All posts by csb10.top

Nasser Hussain said today that criticism of his attitude during the second npower Test against South Africa was "absolute drivel". And he insisted that he wanted to continue his England Test career beyond the current series.Hussain stunned cricket followers by resigning the captaincy immediately after the drawn first Test at Edgbaston. That left Michael Vaughan, already England’s one-day captain, with just three days to prepare himself for leading the team at Lord’s – a match South Africa went on to win by a crushing innings and 92 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.Hussain was out to a rash pull in the second innings at Lord’s, and was also involved in a brief onfield row there with South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith. But Hussain, retained in the team for this week’s third Test at Trent Bridge, defended his actions: "Every time I’ve put on an England shirt on, I’ve given it my absolute utmost for the country and I will carry on doing that for as long as England want me."I’ll always be an ear there for Vaughany, for Fletch [coach Duncan Fletcher], for any young player – as you saw when someone [Smith] got stuck into Jimmy Anderson, I was there for him because I believe young players need that backing," Hussain also told the BBC. "The bottom line for me is that there’s only one important goal and that’s England getting back into this series and the England team doing well. Any talk about me being quiet or down is absolute drivel."After that Lord’s defeat the former England opener Geoffrey Boycott accused Fletcher of harming the English game by refusing to allow international players to turn out for their counties. But Hussain, who was in charge when Fletcher, a former captain of Zimbabwe, first took charge of England on the 1999-2000 tour of South Africa, insisted that Fletcher had been nothing but a positive influence."I’ve got the utmost respect for Mr Boycott – he’s been brilliant, the work he’s done with me on my batting," said Hussain. "Unfortunately, on Duncan Fletcher he’s got it wrong. He has been one of the greatest things that has happened to English cricket and we mustn’t knock him. Duncan Fletcher invariably gets things right and we must get behind him now because he’s got a new young captain – they need to form a relationship, and we must all get behind them and work in the same direction, not constantly knock from the outside."Hussain, 35, who has now scored over 5000 Test runs, insisted he would not follow his England team-mate Alec Stewart in retiring from international cricket at the end of the South Africa series. England tour Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies during the forthcoming northern winter, and Hussain, who retired from one-day internationals after the World Cup, insisted he was available for Test duty. "Whenever Michael Vaughan or David Graveney ring me up and say `There’s a Test match next week’ – wherever it is in the world – `We need you, we want you,’ I’ll be the first one there because I desperately enjoy playing for England."

Thursday, March 20, 2003:::
“Indians were just not geared up for the big stage — right from Tendulkar downwards,” Indian spin great Bishan Singh Bedi
Source: Mid-day
“I don’t subscribe to the fact that we have taken the game to a new level. We can get better – no question – in every part of the game. If we sit back, we will do world cricket a disservice,” Australia’s coach John Buchanan
Source: The Guardian, UK
“India had a very good outing (sic) till the final, but unfortunately they squandered away a great opportunity by choosing to bat second,” former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar
Source: The New Indian Express, India

India’s triumph in the 1983 World Cup gave the subcontinent’s bidto conduct the competition four years later a tremendous fillip,and for the first time, the World Cup – labelled the Reliance Cupafter the new sponsors – was held outside England, when bothIndia and Pakistan jointly hosted the event in October-November1987.Other than the overs per innings being brought down from 60 to 50­ it would have been next to impossible to bowl 120 overs a dayon the subcontinent – there was no alteration in the teamsinvolved or the general format. Once again, the eight teams wereplaced in two groups; Group A comprised India, Australia,Zimbabwe and New Zealand, while group B comprised England,Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

