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Alastair Cook has said that he is “ready” to captain England in the one-day format, if he is offered the job

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2011Alastair Cook has said that he is “ready” to captain England in the one-day format, if he is offered the job. There have been rumours, which began while England were still in the World Cup, about the future of Andrew Strauss – England’s current Test and ODI captain – in the 50-over game. England were knocked out by Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals and Andy Flower, the England team director, has admitted brief discussions with Strauss over the captain’s future in one-day internationals.”There is never an ideal time to take over,” Cook told the . “I know that. But I like challenging myself and if the opportunity arises in the near future I would like to try it but if selection goes the other way and they choose another captain if Straussy retires then so be it.” Strauss is currently on a six-week break from all cricket until Middlesex’s tour match against Sri Lanka on May 16.”Since the World Cup people have been asking me this question,” Cook said. “At the moment Andrew Strauss is England captain. I don’t crave seeing him giving it up. I would love the opportunity to be captain if it comes off but if it doesn’t come up then so be it.”Cook’s first full series as captain was during England’s tour of Bangladesh in early 2010, when Strauss was given a break by the selectors ahead of the English season. He captained England in three ODIs and two Tests on that series and said that tour was a “massive learning curve” for him. “The pressure was to win every game in Bangladesh and we did that. You can only be judged on your results and the players did like me as captain.”Cook, who hasn’t played an ODI for England since the Bangladesh tour and failed to make the final World Cup squad, said that he would “love to get back” into the ODI side. “Over the last few years my one-day game has changed a lot. By not being in England squads I have had a chance to play more one-day cricket for Essex and added things to my game.”Look at Straussy. His strike-rate is great. He has taken his one-day game to another level and that has happened since he got back in as captain. I think I could do it but I also think we can score runs together at the top of the order at a decent rate.”Cook emerged the top run-getter with 766 runs during England’s victorious Ashes campaign in Australia over the winter and said that performance was key to helping him regain his self-belief following a poor summer. “To have been part of an Ashes-winning squad and to have contributed a lot of runs has definitely given me a satisfaction and self-belief,” he said.”The biggest thing for me was being man of the series. I have never done that before and in fact only had one or two man-of-the-match awards before in my whole Test career. To be man of the series and get two man of the matches in such an important series, if that doesn’t give you confidence, nothing will.”Of course it will not be like that all the time. I know that. But to have that on your CV and know you delivered under pressure in tough conditions can only help. You always start on nought and all that stuff but there is confidence from what you have achieved.”

Brendan Nash, the West Indies vice-captain, is confident he will take strong form in to the first Test against Pakistan, which starts in Guyana on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2011Brendan Nash, the West Indies vice-captain, is confident he will take strong form in to the first Test against Pakistan, which starts in Guyana on Thursday. Nash is considered a Test specialist and therefore didn’t take part in the recent one-day series against Pakistan, but in his most recent first-class innings, he made 207 for Jamaica against Trinidad and Tobago.That came early last month, during the final stages of the regional four-day competition, and Nash finished the tournament as the third-leading run scorer. He enters the Test series with the extra responsibility of being vice-captain to Darren Sammy, and Nash believes that he can help the home team beat Pakistan, despite West Indies being without veterans like Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo.”I’m feeling really good the way I’m batting,” Nash said. “The last time I batted in a first-class match I got over 200. Admittedly, that was a little while ago, but I have carried that form with me. Pakistan have a good team, they have some good bowlers, but I believe I am experienced enough and capable enough to handle myself. We have a good team and things are taking shape, so we believe we will do very well against the Pakistanis.”We saw some great cricket in the warm-up match and we had a good training session today. We will have another session as we prepare for the match and everyone is looking forward to Thursday. As the vice-captain I have added responsibility and I’m always happy to help the others in the team in any way I can. That has been my style from the first day I joined the team.”Nash, 33, last played for West Indies back in December, during the rain-affected tour of Sri Lanka. He made two half-centuries from his three innings, and he said he was happy with his form leading in to the Pakistan matches.”I’m feeling mentally and physically ready for the series,” he said. “I am hitting the ball really well and I’m where I want to be in the lead-up to the Test series. I played in the WICB regional four-day tournament and I managed to get some good runs. I felt I batted really well. I’m happy to be part of the team unit for the Test series here against Pakistan.”I’m looking to get onto the field. I love Test cricket and I really enjoy playing for the West Indies so I’m happy to be back among the boys again. We have a few new players who I have not had the joy of playing a Test match with, so that’s exciting for me. We have good camaraderie in the team and we are all focused on the two Test matches upcoming.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Delhi Daredevils in Kochi

