All posts by csb10.top

Even in pre-historic times the game of cricket was played in some form or the other. It’s said to originate with one player throwing a ball-like object at a stool or similar item, while another player, standing in front of it, tried to fend the ball off from hitting the target with his hand. Other players stood around waiting for their turns either to defend or attack the stool.At a later stage, players were divided into two groups or sides. While one side tried to defend the wicket, the other stood around to assist the bowler to recover the ball when struck away. In this way, fielding began and with it the practice of counting runs, when the striker hit the ball and ran to and from an appointed mark. The individual or side that scored greater number of runs was the winner, as it is today.A later development was the introduction of a piece of wood, the crooked form of a bat, instead of the hand to hit the ball with. So the essentials of the modern game, i.e. bat, ball and a wicket were all present. It became an accepted rule that if the ball hit the stool or wicket the striker was out, as he was if caught by a fieldsman before the ball touched the ground.The next change was the replacement of the stool by a single stick or stump placed behind a round hole. The hole played an important part because the batsman was obliged to put his bat into it each time he took a run. Similarly if the ball was placed into the hole when the batsman was out of his ground, he was declared ‘out’. The concept of hitting or uprooting the stump to claim a ‘run-out’ did not exist then.The further development was to enlarge the size of the target by pitching two stumps with a cross piece of wood placed on top but the hole in front of them was retained. The next move was to do away with the hole replacing it with a line in front of the wicket, the origin of the popping crease of today. Three sticks were then substituted for two and two cross pieces known as bails were placed on top of them, the whole apparatus forming the wicket.After some time the size of the wickets was standardised and remained unchanged until World War I. Then, in order to assist the bowlers who were finding it difficult to dismiss the batsmen, it was enlarged further. The principle of pitching the three stumps sufficiently close to prevent the ball going through was, however, maintained.It may be interesting to know that in the late 70s we discovered a Gandhara Art statue picture from Lord Buddha’s era in the archives of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) then BCCP. The statue depicts some boys hitting a ball with a crooked wooden stick. It indicates that the type of game discussed above, was also played in the region forming present-day Asia, long before it came to be known as ‘cricket’.Though such a pastime existed in many countries of the world before the year 1200, it is almost certain that the modern game originated in England. Cricket matches between the public schools, however, began towards the close of the 18th century. There was a good deal of wagering in these matches, which were usually played for money involving pretty high stakes.Worse than the gambling was a kind of the cheating that accompanied it. Men sat near the pavilion to give and take bets. It was normal for them to circulate a false rumour about a player, in order to influence betting. Umpires were intimidated and there is a case on record, when an umpire was dragged by the losing team to the village pond and summarily ducked.Taken up by the gentlemen of wealthy families, cricket became very popular in the 18th century. A blow from a cricket ball killed Frederick, the Prince of Wales and a devotee of the game, in 1751 but this incident did not affect the game’s popularity. Matches were played between two sides of eleven players each, although in the earlier days it was not uncommon for a strong XI agreeing to play against a team comprising of a larger number of weaker players.Similarly, there were four balls to an over but the number was increased in 1889 to five and in 1900 to six. This meant a considerable saving in time because after each over the fieldsmen were required to change their places to receive bowling from the other end. At one time the Australians even had eight balls an over, which were later reduced to six. The white coat that the umpires wear to distinguish them from the players was introduced in 1861.Cricket is perhaps the only game, which requires a player to learn so many skills, batting, bowling, fielding and wicket keeping. In the old days, the bowling was underhand. In 1794 round-arm bowling was tried in a match at Dartford but was disallowed. Sometime in the 19th century it was permitted but later changed to the over-arm style of today. Bowling can be fast, medium pace or slow. A fast bowler relies upon pace but the accuracy of line and length are highly desirable. It was the combination of these three, which made Tom Richardson, the Surrey professional, the greatest fast bowler of his times. In modern cricket, Jeff Thomson of Australia enjoyed a similar distinction.A history making controversy between authorities in England and Australia erupted when England’s fast bowler Harold Larwood, developed a theory known as ‘bodyline bowling’ and put it into action during England’s tour of Australia in 1932. Pitching his deliveries at the leg stump he devastated the Aussies by making the batsmen give away easy catches to a leg trap formed by close-in fielders. Considered as ‘negative bowling’ it was not repeated again.A googly ball attracted a great deal of attention when it was first introduced in about the year 1900. BJI Basanquet of England and the South African RO Schrwas are regarded as the inventors and perfectionists of this perplexing art of slow bowling.There were a host of great cricketers during the past centuries but their deeds were eclipsed soon after 1850, when the gigantic figure of Dr WG Grace appeared on the scene. Grace was the man who did more than any other player to make cricket a popular spectacle as well as a healthy pastime. This is proved by a well known incident, when early in an innings, Grace being probably out by an excellent stumping, was declared ‘not out’. After a loud appeal from the wicket-keeper, the umpire retorted, “These people have come to see Dr Grace bat and not to watch your monkey tricks.”A superb batsman, Dr Grace was a useful bowler and an excellent fielder too. Although no one has matched Sir Don Bradman in terms of his batting and there have been a galaxy of great cricketers since, but Dr WG Grace is regarded as the undisputed father of the game.

