Category Uncategorized

Tom Bruce and Robbie O’Donnell have been named co-captains for the tour that consists of three first-class games and as many one-day matches

Shashank Kishore19-Aug-2022New Zealand A’s upcoming tour of India features as many as seven players with international experience. Among them are dual Internationals Logan van Beek and Michael Rippon, who have featured for both New Zealand and Netherlands.Tom Bruce, the hard-hitting New Zealand and Central Districts batter, and Robbie O’Donnell, the batter from Auckland, have been named co-captains for the month-long tour. Rob Walter, head coach of the Central Stags, will lead the coaching group and will be supported by Brendon Donkers, Canterbury’s assistant coach, and Paul Wiseman, the NZC High Performance coach.As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the tour consists of three first-class games and as many one-day matches. The red-ball games will all be played in Bengaluru between September 1-18. The white-ball fixtures will be held in Chennai between September 22-27. There is no pink-ball fixture penciled in for the moment. The New Zealand A squad will depart for India on August 26.”It’s great to have A fixtures back on the touring calendar and even more exciting to have the team playing in foreign conditions,” chief selector Gavin Larsen said. “This programme and tours like these are vital in developing our people and giving them opportunities to test themselves against quality opposition.”We have an exciting mix in this group, including players who dominated our last home season such as Robbie O’Donnell and Tom Bruce, alongside emerging talents in Matt Fisher and Joe Walker.”The squad also consists of young, capped players such as Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy and Dane Cleaver, all of whom enjoyed successful outings during New Zealand’s European tour this summer.Larsen hoped exposure to the subcontinent conditions would give players a taste of what to expect over the next year or so, especially with the 50-over World Cup to be played in India in November 2023.”With a mix of red ball and white ball matches it’s a great chance to see the players in a variety of situations against what we know will be a very strong home side,” Larsen said. “The conditions present a great opportunity for the spin bowling group in particular, ahead of future tours and ICC events in the subcontinent.”It’s exciting to welcome Logan back into the NZ A set-up. He’s a proven performer on the domestic scene and has impressed in his recent stints playing for the Netherlands. Touring India is one of the great experiences for any cricketer and I know the players and staff are looking forward to the challenge.”New Zealand A squad: Tom Bruce (capt), Robbie O’Donnell (capt), Chad Bowes, Joe Carter, Mark Chapman, Dane Cleaver (wk), Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher, Cameron Fletcher (wk), Ben Lister, Rachin Ravindra, Michael Rippon, Sean Solia, Logan van Beek, Joe Walker

“I’m always going to have to live with Cape Town regardless of whether I lead again or not”

Reuters and ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2021Three years after his ignominious exit as Australia’s captain in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal, Steven Smith has said he is keen and ready to lead the national side again if an opportunity came his way.Smith was suspended from international cricket for 12 months and banned from leadership roles for two years for his role in the scandal during the Cape Town Test in March 2018.After Smith’s ban Tim Paine took over the reins of Australia’s Test side while Aaron Finch was handed the captaincy of the white-ball formats.”I’ve certainly had a lot of time to think about it and I guess now I’ve got to a point where if the opportunity did come up again, I would be keen,” Smith told .”If it was what Cricket Australia wanted and it was what was best for the team at the time, it’s certainly something I would be interested in now, that’s for sure.”Related

• Who will captain Australia after Tim Paine? Does Steven Smith still have a chance?

