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An imperious 157 from Samit Patel rescued Nottinghamshire from Chris Jordan-induced turmoil, after the Sussex bowler took 5 for 83

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Hove31-May-2013
ScorecardChris Jordan’s form continued with five wickets on day one•Getty ImagesIt was a day of two opposing stars at Hove, as an imperious 157 from Samit Patel rescued Nottinghamshire from Chris Jordan-induced turmoil, after the Sussex bowler took 5 for 83. This was a rarity, in that both sides will be satisfied with the position of the game at stumps, while also championing one of their own. But Ed Joyce, Sussex’s captain, would be irked at not earning a chance to bat, especially after calling correctly and having Nottinghamshire 62 for 4 at lunch.Coming in with the ball just over 20 overs old, there was still a great deal for Patel to overcome, particularly as Jordan was settling into a rhythm that he did not look like syncing out of. Patel played within himself at the start and, for a moment, it looked like he would fall victim to Jordan at any moment.But Patel kept at it, first taking runs off Steve Magoffin, before getting the measure of Jordan with 10 runs – a cover drive for four, a tuck of the legs for two and another four in front of point – which took him to 52 in 77 balls. From then on he was at his fluent best – pushing the ball into gaps with the sort of precision that England miss in the 50-over game.The subject of a viral video no more than a month ago after an aborted run out left him nursing a bruised ego and coccyx, his running between the wickets was masterful. Perhaps brought about by a return to full spikes or improved fitness, he seemingly waltzed his way to 91 before going to three figures with a hop and a skip for six over long on and a slap through cover for four – both off Monty Panesar.He then upped the rate, eventually hitting Panesar, who spent most of his overs overcorrecting whenever Patel rumbled him, out of the attack. It was only a further 41 balls before he brought up his 150, by which time Ajmal Shahzad proved how capable he could be with the bat, as he timed some nice drives in between some useful pushes to give Patel the strike.The morning session belonged to Sussex – specifically, Jordan, who had a hand in all of the four wickets to fall before lunch. Fast bowlers shaped like cruiserweight boxers seem to be the new trend, but what strikes you about the great Barbadian hype is how naturally he carries himself.His run up displays light feet, with a natural action that seems to flow as he’s on the way down from his low leap. In his first 10 overs, not one ball seemed to elicit even a grunt, yet each was delivered at the same ferocity – mid-80s mph, they say – in two spells, from both ends, in which he returned figures of 3 for 16.His athleticism was evident in Sussex’ YB40 clash with Warwickshire on Thursday as he took a stunning one-handed catch, diving to his left at wide first slip, and he reinforced his credentials in that position by holding on to a tricky low catch off Steve Magoffin to send Michael Lumb on his way.But Nottinghamshire regrouped after the loss of Steven Mullaney early in the afternoon session as Patel oversaw a 50-run partnership with Chris Read (18), and 92 with Paul Franks (36) before he took his side past 300 with Ajmal Shahzad by the end of the 89th over.But when he did fall – caught by Joyce after trying to hook a ball that wasn’t quite short enough – he looked rightfully dismayed. It was the only legitimate chance he gave.

Sri Lanka’s sports ministry has backtracked on the sports minister’s comments about the Sri Lanka Premier League, and has assured that the tournament will go ahead as scheduled

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2013Sri Lanka’s sports ministry has backtracked on the sports minister’s comments about the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), and has assured that the tournament will go ahead as scheduled. Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage had told a local newspaper that “the tournament is in trouble” because the franchise owners were pulling out, but a ministry release issued on Tuesday refuted those claims.”At no stage have the franchises refused or stated their inability to participate in the forthcoming SLPL 2013,” the release said. “The Ministry of Sports wishes to confirm that Sri Lanka Cricket will conduct the SLPL on the scheduled dates, from August 10 to September 07, 2013.”The seven SLPL franchises were not sold outright but were leased for a seven-year period by SLC. Both the minister and SLPL tournament director Ajit Jayasekara confirmed that the franchises asked for an extension of the lease period in order to recover their costs, and the ministry today said the requested extension was for a whopping eight additional years, which would take the total lease period to 15 years. Sri Lanka’s attorney general is currently being consulted on whether that request can and should be accommodated.At present, each franchise pays an average of $4.3 million per year for their team to compete, and this figure does not include operational costs. Significant losses were understood to have been sustained by every franchise during the first SLPL, but the tournament had been pitched to them as a long-term investment, according to SLPL promotional partners Somerset Entertainment Ventures.The inaugural tournament had been a minor financial boon for SLC, as the board attempts to recover from heavy debts incurred before the 2011 World Cup. Neither the sports ministry, nor Jayasekara specified what action the franchises might take if SLC did not acquiesce to their extension request.

