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Graeme Swann is itching to return to action after declaring that his elbow has “never felt better” following the surgery he had after being ruled out of the Test series in New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2013Graeme Swann is itching to return to action after declaring that his elbow has “never felt better” following the surgery he had after being ruled out of the Test series in New Zealand.He is set play his first match of the season for Nottinghamshire against Durham in the County Championship next week, his last chance for first-class cricket with his county before the opening Test of the season against New Zealand at Lord’s on May 16. But there is the England Lions game against New Zealand if the selectors feel he needs more overs.Swann has been bowling in the nets during Nottinghamshire’s current match against Derbyshire and is feeling no ill effects after having “13 or 14″ pieces of bone removed from his right elbow during the operation in the USA, significantly fewer than came out during the first surgery in 2009 when 29 fragments were found.”The elbow feels great,” Swann said while speaking at a Chance to Shine event to mark the two millionth child to be included in the scheme. “I’ve been bowling with it over the last two days in the nets and it has never felt better. The aim was always for me to come back on Monday against Durham and that is what is going to happen. I was just bored with stupid bowling in the nets and wanted to get back in the game.””I was actually hoping to play this week against Derby but it just swelled up a little bit and I was told to get back in my box. I’m very happy now but this is the last time in my career I will have elbow surgery.”When Swann was ruled out of the New Zealand series in March, on the opening day of the first Test, he was optimistic that the surgery would be a success but admitted the occasional doubt.”You go through a mixture of emotions,” he said. “You have the panic, then the optimism, then the odd pessimistic day pops its head out of nowhere. But the surgery wasn’t as serious as last time and my rehab has gone perfectly.”England missed both Swann’s bowling and his on-field spark in New Zealand as the attack laboured to take 20 wickets. With Australia’s likely line-up for the Ashes potentially including four left handers in the top order he could be in for a bumper season while he is also a crucial cog in the one-day team which has a Champions Trophy to aim for.Swann’s recovery is a piece of positive news for England in a week where Kevin Pietersen has been ruled out until at least the Ashes with his bruised knee taking longer to heel than expected.

Ryan ten Doeschate and Hamish Rutherford produced exhilarating performances with the bat as Essex beat Scotland by 125 runs at Chelmsford.

02-Jun-2013
ScorecardRyan ten Doeschate brought his IPL form to Chelmsford•BCCIRyan ten Doeschate and Hamish Rutherford produced exhilarating performances with the bat as Essex beat Scotland by 125 runs at Chelmsford. The home side reached 368 for 7 to record their highest 40-overs total before their opponents responded with 243 for 8.Ten Doeschate thrashed his way 180, his best limited-overs score for the county, while New Zealand international Rutherford powered his way to 110 on his Essex debut with the pair posting 230 in 22.1 overs, a new county record for the fourth wicket in List A matches.The pair were on top against the Scotland attack during an innings that totalled 23 sixes and 23 fours. Rutherford launched his Essex career with a wonderful display of clean and powerful hitting facing just 88 balls which included six sixes and nine fours.Ten Doeschate was typically aggressive. His century arrived from 72 balls with six sixes and five fours and when it ended 26 balls later, his innings boasted 23 boundaries of which 15 cleared the ropes.The pair went at full throttle pulling and driving without mercy to batter an increasingly wilting attack, hammering the ball to all parts of the tight Chelmsford venue.Scotland’s problems were compounded when umpire Steve Garratt ordered Calvin Burnett out of the attack after the bowler had been called twice for beamers in one over that had cost 28 runs. It left captain Preston Mommsen to complete the over with a further two deliveries that cost another five runs.Mommsen though suffered heavily as ten Doeschate went into overdrive hitting the bowler for four successive sixes and a four in one over.The rousing run-fest between Rutherford and ten Doeschate finally ended when the former was caught going in search of another boundary with the score on 279, while ten Doeschate’s wonderful knock came to a close 55 runs and four overs later when he was bowled by Michael Leask.Such was the dominance of bat over ball that 208 runs were added in the final 15 overs of which 159 came in the final 10.Having chosen to bowl first, Scotland started well. Calum MacLeod had removed Tom Westley with the fourth ball of the match while Owais Shah, making his first appearance after his stint in the Indian Premier League, was also dismissed for a duck after Mark Pettini had been caught for 23.At that stage Essex were 49 for 3 in the 11th over but that was the final cause for celebration for the Scotland bowlers who were treated with disdain thereafter.The home side retained their vice-like grip on the match when they took the first four Scotland wickets inside the opening 10 overs of the reply at a cost of 55 runs.Mommsen joined Ewan Chalmers in a well-constructed 64-run partnership before man-of-the-match ten Doeschate took a hand once more. He removed both batsmen in successive overs leaving the visitors on 124 for 6 and then ended a 39-run stand for the seventh wicket when he ran out Moneeb Iqbal.Matthew Cross then ensured a modicum of respectability for his side with an unbeaten 54 in an unbroken partnership of 72 with Burnett but Scotland finished well adrift of their target.

