Ireland’s tour to Kenya in February is in doubt because of the ongoing security situation in the country.

David Hopps13-Jan-2012Ireland’s tour to Kenya in February is in doubt because of the ongoing security situation in the country.Both British and Irish governments have warned of an increased risk of terrorist attack within 150 miles of the Somali border. While Mombasa is well outside that zone, Cricket Ireland is liaising with the ICC and Kenya’s cricket authorities and the matches may be relocated if the safety of Ireland’s players cannot be guaranteed.Ireland are due to play five matches against Kenya in Mombasa – an Intercontinental Cup match, two one-day World Cup qualifiers and three T20s. They then head to Port Elizabeth for a training camp and onwards to the UAE for the ICC World T20 qualifying tournament.Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, said: “At this stage nobody is advising us against travel, but we recognise the need to monitor the situation very closely.”Under ICC regulations, Kenya are obliged to submit a security plan for every tour to the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit and Ireland are likely to insist upon tighter security protection.”We toured Zimbabwe in 2010 after much consideration and had a security officer with us on that occasion,” Deutrom said. “That is an option we might consider again.”Information is that several al-Shabab cells operating out of Somalia have crossed the border into Kenya and pose a credible threat to western interests in the capital, Nairobi.There are fewer concerns in Mombasa, on the south-east coast, where Ireland are centred.
Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs has five stages of warning and at the moment their advice about Kenya is at Level 3, which advises visitors to the country to travel with extreme caution.More threatening to Ireland’s winter schedule would be if Government advice reached Level 4, which advises against all non-essential travel, or Level 5, which advises against all travel.
The Foreign Office has advised British citizens to “exercise extra vigilance and caution in
public places and at public events.””We have spoken to the DFA and will look at the situation further when YP Singh, the head of the ICC’s anti-corruption unit, returns to Dubai,” said Deutrom. “We are also in touch with Tom Sears, Kenya’s CEO.”There’s still a bit of time before we have to make a decision, but we will wait on the advice that comes back. If it is safe we’ll go ahead, if not we might have to consider the possibility of relocating the matches.”Sears advised that Kenyan cricket was taking the advice very seriously. “The security arrangements for both sides are of paramount importance,” he said. “We are reviewing the security plans and are liaising with Cricket Ireland and the ICC. I remain confident the games can be staged without problems.”

The Victoria batsman Rob Quiney has been rewarded for two strong seasons by being named Australia’s Domestic Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne. And Australia’s occasional vice-captain David Warner has taken home the Bradman Y

Brydon Coverdale27-Feb-2012The Victoria batsman Rob Quiney has been rewarded for two strong seasons by being named Australia’s Domestic Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal night in Melbourne. And Australia’s occasional vice-captain David Warner has taken home the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year title, a surprise only in that he was even eligible for the prize, which has typically been handed to a player still establishing himself.But the major state award went to Quiney, 29, who must be starting to feature in discussions at the national selection table having become a consistent performer for Victoria and the Melbourne Stars. During the voting period, which ran from February 9 last year until February 11 this year, Quiney was easily the leading scorer across all formats, with 1640 runs at 44.32, ahead of the second-placed Marcus North with 1337 runs.James Faulkner was the leading wicket taker during the same time-frame, with 71 victims at 24.62, and he finished second to Quiney in the polling, a system in which all contracted players cast a vote to judge the best players across all three domestic formats. Quiney received 52% of the vote, well ahead of Faulkner on 12% and the third-placed Matthew Wade on 10%.Quiney is second only to Liam Davis on the Sheffield Shield run tally this summer, with 750 runs at an average of 50, and he also finished second in the Shield last season, to Mark Cosgrove. He was also among the top ten run scorers during the Ryobi Cup and the Big Bash League this season and his consistency across all formats has been impressive.Quiney is the first man to take the domestic award while playing the full qualifying period for Victoria – the batsman Michael Klinger won in 2009 having switched from Victoria to South Australia mid-year. Victoria also provided the runner-up in the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year award this season, with James Pattinson gaining 20% of the votes behind Warner’s 29%. The Redbacks batsman Tom Cooper was third with 16%.To win the award, a player must be aged 24 or younger at the beginning the voting period – Warner turned 25 in October. Players also need to have appeared in fewer than 10 first-class matches at the start of the voting period. Warner had played four, and after his rapid rise into the Test side it is easy to forget that he was not a regular in the New South Wales Shield team until the end of last summer.Across all formats, Warner was a clear front-runner in the run tally among contenders, with 1587 runs at an average of 69, while the second-placed Glenn Maxwell made 971. The leading wicket takers were Faulkner and Nathan Coulter-Nile, but the popular vote allowed Pattinson to swoop past them into second place.For the fourth consecutive year, Shelley Nitschke was named the Women’s International Player of the Year, a feat made all the more remarkable because she retired seven months ago. Nitschke, 35, stepped down last July but the lopsided schedule meant she still played 13 of the 19 completed matches during the voting period.Across ODI and T20 internationals, Nitschke scored 285 runs and collected 21 wickets, and she picked up the prize with 33 votes ahead of Lisa Sthalekar’s 31 votes. Alex Blackwell finished third with 26 votes.

Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain have signed two-year contracts with the PCB as Pakistan coach and Pakistan fielding coach respectively

Umar Farooq in Lahore04-Mar-2012Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain have signed two-year contracts with the PCB as Pakistan coach and Pakistan fielding coach respectively. Whatmore and Fountain had arrived in Lahore on March 2 but there had not been an official announcement regarding their appointment. On March 4, Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, and Intikhab Alam, the director of international cricket, formally announced that Whatmore and Fountain had been contracted by the board.”I wanted the best coaches in the world for my team and I gave the task of finding them to the committee appointed to select a coach,” Ashraf said at a press conference in Lahore. “They analysed all the candidates and they have found the best people for our team. I am happy to have Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain as a part of our setup and hope they can ensure Pakistan always puts up fighting performances, whether we lose or win.”Whatmore, who has previously coached Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, has been linked with the Pakistan coaching job since December last year. Waqar Younis had quit the job after the tour of Zimbabwe in September and Pakistan were due to announce a coach after their tour of Bangladesh. However, the interim coach, Mohsin Khan, continued in the role for the England series. Meanwhile, Whatmore met with the PCB in January and has now been officially given the role of head coach. Fountain, who has been fielding coach of Bangladesh and worked with the PCB before, also met the PCB in January and travelled with Whatmore to Lahore on March 2.Whatmore said his goal was to bring some consistency to the team and do away with the poor performances. “We want to be consistent. We don’t want peaks and troughs,” Whatmore said. “We want the team to be at a good level for a long period. When we’re brilliant there will be peaks, but we want to still perform and win games when we’re not brilliant. We want to eliminate the bad performances. But you can’t do that by focusing on the result. You have to focus on the process.”The appointments come after Pakistan followed up their whitewash of England in the Test series in the UAE by losing 0-4 in the ODIs and 1-2 in the Twenty20 internationals. Whatmore said the performances had been disappointing but said he was more concerned with the future. “It was disappointing after the fantastic effort in the Tests. Everyone needs consistency and to at least put up a fight in games, even if you lose them. But I’m not looking too much at the past. We want to focus on what’s coming up keeping in mind what’s happened before.”Whatmore’s first assignment is the Asia Cup, a one-day tournament also featuring India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He said Pakistan would need to select different teams for all three formats. Whatmore also made clear that though the eventual goal was to take Pakistan to the top of the rankings in all formats, it would take time.”At the minute the team is ranked six [Pakistan are fifth in Tests and sixth in ODIs in the ICC rankings], so it will take time to get them to the top. To achieve anything you have to take small steps. We are focussed on those steps now rather than the ultimate goal.Whatmore and Fountain have visited the National Cricket Academy in Lahore where former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz is working with the national team’s bowlers.Whatmore is set to cover the batting department for Pakistan while Fountain will concentrate on fielding. Aaqib Javed, the former Pakistan fast bowler, had been lined up to form the trio but he opted to become coach of UAE. The PCB has said it will advertise to fill the position of bowling coach but will not rush into a decision.Edited by Dustin Silgardo

Whatever doubts England might have had about chasing 94 to win the second Test at the end of a tormented Asian winter did not manifest themselves as they gambolled to victory

The Report by David Hopps07-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Once Graeme Swann dismissed Mahela Jayawardene it was only a matter of time before England won the Test•AFP

