Adam Lyth continued his hugely impressive start to the County Championship season as Yorkshire built a strong position against Somerset at Taunton

19-May-2010
Scorecard
Adam Lyth has enjoyed a prolific start to the season for Yorkshire•Getty Images

Adam Lyth continued his hugely impressive start to the County Championship season as Yorkshire built a strong position against Somerset at Taunton.The 22-year-old left-hander followed up his first-innings century with 93 off 170 balls, including nine fours, as his side closed day three on 154 for two and leading by 182. That made Lyth the leading scorer in Division One with 622 runs at an average of 62.Somerset had earlier been bowled out for 377, Arul Suppiah falling one short of a hundred and Jos Buttler scoring 52. Adil Rashid claimed 4 for 85 and David Wainwright 3 for 48. But, while the pitch is offering some slow turn, it will need to change significantly in nature for either side to force a win on the final day.In the corresponding fixture last season Somerset successfully chased a target of 476 so Yorkshire captain Jacques Rudolph, who played in that game, is unlikely to be thinking in terms of a generous declaration.Lyth was out in the last over of the day, lbw sweeping at Murali Kartik, and was clearly frustrated at letting the opportunity of a second century in the match pass him by. But he had again demonstrated his emerging talent, albeit on a flat wicket.Anthony McGrath was unbeaten on 38 and the only previous second-innings wicket to fall was that of Joe Sayers, also leg before playing across a full-length ball from Alfonso Thomas for 12.Somerset had begun the day on 226 for 4 in reply to 405, with Suppiah on 78. He and Buttler batted sensibly for the first hour and the opener looked certain to reach three figures. But on 99 Suppiah pushed forward to a ball from Wainwright that gripped and turned, forcing him to edge a catch to Rudolph at slip. He had faced 210 balls and hit 14 fours.Buttler followed up his maiden century at the Rose Bowl last week with another mature contribution. The 19-year-old reached his 50 off 69 balls, with seven fours, but then top-edged a short ball from Wainwright to Lyth at mid-wicket.Rashid removed Ben Phillips, who looked unhappy with his lbw decision, and Thomas, caught behind off a leg-break as Yorkshire pressed for a first-innings advantage. It was as good as secured when Oliver Hannon-Dalby nipped a ball back at Peter Trego to trap him in front and, although last man Charl Willoughby lofted a defiant six off Rashid, he was soon bowled by Wainwright, the ball just flicking the off bail.

Gareth Andrew smashed 27 off 11 balls to give Worcestershire their first away win in the Friends Provident t20 and send Leicestershire crashing to their sixth consecutive home defeat

07-Jul-2010
ScorecardGareth Andrew smashed 27 off 11 balls to give Worcestershire Royals their first away win in the Friends Provident t20 and send Leicestershire Foxes crashing to their sixth consecutive home defeat at Grace Road.Chasing a victory target of 143, the Royals looked to have blown their chances when they lost quick wickets and slipped to 112 for 7 with three overs to go. But Andrew struck four boundaries plus a huge six off Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard to turn things round and the Royals won by three wickets with six balls to spare.Victory lifted them off the bottom of the North group table and dealt a major blow to the Foxes’ hopes of reaching the quarter-finals. Worcestershire had made a solid start to their chase with opener Phil Jaques and Sanath Jayasuriya putting on 41 in six overs with little trouble.Jayasuriya struck the first six of the match with a fine shot off Hoggard but Jaques holed out to deep midwicket having hit five boundaries in his 27-ball innings. But the Royals’ reply began to stutter as spinners Brad Hodge and Claude Henderson suddenly curtailed the run rate.Henderson claimed the wicket of Jayasuriya and Hodge put the Foxes in control with a three-wicket spell in his four overs that cost 26 runs -14 of them coming off his final six deliveries. But Andrew strode in to snatch the game from the home side in dramatic fashion to give the Royals a well deserved success.Top scorer for the Foxes was Wayne White with 26 off 22 balls and but for 21 extras the home side’s total would have been considerably lower. Hodge and Jacques du Toit put on 48 in the first six overs but the departure of Hodge triggered a collapse that saw five wickets tumble for 32 runs in five overs.Du Toit was dismissed with a brilliant piece of work on the square leg boundary by Alexei Kervezee who knocked the ball up to prevent a six and then skilfully flicked it into the hands of Jaques to complete the catch. Offspinner Moeen Ali picked up the wickets of James Benning, Josh Cobb and White to finish with three for 19 and the Foxes’ total of 142 for 8 always looked short of being a competitive target.During the game Leicestershire’s members were asked to sign a petition for a special general meeting following the shock resignation last week of chief executive David Smith.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has said the tri-series in Zimbabwe, in which he led Sri Lanka to victory as stand-in captain, helped him recover his lost form and carry it into the Asia Cup

