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Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, has said he is enjoying the success with the ball, but he is “desperate to score some runs”

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2013Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder who is playing for the Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League, has said he is enjoying the success with the ball, but he is “desperate to score some runs”. Shakib bowled a destructive spell of 6 for 6 in the match against the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel, but is yet to taste success with the bat and has scores of 5, 1 and 1 from his three innings.”If you told me I could take five wickets or score a hundred, I would take the hundred any day,” Shakib said. “I am more satisfied getting runs than wickets. I am an allrounder, but I always prefer scoring runs more than my bowling so I am more desperate than anyone else right now I guess.”Shakib’s poor form with the bat has followed him from England, where he was part of Leicestershire team in the FLT20, and managed 146 runs from nine innings with a best of 43. In his last match, Shakib’s bowling spell skittled T&T out for 52, but he managed only 1 in the chase, playing on a Fidel Edwards delivery, and his wicket left the team in a precarious position at 36 for 5.”In that situation I needed to bat. The plan was to see off Fidel because he was getting wickets and I played a rash shot,” he said. “I could have left that ball easily because we were not chasing 150, 160 runs so I was frustrated with myself, not anything else.”Shakib, however, was happy with his bowling after registering the second-best T20 bowling figures. “I guess I was a bit lucky because you can’t get six wickets every day in a T20 game,” he said. “Bowling four overs, getting six wickets, once in a blue moon you may get it but I’ll take it.”Barbados Tridents have not been affected by Shakib’s lack of form with the bat and have registered three wins out of three in the tournament.

A preview of the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya06-May-2013Match factsTuesday, May 7, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Mitchell Johnson has bowled with intensity for Mumbai Indians•BCCIBig pictureDefending champions Kolkata Knight Riders still stand a theoretical chance of making it to the play-offs, and are better placed than some other teams to spoil a party or two. They have made Rajasthan Royals’ job tougher after beating them comprehensively at Eden Gardens, and will be a threat to Mumbai Indians, who they face on Tuesday.Knight Riders may need to win each of their remaining matches to entertain hopes of staying alive; Mumbai could jump to second place should they win, else will feel a little less secure, especially if Rajasthan Royals beat Delhi Daredevils in the afternoon. Mumbai, though, are on a high after inflicting a thrashing on Chennai Super Kings, who, by their own captain’s admission, were complacent after seven wins in a row. And in a season where playing at home has played a decisive role, they’ll be favourites when they take on Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium.Form guideMumbai Indians: WLWWW (most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLWLPlayers to watchMitchell Johnson has bowled with intensity this season, something that was evident when he helped Mumbai defend 139 against Super Kings. He bowled with pace, got the ball to move about and, in the company of Lasith Malinga, is perhaps part of the best fast-bowling duo this IPL.Amid the clutter of stars in each team, the contributions of players like Rajat Bhatia are sometimes overlooked. If the track at the Wankhede Stadium plays as slow as it did in the game against Super Kings, Bhatia, with his medium-pace cutters, will be hard to dispatch. He’s picked up nine wickets in 11 games for Knight Riders this season, at 27.88 with an economy-rate of 7.41.Stats and trivia Sunil Narine is six short of 100 wickets in T20 cricket. His career economy-rate in T20 cricket is a remarkable 5.40. Jacques Kallis has scored the most runs off Lasith Malinga in the IPL, 74 off 56 while only being dismissed once. Shane Watson has taken him for 67 off 38. Yusuf Pathan is sixth on the list, with 42 off 35. Quotes”It’s a very good start that I have got. Out of five games I have won four and lost one. I would take that result as a captain. But I am not going to relax. We still need to play good cricket for the next five games and get to the play-offs comfortably.”

Ireland captain William Porterfield said his side felt “disappointed” after their hopes for a maiden series win over a Test nation were quashed as Pakistan won 1-0.

