All posts by csb10.top

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Sami has been ruled out of the forthcoming home series against Bangladesh with an ankle injury. Sami twisted his ankle playing for Kent and is expected to be out of action for up to six weeks.”Sami will be returning home soon to start treatment on his injury," explained Samiul Hasan, a spokesman for the Pakistan Cricket Board. "Although his contract [with Kent] was until August 10, he was available for the Bangladesh series.”Sami’s absence further weakens the side, with Shoaib Akhtar already haven been given permission to miss the series to enable him to fulfill his county commitments with Durham. However, even an inexperienced Pakistan should have few problems in overcoming Bangladesh.

WESTERN Warrior Murray Goodwin’s sparkling century has taken Subiaco-Floreat into their third consecutive WACA Pennant competition grand-final.Goodwin hit 118 not out as Subi reeled in Wanneroo’s 245 for the loss of four wickets.Wanneroo batted first on a lively WACA Ground wicket and fell under the spell of Subiaco’s deadly new-ball duo of Gavin Swan and Sam Howman.Wanneroo was 6-99 but recovered thanks to a record-breaking partnership between Graham (39) and Gary (63) Atkinson.The brothers put on 97 for the ninth wicket which was a record for Wanneroo. Swan finished with 4-64 from 27.5 overs and Howman claimed 3-66 from 32.In the other semi-final Warriors’ rookie fast-bowler Michael Thistle claimed career best figures of 7-73 to bowl Bayswater-Morley into the SunSmart League grand-final.Melville had no answer to Thistle’s pace and swing as they folded for 173.All-rounder Shawn Gillies top scored with 41 but captain Adam Voges could only manage one.Bayswater batted first and was soon in trouble with in-form paceman Paul Wilson claiming the first four wickets to fall.From 4-43 the Bear’s recovered to 216 thanks to 47 to Nick Pishos and 40 to captain Chris Mason. Wilson finished with 4-47 from 28 overs.Bayswater last held the first-grade pennant in 1998-99. The teams will clash at the WACA Ground in a two-day match this weekend.Radio 1170 6AR will provide ball by ball coverage in Western Australia for both days play.

Kenya’s best chance of reaching an astounding semi-final slot in the World Cup almost certainly rests in their Super Six match against Zimbabwe, a team they have never beaten, at Bloemfontein. Implausible though it may still seem, a win tomorrow would see the Kenyans through to the last four, regardless of whether they can achieve an upset of volcanic proportions in their final Super Six game against Australia.Past form makes Zimbabwe red-hot favourites – they have won 12 out of 14, with two washed out – but misfortune with injuries has hampered them, most recently against New Zealand when Brian Murphy was unable to deliver a ball after injuring a calf muscle in the nets. Neither he nor Mark Vermeulen, who suffered another net injury, a hairline fracture of the skull, will take any further part in the tournament. Their places in the squad have gone to Stuart Matsikenyeri and former captain Alistair Campbell, whose omission from the original 15 surprised many.Zimbabwe’s progress thus far has been achieved without a win over significant opposition. Their points are from wins over Namibia and the Netherlands, a forfeit from England and a washout with Pakistan. Beaten by New Zealand on Saturday, they desperately need a win. And Kenya’s former captain Maurice Odumbe, who has found timely form with bat and ball, believes now is the time to draw first blood.”They have had the better of us over the years, although we have come close to beating them," Odumbe said. "But there’s a new confidence in our team these days. We’re playing good cricket at the moment, and we’re enjoying it.”Kenya made their first international splash in the 1996 World Cup, beating the West Indies, but unlike Bangladesh, whose victory over Pakistan three years later catapulted them prematurely into the Test arena, Kenya are still waiting. Their Group B win over Bangladesh was a succinct statement on the situation, while to defeat Sri Lanka as well was an outstanding result. Add to that the New Zealand forfeit, and Kenya remain in third place despite losing to India last Friday.”We’ve been criticised that we’re not supposed to be in the Super Sixes,” Odumbe said. “In any World Cup you want to see surprises, and that’s just what we have delivered. But it seems some people are still not happy. We deserve to be here. We didn’t ask New Zealand not to come to Kenya. Who knows, maybe we could also have beaten them?”Odumbe is confident of overcoming a thigh strain by tomorrow, and is looking to current captain Steve Tikolo and Ravindu Shah for telling contributions. “Steve is due for a good score, and Ravindu should also enjoy himself here,” Odumbe added.One man Kenya will not want to see in the Zimbabwe line-up is fast bowler Henry Olonga, who took six for 28 in their last encounter in Bulawayo in December. Olonga has played in just one World Cup match so far, against Namibia, in which he and Andy Flower wore black armbands as a protest at human rights abuses in their country. Olonga bowled just three overs and was then dropped.”I had a great game against Kenya last time and I’d love to have another crack at them,” Olonga said today. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity of playing against them again, but it’s not up to me. I’ve done a lot of fielding (as 12th man) but I’m very fresh, there’s plenty of energy left in these legs."Flower, who has retained his place in the team despite the protest, is still troubled by a groin strain but is unlikely to sit out such an important match. If Zimbabwe win tomorrow, they still have a chance of reaching the semi-finals, depending on other results and whether they can beat Sri Lanka in East London on Saturday.

