All posts by h716a5.icu

Tasmania have offered Michael Hill a chance to emulate Ed Cowan by making the most of a new start after a stuttering career in his home state of Victoria

Daniel Brettig23-Apr-2014Tasmania have offered the former Australia Under-19 captain Michael Hill a chance to emulate the likes of Ed Cowan and Michael Klinger by making the most of a new start, after a stuttering career in his home state of Victoria.Though highly rated when moving through the junior ranks – he also led Victoria to the Under-19 national title in 2007 – Hill has never quite managed to make a state place his own with the Bushrangers, a pair of first-class centuries the high points over the course of 19 appearances that have tallied 823 runs at 26.54.These figures are remarkably similar to those of Cowan with New South Wales before he too made the move south to Tasmania as a fringe left-handed batsman, and soon carved out a top order niche that ultimately led to Test selection.Klinger, recently signed by Western Australia, was likewise the beneficiary of a move away from home, building on a mediocre record in Victoria with numerous strong years with South Australia. At 25, Hill was looking for fresh pastures after the Bushrangers chose not to include him on their list for 2014-15.Andrew Dykes, the Tasmania general manager of cricket, said Hill is “a proven top order batsman and has an incredible amount of talent”. His chance was opened up partly by Mark Cosgrove’s decision to move back home to South Australia following his own successful stint with the Tigers.Elsewhere the Tigers were ultimately able to retain the services of Cowan, Tim Paine, Alex Doolan and Ben Hilfenhaus, though none were named in the state’s initial contract list.Cowan and his family are set to spend more time living in their hometown of Sydney, but flexible living arrangements will allow the opener to stay with Tasmania after he pondered signing with NSW.Like Cowan, Hilfenhaus returns to the Tigers’ contract list after losing his CA deal, while Doolan will hope to be upgraded to a central contract with further national appearances after a promising start at No. 3 on the testing battlegrounds of South Africa.Aiden Blizzard, Adam Maher, Ben Laughlin and Steve Cazzulino are among the Tigers players not offered new state contracts for the coming summer.Tasmania squad: George Bailey (CA), Jackson Bird, Luke Butterworth, Ed Cowan, Xavier Doherty, Alex Doolan, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner (CA), Andrew Fekete, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hill, Hamish Kingston, Dominic Michael, Tim Paine, Sam Rainbird, Clive Rose, Jordan Silk, Timm van der Gugten, Jon Wells. Rookies: Gabe Bell, Ryan Lees, Beau Webster, Sean Willis

Adil Rashid produced the best figures of his career in limited overs matches as Yorkshire made sure of a home tie in the quarter finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup with a six-wicket win over Hampshire

