All posts by csb10.top

Central Zone 99 for 4 beat West Zone 98 (Chawla 3-11, Praveen 3-18) by six wickets
Scorecard

The Central Zone swing bowlers utilised a helpful surface, a 9am start, and overcast conditions to push the West Zone innings right to the edge of the cliff, before the spinners came and pushed it over swiftly. A total of 98 was an aberration in a high-scoring domestic one-day season, and Central got to the target without any major hiccups as the opening Deodhar Trophy match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium finished half an hour after lunch.Central won by six wickets, with a bonus point, while defending champions West were docked a minus point.Right from the moment Praveen Kumar bowled the first over, after Mohammad Kaif had put West in, it was obvious West were going to have a hard time. Yusuf Pathan, in prodigious form throughout the season, was embarrassed by two in-swingers that preceded an out-swinger, and seemed to have no clue about which way Praveen swung the ball.Wasim Jaffer hit two beautiful cover drives off the back foot before he got a peach from Praveen in the third over. This one swung late after having angled in, as opposed to the early swing that Jaffer was leaving alone, and took the edge for a low catch for Kaif at first slip. RP Singh soon trapped Pathan with an in-swinger to pull West down to 15 for 2.Rohit Sharma, fresh from 235 runs in the CB Series in Australia and Ajinkya Rahane, also in good form, got a mini partnership going. It wasn’t a convincing one, however, as regular edges kept the bowlers interested. The duo had added 24 before Praveen changed sides and came on from the BEML end. He needed little time if forcing Rahane to chip one to point, and that dismissal triggered a frenzy. Two more wickets fell at the same score and the No. 7, Abhishek Nayar, was caught unawares and just about avoided being timed out. Rohit played an expansive drive and edged Sandeep Singh, Parthiv Patel followed a Praveen in-swinger, and 39 for 2 became 39 for 5.Nayar might have taken a long time in coming in to bat, but he did stay in the longest to help West get close to 100. Together with Venugopal Rao he forced Kaif to opt for the spinners as they batted sensibly to add 31 for the sixth wicket. Kaif wanted to finish the game off with swing bowlers only, as he continued with Praveen (3 for 18), RP (22 for 1), and Sandeep (21 for 1) for 22 overs. The introduction of spin, normally a reason for cheer given the way the medium-pacers bowled, proved to be the kiss of death for West. Piyush Chawla bowled Rao round the legs with his first delivery, continued to get Iqbal Abdulla caught down the leg by wicketkeeper with his third, and a one-sided contest was reduced to a no contest.Murali Kartik enjoyed the situation with a number of dangerous arm-balls, one of them trapping Ajit Agarkar in front. When he tossed one up to Munaf Patel, the tail-ender obliged by skying it to mid-off. Another collape, as West slipped from 70 for 5 to 81 for 9 in four overs. Nayar hit two boundaries and a six before being caught at the boundary off a full toss from Chawla, who finished with 3 for 11. When Nayar and Rao were batting, it seemed West might struggle and bat out the 50 overs, but their innings ended in the 30th over.By the time Munaf, Agarkar and Siddharth Trivedi started bowling, the pitch had lost much of its early-morning freshness, the sun had come out, and the only thing going for them was the good bounce. But the minimal target meant that Faiz Fazal and Naman Ojha, the Central openers, were under no pressure and they negotiated the new ball well. Fazal looked more intent at finishing the game early, and by the time he edged Trivedi to second slip, he had scored 24 off 30 balls, and Central had reached 41 in 7.5 overs.That Central lost Ojha, Suresh Raina and Kaif just at the brink of the win will leave West wondering what could have happened had they batted through the innings and struggled their way to perhaps 170-odd.

Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, has stood by the selectors’ decision to leave out legspinner Malinga Bandara from Sri Lanka’s 15-man squad for the CB Series in Australia while selecting six fast bowlers.The omission of Bandara, who took 14 wickets from nine matches in Sri Lanka’s campaign in the 2005-06 tri-series in Australia, has become a talking point in Sri Lanka, but Jayawardene said it was difficult to accommodate him as the second spinner since the team management had decided to go in for a solitary specialist spinner in Muttiah Muralitharan.”When you’ve got Murali and if he is playing in the side, with the conditions we get in Australia, there won’t be any room for a second spinner. It will not give us the adequate balance in our set-up. Our combination could be three quicks and a spinner plus seven batsman or we might go with six batsmen, four quicks, including an allrounder, and a spinner. Banda will only come into play if Murali gets injured. That’s why he is a standby.”While Dilhara Fernando has been ruled out of the series due to injury, Jayawardene has six other fast bowlers at his disposal, including the inexperienced right-arm seamer Ishara Amerasinghe, who has played one ODI, and the uncapped left-armer, Chanaka Welegedara. “We have three fairly experienced bowlers Vaasy [Chaminda Vaas], Lasith [Malinga] and Maha [Farveez Maharoof] in the line-up.”The other three are fairly new. Even though Kulasekera has been around he hasn’t played consistently, Welagedera is a young guy finding his way in international cricket and Ishara – we picked him for his pace and accuracy. He’s bowled pretty well in the last 6-12 months in A team cricket. This probably would be a place for us to see what he can do.”Jayawardene said a positive brand of cricket would help his team in the tournament. “A lot of our batsmen do enjoy the ball coming onto the bat which is a good thing. If our bowlers can pick up wickets on a consistent basis it will give us a very good opportunity. But I feel the area we could definitely dominate would be on the field, where we can create opportunities and with our energy, a lot of pressure.”Australia and India are much stronger in their batting than in their bowling. The important thing is we concentrate really hard, bowl in good areas and pick up wickets. If we create a lot of pressure on the field and create opportunities, then we can control the game. Foremost we have to believe in ourselves that we will get to the finals,” he said.In 2005-06, Sri Lanka qualified with Australia for the best-of-three finals and lost with a 2-1 margin.

