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After Kaneria it is Muralitharan

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The disappointing performance of the Bangladesh squad has clouded the cricketing atmosphere of country. The million fans all over saw their side succumbing before the Lunch on the third day – in a pitch, which appeared to be batting friendly. Most of the batsmen were seen lured by the cunning deliveries off the Pakistani bowlers and threw their wickets away childishly. The task of hanging on to the crease was not daunting but the players failed to execute this anyhow. Danish Kaneria, the leggie, proved to be the culprit taking his haul of a dozen wickets to bring down the tourists.If Kaneria proved to be such a threat for Bangladesh, then what Muralitharan would be? This ace spinner from Sri Lanka has beguiled the celebrated batsmen of the world for innumerable occasions. He is in the peak of his form now pulling mammoth success against India.Let’s hope for the best. The time has come to give our cricketers some moral boost-ups and confidences instead of disdaining them. They played badly in the both innings in Multan but that is not the end of Bangladesh cricket. It is only the beginning and plenty of mistakes might be waiting in future. The history of India and Pakistan are not enjoyable when they were new in Test arena.So, we should keep on watching how much our boys are learning from their blunders. That should be the exact approach for the Bangla Tigers right this moment.

By defeating Bangladesh Sri Lanka jumps into the finals

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The semi final played at the National Stadium was more exciting than expected.Hopeful of a victory they succumbed to Sri Lanka’s pressure and lost by 43 runs.Invited by Bangladesh to bat first Sri Lanka got a terrific start losing the 1st wicket at 71. Harish Ratnayke (32) and Ehsan Mutalip (36) provided the team a solid foundation hoisting 50 of the innings in 15 overs. To continue with the run spree Ehsan Abeysinghe (25) in partnership with other batsmen, raised the score to 100 for 3 in 29 overs. The batsmen who followed kept the score board moving. In 40 overs Sri Lanka was thus able to pile up 173 runs for the loss of 5 wickets.With only 5 overs remaining, slogging was need of the hour. In the process 2 more wicket were lost. Jeevan Mendis was out after playing a valiant innings of 30 while Ranawaka played an equally valuable innings of 28. The batsmen having been out on the consecutive balls, Shariful Islam was on hat-trick but the next ball that he bowled was wide off the mark. Sri Lanka was now 185 for 7.The batsmen at the crease Niroshan (18) and Wijesiriwarkdena (6) raised Sri Lanka to 214 for 7 in the full quota of 45 overs. It was however, delightful to see Niroshan closing the innings with a mighty six.Facing a challenging target of 215 runs Bangladesh started poorly losing 2 wickets for only 20 runs on the board. Naseer ud Din Farukh and Ashraful holding the crease, however, raised the score to 73 in 20 overs. Ashraful who was the back bone of the innings was out after playing a splendid innings of 49. His partner Farrukh was out for an invaluable 30.In 32 overs, Bangladesh was 125 needing 90 runs in 13 overs, which looked a difficult task. Unfortunate for Bangladesh, their mad race to the target did not work.They lost wickets in quick succession losing 8 batsmen for 149. The tail-enders not able to sustain the pressure, the whole team was out for 171 runs. With a 43 runs victory over Bangladesh, Sri Lanka jumps into the final.

Otago indoor facility proving popular

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Otago’s modern indoor cricket facility is starting to prove very popular as teams work on their winter programmes and clubs start to build up for their seasons.Otago has 35 winter representative squads working out of the facility and time is having to be managed carefully.Because of the high use of the indoor facilities, the Otago Cricket Association has spent another $20,000 doing up a secondary area for use by club cricket sides.”Otago chief executive Graeme Elliott said today, “The beauty of having the facility is that we can do work with all those squads.”The squads and individuals have been doing their preparations there while clubs haven’t really used it yet. However, we are starting to get enquiries.”The main part of the complex has two batting strips, one for pace and another for spin and the bowlers’ run-ups are softened to minimise injury prospects for bowlers.The coming season is a big one for Otago as it is celebrating its 125th summer.Jubilee activities are still being planned but one feature promises to be the presentation of New Zealand Cricket’s individual Test Black Caps to New Zealand’s surviving triple century makers, Glenn Turner, Ken Rutherford and Mark Richardson while a member of the Blunt family is expected to be able to attend the function to receive Roger Blunt’s cap.

