All posts by h716a5.icu

Daniel Vettori finds it hard these days to get through 10 overs of bowling in a game but he is still harbouring dreams of playing in a home World Cup

Brydon Coverdale07-Oct-2014Daniel Vettori once bowled 92.5 overs in a Test match, but now getting through 10 in a one-day international is a daunting prospect. However, the lure of playing in New Zealand’s first home World Cup since the 1992 tournament, which he devoured as a 13-year-old viewer, has encouraged Vettori to push his body beyond the comfort zone of Twenty20 this summer.Vettori was with his New Zealand team-mates in Melbourne on Tuesday, touring the MCG in the hope that they were familiarising themselves with the venue ahead of a possible World Cup final appearance. He will be 36 by the time that comes around and he has found his body struggling to get through long spells, so much so that he has all but ruled out playing Test cricket again.His last first-class game was for Northern Districts in December and since then he has played nothing but T20, in both the Big Bash League and the Caribbean Premier League. His back has been an ongoing source of problems, but it is far from the only injury worry that has hampered Vettori in recent times.”It’s a bit of everything. You get to a certain age and things start to give up,” Vettori told ESPNcricinfo. “I’m just going to have to manage it well and keep on top of my fitness through the summer if I’m going to have any hope of making the World Cup team.”I don’t have a lot of confidence in my body. I just have to get back into it. I’ve done a lot of the work in the off-season and I’ve still been able to bowl a reasonable amount through some T20 leagues, but 10 overs is a big step up and the length of time in the field as well. We played a game yesterday and … here’s hoping I can get through the rest of the one-day season.”Vettori has played 275 one-day internationals, the first of which came back in 1997 at the age of 18. He has been part of four World Cup squads and played in the semi-finals of the previous two events in the West Indies and India, but nothing will compare to the feeling of playing a World Cup at home, with New Zealand only needing to play in Australia if they reach the final.That was also the case back in 1992, when Pakistan beat New Zealand in a semi-final in Auckland and went on to lift the trophy at the MCG four days later. The tournament meant a lot to New Zealand as a whole and Vettori watched it all as a teenager; now he and his team-mates hope they can leave the same sort of legacy for the country’s young cricket fans during the 2015 World Cup.”It’s a huge incentive for most of the guys in the team,” Vettori said. “It’s great for the guys at the start of their careers to play a World Cup in New Zealand. There’s only been one before and the guys remember it from ’92, saw how much it affected the country and how well the team performed at the time. It meant so much to so many people and we’re definitely hoping to replicate that.”I have very fond memories, I remember watching all the games through the tournament and I remember how well we played and how well in particular Martin Crowe played, and Mark Greatbatch. There was the first-up win against Australia at Eden Park. All those are pretty lucid memories even now.”The format really appealed back then. We played all the teams. To have a chance as a young cricketing fan to see all those players come to the country and see how the New Zealand guys performed against them – I know a lot of these guys here would love to leave that legacy.”To be part of that legacy, Vettori will have to prove his fitness over the coming summer. New Zealand’s next one-day engagement is a home series against South Africa starting later this month, before playing Pakistan in the UAE in December, followed by home games against Sri Lanka and Pakistan shortly before the World Cup.”I think Test cricket has probably passed me by,” he said. “You never say never, but I think it’s time to move on and concentrate on the one-day format. There are a couple of good young spinners in Ish Sodhi and Mark Craig, so I certainly don’t want to get in the way of their development.”Hopefully I’ll make the World Cup – there’s a long way to go before I’m actually selected in the team, and I’ll have to perform the whole time. If I can perform and play well, that will be an accomplishment for me.”

The 2014-15 Dhaka Premier League will begin on November 11, the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis announced on Sunday

Mohammad Isam09-Nov-2014The 2014-15 Dhaka Premier League will begin on November 11, the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) announced on Sunday.Gazi Tank Cricketers, the defending champions, will take on newly-promoted Old DOHS Sports Club at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in one of the three opening day matches of the List A one-day competition.The BCB had earlier postponed the start of the Dhaka Premier League to November 2 from the originally announced date of October 10, after former India captain Sourav Ganguly requested the BCB to send a strong Bangladesh outfit for a four-team tournament in late October to commemorate 150 years of the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.The 12-team competition will follow a single league format, where the top six teams will qualify for the Super League. The bottom three sides will have to play the Relegation League, while the sides finishing 11th and 12th will be relegated to the First Division.The CCDM has announced the schedule of the first three rounds, till November 18.