Jumping Jaques
Phil Jaques continued his fine scoring streak since replacing Justin Langer with his fifth consecutive innings of at least a half-century. Since re-entering the team in November he has 100, 150, 68, 66 and 51, which make him the team’s leading run-scorer of the year. This is only Australia’s fourth Test of 2007 and Jaques (435) is ahead of Michael Hussey (374) while Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke are both on 320.Harbhajan sings when Ponting steps out
Harbhajan Singh has moved to third on Ricky Ponting’s list of least-liked bowlers. The pair has played in eight Tests together and when Ponting glided Harbhajan to Rahul Dravid at first slip on 3 it was the sixth time he had fallen to the bowler. “I have some success against him, but I don’t know how or why,” Harbhajan said. “It was my 250th wicket, that means a lot.” Anil Kumble, who will have to wait till Sydney to try to add to his tally, is second in Ponting’s nightmares on seven, one behind Darren Gough.Costly misses
Zaheer Khan delivered the ball of the match with an outstanding offcutter that bowled Andrew Symonds on 7. The initial problem was that it was a no-ball, but as the Indian fielders questioned their luck, the ball squirted passed Mahendra Singh Dhoni and was ignored. Once Symonds realised he wasn’t headed for the stands he signalled Michael Clarke for a cheeky run. “It was an amazing ball, it skidded on, and both Symmo and myself were a bit surprised,” Clarke said. “Then he called me through for a single. I was like: ‘What are you running for? You’ve just been bowled.’Out of step
A couple of overs later Zaheer transgressed again and his loud lbw appeal for Clarke was cut short by Billy Bowden’s out-stretched arm. Anil Kumble did well to remain calm during Zaheer’s 12 no-balls for the innings.Things we learned today
“I call the MCG Shane Warne’s ground because I used to see him on TV bowling here,” Harbhajan said. He also revealed what Ponting said after Harbhajan was hit a stinging blow on the chest by Brett Lee on day two. “He asked me if the ball had gone out of shape. I’m still fine.” Harbhajan then patted the area and smiled.Cap’s on for Clarke
Three years ago Clarke called for his baggy green when he was in the 90s so he could wear it when he made his century on debut. With Kumble and Harbhajan operating in tandem, Clarke had another chance to send the helmet to the dressing room, but this time there was no bat raise. He missed Kumble’s wrong’un and was stumped on 73.

Two days before the Perth Test the sun finally shone through the cloud that has been hanging over this series for the past week, with India dropping their charge of abuse against Brad Hogg, Australia’s chinaman bowler. Later in the day, it would emerge that the two captains had agreed to scrap the contentious catching agreement that sparked off the controversy surrounding Michael Clarke.Hogg was accused of making an offensive remark to Anil Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the second Test in Sydney and charged under Level 3 of the ICC Code of Conduct following a complaint by Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan.The decision to drop charges was taken at a meeting of the two captains, Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble, convened by Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC’s chief match referee, who was flown in in the aftermath of the Sydney Test controversy. It capped an evening of fast-moving developments that saw six statements read out at the local Hyatt in the space of a couple of hours.It gives the Indian team the moral high ground and transfers pressure back on to Australia to drop the racism charge levelled at Harbhajan Singh – which will now be heard after the Test series – and Kumble, it is believed, indicated during the meeting the ball was in Australia’s court. However, it is understood that Australia will not be able, on technical grounds, to drop the racism charge against Harbhajan. The charge against Hogg was levelled by Chauhan, who withdrew it on Monday, while in Harbhajan’s case, the charges were brought by both the on-field umpires after a complaint by Ponting.Nonetheless, it was a significant decision and Kumble, explaining it, said the game had to move on. “Ricky and I had a discussion with Ranjan [Madugalle] and after that it was important that the game of cricket moves on,” he said. “Cricket is larger than any individual. It is important we forget what happened in Sydney, it was just one of those bad moments, just an incident probably in the heat of the moment. And we decided as a team to move on and remove the charges against Brad Hogg. It’s important that we moved on.””I enjoyed a productive meeting which I had with Anil Kumble and Ranjan Madugalle in which we talked through all the issues thoroughly,” Ponting said. “I am convinced that both the teams can move into the next game clearly understanding the parameters under which the game should be played and the teams acknowledge that the game must be played in its true spirit.””It’s a kind gesture, lovely gesture by the Indian team,” Hogg said. “It’s much appreciated by myself and the Australian cricket team. Hopefully the future contests between India and Australia are good viewing for the spectators and enjoyable for the teams.”Madugalle, who had earlier met the team managements separately, met the two captains at 5:15 pm. After the meeting, which lasted about half an hour, he was optimistic of the series carrying on in the right spirit.”Over the last couple of days we’ve had very useful discussions with captains and managers of both teams resulting in meeting with Anil and Ricky today,” Madugalle said after the meeting. “Both of them realise the importance of moving the game forward as opposed to reflecting on the events of the last week. And as captains they have the responsibility to uphold the game in the right spirit and play the game with mutual respect for one another. And I’m very confident that the next five days will see just that. So let’s all look forward to a great Test match.”Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said he hoped the decision would help get the focus back to the game. “The decision to drop the charge against Brad Hogg was taken in the larger interest of the game,” Shetty told . “India has always upheld the spirit of the game and the on-field issues should not be taken outside the field.” On whether Australia would reciprocate and drop the charges against Harbhajan, Shetty said, “We really hope that Australia looks at it positively”.Mike Procter, the match referee at the SCG and the man in charge of the hearing today, called it a “magnificent” gesture. “I was tendered a letter from the [India] captain and the manager when the hearing started. So that’s all behind us now and we can get on with the cricket, which is great news. A wonderful gesture by India showing sportsmanship they possess and the way they play their game.”

