by hobbs luton

A slow outfield, completely re-laid following last year’s Olympics, and a sluggish pitch, hampered scoring throughout. Partnerships proved elusive. All the batsmen made starts, but none passed 40. So far, Jonathan Trott has top scored with 39. The tame dismissals of Nick Compton (16) and Ian Bell (31) provided evidence that England were not certain whether to stick or twist.

New Zealand, as if often the case with visiting teams at the home of cricket, punched above their weight. The bowling was accurate and disciplined. In coolish conditions the ball swung all day and there was even a small amount of turn. Trent Boult was the most imposing member of the attack; he returned figures of 2 – 129 off 17 overs. The ground fielding was impressive throughout and Dean Brownlie’s spectacular diving slip catch to dismiss Trott stood out.

England’s young guns, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, live to fight another day. They face a new ball at the start of play. New Zealand, hoping that their batsmen follow the lead of the bowlers, will be striving for the victory that eluded them in the recent home series against England. England will need to move through the gears and post a score in excess of 300 if they are to prevent this.

The Scoop 17/05/13

by Tony Patterson

With ten wins apiece from 14 games, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Rajastan Royals have taken a decisive lead in the IPL table and now look certain to qualify for the play-offs. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad are challenging for the remaining semi final spot. Mike Hussey, the leading scorer with 614 runs from 13 innings, retains the orange cap while Sunil Narine, Vinay Kumar and Dwayne Bravo are neck and neck with 22 wickets each. The IPL is nothing if its not about six hitting – Chris Gayle has hit 41 so far, 14 more than any of his rivals, and, for good measure, has hit four of the five longest in the tournament.

Ahead of the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy in England, South Africa have suffered a double blow. Former skipper Graeme Smith, who now has a serious ankle complaint, will miss the tournament. Gary Kirsten, after steering the Proteas to the top of the world test rankings, has decided to step down as team coach. Kirsten’s decision, together with the absence of Smith and Jacques Kallis, will be seen as further evidence of the grueling demands of the international cricket treadmill.

England and New Zealand resume hostilities in the first test at Lord’s this week. Following successful operations, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann have elbowed their way back into England’s twelve-man squad. England’s guns have all been firing in county cricket this year, with the possible exception of Steven Finn, who is short of pace, control and wickets. For New Zealand, opener Martin Guptill and seamer Doug Bracewell, who did not feature against England on home soil in March, are pressing hard for selection.

Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, who surprisingly announced his resignation shortly after his team lost the third and deciding ODI to Zimbabwe, now says he regrets his action. He is currently in talks with the BCB to try to get his hasty decision reversed. In the final match, Vusi Sibanda brought up his second ODI hundred for Zimbabwe, enabling his side to triumph by seven wickets and take the series 2-1.

In Division 1 of England’s County Championship, Durham have recorded their third victory of the season over Surrey and clear blue water has opened up between them and their closest challengers, Middlesex and Yorkshire. Northamptonshire maintain their convincing lead in Division 2. Durham’s captain Paul Collingwood has been lamenting damage done to the Oval pitch by boot studs during a November Aussie Rules game. So, if it all goes pear shaped in the Ashes decider in August, we know who to blame.

The Scoop 14/05/13

by dheeraj brokara

All countries have now announced their final 15 man squads for the ICC Trophy ODI to be held in England in June. India have dropped veterans Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh and recalled Dinesh Karthik, after three years in the wilderness, and Umesh Yadav, who returns from injury. England have brought back all-rounder Ravi Bopara into the fold; for him this may be the last chance saloon. Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan are included after recovering from elbow injuries, but Kevin Pietersen remains injured and is not selected. Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been dropped, but vows to win back his place, claiming that he is “better than most”. Also excluded are batsman Umar Akmal and seamer Sohail Tanvir. Dwayne Bravo has replaced Darren Sammy as the West Indies captain. Sammy, who retains his place in the side, will continue to captain in tests and T20s. Fears that Jaques Kallis’ late withdrawal from the competition could signal the start of the end of his South African career have been dismissed as groundless by the his manager. It would appear that he is just taking a break from the game.

Chris Gayle has regained his lead as the IPL’s leading run scorer ahead of Mike Hussey, while Dwayne Bravo heads both the wickets and catches columns. With Chennai Super Kings losing to Mumbai Indians to end their long unbeaten run, it is all to play for in the race to grab the four semi finals berths.

England’s 40 over competition, now called the YB40, is now up and running and the story to date is that bat rules ball. Warm weather, flat pitches and revisions to fielding restrictions are cited as the main reasons. James Vince, Josh Cobb, Niall O’Brien, James Taylor, Daryl Mitchell, Marcus North and Steve Davies have already scored centuries. It’s a similar story in the county championship, with five double tons recorded so far. Durham hold a narrow lead over Middlesex in Division 1 while Northamptonshire are runaway leaders of Division 2. New Zealand have defeated Derbyshire in the first of their two warm-up games ahead of the test series against England.

Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are level pegging in the current ODI series with one match to play. In game 1, Bangladesh crushed their opponents by 121 runs, but Zimbabwe leveled things up in the second match by chasing down a total of 252.

