Andrew Hilditch will remain Australia’s chairman of selectors until at least August, when Cricket Australia will have the findings of a review headed by the former BHP chairman Don Argus

Brydon Coverdale10-Mar-2011Andrew Hilditch will remain Australia’s chairman of selectors until at least August, when Cricket Australia will have the findings of a review headed by the former BHP chairman Don Argus. The former captains Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh will be on the panel that will review Australia’s performance in the wake of the Ashes thrashing.The group, which will have the former ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed as its deputy chairman, has been asked to “understand the causes of the Australian cricket team’s recent performance decline in Test matches and recommend changes to deliver sustained success”. And while that scope could mean making recommendations on the make-up of the selection panel, Hilditch won’t be going anywhere just yet.His tenure as chairman was due to expire at the end of the World Cup, but for the sake of continuity he will stay on until the review is complete. That means Hilditch and his panel of Greg Chappell, David Boon and Jamie Cox will be responsible for choosing Australia’s Test squad to tour Sri Lanka in August, and probably the side that will head to South Africa in September.”Because we have to get on with business, the board will keep the current selectors, they will be doing their normal work [until August],” the Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke said. “We’ve got to do contracts, we’ve got a Bangladesh [one-day] series, we’ve got Australia A going to Zimbabwe, we have a Test series in Sri Lanka. All of those will certainly need to be picked before the review comes back. But it is up to the review to come up with things, it is up to the board to make any decision about that.”The panel is expected to report its findings around August, although Clarke said because Cricket Australia did not want to rush things, it could be later in the year. And while it was the Ashes result – Australia lost three matches by an innings and went down in the series 3-1 – that sparked the review, Clarke said all was not doom and gloom for Australian cricket.”We’re still No.1 in one-day cricket and we did have a bad Ashes loss and we lost the Ashes in 2009 as well, not something we’re used to doing and we want to make sure it doesn’t happen again as best as we can,” Clarke said. “It’s just not going to be a witch-hunt, we’re looking forward for sustained future success, we’re not looking with rear-view mirrors.”

Visiting seamer Ian Saxelby claimed career-best figures of 5 for 53 as 15
wickets fell on the opening day at Cardiff

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Apr-2011
Scorecard
Visiting seamer Ian Saxelby claimed career-best figures of 5 for 53 as 15
wickets fell on the opening day at Cardiff.The 21-year-old helped to reduce Glamorgan to 202 all out in 47.5 overs and
Gloucestershire themselves struggled to 76 for 5 before bad light stopped
play for the day.Despite winning the toss, Glamorgan had been 26 for 4 and 54 for 6 but
they were rescued by a seventh-wicket partnership of 138 from Ben Wright, who
made 83 on the day he was awarded his county cap, and Graham Wagg (58).They made a terrible start against the new ball as they lost Gareth Rees to
only the second ball of the game, lbw to Jon Lewis. And six overs later, despite striking three boundaries, Will Bragg fell in similar fashion. Glamorgan further capitulated to 20 for 3 when skipper Alviro Petersen was also trapped in front, this time by Liam Norwell in his first over.Mike Powell became the fourth lbw – the third for Lewis – playing down the
wrong line. The flow of wickets was stemmed briefly by Jim Allenby, who struck a run-a-ball
22 before he edged Saxelby to Ian Cockbain at second slip.Wright was dropped was dropped by Saxelby off Norwood’s bowling, but Saxelby
made amends in the next over when he had Mark Wallace caught by Cockbain at
second slip. Either side of lunch, Wright and Wagg launched a more than profitable recovery
in 22 overs.The pair took Glamorgan to 192 for six before Saxelby dismissed both in the
space of two overs. Wright went for 83 from 98 balls with 14 fours after being
bowled attempting a pull, while Wagg was bowled via an inside edge.Saxelby completed his first five-wicket haul by having Dean Cosker caught
behind as the last three Glamorgan wickets added just 10 runs. In reply, Gloucestershire were reduced to 49 for four despite Glamorgan losing Wagg to a hamstring injury after only one over.His replacement Adam Shantry had Richard Coughtrie caught behind by Mark
Wallace before Harris claimed his first wicket of the season when he bowled
Cockbain for 21.From 29 for 2, the visitors were further reduced to 37 for 3 as Chris
Taylor was trapped lbw failing to offer a shot to Harris. After tea Shantry took his second wicket, Jon Batty pinned leg before, and then Allenby dismissed Alex Gidman.

