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Dawid Malan’s unbeaten 113, backed up by an impressive bowling display, earned Middlesex a 19-run Duckworth-Lewis win against Gloucestershire at Lord’s which keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for the YB40 semi-finals.

15-Aug-2013
ScorecardDawid Malan made a fine unbeaten hundred•Getty ImagesDawid Malan’s unbeaten 113, backed up by an impressive bowling display, earned Middlesex a 19-run Duckworth-Lewis win against Gloucestershire at Lord’s which keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-finals.Gloucestershire’s own chances of making it out of Group C received a heavy blow as they could make only 186 for 9 in reply to Middlesex’s 206 for 5.A short shower, which interrupted the early part of the Middlesex innings, led to the match becoming a 38-over per side affair, with Gloucestershire’s target being adjusted to 206 under the Duckworth-Lewis calculations.Malan underpinned the Middlesex batting effort with his first hundred of a prolific YB40 season, facing 116 balls and hitting two sixes and nine fours in taking his run tally for the competition to 552 at an average of 78.85.Eoin Morgan, unusually becalmed as he laboured through 48 balls, was Middlesex’s next best scorer with 22 and at the halfway stage it seemed as if Gloucestershire, joint top of Group C when the match began with 13 points from their previous nine games, were well in contention. But Steven Finn and James Harris both snatched wickets in their opening overs and by the time they had finished their five-over new balls spells Gloucestershire’s batsmen were already struggling to keep up with the required rate.Finn, given fresh hope of an England Test return next week by news of Tim Bresnan’s stress fracture injury, had Hamish Marshall caught at point from the first ball of the innings, and then Harris pulled off a smart return catch to remove Chris Dent for 2. Much depended on Gloucestershire captain Michael Klinger, whose 46 took his own YB40 run tally to 575 at 95.83, and for a while he was well supported by Ian Cockbain in a stand of 81 for the third wicket.But Cockbain then skied to mid-off, charging at Gareth Berg’s medium pace, and Klinger – who had also been dropped on 13 and 19 – was stumped as he went down the pitch to try to heave a ball from left-arm spinner Ravi Patel into the Grandstand.Patel then had Alex Gidman leg before wicket for 19 and Harris returned to bowl James Fuller for just 1. Benny Howell straight drove Toby Roland-Jones for six and swung him for another maximum next ball, but on 39 his bright effort ended with a skied catch to extra cover off the impressive Harris, who finished with 3 for 30.There were also two wickets for Roland-Jones as Gloucestershire’s late order swung with increasing desperation, with Gareth Roderick going for 13 and Ed Young for 12.Malan was the only Middlesex batsman to get on top of some disciplined but largely unthreatening Gloucestershire bowling, with slow left-armer Young perhaps the pick of the attack with some clever variations of pace.Paul Stirling fell to the first ball of the second over, inside-edging a drive into his stumps against Craig Miles, but Malan added 51 in just under 10 overs with Joe Denly for the second wicket before Denly was caught at extra cover for 21 from a leading edge as he looked to force medium-pacer Howell straight.Morgan looked completely out of touch on a two-paced pitch, struggling through 45 balls for a mere 15 runs before lofting Miles over long-on for six for what proved to be his only boundary. On 22, and having been very much the junior partner in a stand of 65 with Malan, he tried a big hit at Chris Dent’s occasional left-arm spin and skied to Klinger to end a curiously subdued innings from one of cricket’s most destructive one-day batsmen.Neil Dexter did manage to increase the scoring rate with 20 from 21 balls, helping Malan to put on a further 58 in eight overs for the fourth wicket, but he then mishit to point trying to slash away a ball from left-arm seamer David Payne.Gareth Berg fell cheaply, bowled for three by Fuller, but Malan celebrated reaching his first YB40 century of the season by swinging Payne for six over the long deep midwicket boundary and, in the final over of the innings from Fuller, he added a second six to the same area. With John Simpson also taking a four from Fuller’s last over, Middlesex’s total was pushed above 200.