Press Association21-Aug-2014
ScorecardAdil Rashid ensured Yorkshire were at home in the quarter-finals•Getty ImagesAdil Rashid produced the best figures of his career in limited overs matches as Yorkshire made sure of a home tie in the quarter finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup with a six-wicket win over an under-strength Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.Legspinner Rashid finished with 5 for 33, the last four coming in 15 balls, as Hampshire were bowled out for 172 in 39 overs.Yorkshire made no mistake in their run-chase, reaching their target in the 29th over and with a mammoth 127 balls to spare to finish top of Group A and set up a quarter-final clash with Durham at Headingley.Yorkshire were fortunate that Hampshire rested James Vince, Chris Wood, Adam Wheater and Sean Ervine with the NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day on Saturday clearly a priority. Michael Carberry was made captain for the first time but after losing the toss, the left-hander edged Tim Bresnan’s second ball of the match to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.Carberry’s opening partner Sean Terry went in the same manner in the next over from Jack Brooks and from that moment, Yorkshire never relaxed their grip. Only Jimmy Adams, coming in at the fall of Carberry’s wicket, offered any prolonged resistance, batting through the innings for his 91 not out, the one knock of substance and one of just four batsmen to reach double figures.Adams shared in stands of 45 for the fourth with Joe Gatting and 46 for the fifth with Matt Coles, but Hampshire never looked like posting a total to test their opponents.Rashid first intervened to send back Gatting leg before but with Michael Bates offering some support, Hampshire reached 161 for 5 until Rashid returned to the attack and, making use of a little turn, ran through the Hampshire tail. He had Danny Briggs, Tom Barber and James Tomlinson all leg before and bowled Basil Akram.Brooks took 3 for 30 only to be upstaged by Rashid, who never before in 178 limited overs appearances had been able to claim five wickets in an innings.Yorkshire needed a bright start to their innings and got it as Adam Lyth and Alex Lees put on 31 inside six overs for the first wicket, Lyth the first to go when he lofted Tomlinson to Carberry, but it was only a temporary setback.At tea, Yorkshire were 79 for 1, requiring only another 94 only for them to suffer an unexpected double setback in the first over after the resumption.Barber, making his first Hampshire senior appearance, marked his first over at this level by having Kane Williamson caught behind for 33 and then Andrew Gale went the same way next ball. At 81 for 3 there might have been a glimmer of hope for the home side but this was soon extinguished by a stand of 78 for the fourth wicket between the patient Lees and Bairstow, taking the score to within 14 of victory before being parted. Lees hit six fours in his 76-ball innings of 61 but provided Tomlinson with his second wicket of the innings before Bairstow and Jack Leaning knocked off the runs to complete the formality.Bairstow, unbeaten with 45 at the close, said: “To win six out of eight group matches is a great achievement and it will be a huge game against Durham in the quarter-final. We want to keep the momentum going in the Championship as well.”Throughout the group stages we played good, consistent cricket and we lost only once. We feel we can beat anyone now that we have reached the sudden death part of the competition.”Adil bowled a terrific spell when it mattered and left us with the sort of target where we just needed to pace ourselves.”Adams said: “We left out one or two for the Twenty20 finals day. Having won only one match in this competition, we knew where our priorities lay. We got off to a bad start and we were always struggling after both openers fell in the first two overs, so we cannot complain about the outcome.”We were able to give some of more inexperienced players a chance so this would have been part of their learning process.”

The league leaders once again lead the way as the two forward each got on the scoresheet and added an assist against West Ham

Getty Images1Leroy Sane | Manchester CityLeroy Sane has both scored and assisted in a PL game on seven occasions since the start of last season – only Mohamed Salah can match that total (also seven).AdvertisementGetty Images2Aleksandar Mitrovic | FulhamAleksandar Mitrovic accounts for each of the last four occasions in which a Fulham player has scored two or more goals in a league game.Getty Images3Raheem Sterling | Manchester CityRaheem Sterling has had a hand in more Premier League goals at the London Stadium than any other visiting player (six – one goal, five assists).ENJOYED THIS STORY?

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Getty Images4​Christian Eriksen | TottenhamChristian Eriksen created seven chances against Chelsea – the most of any player in a PL game against the Blues since Philippe Coutinho in April 2014 (also seven).

Both Sri Lanka and West Indies have strong spin attacks, but West Indies have been unstoppable with the bat in the last five overs

S Rajesh02-Apr-2014Sri Lanka and West Indies won three matches and lost one each in the group stages of the World Twenty20, and their overall batting and bowling stats are fairly similar. West Indies have the marginally better batting numbers, with a slightly higher scoring rate and average, while Sri Lanka have a marginally better bowling average. Both teams have taken exactly 31 wickets, which shows there’s little to separate the two teams.Both teams have had one match in which they leaked more than 170 runs – West Indies conceded 178 against Australia (but still managed to win) while Sri Lanka went for 190 against England. Both have also had a couple of excellent bowling performances: Sri Lanka shot out Netherlands for 39 and New Zealand for 60, while West Indies bowled out Bangladesh for 98 and Pakistan for 82.In terms of scoring patterns, though, there is some difference. West Indies have relied heavily on boundaries: they’ve struck almost twice as many sixes as Sri Lanka, and have scored almost 66% of their runs in fours and sixes. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have played about 15% fewer dot balls than West Indies.

