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Moeen Ali oversees 15-run win as Dwayne Bravo makes winning debut for Rapids

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2022Worcestershire Rapids celebrated their first victory of the season in the Vitality Blast after Brett D’Oliveira hit a competition-best 71 in a 15 run success over local rivals Birmingham Bears at New Road.The opener struck three sixes and six fours from just 38 balls as Rapids amassed 217 for 5 – their fifth highest ever T20 total. It surpassed D’Oliveira’s previous best of 69 versus Leicestershire at New Road last summer.D’Oliveira was given superb support by Jack Haynes, with a 22 ball half-century, and Colin Munro after Bears had put the home side into bat.Then a three wicket burst with the new ball by Dillon Pennington had Bears on the back foot as they slumped to a second defeat in 24 hours. Only Sam Hain looked capable of pulling the game out of the fire as Bears closed on 202 for 8.Moeen Ali, fresh from being awarded an OBE, returned to lead Worcestershire for the first time this season after a short break following his spell in the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings. West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo made his Rapids debut after also being part of the CSK side alongside Moeen.D’Oliveira got the Rapids innings off to an explosive start on a hybrid pitch with 20 runs off the first over from Paul Stirling. He hit the first three balls for four and then straight drove the final delivery for a huge six.Ed Pollock was equally destructive as he faced his former county for the first time and the 50 came up in four overs. Craig Miles broke the stand when Pollock went for a pull and feathered a catch through to the keeper.Moeen, in his first Rapids appearance since last June, hammered Danny Briggs for six over long on before being caught behind off Bears skipper Carlos Brathwaite. But D’Oliveira galloped to a 29-ball half-century and achieved his career-best score before he drilled Jake Lintott to cover.Munro and Haynes maintained the momentum for the Rapids with a stand of 56 in 4.5 overs. Munro maintained the form which had brought him two half-centuries in his first three appearances with powerful hitting in making 41 from 21 deliveries.He was eventually caught behind off Brathwaite but Haynes produced some wonderfully clean striking in completing a 22 ball half-century with four sixes and four fours.Stirling seemed determined to make amends for his performance with the ball as he smashed 22 from the first over by Moeen. But Pennington, restored to the side after a two-game absence, swung the game Worcestershire’s way.He had Jacob Bethell and Stirling caught behind and at short third man respectively in his first over and then in his next Alex Davies aimed a blow over midwicket and fell to a fine catch by Haynes running back.Adam Hose and Hain tried to repair the damage during a partnership of 65 in 7.1 overs. But Josh Baker broke the stand in his first over with D’Oliveira holding on to an excellent low catch at deep square leg to dismiss Hose.Baker then had Chris Benjamin caught behind and Brathwaite was run out by Bravo’s throw to the non striker’s end. Hain holed out to deep midwicket off Ed Barnard and Bravo’s debut wicket came when he bowled Brookes.

Dwayne Bravo and Lendl Simmons played major roles in their respective teams’ wins in the Eliminator games