Pradeep Sangwan returns to senior cricket after his 18-month drug ban as he was picked in the Delhi squad for the Ranji Trophy

29-Nov-2014The DDCA’s senior selection committee headed by Yashpal Sharma rewarded teenager Himmat Singh by including him in the Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi squad that will host Saurashtra in the opening match of the Ranji Trophy starting December 7.Another notable inclusion was left-arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan, who is now back in the fold having served an 18-month dope ban after being found positive for banned substance stanzolol, while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the sixth edition of the IPL.The 18-year-old Himmat has grabbed a lot of eyeballs with consistent performances for the Delhi U-19 side in the Cooch Behar Trophy and he got his maiden entry into the senior team in place of veteran batsman Mithun Manhas, who is yet to fully recover from his injury. However, Himmat might find it difficult to find a place in the playing XI.Manhas will appear for a fitness test on December 3 and if found 100% fit, he might just walk into the side.Veteran left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra has also opted out of the first game and would be available when Delhi play their next round after nearly a two-week gap.Apart from Gambhir and veteran Virender Sehwag, the other senior Rajat Bhatia is also there in the squad.Interestingly, Navdeep Saini, whose debut for Delhi was mired in controversy last season, has again been picked at the behest of Gambhir, who had been impressed with the brisk pace that gangly Haryana lad can work up.Off-spinner Shivam Sharma, who impressed everyone while playing for Kings XI Punjab in the last IPL, has also been included.The other specialist spinner in the squad is slow left-arm bowler Varun Sood, who pipped Pawan Negi to seal his berth. Interestingly, Negi was the ‘Player of the Final’ in the Champions League T20 with figures of 5/22 for Chennai Super Kings.Delhi Ranji squad: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Virender Sehwag, Unmukt Chand, Milind Kumar, Vaibhav Rawal, Rajat Bhatia, Puneet Bisht (wk), Parvinder Awana, Navdeep Saini, Sumit Narwal, Varun Sood, Shivam Sharma, Himmat Singh, Pradeep Sangwan, Dhruv Shorey. Coach: Vijay Dahiya. Manager: Manoj Kapoor.

West Indies’ end-of-day score looks solid enough, but it was another missed opportunity for them as wickets were gifted to South Africa. Debutant offspinner Simon Harmer finished with three

The Report by David Hopps02-Jan-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:21

‘Harmer impressed on debut’

