Shoaib Malik, the former Pakistan captain who was left out of the World Cup squad, has been named captain of Punjab’s team for the upcoming Pentangular first-class tournament in Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2011Shoaib Malik, the former Pakistan captain who was left out of the World Cup squad, has been named captain of Punjab’s team for the upcoming Pentangular first-class tournament in Pakistan. Federal Areas, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the other four teams that will participate in a tournament that pits the top 75 players of the country against one another as provincial, rather than city-based or departmental sides.Malik was in prime form through the domestic season, scoring 799 runs at an average of 88.77 for Pakistan International Airlines in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He has been appointed captain ahead of Kamran Sajid, under whom he played in the PIA side. Sajid is also in the Punjab squad.Punjab have surprisingly left out Lahore Shalimar batsman Usman Salahuddin, the leading run-getter in Division Two of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy during the 2010-11 season, as well as his team-mate, offspinner Saad Nasim, who was the leading wicket-taker in the recently concluded One Day National Cup Division Two. The two have been named in Punjab’s reserves.Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf, and Imran Farhat, who hit a century for Habib Bank Limited in their Faysal Bank One Day National Cup Division One match on Friday, are also in a strong Punjab side.Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have named Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited legspinner Yasir Shah as their captain, while Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited seamer Iftikhar Anjum will captain Federal Areas.Balochistan and Sindh are yet to name their captains.

The ball didn’t turn much on a slow pitch in Chittagong but Netherlands didn’t have the skill to handle the nagging line and length from the battery of Bangladesh’s left-arm spinners

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera14-Mar-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShafiul Islam’s tight but luckless opening spell set the tone for Bangladesh’s victory•Getty Images

The ball didn’t turn much on a slow pitch in Chittagong but Netherlands’ batsmen didn’t have the skill to handle the nagging line and length from the battery of Bangladesh’s left-arm spinners. They stabbed, plodded and meandered to 160 and Bangladesh wrapped up a six-wicket victory in a virtual must-win match. Shafiul Islam was luckless in a probing opening spell that read 6-3-7-0 but he was instrumental in strangling the Netherlands batsmen before the spinners tightened the screws further. The result escalated the pressure on England, who have to beat West Indies to stay in the World Cup.For a brief while, 6.5 overs to be precise, there was some fight in the chase but it evaporated as Imrul Kayes took control to push Bangladesh to victory in Chittagong. Bangladesh were on a wobbly 14 for 1, for the loss of Tamim Iqbal, in the seventh over but Junaid Siddique and Kayes broke free to force Netherlands out of the contest.The total was too meagre to defend and it was due their middling effort with the bat that Netherlands lost this game. Whenever they tried to take initiative, as Tom Cooper and Alexei Kervezee did, it proved just a mirage as they got out immediately. Whenever they tried to steal some quick runs, they got involved in run-outs. Cooper had struck Shakib Al Hasan for two fours in the 25th over but he got out in the next over, run out due to a misunderstanding with Eric Szwarczynski. He rushed across for a single after pushing to point but couldn’t get back in time despite a wide throw from Shakib. Mushfiqur Rahim collected and swiveled to flick a direct hit. Kervezee crashed

Smart Stats

• Abdur Razzak’s 3 for 29 is his third three-wicket haul in World Cups. He has been involved in three of the top five World Cup bowling performances for Bangladesh.

• The 92-run stand between Imrul Kayes and Junaid Siddique is the highest for the second wicket for Bangladesh in World Cups. The previous highest was 73 between Tamim Iqbal and Siddique against India in the first game of the 2011 World Cup.

• Kayes’ 73 is the second-highest score by a Bangladesh batsman in World Cups behind Mohammad Ashraful’s 87 against South Africa in 2007.

• The win was Bangladesh’s fourth against a non Test-playing nation in World Cups. Overall, they have won 50 and lost 33 matches against non Test-playing teams (including Zimbabwe). Against Test-playing teams however, they have won 17 and lost 141 ODIs.

• Netherlands’ score of 160 is their fourth score below 200 in the 2011 World Cup and their eighth such score in World Cups.

