Tony Palladino shattered Glamorgan with a five-wicket haul as Derbyshire completed the double over the Welsh outfit in the County Championship

14-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Tony Palladino celebrates his fifth wicket against Glamorgan•PA Photos

Tony Palladino shattered Glamorgan with a five-wicket haul as Derbyshire completed the double over the Welsh outfit in the County Championship. The right-arm seamer was supported by Jon Clare and Mark Turner, who each took two wickets, as the visitors were dismissed for 167. Glamorgan’s rapid demise lifted the hosts to a resounding 186-run victory with more than 41 overs remaining.Palladino ended with figures of 5 for 50, including three maidens, as the hosts cantered to a 23-point win.Derbyshire’s second-innings mark of 438 left Glamorgan with an unlikely victory target of 354 from 82 overs, but any prospect of a successful run-chase vanished when three wickets tumbled in the first seven overs on Thursday morning. Only Gareth Rees offered any resistance with 52 after skipper Alviro Petersen went first ball to record a king pair in a game he will want to forget.Derbyshire had been marginal favourites at the start of the fourth day with a lead of 295 and two wickets intact, and they added another 57 before their tail was mopped up. Glamorgan needed a solid start in reply but were swiftly undone by the new ball.Petersen had fallen lbw playing no shot in the first innings and on this occasion the South African edged a good ball from Palladino to be caught behind in the opening over. William Bragg also went for nought, failing to deal with a short ball from Clare in the next over and lobbing back a gentle return catch to the bowler.And any victory hopes Glamorgan might have entertained all but vanished when Michael Powell was trapped lbw by Palladino for seven to leave the visitors on 25 for 3. Ben Wright was struck on the hand before the interval and went off injured, although he did resume his innings after lunch. By then, however, Glamorgan’s fate was sealed.Jim Allenby and Mark Wallace scored centuries and shared a double-hundred stand in the first innings but this time they managed only 8 apiece as the middle order continued to struggle.
Allenby fell tamely when he chipped Palladino to midwicket in the 24th over and Wallace also went to a loose shot at Turner that was taken by Clare plunging forward at mid-on.When James Harris (4) was bowled by a ball from Turner that kept low, Glamorgan were 93 for 6 and any hopes of them clinging on for a draw disappeared when opener Rees was lbw to a full-length Palladino delivery. Dean Cosker (6) could do nothing with a lifter and after some defiant blows from Graham Wagg (29), the home side celebrated a notable win that keeps them in the hunt for promotion.Glamorgan’s misery was compounded when they were docked a point for a slow over rate.

Australia’s most-recently dumped Test spinner, Xavier Doherty, believes the selectors should give slow bowlers more time to establish themselves in the five-day side

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2011Australia’s most-recently dumped Test spinner, Xavier Doherty, believes the selectors should give slow bowlers more time to establish themselves in the five-day side. Doherty was surprisingly picked ahead of Nathan Hauritz for the opening Ashes Test last summer but was dropped after two matches and is now viewed as a one-day specialist.The Western Australia left-armer, Michael Beer, is the incumbent but has played only one Test and will face pressure from the offspinner Nathan Lyon during the tour of Sri Lanka. Over the past few years, Jason Krejza was cut after two Tests, and Bryce McGain and Beau Casson after one each, and Doherty said it was a tough ask for spinners to prove themselves so quickly.”It’s obviously exciting because there’s plenty of chances around, plenty of guys are getting a go at it,” Doherty told AAP. “On that part of it there’s obviously some positives there but looking back, the guys that have had those chances have only really had one, two or a handful of Tests to strut their stuff. In an ideal world you’d probably want a little bit longer than that to find your feet.”It’s an art that’s quite tough, particularly in Australia, you don’t always get the conditions you want all the time. There is obviously a lot of positives being a spinner at the moment but there’s also quite a bit of pressure that comes with it. The message probably is you’ve got to find your feet quicker than normal because they’re really after someone to nail that spot.”With Hauritz still recovering from a serious shoulder injury, Doherty is the first-choice slow bowler during the one-day series in Sri Lanka. Although he has slipped out of the Test reckoning, Doherty is confident that should another opportunity present itself in the longer format, he would be ready to take it with both hands.”I felt like I finished off the Shield season pretty well and I’ve got my chance here to bowl well again,” he said. “My destiny’s really in my own hands to be honest. I’ve got this series to do well and I feel like I’m bowling really well and I’ve prepared as well as I can. I think I’m ready to go and if another opportunity presents itself down the track then I’ll make sure I’m ready if that comes along.”