The Scoop 07/05/13

by Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan

Durham and Yorkshire have now joined Middlesex at the top of Division 1 of the English County Championship as they completed their second victories of the season. Northamptonshire are leaders in Division 2. Spring sunshine, benign pitches and the return of the heavy roller have encouraged heavy scoring and early season double hundreds have already been recorded by Chesney Hughes (270 no), Joe Root (236), Jimmy Adams (219 no) and Luke Wells (208). Leading wicket takers are Steven Crook (21), Chris Jordan and Graeme Onions (both 19). Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan seem to be making good recoveries from their elbow operations and Andy Flower will be pleased with the early season form of all members of his likely test team.

With neither side setting the world on fire, Bangladesh has defeated Zimbabwe in Harare to level the two match test series at 1-1. Three ODIs and two T20 internationals now follow.

Squads are now being announced for the forthcoming ICC Trophy in England in June. A notable omission is South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (personal reasons), but the Proteas are happy to recall JP Duminy after his horrific injury in November. For Australia, George Bailey has been appointed as the new ODI vice captain and Mitchell March returns after missing more than a year’s international cricket following disciplinary troubles.

The Scoop 03/05/13

by Binguyen

IPL, Chennai
Chennai Super Kings 200-3 (20 overs) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 186-4 by 14 runs

Mike Hussey made a breath-taking 95 in helping lead the Chennai Super Kings to a 14 run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders yesterday in the IPL in Chennai. The result also puts the Super Kings to the top of the IPL table after 9 matches played.

After being asked to bat first, the Super Kings posted 200-3 from their allotted 20 overs in what were blisteringly hot conditions in Chennai. Hussey’s 95 came from just 59 balls, and he was desperately unlucky not to reach three figures, after being caught on the deep mid-wicket boundary by Das off the bowling of Sunil Narine.

Hussey was well supported by Suresh Raina who made 44 from 25 balls, and the innings finished in style when MS Dhoni (18*) hit the final ball for six, bringing up the 200 much to the delight of a packed stadium.

Despite needing over 10 runs per over the Knight Riders made a good fist of the run chase. Manvinder Bisla gave his side hope by smashing 92 from 61 balls at the top of the order. However, when he was run out by Mike Hussey the Knight Riders were staring defeat in the face.

Eoin Morgan contributed 32 from 22 balls but it was all too little too late as the Super Kings went on to clinch victory. Mohit Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for the Super Kings as his four overs cost just 23 runs, and importantly took the wicket of danger man Brendan McCullum who was clean bowled for just 6.

The only disappointment on the day for MS Dhoni was that he was fined $20,000 due to his teams slow over rate in the match.

In the other match of the day, the Delhi Daredevils beat Pune Warriors by 15 runs. David Warner won the man of the match in batting through the innings finishing on 51* helping the Daredevils post a match winning 164-5 from their 20 overs. Both teams have struggled in this year’s competition with just two wins a piece and are unlikely to make the play-offs.

The Scoop 29/04/13

by Parklands cobbler

Chris Gayle has received widespread acclaim for his remarkable 175 not out for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. Allan Donald, coach of Pune Warriors laid to the sword by Gayle, has suggested that Gayle’s innings left bowlers ‘scared’, a far cry it seems from the days when it was fast bowlers like Donald himself who did the scaring.

Teammate Tillekaratne Dilshan remarked “I have never seen the ball hit so cleanly. I was just standing at the other end and enjoying every bit of it.” Aaron Finch, the Warriors captain joked “Maybe we should ban him from the game.” Gayle’s knock set new records for the individual highest score in T20 cricket, the fastest-ever century in cricket history (30 balls) and the highest number of sixes hit in an innings (17).

Gayle has now established a clear lead as the tournament’s leading run scorer. Thanks to consistent performances from their skipper, MS Dhoni, and the ever-dependable Mike Hussey, Chennai Super Kings have now joined RCB at the top of the table; each side having completed six wins from eight games

The sun has appeared and things are starting to hot up in the English County Championship. Hard on the heels of early Division 1 leaders Middlesex are champions Warwickshire who inflicted a crushing 318 runs defeat on Durham. Test players are being allowed a rare run out in county games and fast bowlers Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan seem to have found their radar and have already picked up clutches of wickets. All are keen to impress but only three of them will be selected for the forthcoming series against New Zealand.

Kevin Pietersen remains injured and will not be seen at a county ground until late June at the earliest. We await significant early season contributions from England’s other front line batsmen. Somerset’s Alviro Petersen and Durham’s Graeme Onions are respectively the leading run scorer and wicket taker in the Championship. The third round of matches, currently in progress, has seen an unbeaten double century from Hampshire skipper Jimmy Adams against Worcestershire.

Ryan Harris looks like becoming the first casualty of the newly selected Australian squad to tour England, having picked up an Achilles injury at the IPL that will probably keep him out of the game for eight weeks. Seamer Harris has history with serious injury and may struggle to regain fitness in time for the Ashes.

In the first test in Harare, Zimbabwe defeated Bangladesh by an overwhelming 335 runs. The hero, with scores of 171 and 102 not out, was captain/keeper Brendon Taylor. Bangladesh, who once again are looking a sorry side, were bowled out in each innings for less than 150. The second and final test is currently in progress.

The Scoop 26/04/13