James Anderson has been called up to England’s Twenty20 squad for the matches against South Africa to cover for Steven Finn who has a stiff back

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2012James Anderson has been called into England’s Twenty20 squad for the three matches against South Africa as cover for Steven Finn who has a stiff back a week before the team is due to depart for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.Finn was left out for the last ODI against South Africa at Trent Bridge on Thursday with Chris Woakes taking his place and Alastair Cook said it was wise to take a careful approach with the fast bowler.”You do have to be careful with the amount of cricket coming up,” he said. “It was a very sensible decision, I think. It would have looked quite stupid if he’d tried to play and it had then suddenly got worse.”Anderson has not played a T20 for England since facing South Africa at Centurion in 2009, although he was part of the squad for the World T20 in the Caribbean. He has played 19 T20 internationals, taking 18 wickets with an economy rate of 7.84. Finn, meanwhile, has claimed nine wickets in his six matches.The first match against South Africa is at Chester-le-Street on Saturday before further games at Old Trafford and Edgbaston. England leave for Sri Lanka next Thursday ahead of the start of their title defence against Afghanistan on September 21 before their second group match against India two days later.

Michael Hussey hopes that one Sheffield Shield match and some net sessions against the red ball will be enough to turn his form against South Africa around

Brydon Coverdale31-Oct-2012Michael Hussey is entering his 19th season of first-class cricket. In all that time, he has not faced a better attack than the South Africa group led by Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. Since Steyn and Morkel arrived on the scene, Hussey has played eight Tests against South Africa for a top score of 50. Next week, he will walk out on to the Gabba and attempt to rectify that record with only one Sheffield Shield match behind him. He’d better hope it doesn’t rain in Melbourne over the next four days.Hussey is the first to admit that his preparation, which virtually begins and concludes with a Shield match against Victoria starting on Thursday, has been far from ideal. Even in the lead-up to the disastrous 2010-11 Ashes, a series that led to the Argus review and serious criticisms of Australia’s preparation, he had played two Shield games before the first Test. Now, he hasn’t played a first-class match since April, his longest such lay-off in five years.It’s not that he hasn’t been playing cricket – there was the limited-overs tour of the UAE in August and September, followed by the World Twenty20 and the Champions League T20 – it’s just that his bat hasn’t been collecting red cherries. The best he has managed were some net sessions with a red ball facing his Chennai Super Kings team-mate Ben Hilfenhaus over the past few weeks in South Africa.”It’s not perfect. You’d definitely prefer at least a couple [of Shield games],” Hussey said. “But that’s the way the schedule is and there’s nothing I can do about it … But I must admit my training while I was over in South Africa was trying to get back into Test match cricket mode. I was facing Ben Hilfenhaus with red balls over there. I have done a fair bit of work in the lead-up to this Shield game.”This Shield game is very important as well. I’d prefer to have more first-class games but having said that I find the transition from Twenty20 into the longer form a lot easier than the other way around. I’ve always struggled going from a Test match into a T20 game. I’ve found that’s taken me a lot longer. Hopefully I can make the adjustment relatively quickly.”Hussey is not the only batsman in Australia’s Test side facing the same problem. None of Hussey, David Warner and Shane Watson have played first-class cricket since the Caribbean Test tour in April, and although they were all at the Champions League, Watson was sent home early to work on his Test preparation. At least Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Ed Cowan have been at home playing Shield cricket.Hussey can ill afford to head to the Gabba without red-ball runs to his name. Over the past four years, Australia and South Africa have delivered eight of the most magnificent Tests, but Hussey’s contributions have been slim. Steyn and Morkel have each dismissed him five times, and although Hussey might be able to target the legspinner Imran Tahir, he will have to find a way to counteract the swing and bounce of South Africa’s quicks.”It’s probably the best attack that I’ve faced,” Hussey said. “They complement each other quite well. They’re all different bowlers. Steyn is a bit shorter, extreme pace but can swing the ball away from the right hander. Morkel gets that awkward bounce so he’s very different. He’s a bit wider of the crease and bowls very well to the left handers in particular.”Philander is extremely disciplined, lands the ball on the seam and does a little bit either way. They’re well backed up by Kallis, who has done a fantastic job over a long time, and they’ve got a very good spinner as well. They’re a very well rounded attack. They complement each other very well and we’re going to have to play extremely well to get on top of them.”But Hussey knows that lying awake at night worrying about the South Africans won’t help. Over the years, Hussey has admitted to sometimes over-thinking things and he has learnt that a clouded mind is his enemy. He knows that at 37, his next extended lean patch could be career-ending – though only if a younger batsman emerges from Shield cricket with better credentials, which for the time being is not happening. But he refuses to let himself become anxious over a record of 277 runs at 18.46 in his past eight Tests against South Africa.”There’s no point [worrying],” Hussey said. “I have tried doing that before, against England. I’d had a mediocre season against England and I was getting all worried about it, and then ended up performing a lot better against them next time. There’s no point in worrying or stressing about anything that’s happened in the past, because there’s enough things to worry and stress about when you’re out in the middle in a Test match anyway.”The Test matches we’ve played against South Africa in South Africa have been extremely difficult for batting. I think back to the Cape Town game when we were bowled out for 40-odd, Michael Clarke’s innings of 150 was one of the best innings I’ve ever seen, because the pitch was doing an extraordinary amount and no other batsman looked comfortable at all. I’m expecting the pitches in Australia to be very good, very true, and if you can get in and get through that initial period, there’s no reason why a few of the guys can’t go on and get big scores.”The question is whether Hussey is one of those guys. At least he knows he has the support of the national selector John Inverarity.”Last year when [the selection panel] were contemplating the first Test team against India at the Boxing Day Test, we were discussing Ben Hilfenhaus, and a couple amongst us said Ben Hilfenhaus’ record at the MCG is not at all good,” Inverarity said this week. “Then one amongst us said ‘well he’s due to take wickets’ and he got five. So I would say against the South Africans, Michael Hussey who is a very fine batsman, is due to make some runs.”The Australians just hope that in a month’s time he’s not overdue.

