All posts by h716a5.icu

Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, said Bangladesh had gifted away the Mirpur Test with some irresponsible batting on the final day

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2011Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh captain, has said his team had gifted away the Mirpur Test with some irresponsible batting on the final day. Bangladesh, he said, have to work on their temperament. West Indies completed a 229-run win to take the Test and series on Wednesday, after Bangladesh failed to bat out the fifth day on a relatively easy track.”They [West Indies] hardly got us out, we gave away the wickets,” Mushfiqur said. “[Shivnarine] Chanderpaul told us at the end of the game that ‘At no stage did we think we got you out. Don’t do this [bat recklessly] in the future.'”Coming into the fifth day, Bangladesh needed 344 runs to win, and had Tamim Iqbal batting on 82. The plan, Mushfiqur said, was to not lose more than two wickets in a session. “Our gameplan was to bat session by session. A win would have been big but a draw wasn’t that bad either. It would have been hard for them to bowl us out if we had lost a maximum of two wickets in a session.”However, Bangladesh lost Tamim in the third over of the day, and then Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur in quick succession before lunch. “After Tamim unfortunately got out, Shakib and I batted till about 25 minutes to lunch. There were 12 overs left before the new ball and I believed that if we had played till lunch and negotiated the next ten overs, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to us.”Tamim edged to slip while trying to drive Devendra Bishoo – who was getting a fair amount of turn out of the rough, the only assistance the pitch was offering the bowlers – while Shakib’s attempted paddle sweep off Darren Sammy produced a top edge that was snaffled by Chanderpaul. Shakib’s misjudgement, Mushfiqur said, swung the game in favour of West Indies.”It [Shakib’s wicket] was the real turning point today,” Mushfiqur said. “He didn’t play a good shot, he knows it too. I haven’t seen a shot like this in Test cricket. Batting is a game of one ball, one misjudgement and you’re out. Shakib knows what he did today and I hope he won’t do it again.”The team, Mushfiqur said, need to work on the art of building a Test innings. “We don’t play long innings in Tests, we lack temperament. You need to play long innings if we want to win or draw a Test match. We need to work on this, make it a habit of playing long innings.”There are times when we don’t know what to do, whether to go slow or up the pace. Our thoughts have to be to make it a big knock after we are set. We lose concentration when a wicket falls at the other end. Batting is about selecting the right ball and I think we really have to work on these things.”

Namibia completed a 6-2 thrashing of Kenya with a convincing seven-wicket win in the final match of the Twenty20 series

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2011
Scorecard
Namibia completed a 6-2 thrashing of Kenya with a convincing seven-wicket win in the final match of the Twenty20 series at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek.Kenya chose to bat and folded for 93 in 18.1 overs, as only three of their batsmen got into double figures. Wicketkeeper Peter Kituku was their top scorer with 31. The Namibia bowlers shared the wickets around, but Louis van der Westhuizen had the best figures after he ran through the tail to finish with 3 for 19 in 3.1 overs.Van der Westhuizen then powered the small chase, slamming 32 off 15 balls with four fours and two sixes, to take his side home with over five overs to spare. Captain Sarel Burger, who opened the innings, anchored the chase with an unbeaten 30, while Craig Williams also contributed with a rapid cameo.

After India’s 122-run loss at the MCG, India’s third first-Test loss on their last four tours, MS Dhoni said it was the batting that let the side down

