All posts by csb10.top

Emily Drumm has pulled out of the Invitational XI Twenty20s in England with a recurrence of her hamstring injury. Drumm, New Zealand’s prolific batsman, nearly quit the game in 2005 after damaging her leg during the World Cup but fought her way back to recovery.She had been injury-free for two years until two weeks ago when she damaged her leg playing touch rugby. “The game is really good for fitness and I thought I was Jonah Lomu at one stage, flying down the wing!”More seriously, she is fearful that, on past experience, the suggested period of a few weeks’ recovery will in fact take much longer. And now she is toying with the idea of quitting. “Maybe someone’s trying to tell me I should retire,” she said, although she was smiling when she did so.What is for certain is that she will miss the curtain-raisers against the England XI at the end of June, which will be played before two men’s county matches. “I have just withdrawn from these games,” she told Cricinfo, “so it’s very disappointing as they are my favourite form of the game. It’s good for women to try to play a more aggressive game.”And regardless of whether she recovers in time for New Zealand’s tour in August, she will not be playing. The management have stipulated that players must play in New Zealand state cricket to be eligible for the tour, but as Drumm has been over in England for the past years, she is ruled out – despite playing county cricket for Kent.”It’s extremely disappointing,” she says, although that will not stop her from watching the series. “I will help them out when they come over here if I can.”

Scorecard2:41

Highlights – New South Wales v Western Australia, 1st day, Lincoln

The New South Wales top order put together a quartet of solid innings without anyone going on to a hundred in the ground-breaking Sheffield Shield match at Lincoln, near Christchurch.It was the first time in the history of the Shield that a match had been played beyond Australia’s borders, and on an evenly-grassed pitch at Bert Sutcliffe Oval the Western Australia captain Adam Voges elected to send the NSW in to bat.Ed Cowan (57) and Daniel Hughes (65) responded with a partnership that was at first considered then increasingly fluent, blunting the new ball and then adding some attractive strokes to the equation. They had added 116 and looked good for more when Cowan perished to the offbreaks of Ashton Turner.Hughes was to fall soon after, edging David Moody, who bowls seam up like his uncle Tom, through to Sam Whiteman, who was fit again after missing the Big Bash League through injury. Kurtis Patterson (75) and the captain Nic Maddinson (65) then played contrasting innings, the former’s more deliberate style offering a sound counterpoint to the latter’s aggression.They prospered for 104 runs in 24 overs, until Moody chimed in again to defeat Maddinson. The remainder of the day swung towards WA’s bowlers, as Ben Rohrer and Trent Copeland fell cheaply either side of Patterson’s exit. The Test gloveman Peter Nevill was left to hold the fort with Sean Abbott against the second new ball, with hope of building on the second morning.

