All posts by csb10.top

India’s prospects of challenging Australia in the ongoing Test series were jolted when an injured Zaheer Khan was ruled out of the series. With Sreesanth on the sidelines, it meant that both of India’s new-ball bowlers from the previous away Test series – in England – would miss part of the action in Australia.The constant injuries to Indian fast bowlers, according to Javagal Srinath, are due to two reasons: Indian first-class cricket doesn’t prepare fast bowlers for the physical and mental demands of international cricket, and that the players are not good at injury management at a personal level.”The injury management has to start from the players themselves,” Srinath said. “Fast bowling is all about self-learning. Injuries will always be a part of a fast bowler’s career. It’s how you manage them. Once you play international cricket, especially undertake fast bowling which is unnatural to normal life, you have to work around the injuries.”Knowing your body is very important. Outsiders can’t read your body at all, you are the best doctor and physiotherapist. When you can’t really understand your inner voices or body, you look out for help.”TA Sekhar, the head coach at the MRF Pace Academy, has an interesting take on it. According to him, most of the injuries have root in technical faults in the bowling actions. And the bowling coach travelling with the team can’t keep a tab on technical deficiencies, as the game strategy is foremost on his mind. And there is no back-end support in India to work on bowler’s techniques, to understand the inner voices the bowler himself can’t hear.Working around the injuries, according to Srinath, doesn’t mean hiding them and playing on. “If you carry an injury into a match, which calls for more than 100% effort, you are hurting both yourself and the team. If a bowler goes through a match with an injury and doesn’t perform up to his best, his career will be in tatters. If somebody is doing that, he is doing at his own peril.”Srinath doesn’t buy into the argument about the increased workload. “The workload has increased for every team, and not only for India. Earlier too, people used to go play county cricket for six months and come back and play international cricket. Workload is kind of over-rated. The body can take breaks at the correct times and you will be doing fine.”But once a player does get injured, India, according to Srinath, is primitive in terms of sport medicine and physiotherapy. “That is also compounding the problems at Ranji Trophy level and below. Only international players get the top facility.”A Ranji player has to take a big leap when he graduates to international level. “The gap is too big. The cricket played in Ranji Trophy is not even 20% of what you play at international level. In terms of quality of wickets, batsmen, in terms of mental make-up.”The turnover of fast bowlers and the quality has definitely improved since Srinath’s retirement, but none of the bowlers has been able to sustain the quality for a consistent injury-free time. The search, as we speak, is still on.

Reports that Stephen Mangongo, the former head of Zimbabwe’s selectors, had been suspended from Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) were confirmed in the weekend’s newspaper in Harare.Mangongo, along with Givemore Makoni, the general manger of Mashonaland Cricket Association (MCA), were suspended for unspecified reasons, although it is thought that it relates to the recent move by the MCA to bring a vote of no confidence against the ZC board.The unrest against the board surfaced last week, and it is believed that senior MCA officials want to take their case to the ICC. The official meeting to discuss the vote of no confidence is due to take place on Wednesday (December 22).But Peter Chingoka, ZC’s chairman, sought to turn the tables on the dissenters, claiming that the MCA’s move was no more than a bid to cover up an investigation into the conduct of some officials, including Mangongo, at the Takashinga club.A local reporter told Cricinfo that the news of Mangongo’s suspension was not surprising. "They are out to fix him," he said, pointing out that his position and influence within the board had been weakening steadily in recent months. He was replaced as head of selectors at the AGM in August, when it was stated that he would be in India on a coaching course for most of the year, but he has remained in Zimbabwe. "That was a way of getting rid of him," the source added, "and it succeeded."There are also reports – unsubstantiated – that was an attempt to remove Max Ebrahim, the current head of selectors, as chairman of Masvingo.

