All posts by csb10.top

Jake Needham has retired from professional cricket after asking to be released from the final year of his contract with Derbyshire. The county have accepted his request, ending Needham’s six-year stay.With first-team chances very limited – his final appearance was in the first half of 2011 – he has decided to explore opportunities in the financial services sector, while working in a part-time role with Derbyshire’s media and marketing department. He has also been appointed captain of Ockbrook and Borrowash, who play in the Derbyshire Premier League.In 2006, he was the first player from the Derbyshire academy to be offered a professional contract after making his first-team debut in 2005 against Essex at Derby. His found more opportunities in the one-day arena, playing 56 limited-overs matches and taking 34 wickets with his offspin.”I felt it was the right time for me to look at a career outside county cricket,” Needham said. “It is, therefore, with great optimism and enthusiasm that I take a position working behind the scenes with the club. Karl Krikken and the rest of the club have been fantastically supportive throughout this period and I would like to thank them all sincerely.”I’ve been involved with Derbyshire since playing junior cricket at the age of 11 and it’s no secret that I have a great affection and affinity for the place and the people. I am, therefore, relishing the chance to help the club in any capacity possible.”Needham played twice for England Under-19s in 2006, before making the bulk of his Derbyshire appearances in 2007 and 2008. He spent last season captaining the second XI.

ScorecardNew Zealand batsman Kane Williamson has continued his recent Test form with Gloucestershire•Getty Images

Few would have expected such a scorecard at the end of a day when at the start everything pointed to a feast for the bowlers. Heavy cloud, a brisk wind, intermittent rain and the deluge that was very well soaked up by the Bristol outfield were the factors in Andrew Gale’s decision to bowl first. Had he inspected a little closer under the covers, he might have made a different call.Though even if a reasonable deck were to have been discovered, the horrendous light – which prevented play later in the day – was reason enough to send Gloucestershire in. It was miserable. Benny Howell edged to third slip in Tim Bresnan’s second over and everything was as expected. But then Kane Williamson provided a classy innings.Last season, he looked a good player with a very correct technique. There wasn’t much excitement about him; he didn’t make the eye-catching scores one would hope from an overseas signing; he made one century – on a terribly flat pitch at Leicester. He was getting a good run in the New Zealand team, playing all formats of the game, without too much success. His run had been earned by a century on debut in Ahmedabad and the general perception that he was the future for New Zealand.His subsequent scores didn’t match that glorious debut and observers wondered whether he had been thrust in too soon. One innings changed those doubts. Battling on the final day to save a Test against South Africa at Wellington he made an unbeaten 102. He was dropped, hit on the body, sliced in two, beaten on countless occasions but made an innings of much acclaim against arguably the most fearsome attack in world cricket: Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. It confirmed his talent in some fashion.”That was a great challenge,” Williamson said. “They came really hard and it was a really nice innings to play against such quality bowlers. It was an interesting period in the winter; I didn’t spend too much time at the crease. We played Zimbabwe and I wasn’t required much of the time.”Arriving back for a second season with Gloucestershire, he made 128 in the second innings at Derby. If he can add another 11 runs tomorrow it will be three consecutive centuries for Williamson and Gloucestershire’s faith that John Bracewell had plucked a star in the making will be restored.He was sublime after making a 90-ball half-century against perhaps the best new-ball partnership he will face all season. Ryan Sidebottom and Bresnan quickly became frustrated at their lack of penetration and especially at Williamson’s ability to play with the most delicate of hands – playing under his nose; guiding runs through gully.He has seemed to gain an ability to score more easily, overcoming a lack of power. His off-side play was a joy to watch. Coming forward with a large stride he drove straight and through cover exactly as the textbook describes. Equally, going back he was quickly into a comfortable position and timed several boundaries to the shorter tennis-court boundary.The chief criticism of his cricket is playing the short ball: a few times he was found out in Australia. Here there was no short bowling to worry about – Bresnan and Sidebottom bowled full but found little enjoyment off a slow surface. The only time Williamson pulled was a long hop from Anthony McGrath – dispatched over square leg.The 146 Williamson and Chris Dent added in 43 overs was the third century stand Williamson has contributed to in the two games he has played for Gloucestershire – highlighting his value to an order that would otherwise have to be led by Dent. He was more patient, taking 123 balls to reach fifty and didn’t play any of the pleasant drives his partner showed. But he cut very well and ground out a score in a challenging situation. He fell to Steven Patterson, lbw playing back, as Yorkshire found something late on a day they expected far more from.

