Speaking at The County Ground at Taunton this evening, Somerset Chief Executive Peter Anderson said, “Following my article on the Somerset web site regarding County Cricket it is interesting to notice that Australian Coach John Buchanan has joined in the criticsm of the County Championship.”The Chief execvutive went on, “This is a bit rich coming from him, having failed at Middlesex, presumably because the job was too much for him.”
Rangana Herath, who has spearheaded the Sri Lankan bowling attack for the past six years since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan, says he won’t make any decision on how long to carry on playing until after the end of the 2016 World Twenty20 in India. However, Herath, who will turn 38 during the World Twenty20 next March, says it could come “very soon” and admits he is struggling to stay fit with recurring knee problems hindering his effectiveness.”With my age you cannot perform the way you did some 10-15 years ago. From my fitness I am doing the maximum with the injury, I am struggling a little bit on it,” Herath said. “I cannot give a guarantee with my bowling or my fitness. I am trying to retain whatever energy I have and to prolong my career I have reduced the number of one-day matches and play only Tests.”If I put a target to end my career I will not be able to give my maximum to the team. Every time I play I look to give 100% to the team. But before long I will have to take a decision on my future. I will decide after the World T20 which is to be played in India next year. We are the reigning champions and we have a good chance of defending it with the present team although they lack in a bit in experience.”The upcoming two-Test series against West Indies represents another challenge for Herath. In particular, his knees are a special area of concern after undergoing surgery on each leg four years ago. To reduce the pain, Herath went to Australia shortly before the 2014 World Twenty20 and got a C-reactive protein injection for each knee but it is a over a year since and the pain has returned.”I did an operation on both knees in 2011 for damaged cartilage,” Herath said. “I had a clean-up and I had no problem playing after that. But of late I have been getting pains. It is four years since the operation and the effect of it must have worn off over the years due to the wear and tear while playing.”I sometimes get the pain on my knees when I start to run but not when I am bowling. I have been working with the physios, trainers and the medical staff how best to manage my injury and taking tablets and taping myself when I play in matches.”Following the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Herath is one of the few experienced hands around for skipper Angelo Mathews to turn to for advice, making his presence all the more valuable.”Even when Mahela and Sanga were around as a bowler I offered advice and assistance to Angelo. In future, Angelo will require the support of all the team members. As a senior player I also have a responsibility to support him especially from the bowling side. If you take our bowling unit apart from Dhammika [Prasad] and me the rest have not played many matches. When you play with an inexperienced bowling unit, the captain will need to have a lot of patience because you will not get the breaks every time you need them.”In the past five-six years it has been this bowling unit which has been shuffled around and played. We always look as a team to build partnerships with the bowling unit. If anyone is bowling well from one side, not consistently bowling maiden overs but lessening the number of loose balls and not allowing batsmen the freedom to score, the strike bowler has more chances of taking wickets.”This was something that didn’t happen during Sri Lanka’s Test series against Pakistan where young offspinner Tharindu Kaushal leaked runs from one end which affected Herath, who could manage only two wickets in the series and found himself dropped for the third Test.”I don’t blame anyone for my poor performances against Pakistan. From my side I had room to improve myself which I managed to do during the Indian series,” said Herath. “PHT [Kaushal] is a newcomer to Test cricket. We cannot expect too much from him like building pressure and things like that. He needs the experience to do that. With experience only you can improve their performance. From my side I could have bowled better than I did against Pakistan.”Technically you cannot put your finger on anything that’s wrong. It is against Pakistan that I have performed very well taken about 90 Test wickets. What I found was that the Pakistan batsmen played me better than in the past and although I did not concede as many runs what stood out was that I could not get any wickets.”Despite the early inconsistency, Kaushal does have two five-wicket hauls in his first six Tests and Herath believes that Kaushal is the best option Sri Lanka has to succeed as a frontline spinner after him.”If you take our spinners it is Kaushal who has played a lot and has the wicket-taking ability,” Herath said. “Even Dilruwan Perera has it but Kaushal from the wicket-taking angle is the most successful and promising, we should pursue with him for the future. He has a problem with his doosra but I believe he can go a long way with his offspin.”PHT does not spin the ball as much as Murali. Murali had a wrist from which he could impart sharp spin and turn. Kaushal does not have that advantage, but he definitely has turn.”In contrast to all other opposition, Herath’s record against West Indies is poor. He has only taken eight wickets in five Tests but he is confident that he can put the record straight in the upcoming series.”I am confident that I can do what I have been doing in the past and have great belief if I bowl well we have a good chance of winning the series.”
