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Spinner Jack Sinfield claimed three wickets on his Shield debut for Queensland

AAP21-Feb-2023Wicketkeeper Matthew Gilkes posted his highest Sheffield Shield score to lift NSW from a precarious position on day one of their Sheffield Shield match against Queensland.NSW, who require victory at the Gabba to avoid a record winless run, were lurching before Gilkes’s innings helped them reach 9 for 311 at stumps.Gilkes, whose previous best in an 18-match first-class career was 83, reached his seventh half-century only to be dismissed minutes before stumps for 94.Gilkes struck 14 boundaries in a 160-ball knock before directing a Xavier Bartlett delivery into the hands of Joe Burns.NSW were struggling at 5 for 134 and with all five recognised batters back in the pavilion after Queensland elected to send the visitors in to bat.
Gilkes added 60 for the sixth wicket with Hayden Kerr (24).Chris Green followed up his maiden half century last week with 52 as he and Gilkes added another 91 for the eighth wicket.Queensland bowled a consistent line and length during the morning session to leave NSW 3 for 70 at lunch in a session that included the key scalp of heavy-scoring opener Daniel Hughes (21).Other batters failing to build on starts were Kurtis Patterson (31), Moises Henriques (23) and Jason Sangha (34).Queensland lined up with two debutants in the form of Aryan Jain and teenage offspinner Jackson Sinfield.The latter, who came into the side in place of Test call-up Matt Kuhnemann, picked up 3 for 70 with NSW skipper Patterson being his first Shield victim when he chipped to midwicket.

Josh Philippe and Daniel Hughes scored half-centuries as Sixers made up for a slow start

AAP15-Jan-2022Veteran spinner Steve O’Keefe has enjoyed a triumphant BBL comeback while star batter Josh Philippe returned to form as Sydney Sixers scored a thumping 60-run win over Sydney Thunder.The result at the SCG on Saturday moved Sixers into second place on the ladder on net run rate above Thunder, who have played one more game and suffered back-to-back losses.Sixers made 5 for 197 with Philippe (57 off 35 balls), Daniel Hughes (66 off 48) and captain Moises Henriques kept (47 not out off 27) lifting the tempo massively after their side scored a competition low of just eight from their opening four-over powerplay.Thunder tallied 28 more in the powerplay than Sixers, but 37-year-old O’Keefe, back after missing two matches with a hand injury, triggered a massive collapse. He took two wickets in both his first and third overs as the Thunder lost 7 for 38 before a ninth-wicket stand of 56 salvaged some pride. Captain Chris Green scored his first BBL half-century, with the visitors finishing on 9 for 137.Alex Hales got the Thunder off to a rapid start, taking three fours off Sean Abbott in the second over. But O’Keefe bowled Hales with his first delivery and had Alex Ross caught behind three balls later to alter the momentum.O’Keefe struck twice more when he had the dangerous Daniel Sams caught at long-on and Oliver Davies stumped. Thunder slumped to 5 for 61 in the 10th over and 8 for 80 in the 13th.Earlier Sixers took 28 balls to notch their first boundary but made the most of their chances. Coming off a lean run of three ducks in four innings, Philippe was dropped on 9 and made Thunder pay.Returning to his strong early season form, Philippe smashed five fours and two sixes, pulling off some well executed ramp shots and big leg-side hits.Australian T20 and ODI representative Philippe and Hughes picked up the pace, adding 82 in just under 10 overs. Hughes, who scored just two runs off his first 11 balls, brought up a record fifth half-century in Sydney Smash matches, a fixture in which he has scored more runs than any other player.Hughes and Henriques kept the pressure on the Thunder’s bowlers, putting on 77 in seven overs.Thunder were guilty of sloppy fielding and pacemen Mohammed Hasnain and Sams were left visibly agitated with the former exchanging words with Henriques — when Sixers captain seemed to cheekily suggest the Pakistan quick was throwing.Sams and fellow paceman Nathan McAndrew each took two wickets but Hasnain, who was playing his last match before returning home, was clearly Thunder’s most economical bowler.