Andhra Pradesh bowled Hyderabad out for 180 in their first innings, forcing them to follow on in their Ranji Trophy league match at Secunderabad on Thursday.Overnight on 55/1, Hyderabad lost wickets at regular intervals, and none of the batsmen could convert a start into a significant score. A Nand Kishore, at the top of the order, was the top-scorer, making 54 patiently off 208 balls. He was the seventh wicket to fall, with the score on 135, and only Jogram Shivaji Yadav lower down the order contributed further, making a brisk 36.Hyderabad did not do much better following on. At the close of play, they were on 68/2, with Nand Kishore unbeaten on 34 off 111. He was accompanied by Vanka Pratap, unbeaten on 12 at stumps.

HOBART, Jan 11 AAP – Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and will bat in today’s one day cricket international against England at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval.Key fast bowler Glenn McGrath returns to the Australian team from injury, relegating Andrews Symonds to 12th man.England has included fast bowler Steve Harmison, who was in doubt through injury, while Adam Hollioake will carry the drinks.The umpires are Darrell Hair and Dave Orchard, with Steve Davis third umpire.Fine weather with a maximum temperature of 23 degrees is forecast.Teams:Australia: Ricky Ponting (c), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Michael Bevan, Jimmy Maher, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Andy Bichel, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds (12th).England: Nasser Hussain (c), Nick Knight, Marcus Trescothick, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Alec Stewart, Ian Blackwell, Ronnie Irani, Andy Caddick, Jimmy Anderson, Steve Harmison, Adam Hollioake (12th).

Fans at today’s First Test match between Australia and New Zealand willbe entitled to either exchange their ticket or seek a full refundfollowing the washout of the third day.As less than 25 overs were played before the umpires decided to abandonthe match at 4.15pm, the Australian Cricket Board’s Refund Policy willapply.Holders of Ticketmaster7 tickets can exchange their ticket at the gateeither tomorrow or Monday for the remaining two days of the Test matchor seek to exchange their ticket for the VB Series One DayInternationals at the Gabba in January.Alternatively, they may seek a full refund. If they purchased theirticket at a Ticketmaster7 outlet, they should return to the outlet wherethey bought the ticket to arrange their refund.For those who purchased tickets by phone/fax/internet or at the groundtoday, they should mail the ticket and their contact details toTicketmaster7, PO Box 762G, Melbourne, 3001 within 30 days of the match.For any inquiries, contact Ticketmaster7 on 1300 13 61 22 or check theofficial ACB website – www.baggygreen.com.auYou can also view the ACB’s national refund policy here.

Despite an earlier announcement, CLEAR Black Caps Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and Chris Cairns will be unavailable for Monday’s round of the State Championship.Canterbury are to play Northern Districts in Gisborne. The replacements for the trio in the in the travelling 13 are Robbie Frew and Shanan Stewart.The full team is: Gary Stead (captain), Jarrod Englefield, Michael Papps, Aaron Redmond, Chris Harris, Gareth Hopkins, Wade Cornelius, Paul Wiseman, Warren Wisneski, Shane Bond, Chris Martin, Shanan Stewart, Robbie Frew.