For a change, India and Pakistan were the joint favourites forthe title, although the chances of England and the West Indiescould not be not ruled out. Group B was obviously the moreintriguing one, with three heavyweights fighting it out in thepreliminary stage, so predictably enough, most of the interestcentered round matches in that group. Close finishes proved to bethe order of the day, and a couple of minor surprises meant thatPakistan and England made the semifinals from the group at theexpense of the West Indies.The pattern was set on the opening day, when Pakistan beat down aspirited challenge from Sri Lanka, winning by just 15 runs. A daylater, England surprised the West Indies by two wickets, thewinning runs being scored with three balls to spare. Pakistandefeated England by 18 runs and then got the better of the WestIndies in a scorcher, the final margin being one wicket and thewinning runs being scampered off the last ball.By now the competition was becoming known as much for its nailbiting finishes as for its impeccable organisation. In the returnround of matches, Pakistan again defeated England to make sure ofa berth in the semifinals, and the battle for second spot now laybetween England and the West Indies. The two-time championsseemed to be clawing their way back with two successive victoriesover Sri Lanka, in the first of which Vivian Richards hammered amajestic unbeaten 181 that surpassed Kapil Dev’s 175 not out asthe highest individual score in a World Cup. But a secondsuccessive loss to England knocked them out of contention, andeven though they beat Pakistan in their final league match ­handing the co-hosts their first defeat in six games ­ it was nomore than a consolation prize for the West Indies.Things were less hot in the comparatively passive Group A ­ butonly just. Intense competition was lacking for India andAustralia, who as expected were always ahead of New Zealand andZimbabwe. But close finishes were prevalent in this pool too. Infact, the first match between India and Australia at Madrasproduced the closest possible finish, with the latter winning byone run. New Zealand and Zimbabwe then produced another thrillerthe next day at Hyderabad before the former edged past theirgallant opponents by three runs despite a heroic 141 off 138balls by Dave Houghton.A few days later, Australia defeated New Zealand at Indore bythree runs in the only rain-affected match of the tournament.Postponed by a day because of heavy rain, it was curtailed to 30overs a side after captains Allan Border and Jeff Crowe expressedtheir preference for a game rather than sharing the points for ano-result.The rest of the matches went according to the form-book, andIndia, with five straight wins after that narrow loss, took thetop spot, while Australia with a similar record were second. Bothteams had 20 points, but India’s slightly superior rate saw themavoid a semifinal meeting with Pakistan at Lahore. Instead, theytook on England at Bombay, while Australia had to make the tripto Pakistan.At this stage, all seemed set for an India­Pakistan final clash.India seemed to be peaking just at the right time, whilePakistan, in getting the better of West Indies and England intheir group, had shown themselves to be potential champions. Itwas also the clash that everyone was looking forward to, a realdream final.Such dreams, however, were shattered, for it turned out to be anAustralia­England final. Australia set one up for the underdogswhen they shocked Pakistan by 18 runs. The next day, Englandmaintained the trend by upsetting India by 35 runs. It wasunbelievable, but full credit went to both Australia and Englandfor displaying a professional approach against in-form opponentswho may have been a touch complacent.Both matches followed a similar pattern. Australia scored 267 foreight in 50 overs, and Pakistan seemed well-placed at 150 forthree, and with Javed Miandad and Imran Khan going strongly, theyrequired 118 runs off 15 overs. But Craig McDermott then gotamong the wickets, and Pakistan were dismissed for 249 in 49overs, with the tall and well-built pace spearhead finishing withfive for 44.

At Bombay, Graham Gooch led the way with a stroke-filled 115 asEngland scored 254 for six in 50 overs. At 204 for five, and with10 overs in hand, India had things well under control, for therequired rate was only five an over. But irresponsible battingcaused a sudden and shattering debacle that saw India bundled outfor 219 in 45.3 overs.The final at Calcutta evoked comparatively lukewarm interest inthe subcontinent, although 93,000 spectators were present at theEden Gardens. Though the final victory margin was only sevenruns, the match was not that close, for Australia always seemedto have things under control from the time they led off with 253for five in 50 overs. David Boon top-scored with 75, enough toget him the Man of the Match award.England had the benefit of sizeable contributions from most oftheir top-order batsmen, but tight bowling and brilliant fieldingsaw to it that they were always behind on the run-rate.Ultimately they fell agonisingly short, finishing at 246 foreight in 50 overs. Australia, then in the midst of a rebuildingprocess and given little chance of winning the title, ended updeserving champions.

