Ray Strauss, the fast bowler who became the third Western Australia bowler to take 100 Sheffield Shield wickets, has died at the age of 85

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2013Ray Strauss, the fast bowler who became the third Western Australia bowler to take 100 Sheffield Shield wickets, has died at the age of 85.Strauss, Des Hoare and Ron Gaunt formed a strong three-man pace attack during the late 1950s and Strauss collected 139 first-class wickets at 24.29.A bowler who swung the ball both ways, Strauss was unflagging on the field and almost became the first man in Shield history to bowl unchanged through an entire day, only to be taken off late in the afternoon by the Western Australia captain Ken Meuleman.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has suggested the idea of having a franchise-based Twenty20 league to groom young talent in the absence of any international cricket in Pakistan

Umar Farooq21-Aug-2013Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has suggested the idea of having a franchise-based Twenty20 league in Pakistan to groom young talent in the absence of any international cricket.On his return from West Indies after featuring in the Caribbean Premier League for St Lucia Zouks, Misbah stated that a T20 league would help youngsters as it would give them an opportunity to play with international cricketers. “Though PCB is doing its effort to bring international cricket back [to Pakistan], in my opinion, we also should have our own [T20] league,” he told reporters in Lahore. “It is necessary to have it either in Pakistan or in Dubai as it will allow our youngsters to play with international stars.”Our players are not properly groomed because of no international cricket, and other countries get their young players groomed by having leagues where they get a chance to play with international stars. India is the biggest example where they are holding the league and getting their players well groomed.”Pakistan have been deprived of international cricket since a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Since then, Pakistan have mostly been playing their home series in the UAE. Bilateral series for the youth teams, A team and academy level are on hold, which hinders the development of upcoming players.During Zaka Ashraf’s regime, the PCB was desperate to bring international cricket back to the country, but failed to convince any team to tour Pakistan. The board then launched a franchise-based Twenty20 tournament called Pakistan Super League, but it had to be postponed indefinitely due to logistical issues.Before 2009, Pakistan used to organise reciprocal tours around the world at all levels, apart from national bilateral series, but the practice has been put on hold as junior teams are also reluctant to visit Pakistan due to security issues. Though the board has managed to host international teams outside Pakistan, it has failed to afford a similar series for junior teams due to the lack of sponsors.Pakistani players featured in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League but have been ignored since relations between the two countries took a dive in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008. Pakistan’s domestic T20 teams had also been ignored for the Champions League T20 until 2012.

ESPNcricinfo previews the fourth Natwest ODI between England and Australia in Cardiff

The Preview by Alex Winter13-Sep-2013

Match facts

September 14, Cardiff
Start time 10.15 (0915 GMT)Steven Finn is still searching for form to prove he is a superstar in the making•PA Photos

Big Picture

This series has been reduced to a three-match contest following the abandonment at Edgbaston, so England now face, in Eoin Morgan’s words, a “semi-final and a final” in the remaining two matches if they are to win this series.Winning is the stated aim for England despite their experimental squad and, given the shortened nature of the series, winning is perhaps all they can expect to take from it because there is now little opportunity to have a look at the players they called up. Michael Carberry won’t want to be judged on just three innings and Morgan said he will retain his place as opener for the rest of this series. Likewise, England would like Steven Finn to get some more game time to gauge where his bowling is ahead of the winter Ashes tour; Finn perhaps feels that he needs a solid performance to nail down a place as backup bowler in the Test squad.Jamie Overton and Chris Jordan will now probably get one chance at best to announce their arrival in international cricket and none of the batsmen now need a rest so the opportunity for Luke Wright to return is slim.What cricket there has been in this series, Australia have played by far the best of it and they will be eager to get back on the park again and continue their progress. They have been motivated, sharp in all departments and desperately keen to take something away from what has been a tough tour. The form of George Bailey at Old Trafford suggested Michael Clarke might find some support and Mitchell Johnson has been back to his terrifying best, suggesting he could become a fine bowler in all forms of the game again.

Form guide

England LWLWW (Completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWLLW

Watch out for

Steven Finn can’t make up his mind whether he’s a high class international bowler or not. He has all the attributes to do so but there has been a sense of him being dragged from pillar to post by England and Middlesex. A change of run up and back again; in and out of the Test side; none of it can have helped Finn’s confidence but if he can rediscover the form that tore through New Zealand in the ODI series back in February, we could be talking about Finn as England’s next superstar again.Aaron Finch showed what a blistering player he can be in the Twenty20 at the Ageas Bowl. He followed that up with a battering of Scotland and is primed to show he can produce regularly in ODIs. He endured a lean series against West Indies in February but is now clearly striking the ball at his best.

