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Ramnaresh Sarwan, the captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, said his team’s hunger to win the Caribbean Premier League was one of the main motivators during the semi-final against Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel

Renaldo Matadeen24-Aug-2013Ramnaresh Sarwan, the captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, said his team’s hunger to win the Caribbean Premier League was one of the main motivators during the semi-final against Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel.”We knew we just needed to play smart cricket and perfect the basics,” Ramnaresh Sarwan, the Guyana captain, said after the match. “We had the backing of a lot of the crowd and I think we were hungrier for the trophy. It’s just two games to win and we’re not feeling the pressure.”Guyana Amazon Warriors steamrolled to top of the league stage with five wins and two losses and Sarwan, while not in the best of form, managed to get some exciting cricket from his team-mates.Sarwan’s has not been a regular fixture in the West Indies ODI side and Guyana has another player in Denesh Ramdin who has struggled to cement a place in the side. The pair, however, have injected leaderships into the Guyana side. The motivation and confidence has drawn comparisons with leaders who may not be starring individually for their teams but who have beenable to assemble their squads in the right manner.While Guyana have lacked the bigger stars, compared to the other teams, the players have flourished. Jamaican all-rounder Krishmar Santokie is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 16 wickets so far and Guyana has three batsmen among the top ten run-getters in the league – Lendl Simmons, Martin Guptill and James Franklin. Simmons has been one of the few consistent batsmen, regionally and internationally, while the New Zealanders have become fan favourites.Santokie’s 16 wickets have made a case for his selection in the West Indies T20 side. “I really felt like I should have been given a chance in the West Indies team before,” Santokie said. “I would like a longer run and more so, a more steady run for the West Indies.”Guyana had a few changes to the side with Mohammad Hafeez returning for international duty and Guptill suffering an injury. However, their Sri Lankan signings, Lasith Malinga and Tillakaratne Dilshan had immediate success, playing important roles in the semi-final victory over T&T Red Steels.Simmons, William Perkins and Sunil Narine, have all come to the fore as players who know the Queen’s Park Oval pitch inside out. Narine’s form seems to be peaking at the right time and, with Veerasammy Permaul performing as well, Guyana can limit batsmen looking to attack their bowling. Malinga and Narine aren’t slouches with the bat, which lends depth to the Guyana batting line-up.The team also has a strong reserve line-up. Coach Roger Harper is comfortable with the reach of his team and this can be gauged by the fact that Narsingh Deonarine, an anchor of the Guyana side, has been relegated to the bench. Even the explosive Trevon Griffith can’t make the team as a consistent starter and it shows that Sarwan has potent options. Christopher Barnwell, also due for a big game, can prove to be a trump card for Guyana.”We’ve got a good all-round squad and our bowlers can bat, while we have batters who can bowl. It’s hard to replace Hafeez and Guptill but Malinga and Dilshan have showed in the semis that they can incite the fire we can use to win more games,” Harper said.

A round-up of Regional Super50 matches played on March 11, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2013
ScorecardCombined Campuses and Colleges scraped to a three-wicket win over Leeward Islands in a low-scoring match in Bridgetown on Monday.Set a paltry target of 116, CCC struggled with their chase, losing seven wickets before they passed Leewards’ score in the 33rd over. Shacaya Thomasplayed an important role in the victory: his 61 accounted for more than half of the team’s runs, even as the other batsmen failed to reach a score of 20.Earlier, Leewards Islands were bowled out for 115 after choosing to bat first. Offpsinner Ryan Austin, who played an important role in CCC’s victory over Leewards in the Regional Four Day Competition, once again led the bowling attack, conceding 24 runs in his 10 overs and picking up two wickets. Left-arm spinner Derone Davis picked up three wickets, while Nekoli Parris picked up two wickets.The win helped CCC move to third place in the table, behind Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
ScorecardJamaica’s bowlers set up a 78-run win after a collective batting failure led to Windward Islands folding for 151 chasing 230 for victory.Windwards never recovered from their poor start and were struggling at 2 for 2 early on in the innings, before Andre Fletcher, Miles Bascombe and Liam Sebastien tried bringing some momentum into the chase. The partnerships they added, however, failed to put Windwards’ chase on track and the team were eventually bowled out in the 39th over. Odean Brown’s domination over Windwards’ batsmen continued as the legspinner picked up 3 for 19 in 7 overs.Earlier, Jamaica, who were put into bat, lost opener Simon Jackson in the second ball of the match, but recovered through an 88-run second-wicket partnership between Nkruma Bonner (39) and Danza Hyatt (59). Carlton Baugh and Andre Russell added some important runs towards the end, as Jamaica posted a total of 229.
ScorecardTrinidad & Tobago won a close match against Guyana by two wickets in Port of Spain. Although T&T chased down the Guyana target of 235 in 45 overs, they lost eight wickets in the process, giving Guyana a chance right till the end.Fifties from captain Christopher Barnwell and Devendra Bishoo helped Guyana put up 234 on the board after they were struggling at 117 for 7 in the 28th over. The pair added 107 runs for the eighth wicket, to help Guyana pass 200. Barnwell, whose last significant innings for Guyana came in the Caribbean T20 competition, struck a solid 66 off 100 balls, including four fours and two sixes. Bishoo excelled in the supporting act, hitting an unbeaten 52 with four fours and one six.In reply, T&T kept up with the chase in spite of losing regular wickets. Adrian Barath guided the chase, scoring 65 off 80 balls. T&T stuttered briefly after Barath fell with the score at 180 for 6, but a brisk 28 from Sunil Narine ensured that T&T remained unbeaten in the Regional Super50 Competition.

