All posts by csb10.top

Sri Lanka

9

Nuwan Kulasekara
Led the attack in the absence of Vaas and Murali. Was a consistent threat to batsmen with the big inswing and the surprise straighter ball. Deserved the 17-wicket haul and the Man-of-the-Series award.

8

Ranganna Herath
Arrived in Sri Lanka hours before the series began. Triggered two big Pakistan collapses, which resulted in two Test wins. Fifteen wickets at 27 was a just reward.Thilan Thushara
Not consistent, but dangerous when he got into rhythms. His eight overs, 12 runs, two wickets on the fourth morning in Galle was the finest spell of fast bowling in the series.Kumar Sangakkara
Impressive captaincy debut. Was sharp, at times cheeky. By investing unconditional confidence in a young team, got the best out of them. Was Sri Lanka’s best batsman, batting more than four sessions to save the last Test.

6

Tillakaratne Dilshan
Selflessly donned the big gloves, and rode on his confidence to do a decent job. Dropped less than his Pakistan counterpart. Finally paid for it through a finger injury.Angelo Mathews
The bright side of Dilshan’s sacrifice. Counterattacked at No. 7, got crucial breakthroughs, batted sensibly in saving the SSC Test, and justified having to make a place for him in the XI.

5

Tharanga Paranavitana
Got two fifties, but will realise openers are judged by the number of centuries, not how many starts they get.

4

Thilan Thushara’s eight overs, 12 runs, two wickets on the fourth morning in Galle was the finest spell of fast bowling in the series•AFP

Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene
One half-century each, average hovering around 34, a big dip in their usual high standards.

3.5

Ajantha Mendis
Just five wickets in two Tests, made way for Vaas in the final match. Only positive was his running through the tail in a hurry twice.

3

Malinda Warnapura
Had questions asked of his technique as an opener, which largely went unanswered. Ninety-eight runs in six innings was an accurate assessment of his troubles at the top.

Pakistan

7

Saeed Ajmal
Took time to move from Twenty20 mode to Tests, but stuck to the task. Kept one end tight, and got 14 wickets to show.Fawad Alam
Ended long wait to break into the XI with 168 at an uncustomary position, opening the innings. Good at short leg too.

6

Mohammad Aamer
Impressive Test debut too, but went wicketless in the last two Tests after match figures of 6-112 in his first. Both captains suggested he was a better bowler than the figures show.Younis Khan
Younis the bowler was a revelation, Younis the captain was inspirational, but Younis the batsman was missed. Especially disappointing was his fatal reverse-sweep on 82 at P Sara.Mohammad Yousuf
Two good innings out of six on his Test comeback, one of them a century. But got only 51 in four other innings. Needs to take more responsibility as the senior-most batsman.Danish Kaneria
Dropped for first two Tests, came back superbly with a five-for in the third. Would have wished to have done better when Sri Lanka batted five sessions to save the final Test.

5

Shoaib Malik
Rescued an ordinary series with 134 in his final innings. Wasn’t used much as a bowler.The 17-year-old Mohammad Aamer took six wickets in the first Test but went wicketless in the next two•AFP

Abdur Rauf
Tried honestly, was always in the channel, but can get sharper both with pace and movement.Umar Gul
Never really found his rhythm, but brought Pakistan back in the second Test with 4-43. Bowled 24 no-balls.

4

Khurram Manzoor
Sixty runs in his five innings, and 93 in one. Will play in more testing conditions, and will need much more work if he is to survive in Test cricket.Misbah-ul-Haq
Got caught in his shell too often, letting bowlers bowl where they wanted to. Can’t afford more such series at the age of 35.

2

Kamran Akmal
Went back to being unsafe behind the stumps, couldn’t quite find his punchy, counterattacking batting in front.

2

Salman Butt
Aptly dropped after a horrible first Test, the low point of his career, when his ugly swipe kicked off first of Pakistan’s collapses.

Ernest Crossan, who was the oldest living New South Wales player, has died at the age of 94. Crossan made his first-class debut for the state in December 1937 against Victoria at the MCG and went on to finish with four first-class appearances.He was the last remaining New South Wales player to have represented the state before World War II. David Gilbert, the chief executive of Cricket New South Wales, said Crossan’s death marked the end of an era.”He was the last link to an era of great players, including former Australian representatives, Stan McCabe, Bill O’Reilly, Bert Oldfield, Sid Barnes, Arthur Chipperfield and Jack Fingleton, who all played alongside Ern in his debut match in 1937,” Gilbert said.Crossan’s death has left Harold Stapleton as the oldest living New South Wales player. Stapleton, also 94, played one match for New South Wales during the 1940-41 season.

