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Pakistan fought hard with ball but Mohammad Nabi steered the chase with an unbeaten 38

Danyal Rasool24-Mar-2023Eleven years on from when these two sides first played each other, Afghanistan secured the win they have arguably wanted more than any other, sweeping Pakistan aside by six wickets in the first T20I in Sharjah. In a clinical performance, where the hosts were the better side from start to finish, they sealed the win in style. The returning Mohammad Nabi was the hero with the bat, a walloped six over mid-off off Ihsanullah capping a brilliant performance with both bat and ball.Pakistan had chosen to bat first after winning the toss, but Afghanistan immediately established their dominance, keeping the young Pakistan batting order on a leash. On a surface where batting was exceptionally challenging, Pakistan crumbled in the face of a disciplined Afghanistan bowling, frittering away wickets at regular intervals, struggling to transfer any pressure onto the hosts. No Pakistan batter managed to reach 20 as the innings limped along, the 92 for 9 that Pakistan ended with their fifth-lowest T20I total.Afghanistan’s chase made obvious the challenges of batting on this surface, and Pakistan’s pace bowlers made hay with the ball. Ihsanullah was particularly exceptional on debut, taking two wickets in his first three balls as Afghanistan lost three quick wickets, and a resurgent Pakistan threatened to run through their line-up. But in a game where experience mattered more than flamboyance, Nabi came out to calm Afghan nerves, his unbeaten run-a-ball 38 and an assured partnership with Najibullah Zadran shutting the door in Pakistan’s faces.

Afghanistan rein in Pakistan’s top order

Pakistan’s openers, Saim Ayub and Mohammad Haris, were flying high after a brilliant PSL campaign, but any thoughts of taking the attack to Afghanistan’s bowlers were soon dispelled. On a surface unlike any they faced in the PSL, Haris and Ayub struggled to get bat on ball. Early prodigious swing from Fazalhaq Farooqi set the tone, and as the bowlers preyed on the young openers’ frustrations, they were soon rewarded. Haris tried to hoick a short ball in front of square on the leg side, only to slash it in the air over point, with Azmatullah Omarzai running back and taking the catch over his shoulder.In the following over, Omarzai trapped Abdullah Shafique lbw, and before the powerplay was over, Ayub fell, too. He was attempting a no-look lap over fine leg, his rendition of that shot was one of the moments of the PSL. On a surface where the ball didn’t quite come onto the bat the same way, he only deflected it onto his stumps.Abdullah Shafique took an excellent catch to dismiss Rahmanullah Gurbaz•Afghanistan Cricket Board

Spin takes over

After being reduced to 39 for 3, there was no respite for Pakistan’s batters. Rashid Khan stepped up to the bowling crease as soon as the powerplay ended. It took him one ball to remove the one Pakistan batter who had demonstrated any sort of competence, utterly deceiving Tayyab Tahir in the flight, ending a breezy nine-ball 16. On a surface where the ball appeared to be stopping in the pitch, Azam Khan was similarly clueless, lobbing Mujeeb Ur Rahman to short midwicket for a two-ball duck.There were only six balls of pace between the seventh and the 17th over, and in those 11 overs, Pakistan went from shaky to shell-shocked. Reduced to 80 for 8 by this time, there was to be no coming back.

Ihsanullah’s mini-revival

Ihsanullah shouldn’t have had the pressure of defending such a low total in his first international game, but he more than gave it a go. His first international ball grew big on Ibrahim Zadran, rushing the batter with an extra yard of pace, forcing him to splice one up into the air. It was more of the same two balls later as Gulbadin Naib perished in the same way, and a revived Pakistan suddenly smelled blood.Naseem Shah struck to get rid of the biggest dangerman Rahmanullah Gurbaz the following over, thanks to a sensational grab at short midwicket from Shafique. The wheels had almost come off the Afghanistan innings when a miserly Imad Wasim cleaned up Karim Jannat with a dart into middle stump. At this point, it appeared Pakistan would subject Afghanistan to yet another heartache.