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2013Ireland captain William Porterfield said the loss to Pakistan in the second ODI was “heartbreaking” for the team after being in a strong position to register their maiden ODI series win over a Test-playing nation. Pakistan were reduced to 133 for 7 chasing 230, but a 93-run eighth-wicket stand between Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz quashed Ireland’s hopes as Pakistan took the series 1-0 with a narrow two-wicket win.”It is kind of heartbreaking in terms of being in the position we were in. That’s the biggest thing that we’ll look back on,” Porterfield said.Ireland seamers Trent Johnston and Tim Murtagh reduced Pakistan to 17 for 4 before a 52-run stand between Akmal and Shoaib Malik instigated a fight back. But it was Riaz’s counterattacking 47 off 35 balls that caught Ireland offguard. “For [number] nine to come in and hit it like that – fair play to him,” Porterfield said.With Pakistan needing 32 in four overs, Riaz demolished Murtagh’s over by hitting three sixes in five balls. Akmal, who’s 81 off 85 balls held Pakistan’s chase together, also earned praise from the Ireland captain. “He found the gaps pretty well and showed that intent from early on,” he said. “He took the momentum away from us.”Though Porterfield rued not being able to capitalise on key moments, he said the team showed that its cricket was moving in the right direction. “Even coming into the last 12 to 14 overs, if we had of picked up a wicket at that time we were right on top. It’s deflating at the minute but it shows where we are at,” he said.A prime source of his confidence was Ed Joyce, whose century was the sole bright spot in Ireland’s batting as seven batsmen fell for single-digit scores. “The way he [Joyce] played by anchoring the innings and pacing it stood out,” Porterfield said. “It shows what a class act he is and showed the rest of us what type of innings needed to be played.”Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, was impressed by the challenge put up by the Ireland team. “They played very well,” he said, “The way they are improving they can compete with any Test-playing nation.”We were really struggling. We knew that we had depth in our batting because Abdur Rehman and Wahab Riaz are capable of scoring runs at the lower order. But it was still a difficult job. The way Kamran and Wahab played was tremendous.”We have not been getting much from the lower order so the way they played gives us a lot of confidence going into the Champions Trophy.”

A round-up of the two matches played in the Caribbean T20 in Port of Spain

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2013
ScorecardBarbados thrashed Leeward Islands by nine wickets, after dismissing their opponents for 87 and then achieving the target in 8.2 overs at Queen’s Park Oval. Only one Leeward Islands batsman, Chesney Hughes, reached double figures while the other ten managed only 42 runs together. Barbados fast bowler Tino Best finished with figures of 4 for 26, his best in a domestic T20 match.Leeward Islands chose to bat and Best started the collapse by dismising Kieran Powell with the first ball of the match. Hughes was the only man to provide resistance with a 23-ball 34. The next best score was 8 and extras contributed 11 to Leeward Islands’ total.Barbados chased their target by scoring at nearly 11 runs per over, after the openers put on 65 in 4.3 overs. Justin Brathwaite scored a 16-ball 42, which included four sixes and three fours. His opening partner Dwayne Smith also scored quickly, hitting four fours and two sixes in an unbeaten 36 off 21 balls.
ScorecardIn a dramatic finish to the second match of the day at Queen’s Park Oval, Guyana scored 13 runs in the last over to beat Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by two wickets. Guyana needed 19 runs from 12 balls but Raymon Reifer took two wickets off the first two balls to complete a hat-trick – he had taken one off the last ball of his previous over – and added another wicket off the fifth ball, leaving Guyana in trouble.They needed ten off the last two deliveries from Jason Holder, who then bowled a no-ball off which the batsmen ran two. With seven to get, and two balls still remaining, Veerasammy Permaul swung a six over midwicket and scampered a leg-bye to take Guyana home off the final ball.Guyana’s chase of 160 was led by Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine, who shared a 62-run partnership and took the score to 91 for 3 before Chanderpaul was dismissed. CCC took two more wickets in the next five overs, putting the match in the balance before it slipped away from them in the final over.CCC’s innings had been led by a blistering knock from Chadwick Walton, who fell short of his hundred by one run. He anchored the innings and had partnerships of 50 and 58 for the first two wickets. Walton helped CCC scored 61 off the last five overs, his contribution was 48 from 17, including four sixes in the last over.

Afghanistan drew level with Scotland in second in the ICC’s WCL Championship table after a five-wicket win that boosted their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2013
ScorecardAfghanistan drew level with Scotland in second in the ICC’s WCL Championship table after a five-wicket win that boosted their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup. A second defeat to the same opponents in three days, meanwhile, was a significant blow to Scotland’s chances of finishing in the top two.Despite Kyle Coetzer’s run-a-ball 133, only three other batsmen got into double figures as Scotland made 259 from their 50 overs. Afghanistan put on several solid partnerships, with the lowest score among the top six being 28, and Mohammad Nabi rattled off 51 from 44 balls to put them on the brink of victory. A few blows from the powerful Gulbodin Naib were enough to finish the game with eight balls to spare.Nabi had earlier taken two wickets but Scotland will rue not having made a more challenging total after reaching 144 for 1 in the 32nd over. Coezter and Josh Davey (64) had combined for a second-wicket partnership of 134 but Hamid Hassan broke the stand and Samiullah Shenwari (3-42) ripped out the middle order. Dawlat Zadran took two wickets and also ran out Coezter to prevent Scotland getting away.Ireland lead the WCL Championship with 13 points, with Scotland and Afghanistan on 11, having played two games more. Netherlands, in fourth, face Namibia next month, while fifth-placed UAE host Ireland later in March. There will be a further two rounds of games, with the top two teams guaranteed a spot at the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Moeen Ali and Daryl Mitchell were the stars of Worcestershire’s 54-run over Somerset in the Friends Life t20 clash at Taunton