Hanif Mohammad, the legendary Pakistan batsman, has successfully undergone an operation for liver cancer in a London hospital

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2013Hanif Mohammad, the legendary Pakistan batsman, has successfully undergone an operation for liver cancer. Mohammad, 78, underwent the operation on Tuesday and will remain under observation for a week.”It (the cancer) has been diagnosed at an early stage and it has not spread anywhere else,” his surgeon Robert Hutchins told .According to a report in , Mohammad’s illness was diagnosed four weeks ago in a Karachi hospital. He flew to London for a second opinion, where he was operated on.”I am feeling fine. The surgeon has told me that it is just the start and it has not spread and that I have got to get it out,” Hanif told the paper. “I would have loved to watch the Lord’s Ashes Test but it seems that I will not be able to because I am told that I will have to stay in the ICU and hospital for a week, and then will have to rest for a month.”Mohammad was one of the earliest stars of Pakistan cricket, and his impeccable technique helped him set several world records. He holds the record for the longest innings in Test history, when he scored 337 in 970 minutes against West Indies in Barbados in 1957-58. In the next year, he set the world record for the highest first-class score when he scored an unbeaten 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur, until he was overtaken by the former West Indies batsman Brian Lara.

The PCB’s interim chairman Najam Sethi has outlined an ambitious plan of action, including trying to get the ICC to reconsider the ban on Mohammad Amir

Umar Farooq24-Jun-2013The PCB’s interim chairman Najam Sethi has outlined an ambitious plan of action, including trying to get the ICC to reconsider the ban on Mohammad Amir. His short-term target, he said, would be to sort out the internal dissensions that have riven the board.Sethi will leave for London on Wednesday to attend the ICC’s annual conference from June 25 to 29.”He (Amir) is a talented cricketer,” Sethi told a press conference in Lahore. “I will request the ICC that since as he has served two and a half years of his ban, and was also jailed, to reduce his ban.”Sethi took office today and was briefed about the crisis in the PCB surrounding the suspension of Zaka Ashraf as chairman, which was affecting the team’s tour of the West Indies in July, and causing delays in the annual budget. He met the selection committee and was also briefed on the financial status of the board.”I need some time to understand the problems,” Sethi said. “It was my first meeting (with the selectors) and have told them that there will be no interference from my side in selection. But, I will definitely ask questions. If my questions are hard, they have to think about it. Meanwhile, they have been given the task of selecting the ODI and T20 teams for the West Indies tour.”Mohammad Amir is already halfway into serving his ban•AFPThe PCB has been under crisis over the last month when five top regional associations – Lahore, Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad and Sialkot – revolted against Ashraf, alleging a fallacious electoral process. The five associations were dismissed by the PCB and not included in the board of governors. However, there was no representation in the board of governors from Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province with 60% of country’s population. The PCB instead tagged four regions – Larkana, Dera Murad Jamali, Peshawar and Islamabad in the board. The fifth was supposed to be Sialkot (part of Punjab), but since the region was disputed, it wasn’t included in the board.The dispute deepened when a writ petition was filed against the PCB’s new constitution and the process of electing the chairman. The Islamabad High Court, in its first hearing, suspended Ashraf’s incumbency and ordered an acting chairman to follow the PCB’s day to day functioning.”I need some time to understand the problems but the court did not suspend the constitution at all so things can move on,” he said. “I am an acting chairman, and my responsibility is to resolve the problems, conduct fair and transparent elections.”Ashraf’s top priority was to revive international cricket in Pakistan. However, Sethi said the chances of a revival are unrealistic unless the security situation improves in the country. “It is the matter of the national security establishment to enhance the security, but given the situation in the country, it is difficult. If terrorism continues in Pakistan, no matter how many speeches I make abroad…only if our house is in order will guests come.”Following Pakistan’s poor showing in the Champions Trophy, Sethi promised accountability over any failings of the national team. Pakistan was the first team to exit the tournament after losing all three group games, to West Indies, South Africa and India.”Although I was in charge when the team was selected for the Champions Trophy, I have asked for the report. I want to stress that in future, the captain, coach, vice-captain and the selection committee will be held accountable in case the team fails in any event.”

