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Kevin Pietersen has blamed England’s lack of enthusiam for IPL on “jealousy,” fuelling the debate over attitudes towards India’s all-consuming Twenty20 tournament.

David Hopps12-Apr-2012Kevin Pietersen has blamed England’s lack of enthusiam for the IPL on “jealousy,” fuelling the debate over attitudes towards India’s all-consuming Twenty20 tournament. Interest in the IPL remains limited in the UK, with media coverage virtually non-existent and more attention given to the start of the County Championship season.Pietersen, who along with Eoin Morgan is the only current England international in this year’s IPL, believes he knows why. “The IPL is very much struggling to find acceptance back home,” he told reporters in India. “It saddens me because I have had an amazing time at the IPL.”It’s down to a lot of jealousy I think, which is sad. It saddens me, all the negative publicity the IPL gets in the [UK] media, I don’t know why.”Pietersen, like many England players, is unable to take part in England’s own Twenty20 tournament because it clashes with the international schedule but the BCCI have been careful to ensure their top players are available for the IPL.Pietersen’s comments follow a scathing assessment of the effect of IPL in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. Wisden’s editor, Lawrence Booth, complained of: “The rise of a Twenty20-based nationalism, the growth of private marketeers and high-level conflicts of interest,” adding: “It is a perfect storm and the global game sits unsteadily in the eye.”While other England players have been released for early season four-day Championship matches, Pietersen’s emphasis is on the Twenty20 game. “Playing another month in the subcontinent honing my skills, training with the spinners and practising, I consider myself so very fortunate,” he said.”I’d love to see more English players available for … well not only available, I would love to see them picked up because I also see some of the games being played at the moment and I just think … man, up here would have been lot better if the Andersons, Bresnans and Boparas were involved in the IPL,” he added in an interview with CNN-IBN. “The guys like Bell, you’ve got world class players who are sitting in England now wanting to play the IPL when you’ve got some second rate Australians getting gigs here.”So for me, it’s sad that I don’t have fellow team-mates playing in the IPL and embarking on a magnificent journey here in the subcontinent and it’ll help English cricket as well.”England fast bowler Stuart Broad pulled out of IPL this week because of injury, while two more members of England’s attack, James Anderson and Graeme Swann, were unsold.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Pune Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Pune

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria10-May-2012

Match facts

Friday, May 11, Pune
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Sourav Ganguly has left his best behind•AFP

Big Picture

Pune Warriors have lost six matches in a row – a sequence even worse than bottom-placed Deccan Chargers, who have been clueless against everyone but the Warriors. The losses have meant that Warriors’ promising start in the tournament has been squandered. With only three games to go, Warriors can only hope to trip others on their rush to make it to the playoffs and they can start with the fourth-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore.Royal Challengers earned valuable two points after their bowlers had restricted Mumbai Indians to 141 – the lowest score against them this season – on a responsive pitch and their batsmen strolled to the target. That Virat Kohli scored useful runs must have come as a relief to the team and they would hope that he continues the form. Royal Challengers face Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers after the game against Warriors, and with the race to the finish getting hotter, they wouldn’t want to lose points against bottom-placed teams.After the first four matches, Warriors had shot to the top of the table only to be shaken off the perch by Royal Challengers in a game where Gayle punished Rahul Sharma with five sixes in an over and Ashish Nehra failed to defend 21 runs in the last over. Warriors have the chance to dish out revenge this time but their batting needs to fire. Their last three totals have been 125, 143 and 119 and Sourav Ganguly’s tinkering with the batting order hasn’t helped him or the team. Ganguly’s role in the team has been questioned just as much as a few other captains and his position in the team is, reportedly, in doubt. Now, in their penultimate game in Pune, Warriors would hope to give their fans, who have filled the stadium every time, something to cheer. With nothing to lose, Warriors could win some more fans in Bangladesh if they include Tamim Iqbal.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)
Pune Warriors: LLLLL
Royal Challengers Bangalore: WWLLW

Players to watch

Muttiah Muralitharan is the leading wicket-taker for Royal Challengers with ten although he has just played six games. Muralitharan’s double-wicket over derailed a recovering Mumbai Indians batting and inspired a much-improved bowling performance. He would aim to keep the straightjacket on the struggling Warriors’ batting.Michael Clarke has scored 31 runs in his last three innings after scoring 41 on debut. He doesn’t have much of a reputation in Twenty20 cricket and with only a few games remaining, he would hope to leave a mark on the tournament.

