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The PCB has awarded cash prizes for both the men’s and women’s teams after their recent twin successes in the West Indies and the ICC Women’s World T20 qualifiers

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Aug-2013The recent successes of Pakistan’s men’s and women’s team has earned them monetary rewards from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The men’s team won the ODI and T20 series in the West Indies, while the women had success in the qualifiers for the 2014 Women’s World Twenty20.Each member of the men’s team has been given Rs. 200,000 (USD $2000), while the members of the women’s team were each given Rs.100,000 (USD $1000.) Misbah-ul-Haq, captain of the men’s team, along with Umar Akmal, Zulfiqar Babar and Shahid Afridi were given an additional Rs. 400,000 (USD $4000) for their outstanding performances.Najam Sethi, the caretaker PCB chairman, was buoyed by their success: “The performances of both our men’s and women’s teams merited a reward. The tenacity shown by the boys under Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez in the West Indies was quite remarkable.”The women’s team too has maintained an upwardly mobile trajectory, and their achievement of finishing the ICC Qualifiers for the World T20 championship on top of their event is indeed commendable. The PCB management is positive that the cash rewards and recognition shall inspire both teams to keep it up and notch greater accomplishments.”Following a disappointing Champions Trophy campaign in which they failed to win a single game, Pakistan bounced back strongly in the West Indies, winning the ODI and T20 series by 3-1 and 2-0 respectively. Misbah led the team from the front and was the top scorer in the ODI series with 260 runs at 65. Akmal, who was making his return to the ODI squad, played some valuable knocks and was solid behind the stumps.Babar, the left-arm spinner, had a dream debut against West Indies in the opening T20 International, picking up three key wickets and striking a six to pull off a thrilling victory. Afridi, who was also making a return in the ODI side, had instant impact by securing a win in the opening ODI with 7 for 12 and 76 off 55 balls, but remained below par for the rest of the tour.Pakistan women’s side had a successful tour in England, thumping England Academy, winning a series against Ireland, and then drew the series against England. They also qualified for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 when they beat Ireland by nine wickets and went on to share the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier trophy with Sri Lanka after rain abandoned their match.

Michael Lumb powered his way to a hundred after Nottinghamshire were inserted by Andrew Gale on a shortened day

