Harper withdraws from Dominica Test

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Umpire Daryl Harper has withdrawn from the third Test between the West Indies and India in Dominica and will be replaced by umpire Richard Kettleborough

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jun-2011Umpire Daryl Harper has withdrawn from the third Test between the West Indies and India in Dominica that begins from July 6. Harper will be replaced in what was to be his final outing as a member of the elite panel by Richard Kettleborough .He decided to step down “in the wake of some unfair criticism,” according to ICC general manager Dave Richardson. Harper had been removed from the elite panel in May along with Asoka de Silva. His decisions in the recent Kingston Test had also attracted some criticism with MS Dhoni saying that “if the correct decisions were made, the game would have finished much earlier and I would have been in the hotel by now.”Richardson, though, defended Harper’s decision-making record. “The reality of the situation is that Daryl’s statistics show his correct decision percentage in Tests involving India is 96 per cent, which is considerably higher than the international average for top-level umpires.”We have every faith in Daryl to finish the series and while we regret his decision we do respect it. The real shame is it deprives him of the opportunity to sign off as a Test match umpire in a manner befitting someone who has served the game so well since making his international debut back in 1994.”Harper stood in 95 Tests, 174 ODIs and 10 T20Is, making his international ODI debut in 1994 at Perth and his Test debut in November 1998.

Otieno named Kenya national selector

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Kennedy Otieno, the former Kenya wicketkeeper-batsman, has been appointed as a national selector by Cricket Kenya

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2011Kennedy Otieno, the former Kenya wicketkeeper-batsman, has been appointed as a national selector by Cricket Kenya. An official release said Otieno, who played for Kenya as recently as 2009, would join former team-mate Alpesh Vadher and new Kenya coach Mike Hesson on a newly-constituted three-man selection panel.Collins Obuya, Otieno’s brother, who was recently named Kenya’s new captain, and Cricket Kenya’s panel of elite coaches would also have a role in selection, the release said. The new selection panel will be in charge of naming the national team, the A team and the Under-19 team, and will also recommend players for national contracts.Just a year ago, Otieno was at loggerheads with Cricket Kenya over his non-selection and the board’s rules for selection. He was one of the players behind a strike that led to Kenya’s withdrawal from a short tour of England.Otieno’s appointment is the latest step in an effort by the board to completely revamp Kenyan cricket after a disastrous World Cup campaign in which they lost all their matches. After the tournament, the board conducted a comprehensive review into the team’s performances which included a study of the selection process for the national team. Vadher, the former Kenya batsman, was named chairman of a new selection panel in June, Hesson was announced as coach on July 19, and now Otieno has become the third member of the panel.A tough task awaits Otieno; five Kenya players recently refused national contracts and were left out of the squad for the Intercontinental Cup fixtures against the United Arab Emirates. Kenya had to select an inexperienced squad and ended up losing the second of two fifty-over matches against the UAE before being thrashed by 266 runs in the four-day game.Otieno played 90 one-day internationals for Kenya and was part of three World Cup campaigns: in 1996, when they upset West Indies, 1999 and 2003, when they reached the semi-finals. He said the aim for the selectors was to see Kenya rise in the ICC ODI rankings, in which they are currently 13th. “This is an exciting time for Kenyan cricket with a lot of talent coming through as we look to build a squad capable of taking Cricket Kenya back up the rankings,” he said.Cricket Kenya chief-executive Tom Sears said Otieno’s involvement in coaching was one of the reasons he had been appointed selector. “Kennedy has a wealth of knowledge and experience which he can offer and is still very much involved with senior league cricket in Kenya,” Sears said. “With his knowledge of the players coming through and his coaching background he is an ideal national selector.”

