Sean Ervine will return to international duty with Zimbabwe at the World Cup after being included in the finalised squad of 15 for the tournament, which starts on February 19

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2011Sean Ervine will return to international duty with Zimbabwe at the World Cup after being included in the finalised squad of 15 for the tournament, which starts on February 19. Elton Chigumbura will captain an evenly-spread group that includes six batsmen, two of whom are part-time spinners, three seamers and three specialist slow bowlers.Ervine will join his young brother Craig in the squad on a three-year contract, signed over Christmas, but for the moment will also continue his association with Hampshire as an overseas player and remains part of their squad for the ongoing Caribbean Twenty20 competition. His return to Zimbabwe colours ends an international hiatus of nearly seven years, and his experience will help to shore up a brittle middle order, as well as providing a third all-round option along with Chigumbura and Greg Lamb.The squad also provides options in the wicketkeeping department. Tatenda Taibu is an obvious first choice for the role, but Regis Chakabva, Brendan Taylor and Charles Coventry could all provide competent back-up should he be injured.One area in which Zimbabwe may be a little light is their opening batsmen. With Hamilton Masakadza omitted from Zimbabwe’s World Cup plans despite helping to put together some useful opening stands last year, Chamu Chibhabha failing to make the cut and Terrence Duffin, Tino Mawoyo and Vusi Sibanda included only as non-travelling reserves it would appear either Chakabva or Taibu will be Taylor’s partner at the top.Chakabva has opened for Zimbabwe Under-19, Zimbabwe A and Zimbabwe Provinces in limited-overs cricket on occasion, while Taibu has taken first strike in three one-day internationals – most recently against Bangladesh at Mirpur in January 2009 – although his only success in that position has been in domestic cricket.Prosper Utseya, Ray Price and Graeme Cremer were always certainties in the World Cup squad with Zimbabwe building their bowling attack around spin in recent times, while Shingi Masakadza, Chris Mpofu and Ed Rainsford were the three most obvious choices for the seamers’ positions. There’s no space for Ryan Butterworth, whose all-round performances in the domestic Stanbic Bank 20 Series earned him a call-up for the trip to Bangladesh late last year, with Charles Coventry and Sean Williams taking the final two spots.Brian Lara, who signed a contract as batting consultant to the national side after his involvement in the local Twenty20 tournament with the Southern Rocks franchise, will join the touring party on a pre-World Cup trip to Dubai and India from February 1. Zimbabwe will play two warm-up matches in each country, and coach Alan Butcher has argued that they will be better or as well prepared for the World Cup as any of their 13 rivals.Zimbabwe World Cup squad: Elton Chigumbura (capt), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Gregory Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Christopher Mpofu, Raymond Price, Edward Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams
Non-travelling reserves: Terrence Duffin, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Njabulo Ncube, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusimuzi Sibanda

Jonty Rhodes, the former South African batsman, will continue to help Kenya with their preparations for the World Cup, which starts on February 19

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2011Jonty Rhodes, the former South African batsman, will continue to help Kenya with their preparations for the World Cup, which starts on February 19. Rhodes, who first worked with the team during a three-week training camp at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria in November 2010, will link up with the squad when they return to Kenya later this week, following a tour of India.Kenya are currently engaged on a World Cup warm-up tour of India and crashed to heavy losses in the first four encounters of their trip, with their final match against Baroda XI at Vadodara on Tuesday.”Jonty will be a tremendous asset to the squad during the final phase of our preparation,” said Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears. “The reports that came back from the squad after working with him in South Africa were incredibly enthusiastic and we are delighted that he will be with us again during this crucial period.”We are doing everything we can to ensure our squad arrive at the World Cup in a position to fulfill their undoubted potential and Jonty’s involvement will be a key part of that.”Rhodes will be with the squad during their World Cup preparations in Nairobi, and will also travel with them to an ICC High Performance Camp in Dubai on 30 January and then on to Sri Lanka for the final stage of the preparations and warm up matches. Kenya’s first game of the competition is against New Zealand at Chennai on February 20.

