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Dermott Monteith, Ireland’s all-time highest wicket-taker, has died at the age of 66.

Cricinfo staff06-Dec-2009Dermott Monteith, Ireland’s all-time highest wicket-taker, has died at the age of 66.In a remarkable career he played 76 times for Ireland, taking 326 wickets at 17.37, including 47 in five matches in 1971, with his left-arm spin. He took five wickets in an innings on 27 occasions, and seven times took 10 wickets in a match. His best figures came in 1973 when he took 13 wickets against The MCC at Lord’s, including a 8 for 44 in the second innings as Ireland triumphed by seven wickets.His playing career with Ireland spanned 19 years from his debut in 1965 at Lord’s, until his last appearance in 1984 against Scotland. On both occasions he made an impact with the bat, rather than the ball, testament to his all-round ability. He scored 54 against the MCC on his debut, and made 95, his highest score, on his final appearance for his country. In total he made 1712 runs at 20.63 with nine half centuries and also captained Ireland 38 times.Middlesex spotted Monteith’s ability and he played for them during the 1981 and 1983 seasons, deputising for John Emburey and Phil Edmonds when they were on England duty. He played his first game for the county aged 38 and proved more than capable, taking 24 wickets in eight Championship appearances with a best of 5 for 60 against Essex.After his playing career ended Monteith took up a leading position in the administration of Irish cricket and became a national selector. Roy Torrens, his former team-mate and the current Ireland manager, commended the confidence and skill that characterised Monteith’s career.”Dermott was in many ways ahead of his time. He was a trail-blazer in every way. He was an innovative captain, and had no fear of failure. He was always looking to make things happen, and was great to play alongside. He was quite simply a magnificent cricketer, and he was a pioneer in many ways, being one of the first Irishmen in the modern era to make a mark in county cricket.”He was very highly regarded by his Middlesex colleagues, and on my travels with Ireland, I was often asked by Mike Brearley and John Emburey how he was doing.”I probably got to know Dermott better when we both were retired and travelling around as national selectors. He was great to have as a friend, and was marvellous company. My thoughts and prayers are with his family circle at this sad time.”David Williams, the Cricket Ireland chairman, added his tribute saying: “I learned of the death of Dermott Monteith with great sadness. He was one of our very greatest players and a much valued colleague in the administration of cricket in Ireland when his playing days were over.”

Even though Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were leaders of their groups, it’s the finalists from last season, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh, who will get the easier quarter-final opponents – teams from the Plate League

Sidharth Monga18-Dec-2009

Quarter-final line-up

• Haryana (from Plate league) v Mumbai (defending champions)

• Delhi v Tamil Nadu (Group A toppers)

• Karnataka (Group B toppers) v Punjab

• Assam (from Plate League) v Uttar Pradesh (last season runners-up)