Barny Read06-Feb-2021Northern Warriors produced a sensational seven-wicket victory over Team Abu Dhabi to book their place in the final of this year’s Abu Dhabi T10, a game in which Lendl Simmons was the eventual hero to set up a showdown with Dwayne Bravo’s Delhi Bulls.Simmons had been given an almighty send-off by the captain as Bravo’s outfit became the first team to seal their spot in the final and he made sure the two would meet again in Saturday’s showpiece at Zayed Cricket Stadium. He made an unbeaten 27-ball 46.In reply to Team Abu Dhabi’s 114 for 1, during which Fabian Allen took 4-13, Simmons had 25 from 20 balls by the eight over, with Warriors needing 34 from their 12 remaining deliveries. He and Rovman Powell (49) took Obed McCoy’s ninth over for 18 before Simmons launched Tom Helm for two sixes in the final over to seal a thrilling win. It was heartbreak for Team Abu Dhabi, but sparked joyous scenes on the Warriors bench, who now have Bravo and co. in their sights.”Mr. Champion! Have some respect!” were the words ringing in Simmons’ ear after good friend Bravo accounted for his wicket in the opening game. His dramatic match-winning performance – after being restored to opening the batting – that closed out the day relieved Warriors captain Nicholas Pooran of a great deal of frustration as his team stared down the barrel of exit.”Simmo had a tough tournament to be honest, batting lower down in the innings and today going back at the top of the order, he’s proven to everyone how good of a player he is,” said Pooran. ” He’s a big match player and tonight he proved that again for us.”I felt like Delhi Bulls and Northern Warriors, we both played fantastic throughout the tournament. I think these are the two best teams in the tournament and we deserve to play the finals. The series is 1-1 right now, so tomorrow is a final and we want to get a win but at the same time we have to do the right things because they are playing well.”The finalists’ meeting in the day’s opening game, found Bravo – who won the last edition with Maratha Arabians and made the switch to the Bulls alongside coach Andy Flower, who’s also a reigning champion – in inspired form.It was Bravo who took 2-14 to reduce the Warriors to 97 for 7 from their 10 overs, a total Bravo’s team chased down with eight balls to spare. Bravo’s celebration of Simmons’ wicket was an animated example of one of T20 cricket’s most decorated players once again turning up and turning it on when it mattered most.”[I had] no nerves,” said Bravo. “I look forward to it because it’s a contest. For me, I challenge myself against these kind of moments and in big games you want big players to turn up. It was my night tonight and tomorrow can be a different story but I always look forward to the contest and competing against the best in the world.”Lendl Simmons is a personal friend of mine, we’ve been playing cricket [together] since we were 15-years-old so it’s always good to get him out. But in a big game like this, to get two key wickets, I’m very happy.”Lendl Simmons made a 27-ball 46•Getty Images

Bravo added that he “made a pledge” to the Delhi Bulls’ ownership that he would lead them to the final and he has emphatically backed that up. He has also donned his self-coined ‘Mr. Champion’ moniker on the back of his shirt this season and the man with 15 T20 winners’ medals on his mantlepiece believes he’s living up to the name once more, concluding: “I guess Mr. Champion is working because I’m in another final!”Team Abu Dhabi had beaten Qalandars to reach the final eliminator of the night courtesy of stunning bowling performances from Naveen-ul-Haq (2-6), McCoy (2-11) and Helm (2-22). Having won each of their first five games, it was a disappointing end to the tournament for Qalandars, who also ran the risk of fielding a visibly injured Shahid Afridi solely as a batsman.Afridi did top score with 24 but his side’s effort of 83-7 was some way short of putting the game beyond Team Abu Dhabi. Following their exit, Qalandars’ Australian wicket-keeper batsman Ben Dunk said any risk playing Afridi was worth it.”It was a must-win game and we needed our best players on the park and he’s one of our best players,” Dunk said. “I think he’s in unbelievable shape for someone that’s played the amount of cricket he has and I’m hoping that the injury isn’t too severe so we see him again in the PSL. To share a dressing room with a living legend of the game is pretty special.”As for Team Abu Dhabi, having come so close and then missed out on a first final on home soil was a bitter end to an otherwise excellent tournament. Luke Wright, Team Abu Dhabi captain, said: “We came so close tonight, it’s hugely disappointing but I’m proud of the lads.”

The India fast bowler also said he wasn’t himself sure if his inswinger that fetched him his maiden Test hat-trick had struck West Indies batsman Roston Chase’s pad first