While the visiting Englishmen played their third warm-up game of the India tour in Ahmedabad, India’s Test side eased into its three-day preparatory camp in Mumbai ahead of the upcoming series

Abhishek Purohit in Mumbai09-Nov-2012While the visiting Englishmen played their third warm-up game of the India tour in Ahmedabad, India’s Test side eased into its three-day preparatory camp for the upcoming series with a short practice session at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) in south Mumbai. All members of the squad, barring Harbhajan Singh, whose flight was delayed, arrived at the CCI in the afternoon, along with coach Duncan Fletcher, and batted and bowled for a little more than an hour after a short game of football. With the World Twenty20 and Champions League T20 having consumed most of September and October, this was the first outing for India’s Test side in nine weeks, the first after the New Zealand series at home.The fitness of Zaheer Khan, who had lasted all of 13.3 overs on India’s tour of England last year, was again in focus. Zaheer had pulled up sore, pointing towards his groin, on the third day of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy opener against Railways last week, and had walked off the field. He didn’t bowl or field on the fourth and final day, but Mumbai captain Ajit Agarkar had said Zaheer’s problem was just cramp. Today, while the other quick bowlers in the India squad, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma, bowled through the mini-session, Zaheer spent the majority of his time on the massage table. He eventually did bowl for a while but was clearly not extending himself. On the other hand, Ishant and Umesh, especially, bowled with pace and rhythm.The batsmen took to the nets as per the batting order in batches of four, with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara and Sachin Tendulkar starting off. Pujara looked in fine touch, defending and attacking confidently, though the bowling was below par at times. With various age-group matches going on in Mumbai at the moment, it was difficult to assemble decent young net bowlers. Two of those bowlers, though, managed to hit Tendulkar’s stumps once each with the batsman appearing a touch tentative. Tendulkar did loft R Ashwin crisply a few times and soon left the nets to receive a few throwdowns.Next in were Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni. Gambhir and M Vijay, the reserve opener, continued to bat into the fading light after the rest were done. After Gambhir walked off eventually, Vijay hit a few more for a while against the local spinners and was the last player to leave the nets. The squad will have a full training session tomorrow.

