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Tino Mawoyo was not outwardly excited about his unbeaten 163. It was this composure that helped him survive Saeed Ajmal’s doosras, which he could not read

Firdose Moonda in Bulawayo02-Sep-2011As Tino Mawoyo left the end-of-day press conference, with his path firmly directed towards “getting some sleep”, he was stopped by an unlikely fan. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq interrupted Mawoyo’s beeline for the team bus with a rough jolt of the shoulder.”Well batted,” Misbah said. “You’ve had a long day and I thought you played really well.”Mawoyo gave him a warm smile and they shook hands. It was a smile that expressed more satisfaction than Mawoyo had shown throughout his innings, which was carefully structured and hugely impressive, a knock that called on his all powers of concentration.The ten-hour and forty-five minute marathon was paced exquisitely. There was never a passage of play in which Mawoyo changed gear, no acceleration in the middle, no sprint to the finish, just a steady progression from beginning to end. There were few emotions, of joy or otherwise, and it was that stern focus that led Mawoyo to his highest score in all forms of the game.”I had been saying to the coach that I felt as though I kept getting starts but I wasn’t pushing on,” Mawoyo said. “I wanted to make one of those starts count and I think it worked this time.”It was only Mawoyo’s second Test but already he felt the pressure to do something more than an accomplished 30 or 40. The sense of demand came from periods in Mawoyo’s domestic career when he had been under fire, phases in his first-class career when he was dropped from his provincial and franchise sides. “I perform well under pressure, it gives me a little extra drive to do well,” he said.Mawoyo has now answered enough questions to give him a credit balance in the criticism account, but he is not getting over-excited about his performance. “I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet, and really, I’m just happy to have contributed. We spoke about getting the team past 400 and I am happy to have been a major part of that.”Mawoyo’s lack of animation at his achievement may seem drab, but it’s the one quality that helped him survive Saeed Ajmal’s doosra, which threatened to undo him every time it was bowled. “It is very tricky to pick,” he said. “I thought I had started reading him a little yesterday, but when he bowled from the Airport End today, I had no idea. I do know that the seam is usually a little bit more upright than when he bowls the offbreak.”The rest of the bowlers were not as challenging, although Mawoyo found that good field placement when the seamers were on made it difficult to score. Aizaz Cheema mowed through the lower order but there was little else to talk about. Misbah could not find the heart to chastise his quicks on a pitch that is flatter than the Bulawayo countryside. “They bowled their hearts out, even on the second day, they were running in and bowling bouncers.”The batsmen-friendly pitch had Mohammad Hafeez in his element as he raced to 79 off 93 balls and Misbah predicted more of the same as the match entered its middle period. “On such a good wicket, the batsmen can’t control themselves and they will play their shots,” he said. With some turn expected, Misbah said Ray Price was the bowler his team will have to “keep an eye on.”

Guernsey and Malaysia both claimed victories on the second day of the World Cricket League Division Six tournament in Kuala Lumpur