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2019The conviction in Virat Kohli’s cry, ” [it struck the pad first]” from third slip when there was only a muffled appeal from the bowler Jasprit Bumrah himself stood vindicated as the review fetched Bumrah Roston Chase’s wicket, and a maiden Test hat-trick on Saturday. Bumrah, having become only the third Indian to achieve the distinction, attributed it entirely to Kohli.”Actually I didn’t know. I was not very sure of the appeal,” Bumrah told Kohli in an interview to . “I thought it was bat [first], so I didn’t appeal so much. But it was a good review in the end (laughs), and I think I owe the hat-trick to the captain.” A visibly ebullient Kohli elaborated on the sequence of events that led to the review. “Yeah, we had a discussion,” he said. “I asked him [Bumrah] what he thinks; whether he thought the guy has hit it. So the only question was: is the ball in line. And he said, ‘Everything is in front of the wickets; it’s just that I think it’s bat.’ So we all discussed; Jinx [Ajinkya Rahane] thought he [Chase] is late on the ball, so we went for the review and it happened to be on the right side.”ALSO READ: The marvel that is Jasprit BumrahBumrah’s sensational 6 for 16, including the wickets of Darren Bravo and Shamarh Brooks in that hat-trick, reduced West Indies to 87 for 7 at stumps on the second day, and Kohli underlined how “amazing [it had been] to watch” his fast bowlers when they have been on song. The captain said India’s pace battery – mostly led by Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Bumrah – had been “outstanding” for the team over the last two years.ALSO READ: The boy they call Boom, by Sharda UgraEven in the last Test, Bumrah had taken a blink-and-you-miss-it five-for. Ishant finished with eight wickets in that match and Shami too chipped in with a couple to help India to victory by 318 runs.”There’s a lot of communication that goes on the field as well,” Bumrah said when asked to explain the fast bowlers’ success. “When I’m getting wickets, it’s somebody else’s job to create pressure, and when somebody else is getting wickets, [it’s] my job is to create pressure. There’s a lot of communication [even] when there is no help [from the surface about] what we can do.”Ishant, as you have seen, has played more 90 Test matches, Shami has played a lot of Test matches. So a lot of communication goes [on], ideas come in, we try to help each other out whenever things are not going well, we try to push each other. So there’s a good relation going on and, hopefully, from here we will continue.”As for his own success, whether on pace-friendly tracks – such as at Sabina Park – or those devoid of much assistance, Bumrah put it down to an uncomplicated approach.”Sometimes, when there is so much of help in the wicket… We saw in the previous innings as well [that] there was a lot of bounce [for the West Indians] and they were getting a lot of late movement as well,” he said. “So sometimes, when there is so much of help, you can get greedy for wickets and try to be over-aggressive, that time you have to keep things simple. Just try and bowl good balls, create pressure for the guy at the other end to get wickets. That was the thing that was going on in my head [today].”

AJ Tye hit two sixes in the final over – and three runs were needed off the last ball – before he was bowled trying to secure victory

