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Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul career-best first-class figures of 8 for 36 clinched a dramatic 92-run victory for Guyana over Windward Islands in the second round of four-day matches in the Professional Cricket League.

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2014Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul’s career-best first-class figures of 8 for 36 clinched a dramatic 92-run victory for Guyana over Windward Islands in the waning moments of play at Providence Stadium in the second round of four-day matches in the Professional Cricket League.Resuming overnight on 133 for 5 in the second innings, Guyana batted 12 overs in the morning session on day four before declaring on 175 for 6 to set Windward Islands a target of 283. Windwards reached 100 for 1 in the 34th over but Permaul’s removal of Devon Smith for 55 sparked a stunning collapse which saw the visitors eventually dismissed for 190 in 80.2 overs. Permaul earlier claimed three wickets in the first innings to complete a career-best match-haul of 11 for 76.Permaul’s final-day heroics couldn’t trump the performance of Narsingh Deonarine, who took Man of the Match honours after setting up the win with 136 off 293 balls for Guyana in their first innings total of 291. Shivnarine Chanderpaul assisted Deonarine with 63 after Guyana won the toss and elected to bat first, and the pair’s 153-run fourth-wicket stand established a sizable advantage for the home side. Deonarine then followed it up in the field by taking 5 for 24 to restrict Windwards to 184 in their first innings.At Warner Park in St Kitts, Trinidad & Tobago completed a comfortable win over Leeward Islands by six wickets. Yannick Ottley carried on from his overnight score of 40 to finish unbeaten with 76 off 230 balls to get Trinidad & Tobago to the target of 203. His third-wicket stand of 104 with Jason Mohammed, who made 56, was by far the largest partnership of the match and the two were the only players to cross fifty.Leewards made 202 in the first innings after being sent in by T & T with legspinner Imran Khan taking 4 for 83. Three players finished on 34 apiece for Leewards – Austin Richards, Akeem Saunders and Jeremiah Louis – but Khan removed the first two while Louis ran out of partners before Khan and Rayad Emrit wiped out the tail.Trinidad & Tobago only made 130 in response to give Leewards a comfortable first innings advantage. However, that lead was squandered when Leewards fell in their second innings for the identical total of 130. Khan did even more damage in the second innings, taking 6 for 13 to finish with his second career ten-for to be named Man of the Match.Jamaica and Barbados were unable to get any play in over the course of the first three days and as a result their match at Windward Park in Barbados ended in a draw. Barbados won the toss and sent Jamaica in to bat when play was finally able to get underway on day four with Jamaica reaching 111 for 4 before declaring their first innings after 40 overs as Shacaya Thomas made 59. Barbados reached 6 for 2 in 3.4 overs before play was called off.

Captain Daryl Mitchell completed the 10th Championship century ofhis career as Worcestershire nudged ahead of Essex in the Division Two table

31-May-2013
ScorecardDaryl Mitchell made the most of a dead game•PA PhotosCaptain Daryl Mitchell completed the 10th Championship century ofhis career as Worcestershire nudged ahead of Essex in the Division Two tableafter a rain-hit draw with their promotion rivals at New Road.With more than 200 overs lost because of the weather, the home side occupiedthe crease throughout the last day with Mitchell making 156 towards adeclaration in the last hour at 351 for 6. This fulfilled all objectives in taking them into a lead of 136 while accruingfour batting points and restricting their opponents to two for bowling.Essex stuck to their task but the ball did not swing as it had done forWorcestershire’s Jack Shantry when the left-arm seamer posted a personal-bestChampionship return of 7 for 69 in dismissing the visitors for a below-par215.There were some uneasy moments for Mitchell early in the day but nothing thatcould shake his temperament as he set about building his first Championshiphundred since last August. The first 50 was easier on the eye, with nine fours in 66 balls, but the nextphase took twice as long as he became becalmed, albeit with less than half ofthe strike, through 15 overs in the 90s.A square drive off Sajid Mahmood took the pressure off as he moved into threefigures with his 15th boundary and there was another change of gear as heaccelerated to a third 50 from 53 balls.After the early season domination by seam bowlers, it was the turn of batsmento enjoy a day in warm sunshine, although for most of the time the scoring ratewas pegged at little better than three runs an over. The only wicket to fall in the morning was that of Matt Pardoe, caught at shortleg for 17 when offspinner Tom Westley nipped in for one over to break an openingstand of 62.However, there was to be a lot more toil for Essex as Mitchell shared in onlythe second and third century partnerships for Worcestershire this season. Moeen Ali hit 10 fours in making 54 out of 127 before he was caught at extracover off Graham Napier and Thilan Samaraweera played with customary efficiencyas the third wicket yielded 107 in 28 overs.Essex finally claimed some reward with the new ball as David Masters took threewickets before Samaraweera, unbeaten with 70, took his team to their target of350 with 13 balls to spare. Masters began his spell by bowling Mitchell afterthe opener had batted for a little over five hours.

