All posts by h716a5.icu

Will Jefferson posted his second century of the season to steer Leicestershire into a strong position on the second day of the County Championship match against Derbyshire

28-Apr-2011
ScorecardStanding tall: Will Jefferson’s hundred built on a good effort from the Leicestershire bowlers•Getty ImagesWill Jefferson posted his second century of the season to steer Leicestershire into a strong position on the second day of the County Championship match against Derbyshire at Grace Road.The 31-year-old opener hit an unbeaten 117 as Leicestershire progressed to 201 for 2 by the close having dismissed Derbyshire for 305. Matthew Hoggard and Claude Henderson took four wickets apiece as Derbyshire lost their last five wickets for 35 runs during the morning session.Then Jefferson and Tom New shared an opening stand of 141 with Leicestershire looking to press home the advantage they have gained. Jefferson, back in the side after missing two Clydesdale Bank 40 games because of a thigh strain, was in superb form reaching his century off 165 balls with his 12th four a sweetly-timed off drive off Mark Turner.Jefferson’s innings also included a magnificent six struck over long on off Azeem Rafiq who was making his Championship debut for Derbyshire having joined them on a one-month loan from Yorkshire.That shot took Jefferson to 50 and came in the same over that Rafiq had claimed a tumbling return catch. It was not given after umpires Nigel Llong and Ismail Dawood had conferred and decided their was enough doubt about whether the ball had carried.That was the only semblance of a chance Jefferson provided to the toiling Derbyshire attack. New on the other hand, needed rather more luck to reach his half century. He was dropped at slip by Usman Khawaja off Greg Smith when he was on 30 and was fortunate to see other edged shots fly through to the boundary.But New rode his luck, stuck to his task and gave Jefferson the support he needed before being caught by wicketkeeper Luke Sutton flicking at a leg side delivery from Jonathan Clare.Paul Nixon fell five overs later top-edging an easy catch to Sutton trying to sweep left arm spinner Chesney Hughes. But James Taylor and Jefferson saw things safely through to the close with the latter unbeaten having put together an impressive 117 off 202 balls.The pre-lunch session had also gone Leicestershire’s way after Derbyshire began on 238 for 5. From that position they were looking to build a big total but a fine six-over spell from Hoggard undermined them.He took 3 for 25 to finish with figures of 4 for 78 and although Sutton became the third Derbyshire player to make a half century he was unable to push on for a bigger score. He was out to an excellent slip catch by Jefferson giving Henderson his fourth wicket of the innings leaving both sides with two bonus points each.

A legal firm acting on behalf of Shahid Afridi has sent the PCB a letter in a bid to resolve the on-going dispute between the two parties, sparked by his removal from the ODI captaincy, and his subsequent announcement of a “conditional” retirement

Osman Samiuddin03-Jun-2011A legal firm acting on behalf of Shahid Afridi has sent the Pakistan Cricket Board a letter in a bid to resolve the on-going dispute between the two parties, sparked by his removal from the ODI captaincy, and his subsequent announcement of a “conditional” retirement.The letter is not a legal notice, but attempts to expand on Afridi’s contribution to Pakistan cricket and raises the issue of Hampshire, the county Afridi has been prevented from playing for after the board revoked his No-Objection Certificate (NOC), apart from suspending his central contract.”A firm of lawyers acting on Afridi’s behalf have sent the PCB a letter to try and resolve the issue,” the player’s manager Umran Khan told ESPNcricinfo. “The letter has gone into some depth in explaining the history of Afridi as a player, his contributions to Pakistan cricket and his global standing as a player. The Hampshire issue has also been raised. The club was terrific in organising the last ODI [between England and Pakistan] last summer.”The PCB confirmed receipt of the letter at their end. “We have received a letter from legal firm Mandviwalla and Zafar Associates on behalf of Afridi and as per the rules we forwarded it to the disciplinary committee,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar told .According to a report in the , the letter argues that the showcause notice sent to Afridi is “malafide in law and facts and is an attempt to tarnish the image of the seasoned allrounder who is a patriotic, respected and honourable cricketer of Pakistan”.Afridi has been summoned to appear before a three-man disciplinary committee formed by the PCB on June 8 in Lahore, to face charges that he has breached two clauses of the code of conduct with his retirement announcement and subsequent criticism of the board. Afridi, in his first response to the show-cause notice, accepted that his comments were a violation of the code but Khan clarified that no apology had been made. “He accepted the violations, he did not offer an apology,” Khan said. Khan did confirm that Afridi would be appearing before the committee.The matter has ballooned into far more than just a dispute between player and board; Afridi’s stature as successful ODI player and captain and his public popularity has raised the stakes against an administration that has sought zealously to quell player power over the last year and a half. Afridi has appealed directly to Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari, who is also patron of the PCB. On Thursday Rehman Malik, the country’s interior minister, also tweeted he would try to resolve the dispute, and it is believed that pressure has been applied from his quarters on the board to do just that.A handful of parliamentarians have expressed their ire at the handling of the situation. On Thursday reported that the sports ministry had been asked by the offices of the prime minister and president to submit an independent report on the dispute within a week.

