All posts by csb10.top

The 2000/01 season has finished last Saturday so is time to complete second class averages. In the batting, folowing an analysis of the last three seasons we can see that the averages came down but there were more games played.This time number one was P. Hopkirk (Dragons) with an unreachable 88.66 in his 5 innings and one century. (Last season was L. Paterlini with 323.00, and Mat Bailey, from Old Dragons with 163.00 the season before).Next was N. Iglesias, far away, with 66.80 in 6 innings and one century, but so effective so as to be called to play for the North v South match. Third was ever present S. Ciaburri with 62.50 in 7 innings, but retired or not out in 5 games. Fourth was G. Zwaga with 57.50 in 5 innings but 3 not out’s and fifth was Billy Mac Dermott with 57 in 5 innings and nearly one century. There were three Lomas players in the first five places.None of them were present in last two season averages. Here is an improvement.In highest scores M. Whitelegg with 137 had the best score for the last three seasons (112 – M. Fabian last season and 124n-Murray Davis two seasons ago), followed by N. Iglesias’ 113 (who had a 95 last season), Gary Savage 109 in his only game (93 and 85n for 7th and 5th in last two seasons), P. Hopkirk with 101 (and also 81 this season) and Julian Villarino with 100 retired for Belgrano juniors.For most runs scored we came down this time, N. Iglesias made 334 (Charles Gibson reach 469 last season and Murray Davis 300 two ago), followed by M. Whitelegg 263 (one century), P. Hopkirk 260 (one century), GeGe Mackenzie 234 and E. Mac Dermott 228. Again three Lomas players in the best five.For catches, here comes the problem in the scoring book.; no one names who took the catch so the scorer does not complete the scoring sheet and during all the season there are a lot of names incomplete so this analysis is not so correct. For what we have Agustin Casime took 7 (last season was Nicolas Vazquez with 8), followed by Marcelo Rocca, Steve Bryans and John Moeller by 5 each.In the bowling analysis the level came down again with P. Mac Gowan leading with 10.88 (two seasons ago he was at the top with 7.20 while J. Moeller led last season with 6.08), followed by L. Paterlini with 12 (third twoseasons ago), S. Ciaburri 12.53 and youngsters F. Fuertes 13.28 and P. Canevari with 14.14. South clearly dominated the averages with two Lomas and St. Alban’s players mixed in the first four places.For most overs bowled very young boys led the table; S. Nino led with 76 (same as last season with 85 and L. Paterlini with 30,5 two seasons ago), followed by Charly Geddes with 67, Agustin Casime with 54, Andres Annand with 42.4 and Federico Alonso with 41. Belgrano had three yougsters in the first five places.For most wickets taken S. Ciaburri and C. Geddes led with 13 apiece (far away from A. Casime’s 20 from last season), followed by S. Nino with 12 (he was 5th with 13 last season).And for most economical bowlers First Division top wicket taker L. Paterlini was the best with 2.66 runs per over, followed by S. Nino with 3.01 (8th with 3.80 last season), P. Mac Gowan with 3.26 (the best with 2.40 two seasons ago), S. Bryans with 3.40 and F. Fuertes with 3.57. Again three south players in the top five.An apology to Hernan Pereyra that was erroneously mistaken in the last bowling analysis where he should be placed in 9th position with 176.2-20-616-25 and an average of 24.64.

Nasirul Alam Nahid and leg-spinner Alok Kapali played two key roles to Sylhet Division’s emphatic victory over hosts Rajshahi today. Chasing the target of 188 in the fourth innings, Sylhet Division set out poorly, loosing three quick wickets with the score on 17.Nasirul and his brother Rajin Saleh put on 36 runs in the fourth wicket stand. Alok Kapali, the reputed leg-spinner and little known as a batsman, joined in and formed a match-winning partnership with Nasirul.Finally Faisal Khan removed Kapali (46), but it was already too late. Nasirul, provided by good support from his tail-enders saw his side home having 4 wickets still at hand. Man-of-the-match Nasirul notched up a brilliant 67 not out featured with 3 boundaries.Aminul Islam was the most successful among the Rajshahi bowlers to maul the Sylhet batsmen. He plucked 3 giving away 31 runs in his 10-over spell.However, the match between Khulna Division and Barisal Division ended in a draw. Answering Barisal’s 355 in the second innings, Khulna batted patiently throughout the day. Opener Raju Parvej made a solid mark with the bat (85); he was well assisted by Hasanuzzaman (52), Monirul Islam (45) and Asadullah Khan (42).At stumps Khulna were 275 for the loss of 5 wickets.