Twenty minutes of play was lost in bright sunshine on the second morning of the Trinidad Test because officials wanted to make sure no commercial contracts would be breached if the match continued without television coverage due to a power failure.In a Test that had already lost two hours to rain and lost more time on the second afternoon, the sight of the West Indies and Australia players marching back off the ground after assembling for the scheduled 9.30am start drew groans from the Tuesday crowd in Port-of-Spain. Play did not get underway until 9.50.Observers at the ground, including local radio commentators, speculated that upon hearing in the middle that DRS referrals would not be available, Australia’s captain Michael Clarke took his men from the field. However ESPNcricinfo understands that none of the players, umpires Marais Erasmus and Ian Gould, or the match referee Jeff Crowe, knew of the power cut until informed by the television production crew moments before the scheduled start.Upon discovering it, the umpires took the players from the field and a meeting was convened between management on both sides, the match officials and the WICB. The meeting concluded that play should re-start at 9.50 irrespective of whether or not the power returned. Any further cuts to television’s power source at the Queen’s Park Oval will not stop play from continuing.The power outage on the second morning was not the first of the match, as one Michael Beer over on the second evening was played out without television working at the ground. In that over Beer appealed strongly for lbw against Adrian Barath, but Australia were unable to refer the decision due to the lack of television pictures.Matches have gone on in the past when DRS referrals are not available for environmental or technical reasons. Australia played on in the field against New Zealand at Wellington’s Basin Reserve in 2010 when strong winds shook television cameras and rendered ball-tracking technology inaccurate.There have also been past instances of matches being delayed by the loss of television pictures, including the India versus Sri Lanka ODI at Bellerive Oval in Hobart during this year’s triangular series in Australia.The relevant passage of the ICC’s Test match playing conditions state that the match referee has the final call on the use of DRS in a match. “Where practical usage or further testing indicates that any of the above forms of technology cannot reliably provide accurate and timely information, then it may be removed prior to or during a match,” the conditions state. “The final decision regarding the technology to be used in a given match will be taken by the ICC Match Referee in consultation with the ICC Technical Official, ICC Management and the competing teams’ governing bodies.”

Lahore Lions‘ bowlers successfully defended 113 against Peshawar Panthers at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, to help their team to a second victory in as many matches. Lahore chose to bat and were off to a disastrous start, losing their top three batsmen for ducks. The middle order batsmen all got off to starts, but none could make more than Abdul Razzaq’s 37 or score at a rapid rate. The end of the innings mirrored the start, with Nos. 9-11 out without scoring. Most of the damage for Peshawar was done by the new-ball pair Umar Gul and Waqar Ahmed, who picked up three apiece. But even this target proved too much for Peshawar to knock off: only two batsmen got into double figures and they managed just four boundaries overall in their innings. Even as the Lahore bowlers shared the wickets around, Wahab Riaz was the pick of the lot: he produced the striking figures of 4-2-9-3, as Lahore rolled Peshawar for 79 to secure a 34-run win.A solid all-round showing by Karachi Zebras helped them to an eight-wicket victory over Faisalabad Wolves. Faisalabad chose to bat and were dented early on by Anwar Ali who removed their openers. None of their other batsmen could really get going either, as they were limited to 119 for 8. The Karachi bowlers shared the wickets around, with Anwar claiming the best figures: 3 for 29. In reply, Karachi were steered by opener Khurram Manzoor. He made an unbeaten 54, and was involved in half-century stands with Rameez Aziz and Hasan Raza, to help his team ease home with 13 balls to spare.

