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Hashim Amla’s good form has brought him a recall to South Africa’s 12-man squad for the one-off Twenty20 international against India in Durban

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2010Hashim Amla’s good form has earned him a recall to South Africa’s 12-man squad for the one-off Twenty20 international against India in Durban. The game will also be Makhaya Ntini’s last in South Africa colours. Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have been rested while opener Loots Bosman has made way for Amla.”We have decided to rest Kallis, Steyn and Morkel because of the heavy workload they have had in the Test series and the important roles they will have to play in the ODI series against India as well as in the World Cup,” Andrew Hudson, the convenor of selectors, said.This will only be Amla’s third T20, after he played two games came against Australia last year. Amla has been in terrific form this year, and averages 75.57 from 15 one-dayers with five centuries and four half-centuries.Ntini announced his retirement from international cricket in November and his last game for South Africa was the Boxing Day Test of 2009 against England, after which he was dropped from the side.The match will be played at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, one of the venues for the football World Cup, on January 9 and will inaugurate the Krish Mackerdhuj Trophy, commemorating the first arrival of Indians in South Africa 150 years ago.Squad: Johan Botha (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, David Miller, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Graeme Smith, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, has said the delay in naming the captain of the World Cup squad has led to the creation of factions within the national side

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2011Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has said the delay in naming the captain of the World Cup squad has led to the creation of factions within the national side.Currently Misbah-ul-Haq, who has seven half-centuries in his previous seven international innings, is the captain of the Test side while Shahid Afridi has led the limited-over teams over the past year. Under Misbah’s charge, Pakistan drew a Test series against South Africa in UAE, in November, before winning the two-Test series in New Zealand. Afridi returned to the helm for the ongoing one-day series, with Misbah as his deputy, and Pakistan were thrashed by nine wickets in the first game, by a New Zealand side that was on a 11-match losing streak.In the meantime, the selectors finalised their World Cup squad, but did not name the captain, making Pakistan the only team that is yet to identify its leader for the event.Inzamam said the uncertainty was hurting Pakistan’s preparations. “With only three weeks left to the World Cup, Pakistan have no captain and the blame goes to the PCB for creating an impasse which has divided the team into two groups, supporting Afridi and Misbah,” Inzamam said. “In this scenario one cannot have high expectations for the team.”Inzamam was in charge of Pakistan during their disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign, which ended with a first-round exit after a loss to Ireland, which was followed by the sudden death of their coach Bob Woolmer.”The PCB has failed to control the situation and if Pakistan fares badly in the World Cup, people will accuse the players and not the board.”The selection of the Pakistan’s 15-man squad without consulting coach Waqar Younis or the captain also came in for criticism from Inzamam. “When a team is without a captain how can a proper strategy be made? The team is playing a one-day series in New Zealand but they do not know who will be their captain in the World Cup which is very damaging.”

Round-up of the third day’s play in the second round of matches in the Faysal bank Pentangular Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2011The game between Baluchistan and Federal Areas at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground seems destined to finish in a draw, but Baluchistan managed to secure a 75-run first-innings lead on the third day. They finished the day 172 runs ahead with seven wickets remaining. Federal Areas had made a solid start in their innings, and reached 190 for 3, before a couple of quick strikes by Baluchistan’s spinners pegged them back. Umar Amin carried on from his overnight score of 37 and reached 82, but the middle and lower order did not add enough runs as Federal Areas conceded the lead. The other overnight batsman Raheel Majeed was trapped lbw on the third morning by fast bowler Abdur Rauf. The spinners then took over, with left-armer Zulfiqar Babar taking 4 for 53 to run through the middle order. Rauf came back to get rid of the tail and ended with figures of 4 for 85.Sind reached 267 for 3 in response to Punjab’s 515 on the third day at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The match is poised interestingly because both teams have a chance to gain points for the first-innings lead: Punjab need seven wickets, while Sind need 248 more runs. The other possibility is Sind do not pass Punjab’s score but do not get all out either, in which case the points will be shared. After Punjab had plundered runs on the wicket in the first two days, it was Sind’s batsmen’s turn on Monday. But they ran into trouble early on as two quick wickets fell and then Fawad Alam was forced to retire hurt. Captain Khalid Latif and Hasan Raza bailed them out, both scoring half-centuries, and then wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed came in and got a fifty of his own. Raza was batting on 75 not out and Sarfraz 68 not out at stumps.

