All posts by n8rngtd.top

Daryll Cullinan on , on the issues South African cricket faced during his playing days

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2016‘In the early ’90s, cricket was still in white hands’Former batsman Daryll Cullinan on South Africa’s team environment in his early days in cricket, when players of colour were not yet integrated.3:28

Cullinan: ‘In the early ’90s, cricket was still in white hands’

‘Rugby World Cup – what a unifying thing it was’How South Africa’s stirring triumph at the 1995 Rugby World Cup affected the mood of the cricketers, and the country.1:04

Cullinan: ‘Rugby World Cup – what a unifying thing it was’

‘Makhaya’s story is worth a movie’Makhaya Ntini came through the ranks for South Africa during a difficult period of transformation, and went on to excel in Test cricket.2:49

Cullinan: ‘Makhaya’s story is worth a movie’

‘Match-fixing put us back many, many years’How the match-fixing scandal at the turn of the century unfolded from a cricketer’s viewpoint, how it affected South African cricket, and Cullinan’s opinion on the manner in which it was handled by the administration.4:01

Cullinan: ‘Match-fixing put us back many, many years’

Tillakaratne Dilshan could not make an impact with the bat in his farewell game, but he has anointed Sri Lanka’s highest-scorer in the match, Dhananjaya de Silva, as a possible successor

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Sep-2016Tillakaratne Dilshan could not make an impact with the bat in his farewell game, but he has anointed Sri Lanka’s highest-scorer in the match as a possible successor. Dhananjaya de Silva batted at No.3, but has had success as an opener on this tour. He was Tamil Union Cricket Club’s highest wicket-taker in a triumphant first-class campaign this year, and has also begun fielding at backward point for Sri Lanka in Tests.”I think Dhananjaya will be a good example to others,” Dilshan said. “He can bowl and he fields well. With the style that he batted with today, and the way he opened in the one dayers, you can tell he’s a player with a future. He opened with me for the Tamil Union team last year. I saw his talent about a year ago, and I told the coaches to look out for him. He and Kusal Mendis are two good young players for us. We can go a long way with them if they’re shown the right path. I think they’ll serve us well for years.”Dilshan has spoken out about lack of support from teammates during his captaincy, but was optimistic about Sri Lanka’s future under Angelo Mathews leadership.”Angelo has a lot of young players in the team, and I think it will be easy for him to control it in future,” he said. “Only Chandimal is there as an experienced player. I don’t think he will face too many obstacles. He will just have to develop the young players and move forward. I wish him well in that. If he can pick the right players for the job, based on their talent – that’s what any captain should do. He won’t have many problems then.”Dilshan will now be missed as one of Sri Lanka’s premier fielders, almost as much as he will be as an opener. Though he made few runs in his final tour, he remained a livewire, well into his 39th year.”Our young players have to work hard to become great fielders,” he said. “When I came to the team I came in as a wicketkeeper, but Romesh Kaluwitharana was already there. So I gave up the gloves and did a lot of work, by myself, on my fielding.”Former fielding coach Trevor Penney helped me a lot with that. I remember back then we weren’t allowed to leave until we got 10 direct hits. The first time it took me more than 100 attempts. But within about a month I was able to get 10 direct hits in 12 – even 10 – attempts. The youngsters we have are good. They’ve got a good fielding coach from South Africa now. Our fielding is a bit low at the moment, so they need to improve that. I have the confidence that they will – and I’m more than happy to help them with that.”Reflecting upon a 17-year career, Dilshan said he had great memories from most games he played, but made special mention of the 193 he hit at Lord’s, part of it with a broken thumb.”There are many moments I won’t forget. I will never forget my debut, because I got there with a lot of difficulty. And any player loves to do well at Lord’s and get a hundred as well.”

