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State Bank of Pakistan won the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division Two after Mohammad Naved’s seven wickets helped them bowl Khan Research Laboratories out for 159 and give them the first-innings lead in the final

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2011Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsState Bank of Pakistan finally won the Quaid-e-Azam Division Two final after what turned out to be a seven-day match against Khan Research Laboratories at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. There were only four days of play, though; that too two days were curtailed, and SBP ended up with a 144-run first-innings lead, and with it the victory.After there was no play on Wednesday due to the murder of the Punjab governor, KRL resumed their innings at 74 for 2 in response to SBP’s 303. They did not last long on the seventh-day pitch, losing their last eight wickets for 85 runs in 30.3 overs on Thursday. Fast bowler Mohammad Naved did all the damage for SBP, finishing with 7 for 61. He got an early wicket, dismissing overnight batsman, KRL captain Mohammad Wasim, before he could add to his score of 8.Opener Ali Naqvi battled at one end to reach a half-century, but Naved kept picking away at the wickets at the other. Only three of KRL’s last eight batsman got to double figures.SBP had scored most of their runs on the third day after little play was possible on the first two. The fourth day was also washed out. The rules of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy state the final must go on till the first innings of both sides are complete, which is why the game was extended into a seventh day.

Bangladesh are trying to play down the importance of their their warm-up game against Pakistan to deflect pressure from the players

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur14-Feb-2011For regular visitors to the Mirpur venue, be it players, officials or journalists, it was like entering familiar terrain, but one that had a different feel to it. Bangladesh’s premier cricket ground has been transformed into an excellence centre and it was fully utilised on Monday, with three teams taking the opportunity to enjoy the facilities. After England used the Academy ground in the morning, Pakistan began to use the newly-laid turf on the northern side while Bangladesh sweated it out at the indoor centre in the eastern corner while also using the green retreat of the main venue for their fielding drills.It is here, at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, that the latter two teams will play a warm-up match tomorrow, a contest Pakistan at least are taking seriously. “Any match before the World Cup is going to be tough,” Shoaib Akhtar said. “We are going to take it as a proper match rather than thinking it to be only a practice. We have seen India playing against Australia, which was a pretty serious match.”Bangladesh have beaten New Zealand few months ago and we all know what Bangladesh is capable of. I predict that Bangladesh is going to be in the semi-finals or in the quarters for sure.”Pakistan have a settled enough line-up and if they do use 14 players tomorrow, it will be to test some of the youngsters. Ahmed Shehzad (despite his recent century), Asad Shafiq and Junaid Khan have never played an international game in the subcontinent and this game would be an excellent way to blood the trio in front of a sell-out crowd.Bangladesh, however, had a different strategy, and were determined to play down the significance of the game. “They will play fourteen players, we’ll play thirteen so it’s not a real match, just a practice match,” Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons. said. “It is a really good challenge, actually a great practice game.”Pakistan are a good team but I’m not worried about them, I’m worried about us. We won’t be experimenting, the batting line-up will be close to our actually starting XI. We will use extra bowlers as part of the thirteen and give everyone a try.Bangladesh captain, Shakib Al Hasan, adopted the same stance. “We are not thinking about the result but we are concentrating on properly using the practice game. We’d rather do well in the tournament than in these games. The players used the last game very well and I was impressed by the pacers. I think Rubel [Hossain] just returned from injury and he will come back better.”This insistance on ignoring the result is an indication that the Bangladesh camp is keeping a close eye on the pressure the players might face in a home World Cup (although it is just a warm-up game), and why they are repeating the mantra that though a win is important for momentum, ultimately, “it’s not a real game”.

Parthiv Patel’s 90 was the stand-out performance for West Zone as they dominated East Zone and notched up a 91-run victory in the Deodhar Trophy semi-final at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2011
ScorecardParthiv Patel’s 90 was the stand-out performance for West Zone as they dominated East Zone and notched up a 91-run victory in the Deodhar Trophy semi-final at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. After the top order had laid a solid foundation, West Zone’s middle and lower order collapsed, and they were all out for 247. It proved more than enough, though, as their seamers Jaidev Unadkat and Ishwar Choudhary took three wickets each and helped bowl East Zone out for 156.After choosing to bat, West Zone were given the ideal start by Parthiv and Wasim Jaffer, who put together a 91-run partnership in 16.4 overs. Jaffer’s dismissal brought in Cheteshwar Pujara, who played second fiddle to Parthiv, scoring 49 off 81 balls. West Zone had reached 203 for 2 in 41.3 overs, when Varun Aaron, who is developing a reputation as one of the quickest bowlers in the country, dismissed Rohit Sharma for 10. Aaron went on to pick up four more wickets, as West Zone lost their last eight for 44.Whatever momentum East Zone might have taken from that lower order collapse, was robbed from them very quickly by Unadkat and Choudhary, who ran through the top order, reducing East Zone to 55 for 5. Manoj Tiwary and Biplab Samantray put on 49 for the sixth wicket, but when Tiwary lofted left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla straight to long-off, East were staring down the barrel. Samantray went on to get 51, and was the last man to fall, bowled by Choudhary in the 42nd over.