Australia has an unchanged team for the third and final cricket Test starting today while South African selectors decided to use allrounder Andrew Hall in preference to Lance Klusener.Both were included in the squad of 12 and after Hall passed a fitness test for a stiff back today selection convenor Rushdi Magiet said he would be in the XI.”Hall has been picked as a bowling all-rounder and if we felt he could not give 100 per cent with the ball we would not have considered him,” Magiet said.Fast bowler David Terbrugge will play his first Test since 1999 in Durban and Magiet said he would share the new ball with Makhaya Ntini.Terbrugge was confirmed after he came through a fitness test for a sore shin.Terbrugge, tall and accurate though not particularly quick, said he had modelled his game on that of Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath.”I look up to McGrath a lot, and if I could be nearly as good as him I’d be delighted,” Terbrugge said.”I like to think there are lot of similarities between us – he’s also built like an angry match stick.”Justin Ontong had earlier been named South Africa’s 12th man and Australia was to choose its 12th man on match morning.Teams:AUSTRALIA: Steve Waugh (capt), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath. (12th man to be named before the match)SOUTH AFRICA: Mark Boucher (capt), Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Ashwell Prince, Andrew Hall, Paul Adams, Makhaya Ntini, David Terbrugge. 12th man Justin Ontong.

Having looked after the “bowling speeds” list on CricInfo for the past couple of years, I must say that the events of the last few weeks have been rather bewildering. We have seen Shoaib Akhtar unveil his new found genuine extra yard of pace in Pakistan, we’ve seen the 100 mph mark broken on a single horizontal velocity radar device, and the most puzzling and quite humorous “revelation” of all, was the fact that Brett Lee had registered 161.8 kph on the IDS Sports radar guns in Australia in the 2000/1 season.Over the past 16 months or so I must have received 60 emails regarding that particular ball. In hindsight the correct thing to do would have been to add a little note to the bowling speeds list to let the public why that measurement was not listed. I did not do that. Instead, I chose to answer each and every one of those e-mails with a standard reply which I will now pass on.The ball in question was recorded by the IDS Sports company After many years in the field they have the business of recording bowling speeds down to a fine art and very few erroneous speeds actually get to the T.V monitors. The 161.8 kph from Lee to Walsh in Brisbane was one such ball. however.Three IDS radar instruments are trained at the ball, and are triggered just prior to the time of a ball’s release by the bowler. The three radar guns in question usually display the same result, give or take a kph or so. A slight difference occurs when one radar actually records the ball at the exact point of release and thus will record a slightly higher reading than the other two which capture it a split second later. The speed at the point of release is what is displayed on the T.V monitors and at the ground.If, say, the one particular gun records a speed of 160 kph and the other two record 142kph and 141kph, then it is assumed that the 160 kph speed is incorrect. A certain message will then usually appear on the gun in question to inform the gun’s handler that a microwave emitting device has interfered with the frequency of that particular gun and the highest speed recorded is dismissed as a error.In the case of the ball in question, this is exactly what took place, except for the fact that this particular ball escaped the net so to speak. The speed of 161.8 kph did appear on the public’s television screens and many people may have seen it. What makes this particular situation a little humorous and more than a little disturbing is the fact that 16 months after the event, the ball is making headlines all around the world.I use the word humorous because that very day and later in the telecast, the ball in question was referred to by Richie Benaud. Now I personally didn’t bother to keep the tape for reference, but in general terms Mr Benaud said that the ball from Brett Lee to conclude the West Indian innings showed up as above 160kph, but the actual ball speed was 142kph as recorded by the back up radars. Obviously the anonymous person who managed to help this video into the hands of Brett Lee’s manager must have missed the afternoon’s telecast, or simply chose to ignore those words by one of cricket’s very best and experienced commentators.This matter was resolved a mere hour or so after the event, but 16 months later it raises its head in what must at least be deemed as highly unusual circumstances.Just for the record. Brett Lee’s fastest ball of the 2000/1 season in Australia was recorded at 150 kph in the Perth test. Following ankle injuries, Brett Lee’s speed had not yet returned to that of the 1999/00 season in which he was consistently around and beyond the 150kph mark. From memory, the bowling spell in question was constantly around the 144kph mark and definitely no single ball of that spell exceeded 150kph. Brett Lee’s fastest recorded delivery is 157.4 kph and he has not broken the 100mph mark, as yet.