Angelo Mathews brushed off suggestions that Sri Lanka have arrived in England without adequate preparation, but identified his side’s batting as the area of most concern.

ESPNcricinfo staff28-May-2013Angelo Mathews brushed off suggestions that Sri Lanka have arrived in England without adequate preparation, but identified his side’s batting as the area requiring most attention, as they build up to the Champions Trophy with three warm-up matches at Edgbaston.”There has been a little bit of doubt; people kept saying that the boys are in India and they haven’t had good preparation,” Mathews said. “But I want to write it off because we are professionals and we need to get prepared for this kind of tournament because it’s a huge event for everyone, personally and as a team. So I think we’ve done our preparation as a team and individually.”Mathews backed his senior batsmen, like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who failed to perform in the IPL; Sangakkara, in fact, was left out of the playing XI for the second half of the IPL. They were also unable to return to Sri Lanka to train with the remainder of the squad, despite a written request to the BCCI from Sri Lanka Cricket.”I think the senior batsmen have been world class for us. It’s not even a concern when it comes to a tournament like this because they’ve been here, they’ve done it, and I have the confidence in them.” he said “I’m really proud to have these guys in my team because I can get a lot of information and help.”Nine of Sri Lanka’s probable first XI arrived in Sri Lanka piecemeal over the last two weeks. They will now attempt to transition from the slow, turning pitches in the India to conditions better suiting fast bowlers in England, in just over a week.Those who did not travel to India however, played in a practice tournament in Pallekele, which sought to ready Sri Lanka for English conditions by attempting to recreate the seaming pitches they might encounter there”We’ve been playing in low [and] slow conditions and very hot and humid conditions in the past couple months. I think trying to adjust to the conditions is going to be the main challenge.” said Mathews. “Especially early summer is always going to be like this; wet, and it’s going to swing and seam. I think that’s our main challenge as batters especially,”He believed his bowlers would have an easier time adjusting, citing both their experience and their propensity to excel in swinging conditions. Sri Lanka drew an ODI series with Australia in January, where Nuwan Kulasekara, in particular, extracted substantial movement to trouble batsmen, while Thisara Perera and Mathews are also capable of moving the ball off the pitch to good effect.”I think the bowlers have got the firepower. We haven’t got the pace, but we know how to go in these conditions. In one group guys like Lasith Malinga, Perera have got that firepower. Malinga and Kulasekara, have been our strike bowlers the past three or four years, so we bank on them.”Sri Lanka have been one of the most consistent sides in major tournaments, making four ICC finals and a semi-final in the last six years. Mathews could not put his finger on why they have been unable to convert those chances, but was hopeful of maintaining their impressive run in major events.”Most teams won’t be complacent with us, but I think our past consistency is just a platform, because we need to raise the bar a bit. We’ve done pretty well on the big stage, and it’s just that I can’t really point out what went wrong in the finals and semi-finals, but we are hoping to better those performances But I think for now, as a team, we just want to make the maximum out of the first 10 days in England.”