Craig Kieswetter tore in to India’s opening bowlers and Alastair Cook made a case for a Twenty20 berth with an effective half-century that brought England a cantering victory

The Report by Abhishek Purohit06-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Craig Kieswetter launched England’s chase in emphatic style before Alastair Cook finished off the job•Associated Press

Craig Kieswetter tore into India’s opening bowlers and Alastair Cook made a case for a Twenty20 berth with an effective 80 not out that brought England a cantering victory which hadn’t seemed as likely when the visitors posted an imposing total. England exploited the lack of depth and predictability of India’s four-man bowling attack, compounded by their specialist spinner having a relative off day while England’s snared three key wickets.It meant that another solid Ajinkya Rahane effort that displayed his enormous potential went in vain – the second time in three international innings that he has made a half-century and ended up on the losing side.England’s richer bowling stocks allowed them to go a batsman short into a game reduced to 23 overs per side after rain ruined the afternoon for the patient Southampton crowd. It turned out that the extra batsman wasn’t required after Kieswetter’s assault at the top left England needing 121 off 100 deliveries by the time he fell.India’s seamers rely on movement, there wasn’t much available and the medium pace of Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar proved ideal for Kieswetter as he flayed them for boundaries through the off side. Contrary to his reputation, Cook wasn’t far behind Kieswetter as he began with consecutive boundaries off Praveen.As he often does in the IPL, MS Dhoni turned to the offspin of R Ashwin in the fifth over. However, this wasn’t the heat of Chennai; it was the biting cold of a chilly Southampton evening and Ashwin was lifted over long-on for consecutive sixes by Kieswetter. He had galloped to 46 off 25 deliveries before being trapped leg-before by a Vinay inswinger but he had brought down the required rate by almost a run an over.It was a situation that allowed Cook to settle in for the night as Dhoni was forced to use his part-timers to make up for the lack of a fifth bowler. Ian Bell, coming in at No. 3, made
Cook’s task easier with a delicious little innings that showcased his ability to ping the gaps on the off side without fuss. By the time Bell hit one to extra cover off Ashwin, the asking-rate had fallen below seven.

Smart stats

• England’s run-rate of 8.48 in their chase is their second-highest in a successful 150-plus chase in ODIs. The highest is 8.59 in their seven-wicket win over Pakistan in 2003.

• The match run-rate of 8.30 is the highest for ODIs in England in which at least 240 balls have been bowled.

• The win is England’s third in four games in Southampton. This is the most number of matches they have won at a home venue in ODIs since 2009.

• Alastair Cook now averages exactly 40 in ODIs with two centuries and seven half-centuries. Since his return to the team in February 2010, he has scores 538 runs in ten innings at an average of 67.25 with one century and four fifties.

• Suresh Raina’s strike rate of 210.52 during his innings of 40 is joint-sixth on the list of top strike rates for Indian batsmen for 40-plus knocks.