A round-up of the action from the sixth round of the Regional Four-Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2011Carlos Brathwaite led Combined Campuses and Colleges to a nail-biting win over Guyana at Three Ws Oval in Bridgetown. Brathwaite picked up 5 for 28 from 14 overs as Guyana were dismissed for 191 about seven minutes after tea. Guyana began the day on 30 for 1, needing another 170 for victory, but were in trouble at 69 for 4. Assad Fudadin, who top scored with 44, and Derwin, who made 32, then added 53 for the fifth wicket, and after Fudadin added 41 with Vishaul Singh, Guyana looked likely to complete their first victory of the season.Brathwaite, however, sparked a collapse when he trapped Fudadin lbw and then had Zaheer Mohamed caught behind for a duck. He sealed the win by dismissing Brandon Bess and Ronsford Beaton off successive deliveries in the first over after the tea break, as Guyana lost their last five wickets for 28 runs. Brathwaite finished with match figures of 9 for 61, while Ryan Austin ended with 7 for 151 to take his tally of wickets to a season-leading 29.The win gave CCC 12 points and took them to second place in the Championship with 45 points, while Guyana are bottom of the table with 16.Jamaica earned six points from their draw against Trinidad & Tobago at Sabina Park, but that wasn’t enough to keep them top of the Championship table. Jamaica declared their second innings on 226 for 5, with Tamar Lambert making an unbeaten 61, in a bid to force a result. Denesh Ramdin, however, scored an unbeaten 103 as T&T made a valiant attempt to chase 304 from 63 overs. They eventually ended up with 248 for 5, as both captains agreed to end the game when the run-rate climbed past 10 runs an over with five overs remaining. Jamaica are now joint second in the table with Combined Campuses and Colleges on 45 points.

26-Apr-2011
ScorecardAzhar Mahmood took three quick wickets after a century opening stand by Gloucestershire•Getty Images

Half-centuries from Chris Taylor and Hamish Marshall helped Gloucestershire to edge towards a competitive 292 for 9 at the end of day one of their County Championship Division Two clash against Kent at Canterbury.Workers employed on the St Lawrence redevelopment project were content to get on with their chores throughout a turgid opening session that saw Gloucestershire post 94 runs without alarm after electing to take first use of a docile pitch.Kent gave a Championship debut to 18-year-old left-arm pace bowler Adam Ball, but the home attack barely beat the bat during the opening two hours as openers Ian Cockbain and Marshall set out to lay solid foundations.Ball, who played in last season’s Under-19 World Cup for England, was eventually introduced as third change and sparked the first appeal of the game after 85 minutes with one that nipped back to brush Marshall’s back pad, though the ball was going over the stumps.The cloud cover dissipated during the interval and in warmer conditions Kent emerged from their pristine new dressing rooms to bag 6 for 106 in the afternoon session, including an eight-ball purple patch of three for none by veteran Azhar Mahmood.The former Pakistan allrounder had Cockbain caught at slip for 34, bowled Richard Coughtrie via the face of his bat as he made a late and abortive bid to shoulder arms, then ended Marshall’s 131-ball stay for 72 after winning a leg before verdict.Gloucestershire’s new-look middle order continued to unravel when Darren Stevens returned to have Alex Gidman (24) caught at second slip and trap Jonathan Batty lbw for a six-ball duck with a shooting off-cutter. Seven overs later his sibling Will Gidman padded up to a James Tredwell arm ball that clipped off stump and sent the visitors to tea on 198 for 6.Former Gloucestershire skipper Taylor mounted a partial recovery in the final session as he and Ian Saxelby added 74 for the seventh wicket until the second new ball gave Kent’s attack a cutting edge.With 250 on the board Saxelby (28) fended one from Robbie Joseph low to gully. Next, Taylor’s 201-minute vigil ended for 71 when he played across the second ball of a new spell from Simon Cook to lose his leg stump. In his next over Cook ran one back up the slope to feather the inside edge of Jonathan Lewis’ bat and give wicketkeeper Geraint Jones his first catch.Cook finished with 2 for 40 and Stevens 2 for 36, but it was Mahmood’s post-lunch return of 3 for 52 that undoubtedly turned the course of the day’s events.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians in Navi Mumbai

