All posts by csb10.top

Middlesex have signed Australian allrounder Adam Voges for the Friends Life t20 in 2013. He will be available for the entire campaign, including the knockout rounds if Middlesex qualify.Voges, 33, is an experienced cricketer who has played for Nottinghamshire for the past five seasons, helping them to Flt20 Finals Day in 2010.He is currently playing for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League with 147 runs in four innings. Voges has also played 19 internationals for Australia and also has IPL experience with Rajasthan and played T20 for Hampshire in 2007.Since winning the Flt20 in 2008, Middlesex have failed to reach the quarter-finals and finished joint-bottom of the South Group last season.Angus Fraser, Middlesex managing director of cricket, said Voges will add qualities they have been missing. “In 2012 we played some decent T20 cricket but seemed to lack a bit of experience and nous in crucial match situations. It cost us at least a couple of games. The signing of Adam will hopefully help us to remedy that problem.”Adam has an excellent track-record in all forms of the game but particularly in T20 cricket. His experience will be invaluable and everyone I have spoken to tells me he is a top bloke. We are all looking forward to working with him and improving our T20 cricket in 2013.”Voges added: “To have the opportunity to play in front of the country’s biggest T20 crowds at a venue like Lord’s is an exciting prospect and I’m looking forward to helping Middlesex succeed.”

ScorecardThe Yadavs continued to dominate the Group C match between Services and Jharkhand. Ajay Yadav followed his first-innings five-for with 6 for 43 in the second innings to give Jharkhand a shot at victory, which can get them a place in the quarters. In the innings between the two, Services’ Suraj Yadav took six for himself.Services began the day at 32 for 2 after the Delhi fog had delayed the start yet again, but kept losing wickets regularly. However, Services also would have found out during the day that neither Assam nor Andhra can win their match outright, which ensured their qualification for the quarter-final.Jharkhand, though, had to do all the running, and running they did. Captain Shahbaz Nadeem provided Ajay full support with four wickets of his own. Bowling Services out for 152, Jharkhand were left with a target of 218. They knocked off 35 of those without losing a wicket by stumps.
ScorecardFor the first half of the day, Assam looked good to take a first-innings lead over Goa’s 381 and remain in contention for the quarter-finals, but they lost their last eight wickets for 124 runs to fall short by 15.Assam were third before this round started, but needed at least three points to stay alive. At 134 for 1 at the start of the day, they looked in control, a position they only solidified by reaching 208 without any further loss. However, when Sibsankar Roy fell to make it 242 for 3, a collapse began.Only Dheeraj Jadhav and J Syed Mohammad arrested the slide to add 52 for the sixth wicket, but the end of that partnership kickstarted another glut of five wickets for 50 runs.
ScorecardAndhra fought hard to attain the first-innings lead despite centuries from VA Jagadeesh and Sanju Samson, but it turned out they didn’t need to. Towards the end of the day, in Guwahati, Assam dropped out of the race by failing to take a first-innings lead.Andhra’s only competition now is Jharkhand, but these three points will only take them level with Jharkhand should the latter win their match in Delhi. Andhra stand no chance of winning that tie, because Jharkhand will have posted three outright wins as opposed to Andhra’s one.This was a strange innings from Kerala, one that revolved around the new ball. The first one claimed three wickets for 80, after which Jagadeesh scored his fourth century of the season to go with Samson’s second. The second new ball, though, wreaked havoc, ended 199-run partnership, and then ran through the rest for the addition of just 31 runs. DP Vijaykumar and T Atchuta Rao took four wickets each.In a bid to take the Jharkhand result out of the equation, Andhra added 38 runs in six overs before stumps, but it is unlikely they will risk the points already earned by doing anything fancy on the final day.
ScorecardIn the stop-start, inconsequential match Jammu & Kashmir and Tripura, only 85 overs have been bowled over three days. Tripura have moved sedately to 226 for 5.

