All posts by n8rngtd.top

DHAKA, Bangladesh – The West Indies did what they had to do with clinical efficiency on the opening day of the first Test here yesterday but, even by the most sympathetic judgement, Bangladesh were hardly first-class, far less Test standard

Tony Cozier27-May-2016Easy pickings – Monday 09, December-2002DHAKA, Bangladesh – The West Indies did what they had to do with clinical efficiency on the opening day of the first Test here yesterday but, even by the most sympathetic judgement, Bangladesh were hardly first-class, far less Test standard.Given the misery the West Indies have gone through these past few years, it would be churlish to undervalue the kind of day they themselves have repeatedly endured on every point of the cricketing compass outside of the Caribbean.Yet the plain truth is that they would have found more resistance from Spartan than they did from a Bangladesh team playing only its 16th Test, 14 of which have ended in heavy defeat, ten by an innings, the other drawn only through the courtesy of the weather.It was inexperience compounded by selectors who included four teenagers in the eleven, one, Anwar Hossain, to open the batting on debut two days short of his 19th birthday, another, Talha Jubbair, exactly two years younger, to open the bowling.They were at an immediate disadvantage when Ridley Jacobs called the toss right and chose to bowl on a pitch with more moisture content and grass covering than his bowlers had spotted in all their preceding travels through Sri Lanka and India.They could not recover against bowling that maintained a full length and persistent off-stump line and were all out three-quarters of an hour after tea for 139.Making the ball dart about off the pitch and occasionally through the cool, sunny air, Pedro Collins dismissed Hannan Sarkar with the first delivery of the match, one of three victims in a crippling opening spell of 11 overs. He added two more from 6.1 overs at the end.Vasbert Drakes, the 33-year-old prodigal son recently returned to the West Indies team after an absence of over seven years, claimed a wicket with his fifth ball on his belated Test debut and returned to add three more as the last five Bangladesh wickets tumbled for 22.Collins led the team off the field with five for 26. Drakes was not far behind with four for 61. They won’t find easier success – unless it is the second innings or in the next of the two Tests in the series.In the remaining 33 overs and two hours, the last hour played under the stadium floodlights, the left-handed openers Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds helped themselves to 19 fours in accumulating 118 together.Gayle, unusually but ominously careful, was 44 and Hinds, whose 12 boundaries were mainly from crashing strokes through the covers, 73. A wide, difficult chance to Aminul Islam’s left-hand at third slip when he was 20 off the lively young Jubair had already proved expensive and was likely to become increasingly so.Bangladesh’s woes began first ball, an inswinging yorker from Collins, left-arm over the wicket, that would have been too good for most batsmen and certainly was for Sarkar who lost his off-stump.Collins, causing geometrical problems with the delivery cutting away from the right-handed batsman on the angle, clipped the outside edges of the talented teen, Mohammed Ashraful, and Bangladesh’s best batsman,Habibul Basher, for catches to keeper and third slip.Drakes despatched young Hossain with an outswinger edged to Jacobs for his maiden wicket in the next over and Bangladesh were quickly in disarray at 44 for five when Jermaine Lawson, replacing Drakes, claimed a plain lbw decision against Aminul Islam with hisfifth ball.They were revived by a partnership of 73 between another of their teenagers Alok Kapali, 18, who showed courage and genuine talent for two hours, 20 minutes,in making 52 filled with nine classy fours, and captain KhaledMashud, 22.Kapali had four when his right index finger was pinned against the handle of the bat and split by a sharp lifter from Lawson. He needed medical on-field attention, took a similar blow soon afterwards but never flinched.A small, neat right-hander whose potential was obvious in his unbeaten 89 in the third One-Day International last Tuesday, Kapali drove through the off-side with flair and offered wristy strokes through square-leg and mid-wicket.He was undeterred either by his injury or a missed chance by Daren Ganga at third slip off Lawson when 24 and he and his captain were causing the West Indies their first worries when Drakes returned to bowl Mashud with one that cut back sharply to hit off-stump.Next over, he had Kapali lbw aiming to play to leg and he and Collins made light work of the tailenders.It was yet another abject display to disappoint a crowd of around8 000 spread around the 30 000-capacity Bangabandhu Stadium and to further validate their former coach Gordon Greenidge’s assertion when they were granted Test status two years ago that they weren’t ready for it.SCOREBOARD:Bangladesh 1st inningsHannan Sarkar b Collins 0Anwar Hossain c wk Jacobs b Drakes 2Mohammad Ashraful c wk Jacobs b Collins 6Habibul Bashar c Ganga b Collins 24Aminul Islam lbw b Lawson 5Alok Kapali lbw b Drakes 52Khaled Mashud b Drakes 22Naimur Rahman c Gayle b Collins 1Enamul Hoque b Collins 6Tapas Baishya c wk Jacobs b Drakes 7Talha Jubair not out 4Extras (lb6 nb3 w1) 10Total (all out, 54.1overs) 139Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-4 3-25 4-40 5-44 6-117 7-118 8-124 9-135Bowling: Collins 17.1-7-26-5 (nb2), Drakes 18-2-61-4 (nb1), Lawson 9-2-24-1, Powell 10-2-22-0 (w1)West Indies 1st inningsC. Gayle not out 44W. Hinds not out 73Extras (nb1) 1Total (without loss, 33 overs) 118To bat: R.Jacobs, R.Sarwan, S.Chanderpaul, M.Samuels, D.Ganga, V.Drakes, P.Collins, D.Powell, J.LawsonBowling: Tapash Baishya 9-1-44-0 (nb1), Talha Zubair 6-0-31-0, Naimur Rahman 12-2-27-0, Enamul Haque 5-2-10-0, Mohammad Ashraful 1-0-6-0Umpires: David Shephard (England), David Orchard (South Africa)Third Umpire: Akhtaruddin Shahin (Bangladesh)Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that Bangladesh was the only country to oppose the proposed two-tier Test structure when it was discussed during the ICC’s annual conference in Edinburgh

