All posts by csb10.top

Harbhajan Singh has reacted angrily to the comments by Adam Gilchrist in his autobiography that he and Sourav Ganguly missed the 2004 Nagpur Test against Australia because of their reluctance to play on a grassy pitch. “It’s time somebody asked him to shut up,” Harbhajan told the Kolkata-based . “I suppose Gilchrist needs to get his head examined.”In his book Gilchrist questioned Harbhajan and Ganguly’s decision to skip the Test that gave the visitors their first series win in the country in 35 years. Ganguly, India’s captain during the 2004 series, pulled out on the morning of the Test complaining of pain in the groin, while Harbhajan missed the game after contracting flu.Gilchrist wrote Harbhajan was out of the Test “with a ‘flu’, which he seemed to have contracted when he saw the grassy wicket”. “…I still don’t know to this day what was wrong with Ganguly and Harbhajan.”He also slammed Harbhajan for his role in the Sydney Test for which he was charged on grounds of racial abuse against Andrew Symonds. Harbhajan was handed a three-match ban which was overturned on appeal.Harbhajan said Gilchrist should not be using fellow cricketers to sell his book. “I’m sure there are other ways to do that.” Gilchrist also questioned the evidence given by Sachin Tendulkar in the racism case against Harbhajan, labeling it a “joke”. Harbhajan had criticised him for his remarks on Tendulkar and said Gilchrist was himself not respected because of his on-field behaviour.

Sourav Ganguly will represent his home state Bengal in their Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha starting December 12. Ganguly, the former India captain, retired from international cricket earlier this month but has stated he will play in the IPL and the odd first-class game for Bengal.”We had requested Sourav to play for Bengal in the coming matches of the Ranji Trophy. He agreed, and gave us assurance that he will play in the Vidarbha match, which is good news for Bengal cricket,” said Cricket Association of Bengal joint-secretary Arun Mitra was quoted as saying by the .Ganguly is reportedly yet to decide on whether he will continue playing for Bengal should the side reach the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy. He was at the Eden Gardens to watch day two of Bengal’s match against Services in the Plate group.

Match facts

October 11, 2008
Start time 9.00am (0300 GMT)

Big Picture

Thursday’s win over New Zealand would have brought much relief but the pressure will be on Bangladesh to play the ‘perfect game’ once more in the remaining two ODIs. Their only ODI series wins against a Test-playing nation have come against Zimbabwe, and if Mohammad Ashraful and Co. can get it right on Saturday, New Zealand could well join the list.With hopes of the No. 2 ODI ranking out of the window, Daniel Vettori’s team will need to recoup to avoid further embarrassment. Bangladesh outsmarted them in all three departments in the first game, and New Zealand could not recover after an undisciplined approach from their batsmen on a sticky pitch. Bangladesh’s batsmen are often mocked for their impatience, but it was their patience and simple approach that stood out as they chased 202.

Pitch & conditions

Even if the game will be played on a different pitch, conditions are likely to be similar. Most of New Zealand’s batsmen, apart from Jacob Oram, failed because they couldn’t adjust to the slowness and low bounce. The overnight rain did aid Mashrafe Mortaza in his first spell (8-3-19-3) on Thursday, and forecasts suggest 20% chance of rains. New Zealand will hope they get the advantage this time around, if it rains that is.

Form guide (last 5 ODIs, most recent first)

New Zealand LWWWW
Bangladesh WLLLL

Watch out for

Mashrafe Mortaza: After his superb spell that broke the back of the New Zealand top order, expectations will soar from Bangladesh’s bowling spearhead. Not that it bothers Mortaza, who has proved in the past he can trouble the batsman no matter what the conditions with his patience and consistency.Ross Taylor: After his dismal first outing in Bangladesh, Taylor will look forward to bouncing back strongly and delight the crowds with his wide array of strokes.The Powerplays: New Zealand were the first batting team to use the Powerplay under the new rules. The timing for both teams was similar: overs 38 to 42 for New Zealand and 37 to 41 for Bangladesh. New Zealand scored 35, Bangladesh 34.

Team news

It’s unlikely Bangladesh will tinker with a winning combination. However, Syed Rasel bowled only two overs in the first game, and he could make way for Mahbubul Alam’s debut.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique 3 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk) 4 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Naeem Islam, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shahadat Hossain, 11 Syed Rasel.New Zealand might opt for a second spinner in Jeetan Patel.New Zealand (probable): 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Jamie How, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Ross Taylor, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Daniel Flynn, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Jeetan Patel, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Kyle Mills.

