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PCB have hired a vigilance officer and a security officer to help tighten security and prevent players from unsolicited approaches

Umar Farooq13-May-2013Pakistan’s tour to England in 2010 was embroiled in controversy as the spot-fixing debacle created waves around the cricket world. To protect players from unsolicited approaches and avoid a repeat of the affair, the PCB has decided to deploy a security officer and a vigilance officer who will monitor player activities, with the intention of protecting them from unwanted social contact and media interviews.This will be Pakistan’s first visit to England since that ill-fated tour. They will depart on Monday night and stop briefly in Scotland and Ireland to play two ODIs against both countries, before heading to England for the Champions Trophy.”It’s a very sensitive tour,” Naveed Akram Cheema, the team manager, told reporters at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. “All the players realise the importance of it, and they should maintain strict discipline as we don’t want a repeat of events. Players [have been] told to restrict their off-field movements and focus on the game.”Security has been increased in light of the spot-fixing controversy, which erupted during the fourth Test against England at Lord’s in 2010. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who were involved in the incident, were sentenced in November 2011 at Southwark Crown Court for conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat.”They are all spirited players and over the last two-three years have played as a unit. The tour is sensitive in that there are lots of people who could have vested interests, and we have to counter that,” Cheema said. “Psychologically, they are motivated and united.”Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was “optimistic” about the side’s chances in the Champions Trophy, but was wary that the team would face a dual test, both on and off the field, during the tournament.Dav Whatmore, Pakistan’s head coach, also expressed high hopes for the team. “We begin every series with an intent to win,” Whatmore said. “We feel we’ve got the best fifteen that we can possibly have at the moment. ICC events are slightly different to bilateral series as there is a requirement to win and finish in the top two. Our objective in all cases is to win tournaments.”

Kings XI kept their slim hope alive, and made it difficult for Royal Challengers

The Report by Sidharth Monga14-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Adam Gilchrist with the man he believed should have been the Man of the Match: Azhar Mahmood•BCCIDuring one of the matches that Adam Gilchrist sat out of, he complained – not without humour – about how the umpiring mistakes had all been targeting his Kings XI Punjab side. He also said that he might have had a whinge, but his side needed to do better despite umpiring mistakes. It seemed Gilchrist would be left saying something similar tonight after Chris Gayle survived an lbw shout when he was 4 off 11, and went onto help Royal Challengers Bangalore score 122 in the last 10 overs.Luck turned on the night, though. Gilchrist was plumb at 18 off 16 when he didn’t pick a Muttiah Muralitharan doosra. A mix of outside edges, inside edges and some vintage Gilchrist shots, helped by Azhar Mahmood’s 61 off 41, stunned Royal Challengers, ending the chase of 175 with 11 balls to spare. Kings XI kept their slim hope alive, and made it difficult for Royal Challengers, who were left fighting Sunrisers Hyderabad for the final playoff place. Sunrisers are level with Royal Challengers, but have a game in hand.Put in, Royal Challengers needed a huge total on a flat pitch and short outfield, especially given their bowling. For a long period of time, it seemed Royal Challengers wouldn’t even get to a fighting total. Kings XI bowled few loose balls in the first half of the innings, and Gayle and Virat Kohli struggled to come to terms with the pace of the pitch.After their misfortune, Kings XI lost their way towards the end. Once Gayle and Kohli began hitting, the Kings XI bowlers were like rabbits caught in headlights and kept bowling length balls, which kept disappearing. Parvinder Awana, the bowler who had been denied the Gayle wicket earlier, came back to rip Gayle’s stump into two in the 19th over. Despite the damage control, Kings XI had been hit hard, and the momentum seemed to have shifted.However, Royal Challengers bowlers once again had no sting. Theirs is a bit like the typical Indian ODI team under MS Dhoni, with which no total seems safe. Gilchrist was scratching around, and struggling to go at a run a ball when Mahmood joined him. Having bowled two good overs at the death, Mahmood came and smacked three consecutive boundaries in the sixth over to inject some life into the chase.Gilchrist kept handing over the strike to Mahmood until it was time for both to go. Then Gilchrist got an outside edge for four. Then a four off the inside half of the bat. The best of Gilchrist came against Muralitharan when he charged at him and drove him back over his head for four. He bettered it by charging at the returning Zaheer Khan and sending him back over the sight screen. It all ended in a blur after that, but his driving and sweeping of Murali for consecutive sixes stood out.Once again Gilchrist called it as he saw it. He pointed out both the lbw mistakes, admitted that he “scratched around like an old chook” in the first half, and that Mahmood deserved the Man-of-the-Match award that he got.