• Relegated teams: Hyderabad, Maharashtra

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu won’t gain any advantage from topping their Ranji groups this season. Even though they are the leaders of their groups by a fair distance, it’s Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh, the finalists from last season, who will get the easier quarter-final opponents – the teams from the Plate League. While Karnataka are not impressed with what seems to be a new rule, Tamil Nadu sort of saw it coming, because that’s how the Ranji Trophy worked in the 1990s, before the Elite League and Plate League – and hence clear-cut semi-finalists – were introduced.Last season, when the system of promoting two Plate teams to the quarterfinals was introduced, the two Super group leaders got to play them, and as expected made it to the semi-finals. This year, Karnataka with a whopping 28 points from six games, and Tamil Nadu with 26 from seven would have also expected easy quarterfinals, but they will be facing Punjab and Delhi respectively. On the other hand, UP and Mumbai, who finished second and third respectively in their groups, get the simpler matches against Assam and Haryana.”It’s quite unfair to give the advantage to them [the finalists from the last season],” Robin Uthappa, Karnataka’s captain, told Cricinfo. “It’s unfair on teams who have done really well this season. We could have finished second or third and could have still played Punjab, who we are playing anyway. That beats the whole purpose, all the hard work that goes in topping a table.”WV Raman, Tamil Nadu’s coach, though, “distinctly remembered the system from earlier years” and was waiting for the confirmation, which – as with most of us – reached his team on the last day of the league stages. “The last year when the format changed, group-toppers got to play Plate teams. But this system was there [in the nineties] that when winners or runner-ups qualified in the next year, even though they didn’t top the group they would automatically become No. 1 and No. 2 [for the purposes of deciding who will play whom in the knockouts].”What Raman alluded to was the time when the league matches were played on a zonal basis. Three teams from each of the five zones qualified to play a Super League in three groups of five. The top two teams from each group would qualify for the next round, but two of those six would get byes and the other four would play quarter-finals to join the top two in the semis. The teams getting the bye were the finalists from the previous year, and if those finalists didn’t make it past the Super League, teams with most points would go straight to semi-finals. For example, in 1999-2000, Karnataka, who finished sixth in terms of points in the Super League, got the bye because they were the defending champions. Madhya Pradesh, who lost the final in 1998-99, didn’t make it to the Super League.Hence Raman and Tamil Nadu were not surprised when they were told they would be playing Delhi and not Assam in the quarter-finals this year.When asked if he, like Uthappa, thought it was unfair to reward teams for previous season’s form and deny the best teams of the on-going season, Raman said, “If that is the rule, what can you do? I wasn’t surprised, but we were just waiting for the information to come.”

The Zimbabwe Under-19 team rounded off its preparations for the World Cup with a two-wicket win against Titans in Paarl.

Cricinfo staff08-Jan-2010The Zimbabwe Under-19 team rounded off its preparations for the World Cup with a two-wicket win against Titans in Paarl. After electing to field first, Zimbabwe’s opening bowlers Calum Price and Tendai Chitara hit their straps immediately to have the hosts reeling at three wickets down with less than 30 on the board. A middle-order recovery overcame a fine fielding performance to take the score to 183 runs.Zimbabwe’s response followed a similar theme of early wickets followed by a resurgence. The chase was initially was stunted by a fine opening salvo from the Titans’ seamers who had the visitors in a shambles at 28 for 4. The rebuilding phase was masterminded by Tinotenda Mutombodzi and Andrew Lindsay, who added 70 runs to bring their side back into the game. Titans’ spinners restored parity by dismissing both batsmen with fifty runs still required for victory. However, Nathan Waller put paid to the hosts’ hopes of a back-door victory with a belligerent 40 that took Zimbabwe home with an over to spare. The squad will be buoyed by this win as they head to New Zealand for the Under-19 World Cup.

New Zealand Cricket has scheduled a meeting on Friday to discuss appointing a successor to Andy Moles, who resigned as national coach last October

Cricinfo staff29-Jan-2010New Zealand Cricket are expected shortly to name a coach as successor to Andy Moles, who resigned last October, with the board scheduled to discuss the issue at a meeting on Friday. Those in contention include Darren Lehmann, who confirmed he’d been in talks with NZC, Mark Greatbatch and Jeff Crowe. However, Adam Gilchrist denied developments regarding Lehmann, the coach of IPL franchise Deccan Chargers, during his commentary stint in the fourth ODI between Pakistan and Australia.”It will be discussed at today’s board meeting and I am confident an appointment will be made before the start of the Bangladesh series on Wednesday,” NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan told .New Zealand have not appointed any interim coach since Moles stepped down, increasing captain Daniel Vettori’s responsibilities during the series against Pakistan late last year. Moles was in the job for less than a year, raising questions over whether NZC had erred during their recruitment process when appointing him as John Bracewell’s successor.Vaughan said NZC wanted to be sure the right candidate was picked this time, leading to a lengthy spell without a national coach. “Looking at some examples from international cricket in recent times, some coaching appointments have not gone well, and we had that experience as well with the departure of Andy Moles last year,” he said. “I think there’s been a real need to reflect on that and make sure we get this appointment right.”Lehmann, the former Australian batsman who guided the Deccan Chargers to the IPL title last season, has confirmed he is in talks with NZC for the role.