The Nabi-Najibullah partnership

It has been apparent for some time that Nabi’s star has been on the wane, but having been recalled to the side, there was scarcely a better man for Afghanistan to have in the middle. A man whose career has straddled pretty much Afghanistan cricket’s entire history, his wizened, grey experience was the perfect antidote to the nerves and paranoia that would have surrounded his side. Content to see off Imad, he took the emotions out of the contest as he whittled the target down with Najibullah. Aware the required rate was never going to be a problem, the dot balls didn’t pile on the pressure, and the occasional boundary only increased Pakistan’s desperation.In that search for wickets, Shadab was forced to turn to Ihsanullah and Naseem a couple of overs early, and Nabi sensed his opportunity. Aware the wicket wasn’t quite offering the fast bowlers as much anymore, he smacked Naseem for a pair of fours at the end of the 17th over to bring the target down into the single figures. It was only fitting that a majestic six over mid-off made the win official, a princely shot from a man feted as Afghan cricketing royalty.

No warm-up games to acclimatise – India captain says centre-wicket practice and match simulation should do the trick for visitors

Shashank Kishore15-Dec-2021India are yet to win a Test series in South Africa. But India’s think tank, led by Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli, have in the past got a taste of Test success in the country, both in Johannesburg, in 2006 and in 2018 respectively. And this time, Kohli feels India can cross the line and “do something special” if they can get their confidence game right.The team’s quest to win a series, however, has just become that much more challenging, because unlike in Australia late last year or in England earlier this summer, India won’t have any warm-up games and acclimatisation time. It’s a bit like what they did when they last toured South Africa: land, train, and play.Related

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“As much as centre-wicket practice as possible, match simulation,” Kohli said of the team’s plans. “Those kinds of things really help when you play in conditions that are in my opinion the most challenging, because of the pace and bounce on offer.”And the conditions can be tricky with swing as well, we’ve seen that in South Africa. So as much simulation as we can have, understanding which areas we’re hitting the ball, getting into good shapes, with the bowlers as well, with slips set in place, what areas they want to bowl, cut down easy singles, boundary options – all those things help you get into a good space when you have no warm-up games.”India will begin this tough examination without two key players: Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. Rohit, the designated Test vice-captain, is out with a hamstring injury; Jadeja has a forearm injury. Rohit leaves a void at the top, Jadeja’s absence could affect team balance.”Will miss his abilities a lot,” Kohli said of Rohit. “He’s proven in England already that he’s really worked his Test game out, and the opening partnership was very important for us to play in that series. Obviously, with his experience and skill, we will miss those qualities. That said, it’s an opportunity for Mayank [Agarwal] and KL [Rahul] to step up and solidify that start for us and make sure the good work is carried on in this series.”Jadeja is a very important player for us, he contributes to all three departments, which is invaluable overseas, and he will be missed. That said, we do have the quality in the side to be able to create the best combination possible and still be able to win Test matches, because we’ve created that bench strength and environment where people coming in are seizing opportunities, grabbing it with both hands, and making sure the team is helped by their performances. As much as we’ll miss him, it won’t be a deciding factor.”That 2018 tour, which India lost 2-1, Kohli said, was the start of a new era in terms of setting the benchmark for Indian touring teams. Their Test win in Johannesburg on that tour, Kohli felt, “came in the toughest conditions” and the team could bank on the “confidence and belief” they got from there as they gear up for the three-Test series this time.Virat Kohli led India to a Test win in Johannesburg on the 2017-18 tour•BCCI

“South Africa was really the start for us as a team, travelling and starting to belief we can win series overseas,” he said. “We built it up nicely in England, and Australia was an accumulation of all those efforts.”South Africa presents a different kind of challenge. The wickets have a lot of pace and bounce, and you have to be at your absolute best to perform there and get runs, get difficult runs. It’s something we’ve tried to do as a team but probably left ourselves a bit too much to do at certain times, and when sessions have gone bad, they have gone very bad, which we have controlled well in the recent past with more experience and guys understanding conditions. So, I think we’re well-placed in terms of experience, belief, and confidence that this time around we can do something special and get results we want as a team and overcome conditions to go and win a series.”We can take a lot of motivation from that [Test win in 2018]; of course we probably won in the toughest conditions on that tour. So that should give us a lot of confidence that if we have the right mindset, and we start off the series with confidence and belief, we can stand up to any challenge that comes our way and take a lot of heart from it.”South Africa is one place where we have not won a series yet, so we’re motivated to do that, and the mindset is to go out there and win a series in any country that we play. We don’t anymore think of just winning a Test match here and there, and we will do our absolute best that we can as a team to make sure we keep contributing towards that cause.”