An intriguing second day at Basin Reserve finally settled in England’s favour as they took three top-order New Zealand wickets to take control of the second Test

The Report by David Hopps14-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMatt Prior’s attacking half-century, followed by wickets with the new-ball, secured the day for England•Getty ImagesAn intriguing second day at Basin Reserve, which billowed one way then another in the buffeting Wellington wind, finally settled in England’s favour as they took three top-order New Zealand wickets to take control of the second Test.New Zealand’s bowlers, under the cosh when the day began at 267 for 2, had made light of their onerous workload of the past week, sustained by some resilient left-arm spin from Bruce Martin, whose slower pace produced figures of 4 for 130 and a degree of turn not matched by Monty Panesar later in the day, and some determinedly enterprising captaincy in the face of adversity by Brendon McCullum.But it all came to naught as Matt Prior advanced his reputation as one of the most dangerous wicketkeeper-batsmen of the modern era with a counter-attacking 82 from 99 balls. However much Tim Southee, the senior member of New Zealand’s attack, had insisted after the first Test in Dunedin that “bodies were recharged,” under Prior’s assault they drained faster than an old Galaxy Ace.England then inflicted further wounds with the ball. Peter Fulton succumbed to some aggressive new-ball bowling, clumping footwork causing him to edge James Anderson to slip, then just as New Zealand seemed to have weathered the storm, Stuart Broad picked up two wickets in successive balls. If Hamish Rutherford left rueing a poor shot, Broad cleaned up Ross Taylor first ball in impressive fashion.An improving weather forecast, which now suggests the rain that a drought-stricken city is longing for may be delayed until Monday, will invite England optimism that there is still time to force victory.This was all hard on New Zealand, whose four-strong attack had struck back gamely on the second morning. Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Joe Root all succumbed as England, superior overnight at 267 for 2, leant heavily on Kevin Pietersen and later Prior to complete their innings at tea content with their lot.Smart stats

England’s total of 465 is their highest in Wellington and the ninth highest by a visiting team at the venue. In each of their last three Tests in New Zealand, England have passed 400.

Matt Prior’s 82 is his highest score in Tests against New Zealand. In 14 innings since the Test at The Oval against South Africa, Prior has scored six half-centuries at an average of 50.84. Three of those have come in away Tests.

The number of fifty-plus scores made by Prior (31) is just four short of the England record of 35 held by Alan Knott. Adam Gilchrist leads the overall list with 43 fifty-plus scores.

Ross Taylor’s duck is only his third (second first-ball duck) in Tests. All three ducks have come since the start of 2011.

Taylor becomes the 14th New Zealand top-order (1-7) batsman to be dismissed for a first-ball duck against England.

New Zealand had bowled 170 overs in the second innings in Dunedin, in a valiant but failed attempt to force victory, and had only two wickets to show for another 90 overs on the first day in Wellington. The first day had belonged to Nick Compton and Trott, but Compton had departed late on the opening day and Trott followed to his first ball of the morning, and the seventh of the day, when he feathered a catch to the wicketkeeper.Southee began with an impressive spell as England mustered only 17 in the first 10 overs. He had little luck as Bell’s edge fell short of the slips and Pietersen top-edged a hook through the despairing fingers of the wicketkeeper, BJ Watling. He spent a short time off the field because he was feeling sick and when he finished wicketless he must have been feeling sicker still.Pietersen responded to the arrival of the left-arm spinner Martin by driving his first ball for six, but any ambitions that Martin would provide England with an outlet were also stymied. Only with lunch approaching did Pietersen seem to get Martin’s measure.Bell had an attack of the Ahmedabads. He had fallen first ball to the left-arm spinner, Pragyan Ojha in Ahmedabad, dancing down the pitch to try to loft him over the top in what smacked off a crazily preconceived plan. It was far from the first ball this time – he had batted for more than an hour – but the outcome was just the same as he failed to deposit Martin down the ground and Fulton ran back from mid-off to hold a neat, swirling catch.Martin, tossing the ball high, found appreciable turn, and he also unpicked Root, who tried to carve him through cover off the front foot and edged a turning delivery to slip. It was an ugly, misconceived shot and Root stomped off with a farmer’s gait. His start to international cricket has been something of a fairy story and disappointments such as this are inevitable.Pietersen has been variously ailing, the knee trouble which hampered him in Dunedin now joined by a dicky back which he stretched gingerly during his innings. He seems in the sort of state where he should not grip an autograph hunter’s pen too tightly. But there was danger in his vulnerable body and he reached 73 before he was goaded into trying to hit Martin over the infield and, even with a strong wind behind him, picked out Fulton halfway back to the boundary at mid-off.Prior fell shortly before tea, denied a seventh Test century that would have taken him only one behind England’s most productive century-maker among England wicketkeepers, Les Ames, by Neil Wagner’s springing catch to intercept a reverse sweep, denied it, too, by the recognition that England had no plans to bat beyond the interval.Predictably, Prior peppered the boundary square on the off side for his fifty, but his range expanded after that. Barely a ball had disappeared down the ground throughout the series so when Prior despatched Wagner for straight sixes in successive overs it could not have summed up more resoundingly how he had changed the mood. On 46, he successfully reviewed umpire Asad Rauf’s lbw verdict as he swept at Martin, replays revealing a thin under-edge.Alongside Prior, the Watford Wall offered shelter. Steven Finn’s nightwatchman heroics to save the Test in Dunedin had brought his batting new respect and he contributed 24 to a stand of 83 in 20 overs, unveiling a sturdy slog-sweep against Martin, before he drove Wagner into the off side.