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2018

ScorecardThere was a pulsating finish at Sophia Gardens, where Gloucestershire, mainly through the efforts of Jack Taylor, got within three runs of beating Glamorgan.AJ Tye, having hit the previous ball for six, missed the last, and Timm van der Gugten, having also dismissed Taylor earlier in the over, was Glamorgan’s hero. Glamorgan gained their fourth win, while the visitors were deposed at the top of the southern Group.Glamorgan scored 201 for 6, with Craig Meschede reaching a career best 77 not out from 47 balls, which included five sixes and four fours, and setting the visitors a testing target which required them to score at ten runs an over.They made a brisk start and were helped by a five-run penalty when a Glamorgan fielder was penalised for “pretending to field the ball” but the home team were soon in control as Gloucestershire lost three wickets in quick succession.Miles Hammond lifted Michael Hogan to long-on, then Michael Klinger and Ian Cockbain were out to successive deliveries. Klinger was well held by Hogan at long-off, then Cockbain nicked one from Rory Smith to the wicketkeeper. Benny Howell struck Smith for two sixes in the seamer’s final over, but when Graham Wagg was brought on, he bowled Howell with his first ball.Wagg was then struck a fierce blow on his head, attempting to get in the way of a drive from Ryan Higgins from the fifth ball of his second over, and although was reluctant to leave the field, common sense prevailed.Gloucestershire needed 75 from the final five overs, and a rapid 57-run stand between Taylor and Higgins gave them a flicker of hope. Higgins perished to Hogan, and Noema-Barnett also fell to the same bowler.But Taylor kept on swinging, and with sixteen runs needed from the final over, van der Gugten held his nerve to bowl Taylor for 52 from 21 balls, but when Tye swung the bowler for six, nine were needed from three balls, and three from the last ball.After they were put into Usman Khawaja, playing his final game for Glamorgan before returning to Australia, and Aneurin Donald opened for the home team with Donald soon into his stride, striking Higgins for six and four in the bowler’s opening over and then driving Tye for another six as the Australian conceded 17.After driving David Payne for a straight six, the bowler got his revenge two balls later when Khawaja player on to a full delivery after sharing an opening partnership of 45 in five overs.Donald was joined by Meschede, who struck Howell for three successive fours as Glamorgan ended the Powerplay on 60 for 1. The second-wicket pair added 37, before Donald, who scored 31 from 27 balls, was caught attempting the ramp shot off Howell.Kiran Carlson, who top scored in Glamorgan’s win against Surrey earlier in the week, struck a six to get off the mark, but after driving Tye to the boundary, was out the next ball when he skied to extra cover.Chris Cooke, leading the Glamorgan team in the absence of Colin Ingram, then settled into productive partnership with Meschede, scoring a brisk 29 in a stand of 50, before he was caught at midwicket.Glamorgan then lost two wickets for one run, as Wagg was leg before to Howell first ball, and Andrew Salter was caught behind, but Meschede kept Glamorgan going with a series of attacking strokes.Tye, one of the best T20 bowlers in the world was struck for 25 in his final over as he ended with 4-0-50-1

Tamim Iqbal was not out on 64* and Peter Chase returned figures of 3 for 33 but prolonged rain meant the game was a washout

The Report by Mohammad Isam12-May-2017
Match Abandoned
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShakib Al Hasan stood in as Bangladesh captain in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza•Getty Images/Sportsfile

Heavy rain in Malahide washed out the tri-series’ opener between Ireland and Bangladesh after the visitors’ innings came to a halt in the 32nd over. Bangladesh were 157 for 4 in 31.1 overs when the weather forced them off, and they did not return. Although the rain relented as the evening progressed, it never entirely stopped. The game was called off at 4.50 pm local time.In what is their first visit to England and Ireland in seven years, the Bangladesh batsmen, barring Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah, struggled on a green pitch.Tamim and Mahmudullah led the visitors’ recovery with an unbroken 87-run fifth-wicket stand – after they were struggling at 70 for 4 – but it was mainly the Ireland bowlers’ inability to take full advantage of pace-friendly conditions that let the visitors off the hook.Peter Chase was the pick of the bowlers with his three wickets, while Tim Murtagh and left-arm spinner George Dockrell kept Bangladesh in check with tight bowling. Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien and Stuart Thompson however failed to find their rhythm.Tamim battled hard for his 88-ball 64, finding the boundary eight times, while Mahmudullah scored 43 off 56 balls, bringing to a halt his string of low scores in ODIs since October.On a pitch that was hard to differentiate from the outfield, Bangladesh started gingerly, losing Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman in the first 3.2 overs. Soumya edged Chase’s short ball, which was moving away from his off stump, while Sabbir was struck on his arm first ball before deciding that an ultra-aggressive shot was needed to break the shackles. The attempted slog over midwicket duly ended up in third man’s grasp and Chase had struck twice in quick succession.Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim then added 38 for the third wicket, but the former drove at and edged a Barry McCarthy good-length delivery to the slip fielder in the 12th over.Shakib Al Hasan, standing in as captain for the suspended Mashrafe Mortaza, also looked uncomfortable tackling such a pitch. Even as he looked to get his timing right, Chase got him on 14 with a wide delivery.Like Tamim, Mahmudullah generally played the ball quite late, making sure he used the depth of the crease. Both batsmen left the ball regularly, whenever a delivery’s line and length made it risky to drive through off.But the Ireland bowlers kept feeding them boundary balls and wide deliveries (they bowled 13 in the first 20 overs), which meant that the pressure on the pair wasn’t absolute. They figured out how to deal with the green top, but the rain arrived just when they had started to dominate the home bowling attack.

