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Shahid Afridi and the PCB may have reached a kind of compromise, but the issue of Afridi’s international future is still shrouded in doubt

Osman Samiuddin16-Jun-2011Shahid Afridi and the PCB may have reached a kind of compromise which sees both sides get what they want, but the issue of Afridi’s international future remains shrouded in doubt still. After being removed as ODI captain, Afridi ‘retired’ from the international game, though he made it clear that it was a decision made in protest and a ‘conditional’ one; several times he said he would not play again under the current administration, but would reconsider if and when there was a change.Under the compromise reached between Afridi and PCB chairman Ijaz Butt earlier this week, the former withdrew his petition against the board in the Sindh High Court and will face a board disciplinary committee hearing later on Thursday in Lahore. In return, he is expected to be granted the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) that allows him to play for Hampshire in the ongoing Friends Life t20 and later for one of the franchises in the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).Increasingly as the dispute has escalated, Afridi has focused purely on being allowed to play for Hampshire and made little mention of his Pakistan future. Butt told ESPNcricinfo that Afridi’s retirement “was not mentioned at all” during their meeting. “As far as the board is concerned he is still retired,” Butt said.A report in the leading Urdu daily on Thursday suggests further that Afridi has not thought about his international future. At a function to mark the re-launch of the group’s sports channel two nights ago – the channel has been off-air for nearly two months – the report quoted Afridi telling the audience that “the NOC was my right and nobody could stop him from getting it.” When asked about his international future, Afridi gave no reply.Further, the newspaper cited sources close to Afridi as saying at the same event that he has no immediate plans for a return and is only concentrating on the T20 events in England and Sri Lanka.What has confused the issue, however, is a statement allegedly released by Afridi late on Wednesday night, in which he seems to suggest he still has an international future. “I have always served Pakistan and played cricket for my country and its people and the overwhelming love, honour and respect I have received in return is my biggest asset,” part of the statement reads. “I have all the zeal and energy to play cricket for the nation for many years to come. I will be appearing before the disciplinary committee tomorrow, inshallah.”The statement has come from a close advisor of Afridi, but other sources insist that it does not convey the authentic sentiments of Afridi and that he has not owned up to it.Afridi’s desire for international cricket has come under scrutiny several times in the past. In 2006 he retired briefly from Test cricket – after his most successful phase in the format incidentally – to concentrate on the limited overs game. He took back that decision, however, soon after and even returned to play one Test – as captain no less – last summer in England. Immediately after leading Pakistan to a loss at Lord’s against Australia, he resigned as captain and retired from the format again.

The debutant batsman Peter Handscomb showed impressive composure to keep Victoria steady on the second day at the Gabba, where they chipped away at Queensland’s first innings of 355

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2011
ScorecardChris Rogers made 72 for Victoria•Getty ImagesThe debutant batsman Peter Handscomb showed impressive composure to keep Victoria steady on the second day at the Gabba, where they chipped away at Queensland’s first innings of 355. But despite Handscomb’s half-century, the Bushrangers faced a tough challenge to take first-innings points, still trailing by 143 runs at the close of play, with only the bowlers still to bat.The last two recognised batsmen were at the crease, Alex Keath on 16 and Ryan Carters on 4, as Victoria reached 5 for 212 at stumps. They had lost Handscomb for 71 late in the day when he edged Ben Cutting to slip, to give Cutting a well-deserved second wicket, as he finished the day with figures of 2 for 37 from 20 overs.Batting at No.3, Handscomb had stayed at the crease for four and a half hours and put on a valuable 90-run stand for the second wicket with Chris Rogers, who eventually lobbed a return catch to the legspinner Cameron Boyce for 72. Scott Walter picked up two wickets, including Victoria’s captain Andrew McDonald for 33, after he finished unbeaten on 14 in Queensland’s innings earlier in the day.The Bulls resumed at 6 for 306 and added 49 to their overnight total, with Peter Siddle collecting two wickets on the second morning. Darren Pattinson finished with 3 for 75.