Irfan Pathan in 2003, L Balaji in early 2004, Sreesanth in 2005, Munaf Patel in 2006, and RP Singh in 2007. Over the last five years Indian fast bowlers have emerged, won Tests, sustained injuries, got dropped, made comebacks, and got injured again. Somewhere along the line, Zaheer Khan was reaffirmed as the spearhead of the attack while Ashish Nehra has been forgotten. India’s fast-bowling machinery resembles a political sham: promising much before fizzling out.A series is beginning tomorrow and India have one dependable quick (Zaheer), another erratic one who is coming back from injury (Munaf), and a tyro who has also only recently recovered (Ishant Sharma). Sreesanth, a proven match-winner, is injured, along with RP Singh, who was a revelation on the England tour. Pathan has been sent back to the grind of domestic cricket, and VRV Singh, a young fast bowler, also has injury problems. Ranadeb Bose, the highest wicket-taker in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy, has shown signs of being a limited medium-pacer while Ishant will need to add control and movement if he expects to cut it at the highest level.With seven challenging Tests ahead – the final four in Australia will require them to play three fast bowlers – India have to address several serious questions. When their first-choice fast bowlers are fit, both physically and mentally, India have a handy and even threatening pace attack. But bowling fast is an injury-prone business and the Indian bowlers have proven to be more brittle than most. And when a couple of them get injured, the thinness of India’s bench-strength has been exposed.The irony is that India’s success away from home this decade has been dependent on their fast bowlers. Pathan and Balaji played significant roles in the historic victory in Pakistan in 2003-04, while Rahul Dravid felt Munaf and Sreesanth had performed better than any other pair over the previous ten years during the 2006 tour to West Indies. Sreesanth single-handedly swung the Wanderers Test in India’s favour last year, and England’s batsmen struggled to pick the prodigious swing from RP Singh and Zaheer this summer.So have India handled their bowlers judiciously? RP’s case gives us a few answers. Over the last five months he’s bowled 268 overs in 18 one-dayers, three Tests and the World Twenty20. Sreesanth, dropped for the ODIs in England, and Zaheer, who missed the World Twenty20, at least had enforced breaks. Nobody, it seems, thought of giving RP a decent rest.Munaf’s case is even more damning. He was a problem during the ODI series in England for which he was chosen even though he wasn’t fully fit. Venkatesh Prasad, India’s bowling coach, openly questioned Munaf’s inclusion and suggested he wasn’t impressed with the selection. That was the latest in a long line of injuries that have blighted Munaf and nobody, it seemed, could determine when he was fit. Now, on the back of only three first-class games, one of which was a poor performance in the Irani Trophy, he’s almost certain to share the new ball in the first Test which begins tomorrow.The most worrying aspect, with less than a month to go for the tour of Australia, is the lack of fast-bowling options. The recent Challenger Trophy showed the paucity of talent – Pankaj Singh and V Yomahesh impressed but have a long way to go before being selected- and it’s tough to imagine Praveen Kumar and Joginder Sharma surviving Test cricket.Apart from winning against Pakistan, India also need to ensure against injuries over a possible 15 days Test cricket and hope that their crocked personnel return stronger. He’s yet to turn on the ignition but Kumble must already feel like a racer driving on empty. After 17 years, though, he may be used to it.

Traditions enrich the game of cricket. And these traditions have more often than not extended beyond the ropes. One such case exists at the famed WACA in Perth, and this one has to do with the members. Not those snooty ones that occupy the best seats to get the best views. These members are the ordinary Tims, Toms, Janes and Jennys who go that extra yard to live their passion for the game of cricket.It’s eight in the morning at the WACA and play is still three and a half hours away, but the gates at the Truman Entrance outside the Members Pavilion are already buzzing with life. Men, women, families of all ages have been camping outside the gates for hours, some even from as early as 3am. These are not the fairweather fans looking for last-minute tickets. These are members of the WACA who pay a A$220 season fee but burn the midnight oil for five days just so that they can occupy seat in the members’ stand at the Lillee-Marsh end.There was a crowd of around 500 queued up outside the gates with some of them still getting out of their sleeping bags while a few were lying on the mats weary from the long night vigil. Die-hards recall about 2000-plus people bunking it out outside during last year’s visit by England, so that they could reach their vantage point in the stands.”People want the very seat they sat on the last time around,” says Rohan, an Indian based in California but who times his vacation to coincide with the Test match at the WACA. Rohan’s wife is from Perth and he has been using her membership and this is the second year in a row he has come to the ground. His cricket mania isn’t new: Rohan was one of the many volunteers who would score, do ball-by-ball commentary and report for back in the days when the website was just taking seed.David, who goes by the name of Blob on the IRC’s chatroom, has been a WACA member now for 12 years. As a four-year-old he saw Dennis Lillee at the WACA in 1970. As a kid his love for the Western Australian team would see him doing his homework watching cricket at his home ground. As a grown-up he does live scoring on his yellow notepad every Test. Blob feels these die-hard members are “tragics”, and goes on to explain why. “I use that term,” he says, “because of the length we guys go for the love of cricket. It’s like a story of the tragic.”Paul Urquhart, a project manager in Sydney, left his job to see the first ball of the on-going contest between Australia and India this time around. “This is the second year in a row I’ve had to leave my job so that I could make it here,” says Urquhart, who looks touching 40s and has the spirit of a larrikin. Urquhart left his job during the Ashes last year as his employers wanted to tie him down with work commitments but he wanted to break free and arrived in time to join the huge throngs outside the Members Stand.

