All posts by csb10.top

Cricket Kenya is looking for a national team coach after deciding not to offer Andy Kirsten a new contract.Kirsten, who only took up the post in March 2008, will remain in charge until the end of July and will accompany the side when they visit Ireland for a short tour starting at the end of the month. A board official told Cricinfo that it had decided to start afresh and to seek a new coach to work with a new captain in the build-up to the 2011 World Cup.Although Kenya qualified for that tournament at the recent ICC World Cup Qualifiers, results have not been consistent and they failed to reach the ICC World Twenty20.A source close to the process denied reports that it was a two-horse race between Balwinder Sandhu and Alan Butcher, saying there had been a number of good-quality applicants.Meanwhile, five players have been shortlisted in the search for someone to replace Steve Tikolo as captain. Collins Obuyo, Hiren Varaiya, Thomas Odoyo, Maurice Ouma and Jimmy Kamande will all be interviewed by the national selectors and an appointment is expected within a week.

ScorecardThe new permanent floodlights were used in a match for the first time as Middlesex took on Kent at Lord’s•Getty Images

The permanent Lord’s floodlights were officially unveiled on Wednesday, but Kent outshone Middlesex, in revenge for last year’s final, as the home side slumped to their second heavy Twenty20 defeat in two matches by 62 runs. Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens, who reached his fifty off 21 balls, launched Kent to 191, a target that proved well out of the reach of Middlesex despite the return of Owais Shah and Eoin Morgan.Middlesex’s best moment came in the opening over when Dawid Malan held a stunning catch at mid-off to send back Robert Key for a second ball duck but from there they went downhill. van Jaarsveld could have been run out early and Malan’s catch set a fielding standard that couldn’t be maintained. van Jaarsveld’s fifty came from 38 balls and he added 60 with Geraint Jones before Stevens arrived to take the game away from Middlesex.Stevens raced to his fifty with a succession of boundaries off Tyron Henderson, who was given some fearful hammer in his final two overs to finish with 56 off his four overs. None of the Middlesex batsmen could build an innings with Morgan falling to his reverse lap and Shah lofting a catch off James Tredwell after managing one huge six over deep midwicket.A dull, chilly evening, coupled with the Champions League final, led to another disappointing crowd, but at least meant the lights had an effect earlier than would have been the case on a sunny day. There were very few in the ground when the lights were raised at 6pm, a process that takes around eight minutes and the in total it takes 25 minutes until they are up to full power.Middlesex trained under the lights earlier this week and Angus Fraser, their managing director of cricket, said the players were delighted with them. They have been designed with concerns of local residents in mind and when at their resting height blend in well with the overall design of the ground.Abacus, the lighting company behind them, said they’d been conscious of making them fit the architecture already at Lord’s and used the curves of the media centre as a guide. Tony Staten, the contracts manager for Abacus, said it had been “one of the most challenging jobs” they had worked on. At one point their unearthed a Victorian sewer when they were digging the foundations and also had to lower one of the pylons over huge trees at Nursery End.By the time the lights were having their full impact the match was over as a contest with the Middlesex batsmen swinging from the hip. Maybe they wanted to catch the end of the football.

ScorecardHard toil: Graham Onions was the outstanding performer on the final day, but his five wickets weren’t quite enough to hand Durham a win•PA Photos

