All posts by h716a5.icu

Bermuda’s performance in the recently-concluded World Cricket League Division Two series in Dubai, where they were relegated to Division Three, is ‘unacceptable’, say former players

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-2011Bermuda’s performance in the recently-concluded World Cricket League Division Two tournament in Dubai is ‘unacceptable’ for a team that qualified for the 2007 World Cup, former Somerset bowler George Breamer has said. The Bermuda team has come in for much criticism after a poor show resulted in a last-place finish out of six teams, and subsequent relegation to Division Three.”We were way on top of the cricket world but these guys have degraded Bermuda. This is a national disgrace,” Breamer told the . The cricketers have no one else to blame but themselves for coming up short in Dubai, he said. “It’s got to be a lack of concentration, discipline and application. The common sense doesn’t seem to be there.”Former St George’s Club wicketkeeper Dennis Wainwright questioned the players’ commitment. “We don’t have players with the commitment anymore and this is where we are lacking,” he said. “A lot of the players are on the team for the trip and I’m very disappointed because I expected us to win at least two matches.” Bermuda won just one of their six matches in the tournament.”The coach can only do so much. When you get on the pitch this is where you have to use the things you have been taught,” Wainwright said. “You can have the best names on paper but if the players are not prepared to give 100% then we are lost.”Wainwright also criticised the batting approach. “Everybody wants to hit the ball to the boundary but you can only do this on smaller grounds or when the bowling is weak. When the bowling is tight you have to learn how to run between the wickets.”The demise of Bermuda cricket has more to do with an overdose of limited-overs cricket in the country, former fast bowler Lee Raynor said, leaving the players with no chance to learn the game’s fundamentals. “[Limited] Overs cricket seems to have confused everybody,” he said. “This is a very sad day for Bermuda cricket, especially for our youngsters coming through.”

Yorkshire were unable to force a victory over Hampshire despite dynamic bowling by Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom on a tense final day

14-May-2011
Scorecard
Yorkshire were unable to force a victory over Hampshire despite dynamic bowling by Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom on a tense final day of their County Championship match at Headingley.Hampshire were twice in big trouble, at 7 for 4 and later on 130 for 8, but Kabir Ali and Danny Briggs survived the final 13.4 overs to claim the draw. The visitors had been set a target of 289 to win off 59 overs but in the end they were happy to close on 153 for 8, leaving Yorkshire still searching for their first home Championship win of the season.And there was further concern for Yorkshire when Bresnan had to leave the field with a tight calf muscle at 102 for 6 after bowling a second spell of three overs. Bresnan was unable to take the field again and director of professional cricket, Martyn Moxon, confirmed it was the same calf muscle which the England all-rounder injured during the World Cup.Fears that Yorkshire had batted too long before declaring six overs into the afternoon session on 165 for 8 appeared unfounded as Bresnan picked up three wickets and Sidebottom one in the space of 14 balls at a cost of just one run.Openers Jimmy Adams and Liam Dawson had scraped together only six runs by the eighth over when Bresnan sent both of them packing in three deliveries, Dawson falling lbw to one which kept low and Adams departing to a great catch at the second attempt by Joe Root at short leg.Johann Myburgh was lbw to the first ball of the next over from Sidebottom and the slump continued as Neil McKenzie was also lbw driving at Bresnan. A double bowling change brought on Steve Patterson and Ajmal Shahzad – Bresnan resting with figures of 5-3-2-3 – and Patterson kept up the pressure by having James Vince caught low down at second slip by Adil Rashid and bowling Nic Pothas off stump.Hampshire were 54 for 6 but captain Dominic Cork was not prepared to give in easily after capturing eight wickets in the match and he soon notched the eight runs he required to complete 10,000 in first class cricket.There was plenty of fight left in Sean Ervine, also, and as the stand developed he cut Sidebottom for four to reach his 50 off 62 balls with seven boundaries. The pair had added 73 in 19 overs and Yorkshire were becoming increasingly anxious when Cork was dismissed lbw by Rashid for 22 and three runs later the leg-spinner bagged the crucial wicket of Ervine who drove gently to captain Andrew Gale at mid-off.Amid mounting tension, Kabir and Briggs managed to whittle down the overs and neither the return of Shahzad nor the spin of Rashid was able to shift them.Yorkshire embarked on the final day on 62 for 3 with an overall lead of 185 but their progress was severely restricted by excellent bowling by Kabir who took four of the five wickets to fall.The only batsman to make any real progress was Gerard Brophy with an unbeaten 37 but he suffered painful blows on the right hand from both Cork and Ali and had to go to hospital for an X-ray which showed bruising and swelling around his thumb, his place in the field being taken by Gary Ballance.

