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Chris Hartley held on for Queensland, who were hit by a surging New South Wales, as they finished the second day 182 behind at 6 for 269

Cricinfo staff12-Dec-2009Queensland 6 for 269 (Hartley 107*, Simpson 54*, Starc 3-44) trail New South Wales 5 for 451 dec (Khawaja 132*, Smith 102*, Simpson 3-98) by 182 runs
ScorecardUsman Khawaja led the Blues with 132 as they controlled most of the proceedings at the Gabba•Getty Images

The wicketkeeper Chris Hartley held on for Queensland, who were hit by a surging New South Wales, as they finished the second day 182 behind at 6 for 269. Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja scored centuries in New South Wales’ 5 for 451 declared and the hosts were in deep trouble in their reply before Hartley posted his fourth first-class century.The Bulls flopped to 4 for 42 as Mitchell Starc ran through them with three wickets before Hartley’s recovery. Hartley started with a 70-run stand with James Hopes and he also got help from the captain Chris Simpson to improve the local mood at the Gabba. At stumps Hartley was 107, having hit 15 fours and stayed for 164 deliveries, while Simpson was 54.Smith caught the openers Greg Moller (14) and Wade Townsend (10) off Starc, who then caught-and-bowled Nathan Reardon. Josh Hazlewood chipped in to have Craig Philipson taken by the keeper and it was left to Lee Carseldine (46) to steady the hosts until he was also taken by Smith, this time off the bowling of Moises Henriques.Khawaja, who passed 1000 career runs in his 15th game, moved to his century in the morning and was unbeaten on 132, but his fine effort was overshadowed by Smith’s 102. Smith resumed on 4, with his side at 5 for 299, and reached his century well before the lunch break as the Blues declared.He blasted 16 fours and a six during his 102-ball display and he put on 160 with Khawaja in a partnership that drained the hosts. It wasn’t Smith’s day throughout, with his first three overs of legspin going for 34 on the way to 0 for 67 off 11.

Rain and bad light kept the final day to 31 overs at Bellerive Oval, where Tasmania took the only points in the draw due to their first-innings lead

Cricinfo staff27-Nov-2009
ScorecardPeter George finished the match with 11 wickets•South Australian Cricket Association

Rain and bad light kept the final day to 31 overs at Bellerive Oval, where Tasmania took the only points in the draw due to their first-innings lead. When play was called off the Tigers had 4 for 129 in what had become a meaningless second innings with George Bailey on 64 and Luke Butterworth on 29.Rain delayed the start substantially and when play finally resumed Tasmania added 90 to their overnight total for the loss of one wicket. Much of the interest on the final day was in how many victims Peter George would end up with for the match, having grabbed eight wickets in the first innings.He finished with three in the second innings, making the only breakthrough on the fourth day when he had Daniel Marsh caught for 4. It meant George ended up with match figures of 11 for 131, the best analysis by a South Australia bowler in a Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup match since Paul Rofe picked up 13 in a game in 2001-02.

One of the key challenges that England will have to confront as they aim to secure a series victory against South Africa won’t actually come from the home side, but rather the geographical location of the Wanderers