Gaikwad was one of the two players who had tested positive for Covid-19 from the CSK contingent

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Sep-2020Ruturaj Gaikwad, the second player in the Chennai Super Kings contingent to test positive for Covid-19 last month, will not be available for selection for the team’s opening game, the IPL 2020 tournament opener against Mumbai Indians on September 19. Gaikwad has finished his two-week quarantine and is understood to be asymptomatic, but he is yet to clear the two mandatory Covid-19 tests put in place by the IPL for him to re-join the squad.”We are waiting for BCCI to give us a clearance on Gaikwad. He has to undergo the fitness tests [as well],” Kasi Viswanathan, Super Kings’ chief executive officer, told ESPNcricinfo. Viswanathan said it could take “another two days at least” to get a clear idea on when Gaikwad could return.Viswanathan said Gaikwad continues to remain in a separate isolation facility, outside the team hotel. Less than a week after landing in the UAE on August 21, 13 members of Super Kings’ set-up had tested positive for Covid-19 and were moved out of the team hotel immediately.As per the IPL’s medical guidelines, any player in the bubble testing positive first has to isolate for 14 days followed by testing negative twice. The two tests are carried out on consecutive days. After that, he has to undergo medical tests put in place by BCCI’s team before he can start training.India fast bowler Deepak Chahar, who was the other Super Kings player to test positive for Covid-19 last month, underwent a similar process. Chahar recovered in time to be ready for the opening match.ALSO READ: Ruturaj Gaikwad in power-packed band of uncapped Indian batsmenIn the wake of Super Kings stalwart Suresh Raina’s sudden withdrawal from the IPL last month, the franchise had said it was confident Gaikwad could fill in for Raina. Gaikwad has scored more List A runs than anyone for India A in the last two years – 843 runs in 15 innings. All those runs came while batting at No. 3, the position Raina mostly batted at for Super Kings.Gaikwad began the 2019-20 season with a below-par Vijay Hazare Trophy, the 50-over competition, but bounced back in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the T20 tournament. His tally of 419 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 146.30 was only second to Devdutt Padikkal’s 580 runs in 12 innings.Hazlewood and Curran’s availability for first match remains unclear
Viswanthan also said that the IPL has not yet given its final word on whether players arriving from the England v Australia series, which concludes on Wednesday, will be exempt from the mandatory six-day quarantine.Super Kings have two players arriving from England series: Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood and England bowling allrounder Sam Curran. Considering the players would be moving from one bubble (in England) to another (in the UAE), franchises have been requesting the IPL to reconsider the quarantine period to make them available for the teams’ first games.ALSO READ: David Warner, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins set to miss start of IPL 2020The IPL is understood to have told franchises that it needs to be absolutely certain about the commute from England to the UAE – which would be on a charter flight – being safe. Only then can it take a final call, in coordination with the local government authorities in the UAE.Viswanthan confirmed that all the players arriving from the Caribbean Premier League, including former South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir and West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo were fit and available for selection for the first match.Super Kings, who finished runners-up last season in the IPL, are schedule to play three matches in the first week of the tournament. After the opening match against Mumbai in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, Super Kings play Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah on September 22 and then travel to Dubai to take on Delhi Capitals on September 25.

Netherlands were 167 for 5. They had never chased a target as big as 291 in ODI cricket. Fast forward to the 49th over and they were gifted the winning run off a wide

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jun-2019
Zimbabwe came into this game after getting a proper beating. But nearly all of their key players stood up to change the narrative. Sikandar Raza played finisher to perfection, making 85 off only 68 balls and remaining unbeaten so that the effort of his team-mates higher up the order – Craig Ervine scored 84 and Brendan Taylor struck a fifty as well – yielded a solid total. At the innings break, 290 for 6 looked a winning score. And that perception only grew when Sean Williams too four wickets with his left-arm spin.Netherlands were 167 for 5 in the 33rd over. They had never chased a target as big as this in ODI cricket before. But fast forward to the 49th and they were gifted the winning run off a wide.Much of the recovery had already been done, with Roelof van der Merwe striking a composed 57 off 54 balls and the wicketkeeper Scott Edwards keeping pace despite scoring only three boundaries in his unbeaten 44. Eventually though that sixth-wicket partnership at nearly run a ball gave way to one that was pure mayhem.The Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar came out with the equation reading 62 off 42 balls and completely broke the game. He faced only 15 deliveries but sent six of them to the boundary to ensure his team set a new national record.A big chase usually needs a good opening stand and Netherlands had that too. Tobias Visee, who will be opening the batting with Chris Gayle at the Global T20 Canada, batted in a matter befitting that as he whacked 41 off only 33 balls. His partner, Max O’Dowd who scored a half-century on debut on Wednesday followed it up with another, but when he fell to Williams, the game seemed to tilt towards Zimbabwe and the series was set to be shared 1-1.Then everything changed.