In these days of instant food, instant coffee and instantcommunication, it is tempting to look for instant results. Towardsachieving this objective, old-fashioned virtues of patience andforbearance, tolerance and reasoning are sometimes given the go by.Unfortunately, instant results are not always possible. Some thingstake time to mature and grow in the traditional manner. The same istrue in sport. It is not every cricketer who scores a century or has amatch haul of ten wickets in his first Test. Even a prodigiouslygifted player like Sachin Tendulkar got his first Test hundred in onlyhis ninth match.

I am mentioning all this now keeping in mind the example of AjayRatra. The 20-year-old wicket-keeper from Haryana, according toreports, came very close to being dropped for the Antigua Test.Plainly put, I could not comprehend why such a move was even beingcontemplated. True, he had scored just 16 runs in four innings. Butthen he is a specialist wicket-keeper whose batting should beconsidered a bonus. And from all accounts, he had kept reasonably wellat Port of Spain and Bridgetown.It is about time we stopped this obsession with wicket-keeper batsmen.If there is an Engineer and Kirmani who can bat as well as he cankeep, that’s fine. But in the absence of such a player, it is alwaysbetter to go in for a specialist `keeper rather than a sub standardstumper who can score a few runs. In the long run, the latter is ashort-term policy from which the team will not benefit.But then if Ratra came close to being dropped ­ though good sensefinally prevailed among the team management ­ it is part of a largermalaise. The policy of hiring and firing rather indiscriminately isquite common in Indian cricket. Young players are hardly givenadequate opportunities to prove their credentials.This is best exemplified in the following statistic. Of the some 240cricketers who have been given Test caps, an alarmingly highproportion of about 80 ­ roughly a third ­ have played in one or twomatches. Australia, on the other hand, is known for giving its playersa fair trial and this is borne out by figures. Of the nearly 400cricketers who have represented the country in Tests since 1877, onlyabout 80 ­ just about a fifth ­ have played in one or two matches.Certainly this benign and refreshing approach is one of the reasonswhy Australia enjoys the pre-eminent position in world cricket notonly today but also in overall results of matches played since Testcricket was first played a century and a quarter ago.My favourite stories about how perseverance by Australian selectorshas yielded long-term results concern Arthur Morris, Richie Benaud andAlan Davidson. In his first 13 Tests, Benaud took just 23 wickets atenormous cost and did not even score a half-century. In his first 12Tests, Davidson got only 16 wickets and hit one half-century. InIndian cricket, such results would have meant banishment from the Testarena. But aware that theirs was a case of potential far outweighingperformance, the selectors ­ and team managements one must add ­ gavethem every encouragement and this far sighted policy paid off richdividends as the whole cricketing world knows.Benaud became the first cricketer to achieve the double of 2000 runsand 200 wickets ­ besides being one of the outstanding captains in thegame’s history – while Davidson, one of the leading all-rounders ofhis time, finished with 186 wickets from 44 Tests at an average of20.53.Again, in the case of Morris, the scores in his first two Tests were 2and 5. If he had been an Indian cricketer, that would have been theend of his Test career. Yet going by the adage `Form is temporary,class is permanent’, the selectors picked him for the third Test. Theleft-hander ­ later to find a place in Don Bradman’s dream team -repaid their confidence by scoring 155, the first of three centuriesin successive Test innings and he remained Australia’s No 1 openingbatsman for the next decade.