The two greatest batsmen of their generation will now get a chance to bat together as captain Sachin Tendulkar drew Brian Lara’s name along with 13 other players as part of the “Sachin’s Blasters” squad for the Cricket All-Stars series beginning at Citi Field on Saturday.In a random draw conducted Thursday in Times Square, Tendulkar drew Lara as well as former Indian teammates VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. Tendulkar also no longer has to spar with Glenn McGrath, having picked the Australian pacer for his side in a bowling group that also includes Curtly Ambrose, Shaun Pollock and Muttiah Muralitharan.While the luck of the draw meant that Tendulkar wound up with his Indian batting brethren, Shane Warne wound up drawing a slew of his former Australian teammates to play for “Warne’s Warriors” including Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds. Warne also wound up with a dream fast bowling trio of Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald and Wasim Akram.While the first 26 players were drawn by lots, Shoaib Akhtar’s status was decided by a coin flip. Warne called heads, but the coin came up tails, drawing a big sigh of relief from Tendulkar. The first All-Stars match begins on November 7 at Citi Field in New York with two more in Houston and Los Angeles on November 11 and 14.Sachin’s Blasters: Sachin Tendulkar (c), VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene, Carl Hooper, Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock, Moin Khan, Graeme Swann, Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shoaib Akhtar, Curtly AmbroseWarne’s Warriors: Shane Warne (c), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Michael Vaughan, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Symonds, Jonty Rhodes, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram, Daniel Vettori, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald, Ajit Agarkar

The Nashua Titans coach, Dave Nosworthy, is energised after a well deserved break and is planning an early start to the forthcoming season selecting the following off-season training squad to commence practice on Monday, 28th May 2001 at 14h00 at SuperSport Park.Players currently in South AfricaGerald Dros, Finley Brooker, Allahudien Palaker, Steve Elworthy, Rudi Steyn, Victor Faul, Nigel Brouwers, Aldin Smith, Tetaan Henning, Johann Botha, Pieter van Rooyen, Gary Hampson, Craig Parker, Nick van Woerkom, Dale Nation, M.P. Ferreira, Charl Victor, Raymond Magardie, Maurice Arenstam, Mulligan George, Shafiek Abrahams, Rudi Bryson, Ian Kuiler, Neil McKenzie & Robert van Wyk.Players OverseasDavid Townsend, Martin van Jaarsveld, Pierre Joubert, Jacques Rudolph, Greg Smith, Quentin Still & Dirkie de Vos.Players attending the National AcademyJohann Myburgh, Kruger van Wyk & Dewald Senekal.Players attending the Northerns AcademyRuper Bailey, Friddel de Wet & Alviro Peterson.IMPORTANT – PLEASE NOTE
The final Nashua Titans Squad, ‘B’ XI Squad and Colts Squad will be selected and finalised before the end of August 2001. The above squads can at any time be adjusted and altered as they are very flexible squads.