Overall stats for SL and WI in the World T20 2014

BattingBowlingRuns scoredAverageRun rateWkts takenAverageEcon rateSri Lanka51323.317.973114.486.87West Indies64526.878.093115.746.36

How SL and WI have scored their runs

Team1s/ 2s/ 3sDot-ball %4s/ 6sBoundary %Sri Lanka134/ 36/ 040.2649/ 1457.61West Indies136/ 32/ 147.2957/ 2765.77The bowling comparisonSpin has played a prominent role in the campaigns of both teams so far. West Indies have had Samuel Badree at the start of the innings, and Sunil Narine through the middle and end overs, while Sachitra Senanayake and Ajantha Mendis were Sri Lanka’s spin options through much of the tournament, before Rangana Herath made his tournament debut against New Zealand and completely blew them away with figures of 5 for 3.Overall, West Indies have been more reliant on their spinners: they’ve bowled more overs than the seamers, and have accounted for 19 of their 31 wickets. Badree is the third-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, while Narine’s economy rate of 4.50 is second only Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s, among bowlers who have bowled at least 10 overs in the tournament. And then there has been Krishmar Santokie, the unsung hero for West Indies: no one’s talked much about him, but he has taken six wickets at an average of 13.83 and an economy rate of 5.59. (Click here for West Indies’ batting and bowling averages in the tournament.)For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Kulasekara has been superb, taking six wickets at 11.67 and an economy rate of 5.83, but Lasith Malinga has had a relatively quiet tournament, taking three wickets in 12 overs. (Click here for Sri Lanka’s batting and bowling averages in the tournament.)

Pace and spin stats for SL and WI

SpinPaceOversWktsAverageEcon rateOversWktsAverageEcon rateSri Lanka25.01312.766.6440.21321.076.79West Indies41.41912.315.6135.01220.917.17In terms of their bowling performances in different stages of an innings, both Sri Lanka and West Indies have been superb during the Powerplay overs, taking plenty of wickets and restricting the runs. Both teams have taken 11 wickets in the first six overs – the most by any team in the tournament – though Sri Lanka have a slightly better economy rate. There’s little to choose between their stats in the middle overs too, but in the last five, West Indies have a better economy rate. Sri Lanka have conceded 9.55 per over in the last five, thanks to their games against England and South Africa, when they went for 48 off 26 balls and 45 off 30 in the last five overs.

WI and SL with the ball so far in the tournament

First 6 overs6.1 to 15 oversLast 5 oversAverageEcon rateAverageEcon rateAverageEcon rateSri Lanka10.454.7921.817.6110.449.55West Indies11.905.4525.607.1110.106.06West Indies’ last five overs blitzAs mentioned earlier, West Indies have been strong boundary hitters in the tournament, and they’ve been especially destructive in the last five overs of their innings. Their run rate in the last five is 12.55, a period during which they’ve scored 247 runs in 118 balls. Darren Sammy alone has caused immeasurable damage to the opposition bowling figures during this period, scoring 99 off 39 balls during this period, at a staggering run rate of 15.23 per over. Dwayne Bravo hasn’t done badly either, scoring 54 from 24. Sri Lanka’s run rate of 9.83 in the last five isn’t too bad (141 runs from 86 balls), but this is clearly a period that has belonged to West Indies.Sri Lanka’s strength has been more in the middle overs, when they’ve scored at a brisk pace without losing too many wickets. Mahela Jayawardene has been at the forefront in this aspect, scoring 74 off 50 balls during this period (run rate 8.88) and getting out just once.

WI and SL scoring patterns in the tournament so far

First 6 overs6.1 to 15 oversLast 5 oversTeamAverageRun rateAverageRun rateAverageRun rateSri Lanka24.007.3040.807.5514.109.83West Indies53.336.6621.636.6124.7012.55The Mirpur factorWest Indies also have the advantage of having played all their matches in Mirpur – which is the venue for the semi-final – while Sri Lanka have played in Chittagong. However, conditions in Mirpur have favoured spin more than in Chittagong, which should suit Sri Lanka as well: spinners have bowled twice as many overs in Mirpur compared to Chittagong in the main stage of the tournament, and achieved better economy rates. (Click here for the stats of spinners at the two venues, and here for the pace bowlers’ numbers.)The head-to-head historySri Lanka and West Indies have played five Twenty20 internationals so far, all of them in the World Twenty20. While Sri Lanka won the first four, West Indies beat them in the big game, the final of the 2012 edition, by 36 runs. Four of the five matches between them have been won by the team batting first.In matches between these two teams, Jayawardene has been the top batsman, scoring 202 runs at a strike rate of 133.77; Tillakaratne Dilshan isn’t far behind in terms of aggregate, scoring 187 at a strike rate touching 160. West Indies’ batsmen have been relatively quiet, with Chris Gayle scoring only 73 in four innings.Among the bowlers, Mendis has stunning stats: in 20 overs he has figures of 13 for 82, an average of 6.30 and an economy rate of 4.10. Malinga, though, has leaked almost 9.50 runs per over against West Indies. Narine has played only two games against Sri Lanka, but has been his usual self, taking 3 for 32 from 7.4 overs.

