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Abbas claims stunning figures of 6-11 as Hampshire take mammoth lead

Alan Gardner16-Apr-2021Around an hour into the second morning of this match, Middlesex’s bowlers were preparing to put their feet up in the dressing room in recognition of a hard job well done. Then came the Mohammad Abbas-inspired madness, a sickening sense of preconceptions being upended, and the desperate scramble for batting gear. Abbas sized up the pitch on his home debut, claimed a hat-trick inside seven balls, and had a five-for before the end of his third over, as Hampshire brutally seized control.Middlesex started and ended the day in the field, the one major difference being that they were now in hock to the tune of almost 450 runs after Hampshire declined to enforce the follow-on. Sam Northeast and Ian Holland added a double-century partnership in untroubled fashion, both walking off in the 90s at the close, as the home attack took their chance to recharge. Abbas might look more like an accountant than a strike bowler, but you don’t have to have the instincts of either to know which team the sums favour from here.Strike bowler he surely is though, and the Pakistan seamer demolished any notion that this could be a close contest within the space of 5.5 pre-lunch overs, as Middlesex tumbled to 14 for 5 in response to Hampshire’s 319. Abbas finished his day’s work with hypnotic figures of 11-6-11-6, as Middlesex were eventually rounded up 79; only three batsmen managed double-figures, with Nathan Sowter’s 24 not out from No. 9 the highest score of the innings.Ramadan started this week, and although Abbas is not currently fasting, he said that his “great day” had been influenced by the Islamic holy month. At 31, it was the first hat-trick of his senior career.”I took two wickets and before I bowled for my third wicket I realised Ramadan is going on and that is lucky for us, and Friday is a day that is lucky for me,” he said. “I have played here before when I was with Pakistan and the pitch had something in it for me, and I bowled on point in the right areas.”Hampshire’s new overseas signing, currently out of favour with Pakistan’s selectors, has shown on more than one occasion previously that it pays not to underestimate his shuffling gait and 78mph stylings. A two-season stint with Leicestershire in 2018 and ’19 yielded 79 wickets at 20.67 and, while a shoulder injury might have hampered his effectiveness at Test level, he emphatically restated his qualities as a county operator.This was the definition of a controlled explosion, as Abbas detonated the Middlesex top order with five wickets in 13 balls. The subtlety of his methods was borne out by the fact each wicket-taking delivery pitched in roughly the same area but confounded the batsmen in a variety of ways.Max Holden was the first to go, jumping from the crease to narrow the angles in his favour, only to steer an edge to third slip. Nick Gubbins, another left-hander, was pinned by one that came back at him (although there was a suspicion it might have pitched outside leg); then, with the first ball of Abbas’ next over, Stevie Eskinazi was sucked in by length and spat out by seam movement – a feathered outside edge giving the bowler his moment.He wasn’t done there, either, as Middlesex’s tricky hour before lunch became a match-defining collapse. Robbie White and Martin Andersson were both trapped in front of their stumps by in-duckers – White playing forward, Andersson hanging back – to complete a five-for that had scorers and Twitter statisticians consulting their databases. For the record, Abbas’ efforts fell just shy of Ryan Patel’s five in 11 balls at Guildford in 2018, while Jacques Kallis claimed a Test five-for in 12 deliveries against Bangladesh in 2002.Abbas had all six wickets to fall when Sam Robson went shortly after lunch – edging to slip as the bowler shortened his length in response to Robson’s deliberate efforts to get forward – before Kyle Abbott, who had claimed a 17-wicket match haul on his previous first-class appearance at the Ageas Bowl, finally got in on the action, as Toby Roland-Jones chopped a drive into his stumps.Sowter and John Simpson managed to double the score, meaning this was ultimately only Middlesex’s lowest total since being dismissed for 75 at Hove two summers ago, before Brad Wheal cleaned up the innings with three cheap wickets.Ambushed by Abbas, Middlesex were left feeling abashed – and with Hampshire deciding to bat again on a lead of 240, they had plenty of time to reflect on their shortcomings. Roland-Jones and Ethan Bamber struck early to give Middlesex a glimmer at 2 for 2, but the third-wicket pairing of Northeast and Holland steadied Hampshire before pressing on resolutely, both passing 50 for the second time in the match to consolidate a position that was nigh on impregnable.The quality of Middlesex’s attack had seemingly kept the home batsmen in check on day one but, in a harbinger of what was to come, more foot-slogging was required on the second morning to finish off Hampshire’s first innings. Roland-Jones, Bamber and Steven Finn posed plenty of questions – though none came close to the sort of unanswerable spell provided by Abbas – and they were made to work right until the end, Finn finishing with 4 for 96, as Abbott’s nuggety half-century took Hampshire past 300 for a third bonus point, and a position that would soon be revealed as dominant.

