Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has said he is desperate to meet with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt so he can get his ban revoked

Cricinfo staff14-Aug-2010Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has said he is desperate to meet with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt so he can get his ban revoked, even going so far as to making several unsuccessful trips to the Gaddafi Stadium in the hope of arranging a meeting.”I am getting desperate now because if the PCB chairman goes abroad once again my appeal against the ban will be left pending for another month or so,” Naved told .The appellate tribunal headed by retired Justice Irfan Qadir is due to hear Naved’s appeal on August 21, but has asked him to meet with Butt before that.”I hope I can get some time with the PCB chairman so that I can state my case to him and have this ban removed,” he said. “If I am unable to meet with the PCB chairman before the next date of my appeal then I am afraid it will be prolonged for another month or so.”Naved, along with several of his team-mates, was punished by the PCB following the tour of Australia in 2009-10. He was banned for one year and slapped with a Rs 2 million fine. All the punished players, except for Naved, have met the PCB again and had their bans revoked, and fines lifted or reduced. Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf, both of whom were banned, have since been recalled to the Pakistan side as well.”I am ready to go and apologise to PCB chairman if there is a feeling I did something wrong,” Naved said. “I am desperate to play for Pakistan again. But I am not being given the opportunity to state my case before the chairman.”Naved-ul-Hasan was recently permitted by the board to play county cricket. He has played nine Tests and 74 ODIs for Pakistan.

The Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan took a career-best 7 for 32 to send woeful Middlesex spinning to a remarkable 111-run defeat at Lord’s and keep Worcestershire firmly in the County Championship Division Two promotion race

10-Sep-2010
ScorecardThe Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan took a career-best 7 for 32 to send woeful Middlesex spinning to a remarkable 111-run defeat at Lord’s and keep Worcestershire firmly in the County Championship Division Two promotion race. Middlesex, set 178 to win when Worcestershire were bowled out after an hour’s play on the final morning for 256 in their second innings, crumbled to 66 all out in 31.1 overs.Shakib took three wickets in an over at one stage, and the turn he got from the wearing surface was just too much for the Middlesex batsmen. Only the first-innings centurion Owais Shah, with 25 in his final innings for the county, seemed to have any idea of how to flourish against Shakib’s left-arm spin – until, that is, he holed out to mid-on.Gareth Berg was then caught at slip two balls later, pushing forward, and the last ball of Shakib’s sixth over saw Tim Murtagh slice a wildly optimistic drive to point. That burst left Middlesex reeling at 54 for 7, but they had already been in deep trouble. Alan Richardson, playing against the county he left at the end of last season, had struck twice with the new ball while Shakib had removed Dawid Malan just before lunch and Dan Housego just after the interval.Richardson had John Simpson lbw for a first-ball duck during his opening over, before angling one across Scott Newman to have the left-hander caught low down at second slip by Daryl Mitchell in his fifth over. Malan, having scored the single which completed his 1,000 first-class runs for the season, fell for 2 when he moved across his crease and had his leg stump clipped as he missed an attempted flick off his pads.Housego was lbw on the back foot as he tried to defend against Shakib, and Shah’s rush of blood – which produced a simple catch to Jack Shantry – merely hastened the end as the Middlesex lower order surrendered with barely a whimper.Toby Roland-Jones was lbw to Shakib, going back to a well-flighted ball when he should have been forward, and Neil Dexter – the home side’s last hope – was brilliantly caught for 21 by Vikram Solanki at backward short leg off Moeen Ali’s off-breaks. Fittingly, Shakib picked up the final wicket when Steven Finn attempted a mow to leg but succeeded only in skying a catch to wicketkeeper Ben Cox.The day had begun with Worcestershire just 116 ahead on 195 for 7 in their second innings and when Moeen fell for 81 – having added just 10 to his overnight score – and Shantry quickly followed for a duck, caught at the wicket off Pedro Collins, it seemed as if the match was going Middlesex’s way.But Gareth Andrew more than doubled his overnight 34 by going to 73 with some cleanly-struck blows and Richardson hung around to help him add an important 34 for the last wicket.Yet the victory target still seemed well within Middlesex’s reach – until Shakib began to weave his web of destruction. Worcestershire are now at home to Sussex in next week’s final round of Championship matches, and could yet pip Glamorgan for the second promotion place.

