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Yorkshire’s out-of-favour quick bowler Oliver Hannon-Dalby is midway through a two-week trial with the county champions, Warwickshire

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2013Yorkshire’s out-of-favour quick bowler Oliver Hannon-Dalby is midway through a two-week trial with the county champions, Warwickshire.Yorkshire have given Hannon-Dalby permission to look for another county, even though he is still under contract, after discussions about his future. Whether to offer him the chance to switch to Edgbaston will be the first decision facing Warwickshire’s new director of cricket, Dougie Brown, and bowling coach Graeme Welch.Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket, said: “We spoke to him when we came back from South Africa about his future and his chances of regular first-team cricket. I can’t really say too much because we are not sure how things will go.”Hannon-Dalby, one of county cricket’s tallest bowlers at 6ft 8in, has failed to progress since he made an impact in first-class cricket in only his second match by taking five wickets against Warwickshire in the early part of the 2010 season.Brown said: “He is here with Yorkshire’s blessing, but there is a chance that they might decide to take him on their pre-season tour of Barbados. At the moment, all we are doing is having a look at him.”Yorkshire, who released the former England fast bowler, Ajmal Shahzad, early last season before his contract had ended, have strengthened their fast-bowling resources by signing Liam Plunkett from Durham and and Jack Brooks from Northamptonshire.

Despite Australia’s two losses and his own poor performance so far, Peter Siddle remained upbeat in the lead-up to the third Test in Mohali

Brydon Coverdale09-Mar-2013Fast bowlers who tour India could be forgiven for uttering the occasional f-word. Futile. Fruitless. Frustrating. Not many would call the job fun. Peter Siddle does. On a chronically unhelpful Chennai pitch, Siddle managed only the wicket of India’s No.10 batsman Bhuvneshwar Kumar. In Hyderabad he had the struggling Virender Sehwag caught behind. Two wickets at the average of 81.00. Fun? Yeah, like a dentist’s appointment.But Siddle is always up for a challenge. He thrives on it. Naturally, things don’t always work out, like when he bowled himself to near delirium on the final afternoon in Adelaide in November searching for the last few wickets Australia needed for victory against South Africa. In India, things haven’t worked out either. Two losses and his series figures so far attest to that. But in the lead-up to the third Test in Mohali, where Siddle made his debut in 2008, he remained upbeat.”I don’t think you go out there thinking ‘it’s going to be a long day’ or ‘it’s going to be hot out there, it’s going to be hard work’,” Siddle said of bowling in India. “It’s going to be a challenge and that’s what’s fun about it. It’s always hard work but you know it’s going to be tough and you know you have to try different tricks to get the results over here and I think that’s the challenge.”It’s probably a bit more mental over here. You have to do a bit more thinking about where you want to set fields and work with the captain on where you want to place fields, the areas you want to bowl to certain batsmen. It does take a little bit more thinking to go about it. It’s good, it’s fun, it’s enjoyable. It is hard work but that’s India.”James Pattinson found a way to have an impact during the first match in Chennai and collected six wickets, using his pace to great effect in short, sharp spells. Others over the years have managed to have success in India as well, notably Jason Gillespie, who collected 33 wickets at 21.72 there, and Glenn McGrath, who took 33 wickets at 21.30.Like Siddle has in the past two Tests, they often toiled without the regular line-up of slips, instead working on forcing the batsmen into other false strokes. It is a strange feeling for a fast man to run in with no cordon during a Test match, but Siddle said apart from the occasional period when swing is available, as it was on the second morning in Hyderabad, edges were not the order of the day.”You do miss that a little bit but you’ve got to play the conditions,” Siddle said. “I think the past success, you look back to ’04 and that’s the way they went about it. They didn’t go out there and try to nick off the top order, they knew they had to work hard and try to restrict boundaries and build pressure. That’s the plan they went with.”Any batter feels comfortable when they know they’re scoring runs, or they know they can sit back and wait for that one loose ball an over that we’re going to give them. We’ve just got to restrict that. We’ve got to make sure that one loose ball is every four or five overs, not every over. We know there’s a lot of work to be done. But it does come down to the basics.”Australia will enter the Mohali Test down 2-0 but they can still retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy if they win the next two matches to create a 2-2 result. Siddle said such an outcome would be a remarkable effort given Australia’s struggles in Chennai and Hyderabad.”It would be a massive achievement,” Siddle said. “We’ve let ourselves down in the first two matches. If we could get back to a level series and finish off like that I think it would be a great place to be after where we are at the moment. We’ll be working hard to do whatever we can. If we level the series, we retain the trophy, and that’s what it’s all about. The boys are ready to fight for that and hopefully starting Mohali we can start on a good note and put the pressure on them straight away and go from there.”Now that would be fun.