Graeme Smith did not return to South Africa with the rest of his team-mates 10 days ago, even though the World Cup was his last assignment as captain

Firdose Moonda04-Apr-2011After seven weeks battling tough, foreign conditions at the World Cup, most players would be forgiven for wanting a break. There’s the odd one, like Ricky Ponting who may be fighting to prove a point and will go straight into another series, but some, like Shahid Afridi, will welcome some rest. Another – Graeme Smith, who stepped down as South Africa’s ODI captain after the tournament – used the downtime to move on with his life.Smith did not return to South Africa with the rest of his team-mates 10 days ago, even though the World Cup was his last assignment as captain. For a few days, there was no word of his whereabouts, but then it emerged he had flown to Ireland to be with his girlfriend Morgan Deane. In that time, the pair became engaged, a fairytale ending for Smith’s mini-vacation.Nothing about that story would have been considered unusual had South Africa not crashed out of the tournament in spectacular fashion, losing in the quarter-finals to New Zealand. The team’s record of never having won a knockout game in a World Cup stayed intact and, after bringing their most dynamic squad to the tournament as well as their best attitude, answers were needed. A section of South African fans had wanted those answers from Smith himself, even though he had stepped down as skipper.Strictly speaking, Smith gave them his thoughts when he addressed the media, and the public, at a post-match press conference in Dhaka. It was a medium that was slightly removed from the South African public, but as had they watched the television inserts and read the stories, they would have had his explanation. However, because they wanted it first hand, they have since called his no-show everything from cowardly to just plain selfish.The real crux of the fans’ anger lies somewhere in the galaxy that has become social networking, because unlike a face-to-face conversation, the two parties can’t simply part amicably and wait until the next time they meet to resume talking. On the internet there is no next time, there is simply all the time. When Smith started the conversation with his fans, the day he opened a Twitter account, that was something he either should have known or should have had told to him by his employers, Cricket South Africa.He is not the most active tweeter, unlike AB de Villiers or JP Duminy, but he is still out there. During the tournament, he posted a few times. After the loss against England, he said: “I believe in this team…we have the opportunity to shape today and tomorrow and we will be there when it counts. Thx to our loyal supporters.” It was the kind of message that helps the die-hards keep the faith and draws the disbelievers in, and fuelled his following on the site.However, his last message is dated March 16th: “So gonna be offline in Bangladesh…thx for all your supportive messages for the team. Chat soon. : -)” How soon, the fans may have wondered? They didn’t want anything specific from him, he didn’t have to say that he was sorry, like Afridi did, he didn’t have to admit that South Africa were outplayed and out-thought like Daniel Vettori did after New Zealand’s semi-final loss to Sri Lanka. He just had to say something, so his followers didn’t feel abandoned.The situation was not helped by Cricket South Africa (CSA) announcing a press gathering on the day the team landed back in the country. The branding went along the lines of “come to the airport to welcome the boys home”. The arrival was marketed needlessly, creating a hype that should only have happened had the team returned victorious. Had the players slipped back into the country and a small press conference been held, few would have noticed Smith’s absence.The magnitude of the event didn’t allow for that and it was immediately evident that he had not flown home. The team management said he had stayed away for “personal reasons,” revealing no more about where he was. It was outgoing coach Corrie van Zyl and team manager Mohammed Moosajee who addressed the media, not Smith. Instead of reacting with mild irritation which wore off, some South Africans have behaved like scorned lovers.Their jokes about Smith’s relationship have had a nasty edge, as though they are deliberately taunting him. “Graeme Smith’s fiancee bought him cuff links, he bought her a choker,” was one of the more cunning and less vulgar ones. In their sarcasm, they’ve failed to see that Smith did something completely human by taking some time off after a tough period. In his hope for privacy what Smith and his management failed to do was be prepared for the effects of a growing culture of no privacy that social media creates.

