All posts by csb10.top

Sussex 277 and 259 beat Nottinghamshire 212 (Read 56, Swann 41, Collymore 4-60) by 73 runs
ScorecardJust after 12.30pm, Sussex wrapped up their first Championship victory of theseason by a comfortable margin of 73 runs over the home side, Nottinghamshire.It was an expected result, and there were no twists on the final morning tobeguile the small number of spectators.Nottinghamshire overnight were 114 for 5, with all their specialist batsmengone, and needing a further 172 runs to win the match. It was not impossible,as they are well off for allrounders, but in the context of this low-scoringmatch, it was always going to be unlikely.However, the confidence and application with which Chris Read and Graeme Swannapplied themselves from the start of play showed that Nottinghamshire had by nomeans given up the fight. They began steadily and then started opening up,selecting the right delivery to hit and untroubled by the bowling. Readbrought up his fifty (81 balls) with a superb straight drive to the boundaryoff Mushtaq Ahmed, and then pumped Corey Collymore through the covers for four.But this was the last real defiance offered, the last real challenge to Sussex’ssupremacy in this match. Perhaps Read relaxed his concentration momentarily, ashe pushed a catch, bat and pad, to short leg off Mushtaq and was gone for 56.Notts were 159 for six after a stand of 78 that had almost doubled the score.As has happened so often in this match, a blossoming partnership was cut offjust when it was on the point of changing the game.The writing was not on the wall yet, but it seemed to affect Swann. He too hadplayed his strokes confidently, despite one fortunate escape when a cover drivewent in the air between two fielders, but in the next over he played a weak shotoutside the off stump to Collymore and was caught in the slips. He scored 41;163 for 7.There were still two capable batsmen left in Mark Ealham and Paul Franks, andthey held up Sussex for a while. Again, however, nothing major developed asEalham departed for 11, out to a very sharp catch by Luke Wright in the gullyoff a firm hit from Collymore; 188 for 8.By now the writing really was on the wall, although the next pair did take thetotal past 200, before Darrin Pattinson pushed forward and was adjudged lbw toMushtaq for 9; 203 for 9. A visit by Charlie Shreck to the crease is never aprolonged pleasure, but Paul Franks did manage a couple of lusty blows, takingthe total to 212 and his own score to 30 before his partner was caught in theslips and the match was over.Collymore, a quiet unsung hero, did sterling work to take 4 for 60, and therewere two wickets each for Jason Lewry and Mushtaq, whose bowling, unlike hisappealing, is not yet quite back to its best. It was a well-fought match, withSussex just ahead for most of the time and never really losing their advantage.The pitch was by no means a rogue, but batsmen found it hard to play their shotsand only Matt Prior, the undoubted but unofficial ‘Man of the Match’ reallymastered it. Scoring was rarely quick, therefore, and though the connoisseurwould have found interest in the fight, the limited-overs spectator wouldprobably have labelled it in the ‘boring’ category.

At the County Ground this morning Somerset’s Ian Blackwell was ‘absolutely delighted’ at the news that he has been selected for the Academy trip to Australia this winter.Before the Academy trip however the twenty four year old all rounder is travelling out to Sri Lanka later this week as part of the England squad for the ICC Trophy in Sri Lanka.He told me: “I’m very much looking forward to the trip, and I hope that I can impress them and try to get my foot in the door.”He continued: “Early on Thursday morning I shall be travelling up to London with Marcus Trescothick and meeting with the rest of the England players before catching a plane to Dubai and then onto Colombo. Assuming that we get through to the final stages I return to England on September 30th.”Regarding Blackwell’s selection for the ICC Trophy his travelling companion Marcus Trescothick told me: “This will be a great experience for Ian. He has done the easy bit getting into the squad now he has to get into the side and do well. The hard work is just about to start for him.”Reflecting on the 2002 season ‘Blackie’ told me: “Personally it has been a good season for me with three centuries and a 98, plus the C and G Lords final, but our form in the championship and the NUL has been disappointing.”He continued: “It has been very frustrating for us all because we have got a good team and should have performed much better than we did. However if we do go down in the championship then we will be looking to bounce straight back next season.”He concluded: “Despite the fact that we are already relegated in the NUL there was a good crowd and a great atmosphere at Taunton on Sunday when we beat Kent which helped us out there.”

