PCB announces itinerary of Sri Lanka series

KARACHI: Pakistan and Sri Lanka will play a three Test series, five one-day internationals and a T20 match in the United Arab Emirates from Oct. 18 to Nov. 26 this year, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Tuesday. The series will also see the revival of Test cricket at the Sharjah stadium after 11 years after Pakistan and Australia last played Tests at the desert venue in 2002. Pakistan has been forced to play its home series against Sri Lanka in the UAE after the Lankans refused to tour Pakistan because of security concerns. Sharjah will also host an ODI between the two teams marking its return as an international venue after eight years. The PCB announcing the itinerary of the series said the matches would be played at Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi as the venues were cost effective. "We had a choice of neutral venues but we opted for UAE because it allows us to manage things smoothly," chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmad said. The Sri Lankan team came under attack by militants in March, 2009 in Lahore in which six Pakistani policemen and a van driver were killed and five visiting players wounded. Since then no foreign team has toured Pakistan. Sri Lanka had also offered to host the series at home but the offer was declined by the PCB. Pakistan is also due to host England in Jan-Feb next year in the UAE for a full series.

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Pakistan set to test revived Zimbabwe

HARARE: Having negotiated the first hurdle in their campaign to justify Test nation status by beating Bangladesh in a one-off Test two weeks ago, Zimbabwe now face a much higher fence on Thursday - Pakistan.The single Test match, which starts Thursday, will be followed by three ODI's and two Twenty-20s.Zimbabwe was granted a return to Test cricket by the ICC last year after a gap of six years. They had been obliged to field a weak side following a strike of nearly all their professionals and two consequent Test defeats by an innings and more than 200 runs. Withdrawal from Tests was inevitable and those years have been used to rebuild. With just what success is now under the microscope with three successive tours by Bangladesh, followed by Pakistan and in October/November New Zealand.These opponents are considered by the ICC to be ones a nascent Zimbabwe can best cope with.

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Pak women lose first ODI against West Indies

ST. VINCENT: Pakistan’s women’s cricket team lost the first One-day International against the West Indies. Pakistan scored only 82 runs in 40 overs and only three players reached double figures. In reply West Indies reached the total in 20 overs and lost only two wickets.The hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the four match series.

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Spot-fixing scandil

KARACHI: A year on from the spot-fixing scandal that ended in long bans for three leading Test players, Pakistani cricket is still struggling to recover.In late August 2010, Britain's now-defunct News of the World tabloid alleged that captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif had arranged deliberate no-balls for money from an agent during the Lord's Test against England."We were settling in the hotel after coming from the third day's play when police raided the team hotel, showed us documentation and searched the rooms of the players," then-team manager Yawar Saeed told."It was earth-shattering and I couldn't believe my ears for the first 20 minutes.Pakistan lost the match by an innings and 225 runs the following day as a visibly upset Butt tried his best to hide his shock, and the claims of spot-fixing at the spiritual home of cricket shook the game around the world.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) pulled the trio from the one-day series which followed and Scotland Yard investigated the players before they were allowed to return home on condition they would return for criminal proceedings.The International Cricket Council (ICC) went on to suspend them and an anti-corruption tribunal led by senior lawyer Michael Beloff heard their case in Doha in January and February this year.Butt was given a ten-year ban with five years suspended, Asif seven years with two years suspended and Aamer a flat five-year ban effectively meaning all three will be out of action for five years.The gifted Aamer is still only 19 and could yet make a return to the game, but Butt and Asif will be into their 30s by the time their bans expire, and their international careers appear to be over.Pakistan have not fared badly since the England tour, drawing a Test series against a strong South Africa side, beating New Zealand away and reaching the semi-final of the World Cup.But Saeed said Pakistan was still feeling the loss of three star players who could have led the side into the future."In Salman we had a young captain who in his first Test as leader defeated Australia and then in Aamer we had a world-class fast bowler who even in his early days was lethal," said Saeed, who quit his post after the scandal-hit tour."I still feel they were set up but the fault lies with them and it seems they did it for temporary monetary gains. Even today it's hair-raising when I remember that incident," said Saeed, who refused to accept the management could have done anything to prevent what happened."We barred their agents coming into their hotel rooms but we couldn't stop them from talking to someone on the phone. Had we known, we would have taken every possible step."Forced by the ICC, the PCB took measures to prevent a repeat in the future, forming an "integrity committee" to look into players' assets and adding stringent clauses on match-fixing to players' central contracts.PCB chairman Ijaz Butt admitted the loss of three key players had been devastating for a cricket-mad country where the game is often a unifying force in adversity."Losing three players hurt us badly," said Butt. "Salman had shown great potential as captain but after that case we had to look around for a permanent captain and it was tough."The side suffered yet another blow earlier this month with the surprise resignation of coach Waqar Younis, who stepped down after less than 18 months in charge, citing "personal grounds".Captain Misbah-ul-Haq has said the side wants to give Waqar a fitting send-off with a successful Test and one-day international tour of Zimbabwe.Pakistan have sent a new-look side to the African nation and their fans will hope they bring back brighter hopes for the future.

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Aussies, Sri Lanka set for tough Test battle

GALLE: Rival captains Michael Clarke and Tillakaratne Dilshan will look to lead their young teams from the front when Australia and Sri Lanka begin their three-Test series on Wednesday.Clarke, 30, begins his reign as a full-time Australian Test captain hoping to ease into the giant boots of Ricky Ponting, who quit as skipper after the World Cup in April.Ponting, the world's most successful Test captain with 48 wins, will take the field as the senior statesman and the team's frontline batsman, but the focus will clearly be on the new skipper.Clarke's lone Test as captain so far, when he stood in for an injured Ponting, was a forgettable experience as England swept to an innings and 83-run win at Sydney in January.Ponting began his Test captaincy in Sri Lanka in 2004, leading Australia to a 3-0 sweep, and Clarke will hope for similar results even without retired greats like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist.Dilshan, 34, also took over after the World Cup from Kumar Sangakkara and goes into his first home series as captain hoping to make up for the 1-0 defeat in England earlier in the year.Dilshan will miss the experience of prolific off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, Test cricket's leading bowler with 800 wickets, who retired from the longer format a year ago.Sri Lanka have not won a Test since Muralitharan bade goodbye, losing two and drawing six matches since July 2010.The first Test at the Galle International Stadium marks the start of a new chapter for both teams looking to climb back in the Test rankings.Former world number ones Australia have fallen to fifth place, while Sri Lanka, ranked second just a year ago, are fourth behind leaders England, South Africa and India.With the top four teams due to contest the inaugural world Test championships in England in 2013, both Australia and Sri Lanka will hope to push their claims."I think it is going to take time for us to work our way back up the rankings," said Clarke. "But I'm confident with the talent we have and our dedication, I can see us having some success."Clarke made a confidence-boosting start to the tour, winning the one-day series 3-2 before hitting a century in the drawn three-day practice match in Colombo ahead of the first Test.Dilshan, meanwhile, was hoping his inexperienced bowling attack would perform well in home conditions where batsmen and slow bowlers have traditionally dominated.The home squad has four spinners in its ranks, including the unorthodox Ajantha Mendis and leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna, 26, who has yet to make his Test debut.Sri Lanka will be without sling-arm fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who rattled the Australians with his third one-day hat-trick last week, as he has quit Test cricket to concentrate on the shorter forms of the game.Local media speculated that efforts were being made to convince Malinga to change his mind and make himself available from the second Test onwards.Rookie paceman Shaminda Eranga, 25, is one of the four young seamers in the squad for the Galle Test alongside Suranga Lakmal, Dhammika Prasad and Chanaka Welegedara."There is a lot of variety in our bowling, but we must put up good runs on the board to put the Australians under pressure," said Dilshan. "The key to success is how we bat."The remaining two Tests will be played in Pallekele (September 8-12) and Colombo (Sept 16-20)

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Fiji and PNG through to Gold Medal Match

