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James Foster has replaced Mark Pettini as Essex captain for the Friends Provident t20 after Pettini struggled in Essex’s first three games of the campaign

Cricinfo staff12-Jun-2010James Foster has replaced Mark Pettini as Essex captain for the Friends Provident t20 after Pettini struggled in Essex’s first three games of the campaign.Pettini took over from Ronnie Irani as Essex captain in the middle of the 2007 season and will continue as club captain in the other formats of the game but Essex have lost two of their three matches so far in the FP t20, with Pettini contributing just four runs.Foster’s form has been more productive, averaging 37.00 after an unbeaten 54 against Glamorgan. His first game in charge will be against local-rivals Middlesex on June 13 at Lord’s.

N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, has said a new member would be appointed to the disciplinary committee since Shashank Manohar had recused himself following Lalit Modi’s repeated requests for the same

Cricinfo staff23-Jun-2010N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, has said a new member would be appointed to the disciplinary committee since Shashank Manohar had recused himself following Lalit Modi’s repeated requests for the same. The original panel comprised Chirayu Amin and Arun Jaitley, both members of the IPL governing council, along with Manohar. Incidentally Manohar, in a letter marked to Srinivasan on June 19, stepped down, saying that he would like to give Modi a “fair” trial during the enquiry.In his original reply to the first notice on May 15, Modi had also asked that Srinivasan be recused from the hearings against him but that was not granted. “Since Lalit Modi has also accused Mr Manohar [of being biased], he would be replaced by another member to be decided by the general body,” Srinivasan told PTI.Reacting to Manohar recusing himself, Mehmood Abdi, Modi’s legal counsel called the whole process “an eyewash”. “After having decided that Modi’s replies are not satisfactory, as being reported by a TV channel, Manohar has recused himself,” Abdi said. “And the man who is not part of the disciplinary committee, and whose recusal we had demanded, secretary N Srinvasan, is the man who has referred the matter to the disciplinary committee.”

Eoin Morgan and Ajmal Shahzad have retained their places in England’s Test squad for the first match of the four-Test series at Trent Bridge next week

Cricinfo staff25-Jul-2010Eoin Morgan and Ajmal Shahzad have retained their places in England’s Test squad for the first match of the four-Test series at Trent Bridge next week, but there is no place for Ravi Bopara, who has scored back-to-back hundreds for Essex in the County Championship, or Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan.Middlesex seamer Steven Finn returns to the England squad following a successful Test series against Bangladesh, while Shahzad has been given a chance to build on his Test debut from the same series, having overcome an ankle problem that limited him to four overs in his most recent England outing, the third ODI against Bangladesh at Edgbaston two weeks ago.National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: “We have picked a very strong squad for the first Test against a Pakistan side that will be high on confidence following their recent win against Australia.”We’ve been encouraged by the form shown by a number of England players involved in County Championship matches this week and those that are coming back from injury or rest, such as Kevin Pietersen, have been working very hard ahead of the first Test next week.”Shahzad’s selection ahead of Bresnan is an acknowledgment of the role that swing bowling is likely to play in the coming series, especially at Trent Bridge where the ball habitually moves through the air, and against a Pakistan attack that includes the precocious 18-year-old Mohammad Aamer who, along with Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul, devastated Australia’s batting line-up in the recent second Test at Headingley.While Bresnan’s stamina and discipline earned him admirers in tough conditions in Bangladesh earlier in the year, and augur well for a role on unforgiving surfaces such as Adelaide on the fast-approaching Ashes tour, Shahzad’s ability to reverse-swing the ball, which he showcased to excellent effect at Old Trafford on debut, has earned him a chance to press for a permanent role as England’s first-change quick bowler.The attack will be led by the mercurial James Anderson – another man who can swing the ball to devastating effect, when the conditions are right – and Stuart Broad, whose confidence is high after a career-best haul of 8 for 52 against Warwickshire in the County Championship this week.Morgan, meanwhile, has been given another opportunity to state his Test credentials, after indifferent scores of 44 and 37 in his first two outings against Bangladesh. With Paul Collingwood slotting back into the squad after being rested for the last two Tests, Morgan had looked likely to make way, until Ian Bell suffered the broken foot at Bristol that has ruled him out of the full four-Test series.”Bell’s untimely foot injury during the NatWest Series was obviously a disappointing blow but he is now focused on his rehabilitation and should make a full recovery in due course. Ian’s absence provides other batsmen with the chance to impress against a world class Pakistan bowling attack.”England squad Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Stuart Broad,
Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wk), Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott

