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The full statements given by Giles Clarke and Kevin Pietersen during the press conference in Colombo

03-Oct-2012Giles ClarkeClearly there has been a considerable amount of discussion around England cricket since issues emerged earlier this summer between Kevin and some of the England team. It has been the clear view of the ECB that proper investigation needed to take place into all aspects surrounding these issues. That investigation has only recently been concluded.At the same time we have been waiting for the England dressing room and management to conclude that they were in agreement that the process of reintegration with Kevin could commence. Naturally, with the recent change of Test captain and the demands on the management preparing for and participating in an ICC world event this has meant that much time has been consumed. However, time is beneficial in these types of matters.And in our society we believe that, if an individual transgresses, and the individual concerned recognises that and apologises for what they may have caused to those involved then it is important, and a fabric of our society that that individual should be given a real opportunity to be reintegrated into our society – and this principle is an essential part of having civilised and sensible ethics.Kevin has apologised and he has said some further things today which are very important. I would like to make it clear that following this press conference the ECB and Kevin will consider the matter as closed and no further questions on the subject will be taken.Kevin will be engaged in a reintegration process which has already started today with a lengthy meeting with myself and the process will continue in early October and will be led by the England team director, Andy Flower. Andy Flower will determine the progress of this process and he will advise the Board when he believes that the dressing room, the England management and Kevin himself are ready for Kevin to be reconsidered for selection. Following this, it will be a matter for the national selector and the team director to determine, as always, selection – and that could be very soon or much later; it will be entirely up to them.The process is a private matter and we ask that you respect that and we will be giving no further updates.Kevin PietersenI would just like to take this opportunity to apologise to my team-mates, all the England supporters and the ECB for the situation which has arisen over the last couple of months but thankfully we have drawn a line under it and it is time to move forward.Although it has already been covered in the statement I would like to make it very clear that at no time did I share tactical information with any of the South Africans or South African management. Playing for England is the pinnacle of any cricketer’s career and I want the opportunity to do that again as soon as possible. Some of my proudest and best moments of my life have been in an England shirt and I want them to continue for as long as possible.I am entirely committed to completing the reintegration process we have agreed over the coming weeks and resuming my England career in all formats, hopefully until the World Cup in 2015, or as long as my body allows.I want my son growing up seeing me playing for England and I hope that one day he will put an England shirt on himself.

Tim Southee’s fitness remains uncertain on the eve of New Zealand’s second Test against Sri Lanka

Andrew Fernando in Colombo24-Nov-2012Tim Southee’s fitness remains uncertain on the eve of New Zealand’s second Test against Sri Lanka, at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, was hopeful Southee had recovered well enough from a groin strain he picked up in the first Test, to take the field on Sunday, but said team management would assess the fast bowler and make the final decision before the toss.Southee was New Zealand’s best player in Galle, producing a terrific spell of swing bowling to take 4 for 46 in the first innings, as he and Trent Boult reduced Sri Lanka’s top order to 50 for 5. He was also New Zealand’s best bowler in the two-Test series against India in September. Southee did not take the field during Sri Lanka’s chase of 92 in the first Test.”Tim has been on a lot of rehab in the last few days, had a good training yesterday for a full session,” Taylor said. “He had a good bowl out and did some fitness and pulled through that well. Don’t know how he will pull up again tomorrow. I guess with injuries in this part of the world we’ll have the final assessment in the morning.”In the Test match in Bangalore he bowled very well and led the attack. It’s a young attack and he is leading that attack very well. We gave ourselves a chance in Galle, but we didn’t capitalise on it as much as we would have liked.”Taylor said legspinner Todd Astle is in the reckoning for a debut in Colombo, and will play if Southee is not deemed fit. Astle began his first-class career as an opening batsman, and may be considered even if Southee does play, in which case he will likely replace a batsman.”He’s not far off being a genuine allrounder,” Taylor said of Astle. “He’s fitted into the group very well and he’s got a good work ethic and he is trying hard. He comes into the reckoning with the wicket here and different bounce.”Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath may have vanquished the visitors inside three days in the first Test, but Taylor said his side had also prepared for the threat posed by the remainder of Sri Lanka’s attack. Herath took 11 wickets in Sri Lanka’s ten-wicket win, but the hosts’ new-ball bowlers also troubled New Zealand’s batsmen in Galle, taking early wickets in each innings. Sri Lanka’s second spinner Suraj Randiv created pressure with discipline, but finished with only two wickets in the match.New Zealand have used the extra two days in training, and Taylor said they had formulated batting plans they believe will prevent a record-equalling sixth consecutive loss for New Zealand.”We can’t just focus on Herath, there are other quality bowlers we got to play well against,” Taylor said. “If we just play Herath well and the other guys bowl well we can still be bowled out very cheaply.”It’s important for batsmen to know their plans and trust their plans and take that out to the middle. You have to be in right frame of mind to not only defend well but to try and find the scoring options.”