An injury to Matthew Wade sent a scare through the Australian camp at training on Friday, when he was hit in the cheek while batting in the nets

Brydon Coverdale01-Mar-2013An injury to Matthew Wade sent a scare through the Australian camp at training on Friday, when he was hit in the cheek while batting in the nets. Wade is likely to take his place in the line-up for the Hyderabad Test, but the Australians left open the possibility that he could be ruled out if he was to wake up with swelling or bruising on Saturday morning.Wade is the only gloveman on the tour and if he was left out of the XI the most likely scenario would be that Phillip Hughes would keep wicket, given that he has occasionally stood in at state and international level in the past, while Usman Khawaja could come in to the side. If the selectors were to require a second wicketkeeper to fly to India, Brad Haddin would get the job, but the team medical staff was confident Wade would be fit.”Matthew Wade copped a knock to the cheek while facing throw downs in the nets this afternoon but batted on during training,” the team doctor Peter Brukner said late on Friday. “We sent him off for a precautionary scan after the session and he has a minor fracture, but has subsequently been cleared to play provided there is no excessive bruising and swelling overnight.”The Australian touring party originally included 17 men but a backup wicketkeeper was one of the glaring omissions when the squad was named. The Australians are almost certain to take two glovemen to the five-Test Ashes series later this year and the selectors have on several occasions declared that Wade and Haddin are their first choices.

Adam Gilchrist is the second international player to join the newly formed Caribbean Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2013Adam Gilchrist, the former Australian wicketkeeper, has become the second international franchise player, after Ricky Ponting, to sign with the newly formed Caribbean Premier League (CPL).The CPL is scheduled to begin on July 29, and conclude on August 26. The tournament involves six franchise countries across the Caribbean: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago. The teams will all have one local and one international icon or ‘franchise player’ each. Gilchrist and Ponting have not yet been assigned teams.Gilchrist, who retired in 2008 after the Australia-India series, said he was excited about playing in the League. “The CPL will feature some of the world’s best cricketers, and I can’t wait to test my skills and play in what is going to be a dynamic and exciting competition,” he said. “I have fond memories of playing cricket in the Caribbean. Plus, I love playing the Twenty20 format, and there is absolutely no better place anywhere to do this than the West Indies.”Since his retirement, Gilchrist, like many former internationals, has been involved in the IPL. He led Deccan Chargers to victory in 2009 and has been with Kings XI Punjab, as captain, since 2011.

Royal Challengers Bangalore finally got their first away win of the season, beating bottom-placed Pune Warriors by 17 runs

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran02-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAB de Villiers’ daredevilry made the difference•BCCI

