All posts by h716a5.icu

Andrew Strauss has said he is taking the issues of the England captaincy one series at a time

George Dobell16-May-2012With the sun shining on Lord’s and Andrew Strauss receiving the ICC Test Championship mace in the rose garden, it would be easy to reach the conclusion that all is well for England cricket.It is true, too, that the last few years have brought unprecedented success. England have won their first global competition – the World Twenty20 – they have won the Ashes home and away and they have climbed to No. 1 in the official Test and T201 rankings. It is a record of which they are justifiably proud.Any delusions of grandeur they may have had, however, were dispelled over the winter. Defeat against Pakistan in the UAE – a crushing 3-0 defeat at that – provided a harsh reminder of how far they have to go before they can build the “legacy” of which they have spoken.Now England find themselves at a crossroads. Win against West Indies and South Africa this summer and they will re-establish their reputation. They will still have questions to answer about their ability to counter good quality spin bowling in Asian conditions but they will at least arrive in India later this year with confidence restored. Lose either series this summer and they will be overtaken in the rankings and their period of supremacy will be regarded in much the same way as a one hit wonder looks back at their music career. Even a draw against West Indies, with the first Test starting at Lord’s on Thursday, would see South Africa take top position.Another series loss may also bring more casualties. Eoin Morgan was the one man to lose his place as a result of the winter’s travails, but it was telling that, at the captains’ pre-match media conference, it did not take long for questions to turn to Andrew Strauss’ own form. England’s captain, averaging just 26 over the last year, knows that he is under the spotlight and gave the strongest hint yet that he will reflect on his position as captain at the end of this three-match series.”It’s dangerous to look too far ahead,” he said. “Things can change so quickly and if you’re too wedded to some ideal moment to go you can be very surprised by it. So the way I’m looking at it really is one series at a time and if I feel like I’m still contributing and helping the side be a better side both as a captain and batsman then I don’t see any reason to change things. But we just don’t know what’s round the corner; we never do.”Perhaps little should be read into such words. Strauss tends to speak in measured tones and use caveats to cover most eventualities. He did accept that the runs had not flowed as he would have liked, but insisted his confidence and his determination remained as high as ever. While he suggested conditions in the county game had not been conducive to batsmen finding their touch, he also knows that the likes of Nick Compton, Joe Root and Varun Chopra are rendering the argument that England do not have suitable top-order replacements redundant.”I recognise as captain and as an opening batsman that I need to contribute,” Strauss said. “I fully intend to do that. I’ve got no reason in my mind why I shouldn’t go on and do that this summer. Hopefully I’ll be able to lead from the front with the bat as well.”It’s always a challenge as an opener to score runs. I feel in reasonable form last six months, but 20s and 30s aren’t what we’re looking for.”It didn’t feel like a witch hunt [being questioned over his form], it just felt like the issue of the day. I think we all know that the only way to switch attention elsewhere is to go out and perform and that’s what I intend to do.Andrew Strauss with the ICC Test Championship mace ahead of the series against West Indies•Getty Images”Conditions in county cricket this season have challenged you to look at your technique and, if there are any weaknesses in it, they are going to be exposed. We have been unlucky with the weather but, if you combine the weather and the lack of the heavy roller, then suddenly there have definitely been times when things have been too much in favour of the bowlers. It hasn’t been impossible to score runs, but it’s all about balance between bat and ball.”I feel good. The times I’ve lasted more than 10 balls or so I’ve felt very good. But it’s been the nature of the beast that, early season with the weather we’ve had, that it’s been pretty tough for batting. But I feel well-prepared, I’ve had a lot of time working on my game in and amongst the games we’ve played and I’m quite excited to go out there and hopefully have a good season.”England have other issues to resolve before that. They have to pick three from their five seamers – realistically one of Steven Finn, Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan – to play here, while Jonny Bairstow is also set to make his Test debut.”He’s a really exciting talent,” Strauss said of Bairstow. “He’s shown glimpses of it in the shorter forms of the game and his first-class record is excellent. He can play the game at a number of different paces, as well. For a guy batting at No. 6 that is a great attribute to have. He is young and enthusiastic and it’s been great having him around because it just reminds us all how special it is to be representing your country: you can see the excitement on his face. It has been lovely to have him involved. It has come a little bit from leftfield for him but I’m sure if he gets the chance he will make a really good fist of it.”All five seamers have very strong reasons to be playing in this Test match, but the likelihood is we are going to pick three of them. A lot of it boils down to your gut feeling about who you is going to offer the most in these conditions, but I would be very confident walking out with any of the five that we have here this week.”The winter was a challenge and we’ve learned some really valuable things but now it’s about reconnecting with what we’ve done well in these conditions. We’re a very confident side and we’ve got all bases covered in these conditions, but the challenges is to perform. There are always points to prove. We have shifted our attention away from the number one ranking because it’s unhealthy to look over your shoulder. It’s about us concentrating on improving our own performances. If we can do that then the number one ranking will look after itself.”

