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Pietersen niggle deepens England disappointment

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To cap a day when the feel-good factor surrounding the England teamwas dented by another hefty defeat against Australia, Kevin Pietersensuffered a thigh injury which makes him unlikely to face Bangladesh inthe first one-day international at Trent Bridge on Thursday.Pietersen picked up the problem in the field and required a runnerwhen he came out to bat at No. 6, but was soon bowled by Steven Smithfor a duck to complete a lean series in which he made 95 runs in fiveinnings. Although he has yet to be ruled out of the entire three-matchseries against Bangladesh, the selectors are going to need cover in thesquad when it is announced on Sunday morning.”He’s got a quad strain, so it’s probably unlikely he’ll be fit,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “But we’re not going to rule him out completely at this stage.”Pietersen’s likely absence should mean a chance for Ian Bell to reclaim the one-day spot that he vacated in India in November 2008, while Ravi Bopara could be drafted into the squad as extra batting cover. England will be expected to dominate the contests against Bangladesh, who fell to a 149-run defeat against Sussex in their opening warm-up game, but the final two matches against Australia show the side still has work to do to be aconsistently dominant force.”We are disappointed we lost the last two, because we were in a good position to really assert some supremacy over Australia,” Strauss said. “We weren’t able to do that. But we won the series, and that’s something the guys should be very proud of. Beating the No. 1 team in the world in a five-match series is a great achievement, and we shouldn’t lose sight of that.”Although it was Shaun Tait’s express pace that lit up the day at Lord’s, Strauss pinpointed Australia’s late surge with the bat as the defining moment of the contest with the visitors taking 130 off their final 11 overs, mainly through Shaun Marsh and Mike Hussey who added 107 for the fifth wicket.”They got some momentum very early in the Powerplay, and then it is always hard to stop that,” Strauss said. “Those last 10 or 11 overs were a big momentum swing. We’d done a really good restricting job up to the 39th over; then they managed to wrestle that momentum away from us.”

Croft and Parry deliver Lancashire victory

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Scorecard
Steven Croft’s first 20-over half-century of the season set up Lancashire’sthumping 50-run Friends Provident t20 win over Durham Dynamos at Old Traffordthis evening.The 25-year-old’s 68 off 45 balls, including seven fours and two sixes, was thefourth of his career in this format. The Lightning comfortably defended their imposing 187 for 8 which alsoincluded 36 off 26 from Australian overseas star Simon Katich and 32 not out off19 from New Zealand all-rounder Nathan McCullum.Left-arm spinner Stephen Parry claimed 4 for 28 from his four overs asDurham slumped to 137 all out in the 19th over. Liam Plunkett top scored with 31off 24.Steve Harmison claimed a career best 5 for 41 from his four overs for Durhamand became the first man to take five wickets in this season’s competition. Peter Moores re-jigged his batting order by promoting Stephen Moore (21 off 12) to open and Croft to bat at three.Lancashire lost Tom Smith, Moore and Paul Horton in the first six overs toSteve Harmison, Ben Harmison and Liam Plunkett but scored 55 runs.Croft and Katich shared a fourth wicket partnership of 67 in seven oversthrough the middle of the innings.Croft flicked Ben Harmison into the seats under the Point – opened to thepublic for the first time – before Katich swept Dale Benkenstein for anothermaximum over square leg and Croft did the same to Ian Blackwell overmid-wicket.Katich was bowled by Plunkett in the 14th over and Croft later edged Harmisonbehind to Phil Mustard to leave the hosts at 163 for five in the 18th. Harmison then bowled Gareth Cross and Glen Chapple and had Sajid Mahmood caught at mid on by his brother in the last over of the innings.But Durham’s response got off to a disastrous start because they lost Blackwelland destructive Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor within three overs. McCullum had Blackwell caught at backward point by Smith in the first and Taylor caught by Parry at short third man to leave the score at 13 for 2.Mustard hit 21 off 17 balls but was bowled by Mahmood in the sixth. Andalthough their run rate was reasonable they could not halt the flow of wickets. Parry had Ben Stokes and Benkenstein caught at long off and long on by Simon Kerrigan and Croft in successive balls to leave the score at 63 for 5in the eighth.Parry later had Gareth Breese lbw and Will Smith caught in the covers by Katichwith successive balls in the 12th. Plunkett and Ben Harmison (24) shared a consolatory ninth wicket partnership of 52 but Kerrigan and Chapple added further wickets.