Paul Edwards at North Marine Road05-Jun-2013
ScorecardMichael Lumb accelerated through the afternoon and evening after seeing off the new ball•Getty ImagesQuite frequently during the English summer there descends upon a Championship crowd a near silence that betokens complete content. Such an atmosphere could be discerned at Scarborough at around 3pm on the first afternoon of this match.Having waited all morning for slight drizzle to abate and for the ground to be dried, the supporters of Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and otherwise watched closely as Andrew Gale’s attack strove to justify his decision to bowl first. The toss, however, had been made under grey skies and with rain threatening; by the time Alex Hales and Ed Cowan opened their side’s innings the weather had faired up nicely and we had bright sunshine by mid-afternoon. At close of play, Chris Read’s men had secured the advantage and Michael Lumb had made his first century against his former team since his departure at the end of the 2006 season.Indeed, this was a day for Lumb to savour. Coming to the wicket in the first over, he added 101 for the second wicket in 40 overs with the arguably even more painstaking Cowan. And when Cowan had been caught at slip off Steve Patterson, Lumb dominated his partnership with James Taylor, Nottinghamshire’s No. 4 contributing only 12 of the 76 runs the pair added before bad light sliced another nine overs off the day’s allocation.The only moment when the home side captured an initiative came when Hales flashed irresponsibly at Ryan Sidebottom’s fifth ball of the innings and was caught behind for a duck. This continued what has been a very bleak couple of months for the Nottinghamshire opener, who has made only 137 runs in 11 Championship innings and a mere 29 in his last eight. The temptation to blast his way out of such form – as he attempted – must be very great. It is, however, a policy wreathed in risk and further disappointment.After Hales’s dismissal, Cowan and Lumb batted with unremitting care, 11 runs being scored in the first seven overs and 36 in the first 19. But the gradual shift to the more attacking style of batsmanship adopted by Lumb in the last hour or so of the day was built upon the intensity of the very hard cricket played in the afternoon session.The run rate rarely edged above two runs an over as Cowan and Lumb sought to see off the new ball and quell the Yorkshire bowlers at their freshest. More expansive shots – Lumb’s straight drive off Sidebottom, Cowan’s crisp cut off Moin Ashraf – were rare events indeed. It was this battle which the Scarborough spectators plainly relished. There was regular applause but nothing too gushing. And there was certainly no chanting: Yorkshire supporters may indeed be something of an army and the odd one might even be the merest trifle eccentric but they really have no interest in proclaiming this fact repetitively to the world in general.Gale’s placed his reliance almost totally upon his seamers; Adil Rashid bowled one over in the first 59 and only five in the 71 that comprised the day’s play. The four-strong Yorkshire pace attack did not let their captain down but the sparing use of the legspinner only adds weight to the view that he is now perceived as a batting allrounder.Such a judgement was being freely expressed by the partisans at North Marine Road, many of whom will have seen Rashid’s trio of hundreds in the last three games. Such debates are an essential element of life for county cricket’s followers, many of whom delight in their trips to outgrounds on the coast. “Scarborough at Festival time is first-class cricket on holiday,” wrote the great JM Kilburn. This may not be the festival but the point still holds.For it is the littoral truth that county cricket does like to be beside the seaside. Grounds such as Weston-super-Mare, Eastbourne and Lytham may no longer be visited and Hastings is no more but others – Swansea, Southport, Colwyn Bay – still host games fairly regularly, while Hove is a treasured venue of many neutrals.Then there is Scarborough, which is hosting its 414th first-class match Indubitably established as Yorkshire’s second home, the ground is a member of a curious aristocracy of outgrounds, a group which includes Liverpool and Cheltenham, whose place in the five-month poem of the English season is secure. And on the first day of this game Lumb added a few finely-turned stanzas of his own to that ever-changing verse.

Preview of the match between Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians in Pune

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran10-May-2013Match factsMay 11, 2013
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Mumbai Indians are up against a team that has lost eight consecutive games•BCCIBig PictureWith a place in the playoffs at stake, Mumbai Indians face the easiest of their next four opponents first up in Pune. Pune Warriors have lost eight consecutive games and have no chance of qualifying and a win against them could lift Mumbai to second place, with 18 points. They come into the game after overpowering Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders at home.If Mumbai slip up against Warriors, it will open up the table for at least two other teams vying for the playoffs – Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. They return to the Wankhede for their next two matches – where they haven’t lost a game – but Mumbai wouldn’t want to leave too much for the last minute.With nothing to play for, Warriors can only cause upsets in their three remaining games. Their batting was the biggest letdown against Knight Riders, with only two passing double figures in a tepid chase. Another loss will put them on par with their worst slump of nine consecutive losses, which they suffered last year.Form guidePune Warriors LLLLL
Mumbai Indians WWLWWPlayers to watchIt’s to Warriors’ misfortune that their star Indian player, Yuvraj Singh, hasn’t fired in this IPL. Yuvraj averages a shade under 20 in ten games with no half-centuries. At times he has got starts but failed to convert. In his most recent innings, he fell for just 1. Having been overlooked for India’s one-day squads for the Champions Trophy and the tri-series in the West Indies, the coming games will be his chance to get some confidence back.The new responsibility of captaincy hasn’t affected Rohit Sharma’s batting. He leads the run charts for Mumbai this season with 430 runs at 53.75. Having replaced Ricky Ponting as captain, it appears as if Mumbai are looking to him as their long-term leader.Stats and trivia Since their IPL debut in 2011, Warriors have lost 32 matches, winning just 10. They have beaten Mumbai just once in three attempts. Rohit Sharma has hit 25 sixes in this edition, second behind Chris Gayle. Kieron Pollard has the most caught and bowled dismissals – 13 – in T20s.Quotes”He is very cool on the field. He takes his own decisions. We have a few seniors and as a youngster when a senior says something, there is a little bit of pressure but he handles it very well.”

