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Dwayne Smith, the West Indies allrounder who returns to the squad for the Twenty20 series against England after an 18-month break, is eager to re-establish himself on the international stage

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2011Dwayne Smith, the West Indies allrounder, who returned to the squad for the Twenty20 series against England after an 18-month break, is eager to re-establish himself on the international stage.”I am going to bring intensity and energy to the team,” Smith said. “I see this as a chance to re-start my international career. As I was training and working on my game [after being dropped], I kept telling myself ‘I just need one sniff and I’ll take it’. This is my big chance, I have to make sure I take it.”Smith last played for West Indies against Zimbabwe in Guyana in March 2010, in a match that the hosts lost by two runs. In the lead-up to that game, Smith managed to go past fifty only once in ten innings, with seven single-digit scores – apart from being expensive with the ball – prompting the selectors to look at other options. Smith said he had worked on the technical and mental side of his game since.”I worked very hard on my batting. I realised I have to be more patient and aim to hit straighter,” he said. “This new way of thinking has been working for me. The coaches have asked for commitment and I intend to put in the work required to reap success at the international level.”While he was out of the West Indies team, Smith had a stint with English county Sussex, playing in the Friends Life t20 tournament. He said the experience in English conditions would hold him in good stead in next week’s Twenty20s.”I was at Sussex for three seasons, playing a lot of Twenty20 cricket and I have good knowledge of what to expect,” he said. “I actually got the chance to play at The Oval [where the Twenty20s will be played] a few times, so I am familiar with the conditions and will be able to share that information with the other guys in the team.”The first Twenty20 will be played on September 23 at The Oval in London.

History was made in Canterbury as floodlit championship cricket with a pink ball came to the St Lawrence ground for the first time

Mark Pennell at Canterbury12-Sep-2011
Scorecard
Geraint Jones inspects the ball with the umpires before play begins•Getty Images

History was made in Canterbury as floodlit championship cricket with a pink ball came to the St Lawrence ground for the first time – only for the ECB’s great and the good to all but out number the crowd.When a distinctly chilly set of players left the ground at 9pm, Glamorgan had reached two without loss after five overs having spent the best part of three sessions in dismissing Kent for 237.With little riding on the result, the ECB’s hasty decision to play this end-of-term second division clash under lights and using pink balls may have seemed a reasonable one, but the Kentish public seemingly voted with their feet. Barely 300 turned up for the opening day of a fixture that might usually attract 1,000-plus, yet the committee room appeared full with visiting administrators.”I don’t see any rhyme or reason to it,” said one Kent member trudging out of the ground at a usual finish time of 6pm; “It feels like we’re being used as lab rats.”Former ICC president and ex-ECB chairman, David Morgan, was among the ECB delegation casting an eye over this experimental game, that will see a pink Tiflex ball used in both first innings, followed by a Kookaburra version second time around.”I know it’s not the case for all counties, but some clubs would love to play day/night first-class championship cricket,” Morgan said. “We are here to see if we can give them an element of choice. We will have to gauge the opinion of the players and the umpires as the game progresses and see where we go from here.”As for the players, in-form Kent opener Joe Denly, fresh from 199 in Derby last week, was seeing it like a football from the start, a pink football that is, as his 69 from 130-ball underpinned the Kent total. “I picked the pink ball up really well from ball one,” said Denly, whose two-and-a-half hour stay included six fours.”The first delivery from Graham Wagg swung in plenty, but after that, it did nothing. Yes, it turned early on, but it was really slow turn. The major thing for me was that the ball lost its brightness really quickly. If they continue to use this ball I would think they will be changing it fairly frequently.”Only 14 overs into a blustery opening session Glamorgan turned to spin at both ends and reaped an immediate benefit when Dan Cosker trapped Daniel Bell-Drummond leg before with his first delivery.By lunch Kent had lost four as Sam Northeast and Alex Blake both paid the price for indeterminate strokes against left-arm spinner Nick James while Darren Stevens mistimed a cut against Graham Wagg straight to point.After indifferent first-session batting, Denly finally found a willing partner in acting captain Geraint Jones who hit 48 for his part in a stand worth 59 only for Denly to be undone by a useful delivery from John Glover. Azhar Mahmood’s decision to shoulder arms to the same bowler also proved fatal and once Jones followed suit, to go two short of his half- century, Kent simply unravelled to post only two batting bonus points.With only a handful of spectators still around to watch, Glamorgan played out four maidens through to stumps and will go into day two trailing by 235.