Panesar handed penalty for dissent

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Monty Panesar, the Sussex and England spinner, has received a penalty under the ECB’s discipline code after showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during Sussex’s County Championship game against Middlesex last week.Panesar picked up two wickets in the game, which Sussex lost, and lost his rhythm as Dawid Malan powered Middlesex to victory with an unbeaten century in the second innings.Panesar was reported by Umpires Peter Willey and Steve Gale for a Level One breach of the code, and has received a reprimand. The penalty will remain on his record for a period of two years, and any further breach during that period will result in an automatic imposition of three penalty points.

Malcolm Speed slams move to block Howard

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Malcolm Speed, the former chief executive of the ICC, believes it is “outrageous” that Zimbabwe and South Africa are pushing to block John Howard’s nomination as the ICC’s president-designate. However, Speed is confident that Howard will gain the support of India and have his nomination confirmed.”There is some irony in this,” Speed told the . “Zimbabwe throughout has said ‘you must come and play against us for the sake of our cricket. You can’t have politics in cricket, you can’t make political considerations’, and the ICC has consistently endorsed that position.”Their position now, as I understand it, is that Howard’s not qualified because he’s a politician and he’s criticised Zimbabwe, so they bring politics back into it when it suits them. I think the behaviour of Zimbabwe, and South Africa supporting them, has been outrageous.”They agreed to the process. They knew it was to be Australia and New Zealand’s decision and they should have been prepared to accept that position and not second-guess those countries. The process should have been followed.”Speed also described as “a nonsense” the suggestion that Howard, a former prime minister of Australia, was not qualified because he was not a member of the Cricket Australia board. That was the criteria raised by Sri Lanka to justify their possible opposition to Howard, but Speed said there was a precedent.”[Ehsan] Mani wasn’t a member of the Pakistan board,” Speed said of the ICC president elected in 2003. “In fact he lived in England, but he was their nominee and he was a very good president.”Howard’s nomination will be formally discussed at the ICC’s annual meeting in Singapore later this month.

Allrounder Mark Cleary joins Victoria

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The former South Australia allrounder Mark Cleary has signed with Victoria for next season, when they will aim to defend their Sheffield Shield and Big Bash titles. Cleary was the only major addition to the Bushrangers squad, which also includes the promising allrounder Alex Keath.Nick Jewell was the major omission from the squad after declining a contract to focus on his coaching career at club and under-age levels. However, Jewell has not retired and will continue to play district cricket in Melbourne and be available for selection, having been one of Victoria’s most consistent performers over the past few years.The batsman Lloyd Mash and the rookies Steve Gilmour and Michael Topp were not offered deals, while Aiden Blizzard has already signed with South Australia. The fast bowler Rob Cassell’s decision to also head to Adelaide gave a reprieve to the injury-prone Shane Harwood, who at 36 was on the verge of being cut from the squad.The recruitment of the fast-medium bowler Cleary, who grew up in Mildura in Victoria, is a boost for the Bushrangers’ all-round stocks. Cleary, 29, has 50 first-class matches to his name and had a strong summer in 2008-09, when he topped the Redbacks’ Sheffield Shield wicket tally with 32 at 31.21.”We’ve got a great mix of experienced senior cricketers and talented youngsters that will hold us in good stead throughout the season,” the coach Greg Shipperd said. “As we saw last year, depth in the fast-bowling ranks is crucial, so the addition of Mark Cleary certainly helps that. He’s a talented swing bowler who can contribute some handy lower-order runs and should fit into our squad well.”Victoria squad Dwayne Bravo, Mark Cleary, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, John Hastings, Michael Hill, Brad Hodge, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Alex Keath, Andrew McDonald (Cricket Australia contract), Bryce McGain, Clint McKay (CA), Dirk Nannes, Darren Pattinson, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle (CA), Matthew Wade, Cameron White (CA), Damien Wright.Rookies Ryan Carters, Jackson Coleman, Brett Forsyth, Glenn Maxwell, Will Sheridan.