Andrew McGlashan in Johannesburg11-Jan-2010One of the key challenges that England will have to confront as they aim to secure a series victory against South Africa won’t actually come from the home side, but rather the geographical location of the Wanderers. The stadium is 6000 feet above sea level which creates a unique atmosphere – or lack of it – for the players.The air is noticeably thinner at such a height and after three weeks down at sea level for the Durban and Cape Town Tests it will take some getting used to. The batsmen tend to notice it running while between the wickets, the fielders while chasing down boundaries – and the ball seems to travel that much quicker at altitude – and the fast bowlers notice it while coming off their long runs.As a home team has every right to do, South Africa have been clever in their scheduling of this tour – although they haven’t made the most of their home advantage thus far, seeing as they are currently 1-0 down. Prior to the first Test at Centurion Park, which is also on the highveld, England spent 10 days on the coast in East London and they are now in the same situation.”It’s unbelievable. There’s no oxygen, for a start,” Matt Prior, the England wicketkeeper said. “Your body, your lungs can feel it just in the warm-up. We’ve been at sea level a long time, at Durban and Cape Town, so coming back to altitude is something that takes a bit of getting used to. But the fitness work has been good so it should be fine after today and tomorrow.”The altitude also has an impact on Prior’s role behind the stumps, with the ball flying through quicker from the pacemen and demanding that he says alert. “The odd one seems to hit the hands a bit harder than usual,” he said. “But you just have to adapt to the conditions.”However, Prior is now a very confident wicketkeeper – far removed from the fragile player who was dropped following the 2007-08 series in Sri Lanka in which he scored runs but missed a host of chances – and the fact he has barely been talked about in this series is a sign of his development. An invisible keeper is a good keeper, and Prior had an extra long practice session with Bruce French, England’s keeping coach, on the outfield at the Wanderers on Monday.”Touch wood,” he said when his almost error-free keeping was mentioned. “I’ve worked very, very hard on my keeping and I’ll continue to do so. I always mention Frenchy. He’s been an absolutely fantastic help.”All or nothing: Matt Prior has had a hit-and-miss series with the bat•Getty Images

Prior added that it has been his batting form that has caused him more problems during the tour despite two important half-centuries at Durban and Cape Town. It has been a case of all-or-nothing for Prior during the Tests, with his other three innings being single figures.”It’s been a weird series for me individually with the bat,” he said. “I’ve managed to get a couple of scores, which has been nice, at important times. To help the team in those situations is always a great feeling.”But I’ve not gone into the series feeling in great form with the bat. It’s as important to come up with those performances when you’re maybe not feeling in the best nick. It’s no good just scoring runs when you’re feeling great; sometimes, you’ve got to get your ‘ugly’ runs when the feet maybe aren’t moving as well as you’d hope. You’ve still got to get stuck in.”Before the series began it was expected that Prior would play at No. 6 with England fielding an extra bowling option – either Luke Wright or Ryan Sidebottom – but Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower went for six batsmen which shunted Prior down a spot. It was seen in some quarters as a defensive approach, but has worked a treat so far with the extra batsman – Ian Bell – helping to win and draw a Test.However, Prior was adamant that even though England only need a draw at the Wanderers to take home the main prize there won’t be any thoughts of playing it safe.”This team is going out to win this Test match, not to hang on to a draw or try to scrape through,” he said. “If we can go back 2-0, that would be a dream come true for all of us. It would obviously be a fabulous achievement to beat two of the top teams in the world, in back-to-back Test series.”We didn’t come here to draw a series; we came here to win one. The coach had a long chat with us this morning and was pretty adamant on that. We don’t want to be the nearly-men.”

Former Pakistan captains have criticised the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt for the timing of his announcement that Mohammad Yousuf will be replaced as captain

Cricinfo staff23-Jan-2010Former Pakistan captains have criticised the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt for the timing of his announcement
that Mohammad Yousuf will be replaced as captain after the ongoing tour of Australia, saying it will leave the struggling team further disjointed and dispirited.Under Yousuf, Pakistan squared a three-Test series against New Zealand but lost three Tests in a row to Australia before they surrendered the first ODI in Brisbane on Friday. Butt said Yousuf was appointed only for these two tours, but did not guarantee that he would be retained. Aamer Sohail and Inzamam-ul-Haq felt that Butt’s announcement came too early.”Why announce this in the middle of the Australia tour? What’s the urgency?” Sohail told PTI, adding that it could affect the team’s morale for the remainder of the tour, which includes four more ODIs and a Twenty20.Inzamam agreed that such an announcement will cause more confusion within the team, after Younis Khan quit the captaincy in a huff. “Even if the board thought that Yousuf is not good enough to captain the team, they should have waited till their return,” he said. “Ever since the team had gone to New Zealand and Australia, there is total chaos and lack of communication between the team management, selectors and board. This is another example of that lack of communication, which will only contribute to the team’s poor show.”Moin Khan, the former wicketkeeper, said that though Yousuf exposed his own shortcomings as captain during the tour, he did not deserve to be put under so much pressure by the PCB by way of this announcement.”He accepted the captaincy at a time when no one was willing to do it and he has given his best, but the same is also true that he lacked the aggression required in Australia to win matches,” Moin said. “But this does not mean that the board should announce that they will change the captain after the Australian tour. It will leave the team further disjointed and dispirited.”The relationship between Yousuf and the selection committee, headed by Iqbal Qasim, has been tense over the course of the long tour of Australia. He had Misbah-ul-Haq sent over to New Zealand after the player had been dropped from all three formats of the game just a month before. He also requested the committee to fly in Younis during the Tests to arrest the team’s batting woes but expressed his disappointment at the former captain’s late arrival.