Royal Challengers Bangalore finally got their first away win of the season, beating bottom-placed Pune Warriors by 17 runs. The margin of victory suggested a comprehensive win, but Royal Challengers were run close by Robin Uthappa, who showed his potential with a blazing fifty which gave Warriors hope of chasing a tall 188. AB de Villiers was at his innovative best with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 50 off 23 balls to launch Royal Challengers past 180. His blows were the difference in the end.De Villiers’ assault helped Royal Challengers ransack 68 off the last five overs. Warriors needed 66 off the last five overs, but with a set Uthappa at the crease, Royal Challengers couldn’t afford to relax. Angelo Mathews too gave the visitors a scare with his cameo, but his untimely departure only piled further pressure on Uthappa. Uthappa’s form was good news for Warriors, but had he received better support, the result could have been different.The pitch at Pune has been one of the slower ones in the IPL and one that was going to test the batsmen more than the one in Bangalore when the teams last met. Chris Gayle found out the hard way early in his innings when he found the spinners hard to get away. It was a clever ploy by Warriors to take the pace off the ball, giving Ajantha Mendis the new ball and bringing in the part-timer T Suman. A repressed Gayle plodded to 15 off 19 balls before lofting Suman over the sightscreen for a six. It was hardly a sign of things to come as he tried to repeat that shot the following the ball and miscued it to deep extra cover, falling for a sluggish run-a-ball 21.Since there was no blazing launchpad by Gayle for a change, it was unusual watching Royal Challengers scrap to 59 after nine overs. Saurabh Tiwary and Virat Kohli gave the innings some impetus with a rousing stand of 63. Tiwary, who has batted in the middle order, had requested to go up the order and he justified his promotion with a half-century.The most decisive phase in the match came in the final over. De Villiers was on 24 off 17 balls when Ashok Dinda – not the most reliable death bowler – ran in. De Villiers moved across his stumps and smoked a full delivery outside off stump to deep midwicket for a flat six. The second was smashed over the bowler’s head for four, the third over long-off for six, the fourth reverse-swept to third man and the fifth scooped over short fine leg. De Villiers had raced to 50 off 23 by the end of the over, rousing Royal Challengers and demoralising the Warriors before the chase began.Warriors needed a pacy start but they too found the going difficult early on, moving to 49 for 2 after eight overs. Yuvraj Singh gave the innings a push with two exquisite sixes and his confidence began to rub off on Uthappa, who was starting to peak when he launched Muttiah Muralitharan over the sightscreenRoyal Challengers bounced back with two wickets in an over from Vinay, but Uthappa’s was the wicket they needed. The equation narrowed after one over when Uthappa and Mathews targeted the most experienced of the lot, Muralitharan, smashing three clean sixes in one over. Forty-five off 24 was achievable, but Vinay provided some relief to the visitors when he had Mathews caught at backward point. Uthappa’s heroics ended the following over when he top edged Murali Kartik to point. The chase was all but over when he walked back.

The effects of the arrest of three Rajasthan Royals players on allegations of spot-fixing have had their first off-field fallout, with one team sponsor reported to have withdrawn advertisements featuring Sreesanth

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2013The effects of the arrest of three Rajasthan Royals players on allegations of spot-fixing have had their first off-field fallout, with one team sponsor reported to have withdrawn advertisements featuring Sreesanth.Kent R-O Systems, a Delhi-based company that sells water purifiers, has withdrawn its campaigns featuring Sreesanth but has not yet taken a call on their association with the team. “We have taken down the ads with immediate effect since they feature Sreesanth in them. For now, we are just taking off air the ads with players whose names have come up,” Mahesh Gupta, chairman and managing director, Kent R-O Systems, told . “It is just three people who have been named. We have a very respected captain [Rahul Dravid], who also expressed his shock. At the moment nothing has been said about the management or the team as whole being involved, I don’t think team should suffer because of certain individuals.”Supertech Cement, another corporate sponsor, has decided not to review their sponsorship. In a statement, RK Arora, chairman of Supertech said, “It is only three players in individual capacity who have been caught in wrongdoing. The team still stands untouched and it is playing very well and in a professional manner. We have no intention at present to review our sponsorship and have full faith in the franchise. We will continue our support for Rajasthan Royals.”Corporate sponsors of the team, which include companies like Supertech Cement, Nissan and Tata Consultancy Services, are reportedly opting to wait until investigations into allegations are over, before taking a call on sponsorship.Sreesanth was also removed from the advertisement for Kerala Lottery, a state-run lottery, instructed to do so by the state minister for finance, KM Mani.