Bangladesh’s frontline bowlers may not match Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie or Glenn McGrath in speed and experience, but New Zealand opener Mark Richardson found he was more nervous in the first Test today against Bangladesh, than he ever was in Australia.He finished the day on his highest Test score of 124 not out, with New Zealand 306/5, but said the first hour, in which New Zealand plummeted to 51/4, was very hard.”It doesn’t matter that they were not the Australians, they all hit the seam, they had very good wrists and they all swung the ball.”They bowled pretty well and their tails were up,” he said.Richardson was battling the ‘flu all day and he felt the innings wasn’t one of his better ones.Last summer’s maiden Test century in the final Test against Pakistan and today’s century completed a turnaround of fortunes for Richardson here.”I was desperate to get a total. I went about my work okay in Australia, I just didn’t get a century,” he said.Meanwhile, Craig McMillan said he had been conscious of his dismissal for 98 in the Pakistan Test last year, when he got into the 90s.”I was very determined to push through. From a personal point of view I just love playing here because it is one of only two pure cricket grounds in New Zealand, the other is the Basin Reserve.”It was a sign of the confidence in the batsmen in the team now that despite getting into a tricky position they were able to extricate themselves.”There wasn’t any panic,” he said.The frustrations with the weather and the limited chances for cricket had been a concern.”But I’m really happy today. I played my natural game.”We are in a very satisfying position and we are very happy with the day’s play. It was a good day’s cricket,” he said.The accident he had on Tuesday had also caused him to reflect and realise how lucky he was to be able to play cricket, and that had made the innings all the more satisfying, he said.

MELBOURNE, Jan 28 AAP – Adam Gilchrist says the Australian team will re-assess their attitude to playing its World Cup match in Zimbabwe in light of an appeal made by England players to have their match moved from Harare to South Africa.After receiving the Australian international one-day player of the year award tonight, Gilchrist said there’s “definitely” concerns over playing in Zimbabwe next month.”We haven’t really learnt too much more about the scenario since hearing what the English team have come out and said …we’ll assess that over the next few days,” he said.”It’s really hard to comment because we’re trying to learn and be informed about what the scenario is …”We’ll learn a bit more about it but I think it’s fair to say that there’s enough interest in it and enough concern from the player group to warrant assessing it again.”But Gilchrist denied that the team didn’t want to travel to Zimbabwe.”That doesn’t mean the players are standing up and saying ‘we’re not going’ and it doesn’t mean that everyone is totally happy with it,” he said.”We’ll assess it over the next few days and learn a bit more about it.”I don’t know of anyone who’s stood up and said ‘I’m definitely not going’ but, as I say, there’s definitely concerns there, and enough concerns to warrant investigating the scenario a little bit further.”Gilchrist’s comments came after England’s Professional Cricketers’ Association made an “urgent request” on behalf of the England players in London for their match against Zimbabwe on February 13 to be shifted from Harare to South Africa.It followed warnings received from Zimbabwean activists to the England team in Australia and reports that opposition groups would use the England match to demonstrate against President Robert Mugabe’s regime.However, Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive James Sutherland said he’d learned of no new security risk which would prevent the Australian team playing its match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on February 24.”As far as we can gather in the reports that we’ve had, there’s no material change in the conditions that we found when we had the security delegation there in late November,” Sutherland told ABC Radio today.”I was a part of that with (Australian Cricketers’ Association chief) Tim May, but at the same time we continue to monitor that.”The Australian Cricketers’ Association was in talks today and was expected to comment further on the issue tomorrow.Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) remained adamant that the six World Cup matches scheduled for Zimbabwe next month would proceed.The England team statement in London today came amid reports of escalating political violence and food shortages across Zimbabwe.The England players stopped short of threatening to boycott their match but said proceeding with it in Harare could have serious consequences.”We are all greatly concerned about the moral, political and safety issues that the fixture in Zimbabwe has raised. We strongly feel a fresh review should take place immediately,” the players said.”There are many difficult decisions to be made in life, and in this case the consequences could be very severe for all concerned, including players, the ECB, the game of cricket in the UK, the rest of the cricket playing world, and, perhaps more significantly, for Zimbabwe cricket and the people of Zimbabwe.”Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) managing director Richard Bevan said British government officials last week warned the England and Wales Cricket Board and PCA representatives that the situation in Zimbabwe was highly volatile.A government office had been firebombed, the mayor of Harare had warned that he could not guarantee security and Zimbabwean police had reportedly found an opposition arms cache allegedly for use against England cricketers, he said.The ICC’s Australian chief executive Malcolm Speed insisted there was no security-based reason to move the games and that it was not the ICC’s role to take a moral stand.He insisted that calls for the ICC to pull out of Zimbabwe in protest at the human rights abuses of President Robert Mugabe were misplaced.”The ICC is an international sporting organisation with 84 members with a variety of cultures, beliefs and political systems,” said Speed.”Its members are in place to make judgments on cricket administration and not to take a political stance on foreign policy issues.”This is the role and responsibility of governments.”Speed will meet Bevan and ECB chief executive Tim Lamb on Thursday to discuss the players’ request.Meanwhile, the situation could change at late notice, with World Cup organisers saying there was no logistical impediment to moving the games at short notice.