New Zealand have accepted they must manage the later stages of Daniel Vettori’s career with care after he was ruled out of the Headingley Test

David Hopps23-May-2013Daniel Vettori’s distinguished Test career is not about to be “swept away”, in the words of his captain Brendon McCullum, but even as he returns to fitness New Zealand have accepted they must manage the later stages of his career with care after reluctantly ruling him out of the second Test against England at Headingley.Vettori was enthusiastic enough to jump on a plane and travel around the world to try to bail out New Zealand but not fit enough to play. He has sat on the bench throughout the 2013 IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore and now, eight months after his last New Zealand appearance at the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, New Zealand are facing up to the fact that, at 34, his workload will never be the same again.”It’s something we’re going to have to discuss down the track,” McCullum admitted. “It’s going to be a rolling conversation that we need to have with Dan as to what he needs to prioritise with where he’s at in his career.”It would be nice to think that he’d be able to play every game in all three forms but it’s not realistic. I certainly see a place for him in the team. It would be silly for us to sweep away 112 Test matches, nearly 400 wickets and six Test centuries.”He jumped on a plane as soon as he got the phone call. He’s a great guy to have around, a tremendous player and he’s always keen to help out the NZ cricket team. But he didn’t scrub up that well today and the confidence to go into a five-day game with the workload he’s had was just a bridge too far.”It was a very rational decision from all of us on Dan. He wasn’t quite confident he’d be able to get through the entire five days and he didn’t want to let the team down.”McCullum was honest enough to admit that the wish to protect Vettori’s fitness for the Champions Trophy influenced their decision. When it comes to surviving a five-day Test, there is no substitute for match practice, especially if that substitute is in an inactive series at the IPL and a lifestyle based upon lightweight training sessions, internal flights and a room service menu.”I guess that was one of the things we looked at as well,” McCullum said. “In terms of his playing opportunity in this game, would we sacrifice the coming few weeks? That wasn’t the right thing for Dan or for us.”

Jonathan Trott has said the team should aim to improve the 3-1 margin of victory they secured there in 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2013England batsman Jonathan Trott has said the team shouldn’t try to recreate history when they visit Australia next winter.”It will be important to hopefully retain the Ashes over here, but then go to Australia and not try to emulate what happened,” Trott said, speaking to Alison Mitchell on ESPNcricinfo.”Try to do it again based on what we did last time, I think that would be quite dangerous. I don’t think there’s one recipe for everything. We need to go there and see how it goes, and who knows, try to win even more than before, not try to recreate history but just do it in its own way and set standards for ourselves.”England have a big year ahead, with two Ashes series within six months of each other, five Tests against New Zealand (three away and two home) and a Champions Trophy at home. They are currently No. 2 in the ICC Test rankings, just five points below South Africa.Trott, who scored a hundred and a half-century in England’s historic Test series win in India, has been rested from the ongoing one-day series. He backed Ashley Giles, his former Warwickshire coach, to do well in his role as England’s limited-overs coach, and said he was the “best man for the job”.”He’s done his years with Warwickshire and learnt about being a coach,” Trott said of Giles. “I think it can be quite tricky coming straight from being a player to being a coach. He knows the lines between being a mate and being a coach, and what’s expected of you and what’s expected of himself. So I think the English team of the future, in one-day cricket, is looking pretty good. There’s a lot of one-day cricket, another Champions Trophy – something we want to really do well in.”Trott credited Giles with helping him regain his focus while at Warwickshire and getting him ready for Test cricket. “He had a lot of experience to draw on from what happened in his career – media, pressure, and getting the most out of his talent. He probably saw me as a guy not doing things quite right and could probably do better. He sat me down and said, ‘I think you’re going about your business in the wrong fashion, maybe tinker with a few things here and there.'”

