All posts by csb10.top

Justin Langer has revealed watching Phil Jaques head out to bat against Sri Lanka with his former Test opening partner Matthew Hayden was painful. Langer quit in January after the Ashes and he revealed that seeing Jaques take his place was “quite emotional”.”It was the first time since I’d announced my retirement that I realised that that was it, particularly the moment I saw Haydos and Phil Jaques walk across the white line,” Langer said during Western Australia’s Pura Cup match against South Australia in Adelaide. “That was quite an emotional time for me, but life goes on and I’m sure the decision I made was the right one. But having done it for so long – people know how passionate I was about playing for Australia – that was an emotional first morning.”However, he took pleasure in seeing the heat on Jaques and Chris Rogers, who were vying for the opener’s spot, and it was a relief for Langer not to be in the media spotlight for the first time in 10 years. “That was quite nice for me,” he said. “It was interesting to see both of them struggling [in domestic cricket] and I’m sure it was because they were putting so much pressure on themselves. Having lived through that, I was watching with a smile rather than having to worry too much about it.”Jaques has reserved his place for now, with two centuries and a fifty in his three innings against Sri Lanka. He has impressed his predecessor, too. “His insatiable hunger for runs – that’s the thing that strikes me most about him,” he said. “He’s shown it in Test cricket, but whether he plays club cricket or state cricket or county cricket, he makes so many runs. You see the great sportsmen – [Roger] Federer playing tennis – and Phil Jaques watches the ball so closely, and that’s the sign of a very good player.”Langer, meanwhile, is happy to be enjoying domestic cricket away from the Test arena. He captained Somerset to promotion in the County Championship over the winter, and is happy in the Warriors’ set-up. Tom Moody, Langer’s new coach and old friend, who is godfather to his third daughter, has helped change the mood of the squad.”We’ve been mates a long time and we’ve played together, so it’s nice to be playing in this very professional environment again,” he said. “It’s been something Western Australian cricket has probably lacked for a long time, and it’s just brilliant to be playing in this environment again.”

With the cricket world’s attention on sledging after the controversial Sydney Test, former Australian captain Ian Chappell, Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara and former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar said the problem could be tackled if more power was given to on-field umpires, and called for players to act with more responsibility.”If you have a CEO who is not even in the country and not even in the ground trying to call in and say, ‘Well I saw this’, that is never going to work,” Sangakkara said during Cricinfo’s Round Table, a fortnightly audio show. “Even a match referee is quite far removed from where the action is. The two guys who are in charge are the umpires and they should be allowed to handle it as they see fit.”Chappell was critical of the ICC for undermining the authority of the on-field umpires. “[The ICC have] diluted the decision-making process of the umpires on the field and in doing that, they have diluted the authority of the umpires on the field. They have also put layers of officials between the umpires and the players.”The three thought that while banter on the field was always going to be present, there are lines which should not be crossed. Sangakkara said a player’s colour, race, country or family should not be dragged into the debate. Chappell agreed, “There is gamesmanship, which has always been around and there’s always place in the game for that. But there’s no path for personal abuse or inane chatter.”Sangakkara also stressed that incidents should be left on the field. “Players have to be very honest with themselves that if they do engage in gamesmanship and banter, that is always something you can leave on the field. You should not go running around and complaining to the media or to the match referees.”Manjrekar was of the opinion that television was also a contributing factor to players displaying more aggression on the field. “Some players have realised that if they behaved in a certain manner, if they said some things or glared at the opposition, they would get a lot of attention via the television cameras,” he said. “Obviously, this is the cricketer who perhaps doesn’t get enough wickets or runs to get the attention. So he realises: ‘If I behave in a certain fashion that is slightly over the top, I tend to get lot of attention’.” (Click here to listen to the show or read the transcript.)

Easterns 306 and 149 beat Northerns 183 and 212 (Kemp 65,Reddy 5-39) by 60 runs
ScorecardAt SuperSport Park, Easterns ensured that they would win the SuperSport Series Shield after taking only 12 overs to wrap up the Northerns innings. The 60-run victory took them past Northerns, who have now completed their season’s commitments. Easterns still have a game in hand, and have an unassailable lead. Hopes for Northerns faded when Justin Kemp lost his wicket for 65 and Brendon Reddy produced career-best figures of 5 for 39.