In the end it was a breeze. Whatever doubts England might have had about chasing 94 to win the second Test at the end of a tormented Asian winter did not manifest themselves as they gambolled to a victory that, for the moment at least, preserves their status as the No. 1-ranked side in the world.Lurking memories of their collapse to 72 all out, in pursuit of 145, in Abu Dhabi barely two months ago were banished as Alastair Cook proceeded from the outset at a one-day rate and Kevin Pietersen added a lighthearted singalong to his majestic first-innings century. England had it all wrapped up within 20 overs, levelling the series at 1-1 and preventing Sri Lanka from achieving their own first Test series win for three years.It was a steamy Colombo day – one reading showed 42C – so hot that holidaymakers along Sri Lanka’s coast would be dragging sunbeds into the shade. England lost their captain, Andrew Strauss, for nought, bowled by Tillakaratne Dilshan as he met one that turned with ponderous footwork and an angled blade, and Jonathan Trott followed lbw to Rangana Herath as Sri Lanka successfully asked for a referral, but they were not about to wilt in the sun.Sri Lanka, who had added another 60 in the morning session, relied entirely upon their spinners in recognition that the P Sara pitch had finally become the minefield that many had long forecast. Cook signalled his intent by driving and cutting Dilshan for successive boundaries and scored 30 of England’s first 40 runs. When he cut three times in one over at Herath, and missed the lot, Sri Lanka must have realised there would be no miracle.Then Pietersen came over all Frank Sinatra, confident again to do it his way, gliding down the pitch to loft Herath straight for six. Appropriately, the match ended with Pietersen v Dilshan, reviving memories of the contretemps over Pietersen’s switch hit. Mahela Jayawardene brought the field in and challenged Pietersen to win it with a six and he did so, launching the ball over midwicket. What did he think of April Tests in Colombo when the climate was at its fiercest? “A joke,” Pietersen said, ingenuously.Sri Lanka, six down overnight, lost three wickets in a rush, but Angelo Mathews countered briefly to turn an overnight lead of 33 into something a little more substantial. Their chief tormenter was Graeme Swann who had rolled in, sunglasses not quite disguising a scampish intent, to turn the game with two wickets in the penultimate over of the fourth day. He spun the ball viciously at times on a pitch that, for him at least, finally had become the spin bowler’s friend.Samit Patel also chipped in with his first wicket of the match when Herath anticipated Swann-like turn, found Patel-like turn instead and offered the simplest of chances to James Anderson at slip.For Sri Lanka, the onus rested once more on Jayawardene. Swann, who took 6 for 106 to finish with ten wickets in the match, finally removed him an excellent ball which turned and bounced to hit the glove and lob easily to Cook, plunging forward at short leg. It was the end of a polished defensive innings – 64 from 191 balls with only four boundaries.Jayawardene made 354 runs in four innings with two centuries and his stock has rarely been higher. It was easy to carp that Sri Lanka had not helped themselves by a scoring rate not much above two an over, but only Pietersen, whose rapid century had created the time in which England could win the game, had played with any panache on this pitch and to try to ape Pietersen in that mood would be to fly too close to the sun.Two overs later and another Jayawardene followed, this time Prasanna, coming in two places lower at No. 9 thanks to Sri Lanka’s recourse to nightwatchmen on the previous two evenings. It was a briefly unimpressive stay, ended when he tried to sweep and was bowled around his legs.Mathews’ survival owed much to a calamitous morning for Cook at short leg. Three times in five overs Swann had expectations of dismissing Mathews to a nudge to short leg, but Cook failed to cling to two low chances and then a third fell wide of him as Swann looked as dangerous as at any time on England’s winter tours.There was further frustration for England, too, when Mahela Jayawardene, on 58, was adjudged lbw by umpire Asad Rauf only for the decision to be overturned on review when the TV umpire, Rod Tucker, spotted an inside edge.As wickets fell, Mathews eventually had little choice but to formulate an attacking response, but eventually an erratic surface betrayed him as Steven Finn made one stick in the pitch and Mathews, intent upon advancing to drive, could only chip into the leg side. England’s run of failures were soon to be put behind them.