It is not often in a series that one team starts favourites for the Tests and the other for the one-day internationals. But this will be the case tomorrow when India, who were heavily fancied in the Tests but could not prevent Pakistan from sharing the spoils, now find the onus of playing out of their skins on themselves when they take on a pumped-up Pakistan side heavy on allround talent and with the weight of recent history behind them.Having taken a severe barracking from all quarters after his miserable show with the bat in the Tests, Sourav Ganguly once again finds the familiar sense of being under siege upon him as he tries to rouse a team that has underperformed severely in one-day cricket in the last year.Ganguly put up a brave face at the pre-match press conference, uttering some of the usual platitudes about one-day cricket being a different ball game from the Tests, and about wanting to do his best with the bat since he had a special responsibility as captain.He would not reveal anything about team composition, but it is so hot in Kochi – the players will sweat it out tomorrow in 40-degree heat – that it is difficult to see India going in with more than two out of Irfan Pathan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, and Zaheer Khan. That would leave room to play both spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik.That said, it is difficult to see bowling keeping the batsmen quiet at Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. A combination of a good pitch, short boundaries, oppressive bowling and fielding conditions, and two lineups heavy on high-quality batting should make tomorrow a game in which no first-innings score is safe. Indeed, two of the three international games to have been played at this ground have produced scores in excess of 300.Pakistan, who have won their last four games against India and boast of a 11-4 win-loss record against India India, have a lot of heavy-duty ammunition to throw at their opponents. In fact, the likely absence of Younis Khan, suffering from fever, solves some of their selection problems, because there are probably four or five good ways in which they could make up an eleven. Salman Butt, who made a dazzling century the last time the two sides met in an ODI, in the BCCI Platinum Jubilee game at Kolkata, should open, and Inzamam-ul-Haq hinted that the idea of using Kamran Akmal as an opener would be discontinued, allowing Shahid Afridi to return to the position from which he caused so much damage in the Tests.Shoaib Malik, Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana should follow, and be backed up by Abdul Razzaq and Akmal. That leaves place for two fast bowlers – almost certainly Mohammad Sami and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan – and two spinners from Arshad Khan, Danish Kaneria, and the allrounder Mohammad Hafeez. Were Malik allowed to bowl – he cannot currently because his action is under the ICC’s scrutiny – it would make for an even more powerful line-up.Inzamam asserted that the team’s morale was high after the win in the Bangalore Test, and agreed that conditions were inimical to pace bowling. He answered all the questions directed at him with a calm, pleasant air until some mischievous soul piped up to ask him if he was missing the services of Shoaib Akhtar. Not content with Inzamam’s deadpan “No,” the scribe then asked what the problem was between the Pakistani captain and Akhtar. “Nothing,” snapped Inzamam. The Shoaib issue is about the only thing that rankles with him at the moment.India have two form worries – that of Ganguly and of Irfan Pathan, who looked under the weather for most of the Test series after returning from injury, and appears to have temporarily lost his banana inswinger, rendering him vulnerable to the attention of hitters like Afridi. Ganguly defended Pathan, saying that he had bowled brilliantly for an extended stretch of time and could not be expected to be at his best in every game, but there is no denying that Pathan’s form is a serious concern. As for Ganguly himself, he may take some comfort in the fact that, with VVS Laxman having been dropped, he can now bat at No.3. But he will have to produce something mighty spectacular, against bowlers who know all his weaknesses, to ward off his detractors.But India also, while knowing more or les all there is to know about each member of their opposition, have an unknown quantity of sorts to throw at them – wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni, who in a tournament in Nairobi last year took two centuries off a Pakistan A attack that included, of the current squad, Iftikhar Rao Anjum. A scintillating striker of the ball, Dhoni failed to do anything of note with the bat in his debut series in Bangladesh last December, but he will be itching to go here, and a surprise promotion up the order for him is not out of the question.Teams (probable)
India 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Mahendra Dhoni (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Lakshmipathy Balaji, 11 Murali Kartik.Pakistan 1 Shahid Afridi, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Arshad Khan, 9 Mohammad Sami, 10 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 11 Danish Kaneria.Wisden Asia Cricket