Sidharth Monga at the MCG29-Dec-2011After India’s 122-run loss at the MCG, India’s third first-Test loss on their last four tours, MS Dhoni said it was the batting that let the side down. The team, he said, also need to come up with ways to run through the opposition’s lower order.”We thought with a 230-odd runs [overnight] lead, if we could get them for 240 or 250, that’s a very gettable score,” Dhoni said. “But I felt 290-odd was also a score we should have achieved. The wicket was good, it was not like there was too much wear and tear on the wicket. I think the batting line-up flopped in both the innings.”First innings, we got off to a decent start. We had a kind of a partnership going, after that we needed to capitalise on it. We were not really able to do that, because of which we were close to 50 runs short. In the second innings, wickets kept falling at regular intervals, which meant getting close to 300-odd runs was more and more difficult. Just that we need to get consistent with our batting.”The Indian batsmen began this year in overcast Cape Town, facing dream spell after dream spell from Dale Steyn who was ably supported by Morne Morkel. Led by Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir, they fought the conditions and the bowling, and managed a draw. That, sadly, was the high point of their Test cricket this year. Since then they have played 16 innings away from home, and have crossed 300 only once. One of those innings was a declaration at 269 for 6, another a score of 94 for 3 in a chase. That leaves 13 innings when India haven’t crossed 300, which is a minimum requisite to compete in most Tests.MS Dhoni: “In games like these, both the innings together, if the amount of runs goes to 90 or 100 for the tail, it’s a big amount of runs to chase.”•AFPFor the England debacle the batsmen could be given some benefit of doubt because of the pressure a toothless bowling attack on them, but here India actually had an attack that matched Australia blow for blow, except for bowling the tail out, where you have to argue captaincy played a big part too. Dhoni agreed about the batsmen’s flaws, but chose to give credit to the Australian bowlers too.”There are a lot of things that could have happened [differently with the batting],” Dhoni said. “But at the same time you need to give credit to the opposition bowlers because of the line and lengths they bowled. A lot of the batsmen who got out, the delivery was close to the off stump. Some of them came in, some of them just held their line. They bowled really well and they pushed the batsmen to play most of the deliveries.”The batsmen had to guess if it [the ball] was coming in or going out. Consistently they bowled well. And session after session, they bowled in the same areas. At some point of time you may commit an error. Maybe that’s what happened in this game.”Dhoni credited the Indian bowling, too, which in turn meant the batsmen needed to clean up their act even more urgently. “The bowlers did their job in this Test,” he said. “We didn’t start off really well in the first innings, but in between we got quick wickets. And we were able to put pressure on the opposition. In the second, when it came to bowling, we started off really well. Overall the bowling department did the job. Just that we need to put runs on board.”However, they needed to find a way to run through the tail as well, he said. “It [Australia’s lower-order contribution] didn’t deflate us,” he said. “It’s something we need to keep an eye on. Even in the first innings their lower order put decent runs on the board. In games like these, both the innings together, if the amount of runs goes to 90 or 100 for the tail, it’s a big amount of runs to chase. We need to come up with ways to get the tailenders out.”The defeat at the MCG, and the England debacle, leaves India with a mixed year. “It was a good year for us as a team,” Dhoni said. “At the same time there were phases we didn’t do really well, the England series being one of the patches where we didn’t win a single game. The World Cup, being one of the most treasured things, gave us immense pleasure to win it, but we weren’t as consistent as were last year. That’s something that does happen in cricket. Overall it’s a good year, that’s what I would say. If we had performed better in England, it would have been a perfect year. It doesn’t always go that way.”

