All posts by csb10.top

Alongside Nathan Lyon’s extraordinary 8 for 50, another figure stood out on a day when Australia took a giant leap towards retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was 18 – the number of boundaries struck by India’s batsmen in their first innings or, more pointedly, the number Australia restricted them to striking.Lyon could certainly see the correlation between his success and the suffocating consistency of the Australian bowling attack, from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood with the new ball to left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe at the other end, all supported by the nifty fields of the captain Steven Smith.With typical modesty, Lyon summed up his snaffling of the best figures ever by a visiting bowler in India: “I was the lucky one today.”In explaining how he had learned to prosper in Asia, following less productive visits to India, the UAE and Sri Lanka last year, Lyon pointed to the need to bowl as tightly as possible, landing ball after ball in teasing areas and gaining variation from the pitch. His blueprint came in part from conversations with Rangana Herath at the end of the Sri Lanka series, and was solidified in his mind during one-on-one sessions with John Davison and Darren Berry during the Big Bash League in January.”I don’t know if they’re going to spin or go straight, so if I don’t know neither does the batter really,” Lyon said of a day where he divided his wickets almost exactly between balls that turned and others that did not. “I’m about doing the basics really well and just landing on the same spot, that’s a big one for me, if I keep doing that I’m going to be able to create chances.”That’s what you’ve got to do over here, on the subcontinent, is be patient and hit the same spot over and over and hopefully things will start to happen. I think that’s where Steve O’Keefe and myself have been working really well together, I’m able to get a decent amount of turn and SOK’s able to do both. He’s quite talented in the way he releases the ball, go underneath it a little bit and hit those front pads. That’s where I think we’re working really well together.”Steve and the others spinners all said we have to stay patient and build balls. If you look at Rangana Herath, one of the best spinners in the world, what does he do well? He hits the same spot over and over. He said to me after the [Sri Lanka] series I don’t know if they’re going to spin either. So if I’m working off the same plan Rangana’s working off, he’s going alright, and hopefully we’ll be able to keep doing it as an Australian team.”Bengaluru’s pitch differed from Pune in that it offered greater bounce, and also variation by the patchwork of cracks unveiled on the opening day. In keeping with their mantra of adaptability, Lyon and O’Keefe conferred early in the day to realise there would be as much gained from over spin as side spin, something demonstrated by the skidder that fooled Virat Kohli, but also the turn and bounce O’Keefe gained for his lone but vital wicket – the fluent Karun Nair stumped by Matthew Wade.”We had to assess the conditions quickly and adapt, and Steve O’Keefe and I had a conversation out there and saw there were a couple really jumping up,” Lyon said. “So I looked at my bowling to see if I could put some over spin on it and get some balls to jump, and to get some good bounce out there was pleasing. Saying that, there’s a second innings so we need to keep working hard and take another 10 wickets.”As for the wicket of Kohli, snared cheaply now for the third innings in a row, Lyon cribbed from the words of Dale Steyn last summer ahead of South Africa’s victory over Smith’s men: cutting off the head of the snake.”Virat’s one of the best batters in the world I’ve ever come across, so to be able to take his wicket today was exceptional. But we know this is a massive series and a long series. He’s a world-class batter so we expect him to bounce back. He’s the head of the snake, if you want to put it in Dale Steyn’s terms, if you can take that then hopefully the body will fall away is what Dale said.”We came over here to compete hard against India and we’re doing that well at the moment. But cricket’s a funny game, if I come out and say we’re going to keep bowling them out for under 150 it’s going to bite me in the backside real quick. We’ve got the belief in the team, the feeling in that change room is unbelievable at the moment. So if we can keep doing that and have really good days of cricket for Australia, we’re heading in the right direction.”Lyon had struggled for wickets at the start of the Australian summer, when not for the first time his place in the Test team was openly questioned. But as Bengaluru so amply demonstrated, Lyon’s is a considerable talent, now elevated further by a commanding performance in the homeland of spin bowling.”I don’t need to prove to anyone,” he said. “I’ve proved to myself I can compete at this level and I want to keep doing it for Australia. This is where my passion lies and I just want to keep doing what I can for Australia.”

