Younis Khan has said he was not aiming for a double-century on the third day of the Chittagong Test and only started thinking about it when his captain and coach told him to go for it

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2011Younis Khan, the Pakistan batsman, has said he was not aiming for a double-century on the third day of the Chittagong Test and only started thinking about it when his captain Misbah-ul-Haq and coach Mohsin Khan told him to go for it. Younis started the third day on 96, completed his century with a boundary off the third ball, and then switched gears to reach 200 and give Pakistan a 459-run first-innings leads.”This morning my focus was on getting four runs to complete my hundred,” Younis said. “I was lucky to get them off the third ball. Then suddenly the captain and coach changed the plan and told me to go for the double-century.”I missed two double-hundreds against India in Pakistan in 2006, once when I scored 199 [in Lahore] and once when I made 194 [in Faisalabad]. But this time I was sure that I will get my double-hundred.”During his innings Younis went past 6000 Test runs, and notched up his 19th Test century and third Test double-century. Younis, 34, said he was not focused on breaking any Pakistan batting records but just wanted to play 100 Tests. “It’s my dream to play 100 Test matches. If I am lucky enough to play 100 Test matches maybe I will be close to [some records].”Younis dedicated his double-hundred to his family and the Pakistan coaching staff and team management. He also reserved special praise for his captain Misbah, who he said was respected by the rest of the team.”I will give Misbah 100% marks on his captaincy because he is an educated person and he has the respect of the team. Everybody listens to him and if you want to give him advice he takes it with an open heart.”

England Under-19s kept their series hopes alive with a 28-run victory in the fifth game of their seven-match series against Bangladesh Under-19s

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2012
ScoreboardEngland Under-19s kept their series hopes alive with a 28-run victory in the fifth game of their seven-match series against Bangladesh Under-19s, in Sylhet. Bangladesh still hold the advantage, despite failing to chase 196 for a victory that would have put them 4-1 up and out of sight.Medium-pacers Brett Hutton and Adam Ball led the way with five wickets between them as Bangladesh lost their top six with just 79 on the board. No.7 Zakaria Masud attempted to forge an unlikely revival with a patient, unbeaten 38 but despite putting on a 35-run partnership – the highest of the innings – for the final wicket with Abu Jayed, Masud eventually ran out of partners. No other batsman reached 20, while Hutton was the pick of the England bowlers, taking 3 for 34 from his allocation.After being put in on a slow wicket, opener Sam Kelsall top-scored with 43 as England reached 195 for 8 from their 50 overs. Kelsall departed with the score on 73 as England slipped to 85 for 4 but Ramanpreet Singh and Sam Woods rebuilt with a partnership of 54. Singh, who made 38, became Naeem Islam Jr’s third wicket in the 42nd over but some late hitting from Craig Overton and Ball helped add 38 in 27 balls to pull England up to an ultimately defendable total.

Ajit Agarkar, who walked out on Mumbai midway through the Ranji season, is among the probables for the domestic one-dayers

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Feb-2012Ajit Agarkar, who had pulled out of the Mumbai squad midway through the Ranji Trophy season after he was dropped for the group match against Orissa, has been included among the 25 probables for the West Zone one-dayers of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Agarkar met with Milind Rege, Mumbai’s chairman of selectors, Ratnakar Shetty, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) vice-president, and Nitin Dalal, the MCA secretary on Monday afternoon to sort out the issues after Rege had messaged Agarkar last week, requesting for a meeting. It is understood that at the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, both Agarkar and the MCA management regretted what had happened.”I am always happy to play for Mumbai and am looking forward to the return,” Agarkar told ESPNcricinfo. “I obviously can’t change what has happened. I now look forward to the one-dayers if selected.”On November 29, Mumbai were to start their Elite group match against Orissa in Cuttack. But the previous evening Agarkar was informed by the pair of Sulakshan Kulkarni and Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai coach and captain respectively) that he was not part of the playing XI. It was also Zaheer Khan’s first game of the Ranji season, as part of his recovery process from the injury he picked up during last year’s England tour.Annoyed at being dropped, Agarkar flew back to Mumbai on the morning of the match. The issue snowballed into a controversy after Zaheer supported Agarkar’s decision and blamed the pair of Rege and Kulkarni for “pulling down” Mumbai cricket. Thereafter Agarkar, who had played only one match in the season (against Karnataka and went wicketless) made himself unavailable for selection despite calls from Dalal and Shetty, who asked him to reconsider. In his absence, Mumbai’s fast bowling department lacked a leader.After Mumbai’s lukewarm performance during the Ranji Trophy campaign where they bowed out of the semi-finals against Tamil Nadu, the pressure increased on the selectors and the team management. Consequently, Wasim Jaffer, Mumbai’s captain for the last four years, stepped down, unhappy at the remarks expressed by Kulkarni to the media.Probably as a damage-control measure, Rege tried to convince Agarkar to return, to avoid any further rumblings in the dressing room.At Monday’s meeting, Agarkar once again made it clear to the MCA officials that if he was not picked in the playing XI, he would rather sit at home than “carry water.” “It is not that I have not been twelfth man in my life but there is a merit to it,” Agarkar said.Agarkar asked for a day to think over it before arriving at a decision. But later that evening, he called up Dalal to confirm his availability. Agarkar, who plays for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, said he also needed some match practice before the tournament begins in April, and the one-day tournament would be a good platform to get back to fitness.Probables: Ajinkya Rahane, Wasim Jaffer, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Aavishkar Salvi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Anup Revandkar, Praful Waghela, Siddharth Chitnis, Iqbal Abdullah, Ankit Chavan, Suryakumar Yadav, Parag Khanapurkar, Aditya Tare, Sushant Marathe, Kumar Subramanian, Balwinder Singh Sandhu Jnr, Kshemal Waingankar, Akhil Herwadkar, Kaustubh Pawar, Usman Malvi, Santosh Shinde, Murtuza Hussain, Shoaib Shaikh