The PCB has asked Sri Lanka Cricket “for their views” on the prospect of playing their series later this year in Pakistan instead of Sri Lanka

Osman Samiuddin21-May-2011The PCB has asked Sri Lanka Cricket “for their views” on the prospect of playing their series later this year in Pakistan instead of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka were the last team to play international cricket in Pakistan – their tour in March 2009 was cut short after terrorists attacked their team bus as it was on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the second Test.That attack, on the back of growing security concerns over the previous two years, brought to an end international cricket in the country, taking away the 2011 World Cup in the process.The two sides are due to play a full Test and limited-overs series in October, scheduled in the FTP officially as a ‘home’ series for Pakistan. Until now the series was due to take place in Sri Lanka, but after a meeting between PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and Pakistan’s interior minister Rehman Malik on Thursday, the government is keen on bringing international cricket back to the country.”The government wants this [series to be held in Pakistan],” a senior PCB official told ESPNcricinfo. “We have asked SLC again to let us have their views on the issue.”The prospect of the series actually taking place in Pakistan remains a distant one. So far the government has only passed on verbal instructions to the PCB, who in turn have written to SLC. As of Saturday, when a SLC official was asked about the development or whether the board had been approached, he told ESPNcricinfo: “Not to my knowledge.”Most of Pakistan’s major cities – where such a series is likely to be played – have been targeted fairly recently by terrorist attacks, within the last year in the cases of Lahore and Karachi. At the beginning of this month Osama bin Laden was killed in an operation by US forces in Abbottabad, a town not far from the country’s capital Islamabad.Pakistan have played their ‘home’ series since the Lahore attacks at a number of venues; a series against South Africa was arranged in the UAE. In 2009-10, they broke up a full tour of New Zealand by playing the ODIs in Abu Dhabi and the Tests in New Zealand itself. They used England as a venue for two ‘home’ Tests against Australia last summer. Pakistan is also, incidentally, in talks with SLC over staging their series with England over the turn of the year in Sri Lanka.Afghanistan will actually become the first international team to play in Pakistan next week when they take on Pakistan ‘A’ in three 50-over games. Interestingly enough, one of the games was arranged for Abbottabad, but after the meeting between Butt and Malik the venue was switched to Islamabad.

Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar believes his cricketing background will hold him in good stead in the upcoming MCA elections

