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Allan Border has doubts over the Test future of Michael Hussey

Cricinfo staff10-Nov-2009Allan Border, the former selector, has tipped the opener Phillip Hughes to play in the first Test against the West Indies and has doubts over the future of Michael Hussey. Dean Jones also believes Hussey could be the man to miss out if Michael Clarke, the vice-captain, makes his recovery from a back injury by the end of the month.”I’ve got a gut feeling Hughes will play [in the first Test],” Border said on Fox Sports. “He might struggle, Mr Hussey.”Hughes was dropped for the third Test on the Ashes tour but the selectors are keen for him to return to the side as soon as he is making runs for New South Wales. He started the summer with 32 against Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield and has another opportunity next week when the Blues host Tasmania.The situation for Hussey is much different as he tries to recover from a slump that threatened his position over the past year. He finished the Ashes series defeat with 121 at The Oval, his first hundred for 16 Tests, and should face an easier time against West Indies and Pakistan.However, if Clarke returns Jones expects Hussey to make way. “I love Hussey as a player but I think he is in a whole lot of trouble if Michael Clarke is fit,” Jones said. “I know he is scoring a lot of runs in the one-dayers but he was also scoring runs in the one-dayers recently when he wasn’t making Test runs and I think they will draw a line through that. It may depend on whether Michael Clarke can play a first-class match before the Test.”Hussey has six half-centuries in his past 18 ODIs and has taken on a greater role in Clarke’s absence. Clarke missed the Champions Trophy and the current tour of India, leaving the game against Tasmania as his last chance of a four-day warm-up before the toss at the Gabba on November 26.

Queensland stunned New South Wales over the final two days at the Gabba to record an incredible recovery and gain a nine-wicket victory

Cricinfo staff14-Dec-2009Queensland 468 & 1 for 168 (Townsend 72*, Carseldine 70*) beat New South Wales 5 for 451 dec & 184 (D Smith 58, Hopes 3-39) by 9 wickets
ScorecardLee Carseldine ensured Queensland managed to breeze to victory after a topsy-turvy fixture•Getty Images

Queensland stunned New South Wales over the final two days at the Gabba to record an incredible recovery and gain a nine-wicket victory. The win, which came after the Bulls were 5 for 84 in their first-innings chase of 451 on Saturday, was completed shortly after lunch and moved them to outright second on the table, six points behind Victoria.The last day threatened to be tense as New South Wales resumed with a lead of 158 runs and four wickets remaining. Any chance of the Blues sailing ahead went on the fourth ball when the dangerous Steven Smith (24) was removed by Scott Walter and the visitors were dismissed seven runs later for 184.Walter (3 for 45) gained two wickets on the last morning while Ryan Harris finished the innings with 2 for 30 after his 84 had forced Queensland back into the game on Sunday. Harris, Chris Hartley, Chris Simpson and Ben Cutting led the lower-order fight to grab an unimaginable 17-run lead on first innings.Requiring 168 in their second bat, the Bulls lost Greg Moller for 15 but half-centuries to Wade Townsend and Lee Carseldine sealed the success. Townsend was unbeaten on 72 while Carseldine had 70 when the winning runs were scored.

England suffered an injury scare shortly before the start of the fourth day’s play in Durban when Paul Collingwood dislocated his left index finger during fielding practice

Andrew McGlashan in Durban29-Dec-2009England suffered an injury scare shortly before the start of the fourth day’s play in Durban when Paul Collingwood dislocated his left index finger during fielding practice.He was seen leaving the field with the team doctor and was taken to hospital for an x-ray which showed there was no fracture. Collingwood made 91 on the second day of the match before falling to JP Duminy shortly before the close, and has been one of England’s in-form batsmen throughout the tour.Having been named Man of the Series in the ODIs, Collingwood made 50 in the first innings of the first Test at Centurion, before a vital unbeaten 26 off 99 deliveries on the final day helped England secure a draw with nine wickets down.Now that the injury has been shown to be purely a dislocation it appears to be less of a potential headache for the management. There is no specialist reserve batsman in the squad with all six in the starting line up. Luke Wright is currently the spare batting option, but his inclusion would alter the balance of the side.In the last couple of weeks England have overcome a run of injuries that occurred during the one-day series and in the lead-up to the Tests. Jimmy Anderson (knee), Graeme Swann (side), Ryan Sidebottom (side), Stuart Broad (shoulder), Graham Onions (back) and Alastair Cook (back) have all spent time on the sidelines at various points.