Hockley was chief executive of the Australia T20 World Cup organising committee

Daniel Brettig16-Jun-2020Kevin Roberts’ ignominious exit from Cricket Australia will see the T20 World Cup local organising chief, Nick Hockley, installed as acting chief executive while the governing body conducts a global search for the next long-term leader.Hockley, who has impressed many with his handling of the women’s event capped by a crowd of more than 86,000 people at the MCG for Australia’s win over India in the March 8 final, was first involved in cricket as part of the organising team for the ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, before holding a senior commercial role with CA from 2015 to 2017.Support for Roberts at CA board level had been conditional right from the start of his tenure, given that he was signed to a three-year contract with the option of two more in October 2018, meaning he had the chance to prove himself before major negotiations for broadcast rights and the MoU with the players fell due. Initially he seemed to have worked effectively if slowly through a period that saw the men’s team rehabilitated after the Newlands scandal and the women’s team reach new heights in winning dual Twenty20 World Cups.However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and CA’s chosen response – staff stand downs on 80% pay cuts and requests for funding cuts across the country – re-opened old questions about Robert’s communication style and level of trust with players, state associations and the governing body’s own staff.This saga confirmed whatever reservations the board still had about his ability to be CA’s long-term chief, turning it into a matter of when to part ways. Deteriorating talks with players and states, plus a rapidly improving Covid-19 outlook, brought the matter to head over the weekend, leaving Roberts to discuss his future with the board on Monday and eventually tender his resignation.Earl Eddings, the CA chairman, spoke to staff before addressing the media on Tuesday with the board due to confirm details of a restructure that will include redundancies later in the week. “Kevin and the board and I have been working hand-in-glove over the last three to four months around this. We thought it’s time now and Kevin agreed with the board that it’s time for a new leadership and he tendered his resignation accordingly for the good of the game,” Eddings said.”Ultimately the board takes all responsibilities. Being the chair, I’m the one ultimately responsible for the organisation. Hence why we’ve made these changes today and what we are doing tomorrow. We have responded appropriately. We are living in very unprecedented times. Our response has been in line with all other sporting organisations in the past three months. It would be naïve to think that Australian cricket wouldn’t be affected like all our other sporting codes and organisations around the world.”At the time, we made prudent decisions about the welfare of Australian cricket and, yes, that means we had to make some hard decisions and we’ve done that. And I don’t move away from that because it’s been necessary to protect us through this crisis. However, if things emerge and change, we adapt our plans, but ultimately that’s my responsibility and the board’s responsibility.”Nick Hockley will step into Cricket Australia•Getty Images

While CA had been working on plans based on projections for the loss of up to 50% of revenue next summer, Eddings confirmed that the board was now reassessing the situation as it improved with each day, particularly in terms of Australia. However, he underlined CA’s view that the T20 World Cup, due to be played in October and November, was still too complex an undertaking.”I sit on the ICC and we’re having meetings as we speak. It’s a bit of a moving feast at the moment,” he said. “I’d say it’s unlikely, while it hasn’t been formally called off this year or postponed, trying to get 16 countries into Australia in the current world where most countries are still going through Covid-19 spiking, I think it’s unrealistic or would be very, very difficult. We’ve put forward a number of different options to the ICC we’re working through at the moment.”Prior to the 2015 World Cup, Hockley had worked on the London Olympics, so brings a deep wealth of event management experience. Hockley has also worked closely with the former CA chief executive, James Sutherland, who remained a director on the T20 World Cup board following his departure from the CA CEO’s chair after nearly 18 years at the helm.”I’d say it’s still sinking in, it’s very fresh this news over the last 24 hours, so really my focus and priority is the immediate term and it’s really just work towards getting the best possible summer away,” Hockley said. “There’s a huge amount of work going on around [T20 World Cup] contingency planning. I think there’s meetings coming up next month at ICC level where some decisions will be made and we’ve got a fantastic local organising committee who are busy preparing for every eventuality and the decision that will come forth.”The departure of Roberts ends an eventful period of a little more than 18 months in the role, culminating in an ugly and ongoing dispute between CA, its state associations and the Australian Cricketers Association over disputed cost-cutting amid the financial shocks brought on by Covid-19.”It’s been a privilege to lead and serve the sport I love as CEO of Cricket Australia,” Roberts said. “Our team of staff and players are outstanding people who contribute so much to the game and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together. I’d like to thank the army of volunteers in communities across the country who are the lifeblood of our sport, enabling kids to experience the game and to dream about emulating their heroes in our national teams. As a lifelong and passionate member of the cricket community, I look forward to seeing the game thrive into the future.”