Ross Taylor produced one of the greatest ODI innings – a large part of it on one leg – to help New Zealand level the series 2-2

The Report by Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin06-Mar-20181:57

‘Magnificent’ Taylor levels one-day series

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
New Zealand took a gripping series to a decider as Ross Taylor produced one of the greatest one-day innings in staging a magnificent chase in Dunedin to hunt down an imposing 336. What made Taylor’s career-best unbeaten 181 from 147 balls even more remarkable was that the latter part was played after he injured himself diving to make a second run shortly after reaching three figures.Incredibly, New Zealand got home with three balls to spare when Henry Nicholls swung Tom Curran over the leg side after Colin de Grandhomme hammered 23 off 11 balls to help take the pressure off a limping Taylor. However, in fading light, it was Taylor that did most of the finishing as he took a six and a four in the space of three balls against Chris Woakes in the 47th over, then took him over midwicket again at the start of the 49th to remove any doubt. New Zealand still haven’t lost at this ground. After today, they may feel they never will.It was another wonderfully absorbing contest between these teams, back to the high-scoring variety seen in 2015 in England. Centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root were the centrepiece of England’s innings, but they suffered a middle-order meltdown as they lost 8 for 46 to slump from 267 for 1 to 313 for 9. Still, it was the second-highest total on the ground – it would become England’s second-highest first-innings in defeat.Ross Taylor struggles to stay on his feet•Getty Images

Taylor combined with Tom Latham – the same pair that did so much to win the opening match of the series – to add 187 in 25.5 overs for the fourth wicket as New Zealand recovered from 2 for 2, and then the loss of Kane Williamson when replays showed he hadn’t edged the ball.Taylor, who gave one chance on 84 when Bairstow couldn’t gather a catch at deep midwicket, brought up his 19th ODI century from 98 balls, but shortly after, on 109, suffered an injury when making his ground for a scampered second. He was patched up by the physio – who made multiple trips to the middle – and hauled himself between the wickets, but largely opted to have a swing. He sent both Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid out of the ground, taking his sixes tally to six, with the fifth of them landing on the roof of a building adjacent to the sightscreen.Latham played superbly in support, having arrived when Williamson was given caught behind pulling at Stokes’ first delivery. Colin Munro had earlier reviewed a stone-dead lbw first ball against Mark Wood, so the New Zealand captain had no recourse. When the asking rate touched nine-an-over, Latham took two sixes in three balls off Wood and Stokes. He might have been lbw twice, once to Moeen Ali and once to Adil Rashid, but was so far down the pitch on both occasions that the umpires were perfectly in their right to say not outLatham fell to Tom Curran’s slower-ball, finding mid-off with 63 needed from 48 balls. De Grandhomme was promoted and struck his first two balls for four, followed by two sixes off Curran in the 44th over to firmly swing things New Zealand’s way. Woakes went for just three off the 45th and Curran then removed de Grandhomme, but there would be no denying Taylor.England will wonder how they have not wrapped up the series. When Bairstow and Root were together adding 190 in 27.2 overs, they were on course to challenge 400. But Bairstow’s dismissal to Munro sparked a horrendous collapse, as Ish Sodhi bagged a career-best 4 for 58. After the top three, the next batsmen to reach double figures were Rashid and Curran at Nos. 9 and 10.England had raced out of the blocks, reaching 77 off the 10-over Powerplay against some inconsistent bowling and fallible fielding. Sodhi broke through with his second ball, Roy top-edging to short fine leg, but that just set the stage for Bairstow and Roy.Bairstow reached his third ODI century – all made as an opener – from 83 deliveries while Root reached his from 99 balls, although that came in the midst of England’s late slump. For Root, it was his first century in 26 international innings – in which time he has passed fifty on 12 occasions – while for Bairstow it broke a sequence against Australia and New Zealand where had missed the chance to convert a few starts.Such was the way Bairstow, given a life on 74 by Mitchell Santner at cover, was progressing, that Roy’s England record 180 – made against Australia in Melbourne – was in danger. Yet things were about to change very quickly. Bairstow skied an off-cutter and Jos Buttler’s promotion to No. 4 lasted two balls when he chipped a catch back to Sodhi.There was no thought of momentary consolidation with Eoin Morgan hoisting Trent Boult into the leg side. New Zealand’s fielding suddenly went up a notch with Munro taking an excellent catch running back. Stokes then picked out deep square leg and Moeen lofted down the ground where Tim Southee made excellent ground running in to take the ball by his bootlaces.When Woakes chipped Munro to long-on, Root was in danger of running out of partners before his century. He, too, fell before the end and it was left to Curran to offer any semblance of a finish as he took 18 off the last over. The days of 336 being virtually unchasable are long gone. Still, this was remarkable.