Johan Botha has said he is enjoying having time to build an innings in his role as a top-order batsman for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL

Tariq Engineer04-May-2011Johan Botha was offered a rare gift two days before Rajasthan Royals’ opening game in the 2011 IPL – the gift of time. With Shane Watson in Bangladesh on international duty with Australia, there was a vacant spot in the top order and captain Shane Warne and coach Jeremy Snape thought Botha could be the man to fill the gap.The South Africa offspinner typically bats down the order for his country, where the need of the hour tends to be quick runs. But he has a reputation for being a resourceful and intelligent limited-overs cricketer, and some of his performances have hinted at more potential with the bat. It was this potential that Snape and Warne sought to unlock.”They both approached me at the same time and we had a general chat and they said ‘are you keen to do it?'” Botha told ESPNcricinfo. “Obviously, I was keen. I always watch guys bat. It is not great coming in with just a few balls to go.”Botha was confident he could handle the responsibility of coming in at No. 3, given his experience of doing it in four-day cricket in South Africa early in his career. That he would be doing it in Twenty20 in the subcontinent, which is always a good place to bat, only made the offer more tempting. But the biggest draw was the time to build an innings.”You have a few balls to have a look,” he said. “The field is up at the start too, so you can get off to a bit of a flier and have 10, 15, or 20 runs before the field is spread out, so that makes quite a difference. Normally, when you come in at the end, it is a few balls to go and one or two of the best bowlers on again, so that is not easy.”The move surprised many but so far Botha has looked like he has been batting up the order all his life. In Rajasthan’s opening game against Deccan Chargers, he made a fluent, unbeaten 67 from 47 balls to lead his team to a comfortable eight-wicket win. He backed that up with 39 from 32 balls, also unbeaten, against Delhi Daredevils as Rajasthan chased down 151.”I’ve really enjoyed it. Most of the time we have chased when I have batted at three and then the game dictates how you must play. It’s pretty simple.”He was also quick to praise his team-mates for making his job easier. “The guys I’ve batted with have been great also. Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson a few times, Ross Taylor … they can hit the ball out of the ground if they want to and that’s taken a little pressure of me.”Botha played in Rajasthan’s first loss to Kolkata Knight Riders but missed the next few games with a finger injury and Rajasthan went into a bit of a tailspin in his absence, despite the arrival of Watson. They lost two of three games in that spell, with the game against Bangalore rained out. Since Botha returned for the seventh game against Kochi, the team has promptly embarked on a three-game winning streak that has taken them into the top four.The streak includes a crucial win over then table-toppers Mumbai Indians on April 29. Botha masterminded his team’s chase of Mumbai’s total of 94, a target made tougher by a two-paced pitch, and his 45 was the highest score on either side by miles. More importantly, he blunted the threat posed by Mumbai’s human-yorker-machine, Lasith Malinga. Following the game against Pune, Botha’s average stands at a lofty 94.50 and his strike-rate is 121.93. Not too shabby for a makeshift top-order batsman.Botha’s unexpected success with the bat has overshadowed his day job, but he has been no mug with the ball either, as the confidence he has gained with the willow has trickled down to his bowling as well.”It has taken a bit of pressure off me. It does make me relax a little bit. To do something for the team is always good. It might not always be bowling. It is nice to contribute in a way. Hopefully, now I can keep doing both.”Warne has used him in every conceivable situation – to open the bowling, control the middle overs and bowl at the end of the innings. His best performance came against Mumbai, when he was introduced in the 16th over, a gamble which paid off spectacularly as Botha took the wickets of Mumbai’s twin towers, Kieron Pollard and Andrew Symonds, on his way to figures of 3 for 6. He has taken five wickets in all to this point in the tournament, and has an economy rate of 6.40, forming a potent spin combination with Warne that can take wickets while simultaneously keeping the run-rate down.Botha said he is happy to bowl whenever he is asked, though it is obviously easier to bowl once the field is spread out. “If you are bowling in the first six, you want to bowl early, in the first or second over because after that the batsmen get in and you are off for a hiding to nothing.”The key to opening the bowling, according to him, is to make sure you practise with the new ball, which is quite slippery when the shine is still on it, and to remember that there are only two guys outside the 30-yard circle in the first six overs. At the same time you want to be aggressive and try to take wickets “because that stops the other team from scoring”.”You are bowling to quality players so you might go for the odd boundary in the first few overs, but I think as long as you stay aggressive and want to take wickets, things will go your way more often than not.” Botha said he relies on changes of pace to keep the batsman guessing and while he may not be the biggest turner of the ball, he is very accurate, which makes it tougher for batsmen to get after him.His recent good run with bat and ball has him thinking perhaps there is an allrounder lurking somewhere inside that is ready to step out on the world stage, though it is still early days. “In the IPL, you can say that. In international cricket, I haven’t performed that well with the bat, or that consistently. I’ve had a good last few months. Yes, I would like to be [an allrounder].”There were many raised eyebrows when Rajasthan spent $950,000 on Botha in the January player auction, but it has already proved to be money well spent.