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya03-May-2011

Match facts

Wednesday, May 4, Navi Mumbai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Yuvraj Singh has presided over a so-far forgettable campaign•AFP

Big picture

Time is running out for Pune Warriors. Sourav Ganguly’s rise from the ashes with his inclusion in their squad – he won no bids at the IPL auctions – is one that’ll keep them in the news in the days to come but their on-field performances have left them fast fading out of the list of contenders for the play-offs.What they need to achieve to stay alive is a complete turnaround, and anything short of winning their remaining six games will push them closer to the exit door. They tried to address their concerns with the bat by tweaking their order against Rajasthan Royals in their previous game: Robin Uthappa came at No. 3, rightly so, and looked good before playing one reverse-sweep too many and Manish Pandey opened but was kept quiet by some tight bowling. While the ploy seemed fine, the execution faltered. They were also sloppy on the field, dropping three catches, something they can ill afford again with their qualifying prospects diminishing.Mumbai Indians put behind their debacle against Rajasthan to win comprehensively against Kings XI Punjab. They look well on course for a place in the play-offs with their batting back on track, and what better chance to take a step closer than play a deflated Pune.

Form guide (most recent first)

Pune Warriors: LLLLL
(bottom of the points table)
Mumbai Indians: WLWWW
(Second on the points table)

Team talk

Ganguly is likely to join the Pune squad ahead of tomorrow’s game but may not play. He’ll take over as vice-captain as some point in the rest of their campaign, but for the game against Mumbai, Pune can do with an additional batsman. They could consider giving Callum Ferguson a go ahead of Nathan McCullum.Davy Jacobs is uncertain, having sustained a minor fracture on his left hand. That gives them the option of going in with explosive opener Aiden Blizzard to partner Sachin Tendulkar.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

Sourav Ganguly: One wonders what Ganguly’s been doing in the recent past to keep himself match fit, with stints in the commentary box and the experts’ studio for the World Cup gone by. Younger players speak of feeding off the experience of seniors, and how their presence in the dressing room or the dugout can be a motivating factor even though they may not play. If his leadership or influence can at the very least spark an inspirational performance or two from a dispirited team, his late inclusion will have served some purpose this year.Kieron Pollard: He’s hardly done anything this season because the top order’s been performing so well. Nevertheless, he managed a quick 20 and smashed two sixes, his best returns this time around, and is beginning to warm up for bigger challenges to come, albeit a little belatedly.

Prime numbers

• Lasith Malinga has grabbed 52 wickets overall in the IPL and is fourth in the list. However, his wickets have come in 34 games while those ahead of him have taken a far longer time. Irfan Pathan has played 51 games, Shane Warne 50, Pragyan Ojha 49 and RP Singh – the table leader with 57 wickets – 51.
• Rohit Sharma has taken 26 catches overall in the IPL and is two away from going past Suresh Raina, who tops the list.

The chatter

“Now we are in such a situation where another loss would mean that we are out of the competition. Not a great feeling.”

A career-best 89 not out by South African allrounder Roelof van der Merwe allowed Somerset to open their Friends Life t20 win account at the expense of hosts Kent

03-Jun-2011
ScorecardA career-best 89 not out by South African allrounder Roelof van der Merwe coupled with an unbeaten half-century from Marcus Trescothick allowed Somerset to open their Friends Life t20 win account at the expense of hosts Kent.Set to chase a Spitfires total of 163 for 8, Somerset made the most of some charitable Kent bowling and short boundaries at The Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells to secure their nine-wicket victory with 18 balls to spare.After the early loss of former Kent allrounder Peter Trego, bowled by Spitfires debutant Charl Langeveldt for six, Somerset cantered to the win line with an unbroken second-wicket stand of 150 in 15 overs.The diminutive Van der Merwe led the charge with a powerhouse unbeaten innings from 51 balls, with seven fours and six sixes, for his first t20 half-century in only his second start for the Sabres. Four of his sixes came off the bowling of England off-spinner James Tredwell, whose two wicketless overs ultimately cost 33 runs.Trescothick also reached the milestone from 30 balls, with eight fours and a six. In the process the left-hander also reached 1,500 career runs in t20 cricket as last year’s beaten finalists chalked up a comfortable first win of the 2011 campaign.The Spitfires made a dreadful start to their innings in front of a sell-out 5,000 crowd by losing their first three wickets for 32 runs inside the opening 27 balls of the game. Joe Denly, fresh from scoring over 200 runs here in the four-day game against Leicestershire, nicked a drive to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler to go for 7, then Matt Coles was yorked by Steve Kirby to make it 23 for 2.Vice-captain Martin van Jaarsveld then pulled a Lewis Gregory bouncer down the throat of Arul Suppiah at long leg, forcing Kent into a rethink and a rebuilding programme. Gregory, the pick of Somerset’s attack, finished with 3 for 26.Captain Rob Key and Darren Stevens began the rescue work with a fourth-wicket stand of 80 in 9.4 overs that ensured the Spitfires at least batted out their 20-over allocation. Seven short of his fifty, Key heaved across the line to be bowled by Suppiah but Stevens charged on to hit a brace of sixes in his 32-ball half-century and two more in his total of 68 from 41 deliveries, which ended when he looked to flick Alfonso Thomas to leg but saw his off stump pegged back.Azhar Mahmood and Geraint Jones went for single figures then Adam Ball had his off stump plucked out for a golden duck as Kent’s late bid for quick runs came unstuck and left them with at least 30 too few to defend.