Mumbai struck late blows on day one in Rajkot as Tamil Nadu slumped from a promising 178 for 2 to 261 for 6 at stumps

The Report by Arun Venugopal in Rajkot01-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Kaushik Gandhi scored 50 off 137 balls•PTI

Tamil Nadu received their first gift of the new year after a favourable outcome at the toss allowed them to have first strike on a friendly surface. Mumbai’s seamers, though, stuffed a spring-loaded boxing glove inside the gift box trussed up in ribbons. By the time Tamil Nadu stuttered to 261 for 6 at the end of the first day, Abhishek Nayar, Shardul Thakur and Balwinder Sandhu had ensured Mumbai had made the happier start to 2017.Until about five minutes before tea, Tamil Nadu were having a party, with Kaushik Gandhi and B Indrajith adding 110 for the third wicket. But after Indrajith was caught down the leg side off Thakur for 64, Tamil Nadu lost two more wickets in the next six overs. Vijay Shankar (41*) and Aswin Crist ensured there was no further damage with an unbroken 30-run stand late in the day, but with Mumbai having taken the new ball they will return to a stern examination on the second day.Mumbai’s new-ball pair of Thakur and Balwinder didn’t receive much assistance from the pitch in the morning except for the odd delivery that stayed low. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu’s left-hand opening batsmen, the debutant V Ganga Sridhar Raju and captain Abhinav Mukund, didn’t begin altogether fluently either, but gradually got a grip on things. With the bowlers trying to tail the ball into the batsmen during the first hour, most of Tamil Nadu’s runs came on the leg side.While Thakur’s brief short-ball gambit to Abhinav didn’t fetch results, Abhishek Nayar’s introduction in the 11th over immediately heightened Mumbai’s threat. Nayar got the ball to curve away from the batsmen, and Sandhu followed suit and exerted pressure from the other end. In the 17th over, Raju played inside the line to Nayar and Aditya Tare held the resultant edge behind the wicket.Nayar would have picked up his second wicket in his next over had Siddhesh Lad not dropped Gandhi at second slip on zero; it eventually cost Mumbai 50 runs. Nayar moved the ball away from the right-hand batsman, who was shaping to play the ball into the on side.With about half an hour to go for lunch, Abhinav frittered away a good start after he pushed inside the line of the ball from deep in the crease off Sandhu to give Tare his 200th dismissal in first-class cricket. Given that the ball was not all that short, he might have been better off playing off the front foot to negate the late outward movement. Indrajith, who came into bat next, made an immediate adjustment by standing well outside the crease.Indrajith and Gandhi steered Tamil Nadu to 96 for 2 at lunch, and either side of the break produced eye-catching drives. They handled the spinners, left-armer Vijay Gohil and offie Akshay Girap, with ease. Indrajith punched Gohil off the back foot for four and a few overs later Gandhi charged Girap and slapped a full-toss wide off mid on.Mumbai went back to their seamers, who by this time were getting the ball to reverse. Thakur’s late in-dipper – a delivery that has brought him quite a few wickets – wasn’t immediately successful, but eventually broke through with a bit of luck, Indrajith’s leg glance ending up in Tare’s gloves.Once they broke the 110-run stand, Mumbai seized the momentum. In the 66th over, Nayar sent back Gandhi, whose attempted flick ricocheted off his pad and lobbed to Praful Waghela diving forward from second slip. Less than three overs later, the Tamil Nadu camp appeared miffed after Dinesh Karthik was adjudged lbw by umpire Virender Sharma. Thakur’s inswinger would have missed leg stump comfortably, and there might have been some bat on it as well. B Aparajith (9), who has managed only one fifty in 10 innings this season, gritted it out for 27 balls before Gohil had him caught at slip with a nicely tossed-up delivery that drifted in before dipping and turning away just enough to catch the outside edge.Shankar showed barely any signs of circumspection upon his arrival. In the 79th over, he smeared a straight drive off Sandhu and topped it with a backfoot punch off the following delivery. Whenever the spinners bowled short, he produced powerful, wristy whips through midwicket, but towards the end of the day, when Nayar and Thakur tempted him with a string of deliveries outside off, he wisely left them alone. With Aswin Crist showing he is capable of defending solidly, Tamil Nadu could yet move to a healthy total.

