Washout forces SL rethink on young players

Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, admitted a washed-out first match will likely force the hosts to field their best XI again on Tuesday, altering earlier plans to make player development the focus of the last two games of the series against New Zealand.

Before the tour, Mathews had said Sri Lanka would seek a series victory before entertaining thoughts of blooding new talent, but chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya suggested before the first game that he would like to try new players sooner.

Middle-order batsman Ashan Priyanjan, opener Kusal Perera and fast bowler Suranga Lakmal have all been earmarked as future players, but did not find a place in the top XI, while even two young batsmen who make the team batted well out of position. Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne would likely have moved up the order, displacing the senior batsmen, if Sri Lanka had won the first match convincingly.

"We were thinking of making a change to the team after the first match, depending on what the result was," Mathews said ahead of the second game. "Now we've got to rethink that, because this match was a no-result. As I've said before, winning the series is our priority, and to do that we have to win both games."

Sri Lanka have already invested much in youth this year - Mathews' captaincy is itself a result of the policy - and Mathews has often been adamant that packing the team with young players does not benefit them or the team. Sri Lanka have already fielded a batsman who has played only two previous ODIs in Dimuth Karunaratne, and Mathews said plenty was already being done to secure the team's future.

"If you look at our batting lineup right now, apart from TM Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, the other four in the top seven are all young cricketers, so there has to be a balance. If you look at the bowling, Nuwan Kulasekara and Lasith Malinga have been doing well, so we've taken the decision to play them. The young players have to be brought into the team, but the team has to also be winning and doing well."

Opener Karunaratne was dismissed for a golden duck in the first game, but Mathews suggested the batsman deserved a longer stretch in the side, given his recent form in List A cricket. Karunaratne is also approaching a period of greater responsibility in Tests, as the retirement of Dilshan will likely result in another rookie opener joining Karunaratne.

"If you pick a player, you have to give him appropriate opportunity to show what he's got. Dimuth has been constantly among the runs for the Sri Lanka A team. He was unfortunate to be out first ball, but he's a good player and I'm confident he'll do well in the matches to come."

Mathews said he was largely pleased about Sri Lanka's total of 288 for 9 in the first match, but said they should have batted better in the last ten overs after all three seniors had been dismissed. Mathews remained unbeaten, hitting 74 from 64, but received little support from the lower middle order.

"At 40 overs we had over 210 runs [216], and our plan then was to go past 300. But we lost wickets and that was a setback. Chandimal and Thirimanne's wickets had a big effect on that, but in the end I was happy with the total. I think we had a great chance to win."

Read More..

Azhar Ali ton sets up big SNGPL win

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited moved to the top of the table with a 237-run win over United Bank Limited in Faisalabad. SNGPL were in trouble at 132 for 6 on day one after choosing to bat, but a 63 from No 8 Bilawal Bhatti stretched the innings to 279. Bhatti also starred on the final day, taking 5 for 13 as UBL were dismissed for 95 in their pursuit of 333.

After Bhatti's rearguard in the first innings, legspinner Yasir Shah took five wickets to earn SNGPL a lead of 62. Ali Asad made 87 at No 3 but there was little support for him. Batsmen No 4 to 7 departed for 15 each as UBL were bowled out for 217.

SNGPL captain Azhar Ali then took the game away from UBL with an unbeaten century, his 17th first-class hundred. Azhar came in at 46 for 2 and ensured UBL were set a difficult target. Opener Azeem Ghumman (62) and Ali Waqas (47) helped their captain build the innings and SNGPL declared on 270 for 5. Imran Ali again made key incisions with the new ball to have UBL tottering on 13 for 3 in the chase after which Bhatti took over. Barring Asif Raza and Bismillah Khan, no UBL batsman made more than 8.

State Bank of Pakistan fought back from the brink of an innings defeat to draw their match against National Bank of Pakistan in Sialkot.

National Bank of Pakistan piled up 435 for 5, after being put in to bat, and were driven by big centuries from opener Sami Aslam (191) and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal (162).

In reply, State Bank were shot out for 53 in their first innings, with National Bank medium-pacer Ataullah taking 5 for 19 off nine overs. State Bank began their second innings with a deficit of 382 runs and suffered a few setbacks but recovered steadily after a dogged partnership between opener Kashif Siddiqui (80) and Usman Arshad, who added 85 for the third wicket. Arshad scored his 11th first-class hundred and also shared a useful 87-run stand with Rameez Alam.

Once Arshad fell for 102, Alam and wicketkeeper Gulraiz Sadaf took on the task of saving the match for State Bank. The pair added 112 for the sixth wicket and Sadaf carried on after Alam's dismissal to stitch a partnership of 124 with Zahid Mahmood for the seventh wicket. Sadaf's resistance ensured that State Bank took a 144-run lead over National Bank. Offspinner Adnan Rasool finished with figures of 6 for 105.

National Bank had to play just two overs in their chase and managed to close at 4 for no loss.