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Tim Nielsen, the new Australian coach, feels that the challenge for India’s ageing middle-order line-up will be to beat the hectic schedule and remain fresh for the tour to Australia. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman – all in their thirties – will probably be playing in their last Test series in Australia later this year, but before that there’s plenty of cricket in store for the Indian team.”It’s interesting. Apart from the two opening batsmen, they seem to have gone back to a more experienced line-up,” Nielsen told the . “The challenge for them is, I suppose, they’ve got the Twenty20 World Series, then they’ve got the Test series against Pakistan and they come straight to Australia.”Nielsen said that Australia will have the edge as they wouldn’t have played as much cricket. “We will be relatively fresh compared with what they will be and that might be a positive for us. That will test these older players of theirs.”He also indicated that Australia had the firepower in their bowling to counter the Indian batsmen. “Two guys bowling at 150-plus kph is an exciting thing. Hopefully, they are all fit, firing and ready to go. The selectors will have a look at what the best combination is,” Nielsen said. “The great thing is, whether it be [Mitchell] Johnson, [Shaun] Tait, [Brett] Lee, [Stuart] Clark, [Ben] Hilfenhaus, there is lots of talent around that is screaming out for the opportunity.”Along with the Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman, India’s Test team to Australia will also include the 36-year-old Anil Kumble. However, all five senior players won’t play the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. Also, Kumble has retired from ODIs while Laxman hasn’t played an ODI for India since December last year.
For India it was precisely the start they wanted; for Kenya there was little disgrace in defeat by eight wickets.Between them, the Kenyan Cricket Association and the ICC put up a good show in most respects. The Nairobi Gymkhana Ground looked a picture with a good and enthusiastic crown scattered around a collection of new stands. The pitch played well, the players entertained and the weather behaved itself.But for the sizeable media contingent who turned up for the opening match of the ICC KnockOut 2000, the facilities were far from ideal. Kenya hope to stage their games during the 2003 World Cup at home. If the present state of affairs persists, this dream cannot even be countenanced.Still, the rest of it was good value. Kenya didn’t really give themselves a chance by making only 208 for nine in their 50 overs, the major share of which came by way of an 81-run stand for the fourth wicket between Ravindu Shah and skipper Maurice Odumbe.Shah, compact and composed, looked a fine player during his 60 while Odumbe also bagged a half-century with 51 off 87 balls. But apart from Thomas Odoyo’s unbeaten 35, there was little support. Kenya desperately needed a substantial contribution from their best batsman, Steve Tikolo, but he made just 5. The three Indian seamers, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Venkatesh Prasad shared seven of the wickets with Anil Kumble taking two for 22 in his 10.India started cautiously, and Kenya had their best moment of the day when Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged leg before for 35 by Dave Orchard. But the home side had to bowl their most likely wicket-taker, Martin Suji, out – his 10 overs costing just 30 – and Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid seldom looked like getting themselves out.They added 88 for the second wicket before Ganguly rushed down the wicket to Odumbe only to be beaten by the turn and stumped, but Vinod Kambli, so often a wayward genius, came in and set about getting things over with quickly.Kamblie crashed seven boundaries in his 32-ball 39 and if Dravid was more leisurely in making his 68 not out, he was no less able to find the gaps as India picked up the pace.In the end the Indians got home with six-and-a-half overs to spare in what was a useful, if not unduly taxing, day at the office. Australia will no doubt provide a somewhat sterner test when the two teams meet in the first of the quarter-finals on Saturday.By then the ICC and the KCA might have found a way to make reporting on the match something less of a test for man and machine.
Hampshire, bottom of Division One, have announced that Jimmy Adams has stepped down as captain of their Championship side to find form with the bat.The decision has been made with six matches remaining in the 2015 season and Hampshire 22 points adrift of the two sides above them – Worcestershire and Sussex.James Vince, Hampshire’s one-day captain, will now take over in all competitions for the rest of the season. He succeeded Adams as captain in 50-over cricket in April and in the T20 format last year.Adams is only averaging 29.15 in Division One – and, although Vince can claim to have a higher average it is only by one-hundredth of a run. His own batting returns have also been vastly disappointing considering that he is regularly presented as one of England’s brightest young batting talents.Hampshire’s director of cricket, Giles White, said: “Jimmy feels that the most important thing right now is for him to focus on his batting and to get back to scoring runs at the top of the order. While this is the case Vincey will lead the team.”Hampshire’s promotion under Adams last season, as Division Two champions, was their fifth trophy in as many seasons. The county’s first official Hampshire-born captain since the war is the most popular of beneficiaries, although this is also bound to have taken its toll, as is a run of defeats and the birth of a second child earlier in the summer.