England team director Andy Flower was named UK Coach of the Year at the 2011 UK coaching awards.

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2011England team director Andy Flower has been named UK Coach of the Year at the 2011 UK coaching awards.Flower, 37, was also named UK High Performance Coach of the Year in recognition of his role in helping England to a first series win in Australia for 23 years and becoming the No. 1 Test side in the world.Having taken over from Peter Moores in January 2009 – initially on an interim basis after Moores and Kevin Pietersen, the then captain, lost their jobs on the same day – Flower has also guided England to become World Twenty20 champions and the ECB chief executive, David Collier, lauded his contribution.”Andy has been an outstanding coach to the England cricket team and I am delighted that his dedication, knowledge and all-round leadership skills have been recognised within the wider sporting world,” said Collier.”The last twelve months have been momentous ones for England and this is in no small part due to Andy’s personal drive and determination to bring the best out of his players and ensure that our preparation and performance are second to none.”A special lifetime achievement award was also presented in honour of the former England fast bowler Graham Dilley, who died in October. The presentation was made to Dilley’s son, Chris Pennell, in recognition of Dilley’s work as a bowling coach with Surrey, Scotland and England, and most recently as head coach of Loughborough University.”Graham made a very significant contribution to our game as a coach,” said Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket. “This award is a fitting tribute to the role he played in enabling so many players to realise their full potential at both domestic and international level.”

Tamim Iqbal has been added to Bangladesh’s squad for the Asia Cup, after having initially been excluded and listed only as a reserve

Mohammad Isam08-Mar-2012Tamim Iqbal has been added to Bangladesh’s squad for the Asia Cup, three days and much drama after having initially been excluded and listed only as a reserve. The BCB have now issued a release saying Tamim has been added to the squad, making it a 15-man squad for the Asia Cup, which starts with a match between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Mirpur on March 11.His name was in the original 15-man list the selectors had drawn up but was removed after the list was given to BCB president Mustafa Kamal for approval. Tamim’s removal from the squad led chief selector Akram Khan to announce his resignation, citing interference in selection from directors and the board president.On Tuesday and Wednesday, Tamim underwent fitness tests to prove that he had fully recovered from typhoid. Confirmation of his fitness came from captain Mushfiqur Rahim and coach Stuart Law as well as the cricket operations committee, but the drama was not over.ESPNcricinfo has learned that on Thursday afternoon Kamal informed the board’s cricket operations committee to continue with the 14-man squad, without Tamim. After several hours of discussions, Tamim was informed late on Thursday of his inclusion and had to rush to the team hotel and join the rest of the squad.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

For one more day this is very much Alastair Cook’s England team and regardless of the result in the deciding one-day international there has been enough evidence to suggest he can make a success of his role.