Kevin Pietersen and Michael Carberry have joined Michael Lumb as former England cricketers who are convinced that the success of the Big Bash League must be heeded in England

David Hopps26-Jan-2015Kevin Pietersen and Michael Carberry have joined the call from England players involved in the Big Bash to extol the virtues of a revamped Twenty20 tournament in England.Carberry’s half century helped Perth Scorchers see off Melbourne Stars in Sunday’s semifinal and leave Pietersen heading home to England only hours after rubbishing the current county system in England for producing ”muppets” existing on low salaries and lacking the skills to succeed.Excited by the large crowds and free-to-air coverage of the Big Bash, Carberry also argued for change – adding his support for a condensed high-profile tournament not only to that of Pietersen but also that of Michael Lumb earlier in the tournament.”Australia have just got it right,” Carberry said. “The franchise system is something that the players back home have been crying out for for years. It works. You get the best of the best playing against each other in a short competition and with that you attract the best from overseas as well.”All that added to the melting pot – the kit, the atmosphere and the way the games are sold to the kids makes for a great product. The players back home would definitely buy into a franchise system because our competition could do with a little revamp.”Now the English guys are playing in these competitions and getting the experience of what it’s like to play in front of big crowds. It’s something that definitely has to be looked at.”Not only is England’s T20 exclusive to Sky TV but even if it became contractually possible to show T20 free-to-air in England there are few signs of interest with indications that covering the tournament would not be a certain commercial success.How to protect the most extensive professional circuit in the world – 18 counties and about 350 professional cricketers – while also winning a new generation of fans with a successful Twenty20 tournament is the perennial problem now facing the prospective ECB chairman Colin Graves and new chief executive Tom Harrison.Pietersen expanded on his views in the Telegraph where he is now a highly-paid columnist.”The present Twenty20 structure of playing once a week on a Friday over a three-month period is just not working,” he wrote. “It puts off the best overseas players from joining our league, as it is too spread out. It is hard for Twenty20 specialists to stay in form.”Playing the majority of fixtures on Friday nights perhaps does not encourage children and families quite as much as guys on a night out.”So what is my solution? A short tournament of a maximum of 10 teams played in the school holidays. A smaller, condensed tournament will improve the competitive element, keeping more teams interested for longer and driving up the standard.”England has so many advantages on its side. It is on a great time zone, there is no other major cricket being played in the world in July, overseas players love coming to our country and the long summer evenings are perfect for Twenty20.”

Abdur Razzak, the left-arm spinner, has been added to the Bangladesh squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2013Abdur Razzak, the left-arm spinner, has been added to the Bangladesh squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka.Razzak, 30, is among the most experienced players for Bangladesh in the limited-overs formats but has not been a regular in the Test side. His last Test came in August 2011, when Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in Harare.”We received a request from the Bangladesh team management in Sri Lanka and according to their requirement Razzak has been included in the side,” Akram Khan, Bangladesh’s chief selector, said.Razzak will join the squad on Monday, in Galle where the first of two Tests is currently taking place.Meanwhile, another senior bowler, Mashrafe Mortaza said he was worried about the slow recovery from an ankle injury, though he didn’t rule out playing the ODI series that begins on March 23. “I still want to wait for another four-five days but right now the recovery has taken more time than I would have liked,” he said.Mashrafe suffered the injury during the BPL final, when he also hurt his heel after taking the first wicket. He continued playing in the game, but afterwards had to go through a rehabilitation process which was expected to last three weeks.

A round-up of matches from the first day of the Zimbabwe domestic Twenty20 competition

