All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardThe nous and obduracy of Somerset’s Peter Bowler, hitting his 45th first-class hundred, proved too much for a largely anodyne Essex attack, meaning that both these counties remained winless in the Championship. Perhaps it would have been different if Danish Kaneria, Essex’s Pakistan legspinner, had been fit. Certainly it felt as though there was a vital ingredient missing from the fourth day.For most of the first three days, this had been a cracking contest – lion-hearted bowling from Andrew Caddick, a big, restorative hundred from Andy Flower, and fine support acts from lower-order batsmen thwacking the boundary boards hard and often.It came as no real surprise that the fourth day couldn’t stay the pace. Even though the spring sun lit up the third evening’s play, the colour had drained from the canvas when Essex ignored the dodgy forecast, batted on way too long and set Somerset a meaningless target of 475.Still, the weather did allow a full morning session. Somerset began at 23 for no wicket and had pushed on to 44 when Neil Edwards edged Scott Brant for 19. If Edwards had some excuse for his dismissal, Cox had none for his. He steered the ball to long leg for a safe single only to turn, inexplicably, for a second. Brant’s inch-perfect throw smacked into James Foster’s gloves and Cox had gone.Given that Essex could not lose, Paul Grayson set astonishingly defensive fields. Two slips and a gully represented his most adventurous gambits in the morning, and even during the afternoon, with Somerset five down, Peter Bowler – admittedly well set in the 90s – had a solitary slip.In an odd sort of way, the strategy worked. No fielders were needed to get rid of Nos 4, 5 and 6 – all bowled either side of the first rain break, which pinched 12 overs. Burns was reddest-faced, shouldering arms and losing his off stump to Graham Napier, though Ian Blackwell should have played forward rather than back.More rain meant an early tea, a signal for all but the real die-hards to filter out of the ground and take solace in Taunton’s nearby shops. But the match had not quite died. Keith Parsons capped a dire four days by chasing a wide ball and giving Foster another catch. It meant Essex had a minimum of 26 overs to take four wickets. The joie de vivre may have gone, but the game still had tension.But all the time, there was Bowler, quietly and obdurately collecting runs. Steadfastly supported by Rob Turner, he reached his third hundred of the season (and his second against Essex) from 175 balls. It was a mature, meticulous innings, befitting county cricket’s oldest pro and its only qualified solicitor, and contained not a false move. Bowler ended unbeaten on 138.But as time passed, the tension eased – and the draw seemed inevitable when the last hour began without a further Essex breakthrough. In fact, they barely had a shout. Half an hour later, the match was called off, with Grayson wondering what might have been.Hugh Chevallier is deputy editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

Shane Warne hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Muttiah Muralitharan taking part in the Test series against Australia, even though Murali announced he would not be taking part for personal reasons.Murali, the leading wicket-taker in Tests with 527, is actually due to be in Australia during the series for a promotional event, and Warne, who is only eight wickets behind on the list, won’t be surprised if Murali ends up putting his whites on after all.According to an AAP report, Warne said: “It might be a tactical thing they’re trying, maybe a couple of days before the first Test he might just rock up and play.” He continued, “It’s something I feel might happen. I am not saying it’s definitely going to happen. I just wouldn’t be surprised.”Meanwhile, Warne welcomed the selectors’ decision to recall Stuart MacGill, the legspinner. “He did well up in Darwin and Cairns last year, so if they decide to play two spinners, good,” said Warne. “I am a bit biased. I always like to see the spin bowlers. The more spin bowlers, the better.”The first Test starts at Darwin on Thursday, July 1.