It is an excitement unknown in one-day cricket but still loved by the traditionalist: the sight of a team fighting the odds trying to salvage a hard-earned draw. Yorkshire, regaining their pride after a dismal third day against Durham, fought their way through the tense final day to achieve this, despite the superb bowling of Graham Onions.At the start of the day Yorkshire, needing another 391, but that was never an option and Yorkshire’s mindset was clear from the start they battened down for the draw. The Durham bowlers were able to find little swing or seam movement and only the noble Onions really impressed, as the others, Steve Harmison included, were a little below par for a team eagerly pressing for victory in their opening Championship match. Onions was undaunted by the hard work – of which he had plenty throughout the day in taking 5 for 56 off 28 overs – and produced several fine deliveries, one of which moved in and bowled the experienced Jacques Rudolph for 16, after he and Joe Sayers had made a very solid start to the day.This brought in Michael Vaughan, whose chief preoccupation seemed to be to play for the needs of his team ahead of his own England ambitions. He subdued his natural attacking flair and concentrated on occupying the crease for as long as possible. When he finally reached double figures, with a typically handsome back-foot cover drive for four, he had faced 45 balls. Only 57 runs were scored in the pre-lunch session but, most importantly for Yorkshire, only one wicket had fallen.Briefly the scoring rate quickened after lunch, but this was mainly due to some loose bowling, and when Harmison went round the wicket and Durham tightened up, the rate again dropped below two an over. Sayers faced 112 balls for his gallant 30, before Onions slanted a ball across him, producing an involuntary nudge to the keeper. In his next over Vaughan fell for 20 to a similar dismissal, fishing fatally at a ball just outside his off stump to further dent his hopes of a Test recall when the squad is named next week.With two crucial wickets falling in quick succession, this was the critical moment of the day. Could Yorkshire rebuild – or was this the vital match-winning breakthrough for Durham? Yorkshire it was who grasped the moment. Anthony McGrath and Andrew Gale stood in the breach, presenting the broadest of Yorkshire bats and taking runs only as they offered themselves. They added a solid 44 before Gale tried to cut a ball from Liam Plunkett, brought on late, that was too close to him and was caught at first slip.After tea the light worsened rapidly. It was a sickening moment for McGrath, on 26 and fighting for his side’s survival, when a superb delivery from Onions out of the gloom found the edge of his bat and was brilliantly caught low to his left by Michael Di Venuto at second slip. Immediately the umpires took the players off the field and, with a bit of rain, nine crucial overs were lost.Gerard Brophy has a reputation for inconsistency in a crisis, and lived up to it on this occasion. Having played quite responsibly for 27, he then threw his wicket away with a needless hook that presented long leg with a straight-forward catch. Durham, with 17 overs to go, were still in with a good chance now with four more wickets to take.Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid, two who have done well in tight situations before, stood firm until Bresnan had a rush of blood to the head, swung at a ball from Onions just outside his off stump and was given out caught at the wicket. He was the sixth Yorkshire batsman in the innings to reach 20 while failing to pass 30. The mantle of saviour passed to Rashid. Harmison cut his pace somewhat but was not accurate enough to force the batsman to play often enough and with Steve Patterson, another youngster hanging in with determination, Yorkshire managed to salvage a respectable draw in a tense finish.Perhaps, though, it is a fault of modern county cricket that such a finish should be possible. Fifty years ago, when players often bowled more overs in three days than they now do in four, top-class spin bowlers would expect to bowl a team out almost every time on crumbling pitches. Today, pitches rarely crumble and spinners are rarely top-class unless from overseas. The game has lost something, but we can be grateful that the exciting draw is still a possibility.

Australia’s selectors have another week to finalise fitting 34 players into 25 contract spots for the next 12 months. The 2008-09 deals expired on Friday and Andrew Hilditch’s panel is not expected to meet until the team’s limited-overs series concludes in the United Arab Emirates with a Twenty20 on Thursday.While the playing schedule is one reason for the delay – last year’s list was released on April 9 – another issue is the ongoing memorandum of understanding talks between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association, which include player payments and responsibilities. The negotiations will determine the amount of money available to the squad.”Once the player payment pool is decided the individual worth of the players will be determined,” a Cricket Australia spokesman said. The 25 contract holders receive confidential rankings and over the past year the top earners, including the captain Ricky Ponting, collected more than $1 million before match payments. At the bottom rung the retainer was $180,000.Throughout the summer an unprecedented 11 players were upgraded to national deals after appearing in the various sides, which suffered regular injury problems while undergoing a major regeneration. Those representatives, including Jason Krejza, Peter Siddle and David Warner, joined at the base rate and earned $15,000 for each full month they were on Cricket Australia’s books. In 15 Tests since last May, 25 players were used, including 11 debutants, while the same number of new faces appeared in the one-day team and another eight were welcomed in the Twenty20 outfit.Over the next week the selectors have to slash the current collection and ensure only 25 men check into the pre-season camp on the Sunshine Coast on May 24. Hilditch’s situation could have been even worse without the retirements of Matthew Hayden and Stuart MacGill, who were in last year’s initial intake. Players in danger of missing out following injury-interrupted campaigns include Phil Jaques and Ashley Noffke while Brad Hodge and Beau Casson have been overlooked throughout the summer.The delay in announcing the squad is not an immediate worry for Australia, but it has bigger implications on the domestic scene. “The issue is more relevant to state players as they have the ability to negotiate their contracts,” Paul Marsh, the ACA’s chief executive, said. “Until states know the size of the pool they have from which to pay players, they can’t realistically offer any contracts.”Marsh said the payment issue was the largest piece of the MOU negotiations. “Once this is agreed the rest should move reasonably quickly,” he said. “I can’t predict how much longer it will take.”While agreement on the player payment pool is a critical part of the process, it has not held up the announcement of CA contracts. The CA selectors can select the 25 players independent of determining contract values. Values are not subject to player negotiation, rather a formula based on the ranking of each player and the total amount for distribution to players.”Australia’s initial 2008-09 list Doug Bollinger (NSW), Nathan Bracken (NSW), Beau Casson (NSW), Stuart Clark (NSW), Michael Clarke (NSW), Brad Haddin (NSW), Matthew Hayden (Qld), Ben Hilfenhaus (Tas), Brad Hodge (Vic), James Hopes (Qld), David Hussey (Vic), Michael Hussey (WA), Phil Jaques (NSW), Mitchell Johnson (Qld), Simon Katich (NSW), Brett Lee (NSW), Stuart MacGill (NSW), Shaun Marsh (WA), Ashley Noffke (Qld), Ricky Ponting (Tas), Andrew Symonds (Qld), Shaun Tait (SA), Adam Voges (WA), Shane Watson (Qld), Cameron White (Vic).Additional contract holders Jason Krejza (Tas), Peter Siddle (Vic), Nathan Hauritz (NSW), David Warner (NSW), Andrew McDonald (Vic), Phillip Hughes (NSW), Bryce McGain (Vic), Marcus North (WA), Callum Ferguson (SA), Brett Geeves (Tas), Ben Laughlin (Qld).