Afghanistan needed a dramatic last-ball run out to edge a thriller against Canada after Ashish Bagai almost carried the underdogs to victory

Cricinfo staff16-Feb-2010

ScorecardAfghanistan needed a dramatic last-ball run out to edge a thriller against Canada after Ashish Bagai almost carried the underdogs to victory. The packed crowd of Afghanistan supporters, still in full voice following the team’s triumph in the World Twenty20 qualifiers, were treated to a fluctuating spectacle of 50-over cricket at its clammy-palmed best as a spirited Canada side came within a whisker of causing an upset.Chasing an unlikely 289 to win, Canada had timed the chase superbly, needing 38 from the final six overs with captain Ashish Bagai well set on 70, four wickets intact and a Powerplay still in hand. They took full advantage of the first over of fielding restrictions, with Bagai clubbing Shapoor Zadran for two fours and a two to take the equation to 25 from 30 balls.But the 46th over proved a dramatic turning point as Samiullah Shenwari targeted the tail-ender Umar Bhati and pulled off a crucial maiden, conceding just two leg byes. Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Nabi restricted the next three overs to just 15 to leave a tantalising eight required from the final six balls.Khurram Chohan managed to get Bagai on strike with a single from the first ball, but Nabi held his nerve and conceded just three of the next four. With four runs needed for victory from the last ball Chohan managed to force it away and scamper two but was run out attempting a match-levelling third in a thrilling climax to the game.It was a cruel for Bagai who’s unbeaten on 91, alongside fifties from Rizwan Cheema and Sunil Dhaniram, threatened to carry Canada to victory. Bagai only hit five boundaries as he instead worked the ball around cleverly and ran hard during his 99-ball stay. It was in sharp contrast to Cheema who launched the run chase with a series of boundaries. He butchered Afghanistan’s opening bowlers, blazing 11 fours and two sixes on his way to 65 from just 35 balls.His dashing half-century arrested the momentum which looked firmly Afghanistan’s after Noor Ali, the hero from the crucial qualifying game against UAE, and Mohammad Shahzad made rapid hundreds to set up the game for Afghanistan.Shahzad followed up his sterling performance in the final of the World Twenty20 Qualifier with a Man-of-the-Match-earning 118, batting at No. 3 after Sadiq was defeated by Chohan in the third over for a duck.Together with Ali the pair added 205 in 36 overs as they punished the Canada bowlers. Ali ended up with 114, and in contrasting style to some of his more stodgy knocks in the Twenty20, he was in full flow, stroking two sixes and 11 fours in his 127-ball stay. Chohan was the only Canada bowler to end with any real credit finishing with 4 for 39 from his 10 overs.Afghanistan, it seems, are irrepressible at the moment but Canada will take great heart from this performance going into the next game on February 18.