A wrap of the second day of the eighth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group C

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2012
ScorecardJaummu and Kashmir’s medium pacer Ram Dayal bowled an incredible spell at the start of the second day picking up Himachal Pradesh’s top-six batsmen and giving away just 14 runs. But Himachal recovered to take a narrow lead and then removed three J&K batsmen to go ahead by the end of the day.Dayal struck with the third ball of the morning, removing Aakash Chopra and from there on, continued to torment the Himachal top-order. Bowling an extended spell, he had reduced Himachal to 58 for 6 at one point. It was Dayal’s third five-for this season and it almost gave a chance to J&K to take a first-innings lead after scoring 175.But a 65-run seventh-wicket stand between Aatish Bhalaik and Karanveer Singh revived Himachal and helped them take a narrow 11-run lead and Himachal’s opening bowlers – Vikramjeet Malik and Rishi Dhawan – struck thrice in the nine overs of J&K innings to help Himachal take control.
ScorecardCenturies by VA Jagadeesh and Robert Fernandez helped Kerala to a big first-innings lead against Jharkhand in Mallappuram. The two batsmen, who were unbeaten yesterday, took the lead past 100 as Kerala looked set to post a big total. But left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem struck twice in two overs to disrupt the progress. After the 230-run second-wicket partnership, Kerala lost their last nine wickets for 95 as Nadeem took four and Samar Qadri picked up three.Still, Kerala had a 205-run lead and they made the most of the day by picking up Jharkhand’s openers before the end of play and will start tomorrow with an innings win in sight.
ScorecardA strong opening partnership between Pallavkumar Das and Sibsankar Roy led Assam’s response which has put them in a strong position to take first-innings lead. Pallavkumar was out one short of his half-century but Roy stayed unbeaten on 72 when stumps were called, with Assam 83 runs behind Andhra Pradesh’s 249.The highlight of the day was veteran Amol Muzumdar’s fourth hundred of the season – his 29th in first-class cricket. Mumzumdar, on 82 overnight, completed his century in time before he ran out of partners. Arup Das was the most successful bowler for Assam with four wickets.
ScorecardAfter losing the first day to rain, Tripura were pulled out of deep trouble, losing their top three wickets for only six runs, by their middle-order batsmen to recover to 170 for 5 at stumps. Saurabh Bandekar and Hanumant Gadekar took two wickets each as Abhijit Dey stitched two crucial partnerships with Abbas Ali (44) and skipper Ajay Ratra (37).

Fifties by opener Shitanshu Kotak, captain Jaydev Shah and Sheldon Jackson kept Saurashtra in the hunt for a challenging first-innings total on the first day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Punjab