Delhi Daredevils’ captain Virender Sehwag will miss the rest of the IPL after having decided to undergo surgery on his injured shoulder

Nagraj Gollapudi09-May-2011Virender Sehwag will miss the rest of the IPL after deciding to undergo surgery on his injured right shoulder. The operation will take place later this week and, with recovery time pegged at six to eight weeks, it should rule him out of India’s upcoming tour of the West Indies from June 4, and perhaps even the England series that begins in mid-July.Sehwag picked up the injury, a slap lesion or labrum (shoulder blade) tear, during the 2009 IPL. He travelled to England for the World Twenty20 in 2009 carrying the injury, but did not play any of India’s matches and consulted with Andrew Wallace, the London-based surgeon who had worked on Sachin Tendulkar’s tennis elbow.A BCCI source said it would take a minimum of six to eight weeks for Sehwag to recover and following rehabilitation protocols will be important. “The possibility of Sehwag missing the England tour is high,” the source said.”It will be a miracle if he plays another match,” PB Vanchi, director of GMR Sports, owners of Delhi Daredevils, said. Delhi – who will now be led by James Hopes – are presently seventh in the points table and, with three games left, have a slim chance of making it to the qualifiers.Vanchi said the decision was taken after Sehwag held talks on his injury with the BCCI, who advised him to undergo surgery as soon as possible. “He has a problem, he struggled in the last match too. The BCCI is making the arrangements for the surgery,” Vanchi said. “They are waiting for a date. If he needs surgery we are not going to be coming in the way.”Sehwag confirmed the development and is expected to travel to London at the earliest for the surgery. The injury is the same one that had ruled him out of the two World Twenty20s and, more recently the one-day series in South Africa in January. Sehwag was declared fit in time for the World Cup after having undergone rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Though he did not bowl during India’s victorious campaign, Sehwag finished seventh overall in the run charts, in the tournament, including a blistering century in the opening game against Bangladesh.Sehwag’s decision to play the IPL was always going to be potentially risky, especially in light of the heavy workload during the World Cup. But he had the dual responsibility of leading Delhi as well as being their best batsman. Sehwag is currently the top scorer in the IPL with 424 runs and his loss is likely to further hamper Delhi’s chances, who have managed just four wins out of their 11 games played so far.

The PCB has asked Sri Lanka Cricket “for their views” on the prospect of playing their series later this year in Pakistan instead of Sri Lanka

Osman Samiuddin21-May-2011The PCB has asked Sri Lanka Cricket “for their views” on the prospect of playing their series later this year in Pakistan instead of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka were the last team to play international cricket in Pakistan – their tour in March 2009 was cut short after terrorists attacked their team bus as it was on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the second Test.That attack, on the back of growing security concerns over the previous two years, brought to an end international cricket in the country, taking away the 2011 World Cup in the process.The two sides are due to play a full Test and limited-overs series in October, scheduled in the FTP officially as a ‘home’ series for Pakistan. Until now the series was due to take place in Sri Lanka, but after a meeting between PCB chairman Ijaz Butt and Pakistan’s interior minister Rehman Malik on Thursday, the government is keen on bringing international cricket back to the country.”The government wants this [series to be held in Pakistan],” a senior PCB official told ESPNcricinfo. “We have asked SLC again to let us have their views on the issue.”The prospect of the series actually taking place in Pakistan remains a distant one. So far the government has only passed on verbal instructions to the PCB, who in turn have written to SLC. As of Saturday, when a SLC official was asked about the development or whether the board had been approached, he told ESPNcricinfo: “Not to my knowledge.”Most of Pakistan’s major cities – where such a series is likely to be played – have been targeted fairly recently by terrorist attacks, within the last year in the cases of Lahore and Karachi. At the beginning of this month Osama bin Laden was killed in an operation by US forces in Abbottabad, a town not far from the country’s capital Islamabad.Pakistan have played their ‘home’ series since the Lahore attacks at a number of venues; a series against South Africa was arranged in the UAE. In 2009-10, they broke up a full tour of New Zealand by playing the ODIs in Abu Dhabi and the Tests in New Zealand itself. They used England as a venue for two ‘home’ Tests against Australia last summer. Pakistan is also, incidentally, in talks with SLC over staging their series with England over the turn of the year in Sri Lanka.Afghanistan will actually become the first international team to play in Pakistan next week when they take on Pakistan ‘A’ in three 50-over games. Interestingly enough, one of the games was arranged for Abbottabad, but after the meeting between Butt and Malik the venue was switched to Islamabad.

