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Alex Gidman has stepped down as Gloucestershire captain after four years in the role

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2012Alex Gidman has stepped down as Gloucestershire captain after four years in the role. The club endured a disappointing 2012 season, finishing bottom of the County Championship, although Gidman has said his decision is due to him wanting to focus on batting.Gidman, 31, who previously served three years as vice-captain, scored 528 runs at 25.14 in the Championship.Gidman said: “I am very proud of the contribution I have been able to make as Gloucestershire captain. But I have not enjoyed the role as much this season and feel the time is right for someone else to take over.”My intention now is to spend the time I was taking up with captaincy issues on improving my own game. My plan for this winter is to devote more hours to practice and fitness work than I have ever done. Hopefully that will result in lots of runs for the team next summer.”Tom Richardson, the chief executive, said consideration would be given to replacing Gidman as captain with an overseas signing for 2013 season. The club’s overseas players this year were Kane Williamson, Rob Nicol and briefly Ed Cowan although both New Zealand and Australia are touring England next season.The club’s director of cricket John Bracewell added: “Alex has faced a particularly tough period as captain trying to deliver success with a young and developing squad.”With all the extra demands on him, he has not been able to spend the time he wants to on his own game. He still has a stack of runs left in him as a player and I’m sure will benefit from being free of the worries captaincy brings.”

Batsman Colin Munro, allrounders Jimmy Neesham and Corey Anderson, and fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan have been named in New Zealand’s one-day squad for the South Africa series

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2012Batsman Colin Munro, allrounders Jimmy Neesham and Corey Anderson, and fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan have been named in New Zealand’s one-day squad for the South Africa series. These four players were the new faces to take the field for New Zealand in the Twenty20 series that preceded the ODIs; they have not played any other international games apart from those three T20s.McClenaghan being picked comes as no surprise as, earlier this week, he had also been added to New Zealand’s Test squad for the series starting on January 2, in place of the injured Tim Southee.Left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira, who is yet to debut in ODIs, was also picked. Batsman Kane Williamson, keeper BJ Watling, and quicks Kyle Mills and Adam Milne have been called-up for the one-day leg of the limited-overs series.Fast bowler Doug Bracewell missed out in the 15-man squad. The decision to leave him out, coach Mike Hesson said, was in view with ‘managing his workload’. “[It] is in-line with our policy to sensibly manage player workloads,” Hesson said. “He has a big role to play in the Test series against South Africa and will benefit from the opportunity to freshen up ahead of the home series [in February-March] against England.”Eleven out of the 15 from the Twenty20 squad were retained to give the limited-overs squad stability, national selection manager, Kim Littlejohn, said: “We’re keen to show consistency in selection for our short-form side and retain the nucleus of the squad who competed in the T20 series, along with four players from the last ODI series against Sri Lanka.”There is healthy competition for places in our starting line-up at present and we are working on developing a larger group of players who can compete at international level.”New Zealand will play three ODIs against South Africa, between January 19 and 25.

Central Districts faced a Jesse Ryder onslaught from the outset, and couldn’t recover from it; they went down to Wellington by 55 runs in Napier

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2012
ScorecardCentral Districts faced a Jesse Ryder onslaught from the outset, and couldn’t recover from it; they went down to Wellington by 55 runs in Napier. After asking Wellington to bat, they faced Ryder’s storm, and by the time he had departed – after scoring 76 off 26 deliveries – in the eighth over, Central Districts were behind in the game. Their opponents built on the whirlwind start, and scored 214 in their 20 overs, helped by Grant Elliott’s quick half-century. Seamer Chris Woakes, with his three wickets, then helped bowl Central Districts out for 159 in 19 overs.Ryder struck a boundary off the first delivery he faced, and followed it up with a six. He dominated the opening stand of 105, scoring more than 70% of the runs. He had reached his half-century off 16 deliveries, the joint eighth-fastest fifty in Twenty20s, and the joint third-fastest in the HRV Cup. Through nine fours and six sixes, he had scored 72 of his 75 runs. When seamer Andrew Mathieson bowled him out, his team were going at 14.20 runs per over.That eventually dropped to 10.70 by the end of the innings. His wicket led to three other quick ones, but Grant Elliott and James Franklin added 83 in 8.2 overs to help them past 200. Four of Central Districts’ six bowlers had finished with an economy rate of over 11 per over.When they batted, they suffered an early blow when opener Marty Kain was dismissed off the second delivery of the innings. After scoring 14 off seven balls, No. 3 Jamie How also departed. A brief recovery ensued but was undone by the fall of quick wickets. When Carl Cachopa, the fourth-highest run-getter in Plunket Shield and the sixth-highest in the HRV Cup this season, was run out in the ninth over, his team had lost half their side for 69 runs. Will Young, who scored 34, wicketkeeper Ben Smith and Adam Milne tried to keep them in the hunt, to no avail.Ryder, with this knock, has scored 174 runs in three matches in the HRV Cup, at a strike rate of 200 – both chart-topping stats so far.