So why do these guys want to sit in the same seat? What’s so special? “Each one of us has worked out for ourselves which one point it is from where we can get what we want,” Rohan says. And most of the time, yes, you guessed it, it’s behind the bowler’s arm. Blob likes to sit just about a metre to the left of the bowler’s arm. Rohan, Blob’s immediate neighbour, likes to see it from a “height”. Then there are the older members who have been coming in groups for decades and know no-one will occupy their seats. The Lyalls, John and Cynthia, both 84 years of age, have been “residents” of their seats in the centre of the Lillee-Marsh Stand now for 38 years. “Except for the Test against South Africa few years back we haven’t missed any,” says John, who worked at the WACA for ten years as a crowd facilitator when the members used to sit at the old Prindiville Stand. “We have our own group,” says Cynthia, pointing at their entire row to her right and left before adding “and we all are traditionalists”.Yes, it’s easy to see these members are purists at heart. Even if there are shouts and murmurs round the ground, the Members Stand practices a strict sense of decorum. “It’s about discipline,” says Cynthia. Not that it’s always quiet. There are numerous anecdotes exchanged, a number of cricketing stories told, a whole lot of discussions, debates and vox populis held that binds this tight group together.”I like to listen to stories from the times when I was not even born,” Rohan says. For Blob it’s sharing the cricket with “like-minded people”. A tradition these guys believe makes cricket that much more interesting.

ScorecardMalinda Warnapura enhanced his chances of opening in the first Test by adding a second-innings half-century to his first-innings 132 in Sri Lanka’s tour match in Guyana. Sri Lanka reached 177 for 6, with an overall lead of 421 over the Guyana President’s XI (GPS), when the captains agreed to end the match at tea on the third day.Warnapura retired out for the second time in the game and his success means he has a strong chance of partnering Michael Vandort at the top of the Test order. His 93-ball innings featured seven fours but none of the other specialist batsmen made full use of the second innings.Prasanna Jayawardene chipped in with 36 and Chaminda Vaas finished unbeaten on 40 as the legspinner Davendra Bishoo picked up three middle-order wickets. Bishoo, 22, has only one first-class match to his name, but he proved his worth with 3 for 25, including Mahela Jayawardene caught without scoring.Bishoo was the only bowler to have success in the second session after the fast bowler Jason Dawes grabbed two victims before lunch. Vandort did not have the ideal lead-up to the Test, bowled by Dawes for 1 to add to his first-innings 29.Dawes, who was a member of West Indies’ Under-19 World Cup side last month, had struggled with a leg strain in the first innings and bowled only 13 balls. However, he powered through 15 overs on the third day to finish with 2 for 36 after having Kumar Sangakkara (17) caught at sip.GPS were without their captain Patrick Browne, who was resting a sore knee, and Kemar Roach, who had an upset stomach. Rajindra Chandrika and Sharmarh Brooks shared the duties behind the stumps in Browne’s absence and Brooks even registered a stumping when Prasanna Jayawardene was caught short off Bishoo.The first Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies starts at Guyana’s Providence Stadium on Saturday. A further tour match against West Indies A follows, ahead of the second Test in Trinidad.

