Category Uncategorized

Saturday, March 22, 2003:::
“I am not responsible alone for the debacle. The other seniors are equally responsible, but surprisingly they are ‘rested’ and I am dropped.” Former Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis, on being dropped from the one-day team for Sharjah
Source: The Dawn, Pakistan”We’ll find out how good they really are tomorrow. I concede that they are the best Test side in the world, but we have beaten them more than any other side (in one-day internationals) in the past.” Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, on his side’s final against Australia
Source: The Dispatch Online, South Africa”With the fast bowlers he’s always had a few problems. Sheer pace got him out against us – Binga (Brett Lee) got him out, and (New Zealand fast bowler) Shane Bond unsettled him a bit in another game.” Australian captain Ricky Ponting, on Sourav Ganguly
Source: AAP on NineMSNWednesday, March 19, 2003:::
“I won’t be encouraging any of our batsmen to do it. It’s up to them. I won’t tell any of our batsmen what to do – whether to walk or not. It’s how they see it on the day. I was surprised at the time. All of us in the dressing room were surprised.” Australian captain Ricky Ponting, on Adam Gilchrist walking despite not being given out against Sri Lanka
Source: AAP in The Age, Australia”I did leave the opening slot not because I had difficulty in scoring runs. I had to come down because Virender Sehwag was not doing well in the middle order.” Sourav Ganguly, on pushing himself down the batting order
Source: UNI in The New Indian Express, India”It’s very sad he will be leaving us. What he has done with the boys is amazing. I wish he could stay but I suppose he has his reasons not to extend his contract.” Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo, on the imminent departure of team coach Sandeep Patil
Source: Outlook, India

Australian cricket great Greg Chappell is to sell his personal collection ofcricket memorabilia on 31 July.The clothing, equipment and documents on offer are estimated to fetch$A150,000 to $A250,000, said Christies spokesman Michael Ludgrove.”The most significant collection of an Australian Test captain to appear atpublic auction” will be sold in Melbourne, as Ashes fever reaches a peak inthe UK.Chappell, 52, currently coaches South Australia. He retired in 1984 with 7,110Test runs in 87 Tests (average 53.86) including 24 centuries.Ludgrove added that Chappell had recently moved house and found thecollection of baggy green caps, blazers, bats and cricket contracts (amongalmost 100 lots) “too large for one person to maintain”.The sale will also feature a cricket bat signed by Don Bradman, which heused in the Bodyline series and again in 1963, when he played in a PrimeMinister’s team against England.Australian Formula One legend Alan Jones also has items in the auction.Meanwhile, at Sotheby’s in London, a sale on 18 July brought prices of£6,000 (estimate £2,500) for Fred Trueman’s 300th Test wicket-taking ball(against Australia in 1964).Walter Hammond’s 1938/9 South Africa touring blazer fetched £5,040 and anear complete run of Wisdens 1879-1984, lacking 1916 and others, made£7,970.

On a day of slow cricket, Karnataka made a fitting reply toHyderabad’s first innings total of 302 on the second day of theirSouth Zone (under-19) Cooch Behar Trophy game at the Chinnaswamystadium in Bangalore on Tuesday. A watchful unbeaten 48 by DeepakChaugule saw Karnataka finish the day on 126 for four off 60 overs.Karnataka in fact lost three wickets for 60 before a fourth wicketpartnership of 63 runs off 32.4 overs between Chaugule and C Raghu(23) saw the side go into a position from which they could challengethe Hyderabad total on the final day on Wednesday. Chaugule, by closehad faced 119 balls and hit two boundaries. Keeping him company wasStuart Binny who failed to open his account after facing 19 balls.Earlier, Hyderabad, resuming at 239 for five, were all out shortlybefore lunch. The overnight batsmen Ibrahim Khaleel and Abhinav Kumarboth did not last very long, being dismissed for 73 and 43. A watchful35 by Ahmed Qadri, who was last out, saw Hyderabad getting past the300 mark. Opening bowler Steve Lazarus and Keerthi Bhat took twowickets each on Tuesday and finished with five for 108 and four for 63respectively.

Following a break from international cricket – five weeks is something of a luxury these days – Sri Lanka are back on Australian shores, this time for a one-day series, the CB triangular also featuring the hosts and India. They were last here three months ago for a two-Test whitewash that proved a handy catalyst for bouncing back to beat England in the subsequent home series.They returned this weekend in Sydney and their coach Trevor Bayliss immediately promised that his side won’t let the race controversy between Australia and India concern the team. “It looks like those two teams have got over it,” Bayliss told the Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s one of those things that happen in cricket every now and then and is pretty quickly forgotten.”He added that there was no tension with Australia in the Tests in November. “Certainly not, quite the opposite actually. The two teams got on well and from my point of view I made an effort for our blokes to go into the change rooms after Test matches to get to know some of the Australian guys.”While their forthcoming opponents were still facing each other in the much-publicised four-Test series in Adelaide, Sri Lanka took to the nets in a low-key manner in Sydney. Bayliss was happy not much fuss was made of their arrival. “The other two teams can have all the attention and hopefully that will allow us to play good cricket.”Their first challenge will be on Wednesday when they face the Prime Minister’s XI, who will be captained by Victoria’s Cameron White. It will be good practice for the Sri Lankans, who haven’t played an ODI since the middle of October when they lost 3-2 to England at home. They have just the one spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, in a squad with six fast bowlers.The CB Series kicks off on February 3 with Australia playing India in Brisbane; Sri Lanka have their first action two days later when they will face India, also at the Gabba.