Geoff Cook, Durham’s wily director of cricket, is canny as well as wise and there was never any danger of his eluding him even though Durham had ended Lancashire’s unbeaten run in emphatic fashion

Jon Culley at Chester-le-Street01-Jun-2011
Scorecard
Geoff Cook, Durham’s wily director of cricket, is canny as well as wise and there was never any danger of his eluding him even though Durham had ended Lancashire’s unbeaten run in emphatic fashion to take a 17-point lead at what is effectively the half-way stage of the County Championship, in matches played if not duration.Durham completed their third consecutive 24-point win 20 minutes after lunch on the final afternoon, by which point it was clear that Lancashire had given up the ghost. Glen Chapple’s side have a game in hand but the demands of the Friends Life Twenty20, for which the Championship now pauses, are likely to put a bigger strain on their small squad than Durham’s.But Cook dismissed talk of the pennant returning to the Riverside, where it resided for two consecutive years before Nottinghamshire claimed it back, even though his team have already amassed 14 centuries and his bowlers 135 wickets.”We have played on some surfaces that have been testing for the bowlers and the batsmen have revelled in those conditions,” he said. “Three innings wins reflects the quality and variety of the bowlers that we have. It is the first time Durham has played two spinners regularly, we have managed to call upon Graham Onions and Stepen Harmison intermittently, Callum Thorp has been terrific and Liam Plunkett played a role at the start.”This win has given us a bit of a lead but I don’t think it has any particular significance. Lancashire still have a game in hand but the pattern of the Championship this season is that everybody seems to be beating everybody else.”And while forecasts of what lies ahead invariably refer to unforeseen twists, the reality is that setbacks tend to occur. Durham have one to deal with now after Ben Stokes, the potentially world class allrounder who appeared to have reached another level with his 185 here, suffered a dislocated finger, complicated by ligament damage, that will keep him out of action for six to eight weeks.Stokes, who is 20 on Saturday, sustained the damage in the field late on Monday, attempting to catch at ball cut hard at him in the covers. It is a blow for Durham but equally to the player, who had impressed England selector James Whitaker so much with the quality of his batting and bowling here. A call-up to the one-day side was beginning to look a strong possibility.”Ben has had a superb start to the season. He is a real talent and has made a fantastic improvement in the last month in terms of his mental approach,” Cook added. “It is disappointing for him, disappointing for Durham and disappointing for the England selectors if they were thinking of including him. But he still has years and years in front of him.”It is really sad that Ben’s season has been interrupted as it has. He was coming into form with both bat and ball, and it is no coincidence that his batting was improving as his bowling was improving as well.”That has given him real confidence. He was able to offer something with bat and ball, in some ways that took the pressure off him, and he was making some real contributions. But he is such a natural player that he will pick his game up very quickly when he comes back.”Happily, Paul Collingwood is ready for action in the Twenty20, although he will not discover fully how well his knee has recovered from surgery until he has experienced proper competitive action.Collingwood’s availability is a timely bonus, although another plus for Durham is the size of their squad, especially next to Lancashire’s. Where