James Frankin and Hamish Bennett have both earned elevated contracts from New Zealand Cricket after regular appearances in the national team

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2011Allrounder James Frankin and fast bowler Hamish Bennett have both earned elevated contracts from New Zealand Cricket after regular appearances in the national team.Franklin, 30, has three half-centuries in one-dayers in his past six innings, and also took three wickets with his medium-pace in the consolation victory over Pakistan on Saturday. In a squad filled with allrounders, Franklin has cemented a starting place edging ahead of the likes of Grant Elliott.Bennett, 23, impressed the team management with his pace and was picked in every match of the six-ODI series against Pakistan, in which he was the highest wicket-taker, finishing with 11 at 20.90.Players who have not received central contracts from NZC get an elevated contract after they play a specified number of matches for the national team. The new contracts of Franklin and Bennett, both part of New Zealand’s 15-man squad for the World Cup, will run till the end of July.

A round-up of the first day of the fourth round of the Regional Four Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2011West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels continued his excellent run of form with this third century in four games to lead Jamaica to 332 for 3 in their fourth round game against Leeward Islands at Warner Park in St. Kitts. Samuels brought up his hundred with a pull through mid-wicket for two off Anthony Martin, and ended the day unbeaten on 143, having struck 15 fours and two sixes. He was well supported by Brendan Nash, who made 67 after being dropped on 15, Simon Jackson, who made 61 and Danza Hyatt, who made 44.Sherwin Ganga and Denesh Ramdin helped steady Trinidad & Tobago after they had slumped to 54 for 4 on the opening day of their game against Winward Islands at the Arnos Vale Ground in St. Vincent. The pair added 111 before Ramdin was caught close to the wicket by Keron Cottoy off the bowling of Gary Mathurin for 53. Ramdin batted for just over two hours, and peppered his innings with seven boundaries. Ganga was unbeaten on 72, with Amit Jaggernauth on 6, as T&T ended the day on 172 for 5.Opener Jimmy Adams made a hundred to lead England Lions to 260 for 4 against Combined Campuses & Colleges on a rain-affected day at the Three Ws Oval in Barbados. Adams was not out on 115 – his 11th first-class hundred – and has added an unbroken 86 for the fifth wicket with Jonathan Bairstow, who is on 34. Off-spinner Ryan Austin and left-arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh shared the four wickets to fall, ending the day with figures of 2 for 65 and 2 for 66 respectively, having bowled 49 overs between them.Led by Assad Fudadin, Guyana made 176 for 3 on the opening day of their game against Barbados at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. Rain postponed the start of the game until after lunch, and Guyana lost opener Rajindra Chandrika early, caught behind off Pedro Collins for 18. But Leon Johnson joined Fudadin, and they added 103 enterprising runs before Johnson, having just completed his half-century, swept leg-spinner Ryan Layne straight to deep mid-wicket. In all, he batted for 142 minutes, faced 119 balls, and struck eight fours for his 51.Fudadin was unaffected by Johnson’s dismissal, clobbering Roston Chase over long-off for six, and then dancing down the pitch to drive Layne to the extra-cover boundary in the next over. He ended the day unbeaten on 71, having struck six fours and two sixes.

Shane Watson knocked Bangladesh’s bowlers senseless with a world record tally of sixes as the Australians galloped to a nine-wicket victory in the second limited overs match in Mirpur

The Bulletin by Daniel Brettig in Mirpur11-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShane Watson’s rapid century helped seal a comfortable series win for Australia•Associated Press