• Cummins eager for captaincy audition with an eye to Australia's future

• Steven Smith not Australia's only captaincy candidate – Earl Eddings

• No reason Smith shouldn't captain Australia – Khawaja

• Covid summer brings Australia back to the field

The scandal centred around Smith, his deputy David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on camera attempting to change the condition of the ball using sandpaper, and it plunged Australian cricket into crisis.Paine has since led Australia’s Test side with distinction, but with the wicketkeeper-batsman turning 37 by the time he captains in the Ashes series against England at the end of 2021, a clear succession plan would be required.Few players have better credentials to succeed Paine than the 31-year-old Smith but it has been fast bowler Pat Cummins who has been nurtured in the past as Australia’s vice-captain and he has been handed the one-day captaincy of New South Wales this season”I’m always going to have to live with Cape Town regardless of whether I lead again or not. It’s always there,” Smith said. “I’ve been through all that now.”Time keeps moving forward, and I’ve learnt so much the last few years about myself and grown as a human being. I feel as though I’d be in a better place if the opportunity did come up.”If it doesn’t, that’s fine as well and I’d support whoever is in charge the same way I’ve supported Tim and Finchy. I haven’t always felt like I wanted to do it again. That’s only come in the last little bit.”The topic of Smith captaining Australia again came up during the visit by India this season when Finch missed the second T20I with injury and Cummins was not part of the squad. Matthew Wade was handed the role with coach Justin Langer there is a “process” to go through before Smith can captain again.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo late last year, CA chairman Earl Eddings said that there had not yet been discussions about Smith.”We’ve got some great young leaders coming through,” he said. “So it’s not just about should Steve take over, it’s about what’s best overall. Steve’s a great young man and he was a good captain when he was there. Like any succession there’s planning in place. Have we sat down as a board specifically to discuss the next captain? No we haven’t.”We’ll be guided by the recommendations of the selection panel, they always come back to our board at the right time with their recommendation, and we’ll go through it in detail when they do that.”

Captain Yannic Cariah stars with 52-ball 34 and returns of 3 for 8 in massive victory

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2019Impressive spells from spinners Kevin Sinclair and Yannic Cariah took West Indies Emerging Team to their maiden Super 50 Cup title after they bowled Leeward Islands out for 88 for a whopping 205-run win in Port of Spain on Sunday.Young offpsinner Sinclair, playing only his ninth List A game, and lespinner Cariah, also the captain, ran through the Leeward Islands’ line-up, finishing with figures of 4 for 20 and 3 for 8 respectively.Leeward Islands hardly resisted with the bat after the emerging team put up 293 for 7, with six of them dismissed for single-digit scores. The highest individual score was Amir Jangoo’s 43-ball 20.Openers Kieran Powell – the highest run-scorer of the season – and Montcin Hodge contributed just 13 and 1 respectively, while the in-form Devon Thomas fell for a 22-ball 15. A clutch of wickets fell after Cariah removed Keacy Carty in the 18th over, as Leeward Islands lost their last seven wickets for just 24 runs.Earlier, after being put in, the emerging team rode on strong top-order partnerships, with Leonardo Julien top-scoring with 83. Although they lost three quick wickets in the space of 3.5 overs in the middle, handy lower-order contributions from Sinclair (28 in 33 balls) and Dominic Drakes (38 in 25) took them to a competitive total.Cariah was named Man of the Match for his bowling spell as well as 34 off 52 balls batting at No. 3.

Joe Denly and Adil Rashid shared seven wickets as England closed out victory in their final white-ball encounter of the tour

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo27-Oct-20181:39

Social Story: Denly’s back!

