All posts by csb10.top

Two two-day matches for Wellington, firstly against Central Districts on Wednesday and Thursday, then in an internal trial between Wellington and Hutt Valley next week, will be vital preparation for last year’s State Championship runners-up.Badly hit by the weather, Wellington’s players have had only two-and-a-half weeks of club play, although poor starts to the summer are not unusual for Capital dwellers.The loss of time in October due to the players’ strike is also another factor.Coach Vaughn Johnson regards November as the most important month of the season, a time when the transition is made between winter and the forthcoming season.”Pitches for club play have been very bowler-friendly but it will be the same for all teams, except Northern Districts who seem to have had half their team playing in Australia,” he said.The start to the season would be a difficult one because Wellington were not yet in control of their own destiny due to the political strife caused by the strike.”We want to start the season competitively and we want to hit the ground running but there are a few obstacles in achieving that.”With Chris Nevin, Paul Hitchcock and Stephen Fleming required to be in Christchurch for the TelstraClear Black Caps camp this week, they were not considered for the Central Districts game.That has given Johnson the chance to look at some of the contenders for positions.His squad is: Matthew Bell, Luke Woodcock, Richard Jones, Leighton Morgan, Grant Donaldson, James Franklin, Matthew Walker, Andrew Penn, Iain O’Brien, Jeetan Patel, Glynn Howell, Jonathan McNamee.

Cricketers across Victoria will this weekend observe a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to the victims of the Bali bombing attack.Cricket Victoria CEO, Mr Ken Jacobs issued the appeal this morning. “The events of last Saturday evening in Bali were of tragic consequences for all Australians, particularly those families directly involved. The thoughts of the wider cricket community in this state go out to them at this sad time. As a mark of respect, I would ask that all cricket matches being played across Victoria this coming Saturday, observe a minute’s silence prior to their commencement”.

Andrew Moulding the Somerset Cricket Board Development Officer was busy at his desk in the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground this afternoon putting the finishing touches to a newsletter for the Somerset Young Cricketer’s Patron Scheme.The Young Cricketer’s Patron Scheme was launched earlier this season in an effort to provide additional funding for youth cricket across the county and has received good support from all areas of the cricketing spectrum.The Development Officer told me earlier: "We are absolutely delighted with the response so far to the scheme, and we have just received our first consignment of the specially designed Somerset Young Cricketer’s Patrons ties which will dispatched to each patron along with the newsletter in the near future."During the next few months Mr Moulding is hoping to recruit many more patrons for the scheme, and anyone who would like to sign up to help this very worthwhile cause should send a cheque for a minimum of £15 made out to the Somerset Cricket Board to Mr Moulding at The Centre of Excellence, The County Ground, Taunton, Somerset TA1 1JT.

Now that the 2002 Southern Electric Premier League has been successfully concluded it is time to look back on your thoughts in our season-long running polls on who you thought would scoop the three divisional titles.And you were wrong on all three counts, too!!!The majority of the 406 votes cast in the Division One poll thought that Liphook and Ripsley would take the title. Some 24.1% (98 votes) were cast in favour of the East Hampshire club, comfortably ahead of their nearest rivals B.A.T.Sports and actual runners-up, who gained 71 votes (17.5%).Havant, who regained their crown as kings of the league, came in third amongst the SPCL web-site loggers, generating 60 votes (14.8%).It may have been a surprise to many the success of Easton and Martyr Worthy this season, who finished second behind the Hampshire Academy in Division Two, but many of you were not, as 33 voters of the 120 listed thought they would win it!United Services (15 votes) came in second, one vote ahead of the Academy, who of course will be playing in SPCL Division One next term.Division Three was the closest you had come to getting it right. Alton were the season favourites with 26 of the 179 total votes (14.5%), three votes ahead of actual winners Purbrook (23 votes – 12.8%).Thank you for taking part – hope that proved to be a bit of fun during the season. Watch out for some developments on the site during the winter.DIVISION ONE – WHERE THEY FINISHED and WHAT YOU SAID