The refusal of Rodney Marsh, the former Australia wicketkeeper, to sign a cricket bat which already carried Chris Cairns’ autograph was an early sign that players had been “warned off” him by the ICC, the jury at Southwark Crown Court heard today

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2015The refusal of Rod Marsh, the former Australia wicketkeeper, to sign a cricket bat which already carried Chris Cairns’ autograph was an early sign that players had been “warned off” him by the ICC, the jury at Southwark Crown Court heard today.The crown prosecutor, Sasha Wass, QC, cited that incident during her cross-examination of Andrew Fitch-Holland, Cairns’ former attorney and co-defendant, who is the final witness to be called in the four-week trial.”Rod Marsh said I’m not having anything to do with Mr Cairns, he wouldn’t sign a cricket bat,” Wass said to Fitch-Holland.Rumours about Cairns’ involvement in match-fixing had circulated ever since he was removed from the Indian Cricket League in October 2008, under the pretext of an injury.Following Marsh’s action, Fitch-Holland had asked the ICC whether it had any evidence that Cairns was a match-fixer. It turned out that the governing body was not investigating him as the ICL was an unsanctioned tournament.”It seemed that someone was saying something, because of the Rod Marsh incident, and we just thought ‘this can’t be allowed to continue’,” Fitch-Holland told the court.”I took that to be confirmation from the ICC that they weren’t sniffing around Chris,” he added.Marsh’s snub had occurred in 2009, one year before Lalit Modi, the founder of the Indian Premier League, had tweeted about Cairns’ alleged activities, an event which formed the basis of Cairns’ successful libel action against Modi in 2012.Cairns, who denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, stands accused of having lied under oath to secure that court victory. Fitch-Holland denies one count of perverting the course of justice, after allegedly persuading Lou Vincent, Cairns’ former team-mate, to provide a false witness statement.Wass wanted to know if Fitch-Holland knew any reason why Modi would make a false accusation against Cairns.”I assumed at the time he had misspoken, and he would correct it,” Fitch-Holland said.At the libel trial in 2012, Cairns confirmed that he had “had it out” with Marsh over a drink at his house following the bat-signing incident.Fitch-Holland, whom Ms Wass tried to paint as a “cricket groupie”, admitted to having been “very pissed off” with Cairns in an email exchange in April 2013 following a lengthy delay in payment for his role as “lead adviser” during the legal action.During a heated cross-examination, which involved an intervention from the judge, Fitch-Holland was also asked about an incident in which he had told a group, including Chris Harris: “Oh, he’s guilty, Cairnsy’s guilty”.”I’m not for one second suggesting that Chris Harris is lying, and you know perfectly well that I’m not,” Fitch-Holland told Ms Wass.”It cannot have been about match-fixing, because quite simply that was not in my mind.”Fitch-Holland is expected to continue giving evidence on Tuesday.