The ICC has defended its decision to do away with runners in international cricket, claiming there had been widespread abuse of the rule

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2011The ICC has explained its decision to do away with runners in international cricket by saying there had been widespread abuse of the rule that allowed batsmen to ask for runners in the event of an injury. The runner rule has been in operation for more than a century, appearing in the MCC’s Laws of Cricket as far back as 1884 and perhaps even before then, but the ICC decided to repeal it on the recommendation of its Cricket Committee in May this year.”It’s been considered by the cricket committee… and there has been a strong feeling that runners were used not in the right spirit,” ICC chief Haroon Lorgat said in Hong Kong on Thursday at the conclusion of the the five-day annual conference. “It’s quite a difficult one for umpires to determine whether there has been a real injury to batsmen or whether it was a tactical use of runners.”The move was also an attempt to redress disparity between batsmen and bowlers Lorgat said. “If a bowler gets injured you can’t continue bowling for the rest of the day and the feeling was that it would be better to not allow the use of runners because there has been abuse in the past.”In the 2009 Champions Trophy, Andrew Strauss refused to allow his South African counterpart Graeme Smith a runner after Smith had requested one due to cramps. Strauss said cramps were a side-effect of a long innings while Smith claimed runners had been granted for that reason in the past, pointing to an inconsistency in the rule’s implementation.Among other changes decided on by the ICC at the annual conference were the use of new balls from each end in ODIs, batting and bowling Powerplays to be taken between overs 16 and 40, and bowlers being allowed to run out non-strikers backing up unfairly.

A round-up of the fourth match-day in the ICC Americas Region Division One Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2011Canada are yet to be beaten in the ICC Americas Region Division One Twenty20 tournament after they won a tense match against USA by 10 runs. Canada chose to bat and started positively with openers Jason Sandher and Khusroo Wadia putting on 76. Wadia went on to score 56 (off 35 balls) but the rest of the batting crumbled. Bhim George (3 for 28) and Orlando Baker (3 for 13) crippled the middle and lower order and Canada were bowled out for 131. USA lost opener Gowkaran Roopnarine with the score on 3 before Sushil Nadkarni’s 40 (off 35 balls) steadied the reply. While always a little behind the required run-rate, USA pushed Canada to the end despite Satsimranjit Dhindsa’s 3 for 27 and Zahid Hussain’s 2 for 17. USA needed 20 runs off the last over, but fell 10 runs short.Argentina’s miserable run in the tournament continued. They lost to Suriname by five wickets to remain winless in the competition. Argentina were bowled out for 83 with offspinner Mohindra Boodram taking 5 for 14 in just two overs. Suriname faltered in the chase, stuttering on 30 for 3 but Arun Gokoel’s steady 36 (off 39 balls) ensured victory for Suriname after 19 overs.Bermuda stormed to a 10 wicket win over Cayman Islands. Bermuda put Cayman Islands in to bat and were rewarded for their decision as they restricted their opposition to 87 for 8. Sixteen-year-old Kamau Leverock took 3 for 13 for Bermuda and only Steve Gordon (23 off 23 balls) and Pearson Best (22 off 38 balls) reached a score of higher than 10 for Cayman Islands. Bermuda eased to victory in less than 16 overs, with Lional Cann (54 off 43 balls) scoring the bulk of their runs. Captain David Hemp was unbeaten on 24 (off 49 balls).

Elena Tice is the second youngest cricketer ever to play in an official ODI or Twenty20 international, after making a debut for Ireland women against Netherlands two weeks ago

