All posts by csb10.top

Derbyshire have signed Damien Wright, an allrounder from Tasmania, as their second overseas player for next season.Wright, 28, was recommended by Michael Di Venuto, the captain and fellow Tasmanian. To date, Wright has a batting average of 20.55, and has taken 120 wickets at 34.48 since his first-class debut in 1997. He has also represented Australia A, and played twice for Northants last season.David Houghton, Derbyshire’s director of cricket, said, “He is a talented pace bowler, and dangerous lower-order batsman, who really fits the bill for us.”Meanwhile, Wright added: “I’m really looking forward to a full season of county cricket with Derbyshire.”

Cricket coaching opportunities in the South Somerset are in the process of improving considerably thanks to an initiative between Yeovil College and Somerset County Cricket Club and the involvement of former Combined Services coach Richard Askew.For sometime Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding has been aware of the need to improve coaching in the area, so when John Hole who is the Sports Centre Manager at Yeovil College made contact with him Mr Moulding was only too pleased to be able to help out.He said: "When John came to us to ask for help we were only too delighted to help him. He has managed to get some funding to upgrade the sports hall and we are going to present them with two mats that they can make use of."He continued: "One of our coaches Dan Hodges has already worked with Westlands Cricket Club to develop their cricket coaching but we still need more coaching activities to develop the game in the area."One of the E.C.B. Level 3 coaches who will be working in the Yeovil area is Richard Askew who until he was pensioned out of the Royal Navy in 2002 was cricket coach to the Combined Services XI and based at Yeovilton.Richard was born and raised in Warwickshire and obtained his degree atBangor University. He played club cricket for Birmingham League side Kenilworth Wardens before joining the Royal Navy and represented the Navy side and United Services (Portsmouth) until he was posted to RNAS Yeovilton in late 1997, since when he has played for North Perrott Cricket Club.He told me: " I suffered a frostbite injury on exercise in Norway in late 2000 and have had problems with my hands and feet ever since and although the Navy were good enough to try and give me every opportunity to recover there had been no significant improvement, so in December 2002 I was pensioned out of the service."Richard continued: "When Somerset made contact with me and invited me to be involved with grass roots cricket in my adopted county I was delighted .It is fantastic and the challenge of getting the game into schools in the South East Somerset area is very exciting. I think it is typical of Somerset’s pro-active approach that they are geared up to support a schools programme of such a professional nature."He concluded: " Without doubt, Somerset County Cricket Club is one of cricket’s leaders; from first class through to junior levels. In Kevin Shine and Mark Garaway we are lucky to have two of the most qualified and respected coaches in county cricket and I am therefore delighted to have been asked to join that team!"

Rain restricted play at Taunton to just 1½ hours on Friday during which time Somerset scored some quick runs before declaring 276 ahead of Glamorgan.The Cidermen then captured a quick wicket to leave the visitors needing 247 to make the hosts bat again.When play eventually got underway at 2.15pm, Somerset quickly brought up the 400 to gain their fifth batting point. Aaron Laraman then launched himself at the Glamorgan attack to bring up his first half century for his new county with some lusty blows, until at three o’ clock skipper Mike Burns declared on 476 for 6, by which time the all rounder had taken his score onto 61.The former Middlesex man had faced just 38 balls and hit two sixes and seven fours much to the delight of the many faithful supporters who remained at the County Ground, whilst at the other end Rob Turner was 32 not out at the declaration.Facing a deficit of 276, Richard Johnson made an early breakthrough for the Cidermen when in his first over opener Ian Thomas edged a simple catch to wicket-keeper Turner.David Hemp came into join Adrian Dale and the pair had taken their side onto 29 without further loss before bad light and then rain caused the players to leave the field for an early tea from which they never returned.Somerset will be watching the weather forecast closely on Saturday and hoping that the rain holds off long enough for them to take the remaining nine Glamorgan wickets and notch up their second championship victory to boost their bid for promotion.

