Kevin Pietersen has been given a gentle reminder over his on-pitch behaviour following the obvious disappointment he exhibited after his dismissal in the third ODI in Ranchi.

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2013Kevin Pietersen has been given a gentle reminder over his on-pitch behaviour following the obvious disappointment he exhibited after his dismissal in the third ODI in Ranchi.Pietersen was adjudged by umpire S Ravi to have been caught behind off Ishant Sharma for 17 but lingered in the crease for several seconds in apparent disbelief at the decision.While Pietersen may well have been unfortunate with the dismissal, replays suggesting that the ball brushed only his thigh, England’s limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles, supported the action of the match referee, Andy Pycroft, to have an informal chat with Pietersen.Giles was particularly keen to remind Pietersen how difficult umpiring could be in conditions as noisy as the ODI in Ranchi where umpires have little hope of distinguishing between the noise of the bat clipping the pad or the ball clipping the edge of the bat.”Andy was right to speak to Kev,” Giles admitted, “but I think common sense prevailed. It was just a little word. I didn’t think it was a reaction, more disappointment from Kev.”But we’ve got to be careful with reactions to decisions. It’s tough for the umpires here, it’s so loud that decision making is tough. We understand that.”Pycroft also had a brief conversation with Giles, taking the chance to talk with the England coach after bumping into him in the toilet at Ranchi airport. “It was in the gents,” Giles said. “So that was a nice scene for my first meeting with the match referee.”

England’s bowlers successfully defused West Indies’ explosive batting line-up to set up a six-wicket win that puts them holders through to the Super Six stage

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2013
ScorecardEngland’s bowlers successfully defused West Indies’ explosive batting line-up to set up a six-wicket win that puts the holders through to the Super Six stage. Anya Shrubsole claimed career-best figures before opener Danielle Wyatt hit 40 and victory with 15 overs to spare had the added effect of damaging West Indies’ net run rate, which could help decide qualification from Group A.Only two West Indies batsmen got into double figures – and there were six ducks – as they limped to 101 all out. Katherine Brunt removed Kycia Knight with the second ball of the match before her new-ball partner Shrubsole struck three times. The run-out of West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira was followed by Brunt having Deandra Dottin caught behind, leaving the innings in tatters at 31 for 6.Kyshona Knight, batting at No. 4, and Shanel Daley staved off complete disaster with a partnership of 58 but the introduction of Arran Brindle hastened the end of the innings. Brindle took 3 for 0 from two overs, having top-scorer Kyshona Knight stumped for 33, and Shrubsole returned to complete a four-wicket haul, with Daley unbeaten on 30.In reply, Wyatt and Brindle put on 66 for the first wicket, as England appeared to be cruising into the Super Sixes. Dottin took two in two balls as four wickets fell for 13 runs but Heather Knight struck three boundaries to make sure Charlotte Edwards, England’s captain who had been feeling unwell, did not have to bat. The only other flutter for England was caused by Brunt having to leave the field during West Indies’ innings with a suspected twisted ankle.Although West Indies had gone into their final group game with a healthy NRR of +1.040, it fell to +0.276 in defeat and they will have to wait on the result of India’s match with Sri Lanka to determine whether they stay in the tournament.

Relief was the overriding emotion for Alastair Cook after England salvaged a draw in Dunedin despite one the worst starts they have made to a Test in recent times

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin10-Mar-2013Relief was the overriding emotion for Alastair Cook after England salvaged a draw in Dunedin despite one the worst starts they have made to a Test in recent times and he admitted to being no nearer to an answer on why the team starts so poorly overseas.Led by Steven Finn’s unexpected resistance as nightwatchman – he batted 203 balls in nearly five hours – England negotiated the final day with only a few uncertain moments, largely after tea when Finn and Joe Root fell in quick succession with the lead below 100.It was the second Test in a row where England have batted out nearly two days to save a game following their series-clinching performance against India in Nagpur before Christmas. Although a difference scenario – on that occasion the first-innings scores were almost level so it was always about building a lead – it acted as inspiration for a batting line-up still embarrassed by their demise for 167 on the second day.”We’ve been lucky in one sense to escape with a draw certainly,” Cook said. “That’s a huge reminder that if you don’t perform, you don’t deserve to win anything. When you get bowled out for 160-odd in the first innings on a good wicket you are always going to be struggling and facing an uphill battle just to save the game. After they were 130 for none, it was pretty much damage limitation from there on.”It was about stopping them scoring which we didn’t do as well as we could have done and we knew when we batted again we had to bat 170 overs. It was very similar to the Nagpur situation. That was very evident to see and we reminded the lads that they done it before and there’s no reason, if we applied the same mindset, we couldn’t do that. The character to dig ourselves out of a hole is very pleasing.”While England’s fight bailed them out of a tough situation – as it did at Brisbane in 2010-11 – it would be far more preferable if they did not find themselves in such positions. Excluding Bangladesh, they have not won the opening Test of an away series since beating South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 2004-05. Cook did not have an answer. “We don’t know. That’s the bottom line,” he said.”It’s a thing we talked about before the series, something that we recognise we have started overseas series poorly for a while now. It’s something we wanted to address, but unfortunately our actions didn’t back up our words and it’s very hard to come back from the situation we found ourselves in.”Cook didn’t shy away from what put England into a backs-to-the-wall position in the first place – a series of horrid shots on the second day as the first innings lasted only 55 overs. Cook, himself, was culpable when he cut a short ball to point while four wickets were donated to Bruce Martin.”They put some pressure on us, but if you look at the shots it was pretty poor shot selection, or probably more poor shot execution, you can pretty much describe it as soft dismissals. If you do that against any team you pay the price.”As ever when a team fights back to draw a Test from such a difficult position – England have only saved four matches with bigger first-innings deficits in their history – there are questions about where the balance of power now lies especially with back-to-back Tests. Brendon McCullum was pleased that his team had been able to dictate the match throughout, but Cook felt England could take plenty from their second innings.”It certainly gives us some confidence, especially when you get bowled out for 160 in the first innings, as a batting unit you can start to have negative thoughts – you don’t want that to snowball.”