Shane Watson knocked Bangladesh’s bowlers senseless with a world record tally of sixes as the Australians galloped to a nine-wicket victory in the second limited overs match in Mirpur to seal the series.The target of 230 had appeared a possible banana skin on a slow pitch offering some turn, but Watson made such light work of it, that his unbeaten185 from 96 balls now stands as the highest ODI score by an Australian, overtaking Matthew Hayden’s 181 against New Zealand in 2007.Xavier Marshall’s 2008 mark for most sixes fell when Watson swung his 13th over the rope, the second six in as many balls off the bowling of Abdur Razzak. Watson added two more for good measure, and in all scored 79.74% of the total runs scored by Australia; Viv Richards, in his momentous 189 not out against England in 1984, had scored 69.48% of West Indies’ 272 for 9.Following Michael Clarke’s century in game one, vice-captain Watson struck a mighty blow for the visitors’ new leadership duo, accompanied most of the way by the unbeaten Ricky Ponting, although it came against a Bangladesh attack that was cowed into submission from virtually the first over of the chase.Dropping Cameron White for Callum Ferguson as they sought a series-sealing victory, the Australians were in total command when Bangladesh slid to 88 for 5. But Rahim, allrounder Mahmudullah and left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo pushed the hosts to 229 for 7.Shahriar Nafees had done his best to keep the first half of the innings from petering out entirely but he was not helped by the funereal approach of opener Imrul Kayes, who lingered 41 balls to gouge out five runs. Mitchell Johnson and Steve Smith shared five well-deserved wickets, while Brett Lee was short of luck during a spell that was damaged after he leaked 17 runs in his final over.As if to stamp his intent on proceedings, Watson coshed 14 from the first over of the reply and made 27 before his partner, Brad Haddin, had even faced a ball. Together they added 62 before Haddin, having contributed eight, mistimed a catch to midwicket for his second low score of the series.Ponting was largely happy to enjoy his front-row seat for the Watson exhibition, which will please his Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne as much as it did Clarke. The punishment was never greater than in the 22nd over, when Shuvo was deposited for four leg-side sixes, illustrating Watson’s fearful power against supine opponents.Seeking parity at 1-1 after Shakib Al Hasan won the toss, Tamim Iqbal offered a flashy drive at Johnson in the second over and sliced to the left of the solitary slip where Shane Watson held an excellent catch. In the next over Lee and the rest of the Australians were convinced they had Imrul gloving a well-directed short ball behind, but a vociferous and sustained appeal went unheeded, decision reviews not being used during the series. Australia’s disgust at not claiming the wicket would be alleviated across the next eight overs, as Imrul crawled to five from 41 balls, draining the innings of all momentum and then compounded his sin by swinging unwisely at Johnson to sky a leg-side catch.The next man in, Raqibul Hasan, played down the wrong line at Hastings and was bowled for a duck, before Smith ripped a leg break between Shakib’s bat and pad in his first over, leaving Shahriar to attempt to repair the damage. He had reached 56 when Smith flighted a leg break and was rewarded with the tamest of return catches, as the hosts slid to 88 for 5.From this dire base developed a partnership between Mahmudullah and wicketkeeper Rahim, lifting Bangladesh into the realm of respectability with a combination of neat strokes and tidy running between the wickets. They were bracing for the batting Powerplay when Watson pinned Mahmudullah in front of middle stump, but Rahim, Shuvo and Shafiul Islam spirited away 59 runs from the final five overs to ensure a target that hinted at competitiveness.The home side’s only change was to withdraw Mashrafe Mortaza from the firing line, replaced by Rubel Hossain, after Mortaza was significantly down on his usual pace in the series opener. Given Watson’s subsequent pyrotechnics, he may have been relieved to sit this one out.

Daniel Vettori believes that an official window for the IPL in the sport’s annual calendar could put the country v IPL argument to rest

