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- Yorkshire fear north-south divide after failing to fill England Test
24th May 2013 - ? Headingley relying on big walk-up over weekend? Durham still struggling to sell Ashes TestYorkshire have warned of the dangers of a north-south divide opening up in English cricket after suffering their second complete washout in consecutive years here.Mark Arthur, who recently joined the county as chief executive, said that the loss of the first day of the second Test against New Zealand, in conditions every bit as miserable as those that scuppered a one-day international against West Indies last June, will not have such a serious financial impact on the club because they are insured for the cost of refunding spectators through the scheme run centrally by the England and Wales Cricket Board.But he argued that the difficulty Yorkshire have experienced in selling tickets for this game, in stark contrast to the near full houses for all four days of the first Test at Lord's, raises major questions not only for Headingley, but also for the ECB.One of the unique factors in English cricket is that the national team gets taken around the country, said Arthur. It's very important to understand that not everybody has the spending capacity of those people in the south-east of the country. That has to be factored in by the [ECB's] Major Matches Group when allocating matches.Yorkshire had to charge a minimum of £40 for tickets, even for one of the least lucrative early-season Tests on the rota, to be confident of recouping the money they paid almost a decade ago to stage this match. They do not have a match in the two Ashes series England will host in 2013 and 2015, and even next year they have to sell one of the two spring Tests against Sri Lanka that precede the five-Test series against India.Arthur confirmed that he will consider cutting ticket prices for the Sri Lanka game. We've got to make sure that Headingley looks good to the world of cricket, and a half-empty stadium doesn't look good, he said.There would have been at least 6,000 empty seats had there been any play on Friday, and although around 12,000 tickets ? of a 16,000 capacity ? have been sold for Saturday, Yorkshire are relying on a big walk-up to break five figures for any of the remaining three days of the match, even on a Bank Holiday weekend.It is a similar story at Durham, who have tickets available for their first Ashes Test that starts on 9 August, and were recently forced to sell their staging rights for one-day games against India next year and Australia in 2015 back to the ECB because of their financial problems. Arthur ruled out Yorkshire making a bid for those games, and they seem most likely to head south, increasing the concentration of international matches in the south-east now that Hampshire's Ageas Bowl has joined Lord's and the The Oval on the list.There will not be a Test north of Trent Bridge in the 2015 Ashes series, with the other games at Edgbaston, Cardiff, Lord's and The Oval, and Yorkshire again having to make do with an early-season Test against New Zealand.Arthur, who began his career at Trent Bridge before moving into football with Nottingham Forest, offered his wholehearted support to those who have claimed that the recent increase in the number of first-class counties competing to stage international cricket, a process encouraged by the ECB, has caused major financial problems.When I was at Notts it was a rota basis so you could set a business plan, he said ? in an eight-year programme you knew what you were going to get, he said. Now there is a huge bidding process with 10 or 11 grounds ? it's unsustainable really. There is a finite amount of international cricket in this country and this ground is amongst 11 international grounds. To expect all these grounds to be at the same level as all international grounds around the world ? it doesn't work, does it?He confirmed that Yorkshire plan to install floodlights, provide more covered seating, and increase the capacity to closer to 20,000, before their existing staging agreement with the ECB expires in 2019.England cricket teamECBYorkshireEngland v New Zealand 2013New Zealand cricket teamCricketAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- County Championship roundup: Durham dominate Middlesex
24th May 2013 - ? Durham's Mark Stoneman hits another half-century? Worcestershire's Alan Richardson punishes GloucestershireAnother daring Durham declaration could be in the offing at Chester-le-Street after Mark Stoneman increased their dominance over Division One title rivals Middlesex.The opening batsman was contentiously adjudged leg before wicket to a delivery angling down leg from James Harris immediately after registering a half-century for the fourth consecutive County Championship match, as the hosts swelled their advantage to 152 runs on a day restricted to 18 overs by rain and bad light.And Durham appear amenable to setting up another chase on the final day despite getting their fingers burnt by a Joe Root-inspired Yorkshire in a similar scenario last month.Ultimately you have to look at how many points you can get for yourself and not worry too much about what the opposition might be getting, Stoneman, who shared 68 for the first wicket with Keaton Jennings, said. If you win as many games as you can against all-comers then by the end of the year you will be in the right position, hopefully.In Division Two, Worcestershire's veteran seamer Alan Richardson continued his rich vein of form by completing consecutive 10-wicket match hauls on the penultimate day of the contest against Gloucestershire at New Road.Richardson followed his career-best eight for 37 in the first innings with two early strikes second time around ? Chris Dent and Dan Housego both prised out during his new-ball spell. Last week, the 38-year-old's extraordinary match return of 12 for 63 helped Worcestershire demolish Kent at Canterbury.Worcestershire's lead on first innings was restricted to 223 runs courtesy of a career best from a bowler at the opposite end of the career spectrum. Eighteen-year-old Craig Miles took five of the seven wickets to fall on day three to finish with six for 99.The previously unheralded Andrea Agathangelou made the most of another's misfortune to nudge to his maiden County Championship hundred for Lancashire at the Rose Bowl.Agathangelou, a 23-year-old of Cypriot heritage raised in South Africa, was thrust into action on Thursday only after Simon Katich was struck on the temple in the nets while preparing to face his former Hampshire team-mates.With the Australian at Southampton General for extensive health checks, Lancashire's upgraded 12th man struck an unbeaten 93 and made it to three figures in the limited play available on day two, which Hampshire closed on seven for one ? a deficit of 288 runs.County Championship 2013 Division OneCounty Championship 2013 Division TwoCounty Championship Division OneCounty Championship Division TwoDurhamMiddlesexWorcestershireGloucestershireLancashireHampshireCricketRichard Gibsonguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- England v New Zealand ? live! | Andy Bull and Rob Bagchi
24th May 2013 - Can England build on their Lord's victory in the second Test at Headingley? Join Andy Bull NOW!Andy BullRob Bagchi
- Durham's Graham Onions takes five to cut Middlesex down to size
23rd May 2013 - ? Durham 259 and 37-0; Middlesex 196? Onions ready to step up for Ashes should chance ariseNothing sharpens the focus for a cricketer with ambition like an Ashes series and its presence on the horizon has coincided with Graham Onions's return to top form.On a delayed second day punctuated by five stoppages for rain and hail, Onions completed the 18th five-wicket haul of his career to provide Durham with a significant advantage over the Division One pacesetters, Middlesex. Following a frustrating winter on the sidelines with England, the nine-cap Test bowler is intent on proving his readiness should duty call against Australia.At this stage I am down the pecking order but I am only a loss of form or a couple of injuries away, so I have to make sure I am fit, strong and performing. And it's nice to be doing well for Durham, the club I love, Onions said, after returning figures of 20-5-39-5.Failure has been a state of mind for Middlesex on recent visits here ? they were shot out for 102 last year chasing 118 to win ? and froze again, quite literally as the breeze from the North Sea blew in. Indeed, they were hard set when John Simpson joined the former captain Neil Dexter at the crease shortly after lunch. But from a position of 35 for five, the left-handed Simpson shunned the submissive mood infiltrating his team for some derring-do.With indifferent weather forecast for the next couple of days Durham's best chance of toppling their opponents appeared to be to make them follow on. So it was something of a surprise when the home captain, Paul Collingwood, opted to bring on his change bowlers immediately after the 