Mark Boucher, the South Africa wicketkeeper, is expected to be fit for the deciding ODI against Australia on Friday, despite a minor injury picked up in the nets on Thursday

Firdose Moonda in Durban 27-Oct-2011Mark Boucher, the South Africa wicketkeeper, is expected to be fit for the deciding ODI against Australia on Friday, despite a minor injury picked up in the nets on Thursday. A delivery from Wayne Parnell struck Boucher on the right index finger, but he returned to continue batting after receiving treatment and team management are confident he will play.”He is in a bit of discomfort but it’s nothing untoward and he should be fine,” Mohammad Moosajee, the team manager, said. “If we need to investigate it will be post tomorrow’s game.”No replacement has been named for Boucher, but Moosajee said contingency plans are in place should Boucher be unavailable. “It would be up to the selectors to decide who to fly out, but we don’t have any concerns.”Boucher has been going through extra drills in training with the assistance of Ray Jennings, the ex-South Africa wicketkeeper and coach. Jennings, who also coached Boucher at Royal Challengers Bangalore, joined the team on Wednesday and had an individual session with Boucher before the team’s practice. Boucher arrived at Kingsmead early and spent two hours with Jennings.”He came before the rest of the team and wanted to do some work,” Jennings told ESPNcricinfo. “It was basically to sharpen up, clear the head and reconsolidate his thought patterns, not anything specific.” Jennings said he had expected Boucher to be “tired” after their extended session, but was pleasantly surprised when Boucher returned on Thursday for a one-and-a-half hour workout.”At no stage did I have to push him, he is a real fighter,” Jennings said. “He is motivated enough and hungry enough and he wants to do whatever he can to hold on to his spot.”Boucher was recalled to the ODI squad after AB de Villiers’ injured his hand during the Champions League T20. Boucher had last played in the 50-over format in May last year against the West Indies. His inclusion for the series against Australia was talked about as a temporary move but Boucher has expressed his determination to continue playing for South Africa in all formats of the game.He has taken one catch and scored 14 runs in the series so far but missed two stumpings in the second match in Port Elizabeth and is said to be concerned about his form. With question marks surrounding his age and the amount of time he has left as an international player, Boucher has sought to fend off suggestions that he is closing in on the end of his career and Jennings believes he still has a lot to offer. “He is still the most experienced wicketkeeper in the country and is the biggest threat to the opposition.”Boucher’s value as a seasoned international campaigner and one of the stalwarts of the South African team has also come in handy, in the absence of de Villiers. South Africa’s stand-in captain Hashim Amla said that Boucher was a “valuable asset” to the team and was heartened by Boucher’s desire to keep improving. “He [Boucher] is a world-class player himself and for him to get assistance from somebody shows a lot of humility.”

Kamran Akmal, the Pakistan wicketkeeper, has said he is in favour of having the PCB check the assets and bank accounts of all of its players every six months to ensure that the players are clean

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2011Kamran Akmal, the Pakistan wicketkeeper, has said he is in favour of having the PCB check the assets and bank accounts of all of its players every six months to ensure that the players are clean.”I would support any move by the PCB to regularly check player assets and accounts,” Akmal told . “I say it should be a six month exercise. Only such an exercise can clean up our image and end these baseless allegations made against us all the time.”Earlier this month, three Pakistan players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – were given jail sentences after they were found found guilty of conspiring to bowl pre-determined no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England in August 2010. Following the spot-fixing trial, the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit said they were considering new investigations based on information that came out during the trial.”I would welcome any move by the ICC to have a fresh inquiry based on evidence allegedly given in the spot-fixing trial in London,” Akmal said. “I am ready to make myself available to any investigation. Because I want this stigma to go away for ever.”The ICC and PCB cleared me to play for Pakistan but yet the media keeps on mentioning my name in relation to spot-fixing stories.”Akmal has had a controversial time behind the stumps for Pakistan over the course of his career and has been criticised for his shoddy wicketkeeping. He was dropped after the 2011 World Cup semi-final in which Pakistan lost to India, and his place was taken by his youngest brother, Adnan Akmal. He subsequently lost his central contract for the second half of 2011 as well, but said he is determined to prove his worth in domestic cricket and make a comeback.