Sharda Ugra26-Apr-2011With the IPL once again putting to test – and with largely one-sided results – the debate of club versus country, Daniel Vettori believes that an official window for the IPL in the sport’s annual calendar could settle the argument. One alternative for smaller boards would be to then go down the path that Vettori hopes New Zealand cricket will take when signing in on the Future Tours Programme for the next few years.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in Delhi, Vettori said the controversies such as Chris Gayle’s spat with the West Indies board, and the discussions between the Indian and Sri Lankan boards over the early release of Lankans from the IPL for the England tour, would not arise if the IPL found its way into the international calendar as well.”For me, there’s a simple solution – you create a window for the IPL and all these probems go away, all the discourse and the conversations about it stops instantly,” Vettori said. “A number of people have been talking about it for a long, long time. That would be great, otherwise people will continually be put into these situations and it’s a tough decision.”A long-standing captain of New Zealand until he stepped down following the World Cup, Vettori leads the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. He pointed out the dilemma faced by international cricketers when having to choose between country and the IPL. “Everyone wants to play for their country,” he said. “But if you understand the amount of money that’s involved and its pressures, and sometimes the lack of certainty around your place in the team, it can make it [the decision] difficult. Like I said you can take all those things away by creating a small window around the IPL.”Vettori said New Zealanders had “missed big chunks” of the IPL in the first three seasons, because the team at the time was involved in New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) previous FTP commitments, though they had largely been supportive of their players. He said NZC were looking to accommodate the IPL in their plans when the new cycle of the FTP comes around.”I think New Zealand is going to try in earnest to make sure that it [players missing out on IPL] doesn’t happen in the future and we hope so,” Vettori said. “We hope that that window is cleared out because the guys enjoy playing here and there’s financial security as well, which helps a lot.”West Indies and England have their international calendars directly overlapping with the IPL’s March-April schedule, but it is not yet certain whether the other ICC member boards would want to create their own tacit ‘windows’ when formulating their FTP arrangements in the coming months.Vettori’s position in the IPL is a unique one: he has stepped down from the New Zealand captaincy and retired from Twenty20 Internationals, but in the IPL he is leading a T20 outfit. His decision to quit Twenty20 internationals came from his desire to focus on his Test cricket. “It [retirement from T20Is] may not be a permanent thing,” he said. “At this point in time I would prefer to concentrate on Test cricket and be ready for it, we don’t actually play a lot of international Twenty20s so I’m not missing out on too much.”After captaining the team for such a long time, in some ways it is better to let the new captain find his feet without having the ex-captain in his face the whole time,” he said. “I think it will be a little bit easier for him coming in.” New Zealand are yet to name his successor with the two candidates for the job being Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor. Vettori, however, refrained from naming his choice.”My opinion is irrelvant because I don’t have any say; I’m good friends with both the guys and enjoy their captaincy styles. They’re both quite aggressive captains,” he said before correcting himself, “Well they’ve been aggressive vice-captains and I think they’ll do a really good job on the field.”The amount of time that is taken up outside of cricket and the pressures that come from there,” Vettori said, would be an “eye-opener” for the new captain. “That is always going to be the hardest thing to deal with, but they are both mature young men. So I think they will be good for New Zealand whoever they choose Ross or Brendon.”Bangalore have won two of their first six matches and Vettori has found the job of leading a team made up of a diverse group of players “probably more of a challenge” than captaining an international team. “In your national team you know everyone well, you know what to expect pretty much in a given situation,” he said. “In IPL, you are getting to know the guys all the time, you are learning all the time, as you have never seen some guys play before. You have to find out different things, so it’s probably more of a challenge captaining an IPL team than captaining an international team.”On Tuesday, Vettori will lead Bangalore against his old team the Delhi Daredevils, with both teams trying to climb up the points table. Vettori said the IPL remained “fluid” in the sense that “one man on his day” could decide games. “Your whole concept of where you are as a team changes so quickly,” Vettori said, referring to the impact of Chris Gayle’s century against Kolkata that took Bangalore up from second-last to fifth. “So if we win this next one, I think we are up to second or something like that.”Barring table-toppers like Mumbai Indians, Vettori said it still remained difficult for sides “to get a real grasp of where you are as a team, because the competition is so close”. He predicted that as the IPL drew closer to the semi-finals, there was a good chance that there would be “close to seven eight teams with something like seven wins and seven losses, or eight wins and six losses. It’s really hard to know where you are.” For the next eight hours or so, Vettori and Bangalore would just like to be on top of their game.