01-Jul-2012
ScorecardMoeen Ali and Daryl Mitchell were the stars of Worcestershire’s 54-run over Somerset in the Friends Life t20 clash at Taunton.Moeen set the tone for his side’s 173 for 7, which included six penalty runs for a slow Somerset over-rate, with a rapid 47 after the hosts had won the toss. Phil Hughes contributed 41, while Alfonso Thomas was the pick of the visitors bowling attack with 1 for 24 from his four overs.Then Mitchell claimed 3 for 13 with his medium pace as Somerset’s batting fell apart from a promising 51 for 1 after six overs. They were eventually bowled out for 119 to suffer a second heavy defeat in as many games before another packed crowd.From looking to have a grip on the Midlands/Wales/West Division, Somerset are suddenly under pressure following a slump in form that began with Friday’s nine-wicket home defeat by arch-rivals Gloucestershire. Worcestershire have two games in hand and are now only a point behind their opponents. Their bowlers were far more effective on a slow pitch, with David Lucas and Brett D’Oliveira (3 for 20) backing Mitchell with economical spells.Richard Levi was the only home batsman to time the ball, hitting three fours and two sixes in his 27 before holing Mitchell out to Moeen at long-on. After that it was a sorry procession, with only Lewis Gregory (22) showing any semblance of form.Somerset’s new plan of opening the bowling with left-arm spinner George Dockrell failed to pay dividends as Moeen attacked from the outset and the total after one over was 14. The six Powerplay overs yielded 53 for Worcestershire and by the time the impressive Moeen was stumped advancing to Dockrell, having hit six fours and two sixes in facing 23 balls, the total was 73 for 1 in the eighth over.Vikram Solanki had made 33 at a run a ball before he was caught by James Hildreth at long-off – Dockrell again the bowler – and it was 127 for 3 when former Somerset player Gareth Andrew was taken by Nick Compton at long-on off Steve Kirby for 19.Hughes was dropped on 3 and 15 before going on to bolster the second half of the innings, hitting four fours in his 32-ball innings. From 153 for 3 in the 18th over, Worcestershire lost four late wickets, but were boosted by the bonus of the extra runs as the home side paid for bowling their overs too slowly.

Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore stressed on his team’s need to “read the game well” to gain positions of advantage in matches, ahead of the second ODI in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2012Although Pakistan spinners gained a stranglehold on the Australian batsmen to make their chase of 199 difficult on a slow wicket in Sharjah, coach Dav Whatmore stressed on his team’s need to “read the game well” to gain positions of advantage in matches, ahead of the second ODI in Abu Dhabi.Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 38 runs to capitulate for 198, which proved costly as the low target allowed Australia to cut out the risks as they pushed for a win.”Reading the game is very important. If the players can read the game well, they are in a better position to respond. It is not just about losing wickets. It is also about why, how and what you do next. We have some wonderful young players and they have to change their thinking sooner rather than later,” Whatmore said.Saeed Ajmal took three wickets and Mohammad Hafeez two as all six wickets fell to spinners, who together maintained an economy rate of 3.20. Whatmore praised them for putting Australia under pressure early.”Our spinners did well against Australia. Their economy rate was very good. We bowled like I expected them to. But credit has to be given to Australia for the way they countered our spinners. But if they had a few more runs to chase, it would have been a different kettle of fish.”I’m disappointed that we could not win the first game. We made a couple of errors.”

Tom Sears will join Ireland’s Connacht rugby club in July

Firdose Moonda03-May-2012Tom Sears has confirmed that he has resigned as Cricket Kenya CEO, effective end-June, to join the Irish rugby club Connacht. A replacement CEO will be discussed at Cricket Kenya’s board meeting this weekend.Sears, who was appointed CEO in May 2010, oversaw the setting up of a franchise-based tournament, which also featured two teams from Uganda. The national team hasn’t fared too well, though, failing to qualify for the World Twenty20 both in 2010 and in this year, and experiencing a miserable 2011 one-day World Cup.”We haven’t achieved everything we set out to do but we have provided more facilities and put structures in place,” Sears told ESPNcricinfo. “We have worked very hard to introduce the game at the grassroots level because we were trying to turn around years of decline at that level.”People have to have patience to see that pay off. If the structures we have put in place are nurtured, results will improve in the next two to three years.”