After three competitive days, Ireland were overturned on the final day in Belfast as Moises Henriques’ four wickets bowled Australia A to a 93-run victory

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2013
ScorecardMoises Henriques took 4 for 22 in the second innings•Getty ImagesAfter three competitive days, Ireland were overturned on the final day in Belfast as Moises Henriques’ four wickets bowled Australia A to a 93-run victory.The margin of victory threatened to be much wider as Ireland slipped to 112 for 7 chasing 301 to win but Stuart Poynter made 63 at No. 9 to give the scoreboard respectability, which Ireland had earned with a good account of themselves.Poynter, in-form after 172 for MCC Young Cricketers earlier this month, played with a maturity and confidence which belied his 22 years. He struck nine boundaries in a 79-ball stay and, with his former Ireland Under-19 world cup colleague Stuart Thompson, made the Australians work for the final wickets.Poynter and Thompson shared an eighth wicket stand of 70 in 17 overs before Thompson became the third of three wickets for offspinner Nathan Lyon when he was trapped lbw for 23.Lyon had made the initial breakthrough on day four, after the morning session was lost to rain, having Andrew White well caught by Nic Maddinson at short leg off bat and pad.James Shannon followed in identical fashion just eight runs later, and when Henriques removed John Mooney for a duck and Kevin O’Brien for 10 in quick succession, Ireland had lost four wickets for just 20 runs. But Poynter and Thompson ensured Ireland were not embarrassed.They might have hoped to get closer to the target but their chase was hampered on the third evening when they slipped to 38 for 3. Shannon and White managed to take the total to 98 for 3 but the introduction of Lyon put paid to their hopes.Lyon’s potential rival for an Ashes spot, legspinner Fawad Ahmed, took his first wicket in Australian colours when Trent Johnston was lbw for 5 and the match was wrapped up when Poynter’s cameo ended when he gave wicketkeeper Brad Haddin his fifth catch of the innings – Peter Siddle finally getting the reward that his display deserved.

A quick glance at the scorecard tells only half the story of Australia’s first day against Sussex. At stumps they were 354 for 5, which in a Test match would have set them up soundly

Brydon Coverdale in Hove26-Jul-2013
ScorecardSteven Smith was two runs short of a century at the close•Getty ImagesA quick glance at the scorecard tells only half the story of Australia’s first day against Sussex. At stumps they were 354 for 5, which in a Test match would have set them up soundly. Steven Smith was on 98 and there were contributions all the way down the order; except for Matthew Wade, who failed to score, the batsmen all spent valuable time in the middle. But it was also a day that could have been so much more, a day of missed opportunities. And the men who missed them know that David Warner didn’t waste his chance in Pretoria this week.Warner’s 193 against a quality South Africa A attack featuring Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange might have been placed in perspective by the way the South Africans batted on the same pitch: Dean Elgar, who had made a pair on Test debut at the WACA last summer posted a lazy 268. But there were plenty of reasons for Australia’s batsmen to relish the conditions at Hove as well: a benign surface, a quick outfield, a tiny square boundary and a weakened attack. That Smith was the only man still in the market for a century by stumps was a disappointing outcome.He was a little shaky early and survived two tight lbw calls against the inswing of the left-armer Lewis Hatchett, including one off a no-ball. But Smith persevered and rotated the strike, he found the boundary when possible – which by the time the second new ball came late in the afternoon was often, including three from consecutive deliveries against Chris Liddle. It helped that on the pavilion side the dimensions were so tiny that the square-leg umpire was two-thirds of the way to the fence.Smith and James Faulkner put on 131 for the fifth wicket, which fell shortly before stumps when Faulkner was bowled for 48 trying to slog-sweep Monty Panesar. By the close of play, Smith had been joined by Ashton Agar, yet to score in his new position of No.7, having starting his Test career at No.11. The only other entry on the scorecard that was not double-figures was that of Wade, who cut Panesar to point for a sixth-ball duck, ending any hope he had of forcing his way into the Test side as a specialist batsman.The day started encouragingly for the Australians, whose stand-in captain Ed Cowan won the toss and chose to bat. Although there was some movement early and plenty of thick edges evaded the slips, the conditions were generally favourable. Cowan and Phillip Hughes put on 150 for the opening wicket and both men looked like centuries were there for the taking.However, soon after the break Cowan fell on 66 when he clipped Hatchett uppishly to square leg and was caught by a diving James Taylor. It was a frustrating end for Cowan, who is in his 21st first-class match since his one and only Test century, which also happens to be the most recent time he has reached triple figures in a first-class innings. That hundred came in November, around the time Usman Khawaja also made his last first-class ton. Here, Khawaja looked good until on 40 he edged Panesar to slip.But perhaps the batsman with the most to lose was Hughes, who until Faulkner was dismissed late in the day was leading the averages during the first-class matches on this tour. It is easy to forget the contribution Hughes made in the first Test at Trent Bridge, where his unbeaten 81 was overshadowed by Ashton Agar’s 98. But at Lord’s, Hughes struggled significantly and Warner’s near double-century piled up the pressure on him as much as anyone.Hughes was dropped on 22 when he edged Chris Jordan, the leader of the attack in the absence of Steve Magoffin and James Anyon, to Chris Nash at slip, and it was one of very many early edges off Hughes’ bat. As his innings wore on, Hughes played some impressive back-foot drives and appeared much more at ease against Panesar, spinning the ball in, than he had in the Tests against Graeme Swann, turning it away from him.Hughes brought up his half-century from 62 deliveries and not surprisingly outpaced Cowan comfortably. But Hughes is becoming the Hall and Oates of cricket: big in the 80s but can’t crack the 90s. Since the tour of South Africa in late 2011, Hughes’ highest Test scores have been 88, 87, 86 and 81 not out, and in the tour match against Worcestershire he added another 86 to his tally. Here, he edged behind on 84 when Hatchett moved a delivery away.It was a good innings but whether it compares favourably enough with Smith’s potential century and Warner’s 193 remains to be seen. And with rain forecast for the second day at Hove, the selectors might not have another innings on which to base their decisions before the Old Trafford Test.

Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed its national team will travel to Zimbabwe for a full, 35-day tour, which begins on October 3. The boards have added two Twenty20s to the Future Tours Programme’s schedule of two Tests and three ODIs

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Aug-2013Sri Lanka Cricket has confirmed its national team will travel to Zimbabwe for a full, 35-day tour, which begins on October 3. The boards have added two Twenty20s to the Future Tours Programme’s schedule of two Tests and three ODIs. Sri Lanka will also play a two-day warm-up match before the Tests.Both Tests and the first two ODIs will be played at the Harare Sports Club, before the action moves to the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo for one ODI and the Twenty20 matches. The two-day match will also take place in Harare, although the opposition team has not yet been decided.Sri Lanka are likely to experiment on the tour, continuing their focus on regeneration in this year. Angelo Mathews will lead the team in his first away Test series as captain, and Twenty20 captain Dinesh Chandimal is also in a similar situation.However, Sri Lanka may temper their quest to blood youth with a desire to provide match practice to the senior players, in a lean year of Tests. The team has not played Tests since the Bangladesh tour in March, and have a major tour against Pakistan at the end of the year. Excluding the Test against Pakistan in Dubai, which begins on December 31, Sri Lanka have only five Tests in their 2013 schedule.Zimbabwe will have had more Test-match practice this year, having played two matches in the West Indies in March, as well as two Tests at home, against Pakistan, in September. They will also play two Twenty20s and three ODIs against Pakistan in the ongoing tour.SLC has also named a 27-man preliminary squad for the tour, from which 15 players will be selected. Major omissions from the side are left-arm fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara and Test-specialist wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, who was also left out of the squad for the Bangladesh series. Dinesh Chandimal is likely to keep wicket in his stead.Sri Lanka preliminary squad: Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Rangana Herath, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Ajantha Mendis, Kusal Perera, Angelo Perera, Udara Jayasundera, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Dhammika Prasad, Vimukthi Perera, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Sachithra Serasinghe, Ashan Priyanjan, Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake, Kaushal Silva, Dilruwan Perera, Kosala Kulasekara, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Isuru Udana.