Hamilton Masakadza is unperturbed by Zimbabwe’s massive loss against Bangladesh in the first ODI, and is looking ahead to the final two games in the series

Mohammad Isam04-May-2013Zimbabwe batsman Hamilton Masakadza has said that the home side is not under pressure playing at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, a venue where they have lost to Bangladesh seven times in nine matches. He was the top-scorer in the first ODI, but was one of four batsmen to fall when the score was on 93.”I think we just had a bad start in Bulawayo,” Masakadza said. “We couldn’t fight like the way we were supposed to. I think 260 was a par-score on this wicket, which is batting friendly, but we just didn’t bat well enough to chase it down.”I think they (Bangladesh) had a few good games here where we haven’t played so well ourselves. We don’t really think there is a jinx. We chased 300 runs against New Zealand in a one-day game.”Masakadza fell trying to work Ziaur Rahman on the leg side. He was batting on 38 and was looking increasingly fidgety after the dismissal of Brendan Taylor a few overs earlier. He was ultimately adjudged leg-before and the collapse continued as Elton Chigumbura followed him back to the pavilion in the same over.”The mistake was that we kept playing across the line to Zia and gave him five wickets. This is a simple mistake, but I think this broke the back of the batting. So the guys had talked and thought about it. We had sometime in the nets today so I think it will be fine tomorrow (Sunday).”Masakadza wasn’t pressing any panic buttons yet, despite the big loss in the first game, but is looking forward to some more contributions from the rest of the batsmen. “We still have two more games to go. I believe we are capable of bouncing back and are looking forward to the game tomorrow.”There are guys in the middle orders who are also scoring runs, and they did it in [the] West Indies. So I think it’s not [just] relying on [a] few people. The whole thing is a team effort, and I think as a team we just didn’t come [out] right yesterday.”

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said his side is undaunted by the return of Australia’s captain and several of their other key players for the third ODI in Brisbane

Andrew Fernando17-Jan-2013Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said his side is undaunted by the return of Australia’s captain and several of their other key players for the third ODI in Brisbane, and is confident Sri Lanka can maintain the momentum earned with their eight-wicket victory in Adelaide on Sunday.Michael Clarke sat out the first two games as he recovered from a hamstring strain, while David Warner was also rested for the first two ODIs. Fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson were also left out for the second ODI in Adelaide, and will likely return for Friday’s match at the Gabba.Sri Lanka suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of what was held by some to be an Australia ‘B’ team in Melbourne, before they rebounded to level the series comfortably. But Jayawardene said it would be his side’s good form in Australia in recent years that has Sri Lanka believing they can achieve a series win. The teams have played each other in 12 ODIs in Australia since 2010, and Sri Lanka have won on seven of those occasions.”It’s good to have Davy [Warner] and Michael back, but we’ll prepare the same way,” Jayawardene said. “When we played them last year, we had a good outing against them. We just need to change our game plan a little bit and execute those plans to those guys.”Jayawardene said a turnaround from the bowlers had been key to his side’s impressive second performance, where they dismissed Australia for 170 on a seam-friendly pitch. Sri Lanka have three allrounders in their preferred XI in addition to three frontline bowlers, and also have the offspin of Tillakaratne Dilshan at their disposal, giving Jayawardene seven reliable bowling options in all.”In Melbourne, we were not up to standard. Especially with the ball – we bowled too many four balls. In Adelaide we had a bit more help from the surface and we bowled good areas and created opportunities. If we can keep up that pressure with the spinners we have and the allrounders, we have a well-balanced side. Even though we are missing players through injury, and are fiddling around a little with our line-up, we’re pretty comfortable.”Sri Lanka are unsure about the fitness of Dinesh Chandimal, who sustained a hamstring strain in the course of making a half-century in the first ODI. Chandimal missed the Adelaide match, with reserve keeper Kushal Janith Perera stepping in, and had not yet returned to full fitness on the eve of the Brisbane match.”We haven’t decided on an XI because we want to give Dinesh another 24 hours to see how he pulls up. He did bat yesterday and had a few run-throughs, and he pulled up pretty well. We just wanted to give him a little more time. Kushal kept wickets pretty well and batted pretty well, but we’ll make the final call when we see the pitch, and we can decide if we need to change our combination with the bowling attack.”Jayawardene has also been a vocal critic of the new ODI rule that only allows four fielders outside the 30-yard circle at any time in the match, and his opinion on the issue had not changed since his side played the first match under the new regulations in October last year.”I’m not a big fan of the new rule. I thought the last product we had was pretty decent. The two new balls gives the quicks a bit more venom – which is great, but the downside with the field restrictions is that the spinners are taken away from the game. It’s challenging, but I think it’s restricting the bowlers more and the batsmen are having a free hand.”