Sa'adi Thawfeeq18-Jun-2010Tillakaratne Dilshan has said the tri-series in Zimbabwe, in which he led Sri Lanka to victory as stand-in captain, helped him recover his lost form and carry it into the Asia Cup, where he sunk Bangladesh with an aggressive half-century followed by a canny spell in Dambulla.Dilshan made 71 off 51 balls, helping Sri Lanka achieve the first-ever 300-plus total in Dambulla, and set his sights on scoring 1000 runs before 2010 ends. He presently has 603. “Before the Zimbabwe tour I was out of form. I started training and watched video clips of my batting and the little things that had gone wrong with my batting, and I made the necessary adjustments,” he said after Sri Lanka’s 126-run win. “I got the start in the first match in Zimbabwe and I have carried the form to the Asia Cup.”I want to continue with this form for the next couple of months. I am close to 1000 runs in ODI cricket for the year. There are about five matches or so before the end of 2010 and I am hoping to make 1000 runs. I am enjoying my batting at the moment and trying to take some chances in the first 10 overs. If I survive I want to go for a big score. Today I had the opportunity to make a big score but unfortunately I got out in the 15th over.”Dilshan and his opening partner Upul Tharanga, who scored 54, put on 111 for the first wicket to set up Sri Lanka’s record total. “We have an understanding that whoever is hitting the ball well should get most of the strike. I enjoy batting with Upul.”According to Dilshan, the wickets in Dambulla were getting better and batsmen can enjoy batting in future matches. “It is a good wicket for both batsmen and bowlers. Bowlers who can hit the deck have a chance to get wickets and in batting, if the batsman plays strokes, he can put the bowlers under pressure. It’s an all-round wicket especially suited for batsmen.”Dilshan wasn’t done after his innings, returning to halt Bangladesh’s momentum with three quick strikes. He finished with 3 for 37 as Bangladesh were shot out for 186. “I am not surprised that I got three wickets. I knew when you play one spinner I will have to bowl a few overs,” he said. “In the last one and a half years I was keen to bowl but I hardly got a chance because of the presence of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan.”Today there was only one spinner and I had to bowl and grabbed that opportunity and showed that I can still bowl. I think I can serve the team as an allrounder bowling offbreaks.”

Forget the result of the Test. Sri Lanka won by ten wickets. Look at the bigger picture. Muttiah Muralitharan has reached the magical 800

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera22-Jul-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMuttiah Muralitharan had to wait but eventually became the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

At the start of his final Test, he was eight wickets short of entering territory that no other cricketer had. He began his last day in Test cricket needing two, and took one. His partner threatened to take everything else and he could do nothing but keep on bowling, and wait. The umpire denied him a palpable lbw. VVS Laxman, who kept him at bay for so many hours, ran himself out and there was only one wicket left to take. He waited and perhaps even fretted. He nearly ran out the last pair himself, twice. After 23 wicketless overs, with perhaps growing doubt about whether it would come at all, the moment arrived, and Muttiah Muralitharan was there, where no man had gone before. The long wait for the 800th wicket only exemplified the toil that went into the preceding 799. And by the way, Sri Lanka won his farewell Test too, by ten wickets for the seventh time.

Smart Stats

• This is the third consecutive time Sri Lanka have won the first Test of a home series against India without losing a single second-innings wicket. In 2001, it was a ten-wicket win in Galle, while in 2008 they won by an innings in Colombo (SSC)

• Lasith Malinga scored a half-century and took a five-for in the match, only the fourth instance of such a feat by a Sri Lankan

• In the first innings, Rangana Herath and Lasith Malinga put on 115, Sri Lanka’s fifth-highest partnership for the eighth wicket against all teams

• While Gautam Gambhir missed the chance to score a record six centuries in consecutive Tests during the home series against South Africa, Virender Sehwag, by scoring 109, has now scored three hundreds in consecutive matches