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2012Mountaineers pulled off a tight win over Matabeleland Tuskers at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, beating them by five runs and seal victory off the penultimate ball of the game. After being put in to bat, Hamilton Masakadza led the way, smashing 84 in 66 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes. Mountaineers lost an early wicket but Masakadza and Tino Mawoyo (54) added 107 for the second wicket. Masakadza remained unbeaten and stretched the score to 167.The Tuskers put up a good fight and were well placed at 103 for 2 in the 15th over. Craig Ervine top-scored with 71 at No.3, adding 50 with Charles Coventry for the second wicket and 53 Brian Chari for the third. Together with Keegan Meth, Ervine helped take the score to 149 for 3 in 18 overs. But, 19 needed to win off the last two, a collapse ensued. Shingirai Masakadza picked up three wickets in the 19th over, dismissing both Meth and Ervine, and the rest of the batting crumbled soon. Seven wickets were lost for 13 runs in 11 balls, and Tuskers folded for 162.Mashonaland Eagles beat Southern Rocks comfortably at the Harare Sports Club. After choosing to field, the Eagles bowlers bowled economically and restricted Rocks to 120 for 8. Ben Slater made 39 in 34 balls and Alester Maregwede chipped in with 30 off 25. But barring the pair, there was no significant contribution from the rest. The Eagles response began well, with the openers Cephas Zhuwao (49) and Chamu Chibhabha (46*) adding 89 for the first wicket. They scored quickly, too, in 12.1 overs, and those who followed just had to consolidate. Chibhabha stayed through to the finish, helping his team win with four overs to spare.

Warwickshire earned an away draw against Lancashire in the semi-finals of the CB40 after a 55-run Duckworth-Lewis victory over Yorkshire

27-Aug-2012
ScorecardWarwickshire earned an away draw against Lancashire in the semi-finals of the Clydesdale Bank 40 after a 55-run Duckworth-Lewis victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough.In a Group C game reduced to 29 overs by rain, Yorkshire found themselves chasing a revised target of 214 after Tim Ambrose had led the Warwickshire charge to 211 for 6 with an unbeaten 87 off 64 balls. Yorkshire managed 158 in deep gloom, with Warwickshire’s Neil Carter coming to the fore on his first one-day appearance of the season to snap up the first three wickets at a cost of only eight runs.With no chance of reaching the last four themselves, Yorkshire rested several senior players ahead of their important Championship match against Gloucestershire, and were led for the first time by batsman Gary Ballance, who scored a robust 68.They also suffered misfortune early in the match when Richard Pyrah fielded a ball at backward point and injured the same hand which he broke in similar circumstances in the opening week of the season. He took no further part in the game and the extent of the injury was due to be assessed later.Put in to bat, Warwickshire were given a sound start by Will Porterfield and Varun Chopra but with 37 scored Chopra edged an intended drive at Steve Patterson and was caught behind by Dan Hodgson. Shortly afterwards skipper Jamie Troughton gave a return catch to offspinner Joe Root.Rain, which had already caused a brief interruption, returned to bring about a reduction in the overs, but on the resumption Warwickshire took full advantage of some wayward bowling from pacemen Iain Wardlaw and Oliver Hannon-Dalby.The departure of Porterfield to Adil Rashid left the visitors on 83 for 3 but they quickly assumed command as Ambrose and Darren Maddy racked up 89 together in 10 overs before Maddy was caught on the long-on boundary by Root off Patterson for 44. Ambrose continued to dominate until the close of the innings and although he struck Patterson for six in the final over, the fast bowler still emerged with the excellent figures of 3 for 25 off his six overs.Yorkshire made a dreadful start to their reply, losing Adam Lyth lbw to the fourth ball of the innings from Carter, who also bowled Root in his next over and returned after a short rest to have Alex Lees caught by Troughton. Ballance took the attack to Warwickshire with big sixes off Steffan Piolet and Ian Blackwell, but debutant Jack Leaning was bowled cutting at Paul Best and Rashid fell lbw to Piolet before he had scored.Consecutive sixes at Best’s expense rushed Ballance to a 41-ball half-century with three fours and four sixes, and he added a further four and a six before being caught on the boundary edge. Patterson and Hannon-Dalby hit out bravely in near darkness until Patterson was out with 3.5 overs remaining.