Tariq Engineer13-Jul-2011Now that his eight-year term as vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is up, former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has set his sights on becoming president. To get there, he will have to defeat his fellow vice-president, and former Maharashtra chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh in Friday’s election, but Vengsarkar believes his experience as a player gives him a “huge advantage”, especially since it is combined with the administrative expertise he has gained during his tenure as vice-president.”A cricketing background allows you to take the right decisions and implement them as well,” Vengsarkar told ESPNcricinfo. “A person has to be a hands-on person and he has to be there all the time. Implementation is very important. You can take the correct decisions, but if the implementation is not there, then all purpose is lost.”Mumbai cricket has been the target of criticism in recent times, with some commentators suggesting that India’s most successful domestic team has lost its edge, especially after the team lost to eventual champions Rajasthan in last season’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final. But Vengsarkar defended the team, pointing out that Mumbai were champions the year before and said it was a case of other states catching up as cricket has spread across the country rather than Mumbai declining.At the same time, he said there was a need to respond to the shifting plates of domestic cricket, and believed it started with improving cricket at the grassroots level in the city to make sure no talent went untapped. “We have to give lot of boost to school cricket, college cricket, official club cricket. Concentrate a lot on grassroots cricket. Make it stronger. Tap the talent and groom the players. We need good grounds and good wickets. We want to train 150 coaches and if schools and colleges want them, we can employ them there.”Improving the maidans in Mumbai is another priority for Vengsarkar as maidan cricket has long been the lifeblood of the sport in the city, with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar first forging their reputations playing on these generally oval-shaped open spaces. “Maidan cricket is very important,” he said. “We need to improve the facilities for maidan cricket and we have to assist them financially also.”Another pillar of Vengsarkar’s campaign is the revival of office and corporate cricket so that jobs are created for players in corporate houses. He also told the , that there are plans to launch a Mumbai Premier League in the near future.

A round-up of the fifth day of matches at the Sri Lanka Cricket Inter-Provincial Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2011An unbeaten half-century from Jeevantha Kulatunga fashioned Basnahira’s 34-run win against Ruhuna at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Basnahira’s top-order was solid, after Ruhuna put them in to bat. While Kulatunga, batting at No. 3, struck 69 off 47 with six fours and four sixes, the other batsmen in the top four contributed well to carry Basnahira to 166 for 3. The Ruhuna chase, apart from a short burst from opener Mahela Udawatte, lacked momentum. The batsmen failed to build on starts, and a mini-collapse halfway through the innings meant they stumbled from 74 for 3 to 78 for 6, putting Basnahira firmly in charge. Chathura Peiris and Tillakaratne Dilshan did most of the damage for Basnahira, claiming three wickets each in tight spells, as Ruhuna folded for 132 in the 19th over. The win puts Basnahira at the top of the points table.After three losses, Combined Provinces turned out an improved performance, to beat Wayamba comprehensively in the second game of the day. Chasing 156, Combined Provinces eased past their target with seven wickets and nine balls to spare. The chase was built around a rapid 52 from Ashan Priyanjan, and cameos of 33 apiece from Dhanushka Gunathilleke and Jeevan Mendis. Earlier, after choosing to bat, Wayamba’s line-up failed to build on starts – the only sizeable contribution was 41 from Chamara Silva. Chaminda Vidanapathirana, Ajantha Mendis and Sachith Pathirana combined to keep Wayamba to 155 for 7, claiming two wickets each while conceding just over a run a ball.

Lalit Modi has said there was nothing much the BCCI could do about staging the Twenty20 tournament immediately after the 2011 World Cup

Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval09-Sep-2011Lalit Modi, the former IPL commissioner, has said there was nothing much the BCCI could do about staging the Twenty20 tournament immediately after the 2011 World Cup and that the problem could recur every time there is a World Cup.The Indian board came under scrutiny for their scheduling of the IPL, with some pointing to an overload of cricket as the reason for India’s poor performance and the numerous injuries on the tour of England. Modi said the volume of cricket being played was the reason for India’s poor results, but said the board couldn’t help hosting the IPL in April-May, since that was usually the end of India’s season.”The IPL is a long tournament without doubt,” Modi told ESPNcricinfo at The Oval, where he was watching the third ODI between England and India. “It is scheduled in the Indian summer during April and May. Usually the IPL takes place at the end of the season so the boys should be able to go out there and play and have a good time. That was the original idea. But this year had a World Cup and having a competitive tour like England became an issue. It could be a problem every World Cup year.”There is too much cricket in the calendar. The boys had put a lot into the World Cup to win it. They were tired. I have always said players need to rest when they think they need it. Everybody can’t play every game. You need to be able to choose what you need to play. That seems to be a big problem.”Some analysts reckon that India slipping down the ICC rankings in Tests and ODIs could have a negative impact on the IPL, causing the sponsors and marketing men to re-evaluate the tournament’s value. Modi did not agree. “I don’t think there is an impact. The IPL brand is well established.”He also pointed out the advantages Indian cricket has reaped because of the tournament. “The IPL has brought in a lot of good cricketers. If you look at India’s standing in the ICC rankings before the IPL and three years later, you can see the IPL has been a positive influence. Look at the number of players that have gained national recognition because of the IPL.”Modi is currently living in England, and has had his passport revoked by the Mumbai Regional Passport Office. He is currently facing legal proceedings against him from the BCCI and the Chennai Police over alleged misappropriations of IPL funds, and India’s Enforcement Directorate over potential foreign exchange violations related to the second season of the IPL in South Africa.