He has, however, kept his place in the ODI squad for the upcoming tour of Nepal

Peter Della Penna21-Jan-2020USA allrounder Steven Taylor has been stripped of the team’s vice-captaincy ahead of their tour of Nepal, which includes four ODIs against Nepal and Oman. An internal investigation by USA Cricket has pulled Taylor up for “failing to display the high standards of behavior and professionalism that are expected of all USA National Team cricketers on last month’s tour of the UAE.”A statement from a USA Cricket spokesperson after Monday’s squad announcement for the Nepal tour claimed that Taylor “was not the only player to have acted in a manner which was inconsistent with the team’s values and, after a review, was found to have broken team rules. All players involved have acknowledged their error of judgment and apologised to their team-mates and support staff and have committed to responding positively.”According to multiple USA Cricket sources, four other players were deemed to have breached team protocol in what was described as an “off-the-field incident” between matches during last month’s ODI tri-series in the UAE. However, the sources would not reveal who else was involved. It is also understood that the incident in question was not communicated to USA Cricket officials until early January, more than two weeks after the team returned from the tour.This is not the first disciplinary incident in Taylor’s career that has cost him a leadership position. In 2013, Taylor was stripped of the USA captaincy, after he was deemed to have broken team rules while serving as USA U-19 captain on a tour of Canada earlier in the summer. He was also suspended for one match for the incident, in which administrators stated Taylor had broken team curfew to go out drinking while posting a running timeline of his night out on social media.On this occasion, though, Taylor has managed to escape without a suspension. The rest of the USA squad is also unchanged from the ODI tour of the UAE in which they won three of their four matches. USA’s squad will depart later this week for a warm-up tour in India during which they will play three 50-over matches in Mumbai before continuing on to Nepal. USA’s first ODI of the tri-series is against Oman on February 6. It is USA’s second ever tour of Nepal and their first since World Cricket League Division Five in 2010, when Nepal and USA claimed the top two spots to gain promotion to Division Four.USA squad: Saurabh Netravalkar (capt), Karima Gore, Ian Holland, Akshay Homraj (wk), Elmore Hutchinson, Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Xavier Marshall, Monank Patel, Nisarg Patel, Timil Patel, Cameron Stevenson, Steven Taylor, Rusty Theron.

Wasim Khan was understood to have made a favourable impression during interviews and there is a likelihood he could be confirmed as the board’s managing director soon