ScorecardThree quick wickets from Robert Croft put Glamorgan in a strong position against India A at Swansea. A spell of 3 for 3 in 14 balls from Croft helped reduce India A to 149 for 6 before the rain came down in the 53rd over.After they won the toss and chose to bat, India A were in early trouble after Glamorgan’s David Harrison struck twice early on to leave them teetering on 26 for 2. Satyajit Parab was the first to go when he was caught by Croft for only 4 (7 for 1), and then Shiv Sunder Das was also caught, by Dean Cosker for 14.However, Sridharam Sriram (62) and Rohan Gavaskar (61) then led the recovery. They put on 116 in 35 overs before both were dismissed by Croft. Gavaskar was well caught by Owen Parkin at short third man as he miscued an attempted drive off Darren Thomas (142 for 3). And Sriram was later caught at first slip by Mike Powell, after hitting six fours in his patient innings (149 for 6).In between those wickets, Hemang Badani was Croft’s second victim when he was adjudged lbw for 0 as he padded up (146 for 5) and Vijay Bharadwaj also fell leg before, to Parkin (154 for 4).That all meant that India A had lost four wickets for only seven runs, but heavy rain meant that no further play was possible.

While Muttiah Muralitharan’s record-breaking achievement in the first Test overshadowed the enormity of Zimbabwe’s defeat, there will no hiding place for them this time in what promises to be another one-sided whopping, starting at Bulawayo tomorrow.If the sacking of the rebel players, coupled with the innings-and-240-run defeat at Harare weren’t bad enough, Zimbabwe will be without Blessing Mahwire, one of their more experienced bowlers with all of six Tests, for the second match. He was reported to the ICC for having a suspect bowling action during the first Test and has been dropped.Mahwire is now in Stage One of the ICC’s process for dealing with bowlers with suspect actions. This allows him to continue playing international cricket while working with specialist advisors, but the selectors have decided to scrap him. His place has been taken by Mark Vermeulen, who has recovered from a head injury sustained against Australia early on this year. Meanwhile, Prosper Utseya has failed to recover from a shoulder injury, and will be replaced by Tawanda Mupariwa, who is set to make his Test debut.Sri Lanka are expected to name an unchanged side, with the likes of Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya expected to rack up their run-tally, and Murali sure to stretch the gap at the top of the Test wickets list. However, he won’t be bowling his controversial doosra after it was outlawed by the ICC. “I have done all the tests that are required and the reports have gone to the ICC,” Murali said. “At the end of the day, what matters is what the report, the expert, my cricket board and the ICC say.”Geoff Marsh, Zimbabwe’s coach, admitted that it was going to be another tough battle for his side. “The guys are in good spirits even though we got beaten pretty well, and they’re looking to this Test match to improve,” he said. “We’re up against a very good side and we didn’t play well enough in any areas.”One stat to give Zimbabwe an ounce of encouragement, however, is that Sri Lanka have failed to win at Bulawayo in two attempts, but then again, Zimbabwe have yet to record a victory against Sri Lanka anywhere. And that is unlikely to change in the next few days.Zimbabwe 1 Tatenda Taibu (capt, wk), 2 Dion Ebrahim, 3 Mark Vermeulen, 4 Stuart Matsikenyeri, 5 Brendan Taylor 6 Alester Maregwede, 7 Tawanda Mupariwa, 8 Mluleki Nkala, 9 Douglas Hondo, 10 Tinashe Panyangara, 11 Elton Chigumbura.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Thilan Samaraweera (wk), 7 Prasanna Jayawardene, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Nuwan Zoysa, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Frizzell County Championship Division One
Table