Arguments in the alleged spot-fixing trial of Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif began on Wednesday afternoon with the prosecution making its opening address to the jury

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court05-Oct-2011Arguments in the alleged spot-fixing trial of Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif began on Wednesday afternoon with the prosecution making its opening address to the jury, outlining trappings of an illegal cricket betting industry estimated to be worth between “$40 billion and $50 billion” annually.The second day of the trial at Southwark Crown Court in central London was initially dominated by further legal arguments between the various representatives involved in the case, the details of which cannot be reported. A new jury was sworn in after lunch because of an illness to a member of the initial jury. Like the former jury, though, the new one was also made up of six women and six men.Justice Cooke did not then waste any time in beginning the proceedings and Aftab Jafferjee QC began to present the prosecution’s case to the jury at 2.10 pm. He spoke late into the afternoon before closing for the day at 4.35 pm. He will continue his opening address on Thursday morning, before the ICC’s general manager and chief investigator Ravi Sawani gives evidence.Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August 2010, when they allegedly conspired with agent Mazhar Majeed, fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-determined no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.They were exposed by the now-defunct British tabloid in an undercover sting operation. Majeed was filmed revealing when no-balls would be delivered by the bowlers.Jafferjee distributed large plastic folders to the jury so that they could better understand his address. These comprised records of phone and SMS traffic between the involved parties. There were also graphics to help the jury understand the specifics of a no-ball.In fact, because the prosecution realises it cannot presume that all jurors are aware of cricket, Jafferjee spent some time explaining what a no-ball is, what a Test match is and he also outlined how illegal betting has penetrated the world of cricket.”This case reveals a depressing tale of rampant corruption at the heart of international cricket, with the key players being members of the Pakistan cricket team,” was Jafferjee’s opening address to the court.He went on to add, of the underground betting culture in cricket: “You (the jury) will hear that the sums of money involved in the betting market abroad are breathtaking. In just one year, it is conservatively estimated that the amounts turned over in betting in the Asian subcontinent only – covering matches played throughout the cricketing world – are in the region of US$40 and 50 billion. Even if that figure is reduced to a tenth, it not unsurprisingly makes ‘spot’-fixing and match-fixing irresistible to some.”One sensed that to a jury comprising people who would not know cricket all that much, it would have been an arduous afternoon. Even for people who know cricket. Much of what Jafferjee said was already in the public domain through the coverage last year. He explained that whatever opinion people had of that now defunct newspaper, they should not undermine the investigative journalism that went on to expose the allegations being tried in this case.”There are vast amounts of money to be made in any betting activity if the results are known in advance – and all of that was at the expense of the integrity of the game.”Those that were prepared to act in this way involved key players of the Pakistan side, starting with their captain Salman Butt. He and his agent Mazhar Majeed were central to this particular conspiracy. They alone, however, could not ensure that a wide range of corrupt practices would take place without others being part of this particular operation. Their two top-order fast bowlers were involved: Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir.”It is the prosecution’s case that all four men were involved and, by the time the last Test match at Lord’s took place, each of them was well at it – the two bowlers being orchestrated by their captain, and the captain’s agent, Majeed, to bowl three no-balls at a pre-arranged point in the game. The bowlers were willing participants so that they could all profit – those lower down the ladder probably profiting less than those at the top.”Much of Jafferjee’s address included details of calls and SMS messages between Butt and Majeed, while Amir also featured heavily in these passages, with Asif less so.Jafferjee even revealed the lengths that investigators had gone to, to expose as much truth in this case as possible. He said that a firm in Canada specialised in exposing deleted messages on Blackberry phones and this tactic had been used.While detail was well chronicled at the time of the alleged offence, such as late night conversations and messaging between Butt and Majeed before the Oval Test match (which preceded Lord’s), some detail that ensued from Jafferjee was not so well known: such as text messages between Amir and an unknown in Pakistan.”How much and what needs to be done?” said one message, read out by the prosecution. “This is going to be too much,” said another message. The Pakistani unknown said in one: “So in first three, bowl however you want, and in the last two, do eight runs?” These messages were translated from Urdu, and were thought to be a repetition of instructions he had received at some point.At another time, Jafferjee told the jury how, when police were raiding the players’ rooms at the Marriot Hotel on August 28, Amir contacted a number on a phone given to him by Azhar Majeed – Mazhar’s older brother and business partner – and asked not to be contacted again and to erase all messagesThe trial will resume at 10.00 am on Thursday, though the court will not sit on Friday.