Cook is able to bring in four or five fresh faces for the Twenty20 and rest the same number, Lancashire’s small squad offers much less scope for rotation, especially when England’s Jimmy Anderson and allrounder Farveez Maharoof, who has been drafted in to Sri Lanka’s plans, are taken out.”We have 17 players and the scary thing is that if we pick up a few injuries we will be under a bit of pressure,” the Lancashire coach, Peter Moores, admitted. “I’d like more cover, I’d like an overseas player and we are looking at what can be done in that regard. But it has been clear that we have a cashflow problem.”Those on the field yesterday, for the first time this season, seemed to be a little lacking in fight, as if the task of batting through, three down and still 204 behind overnight, looked too much to them.Gary Keedy, the nightwatchman, had the right attitude, surviving for 67 minutes on the final morning before temptation got the better of him and he was bowled trying to sweep Ian Blackwell, his fellow left-arm spinner.Mark Chilton, his overnight partner, had already gone, caught behind trying to withdraw his bat when Mitch Claydon found some extra bounce. But it was what came after Keedy that will have disappointed Moores.Steven Croft was beaten by a fast, full delivery from Onions that hit him on pad, but Gareth Cross was trying to cut Blackwell and Tom Smith was caught at slip sweeping. Both dismissals would have struck Moores as avoidable. Five wickets had gone for 24 and, eight down at lunch and still 140 behind, survival was off the agenda.Soon afterwards, Chapple’s uppercut off a short ball from Claydon dropped into the hands of deep backward point and Blackwell picked up his fourth wicket by bowling Kyle Hogg.”I’d like to have seen us bat for longer,” Moores said, stating the obvious. “It was a pitch where there was always a ball there for you, that would catch you out because it bounced a bit more or kept low, but it was a pitch where if you got in you could be difficult to get out, as Ben Stokes and Dale Benkenstein proved in that excellent partnership. But sometimes you have to accept that a team has played better than you over the four days.”Beaten captain Chapple echoed those words. “We’ve got to take it on the chin, we were outplayed. We still competed, the effort was superb throughout, but the quality of our bowling wasn’t as good as it has been, mine included. It’s one performance, one loss, that’s all. We’re still confident because we’ve had a fantastic start to the year and you’re not going to go through a season without losing a game.”He praised Durham, but with a caveat. “They’re just playing really good cricket, but there are a lot of squads out there who are strong. Things can change quickly. Their batsmen are hot at the moment. They’re making the right decisions, they’re timing the ball. But that can change. I wouldn’t write anybody off.”

Holland were denied the opportunity to push for a second win in as many days in the Clydesdale Bank 40 when their clash with Worcestershire in Rotterdam was washed out

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2011
ScorecardHolland were denied the opportunity to push for a second win in as many days in the Clydesdale Bank 40 when their clash with Worcestershire in Rotterdam was washed out.Heavy rain in Hazelaarweg meant the Group A game was called off shortly after midday, meaning both teams pick up a point apiece. The Dutch will be disappointed to have not been able to take the field after their 40-run victory over Kent on home soil on Sunday.Peter Borren’s side have won three of their eight fixtures, while Worcestershire prop up the rest in the standings having won just once in six outings in the competition this season.