On a day when Michael Clarke became Australia’s sixth triple-centurion in Test cricket and Michael Hussey scored his 16th Test hundred, Australia consolidated their enormous advantage in the second Test against India

The Report by Brydon Coverdale05-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMichael Clarke celebrates his triple-hundred•Getty ImagesMatthew Hayden, Mark Taylor, Don Bradman, Michael Clarke. That is the list of the men with the highest Test scores for Australia after a day on which Clarke not only wrote himself into the record books but also declared early enough to give his side a strong chance to push for victory over India. Clarke ended Australia’s innings with his own score on 329, choosing neither to seek the glory of chasing down Brian Lara’s world-record 400, nor even Taylor’s iconic 334, the best score by an Australian Test captain.Instead, he chose drinks in the middle session – the halfway point of the game – to declare Australia’s innings closed at 4 for 659. His partner, Michael Hussey, had just reached 150. His thinking as he and Hussey walked off to a standing ovation from the SCG crowd was clear: on a good pitch, Australia would need time to bowl India out, especially with the chance of rain on the fourth day. Personal milestones meant nothing. The team goal was all that mattered.By the close of play, Australia had two of the ten wickets they wanted. Virender Sehwag had gone in the fourth over of the innings. He flashed hard at a wide ball from Ben Hilfenhaus and was brilliantly snapped up at point by David Warner, whose split-second leap up and to his left allowed him to clasp his hands around the ball and remove India’s quickest scorer for 4.Hilfenhaus also accounted for Rahul Dravid, who was bowled for the third time in the series. On 29, Dravid moved his front foot across in line with off stump but left enough of a gap for the bowler to nip a ball in between bat and pad. The Wall is in desperate need of some mortar, but don’t expect the former bricklayer Hilfenhaus to supply it.At stumps, India were 2 for 114, still trailing by 354, and the Australians needed to find a way through the defences of Sachin Tendulkar, who was on 8. Unexpectedly, given his struggles in the first three innings of the series, it was Gautam Gambhir who was giving them the most trouble. He had reached 68 and was playing positively, having struck nine boundaries.Already he had his highest Test score in more than a year. However, Gambhir had been given a life on 66 when James Pattinson found his outside edge in the dying stages of the day. Brad Haddin dived to his left and for the second time in the series moved too far; the ball sailed between his arms while his gloves kept moving further towards first slip.The Australians knew it could be a costly let-off, for runs had flowed easily for Clarke and Hussey on the third day. In three hours of cricket, they added 177 for the loss of no wickets. In fact, from 4.43pm on the opening day of the match until 2.10pm on the third day, Australia had put on 622 runs for the loss of just one wicket, that of Ricky Ponting, who fell for 134 midway through the second afternoon.And while Hussey finished with 150 not out, the third day was all about Clarke. He not only became the sixth man to score a Test triple-century for Australia, his innings was also the best by an Australian captain in a home Test, surpassing Bradman’s 270 at the MCG in 1937. It also broke Tip Foster’s 108-year-old record for the highest score in an SCG Test; his 287 on debut was passed when Clarke drove a boundary through extra cover.That was a record that could not be overstated, especially in the SCG’s 100th Test. Over the years, 3747 times batsmen have walked out on to the Sydney Cricket Ground to commence a Test innings. In all of those performances, nobody has ever scored as many as Clarke did over the past three days. He went to lunch on 293, and it took barely ten minutes after the break for his triple-century to arrive.It came with a flick off his pads for a boundary off Ishant Sharma, an appropriate shot for Clarke had punished anything on his legs throughout the innings. In truth, there was hardly a region of the ground in which Clarke didn’t score freely: he drove through off and down the ground, cut, pulled and glanced with ease. He was slow out of the blocks on the third morning, ensuring he got himself set again, but never did his innings stagnate.He was helped by the presence of Hussey, who became the third centurion in Australia’s innings. In a 334-run partnership with Clarke, Hussey kept the scoreboard ticking over at a reasonable rate. He brought up his 16th Test hundred with a single tickled towards third man off Sehwag’s offspin shortly before lunch, and he pumped his fists with delight.Although it was Hussey’s fifth Test century since the start of the Ashes last summer, he had also fallen for three golden ducks during his past nine innings. At no did India seriously look like breaking the partnership, although R Ashwin bowled an impressive, searching spell in the opening session.The action in the middle became so predictable that in the ABC radio commentary box Harsha Bhogle and Kerry O’Keeffe entertained listeners by challenging each other to eat the world’s hottest chilli. Meanwhile, in the Channel Nine box, Ian Healy quizzed Bill Lawry on pigeon diseases.But all eyes were fixed on Clarke as he reached his triple-century, and when he declared less than an hour later. It was a captain’s innings in every way, just as he delivered in Cape Town against South Africa in November. Australia lost that Test. Clarke made sure they won’t lose this one.

