All posts by csb10.top

Ireland women have announced a 13-player squad to face South Africa and England Academy in July and August. Ireland will face South Africa for a one-dayer on 31st July and a Twenty20 the day after, then they will have a one-off friendly against the England Academy who will be captained by Alexia Walker as Jenny Halstead is injured.Isobel Joyce will continue to seek her first win as Ireland captain, having lost their recent home series against West Indies, losing the one-dayers 2-0 and the sole Twenty20.Squad Isobel Joyce (capt), Nicki Coffey, Emma Beamish, Jean Carroll (wk), Marianne Herbert, Cecelia Joyce, Suzanne Kenealy, Ciara Metcalfe, Cathy Murphy, Eimear Richardson, Melissa Scott-Hayward, Clare Shillington, Jill Whelan.

ScorecardIan Westwood salvaged an exciting tie for Warwickshire last night, but he went one better today with a calm 35 to guide his side to their first win of this year’s Twenty20 Cup, beating Somerset by five wickets.Set a perfectly gettable 132, Warwickshire’s batsmen suffered the same difficulties as Somerset in their innings – namely, struggling with their timing and panicking unnecessarily. Neil Carter hammered 31 from 20 balls, and Jim Troughton 33 at better than a run-a-ball, but wickets continued to fall to raise Somerset hopes. In the end, however, Westwood held his nerve, aided by Ant Botha who clumped Ian Blackwell for four in the final over, to see Warwickshire home.It was Chris Woakes, the nineteen-year-old medium-pacer, who starred for the visitors with the ball, but not before Justin Langer and Marcus Trescothick got Somerset off to a rollicking start. Trescothick was in excellent touch, lofting Chris Martin over the top with casual elegance before bunting the same bowler over midwicket. And though Langer was less authoritative initially, he gradually expanded his strokeplay to pepper the boundary. A four was swung over midwicket before he nailed a six over long-on, and the most delicate of back-cuts brought up Somerset’s fifty in the seventh over.The run-rate began to spiral and Warwickshire’s bowlers lacked discipline, but Somerset’s Twenty20 difficulties came flooding into view when they collapsed like a pack of soggy cards. Ant Botha had Langer trapped in front, before clinging onto a remarkable caught-and-bowled to dismiss James Hildreth, before two excellent yorkers removed Somerset’s big two – in all senses of the word – Trescothick and Blackwell in the space of five balls. From 78 for 0, Somerset had slipped to 92 for 4.Enter Woakes, who earlier ought to have had Trescothick caught at midwicket. Bowling full and straight – such basics that often disappear from bowlers’ minds in Twenty20 – he rattled through Somerset’s middle-lower-order, twice hitting the stumps, to finish with Man-of-the-Match figures of 4 for 21. Craig Kieswetter gave another glimpse of his burgeoning talent with 19 from 12, but it was too little, too late.Or was it? Trescothick gave them a lift with an outstanding one-handed catch, running in from short midwicket, to cling onto Jonathan Trott’s leading edge, while Carter, who laced five fours and a huge six in his 31, was bowled by Mark Turner. When Tony Frost was bowled by the energetic Alfonso Thomas, a sizeable crowd sensed an upset with Warwickshire slipping to 57 for 3.Westwood to the rescue, once again – aided by Troughton’s 33 – who dealt mainly in singles, nudging through the leg-side and running well between the wickets. The pair’s partnership had extended to 53 when Troughton was bowled, attempting a needlessly bold inside-out stroke over the covers.Fortunately for Warwickshire, Westwood’s decision-making was far sounder, and a four through midwicket off Blackwell sealed their first win of the summer.