ESPNcricinfo looks ahead to the prospects of Comilla Victorians, Barisal Bulls and Chittagong Vikings in the 2016-17 Bangladesh Premier League season

Mohammad Isam02-Nov-20161:58

Isam: Player payments, security still main concerns

Comilla Victorians

Big pictureAllrounders will once again be the key for Comilla as they approach their title defense. Mashrafe Mortaza continues as captain, and he will have Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Ashar Zaidi and Nuwan Kulasekara among those who were part of their championship team from last year. The additions of Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Saifuddin and Nabil Samad strengthens their squad.Mashrafe will be keen to use Rashid’s legspin while also hoping Liton Das can score some runs unlike last year. Imrul is also in good form, enjoying the rewards of changing his approach and going after the bowling more regularly.Position in BPL 3ChampionsKey playerMashrafe Mortaza will have to juggle a strong overseas contingent as well as a talented bunch of local players. His commitment to the team last season was beyond measure, as he played many of the matches with injury, but this time he might need to be a little more judicious given Bangladesh’s busy season after the BPL.CoachComilla continued with a local coach despite losing Mohammad Salahuddin to Chittagong, going for Mizanur Rahman Babul. The Bangladesh Under-19 coach took the side to the World Cup semifinals earlier this year, causing his stocks to rise significantly. Known to exert a calming influence, he will take on his first head-coach role in the BPL.One that got awayIt was odd to see Comilla not retain Abu Hider though he was their best bowler last season. Hider was adjudged the best emerging player, and his yorkers were a revelation for a little-known Bangladeshi fast bowler. Hider has been picked by Barisal this season.Below the radarYoung batsman Al Amin did very well in the Dhaka Premier League last season, making a number of fifties for Victoria Sporting Club. He is quite good against spin but will need some adjustments against pace, which he is likely to face a lot of during this tournament.The acquisition of Abu Hider from Comilla Victorians has added pace and verve to Barisal Bulls’ bowling stocks•BCB

Barisal Bulls

Big pictureIf the local players perform to their potential, Barisal Bulls stand a chance to make the last four of this season’s BPL. Mushfiqur Rahim will lead a side that has experienced players such as Shamsur Rahman, Nadif Chowdhury, Shahriar Nafees and Al-Amin Hossain. They will need to combine well with an overseas brigade that includes Rumman Raees, Dilshan Munaweera and Josh Cobb, with the likes of Carlos Brathwaite and Mohammad Nawaz adding firepower.Taijul Islam and Abu Hider are talented bowlers on whom much of Barisal’s bowling strength will depend. It looks like an out-and-out T20 squad on paper but the BPL is such a hectic tournament that form slipping away from players is a common phenomenon, so Barisal must remain wary.Position in BPL 3Runners-upKey playerMushfiqur Rahim has always been a strong performer in the BPL, and he will have to bring his A-game to a franchise that is looking for success this season. His triple role as captain, wicketkeeper and batting mainstay could once again weigh down on him, so there could be a case of giving the wicketkeeping duties to someone else because his batting form is most important to the side.CoachDav Whatmore is back in Bangladesh with a coaching job for the first time since his four-year stint as the senior team’s coach ended in 2007. He has a heavy resume, and has tasted success in a number of cricketing cultures, and knows franchise cricket well, having coached Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. He will reunite with Faruque Ahmed and Athar Ali Khan, selectors during his time as Bangladesh coach and now part of Barisal’s management.One that got awayBarisal have a revamped squad with big guns like Chris Gayle, Kevon Cooper and Evin Lewis missing but they will most miss the services of Mahmudullah, their captain from last year who has redefined his approach to T20 in the last 12 months.Below the radarMahedi Hasan is a promising top-order batsman who also bowls offspin, and opened the batting for Gazi Group Cricketers in last season’s Dhaka Premier League. He still has to develop power in his game, which must have been addressed during his stint with the BCB’s High Performance unit this year.Chittagong Vikings have a strong squad led by Tamim Iqbal, who will hope he can carry on the form he showed last season•BCB Media