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford08-Jul-2011Andrew Strauss was at Old Trafford on Friday for some work with Graham Gooch as he prepares to return to the helm ahead of the Test series against India. However, for one more day this is very much Alastair Cook’s England team and regardless of the result in the deciding one-day international, there has been enough evidence to suggest he can make a success of his role.In terms of the one-day side as a whole, there is much work to be done to turn them from a team that wins when conditions are in their favour into a major world force, but at the beginning of these five matches there was huge pressure on Cook, both as captain and batsman. Would the transition back into the ODI side start to unpick all the hard work that has made him a record-breaking Test batsman?His hundred at Lord’s, albeit not the most fluent innings, showed the form was still there and then his rollicking 95 off 75 balls at Trent Bridge hinted that the evolution into a batsman for more than one format was well underway. Four matches, 267 runs at an average of 89 and strike-rate of 97.80 is hard to argue with. As with his Test form, now the challenge is to maintain the success and Cook only needs to think back to last summer to know how fickle cricket can be.How long can this run last? “Forever hopefully,” he said with a laugh. “If anyone knew why form comes and goes, he’d be a very rich man. If I keep doing what I can in how I practice and how I prepare and my mindset, I cannot see any reason why I can’t continue.”A captain’s job is always easier when he’s scoring runs, and in terms of a head-to-head Cook has far outdone his counterpart, Tillakaratne Dilshan, who has 13 runs in four innings. Cook knows he couldn’t have been in a better state of mind to take on the captaincy.”Sometimes you do need that bit of luck; I was in good form,” he said. “There were question marks over my batting but I knew in myself it wasn’t a big worry. I could concentrate on the captaincy as well and the batting was not a big thing in my mind. It did help that I was in good touch.”I’ve enjoyed the captaincy in this series but it helps if you win. I see this as a long process of where we want to go and what we want to achieve. I’ve been very happy with those little steps we’ve made in the last couple of weeks in terms of how we play our cricket.”Cook will hope to lift the NatWest Series trophy, which would be his second piece of one-day silverware as England captain following the series in Bangladesh last year, before returning to the ranks as a foot soldier until September’s one-dayers against India. He admits the demands of captaincy are tough and believes England’s three-way split can keep the team fresh.”It’s very clear how we will do it. It’s really good,” he said. “I can concentrate hard on the captaincy and then go back into the ranks. It takes a lot out of you and having shorter periods gives the chance to refresh nicely. I’m sure Straussy is raring to go.”

Hampshire’s Chris Wood smashed a quickfire half-century to help his side avoid any lingering risk of defeat against Worcestershire in the County Championship

26-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Hampshire’s Chris Wood smashed a quickfire half-century to help his side avoid any lingering risk of defeat against Worcestershire in the County Championship.Division One’s bottom two sides finally got under way after a long rain delay, with Hampshire just 59 runs to the good at 84 for six and staring down the barrel of a defeat. But Wood took an extraordinary approach to batting out time, hammering an unbeaten 56 from just 42 balls in an unbroken stand of 79 with Dimitri Mascarenhas (25 not out) before captains Dominic Cork and Daryl Mitchell shook hands on a draw.Worcestershire’s seven points lift them six clear of the relegation zone, where they are replaced by Yorkshire, but the Tykes will have been relieved as the weather and Wood’s onslaught prevented them making any further progress.

Nottinghamshire won their opening two matches without being particularly impressive and pulled it off again here in an engaging contest that could easily have gone the way of Worcestershire