Amol Karhadkar in Rajkot16-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe Saurashtra veteran Shitanshu Kotak made 54•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Palam in Delhi may have been stealing much of the attention in what is being termed as the sequel to David versus Goliath of this Ranji Trophy season, with Services taking on Mumbai after having surprised Uttar Pradesh in the quarter-finals. However, the television cameras were in place at the Khandheri stadium on the outskirts of Rajkot, with hosts Saurashtra taking on Punjab. And except for the pitch and the cameras, there was nothing common with Khandheri of five days ago.Then, with India taking on England in an ODI, the Rajkot-Jamnagar highway had turned into a fair. Since the stadium was hosting its maiden international game, every single seat was occupied. Cut to Wednesday. With Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja – the two famous cricketing sons of Saurashtra – missing in action, it didn’t matter to Kathiawaris that a Ranji semi-final was being played in their region. And had it not been for Harbhajan Singh’s star attraction, the crowd of 20 at the start of the day wouldn’t have swelled to 200 by the end of it.Harbhajan may not have had as much of an impact as expected by those who turned up. But they were entertained by three batsmen from their home team. Fifties by opener Shitanshu Kotak, captain Jaydev Shah and Sheldon Jackson kept Saurashtra in the hunt for a challenging first-innings total.On a wicket that had a tinge of live grass – kept more for binding it together for the better part of five days rather than assisting seamers – it didn’t come as a surprise when Shah chose to bat on the batsmen’s paradise. It was Punjab who struck an early blow. Siddarth Kaul and his new-ball partner Sandeep Sharma had shared 79 wickets this season coming into this game. In the fourth over, Kaul got one to nip back from a good length and Sagar Jogiyani was left stranded in his crease, watching the off stump cart-wheeling after the ball ricocheted off his pads.Kaul also got rid of Rahul Dave, playing in place of the run-machine Pujara, who had to join the Indian ODI squad after scoring 352 in last week’s quarter-final against Karnataka. Dave fished at one outside off to offer Siddarth’s elder brother Uday a catch behind the wickets.At 58 for 2, Punjab would have wanted to their opponents to fold up just like they did on the first morning of their league game in Mohali two months ago. But the senior-most members of the side – Kotak and Shah – not only prevented a collapse but ensured that Saurashtra had a respectable, if not imposing, score with a 92-run partnership.While Shah was his usual self, having a go at anything that was pitched up to him, Kotak didn’t go into a shell as he often does in such situations. The 40-year-old veteran was leaving balls outside off as well as always. What came as a pleasant surprise was when he drove the medium-pacers with élan whenever presented with an opportunity.With two left-handers at the crease, Harbhajan, who came on in the 20th over, bowled an extended spell either side of the lunch break. And his persistence finally paid off when Kotak’s attempted cut off a ball that was too close to his body ended up being a glide into Mandeep Singh’s safe hands at first slip almost an hour after lunch. Shah carried on with his assault, lofting Harbhajan straight over his head soon after raising his fifty.With Shah not budging against Harbhajan and the legspinner Sarabjit Ladda, the Punjab captain finally introduced left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma – who replaced Gurkeerat Singh from the XI that overcame Jharkhand in the quarter-finals – in the 57th over. And the move paid off immediately. Thirteen runs short of what would have been his fifth first-class century, Shah holed out to Sandeep at long-on off Bipul’s fourth ball.Jackson played a solid knock despite losing the promising young batsman Aarpit Vasavada. Jackson was fortunate towards the end of the day when an edge was held by a diving Harbhajan at wide slip. Replays showed Kaul had some part of his foot behind the line when he landed, but dragged it out at the time of release.

Derbyshire have pulled off a coup by signing the world No. 2 Test batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, on a two-year contract.

George Dobell08-Jan-2013Derbyshire have pulled off a coup by signing the world No. 2 Test batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.Shivnarine Chanderpaul will join his fourth county in 2013•Associated Press