It’s time to get the calculators out. The permutations throughout the penultimate round of Championship matches have been many and varied but now some numbers really need to be crunched

Andrew McGlashan at Liverpool09-Sep-2011
ScorecardPaul Horton again missed his hundred but his innings was just what Lancashire needed•Getty ImagesIt’s time to get the calculators out. The permutations throughout the penultimate round of Championship matches have been many and varied but now some numbers really need to be crunched, especially for Lancashire and Hampshire as they try to keep themselves in touch at either end of the table.Events at Edgbaston – where Warwickshire forced Nottinghamshire to follow-on – are also vital and Lancashire need to at least match the result of the hosts otherwise they’ll be a distant third-favourite in the race for the pennant. Hampshire, meanwhile, are still in with a chance of maintaining their Division One status but they really need victory here to put pressure on Worcestershire. They will need to chase whatever target is on offer and Lancashire can decide what that is after closing 202 ahead following a superb final session.Their hopes for a significant first-innings lead were dented by Sean Ervine’s fine 128 which helped the visitors to keep the gap to seven runs. It left four-and-a-half sessions for either side to manoeuvre a position and Lancashire made the advances as Paul Horton, who fell in the 90s for the fourth time in the campaign, and Stephen Moore added 168 for the first wicket, the team’s best opening stand of the season.There was clear intent from the pair in the hour prior to tea as they scored at four-an-over but without taking risks although Horton was given a life on 25 when he was dropped at slip off Danny Briggs on his way to fifty off 76 balls. Progression wasn’t quite as brisk during the start of the final session as Dimitri Mascarenhas bowled his first nine overs for eight runs but the pace picked up again later.Horton, though, continued to lead the way including a well-struck six over deep midwicket and also used the reverse sweep when Briggs tried to nullify scoring options by coming over the wicket. However, three figures again eluded him – he has also been stranded in the 90s twice in the CB40 – when he picked out deep square-leg.Moore had played second fiddle with a half-century off 122 balls, but Lancashire showed their intent as Glen Chapple came in at No. 3. They will need to decide overnight exactly what they want to set Hampshire. An aggressive hour of batting in the morning will push the lead towards 300 although it will be hard work to bowl a side out.Hampshire began the day still 159 behind, but Ervine and Michael Bates took their sixth-wicket stand to 88 to frustrate Lancashire. The new ball had been taken first thing despite the impact of the spinners, yet Chapple and Kyle Hogg both bowled well enough to be deserve a reward with numerous deliveries missing the edge.With a view to Hampshire’s future it was an important innings from Bates who is an excellent gloveman yet doubts remain over his batting. The county tried to sign James Foster to replace Nic Pothas but it would be good to think they are willing to invest in a talented young player who can develop. Bates certainly didn’t look out place during his near two-hour innings which ended when he was superbly caught at short cover.It was spin that had again provided the breakthrough as Gary Keedy struck in his first over. Despite the breakthrough, though, Lancashire ran out of time for a full hand of batting points as Hampshire reached the 110-over mark on 309 for 6 with Ervine remaining firm having reached his first hundred of the season from 169 balls. Slowly wickets fell at the other end as Dimitri Mascarenhas edged to second slip and Keedy claimed his fifth when he clubbed to mid-off.At that point, shortly before lunch, Lancashire still had a chance of a lead of around fifty but Briggs then provided valuable support to Ervine in a stand of 59. The relative ease with which Briggs batted showed that, while help was offer from the surface, it remained good for batting. However, he was dropped at slip on 10 which cost precious time. He became the first, and only, wicket of the innings to fall to pace when he drove Chapple to cover and the innings ended when Ervine picked out long on.