Ashes tourists Peter Nevill, Adam Voges and Fawad Ahmed have deservedly scooped the major garlands at their state awards nights. All three men were rewarded for fine seasons with Test selection for the tours of the West Indies and England, and the awards were further indicators of their strong seasons.Wicketkeeper Nevill was handed the Steve Waugh Medal as the best New South Wales player for 2014-15 in a ceremony at Sydney’s Hilton Hotel following a season in which he regained his very best touch with the bat while maintaining his typically tidy work behind the stumps – even playing as a batsman when Australia’s vice-captain Brad Haddin was available.Voges was handed the Laurie Sawle Medal as Western Australia’s most valuable cricketer in Perth the day after he was announced as a batsman for the national team’s tours of the Caribbean and the UK – some nine years after he was 12th man in the third Ashes Test against England at the WACA Ground as far back as 2006.A tally of more than 1300 Sheffield Shield runs for the summer elbowed Voges ahead of the younger Joe Burns in the race for the final batting spot on the Ashes tour. His experience of England, having played multiple seasons of county cricket with the Dukes balls to be used in the Tests, was another advantage for Voges.Fawad, who won the Bill Lawry medal, claimed 48 wickets in the Shield season, including a return of 8 for 89 in the Shield final against Western Australia to help secure the title for Victoria. His prolific wicket-taking was allied to improved fielding, batting and fitness to render him a most attractive proposition for selectors looking for a counterpoint to the off breaks of Nathan Lyon on West Indian and English pitches expected to be slow and favourable to turn.Nevill celebrated his medal alongside Alex Blackwell, who won the Belinda Clark Medal as the most outstanding female cricketer in NSW over the past summer. The NSW chief executive Andrew Jones paid a warm tribute to both cricketers.Cricket NSW Chief Executive Andrew Jones paid tribute to Nevill and Blackwell for their performances during the summer.”Peter Nevill and Alex Blackwell are both worthy winners of the Steve Waugh and Belinda Clark Medals. They ranked among the top performers in the country in each of their respective competitions, and have been judged as the best performed NSW players by their team mates, coaches and match officials,” said Jones.”Peter Nevill’s efforts have been crucial to the NSW Blues’ success this summer. He delivered big runs at crucial times while his superb glovework has set the standard for all wicketkeepers searching for higher honours. It takes a long time to be an overnight success and it is wonderful to see Peter get the rewards he has worked so hard for at NSW and International level.”Alex’s success is a reflection of her preparation and commitment. She has been representing NSW at this level since 2001 and it is wonderful that she has been finally able to play a full season as a professional. It is another marvellous milestone in a uniquely successful career.”Peter and Alex are outstanding people as well as outstanding players and we salute them.”
Jonathan Trott is tipped to be the latest opening partner for Alastair Cook when England begin their Test series against West Indies on April 13 but Cook, who has not found a regular ally since Andrew Strauss retired, said the choice between Trott and Adam Lyth, the leading run-scorer in Division One of the County Championship last season, is yet to be discussed.Trott is back on tour for the first time since leaving the Ashes tour of 2013-14 after the first Test with a stress-related illness but since returning for Warwickshire has proved his form once again with five centuries in Championship and 50-over cricket.Cook reported Trott to be in good spirits as the tour party arrived in St Kitts ahead of the opening tour match on Easter Monday. But with Gary Ballance having made the No. 3 slot his own with three Test centuries last summer, Trott will be required to move up to open the batting to regain his place in the side.England also have the option of handing 27-year-old Lyth a Test debut. He made 1489 Championship runs at 67.68 last season, leading Yorkshire to the title, and Cook is enthused by the competition for the opener’s slot.”We’re lucky in one sense that we’re choosing between two very good players,” Cook said. “Ever since Straussy announced his retirement we haven’t quite found consistency in that position so whoever gets that chance gets the opportunity to try and nail that down. But we haven’t discussed that yet.”Trott has almost demanded selection and it’s great for me to see him back in an England shirt. He’s a great guy and if he gets his chance he’ll be desperate to do well. It would be his 50th game as well which is a great achievement if he gets there.”You don’t know 100% if he’ll be fine until he’s put out in the environment but Trotty’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He feels confident in himself and he’s just looking forward to taking that next step. What we do know is he’s a quality player. You don’t have his stats and that weight of runs behind you without being a quality player.”When I saw him in Brisbane I would have been surprised if he’d come back but it’s a huge credit to the work he’s done off the field and the effort he’s put in. That obviously shows his desire to come back to play for England.”The decision between Trott and Lyth is not the only area where England have competition for places. Another member of Yorkshire’s Championship-winning side, Adil Rashid, is on tour five years after he last played for England – reigniting England’s dream of finding a legspinning-allrounder after a failed experience with Scott Borthwick. Mark Wood, the Durham fast bowler, is another who could make a Test debut in Antigua.”There’s good competition for places,” Cook said. “The guys are desperate to put on a show to try and get their name in that XI. There’s some new faces and different characters and it will be great to see how they go in an England shirt.”Time is tight, we’ve got four days of cricket, but these things tend to work themselves out. We want to give people a chance but that doesn’t always happen. It’s down to each individual to get themselves ready as best as they can. You never know where your chance may come.”There’s a lot of things about selection that are unknown until you’re put into the pressure cooker of international cricket and make no mistake, it’s a high-intensity environment – there’s no doubt about that.”