Steffan Jones, the Derbyshire bowler, will retire at the end of the season to take up a teaching position as head of cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2011Steffan Jones, the Derbyshire bowler, will retire at the end of the season to take up a teaching position as head of cricket at a Somerset school.Jones, 37, moved into the role of Derbyshire’s bowling coach last month after the clear out of backroom staff at the club and has continued to be a regular presence in the team especially in one-day cricket.Jones fits into the ‘journeyman’ category of county cricketer having also had stints with Northamptonshire, Somerset and Kent since making his professional debut in 1994. Derbyshire offered him a new deal for the 2012 season, but Jones has decided it is time to move on.”I am very grateful for the offer made by Derbyshire and I know they did everything they could to persuade me to stay,” he said. “But the opportunity of being head of cricket at a prestigious school and returning back to my family home is too good for me to miss.”

England’s Sunday centurion Ian Bell admitted to making a ‘naive’ error he hoped he would never repeat after he was – temporarily – run out just before tea

Sharda Ugra at Trent Bridge31-Jul-2011England’s Sunday centurion Ian Bell admitted to making a “naive” error he hoped he would never repeat after he was – temporarily – run out just before tea. He also mentioned a similar incident in the past, when unusual circumstances had led to the dismissal of an opposition player, although on that occasion England had chosen not to reverse their decision.Bell was asked whether England would have taken a similar decision to India’s, recalling a dismissed batsman, and said: “It’s difficult to say. I think the right decision was made. We have been in a position before where something happened in an ODI, and I think we all put our hands up and made the wrong decision.”Bell was referring to an incident during an ODI at The Oval against New Zealand in 2008 when Grant Elliott was out of his ground after being knocked over by the bowler Ryan Sidebottom and was run out. The umpires asked England captain Paul Collingwood whether he wanted to withdraw the appeal and Collingwood had refused.”I think the right decisions were made today in the spirit of the game,” said Bell. “I would’ve thought that both teams would have done exactly the same. Again its difficult to say what we would have done, if we were out in the middle. Would we have gone for an out decision straight away? I don’t know, probably not. But like I said, we just move on and learn a lesson.”India, who spent the tea break discussing whether to recall Bell, also fell back on a previous experience before arriving at their decision. Rahul Dravid said that when the India players came in for tea, “the guys started discussing it and you could sense that there was a feeling that, while it was out in the laws of the game, it probably wasn’t out in the spirit of the game. You could sense that the guys were feeling that something was probably not right about it.”Dravid referred to the stumping of VVS Laxman off Shiv Chanderpaul during the Dominica Test on India’s recent trip to the Caribbean, saying “a small incident in the West Indies left a little bit of a bitter taste in our stomachs. So if the tables were turned, I don’t think our guys would have felt nice about it.”If it was Laxman there or Sachin [Tendulkar] there, I don’t think our guys would have felt nice about it. And that was one of the things discussed when we first came in, what if it was one of our guys? Would we have liked it? And the general feeling was no.”Dravid said that after the England management had approached the India captain MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher, “Dhoni led a team meeting and the issue was discussed. There was unanimity that we should reinstate Ian Bell as he fell in that grey area and wasn’t out in the spirit of the game.”Bell admitted that he was out in the strictest sense of the law. “If you are going to go right down to exactly how the rules stand, then yes I’m out,” he said. “It was a completely honest mistake to assume the ball was dead and to walk off for tea. The end result and decision was the right one for the spirit of the game and they probably admit that. It was naive on my behalf to walk off for tea.”The tea break was eventful for both teams inside the historic Trent Bridge pavilion. England captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower went to the Indian dressing room to speak to Dhoni and ask India to reconsider their appeal on the grounds that Bell had made an error in judging the situation and had not been attempting a fourth run. Dhoni then said he would discuss the issue with his team and respond.The India players, meanwhile, had already been studying the video of the incident, and Dravid said the decision to recall Bell was taken, “as the umpires would’ve been ready to leave”.The England team show their appreciation for India’s decision to withdraw their appeal for Ian Bell’s run out•Getty Images