Shakib blames batsmen's mindset for defeat

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Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, blamed his misfiring batting line-up for his side’s latest setback in Zimbabwe as they slumped to a 0-2 scoreline in the five-match ODI series

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2011Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, blamed his misfiring batting line-up for his side’s latest setback in Zimbabwe as they slumped to their second straight defeat in the five-match ODI series. Left-arm seamer Brian Vitori bagged his second five-for in as many ODIs as Bangladesh crumbled to a sub-par 188, thought it was a recovery of sorts from 58 for 6. Zimbabwe reached the target in under 45 overs, losing just three wickets in a chase that was mostly a stroll.”We didn’t perform well at all, especially our top five batsmen,” Shakib said after the game. “Nobody scored runs. When you’re playing an ODI game and the top five are not scoring any runs, it is hard for the team to come back and put a good total on the board.”The top-order collapse was a worryingly recurrent theme for the visitors, having slumped to 43 for 5 in the previous game. Shakib believed it was a mental issue, as opposed to a question of talent. “We have to ask everyone separately what’s going through their mind,” he said. “It has nothing to do with their technique, but their mindset.””They are bowling well there’s no doubt. But we are capable of handling this bowling … It will show how tough we are, if we can bounce back; Otherwise we are not tough enough. We are not too soft to give up so easily.”That Bangladesh reached 188 was down to a strong rearguard from debutant Nasir Hossain, who made 63 batting at No. 8 – an effort that his captain appreciated. “He played very well, given it was his first game,” Shakib said. “Normally there’s pressure in that situation … when he got to bat we were 58 for 6. He played a good innings from that position. I hope he contributes [consistently], it was a special innings.”Zimbabwe have been the better team by far throughout the tour, starting with the one-off Test that they won in impressive fashion, despite Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal writing off their attack and terming the impressive Vitori “ordinary”.”I think you should ask the person who made this comment,” Shakib said when asked for his take on the “ordinary” verdict. “I think they’re well prepared and they’re better than us in all three departments.”Vitori has been Bangladesh’s bugbear since the first innings of the Test, even before Tamim made his comment, following up an impressive Test debut with an unprecedented brace of five-fors in his first two ODIs. No bowler had taken more than eight wickets in his first two ODIs before Vitori’s feat, and his captain Brendan Taylor was effusive in praise.”It is an amazing start,” Taylor said after the game. “He is a new world-record holder. He is a great guy to work with, a very hungry cricketer.”I am slightly surprised [by Bangladesh’s collapses]. They bat to No. 7 but credit must go to the bowlers. We didn’t give them many opportunities to score. Bowlers stuck to their guns after they got hit for boundaries.”Despite his side’s dominance in the first two games, Taylor refused to take things lightly. “I remember in 2005 we were 2-0 up and then lost 3-2,” he said. “We’re not expecting a series win straight away. We know they will try to bounce back but we have to be a step ahead.”Tuesday’s a massive game. If we lose there it is 2-1 and Bangladesh have a chance to get back in the series. We’ll go away tomorrow and regroup in a team meeting. There are not too many things we’re concerned about. We will stay humble and when it comes game time, we want to be 100% up for it.”

Pakistan-England series dates confirmed

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England will have a two-week build-up in the Middle East ahead of their Test series against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Sep-2011England will have a two-week build-up in the Middle East ahead of their Test series against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi after the dates for the two-month tour, which also includes four one-day internationals and three Twenty20s, were confirmed.The opposition for England’s two warm-up matches have yet to be finalised but with the team coming off a rare period of downtime before Christmas they will be vital preparation ahead of the Test matches which begin in Dubai on January 17. England showed the importance of a proper lead in to a Test series during the Ashes when they had three first-class matches.England will hope they can find decent quality opposition for the two warm up games as there is no first-class structure in UAE. With the series being a ‘home’ contest for Pakistan it is the PCB’s responsibility to provide opposition, but an ECB spokesmen confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the unusual factors involved in using a neutral venue are being taken into account and a range of options will be considered.The second Test then takes place in Abu Dhabi from January 25 before the teams return to Dubai for the final Test on February 3. The one-day series is again shared between the two cities while Dubai will host the first two Twenty20 international before the tour finishes with the final T20 back in Abu Dhabi.Itinerary
Jan 3 – England depart for UAE
Jan 7-9 – Three-day warm-up match
Jan 11-13 – Three-day warm-up match
Jan 17-21 – 1st Test, Dubai
Jan 25-29 – 2nd Test, Abu Dhabi
Feb 3-7 – 3rd Test, Dubai
Feb 10 – One-day warm-up match, Abu Dhabi
Feb 13 – 1st ODI, Abu Dhabi
Feb 15 – 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
Feb 18 – 3rd ODI, Dubai
Feb 21 – 4th ODI, Dubai
Feb 23 – 1st T20, Dubai
Feb 25 – 2nd T20, Dubai
Feb 27 – 3rd T20, Dubai

