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Brendon McCullum’s blazing 146 from a mere 115 balls pushed the New Zealand tourists to a firm 4 for 290 against Australia A after a rain and bad light-shortened first day

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2011
Scorecard
Brendon McCullum crashed 21 boundaries and 6 sixes in his 146•Getty ImagesBrendon McCullum’s blazing 146 from a mere 115 balls pushed the New Zealanders to a firm 4 for 290 against Australia A after rain and bad light shortened the first day in Brisbane, at the same time denting the Test hopes of several local fast bowlers.Sent in to bat under overcast skies by the Australia A captain George Bailey, McCullum and his opening partner Martin Guptill added a slick 148 in only 28.2 overs before the first wicket fell, confounding an Australian attack that featured the pacemen Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Starc, Ben Cutting and James Pattinson.Each fast man was taken for more than four runs an over, as McCullum pelted the boundaries of Allan Border Field with no fewer than 21 fours and 6 sixes. He was eventually dismissed by Hilfenhaus, heaving rashly outside off stump and being caught behind, though the method had already brought him great success.Cutting, the subject of plenty of early season hype in his native Queensland, was not introduced by Bailey until late in the first session, waiting until even the left-arm spinner Michael Beer had been given a bowl.Aside from Guptill’s quiet 43, Ross Taylor collected an unbeaten 45 as the light began to fade, while Jesse Ryder will be annoyed to have swung a Cutting delivery straight to deep backward square leg on 22.Kane Williamson, scorer of an unbeaten 284 for Northern Districts against Wellington in his last first-class appearance, was the only batsman not to make a start, pinned lbw by Pattinson for three.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has approved its president Mustafa Kamal as its nomination for the ICC presidency

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2011The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has approved the nomination of its president Mustafa Kamal to the ICC presidency. The issue now moves to the ICC, which is expected to formally accept the nomination that will see Kamal assume office as vice-president at the end of the ICC annual conference in 2012 and ascend to the presidency in 2014.The BCB announced the nomination following an emergency board meeting after the PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf had said that the Pakistan board had backed Kamal for the ICC presidency. Under the ICC’s rotation policy, it was the turn of the PCB and the BCB turn to nominate a joint candidate.At the time of Ashraf’s comments, however, Kamal’s nomination was not certain. He had not yet been approved by a majority of BCB directors.

Virat Kohli became India’s first centurion of the tour but Australia remained in complete control on the third day in Adelaide

The Report by Brydon Coverdale26-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPeter Siddle finished with 5 for 49•Getty ImagesSmart stats

Peter Siddle’s haul of 5 for 49 is his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests and his first against India. This is the second time Siddle has taken 20 or more wickets in a series after the Ashes series in 2009.

Virat Kohli’s century is his first in Tests and also the first by an Indian batsman in the series. The last time India played a series of four or more matches with just one century was also against Australia in 2004 when Virender Sehwag scored the solitary hundred.

VVS Laxman fell cheaply again for 18 taking his total tally in the series to 120 in seven innings. His average against Australia slipped below 50 for only the second time since Kolkata 2001.

Sachin Tendulkar’s average in Adelaide (34.77) is the lowest among all Australian venues where he has played at least three Tests. Since his century in Cape Town in January 2011, he has played 21 innings without a century.

The 114-run stand between Kohli and Wriddhiman Saha is the ninth century stand for the sixth wicket for India against Australia. It is also the third such stand for India in Tests in Adelaide.

Australia’s lead of 332 is their fifth-highest against India overall. It is the highest for them in matches when India have batted second. Click here for list of matches when Australia have batted first and here for matches when they have batted second.

Zaheer Khan’s duck is his 25th overall and the sixth time he has been dismissed first ball. He has the most ducks among Indian batsmen.