The Preview by George Binoy29-Apr-2011Match factsSaturday, April 30, Kochi
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Virender Sehwag’s team is in desperate need of a turnaround•AFPBig pictureDelhi Daredevils are eating with the IPL’s wooden spoon at the moment, dwelling at the bottom of the league table, after five defeats in seven matches. Their margins for error are thin and they need to win a substantial number of their remaining games to have a hope of finishing in the top four.Delhi have just suffered two defeats at home, on a Feroz Shah Kotla pitch transformed to suit their seam-heavy attack and their hard-hitting batsmen. The first loss was against Royal Challengers Bangalore, a match they were in until the very end. The second, against Kolkata Knight Riders, was a thrashing. Their firepower lies in the top order but Virender Sehwag and David Warner have fired in unison only once. The bowling, though, is the problem. In the absence of a quality spinner, their attack is one-dimensional and opposition teams thrive on the lack of variety.Kochi Tuskers Kerala are seventh in the league. They are a defeat away from being in Delhi’s boat. They are a victory away from landing close to the top four. In their previous game, chasing Deccan Chargers’ 129, Kochi collapsed for 74. It wasn’t a one-off either, for before that game, they were dismissed for 109 by Rajasthan Royals: two collapses that eroded the platform built by three consecutive wins. The fact that Ravindra Jadeja, who’s scored 185 in seven innings, is their second-highest run-getter, ahead of Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge, reveals the extent of their batting woes.Form guide (most recent first)Kochi Tuskers Kerala: LLWWW (eighth in points table)Delhi Daredevils: LLWLW (tenth in points table)Team talkIn their previous game – the loss to Kolkata – Delhi fielded David Warner, James Hopes, Morne Morkel and Travis Birt as their overseas players. Morkel was the spearhead of a five-man seam attack also comprising Irfan Pathan, Hopes, Umesh Yadav and Ajit Agarkar. Given that the present composition isn’t working, Delhi could considering giving season debuts to either Colin Ingram or Andrew McDonald. Roelof van der Merwe’s left-arm spin is another option they might consider to diversify their bowling options.Kochi’s overseas players against Deccan were Jayawardene, McCullum, Hodge and Thisara Perera and that is unlikely to change, unless Muttiah Muralitharan plays for Perera. Both Raiphi Gomez and Kedar Jadhav have not impressed with the bat so far, so perhaps it’s worth giving Tanmay Srivastava a go.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.In the spotlightJayawardene and McCullum v Warner and Sehwag: Of all the IPL teams, Kochi and Delhi probably rely on their openers the most. Kochi’s pair bats with imagination and places the ball into unusual areas. Delhi’s duo simply smashes it. In their varying styles, all four are proven destroyers of attacks and the pair that prevails tomorrow is likely to decide the contest.Venugopal Rao v Ravindra Jadeja: Rao is Delhi’s second-highest run-scorer, with 209 at a strike-rate of 129. Jadeja is Kochi’s, with 185 at a strike-rate of 130. Both play similar roles for their teams, shoring up a top-order wobble or providing an aggressive finish. In top-heavy batting orders, they perform vital supporting roles.Prime numbers The 55-run margin of Kochi’s defeat against Deccan was the largest in IPL 2011. Delhi’s 231 against Kings XI Punjab is the highest score of the season, evidence of what their batsmen can do. Sehwag’s strike-rate of 168 is the season’s highest for batsmen with at least 200 runs. The chatter”There was grass on the wicket, there was moisture too. I don’t want to discuss the wicket factor too much, but it was not the wicket that we wanted.”
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Australia’s selectors are not yet prepared to give up on Ben Hilfenhaus following an inglorious Ashes summer.