Port Qasim Authority, by way of acquiring a first-innings lead, got the better of Water and Power Development Authority as their President's Trophy clash petered out to a draw at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Put in to bat, Faraz Ali (91) and Mohammad Waqas (76) overcame a shaky start as their 111-run partnership steered Port Qasim to the relative safety of 188 for 4. However, there was little resistance once the pair fell as pacer Azhar Attari took 6 for 76 and Port Qasim lost their final wicket for 273.

In reply, WAPDA's start was even worse as seamer Mohammad Talha ripped out the first four wickets with only 16 on the board. Mohammad Sami drove the stake further with three more wickets, but Adnan Raees refused to budge. His partnership with No. 9 Asif Ali revived a feeble 61 for 7 to 202 for 8. Asif's 71 was his maiden first-class fifty while Raees' century was his 12th in the format. Sami completed his 27th five-wicket haul to limit WAPDA to 231.

The Port Qasim top order could not build on their starts a second time, with the exception of captain Khalid Latif who made 73. There were only two stands over fifty as WAPDA seamer Sarfraz Ahmed held sway, claiming 5 for 36 in just under 25 overs. Asif's form continued with the ball too as he chipped in with three wickets to bundle Port Qasim out for 221.

WAPDA were chasing a target of 264, but the match was drawn with the score at 158 for 5, leaving Port Qasim winless after three matches.

Shoaib Ahmed's century and slow left-armer Mohammad Aslam's six-for in the second innings were the main highlights of another drawn match between Khan Research Laboratories and Habib Bank Limited in Rawalpindi.

After losing the toss, Khan Research Labs got off to a jittery start. At 19 for 2, opener Saeed Anwar jnr and Shoaib paired well, taking the score to 98. Shoaib starred in two more fifty-run stands - for the fourth and fifth wickets - but there was little support down the order. He was dismissed for 119, with 20 fours and the final four wickets could contribute only 15 more runs as KRL posted 307.

Yasir Arafat led a disciplined bowling performance as Habib Bank's only fifty came from No. 9 Ehsan Adil. Although a few batsmen did manage starts - Imran Farhat (32), Asad Baig (45) and wicketkeeper Jamal Anwar (31) - regular wickets thwarted their efforts to push on. Arafat's four wickets stifled the middle order, while Sadaf Hussain and Rahat Ali, who picked up two each, took early KRL wickets. Coming in at 151 for 7, Adil produced an earnest effort, lasting just under three hours for his maiden first-class fifty and took the score to 236.

KRL's second essay was a woeful story as they lost their last six wickets for 25 runs. Usman Salahuddin, coming in at No. 4 offered the only resistance with his 66 off 125 balls, but a devastating spell from 34-year old Aslam, accounting for the last five of the six wickets, bundled KRL out for 159 to set up a target of 231 runs. However, the excitement was short-lived as there wasn't enough time for Habib Bank to record more than 63 for 3.

Pakistan International Airlines demolished Pakistan Television by ten wickets in Islamabad. Kamran Sajid, the PIA captain, struck 148 to lead his side to 382 in the first innings. Aizaz Cheema then picked up seven wickets as PTV were dismissed for 156 and 230, after being made to follow-on.

PIA piled up a big score after being asked to bat. Sajid was assisted by Faisal Iqbal's 96. Though there were few contributions from the other specialist batsmen, No 9 Anwar Ali made 36 before falling to Mohammad Ali, who ended with 5 for 79.

Cheema replied with 4 for 49 as PTV conceded a first-innings lead of 226. Three middle-order batsmen fell in their thirties while the top order also gave away starts. Asked to follow-on, PTV put up a better show. Imran Ali and Nawaz Ahmed made forties at the top of the order but there was little resistance after that. Cheema took three more wickets while Tahir Khan ran through the tail to finish with 4 for 41.

PIA needed to make just five runs in their second innings, and were gifted five wides by Zohaib Ahmed in the second over.

Read More..

Lahore secure resounding win

Group II

Multan's lower-order collapse on the final day, triggered by pacer Mohammad Saeed's four-wicket haul, resulted in an eight-wicket rout at the hands of Lahore Shalimar, who brushed aside a 76-run target and moved to second place in Group II.

Lahore Shalimar won the toss and chose to bowl, and were handed an immediate advantage when Mohammad Bilawal took seven wickets to dismiss Multan for 69.

In spite of a shaky start, Lahore Shalimar grabbed a substantial first-innings lead, posting 282, built around Mohammad Saeed's maiden first-class hundred. The No. 9 batsman scored 113 off 114 balls with 16 fours and four sixes. Offspinner Haziq Habibullah was the pick of the Multan bowlers, returning first-innings figures of 4 for 81.

Faced with a 213-run deficit, and with a risk of an innings defeat at 117 for 4, Multan staged a recovery led by Ahmed Rasheed. Rasheed's 170-ball 89 had 11 fours and contributions from Abdul Rehman Muzammil (47) and openers Usman Liaqat and Ahad Raza helped Multan clear the deficit. However, Mohammad Saeed struck with a four-wicket haul to skittle Multan out for 288 as the batting side lost its last six wickets for 38.