Not that Ross Taylor batted especially well on the second day in Wellington, where he edged to slip for 21, but he didn’t have much of a base to build on

Brydon Coverdale at the Basin Reserve20-Mar-2010It must be demoralising being one of the better players in a New Zealand outfit whose depth is questionable. Not that Ross Taylor batted especially well on the second day in Wellington, where he edged to slip for 21, but he didn’t have much of a base to build on. He arrived at the crease at 14 for 2 and watched his partner depart to leave the score at 31 for 3.The feeling has become frustratingly familiar for Taylor over the past few years as the makeup of New Zealand’s top order has been as unpredictable as the state of Daniel Vettori’s facial hair. Openers have been whisked in and out with barely time for their form to be considered a slump. Remember Matthew Bell and Craig Cumming? Jamie How and Aaron Redmond?The current top three of Tim McIntosh, BJ Watling and Peter Ingram looked shaky leading in to the Test and so it proved. Watling couldn’t get his bat in front of a ball that pitched and straightened in the first over, McIntosh edged to slip when the ball nibbled away and Ingram was unlucky to be run out, but has suspect footwork and hadn’t looked like scoring many runs until that moment.”In the ideal world that would be great,” Taylor said of the desire to come in with a healthy total already on the board. “But we lost a couple of early wickets and you’ve got to get out there. I’m disappointed that I got out, I would have loved to have still been out there. But hopefully in the next innings we can get a better opening stand than a wicket in the first over.”Once again it was left to Vettori, now New Zealand’s No. 6, to put things right and his unbeaten 65-run partnership with Martin Guptill stopped the chaos. However, it wasn’t just the top order that failed to deliver for New Zealand – the bowlers struggled for impact as well.Chris Martin and Daryl Tuffey have horrible records against Australia and their figures didn’t improve, Tim Southee rarely looked threatening and the debutant Brent Arnel was consistent but couldn’t add to his two wickets from the first day. Too often the workload is dumped on Vettori, and without much assistance in the pitch for a spinner, Australia were able to cruise to 459 for 5 before declaring.”We looked pretty tired towards the end there last night and this morning,” Taylor said. “We just couldn’t put any pressure on them, [if we had] any two- or three-dot strings then we’d bowl one down legside, or with Clarke and North being right- and left-handed, we weren’t able to put any pressure on them and it showed with the way they both batted.”You’ve got to give credit to Australia, the way Harris and Bollinger bowled at the start, not only did they pick up a few wickets but they bowled economically as well. They bowled very well on what’s quite a flat deck but if you can extract a little bit of bounce and a little bit of sideways movement on any cricket wicket [you can succeed].”By stumps on the second day, the immediate challenge for New Zealand was first to push past the follow-on target, for which they needed a further 152 runs. But the hosts were hanging their hats on the late fight from Guptill and Vettori, who must stay together for much longer to rescue the match.”We are behind the game now,” Taylor said. “The way Dan and Guptill started showing some fight towards the end there was giving us a bit of hope. Tomorrow’s going to be an important first session. If we can get out there and not lose a wicket or one at the most, we’re back in the game.”

Half-centuries from Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis, and a combined bowling effort, helped a star-studded Warriors team inflict a crushing defeat over Lions in Port Elizabeth and take home the Pro20 title

Cricinfo staff12-Mar-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Jacques Kallis supported Ashwell Prince with a half-century in Warriors’ title win•Gallo Images