A round-up of the second round of games in the HRV Cup 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2011In a high-scoring contest at the Aorangi Oval in Timaru, Canterbury beat Otago by six runs on the back of a collective batting display and a four-wicket haul from an expensive, yet effective, Matt Henry. After opting to bat, opener Rob Nicol smacked two fours and four sixes in his quickfire 44 that gave his team a blistering start. Captain Peter Fulton chipped in with 31 but the real surge came down the order. Dean Brownlie thrashed four sixes in his 15-ball 38 while Andrew Ellis blazed 33 in just 12 balls to propel Canterbury to 198.Otago responded positively and scored at a brisk pace but lost wickets at crucial times. Their openers got starts but were dismissed by Henry, though the main threat was Neil Broom, who made 77 in 45 balls. At 174 for 4 in 17.1 overs, Otago still had a fair chance but Broom fell the next ball, caught by Brendan Diamanti off Henry, and the innings lost its way. The batsmen who followed could only manage 18 more runs.Central Districts won their first game of the HRV cup, beating Wellington by 25 runs at the Basin Reserve. Jamie How and Ross Taylor were the top-scorers for CD, scoring 32 and 37 respectively, and there were a series of other lower, yet significant, contributions that took their team to a competitive 155. Muttiah Muralitharan was among the wickets, taking 3 for 18 in four overs and Luke Woodcock too grabbed three. A combined bowling effort proved too tough to handle for Wellington, who were bowled out for 130. Jacob Oram struck thrice and the opening seamers Michael Mason and Doug Bracewell, too, grabbed a wicket each. Wellington were reduced to 73 for 5 at one stage and even though they recovered, thanks to Harry Boam’s 47, they could not keep up with the required-rate.

Niall O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper batsman, has not been picked in the Ireland squad for the tour of Kenya due to his unavailability for part of the tour

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2012Squads

Ireland squad for Kenya tour: William Porterfield (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Rory McCann, Kevin O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Boyd Rankin, James Shannon, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson<br
Ireland provisional squad for World T20 Qualifiers and South Africa camp: William Porterfield (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Rory McCann, Kevin O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Boyd Rankin, James Shannon, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson

Niall O’Brien, the Ireland wicketkeeper-batsman, has not been picked in the Ireland squad for the tour of Kenya. O’Brien’s participation in the Bangladesh Premier League makes his unavailable for part of the tour. He also hasn’t been picked in the squad for the ICC World T20 qualifier in the UAE in March.The tour of Kenya includes a four-day Intercontinental Cup match, two World Cup qualifying ODIs as part of the ICC’s 50-over league and three Twenty20s. O’Brien said he would be available for the ODIs but the selectors said all players must be available for all parts of the tour, and didn’t pick him.”There were difficult matters for the selectors to discuss regarding Niall O’Brien’s availability,” Phil Simmons, the Ireland coach, said in a release. “They took on board Niall’s offer to play in only the ODIs in Kenya, join the squad for part of the South Africa camp, and then the ICC World T20 Qualifier.”However the selectors remained consistent to their principle, regarding that all players must be available for all parts of the tour. Niall was not able to make himself available for the whole tour and therefore the selectors have decided not to select him for any part of the tour including the ICC World T20 Qualifier.”We are only selecting for this tour and the next selection will be for the RSA Challenge ODI versus Australia in June; at that point they will consider all available players. Niall has communicated that he still wishes to play for Ireland and the selectors will take that into consideration when they next meet.”O’Brien was picked up by Khulna Royal Bengal for US$80,000 at the BPL auctions; the tournament runs from February 9-20. O’Brien, 30, has been a key player for Ireland in their top order and is vastly experienced, having played 49 ODIs and 98 first-class matches.The Ireland squad will be led by William Porterfield. Albert van der Merwe will only play in the Intercontinental Cup match between February 12-15, and Nigel Jones will join the squad from February 15 to take part in the ODIs and the T20s.Ireland also announced a provisional squad of 17 for the ICC World T20 Qualifier in the UAE; a squad of 14 will be selected from this on February 12. The squad will also participate in a warm-up preparation camp in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Mervyn Westfield, the first player in English cricket to be found guilty of spot fixing, was given a four-month prison term

