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West Indies’ focus on unity is not difficult to understand, given the dressing room’s recent history

Andrew Fernando in Pallakele28-Sep-2012″One goal, one people, one team” has been West Indies’ motto at the World Twenty20, and the focus on unity is not difficult to understand, given the dressing room’s recent history. The side’s biggest star, Chris Gayle, has recently returned following a row with the board, while other members of the team have also spent time away, plying their trade in the IPL and elsewhere at the expense of turning out for West Indies.Darren Sammy, the captain, has one of the most unique challenges in world cricket and has presented a united front as the team ignited their World Twenty20 campaign with a solid 16-run victory over England in the Super Eights. “I just keep everybody cool,” Sammy said. “We have a lot of cool guys so when you’re out there you need to have someone in charge.”When I’m out there I try to get all the senior players involved in decision-making so everyone feels a part of the team. That’s the important thing for us, that everyone in the squad feels a part of it. It’s easy to do that. My character allows me to involve everyone.”Early in his tenure as captain, Sammy expressed a desire to “make West Indies cricket great again” and said the team draws inspiration from their fans in their pursuit of that goal. Tagged one of the tournament favourites because of their batting firepower, an experienced battery of T20 players and the spin of Sunil Narine, West Indies will take a major step towards qualifying for the semi-finals if they are able to defeat Sri Lanka on Saturday.”When we left the Caribbean, winning the tournament for the fans was the most important thing in our minds,” he said. “The last decade has been tough for us. We last won silverware in 2004 [the Champions Trophy]. It is a good opportunity for us to do that here. We’ve been playing well as a team and we have to take it one game at a time.”Sammy used part-time bowlers Gayle and Marlon Samuels in addition to Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree to make up 15 overs of spin in their victory against England. Frontline seamer Andre Russell did not bowl at all, nor did allrounder Kieron Pollard, while Sammy himself bowled just one over. Sammy hinted the West Indies attack would not be so spin-heavy against Sri Lanka, who are good players of spin, but said it was helpful to have the bowling options the allrounders and part-timers provide.”Everyone wants to bowl, so it’s good to have that in your armoury,” Sammy said. “In the last two games Chris has done well for us though he didn’t bowl in five or six matches leading up to the tournament. Pollard has not bowled a ball in this tournament. It’s good to have the back up. We know we have three bowlers who will definitely bowl four overs and we make up the rest with the other guys.”Sammy expected Sri Lanka’s senior batsmen to be key to their chances. Sri Lanka relied on Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan for over 80% of their runs in their Super Over victory over New Zealand on Thursday.”The senior players always turn up for them and they have a good mix in the squad,” he said. “You just can’t count them out at home. Playing them is a big challenge, but it’s one we’re ready for.”

Ian Bell has admitted trying “a bit too hard” to prove himself in India after his heavily-criticised first-ball dismissal in the opening Test in Ahmedabad

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2012Ian Bell has admitted trying “a bit too hard” to prove himself in India after his heavily-criticised first-ball dismissal in the opening Test in Ahmedabad but insists he will not stop trying to attack spin bowlers in the future.Bell lofted his first ball from Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, straight to Sachin Tendulkar at mid-off the delivery after Kevin Pietersen had been dismissed and it left England in tatters at 69 for 5 replying to India’s 521 for 8 dec. He played more sensibly in the second innings, reaching 22 before being trapped lbw by Umesh Yadav, but his record in India now stands at an average of 18.36 from six Tests.”Lately I have been trying a bit too hard to show everyone I can score in India,” Bell said in his newspaper column. “I need to relax and trust my defence and know that if I spend time at the crease it will happen. I still have a lot of confidence about playing in the subcontinent, I have scored runs against Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka but India is the one place that I have not scored big and I know that is missing from my batting CV.”Maybe from previous tours to the subcontinent I was thinking to myself that I wanted to be positive and not sit back and be passive. I know I have to get the balance right. It was a bit adventurous for a first ball but if you look back over my last 30 to 40 Tests, you’ll see the amount of times that I have got off and running against spinners like that. I am not going to put the shot away but I will reassess when I use it next time.”Bell is missing the second Test, in Mumbai, having flown home to be with his newly born son, Joseph, after learning he was a father while sat at the airport. Knowing that the birth was imminent made for a tricky build-up to the series for him.”The first month in India was a weird time, I had things in the back of my mind but I was just trying to concentrate on my cricket,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I was in the best form, I wasn’t batting as well as I would’ve liked. I don’t know if that was down to everything going on, sometimes it just happens like that.”Bell now faces the situation of watching Jonny Bairstow have a chance in the No. 5 position as he spends a few days on nappy-changing duty before returning to India for the third Test in Kolkata. However, despite handing over his England place he does not have any regrets about the trip home.”On the cricketing side it’s a difficult decision to give someone an opportunity to take your place but I wanted to be here for my family and it is the best thing I have ever done and that will never change.”