First Test: Zimbabwe v New Zealand, at Bulawayo Athletic Club; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 November 1992. NEW ZEALAND 325/3 dec (M J Greatbatch 87, R T Latham 119, A H Jones 67*) and 222/5 dec (M J Greatbatch 88; M P Jarvis 3/38). ZIMBABWE 219 (A Flower 81; D N Patel 6/113) and 197/1 (K J Arnott 101*). Match drawn.ScorecardThe inaugural Test tour of Zimbabwe by India was immediately followed with a tour by New Zealand, who played two Tests and two one-day internationals, double the Indian ration. It was a strange mix of a tour, beginning in Bulawayo with a one-day international followed by a Test match, and then moving up to Harare for another Test match with a one-day international sandwiched in the middle of it. For the purpose of this series, we will look at the Test matches first and then return to the one-day internationals.The Bulawayo Test match was very disappointing. The major Bulawayo ground, Queens Sports Club, had not been used for international matches for years and was standing almost derelict, while Matabeleland hosted matches at Bulawayo Athletic Club, a smaller, pleasant ground but without the facilities required of an international venue. It was only to be expected that Zimbabwe, starting out in Test cricket, did not yet have the money to develop their sporting arenas, but New Zealand captain Martin Crowe did not seem to realize this.Crowe had recently taken over the captaincy of a New Zealand side that had probably been second only to the great West Indies team for much of the eighties, but now most of their top players had retired in quick succession, leaving Crowe with a young, inexperienced side that was struggling to hold its own. Reading of how Zimbabwe had dominated India in the Inaugural Test only days before his team arrived probably scared him with the thought that his side could go the same way, and even lose. This might in part explain his attitude on the tour, which left unpleasant memories for many who had to deal with him. This was in sharp contrast to the Indians, whose sporting attitude was well remembered.It was ironic that the first serious rains in Bulawayo for many months should arrive just before the Test match – although many put it down to the presence of the renowned rain-making umpire Dickie Bird, who was standing in his 49th Test match, a new record. The covers proved totally inadequate and ten hours of play were lost overall, most of it on the first three days.Dave Houghton: "We had a few days of brilliant sunshine when it was actually too wet to play cricket. That was a shame, because it ruined that Test match. It was a drawn affair, and we only played three days’ cricket in the end. They played most of the cricket, although we did do some good things. It added a bit of bitterness between the sides because Martin Crowe was forever trying to encourage us to play positive cricket and make games of it."Andy Pycroft: "Ali Shah came into that Test match; he should have been in the first one but was injured. Our attack consisted of `Jarvie’, who was pretty military-medium but did swing it; Burmie, again no pace; Ali Shah, Gary Crocker, and a hell of a lot was left to Traics. But they bowled a better line and length than a lot of our bowlers do today; that says something. They bowled to a plan, which sounds negative, but if you don’t have strike bowlers of note you bowl a width outside off stump and you stay there forever, and our guys did that, even when they were getting slogged. So that was a tidy performance."New Zealand faced a Zimbabwe seam attack lacking the injured Eddo Brandes, and began with a dominating opening partnership of 116 by Mark Greatbatch, who reached 50 off just 39 balls, and Rod Latham. John Traicos also missed much of the first day with a back injury, a further handicap to the Zimbabwe bowling.Dave Houghton: "Our bowlers struggled, and you’ve only got to look at the attack. Burmie, Ali Shah who played in this Test match, Traicos – so we didn’t have any firepower at all. There was a flat wicket at BAC and they batted really well. They had a great opening partnership between Greatbatch and Rod Latham, and they dominated this Test match – if it hadn’t been for the rain we’d have lost this one, that’s for sure."It was the rebirth of Greatbatch’s career; he had just come off that Australian World Cup where he rediscovered himself as an opening batsman who smashed the ball for miles. So we copped it in probably the best match of his career. They had a good batting line-up with Greatbatch, Andy Jones, Martin Crowe, Ken Rutherford, and Latham himself was a good player."Mark Burmester: "It was a very flat track in Bulawayo, which was not to our liking. We dropped a lot of catches in their first innings, but unfortunately not Martin Crowe, who just managed to hit the ball out of the middle of the bat for the whole series. We dropped Greatbatch early on a couple of times and he smashed it back, but with the pitch in Bulawayo it was always going to be a draw. I think Martin Crowe actually put in his memoirs that the worst place where he ever played cricket, which is unfair to the Bulawayo guys; that was all they had."Andy Pycroft: "There was rain from the start, and there were weather conditions whereby you knew that the Test match was going to be substantially shortened. Greatbatch went out there and just smashed us; it was absolutely unbelievable. If you had arrived just after the start and didn’t know what form of cricket was being played, you would be excused for thinking it was a one-day game. He was hitting the quicks over their heads within the first couple of overs – in a Test match – and clearly their whole attitude was: shortened Test; we’re going to press home and win this game.""In the Test matches there was huge sledging," Andy Flower recalled. "There was a very boring draw in Bulawayo, where the facilities were very poor; the covering of the outfield, the square and the