Honours even at Cheltenham

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Gloucestershire batsman Matt Windows and Hampshire spinner Shaun Udal tookthe honours on an intriguing first day of the CricInfo Championship seconddivision match at Cheltenham.The visitors had to do without skipper Robin Smith and all-rounder DimitriMascarenhas, both late withdrawals through injury, and it looked as if theywould have an unproductive day in the field until Udal instigated a collapsewhich saw six wickets fall for 62 runs.Neil Johnson was the only Hampshire bowler to enjoy success in the morningsession, after Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne had won the toss.Johnson had Dominic Hewson caught behind by Adrian Aymes, as he tried towithdraw the bat, and Kim Barnett was dismissed in the same manner as hedrove at a wide delivery.But Windows and Chris Taylor regained control for Gloucestershire with athird-wicket stand of 137. Both players cut and drove the majority of theirboundaries through the off-side and it was good entertainment for the 3,000festival crowd.Taylor had moved smoothly to 56 before he was well caught by acting captainWill Kendall at mid off, and then Windows departed when he holed out to AlexMorris in the deep.His 91 came from 181 balls, contained 16 fours and a six, and signalled awelcome return to form for the England A batsman, who went into the gamewith a meagre average of 19.Alleyne, Jeremy Snape and Ian Harvey all got out after making a start andwhen Jack Russell also departed, it looked as if Gloucestershire would fallbelow 300.However, they were indebted to a ninth-wicket stand of 62 between MartynBall and Alastair Bressington, who is making hs first appearance of theseason after finishing his studies at university in Cardiff.Ball struck four boundaries in his 40 before he was caught by Johnson at second slip off Chris Tremlett, who promptly wrapped up the innings by dismissing Ben Gannon for a duck.

Wright: Accountability is close to the president's heart and I welcome that

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John Wright is in a situation that cannot be envied for the best part. He is the coach of a cricket team that plumbs the depths of despair with alarming regularity despite having some of the most audacious talents in its ranks. The team apart, in the eyes of millions of cricket crazy fans he is answerable for every Indian loss. Only recently, Wright completed a year as coach of the Indian team. Rumours that his contract would not be extended began doing the rounds. Wright however, in his inimitable softspoken manner, appears unworried. “I do the best job I can and hope it transmits through the performance of the team,” said the former Kiwi skipper and opening bat to pressmen at Ahmedabad on the eve of the second Test at Ahmedabad.Not days ago, Wright met with Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Wright’s detractors have long felt that Dalmiya’s election as BCCI chief would spell the end of his tenure as Indian coach. “I had a constructive discussion with Jagmohan Dalmiya. It’s always good to talk to the man in charge of Indian cricket,” said Wright. He went on to add, “Accountability is close to the president’s heart and I welcome that.” In appointing a foreign coach, accountability was one of the things the BCCI hoped to bring in.Another sticky area as far as coaches and captains goes is in team selection. In the past, several former Indian cricketers who have coached the team have been at loggerheads with the selectors. Wright insists that he has no such trouble. “In an ideal situation, you need input from everyone. As a captain you would like to have your eleven because when you walk out on to the field of play the final responsibility of leading the team to victory is yours,” he began. “At the same time you need objectivity from the captain and the coach. When you get caught up with playing, you might lose a bit of objectivity and that’s where the selectors can help,” he concluded.Digging on his experience as both cricketer and coach Wright had the following observation to make: “As a person who has led New Zealand for a period of three years I feel that the captain is more important than the coach in the process of team selection. As a coach you can either bide your time or convince the captain of your choices. I am very comfortable having the input of the selectors.”To prove his point, Wright quoted the example of the first Test against England where the inclusion of three uncapped medium pacers caused much consternation. “If you remember, there was a lot of discussion about some of the selections, especially the pace bowlers, during the last Test at Mohali. I am personally excited by the fact that we have unearthed other fast bowling talent.”The encouraging performance of youngsters like Tinu Yohannan prompted Wright to speak about the competition for team places. “Every player is in the same position, having to fight for his place in the side. When there is competition from the outside you don’t want to fail too often and all are under pressure to perform, as it should be. If you notice, Zaheer Khan has taken five wickets in his last first class game and that is good. It acts as a reminder to those who are playing for India.”Going back to a point high on the agenda of the BCCI – accountability, Wright spoke of the role millions of Indian fans play in this regard. “Everyone is accountable and that is a very good thing. We owe it to the people of India who are the greatest cricket fans in the world. No one is bigger than the game and that includes the coach.”In all, Wright seems unworried by events off the field. That is completely new to Indian cricket and it is indeed reassuring that the coach is concentrating on the game.