It took until the third-last day of the series, but India finally found a Test centurion on this tour after Virat Kohli showed the fight that his colleagues have lacked. But on the national holiday of both India and Australia, there was more for the hosts to celebrate, as Peter Siddle finished with five wickets and Australia ended up with a lead of 382. By stumps, India still faced a major challenge to save the Adelaide Test and avoid a whitewash. If they do lose 4-0, it won’t be Kohli’s fault.He was the last man out in India’s innings as he chased quick late runs, and was lbw to Ben Hilfenhaus for 116. The Indians fell 133 short of the follow-on mark but Michael Clarke chose not to enforce it, preferring to give his bowlers a break and ensure India had the task of batting last on a pitch where that isn’t always easy. By stumps, Australia were 3 for 50, but unless India could skittle the rest cheaply on the fourth morning, the wickets meant little to the match.David Warner chipped a return catch to R Ashwin for 28 and Ed Cowan (10) was trapped lbw by Ashwin’s arm ball, but it was the dismissal of Shaun Marsh sandwiched in between those strikes that the Australians least wanted to see. Marsh was lbw to Zaheer Khan for a duck, completing a series in which he has scored 0, 3, 0, 11, 3 and 0, and sealing his certain axing for the tour of the West Indies.At the close, Michael Clarke was on 9 and Ricky Ponting had 1, and Australia were likely to aim to bat until about lunch on the fourth day before giving their bowlers the chance to attack India’s batsmen again. To avoid defeat, India will need somebody else to stand up in that batting line-up besides Kohli, whose maiden Test hundred was the high point of a dismal tour for the batsmen.Kohli did have support from Wriddhiman Saha between lunch and tea, and it appeared the two were going to steer India through a session without losing a wicket, something they haven’t achieved in the series. That goal proved out of reach when Saha misjudged a leave in the final over before tea and lost his off stump on 35 as Ryan Harris nipped the ball back in.After the break, Siddle (5 for 49) was quickly on a hat-trick when he had Ashwin lbw for 5 and then Zaheer nicked behind for a golden duck next delivery. Ishant Sharma survived the hat-trick ball and gave Kohli some support in scoring 16 before he missed a ball on off stump and was bowled by Hilfenhaus, who finished with 3 for 62.Umesh Yadav finished not out without having to face a ball as Kohli picked up a few late boundaries with creative hitting over cover and down the ground, which followed some tense words exchanged between Kohli and some of the Australian fielders. It was a fine innings from Kohli, who brought up his maiden Test hundred with a two through the off side, initially caught up in the moment and celebrating after taking the first run before he realised a second was on offer.He showed his senior colleagues how it was done on a surface not offering a great deal of assistance to the bowlers. In the second session India added 103 as Kohli and Saha both turned the strike over, Kohli especially going for his shots. He brought up his second half-century of the series with a boundary through midwicket off Hilfenhaus, and he was willing to go after the spin of Nathan Lyon and Michael Clarke, including with a slog-sweep for six off Lyon.His fight was important for India after their miserable pre-lunch session, in which they lost three wickets. By the time Australia lost their fifth wicket they had 520 on the board; India had 111. In the first session of the day they lost Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman as the pressure from Australia’s bowlers and fielders built up.Gambhir and Tendulkar survived the initial morning period and took their partnership to 47 before the introduction of Siddle ended the stand and gave Australia a major boost on the national holiday of both countries. He drew an edge from Tendulkar (25) and the ball flew low to second slip, where Ponting did well to get his fingers under the ball to take the catch.Siddle proved himself Clarke’s go-to man when he also got rid of Gambhir for 34. Not for the first time in the series extra bounce troubled Gambhir, who fended a well-directed short ball that flew high into the off side and was snapped by Michael Hussey, who did well to run in from gully and take the catch diving forward.It was a fine spell from Siddle, who entered the match with only one Test wicket for 241 runs at the Adelaide Oval. His strikes were followed by a wicket for Lyon, who turned the ball impressively and found an edge from VVS Laxman (18) when the batsman tried to run the ball fine. Brad Haddin completed the catch, and India’s pain continued.Kohli granted them some relief later in the day, but a mountain of work remained for them to save the match.