Lancashire 225 for 2 v Sussex at Old Trafford
Scorecard
Leaders Sussex, requiring 10 points from their remaining two games to secure their first title, were frustrated by the rain and then Lancashire in a shortened day’s play at a gloomy Manchester. After the morning had been washed out, Lancashire soon lost openers Mark Chilton, superbly caught behind, and Iain Sutcliffe (52 for 2). But then Mal Loye (110 not out) and Stuart Law (65 not out) revived the innings with an unbroken stand of 157 for the third wicket. Mushtaq Ahmed toiled in vain for his 100th wicket of the season, but despite remaining wicketless he was the pick of the Sussex bowlers.Leicestershire 151 for 6 v Kent at Leicester
Scorecard
Only 47 overs were possible at Grace Road today due to rain, in which time John Maunders scored 76 not out for Leicestershire, but Muttiah Muralitharan struck back with 3 for 17 to give Kent the edge. Maunders and Brad Hodge (31) made a good start to reach 71 for 1, but then Murali turned it on. He took three wickets in nine overs as Leicestershire faltered to 151 for 6.Nottinghamshire 316 for 5 v Middlesex at Lord’s
Scorecard
They may be down, but Notts finished their first day against Middlesex on a high, reaching a healthy 316 for 5. In the 77 overs possible, Russell Warren led the way with an unbeaten 100 from 161 balls, including 13 fours. Jason Gallian gave Notts a good platform with 73 at the top of the order, and Kevin Pietersen (70) then added 128 with Warren to give Notts a rare good day’s work in the Championship.Frizzell County Championship Division Two
Table
Somerset 409 v Derbyshire 32 for 0 at Taunton
Scorecard
Ian Blackwell marked his return to the England one-day international team with a blistering 247 not out from 156 balls, including an astonishing 27 fours and 11 sixes. Blackwell came in with Somerset struggling at 31 for 4 after Dominic Cork, who took 6 for 92, ripped out three early wickets. Blackwell then put on partnerships of 64 with Richard Johnson (25), and 70 with Simon Francis (18), but they were then eclipsed when Nixon McLean, dropped at slip by Andrew Gait before he had scored, settled in to score 39 and add 163 with Blackwell, a last-wicket partnership record for Somerset. Blackwell clubbed his maiden double-century off only 136 balls, with the second hundred coming off 41 deliveries. The amazing onslaught took the shine off Cork’s excellent bowling in the morning session and loosened Derbyshire’s grip on the game.Northants 319 v Glamorgan 20 for 0 at Cardiff
Scorecard
Mike Hussey followed such esteemed names as Sir Donald Bradman and Brian Lara by scoring his fifth consecutive century, for Northants against Glamorgan. He hammered an imperious 147, including 25 fours, as Northants amassed 319. Hussey was finally the last man out, receiving support from only Tim Roberts (41) and Phil Jaques (28). Meanwhile Robert Croft showed the England selectors what they will be missing in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka this winter with 5 for 93 to peg back Northants’s progress. Jimmy Maher and Mark Wallace guided Glamorgan to 20 for 0 at the close.Gloucestershire 374 v Durham 2 for 0 at Bristol
Scorecard
As Jonty Rhodes nears his retirement, he bid farewell in style with a stylish 103 to put Gloucestershire in command against Durham. Rhodes hit 10 fours and three sixes, and added 131 with Tim Hancock, who scored 97. Craig Spearman also hit 59, while Shoaib Akhtar and Graeme Bridge took three wickets each as Durham closed the first day on 2 for 0.

Despite the presence of Dinesh Karthik, a specialist wicketkeeper-batsman in the squad, Rahul Dravid will continue with his role behind the stumps as India take on England in the NatWest Challenge. Sourav Ganguly comfirmed as much on the eve of the three-match series, as he defended his team’s tactic of playing with seven batsmen.”I think we need a good wicketkeeper-batsman,” said Ganguly, in a tete-a-tete with the media. “Good teams have good wicketkeeper-batsmen and if you look at the one-day games we have played, we have won with seven batsmen. We don’t have a genuine all-rounder as other sides have and so we cannot afford that liberty. It has worked for us.”He made it clear that the specialist wicketkeeper had been included as a fall-back option just in case Dravid suffered some sort of injury. “Rahul is doing a good job behind the stumps and we do not need to change something that is not creating a problem,” said Ganguly. “It gives us an opportunity to include an extra batsman and increase the batting depth of the team. We travel with a specialist keeper in case Rahul gets injured but to start with we go with Rahul Dravid as our keeper.”India will face a selection dilemma or two in the run-up to the Trent Bridge game. With Sachin Tendulkar ruled out by tennis elbow, Rohan Gavaskar appears certain to be given a run in the middle order, and that leaves Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to fight for the lone spin slot, assuming that the team stick to the seven-batsmen philosophy.Irfan Pathan and Lakshmipathy Balaji – who bowled his way back into form in Amstelveen – are near certainties to play, and Ashish Nehra, who destroyed England with his swing bowling at the last World Cup, should edge out Ajit Agarkar for the final spot.Ganguly suggested as much. “Pathan and Balaji have been bowling well. They are both good swingers of the cricket ball. It is a first trip here for both of them and I hope they do well. Ashish Nehra has been bowling well. The guys who will swing the ball in these conditions will do well.”While it’s Pathan first tour with the senior side, he has been to England three times previously with various representative sides, including the U-19s last year.India’s last one-day assignment here resulted in a memorable triumph in the NatWest Series final, but Ganguly suggested that England – who have won 16 of their last 23 Tests – would pose a far sterner test this time round. “I think we have played well over the last two years but that does not guarantee we will play well in this tournament,” said Ganguly.”We will have to be at our best. That is the past and we will have to raise our game. Winning 10 out of 11 Test matches is an outstanding achievement. England are a good side and we will have to play well to beat them.”