ESPNcricinfo previews the third ODI between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Chittagong

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran05-Dec-2011

Match facts

Tuesday, December 6
Start time 1330 (0730 GMT)Can Nasir Hossain inspire his team to put up a better show?•AFP

Big Picture

The fact that the third ODI is a dead rubber is hardly surprising. There has not been an ounce of competitiveness in each of the three games so far in this tour. Nasir Hossain’s battling century in the second game in Mirpur wasn’t enough to mask the bigger problem for Bangladesh – the batting. The overall reaction among passionate Bangladesh fans, going by feedback received by ESPNcricinfo, was not necessarily that of disappointment, but more specifically, anger. Some went as far as to question Bangladesh’s right to participate at the international level. Their status as a Test nation has always been debated, though now fans have extended that discussion towards their ODI status too. Public memory is short. It’s easy to forget that just over a year ago, Bangladesh thrashed a listless New Zealand 4-0 at home.It’s the failure of the batsmen that has deflated the team. All efforts on the field have been nullified by the top order collapses. They were dismissed for 91 in the first game and in the second, the chase was all but lost at 19 for 4. Bangladesh threw in the towel at that stage. Given the situation, Bangladesh did the best they could to salvage some pride by batting out the 50 overs. It didn’t make a good advertisement for one-day cricket, but in the process they discovered what Nasir is capable of. A bit more support from the top order would’ve been handy though.”The wicket was really good in the last game, but there were several dot balls,” Mahmudullah said. “Shakib and Nasir played well, especially Nasir who has taught us some stuff, like how to be patient against this attack.”There are fewer concerns for Pakistan. However, they didn’t have the best outing in the field for the second match, spilling catches off Nasir and Shakib Al Hasan. Shahid Afridi had a rare off-day with the ball, conceding 49 off 7 overs and failing to take a wicket. The final game gives them a chance to rest a couple of players and give everyone in the squad a chance.

Form guide

Bangladesh: LLWLL (most recent first)
Pakistan: WWWWW

In the spotlight…

Since his 128 against India in the 2009 Champions Trophy, Shoaib Malik has gone 14 innings without a fifty, with a highest of 39. He’s been a shadow of the player he was when he was captain, and before. His bowling gives Pakistan another spin option, but he’s in the team primarily as a batsman.After hitting two half-centuries against Australia, Shahriar Nafees has done little of note, with the highest score of 14 in his last five ODIs. He has failed to recreate the kind of form he showed in 2006. It’s been nearly five years since he scored an ODI century.

Team news

Pakistan are likely to make a couple of changes, dropping Imran Farhat and Sohail Tanvir, and bringing in Asad Shafiq and the left-arm seamer Mohammad Khalil.Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Asad Shafiq, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, (capt) 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Mohammad Khalil.Imrul Kayes is set to miss out due to a groin injury, and will be replaced by Alok Kapali or Naeem Islam. If the pitch takes more turn than the one in Mirpur, Bangladesh could field a spin-heavy attack at the expense of a fast bowler.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Shahriar Nafees, 3 Alok Kapali/Naeem Islam, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Nasir Hossain, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Abdur Razzak, 9 Elias Sunny, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Rubel Hossain.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh have found boundaries hard to come by at the start of the innings. In the Twenty20, they scored their first in the ninth over, in the first ODI it came in the sixth, but the wait was the longest in the second ODI – it took them 11 overs.
• Bangladesh have won both their day-night games at this venue, against England and West Indies.

Quotes

“Some of the youngsters who’ve come into the side have worked hard to make their spot worthy. All of us have set a goal that we will now need to raise the bar.”
“The top order has no clue how to bat, and @ the moment it has left me clueless in regard to what I tweet next.”
“Everyone says this is our lucky ground. Let’s see what it can do for our fortunes. We have some good memories at this ground.