“It’s one of the downsides of maybe having athletes who are a bit older. But we’re okay with that,” he said after Chennai Super Kings’ 37-run defeat

Annesha Ghosh in Mumbai04-Apr-2019Picking players a bit long in the tooth has made trolls label Chennai Super Kings as the “dad’s army” and “Chennai Senior Kings” since last year, but in IPL 2019, it has also played a part in their sloppy performance as a ground-fielding unit, admitted head coach Stephen Fleming.Fleming’s appraisal of “athletes who are a bit older” – over 30 – came in the wake of the defending champions’ 37-run loss to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, where eight misfields and a dropped catch played an indisputable part in the hosts posting a competitive 170 for 5.”We’re never going to be great [as a fielding group]; we know that,” Fleming said. “We can see that. It’s one of the downsides of maybe having athletes who are a bit older. But we’re okay with that.”Usually our catching has been very good that we’ve worked on. Today, what I was disappointed with was a couple of things that we measure off the ball. I thought we were a little bit placid with the movement around the field. We have to be at our best. We’ll address that. It’s often a barometer to pressure.”By the end of the opening week, Super Kings had topped the charts for being the most efficient team at holding on to their catches. However, their ground-fielding record has not been that bright.On Wednesday, their fielders cost the team 13 Luck Runs that helped Mumbai’s cause. The beneficiaries? Suryakumar Yadav with six such runs, Krunal Pandya with five and Yuvraj Singh and Pollard, when the latter was dropped off a free-hit, with one each.”We’ve just not been completely tuned into what’s needed to be done,” Fleming said. “We have to be at our absolute best if we have to compete in the field because we have limitations, but up until now we’ve been pretty good. For the majority of this innings we were good; we just made some clumsy errors, which we can tidy up. But we’re not going to be one of the best fielding sides in the competition.”Another concern Super Kings have grappled this season is their choice of death-bowling personnel. On Wednesday, the quick-bowling trio of Mohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur and Dwayne Bravo conceded 67 runs in the last four overs. In a momentum-changing phase of play, the last two overs, bowled by Thakur and Bravo, yielded 45 for Mumbai.Super Kings, however, don’t have too many options to choose from. With pacers David Willey pulling out of the tournament due to personal reasons and Lungi Ngidi grounded by injury, New Zealand’s Scott Kugeleijn landed in Chennai on Wednesday as Nigidi’s replacement.Asked whether the Super Kings think tank is open to considering using the pace-bowling services of batting allrounder Shane Watson, Fleming promptly ruled out the possibility: “Watson hasn’t bowled for quite a while,” he said. “He hasn’t bowled in the Big Bash League through. He’s pretty much playing for us as a specialist batsman. His body is such that it would be a risk to bowl him.”We think he’s valuable at the top. He was the top run-scorer in Pakistan [Super League]. I think he bowled only one over because he had to. So he hasn’t bowled for some time. And we don’t want to risk him through this tournament, especially when we’ve got six good bowling options anyway.”Ahead of Wednesday’s clash, it seemed likely that a relatively straightforward change to the starting XI would be the re-inclusion of offspinner Harbhajan Singh Mumbai given the number of left-hand batsmen in Mumbai’s roster. While Super Kings dropped left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and fielded only three overseas players, Harbhajan’s omission stood out as somewhat ill-reasoned.”We are really happy with what we have done [in picking the playing XI],” Fleming said, in response to whether picking Harbhajan in the XI would have been a wise move. “But there are tactics we’re using against oppositions and we have won three out of four [matches]. We’ve been pretty much spot on.”And today, we were spot on as well [in picking an extra pace bowler]. The spinners have had a small impact, but Imran Tahir was very good. I think it was a seam-based day today. Harbhajan is bowling beautifully. You would expect him to get back in conditions that suit [him], he’ll be a key force. So we’re very happy with the role he’s playing.”