The horrific Queensland weather held off long enough to allow the Bulls to dismantle Tasmania to post their first victory of this year’s Big Bash

The Bulletin by Alex Malcolm 07-Jan-2011Queensland 2 for 119 (Hopes 65*, Carseldine 28*) beat Tasmania 8 for 118 (Bailey 37, Rimmington 2-23) by 8 wickets
ScorecardJames Hopes starred in Queensland’s victory with an allround performance•Getty ImagesThe horrific Queensland weather held off long enough to allow the Bulls to dismantle Tasmania to post their first victory of this year’s Big Bash.Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell Jr conjured a miracle to prepare a playable surface given the apocalyptic rains that have drowned the state over the past three weeks.James Hopes won the toss and sent Tasmania in. It proved to be the correct decision as the hosts bowled and fielded superbly right through the Tasmania innings to restrict them to a below-par 8 for 118 from their 20 overs. The visitors were on the back foot when they lost newly named Australia Twenty20 vice-captain Tim Paine, who played on for 3 in the third over, with just 11 runs on the board.The Tigers also contributed to their own downfall with two needless run-outs. Mark Cosgrove miscalculated while attempting two to Michael Neser running in from deep square leg. An outstanding direct hit found Cosgrove miles short. Then Travis Birt committed cricketing suicide in the next over calling George Bailey through for a single when his captain had merely defended back to the bowler.Bailey tried to mount a rescue mission, top scoring with 37 from 30 balls, including two sixes. He and James Faulkner (24) put on 41 for the seventh wicket to take Tasmania past 100. But Bailey was undone by a clever slower ball from Nathan Rimmington, who bowled brilliantly to finish with 2 for 23, including the wicket of Faulker.The Bulls had one eye on the weather in their chase as opener Chris Simpson got them off to rapid start, clubbing 20 from 11 balls after Michael Lumb fell early. However, he failed to capitalise on his start, as he was bowled by Xavier Doherty in the third over to leave the Bulls at 2 for 25. But Hopes (65 not out) and Lee Carseldine (28 not out) dashed any hopes that Tasmania might have had of a Queensland collapse. They smashed 94 runs off 68 balls to make a mockery of the Tasmanian attack and reach the target with 37 balls to spare. In one stretch of eight deliveries, the experience pair thumped six fours and a six between them.Hopes, who also affected a run-out and took a one-handed catch to dismiss Ryan ten Doeschate, was declared the Man-of-the-Match.Queensland move level with Tasmania on the table with the four other sides playing their second matches across the weekend.