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South Zone defended a small target with enthusiasm and defeated North Zone by 30 runs in the league stage of the Deodhar Trophy at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The result meant that West Zone were ensured of the title with two league games yet to be played.Put in to bat on a seaming, bouncy pitch, South Zone struggled from 82 for 5 to post a modest total of 191 in 44.3 overs. But their new-ball bowlers fought back superbly to skittle North Zone for 161 in 46.4 overs.South owed their decent score to a patient half-century from S Badrinath. Half their side, including captain VVS Laxman, had been packed off cheaply, by the North pace bowlers led by Delhi youngster Ishant Sharma (3 for 51).Badrinath and wicketkeeper Tilak Naidu (31) put on 44 runs to stem the rot before Ashish Nehra came back for his second spell to polish off the tail. He ended with 3 for 27.North Zone, who needed to win the match with a bonus point to keep their slim title hopes alive, lost their top half for 49 against the South Zone’s new-ball attack led by Andhra’s KS Sahabuddin. He snapped up two wickets in his sixth over and finished with 4 for 30. North Zone will take on East Zone on March 10 while South Zone will clash with West Zone in the last tie on March 11.

The Ranji Trophy one-day tournament finals between Uttar Pradesh and Railways, slated to be held at the K.D Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday, will now be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2.Ratnakar Shetty, Executive Secretary-in-charge of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that the unavailability of ground in Lucknow was the reason behind shifting the venue of the match.He said, “The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has written to the Indian Cricket Board that the state government is not releasing the ground for the match. So the match will now be held at the Wankhede Stadium on April 2.”However, cricket lovers in Kanpur vented their ire at the state government by burning the effigies of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Chief Minister and RK Chaudhary, the Sports Minister at Civil Lines area near the Green Park stadium today. Fans and cricketers criticised the government’s decision, saying it was against the interests of the game in state.

Titans 125 for 2 (Petersen 78*) beat Warriors 121 (Henderson 50) by 8 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFour suicidal run-outs from the Warriors cost them dearly as they collapsed from 99 for 2 after 14 overs to be bowled out for 121 with an over to spare, and the Titans cruised to an eight-wicket win in the final of the PRO20 Series at Centurion.Jonathan Kreusch and Burton de Wett had started the innings off well with a partnership of 34, before de Wett was caught for 15. Kreusch followed for 21 while Tyron Henderson continued hitting the ball to all parts of the ground. Three fours and four sixes enabled him to go to 50 off 25 balls before holing out at cover.Having just past the 100 mark, the Warriors lost the critical wicket of Arno Jacobs for 11, and a major collapse followed. In four overs they lost a further six wickets for the addition of only 19 runs.A target of 122 was never going to be enough against the strong Titans batting line-up. A good start was all that was needed and Alviro Petersen, later named as Master Blaster, and Goolam Bodi provided it by adding 81 in nine overs.Bodi, the silent partner, was bowled for 17 before Daryll Cullinan, in his final innings before retirement, was applauded off the field after making 7. That left Petersen and Justin Kemp to finish the match off with three overs to spare.Petersen, batting with a lot of maturity, rampaged to his half-century from 29 balls. With the victory in sight he reined himself in to finish not out on 78 from 62 balls. Kemp finished not out on 14.For Pieter Strydom, also announcing his retirement, the loss meant a career of six finals without winning a trophy.

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

The preparations for the introduction of the new style membership cards at Somerset County Cricket Club are now complete, and members who have already joined for the 2003 season will by now have received their new cards.Over the last few days two computer engineers have been busy installing the swipe card computer system into the office at the County Ground and linking it up to the terminals that will be situated at each of the entrances.The work has been undertaken by Hogue 100, a Birmingham based company who have also successfully installed a similar system at Worcestershire’s headquarters at New Road Ground, at Sofia Garden’s in Cardiff the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, and several other first class county grounds.Membership secretary Jo Arnold told me: "Under the health and safety regulations we need to know at any given time exactly how many people are inside the ground and now that members have to swipe both in and out, this system will give us that information .It will also tell us exactly who the members are that are inside the ground which will be good for us to know particularly for our marketing strategy."Jo continued: "Interestingly the first year that Worcestershire introduced their new swipe cards, the club reported a 250% increase in gate receipts."At present the membership secretary is busy putting the finishing touches to the new 2003 membership guide book that will explain how the swipe card system will work, and will list all first and second team fixtures along with other information including the vouchers that will be needed for getting tickets if the club reaches the final stages of any of the one day competitions.With an exciting season in prospect until the end of February membership of the club can cost as little as £92 and that entitles the member to free entry to watch 53 days of top class cricket, which is remarkably good value.In order to cope with the expected demand from new members and existing members trying to rejoin whilst the discounted rates still apply, the office at the County Ground will be opening on Saturday mornings throughout February.Details of membership can also be obtained by telephoning 01823 272946.