• During the course of his half-century, Ryan ten Doeschate became the highest run getter for Netherlands in World Cups. He now has 329 runs at an average of 54.83.

Rubel Hossain for two fours in the 33rd over but fell in the next, stumped off the bowling of Suhrawadi Shuvo. To add to their woes, four batsmen ran themselves out on a day when nothing went right for the Associate team.Szwarczynski, the opener, dawdled for 68 balls but couldn’t convert the start into anything meaningful. Ryan ten Doeschate, dropped on 14 by Kayes, hung around for an unbeaten fifty but he lacked support. The innings lacked momentum from the start, after Shafiul’s inspired opening spell, and it went nowhere in the end.It will remain a mystery how Shafiul didn’t pick up a wicket. He darted the ball in, straightened it outside off, slipped in yorkers, tried faster and slower bouncers and didn’t bowl a bad ball. He harassed the openers with movement but the ball either thudded high on the pad or missed the edge. It was one of those days. The first run off him was scored only in the 18th delivery, when he tried a slower one. Netherlands promoted Mudassar Bukhari to pinch some quick runs but Shafiul put him in his place in the 11th over. Two yorkers jammed the bottom of the bat, a bouncer pinged the shoulder and a slower one beat the waft.Shafiul paved way for the spinners, Abdur Razzak, Shakib and Shuvo, who did what they normally do: hit a tight line and length, bowl a slew of dot balls, increase the pressure, and make the batsmen feel claustrophobic. Everything went according to their script.Netherlands had a brief moment of joy in the chase when Bukhari breached the defences of Tamim with a delivery that straightened in the first over. He continued to bowl with heart, showed some skill and even sledged. He went past Kayes’ bat a few times and gave lip to Siddique, but just when the contest looked interesting, Bangladesh broke free.It was the final ball of the seventh over and Siddique had just been sledged after Bukhari banged in a short delivery. Siddique responded with a flamboyant pull to collect a boundary and that was the moment that turned things around for Bangladesh. In the next over, he dragged the offspinner Adeel Raja, who opened with Bukhari and bowled a few tight overs, to the square-leg boundary. Soon Kayes, who was on 9 off 24 balls, pulled Raja for three runs and Bangladesh took control.Post that, Kayes took ownership of the chase and started to roll out the big shots: he slapped Raja through covers, slashed a full toss from ten Doeschate over point, and drove Peter Borren through cover for successive boundaries in the 17th over. Though Siddique and Shahriar Nafees, who made a fluent 37 in his first game of the tournament, fell and Shakib combusted on arrival, Kayes stayed to finish the job.

Match Timeline

Pakistan’s limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi and other senior members of the team may be rested for the upcoming West Indies tour that begins on April 18

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2011Pakistan’s limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi and other senior members of the team may be rested for the upcoming West Indies tour that begins on April 18.”I am yet to decide on the West Indies tour,” Afridi said at a press conference following Pakistan’s World Cup exit. He also hinted at rest for other seniors in the side, but the PCB is yet to respond.Pakistan have had a draining schedule in recent times, starting with the World Twenty20 in April 2010 followed by the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and a tour of England, which included full series against Australia and the home side. Next was another full-fledged bilateral series in the UAE against South Africa, and a long tour of New Zealand, before the team returned to the subcontinent for the World Cup. In addition to their gruelling on-field commitments, the Pakistan team also hurtled from one off-field controversy to another, including the spot-fixing scandal and Zulqarnain Haider’s mysterious exit from the team hotel in UAE.The West Indies tour includes a Twenty20, five one-dayers and two Tests, and allows the players less than three weeks for rest.