The unofficial Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was delicatelypoised tonight after a frantic second day of the final four-day game atGalle today. Fortunes fluctuated throughout the day and both sides stillharbour realistic hopes of victory, even if Pakistan hold the upper handafter a five wicket haul by Danish Kaneria.Bizarrely, on such a fine batting pitch, twenty-six wickets have now fallenin the first two days and, barring bad weather, a conclusion withinthree-days now appears a certainty. Sri Lanka now have a lead of 108 withjust four second-innings wickets remaining.Sri Lanka’s bowlers, led by Thilan Samaraweera, fought their side back intomatch in the morning as they took six wickets for 47 runs. Hasan Razaresponded by compiling a 52-run partnership for the last wicket andcompleted his second hundred of the series in the process. The crucialpartnership, quite possibly a match winning one, left Pakistan with avaluable 38 run lead.Avishka Gunawardene then shrugged off the early dismissal of ShanthaKalavitigoda in the Sri Lankan second innings with another powerful displayof batting. He wiped out the deficit in a flash, as he as he carved thefaster bowlers, particularly Najaf Shah, who was disdainfully pummeled for14 in his second over, around the ground in a 56-ball half century.Raza was quick to introduce Danish Kaneria, Pakistan’s promising legspinner, and though the brawny left-hander played more studiously, the legspinner eventually had him caught at cover in near identical fashion to hisfirst innings dismissal. It ended a 73 run partnership for the second wicketthat was swinging the match towards Sri Lanka.Kaneria then ran through the brittle middle order. Chamara Silva (4) wastrapped leg-before wicket in Kaneria’s next over, Michael Vandort (35) wassnapped up at short leg, Malintha Warnapura (1) was caught behind as hetried to sweep, and Jevantha Kulatunga (7) top edged a sweep as he tried tobreak the shackles. Sri Lanka had lost five wickets for 27 runs and slippedfrom 94 for one to 121 for six.An undefeated seventh wicket partnership of 25 between Thilan Samaraweeraand Prasanna Jayawardene halted the slide and gives Sri Lanka hope tomorrow.When Pakistan arrived this morning they were confident of compiling aseries-winning first innings lead on a fine batting pitch, but came unstuckafter the introduction of Samaraweera. The off spinner, a revelation in thethis series with 20 wickets so far, swept through the middle order afterRuchira Perera had trapped Misbah ul-Haq leg-before wicket in the third overof the day.Yasir Arafat, Humayun Farhat, and Irfan Fazil were all snapped up by thebat-pad catchers; all defeated in the air as they groped forward to smotherthe spin. Pakistan went into lunch on 122 for seven.Straight after the interval Dinusha Fernando picked up the wickets of KashifRaza and Danish Kaneria with Pakistan still 14 runs adrift of Sri Lanka’sfirst innings score.Sri Lanka’s recent cricket history, however, is littered with frustratinglast wicket partnerships that have allowed their opponents to grab back theinitiative. Hasan Raza, who was on 55 when the ninth wicket fell, exposedthat weakness again, as he upped the tempo.Given solid support by Najaf Shah, who scored just five of the 52 runpartnership, Raza induced a sense of panic with a series of bold, sometimesinnovative, strokes. Immediately after reaching his four-hour hundred,however, scored off 197 balls, Najaf Shah was trapped leg-before wicket toend the innings.