Mohammad Isam03-Jul-2016BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that Bangladesh was the only country to oppose the proposed two-tier Test structure when it was discussed in the chief executive’s committee (CEC) meeting last week during the ICC’s annual conference in Edinburgh. He said a decision on the matter was likely to come down to a vote by the Full Members, adding that it wouldn’t be “easy” to have it passed in the ICC.”Bangladesh was the only country to oppose this idea in the [CEC] meeting, where we explained our position,” Hassan said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who has opposed it and who hasn’t. The decision will be taken through a vote, so if one or two do not vote, it doesn’t really matter. But I don’t think it will be easy get this passed at the ICC. The issue isn’t so [simple]. It is a tough process.”BCB vice-president Mahbubul Anam, and directors Ahmed Sajjadul Alam and Tanjil Chowdhury, had said last month that they were against such a system being implemented in Test cricket. Should it be implemented, Bangladesh, who are ranked ninth, are likely to slip into Division Two of Test cricket.According to the ICC’s press release at the end of the annual conference, members were updated on the progress being made on the two-tier idea during the CEC meeting. It was proposed that a workshop be scheduled in early September in Dubai, to facilitate discussion between members on this project and to work through some of the details.ICC chief executive David Richardson said that the new structure would make the game more competitive. “This is an unprecedented opportunity for our sport to introduce … structures which are merit and performance based, have context, enhance the value of bilateral cricket, and create a highly competitive environment for cricketers.”This is a complex issue on many levels, but I am heartened by the progress that has been made to date and during these meetings.”

Dawid Malan rewrote the record books as England Lions made it two wins out of two in the 50-over Tri-Series by crushing Sri Lanka A in Northampton

ECB Reporters Network21-Jul-2016
ScorecardDawid Malan set a new record for England Lions cricket•Getty Images

Dawid Malan rewrote the record books as England Lions made it two wins out of two in the 50-over Tri-Series by crushing Sri Lanka A in Northampton as comfortably as they had beaten Pakistan A in the opener in Cheltenham on Tuesday.Malan, who is leading the Lions for the first time in this series after his impressive performances in the winter, struck an unbeaten 185 from 126 balls with 16 fours and eight sixes – a new record for the Lions or England A in List A cricket, beating 168 by Ravi Bopara against West Indies A in Worcester in 2010.With Daniel Bell-Drummond, Ben Duckett and Sam Billings adding half centuries, the Lions piled up 393 for 5 in their 50 overs after Malan had won the toss and chosen to bat – another Lions List A record, beating 378 for 6 against South Africa A in the Pretoria township of Mamelodi in January 2014, when Ben Stokes did most of the damage.The Sri Lankans made a bold start to their reply, as Niroshan Dickwella, a left-hander who has played four Tests and was a member of their squad for the World T20 earlier this year, raced to a 36-ball half century.But Mark Wood, picking up from where he left off in taking 3 for 27 in Cheltenham as he continues his comeback after ankle surgery, broke the opening stand of 82 in his second over when Dickwella chopped on to his stumps.Toby Roland-Jones then took two wickets in consecutive overs, and Sussex youngster George Garton took an athletic catch running in from third man to give Wood his second of four wickets that fell for 10 in the space of 24 balls.Angelo Perera and captain Ashan Priyanjan steadied the Sri Lanka innings with a stand of 72, but the Lions remained well in control when drizzle set in – with 164 for 4 after 30 overs, the Sri Lankans were 88 runs short on the Duckworth-Lewis Method.The Lions players now return to their counties to play in Friday’s round of NatWest T20 Blast fixtures, before reassembling in Canterbury on Saturday ahead of the last two matches of the Tri-Series at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence – against Pakistan on Sunday and Sri Lanka on Monday.Surrey’s teenage allrounder Sam Curran will join his elder brother Tom in the squad for those games, provided both come through a Blast game against Sussex Sharks at the Kia Oval on Friday night.