The script had tinges of romance and fiction. Lasith Malinga nearly didn’t allow Murali to get to 800. The Indian tailenders refused to relent, and it also threatened to rain. The real fight for the match, though, had ended in the first over of the day, when Malinga yorked MS Dhoni with a reversing outswinger. The ball seemed to drift towards leg but straightened at the last second to beat a clueless Dhoni and clatter into the stumps. Would Malinga knock out the tail before Murali got his two wickets? By design or otherwise, Kumar Sangakkara stepped in and removed Malinga from the attack after only three overs.Murali is 38. The wrists aren’t as supple as they once were, the old fizz was certainly missing, the shoulder aches and the knees creak when he pivots. Yet he still produced magical deliveries and took a five-for in his last Test. On the fourth day, he removed Dhoni with a magical offbreak and twice made Yuvraj Singh look like a tailender. Today, he didn’t have to do anything special and just remain patient. The temptation to produce something magical, something unplayable to reach the landmark would have been there but he didn’t show it. Murali kept delivering offbreaks, the occasional doosra and varied his pace and trajectory.Fielders crowded the bat, appeals were made and Murali trapped Harbhajan Singh in front. Abhimanyu Mithun offered unexpected resistance and time wore on. Malinga stayed out of the attack. India took the lead. Murali changed ends. The photographers kept clicking every time Murali bowled a ball and ran from end to end for better views. The television cameras continued to do extreme close-ups.Then it happened. Malinga eventually returned to knock out Mithun with an inswinging yorker. Barring a delivery that was pushed well outside off, Malinga was on target ball after ball but Laxman and Ishant Sharma stood firm. He did the same when he returned to bowl at the last pair Ishant and Pragyan Ojha. It felt right. Malinga bowling wides might have seemed like he was giving Murali time. It was also slightly alarming. What if Malinga took both wickets and Murali ended on 799? Perhaps there would be a touch of romance in that, if it happened, like the last-innings duck that left Bradman with an average of 99.94.Sangakkara opted for the new ball, and Murali very nearly made his tryst with destiny. A ripping off break from round the stumps had Laxman in front but umpire Daryl Harper didn’t budge. Perhaps he thought it was missing leg stump.There was more nail-biting drama after lunch.And just when the fans watching began to fear it would not come, it did. Ojha edged a flighted offbreak to slip where Mahela Jayawardene grabbed his 77th catch off Murali’s bowling. Murali roared, his team-mates hoisted him on their shoulders, his wife and mother jumped out of their seats, the crowd cheered and the fireworks exploded. All seemed well with the world.

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the three Pakistan players at the centre of spot-fixing allegations, will travel to London on Wednesday for meetings with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt

Nagraj Gollapudi and Osman Samiuddin31-Aug-2010Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the three Pakistan players at the centre of spot-fixing allegations, will travel to London on Wednesday for meetings with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt as pressure – from the ICC and ECB, among others – grows for the trio to be excluded from selection for the two-Twenty20 and five-ODI series against England that gets underway in Cardiff on Sunday.The three players didn’t travel with the squad to train at the County Ground in what will be a closed-door session. Team officials confirmed that the three players will meet PCB officials including the chairman in London. Also expected to be at the meeting is Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The appointment is scheduled for Thursday so the players will miss the one-day practice game against Somerset in Taunton. They are expected to stay in London for a couple of days at least as the Metropolitan Police are also likely to meet them.Whether or not they play any part at all in the limited overs series is open to question. Cricinfo understands the PCB was asked by the ICC and ECB, during an emergency teleconference on Monday, to ensure that the players alleged by the to be involved in spot-fixing do not play any part in the upcoming series. Ijaz Butt insisted to Cricinfo later on Monday that the three players would not be suspended though he said their selection remained an internal matter.However, unless they call up replacement players that decision leaves them with 13 men to choose from. If they decide to leave out Kamran Akmal, whose name was mentioned in the newspaper report but who has not been questioned so far or had his mobile phone confiscated, the squad will be without a wicketkeeper.The ICC president Sharad Pawar said after the teleconference that it was difficult for the Pakistan board to take action given that investigations were still underway. “ICC is waiting for the British police to complete investigation. ACSU is also looking into the details. It is also preparing a report in two to three days. The report by British Police and ACSU will give us a proper picture.”An official familiar with the meetings, however, told Cricinfo that “something stronger than a suggestion” was made to Pakistan to “not just not select them, but suspend them.” The push for the sterner option, Cricinfo was told, was fuelled by the need to ensure that the series – and cricket’s – commercial value is not harmed. “If you have tainted players taking part in an ODI or Twenty20 it might lead to people not coming to watch the matches and that has knock-on effects for sponsors and marketers. Suspending them will send a message that the game is trying to be kept clean.”Depending on what decision is taken and when, one solution could be to call on discarded players from the Test squad who might still be in the UK. Imran Farhat and the 18-year old left arm-spinner Raza Hasan are still in the country. Shoaib Malik has left for the US. Yasir Hameed and fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed were released from official duty on Monday and did not travel to Taunton with the squad. It is currently unclear whether they are still in London.The extra wicketkeeper in the Test squad, Zulqarnain Haider, was sent back before the third Test at the Oval, having sustained a finger injury on debut in the previous Test. Danish Kaneria was released from the Test squad early in the England series and though he remains with Essex, he has not been a part of Pakistan’s limited-overs set-up since 2007. In any case, he is currently on bail pending further inquiries in a separate spot-fixing investigation at Essex. The bail period ends on September 15, three days after the second ODI between England and Pakistan at Headingley.