Nick Compton was happy to play a supporting role as Alastair Cook continued his remarkable from in the Test series against India

George Dobell in Kolkata06-Dec-2012Nick Compton was happy to play a supporting role as Alastair Cook continued his remarkable from in the Test series against India. Compton, the 29-year-old playing his third Test, scored his maiden half-century at this level in helping Cook, who finished the day unbeaten on 136, post an opening partnership of 165 on the second day of the third Test in Kolkata.It was Cook’s 23rd Test century and his third in successive Tests this series. Not only did that make him the leading century maker for England in their Test history but it also made him the youngest man from any country to pass the milestone of 7,000 Test runs.Afterwards Compton spoke in something approaching awe of his captain’s performance. “Standing out there today, looking up at the board and seeing those stats: 7,000 runs, the youngest player to do that; it was quite an amazing moment,” Compton said. “I thought ‘I’m batting with this guy; he’s just got another hundred, and he’s the all-time leading English hundred-maker.’ It speaks volumes that he’s been able to do that from a young age. A lot of players only find their feet at perhaps my age, 28 or 29, but he did it a long time before. And he is still is a young player.”Compton compared the experience of batting with Cook to batting with Marcus Trescothick, his team-mate and captain at Somerset. “To bat with him is quite similar, in some ways, to batting with Trescothick,” Compton said. “It’s how clinical they are with every delivery. They make very few mistakes and every ball is played in a similar fashion.”It’s the mark of a serious player that he does the simple things very, very well and for a long period of time and that’s been very clear batting at the other end. Not a lot is said; he’s very clear in his gameplan.”He gives the other players a lot of confidence out there, because he’s so solid. He’s very unflappable, not a lot of airs and graces, and just gets on and does it. It makes a big difference to have someone who’s so chilled out at the other end.”Compton admitted he was disappointed with the manner of his dismissal for 57 – given out lbw when replays suggest the ball hit the glove – but accepted that it would have been a tough decision for the umpire.”It hit my glove” he said. “It’s one of those things and a bit disappointing. But from the umpire’s position, it was obviously a very difficult decision. That’s the way it goes.”As a team we are very satisfied. We spoke about developing partnerships and we managed that quite well. It’s a good way to grind them down. The longer you spend out there the easier it gets.”The relative comfort with which Compton has taken to Test cricket – he averages over 40 after five innings at this level – might be used as a ringing endorsement of the county game. After all, he has played little England Lions cricket, little cricket abroad and owes his selection purely to the mountain of runs he has scored for Somerset over the last couple of years. The fact that he has not looked unduly troubled suggests the step-up between county and Test is not so large as is sometimes suggested.The truth is not quite so straightforward. Compton actually felt the need to hire himself a private coach and mentor, the former county wicketkeeper Neil Burns, to help him develop and refine his character and his game. Tellingly, Monty Panesar also credits his relationship with Burns for kick-starting his career. The fact that both men had to venture outside the county system should raise a few questions.Compton may well be a less limited player than he has shown to date. There was a time when he tried, like so many of his generation, to emulate Kevin Pietersen. But that was never his greatest strength. Having reasoned that, aged 29, he is only going to have one shot at a career in international cricket, he has reined in his attacking instincts and adopted a largely risk-free approach to batting. The big scores may not have come just yet, but he has provided England with a decent platform in four out of his five innings. Indeed, Cook and Compton here recorded their fourth successive partnership of 50 or more; the first England pair of openers to do so since Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick in 2002.”I’m really chuffed,” he said. “It would be nice to have gone on, of course. But if you’d told me I’d get my maiden 50 today, I would have taken it – no doubt.”I’m somebody who does try to spend a lot of time out there. Starting my Test career, I wanted to give myself the best opportunity and I feel like I’ve done that, in patches, but I haven’t managed to go on and get a big score.”I’ve probably missed out again, but I’m happy to get that first 50. Alastair was obviously the dominant partner, but with each milestone that came up – and seeing their bowlers ground down. It gave me a lot of confidence.”