After Sri Lanka lost a wicket before they had even scored a run, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Silva wiped 187 runs off Bangladesh’s 513

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Feb-2018Stumps Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva run between the wickets•Associated Press

Mahmudullah’s 83 not out heaved Bangladesh to 513, before the two big hopes of Sri Lanka’s top order – Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis – wiped 187 runs off the deficit together, and remained unbeaten at the close of play.Though the spinners had a little more purchase, this was, in short, another batting day in Chittagong. Rangana Herath did impose himself on the match for the first time and Mehidy Hasan took the only Sri Lanka wicket with the new ball, when the opposition were still scoreless. But only the occasional ball turned sharply, and the quicks had little assistance. By mounting such a monumental score, however, Bangladesh have given themselves a cushion – Sri Lanka must bat well again on Friday to come to a position of parity.De Silva, rarely rattled, was calm and assertive from the outset, driving impeccably, and never shy to flit around the crease in the course of manufacturing of a dab or a lap sweep against the spinners. There is growing sentiment that he is one of Sri Lanka’s most versatile Test batsmen, and this innings was further evidence. No portion of the field was unfruitful for Dananjaya, and bowler could trouble him for long. If a few dot balls mounted, he would slink down the pitch to loft the spinner over the offside, or back away to punch him square of the pitch. Where many batsmen fear losing their wickets just before a break, Dananjaya saw opportunity; thrice he ran at Taijul Islam in the over before tea, and thrice he hoisted him over the infield for boundaries. In between the big blows, singles and twos, eased comfortably through the field – no fuss, just confident Test batting.The only half-chance off de Silva’s bat came when he was on 65, and Mustafizur Rahman drew an edge with a ball that straightened. The chance flew low between first and second slip, neither fielder getting close to the ball. A few overs later, Taijul Islam hit him on the pad after he had skipped down the track, and Bangladesh burned one of their reviews, now quite desperate to dislodge him. As he had been struck more than three metres from the stumps, the ball tracking did not even come into play. Six overs later, after a minor deceleration during the nineties, Dananjaya struck a sublime backfoot punch off Taijul to complete a 122-ball century. It was his second triple-figure score in as many innings: the excellent match-saving hundred at Delhi being his most recent effort.Mendis’ innings, was not nearly as convincing. He had been beaten repeatedly by Sunzamul Islam in the early overs, and was often uncomfortable against each of Bangladesh’s three left-arm spinners, right until the final over of the day. He could have been caught in the slips twice. He was dropped by a diving Mehidy on four, off the bowling of Mustafizur, and later, Mehidy had a similarly difficult chance go down of his own bowling. Batting on 57, Mendis edged a straighter delivery, that just evaded he keeper’s gloves, but was too fine for slip to lay a hand on it. There was an lbw review against him also, but as the ball was passing over the stumps, the original decision prevailed.In between the tetchy moments, were flashes of Mendis skill – the rocket-powered flat sweeps, and the rapid pull shots whenever the bowlers dropped short. All six of Mendis’ intentional boundaries came on the legside, as did a majority of his singles. This being his comeback Test innings after being dropped for the tour of India, Mendis stuck largely to his stronger scoring areas. The two had come together after Dimuth Karunaratne fell in the third over, edging Mehidy to slip.Earlier on day two, Mahmudullah had been the spine in a good lower-order batting effort from Bangladesh. Though they had lost two quick wickets inside the first seven overs – including that of overnight centurion Mominul Haque – Mahmudullah had combined with Sunzamul Islam to ensure Bangladesh remained on track for a score of over 500. The two put on 58 for the eighth wicket, before Sunzamul was stumped down the legside, having failed to read a Lakshan Sandakan googly. Mahmudhullah trusted his tail-end partners. Only when No. 11 Mustafizur came to the crease did he kick his own innings into a higher tempo, and even then, did not turn down singles.Suranga Lakmal dismissed Mustafizur with a short ball to finish with the innings’ best figures of 3 for 58. The spinners’ returned far less flattering numbers. Dilruwan Perera and Herath both conceded well over a hundred runs, and Lakshan Sandakan had 2 for 92.