Dale Steyn’s two wickets were the sole rewards for South Africa’s quicks on the opening day of the third Test – enough to take him past Makhaya Ntini’s 390 Test wickets and go second in South Africa’s all-time list – but as respectable as that sounds for West Indies when pitted against the No. 1 Test side in the world, they frittered away the chance to go big on a peaceable Newlands surface.Four of the top seven batsmen fell between 43 and 54 – including Denesh Ramdin late in the day – and three of them should have left with self-recrimination. There has been a giddiness about West Indies’ cricket in South Africa, a batting side seeking to attune itself to the rhythms of Test cricket and never quite managing it. Just as they seem to be dancing efficiently to the right tune, somebody momentarily puts the hip hop on.But the first day also surrendered to a debutant offspinner putting his first imprint on Test history. Simon Harmer had burst into tears in a supermarket when he heard the joyful news of his Test call up, and already he has heard the kerching of three West Indies batsmen dropping into his trolley.Twice Harmer struck to peg back the West Indies just as they hoped to break free, firstly Devon Smith tempted into an indiscreet cut on the stroke of lunch, then Leon Johnson lbw to one that skidded on in mid-afternoon. Occasionally, his sunglasses bounced up from his nose as he delivered, offering him the chance to view his wickets as they happened in two different shades.His third wicket was a collector’s item. Shivnarine Chanderpaul had only been stumped once before in 272 Test innings, but Harmer caused him to overbalance against the first ball after tea as he flicked helplessly to leg for AB de Villiers to pull off a neat stumping. Figures of 3 for 67 in 25 overs represented a good day’s work and suggested subtleties of flight that made him worthy of selection.South Africa were grateful for his incursions. Vernon Philander and Steyn began with bowling averages at Newlands under 17 and 22 respectively, but Steyn was not taken by the pitch, providing a salty assessment of its worth after only three overs when he banged one in halfway and was rewarded by the ball barely rising stump high.The Wynberg End proved more to his liking. It took two balls after a switch of end to remove Kraigg Brathwaite. A century in the rain-wrecked affair in Port Elizabeth had underlined his resilience, but his dismissal fitted a recognisable pattern: drawn into a drive, the batsman edged to Dean Elgar at gully.Two balls later and Steyn hollered for the wicket of Johnson, but this time, ironically, there was too much bounce and South Africa did not review umpire Paul Reiffel’s decision. But they did review when Morne Morkel jagged one back to rap Johnson’s pads on 4, failing to overturn the decision by the narrowest of margins.Smith’s caressed off-side drives were the main feature of the morning, but impatience cost him as he was bowled by Harmer with the last ball of the session. South Africa’s captain, Hashim Amla, attacked as lunch loomed, and Smith could not resist seeking a boundary which would have taken him past 50 for only the seventh time in a 38-Test career. It was a cramped stroke, with Smith eyeing the open spaces on the off side and the ball struck the top of middle via a slight bottom edge.Harmer had struck in only his fourth over, but there would be more than a few Newlands members who would be muttering as they observed a bared midriff in the process of delivery that now he had graduated to the Test match club, it was high time he learned to tuck his shirt in.Johnson scooted to fifty as West Indies played freely after lunch, but he also needed dollops of fortune against the short ball as South Africa set two men back for the pull and he allowed himself an escapade or two. That half-century, only his second in Tests, came with a chancy drive against Harmer over cover before the bowler outdid him in the flight to win an lbw verdict.Marlon Samuels’ tendency to aberration was illustrated when he responded to the fall of Johnson’s wicket by clearing his front leg in the next over, from Morkel, and attempted to slog him into the crowd. He failed to make contact, but South Africa were put on alert. Perhaps a blow on the helmet from Morkel had unsettled him.It was not just a fluke therefore when Samuels, on 43, frustrated by a lengthy period in mid-afternoon when South Africa had dried up the runs, found the 120kph fill-in medium pace of Stiaan van Zyl irresistible. His first ball was a sedate wide half volley, which began wide and went wider and which Samuels slapped obligingly to cover. What goes through the mind of the The Crab, Chanderpaul, when he sees such waste? Does it wash over him or does he re-mark his guard with boiling frustration.Ramdin, sinews stiffened by New Year resolutions about better times ahead, had perceived a day ripe for batting and would have hoped for better. When Chanderpaul was prised out, half the side had gone for 172 and calamity beckoned.But Jermaine Blackwood, back at No. 6 in a stronger batting line-up, joined Ramdin a stand of 94, only for the captain’s sensible knock to end with a return catch to Steyn shortly before the close. It was South Africa’s only breakthrough with the second new ball, but Steyn’s neck bulged red with pleasure all the same.

Shane Watson is back at the SCG, seeking to prove his value to the team once more but also to ward off the images of November 25, an experience he shared with Brad Haddin, David Warner and Nathan Lyon