Despite India going through a tough time, England are expecting them to come back strong in the one-day series that starts next week

Andrew McGlashan05-Jan-2013As England continue preparations for the one-day series against India, with their opening warm-up fixture against the A side in Delhi on Sunday, in a nearby part of the city the chastened national side will be attempting to regain some pride in the final one-day international against Pakistan.Rather than the series against Pakistan, crammed between England’s two visits, being an opportunity to rebuild confidence after the Test series loss before Christmas, it has laid bare the major issues within the India team. This time, returning to coloured clothes has not given them anywhere to hide.England, though, at least publicly, are not about to start any gloating at their opponent’s expense. Despite an impressive 2012 in one-day cricket, where they rose to No. 1 in the world, their recent record in India does not give them any grounds for presumption ahead of this series. In 2005-06 they lost 6-1, and in both 2008 and 2011 it was 5-0. India may look ripe for the taking this time, but England are playing up the home team’s strength.”I don’t think it is a good time to play India. I don’t think it is ever a good time to play India,” Eoin Morgan said. “We know how successful they have been in the past and they are the World Cup champions at the moment.”They might be going through a bad patch but they are very, very dangerous cricketers and they have guys who can turn the game on its head in a matter of minutes.”Morgan knows all about turning a game around in an instant. It was his straight six off Ashok Dinda which gave England a last-ball victory in the second Twenty20 in Mumbai that earned them a share of the series.It was yet another example of Morgan’s coolness in the heat of battle and he will have a vital role to play in the upcoming series. After a difficult time at the start of 2012, on a forgettable tour of the UAE facing Pakistan, the home summer reaffirmed his status as a premier middle-order batsman for England in the limited-overs game with 298 runs at 74.50 in 11 matches against West Indies, Australia and South Africa.The one-day batting line-up he will be part of looks very different to the Twenty20 unit on display a couple of weeks ago. Kevin Pietersen is back after reversing his one-day retirement of last June and is likely to bat at No. 3 behind the opening pair of captain Alastair Cook and Ian Bell who forged a successful combination during the English season. Joe Root and Jos Buttler could be competing for one middle-order spot.England only arrived back in India two days ago and there are just a couple of warm-up matches for them to prepare, but Morgan is confident that the players will be ready with all the squad, except for Chris Woakes, having spent time in India late last year.”The majority of our preparation has already been done pre-Christmas,” he said. “Many of us have been here since the October 24 or 25 and some of the guys who weren’t spent three weeks here before Christmas too. Over the next few days we’ll just be doing top-ups in different areas of our games. We are prepared.”The match against India A will also be the first chance for Ashley Giles, England’s new one-day coach, to assess the bowling options at his disposal in the absence of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan are the most experienced figures, supported by Woakes, Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker with James Tredwell and Danny Briggs as the frontline spinners.It remains uncertain, though, how much play they will be able to get in. The cold mornings have left Delhi shrouded in fog while the light fades early and there are no floodlights at the Palam Cricket Ground.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has apologised for the worldwide break in transmission during the ODI between South Africa and New Zealand in Paarl but does not have an explanation for the blackout