bowlers’ run-ups was very ordinary. We’d had some rain, and the abiding memory is of Martin Crowe moaning and carrying on about `the worst ground in the world’, I think he described it."But we had a very comfortable draw against them. Kevin Arnott scored a hundred, which was great to watch. I remember getting 81 in the first innings and didn’t bat in the second, and again I had thought this was a great chance to get a hundred. But then the left-arm spinner Mark Haslam took a brilliant one-handed catch at square leg, and my hopes were dashed."Ian Robinson: "That Test was badly affected by the rain, but even more affected by the lack of suitable covers. We had the silly situation where on day the water had got underneath one corner of the covers and also the bowlers’ run-ups were very soggy because at that stage those weren’t covered separately. So we had the situation of a brilliant hot day in Bulawayo, and we were standing around and not doing anything because the bowlers’ run-ups were actually dangerous."It caused quite a bit of conversation and debate amongst the various parties concerned. At that time New Zealand were batting, and after two or three hours of standing around in the sun still saying that we couldn’t play because the run-ups were too wet, the New Zealand captain Martin Crowe came out to the umpires and asked, `What would happen if we declared? We would then be fielding and we would be very happy to play in those conditions.’"We had no option but to say to him, `That’s fine.’ We did point out to him that we still thought that the conditions were unfit and actually dangerous for the bowlers to run through, but he insisted, so we went out and played after that."Ian says of his fellow umpire for that match, Dickie Bird, "You’ll find, if you speak to umpires around the world, that he didn’t enjoy making decisions about the conditions of the ground or weather and light, and tried to pass it on to somebody else – and that was actually what happened in the Bulawayo game."Their opening bowler was Simon Doull – `Doullie’. Doullie was bowling and running through this very soft ground, and it’s no coincidence, I think, that at the end of that game he suffered a stress fracture of the back, went home and didn’t play for a year and a half or two years because of that. The ground was so soggy that it was giving about five or six inches as the bowler ran up. It was a very unpleasant day."Many Zimbabweans objected to the attitude of Martin Crowe, who complained constantly about the playing conditions, with many a derogatory comment about a country that was still trying to adjust to the promotion to Test cricket only three months earlier. One also mentioned that off the field his wife also had many complaints to make about the catering, seating and everything else.Zimbabwe struggled with the bat, especially against the off-breaks of Patel, who opened the bowling.Andy Pycroft: "They soon had us in trouble with the bat, and I can remember we had a tidy enough start from Grant Flower and Kevvie Arnott, but the moment they both fell quickly together, our middle order collapsed, including myself. Doull bowled well that day and I can remember being yorked. He got a ball to dip on me. If it hadn’t been for Andy Flower and Ali Shah, to a certain extent, that innings would have folded very quickly. As it was, we got within 100 runs of their total."Dave Houghton: "Maybe our attitude would have been different batting-wise. I think we felt the game was over when it finally restarted after the ground had dried out, but we didn’t bat all that well. We batted slowly, which was one of Martin’s biggest complaints about us: 94 overs to get 219. But I’m afraid that’s all we had to offer."New Zealand attacked in their second innings in an effort to force a result, but a sound century from Kevin Arnott, well supported by Grant Flower and then Alistair Campbell, saw Zimbabwe to safety without any panic.Andy Pycroft: "Ironically in their second innings they batted less ambitiously than they did in the first innings, but we were still dominated completely. One got the impression that their declaration was too late, and I don’t know why that happened, having played so positively in the first innings, but they just dragged it a bit and gave us an opportunity to bat our way out of it. Kevvie Arnott played one of those innings that he really could play: he stonewalled and Grant Flower and Alistair Campbell also batted very well. I can remember sitting again with pads on for most of the day, wondering am I going to bat or aren’t I, and then I didn’t have to bat."Malcolm Jarvis: "I just remember in the second innings I took three wickets for 30-odd runs, and thought I bowled pretty well. I got Greatbatch, Martin Crowe and Parore. I was told at the end of the game (by John Hampshire) that I wouldn’t be required for Zimbabwe again, which was a bit disappointing, considering I thought I had bowled pretty well. It was given to me as `You’re getting too old’, but my philosophy is it doesn’t matter how old you are as long as you’re competitive. If there’s a youngster who’s pushing his way that’s fine, but let the youngster prove himself first."I was told I would never play Test cricket again, but two years later I was recalled to play against Sri Lanka. So I had two years in the wilderness when I thought I could have played quite a few more Tests. I played in five Tests and never played in a losing one."Dave Houghton: "In the second innings we did really well. They left us an impossible score to chase and were cross that we didn’t chase it, but with 197 for one in the second innings on the fifth day, with Kevin Arnott getting a hundred, you had to admire the guys: no experience, yet we still managed to put in a performance like that."Kevin Arnott: "New Zealand were a different proposition from the Indians. I think they tried to intimidate us with some of their comments on the field. In our second innings we batted to make sure we saved the game. They came on to the field, some of them wearing sun cream on their faces, but