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJason Roy – dropped three times – thwacked 69 off 36, Moeen Ali smote 27 off 11 while the lower-middle order rallied, and England lurched in fits and starts to 187 for 8, which would prove 30 too many for Sri Lanka.The target was imposing enough by itself, with only one greater total having been successfully chased at Khettarama. But when Joe Denly, playing in his first England international in almost nine years, removed both Sri Lanka openers with his virtually non-turning legspin, Sri Lanka’s pursuit was seriously imperilled. England’s other legspinner – the main one – Adil Rashid then claimed three wickets through the middle overs to essentially seal victory for his team.Between them, Rashid and Denly accounted for Sri Lanka’s top five, and had them well behind the asking rate. Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera slammed his way to 57 off 31 balls for the remainder of the innings, but his team had lost too much ground to make even that innings meaningful. The hosts limped, eventually, to 157 all out by the end of 20 overs, Denly claiming career-best figures of 4 for 19.England, and Roy in particular, made their intentions felt in the very first over. Running down the pitch to Lasith Malinga, Roy thumped him over long-off for six second ball, before glancing the fourth ball to the fine leg boundary for four. Sri Lanka tried to target Roy with the left-arm spin of Amila Aponso, perhaps working off the theory that he was susceptible to that form of bowling early in his innings. It didn’t work – Roy thrashed two fours off Aponso’s first two balls.The spinner would have more luck at the other end, in his second over, however, dismissing Roy’s opening partner Jos Buttler, and Alex Hales in the space of four balls. That prompted a brief respite from Roy’s onslaught – a period of about four overs when he did not hit a boundary. The big hits would resume soon enough, though.The ninth over, bowled by Lakshan Sandakan, was the most eventful over of the innings, and perhaps the definitive one of the game. Batting at the time on 34 off 25 balls, Roy top edged the second ball, and sent a miscued slog-sweep high to deep midwicket. But the substitute fielder, Sadeera Samarawickrama, spilled the straightforward chance, after which Roy nailed a slog-sweep into the western stand. Fourth ball, another top edge, this one to Dasun Shanaka at long-off. That was also grassed. Last ball, Sandakan should have had Ben Stokes lbw as well, only for the umpire to deny him, and his team-mates to refuse the review.Adil Rashid made important inroads•Getty Images

Roy, who was dropped again in the next over, clobbered 34 runs off 11 balls after his first reprieve. Stokes made 24 off his next 21. Between these two innings and that of Moeen, who struck three sixes and a four off his first 10 balls despite having arrived in the 12th over with four wickets already down, England were powered to their daunting total.Denly, who produced a useful 20 off 17 with the bat as well, might not have been the kind of bowler that worried Sri Lanka before this match, but he nevertheless was the first to push them off course, before Rashid truly toppled them later on. He slipped a ball under Kusal Mendis’ ambitious slog-sweep with the last ball of his first over – Kusal making a return to single-figure limited-overs scores, after hitting a half-century in the last ODI. Niroshan Dickwella, who is perhaps the form batsman of this top order, was out in almost identical fashion in Denly’s next over.Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva threatened to rebuild – even if Sri Lanka were already struggling in terms of run rate – but Rashid’s arrival at the bowling crease the moment the Powerplay ended, swung the match decisively for England. He had Chandimal caught attempting a reverse-slog in his first over, then dismissed Kamindu Mendis and de Silva in the space of three deliveries in his third, conceding only 11 runs – no boundaries – right through his four-over spell.Aside from Thisara’s late fifty, debutant Kamindu’s all-round performance might have been the only real positive for the hosts. Not only did he deliver both left-arm orthodox and right-arm offbreaks for the first time in an international match since 1996 (Sri Lanka’s Hashan Tillakaratne had been the last to do it), his batting was also full of promise. In 14 balls at the crease, he struck three fours and a six, before eventually holing out attempting a slog-sweep. For now, his batting appears his foremost cricketing talent, even if the uniqueness of his bowling will command more headlines.

The BCCI has named Hemang Amin as the new Chief Operating Officer of the Indian Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2017The BCCI has named Hemang Amin as the new chief operating officer of the Indian Premier League. Amin has been associated with the BCCI for the last seven years and has, more relevantly, played an active role in the “management and operations” of the IPL. Amin, who will continue to report to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, has most recently served as the board’s assistant general manager (finance, commercial and events).Amin’s appointment comes after more than a year-and-a-half of the COO’s office remaining vacant following the resignation of Sundar Raman. The appointment of a COO for the IPL is also one of the recommendations of the Lodha Committee that was approved by the Supreme Court.Rajiv Shukla, the IPL chairman, praised Amin for his “incredible breadth of experience and relationships” across a variety of markets. “Having worked with him firsthand, I know he will be a fine leader for the IPL and will bring unmatched innovation, passion, and vision to the role,” he said.CK Khanna, the BCCI’s acting president, hailed Amin’s leadership and credited him for handling a “pivotal transition period” for the IPL. “His leadership over the past seven years has shaped IPL’s strategy, laying a strong foundation for future course, improvements and success.”Amin’s immediate challenge will be to frame the guidelines pertaining to the release, transfer and retention of players ahead of the auction before IPL 2018 that will see the return of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