Daniel Brettig in Sydney03-Jan-2015On the way to the SCG nets for their first training session ahead of the New Year’s Test, Australia’s batsmen walked past the motorised stretcher that had taken Phillip Hughes from the middle of the ground a little more than a month ago. There as a precaution, it also provided a reminder of how cricket has changed this summer, and how difficult it will be for the hosts to clear their minds and play on at the scene of Hughes’ death.Shane Watson has wrestled with these sights, reminders and unwanted visions as much as anyone. His concentration and technique have wavered often as he tries to push on as a batting allrounder and senior member of the team now led by Steven Smith. In Adelaide he spoke frankly of those difficulties, and a series of harried innings did little to dissuade observers from concluding that Watson’s struggles went beyond his usual inconsistencies with the bat.But a score of some merit on Boxing Day offered evidence of progress, while a hamstring injury to Mitchell Marsh bought time for Watson to consolidate without the glare of too much speculation about his place. Now he is back at the SCG, seeking to prove his value to the team once more but also to ward off the images of November 25, an experience he shared with Brad Haddin, David Warner and Nathan Lyon.”It’s the first time I’ve been back here since just before Phil’s funeral. It was always a time that I wasn’t really looking forward to, coming back to the ground,” Watson said. “But in the end, enough time has sort of passed to be able to find my own personal way to be able to deal with what happened to Phil. I’m sure once I get out into the middle and playing those visions will be coming back.”Melbourne was the first time after getting through especially the short ball that I started to feel comfortable or more comfortable again. For the first couple of Test matches it was always in the back of my mind obviously because of what I saw and trying to go through it and process what happened that day out here. Melbourne was the first time I really started to feel the confidence grew back in myself and my game to know that my instincts are going to be hopefully good enough to play the short ball well.”Watson took some succour from the way that Haddin dealt with the barrage of bouncers he faced in Melbourne, first aiming to survive Boxing Day in the company of Smith then hitting out boldly on the following morning when India maintained their unsubtle angled of short-pitched attack.Shane Watson says he has started to find a way to deal with the death of Phillip Hughes•Getty Images”I think just in general how Brad took on what the Indians served up to him in Melbourne was incredible,” Watson said. “He’s a tough man – he’s not going to take a backward step, he’s always going to find a way to take on the game. And Brad was out on the ground as well so we’re all dealing with it in our own way after what we saw. So to be able to see Brad play the way he did and take it on was awesome.”Watson’s hesitation against the short ball has added to the kind of introspection he has commonly carried to the middle of the ground. In the journal , the Sydney Thunder coach Paddy Upton summed him up thusly: “Shane Watson is a sensitive man with a high regard for his team-mates and an ability to be self-critical.” At times this self-criticism has been more hindrance than help.”Growing up all I wanted to do was be the best cricketer I possibly could be,” Watson said. “There are positives and negatives in that. The positives are that it always drives me to want to continue to get better. But on the flip side it means I can put too much pressure on myself when I go out there. I’m always trying to find that perfect balance where I’ve got freedom in my mind when I go out to bat but I’m also very well prepared and I feel comfortable and confident going into the game as well.”I’ve been through a few different ways of how to deal with it. I’m very lucky to have a great support network around me to be able to talk through certain times when I feel like I am putting too much pressure on myself to perform. Darren Lehmann for example has always been incredibly good to be able to talk to about my game.”This summer has then been a trial of those qualities. Watson is fitter, stronger and fresher than at any other time in recent memory. But his confidence and instinct were rocked by the loss of Hughes, and his capacity to use that freshness limited by the resultant emotional toll. It is a long summer, though, and Watson hopes now to make the SCG Test a starting point for greater returns.”I feel I’m under pressure when I’m not scoring runs at any stage,” he said. “If I’m not performing of course I’m under pressure. The thing I think about the most is to just being able to contribute to the team, not whether I’m playing or not. It’s more so just being able to contribute to the team and feel like I’m not a passenger in the team. I do really want to be there to be able to contribute with bat and ball, that’s what I think about the most.”The motorised stretcher was still there when Watson was among the last to leave the nets. It had not been needed.

Given he was not batting first wicket down on his return to representative international cricket, Jonathan Trott was at the crease rather sooner than he would have envisaged on the second day in Paarl.

Ivo Tennant in Paarl12-Jan-2015
ScorecardTheunis de Bruyn kept England Lions toiling in the field as he went through to a double century•Gallo ImagesGiven he was not batting first wicket down on his return to representative international cricket, Jonathan Trott was at the crease rather sooner than he would have envisaged on the second day in Paarl. South Africa A declared once Theunis de Bruyn, a Test player of the near future, reached a double century, whereupon England Lions swiftly lost Adam Lyth and Alex Lees, their prolific Yorkshiremen. Soon the captain was in the middle, fidgeting, scratching and then scoring runs, 57 to date, in his inimitable way.The first ball he received, from his old boyhood friend Rory Kleinveldt, was of the kind he has relished down the years. It was a little short of a length, pitching on his leg stump, and was promptly despatched to the very place it belonged: the midwicket boundary. The next ball was in much the same area, the bounce a little lower, and was duly clipped away, this time for three runs. Unexpected sporting pleasantries, then, back in his homeland.Kleinveldt, who will be joining Northamptonshire this coming season, went in for some short stuff after that, but two bouncers in a row did not trouble Trott. What did, momentarily, was the more probing medium pace of Ryan McLaren, who is keen to revive his South African Test career and who had Trott dropped behind the stumps by Rudi Second, a batsman/wicketkeeper who plays for Chevrolet Knights. The chance, low and in front of first slip, was a difficult one.After that, Trott settled for consolidation, not least because Sam Robson played on when attempting to square cut Kleinveldt, who, as well as captaining South Africa A, is the son-in-law of Omar Henry, the former spin bowler turned boss of Boland Park.Here, too, was an opportunity for James Vince to impress those two fine judges of a batsman, Andy Flower, who sat motionless behind the arm, and Graham Thorpe. Some of his off driving in his unbeaten 43 from 101 balls can only have done so.Trott just the same – Kleinveldt