Team news

England are a pretty stubborn bunch when it comes to selection and just because they were rolled over once does not mean the make-up of their side needs to change, despite widespread opinion that they are a bowler light. It might take one more failure before they get the message, so expect an unchanged XI.England (possible) 1 Michael Carberry, 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Joe Root, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Ben Stokes, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Boyd Rankin, 11 Steven FinnAustralia are also likely to stick with the same side that handed down a thumping to England at Old Trafford.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 Adam Voges, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Fawad Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

We have a decent forecast again so hopefully this match will be uninterrupted. But the pitch in Cardiff is unpredictable. During the Champions Trophy, a run-fest ensued between South Africa and India before the bowlers took charge when New Zealand played Sri Lanka. Scores in the Yorkshire Bank 40 have also been a mixed bag.

Stats and trivia

• Australia have to go back to 2001 for their only win in an ODI at Cardiff; a seven-wicket triumph over Pakistan in the NatWest series
• England have pitched up six times to Cardiff for an ODI but on only three occasions have they completed the match
• Of those three matches, England have won them all, including beating Australia by four wickets in 2010
• George Bailey is 30 runs short of 1000 in ODIs

Quotes

“It’s always nice to be around the environment, and if you do the right things you can put your name in the ring.”
“It’s pretty catchy. I didn’t like it when I first came over. I didn’t expect it. Now, it doesn’t bother me. It’s all part of the game, I know what to expect over here now.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s all-international attack, led by Trent Boult, defended a total of 150 so well Kings XI Punjab fell short by 20 runs

The Report by Abhishek Purohit27-Apr-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:55

O’Brien: Kings XI can’t get anything right at the moment

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s all-international attack defended a moderate total so well Kings XI Punjab looked out just after the halfway mark of the chase. Wriddhiman Saha sparked a revival, but Trent Boult justified playing ahead of Dale Steyn again, removing the keeper and Axar Patel in a decisive 18th over. A victory margin of 20 runs showed just how far behind Kings XI’s top order had fallen.The pace and swing of Boult was followed by the control of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Praveen Kumar, barring an expensive opening over. That was followed by lack of pace from Moises Henriques and tight legspin from Karn Sharma, providing Kings XI no release.Boult kickstarted Sunrisers’ defence when he swung one in full to bowl Manan Vohra – playing instead of Virender Sehwag – off the inside edge in the third over. The next and bigger strike came off the inside edge too, when Shaun Marsh played the wrong line off Bhuvneshwar in the fourth over.George Bailey counter-attacked briefly, hitting Praveen for three fours in an over, but when he failed to clear mid-off against Henriques in the eighth over, Kings XI had slipped to 45 for 3.That became 53 for 4, as David Miller misjudged a call for two and M Vijay failed to return in time. Miller could not make up for that error, swinging Karn to long-off in the 13th over to leave Sunrisers on 72 for 5.Dropped twice in three balls, Saha, along with Axar, fought back, the pair adding 44 in 4.5 overs. Praveen, Henriques and Bhuvneshwar went for runs in three successive overs as the equation came down to 35 needed off 18 balls.That was when Boult stepped up again. Axar backed away first ball of the over, and found his leg stump uprooted with a yorker. As he usually does, Saha had relied on the pull during his 42 but Boult hurried one onto him, and square leg took the catch. The over went for just seven, including four off Saha’s leg when he missed an attempted scoop.Bhuvneshwar and Praveen were too good for the lower order.The lower half of Sunrisers’ innings had tapered off again after David Warner’s fourth fifty in seven innings this season. Warner had taken 46 of his 58 runs in boundaries. Even as the batsmen at the other end struggled, Warner kept making room and smearing boundaries through the off side.Sunrisers again failed to double the score at Warner’s exit in the tenth over. Henriques and Naman Ojha laboured to add 45 in nearly seven overs. Even though Henriques lasted till the last over, his strike-rate remained below run a ball.Ashish Reddy swung successive sixes against the run of play off Sandeep Sharma, but Sunrisers seemed to be clearly short of runs. But their attack has defended lower totals in the past.

It was the irascible Jarrod Kimber who spoke for much of the cricket world in his brief verdict on the brutal finish of the Dominica Test match. “Australia’s tail,” he tweeted, “is the second best Test team around after South Africa.”