Kings XI Punjab beat Chennai Super Kings in a tight match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to jump to eight points

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran28-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Mandeep Singh’s half-century ensured Punjab got past 150•AFP

Kings XI Punjab were disconsolate after their previous match, when they leaked 32 runs in the final two overs of the chase to gift victory to Mumbai Indians. Three days later, they were faced with the same situation, but this time there were no goof-ups as they upset Chennai Super Kings and silenced the crowd at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.Punjab seemed to have scored too little after choosing to bat first, ending on 156 after 20-year-old opener Mandeep Singh made his first half-century of the season. They lost 6 for 27 towards the end of the innings, which meant there was no late flourish, leaving Chennai the happier side at the halfway stage.When Faf du Plessis confidently strode down the track to hammer Punjab’s quick bowlers, Chennai were galloping along at nine an over. With Chennai possessing a line-up that had hitters down to No. 10, the game was slipping away but Punjab didn’t lose faith. They caused a Chennai collapse to match their own – 5 for 38 – to scrap their way back into the game.Of Piyush Chawla’s IPL performances this season, most people only remember the caning he received at the hands of Robin Peterson and Ambati Rayudu, but he has also been one of the most economical bowlers of the tournament.He showed that the Mumbai mauling was an aberration, with a superb spell in the middle that put the brakes on Chennai. He had Suresh Raina stumped, getting a delivery to slant past the outside edge, and then had Ravindra Jadeja slicing to cover to finish with 4-0-20-2.Still, Chennai had two power-hitters, Dwayne Bravo and Albie Morkel, in the middle after 15 overs, and the target was 58 away, certainly not beyond their reach. Both had choked Punjab with the ball, and were now seemingly ready to finish the job with the bat.Azhar Mahmood then showed off his Twenty20 experience, bowling a mix of slower balls and yorkers in the 16th over to stifle Chennai. Praveen Kumar followed up with a series of low full tosses, which also proved hard to put away. Parvinder Awana, the least experienced of the lot, also kept his cool, regularly find the blockhole and following the batsmen as they backed away.With 32 needed off the final two overs, Praveen stuck to the low-full-toss strategy, and though Bravo smacked a straight six, he holed out three deliveries later. An inside-edge for four brought it down to 17 off the last over, with Mahmood given the responsibility of bowling it. He was spot-on, dismissing Morkel first ball and dishing out the yorkers.Chennai were nearly out of it, with 11 needed off two deliveries. The batsman Nuwan Kulasekara then backed away from the stumps, Mahmood followed him but Kulasekara shuffled across towards off and the ball went down leg to the keeper. They scrambled a run, and expected a wide to be signalled. There wasn’t one, though, much to Chennai’s consternation. R Ashwin had a heated argument with Praveen Kumar, but there was no change in the umpire’s decision, and the game was finally Punjab’s.Mahmood had been instrumental to changing the game earlier on as well, removing both set openers, du Plessis and S Badrinath. MS Dhoni promoted both Jadeja and Wriddhiman Saha ahead of himself, but neither could make an impact. Dhoni himself was run-out in 14th over, charging out after under-edging a ball and not realising it was right next to the keeper. With Chennai at 88 for 5, not only had Punjab fought back, they were ahead.It hadn’t seemed that they would topple Chennai when they wasted the start provided by Mandeep, who wilted under the heat and humidity of the afternoon. He had begun well, avoiding the slogs and heaves that are integral to Twenty20, and favouring inside-out drives to provide the initial acceleration. He faded, though, managing only one boundary in the 11 overs after the Powerplay.Punjab’s captain, David Hussey, also decided to demote himself, sending Mahmood and David Miller ahead of him, another move that didn’t work. That left Hussey only four overs to bat at the end, and needing to swing from ball one, he failed. Punjab seemingly ended well short of a total to challenge Chennai, but their bowlers got it right to pull off an unlikely victory.