The Bermuda board has been forced to cancel the two 50-over matches against Uganda this weekend because of a hurricane threat. Monday’s Twenty20 will be converted into a 50-over game scheduled to start at 2pm local time.According to an Associated Press report Hurricane Bill, approaching the island, is slightly weakened but still blowing at 120mph. The National Hurricane Center, in Miami, said the hurricane was at present a Category 3 storm but expected to become a Category 4 one on Friday with winds over 130kph. It is expected to pass between Bermuda and the U.S. eastern coast on Saturday.Uganda won the Intercontinental Cup match against Bermuda by seven wickets.

Kabir Ali has been granted permission to talk to other counties between now and September 30, as Worcestershire’s poor season on the field continues to be reflected off it.As revealed by Cricinfo last week, Ali asked the club for permission to leave and has rejected a new three-year contract. He has one year left to run on his current deal. Gareth Batty and Steve Davies have already announced their intentions to leave while the club’s fitness coach has also resigned.In addition, Worcestershire have pulled out of their attempt to sign Yorkshire’s Ajmal Shahzad for financial reasons, and they released Simon Jones in July following another injury which ruled out his season.Last week, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, rejected calls for his resignation, but he nevertheless faces a huge task to help rebuild an ailing club. His budget for next season has been slashed by a remarkable £300,000. “But the most important thing is the survival of the club,” he told Cricinfo.”We can cut back and survive. It’s the same as if I were the manager of a factory: the most important thing is to ensure the company – or in this case the club – survive. We are quite hamstrung [financially], but in a way the rebuilding job excites me.”

Pakistan captain Younis Khan finds himself in a unique position as his men take on Australia tomorrow in Centurion. Already through to the semi-finals, a third win in the group might help India, should they beat West Indies in Johannesburg, to join them in the final four.Though Pakistan will experiment with their line-up against Australia to account for injuries as well as giving their bench strength a run, there will be no let-up in their approach. There is even a part incentive, says Younis, in the hope perhaps of playing against India in the final.”I am just planning about each game as it comes,” Younis said. “I wish for India to play in the final against us but we will not worry about that in our game tomorrow. We’ll be trying our best. My wish is to win against the top teams, like South Africa, Australia and India. There is nothing in my mind about losing to Australia, and whether India will be out. It is only about what I can do for my country.”When Pakistan beat India by 54 runs at Centurion, it was one of the best-attended games in the tournament, in which crowds have generally been poor. The game was sold out two weeks prior to the match being played, prompting Younis to call for more games between the two neighbours.Currently, relations between the two countries have cooled considerably from the mid-2000s, following the Mumbai terror attacks last year. That, in turn, has affected cricketing relations between the two and, until the Centurion game, they had not played each other in an international in over a year.”Who was the biggest winner when we played at Centurion? Cricket. India and Pakistan should play. If we do not play, cricket will not benefit. Players become big names when they perform in these matches. The biggest sold-out crowd here was for that game.”Younis did, however, ask for these games to be treated as normal matches, appealing for calmer reactions from fans on both sides following good or bad results. “We lost to India in the Twenty20 final. Then we beat them the other day, what difference does it make? If we win a final, we’ll be so happy anyways that we won’t care which team we beat. All I say is, keep it normal. Don’t hype us up too much if we beat India, or don’t bring India down so much if they lose. This is not how life should be on winning or losing. Life should go on as normal. If Dhoni loses then don’t get after him or get after us if we lose. Leave sports as sports.”

Queensland 4 for 75 (Geeves 3-25) trail Tasmania 156 (Geeves 40, Walter 4-30) by 81 runs
Scorecard
Chris Swan joined the fun by picking up Luke Butterworth as the bowlers roared at the Gabba•Getty Images