Bill Lawry and Garth McKenzie, two greats of the 1960s, will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame

Cricinfo staff14-Feb-2010Bill Lawry and Garth McKenzie, two greats of the 1960s, will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal on Monday. Bob Lloyd, the selection panel chairman, praised the contributions of both players.”Bill was an outstanding opening batsman and captain of Australia during his 67 Test-match career and has also since then had an on-going and significant role in cricket as an administrator with Cricket Victoria and as a commentator with Channel 9,” Lloyd said. “Graham, or ‘Garth’ McKenzie as he was universally known, almost single-handedly led the Australian attack over a 10-year period and his 246 wickets places him eigth on the list of wickets taken for Australia.”The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame began in 1996 with 10 inductees and 22 more have been included since then. Selectors take into account the players’ status as sporting legends in addition to their outstanding statistical records and inductees must have been retired from international cricket for a minimum of five years.Hall of Fame inductees Fred Spofforth, John Blackham, Victor Trumper, Clarrie Grimmett, Bill Ponsford, Sir Donald Bradman, Bill O’Reilly, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee, Warwick Armstrong, Neil Harvey, Allan Border, Bill Woodfull, Arthur Morris, Stan McCabe, Greg Chappell, Lindsay Hassett, Ian Chappell, Hugh Trumble, Alan Davidson, Clem Hill, Rod Marsh, Monty Noble, Bob Simpson, Charles Macartney, Richie Benaud, George Giffen, Ian Healy, Steve Waugh, Bill Lawry, Garth McKenzie.

The new tender will not require the bidder to have a net worth of $1 billion and will not demand that they provide an advance guarantee of $100 million

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Mar-2010The IPL’s unveiling of its two new franchises on Sunday ended in an anti-climax with the league pushing back the entire process by two weeks, in the process scrapping the existing tender procedure after bidders objected to stiff financial clauses. The new tenders, which will be floated on March 9 and opened on March 21, will drop a clause requiring the bidder to have a net worth of $1 billion.The new process will also amend two existing clauses: One will be a reduction of the advance deposit from $100 million to a $10 million “performance guarantee”, to be submitted 24 hours in advance of the bid being opened. Another original clause gave the IPL’s governing council the discretion to seek from the winning bidder 100% of the amount with a minimum time-frame; under the new process, the winning bids will be expected to pay 10% of their bid within 48 hours.The minimum bid amount, however, remains the same at $225 million; the existing tenders were not opened at the IPL governing council meeting in Mumbai and were returned to the bidders.”The relaxation [of the clauses] was because we received letters from many, many companies who had expressed interest but said that the $1 billion net worth criterion [was one] which owners of the existing franchises were not asked for earlier,” Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said at a brief press conference. “So they asked why they were asked for the new criteria, which eliminates them from bidding, hence the clause has been amended to give more people the opportunity to bid.”Sources told Cricinfo that the opposition came from within too – senior BCCI officials had objected to the radical revision of clauses from those of two years ago. It was a reversal of Modi’s stand that the high entry fee was a means of keeping away frivolous investors. “We put a high-end clause for entry because we need to get solid companies,” he had told Cricinfo on Saturday. “This business requires a long gestation period and that is the reason we want to secure ourselves. The BCCI always secures itself.”The manner of the announcement – a public event scheduled to launch the next phase of the IPL’s remarkable success story – and the scale of the cutbacks in the clauses represent a departure from the usually sure-footed manner of the league’s workings and suggests that it had overestimated the viability of its terms and conditions for potential franchise owners. It also gave credence to the claim made on Friday by Priyadarshan, a film director, that the $1 billion clause was unviable and had put him off bidding for a franchise.The atmosphere at the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Mumbai was already shorn of the usual bustle associated with any IPL event, given the boycott by the National Broadcasters’ Association (NBA), an umbrella group of Indian TV channels. Not even the surprise entry of Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor could raise more than a muted reception.Eventually only three bidders evinced interest: a consortium of Khan (son of former India captain MAK Pataudi), Kareena and her sister Karisma, Pune’s Panchshil group of industries and Venugopal Dhoot, owner of electronics manufacturer Videocon, who were bidding from Pune; the Adani Group for Ahmedabad and the Jaypee Group from a undisclosed venue.”The reason given was that they unilaterally cancelled the bids,” Atul Chordia, chairman and chief executive of the Panchshil Group, said. “It is not the question of happiness about the previous terms. Whatever terms and conditions were there we abided by it, whatever the tender form asked for we gave it, we tendered. We gave the 100 million dollar bank guarantee.”Chordia said he and the other investors in his group would be back to bid for the new tender.The cities in the fray were Pune, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamsala, Vizag, Rajkot, Cuttack, Baroda, Kochi, Indore and Gwalior. The base price for the bid is more than four times the value set in January 2008, when the original eight franchises were auctioned. Other terms and conditions were similarly stringent – all bidders had to stump up a returnable deposit of $100 million before the bid, as against the $5 million (approximately) stipulated in 2008.