Ajit Chandila, the suspended Rajasthan Royals cricketer, has been sent to three-day police custody by a Delhi court for interrogation under provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2013Ajit Chandila, the suspended Rajasthan Royals cricketer, has been sent to a further three days in police custody by a Delhi court. He was arrested for his alleged involvement in the IPL spot-fixing case, along with his Royals team-mates Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan.”The matter is being investigated under the provision of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA),” the judge Ajay Kumar Jain said. “The prosecution is to be given full chance to unearth the entire crime. The accused is remanded in 3-days of police custody.”Chandila is required to corroborate evidence collected from the other accused cricketers after invoking MCOCA, which is a special law passed by the Maharashtra state government to tackle organised crime syndicates and terrorism and contains far stricter provisions relating to bail and admissibility of confessions compared to the Indian Penal Code. It allows police longer spells of custody of the accused.Chandila has been directed to be produced in court on June 20. The court also deferred the hearing on bail applications of Chandila and five others, including former Ranji player Baburao Yadav, to June 22 after being informed by the police that some statements of the bookies arrested in the same case have to be placed on record.Chandila was arrested on May 16 and remained in police custody till May 28 before he was remanded to judicial custody.While Sreesanth and Chavan were granted bail on June 10 and released the next day, Chandila had not applied for bail.The three Royals cricketers were arrested, along with 11 bookies, and were charged under the Indian Penal Code section 420 and 120B, which deal with fraud, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy admitted that the failure of his bowlers to contain Pakistan’s batsmen during the Powerplay overs was a major factor in his side’s two-wicket loss to Pakistan in the first T20I in St Vincent

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2013Darren Sammy, the West Indies T20 captain, admitted that the failure of his bowlers to contain Pakistan’s batsmen during the Powerplay overs was a major factor in his side’s two-wicket loss to Pakistan in the first T20I.”We gave away too many runs in the Powerplay,” Sammy said. “We still have to learn how to do it. I believed in [Shannon] Gabriel’s extra pace, and thought he could get Afridi out. He did get him out, but a bit too late. We batted like champions, but this time our bowlers didn’t back up our batsmen.”Shannon Gabriel, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine, who bowled the mandatory Powerplay overs for West Indies, conceded 61 runs in the first six overs. Although West Indies managed to dismiss three batsmen, the start was enough to give Pakistan some momentum in their chase. Gabriel gave 25 runs in his first two overs and took the wicket of Nasir Jamshed. He was expensive in his second spell, too, conceding 19 runs in two overs, but managed to dismiss Hammad Azam in the 15th over and Shahid Afridi in the penultimate over, with Pakistan six runs short of the target.Pakistan’s reply was largely guided by Shahid Afridi, who scored 46 off 27 balls, and debutantes Umar Amin and Zulfiqar Babar also put up impressive performances. Amin steadied the innings after the loss of early wickets with a 34-ball 47, while Babar picked up the wickets of Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Bravo, before scoring 13 nerveless runs to take Pakistan to victory off the last ball. Afridi, who won the Man-of-the-Match award, and Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez were effusive in their praise for Amin and Babar.”I should give my award to Zulfiqar Babar: he bowled well, fielded well, batted well. And Umar Amin too,” Afridi said after the match.”It’s a great effort by the players,” Hafeez said. “I was really happy to see their desire to win. I am really happy with the contribution of the two debutants, and then Shahid Afridi. It was a tough chase, but the positive intent was there.”