Ravi Bopara is not taking things for granted after recent success

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2011After a couple of important innings for England during their home ODI series against India, Ravi Bopara started the tour of India with a score of 73 against Hyderabad, which was crucial to the England XI winning the game. However, Bopara, who has been in and out of the England side during his career, is not taking anything for granted.”It’s a cut-throat business,” he said. “You’ve just got to keep playing well whenever things are in your favour, and make sure you nail it.”England dominated India at home, winning the Test series 4-0 and the five-match ODI series 3-0, but the challenge for them will be to adapt to conditions in the subcontinent, where they struggled during the World Cup. Bopara said singles would be important since sometimes it was difficult to go through with your shots on Indian pitches.”You’ve always got to look for boundaries; you’ve got to keep hitting the ball very hard. But it is a lot more difficult in India because you do know that if the pitch is not playing quite right you can’t go through with all your shots. There is the worry of chipping it to the infield.”You’ve got to have that in mind. You don’t then hit the ball quite as hard or freely as you would like to. On those sorts of pitches, the singles do become very important – you don’t want to be tied up with too many dot balls and put yourself under pressure, and have to look for a big shot on a pitch that is not quite suited to the batters.”England’s batsmen had a tough time of it against Hyderabad, losing four wickets in the first 15 overs before Bopara and Chris Woakes took them to a score of 219. “It was a little bit of a difficult pitch, especially up front,” Bopara said. “With the new ball, it was quite tough. But once the ball got older, it got better.”It was hard to get the ball away, and quite a soft outfield. It was one of those where we thought we should be scoring a lot quicker, but in reality I thought 240 would have been a good score, and as it proved 220 was a good score.”Bopara recently put in a surprising performance with the ball, taking 4 for 10 to help England beat West Indies in a Twenty20 international at The Oval. He said he expected his bowling to be called upon against India as well.”I think it’s important for me to get my bowling right on this tour. At some stage my bowling is going to be called upon and I’m going to have to do a good job because, as we know, this Indian side have a very, very good batting line-up; they are playing in their own conditions too.” He said he hoped to kick on from the positive start to the tour.Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter is set to join England at practice for the first time on October 10, after Somerset were eliminated from the Champions League T20 at the semi-final stage. Kisewetter suffered a bruised arm during the semi-final against Mumbai Indians, when he was struck by a smash down the ground from his batting partner Jos Buttler. England will assess the injury as soon as possible.

Salman Butt’s lawyer has told the court his client wasn’t involved in any “criminal conspiracy”

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court17-Oct-2011The lawyer of former Pakistan captain and defendant Salman Butt suggested to the jury during the alleged spot-fixing trial that there might have been a “criminal conspiracy” between tainted agent Mazhar Majeed and fast bowler Mohammad Amir – but any wrongdoing would not have included his client.On the ninth day of the trial at Southwark Crown Court, after the prosecution closed its case, before Butt said a word his lawyer Ali Bajwa QC outlined “strong evidence” against Amir and how he allegedly colluded with Majeed and when he did bowl his now infamous no-balls “he overstepped by a considerable distance”.”There was, at the very minimum, a criminal conspiracy between Majeed and Amir,” Bajwa told the jury. “Just consider the evidence. Majeed told (the undercover journalist Mazhar) Mahmood when Amir would bowl his no-balls. Then Majeed calls Amir and said we’ve spoken about everything before. Then the next day Amir duly bowled one of the two no-balls that had been promised. Rain prevented the other.”On August 26 (the next day) he sent Mohammad Amir a text saying after you finish your first over, then in your third over. Mohammad Amir then in the next day bowled a no-ball off the third ball of his third over. We concede that there is strong evidence against Majeed and Amir and we also concede that there has been no sensible explanation for it.”But he asked the jury “if you do decide there was a criminal conspiracy to bowl no-balls, was Salman Butt party to that criminal conspiracy?’ He added: “Salman Butt did not know of any conspiracy to bowl no-balls at Lord’s.”Are we sure there was a criminal conspiracy about the no-balls at Lord’s? If so are we sure Salman Butt was party to that criminal conspiracy and are we sure Mohammad Asif was party to that crimninal conspiracy?”Before Butt was cross-examined, Bajwa went on with his preamble, further questioning the integrity of Majeed.”We say Salman Butt only finds himself here on trial because of words of his friend and former agent Mazhar Majeed,” Bajwa told the jury. “We say Mazhar Majeed has grossly abused the trust Mr Butt showed in him.”Butt and his former team-mate Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following that Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.The case continues.

Pragyan Ojha said he was confident that another early start on Thursday would allow India to complete a win in quick time

S Aga16-Nov-2011The first half of the third day at Eden gardens went perfectly for India, with West Indies bowled out for just 153 before lunch. Thereafter, the buzzword was discipline rather than destruction, with the visiting batsmen applying themselves far better in the second innings. Despite that, though, India are just seven wickets away from sealing a series victory.Pragyan Ojha had a hand in each of the last four West Indian wickets to fall in the first innings, finishing with 4 for 64. He was confident that another early start on Thursday would allow India to push home the advantage. “In the morning, there was some moisture in the wicket and it was doing a bit for us,” he said after the third day’s play. “We hope the same thing happens tomorrow. Our guys are bowling superbly, hitting the right areas. We are confident of getting them out early tomorrow.”Ojha was given the new ball in the first innings, but MS Dhoni opted for a more conventional approach in the second. Ojha said he enjoyed his stint with the harder ball, though he reckoned it had more to do with the conditions than tactics. “The main reason was that the wicket was spinning a lot. Yesterday the light was bad so we thought of going with spin rather than pace. I thank Dhoni bhai for having a lot of confidence in me and [R] Ashwin.”Ojha has bowled just 11 of the 62 overs India have sent down so far in the second innings, and despite the early loss of Kraigg Brathwaite, West Indies didn’t crumble a second time. “The wicket became a little better,” Ojha said. “I think we did quite well, hit the right areas and bowled a disciplined line.”At some point of time, you do wonder what would have happened if we had taken one more wicket. But they also batted well in the second innings. We should give them credit.”So far, he and Ashwin have complemented each other well, playing pivotal roles in the win in Delhi. In Ojha’s case, the responsibility of being the side’s senior spinner appears to have worked wonders.Another big contribution in a win here, and Ojha would be more or less assured of a seat on the plane to Australia in December. But he insisted that he wasn’t looking that far ahead. “I am not focussing on the Australia tour at the moment. My aim is to win the Test and look forward to Mumbai [the third and final Test against West Indies]. God willing, if I do well there I can look forward to other things.”On this evidence, he has much to look forward to.