Gary Kirsten became the first Test player in world cricket to score a century against all of the nine Test playing nations when he completed the full house with a hundred for South Africa against Bangladesh on day one of the inaugural Test at Buffalo Park in East London.With Buffalo Park becoming the tenth venue in South Africa to host a Test match, Khaled Mashud won the toss for Bangladesh and decided to put South Africa in to bat on a pitch and under conditions that looked like favouring the bowlers early on. New South African captain Mark Boucher commented that he too would have fielded had he won the toss.Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith, after a conservative start, soon got into their stride, taking the score to 87 when Gibbs attempting to cut, slapped a catch to extra cover, who obliged by taking it head high. Gibbs had scored a fluent 41, leaving the stage for Smith and Gary Kirsten.Kirsten, who had been left out of the one-day squad, seemed a rejuvenated batsman. Starting his innings by playing with a straight bat and restricting his shots between mid on and mid off, he batted with confidence and authority scoring at almost a run a ball.Coming into the match, Kirsten was level with Steve Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar on hundreds against eight of the playing nations. He went to his 50 in 83 minutes and then set his mark, going to the hundred in 227 minutes. It was an innings that he would remember for years to come, and provided great joy for South African supporters who were pleased to see him back in top form. Kirsten is now also the highest South African Test centurion with 15 100s to his name.Smith, meanwhile, showed that he is far more suited to the longer version of the game, timing the ball sweetly through the off side field. He went to his first Test hundred in 209 minutes, the youngest South African to do so since re-admission, and continued to work hard at reaching the magical 200 in 338 minutes, becoming the tenth South African to score a 200 – the 14th occasion a South African had achieved the feat.Having just gone to his 200, Smith came down the wicket and lofted a simple catch to deep mid on. A 272-run partnership with Kirsten had come to an end and South Africa had lost the second wicket on 359.The Bangladesh bowlers, apart from Manjural Islam, never consistently got the ball in the correct areas. Not receiving the expected assistance from the conditions and the pitch, they toiled hard without any reward. The spinners finding very little turn found themselves at the mercy of the batsmen.The day completely belonged to South Africa who dominated each session, ending it on 369/2 with Kirsten on 113 and Jacques Kallis on 1. If day one was anything to go by, then day two is going to be another long haul for Bangladesh.

Northern Districts’ all-rounder Scott Styris has won the race to convince the New Zealand selectors that he should be the player to stay on in the West Indies for the Test series.When the touring team was announced, one place was left open in the Test side, for another player to be added, and after his batting in two of the One-Day Internationals and yesterday’s six-wicket performance in New Zealand’s first win of the series, Styris was named today as the final player.Selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee said: “There has been some healthy competition for the final Test place and I guess you could say Scott has emerged from the pack to take the vacant all-rounder position.”The full team is:Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Ian Butler, Chris Harris, Robbie Hart, Matt Horne, Craig McMillan, Chris Martin, Mark Richardson, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.The first Test match is to be played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados starting next Friday.

Sun Bank has signed a six-figure deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to sponsor its National Under 15 Club Cricket Championship for the next three years.Sun Bank has been associated with the competition for many years, making SunBank one of the ECB’s longest standing partners. The number of clubs competing has grown from an entry of 817 clubs in 1985, to a record number of 1479 last year. This year’s tournament started in April with more than 1500 clubs taking part which means many thousands of young cricketers participating throughout the British Isles.The Championship has featured in the development of a number of Englandcricketers such as Nasser Hussain, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe and Andrew Flintoff. One of the first ECB National Cricket Academy students and now drafted into the current England Squad, Flintoff is often remembered for hisextraordinary feat in the 1993 competition of scoring 234 not out in 20 overs.Tim Lamb, ECB’s Chief Executive, said, “I am delighted that Sun Bank hasdecided to continue it’s association with the tournament with the signing ofthis three year sponsorship deal.. Grass roots development is vital for thefuture of the game, and this competition in particular has played an important role in the development of some of England’s best cricketers. I am certain it will continue to do so.”The Sun Bank Under 15 National Club Cricket Championship provides a focalpoint for Under 15 club cricket, giving the players something to aim for intheir season. Club cricket in England and Wales would be poorer without it.”Despite a challenging market for sponsorship, this deal proves that cricketcontinues to appeal to investors, and we look forward to making furtherannouncements during this summer.”Commenting on the deal, Sun Bank’s Chief Executive, Peter Lucas, said: “SunBank is pleased to be playing a part in the ECB’s objectives of encouragingthe widest possible participation and interest in the game. Cricketprovides a marvellous opportunity for young people to play sport within ateam environment with all the positive benefits that can bring. We knowthat team work is crucial in today’s business world and at this excitingtime in Sun Bank’s history we are actively pursuing a larger share of themortgage market through team work with Independent Financial Advisors toprovide relevant specialist products and continuing excellent service forour clients.The Under 15 National Club Cricket Championship has been in existence since1972, when it was initiated by the Lord’s Taverners.