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge28-Apr-2011
ScorecardFootball managers like to believe that the mark of champions is the ability to play badly and yet still win. Over the course of a 90-minute football match that might be possible but a four-day cricket match, with so many more opportunities for one side to gain a clear upper hand, is another matter. Yet Nottinghamshire appear to have the knack.They won their opening two matches without being particularly impressive and pulled it off again here in an engaging contest that could easily have gone the way of Worcestershire, long odds-on to be relegated before the season began and, by contrast to the champions, stuck the worrying habit of losing matches they might have won.In the opinion of their coach, Nottinghamshire dropped too many catches and made too many errors at the crease to feel comfortable with themselves, even though they lead the Division One table with an ostensibly unblemished record. But their failings are at least familiar ones, the consequence of which is that there seems always to be one or two among the senior players who can draw upon their experience and deliver at the critical moment.More often that not, it is Chris Read or Paul Franks who comes up with the answer and this time they both played crucial roles, Franks in particular in the first innings, when his 82 enabled Notts to grab a 67-run lead that was always going to be valuable on an uncertain surface.And when the match threatened to slip away from them in the final innings, with a 262-run winning target still 54 runs away from them with only four wickets in hand, the two delivered in tandem, gambling that an attacking approach would deflate a Worcestershire side of brittle self-belief. Franks hit 26 off 36 balls, Read 35 off 44, finishing the job with a towering six over the head of the inexperienced off-spinner, Moeen Ali.Worcestershire deserved some consolation, yet it was a fittingly emphatic way in which to end a contest that had kept the crowd here fully engaged when some might have been tempted, for obvious reasons of national interest, to stay away. It had unfolded with ebb and flow from the start and did so again on the last day as Notts appeared to have the initiative but then found themselves facing a more testing last-innings run chase than they would have liked.Their openers went cheaply, which was really no surprise, but Alex Hales, one of a rich crop of young players making their mark around the circuit, then looked to be making the task relatively simple, threatening to compile an innings to match the quality that Alexei Kervezee had revealed in Worcestershire’s cause.Yet there was another twist. Hales, a 22-year-old right-hander with a good eye and an assertive style, looked as sure, despite the vagaries of the surface, to complete a century as he can have felt in any innings in his career so far. But his attempt to hit medium-pacer Gareth Andrew over the on-side field for his 14th boundary instead flew off a leading edge to cover. Twice out in the 80s in Nottinghamshire’s unlikely win over Yorkshire at Headingley last week, he had suffered the same fate this time.Cursing his error as much as his luck, Hales threw his head back in frustration, not least because he had left his side with yet another sticky spot to overcome. Samit Patel, caught behind after an inside edge had looped to the wicketkeeper via pad or body, and Adam Voges, leg before to Wright, had gone too in the moments before as Worcestershire, willing battlers, had worked their way back into contention. When Steven Mullaney, having begun with a couple of classy cover drives, lost his off stump, Notts suddenly found themselves six down and some way short of their target.But Worcestershire, for whom Alan Richardson and Damien Wright bowled well but their supporting cast less so, could not push their advantage. The pitch by now was as likely to send the ball shooting through at ankle height as to threaten a batsman’s fingers but Read and Franks know such conditions well and had their measure again. Moeen Ali, at mid-wicket, held a fine catch to give Richardson his ninth wicket in the match as Franks fell, but by then the job was as good as done.It was tough on Worcestershire, for whom the impressive Alexei Kervezee might have stretched the home side more had he not been caught at gully from a ball that struck him painfully on the top hand. He had added only five to his overnight score and Gareth Andrew, his partners in a 135-run stand for the sixth wicket, went shortly afterwards, caught behind off Franks. Yet a breezy 33 from Wright gave the home side more to think about.Kervezee was their big consolation. “I thought he was superb,” the Worcestershire director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, said. “What impressed me most was the way the penny seems to be dropping about playing the ball on its merits. Sometimes he is a runaway train in the way he plays and gets out but in this innings he blocked the good balls and put the bad ball away for four and he did it in a way that was quite unfazed by some difficult conditions and some good bowling.”

Kolkata Knight Riders edged out Champions League debutants Auckland Aces, successfully defending 121 in the sides’ first qualifier

The Report by Sidharth Monga19-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outManvinder Bisla was Kolkata’s top-scorer with 45•AFPKolkata Knight Riders edged out Champions League debutants Auckland Aces, successfully defending 121 in the sides’ first qualifier. Kolkata ran away with 72 for 0 in the first nine overs before the tenacious Auckland side pulled the game back, conceding just 49 runs in the remaining 11. Lou Vincent then scored 30 of his 40 runs in boundaries, even threatening a huge net run-rate advantage, but his run-out was followed by two wickets in three balls from Yusuf Pathan. The squeeze by Kolkata’s slower bowlers, who went for 66 in their 14 overs, left Auckland 22 to get off the last two. Andre Adams hit Jacques Kallis for a straight six to get 11 off the 19th, but Brett Lee’s yorkers proved too good for him and Kyle Mills.The game was full of turnarounds. The first one came after Manvinder Bisla and Kallis got Kolkata’s campaign off to a smashing start. The inside-out shot over extra cover was a favourite for both, and Bisla was especially harsh on Chris Martin who bowled Test lengths to begin with. Bisla found them easy to pull and drive on the up. The left-arm seamer Michael Bates brought some control with his angle and extra bounce, and in his second over he produced a leading edge from Bisla.Left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira and Martin then choked the runs a bit, and Kolkata started playing imprudent shots. Kallis would later say they had over-aimed. Yusuf was the first to show frustration, slogging all around a straight Adams delivery. Kallis fell next when he followed a spell of nine balls for seven runs with a heave straight to deep square leg. Two balls later, Manoj Tiwary slogged too, and the stumps lay splayed again. A couple of run-outs followed, and Kolkata never managed a final charge. Bates finished with figures of 4-0-13-1.The run-out virus carried forward into the chase as Martin Guptill ran himself out without even facing a delivery. The decisive one, though, was yet to come. Before that, Vincent drove, cut and pulled with aplomb to take Auckland to 48 in six, bringing the asking-rate down to 5.28. Rajat Bhatia, now famous in Indian domestic Twenty20 competitions for his slow, rolling legcutters, and Yusuf bowled the next three overs for 12 runs. The last ball of those three featured impatience from Vincent, who charged off after hitting straight to cover, and couldn’t make it back from eight yards.Yusuf then bowled two full deliveries on the pads that hardly turned, but Jimmy Adams and Rob Quiney somehow managed two leading edges, and Yusuf had two caught-and-bowled dismissals in the space of three balls. Another left-hand batsman, Colin Munro, scratched around for 19 off 29 before leaving Auckland an improbable task in the last two.The pitch was slow, the bowlers were steady, but neither of them or the combination thereof was unplayable. Somehow, though, faced with accurate bowling and alert fielding, Auckland allowed themselves to be pushed into a corner until the required-rate reached 11 for the last two. Kallis then bowled his first over, removing Munro first ball and watching the second sail over the straight boundary. Mills and Adams ran hard, but Lee produced a good last over to give Kolkata a crucial win on a day when they didn’t play exceptional cricket.