Chittagong Vikings

Big pictureThe presence of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Nabi combined with Tamim Iqbal, Abdur Razzak and Taskin Ahmed gives the Chittagong side a high chance of winning the title this year. They have a squad for every situation, so the trick will be to use them properly. Even someone like Chaturanga de Silva was picked because of his outstanding Dhaka Premier League season.
Chittagong also selected Jubair Hossain as their last draft pick, to add to the variety of a bowling line-up that also includes the pace of Taskin, Tymal Mills and Imran Khan jnr and Razzak’s fastish left-arm spin.Position in BPL 3SixthKey playerDespite having a strong side that will get better as the tournament progresses, much of Chittagong’s fortunes will depend on how Tamim Iqbal performs as opener and captain. He had a good BPL last time but the team didn’t do well, so he will need to maintain his high standards while pulling the rest of the team along with him.CoachMohammad Salahuddin was the first acquisition of the Chittagong franchise ahead of the 2016-17 BPL, mainly because of his success with Comilla Victorians who lifted the title last season. Salahuddin has been tasked to bring the trophy to Chittagong, for which he has already build a strong team from scratch.One that got awayMohammad Amir was Chittagong’s star performer last season, taking 14 wickets in nine matches. The 2015-16 BPL was his first overseas tournament after returning from his spot-fixing ban. Despite Chittagong building a fine team, they will miss Amir.Below the radarWicketkeeper Zakir Hasan was a revelation during the U-19 World Cup, calm behind the stumps and classy with his strokes in front of it. He is likely to be Anamul Haque’s understudy as wicketkeeper but that might not be for too long.

Australia will wait until the morning of the Test in Hobart before deciding who to choose between Mitchell Marsh and Callum Ferguson

Daniel Brettig in Hobart11-Nov-2016Mitchell Marsh’s immediate Test future hinges on the vagaries of Hobart’s weather, as a pressured Australia wait until match morning before naming their XI to face South Africa at Bellerive Oval.In a scenario that echoes the prelude to the fateful fourth Test of last year’s Ashes series at Trent Bridge, the selectors Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann are waiting until the last possible moment to name their team, leaving the captain Steven Smith unable to announce his line-up, as is customary, on match eve.Marsh is likely to play as a fifth bowling option should Hobart’s weather forecast clear up and allow play on the first two days. However if the current prognostications hold true and rain blights Saturday and Sunday, Callum Ferguson will be set for a Test match debut as a sixth specialist batsman alongside four bowlers.”We’ll wait and see what happens in the morning with the weather,” Smith said. “You might not need to have that extra bowling option if there’s going to be lots of rain around and the bowlers are going to get some adequate rest with that. There’s possibilities that we could go in with six genuine batsmen but we’ll wait and see in the morning when we can have another look at the wicket and what the weather’s doing.”South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis said any signs of Australia abandoning the balance provided by an allrounder was going to be helpful to the visitors, who have fought their own team balance battles in the wake of Jacques Kallis’ retirement.”Allrounders are fantastic to have in your team, we had Jacques Kallis playing for us for all those years and it just makes the balance of the side so much easier,” du Plessis said. “So I suppose they are looking at our team and what we are doing playing specialist batters and specialist bowlers, so it would also be nice to have an allrounder as well. So if they are changing it then that means that is a weapon that they do have in their team and if they change that, then that’s good for us.”Even if Marsh does play, it appears likely he will be demoted in the batting order to No. 7, swapping places with the wicketkeeper Peter Nevill. That change would grant Nevill the same commission he holds with New South Wales as a top six batsman, while also allowing Marsh to play with more freedom at seven. “Yeah it’s possible,” Smith said of that change. “It just depends on which XI we end up with for where guys will bat. We’ll wait and see with that one.”Smith admitted Australia’s confidence levels may have dipped over the course of four consecutive Test losses, the sort of sequence that has historically cost the job of the captain or the coach. “I guess it’s a tough one, we obviously haven’t played overly well in the last little while,” he said. “We’re finding ways to get ourselves in positions where we should be able to drive the game, but we’re not executing well enough in those moments to take the game away.”We’re getting in those positions, which is a positive, but we need to find a way to make sure we really nail a team when we get on top of them. We’re letting oppositions back into the game too easily. That’s one thing we’ve talked about here, if we get in front of the game – make sure we take the game away from them and don’t let them back in.”To that end, Smith said he was looking to see members of the team take the game on at critical times, mirroring the efforts of Kagiso Rabada, JP Duminy and Dean Elgar in Perth. “I think that’s something that Australia has done very well in Australia for a long period of time,” Smith said. “We’ve been able to score big first-innings runs and identify those moments when we can take the game away from an opposition, and we’ve been able to do that.”We just haven’t been doing it of late, that’s something we’ve got to turn around. We have to identify those moments first of all and then when we do that, we have to execute well enough to take the game away from the opposition. That’s one thing we really need to work on.”One intriguing element of this week has been the presence of Australia’s former batting coach Michael Di Venuto in Hobart. Despite a strong record and robust rapport with the players, Di Venuto quit earlier this year to become coach of Surrey after being reportedly declined a request for a pay rise from Cricket Australia. He was replaced by Graeme Hick, but Smith said Di Venuto had been taken back into the confidences of the batsmen this week.”It’s nice to have him back around the group for a week in his hometown,” Smith said. “He’s a magnificent batting coach and I know he’s really enjoying his time at Surrey at the moment as head coach. That’s fantastic for him. It’s nice to have had him around and have a little bit of a chat face to face about batting and what’s going on with all that.”A few of the boys have had some throws from him, which has been great. He’s an outstanding batting coach and it’s great to have had him around to work with this week and be able to talk some good stuff about batting.”