The Lahore openers put on a 55-run stand in pursuit of the 76-run target and the side needed just 18 overs to complete an eight-wicket win. Mohammad Bilawal finished with match figures of 10 for 111, his maiden first-class ten-wicket haul, while Saeed added to his first-innings tally to finish with a seven-wicket match haul.

A high-scoring match between Islamabad and Hyderabad petered out in a draw in Islamabad.

Put in to bat first, Islamabad scored 303, helped by contributions from all batsmen, including a fifty from Moed Ahmed. Fast bowler Farhan Ayub picked up six wickets for 106, but regular partnerships between the Islamabad batsmen ensured they reached a solid score.

In reply, Hyderabad, powered by fifties from openers Zeeshan Gul and Darya Khan eked out a slender 17-run lead. The openers added 113 for the opening stand to notch up important innings where other Hyderabad batsmen failed to convert their starts. Gul fell for 50, while Darya Khan missed his maiden first-class hundred by five runs. Hyderabad's bowlers then gave their side a solid shot at victory, reducing Islamabad to 56 for 5 in the second innings, before a lower-order rally saw Islamabad climb to 200.

Set a target of 184 runs, and running out of time, Hyderabad stuttered to 41 for 5 in 21 overs by close of play. Shehzad Azam, the Islamabad fast bowler, picked up 4 for 29 in 11 overs.

Group I

Abbottabad and Sialkot held each other to a high-scoring draw, which featured three centuries at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

Mohammad Ali (133) enjoyed a memorable debut as he rescued the home side from 38 for 2. Ali, whose innings included 19 fours and lasted just a shade under six hours, and 18-year-old Kamran Ghulam (157) carried Abbottabad to a daunting 513 for 7, before the declaration . Ghulam, though was the more aggressive of the two centurions, as his 23 fours helped him maintain a strike rate over 80. Another debutant, Baber Khan, came in at No. 9 and struck 54 off 55 balls. Hasan Ali, 19, was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 133.

In reply, opener Majid Jahangir (107) and Naved Sarwar (80) stabilised Sialkot after quick wickets. A brief collapse in the middle order hurt Sialkot's momentum but No. 8 Nabeel Malik arrested the slide - three wickets for 36 runs - with his second first-class fifty. The rest of the tail, however, could not muster similar resolve and Sialkot lost their last four wickets for 13 runs to finish at 360.

Abbottabad's second innings lasted for nine overs in which the openers hit 64 runs before the match was drawn.

It was a case of first-innings blues as Rawalpindi met Peshawar in the Quaid-e-Azam tournament at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Both teams put in strong performances in their second innings, with Isarullah scoring the only century of the match, as it ended in a draw.

Seamer Azam Khan snared four of the top-five Rawalpindi batsmen, including opener Shoaib Nasir, whose 38 remained the highest score of the innings. Azam's new-ball partner Afaq Ahmed chipped in with three wickets as Rawalpindi benefited from lower-order contributions - the last four wickets added 117 runs - to reach 180.

Peshawar's steady start was interrupted when Ashfaq Ahmed was forced to retire with the score on 42. Iftikhar Ahmed's 92 was the saving grace after the top-order could not consolidate on their starts. Striking 15 fours in his 107-ball innings, his counterattack helped Peshawar claim a 63-run lead, which proved vital in their claiming three points off this match.

Rawalpindi's solid start was dented when their first two wickets fell within four runs. The score was 99 for 2 and by the time they had added five more runs, another wicket had fallen. Regular wickets became the order of the day until Zahid Mansoor (91) and wicketkeeper Talha Qureshi (45*) steadied the innings, taking Rawalpindi from 186 for 6 to 278 before the partnership was broken. Qureshi remained unbeaten until the end of the innings, taking his side to 384.

Azizullah, the 21-year-old fast bowler, toiled away for 42.4 overs and reaped good rewards as he claimed his maiden five-for in first-class cricket.

Chasing a target of 322 runs, Isarullah's ton helped Peshawar set a good pace as they made 181 for 2 in 51 overs, but in the end the honours were shared.

Read More..

Bailey named in Test squad

George Bailey is set to become Australia's 435th Test cricketer after beating his fellow Tasmanian Alex Doolan for the final batting place in the squad for the first Ashes Test at the Gabba. Bailey has been included in Australia's 12-man squad despite his disappointing first-class form over the past year, as the selectors instead backed his strong efforts in one-day internationals, including as captain on last month's tour of India.

The allrounder James Faulkner has also been included as expected, as has the fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, who is likely to share the pace duties with Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle, while Nathan Lyon retained his position as the lead spinner. Shane Watson has been chosen despite suffering a hamstring injury at the end of the Indian tour and the selectors are hopeful he will be able to bowl, which gives them a range of options regarding the balance of the team.