has turned on Kevin Pietersen, terming him arrogant, self-pitying and isolated, for his part in the furore which destabilised English cricket last summer

David Hopps10-Apr-2013 has turned on Kevin Pietersen, terming him arrogant, self-pitying and isolated, for his part in the furore which destabilised English cricket last summer.There have been more trenchant Notes by the Editor than those which grace the 150th edition of the Almanack, published today, but Lawrence Booth reserves his sternest criticism for Pietersen’s behaviour during England’s Test series defeat against South Africa.

The wisdom of Wisden

– Simon Barnes finds echoes of Don Bradman in Sachin Tendulkar.
– Steve Davies, the Surrey and England wicketkeeper, on coming out as gay in professional sport.”
– Patrick Collins asks why Kevin Pietersen has not become universally revered in English cricket.
– Mike Selvey on his friend and fellow journalist, Christopher Martin-Jenkins.
– Barney Ronay bemoans the retirement of a prolific county runscorer.

“Cricket, some suspected, existed only as an extension of Pietersen’s whims (and unlike team, cricket definitely has an “I” in it). Emboldened by a lucrative new Indian Premier League deal, he was arrogant, attempting to bulldoze over the terms of his central contract. He was self-pitying, claiming he had never been looked after. And he was a man apart, sending silly texts to the South Africans,” Booth writes.Those texts were regarded in much of the media last summer as a national scandal. Perhaps in the use of the term “silly” has stumbled upon a greater truth., condemning the rift as a “mishmash in many genres”, does not spare ECB officials from criticism, concluding: “Only the dressing room knew just how troublesome Pietersen had become; for outsiders to lecture Andy Flower on man-management was plain ludicrous. But as his exile dragged on, the ECB began to look petty, if they showed their faces at all.”Pietersen’s pursuit of Twenty20’s riches at the expense of the Test side – the format which had made his name – was unattractive, although those attitudes can filter down from the top. If there was a have-cake-and-eat-it feel to his simultaneous grouse about excessive cricket and his yearning for IPL, it was hard to ignore a wider truth: a bloated schedule has asked the players to make unfair choices.”The dilemma is not going away, however much English cricket wishes it would.”Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year – an award specific to the English season and winnable only once – are Hashim Amla, Nick Compton, Jacques Kallis, Marlon Samuels and Dale Steyn. The Leading Cricketer in the World award goes to the Australian captain, Michael Clarke.

Virender Sehwag has said his decision to give up the Delhi Daredevils captaincy will have no effect on his batting in the upcoming IPL season

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-2013Virender Sehwag, dropped recently from India’s Test side, has said his decision to give up the Delhi Daredevils captaincy will have no effect on his batting in the upcoming IPL season. Mahela Jayawardene was named Daredevils captain after Sehwag told the franchise he wanted to focus on his batting ahead of the Champions League 2012.”I don’t think it matters whether I am captaining the side or not,” Sehwag told , when asked if Jayawardene taking over would lessen the burden on him. “Captaincy has never affected my game. I have never ever felt the pressure on my batting while leading the side. I have never felt any pressure as captain. My approach to batting has always remained the same.”I have always maintained that captaincy and performance are two separate issues altogether. If you talk about pressures of captaincy, then I had scored five consecutive half-centuries [a Twenty20 record] during the last edition of the IPL and the highest number of runs for Delhi Daredevils.”Sehwag admitted that Daredevils would feel the absence of England batsman Kevin Pietersen, who is out of this IPL with a knee injury. “KP is a big occasion player and he will certainly be missed but we have other players who can put their hands up and be counted. We have 10 quality foreign players and whoever replaces him in the XI will get an opportunity to make a name for himself on the big stage. If they can grab their chance and prove their worth, we can win the trophy.”Daredevils meet Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural match of this season in Kolkata on April 3.