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2011Guernsey and Malaysia both claimed victories on the second day of the World Cricket League Division Six tournament in Kuala Lumpur. Heavy downpours at the Selangor Turf Club meant Jersey’s match against Kuwait was abandoned in the 18th over, however, just as Kuwait had the islanders on the back foot at 55 for 4.Guernsey appeared well set to continue their winning ways after opener Lee Savident raced to a 57-ball half-century against Fiji at Bayeumas Oval.After losing GH Smit, trapped in front of his stumps by Waisake Tukana, Savident continued his good work in the company of Jeremy Frith. On a blustery, windswept day the pair added a further 45 for the second wicket before Savident was adjudged lbw off the bowling of Jikoi Kida for 82.After the cloud cover thickened there was a brief stop for rain but that didn’t stop the sides completing the first innings. Frith had another good turn with the bat, reaching 82 with nine fours and a six before having his stumps rearranged by Kitiano Tavo, after which captain Stuart Le Provost’s rapid fifty helped boost Guernsey’s total to 279 for 6.Fji’s reply didn’t start smoothly, and two top-order batsmen had been lost inside the first 10 overs. The innings never recovered, with Frith and Gary Rich picking up two wickets apiece while wicketkeeper Tom Kimber had a good day with the gloves, catching Iniasi Cakacaka, Josefa Dabea Balecicia and Colin Rika and rounding off his day with the stumping of Maciu Gauna. Frith earned his second Man of the Match award of the tournament for his efforts with bat and ball.”Fiji did challenge us early on, their new ball bowlers were fairly tight but when we got past 200 their heads began to drop,” said a delighted Le Provost after the match. “I don’t think we take any opposition lightly and they certainly challenged us. There were great runs from Jeremy Frith again and it was also good to see Lee Savident adding to the total and obviously it’s nice to be able to contribute myself.”Guernsey’s next match is against Kuwait on Tuesday, an opposition the team has not faced before. “We’ve seen Kuwait’s scores, but not seen much of them at all as a side, so we will go look at them tomorrow when Jersey play them in their re-match at Kinrara to get a feel for the side,” said Le Prevost.At Kinrara, hosts Malaysia took on Nigeria, with Nigerian new-ball bowlers Saheed Akolade and Oluseye Olympio keeping the batsmen quiet at the start. Nevertheless, the Malaysian openers put on 73 before Shafiq Sharif departed for 43, trapped lbw by Oluwaseun Odeku’s medium pace.Not long afterwards, a heavy downpour stopped play for close to four hours but the good drainage at Kinrara Oval allowed the teams back on to play a game reduced to 29 overs. Nigeria were set Duckworth/Lewis-adjusted target of 181, but their batting faltered from the start and eventual man of the match Eszrafiq Aziz helped himself to figures of 4 for 27.”I was really pleased with how we bowled this morning,” said Nigerian captain Endurance Ofem. “We kept things tight and things looked to be going really well until the rain set in. Obviously that’s disappointing and we didn’t do well at chasing down the target set with the reduced overs but we have to take the positives and move on for Tuesday’s game.””I think credit has to go Nigeria’s bowling in the first innings, the first 10 overs of the game they had us on the back-foot with some good tight bowling and they were superb in the field too,” said Malaysian coach Thushara Kodikara. “It’s disappointing that we didn’t get a full 50-over game but I was pleased with how my young side performed to restrict Nigeria in the 29 overs. Eszrafiq did particularly well bowling in all the right places to take four wickets and deservedly the Man of the Match award.”At Selangor Turf Club, heavy overnight rainfall resulted in a late start before Jersey lost quick wickets against a rejuvenated Kuwait. The match lasted only 18 overs, by which time Jersey had lost four wickets, before the rain returned. With reserve days in place, the game will be replayed on Monday at Kinrara Oval.

Tamim Iqbal has been banned for one domestic game following an altercation with Mohammad Ashraful during a Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League match

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2012Tamim Iqbal has been banned for one domestic game following an altercation with Mohammad Ashraful during a Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League match between Victoria Sporting Club and Old DOHS in Mirpur.Tamim rushed aggressively at Ashraful, the Old DOHS captain, and exchanged words with him. As a result, the match referee imposed a one-match suspension on Tamim and fined him Taka 5000.The incident occurred in the tenth over of the Old DOHS innings, when umpire Anisur Rahman gave Faisal Hossain lbw off Shakib Al Hasan’s bowling. While Faisal was taking his time to walk off, a Victoria official began shouting at the batsman to leave the field. Ashraful immediately asked the umpire to look into the matter, after which Tamim ran towards Ashraful.”I was aggressive in my approach while protesting against his [Ashraful] comments. I asked Ashraful bhai to stay in the game but he used abusive words for which I got angry. Being a senior cricketer, he should also know what should be done, but after the match I apologised,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo. “I have a very good relationship with Ashraful bhai, and I believe it will continue because everything is finished after the match.”The Victoria official, Lutfur Rahman Badal, was also suspended for one game by the match referee.

