All posts by csb10.top

Sussex CCC are pleased to announce that they have signed Mushtaq Ahmed, 32, as their second overseas player for the 2003 season.Mushtaq Ahmed played for Surrey this season as Saqlain Mushtaq’s replacement and was previously playing for Little Stoke CC in Manchester. Ahmed has played 50 Test matches and 143 One Day Internationals. He is a leg spin bowler and was named Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1997.Commenting on the signing, Peter Moores, Cricket Manager, said: “It is fantastic news that Mushtaq Ahmed has agreed to come to Sussex with depth of international experience and knowledge of bowling in all conditions. Mushtaq will contribute an added variation to our attack and crucially will help to open sides up on flat wickets which has sometimes been a problem in the past. His commitment to come back and prove he is still one of the world’s top flight spinners came across loud and clear and a hungry man with talent is one to watch.”Nigel Russell, Chief Executive added: “Mushtaq’s signing considerably widens our bowling options, an area which has been occasionally inhibited in the past and will allow us to challenge vigorously for the Championship in the future. We are looking forward to welcoming him to Hove.”

Southern Sui Gas Company (SSGC) qualified to set up a quarterfinal clash with Baqai Dolphins after scoring a narrow 10-run victory over A.J. Worldwide in the 8th Tapal Trophy Ramazan Cricket Festival at UBL Sports Complex here Monday.SSGC owed their win to Saad Umar, who hit 75 off 52 balls with six sixes and two fours and then claimed two crucial wickets for 11 runs.Batting first, SSGC made 201 for five in their 25 overs, mainly because of a fine opening stand of 107 between Man-of-the-Match Saad and Ashraf Ali (54 off 46 balls, four sixes and two fours).A.J. Worldwide, in reply, were all out for 191 in 24.5 overs. Opener Khurram Manzoor struck a whirlwind 57 off 36 deliveries. His knock was laced with seven fours and a brace of sixes.Rashid Hanif, the slow left-armer, captured three for 34.Tuesday’s final league game between A.O. CC and Customs Academy will complete the quarterfinal line-ups. A straight win for Customs will pit them against Tapal CC in the first quarterfinal Wednesday.In case A.O. CC win, then net run-rate will decide the qualifiers from Group ‘C’ because three teams, including KBCA, will have the same number of points.In other quarterfinals, Group ‘C’ winners Dewan Sugar Mills take on Group ‘A’ runners-up Shalimar CC on Thursday, Group ‘B’ champions KESC meet DHA, the Group ‘D’ runners-up, on Friday while Group ‘D’ leaders Baqai Dolphins clash against runners-up of Group ‘B’ SSGC on Saturday.Summarised scores:SSGC 201-5 in 25 overs (Saad Umar 75, Ashraf Ali 54, Irfanullah 20, Rashid Hanif 20; Akbar Rehman 2-30);A.J. WORLDWIDE 191 in 24.5 overs (Khurram Manzoor 57, Fahim Ahmed 35, Atif Raza 26; Rashid Hanif 3-34, Saad Umar 2-11, Saeed Asif 2-28)Tuesday’s fixture: Customs Academy v A.O. CC at 1.00pm

A 100-year-old tradition will be revived next week when the Army takes on the Royal Navy in their centenary fixture at Lord’s on July 29.The first fixture between the two services took place at Lord’s in 1908, and in honour of the centenary the MCC has invited the teams back for a one-off match, starting at 11am and expected to finish at around 6.30pm.Tickets for the game will be £10 for adults and £5 for children and are available from the Secretaries of the Royal Navy Cricket Club, Army Cricket Association or on the gate.The day’s entertainment will include a military band as well as a visit from the Red Devils parachute display team, and a collection will be made during the day for the Help for Heroes charity.