He has signed a two-year contract, with Derbyshire retaining first-option for a third season. Chanderpaul, 38, will be available for all formats in 2013.Regarded as one of the weaker first-class counties for several years, Derbyshire have enjoyed a resurgence in recent times and were promoted to Division One of the County Championship for the first time in 12 years as champions of Division Two last season after the longest stint of any county in the bottom division.The signing of Chanderpaul underlines the new ambition of the club. Chris Grant, the club chairman appointed in March 2011, swiftly demonstrated his desire to shake things up at the club by sacking John Morris, the long-serving director of cricket, in the middle of a game barely six weeks later. Karl Krikken was appointed in his place and led the side to promotion in his first full season in charge.”I hope this sends a message to our members and supporters that we mean business ahead of the 2013 season,” Grant said. “The fact that Derbyshire are able to attract someone of his calibre is an indication of our ambition and the esteem in which the club is now held in the cricketing world.”Krikken added: “Shivnarine has been one of the standout players on the world stage for a long time. He knows what it takes to be successful and, as well as his outstanding ability with the bat, there is no doubt Shivnarine will have a hugely positive effect on our talented young squad as we embark on the challenge of Division One cricket.”Chanderpaul said he was excited to be joining an ambitious club and was impressed with Krikken’s vision for the team. He will add solidity to a batting line-up that sometimes appeared fragile in 2012. Derbyshire gained more bowling bonus points than any other side in Division Two but finished only mid-table in terms of batting bonus points.While the club have a strong unit of seamers, several of their “home grown” young batsmen – the likes of Ross Whiteley and Dan Redfern – are still developing and it was the overseas players, Martin Guptill and Usman Khawaja, who topped the county’s batting averages in 2012.Derbyshire have already added former Essex and Middlesex top-order batsman Billy Godleman and former Warwickshire wicketkeeper Richard Johnson to their staff. Godleman is the latest county player to seek the services of freelance coach and mentor, Neil Burns, who has been credited by Nick Compton and Monty Panesar as the man to have revitalised their careers.Chanderpaul has enjoyed sustained success in his previous stints in county cricket. In 2011 he played for Warwickshire, scoring three centuries and averaging 89.83 in five matches to help the club finish second in the County Championship, and he has had three spells at Durham, helping them to titles in 2008 and 2009 and averaging 58.26 for them in first-class cricket. He also played for Lancashire in 2010.*This story was updated when Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s deal was confirmed

Former Zimbabwe spinner Paul Strang will step down as the coach of New Zealand domestic side Auckland at the end of the season, ending a four-year tenure

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2013Former Zimbabwe spinner Paul Strang will step down as the coach of New Zealand domestic side Auckland at the end of the season, ending a four-year tenure.Strang, who had been contemplating his future as a coach from the start of the ongoing season, cited the need for a new approach for the team as a reason for his decision.”The team has moved forward quite a bit in four years and now is really a good opportunity to get a new voice and new way of doing things,” he told .After working as the coach of Auckland A, Strang was appointed the coach of Auckland in February 2009. He has led his team to two domestic Twenty20 titles, and one one-day title.Strang will be Auckland’s assistant coach for the upcoming Ford Trophy, the domestic 50-overs competition, for which former New Zealand opener Matt Horne will take over as the coach.

Johnson Charles, the West Indies opener, who scored his second consecutive ODI century, against Zimbabwe in Grenada, has said his recent success owes to a change in approach over time

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2013Johnson Charles, the West Indies opener, who scored his second consecutive ODI century, against Zimbabwe in Grenada, said he owes his recent success to a change in approach over time. Charles made 130 in 111 balls to set up a massive victory in the first ODI for West Indies, together with Darren Bravo, who scored his maiden ODI ton.”People know me as ‘Johnson Charles the man who is a blaster’, but I wanted to show that it’s not about what you like, but what you have to do,” Charles said after West Indies’ 156-run win. “My role in the team as an opener is to give the team a solid start and look to bat deep into the innings, and I managed to achieve that today.”Charles made his ODI debut in March last year, got starts in his first few games and then slipped up. He joined the High Performance Centre in Barbados and said he was able to address his problems with the bat there. “I used to look to hit everything but I have realised there is a job to be done as an opener. If I get the ball to hit I will hit it, but I am more selective and I look to build a platform and build an innings. My time at the Sagicor HPC has been the turnaround in my career. The HPC has played a vital role in helping me to refine my game and I have a new kind of confidence that I can play and do well at this level.”I have increased my range of strokes and I now realise I have more scoring options – I look to work the ball into the gaps and pick off runs, not just blast everything out of the ground. This is a special knock for me and I want to dedicate it to the people of my country in St Lucia as we celebrate our Independence Day today.”The game was a significant one for Bravo too, as a century in the 50-over format had eluded him in 50 games before this. He added 80 with Charles for the second wicket in just 62 balls and his own unbeaten innings of 100 included nine fours and four sixes. “I never panicked. I soaked up a lot of balls at the start of the innings as I tried to get myself in,” Bravo said. “Johnno [Charles] was going great guns so my role was just to support him and turn over the strike, as it was a right-hand/left-hand combination. I knew that once I got in I could pick it up at the back end and that is what happened.”The batting Powerplay was just around the corner so it was just a matter of playing it smart. It was a good pitch and the ball wasn’t doing much, so I just had to make sure I kept my shape and played to my strong areas.”