Andrew White was within touching distance of a century at stumps on the first day in Harare, where Ireland produced a strong batting effort having won the toss

Cricinfo staff21-Sep-2010
ScorecardAndrew White was within touching distance of a century at stumps on the first day in Harare, where Ireland produced a strong batting effort having won the toss. At the close, the visitors were on 340 for 6 against the Zimbabwe XI, with White unbeaten on 97 and John Mooney on 25.The innings hadn’t started so well for Ireland, who were 72 for 3 when Shingirai Masakadza picked up his second wicket. But half-centuries to the captain William Porterfield (51) and Kevin O’Brien steadied Ireland on a very hot day.O’Brien fell for 71 when he was caught behind off the bowling of Natsai Mushangwe, who also removed Porterfield. But White found solid support from Gary Wilson, who made 47 in a sixth-wicket stand of 96.

Brett Lee will make his return for New South Wales on Sunday after a year in which he has been almost permanently sidelined by injuries

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2010Brett Lee will make his return for New South Wales on Sunday after a year in which he has been almost permanently sidelined by injuries. Lee has been named in the squad for the Ryobi Cup one-day match against Western Australia at Sydney’s Hurstville Oval, in what will be his first appearance for his state since a one-dayer on November 15 last year.A serious elbow injury caused him problems after that game and it prompted his retirement from Test cricket, although he had already missed the 2009 Ashes due to a side strain. He briefly returned this year for the IPL but made an early exit after breaking his thumb, and was then ruled out of the World Twenty20 due to a muscle strain in his right forearm.Despite his long list of ailments, Lee still wants to be part of Australia’s ODI and Twenty20 setups and has his sights set on the World Cup in February. He made his return to Sydney’s grade cricket on the weekend and picked up 2 for 31 in a ten-over spell, and is expected to flit between Sydney and Wellington next month to maximise his game time.The Blues have also regained Phillip Hughes as part of the 13-man group for the clash with the Warriors after his return home from Australia’s Test tour of India. However, they have lost his fellow opener David Warner, who has flown to India to be part of Australia’s one-day international squad.New South Wales squad Phillip Hughes, Phil Jaques, Nic Maddinson, Usman Khawaja, Brad Haddin (wk), Ben Rohrer, Moises Henriques, Sean Abbott, Steve O’Keefe, Brett Lee, Scott Coyte, Stuart Clark (capt), Trent Copeland.

BCCI president Shashank Manohar has told ESPNcricinfo that the board’s lawyers would give them advice on Kochi the end of the week

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2010The lengthy saga over the inclusion of the Kochi franchise in IPL4 has stretched into its second week, with BCCI president Shashank Manohar telling ESPNcricinfo that the board’s lawyers would give them advice about the next course of action by the end of the week. The franchise’s warring factions asked for a ten day extension to sort out their ownership disputes on Wednesday.”Kochi’s reply was received by our lawyers yesterday and will advise us accordingly,” Manohar said, adding that the case against Kochi had no similarities with that of either Rajasthan Royals or King’s XI Punjab teams whose franchises had been terminated at the end of the IPL’s governing council meeting in Mumbai on October 10.”Kochi have not breached any agreement, our issues with them are different,” Manohar said. “They have huge differences between two groups of people in the franchise. They can’t seem to agree on a central head and when the season begins, when we go into auctions and player agreements, we can’t have two voices coming from one team, which is why they have been asked to sort out their issues.”Despite the anxiety of other IPL franchises over the league’s future course of action, Manohar said the governing council had not decided when to meet to take a decision on the Kochi impasse. When asked whether the number of teams that would take part next season, and whether the termination of the Kochi franchise would mean a new auction, Manohar said, “You can speculate on anything, seven teams, eight teams, we will take the decision when the matter regarding Kochi has been settled.”The board president did not seem to believe that the player auction was an issue of any urgency. “An auction can take place at any time – all that has to be ensured is that players are available and signed on seven days before the first game.”The Kochi franchise has been controversial from its very inception in March. Rendezvous Sports World, a consortium of five companies, became the tenth IPL franchise after a successful bid of US$333.33m, but almost immediately ran into trouble over the composition of its ownership, after the discovery of a few “secret partners” in the consortium. A new agreement was then signed by both the parties but fresh controversy broke when Lalit Modi, the then IPL chairman, made the ownership details public on his Twitter feed.Six months after the auction Kochi has still failed to resolve its various internal disputes, which revolve around the distribution of shares in the consortium. The investors are unhappy with the promoters, who do not want to give up the rights to lead the franchise. Despite several lengthy meetings over the past few days, the two factions remain at loggerheads.