Jimmy Adams, the newly appointed director of cricket for West Indies, wants to create a structure that will feed, sustain and guarantee not just success, but also a certain standard of cricket all through. According to Adams, the former West Indies captain and wicketkeeper, having a competitive domestic structure will not only groom young talent, but also not allow international players to “relax”.Adams said he was in no rush to achieve this. First, he said, he wanted to sit down and discuss his vision with the WICB’s new CEO, John Gray, who takes over from February, as well as the future head coach, a position that has been lying vacant since the board removed Phil Simmons last September.”I don’t want to say anything premature,” Adams told Line and Length Network, a Barbados-based TV station, in Antigua earlier this week. “Ultimately we want success. We want a structure that guarantees a certain standard of cricket even if you are not winning every day. But you know with what we have, from grassroots to youth cricket to first-class structure, you know the standard will be within a certain range. In terms of sustainability, that becomes critical. We want to see the first team, men’s and women’s, winning, but I would also like to underpin that with a structure that would guarantee a certain standard of cricket going forward.”Adams, who joined Kent in 2012 as head coach, left the county last October. He said he saw similarities in the challenges at Kent and in the Caribbean, especially in the lack of resources. “There are certain similarities with cricket in the Caribbean. We have challenges with resources here that tend to affect almost every decision we make, and trying to find the best way to hurdle those challenges and have the mindset that you can make it enough with whatever you have to create a quality cricket team.”Of the many challenges in front of Adams, one of the bigger ones would be sorting out the damaged relations between the WICB and some of the senior West Indies players who do not play in the domestic tournaments. One of the controversial decisions taken by his predecessor, Richard Pybus, was making it mandatory for all players to play in the domestic tournaments in order for them to be selected for West Indies. Many senior players have objected to that measure and have declined WICB contracts.Adams, who is also the outgoing president of the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA), did not reveal whether he subscribed to such a decision, but disagreed with the view that such players had “abandoned” domestic cricket. “I don’t think anybody has abandoned anything. I think everyone’s individual circumstances are different and I respect decisions people make. It’s not an exact formula, but at the end of the day, you want to see the strongest possible competition in terms of players’ development. If you can do that, it is the last building block before we take players to the international level, in terms of the upward movement. For those who are already playing international cricket, a strong domestic structure ensures there is no time to relax, which I think is a good thing.”Adams did point out that at all times he would like to see the best players contest in the regional competitions. “Part of a strong domestic league is having the best players available. However you look at it, you are always looking to get the best players in a competition to guarantee standards. From that point, it’s good to have a regional tournament. A dedicated block of time for a 50-overs tournament is critical, since preparation process can flow into tournament play, which is very important. I wasn’t of a fan of one-day cricket on a Wednesday and four-day cricket on a Friday, but if guys can dedicate a block of time specifically for 50-overs, T20 and four-day cricket, that’s the best approach possible.”Adams said his vision was a shared one: to make West Indies competitive once again. That, he said, was the main reason he returned home from Kent. “I share a common vision, not just with the people I’m employed to but also the people of the Caribbean. We’d like to see West Indies cricket strong again. I know we have been through some lean years. To share the vision – good competitive cricket coming out of West Indies – is something we all want to see and hopefully I can play some role in helping the region to achieve that.”

Khulna Division crushed Barisal Division by 10 wickets at the BKSP-3 ground to bring up the first result in Tier-1 of the 2016-17 National Cricket League. After Tushar Imran hit a record 19th hundred, debutant seamer Ashiquzzaman skittled out Barisal with a match haul of nine wickets.Barisal were bowled out for 171 runs in 60.4 overs in the first innings, with pacers Ziaur Rahman and Ashiquzzaman taking three wickets each. Fazle Mahmud’s 95 represented more than half of Barisal’s total. In reply, Khulna took a lead of exactly 200 runs, courtesy Imran, who went past Alok Kapali and Mohammad Ashraful to possess the most first-class hundreds by a Bangladeshi.He made 108 with a dozen fours and a six, and shared a 117-run third wicket stand with Anamul Haque, who top-scored with 136, his 11th first-class ton. Anamul struck eleven fours and six sixes in his 202-ball knock. Left-arm spinner Monir Hossain took six wickets and later struck a 70-ball 72 as Barisal could only muster 211 runs in the second innings.Ashiquzzaman took 6 for 57 to finish with nine wickets on first-class debut. His player-of-the-match winning efforts left Khulna with just 12 runs to chase on the third afternoon, which they completed in 1.4 overs.Dhaka Division beat Dhaka Metropolis by five wickets in a low-scoring fixture in the other Tier-1 game in Fatullah. This was the first time in five years that no half-century was recorded in a first-class fixture in Bangladesh.Batting first, Dhaka Metro were bowled out for 166 runs with veteran paceman Mohammad Sharif taking four wickets. In reply, Dhaka could manage just a 21-run lead as Mohammad Ashraful starred with his part-time offspin to take three wickets alongside seamer Shahidul Islam.Dhaka Metro, handed a lifeline, had an opportunity to pull away with a better batting effort in the second dig. But that wasn’t to be as Sharif picked up three wickets; Dhaka metro hurtled to 125 all out in 55.5 overs.Dhaka nearly made heavy weather of their 105-run target. They slipped to 63 for 5, thereby raising possibility of an unlikely win for Metro. But Taibur and Zahiduzzaman put on an unbroken 43-run stand for the sixth wicket to complete a nervy win.