Richie Benaud, the former Australian captain and current doyen of television commentators, has named his World XI of the 20th century. Jack Hobbs, whose England career spanned 23 years, and Sunil Gavaskar, who scored 34 Test centuries for India, open the batting for a team that is made up of four Australians, two West Indians, two Indians, two Englishmen, and one player from Pakistan.Don Bradman makes an appearance at No. 3, followed by Sachin Tendulkar, who is one of three cricketers in the team still playing international cricket, at No.3 and Viv Richards at No. 4. Pakistan’s Imran Khan and the West Indian Garfield Sobers are the two allrounders in the side.Australia’s Adam Gilchrist is the side’s wicketkeeper, batting at No. 8. Rod Marsh may have been more acrobatic, and Ian Healy had more finesse behind the stumps, but Gilchrist’s contribution as a top-class batsman earned him a place in the side: he averages 15 runs per innings more than any other keeper in history, and has a strike-rate of 82 per 100 balls faced in Tests.Shane Warne squeezed into the side, somewhat controversially perhaps, ahead of Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka’s prodigious offspinner, as the side’s only specialist spinner. Warne is only just behind Muralitharan in the Test bowling record stakes with 527 wickets to Murali’s 532, but Murali has taken his wickets in 21 fewer Tests.Sydney Barnes, who remains the only man to be picked for England while playing league and minor cricket, is one of two specialist fast bowlers in the squad. He took 1432 wickets for Staffordshire at less that nine runs each, and played for the county until he was over 60. The other is Dennis Lillee, who took 355 Test wickets for Australia between 1971 and 1984.Apart from Muralitharan, some notable exceptions from the World XI include Graeme Pollock, the South African batsman, his fast-bowling nephew, Shaun, and New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker Richard Hadlee. Benaud himself would arguably have been in the running for a place in the side himself. As a legspinning allrounder, he took 248 Test wickets at an average of 27.03 in 63 Tests and retired as Australia’s leading wicket-taker at the time.Benaud, 73, is chairman of a five-man selection panel for next month’s ICC Awards that will choose the best World one-day international XI and World Test XI of the year.Benaud’s Greatest XI
1 Jack Hobbs, 2 Sunil Gavaskar, 3 Don Bradman, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Viv Richards, 6 Imran Khan, 7 Garfield Sobers, 8 Adam Gilchrist, 9 Shane Warne, 10 Sydney Barnes, 11 Dennis Lillee.Click here to buy your DVD of Richie Benaud’s Greatest XI

Tim Anderson, the ICC’s East Asia-Pacific (EAP) regional development manager, was accompanied by Cricket Australia deputy chairman, Creagh O’Connor, on a recent visit to Japan.O’Connor, on his return from an Australian Test Series in India, joined Mr Anderson to view first-hand the progress the ICC EAP region has made in recent years, and specifically the development of cricket in Japan. His attendance is a further example of the excellent support the EAP region receives from regional full members, Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket.The visit schedule included trips to Shizuoka and Fuji, two of the most established cricket venues in Japan, and a formal dinner hosted by the South African ambassador to Japan, Dr BS Nqubane.

An already struggling Pakistan side had more cause for worry with Inzamam-ul-Haq showing no signs of recovering from a back problem which had kept him off the field for long periods during the Perth Test, which Pakistan lost by a massive 491 runs. Inzamam underwent bone scans and blood tests in Perth on Monday, Sydney Morning Herald reported, but Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, said that the cause of the worry had still not been diagnosed.”He’s gone through a series of tests because he’s got this back and stomach problem. Hopefully he’s OK,” Woolmer said. “He gets this ailment quite often now, so we need to get it tested out properly. We thought it might be a uric acid problem, but they threw that out. The doctors are going through tests to eliminate each possibility until they know what it is.”It hurts him bending down, sitting, it hurts him all the time. He told me he will play but that he needs to get it sorted out. It doesn’t help him batting. He’s restricted. It’s a strange ailment. We probably need to get him in the swimming pool.” Inzamam is currently on antibiotics to ensure that he plays the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne.There was better news on Shoaib Akhtar, though. Shoaib had hurt his left shoulder while diving in the outfield, but tests revealed that he hadn’t torn a cartilege, and was recovering well with physiotherapy.Meanwhile, there was some help on the cards for the beleaguered Woolmer when he informed that Bob Simpson, the former captain and coach of Australia, had called on him and could work with the team during the Sydney Test. “Bobby Simpson called me, which was very kind,” Woolmer told the daily. “We had a long chat about what we were doing. I’ve always recognised Simpson as the father of international coaches. He took Australia from the depths to winning.”However, Woolmer quickly cautioned that the fans couldn’t expect immediate solutions. “He [Simpson] worked miracles in five-and-a-half years,” Woolmer said. “You can’t work miracles overnight, you need a period of time.”Woolmer also informed that the team had a long and useful meeting after the Perth debacle. “It was very good. Inzamam was excellent and the players responded very well. We had to have a huge reality check on all aspects of the cricket we’re playing, and how we practise. All the players said they enjoyed the meeting and are looking forward to the next challenge now. I’m not going to promise anything. At least [the pitches in] Melbourne and Sydney are easier to bat on for Asian cricketers. Perth’s always been a tough one.”