Half-centuries from Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis, and a combined bowling effort, helped a star-studded Warriors team inflict a crushing defeat over Lions in Port Elizabeth and take home the Pro20 title.The Lions began as underdogs – sporting just two South African internationals as opposed to seven – and ran into an attacking opening stand of 129 between Prince and Kallis, off 97 balls. Prince struck nine fours and two sixes in his 52-ball 69, and Kallis, just a hint slower, smashed six fours and a six in his 55, off 47 balls. Colin Ingram and Mark Boucher provided the big hits at the death to take the Warriors, in front of close to 17,000 supporters at St George’s Park, to a challenging 186 for 2.The Lions never looked like scaling down the target, as they lost wickets at frequent intervals to surrender meekly. Makhaya Nitni, Johan Botha, Nicky Boje and Juan ‘Rusty’ Theron, who has been signed up by Kings XI Punjab for the IPL and picked in the South African squad of 30 for the World Twenty20, bagged two wickets each. The top score in the Lions effort was just 15, and they ended up falling 82 short in a one-sided encounter.”We kept looking for the perfect game and I think we had it tonight,” Warriors captain Davy Jacobs said. “Ashwell and Jacques were fantastic. The early wickets we took in the power play were important. This is the result of several years of hard work and we are now seeing the results.”The victory was the Warriors’ second title-win in the domestic season, for they had previously won the MTN40 final as well. Both teams, having made it to the final, ensured qualification for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament to be held in India later in the year.

Teenage seamer James Harris claimed four Sussex wickets as Glamorgan shaded the opening day of their Division Two clash at a sunny Swalec Stadium

09-Apr-2010
ScorecardTeenage seamer James Harris claimed four Sussex wickets as Glamorgan shaded the opening day of their Division Two clash at a sunny Swalec Stadium. But Glamorgan, who had Sussex 153 for 6 and then 237 for 9, were held up by Robin Martin-Jenkins until he was last man out, one of three wickets for Dean Cosker.Sussex were eventually bowled out for 284 with Martin-Jenkins batting for 47 overs for his 65 from 133 balls. Glamorgan captain Jamie Dalrymple decided to bowl after winning the toss. With frontline seamers David Harrison and Adam Shantry both injured and Glamorgan naming three spinners that seemed a foolhardy decision.But after Sussex made a good start Glamorgan, thanks to Harris, pegged them back to 111 for 3 by lunch. Sussex, back in Division Two for the first time since 2001, made an ominous start to the season against young seamers Chris Ashling and Harris, 20 next month, who got through 23 overs.Michael Yardy took 10 off Harris’ opening over with Glamorgan conceding 17 runs in the first two overs. But on a pitch which started slightly damp Harris struck back to trap Chris Nash leg before with the first ball of his third over to have Sussex 27 for 1 in the fifth over.After reaching 50 at the end of the 12th Joe Gatting, nephew of former England captain Mike, was given a life when he was dropped by Ben Wright at first slip off James Allenby. But Allenby then clung on to a catch at first slip in the next over as Harris claimed the wicket of Yardy to leave the visitors on 73 for two.And two overs later Harris bagged his third victim by trapping Gatting lbw. But from 74 for 3 Goodwin and Wright took Sussex to lunch despite confident appeals against both batsmen. Goodwin sent Ashling to the boundary for four fours in an over to help bring up the 100.After lunch the fourth-wicket pair continued to look comfortable until Allenby removed both in the space of three overs. First the former Leicestershire all-rounder bowled Goodwin, who shouldered arms, and eight balls later he struck again as Cosker took a brilliant left-handed catch at backward point as Sussex were reduced to 144 for 5.Sussex’s slump continued when Harris secured his fourth wicket, claiming a return catch from Michael Thornely. But from 153 for 6, Andrew Hodd and Martin-Jenkins set about a recovery either side of tea which Sussex reached at 193 for 6.After tea Ashling trapped Hodd lbw before Cosker struck. He claimed the wickets of James Anyon and Monty Panesar with consecutive deliveries before ending Martin-Jenkins’ 10th-wicket stand with Corey Collymore which was worth 47 runs.