Michael Clarke has confirmed that he will move up the order from his customary No.5 position after Australia’s shambolic display in both innings in Hyderabad

Brydon Coverdale 05-Mar-2013Michael Clarke has confirmed that he will move up the order from his customary No. 5 position after Australia’s shambolic display in both innings in Hyderabad. Clarke is the joint leading run-scorer in the series with 268, the same tally as India’s captain MS Dhoni, and more than double scored by any other member of Australia’s top six.He scored 130 in the first innings in Chennai and followed that with 91 on the first day in Hyderabad but neither effort could prevent a heavy defeat. Despite his outstanding form since taking over the captaincy in 2011, Clarke has steadfastly remained at No. 5, but given the struggles of Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson at Nos. 3 and 4 in this series, that will change for the third Test.”I think I have no choice,” Clarke said after the innings loss in Hyderabad. “Again, it hasn’t been about me, it’s about trying to do what’s best for the team, and I think now, especially in these conditions, I have to bat higher.”When asked if that would mean first drop or second drop, Clarke said: “I’ve got nine days to work it out. Wherever I can go and put some runs on the board to help the team.”Although Ed Cowan showed some signs during the second innings that he had learnt from his first three efforts and occupied the crease for nearly three hours, the rest of the batting order collapsed. So far in this series Watson has made 28, 17, 23 and 9; Hughes has scored 6, 0, 19 and 0; Cowan has managed 29, 32, 4 and 44 and Warner has tallied 59, 23, 6 and 26.”I don’t think picking your batting order can revolve around one person, the team needs the team to play well,” Clarke said. “We need our top six batters to be scoring runs, we need our four, five or six bowlers to be taking wickets. It can’t be about one person. I’ve never played cricket that way and I don’t want this team to go to that.”We have enough talent, but we have to get better, every single one of us. I would have liked more runs in the first innings and more runs today in the second innings, so I have work to do as well. I don’t want it to be about the individuals, I want it to be about the whole team improving.

Virender Sehwag could be a doubt for the Champions League T20 after he strained a ligament in his left ankle during India’s final Super Eights match in the World Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2012Virender Sehwag could be a doubt for the Champions League T20 after he strained a ligament in his left ankle during India’s final Super Eights match in the World Twenty20 against South Africa in Colombo.Sehwag went off the field during South Africa’s innings and did not return. It was reported that he would need two weeks of rest. Sehwag had given up the Delhi Daredevils captaincy for the Champions League, which begins on October 9, but remained a key member of their squad. Delhi are scheduled to open their campaign on October 13 in Centurion.Sehwag had a poor World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, scoring only 54 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 112 and was left out of the group game against England. India failed to qualify for the semi-finals despite winning four out of five matches, exiting the Super Eights on net run-rate.