Dav Whatmore has arrived in Pakistan to meet with the PCB to discuss what is widely believed to be the terms of taking over as the national team’s head coach

Umar Farooq14-Jan-2012Dav Whatmore, the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach, has arrived in Lahore to meet with the PCB and discuss what is believed to be the terms of his appointment as Pakistan’s head coach. Whatmore has been in talks with the PCB and recently resigned as coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, but an agreement has to be yet to be finalised.Whatmore, who arrived on Saturday morning, was received by Maqsood Ahmed, the logistics manager of the PCB, and taken to the National Cricket Academy. He will meet with the PCB’s coach committee and the board chairman Zaka Ashraf. The appointment of a full-time head coach could possibly be made after the series against England in the UAE.Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed was named bowling coach for the England series but an official announcement about a full-time appointment is awaited. The PCB said recently that the head coach would also play a dual role as a batting coach. The coach committee finalised its recommendations for the three coaching positions and was expected to report to the PCB chairman about the same earlier this month. Julian Fountain is in contention to take over as fielding coach, a role currently held by Ijaz Ahmed.If Whatmore’s appointment is confirmed, he will take over from Mohsin Khan, the current interim coach of the national side. Mohsin was among the 30 people who applied for the coaching position vacated by Waqar Younis, but Ashraf reportedly said he wasn’t qualified to take over the full-time role.

The impasse between the BCCI and Sahara India Parivar continues with the BCCI having sent a proposal to Sahara after its working committee’s meeting in Chennai today

Nagraj Gollapudi13-Feb-2012The impasse between the BCCI and Sahara India continues with the board, whose working committee met on Monday, saying it would not make an exception for the Pune Warriors IPL franchise. N Srinivasan, the BCCI president, said the board had sent a proposal to Sahara but did not mention its details.Sahara is yet to respond to the proposal but the company’s officials have made public the concerns they raised at yesterday’s meeting with the BCCI top brass in Mumbai. These include a replacement player for Yuvraj Singh, who is expected to miss the entire 2012 season; the holding of a player auction next year to level the playing field; a 27% reduction in their annual franchise fee; finding a strategic partner for the franchise; and the fact that Sahara was the only owner asked for a bank guarantee for the franchise fee.BCCI on Sahara pulling out of the Indian team sponsorship

“Sponsors are not going away; in any contractual arrangements you will have to arrange to provide the possibility for change. I don’t think it is fair to say that the BCCI is losing money – it has not lost any money,” N Srinivasan said. “For the properties that we have, I think, we have adequate sponsors now. We may have a problem with the sponsors. We have shown that we will walk the extra mile to show that feeling for the sponsor. But I do not think one has to be concerned that there will be no sponsors.”