Scott Walter sparked a dramatic collapse as Queensland swept through Tasmania, but the hosts were in discomfort late on an eventful first day at the Gabba. Walter, the left-arm swing bowler, followed his six wickets in the opening game against Western Australia with 4 for 30 as the Bulls ran through the visiting top order and dismissed them for 156.However, the Tigers hit back to have the hosts 4 for 75, including a fall of 3 for 12 shortly before stumps. Brett Geeves did the damage by removing Wade Townsend and the key pair of Ryan Broad (30) and Lee Carseldine (3), with the late stumble ensuring a tense second morning as the teams jostle for first-innings points.Until then George Bailey, the Tasmania captain, must have wondered why he decided to bat at the toss. His side was 3 for 6 and then 5 for 27 in bowler-friendly conditions after Walter and Chris Swan knocked them over in a stunning start. Walter gained three of the first four breakthroughs, with Jonathan Wells (0) and Alex Doolan (2) bowled before Bailey was lbw for 5.Swan picked up Ed Cowan and when Ben Cutting chipped in with Daniel Marsh’s wicket a total of more than 100 seemed impossible. Luke Butterworth helped the situation a little by reaching 22 but it was Geeves’ 40 that delayed Queensland and averted a catastrophe.Stands of 31 with Brady Jones and 42 with Brendan Drew dragged the Tigers ahead and the final pair of Drew and Tim Macdonald also put on 20 before Walter intervened. Swan finished with 3 for 45 and Cutting gained two victims as they covered well for their injury-hit squad.

Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf has said the bowler-friendly pitches in the early part of the summer in New Zealand will be one of the biggest challenges for his team during the three Tests, starting November 24. Pakistan set foot in the country having just finished the one-day and Twenty20 leg of the series in in the heat of UAE.”The fact is we are going to New Zealand when the season has not started there properly and the weather will also be cold,” Yousuf told . “I think we are going to encounter seaming wickets and batting on them will be a big challenge for us.”The coach Intikhab Alam concurred with Yousuf and hoped his players will be able to adjust to the conditions. Looking at the composition of the Test squad, Intikhab said the bowlers were capable of taking 20 wickets but the batting needed a bit of attention. A series of batting collapses were primarily responsible for their 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka in August.”Our batting must click and show improvement because it will be tough to switch from one-day and Twenty20,” Intikhab said. “Our bowling has the capacity to bowl New Zealand out twice but we must put runs on the board first.”He expected Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, to be the biggest threat, especially if the pitches suit spin. Vettori has been the team’s best all-round player in the recent past and has shouldered plenty of responsibility in all departments.”Vettori is a seasoned player and we have to play him well, without giving him too many wickets,” Intikhab said. “But if New Zealand prepares wickets conducive to spin then we too have quality spinners in Saeed Ajmal and Danish Kaneria.”Pakistan were hit by the sudden withdrawal of Younis Khan, who quit the captaincy and opted out of the tour because he wanted a break from the game. Intikhab and Yousuf agreed that Younis’ absence will be felt, despite his run of poor form.”Naturally, Younis is a senior batsman and although he has been in poor batting form, he is a world-class player who can come good any time, but you miss players through injuries as well and Younis’ replacement will have a chance to prove his worth, ” Alam said.The tour begins with a three-day game in Queenstown on Wednesday before the first Test in Dunedin.

At the end of a truncated first day’s play, which began over two hours late due to a wet outfield and closed early owing to bad light, Pakistan were in an uncomfortable position. There were no hidden demons in the pitch, and a slow yet steady opening stand of 60 in 194 deliveries seemingly had Pakistan – who were put in to bat – on the route to stability.The opener Imran Farhat, who contributed an obdurate 98-ball 32 to that start, did not entirely believe Pakistan had been shut out of the contest at 161 for 6. “The score at the moment is not bad, if you look at the conditions. If we score another 100 runs it will be good, because our bowling is very good,” he said. “A score of 250 won’t be a bad score. We still believe and we’re still fighting. [Mohammad] Asif, Umar Gul and [Mohammed] Aamer are in form, we’ve got Danish Kaneria playing too, we expect a lot from him here.”Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistan’s captain, said he would have opted to field as well. The pitch did not appear to do too much, and Pakistan had four silly dismissals to blame for their predicament. Salman Butt took on a short ball, Farhat tried to run Vettori past slip, Shoaib Malik pushed uppishly to mid-off, and Misbah-ul-Haq, on his return to the side, fell slog-sweeping Vettori.Farhat credited New Zealand’s tidy attack for putting pressure on Pakistan. “We didn’t have any such plan, we were just looking to be positive, be it batting or bowling” he said. “We started well but suddenly we lost a wicket, and then a couple, and we came under pressure. We survived well, and on this pitch you’ve got to concentrate. The weather keeps changing a bit, it was windy and there was a bit of moisture in the track on the first day. They bowled very well, put the ball in the right areas, and at the end of the day we didn’t have many partnerships.”Umar Akmal had a memorable debut in Dunedin, following a century with a polished 75 in the second innings batting at No. 5, but here he was promoted to No. 3. There have been reports in claiming that no batsman was willing to bat at one-down, and that Umar was thrust into the position. The decision, said Farhat, was taken to accommodate Misbah two spots lower.”Misbah-ul-Haq came back, and he’s an experienced player who has batted at No. 5,” he said. “The management knows that Umar Akmal can play at No.3, so it’s a collective decision. It’s about who is comfortable. He played very well. It’s not a bad decision. He’s willing and in good touch.”