Bloomfield SC secure 80 run victory but fail to qualify

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Bloomfield SC beat Antonians by 80 runs in a Duckworth Lewis affected match. However, the win was not enough to secure a place in the semi finals as both Tamil Union and SSC won their games.Antonians, initially chasing a victory target of 220, after the encounter was reduced to 42 overs due to delay start, had their target revised to 203 from 34 overs, after rain interrupted in the 8th over of their run chase.Pacemen Darshana Gamage(2/22) and Hemantha Alles(2/24) took early wickets before Duminda Perera(3/39) struck twice to leave them on 41 for six and squash any lingering hopes of victory. They eventually finished on 123 for 9 from 34 overs.Only Charles Silva (26) and Chandana Samarasighe(38)scored runs for Antonians.Bloomfield SC, who batted first, suffered an early shock when both their openers, Chaminda Ruwan(08) and Pubudu Dassanayake(11), were dismissed early on to leave Bloomfield on 36 for two.Thereafter, Sajeeka Abeynaike(73)and skipper, Kumara Dharmasena(34), rescued the innings with a 102 run partnership for the third wicket. With some quick runs from the tail and 27 extras they finished on 219.Reflecting on the tournament Kumar Dharmasena said: “We had a set back at the start of the tournament, but we managed to recover and improvee as the tournament progressed.”Bloomfield’s new coach, Oshadi Weerasinghe, was impressed with the performance of Dharmasena: “The leadership of Kumara Dharmasena has really encouraged the others in the team and I am surprised that his all round performances this season have not been rewarded.”

Karnataka escape, with Goud on their side

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3rd day
Scorecard

Yere Goud saved his side from the follow-on with an unbeaten century © Nishant Ratnakar/Bangalore Mirror

Yere Goud was hardly the name you would have expected to hear chanted at the Gangothri Glades in Mysore, given that many in the partisan crowd had come to see a reprise of Robin Uthappa’s brisk century last season. Yet after his unbeaten 110 and a last-wicket stand with the determined NC Aiyappa to avoid the follow-on and post a healthy, unlikely, 329, Goud was the one they were cheering for.Goud walked in at 155 for 5 and soon saw three wickets fall for 36 runs; a fourth fell at 208, still 36 runs short of the target to avoid the follow-on. Yet while his younger team-mates came and went, Goud called on all his experience and gave Karnataka reason to smile after two and a half days of catch-up cricket against Rajasthan. Though Rajasthan did take crucial first-innings lead points and dominated the first half of the third day, they were seriously tested by Goud’s perseverance.In a south Indian version of , Goud, 36, did his best to move the score along after a post-lunch collapse with a six, followed by some paddles and powerful sweeps. After gauging the pitch, the attack and his partner’s abilities, Goud opened up with some exciting shots. There was one mis-hit that the fielder at mid-on, running backwards at a fair clip, failed to hold on to despite a valiant dive, but otherwise it was Karnataka’s afternoon. Goud welcomed the new ball with a pull and helped wrest the momentum back his side’s way.”It was a good innings mainly because we were in some trouble and batting wasn’t easy,” Goud told Cricinfo after the day’s play. “I just wanted to stay there and bat for as long as possible.”That he did. Like Rajasthan’s Robin Bist had on day two, Goud marshalled his tail-end partner, Aiyappa, in fine manner. Singles were picked with ease and loose balls were duly punished. He was especially good against the spinners and used the slowness to pinch singles at the end of the overs.Run after run, Goud and Aiyappa ground Rajasthan into the dust. It was a most fascinating battle to watch. “I told Aiyappa just to stay put and the first plan was to avoid the follow-on,” said Goud. “He did well and we were able to do that. Runs started coming afterwards.”At 3.03pm on a cool afternoon, Goud dabbed another domestic veteran, left-arm spinner Mohammad Aslam, wide of point to reach his century off 190 balls. A jog down the pitch, arms aloft in celebration, and a leap in the air celebrated the hundred followed before Goud quickly got back to his task.The innings wasn’t one usually associated with the stonewalling Goud, but he maintained it was just good to score runs. “I’m glad I could help the team. Being a senior player the team required me to score runs, and I did that. It was satisfying.”Not to be lost in all of this, Aiyappa went past his previous best of an unbeaten seven to buckle down for 24 from 70 balls. His defiance was commendable and helped retrieve Karnataka from what looked a hopeless situation.Goud and Aiyappa’s 121-run stand broke Karnataka’s previous last-wicket best of 120 between Raghuram Bhat and Abhiram, against Tamil Nadu in1981-82 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The end came when Aslam cleaned up Aiyappa in the 129th over and was rewarded his fourth wicket for a persevering 43.2 overs.”The wicket is fairly uneven and it was tough for batsmen and bowlers,” said Aslam. “Looking at the surface before the match, you wouldn’t think 100 was achievable. It’s been up and down. Those who are willing to toil will get wickets.”As expected spin came into play on the third day as Rajasthan took the first session’s honours. Aslam struck early in the day to get rid of nightwatchman KP Appanna, edging to slip in the third over. Opening bowler Sumit Mathur was rewarded for a spirited spell when Thilak Naidu pushed away and edged one to second slip Vineet Saxena, who juggled it but held on.Offspinner Shamsher Singh was the pick of the bowlers in the morning, flighting it more than Aslam and getting turn and bounce. With Aslam and Shamsher bowling well, short leg and silly point were kept busy, as edges dropped perilously close. After Aslam took himself off, Afroz Khan kept one end tight with his tidy military-medium bowling. The first session ended as it began, as C Raghu popped a simple catch to Nikhil Doru at short leg minutes before lunch.”Come on, boys, just don’t relax out there,” said KP Bhaskar, Rajasthan’s coach, as his team huddled on the boundary line after lunch. Sunil Joshi half-heartedly chipped his second delivery to mid-on to give Shamsher his second wicket just two balls into the session. Aslam then bowled B Akhil through the gate with an arm ball in the next over. Vinay Kumar followed after two sixes over long-on, when he was trapped leg before by Shamsher to make it 208 for 9.It would be their last success for 161 minutes as Karnataka, who struggled to forge partnerships all innings, found two contrasting yet stubborn customers to script a classic back-to-the-wall association. And they had Goud to thank for that.