Once again, the dominance of Australians on cricket fields across the world this winter has extended well beyond merely the national team’s endeavours.While the country’s top teams were claiming the NatWest Series of one-day internationals against England and Pakistan and a 4-1 Ashes victory over the old enemy, many more of its players were making a similarly emphatic mark elsewhere.The highlights of another outstanding collective performance from 13 Australian imports in English county competition this year arrived in memorable victories for Darren Lehmann and Jamie Cox at Yorkshire and Somerset respectively.Lehmann was the shining light behind a remarkable triumph for his club as it gained the accolade of being English cricket’s champion first-class team for the first time in 33 years. Under the coaching of fellow Australian Wayne Clark, he played a pivotal role in all nine of the northerners’ victories, amassing 1416 runs at the mountainous average of 83.29. Little wonder then that Yorkshire captain David Byas was moved to describe his deputy’s contribution as akin to having Sir Donald Bradman in the side.Somerset followers will remember 2001 as a similarly golden year in their club’s history. For this was not only the year in which, in finishing as runner-up to the Yorkshiremen, the men from cider country ended in their highest-ever position in 111 assaults upon the Championship. It was also the year in which its team, under Cox’s leadership, claimed a one-day title for the first time since 1983. Back then, it had the services of no less a trio than Ian Botham, Joel Garner and Viv Richards at its disposal; now, just a Tasmanian and a hard-working troupe of largely unheralded players performing gallantly in game after game for him.Elsewhere, Mike Hussey’s insatiable appetite for runs helped him shatter the convention that the 2,000 first-class run mark has now become insurmountable in England. He was not simply the leading run-scorer in the country for 2001 but, six months after his first step into county competition, he has a triple century, two double centuries, three other three-figured scores, and 16 half-centuries to show for his efforts at the top of the order for Northamptonshire.Although only a late call-up, Andrew Symonds was a key member of the side that delivered Kent the National League title, and Murray Goodwin exerted a heavy influence over Sussex’s success in clinching the Division Two title at first-class level. With 66 first-class wickets (not to mention a hat-trick and a one-day century), Andy Bichel was Worcestershire’s Player of the Year and fellow Queenslanders Stuart Law, Martin Love and Jimmy Maher were consistently among the runs for Essex, Durham and Glamorgan respectively.After stunning success in recent times at one-day level, it was a disappointing year in many respects for Gloucestershire. But such a summation of the season could not be extended to Ian Harvey, whose all-round talents were again demonstrated with aplomb. Greg Blewett also enjoyed a fruitful season at Nottinghamshire, particularly with the bat.Although the advent of a fractured cheekbone brought an early end to his season, Daniel Marsh was an integral part of Leicestershire’s very successful start to the summer, and fellow Tasmanian Michael DiVenuto again produced a number of fine innings for Derbyshire. A third Tasmanian, Chris Bassano, took advantage of his dual citizenship to join DiVenuto in the Derbyshire first eleven, and sent statisticians scattering for their record books by scoring twin centuries on Championship debut.Victorian John Davison and Queenslander Jeff Thomas are others who will also fondly remember their winters. As an important player and a cool-headed coach respectively at this year’s ICC Trophy tournament in Toronto, the pair were at the heart of an amazing triumph for Canada as it secured a berth in the World Cup.Canadian-born Davison and now Canadian-resident Thomas were both key members of the team which finished third in the tournament, and which will therefore join the Netherlands and Namibia as the other ICC Associate qualifiers on world cricket’s biggest stage in South Africa two years from now. While the tournament was not a source of such happy memories for Joe Scuderi and Peter DiVenuto (whose own chance to play in the event was dashed when ICC officials ruled them ineligible to compete for Italy), Davison and Thomas will likely never forget the mood of euphoria that greeted their team’s achievement.Tasmania’s Damien Wright made his now customarily huge impression in Scotland, even to the point of starring for its national team as its one permitted overseas player in Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy competition. Last winter a popular choice as the ‘Overseas Player of the Year’, he was again a major contributor as his Grange club swept all before it. One of the few prizes his team didn’t win (the national one-day championship) was taken by Greenock, a side which relied heavily on fellow Tasmanian Dene Hills’ input. Victoria’s Jason Arnberger also enjoyed another solid year at Aberdeen.Victorian influence was also strong in league competition in England, nowhere more clearly than in Lancashire. Bowlers there found the task of curbing the talents of Matthew Mott and Brad Hodge near-impossible, as each set about accumulating record-breaking personal run-tallies for club teams Rawtensall and Ramsbottom. It was also the stage for a tremendous season for Tasmanian all-rounder Shaun Young, who not only received a championship medal for Bacup but also narrowly missed out on securing the double of scoring 1,000 runs and claiming 100 wickets.With the vast bulk of these players returning to begin state commitments back at home almost immediately, it leaves it a moot question as to whether many will have adequate time to reflect on their achievements. Given the amount of prizes they’re likely to bring back with them from awards nights, though, they should be able to at least partly reminisce as they alter from living their lives by the moon to the sun again over the next week or two.