The moment Ziaur Rahman hit Brendan Taylor’s pad in front of the stumps and the umpire raised his finger, Bangladesh were closer to a rare Test win

The Report by Mohammad Isam28-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNasir Hossain stretched the Bangladesh lead•AFP

The moment Ziaur Rahman hit Brendan Taylor’s pad in front of the stumps and the umpire raised his finger, Bangladesh were closer to a rare Test win. At the end of the fourth day of the second and final Test, Zimbabwe were 138 for 4, chasing a 401-run target set up by Mushfiqur Rahim’s 93.The Zimbabwe captain’s wicket was the one Mushfiqur would have wanted more than the seven runs by which he missed his third Test hundred. After umpire Ian Gould lifted his finger, it was easy to see and hear what it meant to the fielding side which was screaming for joy. Zimbabwe were 96 for 3, with their best batsman and captain out of the equation with a day remaining.Malcolm Waller also fell to Ziaur for 15, missing a straightening delivery as his lack of footwork shackled him to the crease. Shingirai Masakadza was sent in as the nightwatchman at 118 for 4 with more than 15 overs remaining in the day, a strange decision but one which ultimately paid off. His elder brother Hamilton held his own at the other end, unbeaten on 46 off 94 balls.Zimbabwe started the fourth innings positively but in the tenth over, Regis Chakabva played inside the line of a Shakib Al Hasan delivery which spun past to strike off. Vusi Sibanda fell soon after for a 50-ball 32, driving one straight to Sohag Gazi at short cover off Shakib.Mushfiqur would thank his lucky stars that finally bowlers other than Robiul Islam stood up. Ziaur bowled a 10-over spell, mainly focused on being accurate. He hardly has pace like he did a few years ago, but managed to bring in his shoulders to generate speed. Shakib and Gazi bowled tightly too, both using a typical left-arm spinner and offspinner’s line. There was hardly a loose ball.Bangladesh declared about an hour after lunch on 291 for 9, going ahead of the home side by exactly 400 runs. Shakib, Mushfiqur and Nasir Hossain hit their second fifties of the game.Nasir stretched the lead with the tail, making an unbeaten 67 and scoring most of the 40 runs that came after lunch. Apart from his effort, Bangladesh’s dominance was also due to captain Mushfiqur’s attentiveness to the situation.He made 93 before being brilliantly caught at gully by Sibanda off Hamilton Masakadza, and his persistence was crucial to his side’s staying power. Along with Nasir, he had to see off the first half-hour, which has often produced wickets in Harare. Though they hardly found boundaries because the home side had deep fielders on both sides, they played carefully. Zimbabwe bowled wide too, and the batsmen cut out the rash shots.Mushfiqur and Nasir were happy picking up singles until the captain began to open up with a mistimed scoop and a slog-sweep – both off Elton Chigumbura. He had earlier hit a cover drive that sped to the boundary but the wicket had slowed down, and bounce was also on the low side. He and Nasir added 84 for the sixth wicket, back-to-back 80-plus partnerships for Mushfiqur, after his fifth-wicket stand with Shakib on the third evening.Taylor missed the long hours put in by Keegan Meth, who is out with a right knee injury. He was seen sitting on the sidelines with his feet up and knee strapped. Hamilton Masakadza, bowling medium-pace, took three wickets but was never going to be as big a threat to the visitors. Kyle Jarvis did not bowl with the venom of the first Test, but Shingi Masakadza remained steady and picked up four wickets.Had the Zimbabwe bowlers put up a better show even on the fourth morning, the Test match could have remained competitive. Bangladesh got most of what happened on the fourth day their way, though there again was the odd leg-before decision that they were denied. They would still take it, given they are closing in on a Test win for the first time in nearly four years.