You have to give the England cricketers full credit, they do have faith in themselves.But Andrew Caddick is testing the limits in his Independent On Sunday column this weekend. He said: “On paper, player for player, we are a better side. We have better individual players. We have allowed them to beat us.”Now, New Zealanders by their very nature are reasonable people. Caddick should know this, he lived here for long enough.And perhaps he is using his column as a vehicle to gee up his lads. So you have to take that into account.But really, it is time to acknowledge that when it comes to performing, New Zealand is doing it more than a little better at the moment.England talk a good game but when it comes to walking it, it’s a little different in reality.And when claiming that England are a better side, he needs to recall just who won the last Test series between the two sides.New Zealand.By a margin of 2-1 which had they not let the first Test out of their grasp could just as easily have been 3-0.And when the teams last met in a one-day series back in 1996/97, a much stronger England team than this one in New Zealand at the moment, were held to a drawn series by a young New Zealand side.On paper it is possible to claim a lot of things. And if you do try hard enough you could believe that England “player for player” is the better side. It could also be easy to claim that England possesses “better individual players”.But how do you measure that?By performance on the field in One-Day Internationals?By performance in international cricket overall?By performances in first-class cricket – county play for England, State Championship play in New Zealand?As we’re playing ODIs at the moment, let’s get down to some brass tacks.Based on the last teams to play in Wellington, here are some comparisons.NATHAN ASTLE v NICK KNIGHTKnight has 2731 runs from 73 ODIs at a strike rate of 70.45. Four centuries and 19 half centuries.Astle has 4857 from 147 ODIs at a strike rate of 72.52, with 11 centuries and 29 half centuries. Astle also has 89 wickets with an economy rate of 4.61.Astle wins. Not only does he score with the higher strike rate, he also takes wickets.CHRIS NEVIN v MARCUS TRESCOTHICKTrescothick has 1202 runs in 34 games at a strike rate of 83.64. Is a part-time wicket-keeper.Nevin has 367 runs in 15 games. His strike rate is 87.17. Full-time wicket-keeper.A tie.STEPHEN FLEMING v NASSER HUSSAINHussain in 62 games has 1619 runs at a strike rate of 66.46, no centuries and 11 50s.Fleming in 167 games has 4524 runs at a strike rate of 69.67, three centuries and 29 50s.Fleming wins.CRAIG McMILLAN v GRAHAM THORPEMcMillan in 106 games has 2450 runs at a strike rate of 72.18, one century and 13 50s. He’s taken 36 wickets with an economy rate of 5.24.Thorpe in 76 games has 2215 runs at a strike rate of 70.36, four centuries and 23 50s.On strike rate McMillan leads but Thorpe has greater consistency in scoring, even allowing for the fact that he doesn’t do anything other than bat.Thorpe wins.BRENDON McCULLUM v OWAIS SHAHTwo relative newcomers. McCullum in five games has 80 runs at a strike rate of 55.55 while Shah in seven games has 111 runs at 57.51.A tie.LOU VINCENT v PAUL COLLINGWOODVincent in 29 matches has 589 runs at a strike rate of 60.47. He’s also a lethal fieldsman.Collingwood in 15 games has 319 runs at a strike rate of 79.15. He’s take three wickets at an economy rate of 5.59.Collingwood has the better strike rate but will he still be there when the English grand plan emerges? Vincent is a crucial part of New Zealand’s future mix.But on the facts of the moment, Collingwood wins.CHRIS CAIRNS v ANDREW FLINTOFFCairns’ 148 matches have produced 3549 runs at a strike rate of 81.45 and 146 wickets at an economy rate of 4.7. Flintoff has played 36 games and hit 634 runs at 82.33 with 22 wickets at an economy rate of 4.79.The figures make for interesting comparisons, but Cairns’ proven match-winning ability cannot be denied.Cairns wins.CHRIS HARRIS v CRAIG WHITEHarris in 200 games has 3603 runs at a strike rate of 68.05 and 183 wickets at 4.28. In 39 games White has 348 runs at at a strike rate of 52.01 and 50 wickets at an economy rate of 4.42.Harris wins.ANDRE ADAMS v DARREN GOUGHAdams in nine games has 108 runs at a strike rate of 120.0 and 11 wickets at an economy rate of 4.47. In 103 games Gough has 162 wickets at an economy rate of 4.27.Again the experience factor comes into effect. But Adams’ batting makes this a very close call.Gough wins.DANIEL VETTORI v ASHLEY GILESIn 74 matches Vettori has 75 wickets at an economy rate of 4.44 and Giles in 14 games has 15 wickets at an economy rate of 4.81.Vettori can bat, and, more importantly, he can field. No race.Vettori wins.DARYL TUFFEY v MATTHEW HOGGARDTuffey in 21 games has 27 wickets at an economy rate of 4.65 while in nine games Hoggard has 17 wickets at an economy rate of 4.57.Hoggard wins.On individuals New Zealand wins 5-4 with two ties.Missing from the England team was Caddick himself and he is throughout the 38 games of his career, the most economical of England’s bowlers with 48 wickets and an economy rate of 3.91. New Zealand is without Shane Bond but if his figures were put alongside Caddick’s they would show he had 21 wickets in nine games and an economy rate of 4.17.”Man for man the best team” – the evidence would suggest New Zealand have much the greater right to make that claim.And “man for man” the New Zealanders have more dimensions to their play, especially with the fastly higher quality of their fielding.But there is one other factor – the combination of elements that make up a team. And there is no doubt that in the one-day game it is the ability to consistently perform as a team that will bring a team success.That team in this series has so far been New Zealand, as witnessed by its recovery to halt England’s potentially runaway batting in the first game in Christchurch, and its performance to overcome a collapse to still head off England.Then it was the combination of partnership building that created such a huge difference between the two sides in Wellington.Evidence so far at least would suggest Caddick is well short of substantive fact to back his claims.