ICC Europe has announced the schedule and venues for the ICC European Division 1 Championship to be held in Ireland from July 25 to 31, 2008.The 50-over round-robin tournament will see Europe’s top six Associate and Affiliate countries – Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Scotland – fight it out for Europe’s top spot. Six cricket grounds will be used to host a total of 15 matches that will see each country come face to face over five days.Current European champions Ireland will be looking to retain their title on home soil, and their campaign will begin against tournament newcomer Norway at The Hills Cricket Club on July 25. ICC Affiliate Member Norway gained promotion to Division 1 after finishing top of Division 2 in 2006, overcoming second place Jersey, and other Associate members including France, Gibraltar and Israel. The other opening matches will see Denmark face Scotland at Malahide CC and Italy take on the Netherlands at North County CC.”Winning the European Championships and retaining the title is still a hugely important goal for Ireland,” said Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, Warren Deutrom. “Although last year’s World Cup success gave us an exciting glimpse of the world beyond, we still consciously compare ourselves to our European neighbours, particularly our counterparts in ICC’s High Performance Programme. If nothing else, the fierce competition among traditional rivals makes for highly competitive cricket which, in turn, helps raise the bar for European cricket.”

Geoff Marsh, Zimbabwe’s coach, has expressed disappointment over the International Cricket Council’s decision to keep Zimbabwe out of Test cricket until 2005. The decision came after the ICC held a meeting in Dubai, where the Zimbabwe Cricket Union agreed to play this year’s remaining Tests next year.AFP reported that the agreement was made so that Zimbabwe had adequate time to rebuild its cricket team, which was left seriously weak after 15 rebel players were sacked for backing Heath Streak, who was fired for demanding changes within the cricket board.But the decision did not impress Marsh. “It’s disappointing to get to a situation like that,” he said. “I understand the reasons why the ZCU has agreed to it and it’s probably in the best interests of everyone involved, but the best way to improve the standard is to keep playing at that level.”While Marsh struck an optimistic tone about Zimbabwe’s improvement, the ICC had earlier said that the integrity of Test cricket was at stake after Zimbabwe were soundly beaten at home by Sri Lanka, and the international cricket body then proceeded to postpone – in effect, cancel – Australia’s Test series against the weakened team. Sri Lanka inflicted the two of the heaviest ever defeats in Tests on Zimbabwe, which, when pointed out, brought a curious comment from the ZCU chairman, Peter Chingoka: “Well, that’s fine – so you do have a record of 10 others that are worse or 12 others that are worse.”Streak, who had called for Zimbabwe’s suspension from the ICC, said that the decision would give the board time to reassess the direction it was headed in, and said, “Perhaps the ZCU realise they cannot treat us with disrespect and maybe they realise they need some of the white cricketers they said they could do without after all.”But Marsh, whose coaching contract ends in September, said that Zimbabwe would take a “couple of years” to perform adequately in Test cricket, because “you don’t replace 30 players overnight”.Meanwhile, the agreement gave the English Cricket Board cause for cheer, as they were under pressure to abandon their October tour to Zimbabwe. They were scheduled to play two Tests in Zimbabwe, but the postponement has let them off the hook, albeit temporarily.

Michael Clarke was stunned by Darren Lehmann’s offer to stand down when Ricky Ponting returns, but the third Test, starting at Nagpur tomorrow, will be the first of a series of unofficial bat-offs between the two.Ponting’s comeback from a broken thumb, either in the fourth Test against India at Mumbai next week or the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba from November 18, means one of the current batsmen will be squeezed out. Lehmann, at 34, is the most vulnerable unless the selectors make the unlikely move of dumping Clarke, 23, despite an amazing start to his Test career.Lehmann said after the first Test that he may stand down when Ponting returns to keep Clarke in the side but Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, rejected the selfess suggestion. Clarke himself was unhappy at the situation: “It was an unbelievable comment from such a great guy and someone who has been such a great player for Australian cricket. I want to keep playing but that call comes down to the selectors. I hope ‘Boofer’ [Lehmann] does not step down. I call him the veteran. He is the veteran of the team and like the father. Everybody goes to him for support.”In this series Clarke is well ahead of Lehmann, making 212 runs at 70.67 to Lehmann’s 62 at 15.50. As unlikely as his sacking seems, Clarke said he would be fine if the selectors omitted him when Ponting comes back. “I was selected because Ricky got injured,” he said. “If I got dropped I would not have an issue with it at all.”Clarke unwound from his heady first fortnight of Test cricket by spending four days at a luxury resort in Singapore with Damien Martyn during the team’s mini-break. “After the first day of the Chennai Test he [Martyn] was on 25 or 26 and I said if you make a hundred I’ll go with you,” Clarke said. “He initially wanted to go on his own. It turns out I was booking on the flight that night. We just had a good time and relaxed. We sat by the pool.”Clarke’s dream-like efforts with the bat at Bangalore and Chennai were marred slightly by two dropped catches at second slip. “There’s nothing worse in cricket than dropping a catch,” he said. “It’s definitely disappointing but we’re standing so close to the bat over here that the ball is coming pretty quickly.”