Michael Klinger scored a fluent 92 as Gloucestershire got a monkey off their back with a six-wicket win over Worcestershire at Cheltenham.

20-Jul-2013
ScorecardMichael Klinger fell just short of a century but led his side’s chase perfectly•Getty ImagesMichael Klinger scored a fluent 92 as Gloucestershire got a monkey off their back with a six-wicket win over Worcestershire at Cheltenham.Klinger hit 14 fours and two sixes in his 131-ball innings as his side reached a target of 194 by mid-afternoon on the final day. It secured Gloucestershire first County Championship win over Worcestershire since 1995 and first at Cheltenham since 1980 – six matches ago at the festival.An opening stand of 95 between Klinger and Chris Dent laid the victory platform for Gloucestershire, who have now moved above Worcestershire and up to fourth in the Division Two table.Earlier, Joe Leach had taken his overnight 103 onto 114 as Worcestershire went from 296 for 8 to 337 all out. Left-arm spinner Tom Smith, on loan to Gloucestershire from Middlesex, dismissed Leach and Graeme Cessford to finish with a career-best 4 for 91.Leach and Cessford took the score onto 321, and extended their ninth-wicket stand to 39, before Leach was dismissed for the first time in the match. He came down the pitch to Smith and skied a drive to cover, where Miles Hammond took a well-judged catch. Leach’s career-best innings came from 170 balls and included 14 fours.Alan Richardson announced himself with three consecutive fours off Craig Miles, struck to the cover, long-on and long leg boundaries. But Worcestershire’s innings ended in the next over when Cessford edged a drive at Smith into the hands of Klinger at slip.Klinger and Dent got the Gloucestershire innings off to a brisk start, with the 50 coming up in the 12th over, and by lunch they had advanced the total to 77. Klinger progressed to a 79-ball half-century, which included eight fours and a pulled six off Gareth Andrew.Moeen Ali claimed two wickets in quick succession when Dent was leg before and Gareth Roderick was bowled, but Gloucestershire’s victory was never in serious doubt.Klinger looked in prime form against the county for whom he played six Championship matches last summer. He struck Shaaiq Choudhry for a straight six and then hit Richardson, so often Gloucestershire’s nemesis with the ball, for three successive fours, one cut behind square and the other two on-driven.Alex Gidman contributed a rapid 25 to a third-wicket stand of 41 with Klinger before he was lbw to Cessford. Hamish Marshall joined Klinger in the middle and Gloucestershire were within seven runs of victory when Klinger was bowled driving Cessford. But he had already done enough to help his side secure the win.

Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, has been banned for life from all BCCI affairs by the board during a special general meeting (SGM) in Chennai on Wednesday

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2013Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, has been expelled from the BCCI during a special general meeting (SGM) of the board in Chennai. The unanimous decision was made quickly after the meeting began at 2.00 pm and it came following a series of legal proceedings in court over the last couple of weeks, as Modi tried to stay the SGM. The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the final go-ahead for the BCCI meeting and the board’s action was swift and severe.Anirudh Chaudhary, the Haryana Cricket Association secretary, proposed the expulsion and the motion was seconded by Ranjib Biswal, the Orissa Cricket Association president. The sanction could prevent Modi from holding a position in the board again. The BCCI said it had discussed during the SGM, the findings of the disciplinary committee against Modi, as well as a letter Modi had written to the board secretary on September 24, requesting a postponement of the meeting.At the SGM the board “resolved that Mr. Lalit Modi is guilty of committing acts of serious misconduct and indiscipline, and therefore, in exercise of powers as per Regulation 32 of the Memorandum and Rules and Regulations of the Board, Mr. Lalit Modi be and is hereby expelled from the BCCI. He shall forfeit all his rights and privileges as Administrator. He shall not in future be entitled to hold any position or office, or be admitted in any Committee or any member or associate member of the Board.”Modi, speaking to said he would continue to fight the BCCI. “I expected the ban, it’s sad for Indian cricket because it shows the BCCI is least concerned for the integrity of cricket,” he said. “It’s a cosy club. I’m going to be here, fighting them. I think Indian cricket needs cleansing and as far as I am concerned I am going to go after them. Till now they were colleagues. Time has now come to take everything out of the box and put it in public domain.”I was already gone. I was suspended for three years. I kept fighting. I will continue to fight. I am moving on, I am looking at other sports. Wait and watch … it’s a global league. I have not been sitting here idle.”The BCCI’s disciplinary committee had found Modi guilty on eight different charges of “various acts of indiscipline and misconduct”. The charges, relating to irregularities in various financial and administrative matters of the IPL including the sale of franchise and media rights, were pressed by the BCCI in 2010 soon after Modi’s swift and dramatic exit from the league he founded.