Although batting the vice-captain Brad Haddin at No.6 and Faulkner at 7 would be a possibility, as in the final Test at The Oval this year, the likely scenario is that Bailey will fill the No.6 position on debut at the Gabba. During a first-class career that has spanned ten seasons, Bailey, 31, has scored 6011 runs at 38.28, including 14 centuries, but his lack of red-ball form last season initially seemed to have hurt his chances of a Test call-up.

For Tasmania last year, Bailey scored only 256 Sheffield Shield runs at 18.28 and he later conceded that he had struggled significantly with the constant demands of changing formats. However, the national selector John Inverarity noted Bailey's form the previous summer, when he had made 697 Shield runs at 58.08, and it also helped that since Bailey's ODI debut in March last year only India's Virat Kohli has scored more ODI runs than his 1539 at 54.96.

"It was certainly discussed at great length last night," Inverarity said of the decision between Bailey and Doolan. "Alex Doolan is a very highly-regarded player in our eyes ... George Bailey has been in fantastic form with the bat. His confidence is riding high. His performance in international one-day cricket has been quite extraordinary and he's very deserving of his opportunity."

Australia's T20 international captain since his debut in the format in February last year, Bailey has impressed the selectors in the shorter formats not only with his run-scoring but also his calm, intelligent leadership. Although there was no place for Doolan in this squad, he appears the batsman most likely to be included if another opportunity comes up during the Ashes, after his impressive 2012-13 and strong start to this summer.

Apart from the inclusion of Bailey in the 12, the only other change to the side that played at The Oval was the absence of the injured Mitchell Starc, who has been replaced by his fellow left-armer Johnson. At 32, Johnson is set to embark on his third Ashes series and the selectors hope he can make the England batsmen jump, as he did during the ODIs that followed this year's Ashes, while also demonstrating improved control.

"I think he's bowling a lot more consistent at the moment," the captain Michael Clarke said. "His pace is certainly high, which is a great start. But it doesn't matter how fast you bowl, if you don't know where they're going it's always easy to face as a batsman. I think Mitch has that control. He showed that in the one-day format. I said a couple of days ago if Mitch was selected in this squad, it wouldn't surprise me if in a couple of months' time you see Mitch being Man of the Series."

Whether Johnson is one of four or five bowlers remains to be seen, but the Australians are hopeful Watson will be able to contribute some overs despite struggling with a hamstring problem he picked up on the ODI tour of India. Watson is expected to bat at No.3, after finishing the Ashes in England with a century at first drop at The Oval, and Inverarity is confident that will not be all he can do for the team.

"We're hoping that he'll be able to bowl," Inverarity said. "We're not sure the extent to which he'll be able to bowl. He's progressing very well and he'll certainly be fit to play. We believe he's likely to be able to bowl. But it's nine days to go, so we can't give a definitive answer on that."

Watson's fitness to bowl could determine whether there is a place for the allrounder Faulkner, who performed well on debut at The Oval and also made his maiden ODI century in India earlier this month. Inverarity said Faulkner was a player the selectors hoped could offer plenty to the Test team in the future.

"He has been a cricketer we've had our eye on for a long time," he said. "He impresses us with his batting and with his bowling and with his attitude, and his uncanny ability to have an impact on almost every game he plays. If you give him the ball, he always seems to be able to conjure up a wicket, when he goes out to bat he has the knack of forming a partnership ... we have high hopes for him."

Squad Chris Rogers, David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (capt), Steve Smith, George Bailey, Brad Haddin (wk, vice-capt), James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon.

Read More..

Raina, spinners deliver big win for UP

Uttar Pradesh 302 (Raina 123, Utkarsh 5-73, Bhatt 5-105) and 294 for 6 dec (Srivastava 125*, Raina 65) beat Baroda 228 (Wakaskar 70, Rayudu 65, RP Singh 4-50) and 186 (Rayudu 56*, Gupta 4-14) by 182 runs
Scorecard

Baroda failed to show fight for sustained periods on a wearing fourth-day pitch at Moti Bagh, conceding the game by 182 runs to Uttar Pradesh. Baroda were on the back foot coming in to the final day, having lost two wickets for virtually nothing late on the third day after they were set 369. Baroda resisted through a counterattacking stand of 82 for the sixth wicket between Yusuf Pathan and Ambati Rayudu, but a reckless shot from Yusuf triggered a collapse.

Resuming at 5 for 2, Baroda were fortunate on two occasions in the morning. Abhimanyu Chauhan looked to drive RP Singh through the off side but the umpire failed to pick up the thick edge to the keeper. Shortly after, Chauhan's partner, Utkarsh Patel went down the track to the spinner and survived a regulation stumping chance. UP struck in the 22nd over when Patel chopped Imtiaz Ahmed onto the off stump. Chauhan himself was bowled by the captain Suresh Raina, leaving UP in further trouble at 73 for 4.

Rayudu and Yusuf, however, seemed undeterred by the ball not only turning square but also shooting through low. They charged the spinners and cleared the infield in their positive stand. Rayudu had a close call when he fended off a short ball from RP, with the ball shaving the stump but not dislodging the bails. With this coming after the umpiring howler, it clearly wasn't RP's day.