Nasir Jamshed has said he is disappointed after being dropped from the Test side ahead of the Zimbabwe tour, and is hopeful of gaining selection for Pakistan’s next assignment

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2013Nasir Jamshed, the Pakistan batsman, has set his sights on a Test comeback after being dropped from the side ahead of the Zimbabwe tour which begins on August 23.Jamshed enjoyed a prolific ODI season last year, where he scored 462 runs in eight innings at an average of 66, establishing himself as a regular, though he didn’t hit the same highs in his 16 ODIs this year. His Test performances, have been found wanting, with only 51 runs in four innings, and a high score of 46 in a difficult series in South Africa.Speaking on the opening day of the national training camp on Tuesday, Jamshed said: “Test cricket is an important format and essential for every big player. I am disappointed over being dropped from the Test side. I will try my best to regain a place in the five-day format too by giving good performances in ODIs and T20s. If I am given another chance in Test cricket, you will find me a more mature player. I have realised my mistakes [in South Africa] and I have learnt the lessons.”Another notable selection was of the allrounder Anwar Ali, who first gained prominence with his display of swing bowling during the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2006. He has only played one T20I for Pakistan, in a match against Zimbabwe in Canada on October 2008. Since then he has worked on his batting, becoming a competent allrounder in the domestic scene. Over the last two seasons, he has taken 107 wickets at the first-class level, while providing contributions with the bat as well.Anwar was hopeful that his new-found ability with the bat would hold him in good stead for the tour: “This time I have come back in the team with improved batting skills too to play my role in the team as an effective all-rounder.”

N Srinivasan is set to be elected unopposed as president during the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Chennai on Sunday as his was the only nomination filed for the president’s post

Amol Karhadkar28-Sep-2013N Srinivasan is set to be elected unopposed as president during the BCCI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Chennai on Sunday as his was the only nomination filed for the president’s post.Despite being subjected to public revulsion following the IPL corruption scandal that saw his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan arrested and chargesheeted, Srinivasan had announced his intention to contest the election following the Supreme Court clearing decks, while preventing him from taking charge till further notice.Srinivasan was supported by all the six South zone associations, thus taking out the possibility of a contest for the top post. Similarly, incumbent secretary Sanjay Patel and joint secretary Anurag Thakur also submitted their applications after the consent from the BCCI members.Treasurer Ravi Savant, meanwhile, is set to be replaced by Haryana Cricket Association secretary Anirudh Chaudhary, another Srinivasan supporter. Savant’s name has been proposed as the vice-president from West Zone.Likely office-bearers: President – N Srinivasan, Secretary – Sanjay Patel, Treasurer – Anirudh Chaudhary, Joint Secretary – Anurag Thakur, Vice-presidents – Ravi Savant (West), Rajiv Shukla (Central), SP Bansal (North), Shivlal Yadav (South), Chitrak Mitra (East)

Corey Anderson scored his maiden Test century with a calculated dominance of the Bangladesh attack.