Marsh stars again on hard-fought day

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Shaun Marsh justified Australia’s decision to keep him at No.3 by making a wonderful 81, but Sri Lanka finished the first day with a slight edge in a match they must win to draw the series

The Report by Brydon Coverdale16-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShaun Marsh made 81•AFP

Shaun Marsh justified Australia’s decision to keep him at No.3 by making a wonderful 81, but Sri Lanka finished the first day with a slight edge in a match they must win to draw the series. A day that began with changes galore for both sides and an unexpected decision from Tillakaratne Dilshan to send Australia in on a good batting surface finished with the visitors at 235 for 5, with Michael Hussey the key.The Sri Lankans would have liked more than five wickets after Dilshan’s decision at the toss, when he expected seam movement after rain in the lead-up to the match, but they were still in a reasonable position with only Australia’s bowlers still to bat. Hussey, demoted to No.6 to accommodate Marsh and Ricky Ponting up the order, was on 63 when bad light forced an early close and he had Brad Haddin for company on 21.It was one of the most evenly-contested days of the series. The Sri Lankans picked up Australia’s openers within the first ten overs, the seamer Shaminda Eranga getting a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket, before Ponting, Marsh and Hussey provided some fight for Australia. The major concern for Australia was the continued poor form of the captain Michael Clarke and the opener Phillip Hughes, who made a second-ball duck.But the 70-run partnership between Marsh and Hussey, the centurions from last week’s Pallekele Test, steered Australia in the right direction, both men showing the sort of composure some of their colleagues had lacked. Hussey continued to look impenetrable, covering the spin against Rangana Herath and driving the fast men along the ground, and he passed fifty for the eighth time in his past 13 Test innings.Marsh was especially was impressive in his attitude, defending the good balls, leaving those he could, and choosing the right ones to put away. He brought up his half-century from his 125th delivery with a pull for four off Suranga Lakmal, and it was typical of his innings: a bad ball, and no risk in the stroke.He played some wonderful straight drives and square cuts, and in doing so recorded the highest aggregate ever by an Australia Test player in his first two Test innings, passing the 208 made by Kepler Wessels back in 1982. Marsh looked set to become the first Australian to make a century in each of his first two Test innings when he played inside the spin of Herath and was bowled.It was an uncharacteristic lapse, but on a humid day when he’d been at the crease for four and a half hours, it was understandable. There could be no such excuse for Clarke, who on 6 flashed at a wide ball – not for the first time in this series – and was caught behind off Eranga. Clarke had moved down to No.5 in the top-order shimmy that allowed Marsh to stay at first drop.Ponting came in at No.4 for the first time in his Test career, apart from when nightwatchmen had been used, and he looked in fine form with a pair of cover-driven boundaries off Chanaka Welegedara. However, on 48, he too lost patience and drove at a fullish outswinger from Lakmal, sending a regulation edge through to Prasanna Jayawardene.Sri Lanka had used up both of their reviews on Ponting, but they had no such trouble getting rid of Hughes and Shane Watson. Hughes fell in the second over when Lakmal angled the ball across the left-hander and straightened it just a fraction off the seam. The ball caught the inside edge of the bat as Hughes defended away from his body, and the stumps were rattled by a ball he could have left alone.It was a disappointing effort from Hughes, who is viewed by the selectors as the long-term opening partner for Shane Watson but has not reached fifty in any of his past ten Test innings. Watson is also experiencing an uncharacteristic lean patch, and that continued when on 8, he drove hard at a full and wide delivery from Eranga and was snapped up at backward point.It was a joyous moment for Eranga, who became the second Sri Lankan to take a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket, after Chamila Gamage in 2002, and the second man to achieve the feat in this series after Australia’s Nathan Lyon. The inclusion of Eranga was one of a raft of changes to Sri Lanka’s line-up for this Test.Herath was included after missing the Pallekele Test due to a finger injury, and the Sri Lankans went for a more seam-heavy attack by dropping the spinners Suraj Randiv and Seekkuge Prasanna. They also axed the veteran batsman Thilan Samaraweera and brought in Lahiru Thirimanne, who will open, while Dilshan will move down to No.5.Dilshan was full of surprises at the toss. It was the 12th occasion a captain had sent the opposition in at the SSC, but only twice has that decision led to a victory: both times against Bangladesh. Whether that becomes three times from 12 occasions will depend partly on how long it takes Sri Lanka to finish Australia off on the second day.