Cook grew in confidence and even slammed Ashwin over deep midwicket for only his second six in ODIs. There was no dislodging him even in a shortened game once he had decided to see England through and it meant that there was to be no glory for contrasting efforts from Rahane and Suresh Raina earlier.There was nothing in Rahane’s approach or stroke-making that reminded one of the crudities of the shortest format in a game reduced to almost Twenty20 length. Having watched a marauding Parthiv Patel allow him only two balls of the strike in the opening 20 deliveries, Rahane took charge after his opening partner’s dismissal in a 79-run second-wicket stand with Rahul Dravid that set the platform for Raina to take off from.While Rahane served further notice of his talent, Raina showed just why he is a transformed batsman in coloured clothing, using his favourite swing over cow corner to lift India from 125 to 182 in the space of 30 deliveries. He mostly faced Jade Dernbach’s slower ones and wasn’t tested by the short delivery, a tactic Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan were prone to using against the Indian top order, which countered them with spunk.When Broad – who had got him caught on the pull at long leg in the first ODI – dropped it short, Rahane launched him high over the deep midwicket boundary. He lifted the spinners straight down the ground, the highlight being a straight-batted loft on the up against Samit Patel before he chipped one straight back to the combative Swann.Dravid middled almost every delivery he played but as has often been the case with him in limited-overs cricket, elegant drives raced straight to extra cover, ferocious pulls flew to deep square leg and industrious glides found point.Parthiv had blazed away at the start, favouring the pull and the cut to collect 26 off Bresnan’s opening two overs. Anderson, however, had Parthiv throwing his bat at a short and wide one only to feather it behind, a touch so faint that HotSpot failed to pick it, again, though Snicko didn’t.Rahane and Raina ensured that India capitalised on the kickstart that Parthiv provided, but Kieswetter and Cook were too good on the night.

Former West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2011Former West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Joining Ambrose in 2011’s Hall of Fame class was an Australian trio of former allrounder Alan Davidson, former women’s captain Belinda Clark and the late fast bowler Frederick Spofforth.One of the finest bowlers of all time, Ambrose picked up 405 Test wickets at an average of 20.99 in a career that had remarkable performances. He took 6 for 24 to skittle England for 46 in Trinidad in 1993, and 7 for 25 against Australia at the WACA in 1993 to win the series for his side. He also played 176 ODIs, taking 225 wickets at an average of 24.12.”It is a privilege and an honour to be inducted in the Hall of Fame,” Ambrose said. “In the history of cricket there have been many great cricketers and to be part of that elite group, I’m very happy and very humbled.”I never thought that this day would come. This only tells me that all the hard work I put in throughout my career did not go unnoticed. I see this also as a just reward for all the joy and happiness that I may have brought to cricket and cricketers alike.”Ambrose, Davidson and Clark will be inducted during the ICC annual awards in London, while Spofforth will be inducted later next year in a ceremony involving the former fast bowler’s family.

Mushfiqur’s effort laid to waste a compelling all-round effort from Marlon Samuels that did its best to overcome his team-mates’ inability to master the conditions

The Report by Nitin Sundar11-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe former captain bowled well, and the new captain batted nervelessly to set up Bangladesh’s win•Associated Press