Most teams would feel fairly comfortable after posting 298-3 in 50 overs – but not if you are Hursley Park and the opposition is Hook & Newnham Basics !Hursley were optimistic their worrying Premier Division 3 standing – they have only won twice in six attempts – might be boosted after John Harris carried his bat for 124 to lead them to 298.And, when Basics promptly dropped to 10-2, Hursley Park skipper Rob Lowe thought he’d cracked it.But, when burly South African Janusz Kaminski joined Hook heavyweight Keith Lovelock – Basics reckon there’s 35 stone of batting muscle at the crease when the pair are together ! – the game changed dramatically.While left-arm spinner Chris Westbrook waited impatiently for a bowl, Hursley’s hopes disappeared in a crescendo of boundaries.Cape Town-based Kaminski smashed 11 sixes in his 147 out of a third-wicket stand of 220 with Lovelock, who went on to make 105 and carry Hook home at 301-3 – with eight overs to spare !Apart from Bashley (Rydal), who beat Waterlooville by 81 runs, it wasn’t a terribly successful day for the eight sides languishing in the lower echelons.Seemingly doomed United Services, without a win in seven tries, were blasted to defeat by Gosport’s Australian import Nathan Collins (6-30), while Winchester KS proved predictably too strong for Leckford.The Stockbridge club notched a season’s best 173 – Scotsman Mike Howard (61) top scoring – but Paul Marks (54) and Dave Parsons (43) swept WKS to the verge of a sixth straight win.Flamingos captain Gary Fenigan felt like jumping off the nearby South Parade Pier after Portsmouth II rallied from 57-7 to reach a winning 202-8 on a poor St Helen’s surface."I honestly didn’t sleep all night, agonising on what went wrong," said Fengian, whose 30th birthday co-incides with today’s visit of high-rising Alton to the Holt.Aussie teacher Shane Merkel (84) propped up Flamingos uncertain batting, but when Crestwood old boy Nick McMurray (5-35) reduced Portsmouth to 57-7, Fenigan thought his birthday had come a week early.But, as Flamingos ‘switched off’ in the field, so local university student Steve Mitchell (94 not out) and Gary Rogers (42 not out) turned the match on its head.Their unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 108 swept Portsmouth to an unexpected two-wicket win – and dumped worried Flamingos further into the mire.It wasn’t the first time Portsmouth’s lower order had sparkled this season – Rogers having featured in a last-gasp 161-run stand against Winchester KS earlier in the month.Equally beleaguered Lymington II copped an ill-timed run blast from Tony Richman, who smacked 103 off just 53 balls (32 scoring shots) – he hit six sixes and 11 fours – as Paultons piled up 329-8 (Duncan Park 51).A five-wicket spell from Peter Lamb and a 3-56 return by Paul Wilde sent Lymington sliding to 177 all out.After finishing fifth last season, Purbrook expected to feature in the promotion hunt.Instead, two wins – and four defeats – out of six has left them precariously placed.They did, though, show commendable spirit against St Cross Symondians after Brian Lipscombe (3-52), Jimmy Adams (2-40) and Matt Perry-Lewis (2-36) had Purbrook tottering at 137-8St Cross thought they were on an easy thing after posting 229-9 (Mark Parker 41), but Purbrook hit back to finish only two runs short at 227-8 after a 90-run stand between Graham McCoy (65) and Mark Stanley (36).But at least Bashley (Rydal) had something to celebrate – their 81-run victory pushed one-win Ville deep in trouble, just above United Services.Joe Hall’s unbeaten 82 and a typically flamboyant half-century by Iain Britton (52) sent Bashley to the home comforts of 265-6 (Matt Slater 5-62) before Martin Shephard (75) stiffened Ville’s resistance after four new-ball breakthroughs by John Marsh (4-50). Ville reached 184.It’s unusual for any of the Yates family to feature in a Rowledge victory – and sure enough Chris and cousin Ricky were to the fore in the 44-run defeat of New Milton.Ricky hit 74 (his best score for several years) as Rowledge reached 227-5 and Chris christened his return from Cardiff University with figures of 5-53.Hampshire YCs prospect David Wheeler hit a splendid 94 for New Milton, but with Aussie Tim Bott injured, the visitors fell 44 short at 183 all out.