ESPNcricinfo previews the one-off Twenty20 international between West Indies and Pakistan in St Lucia

The Preview by Liam Brickhill20-Apr-2011

Match Facts

April 21, Gros Islet

Start time 1400 (1800 GMT)Darren Sammy and Shahid Afridi are used to dealing with controversies surrounding their teams•AFP

The Big Picture

A meeting between Pakistan and West Indies should be just the sort of combination of volatile elements that makes for an absorbing contest. One simply can’t know what to expect from two teams famous for displays of talent and inconsistency in equal measure. Off-field disturbances can add to the soap opera, but there haven’t been many occasions in the recent past when Pakistan have entered a series as the more stable, settled side. The current turbulence in West Indies cricket ahead of the tour opener at Gros Islet means the spotlight has been firmly on the hosts in the build-up.Just five members of the team that played the World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan last month are in the squad for the opening Twenty20. Though Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard were not eligible for selection because they did not play in the Caribbean T20 earlier this year, there is no place either for Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan or Sulieman Benn, though Darren Sammy retains his place as captain.The possibility of this sort of purge arose after coach Ottis Gibson’s ominous reproach of the “senior players” after the quarter-final exit from the World Cup, but few would have expected the changes to be quite so extensive. Gayle’s exit could prove the most troublesome. The only constant at the top of the order in the last decade, he was in the middle of a rehabilitation programme for an injury picked up during the World Cup, but would have been eligible to play in the final three ODIs and the Tests that followed. Instead, he will play for the Royal Challengers in the IPL, and an inexperienced team will have to do without his experience and confident swagger at the crease.The situation was not quite as bad the last time Pakistan toured the Caribbean, back in 2005, but the warning signs were there. West Indies were in the throes of internal turmoil caused by the long-running contractual wrangles with their sponsors, and though Pakistan were not without their own backroom troubles they breezed to a 3-0 win in the ODIs before drawing the Test series.They have every chance of pulling off a similar result this time – and could well end their record of never having won a Test series in the West Indies. The news of Zulqarnain Haider’s impending return to Pakistan and the potential pot-stirring from the announcement of stringent new guidelines for player agents following Mazhar Majeed’s alleged misdeeds in England last summer were absorbed without missing a beat and a convincing win over a West Indies Vice Chancellor’s XI in their first practice match will only have bolstered Pakistan’s preparations.With West Indies’ big guns gone and Pakistan starting as firm favourites, the Twenty20 match on Thursday could well set the tone for the tour. How long will Pakistan’s stability last? Does this latest twist represent a tangible change of direction for West Indies, or will it be yet another phase in the re-building exercise that has been going on for the best part of two decades?

Form guide

(most recent first)
West Indies LLLWL
Pakistan WLLLL

Watch out for…

Marlon Samuels was a bullish, confident presence in West Indies’ middle order before his two-year ban for alleged involvement with illegal bookmakers. In a side shorn of its senior players, his comeback is certainly timely. He’s played twice as many ODIs as his captain, Sammy, and though he hasn’t played for West Indies since 2008 he’ll have some idea of the intensity of international competition and will also lend some grit to the middle order. His sparkling performance during the Caribbean T20 in January, in which he was the leading run-getter with 253 runs at 63.25, will only add to his confidence in this format.Mohammad Hafeez has been around the Pakistan team for almost eight years now, but it’s only recently that he’s really blossomed in his role as opening batsman and more-than-handy offspinner. He certainly played that part to perfection the last time Pakistan and West Indies met, nipping out two early wickets after being asked to open the bowling and then rocketing along to a run-a-ball 61 to complete a 10-wicket trouncing.

Team news

West Indies’ squad has a bowler-heavy look to it, with a string of allrounders filling the lower-middle order. As such, the top order picks itself, and the main questions surround the composition of the bowling attack. Given the number of seamers in the squad, offspinner Ashley Nurse may find himself in line for a West Indies debut to add some variation, especially considering his good performances in the recent Twenty20s against Pakistan A. Likewise, left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie was the leading West Indian wicket-taker in this year’s Caribbean T20 and this could be the perfect time for him to step up to the next level.West Indies (probable) 1 Andre Fletcher (wk), 2 Lendl Simmons, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Christopher Barnwell, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Devendra Bishoo, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Ashley Nurse, 11 Krishmar SantokiePakistan’s squad has a fairly settled look to it, but there are a number of youngsters waiting in the wings and several of them could be in for some game time. Mohammad Salman is the squad’s only specialist keeper, while Hammad Azam could be tested in the allrounder slot vacated by Abdul Razzaq.Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Asad Shafiq, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Mohammad Salman (wk), 7 Hammad Azam, 8 Shahid Afridi (capt), 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Saeed Ajmal