23-Aug-2011
ScorecardRob Newton struck a half-century to give Northamptonshire the edge on day one of their top-of-the-table County Championship Division Two clash against Middlesex at Wantage Road.Poor weather delayed the start for over three hours, and then Newton made 66 from 104 balls including eight fours as leaders Northamptonshire closed on 145 for 3. The home team’s former player Steven Crook took two wickets for Middlesex, and Northamptonshire could have lost further wickets if it had not been for two catches being taken off no-balls delivered by Toby Roland-Jones.Middlesex won the toss and chose to field but persistent rain in the morning forced the start to be delayed until 2.20pm, meaning 34 overs were lost. The visitors approached the vital match 22 points behind their opponents in the table and 22 ahead of Gloucestershire, but with a game in hand on both.And they struck early as Tim Murtagh took his 64th County Championship wicket of the season in the third over when he forced Stephen Peters, on eight, to edge to Middlesex wicketkeeper Josh Simpson. Ollie Rayner then took a fantastic one-handed catch to his right at second slip after a drive by Kyle Coetzer, who was on 12 at the time, only to find out Roland-Jones had over-stepped.Scotland international Coetzer, making his home debut, made it to 22 before he was again caught by Rayner at second slip, this time off a legitimate delivery by Crook. Alex Wakely was to only make 14 before throwing his wicket away by chipping a fairly innocuous ball from Crook straight to Middlesex captain Chris Rogers at extra cover.Newton then survived a scare on 38 when he was caught by Rogers at mid-off off another Roland-Jones no-ball as Northamptonshire made it to tea on 113 for 3. A few minutes after the players came off, rain began to fall again but it stopped before the players were due to come out again.Newton completed a half-century from the first ball of the evening by pulling Rayner for four through square leg. After a single over had been bowled, the rain returned to cause a further delay. Once it abated, Newton returned to comfortably see out the day, with David Sales at the other end also surviving the fading light to reach 26 not out.

Misbah-ul-Haq will leave Zimbabwe satisfied after Pakistan’s clean sweep of the hosts across all formats

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2011Misbah-ul-Haq will leave Zimbabwe satisfied after Pakistan’s clean sweep of the hosts across all formats. Three weeks ago, he had said the most important aspect of the tour for Pakistan, apart from winning, would be to blood young players, re-introduce others and integrate as a team. After six victories, one Test, three ODI and two Twenty20s, Misbah believes they have successfully achieved all their goals.”We’ve really had some good teamwork, especially today in a close game,” he said, after Pakistan’s five-run in the second T20. “Everyone performed well, especially in bowling and fielding.”Over the course of the series, Pakistan gave debuts to three players, fast bowler Junaid Khan, legspinner Yasir Shah and batsman Rameez Raja and only Raja did not get enough opportunity to impress. Younis Khan, Sohail Tanvir and Imran Farhat enjoyed successful comebacks and only Shoaib Malik struggled for runs. But, it was one of the old guard, Mohammad Hafeez, who earned highest praise from his captain.”Mohammad Hafeez has been tremendous over the whole tour. He has contributed with the bat, he has contributed with the ball and I think you can say he was the main factor for us today.” Hafeez was Pakistan’s only centurion in the one-off Test, highest run-scorer in both limited-overs series and highest wicket-taker in the T20s, with seven scalps at an average of 3.00.Hafeez’s half-century and three wickets in the second T20 sealed the win for Pakistan, after it looked like they had finished 30 runs short. “We were looking for anything around 150-170, we were 20-30 runs short,” Misbah said. Hafeez’s triple strike winded Zimbabwe, who fell behind the required run-rate and eventually needed 20 runs off the last over.Sohail was entrusted with defending the total and was left to save six runs off the last ball. His low full toss outside the off stump ensured Zimbabwe fell short of the target. “The plan was to bowl a yorker outside the off stump and he bowled tremendously there,” Misbah said. “That ball was excellent, it was really on the spot.”Although Pakistan dominated Zimbabwe through the series, Misbah said he noticed improvement in the hosts and felt they put his team under pressure in Sunday’s match. “They [Zimbabwe] did not panic, they just played cool, that was the main danger for us and that’s why they came so close.”Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, took heart from the way his team performed despite the defeat. “We showed better character, there is no comparison compared to the last game,” he said. “All credit to Tatenda [Taibu], he showed his experience. Unfortunately no one could really stick it out with him and get us over the line, but there were many more positives today.”Taibu’s undefeated 37 was the most composed knock from anyone of the Zimbabwe batsmen and he came close to winning the match. “We could have got some more singles, singles are very important in T20 and we tend to forget that sometimes,” Taylor said. “If guys ran harder and pushed the fielders harder, then over twenty overs you can make five runs. It’s frustrating but in the end it was a good game of cricket.”Taylor said the two instances, in the first ODI and the second T20, where Zimbabwe came close to winning, gave them hope that things are getting better. “It’s a massive boost for us to know that we are playing good cricket but we need to be a little more consistent.”Zimbabwe have little more than three weeks off before hosting New Zealand and then travelling there as well. “We will have two and half weeks of solid work, on our fitness and specifics. We are going to go away and work even harder than we did for this series. We are willing to learn and we are willing to get better fast so we can prove to the world that we can be competitive.”