Hashim Amla has called on South Africa’s top six to take responsibility for run-scoring and not leave it up to the lower order to finish games in the ongoing ODI tri-series in the Caribbean

Firdose Moonda14-Jun-20162:02

‘Need to operate better as a team’ – de Villiers

Hashim Amla has called on South Africa’s top six to take the responsibility for run-scoring and not leave it up to the lower order to finish games in the ongoing ODI tri-series in the Caribbean. South Africa are carrying a longer tail than usual in the tournament, and the lower order has failed to contribute in the three matches so far, but Amla said it was not up to the tail-end batsmen to get the team over the line.”As a team we have always backed ourselves for somebody in the top six to take it through and bat as deep as possible,” Amla said, ahead of South Africa’s match against West Indies on June 15. “Obviously we are very disappointed after our last game. We got ourselves into a very good position to win it and we didn’t quite take it through. We lost some wickets at crucial times and that cost us. Hopefully we don’t make the same mistake in the next game.”In their loss against Australia last Saturday, South Africa collapsed from 210 for 4 to 252 all out, losing 6 for 42. They had previously lost 7 for 28 in the opening defeat against West Indies and 6 for 91 in the victory against Australia. In the three matches so far, there were only two instances of a batsman in the bottom six getting into double figures: Farhaan Behardien’s 62 and Kagiso Rabada’s 15 in the game South Africa won.Effectively, that means South Africa’s tail begins when JP Duminy, who has not scored an ODI half-century in nine innings, is dismissed. Although Behardien has shown an ability to contribute, he has not done so consistently and Wayne Parnell has been unable to replicate the domestic form that led to his recall to the national side. The bowlers follow Parnell in the line-up, which leaves South Africa with no option but for the top six to pile on the runs, especially as they don’t have much in the way of reserves.The only additional batsman in the squad is Dean Elgar, who was brought in to replace the injured Rilee Rossouw, but including him in the XI is tricky. If Elgar were to come in, South Africa would have to leave themselves short in the bowling department. Another option is to lengthen the batting by including Chris Morris, possibly at Parnell’s expense. Morris has recovered from a hamstring niggle and is available for selection but, as a lower-order allrounder, the responsibility cannot be left to him alone.”It’s the responsibility of the batsmen. That’s what we enjoy doing and that’s what we would like to do,” Amla said. “We didn’t manage to do it in this game and I guess that does happen occasionally where you are not going to get it right, but we want to get it right as often as we can.”At least South Africa know conditions in Basseterre will assist them in their quest for more runs, although Amla warned not to expect some of the towering totals that have come to define one-day cricket recently.”It is a good wicket. It’s a higher-scoring ground than in Guyana, where 200 was a good total. Here 260 seems like a good score,” he said. “In this day and age, where we’ve seen scores of 350 in one-day cricket, it’s sobering to see 250 being a difficult score to get.”Australia managed 288 in their win against South Africa on Saturday, but their 265 was inadequate against West Indies on Monday. Amla believed if South Africa could get somewhere close to the 260-run mark, they would give themselves a chance. “The key is to try and get the team to score around 250 or 260. It’s a good enough wicket that you can to chase it down if you bat well.”If South Africa are faced with a higher chase, Amla said he expected the lower order to come into play. “In many games even chasing scores like 280, you end up needing your No.7, 8 and 9 to contribute a little bit,” he said. “It’s not a matter of batters or bowlers, it’s a collective effort to turn it around in the field as well as with the bat.”All the talk about the need for a better showing is because halfway through the round-robin stage, South Africa are at the bottom of the table. They have won only one match, though they have played one less than Australia. South Africa will now take on a buoyant West Indies, who are fresh off a victory over Australia, on Wednesday. With a maximum of 15 points still up for grabs, South Africa are by no means out of contention but, having failed to score as many runs as they would have liked, they know they are up against it. “We are all extremely hungry to turn it around and get back to winning ways but it’s still early in the competition,” Amla said.