Pakistan 298 for 7 (Younis 69, Imran 66) beat Northants 236 (Sales 104) by 62 runsPakistan’s tour of England hadn’t got off to the ideal start – a tentative one-wicket win over Scotland and a comprehensive thrashing from Essex – but at the third attempt they hit top form. Not even a fine century from David Sales could disrupt their progress towards a 62-run win.Pakistan batted first and piled up an impressive 298 for 7 in their 50 overs. Imran Nazir (66) and Mohammad Hafeez (38) gave them a purposeful start after Rashid Latif had won the toss and opted to bat first on a typically easy-paced Wantage Road pitch. They added 116 in 18 overs, and Pakistan looked set for a total in excess of 300 when Younis Khan (69) and Yasir Hameed (62) were in harness for the third wicket. But a late flurry of wickets revived Northants’ prospects, as Pakistan slumped from 252 for 2 to 274 for 6.Northants’ reply was none too confident. Phil Jaques continued his impressive form with 29 from 26 balls, but when he top-edged a pull off Umar Gul to deep square-leg they had slumped to 47 for 3. But Sales and Jeff Cook (45) engineered a recovery, adding 106 in 19 overs. Pakistan’s relatively inexperienced attack were running out of ideas,but Shoaib Malik came to the rescue by bowling Cook before Umar removed Graeme Swann and Toby Bailey with successive balls to kill off the Northants challenge.

Cheltenham and Gloucester man-of-the-match winner Keith Parsons is back in light training.The local hero, who played a major part in helping the Cidermen win their first silverware for 18 years, reported back to the Chesterfield Hospital in Bristol recently to see the surgeon who carried out the operation on his knee back in October.Keith told me: “They were pleased with the way that things are going and they have taken my crutches away. I’m walking now and I can also go cycling and swimming, but it’s going to be a slow process and I won’t get back running until February.”Everything is progressing quicker than they first thought, and I’m happy to report that I am back in light training and have been down to the gym tonight.”I’m sure that all Somerset supporters will be hoping that Keith is back to full fitness in time for the start of the 2002 season in April.

Kent completed the ‘double’ over near-neighbours Essex with opening bowler Martin Saggers returning figures to influence another wretched batting display by the bottom-of-the-table side.The visitors had declared half an hour before lunch having built a first innings lead of 246 runs. Robert Key added another 23 runs to his overnight 100 before Justin Bishop ended his six-hour 45-minute vigil. That was one of four wickets for the 19-year-old bowler who returned figures of 4-120, a personal Championship best.Mark Ealham, with 44 which is his best CricInfo Championship score of the campaign, helped his side to their fourth batting point and a total of 353-7 before the declaration came.Although Essex negotiated the five overs before the lunch interval, they floundered in the next session losing eight wickets for 102 runs with only Paul Grayson appearing to relish the challenge.He eschewed any semblance of risk with an innings of composed restraint while his colleagues’ application fell wantonly short of the required application as a number of batsman brought about their demise with self-inflicted wounds.Spinner Min Patel provided the initial breakthrough, finding the edge of Richard Clinton’s bat where ‘keeper Paul Nixon took a uniform catch to start the Essex collapse.Saggers then made his striking intervention on proceedings as Darren Robinson became the first of his five victims, caught at short-leg for two runs. But it was the capture of two wickets in the space of three deliveries for the 29-year-old that tore the heart out of the home side as Stephen Peters was bowled for two and then Ronnie Irani completed a ‘pair’ after pushing feebly forward to be caught at second slip.Ben Trott offered chief support for his fellow paceman Saggers, initially accounting for James Foster for eight before he too grabbed two wickets in an over. Ashley Cowan and Bishop both fell in the penultimate over before tea and, with Tim Phillips having already been prised out by Matthew Fleming when he dabbed the Kent skipper to Nixon, Essex were facing another ignominious defeat at 110-8 wickets at tea.All the while, Grayson offered resolute resistance and seemed likely to become the first Essex opener since John Stephenson in 1991 to carry his bat through an innings but after losing Peter Such, who gave Saggers his fourth wicket, the former Yorkshire player’s model approach spanning almost three hours ended when the 136th delivery that he faced clipped off stump. That afforded bowler Saggers his best Championship figures of the season and his side victory by an innings and 132 runs earning them 19 points.Meanwhile Essex, with just two points, were left to lick the wounds of a fifth Championship defeat on their last six matches and they now look odds-on certainties for a return to Division Two at the end of the summer.