South Africa have made three changes to the squad for the remainder of the ODI series against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2012Hashim Amla will
miss the remainder of the ODI series against Sri Lanka to be with his wife, who is expecting their first child. Jacques Kallis has been rested while Rory Kleinveldt has been ruled out due to injury.Alviro Petersen and Colin Ingram replace the two senior batsmen and Vernon Philander, who’s been impressive in Tests, has been picked in the ODI squad in place of Kleinveldt.Amla’s been in excellent form in the series; he scored a century in the first ODI in Paarl and followed up with a half-century to help South Africa take a 2-0 lead in East London.The decision to rest Kallis is part of Cricket South Africa’s rotational policy, though it is yet unclear about when Kleinveldt is likely to return after a “relatively long-term injury”.”Hashim Amla has been forced to stand down because of family responsibilities while Rory Kleinveldt has a relatively long-term injury,” Andrew Hudson, the CSA selection convenor, said in a release.Petersen has been in good form, with runs behind his back for the Lions in the Franchise 1-day Cup, the domestic List A tournament, where he was the top scorer, and a century against Sri Lanka in the third Test in Cape Town, where he was picked at the expense of Ashwell Prince.Ingram, too, has had a good run, with consecutive hundreds for Warriors in the SuperSport series and 521 runs at 57.88 in the Franchise 1-day Cup. Both are making a comeback to the ODI side after extended breaks. Ingram last played in the World Cup and Petersen hasn’t played an ODI for South Africa since May 2010.Philander finished the Sri Lanka Test series with 16 wickets in two matches and grabbed 14 in the series prior against Australia. He last played an ODI for South Africa in August 2008.”Both Petersen and Philander showed excellent form in the recent Test series against Sri Lanka and they have also represented the Proteas in the ODI format before so I don’t anticipate their having any problems adapting to 50 overs cricket,” Hudson said. “Ingram has also been in top form in domestic cricket and was a member of the squad that went to the World Cup last year after making a century on debut against Zimbabwe.”Although we are sad to lose players such as Amla and Kallis I see this as an opportunity to try out our options. There are still places up for grabs in our ODI squad and I must say I am excited to see the talent coming through our development pipeline.”South Africa squad: AB de Villiers (capt & wk), Johan Botha, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Dan Housego, the former Middlesex batsman, has signed for Gloucestershire. He was the leading run-scorer in second XI cricket last season and has moved for more first team opportunities.

Alex Winter25-Jan-2012Dan Housego, the former Middlesex batsman, has signed for Gloucestershire. He was the leading run-scorer in second XI cricket last season and has moved for more first team opportunities.Housego, 23, began his career with the Gloucestershire academy before moving to Middlesex to make his first-class debut against Derbyshire in 2008. He played seven matches in his first three seasons at Middlesex before making eight appearances in 2011, scoring 407 runs at 31.30.He lost his place in the Middlesex first team but prospered in the second XI Championship, scoring 883 runs at 110.37 with four centuries in seven matches.His success in second XI cricket was enough to encourage John Bracewell, Gloucestershire’s coach, to offer him a return to Bristol. “Dan has been one of the best, if not the best, top-order batsmen in Second XI cricket and we are delighted that he joins us, in particular, to fill the difficult number three position where I am confident he is ready for consistent first team cricket.”Last season, the number thee position for Gloucestershire was occupied by New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson. The signing of Housego could mean Williamson won’t be brought back to the club for 2012.”I am delighted to be joining Gloucestershire at such an exciting time for the Club and becoming part of such a young and promising squad,” Housego said.Gloucestershire have been forced to employ a young squad courtesy of their fragile financial situation. Their future is uncertain after the city council rejected a planning application for the development of their Bristol home.

New Zealand’s intense performance with the ball and in the field restricted South Africa to 147 for 6, setting up a moderate chase in Wellington

The Report by Firdose Moonda17-Feb-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMartin Guptill hit huge sixes during his match-winning 78•Getty Images

New Zealand’s intense performance with the ball and in the field restricted South Africa to 147 for 6, setting up a moderate chase in Wellington. Their most in-form batsman, Martin Guptill, continued his strong summer, scoring his sixth consecutive international half-century to begin the series with a comfortable victory. The target was achieved only in the final over, but South Africa did not threaten New Zealand at any stage of the game.South Africa came into this match having beaten Canterbury in the tour game, and New Zealand targeted the players who delivered that victory. Tim Southee attacked Richard Levi with the short ball, while Guptill went after Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Apart from the 15th over of the first innings, in which Kane Williamson conceded 26, Brendon McCullum used his spinners and shuffled his bowlers to keep South Africa under pressure throughout.A lot of that pressure was applied by tenacious and athletic fielding, and no one was better that Guptill. Hashim Amla had found his groove, and South Africa were beginning to accelerate, when he was run out by a dive reminiscent of Jonty Rhodes. Guptill had swooped on the ball from extra cover, sprinted towards the non-striker’s end, and dived full stretch to plough into the stumps.Richard Levi, who was expected to be the aggressor but was stymied by the offspinner Nathan McCullum, responded to Amla’s dismissal with a six and a four, but Colin Ingram gave him no support. Ingram stepped out to Nathan McCullum and watched an offbreak curve and spin past his bat, leaving Brendon McCullum with enough time to recover from a fumble and complete the stumping.Having lost two wickets in two overs, South Africa needed a cool head, but Levi was unable to keep one. Southee hit Levi on the helmet with his second delivery and dismissed him soon after. Under pressure, South Africa’s innings lost direction in the next five overs. AB de Villiers was out to a low catch from Guptill, which was referred to the third umpire, and Duminy and Ontong could only accumulate in ones and twos.Ontong broke the boundary drought in style, mowing Williamson for four consecutive sixes over the midwicket boundary, hitting each ball further back into the stands than the one before. Southee was brought back to control the damage and took a sharp return catch to dismiss Ontong and end the partnership on 50. Duminy did not let that setback slow him down, though, adding three more boundaries to finish as South Africa’s top scorer.After missing the last match against Zimbabwe because of a groin niggle, Guptill picked up where he had left off. He started by smacking Tsotsobe down the ground in his first over, and drove and hooked Albie Morkel. His best was saved for Tsotsobe – two massive sixes, measuring 102 and 127 metres, over the midwicket boundary.Rusty Theron took the wicket of Rob Nicol with his first ball to end the opening partnership on 49, but followed up with a wide and a no-ball. South Africa’s fast bowlers struggled to find rhythm on a pitch that was better suited to slower bowlers, of which the visitors had only one specialist in the XI.de Villiers turned to JP Duminy in the 13th over and he had immediate success. His second delivery spun just enough to bowl Brendon McCullum off the inside edge. Instead of giving the other slow bowler in the side, Justin Ontong, a go, de Villiers persisted with the quicks, who could not tie Guptill down. Guptill got hit on the helmet by Theron, and saw both Kane Williamson and Colin de Grandhomme dismissed, but hung around to see New Zealand through to victory.