An all-round display by Umar Gul and a plucky knock of 93 by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed helped the Pakistanis gain the advantage in their tour game

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Umar Gul scored 49 off 76 balls and was also among the wickets during South Africa Invitation XI’s innings•AFPAn all-round display by Umar Gul, who scored 49 runs and later picked up two wickets, and a plucky knock of 93 by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed helped the Pakistanis have the better of day two of their four-day tour match against a South African Invitation XI.The Pakistanis resumed on 178 for 6 at the start of the day but the lower order, led by Sarfraz, added 151 runs before they were dismissed. Sarfraz and Gul took their seventh-wicket partnership to 81 runs, before Gul was stumped by wicketkeeper Dane Vilas off Simon Harmer’s bowling. The offspinner was the most effective South African bowler, dismissing both Gul and Sarfraz to end with figures of 5 for 88.After Gul’s departure, Sarfraz stitched together important partnerships with tailenders Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan. The right-hand batsman, who made his Test debut against Australia in 2010, began sedately but cut loose soon after reaching his 50 to take his side past 300. His innings included 12 fours and a six.In reply, the South African XI got off to a quiet start before Junaid and Gul struck with quick wickets. Gul dismissed opener Davy Jacobs and middle-order batsman Cody Chetty in the ninth over, to leave South Africans at a shaky 31 for 3. The left-hand batting pair of Stiaan van Zyl and Vaughn van Jaarsveld then stabilised the innings with a partnership of 89, which was broken when Irfan effected a run-out to dismiss van Zyl. Vilas was the only other batsman to offer some support to van Jaarsveld before the latter was given out leg-before off Saeed Ajmal’s bowling, seven runs short of a century.The Pakistani bowlers kept the batting side in check, making regular breakthroughs. Gul and offspinner Ajmal each picked up two wickets while Junaid and Irfan also had dismissals to their credit.

A thrilling century by Mitchell Marsh on his return to Western Australia’s side was not enough to prevent Tasmania from completing a 51-run victory at the WACA Ground

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2013
ScorecardA thrilling century by Mitchell Marsh on his return to Western Australia’s side was not enough to prevent Tasmania from completing a 51-run victory at the WACA Ground that left Victoria to host Queensland in the domestic limited overs final.Marsh and the debutant spin bowler Ashton Turner added an audacious 86 after early wickets had all but ruled out WA’s chances of completing their chase of Tasmania’s 6 for 307 inside the 40 overs they required to claim a bonus point and sneak past the Bulls.However Turner’s departure to James Faulkner, who produced an influential allround display, signalled the end of the hosts’ serious resistance, which had been earlier blunted by Ricky Ponting’s chancy but at other times attractive 95.In his first match for WA, the former New South Welshman Burt Cockley nabbed a pair of early Tigers wickets with some disconcerting bounce, but after Ponting had been dropped by turner in the gully the visitors pressed on to a major score, Jordan Silk also playing neatly.

Craig McDermott is set to once again guide the development of Australia’s promising young fast bowlers, returning to the fold with a role at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Brisbane