The captain of Pakistan’s visually challenged cricket team, Zeshan Abbasi, who is in Bangalore to play the T20 Blind Cricket World Cup, was hospitalised on Saturday after accidentally drinking phenyl at the team hotel. He was discharged later in the day, and was ‘absolutely fine’ according to the doctors.Abbasi had sipped the contents of a plastic bottle left on the table during breakfast, mistaking it for mineral water. He was taken to hospital, where was treated and kept under observation before being discharged a few hours later.”Abbasi was discharged at 4.30pm. He is absolutely fine”, the president of the hospital, Dr Shetty, was quoted as saying by . He said Abbasi had had an endoscopy and all the results were normal.Pakistan team manager Sultan Shah said the hotel had apologised for the incident, but they wanted it probed further. “We want to know from the hotel management, who have orally apologised to us, how such an incident happened and who is responsible for such negligence,” Shah said. “It has to be ensured that such incidents do not recur. Otherwise, we are happy with the arrangements here.”SP Nagesh, the president of the All Indian Cricket Association, also called for an investigation: “[The hotel must] tell us how such a lapse occurred. We are awaiting their reply.”

A week ago, Jon Holland was hoping to get a chance to prove himself over the next fortnight after being named one of Australia’s best two spinners by the national selector John Inverarity. Now, Holland is simply hoping he won’t be told he needs another shoulder reconstruction after hurting himself in Melbourne’s grade cricket at the weekend.Holland injured his left shoulder while throwing a ball in from the outfield and preliminary scans on Sunday indicated he might have suffered a recurrence of a problem that forced him to have a reconstruction in early 2010. He consulted Victoria’s team doctor on Monday and was due to see a specialist on Tuesday to find out how long he would be sidelined.While the best case scenario would be only a few games – Peter Handscomb has been brought into Victoria’s squad to replace Holland for this week’s Sheffield Shield game against Tasmania – the worst case would be another reconstruction. Holland, 25, also missed most of the 2007-08 season with a shoulder problem and the timing of his latest injury could hardly have been worse, as he hovered on the fringes of the Australia side.”He’s had a preliminary scan, which showed there might be a bit of a problem,” Shaun Graf, Cricket Victoria’s general manager of cricket operations, told the . “He certainly looks as though he may have re-injured the same spot that he had repaired [in 2010]. He threw off balance and he’s obviously created a problem. We won’t know the full extent [until after further scans] but I’d say at this stage he’s in a bit of strife.”Holland impressed the national selectors during the Australia A tour of England this year, when he outbowled the Test incumbent Nathan Lyon. A left-arm orthodox bowler whose subtle changes of pace and flight troubled the batsmen in England, Holland had played both of Victoria’s first two Shield matches of the season but had bowled only 10 overs as the fast men skittled their opponents.While Lyon was expected to hold his position for the Test series against South Africa next month, Inverarity’s praise indicated Holland could put pressure on Lyon with strong Shield performances. Western Australia’s left-arm spinner Michael Beer, who played a Test during Australia’s tour of the West Indies in April, is likely to be the second in line behind Lyon if Holland’s injury proves to be serious.It’s not the first time luck has deserted Holland at the wrong time. He was part of Australia’s ODI squad for their tour of India in 2009 and was set to make his international debut in the final game, but the match was washed out.Victoria Sheffield Shield squad Chris Rogers, Rob Quiney, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Peter Handscomb, Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Peter Siddle, John Hastings, James Pattinson, Clint McKay.

ScorecardSteven Mullaney, seen here against Middlesex, top scored as Notts built up a big lead over champions Warwickshire•Getty Images