For six uplifting hours at Kensington Oval yesterday, Wavell Hinds transformed the West Indian pessimism of the recent past into real hope for the future, immediate and long-term.The tall, slim, 23-year-old left-hander’s commanding 165, his first hundred in his fourth Test, was the backbone of a total of 283 for five that carried the West Indies to a lead of 30 when fading light brought an end to the second day of the second Test 3.2 overs before the scheduled, extended close.Ever eager to take on Pakistan’s varied, high-class bowling on a batsman-friendly pitch, Hinds used his bat with such effect that his chanceless innings was embellished with 24 resounding boundaries in almost every direction.He disdained the modern practice of applying the pad as first, not second, line of defence and was only troubled by the late left-arm inswing of Wasim Akram, one of the game’s most successful bowlers in his 94th Test.Whenever he had the chance, he thumped the ball with genuine power.Just as significant, his performance was an irrefutable indication that worry over the present state of West Indian batting, especially at a time when the future of the mercurial Brian Lara remains in considerable doubt, has been somewhat exaggerated.The optimism was boosted over the final hour and 50 minutes by the mature debut Test innings of Ramnaresh Sarwan, at 19, slim and diminutive and seeming to be a boy on a man’s mission.His approach belied the appearance. Like Hinds, it was positive and his right-handed technique was solid and attractive.He despatched Abdur Razzaq and Wasim Akram for two disdainful boundaries through midwicket and aided Hinds in a fifth-wicket partnership of 69 at a time when the West Indies have been so often been inclined to go into terminal collapse.He resumes this morning on 28 with a heavy obligation since the current advantage of 30 is negligible for a team that must bat last.Curtly Ambrose is by his side, having fulfilled his nightwatchman role, with Ridley Jacobs and the other three fast bowlers to follow.The West Indies’ situation would have been considerably more comfortable had Hinds not failed by ten minutes to last out the day.He fell to a tired hook shot off Waqar Younis with the second new ball that lobbed from the splice of the bat to mid-on.It was a stroke the Pakistanis had fed him throughout with varying results. Some were airily miscued but short of fielders, others were thumped to the boundary, none with more authority or relish than three in one over from Wasim Akram.Hinds began his critical innings quarter-hour into play when left-handed opener Adrian Griffith’s fine leg-glance off Waqar Younis was taken down the leg-side by the tumbling wicket-keeper Moin Khan.Enjoying the benefits of an accommodating surface from which even the tried and proven Pakistanis could make little impression, Hinds outlasted his three senior partners: Sherwin Campbell, who made 58 and with whom he added 133 for the second wicket, and fellow left-handers Shivnarine Chanderpaul and captain Jimmy Adams, both dismissed cheaply.He immediately advertised his approach with two confident off-side boundaries in the same over from Waqar and, by lunch, already had nine fours in 51, three off Mushtaq Ahmed whose leg-breaks and googlies had so confused him in the rain-ruined first Test in Georgetown.In his 40th Test, Campbell carries a heavy burden of responsibility but he has had an indifferent season. Kensington is his home, and favourite, ground where he has gathered two of his four Test hundreds and, once settled after a difficult opening salvo from Wasim Akram, he indulged himself in his preferred backfoot strokes and looked better and better on the hard, true, grassless pitch.He hooked Waqar and Akram for sixes and, when Mushtaq’s leg-break justbefore lunch dropped short enough, he sent that over the square-leg boundary.A fourth six came from the unusual device of a straightforward leg-glance to long-leg. Akram’s return cleared Moin’s head, a clutch of slumbering fielders failed to back up and, as Waqar set off towards long-off in pursuit of the wayward ball, Campbell and Hinds converted the original single into six.As the partnership developed, frustration clearly set in for the Pakistanis.Twice, Hinds mistimed strokes that just eluded fielders, while four times Moin and Akram argued over the state of the ball with umpires Rudi Koertzen and Eddie Nicholls before they finally had their way and it was replaced.They regained their composure during the lunch interval and batting was not nearly as easy on resumption.Once more, Akram posed difficult questions with his late swing that confused Hinds and brought three lbw appeals in the same over, one of which, off a full toss, was as close as they get. Hinds was then 62.At the opposite end, Campbell’s dismissal after a steady innings was unlucky. He played Saqlain into his pad and could not prevent the ball rolling back to dislodge the off-bail.When Abdur discomfited Chanderpaul with a wicked bouncer that brushed the glove on the way through to Moin just before tea and Adams was given out 35 minutes into the final session to a slip catch off a prodigious off-break from Saqlain that television replays clearly showed missed the bat, the West Indies were still 40 behind.It was a difficult time for two young batsmen. But Hinds and Sarwan saw it through like veterans.