Steven Smith wants to be known as something more than a legspin bowler

Cricinfo staff15-Aug-2010Steven Smith wants to be known as something more than a legspin bowler. Smith, the 21-year-old from New South Wales, was picked as a spinner for his first two Tests against Pakistan last month, but is determined to make it as a batsman as well.”I don’t want to be bracketed as a spin bowler,” he told the . ”It’s great to get into the side as a spin bowler, but I’d like to think there are other things out there.”I’ve practised just as hard on my batting as I have my bowling. Down the track I’d like to bat in the top six or seven and bowl as well. I work very hard on both [disciplines] and hopefully that’s the way forward for me.”Smith collected three wickets against Pakistan in England but his most memorable performance was a muscular 77 in the second match in Leeds. Whether he plays in the upcoming tour of India or the Ashes will depend on team balance and the fitness of Nathan Hauritz, the No. 1 spinner.”Now I’ve had a taste of Test cricket I want a lot more, I’m hungry for it,” Smith said. ”The Ashes is definitely a goal – I really want to be involved in the squad. There’s a series to be played against India in India soon and I’d love to go there. If I do [go to India] it’s up to me to put my best foot forward [for the Ashes] and to then play well for New South Wales.”One thing he is not keen on is being compared to Shane Warne, who has helped him out as a part-time mentor. ”I’m a blond legspinner, but me and Shane are completely different bowlers – and I’m a batsman as well,” he said. ”I like to be my own person so I don’t really go too much for that Shane Warne business.”

Lalit Modi has filed in a petition in India’s supreme court, seeking the removal of IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley from the disciplinary committee

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Sep-2010Lalit Modi, the suspended IPL chairman, has filed a petition in India’s Supreme Court seeking the removal of his successor Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley from the disciplinary committee investigating charges against him. Modi’s plea for the recusal of these two members, on grounds of bias against him, had been rejected by the Bombay high court earlier this month.Modi also challenged his suspension from the BCCI and sought a free and fair inquiry into all the charges against him, as well as into the issue of conflict of interest regarding N Srinivasan, who is BCCI secretary and the owner of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings.The BCCI had suspended Modi immediately following the conclusion of IPL 3 in April and charged him with financial irregularities relating to the bidding process for IPL franchises, the mid-over ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights. He was also charged with colluding to set up a rebel league in England.

MS Dhoni has made it to ESPNcricinfo’s India all-time XI, beating record-holding keepers Syed Kirmani and Kiran More

Cricinfo staff14-Sep-2010MS Dhoni has made it to ESPNcricinfo’s India all-time XI, beating record-holding wicketkeepers Syed Kirmani and Kiran More, by virtue of his superior batting. Dhoni was picked by seven members of the 11-person jury, which was unanimous in voting Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Vinoo Mankad into the XI.The No. 5 spot divided the jury the most, and Vijay Hazare, who played only eight innings in that position (one of them in the Adelaide Test of 1948, where he made two centuries), was preferred over the likes of Gundappa Viswanath, MAK Pataudi, Dilip Vengsarkar, Mohinder Amarnath and VVS Laxman.The opening positions are taken by Virender Sehwag (10 votes) and Gavaskar, a blend of attack and defence, while the presence of Rahul Dravid (nine votes) and Tendulkar at Nos. 3 and 4 makes India’s the only batting line-up among the eight leading countries, for which ESPNcricinfo has picked all-time XIs, to have over 42,000 Test runs between the top four.Only one bowler from India’s legendary spin quartet of the 70s makes it to the XI. Offspinner Erapalli Prasanna, with 189 wickets in 49 Tests, joins Anil Kumble (nine votes), Javagal Srinath and Kapil to form the bowling line-up. Allrounder Mankad, who took 162 wickets at 32.32 with his slow left-armers, completes the spin-dominated attack.India’s XI is the only one to feature just two fast bowlers. Australia had fast-bowling allrounder Keith Miller to back Dennis Lillee and Glenn McGrath, and South Africa had Mike Procter to help Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald.Among the notable omissions, who did not make it to the XIs of any of the jury members, were former captain Mohammad Azharuddin; Bishan Bedi, perhaps the most highly rated of the spin quartet; and wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer.ESPNcricinfo readers were invited to vote on the shortlists and their XI matched the jury’s in all but one: Laxman was the readers’ choice for No. 5 instead of Hazare.The jury included former Test players Sanjay Manjrekar and Arun Lal, former Mumbai player and coach Vasu Paranjape, sports journalists Pradeep Magazine, Ayaz Memon, R Mohan and Suresh Menon, cricket historian Ramachandra Guha and television commentator Harsha Bhogle.Read more about the XI here.The XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo Mankad, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Erapalli Prasanna.Readers’ XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Vinoo Mankad, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Erapalli Prasanna.NomineesOpeners: Sunil Gavaskar, Vijay Merchant, Virender Sehwag, Navjot Sidhu.Middle order: Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Gundappa Viswanath, Vijay Hazare, MAK Pataudi, Mohinder Amarnath, Polly Umrigar, Sourav Ganguly, CK Nayudu, Mohammad Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar.Allrounders: Kapil Dev, Dattu Phadkar, Vinoo Mankad, Manoj Prabhakar.Wicketkeepers: Naren Tamhane, Kiran More, Syed Kirmani, Nayan Mongia, MS Dhoni.Fast bowlers: Javagal Srinath, Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Nissar, Amar Singh.Spinners: Anil Kumble, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Subhash Gupte, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, Harbhajan Singh, Dilip Doshi, S Venkataraghavan, Vinoo Mankad.