Brian McMillan, the former South Africa allrounder, has hailed his ex team-mate Makhaya Ntini as a “great servant to the game” after the fast bowler announced his international retirement.

Firdose Moonda03-Nov-2010Brian McMillan, the former South Africa allrounder, has hailed his ex team-mate Makhaya Ntini as a “great servant to the game” after the fast bowler announced his international retirement. McMillan was Ntini’s mentor during the 1998 tour to England when Ntini was playing in just his third series, and the two formed a strong bond.For McMillan it was Ntini’s fitness levels that stood out, a trait the fast bowler said he modelled on McMillan. Ntini became well known as the work horse of the South African attack, which he credited the allrounder for teaching him. “He had a lot of dedication which not all the guys have now,” McMillan told ESPNcricinfo. “Whenever you would throw him the ball, he would bowl. In some ways he was a lot like Shaun Pollock, in that he got through a lot of overs.”The connection between the two started from an early stage. “He was still very much a junior and one of the first development players in our side,” McMillan said. “He used to babysit my son Joshua on the sidelines, and Joshua is 17 now. It is things like that which make Makhaya not just special to me but also to my family.”However, there is still one bone of contention as far as McMillan is concerned. “There’s one thing I will have to talk to him about. He promised me he would invite me to his wedding and he didn’t,” he joked.McMillan believed that Ntini had made his own decision about quitting the international game and that it was not for him or anyone else to judge whether he had retired at the right time. “He must’ve known it was time.”Meanwhile, the current Test and one-day captain, Graeme Smith, gave his own tribute to Ntini after the third one-day international against Pakistan in Dubai which Smith missed due to injury. “Makhaya epitomised what the Proteas stood for and has been a great servant to the game both on and off the field,” said Smith. “I am most grateful to have been part of his career and successes and wish him all of the best with his life after international cricket.””He brought so much energy and laughter to the team, not forgetting that he is one of the fittest players I know, and as a captain it was always a pleasure to be able to call on him. I am so proud of his achievements, his records speak for themselves, and he leaves behind a lasting legacy for many to aspire to.”He has been a pioneer for youngsters out there and has represented every South African while he has donned the Protea jersey.”

Ryan Harris did his Test chances no harm with four wickets as Queensland took first-innings points against Victoria in the rain-affected clash at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2010
ScorecardChris Swan collected three wickets as Victoria’s batsmen struggled•Getty Images

Ryan Harris did his Test chances no harm with four wickets as Queensland took first-innings points against Victoria in the rain-affected clash at the MCG. Harris collected 4 for 41 and Chris Swan finished with 3 for 41 to deliver a handy lead to Queensland, who went to stumps with an advantage of 148 runs with a day to play.Cameron White declared late in the day at 9 for 152, when it had become clear Victoria would not overtake Queensland’s total, keen to give his bowlers a crack at the Bulls before the close. But Ryan Broad and Wade Townsend survived the sole over, bowled by Damien Wright, and will still be looking to get off the mark in the morning.Queensland could try to rattle off some quick runs on Monday and set Victoria a target, following the disappointing efforts of the local batsmen in their first innings. The bad weather meant play could not start until 2pm and the Bulls added 13 to their overnight total of 9 for 287 before Clint McKay picked up the final wicket, and in reply none of Victoria’s batsmen capitalised on their starts.David Hussey top scored with 38 and three other men reached the 20s, but Harris and Swan didn’d let them settle. The forecast for the final day is cloudy with isolated showers, meaning there could still be a result if the Queensland captain James Hopes decided to pursue it.