Round-up of the seventh day’s action in the Karnataka Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2010Mayank Agarwal smashed a 62-ball century to set up a convincing win for Shamanoor Davangere Diamonds against Belagavi Panthers in Bangalore. He struck 11 fours and four sixes to propel his team to 191. Captain Jagadeesh Arunkumar top scored in the chase with 57 but the total proved too daunting and Belagavi Panthers fell short by 20 runs.Mangalore United eased to an eight-wicket win over Bangalore Provident in Bangalore, with opener Bharat Chipli making an unbeaten 75 and each of the Mangalore bowlers bagging a wicket each. Bangalore Provident were restricted to 140 – Aniruddha Joshi top scored with 37 – but it was inadequate against Chipli’s 53-ball blitz which included five fours and six sixes.

Kenya have added 21-year-old seamer Nelson Odhiambo to their squad for the upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan after sliding to a 167-run defeat against the same opposition in the Intercontinental Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2010Kenya have added 21-year-old seamer Nelson Odhiambo to the squad for the upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan after sliding to a 167-run defeat against the same opposition in the Intercontinental Cup.The three-match series starts October 7 and Kenya will enter with a new captain in Jimmy Kamande after Maurice Ouma stepped down. Kamande didn’t feature in the Intercontinental Cup defeat but he now has the task of lifting a team that was outplayed for much of the game.Kenya conceded a 304-run first-innings deficit but showed signs of promise as the game wore on. They dismissed Afghanistan for 207 in the second innings and batted obdurately to reach 344 in an unlikely 521 run chase.It was enough for coach Eldine Baptiste to believe his side can be competitive but urged the need for consistency if Kenya are to progress. “While we were very disappointed with the result in the four day match against Afghanistan we showed some signs of what we can achieve as a team,” he said.”We had spells where we bowled exceptionally well and some of the batsman produced good innings. What we need to do is achieve consistency, improve in all areas and see our top order batsmen go on to make the big match winning scores we need.’With a new captain in Jimmy Kamande leading the side I fully expect this will give us a fresh start and a new impetus and we can start producing the wins we are capable of.”Squad Jimmy Kamande (capt), Maurice Ouma (wk), Seren Waters, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Rakep Patel, , Ragheb Aga, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, James Ngoche, Hiren Varaiya, Elijah Otieno, Nelson Odhiambo.

Shaun Marsh has lost his race to be fit for Australia A’s game against England at Hobart and has been replaced by Ed Cowan

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2010Shaun Marsh has lost his race to be fit for Australia A’s game against England at Hobart that starts on Wednesday, and has been replaced by Ed Cowan.Marsh was originally named in the squad for the final warm-up match before Brisbane in the hope that he’d recover from an injury he picked up in the one-day series against Sri Lanka.”Shaun was originally selected in the Australia A squad subject to fitness after injuring his lower back during the Commonwealth Bank Series against Sri Lanka,” said Cricket Australia physiotherapist Kevin Sims.”Unfortunately that injury hasn’t healed well enough for him to take part in this tour match for Australia A against England. We will continue to monitor Shaun’s return to fitness.”Cowan, the 28-year-old Tasmania opener, comes into the squad after making 65 against Queensland in the Sheffield Shield earlier this week and chairman of selectors Andrew Hildreth said it’s a chance for him to press his claims.”It’s unfortunate that Shaun’s injury hasn’t healed well enough in time for this match, however it provides Ed Cowan with a fantastic opportunity,” said Hildreth. “Ed performed well for Australia A during the off season against Sri Lanka A in Queensland and has continued that good form for Tasmania so far this season.”