Forty of Pakistan’s top cricketers will participate in a month-long fitness camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore

Umar Farooq06-May-2014Temperatures in Lahore are expected soar past 45 C in the next one month, during which 40 of Pakistan’s top cricketers will undergo fitness training at the National Cricket Academy. Mohammad Akram, the NCA coach, hopes to “make the players sweat” and ensure a talent pool that is “fully attuned to survive” at the international level.The players underwent a preliminary examination to plot their current fitness level. The first 18 days of the camp will be concentrated on physical conditioning, while remaining 12 will be spent on honing all three disciplines followed by match simulations.”We have been looking for a window in which we could obtain a thorough insight of our players’ fitness level,” Akram said at the Gaddafi Stadium. “It might have been a talking point but we don’t have proper record on our players’ actual levels of fitness. Now players will be reassessed every four months to make them realise how important this aspect is.”The weather might tough for the camp but we deliberately planned for it. We could have taken this camp to relatively cooler places like Abbottabad or Murree but that won’t work. We actually wanted our players to work hard and sweat so that eventually he will be attuned for top level. I can’t claim that player will be super fit within this month but it definitely will create a significant difference.”Though fitness is one of the three criteria (performance and integrity clearance being the others) that define a player’s prospects of making the Pakistan side, it has not been given as much priority until now.”Being a professional, a player must maintain his fitness on his own but unfortunately in our culture it’s difficult,” Akram said. Additionally, there was much debate over psychological assessments of the players being included in the programme. Pakistan are known for frequent batting collapses, with players crumbling under pressure despite their evident talent. Former coach Geoff Lawson had hinted at the need of a sports psychologist for Pakistan.”It is a need but most of our players are very strong-minded and despite off-field issues they bounced back really well,” Akram said. “But yes we have already engaged a psychologist who will be delivering lectures every week.”Apart from batsman Azhar Ali, 39 players have undergone a screening test. Azhar has been ruled out of the camp due to a stress fracture in his right ankle and needs a month of rehabilitation.”It isn’t a serious injury but he still needs a four-week rest,” Akram said. “He is residing in the NCA and will be doing his rehabilitation on the sidelines of the camp. Mohammad Irfan is up and running and will be in action during the camp.”

CG curator Tom Parker is adamant that concessions to the demands of multi-sport stadiums will not go so far as to force Sydney to resort to the drop-in pitches now used in Melbourne and Adelaide

Daniel Brettig in Sydney02-Jan-2014Sydney’s cricket ground has undergone major redevelopment since the last Ashes Test at the ground, with last-minute work on the new MA Noble and Don Bradman Stands set to go on into the night on match eve. But the SCG curator Tom Parker is adamant that concessions to the demands of multi-sport stadiums will not go so far as to force Sydney to resort to the drop-in pitches now used in Melbourne and Adelaide.”It’s only myself here and Gabba that have traditional pitches,” Parker said. “We’re a dual purpose ground and it is a mammoth task to change over from AFL to cricket and maintain a first-class pitch. For the characteristics of the SCG, even if you had a drop-in here, you’re not going to replicate the centre that’s out there at the moment. No I think we’re right, the Trust is pretty staunch. Can’t say it’s never ever going to happen but in near future nothing on the drawing board I can assure you of that.”Parker said the SCG surface for this Test was slightly grassier than usual because a recent Big Bash League fixture had encroached on his preparation time, but expected the strip to offer the sort of balance between ball and bat witnessed in recent summers. A sunny day will encourage batting, while overcast skies may result in the seam-friendly conditions offered to Pakistan on day one in 2010.”It has a green tinge to this pitch and we had BBL match here on the 29th so we had to limit our preparations so we could ensure if someone ran across this pitch it didn’t get damaged in that match,” Parker said. “But in saying that beautiful humid, hot day today. Been here for hours on the heavy roller, we’ve cut that down now at 3mm and we’ll be cutting it again and rolling it again so a lot of that greenness will go out of it.”I anticipate it’s going to be very similar to what we’ve seen here last year. More looking for good, consistent carry to the keeper, should see a bit of bounce in this pitch as well given the amount of grass on it and the mature grass that’s on this pitch. It’s different to tour match pitch here earlier in the season when we were changing over from AFL and we didn’t have as much time.”If it’s overcast and the forecast is for some possible light showers or drizzly rain and if it’s like that you may well bowl. And I think you’ve seen here in the past when it’s overcast and cloudy the ball does move around a bit here at the SCG, so we’ve really got to wait for the day and hopefully it’s a bright sunny day.”Parker was one of the nation’s groundsmen directed by Cricket Australia at the outset of summer to prepare surfaces less grassy and more reflective of international conditions for the Sheffield Shield. Several curators were unhappy to be dictated to, and Parker stated his own intentions with similar bluntness.”I prepare a pitch that’s fair and just for both teams,” he said. “I’m not about preparing pitches for batters or bowlers or any other side.”