Cheltenham and Gloucester Man of the Match hero Keith Parsons has been named as captain for the 3-day match against West Indies A that starts at Taunton on Wednesday.Taunton born Parsons said: "It is a real honour to have the chance to captain Somerset in a first class game. I always enjoy being captain, and I led Somerset Seconds in the final of the 1 Day Trophy competition last season, but this is something special."The 29 year old all rounder has enjoyed considerable success against the tourists at Taunton. He has scored a century against Sri Lanka, and in 2000 hit a career best 193 not out against the West Indies.Parsons leads a young Somerset side that includes three players making their first class debut, left handed opening batsman Neil Edwards and all rounders Arul Suppiah and Wes Durston.The full Somerset line up will be: Neil Edwards, Matthew Wood, Piran Holloway, Keith Parsons, Arul Suppiah, Keith Dutch, Wes Durston, Carl Gazzard, Graham Rose Peter Trego and Matt Bulbeck.Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me: "We are hoping for a big crowd to come along and support this match against West Indies A. They are an attractive side and have enjoyed some good results on this tour, and of course they are managed by former Somerset favourite Joel Garner, who will be here with the side."Play in the 3 day match starts at 11 am on Wednesday. Entry is free to members, £10 for adults, and free for youngsters up to the age of sixteen.

Gary Kirsten, the man the South Africans like to call "The Banker", has been dropped from the South African squad for the last three Standard Bank one-day internationals against Australia.The 34-year-old Kirsten, virtually an ever-present in both the South African Test and one-day teams since his debut during the 1993/94 tour of Australia, and Andrew Hall have both been omitted from South Africa’s 14-man squad with fast bowler Nantie Hayward returning and KwaZulu-Natal allrounder Jon Kent winning his first call-up.Kirsten is a veteran of 174 one-day internationals and is South Africa’s leading run-scorer with 6 440 runs. In three matches in this series, however, he has totalled only 26. Even, he has fared little worse than Herschelle Gibbs, who was left out for Saturday’s match, but who, significantly, is six years younger than Kirsten.South Africa are 3-0 down in the seven-match series with three games still to play and there is still no clear idea of how the hosts can break the psychological stranglehold imposed on them by Australia."The sooner they (Australia) get the hell out of here the better," said South African selector Graeme Pollock, dryly but honestly, at the announcement of the squad.Speaking in the absence of selection convener Rushdi Magiet, who was in Cape Town, Pollock said he believed the bulk of this squad would form the core of South Africa’s World Cup party next year."We’ve had a chat with Gary Kirsten and there’s no question that he’s out of the reckoning for the World Cup," said Pollock while similar sentiments were expressed by his nephew, South African captain Shaun Pollock."By his own admission he’s not playing as well as he’d like to," said Pollock Junior.Pollock Senior said he thought South Africa had the nucleus of a very good World Cup squad, "but we’d like to see them playing relaxed cricket.He said that Hayward had been recalled after injury to add some much needed pace to a South African attack which he referred to generally as being "military medium"."You’ve got to have something different," he said. "And we hope that Nantie will provide that."The situation surrounding Allan Donald, however, remains unclear. Donald broke down during the first Test match and announced his retirement from Test cricket. He believes, however, that he has recovered sufficiently to play one-day cricket, but has had no contact with the South African selection convener.Graeme Pollock was asked about Donald’s availability but was unable to provide any clarity."I don’t know about that," said Pollock. "You’ll have to get hold of the convener."Lance Klusener missed Saturday’s match in Bloemfontein with a hamstring strain and may not be fit to play in the fifth game in Durban on Wednesday.The squad is: Shaun Pollock (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Jonty Rhodes, Mark Boucher, Boeta Dippenaar, Nicky Boje, Jon Kent, Lance Klusener, Nantie Hayward, Makhaya Ntini, Roger Telemachus.

An explosive century by captain Ronnie Irani swept Essex to a six-wicket victory over Derbyshire at Chelmsford to catapult them up the Division Two table in the Frizzell County Championship. Set 190 to win after a spirited effort by Derbyshire in their second innings, Essex were in trouble at 26 for three until Irani struck 101 from 76 balls with 12 fours and three sixes as his side scored at nearly six an over to claim their tenth victory in 12 competitive matches this season.Derbyshire resumed on 73 for five on the final day and had added only ten runs to the total when Jason Kerr was bowled by John Stephenson. However, that was when Karl Krikken joined Kevin Dean and the pair frustrated further Essex attempts to break through while adding 67 for the seventh wicket.It was only when Dean was out for 48 shortly after lunch that Essex saw a chance of victory in a match severely restricted by rain. Even then, Krikken went on to make 48 before he was last out, setting the target in a minimum of 34 overs, providing the rain did not return.Darren Robinson hit four fours before he was out with the score on 16, Graham Napier was run out after facing three balls with the total on 26, and John Stephenson fell before the total had moved on. That was when Irani joined Andy Flower to put on 155 for the fourth wicket. Flower was on 55 not out when the winning runs were hit with one over to spare.