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was on the receiving end of boos from the Burnley fans during Saturday’s Premier League clash. 

The lowdown

Villa made it two wins on the bounce with a 3-1 victory at Turf Moor that dented the hosts’ survival hopes.

Danny Ings opened the scoring against his former club after just seven minutes, Emiliano Buendia doubled the visitors’ advantage just after the half-hour and Ollie Watkins made the points safe early in the second half.

Villa climb to 11th place, while Burnley remain two points above 18th-place Everton, having played two games more.

Martinez started in goal for 33rd time in 34 Premier League matches this season, and was denied his 12th clean sheet of the campaign by a late consolation strike from Maxwel Cornet.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/aston-villa-latest-updates/” title=”Aston Villa latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The latest

BBC Sport journalists Gary Rose and Emlyn Begley noticed the angry reaction of the Clarets fans.

They felt he was ‘time wasting with a goal kick’ just 36 minutes into the game.

Villa were already two goals to the good at that stage, and the home supporters seemed to suspect that he was trying to protect the lead by running down the clock before the interval had even arrived.

The verdict

Rose and Begley weren’t the only ones to sense the frustration. One Sky Sports journalist observed that the spectators had been ‘moaning’ about the alleged time-wasting for the whole half.

And Martinez is a ‘keeper who can sometimes land himself in trouble with the referee. He’s been shown four yellow cards this season, as many as any GK in the top flight, but escaped such punishment this time around.

It was a busy afternoon for the £47,000-per-week Argentine, who had to make five saves – two from shots inside the box – to preserve his clean sheet. He also recorded two high claims and 22 attempted passes (via SofaScore).

In other news, Aston Villa are interested in this defender.

Pakistan accumulated 241 runs on the third day, as the lifeless Queens Park Club pitch joined forces with batsmen lacking in intent and butter-fingered fielders to leave the match meandering towards oblivion

The Report by Nitin Sundar03-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Hafeez was fluent during his first Test century away from home•Associated PressPakistan accumulated 241 runs on the third day, as the lifeless Queens Park Club pitch joined forces with batsmen lacking in intent and butter-fingered fielders to leave the match meandering towards oblivion. Mohammad Hafeez made his first away ton, and Azhar Ali contributed a steady half-century, but Misbah-ul-Haq produced the most impressive innings of the day as Pakistan crawled towards first-innings parity. Zimbabwe played their part in Pakistan’s dominance, spilling five catches in the innings, to leave their limited bowling attack in turmoil.Zimbabwe’s day of toil was ushered in by their mind-numbingly predictable lengths from the first ball – a Kyle Jarvis half-volley that Azhar punched down the ground. The seamers lacked the pace to bother the batsmen and focussed on tight lengths, hoping for an error. It was a plan that played into the hands of each of Pakistan’s batsmen, starting with Hafeez.Hafeez’s forward press is designed for batsman-friendly pitches such as this one. His ability to lean out and drive through the line – and when required, on the up – makes him an entertaining fair-weather batsman. He had a scare in the second over of the day, when Chris Mpofu grassed a return catch, but the reprieve only increased Hafeez’s resolve.He remained cautious until he reached the century off his 128th ball, but after that the drives and glides began to flow more naturally, as Mpofu and Vitori paid the price for offering width.While Hafeez played within himself, Azhar provided the sparkle. His batting technique is founded on stronger fundamentals than Hafeez’s – a balanced trigger movement, decisive footwork and soft hands. Azhar was fluent off the pads, but his best strokes came through the off side, when he caressed Vitori and punched Mpofu through extra cover, off either foot.The action slowed down in the lead-up to lunch, until Hafeez lazily spooned Hamilton Masakadza to midwicket. It was just the tonic Zimbabwe’s spinners needed, and they began vigorously after the break.Smart stats

Mohammad Hafeez’s century is his third in Tests and his first since 2006. His two previous centuries have come against West Indies and Bangladesh. He has now scored 1014 runs in 18 Tests at an average of 31.40.

