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.

A wrap of Group C games in the fifth round of the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2012
ScorecardVA Jagadeesh was stranded on 199, agonisingly short of what would have been his maiden double-century in first-class cricket, as Kerala were bowled out for 314 by Services on the second day in Delhi.Kerala began the day on 192 for 5, with Jagadeesh batting on 126. Like on the first day, Jagadeesh got little support from his team-mates and batsmen came and went at the other end. From 240 for 5, Kerala slipped to 260 for 8. Jagadeesh did most of the scoring and motored towards a double but lost last man Sandeep Warrier in the 135th over of the innings.Warrier returned to strike early blows in Services’ reply, reducing them to 30 for 2. They were 84 for 2 at stumps.
ScorecardDuvvarapu Shivkumar scored his maiden first-class century to lead Andhra to a sizeable total against Goa in Visakhapatnam. Resuming on 12 on the second morning, Shivkumar went on to make an unbeaten 106, leading his team to 393. He and Amol Muzumdar extended their sixth-wicket stand to 124 before Muzumdar was lbw to Saurabh Bandekar, who finished with 5 for 107. Bandekar’s new-ball partner, Hanumant Gadekar, claimed 4 for 97.Shivkumar had success with the ball too, removing Goa opener Swapnil Asnodkar cheaply. Sagun Kamat remained unbeaten on 41 as Goa ended day two on 72 for 1.
ScorecardAfter scoring a half-century in Jammu & Kashmir’s first innings, Parvez Rasool took career best figures, his 7 for 41 securing a 158-run first innings lead against Assam in Guwahati.The second day began with J&K on 240 for 7 and the tail contributed to stretch the total to 323 before they were dismissed in the 110th over. Assam bowler Arup Das also took career-best figures of 6 for 87.Assam’s openers Dheeraj Jadhav and Pallavkumar Das added 55 for the first wicket, and Jadhav’s half-century led his team to the secure position of 126 for 2. Jadhav’s dismissal, however, triggered a slide during which Assam lost eight wickets for 39 runs in about 17 overs. Rasool took six of the eight.
ScorecardAfter beinning the second day on 325 for 4, Tripura’s middle and lower order added only 116 more runs in Nadaun, but by stumps they stood a great chance of taking the first-innings lead. Manisankar Murasingh and Rana Dutta took two wickets each to reduce Himachal Pradesh to 111 for 5.

An all-round performance by offspinner Prosper Utseya helped Mashonaland Eagles beat Matabeleland Tuskers by five runs to win the Pro50 Championship final in Bulawayo, in a match that was repeatedly interrupted by rain

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAn all-round performance by offspinner Prosper Utseya helped Mashonaland Eagles beat Matabeleland Tuskers by five runs to win the Pro50 Championship final in Bulawayo, in a match that was repeatedly interrupted by rain. The result was decided via the Duckworth-Lewis method.Tuskers, who won the toss and elected to bowl, kept Eagles’ innings in check with regular breakthroughs. While most of the middle order got starts, Utseya, coming in to bat at No. 7, was the only batsman to reach 50. He was given out obstructing the field as Eagles were kept to 222 in 49.1 overs.Tuskers looked to be in control of the chase, in spite of several rain interruptions, as the opening pair of Gavin Ewing and Brian Chari added 138 runs. They began sedately but solidly, and launched later when the rain seemed like it would be an issue. However, wickets then began to tumble and apart from a late charge from Charles Coventry, none of the other Tuskers batsmen could make substantial contributions. Tuskers needed 23 runs from 18 balls, before rain interrupted their chase yet again and the D/L method came into play.