Hamish Bennett, the New Zealand fast bowler has said his next goal is to add more pace to his deliveries

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2010The New Zealand fast bowler Hamish Bennett, who made his debut in the recent ODI series against Bangladesh, has said his next goal is to add more pace to his deliveries. Bennett, who played in two of the five ODIs and picked up three wickets at an average of 24.33 with an economy rate of 4.56, was happy with his first stint at the international level.”I’m pretty happy to get three wickets,” Bennett, who was stunned at his call-up, told the . “I gave it everything I had, and I have no regrets over how I played.”Bennett, 23, made his first-class debut for Canterbury in 2005, and has been a steady performer for them with 24 one-day wickets at 37.29. But it was Bennett’s ability to bowl in the mid-140 kph range that New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said would come in handy, should he prove himself at the international level.Bennett said he had been given a license to bowl as fast as he could during his spells. “They [the coaches] said I would probably get a couple of games to see what I could do, and they told me to just to focus on my pace, and that’s all I tried to do. I didn’t worry about my economy rate; I just looked to bowl fast.”New Zealand were beaten 4-0 in the ODI series and the result plunged New Zealand to seventh in the ICC’s ODI rankings, their lowest position since November 2005. New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) board will meet with Vettori, coach Mark Greatbatch and high performance director, Roger Mortimer on October 22 to review the tour. Bennett refused to comment on the possible fall-out from the tour but said the conditions and atmosphere of Bangladesh were challenging, especially for a debutant.”I knew things weren’t going to be easy, and you had to be mentally quite tough. You weren’t going to bounce guys out, but if you ran-in hard and hit the deck, then you could get some variable bounce. They [the crowds] were pretty loud; even when they [Bangladesh] scored a run, it was like they had won the World Cup.”New Zealand now tour India for a Test and ODI series, and Bennett said he was hopeful of being picked for the tour. But should he not make the cut, Bennett said, he would look to play a pivotal role with Canterbury in the domestic season.”I think that’s why people play cricket, so they can lead by example, and if I can do that with my performances for Canterbury, then that would be great, but I’ll be happy with whatever role the Canterbury coaches give me.”

A round-up of the third day of the second round of matches in the Super League of the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2010Group BRP Singh scythed through Orissa with a career-best 6 for 48•Getty Images

Bhargav Bhatt, the 20-year old slow left-arm bowler, spun Baroda to an innings-and-33-run win against Haryana on the third day at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. Haryana, who needed to score 343 to make Baroda bat again, resisted for almost 100 overs before being dismissed for 310. Bhatt, playing only his third first-class game, took 7 for 127, his maiden five-wicket haul. Haryana’s opening pair of Nitin Saini and captain Rahul Dewan had started solidly, adding 68 runs before Bhatt struck, getting Dewan caught behind. Saini and Sunny Singh soon followed, and Haryana had slumped to 77 for 3. Wickets continued to fall regularly, and though Hemang Badani and Joginder Sharma resisted briefly, it was all but over for Haryana when Badani fell for 79. Bhatt’s accuracy was reflected in the manner of his dismissals, with six of his seven wickets either bowled, caught behind or leg before.