some of it looked like warpaint! Certainly there were unnecessary bits of bantering."Rather sadly for me, Martin Crowe decided to field at a short midwicket position, and with Willie Watson bowling induckers to me I kept playing the ball to him. At fairly short distance he kept throwing the ball purportedly at the wicket-keeper, but designedly to throw it at me. Eventually he did hit me with the ball; I wasn’t too amused and I don’t think umpire Bird was either. I saw him go and speak to Martin Crowe. It was a sad day for me, when you look up to exceptional cricketers and see them behave in that manner. I must say I met him again several years later and we discussed some of the incidents on the field. There were apologies, and now there is no axe to grind whatsoever."But I was fortunate to go on to make 100 runs. I know Martin Crowe bowled towards the end, so I can say it wasn’t against the best Test attack in the world! Nevertheless it was satisfactory to be able to do that. I felt rather better set in the first innings, but was adjudged out to a bat-pad catch off Dipak Patel, which was rather unfortunate."Grant Flower: "It was quite a nasty Test and there were a lot of words said. I remember Martin Crowe having a lot to say. We eventually came out with a draw. Kevin Arnott played really well in the second innings. In the first innings I used the same game plan for batting as I did in the Inaugural Test, but not in the second innings; I went out to be more positive. In those days I didn’t have the same array of shots that I do today. But I wasn’t happy with the way I was handling my batting and I just went out to change things and prove to myself that I could hit the ball again."John Traicos: "The New Zealand series was a tough one as it introduced us to sledging on a very aggressive basis. The experience was most unpleasant and it was disappointing to see prominent cricketers resort to such tactics."

Northern Districts’ fast bowler Ian Butler has been rushed into the CLEAR Black Caps for Wednesday’s first One-Day International against England at Jade Stadium.Butler, who turned 20 in November, has been called in to take the place of speedster Shane Bond who has been forced out for the remainder of the season with a suspected stress fracture of his left ankle.Butler made his first-class debut this year and has played three State Championship games and two State Shield (New Zealand’s domestic one-day competition) games. He also played for Northern Districts in the two one-day matches against England on Friday and Saturday.Butler said there was a silence on the telephone after selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee contacted him today.”I was about to go to the driving range but there was no chance after that,” he said.Butler was catching a plane from Auckland to Christchurch tonight where he will make himself known to all the other members of the side who, apart from his Northern Districts team-mates Daniel Vettori and Daryl Tuffey, and his New Zealand Under-19 team-mate from last year, Brendon McCullum, have still to meet him.Butler said the ND pace attack of Joseph Yovich, Tuffey and Simon Doull worked well together and they passed on tips and advice to him regularly.Butler was confident he wouldn’t be too nervous on Jade Stadium as he felt he didn’t bowl too badly against England for ND.Hadlee said the selectors were taking a big punt but added that if Butler did half as well as Bond had done then they would be very happy.Hadlee said the loss of Bond was a devastating blow to Bond and to the team.”When we have just got a tremendous resource and asset to lose him like that is a great blow. So now we have got to try and groom somebody else to do that role,” he said.He said the selectors were unanimous in giving Butler a try in a bid to keep the pace option as part of New Zealand’s attacking arsenal during the England series. Butler will be instructed to bowl flat out.Hadlee also pointed to the history in New Zealand of taking a punt on faster bowlers as had happened to him, to Gary Bartlett, Bruce Taylor and his brother Dayle Hadlee.”If somebody has got something a little bit different, and special, it gives an advantage over somebody else and that is often influential in making the final call,” Hadlee said.”If we are looking down the track at the World Cup and potentially as a young Test bowler of the future as well, sometimes you have got to take a bit of a punt on a player.”This is probably the biggest call we have made in my time as a selector.”Hadlee said he had not seen a lot of him bowling although he did see him last year at Under-19 level when ND played Otago and he bowled very quickly and took four wickets in his first four overs as well as giving McCullum “a bit of a hurry up.””So there were signs going back last year. The other selectors have been around the ground domestically this year and when you talk to coaches they are our eyes and ears anyway.”The information is positive but still, it is a huge call,” he said.Bond first felt the ankle two weeks ago in Australia and it was thought he was only suffering bruising. However, he bowled in the last of the VB Series finals in pain and upon coming back to New Zealand had the ankle looked at and the stress fracture was revealed today.Hadlee said the one-day game had changed and quicker bowlers were now being used not only for the short-pitched delivery.”The way the law is used quick bowlers have got a more important role to play so you are looking for specialist fast bowlers, in fact, if anything, the all-rounder who bowls at 120kph and bats a bit off the front foot is going to find it difficult now to survive in the one-day game,” he said.ND coach Bruce Blair had advised Hadlee that Butler’s lines were the best of the quick bowlers in the ND side.Hadlee said there would be some comment about how Butler had leap-frogged other players like James Franklin and Chris Drum to name two.”But this guy Butler has pace whereas the others don’t have that. They have other skills. Let’s just see what happens,” he said.