Daniel Brettig23-May-2011Australia’s selectors are not yet prepared to give up on Ben Hilfenhaus following an inglorious Ashes summer and still regard him as a senior member of the Test attack, Greg Chappell has said.Hilfenhaus was chosen for the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe to take place in June, with the dual intentions of giving him some work ahead of Test tours to Sri Lanka and South Africa and also using him as a mentor for young quicks including Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner and Trent Copeland.The presence of swing and seam merchants like Copeland, Faulkner and Luke Butterworth can also be viewed as a reminder that others may yet be called on to do Hilfenhaus’ job with the new ball.”I think everyone, including Ben, was disappointed with his form in the summer, but we’re pretty confident he’s still got a lot to offer,” Chappell, a national selector, told . “And the fact that he’s a senior player [helps]. I was with the Australia A team up in Townsville and Ben was there, and the work he did with Mitchell Starc and some of the other young pace bowlers was excellent, so the opportunity is there to have him get some bowling and spend some time with two or three young bowlers.”He’s a pretty solid citizen to have around the group and it helps him continue his build-up towards the various tours and series we’ve got coming up in the next few months. As we know pace bowling is fraught with danger and you need a handful of them up and about. You can’t afford just to rely on two or three or four to get you through the domestic season, let alone a couple of the toughest tours we could envisage at the moment.”In 2009 Hilfenhaus was one of the selectors’ few genuine success stories of recent times, forming a key part of the pace ensemble in South Africa before emerging as the most incisive and reliable member of the attack during the Ashes tour of England. However a subsequent serious knee injury, after he was unwisely taken on a limited-overs tour of India despite complaining of soreness, robbed Hilfenhaus of a follow-up home summer, and he could not recapture his earlier form when fit again.He was guilty of rum luck during two Tests against India when he posed numerous problems for the home batsmen in unhelpful conditions, but against England could gain neither swing nor sustained rhythm. Andrew Strauss was a victim in the first over of the series, but Hilfenhaus could only claim six more in four matches. With each Test he became less of a threat as Alistair Cook and Strauss ground him into submission on hard pitches.Recalling the threat posed by Hilfenhaus during the 2009 Ashes, Chappell argued he could yet return to that level.”We believe he’s still got that capability and the more cricket we can give him at the moment the better it will be for him to get back to where we’d all like to see him,” Chappell said.

Karnataka’s annual state-level Twenty20 tournament, the Karnataka Premier League, has hit a roadblock

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2011Karnataka’s annual state-level Twenty20 tournament, the Karnataka Premier League, has hit a roadblock. According to reports, six of the eight franchises have asked for this year’s event – scheduled to be held from September 1 to 15 – to be postponed and have also complained about lack of assistance from the host Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) during previous editions.The franchises told the KSCA in a letter that rains could mar the tournament in September and there was hardly any time for doing promotional activities. The owners also expressed concerns over losing key Karnataka players as the KPL clashes with the BCCI’s corporate limited-overs tournament. They have requested that the tournament be held in February 2012.In another letter, the owners along with the title sponsors have said that the KSCA has not done enough to promote the tournament, especially during its second edition. The tournament was launched in 2009 under the SN Wadiyar-Brijesh Patel-led administration.Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath, who is the secretary of the Anil Kumble-led KSCA administration which took over in November last year, said the matter would be resolved shortly. “We thought that September would be ideal and had also finalised July 27 as the player-auction date,” Srinath told the . “The owners have now sought a change in dates and we will look into it but we have to look at the BCCI calendar too and at the moment we are not sure about the international games we will get.”If there is a suitable window later we can have the tournament then. Even if Bangalore is not in a position to host some of the games, we will take the tournament to the rural centres. These are all operational issues and I am sure we can find a way and work around it.”