The IPL received a shot in the arm after Indian home minister P Chidambaram and South Africa’s touring captain Graeme Smith remained positive about the security conditions in India

Cricinfo staff01-Feb-2010The IPL received a shot in the arm after Indian home minister P Chidambaram and South Africa’s touring captain Graeme Smith remained positive about the security conditions in India. Their comments came in the wake of protests from a couple of right-wing political parties in the state of Maharashtra, who have opposed the participation of Australian and Pakistan players in the league due to India’s troubled diplomatic relations with the two countries.Leaders of the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena [both regional parties] have come out strongly in their criticism of attacks on Indian students in Australia, and said they would protest against the participation of Australian players in the IPL by not allowing them to play in Maharashtra. The opposition to the participation of Pakistani players in the IPL has existed in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, which resulted in a breakdown in relations between the the neighbours.However, Chidambaran assured the players of complete security during the IPL. “Let Australian players come to India. Let Pakistani players come to India. Let them play in Mumbai and I will guarantee them full security.”Smith said he has always enjoyed returning to India since his maiden trip nine years ago, and never felt insecure. “From my personal perspective I have been fortunate to come to India a lot of times and I’m going to be hopefully coming back many more. So it is a great opportunity to come here and play on tour and the IPL.”The South Africans reached Nagpur, the venue for the first Test starting on February 6, on Sunday. Smith acknowledged security was a major issue anywhere around the world. “We want to know we are looked after and so far we have got people who we trust and the Indian security guys have really been great and from that perspective no complaints,” he said.

Zimbabwe’s spirited army of spinners scripted a memorable fightback to help the visitors clinch a low-scoring scrap

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran28-Feb-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Adrian Barath is bowled by Ray Price after charging down the pitch and missing the ball•The Nation

At the halfway stage, West Indies’ winless streak looked almost certain to be snapped after astonishing spells from Sulieman Benn and Darren Sammy, but Zimbabwe’s spirited army of spinners scripted a memorable fightback to help the visitors clinch a low-scoring scrap. On a day when Australia and New Zealand blasted the highest Twenty20 match aggregate during a nailbiter in Christchurch, Prosper Utseya’s team won a game in which both sides made their lowest ever Twenty20 scores.The Queen’s Park Oval pitch helped the spinners and was a trifle two-paced, but not so treacherous as to merit a record eight ducks, and it merely highlighted the limitations of the batsmen on both sides.What makes the ultimately comfortable victory even more special for Zimbabwe was that they were seemingly down and out after just 16 deliveries, losing three wickets to the left-arm spin of Benn with no score on board. A late onslaught from Elton Chigumbura after Zimbabwe had hobbled to 76 for 6 in 18 overs initially seemed inconsequential, but his 19-ball 34 turned out to be crucial in a match where batsmen couldn’t pull off the big hits. West Indies’ entire innings had only three fours and a six.Utseya had mentioned at the toss that the spinners were one of the side’s big strengths, and with the ball turning significantly, he used the slow bowlers for 18 overs. They proved hard to get away, but there was no signs of the turnaround that lay ahead when Adrian Barath and Shivnarine Chanderpaul negotiated the first five overs, steering West Indies to 20 for 0.Then in a flurry of attempted big hits from their young batsmen, the home side imploded. Barath was bowled in the sixth over after being beaten by the turn when looking to clear the legside boundary, Andre Fletcher picked out the deep square leg fielder with a powerful sweep in the next over, Pollard was foxed by the flight and dip of Graeme Cremer in his first attempt at a signature lofted on-drive, and Darren Bravo picked up a golden duck after the ball kept low when he was trying a Hollywood pull shot. West Indies had stumbled to 32 for 4 and it was game on.Still, with West Indies’ serial rescuer Chanderpaul unbeaten, and given a reprieve when Cremer grassed a sitter at long-on in the 10th over, they were slight favourites. Offspinner Greg Lamb, who had earlier played a completely un-Twenty20 innings consuming 28 deliveries for 11 (all in singles), tipped the game Zimbabwe’s way by trapping Chanderpaul lbw in the 12th over with a delivery that spun a lot less than the batsman expected.From that stage, it was almost all Zimbabwe. Dwayne Smith threatened briefly and stand-in captain Denesh Ramdin battled till the end, but West Indies never really mounted a serious challenge.Ramdin, and the smattering of spectators who turned up, would hardly have expected such a result after the surprise move to open the bowling with Benn paid off spectacularly, with the left-arm spinner crushing Zimbabwe’s top-order to end with 4 for 6. That was the third best bowling analysis in Twenty20s, but only for a short while, as Sammy snared three wickets in the final over to finish with a five-for.Benn struck off the match’s first delivery, when Vusi Sibanda was bowled after failing to read the arm-ball. No. 3 Tatenda Taibu looked to sweep everything that Benn sent down, without much success, and fell lbw in the third over after failing to connect with a full delivery while attempting yet another sweep. Two balls later Stuart Matsikenyeri wafted at an unthreatening ball outside off and nicked to the keeper.Zimbabwe were 0 for 3 but Benn was not done yet, getting Brendan Taylor in his next over. With nine deliveries still remaining in Benn’s spell, the record for the best Twenty20 bowling – Umar Gul’s masterful 5 for 6 against New Zealand in the ICC World Twenty20 last year – was under attack. Zimbabwe’s batsmen, though, managed to defend their way through the rest of Benn’s bowling.After surviving the opening burst from Benn and Kemar Roach, who got the ball to jag about at pace, Hamilton Masakadza started to gain in confidence, and stitched together a partnership with Greg Lamb. Masakadza tried to accelerate by smashing a couple of boundaries but the 40-run stand was broken by one of the softest dismissals: Lamb inexplicably missed a slower one from Sammy – looking to play the ball and then almost offering no stroke, only to see the delivery go on to knock over middle stump.Zimbabwe had their best phase of the innings after that, with Chigumbura looking comfortable at the crease from the outset. He and Masakadza added 21 in three overs before the opener was foxed by a slower offcutter from Sammy. Chigumbura then slammed 22 off an erratic Ravi Rampaul over to boost the target towards triple digits, before he became one of Sammy’s three final-over victims.