For a match which had a shadow of politics over it in the run-up, the finale happened amidst fireworks – the big, booming, fill-the-sky-with-lights kind of scenes – for the handful of spectators who hung around after India had been beaten in Rajkot. MS Dhoni arrived for the press conference, waited a bit for the noise to die down and then decided he ought to enjoy a bit of the show himself.When he finally came back to address the media, matters were more to the point. One of the topics addressed was that the batting shuffle in the third ODI was one of the ways India’s line-up could look to become flexible and ensure their batsmen adapted to the pressures and demands of batting at various positions in ODIs, a push put of their comfort zone.India were set a target of 271 by South Africa, and like the previous two ODIs, the side opted to shuffle its batting order again. Virat Kohli walked out at No. 3, a position many feel he is best suited for, and he responded with 77, his first fifty since the World Cup. Dhoni himself came in at No. 4, a position he has said in the past he wanted to bat at but could not because of the relative inexperience in the line-up. Ajinkya Rahane, who played at No. 3 in the two preceding ODIs, came in at No. 6 below Suresh Raina, by when Morne Morkel and the rest of South Africa’s attack had effectively throttled the chase.One reason for the shuffle, Dhoni had said in the post-match presentation, was that India hadn’t quite settled on a stable order at five, six, and seven and needed a stronger batting hand at No. 7.”I want to bat up the order but I also want people who can contribute lower down the order. So I have to mix and match it and what will be good will be if I can bat a number of overs, create a partnership and if I have played enough deliveries I can play the big shots later on,” Dhoni said. “That’s the thinking behind it, but it means that a few of the other batsmen will also have to accommodate according to that. They may score at times, they may not score at times, but the good thing is they’ll get experience of batting down the order.”Also because at times I felt the Indian batting line-up becomes quite rigid – ‘This is my batting slot and there is where I will bat’ – but at times when you bat down the order you get to know what are the difficulties. I won’t say it’s easy to bat up the order but you always have the cushion of three-four batsmen behind you so you know you can play your big shots. But once you are batting at five or six, No. 7 is quite thin so when you are looking to play the big shots, you have to back yourself and say, ‘Okay I can’t really mistime it.’ These are the pressures that you have to go through if you are batting down the order.”Some part of that churn, to bat people at different positions and see who fits what role, also happened when India toured Sri Lanka recently. Rohit Sharma and Rahane had swapped positions three and five for the first two Tests, batting around Kohli at No. 4. After the first ODI in Kanpur, Dhoni had stated how Rahane batting at No. 3 gave the home side a lot of strength on paper, and while he promoted Kohli back to No. 3 today, Dhoni said the team could revisit the idea of keeping him at No. 4, as they look to strengthen the lower half of their batting order.”If I have to bat up the order, someone has to bat down the order,” he said. “There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to the media side because they want me to bat at four but they want Virat to bat at three and they want Jinx (Rahane) to bat at four. It’s not really possible, there are only two slots and only three batsmen.”There will always be a question. As I said, I’ve explained it, we want Virat to bat at three but at some point we’d love to have a look at him at four. Usually the No. 4 batsman will get to play 30 overs and 30 overs is a good number of overs to score a hundred and it also adds depth to our batting.Not to forget we are still looking for somebody at No. 7 who can play the big shots and if that doesn’t happen, the extra pressure has to be absorbed by the top six batters. So you have to find people who fulfil that job and also you have to play with five bowlers because the part-timers find it slightly difficult to bowl full quota of ten overs. So there are a lot of things that you have to manage and accordingly decide which person suits the position the best.”In Rajkot, India scored only 37 runs during overs 31 to 40 with Dhoni and Kohli in the middle, and it left the lower order with too much to do at the end. And with the pitch slowing down considerably, India found the big shots harder to execute. Dhoni, however, also pointed out that India’s slow start had an impact on the chase.”I think that was the crucial phase, that and the first ten. I don’t think we got enough runs in the first ten, especially the fact that the wicket kept getting slower,” he said. “And 30th to 40th was again a crucial period. We wanted to bat quite late but at the same time we started playing the big shots close to the 37th over but we were not really able to connect. Both me and Virat were set and we wanted to play the big shot but we never really middled anything.”Also not to forget the outfield here is big which meant that when you are playing the big shots more often than not you have to clear the fielder. It was a tough one when there’s less pace on offer you can’t use the pace of the bowlers.”