Julian Hunte and Whycliffe Cameron of Jamaica will contest the WICB presidential elections after former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd failed in his nomination bid

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Feb-2013Julian Hunte and Whycliffe Cameron of Jamaica will contest the WICB presidential elections after former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd failed in his nomination bid. To secure a nomination, a candidate needs the backing of two full members (regional boards) and Lloyd only had the approval his native Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) before the deadline for filing the application expired on February 22. The elections will be held as part of the WICB AGM, on March 27 in Barbados.The presidential race is now a two-way fight between Hunte, who currently heads the WICB, and Cameron, who is vice-president. According to the amended rules of the WICB, none of the directors, who are part of the executive board, have voting powers from this year. That was one of the recommendations of the Wilkins Committee report, which was ratified by the board at its last meeting. Each of the six regional boards (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Windward Islands) have selected two representatives who are allowed to vote, with the new president to be elected via a secret ballot.The Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president, Joel Garner, who was an integral part of the dominating West Indies team of the 1970s and ’80s that Lloyd led, has put his hat into the ring for the vice-president’s role. Garner, who is one of the WICB directors, will face-off against Dominican Emmanuel Nanthan, president of the Windward Islands Cricket Association.This was Lloyd’s second failed attempt to get a nomination. In the past he was not allowed to enter the presidential race on the grounds that he did not satisfy the required residential conditions, as he was staying outside of the Caribbean at the time. This time Lloyd had fulfilled that obligation, having moved back to Guyana after been appointed by the government as chairman of the interim management committee formed in the aftermath of the disputed GCB elections in 2011.Despite Lloyd calling the controversial GCB elections held on January 27 this year “illegal”, a special executive board meeting held last Thursday nominated him as its delegate for the WICB presidential elections. But Lloyd needed the one of the other five regional boards to second his nomination.In his attempt to garner more support Lloyd had even sent his manifesto to the T&T and Barbados cricket boards. Titled ‘Clive Lloyd’s manifesto – WICB presidency’, the three-page document stressed that West Indies cricket desperately needed a “second growth curve”and argued he had the right expertise and international experience as a former professional cricketer and ICC administrator to lead the board.”My vision for West Indies cricket is to take our cricket out of the doldrums and to put us back at the top. To use my expertise, knowledge of and passion for the game, my credibility, integrity and international professional standing and every moral fibre within to reverse the fortunes of our WI cricket,” Lloyd wrote.He signed off the document by quoting Winston Churchill, the former British prime minister: “‘To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents.’ Today I believe I have been ‘figuratively tapped’ and offered an opportunity to do a very special thing. Cricket is one of the great unifying forces in West Indian history and culture and I would like to offer my services to people of the West Indies as the next president of WICB.”However, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board sidestepped the issue by deciding to act as a neutral observer instead of supporting any candidate, while the BCA’s stance remained unclear.

A round-up of matches played in the President’s One-Day Cup tournament 2012-13 played on April 9, 2013