40-minute interval rather than go for broke with the new-ball pair Onions and Callum Thorp.Although the decision paid an immediate dividend when Ben Stokes terminated the nightwatchman Tom Smith's one and a half hours of resistance, there was enough erring in length to allow Simpson to strike some cheap boundaries. The sixth-wicket stand was worth 68, in fact, by the time the left-hander took a liberty against the returning Onions and toe-ended a catch to mid-off.Middlesex struggled from the moment play began at 11.45am, and Joe Denly had already survived a leading edge chance to Thorp in his follow-through when he followed one from Onions outside off stump. Dawid Malan followed for a 13-ball duck when Onions won a debatable leg-before decision.Dexter retained his poise on a pitch of occasional tennis-ball bounce to reach a second championship half-century in as many innings but was undone by a beauty from Stokes that jagged back to take the inside edge.Middlesex's tail wagged for another dozen overs thereafter but James Harris and Toby Roland-Jones clubbed straight to fielders in quick succession to leave the visitors a boundary short of a batting point, and Durham swelled their lead to an even 100 by the close.County Championship 2013 Division OneDurhamMiddlesexCounty Championship Division OneCricketRichard Gibsonguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Glamorgan suffer day of rain and missed opportunities at Leicester
23rd May 2013 - ? Glamorgan 442-9 dec; Leicestershire 142 and 133-1? Weather could also affect final day's playThe resemblance between Michael Reed and Steve Harmison is marked and comparisons between the two may soon be justified. The 24-year-old 6ft 7in Reed, who has broken into the Glamorgan first team this season after graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in mathematics, has an action that brings the former Durham and England pace man very much to mind. The pace and bounce he obtains are not dissimilar either.That he did not bowl until 5pm was mainly down to the weather ? only 41.2 overs were possible, and none at all in the afternoon session ? but also perhaps to Glamorgan's determination not to put Reed under too much physical or mental pressure at this very early stage in his professional career. Even so, it was a little surprising not to see him given a couple of overs during a morning session in which the home team, asked to follow on, scored 88 without losing a wicket.If it represented a redemption of sorts after Leicestershire's embarrassingly poor first innings, it has to be said Greg Smith and Michael Thornely rode their luck in compiling the county's best opening stand in the championship this season. Glamorgan's wicketkeeper and captain, Mark Wallace, dropped a straightforward chance when Smith, on 27, edged a Graham Wagg delivery that held its line off the pitch, while Thornely played and missed any number of times, including at three balls in succession from the unfortunate Wagg.Reed's introduction saw Glamorgan finally make the breakthrough. His well pitched-up delivery beat Thornely for pace and would undoubtedly have gone on to hit the stumps, and though Thornely immediately raised his bat in a gesture that indicated he had got something on it, the umpire's finger was already raised.It should have been two in as many overs for Reed when Ned Eckersley edged straight to Stewart Walters at second slip but, like Wallace before him, the Australian seemed to lose the ball in the gloom.Wallace was to put down one more chance, Smith inside-edging a chance off poor Wagg when he was on 60 shortly before the rain again closed in. With Friday's forecast suggesting play will be limited on the final day, Glamorgan must hope they do not live to regret their missed opportunities as they try to force the win.County Championship 2013 Division TwoLeicestershireGlamorganCounty Championship Division TwoCricketRichard Raeguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Kevin Pietersen 'progressing well' for Ashes return, says Alastair Cook
23rd May 2013 - ? Knee injury improving ahead of first Test at Trent Bridge? England captain backs opening partner Nick ComptonAlastair Cook has admitted the shadow of Kevin Pietersen will hang heavy over England at Headingley for the second consecutive year, even in his absence.It was on the ground floor of the new Carnegie Pavilion last August, after being named man of the match for a brilliant 149 in the second Test against South Africa, that Pietersen said: It's not easy being me in the England dressing room, setting in motion the chain of events that led to his spell in the wilderness.He is missing again, this time through injury, but Cook agreed that Pietersen's expected return for England's next Test ? against Australia at Trent Bridge in July ? would raise the stakes for Nick Compton and Jonny Bairstow, the batsmen whose places he most obviously threatens.We all know that's the situation, said the captain, delivering a more upbeat update on Pietersen's recovery from his knee injury than the version provided by the bowling coach, David Saker, earlier in the week. He's progressing well. There is some more information over the next couple of weeks that we will receive but chatting to him at Lord's he sounded positive, and fingers crossed. With injuries you're not quite sure how they're healing but it sounded as if he was making good progress.I think we all know when Kevin comes back and he's fit, his record and his class demands that he plays for England pretty much. So that creates competition for places and the guys in the changing room will be desperate to score runs. That's good for us in this game because we need as many runs as we can get.Cook had not come across as a great fan of Yorkshire in lamenting the occasional hailstorms that had forced England to practise inside. I don't think we have had a two-day warm-up here where we haven't been indoors on at least one of the days, he said. So the reference to Last of the Summer Wine in praising his new opening partner was probably accidental.Compo's got the shirt at the moment, and he fully justifies that selection, Cook said when asked whether the local hero Joe Root was pressing for a move up the order. He's forced his way in with the amount of runs he scored at Somerset, and we've had some really good starts at the top of the order. I think Rooty has always opened the batting so he sees himself as an opener. I'm sure at some stage in the future you will see Joe Root opening the batting.We all know selection can change but he [Compton] has shown us the determination and the talent he's got at the top of the order and the character you need to fight there and he's got to continue doing that.New Zealand will go into the Test with four seamers after Daniel Vettori , the veteran spinner who had travelled to Leeds in the hope of replacing the injured Bruce Martin, decided that his 34-year-old body was not up to the strain of a Test.Vettori has not played a first-class match since July 2012 and has recently been troubled by an achilles injury. Brendon McCullum, the captain who will also keep wicket in a Test for the first time in three years despite his own back and knee problems, said: He [Vettori] didn't scrub up that well today and just the confidence to go into a five-day game with the workload he's had was just a bridge too far.McCullum remains confident that Vettori will return to international cricket in next month's Champions Trophy, and has welcomed the former captain's presence in the dressing room as New Zealand aim to square the series. He brings a lot more facial hair, that's for sure, he said in tribute to Vettori's luxuriant beard.England v New Zealand 2013Alastair CookKevin PietersenEngland cricket teamNew Zealand cricket teamCricketAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Australia's Ryan Harris looks forward to competitive Ashes ? video
23rd May 2013 - Australia's injury-plagued paceman Ryan Harris says he is ready for the Ashes and is looking forward to a competitive series
- New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori ruled out of second Test
23rd May 2013 - ? Former captain suffering from achilles injury? Fast bowler Doug Bracewell to play insteadThe New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori has been ruled out of the second Investec Test against England after he was unable to guarantee his fitness over five days.The former captain, who was added to the squad for Headingley in place of the injured Bruce Martin, has struggled with achilles problems and has not played a Test since last July.The Black Caps were hoping he would be able to help them square the series in Leeds but after a day of training with the squad it was felt he may not be able to deal with the workload.The seamer Doug Bracewell will play, leaving New Zealand with a four-man pace attack.The tourists' captain Brendon McCullum said: Dan, (coach) Mike Hesson and I spoke about how Dan was feeling and he wasn't quite confident he'd be able to get through five days.His Test future is something we need to discuss regarding what he wants to prioritise in his career, but we certainly see a place for him.We've also got the Champions Trophy later this month and that came into our thinking. We gave him every chance to play in this game but he didn't quite make it and didn't want to let the team down.New Zealand cricket teamEngland v New Zealand 2013Cricketguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Asad Rauf stood down from umpiring in ICC Champions Trophy