The Kwekwe first team had a home game against Old Georgians on Sunday 4 November.The visitors batted first and scored 274 for six in their allotted 50 overs. Gus MacKay was the highest scorer with 57 runs, followed by Lance Malloch-Brown with 48 runs. Best of the six Kwekwe bowlers who were used was Dave Houghton who took two for 30 in six overs, John Vaughan-Davies 2/49 and Pete Albasini 2/50 in their allotted 10 overs.Kwekwe then batted after lunch and were all out for 243 runs in their allotted 50 overs. Best bat for Kwekwe was John Vaughan-Davies with a score of 60 runs. Best bowlers for Old Georgians were Gus Mackay who took five for 27 and S Seager who took three for 40 in their allotted 10 overs.Two old stalwarts of Kwekwe cricket, namely Ken Connelly and Pete Albasini, were taken out of retirement for this game due to the loss of our younger national players.As you can see by the scores, it was a very close game that could have gone either way and as news of the close finish spread throughout Kwekwe quite a crowd of faithful supporters gathered at the Sports Club who cheered every run that was scored and also every boundary that was hit. Old Georgians came out on top of this close encounter winners by 31 runs.The cricketers here in Kwekwe are very glad and grateful to have a coach like Dave Houghton who is willing to come and coach the team every Friday that we have a home game. These coaching sessions are well attended and they also include a rigorous fielding practice that is compulsory for all the players in the first and second teams on a Saturday afternoon.The Kwekwe second team travelled to Bulawayo to play against Queens second team.Kwekwe batted first and was all out for 309. The best batsman for Kwekwe was J. Friend with 49 runs, followed by T. Savoury with 44 runs. Best bowler for Queens was M. Strydom who took three for 55 in his allotted ten overs.Queens then batted after lunch and were 137 all out in 31 overs. Best bat for Queens was Compram with a score of 44 runs and best bowler for Kwekwe was M. Pretorius with 4/31 in nine overs. Kwekwe won by 172 runs.Kwekwe Queens had a home game and unfortunately lost. Details of the scorecard were not available at the time of writing. Once again I have nothing to report from Gweru.

The Chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board, Lord MacLaurin, says England will not play against India if they choose banned batsman Virender Sehwag for the first Test in Mohali.Sehwag, 23, was banned for one match by referee Mike Denness for excessive appealing in India’s second Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth.The International Cricket Council insist Sehwag has not served his ban, asthey have ruled India’s third Test against South Africa (which Sehwag missed) to be unofficial, after both teams refused to accept Denness as referee.Lord MacLaurin insists the tourists will not allow India, who have named Sehwag in their 14-man squad, to defy the ICC.”We will not play a friendly Test match,” MacLaurin told the BBC. “We are there to play real cricket and we support the ICC in that this gentleman has been suspended for one Test match so the gentleman concerned has a one-match ban to sit out.”We will not be playing against a team with a banned cricketer in it. I sincerely hope that doesn’t come to pass. To have had one Test match withdrawn from Test-match status in South Africa is very sad and if it goes on it will be very sad for the game of cricket.”I’m not unduly surprised. The situation is between the ICC and the Board ofControl for Cricket in India. The ECB’s view is that it’s a matter between theICC and the Indian board and we are awaiting developments.”We will be discussing the matter with our management board and we will decide what to do. The ICC want an answer from India by Friday morning. We are now taking it a day at a time. I sincerely hope good sense prevails for the good of everybody.”We support the ICC. They are the governing body of world cricket and I wouldlike to think all our other colleagues around the world would also supportthem.”

Those Somerset supporters who were present at the County Ground recently and who were fortunate enough to see Gareth Andrew make his debut in the National Cricket league match against Durham Dynamos will be in no doubt that the young all rounder has a very promising future ahead of him.What is particularly pleasing about the nineteen year old is that he is Somerset born and bred, and his talents have been nurtured through the age group teams by a succession of local coaches, none of whom will be surprised by what he has gone onto achieve and all of whom will be absolutely delighted for him.Gareth hails from Bruton and it was whilst he was playing for the local cricket club that he came to the notice of the Somerset coaches.Peter Robinson recalls that it was at the Under 11age group when he visited the indoor nets at the County Ground that he was first impressed by the young all rounder."It was his bowling that impressed me most, because you don’t get many lads of that age who can send it down the way that he did. He has always looked like he could go on and produce good performances at the top level right from an early age."Somerset Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson first encountered Gareth when he was coaching the Under 13’s team. "The way that he played against Durham is the way that he has always played his cricket, and right from the start he has always been a hard hitting striker of the ball, and it’s no real surprise to me that he has made it at that level," Pete told me.By the time that he was fifteen Gareth was playing for the Somerset Under 17’s and scoring runs and taking wickets against boys who were two years older with considerable success.When he left Ansford School at Castle Cary at the age of sixteen Gareth became part of the Somerset Academy, where Julian Wyatt was in charge. During his first year at the Academy he played for the Somerset Board XI and also appeared for Somerset Seconds.After missing part of last season with an injury, Gareth spent three months after Christmas out in Australia and judging by the way that he has so played far this season this has obviously helped him considerably.Gareth gave a good account of himself when he played for the first team in one of their pre season friendlies so it will have come as no great surprise to County Ground regulars when he was drafted in to make his debut for the Sabres against Durham.Somerset coach Kevin Shine rates the youngster very highly and told me: "Gareth Andrew is a very talented young player. He is a three dimensional cricketer and is one for the future."Gareth’s successful debut is just the start of what everyone hopes will be a long and successful career for the Cidermen, and will no doubt act as an incentive for the large group of very talented young players who are currently part of the ECB Regional Academy at the County Ground, who will all now have their sights very firmly set on playing for Somerset.