Fiji and PNG have each booked a place in Friday's gold medal match after wins over Vanuatu and New Caledonia respectively at the Pacific Games Cricket Competition in Noumea.In the match of the tournament so far, Fiji fought back from the jaws of defeat to snatch a four run victory over Vanuatu.Set the modest total of 114 to win, Vanuatu were in control for the majority of the run chase before terrific bowling spells from both Viliame Yabaki and Jikoi Kida caused a late innings collapse to hand Fiji the victory."It's an awesome feeling to win and I haven’t had that feeling for a long time," said Fiji captain Jo Rika. "Yesterday we spoke about playing to our strengths and improving our fielding and bowling and taking nothing away from our great batting performance, but we really improved in the field today."Sakaraia Lomani was again the stand out with the bat for Fiji smashing another 44 not out and was well supported by his captain Rika who was in fine touch for his 36.In reply Vanuatu were well in control early thanks to a terrific 44 from Lenica Natapei and 27 from Andrew Mansale.However once Mansale departed and Natapei followed soon after the young Vanuatu side struggled to deal with the spin of Yabaki who took two wickets in three balls to set up the win.Yabaki ended with figures of 4-21 and Kida also got well amongst the wickets taking 3-21.In the afternoon PNG dealt the hosts New Caledonia a significant blow, defeating them by 150 runs and setting up a showdown with Fiji on Friday.New Caledonia put up a spirited fight in the field restricting PNG to 6-197 off their 20 overs, which considering their performance yesterday against Fiji was a great improvement from the inexperienced side."It is a huge pleasure to play against a side like PNG and to keep them to under 200 which was less than Fiji scored against us yesterday and was one of our targets so we are pretty happy," said Noel Sinyeue who top scored and also took two wickets. "To take six wickets against a team like PNG is a real achievement."For PNG Kapena Arua top scored with 62 and Tony Ura once again performed brilliantly with 57. Sinyeue was the only multiple wicket-taker for New Caledonia ending with figures of 2-28.After a solid performance in the field, sadly it all went downhill with the bat for New Caledonia bowled out for just 47 thanks mainly to an awesome display of bowling from Inoa Baeau who ended with the incredible figures of 5-3 from four overs.Tomorrow will see PNG v Fiji and Vanuatu v New Caledonia in two matches that will not influence who will play-off in the medal matches. These fixtures will be repeated again on Friday when PNG and Fiji play off for gold and Vanuatu and New Caledonia for bronze.PNG's Arua says however they will hold nothing back against Fiji tomorrow in what is effectively a dead rubber."We always do the normal routine, we are a good side and always want to maintain our standard," he said. "We have many strengths and tomorrow we will make sure we use them."Brief scores:At Terrain de cricket N’Du: Fiji 3-113, 20 overs (S Lomani 44 not out, J Rika 36; S Obed 2-29) Vanuatu 8-109, 20 overs (L Natapei 44, A Mansale 27; V Yabaki 4-21, J Kida 3-21) Fiji won by 4 runs At Terrain de cricket N’Du: PNG 6-197, 20 overs (K Arua 62, T Ura 57; N Sinyeue 2-28) New Caledonia 10-47, 14 overs (N Sinyeue 13; I Baeau 5-3, J Mado 3-10) PNG won by 150 runs

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Dry wicket leaves Aussies, Sri Lanka in a spin

Australia and Sri Lanka were searching for the right combination to tackle a bone-dry wicket as they prepared for Wednesday's first cricket Test in Galle.

Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and his Australian counterpart Michael Clarke expected spin to dominate at the Galle International Stadium, leaving selection headaches for both teams.The wicket looks more dry than what we got in previous matches in Galle," said Dilshan, who leads Sri Lanka for the first time in a home series. "It will be a bit slow and I think it will turn after tea on the first day itself.Clarke, who begins his reign as a full-time Australian Test captain, also foresaw a trial by spin for his batsmen. "I hope I win the toss," he said. "It will be harder to bat as the game goes on. Our biggest challenge in the series is how we are going to play spin bowling. It is going to be a tough battle."Clarke's predecessor Ricky Ponting is the only one in the touring party to have played a Test match in Sri Lanka, way back in 2004 when Australia won 3-0.Australia were debating whether to play both their specialist spinners, Michael Beer and Nathan Lyon, or go in with three fast bowlers in Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and debutant Trent Copeland. Left-armer Beer, 27, has played in just one Test, while the 23-year-old Lyon was a surprise selection for the tour after just four first-class matches behind him.Copeland, 25, a lanky seamer from New South Wales, enhanced his claims in the three-day tour match in Colombo last week with a five-wicket haul in the first innings.Australia will also need to choose between two left-handers, Shaun Marsh and the Pakistan-born Usman Khwaja, for the number six place in their batting line-up.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, left out the rookie duo of seamer Shaminda Eranga and leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna in a short-list of 13 players announced on Tuesday.Dilshan was non-committal when asked if Sri Lanka would field three spinners -- unorthodox Ajantha Mendis, left-armer Rangana Herath and off-spinner Suraj Randiv -- in the opening clash. "There is a good chance of playing three spinners, but I can also bowl a bit of off-spin, so we will see what is best," he said. If all three play, left-arm bowler Chanaka Welegedera may be the only seamer in the team with all-rounder Angelo Mathews sharing the new ball.The first Test marks the start of a new chapter for both teams as they look to climb back up the Test rankings. Former world number one Australia have fallen to fifth place, while Sri Lanka, ranked second just a year ago, are fourth behind leaders England, South Africa and India.With the top four due to contest the inaugural world Test championship in England in 2013, both teams will hope to push their claims. A series win for Australia would see them rise to fourth place, but the positions will remain unchanged if Sri Lanka win.Since the retirement of world bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan a year ago, Sri Lanka have failed to win a Test, having lost two and drawn six. The remaining two Tests will be played in Pallekele (September 8-12) and Colombo (Sept 16-20).

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PCB forms committee to pick new coach

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket authorities on Monday formed a committee to pick a new national team coach to replace Waqar Younis, who will step down next month.Waqar is leaving his post for medical reasons after Pakistan's current tour of Zimbabwe.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said the four-member committee will be headed by former captain and coach Intikhab Alam, and will consider candidates from within and outside Pakistan.Following Waqar's resignation, PCB has constituted a committee to look for a new coach," it said in a statement, adding that the other members were Zaheer Abbas, Naushad Ahmed and Ramiz Raja.PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmad said Sunday that former Australian batsman Dav Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to World Cup glory in 1996 before guiding Bangladesh to the World Cup Super Sixes in 2007, could be approached."Although Whatmore is currently employed in India's National Academy, we can still contact him for the post," Ahmad told media in Lahore.Former paceman Aaqib Javed, who was Waqar's assistant until this year's World Cup, has also emerged as a strong candidate to take over as head coach.Pakistan has a bitter history of sacking coaches after abysmal performances by the team. They hired South African Richard Pybus and Australia's Geoff Lawson in the past but both were dismissed before their tenures finished.Former England batsman Bob Woolmer also coached Pakistan between 2004-2007 until he died in mysterious circumstances after the team's shock defeat against Ireland in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.Pakistan approached former Australian great Greg Chappell last year, who turned down the offer of the position.

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Ponting, Clarke hope to change Test fortunes

Australia's star batsmen Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke are hoping to shrug off their recent poor run in Test cricket when they take on Sri Lanka from Wednesday.The tourists will rely heavily on the batting exploits of captain Clarke and his predecessor Ponting to win the three-test series, Australia's first since the embarrassing 3-1 Ashes defeat to England in January. But the pair have struggled in the five-day format for almost two years and will be keen to make amends when the first test opens at the Galle International Stadium.Ponting, 36, is the third highest run-getter in Test cricket behind the Indian duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, with 12,363 runs from 152 matches and 39 centuries.But he has not scored a test hundred in his last 20 innings since making 209 against Pakistan at Hobart in January 2010.Clarke, 30, has fared no better, going without a hundred in 10 matches after hitting 168 against New Zealand in Wellington in March last year.But a turnaround in the fortunes of the tourists' captain and elder statesman may be just an innings away.Ponting, who made way for Clarke as captain after the World Cup in April, scored 53 and 90 not out during the preceding one-day series against the Sri Lankans which Australia won 3-2.Clarke also chipped in with two half-centuries in the series and then scored 104 in a three-day practice match in Colombo last week ahead of the first test.Clarke, who begins his reign as a fulltime Australian test captain on Wednesday, said he was keen to score test runs again."My form has not been as good as I would like in test cricket," Clarke told the travelling Australian media."For me, Test cricket is the ultimate, the pinnacle, and I want to be at my best."I could not have asked for better preparation, but now I have got to do it when it counts. It's important to make runs every time I bat but I would prefer a hundred in the first test."Clarke, regarded as one of the finest players of spin bowling, has scored 4,742 runs in 69 tests at an average of 46.49 with 14 centuries.Ponting admitted Australia's Ashes loss when he was captain had affected his batting, and now looked forward to doing well as the team's frontline batsman."The team's performance had started to play on my mind and it probably dragged my batting down a little bit," Ponting told Cricinfo in a recent interview."I have got to score runs that are going to be enough to win for Australia, and that's my main objective for the immediate future.