DIVISION TWO – WHERE THEY FINISHED and WHAT YOU SAID

DIVISION THREE – WHERE THEY FINISHED and WHAT YOU SAID

Shrewsbury Cricket Club has won the 2002 Sun Bank Under 15 National ClubChampionship after trouncing Cardiff Cricket Club in the national final by 46 runs. The Shropshire side therefore lifted the Harry Secombe Cup for the first time in its history, victors over a record entry list of 1,517 clubs throughout the UK.Hosted at Hertfordshire’s picturesque Shenley Cricket Club, Shrewsbury defeated Fenner CC in the semi-final by a comfortable eight wickets. Restricting the Yorkshire club to just 77 runs in their 20 overs, Shrewsbury cruised to victory in the 14th over thanks to number four batsman, Joe Hart, who eased his side home with 34 not out, having earlier taken an impressive three wickets for 19 runs.Cardiff, who beat Horsham in the semis, were swept away in the final. Robert Foster top scored with 46 as Shrewsbury set a challenging target of 129, and team captain James Gale then dismissed the Cardiff’s first three batsmen as the Welsh side were skittled out for 83 in 16 overs.So Shrewsbury won the tournament, becoming Shropshire’s first ever champions of the prestigious 30-year-old competition, in a finals day made even more memorable by the presence of Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart and Alex Tudor from the England men’s team, and Clare Connor and Isa Guha from the England women’s side amongst the 300-strong crowd.Mark Campkin, ECB Competitions Manager, underlined the success of the day, “As ever it has been a fantastic occasion. All four teams did tremendously well to get to the final, but well done to Shrewsbury who took the overall honours.”Over 16,000 boys have benefited this year from this expanding competition, which provides the perfect stage for aspiring junior cricketers to show their skills. The ECB is extremely grateful to Sun Bank for their outstanding contribution to the grass roots of the game.”Semi-finals
Cardiff 109-4 (20 overs; Owain Williams 53*) beat Horsham 73 (17.1 overs;Mohammed Usman 3-21)
Fenner 77-9 (20 overs; Joe Hart 3-19) lost to Shrewsbury 79-2 (13.2 overs)Final
Shrewsbury 129-8 (20 overs; Robert Foster 46, Stephen Johns 3-14) beatCardiff (16 overs; James Gale 3-20)

Hampshire return to Frizzell County Championship action for the first time in two weeks, when they take on neighbours Sussex starting at The Rose Bowl on Wednesday 3rd July.Third placed Hampshire take on fifth placed Sussex, with virtually a full strenghth side, but are leaving their options open by selecting a squad of 13.John Francis, who played last week for Loughborough UCCE against Hampshire is included despite a knee injury sustained during that match, and James Tomlinson the 20 year old left-arm seamer who has been performing well for Hampshire against the same Louighborough team, and for the seconds is also included.Robin Smith has recovered from the back injury that had troubled him recently, and John Crawley returns to championship cricket for Hampshire in place of Jason Laney, after missing the Bath match due to England call up.The thirteen are: Derek Kenway, Will Kendall, John Crawley, Robin Smith (captain), Neil Johnson, Giles White, Nic Pothas (wicket-keeper), Dimitri Mascarenhas, Shaun Udal, Chris Tremlett, Alan Mullally, John Francis and James Tomlinson.

Soaking up pressure and adapting their T20 skills to the pace of ODIs are the reasons for Afghanistan’s batting success at the World Cup, according to their head coach Jonathan Trott ahead of a crucial game against Netherlands in Lucknow.Coming into the tournament, Afghanistan’s middle order had the lowest average of all Full Member nations in ODIs since the start of 2021 – 26.44. That number has gone up to 36.93 in the World Cup, the fifth best in the tournament.Related

• Jonathan Trott: 'If people are going to have to play like Maxwell did to beat us, I can't complain'

• Clinical, risk-assessed, productive – Afghanistan's batting evolution unlocks new highs