ESPNcricinfo has learnt, though, that most of these requests were turned down because they were not in the framework of the IPL’s rules. “Except for allowing them to have a strategic partner on board of the Warriors franchise, no other request was approved,” a member of the BCCI’s working committee said.For the record, Srinivasan said these grievances had been “communicated” to the working committee and the response was positive but “within the framework of its rules.” The board, he said, “cannot create an exception because observance of the regulation strictly is important to the integrity of the league.”Asked if the IPL was willing to accept Sahara’s request to allow a replacement for Yuvraj Singh, Srinivasan said that was possible. “I am told, as per the rules, Sahara can have a replacement for Yuvraj. That is not an issue.”The reality, though, could be different. The BCCI appears wary of giving in too much for fear of “opening a Pandora’s box”, the official said. “Every now and then a franchise would ask for such concessions.”Another problem is time: with the IPL starting on April 4 and the trading window closing at the end of the week there are still issues to sort out. The Sahara camp appears calm, at least for the moment, and is waiting for the BCCI communiqué on today’s developments. “We have kept it open, they have kept it open,” he said.Sahara spoke instead through the two-page document elaborating on the issues that were discussed at Sunday’s meeting. The first request dealt with the replacement for Yuvraj, who is being treated for cancer. Sahara said it proposed an open auction of players in 2013 to ensure a level playing field; until then, it said, the team should be allowed one extra foreign player in the XI.Sahara also said it had bid for the franchise – eventually paying $370 million – on the basis of a 94-match IPL, but only 74 games were played in 2011. Accordingly, it sought a 27% cut in its annual franchise fee. “Considering the reduced number of matches that actually took place against the earlier representation of BCCI before tendering for the new franchise, we have ended up bidding 27% extra if we go by the revenues that we would have accrued from media rights, gate receipts, sponsorship revenue etc. There has to be a reduction in the Franchise Fee as per the above,” Sahara’s statement said.The BCCI’s contention, though, was that the tender for the new franchises in 2010 did not mention a specific number of matches.Sahara’s other key demand concerned the bank guarantee it was paying to the BCCI against the franchise fee. Roy is believed to have told Srinivasan that it was “discriminatory” to ask them to pay the bank guarantee when none of the original eight franchises did the same. The BCCI official, though, said the large sums involved in the 2010 auction – the Pune franchise fetched more than five times the price of some of the original franchises – necessitated some sort of guarantee.

A round-up of the matches in the One-Day National Cup 2012, Division Two

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2012Usman Arshad rescued Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) with a steady, unbeaten 70, leading them to a four-wicket victory against Peshawar Panthers at the Arbab Niaz Stadium.Having chosen to field, SNGPL managed to dismiss Peshawar for 179, with Asad Ali and Raza Ali Dar taking 4 for 38 and 3 for 30 respectively. Mohamamd Rizwan (65) and Gauhar Ali (31) were the only batsmen to make contributions of note to the Peshawar total.Peshawar, however, were strong at the start of the defence, reducing SNGPL to 30 for 5. Adnan Akmal, Azeem Ghumman and Ali Waqas were dismissed for a duck. But Arshad, along with Raza Ali (36) and Yasir Shah (35) ensured victory with 18 balls to spare. Riaz Afridi and Waqar Ahmed took two wickets each for Peshawar.SNGPL have finished their league matches, winning two and losing two to earn four points. Peshawar, despite losing this game, are at the top of table with four points and one match to go.

Charlotte Edwards, the England Women’s captain, has said that a new initiative launched to increase opportunities for girls to take up cricket in school can help to provide the next generation of players for the national side.

Alan Gardner26-Apr-2012Charlotte Edwards, the England Women’s captain, has said that a new initiative launched to increase opportunities for girls to take up cricket in school can help to provide the next generation of players for the national side.Edwards is involved as a coach and mentor with Chance to Shine, the programme set up in 2005 by the Cricket Foundation charity to increase participation in cricket among children, and was at Lord’s on Wednesday for the launch of Girls on the Front Foot, which aims to raise £250,000 in support of coaching and awareness for girls’ cricket.”Definitely, the game needs girls coming through and it would be great to have someone who got into cricket that way reach the England team,” Edwards said. “It’s really good for the girls to meet England players at coaching sessions and then they can go and look us up on scorecards afterwards.”Edwards said that the initiative was important to help raise awareness of the game among girls, with several members of the England team combining coaching in schools with their training schedules. The Girls on the Front Foot board features women from business and sport, including Edwards, the ECB’s head of women’s cricket, Clare Connor, Tesco executive director Lucy Neville-Rolfe and Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar.Since its foundation, over 620,000 girls have participated in clubs run by Chance to Shine, with the number of girls playing cricket in school rising from 25,049 in 2006 to 156,577 in 2011.”I am delighted to be involved with the Chance to Shine girls’ board,” Edwards said. “It is amazing to see this collection of high-powered women come together for such a worthy cause. In my dual role as England captain and Chance to Shine coaching ambassador it is fantastic to go into schools around the country and see girls playing cricket.””I grew up on a potato farm and I’d probably still be there picking potatoes if it wasn’t for cricket. Now it’s so accessible for girls, you don’t have to stumble across a women’s pathway, there’s a very clear pathway for girls wanting to play cricket. But it’s more than that, we’re developing young people here and that’s just as important.”Despite her increased involvement with Chance to Shine, Edwards, 32, has not yet turned her thoughts to retirement and hopes to lead England in regaining the World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka later this year. England are also the Women’s World Cup holders, with the next tournament to be held in India next year. “While I’m still happy with my game, I will definitely continue playing,” Edwards said.