This roughshod policy in Indian cricket has been particularly rampantin the case of wicket-keepers. This at least was one slot in whichthere was more than a semblance of permanence in the Indian team,right from Engineer and Kunderan to Kirmani and More, from the 1960sto the 1990s.In the last couple of years, the selectors have created more than asense of just uncertainty in dealing with this crucial position. OnceNayan Mongia for reasons still unclear, went out of favour, thestumper’s place has been filled ­ with no sense of permanency – by MSKPrasad, Samir Dighe, Vijay Dahiya, Saba Karim, Deep Dasgupta and AjayRatra. This kind of hiring and firing does no good in bolstering themorale of a team that is already beset by inherent weaknesses.It is to be hoped that Ratra has now cemented his place in the sideand the game of musical chairs for the stumper’s slot is finally over.The selectors would also do well to learn by Ratra’s example that apolicy of hiring and firing will not yield dividends in the long run,that deserving cricketers should get a fair trial and that adiscerning approach is what Indian cricket needs. It is ironical thatit has taken Ratra a feat with the bat to consolidate his place behindthe stumps. But then such ironies are a disturbing aspect of Indiancricket.

Following the two-day AGM of board of directors of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), President Rev. Wes Hall has been reporting on some of the main points coming out of their deliberations. Speaking during a press conference, Hall told reporters: “Our auditors presented draft financial statements for the year ending [30th] September 2001 that show a loss of US $7.5 million.”Hall continued to explain that the loss of 2001 “follows a loss of US $5.4 million for the year ending [30th] September 2000. The losses experienced over the last two to three years are of grave concern to me and to this board.” In total, the WICB have suffered losses in excess of US $15 million over the past three years.The main reasons for the loss in 2001 was that the Board decided despite decreased revenues — from overseas tours and losses on investments — to follow through with its commitment to finance the development component of the strategic plan including the expansion of the Red Stripe Bowl and Busta Cricket Series.Key factors contributing to decreased revenues were: commitments under the ICC 10-year tour programme and the unfavourable fee structure, losses from home tournaments and the South Africa series television production costs that could not be offset by television rights, as well as the losses from the disposal of investments made in 2000 — on the stock market.”I took office in July 2001 and since then I have placed a high priority on setting West Indies cricket and by extension the organization, on a firm financial footing. The Board is committed to reversing this trend of losses and has approved a break-even budget for this financial year.”Hall continued by saying: “In order to finance the medium term cash-flow shortfall we have obtained a loan from First Citizens Trust and Merchant Bank based in Trinidad and Tobago. We also expect to earn substantial revenues this year from television rights for the India tour that will help us achieve a break-even position.”To this end the Finance & Audit Committee will be amalgamated with the Executive [Committee] to allow for closer linkages between financial and operational matters. The Board will also be making greater efforts to encourage timely reporting from member associations that will allow us to get a clear picture of the finances in time to make adjustments operationally if necessary.”Meanwhile, Hall took the opportunity to announce the appointment of Barry Thomas as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Thomas replaces the long-standing Richard Jodhan, also of Trinidad & Tobago, who tendered his resignation last year but was asked by the Board to stay on until a new CFO was recruited and hired.Hall then went on to say: “A draft of the financial procedures manual has been prepared and a new Chief Financial Officer appointed. Ensuring adherence to strict financial procedures and budgetary limits will be a priority for the CFO and the entire staff of the Headquarters.”