Thilan Samaraweera has indicated he would like to retire from international cricket in a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket, but the board is yet to accept his retirement

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Mar-2013Thilan Samaraweera has indicated he would like to retire from international cricket in a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket, but the board is yet to accept his retirement.”He has sent a letter saying he would like to retire from all three segments of the game, but we have told him to have a talk with the selectors before we make a final call,” SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said. Samaraweera is expected to meet with the selectors on Wednesday.Samaraweera was one of 22 players who signed their national contracts on Monday after a 24-hour lock out over the weekend, but he was not named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, which begins on Friday.At 36, Samaraweera was the oldest member of Sri Lanka’s touring party to Australia, where he was woeful with the bat, making 79 runs in six Test innings. He reclaimed form in Sri Lanka’s first class competition, hitting 464 runs at an average of 92.80 in four matches.Samaraweera was originally left out of Sri Lanka’s preliminary Test squad for the Bangladesh series, but was later called up when Mahela Jayawardene’s finger injury ruled him out of the series. He could not find a place in the final 16, however.Samaraweera’s decision was likely brought on as much by a lack of Tests for Sri Lanka in 2013, as his non-selection. Apart from the two home Tests in March against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka have only one away tour to Zimbabwe – which it is understood Samaraweera was unlikely to attend – before a scheduled year-end tour to Pakistan. He has also signed for a full county season with Worcestershire for 2013.Though he had received a central contract from SLC, the selectors had expressed a desire to build a youthful Test side in 2013, and Samaraweera was unlikely to play a major role in what little Test cricket Sri Lanka had scheduled.

Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara made a return to the No. 1 spot in ICC Test batting rankings after scoring a big century against Pakistan in the drawn Test at the SSC

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2012Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara made a return to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test batting rankings after scoring a big century against Pakistan in the drawn Test at the SSC. He had lost the top spot to West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul in March 2012, after failures in the Galle Test against England.At the start of the SSC Test, Sangakkara trailed Chanderpaul by six rating points, but earned 42 points for his first innings effort of 192. In the previous Test in Galle, Sangakkara had scored 199 runs in the first innings to earn 71 rating points. He is eight points short of achieving the 900 mark – a figure achieved by only 25 batsmen, including Sangakkara, in the history of the game.Sangakkara achieved a career-best 938 rating points during the Kandy Test against England in 2007, which is the sixth best performance in the all-time rankings.Apart from Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali also scored big hundreds and have moved up in the Test rankings.

A Headingley Test that had been marked throughout by cautious, disciplined cricket blazed into life with an unexpected England run chase and, ultimately, a draw.