Middlesex have signed Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, as their second overseas player for this season’s Friends Life t20

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2012Middlesex have signed Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, as their second overseas player for this season’s Friends Life t20. The move, which was first reported by ESPNcricinfo, means one of the world’s premier Twenty20 bowlers will be performing in England’s domestic competition.Malinga, 28, currently has the second-highest wickets tally in the 2012 IPL, with 20 from nine appearances for Mumbai Indians. He is due to join up with Middlesex after playing for Sri Lanka in their one-day international and T20I series against Pakistan in June, meaning he will miss the opening three games of the FLt20.In 106 T20 matches, Malinga has taken 151 wickets at an average of 16.40, with an economy of 6.53 runs per over. He has previously played in England for Kent.Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said: “We are all naturally thrilled about the prospect of a player of Lasith’s talent coming to the club. In T20 cricket every county is looking for a bowler that provides their attack with variety, the ability to bowl during Powerplays and at the death, basically something different from the norm and in Lasith we will have the best in the world.”In 2011 we had a disappointing T20 campaign and we are looking for the players to react positively and improve on last season’s performances this summer. The addition of Lasith can only help us achieve this goal.”Edited by Alan Gardner

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils in Chennai

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria11-May-2012Match factsSaturday, May 12, Chennai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Super Kings need to give Albie Morkel more time in the middle•AFPBig PictureWith Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders comfortably placed at the top of the points table, there’s a crowd in the middle vying for the two other knockout places. The last three days have, in fact, seen three different teams at fourth spot. A win for Chennai Super Kings can take them into the top four ahead of another tricky match away to Kolkata.Super Kings made heavy weather of a relatively simple chase against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday, only to be rescued by Albie Morkel and S Anirudha. In fact their batting has failed to reprise its form of previous seasons and that is reflected quite clearly in the struggles of Suresh Raina. MS Dhoni, who has changed the batting order frequently, has himself been a slow scorer. Their most impactful batsman, Albie Morkel, has faced only 59 deliveries and follows Ravindra Jadeja in the order; his team probably needs to give him more time in the middle.Daredevils, on the other hand, are in cruise control. On the same day that Super Kings almost fluffed their chase against Royals, Daredevils’ David Warner and Naman Ojha made a mockery of a seemingly tall target in Hyderabad. Warner filled Kevin Pietersen’s boots by slamming a century in his second game this season and Ojha’s class allayed doubts about the quality of Daredevils’ Indian batting. Virender Sehwag has had two low scores after five consecutive fifties and he would aim to close the gap with Chris Gayle in the race for the orange cap. He would also want to settle score with Ben Hilfenhaus, who got him three times during the Tests on the tour of Australia.Form guide (most recent first, completed games)
Chennai Super Kings: WLWLL
Delhi Daredevils: WLWWWPlayers to watch Albie Morkel hasn’t had many chances with the bat but has twice turned a match on its head. He did it first against Royal Challengers and then against Royals. The last time he played against his brother Morne, he faced only three balls. This time, can he disturb Morne’s rhythm?David Warner announced his arrival this season with his second IPL century,109 off 54 balls. With Sehwag also in good form, Super Kings’ spinners have a tough task at hand.Stats and trivia In the previous match between these two sides this season, in Delhi, Super Kings imploded to 110 – their lowest total of 2012. David Warner scored 82 runs in boundaries in his innings against Deccan Chargers, which is the highest this season. Suresh Raina’s strike-rate in the IPL before the start of this season was 140.32. This season it has dropped to 127.43. MS Dhoni has hit 59 sixes in his IPL career – but only four this season.Quotes”Leaving it too late is not something we do intentionally, our top six need to perform.”