Alan Gardner at the Old Bailey17-Feb-2012Mervyn Westfield, the first player in English cricket to be found guilty of spot fixing, was given a four-month prison term at the Old Bailey on a day when the Pakistan international, Danish Kaneria, was named as the alleged go-between who had also approached other players about fixing.Kaneria, who has not been charged, was alleged in court to have discussed spot-fixing not just with Westfield but with several senior Essex players, while the coach, Paul Grayson, also stated in evidence that he had heard rumours of Kaneria’s links with illegal bookmakers. The Essex players were said to have “turned a blind eye” to the Pakistan bowler’s remarks in the belief that it was a joke.Westfield was jailed after pleading guilty last month to the charge of accepting or obtaining corrupt payments. Kaneria, who was arrested along with Westfield in 2010 only for charges to be dropped due to a lack of evidence, could now face an investigation by the ECB.Passing sentence, Judge Anthony Morris said that a custodial term was necessary “not only to mark the seriousness of the offence but also to deter others in your position from accepting corrupt payments.” Westfield, the judge said, could only gain limited credit for a guilty plea as it was entered late in the day and he had lied on several occasions.”For financial gain you betrayed the trust placed in you to play honestly and to the best of your ability,” Judge Morris said. “You were trusted to do so by other members of your team, your employers, the supporters of Essex CCC and the very many followers of the game throughout the world.”If because of corrupt payments it cannot be guaranteed that every player will play to the best of his ability, the reality is that the enjoyment of many millions of people around the world who watch cricket, whether on television or at cricket grounds, will eventually be destroyed.””Your [guilty] plea was entered very late in the day. You denied knowledge and lied to police. I have grave doubts whether you are truly remorseful for what has happened.”Immediately after judgement was passed, the ECB announced an interim ban, pending a disciplinary hearing, which bars Westfield from any involvement in cricket with immediate effect. Since his release by Essex for “cricketing reasons” at the end of the 2010 season, he had been playing club cricket for Wanstead in the Essex League.Westfield, 23, had admitted last month to accepting £6,000 in return for conceding a set number of runs off an over in a Pro40 match against Durham in September 2009. The match was televised in England and parts of Asia.The key evidence in the case was the testimony of his then team-mate Tony Palladino. After a night out together a few days after the Durham game, the two men returned to Westfield’s house in Chelmsford, where Palladino was shown a plastic bag full of £50 notes. The amount was described by Palladino as “the most money he had ever seen.”Westfield allegedly admitted to Palladino that Kaneria was the go-between. According to Palladino, Westfield told him that Kaneria had a friend who would give him money if he agreed to concede a certain amount of runs from an over in a given match. Kaneria allegedly was to receive a fee of £4,000 for securing Westfield’s involvement.Kaneria was accused by Mark Milliken-Smith, Westfield’s defence counsel, who also defended Mohammad Amir in the spot-fixing enquiry at Southwark Crown Court last year, of an “abuse of power and position” in relation to the scam. He was described as a man with an “awe-inspiring reputation” at Essex. He had befriended Westfield, one of the fringe members of the squad who earned around £20,000 a year, telling him that he could help him “make money quicker.”Tony Palladino was the player who eventually raised the alarm•PA PhotosIn August 2009, Kaneria introduced Westfield to two Asian men, initially described as having interests in oil. According to Milliken-Smith, Westfield was then pressurised into accepting a proposal to underperform, with one of Kaneria’s associates telling Westfield that he had already placed a bet on the subject. “They would not take no for an answer,” Milliken-Smith said.Westfield’s defence suggested that Kaneria had “groomed” Westfield, a young player of previous good character, and that this should spare him from prison. When Milliken-Smith said the player accepted the “devastating effect” his actions had caused, Judge Morris intervened: “It is difficult to accept his total remorse, shame and regret when on the face of it the defendant has lied on a number of occasions about his involvement in this matter.”The court was also told that the ICC had warned Kaneria in 2008 about inadvisable connections with an English-based bookmaker called Arun Bhatia.His behaviour at Essex failed to raise alarm bells, despite Mark Pettini, the club captain at the time, saying in his statement to police that Kaneria had discussed fixing with James Foster, a former England international and the man who was to succeed Pettini, and David Masters. The three later discussed the episode but did nothing about it, on the grounds that Kaneria was joking.The batsman Varun Chopra, now with Warwickshire, also recalled a phone conversation in which Kaneria had said “there are ways of making money, you don’t have to throw a game.”After Westfield’s late-night revelation in 2009, Palladino told two junior team-mates Adam Wheater and Chris Wright. When Westfield was confronted by Wheater, however, he denied the story.By March 2010 – six months after the event – the rumours had reached Masters, one of the senior players, who informed Pettini. Only after instructions in 2010 from the players’ union, the Professional Cricketers’ Association, to report any suspicious behaviour did attitudes change.The matter was reported to the ECB and Westfield was arrested by Essex police. Fearing for the future of his career, he denied the charges right up until December 2011, when he had a change of heart, prompting his guilty plea in January.On passing sentence, Judge Morris also issued a confiscation order for the sum of £6,000. Westfield was paid despite failing to give up the agreed 12 runs – Durham managed just to score 10 from the over.The charges against Westfield, brought under the 1906 Corruption Act, eventually set the precedent for prosecutions brought against three Pakistan internationals, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Amir last year.The sentence means Westfield is the fourth cricketer to be jailed in recent months. Butt, Asif and Amir were given prison terms in November after being convicted of taking part in a plot to deliberately bowl no balls in a Test against England in August 2010. The 19-year-old Amir was released from a young offenders institute last month but while he can still harbour hopes of resurrecting his career, Westfield’s future influence on cricket is likely to be only as a deterrent to others. For the full judge’s remarks click here (external site)