Lancashire go into the final day needing 10 wickets to beat Middlesex and secure their first win of the season

Myles Hodgson at Aigburth25-May-2012
ScorecardPaul Horton top-scored during Lancashire’s second innings as the champions set Middlesex a stiff target•Getty Images

Lancashire’s ability to press home victory at Aigburth, their base in exile during last year’s title-winning campaign, looks certain to be tested when they attempt to register a first win of the season against a determined Middlesex line-up.Four victories out of six in Liverpool last summer, where they have been based while Old Trafford continues its redevelopment, played a big role in securing their surprise Championship triumph. Playing in this prosperous suburb was supposed to be their big strength – until they began their title defence.Successive defeats against Sussex and Warwickshire at Aigburth have undermined their self-belief, but they will be hopeful of restoring it after a dramatic third day of their match against Middlesex established them as marginal favourites for victory.With 13 wickets falling during Friday, on a wicket that still rewards careful batting, Lancashire closed 399 runs ahead of Middlesex, who were 29 without loss and facing a minimum of 96 overs on the final day to either secure a draw or claim an unlikely victory.History would suggest a Middlesex win would take an extraordinary display, with the highest successful run chase on this ground being Kent’s 360 for 4 from 105 overs back in 2002. Lancashire have history of their own on this ground, including thrilling final-day victories over Yorkshire and Hampshire last season, to provide encouragement that they can force home their first win of the summer.”We have good memories here and we know it is a result wicket,” said Paul Horton, who top-scored for Lancashire with 89. “We played Yorkshire here on this wicket so we know it can go to the wire, but we have dominated the three days and hopefully we can dominate the fourth.”We’ve played well in patches this season without winning anything. We’ve probably not taken advantage of the positions we’ve been in, so tomorrow is a big day and we have to keep plugging away.”Middlesex have certainly provided Lancashire with hope after a dismal start to the third day, which they began on 155 for 5 and needing 88 runs to avoid the follow-on. In conditions that were anything but bowler-friendly, they lost five wickets for 48 runs in 15.1 overs before lunch to concede a 162 first-innings deficit.Once again, Ajmal Shahzad proved what a shrewd loan signing he may be for the champions and demonstrated his expertise as a strike bowler. He claimed two wickets, including one with his fifth ball of the morning, to finish with impressive figures of 4 for 40. Lancashire chose not to enforce the follow-on, the intense humidity and heat and the opportunity to bowl last on a wearing wicket no doubt influencing their decision.The contrast between Middlesex’s struggles and the ease in which Lancashire’s innings began was all too evident. Once Stephen Moore fell to another stunning slip catch from Ollie Rayner, Paul Horton and Karl Brown forged a 130-run second wicket partnership at a good rate.Fresh from his match-saving century at Edgbaston a week ago, Horton set the tone for Lancashire’s innings with 89 off 114 balls, including 11 fours on a ground where the slow outfield does not always make boundaries easily accessible.Having exhausted all their other options to limit the scoring rate, Middlesex turned to the part-time legspin of Dawid Malan, who profited from Lancashire’s adventure to claim an unexpected career-best of 5 for 61 from nine eventful overs.He was punished every time he dropped short and Brown hit successive sixes from full tosses, but he did succeed in interrupting Lancashire’s progress before they finally declared 428 runs ahead to give themselves 14 overs to bowl at Middlesex before the close.Horton was particularly annoyed with himself to get out to Malan, spooning an attempted pull to mid-on shortly before tea, but he was far from alone in gifting his wicket. Ashwell Prince was stumped charging down the wicket and Steven Croft was caught in the deep after hitting 28 from 19 balls, while Brown fell for an entertaining 76 clipping behind.By the time Glen Chapple, the captain, was run out Lancashire were far enough ahead to feel comfortable enough to declare. They were unable to claim a breakthrough before the close but their experience of nail-biting finishes last season should tell them that Aigburth has a habit of serving up final-day drama.

West Indies A thrashed India A by ten wickets in the third unofficial Test in St Lucia to take the series 2-1