England’s rotation policy has had a mixed reception but Andy Flower insists the changes have proactively brought a dead rubber alive again

David Hopps21-Jun-2012If the views on the White Rose Forum are any guide, forgiveness will not come easily at Headingley for England’s rotation policy when they face the West Indies in the final one-day international. The debate on Yorkshire’s official forum touched well-worn themes. Younger Person: “I’ll forgive anything if we’re winning”. Older person: “We used to win in my day and we kept fit by bowling.”From England’s point of view, at least the players who are attracting most of the flak are, by the nature of the debate, the ones who will be absent and so unable to hear the protests. Stuart Broad, in some eyes, has sinned not only by being rested, but also by going onto Twitter and saying that he understood the decision because he wanted a long career. That could be regarded as loyalty, but the most trenchant view being aired in Yorkshire is that Them That Are Resting should keep their mouths shut.Some people will be grateful just to see a game of any sorts. It hosed down again in Leeds on Thursday. Yorkshire’s Australian coach Jason Gillespie has barely seen the sunshine since he arrived. “Got caught in the rain near home! What is with this weather,” he tweeted as Headingley’s groundstaff prepared for a troubled night.Yorkshire, who are under financial strain, kept alive because of the largesse of their chairman Colin Graves, will have been relieved that barely 1,000 tickets remained when England opted for experimentation. England are hardly making wholesale changes, but umbrage will have been taken for all that.Graves, who is not the sort to leave stones unturned, has contacted Geoff Miller, England’s chief selector, to discuss the policy. “I can understand their decision from a cricketing point of view,” he said. “I am not having a go at them or criticising but from the host county’s point of view it’s a disappointment.”Resting Tim Bresnan, alongside the Nottinghamshire pair of Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, could also see England face West Indies without a Yorkshire player in the side; it is hard to see how Jonny Bairstow can break into the XI when Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel seem to be essential picks to share the fifth bowler’s duties.Bresnan has played only twice for Yorkshire at Headingley in each of the last two seasons. More than any other player, he epitomises Yorkshire’s pride in their ability to produce decent cricketers, but supporters long resigned to the fact that they cannot see him at county level now find they cannot see him for England either.England’s director of cricket, Andy Flower, has argued that the limited changes do not emphasise that this match is a dead rubber, rather than proactively bring it alive again, not only by resting bowlers faced by a punishing schedule, so ensuring maximum benefit, but by discovering more about those on the fringes of the side, grasping an opportunity to road-test the squad and plan for the future.Steve Finn was the latest England player to be delivered up to the media to offer support for resting players in the sort of sensitive, understated fashion that will ensure no demonstrations outside the Hutton Gates before the game, apart, that is, from those who cannot get into the car parks.Ian Bell fulfilled the same role 24 hours earlier. England’s new-ball attack when it comes to defending the rotation policy has comprised the two players who can be most relied upon to say nothing controversial at all so draining the debate of interest.Finn, a regular in the one-day side these days, sought this positive slant, suggesting that he would benefit from having more responsibility thrust upon him. “I’ve opened the bowling for a little while in the one-day team. I’m enjoying the responsibility. Having those senior players missing gives me an opportunity to be an even more senior player within the group. It’s an exciting experience – any experience I get of being a senior player is great.”It puts that added bit of responsibility upon me. Pressure comes with that but pressure is something I enjoy. I feel like I’m getting better at dealing with that and other pressures on the pitch and as you get more experienced at international cricket and are exposed to more experiences you become better.”There is also the little matter of a five-match one-day series against Australia, a series in which England, who have won their last six ODIs, can test themselves against the side ranked No. 1 in the world in one-day cricket. “That series is going to be a great gauge of where we are moving forward,” said Finn, his hurried coda that right now he was only concentrating on the series against West Indies not entirely convincing.Ottis Gibson, West Indies’ coach, was a former England bowling coach and he shares Flower’s philosophy. “Not really,” he replied when asked if he was insulted.”The English system has been a well-oiled machine for some time now,” he said. “It’s the envy of the world, let’s be honest. They are the top team in the world and they have the luxury of being able to rest players and it’s a credit to them and all the people that work behind the scenes.”They are the No. 1 team in Test cricket, they have an abundance of talent and good players and they can rest a few players and bring a few in and for them it’s all good. For us it’s just trying game after game to get the right balance and try and win a game. We lost 2-0 in the Test series and we certainly don’t want to lose 3-0 in the one-day series.”The tour has not gone too well, but we’re playing cricket in England against a very good English side. Yes, on paper we’ve got the makings of a great one-day side but England have just been that little step ahead of us all the time. We’ve just been a little off the pace.”