Sri Lanka head coach Marvan Atapattu has said the absence of Saeed Ajmal was a psychological boost for the home side ahead of the three-Test series against Pakistan that begins in Galle on Wednesday

Sa'adi Thawfeeq15-Jun-2015Sri Lanka head coach Marvan Atapattu has said the absence of Saeed Ajmal was a psychological boost for the home side ahead of the three-Test series against Pakistan that begins in Galle on Wednesday.”The major change that I see in this Pakistan side is that Saeed Ajmal is not there,” Atapattu said. “He has been their main weapon and it’s somewhat unfortunate that things have fallen that way. Teams have to face such situations.”It’s a psychological thing when you know that Ajmal at his peak made not only the Sri Lankans but a lot of batsmen think,” he said. “He gave a lot of them sleepless nights. Now that he is not there it’s a psychological advantage to us but still you’ve got to respect the good ball and put away the bad ones. That’s the mentality I expect our players to be in.”I believe they’ve got bowlers who could win games but at the same time they haven’t done it yet.”Atapattu was, however, upbeat about Sri Lanka’s bowling, especially with the “coming of age” of their fast-bowling unit.

A new era for Sri Lanka

Atapattu said the upcoming series was important because it was the start of a new era for Sri Lanka cricket.
“We are getting into a new era without the two big guns Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara at some point in time in the series. It’s a new challenge for the players in different slots and hopefully they will grab them and hang in there for a long time,” he said.
Jayawardene has retired from all formats of the game at the conclusion of the 2015 World Cup while Sangakkara is expected to do so during the series against India coming up in August. Sangakkara is currently playing for English county Surrey and will join the Test squad in Galle.

“Our fast bowlers are more disciplined than a decade ago if you exclude Chaminda Vaas who was in a different class,” he said. “We are trying to bring in more discipline to our fast bowling unit and hopefully we will see results.”We don’t have anybody who bowls at 150kph at the moment but you really don’t have to. You don’t need to be fast to trouble a batsman. We are more equipped in our unit to combat situations.”Drop in fielding standards has been an area of concern for Sri Lanka in the last few months, following which the team roped in the services of Jonty Rhodes. Atapattu said the players have worked hard in that area.”Jonty Rhodes coming to Sri Lanka doesn’t mean that we are going to hold onto every catch that comes our way,” he said. “What we expected from Jonty was to give us new tips and techniques so that we can improve our players and to work on them, which we are doing through our local coaches who are capable.”Our fielding can improve not only because of Jonty’s contribution but it could be because the conditions are different here and more suitable for our guys. We know our conditions better than anybody else.”The majority of the players in the Lankan squad will be coming out of a three-month break from cricket which according to Atapattu was a long-felt need.”We’ve been playing cricket since November 2014 and it ran upto the March 18, 2015 without a break other than the 10 days we got between the New Zealand tour and the World Cup,” pointed out Atapattu. “It’s been good but on the other hand some players have been playing there cricket elsewhere like in IPL, and in England. Very few had nothing and actually had a rest of three months.”