Samit Patel, the England and Nottinghamshire allrounder, has been awarded an England increment contract for 2012-13

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2012Samit Patel, the England and Nottinghamshire allrounder, has been awarded an England increment contract for 2012-13. Patel has played three T20 internationals and three Tests in the current contract period, and that has earned him a total of 21 points (five for a Test, and two for a T20 or ODI). Non-contracted players are awarded an increment contract once a player reaches 20 points during the 12-month contract period.”This contract reflects the contribution Samit has made to our T20 and Test teams this winter and we congratulate him on his achievement,” ECB national selector Geoff Miller said.Patel was part of the England squad on their tour of India and made 69 runs in four innings in three Tests. He was left out of the fourth Test in Nagpur. In the two-match Twenty20 series on the tour, he made 24 and 9.

Essex have indicated they could follow Nottinghamshire’s example in future serasons by banning their players from taking part in the IPL during the English season

Alex Winter29-Jan-2013Essex have indicated they could follow Nottinghamshire’s example in future seasons by banning their players from taking part in the IPL during the English season as signs grow that the counties are considering a firmer line towards the tournament.Paul Grayson, Essex’s head coach, has admitted the issue has become a regular topic of discussion for the Essex committee as they consider withdrawing permission for their players to pursue IPL deals in 2014.England’s managing director, Hugh Morris, confirmed after their one-day tour of India that England’s Test programme would remain sacrosanct and there would be no concessions in the new central contracts currently under negotiation and due to come into force in September.England’s centrally-contracted players who are in the running to play the first Test against New Zealand have to return by May 5 which entails missing nearly half the IPL which runs from April 3 to May 26.The counties are responsible for issuing No Objection Certificates for players contracted directly by them – and the disruption they face is even greater with the Championship season beginning on April 10.Nottinghamshire became the first county to stand firm and protect the integrity of the county season. Faced by losing Michael Lumb, Samit Patel and Alex Hales for the first part of the new season, a period which could conceivably end their Championship ambitions, Notts’ director of cricket, Mick Newell, instructed his players not to put themselves in the IPL auction on February 3.Essex’s problems run just as deep. Ravi Bopara will be in the IPL auction and could become a third Essex player to potentially miss six County Championship matches and three CB40 fixtures of the new season. Ryan ten Doeschate already has a deal with Kolkata Knight Riders and Owais Shah is signed to Rajasthan Royals.”It’s something we keep discussing on a regular basis about what we’re going to do,” Grayson told the “Eventually we might make a decision and say: ‘Enough is enough: you either play for Essex or you play somewhere else’.”Some counties are putting a stop to it and not letting their players go. Notts were the first ones that said if their lads go to the IPL then they don’t play for Notts. It’s up to them what they decide to do.”Middlesex will also suffer as Eoin Morgan has a contract with Kolkata but, as an England-contracted player, he is not bound by the wishes of his county. Last season Morgan played a full season of IPL when he was dropped from the England Test side and should be available to do so again with his selection for England’s Tests against New Zealand in May unlikely after his exclusion from the tour party for New Zealand in March.Essex do have control of their players because they are not centrally contracted and, although no decision about future policy has been reached, Grayson said the club are working with the ECB and the Professional Cricketers Association to avoid potential legal problems.Their fear is that the situation could lead to players moving to counties willing to grant them a window to be available in the IPL. Only if all 18 counties followed the principle that the county season came first would English cricket avoid some high-profile transfers and even then they might not be able to hold the line against overseas players hoping for an IPL deal.”If they’re under contract, players can’t do anything about it,” Grayson said. “But if they’re at the end of their contract they might go to another club that lets them go to the IPL, if that’s what they want to do.”It can be a bit of a problem but it gives one or two of the younger lads a chance to go out and show what they can do; the Mickleburghs, the Westleys and Foakes can come in and the others will have to wait their turn before they come back in to the side. Just because they go to the IPL there’s no guarantee they’ll walk back in to the side. You’ve got to be loyal to players, it works both ways.”Despite missing Shah and ten Doeschate for the first part of last season, Essex began well, winning one and drawing four of their opening five matches. When Shah returned, Essex lost to Derbyshire in their next match. But overall both Shah and ten Doeschate enjoyed good seasons. Shah made 589 runs in eight first-class matches at 49.08 and ten Doeschate 412 runs at 45.77 from his nine games as well as their impact in the limited-overs formats. Such players are not lightly lost.Essex had batting cover at the start of the season with South African batsman Alviro Petersen playing seven matches, although he only managed 90 runs in 10 innings either side of making 145 against Glamorgan. This season, Essex have signed Rob Quiney, the Australian batsman, for the whole campaign.