The plays of the day from the latest action at Dhaka as Bangladesh are frustrated when they don’t get the rub of the umpiring green

Andrew Miller in Dhaka22-Mar-2010Innings of the dayWho would have thought that the sight of Ian Bell marching to the wicket could carry with it such reassurance? And who would have thought that a man who has been habitually derided for “soft runs” could attain such fulfilment from a century against Bangladesh? But strange things have happened to Ian Bell this winter, and his chipper tenth Test century was the bedrock of an otherwise jittery England innings. For the first time in his career he was the only man on the card to reach three figures (though Tim Bresnan may yet ruin that statistic) and until he fell in the final hour of the day, his average against Bangladesh had reached a heady 488. No matter. For England’s sake, it was invaluable.Dismissal of the dayJonathan Trott’s second-day 64 was “like watching paint dry”, according to Darren Gough, who added, via Twitter, that innings such as his are “killing cricket”. So it was either a cruel misfortune or a blessed relief when Trott’s resumption was curtailed in the space of eight deliveries this morning. He had added no runs – to no great surprise – when he propped half-forward to Shakib Al Hasan, only for the ball to loop off the pad, onto his elbow, and curl agonisingly and inexorably into his off stump.Controversy of the dayTo make any real headway against a determined England line-up, Bangladesh needed some luck to back up their determination. But as Andy Flower admitted in the build-up to the series, “I think sometimes the bigger teams get things going their way”, and sure enough each of England’s three key batsmen on the third day got a reprieve. Matt Prior might have been pinned lbw on 9 by a Rubel Hossain inswinger, but went on to make 62; Bresnan appeared to nick a bat-pad catch on 5, but was still there at the close on 74; and when Bell walked across his stumps to Abdur Razzak on 82, an irate Jamie Siddons charged out of the dressing-room to gesticulate that it ought to have been given out lbw.Drop of the daySome let-offs, however, couldn’t be blamed on the umpire, and the one that Imrul Kayes handed to Bell, on 120, had the makings of a passion-killer, coming as it did in the third over after tea, and with Bangladeshi heads already beginning to drop. With Shafiul Islam working up a good head of steam, Bell flicked loosely to midwicket, where Imrul dived forward but couldn’t cling onto the chance. And at 381 for 5, with a first-innings deficit of less than 40, England seemed set to push on to the 500-odd total that Kevin Pietersen had predicted on the second evening. But to Bangladesh’s credit, things didn’t quite pan out that way.Mow of the dayPietersen also claimed that it was virtually impossible to remove a well-set batsman on this pitch, but England somehow contrived some impressive ways to end their stays. For sheer lack of gorm, few dismissals rivalled that of Matt Prior, whose already breezy innings was given a bit of jet-propulsion when Shakib Al Hasan served up a brace of help-yourself full-tosses that were readily tonked to the boundary. But with his dander up, Prior forgot that Shakib bad-balls are the exception, not the norm. Two balls later he skipped down the track to attempt a third leg-side four, but yorked himself sublimely as the delivery tweaked out of the rough and into off stump.Stodge of the dayBresnan’s batting is highly fancied by the England management, despite the fact that his only previous Test innings was a non-descript 9 against West Indies last summer. But in a team of all round potential, he has been pushed up the order ahead of both Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, and today he proved his worth with his maiden Test half-century. It wasn’t a pretty affair by any means, and in fact his 74 from 214 balls put Trott’s 64 from 195 in the shade. But seeing as his primary role is to take wickets, and his secondary role was to support Bell in a 143-run stand, it was rather more forgivable.Bowler of the dayAmid all the gripes, one man rumbled on. Shakib’s end-of-day analysis read 57-27-99-4, a testament to his personal powers of endurance on a day when his team might easily have lost their focus. He still has time to claim his five-for with two wickets still to claim, but he had a hand – quite literally – in one other wicket to fall, when his fingertips brushed a Bresnan drive into the non-striker’s stumps, with Graeme Swann left stranded. It proved to be a timely dose of good fortune, with Broad’s late dismissal redressing the balance significantly.