Firdose Moonda19-Jan-2013Cricket South Africa (CSA) has apologised for the worldwide break in transmission during the ODI between South Africa and New Zealand in Paarl but does not have an explanation for the blackout. Instead, host broadcaster SuperSport International will investigate the reasons and report back to CSA as soon as possible.”The loss of transmission was due to unforeseen circumstances beyond the control of CSA,” the organisation said in a statement. “The matter is currently being addressed by our host broadcaster to avoid a repetition of what transpired. SuperSport International will investigate the matter and furnish CSA with a detailed report.”Television coverage was first interrupted after 7.1 overs and repeated breaks accompanied by a power cut punctuated the first 25 overs of New Zealand’s innings. A source at the ground told ESPNcricinfo that the initial problem was caused by the broadcaster’s generator malfunctioning.The subsequent electricity outage occurred when the broadcaster allegedly attempted to use the stadium power, the capacity of which was quickly exhausted, according to the source. The entire media centre operated in the dark for a period of time. SuperSport told ESPNcricinfo that while they are waiting for a detailed report from people in the outside broadcast facilities they understand the power cut at the stadium came first and then a technical problem in the van. They too apologised for the interruption.It was during the power cut that Brendon McCullum was given out lbw off Rory Kleinveldt’s bowling. The delivery struck him on the back foot, after angling in. McCullum spoke to the on-field umpire about referring the decision as New Zealand still had their review in hand.McCullum was then informed DRS could not be called upon because there was no electricity*. “I’d have referred it,” McCullum said. “I was disappointed that we had to deal with the fact that the power was on and off, the use of DRS was on and off, the scorecard wasn’t even functioning at one time.”CSA said all relevant parties were informed that the technology could not be used until the problem had been rectified. “During the break in transmission no DRS was available to be utilised by the match officials and the umpires did inform the players on field as such,” their statement read.”For both teams it is a bit of an inconvenience,” McCullum said. “Paarl is a beautiful place to play cricket, so I’m not saying that needs to be addressed but some sort of back-up plan for future grounds that are susceptible to power going down might not be a bad option.”Repeated cuts followed before the situation stabilised in the second half of New Zealand’s innings. Paarl is not the only ground to have been affected by power cuts this summer. The Twenty20 against New Zealand on December 23 in East London was interrupted when one of the floodlight pylons stopped working.Both venues are regarded as “smaller grounds”, a definition imposed on them because they are unlikely to host Test matches (although Buffalo Park has done so in the past against Bangladesh) and they are on a rotation system to host other internationals. With CSA’s aim to spread the game throughout the country, both have hosted matches for a second successive summer but problems like these may put that status at risk.* January 20, 07.00am GMT This article has been updated after Brendon McCullum’s press conference

Warwickshire have signed Oliver Hannon-Dalby, the 23-year-old seamer, for the 2013 season

George Dobell14-Feb-2013Warwickshire have signed Oliver Hannon-Dalby, the 23-year-old seamer, for the 2013 season. He has been on trial at Edgbaston for several weeks having been given permission from his previous club, Yorkshire, to talk to other counties.Warwickshire’s strong bowling attack was a crucial ingredient in leading them to the County Championship in 2012. With the likes of Chris Woakes, Boyd Rankin, Rikki Clarke, Chris Wright and Keith Barker already competing for places, it may prove hard for Hannon-Dalby to win a first team place.But Warwickshire are keen not to over exert any of their seamers and aware that they could be weakened by England call-ups during the season. Hannon-Dalby’s current record is modest – he has a first-class bowling average of 45.06 after 24 games – but he is blessed with great height at 6ft 8in tall and claimed a five-wicket haul against Warwickshire at the start of the 2010 season.Warwickshire hope that he will benefit from working with the club’s highly-rated bowling coach – Graeme Welch – in the same way that Wright and Barker have done in recent seasons. Both men claimed more than 50 first-class wickets in 2012 having arrived at the club with equally modest reputations.”With Woakes, Wright, Rankin and Clarke all featuring in England’s winter touring squads, it’s essential that we’re prepared for more call-ups in the summer,” Warwickshire’s new director of cricket, Dougie Brown, said. “So Oliver is a great addition to the squad.”Whilst he’s struggled to consistently hold a place in the Yorkshire first XI, we recognise that his ability to swing the ball from such a great height adds something different to our pace attack. He’s working well with Graeme Welch and we hope he can continue to develop here in the same way that our current fast bowlers have.”Hannon-Dalby developed through the Yorkshire Academy and made his first-class debut in 2008. Despite a promising season in 2010, he struggled for opportunity in 2012 and has now been released from his Yorkshire contract a year early. He has played little limited-overs cricket and has few pretensions as a batsman. He will join Warwickshire officially at the start of March and will travel to Barbados on the club’s pre-season tour.”Warwickshire were outstanding in first-class and one-day cricket last season and whilst I’m sad to be leaving my home county, I’m very excited about the new challenge ahead and joining up with my new team mates,” he said. “The new facilities at Edgbaston are among the best in world cricket and we’ve got a great squad that’s capable of challenging for honours in all formats of the game.”With the support of the Warwickshire coaching team, Chris Wright and Keith Barker were two of the best bowlers on the county circuit in 2012 and I hope that by working hard in all areas that I can develop and enjoy similar levels of success to them.”