Sri Lanka Cricket have secured the services of five trauma-counselling experts from the United States to train up the volunteers who will be working in their Cricket-Aid emergency relief camps over the coming months.A five-day training programme commenced on Monday conducted by the Green Cross Assistance Program, which is part of the Florida State University’s Academy of Traumatology.The programme is considered vital to help ensure that hundreds of traumatised tsumani victims are provided emotional support as they seek to rebuild their lives in the face of terrible grief.Sri Lanka Cricket have also announced that their Mullaitivu refugee camp on the east coast is now operational and this will replace plans for a relief camp to be set-up at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.In Ampara, the worst hit area in the island where 11,000 are already confirmed dead, officials have offered Sri Lanka Cricket a 60-acre plot for the construction of a `Cricket Village’ – a long term housing project for 50 families.In addition, Sri Lanka Cricket, boosted by the success of their fundraising efforts so far, have extended their proposed plan to help re-build Sinhapura College in Arugam Bay, a popular beach resort and fishing village in the same area.Sri Lanka Cricket’s Cricket-Aid programme is a two-pronged disaster assistance fund designed to provide emergency relief in the short term and long-term housing for those that have lost their homes.The board has set a revenue target of $2 million but several large pledges so far, from World Vision and New Zealand Cricket, leaves them with a possible opportunity to expand a programme designed to support over 1000 people.

Pakistan’s players will attend a five-day training camp prior to the tour of India, according to a statement by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Each member of the squad has been advised to rest and follow a set of instructions for fitness purposes ahead of the camp, reported.”Before leaving Australia for Pakistan,” said the statement, “each and every member of the Pakistan team was given a specific training programme in writing to be followed before the commencement of the training camp at Lahore for the series with India.”The training camp begins on the 19th, a day after the team for India is selected. But on the 17th, a Pakistan board committee will meet to discuss the Australian tour, as well as the names of the managers for the tour of India. Pakistan have decided to send two managers across the border. Shaharyar Khan said, “That is our line of thinking. No decision has yet been made on who will be the managers for the Indian tour but definitely we will be sending two managers.”

Stuart MacGill is considering swapping SCG turners for the Gabba’s bounce in a change of scenery to end his first-class career. MacGill, who will play for New South Wales against Queensland in the Pura Cup final at Brisbane tomorrow, revealed his thinking yesterday in a surprise move before the big game.”It’s definitely been an option … it was a very serious consideration for me in a very similar way to Michael Bevan moving to Tasmania,” MacGill told the Courier-Mail. “You have to try and find ways to spice up your career to make sure you are still motivated and there are new challenges always popping up.”MacGill, 34, has talked to his wife Rachel Friend, the actor, about the move and he said the Queensland players were taken back by the idea. “NSW have been very good to me – I would never have played for Australia unless I moved to NSW – but I think that as a sportsman you constantly evolve,” he said. “All of the factors that attracted me to Queensland are still very real.”That surprised Brad Haddin, New South Wales’s captain. “He said in the article it was an option last year [to move] and we’ve got him this year so it was a surprise to read it,” he said. “I think it’s been beat up a bit too much.”The bouncy wicket, which has won him 11 Test wickets, coastal lifestyle and climate remind MacGill of Perth and he said he would also enjoy working with the players. Queensland’s spinning options are very limited after Nathan Hauritz, who beat MacGill for a spot on the India tour, was dropped from the Pura Cup side earlier in the season. Hauritz has been linked to the Blues and any off-season move could involve a straight swap.