Ramith Rambukwella was impactful with ball and bat, as he drove Sri Lanka A to a series victory against New Zealand A, in the third unofficial ODI in Dambulla. New Zealand A hit 274 for 9, and the hosts surpassed their score with three wickets in hand and

Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Oct-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Dimuth Karunaratne hit 271 runs at 90.33 in the series•Getty ImagesRamith Rambukwella was impactful with ball and bat, as he drove Sri Lanka A to a series victory against New Zealand A, in the deciding unofficial ODI in Dambulla. New Zealand A scored 274 for 9, after Rambukwella’s 4 wickets for 30 leashed the middle order, and curbed promising partnerships partnerships.His 36 from 29 then swung the chase definitively in Sri Lanka’s A’s direction, who surpassed their opponents with three wickets in hand and nine balls to spare. Dimuth Karunaratne also hit his fifth consecutive score above 50 – three of which had come in the one-dayers, for which he won the player of the series award. He hit 271 runs in the series – almost twice as many as the next-best batsman – averaging 90.33.Rambukwella’s offspin accounted for four wickets in succession between the 15th and 32nd over, after Suranga Lakmal and Sachithra Serasinghe had struck once each, early in the innings. Colin Munro hit the only half-century for New Zealand, put on 74 runs for the fifth wicket with Luke Ronchi – the largest of the innings – before Rambukwella removed them both in quick succession.His burst had left the visitors struggling at 169 for 6, but New Zealajd A recovered through Andrew Ellis, who hit 46 not out from 42 and Ronnie Hira, who struck 30 from 23. The pair hit 60 runs for the ninth wicket in 41 balls.Sri Lanka A’s seam bowlers had an expensive day again, as Shaminda Eranga went at ten an over during this three overs, and Lakmal managed little better, conceding 49 from his 6 overs – though he also took two wickets.Kusal Perera provided another lightening start to the hosts’ innings – albeit a briefer one than he had provided in the previous match, as he hit three fours and a six in a 25-ball 16 before being bowled by Adam Milne.Karunaratne hit only seven fours in the innings, but progressed busily too, hitting 70 from 78, having forged a 110 run stand with Dinesh Chandimal along the way. Chandimal’s demise for 48 and Angelo Perera’s fall soon after left the hosts with 97 to win from 92 balls and five wickets remaining, but Rambukwella’s salvo and a fine finishing innings from Ashan Priyanjan, who hit 47 from 40, secured the match for the hosts.Milne and Ellis took two wickets apiece for New Zealand A, but their spin bowlers were unable to emulate the efficacy of Sri Lanka A’s slow-bowlers.The match brought New Zealand A’s difficult tour of the subcontinent to a close. They had drawn two four-day matches with India A, before being whitewashed in the one-dayers, and they have now lost both the first-class and List A series against Sri Lanka A.

The game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Trinidad & Tobago could very well be a battle between two strong bowling attacks

The Preview by Rohan Sharma23-Sep-2013Match factsSeptember 24, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Can Shikhar Dhawan lead from the front again?•BCCIBig PictureSunrisers Hyderabad make their Champions League debut on the back of some impressive performances during the qualification stage of the tournament. Led admirably by Shikhar Dhawan, they have shown to be deserving candidates for promotion with an emphatic eight-wicket win over Kandurata Maroons, and an equally convincing seven-wicket victory over Faisalabad Wolves to confirm their participation in the Champions League.Boasting some of the best T20 bowlers in the world, Trinidad & Tobago will be a significant challenge. They completed a 25-run win over the Brisbane Heat in the second match of the group stage, with Ravi Rampaul helping them defend 135 with 4 for 14. Their attack is well-balanced, with Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree and Rayad Emrit also capable of running through a line-up. Their batting may not be as strong as it could be, with the unavailability of Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, but they still feature some fine internationals in Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin.This could very well be a battle between two strong bowling attacks, so expect some middling scores in this contest. Dhawan has been in imperious form, but if he were to be nipped out early, it would be interesting to see how Sunrisers counteract. While their middle order was tested somewhat by Otago in their previous match, with JP Duminy stepping up with 57, there are still some questions to be answered in how well they can respond in a crisis. They will continue to rely on the big hitters – Cameron White, Darren Sammy and Thisara Perera – to help them out under such circumstances.T&T had a successful inaugural edition of the CLT20, making it to the final before losing to New South Wales. Since then, however, they have suffered a forgettable record, having failed to make the cut in 2010 and 2011, and not progressing out of the group stage in 2012. They will hope to begin correcting this with this first encounter against Hyderabad.Players to watchHaving enjoyed a thus far fabulous 2013, Shikhar Dhawan is the big wicket for T&T. He is the third-highest run-scorer of the tournament so far with 142 runs, and his two fifties during the qualification stage went a long way in securing Sunrisers’ progression. He has looked equally comfortable against pace and spin, on the front and back foot. It will be interesting to see what tactics are drawn up by the opposition, who will need to find a way to get past him in order to expose an under-utilised Sunrisers middle order.With 47 wickets in the previous two IPL tournaments, Sunil Narine poses a significant threat. His record against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2013 was rather mixed. He was ineffective in the home match against them, with figures of 1 for 31 in his four overs. In their next match, however, he produced a miserly spell of four overs for just 11 runs. With a solitary wicket in eight overs against them, Hyderabad will hope for their luck to continue.Quotes”The confidence is still high. This was a match where we wanted to try things and analyse what went wrong and what went right.”
“[Narine] is one of the best spinners in the world and he showed it tonight. It was an eye opener for our lads who hadn’t seen him before.”

