All posts by h716a5.icu

Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund has been selected to captain the 16-member India A squad for their tour of New Zealand in September and October

Sidharth Monga10-Aug-2012Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund, who averaged 7.66 on India A’s tour of the West Indies, has been selected to captain the 16-member India A squad for their tour of New Zealand in September and October. Robin Bist, who got one innings on that West Indies tour, Parvinder Awana, who got one match, and Wriddhiman Saha, easily the second-best choice as wicketkeeper in the country, all suddenly find themselves out of reckoning.Cheteshwar Pujara, Ashok Dinda, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma have been picked for either Tests or the World Twenty20, and are hence unavailable. Apart from Abhinav, spinners Akshay Darekar, Jalaj Saxena, Rahul Sharma, and quicks Shami Ahmed and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the only survivors from what was an average West Indies tour.India’s Under-19 captain, Unmukt Chand, who has been impressive with his batting in some crunch situations in U-19 games, was duly rewarded with a place on the tour. Rajasthan’s Ashok Menaria, who scored 462 runs at 77 in last year’s Ranji Trophy, was rewarded with a place in the side, but he will miss team-mate Bist, who was the leading run-getter in the tournament. Naman Ojha, who averaged 61 in Ranji Trophy, replaced Saha as the wicketkeeper. Ambati Rayudu finally finds himself in a representative side after his return from the ICL. Vinay Kumar found himself demoted one level, and will be the leader of this attack. Praveen Kumar continued to be out of favour even for the A tour.Punjab’s Mandeep Singh, Bengal’s Anustup Majumdar and Mumbai’s Suryakumar Yadav took the remaining batting slots. Seamers Rituraj Singh of Rajasthan and Jaydev Unadkat of Saurashtra were left-field picks. Rituraj has played just five first-class games, but averages 18 for his 27 wickets. Unadkat had failed to impress on his Test debut, and got 26 wickets in Ranji Trophy at an average of 27.India A squad: Abhinav Mukund (capt.), Naman Ojha (wk), Mandeep Singh, Anustup Majumdar, Unmukt Chand, Ashok Menaria, Ambati Rayudu, Suryakumar Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akshay Darekar, Vinay Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Jalaj Saxena, Rahul Sharma, Rituraj Singh and Jaydev Unadkat

Wayne Parnell continued his good form from the opening tour game with his second consecutive five-wicket haul to bundle out Ireland XI for 154 at Lodge Road, after the opening day was washed out

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2012
ScorecardWayne Parnell continued his good form from the opening tour game with his second consecutive five-wicket haul to bundle out the Ireland XI for 180 at Lodge Road, after the opening day was washed out. Rory Kleinveldt set it up by denting the top order with three wickets, before Parnell ran through the lower order. The South Africa A batsmen also struggled, losing four wickets in their reply.The hosts were made to regret their decision at the toss as Kleinveldt’s early strikes had them reeling at 25 for 4. Kleinveldt dismissed Stuart Thompson and Alex Cusack off successive deliveries and was on a hat-trick when he began his next over. He missed the feat, but struck the next ball when he bowled Gary Wilson for a second-ball duck.Having lost three wickets in four balls, Ireland needed a solid partnership and it came via a 109-run stand between John Anderson and Kevin O’Brien. The captain O’Brien was aggressive in his half-century, hitting nine fours and a six in his 73-ball knock.However, a double-strike pegged back Ireland when O’Brien and James Shannon fell in quick succession. There was not much resistance from the lower order as Parnell struck regularly. Anderson, who batted patiently for his 68, was the last man out and Parnell’s fifth victim.South Africa lost Dean Elgar early, but the visitors were stabilized by a 48-run stand between Reeza Hendricks and Stiaan van Zyl. Twin strikes by Max Sorensen gave the hosts some cheer late in the day. He accounted for Justin Ontong and Simon Harmer off successive deliveries as the visitors ended on 101 for 4.