23rd May 2013 - ? Rauf reported to be under investigation by Mumbai police? ICC says decision is 'in Asad's best interests'The Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf has been withdrawn from next month's Champions Trophy by the International Cricket Council following media reports that he was under investigation by Mumbai police.Rauf, who has been on the ICC's Elite Panel since 2006, was due to join seven other umpires in officiating at the tournament, which will be held at Edgbaston, Cardiff and the Oval from 6 June.But following the reports in the media, the ICC has opted to stand him down.The ICC chief executive David Richardson said: In the wake of reports that the Mumbai police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf's activities, we feel that it is in Asad's best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy.A statement from the governing body read: The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that it has withdrawn elite panel umpire Asad Rauf from the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 that will be staged in England and Wales from 6 to 23 June. The decision has been made after media reports on Wednesday indicated that the umpire was under investigation by Mumbai Police.The remaining umpires at the Champions Trophy are Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Ian Gould, Daryl Harper, Tony Hill and Simon Taufel. No replacement for Rauf has yet been named.CricketInternational Cricket Councilguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- England bubbling for of second Test after weathering New Zealand storm | Mike Selvey
23rd May 2013 - New Zealand may have rattled England at Lord's but it seems likely their best chance of victory has goneThere is something about Neil Wagner that epitomises the New Zealand cricket team that we have seen over the past few months. He is a good bowler ? not brilliantly good, or as fundamentally skilled as his left arm confrere Trent Boult, but good nonetheless ? who can produce the occasional devastating delivery.Visit YouTube and you can find footage of him taking five wickets in a single over of a first-class match. In Queenstown, before the first Test of the recent tour to New Zealand, he gave the England batsmen a bit of a hurry-up too, and helped New Zealand A to a morale-boosting win that carried rather more of a message than England might have cared to admit at the time.Above all though, it is his indefatigable industry that impresses. He keeps coming at you not matter the circumstance or the state of the pitch. Give him a doughnut to bowl into a plasticine wicket and he would still thrash in the odd bouncer. Place a brick wall in front of him as he runs in and he would simply burst through, leaving a Neil-Wagner-shaped hole.This is how the Black Caps have been. England went to New Zealand believing themselves to be top dog and found another yapping and snapping at their heels all the way down the line to the final delivery of the final Test in Auckland.For a good part of that series, England were outplayed by a resourceful skilled team, led astutely by Brendon McCullum. Whatever barrier England tried to put up, the Kiwis came bursting through, like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. And yet, when it was all done, and Matt Prior fended off Boult's last delivery, they had just not managed to nail England, thwarted by the weather perhaps in the first Test, themselves under the cosh in Wellington before the cyclone struck, and then unable to take wickets on the final day of the series. So, so close, one delivery away from a memorable triumph, but no cigar.Now for the first time, they find themselves behind, playing catch-up. At Lord's, they were ultimately beaten by Stuart Broad's tidal wave of wicket-taking, that rolled relentlessly through the Kiwi's batting order, one of those bowling spells that almost defies understanding, as if the planets align to provide a perfect combination of rhythm, technique, conditions, and support: what George Lucas would call The Force.But in truth, the game was lost on the first day, when New Zealand bowled superbly, to clever plans, pinned England down, and yet by the close had managed to take only four wickets.We now know that, well as the New Zealanders bowled and fielded, it impacted less than they might have believed. England read the pitch perfectly, understood the need for occupation first and foremost to achieve what might have appeared a less than ambitious first innings total, and once Jimmy Anderson had bowled them to a first-innings lead, knew they had the game in hand.If the subsequent capitulation could hardly be anticipated, the chances of New Zealand chasing the highest score of the match to win were historically and evidentially minimal: 150 would have been a struggle, with the prospect of significant spin from all areas of the pitch. Graeme Swann, let us remind ourselves, did not even get a bowl.Now, though, we have to wonder whether Lord's was not the straw that broke the back of this particular dromedary. How deflating will it have proved for New Zealand to have come so close to dominating, time and again, and yet one way or another, not just be continually thwarted, but finally to cave in? There is little doubt that Wagner will keep coming, but will the collective effort carry the same fight or has some stuffing been knocked out of them?Physically, they did not emerge from Lord's unscathed: BJ Watling, the wicketkeeper who hurt a knee trying to expedite a spectacular run-out, will not play and so McCullum will take the gloves once more; and the left-arm spinner Bruce Martin, who has enjoyed such a profitable Indian summer to his career, has a leg injury.In some ways the side may have been strengthened. Martin Guptill returns in place of Watling and will boost the batting and fielding with the dangerous McCullum dropping down a place; but the news that Dan Vettori does not feel ready to make a Test return in place of Martin must be a blow, robbing them of one of the few cricketers to have exceeded both 3,000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. With Doug Bracewell coming in as a fourth seamer, it also leaves McCullum without a specialist spinner.Yet England will be bubbling after Lord's, a game in which shrewd planning, and the confidence to go with that, underpinned the win. This is not to say there are not issues with which to deal. Nick Compton batted well in New Zealand for his back-to-back hundreds, but looked shaky in both innings at Lord's; Ian Bell's penchant for the lazy dismissal remains; Jonny Bairstow has to loosen up a little; and Steve Finn is some way from his best, although he will probably retain his place if told to bowl according to the conditions rather than the state of his machismo.Some of the bowling in the first New Zealand innings, particularly to Ross Taylor, was dismal. Perhaps England can draw on the fact that for once, they won a Test in spite of Prior's contribution, rather than because of it.The indications are that Headingley will provide a pitch that has more in common with a typical Lord's pitch than did the Lord's pitch itself. The days of the old Headingley Jekyll and Hyde are gone: runs are scored here even when the clouds roll in. If there is bad weather about, as forecasters suggest there might be, then it is hard to see beyond a draw. If the game goes the distance, then it might prove a match too far for New Zealand.England v New Zealand teamsEngland (probable) Cook (capt), Compton, Trott, Bell, Root, Bairstow, Prior (wkt), Broad, Swann, Finn, Anderson.New Zealand (probable). McCullum (capt; wkt), Fulton, Rutherford, Williamson, Taylor, Guptill, Brownlie, Bracewell, Southee, Wagner, Boult.England v New Zealand 2013New Zealand cricket teamEngland cricket teamCricketMike Selveyguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Father of Afghanistan national cricket team captain kidnapped