John Wright, the New Zealand coach, has admitted Jesse Ryder is testing his patience with his indiscretions

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2012John Wright, the New Zealand coach, has admitted Jesse Ryder is testing his patience with his indiscretions. Ryder was dropped from the third ODI against South Africa after breaking team protocol following New Zealand’s defeat in Napier. He went out to a hotel after the game, along with Doug Bracewell, who was also dropped, and got into an argument with a patron.When asked if Ryder, who has had problems with alcohol and has been involved in three other such indiscretions as an international cricketer, was testing his patience, Wright said, “It’s fair to say that.” He added: “He’s a talented cricketer and it’s up to him and certainly everyone has the opportunity to play if they perform and are fit and abide by some of the rules that go with being in the team.”The door is open for any player but there are standards you need to reach.”It’s a distraction to be honest. We have talked about it, we are over it and we have a big game tomorrow – we are up against a good side. You do get a little bit disappointed. But it’s part of life and people make mistakes and you get on with it. We wouldn’t want this to be happening regularly.”Ryder was recovering from a split webbing in his hand and Bracewell from a hamstring injury; team protocol dictated that players “rehabilitating from injury should not consume alcohol.” Asked if other players should be looking out for Ryder, Wright said, “That can be difficult. Most players at that time of night are in bed … the professional ones.”Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman and captain for the ODI series, also expressed his disappointment. “You’ve got a very disappointed bunch of players, and hopefully New Zealand Cricket will take that on board as well,” he told .”There’s obviously some contractual obligations which need to be met along the way, which Jesse isn’t meeting at this stage, and I’m sure that there’ll be some intense discussions between Jesse’s people and New Zealand Cricket around that contractual stuff.”The players wanted Jesse back when he was playing well and in the right head-space, but the team did not want these sorts of distractions’.”From our point of view, we’d just suffered another tough loss, our fourth in a row, and it certainly wasn’t the time to be out socialising and being seen in public drinking.”Ryder has also been left out of the first Test against South Africa, though for form reasons. McCullum, however, admitted such breaches were frustrating for the team. “This is probably one of the more minor events, but ultimately it’s probably one of the more definitive ones as well. So from a team-mate perspective, it is frustrating because you just want your team performances to be doing the talking rather than any off-field behaviour.”Bracewell’s father Brendon Bracewell, who played six Tests for New Zealand, said his son was “extremely embarrassed” by the incident. “Hopefully he’ll learn a lot from it. I said, mate, you’ve got to take this kind of stuff on the chin. Doug’s a young guy and it’s a steep learning curve but there’s no excuse not to stick with the team protocol.”Edited by Siddhartha Talya

Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, is among the candidates shortlisted to be Northamptonshire’s second overseas player in this summer’s Friends Life t20 competition

George Dobell13-Mar-2012Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh allrounder, is among the candidates shortlisted to be Northamptonshire’s second overseas player in this summer’s Friends Life t20 competition.Shakib, the 24-year-old left-arm spinner who is currently rated as the world’s best allrounder in the ICC’s Test rankings, has previously enjoyed two successful spells at Worcestershire. He took 42 first-class wickets at an average of 21.66 in just nine games for the club in 2010, while in 2011 he played 12 T20 games, averaging 9.16 with the bat. He proved a potent bowler, however, claiming 19 wickets at 16.57 apiece and conceding an average of 6.84 runs an over.”He is one of three or four overseas players we are considering,” David Capel, Northamptonshire’s director of cricket, said. “But it would be premature to say he is definitely coming.” Northamptonshire have already secured the services of Chaminda Vaas as one of their overseas players for 2012.While Northants were obliged to cancel their plans for an overseas tour of South Africa due to financial constraints, it is understood that a couple of private sponsors have emerged to cover the costs of a second overseas player.

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.”