All posts by csb10.top

2002-03 in South Africa
There was scant encouragement for Bangladesh who wereemphatically beaten in both Tests and one-dayers, never offering SouthAfrica a convincing challenge. Makhaya Ntini warmed up with 10 wicketsat 10.14 in the one-day series – too fast, too hostile for theBangladeshis – before obliterating them in the two Tests with 12wickets at 15. Only Hannan Sarkar and Al Sahariar notched fiftieswhile South Africa posted five hundreds – including two from GaryKirsten who became the first batsman to score hundreds against allnine Test-playing nations. Graeme Smith’s 200 set-up a huge innings win in the first Test in East London, while in the second at Potchefstroom Jacques Kallis tore through with 5 for 21. As Wisden reported, the sentiment that Bangladesh benefited from competing against such strong opposition wore rather thin.
Tests: South Africa 2 Bangladesh 0
ODIs: South Africa 3 Bangladesh 0
2003 in Bangladesh
Chastened from their disastrous World Cup campaign, South Africaembarked on a tour of Bangladesh with a new-look squad.Graeme Smith was appointed captain – the third-youngest at 22 years 82days – while Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes both retired. Bangladesh werealso rebuilding, with the captain Khaled Masud making way for KhaledMahmud, but South Africa’s youthful façade was still far too strong. In thefirst Test at Chittagong, Jacques Rudolph cracked 222 on debut to begin achequered international career. And in the second, South Africa’sbowlers probed away to crush Bangladesh for 102 and 210, sweeping theseries 2-0.
Tests: Bangladesh 0 South Africa 2

2007-08 in Bangladesh
South Africa were given the hurry-up in 2008, squeezing home by five wickets in the first Test at Mirpur, on a juicy surface which offered plenty to seamers. Bangladesh even squeaked a first-innings lead of 22 after Shahadat Hossain picked up career-best figures of 6 for 27. The hosts’ stranglehold couldn’t last, however, and they were rolled for 182 in their second innings, leaving South Africa chasing 205 to win – a target, though tricky, was far from insurmountable. Normal order was resumed at Chittagong where Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith put on 415 for the opening wicket. 405 of those came on the first day – the most runs scored in a day without a wicket falling. Robin Peterson picked up 5 for 33 while Dale Steyn grabbed seven in the match as Bangladesh were walloped by an innings-and-205-runs. The ODIs went to script, too, with Smith notching 199 runs in the three comprehensive wins for South Africa.
Tests: Bangladesh 0 South Africa 2
ODIs: Bangladesh 0 South Africa 3

Arran Brindle may miss England’s World Cup match against India on Monday after suffering from an undisclosed illness. Brindle, 23, received medical attention and England will have to wait to see if she is ready for the top-of-the-table clash.She and captain Clare Connor lifted England to success against Ireland with a 128-run partnership after they had been in some trouble. England now lead the table after three rounds: they and India are both undefeated and they each have 15 points, but England have the superior run rate.Mithali Raj believes the key to India’s success would be taking early wickets.”Our bowlers will target the England openers," India’s captain Raj told BBC Sport, "as we’ve seen they give them a good start.”The main aim is to get early wickets and put pressure on their batting order. Our pace bowlers are getting us early breakthroughs, but the spinners are definitely our trump card.”

Glamorgan lost their friendly one-day match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, with the home team winning by 18 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.The Welsh county batted first and made 209-9 from their 45 over allocation with opening batsman Ian Thomas top scoring with 50. Robert Croft, David Hemp and Jonathan Hughes all got into the thirties, before Nottinghamshire replied with 156-3 from 34 overs, with their captain Jason Gallian unbeaten on 77 when the rain brought a premature end to the contest.Middlesex will be Glamorgan`s opponents in another 45 over friendly at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Friday.

Graeme Hick will be out of action for up to six weeks after breaking a bone in his left hand while batting for Worcestershire against Glamorgan last Sunday.The news is a big set-back for Worcestershire, who immediately felt its effect when they were deprived of Hick’s services for their Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter-final against Leicestershire. Club doctors were hoping Hick would be available for the game, but it was confirmed shortly before that he has in fact broken a bone and is likely to be sidelined for four to six weeks.Worcestershire are currently riding high at the top of Division Two on the back of three consecutive wins, and Hick has contributed 424 runs in six Championship games at an average of 50. Along with the injured Nantie Hayward, who has a damaged ankle, he will be sorely missed in their bid for promotion.

Tasmania 215 for 8 (Dighton 48) v Western Australia 6 for 0 – no result
ScorecardTasmania’s ING Cup meeting with Western Australia was washed out in second over of WA’s run-chase, as thunder and lightning brought the match to an abrupt end. It was just as well for Tasmania, who had been made to struggle after winning the toss and batting first, although their effort was interrupted in mid-innings by the first bout of bad weather.All of Tasmania’s top seven reached double figures, but none were able to dig in for the big score – the best effort of the innings was Michael Dighton’s 48. They were kept in check by some persevering bowling efforts , in particular Paul Wilson, whose eight overs failed to take a wicket but went for just 20 runs.After the match had been reduced to 48 overs a side, WA were set 216 for victory. But there were already menacing banks of clouds looming as the innings got underway, and the heavens opened after 12 deliveries had been bowled.