• Rahmat Shah, the odd one out in Afghanistan's band of T20 stars

• Crafty Azmatullah Omarzai on his way to be Afghanistan's own Hardik Pandya

• Afghanistan turn to careful cricket for unprecedented success

“I think it’s a case more of just being better all-around, and thinking more about your all-around game,” Trott said in Lucknow on Friday. “Afghanistan [players] naturally grow up playing a lot more T20 cricket than any other format, so the skills for T20 are there. It’s about adding to that sort of base of T20 skills. As you see, 50-over cricket is a long time and you have to be able to, I think, ride the sort of ebbs, and flows of a game.”While openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran have been scoring consistently, it hasn’t gone bust when they have not fired. In their previous game against Sri Lanka, Gurbaz fell for a four-ball duck but Rahmat Shah stepped up and had half-century stands with Ibrahim and Hashmatullah Shahidi, who in turn put on 111 with Azmatullah Omarzai to finish the chase.”The thing I’m really happy about from the last game is we lost a wicket in the first over and Rahmat Shah was able to go into No. 3 and soak up that pressure but still kept scoring at a good tempo,” Trott said. “That shows the ability to soak up pressure at times, what you have to do in 50-over cricket, but also then accelerate at certain times.”Rahmat Shah has been unfazed even when Afghanistan have lost an early wicket•AFP/Getty Images

Trott also stressed on the importance of the batters who are in to stay till the end and finish the job, especially while chasing.”I think when chasing those targets, we saw just what is possible if you have a good solid start and you have batsmen in the last ten overs,” he said. “That’s happened for us, but it’s also happened against us in games where it’s been difficult to stop the opposition with set batters in the last ten overs.”Having that sort of vision, knowing that you can score quickly towards the back end of games, I think that’s the pennies we’re starting to see drop with the players.”Afghanistan have managed to walk the talk, especially in their previous two games, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka where they chased down targets of 283 and 242 with ease.”Obviously, there’s a difference between talking about it and actually going out and doing it. And we’re seeing players go out and do it now,” Trott said. “We’ve spoken a lot about it and worked really hard to try and achieve it, so it’s nice to see the players do well and have a smile on the face when they’re there batting at the end of the game, having chased in the last two games and won.”

Big picture

Ill-judged shots, inconsistent bowling, dropped catches, batting collapses – these aren’t unexpected anymore when Sri Lanka or Bangladesh play Test cricket. At the same time, when they start the first of two Tests in Pallekele on Wednesday, do expect the odd heroic performance. Those aren’t unusual with these teams either.Bangladesh come into the series having lost their last eight international matches across formats. The wheels came off during the white-ball tour of New Zealand, but the confidence had already been shattered during their 2-0 Test series defeat against West Indies. Bangladesh were favourites at home, but they looked a team without a Plan B when the West Indian rookies fought back in Chattogram and Dhaka.What will particularly hurt Bangladesh is the absence of Shakib Al Hasan, who is currently playing in the IPL. Without him, the visitors will rely heavily on Tamim Iqbal, Mominul Haque, and Mushfiqur Rahim .Related

• Shoriful Islam included in Bangladesh squad for first Sri Lanka Test

• Hasaranga, Nissanka, Oshada and Embuldeniya – Arthur's picks

• Three questions for Sri Lanka, three questions for Bangladesh

• Haque: 'We haven't been batting up to expectations'

In the batting department, Iqbal will be expected to provide stability at the top, although he hasn’t had a set opening partner for a long time, and the No. 3 position also remains uncertain. Haque’s home-and-away record carries a Jekyll-Hyde look, which would leave Rahim, one of Bangladesh’s best batters on foreign soil, with some heavy lifting to do. There are concerns in the bowling department, too. Mehidy Hasan and Abu Jayed are the only bowlers who are confirmed inclusions in the XI, leaving at least three spots up for grabs.Bangladesh’s situation opens up an opportunity for Sri Lanka, who recently lost to England at home, and drew 0-0 in the West Indies. A few fightbacks notwithstanding, Sri Lanka have mostly struggled to get going in the recent past. At home, South Africa were the last visitors they truly dominated, in February 2019. After a 2-0 win in that series, they drew against New Zealand and lost to Pakistan, too.The emergence of Oshada Fernando and Pathum Nissanka has helped the team strike a balance, with Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal bringing in the experience. Mathews returns after missing the West Indies series. Lahiru Thirimanne’s three fifties against West Indies were also encouraging, but for Sri Lanka to do better, these batters have to score big.Much of the hosts’ bowling would depend on Suranga Lakmal in the absence of the injured Lasith Embuldeniya, who has been their highest wicket-taker this year so far. Vishwa Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga and Lahiru Kumara will also have to lend support to Lakmal’s new-ball efforts.Mominul Haque will look to improve both his captaincy record and away numbers as a batter•Raton Gomes/BCB