Bashley (Rydal) lie second in the ECB Southern Electric Premier League after an convincing three-wicket win over lowly Liphook & Ripsley.The victory took them above Havant – who lost by 70 runs to the Hampshire Academy – and into the runners-up slot behind runaway leaders BAT Sports, who put their unbeaten nine-match record at risk at the BCG on Saturday.Seventeen wickets fell for 190 runs at Ripsley Park, but former Bashley skipper Neil Taylor felt that poor batting was to blame, rather than an undistinguished pitch."Lets say it was lack of application that caused most of the wickets to fall," he said diplomatically."It wasn’t a great strip to bat on, but it was more a 140 wicket than 94 all out in Liphook’s case."John Whiting (4-13)and Kevin Nash (3-28) were more than a handful for Liphook, who sank from 31-2 to 43-7 against the two Bashley seamers.David Wade (32) and Glyn Read (17) showed the application that was needed, but despite their eighth-wicket rally, Liphook were almost bowled out for 94 by lunch.Bashley hardly batted much better, with Andy Sexton (17) the only batsman in the top six to get into double figures.Tim Wheatley (3-32) and left-armer Read (2-20) created panic in the visitors’ ranks as Bashley faced an improbable defeat at 41-6.But Neil Sexton, with a carefully hit 33, and Neil Taylor (15 not out) turned the match in Bashley’s favour by doubling the total with a decisive eighth-wicket partnership which all but secured the points.Bournemouth experienced far less hassle in beating struggling Portsmouth by six wickets at Chapel Gate – but they did make rather hard work of their victory.Nick Reeves (2-30) struck two key blows early on, having former Hampshire all-rounder Lee Savident caught behind and re-arranging South African Andrew Locke’s stumps, both without scoring.It meant Ben Thane (28) and Naqeeb Ali Mohamed (19) having to squeeze out every run, particularly off Jo Wilson, who sent down his initial 13 overs of seam at a personal cost of five runs !The Liverpudlian, who finished with 3-25 off 18 overs, removed Naqeeb, Dean Oliffe and Paul Ancell in quick succession to have Portsmouth reeling at 68-6.Matt Keech, who made 87, found himself fighting a lone battle, although either side of lunch student Dan Neville provided valued support.With left-arm spinners Shaun Walbridge (5-48) and Adam Voges bowling in tandem, runs were always hard to come by and once the Dorset vice-captain had removed Portsmouth’s seventh-wicket pair, the end was nigh.When the watchful Nick Park (45) and Voges (40) took Bournemouth’s reply to 96-1, Portsmouth’s 159 all out appeared an academic target.But Bournemouth found themselves bogged down and lost four wickets before Matt Swarbrick (28 not out) and Charlie Holcomb took them home.