Carib Beer XI 129 and 51 for 1 (Ganga 17*, Joseph 25*) trail England 347 (Thorpe 88, Jones 66) by 167 runs
Scorecard

Graham Thorpe picked up where he left off in the Trinidad Test and Geraint Jones recorded his maiden representative half-century, as England took control on the second day of their tour match against a Carib Beer XI at the 3Ws Oval in Barbados.Thorpe, whose first-innings 90 put England on course for victory in the second Test, once again missed out on a century as he was dismissed for 88 shortly before tea. But it was nonetheless a satisfactory warm-up for this week’s third Test, as England secured a first-innings lead of 218, after being bowled out for 347. Thorpe added 117 for the fifth wicket with Jones, England’s reserve wicketkeeper, who made the most of a rare outing with a finely crafted 66.Jones’s success with the bat was in stark contrast to his rival for the wicketkeeper’s role, Chris Read, who was playing as a specialist batsman after a run of low scores. His was the only wicket to fall in a sleepy morning session in which England added 85 runs to their overnight 121 for 3. After one emphatic pull for four, he snicked a thin edge to the keeper off Dave Mohammad for 9 (144 for 4).Five overs later, Thorpe should have been sent on his way as well when he was bowled by Ravi Rampaul, but it was a no-ball. Instead he knuckled down and ground his way towards a big score, tight as ever in defence but quick to latch onto anything loose.England’s progress was held up after lunch, as a heavy downpour swept across the ground. But when play finally resumed after an hour’s delay, Thorpe and Jones cracked 53 runs in just 11 overs to pile the pressure on the Carib Beer XI.

But with a hundred in his sights, Thorpe mis-timed a lofted drive off Tonito Willett, and was caught brilliantly in the deep by the substitute fielder. Jones then slapped Jermaine Lawson to cover to end a fine innings that had included five fours and three sixes, and had doubtless given the England selectors a timely nudge.Rikki Clarke enjoyed himself for a time, as he and Ashley Giles added 40 useful runs for the seventh wicket. But Lawson put the new ball to good use, removing Clarke for 35, courtesy of Sylvester Joseph’s catch, and Gareth Batty, trapped lbw for a duck (325 for 8). Giles himself then fell for 22, before Dave Mohammad wrapped things up with his third wicket of the innings.James Anderson made an early breakthrough in the Carib Beer XI’s second innings when Xavier Marshall was caught behind for 4, but Daren Ganga and Marshall reached the close on 51 for 1, a deficit of 167.

Shoaib Akhtar has submitted his reply to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in response to the charge that he violated the terms of his central contract. Shoaib’s written reply will now be considered by an inquiry committee set up by the board.”The committee will go through his reply on Wednesday to decide if there is any ground for forwarding it to the PCB disciplinary committee,” said Abbas Zaidi, the PCB director, quoted in The News. “If the committee is satisfied with his answers, the issue would be closed.”The PCB had asked for a clarification from Shoaib on four issues: his late return from Australia; consulting a private trainer [Dr Taufeeq Razzak] instead of Greg Compton, the PCB-appointed trainer; his comments in the media, and also alleged stories of nightclub appearances.Shoaib didn’t sign the central contract until the Test series was over, and according to the PCB, he is in breach of that if found guilty of these four trangressions. However, Zaidi asserted that it didn’t necessarily rule Shoaib out of contention for the Indian tour, saying, “Just because we feel he has violated four clauses of the contract does not mean he is automatically ruled out of the Indian tour.”Shoaib’s supporters would have been boosted however by a statement from Inzamam-ul-Haq that rubbished earlier reports that he and other senior team members wanted Shoaib sidelined. “I am surprised to read reports that we have threatened to boycott the tour if Shoaib is in the side; it’s not true,” said Inzamam. “We have never had any such discussions.”If he [Shoaib] is fit and that is for the doctors and selectors to judge – he should be in the touring side because he is our main strike bowler and will be valuable to us on the Indian pitches and against their batsmen.”There have been rumours of a frosty relationship between Inzamam and Shoaib for a while now, with certain quarters of the media suggesting that Shoaib was gunning for the top job, But Inzamam insisted that he considered him a valuable member of the side. “There are no problems between us; he is there to perform likewise it is the same with me,” said Inzamam. And when asked about the brouhaha over the length of Shoaib’s run-up, he was just as forthright, saying, “If it has been suggested that he should reduce his run-up, it is in the team’s interest but it’s a suggestion and not an order.”On Tuesday, the Shoaib injury saga took another sharp twist, with the news that the three foreign trainers and physiotherapists employed by the PCB had left on vacation. Murray Stevenson and Darryn Lifsun left for London, while Compton, the trainer who was supposed to be supervising Shoaib’s recovery at the National Cricket Academy, left for South Africa.Shoaib apparently needs another two to three weeks to recover from the torn hamstring, and he was clueless when asked what course of action he saw fit to take, with Compton having departed. “I don’t know the situation but Compton told me he was leaving for South Africa,” said Shoaib. “I will ask the Board officials for guidance and what I am supposed to do.”