The Islamabad High Court has allowed Najam Sethi to continue as head of the PCB’s Interim Management Committee until the disposal of an appeal it is hearing

Umar Farooq29-Oct-2013The Islamabad High Court has allowed Najam Sethi to continue as head of the PCB’s Interim Management Committee until the disposal of an appeal it is hearing. The appeal was filed by the PCB against the judgment passed by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, of the same court, which had called for fresh elections for the PCB chairman.The next hearing is scheduled for November 4.The hearing of the appeal came minutes after another judge of the High Court suspended Sethi on the grounds that he had not complied with its order to hold fresh elections by October 18. However, the suspension will not come into effect because the single-judge bench that passed the order has been superseded by the two-judge bench – of Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan and Justice Noor-ul-Haq Qureshi – hearing the appeal.In its appeal, the PCB argued that the judgment had impacted its daily functioning and so it was not feasible to carry out the election for the chairman’s post.Chaos and the PCB

May 8 – Zaka Ashraf becomes the PCB’s first elected chairman

May 28 – The Islamabad High Court bars Ashraf from dispensing his duties, following questions over the legality of his appointment – PCB had appointed nine of the ten members with voting rights without prior announcement and excluded Punjab, the country’s largest province

June 13 – Ashraf’s suspension is upheld at a subsequent hearing and the PCB is ordered to name an interim chairman to represent them at the ICC annual conference in June

June 19 – Key decisions are in the lurch, including an MoU that needs to be signed for Pakistan to tour the West Indies for a limited-over series in July

June 23 – Najam Sethi is named PCB’s interim chairman

July 20 – Islamabad High Court overrules all major decisions taken by Sethi and orders the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct fresh elections for the chairman post

October 15 – Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan, dissolves the governing board of the PCB and forms a five-member interim management committee, headed by Sethi, to take care of cricket

October 21 – Islamabad High Court sets November 2 as the deadline for Pakistan’s election commission to fill the vacant chairman post

The arguments lasted more than 90 minutes, during which the PCB’s current status was called a “mess” several times. The board’s lawyers insisted that Siddiqui’s order be reviewed while a lawyer for the suspended chairman, Zaka Ashraf, pleaded for his client to resume his role, since he was elected for a four-year term this May. However, the judge turned down both arguments.After a lengthy hearing, the bench directed all the respondents to return on Monday for their concluding arguments before the court reaches a verdict.Justice Siddiqui’s verdict asked for drastic changes in the structure of the PCB, and questioned the appointment of the selection committee, as well as its financial and recruitment affairs. The judge ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to carry out the election of the PCB chairman, directed the federal government to appoint a District Management Group (DMG) officer as the PCB secretary, and also reduced the powers of the president of Pakistan – also the patron of the PCB.Sethi was appointed as interim chairman of the PCB in June 2013 – for a 90-day period – after the Islamabad High Court suspended former PCB chairman Ashraf due to questions over the legality of PCB elections. In July, the Islamabad High Court set a deadline of October 18 for the PCB to hold fresh elections.On October 15, the prime minister of Pakistan and new patron of the PCB, Nawaz Sharif, dissolved the governing board of the PCB, and formed a five-member IMC to administer cricket. Sethi‚ former chairman Shahryar Khan, former players Zaheer Abbas and Haroon Rasheed and former team manager Naved Cheema were appointed to the committee.The IMC had been directed by Sharif to elect one of its members as chairman, and the committee unanimously chose Sethi, who had been acting as caretaker chairman since June. The IMC wanted to hold off elections to allow time for various local cricket associations to resolve outstanding legal issues but Justice Siddiqui ordered the Election Commission to press ahead with the poll.