Hampshire Young Cricketers are vying with Middlesex for the Seven Counties Under-16 Championship title.The pair go into their final matches with Middlesex leading the table by eight points.But if the Crusaders slip up against Surrey at NPL Lensbury on August 27, Hampshire could snatch the title from their grasp – provided they beat Sussex in their final match at Burridge, starting on Monday.Hampshire boosted their prospects with a first innings win over Kent at Tunbridge Wells, where Basingstoke’s Mitchell Stokes grabbed 4-30 in 25 overs of off-spin.New Milton’s Neil Summerson (2-23), Rob Snell, Ricky Rawlins and Rob Palmer joined in the wicket taking as Kent were dismissed for 202.Alex Richardson (36) and Steve Williams (21) gave Hampshire a solid start but, after the team had slipped to 129-6, Tom Cledwyn (36) and Andover’s Rob Palmer (37) shouldered added responsibility.The game was back in the balance when both batsmen departed at 186, but Summerson (18) kept his cool to ease Hampshire to 234 all out – and a precious win.

An extraordinary day which saw both sides threaten to win the third Test butultimately ended with a draw as the Kensington Oval again threw up a realnail-biter. By stumps it was the South Africans applying almost unbearablepressure with Mervyn Dillon and Dinanath Ramnarine defending tigerishly, andplay-acting even more determinedly.By a farcical close, South Africa were just three wickets short ofpulling off the most unlikely of victories, but Dillon’s bat in particularhas been a defensive barn door already in this series and as the SouthAfricans encircled him with fielders, he blocked everything which came hisway.Ramnarine, meanwhile,did his best to frustrate the South Africans with aclassic display of time-wasting, taking studious care to tap downnon-existent bumps in the pitch and then calling the physio out with somestrapping for a hamstring injury which had suddenly appeared from nowhere.Umpire Steve Bucknor eventually had enough of his antics and issued him withan official warning.In one of those wonderful cricketing ironies, the substantial crowd endedthe day cheering every ball the tail-enders survived as loud as any boundaryfrom Brian Lara or Carl Hooper on Saturday.It was probably a fair conclusion to a hard-fought Test match, duringwhich the tourists almost always held the upper hand but never quite forcedhome their superiority. It also leaves the series well balanced, as thesides go into the fourth Test in Antigua which starts on Friday with SouthAfrica still holding a 1-0 lead.Chasing an improbable 265 to win off 36 overs, the West Indies looked tobe doing all that was required to see the game out safely. Wavell Hinds (8)nudged and nurdled while Chris Gayle (48) hammered the ball to all parts inhis now familiar cavalier style.Even when Hinds fell to Nicky Boje, there did not appear to be too muchcause for concern, the left-hander not quite getting to the pitch as hedrove at the left-arm spinner and edging a simple chance to Daryll Cullinanat first slip.Marlon Samuels fell to the same combination for three, but Gayle wasstill blowing extremely hot. Having taken 14 off the first over after teabowled by Shaun Pollock, he continued to go on the attack, eventually undoneby his own belligerence as he edged a big drive at Kallis to Mark Boucher.When Ramnaresh Sarwan (0) shouldered arms to a delivery from JacquesKallis which clipped off-stump, the West Indies were 64-4 and one sensedthat for the first time the South Africans believed they could win thematch.CaptainHooper (5) edged a perfect Boje delivery to Boucher, RidleyJacobs (1) was snapped up at silly point by McKenzie off the same bowler andBrian Lara missed a big inswinger from Lance Klusener to be bowled foreight, scored off 58 balls. At 82-7 it was time for the heroics andtheatrics of Dillon and Ramnarine.The South African declaration came shortly before Cullinan fell 18 runsshy of what would have been his second century in the match, his third inthe series and one that would have extended his South African record forTest hundreds to 15. Cullinan was very well caught by Brian Lara at firstslip as he got a bottom edge to a heave across the line at Ramnarine.It was Cullinan’s stand of 70 for the seventh wicket with Pollock (40)which took South Africa from a position of considerable danger (97-6) to apoint where they had made the match safe.Pollock fell for 40, driving at an away-swinger from Courtney Walsh, theedge flying to Hooper at second slip. Pollock struck six boundaries ina cameo performance of counter-attacking cricket.Ramanarine picked up the wickets of Cullinan and then Allan Donald,batting with a runner, in consecutive deliveries. How annoyed theleg-spinner would have been to see South Africa declare as he stood on ahat-trick with Makhaya Ntini as opposition is anyone’s guess. Consolationwas career-best figures of 5-78.After the first three overs of the day were blocked away for maidens,overnight batsmen Cullinan and Kallis went on the attack, Cullinan loftingHooper for six onto the Kensington stand roof and then over mid-on for fourin the same over.But the first hour was to belong to the West Indies and just as Kallislooked to be settling, he edged a bat-pad chance off Hooper straight toSarwan at short-leg and was gone for 20, made off 88 balls with three fours.Klusener has had a dreadful tour with the bat and his miserable runcontinued as he scratched around for 17 balls before driving Ramnarinestraight to Cameron Cuffy at mid-off to depart for just four.Strangely, Klusener stood his ground waiting for a decision from umpireDarryl Hair, presumably in the belief that it had been a bump ball. But anod of the head from Hair was enough, and television replays showed quiteplainly that Klusener could have no complaints.The Kensington Oval will not go down as Boucher’s favourite groundeither. After making just three in the first innings, the ‘keeper failed toget off the mark this time as a perfect leg-spinner from Ramnarine took theoutside edge and was very well taken by Ridley Jacobs behind the stumps.