New Zealand Cricket’s board of directors is set to undergo an overhaul, following the boardadoption of a new constitution at a special general meeting on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2013New Zealand Cricket’s board of directors is set to undergo an overhaul, following its adoption of a new constitution at a special general meeting on Friday. As per the new constitution, an “appointments panel” will recommend candidates for the eight-member board of directors, and the 28 members of the NZC will then vote to endorse – or reject – the candidates.While the current directors are eligible to seek re-election to their posts, NZC chairman Chris Moller announced at the meeting that he would step down from the role in September, following the elections. “I have been chairman of New Zealand Cricket for three years and a director for five years, the same duration that I chose to be involved in New Zealand Rugby and being chairman is a hugely time consuming role,” Moller was quoted as saying in a NZC release. “I also think it is in the best interests of cricket in New Zealand for a new chairman to be inducted into the ICC during the tenure of Alan Isaac as president.”It was decided that the appointments panel will comprise a convenor who is nominated by the board, the chairpersons of three of the major associations (the six major associations will be represented on the panel by annual rotation) and one person nominated by Sport New Zealand, the government organisation responsible for sport. The first panel includes NZC president Stephen Boock as convenor, Auckland Cricket chairman Rex Smith, Northern Districts Cricket chairman Lachlan Muldowney, Otago Cricket chairman Murray Hughes and Sport New Zealand’s John Wells.As per the new process, vacancies on the board of directors will be publicly advertised, and anyone can apply for the posts. The adverts will go out on July 13, and the appointments panel will process the applications over the next ten weeks. It will advise NZC of its recommended candidates on September 10, and the voting will be on September 19 at the board’s next special general meeting. Until then, the current directors will remain office.The new board of directors, based on the appointment panel’s recommendations, might be paid salaries. This recommendation is pending approval from the board; it will have to be ratified at its annual general meeting.The new constitution was drawn up in consultation with “a wide cross-section of the cricketing community”, including the NZC’s six major associations and 22 district associations. Previously, the directors were appointed by one NZC board member, one representative of the major associations and two persons from the New Zealand Institute of Directors, an organisation that promotes best corporate governance.

Two days into back-to-back series and the cricket has already been more interesting and entertaining than anything David Warner does after midnight

Daniel Brettig at Trent Bridge11-Jul-2013As a boy, Ashton Agar was inspired by Steve Waugh’s legendary SCG century, achieved with a box office boundary from the final ball of the day. As a teenager, Agar found himself joining Waugh in the pantheon of Ashes history, after conjuring 98 of the most staggeringly nonchalant runs ever made by a Test debutant, let alone a No. 11.If there was any momentary grief in Agar at managing to pick out Graeme Swann on the midwicket boundary with a pull shot, it did not last long. As he turned on his heels in the direction of the dressing room, the applause swelled and so did Agar’s pride. Partnered by Phillip Hughes, he had made history of the rarest kind in an Ashes Test, and in doing so revived Australia’s hopes of forcing a series lead.”It was a bit out of the ordinary,” Agar said. “One of my favourite Ashes moments was Steve Waugh hitting four runs off the last ball of the day to make his hundred, and to make a hundred in an Ashes test would have been awesome. But I’m very happy.”Obviously it’s a dream to make a Test match hundred but I didn’t really dream I was going to make 98 on debut. I’m super happy, and I’m happy me and Hughesy could get the team in some kind of winning position.”I probably hit it a bit too well. All the other ones I’d been hitting up and over the top and I tried to come down a little bit on that one and picked him out perfectly. I could have made a better decision there but, oh well.”Though lacking any Test match experience, Agar had demonstrated his batting ability numerous times at club and first-class levels. Last summer in Perth he rattled off 108 for the University of Western Australia after arriving at the fall of the fifth wicket for 58 and also facing a large first-innings deficit. For the Warriors he had also been instrumental in Sheffield Shield wins over Queensland and South Australia.

What they said about Agar’s 98

“I thought I was presenting a first cap to a bowler, not a batting all-rounder” – Glenn McGrath
“Never ever thought I would say I am disappointed a Aussie got out but I really wanted Ashton Agar to get a 100…” – Michael Vaughan
“Whether he got 100 or not, it doesn’t matter. I’m most proud he got out playing his shots. He didn’t hold back. That’s great.” – John Agar, Ashton’s father
“What a stunning, gutsy, agonising 98 from Ashton Agar in the Ashes Test” – prime minister Kevin Rudd

“I like to keep myself fairly relaxed,” he said. “I don’t get too nervous when I bat. I just try to play freely and when I’m hitting the ball well I try and keep doing that throughout my innings and not change too much. Darren Lehmann told me to bat the way I know how to bat and he has told the whole team to bat in their own natural styles. That is what I tried to do.”I’ve done it before. In Queensland I had to bat at No. 10 and was fortunate enough to get 50. I was lucky to have a really good partner at the other end in Phil Hughes, he is a seriously, seriously good player and he helped me through it.”The stand with Hughes pulled Australia back into a game that had been well in England’s keeping at the fall of the ninth wicket. “It could have been a lot worse, so to do that with Hughesy has helped me a lot in terms of mentally getting around batting in a Test match and hopefully help put the team in a winning position,” Agar said. “He just said keep watching the ball hard and keep playing it ball by ball. That’s all we were really thinking of, just keeping it really simple.”England’s frustration at being held up by a world-record tenth-wicket union was evident in the field but afterwards the fast bowler James Anderson was generous in his praise. Anderson admitted to little knowledge about Agar before the innings, but was now well aware of his capabilities. “I didn’t know a great deal about him but he played really well and put us under pressure,” Anderson said. “I’m sure it will be looked back on as one [special Ashes moment], on debut he played brilliantly in a pressure situation and coped well.”In an innings speckled with handsome strokes, Agar picked out his drive of Swann over long-on for six as his personal favourite. Swann pumped his fists after claiming the catch that did for Agar, but was quick to catch up to the younger man as they made their way off. Swann offered the words “well done young fella”. Millions around the world shared exactly that sentiment, no doubt including Steve Waugh himself.