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Australia can gain one place with series victory

Australia can make its first step on the road to regaining number-one position on the Reliance ICC Championship table by beating Sri Lanka over a three-Test series, which begins on Wednesday.If Michael Clarke's team wins by even a single match, it will move ahead of Sri Lanka on the ladder into fourth position from its current place in fifth. If Australia wins the series 3-0 it will close the gap on third-placed India to 10 points.However, Tillakaratne Dilshan and his men will be eyeing upward movement of their own and a clean sweep by the home team in this series will see them move to 114 ratings points, just three behind the World Champion. To see how future results will affect the table, check out the ICC Test Championship predictor function by clicking

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Hard-working Ajmal strives for more success

LAHORE: Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal said on Thursday that like other bowlers in world cricket, he has also been trying out new techniques of bowling in order to deceive the batsmen and is not too worried about suggestions that his ‘doosra’ had now been mastered by the batsmen.Talking to media before the start of the training camp for the tour of Zimbabwe at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, Saeed said that every bowler was keen to introduce some new varieties to his bowling to survive in the international cricket and he was also aspiring to achieve some unique trajectory to stay on top of the batsmen.He admitted that English off-spinner Graeme Swann had more spin in his delivery than him, but his (Saeed’s) own strategy was to restrict the batsmen from taking runs as it put a lot of pressure on them which eventually resulted in their dismissal.Asked if he was feeling any pressure for the fact that he is the main spin bowler going to Zimbabwe with the Pakistan team after the absence of Shahid Afridi and Abdul Rahman, Saeed said he was quite focused on the tour and added that new spinner Yasir Shah could prove to be good support for him.He said his last series against the West Indies was very satisfying for him as he was also declared as Man of the Series there.“After having played county cricket, I feel I have improved as a bowler and am in perfect physical condition to face Zimbabwe.Saeed said he was happy after the ICC included his name among those nominated for the ‘player of the year’ award.Last time my name was included in the T20 category and now it is for the ODIs and I am quite hopeful about winning it,” he said.

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Pakistan to face stiff challenge from Zimbabwe: Latif

KARACHI: Former Test skipper Rashid Latif said on Saturday that Misbah-ul-Haq’s Pakistan team would be facing a stiff challenge from hosts Zimbabwe during their upcoming tour starting from September 1.“By beating fast rising Bangladesh side in the ongoing test and ODIs series, Zimbabwe has shown top form and that could prove dangerous for Pakistan,” he told APP in an interview.“Don’t take Zimbabwe lightly,” he warned.“Pakistan may have a slight edge in ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals, but it will be tough for them in test matches because of a lack of experience in the bowling department,” he said.“Selectors made a mistake by resting pace duo of Umer Gul, Wahab Riaz. They needed more test matches. But poor selection system may cause yet more trouble for Pakistan in a one-off test,” he pointed out.“Regular chopping and inconsistent policies of selectors may bring embarrassment to the team,” Latif maintained.He said Zimbabwe at full strength, especially after the return of players such as captain Brendan Taylor, Ray Price, Craig Ervine, Kayle Jarvis and new star left arm pace bowler Brian Vitori, might pose problems for Pakistan.“There will be too much burden on Saeed Ajmal and that may put him under pressure,” he commented.He said Pakistan’s batting looked strong on paper with Misbah, Younis Khan, Muhammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Imran Farhat and Umer Akmal in the line-up.However, he said, despite the strong line-up, batting has always been Pakistan’s troubled area Lets hope batsmen live up to their reputation,” he added

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Ijaz Butt’s reign a mixed bag: Bari

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Bari, who is currently holding the post of director education in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has stated that chairman Ijaz Butt’s reign has been a mixed bag which has brought both joy and disappointment to cricket fans in the country the former Test wicket-keeper claimed that the governing body of the game has brought on-field success despite some ugly controversies since 2008.Ijaz Butt is set to end his stint as PCB chief in October this year and it is not yet clear if he would continue at the helm of cricket in Pakistan.Bari who has remained a vital cog of Ijaz’s administration added that the performance of the team in major limited-overs competitions has been satisfactory in the last three years, the highlight being the title win in the 2009 T20 World Championship in England. The men in green also made it to the semi-finals of all ICC events since the 2007 T20 World Championship.Bari also thinks that the replacement candidate for coach Waqar Younis should be someone who understands the game in the country and should have solid credentials. He cited the example of English team coach, former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower who has transformed the fortunes of his team and taken them to the top of Test rankings.Bari feels that the upcoming international season is of immense importance for Pakistan, especially the series against England and Sri Lanka which are set to take place in the United Arab Emirates.Bari claimed that the educational department of PCB is trying its best to impart training and education to the upcoming players who are likely to represent the national team in the years ahead

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Poor preparation behind India’s Test debacle, says Lloyd

LONDON: Former West Indian captain Clive Lloyd on Friday said that he was surprised in India’s 0-4 whitewash in the Test series against England and blamed poor preparation of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men as the main reason for the debacle.‘‘Nobody expected England to beat India 4-0 But you can’t come to any country and play just one warm up game,” said Lloyd who, as chairman of ICC Cricket Committee, was here to announce the names of shortlisted players for various awards for the ICC Awards ceremony on September 12.Young players especially need 3-4 four-day games before Tests and couple in between. If you are out of form, you don’t get your form in nets,he said.Lloyd gave the example of Virender Sehwag to drive him his point that without preparation a player howesover big would struggle.‘‘You don’t get runs by walking straight in. I don’t care how good you are, you don’t get it You are not going to run into form in Test matches. You need to get your timing right, the foot movement, picking the ball properly,’’ he said.Lloyd described the current Indian bowling attack, especially the spinners, as the weakest he has seen during his years of association with the game.Spin-wise, it looks the weakest. You always had good spinners. As for fast bowlers, anyone would break down with the sort of workload which (Ishant) Sharma had.Agencies

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Let the Games Begin

New Caledonia was treated to a spectacular opening ceremony to the Pacific Games last night with the highlight for East-Asia Pacific Cricket being Vanuatu captain Andrew Mansale carrying his nation’s flag into the main stadium.It was a huge moment for Mansale as he led a 277 strong Vanuatu contingent into the arena in front of a vocal capacity crowd.Cricketers from Fiji, PNG and New Caledonia were also on hand to enjoy the festivities ahead of the cricket tournament that begins on Monday local time. PNG who have sent a relatively inexperienced squad will be aiming for a sixth straight Pacific Games Cricket Gold Medal.Vanuatu will enter the event with a near full-strength side aiming to win their first ever Pacific Games Cricket gold medal.With the tournament right in the middle of a busy international schedule for Fiji, they have named five debutants which will provide a great insight into the future of Fijian Cricket. Fiji performed superbly in their warm-up match against PNG on Friday and if they can replicate that enthusiasm in the field during the tournament proper they will be a big chance to play-off for gold later this week.The hosts New Caledonia who are not yet an ICC member will be aiming to provide their players with some much needed experience against quality opposition, and if their warm-up matches are anything to go by, the other three sides will need to come ready to play.New Caledonia will play Fiji in the first match on Monday morning, followed by a rematch of the Pepsi ICC Division 1 Final in the afternoon when PNG take on Vanuatu.

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Swann hopes to shine in the sub-continent tours

Graeme Swann might have left India in a spin in the fourth Test but the England spinner feels his best is yet to come and hopes to peak during the tough series coming up over the next 18 months.Swann helped England complete the 4-0 whitewash in The Oval after snapping nine wickets in the final Test, though he had to spent most part of the four-match series watching his pace colleagues wrecking havoc on the Indian batters."I've hardly had to do anything this summer," Swann was quoted as saying in the Sunday Mirror."If you take The Oval game out of it, I've had my easiest summer ever. I've just stood at second slip watching Jimmy Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Stuart Broad take all the wickets," said Swann, who scalped just four wickets in the first three Tests."I know I'll be looked upon as the main weapon in the subcontinent and be expected to take the wickets. I know I've got a lot of hard work to do in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan and then in Sri Lanka and India he added.Swann considers Sri Lankan as the hardest place for a spinner and said if England have to dominate world cricket then they world need to perform at the sub-continent."In Sri Lanka a spinner has to do all the donkey work. Seamers just can't do it. After four or five overs they are cooked. It's the heat. Sri Lanka is the hardest place to get wickets, but I know I can bowl well there," he said. "It'll be a litmus test for the team. It's been a phenomenal two years for England. I have to pinch myself sometimes."However, if we want to be as dominant as the West Indies team of the 1970s and 80s, and the Aussies from the mid-90s, then we have to do well in the sub-continent," he added.