Former Zimbabwe fast bowler Henry Olonga has added his voice to those calling for the British government to ban Zimbabwe from touring in 2009.Speculation has been growing in the last week that the British government would tell Zimbabwe that their side would not be given visa to tour in May and June next year when they are scheduled to play one-day internationals and possibly two Tests. In the past, the government has stopped short of taking any direct action, preferring to leave the decision to the ECB, but since Gordon Brown became prime minister, the official line has hardened.Olonga was reacting to comments made by Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, to the effect that it was for the ICC to step in to force countries to meet their obligations under the Future Tours Programme.”Banning tours brought South Africa’s dreadful apartheid regime into the public consciousness around the world,” he told the Mail on Sunday. “It was the right thing to do then, and it is as valid now in Zimbabwe. I would rather inconvenience a small group of Zimbabwe cricketers for the greater good of millions who could ultimately benefit.”Olonga’s comments were backed by Kate Hoey, the former sports minister and the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Zimbabwe. “Cricket is the way that Mugabe has shown that Zimbabwe is a normal country, and his relationship with the ZC chairman, who the British government quite rightly refused to give a visa to come to this country to, is close.”The money that has gone into cricket has not gone to grassroots in Zimbabwe, it’s gone into the pockets of those running the game and indirectly into the pockets of Zanu PF [Mugabe’s party].”It would send out a message, and the opposition would love to see a ban of the kind which worked in South Africa,” she told the BBC. “We should not allow them to come here and swan around the boardrooms of our clubs.”

On Gurunath MeiyappanFacing criminal charges and a judicial custody for a period of about 10 days rather shows the seriousness of the misconduct committed by him. His habit of regularly placing bets in IPL matches renders the argument of his being first offender and unblemished antecedents in previous IPL tournaments of no worth.That he lost up to Rs 60 lakhs in bets shows that he engaged himself in heavy bets. It is his bad luck that he did not make money out of these bets. Any agony suffered by him because of media coverage or any hardship that may have been caused to him is too small in comparison to the huge injury he caused to the reputation and image of the game, IPL and BCCI. If the reputation and image of the sport are lost, what remains? Being 40 years of age, he is not young but middle-aged. It is difficult to accept that he has passion for the game…The committee imposes following sanctions:

• He is declared ineligible for participation in the sport of cricket as explained in the anti-corruption code for a maximum of five years under article 2.2.1
• He is suspended for life from the activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 ( first offence ) of Article 2.4 of the Code of conduct
• He is suspended for life from being involved in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.

Raj KundraAs part owner, having 11.4% of share-holding by his family and investment vehicle, and team official, Raj Kundra was required to conduct himself in comformity with the rules, regulations and codes framed by the BCCI. Being UK citizen, he had heavy responsibility on him to ensure that his acts and actions were not in conflict with the laws of a foreign country. Betting is a crime punishable under the Indian Penal Code. Besides that, it is an offence, corrupt practice under the BCCI’s rules regulations and codes. With so much of information available online, it is very difficult to accept that as a UK citizen, he believed betting to be legal in India. It is no secret that some of the players of the Rajasthan Royals of which he was the team official were found enmeshed in a web of match fixing . When a part owner (team official) indulges in corrupt practices, unsavoury individuals and bad elements become bold enough to involve vulnerable elements including players in all sorts of corruption. The findings by the Hon Supreme Court of the acts of betting have affected the image of the BCCI, IPL and the game of cricket and brought each one of them to disrepute and involvement in betting by team officials is against the spirit of the game, reflect the grave nature of misconduct he is found to be involved with.Sanctions:

• He is declared ineligible from participation in the sport of cricket as explained in Anti Corrupton Code for the maximum period of 5 years under Article 2.2.1
• He is suspended for life from activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 ( first offence ) of Article 2.4 of the Code of Conduct.
• He is suspended for life from being involved with the BCCI in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.