A strong all-round performance from Arjun Nair was not enough to drag the Cricket Australia XI to its first win of the season, as Victoria claimed a double bonus point in their four-wicket win

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2016

ScorecardArjun Nair scored 67 and then picked up 3 for 53 to earn the Man of the Match honour in a losing cause•Getty Images

A strong all-round performance from Arjun Nair was not enough to drag the Cricket Australia XI to its first win of the season, as Victoria claimed a double bonus point in their four-wicket win. Chasing 154, the Bushrangers reached the target inside 25 overs, but lost six wickets along the way, including three to Nair.Nair had opened the batting for the CA XI earlier in the day and made 67, the only batsman in his side to pass 20. Fawad Ahmed picked up 4 for 43 from his 10 overs, including the important wicket of Nair, who holed out to long-on in the 30th over at a time when he could still have lifted the CA XI to a competitive total.Marcus Stoinis picked up 3 for 28 and helped ensure the CA XI innings petered out, dismissed for 153 in the 38th over. Victoria’s win was never in serious doubt, especially after a 69-run opening stand between Cameron White (29) and Marcus Harris, which ended when Harris was bowled by Nair for 36.But in their push for the double bonus point, the Victorians did lose a few more wickets than they might have liked, as Nair and Brendan Doggett (2 for 36) did their best to keep the CA XI in the contest. However, the result meant that after four games the CA XI was still without a win, while Victoria jumped to second place from just three matches.

The four-team Asia Cup T20 Qualifier will be held in Bangladesh from February 19 to 22

Peter Della Penna04-Nov-2015The four-team Asia Cup T20 Qualifier will be held in Bangladesh from February 19 to 22. Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Oman and UAE will play each other to decide the one Associate who will advance to the main draw involving the region’s four Full Member teams.ESPNcricinfo understands the format for the qualifier will feature a single round-robin stage with each team playing three matches and the team that finishes on top will advance to the main event. In case two teams finish with the same points, their net run rates will be used as tiebreaker.Sources had earlier indicated that the qualifier might be played in November in the UAE due to the fact that Hong Kong are touring to play UAE for a four-day Intercontinental Cup match and two WCL Championship ODIs while Afghanistan are hosting Papua New Guinea at Sharjah in the I-Cup a few days later.Oman’s geographical proximity to the UAE was also a factor, but the four Asian teams will be playing a series of bilateral T20Is against each other from November 25 to 30. They will be the first T20Is for each country since the World T20 Qualifier in June. Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Oman have all qualified for the World T20 next March in India.

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored her seventh ODI fifty to guide the side to a five-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first ODI in Ahmedabad

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2013
ScorecardIndia captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s seventh ODI fifty guided the side to a five-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first of the three ODIs in Ahmedabad.Chasing 195, India had a sluggish start and Harmanpreet came in to bat when the score was 37 for 2 in the 13th over. An 83-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Harmanpreet and Anagha Deshpande revived the chase for India. Once Deshpande was out for a 50-ball 47, Harmanpreet and the lower middle order took India home with four balls to spare. Harmanpreet’s unbeaten 63 came off 100 balls and had only three fours.Earlier, Bangladesh chose to bat first and scored 194 for 9. They began at a fair pace but lost their openers quickly. Rumana Ahmed (38) and Lata Mondal (39) steadied the innings, but their partnership of 57 took 98 balls, slowing down the innings. After the pair was dismissed, captain Salma Khatun held one end up, bringing up her first ODI fifty. She received little support from the other end, however, as the Indian bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht, dismissed the middle and lower order. Khatun was unbeaten on 75 at the end of the innings and her 82-ball knock included 11 fours. Bisht finished with 3 for 27 while Shubhlakshmi Sharma picked up two wickets.

The fast bowler Jackson Bird has been named the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year after a remarkable debut season for Tasmania