A round-up of the third-day action from the Group A matches in the sixth round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2016Railways were within 23 runs of beating Baroda in Nagpur, as they ended the day 90 for 2 chasing 113.Having conceded a first-innings lead of 127, Baroda were bowled out for 239 in the second innings. They began day three on 27 for no loss and lost opener Aditya Waghmode in the second over. Railways then inflicted two instances of wickets in consecutive overs – first in the 16th and 17th, and then in the 34th and 35th, either side of a 64-run fourth wicket partnership between Irfan Pathan (32) and Deepak Hooda (98), to reduce Baroda to 119 for 5.Hooda then put on 60 for the sixth wicket with Pinal Shah (32), and batted with the tail to stretch the score 239, before he was the last man dismissed, two short of his fourth hundred of the season. The last three wickets also fell in consecutive overs. Avinash Yadav took 3 for 50 to add to his five-wicket haul in the first innings.Railways’ chase began with a 77-run opening stand before first-innings centurion Saurabh Wakaskar fell for 45. They lost their second wicket, of Ashish Singh, off the last ball of the day. Shivakant Shukla was unbeaten on 36.
Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed in the nineties for the second time in the match as he helped Mumbai set Uttar Pradesh 295 to win in Mysore.Suryakumar hit ten fours and a six in his 90, after coming in at 60 for 3, with Mumbai leading by only 68. He put on crucial partnerships – 81 for the fifth wicket with Abhishek Nayar (39), 62 for the seventh with Siddhesh Lad (35), and 57 for the eighth with Shardul Thakur (48) – before he fell to left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (3-48), with the score on 279. Mumbai were bowled out for 286.UP’s chase began with the loss of Tanmay Srivastava, who fell for a single-digit score once again. Shivam Chaudhury, returning to the opening spot, scored an unbeaten 28 and took UP to 43 for 1 at stumps with Samarth Singh batting on 7.An unbroken last-wicket stand of 38 helped Tamil Nadu sneak past Bengal‘s first-innings score of 337 and earn the lead in Rajkot.Beginning the day with the score 60 for 1, TN’s overnight pair of Abhinav Mukund (45) and Kaushik Gandhi (65) stretched their second-wicket partnership from 55 to 100 before Abhinav was run out. Pragyan Ojha then removed Gandhi after he had brought up his second first-class fifty. At 141 for 3, Dinesh Karthik came in and put on 58 with B Indrajith (34) before batting with the lower middle order to score 80 before being the seventh batsman dismissed, with the score on 281. Medium-pacer Sayan Ghosh then removed Aushik Srinivas and Aswin Crist (36) in consecutive overs to reduce TN to 310 for 9, and give Bengal a scent of the first-innings lead.But they couldn’t get past K Vignesh (30*) and T Natarajan (10*), who batted together for 9.3 overs and put on 38 to take Tamil Nadu to 348 for 9 at stumps.Samit Gohel and Parthiv Patel added an unbroken 143 for the third wicket to put Gujarat 278 ahead of Madhya Pradesh in Nagothane.Madhya Pradesh lost three wickets within the first six overs of the day, falling to 183 for 8 after starting the day 162 for 5. Rush Kalaria took two of those wickets, and eventually finished with 4 for 72. MP’s last two wickets put on 32 and 37 respectively to lift them to 252, cutting Gujarat’s eventual first-innings lead to 50.Gujarat scored 228 for 2 in the 70 second-innings overs they faced on day three, with Gohel unbeaten on 93 and Parthiv on 80. Medium-pacer Ishwar Pandey took both wickets.