Umar Farooq09-Apr-2013A Rafatullah Mohmand century helped WAPDA pull off a 76-run victory over United Bank Limited at National Stadium in Karachi. Asked to bat first, WAPDA got off to a flying start, with opener Mohmand (107) and Saad Nasim (75) laying a solid 140-run stand. A brisk 31-ball 62 by Aamer Sajjad, along with Mohammad Ayub (33) powered WAPDA to an imposing 352 for 5. Shabbir Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets.UBL got off to a decent start, despite losing opener Khaqan Arsal with the score on 19. Saad Sukhail (84) and Imran Ali (70) shared a 147-run stand for the third wicket, but it wasn’t enough to lower the asking rate, with UBL losing wickets on a regular basis. Kashif Bhatti scored a quick fire 37, which included two fours and three sixes, before being dismissed by Kashif Naved, who took best figures of 3 for 19 in five overs. UBL ultimately reached 276 for 8, falling short by 76 runs.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited wrapped a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Khan Research Laboratories at Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. KRL put on 200 for 9 after being asked to bat first, with the main contributions coming from Saeed Anwar jnr (51 off 101 balls) and Shoaib Ahmed (46). Iftikhar Anjum had best figures of 3 for 39, and he was ably supported by Zohaib Khan with 2 for 34.While chasing, ZTBL never faced a serious threat as Sharjeel Khan (90) and Babar Azam (72 not out) chased KRL’s total with more than 13 overs to spare. KRL were laden with international bowlers like Mohammad Irfan, Yasir Arafat and Rahat Ali, but the target was not defendable. Irfan was the only bowler to have any success, picking up 2 for 38.Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited beat Port Qasim Authority by four wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. After choosing to bowl, PQA removed Mohammad Hafeez in the first over. Azhar Ali battled hard for his 95, with No.7 batsman Mohamamd Rizwan contributing 83 to help the side put on a respectable 238.PQA’s chase centered around opener Khurram Manzoor, who hit a match-winning century to help lead the side home with 40 balls to spare. There was a mini jolt for PQA, as they lost two quick wickets on 203, but Umar Amin (32) and Kamran Younis (20*) held their nerve to chase down the target for the loss of only six wickets. Manzoor hit three sixes and 13 fours in his innings of 115.Habib Bank Limited beat State Bank of Pakistan by three wickets and eight balls to spare. SBP chose to bat, with Kashif Siddiq (69) and Usman Saeed (49) top scoring as they posted 231 for 8. Abdur Rehman, Ehsan Adil and Mohamad Aslam all picked up two wickets apiece.HBL got off to solid start with Ahmed Shahzad (61) and Imran Farhat (49) putting on a 97-run opening stand. They lost a few in the middle overs, leaving the score at 122 for 4. A 54-run partnership between Asad Shafiq and Aftab Alam helped restore balance to the innings. Shafiq (57*) and Fahad Masood (20*) ultimately took the team home despite two slip-ups, as they finished with three wickets and eight balls to spare.

New Zealand’s regular captain Brendon McCullum has suggested that he could play as an opener during the 2015 World Cup, even as the side look for a settled combination before the tournament in February-March

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2014New Zealand’s regular captain Brendon McCullum has suggested that he could play as an opener in the 2015 World Cup as the side looks for a settled combination before the tournament in February-March.In 13 innings this year, New Zealand have tried out four opening pairs with Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder having played the most games. However, with Ryder out of contention for a World Cup spot, the second opener’s slot has seen a few shuffles. James Neesham was tried out during the home series against South Africa and with Guptill injured for the first two ODIs of the ongoing series against Pakistan, New Zealand opened the batting with Anton Devcich and Dean Brownlie. Brownlie was given the axe on Guptill’s return though.McCullum expressed confidence in the New Zealand middle order, which has also contributed to the argument to possibly promote himself.”We’ve got a No 3 and No 4 [Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor] who I believe are as good as any No 3 and 4 in the world,” McCullum told . “Then a guy like Luke Ronchi scoring runs significantly down the order who can close out games and we’ve got experience and hitters too.”[Opening] probably suits my game as well, there’ll be no stone unturned, we’ll definitely be having a go. I also think Guppy [Martin Guptill] and I go well as a combination.”McCullum has opened in 84 ODIs, scoring 2480 runs at 33.06 – better than his career average of 30.05 – and has struck three of his four ODI hundreds in that position. McCullum and Ryder are the third-most successful opening partnership for New Zealand in ODIs – with 1069 runs in 22 innings – and the McCullum-Guptill pair have made 795 runs with an average of 44.16. His last ODI innings as an opener came during the 2011 World Cup and since then he has played in the middle order.Even as he looked at playing as an opener in ODIs, McCullum said that he will drop down the order to his No. 5 spot for the home Tests against Sri Lanka, which start from December 26 in Christchurch. McCullum had opened the innings in the recent Test series against Pakistan, where he also scored 202 in Sharjah, but insisted that move was to allow the side to play a specialist bowler.”It’s back down to No. 5 for me in this Test series. It was a horses-for-courses option in Sharjah, we needed the extra bowling option over there,” he said. “I think you need to have a couple of players in the group who are quite fluid and it’s easier to do for the captain, there’s a bit more experience and a bit less pressure.”