Sussex are already on course for an immediate return to the top flight of the
County Championship after completing their fourth successive Division Two
win

29-Apr-2010

ScorecardSussex are already on course for an immediate return to the top flight of the
County Championship after completing their fourth successive Division Two
win. The home side overcame some stubborn Leicestershire resistance led by veteran
Paul Nixon to complete a 10-wicket win shortly after tea on the third day at
Hove.Nixon made 93 while skipper Andrew McDonald and Wayne White both contributed 47
as Leicestershire were bowled out for 338 in their second innings. That left Sussex with a victory target of just 61 and they knocked off the runs in 13.3 overs with Michael Thornely making 29 and Chris Nash, who hit the winning boundary off White, unbeaten on 27.Sussex have now won two games by 10 wickets and the other two by more than 200
runs and the early evidence suggests they are too strong for this division. Once again the key to Sussex’s victory was the persistence of their bowling attack, with Monty Panesar playing a big part.He made the breakthrough in his seventh over of the day when McDonald prodded
to short leg after helping Nixon put on 95 in 25 overs for the fourth wicket. Nash has developed a habit of taking important wickets this season and when acting skipper Murray Goodwin brought the part-time off-spinner on just before the second new ball was due it paid an immediate dividend, Josh Cobb drilling Nash’s second ball back to the bowler for a simple return catch.Panesar struck again in the next over when Tom New was lbw offering no shot to
leave Leicestershire six down and still needing eight runs to make Sussex bat
again. When the new ball failed to bring a breakthrough Goodwin brought back Panesar
and with the second ball of his new spell he ended Nixon’s obdurate innings when
he was in sight of the 21st hundred of his career.The veteran left-hander had employed the sweep and reverse-sweep effectively
against Panesar but missed this time and was lbw after resisting for four and a
half hours. He faced 222 balls and hit nine fours and a straight six off Panesar.Panesar bowled beautifully to finish with three for 77 from 29 overs but it was
Sussex’s seamers who polished off Leicestershire’s tail after lunch. Claude Henderson lost his off stump to Rana Naved shouldering arms and Corey Collymore then dismissed White in the first over of his spell.AJ Harris was last to go, bowled by Collymore as he prodded forward, leaving
Sussex with the straightforward task of completing a victory which maintains
their 100% record in all competitions so far this season.

Jim Allenby produced a match-winning performance as Glamorgan opened their Friends Provident t20 campaign with a six-wicket victory

Cricinfo staff05-Jun-2010
Scorecard
Jim Allenby produced a match-winning performance as Glamorgan opened their Friends Provident t20 campaign with a six-wicket victory over Gloucestershire in Cardiff. In front of a crowd of 7,424 Allenby recorded figures of 3 for 23 in four overs to help restrict Gloucestershire to 148 for 6 from their 20 overs. He followed that up with 54 from 44 balls as Glamorgan won the clash with five balls to spare.Gloucestershire, who won the toss, got off to an encouraging start and reached 50 for 1 in the first six overs – losing just Will Porterfield to Shaun Tait, who celebrated his Glamorgan debut with a wicket from his fourth ball. But the home side fought back impressively through veteran Robert Croft, who proved he had lost none of his guile as a one-day offspinner, and Allenby.Croft disposed of Gloucestershire captain Alex Gidman, who had struck James Harris for two fours in an over. James Franklin looked dangerous as he drove slow left-armer Dean Cosker for two sixes over long-on in the space of three balls, but his innings of 42 from 30 balls was ended by Allenby.Allenby had him caught sharply down the leg side by wicketkeeper Mark Wallace standing up and three balls later Allenby bowled Ian Butler. Two overs later he had Chris Taylor caught at deep backward square by Tait as Gloucestershire’s runs started to dry up.Hamish Marshall was the visitors’ last chance of posting a really competitive score but he was out in the 16th over, holing out to Croft on the long-off boundary.In reply, Glamorgan lost Mark Cosgrove in only the second over but Allenby nursed captain Jamie Dalrymple, who could only score 21 from 32 balls, through a second-wicket partnership worth 66 in 11 overs.Tom Maynard only lasted an over and Allenby was out two overs later, attempting a reverse sweep to Vikram Banerjee. It was left to Gareth Rees and David Brown, the former Gloucestershire allrounder, with 35 needed from the final four overs. Brown survived a dropped catch by Chris Taylor to hit Butler over long-on for six to leave Glamorgan needing just two from the final over, which they achieved with ease.