Hashim Amla’s career-best 97 not out was not enough for South Africa as Australia squeezed with spin and then attacked with the bat to claim a 2-1 series win

The Report by Firdose Moonda09-Mar-2016
Live Scorecard and ball-by-ball details 1:47

‘My goal to have a century in each format’ – De Kock

Hashim Amla’s career-best 97 not out was not enough for South Africa to secure a series victory as Australia squeezed with spin and then attacked the opposition’s slower bowlers to claim a 2-1 win in the T20I decider at Newlands.The result means that the same puzzle that has faced South Africa all summer remains unsolved. Their middle-order is still missing some reliability and they have yet to decide who to anoint as their fifth bowler.Australia, on the other hand, have answered some of their own questions. They found an opening combination that worked, their captain contributed a vital innings, and they were successful against spin on a surface that South Africa had asked to resemble a sub-continent strip as far as possible.While run-scoring had stuttered during the women’s match that preceded this one, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla scotched any notions of sluggish track with fluency from the outset. In AB de Villiers’ absence, both seemed eager to impress for the opening spot in India and took turns taking the initiative.De Kock opened with two finesse-laced flicks off Nathan Coulter-Nile, whose line was initially too straight. Amla responded with impressive footwork to send Shane Watson to opposite ends of the ground. South Africa raced to 47 after four overs and were threatening to run away with it when de Kock threw his bat at a full delivery and John Hastings took a smart catch at third man.That only seemed to spur Amla on even more. He unleashed a powerful pull to Coulter-Nile’s next ball and then got away with a top edge that carried for six to force another bowling change. James Faulkner was the fourth bowler used in the Powerplay and Amla drilled him for back-to-back boundaries to take South Africa to the second highest total in the six-over period at Newlands, 68 for 1.Hashim Amla’s unbeaten 97 wasn’t enough for South Africa•Getty Images

Adam Zampa came on immediately after the fielding restrictions were lifted and bowled the first boundary-free over the innings. That meant Faf du Plessis had not got in on the action at all and, in his haste to join in, he misread a Watson slower ball and spooned a catch to short mid-wicket.While Amla bided his time, Rilee Rossouw was kept quiet by Zampa and Glenn Maxwell – and Zampa should have had him caught on the mid-wicket boundary when he was on three only for Maxwell to spill the catch. Amla reached his fifty off 31 balls and seemed content to rotate the strike during the squeeze.In the five overs that followed the Powerplay, Australia conceded just 25 runs to put the onus back on Amla to get things going. He took on Zampa and Maxwell, finding a boundary in each of their next overs. When Rossouw tried to do the same off Coulter-Nile, he failed, gifting a catch to Steve Smith at long-off.South Africa promoted David Miller above JP Duminy and his quick-fire 30 took the pressure off Amla. It also denied him a century. Amla entered the final over on 84, hit a six off the first ball and then took a single to put Miller on strike. Miller ran two and then sent a full toss to cover but did not run to leave Amla off strike. Amla duly struck the last ball of the innings for six but had to settle for 97 not out.In the end, South Africa had needed a little more than just those three runs. The Sydney team-mates, Usman Khawaja and Shane Watson, got Australia off to a solid start before Steve Smith and David Warner guided them to the finish.Australia’s openers took on the short ball which Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott were all generous in serving up. Although Australia’s Powerplay was not as explosive as South Africa’s – they scored 51 runs in the six overs – it set them up. Australia changed tack when the fielding restrictions were lifted and targeted the spin instead, with good results and a touch of luck.Watson dispatched Imran Tahir’s second ball over mid-wicket but, when he tried to hit him down the ground, Watson should have been caught. David Miller at long-off spilled the chance. Watson was not deterred by that and sent the last ball of that over into the stands.The plan continued into Tahir’s next over, when Watson tried to go straight down the ground again. He should have been caught again off the first ball but, between Miller at long-off du Plessis at cover, they could not decide who should take it. He was caught off the next ball, however, playing the same shot, and Tahir struck again in the same over when Khawaja joined in on the strategy. He tried a sweep but got as far as Amla at deep square-leg.South Africa worked their way back into contention but instead of turn to a strike bowler, du Plessis brought Duminy on. Australia paid him some respect at first – Smith instead turned his attention to Tahir, hitting him for the straightest six of the match, before taking on Duminy as well.Steyn was brought back on to try and break the partnership but Smith and Warner were seeing the ball too well. Warner was particularly severe on Wiese, whose pace off the ball approach did not work, and with 47 needed from the last six overs, the sting was taken out of the contest.Neither Smith nor Warner hung around to finish but they’d done enough. Maxwell whittled the requirements down to 12 off 12 and Mitchell Marsh hit the winning runs with four balls to spare.