All Today’s Yesterdays – November 16 down the yearsNovember 15 | November 171971
Birth of the Burewala Bombshell. There have been few more scintillating sights in cricket history than Waqar Younis in his pomp. With batsman hopping and stumps flying, he and Wasim Akram took reverse-swing to a new level in the early 1990s with their toe-crushing yorkers. They were close to unplayable, particularly for new batsmen: in 1992 alone, England lost 4 for 1 (Lord’s), 8 for 28 (Headingley) and 7 for 25 (The Oval). Remarkably, over half of Waqar’s Test wickets have been out bowled or lbw (by contrast, the figure for Dennis Lillee and Courtney Walsh is 33%). He was at his best in the early 1990s – after bursting onto the scene against New Zealand in 1990-91, Waqar took 109 wickets over a three-year period at an average of 18.07, at the incredible strike rate of 33.55 balls per wicket. He later became captain of Pakistan, and took 7 for 36 – the second-best figures in ODI history – against England at Headingley in 2001. He retained that job until the 2003 World Cup, but a poor showing by Pakistan hastened an unceremonious exit. He was also a huge success in county cricket, first for Surrey and then Glamorgan, for whom he took a career-best 8 for 17 against Sussex at Swansea in 1997.1862
Birth of the man known as “The Terror”. Australian seamer Charlie Turner was a formidable opponent, particularly on wet surfaces, and he took his 101 Test wickets at the startling average of 16.53. Among Aussies with 100 wickets the next-best, Alan Davidson, conceded exactly four more runs per wicket. With his long, rhythmic run and virtually square-on delivery, Turner took 6 for 15 on debut against England at Sydney in 1886-87. And in 1888 he took 21 wickets at an average of 12, despite England winning two of the three matches by an innings. In 155 first-class matches in all he took an improbable 35 ten-fors. He died in Sydney in 1944.1982
Just another day at the office for Chris Tavaré, who took 63 minutes to get off the mark in the second innings of the first Test between England and Australia at Perth. In all Tavaré made 9 from 82 balls, and in the first innings he took almost eight hours over 89. In the course of that innings Tavaré was stuck on 66 for 90 minutes – it was the second time in three Tests that he’d twice spent an hour without scoring. The match itself was a fairly dull draw, notable for a freak injury to Terry Alderman, who rugby-tackled a pitch invader and dislocated his shoulder so badly that he did not play first-class cricket again that season. The match was also notable for Norman Cowans becoming England’s 500th Test cricketer.1983
The third Test at Ahmedabad proved to be a landmark match for Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, but West Indies were still victorious by 138 runs. In the course of his first-innings 90 Gavaskar overtook Geoff Boycott as the top runscorer in Test history (at the time), while Kapil (9 for 83) became the tenth person and the first captain to take nine wickets in a Test innings. But in a low-scoring game India were blown away as they chased 242 to win. Michael Holding, fresh from spanking 58, took out the top order with 4 for 30, and at 39 for 7 and then 63 for 9 India were in danger of humiliation. They recovered to 103, but West Indies took a 2-0 lead in the six-match series with three still to play. An eventual 3-0 victory left nobody in any doubt as to their ability to thrive in all conditions.1940
Birth of one of the few men to play Test cricket and League soccer in recent years. Chris Balderstone played cricket for Yorkshire and Leicestershire, and soccer for Huddersfield, Carlisle and Doncaster, and in September 1975 he played in the County Championship until 6.30pm and kicked off for Doncaster an hour later. He was a scrapper of a batsman and a useful left-arm spinner, particularly on wearing wickets, who was rather unfortunate to play his only two Tests against a formidable West Indies side in 1976. Balderstone’s last appearance, at The Oval, was a nightmare: he was cleaned up twice by Michael Holding for a pair, and he dropped Viv Richards, who went on to smash 291. He went on to become a Test umpire between 1993 and 1996. Balderstone died of cancer in Cumbria in 2000.1952
India hammered Pakistan by 10 wickets in the decisive third Test at Bombay to take the first series between the sides 2-1. India were in control from the moment Pakistan slid to 60 for 6 on the first afternoon, and despite a brilliant 96 from the 17-year-old Hanif Mohammad (who also had to keep wicket) that gave the first indication of his abundant talent, India romped home on the fourth day. Left-arm spinner Vinoo Mankad completed the Test double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in only his 23rd match. It was a record until 1979, when Ian Botham managed it in his 21st.Other birthdays
1827 James Southerton (England)
1944 David O’Sullivan (New Zealand)
1968 Eboo Essop-Adam (Zimbabwe)

A formal Twenty20 competition between the states will be held next January in a rapid response to the bite-sized game’s success. Cricket Australia today announced a six-match interstate tournament with each state hosting one clash between the end of next summer’s Test program and the VB Series.CA is also finalising its international fixture list for next year and the MCG has been stripped of its VB Series final, Hobart has been given a West Indies Test and Perth has a South Africa Test.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said Twenty20 had made a good first impression in trial games at Perth, Adelaide and Hobart, particularly with young people, families and females. “The Australian public has told us they love Twenty20 and we want to offer fans in each state a chance to see it,” he said. “We also believe it is possible that players, once they get some experience with this new format, might learn skills that transfer to the ODI arena in the same way that skills learned in 50-over cricket have transferred to longer forms of the game.”The ICC is still determining whether Twenty20 will become an international fixture, and CA warned of the crowded calendar and its heavy commitments to the Future Tours Program. CA said an interstate final will be held, but the finer details of the competition were still being finalised.A revamped VB finals series is planned for next year with Adelaide and Sydney given the first two finals and Brisbane the third. Melbourne has been overlooked as it is the venue for the three ICC Super Series one-day internationals between Australia and an ICC World Xl in October.