Fidel Edwards, the West Indies fast bowler, is confident that he is ready for a return to international cricket after nearly two years out

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2011Fidel Edwards, the West Indies fast bowler, is confident that he is ready for a return to international cricket after nearly two years out. Edwards, 29, made his first-class comeback in February after back surgery had kept him on the sidelines since the 2009 Champions League, and he was named for this week’s two-day practice match in Guyana.That could pave the way for Edwards to play in the first Test against Pakistan, starting on Thursday. He has had a successful comeback for Barbados in the regional four-day competition, and collected 22 wickets at 23.77 from his six outings.”I’m very happy to be back,” Edwards said. “I spent a long time out but I’ve made a full recovery and my body is ready to play five-day cricket again. I did a lot of good work with my trainer and the physio in Barbados and they were tremendous help to me during my comeback period.”I felt I bowled well for Barbados and that helped me. I spent some time at the camp in Barbados before the series started and I felt comfortable. I did some work with the head coach (Ottis Gibson) during the camp and things have been going smoothly.”I’m really looking ahead to what is upcoming. This series against Pakistan is a good place to start. I’m focussed and I’m looking to stay fit and strong. I’m looking to get wickets and help the West Indies to success. There is a lot to play for and I’m looking forward.”I have some goals I’m looking to achieve and one thing is to help the team win and move back up the ladder. This is vitally important to the team overall and to the supporters of West Indies cricket.”West Indies are currently seventh on the Test rankings table, but they will move up to sixth if they win the two-match series against Pakistan. However, they will need to turn around some poor form in the longest format; West Indies haven’t won any of their past 17 Tests, a winless streak stretching back to February 2009.

Ajmal Shahzad accepts that this season’s battle for England fast-bowling places will be as tough as it has been for years, but believes he showed enough glimpses of his talent and tenacity during a long winter odyssey to keep himself firmly in the selecto

Andrew Miller20-Apr-2011Ajmal Shahzad accepts that this season’s battle for England fast-bowling places will be as tough as it has been for years, but believes he showed enough glimpses of his talent and tenacity during a long winter odyssey to keep himself firmly in the selector’s thoughts ahead of the Sri Lanka series in May.Shahzad was a key squad member throughout England’s Ashes and World Cup campaigns. Although he did not play in the Tests in Australia, he pressed hard for selection throughout, and subsequently featured in seven of England’s 14 ODIs, before a hamstring injury led to his omission for the team’s crucial World Cup victory over West Indies. Surrey’s Jade Dernbach replaced him in the 15-man party as the team went on to be beaten by ten wickets in the quarter-finals by Sri Lanka.At the moment of victory in Chennai, after England had grafted their way back into the contest to beat West Indies by 18 runs and secure their progression to the last eight, Shahzad’s face was a picture of mixed emotions, as he rose in the dressing room to celebrate with his team-mates, all the while knowing that he was heading for the next plane home.”I was absolutely gutted,” he told ESPNcricinfo during adidas’s launch of the new England ODI kit. “I was so happy to be picked for England, so the disappointing thing for me was when I did get my chance, I got a little niggle. And I don’t know if it was the pressure of the situation or the nervous anxiety, or whatever, but it’s really disappointing, because that is the time I wanted to impress and show what I can do. I hope I’ve shown a little of what I’m capable of doing, but I feel as if there’s plenty more to show, and if I ever get given the chance again, I want to stay injury free, fingers crossed.”He is on the mend now, with a return to action anticipated for Yorkshire’s CB40 match against the Netherlands on Sunday, but Shahzad’s the first to admit he has some ground to make up. The trio of quick bowlers who finished the Ashes campaign – James Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan – are set to be joined in the selection mix by Stuart Broad and Steven Finn, who has started the season impressively with Middlesex, while the likes of Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes and the fit-again Graham Onions have also made strong cases in the early weeks of the season.”It’s going to be very difficult,” he conceded. “There are plenty bowlers vying for spots – not only guys in the set-up, but people in the county circuit who want to put their name in the hat. Then it’s up to the selectors to pick me or not pick me. But the selectors know what I can do. I want to go back [to Yorkshire] and help the boys out, show that I’ve got all the skill levels, show a good level of consistency, and show I’m a very competent batsman as well. If I get a few runs as well, you never know.”Ajmal Shahzad wants to stay injury-free to build on his winter’s efforts•adidas