David Warner has been dropped from Austalia’s squad for the ODIs against Scotland and England, while Mitchell Starc will also return to Australia due to lower back soreness

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2013David Warner has been dropped from Austalia’s squad for the ODIs against Scotland and England, while Mitchell Starc will return to Australia after complaining of lower back soreness. Steven Smith, who was part of the original 18-member limited-overs squad, has already flown back after a thigh injury.”David has been left out of the Australian ODI squad for this tour purely due to his recent lack of form in this format,” Darren Lehmann, the Australia coach, said. “By his own admission, David would acknowledge that unfortunately he hasn’t scored the weight of runs that he would like recently in one-day cricket for his country.”Warner was part of Australia’s Champions Trophy squad in England, but featured in just one match, scoring 9 against England, but was suspended from the team after a bar incident in Birmingham. He has only played three more ODIs this year, in January against Sri Lanka, and scored 10, 60 and 4. Warner scored a 42-ball 53 on Saturday in the second T20 against England, but that wasn’t enough to sway the selectors.”Like all selection matters, it was a tough decision, but like all players he understands the situation and knows he needs to get back to playing Ryobi Cup and making a heap of runs that we can’t ignore,” Lehmann said. “I spoke with David at length about what he needs to do and I’ve been impressed with his attitude since I’ve come into the Australian setup.”Australia kickstart the ODI leg of the tour with a one-off match against Scotland in Edinburgh on September 3 before taking on England for a five-match series that starts on September 6 in Leeds.Squad: Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Fawad Ahmed, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Phillip Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade (wk), Shane Watson.

Keith Wyness, the former chief executive of Aberdeen and Everton FC, has stepped down as the first chief executive of Cricket Holdings America

Peter Della Penna13-Sep-2012Keith Wyness, the former chief executive of Aberdeen and Everton FC, has stepped down as the first chief executive of Cricket Holdings America (CHA) after being in the position for just under seven months. CHA is a joint venture formed in 2010 between New Zealand Cricket and the USA Cricket Association for the development of cricket within the USA, and it aims to launch a professional Twenty20 league in America next year.Wyness, 54, is being replaced by Neil Maxwell, 45, who is currently on the CHA board of directors. Maxwell previously served as the chief executive of the Kings XI Punjab franchise in the IPL’s inaugural season in 2008.”We are very grateful to Keith for his creative leadership in the initial phase of this project and in helping us achieve the crucial first phase of funding to allow the project to move forward,” Maxwell said in a CHA press release. “He will continue to be a very important advisor to us in many areas and we look forward to a long relationship as the project moves through the operational phase to reality.”Wyness spoke with ESPNcricinfo on Thursday and was eager to stress that he was not completely walking away from CHA. He also said that this transition had been planned for from the time he accepted the CEO position in February.”When I first came on, they knew I’d be doing this first phase of the project to get the whole strategy set up, the whole business plan in place and the venues, etc., and then I would take more of a back-seat role to hand over to more of an operational team,” Wyness told ESPNcricinfo. “I’m still going to carry on very much with the project as a strategic advisor to the board.”Wyness says he’s happy with the work he completed during his relatively short stint as CHA’s chief executive and believes the groundwork has been laid for CHA’s professional Twenty20 league in the USA to have a successful launch next summer.”I think there’s some pretty major issues we’ve managed to solve over the last few months,” Wyness said. “Certainly in terms of the international relationships is one of the key areas. The player side and the venue side, the whole commercial plan, the broadcasting, there’s a lot of different areas that we’ve done a huge amount of work on to allow the thing to go ahead.”Late last month, CHA announced that a franchise sale process would begin in September for the original six teams that will make up the league when it gets underway in June 2013. Wyness said that CHA has received a lot of interest from businesses and investors around the globe seeking to potentially buy a stake in a US cricket franchise and believes many of the owners will be from outside of the USA.”While there’s definitely interest in the States, we do want to make sure there’s a mix of international owners and we want to try to make the league an international global attraction in that sense,” Wyness said. “We’ve always intended this to have an international flavor and certainly some of the owners of the franchises we hoped are going to be an international mix. Some of those are European that we’re aiming for, some Asians, a whole global mix is what we’re still hoping for in terms of the franchise owners.”