England made it three from three in the group stage of the Women’s World T20 as Pakistan bowed out the tournament with a consolatory win over India

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMeg Lanning top scored for Australia Women but once again England were up to the chase•ICC/GettyEngland Women completed a sweep of the group stage with a seven-wicket win over Australia. They were given their sternest challenge of the competition, asked to chase 145, but again showed their excellence in all departments by winning with 11 balls to spare.Sarah Taylor made the highest individual score of the tournament, 65 not out, to guide her side’s chase. She shared a stand of 63 at more than 11 runs per over with Danni Wyatt to reach the target comfortably. Wyatt arrived at the crease with 62 required from 44 balls but played a breezy innings with six boundaries that took the game away from Australia. She finished with 33 in 17 balls, winning the match with a boundary.Australia had played well after choosing to bat first. Opener Meg Lanning led the way with 39 from 31 balls and Lisa Sthalekar’s 28-ball 38 boosted the total. Both batsman fell to Anya Shrubsole but she and the usually dependable Laura Marsh and Holly Colvin went at eight-an-over. Dannielle Hazell was the most economical in holding Australia to a total they could eclipse.Australia captain Jodie Fields said her team’s batting performance was a positive but was disappointed at not finishing the game well.”It felt like we were right in the match right up until the last couple of overs. Our batting innings went the way we wanted it to do, we aimed for 140 and we got that target.”Her team would take on West Indies in the second semi-final of the tournament on October 5. “West Indies are a strong team and we were lucky enough to play them in a warm-up match which gave us an idea about how we can play against them,” Fields said. England go on to play New Zealand in their semi-final.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe other match of the day was a low-scoring thriller that brightened up the dead rubber, with Pakistan Women heading home with a victory by the smallest margin against India. With four required off the final delivery, Nagarajan Niranjana was run out attempting the tying third run.Pakistan chose to bat but only three players made double figures. Sana Mir with 26 and Nain Abidi’s 25 had laid a platform at the top of the order but their failure to go on exposed the rest of the order, of whom Asmavia Iqbal with 10 was the top score. Rasanara Parwin returned the best figures, going for just 15 in her fours overs and picking up the wickets of Mir and Bismah Maroof for 3.India also struggled for a significant contribution with the bat but Jhulan Goswami looked to be guiding them home. But when she fell for a 24-ball 21, 16 were needed from 10 balls which became 14 from the last over. Niranjana struck the first ball for four and worked a target of four off the final ball but it proved just beyond them.