Even though he may be required to bide his time for a recall, there’s little doubt that Shahzad made some important strides in his career this winter. By his own admission, he needs to work on his consistency, both in terms of fitness and performance, but taken in isolation, there were few better illustrations of his talent that the three wicket-taking deliveries he produced in England’s shock defeat to Bangladesh at Chittagong.Three off-stump snorters to Raqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Naeem Islam resulted in two bowleds and a caught-behind, as Shahzad’s ability to reverse-swing the old ball paid spectacular dividends before Bangladesh’s tailenders regrouped to secure a thrilling two-wicket win. “At the time, they were probably three of the best balls I’ve bowled,” he said. “They’d have got the best batsmen out on their day in any place in the world.”That’s what I’m capable of doing. I’ve got a natural inswinger, and when the ball’s reversing I get it to go away, and it becomes a very difficult delivery to play, and it showed that,” he added. “Looking back in hindsight, I wished I had a few more overs to bowl to get the boys a few more wickets, because it was disappointing to lose that game and make it difficult for ourselves in the quarter-finals, but it was nice to show what I was capable of doing.”Shahzad’s other telling blow of the winter came with the bat, when he strode to the crease at No. 11 in the tense closing stages of England’s epic showdown with India in Bangalore, and helped to salvage a tie by belting his first ball of the tournament, from Munaf Patel, over long-on for six. The blow transformed England’s target, from 11 from four balls to five from three, and it was left to Graeme Swann to level the scores with the last shot of the match.”Swanny said you can have a ball to have a look, then we need to do something,” Shahzad recalled.” But for me, walking out, I said to myself, these are the moments when heroes are made, if you want to show people what you’re capable of doing, this is your chance.”I’d watched Munaf bowl for a little bit before that, and I knew he was either going to bowl me a yorker or a legcutter slower-ball, so I’d got myself ready for that, and knowing that mid-on and mid-off were quite wide, I thought right, just hit it dead straight and as hard as possible, and I know I’ve got the power to back that up, so I can do this. He happened to miss his length and I happened to hit it, pleasantly!”Since England’s return home, much has been made of the gruelling nature of their five-month itinerary, but as a man who still had to clock up the air-miles even though he wasn’t a regular member of the starting XI, Shahzad insisted that the team had never been under any illusions about the magnitude of the task.”It was a little bit tough, but bearing in mind we knew what was in store for us, we planned for that and got ours mind focussed around it,” he said. “There were probably too many one-dayers, you might say, with a World Cup straight after, but the lads knew what was in store. Our 15-man squad got bigger and bigger as it went along, and we had a bit of a rotation system as well, so the management managed it as best they could.”Looking back on it, we did what we wanted to do, and we came back with the Ashes. We wanted to win the World Cup as well, but that was always going to be difficult in the subcontinent against subcontinent teams who are very good at one-day cricket. And right now I feel a part of the squad, although I don’t yet feel I’ve established myself, which I want to do and need to do for a prosperous career for England.”Ajmal Shahzad was launching the new One Day International England Cricket Kit, supplied by England kit sponsor adidas, at the JJB Sports Store in Enfield yesterday. Purchase your ODI shirt in-store at any JJB or online at jjbsports.com