The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) announced today that it is confident the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is complying with the upgraded ground security and crowd behaviour standards established by the International Cricket Council (ICC).The ICC has recently advised that venues not able to comply with tough new standards could risk losing their rights to stage international cricket.ACB Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said there had been instances of poor behaviour by a minority of spectators in recent years.”The recurrence of crowd trouble at some one-day international cricket matches in recent times has resulted in the risk of international cricket being taken away from the MCG,” Mr Sutherland said.However, Mr Sutherland said he is expecting the crowd at the MCG this year to exhibit the same controlled excitement seen at other grounds this summer.”We are expecting strong crowds for international cricket at the MCG this summer and we are confident the MCG patrons will enjoy the spectacle in a safe and secure environment,” he said.”Changes made to crowd management processes after the first one-day international match at the MCG last summer resulted in a marked improvement for the rest of that season and standards are even more stringent for this season.”New measures for season 2002-03 include an increased police and security presence, an increase in surveillance cameras and new responsible alcohol service standards limiting sales to two plastic cups of low-alcohol beer per purchase in certain areas and no wine or spirits in certain areas.External, pre-game security surveillance has also been scheduled and all bags will be searched upon patrons’ entrance into the ground.Mr Sutherland said the ACB had worked closely on security issues with the Melbourne Cricket Club, as venue managers, Cricket Victoria, as event managers, and Victoria Police in the lead up to Melbourne’s first one-day international, an Australia versus England day/night game on Sunday (15 December).”The public, the players and officials have a right to feel comfortable about being at the MCG, just as they do at other grounds around Australia,” he said.”We are confident the measures to be implemented this Sunday at the MCG will improve crowd behaviour and increase the safety of players and spectators.”For more information please contact:Peter Young, ACB General Manager, Public Affairs, on 0425 764 693;Patrick O’Beirne, ACB Corporate Communications Manager, on 0408 99 88 56.

Times were when former New Zealand women’s cricket captain Maia Lewis had the cricket world at her feet.And then her knees gave out.An attacking player, who looked set to unite with the likes of Debbie Hockley and Emily Drumm to give New Zealand one of the great middle-order batting units of all time, she disappeared around the time of her injuries and, understandably, lost motivation.But all has not been lost.Lewis is back in Wellington and working as a cricket co-ordinator for Cricket Wellington and looking to revive her cricket career at the age of 32.”I’m feeling really good. My injuries are over and I’m fitter than I’ve been for a long time,” she said.Lewis has had an ACL reconstruction and during the dark days with her injuries she had arthroscopies on both knees.”I realised around that time that cricket was not the be-all and end-all in life and it was nice to have a couple of normal Christmases for a change,” she said.However, the competitive streak began to surface again, initially on the indoor cricket scene.”I had a couple of good indoor cricket seasons. I played in the New Zealand team last year in a series against Australia and was in the New Zealand team at the recent World Cup.”Lewis started last season living in Whangarei, playing her club cricket in Auckland but playing for Wellington in the State League.In eight innings, with two not outs, she totalled 130 runs at 21.66, a low return by her own standards, but the threat is that if she regains some of her former touches she will further extend her career average of 33.65.Of all the current players who have played 10 or more matches in the State League competition, only Drumm (47.78), Paula Flannery (34.20), Nicola Payne (37.43) and Megan Tyler (36.94) have better averages.For the moment, however, Lewis is looking no further ahead than working and performing with the State Wellington Blaze.Wellington are blooding quite a few new players and Lewis’ experience will be vital in building the side.She does so with her only regret from her earlier cricket career being a feeling that he has never achieved her full potential.”I feel I am batting a bit better now. I’m more mature and playing more of my natural game. When I was playing before I was a bit robotic and I lost a lot of my natural game and I have regrets that I didn’t achieve what I might have done,” she said.So far this season she has had one match for her Naenae club against Eastern Suburbs in Wellington in which she made 50 not out while in the Central Districts competition, she has been captaining the young Wairarapa side and last weekend had scores of 47 and 78 for them.The Wellington scene is much healthier with a good core of players having to fight over places in the representative side. The side will still be a young one with most of the players between 17-23 years, with eight of the squad also in the Under-21 squad. But players were getting opportunities a little earlier than had previously been the case.They were getting exposed to tougher cricket earlier, and while college cricket numbers have diminished, there are more school players in the senior competition. Seven teams are competing in the women’s senior competition this summer.Wellington are also running a Super 8 competition in which 11 teams are entered. In a bid to attract more people to the game, who haven’t the time to make a greater time commitment there will be a twilight competition played in mid-week of 16 overs-a-side to start on January 12.