23rd May 2013 - Police continue search after officials confirm Khobi Khan, father of cricketer Mohammad Nabi, was abducted from carGunmen have kidnapped the father of Afghanistan's national cricket team captain near his home in an eastern city, officials have confirmed.There has been no ransom demand since Mohammad Nabi's 60-year-old father, Khobi Khan, was abducted from his car in the city of Jalalabad, the cricket board president Shazada Masoud said.Police are searching for Khan, but there have been no leads or any contact since he was taken on Tuesday morning, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital.Masoud said he had spoken to Nabi, who said his family had no personal disputes and he was shocked at the abduction. Kidnapping is fairly common in Afghanistan amid the violence of the Taliban insurgency.Nabi has been influential in promoting Afghan cricket. He learned to play at age 10 while living in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan.The 28-year-old was the architect of Afghanistan's progress to the cricket World Cup qualifiers in South Africa in 2009 and was named national team captain in March.AfghanistanAfghanistan cricket teamCricketguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- 20 great Ashes moments No8: Allan Border, no more Mr Nice Guy, 1989
23rd May 2013 - Australia's captain epitomised a hard-nosed approach that was to form the bedrock of the great sides that followedThroughout much of the 1980s Australian cricket was a mess, the national team cast about on the winds of rebellion, hamstrung by retirements and peppered by regular defeat. Yet in the 1990s the Baggy Green side was one of the greatest the sport has seen. A generation of England fans grew up knowing the Australian side only as an all-conquering force, one who would habitually humiliate whichever side England sacrificially put out to take them on. The pivot between the old, shambolic and (crucially) Ashes-losing Australia of the 1980s and the new, terrifying Pommie-pounding Australia of the 1990s came in the Ashes series of 1989. And perhaps the simplest way to encapsulate the spirit of that summer is with two bottles of champagne and a glass of water.First, the bubbly. Terry Alderman, written off before the series as over-the-hill, a 30-something whose potency had been eroded by years of injury, a has-been that never really was, confounded the critics with match figures of 10 for 151 as Australia tore England apart in the first Test at Headingley. The bowler whose swing swung the game in the tourists' favour pipped Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor to the man-of-the-match award, accepted his magnum of champagne, then ordered it to be put on ice until the Ashes were back in Australian hands.That was the first bottle in our tale. The second makes its appearance in the hands of a waiter at lunch on the second day of the fifth Test. Taylor and Geoff Marsh had batted through the entire opening day, Australia, 3-0 up with two games to play, the Ashes already heading back down under, were 370 for one, well on their way to amassing 400 plus in their first innings for the fifth time in five matches. Marsh had at last been dismissed for 138 in the morning session and, to celebrate, the England captain David Gower ordered himself a glass of the good stuff. If it was meant to be a self-deprecating attempt at light humour in the face of a crisis, it came across as a gesture of utter demoralisation, a sign of England's all-too-obvious inadequacies and impotence in the face of a Baggy Green steamroller. And, coupled with Alderman's magnum, it showcased the contrast in attitude between the sides ? one shrugging its shoulders, one ruthlessly hell-bent on victory.Which brings us on to that glass of water. Later in that Test, during England's doomed attempt to avoid the follow on, Robin Smith, arguably the only England player to come out of the series with any credit, asked the Australian captain if he might have a glass of water. No you fucking can't, what do you think this is ? a fucking tea party? came the unequivocal response from Allan Border. This was a new Australia and a new Border. No more Mr Nice Guy.The seeds of the new era were sown in the Ashes series of 1985, one that for Australia had been preceded, in Border's words, by a monumental shit fight following defections from the squad for a rebel tour of South Africa ? I was a very unhappy captain, and I clearly had a very unhappy team on my hands. Border's team, defending the urn won back in 1982-83 by Greg Chappell, lost 3-1 to Gower's England, but the atmosphere was convivial ? there's an illustrative photograph in Border's autobiography of the two captains at the end of a day's play during that tour, Border clasping his opposite number in a handshake with one arm, the other draped chummily across Gower's shoulders, smiles all round. It was too convivial for some. AB, these blokes are belting the hell out of you, Ian Chappell told the Australian captain, but you're out there being their best mate, for Christ's sake. Border would remember those words, and act accordingly, on his next visit to England.Even fresher in Australian minds was the chastening beating they suffered on home soil at the hands of the West Indies in 1988-89. We got beaten by the West Indies in the Boxing Day Test ? they smashed us up and embarrassed us ? and we made a pact afterwards it would never happen again, said Dean Jones, the Australian No5. That was the biggest turning point we've had in Australia. Everything changed for us. AB and all the players were harder on ourselves.The tourists disembarked from 26 hours in business class (the first time an Australian side had not flown economy to England ? 'Aussies mean business' had a nice ring to it, reckoned Border) to be greeted by the usual worst touring side ever headlines. There was no doubt the home side expected to win. Gower had announced himself supremely confident of not just retaining the Ashes but beating the Australians on his reappointment as captain in April. If the confidence of the England side and media looks ludicrous in hindsight ? and in poring over the faults of the visitors they entirely overlooked the weaknesses in their own side ? it's worth remembering that since winning the second Ashes Test at Lord's on 27 June, 1985, Australia had won only five of 34 Tests, and of the 13 Tests played away from home in that period they had won none. In the 1980s up to that point they had won just one series on foreign soil ? and that a one-match affair in Sri Lanka ? and they had won only three series anywhere since 1983. The future greats in the side ? Taylor, Waugh, Healy ? were yet to reveal their greatness. They even lost their opening three-day match of the tour in a low-scoring game against Worcestershire then drew against Somerset in the next. Yet even during those games Border had a new demeanour. He had always been a rugged character, a battler, but this was a new, harder edge ? he refused to talk to the opposition, and demanded complete discipline and commitment from his team in the field. And from England's point of view, the counties made the mistake of throwing fuel on the fire.In 1985 Border had complained about county sides fielding below-strength lineups in tour matches, so in 1989 counties were offered cash prizes ? a share of £25,000 ? for wins over the tourists, in a rather ill-thought-out attempt to ensure competitive matches. It certainly did that but a side-effect was that county sides tended to prepare result pitches. Fiery, bouncy, mind-your-head pitches. In the final tour match before the first Test, against Derbyshire ? who fielded Devon Malcolm and a young West Indian named Ian Bishop ? the Australian batting lineup were peppered with short deliveries. Fuelled by the cold pizza served up for lunch, they were bowled out for 200 in their first innings, 180 in the second and scraped home by 11 runs . That experience was the final straw. In the first Test Australia would be determined to, in Border's words, show the bastards.And show them they did. At Headingley, scene of Border's lowest point in 1981, Gower won the toss (at which the Australia captain did not speak to his counterpart) and put the tourists in. Taylor smashed his first Test century, Waugh did likewise, Australia declared at 601 for seven and despite England avoiding the follow-on, Alderman bowled the tourists to victory in the fourth innings. The champagne went on ice.After another game of what Border described as bounce the Aussie against a Lancashire attack including Wasim Akram and Patrick Patterson, Waugh made an unbeaten 152 in the first innings at Lord's, Merv Hughes was warned for intimidatory bowling and an Australian side went two up after two Tests in England for the first time since Donald Bradman's side in 1948.Two moments at HQ again illustrate Australia's new-found focus. Border points to the incident when he swiped at and missed a triple-bounce ball from Neil Foster. England were tickled, the Australian captain furious: Maybe in 1985 I'd have responded to such an incident, and their joking, with a bit of light-hearted banter of my own. This time around there was just naked rage. After the match the Australian camp received a telegram from the makers of the Crocodile Dundee films: The party is on us. When and where do you want it? Again it was decided to wait until after the Ashes were secure.For the third Test at Edgbaston England recalled Ian Botham, despite the fact that he had neither scored a first-class fifty nor taken five wickets in an innings for two years, and rain came to the