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:12
Isam: Pakistan took full advantage of conditions
An invigorated Younis Khan and a determined Azhar Ali took command of the second Test, putting on 250 for the third wicket, as Pakistan loped to 323 for 3 at stumps. Azhar and Younis defused the early menace when they came together at 58 for 2, began to counterpunch in the second session and were bludgeoning Bangladesh around the Shere Bangla when Younis was dismissed for 148 off 195, with only five full overs to play in the day. Azhar stayed not out on 127, having ridden early luck.Seduced by an unusually dense covering of grass on the Mirpur surface, Mushfiqur Rahim was dealt a poor hand. He had already gambled by bowling first with only two seamers in the attack. Two balls into the match Shahadat Hossain – who had come into the side for the injured Rubel Hossain – hobbled off the field after taking a tumble during his delivery stride. Mushfiqur was forced to rely on part-time seamer Soumya Sarkar and a phalanx of spinners, who were defanged by a first-day pitch that offered only modest turn. That both centurions should have been out earlier if bowlers had not delivered no balls, added to Mushfiqur’s considerable stress.The seam movement Mushfiqur had anticipated played a role in Mohammad Hafeez’ dismissal, when Shahid set him up with lifter that jagged back in, then drew the edge with a straighter delivery. That dismissal had Pakistan at 9 for 1, but the injury to Shahadat prevented Bangladesh from pushing as hard as they could have in the first hour. With lunch in sight, they took their second wicket, when Sami Aslam ran at Taijul, and put him in the hands of deep midwicket.There was tug-and-pull in the first overs of the Azhar-Younis association, as Azhar overcame a series of close calls. Earlier in the morning, he was walking back to the dressing room after edging Mohammad Shahid to third slip, when replays showed the bowler had not landed his heel behind the popping crease. Reprieved on 18, Azhar gave further chances off spin at 34 and 35 to Mominul Haque at silly point and short leg. Both times the ball whizzed quickly between the fielder’s legs before he could get low enough.Younis deadbatted his way to 1 off 15 before lunch, but opened his shoulders in the second session, clearing his front leg to send the spinners over mid-on – once for six – before masterfully employing the sweep to raise the tempo further. By the fourth hour of the day, a pattern to his progress emerged. Every now and then, he’d interrupt the steady thrum of singles he and Azhar had worked up, to shuffle forward into a sweep. He’d watch for the overcorrection next ball then play off the back foot, often finding runs square on the off side. He reached 50 off 72 balls and by late-afternoon, his strike rate hovered around 75.Azhar meanwhile, sunk time into re-establishing himself at the crease after his early scares, and was only punishing bad balls for most of the day. Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam attempted a variety of plans, tempting Azhar outside off in the second session to lure another mistake. But Azhar gritted through this, while Younis gave the innings impetus at the other end.Younis was the first to his hundred after tea, but not before he too was called back to the crease, after presenting a catch to short cover. Soumya had overstepped to reprieve him on 78, and then Younis breezed through to the second new ball, reaching his 29th Test ton with a tow to deep cover to end a period of relative calm, before attacking again. A slog-swept six over deep midwicket off Shakib heralded the charge, which Azhar soon joined. His made his eighth trip to triple-figures by launching Taijul down the ground for four.With neither spinners nor seamers able to glean much from the old ball, Mushfiqur threw his part-timers at Pakistan, who were only too glad to face them. By the 80th over, Pakistan’s run rate had ticked above 3.5.Shahid broke the stand with the second new ball, when he had Younis slicing to backward point, two runs short of his 150. Misbah-ul-Haq announced himself at the crease with a six over long-on off the second ball he faced, but otherwise he and Azhar were content to hunker down till stumps.