In October 1952, India were Pakistan’s first Test opponents. In October 1992, exactly forty years later, India became Zimbabwe’s first Test opponents. It was India’s signal honour to engage Zimbabwe in their maiden Test but unlike most of the other countries who crumbled under pressure and succumbed meekly, Zimbabwe came out with flying colours. In fact, they had India in trouble and it was with some effort that the visitors, on paper much the stronger team, wriggled out.It was a short tour consisting only of a practice one day game, the Test match and a One Day International (which India won by 30 runs), with all matches being played at Harare. The trip was a prelude to the path breaking maiden Indian tour of South Africa, but Zimbabwe provided the visiting team with a tough preparation.Ten of the Zimbabweans were playing their first Test, the exception being John Traicos who had played three Tests for South Africa in 1970, that country’s last series before their excommunication from international cricket. Traicos was making his debut now for Zimbabwe at 45 but he was still a skilful off spinner. He was the 14th player to have played for two different countries and indeed he created a world record in the longest interval between two appearances in Test history. Since his last appearance for South Africa against Australia at Port Elizabeth on March 10, 1970, Traicos was playing a Test againafter 22 years and 222 days.Batting first, Zimbabwe exceeded all expectations by batting more than two days in scoring 456 runs in their first innings, easily the highest score by a country on their Test debut. Skipper Dave Houghton emulated the feat of Australia’s Charles Bannerman in the first ever Test match in 1877 by scoring a century for a country playing their first Test match. Openers Kevin Arnott (40) and Grant Flower (82) put on exactly 100 runs. Valuable knocks followed from Alistair Campbell (45) and Andy Pycroft (39). And then came along Houghton to defy the Indian attack for almost seven hours in scoring 121. With wicketkeeperAndy Flower (59) he added 165 runs for the sixth wicket to prolong India’s agony. The Indians recovered some ground late in the innings when they captured the last five wickets for 39 runs but Houghton (414 minutes, 322 balls, 15 fours) had given Zimababwe a most encouraging start in Test cricket. The Indian bowling line up had it tough and Manoj Prabhakar, Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble took three wickets each but only after sending down 45, 39 and 35.2 overs respectively.Having been at the receiving end on the bowling front, the Indian batsmen now found themselves getting the rough end of the stick. Despite a strokefilled 43 by opener Woorkheri Raman, the Indians were in deep trouble on the morning of the fourth day having lost five wickets for 101 runs. It took the technical brilliance of Sanjay Manjrekar and the natural aggressive instincts of Kapil Dev to turn the innings around. The two added 96 runs for the sixth wicket before the all rounder was out for 60. But when the seventh wicket fell at219, India still required 38 runs to avoid the follow on. Manjrekar and Kiran More (41) saved India from this embarrassment by figuring in a partnership of 68 runs. No praise can be too high for Manjrekar who soldiered along for 529 minutes in scoring 104 before he was finally dismissed on the final morning. His hundred, which came up after 508 minutes, was the slowest by an Indian, but what a timely knock it proved to be! When he was dismissed, he had negotiated 422 balls and hit seven fours. The Indian innings finally terminated at 