Sri Lanka recorded their second biggest ever Test win by an innings, wrapping up the first Test an hour after lunch on the fourth day with Bangladesh still 248 runs short of making the visitors bat again

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran30-Jan-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDilruwan Perera took a five-wicket haul in only his second Test•AFPSri Lanka recorded their second biggest ever Test win by an innings, wrapping up the first Test an hour after lunch on the fourth day with Bangladesh still 248 runs short of making the visitors bat again. An innings deficit of 498 was demoralising enough for Bangladesh to capitulate without a fight, and there was no stoic resistance from them to take the game to the fifth day, let alone save the game. Sri Lanka’s seamers began the slide before the middle order succumbed to the offspin of Dilruwan Perera, who took a five-wicket haul in only his second Test.Sri Lanka had batted themselves into position from which they would certainly not have to pad up again. The same pitch that produced 730 runs in a single innings was made to look like a seamer’s paradise when Sri Lanka took the ball, causing the Bangladesh batsmen to hop and weave even on a fourth-day surface. In the end, Sri Lanka narrowly missed recording their biggest innings win, that of 254 runs against Zimbabwe 10 years ago.The wickets in the morning were attributed more to good bowling from the visitors, and the aggressive approach from the hosts always gave the bowlers a sniff. The only cheer for Bangladesh was a brisk fifty by Mominul Haque, but it did little to wrest the initiative from Sri Lanka.The overcast conditions were ripe for seam bowling and Sri Lanka prised out two wickets with the short ball. Shaminda Eranga’s snorter off the second ball of the morning was too good for Shamsur Rehman who failed to pick the ball from the gloom and gloved it to the wicketkeeper. Marshall Ayub was impressive with his defense before he too was found wanting with his technique against the bouncer. Suranga Lakmal bowled round the wicket with a leg gully and short leg waiting and Ayub failed to fend it off, lobbing the ball to Kaushal Silva at short leg.Bangladesh were firmly pegged on the back foot but the situation didn’t deter Shakib Al Hasan and Mominul from going for their strokes. The seamers persisted with the short stuff and both left-handers were compulsive with the pull, though not all shots were in control. Mominul wasn’t afraid to slash over the slips and point and Shakib too didn’t restrain himself.The introduction of spin, via Perera, sunk the hosts further. Shortly after Shakib brought up the fifty stand with a cover-driven boundary, he played back to Perera and was trapped lbw to one that went through with the arm. Mominul brought up his half-century, off just 52 balls before he too fell lbw to Perera, playing back. There was a semblance of doubt with the verdict, however, as replays indicated that the ball may have been sliding down the leg side.Mushfiqur’s wicket was probably the biggest blow, for he has shown on many occasions that he can occupy the crease, a quality many of his teammates have failed to show consistently. In the last over before lunch, he was beaten by flight going for the drive and bowled through the gate.Nasir Hossain was the only specialist batsman remaining but he too succumbed to a poor stroke, skying the ball to mid-off, giving Perera his fourth wicket. The two Hossains – Rubel and Al-Amin – gave the crowd something to cheer with a blazing last-wicket stand of 53 in just 6.2 overs, but it wasn’t enough to hide the embarrassment of their fourth-biggest innings defeat, that too at home.Bangladesh have an extra day to ponder over the loss and rethink their combination for the Chittagong Test which begins on February 4. They picked three seamers on a pitch in Mirpur that had more bounce than a typical Bangladesh surface, but as Sri Lanka proved, in order to exploit it to the fullest you needed bowlers with extra yards of pace like Eranga and Lakmal. With the series at stake, Bangladesh could revert to a more spin-heavy attack and prove that their progress in 2013 was no fluke.