George Dobell02-Dec-2018Wasim Khan has emerged as a strong candidate for the new role of Managing Director of the PCB.Wasim, currently chief executive at Leicestershire County Cricket Club, was invited to consider the position by PCB chairman, Ehsan Mani. He is understood to have made a very favourable impression during interviews in recent days with a possibility that he could be confirmed in the role by the end of the week.Wasim had also been asked to apply for the role of Managing Director – England Cricket by the ECB management, but it is understood he has expressed a preference for the Pakistan job.Although Wasim is British-born – he is believed to have been the first British-born Muslim player of Pakistan origin to play county cricket – he has long held a Pakistan passport. If his appointment is confirmed – and parties are in the final stages of discussing terms – he is expected to move, with his wife and children, to Lahore.While his current county role is relatively low profile, Wasim has long been seen as a key figure in the future of England cricket. A former player – he was part of the Warwickshire squad that won the double in 1995 – he went on to become CEO of the Cricket Foundation where he played a huge role in the expansion of Chance to Shine. He has also sat on the Equality & Human Rights Commission Sports Group, The Prince’s Trust Cricket Group, the board of Sport England and was recently named in the Parliamentary Review Muslim 100 Power List. In an English system desperate to find a way to connect with its Asian communities, he has long been seen as a future CEO of the ECB.A Pakistan role will bring a vastly different set of challenges. Among the high-priority items on his to-do list are likely to be a reorganisation of the domestic system, and this will be an especially thorny issue. Imran Khan, former captain and now the country’s prime minister – and by default, the cricket board’s patron – has long been a strong advocate of a domestic structure based on regional sides alone.That stance is likely to be taken up in some form at board level – Mani is known to believe that a purely regional model might not work in Pakistan, where the population is far bigger than countries such as Australia (whose small domestic Shield structure Imran is a fan of).Early indications suggest a structure with eight regional teams, either city-based or province-based. That could have implications for the departmental sides – such as HBL, WAPDA, PIA and SSGC – who have, for over 40 years, been the backbone of the domestic circuit. It is these banks and airlines and gas companies that employ cricketers on monthly salaries, and these organisations – and not the regional sides – who have long been at the forefront of the game’s professionalisation.Repeated moves to remove or sideline them have been strongly resisted by players, and administrators and will face similar obstacles if it happens again, but the idea presently under consideration is to make departments sponsor regional teams and to reduce teams in the domestic circuit by up to 30% in the name of quality. One of the board’s aims will be to make regions financially self sufficient and run without PCB funding. Presently, the PCB spends over PKR 600 million per year on domestic cricket. There are currently 16 teams on the domestic circuit playing in the Quaid e Azam trophy, with eight regional and eight department teams.Wasim is also expected to work on an exchange or initiative system to help Pakistan players develop their game by representing county and state teams as overseas players. He may also be expected to reduce the headcount at the PCB – some estimates suggest they currently employ in the region of 900 people across the country (albeit, the vast majority of these will be contract-based jobs in stadiums the PCB owns across the country, with a much smaller list of permanent staff employed at headquarters in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).Inevitably, he will also be charged with bringing regular international cricket back to Pakistan. While that will not be easy he will hope his excellent relationship with ECB officials will help to that end. As a long-time supporter of the PCA (the Professional Cricketer’s’ Association; the players’ union in England and Wales) he may also look to introduce a players’ union for Pakistan cricketers. Given how often that has been attempted – without success – and the often disputatious nature of players with the board, this will be no mean feat either.Ultimately, whoever gets the role – and Wasim is a clear favourite at this stage – it seems it may be changed to a CEO position once the PCB Board pass constitutional changes to Mani’s role, which has him currently as chairman and CEO.

Jason Holder, West Indies’ captain, has challenged his players to “look themselves in the mirror” and find a way to fight back into the series after crushing defeat at Edgbaston

Andrew Miller at Edgbaston19-Aug-2017Jason Holder, West Indies’ captain, has challenged his players to “look themselves in the mirror” and find a way to fight back into the series, after being dealt a humiliating innings-and-209-run defeat in the first Investec Test at Edgbaston.West Indies lost 19 wickets in a single day, six of them in the final session under the floodlights, to lose a historic pink-ball contest inside three days, and now they face a massive challenge to recover their poise ahead of Friday’s second Test at Headingley.”It’s obviously very disappointing, we didn’t show enough fight,” Holder said after the match. “We were totally outplayed.”We’ve got to just believe, we have a few days off now, we have to use them wisely. We’ll sit and talk, and formulate some plans about how we are going to go, but it’s not impossible [to come back]. It’s just one game, the series is not lost, we have believe, regroup, and come back strongly.”Holder’s troubles, however, extend across every facet of West Indies’ game. Neither of their innings totals (168 and 137) came close to matching the individual contribution of England’s top-scorer, Alastair Cook (243), while Stuart Broad’s feat of overtaking Ian Botham’s Test wickets tally of 383 underlined the yawning gulf in experience between England and their opponents.”There’s inexperience in the side but we have to be professional and get over that,” said Holder. “I thought we were in the game for a session, but Cook and [Joe] Root put on a really good partnership and we were struggling in the end. We’re a young side with nothing to lose, we just have to believe and come back strongly.”The early finish to the Test does at least give West Indies the best part of a week to get over such a bruising defeat, but while Holder said that the coaching staff would do their best to formulate some plans to stage a comeback, it was up to the individual players to raise their games.”We can’t dwell on it, we have to critique each performance of each player, and look at ways we can move forward. But each player has to look himself in the mirror and see where they can improve.”West Indies lost 19 wickets on a day of abject batting at Edgbaston•Getty Images