While these two matches are huge for the cricket economy and its globalisation – in terms of staging and not participation – the cricket carries more subtext than your usual bilateral Twenty20 internationals

The Preview by Sidharth Monga26-Aug-2016

Match facts

Saturday, August 27, 2016
Start time 1000 local (1400 GMT)2:13

Fans in the USA want to be a part of history in Florida

Big Picture

Despite the format’s popularity, it is fair to say bilateral Twenty20 internationals are not the newest fad in town. The sheer amount of effort and perseverance required to win a Test match gives importance to even dead rubbers. Bilateral ODIs are still a series, and 100 overs is a long enough duration for narratives to develop. Twenty20, more than any other format, needs a larger context: two points that might push you up a league table or a win that might save you from elimination from a World T20. Bilateral T20 series are played either at the end or start of a long tour almost as an afterthought; they are usually so unimportant that teams hardly bother with getting visas for their T20 specialists.However, these two, to be played over a weekend in Lauderhill in Florida, between world champions West Indies and the team they beat in the World T20 semi-final, India, are different. They carry an important context. While this is not the first time international cricket is being played in America, India v West Indies – two teams with a large expat following there – is way bigger than New Zealand playing Sri Lanka or West Indies.Cricket economy mostly runs around India. So when India go to America with all their delegates, when they sell the TV rights, when they sell the trophy rights, it becomes a big experiment for the future of cricket. This could even be a test run for a second IPL, a mini version, in America going forward; CPL has already had a stint in America that can’t be termed unsuccessful.While these two matches are huge for the cricket economy and its globalisation – in terms of staging and not participation – the cricket carries more subtext than your usual bilateral Twenty20 internationals. Who can forget Darren Sammy’s impassioned speech after he led West Indies to their second World T20 title? Well, the WICB wants you to forget the man himself. He has been dropped despite his stellar performance in the CPL. Leading them now is Carlos “remember the name” Brathwaite.West Indies’ T20 success is down to their individual professionalism rather than the administration. Dropping an inspirational leader such as Sammy is not the first time the establishment has been less than conducive to their best performance; can they continue to excel regardless?India’s leader, on the other hand, is a man much relieved because he is not playing Tests anymore, but that means whatever limited-overs cricket he leads India in becomes extra important for him. He has not tasted first-hand the joys of beating Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies in Tests recently. Over the last year the two highlights for him have been the Asia Cup win and perhaps the Twenty20 series win in Australia. When a player doesn’t get chances in all formats, his shortcomings in the only formats he plays can get magnified. The home series defeat to South Africa, and his failure at finishing off a chase against Zimbabwe means people will keep raising questions if he is going to be around for the 2019 World Cup.

Form guide

India WWLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies WLWWW

In the spotlight

Start time of 10 am on the weekend. Such an early start is okay for a Test or for an ODI, but defeats the whole idea of T20 as evening-time family entertainment. While this could affect the attendance at the stadium – healthy crowd is still important for the organisers – a prime time TV start for the Indian audience is what brings in the money from the broadcasters.Sammy might not be playing these matches, but that can’t spell much relief for the opposition. His replacement is the now-fit Kieron Pollard. He had an indifferent IPL and CPL after missing out on World T20, and will be looking forward to getting back in form.Ajinkya Rahane does not feature in India’s first XI when everybody is fit for a Twenty20 international. While India seem to have dropped Suresh Raina and haven’t bothered with asking Manish Pandey to travel all the way from the A tour of Australia for just two three-hour games, Rahane is likely to get an opportunity to present his case.