The silence has been broken. Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lankan captainaccused of fixing matches by bookmaker Mukesh Gupta in the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) report, has lashed out at the recently dissolved cricketboard and Desmond Fernando, the chief investigator of the cricket boardinquiry, for taking the “patently ridiculous” allegations seriously.Ranatunga, who was questioned by Fernando and two detectives from the ICC’sAnti Corruption Unit (ACU) earlier this week, denies any involvementwhatsoever with bookmakers throughout his international career in a formalwritten response to Fernando, the contents of which were printed in full bythe Sunday Leader today.The former captain’s indignant letter claims that the allegations, “basedentirely on the wholly uncorroborated evidence of a self-confessed rogue”,represent an attempt to rubbish his name by the former cricket board, whohad sacked his brother, Dammika Ranatunga, as Chief Executive of the board.”The very fact that the recently dissolved Executive Committee of the BCCSLhas purported to take these allegations seriously makes evident the factthat the majority of the members have been actuated by `Mala Fides’ againstme,” he said.Ranatunga attacks Fernando for taking the allegations seriously. “I amamazed that you, Mr Desmond Fernando, President’s Counsel, who is said to bean experienced and eminent counsel, have evidently failed to advise the boardthat these allegations are so utterly and patently unsubstantiated andunworthy of credit that no other proceedings need to be taken on them.”He defends his reputation, stating: “I have always played cricket for andonly for the love of the game and have never sought to make cricket abusiness or a means of amassing personal wealth,” adding that he has neverappeared in a advertisement for his personal gain, and pointing out that bydoing so he has “passed up the opportunity of making a colossal amount oflegitimate money”.He goes on to reveal why he believes the allegations to be “so patentlyridiculous”, after denying that he knows Mukesh Gupta or has had any dealingwith a bookmaker.Responding to the allegation that he agreed to under-perform in a Test matchagainst India in 1994, he points out that Sri Lanka had lost two consecutiveseries to India and one to South Africa. Moreover, they had never won a Testmatch on Indian soil. In these circumstances he asks the question: “Is iteven scarcely conceivable that a bookmaker would offer bribes to any SriLankan cricketer to `under-perform’ in any match against India on Indiansoil?”He derides the logic of Gupta’s evidence, pointing out that: “I appear tohave agreed to have under-performed without any kind of negotiation withregard to the price of betrayal. Even Judas Iscariot agreed upon a price of30 pieces of silver before he betrayed Jesus Christ!”Further, according to Gupta, he had paid Aravinda a sum of US $15,000 tounder-perform but makes no mention of having made any payment to me. Itwould appear from his statement that I have betrayed my country, my peopleand my team just to oblige Gupta,” he says, before adding that “this is sofanciful that it defies belief”.The long letter goes on to question why Gupta would pay Manoj Prabhakar foran introduction with Aravinda in 1991, but not make use of this investment forthree years? Why did Prabhakar need Aravinda to introduce Martin Crowe toGupta when Crowe was well known to Prabhakar? Why, if they had agreed “to doother Tests”, as is alleged, did Gupta not make use of this in 1996 or afterwhen Sri Lanka were riding high in international cricket and the odds wheretherefore far more favourable?He signs off by demanding that the BCCSL do not harass and insult acricketer again in the future just because of “a scurrilous complaint by anunsavory character”, stating that “I believe that our cricketers deservebetter treatment than this”.Desmond Fernando is expected to submit an interim report on match-fixing tothe Sri Lankan board within two weeks. Vijaya Malalsekera, the Chairman ofthe Interim Committee, said recently that the contents of the report wouldbe revealed to the ICC before a decision on the correct course of action.