Angelo Mathews is determined to play his role as an allrounder for Sri Lanka despite being sidelined by constant leg injuries

Sa'adi Thawfeeq05-Apr-2012Angelo Mathews, touted as the heir apparent to the Sri Lanka captaincy, is determined to play his role as an allrounder in the team despite being sidelined by constant leg injuries.Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka’s chief selector, suggested on the eve of the Test series against England that Mathews faced a potential future as a specialist batsman, saying: “I don’t think we can use Mathews as an allrounder in the future. He has some problem with his legs and it is very unlikely he will bowl much. We have to look at him purely as a batsman.”Mathews himself, who was powerless to intervene as England crawled towards a position of authority on the second day of the second Test in Colombo, disagreed. “Definitely I am not going to give up on my bowling in ODIs and T20 cricket,” he said.”The longer format I need to rethink and manage my workload. I’ve been having a few issues in my legs. I really don’t know why I tend to get injured constantly. I am trying my level best to get rid of those injuries.”Mathews missed the World Cup final against India last year and was ruled out of the Asia Cup last month as well as the first Test of the present series.”If I have a long season I need to readjust and think about my workload because playing in all three formats it takes a lot out of you,” he said. “As an allrounder it’s very demanding. You need to keep yourself fit.Mathews returned to the Sri Lanka side after being forced to miss the first Test at Galle because of an injury to his right calf and scored a cautious 57 from 157 balls to help Sri Lanka to a first innings total of 275.”We were looking at around 300-plus when we went to bat in the morning but the English bowlers bowled really well. The pitch wasn’t easy to bat on as it was getting slower and slower but the bowlers made it even harder for us,” he said.”The English have played really well for the first couple of days and we need to get back into the game by taking a few wickets early on. If we can do that we can push them back. The wicket is not that great to bat on and it’s pretty slow so we need to keep bowling in the right areas and do the right things.”Mathews said that Alastair Cook. who was missed at 20 and remained unbeaten on 77 at the close. was the key batsman to dismiss. “If we had held onto that catch it would have been different, but chances do go begging sometimes. Nevertheless he batted well and he held his nerve. We need to get his wicket early tomorrow.”

Shoaib Akhtar may well have played his last match for Pakistan, after he
wasn’t picked for the semi-final against India in Mohali

Osman Samiuddin in Mohali30-Mar-2011Shoaib Akhtar may well have played his last match for Pakistan, after he
wasn’t picked for the semi-final against India in Mohali. Despite the
customary speculation surrounding his participation before each game ever
since he announced his international retirement (before the group game
against Australia), Pakistan chose an unchanged line-up from the
quarter-final win against West Indies in Dhaka. That means Wahab Riaz
retains his place.The question of Shoaib’s inclusion was the subject of considerable
discussion within the team management in the build-up to the game.
Essentially it came down to Shoaib’s fitness to last an entire innings –
and multiple spells – but his big-game experience weighed up against
Riaz’s freshness and inexperience, but importantly, the variation he
provides as a left-arm paceman. On Tuesday evening, they opted for the
latter. The team were also keen to stick as much as possible with the same XI throughout the tournament.The issue was confused by comments made by Afridi in the pre-match press
conference, in which he said, “Shoaib is not 100% but he is trying his
level best. We will decide this evening.” That was widely interpreted to
mean that he was carrying an injury or wasn’t fit enough to play this
game, but it is the line that Pakistan have trotted out throughout the
tournament and it relates to his general fitness levels, rather than a
specific injury.Both Afridi and coach Waqar Younis have talked repeatedly of Shoaib not
being at optimum fitness levels, though he has still played three group
games, picking up three wickets. Their concerns grew after he struggled to
bowl his last over against New Zealand, the 47th of the innings, which
ultimately went for 28 runs.Until that over, however, he had bowled well without much luck, knocking
over Brendan McCullum in his first over before seeing centurion Ross
Taylor missed twice in three balls in his second spell. He hasn’t played a
game since. Earlier in the tournament, incidentally, when asked about his
fitness, Shoaib said that he had played much of his career not entirely
fit.Sources within the team management admitted the decision to exclude Shoaib
had upset him considerably. He believes he is fit enough to play and that
his experience of big games should have seen him in the line-up. He bowled
in the pre-match warm-ups and looked to be running in as he has through
the last year.The occasion of the match, and missing out on it, will also have upset
him. Shoaib has always enjoyed the rivalry with India, from his Eden
Gardens introduction in 1998-99 even through the World Cup Centurion game
and he remains one of the most popular Pakistani cricketers in India.