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Squads and fixtures announced for Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 6 in Malaysia

Tournament will take place in Kuala Lumpur from 17-24 September
The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the 14-man squads for the six teams - Nigeria, Kuwait, Fiji, Guernsey, Jersey and Malaysia - participating in Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 6 (WCL Div. 6) next month in Malaysia.The finalists of the event, which will be played from 17 to 24 September, will be promoted to Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 5 which will be staged in Singapore in early 2012.The tournament will be played on three grounds in Kuala Lumpur, Kinrara Oval, Selangor Turf Club and Bayuemas Oval. These venues were also used for the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup which was held in Malaysia in 2008.The full squads are as follows:Fiji: Joe Rika (captain), Viliame Yabaki, Iniasi Cakacaka, Sakaraia Lomani, Kitione Tavo, Sekove Ravoka, Jikoi Kida, Colin Rika, Waisake Tukana, Josefa Baleicicia, Tasheed Tawheed, Maciu Gauna, Joji Bulabalavu, Mohammed Khan.Guernsey: Stuart Le Provost (captain), Gary Rich, Tom Kimber, Jeremy Frith, James Nussbaumer, Ben Ferbrache, David Hooper, Tim Ravenscroft, Ross Kneller, Chris van Vliet, Stuart Bisson, Lee Savident, Adam Martel, GH Smit Jersey: Peter Gough (captain), Ed Farley, Thomas Minty, Sam de la Haye, Charles Perchard, James Faudemer, Ben Stevens, Anthony Hawkins-Kay, Ben Silva, Dean Morrison, Alex Cooke, Paul Connolly, Corey Bisson, Daniel GartonKuwait: Hisham Mirza (captain), Sibtain Raza, Muhammad Amin, Abid Mushtaq, Aamir Javed, Irfan Bhatti, Ahsan Naseer, Azmatullah Nazeer, Abdullah, Mohammad Murad, Sharjeel Tahir, Jagath Roshantha, Saud QamarMalaysia: Suhan Kumar Alagaratanam (captain), Sureah Navaratnam, Rakesh Madhavan, Hammad Ullah Khan, Hassan Ghulam Muhammad, Ahmad Faiz Noor, Shukri Abdul Rahim, Eszrafiq Azis, Abdul Rashid Ahad, Shafiq Sharf, Faris Almas-Lee Rosmanizam, Aminudin Ramly, Shahrulnizam Yusof, Hiran Brahman RalalageNigeria: Endurance Ofem (captain), Ademola Onikoya, Obejide Bejide, Varun Behani, Chukwu James, Ramit Gill, Joshua Ogunlola, Saheed Akolade, Segun Olayinka, Chibuike Iteogu, Seun Odeku, Lekan Awolowo, Seye Olympio, Kunle AdegbolaThe full schedule for WCL Div. 6 is as follows:Fixtures15 September - Team Arrivals16 September - Practice17 September - Guernsey v Jersey (Kinrara Oval), Malaysia v Kuwait (Selangor Turf Club), Fiji v Nigeria (Bayuemas Oval)18 September - Malaysia v Nigeria (Kinrara Oval), Kuwait v Jersey (Selangor Turf Club), Guernsey v Fiji (Bayuemas Oval)19 September - Reserve Day20 September - Malaysia v Fiji (Kinrara Oval), Jersey v Nigeria (Selangor Turf Club), Kuwait v Guernsey (Bayuemas Oval)21 September - Fiji v Kuwait (Kinrara Oval), Nigeria v Guernsey (Selangor Turf Club), Malaysia v Jersey (Bayuemas Oval)22 September - Reserve Day23 September - Malaysia v Guernsey (Kinrara Oval), Jersey v Fiji (Selangor Turf Club), Nigeria v Kuwait (Bayuemas Oval)24 September - Final (Kinrara Oval), 3rd/4th Play-off (Selangor Turf Club), 5th/6th Play-off (Bayuemas Oval)All matches are scheduled to start at 1030 local timeNotes: If you are interested in receiving information on the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 6 or attending the event as an accredited member of the media, please contact Lucy Benjamin on lucy.benjamin@icc-cricket.com.

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England Development XI wins series 2-1

Scotland U18 v England Development XI (game 2) 24th August 2011The England development team again won the toss and batted first in game two of the series. Hassan and Jackson opened the batting and progressed to 65 in the 16th over before the latter was stumped by Alex Baum off the bowling of Andrew Umeed for 18. What followed was a hugely impressive partnership of 151 between Rehan Hassan of Essex and Jack Winslade of Surrey as the pair punished any bad balls from the Scottish bowlers and rotated the strike well which took the score to an imposing 216 in the 44th over when Winslade was caught by Umeed off Shillington for a fine 74 off 84 balls. Wickets in hand allowed the English team to capitalise on their batting powerplay to finish their 50 overs on 284 for 7 In reply the Scottish openers Andrew Umeed and captain Ross McLean had made a solid start when a heavy downpour forced the players off the field with Scotland 16 without loss. On resumption the target was revised under Duckworth Lewis to set the Scots a stiff target of a further 170 runs from 22 remaining overs. The task was made even more difficult due to boundaries being hard to come by with the outfield slowed by the wet conditions. However, the Scottish batsman made a brave attempt to chase down the runs with several batsmen getting started, but none being able to kick on towards a match winning contribution. The partnership between Peter Ross (27) and Sam Page (31) looked like it may take Scotland close, but home victory hopes were extinguished when Page was brilliantly caught by Stone on the long off boundary when the ball looked to be clearing the ropes. England won the match by a margin of 31 runs under D/L/

Scotland U18 v England Development XI (game 3) - 25th August 2011

The final game of the series between Scotland U18s and the English Development XI saw the Scots gain a measure of revenge for defeats earlier in the week with a hard earned 32 run victory. Scotland batted first having won the toss with several batsmen again getting starts but failing to go on to a significant score. Henry Edward (33), Sam Page (21) and Pete Ross (19) all looked in control before perishing in their attempts to keep the scoreboard moving against the spin dominated England attack. When Dani Chaudhry (6) was caught at mid wicket off the bowling of Hassan the Scotland innings was in danger of subsiding at 119 for 6. However, a fine partnership between Tom McBride and Alex Baum regained a degree of control for the Scots before Baum (26) was caught at long-on just before the batting powerplay was taken. McBride continued to play the low-risk cricket required in partnership with 15 year old Will Edwards and 16 year old Alex Anderson to take the total to 222 when McBride was run-out off the last ball of the innings for a well compiled 52.England lost an early wicket in reply when McKay was caught at cover by Page from the bowling off spinner Anderson who had opened the bowling on a wearing surface. Partnerships of 38 and 36 between Cousens and Rhodes, then Rhodes and Sohail put England in the driving seat, but wickets from McLean and Omar Afridi plus a run out saw the game evenly balanced with England 93 for 4. Oli Stone then joined Webster and England again looked to be favourites as they progressed to 133 when Webster was caught at deep mid wicket by Will Edwards off the bowling of Anderson. The England innings then stumbled to 159 for 9 in the face of some accurate Scottish bowling, before Winslade and Hassan offered some resistance with a last wicket partnership of 30. However, Hassan was then caught at cover by Page off the bowling of Omar Afridi to seal a Scotland win by 32 runs.

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Europe Women's cricketers take part in MCC YC elite programme

Scotland’s Leigh Kasperek and Ireland’s Shauna Kavanagh took part in the MCC YC elite programme, in partnership with the ICC Development Programme, during their time they kept an account of their experiences.Week 1 The MCC YC elite programme allows the women to train every day with full access to the facilities at Lords. To be given the opportunity to train with the YC’s for 2 weeks is a “once in a lifetime experience” and we were extremely grateful and excited; whilst nervous at the same time at the prospect of training with some of the best women cricketers in the world. Our journey began when we arrived in London Heathrow on a Monday afternoon, we travelled together to the Danubius hotel where we would stay for the duration of our 2 weeks; it was an excellent location as it overlooks Lords. We spent Monday getting acquainted with each other, resting and preparing for the week ahead.Our Lords experience began with meeting ICC Regional Performance Officer, Philip Hudson who gave us a tour of the stadium which was overwhelming. To say Lord’s and its surroundings are unbelievable is an understatement. The YCs training is based in the indoor facilities and on the nursery ground; we had Tuesday afternoon to use whichever facilities we wanted.We decided to do a gym session before doing some bowling machine work and some live net practices. We finished up about 4pm, and took in some of the game that was taking place on the nursery ground. There were ex-professionals playing along with two of the YC girls.On Wednesday morning we made our way to Lords at 10am and met with Alan Duncan who is a Level 4 Coach and manages the YC Women’s team. Alan introduced us to all the players, who were all extremely friendly and made us feel very much at ease. We began Wednesday’s training with an hour and a half fitness session, which is always a good way to break the ice! It was actually a very enjoyable fitness session, well as enjoyable as fitness can be.After this, we headed outside to do some outdoor nets on grass wickets, which we never get to, train on at home! After net sessions, there was lunch and the girls were given the rest of the day off. We decided to do some fielding to make the most out of the oppourtunity and some of the girls decided to join in with us. It was a great day and gave us a taste of what the next week and half would have in store for us.Thursday training included a double net session and a fielding session. The first net session lasted about 2 hours and took place on the older grass wickets outside which had been in use for the last 8 days because of the Test - followed by the Middlesex games. Jodie Fields, the Australian Women’s captain was training with YCs for the day and gave us both plenty of advice and guidance. The fielding session was an hour long and of high intensity and broke up the two net sessions. We started the next net session at 3pm on newly prepared wickets. Middlesex and Derbyshire had been training on the Nursery Ground beside us all day ahead of their CB40 match that was to take place that afternoon. We finished up at half 4 and were free for the day, so decided to head over to the stands and watch the game.Match day We had both been asked to play for MCC against Premier League team Bath C.C. When we arrived we were greeted by Charlie Russell, our Captain for the day and former MCC YC member. Bath C.C was a lovely ground and we were both eager to get playing. The challenge of the day was understanding how after a whole day of cricket, it could end up as a draw...a declaration match as it was known. We were put in to bat; Leigh was in at number 4 and Shauna at 6. We were both confident about getting the opportunity to bat with unlimited overs but nervous at the prospect of it. Hannah Phelps and Alice MacCleod - both MCC YC students - set about given us a brilliant start before both being dismissed, Hannah on 49.Leigh was in and batting with Seonaid, a steady partnership was built of 90 before Seonaid departed. This brought 'Steamer' into the crease, some lusty blows from her increased the run rate and declaration was in sight. Leigh was out for 59 and Shauna was in. A clever flighted ball had Shauna stumped for 2, but all for the cause of scoring quickly. So we amassed 250, a good score and one we were confident of defending. Although, the Bath batters could play for time and block out a draw confused we both were. We were hoping that a result would form so we set about trying our hardest to win the match.Although Bath were short of England's Fran Wilson, talk for the day had been on Elwyn Campbell, an experience batter and one to be wary off. So we were surprised when she was dismissed for under double figures by Wales opening bowler, Hannah Zaman. Bath's intentions were clear from then on, wickets were hard to come by. Shauna the quickest bowler for the MCC had an aggressive field with 3 slips and a gully. She was unfortunate not to pick up any wickets, but her fiery spell created many opportunities. A surprise introduction of Leigh’s spin brought about two wickets but mainly due to the pressure the other bowlers had put on the Bath Wanderers. Bath’s number 4 had amassed 70 before time was up. We hadn't managed to break through Bath's lower batting order and the match was a draw.It was a great experience for the both of us. We learnt a lot from the match and although it ended up in a draw, we both agreed that we liked the format. Playing only limited over matches at home, we don't always get the chance to build an innings or be really aggressive with our bowling. What an excellent way to finish our first week with the YC's.