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2012
ScorecardWest Indies A thrashed India A by ten wickets in the third unofficial Test in St Lucia to take the series 2-1. Fast bowler Kevin McClean wrapped up the Indian tail to finish with 5 for 57, his third first-class five-wicket haul.India A began the fourth and final day on 181 for 7, a lead of 75. With the injured Robin Bist not batting, their only hope was Wriddhiman Saha, unbeaten on 48. But McClean did not take too long to end the innings, trapping Saha lbw for 52 and having Parvinder Awana caught for a duck. India A managed 202 and set West Indies A a target of just 97.Kieran Powell, the first-innings centurion, cracked an unbeaten 56 from 50 deliveries while Kraigg Brathwaite remained unbeaten on 36 as the hosts cantered to victory in the 18th over. Powell was named the Man of the Match while left-arm fast bowler Delorn Johnson, who took 17 wickets in the three games, was named the Man of the Series.Hendy Springer, the West Indies A coach, praised his team for fighting back after losing the first game of the series. “If you look at where we came from, before the first match a lot people put their money on India A to beat us, but we played with quality and common sense to win two matches by significant margins,” he said. “We lost by two wickets in the first match but we saw the signs of progress and we progressed nicely.”The bowlers were brilliant throughout the entire series and worked overtime for us. India has a very strong batting line-up and they failed to reach 300 runs in six innings, a sign that we were well prepared and very disciplined as a bowling group.”Springer was pleased that his team had taken advantage of winning positions and shown the ability to complete the job. He said the results were part of the ongoing process to develop the A team players for international cricket.”[Delorn] Johnson got us an early breakthrough in every innings and that put pressure on the other batsmen. He was always ‘at them’ with the new ball and the old ball and asked questions of them every time. [Jonathan] Carter was a revelation. He is a middle-order batsman and part-time wicketkeeper who was asked to do a job with the ball and he did it manfully. His 10 wickets were a huge bonus.”West Indies A and India A will now travel to Trinidad for two Twenty20 matches on the weekend.

Darren Sammy has declared his intention to donate his match fee for Wednesday’s one-day international against New Zealand to the family of Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman who died in a car accident in March

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2012Darren Sammy has declared his intention to donate his match fee for Wednesday’s one-day international against New Zealand to the family of Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman who died in a car accident in March.Morton, who was from St Kitts and Nevis, will be remembered during the third ODI at Warner Park in St Kitts, and the day has been declared a public holiday. Sammy said he and the allrounder Dwayne Bravo had been trying to raise money for Morton’s family through online auctions of cricket memorabilia, and they would continue to help out with the donation of their match fees.”The third ODI, we as a West Indies team have devoted that game to Runako Morton,” Sammy said. “St Kitts is the closest we’ll get to playing international cricket [in Nevis, where Morton was born]. We thought it would be a good way to play tribute to him. It was brought about by WIPA and all the players agreed it was a good initiative to remember Runako Morton.”Myself and Dwayne Bravo have devoted our match fees for the third ODI to Runako Morton and we’ll be making a donation to his wife. He left behind his family and kids … It will be a big thing on Wednesday, remembering Morton and the chance for West Indies to clinch a series win.”Chris Gayle said the West Indians would wear jerseys with 37, Morton’s number, on it during the game. “The last time I was here was sad moment for the funeral of my friend Runako Morton. We are using this as a tribute game to Runako. As players, we came together and decided to pull this together,” Gayle said. “This is one for Runako.”I gather that his wife will be here for the match and we want to give his family and the crowd something to cheer about. We will wear his number on our shirts. We will put in the extra work and try to win tomorrow for Runako. It’s a Public Holiday and we are hoping for a huge turn-out.”Morton played 15 Tests, 56 one-day internationals and seven Twenty20s for West Indies and he was particularly impressive against New Zealand. His highest ODI score of 110 not out came against New Zealand, in Napier in 2006, and his highest Test score of 70 not out also came in Napier on that same tour.

To watch Ed Joyce batting over the past two days has been to watch a cricketer playing on a more elevated level to everyone else

Ivo Tennant at Hove02-Aug-2012
ScorecardEd Joyce marked his first match as official captain with a fine hundred•Getty Images