Selectors to mull spin attack for SL tour

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India’s national selection panel is likely to ponder over the composition of the team’s spin attack when they sit down on Thursday in Delhi to finalise the squad for the three-Test series in Sri Lanka.Harbhajan Singh has seemingly justified his recall with decent outings in the Bangladesh and Zimbabwe ODIs, and is set to be given a full series, while R Ashwin, too, is ready to roll in what would be his maiden Test series in Sri Lanka. With two spots locked in the XI, the selectors will have to decide on the back-up spinners.Karn Sharma, who was the third spinner in the Test squad in Bangladesh, got injured ahead of the Zimbabwe tour. It is understood, however, that he has recovered from his finger injury and is available for selection. Still, Karn is not assured of a spot, with three other players competing for the third spinner’s position, even though Ravindra Jadeja has fallen out of the radar in recent months.Axar Patel, considered to be a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja, has put in consistent performances in limited overs. Also, the fact that Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha have been rewarded with India A call-ups indicates that Sandeep Patil’s panel has not written the pair off completely. Interestingly, it was Mishra and Pragyan who shouldered the responsibility in India’s last Test series in Sri Lanka, in 2010, when Harbhajan returned home after the first Test.With opening batsman KL Rahul also returning to top-flight cricket after recovering from a bout of dengue fever, 14 of the 15 members, barring Karn, who were originally selected for the lone Test in June are likely to be persisted with.The other point of discussion would be whether to add a reserve keeper in the squad. MS Dhoni’s Test retirement will give Wriddhiman Saha, who was Dhoni’s understudy in Sri Lanka in 2010, his first full series behind the wickets. Considering that it is a three-Test series, if the selectors decide to include a reserve keeper and expand the squad to 16 members, Naman Ojha will be the frontrunner for the position. Naman, who was in the Test squad for the final match against England last year, was also with the squad in Australia till the first Test as Dhoni had missed out with injury.While the seven batsmen select themselves, the selectors are likely to persist with captain Kohli’s demand for an aggressive pace attack.