Form guide

Sri Lanka DDLLLBangladesh LLWLL

In the spotlight

Suranga Lakmal was adjudged Player of the Series for his 11 wickets against West Indies. He will be expected to do a similar job against Bangladesh in conditions that might assist pace bowlers. Lakmal would also be keen to bring down his bowling average of 50.87 in 23 Tests at home.Mominul Haque has two things to work on: reviving his captaincy fortunes after losing five out of the last six Tests, and fixing his dismal away record as a batter. There will be considerable pressure on both fronts but, as he has proven in the past, he has the character to turn things around.

Team news

Sri Lanka may go in with three specialist quicks, though this would be a highly unusual strategy at home. Lakmal would be the first-choice pacer, while Vishwa and Kumara might also feature in the XI. On the batting front, they will try to squeeze Nissanka into the side. Chandimal, who had a decent tour of West Indies, might just make way for Nissanka.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Lahiru Thirimanne, 3 Oshada Fernando, 4 Dinesh Chandimal/Pathum Nissanka, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Lahiru Kumara, 11 Vishwa FernandoSoumya Sarkar’s axing once again opens up the debate on the opening combination. Pallekele’s green pitch may tempt Bangladesh to play three pace bowlers.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Shadman Islam, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mominul Haque (capt), 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Mohammad Mithun, 7 Liton Das (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan, 9 Ebadot Hossain, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Abu Jayed

Pitch and conditions

The photograph of Karunaratne inspecting a greenish Pallekele pitch two days before the first Test left many wondering if seam, swing and bounce could play a part on the first morning. Though it has rained around the Pallekele area, the weather is likely to be clear over the next five days.

Stats that matter

• This will be Bangladesh’s first overseas Test since the pandemic began. They lost the home series against West Indies 2-0 in February.
• Lakmal’s recent Player of the Series award was the first for a Sri Lankan fast bowler in a Test series since Nuwan Kulasekara won one in 2014.
• No Bangladesh bowler has taken a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka since 2014.

Quotes

“Technically, he’s outstanding. Physically, he’s very good and his fielding standards are exactly where they need to be. He’s slotted in nicely. Yes we’ve had to chip away and polish a little bit, but whatever Nissanka did with his coaches through the ranks has been pretty good. They’ve prepared him very well for international cricket.”
“I have come to Sri Lanka to play cricket. We will play according to our plan. I am only concerned about these things, and not much else. I don’t need to think about other things as a professional cricketer.”

Shakib Al Hasan has said that he was misrepresented by the BCB about his decision to skip the Test series against Sri Lanka.Shakib said that the two matches, which are part of the World Test Championship, aren’t of much value as Bangladesh are at the bottom of the competition’s points table. He said that playing in the IPL would rather help him prepare better for the T20 World Cup, to be held in India in October.”These two Tests are our last matches in the World Test Championship so it is not as if we are going to play the final,” Shakib told . “We are at the very bottom of the points table. I don’t think it makes much of a difference. The other major reason is that the World Cup T20 is in India later this year. It is a very important tournament where we have much to achieve. There isn’t much to achieve in these two Tests. I think it is a better option that I prepare myself for something bigger.”Related