Aasif Karim’s figures of 8.2-6-7-3 are the 8th most economical at 0.84 runsper over in a World Cup match by a bowler bowling at least 5 overs.The following bowlers have conceded less than 1 run per over in a World Cupmatch:

RPO Figures Name For Against Venue Year0.40 5-3-2-1 DA Reeve England Pakistan Adelaide 19920.50 12-8-6-1 BS Bedi India East Africa Leeds 19750.62 8-4-5-1 M Hendrick England Canada Manchester 19790.80 10-4-8-2 CEL Ambrose West Indies Scotland Leicester 19990.80 10-5-8-4 CM Old England Canada Manchester 19790.80 5-2-4-0 B Wood England India Lord’s 19750.83 12-6-10-0 RJ Hadlee New Zealand East Africa Birmingham 19750.84 8.2-6-7-3 AY Karim Kenya Australia Durban 20030.91 12-5-11-2 DS de Silva Sri Lanka New Zealand Derby 19830.91 12-6-11-4 JA Snow England East Africa Birmingham 19750.96 8.2-5-8-3 DR Pringle England Pakistan Adelaide 1992(Minimum 5 overs)

The record for most runs in a World Cup tournament was passed by SachinTendulkar earlier in this year’s event. In the Australia v Kenya match the record for the most wicket-keeping dismissals and catches by a fielder in a tournament were both passed. Adam Gilchrist now has 18 dismissals (all ct) in this tournament, passing the 16 (15 ct, 1 st) by Jeff Dujon (WI) in 1983 and 16 (12 ct, 4 st) by Moin Khan (Pak) in 1999. Gilchrist now has 32 dismissals (30 ct, 2 st) in his World Cup career, passing Moin Khan’s career record of 30 (23 ct, 7 st).In the fielding department, Ricky Ponting now has 10 catches in thistournament, passing the record of 8 by Anil Kumble (Ind) in 1996 and Daryll Cullinan (SA) in 1999. Dinesh Mongia (Ind) has also taken 8 catches at this year’s tournament. Ponting has now taken 17 catches in his World Cup career, passing Chris Cairns’ career record of 16.Chaminda Vaas has now taken 20 wickets (avg 14.85) in this tournament. Thisequals the record of 20 wickets in a tournament set by Geoff Allott (NZ) (avg 16.25) and Shane Warne (Aus) (avg 18.05) in 1999.

Opener Sridharan Sriram took Tamil Nadu to a five-wicket win in their Ranji one-day match against Kerala at Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.Winning the toss, Kerala opted to bat first. A 53-run opening stand seemed to have justified captain Sunil Oasis’ decision, but things then started to go wrong. Three quick wickets saw Kerala reeling at 56/3 before Oasis and SR Nair took matters into their own hands.Oasis top-scored for his side, making 66 off 84 balls. After Nair departed, he was given good support by K Chandrasekhara, who scored 56 off 71. The two shared a 106-run fifth-wicket partnership and took Kerala past the 200-run mark. Their side ended on 238/7.To score 239 for a win, Tamil Nadu benefited from a 91-run second-wicket stand between Sriram and S Suresh. Suresh made 40 off 63, while Sriram scored 76 off 94, his highest in the competition. He was the fourth wicket to fall, at 146, but useful knocks from Robin Singh, SV Saravanan and J Madanagopal took Tamil Nadu to their target in 47.4 overs.