The ICC has introduced a “special dispensation” to be made only in “exceptional circumstances” in order to ensure that bilateral series take place even if the ruling body has determined it “unsafe” to appoint its officials for such series. This would allow such series to be manned by “non-neutral match officials”, a departure from the ICC’s Standard Playing Conditions, pending permission from the ICC’s Executive Board.The dispensation, announced at the end of the ICC’s Chief Executive Committee (CEC)’s two-day meeting in Dubai, will have special significance for the proposed tour of Pakistan by Bangladesh, the planning for which is at an advanced stage.The CEC stated that it had limited powers to take a decision over safety issues as to whether tours should take place or not. It reiterated that the ICC’s role in bilateral series was “limited to considering the safety and security of the match officials after a tour had been confirmed and a security plan produced.” The decision as to whether a particular tour should take place or not was, the CEC stated, “one for the participating countries.”The CEC statement has ensured that the ICC’s own officials need not be appointed for Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan. That could be seen by Pakistan as a stumbling block towards hosting top-level international cricket; other nations would be wary of touring if the ICC deemed the situation was not safe for their officials.For Bangladesh, the seal of ICC’s approval would have ensured greater vigilance around security issues. Last week, a nine-member Bangladesh delegation, led by their cricket board president Mustafa Kamal, gave a nod to the security arrangements at various venues after a two-day visit. Both Kamal, and Zaka Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, had said that they would approach the ICC to approve the tour.It is understood that the ICC dispatched individual letters to both the PCB and BCB on Monday, saying that it could not give the tour a go-ahead. The CEC’s introduction of this special dispensation around “non-neutral match officials” did not make a specific reference to the ICC’s disapproval of the series or that the tour had been deemed “unsafe” for its match officials to stand in. The dispensation however, creates the opportunity for the series to go ahead with Pakistani or Bangladeshi umpires and match-referees.There had been two itineraries proposed for the tour, one of which includes a three-match ODI series, and the other a series of two ODIs and one Twenty20 international, to be completed in one week in April. Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and Karachi’s National Stadium are the venues expected to host the matches.ESPNcricinfo understands that Bangladesh’s security team had expressed its reservations in playing in Karachi, and instead hope to play all the proposed matches in Lahore. Earlier, Rawalpindi was dropped as a venue from the plan.”It is important the tour goes ahead for Pakistan cricket to show the country can host games again,” Subhan Ahmad, the PCB’s chief operating officer, told . “We will have the highest level of security possible.”Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, pointed out that special dispensations however should not become a norm. “Bearing in mind that safety and security is the sole responsibility of individual member boards for bilateral matches, the CEC regarded this as an exceptional circumstance in which the appointment of non-neutral match officials could be justified but stated clearly that it should not to be regarded as a preferred option or precedent if the dispensation were to be granted,” Lorgat said.There has been no international cricket in Pakistan for exactly three years now after masked terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team bus and the van carrying ICC match officials, who were on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on March 3, 2009, on what was the third day of the second Test.

Bermuda squad

David Hemp (capt), Jason Anderson, Lionel Cann, Fiqre Crockwell, Terryn Fray, Joshua Gilbert, Stefan Kelly, Kamau Leverock, Stephen Outerbridge, Justin Pitcher, Samuel Robinson, Dion Stovell, Janeiro Tucker, Rodney Trott

David Hemp, the former Glamorgan and Warwickshire batsman, will again lead Bermuda as they attempt to reach a global one-day tournament at the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in UAE next month.Bermuda have not appeared at a top-level event since the 2006-07 World Cup after which the game has suffered from some difficult times. David Moore, the current coach, has challenged this group of players to make the most of their opportunity in the UAE. Just two sides from the 16-team event will qualify for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka during September and October.”The squad that has been picked provides a good balance for the challenges and nuances of the T20 game,” Moore said. “The squad selected provides a wide number of bowling options while still allowing a strong batting group. All players have been committed to the task of improving fitness and skill during the training period.”The program is coming together so that the player’s fitness and skill will be peaking at the right time for the tournament. It is now up to all players to take the opportunity that they have been given to perform at the highest Associate level and give the team the best possible opportunity to qualify for the World T20.”

Pragyan Ojha, the India left-arm spinner, has transferred from Deccan Chargers to Mumbai Indians for an undisclosed fee, ahead of the fifth season of the IPL . Ojha had been with the Chargers since the first season of the IPL, and took 62 wickets in 56 matches at an average of 22.19 and an economy-rate of 7.08. He was the leading wicket-taker in the 2010 edition of the IPL, with 21 wickets.In 2011, Ojha played a less-prolific role for the Chargers. With legspinner Amit Mishra coming into the side, Ojha was restricted to playing just 10 of the 14 league games and took 10 wickets. He has now moved to the Mumbai Indians, who have Harbhajan Singh, the India offspinner, and left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza in their spin department.Nita Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai Indians, said Ojha’s international experience – he has played 14 Tests and 16 ODIs for India – was the reason her team had decided to buy him. “With a spinner of Pragyan Ojha’s competence, we fortify our bowling department that has won us many matches in the past seasons,” Ambani said. “Ojha is a player of great international repute, and we welcome him with much excitement.”Ojha became the sixth player to be traded in the IPL’s January transfer window, which closes on January 20. There will be another short window for trading after the February 4 auction in which the players of now terminated franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala will be sold.