Pakistan named two legspinners, Usman Qadir and Akhtar Waheed, for the upcoming Under-19 Asia Cup to be held later this month in Malaysia

Umar Farooq06-Jun-2012Pakistan have included two legspinners, Usman Qadir, the son of former Pakistan legspinner Abdul Qadir, and Akhtar Waheed, for the upcoming Under-19 Asia Cup to be held in Malaysia later this month. The 16-member squad has been selected with the Under-19 World Cup in Australia later this year in mind.Pakistan Under-19 squad for the Asia Cup

Babar Azam (capt), Sami Aslam, Imam ul Haq, Umar Waheed, Azizullah, Mir Hamza, Ehsan Adil, Salman Afridi (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faraz Ali, Akhtar Waheed Kiyani, Zia-ul-Haq, Shahid Ilyas, Usman Qadir, Saad Ali, Jaahid Shoukat Ali
In: Mir Hamza (left-arm medium fast bowler), Imam-ul-Haq , Akhtar Waheed Kiyani, Jaahid Shoukat Ali (middle-order batsman)
Out: Mohamad Irfan, Shahan Akram, Fawad Khan, Saifullah Bangash, Adnan Mehmood

Usman has been a part of the Pakistan Under-19 set-up since 2009. During the team’s tour of South Africa in January, which included a triangular tournament and a bilateral series, Usman picked up 15 wickets from 10 matches at an average of 23.80.The side will be led by the 17-year old batsman Babar Azam who recently played as part of the PCB Blues team in Twenty20 practise matches for Pakistan’s top-rung players. He also scored 265 runs, with two half-centuries and a hundred from five matches, in this year’s Faysal Bank One Day National Cup.Left-arm fast bowler Zia-ul-Haq, who represents Pakistan International Airlines, has also been included in the squad along with opening batsman Faraz Ali. Most of the players that won the three-match youth ODI series against South Africa have been retained, including wicket-keeper Salman Afridi, who had replaced Saifullah Bangash.Pakistan will play India in the opening game of the U-19 Asia Cup on June 24. The other participating teams include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Malaysia and Qatar. The tournament will be a precursor to the U-19 World Cup in Australia during August.

Tamim Iqbal has said Bangladesh’s performance in the Asia Cup was a turning point but his team could only carry such form into the five-day format if it played Test matches on a more regular basis

Siddhartha Talya10-Apr-2012Tamim Iqbal has said Bangladesh’s performance in the Asia Cup was a turning point in its cricket history but his team could only carry such form into the five-day format if it played Test matches on a more regular basis. According to the Future Tours Programme, Bangladesh only play 42 Test matches until the end of 2020, with no tours of India and England. Their next Test assignment is against Zimbabwe in August.”That’s the main problem for Bangladesh,” Tamim, 23, told ESPNcricinfo. “The moment we start to do well in Test match cricket, we get a year’s break or a 14-month break. If we want to really improve in Test match cricket, we need to play the format a lot more. You see us playing ODI cricket for quite some time and quite regularly, and the performance is changing. The world is seeing that Bangladesh is coming up. It’s the same with Test cricket.”We need to play a lot of Test matches to improve, to gain confidence, to learn how to deal with situations and play session by session.”Bangladesh have lost 63 of their 73 Tests, winning only three since their debut in 2000-01. They’ve had more success in ODIs and, most recently, almost won the Asia Cup, falling short by two runs in the final against Pakistan. They beat India and Sri Lanka en route to that final, and ran Pakistan close both times they played.”We have been playing international cricket for quite some time now and we needed something like this,” Tamim said. “Scoring hundreds is a habit. Winning matches is a habit. Against India, we chased down 290. Sometimes when the opposition teams batted first and got to around 300, if you are not habituated to chasing down those kind of runs you get confused. So, when you start doing it, you know what to do, how to go about it, make plans and how to bat.”The more matches we’ll start to win, the better we’ll get. So, this was a great tournament for us because we chased in every single game and did very well. The boys will remember how we did it and take it forward.”The Asia Cup was preceded by the inaugural edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. Tamim missed much of that tournament due to injury, but said it had an impact on the national team’s Asia Cup showing as the experience of playing with other international stars made its players more self-confident. “In Bangladesh domestic cricket, you’re facing bowlers bowling at 125-130kmph, so sometimes it’s hard to adjust when playing international cricket.”But here you’ve seen Shakib [Al Hasan] playing some unbelievable shots, which was rare for him. Mushfiqur [Rahim] played an unbelievable innings against India, hitting sixes. So they’re getting this kind of confidence from BPL.”The build-up to the Asia Cup was mired in controversy surrounding Tamim’s exclusion from the squad, but he was eventually drafted in and went on to get four half-centuries in a row in the competition. Tamim admitted he’d been in poor form in the home series against Pakistan but said he’d been able to recover through practice and showing more determination at the crease.”These things happened to me in the last series against Pakistan, and to be very honest I panicked,” he said, about a series in which he had scores of 0,4 and 0 in the ODIs and averaged just 15 in the Tests. “I wasn’t sure what to do, whether I should relax etc. I practiced really hard, did everything possible to score runs and I went there, took my time and eventually it happened.”Tamim, who is the third-highest run-getter for Bangladesh in Tests and ODIs currently, was grateful for the support of his team-mates during his exclusion and after his return to the Asia Cup squad. “Sometimes, when these kinds of things happen in different teams, they talk about it. They ask you, ‘Why did this happen and why were you dropped?’. The best part of my team was they never talked about this, they always trusted my ability and knew what I’m capable of.”If someone else goes through the same period, the boys should react the same way. It’s not the first time a cricketer is facing this kind of thing. It’ll happen again, it’s a part of life you know.”Tamim had an excellent run in the Asia Cup but was disappointed not to have converted those fifties into bigger scores. “When you’re going through a good patch, you should make it count as much as possible. Someone like Virat Kohli, he’s doing tremendously well, scoring hundreds every second game. The way I got out in the final wasn’t good, that is something to work on.”Tamim was signed up by Pune Warriors before the ongoing IPL season. “I’m lucky to be part of Pune Warriors because you’ve got Indian legends like Sourav Ganguly, someone like Michael Clarke is also a great player. I’m young and I have a lot to learn.”