On India Cements
Moreover, Mr Gurunath Meiyappan was in the position of owner. He is the son-in-law of Mr N Srinivasan, managing director of India Cements, which is a franchise of the team CSK, and Mr Gurunath Meiyappan was considered to be the face of the owner due to his actions. Therefore, offences of the persons who are the face representative of the owner would have to be considered as acts of the owner for the purpose of the operational rules with reference to IPL league matches and consequently the actions of such persons which bring the game, BCCI into disrepute.
Not only that no urgent action was taken by India Cements against Gurunath Meiyappan but as a matter of fact no action has been shown to have been taken against him. The order of suspension passed by the BCCI against Gurunath Meiyappan after his arrest is not an action by India Cements against its official. The plea by India Cements regarding long history to contribution of cricket and cricketers cannot be accepted in view of the fact due to the act of Gurunath Meiyappan, team official of CSK who happened to be son-in-law of Mr N Srinivasan, MD of India Cements, the then BCCI president the purity of the game has been affected and the contribution if any made by the franchise has also been wasted because millions of people, true lovers of the game feel cheated. Moreover, disrepute has been brought to cricket, BCCI and IPL to such an extent that doubts abound in the public consciousness about whether games are clean or not.
Having regard to the findings recorded by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and on taking into consideration all relevant facts and circumstances as noted and discussed above, the Committee proposes to impose sanction on India Cements Ltd (Franchisee) under Section 6,rule 4.2(c) of the Operational Rules by suspending it from the League for a period of two years. The period of suspension shall commence from the date of this order.On Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Limited
Mr Raj Kundra was indeed part owner and also team official and therefore for the purpose of operational rules with reference to IPL matches Mr Raj Kundra’s actions that brought the game, the BCCI and the IPL into disrepute have to be considered actions of the franchise. We do not think that Jaipur IPL can shirk its responsibility by terming the acts done by Mr Raj Kundra as having been done in his personal capacity. If those who indulge in corrupt practices forbidden by the rules of the game are an integral part of the franchise in view of their accreditation, part ownership, close relationship and also being team official, the argument that these acts were personal and as a consequence of them if the image of the game, the BCCI and the league got affected, the franchise cannot be held responsible does not merit acceptance. Such a technical approach is legally unsustainable because of the very nature of relationship between the franchise and the wrongdoer.The general omissions by all franchises found in the ACSU report deserve various attention by the BCCI but in so far as Jaipur IPL is concerned its omissions are grave in as much as its part owner and team official have been found to have indulged in betting and that has affected the image of the game, the BCCI and the league and brought each one of them into disrepute. Jaipur IPL claims that it is highly celebrates as nursery for players but the fact remains that three RR players were arrested and charged with spot-fixing in the 2013 IPL season. The committee can also take notice of the fact that there has been allegation of approach to one of its players for corrupt practices in 2015 IPL season as well. This shows that all is not well with Jaipur IPL in handling anti-corruption issues. It is true that Mr Raj Kundra has relinquished his shares somewhere in the month of March but it is too late. No urgent action was taken by Jaipur IPL against Raj Kundra when his acts of betting became known. Once it is accepted that cricket is greater than individuals or a body of individuals and financial loss may be caused to a few players and franchises may not be a significant consideration while taking disciplinary action or for imposition of punishment for wrongdoing.On consideration of all relevant aspects of the matter, the Committee imposes sanction on JIPL (Franchisee) under Section 6, rule 4.2(c) of the Operational Rules by suspending it from the League for a period of two years. The period of suspension shall commence from the date of this order.

Ryan Harris, South Australia’s leading Pura Cup wicket-taker in 2007-08, will play for Queensland from next season after signing a three-year deal with the Bulls. Harris’ departure from Adelaide is a blow for the Redbacks as they embark on their own recruiting drive following a disappointing summer.Harris, 28, will be a useful addition at Queensland, who already boast the Cricket Australia-contracted allrounders Ashley Noffke, James Hopes and Shane Watson. He said he was looking forward to a new phase in his career.”It was a good offer and while I’ve enjoyed my time with the Redbacks, I thought the opportunity to bowl at the Gabba over the next few years should see my career develop further,” Harris said. “I thank the SACA [South Australian Cricket Association] for their support over the past few years and wish them all the best but I’m genuinely excited about the prospects ahead with the Bulls.”Harris is currently playing county cricket in Sussex after their interest was stirred by his best Australian domestic season. He collected 37 Pura Cup wickets at 29.86 last summer and made a handy 363 runs at 24.20, and the contributions earned him a place in the Australian Cricketers’ Association Pura Cup Team of the Year.An Academy graduate in 2002, Harris was in the same group as the man who could be Queensland’s next captain, Chris Simpson. In 2006-07 the Bulls were on the wrong end of his talent when Harris struck a six from the last ball of a one-day match when the Redbacks needed five to win.Graham Dixon, the chief executive of Queensland Cricket, said Harris was the only man the Bulls would sign from interstate for 2008-09. “We had a number of good reports from our players about Ryan’s competitiveness on the field,” Dixon said. “He’s the sort of player that has more than one string to his bow and plays all three forms of the game which is important in the current environment.”The Redbacks coach Mark Sorell said the Queensland agreement would be worth more money and security for Harris, who had been on short-term contracts in the past. South Australia had tried to keep him by offering a two-year deal that could be extended to three based on performance in the first year.”I support what’s happened in the past with his performance and injury history,” Sorell said. “He performed well this last season which was outstanding and we were keen to let him know he was a part of our future. His decision was a bit of a shock. Obviously we’re extremely disappointed but we respect that decision.”