The last few weeks have been hectic for wicket-keeper batsman Rob Turner who has been awarded a well earned benefit by the club in 2002.In addition to working for west country stockbrokers and club sponsors Rowan Dartington in Weston Super Mare, Rob has been busy finalising the arrangements for some of the event that are scheduled to take place during the season.Earlier on today he told me, “I’ve fixed quite a few bits and pieces for next year,and the Launch Lunch will take place at the County Ground in Taunton on Friday March 22nd.”Before then Rob will be hosting a tour party of forty people to watch several of the New Zealand v England matches in the early spring. The tour which sets off on February has proved to be so popular that it is a sell out.For those who have missed out on the New Zealand trip Rob is organising a similar trip over Christmas 2002 and New Year to watch some of the Australia v England test matches.Rob told me, “I’m very much looking forward to my Benefit Year and I want to do well on the field. I need to have things in place beforehand so that I can concentrate on playing.”Several items relating to Rob’s Benefit Year are now available, all of which would make excellent Christams gifts including a traditional tie, a bow tie and a matching top pocket handkerchief.The tie is in two shades of dark blue, and features the Somerset Wyvern in maroon and the England crest in black, with Rob’s logo and signature in silver.The suggested donation for the traditional tie is £10, the bow tie is also £10, and the handkerchief is £2.50. The suggested donation for the whole set is £20.Certainly the traditional tie looked very smart indeed when I saw it modelled by Ian Blackwell this morning!Rob has also produced a Benefit Calendar for 2002 which features 12 pages of A3 quality glossy action shots taken during the 2001 season and featuring the C and G Trophy Final at Lord’s. Once again this is available by donation which is suggested should be £6.The highly acclaimed artist Terry Harrison has painted a montage to commemorate the Lord’s Final, and a limited edition run of just 500 copies has been produced. The print will be available before Christmas.Orders or further information about any of the above items, or any events for Rob’s Benefit Year can be made by contacting Doreen Barnes on 01455 230489, or e mail, [email protected] can also be obtained from The County Stores in Taunton, Boundary Sports at the County Ground, or the Somerset County Cricket Club office.

Steve Waugh’s first-ever hundred at Edgbaston was one of the best Test centuries of his career – that’s according to the man himself.Waugh ended the day on 101 not out with Australia standing on 332-4, a lead of 38 runs over England. It was Waugh’s 26th Test hundred and his eighth against England.He had joined his twin Mark at the crease in only the second over of the day after Michael Slater had been bowled by Darren Gough.Such an early dismissal in the day might have concerned some captains but Waugh strode to the crease like a man on a mission and rarely looked in trouble despite the overcast conditions.He said: “The conditions were difficult out there. I thought Englandbowled pretty well, it was a bit up an down.”Technically I thought I played really well, but that’s going to happen onthat type of wicket.”It is definitely one of my better Test hundreds. England had their tails up andexpected to take a couple of early wickets.”I was more pleased with the runs I got in the situation. I’ve felt relaxedat the crease recently and tried to take that attitude into the Test, and enjoythe experience. The first 20 or 30 is as good as I’ve hit it for a long while.”It’s always great playing against England in a Test Match. The wickets overhere certainly suit my style play; you get a little bit more time, I tend toplay off the back foot.”I thought Darren Gough bowled superbly and troubled all the batsmen. Ithought England toiled away pretty well and we had a bit of luck.”It’s still in the balance. We’ve got to get some runs because it’s going tobe hard to bat last on that wicket. If we can get a lead of 150 we will putEngland under real pressure.”The game is still there to be won by both sides. We had a really good daytoday. At this stage we’ve got our noses in front but there is still a fair wayto go.”We are certainly not getting carried away – we’ve been in this position in thelast two Tests we’ve played and it didn’t work out for us, so hopefully we’velearned some lessons from India.”England have shown heart over the first two days and they’ve shown they’vegot some good skill out there.”England coach Duncan Fletcher said: “It was a very good start to get MichaelSlater, it would have been crucial for us to get another wicket, but the twoWaugh brothers batted really well, and Steve showed what a class act he is.”He plays an important role – he averages 50 in Tests, other bowlers havestruggled to get him out as well.”It shows that if you got in there and you’ve got the mental strength you canmake runs.”The bowlers have got to stick to the discipline and stick to the game plan.They bat all the way down, that’s why they are number one in the world,well-balanced, experienced, enthusiastic.”Strange things happen in cricket. We’ve got to make sure we get out there,show a lot of character and put up a good fight and you never know what mighthappen.”Four down and 38 ahead, we’ve got a hard job. You’ve got to take everychance that comes your way against a side like this.”