The PCB has asked all centrally contracted players to undergo a fitness test, before they are considered for a new, year-long central contract

Umar Farooq09-Apr-2012The PCB has asked its centrally-contracted players to undergo a fitness test, before they are considered for a new, year-long central contract. All centrally-contracted players are required to undergo the fitness test, though Umar Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal will take the test – being carried out on Monday and Tuesday – on a later date. Hafeez is currently unavailable for the test for personal reasons, Ajmal’s just had his third son and Akmal is out of the country.The contracts, which expired in December, 2011 were due to be reviewed after the England series in February – but it was delayed after a new selection committee headed by Iqbal Qasim was formed.The PCB has decided to increase pay scales of those awarded the new contracts, given that there have been no increments in the last three-and-a-half years.The PCB earlier issued six-month contracts to 29 players, spread over four categories. The new committee now aims to issue a year-long contract to each of its players. The committee met last week to discuss the central contracts, but sought more time to make its decision.Among those likely to make a comeback is Shahid Afridi, the former captain, who had automatically lost his contract in May 2011 when he announced his retirement from international cricket, in protest against the board’s decision to replace him as captain of the ODI team.In the past the board has handed out central contracts to the players based on their performance and fitness, however now they aim to assess the fitness of the players and then gauge their future prospects.

Ireland have suffered a blow ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 with the allrounder John Mooney ruled out due to a serious finger fracture

Ger Siggins16-Aug-2012John Mooney, the man who hit the winning runs for Ireland against England in the 2011 World Cup, has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 due to a serious finger fracture. He suffered the injury when fielding in Irish club cricket, having returned to the game as a bowler while still resting a dislocated thumb sustained last month.”I’m devastated to be missing out on the rest of the season and the Twenty20 World Cup”, Mooney told ESPNcricinfo. “I was playing as a bowler for my club North County at the weekend as I was resting my thumb from batting since I dislocated it against Afghanistan.”I took a sharp chance low to the ground at first slip off Eddie Richardson and looked down to see the top part of my middle finger was floppy. I knew it wasn’t good.”A visit to a finger specialist on Tuesday gave Mooney, who has won 134 Ireland caps, the news he was dreading. “He confirmed I have fractured it and ripped the tendon from the bone,” Mooney said. “I’m in a splint now for 12 weeks where hopefully the tendon will reconnect with the bone. It’s particularly hard to take as I had to fly home from the qualifiers early due to my hamstring injury.Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth said the initial hope had been that an uncomplicated break might have had Mooney back playing by September. “We had hoped that it was just a break, and he might have been able to be back playing in 3-4 weeks”, Holdsworth said.”But he has damaged the ligaments and so we’ve reluctantly had to rule him out. It’s a great shame and a setback to him, especially as he was injured in the qualifiers in Dubai. He’s such a big part of the team and we really want him to be there.”Mooney has been a key member of Phil Simmons’ Ireland side since the 2007 World Cup, where he made just one appearance. The combative Dubliner famously struck the final blow as Ireland beatEngland at Bangalore in last year’s World Cup.But an injury sustained while diving for catch in the T20 qualifiers in Dubai in March ruled him out of early season with his club. He recovered and played a short trial with Sussex in June, before he returned early after deciding a county career was not for him.The Irish squad will be released at 9am local time on Friday, with England-bound Boyd Rankin certain to be included.