Stats & Trivia

Robert Key has been fined £1250 and reprimanded by the ECB following comments he made about the board’s pitch inspectors during Kent’s Championship match with Durham at Chester-le-Street last month.Key’s outburst came after 15 wickets fell on the first day and 23 on the second. “The ECB reckon there’s nothing wrong with the pitch?” he fumed. “The pitch liaison officers, we had a few of them down here yesterday for an interview, which was just a bit of a Muppet Show.”By all accounts there was no excessive seam movement which is absolutely ridiculous. Everyone who went out there to bat struggled. What has to happen for a pitch to get docked points now? 50 all out, plays 50 all out and the game over in a day?”Asked specifically about the pitch inspectors, Key said: “Don’t have [them], that’s a waste of money as far as I’m concerned now. If you’re not going to do anything about a pitch like that then why waste your money paying these guys a salary to travel around the country looking at wickets like these and doing nothing about it?”The ECB was, unsurprisingly, unamused, issuing a terse statement. “Key’s comments were deemed to be a serious breach of the directives by a senior player and captain, involving derogatory comment prejudicial to both the ECB and its members.”For his part, Key admitted his remarks were “inappropriate and I offer my unreserved apology to all concerned”.

Hot on the heels of Mushtaq Ahmed’s retirement from county cricket, Sussex have swooped to sign another Pakistani, Mohammad Sami.Mushtaq, who has suffered from persistent knee trouble, hung up his boots four days ago, and has been instrumental in helping Sussex secure Sami’s services.”Mushtaq helped massively with the signing of Mohammad – spending ten days, almost non-stop, on the phone making sure that everything went smoothly,” Mark Robinson, the club’s cricket manager, said. “We had originally hoped that Mohammad would be here in time for last week’s match with Nottinghamshire. However, his arrival late last night will give everybody a boost for what is increasingly looking like an extremely important game at Scarborough on Wednesday.”Gus Mackay, the club’s chief executive, commented: “Mohammad’s arrival comes just in time for an intense finish to the domestic season. It will be an exciting month and his experience and ability should prove vital in our search for more silverware.”Sussex, the Championship title holders, are placed sixth in Division One, yet only 16 points separate them and the leaders, Nottinghamshire, in another frantic finish to the season’s premier competition.

Simon Taufel, the world’s No. 1 umpire, will not hesitate to stand in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in September. Taufel has been to the country on ten occasions, most recently for the Asia Cup in June, and is confident over the security arrangements.”There are no guarantees in any area of life,” Taufel told the . “In all my experiences there, the Pakistan people have been friendly and hospitable. Everything is absolutely first class.”They make a huge effort in the security stakes. At no stage have I felt worried, in danger or threatened in Pakistan. If I’m selected to be an umpire, I will not hesitate to go.”Taufel’s comments come in the wake of fears that members of the Australian team could opt out of the Champions Trophy. Ricky Ponting indicated in June that his team-mates were uneasy over touring, while Andrew Symonds was not convinced about safety. However, the players are expected to take a final call after security briefings by Cricket Australia.

A packed Rose Bowl will miss out on Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss for Twenty20 Finals Day this Saturday. England’s opening pair were to do battle for Essex and Middlesex respectively, but have been told to rest ahead of the third Test against South Africa on Wednesday week.”It was deemed after two tough Test matches that those players who played in both Tests will not be available,” an England spokesman said.In addition to earning the Twenty20 Cup crown on Saturday, England’s top two Twenty20 sides will participate in the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League against other teams from Australia, India and South Africa. The winners will earn £2.5million.