Pathan, who scored 42 of his 49 runs off boundaries alone, showed welcome signs of a return to form. He charged Piyush Chawla and launched him high over long-on and when he looked to clear the on side again the following ball, he ended up dragging it onto his stumps.

It was the start of the end for Baroda as the left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta ran through the lower order with three wickets in an over. Rayudu was left stranded on 56 and though he was let down by his team-mates in the end, it was a commendable innings from him on a tough pitch.

UP claimed their first win while Baroda, having been denied by rain in the first round, were still looking for their first win.

Read More..

Jaffer hits yet another hundred, Sehwag's dismal run

Sehwag's poor run, Venugopal Rao's first hundred in six seasons, Akshar takes maiden five-for
Gujarat v Delhi, Surat
Virender Sehwag scored 1 and 15 in the two opportunities he got in this match; he has now gone 13 first-class innings without hitting a half-century. Venugopal Rao hit his first hundred in six first-class seasons, in Gujarat's first innings. In five first-class seasons before this one, Venugopal had scored 939 runs from 24 matches at an average of 24.71, including five fifties. This was Venugopal's first century for Gujarat. Playing for Gujarat in the last season, Venugopal had scored 110 runs from nine innings at an average of 12.22. Sumit Narwal took 6 for 71 in Gujarat's first innings - this was his sixth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Akshar Patel took 6 for 55 in Delhi's first innings. This was his first five-wicket haul in his first-class career in only his second match. Mithun Manhas also hit a century, the 23rd hundred of his first-class career.

Samson's productive run
Kerala v Andhra Pradesh, Kannur
Sanju Samson followed up his double-century against Assam in the first round with another hundred against Andhra Pradesh in Kannur. This was his fourth hundred in first-class cricket and his second against Andhra in three innings. Samson followed it up with another half-century in Kerala's second innings. Samson's score in his last five innings read - 122, 51, 211, 115, 51*. Samson now averages 54.14 in first-class cricket in 16 innings.

Jaffer hits yet another hundred, Rajwinder takes maiden five-for
Punjab v Mumbai, Chandigarh
Wasim Jaffer hit his 33rd hundred in the Ranji Trophy and the 49th of first-class career, in the first innings against Punjab. Jaffer leads the list of batsmen with most centuries in the Ranji. Ajay Sharma (31) and Amol Muzumdar (28) are next in the list. Vishal Dabholkar, thrust into the role of lead spinner for Mumbai, took his first five-for and his first ten-for to wreck Punjab .

Aparajith completes 1000 runs, Badrinath hits third Ranji double-century
Tamil Nadu v Madhya Pradesh, Indore
B Aparajith completed 1000 runs in first-class cricket in Tamil Nadu's second round Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh. Needing just eight runs to reach the landmark before the match, he hit his fourth century in seven innings and the fifth of his career. He now averages 61.66 in first-class from 24 innings. S Badrinath hit his third double-hundred in the Ranji Trophy and the 30th century of his first-class career. He fell two runs short of his highest first-class score of 250, which he scored against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy in 2009.

Dinda takes 200 first-class scalps, Aniket's maiden first-class five-for
Rajasthan v Bengal, Jaipur
Sourabh Chouhan's wicket in Bengal's match against Rajasthan was Ashok Dinda's 200th wicket in first-class cricket. Dinda has taken 203 wickets at an average of 30.64 and a strike rate of 59.3 in 58 first-class matches. Rajasthan's Aniket Choudhary took 5 for 93 in Bengal's first innings at Jaipur - his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. These were also his best bowling figures in a match.

Gokul completes 1000 first-class runs, Sibsankar hits his maiden hundred
Assam v Hyderabad, Guwahati
Gokul Sharma's 161 batting at No. 7 in the first innings against Hyderabad was Assam's highest individual score at No. 7 in first-class cricket and his third century in first-class cricket. Assam's Sibsankar Roy also hit a hundred in the first innings; his maiden first-class hundred from 19 matches.

Raina and Tanmay hit hundreds
Baroda v Uttar Pradesh, Vadodra
Suresh Raina bettered his chances of travelling to South Africa as India's reserve middle-order batsmen with a century in UP's first innings. This was his 13th first-class hundred. Tanmay Srivatsava also hit a century in UP's second innings, which was his eighth in first-class cricket.

Keenan Vaz's first half-century, Jakati's five-for after a while
Jammu Kashmir v Goa, Srinagar
Goa wicketkeeper Keenan Vaz hit 99 in Goa's first innings, which was his first fifty in first-class cricket in five games. He added another fifty to the tally in this match with a half-century in the second innings also. Vaz had scored 67 runs from six innings before this match. Shadab Jakati took a five-wicket haul for Goa in Jammu and Kashmir's first innings. This was his eighth first-class five-for and his first since November 2010 in 18 innings.