Denmark captain Freddie Klokker is determined his team will work hard and focus intently on the World Cup Qualifiers (WCQs) which gets underway in South Africa from April 1. “We have obviously got to be realistic and will take one game at a time but we are going to South Africa with high hopes,” Klokker said.Placed in Group B alongside Kenya, the Netherlands, Bermuda, the UAE and Afghanistan, Klokker was quietly confident about Denmark’s chances of making it to the 2011 World Cup. “We have Afghanistan in our first game and if we can get a victory there and if we get another one in the second, we are looking to be in the Super Eight, and we will take it from there,” he said.Klokker, 26, who has experience in county cricket while playing for Derbyshire, said he was “very excited” as the event was the biggest tournament that Denmark have played since four years ago.At the previous tournament, held in Ireland in 2005 (it was known as the ICC Trophy then), Denmark were handed a 103-run defeat by Namibia and finished eighth among the 12 teams, but Klokker is hopeful of a better showing this time and believes that World Cup qualification would have a positive effect on the sport back in Denmark.”It will be massive as it will be the biggest achievement the country has ever done and it will be amazing,” Klokker said. “For us to do that it would boost the game, it would become popular, it would be coming in the news, and hopefully more and more young kids will start playing it.”A third-place finish at the European Championships in 2008, ahead of The Netherlands, showed the potential of the Danish side. They also recorded a 21-run win over Uganda during the World Cricket League Division 2 tournament in Namibia.Klokker, who carried his bat during an unbeaten 99 not out against the UAE during the event, believed that, since few expect Denmark to be a main contender at the tournament, it could work in their favour.”When there is no expectation, you can play with a mentality that you have nothing to lose and can play a lot more freely,” he said. “If we win the first two or three games in the competition, other teams will start taking notice and that will be a big boost for us.”Squad: Frederik Klokker (capt), Mickey Lund, Carsten Pedersen, Michael Pedersen, Morten Hedegaard Andersen, Thomas Hansen, David Borchersen, Henrik Hansen, Bobby Chawla, Max Overgaard, Rohit Kanaiya, Soren Vestergaard, Rizwan Mahmood, Basir Shah, Lars Hedegaard Andersen.

Muttiah Muralitharan has questioned whether the terrorists who perpetrated Tuesday’s attack on the Sri Lankans had received inside information as to the team’s movements. In a chilling account of the Lahore shootout, Murali said the precise timing of the attack suggested the terrorists could have been tipped off about timing and security arrangements.”Somehow in this incident there were no police with guns on the bus,” Murali told Australian radio. “If someone was there with a gun we would have had a chance of defending ourselves. Normally all the buses go and we have four or five escorts. We left at 8.30am and Younis Khan (and the Pakistanis) at 8.35am. We divided into two, maybe they knew the information for the right time. They tried to shoot the driver. Then they were shooting both sides of the bus and they counted 39 holes.”Murali’s comments, if proven, would prove a crushing blow to Pakistan’s hopes of hosting cricket in the near future. Law enforcement agencies in the country have long been accused of aiding Taliban militants, and any suggestion that the attack on the Sri Lankans was executed with the assistance of local security forces will heighten concerns that Pakistan is unfit to accommodate touring teams.Murali emerged physically unscathed from the attacks, but said he feared for the life of team-mates as the team bus was sprayed with bullets. “There were gun shots going on and the bullets were passing us,” he said. “I saw [Tharanga] Paranavitana was bleeding in the chest. I thought he was gone, actually. Thilan Samaraweera was bleeding, Kumar Sangakkara was bleeding from the shoulder. There was blood everywhere. It was frightening.”Murali would not confirm whether he would play for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. “I don’t know, we have to speak to them, see how the security is, make sure everything is right … not only IPL, England, anywhere. I never in my dreams thought we would be attacked.”