A preview of the second South Africa-New Zealand T20 in East London

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran22-Dec-2012Match facts December 23, 2012
Start time 1800 (1600 GMT)New Zealand will have to rethink their approach with the bat•Gallo ImagesBig Picture Being “aggressive” is easier said than done. New Zealand found out the hard way at Kingsmead on Friday. It was a risky approach from a side fielding four debutants. They wanted to make a statement with a positive approach with the bat, but by the end of nine overs, six were back in the pavilion. Brendon McCullum, the captain, admitted it was a flawed approach, and that New Zealand needed to respect the fundamentals first and earn the right to be aggressive. The cricket was of low quality, compounded by shambolic fielding. That South Africa won with 47 balls to spare only highlighted the gulf between the two sides. South Africa too went in with an experimental line-up with three debutants, but they weren’t tested. With just 87 to chase, the South Africa captain-coach duo of Faf du Plessis and Russell Domingo couldn’t have asked for an easier beginning to their new leadership roles.McCullum said the pitch at Kingsmead was two-paced, with the odd ball keeping low. It needed some patience from the batsmen before launching their shots. The teams will hope for better batting conditions at East London. New Zealand have shown the resilience to bounce back after a horror defeat – most recently in the Test series in Sri Lanka – so South Africa should guard against complacency. From New Zealand’s perspective, they would want to wipe the slate clean and treat this as the first game of a two-match series.Form guide (Completed games, most recent first) South Africa WLLLW
New Zealand LTLTLIn the spotlight Doug Bracewell was among only three New Zealand batsmen to get into double figures on Friday, but in his primary role as a fast bowler, he had a poor outing, giving 21 off two overs before being taken off the attack. Bracewell was a familiar face in a largely unrecognisable attack, and he will need to rediscover his best.Rory Kleinveldt didn’t have the happiest tour of Australia, but back in familiar home conditions he was the best bowler at Kingsmead with figures of 3 for 18. He struck with his first ball, and then removed the dangerous McCullum with a short ball pulled to fine leg. He later spoke of using the bouncer as a dot ball or a wicket-taking option.Team news The South Africa allrounder Chris Morris limped off the field after aggravating a quad injury that has ruled him out of the two remaining games. It leaves the hosts with only 12 players to pick from, since no replacement has been named for Morris. South Africa had already decided to rotate their senior seamers in this short series, with Dale Steyn getting a break before the Tests. Morne Morkel comes in for the remainder of the series so he should take Steyn’s place.South Africa: (likely) 1 Richard Levi, 2 Henry Davids, 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 Quinton de Kock (wk), 5 Farhaan Behardien, 6 David Miller, 7 Robin Peterson, 8 Ryan McLaren, 9 Justin Ontong/Aaron Phangiso, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Rory KleinveldtNew Zealand will need some experience in their batting and bowling. Martin Guptill and Trent Boult, who missed the first match due to illness, should walk in to the line-up if they recover in time.New Zealand: (likely) 1 Rob Nicol, 2 Peter Fulton/Martin Guptill, 3 Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), 4 James Franklin, 5 Colin Munro, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Nathan McCullum, 8 Jimmy Neesham, 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Ronnie Hira, 11 Mitchell McClenaghanStats and Trivia This will be the first T20 to be held in East London. Of the ten completed domestic day-night T20 games at this venue, seven were won by the team batting first.Quotes “We 100% believe that we can win the next game, we’ve just got to fine tune a couple of areas. I can’t fault people for being overly keen to want to get into a series.”
“We put a lot of emphasis that we’re a young side, so we want to have a lot of energy and we want to have a good presence.”

Faf du Plessis will lead South Africa in the three Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand in December

Firdose Moonda13-Dec-2012Faf du Plessis will lead South Africa in the three Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand in December. AB de Villiers, South Africa’s regular limited-overs captain, is part of the squad but won’t captain because his workload will be managed over the summer.The T20 squad has four new players, including a new wicketkeeper to relieve de Villiers of his burden. Quinton de Kock, who turns 20 on Monday and was part of South Africa’s most recent under-19 World Cup squad, will don the gloves.De Kock is seen as one of the options for a permanent wicketkeeper to replace Mark Boucher in all formats. “We need to find a long-term solution because ultimately we [want] to find a top-six batter in the mould of an Adam Gilchirst to do the job in Tests,” Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors, told ESPNCricinfo.”AB may eventually end up batting No.4 in Tests, when Jacques Kallis is not around, and if he has to take on a more senior batting role, we will need someone else to keep. It will be nice to try Quinton out – he has shown glimpses of talent and we are going to have a look at him in the shorter versions. But, that’s not to say to the other keepers in the country that we have passed them by, the door is still very much open.”But it seems to have closed on Thami Tsolekile. Lions’ gloveman was nationally contracted in February and touted as Boucher’s replacement, but has not played since then. A source close to team management said Tsolekile would be given a run against New Zealand, but the selectors have decided otherwise. He travelled to England and Australia but was left out of the Test squad, which was also named today.Despite all indications to the contrary, Hudson said Tsolekile remains in the plans. “He has not fallen out of favour. If anything were to happen to AB, he will play.” De Villiers has had a history of lower-back problems which recurred after the England series in August, but he has declared himself fully fit.South Africa squads

Twenty20 squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Rory Kleinveldt, Richard Levi, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Test squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn.