Pakistan today announced their squad for the opening Test against South Africa, which starts at Lahore on Friday (Oct 14). Yousuf Youhana takes over the captaincy from the injured Inzamam-ul-Haq, but the major surprise was the recall of the former captain Moin Khan.Moin, 32, has not played international cricket since March 2001, when he was replaced as captain after a string of poor results, culminating in the series defeat by England in December 2000. He led the side in the following series in New Zealand, but was forced out of the team with a knee injury, was replaced by Waqar Younis as captain, and then cast into the wilderness. However, with Rashid Latif refusing to play in this series after his sudden resignation, Moin has another chance.Also recalled were Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat and Misbah-ul-Haq, but there was no place for Younis Khan or Abdul Razzaq. Mushtaq Ahmed’s inclusion was subject to his recovery from a stomach-muscle injury, while Umar Gul is on standby. The 16-man squad included just one uncapped player in Asim Kamal, a middle-order batsman.”The team has been selected on the availability of players, current performance and form,” said Aamer Sohail, the chairman of selectors. “We understand that there are some injury concerns and that did make our task difficult. However, the squad has been picked with the consent of the team management.”Meanwhile, Inzamam is expected to be fit for next week’s second Test at Faisalabad. He pulled a hamstring during the second ODI last week, and although he played in Sunday’s series decider he was clearly incapacitated. “Tauseef Razzak [Pakistan’s team doctor] examined Inzamam,” explained Haroon Rashid, the Pakistan manager, “and has confirmed he needs at least a week’s rest to recover from his hamstring strain.”Squad
Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Yousuf Youhana (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan (wk), Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Mushtaq Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Shabbir Ahmed, Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal (wk).

ScorecardThe bad weather continued to blight New Zealand’s preparations for the first Test at Worcestershire today, where only 27 overs were possible due to rain.In that time, however, New Zealand were also frustrated by Worcestershire’s No. 10, Nadeem Malik, who belted 39 not out off only 36 balls for the best first-class score of his career as his side declared on 270 for 9.Malik, 21, gave his side a valuable contribution, as his cameo innings followed a collapse, with Worcestershire tumbling from their overnight score of 163 for 3 to 226 for 9.Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey were in the wickets for New Zealand, with Tuffey taking the big scalp of Ben Smith, caught by Stephen Fleming for 92. Bond removed Kadeer Ali and Andrew Hall in quick succession before Tuffey took centre stage. After he got rid of Smith, he removed David Pipe for a duck.Steve Rhodes was dismissed by Chris Martin, and Matt Mason was trapped lbw to Vettori. But Malik added 44 with Mark Harrity for the last wicket.