Holder, whose own performance was well below the spirited standards that he has so far set in his Test career, singled out the efforts of Jermaine Blackwood and Kemar Roach for particular praise. Blackwood, who made a century against England in their last Test series in the Caribbean in 2015, top-scored with 79 not out in the first innings, having been recalled to the team for the first time since last year’s tour of the UAE.And Roach, whose first-morning extraction of Mark Stoneman was as good a delivery as was bowled all match, fought a lone battle to lift the standards of a seam attack that could yet be reinforced by a recall for Shannon Gabriel at Headingley next week.”I was really appreciative of the way Blackwood played,” Holder said. “He was his normal self after coming back into Test cricket. I want to keep encouraging him to be selective but play his natural game. And I thought Kemar Roach toiled and bowled well, he gave a tremendous effort every time I called on him.””Not an easy job but it’s not impossible,” he said of captaining West Indies. “We’ve got to stay in the game and stay in the fight. Only a couple of Tests ago, England were beaten by South Africa, and we’ve competed really well in the last few Tests we’ve played. We beat Pakistan [at Sharjah in 2016], and they beat England here last year. So it’s important for us to stay with it, and come back strongly.”

The four-person independent panel assigned to review South Africa’s national teams performance last season has disbanded without completing its work

Firdose Moonda01-Jun-2016The four-person independent panel assigned to review South Africa’s national teams performance last season has disbanded without completing its work. Sports physiologist Ross Tucker, who was on the panel, confirmed the news to ESPNcricinfo, although he declined further comment until the message had been communicated to CSA’s board. Tucker and his fellow panelists informed CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat of their decision last week.The investigation, which was due to be headed by CSA’s head of HR, Dawn Mokhobo, and also included former Test cricketer Adam Bacher and World Cup winning Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, was announced in the aftermath of South Africa’s men and women exiting the World T20 after the first round. It was to include an examination of the men’s team’s poor Test summer, in which they lost back-to-back series to India and England and the national Under-19 side, who failed to defend their World Cup title. The job of Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, was expected to come under particular scrutiny.The panel held preliminary meetings at the end of April and discussed the scope and the process of their review, which included identifying timeframes and cost. On Twitter, in conversation with another user, Tucker confirmed that they, “Couldn’t agree terms, times and scope/process, so it didn’t begin. Pity.”With CSA yet to announce the cessation of the review process, it is uncertain what steps it will take to conduct an analysis of the past summer. An option would be to ask the 14-person panel that is conducting a review into domestic cricket to include the national teams in its scope as well. The findings of the domestic review are set to be revealed in the next two months, with CSA also due to hold its AGM over the winter.The cancellation of the review process means that Domingo may feel he can breathe a little easier but only just. With his contract expiring at the end of April next year and a Champions Trophy looming, he is still under pressure to prove he can turn the team’s fortunes around to stop CSA from starting to search for his replacement.

Michael Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler, has backed the chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd’s logic of jettisoning Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the Australia series

ESPNcricinfo staff28-May-20153:08

Michael Holding supports Clive Lloyd’s move of omitting Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Michael Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler, has backed the chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd’s logic of jettisoning Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the Australia series. Holding said that Chanderpaul, who has managed 183 runs in his last 11 innings at 16.64, was no longer good enough to be picked for West Indies.”I don’t believe that cricketers should just get a series for getting a series sake. I don’t think Shivnarine Chanderpaul has proven in recent times that he is still a good enough player to be playing for West Indies,” Holding told ESPNcricinfo. “He has done yeoman service for over two decades. West Indies should be happy to have had him playing for them for that long. All good things have to come to an end.”I saw him play against South Africa recently and he certainly did not look like the Shivnarine Chanderpaul that I was accustomed to seeing. He was a little bit slow with his reactions to the fast bowlers and we know what Australia are going to be bringing.”Holding also echoed Lloyd’s sentiment of making way for youth though it would take time to fill the Chanderpaul-sized void.”Chanderpaul has to make way for someone younger. The person that comes in obviously is not going to fill Chanderpaul’s shoes immediately. He has done so much good work for West Indies. But it is time for someone younger than him who can grow into those shoes.”While Chanderpaul’s former team-mate, Brian Lara, criticised the ‘despicable’ treatment meted out to Chanderpaul and called for a farewell series akin to the one arranged by the BCCI for Sachin Tendulkar, Holding said that he had “no problems” with the way the WICB had dealt with the issue. Chanderpaul is just 86 short of equalling Lara’s record of being the highest West Indian run-scorer in Tests.”From what I have heard I don’t think anybody can complain. From what I heard they called him, had a meeting with him. They told him exactly what they would like to do and I have no problems with that,” Holding said.”I don’t think Chanderpaul is ever going to be one to say, ‘listen, my time has come and I have to move on’. So they have done the right thing.”When asked about the legacy left behind by Chanderpaul, Holding said: “Chanderpaul’s legacy will be someone who went and played for West Indies and gave his all for a very long time. To show everyone that if you can go out and work hard, if you have deficiencies in technique and you work hard enough, you can produce the goods.”