ScorecardFile photo – Jhulan Goswami took 2 for 28 in 10 overs to lead India’s bowling charge•Getty Images

A tight bowling effort from India women set up their five-wicket win over West Indies women in the second ODI in Mulapadu. With the win, India took a 2-0 lead and sealed the three-match series, thereby extending the visitors’ wait to secure a direct entry for the 2017 Women’s World Cup.West Indies, asked to make first use of the surface, struggled for momentum and crawled to 153 for 7 in 50 overs. India struggled slightly towards the latter parts of their chase, going from 111 for 2 to 150 for 5, but managed to cross the line in 38 overs with five wickets in hand.West Indies lost their openers Hayley Matthews and Shaquana Quintyne in consecutive overs to be reduced to 20 for 2. Stafanie Taylor, the captain, and Kycia Knight scored 30 runs between them off 98 balls.Deandra Dottin and Merissa Aguilleira got together to repair the damage with a 70-run fifth-wicket stand, and though they used up 110 balls, their stand marked one of the quicker periods of scoring in the West Indies innings. Dottin scored top-scored with 63 and was the last batsman dismissed, bowled by Jhulan Goswami off the last ball of the innings.Goswami and Ekta Bisht, the left-arm spinner, took identical figures of 10-2-28-2, Gayakwad took 1 for 31 in 10 overs, while Deepti Sharma gave away just 19 runs in her quota. Barring Harmanpreet Kaur, who gave away 20 runs in three overs, all of India’s bowlers were economical, with Rajeshwari Gayakwad, the left-arm spinner, recording the worst economy rate (3.10).Thirush Kamini was given out obstructing the field in the fourth over of India’s chase, before Smriti Mandhana and Deepti steadied them with a 63-run second-wicket stand. Mandhana took India to 111 for 2 with Mithali Raj, before she was caught off Matthews’ offspin on 44. Raj took India to the brink with a 51-ball 45, and though she fell with her team four runs away, it was late compensation for West Indies.The final ODI will take place at the same venue on Wednesday.

ScorecardAdam Voges was helped from the field after being struck by a bouncer•Getty Images

Western Australia captain Adam Voges suffered concussion after being struck on the helmet on the first day of the Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania at the WACA. Voges was not taken to hospital but was ruled out of the rest of the match after retiring hurt on 16 when he failed to evade a bouncer from fast bowler Cameron Stevenson and was hit on the helmet.Voges lay on the ground for some time after the blow, and was assisted from the ground by medical staff before being monitored in the change-rooms. Earlier this year, Voges suffered a freak head injury while playing county cricket for Middlesex, when he was fielding at slip and was hit on the back of the head by a ball being thrown back towards the wicketkeeper after a boundary.After his failures in the first two Tests against South Africa, Voges loomed as a likely candidate to be axed for the third Test in Adelaide, and was hoping for a big innings against Tasmania to press his case for retention. At the time when he was struck, Voges was trying to rebuild the Western Australia innings after a shaky start in which they slumped to 3 for 15.Opener Cameron Bancroft, who could have made a strong case for Test selection with a big innings, was caught behind off Simon Milenko for 2, and the prolific Michael Klinger edged Jackson Bird to slip on 5. The loss of Voges left Western Australia effectively at 5 for 59, but a 117-run stand between Ashton Turner and Sam Whiteman provided some respectability.Turner scored his maiden first-class century and finished with 110, and Whiteman managed 54, before the Warriors were bowled out for 262. Tasmania lost both their openers before stumps and finished the day on 2 for 60, with Alex Doolan on 18 and nightwatchman Bird on 6.