India will tour South Africa for three Tests, seven ODIs and two Twenty20s beginning in December this year and extending to early 2014

Firdose Moonda12-Apr-2013India will tour South Africa for three Tests, seven ODIs and two Twenty20s beginning in December this year and extending to early 2014. This will be the teams’ first meeting since two seasons ago when they battled for the No.1 ranking which India held onto under Gary Kirsten. Now, South Africa are mace holders with Kirsten in their camp.There was talk of a fourth Test being built into the schedule but that has not materialised. Mike Gajjar, CSA’s manager cricket operations, said it was only ever a “possibility” to have an additional Test and the two boards stuck to what was “entrenched in the FTP.”But there is some good news for fans of the longest format. ESPNcricinfo understands the traditional Boxing Day Test will return to Durban after it was cancelled previous season because CSA opted to play three festive T20s instead. Although the other venues have not been confirmed, it is a given that Cape Town will host the New Year’s Test and either Johannesburg or Centurion should get the third fixture.Both teams will be short on Test cricket before the meeting. South Africa last played the format in February and will only meet Pakistan for two matches in the UAE before hosting India while their opposition will not play a single Test between now and then. India whitewashed Australia at home in March but have only fifty-over engagements until they fly to South Africa.That includes seven ODIs against Australia after the Champions Trophy which adds to the glut of matches in the format. South Africa do not usually host ODI series of longer than five matches so India’s scheduled seven is unusual. It should present an opportunity for some of the less visited grounds in the country, such as the Maritzburg Oval, the chance to host international cricket.India’s tour forms part of a bumper summer for South Africa. They also host Australia for three Tests in February-March 2014. Both series are among the more lucrative incoming tours with only England being the other team to bring in sizeable profits from television rights.

The full statement made by Mervyn Westfield after reluctantly agreeing to give evidence in an ECB hearing called to consider Danish Kaneria’s appeal against his ban for match-fixing

22-Apr-2013The following statement I ask my barrister Yasin Patel to make on my behalf.I, Mervyn Westfield, in February 2012, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court and was soon after, sentenced to four months imprisonment. It is in relation to the facts of those proceedings that I have been forced to attend here today.The Hearing taking place today is in relation to an appeal brought by Danesh Kaneria against the English Cricket Board to overturn the ban imposed by them.My presence here today is the third time that my help and assistance has been sought in order to assist the English Cricket Board. I have made it abundantly clear to the ECB that I have no desire to participate in this hearing or to provide any further evidence to that which I had previously done in June 2012.The ECB have this time decided to take the hostile route in seeking the help of a High Court Judge who has signed a court summons in order to secure my attendance. As I understand, by not attending today, the ECB would return to the High Court and a warrant for my arrest would be requested. I am not sure what the ECB are hoping to gain by these actions.I have heard that Essex County Cricket Club, together with the English Cricket Board and the Professional Cricketers Association were fully aware of the situation I was falling into but stood back until my involvement reached the point of my guilty conviction. No-one wished to protect me at any stage. Where was their duty of care to me as a member of their staff?I am here today not because of the summons, nor because of any other party. My family have stood by me throughout the torture I have been made to live with this. No one else has given me any support despite all the promises a year ago. I am here to bring to an end the pain and suffering that I am forced to continuously suffer and in the hope that after today my family and I will never be subjected to the humiliation and hurt we have gone through in the last three years.