Form Guide – Tracking ESPNcricinfo’s players to watch this season

• R Ashwin: Failed with the bat, but picked up both the Delhi wickets to fall in the second innings

• Piyush Chawla: Had a day to forget, going wicketless in 22 overs against Orissa

• Ravindra Jadeja: Took three wickets to help Saurashtra take the first-innings lead against Gujarat

• Jaidev Unadkat: Also picked up three wickets for Saurashtra

• Yuvraj Singh: Helped himself to an unbeaten half-century a day after being demoted in the BCCI contracts list

Yuvraj Singh made an unbeaten half-century a day after being demoted to Grade B in the BCCI’s list of central contracts. Punjab had already dropped first-innings points against Karnataka in Mohali, and Yuvraj’s 52 helped them to 173 for 2 in their second innings at stumps on the third day. Ravi Inder Singh also made a half-century after having been bowled off the second ball of the match in the first innings. Karnataka’s lower order had supported Amit Verma for more than 25 overs in the morning to prolong Punjab’s misery. Verma made a sedate 60 before becoming the last man to be dismissed. He fell to medium-pacer Manpreet Gony, who finished with three wickets. Punjab still trail Karnataka by ten runs.RP Singh tore through Orissa with a career-best haul of 6 for 48 to leave them reeling at 232 for 9 against Uttar Pradesh at the Dr Akhilesh Das Stadium in Lucknow. RP trapped former India opener and Orissa captain Shiv Sunder Das leg before for 1 in the sixth over of the day. Soon, Orissa were deep in trouble at 42 for 4. However, opener Natraj Behera found some support from the lower middle order, and went on to score his maiden first-class hundred which included 17 fours. Behera made more runs than the rest of his team-mates combined managed to, but fell to RP for 113. However, Orissa still trail by 171 runs and UP are almost assured of first-innings points going into the final day.Group AMumbai‘s bowlers gave their side a huge first-innings lead, bowling Bengal out for 296 at Eden Gardens. Resuming at 28 for 1 in reply to Mumbai’s mammoth 621, Bengal slipped to 84 for 5 as Manoj Tiwary, Shreevats Goswami and Wriddhiman Saha fell cheaply. Debutant Writam Porel and offspinner Saurasish Lahiri fought back with half-centuries. However, Mumbai’s frontline bowlers struck repeatedly and despite a 91-run stand eighth-wicket between Lahiri and Shibsagar Singh, Bengal had little chance of even reaching the follow-on mark. The Mumbai seam trio of Ajit Agarkar, Aavishkar Salvi and Dhawal Kulkarni picked up seven wickets between them. It is to be seen whether Wasim Jaffer will enforce the follow-on tomorrow, or whether he will be satisfied with first-innings points, like he was in Mumbai’s opening game against Saurashtra.Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 76 kept Delhi in control•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Railways put behind the disappointment of conceding a narrow first-innings lead, and had Assam reeling on 160 for 9 at stumps on the third day at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Murali Kartik picked up his 32nd first-class five-wicket haul, and was supported by the medium pace of veteran Sanjay Bangar. As many as eight Assam batsmen failed to reach double figures. Amol Muzumdar, the captain, waged a lone battle with an unbeaten 73. He got some support from wicketkeeper Kunal Saikia though, who made 25. Assam lead by 165 runs with one wicket remaining and would be glad that Muzumdar is still batting. In a low-scoring match where a total of 529 runs have been made in three days, the final day could see a close finish.S Badrinath’s 23rd first-class century was not enough as Tamil Nadu fell well short of Delhi‘s first-innings score at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Tamil Nadi had begun the day 196 runs behind with five wickets remaining. C Ganapathy stuck around for 133 deliveries, making only 22 but adding 89 in a sixth-wicket partnership with Badrinath. However, Ganapathy’s run-out by Pawan Suyal triggered a lower-order collapse as Tamil Nadu slipped from 171 for 5 to be bowled out for 208. Badrinath was the last man dismissed, bowled by Suyal after making 104. The next highest score in the innings was 28. Vikas Mishra, the 17-year old left-arm spinner, finished with 4 for 49 off 38 overs. Delhi stretched their lead to 232 by stumps, with opener Shikhar Dhawan easing to an unbeaten 76. Offspinner R Ashwin took both the Delhi wickets that fell.Jaidev Unadkat and Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets apiece for Saurashtra to skittle out Gujarat for 191 at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat. Five of the six Saurashtra bowlers used were among the wickets as their side comfortably took first-innings honours. Gujarat fell short of Saurashtra’s total by 71 runs. Most of the Gujarat batsmen got starts but none went on to make even a half-century. Opener Priyank Panchal was the top scorer with 40 before he fell leg before to Jadeja. With three points in their kitty, Saurashtra crawled to 60 for 2 at stumps, offspinner Mohnish Parmar taking both wickets.