Mayank hits 90 on debut, Nadeem's highest first-class score
Karnataka v Jharkhand, Mysore
Mayank Agarwal hit 90 on his debut in first-class cricket, for Karnataka. Jharkhand captain Shahbaz Nadeem's 85 in their first innings was the fourth half-century and the highest score of his first-class career.

Jaydev and Anureet both take their fifth five-for
Railways v Saurashtra, Delhi
Jaydev Unadkat and Anureet Singh both took their fifth five-wicket hauls in this match. Unadkat has now taken 91 first-class wickets from 32 matches at an average of 33.37. Anureet has taken 78 wickets from 23 first-class matches at an average of 29.65.

Jayant Yadav takes his first five-for, Wagh's best bowling figures in a match
Vidarbha v Haryana, Nagpur
Jayant Yadav's bowling figures of 5 for 77 in Vidarbha's first innings were his best in first-class career and his first five-wicket haul. Jayant's figures of 6 for 84 for the match were also his best in first-class cricket. Shrikant Wagh took 7 for 109 in the match, which was his best figures in a match in first-class cricket. This included a five-wicket haul - his third in first-class cricket.

Read More..

Ferguson to face England again in tour match

Callum Ferguson, Aaron Finch, Adam Voges and Steve O'Keefe are among the players who will face England in a four-day match in Sydney this week as part of a Cricket Australia Invitational XI. As they did for the Australia A squad that played in Hobart last week, the selectors have picked a strong batting line-up featuring several players who could come into international contention soon, but a weakened bowling attack.

Ferguson is the only member of that Australia A side who will play in this week's match, as the severely rain-affected game in Hobart allowed him only 23 balls at the crease for an unbeaten 15. Phillip Hughes was originally meant to be part of the Cricket Australia Invitational XI but instead has been released to play for South Australia, to make way for his state team-mate Ferguson to have some more time in the middle against England.

Usman Khawaja, who the selectors had also intended to play against England in Sydney this week, has also been released to play for Queensland, due to their growing injury list. Khawaja will play for the Bulls against New South Wales in Brisbane, while Hughes will play for the Redbacks in Adelaide against Western Australia, in a round of Shield matches that begin on Wednesday, the same day as the England tour game.

"In selecting the final XI, we have tried to be flexible given the needs of particular states and individual players following the latest round of first-class matches across the country," Cricket Australia's general manager of team performance, Pat Howard, said. "We recognise the injury situation in Queensland, so it is appropriate to release Usman Khawaja from this tour match to support his state.

"We have also taken the view that due to the rain-affected match in Hobart, Callum Ferguson didn't get the depth of international exposure we hoped to give him through his Australia A selection. Through consultation with the SACA, we felt it made sense to select him in the next tour match against England. In light of Callum's selection, Phil Hughes, who has played a lot of international cricket in recent months will remain with South Australia for its next Shield match."

The invitational side will be captained by the New South Wales wicketkeeper Peter Nevill and will feature mostly New South Wales players, with only Voges, Ferguson, Finch and Ed Cowan coming from interstate sides. Although none of the batsmen are expected to be in contention for the first Ashes Test, they are all close enough to the fringes to hope that a big score against England might help them move closer to a call-up.

Ben Rohrer and Ryan Carters round out the batting line-up, while the bowling attack will be made up of O'Keefe and fringe Blues fast men Josh Lalor, Chris Tremain and Nic Bills. Geoff Lawson will coach the side for the four-day encounter at the SCG, which is England's last practice match before the first Test begins at the Gabba on November 21.

Cricket Australia Invitational XI Ed Cowan, Aaron Finch, Callum Ferguson, Adam Voges, Ben Rohrer, Ryan Carters, Peter Nevill (capt, wk), Steve O'Keefe, Josh Lalor, Chris Tremain, Nic Bills.

Read More..

Carberry gains from Flower's ruthless call

England's batting order has lost some of its stability with Alastair Cook set to have his third opening partner of the year and Michael Carberry's resurgence has surely shut the door on Nick Compton

Michael Carberry's path towards an opening batting position in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba highlights how quickly fortunes can change. After launching his Australia tour with scores of 78 and 153 not out it seems inevitable that he will now walk out with Alastair Cook having usurped two other men who have held the position this year.

For Joe Root the impact will be limited to a change in position - back to the middle order where he made his debut against India less than a year ago - but Nick Compton's career has slid much further than purely batting slots. The prospect of Compton adding to his nine Test caps (during which he scored two hundreds) were already slim after he was cut shortly before the previous Ashes; Carberry's re-emergence has all but put a full-stop on that brief top-level career.

Compton struggled in the two home Tests against New Zealand, during the second of which at Headingley Root made his maiden hundred in an energetic stand with Jonny Bairstow, and afterwards Andy Flower hinted at a change as Compton returned to county cricket while England embarked on the Champions Trophy. "Hopefully he goes away and can get back in the runs as quickly as possible," Flower said at the time. He made 166 in his first Championship match after the New Zealand series, followed by scores of 81, 34, 79 and 26 against the Australians for Somerset and Worcestershire but it was not enough - even for a place in the performance squad.