Brydon Coverdale14-Mar-2012The fast bowler Jackson Bird has been named the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year after a remarkable debut season for Tasmania. Bird, 25, moved from New South Wales to Hobart last winter after being offered his first state contract and he has rewarded the Tigers by topping the Sheffield Shield wicket tally and helping them reach the Shield final against Queensland, which starts on Friday.Bird was handed his prize at the State Cricket Awards in Brisbane, winning the peer-voted award on 21 votes, ahead of Queensland’s Ben Cutting on 16, and a further three players – George Bailey, Ed Cowan and Liam Davis – all on 15. Bird did not make his first-class debut until the fourth game of Tasmania’s campaign, but he quickly made up for lost time.In his seven matches he has collected five five-wicket hauls and twice has taken ten wickets in a match. He also completed a hat-trick in Tasmania’s most recent game, and has surprised all onlookers, including the Tasmania bowling coach Ali de Winter, who recruited Bird after being impressed by his work in Sydney grade cricket and in the New South Wales Second XI.”It’s been an outstanding year for him, with 48 wickets in just the seven games,” de Winter told ESPNcricinfo after the awards. “It’s his consistency across all games and on various surfaces across the country that has been the really pleasing thing. His bowling has been way above expectations for us.”The South Australia batsman Tom Cooper was named the Ryobi Cup Player of the Year for his 366 runs at an average of 73.20. Cowan finished second in the one-day poll and Klinger, who led South Australia to the title and scored 81 in the final having made 112 in the game that secured them the home decider, came third.The ACA teams of the year for the three formats were also named, with Cooper and Victoria’s Rob Quiney the only m3n to feature in both the four-day and one-day 12-man squads. Surprisingly, the T20 side did not feature any players from the Sydney Sixers, who won the tournament.Leah Poulton and Lisa Sthalekar shared the Women’s National Cricket League award and Meg Lanning was named the Women’s T20 Player of the Year. The New South Wales fast bowler Josh Lalor was named the Lord’s Taverners Indigenous Cricketer of the Year. Simon Taufel won the Cricket Australia Umpire Award. Queensland won the Benaud Spirit of Cricket Award and the New South Wales women’s side won the WNCL Spirit of Cricket Award.Four-day Team of the Year Rob Quiney, Liam Davis, George Bailey (capt), Peter Forrest, Adam Voges (vice-capt), Daniel Christian, Peter Nevill (wk), Ben Cutting, Jayde Herrick, Jackson Bird, Michael Hogan, Tom Cooper (12th man).One-day Interstate Team of the Year Michael Klinger (capt), Matthew Wade (wk), Ed Cowan (vice-capt), Tom Cooper, Nathan Reardon, Rob Quiney, James Faulkner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Jason Krejza, Alister McDermott, Callum Ferguson (12th man).Big Bash League Team of the Year Chris Gayle (vice-capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Travis Birt, Owais Shah, David Hussey (capt), Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Brad Hogg, Daniel Christian (12th man).

Sourav Ganguly has said he wasn’t bought in the IPL auction for reasons that have nothing to do with cricket, and that he doesn’t see a role for himself with the Kolkata Knight Riders

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2011Sourav Ganguly, who failed to attract bids from any of the 10 IPL franchises during the auction on January 8 and 9, has said he wasn’t bought for reasons that have nothing to do with cricket, and that he doesn’t see a place for himself in the Kolkata Knight Riders set-up.Kolkata, a team Ganguly led in the first and third seasons of the tournament, had offered him a role within the organisation. “Shah Rukh Khan spoke to me about a possible role as mentor. I don’t think Kolkata Knight Riders needs a mentor. I see no role there,” Ganguly told . The team already has enough expertise in [Dav] Whatmore and [Wasim] Akram. I wanted to play and not mentor the team. I didn’t see myself in the sort of a role [Anil] Kumble has chosen [with Royal Challengers Bangalore].”The franchise struggled to produce consistent results on the field, and Ganguly said that was because the team suffered from a “confidence problem”. “I felt there was panic every time we lost. There was panic among the owners, panic among the players. But you need continuity in a team to deliver, like Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.”When we don’t win three seasons in a row, there’s an opportunity to rebuild. I understand Kolkata felt they deserved better and when they got an opportunity to rebuild the team, they wanted to bring in some fresh faces.”He also expressed disbelief that none of the franchises thought he was worth a place based on his cricketing ability. “I had the runs. Players of my age, [Adam] Gilchrist, [Rahul] Dravid and [VVS] Laxman are still actively involved. I haven’t been able to put the finger on the button why I was left out. Cricketing logic and past form suggests I should have been picked. There are several reasons I could have been dropped, but not for cricket.”At the same time, Ganguly rubbished the perception that he comes with baggage and plays politics. “I have played cricket, five years as captain and eight years under different skippers. I have helped in building what the Indian team is today. And this doesn’t come by playing politics.”The Kochi franchise did write to the BCCI after the auction to ask if they could sign Ganguly, but some of the other franchises objected to the proposal, and it was shelved, to Ganguly’s dismay. “I was very disappointed when the franchises stalled the repurchase. The rules of the IPL have been changed in the past. Every rule in sport should give an opportunity to play, not keep them out. Whether it’s Sourav Ganguly today or some other player sometime.”When he is finally done playing the game, Ganguly plans to turn his attention to running it. “I am mentally preparing myself for an administrator’s role at some stage. I would love to be part of the Cricket Association of Bengal at some point of my life. I also would love to coach the Indian cricket team as well.”