Stats and trivia

• Steven Smith has taken the most catches – nine – in this IPL.
• Sourav Ganguly has the lowest strike-rate of 107.27 of all batsmen who have scored more than 1000 runs in IPL. This season, his strike-rate is 100.81, which is the lowest among regular batsmen in his team.
• Warriors have played Royal Challengers twice, losing both.
  

  Quotes

  “It is a good feeling to get it [orange cap]. Do you want it?”
  .

Australia will play an international match in Canberra for the first time next summer, as part of the national capital’s centenary celebrations

Brydon Coverdale08-Jun-2012Australia will play an international match in Canberra for the first time next summer, as part of the national capital’s centenary celebrations. Cricket Australia and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government have agreed that Manuka Oval will host an ODI as part of the 2012-13 Commonwealth Bank Series, although it is yet to be confirmed who Australia’s opponent will be.Sri Lanka and West Indies are scheduled to visit Australia for the one-day portion of the summer, which is expected to take place in January-February, ahead of Australia’s Test tour of India. Sri Lanka have played an ODI in Canberra already, against India in 2007-08, and it was only the second international held at Manuka Oval, which also hosted South Africa and Zimbabwe during the 1992 World Cup.Canberra could also be in line to become a venue for the 2015 World Cup, to be shared between Australia and New Zealand. Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland said a planned upgrade to the ground would hold it in good stead to become a more regular international venue in future.”This is an historic moment for cricket in the nation’s capital and a great way to help celebrate the Centenary of Canberra,” Sutherland said. “Canberra continues to play an important role in Australian cricket producing some of our best national players and hosting the annual Prime Minister’s XI match.”The ACT government’s commitment to upgrading Manuka Oval will not only help to position it to host future international and domestic cricket matches, including matches in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, but it will also help grow the game of cricket in Canberra and surrounding areas which is critical to our vision for cricket to be Australia’s favourite sport.”Apart from hosting the annual Prime Minister’s XI match and occasional tour games, Canberra has largely been off the radar of elite cricket in the past few years. The ACT fielded a side known as the Comets in Australia’s domestic one-day competition in the final three years of the 1990s, but the team did not last into the 21st century.The city has helped develop some of Australia’s current Test cricketers, though. The wicketkeeper Brad Haddin learnt his cricket in the Canberra area and played for the Comets before attracting the attention of New South Wales. The offspinner Nathan Lyon also has fond memories of Manuka Oval, where he was a groundsman while playing club cricket in Canberra, which led to him spotted by South Australia.

Alviro Petersen and JP Duminy failed to make use of their time in the middle during the South Africans’ drawn tour match against Worcestershire

Firdose Moonda at New Road28-Jul-2012
Scorecard Chris Russell claimed three second-innings wickets•Getty Images