Monday’s match presents New Zealand a chance to complete a quick series victory against a struggling Bangladesh

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran07-Feb-2010

Match facts

Monday, February 8
Start time 12.00 (23.00 GMT)Andy McKay was one of two New Zealand players to make promising debuts in the first ODI•Getty Images

Big Picture

Bangladesh cricket fans looking for good news over the past week have had to follow the South Asian Games, where their Under-21 team won gold in a tournament also containing the likes of Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The senior team in New Zealand, though, has been abject in the two matches so far and were thrashed in the only Twenty20 and the first ODI in Napier.For New Zealand, Monday’s match presents a chance to complete a quick series victory. With several of their key players injured, the contests against Bangladesh are a good opportunity to test their bench strength, and Daniel Vettori will be satisfied with the performance of both the players they blooded in Napier – Peter Ingram making a steady 69 and Andy McKay nipping out two top-order batsmen. Perhaps the biggest gain from that victory was Jacob Oram showing that he had not lost his lethal hitting ability, something which has not been on view too often of late.The only redeeming features for Bangladesh were a robust opening stand between Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, and young Shaiful Islam’s performance – four wickets, including giving away only four runs in a double-wicket over in the middle of Oram’s blitzkreig. However, unless the Bangladesh middle order gets its act together, their hunt for a maiden victory in any format in New Zealand is likely to be extended.

Form guide (most recent first)

New Zealand WWWLL
Bangladesh LLLLL

Watch out for

At 25, Ross Taylor is already New Zealand’s most important batsman in the middle order. He was in stunning form in the domestic Twenty20 tournament in January, leading the run-charts and rounding it off with a 30-ball 80 to hand Central Districts the title. Bangladesh have already had a taste of how dangerous he can be when he slammed a couple of sixes on his way to a quick 51 in the first ODI.Tamim Iqbal is becoming an increasingly influential batsman for Bangladesh. A naturally aggressive player, he has worked hard on tempering his attacking stroke play. Another aspect of his batting that has improved is the way he deal with spinners, using an effective sweep shot to blunt them. With Mohammad Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan not in the greatest of touch, Tamim has added responsibility at the top of the order.

Team news

The only decision for New Zealand is whether they want to bring in Ian Butler for one of the three quick bowlers who played on Friday. If they do, Tim Southee could be the one who sits out.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Peter Ingram, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 James Franklin, 6 Neil Broom, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee/Ian Butler, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Andy McKay.
Bangladesh have named their playing XI. Mohammad Ashraful, despite a lean run, keeps his place but Raqibul Hasan has been dropped for Aftab Ahmed. Rubel Hossain has earned a starting spot ahead of Nazmul Hossain.Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Mohammad Ashraful, 4 Aftab Ahmed,
5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Shahadat Hossain, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Rubel Hossain.

Quotes

“Oram has been a bit frustrated with results but [on Friday] we saw a guy who, if we can get him back to where he was 12-18 months ago, is going to be a big help to this side.”
Mark Greatbatch, New Zealand coach, emphasises what an important player Jacob Oram can be to the one-day outfit.