Kevin Pietersen has admitted his frustrations at not converting confident starts into a substantial innings in the one-day series against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2011Kevin Pietersen has admitted his frustration at not converting confident starts into a substantial innings in the one-day series against Sri Lanka but won’t be changing his attacking approach. He has looked in fine form in all three matches before falling to the part-time legspin of Jeevan Mendis each time to leave England without one of their power-hitters.Pietersen motored to 41 at almost a run-a-ball at Lord’s on Sunday, dominating a third-wicket stand of 49 with Alastair Cook, and was resurrecting the innings after a difficult start in the first 10-over Powerplay. He took three consecutive fours of Suranga Lakmal but, in trying to continue his free-scoring, top-edged Mendis to deep square-leg. When Eoin Morgan fell cheaply England were 85 for 4 and the innings never gained the required momentum despite Cook’s 119.”I feel 100% that I’m on the brink of a big score,” he said. “I’ve felt better and better. [At Lord’s], I felt fantastic. But the way that I play, looking to score and be aggressive and take the attack to the opposition, you are going to have good days and bad days.”At the moment, the luck of the draw hasn’t particularly helped me. I’ve just got to keep playing the way I play and, if the way I’m playing at the moment is anything to go by, I’m very happy.”Pietersen, who has just two ODI half-centuries since November 2008, knows that falling three times to the same bowler – who isn’t a specialist – generates plenty of discussion hot on the heels of the debate about his record against left-arm spinners. However, he isn’t worried about a pattern developing and just puts it down to the period of the game he has been batting in.”You have to look for boundary options,” he said. “In the first game I was trying to hit every ball and could have got out to anybody the way I was playing. At Headingley, I was looking to take charge and hit some boundaries and I was excellently caught by Malinga. At Lord’s I was looking to hit the ball along the ground and top-edged it. I can’t say that he is mysteriously spinning me out. But I am getting out.”As I said to the press a couple of weeks ago, you load the gun, fill it with ammunition and you get shot. And it is a question you are asking because I’ve got out to him three times. But I promise you I don’t lose any sleep over getting out to him.”One suggestion behind Pietersen’s dismissals is that he is feeling it is on his shoulders to find the boundaries regularly because the top order is not generating the required tempo. Having Cook and Jonathan Trott in the top three means England find themselves in situations where two similar-style anchors are batting together in the Powerplay.”It is what it is,” Pietersen said. “We are a side who knows we have six world-class batsmen. There is a lot of discussion about it – not particularly in our rooms – but there is a lot of discussion about it. I just think we must back the players we have to get the best out of their ability and, if all of us get the best out of our ability, we are going to score a lot of runs.”And Pietersen won’t be making any suggestions to Cook that the batting order should change for the remainder of the series despite his brief experience of the captaincy three years ago.”At the moment, I have kept well out of it. It has nothing to do with me,” he said. “Cook is a new skipper and the last thing you want to be doing is putting yourself out there saying, ‘This is what we need to do.'”Cooky is in charge, he played beautifully for his 100. It’s key and vital that whatever decisions he makes, we back instead of questioning them. That’s not good for his confidence.”Cook has also received the support of his Test captain, Andrew Strauss, who is keeping tabs on the one-day series from the sidelines before returning to the job for the Tests against India. Strauss wants the one-day side to be given more time to evolve before judgements are made, but has said he’s always happy to offer advice.”It’s important to realise that at the end of the World Cup was the end of the cycle,” Strauss said while sitting on a panel at the MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture. “Post World Cup was the start of a new cycle and therefore it was wrong to expect the England team to suddenly be the best in the world.”There’s a lot of hard work necessary. Alastair Cook and Andy Flower have a fairly blank canvas from which to move forward. It’s going to take time and hard work. We’ll have good days and bad days, but over time we’ll get better. I’m very confident that will happen. I’ll help out any way I can.”

The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt has said that player power has been completely eradicated from the national side