The Report by Mohammad Isam23-Oct-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWhile Corey Anderson propelled New Zealand, Kane Williamson provided solid support as the pair added 140 for the fifth wicket•Associated PressCorey Anderson scored his maiden Test century with a calculated dominance of the Bangladesh attack. His 116 led the way for New Zealand as they ended the third day of the second Test on 419 for 8 with a lead of 137.Shakib Al Hasan’s five-wicket haul was the only solace for Bangladesh, who also had to endure a late, 84-run ninth-wicket partnership between BJ Watling and Ish Sodhi. On a pitch that is offering more turn every day, the stand further dented the confidence of the Bangladesh bowlers. Watling was unbeaten on 59 and Sodhi on 53, the legspinner’s maiden Test fifty.Bangladesh had a good start to the day, picking one of the two wickets they had sought desperately on the second day. New Zealand had added 20 runs in 3.3 overs before Ross Taylor edged Shakib to first slip for 53 off 79 balls.Williamson was the other wicket that the hosts wanted but they didn’t get the batsman for another couple of hours. While they focused on dismissing New Zealand’s No. 3, Bangladesh were blind-sided by Anderson, who had made his debut in the first Test in Chittagong.Anderson made a quiet start, scoring just one run off his first 12 deliveries, but broke free with a four through long-on off Sohag Gazi. He swiftly hit a few more fours before swinging a six off Shakib and brought up his fifty off 72 balls. At lunch, New Zealand were 51 runs behind, but Anderson had moved to 75 and Williamson was on 56.The pair ensured New Zealand also maintained a good run-rate of 3.72. The first session saw New Zealand score 124 runs for the loss of one wicket and, with the threat of rain and a spinning track, it marked a shift in the momentum of the game.Thirty-odd minutes after the break, Anderson reached his hundred with a glide through midwicket off Gazi. It was an assertive innings – Bangladesh couldn’t get Anderson playing and missing for too long, and eventually the batsman would hit out with a four. Predictably, he played spin more than pace but dominated Shakib, Gazi and Abdur Razzak. Against Rubel Hossain, who tested him on a few occasions from around the wicket, Anderson struck five boundaries.At the other end, Williamson steadily brought up his third successive fifty in the series with a four down the ground off Al-Amin Hossain. Williamson had a reprieve on 58 when Mushfiqur dropped a chance off Gazi, but fortunately for Bangladesh, it didn’t cost them too much as the batsman was out for 62.Razzak broke the 140-run stand as Williamson miscued and holed out to Tamim Iqbal at deep mid-wicket. Seven overs later, Al-Amin had Anderson caught in the covers for his first Test wicket. Anderson scored 116 off 173 balls with 13 fours and a couple of sixes.Shakib completed his tenth five-wicket haul when he had Doug Bracewell caught behind in the 101st over of the New Zealand innings. Then came the late-order resistance from Sodhi and Watling, who made sure they held on to the advantage created by the middle-order.It wasn’t an attractive stand, but the pair nudged and smothered the spin and the frustration of the crowd grew with every lightly tapped boundary from Watling. Sodhi showed his batting potential, not reluctant to manufacture shots when the field was up.Bangladesh’s bowling, indifferent throughout the day, hardly had venom at the stage. Gazi remained wicketless and had himself to blame for spilling a return chance from Sodhi. Razzak was expensive on the second evening, and mostly ineffective on the third day. Rubel and Al-Amin tried hard, but the New Zealand batsmen played them well. Shakib remained the best bowler on show, although he too strayed towards the end.Bangladesh now have the hard task of staying in contention in the game. Apart from dismissing New Zealand quickly, they must come up with a proper second-innings response to put the visitors out of the game. For that, they can learn from the Williamson-Anderson stand that has given New Zealand an advantage.

A cold, wet Hobart day kept the players for Australia A and England huddled inside their Bellerive Oval changerooms, waiting for the inevitable abandonment that eventually arrived a little after 4pm. It also caused Tim Paine’s banged up and arthritic righ