Pitch and conditions

The Beausejour Stadium hosted several matches during last year’s World Twenty20 and the pitch generally generated a good contest between bat and ball. Four games saw totals over 170, but Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Amir picked up 17 wickets between themselves at this ground during the course of Pakistan’s campaign. The weather could well play a role on Thursday, as it’ll be warm but partly cloudy, with a chance of rain.

Stats and trivia

• Surprisingly, this will be the first ever Twenty20 international between these two teams.
• Umar Akmal scored 125 runs at 62.50, including two half-centuries, in the course of four games at this ground during the World Twenty20 last year. The only Pakistan cricketer to have scored more runs here in Twenty20 internationals is his brother, Kamran.
• Saeed Ajmal picked up nine wickets at this ground during that campaign, at an average of 13.77, but won’t have particularly fond memories of it as it was here that he received a mauling from Mike Hussey, who blasted 18 from his final over to secure a breathtaking victory.

Quotes

“It’s easier for us to do well with our home crowd and their support, and it gives an opportunity to bring ourselves back up the ladder – to dig deep, work hard, prove ourselves, and give back to our fans.”
“This is my first series at home and my first match happens to be in St Lucia, my homeland. We are rebuilding now and the slogan for the series is ‘Wi [we] all in’ so it’s all all-out effort from everyone involved.”

Middlesex continued their impressive start to the season when half-centuries from Gareth Berg and Ollie Rayner carried them to a thrilling three-wicket victory at Derby

23-Apr-2011
Scorecard
Middlesex continued their impressive start to the season when half-centuries from Gareth Berg and Ollie Rayner carried them to a thrilling three-wicket victory at Derby.Derbyshire looked favourites when Middlesex slipped to 197 for 6 chasing 328, but Berg and Rayner turned the game with a stand of 97 in 24 overs.
Berg became Tony Palladino’s fourth victim when he had made 80 from 115 balls but Rayner hit an unbeaten 58 to secure Middlesex’s second LV= County
Championship Second Division win.It was an impressive recovery by the visitors after Derbyshire had struck twice in the opening two overs. Middlesex had added only four runs to their overnight total of 145 for 2 when Dawid Malan pushed forward at the fifth ball of the morning from Tim Groenewald and was caught behind.Groenewald had been expensive in his opening spell on the previous evening but there were no cheap runs on offer on his return and the home side celebrated another success in the next over. Neil Dexter had scored only 2 when he was beaten by Palladino and trapped leg before to reduce the visitors to 154 for 4 and shift the balance towards Derbyshire.Dan Housego had shown composure and sound temperament in the first innings and he was again proving a considerable obstacle as he and John Simpson began rebuilding the innings. The scoring rate had dropped considerably which was an indication of the accuracy of the attack and the tension out in the middle and it was a tentative shot that finally ended Housego’s stubborn innings.He had faced 110 balls for his 27 when he prodded at Palladino and edged into the gloves of Tom Poynton. Derbyshire’s celebrations showed just how important that wicket was and they had another one before lunch when Simpson became a victim of the growing pressure.He and Berg had scored 21 in 12 overs when Simpson went for a big cut at Ross Whiteley but hit it straight to short cover where Dan Redfern held on to give the seamer his first Championship wicket.At lunch, Middlesex were 216 for 6, 112 short of their target, and Berg came out determined to break the stranglehold of the bowlers who had sent down 15 maiden overs in the morning.He drove Wes Durston’s off-spin for six and when Derbyshire claimed the new
ball, he cut the first delivery from Greg Smith past point to the boundary.Berg had taken his side to within 34 runs of victory when he cut Palladino to backward point to give the seamer his ninth victim in the match. But Rayner shut the door firmly in Derbyshire’s face and drove Whiteley for two
consecutive fours to win a pulsating contest shortly after 3pm.