He played for Titans in their one-day cup playoff match on Sunday, and although he admitted to being “a bit stiff,” he maintained that he experienced no pain. In fact, he said being in the field in that match (Heino Kuhn had the gloves) was harder on his body than wicketkeeping.He will have to embrace fielding in the shorter formats though, with de Kock set to take over that role as part of a more youthful T20 squad. Richard Levi has been retained in the squad but with Hashim Amla rested, could open the batting with du Plessis or new-comer Henry Davids. The Titans limited-overs captain made a name for himself during the Champions League T20 as an aggressive batsman and is second on the one-day cup batting charts.The CLT20 also shone a spotlight on left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso. He finished as the joint second highest wicket-taker and bowled miserly spells for the Lions. Phangiso has been picked as an additional slow-bowling option to Robin Peterson. Johan Botha, who has relocated to Australia, was not considered for selection.The Lions reached the final of the Champions League Twenty20, and will also play in the final of the one-day cup, so it’s no surprise that their players are getting recognition. Allrounder Chris Morris, who travelled with the South African squad for the unofficial T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe in June, is also part of the national squad. Morris, also a big hitter, has bowled consistently in the mid-140kph this season and is the only fast-bowling all-rounder in the squad.Wayne Parnell, who has been working on his batting, is also in the squad along with fellow left-arm seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe. There has been a recall for middle-order batsman David Miller in the absence of the injured JP Duminy.Hudson said South Africa will use the series against New Zealand to concentrate on their combinations, with an eye on the 2014 World Twenty20. “The mix is going to be key. There will be some of the older players that maybe we will move on from. Going into the tournament in two years’ time, we want to have a mix of core and some youngsters. We need some flair and we need to bring something different to the party as opposed to just a regular side,” he said.The Test squad, though, is focused on consistency, with the same squad that defeated Australia in Perth retained for the two fixtures against New Zealand. Jacques Rudolph, who was dropped for the final match, has been picked but is unlikely to play. “We will probably look to play Dean [Elgar] and Jacques is the reserve batsman,” Hudson said.The only casualty besides Tsolekile is legspinner Imran Tahir, whose performance in Adelaide has left him needing to do some soul searching. Tahir finished with figures of 0 for 260, the most expensive figures without a wicket in Test history and was replaced with Robin Peterson, who took six wickets in Perth. “Robbie has just gone ahead of Imran, but he remains part of our plans in future,” Hudson said.South Africa have two injury concerns. Jacques Kallis is recovering from a hamstring strain, but is expected to be fit to play in the Tests as an allrounder, and Graeme Smith has bruising on his elbow. Smith was hit in the nets in the lead-up to the one-day cup playoff and will not be fit to play in the final for the Cobras, but the team management is confident he will be ready for the New Year’s Test.

Ross Taylor has indicated that he could be available for New Zealand’s home series against England next month

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jan-2013Ross Taylor has indicated that he could be available for New Zealand’s home series against England next month, his first comments on returning to the game since being stripped of the captaincy.”All the best to the @BLACKCAPS for the second Test [against South Africa in Port Elizabeth]. Looking forward to working my way back for the home series against England,” Taylor said on Twitter. “Back into training and it’s going well. Can’t wait to get out on the park with @CDStags on 24 January.”Central Districts, Taylor’s domestic side, play a Plunket Shield match against Canterbury on January 24, two weeks before the first T20 international between New Zealand and England.Taylor was removed from the New Zealand captaincy in all formats in December and replaced by Brendon McCullum, who had the backing of New Zealand coach, Mike Hesson. Taylor decided to take time off from the game because of the manner in which he was ousted, which led New Zealand Cricket to issue an apology for the breakdown in communication within the management.Taylor has not played any matches – international or domestic – since New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka, where they drew the Test series 1-1 in November. New Zealand are presently touring South Africa without Taylor. They lost the T20 series 2-1 and are trailing 1-0 in the Tests.