Andrew Strauss, the former England captain, has called for England players to be allowed to play in the IPL or risk falling behind the major cricketing nations in the shorter format of the game.

David Hopps10-Oct-2013Andrew Strauss, the former England captain, has called for England players to be allowed to play in the IPL or risk falling behind the major cricketing nations in the shorter format of the game.Strauss contends in his newly-published autobiography, that established players are left in limbo when it comes to T20, unable to develop their skills either in IPL or in England’s domestic tournament due to non-stop international commitments.His remarks come as the ECB and players’ representatives, led by the Professional Cricketers’ Association, seek to conclude an agreement on England central contracts in which the opportunity to play in the IPL has been a major bone of contention.Strauss, conservative by instinct, writes: “Going to India, surrounding yourself with the best players in the world and learning how to innovate and adapt in vastly different conditions must surely be of huge benefit to players (not to mention the obvious benefits to their bank accounts).”Unfortunately, the IPL teams are reluctant to select England players, knowing that they will not be available for the whole tournament. In addition the ECB is less-than-keen to see its best assets wandering off to a foreign domestic tournament when they should be getting invaluable rest.”However, if England are serious about being a force in the international game, one thing the administrators have to look at is creating a window to allow our players to participate. The IPL is not going anywhere and we run the risk of slipping behind other teams in both ODI and Twenty20 cricket if our players don’t participate.”Strauss turned down ECB entreaties to apply for the role of managing director of England cricket, which is soon to be vacated by Hugh Morris, the man centrally involved in contract discussions on behalf of the ECB. Instead he will commit most of his energy to his corporate consultancy business. If that spares Strauss from coming up with his own solution to what is arguably the most intractable issue in English cricket, his impatience for change is clear.”New players coming into the England side in recent years have generally had a reasonable level of experience in the Twenty20 game and have managed to expand their games accordingly.”What remains a problem, though, is that players who are already part of the England set-up do not play a lot of domestic Twenty20 cricket, so ironically their skills do not continue to develop as much as might be the case. For me, that makes the opportunity for England players to compete in the IPL a really important issue.”England have switched the order of their spring internationals in 2014, preceding the early Test series against Sri Lanka with a mix of T20 and ODIs, which has encouraged the belief that England – and Sri Lanka – players with IPL contracts will be allowed to use IPL as an acceptable warm-up and return for the start of England’s international season at the last minute.Strauss had personal experience of the pressures that IPL has brought to bear on English cricket when he became embroiled in the long-running power struggle between the ECB and Kevin Pietersen in the 2012 South Africa series. Pietersen took offence at the ECB’s insistence that his wish to play IPL must always be secondary to his international duties.For Strauss, England Test cricket remains sacrosanct: “The ECB were unwilling – rightly in my opinion – to let any player either miss or not be properly prepared to play in a Test match to fulfil IPL obligations.”To maintain Test cricket’s supremacy, Strauss writes that administrators should place a keener focus on developing cricketers for the five-day game, which the current county system does not best serve; Strauss regarding it as putting volume ahead of intensity – a blow for the ECB which embarks upon its latest restructuring of the county game next season.”In England, we should have an advantage over other countries because of our long-established domestic structure,” he says. “What is desperately needed, in my opinion, is for that structure to move with the times.”Administrators need to ask themselves, ‘What is the best system for producing excellent England cricketers?’ As that is where all the revenues for the game come from, rather than ‘What is in the best interests of county members?’ Looking at it from that standpoint would result in a very different domestic structure from the one we currently employ.”