Ashish Bagai has stepped down as captain of Canada ahead of the Intercontinental Cup which begins in June

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-2011Ashish Bagai has stepped down as captain of Canada ahead of the Intercontinental Cup which begins in June. The 29-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Bagai, who made his debut in 2003 and has had two stints as captain, will still be available for selection as a player. Bagai led Canada in the 2011 World Cup in which they beat higher-ranked Kenya in the group stages. He made two half-centuries during the tournament.”It has been an honour to captain my country in the sport I love and I thank everyone in this organisation who helped and supported me throughout my term including administrators, coaches, managers and most of all, the players,” Bagai said in a letter to Cricket Canada’s board.”I undertook each task over the last two years with the primary objective of moving not just the team but also the entire organisation forward.”Bagai was appointed captain for the 2007 Intercontinental Cup when he was just 25 but chose to take up a job in the banking industry in the UK later the same year, making him unavailable for many of Canada’s matches. In 2009 he quit his job and signed a contract with Cricket Canada to play the sport full-time and has been captain of the national team since.Cricket Canada have accepted Bagai’s decision to step down and indicated they would still select him as a player.”Cricket Canada thanks Ashish for his outstanding contribution to Canadian cricket at a time when circumstances were difficult and challenging,” Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini said in a statement. “I wish him well and look forward to his continued contribution as a player and strong supporter of Canadian cricket.”Canada will have to name a new captain for the Intercontinental Cup in which they will play four-day matches over a 28-month time frame against Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland, Kenya, Netherlands, Namibia and UAE.

Shane Watson has joined Ricky Ponting in expressing disappointment at the axing of his opening partner Simon Katich from the contracts list by Cricket Australia earlier this month

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jun-2011Shane Watson has joined Ricky Ponting in expressing disappointment at the axing of his opening partner Simon Katich from the contracts list by Cricket Australia earlier this month. “I’ve built up a really good friendship and opening partnership with Simon over the last two years and I’ve had a lot of fun batting with him,” Watson told .Katich, 35, who had been extremely consistent in the years leading up to his axing, had called the decision “absolutely ridiculous”, an outburst which Ponting said was justified.With 2928 runs at 50.48 since he was recalled to the Test team in 2008, Katich has been not only Australia’s most reliable batsman but among the most bankable in the world. In that time only Alastair Cook has scored more runs.Watson had formed a productive opening partnership with Katich in the last couple of years, adding 1523 runs in 28 innings at an average of 54.39. He felt that Katich could have gone on for some more time instead of being forced out.”I still felt that he had another at least year or two of good cricket still in him. Being an opening partnership you do become a lot closer because you are taking on the best bowlers in the world together and you need a mate out there to be able to help you out.”Katich’s axing is the latest move by Australa’s selection panel in a bid to rebuild the side following a home Ashes loss and a World Cup quarter-final exit. Watson was earlier appointed deputy to new captain Michael Clarke as Ponting stepped down after the World Cup exit.

Stuart Broad began impressively, but centuries from James Hildreth and Craig Kieswetter made it Somerset’s day

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge11-Jul-2011
Scorecard
James Hildreth eventually fell to Stuart Broad, but not before he’d made 137•Getty Images