Clarke to play role in selecting coach

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Australia’s captain Michael Clarke will set many of the parameters for the selection of the national team’s new head coach

Daniel Brettig18-Oct-2011Australia’s captain Michael Clarke will set many of the parameters for the selection of the national team’s new head coach. The coach will be selected through a global search that will use the framework that brought the current Australian Football League premiership-winning coach to his job.While Cricket Australia trumpeted the use of Crank Sports, the Melbourne-based management consultants that have redefined the parameters by which Australian Rules coaches are chosen, it will be Clarke who has an enormous say in the choosing of the successful applicant.James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, said the relationship between the captain and the coach was arguably the most important professional bond in the game.”My personal views are the relationship between captain and coach are as important as any relationship in cricket,” Sutherland told ESPNcricinfo. “They need to be clear on their roles and responsibilities, and they need to have a real bond.”It will vary from team to team and personality to personality, in terms of how that relationship works, but in a successful cricket team there’s a strong bond between the captain and the coach and therefore Michael will be an important person as we look to set the framework and plan what the ideal characteristics and attributes are that we want from the coach.”This may well be a sign of great promise for Steve Rixon, currently Australia’s fielding coach, long-time mentor of Clarke’s, and formerly coach of New South Wales and New Zealand.Rixon’s time with New Zealand was particularly significant as he oversaw the growth of Stephen Fleming’s captaincy in a side that ultimately played well above its limited means.Two themes of the search for a coach will be the need for a candidate who can start swiftly, given that he is likely to be pitched into the job in mid-summer, but also someone with the vision required of the role.Under the recommendations of the Argus review, the head coach will devote much of his time to building a unified coaching vision in concert with the states, while also delegating the coaching of the national team to his assistants at times, namely for various ODI series.This part of the role grants the coach responsibilities in line with those of a coaching or technical director, far more than the national-team-specific commission of past coaches. Technical expertise will also be pivotal given that the new manager of team performance, Pat Howard, comes from a background rich in rugby but almost devoid of cricket.Steve Rixon is one of the candidates to be Australia’s next coach•Getty Images

“We will be looking for someone who can evolve in this role,” Sutherland said. “Clearly, whoever comes in will need to hit the ground running as we go straight into a competitive phase, with a summer of six Test matches and the tri-series ahead.”Ultimately we want whoever comes in to be able to step up into that role as head coach, as is contemplated under the team performance review, so we’re looking for someone who can be more than just a coach of a cricket team.”The employment of Crank Sports has been arranged partly to speed up the selection process, given that Howard is yet to make a formal start to his tenure. However it was also done out of interest in the way the firm’s framework for appointments had formalised and structured a previously ad-hoc selection process for AFL coaches.Its merits were seen in the fortunes of the Geelong football club in 2011, when they shrugged off the loss of the long-term coach Mark Thompson and the most high-profile player in Gary Ablett to claim a third premiership in five years under the coaching of Chris Scott.”One of the things that attracted us to what Craig Mitchell is doing at Crank Sports in other sports, particularly AFL, is to really set a strong framework that gets you to objectively assess the individual candidates against that framework,” Sutherland said. “Inevitably there is a degree of subjectivity about it, but in the first instance we make sure we assess each candidate on a level playing field.”