Sean Abbott returned to cricket at the SCG, bowling a bouncer in his first over and collecting two wickets as New South Wales dismissed Queensland for 268

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2014
ScorecardSean Abbott returned to cricket at the SCG, bowling a bouncer in his first over and collecting two wickets as New South Wales dismissed Queensland for 268. Two weeks to the day after Phillip Hughes was struck by a bouncer bowled by Abbott at the same ground, cricket returned to some sense of normality around the country, with a Test match in Adelaide and three Sheffield Shield games.The New South Wales players wore shirts emblazoned with PJH 707 as a tribute to Hughes, who was the 707th man to represent the state, and wore black armbands. When Abbott was introduced in the 13th over he was applauded by spectators and sent down a bouncer with his fifth ball, which the batsman Joe Burns ducked underneath.Burns and Marnus Labuschagne put on 73 for the opening wicket before Labuschagne was caught off the offspin of William Somerville for 39, and Burns fell to Mitchell Starc for 59. Abbott’s first wicket came when he bowled Nathan Reardon for 6 and in his next over he added another when Ben Cutting was caught behind for 3.Queensland were in trouble at 6 for 132 but James Hopes and Chris Hartley rebuilt with a 105-run partnership that ended when Hartley fell to Somerville for 41. Starc added a third wicket, that of debutant Cameron Brimblecombe, and Hopes was then the last man out for 85 as the Bulls were dismissed in the 84th over.New South Wales batted nine overs before stumps and reached 1 for 17, with Ryan Carters on 7 and nightwatchman Somerville on 8. The one wicket to fall was that of Nick Larkin, who was caught off Hopes for a duck.

The Ranji match between Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is being billed as a clash between UP’s strong bowling and Tamil Nadu’s formidable batting

Siddarth Ravindran in Meerut20-Nov-2013Meerut may have a reputation as a crowded industrial place, but the sprawling Victoria Park adds a much-needed expanse of green to the town. It houses the Bhamashah Stadium, which is surrounded by more open spaces for Meerut’s young cricketers to train in, much like the city’s two most famous cricketers, Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, did over the past few years.Several knots of cricketers – in full whites and with proper equipment – are practising there on the day before the Ranji match between Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. A short walk past them takes you to the main ground, where next to a whitewashed wall that serves as one of the sightscreens, several dozen spectators are watching the two Ranji teams train.This is the biggest match of the year for Meerut, and signs of that are all around. The ground itself is surrounded by temporary billboards, advertising everything from real estate to fertilisers, and also includes tributes to Sachin Tendulkar as well as notable Meerut cricketers. The boards denoting the scorers box, the media enclosure and the teams’ dressing rooms, all sport a distinctive logo with the words ‘Ranji Trophy cricket match’.A wide, white, single-storeyed building – the O’Donnell pavilion, named after a former principal of Meerut College, which owns the ground – is a hub of activity as the organisers try to ensure everything is in order for the match.Just ahead of the pavilion, some of the UP players are practising taking high catches. It’s a nippy, winter morning and the cold isn’t making training easy. ” (it’s stinging),” says one of the fielders, wringing his hands after snaffling a skier. The weather will take even more adjusting to for the visitors, with maximum temperatures in Tamil Nadu still well above 30 degrees.The match itself is being billed as a clash between UP’s strong bowling and Tamil Nadu’s formidable batting. Tamil Nadu have scored in excess of 450 in the first innings of both their matches this season, with B Aparajith and S Badrinath both having scored double-hundreds, and UP captain Piyush Chawla knew what his side was up against. “They have got one of the best batting sides and we have got one of the better bowling sides in Ranji Trophy circuit,” Chawla said. “It should be a good contest.”It doesn’t help UP, though, that both of Meerut’s finest bowlers are not available for this game. Praveen is out with a shoulder injury and Bhuvneshwar is away on national duty.Chawla and his bowlers are coming off a rough game in Rajkot, where Saurashtra piled up a mammoth total. Chawla bowled 51.5 overs in one innings. Little wonder then that the only time he got animated, during a short press conference, was when he spoke about the state of pitches in the country.”Wickets are quite flat these days, and if it is not flat, then it is seaming, so it becomes really difficult for the spin bowlers. Even if you see the list of highest wicket-takers in the last few years in Ranji Trophy, you won’t find many spinners in that, hardly one in top 10 or something. So that is a challenge, for a spinner to come on these sort of wickets and bowl your best and try to pick up something out of these nothing tracks.”Neither captain wanted to elaborate on how they thought the Meerut track would behave, but the surface generally favoured quick bowlers in the three matches held here over the past four years.