Steven Mullaney enhanced Nottinghamshire’s chances of finishing on a high with a victory over county champions Warwickshire with a fluent 94 – his highest first-class score since May 2010.He boosted his hopes of being retained by Notts beyond this summer with an enterprising 119-ball knock that contained 11 fours and four straight sixes as he took charge in a fifth wicket partnership of 119 in just 28 overs with Chris Read (36).Either side of that, Neil Edwards (53) had scored only his third first-class half-century in as many seasons and Riki Wessels made a brisk 38, while Paul Franks (76 not out) and Ben Phillips (38) put on 91 for the eighth wicket.New Zealander Jeetan Patel was the pick of the Warwickshire bowlers as Nottinghamshire closed on 444 for 8; a lead of 395 going into the final day at Trent Bridge.Having wiped out their first innings deficit the previous evening to resume on 49 without loss, openers Edwards and Sam Kelsall (35) remained together until the total had reached 88 when the latter poked Patel’s arm ball to Rikki Clarke at first slip.Wessels – who reached 6,000 first-class runs during his innings – was next to go, lbw to Clarke, but not before he had thumped five fours and a six from just 32 balls. Edwards followed in the next over, pinned leg before wicket by Patel.England’s James Taylor made just 14 before he tried to hit Patel over the leg-side and was snared by a superb diving catch on the run by visiting skipper Jim Troughton. But any ambitions Warwickshire had of quickly knocking over the rest of the hosts batting line-up quickly dissipated as Mullaney and Read joined forces.The straight hitting of Mullaney was a particular attractive feature of an untroubled partnership, while Read looked destined to reach 1,000 County Championship runs for the season until he was controversially run out just 25 short of that figure. Chris Woakes effected a direct hit as Mullaney called Read through for a quick single, but the Notts captain remonstrated on his way back to the pavilion, having clearly felt he had made his ground.Soon after, Mullaney attempted to go to three figures with a fifth maximum but holed out to Troughton at deep mid-on, denying him only a second career Championship ton. But the entertainment continued as Franks – in compiling his highest score of the season from 121 balls with nine boundaries and a six – found useful allies in first Phillips, eventually caught behind off Darren Maddy, and then Luke Fletcher.

ScorecardA five-wicket haul from Shane Shillingford caused trouble for the New Zealanders on the last day of their tour match in Antigua, but the visitors managed to cling on for a draw. Brendon McCullum scored 51 and Kruger van Wyk made an important contribution of 38 not out as New Zealand struggled to 181 for 8, after Daniel Vettori and Neil Wagner finished off the WICB President’s XI on the final morning.The President’s XI added only 27 to their overnight score for the loss of their last three wickets. Wagner, who is pushing to make his debut when the first Test starts on Wednesday, finished with 3 for 65 after he collected the wicket of Veerasammy Permaul, who fell victim to an outstanding catch from van Wyk.Vettori grabbed the last two wickets to end up with 6 for 48, but it is not the New Zealand bowling that is their major concern ahead of the first Test. After they were skittled for 149 in the first innings the visitors needed a stronger showing in the second innings to boost their confidence, but the openers Daniel Flynn and Martin Guptill both fell for single-figure scores.McCullum was more successful and put on 57 with Ross Taylor for the third wicket, but it was the team’s only half-century stand of the innings. Taylor (19) and Kane Williamson (25) fell to the spin of Shillingford, as did Dean Brownlie for 5 and Vettori for 2. New Zealand might be pleased Shillingford was not named in West Indies squad for the first Test, but the spin of Sunil Narine will not be any easier to handle.It was only through van Wyk’s fighting innings and some lower-order support from Tarun Nethula and Wagner that New Zealand avoided defeat. Wagner survived for nearly an hour for his 5 not out and combined with his three wickets, his performance has shown the selectors his fighting qualities as they prepare to finalise their side for the first Test.”We had to fight hard,” Wagner said after the match. “Obviously I wanted to show that I’m pretty keen to get a crack at some point on this tour. This was a perfect opportunity to try and fight hard and that’s what Test cricket is about.”Vettori said this match provided New Zealand with ideal practice ahead of the Test. “I think we were pretty lucky to play close to the wicket that we are going to play on in the Test match. If we can’t learn stuff from this game then we never will.”I think, while we are disappointed with the position we were in, there’s been some really good things [to come out of the tour match], particularly the bowling of Neil Wagner. He brings a lot of energy. He runs in hard all day and wants to compete the whole time, and I think he’s a welcome addition to our side.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDwayne Bravo smashed four sixes in 11 balls•AFP