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Argentina take the first victory at the ICC Americas U15 South

In the first match of the ICC Americas U15 Southern Division Championship, Argentina won the toss and elected to bat. Ramiro Escobar and Mateo Mendi put on a valuable 82 runs for the first wicket in the face of solid opening spells from Luis Paredes and James King. The fall of Mendi saw Captain Lautaro Musiani enter to take the Peruvian attack apart. He scored 132 runs from only 46 balls before being dismissed. However, there was no respite for Peru as eventual ‘Man of the Match’ Mateo Arrighi, continued in his captain’s wake and ‘plastered’ the bowlers to all corners of the wonderful Markham College field and at the end of 40 overs had remained not out on 203 runs from only 84 deliveries including 21 sixes. Paredes (3-59) and King (1-35), from their 8 overs, were the best of the Peruvian attack.Peru’s response was hampered by some excellent bowling from Martin Peralta who finished with 3-19 from his opening spell of 3 overs. None of the Peruvian batsmen were able to cope with the Argentina attack and the punishment ended with Gonzalo Husain taking 2-1 from 1.5 overs and Peru ended all out for 40 from only 13.5 overs.Tomorrow sees Peru take on Chile and they will be hoping that they can improve on today’s performance.

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Pakistan cricket team arrives in Zimbabwe

BULAWAYO: The Pakistan cricket team will begin its tour of Zimbabwe on Sunday with a match against Zimbabwe XI, Geo News reported Saturday.The cricket team led by Misbah-ul-Haq will practice at the Bulawayo stadium on Saturday. Pakistan will play one Test against Zimbabwe which will begin from the first of September. Three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) will be played on the 8, 11 and 14 of September while two Twenty20 matches will be played on 16 and 18 September in Harare.

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USA Claim the ICC Americas U15 Northern Championship

Another sunny prairie day in Winnipeg as the last game of the ICC Americas U15 Northern Division wraps up in the Manitoban capital. Bermuda won the toss and elected to bat scoring 22 runs off of the first over which was aided by 13 wides. A 53 runs opening stand between Keishun Smith (11) and Alex Dore (51) set the pace for a huge total for the boys from Bermuda. However, they lost wickets at regular intervals as the middle collapsed and Bermuda was bowled out for 174 runs in 34 overs. Delray Rawlings with 18 runs and Joshua Commissiong with 16 showed some resilience. Gayan Ferdinands was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for 30 runs. Manula Adihetly helped out with 3 wickets for 39 runs. In reply Canada started off well with a first wicket stand of 31 runs before Kurt Ramdath was out caught by Perrozi off the bowling of Rawlings for 13 runs. Canada lost three more quick wickets and was reeling at 54 for 4 wickets. Abraash Khan and Miraj Patel consolidated for the fifth wicket and took the score to 106 before A Khan was out for 18 runs. Patel carried the attack to the Bermudans only to be out caught for 41 runs when the score was 136. Canada was eventually bowled out for 154 runs.

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Taylor eyes number one position

West Indies Stafanie Taylor has chance to claim top spot from India's Mithali Raj at conclusion of upcoming West Indies v Pakistan seriesWest Indies all-rounder Stafanie Taylor has the chance to claim the number one position in the Reliance ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings for batters should the 20-year-old perform well during the upcoming four-match series between West Indies and Pakistan that begins tomorrow in Kingstown, St Vincent.Taylor is only 30 rating points off the top spot which is currently occupied by India's Mithali Raj who has held the position since February 2010.Taylor, who was recently announced in the four-woman short-list for ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year at the LG ICC Awards 2011, is now occupying the number one ranking in the Reliance ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings for all-rounders after fellow nominee, Shelley Nitschke of Australia, retired from the game vacating the position she had occupied for some time.Taylor's team-mate Deandra Dottin will be hoping for a strong performance in the series to help her rise up from 13th position while opposition batter Javeria Khan, currently the highest ranked Pakistan batter, will be eager to break into the top 20 from her current position in 32nd place.In the Reliance ICC Women's ODI Player Rankings for bowlers, the list is currently topped by Australia's Lisa Sthalekar after the retirement of Nitschke and Taylor has the opportunity to rise up this table too. The off-spinner from Jamaica is currently ranked sixth while her team-mate Anisa Mohammed is in eighth position and both women will be hoping for good performances in St Vincent to help increase their ratings points.Pakistan captain Sana Mir is in 17th place in the bowling rankings and the 25-year-old spinner will be hopeful of a good series in the West Indies while also wanting to see her fellow bowlers, Qanita Jalil (31st) and Asmavia Iqbal (35th) join her in the top 20. Upcoming ODI fixtures
28 Aug - West Indies v Pakistan, Kingstown
30 Aug ? West Indies v Pakistan, Kingstown
1 Sept - West Indies v Pakistan, Kingstown
3 Sept - West Indies v Pakistan, Kingstown

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India sneak 5-run win over Kent in rain-truncated match

Joe Denly's century went in vain as India eked out a thrilling five-run win over Kent in a rain-curtailed 20-over-a-side practice match at the St Lawrence ground.With the win over Kent, India registered its second victory on English soil.The Indians had earlier defeated Sussex by six wickets in their first limited overs practice match at Hove on Thursday.Chasing India's competitive 164 for six, Denly turned out to be the lone warrior for Kent with the bat as he anchored the hosts innings with a 68-ball 100.Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens tried hard to give Denly support from the other end with an identical 17 but once the centurion departed Kent's chase fell apart and the home team could only manage 159 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs.Left-arm seamer RP Singh shone with the ball for India picking up two wickets for 36 runs while Munaf Patel (1/22) and R Ashwin (1/30) scalped a wicket each.Earlier, sent into bat Virat Kohli slammed a quickfire 78 to help India post a competitive 164 for six.Kohli started from where he left against Sussex on Thursday, and notched up his second half century of the tour in just 52 balls with the help of seven boundaries and three towering sixes.India's other half centurion against Sussex, Rohit Sharma gave Kohli good support from the other end with a run-a-ball 30.The duo shared 69 runs for the fourth wicket off just 48 deliveries to lay the foundation for India's score, especially after the visitors lost both the openers Parthiv Patel (1) and Rahul Dravid (15) - cheaply.Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin played a good hand down the order with a 12-ball 23, but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina once again failed with the bat.It was the Doni's first-ball duck which sent tongues wagging at a packed St Lawrence ground.Dhoni had just arrived at 132 for four in the 17th over when he slammed his first ball from spinner James Tredwell hard but uppishly at mid-on to take the wind out of Indian innings.A ball before, Kohli was run out after he was pushed for a non-existent second run by Raina, whose poor form continued as he could score just four before being bowled by Tredwell.Torrential rains had earlier forced the 50-over-a-side match to be reduced to a Twenty20 fixture.Sent into bat, India lost openers Parthiv and Dravid with the scoreboard reading 53.While Parthiv edged one to wicket-keeper Geraint Jones, Dravid offered a difficult catch to Tredwell at mid-on off left-arm pacer Adam Ball.For Kent, Tredwell turned out to be the pick of the bowlers picking up two wickets for 18 runs.