Chennai boosted by Aussie arrivals

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Match facts

April 3, 2010
Start time 16.00 local (1030 GMT)Michael Hussey adds solidity to the Chennai middle order•Getty Images

Big picture

There isn’t much to separate Rajasthan Royals from Chennai Super Kings in terms of points. Rajasthan have the upper hand thanks to four consecutive victories but they slipped badly against Delhi Daredevils on Wednesday, just showing how unpredictable they are. They are up against a team which heaved a huge sigh of relief after gaining a much-needed win, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, to take the first step in fighting for a spot in the final four.A sell-out crowd is expected to witness the 2008 finalists go head-to-head for the second time in the tournament. Chennai still have a long way to go, as they need at least four more victories to the three already have to stand a realistic chance of qualifying. The great news for them is that their two Australian imports – Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger – are finally here. It only remains to be seen if Chennai can fit both into the line-up. The sooner Bollinger can acclimatise, the better for Chennai because they desperately need him for his pace and wicket-taking abilities. He’s coming off a great summer with Australia and Chennai will be glad to have him on board.Rajasthan’s latest defeat prompted an unwelcome remark from the Delhi captain, Gautam Gambhir, about them being “ordinary” and increasingly reliant on Yusuf Pathan. But that remark may just spur them to deliver their best in the forthcoming games.

Form guide (most recent first)

Chennai Super Kings WLLLL
Rajasthan Royals LWWWW

Team talk

Hussey didn’t show any signs of jet lag after arriving from New Zealand as he battled the radical weather change and hit the nets. Whether he plays or not hasn’t been decided. If both Hussey and Bollinger play, then Albie Morkel and Thilan Thushara will have to sit out.The Rajasthan players had a two-hour training session at the stadium but didn’t reveal any details of their team composition. Their star overseas pick, Shane Watson, too arrived from New Zealand and he sweated it out in the nets. If he plays, then Michael Lumb may have to sit out.

Previously…

Rajasthan 3 Chennai 2A Naman Ojha special in Ahmedabad helped Rajasthan to 177 but Chennai fell 17 short the last they met in the tournament. A last-ditch effort from Morkel gave Chennai hope but it was too late in the day.

Prime numbers

  • Chennai have never beaten Rajasthan in an IPL game in India. Both their victories came in South Africa last year.

    In the spotlight

    It’s quite inexplicable why Manpreet Gony is a shadow of the bowler he was back in 2008. An economy rate of 11.50 after three games, a bad shot against Punjab and a dropped catch against Bangalore all indicate that the three departments of the game have let him down. With Joginder Sharma and Sudeep Tyagi not at their best either, L Balaji is the most logical replacement for Gony.Siddarth Trivedi: He has just three wickets from six games, but the Gujarat medium pacer is turning out to be a useful defensive option, a bowler who can keep the runs down. In the last game against Chennai, he conceded just 18 off four overs, and his spell was vital in not allowing Chennai an opening to cut loose.

    The chatter

    “The race for the four berths is close. Though we have lost five matches, it is not end of the world for us. We can turn it around.”
    Michael Hussey believes a few more wins will leave the tournament wide open

Victoria regain control at the WACA

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Western Australia 274 and 2 for 57 need 247 runs to beat Victoria 199 and 378 (Wade 91, Wright 80)
ScorecardMatthew Wade guided Victoria’s lower-order charge with 91•Getty Images

Victoria’s lower order staged a powerful recovery to give them a strong chance of an outright victory over Western Australia that would earn a home final. After giving up a 75-run advantage on first innings, the Bushrangers fought through Matthew Wade and Damien Wright to finish with 378 and set the hosts 304.At stumps Western Australia were 2 for 57 after the captain Marcus North failed in his final chance before the Test squad for New Zealand is named next week. North departed on 3 when he hit John Hastings to point, a dismissal which came an over after Wes Robinson (11) clipped Andrew McDonald to square leg.Wade’s 91 lifted Victoria after they lost four wickets, including David Hussey and Nick Jewell, in the first session to be 6 for 181. However, the lower order kicked in, with Wade and John Hastings (29) putting on 52 before Wade and Wright combined for 91.Wade struck 11 fours and two sixes during his 130-ball stay and Wright took over the aggressive role when the wicketkeeper exited. Wright blasted 80 from 76 deliveries and gained support from Darren Pattinson, who went on to be unbeaten on 25. If the bowlers operate as well with the ball on the final day as they did with the bat, they will ensure their side stays ahead of Queensland and hosts the final from March 17.