Incoming South African selection convenor Joubert Strydom said that Jacques Kallis’s omission from the hosts’ Twenty20 World Championship squad was done in the light of the country’s “nightmare” schedule in the next 18 months.South Africa go to Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, England and Australia in the next 18 months and Strydom said: “Jacques is a crucial part of our Test and one-day plans and we don’t want to sacrifice him in the Twenty20 format”.Kallis, who has scored at better than a run-a-ball in his half-dozen Twenty20 appearances at domestic and international level, is a relatively slow starter at the crease and found himself in the middle of a storm over his perceived slow scoring during the World Cup.In 20-over cricket, Kallis would probably be best suited to moving up to the top of the order, but Strydom said South Africa had several other options for those positions and, although the allrounder’s bowling skills would be missed, it was not worth risking him in the competition.”Once we decided to rest Jacques, there was no debate about how heavily we rely on him as a bowler or whether he could bat up front ahead of quite a few guys competing for places there.”Strydom also explained the absence of any recognised death bowlers in the South African squad.”In 20-over cricket, if you’re bowling in the same area all the time, even the blockhole, it becomes very easy for the batsman. He knows which length to expect and he can line you up”We will be experimenting a bit. We will be using guys who take the pace off the ball, like Graeme Smith or JP Duminy, while also trying a guy like Morne Morkel for the death-type bowling. Because he is so tall, he bowls a different length to most bowlers and he is able to push the batsman back.”In limited-overs cricket now, you see guys like Shaun Tait and Lasith Malinga being effective when they bowl a bit shorter. A lack of bounce or excessive bounce is effective.”If you’re going to be aiming for the blockhole, then it has to be with pace and reverse-swing.”

As floods continue to wreak havoc in the Midlands, another county has rallied to help Worcestershire restage one of their matches.Warwickshire have said that Edgbaston can be used for the Pro40 match with Sussex on Sunday – and their members will be allowed to watch the game for free. The match will start at 1.45pm.The move follows Derbyshire’s offer of using the County Ground the other week – although the match was washed out.The ECB have also announced a change to the rules which govern a switch of venue in the event of poor weather. They have relaxed the requirement that the match must still be played in the home team’s county, although still say it should be in the same region if possible.During the first batch of floods three weeks ago, Worcestershire wanted to play a Twenty20 match at Edgbaston but the ECB turned down the request before later moving their Pro40 match against Hampshire to Derby.The new rule 40 states: “The venue should preferably be within the county or a recognised venue used by the County in question. If no such venue is available then a neutral venue preferably within the region of the originally scheduled match may be considered. In no circumstances will it be permissible for the match to be re-scheduled at a venue normally or occasionally used as a home venue by the scheduled away county.”Worcestershire’s chief executive, Mark Newton, said: “We would like to thank Edgbaston for agreeing to stage this game and the ECB for allowing us to switch to a venue outside the county.”Whilst we realise that most counties are suffering badly from the extreme weather conditions, we are suffering more than most and all we want to do is play some cricket. I think everybody is desperate just to watch a normal game of cricket!”The club has announced that all Worcestershire and Warwickshire members will gain admission to the game upon production of their membership cards. In addition any person still in possession of unused tickets from previously abandoned games at New Road will be able to use them at this game.Public admission on the day will be £15 for adults and £5 for 16 and under.