The New Zealand Players’ Association chief, Heath Mills, has hit out at the organisers of the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 for a delay in payments

ESPNcricinfo staff29-May-2011The New Zealand Players’ Association chief, Heath Mills, has hit out at the organisers of the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 for not having paid the share of prize money due to the New Zealand franchise that participated in the tournament. While the Central Districts players, who failed to win a match during the tournament, received their participation fee, they have not yet received the prize money owed to them eight months after the tournament ended.The amount owed is understood to be around $200,000 and the payment has apparently been held up due to red tape associated with making significant foreign currency payments out of India. However, Mills said there was no excuse for what had become “a disgraceful situation”. He also warned that players would be reluctant to take part in future tournaments – including this year’s, scheduled for October – if the pay issue wasn’t addressed immediately.”It’s not acceptable when people complete a job and honour all their obligations under a contract to the person they are working for, yet they aren’t compensated for completing that work,” Mills told the . “That wouldn’t be accepted in any other workplace environment. Players now don’t have a lot of faith or confidence in the boards running this event given their treatment of players so I expect there will be quite a few questions before guys want to commit to something this year.”Having won last season’s HRV Cup, Auckland are eligible to play the Champions League, though with the tournament potentially adding a qualifier, it is not certain whether they will make it to the main event.Mills cast aspersion on the excuse about government regulations blocking payments. “We hear a lot of excuses around government processes in India and the like but that doesn’t seem to impact on similar payments from other events like the recent World Cup where all payments were made on time,” he said. “I would be interested to see if the same delays have been encountered by the three boards who own the event when they distribute their profits to each other.”The last Champions League Twenty20 was played in South Africa and was run as a joint venture between the national cricket boards of Australia, South Africa and India. The South African franchises did in fact also experience a delay in receiving their prize money, and in January the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations’ (FICA) chief Tim May had criticised the boards organising the tournament for paying the players on time. The South African players have been paid since, but the New Zealand players are still waiting.May said FICA would advise players not to participate in the tournament in future without some assurances regarding remuneration.New Zealand Cricket boss Justin Vaughan said payments out of India were often delayed but conceded the wait had been too long. “We’ve seen this in the past with sponsorship payments so it’s not unexpected in a way,” Vaughan said. “That said, it is dragging on too long and it’s very hard to argue when the distribution of funds is being held up by a government process.”

Asif Ali smashed a century on debut to set up a match-winning total for his team against Multan Tigers in the opening game of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2011It was a Faysal Bank Twenty20 debut to remember for Faisalabad Wolves batsman Asif Ali. The 19-year-old Ali smashed a century to set up a match-winning total for his team against Multan Tigers in the opening game of the tournament.Ali, who has worked as a blacksmith and has played only three first-class games, showed no sign of nerves when he came in to bat at No. 3, after Faisalabad lost opener Mohammad Hafeez off the first ball of the match. He put on 125 in 13 overs with Asif Hussain and went on to get his hundred in the company of Pakistan and Faisalabad captain Misbah-ul-Haq, with whom he added 52 runs in five overs. He was dismissed in the 19th over, after making 100 off just 59 balls with nine fours and seven sixes.”Ali played an exceptional innings,” Misbah said. “Such innings are very rare from someone batting on his debut and this is a good sign for us.”Multan captain Abdur Rauf said Ali’s innings was the difference between the two teams. “The youngster took the game away from us as he was unstoppable and it’s great to see someone play such a knock on his debut,” he said.Ali was named Man of the Match and Faisalabad coach Ijaz Ahmed jnr said he looked an exciting prospect for the future, and called for his inclusion in the national side. “He [Ali] is an extraordinary player and the selectors should look at him because I believe he will go on to become a star for Pakistan,” he said.”I’m amazed the way he played. At the same time, I’m astonished at how we failed to spot such a talent in the last two to three years because last time around, he was a part of the squad but wasn’t given a chance.”