Chris Dent struck an unbeaten century as Gloucestershire’s County Championship match against fellow promotion-chasers Northamptonshire at Wantage Road drifted to a tame draw.

05-Aug-2013
ScorecardChris Dent struck his fourth first-class century on day four•Getty Images

Chris Dent struck an unbeaten century as Gloucestershire’s County Championship match against fellow promotion-chasers Northamptonshire at Wantage Road drifted to a tame draw.Dent’s 128 not out off 211 balls, including 17 fours and one six, eased Gloucestershire to 227 for 1 as they batted through the day with their captain Michael Klinger contributing 78 from 181 deliveries.As a result, the visitors go up to third in the Division Two table, two points clear of Essex having played a game more. But with second-placed Northants coming out of this match with three more bonus points than their opponents the gap between them is now up to 27 points.Gloucestershire began the day on 31 without loss, 178 runs behind their opponents, with Klinger resuming on 21 and Dent, who went for a four-ball duck in his side’s first innings, on 10. But, for the second day in a row, the start of proceedings was delayed – on this occasion due to a wet outfield caused by overnight rain.Play eventually got under way at 12:15pm after 20 overs had been lost but what went on thereafter was a total anticlimax as Klinger and Dent easily batted through to lunch on a lifeless wicket. Runs continued to come easily in the afternoon with Klinger to first to go past 50 off 112 balls with a boundary through fine leg off the bowling of Steven Crook.The pair made their fourth opening partnership of 100 plus of the season with Dent also completing his half-century off 102 deliveries by smacking James Middlebrook through square leg for four. Dent, 22, then accelerated to his fourth century in first-class cricket and his second of the season off 159 balls by sweeping a four behind square leg off Cameron White.But Klinger was to fall on the final ball before tea when he edged his attempted sweep off White went to Andrew Hall at slip to finally break the stand on 190. He became the first wicket to fall since White himself was dismissed at 2:30pm yesterday, but it understandably only drew subdued celebrations from Northants.With the evening session not bringing any further incident, the two captains shook hands at 4:50pm with Gloucestershire wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick unbeaten on 11. Northants come out of this contest with 11 points and Gloucestershire eight and both sides now have five games left to try and secure their place in Division One next season.

England Women have been forced into a change for their squad for the ODI series with Australia after Georgia Elwiss failed to recover from a stress reaction in her back.

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2013England Women have been forced into a change for their squad for the ODI series with Australia after Georgia Elwiss failed to recover from a stress reaction in her back.Elwiss, the 22-year-old Sussex seam bowler, will not be able to join up with the England squad for the first of three ODIs on August 20, the second phase of the new multi-format Women’s Ashes which began with the only Test at Wormsley, which ended in a draw.Elwiss picked up her back injury at the end of June, which ruled her out of the Pakistan series. And six weeks later she is not in sufficient shape to join the squad to play Australia.20-year-old Surrey allrounder Natalie Sciver will replace Elwiss in the squad. Sciver, who made her international debut at the start of July, was part of the Ashes Test match squad but was left out of the XI, who secured two points from the drawn Test on Wednesday.England Women’s Ashes Series ODI squad
Charlotte Edwards (Kent, capt), Tammy Beaumont (Kent), Arran Brindle (Sussex), Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire), Holly Colvin (Sussex), Lydia Greenway (Kent), Jenny Gunn (Nottinghamshire), Danielle Hazell (Yorkshire), Heather Knight (Berkshire), Laura Marsh (Kent), Anya Shrubsole (Somerset), Natalie Sciver (Surrey), Sarah Taylor (Sussex), Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire)