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Kent batted out for a forgettable County Championship draw in their rain-affected second division clash with Derbyshire in Canterbury

27-May-2011
ScorecardKent batted out for a forgettable County Championship draw in their rain-affected second division clash with Derbyshire in Canterbury.Kent banked nine points to the visitors’ 11 after Derbyshire opted to extend their overall lead to 364 before declaring on 256 for 4 soon after lunch. Having been set an impossible last-afternoon winning target of 365 from a minimum 58 overs – an asking rate of 6.29 an over – Kent reached 94 for two amongst the rain breaks before shaking hands on a draw at 5pm.Home skipper Rob Key anchored the innings with an unbeaten 59 from 78 balls, his second-best score of the campaign to date, while Martin van Jaarsveld enjoyed a 38-minute net in the middle for an unbeaten 12.The home reply started badly when Joe Denly, back in the side following a three-week lay-off with a fractured thumb, followed his first innings of five with a fifth-ball duck in the second. The right-hander had his middle stump uprooted by a Tim Groenewald off-cutter that darted through the gate.After another break for rain that led to an early tea interval, Kent regrouped through Key and Sam Northeast to add 61 for their second wicket before Northeast, in aiming to leg-glance against Tony Palladino, edged through to the wicketkeeper to fall for 21.The last day started with Derbyshire’s first-innings centurions Wayne Madsen and Usman Khawaja back in tandem as the east midlands side resumed on their overnight score of 85 for one.Khawaja, who will fly home to Australia tonight for his country’s A-team tour of Zimbabwe, reached 36 before he became his side’s first casualty when edging a defensive push against Azhar Mahmood to the wicketkeeper.Madsen, fresh from scoring 140 here during the opening two days, reached 71 from 111 balls before failing to get on top of a cut shot at Neil Saker and picking out Northeast at point. Dan Redfern and Wes Durston then featured in a fourth-wicket stand of 93 in 21.1 overs, each ultimately scoring a 50 from 61 and 88 balls respectively.Redfern went soon after lunch after the left-hander skied a leg-side slog against James Tredwell to make it 236 for four. Luke Sutton’s declaration followed 30 runs on and just after Durston had reached his half-century.

The dates for the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals have been announced with Somerset’s trip to Nottinghamshire on August 7 the pick of the games

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2011The dates for the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals have been announced with Somerset’s trip to Nottinghamshire on August 7 the pick of the games.After a frenzied final round of the group stages, where qualifying positions were far from settled going into the games, the eight quarter-finalists can now begin their preparations in earnest.Leicestershire will host Kent at Grace Road on August 6 with Hampshire and Durham meeting at the Rose Bowl a day later in the only afternoon fixture of the four games. Sussex will meet Lancashire at Hove on August 8.Somerset were runners up to Hampshire in last year’s tournament and in their summer of near-misses came second to Nottinghamshire on the last day of the Championship season in 2010. They will get a chance to atone for that when the two sides meet at Trent Bridge.Leicestershire are having a difficult Championship season, sitting at the foot of Division Two, but have made the quarters of the t20 for the first time since 2006. Lancashire are scrapping for a bigger prize – the Championship – and have the chance to reach Twenty20 finals day when they meet 2009 t20 winners Sussex.

Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to not tour the West Indies has made him concede the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen to Jacques Kallis, as he has lost ratings points for missing the first Test in Kingston

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2011Sachin Tendulkar’s decision to not tour the West Indies has made him concede the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen to Jacques Kallis, who also continues to be the top-ranked allrounder.A player loses 1% of his ratings points for every Test he misses, so Tendulkar will lose more points because he will miss the remaining two Tests against West Indies. He will begin next month’s Test series in England in second place, though, as there is some gap between him and Kumar Sangakkara, who is third.Rahul Dravid returned to the top 20 for the first time since November 2010 after his match-winning century at Sabina Park. He earned 45 ratings points, which lifted him nine places to No. 20, after he had slipped following a poor home series against New Zealand in November 2010. VVS Laxman, who had a twin failure in Kingston, dropped out of the top 10, falling five places to No. 13.Ishant Sharma, who took six wickets in Kingston, moved up three places to No. 11 in the ICC Test rankings for bowlers. Dale Steyn continues to be the top-ranked Test bowler, followed by Graeme Swann and James Anderson.

ESPNcricinfo previews the third game of the 2011 World Cup between Sri Lanka and Canada in Hambantota

The Preview by Sahil Dutta19-Feb-2011

Match Facts

February 20, Hambantota
Start time 14:30 local time (09:00 GMT)
Ashish Bagai and his side can prove Associates have a role in World Cups with a good showing against Sri Lanka•AFP

Big Picture

Sri Lanka begin their World Cup campaign – the first in Asia since they stunned the world 16 years ago – against Group A minnows Canada. With a team forged around much of the same group of players that made it to the final in the Caribbean last time around, Sri Lanka start as one of the tournament’s fancied sides. Canada – a team of immigrants, expats and five home-grown former Under-19 stars – have had a good run in the warm-up against Netherlands and England but will need a World Cup miracle to beat Kumar Sangakkara’s side.Sri Lanka’s home record is imposing but the surroundings of Hambantota are almost as unfamiliar to them as they are to the visitors. A new pitch at a new stadium, the captains have been keen to praise the look of both. The state of pitches at this tournament is already shaping up into a bone of contention, and set against the fiasco at Eden Gardens, the Sri Lankan board should be credited for getting the stadium ready in time.The last time these two met in the World Cup, Canada slumped to the lowest World Cup score in history. The entire cricketing infrastructure in Canada has improved since then, with players centrally contracted for the first time and big sponsors like Reebok jumping on board. Upsets have been hard-wired out of the format for this World Cup, and with the ICC taking it a step further next time by expelling Associate nations altogether, a competitive show from Canada would do wonders to the minnows’ case for inclusion.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
Sri Lanka: WWLWW
Canada: LWWWL

Pitch and conditions

The Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium has not yet hosted a full international match so the pitch in Hambantota is something of an unknown quantity. There were concerns when the pitch produced a low-scoring ‘A’ match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but at the time the curator insisted his pitch was not to blame. After practicing at the ground Sangakkara was happy, saying “the wicket looked fantastic and the conditions were beautiful for cricket”. The Sri Lankan weather has been anything but for recent series and there were a few clouds circling on the eve of the game, which could mean an early outing for Duckworth and Lewis, in their fourth World Cup.

Watch out for…

There is still something about the 50-over format that promotes unqualified utility players, who are unable to hold their place in either discipline. England have Luke Wright, while Australia have John Hastings. Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews is the model the rest are chasing. In the last 12 months Mathews has averaged 54.50 with the bat, 32.90 with the ball, and has been a lynchpin behind the celebrated duo of Sangakkara and Mehela Jayawardene.After his exploits against England, there is one Canadian that everyone will be looking out for: Gun batsman Rizwan Cheema. The Pakistan-born’s ODI strike-rate of 119.4 beats even Shahid Afridi for crazed slugging. Faced with Lasith Malinga’s slingers and Muttiah Muralitharan his task is less than straightforward, but alongside the youngsters in the side and captain Ashish Bagai, he could be the prime contributor of runs.

Team news

Sri Lanka’s top-order is settled and the only contention is over the last bowling place. Ajantha Mendis’ star has faded as his mystery unravelled with exposure so he competes with the Rangana Herath for the second spinner’s role. If the damp conditions prompt another paceman, however, Thisara Perera might come up on the blindside to take the final bowling spot.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Chamara Kapugedera, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Dilhara Fernando, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Lasith MalingaCanada have banked on their youngsters to support their array of more experience imports and will be hoping Hiral Patel and Nitish Kumar can come good.Canada (probable): 1 John Davison, 2 Hiral Patel, 3 Nitish Kumar, 4 Ashish Bagai (capt & wk), 5 Jimmy Hansra, 6 Rizwan Cheema, 7 Zubin Surkari, 8 Khurram Chohan, 9 Balaji Rao, 10 Henry Osinde, 11 Harvir Baidwan.