Daniel Brettig in Roseau08-Jun-2015It was the irascible Jarrod Kimber who spoke for much of the cricket world in his brief verdict on the brutal finish of the Dominica Test match. “Australia’s tail,” he tweeted, “is the second best Test team around after South Africa.”Such ribbing of Australia’s batsmen has been going on inside the dressing room as well, and with good reason: the regularity of the lower order bailing out the top is one of the few longest running themes of the team, beginning even before the retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn signalled the end of the golden age in 2007.At Windsor Park, Australia’s final four wickets piled up enough runs to leave West Indies in a parlous position, and the last one alone added 97 through an inspired union between Adam Voges and Josh Hazlewood. Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Lyon also played their part, proving themselves more adept than their full-time batting colleagues at adapting to the prevailing conditions.Johnson, who was once spoken of as a potential allrounder but is now content to be the most destructive No. 8 batsman in the game, offered a warm grin when asked to expand on the performances of the Australian tail during his time in the team. It cannot be forgotten that Johnson’s stand with Brad Haddin on day one of the 2013-14 Ashes gave him enough of a platform to terrorise England with the ball.”There is a little bit of ribbing going on, not too much,” Johnson said. “We take pride in what we do down the bottom order there. Myself personally I like to score runs when I can and I know Mitchy Starc likes to and Josh did an outstanding job. To have that big partnership down the bottom was outstanding. We do pride ourselves on that and we’ve done that very well over the last few years where other teams haven’t quite being able to do it.”There has been a little bit of ribbing going on but we’ve got a big Test match coming up and I’m sure they [the batsmen] will be out there to put on some big partnerships and some hundreds so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”There is less reason to worry when the reasons for Australian lower-order success are examined. Chief among them is the fact that many of Australia’s bowlers possess techniques and methods far more correct than they used to be, and at times more aesthetically pleasing than those of the batsmen above.Johnson, Hazlewood and particularly the injured James Pattinson play with the clean lines and simplicity of top six players, while Nathan Lyon gets his eyes over the ball with fierce commitment and both Mitchell Starc and Ryan Harris offer the sorts of robust, thumping techniques that can have fielders scurrying if they can survive their first few balls.By contrast, the relative struggles of Fawad Ahmed to be a batting concern of any merit have arguably played against his inclusion – if you want to bowl for Australia these days, you’d better be able to bat at least a little. Hazlewood’s growing confidence as an international cricketer is reflected in his batting as well as his bowling, while Starc can expect to offer more with the bat than he did in Dominica.”Josh is still really new to the game and still very fresh but he’s been able to go out there and play his game and do what he has done for New South Wales, and I guess do what he did as a junior,” Johnson said. “He’s got that height, he’s got a great pace about him, he can step it up when he needs to I think with his pace. But I think think what he does for our team he brings a great balance.”And Mitch Starc, I think there’s been a lot of talk about how good his one-day performances and Twenty20 performances have been, to be able to come into this Test match on a slow wicket a turning wicket and to be able to bowl the way he did, cleaned up the tail for us which was really exciting for me. But those two guys have been outstanding.”We’ve got a lot of fast bowlers in the Australian team that have been performing for a while and it is really hard being a fast bowler in Australia right now because we do have the stocks there, and you know, it is really exciting for Australian cricket.”And if the success of the bowlers must continue to be built upon runs of their own making, then at least they will be used to the pressure.

For the fourth time in four games, Netherlands batted first and set Nepal a challenging target, but unlike the previous three matches, the visitors held their nerve to register a consolatory three-wicket win in Rotterdam

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Paras Khadka hit six fours for his maiden T20I fifty•Peter Lim/ACC