Rohit Sharma is probably the Indian batsman who makes the fans tear their hair out the most in frustration. Modern-day Indian fans love their batsmen to be flashy

Sriram Veera at Port of Spain07-Jun-2011Rohit Sharma is probably the Indian batsman who makes the fans tear their hair out the most in frustration. Modern-day Indian fans love their batsmen to be flashy. They like it when the batsmen hit the ball on the up. They see class in style and in flamboyance. Conservative batsmen like a Cheteshwar Pujara or S Badrinath don’t quite set their hearts racing as someone like Rohit does. They admired Rohit’s talent, they sighed as he wasted it in the initial days and they accepted the selectors’ decision to drop him before the World Cup. They hoped that the drop would get him back on track.Rohit didn’t quite see it that way, or at least verbalise it that way, but said he has put behind him the disappointment of not being selected in the World Cup and that he is focussed on getting his career back on track. “Yes I was very disappointed in not being part of the World Cup but I have to move on,” Rohit said after top scoring for India in the win against West Indies. “I had a good IPL. Whenever you are in good form, you have to carry on. Today was a perfect day. It wasn’t an easy track; it was very slow and turning a bit. You need a lot of time to keep the innings going. Till 35 I didn’t score a single boundary or a four.”There was a brain fade early on his innings, though. In fact, when he was still on zero. Devendra Bishoo flighted one on a length well outside off and Rohit lunged out and tried to play a very expansive shot. The ball swirled off the top edge but landed safely beyond mid-off. It was the jail-break moment. Rohit put his head down after that and started to play a bit more conservatively.Rohit Sharma: not elegant, but effective•Associated PressRohit has always had his great share of admirers in past cricketers. People like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Ian Chappell rate him highly. Do those expectations put extra pressure on him? “Yeah, sometimes those expectations does play in your mind,” Rohit said. “At the end of the day how much runs you score matters. How much ever talented you are at the end of the day you have to score runs.”It’s a realisation that wasn’t readily apparent in a younger Rohit. At least this clarity of thought wasn’t quite there in the past. He himself went on to explain the reason. “Somehow I have not done really so well in the middle order (in the past) but it’s part and parcel of being a cricketer. You have seen many good players who have struggled initially and later on matured as a player. I am maturing as a player; I understand the game very well these days. I now know what to do and what not to do as a batsman.”He is aware of what is at stake. “This is very important phase of my career. I have to keep scoring. I am glad I could do the job today when the chips were down.”Rohit has also had his share of brickbats. His critics have pointed at “attitude problems” and how early success got to his head. Rohit said he didn’t agree he had an attitude problem but said he is more focussed these days. “There was nothing [wrong] about the attitude. People have their opinions and I am not bothered about it. It’s fine. People will talk if you play international cricket. The more people talk more confident I get. My job is not to lose focus, remain calm and you can learn from so many players. There have been many people who have come up from being down. I am young still and have a long way to go. I don’t need to lose heart and focus. I just need to keep playing and keep doing the right things.”This Indian batting line-up is sans many of its senior players and Rohit believes that the added responsibility has helped him in some ways. “Yes I think you can say so. Whenever seniors are around it’s not that there is not any responsibility. Here, there is Virat, Raina, Yusuf and me who have played a bit of international cricket. The pressure is there in the middle order and we have to bat well.”His goal is simple and straightforward: to play for India as long as possible. “I would try to be consistent and make big scores. When you are doing well, you have to think about going to the next level. Every tour is important. This will be the tour where I can set benchmarks and cement my place and play for India as long as possible.”