A round-up of the second day of matches at the Sri Lanka Cricket Inter-Provincial Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2011A rollicking opening stand between Thilan Samaraweera and Rumesh Buddika set up defending champion Wayamba‘s seven-wicket victory over Ruhuna at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Ruhuna chose to bat and made 150 for 7 on the back of Dinesh Chandimal’s 88, which came from just 57 balls and contained nine fours and two sixes. Samaraweera and Buddika set about the chase in earnest, adding 119 in 12 overs before they were separated. Both openers made 57, with Buddika scoring marginally quicker, needing 36 balls to Samaraweera’s 39. Comfortably ahead of the required run-rate by then, Wayamba coasted home with 16 balls to spare.Kandurata cantered to a ten-wicket win over Combined Provinces in game reduced to nine-overs-a-side by rain. Put in to bat, Combined Provinces were immediately in trouble as Muttiah Muralitharan struck twice in the first over, and it was only thanks to a quickfire 27 from Chaturanga de Silva that they managed 61 for 8. Kandurata openers Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana chased that total down in just 6.4 overs, as Sangakkara smashed 37 from 19 balls.

Ramesh Saxena, the former India batsman, has died of a brain haemorrhage, in Jamshedpur at the age of 66

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2011Ramesh Saxena, the former India batsman, has died of a brain haemorrhage, in Jamshedpur at the age of 66. Saxena, who played one Test for India, in 1967, was serving as the secretary of the Bihar Jharkhand Cricket Association.A teenage prodigy, Saxena began his first-class career with a century for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy at the age of just 16. He was a stalwart for Delhi for many years, and earned a call-up to the India side for the 1967 tour of England. He scored 238 runs on the tour but got scores of 16 and 9 in the only Test he played, at Headingley. He also toured Australia and New Zealand in 1967-68 but never played another Test.He played 149 first-class matches, scoring 8155 runs with 17 centuries.Former India cricketer Abbas Ali Baig described Saxena as an “an extremely elegant stroke player”. “He played only one Test,” Baig told the , “and that does not really reflect the quality of his batsmanship.”Bihar state-mate Daljit Singh said Saxena knew “almost instinctively when to step out and when to stay back in the crease”. “Players from smaller Ranji sides hardly got a look-in then,” Singh said. “If he had turned out for a bigger team, he might have played for at least 10 years for India.”

A round-up of matches from the third weekend of Kenya’s new East African Cup and East Africa Elite League

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2011Much of the action took place off the field after eight national squad players boycotted last weekend’s matches in another row over central contracts. But this time Cricket Kenya took a hardline stance and refused to back down, leading to the eight seeking a meeting with the board on Friday. But the franchises took the initiative and told the players they had been dropped and would not be selected again this season, in effect scuppering any hopes they had of negotiating their way back into the Kenyan side.

East Africa Premier League

Rwenzori Warriors beat Rift Valley Rhinos in the meeting of the only two previously unbeaten teams, bowling out Rift for 77 and then knocking off the runs for the loss of five wickets with three overs to spare. Rift never recovered from collapsing to 3 for 3Nairobi Buffaloes moved second with a last-ball five-wicket victory over Nile Knights, Rajesh Varsani thumping a four with two needed for the win. Colins Obuya, who had reportedly received threats over his participation in the tournament while other former team-mates were striking, led the Nairobi innings with 55.Coast Pekee’s made it five losses in as many games as they only managed 95 for 6 in their 20 overs – Dominic Wesonga the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 15 – and Kongonis strolled to a six-wicket win with seven overs in hand, Duncan Allan celebrating his call-up to the national team with 51.

East African Cup

Kongonis moved top of the table, beating tournament whipping boys Coast Pekee by 70 runs (D/L). Kongonis overcame a middle-order collapse which saw them slip from 58 for 1 to 64 for 4, eventually posting 219 for 8. Weather interventions left Pekee chasing 149 from 23 overs, a target which proved well beyond them as they limped to 78 for 6.Nile Knights were left frustrated after rain washed out their match against Nairobi Buffaloes with them in a strong position. Ugandan international Arthur Kyobe scored 123 off 100 balls to steer the Knights to 261, and in reply the Buffaloes were wobbling on 55 for 4 from 17.4 overs when the rain came.Rwenzori Warriors, who are finding the 50-over game a tougher prospect, finally recorded their first win, beating Rift Valley Rhinos by five wickets. The Rhinos lost their way after starting well, losing their last nine wickets for 90 as they were bowled out for 137. The Warriors needed fewer than half their allocation of overs to knock off the runs.