To watch Ed Joyce batting over the past two days has been to watch a cricketer playing on a more elevated level to everyone else. Where others have failed to contend with the steep bounce, he has dropped the ball off the face of his bat to his feet. Where lesser batsmen have groped outside off stump against movement, he has picked out the cover boundary. Unlike another celebrated left hander in action, the captain of South Africa, he does not go in for ugly shots.The upshot was a delightful century, the 28th of his first-class career and an innings in magnitude as well as elegance beyond the compass of all other batsmen in this contest. Joyce is leading Sussex for the first time as their official captain and it could just be, as he approaches his 34th birthday, that his batting will flower as a result. It is too late for him to play Test cricket – he is fully committed to Ireland – but the wonder is why he did not do so in the past.When Joyce times the ball as sweetly as this – one straight drive for four off Gareth Andrew stood out in particular – it is hard to imagine that his fellow Irishman Eoin Morgan, who has played Test cricket, is a better batsman. This has not been a straightforward pitch to bat on, as Worcestershire’s total of 162 on the first day would suggest. There has been lift and movement, perhaps a little less pronounced on this, the second day, but there has been Alan Richardson, that consummate old pro, to combat.After Sussex resumed their first innings, Richardson soon bowled Chris Nash and had Luke Wells taken at second slip. Interestingly enough, as with Steve Magoffin on the first day, he bowled exclusively up the slope. The difficulties inherent in contending with the bounce were sharply illustrated when Murray Goodwin, not a tall man, pushed forward to Jack Shantry and was hit painfully on a hand. He was out almost immediately afterwards, not fully forward.Mike Yardy batted for a while with unfettered aggression, having dispensed with the cares of captaincy. He pulled Richard Jones for six onto the top of the media stand (which in contrast to the sleek appearance of the ground has some strange weeds growing on its roof) and it was something of a surprise when he nibbled outside off stump at Richardson and was taken at the wicket, having made 33.Joyce continued to bat at his own pace, unflustered by becoming becalmed on 98 shortly before tea, the same score for which he was out in the last match against Nottinghamshire. A full toss from Moeen Ali encouraged him to sweep, a shot he plays well, and it took him to his second century of the season. He had found by now an attack-minded partner in Luke Wright, who in due course became only the second batsman in this match to reach a half century.Joyce had faced, in all, 260 balls and had hit 12 fours when Richardson, who took the new ball in the final session, had him leg before. Wright, who was out not long afterwards, struck eight fours and a six in his innings of 78. Useful additional runs, maybe quite sufficient, were collected before the close.

George Bailey does not think Australia are over-dependent on Shane Watson, after the allrounder weighed in with bat and ball in both group-stage victories

Abhishek Purohit in Colombo27-Sep-2012
George Bailey, the Australia captain, does not think his team is over-dependent on Shane Watson, after the allrounder weighed in with bat and ball in both group-stage victories. Watson made 51 off 30 balls and took 3 for 26 against Ireland, and followed that with an unbeaten 41 and 2 for 29 against West Indies.”I don’t know whether you can call it over-dependence on Watson just because he has performed well in both the games,” Bailey said. “He is a very good player, he is good with the ball and he is an outstanding batsman. He is one of the players that opposition teams fear when they run into him. At the moment, one of his strengths is his consistency, so he is dependable, but I am not sure if we are over-dependent on him.”Watson and David Warner, one of the most powerful opening combinations currently in limited-overs cricket, gave Australia solid starts in both games so far but Bailey said that did not mean the rest of the line-up was not capable. “Watson and Warner are able to provide us an urgent start. There is no doubt that they are key wickets because they can take the game away,” Bailey said. “I guess they are crucial, but we are not at a stage where the rest of us are just making up the numbers.”Bailey was asked whether Watson and Warner’s contributions meant the middle order was undercooked in terms of time spent in the middle. “The middle-order is very happy,” he said. “I know it’s a tough one now but you’ve just got to prepare and train well. It’s not that any of these guys haven’t played a lot. In fact, we have played a lot against the guys we are coming up against. Whenever you get the opportunity to perform, you make sure you are ready to go.”MS Dhoni, the India captain, was also asked about the Watson-Warner combine, and his side’s plans to control the duo. “They are one of the best because they have done consistently well,” Dhoni said. “Both of them play aggressive cricket and look to score as many runs as possible in the first six overs. Since we are looking to play with five bowlers there is a bit more variety up the sleeve, which can be used in the first six overs. So let’s see how they start.”Dhoni said most international sides had aggressive openers in Twenty20s, which helped in getting good starts against the new ball. “If you can put pressure on the opposition bowler, then more often than not they look to save themselves, so if you have a good start, you have an upper hand,” Dhoni said. “In the subcontinent also it is important, initially the ball comes on to the bat nicely, and from the eighth to the 12th over is the time when the game changes. We have seen that quite a few wickets slow down and stroke-play becomes a bit tough. It is important that the top four take advantage of the ball coming on to the bat.”