Ed Joyce has signed a one-year extension to his contract with Sussex that will keep him at the county until the end of the 2013 season

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2010Ed Joyce has signed a one-year extension to his contract with Sussex that will keep him at the county until the end of the 2013 season.”I’m delighted to have signed an extension to my contract at Sussex,” said Joyce. “Since moving down to the south coast I feel my game has really moved on under the guidance of the coaches here.”Joyce enjoyed an excellent second season with the county in 2010, averaging 45.38 in the County Championship and 42.71 in the Clydesdale Bank 40. His Championship century against Derbyshire at Horsham wrote him into the record books as it was the first time that the top four batsmen in a Sussex innings had all reached three figures.”The next few years will be an exciting time for the club with all the ground development going on and we have a young and hungry squad of players, so I’m chuffed that I’ve been given the opportunity to be a part of it for at least another three years”.Joyce, 32, was recently included in the provisional Irish squad for the 2011 World Cup after the ICC granted him special dispensation to once again represent the nation of his birth.The Irish are due to face England in a Group B match at the World Cup in March and there is a possibility he could be facing Sussex teammates Luke Wright and Michael Yardy.

Gerry Alexander, the former West Indies captain, has died aged 82 in Jamaica

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-2011Gerry Alexander, the former West Indies captain, has died at the age of 82 in Jamaica.Alexander was a wicketkeeper-batsman who represented West Indies in 25 Tests in a five-year career that began in 1957. He led the side in 18 of those matches, beginning with a home series against Pakistan in 1958 and stepping down after England’s visit in 1960.”He [Alexander] was a stalwart in Jamaica and West Indies cricket and made a tremendous contribution to the game as captain and a player on the field. He was an inspiration to many people off the field as well,” Julian Hunte, the WICB president, said. “He displayed a true love and passion for West Indies cricket and gave his all for the good of the game. He was a dignified and reliable leader of the West Indies team and a committed supporter of the game at all levels. He excelled in the 1960-61 Tied Test Series in Australia and will always be remembered for the fantastic role he played to help ‘save Test cricket’.”At a time when the West Indies and the world beyond it were undergoing great social change, Alexander was the last white captain of the team. He was replaced first temporarily and then permanently by Frank Worrell in time for the legendary 1960-61 series in Australia, which featured Test cricket’s first tie at Brisbane.Prior to that he courted controversy by choosing to send home the fast bowler Roy Gilchrist from the West Indies’ 1958-59 tour of India and Pakistan for reasons of indiscipline, including the bowling of repeated beamers. Gilchrist did not play for the West Indies again.In his final series as captain, before being succeeded by Worrell, Alexander equalled the record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in a series with 23 victims against England. He followed that up by supporting Worrell grandly with 484 runs at 60.50 in the 1960-61 series, scoring at least one half-century in each of the matches and his only first-class century in the third Test at the SCG, won by the West Indies. Alexander finished his Test career at the conclusion of the series with 961 runs at 30.03, and 90 dismissals.Away from cricket, Alexander studied and worked as a veterinarian, rising to the position of chief public sector veterinarian in his homeland.In 1982, he received the Order of Distinction from the Government of Jamaica for his outstanding contribution to sports. He was also a skilled footballer, winning an England amateur cap and an FA Amateur Cup winner’s medal.

Chaminda Vaas took seven wickets as Division Two leaders Northamptonshire took total command at Wantage Road