rescue. But at Old Trafford in the fourth Test (ahead of which England were rocked by the announcement of a rebel squad to tour South Africa) there was no escape from the throttling, aggressive fields, disciplined bowling and belligerent dismantling of the England attack. Three-nil, the Ashes back in Australian hands, but the relentless tourists and their captain were not yet satisfied. We had some unfinished business: we wanted to win the series 5-0, the greatest winning margin by an Australian team. We had a team meeting at which the feeling was very much: 'Let's go for the jugular.'At Trent Bridge Taylor and Marsh did not just go for the jugular ? they ripped it out and made balloon animals with it. The first day ended with Australia 301 without loss, the opening pair becoming the first players to bat through an entire day's play in a Test in England and only the third openers to do so anywhere. The home side by this stage were in disarray ? Australia won by an innings and 180 runs.The ordeal was nearly over for Gower and England. On the opening morning of the sixth Test Border was asked if he would like England to up their game a little, just to try his side's mettle, to see how his youngsters responded to pressure. Nope, came the reply. England, who with their team selection took the number of players used during the series to 29 (Australian, in contrast, used 12), escaped with a rain-affected draw after Border, ruthless to the end, had delayed a declaration on the final day. An earlier end to the Australian innings would have given England a sniff of victory and I had no intention of doing that.The demolition work was complete, England reduced to rubble. Australia, 4-0 winners for the first time since 1948, had their party courtesy of Crocodile Dundee's box-office takings, flew home for ticker-tape parades and prepared for a new era of hard-nosed dominance. England hunkered down for a rebuilding job that would take a decade. That was definitely no tea party.The AshesEngland cricket teamAustralia cricket teamCricketJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- David Warner expresses regret at Twitter outburst
22nd May 2013 - ? Australia batsman fined A$5,570 over incident? Player says he was angry about IPL articleThe Australia batsman David Warner says he regrets his Twitter outburst against journalists, for which he was fined A$5,570 (£3,600), but says he was angry at his picture being used in an article on spot-fixing allegations in the India Premier League.Obviously [the match-fixing allegations are] disappointing ? but for me to have my image related to an article [detailing the allegations] ... it's the worst thing that can possibly be brought to a cricket player, he said on Thursday. However, Warner said he should have kept his disappointment to himself.I think [Australian cricketers] are a family in a way with the journos being a broader spectrum. We've got to try and keep the fighting in house and not let it go out house, he said. If I went the right way about it and gave [News Limited journalist] Robert [Craddock] a call, we wouldn't be in this position today.We all know as professional athletes what is appropriate and what isn't appropriate [on Twitter]. It was my fault, I take full blame for what's happened.Asked if he had damaged his chances of one day captaining Australia, Warner said he had not thought that far ahead. I'm solely focused on the England tour ahead, he said. I want to concentrate on scoring runs.Warner will fly to England at the weekend for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, the start of a busy summer for Australia, which will culminate in the first part of back-to-back Ashes series.Australia cricket teamAshes 2013The AshesCricketAustralia sportTom Lutzguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Durham 259; Middlesex 11-2 | County Championship Division One match report
22nd May 2013 - ? Durham 259; Middlesex 11-2? Middlesex accept their bowling let them downThere were times on the opening day of this top-of-the-table contest when the progress made was as glacial as that of the diggers preparing the foundations for the new grandstand.A lack of pace in the surface made for attritional fare, and both teams were left to reflect on indifferent starts to a match that could have a significant bearing on the finishing positions in Division One this season. There are reasons to suggest that these two pacesetters will still be in the shake-up for the championship pennant when the 5,000 seats are erected in anticipation of August's Ashes Test here, and victory for either would strike a psychological blow.Middlesex have bad memories of Chester-le-Street. Defeat here last July in a match they should have won ? after dismissing their opponents for 102 first up ? left them with too much to do in the title race.This time, despite the favourable bowling conditions, Durham passed 102 just one wicket down. They have chopped and changed in their attempts to restore the solidity the Australian batsman Michael Di Venuto provided to the top order until retirement a year ago. Here, they recalled the opener Keaton Jennings ? averaging over 200 in second XI cricket this season ? and persevered with Scott Borthwick as a makeshift No3.And a Middlesex attack missing the in-form Tim Murtagh and Steven Finn because of international calls endured a sustained period of frustration in their attempts to dislodge them. Indeed, in his search for a breakthrough, the captain, Chris Rogers, had given each of his four frontline seamers a go from each end by the second over after lunch.We accept reality and the reality of it was that we didn't bowl well enough, said Corey Collymore. At lunchtime we had a chat, came back out there and did what we are paid to do.The bowlers were not helped by sloppiness in the field. Sam Robson, at second slip, fluffed the one chance created in the morning session, offered by Jennings off Toby Roland-Jones, and suffered the ignominy of watching the ball rebound into the helmet stationed behind the wicketkeeper, John Simpson, for five penalty runs.Two more catches went down in the afternoon but at relatively little cost. Dropped by Simpson first ball, Paul Collingwood pulled his second straight to midwicket, while Ben Stokes failed to punish Dawid Malan's miss at first slip off James Harris.That Durham stabilised the innings from 149 for five was chiefly because of an uncharacteristically disciplined effort from Phil Mustard, who only reverted to type once joined by last man Graham Onions. His personal half-century and Durham's second batting point were secured by the first of back-to-back boundaries off Harris.Mustard rated Durham's score above par given the nature of the pitch, and Onions and Callum Thorp gave it a more imposing look by prising out the openers Robson and Rogers, two of the three leading run-scorers in Division One, before the close.County Championship 2013 Division OneDurhamMiddlesexCounty Championship Division OneCricketRichard Gibsonguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Glamorgan's Jim Allenby makes hay before Leicestershire collapse
22nd May 2013 - ? Glamorgan 442-9 dec, Leicestershire 142 ? Repreived ex-Leicestershire man undefeated on 136When it comes to cricket, the law of the ex tends to become even more absolute when you give the 'ex' concerned another chance by dropping him early in his innings.Having let Jim Allenby escape on 20, a relatively simple chance at long-leg the previous evening, young Nathan Buck can have feared only the worst, and Glamorgan's former Leicestershire batsman duly made him suffer. After going to his hundred, his first in the championship this season, off 160 balls, Allenby was still in situ, on 138, when Glamorgan declared with nine wickets down in mid-afternoon.Given how little life the inexperienced Leicestershire seamers had extracted from the pitch while Allenby, accompanied by Graham Wagg, racked up the runs, the declaration did not seem excessively delayed. Unfortunately for the home spectators, it quickly became apparent that the Glamorgan attack was rather more menacing than their own.Or so the Leicestershire batmen made it appear in managing to lose all their first innings wickets in the space of 44.3 overs. While there was no doubting Wagg, John Glover, and the Michaels, Reed and Hogan, found more bounce and movement than their Leicestershire counterparts, replays of many of the dismissals will make for uncomfortable viewing in the home dressing room.Greg Smith was the first to play at a delivery he could and should have waved on its way, sparring outside off-stump at Hogan and edging to Allenby at slip. Michael Thornely, by contrast, chose to leave a Glover delivery that was far too straight, while the in-form Ned Eckersley clipped a Hogan delivery off his leg stump straight into the hands of a surprised but grateful Murray Goodwin at square-leg.The middle order offered little more resistance. Wagg slanted the first ball after tea across Shiv Thakor and saw a nervous prod take the edge and carry to Marcus North at first slip, while Joe Burns, a Queenslander whom Leicestershire have signed to replace Ramnaresh Sarwan during the Champions Trophy, was leg before playing across the line at Hogan.Matt Boyce and the Leicestershire captain, Josh Cobb, added 37 for the sixth wicket, but that was as good as it got for the Foxes. Boyce drove at a wide one to edge a catch to second slip, Cobb was bowled by Reed ? a tall and potentially quick seamer whose action resembles that of a young Steve Harmison to a remarkable degree ? and only some late defiance from Ollie Freckingham ensured Leicestershire were not asked to follow-on before the close. They can expect that request first thing in the morning.County Championship Division TwoLeicestershireGlamorganCricketRichard Raeguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- New Zealand look to prey upon England's pre?Ashes tension