Daniel Brettig in Hobart07-Nov-20130:00

Rain hampers England’s preparation

A cold, wet Hobart day kept the players for Australia A and England huddled inside their Bellerive Oval changerooms, waiting for the inevitable abandonment that eventually arrived a little after 4pm. It also caused Tim Paine’s banged up and arthritic right index finger to feel stiff and sore, a familiar sensation for the wicketkeeper after a saga of breaks and re-breaks that threatened his career.Paine’s finger will never have full feeling or flexibility in it again, but he has learned to deal with the inconvenience as a gloveman and batsman. He has more reason than ever to brave a little discomfort too, as Australia’s line of wicketkeeping succession has opened up considerably behind Brad Haddin.For a time, Paine felt his chance might have passed, as his finger problems coincided with the rise and rise of Matthew Wade. However Haddin’s return to take the gloves in all forms of the game has given Paine renewed hope that he will add to the Test matches he played in 2010, in a stint that had appeared to foreshadow a long and fruitful international career for a cricketer of youthful looks but mature countenance.”I think there is no doubt it has opened up a bit, Brad is obviously the number one but after that who knows, it is about performing,” Paine said. “I think whoever does that, and if anything does happen to Brad or he decides to hang them up in the next year or two it will be who is in the best form. That is a good thing for the guys who have probably been back in the order in the last couple of years, it has certainly opened right up.”Paine did not look out of place at all in his four Tests, performing admirably in India where he flirted with a Test century in Mohali and made more runs in Bangalore, all the while keeping wicket with the neatness of a specialist gloveman. However his return home was blighted in the short-lived ACA Allstars fixture against an Australia XI in Brisbane, when a pacy delivery from Dirk Nannes jammed his finger against the bat handle.He missed most of that summer before resuming prematurely, but two subsequent re-injuries of a digit now bolstered by pins and screws caused enormous pain and considerable doubt about when he might resume. Eventually, it was decided to graft bone from Paine’s hip into the finger, which now requires considerable technical adjustments to account for its lack of mobility.”Basically my hip is my right index finger now, it is probably the strongest part of my body. It is just the movement and jarring and things like that which give me a few issues,” he said. “They cut a large chunk out [between the knuckles], went into my hip and pulled a bit of my hip out.There have been plenty of ups and downs for Tim Paine in recent years•Getty Images”[Batting] was a big issue coming back, my grip is obviously completely different. Can’t really close my bat finger up to the bat and obviously that’s how you’re taught to hold the bat as a kid. So I found when I came back that I’d middle a ball and it was going nowhere near where I thought it was so that took a little bit of time to adjust but I think I’m really close now to breaking through.”While the finger has been a major hurdle for Paine, it is not his only obstacle. One of the great statistical anomalies of his career is that an innings of 215 for Tasmania as far back as the 2006-07 season remains his only first-class century. Any observer of Paine’s sturdy technique and considerable mental strength will find that hard to believe, and so does he, while admitting the drought has started to weigh heavily on his mind.”In my head it has definitely. I’d like to be scoring a lot more runs and a lot more hundreds,” Paine said. “I really felt at the time of the first break that I was on the verge of starting to do that quite consistently and then through a number of things through confidence, to form, to not having played cricket for two years I’ve really struggled to get back to where I want to be.”I’m certainly disappointed, I don’t hide from that. I haven’t done well enough with the bat than my talent should have allowed me to but I think it’s more upstairs than anything technical and I think I’m starting to get on top of those confidence issues that arose from what happened with my finger and I’m close to coming out the other end of it.”Paine’s feelings of uncertainty were not helped by the state of the Bellerive Oval wicket, or surfaces around the nation in general. The preponderance of result pitches in the Sheffield Shield added to Paine’s struggles, but they were no more prominent than on his home turf, where a relaid pitch last summer caused no end of problems for batsmen with its uneven bounce in addition to generous seam movement.”The thing that really knocked me around here was the up and down bounce,” Paine said. “Similar to now I felt I was starting to play reasonably well and get over worrying about being hit, then to play on that pitch at times last year it was right at the front of my mind. I was a bit worried about balls coming forward because they were jumping. I think that threw me a lot , confidence-wise. It looks like it’s playing all right now so I’m looking forward to getting a hit in this game.”This game currently has a scorecard showing England 0 for 318, allowing Paine to harbour thoughts of his own large score. Nonetheless, he is committed to maintaining the keeping standards that first helped to get him noticed by the national selectors, and hopes that the former Australia gloveman and selector Rod Marsh will look kindly upon his form.”I’d like to think they would go back to a wicketkeeper-batsman rather than a batsman-wicketkeeper,” Paine said. “At the same time it’s going to have to be someone who is scoring runs consistently and I think all wicketkeepers around the country pretty much do their job with the bat . So keeping is always going to be number one, but the Hartleys, Nevills, Wades, they score runs as well so I’m going to have to do the same.”A few runs would not only aid Paine’s cause, but also help make that arthritic finger a little easier to ignore.