31-May-2011
Scorecard
Chaminda Vaas took seven wickets as Division Two leaders Northamptonshire took total command of the third day of their County Championship match against Glamorgan at Wantage Road.Northamptonshire declared on 461 for 6 at lunch, with Rob White making 140 and wicket-keeper David Murphy blasting a career-best 79 off 98 balls. Glamorgan were then skittled for just 72 in the afternoon, with former Sri Lanka seamer Vaas taking a fantastic 5 for 22 before he claimed 2for 36 in the visitor’s second innings as they closed on 119 for 3.After yesterday’s wash-out, Northants began the day on 325 for 3 with White resuming on 101 and Murphy on 12. Murphy went on to complete a half-century off 58 balls by smashing Graham Wagg for six over midwicket – a shot which also gave the hosts a full set of batting bonus points.White was to depart when he chipped Alex Jones to Dean Cosker at mid-on before Murphy holed out by launching Cosker to Mike Powell at deep fine leg. Captain Andrew Hall followed him back to the pavilion with the very next ball as he was trapped lbw by Cosker. Northamptonshire then declared during lunch, leaving David Sales unbeaten on 12 and James Middlebrook on 11.Glamorgan were to lose Will Bragg early on when he was caught leg before by Vaas, and Powell followed three balls later when he edged Vaas to Middlebrook at gully. Glamorgan captain Alviro Petersen (18) went when he was caught by Murphy off Vaas, before Jack Brooks got in on the act by forcing Gareth Rees to slice him to Stephen Peters at third slip for a duck.Ben Wright and Wagg both went without scoring by being caught behind by Murphy off Brooks and Vaas respectively. Glamorgan wicketkeeper Mark Wallace then dragged Vaas on to his middle stump to give Vaas his 30th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.Robert Croft and Jones were then both bowled by Hall before the skipper completed the rout when he was edged by Cosker to Murphy.Following-on still 389 runs behind, Glamorgan lost Petersen for two in the third over when he nudged Vaas to Sales at second slip. Bragg finally brought some stability as he made a half-century off 83 balls, but he went cheaply on 52 when he launched Middlebrook to Brooks at long leg.Powell then feathered Vaas to Murphy in the third over before the close and Rees and Jones will resume tomorrow on 44 and 4 respectively.

Angelo Mathews said that he felt “great” after getting over the barrier of scoring his maiden hundred on the fourth day of the third Test against Australia

Sa'adi Thawfeeq19-Sep-2011Angelo Mathews has said he felt “great” after getting over the barrier of scoring his maiden hundred on the fourth day of the third Test against Australia.”It was great getting to it after a couple of missed opportunities,” said an elated Mathews who finished unbeaten on 105. “This was a very patient knock close to 270 balls. Even though the wicket was flat and hard the Aussies didn’t give it easily. We had to be patient and wait for the loose balls.”Mathews admitted that he was nervous batting in the nineties and having to bat with the tail. “You can always say batting in the nineties you get a bit nervous because I haven’t got a hundred yet. I was a bit nervous on this occasion as well,” said Mathews, who was helped to the elusive mark by last man Suranga Lakmal who hung around for 37 minutes.Mathews said that Sri Lanka certainly had a plan in mind when they started the fourth day with a lead of 112 but were pegged down by some accurate bowling by Australia. “We wanted to get 100 runs today and get the lead up to about 200 runs which we couldn’t. We fell short by about 40 runs. Australia was not giving away any easy runs, they bowled to a plan. If we had to push then we had to go for big shots and we couldn’t afford to lose wickets. We had to be patient.”We need to win this Test to level the series. We are in a very strong position today because Australia are three wickets down and the wicket has started to spin. In Rangana Herath and Tillakaratne Dilshan we have two good spinners. If we can get a couple of early breakthroughs tomorrow we are back on track.”Mathews who is playing as a batsman said that he would be travelling to Australia at the end of the series to get a few injections for his troubled quadricep of the left knee that has prevented him bowling. “I hope to start bowling gradually soon after the injections and hopefully bowl from the next series.”

Mark Douglas has now revealed some big Everton news involving both Farhad Moshiri and James Tarkowski.

The Lowdown: Centre-back wanted

The Goodison Park faithful have been linked with moves for the likes of Levi Colwill, Kim Min-Jae and Gleison Bremer in the summer, suggesting that they are after a new central defender.

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They have one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League, and Jamie Carragher has even went as far as to claim that they have a ‘Championship back four’ during the embarrassing defeat at Tottenham.

Nonetheless, it is one area that the Merseyside club will surely look to strengthen.

The Latest: Tarkowski eyed

Writing in his latest piece for iNews, journalist Douglas has revealed that Tarkowski has now ’emerged’ as a potential target this summer.