Round-up of the second day of the semi-final round of the Ranji Trophy Plate League

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2010Madhya Pradesh took the crucial first-innings lead against Andhra at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore, and are now favourites to make it to the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals. Andhra’s 230 had started to look a lot bigger when they reduced MP to 19 for 3. But captain Devendra Bundela and Harpreet Singh got the hosts out of trouble with a 178-run partnership for the fourth wicket. After Bundela was caught behind off seamer P Vijaykumar for 48, the 19-year-old Harpreet got his maiden first-class century. MP ended the day at 299 for 7, 69 ahead. Andhra’s opening bowlers had given them some hope in the morning. Vijaykumar dismissed Jalaj Saxena for a duck in the second over, and then Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna took two quick wickets. But Bundela and Harpreet took the game away from Andhra who will need to effect a turnaround and look for a win to qualify for the quarter-finals.
A double-century by Aakash Chopra took Rajasthan to a huge total against Maharashtra at the Golf Club Ground in Nasik. The visitors finished the second day at 551 for 6 with Chopra still unbeaten on 262 – his highest first-class score. Rajasthan had set the base on the first day, getting to 293 for 2 with Chopra batting on 145. They continued to torment Maharashtra on Thursday. Robin Bist got to 81, which was surprisingly only Rajasthan’s second half-century after Chopra’s massive score. Maharashtra’s bowlers had only themselves to blame as they gave away 74 runs in extras – 25 of those coming from no-balls. With a first-innings lead good enough to take either side in to the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, Rajasthan may not be in a hurry to declare on Friday.

A round-up of the first day of the ninth round of Division One of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2010Multan are in horrendous form in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy and that showed in their miserable capitulation against Rawalpindi at the Bahawal Stadium in Bahawalpur. However, it had seemed that they would be able to bounce back from their eight consecutive defeats when they bowled out Rawalpindi for 153 earlier in the day. Seamer Abdur Rauf took five wickets, new-ball partner Tahir Maqsood took four and had it not been for a half-century from Adnan Mufti’s half-century and his 67-run stand with Muzammil Nizam for the seventh wicket, Rawalpindi would have faced an embarrassment. But they were able to inflict one on Multan, whose batting simply couldn’t measure up to the pace of Rizwan Akbar, who took 6 for 50. They had been reduced to 57 for 7 at one stage and had to rely on Rauf again, this time with the bat, to take them past 100 with an unbeaten 28. The innings folded for 112, with a lead of 41 for Rawalpindi.Bowlers dominated the opening day of the contest between Faisalabad and Sialkot at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha, claiming 16 wickets. Sialkot had the advantage at stumps after skittling out Faisalabad for 88, thanks to a maiden haul of six wickets by seamer Prince Abbas. Only four Faisalabad batsmen managed to reach double-figures. Sialkot gained a lead but lost six wickets in the process in their response, as left-arm spinner Hasan Mahmood took 4 for 36. Wicketkeeper Rizwan Sultan top scored with 30, while the others got starts, but was dismissed shortly before stumps, with Sialkot on 144 for 6, 56 ahead.Table-toppers Habib Bank Limited were on the back foot in their encounter against Pakistan International Airlines at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Seamer Aizaz Cheema cut through the HBL top and middle orders to take 6 for 69 and bowl them out for 211 in just 58 overs. Tottering at 49 for 6, HBL recovered thanks to an attacking 82 from wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat, who fought hard with the tail to lend some respectability to the HBL score. PIA began well in their reply, with openers Khurram Manzoor and Agha Sabir adding an unbeaten 52 before stumps.Islamabad had the advantage at the end of the opening day against Karachi Blues at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Seamers Nasrullah Khan, Rauf Akbar and Fakhar Hussain grabbed three wickets each to overcome starts by the Karachi top-order batsmen and a half-century from Atif Ali and bowl out the opposition for 237. Nasrullah took some stick, conceding 110 in 25 overs, but Karachi will rue the fact that they let it slip after being in a strong position at 118 for 2. In their reply, Islamabad lost opener Farrukh Hayat early and finished the day on 20 for 1.National Bank of Pakistan and Water and Power Development Authority ended on almost even terms at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Rafatullah Mohmand, unbeaten on 86, helped WAPDA, currently placed second in the table, fight through a middle-order wobble and finish the day on 256 for 8. Openers Ahmed Said and Jahangir Mirza had laid a solid foundation with a stand of 83 but a collapse ensued where seven wickets fell for 94. Seamer Mohammad Talha picked up four wickets but Mohmand found support in Umaid Asif, with whom he added 62 for the eighth wicket. The extras proved useful as well, contributing 28 to the score.Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited held the edge against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Opener Yasir Hameed starred with 95, including ten fours, and Shahid Yousuf contributed 80 to set up ZTBL’s score of 294 for 5 at stumps. There was another significant contribution, of an unbeaten 51 by Haris Sohail, which helped consolidate the strong start provided by Hameed.