The final day of the first Test promised to be an intriguing one, but 14 hours of incessant rain in Dunedin made play impossible and the match was called a draw just after 2pm

Andrew Fernando11-Mar-2012
ScorecardThe final day of the first Test promised to be an intriguing one, with South Africa needing eight wickets to win and New Zealand 264 runs, but 14 hours of incessant rain in Dunedin made play impossible and the match was called a draw just after 2pm.Brendon McCullum was unbeaten on 58, having had an 84-run partnership with Ross Taylor, that put New Zealand in the hunt for a series lead. Graeme Smith was named Man of the match for his 115 in the second innings.The teams now head to Hamilton for the second Test of the three-match series, which begins on Thursday.Read about the fourth day’s action here.

Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shaun Marsh were the architects of a comfortable win for Kings XI Punjab, their first this IPL after a poor start to the season

The Report by Siddhartha Talya12-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Dimitri Mascarenhas took his second five-for in Twenty20 cricket and helped Kings XI Punjab open their account•AFPDimitri Mascarenhas and Shaun Marsh were the architects of a comfortable win for Kings XI Punjab, their first this IPL after a poor start to the season. Mascarenhas picked up his second five-for in Twenty20 cricket, in conditions perfectly suited to his accuracy and medium pace. His performance helped bowl out Pune Warriors for just 115 on a slow track, and Shaun Marsh ensured the chase was on track with a composed half-century that marked his own return to form.On a Mohali track that had some grass and one that was livened up with some rain last night, the Kings XI seamers justified their captain’s decision to field, deriving swing and movement with some accurate bowling and picking up wickets at a steady pace in the process. After the early loss of Jesse Ryder, who was run out thanks to a late decision against a single by his partner Sourav Ganguly, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana and Mascarenhas went about slowing down the innings considerably. Praveen got significant away movement and surprised the batsmen with ones that nipped back in.The top order hasn’t really fired for the Warriors and the trend continued. After promising much with a couple of delightful shots, Ganguly was dismissed thanks to the introduction of Mascarenhas. He got rid of Ganguly with some away movement that produced a leading edge, and saw off an edgy Marlon Samuels with a lovely delivery that moved just at the right time to clip the off stump.At the other end, with the Warriors soon reduced to 29 for 3, Uthappa was forced to curb his natural instincts but found an able partner in Mithun Manhas, whose swift running and busy approach didn’t allow his side to buckle down significantly. Interspersed between a spate of singles and twos were a couple of useful boundaries from Manhas, a wristy smack over Piyush Chawla’s head standing out.The 26-run stand for the fifth wicket ended when Uthappa holed out against Mascarenhas in his second spell and Steven Smith followed not long after, bowled off an inside edge. Smith and Uthappa had played a critical role in the Warriors’ previous two wins, chipping in with cameos that proved crucial in the outcome, but weren’t able to push on today.Mascarenhas returned to trouble the Warriors more in his final spell, and wasn’t perturbed when struck for a huge six over extra cover by Manhas. He stuck to a straight line, bowling Manhas the very next ball as he tried the scoop, and picked his fifth as Rahul Sharma skied one to deep midwicket; the innings was wrapped up shortly after.Barring a first-ball setback when Paul Valthaty was cleaned up by Ashok Dinda, Kings XI never really strayed off the track in the chase. Marsh, whose last seven Test innings have yielded just 17 runs, began his innings in style, pulling Dinda through midwicket. It didn’t help the Warriors that their fielding was poor, with misfields, overthrows, a missed run-out and a couple of dropped catches preventing them from putting up a fight.Together with Adam Gilchrist, Marsh saw off the early pressure with two crunching boundaries off Samuels through the off side and Gilchrist matched him, smacking Angelo Mathews for successive fours in the last over of the field restrictions. Marsh, who was reprieved when on 31 and 41, was ruthless when offered width and his adeptness at playing the pull allowed the Warriors bowlers little margin for error. Both timing and power were on display, a classy flick over midwicket off Nehra and a towering six over long-on off Rahul Sharma typifying both those features.Chawla, promoted above David Hussey, gave Marsh good company and sealed the win, the Warriors doing their bit to hasten it through some sloppy fielding.

Keith Barker and Graham Onions both impressed with the ball as Warwickshire took a grip on the match