Senior sources at the Toffees have claimed that there is ‘no way’ that Moshiri is going to sell the club, despite Russian links with Alisher Usmanov, and Frank Lampard can ‘expect to be backed’ in the market.

The Verdict: No-brainer

Given the fact that Tarkowski is out of contract at Burnley in the summer, he will be able to leave as a free agent, and so it would be a no-brainer for the Blues to sign him up.

Described as a ‘real leader’ by pundit Noel Whelan, the 29-year-old could be the organiser at the back that Lampard’s team need in order to be more solid and ship fewer goals.

Of course, he has plenty of experience of playing in the top flight, and so should be able to settle in fairly quickly.

In other news, find out which EFC star Manchester United have now ‘discussed’ signing here!

New Zealand failed to execute their plans against the India batsmen, and the hosts are now poised to take a big lead

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Nov-2010There were just three moments where New Zealand stayed with India today: Daniel Vettori’s removal of Virender Sehwag, Andy McKay’s short, but probing, spell to Gautam Gambhir and Tim Southee’s final spell against Sachin Tendulkar. In between these acts, though, they waxed and waned as you would expect them to do on a flat track, especially with an attack that isn’t very potent.Yesterday evening Daniel Vettori left us with a note of defiance. Today, though, they couldn’t hide from yesterday’s mistakes. The pitch was flat, India oozed intent, and long before the evening, the game had begun to sprint away from New Zealand.You could sense they had plans. You could see that they couldn’t always execute them. They sparkled in little phases of inspiration. McKay v Gambhir was one such contest. Gambhir’s fifty in the second Test was his first in ten months, and McKay reminded him of his barren patch with his probing line around the off stump. Gambhir stabbed at a couple, wasn’t in full control of a few steers, and was hesitant to lean fully forward for some of his off drives. That dab outside off has been his downfall in the recent times, and McKay tried to catch an edge or trap him with one that darted in with the angle.His first delivery in Test cricket seamed in to hit Gambhir, who had shouldered arms, high on the pad. A short while later a good lbw shout was turned down when Gambhir was on 26. Soon, Gambhir caressed McKay to the cover boundary and lunch arrived at the end of that over. The fight evaporated after the break when Martin fed Gambhir with half-volleys. It was the pattern of the day: as soon as someone tried to stir up a contest, some other bowler killed it.Southee said as much at the end of the day. “We had our plans right, but we needed to execute it better right from the start.” He was the guilty too, allowing Gambhir to settle down at the start with poor deliveries on his legs, which were put away to the boundary without much fuss. He improved in his second spell in the evening, when he pinged Tendulkar’s body a couple of times with bouncers. It didn’t appear that Tendulkar’s wicket could be claimed through such a tactic on this docile pitch, but it was worth a try.”You can’t be predictable,” Southee said. “You just have to mix it up. I just tried to bowl wicket to wicket. I had a better rhythm in that second spell and it just sort of went from there.”Vettori was another one who could find his rhythm only in patches. He is a better limited-overs bowler than a Test operator. He has a good arm-ball, varies his pace, trajectory, and length intelligently, and often strangles a batsman who is looking for runs in ODIs.”Test match bowling is something I want to get better at,” he said at the start of the series. That is a part of my game I want to improve.” Today wasn’t a day he would be entirely satisfied with. He lured Sehwag, who was going after him, to hit one straight back to him and that should have helped him raise his performance, but he couldn’t do it consistently. He has never had the big turn that a bowler of his pace and style needs to be a very good Test spinner, but has rarely slipped up on lengths. Today, he wasn’t his usual accurate self and the Indians indulged.The real damage though, was done yesterday. “We didn’t score many runs in the first innings and they have a great partnership going now,” Southee said. “Hopefully, we can pick early wickets tomorrow and fight our way back into it.” May be they will surprise us but it looks unlikely. The game seems to be on auto-pilot and cruising towards a state where they will have to bat out two days to save it.