An unbeaten 61 from Michael Lumb on the back of a polished bowling display has given Sydney Sixers a sliver of hope of defending their title

The Report by Alex Malcolm07-Jan-2013
ScorecardSteve O’Keefe took 3 for 21•Getty ImagesAn unbeaten 61 from Michael Lumb on the back of a polished bowling display has given Sydney Sixers a sliver of hope of defending their title.Brisbane Heat entered the match as the only side with anything to play for. A win would have catapulted them into the top four with one round remaining but they instead, they produced their worst performance of the tournament after winning the toss and electing to bat.James Hopes set his side back early, playing out a maiden from the Sri Lankan offspinner Sachithra Senanayake. Senanayake, with only nine international caps to his name, proved a weapon in his first match for the Sixers. Although he went wicketless, his four overs cost just 19 and his maiden piled enormous pressure on Hopes, who holed out to Steve O’Keefe the following over.Joe Burns joined Luke Pomersbach and although the pair put together 48, the 43 balls it took put pressure on Heat.Josh Hazlewood made an impressive return from injury to remove Burns in his second over. It was the first of three scalps for Hazlewood, who remains firmly in the gaze of the national selectors. It also triggered a collapse from the home side. Heat lost four wickets in 19 balls, all to strokes aimed at clearing the rope to lift the sinking run-rate.Five wickets become six when the promoted Ben Cutting gifted Brad Haddin a simple stumping and O’Keefe his third victim, and the total was still shy of three figures with just three overs remaining. Cameos from Peter Forrest and Nathan Hauritz ensured that the Sixers needed in excess of a run-a-ball for victory.Lumb and Brad Haddin resumed their opening combination that proved so successful in the Champions League to get the Sydney side off to a brisk start. Haddin looked in ominous touch with two sweetly struck boundaries and a six before chopping on to Alistair McDermott.Lumb then had to drop anchor as he watched both Nic Maddinson and Moises Henriques waste promising starts. Lumb had some luck too when he skied a ball from Hopes over short third man. Kemar Roach made exceptional ground and looked to have pouched it, only to stumble and propel the ball away to the rope for four.Steve Smith top-edged a bizarre overhead smash to mid-on next ball to leave the Sixers needing 29 runs from 29 deliveries. Daniel Hughes was also bounced out to make the equation a nervy 17 from 14. But Lumb stood tall and cracked Dan Christian over the midwicket fence to both ease the tension and raise his half-century.He would strike the winning runs powerfully through midwicket the following over to see his side home with six balls to spare.