Abhinav hundred leads Tamil Nadu's strong reply

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A round-up of the action from the second day of the second round of matches from the Ranji Trophy Elite division

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2011

Group B

An unbeaten century by Abhinav Mukund led Tamil Nadu‘s strong response to Haryana‘s first-innings score of 348 at Chepauk. The hosts reached 169 for 1 by stumps with Abhinav getting 110 of those runs. Haryana had started the day well by adding 84 runs to their overnight score of 264 for 7. Amit Mishra scored 71 not out to help his team reach a strong total while Tamil Nadu were profligate, giving away 34 extras. Tamil Nadu started with an 84-run opening partnership between Abhinav and M Vijay, who was dismissed by Mishra for 33. Kaushik Gandhi, on first-class debut, shared an unbeaten 85-run stand with Abhinav but only got 12 of those runs. Abhinav, who has lost his place in the India Test squad to Ajinkya Rahane, will want to kick on and make a big score as a reminder to the selectors that he is still around.

A century from Ambati Rayudu helped Baroda take a 312-run first-innings lead against Madhya Pradesh at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara but MP had begun a recovery by the end of the day, reaching 176 for 2. Baroda started the day on 207 for 4 and really made MP pay for their 63 all out on the first day. Rayudu, who was on 80 not out overnight, went on to get 119 and put together 74 for the fifth wicket with wicketkeeper Pinal Shah, who went on to score 54. The rest of the lower order chipped in to help Baroda reach 375. The runs came quickly as well, at 3.98 an over. Jalaj Saxena was MP’s most-successful bowler, taking 5 for 61.MP made a steady start to their reply, with Mohnish Mishra scoring 58 off 60 balls including 10 fours and two sixes, and Naman Ojha ending the day unbeaten on 63. They still have to get another 136 to wipe out the first-innings deficit though.

Niraj Patel converted his century into a double-hundred to take Gujarat to an imposing 520 against Delhi at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Valsad. Gujarat then made inroads and Delhi were 119 for 3 by the end of the day. Gujarat started the day on 358 for 6 and Patel and Salil Yadav continued their partnership, taking it to 174 runs. Patel reached his maiden double-century and Yadav reached 71, his first half-century in any professional cricket. Delhi’s bowlers had to toil but 18-year-old left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra took three of the four wickets to fall on the day to finish with his best first-class figures: 7 for 116.Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed early in Delhi’s response but his opening partner, the 18-year-old Unmukt Chand, made his way to 72 not out. Debutant seamer Faisal Dudhat struck twice and Delhi will need big partnerships to avoid a first-innings deficit.

Group A

Karnataka seized control of their match against Railways at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi by bowling Railways out for 134 on the second day, and then reducing them to 33 for 2 following on. Left-arm spinner KP Appanna took five wickets and fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun picked up three to give Karnataka a 213-run first-innings lead. Karnataka had managed to add 63 runs to their overnight score of 284 for 7. Captain Vinay Kumar brought in spin early and Appanna struck as early as the sixth over. Railways’ top order collapsed and they were 64 for 5 before Sanjay Bangar and Marripuri Suresh added 40 runs. Once that pair was removed, the tail did not hang around long and Railways were all out in 53.5 overs. Vinay Kumar enforced the follow on and Mithun and Appanna struck once each.

