shade over 90 overs. Riley Rossouw and Morne van Wyk smashed 145 and 139 respectively, to guide Knights’ first-innings effort. Rowan Richards, the left-arm seamer, finished with 5 for 87.The Titans hit back with a first-innings lead of 23, helped by centuries by Farhaan Behardian (141) and Faff de Plessis (153). Quinton Friend took 5 for 53. Boeta Dippenaar (112) and Obus Pienaar (83) led Knights’ effort in their second innings as they were bowled out for 358.van Jaarsveld led by example on the final day, smashing 18 fours and three sixes in his knock. Malusi Siboto, the right-arm seamer, took three wickets as Titans ended on 303 for 6.

The Delhi Daredevils have signed up Pawan Negi, Manprit Juneja and Kuldeep Raval ahead of the 2012 IPL season

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2012The Delhi Daredevils have signed up Delhi allrounder Pawan Negi, Gujarat batsman Manprit Juneja and Saurashtra batsman Kuldeep Raval ahead of the 2012 IPL season.”We are delighted to have signed up talented cricketers who we spotted on the domestic circuit this season,” team mentor TA Sekhar told . “We were tracking Manprit Juneja even before he scored 201 on first-class debut against Tamil Nadu. We are confident he will push real hard for a place in the [Daredevils] middle-order this season.”Negi can be an effective left-hand allrounder. He caught our eye when taking six wickets [overall] for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy [India’s state-based domestic Twenty20 competition]. Raval fits into the team’s scheme of things well, since he has the game and the temperament to be an impact player in the middle-order.”The Daredevils also bought out the contracts of Robert Frylinck, who plays for South African franchise Dolphins, former India allrounder S Sriram, Rajasthan legspinner Vivek Yadav and Baroda left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar. Sriram had played one of the Daredevils games last season, while the other three did not figure in any of the matches.