Alviro Petersen and JP Duminy failed to make use of their time in the middle during the South Africans’ drawn tour match against Worcestershire, with both dismissed cheaply on the second afternoon. Petersen scored just 10 to take his total to 42 from four innings on tour, while Duminy made 2 batting at No. 3 before becoming the first of three wickets for Chris Russell, who took six in the match.Although Duminy made a half-century in South Africa’s opening fixture at Taunton, he was not required to bat in the first Test at The Oval and made just 5 in the first innings at Worcestershire. He and Petersen were the only South Africans not to gain significant practice at New Road; however, AB de Villiers said: “We achieved what we wanted to in this game.”The rest of the side all enjoyed a good workout. De Villiers and Albie Morkel scored half-centuries in the first innings, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander were among the wickets and Jacques Rudolph got valuable runs in the second innings after a lean patch of his own. Robin Peterson also made a strong case for himself by cleaning up the tail. He took four wickets in seven overs to ensure Worcestershire gained only a slender first-innings lead.After a morning session in which the bowlers made significant inroads into the Worcestershire batting line-up, Aneesh Kapil scored a belligerent half-century at greater than a run a ball. Cameos from Ben Scott and Richard Jones took the county side past the South African total but they did not last for long enough to deny the visitors’ batsmen a second stint at the crease before the second Test at Headingley, starting on Thursday.A subdued start sparked into life when Philander removed Neil Pinner in the eighth over of the morning. He followed up a series of full deliveries with a short one, which surprised Pinner as he tried to fend it off his nose. He managed only an edge which carried to Thami Tsolekile, who completed a fairly simple first catch of the tour.Like Peter Trego, James Hildreth and Sam Northeast in previous tour games, Matthew Pardoe kept South Africa’s Test attack at bay. Pardoe dug in to score a gritty half-century, having resumed on 40 overnight. He brought up his milestone with a drive through the covers off Albie Morkel’s first over.Pardoe weathered an assault of quick bowling from South Africa’s change seamers, with Lonwabo Tsotsobe running in and delivering markedly faster than usual. After being taken aback by an Albie Morkel short ball that kissed the grill of his helmet, Pardoe succumbed. Tsotsobe sent down a fiery length ball and Pardoe edged to give Tsolekile his second catchMorne Morkel gave away little more than a run an over, until just before lunch, and took the third wicket. Joe Leach played on to a full delivery in his attempt to drive down the ground, leaving two new batsmen at the crease. Kapil ensured the over before the break was an entertaining one as he flayed Morne Morkel for three boundaries to cut the lead to under 100.Kapil continued to bat aggressively after the break and was able to get the ball through the infield and to the boundary with ease, reaching his fifty from 44 balls. He and Scott put on 81 for the seventh wicket, including 44 in six overs post-lunch but Peterson pulled them back when he bowled Kapil.Scott continued adding runs in the face of a lethargic South African effort but was also stopped by Peterson when he was trapped lbw, trying to sweep. Peterson bowled David Lucas with the next ball but could not get the hat-trick when Russell, who is yet to play a first-class game, padded away the delivery.Petersen and Duminy were dismissed cheaply at the start of the second innings and both have not had much opportunity to bat on tour. Albie Morkel was bowled by Russell and Steyn, who was moved up the order to No. 5, also did not have much to show after being caught in the slips for a duck. Rudolph and Morne Morkel looked steady when the sides shook hands on the draw.