Jonathan Trott’s technique and temperament remain unchanged from his teenage years, according to Rory Kleinveldt, who played with him at schools level and for Western Province.
“I can’t detect any difference,” Kleinveldt, the South Africa A captain, said before confirming that he would be joining Northamptonshire for the 2015 season, unless called up for any representative cricket.
“My thinking when bowling two successive bouncers at him was to hope he would hook to two men I had put that, but it didn’t happen.” Kleinveldt added that he thought James Vince “looks a very good player.”
Liam Plunkett said of his 26 overs, which resulted in four wickets: “It was tough. There was not much pace and bounce. Boyd Rankin and Jack Brooks struggled at first but bowled better in their second and third spells. The better the opposition, the better James Vince plays. He has all the shots.”

By the close, Trott, who reached a half-century off 108 balls with six fours, and 57 from 123 balls in all, had added 102 with Vince and ensured the Lions would reach a competitive total.The management on this trip – and there is a sizeable entourage – reckon Trott is in a good place, mentally, and now, following his second substantial score in his first two matches, technically and temperamentally as well. His celebration at the crease, bat pointed at the dressing-room and at a small band of supporters, who prefer following the Lions in quieter venues to the England side in major Test arenas, was composed. He will be after a century upon resumption.Lyth went leg before on the back foot to the tall Chris Morris and Lees was bowled by Kleinveldt, groping forward. If at all possible, there was even less pace in the pitch than on the first day, and hence the bounce a little lower. Not that this stymied de Bruyn to any noticeable extent. Standing up on the balls of his feet to square cut in the manner of Roy Pienaar, that gifted Kent and South African batsman, he reached 150 from 212 balls with 27 fours, taking his average to more than 50 for the first time in his career.South Africa A lost Second, leg before to Mark Wood playing slightly across the line; McLaren, playing on when attempting to square drive Liam Plunkett, who deservedly finished with four wickets, and Kleinveldt, bowled by Mark Wood, who found some unexpected movement at an advanced stage of the innings. This came to a close when de Bruyn reached his double century. His 202 came from 275 balls and included 30 fours. Now 22, he has 908 first-class runs to his name at an average of 53.04 from just ten matches. England will be hearing more of him when they tour next winter.

A nation held its breath for a moment when Brendon McCullum was struck on the arm by Mitchell Johnson at Eden Park, but the prognosis for the New Zealand captain is positive with no initial signs of serious injury

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland28-Feb-2015A nation held its breath for a moment when Brendon McCullum was struck on the arm by Mitchell Johnson at Eden Park, but the prognosis for the New Zealand captain is positive with no initial signs of serious injury.The blow occurred in the third over of the innings when Johnson went into short-pitched mode and McCullum could not get out of the way of the delivery. Images showed extensive swelling on his forearm, but below the elbow which could have been a far nastier area to be struck.He was not sent for an x-ray or scan after his innings of 50 off 24 balls, instead receiving ice treatment in the dressing room. McCullum appeared at the post-match presentation with the arm heavily strapped but was in good spirits after New Zealand’s hairy one-wicket victory.A spokesman said the arm was “very sore” and he will be reassessed on Sunday morning ahead of the team splitting up for a few days prior to their next match against Afghanistan in Napier next Sunday.”I think he’s okay,” Kane Williamson said. “It’s a bit of a concern when a ball that fast hits you on the arm, but he’s tough competitor so I’m sure he’ll be fine.Although McCullum was clearly feeling the injury for the rest of his innings, it did not significantly hamper him as he clubbed a further six fours and a six before picking out mid-off which began New Zealand’s first wobble.McCullum may now be grateful of another lengthy gap before the Afghanistan game. If he was forced to miss a match at the tournament, Williamson would be the man to step into the captaincy but it would leave a vast hole to fill in the hosts’ team.