Nigel Llong will replace Billy Doctrove, who announced his retirement recently, on the ICC’s Elite Panel of international umpires

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2012Nigel Llong will replace Billy Doctrove, who announced his retirement recently, on the ICC’s Elite Panel of international umpires for the 2012-13 season. Llong, 43, is a former Kent batsman and has umpired in 12 Tests, 55 ODIs and 16 Twenty20 internationals.Llong made his international umpiring debut in June 2005, in a T20 between England and Australia in Southampton. He stood in his first ODI, between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s, in June 2006 and his first Test in January 2008 in Dunedin, in a game involving New Zealand and Bangladesh.As a batsman for Kent, he played 68 first-class games, scoring 3024 runs at 31.17. In List A cricket, he made 2302 runs at 25.29 in 136 matches. He made his last List A appearance in 2000.The ICC have also picked Bruce Oxenford, part of the International Panel of umpires, to officiate in the World Twenty20 in September in Sri Lanka together with the 12 members of the Elite Panel. He also umpired in the 2011 World Cup where he was one of six chosen by the ICC to stand alongside the Elite Panel “after being identified as an emerging and talented match official”.Oxenford, a former Queensland legspinner, has stood in eight Tests, 34 ODIs and 11 T20 internationals.Ranjan Madugalle and Jeff Crowe will be the match referees for the World T20, while Graeme La Brooy will be the match referee for the women’s World T20.

A round-up of the eighth round of Plunket Shield games

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2012Mitchell McClenaghan and Bhupinder Singh took career-best hauls as Auckland surged to an innings win over Otago at Colin Maiden Park. Otago lasted 38.4 overs in their first innings after they chose to bat, with McClenaghan blowing them away for 63. He had figures of 17-10-23-8 with wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins ending on six catches, five of them off McClenaghan.Hopkins led with the bat in making an unbeaten century that carried Auckland to 347 for 8 declared. Jeet Raval (84) and Neal Parlane (57) gave Auckland the start they needed and despite a mini-wobble in the middle, Hopkins ensured his side had a huge lead.Craig Cumming (74) and Hamish Rutherford (39) began well for Otago in the second innings but it was always going to be an uphill task as they were faced with a deficit of 284. Offspinner Bhupinder kept up the pressure, giving away just 50 runs in his 34 overs for six wickets. Otago were eventually dismissed for 250, 34 short of making Auckland bat again.Tom Latham made his maiden first-class century to set up Canterbury’s 178-run victory over Central Districts in Nelson. Latham’s 145 helped Canterbury to 420 for 9 declared in their first innings after they chose to bat. Latham was supported by his captain Peter Fulton (88).Carl Cachopa responded with a breezy 151 but Central Districts declared their innings closed on 283 for 5 with Will Young unbeaten on 50. Central Districts put up a much better bowling show in the second innings. Latham added another fifty to his tally to prop up Canterbury’s poor total of 159 for 9 declared.Left with a target of 297, Central Districts collapsed in the fourth-innings chase. Matt Henry led with four wickets for Canterbury and Todd Astle wrapped up the tail with three strikes. Brady Barnett’s unbeaten 40 at No. 9 was scant consolation for Central Districts as they slumped to 118 in 36 overs.Wellington escaped with a draw against top-ranked Northern Districts after coming in within one wicket of defeat at the Basin Reserve. The ninth-wicket pair of Craig Cachopa and Mark Gillespie consumed 38 deliveries between them to salvage a stalemate for their side. Gillespie fell off what turned out to be the last delivery of the game. Graeme Aldridge, Brent Arnel and Jimmy Baker plugged away for 91.3 overs but were denied in the end. James Franklin and Michael Pollard led Wellington’s resistance with patient half-centuries after they had been reduced to 90 for 4.Northern Districts were the better side in the game and went past 300 both times with the bat. Daniel Flynn, Anton Devcich and Peter McGlashan made fifties in the first innings while Flynn’s 136 was the highlight in the second. Stephen Murdoch and Jeetan Patel helped Wellington make 283 in their first innings. Jeetan and Andy McKay added 63 for the last wicket as Wellington recovered from 215 for 9.