Cricket South Africa will offer central contracts to their women’s internationals for the first time this season

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2013Cricket South Africa will offer central contracts to their women’s internationals for the first time this season.Through the increased investment of CSA’s main partner, final services provider Momentum, six players will be afforded contracts. In December 2012, the sponsorship enabled CSA to employ a full-time women’s coach, Hilton Moreeng.In a boost for the women’s game, the move sees South Africa join England, Australia, West Indies and Pakistan in centrally contracting some women’s internationals.Captain Mignon du Preez, allrounders Dané van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp, bowlers Marcia Letsoalo and Shabnim Ismail and wicketkeeper Trisha Chetty are the players to benefit in the forthcoming season.”In Australia, New Zealand and England, the women are playing on national television,” Du Preez said. “It’s as big as the men’s game, so hopefully we will get there soon.””Momentum once again deserves to be praised for being more than just a major sponsor of cricket in South Africa,” CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat said. “Involvement is not merely investing money in cricket but goes much further through an impressive social investments programme which seeks to build a society that promotes family values and support for under-privileged cricketers.”Danie van den Bergh, head of Momentum brand, added: “I have said this on previous occasions: nothing unites our country more than success on our fields of play and the more we expose our children to the spirit of the game, the more chance we have of shaping future champions. The heroes of our future are born from the boys and girls that dream about taking to the field for real and not just during match breaks.”

Toby Radford, the West Indies assistant coach and former Middlesex and Sussex batsman, has been named as Glamorgan’s new head coach

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2013Toby Radford, the West Indies assistant coach and former Middlesex and Sussex batsman, has been named as Glamorgan’s new head coach.Radford, 41, who was born in Wales and previously coached Middlesex, will take over from Matthew Mott following a season where Glamorgan reached the final of the YB40. He will join Hugh Morris, the outgoing managing director of England cricket who has returned to his former county as chief executive, as part of a new management team at Glamorgan and is set to begin on November 1.Radford said: “It was great to see the team reaching a Lord’s final at the end of the season, and I believe we have a wonderful opportunity of building on this success and developing a team of which the Welsh nation can be proud.””I am honoured to have been offered this position and look forward to working with chief executive and director of cricket Hugh Morris, and the playing and coaching staff of Glamorgan in bringing success back to the county I supported as a youngster.”Following a playing career that was limited to 14 first-class matches, Radford move into coaching firstly with Berkshire and then with the Middlesex Academy before taking temporary charge of the first team in 2007 when Richard Pybus quit midway through the season. He was then appointed on a full-time basis in 2008, the summer Middlesex won the Twenty20 Cup.In 2010, Radford moved to the Caribbean to take up a post at the newly formed High Performance Centre in Barbados from where he became involved with the main West Indies squad firstly as a batting coach and then Ottis Gibson’s assistant.Gibson, himself, had been linked with the Glamorgan role but the WICB made it clear last week that they had not been aware of interest.Morris, who takes up his Glamorgan role in January, said: “In recent years Toby has built a strong reputation as one of the most talented young cricket coaches in England and Wales, and his experience of managing and developing some world class cricketers will be a great asset to our club. He is a proud Welshman and is looking forward to working with our current players and nurturing local talent for the future.”Glamorgan’s run in the YB40, which saw them secure their first Lord’s final since 2000, was the high point of their season. Elsewhere, they finished second bottom in Division Two of the Championship and failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the FLt20.Some young players showed promise in 2013 notably offspinner Andrew Salter in the Lord’s final and pace bowler Michael Reed who will be involved with the England development programme over the winter.