On a ground where Ravindra Jadeja scored a tripe-hundred last season, Delhi and Gujarat will square up in a Ranji Trophy game that pitches the latter’s experienced batting line-up against Gujarat’s young and in-form attack

Devashish Fuloria in Surat06-Nov-2013On a regular day, the news of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir playing in a smaller cricket centre would have drawn huge crowds. But with the country focused on the much-hyped Test at Eden Gardens, the Delhi and Gujarat teams started their routine practice sessions, ahead of their Group A tie at Surat’s new-look Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, in the tranquility of a holiday-season morning. A new three-tier stand now flanks one-third of the ground from where the chatter of the players warming-up on the lush green turf could be heard.Keen not to miss out on the action taking place at the other end of the country, Gambhir and Co briefly came back to their dressing room – the eager hosts, the Surat District Cricket Association, had obliged Gambhir’s request to fit a television – before heading for the nets. The Gujarat team was already at the nets.Gujarat won their opening Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha by an innings and one run, a match that was set-up by young fast bowlers Rush Kalaria and Jasprit Bumrah and wrapped up by a hat-trick from spinner Rakesh Dhurv. Parthiv Patel expects the young attack to raise their game against one of the strongest batting line-ups in the country on a pitch that saw a Ravindra Jadeja triple-century last year. Apart from Sehwag and Gambhir, the Delhi team has been boosted by the presence of Unmukt Chand, who was not available for three weeks due to dengue fever.”We are not worried about the opposition,” Parthiv said. “We have been playing good cricket over the last couple of seasons, beating a couple of big teams on the way. Rakesh Dhurv has been consistently picking up wickets and Jasprit Bumrah is an exciting bowler who has done well in the Twenty20s. He also did well in the last match and we are looking forward to using him properly.”Bumrah, 19, picked up seven wickets on his first-class debut in Nagpur last week and was the centre of attention at the team nets before the press conference. He was noticeably quicker than the other bowlers and troubled the Gujarat batsmen with deliveries that kicked off from a length, inducing a few edges. Even Chand spent some time behind the Gujarat nets observing the fast bowler’s run-up to the crease and his swift, but back-heavy, action.Another bowler that Chand would know more about from his Under-19 days is left-arm seamer Kalaria. The 20-year-old bowler debuted for Gujarat last season, but collected his best innings figures of 5 for 32 in the opening match this season against Vidarbha.Delhi’s bowling is likely to be led by Ashish Nehra, who had said at the start of the season that he may not be able to play back-to-back matches owing to his fitness – he featured in only three matches for Delhi last season. But Delhi’s new coach Sanjeev Sharma remained confident of the bowler’s availability. “If he has come, he will play,” Sharma said. “He hasn’t come for dearness or travel allowance. He is a bowler and he is also a mentor, his presence makes difference to others in the field.”Sharma was also more forthright in his assessment of the pitch: “The pitch is very dry, but we expect it to have true bounce and reverse swing will come later.” When reminded of the scores last year, Sharma said “it depended on the bowling attack as well”.During the nets, though, a small crowd of kids gathered to only witness a couple of batsmen: Sehwag and Gambhir, who played some meaty shots, but stayed hidden away in the nets on the far side. Sharma said that with the players of such quality, it wasn’t important what their form was like. “Both look very hungry, and in Delhi also, they were turning up for extended batting sessions,” he said.

Allrounder John Mooney’s maiden first-class five-for and an unbeaten half-century from Ed Joyce helped Ireland reach a strong position against Afghanistan

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEd Joyce scored 13 fours in his unbeaten 74•ICC/Saleem SanghatiAllrounder John Mooney’s maiden first-class five-for and an unbeaten half-century from Ed Joyce led Ireland to a strong position on the second day of the ICC Intercontinental Cup final in Dubai. At close of play Ireland were 159 for 2, ahead by 164, after having clinched a five-run lead in the first innings.Mooney, who had dismissed Afghanistan’s top order on the first day, got the first breakthrough for Ireland, dismissing Rahmat Shah to break the 57-run stand for the fourth wicket. Afghanistan lost Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari quickly, but a 42-run stand between Mohammad Nabi and Mirwais Ashraf took the side to within 12 runs of Ireland’s first-innings score. Trent Johnston, playing his last match for Ireland, brought his side back into the game by dismissing Ashraf for 14. Afghanistan lost their last three wickets with the score on 182, as left-arm spinner George Dockrell wrapped up the tail. Dockrell finished with 3 for 52 and Johnston chipped in with two wickets, to add to Mooney’s 5 for 45.Ireland lost opener Paul Stirling early in the second innings and William Porterfield fell after a 38-run stand with Joyce. Niall O’Brien and Joyce then added 106 runs for the third wicket before stumps.