Trent Boult has said that he is not under much pressure in the IPL following a stellar performance in the World Cup and his high purchase price in the auction

Vishal Dikshit13-Apr-2015New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult, currently representing Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2015, has covered a journey in cricket not many players can claim to have had. Boult has carved his way from Tests to ODIs to domestic T20s, with his recent match-winning performances, a journey unlike what many players take. The joint highest wicket-taker in the 2015 World Cup and ranked sixth in Tests and ODIs, Boult was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 3.8 crore (approx. US $633,000) in the IPL auction two months ago and the confident bowler said that he is not under much pressure coming into the IPL.”I don’t think there is too much pressure to be honest,” Boult told ESPNcricinfo. “I enjoyed the World Cup immensely but I don’t think the pressure beats me and I’m not worried about the expectation and all that. If I can put that aside and just enjoy being here, I think that will bring out the best in me. [In my game there are] not too many changes. I think the more that I’ve played, the more that I’ve grown as a cricketer and a bowler.”Before the World Cup, the 25-year-old swing bowler had played only 16 ODIs, and coming into the IPL he had only 40 Twenty20s under his belt. Boult, however, is not nervous about the day when he will be belted around the park and won’t have anything to show in the wickets column.”Me personally, I try not to think about it too much, it’s part of the game,” he said. “In Twenty20 cricket you are going to get hit for boundaries and sixes. How quickly you can put it behind you, how quickly you can come back and hopefully take some wickets…I know it’s easier said than done but the best players in the world have their ways to get through that.”[Having a go-to delivery], that’s the key. I think you need to have a ball that you are most comfortable bowling, that you can bowl in the pressure situation. It’s just one of those things to have a slower ball, to have a yorker or whatever it is to go to at the pressure [times], it’s very important. For me it’s the yorker, it’s the delivery I feel most comfortable bowling under pressure.”The one main difference Boult, or any other fast bowler who played in the World Cup, will face will be the change in conditions in the IPL, compared to the helpful pitches of Australia and New Zealand. Boult said the conditions made it imperative for bowlers to adapt early on in the tournament.”Yes, obviously it was pretty helpful to be in our home conditions which us as a team, us as bowlers we were familiar with,” Boult said. “I think we knew what lengths to bowl and what lines. The grounds we played at the ball swung nicely but I guess the challenge is to come to India – obviously much different climate, much different environment and very different wickets. I think the ball will swing here, just won’t be the same as back in New Zealand, so we have to quickly adapt to that and make sure my line and length is right and I’m hoping that I can be tricky for the batsmen.”One batsman he couldn’t trick in his IPL debut was New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, when Sunrisers took on Chennai Super Kings on Saturday. The IPL is the first time Boult is playing a domestic T20 tournament outside New Zealand – barring the 2014 Champions League T20 in which he represented his home side, Northern Knights – and his debut set up a much anticipated clash against McCullum.”Brendon was in good form and he seemed to be ahead of me,” Boult said. “He’s very intimidating and he was in very good form. The plan was for me to get the ball to swing and pitch the ball up but it didn’t swing much. Once it becomes pretty straight and narrow you expect some boundaries. He played a terrific innings and it was definitely a good learning curve to bowl to someone like that. We went through our plans but the wicket was a bit different than what we thought and it was a lot slower so those plans unfortunately didn’t work so well.”From being New Zealand’s frontline bowler only in Tests, his wicket-taking ability has made him one of the most feared quick bowlers in the world currently. He was given the opportunity to open for New Zealand in ODIs as well, leading into the World Cup in which he took 22 wickets – the same as Man of the Series Mitchell Starc.”I played about a dozen ODIs before the start of the World Cup and gained a lot of confidence out of playing the tournament and learnt more about my game,” Boult said. “Getting to bowl to some good batsmen around the world has taught me a lot so hopefully I can continue the form and bring it to this IPL campaign.”Shane Bond has been very good to work with. Obviously a very experienced cricketer himself and not so much technically, but with me he’s shared his thoughts on field placements, how to get the right line…those sorts of things. Not so much for the white-ball format, more in Test-match cricket.”Until six months before the World Cup, Boult was seen primarily as a Test bowler. It was only when he was picked for the home ODIs against South Africa last October and the ODIs against Sri Lanka earlier this year that he started taking wickets with the white ball as well. Boult was not among the top five wicket-takers against Sri Lanka, and played four out of the seven matches in the series, but was still picked ahead of Matt Henry, who was making news for bowling consistently above the 145kmph mark.”Obviously the difference between Tests and shorter format is that batsmen are coming at you a lot more and looking to attack against my deliveries,” he said. “I think my thinking has to be much quicker and I have to plan to be ahead of the batsmen as much as I can. That can sometimes get very difficult. But I think that’s probably the biggest challenge.”