Luke Ronchi will be able to press his case for selection in the England Test series when he captains a New Zealand XI in a four-day warm up match against England starting on February 27.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2013Luke Ronchi, the Wellington wicketkeeper, will be able to press his case for selection in the England Test series when he captains a New Zealand XI in a four-day warm up match against England starting on February 27.Ronchi, 31, is hoping to usurp BJ Watling behind the stumps for the three-match series which begins in Dunedin on March 6 although Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, has hinted strongly Watling will retain his role. Ronchi’s domestic form is impressive with 760 runs at 69.09, including four centuries, in the Plunkett Shield – the fifth best return.But the man in possession is 27-year-old Watling, who kept during the South Africa series. And despite New Zealand’s miserable performance, Watling came out with some credit, making 42 in the first Test and two half-centuries in the second – one of only two players to score over 100 runs in the series.The New Zealand XI features eight players capped by New Zealand including Dean Brownlie, who has established himself in the middle order. He was the other batsman not disgraced in South Africa with 172 runs at 43.00 in the two Tests. But his selection will offer England a chance to look at him in red-ball cricket ahead of the first Test.Other players vying for selection include Hamish Rutherford, who will look to put himself forward for a Test debut. He has replaced the injured Martin Guptill for the second ODI and if he finds some form, could be preferred to Guptill, who has only one half-century in his last 12 Test innings, particularly if Guptill does not recover in time.Another battling for fitness is Mitchell McClenaghan, the left-arm quick, who was ruled out of the final two ODIs with a side strain. His injury could give Neil Wagner an opportunity if he can impress against England in Queenstown.New Zealand XI to play England (one more name to be added)
Luke Ronchi (c), Corey Anderson, Neil Broom, Dean Brownlie, Carl Cachopa, Mark Gillespie, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Hamish Rutherford, Ish Sodhi, Neil Wagner

South Africa began their journey to the Champions Trophy with a leap – not just a step – as they overcame Pakistan with a polished all-round effort

The Report by Firdose Moonda in Bloemfontein10-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsColin Ingram celebrated a second century in Bloemfontein•AFPSouth Africa began their journey to the Champions Trophy with a leap – not just a step – as they overcame Pakistan with a polished all-round effort that was set up by their batsmen and finished off in the field. Importantly for them, the contributions came from quarters that have been areas of concern in the past.The middle order, and Colin Ingram in particular, played a meaningful part and a bowling attack without Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel functioned effectively. South Africa’s batsmen dealt with Pakistan’s quartet of spinners with ease while their seamers, led by Ryan McLaren and Rory Kleinveldt, shut the opposition out of the match.By contrast, Pakistan suffered because they fielded only two seamers and did not use Saeed Ajmal well enough, taking him off after he had made a breakthrough. The fifth and sixth bowlers, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik, conceded 81 runs in 11 overs runs on a surface that did not aid turn, and against batsmen who were intent on proving their captain’s belief that they were capable of smothering the spin threat.Smart stats

Rory Kleinveldt finished with 4 for 22 off just 5.2 overs. This is the lowest number of overs bowled by a South African bowler in an innings while finishing with a four-wicket haul or more.

The 125-run win is South Africa’s sixth by a margin of 100 or more runs against Pakistan. Four of these have come in home ODIs.

South Africa’s total of 315 is their fourth-highest total against Pakistan and their second 300-plus score against them at home.

Colin Ingram’s century is his second and the 14th overall by a South African batsman against Pakistan. Ingram’s previous century came in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

Ingram’s hundred is his third in ODIs and second in Bloemfontein. He has scored 626 runs in 19 ODIs at an average of 44.71.

The 120-run stand between Ingram and AB de Villiers is the third highest third-wicket stand for South Africa against Pakistan and their highest such stand against them at home. De Villiers has been involved in the top three stands.

Shahid Afridi became the first batsman to pass the 300-sixes mark in ODIs. Afridi has now hit 301 sixes in 324 innings. Sanath Jayasuriya is second with 270 sixes.

The number of overs faced by Pakistan (36.2) is the joint fourth lowest for a completed innings against South Africa. The lowest is 25 overs in Mohali in 2006.