22nd May 2013 - ? Kiwis eager to put pressure on Compton and Bairstow? Steve Finn likely to keep place ahead of Tim BresnanThere will be a hint of Fawlty Towers in England's approach to the second Test against New Zealand this week, with Andy Flower adopting the role of John Cleese to insist that his players do not mention the Ashes. But Nick Compton and Jonny Bairstow, the two batsmen battling for one place in the series that must not be mentioned ? assuming Kevin Pietersen is fit ? can expect plenty of reminders when they come to the crease at Headingley.Neither managed a half century in the first Test at Lord's, with Compton not even making 20. We can thrive on that and try to put a bit of pressure on, said Neil Wagner, New Zealand's combative Pretoria?born seamer in a highly entertaining press conference.Bairstow does have a bit of that at the moment. Compton is looking to find his feet a bit, he played a rash shot in the first innings out of nowhere, just tried to run down the wicket and charge one. Then he didn't score in the second innings. We'll try to put the squeeze on them and not give them anything.Wagner was also delighted to confirm that would include some verbals. We do tend to do that, but you've got to be careful, he said. With Compton, when we tried to get under his skin a bit he played quite well and ended up scoring a hundred in Wellington. Some players thrive on something like that, others tend to be more nervous. There's a fine line. We'll have to see what comes up.Bairstow and Joe Root will each be making a first international appearance on home territory, the first time England have gone into a Leeds Test with two Yorkshire players in the team since 2004, also against New Zealand ? when Michael Vaughan led a side including Matthew Hoggard to a nine?wicket win.They seem unlikely to be joined by a third Tyke, however, with Steve Finn expected to retain his place ahead of Tim Bresnan ? denying Yorkshire their greatest representation in a Headingley Test since Vaughan played alongside Craig White and Darren Gough against West Indies in 2000.Root recalled watching Sachin Tendulkar on his way to 193 to set up an innings victory for India at Headingley as an 11-year-old in 2002, shortly after he had first made the journey north from Sheffield for county nets. Since then it's been quite a special place, he said. So to get the opportunity to play here in an international game is very exciting. I just want to keep living my dream really and making the most of it.He made 236 in his last innings at the ground, against Derbyshire in the County Championship last month, and shared a fifth-wicket stand of 231 with Bairstow, who went on to 186. That suggests much friendlier batting conditions than those at Lord's last week.Root also appeared to confirm reports that Flower has threatened to take disciplinary action against any player who refers unnecessarily to the Ashes before July. Yeah, we've got a massive focus on this game and we've got to make sure that we prepare well for this and only worry about this, he said slightly sheepishly when asked about the gagging order. There's a hell of a lot of cricket before that [the Ashes].Australia have taken a very different approach, holding a press conference in a hangar at Sydney airport ahead of their departure for England this weekend, with the Ashes dominating conversation, even though they will first face England in the Champions Trophy.The captain Michael Clarke delivered confident reports of his own fitness and that of Ryan Harris ? the seamer who left the Indian Premier League early because of an achilles problem ? and another of their fast bowlers, James Pattinson. He also happily discussed Compton's technical flaws, and Alastair Cook's recent dismissals by left-arm bowlers.Clarke even remained relaxed about his players' use of social media after the opening batsman David Warner was fined £3,600 for verbally abusing two journalists on Twitter over the weekend.Back at Headingley, New Zealand confirmed that Brendon McCullum will be wicketkeeper as well as captain after BJ Watling was ruled out by the knee injury he suffered at Lord's.Martin Guptill will take Watling's place in the middle order, and the veteran spinner Daniel Vettori is expected to replace Bruce Martin to make his first appearance in a first-class match since last July ? although he will have a final assessment on Thursday.England cricket teamEngland v New Zealand 2013New Zealand cricket teamCricketAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- England women signal intent with new director of cricket and head coach
22nd May 2013 - ? England face Australia in Test, one-day and T20 this summer? Coaching set-up to be bolstered along lines of men's teamEngland will underline their determination to restore their pre-eminence in the women's game by making two high-profile appointments to replace the former coach Mark Lane.Lane's departure was confirmed last week after England underperformed in each of their past two major tournaments, losing in the final of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka last September and failing to make the final of the 50-over World Cup this year.The England and Wales Cricket Board has responded by bolstering its coaching set-up along the lines of the men's team, and will next week appoint both a director of cricket and a head coach ahead of this summer's Test, one-day and T20 matches against Australia. The tourists, incidentally, have also received extra investment from their governing body since the successes against England in the last two tournaments.England women's cricket teamCricketAndy Wilsonguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Australia batsman David Warner fined for Twitter outburst
22nd May 2013 - ? Warner found guilty of breaching code of behaviour? 'I let my frustrations get the better of me'The Australia batsmen David Warner has been fined A$5,570 (£3,600) for his Twitter outburst against two cricket writers at the weekend after being found guilty of breaching Cricket Australia's code of behaviour.Cricket Australia issued a statement late Wednesday saying its code of conduct commissioner, Gordon Lewis, imposed the maximum financial penalty for a first offence under Rule 6 of the code relating to unbecoming behaviour.In hindsight, clearly I let my frustrations get the better of me and posted some inappropriate tweets last weekend, Warner said in a statement after pleading guilty to the charge. While I disagreed with the story and my image being used alongside the story, I could have chosen my words better and I apologise for any offence that my language may have caused.I'll continue to have honest conversations with all my followers and I will be mindful of the language I use in future.Warner used Twitter on Friday night in India to launch an often expletive-filled attack on the News Limited journalists Robert Craddock and Malcolm Conn after taking exception to an article critical of the IPL. Warner played for the competition's Delhi team.Last week spot-fixing allegations were levelled against three Rajasthan Royals players taking part in the tournament, including the former India fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.The exchange with Conn was sparked when the Sydney Telegraph writer tweeted: You lose 4-0 in India, don't make a run, and you want to be tickled on the tummy? Win the Ashes and get back to me.Warner replied: Coming from you champion all you do is talk s*** as well. What about encouraging Aus players rather then bagging them.And Conn retorted: Cricket is a real job? Please. Most people pay to play. Million dollar cricketers milking the IPL are hardly the best judges.A statement from Cricket Australia said Warner breached Rule 6 of its code of behaviour, which states that: Players and officials must not at any time engage in behaviour unbecoming to a representative player or official that could (a) bring them or the game of cricket into disrepute or (b) be harmful to the interests of cricket ? this rule applies at all times where the unbecoming behaviour involves the player being involved in public comment or comment to or in the media.Michael Clarke does not believe Warner's Twitter row will harm the opener's long-term captaincy ambitions. The current captain backed the left-hander to learn from the incident and go on to lead his country in the future.He's apologised and made it very clear it was unacceptable, the current captain said on Wednesday. I look forward to having Davey home and having him around the Australian cricket team.He's a great man and I love playing cricket with him and I'm really confident that if he continues to grow as he has done over the past four or five years there's no reason, in my opinion, why he hasn't got the potential to captain Australia one day.Clarke will potentially come face-to-face with Craddock and Conn on Thursday after Cricket Australia also confirmed the 26-year-old would be available for a media opportunity at the Sydney Cricket Ground.Australia cricket teamCricketAshes 2013-14guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Michael Clarke defends David Warner's Twiiter rant, tips him as captain ? video