Chris Gayle provided the substance, yet again, Dwayne Bravo provided the late blast, and Sunil Narine ended New Zealand’s chase before it could even begin. West Indies completed their second big win over New Zealand to take the Florida and Twenty20 leg of the series 2-0. Already weakened by injuries to key players, including captain Ross Taylor, New Zealand had no answer to West Indies’ combination of power, explosiveness and intrigue.Gayle threatened to cause as much damage as he had on Saturday before Nathan McCullum restricted him to 53, but Bravo’s burst ensured West Indies had another substantial total to defend. Narine, who had gone for some runs on Saturday, made a return to his miserly and productive ways from the IPL, picking up 4 for 12.New Zealand were much more disciplined with the ball today than they had been in the first T20, but Doug Bracewell proved the weak link once again. In the absence of Kieron Pollard – rested after hurting his shoulder in the field on Saturday – it was Gayle who delivered again, after another slow start.Gayle didn’t face his first delivery till the third over, and when he did, he went on to play out a maiden to Kyle Mills. With Gayle intent on taking his time, Dwayne Smith falling early and Johnson Charles easing off, West Indies went through a period of only one boundary in 24 balls.Even that four was a thick edge off Gayle’s bat to the third man rope. Bracewell had removed Smith with his first delivery, but West Indies were to regain momentum in his second over, the eighth of the innings. Charles swatted a full delivery over long-on, Gayle pulled a slow bouncer over deep square leg and turned one for four past short fine leg.New Zealand managed to pull things back again, conceding only 26 in the next four overs and dismissing Charles. But Bracewell came back into the attack, and Gayle took toll again, powering consecutive sixes over long-on and reaching his fifty with a slice over extra cover for four.The momentum was to change sides once again. McCullum bowled Gayle after a missed heave and had Lendl Simmons caught at deep square leg to leave West Indies on 124 for 4 after 16 overs. Enter Bravo, after Darren Sammy and before Marlon Samuels. Bravo swung his first ball, from Tim Southee, over wide long-off for six, and hit three more in the next three overs as West Indies took 53 off the last four overs.In hindsight, Bravo needn’t have bothered, given the way New Zealand crumbled against Narine. Struggling to pick him in the face of a tall asking-rate, Martin Guptill skied Narine to extra cover in his first over. Next ball, Rob Nicol walked past a flighted carrom ball to be stumped.New Zealand continued to dig a deeper hole for themselves. Kane Williamson, leading the side in place of Taylor, managed to run himself out in the next over. Southee, promoted to No. 3, holed out off his fifth ball to give Samuel Badree his maiden international wicket.Narine signed off his first spell of three overs with his third wicket, bowling Dean Brownlie after the batsmen backed away and missed. New Zealand had limped to 43 for 5 after nine overs, and the game was as good as over.

ScorecardAndrew Hall’s 79 helped repair some of the early damage for Northamptonshire•Getty Images

Pace bowlers Steve Patterson and Mitchell Starc were quick to make their mark on the first day of Yorkshire’s County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Headingley.Patterson, who received his first team cap before the start of the game, responded by firing out both openers. Left-arm paceman Starc, on his Championship debut, also picked up two early wickets as the visitors slumped to 45 for 5 in this Division Two contest after winning the toss.However, captain Andrew Hall, led a spirited rearguard action with a rugged 79 which boosted his side’s score to 253. In five overs before the close, Yorkshire reached 27 without loss.Offspinner Azeem Rafiq, replaced the out-of-form Adil Rashid, for his first Championship outing since last May, and wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy made way for Jonny Bairstow – who had been given permission to play by England.Patterson shared the new ball with Ryan Sidebottom and in his third over dismissed Stephen Peters, who edged low to Phil Jaques at third slip. Patterson struck again two overs later when he trapped former Yorkshire all-rounder James Middlebrook leg before wicket.Starc got his chance when Sidebottom was rested and his fifth delivery comprehensively bowled Alex Wakely. The Australian was then struck for three legside boundaries in one over by Rob White but quickly gained revenge by trapping him lbw, leaving Northamptonshire 35 for 4.The slide continued as Sidebottom returned to the attack and had Kyle Coetzer caught behind with a ball which held its line. However, Hall and David Murphy teamed up move the visitors to 62 for 5 at lunch – and continued the revival in the afternoon.Hall, after an uncharacteristically slow start, played Starc through midwicket for four and in the same over slashed a boundary to third man, but Murphy had an escape on 35 when the Australian had him put down by Adam Lyth low at second slip.Murphy, having greeted Rafiq by driving his fifth ball for six, soon afterwards edged Sidebottom to Bairstow for 40 to end a 76-run stand in 27 overs with his captain. Northamptonshire continued their fightback through Hall and Con de Lange although Hall, on 25, survived a chance when he slapped Patterson to midwicket – where Anthony McGrath could not hold on to the catch.Hall’s fighting half-century came off 138 balls with seven boundaries but at 163 he lost De Lange, who was lbw on the back foot to McGrath. The scoring accelerated with the arrival of David Willey until both departed quickly when the new ball was taken.Hall was bowled attempting an expansive drive at Patterson for 79 from 179 deliveries with 10 fours and in the next over Willey fell lbw to Sidebottom after umpire Peter Hartley had spent a long time raising his finger. Pattinson pulled up with cramp in his 19th over and left the field for treatment and the innings was wrapped up by Rafiq, who bowled Oli Stone to claim his only victim.Yorkshire began well with Lyth taking two boundaries from Willey’s opening over and the left-hander stood on 14 at the close with Joe Root 7.