The Pakistan quicks had started well as both Junaid Khan and Umar Gul found early seam movement. Gul repeatedly beat Graeme Smith’s bat with deliveries that moved away. Even Hashim Amla, who opened the boundary count with a gorgeous coax through the covers, did not find the going easy. He inside-edged Junaid for four early on and went on to do it twice more in a somewhat charmed stint, which also included him being dropped on 15.The openers chose to take the Powerplay as soon as it become available. Pakistan used it to introduce spin, which they continued with for 21 overs, but it only restricted South Africa for a while. They scored 29 runs in the Powerplay for the loss of Smith. AB de Villiers promoted himself to No. 3 and was joined by Colin Ingram after Amla had one too many dalliances with chance and was caught on the deep square-leg boundary.De Villiers and Ingram shared in the most important stand of the innings, with Ingram’s knock of greater importance as he tries to cement a spot in the starting XI. Ingram swept well and for the most part they accumulated runs quietly but quickly.De Villiers hit his first boundary after he had scored 37 runs but his search for singles was ceaseless. When he did find the rope, he did it a second time for good measure. He made room against Ajmal and lofted over extra cover for four to bring up his half-century and then pulled the next ball to bring up the century stand off 103 balls. It had swelled to 120 when Ajmal had the last laugh as de Villiers lobbed to short cover.Ingram took over and played his part in ending Afridi’s participation with the ball. His eighth and last over cost 21 runs; Ingram hit two out of five boundaries. Faf du Plessis was responsible for the other three. He put on 62 with Ingram before scooping to short fine leg.Although Farhaan Berhardien is not known as a hitter, he was sent in with four overs to go and hit the two sixes of the innings off consecutive balls. He sent Junaid Khan over long-on and midwicket and ensured Ingram, on 96, had strike in the last over.He needed only one delivery to stroke the ball through the covers and bring up a second century in Bloemfontein and a second against Pakistan. He also took South Africa to their third highest total at the ground, giving Pakistan a tough chase.Pakistan’s openers were challenged by Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who found swing and induced an edge from Mohammed Hafeez that fell short of slip. He could have had Hafeez a second time when he got a leading edge to du Plessis, which popped out of his hands at gully.Kyle Abbott offered some relief by inviting the drive. Jamshed, however, was just getting into a higher gear when he chased a wide ball off Kleinveldt’s second over and was caught at first slip. Kleinveldt also got the timely breakthrough when he ran Hafeez out at the non-strikers’ end. Younis Khan had driven back at the bowler, who deflected the ball with the slightest touch of his ring finger.Pakistan needed a big stand but AB de Villiers did not let Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq settle with clever rotations of his bowlers. They posted 49 before Younis became Abbott’s first ODI wicket.McLaren ensured Pakistan could not claw their way back. He displayed excellent use of variation and the short ball had Misbah caught behind as he tried to pull one. At 135 for 5 in the 29th over, it was only a matter of time but Afridi lengthened it with some blows at the end. Three huge hits took his sixes tally to 301. He muscled his way to 34 before holing out to deep midwicket to give Kleinveldt career-best figures and South Africa a comprehensive win.

It has seldom been tougher to make runs in the Sheffield Shield than it has been this season. Ricky Ponting has fit right in.