Team news

India are likely to draft Mohammed Shami back in looking at his impressive comeback in Tests. Jasprit Bumrah should play. The other quick bowler could be a toss-up between Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav, depending on how much batting they need from the said bowler. It will be interesting to see how Dhoni goes with his spinners given how he wasn’t very trusting of R Ashwin’s offspin in the World T20 and in the IPL.India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 KL Rahul, 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 7 Stuart Binny/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 8 Ravindra Jadeja/Amit Mishra, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed ShamiSunil Narine is back with a cleared action, and should take Sulieman Benn’s place.*West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Andre Fletcher, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Lendl Simmons, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Kieron Pollard, 9 Carlos Brathwaite (capt.), 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Samuel Badree

Pitch and conditions

According to , the 10 inches of rain so far this month in Miami makes it the eighth-wettest August on record. A magnificent lightning show danced across the Fort Lauderdale sky almost non-stop from 7 pm until well after midnight on Thursday. A tropical low currently just north of Haiti and nearing the Bahamas is threatening to develop into the Atlantic tropical season’s eighth named storm as Tropical Storm Hermine. Preliminary forecasts are showing that if it forms into a full-fledged Hurricane, it may be on track to hit south Florida on Sunday.

Stats and trivia

• In 2010 Lauderhill threw up a slow tacky surface, which produced only one score of over 100 in two matches, but there was more T20 entertainment in store in 2012 when West Indies piled on 209 and 177 to beat New Zealand.
• The first-innings scores in the CPL matches in Lauderhill ranged between 206 and 137. Three of the six matches were won by sides batting first.
• Dwayne Bravo is one wicket short of becoming only the third player to reach the double of 1000 runs and 50 wickets in T20Is. Shahid Afridi and Shakib Al Hasan await him at the club.

Quotes

“The only thing that we are doing is that we will prepare as best as we can because India is going to be coming looking for revenge for the semi-final loss and we have to make sure that we are ready for whatever they bring to us.”
“West Indies has always been a tough side, they are the T20 world champions. They are quality cricketers and have shown consistently how good they are and we had a tough match in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup as well. In terms of the quality that we are going to encounter, we are aware of that.”
*18.20GMT, August 26: The preview had erroneously mentioned Denesh Ramdin as part of the West Indies squad.

West Indies captain Jason Holder has credited Shoaib Malik as the catalyst for Pakistan’s series-clinching victory in the second ODI at Sharjah

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2016West Indies captain Jason Holder has credited Shoaib Malik as the catalyst for Pakistan’s series-clinching victory in the second ODI at Sharjah. Pakistan had lost two wickets in three balls to bring Shoaib to the crease at 40 for 2 in the sixth over, but the allrounder scored 90 off 84 balls and teamed with Babar Azam to add 169 for the third wicket to put Pakistan back on course for a match-winning total.”If I go back to our innings when we bowled, I just felt we leaked too many boundaries at a crucial stage of the innings,” Holder said after the game. “I thought Shoaib Malik played an outstanding innings. He changed the impetus in terms of the middle overs. I think he put us under some pressure in the middle overs which we probably didn’t react to as well as we would like.”

Successful nations have given their team time – Azhar

Pakistan’s ODI captain Azhar Ali has asked fans and other stakeholders in the country’s cricket set-up to be patient with the results of a side that he said is still rebuilding.
“A team takes one-and-a-half to two years to rebuild, regardless of how many times the captain changes. In Pakistan, the rebuilding process has always been short because we don’t have patience,” he said, speaking to the media after his team clinched the three-match ODI series against West Indies with a 59-run win in the second match in Sharjah. “We want to win immediately. When a team is rebuilding you also play and lose. In our nation, if the team is not winning, you get frustrated and want to change everything. Any nation that has done well in cricket has given their team time. As a nation, the various stakeholders will also have to take this responsibility. Most importantly, the people who play in the middle need to be patient and need to play with a lot of confidence.”
Azhar was also effusive in his praise for 21-year old Babar Azam, who struck a second successive ODI century, scoring 123 off 126 balls in Pakistan’s win.
“We know how talented Babar Azam is, we know how capable he is. He was playing really well in England, but couldn’t convert his 30s and 40s into a big score. We spoke to him and he realised that as a batsman, you don’t want to score 30-40 when you get set. That’s a tough period, and you want to score big. And he really converted those two big hundreds.”