Indian advisor to their side at the ICC Under-19 World Cup Dilip Vengsarkar has taken a swipe at the organisation of the event and criticised the choice of New Zealand’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University as the venue.Vengsarkar has also criticised the food arrangements for the Indian players, and he said one player Maninder Bisla lost about five kilograms and lived mostly on milk and fruit.Vengsarkar said the location of the event 20kms outside Christchurch made it difficult for teams to get into the central city for more ethnic dining, this being in spite of the fact that dining was available at the Lincoln township half a mile away from the University campus.Vengsarkar said the tournament should have been played at New Zealand’s major grounds.He missed the bus with his comments.The tournament was an age-group tournament and its location was assessed as ideal by the International Cricket Council.The fact remains also that the tournament would have been lost being played at New Zealand’s major grounds, because very few people would have turned up to watch.His complaints about food matters also preclude the efforts that were made to accommodate the requests of all 16 sides competing in the event.As for other complaints Vengsarkar also seems to have forgotten the advice that “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” That is a fact of life in international cricket. That is why cricket is different in the various countries of the world. Everyone has its own flavour, and just as New Zealand teams adapt when going to India so other teams are expected to adapt when coming here.Tournament organiser Tim Murdoch said changes were made to the dining times for the Indian and Pakistan sides at their requests and there was a 90-minute window for all sides to have their meals.Murdoch said he did not know about Bisla’s problems with food but there were lots of food options available to all sides and many of the other teams had taken advantage of them.Murdoch said the Indian response had not been reflected by other sides in the evaluations that had been received on the running of the tournament.As far as the use of major grounds, Murdoch said this comment failed to appreciate that New Zealand’s domestic competition, the State Shield, was being played at the same time as the tournament and that the grounds would not have been available, nor would the organisers have had the staff to move around the various venues.”The ICC approved the grounds and felt they were entirely appropriate for the level of cricket being played,” he said.Vengsarkar also criticised the ICC for not dealing with throwing during the tournament.”Junaid Zia, their medium pacer, threw the ball blatantly while bowling and would have put Shoaib Akhtar to shame,” he said.Vengsarkar said Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva had reported Pakistan fast bowler Junaid for throwing but had not heard how he should be treated.Murdoch said it had been agreed among the match officials before the tournament that players thought to have a suspect action would be reported under the accepted process and unless there was a blatant throwing episode, the players would not be called.He said Junaid had been reported from a couple of games and two others were also reported, a player from Nepal and one from Scotland.Murdoch had written to the ICC and alerted them over the reports.He said de Silva had been aware of the system before the tournament started.

Sussex CCC are pleased to announce that Keith Greenfield has been awarded a Testimonial for 2004.Keith has represented Sussex at all levels of the game from a professional player to his current position as Director of the ECB/Sussex Academy.Keith joined the Club in 1985 as part of the Youth Opportunities Scheme and progressed to the professional staff in 1987. In all Keith played 78 first class matches, his highest score was 154* v Glamorgan at Hove in 1996, the year he was awarded his County Cap.Keith is delighted with the news:"It is a great honour that the Club has decided to recognise my service in this way. I wouldn’t have changed a moment of my career with Sussex, I realise how lucky I am to have a job that I love doing and this is just the icing on the cake."David Green, Chairman of Sussex CCC:"Keith has represented the County at every level of cricket since he joined the Club in 1985; he was the country’s very first participant in the Youth Opportunities Scheme… a professional player… 2nd XI coach and now Director of our ECB Academy."Keith is a Sussex man born and bred and he has given the Club 18 years’ loyal service and is very deserving of this recognition, he is exactly the type of player who Benefits and Testimonials were devised for. We wish Keith great success in his Testimonial year and I am sure that everyone connected with Sussex cricket will support him ."

Day three scores from the Southern Zonal Boys’ Under-15 tournament in Dunedin yesterday were:Canterbury Black 303/4 dec (Mitchell Shaw 127, Adam Coleman 91; Tim Riley 1-12, Brayden Hill 1-30) met Otago Gold 101/4 (Michael Higgins 34, Ben Munro 31; Mitchell Shaw 3-20) at Culling Park, Dunedin.Otago Blue 177 (Shaun Fitzgibbon 35, Thomas Cooney 31 not out; Todd Astle 3-58, Chris Gleeson 2-15) met Canterbury Red 82/3 (Todd Astle 21 not out, Chris Bartholomeusz 20; Kieran Parker 1-3, Thomas Cooney 1-28) at Bayfield Park, Dunedin.

Ben Smith and Aftab Habib produced a triple century stand for the thirdwicket as Leicestershire comfortably batted out for a draw at Taunton.After the visitors had begun the final day on 19-1 in their second innings,still two runs behind, Trevor Ward fell early to boost Somerset hopes.But Smith, who hit an unbeaten 180, and Habib (149) then added exactly 300on a superb batting pitch and Leicestershire put aside any notion of adeclaration to reach 404-4 at the close.It was a disappointing finish to a match that had looked perfectly poisedafter the first two days. But the third-day wash-out doused any hopes eitherside had of a positive result.Somerset skipper Jamie Cox used his opening bowlers Richard Johnson andSteffan Jones for the first hour in an effort to make something happen, butthen preferred to rest them for the C&G Trophy semi-final againstWarwickshire tomorrow.Smith was first to his hundred, off 135 balls, with 16 fours. In the processhe became the first Leicestershire player to pass 1,000 first-class runs forthe season.It was his sixth century of the season and a fine effort, even if thebowling was less than demanding at times.Habib soon followed to three figures. By the time he gave a slip catch toMike Burns off Keith Dutch after tea, he had faced 206 balls and struck 20fours in a stylish innings.It was too good a pitch on which to set a run chase. Darren Maddy missed outwhen he skied Dutch to Jones at mid off, having made only six, but Smithmoved relentlessly on.By the close he had hit 22 boundaries in his 274-ball innings without givinga hint of a chance. Both teams took nine points.