Sometimes, county cricket’s chaotic fixture list can be a blessing. The latest round of four-day games sits in peculiar isolation in the middle of a three-week block of Twenty20 matches, which is less than ideal, in particular for batsmen faced with the demands of adjusting style to suit the format. Without it, though, Stuart Broad would have to concede that his place in the England team to face India in the first Test on Thursday week would be in serious doubt.It is in some doubt anyway, given the loss of form that led him to him being left out of Saturday’s decisive fifth one-day international against Sri Lanka. But the brief resumption of Championship cricket at least gives him a chance to put in some overs for Nottinghamshire in the hope of eradicating his current shortcomings. With his card marked by the England selectors, he rang Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, last Friday, emphasising his eagerness to play.”He is certainly not playing under duress,” Newell said. “He knows his place is under threat but he has responded in the right way. He has not been looking like someone who is thinking ‘what am I doing here?'”You would guess that it is a three-way race between him, Tim Bresnan and maybe Steven Finn to be third seamer at Lord’s and he is eager to make that place his. For us it is a bonus because I didn’t think we would see him again this year.”Newell sympathised with Broad’s predicament in the face of sustained criticism in the media, which has been fanned by his disciplinary problems. Some of his team-mates suspect he has been identified as a ready scapegoat whenever the England team put in a below-par performance.”As a cricketer he is still learning,” Newell said. “But he barely plays county cricket, so he is having to learn in Test matches, on flat pitches against good players. And the way he bowls depends on what kind of bowler England want him to be.”When appropriate, Newell is as keen as anyone to see Broad to use his height to frighten batsmen, particularly the way he did in the corresponding fixture last year, when he gave Craig Kieswetter a classic ‘going-over’ and bowled Nottinghamshire to victory with five second-innings wickets.Indeed, on a day that began with a fine spell with the new ball, followed by a couple of less impressive stints, Broad wound up by taking a wicket with a short-pitched delivery in a clever piece of bowling around the wicket to James Hildreth to a loaded leg-side field.Hildreth could not resist the temptation to hook — although he had scored 137 by then — and duly made a hash of one. Wicketkeeper Chris Read, running full pelt towards fine leg, took a fine diving catch.But Trent Bridge tends to encourage bowlers who pitch the ball up and let it swing, especially in the warm, muggy atmosphere that prevailed on the first day here. Nottinghamshire prepared one that was scarcely less green than its uncut neighbours, tailor made for Andre Adams, who bowled them to the title last year. Yet Broad showed he could make the conditions work for him, too, in an opening spell Newell rated as “excellent”, by taking a wicket with his seventh ball, pitched up and nudged to second slip by Arul Suppiah.It began a difficult morning for Somerset, who were put in. Luke Fletcher quickly had Nick Compton out to another fine catch by Voges, diving across Alex Hales at first slip, from a similar delivery, before Adams struck twice, uprooting Marcus Trescothick’s off stump with a peach of a ball before a tricky maiden Championship innings for 20-year-old Durham University student Chris Jones ended with a wide ball edged again into the safe hands of Voges.At 48 for 4 Somerset looked ripe for demolition. Broad took eight wickets when they ran into him here last season, in April and one wondered if he might be warming up for a timely repeat. But the remainder of the day belonged not to Broad, who had his left heel padded and has gained a sore right ankle for his troubles, but to Kieswetter and Hildreth, who have put Somerset in control with a mammoth partnership of 290 for the fifth wicket.Given the conditions, which eased but were never without a lurking threat, it was a performance of considerable merit. Kieswetter rode his luck early, surviving a succession of edges that fell short of ride of the slip cordon, but is still there on 151, needing only three to surpass his previous highest first-class score.Hildreth, though guilty of the odd streaky stroke, made few errors. He has not had a productive season so far, which probably explains why Somerset have fallen short of expectations, and will feel much better for this effort. He is further back in the England pecking order than Broad or Kieswetter but made good strides as England Lions captain last winter and national selector Geoff Miller, while ostensibly present on Broad-watch, cannot fail to have been impressed.

Thanks to some fine bowling from Xavier Doherty and Brett Lee, a calm innings from Shaun Marsh, and a couple of brain explosions from Sri Lanka’s batsmen, Australia secured the series with a match in hand, courtesy a five-wicket win in the fourth ODI

The Report by Brydon Coverdale20-Aug-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsXavier Doherty picked up a career-best 4 for 28•AFP

Crisis? What crisis? To watch Australia demolish Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI in Colombo, it would be easy to believe all was well with Australian cricket. Thanks to some fine bowling from Xavier Doherty and Brett Lee, a calm innings from Shaun Marsh, and a couple of brain explosions from Sri Lanka’s batsmen, Australia secured the series with a match in hand, courtesy a five-wicket win in the fourth ODI.