The Report by David Hopps06-Aug-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsStuart Broad’s burst during the afternoon preceded a South Africa declaration setting England 253 to win•Getty ImagesA Headingley Test that had been marked throughout by cautious, disciplined cricket in morose weather ended with an unexpected and deeply uncomfortable England run chase as South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith, with the happy daring of a man who had recently witnessed the birth of his first child, set them 253 from 39 overs to level the series at 1-1 with one to play.England’s chase, which turned abruptly into a battle for survival at 106 for 4 with 19.2 overs remaining, was cagey but not entirely artificial as they responded in kind. Kevin Pietersen accepted the role of gung-ho opener – the first time he had opened for England in Test cricket – and struck three boundaries off Morne Morkel’s first over before he spliced to mid-on. Matt Prior also came in at No. 5 shortly before England reached the final hour with 154 needed off 20. Then Prior was run out by Smith, of all people, from behind square as Jonathan Trott procrastinated over a second run.The presence of Andrew Strauss and Trott in the top four summed up the double think in England’s batting order; both would have been better reserved for calamity. It was a run chase England were obliged to flirt with, having lost the first Test in the series, but knew that the odds were they would end up blocking out.Smith then, with the game safe, delayed a while before he dared to attack in force and called things off at 130 for 4 with six overs remaining – the equivalent of two sessions lost to rain had had the final say. The pressures of Test captaincy hang heavily. But both sides deserve credit for dicing with danger and both will claim a psychological advantage. What is beyond debate is that we have two sides entering the final Test at Lord’s with appetites whetted. Why, oh why, is this a three-Test series?If Pietersen’s exhilarating century on the third day had first brought the Test alive, it was a more improbable achievement – three South Africa wickets on either side of lunch – that enlivened it again. But his biggest impact came after the match as he warned that his stand-off with the ECB was on the verge of bringing his England career to an end.It certainly revitalised Stuart Broad, who is looking more and more a mood player these days, and who responded to a shift in the game with a five-wicket spell broken by tea, including a rush of four wickets in 20 balls as the sun broke through and an excellent Headingley pitch finally began to show signs of wear.Broad, bowling full and straight, removed AB de Villiers, who had played regally for 44 from 45 balls, and JP Duminy with successive deliveries. Duminy got his feet in a tangle as he was dismissed first ball; Vernon Philander soon followed.Then as tea approached, Broad made it four as he banged the ball in short at Jacques Kallis and brushed his glove to claim a wicketkeeper’s catch as Kallis limbo danced in self-preservation. Alviro Petersen was also pressed into service despite a damaged hamstring that prevented him running with comfort. His last wicket, a slog by Morkel, was followed by Smith’s declaration. And until recently his captaincy was held to be ultra conservative.South Africa had begun the final day with a lead of 33 and crucially their opening pair survived until the last over before lunch, at which point, frustratingly for Jacques Rudolph, he was again immediately overcome by Pietersen’s lightly regarded offspin. Pietersen had Rudolph stumped in his first over on the second day, and this time he had him lbw in his first over on the final day. On both occasions, the ball turned sharply.Rudolph, the more skittish of the pair, released a few neat off-side drives but never looking content against the short ball. Several deliveries, against Anderson in particular, scudded through the slips, and he also took another blow on the shoulder as a short ball from Anderson forced him into evasive action.As Pietersen assembled his best Test figures, Graeme Swann, whose offspin was omitted as England opted for an all-pace attack, was preparing to join Nottinghamshire for a Championship match at Taunton. The conclusion that England had erred in selection could not easily be avoided – although Pietersen’s final wicket, a loopy full toss which Hashim Amla drilled to short extra, hardly ranked as evidence.Pietersen also uprooted Smith, whose battling half-century, which was reached from the last ball of a morning session, extended to two-and-a-half hours and was interrupted by two rain stoppages, had made Headingley’s first draw in 13 Tests all but inevitable.Pietersen had thought he had Smith caught at the wicket only to waste a DRS appeal finding out he hadn’t. But Smith fell in Pietersen’s next over, this time the South Africa captain failing with a review after an ungainly sweep was caught by James Taylor at short leg. Umpire Steve Davis was perhaps fortunate that the TV umpire, Asad Rauf, did not overturn his decision.Smith looked embattled. The look suited him, as it always does. It was a grouchy morning, with showers scudding across the outfield at regular intervals, his knee was strapped to try to combat a dicey cartilage and he had a Test match to save. As events subsequently suggested, it was not as straightforward as many supposed.Smith had a let-off in the penultimate over before lunch when he edged Tim Bresnan, but was dropped one-handed by Anderson, diving to his right at second slip. Anderson later waved past de Villers’ edge against Pietersen. He is England’s best slip fielder, but there is a malaise at present in their close catching.That escape apart, Smith was in his element. He has built a formidable Test record – more than 8,000 runs at an average over 50 – by grimacing and deflecting, working the leg side with an angled blade and putting his considerable bulk on the line to great effect. His record against England is a special one.For all his inelegance, he is a special breed of cricketer. He defended his wicket with the resolve and physical presence of a Greco-Roman wrestler imagining he was fighting himself.England attacked him predictably, with their routine two-slips-and-a-gully and run savers on the leg side. With quick wickets imperative, on this occasion at least, the lack of a leg-side catcher verged on the negligent. But England are committed to their disciplines and by the time they played fast and loose with Pietersen and Broad it was too late.