For the fourth time in four games, Netherlands batted first and set Nepal a challenging target, but unlike the previous three matches, the visitors held their nerve to register a consolatory three-wicket win in Rotterdam. Netherlands took the series 3-1.Set 140 for the win, Nepal looked to be heading for a 0-4 whitewash when they fell to 76 for 4 by the 13th over. However, their captain, Paras Khadka, steered the team back on track with a crucial half-century, his first in T20Is. Khadka scored 54 off 40 balls, with six fours, and anchored a match-changing 44-run stand for the fifth wicket with Sharad Vesawkar. Khadka took Nepal to within 10 runs of victory, but his dismissal off Mudassar Bukhari in the penultimate over offered Netherlands a glimmer.Sompal Kami, the No.8 batsman, then stroked the first delivery he faced for four, reducing the equation to six needed off the last over. Ahsan Malik bowled Pradeep Airee first ball, but Kami and Basant Regmi held on to take Nepal home with two balls remaining, Kami sealing the win with a cover drive for four.Earlier, a poor start from Netherlands saw them restricted to 139 for 7. With Sagar Pun (3 for 26) and Regmi (2 for 31) striking at regular intervals, the hosts soon found themselves struggling at 83 for 7. Roelof van der Merwe, who switched permanently to Netherlands on Tuesday, counterattacked by blasting a 27-ball 40, but it would not prove to be enough.

Lost somewhat in the hubbub about Chris Rogers’ failed tour group venture was a most intriguing Australian team selection for the Kent tour match in the medieval city of Canterbury.

Daniel Brettig24-Jun-2015Lost somewhat in the hubbub about Chris Rogers’ failed tour group venture was a most intriguing Australian team selection for the Kent tour match in the medieval city of Canterbury.What the coach Darren Lehmann and the selection chairman Rod Marsh have cooked up is what amounts to a series of duels between specialist incumbents and their shadow men, while a quartet of missing players can feel rather more secure about their places in the team for the first Test in Cardiff next month.David Warner, Adam Voges, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are all sitting this one out, leaving room for others to scrap for their places.Starting off at the top, Rogers will be opening alongside Shaun Marsh, the man who replaced him in the Caribbean after a bout of concussion. That Warner is being rested from the fixture means either his place is secure for Cardiff or that a better glimpse of Marsh is being sought, thus meaning Rogers will need to make runs to regain his berth.In the middle of the batting order, Shane Watson is set to come in at No. 5, one place ahead of his current Test spot and also one ahead of Mitchell Marsh, the young allrounder with aspirations to replace the older man as Australia’s utility player. Watson’s form has been spotty at best in recent times, and his two innings in the West Indies were sharply contrasting in terms of approach, veering from the brazen to the benign, without success.Both Watson and Marsh deliver seam-up bowling of a fast-medium pace that has a chance of succeeding in England, so it is by their batting that they can be separated. Marsh played well in the first innings of a practice match on the Isle of Wight after arriving early to England, and Watson will be in search of a score to keep himself narrowly ahead in the queue.Most selection talk entering into this trip has centred on how Australia can possibly squeeze all four of Hazlewood, Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris into the Test XI. By resting the former duo in Canterbury, Lehmann and Marsh have allowed Johnson and Harris to re-unite with Peter Siddle as the trio who bowled so unstintingly in the 5-0 defeat of England down under in 2013-14.Siddle is now very much the understudy, but Harris and Johnson both have a little to prove this week to ensure they are in the team for the first Test. Hazlewood and Starc are rising up fast, and each demonstrated his appetite for destruction during the West Indies Tests. Johnson was a little less threatening then, though the captain Michael Clarke thought he could see a senior man working through the gears in time for the major assignment in England.”I am focused on how he is bowling right now and what I have seen today is a real positive for us – he is bowling with good pace,” Clarke said. “I thought he used the West Indies tour really well to get his rhythm back, and he spent a lot of time working on things while he was out there. That’s the skill of Mitchell now. If something doesn’t feel quite right, he can actually fix it in a game.”By his own admission, Harris bowled patchily on the Isle of Wight, but was looking far more dangerous during the team’s day-long training sessions at Merchant Taylors’ School in north-west greater London. More than anything, Harris needs overs under his belt to find the rhythm and confidence he needs to be at his best, having been somewhat underdone when he played a muted role during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at home.Lastly, the selectors have granted Fawad Ahmed the chance to operate as the lone spinner this week, as Lyon cools his heels. While Lyon remains well ahead of Fawad in the order of preference, Australian fascination with wrist spin – and English aversion to it – will allow the former asylum seeker to turn the head of Lehmann, Marsh and Clarke with an eye-catching display. It’s up for grabs now.Australians: Michael Clarke (capt), Chris Rogers, Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith, Shane Watson, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed.