Ramnaresh Sarwan scored his second century for Leicestershire as they made the most of winning the toss, despite David Masters’ efforts

16-May-2012
ScorecardRamnaresh Sarwan gave the West Indies selectors a timely reminder of his Test credentials with a second century of the season for Leicestershire on the first day of their Championship match against Essex at Grace Road.The 31-year-old was the star of the show as Leicestershire fought back after a nightmare start to reach 323 for 5 by the close. Sarwan, who shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 216 with Josh Cobb, batted for just over five hours for his 117. It added up to a fine recovery by Leicestershire, who slumped to 29 for 3 in the 10th over with Will Jefferson out to the first ball of the day in his first game of the season following a back injury.David Masters found the edge of Jefferson’s bat with his first delivery and Tom Westley took the catch at slip. When Matthew Boyce was then bowled by Masters, and Greg Smith had his stumps spread-eagled by Charl Willoughby, it began to look as though the home side had made a big mistake deciding to bat after winning the toss.But Sarwan and Cobb turned the game on its head with their magnificent stand. It was a record for the fourth wicket for Leicestershire against Essex, beating the previous best of 127 set back in 1900. They were helped by some erratic bowling from the Essex attack that saw 48 extras pile up. Tymal Mills, the highly rated England Under-19 fast bowler, twice bowled no-balls that went to the boundary over the head of wicketkeeper James Foster.There was also some superb strokeplay from Sarwan and Cobb, who both combined enterprising attack with disciplined defence. The impressive Sarwan completed his century just before tea. It came off 154 balls and contained 14 boundaries. The stand was finally broken by Masters, who lured Cobb into skying a catch to deep midwicket.Masters, by far the best of the Essex bowlers, then trapped Sarwan lbw with the second new ball to finish the day with figures of 4 for 57 off 25 overs. Wayne White was still there at the close on 41 not out to leave Leicestershire in a strong position.

The eight cricketers who refused contracts offered by Cricket Kenya now face a bleak future

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2011The eight cricketers who refused contracts offered by Cricket Kenya now face a bleak future in the game after the board refused to meet with them, and then their local franchises unanimously decided not to pick them again this season.ESPNcricinfo found out that while the group publicly objected to new-style contracts, they were also trying to force the board to reinstate several of those dumped after the shambolic World Cup earlier this year. They objected to the new deals which partially depended on their on-field performances, and when it became clear the board would not back down, they changed their demands to that of wanting more pay.But while in the past such tactics usually resulted in a climb-down by the board, this time the nine were outflanked. When the players refused to meet with board officials last weekend and then staged a last-minute boycott of the national league matches, the board offered contracts to up-and-coming players instead.Faced with that, it seems the players subsequently offered to meet with the board, but that was declined.”We decided that there wasn’t any point in meeting the players,” a board official told ESPNcricinfo. “The franchise teams have unanimously decided to suspend the players for the rest of the new competitions for this year which will deprive them of earnings and, as the national squad will be picked on the basis of performances in these events, it will be a difficult few months for these players as a result of their actions.”The hard-line stand will be welcomed by those who have felt the players have had too much power for several years, although the local media, who have backed them almost unquestioningly, are unlikely to be as supportive.The eight are Alex Obanda, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Maurice Ouma, Nelson Odhiambo, Alfred Luseno