Australia have opened up a 278-run lead after a day of hard-fought Test cricket in the best traditions of the Ashes. England were dismissed for 325, with Glenn McGrath finishing with four for 87 and Jason Gillespie overcoming injury fears to ensure that Australia enjoyed a useful lead on first innings. Despite Andrew Caddick claiming two early wickets when Australia batted again, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn consolidated to take Australia into day four in a commanding position.When England resumed on 158 for one, it was the usually economical and precise McGrath who took the valuable wickets of Mark Butcher for 54 and Marcus Trescothick for 72 to prevent the tourists from making progress from their promising overnight position.Trescothick looked dangerous and showed his class when he drove two consecutive deliveries past McGrath to the boundary. Yet McGrath, slightly out of rhythm and looking laboured, made the breakthrough when Butcher shaped to drive but edged to Hayden in the slips.McGrath struck the next blow five balls later when Trescothick drove without conviction at a ball outside off stump and Ricky Ponting was waiting in the slips for the edge. After being tied down for a while by the pace duo, Trescothick played at a ball on the line which he had been happy to leave earlier in the morning.McGrath’s 100th and 101st Ashes wickets came at precisely the right time for his team. He could have done with another, however, as Nasser Hussain and John Crawley settled in to revive English hopes with a partnership that added 97 for the fourth wicket and appeared to be taking their side towards comfort.After lunch, however, Steve Waugh took the new ball with immediate success. Gillespie, this time was the destroyer. During this period the 27-year-old was electric. Passing a fitness test on his calf before play, he continually stretched the muscle during and after his spells.The injury did not seem to hinder Gillespie in any way as he continued to pose more of a threat than McGrath. After Hussain hoisted Gillespie for six to bring up his fifty, the bowler seemed to crank up the pace and accounted for Hussain with a beauty. He squared up Hussain with a ball at which he had to play and wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist did the rest.With the cracks in the pitch beginning to open up, Gillespie struck again in his next over as Alec Stewart played an indecisive inside edge onto the stumps to be bowled without scoring and England had slumped to 270 for five.Now it was the turn of McGrath. Craig White had made 12 misjudged the bounce to lose his off bail without offering a shot to a ball that he thought would go over the stumps.The only recognised batsman left, John Crawley played patiently and responsibly as he pushed for ones and twos, then waited and punished the bad balls. His fifth fifty against Australia and the fourth in the England innings took all of three hours and 120 balls, but he was doing a fine job for his side.Crawley, however, could only watch as Andy Bichel stepped up to account for Ashley Giles for 13 – caught behind playing some way from his body – and Caddick in quick succession. With the injured Simon Jones unable to bat, Crawley was left on 69 not out.Australia started their innings in blazing fashion, as they tend to do. Justin Langer had hit four boundaries in his 22 from 25 balls when he edged Caddick to Stewart, while the same bowler produced an absolute snorter to account for Ponting. It flew from a length to take the shoulder of the bat on its way to Trescothick at first slip. Ponting took a long look at the pitch as he departed.Hayden was joined by Martyn to see the home side through to stumps, playing with controlled aggression to both finish with 40 not out.In the last 12 matches played at the Gabba, only three have ended in a draw. Rain has been the deciding factor in those three but, in the middle of a local drought, that consideration is not likely to come into play on this occasion. The Australians will be happier with that knowledge than England at this stage of the match.