Injuries combined with the pressures of captaincy may have inhibited his batting previously in the ODI-format, says Smith, and it’s something he hopes to set right in the upcoming season

Firdose Moonda19-Aug-2011Graeme Smith, South Africa’s Test captain, has decided what he wants to be when he grows up. A good friend (especially to AB de Villiers), a loving husband and a batsman. More specifically, a one-day batsman.”If I look at the record I have built up over the years, I am proud of it, but there is still a lot more to do,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo in Johannesburg, where he was attending a CSA sponsorship announcement. “The injuries that I’ve had have mostly affected the ODI format so I am focussing on that.”Since 2008, Smith has had six hand-related injuries, battling tennis elbow and an array of broken bones. Those ailments have kept him out of a significant number of one-day matches in recent times. In the first six years of his career, Smith played an average of 20.8 ODIs a year. That number has reduced to 11.75 over the last four years, including this one.In some ways, the most remarkable thing about that statistic is that Smith has been playing international cricket for a decade, eight years of which he has spent as captain. It’s a length of time that justifies thoughts of reinvention, something that Smith has been working on. He stepped down as Twenty20 captain in August last year and relinquished the one-day leadership after the 2011 World Cup, to give him more time to focus on batting.”Injuries, combined with the pressures of captaincy, may have inhibited my batting,” he said. “At the moment I am just concentrating on getting some confidence back. I know that I’ve never been the most elegant batter, but I’ve always had self-belief. I need to build up some confidence.”With his place in the ODI side no longer secure, Smith’s form in the shorter version of the game is under scrutiny and recent performances are not in his favour. His average of 28.25 in 2011 is a big step-down from his career average of 39.25, and is at its lowest since 2006. He has not scored an ODI century since 2009, when he made 141 in a losing cause against England during the Champions Trophy. He was also not able to clock up a half-century at the World Cup and his failure to return home with the rest of the squad at the end of March saw him heavily criticised by the South African public. He has since had a knee operation and has only been able to train for the past three weeks.”The World Cup was one of the darkest places I have been in my career,” he said. “I’ve had some time to press the reset button and I’m looking forward to the new season.” It will be a season of change, and freedom, for Smith, who will no longer feel the weight of the captain’s armband. “After being captain in all three formats, I can now focus on myself. It’s going to be a big season for me.”With expectation of a different sort hanging over him, Smith believes that in former opening batting partner, Gary Kirsten he will have an ideal mentor and challenger. “When we played together Gary and I had a deal that whoever scored more runs in the season would take the other one out for dinner. I always ended up paying for dinner,” he said jokingly. Kirsten can’t make deals like that anymore but he will “bring a lot of common sense to the side and will bring the best out of players”.Having basically grown up being the captain gave Smith the space to mature and develop while leading, an opportunity not a lot of people get. “When I started in the job, I was 22, and I didn’t have the experience in terms of relationships. I learnt how to allow each guy the space to grow and feel comfortable, and it helped having good guys around.”Now, Smith has to be that good guy, the one who will provide de Villiers with advice when needed and then back off at the right time. “I will always been an ally for him, but it’s important that he forges his own way,” Smith said. He believes that zoning in on his own game will allow de Villiers to have the space he needs to build a team that will have this ethos and that Smith will be able to fit into that as someone who will “score lots of runs,” for de Villiers.Smith remains South Africa’s Test captain and the coming series against Australia and Sri Lanka are foremost in his mind, as South Africa aim to challenge England for the No.1 ranking. “I see it as a season filled with prospects, in some ways similar to the 2008-09 season.” South Africa beat Australia in Australia for the first time then, getting one over the No.1 team in the world, although their ranking did not change. The over-riding image of that tour was Smith walking out to bat with a broken hand. Smith the batsman, the same one he wants to become now.