• Shakib, Mustafizur picked in Bangladesh's preliminary ODI squad

• Shakib Al Hasan really, really wants to play Test cricket

• BCB allows Shakib Al Hasan to miss Sri Lanka Tests for IPL

• BCB to add clauses in central contracts after Shakib's IPL request

Shakib said that his letter to the BCB was focused on his plan to prepare for the T20 World Cup, but Akram Khan, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said that Shakib doesn’t want to play the two Tests against Sri Lanka, to be held from April 21 to May 3.”Those who keep saying that I don’t want to play Tests, I am sure they didn’t read my letter. I didn’t mention anywhere in my letter to the BCB that I don’t want to play Tests. I wrote that I want to play the IPL to prepare myself for the World Cup,” Shakib said.”Akram especially has repeatedly said that I don’t want to play Tests. I think he said it again in an interview yesterday. I guess he never read the letter. People should have a clear idea that I wanted to play the IPL even if ODIs were scheduled during this time.”I want to take advantage of playing in the same grounds and against the same players who I will face in the World Cup T20 four months later. I can share the same experience with my Bangladesh team-mates.”He said that the BCB president Nazmul Hassan’s decision to allow him to play in the IPL is laudable. “I want to thank (Nazmul Hassan) Papon bhai for taking the right decision. A player must have the freedom, and his confidence goes up when the board president backs him in this manner. The player becomes more responsible when playing for the national team,” he said.’I will let you in on a brutal truth. When overseas players come to Bangladesh, we call most of them ‘sir’ or ‘hujur’, but we do not see our experienced cricketers the same way’ – Shakib Al Hasan•Raton Gomes/BCB

Shakib criticised the BCB’s decision to hold the Test series during the IPL. They will also be playing an ODI series against Sri Lanka, possibly from May 20, which will also clash with Shakib’s IPL commitment. Shakib said that by doing so, BCB had again given less value to its own cricketers.”No other cricket board holds international matches during the IPL,” he said. “Only we are playing against Sri Lanka. Do you ever see any Afghanistan cricketer playing for their country during the IPL? Their board makes sure the players are free to play in the IPL. If we don’t value our own players, how can you expect us to perform well when playing for Bangladesh?”I will let you in on a brutal truth. When overseas players come to Bangladesh, we call most of them ‘sir’ or ”, but we do not see our experienced cricketers the same way. If the people, board and players do not respect you, you can’t expect them to respect you.”Shakib also criticised the BCB’s long-term planning, questioning the role of the High Performance unit, and suggested that some of the BCB directors who have played for Bangladesh in the past haven’t done much to progress the game.”Not having back-up players is really disappointing. I don’t know how many players have come from the High Performance squad. We have a number of people in the cricket board who have played for Bangladesh, but apart from (Khaled Mahmud) Sujon bhai, they are not too involved. Sujon and Papon must be credited for the 2020 Under-19 World Cup win.”But I can’t find any more people from the board to give credit. I don’t think they think much about cricket (laughs). We hardly talk about these things. Even our journalists are focused on small things. They don’t look at the big picture, like how many players we produced in the last five years.”

The Bangladesh selectors have brought in left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain to replace pacer Rubel Hossain for the third ODI against Afghanistan.The decision came in a Wednesday-night selection meeting, soon after the loss to Afghanistan in the second ODI. Rubel had bowled only three overs in that two-wicket defeat, conceding 24 runs. He had fared only slightly better in the first game, particularly in the last few overs when Bangladesh pulled the game back, but still went for 62 runs in nine overs.In a rocky career so far, Mosharraf, 34, has played three ODIs, all in March 2008, before joining the now-defunct, rebel Indian Cricket League. He was regularly among the top wicket-takers in domestic cricket since the BCB reinstated the ICL players in 2010. He was last picked in the national squad more than three years ago, for the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka, but did not get a game. He was then provisionally banned in connection with the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League fixing controversy, but cleared of any wrongdoing by the investigation tribunal. He has performed with bat and ball for Legends of Rupganj this season, but, in June, was suspended for one match in the Dhaka Premier League for misconduct. In August, he was added to Bangladesh’s 30-man preliminary squad ahead of the international season.The ODIs between Bangladesh and Afghanistan currently stand at 1-1, with one match to play in Mirpur on October 1.