India’s difficult preparations ahead of the first Test continued as their big-name batting order stumbled against Charl Willoughby after watching Somerset pile up 425 for 3

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan at Taunton16-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Charl Willoughby ripped through the Indian top order•Getty ImagesIndia’s difficult preparations ahead of the first Test continued as their big-name batting order stumbled against Charl Willoughby after watching Somerset pile up 425 for 3 at Taunton. Willoughby claimed 5 for 50, including four scalps in his opening spell, and was backed up by his team-mates as the visitors closed on 138 for 8 with the follow-on looming, although the hosts are unlikely to enforce it.Heavy rain then frequent showers delayed play until mid-afternoon and Somerset batted on until shortly before the 100-over allocation of their first innings. It then took the home side less than 18 overs to take more wickets than the visitors managed in 96 as Willoughby, the former South Africa seamer, cut through a star-studded line-up. The home side bowled far better than the Indians, finding a hint of swing, but were aided by some poor shots and not just from players who have been on the sidelines.The Indians began briskly as Gautam Gambhir, returning from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the West Indies tour, collected five confident boundaries. But he seemed in too much of a rush and fell chasing a delivery he could barely reach, edging it to the keeper. Abhinav Mukund, who is set to open the batting in the absence of Virender Sehwag, was more circumspect and didn’t seem happy with his lbw decision which left India 51 for 2 and brought Sachin Tendulkar to the crease.Tendulkar, as with Gambhir and Zaheer Khan, hasn’t played a first-class game since the final Test against South Africa in early January – a gap of more than six months. It showed even from Tendulkar as he had more nervous moments reaching double figures than he would have in getting to a hundred. He survived a close shout for lbw against Alfonso Thomas, then slashed flat-footedly at a wide delivery, but also played a couple of elegant drives.He was beginning to settle and had moved to 26 when he drove at 19-year-old Craig Meschede’s fourth ball and edged through to Jos Buttler. It was Meschede’s maiden first-class wicket and one he’ll be able to regale stories about for years to come. He might be seeking out Tendulkar to sign the match ball.By then, the Indians had already lost other senior batsmen. Rahul Dravid edged an uncharacteristically airy drive to second slip and Willoughby had his fourth wicket when Yuvraj Singh was trapped lbw for a duck. Willoughby’s performance showed the value of a left-arm seamer which is a variation England are missing in their attack after the retirement of Ryan Sidebottom.After Tendulkar’s departure the slide continued as Wriddhiman Saha fell to Peter Trego without scoring. Following a brief recovery Zaheer Khan lost his middle stump when he played back to Thomas and Amit Mishra spooned to point to give Willoughby his five-wicket haul. Suresh Raina at least remained firm until the close but it wasn’t a distinguished performance.Earlier, the Indian bowlers had only managed to add one further scalp as Arul Suppiah was removed for a career-best 156. Zaheer and Sreesanth were both given another bowl, the former to try to find rhythm ahead of the Test and the latter to try and force his way into contention. It was Sreesanth who broke through when Suppiah, having passed his previous best of 151, edged to first slip where Dravid held a low catch.However, the visitor’s intensity was well down and they were happy to wait for Somerset’s declaration. Mishra, back on the field after taking a blow on the finger yesterday, continued to have trouble with no-balls, taking his tally to 12 for the innings. There was was also some friendly part-time spin served up by Raina and Yuvraj.Chris Jones, a 20-year-old batsman starting to force his way into the first eleven, took advantage to register a confident half-century from 69 balls and James Hildreth, the England Lions captain, eased his way to 30 off 28 balls include a huge six over long-on off Mishra. The presumption was that the Indians would also cash in on good batting conditions, but Andrew Strauss will have liked what he saw while standing at first slip.

Paul Nixon, the Leicestershire and former England wicketkeeper, will quit all professional cricket this weekend