22nd May 2013 - Australia captain says David Warner has learned a valuable lesson after a Twitter rant against two Australian journalists
- Glamorgan make most of Leicestershire's poor fielding and bowling
21st May 2013 - ? Glamorgan 256-5? Marcus North grinds out workmanlike 68The county of Glamorgan has already enjoyed considerable sporting success this year, and if the prospects of the cricket club adding to the laurels now adorning Swansea City and Cardiff City by winning promotion from Division Two are limited ? they last won a trophy in 2004 ? they are at least batting themselves in a position of some strength in this match.That they were able to do so was in no small part down to Josh Cobb deciding to bowl first, though in fairness to Leicestershire's inexperienced young captain he was entitled to expect his bowlers to extract a little more life than they did from a green-tinged pitch, and that his fielders would not drop three excellent chances.The Foxes made a decent enough start when Glamorgan's opener Will Bragg played across the line at a straight delivery from Ollie Freckingham. A strongly built seamer who has broken into the first team this season, Freckingham took nine wickets in Leicestershire's last match at Northampton, his best first-class return by a distance, and deserved better than to see Stewart Walters dropped by Michael Thornely at first slip soon afterwards.He was entitled to be even more annoyed when Walters again drove loosely and Greg Smith dropped him at second slip a couple of overs later. It was as well for the bowler's peace of mind that the Australian batsman refused to learn, drove again, and this time saw Thornely hold the edge in front of his chest. Freckingham's first spell apart, however, the Leicestershire bowling was too inconsistent in both direction and length. Ben Wright and Marcus North were able to take advantage of far too many half-volleys, and Wright's dismissal one short of his half-century was almost entirely self-inflicted, an over-casual attempted leave outside the off-stump that saw the ball just clip the raised bat on its way through to the wicketkeeper.At 40, Murray Goodwin may be struggling to make the big scores that were a regular feature in the first 11 of his 12 seasons with Sussex, but the Zimbabwean still has more than enough class to take advantage of bad balls. Leicestershire bowled plenty as he steamed to 50 off 56 deliveries before being caught out by a Nathan Buck delivery that came back.North was far less fluent, taking over 200 deliveries to reach 68 before stroking an off-drive straight into the hands of Matt Boyce, placed at short extra-cover precisely for that purpose. Had Buck not dropped Jim Allenby when the batsman hooked an Anthony Ireland bouncer straight into his hands at long leg, Cobb might have been able to claim his decision to bowl first had been justified.Given Glamorgan have passed 300 only once in their eight previous innings this season, it may yet be.LeicestershireGlamorganCounty Championship Division TwoCricketCounty Championship 2013 Division TwoRichard Raeguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- ECB lays out its ambitious plan to thrill thousands and secure success
21st May 2013 - ? County attendances predicted to increase by 200,000? £10m in loans set aside for community clubsThe England and Wales Cricket Board has unveiled a raft of ambitious targets, promising to increase county cricket attendances by 200,000 and produce an England team that can win the Ashes, the World Cup in 2015 and the inaugural World Test Championship two years later.Despite a difficult summer in 2012, when floods affected more than a third of grassroots clubs and the Olympics and Euro 2012 diluted the focus on the elite game, the ECB's chief executive, David Collier, insisted the sport is in rude health at all levels, halfway through a two-Test series against New Zealand and with the Champions Trophy and back-to-back Ashes series to come.Unveiling the ECB's strategic plan for 2014 to 2017, Collier said that unprecedented investment over the previous eight years, increased participation and elite success all justified the controversial decision to sell the rights to televise the sport exclusively to Sky in 2005.Ashley Giles, the England limited-overs coach who led Warwickshire to the County Championship last season, said it is right to have ambitious aims. It is a big target. We all know we have not won a 50-over world competition but your targets should be big ? they would not be challenging if they weren't, he said. Things need to fall into place, form is important, and it is important in our strategy as well that we go into that World Cup as No1 in the world to give ourselves a real good chance, but certainly it is feasible.Under the four pillars of Effective Governance, Vibrant Domestic Game, Enthusing Participation and Successful England Teams, the 23-point plan has promised an increase in participation in cricket from 183,400 to 197,500 under Sport England's Active People measure by 2017.It also aims to raise attendances across all domestic competitions by 200,000, complete sponsorship and broadcasting deals through to 2019 as well as providing interest-free loans to community clubs of £10m.Collier said that despite scarce resources and facilities during a time of economic austerity, he believes that the vast majority of counties have developed resilient plans for the future.The ECB has awarded an additional £1m to each of the 18 counties based on their business plans. Between now and 2017, the ECB has promised counties £144m in fee payments.Collier denied that there is now a surfeit of top-class grounds competing for Tests, despite the recent decision by Durham to hand back two Tests, arguing that if they planned ahead and marketed themselves effectively they could prosper. Counties have really thought about their role and thought about what they can do to take themselves forward. There is no better example than Derbyshire, who are totally revitalised on and off the pitch, he said.All major matches until the end of the decade would be awarded by December next year, he promised, in order to give counties the ability to plan ahead on a five-year rolling basis. An £8.1m facilities fund will be made available to enhance floodlights, replay screens, sightscreens and broadcast facilities at first-class county grounds.Surrey's chief executive, Richard Gould, said the restructuring of the domestic season, to ensure that most Twenty20 matches will take place under lights on a Friday night, would help increase attendances.Collier claimed that growth of the game over the past eight years is proof the ECB took the right decision to hand exclusive live rights to the domestic and international game to Sky, in a deal that has now been extended until 2019. An acid test going back to 2005 was what it was going to do to participation levels in the game. We've more than doubled participation levels since 2005. Every single objective measure says that was the right decision, he added. I honestly believe it took the game forward enormously over the last eight-year period and I'm confident it will do again over the next four-year period.ECBEngland cricket teamCricketOwen Gibsonguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Ian Bell and Graeme Swann fit as England unchanged for second Test