Former national selector Glenn Turner and Martin Crowe have been recruited by New Zealand Cricket as high-performance talent scouts

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2012Glenn Turner and Martin Crowe have been recruited by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) as “high-performance talent scouts”, to identify potential New Zealand cricketers by watching domestic cricket. The duo will suggest names to national selection manager Kim Littlejohn and coach Mike Hesson.Turner returns to the payroll of NZC after being removed from his position as the national selector, after six years in the role, by current director of cricket John Buchanan last year. Turner, days after being displaced by Littlejohn, had said he and New Zealand Cricket were “better off without each other”.But now he is happy to be back in the fold. “I’ve only been a year out of it and the six years prior to that meant that I got around the provincial scene and I’ve had an opportunity to see more domestic cricket than anybody else,” Turner told . “It’s an opportunity to keep up with that knowledge and increase it again and get right up to date. Obviously cricket is still important to me and there’s always the saying that you’re better inside the tent than outside it.”The other recruit, Crowe, was diagnosed with a “very treatable” cancer a month ago.Buchanan said an increase in the budget as the reason behind the new positions: “We’re trying to increase the breadth of coverage. It’s to do with budgeting, in that we were able to increase our budget in that area. [It’s] also for [Littlejohn] to get a good handle on NZC and the sort of people that would be appropriate to fill those scouting roles.”

Pakistani first-class cricketer Nauman Habib has died in Peshawar, reportedly a victim of murder

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2011Pakistani first-class cricketer Nauman Habib has died in Peshawar, reportedly a victim of murder. Habib, 32, had gone missing on October 9 after leaving his house in Hayatabad, Peshawar, for a nearby gym; his body was found near his house on October 11. Habib had been playing for Peshawar against Multan from October 6-8 in the first round of this season’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and had taken seven wickets in the match.Habib, a right-arm seamer, played 63 first-class matches and 30 List A games. He had taken 221 first-class wickets at an average of 26.22, with nine five-wicket hauls; he took ten wickets in a match three times.

Australia cannot expect Shane Warne’s advice to magically solve Nathan Hauritz’s recent bowling problems, according to the coach Tim Nielsen

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Oct-2010Australia cannot expect Shane Warne’s advice to magically solve Nathan Hauritz’s recent bowling problems, according to the coach Tim Nielsen. Hauritz is likely to remain Australia’s No. 1 spinner for the Ashes but after taking six wickets at 65 in the recent Tests against India, he has some work to do.That could include sessions with Warne, who has offered his services to Hauritz ahead of Australia’s first home Ashes series since Warne’s retirement. Nielsen said while such tutoring could be useful, it was more important that Hauritz take on the responsibility of working out what he should change in order to trouble England’s batsmen.”He’s had some discussions with Warney in the past,” Nielsen told the Sydney Morning Herald. “If Warney is available and Haury would like to speak to him I can’t see any reason they wouldn’t have a chat. In the end, that’s a great little resource to utilise, but it’s more important that Haury identifies the things he needs to improve and we identify as a team the things we need to improve, and go about fixing them.”We can’t expect someone to come in and fix the ills of the game for us. It’s about us saying ‘yes, I need to get better at this’, and working our backsides off at training and preparation to make sure we’ve nailed those skills. It’d be great to have people like Warne offering advice but in the end it comes back to us.”The main competition for Hauritz in the immediate future is set to come from the legspinning allrounder Steven Smith, who made a promising start to his Test career against Pakistan this year. The former spinners Ashley Mallett and Ray Bright would like to see Smith in the Test side, although alongside Hauritz rather than in his place.Smith’s batting makes him an attractive all-round option and although Ricky Ponting is not keen on the idea yet, one possible role could be for Smith to bat at No. 6 and become the second spinner. But Smith, who was in the Test squad in India and remains there for the ODI series, believes his Test hopes for the time being will rest on his bowling.”I’d like to become a genuine allrounder down the track so scoring runs whenever I can is going to be good for me to get my best foot forward,” Smith told reporters in India. “Something I want to do is bat in the top six at some point. But at the moment it’s probably going to be my spin that’ll give me a game.”