George Dobell at Edgbaston02-May-2012
ScorecardKeith Barker took his tally of wickets to 17 in four Championship matches•PA PhotosSometimes it the threat of losing everything that focuses the mind and brings the best out of people. Certainly it was two men who had faced career-ending episodes who dominated the first day of this match.Keith Barker, the Warwickshire allrounder, came to professional cricket only after his career in football ground to a halt, while Graham Onions, the Durham seamer, feared his cricket playing days might be over after sustaining a serious back injury that resulted in surgery and a prolonged period of rehabilitation throughout 2010. Both are now playing the sort of cricket that will win games for their sides and have the England selectors keeping tabs on their progress.That Onions impressed with the ball will come as little surprise. He took ten wickets in Durham’s last game, against Middlesex, after all. But his contribution with the bat was less expected. The fact that he top-scored, however, and played some surprisingly elegant strokes reflects as poorly on his top-order colleagues as it does on his own admirable efforts. Durham’s batsmen reacted to a low, slow pitch offering seam assistance with a series of loose shots that suggested a lack of application.Barker is also developing a reputation as a dangerous bowler. This was his second five-wicket haul of the season and once again he showed the ability swing the ball both ways at a decent pace. At one stage he claimed four wickets for one run in 12 balls – including three wickets in an over as a trio of left-handers – Ben Stokes, Phil Mustard and Scott Borthwick – fell in almost identical fashion. Each flashed outside off stump, edged and was neatly caught in Warwickshire’s excellent slip cordon. Had William Porterfield, at gully, clung on to another tricky chance offered by Ian Blackwell on ten, then Barker would have taken five wickets in just 14 balls and Durham would have been precariously placed on 106 for 9.As it was, Blackwell was an unlikely counterfoil to Onions in a 49-run stand for the ninth-wicket that saved Durham from complete capitulation. Their total should still prove at least 100 below par. Chris Wright, with four wickets, also impressed once again and dismissed both openers; Will Smith with one that nipped away and Michael di Venuto with one that nipped back.”There were lots of times I feared I’d never play again,” Onions told ESPNcricinfo afterwards. “I thought about training for other jobs like umpiring, coaching or teaching. But if you’re going to come back from that sort of injury, you need a lot of determination. I’m desperate to wear that England shirt again but I love playing and appreciate playing for Durham more than ever now.”Much attention will, no doubt, focus on Barker’s past as a professional footballer. A former striker, Barker represented England at age-group level and signed for Blackburn when he was just 16. He was unable to progress as anticipated, however, and by the time Northwich Victoria – in the Conference – had told him they were unable to offer him a new contract, he could tell it was time to find a new job. Warwickshire, who were the first club to spot his potential once he returned to club cricket, beat off a rival bid from Lancashire, where he developed as a young cricketer, for his services.It is his future in cricket that should be of more interest. As an allrounder who bowls left-arm swing at a decent pace and who can also bat in the top six, Barker could well be forcing himself into the England reckoning before too long. Perhaps, with England seeking