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2011Paul Nixon, the Leicestershire and former England wicketkeeper, will quit all professional cricket this weekend. Nixon, 40, has announced he will retire after Saturday’s Friends Life t20 quarter-final against Kent, ending a 22-year long first-class career. It will be a fitting match to end his career with, as Nixon also played for Kent, between 2000 and 2002.Nixon said he had taken the decision because he realised he could not maintain the high level of fitness he expected from himself. “My body knows now I can’t do it the way I want to do it anymore,” he said. “I can’t keep to those high standards anymore. All of my mentors said to me that you’ll know when the time is right and the time has come.”Nixon played 19 one-day internationals for England, but that figure could have been higher had he not had Jack Russell and Alec Stewart as contemporaries during a period when England were looking for a keeper who could contribute significantly with the bat. His ODIs all came during the Commonwealth Bank Series and the World Cup in the first four months of 2007, by which time he was 36. Nixon seemed to be in line for a Test debut when he was named in England’s 25-man development squad in 2007, but Matt Prior was favoured over him.Despite not getting many opportunities with England, Nixon built a strong reputation in county cricket. He helped Leicestershire win the Championship in 1996 and 1998, and after returning to the county in 2003, became an important player in the Twenty20 format, with the reverse-sweep being one of his signature strokes. He was also part of the now-defunct Indian Cricket League.He scored 14,498 runs in his first-class career at an average of 34.35 with 21 centuries and 72 half-centuries. In addition, he scored 7418 runs in List A cricket. A supremely fit wicketkeeper, Nixon held 889 catches in first-class catches and had 67 stumpings.Nixon made special mention of the Leicester fans, in front of whom he will take his final bow. “I’ve loved every ball on the pitch and every moment I’ve been involved in off the pitch too. The Leicester public has been absolutely phenomenal towards me and I want to thank them for all of their support.”

Surrey secured a place in their first Lord’s final since 2001 as a power-packed batting line-up proved too much for Sussex in a rain-reduced CB40 semi-final at The Oval

Andrew McGlashan at The Oval04-Sep-2011
ScorecardTom Maynard top-scored for Surrey with a rapid 60•PA PhotosSurrey secured a place in their first Lord’s final since 2001 as a power-packed batting line-up proved too much for Sussex in a rain-reduced CB40 semi-final at The Oval. The home side’s 228 for 7 in 24 overs, including Tom Maynard’s 33-ball 60, followed the attacking brand of cricket they have played throughout the tournament and Sussex were always struggling in reply.Rain had started shortly before noon and didn’t stop until after 3pm and during that time it was unclear exactly what sort of match there would be. The semi-finals have a reserve day available, but a reduced game on the original day is permitted if both captains agree. Given the decent crowd that hard turned up it was the sensible solution to have a shortened game; a knockout match that spills over rarely creates much atmosphere.In the end, Surrey’s total wouldn’t have been out of place over the full 40 overs. They are not a side to hold back with the bat – of the eleven playing here, only Zander de Bruyn and Gareth Batty have strike-rates below 100 for the competition – and a reduced innings gave them more license, especially as 10 of the 24 overs were Powerplays, a greater percentage than in a Twenty20 innings.Sussex, meanwhile, paid the price for losing steam at the wrong ttime. They came into this semi-final on the back of three consecutive defeats in the group stage which meant they progressed with a whimper rather than a bang. It also cost them a home draw with all the advantages that playing at Hove would have brought. They looked a side whose confidence had taken a hit.Surrey, though, despite losing their final group game to Durham, played with real vigour. The top three set a rapid benchmark as runs came at nearly 10-an-over. Ajmad Khan, an odd selection by Sussex given his limited one-day outings this season, provided extra pace for the batsmen to work with but the visitors didn’t help themselves in the field. Rory Hamilton-Brown was dropped on 5 when Ben Brown couldn’t gather a top edge running towards third man and was angry at Monty Panesar for distracting him.Steven Davies was also given a life, on 6, when Chris Nash couldn’t hold onto a tough chance at deep midwicket and although both openers didn’t build on their starts there was no let up from Surrey. Maynard played the key hand in the middle of the innings after Jason Roy, who had more difficultly against spin than pace, missed his expansive sweep against Panesar.Maynard showed his power as he peppered the leg-side boundary from long-on to midwicket with four sixes – the last of which took him to his half-century from 28 balls. Maynard has impressed since his move from Glamorgan last winter and if he can maintain his development next season could well press for higher honours.It was a run chase where everything had to go Sussex’s way, but they were soon two down and it was a pair of key batsmen. Matt Prior carved Matthew Spriegel’s offspin to cover, a dismissal similar to some in his troubled ODI career, and giving Spriegel the new ball brought further rewards when Murray Goodwin got a leading edge which the bowler intercepted with a well-timed leap.Hamilton-Brown summed up conditions well by using just four overs of seam in the innings and taking pace off the ball. Ed Joyce kept Sussex’s hopes briefly alive but Gareth Batty gained an lbw decision to settle Surrey. They kept their standards high until the end with Davies pulling off a swift stumping and Roy taking an excellent running catch at long on to remove Nash as Chris Schofield wrapped up the innings. A clash with Somerset in the final is an enticing prospect.