Punjab needed wicketkeeper Gitansh Khera to score 47 not out at No. 9 to scrape out a first-innings lead against Orissa in Mohali. Punjab were 220 for 8 in response to Orissa’s 251, and the ninth-wicket pair of Khera and Sandeep Sharma put together 35 to get the crucial lead. Harbhajan Singh decided to declare when the ninth wicket fell, even though Punjab were only four ahead, to give Orissa an awkward over to face at the end of the day. Bikas Pati played out the maiden.Orissa only managed to add five more runs to their overnight score of 246 for 9 at the start of the day with Sandeep Sharma completing his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket in only his second match. Punjab then wobbled early in their chase and were reduced to 26 for 3. Basant Mohanty took two of the early wickets and finished with figures of 3 for 76. Uday Kaul steadied the innings with his 62 but seamer Lagnajit Samal made regular inroads and the battle for the innings lead remained in the balance before Khera got Punjab over the line.

Saurashtra got themselves back into their match at the Cantonment Board Ground in Meerut, taking the last six wickets in Uttar Pradesh‘s first innings for 96 runs and then reaching 208 for 4 in response to 362. UP started the day on 266 for 4 with
Tanmay Srivastava batting on 134 not out. Seamer Sandip Maniar struck with the second ball of the day, giving him his fourth wicket of the innings. Srivastava went on to get 175 not out but offspinner Kamlesh Makvana took wickets regularly at the other end to finish with 4 for 30 as UP were bowled out 26 overs into the second day.Saurashtra ran into trouble in their innings, slumping to 55 for 3, and then losing Ravindra Jadeja, who scored a triple-century in their last match, with the score 112. Captain Jaydev Shah led the recovery with a 109-ball 79. He shared an unbeaten 96-run stand with Shitanshu Kotak, who got to 32 not out.

Mumbai‘s script for this match was bat first, bat once, pile a massive total and dominate the opposition to try and register an outright victory. Except, in a role reversal, defending champions Rajasthan did exactly what heavyweights Mumbai had in mind. If Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan captain, had laid the platform with a serene century on the first day, young Robin Bist played an equally stoic innings, to remain unbeaten on 82 and help the visitors to 530.Read full report here.

Top order gives Punjab strong base

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A placid track, an attack whose two best bowlers were on the flight to Australia, and the typically pleasant Bangalore winter combined to make it an agreeable day for Punjab’s batsmen at the Chinnaswamy Stadium

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran at the Chinnaswamy Stadium13-Dec-2011
Scorecard
A placid track, an attack whose two best bowlers were on the flight to Australia, and the typically pleasant Bangalore winter combined to make it an agreeable day for Punjab’s batsmen at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Sarul Kanwar, sporting his Mumbai Indians helmet, provided the entertainment in the morning session with a stroke-filled 89 before Karan Goel and Mayank Sidhana made more measured half-centuries to lift Punjab to 278 for 4.Punjab’s batsmen came into the game with plenty of confidence after piling on 597 against Rajasthan last week, including four centuries. Despite missing their highest run-getter of the season – Mandeep Singh who was ruled out with an ankle problem – the batting unit had few problems even in an away game against the table-toppers.Kanwar signalled what lay in store for Karnataka by crisply off-driving their main threat, S Aravind, for four in the third over of the morning. NC Aiyappa was returning after three years on the sidelines but the track on his home ground provided little encouragement, hardly yielding any movement for the new-ball bowlers.After Aravind’s first spell was seen off, Punjab began to open out. Stuart Binny, fresh from a match-winning ten-wicket haul against Orissa, was greeted by Kanwar with a six over long-off. Kanwar then coolly lofted Aiyappa, Karnataka’s quickest bowler, for a four to long-on, before pulling him for four more next ball. Even Ravi Inder Singh, a more conventional and cautious opener, drove Binny through covers for boundaries off successive deliveries.The spinners KP Appanna and Sunil Raju hardly posed a threat early on, and Punjab cruised past 100, comfortably their best start in a season where their openers hadn’t yet managed even a 50-run stand. When the openers were finally parted, it was through a run-out after a communication breakdown. Singh questioned his partner’s call before dejectedly walking off, while Kanwar hit the ground with his bat in frustration.Kanwar’s mood improved when he was dropped by Raju on 74 – a simple overhead chance that Karnataka couldn’t afford to miss in perfect batting conditions. Kanwar rubbed it in with a power-packed straight six followed by a slash past point for four off Appanna. A century seemed to be his for the taking, but he fluffed it in the final over before lunch, trapped lbw by Raju, who bowled with a casual amble to the crease. That over produced more chances than the entire first session – an edge towards slip, a near run-out and three lbw appeals, which buoyed Karnataka going into the break.Punjab lost a third after lunch when Aiyappa got Uday Kaul to feather one to the keeper in the 47th over, but there was little joy for the home side after that as Goel and Sidhana put on an unhurried 107-run stand over the second half of the day. Goel had a few edges – one between the keeper and slip, and another past second slip but was solid otherwise against a flat attack.Sidhana was more aggressive, showcasing his intentions by whacking part-time legspinner Amit Verma for an authoritative six over long-on and a cover-driven four in the same over. With Aravind going off the field with a knee injury, the batsmen had little to worry about, and Punjab sailed towards stumps with only three wickets down.Aiyappa, though, returned for a final burst, and got one to squeeze through the defences of Goel two overs before close. It was a satisfactory day for Punjab, but their batsmen still have work to do against a side that has posted at least 500 in the first innings in each of their previous four first-class matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