Compton's axing has been viewed as one of the more ruthless decisions by this selection panel - he scored 1001 runs at 50.05 in the 2013 County Championship season compared to Carberry's 687 at 42.93 in Division Two - but speaking in Hobart, after England's match against Australia A, Flower said that there are never any promises made regarding selection. His comments gave an insight into the deeper workings of England's selectors, who use far more than pure statistics, while acting as a cautionary tale for others who are sent away with a familiar message.

"Usually in conversations when you do leave players out, often players will ask 'well what do I need to do?' One of the things that's inevitable is that they must go away and score runs because there's nothing else they can do usually. So it wasn't a binding contract and it never is with a batsman that you leave out," Flower said. "The selectors say to him, 'go back to your first-class side and score some runs' but it doesn't mean that once they have scored some runs they are re-selected. There are other people in the mix.

"I think most selection decisions are fairly difficult because you're making decisions about people's careers. We take those decisions seriously."

It all points to Compton's fate having been decided well before the names were made official. England's selection panel under Geoff Miller - who is about to hand the role over to James Whitaker - has not erred in many decisions and their judgement could be about to be borne out even though without Cook's dodgy back in Perth, Carberry may not yet have played on this tour.

"We selected him in the squad initially so we did see certain qualities about him," Flower said. "He is a mature bloke, a mature cricketer. He leaves the ball well, he's got a good range of attacking shots. I think he is well balanced at the crease and those are some of the qualities he will bring to his batting and to the England team.

"Cook stepped off the plane and had that back trouble. We had three openers on board so as soon as Cook started talking about his back it was a very obvious move to have both Root and Carberry open in the Perth game. I think one of the advantages we have is that we've got flexible players. Carberry himself is happy batting down the order. Root we know can do both and so we're pretty comfortable to be flexible."

Flexibility, however, would ideally go out of the window for England in their final-warm match against a Cricket Australia Invitational XI where Flower would like to select to the Test top seven, but the injury concerns to Matt Prior and Kevin Pietersen could yet force his hand. This has been far from the smooth, clinical, build-up England enjoyed on the 2010-11 tour.

"Things don't always work out perfectly and this preparation has been different to the previous Ashes tour that we were on," Flower admitted. "But that's okay. Sometimes you can't recreate the past and actually I think it's a dangerous thing to try sometimes. We haven't had a perfect lead-in to that New South Wales game but that's okay. I think we're pretty comfortable that we'll ensure we're ready for that first day of the Brisbane Test. I'm confident our guys will be ready in Brisbane."

The other issue to confront England in recent days has been the leak of their dietary demands for the Test series in an 82-page document. Flower did not want to linger on the subject - "I don't think it's a very serious issue or story" - but did reveal that consideration has been given to having a chef with the squad. "We have thought about it but we don't think it's necessary," he said. Clearly, one Cook is enough for England. Now he just needs a regular opening partner.

Read More..

Qualification would be 'massive' for Scotland - Coetzer

Scotland captain, Kyle Coetzer, has targeted Afghanistan and Netherlands as the two main sides to beat in his team's World Twenty20 Qualifier group. Scotland are one of 16 teams competing for six places at next year's World Twenty20 and Coetzer said that qualification would be "massive for cricket" in the country.

Teams have begun to arrive in the UAE ahead of the tournament, which runs from November 15-30. Scotland, who played in the first two World Twenty20s in 2007 and 2009, will form part of Group B alongside Kenya, Bermuda, Denmark, Nepal and Papua New Guinea, as well as two of the favourites.

"Getting over Afghanistan or the Netherlands will fill our side with confidence," Coetzer said. "Afghanistan has been a side we have not had a huge amount of success against. So we want to make a statement that we are here and we mean business.

"It will be massive for cricket in Scotland and for all the supporters we get from throughout the country. We have not been involved in a world tournament for a couple of years now, so it will be nice to get back in the world stage."

Scotland have lost one of their key players to injury in vice-captain Preston Mommsen but should be among the contenders in the UAE. They are currently ranked 12th in the world in T20 cricket, below Ireland and Afghanistan but above Netherlands.

"Missing Preston is massive and leaves a big hole, but we have got guys who are capable of taking up his spot which is very important," Coetzer said. "We feel we have all bases covered in terms of flexibility in the squad like right-hand/left-hand combination in batting, different aggressiveness styles as well.

"In bowling, we have right-arm and left-arm bowlers, which we have not had in the previous couple of tournaments. So it is nice to have that option, we have three left arm bowlers in our ranks, which give us variation."

Coetzer, 29, is coming off the back of a successful season with Northamptonshire, during which the team secured promotion from Division Two of the Championship and won the Friends Life t20 competition. Allied to his own experience, the team will be able to draw on the knowledge of England's World Twenty20-winning former captain, Paul Collingwood, who has taken up a coaching role with Scotland over the winter.