Daniel Brettig07-Mar-2013Craig McDermott is set to once again guide the development of Australia’s most promising young fast bowlers. A little less than a year after he ended a fruitful stint as the national team’s bowling coach, McDermott is returning to the fold with a role at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Brisbane.Under an agreement struck between CA and McDermott, elements of his Pace Bowling Australia programme will be incorporated into the CoE, further encouraging the talent identification and educational progress that has been made via a series of clinics held around Australia over the summer.The major benefit of the arrangement will be that McDermott is again in a position of influence over the nation’s best young fast men, having previously enjoyed great success in mentoring the likes of James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc while also overseeing the reinvention of Peter Siddle. Given the poverty of resources currently available to the national selectors in other areas, the strength of the the pace bowling stocks must be accentuated.”I’ll be back working with all the best young blokes in the country again, which will be nice,” McDermott told ESPNcricinfo. “Basically I’m working at the CoE. If bowlers come through the centre, certainly the likes of (Pat) Cummins, or if those guys are going on the A tour to England this year, they’ll certainly be coming up to the CoE beforehand and I’ll have some input with those guys preparing for a tour.”I’m not sure what will happen with the Aussie team before their Ashes stint but if they come through Brisbane, I’ll work with them there. In the meantime, it’s been a good thing for me to get back to the grassroots. I just spotted a young guy in Melbourne last week and I’ve just rung Victoria about having a look at him.”Like most followers of Australian cricket, McDermott’s brow has furrowed at the team’s poor results so far in India, and he noted the lack of runs had left the bowlers dreadfully exposed in conditions most unforgiving to pacemen. He has remained in touch with Pattinson and Siddle, but was unsure about why the former had been given only two three-over spells on the first bowling day of the series in Chennai.”I’m not really sure why they did that, I’m not up to speed with the inner workings at the moment, but it looked a bit odd to me as well,” McDermott said. “If they were worried about his workloads, why would they pick him? Other than that he has bowled pretty well over there so far.”Hopefully he can back-up for the third Test, they’ve got a week off between matches, so I’d suggest they’ll be having a spell and trying to get up for Mohali.”McDermott’s role will include travel on numerous Australian Under-19 tours, and also a visit to India later this year with a delegation of young prospects to bowl at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. There are also plans for the setting up of a series of junior academies in Brisbane, Townsville, Mackay, Gold Coast, Sydney, Lismore and Melbourne, each catering for up to 30 players so internal trial matches may be played.”That’s going to keep us pretty busy,” McDermott said. “The academies are proper athlete development programmes with physio screening, strength and conditioning programmes, and focus on developing life skills as well as their cricket skills.”

A round-up of IPL news from April 24

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2014Gambhir a knock away from striking form – Raman
Gautam Gambhir hasn’t had a memorable start with the bat in IPL 2014 with two ducks in as many games, but the Kolkata Knight Riders captain has the backing of coach WV Raman, who says he is just one innings away from striking form. Gambhir made an eight-ball duck in the opening game against Mumbai Indians and in the second game against Delhi Daredevils, he lasted only half those balls before he was caught at short fine leg.”Gautam Gambhir is just one knock away from striking form,” Raman was quoted in . “He is too good a player to allow this to happen for too long. Hopefully, he will get going sooner rather than later and once he gets going, you know what he is capable of. You know what has happened as far as results are concerned for KKR when he has got going. We are hoping that he will find his rhythm quickly.”Knight Riders began with a convincing win against Mumbai but went down in the last over to Delhi Daredevils in defence of 166. Raman said the biggest takeaway from the Daredevils game was the way the middle order covered the slack after the openers fell for ducks. “We were in a tight situation in that game while batting, but we got out of it and posted a good score,” he said. “The good thing about the team is that the guys are there to put their hands up and be counted.”We have done well without Gayle – Parthiv
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel has said the team has managed well without their star overseas player Chris Gayle, who sat out both games due to a sore back. Parthiv, however, wasn’t certain if Gayle would return for their next game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday.”We have done well without Gayle, which shows how strong our batting is,” Parthiv told . “Once Chris comes, obviously, it will be a great boost for the team and I am sure he will be a very big threat. Having said that, our bowlers have done really well to restrict the opponents, which has helped us chase down targets.”Parthiv has been in good form as an opener, scoring 37 against Delhi Daredevils and an unbeaten 57 against Mumbai Indians, helping his side to victory after a wobbly 17 for 3. Parthiv’s form has been crucial for Royal Challengers in Gayle’s absence, given that his replacement Nic Maddinson hasn’t fired. “I have started well in the tournament and I would like to just go out there and play myself in and get as many runs as possible for the team,” Parthiv said. “I have my own strengths and have made myself a bit of a T20 cricketer. I know my limitations.”