Scorecard
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The Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy skittled the South Africa Academy for just 77 to claim a thrilling three-run win in their four-day match in Pretoria.Double strikes from Mahbubul Alam and Shafaq Al Zabir had South Africa reeling at 32 for 7. Roelof van der Merwe and CJ de Villiers then took them to within ten runs of victory before Alam had van der Merwe trapped lbw. In a nail-biting finale, the hosts inched towards a win: soon four runs were needed with two wickets in hand. Alam struck again, removing Basheeru-Deen Walters and two balls later Bangladesh’s captain Suhrawadi Shuvo bowled de Villiers to complete a stunning turnaround.The visitors had been playing catch up for most of the match after de Villiers sliced through their batting to restrict them to 217 in the first innings. South Africa tightened their grip with a commanding batting performance, led by opener Stiaan van Zyl’s 161. Half-centuries by Rushdi Jappie, Dane Vilas and van der Merwe helped the hosts to a 157-run lead. The advantage would have been even more substantial had it not been for Alam’s four wickets.In the second innings, Bangladesh lost their openers with 24 on the board, and a double-blow from the left-arm spin of van der Merwe reduced them to 80 for 4. The rescue act was led by Marshall Ayub, who made an unbeaten 72 and was involved in crucial stands with Nadif Chowdhury (37) and Shuvo (20). That lifted them to 237, leaving South Africa firmly in control and needing a paltry 81 for victory before Bangladesh turned the tables on them with a superb bowling performance.The second and final four-day match will be played at the Laudium Oval in Pretoria, starting on Thursday.
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A confident Xavier Marshall has tipped a world record and a West Indies victory after his career-high 85 kept the pressure on Australia entering the final day. Set 475 by Ricky Ponting, the hosts were 235 for 3 at stumps, with the safe hands of Shivnarine Chanderpaul guiding the chase following Marshall’s dismissal.”I think we should win this game,” Marshall said after play. “Dwayne Bravo and Shiv, I think they can stick out there and bat out the day tomorrow.”Marshall’s belief was matched by Beau Casson, who was excited by Australia’s situation. “Anything can happen in cricket, but I certainly love being in our position,” Casson told AAP. “A fifth day wicket is always going to be hard work, but we’ve got a lot of options, which is a fantastic position to be in. It’s going to be a good test for us, but we’re up to it.”Casson, who is playing his first Test, has figures of 1 for 58 and will be called on to make important contributions as the series concludes. He was pleased with his first breakthrough, which came with a topspinner to Marshall, and celebrated it hard.”I looked at the replay and I did carry on a little bit,” Casson told the ABC. “It’s a bit of a monkey off the back, it makes you feel like you’re contributing to the side. It was pure emotion, and such a fantastic catch [from Phil Jaques].”Marshall left 15 short of his maiden first-class century when he glanced on to his hip and the ball popped to short-leg. It was more delicate than most of Marshall’s strokes, which were highlighted by aggressive drives.The serious ankle injury to Sewnarine Chattergoon, who is unlikely to bat, forced Marshall up to open and he caused some problems for the Australians during an innings that included 12 fours and a six. They also regretted giving him chances on 1 and 22 as he cut into the massive deficit.”I was told by the coach [John Dyson] I’d open, so I kept my mind on that,” he said. “Now I’m an opener, it doesn’t matter to me. Anywhere they put me to bat I can bat.”Marshall, 22, first played for West Indies aged 18, but he has struggled to cope with the demands of international cricket and has even been dropped from the Jamaica side. While Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan were two players who helped Marshall, he also received assistance from Pat Rousseau, the former West Indies Cricket Board president, in dealing with his off-field issues.”[Rousseau] has been telling me good things, not only about cricket but everyday life as well,” Marshall said on Cana News. The tips have worked and Marshall has collected two half-centuries in his past two Tests.”I’m not surprised with myself,” he said. “I’ve been working hard for the past few months. It is paying off now. I’ve been training harder, talking to guys who have been playing for a long time. I am doing things that are right, things that will get me through.”