Fittingly, the highlight of the day was the left-arm spinner Elias Sunny, who, on debut, injected some excitement into an encounter heading for only one result

The Report by Siddhartha Talya24-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shahadat Hossain struck the first blow on Test return, but thereafter it was all about debutant Elias Sunny•Associated PressAs the sun shone after two washed-out days, the debutant left-arm spinner Elias Sunny injected some excitement into an encounter heading for only one result. He came into action after Bangladesh declared, and picked up four wickets on a pitch that’s has become highly spin-friendly but the time already lost to rain meant there won’t be much to play for barring momentum for the next Test and individual accolades.The pitch didn’t appear to have been affected much by the rain. There was limited movement but some extra bounce for the seamers; the spinners, however, got more assistance from the track than on the first day and the sharp turn was exploited by Sunny and Devendra Bishoo. The Bangladesh batsmen didn’t help their cause with some rash strokes while their counterparts were quite scratchy, struggling against the turn and bite. The hosts kept chipping away, even dislodging Shivnarine Chanderpaul just short of a pressure-relieving, fluent half-century, in a contest they’d had the better of.Sunny would have felt like a victim of some malicious conspiracy when he had two catches dropped off his bowling inside his first three overs. He is slower than his team-mate Shakib Al Hasan and gives the ball a lot more air, and was threatening when he came round the wicket, angling the ball in and getting it to spit away from a good length. He finally had his man, an unconvincing Kirk Edwards, who missed a sweep and was trapped in front, sparking wild celebrations from the debutant.Sunny, Shakib and Nasir Hossan, the other debutant spinner, were impressive bowling with close-in catchers. They often surprised the batsmen with the extra bounce, either catching the glove or a leading edge, and were unfortunate that neither short leg, silly point nor backward short leg were able to get their hands around those half-chances. But they continued creating opportunities and Sunny stood out. He saw off Darren Bravo, who stabbed at a delivery that landed in the rough to be caught at short leg.Chanderpaul, seeking to revive West Indies from 52 for 3, put on his more attacking side. A master of unsettling the bowling, whether defending or attacking, he infused life and urgency. Opener Kraigg Brathwaite blocked one end, nervy on occasion – Rubel Hossain bowled him off a no-ball – but mostly solid, while Chanderpaul eased the pressure at the other. He thrashed his first ball, off Sunny, over square leg, picked the gaps for twos and threes and stepped out to Sunny twice in an over to launch him over the long-on boundary.The pair added 62 for the fourth wicket before Brathwaite poked at a turner from Sunny to offer a bat-pad catch. The innings was rebuilding again with the experienced Samuels at the crease but he lost Chanderpaul, given out caught at slip though replays couldn’t conclusively show an inside edge. Sunny had had the last laugh.The West Indies batting undermined their efforts in the morning session, when Bishoo and Fidel Edwards shared five wickets to peg back the hosts. Despite those wickets, however, West Indies, as on the first day, offered a healthy dose of short-pitched deliveries that handed out some easy runs. The stand-out batsman in the morning was Nasir, who gave the crowd plenty to cheer about with his sprightly batting, which has already earned him two ODI half-centuries. He was especially ruthless against the bad balls, slashing and pulling the seamers and dispatching Bishoo for two fours in a cameo of 35. Joining him to walk away with praise at the end of the day was his fellow debutant.