Having started their campaign with victory in a game they had no business winning, Mumbai Indians nearly accomplished the opposite before pipping a blundering Trindad & Tobago off the last ball

The Report by Nitin Sundar26-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRavi Rampaul was Man of the Match, but his team-mates made too many errors•Associated PressHaving started their campaign with victory in a game they had no business winning, Mumbai Indians nearly accomplished the exact opposite before pipping a blundering Trindad & Tobago off the last ball. In a game where neither team managed to reach 100, T&T made too many errors to back up their spirit. The mistake that sealed it came after Mumbai Indians’ top-scorer Ambati Rayudu was run out off the penultimate ball of the match, leaving last man Yuzvendra Chahal needing two off the final delivery. In a move that flew in the face of logic, T&T chose to give the single and play for the tie, unmindful of the fact that they would have had to face Lasith Malinga if the Super Over eventuated.Daren Ganga pushed the field back, Sherwin Ganga sent down a low full toss on Chahal’s pads, and the batsman was inventive enough to nudge softly towards deep midwicket. Chahal charged back for the second, the throw from the deep wasn’t accurate, but Denesh Ramdin had enough time to break the stumps after collecting it. Ramdin, however, chose to under-arm from a couple of yards away and missed to the glee of the predominantly Mumbai Indians-biased crowd.When Mumbai Indians came out needing a paltry 99 for victory, talk was that they would go for a big win and boost their net run-rate. Ravi Rampaul and T&T’s army of unconventional spinners had completely different ideas, though. Samuel Badree had Aiden Blizzard top-edging a slider, before Rampaul dismantled the top order with clever lengths delivered at lively pace. T Suman got a leading edge, James Franklin got an outside edge, and Andrew Symonds inner-edged a yorker onto his stumps – the last two off successive balls to leave the chase in disarray.Kieron Pollard survived the hat-trick ball, but T&T kept attacking their once team-mate. Sunil Narine got the prize wicket with a flat offbreak that Pollard bottom-edged onto his pads en route to his stumps to make it 33 for 5. R Sathish and Rayudu concentrated on survival until Rayudu found release with two boundaries off Kevon Cooper. Sathish looked completely out of place, though, and whipped straight to midwicket to leave his side 65 for 6. Harbhajan Singh put the pressure right back with a lashed six, before he was run out in the 18th over while looking to keep Rayudu on strike. T&T’s fielding began to lose its edge, with a number of school-boy errors in the end overs, including Jason Mohammad’s mis-field at long-off that gave Malinga four. Rampaul, however, evened the game once again with a superb 19th over that left Mumbai Indians needing 11 off Sherwin Ganga’s last.Rayudu got a single off the first ball, before Sherwin sent down a friendly full toss off the second. Malinga clattered it straight down the ground, past a leaping effort from Mohammad, for a pressure-releasing six. A single was followed by Malinga’s run-out, backing up too far when Rayudu smashed a full ball straight to the bowler. That made it 3 required off 2, before Rayudu fell attempting an impossible second. And then Daren Ganga blinked, Ramdin missed, and Mumbai were home.T&T’s misery ended with a run-out that was fumbled, but it began earlier in the evening with one that should never have been. They were coasting at 41 for 1 in the fifth over, when Lendl Simmons, returning for a straightforward second, chugged into his crease without grounding his bat. His entire body was over the line, but the front foot was in the air and the back foot on the crease, with no portion of it inside, when the stumps were broken.Until that moment of laziness, T&T’s innings featured all that was good about Caribbean batting. There were flamboyant shots from Adrian Barath in the opening over, audacious pick-up strokes from Simmons, whose approach was unchanged after Barath’s exit, and a couple of emphatic blows from Darren Bravo. But once Simmons handed Mumbai Indians an opening, Harbhajan barged through with attacking bowling and perceptive field placements – he operated with slip and silly point at one point.The middle order did not have the technique to counterattack. Harbhajan enticed Denesh Ramdin into miscuing a sweep right back at him, before nailing Bravo with a yorker. He wound up his spell with Sherwin Ganga’s wicket – a patent slider that pinned him on the back foot. Malinga did his business at the other end, and T&T lost wickets too quickly to last their full quota. They were bowled out with as many as 22 balls left to go in the innings, and in the end that cost them the game.