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Pakistan cricket team leaves for Zimbabwe

LAHORE: The Pakistan cricket team left for Zimbabwe on Thursday, According to details, Pakistan left for Zimbabwe under the captainship of Misbah Ulhaq from Lahore via Abu Dhabi. The national team will play one Test match, three One-Day International matches and two Twenty-20 matches.While talking to the media at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport, coach Waqar Younis said that he is hopeful that the team will perform according to the expectations and yield good results despite a one-week training camp. He also expressed his satisfaction over the inclusion of all-rounder Shoaib Malik in the team

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ICC warns Mohammad Amir

MUMBAI: Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Amir has escaped further punishment for flouting his five-year ban by playing for an English amateur side in a league match in June.Amir has been cautioned by the International Cricket Council and warned over his future conduct."Mohammad Amir has been warned and has been provided with further clarification as to the terms of his suspension," an ICC spokesman said.The 19-year-old played for Surrey Cricket League Division One team Addington, prompting the ICC to launch an inquiry.Amir was banned for a minimum of five years along with team mates Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt by an ICC tribunal in February for bowling deliberate no balls during a test match in England last year.The case is currently going through the criminal courts. (Reuters)

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Sri Lanka name squad for 3-Test series against Aussies

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Thursday named two uncapped bowlers, Seekkuge Prasanna and Shaminda Eranga, in a 16-man squad for the three-Test series against Australia starting next week.Leg-spinner Prasanna and fast bowler Eranga got the selectors' nod following their impressive performances in the one-day series, which was won 3-2 by Michael Clarke's Australians.Prasanna, 26, had a successful one-day debut when he dismissed Shaun Marsh and the Hussey brothers, Michael and David, in one over in the fourth match of the series in Colombo last week.Eranga, 25, played a strong role in his team's victory in the third one-dayer in ambantota when he dismissed former skipper Ricky Ponting and Brad Haddin to finish with 2-38 on his debut.Eranga is one of the four pacemen in the squad alongside Suranga Lakmal, Dhammika Prasad and Chanaka Welegedara.Sri Lanka also have four frontline spinners to choose from for the first Test which opens at the traditionally spin-friendly Galle International Stadium next Wednesday.Unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis, off-spinner Suraj Randiv and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath are the other slow bowlers in the squad alongside Prasanna.Sri Lanka Cricket, which had originally named a 15-man squad, later added the seasoned Herath to the line-up.Sri Lanka's middle-order, led by former captains Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, will be bolstered by the inclusion of Thilan Samaraweera, who has 4,597 runs in 66 Tests with 12 centuries. The remaining two Tests will be played in Pallekele (September 8-12) and the Sinhalese sports club in Colombo (Sept 16-20).Sri Lanka's Test squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (captain), Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Chanaka Welegedara, Dhammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ajantha Mendis.

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ICC announces Test team of the year

LONDON: Sri Lankan, Kumar Sangakkara was named captain and wicketkeeper for the International Cricket Council’s Test team of the year. England dominated the squad with 11 players in the lineup. Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and James Anderson have all been picked by an ICC panel chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd.Dale Steyn makes it into the lineup for the fourth straight year alongside South Africa teammates Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis. India batting great Sachin Tendulkar completes the side. India pace bowler Zaheer Khan was picked as 12th man.Trott and Cook both made it onto four-man shortlists for the Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year awards.The team only includes players from five countries and no Pakistani player has been selected.

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New Zealand Cricket announces 2011-12 women's fixtures

cket dominates the calendar until the New Year with 30 Twenty20 matches and 15 games of 50-over cricket deciding the finalists who will meet on 14 and 15 January 2012. The national competitions finish earlier than usual to accommodate the Rose Bowl series which is pencilled in for late January/early February - Cricket Australia are due to confirm the dates shortly.The White Ferns then meet England in a series that will include a combination of Twenty20 and One Day Internationals with the teams last meeting on New Zealand soil in March 2008.In advance of the international series, England will play three warm-up matches against an emerging players selection from 11 February 2012 with a number of the tourists also likely to take part in the Action Cricket Twenty20 and Action Cricket Cup ahead of the tour.In a boost for women's cricket SKY Sport will broadcast the first three Twenty20 Internationals which are played before the BLACKCAPS take on South Africa at Westpac Stadium, Seddon Park and Eden Park. New Zealand Cricket Chief Executive Justin Vaughan said he is looking forward to a feast of women's cricket in 2011-12, especially the international battles with Australia and England."It's a busy period for women's cricket this coming summer with an intense domestic season followed by the Rose Bowl in Australia and tour by England," Vaughan said."The White Ferns are extremely disappointed with their performance at the recent Quadrangular Series in England and have a very strong focus on improving their position in the world rankings."The team relish playing Australia and certainly have a point to prove after again losing out to their old foe in another closely fought Rose Bowl last year."One of the highlights of the women's calendar will be the tour by England. They have been the most consistent team in women's cricket for several years now and will provide a real challenge for the White Ferns. "It's great that the schedule allows for the White Ferns to join the BLACKCAPS in three televised double headers. It's a good opportunity to showcase women's cricket to a wider audience and highlight that it is not only highly competitive but also entertaining."Live scoring for all matches is available from www.blackcaps.co.nz and MA websites. Action Cricket Twenty20 & Action Cricket Cup * Round five and six of Action Cricket Twenty20 and round there of the Action Cricket Cup will be played at Lincoln * Action Cup final on Saturday 14 January 2012 * Action Cricket Twenty20 final on Sunday 15 January 2012 * Defending champions, Canterbury Magicians, will play home matches at Hagley Oval and Redwood park due to the unavailability of QEII * Three new coaches with Owen Steverson (Northern Spirit), Mike Shrimpton (Central Hinds) and Leigh Kelly (Wellington Blaze) * Former White Fern Katrina Keenan will join Maia Lewis in an assistant coach with the Auckland Hearts England to New Zealand * England last toured New Zealand in 2007-8, winning the ODI series 3-1 * First three Twenty20 internationals are televised double headers before the BLACKCAPS v SA matches * England are current ODI World Champions, 2011 Quadrangular Series Champions (ODI and T20s) and ranked 5th in Twenty20 cricket * England will play three warm-up matches at Lincoln against and emerging players selection * A number of England players are likely to feature in the domestic competitions ahead of their tour

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Ireland's Paul Stirling aims to confirm his status as the best Associate Member batsman

Ireland opener Paul Stirling will be aiming to improve upon his career-best ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen when his side faces England in a One-Day International at Castle Avenue in Dublin on Thursday.Stirling, who has been nominated for the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards 2011, had claimed 16th position last month in July after scoring a brilliant 113 in a high-scoring thriller at the Grange Cricket Club which Scotland won by five wickets when it successfully chased down a target of 321 with nine balls to spareowever, Stirling's third career century in 32 appearances for Ireland was sufficient to make him the highest-ranked Associate Member batsmen when he leapfrogged Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands. For this achievement, Stirling earned 21 ratings points and rose seven places which put him two places ahead of ten Doeschate who has once again been nominated for the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year award he previously won in 2008 and 2010 If Stirling shows the same form against England he displayed last month, then the 20-year-old is all set to move further up the order. He is already in good company as he trails 15th-ranked Ricky Ponting of Australia by just 19 points and 10th-ranked Sachin Tendulkar who is ahead only by 32 ratings points.The other Ireland batsman aiming for an upward movement is 27-year-old Kevin O'Brien who sunk England in an ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 match in Bengaluru by clubbing 13 fours and six sixes in a match-winning113 off 63 balls. O'Brien currently sits in 49th position and can break into the top 30 if he produces another good innings.Captain William Porterfield (67th), Niall O'Brien (79th) and Gary Wilson (81st) are the other Ireland batsmen who will be featuring against the England side which will be led by their former team-mate Eoin Morgan who is in 25th position.In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI bowlers, former Ireland captain Trent Johnston is the highest-ranked player from the Associate Members in 23rd position. Team-mate and left-arm spinner George Dockrell is in 38th position while tall fast bowler Boyd Rankin is in 56th position.Meanwhile, in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship table, Ireland has an opportunity to move ahead of Zimbabwe in 10th position. However, to achieve this it will have to beat England. If Ireland manages to win its second successive match against England, then it will move from 42 to 49 ratings points – three ahead of Zimbabwe - while England will slip from 106 ratings points to 103.In contrast, if England wins the match then it will earn one ratings point which will put it on 107 while Ireland will lose one rating point and will drop to 41.