Zimbabwe will embark on their first Test assignment in over a year without key coaching personnel

Firdose Moonda04-Feb-2013Zimbabwe will embark on their first Test assignment in over a year without key coaching personnel. Batting coach Grant Flower, bowling coach Heath Streak and fitness trainer Lorraine Chivandire will not travel to the Caribbean later this month because of a technical structure change made by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC).”After consulting with the players and the head coach on the effectiveness of the current coaching structure which has a head coach, an assistant coach and two specialists a decision was made to streamline the structure to allow for better strategy formulation and communication in camp,” Shingai Rhuhwaya, general manager of media and public affairs told ESPNcricinfo.”While specialist can be engaged for preparations and specialist training throughout the season, the head coach is to have full and sole charge of the national team during tours. The same will apply for the fitness trainer whose primary objective is to ensure that players are fit before they go to tour. The physiotherapist and assistant coach will then play the role of maintenance while on tour.”ESPNcricinfo understands that financial concerns and accommodating more touring players are behind reasons for the decision.The tour, which includes three ODIs, two Twenty20s and two Tests, starts on February 20 and is head coach Alan Butcher’s last in charge before his contract expires. The build-up to the tour has been punctuated with controversy after ZC were unhappy with a selection directive issued by the country’s Sports and Recreation Commission which required the entire panel to be former international players. The order has since expanded to include non-ex players as well.Butcher is hopeful the sideshows will not hamper the team’s progress on the tour, although he admits they travel as underdogs. “We haven’t played an ODI in more than a year either and that doesn’t help. We know it will be tough but we have to stay positive and give a better account of ourselves from a last trip.”Zimbabwe’s last full tour was to New Zealand in early 2012. They lost all the matches across every format, including their heaviest Test defeat. It was a major comedown for them after they made a successful return to Test cricket in August 2011 by beating Bangladesh. They also enjoyed a promising run of form at home in series against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand.Since then, Zimbabwe’s only success came in an unofficial T20 tri-series in June last year which they won after beating a South African XI in the final. It did not do them any good at the World T20, though. Zimbabwe lost both group matches by big margins and handed Ajantha Mendis his best figures of 6 for 8.Lack of funds and tour cancellations have robbed them of any more cricket. Bangladesh postponed their August trip because of the BPL and Zimbabwe could not host them any earlier then Pakistan also did not tour as scheduled in November. The Bangladesh tour is due to happen this August but there has been no confirmation of that series yet.By then, Zimbabwe will have a new head coach. Butcher has chosen not to renew his contract because “I have been away from my family for three years,” and denied that the administrative issues had anything to do with him not continuing. Interviews were held to choose his successor last week. Flower, current assistant coach Stephen Mangongo and former international batsman Andy Waller, who previously coached Namibia, have applied for the position. Streak has not put his name in the hat for the head job but has indicated he wants to continue as bowling coach.Although Butcher did not see as much success as he hoped he would, he regards his time with Zimbabwe as fulfilling despite the obstacles. “I’ve enjoyed it and the players have been great to work with. I cannot fault what they’ve put in,” he said. “I am happy that in my time in charge, we won our comeback Test and the ODI series against Bangladesh and the unofficial T20 tournament. The coaching staff have all worked very hard and I’d say 90% of my time was superb.” He has one tour left to raise that percentage.

Yuvraj Singh and Unmukt Chand scored half-centuries as North Zone marched into the Deodhar Trophy final, beating Central Zone by eight wickets in a match affected by bad light and rain in Guwahati