Left handers activate rescue as Bulls run out of steam

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Western Australian left handers Adam Gilchrist (109*) and Simon Katich (105*) have scored twin centuries to help avert outright defeat for their team on the final day of the Pura Cup match against Queensland in Perth. Displaying icy-cool temperaments on a warm afternoon, the duo forged a vital, unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 166 against a tiring Bulls attack after they had been joined with their side deep in trouble twenty minutes before lunch.Having been part of a side that had been out-thought, out-batted and out-bowled for the majority of this match, the sterling efforts of Gilchrist and Katich effected quite a transformation. Indeed, in defying the near-inevitable, the pair probably ensured that it will be the Warriors rather than the Bulls who will be leaving the WACA tonight in the happier frame of mind.In short, this was a day which featured some excellent, iron-willed batting from the two highly regarded Western Australians. Katich dropped anchor and was content to act as the mainstay of the innings, displaying an impeccable understanding of which deliveries to play and which to leave. In the way of attractive strokemaking, there was nothing particularly appealing in itself about his ninth first-class century. But the twenty-five year old’s concentration and discipline were without fault. In an unusually dour exhibition, Gilchrist matched his partner – initially at least – for circumspection before exploding into scoring life late in the post-lunch session with a flurry of boundaries.By contrast, it was a lacklustre finish to the match from the Bulls who, strangely enough, not only looked listless but also delayed taking the second new ball for as long as eighty minutes. Before finally electing to do this, they had attempted to prise the Western Australians out with a succession of overs of spin from Matthew Anderson (0/90) and Andrew Symonds (0/38) at the Members End. But, although they were able to almost completely dry up the flow of runs, neither of the two slow bowlers genuinely beat the bat very often.On the lifeless pitch, amid the enervating conditions, and with their energy levels continuing to be sapped by their long unbroken stint in the field, the Bulls’ predicament was exacerbated as Gilchrist slammed the normally miserly Adam Dale (0/65) down the ground for four stunning boundaries in succession twenty-five minutes before tea. To add insult to the havoc wreaked upon the medium pacer’s figures, he then repeated the dose with another three consecutive shots to the fence two Dale overs later. It was a measure of the extent to which the wicketkeeper-batsman had assumed command of the situation – not to mention the differing styles of the two players’ innings – that he ultimately beat Katich to his century despite having conceded more than a three hour long start.In many ways, the two points that were achieved for a first innings win seemed like an inadequate reward for close to three days of sheer domination from the Bulls. Inspired by a pair of centuries of their own from Jimmy Maher (175) and Stuart Law (128), they had been able to establish domination from early on the first day as they racked up 442 with the bat before dismissing the Western Australians for 195 and then reducing them quickly to 3/43 a second time around.From there, though, it has to be said that they uncharacteristically squandered their opportunity – something which they barely even looked like doing at any stage of a record-breaking run last summer. Martin Love’s dropped catch at slip on the stroke of tea yesterday – when he allowed Damien Martyn (then at 25 on his way to 78) to escape a tightening Queensland noose – assumed very expensive proportions. Law’s tactics in frequently setting defensive fields today and resisting the chance to take the new ball immediately also provoked some consternation. Paceman Andy Bichel (4/54) continued to bowl excellently, gaining the only two wickets to fall on the final day, but did not receive quite enough support in conditions that continued to favour batting. In the final analysis, the Queenslanders left themselves the arduous task of snaring five wickets in the final session and, by then, even the presence of some more attacking field settings had the whiff of bolting horses and open stable doors about it.

Najam Sethi considering Indian players for PCB T20 league

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Najam Sethi, the head of PCB’s executive committee, has said he is looking to invite Indian players to participate in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in the UAE. The idea, he said, was to try and convince India to go ahead with the scheduled bilateral series in December and, as the next step, discuss Pakistan players returning to the IPL and Indians playing in the inaugural edition of Pakistan’s T20 league next February.India’s players do not participate in any of the other T20 leagues apart from the IPL, as the BCCI does not provide them with No Objection Certificates for the same.Sethi, who had in August ruled out inviting Indian players to the PSL, now told the : “We are going to try to persuade the Indians to play us in December. If that happens, we will also be talking about a reciprocal arrangement – and I have had preliminary talks with people in Delhi on this – about Pakistani players being allowed to play in IPL and Indian players being allowed to play in PSL.”If the series takes place in December, the ground will be fertile. If you don’t want our players to play in your league, okay, but at least let your players play in ours. It will be difficult for them to refuse that. There will be pressure from the players. If Indian players do come in, then I think PSL will become the biggest thing in cricket after IPL.”Pakistani players featured in the first edition of the IPL in 2008 but then, following the terror attacks in Mumbai that year, the Indian government suspended all bilateral sporting ties with Pakistan. Since then Pakistan players have remained unsold at the IPL auctions. Recently, the PCB, in a letter to the BCCI, had sought clarity on the mooted bilateral series for December, pointing out that it was part of a memorandum of understanding signed last year by the two boards. But political events in the recent past have cast doubts over such a revival, with BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur himself having scotched the possibility of cricket resuming till political equations had stabilised.The PCB has already announced that it has over 100 players ready to be part of the PSL drafting process – including big draws like Kevin Pietersen, Shakib Al Hasan and Dwayne Bravo – which is set to take place between November and December. The PSL is scheduled to take place between February 4 and 24, in Dubai and Sharjah, with franchise-based teams from Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad competing for prize money of $1 million.