The former opening batsman was part of Don Bradman’s “Invincibles” in 1948 and is still widely regarded as one of the best to ever play the game

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2017Arthur Morris, the late Australia batsman, has been inducted as the 82nd player into the ICC hall of fame. He played 46 Tests and was the highest scorer among Don Bradman’s “Invincibles” in the 1948 Ashes. Noted for his elegance at the crease, the left-handed opener was also a destructive presence, averaging 46.48 with 12 hundreds and a top score of 206. He died in Sydney in August 2015, aged 93.Judith Morris received a personalised cap celebrating her husband’s contributions from Steve Waugh, another member of the ICC hall of fame, at tea during the New Year’s Test at the SCG. “It is a great honour to be receiving this award, which brings in a flood of memories along with it,” she said.Among them might have been how Morris had struck hundreds in his first two first-class innings – or his 155, 122 and 124 not out in consecutive innings in his first Test series. He was at the other end when Bradman made a duck in his final innings at The Oval and finished with 196, which helped Australia to an innings victory and did not give Bradman the chance to lift his average into three-figures. selected Morris as one of their cricketers of the year in 1948 and said he had an “air of complete composure” and that “he combined unusual defensive qualities with the ability to decide early in the ball’s flight what his stroke shall be”. He was named in Australia’s team of the century in 2000, and in the following year, he was inducted into the Australian hall of fame.Tuesday marked an occasion for more praise for Morris. “Cricket has developed over the years and decades due to the contribution of players who entertained the crowds with their attractive game and made contests memorable due to their steely resolve. Arthur Morris was one such cricketer and that is why he is remembered even so many years after he played the game,” Waugh said.Morris’ form tapered away towards the end of his career, coinciding with Sid Barnes, his long-time opener partner, getting into problems with the administrators. He played the last of his 46 Tests in June 1955.”He spent a long period in the motor trade, then played a significant part in the introduction of tenpin bowling to Australia, before finishing in PR,” Morris’ obituary in says of his life after retirement. “He remained an honoured guest at cricket grounds everywhere, his dignity never puffing up into pomposity, thanks to an acute sense of the ironic and the whimsical. He was appointed MBE in 1974, and was a member of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust for 22 years. Three days before he died, the Arthur Morris Gates were unveiled as a tribute to his long association with the SCG.”

On the eve of his 100th Test match, Hashim Amla felt neither pride nor pleasure at his achievement, but pressure over the disappointments he had stacked up in the lead-up to the match