They were dancing in the streets – Hamid Hassan

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Hamid Hassan is still soaking up the achievements of the weekend when he helped Afghanistan qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 as they won the qualifying event in Dubai. Hassan, one of the team’s key bowlers, played a leading role in the triumph with a tournament haul of 12 wickets at 11.14, including 3 for 14 in the Super Fours victory against USA, and has since been savouring the messages of congratulation on his blog and Facebook page.While events in Afghanistan are making the news headlines as coalition forces launch a huge offensive against the Taliban, the cricketer’s success a few hours away in the Middle East gave much-need opportunity for some joy. The trophy, which was secured with a thumping eight-wicket victory against Ireland, capped a remarkable rise through the cricket ranks for a side that two years ago were playing in Division Five of the World Cricket League. In March last year they narrowly missed out qualifying for the 2011 World Cup although did enough to earn ODI status and this time ensured they didn’t pull up short of the main prize.”I’ve got a lot of messages on my Facebook fan page and have lots of calls from back home,” Hassan told Cricinfo from Sharjah, where the team are now preparing for one-day internationals against Canada. “Everyone was very happy and when we won the final two nights ago they all came out onto the road and celebrated all night until about three or four in the morning. Everyone is waiting for us to go home so we can celebrate together.”It’s a dream come true for us and a fantastic achievement for Afghanistan so all the people at home are very happy and are waiting for us to come back to Afghanistan,” he added. “Nobody knows about Afghanistan for sports so this is a good step for us to get a title and qualify for the World Cup to play against sides like India and South Africa. Everyone is happy and just wanted to celebrate.”And taking on two of the strongest sides in the world holds no fears for Hassan who is eager to pit his skills against the likes of Virender Sehwag. “I’ll try my best to get him out and hope he doesn’t get many runs against us,” he said.Afghanistan’s story is so remarkable that anything now seems possible for this group of players who have defied huge odds to sit among the top table. Hassan’s ambitions certainly hold no bounds and having fulfilled one dream of reaching the Caribbean he also hopes to be able to continue his career overseas, either in England or the IPL.”I’d love to play county cricket in England and I’m always looking for a chance,” he said. “Or if I get a chance in the IPL I’ll do my best. If I play for a county I’d want it to be with Lancashire because Andrew Flintoff plays for them and he’s my favourite player.”Hassan bowled to Flintoff in the nets at Lord’s while he was an MCC Young Cricketer, but although the England allrounder now lives in Dubai Hassan didn’t have the chance to meet his hero. However, he hopes that in the near future Flintoff will be able to watch an Afghanistan match.”I met him when I was with MCC and practised with him for four days at Lord’s. I bowled at him and he was a very good guy,” Hassan said. “He’s a very nice and a cool man. I’d love to have met him in Dubai but I couldn’t find time out to go and see him and also he didn’t have time to come and see how the Afghanistan team were playing. I wish he would come and see us play.”While he is still idolising Flintoff, Hassan himself is rapidly becoming a national hero back home and hopes to inspire a new generation of Afghanistan cricketers with, Hassan believes, the promise of a better life.”We have had a very short period of cricket but have had a big achievement for the country so lots of players are coming through in the Under-10 and Under-11 age groups,” he said. “They are now playing cricket on the streets, roads and everywhere. People are loving cricket now and I hope after that we have a good future for our youngsters.”