Holder defended his tactics after the game when asked if he had attacked enough with Pakistan two men down inside the Powerplay. Sulieman Benn, who Holder said was his best bowler in the first ODI, was held back until the 19th over, but Shoaib responded to his arrival by hitting him for a six in his first and second overs before striking three more off consecutive deliveries in the 27th.”Our most successful bowler in the last game was Sulieman Benn and he was taken to by Shoaib Malik,” Holder said. “Again I thought Shoaib truly changed the momentum of the game there. I didn’t think Benn bowled badly but I just think he got on top of Benn at that stage. I went to my two wicket-takers and Sulieman Benn at that stage. He got the better of Benn today.”The West Indies captain also paid tribute to Babar Azam, who top-scored with 123 for his second century in as many games. Holder had encountered Azam at junior level too and said his batting pedigree was just as strong then.”I first saw Babar a couple years ago in Under-19 cricket and he scored a hundred against us there,” Holder said. “He’s a good player. I felt he played really really nicely. He assessed the conditions quite well and he took his time. He was able to take his time in both innings. He had lots of overs to bat and I think credit must go to the way he played. Having said that as I said before, we could tighten up a bit more especially on the boundaries that we leaked and I think once we do that we can make it a lot more competitive.Facing a target of 338, Holder said he felt it was not out of reach. However, a clump of wickets fell between the 35th and 45th overs, disrupting momentum at a pivotal time.”Chasing 330 odd, you really need to stay up with the run rate,” Holder said. “We fell behind, not too far behind quite early but I still felt we were in the game with 20 overs left. We had bargained for 160 odd to chase in 20 overs or probably 180 odd in the last 20 but at the end of the day we were probably too far behind. It was a lot to do for the lower half. I thought the Pakistani bowlers bowled well and made it difficult for us to hit.”Despite the loss, Holder remained positive about the improvements made from the first ODI loss. He highlighted Alzarri Joseph’s performance on debut – 2 for 51 in eight overs – and said the team had done well in certain periods but that the team needed to find more consistency to come out on top.”There’s still quite a few positives we can look at,” Holder said. “Alzarri Joseph making his debut today I thought he was pretty outstanding. Kraigg Brathwaite coming into his second game, he showed a lot more promise, a lot more fight. Darren Bravo getting a score as well and Marlon Samuels continuing his good form. So still a few positives to look at. I just think we just need to bring together that one complete game.”

India A blew away a strong opening partnership by losing four quick wickets and ended the third day of their four-day game still 108 runs behind Australia A with six wickets remaining in their second innings

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2016
ScorecardIndia A blew away a strong opening partnership by losing four quick wickets and ended the third day of their four-day game still 108 runs behind Australia A with six wickets remaining in their second innings.Australia A, who began the day on 5 for 319 in their first innings, piled on 435 for a first-innings lead of 266 runs, with Hilton Cartwright, who was unbeaten on 99 overnight, completing his century. He eventually fell for 117, caught behind off Shardul Thakur, who completed his tenth first-class five-wicket haul and first outside India. He finished with figures of 5 for 101.India A then lost their first four wickets in a cluster – three to Jon Holland, the left-arm spinner, and one to a run out – to finish the day on 4 for 158, with opener Akhil Herwadkar unbeaten on 82 and Sanju Samson giving him company on 34. Holland had 3 for 59 after 15 overs.He could have had four had he not dropped Faiz Fazal off his own bowling. That was one of four reprieves handed to the India A openers during the course of a chancy 84-run partnership. Herwadkar was dropped twice, first by Nic Maddinson at first slip, and then on 53, when Jackson Bird put down a tough chance at leg slip. The dropped catches apart, Australia A also missed a run-out opportunity.India A’s opening partnership ended with a chaotic run-out – a throw at the striker’s end missed the stumps before Travis Dean, backing up, hit the other end to catch Fazal short of his ground. Fazal had played second fiddle to Herwadkar, contributing 29 off 88 balls with two fours and a six. Thereafter, Holland struck three times. First, Karun Nair was trapped lbw, before Manish Pandey was caught by Beau Webster, and finally, Naman Ojha was caught by Bird with the score having touched 100.Herwadkar and Samson then came together for an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 58. Samson faced 76 balls for his unbeaten 34, while Herwadkar had faced 188 balls and struck six fours and three sixes.When the day began, Cartwright added 37 more to Australia’s overnight total with Sam Whiteman. After he was dismissed, having faced 193 balls and struck 15 fours and a six, Whiteman batted on. Whiteman, who was unbeaten on 9 overnight, raised a half-century. His 100-ball 51, along with contributions from Kane Richardson (19) and No. 10 Jackson Bird (24), ensured that the lead swelled.

Two of South Africa’s least experienced batsmen – Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock – fought back with half-centuries on the first day in Perth, but Australia remained on top at the tea break

The Report by Brydon Coverdale03-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:04