Durham continued to dominate the county curtain-raiser against MCC at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, setting their opponents an improbable target of 526 for victory on day three

31-Mar-2010Close MCC 156 for 7 (Murtagh 27*, Lewis 32*, Blackwell 3-39) and 162 (Malan 41, Borthwick 4-27) require 370 runs to beat Durham 228 for 6 dec (Thorp 79*, Coetzer 52*, Kirby 2-10) and 459 for 9 dec (Coetzer 172, Di Venuto 131, Malan 4-20) with three wickets remaining
ScorecardKyle Coetzer followed up his first innings hundred with an unbeaten fifty in the second innings•PA Photos

Durham ripped through MCC’s batting line-up for the second day in a row to move within three wickets of a resounding victory on day three of the county curtain-raiser at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.If MCC’s labours in the field on Monday suggested the pink ball being trialled in this fixture offers little for the bowlers, Durham have gone about proving the opposite ever since, rolling their opponents for 162 yesterday and leaving them 156 for seven at stumps.That left MCC 370 runs adrift of a nominal target of 526, with Scott Borthwick and Ian Blackwell sharing six wickets in the final session.Steve Kirby, who took two late wickets last night to leave Durham seven for two, started with another fiery spell this morning. First he beat Blackwell with a bouncer and then clattered Will Smith on the helmet with another short-pitched delivery.Jon Lewis, who has been struggling with a thigh problem for much of the match, came on first change and proceeded to bowl Smith via the bottom edge with his first ball of the innings. Dean Cosker matched that feat, snaring Blackwell’s outside edge with his loosener. Phil Mustard was in at five in a changed Durham order and quickly opened up with a handful of crisp attacking strokes.But debutant Ben Stokes could only add seven before he was pinned lbw by MCC skipper Alex Gidman as Durham stumbled to 74 for five. Mustard dashed a single just before the break to bring up his 50, which included eight fours, but fell two balls into the second session, carving James Middlebrook into the hands of James Taylor.That brought day one centurion Kyle Coetzer and Callum Thorp together and the pair were offered some fairly easy pickings as the frontline bowlers were withdrawn from the action in favour part-time spin from Taylor and Malan.Thorp took full advantage, helping himself to a rare half-century before moving up the gears to pass his previous first-class best of 75 with two thrashed boundaries off Taylor. Coetzer, meanwhile, followed up his career-best 172 in the first innings with an organised but low-key 52 not out. Despite the awkward twilight period closing in, Smith delayed the inevitable declaration by a handful of overs before calling his men in at 228 for six.Just seven of those had been scored when Steve Harmison struck in his third over, Scott Newman playing on for a second failure of the match. MCC soon set about replicating their implosion on day two, with David Sales (2) trapped lbw by Blackwell and Malan (13) lifting the same bowler to substitute fielder Mark Stoneman. Blackwell’s left-arm spin continued to trouble the batsmen, with Gidman bowled for a breezy 17 after missing a paddle sweep.At 44 for four, MCC were in deep trouble. They struggled to 74 before James Foster went lbw for six, Borthwick striking with his first ball of the day. That was his fifth scalp of the match and a sixth could have followed from the next ball when Middlebrook survived another strong shout.Yet he could not capitalise on his reprieve, making just nine before picking out Smith to give Borthwick a second success. Taylor, the 2009 Young Cricketer of the Year made a composed 39 before he too capitulated to Borthwick, pulling a shorter one to Coetzer, who held a smart
catch. By now the result was a formality but Lewis (32 not out) and Murtagh (27 not out)
forged a solid eighth-wicket stand to ensure the match would reach a fourth day.Even Harmison, who had puzzlingly contributed just three overs with the new ball, was tempted into a second spell without joy.