England women to play T20Is against West Indies

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England women will play a five-match Twenty20 international series against West Indies in September, the ECB has announced

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2012England women will play a five-match Twenty20 international series against West Indies in September, the ECB has announced. Two of the games, at the Riverside Ground and Old Trafford, will take place before the England men’s team take on South Africa at the same venue in day-night T20s, and will also be televised.The series will act as a prelude to the women’s World Twenty20, which will start 10 days after the fifth match on September 26. England are set to travel to New Zealand next month for a five-match T20 series and three ODI fixtures, and will also play limited-overs games against India in July.”The additional women’s T20 series this summer is a huge bonus for the England women’s team and for women’s cricket,” ECB head of England women’s cricket Clare Connor said. “I’m delighted that international women’s cricket will be showcased alongside the England men’s matches in Durham and Manchester.”Spectators will be treated to an exciting opportunity to experience two sets of double header games before the teams fly out to Sri Lanka a couple of weeks later for the ICC World Twenty20. It’s fantastic once again that two matches will be shown live on Sky Sports for viewers to experience international women’s cricket at its best.”

Ganguly, Donald join Pune Warriors coaching staff

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Sourav Ganguly and Allan Donald have been added to the Pune Warriors coaching staff ahead of the fifth season of the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2012Sourav Ganguly and Allan Donald have been added to the Pune Warriors coaching staff ahead of the fifth season of the IPL. Donald will be the team’s bowling coach, while Ganguly will play a dual role as player and mentor. The Warriors will be without a head coach – Geoff Marsh left to coach Sri Lanka – and Donald and Ganguly will join Paddy Upton, the mental and conditioning coach, and Praveen Amre, the batting coach.Ganguly, who joined the Warriors midway through last season as a replacement for Ashish Nehra, has been retained by the franchise for $400,000. That leaves the Warriors with $1.6 million to spend in the February 4 auction.Donald, who is the South Africa bowling coach, will be available during the IPL, since South Africa do not have any international cricket in April and May. The Warriors are keen to get Donald to come to India to conduct a bowling camp with their bowlers before South Africa leave for their tour of New Zealand on February 9. The camp will have to be held sometime between January 23, when South Africa’s home series against Sri Lanka ends, and February 4, when the Duleep Trophy starts.The Warriors had a poor first season in the IPL in 2011, finishing second last in the table. Ganguly, who went unsold in the initial auction, was unable to make an impact after joining the Warriors, with a highest score of 32 in four innings, but sees his role expanded this year. The $400,000 paid to retain Ganguly was the same as his base price in the 2011 auction.