Stats and trivia

• The last time these teams met at the World Cup, Canada were bowled out for 36 and swept aside by nine wickets in a match that lasted a mere 23.2 overs – the quickest in World Cup history.
• Since making successive hundreds against Pakistan and Bangladesh in Karachi in June 2008, Kumar Sangakkara has played 59 matches, and made 1970 runs at 37.16, without ever passing three figures.
• Canada’s opening batsman, and producer of one of World Cup cricket’s most dazzling centuries – John Davison – is, at 40, the oldest player in the tournament.
  

  Quotes

  “Hard-hitting. I like to hit the ball… Out of the park”
  “You can’t change what other people say about us whether they say that we are good enough to win the tournament or whatever.”

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel has been named vice-captain in the squad of 15

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2019Priyam Garg will hope to join Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand and Prithvi Shaw, the India Under-19 World Cup-winning captains over the years, when he leads the team at the 2020 edition in South Africa in January-February. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, Garg’s team-mate from Uttar Pradesh, has been named the vice-captain.Garg is already a first-class regular for his state team. He finished the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy as the second-highest run-scorer for Uttar Pradesh, making 814 runs at an average of 67.83, with two hundreds including a career-best 206. He also featured in the Deodhar Trophy recently, top-scoring with 77 for India C in the final. He has played 15 List A matches and 11 T20s.The 15-member squad also features 17-year-old Mumbai batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been making waves in the 50-overs format. During the Vijay Hazare Trophy in September-October, Jaiswal became the youngest player to hit a List A double-century, while also topping the run charts for Mumbai. In all, he made 564 runs at an average of 112.80 with three hundreds and a fifty.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

ALSO READ: Yashasvi Jaiswal: From selling pani-puris to smashing List A double-tonAtharva Ankolekar, another Mumbai player who has also been making headlines, has also named in the touring party. The left-arm spinner had helped India Under-19 defend only 106 against Bangladesh Under-19 in the Asia Cup final in September with returns of 5 for 28.Karnataka’s spin-bowling allrounder Shubhang Hegde, who recently led India U-19 for three games in their 3-2 series win over Afghanistan Under-19 in Lucknow, was in the squad too. He first impressed as a 15-year-old in the Karnataka Premier League and has a solitary first-class game under his belt too.Tilak Varma, from Hyderabad, forced his way into the squad on the back of a solid Cooch Behar Trophy in 2018-19, scoring 779 runs in just six matches, including four hundreds and three half-centuries, averaging 86.56. In the one-day competition, the Under-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy, he followed that up with 507 runs in eight games at 84.50, with one century and four half-centuries.”We are very confident with the process and preparation we’ve set up,” Rahul Dravid said last week on the sidelines of the series against Afghanistan in Lucknow.Atharva Ankolekar celebrates a wicket with Dhruv Jurel•Sri Lanka Cricket

In his role as the director of the NCA, Dravid oversees the progress of the Under-19 team and attended the junior selection committee meeting at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Sunday as a special invitee. “We have got a good balance in the team,” he said. “Depending on the conditions in South Africa, if they aid fast bowlers, we have got a pretty good attack. We have got batting all the way down to seven-eight-nine. We have got spinners, if conditions suit.”The World Cup begins on January 17 with India slotted in Group A with New Zealand, Sri Lanka and first-time qualifiers Japan. There are four groups with 16 teams in all and the top two sides from each will qualify for the Super League stage. The final will be played in Potchefstroom on February 9. This will be the 13th edition of the Under-19 World Cup and India have won four titles so far, the most, including the last edition in 2018 in New Zealand.The junior selection committee also picked a squad of 16 that will tour South Africa just before the World Cup for a bilateral series of three one-dayers with the hosts and a quadrangular series also featuring New Zealand and Zimbabwe. The only addition to the squad for those series will be Hyderabad’s CTL Rakshan, who played three matches against Afghanistan Under-19 last week.Squad for South Africa bilateral and quadrangular series: Priyam Garg (capt), Dhruv Jurel (vice-capt & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil, CTL Rakshan