Gautam Gambhir has urged franchises to do more to discipline players, saying the BCCI can’t be held responsible for players’ off-field behaviour during the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2012Gautam Gambhir, captain of the victorious Kolkata Knight Riders, has urged franchises to do more to discipline players, saying the BCCI can’t be held responsible for players’ off-field behaviour during the IPL.”Somewhere down the line, franchises need to control these things,” he told news channel . “A certain player from a certain team does these things, the franchise needs to be fined and it has to be fined heavily.” There had been several controversies during the IPL, including Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Luke Pomersbach being charged by the Delhi police with assaulting a woman.”It is the responsibility of the franchise to control its players,” Gambhir said. “The BCCI can’t appoint one person each to keep a watch over every player.”Players who have a history of binge drinking and have got into trouble in the past, franchises should impose a curfew on them and they should be sent back to their rooms.”The IPL also faced allegations of black money and spot-fixing, but Gambhir defended the Indian board and the IPL. “We keep blaming the BCCI and the IPL for all these things,” he said. “A lot of these things can be sorted out if the franchise is strong enough. Whatever we sign for is given, and nothing is given under the table.”IPL chairman, Rajiv Shukla, meanwhile told that the franchises must ‘keep an eye’ on their playing and support staff. “We are not going to protect any player. We will definitely take action against anyone found guilty and we will tell franchises also to be very careful about these things,” Shukla said. “They should also keep a strict eye on the activities of the respective players and support staff of their side.”

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has seen its authority taken away by the Guyana government and the WICB is refusing to acknowledge the government-appointed interim management committee

Garth Wattley 06-Jan-2012West Indies cricket is facing yet another crisis, this time involving the territory of Guyana.The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has seen its authority taken away by the Guyana government and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is refusing to acknowledge the government-appointed interim management committee headed by former Guyana and West Indies captain Clive Lloyd.One feared fallout of this was Guyana’s exclusion from the Caribbean T20 tournament, which starts in Antigua next week, but latest indications are that the country will be represented.Last Wednesday, the secretary of the embattled GCB, Anand Senasie, wrote to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) informing it that the board could not provide a team for the tournament, which starts on January 9, because the Guyanese government, through the ministry of culture, youth and sport, had placed locks on the doors of the GCB’s offices and storage bond since December 24. This means the board is not in a position to prepare and outfit a team, although a squad has already been selected for the tournament.This standoff between the Guyanese government, in the form of sports minister Dr Frank Anthony, the GCB and by extension the WICB has its genesis in the disputed Guyana board elections of July last year. Those elections were boycotted by some of the board’s constituent members. Ramsay Ali, however, became president.Subsequently, the Berbice Cricket Board, through its secretary Angela Haniff, took the GCB to court, claiming that the new administration was not properly established. In ruling on the matter, acting Chief Justice Ian Chang noted that the GCB and its constituents – the Berbice, Demarara and Essequibo cricket boards – were really unincorporated associations and that “the judiciary is powerless to provide remedial action.”The Chief Justice, however, recommended that “there may be immediate need for the minister responsible for sports to impose his executive will in the national interest.”The result of this ruling was the setting up of the interim committee headed by Lloyd, by sports minister Anthony. Lloyd, ironically also an ex-officio member of the West Indies board, has a mandate to draft a new constitution for the GCB that would go to all constituent boards and other stakeholders “for their deliberations and adoption”, to bring together into one board the factions of the Demerara Cricket Board (one source of the GCB’s problems) and to review all the GCB’s financial transactions through an independent auditor.This government intervention via the establishment of the interim committee has met with strong resistance from the West Indies board.Following a meeting in St Lucia last weekend, the WICB’s directors gave full backing to the GCB and chief-executive officer of the WICB, Dr Ernest Hilaire, told the newspaper on Wednesday: “We cannot recognise another body in Guyana; it’s as simple as that. The issue of whether or not the court can dissolve a cricket board must be decided legally. Unless it can be determined that the minister [has the legal authority to] dissolve the GCB, then the WICB cannot recognise any other body.”The WICB has also informed the Guyanese sports minister by letter that the Guyana team can only be provided by the authorised body for the governance of cricket in Guyana – the GCB – and not by any other entity.The WICB also requested the government of Guyana to allow the GCB to access its offices and resources to allow it to be able to complete the process of fielding the Guyana team for the Twenty20.The implications for Guyana’s cricketers and its cricket in general can be grave, therefore, as long as the interim committee – established to work over a six-month period – is kept in place by the government. Already, Guyana, the 2010 Caribbean T20 winners, may miss a chance to play in this year’s edition, and could also be debarred from the regional four-day competition if things remain the same. Guyana’s hosting of international cricket this year has also been cast in to doubt because of the impasse.For the imminent T20 tournament, the WICB had proposed replacing the Guyana team with a West Indies B side, which, the board said, would include players selected in the Guyana squad who have represented West Indies or who are under consideration for future selection. The board said other players in the squad not selected for the B team would still be paid their match fees. However, this may not be necessary now as Guyana are likely to field a side in the tournament.20:21 GMT, Jan 6: This story has been updated from an earlier version