Seductive as it may be in these parts, it can take as little as an hour to tumble towards Test match defeat

Daniel Brettig In Barbados06-Apr-2012Seductive as it may be in these parts, it can take as little as an hour to tumble towards Test match defeat.Australian visits to the Caribbean are littered with matches in which the visitors’ cause was ruined in a day, or less. Allan Border’s 1991 tourists rumbled West Indies for 149 to begin the pivotal fourth Test in Bridgetown, then watched aghast as they in turn were routed for 134, handing the match and the series to Viv Richards’ ageing team.Four years later and Australia’s otherwise triumphant 2-1 win was sullied by a second innings capitulation for 105 on the most poisonous of Port of Spain pitches. Then in 1999 Steve Waugh’s first series as captain was punctuated by two unfathomable turnarounds in Kingston and Bridgetown, as a previously dormant home side sprang to Brian Lara-inspired life.The latest captain to lead Australia to the region, Michael Clarke, is well aware of these lessons of history, via the memories of older heads including Ricky Ponting (a tourist in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2008) the bowling coach Craig McDermott (1991 and briefly in 1995) and Justin Langer (1995, 1999 and 2003).As he prepared to command his side against a West Indies team that has shown plentiful signs of rejuvenation under the captain/coach axis of Darren Sammy and Ottis Gibson, Clarke emphasised the importance of every hour, every session and every day over the next three weeks. He does not want his men to be lulled, even momentarily, into the often lackadaisical rhythms of Caribbean life.”The most important thing I think about touring the West Indies is one bad hour can cost you a Test match,” Clarke said. “You need to be at your best for all five days to have any chance of winning the Test. Against a very talented opposition, you can’t afford to give good players too many chances, and too many opportunities in the game to run away with it.”That’s going to be our main focus to make sure we are switched on throughout the whole five days, starting Saturday, and we believe that’ll put us in a good position to win the Test series. Building consistency is our goal as a team and I said throughout the summer we played some really good cricket in patches, and some cricket against New Zealand and South Africa that we’d rather forget. So as a team we’re trying to become a little more consistent, and this is going to be a tough test for us but will give a good indication of where we’re at with the consistency.”The West Indian team has always had Clarke’s respect for its level of ability and athleticism. What he is now about to discover is whether or not Sammy and Gibson have added enough steel and unity to make that talent and athleticism work cohesively for five days. Sammy said the team had built up its character over the past year, and he was eager to put it to the test.”It’s not only me. The coach has a goal for the team,” Sammy said. “The fact we can go out on the field and look like a unit and have that never-say-die attitude, as you saw in the one-day series we’ve been under 100 for 5 a few games and still posted over 200 – that’s been the most important thing. The coach has stressed professionalism and you can see the team is improving.”For me as captain to get the guys to gel well, play together and go out there and execute the team plan because the more we think team the more results we will get. I’ve played since 2004 and I always try to get along with everybody. It’s just my character but it’s not just me. The guys have made a conscious effort to fight for the West Indies, I won’t take credit for that.”It’s just everybody making a conscious effort. We know what the fans expect. Even though we lose but if we lose fighting … in the transition period we have not won for a long time and everybody’s just making that effort to go out there and represent the region well.”To that end, Sammy implored his batsmen to produce enough runs for an increasingly accomplished bowling attack to defend. Darren Bravo and Kirk Edwards are two young men facing Australia for the first time in Tests, but their captain’s expectations are clear.”Our batting has to play very crucial role in this series,” Sammy said. “The last Test match we played, in India, we scored over 500 runs. The batting has shown that they are capable of scoring runs, but it’s very important that the top six get the bulk of the runs – Kirk, Bravo, Shiv [Chanderpaul] and the two young openers. Last year Kirk got a hundred, Bravo got three. We do hope that come Saturday he digs in and finds a way to score, but it’s going to take a team effort to pile on the runs against the Aussies.”Otherwise it may be the hosts feeling the sting of one disastrous hour.

Dave Richardson, the former South Africa wicketkeeper and ICC general manager – cricket, has been recommended by the ICC board to succeed Haroon Lorgat as chief executive