The Indian board faces an embarrassing situation after letting Sachin Tendulkar appear for a Masters Twenty20 match in Wellington on Friday where he will play alongside Hamish Marshall, the former New Zealand batsman who featured in the unauthorised ICL last year.New Zealand Cricket (NZC) confirmed in a press release that Tendulkar will turn out for the NZCPA (New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association) Masters side while Dinesh Karthik, who is also part of the Indian squad on this tour, will play for ACA Masters.Heath Mills, the NZCPA chief executive, said Marshall, who played for ICL’s Royal Bengal Tigers, will also be part of the NZCPA squad.The BCCI has shunned official contact with ICL players and last year, refused to let VVS Laxman appear for Nottinghamshire because the county had ICL players in its ranks.”The ICL players are allowed to play in New Zealand domestic cricket,” Mills said. “Moreover, Hamish is not an ICL-contracted player. He finished his contract last year.” But an ICL official told Cricinfo that Marshall, who played his last ICL game on November 8, is still with the private league.According to Mills, Marshall is currently playing with Gloucestershire.Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, declined to comment for the moment. Gary Kirsten, the India coach, was quoted in the NZC press release as saying that the Masters game was “a great opportunity for Tendulkar and Karthik to have a few hits – we were happy to work with the Players’ Association to bring them into the Masters teams.”Niranjan Shah, the Indian team’s manager in New Zealand, said the BCCI would take up the issue with Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive. “No Indian player will play for a team that has an ICL player,” Shah said. About Marshall, Shah said that it “would not be a problem” if the batsman is no longer an ICL player.New Zealand has about eight ICL players and currently there are four of them – Marshall, Shane Bond, Chris Harris and Daryl Tuffey – playing on the domestic circuit.NZC has billed the International Masters game at the Westpac Stadium on Friday as the curtain-raiser to the Twenty20 International between India and New Zealand that will be held later the same day at the same venue.Meanwhile, discussions are still on between the BCCI and NZC over a practice match for India’s Test specialists, including Rahul Dravid and Laxman, who will join the tour later. It was previously proposed that these players be drafted into any one of New Zealand’s domestic squads for a match but that plan has been opposed by NZCPA, who said it breached the board’s one overseas player per team rule.”We will be having a meeting with the NZC soon,” Mills said. “Justin Vaughan is in South Africa for the ICC meeting, so we are waiting for him to be back. But we are expecting a decision in the next couple of days.” Teams (As per the NZCPA website; Tendulkar and Karthik were added on Thursday):NZCPA Masters Stephen Fleming (capt), Kerry Walmsley, Dion Nash, Matthew Horne, Hamish Marshall, Simon Doull, Bryan Young, Shane Thomson, Andrew Jones, James Fuller and Paul Wiseman.ACA Masters Darren Lehmann (capt), Greg Blewett, Ian Healy, Greg Matthews, Brad Hogg, Andy Bichel, Michael Di Venuto, Michael Dighton, Josh Hazlewood, Mick Lewis, Greg Campbell and Wayne Holdsworth.

ScorecardRuns flowed on the opening day of the semi-final at the Madhavrao Scindia Ground as South Zone, led by centuries by S Badrinath and Rahul Dravid, pounded 442 for 6 against North Zone. Badrinath, the captain, finished on an even 200 while Dravid scored 138, his second successive Duleep Trophy century.South looked anything but stable when they lost Abhinav Mukund and Robin Uthappa with the score on 13, after winning the toss. North claimed those wickets by the third over but they had to wait more than 57 overs for their next breakthrough, by which time Badrinath and Dravid added an intimidating 312. Dravid struck 15 fours in his 138 off 173 balls before he was bowled by Amit Mishra. Badrinath, too, dealt largely in boundaries and his 200 featured 24 fours and four sixes. His timely knock should now boost his chances of touring New Zealand with the Indian Test squad.The North bowlers were guilty of indiscipline, conceding 23 no balls and Mishra was particularly sloppy with 15 of those to his name. He picked up another wicket, that of Dinesh Karthik for 4, shortly after getting rid of Dravid. Badrinath added a further 76 with Arjun Yadav before he was dismissed by Manpreet Gony, the Punjab seamer. Vikramjeet Malik accounted for R Ashwin just before stumps while Yadav remained unbeaten with a steady 43.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out