England’s Test series against South Africa next year, which could be another battle for the No. 1 ranking, will be in direct competition with the Olympic Games and played over just three matches

Andrew McGlashan28-Sep-2011England’s home Test series against South Africa in 2012, which could be another battle for the No. 1 ranking, will be in direct competition with the Olympic Games and played over just three matches. The ECB also confirmed that West Indies will visit for a full tour and Australia for five ODIs.South Africa’s visit in July and August has been squeezed because of the London Olympics, which will be staged for two weeks from late July and brings with it a series of restrictions about competing sporting events, and also by a visit from Australia for a one-day series. The first Test, at The Oval, will be played a week before the Games and the last, at Lord’s, which is an Olympic venue, takes place shortly after it has finished. The Headingley Test has the task of battling head on with the Games.In 2008, series between England and South Africa were given ‘icon’ status which, at the time, meant a five-Test series. The 2009-10 series in South Africa, however, had only four matches and was shared 1-1, with the hosts fighting back to win the final Test in Johannesburg.At a time when the primacy of Test cricket is a major debate, having such a marquee series reduced to three matches doesn’t bode well and suggests boards are paying no more than lip service to the principle that money doesn’t rule. The proximity of the Olympics is out of the ECB’s control but 13 ODIs, including another stand-alone five-match series against Australia, is unbalanced especially in a country where Test cricket is well attended.After the Tests, South Africa will play five one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals in England. They will act as preparation for the World Twenty20 that starts a week later in Sri Lanka with England as defending champions.England’s home season begins on May 17 with the first Test against West Indies, at Lord’s, followed by further matches at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston. West Indies then play three ODIs and a single T20. Both West Indies and South Africa have two warm-up matches before their respective Test series begin, although South Africa’s match against Somerset will be a two-day game followed by a three-day outing against Kent before the first Test.England will also play Scotland in an ODI on August 12 as part of the arrangement whereby they play them and Ireland in alternate years. A venue for that match has still to be confirmed.Cardiff, which was handed a 2015 Ashes Test as the major matches were allocated for a four-year period, will host the domestic Friends Life t20 finals day for the first time on August 25. The CB40 final takes place at Lord’s again on September 15.Key datesMay 17-21 – 1st Test v West Indies, Lord’s
May 25-29 – 2nd Test v West Indies, Trent Bridge
June 7-11 – 3rd Test v West Indies, Edgbaston
June 16 – 1st ODI v West Indies, Rose Bowl
June 19 – 2nd ODI v West Indies, The Oval
June 22 – 3rd ODI v West Indies, Headingley
June 24 – T20 v West Indies, Trent Bridge
June 29 – 1st ODI v Australia, Lord’s
July 1 – 2nd ODI v Australia, The Oval
July 4 – 3rd ODI v Australia, Edgbaston
July 7 – 4th ODI v Australia, Durham
July 10th – 5th ODI v Australia, Old Trafford
July 19-23 – 1st Test v South Africa, The Oval
August 2-6 – 2nd Test v South Africa, Headingley
August 16-20 – 3rd Test v South Africa, Lord’s
August 24 – 1st ODI v South Africa, Cardiff
August 28 – 2nd ODI v South Africa, Rose Bowl
August 31 – 3rd ODI v South Africa, The Oval
September 2 – 4th ODI v South Africa, Lord’s
September 5 – 5th ODI v South Africa, Trent Bridge
September 8 – 1st T20 v South Africa, Durham
September 10 – 2nd T20 v South Africa, Old Trafford
September 12 – 3rd T20 v South Africa, Edgbaston