Austin scripts Jamaica's collapse

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Leeward Islands made a steady beginning in their fifth-round match against Windward Islands at Bourda, reaching 254 for 5. They were led by Monticin Hodge’s half-century and steady contributions by Kieran Powell and Gavin Williams. Openers Hodge and Mali Richards started slowly, before Richards tried to flick Shane Shillingford down the leg side and gave a catch to the wicketkeeper. He didn’t look too pleased with the umpire’s verdict, though. Powell walked in and batted briskly as Leewards went to lunch at 63 for 1. Powell continued batting aggressively in the afternoon session but fell two short of his fifty when he holed out to long-on. Hodge, who played the supporting role till then, reached his fifty off 165 balls. He and Williams took the score to 161 for 2 at tea. However, Windwards hit back to take two wickets for six runs, including Hodge for 61 and Williams for 44. Steven Liburd and Omari Banks mixed aggression with defence to take the score to 229 before Liburd failed to pick a fuller delivery from Shillingford, trapped lbw offering no shot.A five-wicket haul by offspinner Ryan Austin saw Jamaica collapse under lights against Combined Campuses and Colleges at the Guyana National Stadium. Jamaica were well placed at 151 for 1, but wasted the start provided by Danza Hyatt and Donavan Pagon to collapse to 191 for 9. Pagon and Hyatt made good use of a placid pitch and brought up their half-centuries midway through the post-lunch session. Both hit six fours in getting to their respective milestones. But Austin struck in the final over before tea, trapping Hyatt lbw with a quicker delivery. Pagon fell for 80 when he edged to the keeper down the leg side off left-arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh. Austin then had Nkrumah Bonner trapped lbw and then had Tamar Lambert caught at short leg. David Bernard was then caught at silly point and Austin picked up his fifth wicket when Bevan Brown holed out to deep midwicket. Kantasingh took 3 for 44 as CCC claimed the final session and the day’s honours.Half-centuries by Ryan Hinds, Jason Haynes and Dale Richards put Barbados in a commanding position at 326 for 5 against Guyana at the Albion Sports Complex. Hinds hit 13 fours and a six in his 76 and shared a stand of 126 for the third wicket with Haynes, who hit 69. Richards dominated an opening stand of 76 with Kraigg Braithwaite and hit eight fours. But he fell to a great catch by Brandon Bess running backwards at long-on. Hinds fell to a soft dismissal when he steered Royston Crandon to gully. Guyana then picked up two more wickets after Hinds’ dismissal. Christopher Barnwell took two wickets while Zaheer Mohammed, Bess and Devendra Bishoo took a wicket each.

Stuart Broad 'astonished' by tampering charges

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Stuart Broad and James Anderson, the two England bowlers at the centre of the recent ball-tampering controversy, have steadfastly defended their actions during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.TV pictures showed Broad standing on the ball while Anderson was seen picking at the leather which led South Africa to “raise concerns” about the condition of the ball. However, the home side didn’t take their complaint forward to official levels which prompted Andrew Strauss to call it “malicious” and England coach Andy Flower said if they’d had a problem it should have been raised in the formal way.Broad has now said he took “great offence” at being implicated by the South Africans and wasn’t impressed with the way they announced their concerns through a press conference.”I find it astonishing that South Africa should walk into a press conference and say they had raised concerns about the condition of the ball and then not follow that up by making a formal complaint. That is very poor behaviour,” he told the “My actions in stopping the ball with my boot have been questioned but I am not the first bowler to stop a ball with his size 12s and I will not be the last.”It was close to 40 degrees Celsius out there in Newlands at the time, and, if I was guilty of anything, it was just laziness in not bending down to pick up the ball. Ball-tampering? That’s astonishing.”Former England captain Michael Vaughan was critical of England’s part in the controversy, but Anderson is disappointed that he wasn’t more supportive of players he led until 18 months ago. Anderson said he and Broad were nothing more than “a bit absent-minded and lazy.””To be caught up in suggestions of ball-tampering was a huge disappointment,” he told the . “It led to a lot of comment and cast a shadow over me and Stuart Broad when we’d done nothing wrong except be a bit absent-minded and lazy.”I know my old England captain Michael Vaughan is entitled to his opinion but I was a little bit hurt by some of the comments he made about me, because I’d like to think he knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t do something like that.”I’ve got a lot of respect for Vaughany as a team-mate and as a captain and I learnt an awful lot under his wing in the England side so he knows the sort of player I am.”South Africa’s concerns over the ball stemmed from the fact that England have managed to find early reverse-swing during this series – often by the 15th over – while the hosts haven’t had the same success. However, Broad said that instead of casting doubts over what the bowlers are doing they should be praised for their skill.”Not too long ago, people were asking why English bowlers could not take wickets overseas on flat pitches with the old ball,” he said, “but what someone like Jimmy has done is become highly skilled at the difficult art of reverse-swing and all people can do is question that.”