“We gave them a chance and they took them with both hands,” said Tim Southee

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2020Having not played a Super Over until Wednesday, and then clawing their way back in to chase 17 and 14 in back-to-back Super Overs in the third and fourth T20Is against New Zealand, was an “unbelievable” experience, according to India captain Virat Kohli.”There’s something new I’ve learnt in the last couple of games, which is: when the opposition is playing that well, you’ve just got to stay calm in the game, observe what’s happening and if an opportunity comes your way, you capitalise on it and try and make the most of it,” Kohli told after the match. “What happened in the last two games is unbelievable, being involved in the game and from the fans’ point of view as well.”You couldn’t have asked for more two exciting T20s back-two-back. We had never played Super Overs before these two games and now we’ve played two back to back. It feels good when you’re out of the game, and then you come back… it shows the character of the team.”ALSO READ: Report – NZ contrive to lose in Super Over again as India go 4-0 upKohli didn’t have a great time with the bat in the regular game, making only 11, but sealed the Super Over by hitting the winning runs with a pull for four off Tim Southee. However, Kohli revealed he wasn’t even planning to go out alongside KL Rahul.”Initially we decided Sanju [Samson] and KL [would open in the Super Over] because both of them can strike the ball really well,” Kohli said. “But then KL and I had a chat [and decided] that I should walk in with him because I have more experience and if there is a pressure situation, I will find more options to figure out what needs to be done.”His two strikes [a six and a four in the first two balls] were crucial, and then the bit of experience did come into play where you knock the ball into the gaps and make the team go past the line and do the job. It’s exciting for me, having not been part of Super Over for a long, long time, but yeah, two back-to-back exciting wins for us.”Tim Southee led in Kane Williamson’s absence•Getty Images

The two unlikely victories, according to Friday’s star performer Shardul Thakur, was a lesson in perseverance, the first win in particular sending out a never-say-die message in the dressing room.”That’s all we play for – such nail-biting finishes and two games in a row… I think you couldn’t ask for anything more,” Thakur said of the last over of the main game, when he picked up two wickets and two New Zealand batsmen were run-out, resulting in the tie. “After the last game’s win, we learnt that you should never lose hope, and I think the first-ball wicket was crucial. If I bowl a dot ball or take a wicket, then the pressure is on them. And, that’s what happened, and that changed the game a bit.”ALSO READ: New Zealand’s Super Over heartbreaksSouthee, who delivered both Super Overs and captained New Zealand in the absence of the injured Kane Williamson on the day, summed up the dejection among the home side. “It’s very tough, especially in the positions we put ourselves into,” he said. “We gave them a chance and they took them with both hands. I guess when you’ve got a young bowling attack, and you sort of trying to get a clear decision from a number of people, yeah it’s tough we keep getting ourselves in these positions.”It is [difficult] when you lose a couple of games like we have. When you’re winning games, you just find ways to win them with balls to spare, but when you haven’t won and you’re playing against quality opposition against India, you give them a sniff in, then you do you make it tough for yourselves.”Having taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, Kohli’s decision to bring in Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini in the fourth T20I didn’t quite return intended results. An impetuous hoick brought Samson’s five-ball 8 to a close two balls after he whipped Scott Kuggeleijn for a wristy six, Washington gave away 24 in two overs, and Saini conceded 29 runs in four overs without putting himself on the wickets column. Kohli, though, took heart from the fact that the trio, especially Saini, were “in the right kind of headspaces” in the face of pressure.”Sanju was fearless at the top of the order,” Kohli said. “We didn’t quite read the pitch that well; having got one six I think he thought this is his chance to get the momentum going and really take things away. That’s the kind of player he is, so he should keeping backing himself.”Washy has played a lot anyway. Saini was particularly impressive with his pace he really rushed the batsman. I think all in all, all of them looked in a good headspace. If the opposition plays that well against them, against them, there’s no harm in saying, ‘You guys were playing well in that situation’. But we were very proud with the way we went about it and pulled it back, and those three guys looked to be in the right kind of headspaces.”