Torrential rain wreaked havoc with the 2nd Americas Cricket Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the second consecutive day.It all added up to another sad and rainy day, as in two days, five out of six games have been abandoned without a ball being bowled, while the Argentina v USA clash at Hurlingham somehow managed to find enough respite between the storms to fit in some 35 overs of play, but not enough to somehow manafacture a result one way or another.On top of all the disappointment, a further setback for local organisers is the temporary loss of San Albano as a venue when the area was hit by a freak storm, uprooting trees and unleashing savage winds and heavy rain on the ground and the immediate vicinity.This after the Argentine Cricket Association and dedicated members of the local St.Albans club had succeeded against all odds in a race against time in order to complete the construction of a brand new turf wicket facility, so that this important event could be played only on turf wickets.For the next few days at least, some fixtures will have to be completed on artificial wickets at reserve venues.The unseasonal and severe weather has forced organisers to restructure the entire tournament, which will now consist only of a round-robin group without a final between the top two teams to establish the champion. Instead, the winner of the mini-league, after five consecutive days of matches from Tuesday 12th to Saturday 16th, will be declared Americas Champion.No games will be played on Monday 11th, allowing locals to put various logistical changes into place, as well as to allow the grounds some recovery time from the violent climatic onslaught over the weekend.The fixture schedule sees some changes – matches previously scheduled for Saturday 9th will now be contested on the final day, Saturday 16th, while matches that we due to be completed today, Sunday 10th, will be completed on Thursday 14th. The original fixture schedule for Tuesday 12th, Wednesday 13th and Friday 15th, will remain as previously scheduled, apart from the venues to be confirmed for matches previously scheduled for San Albano.In the only cricket action witnessed thus far, hosts Argentina may take a great deal of confidence into their next game, after reducing the United States to 97 for 5 after 28,2 overs before the first storm intervened. Hero for the home side was medium-pacer Christian Tuon, who completed his 10 overs, taking a fine 4 for 43. Still, even though the Argentines will feel satisfied with that solid effort, of that 97 total, 33 of those runs were gifted by wides and no balls.After heroic efforts by local officials and assistants, the game eventually got underway again at 4.40 pm, with Argentina needing 117 to win in 25 overs after the Duckworth-Lewis adjustment. They looked to be heading towards an historic victory, when (no prizes for guessing) another storm promptly ended the days play with their score poised at 33 for 1 after 7 overs, and a no result conclusion.Summarised scores:
UNITED STATES 97 for 5 (28,2 overs) A.Afzaluddin 23, S.Pathak 16 not out, C.Tuon 4 – 43, L.Paterlini 1 – 17
ARGENTINA 33 for 1 (7 overs) M.Paterlini 16 not out, L.Paterlini 14, D.Blake 1 – 20 ; No Result.

The day began with Surrey pressing on, losing nightwatchman Ian Salisbury almost immediately for four and Ward, Brown, Stewart and Tudor then each lost his wicket assaulting the Somerset attack, who, Bulbeck aside, were less threatening than in the first innings. Sadly for the sake of the game wickets came in the wrong numbers and at the wrong times for either side to force the issue. When Martin Bicknell began his innings in defensive mode it became clear that the home side had given up on persuit of a victory. Blackwell bowled tidily for his wickets and Parsons last spell of the game was his best – good news for Somerset who will be without their main strike bowler for most of the Summer.For Somerset Caddick was warned for running on the wicket (something Salisbury and Saqlain would presumably have applauded more than his own batsmen) and consistantly overstepped when delivering his effort ball. The wickets of Salisbury, Ward, Stewart, Brown and Tudor were due at least in part to forcing shots, but they were taken nonetheless, had a couple more awkward catching chances been held onto then a target might have been on for the visitors, however the field was never overly attacking and it was clear that after the first hour’s play a draw was the visitor’s preferred result.Surrey could, and perhaps should have tried to make more of the game, especially since, as both Dutch and Blackwell enjoyed some success, their own spinners would probably have presented Somerset with troubles aplenty, had the upper order managed to generate another thirty or forty runs in their early attack – or indeed been bowled out cheaply, an exciting finish would have been the result. In the end the loss of four sessions and two sides more eager to preserve their unbeaten status than charge after an improbable victory killed the game.Somerset’s brief innings saw James Ormond handed the new ball, and unfortunately use it to produce the two worst overs I have seen him deliver, the no-ball and three easy four balls that were capitalised on by the Somerset openers could easily have been accompanied by two or three wides given and a couple more boundaries, before he found his length and line and began to trouble the batsmen. At the other end a classic confrontation between Alex Tudor and Marcus Trescothick in particular who struck him for two fine boundaries before being undone by a magnificent ball across him from the tall londoner. After that though both Cox and Burns failed to connect with the edge for the balls that beat them and middle those that didn’t so the game petered out.

Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas has criticised the pitch at SuperSport Park in Centurion, calling it “no good for 20-over cricket” after his team was knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers having played only one match. Hampshire posted 121 on a surface with inconsistent bounce that did not allow the ball to carry through quickly, and Auckland reached the target with 33 deliveries to spare.”When we saw the pitch yesterday, we thought there was no way we could play on the wicket,” Mascarenhas said. “We knew that whoever won the toss would win the game. I heard there was a chance the match would be moved to the Wanderers but obviously that didn’t happen.” There has been no confirmation that a request was put in to change the venue and the second match continued as scheduled in Centurion.When the Hampshire team saw the pitch on Monday it was being watered, which groundsman Hilbert Smit said was “standard practice.” He admitted he may have “misread the weather,” when he watered the pitch during last week’s heat wave in anticipation of no rain early this week. Instead, 38 millimetres fell on Monday in the summer’s first storms, and the water table rose substantially.”Because of that [the rain] we knew the pitch would be slow and a few deliveries would hold back. But one team still scored at more than eight runs to the over and there is nothing wrong with that,” Smit said, referring to Auckland’s chase.Mascarenhas said the pitch had eased after the heavy roller was used in the innings break and it “definitely got better” to bat on. He thought his team had lost the match because of the batting performance. “Not many teams defend scores of around 120. When you are, you’re desperate for wickets and in doing that, you will give a few away.”Rather than a low-scoring game, Mascarenhas would have preferred a strip with runs in it. “In 20-over cricket, you want a flat wicket and you want to see runs on the board. You don’t want the ball to be dominating the whole time,” he said. “I am a bowler and even I don’t want the ball to dominate.”Auckland captain Gareth Hopkins was less scathing about the surface. “The toss did play a little part in it and it was easier to bat on second, but I don’t think it was too tricky up front,” he said. “It was a little bit slower than the pitch we had last night at the Wanderers and one or two balls did something funny.”Hopkins was the happier of the two captains not just because his team won but because Auckland have now qualified for the main draw. Their victories in both group matches mean they will progress irrespective of the result between Hampshire and Sialkot tomorrow.Hampshire were gutted not only to be out of the competition in the space of a day but because, as Mascarenhas said, “The most disappointing thing is that it was all in the toss, it was decided on that.”

Tamil Nadu is grinding Delhi to abject submission, making the Delhi playerstake the field to be in the scorching sun. Tamil Nadu have virtually sealeda place in the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals by taking the first innings leadagainst Delhi in the pre-quarter-final at the IIT-Chemplast Ground,Chennai, on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu are 278/4 at close of play, piling up anoverall lead of 516 runs.Resuming at 354/7, Delhi were bowled out for 365. MR Shrinivas picked upone more wicket in the morning to finish with the figures of 29-5-111-4. SMahesh finished with 3/102 off 29 overs.Robin Singh decided not to enforce the follow on and took the opportunityto get his batsmen some more batting practice. Theopening batsmen did not justify their captain’s good intentionsthough; both Sriram and Badarinath got themselves run out aftermaking just 16 and 21 respectively.It was all S Sharath and Hemanth Kumar for the rest of the day,both the batsmen smashing the ball all over the park. They added207 runs for the third wicket before Hemanth was dismissed at 244.He made a classy 87 (1 six, 6 fours) and was distinctly unlucky tomiss out on his second century of the match. He has had a remarkable startto his first class career scoring a century in his only innings againstKerala on debut and then going on to score a hundred in the first inningsin this match.Sharath who missed out on a big score in the first innings, made itup in the second by belting the ball to the fence with gay abandon, hittingan unbeaten 144 by close of play. He has so far smashed 18 fours and twosixes off 251 balls. S Mahesh is unbeaten on four.Given the fact that Tamil Nadu has a long batting line up, it might well beanother long day in the field on the last day for Delhi.