Stuart Broad has arrived in New Zealand “fit and good” to return to England duty

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2013Stuart Broad has arrived in New Zealand “fit and good” to return to England duty.Broad has not played since the second Test in Mumbai in November, where his 0 for 60 was his second consecutive wicketless Test. Broad was subsequently dropped for the second time in his career.A heel problem prevented his return as captain for the T20 series, which England drew 1-1 with Eoin Morgan leading the side, before snow denied him the chance to re-join his colleagues in India for the final two matches of the ODI series.The poor weather has hindered Broad’s training programme, so he is glad to be back in warmer climes, arriving a few hours ahead of the rest of the squad who travelled direct from India following Sunday’s final ODI.”I have not done any outdoor running because it has been a bit hazardous at home,” Broad said. “But I feel pretty good and look forward to getting going and excited to be here. With the snow back home it has been tricky to really test anything.”It was disappointing not to get out to India and do some outdoor bowling ready for this tour but we have plenty of time to do some work here leading into the warm-up games and the first Twenty20.”England play two warm-up matches on February 4 and 6 before the first of three T20s on February 9 in Auckland. It will be the first time Broad has captained England since they tumbled out of the World T20 at the Super Eights stage in October.Broad will be hoping for a return to form after averaging 39.72 with the ball and 14.00 with the bat in his last full Test series – against South Africa in July and August. He has also been short of one-day cricket having missed the ODI series with South Africa in September. His overs at the World T20 were taken for 7.42 runs each.Short of match-practise, Broad’s first task is to feel satisfied that his heel injury has recovered. “When you’ve not played cricket for five or six weeks, I suppose you go into a game a little bit unsure,” he said. “I have done quite a lot of treadmill running, and a lot of spinning, so I’m fit. I just need to test out the impact of it.”We’ve got well over a week till the first Twenty20 game, and that should be plenty to get it right.”Broad travelled to Adidas headquarters in Germany to have his boots moderated to help ease the strain. “I have had a bit of adjusting to the foam inside the boot and we will see how that goes outside,” he said. “But I have bowled five or six spells of six or seven overs indoors, which felt good. And you’d have thought indoor bowling would be as big a test on the heel as anything.”I feel fit and good, so where I am at now I feel ready to go.”Longer term for Broad there is the challenge of trying to regain his Test place in what is likely to be a three-man pace attack alongside James Anderson and Steven Finn. It was Finn who initially replaced Broad in India and then Tim Bresnan played the final Test although he is absent from this tour.Broad began 2012 in impressive form with consistent performances against Pakistan in the UAE and then claimed 11 wickets against West Indies at Lord’s before having less of an impact against South Africa and conceded being dropped in India was the right decision.”I’m quite relaxed, and I know that if I bowl well and hang in there and do the right things in training, then wickets come your way,” Broad said. “I had a really good start, first half of the year, and was the leading seamer in the world.”Then I went three innings without taking a wicket in India and lost my place. That happens and it was probably a good decision, looking back, to leave me out.”Finny came in and bowled really nicely. Then I picked up that little injury before the final Test match. Personally, the tour didn’t go ideally to plan. But we won the Test series and left happy.”

The two Barbados sides scheduled to participate in a T20 competition against six English counties have pulled out just hours before the event was due to start.

George Dobell16-Mar-2013The two Barbados sides scheduled to participate in a T20 competition against six English counties have pulled out just hours before the event was due to start.Six English counties – Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Hampshire and Northamptonshire – are currently in Barbados preparing for the new county season, but their preparations have been hit by the withdrawal of both local sides from what was to have been the showpiece event of the trip.ESPNcricinfo understands that the Barbados side made a late request for payment in the region of BBD 3,000 (just under GBP 1,000) and, after this was declined, refused to play. As a result it was decided that the other local side, the Combined Campuses and Colleges team, should also withdraw from the competition in order to allow the six county sides to contest between themselves.The location of the games has also been changed. Organisers originally claimed that the two-day competition, on March 16 and 17, would be played at the Kensington Oval but the first day has been rescheduled for the Three W’s Oval on the University of the West Indies, Barbados campus.The reputation of pre-season tours to Barbados was increased greatly by the subsequent success of the counties that travelled to the country in March 2012. Warwickshire, who went on to win the County Championship, Hampshire, who won the limited-overs double, and Derbyshire and Yorkshire, who both won promotion in the championship, were among the counties who attended.

Steven Finn will continue to use his new shortened run-up in the Test series against New Zealand after quickly finding success with it in the one-day series

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin04-Mar-2013Steven Finn will continue to use his new shortened run-up in the Test series against New Zealand after quickly finding success with it in the one-day series.Instigated through a combination of long-term work with David Saker, the England bowling coach, and the problem of kicking the stumps in his delivery stride – which has led to a Law change by MCC that will take effect on October 1 – Finn unveiled his new approach during the final ODI in Napier and produced an opening six-over spell that went for just 11 runs.He did not play in the warm-up match in Queenstown, instead spending more time with Saker on the sidelines, and is feeling increasingly confident in his new technique. “It felt good in the one-day series. I bowled with it in practice every day, and it feels good,” he said. “We’ll see what happens in the Test matches. But my first over will be off the shorter run.”It is geared towards being more consistent, being able to bowl for longer spells and for longer in the day and keeping me as fresh as possible. The shorter run-up so far has worked well for me. I think it allows me to be stronger at the crease, in a better position. I felt like I got more bounce off the shorter run,” he added.”Whether that just happened on those wickets or whether it was the shorter run that was doing it, I don’t know. Over a longer period of time, I’ll be able to assess that and tell. But it certainly felt as though I was more compact at the crease and more controlled.”He will keep his traditional longer run-up in reserve in case he decides to return to it, but while Finn has complete control over what delivery pattern he uses that does not extend to which end he will bowl from. There was a strong wind in Dunedin on Monday, which could assist Finn in finding extra pace if he bowls with it to his back, but he will need to defer to James Anderson. “I’ll have to negotiate with Jimmy, I think,” he said. “If I get the wind, then great.”This match will actually mark another return to the Test side for Finn. He missed the final match of the series in India, at Nagpur, after picking up a back injury following an important contribution to victory in Kolkata. Since being dropped midway through the 2010-11 Ashes, Finn has only strung together back-to-back Tests once (against South Africa last year) and England need to ensure they can get some decent stretches out of a key fast bowler. The long run-up may have gone, but now he wants a long run.