Daniel Brettig21-Mar-2013Ricky Ponting likes the tough school. Whether it be his Mowbray upbringing, his teenaged elevation to the cricket academy and then first-class ranks, a Test debut at 20 or his return this season to a Sheffield Shield competition now dominated by pace bowlers, Ponting’s appetite for challenges is undimmed.Though he admits the circumstances of his increased availability were less than ideal – a retirement from internationals pressed by a poor series against South Africa – Ponting has delighted in playing near enough to a full season for Tasmania. It has resulted in his most prolific at Shield level in 20 years, the competition’s player of the year award, and the Australian Cricketers Association garland as player of the month for February.The last summer in which Ponting did not have his state appearances curtailed by the national selectors was 1993-94. Back then, Australian batting was blooming into the sort of period oft-described as a “golden age”. No fewer than six players – Michael Bevan, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Darren Lehmann, Dene Hills and Greg Blewett – topped 1000 first-class runs for the summer. Another five, Ponting included, reached 900.Hayden’s effort was most astounding, tallying 1136 runs in six matches for Queensland, and coshing seven hundreds. All this by a batsman still seven years away from becoming a regular at Test level. Ponting’s 896 Shield runs that summer helped his state into their first final, and impressed all observers with their poise and power. Two decades on, and Ponting may yet surpass that tally in this year’s decider, but in a competition now far more difficult for batting.There has been debate over the past several years about whether or not surfaces more conducive to seam and swing have detracted from the development of Australian batting. Arguments have been raised about how representative such pitches are when mos Test strips are considerably flatter and drier – none more so than those currently undoing Michael Clarke’s team in India. However Ponting is adamant that the redressed balance between bat and ball will be beneficial.”There’s no doubt that pitches these days are more bowler friendly and that trend has been building over the last four or five seasons,” Ponting told ESPNcricnfo. “I think the overall standard is still particularly strong and as you can see from this year, the competition is very competitive.”I don’t think it’s hindering development at all. In fact, it’s a positive thing for batters who have to work harder in tougher conditions to consistently score runs. The only thing is that the selectors have to appreciate that there is a trend for lower scores because of these conditions.”These lower scores are reflected in the recent records of younger batsmen coming through in each state. Where once an average of at least 50 was required to push a case, now 40 seems closer to the norm. Ponting, though, has shown that it is possible to score heavily in this climate. For that he offered generous praise to the coaching and culture of the Tigers.”There’s such a great culture here and so much of the credit for that has to go to Tim Coyle and his staff,” Ponting said. “They have always been able to blend experience with talented younger players coming through the ranks. If you look at this season, that’s exactly what we have.”Senior players like George Bailey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Tim Paine, Xavier Doherty, Alex Doolan and Luke Butterworth have been working so well with the next generation of young players like James Faulkner, Jonathan Wells and Jordan Silk.”Doing the whole pre-season with the boys was just fantastic and so was playing the games at the start of the season. But then to come back at the pointy end of the season and make the Shield final like we did has just about capped off a wonderful year for Tasmanian cricket. Hopefully we can finish it off with a trophy next week.”Personal possession of the Shield trophy is the one thing that has eluded Ponting over his career. Tasmania’s two wins took place in his absence, and last year’s final was narrowly lost. Given how strongly he has performed this summer, it would be bold to doubt that the time has come.

Amit Mishra said his ability to bring variety to his bowling has brought him success in the T20 format

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2013Sunrisers Hyderabad legspinner Amit Mishra, who equaled Lasith Malinga as the leading wicket-taker in the IPL, said that variation was the key to a spinner’s success in Twenty20 cricket.”I keep varying the pace, use the googly more often, bowl topspin, flipper, etc,” Mishra told the IPL site, after his side’s five-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab. “Like that the batsman will not be at ease knowing what’s coming his way. The idea is to keep him guessing.”Mishra also praised young legspinner Karan Sharma, who picked up the important wickets of Kings XI Punjab captain, Adam Gilchrist and batsman Paul Valthaty.”He’s a good bowler and has a lot of potential,” Mishra said. “The good thing is that we’re bowling well in tandem. We talk a lot to each other about our bowling.”Sunrisers’ five-wicket win took them to the top of the points table but Kings XI Punjab, currently on sixth place, need to win more consistently to keep themselves in contention for the playoffs. Kings XI are the only team in the IPL whose batsmen are yet to score a fifty and David Hussey admitted this was a worry for the side.”We’re just not taking responsibility of our wickets,” Hussey said. “When you’re four down with four overs to go, you think you’ll post a big score but we keep getting out in poor ways. We’ve really got to learn and rectify that problem straight away, or it’s going to be a very long tournament for us.”Hussey also said that he believed Adam Gilchrist showed some form against Sunrisers and could lead the batting in future games.