New Zealand Cricket are investigating an incident involving Doug Bracewell, which has left the fast bowler with an injured foot and doubtful for the first Test

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin04-Mar-2013New Zealand Cricket is investigating an incident involving Doug Bracewell which has left the fast bowler with an injured foot and in doubt for the first Test.Bracewell is understood to have suffered a cut during or after a party before joining up with the New Zealand squad in Dunedin. NZC are trying to determine the exact circumstances and find out if alcohol played any role.Bracewell, who did not require stitches to the injury, did not train with the squad at the University Oval on Monday having been ordered to stay at the hotel by medics. He will undergo a fitness test on Tuesday. Ian Butler, the Otago seamer, has been called into the squad as cover with a final decision to be taken after training tomorrow.Heath Mills, the chief executive of the New Zealand Players’ Association, is already involved in the situation. Mike Sandle, the New Zealand team manager, said that the facts needed to be confirmed but that it was an issue the team did not need.”I’ll be working with Doug and Heath to get to the bottom of it,” Sandle said. “I’m disappointed to be standing in front of you. No one wants to be standing here like this. There are a lot of acts I need to find out about, but if it is related to that [drink], I’m very disappointed.”It is a distraction. We want to earn the faith of the public and put in a good Test match performance, so it is disappointing to be here but I want to make it plain that, as I speak now, there is a lot of stuff I’m unaware of,” he added.Sandle also stressed that the injury occurred away from official New Zealand duty. No replacement has been called into the squad yet. Neil Wagner, the left-arm quick, was added after the New Zealand XI match in Queenstown and is one of the four pacemen in the 13-member squad.Butler, who was part of the Twenty20 squad against England, could yet find himself playing his first Test for more than eight years if Bracewell is ruled out and New Zealand want four seamers. He took 39 wickets at 25.12 in this season’s Plunket Shield and has been called up ahead of Mark Gillespie who played for the New Zealand XI in Queenstown.Last year, Bracewell was dropped from the one-day squad in the series against South Africa for breaking team protocol.

Two men accused of the assault that left the New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder in an induced coma in hospital have appeared in the Christchurch District Court

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2013Two men accused of the assault that left the New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder in an induced coma in hospital have appeared in the Christchurch District Court.A 37-year-old builder has been charged with assaulting Ryder and also with reckless disregard for the safety of others. The younger man, a 20-year-old carpet layer, is facing two charges of assault, one shared with the older man.The defence counsel for the older man, Jonathan Eaton, asked for and received a two-week remand on bail for the two men until April 18. He also won an interim suppression order over the names and images of the accused.Eaton said the incident had not been a “Jesse Ryder hate crime” as some witnesses had described it. In his description of events, Eaton said the two men had been out at a family dinner at Aikmans Bar and had crossed paths in a “convivial” fashion with Ryder across the evening.”The eye witness accounts are wildly inaccurate and misleading,” he said. “It goes to show why the justice system and public demand that these matters be dealt with in court before a judge and a jury and not by the media in the court of public opinion.”Eaton also disputed reports of Ryder’s injuries, claiming the batsman had not received a fractured skull but a serious concussion, and had also not sustained a collapsed lung.Ryder was interviewed by police in hospital on Monday but so far has no recollection of events on the night. He was discharged on Wednesday and has flown back home to Wellington.Ryder was hospitalised and placed in the induced coma to recover from injuries sustained when he was the victim of what police alleged to be two assaults in the space of a few minutes after a night out at the end of the Wellington Firebirds’ season.