21st May 2013 - ? Batsman and spin bowler recover from bouts of illness? Yorkshire seamer Tim Bresnan in line for Headingley TestIan Bell and Graeme Swann have both recovered from illness in time to be named in England's unchanged squad this morning for the second Investec Test against New Zealand at Headingley.Both were expected to be included again after England's first-Test victory.Bell, who was suffering with a bout of flu, was the biggest doubt. He spent substantial time off the field at Lord's and had to come in down at No8 in the second innings.Swann, meanwhile, felt nauseous on the fourth morning at Lord's. The off-spinner was left out of the England team on their last Test trip to Leeds, where they drew with South Africa last August. But he remains in the reckoning this time, in a 12 which also again includes Yorkshire seamer Tim Bresnan for his home Test.Bresnan, hoping to play his first Test since undergoing elbow surgery last winter, is one of three Yorkshire players in the squad.National selector Geoff Miller is encouraged by the Lord's victory, but again expects a tough match against opponents who had drawn their previous three Tests against England in New Zealand two months ago.It was pleasing to start the international summer with a win, and I thought the team showed a lot of fighting spirit when under pressure to set up the victory, he said.We are aware there are still areas that we need to improve on, and the players and coaches will be working hard before the second Test to ensure we continue to get better as a side.New Zealand showed again that they are a dangerous side, and we know we will need to produce another strong performance this week to secure a series victory.Batsmen Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow are the other Yorkshiremen in the squad, in line to play their first Headingley Test.Root, in particular, will begin the match in top form - having made 756 first-class runs in just six innings so far this season.England squad for second Investec Test against New Zealand at Headingley, starting on 24 May: AN Cook (capt), JM Anderson, JM Bairstow, IR Bell, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, NRD Compton, ST Finn, MJ Prior (wkt), JE Root, GP Swann, IJL TrottIan BellGraeme SwannEngland cricket teamNew Zealand cricket teamCricketguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- James Anderson is 'best in the world' says England bowling coach
20th May 2013 - Stuart Broad took the spotlight in England's Test win over New Zealand but his pace partner had the experts droolingStuart Broad deservedly dominated the headlines after his outstanding performance either side of lunch at Lord's on Sunday, during what became a deceptively frictionless surge towards victory on the fourth day of the summer's opening Test match.England struggled for three days to lay a decisive glove on a resourceful and well-balanced New Zealand team. It took a decisive shift, a quickening of the pitch but also a concerted regathering of England's bowling attack, to induce the 50-minute spell of tumbling wickets before lunch that decided the game.It was noticeable that both captains focused less on Broad's spectacular penetration and more on the conjoined and complementary pressure generated by England's new-ball bowlers. Of James Anderson's seven wickets five came in the first innings with the match finely poised. And as ever there were moments of deliciously executed craft, not least perhaps the dismissal of Bruce Martin on Saturday: successive deliveries veered in late to thud into the pads of New Zealand's No9 (who has two first-class hundreds to his name); the third nipped away dreamily to hit the top of off stump, evading a baffled forward prod.It is the execution of these skills that makes the purist drool, not least England's bowling coach David Saker who spoke about Anderson with the enthusiasm of a fan. To me he is the most skilful bowler in the world, he said. I know Dale Steyn is an outstanding bowler but when you watch Jimmy and the way he went about things, he has got more skills than Dale Steyn in his locker. Steyn is a little bit quicker but when you watch Jimmy deliver those skills, it is just mind blowing. I would love to be in the position where Matty Prior is to watch it really closely first hand. I get an opportunity to catch him at training and it is exciting just to watch him do that. When he gets things right there is no more skilful bowler in the world.Athletes in any discipline who improve rather than atrophy with age are a rare treasure and Anderson's progress is clearly delineated ? his first 150 Test wickets came at 35 runs apiece, his second 150 at 10 runs fewer ? during which time he has performed in all conditions as a wonderfully reliable leader of England's attack.He is naturally a swing bowler but he has worked extremely hard on different balls, Saker said. I remember watching him as a supporter of an Australian team. He could swing the ball but you always knew he was going to give you a boundary here and there, but now as a batsman it is really hard to get runs off him. He very rarely gets cut and he doesn't bowl any short balls.I have never met a guy as good as him who wants to keep getting better. That is one of the reasons why he is as good as he is. He has got a body as well that can play for a lot longer. Hopefully he can take 400 wickets and be England's greatest wicket-taker. That would be a great feat for him.If Saker's prediction that Anderson should be able to continue at his current level for five or six years is hearteningly optimistic, England's bowling coach had no news on Kevin Pietersen's progress towards fitness, despite having spent the last knockings at Lord's sharing a balcony pew with him.We are all hopeful he will be back for the Ashes but we are still not sure on that, Saker said. I just asked him if he thought he would be all right and he said he thinks he will. It was probably the only answer he could give. He doesn't know, and until he knows he can run around and it doesn't flare up, he can't have an answer on that. He was really excited about getting ready for the Ashes but he said he is still not sure.One player who won't take any further part in the English summer is New Zealand's left-arm spinner Bruce Martin, who injured his calf at Lord's and has left the tour. Daniel Vettori, who arrives with the one day squad on Tuesday, is an option to replace him in the Test squad.Their captain Brendon McCullum says he will drop down the order to bat at No7 if he is required to cover for the injured wicketkeeper BJ Watling but Tom Latham or Luke Ronchi could also be called in.Jimmy AndersonEngland v New Zealand 2013England cricket teamNew Zealand cricket teamCricketBarney Ronayguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- New Zealand line up Vettori for Test after injured Martin heads home
20th May 2013 - ? Former captain may face England at Headingley? Martin ruled out for series with calf injuryNew Zealand's veteran spinner Daniel Vettori could be in line to return for the second Test against England at Headingley from Friday in place of the injured Bruce Martin.Vettori has not played international cricket for almost a year because of a hamstring injury, but is in their squad for next month's Champions Trophy in England.The 34-year-old is due to arrive on Tuesday, in time for New Zealand's three one-day internationals against England which start at Lord's on 31 May.A team spokesman confirmed that Martin is to leave the tour because of the calf injury which prevented him bowling during England's second innings of the first Test ? which ended with a home victory at Lord's. Vettori, the former New Zealand captain, would be a like-for-like replacement.The New Zealand spokesman said: At this stage, we are not bringing anyone into the Test squad. But the ODI players are arriving over the next couple of days and Daniel will be here tomorrow.Mike [Hesson, the New Zealand coach] will have a look at the conditions in Headingley and has the option of bringing Daniel in if he thinks a spinner will be needed there.New Zealand's wicketkeeper BJ Watling also finished the Lord's Test with an injury, to a knee. Should he be unavailable on Friday, the tourists could either ask the captain Brendon McCullum to keep wicket again or call in either Tom Latham from their Test squad or Luke Ronchi from the ODI party.England v New Zealand 2013New Zealand cricket teamCricketguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Australia batsman David Warner to face hearing over Twitter outburst
20th May 2013 - ? Warner launched attack on journalists critical of IPL? Cricket Australia say he breached code of conductDavid Warner, who is set to play for Australia in the Champions Trophy and Ashes series in England, will have a Cricket Australia disciplinary hearing on Wednesday over comments he made on Twitter in angry exchanges with two journalists.Cricket Australia said Warner was alleged to have breached a section of its code of conduct relating to unbecoming behaviour.Warner used Twitter on Friday night in India to launch an often expletive-filled attack on the News Limited journalists Robert Craddock and Malcolm Conn after taking exception to an article critical of the IPL. Warner played for the competition's Delhi team.Last week spot-fixing allegations were levelled against three Rajasthan Royals players taking part in the tournament, including the former India fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.Australia cricket teamThe AshesCricketIPLguardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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