ESPNcricinfo staff12-May-2011The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt has claimed victory over player power in the national side, saying it has now been completely eradicated.In recent months, Butt has quietly moved away from the public limelight, allowing senior board officials to do much of the board’s talking. Though unsaid, it seems to have been the result of last summer, where Butt’s various public utterances on the spot-fixing scandal resulted in the ICC warning the PCB eventually to clean up its affairs, including governance.But in a (now) rare interview to , Butt says that Pakistan cricket has benefited in some ways under his administration. “Let me assure you that player power, though present in the past, does not exist in the national team at the moment as I have taken strict actions to eradicate it,” Butt said.Infighting, player indiscipline and clashes between the players and boards have been an inextricable part of Pakistan cricket, particularly over the last few years. Last year, the PCB banned Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf from playing for Pakistan in any format for an indefinite period, while handing out one-year bans to Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and imposing fines on Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers. The punishments came in the aftermath of a disastrous tour of Australia in 2009-10.Though the punishments were all either reversed or lessened soon after, Butt said the message had been sent out. “To crush player power, I penalised even prominent players like Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal without showing any reluctance which in the past had damaged the team spirit,” he said.After a brief period of relative calm, things have begun to heat up again with a selectorial spat between Afridi and coach Waqar Younis brewing away, one that seems to have taken in chief selector Mohsin Khan as well. But the board has acted in both cases, first preventing Khan from holding a press conference in which he was to air his discontent and then reaching a resolution with the chief selector. Afridi has also been hauled up by the board for his remarks upon returning from the Caribbean in which he hinted at the differences with the coach.Butt said that a decision on the issue would be taken after he received manager Intikhab Alam’s report. “An undisciplined person, whether he is an official or player, will face punishment at the end of the tour.”He acknowledged that the existing system of selection under which the selectors choose the squad and the tour selection committee the playing eleven had some flaws, though he said it suited Pakistan. One of the solutions, he said, was a strong head of the tour selection committee.Butt also admitted that on some occasions he had differed with selectors and had asked them to review the selection of some players. “Whenever the selectors refused to review the selection, I used my constitutional power and made the changes,” he said.Butt also highlighted the financial successes under his administration, nearly three years old now. No international side has toured Pakistan since the Lahore attacks on Sri Lanka’s cricketers and support staff in March 2009 and the 2011 World Cup was taken away, but Butt said the board’s reserves had increased to Rs. 3.2 billion (US $ 37.7 million).”We achieved this despite playing our home series at neutral venues,” he said. “The PCB was financially weak with the reserves of Rs1.6 billion (US $ 18.8 million) when I took over the charge and it owed over Rs1 billion (US $ 11.7 million) to different parties.”

Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann missed training after being laid low by stomach bugs, though both are expected to be fit in time for England’s must-win match against West Indies

Siddarth Ravindran in Chennai15-Mar-2011Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann missed training in Chennai on Tuesday after being laid low by stomach bugs, though both are expected to be fit in time for England’s must-win match against West Indies on Thursday.Strauss is also England’s leading run-scorer in this World Cup with 298 at nearly a run-a-ball, while the first-choice spinner Swann is their joint highest wicket-taker with nine.England batsman Jonathan Trott, however, was keen to emphasise after the practice session that both unwell players would recover in time for the West Indies match, which England must win to have a chance of making the quarter-finals.”They are two key players in our side, in anybody’s side they would be, especially with Andrew being captain, but I’m fully confident they will be alright,” Trott said. “These things are usually 24-48 hour things. I’m glad it happened sort of now and not tomorrow. Hopefully they will be alright tomorrow for training”Trott himself hasn’t been at full fitness over the past couple of days. “Two days of fever, I’m not quite sure what it is,” he said. “Feeling a little better today, not quite a 100%, but its good to have had a bit of running and some exercise under my belt today. “England have already lost two high-profile players since arriving in the subcontinent, with batsman Kevin Pietersen returning home for hernia surgery and Stuart Broad picking up a side strain. They play their final league match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where they pulled off a comeback win over South Africa nine days ago. That result has kept them in contention for a quarter-final spot despite shock defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh.

A round-up of the matches from the fourth day of the Faysal Bank T20, 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2011Nauman Habib and Umar Gul bowled Peshawar Panthers to a 28-run victory over Islamabad Leopards on Wednesday. Habib picked up three early wickets and Gul one to reduce Islamabad to 19 for 4 in the fourth over chasing 151. Islamabad captain Naeem Anjum fought bravely to make 40 and add 57 for the sixth wicket with Sajid Ali (24). But with opener Afaq Raheem (32) the only other batsmen to reach double-figures, Islamabad’s challenge fizzled out once Gul removed Sajid. Habib finished with 4 for 17 while Gul took 3 for 27. Gul also made a quick 20 to provide a rapid finish to Peshawar’s innings. Aftab Alam was the top scorer with 36.Faisalabad Wolves eased to a comprehensive win over Multan Tigers at the National Stadium in Karachi. Opener Asif Ali top-scored with 44 and was part of a 57-run opening stand with Asif Hussain which set the foundation for a competitive score. Khurram Shehzad contributed 43 and despite a spate of run-outs down the order, Faisalabad were in a good position at the innings break. Multan built their chase steadily and were well placed for a take-off at 63 for 1 in the 10th over but when Gulraiz Sadaf (32) and Zain Abbas (28) fell in successive overs after a promising stand, their hopes began to fade. Saeed Ajmal was outstanding, with figures of five runs in four overs and three wickets that shut Multan out of the contest.The Afghan Cheetas put up a good fight but were unable to overcome Rawalpindi Rams at the National Stadium in Karachi. Samiullah Shenwari and Najibullah Zadran struck half-centuries, and in quick time, splitting six sixes between them, to help their team post 162. Brief contributions from the top order help lay a good foundation and the pair added 78 for the fourth wicket. Rawalpindi were off to a flier in the chase, Awais Zia smashing 60 in 41 balls, striking 10 fours and a six. His top-order partners didn’t give him company for long but the blistering start meant there wasn’t really a great risk of the required rate getting out of hand. Umar Amin joined Zia in a crucial stand, adding 55, and received good support from Hammad Azam, who saw his team through with seven balls to spare.