Nasir Hossain, the Bangladesh allrounder, has said that Bangladesh A’s upcoming series against India A will be ideal preparation for the home series against Australia in October. Nasir is one of 14 national players included in the Bangladesh A squad, who are scheduled to play three one-dayers and a three-day game against India A, as well as a three-day match against Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka.”Doing well in India will keep us well prepared for the Australia series next month,” Nasir said. “I think this is why there’s a number of national team players in this team. We are going there to win the one-day series. It is better that we are playing the three-day matches in the latter part of the tour. After we play the two three-dayers, we play against Australia.”Expecting a tough opposition from India A, Nasir feels the tour will be helpful for the national players. “We have returned to training after a break. We will have a number of national team players in the side.”This tour will be good for our individual performances. It will be harder because India A will not make it any easier for us. I feel it will be a good contest,” he said.After being dropped for the Zimbabwe series last year, for the first time in his international career, Nasir completed his comeback in all three formats in July this year when he was picked for the second Test against South Africa. He was unbeaten on 13 the end of the first day, but the rest of the game was rained off.Nasir continued to stay in the limited-overs squads after he was picked for the World Cup, but did not spend a lot of time in the middle, the longest stretch being 44 balls against South Africa in the first ODI. Instead, his bowling flourished as Mashrafe Mortaza persisted with him in critical phases of one-day games.He said that he does not have a personal target for the India tour but he will be looking to grab any chance that comes his way. “I played in the last Test so I don’t really have to make a comeback. I play each match to perform. We have to play well in India. They are a strong side. We will be more focused in this tour.”I don’t have a personal target. I want to make use of any opportunity that comes up,” he said.

ScorecardPeter Forrest’s 71-ball 57 formed the base for Queensland’s winning total of 209•Getty Images

Queensland had the better of a sluggish pitch at Blacktown Oval to defeat Victoria in an attritional, low scoring Matador Cup match.The Bushrangers captain Matthew Wade sent the Bulls in to bat in western Sydney and would have been content when the Queenslanders were only able to cobble a tally of 209 all out.However, a Bulls bowling collective led with typical thrift by the former captain James Hopes was able to corral the Bushrangers so successfully that only Wade was able to score his runs at anything like the rate required without giving his wicket away cheaply.James Pattinson also hinted at his immense batting ability in the most productive partnership of the innings, but it was too little, too late after the Bushrangers had slid to 7 for 79.The Bulls owed much to their stand-in captain Peter Forrest, who played with admirable composure for his 57 from 71 balls, pulling together much of Queensland’s score with the help of a restrained Nathan Reardon.At the time of his dismissal the Bushrangers would have felt happy with their work, but as it turned out the Queenslanders had already made one more run than Wade’s men would manage.