The India women’s team is geared up for their first tour of the Caribbean and hopes to get off the mark in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 with victory over New Zealand

Cricinfo staff30-Apr-2010The India women’s team is geared up for their first tour of the Caribbean and hopes to get off the mark in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 with victory over New Zealand on May 6.”Winning will give us the momentum. Twenty20 is all about maintaining it. Beating New Zealand will be a good way to begin,” said Jhulan Goswami, the India captain.India batsman and former captain Mithali Raj had a different opinion. “Twenty20 is about each player contributing to the team effort,” she said. “I am supposed to be the main player in batting, so teams will have special plans for me. If others can chip in at the right times, it will help.”India’s preparations for the tournament comprised of three matches against England at home and then a camp in Mumbai in sweltering conditions. “The heat was so much that we got fried,” said Raj. “It will help us in the West Indies.”We have been told that wickets in the West Indies are on the slower side. If that is true, then we have the spinners to make best use of conditions. If the tracks in the West Indies are slow, then India has the bowling unit.”India will go on to play Pakistan on May 8 and Sri Lanka on May 10, both in St Kitts.

Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, has hinted that former captain Younis Khan may be considered for the tour of England next month if the Pakistan Cricket Board gives the required clearance

Cricinfo staff14-Jun-2010Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, has hinted that former captain Younis Khan may be considered for the tour of England next month if the Pakistan Cricket Board gives the required clearance. Younis got his indefinite ban lifted by the PCB on appeal earlier this month, and he is currently playing for Surrey in the English County Championship.Pakistan are due to play a series of Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s against England and Australia in England next month under the leadership of Shahid Afridi. Younis quit the captaincy before the disastrous tour of Australia earlier this year.”The PCB need to give Younis clearance, in order for myself and my colleagues on the selection committee to consider his selection,” Mohsin told . “I’m hopeful that the board will give him clearance and the selection committee can think about whether we want to include him against England and Australia.”It’s very good that Younis is getting some cricket under his belt in England and we are happy with his progress so far. The signs that we are getting from Younis are that he is ready to comeback to international cricket, it all seems very positive. I believe that he can continue to play for Pakistan for another four or five years.”Younis has played two first-class matches for Surrey so far, scoring an unbeaten 77 against Leicestershire at The Oval. While he has signalled his intentions of getting back to top-flight cricket, Mohammad Yousuf hasn’t yet indicated any signs of a comeback.Yousuf, who captained Pakistan in Australia, was also banned indefinitely by the PCB and he responded by announcing his retirement. Though the door has been left open for his return, he hasn’t got in touch with the PCB yet.”The last I have heard from Yousuf is that he has retired from international cricket. I have heard nothing further,” Mohsin said. “If you don’t make yourself available, then how can the selectors even consider you for selection.”Mohsin said the squad for England will be announced after he meets with Afridi and coach Waqar Younis, who are currently in Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup.”We are scheduled to announce the squad for England on either 20th or 21st June,” Mohsin said. “I’ll be travelling to Sri Lanka and will sit down with Shahid and Waqar and we’ll settle on the squad for the long tour of England.”Pakistan begin their tour with two Twenty20s against Australia, followed by six back-to-back Tests, starting with two against Australia and four with England. Mohsin said team changes will be made in due course depending on the format.”The initial part of the tour of England is focussed on Twenty20 matches and we will select the squad accordingly,” he said. “Once the Test matches start against Australia on 13th July, we will have replaced some of the one-day specialists with players who are more suited to Test cricket. I would expect up to four changes to the squad once Pakistan take the field at Lord’s on 13th July.”