Gloucestershire looked on course for their first win of the season at the end of the third day against Leicestershire at Grace Road

02-May-2013
ScorecardGloucestershire looked on course for their first win of the season at the end of the third day against Leicestershire at Grace Road. They bowled out the hosts for 217 in their second innings to leave a victory target of 188, and had reached 16 without loss off seven overs by the close.Will Gidman took 4 for 39 and Benny Howell 3 for 39 as Leicestershire limped along at just over two runs an over throughout the day. Ned Eckersley top scored with 45 and there were only two partnerships 50 or better, with the home side completely shackled by an accurate Gloucestershire attack on a slow paced pitch. The result was that Leicestershire added only 185 runs in 87 overs to their overnight 32 for 2, falling well short of the sort of target they hoped to set Gloucestershire.It did not take Gidman long to make the first breakthrough of the day when he had nightwatchman Ollie Freckingham lbw in his second over of the morning. That brought in Ramnaresh Sarwan, and he survived a sharp chance to wicketkeeper Cameron Herring off Howell when he had made 9.But Eckersley, having added 25 to his overnight 20, was not so fortunate against the same bowler, beaten by a swinging delivery that clipped the off stump. At 69 for 4 it was an uphill battle for Leicestershire but Sarwan and Josh Cobb buckled down to share a stand of 76 for the fifth wicket.Cobb occasionally chanced his arm and, having just cleared mid-off with one shot, followed it up by taking successive boundaries off Craig Miles to raise the half-century partnership. But just when it seemed Leicestershire had steered their way out of trouble they hit the buffers again, with three wickets falling for 12 runs in seven overs.Cobb was the first of them, caught low down at midwicket off Howell for 43 and Sarwan followed in the seamer’s next over. The Leicestershire captain was bowled off an inside edge after scoring 44 off 141 balls with six boundaries.Shiv Thakor was bowled round his legs by Jack Taylor before Matt Boyce and Jigar Naik shared a stand of 50 to take Leicestershire past the 200 mark. But the second new ball brought a quick end to the innings as Gidman and Miles put the finishing touches to an impressive Gloucestershire bowling performance.

Two more centuries joined the count of six from the last match, but rain prevented any play on the second day resulting in a draw between West Indies A and Sri Lanka A in the second unofficial Test in St Vincent

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2013
Scorecard
File photo: Narsingh Deonarine added 123 runs for the fourth wicket with Kraigg Brathwaite•DigicelCricket.com/Brooks LaTouche Photography

Two more centuries joined the count of six from the last match, but rain prevented any play on the second day, resulting in a draw between West Indies A and Sri Lanka A in the second unofficial Test in St Vincent.Seamers Miguel Cummins and Jonathan Carter struck early for West Indies A, reducing the visitors to 33 for 2 after they won the toss and batted. But wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva and Angelo Perera took advantage of their good starts and converted them into a century and half-century respectively. Silva’s 23rd first-class century, comprising 14 fours, propelled their 112-run partnership that guided Sri Lanka to safety.Sri Lanka were 275 for 7 when Cummins and Carter returned to sweep up the tail. They shared seven wickets between them as Sri Lanka finished at 314.Rain washed out the entire second day, and the probability of another draw loomed as large as the angry clouds above the Arnos Vale Ground.Still under grey skies on the third day, West Indies sunk to 11 for 2 as Suranga Lakmal claimed Kirk Edwards and Assad Fudadin for one run each. Opener Kraigg Brathwaite and Narsingh Deonarine came together at the fall of the third wicket and notched up a 123-run partnership, the highest of the match. Brathwaite fell for 77 on the fourth morning, also plagued by overcast skies, but Deonarine, with 13 fours, would not be denied his ninth first-class century.Malinda Pushpakumara’s left-arm spinners accounted for both Brathwaite and Deonarine and added three more to his tally to claim his 20th five-wicket haul which also ensured a lead of 30 for his side.Sheldon Cotterrell removed Sri Lanka’s in-form captain Dimuth Karunaratne in the third over. But a steady Udara Jayasundera, Kithuruwan Vithanage and Perera then climbed into the West Indian bowlers, especially Cotterrell who leaked over 8 runs an over. Vithanage smashed two sixes and four fours in 34 balls, falling eight short of a fifty while Perera beat his strike-rate with 34 off 25 balls with five fours.Carter claimed both batsmen and on the stroke of Jayasundera’s fifty, the match and the series ended in a tame draw.