A century from Ian Blackwell gave Durham maximum batting points and a lead of 36 against Warwickshire, who slipped to 52 for 4 in their second innings on the third day at Chester-le-Street

28-Apr-2011
ScorecardA century from Ian Blackwell gave Durham maximum batting points and a lead of 36 against Warwickshire, who slipped to 52 for 4 in their second innings on the third day at Chester-le-Street. A high-scoring stalemate was looking likely until Durham brought on leg-spinner Scott Borthwick with eight overs left and he took three wickets.Borthwick struck with his second and fifth deliveries to trap William Porterfield and Mohammad Yousuf lbw. Porterfield was well forward, but Yousuf stayed back and tried to paddle around the corner. Unlike the first innings, when he was caught behind, the former Pakistan captain did not look too dismayed by the decision as he departed for a duck. Borthwick struck again in his fourth over when Ian Westwood was caught at short leg off bat and pad for 27.Blackwell showed uncharacteristic restraint when Durham resumed on 230 for 5, needing a further 50 to avoid the follow-on. He took 32 balls to add to his overnight five, while Dale Benkenstein scored only 10 in the first hour. The shackles were removed by the introduction of Paul Best.The 20-year-old student is making his Championship debut in place of fellow left-arm spinner Ant Botha who is out for four to six weeks with a knee injury, and that has given Warwickshire a problem after winning their first two games.Best did pick up two late wickets, but not before he had conceded 50 runs in eight overs. Blackwell got underway with a driven four and swept six in the same over and runs continued to flow when the new ball was taken.The stand was worth 161 when Benkenstein was bowled for 75 – his fifth half-century in seven innings – as Boyd Rankin produced a good spell after lunch. Despite his watchful start, Blackwell reached 50 off 79 balls and his only real scare came on 99.On 98 he scampered a single to mid-off and when the throw ended up at long leg he went back for the second. Andrew Miller hit the stumps and Blackwell was given the benefit of considerable doubt.There were 15 fours and two sixes in his 142-ball century, and he looked intent on turning it into a big one until he was run out for 125 in a mix-up with Callum Thorp. He was last out with the total on 465 when he was bowled for 15 by Best, the ball after driving him for a huge straight six.Warwickshire had 31 overs to bat after tea and lost Varun Chopra with the score on 19 when he pushed forward and edged Thorp to wicketkeeper Michael Richardson. They then looked like surviving without further mishap until Borthwick left them battling to avoid defeat on the final day.

County Championship Division Two leaders Northamptonshire were left frustrated on the third day of their match against Leicestershire at Wantage Road with not a single ball bowled

26-May-2011
Scorecard
County Championship Division Two leaders Northamptonshire were left frustrated on the third day of their match against Leicestershire at Wantage Road with not a single ball bowled. Rain fell on and off throughout the day meaning that Leicestershire will go into the final day still on 52 without loss, 53 runs ahead of Northants, with their openers Will Jefferson and Matthew Boyce on 15 and 36 respectively.Twice the umpires ordered the covers to come off but on both occasions the heavens opened once more, leading to them being hastily relaid. Eventually, after a further inspection at 3.40pm, the men in the middle decided enough was enough and the two sides will try to force a result tomorrow.

Nic Maddinson hopes that some words of wisdom from his childhood idol Justin Langer can help him star during the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe

Brydon Coverdale23-Jun-2011Nic Maddinson hopes that some words of wisdom from his childhood idol Justin Langer can help him star during the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe. At 19, Maddinson is the youngest member of the squad, which departs on Saturday for a series of one-day and four-day games, but he’s already achieved plenty in his short career.There have been two cricket trips to India and one to New Zealand, where he helped Australia win the Under-19 World Cup, and last summer he became the youngest New South Wales player to make a century on first-class debut. He completed the feat at 18 years and 294 days, and by the end of the season he had a second hundred to his name.His arrival on the scene was reminiscent of Phillip Hughes, who three years ago became the youngest man to make a century in a Sheffield Shield final. But whereas Hughes has an unconventional style, Maddinson plays with a more classical technique, similar to his close friend and housemate Usman Khawaja.Perhaps Maddinson can now add some Langer-style mental toughness to his elegant game – not that he has struggled for concentration at the crease so far in his career. Langer is Australia’s assistant coach and has been working with the Australia A players during their camp in Brisbane, and Maddinson said it was a thrill to pick the brains of one of his heroes.”The partnership that him and Hayden had, as a young left-hander it was something that I looked up to,” Maddinson told ESPNcricinfo. “A few years ago when I got the opportunity to start opening, he was definitely an idol. I’ve had the opportunity the last month to do some work with him up at the Academy. It’s been excellent and something I’ll take in to the tour.”I’ve talked to him about the approach to batting and how he goes about things, a few of his experiences. Talking away from cricket and different tours and what goes on. It was excellent for me to see him because he was my idol. It was great to learn from him about cricket in Australia and how he came through the system and went on in his career.”One characteristic Maddinson shares with Langer is the desire to bat for long periods of time. When he was called into the New South Wales Shield side last season, he jumped at the chance to open with his club team-mate Phil Jaques, and went on to compile 113 during 206 minutes at the crease with Jaques and Khawaja there to support him.”I just love having the ability to bat all day and go at your own pace,” he said. “That was where I got the opportunity to open, which is what I like to do. Having Hughes and Warner and Jaques and Katich and Watson around, when I got the opportunity to open I just wanted to do well and prove that I could do it at that level.”During the past month in Brisbane, Maddinson has also impressed Tim Paine, the Australia A captain. Paine hadn’t met the young opener before, but was immediately struck by Maddinson’s level-headed nature, and what he described as “a quiet, unflappable demeanour”.”He’s your typical left-hander,” Paine said. “He looks pretty elegant when he hits the ball. He hits the ball very late and watches it very closely. I think he’s going to be a pretty handy player to have in our top three. It looks like his position where he’ll be batting on this tour is going to be No.3. He just looks like a quality player already at a young age.”It’s been a rapid rise for Maddinson, who moved to Sydney from Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales, where his father is a plumber and his mother a hairdresser. If he performs well in Zimbabwe, higher honours could await in the near future, but equally he knows that with the glut of openers in New South Wales, simply establishing himself in the state side next summer is enough of a goal.”It was a massive surprise to be picked for Australia A,” he said. “I was really honoured to be named in the 25 and looked around the squad at other guys who have played a lot of state cricket and are doing really well, so I thought I wasn’t going to get the opportunity to play.”My main goal for the year is cementing my spot and contributing and hopefully being able to win the Shield at the end of the year for New South Wales. Simon Katich is going to be back full-time this year. It’s going to be hard work. If I get the opportunity to open I’d love to do that again.”One thing that Maddinson can count on is being given opportunities. And if he grabs them, he’ll be one step closer to following Langer into Test cricket.

Fast bowler Kyle Jarvis is close to a national re-call after being included in Zimbabwe XI’s squad for their two-day match against Australia A at Kwekwe

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2011Fast bowler Kyle Jarvis is close to a national recall after being included in Zimbabwe XI’s squad for their two-day match against Australia A at Kwekwe. Jarvis, 22, was fast-tracked into the national side after the appointment of Heath Streak as bowling coach but picked up a stress fracture in his back during the tour of the West Indies in 2009-10.One of the fastest bowlers in the country, Jarvis travelled to England during the Zimbabwean off season after completing his rehabilitation and played club cricket with Burwell before being picked up by Essex’s Second XI. With his inclusion in the team to face the Australians, he is one step closer to adding to his nine internationals for Zimbabwe, but insisted he could only make the national side on merit.”Honestly I am not going to just walk into the national team,” Jarvis told . “I have to first get myself back in the team and I am going to do that by getting a few performances in.”I would like to say I am where I was and I would like to get faster than I was; plans are there to get me quicker over the next few months as well. I am much lighter and stronger than I was before now.”Australia A surged unbeaten to the final of the A Team Tri-Series in Harare, sneaking past South Africa A by two runs on Friday. Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus have since been added to their squad, and after their warm-up match they will face what is effectively a full-strength Zimbabwe in two four-day games, the first of which starts at the Country Club in Harare on July 15.”They [Australians] are class players and I have played against class players before,” Jarvis said. “I just have to worry about what I do at my end [and] not what they are going to do. So as long as I do what I do best then I will be fine. I am definitely excited about what’s coming up.”