After weeks of anxious waiting, Zimbabwe’s forthcoming tour of England was finally given the go-ahead today, as a 20-man squad was announced by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. The party will be captained by Heath Streak, and leaves Harare for London on April 29, after permission was granted by the Zimbabwean government’s Sports and Recreation Commission. The tour has been in the balance ever since England’s boycott of their World Cup fixture in Harare, and there had been widespread speculation that Robert Mugabe’s regime might have decided on a tit-for-tat retaliation.Peter Chingoka, the chairman of the ZCU, finally received a telephone call on Friday approving the tour from Anthony Mandiwanza, the commission’s chairman, and Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the ECB, was officially informed of the decision today. “I am delighted we have been given the definitive green light,” said Lamb, “This guarantees a full international programme for the summer, including the first-ever Test match to be held at Durham’s Riverside Ground. With Zimbabwe, South Africa and Pakistan touring, I look forward to another great summer of international cricket.”Quite what sort of a challenge Zimbabwe will be able to mount, however, is anyone’s guess. Their squad has been weakened by the loss of four key players, including the irreplaceable figure of Andy Flower, who was obliged to retire following his black-armband protest during Zimbabwe’s opening match of the World Cup.The extrovert fast bowler, Henry Olonga, who joined Flower in mourning the “death of democracy” in Zimbabwe, has also been driven out of the national side, and the former captains Alistair Campbell and Guy Whittall have also played their final matches. Although the selectors have picked just the one debutant, Vusimuzi Sibanda, a fast bowler, the inexperience of the side is summed up by the promotion of Tatenda Taibu, the 19-year-old wicketkeeper, to the vice-captaincy.Fifteen players have been selected for the two-Test series, which starts at Lord’s on May 22, with a further five earmarked for the triangular NatWest Series, which also includes South Africa.Zimbabwe squad Heath Streak (capt), Tatenda Taibu (vice-capt), Grant Flower, Dion Ebrahim, Mark Vermeulen, Barney Rogers, Sean Ervine, Andy Blignaut, Mluleki Nkala, Stuart Carlisle, Ray Price, Travis Friend, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Douglas Hondo, Douglas Marillier.Additional players for the one-day matches Gary Brent, Waddington Mwayenga, Stuart Matsikenyere, Charles Coventry, Richard Sims.

The legspinner, Stuart MacGill, has emerged as a contender for Australia’s make-or-break fifth Test at The Oval next week, as their coach, John Buchanan, sized up the options available to his team. Australia need a victory to secure a 2-2 share of the series and retain the Ashes for the ninth series in a row.MacGill, 34, has taken 160 wickets in 33 Tests since making his debut in 1998, but the pre-eminence of Shane Warne has restricted him to a walk-on role in the Australian squad. Nevertheless, against England, MacGill has a remarkable tally of 39 wickets in just six Tests, and he could be called upon to replace the ineffectual Michael Kasprowicz, and shore up an attack that has relied too heavily on Shane Warne and Brett Lee.”The Oval historically provides bounce and it provides turn,” Buchanan told AFP. “That aids both pace bowlers who hit the deck and spin bowlers because they actually get bounce with some turn. Therefore, I am sure [chairman of selectors] Trevor Hohns would say, Stuart MacGill is very much in the equation.”Buchanan would not be drawn on any other possible changes, which might include the replacing of Matthew Hayden at the top of the order. Until recently, Hayden was ranked as the No. 1 batsman in the world with an average in excess of 58, but he has failed to pass 70 in his last 30 innings, and has been badly found out by England’s pace attack this summer.Buchanan himself is under some pressure as well. His contract as national coach comes up for renewal in October, and though he wishes to carry on in a role he has held since 1999, the prospect of Ashes defeat will not please his employers, Cricket Australia, who might want to consider a change of direction.”I’m not even thinking about that, it’s not a factor,” Buchanan told AFP, as Australia prepared for their two-day warm-up match against Essex, which starts on Saturday. “My consideration is to simply try and make sure we go into this game in the best possible shape and give ourselves the best possible chance to win it.”The match against Essex is Australia’s last chance for practice ahead of next week’s climatic fifth Test, and Buchanan could not help but acknowledge the possibility of the unthinkable. “If we don’t win it well then obviously there are other decisions to be made after that,” he conceded. “But that’s not an issue for me at the moment. We’ll finish this, and then we’ll sit down with Cricket Australia (CA) and work through that process.”