Follow the latest on the Lodha committee’s verdict on corruption in the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2015

Darren Lehmann’s position as coach is not in danger, but the team’s style of play away from home will be reviewed after England reclaimed the Ashes, the Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has said

Brydon Coverdale09-Aug-2015Darren Lehmann’s position as coach is not in danger, but the team’s style of play away from home will be reviewed after England reclaimed the Ashes, the Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has said. Less than a fortnight ago the Investec Ashes series was tied 1-1, and the swiftness of the defeat has been startling: at both Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, the Australians barely took the match into the third day.It has left Australia’s players, coaches and administrators red-faced, and has precipitated the retirement of captain Michael Clarke, with further generational change among the playing group likely. However, speaking in Melbourne on the morning after the Trent Bridge loss, Sutherland gave an emphatic “yes” when asked if Lehmann’s job was safe.But the way the Australians have lost the past two Tests – over-aggressive and technically deficient batting combined with impatient bowling – will leave Lehmann with a significant task ahead of him. He has often spoken of aggressive play being the Australian way, but in swinging and seaming conditions against quality bowling, it has backfired spectacularly, as it has in the past on spinning surfaces.”We’ll sit down and review that, and the cricket experts will review that and no doubt others,” Sutherland said. “That’s an opportunity for reflection on style of play, and all of that. We all understand that it’s not easy playing away, but it’s something that we’ve clearly got to get better at. We have the highest aspirations for the Australian cricket team.”Under Clarke’s captaincy, Australia have enjoyed some spectacular triumphs at home but have lost two Ashes series in England, and have been crushed by India in India and by Pakistan in the UAE. Their only away series wins have been in South Africa, where the conditions are similar to home, and Sri Lanka and the West Indies.”There is a lot of talk about performances away, but [almost] no one wins away,” Sutherland said. “In international cricket it’s only the very best teams in the world that win away. South Africa have probably been the best at it in recent times, and it’s no coincidence that they’re on top. We need to get better at it.”It’s not something that we’re not aware of. Right now as I speak, we’ve got our Under-19 team in England playing in UK conditions, we’ve got our Australia A team in India playing in subcontinental conditions. It’s something we’re very aware of and we’re working hard on, and it’s not something that happens overnight.”Sutherland also endorsed Steven Smith as the successor to Clarke as captain, but said the decision on who would be Smith’s deputy was less obvious. Australia’s next Test series is in Bangladesh in October, and the selection panel will need to assess the state of the playing group and, potentially, decide on the futures of some squad members before a vice-captain is recommended.”Steven’s ready for this challenge,” Sutherland said. “But as anyone will tell you who has been a Test cricket captain, it’s not an easy job, it’s not an easy transition. No one is ready made to just walk in and make a great success of it. But we still have every confidence in Steven. The decision hasn’t been made but he’s clearly the heir apparent and we will provide him with all the support in time.”Sutherland paid tribute to the retiring Clarke, who despite leaving the game in defeat, guided Australia back to No.1 in the Test rankings on their tour of South Africa early last year. He said the work Clarke put in off the field, including the way he overcame a chronic back injury, were indicative of Clarke’s approach to the game.”I think he’ll be remembered for his courage and the way he played the game,” Sutherland said. “I don’t think I can think of an Australian cricketer who has worked harder to put his best effort on the field, day after day, week after week.”I think Michael is an aggressive and positive cricketer, and he carries that through in the way he has led his team. He led Australia back to No.1 in Test cricket. I’m not sure that any of us will ever forget that series in South Africa where Australia went to No.1, knocked off South Africa on their home turf.”He played such a pivotal role in that last Test in Cape Town when he had a broken shoulder and made a great hundred. He’s a strong and aggressive leader and I think that came out in the way the players responded to his leadership.”

Jayananda Warnaweera, the Galle Cricket Stadium curator, has resigned from Sri Lanka Cricket’s interim committee with immediate effect, SLC has announced

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Oct-2015Jayananda Warnaweera, the Galle Cricket Stadium curator, has resigned from Sri Lanka Cricket’s interim committee with immediate effect, SLC has announced. Warnaweera handed over a letter of resignation to interim committee chairman Sidath Wettimuny on Friday.”In the letter he said he said he was resigning for personal reasons,” Wettimuny said. Warnaweera remains the Galle stadium curator and the Southern Province Cricket Association secretary.Warnaweera had also been an executive committee member in the previous SLC board, headed by Jayantha Dharmadasa. For that reason, his appointment in March to the current interim committee prompted minor criticism, while then-sports minister Navin Dissanayake postured the new board as a clean break from controversial past administrations.With the interim committee likely to have been dissolved, and fresh board elections held by the end of January, the committee is unlikely to appoint a replacement for Warnaweera.