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Short-lists announced for LG ICC Awards 2011

Cook and Trott in running for both ICC Cricketer of the Year and ICC Test Cricketer the Year awards at ceremony set for 12 September in LondonAnnual awards to be held in association with FICA England batsmen Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, Hashim Amla of South Africa and last year's ICC Cricketer of the Year Sachin Tendulkar of India have all been short-listed for the top honour at the LG ICC Awards 2011.The votes have now been casted by the independent 25-person academy and these four men are the ones in the running to receive the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year at a glittering ceremony in London on 12 September 2011.In addition, Trott and Cook are also short-listed for the ICC Test Player of the Year alongside England team-mate James Anderson and South Africa's Jacques Kallis at the eighth annual LG ICC Awards, presented in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA).Amla is also in contention for the ICC ODI Player of the Year award and he is short-listed in that category alongside Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, Australia's Shane Watson and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 winner Gautam Gambhir of India.The Twenty20 International (T20I) Performance of the Year sees New Zealand's Tim Southee short-listed alongside England's Tim Bresnan, Australia's Shane Watson and South Africa's JP Duminy.This year's LG ICC Awards includes 10 individual prizes, including the LG People's Choice Award** and also features a newly designed Spirit of Cricket Award which honours a moment by an international player that has most adhered to the Spirit of Cricket. This award is nominated and voted for by the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.The long-lists were made by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd. The panel also includes former captains Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan and England's Mike Gatting and New Zealand's Danny Morrison and South Africa's Paul Adams.The short-lists were created after the individual player awards were voted for by an academy of 25 highly credentialed cricket personalities from around the world*. The academy includes a host of former players, respected members of the media as well as representatives of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and ICC Match Referees.

The nominations from the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year were decided after a committee of former players, current administrators and journalists created a long-list. This in turn was broken down into a short-list by a separate 25-person voting academy.This year's short-list for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year sees last year's winner, Australia's Shelley Nitschke, on the list again, alongside West Indies' Stafanie Taylor and England duo of Lydia Greenway and Charlotte Edwards.The David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year award was voted on by the 10 current Test captains and the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and is partly based on the umpires' performance statistics.The award for the umpire of the year was fittingly named the David Shepherd Trophy last year. The late David Shepherd embodied everything that is good in cricket. In the often serious world of match officiating he brought to it a sparkle, a delight and a humanity that was both engaging and uplifting. He generated respect and warmth from those he met with his humour, humility, empathy, excellent decision-making and professionalism. His umpiring was of the highest quality and the fact he stood in 92 Tests, 172 ODIs and officiated in three ICC Cricket World Cup finals is a testimony to his ability, dedication and sheer enjoyment of umpiring.This year's nominees are 2009 and 2010 ICC Umpire of the Year Aleem Dar and five-time ICC Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel, along with Austalia's Steve Davis and Ian Gould of England. All four short-listed candidates, coincidentally, were part of the Playing Control Team for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 final in Mumbai on 2 April 2011.The ICC Emerging Player of the Year nominees short-list features two players from the West Indies - Devendra Bishoo and Darren Bravo - and two from Pakistan, Wahab Riaz and Azhar Ali. To qualify for that award a player must be under the age of 26 at the start of the observation period and have played fewer than five Tests and/or 10 ODIs and/or five T20Is at the start of the voting period.The ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year award serves to recognise and reward the efforts in all international matches of the outstanding cricketers from the teams outside the ICC Full Members.
This year's short-list sees the return of 2008 and 2010 winner, Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands, who is joined by Ireland pair of Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien while Hamid Hassan of Afghanistan rounds off the shortlist for that category.Based on the period between 11 August 2010 and 3 August 2011, the LG ICC Awards 2011 - presented in association with FICA - take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the ICC Intercontinental Cup final, several ICC World Cricket Leagues as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its eighth year and this year it will be held in London, England. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009), Dubai (2008) and Bengaluru (2010).


LG ICC Awards 2011


Short-lists of nominees (in alphabetical order)


Individual Awards


Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year

Hashim Amla (SA)

Alastair Cook (Eng)

Sachin Tendulkar (Ind)

Jonathan Trott (Eng)


ICC Test Player of the Year

James Anderson (Eng)

Alastair Cook (Eng)

Jacques Kallis (SA)

Jonathan Trott (Eng)


ICC ODI Player of the Year

Hashim Amla (SA)

Gautam Gambhir (Ind)

Kumar Sangakkara (SL)

Shane Watson (Aus)


ICC Emerging Player of the Year

Azhar Ali (Pak)

Devendra Bishoo (WI)

Darren Bravo (WI)

Wahab Riaz (Pak)


ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year

Ryan ten Doeschate (Ned)

Hamid Hassan (Afg)

Kevin O'Brien (Ire)

Paul Stirling (Ire)


ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year

Tim Bresnan (Eng) - 3-10-3-4 v Pakistan, Cardiff, 7 September 2010

JP Duminy (SA) - 96 not out (54b, 10x4, 4x6) v Zimbabwe, Kimberley, 10 October 2010

Tim Southee (NZ) - 4-1-18-5 v Pakistan, Auckland, 26 December 2010

Shane Watson (Aus) - 59 (31b, 6x4, 3x6) v England, Adelaide, 12 January 2011


ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year

Charlotte Edwards (Eng)

Lydia Greenway (Eng)

Shelley Nitschke (Aus)

Stafanie Taylor (WI)


David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year

Aleem Dar

Steve Davis

Ian Gould

Simon Taufel


ICC Spirit of Cricket

MS Dhoni (Ind) - for his recall of Ian Bell during the second Test match between England and India at Trent Bridge, July/August 2011

Jacques Kallis (SA) - for twice during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 walking after clarifying with the opposition fielder if they had caught the ball cleanly


LG People's Choice Award

Hashim Amla (SA)

MS Dhoni (Ind)

Chris Gayle (WI)

Kumar Sangakkara (SL)

Jonathan Trott (Eng)
** The LG People's Choice Award short-list of five players was selected by the Selection Panel. The winner is chosen by cricket fans from across the globe after a month long online voting process that closed on 25 August 2011. *Note: Specifically, the 25-person independent voting academy is made up of:Former cricketers - Andy Bichel (Aus), Naimur Rahman (BD), Aamir Sohail (Pak), Pat Symcox (SA), Nasser Hussein (Eng), Russel Arnold (SL), Robin Singh (Ind), Shane Bond (NZ), Grant Flower (Zim), Desmond Haynes (WI) and John Davison (Can - Associate Representative Cricketer).Media - Greg Buckle (Aus), Abdul Majid Bhatti (Pak), Azad Majumdar (Ban), Kevin McCallum (SA), Stephen Brenkley (Eng), Chris Dhambarage (SL), Ayaz Memon (Ind), Tony Becca (WI), Bryan Waddle (NZ), John Ward (Zim) and KR Nayer (Associate Representative).Representative of Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees– Chris Broad.Representative of Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires– Aleem Dar.Chairman of ICC Cricket Committee - Clive Lloyd.

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Clive Lloyd talks about the LG ICC Awards short-lists

On this week's LG ICC Awards 2011 special ICC Cricket World Radio Show, Chairman of the LG ICC Awards Selection Panel and Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd admits choosing the ICC Test Team of the Year 2011 was not an easy task."It was a difficult task this year to choose the teams of the year and also our long-lists as we had a lot of exciting cricket to look at in the observation period. Some excellent performances came from all the teams, we looked at averages and how the teams performed as a unit and I think our panel knowledge helped us to come up with the right team this year for the ICC Test Team of the Year."Because of so many performances this year, someone will inevitably miss out but if you look at our team I think we've got a good balanced side, really truly I think we came out with the right team" says Lloyd who chaired the panel of experts alongside former South Africa spin bowler Paul Adams, former Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas, former New Zealand bowler-turned-commentator Danny Morrison and former England batsman Mike Gatting.Based on the period between 11 August 2010 and 3 August 2011, the LG ICC Awards 2011 - presented in association with FICA - take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game."I don't think anyone should be slighted for not being on the short-lists. It was an extremely close run contest this year in all the categories and everyone performed well over the period. Ultimately, you can only have four players in each short-list and the independent voting academy chose the short-lists," adds Lloyd on the recently announced lists. The show can be used in whole or part by radio stations that want free cricket content for editorial use, while the public can also download it straight from www.icc-cricket.com or from iTunes.Also on this week's show, Australia's Shane Watson talks about his nominations in the ICC ODI Player of the Year and ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year categories. The 30-year-old Queenslander also talks about the upcoming series in Sri Lanka and the captaincy of Michael Clarke."I'm very excited. It's always a great honour to be nominated in a couple of categories, let alone being short-listed. I'm not sure how bright my chances are but I'm thrilled to be in the category with three extremely talented players in Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara and Gautam Gambhir, all of whom have had fantastic years," says Watson."My personal highlight for this year was getting 161 against England at the MCG is something I thought I would never achieve. Also, getting 185 against Bangladesh at Sher-e-Bangla in Dhaka in April and breaking Matt Hayden's record knock is something I cherish," adds Watson.Also on the show is West Indies pair of Devendra Bishoo and Stafanie Taylor who have both been short-listed for this year's awards. Bishoo has been short-listed in the category for ICC Emerging Player of the Year while Taylor has been short-listed for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year award.Bishoo says of the honour: "It was a huge surprise to be announced as one of the players,. I'm really quite nervous about being on the short-list. I've been dedicating myself to my cricket and trying to get wickets throughout the year. Making my debut in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was really something special for me this year."Meanwhile, Taylor says: " It feels great to be short-listed for this year's award and hopefully this time around I have a chance to win. I've worked really hard throughout the year on my game and my ultimate goals are to be number-one in the world on the Reliance ICC ODI Women's Player rankings and to win this ICC award. Hopefully I've done enough this year to win the trophy. Finally, Zimbabwe's captain Brendan Taylor reflects on a positive Test and ODI series victory over Bangladesh recently in Harare and looks ahead to facing Pakistan. "It's nice to see not only spinners Prosper Utseya and Raymond Price but Brian Vitori and Keegan Meth with the new ball too. Nice to see guys playing as a collective unit and giving everything to the team," says Taylor."I think we're mentally prepared to face Pakistan. We had an excellent preparation and it's exciting times and a good chance for some of these guys to shine. We're really excited," adds Taylor.