Two West Indian bowlers spearheaded the successful defence of 264 in the fourth ODI in St Kitts, allowing the home side to clinch the series with a game to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2012Two West Indies bowlers spearheaded the successful defence of 264 in the fourth ODI in St Kitts, allowing the home side to clinch the series with a game to spare. Tino Best was playing his first game of the series and bowled with buster, hitting nearly 150 kph and taking four wickets. Sunil Narine was parsimonious, slowing down New Zealand’s run-rate, especially at the death, even though they had Ross Taylor batting on a hundred.”I love this feeling … winning feels good … really, really good,” Best said after the 24-run victory. “We were made to work hard for this win and I’m happy I played a crucial role in bowling the team to victory. I bowled quick and I got wickets. That’s the job of a fast bowler.”Best struck in the first over, beating Martin Guptill with pace to trap the batsman lbw, but his initial three-over spell cost 23 runs. Rob Nicol hit him for two sixes, a streaky slash over third man and a clean strike over long-on.”I went for a few [runs] in my opening spell and I knew I had to hit back second time around. I had a chat with captain Darren Sammy and he told me it’s better to bowl the ball ‘flat’ side rather than look to hit the seam. I took his advice and it worked,” Best said. “I was up on pace and I knew once I got the ball in the right areas I could make it quite difficult for the batsmen.”Best’s second spell was more economical, and included a maiden over to the well-set Taylor. His third and fourth contained the wickets of Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram and Taylor, which ended hopes of a New Zealand victory. In his last six overs, Best conceded no boundaries. His figures of 4 for 46 were the second best of his 14-ODI career, spread over eight years.”I must say it was great the way the crowd got behind me and the team and urged us on,” Best said. “They came here today expecting us to win and we gave them something to celebrate.”The Man-of-the-Match award, however, did not go to Best, but to Narine for his spell of 10-1-20-2. New Zealand had reached 61 for 2 before Narine was introduced in the 10th over. The effect was immediate. During his first spell, Narine dismissed Kane Williamson and dragged New Zealand back. By the end of his first six overs, Narine had figures of 1 for 8 and the visitors were 85 for 4 after 20.”Normally, when I go onto the field I look at the scoreboard and see what is required of me,” Narine said. “Sometimes it requires me to be attacking, other times I just have to keep the pressure on. Today I tried to keep my composure and build the pressure. We got wickets at key stages and the pressure mounted on them.”Narine’s second and last spell was during the final ten overs, when Taylor was threatening to pull off a superb chase. When he came on in the 42nd over, New Zealand needed 76 with Taylor on 74 and Jacob Oram on 2. Narine conceded five in that over, and after Taylor took Andre Russell for 21 runs in the 43rd, Narine pulled it back again for West Indies by giving away only two in the 44th. Not even Taylor could score off Narine and the control he exerted in the final overs of the chase was a significant difference between the two attacks.”We wanted to win on Wednesday and seal the series, but we ended on the wrong end, so it was very important that we rebounded today and finish off the job,” Narine said. “There was a great deal of effort today. We had to dig deep to come up with this win, and that made it feel that much better. To win a series at home is special. Tino kept running in and I knew my job was to remain accurate and build the pressure on the batsmen.”We don’t want to stop here. We want to come back on Monday and look for another victory. Everyone knows that 4-1 would look a lot better than 3-2, so we will be going for that.”

England have included the right-arm seamer Anya Shrubsole to the Twenty20 squad for the five-match series against West Indies starting September 8

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2012England have included the right-arm seamer Anya Shrubsole to the Twenty20 squad for the five-match series against West Indies starting September 8. Shrubsole is the only change to the squad that beat India in the Twenty20 series in June, coming in place of the seamer Georgia Elwiss. The squad will be retained for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka next month.The five-match series is preceded by two Twenty20 matches against Pakistan and a one-off match against England Women’s Academy.”This schedule of matches against Pakistan and West Indies is excellent preparation in the immediate build-up to the ICC World Twenty20,” Clare Connor, head of England Women’s Cricket, said. “After an unbeaten run spanning 17 months in international T20 matches, competition for a place in the starting eleven has never been stronger.”England T20 squad: Charlotte Edwards (capt), Tamsin Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Arran Brindle, Holly Colvin, Lydia Greenway, Jenny Gunn, Danielle Hazell, Heather Knight,
Laura Marsh, Susie Rowe, Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor, Danielle Wyatt

Cameron White has said the Pakistan series is “fantastic preparation” for the upcoming World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2012Australia may have already lost the Twenty20 series against Pakistan, but their middle-order batsman Cameron White has said the series is “fantastic preparation” for the upcoming World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Australia collapsed to 89 all out in the first T20 but turned in an improved performance in the second, going down on the last delivery of the Super Over.”We’d like to be winning, we made great steps from the first game to the second,” White said, a day ahead of the third T20 in Dubai. “We are heading in the right direction, and from a prep point of view this is fantastic.”The conditions in Dubai have been helping spinners, with Pakistan packing the side with three/four slow bowlers. White said the testing series would hold Australia in good stead in the World T20. “I don’t think you can ask any more than what we are experiencing at the moment (in terms of preparations),” he said. “I know we are experiencing very tough conditions, very similar conditions to what we are going to experience in Sri Lanka, and against very good bowlers.”White was also pleased with the amount of matches Australia were getting to fine-tune their World T20 strategies. “The way the Twenty20 game is set up internationally, it is just two games at the back of a Test and ODI series. You come in for two games and then you might not play again for a month, two, three or six months,” he said. “(Here) we are playing three games in a row, we have two more warm-up matches, five solid games leading into a big tournament.”Despite Australia’s series defeat against Pakistan, and just one victory in five previous T20 matches, White said his team was “definitely looking to win” the World T20. “We finished second in the last [World] T20, Australia traditionally have a good record in big tournaments, so I think we are a good chance going into the tournament.”The loss on Friday pushed Australia down to tenth place in the ICC’s T20 rankings, though White was confident his side’s position would improve after the world event. “We know where we are ranked, you lose a game you go down two or three spots. We haven’t been winning enough games, so that’s why are down there,” he said. “Things can change around quickly, if we get a couple of wins under our belt, start winning in the World T20, we could easily shoot back up, and if we win it there’s no arguments to say we are not the No. 1 in the world.”