Each apparently content in their post-international careers, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Chaminda Vaas still have the ability and sheer presence to turn a team’s mood upside down in one evening

The Bulletin by Jamie Alter14-Mar-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outAndrew Symonds soared to 50 off 43 after making only three in his first 17 balls (file photo)•Associated Press

Each apparently content in their post-international careers, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Chaminda Vaas still have the ability and sheer presence to turn a team’s mood upside down in one evening, proving that the IPL is as much about cool heads and years of experience as it is about youthful exuberance. Gilchrist began by winning the toss and larruping 38 from 17 balls, becoming the first batsman in the IPL to reach 1000 runs, Symonds overcame a sluggish start to slam the game’s only half-century, and Vaas snuffed out Chennai Super Kings’ chase with three wickets in his opening burst. The result was that the defending champions Deccan Chargers smoothed over their opening-day loss to Kolkata Knight Riders with a professional win.This win was set up by Deccan’s batsmen, namely their three big overseas imports. A frenetic burst at the start, powered by Gilchrist, was followed by a sedate period when Deccan were tied down by Chennai’s assortment of spinners and medium-pacers, but the decisive spell that followed went the visitors’ way. Herschelle Gibbs’ innings was nowhere near as manic as his captain’s but it proved far more valuable, because he saw out a tough period on a surface with variable bounce and then accelerated at the end.Symonds proved a good ally, initially playing second fiddle to Gibbs – at one stage he was 3 off 17 balls and then soared to 50. Gibbs and Symonds fell in succession, after getting Deccan past 150, and a 22-run final over, bowled by two men due to Sudeep Tyagi’s full-toss barrage, left Chennai needing 191 to win. Chennai conceded 63 in the last five overs and that proved to be the decisive period of the match.Gilchrist, who at the toss said matter-of-factly that he wasn’t too concerned at his team’s first loss, set the tone by smashing Sudeep Tyagi’s first over for 18 runs. Albie Morkel was also tonked for fun runs and after three overs the score was 41 for 0. A double-wicket over from R Ashwin, called on to bowl the fifth over, changed the mood in the stadium and forced Deccan to consolidate. Ashwin was taken off after that big over and from 55 for 2 Deccan added just 12 runs in the next four overs.Upon resumption after the strategic time-out, Gibbs created a few risk-free shots to keep the runs flowing. Justin Kemp, on his IPL debut, was taken for two calculated fours, wrists rolled on both occasions, and Muttiah Muralitharan was reverse-paddled to third man. Murali didn’t offer the batsmen any room and that meant they had to try different scoring options to make runs. Symonds had been especially bogged down after failing to score off Murali, Ashwin and Kemp, who in 16 balls allowed him just three singles, but in L Balaji’s second over he carved a six and four off consecutive deliveries to move to 14 from 20 balls.A 95-run stand off 75 balls was ended when Morkel fielded and hit the stumps off his own bowling to send back Gibbs at the start of the 18th over, and five balls later Symonds was caught a frame short of his crease for 50 off 43 balls. Chennai had a good chance to keep Deccan down, but Tyagi’s horror evening culminated with Rohit Sharma and T Suman flogging three fours and a six before a second beamer ruled him out after five deliveries. Kemp bowled the final ball and allowed just one, but Deccan went into the interval all charged up.That drive was clearly channeled into their effort in the field. Before this tournament few outside the Deccan camp would have backed Vaas to feature heavily for the defending champions, given that he had played just seven games in the past two seasons for indifferent returns. But for the second game running, he jolted the opposition top order with a double-wicket over, and by the time he took his third wicket, that of the bulwark Matthew Hayden, Chennai were hemorrhaging at 31 for 3. It was simple stuff; pitch straight, get some cut, let the batsmen cope with the rest. As he had in Mumbai, Vaas even snuck in a maiden over. It was top stuff.Vaas began his second over by cleaning up M Vijay with an inside edge, had Suresh Raina pull him for six, but when he pitched fuller Raina was lured into a fatal prod to Gilchrist. Much was made of Hayden’s expected use of the Mongoose bat, but he came out with a normal piece of willow and fell for just 17, paddling Vaas to RP Singh at short fine leg. Pragyan Ojha struck with his third ball to get S Badrinath miscuing an attempted inside-out drive to long-off and at the end of the Powerplay, Chennai were 37 for 4.Even a 16-run Jaskaran Singh over, during which Dhoni and Kemp plundered boundaries, didn’t deter Deccan. Symonds came on to bowl some seam-up stuff and cleaned up Dhoni (42 from 29), and in the next over Rohit struck to leave Chennai at 115 for 7. Symonds capped a good evening with a second wicket and Chennai finished on 159, a total that owed much to Morkel’s belligerent 42.