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Sana Mir hopes for better performance

LAHORE: Captain of the Pakistan Women’s cricket team, Sana Mir expressed hope that the team would perform well during West Indies tour, Geo News reported.
A 14 member squad would depart for the Caribbean from Karachi tonight. Sana Mir while speaking to reporters in Lahore said the series will not be easy and that two changes had been made in the team.The women’s cricket team will play four one day international and four T20s against the West Indies.

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After giving his bestst performance in the World Cup he is coming back to home and receiving a warm welcum from public and by Government of Pakistan.

Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar, who gave cent percent performance in cricket World Cup 2011, came back home today and had recieved a warm welcome bu the public on the Allama Iqbal International Airport."I am proud to represent Pakistan in the final of the cricket’s mega event was played between India and Sri Lanka.”said ny ALeem Dar talking with the Media Reporters.He has been awarded by the "Pride of Performance award" by the Government of Pakistan.He thanked to the Government of Pakistan and Government of Punjab for awrding him with this award.Dar while talking on tthe performance of Pakistani team in the recent World Cup said that they perform well and their overall performance was Satisfactory.And due to three,four wrong decisions taken by them had met them with the defeat in Semi_final.He said defending champion Australia and hot favourite South Africa were failed to reach in the semi-final while Pakistan qualified but unfortunately was defeated by India.It is of real proud and of worth mentioning here that not a single decision taken by Aleem Dar withdrawn through UDRS, an umpire referral system.Dar said UDRS is a good system and the systems would help to improve the performance of the umpires.

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Myopic India architects of their own downfall

MUMBAI: England steamrolled India with a consistent and ruthless display in the recently concluded 4-0 series whitewash but the tourists' meek surrender of the number one test ranking was primarily their own doing.Occupants of the top slot since December 2009, India added the 50-over World Cup in April this year to signal their intention of dominating the game like the West Indies and Australia had done so in the recent past.However, England's utter dominance in a quartet of lopsided test victories proved that India's fortress was built on flimsy foundations.India's much-vaunted batting line-up failed to fire, their bowlers bled runs without success and the standard of their fielding would have embarrassed any club side."Indian cricket has become the laughing stock of the world game and while that might not seem to matter to a board that generates 70 percent of the sport's global income and has in its locker-room the World Cup trophy, no less, ridicule tends to be a corrosive disease," cricket analyst Andrew Miller wrote.Many believe the seeds of destruction were sown by the Indian cricket board, which compiled a lucrative but punishing schedule that ensured most of the players were either exhausted or injured by the time they set foot on English soil.India's World Cup victory in April was preceded by a South Africa tour and less than a week after lifting one-day cricket's biggest trophy in Mumbai, skipper MS Dhoni and his men were honouring their Indian Premier League (IPL) obligations in the cash-rich Twenty20 league.A short tour of the West Indies followed before they arrived in England just in time for a practice game ahead of the four-match series against a battle-hardened and hungry England side.Ajit Wadekar, who led India to their first series victory in England 40 years ago, insists the players should have skipped the IPL tournament."Tell me which English player participated in the IPL? None of them," Wadekar said.We could not even enjoy our World Cup win properly. The IPL started immediately. It was too much and it's telling on the players.Wadekar's point was driven home by the dismal experiences of three key players before and during the England series.Openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan either picked up or aggravated existing injuries during the 51-day IPL tournament and subsequently skipped the trip to the Caribbean.On top of that, a fresh injury to Gambhir compounded India's crisis and the tourists were only once able to start a test with their regular opening partnership, tinkering with the batting order in the other three matches.Sehwag was unavailable for the first two matches as he recovered from shoulder surgery and after being rushed into action for the third test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, was dismissed for first-ball ducks in both innings.Zaheer lasted just one test, bowling 13 1/2 overs in the first innings of the opening match at Lord's, before a hamstring injury ended his tour.India's lack of planning, the hallmark of any team that wants to dominate the game, was also cruelly exposed.Devoid of a reserve opener in the squad, Rahul Dravid, India's only batsman to offer resistance, was promoted to the top of the order to face England's fired-up seamers with the new ball.Selectors also sprang a surprise when they called up left-arm seamer RP Singh as Zaheer's replacement, despite not playing a test match since April 2008.They also recalled Dravid for the subsequent limited-overs series after an absence of two years in another decision that smacked of poor planning and desperation.RETIREMENTS DUE As Dhoni pointed out after losing his first series as captain, cracks had appeared throughout India's much-vaunted batting line-up.While the team urgently needs to identify and groom a third opener, the lower-middle order position vacated by former captain Sourav Ganguly when he retired in 2008 has also proved difficult to fill.Yuvraj Singh, who brings immense value in the shorter formats, has not been able to cement his place in the test side and Suresh Raina's inadequate technique does not make him an automatic choice either.Adding to that dilemma, batting stalwarts Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Vangipurappu Laxman are all on the wrong side of their thirties and phasing them out will be the biggest challenge for India, where cricket towers over all other sports."That's a phase I think every country has to cope with. It's like a cycle," Wadekar said, referring to the crisis Australia faced after the retirement of players like Matthew Hayden, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne."Here, nobody bothers about it and there is no planning at all. We have to plan our future properly. This is where we should do a little bit of rotation and get more youngsters.Former wicketkeeper and chairman of selectors Kiran More echoed those views.Test cricket is the biggest concern area. Test cricket makes a huge difference for the young and fringe players. I think we haven't developed one test player in the last few years," More said."You have to promote young players, give them opportunities and carry them on the tours. That's how you develop a player."You have to carry AN extra couple of fast bowlers on the tour. Pakistan during Imran Khan's time used to carry 17-18 players on the tour."Imran used to carry extra fast bowlers who could bowl in the nets and gain the experience of the conditions. That has not happened... there have been so many changes. It is not helping the players and they are not gaining any confidence.

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Sri Lanka win 5th ODI to reduce Aussie lead to 3-2

COLOMBO: Fast bowler Lasith Malinga took a record third hat-trick as Sri Lanka secured a consolation four-wicket victory over Australia in the fifth and final one-day international on Monday.
Malinga removed Mitchell Johnson, John Hastings and Xavier Doherty to become the first bowler to take three hat-tricks in one-dayers as Sri Lanka dismissed Australia for 211 before achieving the target with three overs to spare.Paceman James Pattinson and left-arm spinner Doherty bagged two wickets each for Australia, who clinched the series 3-2.Australia, who had an unbeatable 3-1 lead before the match, were comfortably placed at 210-5 before losing their last five wickets for just one run, with Malinga doing the maximum damage to finish with 3-35 off eight overs.Malinga, known for bowling accurate yorkers with a slinging action, had earlier taken hat-tricks in two World Cups -- against South Africa in 2007 and Kenya in 2011.Sri Lanka's batsmen stuttered to 33-3 at the start of their innings with Pattinson taking two wickets in his opening spell, but Mahela Jayawardene (71) and Chamara Silva (63) put on 111 for the fourth wicket to prop up the innings.Silva, who hit one six and eight fours in his 71-ball knock, was dismissed just before rain stopped play but Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews (26) ensured win when the game resumed with a 51-run stand for the fifth wicket.Malinga was earlier superbly supported by unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis (3-49) and seamer Shaminda Eranga (2-45)Opener Shane Watson top-scored for Australia with an 84-ball 56, which contained one six and six fours. Skipper Michael Clarke (47), David Hussey (46) and Ricky Ponting (31) were the other main scorers.Australia lost opener Shaun Marsh in the second over after being put in to bat, but Watson steadied the innings with two useful stands.Watson added 67 for the second wicket with Ponting and 56 for the next with Clarke before falling in the 28th over, caught at deep mid-wicket off Mendis.Clarke looked set to complete his third half-century of the series before being caught behind off Eranga.

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