Xavier Doherty’s level head will be tested over the next week as Australia’s latest spin bowling answer makes his debut

Peter English in Brisbane24-Nov-2010Xavier Doherty’s level head will be tested over the next week as Australia’s latest spin bowling answer makes his debut. Doherty, the left-arm orthodox, has only been a fixture in Tasmania’s team this summer, but has been handed the role of tying down an end and tripping up Kevin Pietersen.While the Gabba is expected to suit the seamers and limit Doherty’s role, he still has to show enough to prove he will be a threat on the more spin friendly surface of Adelaide next week. Ricky Ponting plays with Doherty on his occasional state appearances and said he was “absolutely” ready.”He’s bowled a lot the last few days,” Ponting said. “He’s very excited and looking forward to the challenge over the next five days. He’s a pretty level-headed bloke and knows his strengths and weaknesses. He’ll stick to those through the five days and I’m sure he’ll do well.”Doherty, an architecture student in Hobart, grew up idolising Ponting and supports his charity. Before the toss Ponting will present him with his baggy green and then it will be his job to follow his captain’s commands.One strange aspect of Doherty’s promotion is that he has played only four first-class matches at the Gabba and taken just two wickets. Unless it’s Shane Warne, spinners are usually an after-thought in Brisbane.”I don’t really have much of a first-class record, I guess,” Doherty said this week. “The game we played here this year was pretty much a washout and I didn’t play for a few years before that. It’s probably not an ideal record before then so it’ll be a challenge. But I’m bowling better than I ever have.”Doherty has appeared in 35 first-class games and while he has improved considerably over the past two years, he carries a career average of 48. His goals for this match are suitably modest, given most of the work will be done by the fast men.”At the end of the day it’s just another game for me,” he said. “I am not going to go out and try to take six or eight wickets every game because that is not what I’ve done to get here.”

Playing a single Twenty20 between a Test and ODI series makes it hard for the players to adjust to the format

Sidharth Monga in Durban08-Jan-2011is ironic that, from a cricketing point of view at least, the game that will draw the biggest crowd of the season is the least anticipated. Although, on second thought, it is perhaps unfair to ask a Twenty20 game to match up to what was a thrilling Test series, and that too, a Twenty20 game played in a football stadium, on a pitch expected to stay low, with short square boundaries.Still, 50,000 are expected to sell out the Moses Mabhida Stadium and they will have plenty to watch: Makhaya Ntini playing his last international match, Johan Botha continuing his audition as potentially South Africa’s next ODI captain, some flashy Indian youngsters trying to hit balls into the streets, and some song and dance from Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Anil Kapoor.For the players, though, it will be difficult to adjust. They first have to get over the hangover from the Test series, which should take some time, and then prepare for the ODI series, which will be the real deal going into the World Cup. “Of course it is a difficult one, because more often than not whenever there is a Twenty20 game, you play just one-off game,” MS Dhoni said. “It’s very difficult to get into that groove, and then come out of that groove and play ODIs. Of course we will give it our best shot. We have got players who are part of the ODI squad, but along with that there are T20 specialists also. That will help.”Forget the change of ball and change of kits, there is a change of stadium too. Both the teams seek to draw on their experience of playing cricket in New Zealand, where some of the grounds double up as rugby stadiums. At times in New Zealand, even as the post-match presentation is going on, the groundstaff start starts removing the drop-in pitch to get the ground ready for a rugby game to be played the same week.”You may say the experience we have of paying in New Zealand will come into effect,” Dhoni said. “Of course the sides will be pretty small compared to the long front boundaries. We haven’t seen the ground yet, but after the practice session that we are having right now, we are planning to go to the stadium. Before starting cricket, play a bit of football there. And then a fielding session. And exactly see what it looks like. It looks really different from the outside, but very similar to a football stadium.”Johan Botha, who will be captaining South Africa in Graeme Smith’s absence, concurred. “I haven’t been to the ground yet. We will be going after this to do a bit of fielding there, just see what the different dimensions of the ground are. But both teams have to bat and bowl on it. Hopefully, we can play well on the ground with the specific distances. It’s almost like a New Zealand ground.”The game feels like a transit airport in a long journey right now. You don’t know much about it, you don’t expect much out of it, you don’t have a proper sense of time and space either. It will pass in a blur, but both teams will look to find better bargains at duty-free shops.