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2013
ScorecardYuvraj Singh scored a brisk, unbeaten 77 against Central Zone in the Deodhar Trophy semi-final•Getty ImagesYuvraj Singh and Unmukt Chand scored half-centuries as North Zone marched into the Deodhar Trophy final, beating Central Zone by eight wickets in a match affected by bad light and rain in Guwahati.The match was reduced to 45 overs per side after a rain-delayed start. In the second innings, play was again interrupted by bad light and North Zone were set a revised target of 160 in 33 overs.Yuvraj and Chand made short work of the chase, taking their side past the total with more than three overs to spare, after Praveen Kumar struck early to dismiss Chandan Madan and captain Gautam Gambhir with the score at 31 for 2.Yuvraj struck up some kind of form after scoring two ducks in his last two matches against Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He scored his first runs with a boundary off Ishwar Pandey and continued in the same vein after the interruption, hitting Shrikant Wagh for four fours in the 17th over and bringing up his fifty with a boundary in the 22nd over. His 70-ball 77 included nine fours and three sixes.Chand, who struck a hundred for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final, was cautious early on, but played some attractive shots once he settled down. He was dropped on 28 after wicketkeeper Naman Ojha failed to hold on to a tough chance off Ishwar Pandey in the 19th over.Earlier, the North Zone bowlers managed to keep Central Zone in check, dismissing them for 190 in 41.5 overs. Parvinder Awana struck early to dismiss opener Amit Paunikar, while the rest of the batting line-up, which included Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif and Ashok Menaria, failed to convert their starts into a big innings. Raina fell for a quick 33, while Menaria and Kaif perished trying to boost the run rate. Legspinner Amit Mishra picked up three wickets for 50 runs.North Zone will play the winner of the South Zone v West Zone semi-final in the title clash of the zonal List-A tournament.

Albie Morkel has become the second South African player in the past one week to consider his international career over

Firdose Moonda04-Apr-2013Albie Morkel has become the second South African player in the past one week to consider his international career over. In an interview to the , Morkel admitted he does not see the IPL as an opportunity to stake a claim for a national recall.”By all counts I won’t play for South Africa again, so it’s not a desire of mine to prove anything to anyone,” Morkel wrote. “My focus will be to do my best for CSK and contribute on and off the field.”Last Thursday Ashwell Prince signed a two-year Kolpak deal with Lancashire and yesterday went to Lord’s to confirm the end of his ambitions to play for South Africa.Morkel and Prince both lost their central contracts last month, when CSA announced their 21-player list. Also dropped from the books was Jacques Rudolph, Rusty Theron and the retired Mark Boucher. The four who are still playing were told by convener of selectors Andrew Hudson that they would be considered for the national team if any of them showed exceptional form, but the reassurance has not been a comfort to two of them.Prince, who last played in the Boxing Day Test of 2011, appears to have accepted losing his place in the Test line-up. Mohammed Moosajee, the South Africa team manager who has known Prince throughout his career said that at 35, the batsmen was simply looking for ways to “further his career before retirement,” so that the administrators harbour no hard feelings over his new contract.For Morkel, the situation is a little different. He is regarded as one of the top Twenty20 allrounders in the game, has been called one of the best finishers by MS Dhoni and, on face value, seems to have all the qualities South Africa need in a powerful middle-order hitter in limited-overs. But his numbers do not match his reputation.In ODIs, Morkel averages 23.69 with the bat and 37.98 with the ball and has seldom put in the kind of match-winning performance expected of him. His strike rate in T20s sits at over 142.73, but with South Africa’s constantly changing structure there was never room to use him as an opening bowler and there was not a designated spot in the batting line-up for him.Morkel did not settle into a role, as he did at CSK, and the lack of certainty seemed to impact on his performances. Stephen Fleming alluded to that at the 2012 Champions League when he explained why Morkel’s success in the IPL outweighed his achievements at international level.”He is a bit more secure with us and a bit more in spotlight which may make him more comfortable with CSK in his role,” Fleming said. “When you have got a talented side like South Africa, they try different techniques and tactics all the way through and he may be searching a bit for his role within the side.”The system gave Morkel many years, but not enough successive matches, to find his place and eventually cut him off. Although Hudson did not close the door on Morkel, he left it barely ajar when he said the selectors felt it was time to “move forward,” and had “one or two other options in mind for the limited-overs formats.”Ryan McLaren is the first choice allrounder at the moment but Chris Morris, Morkel’s new team-mate at CSK, is another of the players South Africa are looking to blood in that role. Morkel had nothing but praise for the man whom he may end up facing off against for a place in the starting XI. “Chris has really done well in the last two seasons in South Africa. He is a fierce competitor, bowls fast and can hit the ball long. He will definitely win CSK a few games,” Morkel said.Or his graciousness may just be another sign of how well Morkel has been managed by Fleming and how much he enjoys playing under him. Morkel will meet up with his CSK team-mates after playing in the South African domestic T20 final on Sunday which means he will not be available for their opener against Mumbai Indians on Saturday.