Given the cool conditions that blew across Bert Sutcliffe Oval today, and the state of the tournament points table, it wasn’t surprising that India barely went through the motions while Australia were hardly required to stretch themselves before taking an easy nine-wicket win in the World Series of Women’s Cricket.An opening stand of 96 runs, the loss of captain Belinda Clark for 49 and the second One-Day International half century for Lisa Sthalekar who ended on 58 not out off 80 balls, were the highlights of Australia’s response to India’s 134 for seven wickets.Karen Rolton also had time to pick up 21 runs off 21 balls.It was hardly the sort of match Australia would have wanted to celebrate their 150th One-Day International. It did give them their 120th victory. They have had 26 losses, three no results and one tie, a notable occasion against England in the 1982 World Cup tournament played in New Zealand.India’s innings seemed aimed at allowing batsmen time in the middle with the focus on occupation rather than accumulation of runs.The game was dead, and it was a chance for some variations from the usual game plan, but the enjoyment can only have been in completing the 50 overs with wickets still intact because there was little of entertainment value to be had.The 50 took 158 balls and the 100 took 242 balls. By comparison Australia’s 50 took 81 balls and their 100 took 139 balls, a fair indication of the difference in approach to the batting of both sides.The nature of the tournament draw means that India will play England on both Thursday and Friday. Thursday being another dead match while Friday will decide third and fourth places in the event.Few of the batsmen could reflect on any glory from the innings. Anjum Chopra top scored with 25, but it took 84 balls and while all the others got starts it was only some lower-order hitting that saw Sulakshana Naik get second top score with 18.Australia’s bowlers all shared in the benefits to be had from the Indian somnolence and took advantage of the opportunity to boost the economy rate of their bowling.Emma Twining had one for 13 from nine overs, Clea Smith had two for 30 off nine overs, Rolton none for 17 from six, Julie Hayes had none for 22, Alex Blackwell had two for 18 off six overs, Sthalekar one for 19 from seven and Kris Britt none for nine off four.The successful Indian bowler was Amita Sharma who took one for 25.

Vinayak Samant, the Mumbai wicketkeeper, has announced he is quitting the domestic side after spending eight seasons with them. Samant, 37, said he still has hopes of prolonging his first-class career with another team.Samant played an important hand in Mumbai’s recent Ranji Trophy title win against Karnataka in Mysore, scoring 67 under pressure in the first innings to arrest his side from a dicey 84 for 4. Mumbai won the title for the 39th time following a nail-biting final, winning by six runs on the fourth day.In an interview to the , Samanth said he had made his decision at the start of the 2009-10 Ranji season. “At the start of the season I informed coach Praveen Amre and skipper Wasim Jaffer that it would be my last year with Mumbai. I had heard rumours about a state selector saying that I am growing old and unfit. So, I preferred to take a call before going through any unpleasant situation.”I will inform the Mumbai selectors about my decision soon. But I will continue playing first-class cricket for some other state maybe.”Though originally from Mumbai, Samant had to compete with Samir Dighe for the wicketkeeper’s place. He moved to Assam and represented them between 1995 and 2001. After an acrimonious stint, he decided to move back to Mumbai, once Dighe retired.”The politics there started getting to me. I was being tossed around in the team and after six years, I said enough is enough,” Samant said. “If I have to face hurdles, let that be for a champion side. After performing at various tournaments in 2001, I finally made my Ranji debut for Mumbai in 2002.”Samant was part of the winning squad five times. During his time with Mumbai, he played 69 first-class matches, scoring 2010 runs at 26.10, taking 225 catches and effecting 29 stumpings. However, his most memorable moments were with the bat.”I scored four 50s and salvaged the team from very bad situations in my debut season. Even my innings of 66 in the 2006-07 semi-final against Baroda, when Mumbai were 0 for 5, is memorable. All were tough challenges,” he said. “Your attitude is very important. Being good at your job is not the lone criteria to cement your place in the squad. Playing for Mumbai is like a competition within a competition because there are so many match-winners in the side.”Among the contenders to replace Samant are Omkar Gurav and Sufiyan Shaikh, the promising wicketkeeper who’s currently with the Under-19 squad for the World Cup in New Zealand.