Tasmania 5 for 270 (Marsh 106*, Bevan 55) beat Western Australia 9 for 208 (Hussey 79) by 62 runs
Scorecard

Tasmania cruised to a 62-run win over Western Australia in their opening ING Cup match after Daniel Marsh, their captain, blasted 106 runs off 90 balls to set a total which proved just too big to chase.The match did not start happily for Western Australia. They lost the toss and off the fourth ball of the day, Scott Meuleman dislocated his shoulder in attempting to run out Michael Di Venuto and was taken to hospital. But they pegged Tasmania back to 3 for 62 before Marsh’s arrival changed things.He started slowly, but added 89 for the fourth wicket with Michael Bevan, who hit an 82-ball 55 on his debut. Marsh, who was dropped by Steve Magoffin when he had made 7, accelerated towards the end of the innings, with the last 16 overs producing 141 runs. He posted fifty partnerships with both George Bailey (21) and Luke Butterworth (29) as Tasmania closed on 5 for 270.In reply, WA lost both openers very cheaply – Luke Ronchi fell to the first ball, and a batsman down already with Meuleman absent, became over-reliant on Mike Hussey, who scampered to a fluent 79. But after he was dismissed, their hopes of victory disappeared, and they lost their last four wickets for 39.

New Zealand once again had to overcome poor umpiring during a tough third day of their cricket Test with India’s women at Vapi. India have a 76-run lead on the first innings with New Zealand 9 for 1 in their second innings.The New Zealanders have been upset by the decisions of one umpire who has twice given Kate Pulford, the opening batsman, out caught behind when her bat has been nowhere near the ball. The fact the game is being televised and the evidence can be seen back in the dressing room has done nothing to impress the mood of the New Zealanders. They have not been helped either by several decisions against Indian batsmen going against them.New Zealand started the day looking to make a breakthrough when the new ball became available after eight overs. But nightwatchman Jhulan Goswami hanging around for 98 balls. She helped Hemlata Kala, the star batsman in the Indian innings, wrest the initiative from New Zealand. Kala went on to score 110 off 280 balls. While there were frustrations with the umpiring, the New Zealanders did not help themselves by dropping catches.Maia Lewis, the New Zealand captain, rotated the bowlers during the day, but the bulk of the bowling fell to Rebecca Steele, the highly-promising left-arm spinner who bowled 42 overs and ended with 5 for 79. Pulford also picked up two wickets. Unfortunately, Louise Milliken suffered a groin strain before lunch and did not bowl again in the day. New Zealand face a tough day to bat out for safety to save the match.

Australia are expected to take an unchanged line-up into tomorrow’s second Test but they will carry new plans for Kevin Pietersen, the only batsman to escape them at Lord’s. After making two half-centuries on debut, Pietersen, who has delivered more inciteful off-field comments this week, has become the central opposition figure in Australia’s team meetings for Edgbaston.Pietersen was reported in the as saying Brett Lee “tried to kill him” as the Australians attempted a number of unsuccessful ways to dismiss him during the first Test. “They went for me for two hours outside off stump, then they tried to get me lbw bowling at my legs,” Pietersen said in the paper. “Then they went to the bumper theory. Lee tried to kill me and that wasn’t nice. I came through it and I gained great heart from that.”Only a brilliant outfield catch by Damien Martyn stopped Pietersen in the first innings and he was unbeaten on 67 in the second. “We’ve got to have a bit of a look at the way he played in the first Test,” Ricky Ponting said in . “We had some plans that we executed well for short periods, but we’ve got to be able to do it for long periods against him because he scores so freely and hits the ball so hard that he can get away from you pretty quickly.”Ponting said they would try to devise ploys to shut Pietersen down when he arrived at the crease. Australia will rely on the same attack to change tactics despite Michael Kasprowicz’s five-wicket haul against Worcestershire. Jason Gillespie, who has generally struggled during the tour, also bowled strongly last weekend and Ponting suggested he would hold his place alongside Lee, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.”[Kasprowicz] has done everything he can do, but in saying that Jason probably did as well,” Ponting said. “It’s going to be another tough decision come Test-match time, but if you look at the way Jason bowled and the way we performed in the first Test you would probably think it would be unlikely that we would change the team.”While Pietersen remained a focus, Ponting also discussed the predicament of Ashley Giles, the left-arm spinner who complained in his newspaper column of unfair treatment from England supporters. Ponting warned it was a situation Giles was “never going to win”. “Some of the points he made were pretty true,” Ponting told . “There are a lot of ex-English players out there that have made some comments that would indicate they don’t think England can win the Ashes. I’d be disappointed if an ex-Australian player came out and said the same thing.”

Amit Varma and Sambit Bal discuss the forthcoming Jamaica Test
Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 1.6 MB)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA
Audio length: [6.45 mins]India came to West Indies with a lot of hope, but might actually have gone backwards during this series, says Sambit Bal, Cricinfo’s editor, in conversation with Amit Varma. Their fast bowlers have especially been exposed, with only Munaf performing to brief. While West Indies still have problems, Brian Lara’s captaincy has served them well, says Bal, and the selectors need to reinforce their faith in him. Listen in.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 1.6 MB)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA
Audio length: [6.45 mins]