Sri Lanka have had two days to digest, dissect and debate their largest ODI defeat and their lowest ODI score. This is what they have concluded. “We have to just address all areas: our batting, bowling, fielding and mental approach to the game,” Geoff Marsh, the Sri Lanka coach, said, covering the entire spectrum of cricketing skills in his analysis. “The whole game [in Paarl], we didn’t play well.”Marsh’s remarks summarised Sri Lanka’s problems succinctly; he somehow managed to make the huge improvement they needed from the first ODI sound manageable. “We can explain the batting, it was very quick,” he joked. “We didn’t bowl consistently enough, we didn’t build pressure and we didn’t take wickets.”After Lasith Malinga dismissed Graeme Smith in the third over, Sri Lanka did not see success for more than half the innings. Twenty-six overs and 144 runs later, they were able to remove Jacques Kallis. By then, they had bled too much and the life had been drained from their attack.”Against South Africa you’ve got to take early wickets; you can’t allow their players to build big partnerships at the start or you are going to be chasing 300 plus,” Marsh said. Malinga’s burst at the end, in which he took four wickets in three overs, was the only reason Sri Lanka were not left chasing 330.As it happened, 130 would have been enough. Pace, bounce and determination from South Africa’s fast bowlers buried a Sri Lanka batting line-up that was impressive on paper but limp on the pitch.One of Sri Lanka’s chief concerns is the form of former captain Mahela Jayawardene, who has had a dismal tour. His only score of significance came in a practice one-day match against an Emerging Cape Cobras side, in which he was dropped twice on his way to 74. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews have also struggled for runs, making the core of Sri Lanka’s line-up, which was so impressive nine months ago during the World Cup, look fragile. Marsh, though, said he still had faith in the batsmen.”We believe that they are only a couple of shots away from getting back into form. Our players have got fantastic records and they just need to get started and get going. We are very happy to stick with them and back them all the way.”Though Sri Lanka’s experienced players have struggled on the field, Marsh said they had taken on a leadership role behind the scenes. “Although they are not scoring runs, they are still making an effort to lift the team as they did before the second Test match. As a coach, you look at that, and it’s great that they are still having a huge impact.”The Durban Test match remains the only high-point of Sri Lanka’s tour. After a thrashing in Centurion, the team regrouped and, within a week, were playing with more commitment and confidence. Although the win was historic – it was their first Test win in South Africa – Sri Lanka did not seem to get carried away with it, and Marsh wants to use that recovery as inspiration for an ODI series that has started in eerily similar fashion to the Tests.”It’s not as if we can’t do it because we did in the second Test match. If you look at the second Test, we were consistent in all areas. We got early wickets, kept the pressure on, got our heads down against some really good bowling and got a score that our bowlers could bowl at. Nothing changes in the one-day game; we’ve got to get enough runs on the board to allow our bowlers to bowl South Africa out.”A simple plan, but one that will take fortitude and force to achieve. Marsh said Sri Lanka had the desire. “We’ve got a wonderful bunch of guys and the spirit is fantastic. If you attend our team meetings, you will see how much we want to win.”