On an opening day full of twists and turns, it was fitting that Railways’ choice of opener – Murali Kartik – caused much surprise

Abhishek Purohit24-Dec-2010On an opening day full of twists and turns, it was fitting that Railways’ choice of opener caused much surprise. Baroda, who had chosen to field, were startled to see India left-arm spinner Murali Kartik walk out with Shreyas Khanolkar, in place of regular opener Faiz Fazal.”We had planned this move, it’s not that we went ahead with it just like that. We wanted to have a left-handed opener in the absence of Fazal (who opted out for his sister’s wedding), and Kartik has done the job before as well. I have used him as an opener in my time as captain, and he played some beautiful shots today,” Abhay Sharma, the Railways coach, told ESPNcricinfo. And the plan was executed ably by Kartik, who hammered nine fours and two sixes in making 57, his 17th first-class half-century.Munaf Patel had got the big wicket of Railways captain Sanjay Bangar for 2, but to Baroda’s consternation, Kartik consolidated in the company of young Prashant Awasthi to take the score past 100 from 25 for 2. “I thought they put Kartik in to negate Munaf, who nevertheless beat him on numerous occasions. But yeah, he did the job for his side,” Mukesh Narula, the Baroda coach, said.Yusuf Pathan and Munaf struck right back, taking five wickets for 16 runs as Railways plummeted to 125 for 7. But the visitors refused to give in, and a recalled Yere Goud, playing in place of Fazal, led a recovery along with JP Yadav and Nileshkumar Chauhan as Railways finished on 241 for 8.Abhay admitted they were around 50 runs short of a good total on a wicket where the ball is coming on to the bat. “Around 300 would be a decent score. The wicket looks like it might spin, and there is also some bounce.” Railways are certainly expecting turn, having gone in with three spinners, contrary to expectations.”After the first session when it was nipping around, the wicket seems to have settled down. It should be good for batting tomorrow,” Narula said. “I think 350 would be a par total. I doubt it will spin a lot, even if it does, the turn should be slow.” Narula thinks Baroda have the game under control. “I believe we have the upper hand now, despite their late recovery.”

Round-up of the first day’s play in the fifth round of matches of the Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-2011Seventeen wickets fell and 418 runs were scored on an action-packed first day at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, with Federal Areas ending up 14 runs ahead of Sind with three wickets remaining. Sind were put in to bat and were in immediate trouble at 6 for 3. Faisal Iqbal, who scored 67, and Fawad Alam got them back on track with a 97-run partnership. Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed then came in and smashed 55 off 33, but wickets kept falling at the other end, and Sarfraz was eventually left stranded as Sind were bowled out for 202. The seamers did all the damage for Federal Areas with left-armer Sohail Tanvir and allrounder Hammad Azam taking three wickets each.Sind had scored their runs at 5.36 runs an over, which meant there were still plenty of overs left in the day for Federal Areas to bat. They went about their innings in similar fashion to Sind, scoring at 5.53 runs per over, but losing wickets at regular intervals, with several of the batsmen not converting starts. Umar Amin got 42 off 39 and Adnan Mufti got 41 off 42, but Mohammad Sami kept striking at vital moments, and finished with 4 for 56. Federal Areas will be glad to have Hammad Azam still at the crease; he finished the day on 60 not out.

