Sep
07

Fawad's choice opens cultural faultlines

Hurried in as the legspinning saviour of Australian cricket, Fawad Ahmed's choice to not wear the Australian shirt bearing their beer-company sponsors has sparked a wider debate on immigrationFawad Ahmed arrived in Australia as a Pakistani asylum seeker. He became a Melbourne sub-district cricketer and net bowler, then a permanent resident, then a Melbourne Renegades, Victoria and Australia A player,...
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Modi involved in rebel county plans - BCCI

The furious stand-off between the ECB chairman Giles Clarke, Lalit Modi, the former IPL commissioner, and the global sports and media business IMG, over alleged talks about a rebel Twenty20 league in England has been stripped bare in the report of a BCCI disciplinary committee. Modi has been found guilty on eight charges of "various acts of indiscipline and misconduct" during his time in charge of...
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Settled Hampshire far happier with white ball

Jimmy Adams evoked his own schooldays, spent at Twyford, near his home, and then at Sherborne, when contrasting Hampshire's authority in the one day game with their poor standing in the County Championship. Hampshire, the most successful one-day side in the country, were ranked as strong favourites ahead of their Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-final against Glamorgan at the Ageas Bowl yet their Championship...
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Month-long Ryobi Cup in Sydney confirmed

The Ryobi Cup will be played exclusively in Sydney as a standalone tournament at the start of Australia's domestic summer this season, leaving space for only three rounds of Sheffield Shield cricket before the first Ashes Test. Three weeks from the start of the state competition, Cricket Australia has released its full domestic fixture for 2013-14, with clearly defined periods for all three formats,...
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Sep
06

Onions to play for Dolphins

Graham Onions, the England fast bowler, has signed a contract to play for the Dolphins franchise during South Africa's domestic season, outside of his international commitments. Onions, who most recently played for England in the Edgbaston Test against West Indies last year, could yet be a part of the Ashes touring party to Australia. He has been a regular squad member since returning from a career-threatening...
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Pitch perfect Rayner destroys Surrey

Middlesex 294 (Dexter 90*) and 235 (Malan 50, Keedy 6-101) beat Surrey 145 (Rayner 8-46) and 238 (Amla 84, Rayner 7-72) by 146 runsScorecard The similarities between Ollie Rayner and Jim Laker are not, at first glance, obvious but on the ground that England's greatest offspinner called home for many years, Rayner produced a more than passable impression. Rayner, gaining sharp turn and steepling...
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Clarke remains to seek one-day solace

Why are you still here? For Michael Clarke, seeking to recover Australia's pride at the start of the NatWest Series, the question was not just implied, it was asked directly. Look, you've got a bad back, you've lost the Ashes, you deserve sympathy. Shouldn't you be resting up at home? If anything is designed to get Clarke's back up, as it were, it is dollops of sympathy from English cricket journalists....
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Sodhi and Anderson in New Zealand Test squad

The uncapped legspinner Ish Sodhi and batting allrounder Corey Anderson have been named in New Zealand's Test squad to tour Bangladesh next month. Daniel Vettori, Martin Guptill and Tim Southee were all left out of the 15-man group due to injuries, although Southee could join the tour at a later date if he recovers fully from ankle surgery in time. No other players were omitted from the squad that...
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Sep
05

'Would be nice if Lorgat apologises' - Dalmiya

More than six weeks after Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat offered to "apologise" to anyone who he had offended in the BCCI, Jagmohan Dalmiya, the interim BCCI chief, has welcomed Lorgat's offer. "Lorgat is a nice gentleman but it would be nice of him if he apologises," Dalmiya said in Kolkata, when asked about his reaction to Lorgat's offer that was made immediately after he was...
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Zimbabwe batsmen balance aggression with patience

Zimbabwe's batsmen have lacked staying power in the past. Their middle order reversed that trend and their handling of the spinners showed improvementThe first ball Malcolm Waller faced was a standard Saeed Ajmal offbreak. It turned, but not so much that he was surprised by it. In fact, Waller seemed perfectly prepared. Waller moved to the ball, as though he had waited for it the whole day. He drove...
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