Trent Copeland took ten wickets in the match as Northamptonshire claimed their third win of the season with a resounding victory at Canterbury

Mark Pennell at Canterbury03-May-2013Northamptonshire 303 (Peters 106, Shreck 4-80) and 105 for 3 beat Kent 271 (Bell-Drummond 68, Copeland 5-71) and 135 (Copeland 5-42) by seven wickets
ScorecardTrent Copeland took five wicket hauls in both innings of a match for the first time•Getty ImagesShould Australia need Ashes cover for this summer’s Ashes series they might do a lot worse than put Northamptonshire’s overseas strike bowler Trent Copeland on standby.Copeland, a 6ft 5ins right-armer, took five wickets in each innings for the first time in his first-class career and bagged match figures of 10 for 113 to inspire Northamptonshire’s seven wicket win at Canterbury that keeps them on top of Division Two of the County Championship.Bowling down the Nackington Road slope, Copeland ripped the heart out of a hapless Kent top-order and tuned a hitherto evenly fought contest into a one-sided miss-match.With the match ball safely tucked away in his kit bag Copeland, who is playing on despite concerns over a slight back problem, said: “I enjoyed this game and felt I earned my wickets through putting it all in and working hard. It’s a little like the old adage ‘you can’t take wickets if you’re not bowling’, that’s just the way I see it.”I’m only over here for nine weeks or so and would have liked to have contributed more wicket-wise in the first couple of games, but although I felt I bowled well I wasn’t quite getting the edges or winning the appeals.”We spoke about how strong this Kent side is on paper and I’m stoked for the boys that I’ve come good here and we’re going home with a great result. I’ve never taken two five-fors in a game so I’m delighted with that. We’ve played three games previously on sporting pitches but this one here just did enough to keep you interested.”Having resumed on day three on 6 for 0 to trailing by a mere 26 runs, the Northamptonshire attack, inspired by Copeland, set about routing the hosts for 135 in a shade over three hours.Copeland sent back both openers leg before with near identical full-length off-cutters and had former-West Indies international-turned-Kent Kolpak signing Brendan Nash caught behind as the hosts lost six wickets in the opening session.Daniel Bell-Drummond was run out by a direct hit from Steven Crook after a slow response to a call for a sharp single, then James Tredwell, on his home bow as championship skipper, pushed outside the line of a Crook in-ducker to go leg before without scoring. And Kent supporters were choking on their carvery lunches in the Colin Cowdrey stand when, on the cusp of the interval, Matt Coles waltzed across his stumps flailing to leg and was bowled by Crook for 6.Geraint Jones showed some heart for the fight with a brisk 72-ball 50 with seven fours after lunch but once he went leg before to David Willey for 57 Copeland returned to mop up the tail and finish with 5 for 42.Northamptonshire lost three wickets in the pursuit of the 104 required for victory but Alex Wakeley teamed up with Andrew Hall to see them to the winning line by 5pm. Ironically for Kent fans, it was Hall, their overseas allrounder from 2005-2007 who smeared the winning boundary off the listless bowling of Tredwell, who has yet to claim a wicket in his three championship starts this season.

Alastair Cook said he could not remember a quicker turnaround in formats during his career