Sylhet confirmed their place in the second phase of the National Cricket League with an eight-wicket win over Dhaka in the last round of the first phase at Fatullah.The campaign of hapless Dhaka ended with their sixth loss in seven games and this game was over as a contest when their top-order fell in the first hour for 24 runs. The Sylhet pacemen led by Robiul Islam ran riot, taking four wickets while Tapash Baisya picked up three. After some resistance from the Dhaka lower-order, Nabil Samad and Enamul Haque Jnr finished up the job to bowl them out for 175.Sylhet replied as they are used to, slowly. They played out 117.1 overs to take a 110-run first innings lead with Ezaz Ahmed and Enamul providing the impetus at the end of the innings.Dhaka had another poor outing in the second innings. Opener Abdul Mazid hammered 92 but it was never enough as they were bowled out for 231 to leave Sylhet 122 to win. They took only the first session on the final day to pick up their fourth win in the competition.Chittagong didn’t have Sylhet’s luck of a lowly opponent in their crunch game for qualification. They played a peculiar game in Bogra which they eventually lost by a crushing 241 runs to Rangpur.Both teams were bowled out in the first day. Rangpur for 122 and Chittagong for 118 before Rangpur hit back ferociously. Dhiman Ghosh (183) and Alauddin Babu (180) notched up a 322-run fifth wicket partnership as Rangpur amassed 587. Dhiman’s form has been impressive for two seasons now while Alauddin is one of the very few seaming all-rounders in Bangladesh who is impressing in every game.Chittagong never matched up to the chase or played out for the draw. Nafees Iqbal struck his second century but it was adieu for a team that has once again flattered to deceive.Khulna rounded off the first phase with their fifth win, beating Dhaka Metropolis by 175 runs at Rajshahi to become one of three teams to win five games in this phase.Mithun Ali’s first innings 101 set up Khulna well but the rest crumbled to Arafat Sunny’s 7 for 49 as they were bowled out for 256. But Dhaka Metro made a meal of their first innings, getting to 164 for 8 before Mohammad Ashraful declared as Khulna had bonus points around the corner.The negative move and Khulna’s 250 in the second innings was enough to set Dhaka Metro a 343-run target and that too without Ashraful. The skipper had been called up for national duty and was replaced by Arman Hossain. It mattered very little as Khulna bowled out Dhaka Metro for 167 with Mehrab Hossain Jnr retired absent due to a hand injury.Rajshahi completed a 175-run win over Barisal in three days in Jessore. After an almost-even first innings, Rajshahi were powered by half-centuries from Mizanur Rahman, Junaid Siddique and Mukhtar Ali in the second innings and set Barisal 320 to win.Sohag Gazi’s whirlwind 63 apart, none of the batsmen dominated and the innings was over in just 31.4 overs with Barisal bowled out for 144. Sohag had a tremendous game, taking 9 for 188 and hammering two half-centuries.

Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s interim coach, has blamed his team’s poor fielding for the draw in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan dropped six catches in Sri Lanka’s second innings after taking a substantial lead, including one off double-centurion Kumar Sangakkara and one off Prasanna Jayawardene; the pair put on a match-saving 201-run stand.”We were particularly good with both bat and ball in the first three days of the match, but our fielding let us down in the end,” Mohsin told . “Catches are not dropped on purpose but we dropped some crucial catches at crucial times in the match and we suffered in the end due to those dropped catches.”Mohammad Hafeez spilled three chances in the slips. “We have five or six fielders who can field in the slip region, but some of these boys had minor injuries to their fingers and were unable to field in the slips for long periods, so we opted for a rotation policy in the slips.”Taufeeq (Umar) was particularly troubled with a finger injury, which ruled him out of fielding in the slip cordon. Sometimes even the easiest of catches are dropped, that is cricket, but there is no excuse for dropping some of the catches.”Much was expected from offspinner Saeed Ajmal on the fourth and fifth days, but he ended up conceding 167 runs in 55 overs and took only one wicket. “There was only a little bit in it for the bowlers, but largely it was a flat pitch ideal for batting,” Mohsin said. “The turn that Saeed extracted was slow and the bounce was low, which unfortunately didn’t help him. If there had been a bit more pace and bounce in the pitch then Saeed would have been more effective. He bowled very well, he bowled his heart out, he gave his all but in the end the pitch negated his efforts.”Mohsin praised the pace attack comprising Umar Gul, Junaid Khan and Aizaz Cheema for dismissing Sri Lanka for 197 in the first innings on a flat pitch. “I have a lot of admiration for the efforts of young pace bowler Junaid Khan and for Aizaz Cheema. In the immense and, at times, unbearable heat, both of them bowled with great heart and effort in conditions that were very tough for quick bowlers.”Umar [Gul] has a few minor niggles but it’s nothing serious. We feel he is most effective bowling short spells when in good rhythm and it was his first international game back. His efforts in Abu Dhabi will give him a lot of confidence ahead of the remaining matches.”Pakistan were set a target of 170 in 21 overs, but they decided not to go for it. “We decided during the innings break that we would see what the approach from the opposition was,” Mohsin said. “We wanted to see what sort of bowling and fielding tactics they were going to employ. Right from the first ball the Sri Lankans set a very defensive field, with men placed on the boundary right around the ground.”The field set was within their rights of course, but we felt we didn’t want to make a mess of things and go for the chase. It was a tough chase in any case, especially against Sri Lanka who are a good fielding side and have a steady bowling unit. We decided that given the field set, we would opt to bat out time.”