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir all offered closing submissions via their lawyers on the 21st day of the spot-fixing trial

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court02-Nov-2011Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir all offered closing submissions via their lawyers on the 21st day of the spot-fixing trial in London on Wednesday, as all three hope and pray that the judge will spare them a jail sentence.It was perhaps the most explosive day yet in the trial that has spanned almost five weeks, as the agent at the centre of the fixing scandal Mazhar Majeed and Amir appeared in the dock for the first time, having pleaded guilty at an earlier pre-trial.After Majeed said Butt had initially introduced him to the subject of arranging spot-fixing and having also heard that Majeed apparently paid £77,000 to the three players for the fix, the lawyers of the three players looked to gain sympathy from the judge Justice Cooke.Amir’s statement, read out to the court by his lawyer Henry Blaxland QC, was the most heartfelt and remorseful. Amir spoke of how proud he was the first time he was handed his Pakistan shirt and that he wanted to sleep in it.”First I want to apologise to Pakistan and to everyone that cricket is important to,” Amir said, via his lawyer who read from a prepared statement. “I do know how much damage this has done to the game, a game which I love more than anything else in the world.”I did decide many months ago that I wanted to admit that I deliberately threw two no-balls at the Lord’s Test last summer. But I know this was very late and I want to apologise for not saying it before. I didn’t find the courage to do it at the beginning, and I know very well that made everything much more difficult.”Last year was the most amazing year of my life but also it was the worst year. I got myself into a situation that I didn’t understand. I panicked and did the wrong thing. I don’t want to blame anyone else. I didn’t want money at all, I didn’t bowl the no-balls because of money. I got trapped and in the end it was because of my own stupidity.”My dream was to be the best cricketer in the world. I’m a competitive sportsman and those two no-balls were the only moments in my cricketing life where I have not performed to the very best of my ability. And they were not moments I felt happy to be part of.”Butt’s lawyer Ali Bajwa QC spoke of how his client had been very different in his behaviour over the last 24 hours since his guilty verdict was handed down and had not eaten or slept in that time. Butt has been immaculately dressed and groomed over the trial but did actually look slightly dishevelled by his own standards, unshaven and drawn. Butt’s wife gave birth to their second son an hour before his verdict was read.”He’s lost the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team and this was a job he had for five weeks, they won two Tests, and this was the greatest honour of his life,” Bajwa said, adding that he has since been banned by the ICC for five years and is now “close to unemployable”.”He has gone from a national hero to a figure of contempt and his ignominy is complete,” Bajwa said. “He does not want to be the cause of his family’s suffering. He now has only his liberty and his family left to lose.” Bajwa asked, apart from the obvious deterrent aspect, what would a prison sentence achieve? “Please do not make my family suffer any more.”Asif’s plea was similar. His lawyer Alexander Milne spoke of how Asif had gone into debt by travelling to England four times at his own expense, since his arrest, to consult with lawyers. Milne spoke of how he was without his wife and baby daughter and that since his ICC ban, he was basically finished as a cricketer and he should be allowed to return to Pakistan to attempt to somehow rebuild his reputation in his country.”Mr Asif has been punished, punished and punished again,” Milne told the judge. He also alluded to the fact that Asif “had thrown away everything”, was almost washed up as a player having been handed a five-year ICC ban and didn’t need to be punished further with a custodial sentence.”He will be 29 in a month and after five years out of the game, a comeback then would seem out of the question,” adding, “he leaves here a broken man.”