A visibly annoyed Deccan Chargers coach Darren Lehmann has come down heavily on his side after their five-wicket loss against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. Lehmann said the Chargers “bowled poorly and fielded diabolically” while defending 196 in a final-over defeat.”We fielded like an Under-14s side,” Lehmann said. “They are professional cricketers they should be able to catch. They should be able to stop the ball going through their legs.”The Chargers dropped three catches in the field, with Anand Rajan grassing Royals opener and the tournament’s highest run-getter Ajinkya Rahane in the fifth over, then Dale Steyn dropping Owais Shah in the 15thover, and Bharat Chipli spilling Johan Botha in the 18th over.The Chargers are yet to register a win in the IPL this season, and their coach said, that the team has to work hard if they want to succeed in the tournament. “For us it’s a disappointing start, considering we played really well against Mumbai [Indians] and should have won that game, so we have a bit of work to do,” Lehmann said. “Our [team] meetings are a waste of time at the moment because the players aren’t listening.”Deccan’s fielding compounded their problems against the Royals, but their bowlers too were expensive. Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian and Anand Rajan all went for over ten runs an over. “It should have been 2-1, we should have beaten Mumbai [on April 9] and Rajasthan today, but we bowled really badly with the new ball. Steyn also did not bowl well,” Lehmann said. “When you get nearly 200 in a Twenty20 game, you shouldn’t lose a game.”Deccan Chargers will play Delhi Daredevils in their next match on April 19.

Worcestershire will host their championship fixture against Surrey at New Road as originally planned as the flood that struck the ground again last week has receded.The club had decided to switch the match which starts on Wednesday to Kidderminster following flooding at New Road. But a spell of improved weather and the utilisation of improved drainage since the last major flood in 2007 has seen a swift improvement in the state of the outfield and spectator facilities and Worcestershire have made the decision to return to New Road.While some areas of the outfield are likely to remain damp, the pitch for the game is on the far side of the square – near the cathedral – and most of the affected areas are beyond the boundary. The flood waters never reached the pitch that has been allocated for the game.”The outfield is actually bone dry,” Worcestershire’s chief executive David Leatherdale told ESPNcricinfo. “We had half a million litres of water on there at one time, but it has drained completely and we could have played out there on Monday. The forecast still isn’t great, but the rivers are back down to their normal levels and there is no prospect of another flood.”The last week or so has been painful and it has cost us some money. But, with a new pavilion out of the floodwater, with new drainage and with the notification we had before the flooding, we were able to move everything out of the way, The flood in 2007 cost us over a million pounds; this one will have cost us thousands or tens of thousands.”The big difference this time was that the flood water was pretty clean. In 2007 we were left with a layer of silt over everything. This time you could hardly tell there has been any water here.”The game is also notable for the reappearance of Kevin Pietersen on domestic duty. Pietersen, who has been performing in the IPL, will be playing his only first-class match ahead of the Test series against West Indies. Former Worcestershire players Gareth Batty, who was given a hostile reception on his previous return to New Road, and Steven Davies also both return to their former club.George Edwards, a seamer who has been impressing in the 2nd XI, is included in Surrey’s 13-man squad. Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker are not available, however, as they are required for the England Lions fixture against West Indies.