Half-centuries from Mominul Haque and Imrul Kayes on the opening day of the Test series extended Bangladesh’s advantage over Pakistan on the current tour by another day

The Report by Devashish Fuloria28-Apr-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:51

Isam: Five dropped catches don’t bode well for Pakistan

Pakistan had been reinforced with the addition of seniors like Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, and this was a format the team has had considerable success over the last few months, in conditions not dissimilar to the ones they were to face in Bangladesh. Yet, half-centuries from Mominul Haque and Imrul Kayes on the opening day of the Test series extended Bangladesh’s advantage over Pakistan on the current tour by another day.Bangladesh had opted to bat on a typical first-day subcontinent pitch that did not offer any help to the seamers and only limited turn to the spinners, but the slow and tentative approach Tamim Iqbal and Imrul took in the first session lacked the confidence that has hardly left the team since the start of the World Cup. By the end of the day though, with their batsmen putting a series of good partnerships and the Pakistan fielders erring, Bangladesh had shed some of that tentativeness.At the heart of it was Mominul, who added a fifty-plus score in a Test for the 10th consecutive time. In fact, in his 13-match career, only once he was not able to reach a half-century. Although slow from the start of his innings, Mominul was his usual solid self. He was hit on the helmet by Junaid Khan early in his innings, but guided the next ball through gully with composure. It remained his favourite area, as six off his eight boundaries came through the region.After arriving at the stroke of lunch, Mominul added 40, 95 and 49 for the second, third and fourth wickets, to ensure Bangladesh did not let the opening stand of 52 not go to waste. However, his dismissal off the penultimate delivery – he was trapped plumb in front by Zulfiqar Babar – meant yet again he had failed to reach the three-figure mark. Of the 12 times he has crossed fifty, only four times he has gone on to make a century.Similar was the fate of Mahmudullah, who fell one short of his half-century. He showed glimpses of the same form that has raised his reputation over the last few months, playing attractive strokes off the front foot or back, but, yet again, he failed to convert a start into a substantial score.The highlight of Mahmudullah’s 123-ball stay was his first boundary, an elegant hit through cover off Zulfiqar after he had stepped out of the crease. Not all his boundaries were convincing though; a couple slid through the cordon off the outside edge off the pacers. Another outside edge, when he was on 49, was snapped up by the diving Sarfraz Ahmed behind the stumps, the 74-over ball from Wahab Riaz reversing just enough to square him up.Pakistan, though, were left to rue the missed opportunities. Five chances were wasted in the first two sessions. In the morning Tamim, who scored two centuries in the recent ODI series, could have been out in the 20th over had Mohammad Hafeez held a low chance at leg slip when the batsman was on 16. Yasir Shah misjudged a lofted shot from Imrul in the 18th over, and Azhar Ali did not take a sharp chance at short leg from the same batsman in the 29th over.In the second session, left-arm spinner Babar dropped a return chance, letting Mominul off on 17. Then Younis and Hafeez allowed an outside edge from Mahmudullah’s bat fly between them in the slip cordon.The one time Pakistan were lucky was when Yasir broke the monotony of a slow morning by picking up the wicket of Tamim 11 minutes before the end of the first session, ending an obdurate opening stand. Tamim had scored 25, his best against Pakistan, when an inside edge was smartly taken by Azhar at short leg. But Pakistan were fortunate because third umpire Paul Reiffel ruled a no-ball-check from the on-field official in favour of Yasir, when the margin was so slim that the decision could have easily been made in Tamim’s favour as well.The rate of scoring that crawled at 1.53 an over in the first hour, only marginally improved to 2 in the second, as none of the batsmen showed intent consistently. Singles remained rare and the boundaries, rarer. A couple of reverse-sweeps, one each from Tamim and Imrul, made appearance in the second hour after only two fours had been hit in the first. At lunch, Imrul was on 35 off 104 deliveries.Playing with more assurance after lunch, Imrul hit two more fours – a cover drive off Yasir and a powerful sweep off Hafeez – and reached his second Test half-century in the 41st over, off the 129th ball he faced. But he was dismissed off the next one as he popped a leading edge back at Hafeez, ending his 38-run stand with Mominul. For Hafeez, who tested the batsmen with drift and flight, it was his first wicket with his remodelled action.