The idea behind Chennai Super Kings sending R Ashwin out to open at Eden Gardens was to get off to a rapid start on the sluggish track, Michael Hussey has said

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2013Chennai Super Kings, thanks to a blitz from Ravindra Jadeja, staged another late recovery to chase down a target in the IPL, on Saturday against Kolkata Knight Riders. That target of 120 was not a big one, though, and had they failed to knock it off, there would have been many questions around why they had chosen to open their innings with R Ashwin.While Super Kings have been searching for right combination at the top all through this tournament, with M Vijay struggling and S Anirudha falling for a duck when given a chance, promoting Ashwin – who has a top score of 11 in the IPL – hardly seemed the answer. He managed to get away a couple of neat fours through the leg side – flicked and swept – but could not give Super Kings the quick runs they wanted of him on the sluggish track. That, according to Michael Hussey, was the idea behind sending him out to open.”I think Ashwin’s role was to try and get us off to a quick start, look to take advantage of the first six overs and he had a licence to tee off. He hit a couple of good boundaries but, as it can happen in T20 cricket, you can get out anytime,” Hussey told the IPL site. “I think there was pressure all the way through, because it was a difficult surface to bat on. It was almost a case of if you play properly, try and work the ones and twos, it can be very difficult to score; but if you try and tee off it might just work.”Given the nature of the track, Hussey said, Super Kings were not complacent about the target. “Kolkata is always a tough place to play; the pitch is always slow and low with less bounce, and we knew even 120 or 130 could be a defendable total here,” he said. “And I think the bowlers are becoming a lot smarter, so the scores over the whole competition have been a little bit lower than normal. But thankfully some late hitting from ‘Sir’ Jadeja got us over the line again.”Hussey batted through to the 17th over, scoring 40 off 51 – the slowest score of 40 or more overall in the IPL – and when he got out, Super Kings needed 31 off 19. Jadeja slammed 36 off 14 to take them home with five balls to spare. “Obviously you needed one person to try and bat through the innings and have the other guy try and hit around,” Hussey said. “But I guess it was easier when I got out. I was struggling to hit the ball very far and thankfully Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo finished the job for us. We have got a lot of power hitters in our line-up and we always have it in the back of our mind that they could get us home.”Knight Riders’ offspinning pair of Sunil Narine and Sachithra Senanayake, who conceded 38 runs between them in eight overs, were expectedly hard to get away Hussey said: “You can pick both of them, but it is still difficult to play them. They know where they are landing the ball and the Kolkata surface is sort of helpful for them as well. It is very difficult to play them here.”

Channel Nine has retained the rights to broadcast Australia’s home international matches after agreeing to a deal worth $500 million over five years

Brydon Coverdale03-Jun-2013Channel Nine has retained the rights to broadcast Australia’s home international matches after agreeing to a deal worth $500 million over five years.Nine saw off a bold bid from Channel Ten to claim the rights to Test, ODI and Twenty20 international cricket but Ten is believed to have secured a deal worth approximately $20 million a year to broadcast the Big Bash League, which will appear on free-to-air television for the first time.Ten had made a significant play for the full cricket schedule but Nine had the right to match the bid, although that was complicated by its reluctance to sign up for the BBL.However, in order to keep international cricket on Nine, where it has been broadcast for more than 30 years, Nine was forced to more than double the amount it paid per year over the previous seven-year deal.The expiring deal had cost Nine $45 million per year; the new five-year agreement will cost $100 million a year for Test, ODI and Twenty20 international cricket, as well as approximately $10 million a year in free advertising.The two deals will provide a major windfall for Cricket Australia, which will earn about $120 million a season in broadcast rights, nearly three times what it received under the previous arrangement.