Half-centuries by wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat and No. 8 Saad Nasim ensured Punjab reached 340 for 9 on the first day of their match against Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Punjab were in tight spots twice in their innings. They lost three early wickets, but half-centuries from Mohammad Ayub and Usman Salahuddin helped them to recover to 175 for 3. Another burst of three wickets left them in trouble again at 186 for 6, but this time it was Farhat and Nasim who came to their rescue with a 100-run partnership. Nasim finished the day 84 not out. Legspinner Yasir Shah was Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s most successful bowler, picking up 4 for 118.

A round-up of the second day of the sixth round of the Regional Four-Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2011England Lions took a first-innings lead of 65 over Windward Islands, thanks to an allround performance from their bowlers, all of whom picked up at least one wicket. Windward wrapped up the England Lions innings for the addition of just 22 runs in the morning to restrict them to 302 at Windsor Park in Roseau, but they lost a clutch of early wickets and were struggling at 82 for 4. Kevin James and Dalton Polius then added 79 to steady the innings, before Adil Rashid and Danny Briggs combined to extract the rest of the side for 237. Briggs was the best of the bowlers, with 3 for 51, while Rashid and Andy Carter picked up two wickets each. At close of play, England Lions had extended their lead to 85 for the loss of Craig Kieswetter for 9.Kyle Corbin narrowly missed out on a hundred but Combined Campuses and Colleges were dismissed for 251 by Guyana at Three Ws Oval in Bridgetown. CC&C lost both openers without scoring but Corbin, who has one hundred and four half-centuries to his credit this season, came to the rescue. He made 96, from 134 balls, studded with 10 fours and four sixes. He now has 495 runs in the tournament, trailing only Marlon Samuels in the run-scoring charts. Kevin McClean chipped in with an unbeaten 52 down the order, but the rest of the batting failed to fire. Assad Fudadin took 4 for 42 and Veerasammy Permaul 3 for 58 for Guyana, who were 11 for 1 at stumps.Wavell Hinds and West Indies Test vice-captain Brendan Nash enabled Jamaica to recover after a top-order collapse against Trinidad & Tobago at Sabina Park in Kingston. Hinds came in with his team tottering at 60 for 4 – Marlon Samuels (25) made a rare low score this season – and proceeded to stroke an unbeaten 131, sharing in a 116-run stand for the fifth wicket with Nash, who made 66, and then an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 121 with allrounder Dave Bernard, who was unbeaten on 55 at the close. Hinds was particularly aggressive, smashing 11 fours and seven sixes, to take his team to a position of relative strength at 297 for 5.Fidel Edwards picked up his second five-for of the season as Barbados bowled Leeward Islands out for 277 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound. Edwards took two early wickets as Leeward slipped to 17 for 3 but the two twenty-year olds, Sherwin Peters and Jahmar Hamilton, kept their composure to add 138 runs together. Hamilton, who made 83, hammered 14 fours, while Peters struck seven fours in his four-hour 57. Gavin Stoute, who took 4 for 41, caught Peters off his own bowling, and triggered a slide that saw six wickets tumble for 40 runs to leave Leeward gasping at 195 for 9. However, Anthony Martin (42) and Kelbert Walters (28) combined in an 82-run last wicket partnership to frustrate Barbados until Edwards had Walters caught behind to wrap up the innings and finish with 5 for 57.