“We are in a good space at the moment. We messed up a little bit in the last game. We must stay at the top and we want to finish in the top place.”

Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2012Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League. There are no India or England players – apart from Azhar Mahmood – among the 56, who were picked by the seven franchises via a draft system in Colombo on Thursday.Shahid Afridi* was originally supposed to be the icon player for Nagenahira but all the franchises wanted to make sure their icon players were available throughout the tournament. Due to the recently announced Australia-Pakistan series that starts on August 28th, Afridi would potentially miss the semi-finals and finals of the SLPL if his team made it that far, leaving Nagenahira without their icon player at the business end of the tournament. With the agreement of the other franchises, Afridi was released by Naganahira in to the draft, where he was subsequently signed by Ruhuna. Lasith Malinga remains Ruhuna’s icon, while Nagenahira’s icon player will be named on Friday.The list is dominated by players from Australia (18) and Pakistan (13). Misbah-ul-Haq, who stepped down as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain in May and was not picked for the Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka that followed, was picked up by Kandurata in the draft. Mohammad Hafeez, who replaced Misbah as Pakistan Twenty20 captain, was not on the list released by Sri Lanka Cricket.West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who has not featured in top-level cricket since May 2011, was drafted by Ruhuna.The release made no mention of the salaries that the players will be paid. Sri Lanka’s domestic players will be drafted on Friday.The franchises’ overseas signings
(all values in US $)
Uthura: Shakib Al Hasan (25,000), Brendan Taylor (10,000), Kevon Cooper (15,000), Imran Farhat (20,000), Fidel Edwards (20,000), David Miller (25,000), Dillon du Preez (20,000), Samuel Badree (20,000)
Nagenahira: Mitchell Marsh (30,000), Imran Nazir (20,000), Travis Birt (25,000), Ahmed Shahzad (20,000), Ben Laughlin (20,000), Elias Sunny (12,000), Musfiqur Rahim (20,000), Nasir Hossain (16,000)
Ruhuna: Shahid Afridi (50,000), Daniel Harris (30,000), Ryan Harris (30,000), Aaron Finch (30,000), Jerome Taylor (20,000), Nathan McCullum (25,000), Ryan McLaren (15,000), Richard Levi (25,000)
Wayamba: Azhar Mahmood (30,000), Umar Akmal (25,000), Tamim Iqbal (18,000), Colin Ingram (20,000), Kemar Roach (25,000), James Faulkner (25,000), Abdul Razzaq (25,000), Brad Hogg (25,000)
Kandurata: Saeed Ajmal (25,000), Misbah-ul-Haq (25,000), Sohail Tanvir (20,000), Chris Lynn (20,000), Dane Vilas (10,000), Albie Morkel (35,000), Johan Botha (25,000), Adam Voges (25,000)
Basnahira: Brad Hodge (30,000), Marlon Samuels (30,000), Daniel Smith (20,000), Dirk Nannes (35,000), Robin Peterson (20,000), Tim Southee (25,000), Clint McKay (25,000), Cameron Borgas (20,000)
Uva: Andrew McDonald (35,000), Umar Gul (25,000), Shoaib Malik (35,000), Callum Ferguson (30,000), James Franklin (30,000), Abdur Rehman (20,000), Hammad Azam (15,000), Chris Gayle (100,000)
*04:23 GMT, July 6: This article has been updated to state why Shahid Afridi is no longer playing for Nagenahira