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.

On a night of mediocre cricket, Mumbai Indians kept their surprise run going to win the biggest prize, in financial terms, in non-international cricket

The Report by Sidharth Monga09-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outHarbhajan Singh took 3 for 20, including the wickets of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli•Associated Press

On a night of mediocre cricket, the Mumbai Indians kept their surprise run going to win the biggest prize, in financial terms, in non-international cricket. James Franklin was the only man to keep his head in a suicidal Mumbai innings, which helped them reach 139, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore once again choked in a final to lose despite a start of 38 for 0 in four overs. For the vanquished this was a painful repeat of their IPL final in Johannesburg where they froze while chasing 144. The victors, though, can claim they once again won the big moments: through Franklin’s sober innings, through Lasith Malinga’s two sixes amid a collapse, through an extra over given to Malinga that produced a wicket and through their spinners’ seven overs for 29 runs and five wicketsBe that as it may, for a majority of the match the teams seemed to be in a contest for ordinary cricket. There were three run-outs, there were unsavoury slogs resulting in exposed stumps, the winning side bowled 10 out of a total of 13 wides, and MI’s’ keeper kept letting through byes. If Franklin’s smart 41 off 29 suggested he was the only sober man in a Paris Hilton party, the Royal Challengers clearly outdid their opponents for rashness. Yes the pitch was slow and it took turn, but not enough to justify the bizarre and spectacular collapse, which featured minimal attempts to take singles with the asking-rate around seven.MI didn’t even know there was turn in the pitch for them. As Dilshan hit the ground running in the chase, they made a necessary departure from their usual ways of bowling Malinga for only two overs at the top. Dilshan’s 27 until then had come off shots either through the line or through the covers, and he would have known how desperately MI would have wanted a wicket off what then seemed like a last roll of the dice. As it turned out, he swung across the line of a full first delivery, losing his off stump.Kumar Dharmasena then made a potentially match-turning call. He had already got two lbw calls wrong in MI’s innings, first reprieving Harbhajan Singh when he was plumb, then ruling him out when he wasn’t. But his most consequential mistake was during the chase and again involved Harbhajan, who fired in quick offbreaks in his first over. The last ball of the over, in which he had conceded just a wide, was tossed up, and Chris Gayle got a big stride in. The offbreak didn’t turn as much as expected, hit him in front of off, and he was ruled out. The ball had a massive distance to travel, and the ball-tracking predicted it would have hit the outside of off stump. Conventional wisdom would have ruled it in the batsman’s favour, and even Gayle lost his cool when he saw the finger come up.With an unreliable batting order, pampered by the true Bangalore surface and short boundaries, to follow, it was down to the only survivor of the Royal Challengers’ 2009 choke, Virat Kohli, to shepherd the rest through. However, he found himself batting with a trigger-happy Mayank Agarwal, who despite all his attempts at power hitting managed 14 off 19 before holing out to long-off. Even when the desperate Agarwal got out, the Royal Challengers needed a manageable 73 off 57.Kohli felt the pinch too. Perhaps it was the presence of Malinga in the end, perhaps it was just the shock of having to work hard for runs after the flat Bangalore pitch, but even he didn’t show the willingness to take the game to the deep end. In the next over he holed out to deep midwicket. Everybody knew it was game over there and then.The rest were just a blurry procession of catching and stumping practice, a complete contrast to how Franklin managed a strike-rate of close to 150 without a shot hit in anger. There was no dearth of madness around him either. Sarul Kanwar first ran Aiden Bliazzard out before slogging around a full delivery. Ambati Rayudu struggled to find singles in the middle, and a positive 40-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav ended with a run-out.Franklin ensured the trend continued, hesitating during a second run to complete the third run-out. Kieron Pollard’s massive leading edge travelled as far as long-off, and MI were in a tailspin after looking good for a repeat of their 160 from the semi-final. Although it didn’t look enough at the moment, Malinga’s two sixes in the end turned out to be surplus.Both teams were fined for slow over-rates. Harbhajan, the MI captain, was fined US$3,000 and each MI player $1,500 for being two overs behind the required over-rate. The Royal Challengers players were fined $750 and their captain Vettori $1,500 for being one over behind the required rate.