Nagraj Gollapudi10-May-2012Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager (cricket) and former South Africa wicketkeeper, has been picked by the ICC board to succeed Haroon Lorgat as chief executive. Richardson, who will become the first former Test cricketer to occupy this position, was an unanimous choice over ECB chief executive David Collier – his closest competitor – because of his experience within the ICC.The ICC board will recommend Richardson’s name at the ICC annual conference in June, when Lorgat’s term ends. The nominations committee had met in Mumbai on Sunday to interview four candidates, including Collier, for the role and on Thursday obtained the ICC board’s support for Richardson.ICC president Sharad Pawar, who headed the nomination panel, said all four candidates were “good enough” but Richardson’s CV swung it in his favour. “What made Richardson the most suitable candidate was his knowledge of the ICC, and that was the most important thing,” Pawar told ESPNcricinfo. The other advantage, he said, was Richardson’s familiarity with the ICC board members, and vice versa.”He was an internal candidate. He is a former Test player and brings a lot of international cricket experience to the table,” Pawar said. “In addition he has been working with the ICC for quite long and is completely aware about the ICC operations and the members. All this only made it an unanimous decision.”Lorgat said he was happy to welcome a fellow South African to occupy the seat he will vacate on June 30. “He is experienced in the ways of the international game, both playing and in administration, which will hold him in good stead. He knows everybody and everyone knows him so he is a very familiar figure and it would provide a lot of comfort to members, to players, to stakeholders.”It is understood that though Richardson’s name was supported by almost all 13 members of the ICC board, things were much closer when the nomination committee discussed the issue after completing the extensive interview process on May 6 in Mumbai.”Things were very tight when it came to the nominations committee. There were only two candidates really as favourites – Richardson and Collier. The thing that swung it for David was his cricketing experience,” an ICC member board official revealed.That meeting was chaired by Pawar and attended by Alan Isaac (ICC vice-president), Julian Hunte (WICB president) and Keith Oliver (Cricket Scotland chairman). However, it was the presence of N Srinivasan and Giles Clarke – heads of the Indian and English boards who, it is understood, had been added to the panel at the last minute – that added intrigue to the selection process.There had been talk in the days leading up to Sunday that the BCCI and the ECB would enter into a deal to name Collier as the chief executive and allow the BCCI to nominate its candidate to the seat of ICC chairman when that post is created in 2014.Pawar, though, laughed off the theory. “What does the issue of the chairman have to do with the selection of the chief executive?” he asked.However, another ICC member board official did not rule out the possibility that there could have been some differences between Srinivasan and Clarke that might have forced the BCCI president to vote against Collier. “It is fair to say probably either Clarke or Srinivasan did not support Collier. If India and England both back the same candidate, do you think they are not going to convince the others at the table?” the official said.The official suggested that any alliance between Srnivasan and Clarke was not a deep one. “They are strong men, who want their way. Their collaboration was one of convenience,” the official said.According to this official, Richardson faced a big challenge in the form of India and England. He felt one possible factor for Lorgat not seeking another term was the increasing influence of Srinivasan and Clarke at the ICC board. “The future is not clear because here are some very different personalities at the ICC board who want increasingly to play the role of executive director in their style,” the official said. “I don’t know what role the chief executive will play. I do not even know what the role of this operational chairman means,” he said.For his part, Richardson called the nomination a “great honour.” “I am delighted with this opportunity and thank the ICC board for their approval. It has been a privilege to serve as ICC general manager, and that work will continue until such time as the ICC annual conference ratifies my nomination.”A qualified lawyer, Richardson has served as ICC general manager (cricket) for ten years and also played 42 Test matches and 122 ODIs for South Africa. After retiring from international cricket in 1998, Richardson was a business director with Octagon SA and a media commentator before becoming the ICC’s first general manager in January 2002.

A century from captain Alex Gidman helped Gloucestershire to a comfortable six-wicket victory over the Unicorns in their Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Exmouth

14-Aug-2011
ScorecardA century from captain Alex Gidman helped Gloucestershire to a comfortable six-wicket victory over the Unicorns in their Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Exmouth.The Unicorns are yet to win in the competition this season although half-centuries from James Campbell and James Ord gave them a sound footing before Alex Gidman’s innings wrapped up the win for the Gladiators.It was his brother, Will Gidman, who took the early wicket of Michael Thornely but Campbell (58) and Ord (55) then put on 96 runs for the second wicket before the former was caught off the bowling of Kevin O’Brien.Ord was the next wicket to fall to Jack Taylor and when Jayden Levitt became Taylor’s second victim, with Keith Parsons and Josh Knappett falling cheaply either side, the Unicorns were in trouble. Luis Reece and Amar Rashid managed to guide the hosts on to 234 for seven at the end of their 40 overs.Gloucestershire were quick out of the blocks at the start of their reply and when O’Brien (46) was out off the bowling of Reece in the ninth over the visitors had already accrued 89 runs. James Fuller was then bowled by Reece before Alex Gidman (106no) and Hamish Marshall (60) piled on the runs until Reece struck again to dismiss the latter.Kane Williamson became Reece’s fourth victim soon after but Gidman stayed firm and saw his team home as Gloucestershire won their fourth group match of the season.