PERTH, Oct 21 AAP – England’s form batsman Michael Vaughan will sit out his team’s tour opener, but insists his knee injury will not stop him playing in the upcoming Ashes series starting next month.The Yorkshireman enjoyed a remarkable northern summer in which he registered four Test centuries including scores of 195 and 197 against India.But his right knee, which he had a minor operation on last month, has pulled up sore forcing him out of the match against an ACB Chairman’s XI at Lilac Hill tomorrow.His knee will be of an enormous concern for the England team as it already has some major injury worries in the 16-strong squad.But the 27-year-old said he hoped to be fit in time for the two-day match against Western Australia starting at the WACA ground on Thursday.Allrounder Andrew Flintoff and Darren Gough will also miss the Lilac Hill fixture as they try to recover from respective hernia and knee operations.But Vaughan will arguably be the tourists’ biggest concern as his partnership with Marcus Trescothick at the top of the order is seen as pivotal to England’s hopes of winning an Ashes series for the first time in 16 years.Vaughan has scored 1710 runs in 23 Tests and his average of 47.50 is easily the best in the England team.The only other batsman with an average of more than 40 is Trescothick.”A bit of dehydration from the flight and obviously a little bit of swelling (of the knee) but it has gone really well the past 48 hours,” Vaughan said today.The right-hander is one of the great unknowns for Australia as he missed the 2001 Ashes series also because of a knee injury.Vaughan has only played one match against Australia in a one-day encounter at Old Trafford last year but was bowled first ball by quick Jason Gillespie.”I have played one game so far and only lasted one ball, so things can only get better,” he said.And despite averaging an impressive 90 in six Tests over the northern summer he also conceded he was also dismissed first ball by Australian paceman Glenn McGrath in their only encounter in a county match.However the amiable Vaughan didn’t appear very concerned about his previous efforts against Australia’s pace attack.He said he and Trescothick would try to play in a positive fashion against McGrath who reached the 400 Test wicket mark in Sharjah today.Vaughan said the openers probably wouldn’t follow New Zealand’s tactic against Australia last summer of leaving anything slightly outside of off stump.”If it is there to leave you have got to leave it, but I think the positive approach is the best approach,” he said.”Marcus and I are the type of guys who go out looking to be positive.”But Glenn McGrath is going to have periods of play where he’s bowling very well and leaving the ball might be the best option.”But we’ll have to judge the wicket and the best way to play on the day.”The first Ashes Test starts on November 7 in Brisbane.Meanwhile the ACB Chairman’s XI made one change with West Australian batsman Chris Rogers replacing teammate Scott Meuleman who has a thigh injury.The England team is: Nasser Hussain (c), Mark Butcher, Andrew Caddick, John Crawley, Richard Dawson, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, Simon Jones, Robert Key, Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick, James Foster.The ACB Chairman’s XI is: Michael Hussey (c), Ryan Campbell(v-c), Michael Clark, Kade Harvey, Brad Hogg, Chris Rogers, Matthew Nicholson, Marcus North, Callum Thorp, Paul Wilson, Kim Hughes, David Hookes, Wayne Clark.

DISCOVERY BAY – Even amidst the euphoria of winning the Red Stripe Bowl, the top brass of the Barbados team was dishing out suggestions towards ensuring that the island builds on its first regional limited-overs title in 14 years.Among them was a call by captain Courtney Browne and coach Hendy Springer for coloured clothing, white balls and black sightscreens to be introduced at domestic level.Another was for better preparation of the team and the desire to see the younger players coming under the wings of seasoned players."We need to maintain these standards," Springer told NATIONSPORT after Barbados defeated Jamaica by 33 runs in an absorbing final at the Kaiser Sports Club on Sunday."I hope that the guys go back to Barbados and fit into their respective teams and give them some good stories and some things to think about as far as general development of cricketers and cricket is concerned."Winning a title is not all. If you get one or two younger players coming through, I think you have done your job. This will serve in good stead. We’ve won and we’ve got to maintain and build."It was Barbados’ first capture of the crystal Bowl and their first success in a Caribbean limited-overs championship since Malcolm Marshall’s team beat Jamaica at Sabina Park in 1988 when Springer was a player.Apart from calling for better preparation of the team in light of this season’s last-minute build-up, skipper Browne wants to see more encouragement for younger players to rub shoulders with seasoned campaigners."I know there has been a lot of talk about playing the youngsters, but at the end of the day young players will only learn quicker if they are playing with the old boys," Browne said.The suggestion for the facelift in Barbados’ club limited-overs matches was first mooted by Springer and supported by Browne."We’ve been playing one-day cricket in Barbados long enough and we don’t play anything that is remotely related to what happens at the international level. Yet we are expecting our guys to go to the international level and play and perform," Springer said."We should get out black sightscreens, white balls, coloured clothing, coloured pads, if we can afford it, or come as close to it as possible."We need to familiarise those guys at that lower level with what is happening at this level."The white ball does a lot more and it deteriorates a lot quicker than the red ball does," Springer added."If you play with it a couple of seasons, you get accustomed to it and when you get to this level and beyond, you know what to expect."Browne saw no reason why the recent changes to Barbados’ club season couldn’t be taken a step further."It might be a little difficult in the first year, but all the players will get accustomed to it," he said.