307. Traicos brought all his experience into play by bagging five for 86 off 50overs. In the remaining time, Zimbabwe scored 146 for four in their second innings and the Test ended in a quiet draw with Zimbabwe having the better of the honours.The game will also be remembered as the first Test to have three appointed umpires. A new sponsorship deal saw Dickie Bird fly out from England to stand in his 48th Test to equal the world record set by perhaps the most famous of all umpires Frank Chester. Bird stood throughout and the two Zimbabwean umpires K Kanjee and ID Robinson did duty on alternate days.Six years later, India paid another short visit to Zimbabwe. This time the tour consisted of three ODIs, a three day game and a Test match. And while the Indians were strong enough to win the ODI series 2-1 and take the three day game by an innings and 71 runs, they found Zimbabwe a different kettle of fish in the Test match and lost by 61 runs. Even granting the fact that Zimbabwe were an improved side since the Indians’ last visit, it was a surprise result.Put in to bat, Zimbabwe scored 221 with opener Gavin Rennie top scoring with 47. Srinath and Kumble took three wickets each. India, with Rahul Dravid getting 118, replied with 280. Henry Olonga finished with five for 70. The home team did better the second time around getting 293, building upon a first wicket stand of 138 runs between Rennie (84) and Craig Wishart (63). Kumble was the most successful bowler with four for 87 as Zimbabwe collapsed from 209 for one. With a target of 235 on a true wicket, India did seem to have things undercontrol. But undue haste by the batsmen in going for their strokes led to their downfall. Dravid top scored for a second time with 44 and Sourav Ganguly came up with 36. But this was not enough as the Indians were bowled out for 173 to give Zimbabwe only their second win in 31 Tests.

Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistan left-arm fast bowler, is set to join the national squad in New Zealand after the PCB re-evaluated his fitness. Tanvir had been removed from the original squad due to a chronic knee injury and replaced with top-order batsman Asad Shafiq, but after consulting with the Australian doctor who operated on Tanvir, a team of doctors, physios and coaches have cleared him to play.Tanvir will be available for the third Twenty20 international in Christchurch on December 30. Tanvir had undergone surgery on his left knee in March and the doctor who performed the operation told the PCB’s fitness team that it would take 18 months to two years for the graft in his knee to completely settle. The team felt that playing regularly would help the process.The team told the selection committee and Pakistan team management Tanvir could bowl and bat, but needs to avoid fielding in areas where he would have to bend quickly. Tanvir had complained of stiffness in his lower back and legs during Pakistan’s training camp in Lahore ahead of the New Zealand tour.Tanvir, 26, burst onto the international scene during the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, surprising batsmen with his awkward wrong-footed delivery, but has struggled with injuries over the past couple of years. He suffered a back injury after the World Twenty20 in 2009, and was ruled out for four months after his knee surgery this year. He has not played an international match for Pakistan since November 2009.He earned a recall to the national squad after impressing for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s domestic competition, in which he has taken 33 wickets in five matches so far this season.