Left-arm spinner Gohar took five wickets and opener Aslam made an unbeaten 72 to lead Pakistan U-19 to an eight-wicket win over UAE U-19

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2013
Scorecard
Left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar took five wickets as Pakistan Under-19 ran away to their third win on the trot, beating UAE Under-19 by eight wickets in Sharjah. Pakistan bowled UAE out for 104 before opener Sami Aslam powered them to their target with an unbeaten 66-ball 72 inside 20 overs.Sent in to bat, UAE began well, with openers Chirag Suri and Shivank Vijayakumar taking them to 45 after seven overs. Gohar came on at this point and struck with his first delivery, getting Vijayakumar caught at slip for 22. Gohar took his second wicket in his third over, trapping Suri lbw for 34.Wickets fell regularly after that, and only one of the remaining UAE batsmen got into double figures – Qazi Ayub, who made 11 – as Gohar and left-arm seamer Mohammad Aftab ran through their lineup to bowl them out in 30.3 overs. Gohar finished with figures of 5 for 18 in 10 overs, while Aftab took 3 for 43 in 8.3. Legspinner Karamat Ali, meanwhile, chipped in with two wickets.Pakistan Under-19 captain Aslam – who, at 17, has already played 14 first class matches – set off in a hurry, starting the chase with three fours in the first over off Mavuru Aditya. UAE dismissed Hussain Talat and Imam-ul-Haq to leave Pakistan 35 for 2 after 7.1 overs but the left-handed Aslam continued to punish their bowling , scoring successive boundaries off Qazi Ayub and smacking Aditya for three successive sixes to go from 39 to 57.Pakistan reached their target off the penultimate ball of the 20th over, with Saud Shakeel contributing 16 to an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 70.

Joe Root, the Yorkshire batsman, hit an unbeaten hundred as England Lions cruised to a 10-wicket victory against the West Indians on the final day in Northampton

Andrew McGlashan13-May-2012
ScorecardJoe Root made the most of the easy runs on offer during the Lions chase•Getty ImagesJoe Root, the Yorkshire batsman, hit an unbeaten hundred as England Lions cruised to a 10-wicket victory against the West Indians on the final day in Northampton. Root and Michael Carberry ensured the Lions knocked off their target of 197 with considerable ease with the visitors disappointingly going through the motions after showing much more spirit the previous day.The West Indians provided barely a threat with a depleted bowling attack after the last two wickets had been removed in the opening half an hour. Kemar Roach did not bowl during the Lions chase after taking a blow on his right hand while batting to add to the twisted ankle he picked up on the second day. Ravi Rampaul then left the field after an opening four-over spell while Fidel Edwards was not given much further work ahead of the first Test despite the visitors’ lack of cricket on tour.Whether there were serious concerns ahead of the Test remained to be seen, but if they do opt to play offspinner Shane Shillingford, one of the three quicks on show here will have to make way for Darren Sammy, who was rested.It meant the bowling was largely in the hands of the two spinners, Shillingford and Marlon Samuels, plus an appearance from the rarely seen medium pace of Darren Bravo who bowled for just the second time in his first-class career. Root and Carberry had few problems as they compiled their partnership at a steady pace in a match that had lost any semblance of intensity.The 21-year-old Root, who is often compared to Michael Vaughan, is in the early stages of his Lions career and remains a longer-term project in terms of international recognition. The attack he faced during this innings did not allow many judgements to be made, but neither did he let the opportunity of a lengthy stay in the middle pass him by, which will have been noted. He also made it a good day for Yorkshire following the earlier call-up for Jonny Bairstow to the squad for the first Test.Root’s hundred, like Kieran Powell’s yesterday, was just the second of his first-class career and came off 132 balls. He had skipped ahead of Carberry during the latter half of his innings against the comfortable bowling on offer with Shillingford conceding more than four an over.The Lions had not taken long to wrap up the West Indian second innings after being given a tough day in the field on Saturday with Powell making his stubborn century. However, the home side did add two more dropped catches to their tally during a below-par fielding display. Nick Compton spilled Roach at slip and Root put down Rampaul at short leg both off Matt Coles, but Coles wrapped up the innings to finish with hard-earned figures of 4 for 76.