The England team, Bell said, had also been trying to work out what had happened and were watching replays of the incident. “In the last minute of tea, there were four of us padded up ready to go, just in case,” Bell said. “Right at the last minute it was nice to get a knock on the door and have someone tell me to go back out there.”In the media conference, Bell explained his actions, repeatedly used the word ‘naive’ to describe them. “I guess the fielder’s body language suggested it had gone for four. I had sort of come back and touched down for the third run. I turned around and Asad [Rauf] had pulled out his jumper and was heading towards the bowler to hand him his jumper. My initial reaction there, perhaps naive, was to walk off for tea, to say well done to Morgs [Eoin Morgan] and walk off for tea. I was certainly not attempting a run; I just thought that everything was meandering off for tea.”Dravid was asked whether he thought Praveen’s body language while fielding the ball on the boundary had suggested he had given up and therefore caused Bell to believe it was four, and therefore tea. Dravid’s expression, until then fairly even-tempered, changed for an instant. He said: “If the fielder gives up on the ball, it doesn’t mean you immediately assume that it’s four runs, no? We can accept the fact that he [Bell] wasn’t attempting the run, but you can’t blame Praveen Kumar for walking slowly; he can do what he wants. We accept that it was tea time and Bell was looking to go to tea.”

Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket was a success on the field, but it will take at least “five to ten years” to have the same effect on the board’s bank balance. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will incur over US$2 million in losses as they re-enter into the game’s

Firdose Moonda in Harare09-Aug-2011Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket was a success on the field, but it will take at least “five to ten years” to have the same effect on the board’s bank balance. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will incur over US$2 million in losses as they re-enter into the game’s premier format this summer.ZC are hosting three tours in the space of five months, playing one Test against each of Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand and a bigger number ODIs and Twenty20 matches. “It costs us around $1.1 million to host a tour,” Ozias Bvute, managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket told ESPNcricinfo. “We only earn about $200,000 from TV rights, although it will be slightly less against New Zealand, and about $150,000 from sponsorship.” The deficit, of around $750,000 per tour, is made up through loans from local banks, who allow ZC to repay them over an extended period.Given the rate at which cricket is growing in the country, Bvute believes it will take up to a decade for the debt to be cleared and for ZC to start making profits. “It’s a really vicious cycle,” an insider said. “We have to get more sponsorship, but the only way we can do that is by playing and winning and we can’t play any more if we don’t have the money to have more series.”Cricket boards only earn money when they are hosting and Zimbabwe have calculate that only the hosting of India or England will result in a profit, because of the sums of the amount they can make in broadcasting rights, but even that is not an easy option for them. “England have a policy that they don’t tour Zimbabwe and India are not available to come very often, so that makes it hard,” the insider said.Instead, ZC has had to find ways to attract more sponsorship from local sources which they have done by presenting them with a bigger market to advertise to. “In order for cricket to be sustainable, we needed people to participate,” Bvute said. “So now that we have both black and white supporters watching cricket and attending matches we can work on creating a commodity that is financially viable.” There are signs of that already happening, with the domestic twenty-over competition almost breaking even, suffering only “minute losses of about US$80,000”.The introduction of the franchise system two seasons ago has been an essential part of ZC’s attempt at financial revival because it has allowed for 100 cricketers in the country to earn salaries. The ZC supplies the five franchises with grants to contract 20 players each, although often for small amounts. Another source revealed that a franchise rookie contract is worth $200-300 a month and that the senior players earn around $5000 a month, but national players can expect to earn more than that once central contracts come into effect.Wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu raised the issue of no national contracts and the ZC have said they will address the situation by awarding contracts for 12 core players at the start of the domestic season, when franchise contracts come up for renegotiation.The other major concern is the non-payment of match fees, another matter brought up by Taibu in his criticism of the administration. “There is a provision in the player contracts that says we can pay match fees up until 180 days after a tour,” Bvute said. Taibu indicated that match fees had not been paid in a period longer than the stipulated six months, with some players still waiting for their money from the series in Bangladesh that was played in December last year. The board is aware of the problem and Bvute said that they “hope to be able to pay all our players as soon as we can”.