Virat Kohli believes that Royal Challengers Bangalore’s three key batsmen – himself, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers – will be able to play more freely this season due to the franchise’s improved batting depth, following the acquisition of players such as Dinesh Karthik and Darren Sammy.”I think this season is pretty different for us because for the past three or maybe four years, myself, Chris and AB have played under a lot of pressure because the batting revolved around the three of us,” Kohli said. “If you look at a few of the other teams they had a lot of depth in batting so guys could go in and play freely. But we had to be cautious and at the same time look to score runs.”But this time we have got Dinesh Karthik, Darren Sammy. We have got youngsters like Mandeep Singh, and Badrinath as well. It is a very strong batting unit this time and we have got really good depth and some really good power hitters.”I think myself, Chris and AB can play the way we always wanted to play in T20. Like you see AB playing the way he did in the World Cup, I am sure he will be feeling relieved that he can go out there and start playing like that from ball one. That is pretty exciting for us as a team.”

Donald backs Aaron’s aggression

Allan Donald, the Royal Challengers bowling coach, is impressed with fast bowler Varun Aaron’s attitude and backs him to come good this IPL season. Although Aaron can hit speeds of 150 kph, he can be inaccurate and expensive. But Donald reasoned that extra pace was always a gamble worth taking.”When you look at guys like that – first of all your Brett Lees, (Mitchell) Johnsons so these guys always go for few runs but it’s their aggressive nature, their attacking nature that they bring to the game,” he said, “They are always hunting for wickets so pace brings a bit of looseness but it also brings wickets. So you won’t change that attitude. I’ve been in the same position before. May be narrow down the channels a little bit but not too much. We don’t want to take away that aggressive nature from Varun.”Donald was similarly pleased with the depth in fast-bowling resources and hoped they can compensate for the initial absences of Mitchell Starc and Adam Milne.”I heard last night that Starc has pulled out for three weeks. I think he will probably miss two to three games in this IPL and he will be coming over. Its a bit of big loss for us. Adam Milne is also struggling with a bruised heel, so he is very close to be back bowling again. But that’s an opportunity for other guys to step up.”The presence of Sean Abbott, David Wiese gives us great balance here. I followed especially Sandeep Warrier in the domestic competition. Ashok Dinda does what Ashok Dinda does. He always brings something new to the table.”

‘Take Ranji Trophy seriously’ – Dravid

Rahul Dravid, Rajasthan Royals’ mentor, urged India players to prioritise domestic cricket if they wanted to succeed in IPL.”My advice to young players is they also [should] take the Ranji Trophy very very seriously, because I think, without playing consistently successful domestic cricket, it is very very unlikely that you will be able to succeed coming to the IPL,” he said.”When we pick players, we look a lot at their Ranji Trophy performance as well. Of course there are specific T20 skills that we are looking for but we also want to see hunger, we also want to see consistency and we also want to see somebody who can deliver under pressure.”Royals had recruited Karun Nair last year on the back of three successive centuries in his debut season of first-class cricket. This year, Delhi Daredevils snapped up Shreyas Iyer, who made 809 runs at 50.56 in the Ranji Trophy. Siddesh Lad, 562 runs at 43.23, went to Mumbai Indians. Sheldon Jackson racked up 819 runs at 68.25 and found a place in Kolkata Knight Riders’ squad.

T20 is easier for pacers than ODIs – Ishant

Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Ishant Sharma felt T20 was easier than ODIs for fast bowlers with the four-fielder rule absent in the shortest format.”T20 is still easy for a fast bowler than ODIs,” Ishant told in an interview. “At least in T20 cricket, there is an extra fielder outside the circle to give you protection unlike in ODI cricket which has the four-fielder rule in progress. So at least in T20 cricket, we can do the containing act with the added fielder.”Yes, the four-fielder rule is a problem, you ask any bowler. But there [are] certain things which are beyond your control. So, one has to abide by the rules that are being implemented by the international body and respect them. So, it’s important to rise above the challenges and do the most within the rules.”