Seamer Andrew Carter and left-arm spinner Graeme White have signed new two-year contracts with Nottinghamshire

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2010Seamer Andy Carter and left-arm spinner Graeme White have signed new two-year contracts with Nottinghamshire.Both players were already under contract until the end of the 2011 season but have agreed new terms on deals that commit them to the club until the end of the 2012 season.White joined the club from Northamptonshire last year and enjoyed a solid debut season at Trent Bridge, playing his first Championship game as well as being a regular in limited-overs cricket.”Graeme has quickly become a key member of our team in limited overs matches,” said Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell. “He’s here principally for his spin bowling but he has shown promise with the bat and has the potential to become a good all-rounder.”He’ll be keen to play four day cricket and to do that he needs to show that he can bat at eight or nine which he’s working hard to achieve.”Carter had a spell on loan at Essex last season taking 13 wickets in three Championship games, including a second innings haul of 5 for 40 against Kent, and Newell feels he has gained the ingredients to perform for Nottinghamshire.”Andrew needed to gain first-class experience and did very well during his spell with Essex,” said Newell. “He has genuine pace and has developed accuracy to go with it which will help to push his case for a place in our side next season.”

A big claim has been made on Newcastle United and their transfer plans…

What’s the talk?

Journalist Santi Aouna, along with fellow reporter Dahbia Hattabi, has revealed two players that the club are looking to snap up at the end of the season as PIF attempt to bolster Eddie Howe’s Premier League squad.

Aouna Tweeted: “Info with @DahbiaHattabi: Newcastle wants to recruit two French people next summer: Benoît Badiashile, whose price set by Monaco is around €40m. Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen.”

St James’ supporters will be delighted

The St. James’ Park faithful will surely be delighted with this news as both players would be fantastic additions to Eddie Howe’s squad.

Badiashile is worth roughly £34m – according to Aouna – and Diaby is reportedly valued at £75m by his current club Bayer Leverkusen. This means that the pair could cost as much as £109m to sign this summer, although PIF could work their magic and negotiate more favourable deals to make them both viable targets instead of potentially obliterating the budget on two players.

Diaby, 22, has been sublime in the Bundesliga this season and would add an extra level of attacking threat to Howe’s team. He has produced 12 goals and nine assists in the division as he has been able to show that he can consistently deliver at the top end of the pitch.

Meanwhile, Newcastle’s top scorer in the Premier League has six goals and their top assister has set up four strikes so far. The Frenchman would, therefore, be an upgrade on what Howe currently has to work with in terms of scoring and creating goals.

Badiashile would also be a top signing as he would bolster the centre-back options at the club. The 21-year-old has averaged a solid SofaScore rating of 6.91 across 20 appearances in Ligue 1 as he has shown that he can put in excellent displays on a regular basis despite his young age.

His experience, and performances, at this stage in his career also suggest that he has the scope to develop further and improve as a player in the years to come. This means that Newcastle would be signing a player with potential as well as someone who can make an impact in the immediate future, which is also the case with 22-year-old Diaby.

Therefore, the supporters will be delighted with the club’s interest in both of these players and they will surely be hoping that PIF can get both of them over the line.

AND in other news, 71% duels won: £19k-p/w NUFC titan brought his “passion off the pitch” onto it vs NCFC – opinion