Mushfiqur Rahim began his captaincy tenure with a nerveless, unbeaten 41 off 26 balls, as Bangladesh completed their first win against West Indies at home. With four required to win off the last two balls, Mushfiqur lashed Ravi Rampaul for a huge six over deep midwicket to provide the closing twist in a game that swung dramatically in front of packed stands.Mushfiqur’s effort laid to waste a compelling all-round show from Marlon Samuels that did its best to overcome his team-mates’ inability to master the conditions. Samuels battled through a typically stifling spell from Bangladesh’s spinners to score a half-century and give his bowlers something to defend. His seaming team-mates then let him down to allow Bangladesh’s top order easy runs, but Samuels hit back with the wickets of the two most experienced home batsmen – Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful – in an economical spell. Samuels, however, bowled out in the 13th over and West Indies somehow contrived to let Bangladesh’s bottom half get 62 off the last seven overs.There were striking similarities in the way the two innings panned out. Like their Bangladeshi counterparts earlier in the day, the West Indies fast bowlers were too short with the new ball. Like the West Indies openers, Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal capitalised with a flurry of early boundaries that set them up for the middle overs. Both line-ups lost steam rapidly in the middle overs before staging recoveries.Kayes looked in fine touch, punching and cutting when provided with width, but Anthony Martin got him to hole out in the eighth over to give West Indies an opening. Samuels struck with the next ball, sneaking an armer through Shakib’s defences to dismiss him for a first-ball duck. Alok Kapali then gifted debutant Carlos Brathwaite his first wicket with a mindless slog to leave Bangladesh at 53 for 4 at the halfway mark. With the resolute Mahmudullah out with fever, the Bangladesh middle order faced a dodgy chase.For a brief while, Ashraful showed signs of steering Bangladesh home, but perished off the last ball of Samuels’ spell. Mushfiqur kept Bangladesh afloat by hitting Martin for a six in the 15th over, but Naeem Islam succumbed to Darren Sammy’s slower ball to give West Indies the edge once again. It boiled down to 20 off the last two overs, and Brathwaite was handed the 19th over – bowling sides’ banana peel in the recently concluded Champions League.Brathwaite’s lack of pace and insistence on sticking to length deliveries meant he had to maintain exemplary lines. He missed his mark twice, and Bangladesh found boundaries on both occasions. Nasir Hossain swung a straight ball to midwicket, and Mushfiqur dabbed a wide one through third man as Bangladesh looted 14 off the over. Rampaul managed to dismiss Hossain and keep things tight for four balls of the final over, before Mushfiqur signed off in style.Earlier, Shakib and Abdur Razzak asphyxiated West Indies with a typically restrictive spell of left-arm spin, but Samuels seemed to be batting on a different pitch. Samuels walked out at No. 3 and began the international leg of the tour with two sixes off his first three balls against the habitually short Rubel Hossain. The first was a sumptuous swivel-pull over backward square leg, and the second an astounding pick-up shot that carried over backward point. Lendl Simmons found some fluency of his own, sweeping Shakib for four before planting Razzak beyond the midwicket boundary, but his exit exposed the deficiencies of the flat-footed middle order.Andre Russell edged Shakib into the covers and Dwayne Bravo missed an armer from Razzak that skidded on, before Darren Sammy tried to loft a ball that was too full and holed out to long-off. Danza Hyatt, meanwhile, missed a lap shot to be trapped in front, as West Indies went into tailspin, but Samuels kept counter-punching.He settled in after the turbo-charged start, gauging the conditions with a series of nudges and pushes off the spinners, even as his team-mates floundered. Having moved easily to 23 off 18 balls, Samuels opened up again with a cover drive off Naeem Islam in the 12th over, before guiding Shakib through point, both for fours. Samuels continued to upset Naeem’s lines, walking outside off and lashing him with the spin for his third six, before repeating the dose when Shakib dropped short. By the time he was out in the final over, Samuels had lifted West Indies to a respectable score, but it wasn’t enough against the rampant Mushfiqur.

A brief rain delay was the major obstacle for Tasmania as the hosts completed a first outright victory of the season by 182 runs over South Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2011
ScorecardA brief rain delay was the major obstacle for Tasmania as the hosts completed a first outright victory of the season by 182 runs over South Australia on the final day of the Sheffield Shield match in Hobart.Chasing a distant 402 to win, the Redbacks were given a sound start by Michael Klinger and Daniel Harris, but the rest fell away in abject fashion as Xavier Doherty and James Faulkner shared seven wickets between them, interrupted only by rain around the lunch interval.The result pushes Tasmania up to fourth on the Shield table and only one outright win out of second spot, while SA are stranded at the bottom of the table with only two points from four matches.