Brad Hodge rushed to his second hundred in consecutive matches as he guided a difficult Victorian chase to beat Queensland

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2010Victoria 8 for 239 (Hodge 140*) beat Queensland 8 for 238 (Philipson 53*, Lynn 50, Nannes 4-44) by 2 wickets

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Chris Lynn is bowled for 50 by Mark Cleary as Queensland fell short•Getty Images

Brad Hodge rushed to his second hundred in consecutive matches as he guided a difficult Victorian chase to beat Queensland on a cold night at the Gabba. Chasing the Bulls’ 8 for 238, Hodge opened and stayed until the end as he carried his men to victory with five balls and two wickets to spare.Hodge, who blasted 134 against Western Australia last week, launched two late sixes and 28 from his last eight balls, taking him to a career-best 140 off 121 deliveries. The Bushrangers were 18 behind at the 20-over break and Hodge, who resumed on 54, took a while to warm-up as he dealt with a series of setbacks.Hodge collected four boundaries from a Chris Swan over to lift the pace and stayed cool to cover for the exits of Andrew McDonald (26) and Matthew Wade (21), who was caught behind slashing to the debutant Cameron Gannon. Ryan Carters (0) gave Swan his third but Michael Hill and Mark Cleary made useful contributions to support Hodge.Craig Philipson provided an important late burst for Queensland with an unbeaten 53 off 54 after the Bulls had struggled for momentum during their second innings. Lee Carseldine and Chris Lynn were cruising along as the hosts were 2 for 114 after 20 overs, but they found it hard to regain their rhythm on their return.Carseldine fell for 38 and Lynn pushed on to 50 before being bowled by Cleary. Dirk Nannes did the most damage for the visitors with 4 for 44 off 12 overs in his first domestic game of the season.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed IFM, a sports marketing company, to investigate the poor attendances at the matches against England.

Cricinfo staff23-Nov-2009Cricket South Africa (CSA) has appointed IFM, a sports marketing company, to investigate the poor attendances at the early matches against England. The first Twenty20, played on a Friday evening at the Wanderers attracted only 16,600 fans, in a 34,000-capacity stadium, while under 8000 showed up for the second at Centurion on a Sunday.The glut of international fixtures has been a contentious issue recently, with concern that the overloaded calendar is forcing supporters to pick and choose between events. South Africa is a prime example, having already hosted last season’s IPL, the Champions Trophy, rugby union’s Lions tour and football’s Confederations Cup during 2009, while they will host the football World Cup in June and July next year.Locals might simply have reached sporting saturation and want to save their cash for major events. With these growing concerns, Gerald Majola, the CSA chief executive, is urging fans to get in touch and help administrators understand why supporters are staying at home.”We like hearing from the fans. The last fan survey we ran provided some interesting insights, some of which we have already followed up on,” he said. “People asked for more information so we launched our Facebook and Twitter platforms which have been extremely popular and has dramatically improved our interactions with fans.”Falling crowd numbers for one-day fixtures, which traditionally have been well attended, doesn’t bode well for the upcoming Test series which have often been a harder sell. South Africa hosted Australia last year to contest the top spot in Tests but the games took place in front of almost empty stands.Marc Jury, the managing director of IFM, the company commissioned to study the trend, believes the problem could lie with cricket being designed to favour TV audiences over live ones.”Through our research across different sporting codes we have always encountered the response that the ‘energy and atmosphere’ of live sporting events is a critical element in drawing supporters to the ground,” he said”Something that is evident is the live experience has not kept pace with the ease and comfort of the ‘TV product’ and thus people often choose to watch from their living rooms instead of Row F. Too often rights holders make decisions based on gut-feel and not by listening to what their fans want.”