Andrew McGlashan30-May-2013The red ball and white kit that England have enjoyed for the last couple of weeks have been swapped for a red kit and a white ball, a matter of days after the they beat the weather at HeadingleyAlastair Cook said he could not remember a quicker turnaround in formats during his career (at least the bus trip to Canberra after the 2010-11 Ashes was for a warm-up match) although he believes his players’ experience of the crammed county schedule will help them switch into one-day mode in time for Friday’s opening one-day international.”I reckon this is the quickest turnaround I can remember in my career,” Cook said. “I think it’s a skill we’ve learned from county cricket, we’ve been brought up with a four-day game followed by a one-day game straightaway so it’s not unusual for us at that level.”Clearly it’s slightly unusual to have such a quick turnaround in international cricket but it’s more a case of making sure you’re switched on mentally, making sure you’ve got your game plan in order for the change of format rather than technique wise.”This is where the intense nature of the season comes into focus. Three ODIs in six days at Lord’s, Southampton and Trent Bridge lead straight into the Champions Trophy. Then, of course, there is something significant happening from early July. While talk of the Ashes may not, after all, actually be banned by England, perhaps it should only be mentioned in hushed tones, although the sight of Kevin Pietersen netting at Lord’s was another reminder of what is ahead.The convergence of England’s Test and one-day sides, which has occurred over the last couple of seasons, especially when playing at home, is highlighted with only two of the eleven that finished at Headingley on Tuesday – Nick Compton and Matt Prior – not involved in this squad. Eoin Morgan, recently back from the IPL, and Jos Buttler return to the middle order.There was, perhaps, a hint of the issues England will face through the rest of the season when Cook spoke of a few “niggles” in the camp, although he would not divulge any further information, even the identity of those players carrying minor concerns. “I can’t tell you, sorry,” Cook said.An educated guess would suggest that Stuart Broad could be one. He appeared to hurt his right knee while diving to take a caught-and-bowled off Brendon McCullum on the final day at Headingely. “It’s always the way with such a quick turnaround from a Test match, there’s always a couple of niggles flying around we’re just going to wait and see,” Cook said.Although not injury-related, England may have to contend with the last-minute loss of Tim Bresnan, whose wife is due to give birth at any time. Jade Dernbach, the Surrey pace bowler, has been added as cover, although it would make sense if other members of the Champions Trophy squad were given priority.Cook, however, acknowledged the tricky balancing act he faces in these three matches, with them being a fully-fledged series rather than official warm-ups, which provide greater flexibility and do not carry kudos or ranking points.”You can’t treat these matches as warm-ups at all,” he said. “As an England side you try and win as many games as you can. There might be time in this three-match series where we might change a combination to have a look. But if we change a combination it’s not as a warm-up, we’re still going to try and win that game but there be time where we change things.”With that in mind, Cook did not guarantee all members of the squad a match before the Champions Trophy, although he did float the possibility that those spending time carrying the drinks could be sent back to their counties if it is felt they need extra match time.Someone who England hope will soon be spending time back in county cricket is Pietersen. He arrived at Lord’s to net with his team-mates after returning to training earlier this week and was also due to meet with team director Andy Flower.”It’s great news for England cricket to have him back playing again,” Cook told . “He’s practising first of all and it’s encouraging that he’s progressing well from that injury. Things are looking positive on that note and hopefully it’s not too long until he’s out in the middle.”Pietersen looked in high spirits as he edged closer to a return at some point in June – perhaps as early as the Championship match against Sussex at Arundel – when the serious task of preparing for Australia will begin. However that, as England like to keep reminding us, is very much in the future.

Ben Duckett, Northants’ 18-year-old wicketkeeper, made a fifty on first-class debut as the Division Two leaders drew with Leicestershire

18-May-2013
ScorecardNiall O’Brien’s half-century helped secure the draw•Getty ImagesNorthamptonshire delayed their declaration until after lunch against Leicestershire to allow Ben Duckett, their 18-year-old wicketkeeper, to make a fifty on first-class debut.Duckett making an unbeaten 53 off 65 balls to give Leicestershire an unlikely target of 337 but the contest fizzled out as Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien struck a half-century against his old club.Northants were denied a fourth successive victory as Leicestershire unsurprisingly opted to settle for the draw, which they comfortably achieved as the two captains shook hands with the score 168 for 3 – O’Brien making 59 off 118 balls.Northamptonshire began the day on 94 for 5, 215 runs ahead of their opponents, but the loss of three wickets late on the third day inhibited their approach and matters got worse as Rob Keogh and Andrew Hall fell cheaply.Keogh was only able to make 10 before he was superbly caught by Leicestershire captain Ramnaresh Sarwan at slip off the bowling of Robbie Williams.Another terrific catch then did for Hall when Greg Smith snared him while diving to his left in Williams’ next over to leave the hosts on 112 for 7.Duckett rallied matters as Northamptonshire reached lunch on 190 for 8 but, to the surprise of many, they did not declare despite their advantage being 311.Duckett went past 50 off 64 balls in the second over of the afternoon, which finally prompted the hosts to declare leaving Steven Crook on 34 not out as part of a partnership of 82.With 63 overs to survive, Leicestershire’s openers started confidently although Smith fell one run short of his second half-century of the match when he was taken at first slip by Hall off Crook.That broke an opening stand of 80 with O’Brien, but the setback did not seem to unnerve the visitors, who went in at tea on 100 for 1.Ned Eckersley was then run out by Willey from short third man after a bright 42off 39 deliveries after O’Brien sent him back from running a quick single off James Middlebrook.O’Brien hung around to complete a patient half-century off 114 balls but he perished when he edged Australia international Trent Copeland to Duckett.Only one more over, bowled by Willey, was possible before the players called it a day just after five o’clock.