Netherlands will be without allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate and batsman Top Cooper during their campaign in the Caribbean T20

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2011Netherlands will be without allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate and batsman Top Cooper during their campaign in the Caribbean T20. The coach Peter Drinnen said they had other commitments. The 14-man squad will be led by Peter Borren.Netherlands have been pooled with Jamaica, Barbados, Sussex, and Combined Campuses and Colleges in Group B, and will play their first game in Antigua on January 10. Group A comprises Trinidad & Tobago, Windward Islands, Guyana, Leeward Islands, and Canada.”The group has prepared exemplarily for the tournament in the Caribbean,” Drinnen said. “A bonus is that we have some players in foreign leagues, like Timm van der Gugten, who recently made his debut for New South Wales.”All fourteen players are looking forward to two months of intensive high-level cricket. In about three months, we will play in the World Twenty20 qualifier for
a place at the World Twenty20 in September in Sri Lanka.”Netherlands: Peter Borren (capt), Wesley Barresi, Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom de Grooth, Tim Gruijters, Timm van der Gugten, Tom Heggelman, Alexei Kervezee, Asha Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Michael Swart.

Wayne Madsen, the South African-born opening batsman, has been appointed Derbyshire captain following the retirement of Luke Sutton.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2011Wayne Madsen, the South African-born opening batsman, has been appointed Derbyshire captain following the retirement of Luke Sutton.Derbyshire, who sacked coach John Morris during a match against Essex in May, were quick to appoint a new captain after the unexpected retirement of Sutton, who had received treatment for depression during the 2011 season.Madsen, 27, began his career with KwaZulu-Natal in 2003 and played in the Lancashire League during the English summers before moving to the UK in 2008. He secured a contract with Derbyshire in 2009 and scored an unbeaten 170 on debut against Gloucestershire.”I’m extremely honoured and looking forward to the challenge of leading an exciting young team,” said Madsen, who has scored 2,476 first-class runs for Derbyshire at 35.88. “The squad has made significant strides during the past year. It will be a privilege to lead this group of players.”Head coach Karl Krikken is confident Madsen is the perfect replacement for Sutton. “As an excellent leader within the squad and as a model professional, Wayne is the ideal candidate to take over captaincy duties,” he said. “He proved to be a very popular stand-in captain in one-day cricket during the latter part of last season and I know he will do an excellent job in the position on a full-time basis.”

Pakistan seamer Mohammad Talha has been ruled out of the Test series against England in the UAE due to injury

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2012Pakistan seamer Mohammad Talha has been ruled out of the Test series against England in the UAE due to injury. “Talha developed back problem and in the MRI scan it was revealed that he has a disc problem and when his pain subsides in the next two three days he will return home,” Pakistan team manager Naveed Cheema told .Cheema said Talha needed 10 to 12 days rest. Talha didn’t play for Pakistan in their 10-wicket win in Dubai, but he did pick up four wickets in the warm-up game for the PCB XI prior to the Test series. Cheema said Pakistan would not be calling in a replacement.The second Test begins in Abu Dhabi on January 25.

Herschelle Gibbs, the former South African batsman, has signed for Durham for the 2012 Friends Life t20

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2012Herschelle Gibbs, the former South Africa batsman, has signed with Durham for the 2012 Friends Life t20. Gibbs will again link up with former England batsman Paul Collingwood after the pair played for Perth in Australia’s Big Bash League.Gibbs helped Perth reach the final of the BBL and will be hoping to guide Durham further than their quarter-final defeat against Hampshire last season. He has scored 3,050 runs in T20 cricket and has previous experience in the FLt20 with Glamorgan in 2008 and Yorkshire in 2010.”Durham are really committed to their on the field development and have real ambitions to progress in T20,” Gibbs said. “There is some massive talent in the dressing room and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve. I’ve been performing pretty well in the T20 format and I think I can offer some real variation to the side.”Gibbs plays a powerful brand of cricket, highlighted by his top one-day score of 175 from 111 balls which helped South Africa chase down a world-record target of 435 to beat Australia at Johannesburg in 2006. During his previous stint in the FLt20 he made his first T20 century, scoring 101 from 53 balls for Yorkshire against Northamptonshire at Headingley.”It is a real coup for us to bring a player of Herschelle’s calibre to our set up for the FLt20,” Durham head coach Geoff Cook said. “It just goes to show that Durham’s reputation as a progressive and successful club can attract quality players who want to help us win trophies. I’m confident he will add an extra dimension to our batting line up and some real personality in the middle.”