The BCB has postponed the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, Bangladesh’s domestic one-day competition, for an unspecified period of time

Mohammad Isam21-Jun-2013The BCB has postponed the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, Bangladesh’s domestic one-day competition, for an unspecified period of time. Earlier this week, BCB president Nazmul Hassan had admitted to being unsure about holding the league at this stage, with the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit’s report on the alleged corruption in the Bangladesh Premier League still pending.This is the third such delay for the tournament; it was originally pushed back from March this year because Bangladesh were touring Sri Lanka at the time, before a players’ strike in late May forced the BCB into declaring that the league would begin in early July.”The player recruitment programme and the commencement of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League 2012-13, originally scheduled for June 23 and July 3 respectively, have been deferred due to unavoidable circumstances,” a BCB text message said. “Fresh dates for the player recruitment programme and the schedule for the league will be announced soon.”Hassan had said on Wednesday that he was unsure whether the tournament would go ahead as scheduled. His anxiety lay in the possibility of the ACSU finding more names, apart from just Mohammad Ashraful’s, implicated in the alleged corruption, and he called the ACSU report his “topmost priority”. Hassan said that he expected to receive the ACSU report during the ICC’s annual conference, which will be held in London from June 25 to 29.He had hinted at a process by which the report will be scrutinised, following which the BCB will take its decisions based on the ACSU’s recommendations. The entire process will take at least a few weeks.That would likely push the league into the 2013-14 season, which was what was supposed to happen in the first place – prior to the protests – given the work that’s going on in stadiums around the country in view of the 2014 World T20. The delay will further hit Bangladesh’s professional players’ finances.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not received any bids for the broadcasting rights of the home series against New Zealand in October

Mohammad Isam02-Aug-2013The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not received any bids for the broadcasting rights of the home series against New Zealand in October. A tender was floated for the TV rights on July 15 and but the BCB did not receive a single bid until the deadline passed on Thursday afternoon.”There were no bids within the given deadline,” BCB’s acting CEO, Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. “We have extended the deadline now, and are also in discussion with companies who have called us during the last two weeks in regards to the TV rights. We will stay in discussion with them and talk to those who apply for the tender too.”The last home series between Bangladesh and West Indies was telecast on Channel 9 after its parent organisation Virgo Media Ltd bought the worldwide broadcasting rights by paying $50,000 at the time. BCB has been without a permanent broadcaster since their botched-up six-year deal with Nimbus ended in March 2012.In August last year, the BCB floated a tender for a TV deal that extended from November 2012 to April 2016. There were just a few interested parties and to find more potential buyers, BCB extended the tender deadline twice and even made changes to the initial tender. The deal But still it didn’t attract many, and those who were interested, offered far less than what was BCB’s expectations.The BCB will continue to look for a broadcaster for just the New Zealand series, as it is currently in transition having been run by the ad-hoc committee and with the board election set to be scheduled over the next month. It is likely that elected directors and president will take a decision on the long-term broadcasting rights of the BCB.

Pradeep Sangwan, the Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders seamer, has failed a random dope test conducted during the 2013 season of the IPL, PTI has reported

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2013Pradeep Sangwan, the Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders seamer, has failed a random dope test conducted during the 2013 season of the IPL, PTI has reported. Sangwan’s ‘A’ sample has reportedly shown traces of banned substances, the nature of which can only be confirmed after the ‘B’ tests are done.The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has been informed about the tests by the BCCI, but any decision about the offence can only be taken once the results of the ‘B’ tests are available. Sangwan, is reportedly in the UK, undergoing treatment for a shoulder injury.Random tests are conducted during the IPL, like in ICC tournaments. The BCCI, which doesn’t come under the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) or the NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency), follow their own anti-doping procedures.*AN Sharma, Sangwan’s first coach, said the problem could have arisen due to treatment Sangwan was receiving for a shoulder problem. “I immediately called him up and Pradeep explained to me what had happened. He had acute pain in his shoulder just before the IPL,” Sharma told . “Since he had no time to consult or visit the BCCI doctor, he saw a local doctor, who gave him an injection. There was instant relief from the pain thereafter and he also managed to play the IPL.”Sharma also said players needed to be more aware of the substances they take while injured. “We have to start stressing this point to the players to be very vigilant about what they are consuming and where they are getting treated,” Sharma said. “It is very important that they understand what substances are being injected into their body during a treatment.”Sangwan, 22, played only two matches for Knight Riders this season and failed to pick up a wicket. He made his first-class debut in 2007 and has played 38 matches for Delhi.* July 19, 6.30am GMT This story has been updated with AN Sharma’s quotes