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2011There has been plenty of news about the strides being made by Ireland’s men’s team in recent years, but there have also been positive developments in their women’s game. With an eye on the future, Ireland women fielded Elena Tice, the second youngest cricketer ever to play in an official ODI or Twenty20 international, in their games against Netherlands two weeks ago.The youngest ever debutant is Pakistan’s Sajjida Shah of Pakistan, who debuted aged just 12 years and 271 days against Ireland in July 2000. Tice made her own international debut aged 13 years and 272 days in the Twenty20 match at the Kampong ground in Utrecht on August 15, and played her first ODI at the same venue two days later. A legspinner, Tice contributed to a win in her first Twenty20 by taking 3 for 22, and fared even better in her third match, picking up 3 for 12 as Ireland won by 13 runs.”To be honest it was a relief to get off the mark,” Tice said. “I even surprised myself. I was more just hoping to survive without being hit round the park, so the wickets were a real bonus.”I was introduced to cricket at a very young age, spending endless hours in the garden bowling to my dad and my two older brothers,” said Tice, who was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Her family moved from Hampshire to Indianapolis in the US when Tice was four. There she picked up baseball, and when she was six the family moved to Vienna, where she began to play cricket.”My brothers and my dad always encouraged me to play. When I was six years old, I lived in Vienna for three years, where I played for the Austria Cricket Club. I had a great Sri Lankan coach there called Siva Nadarajah. Both Siva and my dad taught me how to play and that is where the interest really started. I moved back to Ireland when I was nine and attended Aravon School, where my enthusiastic headmaster, Kevin Allwright, brought me on in school cricket and introduced me to Merrion Cricket Club, where I now play all my club cricket.”Tice’s older brother, Patrick, is a wicketkeeper and part of Ireland’s Under-19 set-up, and the two often played in the same team until the family moved back to Ireland. Tice only took up legspin full time at the beginning of 2011 season after a winter spent practicing the art against her brother in the corridors of the family home.”Up until the beginning of this season, I bowled medium-pace. However, I was suddenly converted to legspin when I realised I was better at it. I had practised it a little bit in the corridor of my house in the winter months with my brother. Mind you, all my coaches always told me it was a terrible idea but eventually I convinced them otherwise, after joking around in the net when they realised I was kind of good at it. I have had to work hard this season in club cricket but everyone has been really supportive.”Tice found the transition to international cricket relatively smooth, and counted on support from inside the team and from her family off the pitch. “In spite of being the youngest, they were all really nice to me and it didn’t take me long to settle in. Everyone has been really supportive, especially my coaches, in both the club and Irish squad, who have really worked hard with me. No one has ever made me feel too young to do it.”My core strengths are definitely my parents, in that they drive me miles to endless cricket grounds. They are really supportive and they are amazing to me. I also take great enjoyment out of the game and the people I play it with.”

Somerset assured themselves of a home semi-final in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a 40-run Group C win over Essex at Taunton

29-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Somerset assured themselves of a home semi-final in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a 40-run Group C win over Essex at Taunton.But it was victory at a price as skipper Marcus Trescothick injured an ankle while batting and looks set for a lengthy lay-off as his team chase a first ever County Championship title, as well as the 40-over crown. Peter Trego (51), Chris Jones (45 not out) and James Hildreth (41) were the mainstays of Somerset’s 251 for five after winning the toss. Tom Craddock was the pick of the Essex bowlers with two for 38.In reply, the visitors managed 211 all out, Jaik Mickleburgh top-scoring with 56 and Graham Napier making 41. There were two wickets each for Alfonso Thomas, Steve Kirby, Arul Suppiah and Craig Meschede.Trescothick had made only 10 at that start of Somerset’s innings when he was hurt turning quickly when sent back by opening partner Trego attempting a quick single. He had to be helped from the field and later emerged from the dressing room on crutches. Trego went on to a 53-ball half-century, with six fours, and Murali Kartik (29) helped him take the score to 68, having been promoted in the role of pinch-hitter.Hildreth hit four fours before being caught and bowled by Craddock and Jones, on his one-day debut for Somerset, needed to exercise some caution as he and Meschede (17) guided their side towards a competitive total. Thomas then struck a quick blow, trapping Mark Pettini lbw in the second over of the Essex reply. But Adam Wheater (33) hit straight sixes off Suppiah and Meschede as he and Mickleburgh added 78 for the second wicket.From then on wickets fell steadily, Meschede removing Tom Westley and James Foster to catches by former Gloucestershire wicketkeeper Steve Snell – signed on a short-term basis by Somerset, whose two keepers Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler were away with the England Twenty20 squad.Napier did his best to launch a victory bid from 161 for seven, hitting a big six off Kartik in scoring his runs off 38 balls. But when he was pinned leg before by Thomas with 55 still needed Somerset were on the brink of their ninth group win. Snell is also likely to keep wicket for them on the opening day of the Championship clash with Hampshire at Taunton, starting on Wednesday.