Amol Karhadkar24-Oct-2012Yuvraj Singh, who marked his return to first-class cricket with a double-century in the Duleep Trophy last week, has been included in the India A squad to play England in Mumbai from October 30.In their first formal meeting since taking over as national selectors on October 1, Sandeep Patil and his colleagues decided not to pick a spinner in the 14-member squad to be led by Suresh Raina. The decision to not play a spinner is perhaps because the Indian team management does not want to give England exposure to what is likely to be their biggest challenge during the Test series.

India A

Suresh Raina (capt), Ambati Rayudu, M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Bist, Ashok Menaria, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda, Vinay Kumar, Parvinder Awana

While Raina, Yuvraj, Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary were included among nine specialist batsmen, Rohit was left out, an indication the Mumbai batsman could have to revive his chances by scoring big in the Ranji Trophy.Rajasthan batsmen Robin Bist and Ashok Menaria were rewarded for their consistent performances. Bist, the highest run-getter in the previous Ranji Trophy season, had also toured West Indies in June as part of the A squad. Menaria was selected after an impressive outing during the A tour to New Zealand in September.Tiwary, whose technique wasn’t considered to be up to Test standards by the previous selection panel, the Tamil Nadu top-order pair of M Vijay and Abhinav Mukund, and Baroda batsman Ambati Rayudu completed the batting line-up. Initially, Delhi opener Shikhar Dhawan was included in the squad, but had to be withdrawn as the match clashes with his marriage. In his place, Rayudu was brought in.*The bowling attack comprised seamers Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda, R Vinay Kumar and Parvinder Awana, who had broken down while bowling his first spell on the A tour of the Caribbean.Yuvraj’s selection was on expected lines after his 208 for North Zone against Central Zone. He had returned to competitive action after a nine-month break because of a rare germ-cell cancer during India’s Twenty20 international against New Zealand and the World Twenty20 that followed in September and October.And when he was named in the North Zone side for the Duleep Trophy semi-final, Yuvraj had admitted he wasn’t sure how his body would cope with four-day cricket. He made most of the opportunity, though, and his 208 – against an attack that included Praveen Kumar, Bhuvneshvar Kumar and Murali Kartik – was only a run less than his highest in first-class score.Should Yuvraj perform against Alastair Cook’s team in the three-day fixture at the Cricket Club of India’s Brabourne Stadium next week, he is likely to be a contender for the No. 6 slot in India’s Test batting order.After VVS Laxman’s retirement ahead of the two-Test series against New Zealand in August, Suresh Raina was the preferred No. 6, ahead of Rohit, Rahane and Tiwary. However, Yuvraj will now have an opportunity to stake his claim.*12:07pm October 24: This article has been updated after Ambati Rayudu replaced Shikhar Dhawan in the India A squad.