Daniel Christian has been dreaming of a baggy green since he was a child, but he didn’t think it would happen this summer

Brydon Coverdale05-Dec-2011Daniel Christian has been dreaming of a baggy green since he was a child, but he didn’t think it would happen this summer. It still might not. But as the Australians make their way to Hobart for the second Test against New Zealand, which starts on Friday, the selectors will ponder the team’s balance, and Christian’s name is sure to spark some interesting discussions.Without Shane Watson in the side, Australia were a bowler short at the Gabba. It didn’t really matter, as they accounted for New Zealand within four days, but consideration will be given to the workload required in back-to-back Tests for a youthful attack featuring James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc.There are only so many overs of gentle outswing that Michael Clarke can ask of Michael Hussey. It is in this role that Christian could play a part. For now, he is in the 12-man squad; if the selectors want an extra bowler, he will become Australia’s 427th Test cricketer, and the second indigenous man to play Test cricket for Australia behind Jason Gillespie.”Without Watto [Watson] there, they’ve obviously got me in there as an allrounder, so hopefully if I do get the opportunity I can provide that bit of balance, some extra overs in there to give the other blokes a [rest],” Christian said. “When you’ve got a couple of young guys who bowl high 140s [kph] in the team, it’s not going to be my role to do that.”On the surface, it seems a strange time for the selectors to have called on Christian for his bowling: he has taken only ten Sheffield Shield wickets this summer – the same amount as Simon Katich – at an average of 49.70. But he believes the figures don’t do justice to the way he has bowled this season, and certainly no argument can be built against his batting.Until the current round of Shield games started, Christian, 28, was the leading run scorer in the competition, with 475 at an average of 59.37. He had scored two centuries and has clearly enjoyed the promotion to No.6 in the South Australia order, following the retirement of Graham Manou at the end of last season.”I’ve had a good couple of months with the bat in Shield cricket,” Christian said. “I’ve been bowling as well as I ever have, I think. The stats probably don’t show it – I haven’t taken that many wickets. But the ball has been coming out of the hand as well as it ever has. Personally, I feel like it’s a good time to get picked because I feel like I’m on top of my game.”Not that he was expecting a Test call-up. After playing three Twenty20 internationals at the start of 2010, Christian had fallen behind other similar players in Australia’s shorter-format squads, with Mitchell Marsh having made his debut and John Hastings establishing himself as a regular. And of course, when Watson is fit, there is no room in the Test side for another allrounder.”I thought I might have been close for the Twenty20 and one-day side around last season,” Christian said. “I was keen to start this season well and hopefully be involved in that stuff somewhere along the line as well, but Test selection, I wasn’t thinking about it at all.”Christian is highly rated by his peers. Last season he won the Australian Cricketers’ Association award as the MVP across all three formats. Michael Hussey said Christian would offer plenty to the Test side if he made the cut, above all as a lower-order striker.”He’s a good all-round option,” Hussey said. “He can bowl long spells, he can keep it tight, he can bowl reverse swing. Very athletic fieldsman, he can field anywhere really, he’s got a good arm and a good catcher, so he’s very versatile in that respect.”But I think the area he’s most dangerous is with the bat, particularly against a tiring attack or something like that, he can really take the game away from them very quickly. He scores at a very fast rate, he’s not someone who’s just going to hang around, he’s going to score at a very good rate and he can take the game away from the opposition very quickly. I’ve seen him in a few one dayers for SA, where he’s come in to 50/50 situations and he’s just blown the opposition away scoring 90 or 100 off 60 or 70 balls. That’s where I think he can be most damaging.”Whether he wins a chance to damage New Zealand depends on how the selectors wish to balance Australia’s side in Hobart. But if a baggy green comes on Friday, Christian is confident he’ll be ready.