Jonathan Tattersall’s all-round efforts, and Joe Clarke’s unbeaten 64-ball 81, helped England U-19s to a 42-run victory over UAE U-19s to get their campaign off on the right foot

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2013
ScorecardEngland Under-19s began their campaign in style as they held on to a 42-run victory over UAE Under-19s, with Joe Clarke’s late, unbeaten 64-ball 81 proving the difference between the two sides in their match at the Nursery Oval in Abu Dhabi. England won the toss and elected to bat, with the openers putting on 33. Once Ryan Higgins was run out for 23, England suffered a couple of blows in the eight and ninth over to leave them at a dodgy 47 for 3. A fourth-wicket stand of 87 between Jonathan Tattersall and captain Ed Barnard helped steady the ship, with Barnard falling for 53. Tattersall’s innings came to an end on 40, and knocks from Will Rhodes (35), Clarke and Rob Jones (37*) helped propel England to 300 for 6 after 50 overs.UAE began confidently, with the openers adding 45 for the first wicket. Once wicketkeeper S Vijayakumar fell on 23, this brought captain Rohit Singh to the crease, and together with Chirag Suri, the pair put on 107 runs for the second wicket. With UAE cruising on 152 for 1 in the 31st over, it looked as though they had set up a decent platform to see off the chase, but Tattersall chipped in with two vital breaks as UAE went from 152 for 1 to 190 for 5 by the 39th over. With half of the side in the pavilion, and still requiring 110 runs off just 11 overs, the task was too great as UAE stumbled to 258. Suri ended up top-scoring with 70, while Tattersall added to his 40 from the first innings with 3 for 34 in seven overs.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have retained Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers ahead of the 2014 IPL auction

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jan-2014Royal Challengers Bangalore have retained Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers ahead of the 2014 IPL auction. The franchise has also announced the appointment of Daniel Vettori, who played for Royal Challengers in previous seasons, as head coach and Allan Donald as bowling coach.Trent Woodhill, who is currently David Warner’s personal batting coach, was named the franchise’s batting and fielding coach for the season.January 10 is the deadline for the IPL franchises to announce their list of retained players, ahead of the auction on February 12. Each franchise is allowed to retain up to five players and can buy back additional members of their squads at the auction via right-to-match cards. The number of right-to-match cards available to each franchise will depend on the number of players already retained. Since Royal Challengers retained three players, they will have one right-to-match card at the auction.A fixed amount will be deducted from Royal Challengers’ auction purse of Rs 600 million (approx. US$ 9.6 million, at the current exchange rate) for each of three players retained: Rs 125 million for player one, Rs 95 million for player two and Rs 75 million for player three. That will leave the franchise with Rs 305 million to spend at the auction. This season, each squad must include no less than 16 and no more than 27 players, with a maximum of nine overseas players.Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle have often won Royal Challengers games with their explosive top-order batting•AFPThe amount deducted from the auction purse is not necessarily the IPL fee agreed to between the franchise and the retained player.India’s Kohli, who captained Royal Challengers in 2013, is one of the leading limited-overs batsmen in world cricket at the moment, while West Indies’ Gayle is unarguably the most destructive Twenty20 batsman on his day. Last season Gayle slammed a world-record 175 not out off 66 balls against Pune Warriors, on his way to an aggregate of 708 at 59.00 – he was No. 2 on the tournament’s run charts. Kohli slotted in at No. 3, with 634 runs at 45.28. South Africa’s de Villiers, who bats lower down the order for Royal Challengers, scored 360 runs at 36.00. The trio forms an intimidating batting core for Royal Challengers.Former New Zealand captain Vettori, who has been plagued by injury of late, had led the team before Kohli. He replaced Ray Jennings, who had coached Royal Challengers over several seasons. Vettori’s appointment is unique, given he is still an active player – he is currently playing for the Brisbane Heat Australia’s Big Bash League. Donald, who is South Africa’s bowling coach, had worked with the now-defunct Pune Warriors in IPL 2013. Woodhill, an Australian, is a batting and fielding specialist, having worked with Pakistan and New Zealand and several domestic sides. He is credited with moulding Warner at New South Wales, and also coached the Melbourne Stars and Delhi Daredevils.”I am happy to be retained by RCB and it’s great to be back in Bangalore,” Kohli said. “I look forward to working closely with Dan Vettori. Allan Donald’s experience will add a lot of value.”