93 for 5 (Dottin 33, Isobel Joyce 2 for 12) beat Ireland 123 (Coffey 32, Small 3-27) by five wickets (D/L method)
Scorecard
It wasn’t a bad way to re-enter the international arena after a three-year absence. West Indies women beat Ireland by five wickets to kickstart their resumption on the ODI scene, kick off their European tour – and in many cases their international careers – in fine style.In a rain-interrupted game, Ireland were bundled out for 123 in just 39.1 overs and it was a host of debutantes who made the difference for West Indies. The visitors were set a revised target of 90 in 20 overs, which they achieved thanks to an unbeaten 33 from 17-year-old debutante Deandra Dottin, after 17-year-old Stefanie Taylor had made 14.Others appearing for the first time shone, too. Nineteen-year-old Danielle Small took 3 for 28, 18-year-old Shakera Selmen took 2 for 19. There was a wicket too for Stacy-Ann King who, at 24, was comparatively old to be making her debut. She helped see them home with 20 not out.Showers before the start of play reduced the match to 46 overs a side, and Ireland began poorly after being put in to bat, losing their first four wickets for only 47. Most of the West Indian bowlers were among the wickets, but they were also guilty of indispline, conceding 32 runs through wides. The 36 extras were the largest contributor to the total, while Nicola Coffey top scored with 32. Danielle Small, the right-arm medium-pacer, picked up three wickets, including Coffey’s, while Shakera Selman and Stacy-Ann King picked up two each.West Indies were tottering at 31 for 4 in 8.1 overs when rain halted play. Upon resuming, the visitors’ target was revised and 17-year old Dottin added 41 for the sixth wicket with King to take them to victory with 17 balls to spare. Isobel Joyce – captaining for the first time following Heather Whelan’s break – and Marianne Herbert picked up two wickets each.Even though there was much to be encouraged about for this new West Indies outfit, their coach Sherwin Campbell will not allow them to rest on their laurels. reported that he said it was a good performance for the first match, however there were areas that needed to be improved on.

Match facts

Saturday, May 24, 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

With the IPL moving towards the last leg of league games, things are more desperate for Delhi Daredevils than they are for Mumbai Indians. A defeat will send Delhi hurtling out of the tournament, but a victory for them will suddenly put the pressure back on Mumbai, who will then need to win both their remaining matches to make it to the semi-finals.The two teams have had contrasting journeys so far: Delhi began in style, winning four of their first five games, but have since gone off the boil, winning just two of the last eight. Mumbai, on the other hand, made a disastrous start, losing their first four matches, but then won six in a row and were just two runs away from seven successive victories.Both teams have a top-heavy batting line-ups and one outstanding new-ball bowler, and how Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock match up against Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Glenn McGrath could well decide which way the match turns. Mumbai’s support cast, though, has contributed more consistently – Dhawal Kulkarni, Ashish Nehra and the now-absent Dwayne Bravo have been among the wickets, while Abhishek Nayar and Robin Uthappa have contributed useful runs. Delhi have the big names in their middle order – AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan are both free-stroking batsmen – but neither has found his range in the IPL.To make matters more uncertain for both teams, the unseasonal Delhi rains threaten to disrupt the action, with forecasts for more showers on Saturday. A washout will mean Mumbai will only need to win one of their last two games to push Delhi out of contention.

Tournament position

Delhi Daredevils: P13, W6, L6, NR1, NRR +0.350
Mumbai Indians: P11, W6, L5, NRR +0.663

Form (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Delhi Daredevils: WLWLL
Mumbai Indians: LWWWW

Watch out for …

Former Test cricketer Manzoor Elahi has been named captain of the Lahore City Cricket Association Blues side and Tariq Mahmood of Whites. Both the teams will take part in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I, starting from Dec 21.Manzoor, earlier was named as member of the LCCA selection committee, but later he showed his interest for playing as a member of the team. Manzoor is the only Test cricketer representing LCCA in the country’s sole first class tournament.The selection committee headed by LCCA president, Aamir Hayat Khan Rokri, selected 25 players for each side included 20 seniors and five Under-19 after holding three days trials at the Model Town Greens ground from Nov 28 to 30.Blues: Manzoor Elahi (captain), Sohail Idrees, Ali Hussain, Ziaur Rehman, Latif Gohar, Kashif Mehmood, Ashraf Ali, Hafiz Yawar, Ali Raza (wicketkeeper), Shahzad Butt, Mohammad Khalil, Mohammad Afzal, Ahmed Khan, Moeez Siddiqi, Kashif Ejaz, Mustaqeem Ahmed, Faisal Mehmood, Ahmed Dar, Kashif Shafi, Mohammad Shafiq. Under- 19: Amjad Ali, Atif Ejaz, Kashif Mehmood, Khurram Irshad, Salman Qadir.Whites: Tariq Mehmood (captain), Tariq Rasheed, Aamir Sajjad, Khurram Siddique, Rizwan Aslam,Adnan Usman Khan, Muntazir Mehdi, Irfan Munawar, Saleem Shehzad, Faisal Javed, Attiqur Rehman, Ikramullah (wicketkeeper), Imran Butt, Sajid Ali, Khurram Chuhan, Mudassar Mehboob, Hafiz Azam Khan, Mohammad Asif, Salman Khan, Irfan Sohail. Under-19: Shahnawaz Malik, Umer Javed, Fahadul Haq, Adnan Butt, Wahab Riaz.