The CCA Senior Selectors have invited an initial list of 38 players for World Cup training. Commitment, fitness, ability and commitment will be keys in final selection of Canadian cricketers for the World Stage in 2003 but also in 2004, 2005 2007 and beyond!According to initial reports and a lack of better performances to date, changes appear necessary. Only the fittest and the most able must make it to the final World Cup squad. Training and event performances must weed out physical and mental non-preparedness.A total of 14 nations will take part including Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, South Africa, India, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland, Namibia and Canada. Canada has been drawn in Pool B along with Bangladesh, Kenya, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand.The initial list of invitees: (subject to deletions and/or additions as required):

• Ashish Bagai Ontario
• Akshay Bagai Ontario
• Umar Bhatti Ontario
• Ian Billcliff British Columbia
• Manzoor Chaudhary Alberta
• Desmond Chumney Ontario
• Austin Codrington Ontario
• Melvin Croning Ontario
• John Davison British Columbia
• Nicholas DeGroot Ontario
• Mandeep Dhillon Ontario
• Muneeb Diwan New Brunswick
• Joseph Harris Ontario
• Nicholas Ifill Ontario
• Nigel Isaacs Ontario
• Davis Joseph Ontario
• Channa Karunaratne British Columbia
• Ian Khan Ontario
• Ishwar Maraj Ontario
• Damian Mills Manitoba
• Asif Mulla Ontario
• Arjune Nandu Ontario
• Ahmed Panchbhaya Ontario
• Ashish Patel Quebec
• Brian Rajadurai Ontario
• Sukhjinder Rana Ontario
• Nathan Richards Alberta
• Vivian Sailsman Ontario
• Abdool Samad Ontario
• Fazil Samad Ontario
• Kevin Sandher British Columbia
• Barry Seebaran British Columbia
• Brian Seebaran British Columbia
• Surendra Seeraj Ontario
• Eason Sinnathamby Alberta
• Zubin Surkari Ontario
• Sanjayan Thuraisingam Ontario
• Chris Vernon Ontario

CENTURION – The announcement by the United Cricket Board of South Africa ontransformation of cricket holds major implications for those entrusted withthe task of ensuring the unfettered growth of the sport.This is the view expressed by sports and political leaders invited by theMinister of Sport and Recreation Ngconde Balfour to meet with the UCBfollowing the announcement by the national cricket body that quotas innational and senior provincial teams are to be discarded.Among those present at the meeting were MEC’s responsible for Sport andRecreation, Mondli Gungubele (Gauteng), Webster Mfebe (Free State) andSiphosezwe Masango (Mpumalanga), ministerial advisors Sam Ramsamy and MvuzoMbebe, member of the portfolio committee for sport and recreation in theNational Assembly Bheki Ntuli, CEO of the South African Sports CommissionJoe Phaahla, chief director of Sport and Recreation South Africa GregFredericks, sports administrator Kedi Tshoma and ANC Youth League presidentMalusi Gigaba and communications head Khulekani Ntshangase.The UCB was represented by its president Percy Sonn, CEO Gerald Majola,communications director Bronwyn Wilkinson and transformation managementconsultant Chris Day.As a result of the meeting, the UCBSA reaffirmed their commitment to thetransformation of South African cricket into a truly national sport,representative of all the people of South Africa.They also reaffirmed their commitment to the vigilance and critical reviewof transformation based on unlocking the full value of human and materialassets in order for the UCBSA to be responsible custodians of South Africancricket.The parties reaffirmed a commitment to give equal opportunities for all toparticipate so that South African cricket can draw on all its resources toproduce teams representative of the demographics of the nation.The UCB confirmed its understanding that an expectation exists in SouthAfrica that the team that takes the field during the 2003 ICC Cricket WorldCup in South Africa will have at least five players of colour. The UCBcommitted itself to ensuring that a minimum of five black players would bein the South African national squad for the event.The UCB also confirmed its commitment to the performance agreement signedbetween it and the Minister, in terms of which the UCB commits itself totransformation and representivity.Sonn stressed that the UCB acknowledged that the quota system had allowedcricket to reach a level of excellence and representivity and that quotasdid not mean non-merit. In turn, “merit” did not apply only to whitecricketers, but was a term for excellence of all players. The issue ofquotas should be understood as a transformation strategy employed toexpedite and achieve a merit-based demographic representation in sport inthe country, the meeting agreed.A ministerial committee has been tasked by Balfour to visit all provinces totest the validity of the claims made by the UCB about transformation in thesport. The UCB welcomed this decision and has agreed to co-operate with themembers of this committee.