A round-up of the World Cup warm-up matches played on February 8 in Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2011Kenya won their second successive warm-up game, chasing down Ireland‘s 176 despite losing seven wickets in the end at the ICC Global Cricket Academy. Maurice Ouma led the chase with a patient half-century after Seren Waters and David Obuya had given Kenya a quick start, putting on 46 inside nine overs. Andre Botha, who was the pick of the Irish bowlers, dismissed the openers but Ouma found enough support in Collins Obuya and Rakep Patel to take Kenya closer. A clutch of wickets fell towards the end, but Kenya finally closed out the game in the 46th over.The fact that Ireland managed what they did was largely due to Ed Joyce. He rebuilt the innings in the company of the tail after Kenya’s seam attack had run through seven Irish batsmen for 63 runs. Nehemiah Odhiambo, Peter Ongondo, Elijah Otieno and Thomas Odoyo were more than a handful, and despite a steady start at 52 for 2, Ireland lost the next five wickets for 11. But Joyce and Andrew White dug in to take them past 100, and the tail managed to play out all but one of the 50 overs to guide them to 176, which proved too little in the end.After the win against Afghanistan two days ago, this victory will further boost Kenya’s confidence that would have been dented heavily after they lost all five games to sides comprising mostly of age-group players on their recent tour of Indian state Gujarat.Zimbabwe made short work of Netherlands at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, rustling up 249 and then blowing Netherlands away for 134. Brendan Taylor made another half-century at the top of the order, and there were also useful contributions from Tatenda Taibu and Regis Chakabva. But Mudassar Bukhari and Bernard Loots took some quick wickets as Zimbabwe slipped to 158 for 7 at one stage. Graeme Cremer responded with a run-a-ball 42, and together with Prosper Utseya and Shingirai Masakadza took Zimbabwe to the brink of 250.Chris Mpofu and Elton Chigumbura tore through Netherlands after Ed Rainsford had provided an early breakthrough, taking six wickets between them. Netherlands lost regular wickets and were never in the game, getting bowled out for 134 in the 34th over. Opener Alexei Kervezee’s 33 was the highest score for them. Bukhari hammered two sixes in his 28 and Bradley Kruger three fours in his 22, but there was not much else to cheer about.Afghanistan shot out Canada for 105, and then chased down the target with more than 26 overs to spare in Dubai. Hamid Hassan, the Afghanistan captain, and Shapoor Zadran almost ended the match as a contest soon after Canada chose to bat, sending back half the side with eight runs on the board. But Khurram Chohan and Jimmy Hansra stuck in to make twenties, and Balaji Rao and Harvir Baidwan took Canada just past 100. Mirwais Ashraf ensured Canada didn’t have too much of a recovery, taking 4 for 39.Canada’s bowlers tried gamely, but there weren’t enough runs to defend. Asghar Stanikzai made a quick 27, and the others chipped in as Afghanistan won comfortably with five wickets remaining.