Despite his side having to settle for a draw after dominating their championship match against Warwickshire, the Somerset coach Kevin Shine was in upbeat mood at the end of the day at the Taunton.Looking forward to the NUL game tomorrow against Warwickshire Bears he told me: “It’s quite simple we just have to win. Mathematically we could still stay up so we must get a result from the game tomorrow.”There will be two changes to the championship side that has faced Warwickshire over the last four days.Steffan Jones, who performed the twelfth man duties today comes in to replace Richard Johnson and Piran Holloway replaces Peter Bowler.

Somerset Under 15’s scored a resounding 8 wicket victory over their Dorset counterparts at Millfield School last weekend.After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the visitors were restricted to 135 for 8 off their 50 overs, with Robert Woodman ending with 4 for 21 and Seamus Crawford 2 for 28.When Somerset batted they reached their target for the loss of just two wickets off 24.1 overs, thanks to Robin Lett who was unbeaten on 48 and Andrew Fraser-Harris who was 38 not out.

The ECB board is set to meet later this week to determine whether this winter’s Ashes can take place, after appearing to concede that several of the team’s leading players remain unwilling to submit to Australia’s stringent Covid-19 protocols.In a statement issued on Monday morning, the ECB said that it had been in discussions with England men’s players and management – some of whom will be departing for the UAE later the same day ahead of this month’s T20 World Cup.And while the statement insisted that the board’s dialogue with Cricket Australia remained “regular and positive”, it also appeared to express public doubt about whether the conditions that have been put in place will “enable the selection of a squad befitting a series of this significance”.Related

• England players set to agree to Ashes tour after further talks

• CA faces a logistical nightmare for its NSW and Victoria Test players ahead of Ashes

• Ashes diplomacy: UK PM raises travel concerns with Morrison

• Root 'desperate' for success in Australia, but can't yet commit to tour

• ECB chairman admits prospect of Ashes is a 'complicated picture'

“Over the weekend we have been talking to England men’s players and management to provide them with the latest information about the proposed arrangements for this winter’s scheduled Ashes tour,” the statement read.”We remain in regular and positive dialogue with Cricket Australia over these arrangements as the picture is constantly evolving. With health and wellbeing at the forefront, our focus is to ensure the tour can go ahead with conditions for players and management to perform at their best.”We will continue talking to our players this week to share the latest information and seek feedback.”Later this week the ECB board will meet to decide whether the conditions in place are sufficient for the tour to go ahead and enable the selection of a squad befitting a series of this significance.”Australia’s government has outlined plans to ease entry and quarantine restrictions to fully-vaccinated citizens in November, but this provision isn’t expected to be extended to overseas travellers until a later date.Last week, England’s captain Joe Root expressed his own doubts about the series, stating that he was “desperate” for the tour to go ahead, but that he could not yet commit to leading the team.Writing on Instagram prior to the white-ball squad’s departure for the UAE, Paul Collingwood, the team’s assistant coach, summed up the dilemma being faced by many of the players, particularly those with young families.”I love my job and I’m so excited for the winter of cricket ahead but saying goodbye to your daughters for potentially 3 months is not easy, no matter how tough you feel you are,” he wrote. “We all make sacrifices in life. Looking forward to meeting up with the team tomorrow because I know we will try to help each other like a family.”In response, Cricket Australia issued a statement of its own, reiterating the “regular and positive” discussions of the past six months, and stressing that the “health and wellbeing of both squads … is a priority.””We especially thank our government partners for all their support in this regard,” the statement continued. “We are also buoyed by rising vaccination rates and an evolving approach to the pandemic in Australia.”The anticipated conditions for the tour, including quarantine arrangements have now been communicated to the ECB and directly to the England players and staff.”