Central Zone qualified for the semi-final of the Deodhar Trophy after an allround performance against South Zone in the opening game of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2012Central Zone qualified for the semi-final of the Deodhar Trophy after an allround performance against South Zone in the opening game of the tournament at Mohali.Chasing a modest total, Central Zone maintained a brisk run-rate to overhaul the target in the 40th over. Jalaj Saxena, who made 32 runs off 26 balls, and Naman Ojha, with 26 runs from 23 balls, set-up the platform with an attacking start to the chase against a weak South Zone bowling line-up. Only India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who took 2 for 39, exercised some control over the batsmen. A half-century from Mohammad Kaif and solid contributions from Ashok Menaria (37) and a cameo by skipper Piyush Chawla (34 runs off 25 balls) knocked South Zone out of the competition.A number of South Zone batsmen squandered starts to give the Central Zone bowlers an upper hand after Bhuvneshwar Kumar had removed openers Abhinav Mukund and Srikkanth Anirudha with only 40 runs on the board. Dinesh Karthik, the South Zone skipper, steadied the innings with a half-century, but the spin duo of Chawla and Saxena accounted for five wickets between them to derail the South’s innings. Umesh Yadav, who was playing his first game after recovering from the shin injury he picked up in Australia, bowled a steady 10-over spell for 35 runs and picked up the wicket of D Ravi Teja.Central Zone now travel to Dharamsala to play North Zone in the second semi-final on March 18.

In a bid to help develop Afghanistan’s cricket infrastructure, the Afghanistan Cricket Board has announced an organisational review

Umar Farooq24-Apr-2012In a bid to help develop Afghanistan’s domestic cricket infrastructure and to secure its cricketing future, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has announced an organisational review to provide better leadership and find qualified staff to run cricket administration in the war-torn country in the long run.As part of its review, the board has reappointed Hamid Shinwari as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Nasimullah Danish is the Deputy CEO. Raees Ahmadzai has been appointed as the senior advisor to the Player Selection Committee, while Khair Mohammad is its Finance Manager.Afghanistan is currently an Affiliate member of the ICC and the ACB hopes that the review will prompt the ICC to grant them the status of an Associate member, and with it, provide extra ICC funding. “The [organisational] change is obvious as we are growing,” ACB spokesman Nasratullah Wafa told ESPNcricinfo. “The game has to survive and we have to find talent and keep the circle rolling. We need more resources for development, so we have decided to fill the vacant positions that will help us to build up [our cricket infrastructure].”At present the ICC provides about $700,000 a year in funding. Based on current distributions, that will rise by around $150,000 once Associate status is assured. The ACB hopes cricket is promoted and marketed in a better manner after the review. “We must ensure new impetus is taken for the development of domestic cricket, the marketing and fundraising is improved and our international relations and partnerships are strengthened,” Wafa said.Afghanistan’s national team has performed impressively in the last five years, moving up from Division five of the World Cricket League in 2008 to Division One today. In Twenty20 cricket, Afghanistan have already beaten several Full Member nations and are ranked ninth, ahead of Zimbabwe and the currently unranked Bangladesh. “Afghanistan isn’t dreaming of overnight success but we are taking small steps to mark our presence in the world through which we can give a message of peace,” Wafa said. “The game is becoming very popular within the country.”