Glamorgan went to the top of County Championship Division Two after sealing their seventh win of the season, beating Worcestershire by 241 runs at Colwyn Bay

12-Aug-2010

ScorecardGlamorgan went to the top of County Championship Division Two after sealing their seventh win of the season, beating Worcestershire by 241 runs at Colwyn Bay.
After the match, Vikram Solanki tendered his resignation as Worcestershire captain after five years in charge and Daryl Mitchell will take over as skipper for the rest of the season.Glamorgan’s victory, which saw them leapfrog Sussex into top spot, came after they bowled Worcestershire out for 175 with 27.1 overs to spare after setting them 417 to win. David Harrison led the way with three wickets in three overs – claiming the important scalps of Mitchell, who has now passed 1,000 first-class runs for the season, and Alexei Kervezee – while Dean Cosker took 4 for 27.Although David Wheeldon survived a sharp chance to wicketkeeper Mark Wallace off Harrison, the opening pair looked relatively secure either side of lunch.
But they were separated by the run-out of Wheeldon, who was well out of his ground at the bowler’s end after a fine piece of fielding by Mark Cosgrove.At 49 for 1, however, there was still no indication of the collapse that was to follow.
It was James Allenby who began Worcestershire’s demise by dismissing Solanki and Moeen Ali with consecutive balls. Solanki was adjudged leg before by umpire Peter Hartley, while Moeen was caught behind down the leg side.Worcestershire still had faint hopes of saving the game while the prolific Mitchell, who had scored consecutive 100s in his previous three innings, and Kervezee were still there.
The fourth-wicket pair had put on 55 until the wheels came off the Worcestershire innings as Harrison, in his 100th first-class match, took three wickets for three runs in 12 balls.First he captured the prize wicket of Mitchell thanks to a brilliant diving catch by captain Jamie Dalrymple at extra cover. It ended a remarkable sequence of batting by the right-handed opener, who had accumulated 344 runs from 624 balls in 14 hours and 13 minutes in three innings before being dismissed – having also made a ton in the previous knock.In his next over, Harrison had Kervezee caught behind and then trapped James Cameron leg before. All the wickets at that stage, apart from the run out, had come at the Penrhyn Avenue end where there had been uneven bounce.But at the other end – the Embankment end – Cosker struck twice with consecutive balls. First Ben Cox was sharply caught by Dalrymple at slip and then Richard Jones went leg before, meaning five wickets had fallen for just 26 runs. Cosker also got the final two wickets as Glamorgan wrapped up the win 20 minutes after tea.At the start of the day Glamorgan decided to bat on for a further seven overs, adding 42 runs.
On 97 overnight, Ben Wright went to his third Championship century – his second of the season – by pulling a Shakib Al Hasan full toss for six over midwicket.
That was after he lost Robert Croft to the third ball of the day as the veteran edged Matt Mason, who finished with four for 87, to Moeen Ali in the gully. Harrison followed three overs later, bowled by Shakib.Glamorgan ensured a lead of 400 when Wright planted Mason over long-on for his second six. Dalrymple declared after 25 minutes, leaving Wright not out on 121 from 144 balls.