Phil Mustard’s aggressive 91 saw Durham race to a notable Yorkshire Bank 40 win over last season’s semi-finalists Lancashire. It was Durham’s first List A win at Old Trafford.

06-May-2013
ScorecardPhil Mustard led the chase with 91 in 86 balls•Getty ImagesPhil Mustard’s aggressive 91 saw Durham race to a notable Yorkshire Bank 40 win over last season’s semi-finalists Lancashire. It was Durham’s first List A win at Old Trafford.In pursuit of 217 to win, Mustard and opening partner Mark Stoneman scored at 10 runs an over in the Powerplay – including a run of 26 runs off seven balls. Stoneman hit Wayne White for five fours in the fourth over before Mustard pulled Oliver Newby for six at the start of the fifth.But, after the departures of Stoneman for 32 and Ryan Pringle in the space of eight balls to leave the score at 81 for 2 in the ninth over, Mustard built upon the early assault to secure a first win at the second attempt with 31 balls to spare.Lancashire, who posted 216 for 9, got off to a flyer in their first outing thanks to openers Stephen Moore and Ashwell Prince in a 73-run stand inside 11 overs. Moore, who has not been able to force his way into his county’s early-season County Championship plans, led the way with 46 off 37 balls, even pulling Mark Wood for a six over square-leg as Lancashire passed 50 in the early stages of the eighth over.But Prince, for 34, and Moore both fell inside four overs to Gareth Breese and Ben Stokes to leave the score at 83 for 2. From then on, Lancashire could not maintain the same intensity as their innings stumbled along with the loss of regular wickets.Karl Brown hit 32 before being stumped by Mustard off Pringle’s off-spin – the same way Prince had fallen to Breese. And when stand-in captain Simon Katich was caught behind off Wood, the hosts were 128 for 5 in the 26th over. Jordan Clark and White tried their best to up the ante but, despite the latter’s 37 off 47, they were unable to do so.Chris Rushworth nipped in with three of the last four Lancashire wickets to fall – those of Clark caught at long-on, White caught and bowled and Newby caught behind – to finish with 3 for 44.After Mustard and Stoneman shared 71 inside seven overs, the former added 90 inside 17 with Paul Collingwood for the third wicket. Mustard hit eight fours and two sixes over midwicket in 86 balls having been dropped on 43 by Simon Kerrigan.

Following the victory against Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Shikhar Dhawan has said it was”amazing to see our name in the top four” after not many had given the team a chance

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2013In a must-win situation Sunrisers Hyderabad registered yet another win at their home ground, this time against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, and became the fourth team to qualify for the playoffs in their first season under new ownership. Shikhar Dhawan, the opening batsman, told the IPL site that it was “amazing to see our name in the top four”, after not many had given the team a chance.Kris Srikkanth, Sunrisers’ mentor, was also overjoyed with the result and compared the team’s successful league-stage run to that of the Indian team during the 1983 World Cup.”My memories went down to the 1983 World Cup,” Srikkanth told the site. “Nobody gave us a chance in the World Cup that year, but we qualified and won at the end of the day. The feeling today is quite similar as no one gave the Sunrisers a chance in the tournament, and today we have qualified for the playoffs.”Chasing 131, Dhawan set up the platform with an 89-run opening partnership with Parthiv Patel, before the team slumped to 112 for 5 in the 18th over. But Darren Sammy shrugged the team’s nervousness aside with two consecutive sixes in the penultimate over to spark wild celebrations.”I feel it was a great opening partnership between me and Parthiv,” Dhawan said. “We got off to a good start and did the job for our team. Also, hats off to Darren Sammy who held his nerve to finish the game for us.”Once again Sunrisers’ bowlers didn’t allow a visiting team to go past 130 (as has been the case in all games except in the one against Chennai Super Kings), despite the absence of Ishant Sharma, who missed out due to illness. His replacement, Anand Rajan, gave away 22 runs in his four overs and picked up a wicket to maintain the team’s strong showing in the field.”We have a lethal bowling attack with Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma adding firepower in the beginning and at the death; and we have quality spinners like Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma who thrive in pairs in the mid-innings,” Dhawan said. “We have a similar logic with respect to our batting too.”Sunrisers will now face Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator, which is to be played in Delhi on Wednesday.