"In terms of batting, he is really helping guys understand how to get about scoring their runs, or chasing down totals and setting a certain total," Coetzer said. "Having someone like Colly will be a massive advantage to our boys."

The Scotland squad have recently been on a training camp in Sri Lanka, to help acclimatise to conditions in the UAE as well as gain experience of subcontinental conditions, with the World T20 to be held in Bangladesh next March and April. They will prepare for the World T20 Qualifier with warm-up matches against USA and Namibia before taking on Bermuda in their opening fixture on Friday but Coetzer was not worried about his side's ability to adapt in the UAE.

"We played out there a couple of times in a year so it is not like the conditions are absolutely foreign to us," Coetzer said. "I would probably say that the conditions don't suit us as much as others, but you can't use that as an excuse. You've just got to find a way to perform the best in those kinds of conditions."

Read More..

Cutting departs from script

Ben Cutting's spell during the afternoon may have caught the selectors' eye, whilst also giving England the testing workout they craved

As he watched Ben Cutting charge in at England's batsmen on an otherwise turgid final afternoon of the Australia A match in Hobart, it is likely the selector on duty, Rod Marsh, would have been equal parts impressed and peeved.

Impressed because Cutting was taking the opportunity presented to him in a way few of his team-mates did across the match, striving to earn higher honours rather than going through the motions to avoid injury. But peeved because Cutting's rhythmic speed, lateral movement and sustained accuracy was providing England with the sort of quality batting work-out that Marsh, the national selector, John Inverarity, and the team performance manager, Pat Howard, have been deliberately trying to withhold from the tourists.

After completing a spell of 9-3-17-2 that included the significant wicket of Jonathan Trott, Cutting revealed his bowling was not only the result of earnest endeavour but also malice aforethought, including a phone call to his Queensland compatriot Ryan Harris to discuss Australia's Ashes plans for the touring batsmen. Trott faced up to a leg slip before edging a good one behind, and Joe Root floundered visibly against the ball well pitched up.

"Leading into this game when I thought I was going to be playing I spoke at length to Ryan Harris about bowling plans," Cutting said. "He did so well over in England I couldn't think of a better person to ring and talk to. That [leg slip] was one of his ideas and I decided to run with that and give it a go myself. I don't know if I was bowling that quick, I haven't seen the gun, but I only bowled one bouncer all day. I bowled a handful on day one, but in saying that I didn't bowl one to Alastair Cook, so I do pick my targets."

It was all very good and very thoughtful bowling, suggesting that the 26-year-old Cutting has matured into a paceman as intelligent as he is hostile. Looking on from the England viewing area, the team director, Andy Flower, could not help but approve of Cutting's expertise and the resultant stiffening required of the touring batsmen to counter him. For those nine overs, a lifeless game briefly mimicked something like the intensity of a Test match.

"I thought he bowled superbly," Flower said. "He bowled an excellent length, conditions were a little subcontinent-like, with the bounce of the ball. He bowled a perfect length for that pitch and he was good on the first day as well, I thought, without much luck. But he was excellent today. It was good for us to face that sort of quality bowling."

	On day four, Cutting departed from the script so markedly that Flower learned more about several batsmen in just over an hour than he could have deduced from the previous 13 days on tour

Good for England, but in all probability too good for the aims of the Australia selectors. In much the same manner as last summer when compiling the Australia A team to face the South Africans in Sydney, Inverarity's panel had hoped to prevent England from gaining much sight of top-class fast bowling before the first Test in Brisbane. The team for Hobart was lopsided, leaning heavily on batting and choosing only the seamer Trent Copeland to share the new ball with Cutting.

As a result of this, England's captain Alastair Cook and his likely Gabba opening partner Michael Carberry were able to dominate day one, playing themselves into the pinkest of form before the rain set in for two days. They were aided by a fielding display that bordered on the uninterested, leaving many to wonder whether the players involved were fully aware of the chance on offer to them, and if they would have been so slovenly were they playing for their state.

On day four, however, Cutting departed from the script so markedly that Flower learned more about several batsmen in just over an hour than he could have deduced from any of the team's previous 13 days on tour. It can only be hoped that Cutting has also forced the selectors to depart from their own planning for the Gabba by considering him for a place in the squad. Two years ago, Cutting's chances of a debut against New Zealand were checked by a back injury in the Sheffield Shield match preceding the 2011 Brisbane Test, an experience he still winces about.

"It's a funny one because it's such an amazing high and then the next day I was injured and a ridiculous low," Cutting said. "I missed a lot of cricket after that and dropped right down the pecking order, as I have done each time I've been injured, so the goal for me is just to stay on the park. I know if I can stay on the park and put the performances together that something will happen eventually."

In Hobart, Cutting put on a performance that should make his selection happen immediately. Whether Marsh chooses to look past the foiling of the selectors' subterfuge to appreciate the bowling on display will only be known when the Ashes squad is announced on Tuesday. One thing is certain: a handful of England batsmen will be hoping fervently that he does not.

Read More..