Surrey’s view of another County Championship title is clearer still after they dismissed the last two Hampshire batsmen this morning to record yet another victory. The first to go was James Hamblin, caught and bowled by Ian Salisbury, who then claimed his third wicket of the innings when Dimitri Mascarenhas was caught by James Ormond for 94. Surrey won by an innings and 60 runs and now lead the table by over 47 points.Peter Martin bowled Jason Lewry with the third ball of day to leave Sussex facing defeat after being dismissed for 277. Lancashire, needing 93 to win, suffered an early scare when Mark Chilton and Alec Swann were sent back with just six on the board. The former was caught behind off Kirtley, the latter trapped leg before. With the score at 60 for two, David Byas fell to Kirtley, but Stuart Law calmed his side’s nerves with a fluent and unbeaten 45 to guide them home to a seven-wicket win. They move up to fifth in the table.Leicestershire’s clash with Kent ended in a draw but provided the crowd with some entertaining cricket. The hosts added 361 runs in just over 78 overs as Darren Maddy hit a season-best 156. He put on 139 for the sixth wicket with Phil DeFreitas, who scored 17 boundaries in his 86-ball 94 before he was caught by Steve Waugh. Javagal Srinath soon followed, but a last-wicket stand of 89 between George Walker (37*) and Devon Malcolm (44) put a result for either side out of reach as they set Kent 411 to win. Kent closed on 58 without loss to stay in second place, but Leicestershire remain just one place above the relegation zone.

NAIROBI, Sept 8 AAP – The Australian cricket team heads to Sri Lanka today in a buoyant mood despite the anti-climactic finish to the triangular series in Nairobi.The final against Pakistan was called off after 9.3 overs of Australia’s innings after persistent rain and thunderstorms.Australia was 1-67 in its chase for 228 to win, with captain Ricky Ponting in hot form on 29 not out and Matthew Hayden (20) again showing his impenetrability to finish with a series average of 265.00.”It would have been nice to have had a full game to finish – it was shaping up to be tight game and it’s disappointing it ended the way it did,” said Ponting ahead of the team’s departure to the ICC Champions Trophy tournament in Colombo.”But it was a good series for us, we got a lot of positives out of it – Matthew’s batting, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee’s bowling and Shane Watson improved as the tournament went on.”Our catching and ground fielding was also outstanding throughout the tournament.”He was most impressed with Lee’s maturity and attitude.”I think it’s just been his mind set more than anything – he’s decided to run in and bowl and try to get the ball in the same area every time and not try to blast batsmen out and do too much,” Ponting said.Lee played second fiddle to Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie in the wicket-taking stakes, but managed eight scalps at an average of 13.50 and conceded 3.38 runs per over.”The way he bowled in this tournament has been outstanding – he’s hardly bowled any bad balls, hardly a wide and he’s been patient.”Those were the things we spoke about wanting him to do and he’s really got the bit between his teeth, settled down and worked hard and the results are paying off on the field,” Ponting added.Lee was initially set to take a back seat to Andy Bichel under Australia’s policy of trying to pick the best side each time. But an injury to Bichel after the first game gave Lee his chance and he didn’t look back.”It’s going to be a hard selection from now on regarding those two (Lee and Bichel),” Ponting said.Also impressing the skipper was young all-rounder Shane Watson, who batted well to save the game against Kenya on Thursday and bowled better and better as the tournament went on.”The game against Kenya was a real tough fight for him – most players grow from those situations,” Ponting said of his fellow Tasmanian’s match-winning 77 not out which prevented a shock loss to Kenya.”And I thought his bowling today (in the final) was sensational.”An indicator for our side is that if I field a lot of balls at backward point it means the bowlers are bowling well – and I fielded a lot of balls off Shane.”He just needs a bit more confidence and to learn how to play at the highest level and he’ll get that with a bit more experience.”Australia will arrive in Colombo on Monday afternoon and is scheduled to play a practice game against the West Indies before meeting New Zealand on September 14.