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers12-Jan-20172:39

‘Scoring runs my focus, not razzmatazz’ – Amla

On the eve of his 100th Test match, Hashim Amla felt neither pride nor pleasure at his achievement, but pressure over the disappointments he had stacked up in the lead-up to the match. Amla had gone a whole year – 13 innings – without a hundred and ten across two tours without so much as a fifty. There were questions about how much longer he would play; how much longer he play. There were murmurs that the magic was gone. And there was his single-minded mission to show that it wasn’t.For that reason, Amla asked not to become the centre of attention. He opted out of a media engagement in the lead-up, despite a cacophony of calls for him to appear and eventually only agreed to a photo opportunity on the morning of the game. Even then, he looked like he had a lot on his mind and putting a Test cap for the 100th time was not one of them.”I wanted to have a quiet build up to this game,” he said after becoming the eighth player to score a century in his 100th Test. “There was a bit of frustration that I have been not getting runs in the last couple of games and not contributing to the team’s success. I wanted to my focus as true as possible. No side attractions, no razzmatazz, I had a more important thing and that was to try and work on my game. I needed to score runs.”Not wanted to, needed to.Amla did not reveal whether AB de Villiers’ imminent return to action – it could be as early as the third T20 against Sri Lanka later this month and it seems certain to be for the New Zealand tour which starts in mid-February – had anything to do with his need but that hardly matters. This was about him, the man many have called South Africa’s rock, and whether they could lean on him again.To solidify, Amla went back to basics. After the Australia tour, which he admitted was “not a good tour for me” he sought out the advice of one of his first coaches, Phil Russell. What they worked on is top secret, but it may have been temperament, rather than technique because today Amla batted in the concentration bubble that seemed to have burst.He survived the tough early period during which Sri Lanka’ seamers were at their best. “When I first got in they bowled really well to us. As a right-hander it seemed like they got their lines better to us up front. But on this type of wicket, you’re never in,” Amla said.And then he survived a drop, as he has so many times before. “The element of fortune is extremely important. When you get dropped, you think I am going to try and bat on but before I got dropped I didn’t think let me get dropped so I can bat on,” he joked.
Amla’s early struggles were in complete contrast to JP Duminy, who batted with such ease it seemed he was on a different surface. Duminy outscored Amla and played a potentially career-saving innings of his own which was a perfect foil to Amla and is deserving of much more praise than it will get. Amla offered some.”With JP, what we’ve noticed is that when he’s on song he’s a beautiful player to watch,” Amla said. “His judgement is great, his timing is immaculate and it’s always a pleasure to bat with him. Everybody is happy that he’s got 100. He’s finding that consistency and he’s doing really well.”Apart from the two centuries this was also South Africa’s day because of the way they ground Sri Lanka down to lay the platform for a series sweep. On a surface with a significant tinge of green and with an all-pace attack, South Africa may have been tempted to put the opposition on and do damage immediately but Amla explained they think batting is going to get tougher, which it makes it all the more important that his runs came when they did.”We batted first, thinking about day four and five. It will be difficult to bat on. We saw with the new ball, a lot of nip and it’s still shaping. It’s a challenging wicket.”

A round-up of the final round of matches from the 2016-17 BCL that saw North Zone being crowned champions

Mohammad Isam08-Mar-2017North Zone secured their maiden Bangladesh Cricket League title after they earned three points from the drawn game against East Zone at the in Fatullah. South Zone and Central Zone had won the BCL trophy twice each in the first four editions of the tournament. This match ended due to poor light after only 47 overs on the final day.

List of BCL champions

Central Zone (2012-13)
South Zone (2013-14)
South Zone (2014-15)
Central Zone (2015-16)
North Zone (2016-17)

Earlier, North Zone, having been sent in, posted 374 in 111.3 overs. Farhad Hossain led the way with 108, and added 204 runs for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique who contributed with 84. Seamer Mohammad Saifuddin was the pick of the bowlers for East Zone, claiming 4 for 55.Shafiul Islam’s six-wicket haul then wrecked East Zone’s reply and helped North Zone to a 158-run first-innings lead. North Zone then seized the advantage with Nazmul Hossain Shanto scoring an unbeaten 122, which steered the team to 295 for 8 dec. Nasir Hossain assisted Nazmul with 63 off 84 balls. Chasing an improbable 454, East Zone ended at 128 for 3 in 36 overs. Shafiul finished with a match haul of eight wickets.A run-fest at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar pushed the South Zone–Central Zone contest into a draw.South Zone amassed 749 runs in the first innings after Tushar Imran and Shahriar Nafees both struck double-centuries. Tushar, who hit his second double-hundred in the three first-class matches, finished with 217 off 338 balls, including 21 boundaries. Nafees’ unbeaten 207 came off 298 balls with 18 fours and five sixes. Mohammad Mithun, batting at No. 3, was among the runs too, scoring 131 off 186 balls.Mithun and Tushar put on 230 runs for the third wicket while Nafees and Tushar added 215 runs for the fourth wicket in South Zone’s mammoth first-innings total. Central Zone were forced to use 11 bowlers, including wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.They replied with 415 all out, with Shadman Islam hitting 113 off 330 balls, including 17 fours. Taibur Rahman missed a hundred by ten runs while Saif Hassan made exactly 50. South Zone raced to 33 in two overs in their second innings and eventually walked away with three points.