Lancashire will be grateful Ashwell Prince decided to extend his career as his hundred guided them against Kent while others gave their wickets away

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford26-Apr-2015
ScorecardAshwell Prince ensured Lancashire kept their noses in front on the opening day•PA PhotosAny cricketer worthy of his whites is optimistic in April, yet a fresh season still offers a beguiling diversity of challenges to professional players. For Lancashire’s Ashwell Prince, though, the first issue to be addressed was whether he even wished to play another English season at a time when his children were about to start school and he has other career options available.However, having decided last autumn that he would, indeed, have another year at Old Trafford, it was only to be expected that Prince would approach this campaign with the tough determination that has characterised his entire career. This quality was very much in evidence on the opening day of the Division Two match against Kent when Prince’s 106 was the bedrock upon which Lancashire’s total of 317 for 5 was built.Yet as Prince watched from the other end on this glorious Sunday he must have been a little disappointed by the softness of some of his colleagues’ dismissals, albeit that Kent’s bowlers went about their work diligently on what now appears a good pitch. At least three, maybe four, of the wickets to fall owed something to batting error, and for Lancashire supporters this represented an unfortunate echo of last summer when their county’s inability to compile substantial first-innings totals was a major factor in their eventual relegation.The first of these, rather sadly, was that of opener Luis Reece, who having applied himself properly to his task in making 18 in 53 minutes wafted away from his body at a ball from Matt Coles and nicked the ball to second slip where Darren Stevens took a comfortable catch.Reece now averages precisely eight in County Championship matches played in April, a month in which the difficulties of opening the innings are rarely more apparent. In the other months of the season he has scored 938 runs at 40.70. George Herbert may have written of spring as a season “full of sweet days and roses/ A box where sweets compacted lie”, but for Reece April’s various confectionery must be exceptionally well concealed at the moment.The importance of Reece’s error was rather magnified next ball when Alviro Petersen edged or gloved the ball to wicketkeeper Sam Billings and Lancashire were 38 for 2. Prince and Paul Horton applied themselves well to ensure that no further wickets fell in the opening session and by lunch Rob Key had introduced offspinner Adam Riley into the attack from where he was to bowl 23 rather impressive overs.Indeed, it was Riley who was to claim the next wicket but not before Horton had greedily added 38 runs off 34 balls to his lunchtime 33. Then, though, he attempted yet another cut off Riley, who will not be happy to have allowed such freedom previously, and only nicked a catch to Billings. Though we did not know it, the tone for the day’s cricket was set. Lancashire batsmen would share reasonably substantial partnerships, only for their errors to bring Kent back into the game. Nearly twenty overs later this pattern was exemplified again when Steven Croft, having batted competently for 37, obligingly hooked Coles straight to long leg where Riley took a good catch. Three card trick? “Look, your shoelace is undone”? Any number of “take the bait” examples must have occurred to the watching spectators.Fortunately for the blood pressures in the Red Rose Suite, Alex Davies is a most determined little hombre who rarely gives anything away. Along with Prince he added another 75 runs – even the size of the partnerships was being repeated and he was there to congratulate Prince when he reached his century off 157 balls. Prince’s methodical accumulation, his ability to tailor his batting to conditions was illustrated by the fact that his innings contained just five fours and two sixes, both of the latter being hit straight off Riley, who must become used to such treatment when he bowls well and pitches the ball up to the bat.Even Prince, though, was culpable in his own dismissal, albeit that his strong drive to substitute fielder Charlie Hartley at short extra cover at least gave the deserving Mitch Claydon something to take away from his day. It was then left to Davies and Jordan Clark, whose 46th first team game for Lancashire was also his debut at first-class level, to take their team to the close, although not before Davies, on 47, had stood his ground when Sam Northeast and seemingly every other Kent player claimed a catch off Ivan Thomas in the final over.Davies, one senses, would not walk for a morning paper in which a report of his own double hundred appeared. Captain Key, though, was not pleased and the Kent skipper is skilled at displaying his ire. We may be set for a lively next few days.