Hafeez’s strike rate of 67.23 during his innings is his third-highest for a fifty-plus score in Tests. His highest is a strike rate of 70.83 during his 102 against Bangladesh in 2003.

The 188-run stand between Hafeez and Azhar Ali is the highest second-wicket stand for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in Tests. It is also the tenth-highest second-wicket stand for Pakistan against all teams.

The 75 is Azhar’s ninth half-century in 13 matches. He is yet to score a century and has a highest of 92 against England in 2010.

The 100-run stand between Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan for the fourth wicket is the fourth century stand for Pakistan against Zimbabwe and their first one for the fourth wicket against Zimbabwe in Tests since 2002

Greg Lamb had a confident shout for a bat-pad catch against Younis Khan turned down, before Ray Price convinced everyone except the umpire that he had Azhar plumb in front with a slider. Younis then nearly popped a return catch to Lamb, as Zimbabwe’s bowlers finally found some bite.Azhar responded to the pressure with an exasperated inside-out carve off Lamb, before jumping out to heave him over mid-on. Lamb persevered, and nabbed Azhar with a classic offspinner’s dismissal, eliciting the loose drive with flight, and finding the inside edge with the turn. With Younis fumbling against Price, it took Misbah’s bloody-minded defence, interspersed with surprise moments of aggression to re-establish Pakistan’s voice after lunch.Zimbabwe dropped their third catch in three sessions, when Vusi Sibanda at midwicket missed a straightforward offering from Misbah. Thereafter Misbah was immovable. With a forward stride that would have given Jason Gillespie an inferiority complex, he smothered nearly everything that was tossed in his half. He allowed the spinners a series of dot balls before suddenly taking a six and two fours off successive balls from Lamb. Those shots signalled the end of Zimbabwe’s most intense phase, and the spin gambit gave way to the second new ball.Barring one delivery from Jarvis that seamed away to take Younis’ edge, the fast bowlers remained toothless. Having stretched out miles to kill spin, Misbah receded into the crease to capitalise on leg-stump offerings from the seamers. The pull earned him a couple of boundaries, but Younis remained circumspect. Zimbabwe helped him along, with short leg fluffing a chance when Price got extra bounce seven balls before tea.Misbah rolled past fifty, but Price’s rhythm began to trouble him too. At one point, Price boasted other-worldly figures of 30-17-29-0. He turned a couple right across Misbah’s bat-face from the rough, forcing him into slog-sweep mode once again. Lamb ultimately got Misbah to top-edge to a wobbly Vitori at short fine-leg, the fielder’s sheepish reaction probably suggesting surprise that someone finally held a catch.That surprise was short-lived, as Brendan Taylor promptly dropped an Umar Akmal edge in the slips. Umar couldn’t capitalise, and exited in bizarre fashion on the stroke of stumps, pulling a long hop into short-leg’s shoulder, for Taylor to pouch it on the rebound.Younis plodded along though, and almost unnoticed brought up a half-century that matched Tino Mawoyo’s first 50 in its slowness. The pitch may have remained largely lifeless, but the batsmen will share an equal blame if this match ends in a stalemate. Pakistan still have the chance to breathe life into it tomorrow.

The BCCI has said it is taking all the necessary steps following a reported alert issued by the country’s Intelligence Bureau of possible terror attacks

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2011The BCCI has said it is taking all the necessary steps, including coordinating with the government, to secure the World Cup matches in India following a reported alert issued by the country’s Intelligence Bureau of possible terror attacks.”We are in touch with the home ministry,” Rajiv Shukla, the chairman of the Indian board’s media wing, was quoted as saying in the . “We are taking all the required precautions. The local administration and state government are making all the necessary security arrangements for the players, officials and spectators.”The Indian news channel said it had accessed a letter, dated March 2, issued by Intelligence Director to the chief policemen and security heads of India’s coastal states that warned of a “near term attack”.India is co-hosting the 2011 World Cup with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and the final will be held in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on April 2.