Shane Watson has sent another shudder through Australia’s camp ahead of the first South Africa Test by complaining of calf soreness while bowling

Daniel Brettig03-Nov-2012Australia’s vice-captain Shane Watson was whisked away from New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield match against Queensland to hospital for scans on his troublesome left calf and must now be considered in doubt for the first Test against South Africa.In his first appearance at the bowling crease in a first-class match since the tour of the West Indies in April, Watson delivered only one over before speaking with his state and national captain Michael Clarke and leaving the field.It soon emerged that he was bothered by a sore left calf, the same muscle he strained during this year’s ODI tour of England. A calf ailment had also contributed to Watson missing all of the 2011-12 home Test matches. Medical staff later sent Watson away from the ground to have scans on the injury.Watson’s exit from Allan Border Field continued a fraught round of domestic matches for Australia’s Test batsmen, as only Michael Hussey has made any substantial runs while Ricky Ponting was withdrawn from Tasmania’s match against South Australia with hamstring tightness.The close proximity of the Champions League to the first Test of the summer had opened up the possibility of injury disrupting either Australian or South African participants in the Twenty20 event. The visiting batsman Hashim Amla said the adjustment up from the shortest format to the longest was among the more vexing challenges in the post-modern game.”That element is always a challenge, to go from one format to another,” Amla said. “Some guys struggle to do it, some don’t struggle to do it, and in managing their body every player has to find what works for him and what doesn’t.”We have medical professionals in our team that guide us along the way. We always take their advice and I’m sure every sportsman takes the advice and tries to stick with it. Everything doesn’t go to plan all the time, but you’ve just got to try to find what works for you and hopefully stick with it.”James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, was adamant that the team performance hierarchy, fitness and medical staff had done all they could to prepare players as best as possible for the forthcoming Tests, admitting that the circumstances created by the CLT20 were not ideal.”I think people are perfectly entitled to ask questions, but at the same time they should have confidence the people involved are doing everything they can,” Sutherland told .”What we have done in recent times is really co-ordinated the effort between state associations and CA management and medical staff and conditioning staff to ensure that the preparation of players for international cricket is as good as it can be in the circumstances. I think Pat Howard and his team have made some giant strides in that regard.”Data collected by Cricket Australia’s team performance wing has demonstrated that players are at considerable risk of injury when they are adjusting back up to first-class and Test cricket from the game’s shortest format.Aware of this, and Watson’s injury history, the team performance manager Pat Howard had arranged for him to return home early from the Sydney Sixers’ squad in South Africa, the better to give him time to rest and prepare in training for the upward surge in his workload.There had also been discussions about Watson playing in Sydney grade cricket or for the NSW Futures League team in a match against the ACT in Canberra. It was ultimately decided that he would not take part in either.But the precautions have been unable to prevent the recurrence of calf trouble, and Wtson’s place in the XI for the Gabba Test is now open to question.

Warriors needed just 106 to beat Knights in the Momentum Cup fixture in Port Elizabeth, but a dramatic collapse meant they fell embarrassingly short, being bundled out for 46

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWarriors needed just 106 to beat Knights in the Momentum Cup fixture in Port Elizabeth, but a dramatic collapse meant they fell embarrassingly short, being bundled out for 46. Knights’ unbelievable win was crafted by seamers Johan van der Wath and Ryan McLaren, who combined to claim seven wickets and secure the 59-run victory on a surface that assisted the quicks. While it was Knights’ second consecutive batting failure (they were bowled out for 94 in their previous game), Warriors’ 46 was the second-lowest total in the history of the one-day competition.Makhaya Ntini and Andrew Birch led the Warriors pace attack and didn’t allow Knights to settle after they batted first. Half the side was dismissed by these quicks, with Knights struggling at 59 for 5 in the 19th over. The remaining wickets did not take much longer to fall, with another seamer, Ayabulela Gqamane, joining in to claim three.But Warriors began their chase equally poorly, losing opener Ashwell Prince in the opening over. At 26 for 1, they looked to have settled down, but the game turned completely: they lost five wickets for a run, courtesy van der Wath and McLaren, to be left reeling at 27 for 6. Spinner Nicky Boje and seamer Maliusi Siboto then took care of the tail, as Warriors’ slide culminated in a whopping defeat in the 21st over.Van der Wath claimed figures of 4 for 26, and and McLaren 3 for 11 – those three scalps were enough to propel McLaren to within touching distance of the top of the tournament’s wickets chart after six games.