Former India allrounder says the new format is an “exciting” development and could be ideal for the Olympics

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2019Yuvraj Singh, the former India allrounder, believes that 100-ball cricket could have an impact on the game similar to that of T20s.The Hundred is set to be launched in England next year, with the ECB deciding to promote a new format as part of its bid to attract fresh audiences. Although Yuvraj is not due to be involved – only one Indian player, Harbhajan Singh, entered the draft and he subsequently withdrew – he praised it as an exciting concept that may come “close to a revolution like T20″.Yuvraj, who retired from international cricket and the IPL in June, is currently participating in the Abu Dhabi T10, which got underway on Friday. Speaking to Maratha Arabians media, he suggested that 100-ball cricket was of interest to him.”I think the new 100-ball format will be an exciting format, because it’s not T10, it’s not T20, it’s about 100 balls,” he said. “That I feel could be an exciting format, close to a revolution like T20 – but we have to wait and watch.”While Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain who is also playing in Abu Dhabi, has described T10 as cricket’s perfect vehicle for Olympic Games inclusion, Yuvraj said The Hundred could also be an option.”If the tournament [Olympics] is over about two weeks, I think 100-ball would be perfect,” he said. “If the tournament is, say, ten days, then obviously T10 would be perfect. Depending on the timeframe of the Olympics. I think an Olympic gold is very prestigious, so it has to be something in which an athlete should be able to bounce back in situations, so you have to decide that.”As for the merits of ten-over cricket, Yuvraj said he was uncertain about whether it would spread further, because “you don’t have any time to get set and get going”. Yuvraj made a run-a-ball 6 in the Arabians’ defeat against Northern Warriors as the T10 league opened for its third edition.”It’s definitely an exciting tournament but I’m not sure, in terms of pacing yourself in a match – 50-over, Test match, T20 also you have time to pace yourself, but in T10 you don’t have time,” he said. “So I’m not sure, is it going to expand or is it not? T10 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai has been very popular, and the crowds have been huge, so I’m sure it’s something to look at.”

Roy Keane is thought to be back in the running to take over at Celtic, with the stalling move for Eddie Howe causing a U-turn in the Bhoys boardroom.

That’s according to a ‘behind the scenes’ report from Football Insider, who have been informed by a Hoops source that the Irishman has growing support from within the boardroom and is becoming more prominent in the thoughts of the hierarchy.

Keane feared he had been overlooked by Celtic despite talks with the club, but it seems as if he is now back in the frame.

The report suggests that the Hoops hierarchy feel they need a new manager with a strong personality to rebuild a broken team and compete with Rangers, while the faltering move for Howe has also led to a rethink.

Transfer Tavern take

To us, appointing Keane as Celtic’s new manager would be a huge risk. The 49-year-old has been out of the managerial game for over ten years – with his experience in the dugout since then coming as assistant to both Martin O’Neill and Paul Lambert with Ireland, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest respectively.

Howe is another man in the Celtic picture along with Keane, and to us, the Englishman would be a better option, as he proved with Bournemouth that he can rebuild a side, taking them from League Two to the Premier League in the space of six seasons.

Howe also has over 350 games more as a manager than Keane and has been out of work for less than a year, so not only is he the fresher and more current manager, he is also actually more experienced as well.

In other news: Premier League club mandate agents to work on signing Celtic star, find out more here. 

Former Everton striker Marcus Bent has exclusively told Football FanCast that Bernard will leave the Toffees this summer.

The Brazilian was a regular for former manager Marco Silva during his first 18 months at Goodison Park following his free transfer move from Shakhtar Donetsk, but he has slipped down the pecking since the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti.

In fact, Bernard has started just 11 Premier League games under the Italian, only three of which have come this season.

His lack of opportunities have led to speculation surrounding his future, with ex-Manchester City and West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini reportedly keen on bringing him to Real Betis to play in La Liga.

Bernard has just over 12 months remaining on his current Everton deal, and Bent informed Football FanCast that he has heard that the attacker will be moved on this summer:

“They’re basically saying that he just doesn’t have the physicality for the Premier League. He’s technical, but not physical enough, so that’s why they’re going to offload him this summer.

“Some players will play in a team with physical players or the smaller not as physical players and he’s very technical.

“So he needs someone alongside him to take the blows and punches for him to progress.”