England’s captain, Alastair Cook, has condemned David Warner’s off-field implication that Jonathan Trott was afraid of the pace of Mitchell Johnson as “disrespectful”

George Dobell in Brisbane24-Nov-20130:00

‘Warner’s maturity is definitely showing’

England’s captain, Alastair Cook, has condemned David Warner’s off-field implication that Jonathan Trott was afraid of the pace of Mitchell Johnson as “disrespectful” as Australia faced a barrage of post-match questions about their aggressive approach at the Gabba.Australia’s overwhelming victory was completed in a heated finale which necessitated the intervention of the umpires to calm things down with England’s last pair at the crease. The stump mic picked up Australia’s captain, Michael Clarke, telling James Anderson that he was about to have his arm broken, while George Bailey chimed in that Anderson was about to break his hand.Clarke insisted that “mutual respect” between the teams remained off the field and that the sledging was nothing out of the ordinary, just good, tough cricket. “I cop as much as I give,” Clarke said. “I have had a lot worse. There is not one person in the England team that we have a personal vendetta against.”There is always banter on the field, especially when Australia and England are playing one another. They are two teams that always play tough, hard-fought cricket. There’s plenty on the field that you don’t hear on stump mic that’s meant to stay on the field. Through my career I’ve heard a lot worse said on the field than any of the Australian players or England players said throughout this Test match.”You don’t get to No. 1 in the world like they have done without playing successful cricket over a long period of time. The respect is certainly there, the banter is no different to what I’ve experienced over my career. We all respect the game, the traditions and the history of the game, and Australia versus England has always been competitive no matter which team’s won.”Cook suggested that back-to-back Ashes series made a rise in tensions almost inevitable, and shrugged it off, but his criticism of Warner’s off-the-field remarks, although brief, was pointed and emphasised England’s annoyance that Australia’s verbal assaults are extending to public slights.Warner, England’s most pugnacious verbal adversary, claimed England’s batsmen had “scared eyes”, suggested Trott was “backing away” from the bowling of Mitchell Johnson and that his second innings dismissal was “was pretty poor and pretty weak”.That left England waiting to see if the ICC would impose its own regulations. Under the ICC’s Code of Conduct (sections 2.1.7 and 2.2.3) players are not allowed to make any “public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match or any player, player support personnel, match official or team participating in any international match, irrespective of when such criticism or inappropriate comment is made.”While Warner’s views might be seen as something to shrug off in most contexts, the rules of the Code of Conduct are uncompromising. They make it clear that “without limitation” players are not allowed to “publicly criticise” or “denigrate” a “player or team against which they have played in relation to incidents which occurred in an international match.”Cook was far more sanguine about the on-field exchanges. “On the pitch it’s pretty much a war,” he said. “There are always going to be a few words. That’s the way people want to watch cricket being played: tough, hard cricket. On the pitch is fine.”The decision whether to charge Warner is in the hands of match referee Jeff Crowe. There is a widespread belief in the England camp about what they believe is a campaign of mental disintegration waged largely through the media and they clearly feel the boundaries of acceptable conduct have been stretched.The newspaper campaign also continues unabated as Australia sense that their worst days might be behind them. After a few days of derogatory stories aimed at England’s players which included calling Stuart Broad a cheat and Kevin Pietersen arrogant and unpopular, one Australian Sunday tabloid even had the audacity to suggest that their teams’ wives and girlfriends were “hotter” than their counterparts.

Gus Logie, the coach of Canada, has been let go due to the team’s lack of results, Cricket Canada announced on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2013Gus Logie, the coach of Canada, has been let go due to the team’s lack of results, Cricket Canada announced on Tuesday.Logie, the former West Indies batsman, who was appointed as coach of the national team in 2012, endured a difficult time at the helm. The team’s most recent failure came in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, where they missed out on securing a spot in the World Twenty20 2014 by a long way, finishing 12th after winning only two group games out of seven.The team is currently chasing one of two spots available for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with ODI status and a place in the ICC High Performance Programme also at stake. Given how important the next few months will be for the team, Doug Hannum, CEO of Cricket Canada, said it was time for the board to act. “This is obviously a challenging time for the organisation but this decision is made with a view to prepare and send the best team to the World Cup Qualifier in January,” he said. “Unfortunately you cannot change 15 players at once and something had to give.It’s up to the playing group to pick themselves up give a good account of themselves in New Zealand.”Logie, 53, who played 52 Tests and 158 ODIs for West Indies between 1981 and 1993, had had a stint with Canada before, during the 2003 World Cup, before guiding West Indies to their Champions Trophy triumph in 2004. In 2005, he signed a long-term coaching deal with Bermuda but left them in 2009 after – justifiably, it was said – criticising the cricket set-up in the country. He replaced Michael Dighton for Canada in June last year.”We would like to thank Gus for all that he did while he was with us. His efforts in 2003 in South Africa are part of Canada’s sporting history and his hard work and dedication to his craft are unparalleled,” Ravin Moorthy, the Cricket Canada president, said. “It’s unfortunate that his tenure had to end after the disappointing tour of the UAE, but unfortunately this is a results-driven business and the results just weren’t there.”Cricket Canada are yet to name a replacement for Logie.