a replacement for the left-arm swing of Ryan Sidebottom in their T20 side, he could have a role to play in the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this year. He is improving with almost every outing and, as he put it: “I think I learnt through football, don’t waste the opportunity you’ve got.”England may not be the only side taking an interest in Barker. He declined to sign the contract extension Warwickshire offered at the end of last season so will, as a consequence, be out of contract in September. He will surely not lack suitors. “We’ll be coming back to him pretty soon,” Ashley Giles confirmed afterwards.Ian Bell showed how to bat on such a surface. Leaving the ball well and resisting the urge to follow the ball, Bell was content to wait for the poor delivery and displayed some typically well-timed drivers. He was reprieved twice, however, once on 51 when Mitchell Claydon was unable to cling on to a fiendishly sharp caught-and-bowled chance and once more, off the last delivery of the day, when di Venuto, at slip, put down a more straightforward outside edge off Borthwick. “Belly has been doing everything right,” Giles said. “I’ve never seen him fitter, he is technically proficient and is not far away from a big score.”Varun Chopra and Jonathan Trott were unable to prosper. Perhaps unsettled by an incident when he was forced to use his bat to fend off a throw from Onions, the bowler, shying at the stumps having fielded in his follow-through, Trott soon departed when he edged an uncharacteristically loose drive, while Chopra was drawn into fending at one that climbed on him outside off stump.This match represents something of a barometer for Warwickshire. They have not beaten Durham since 2006 and, in that time, have been defeated – sometimes by thumping margins – by them seven times. If Warwickshire’s Championship challenge is to prove viable, this is exactly the sort of game they have to win. They also expect Chris Woakes to be available for first-team selection within little more than a week.

James Anderson has been named England Cricketer of the Year for 2011/12. Anderson, the 29-year-old swing bowler, has taken 46 wickets in 11 Tests from the start of the 2011 English season and has risen to No. 3 in the ICC Test bowling rankings.

George Dobell14-May-2012James Anderson has been named England Cricketer of the Year for 2011/12. Anderson, the 29-year-old swing bowler, has taken 46 wickets in 11 Tests from the start of the 2011 English season and has risen to No. 3 in the ICC Test bowling rankings. He also played a key role in England’s defeat of India – a result that confirmed England as the No. 1 rated Test side – and proved his worth in all conditions with excellent performances in the UAE and Sri Lanka.Anderson, who claimed his 250th Test wicket and rose to fifth on the list of England’s all-time Test wicket-takers during the period, beat off competition from fellow nominees Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook to win the award which is decided by votes from members of the cricket media. Charlotte Edwards was named England Women’s Cricketer of the Year, while Daniel Bell-Drummond won the England Development Programme Cricketer of the Year and Callum Rigby won the England Disability Cricketer of the Year award.”It’s an amazing achievement and I’m really proud of it,” Anderson said. “There have been so many successful individual performances over the last year so it’s nice to be recognised for performing well over the last 12 months.”The last two years I’ve shown what I can actually do at this level. It’s been a frustrating eight years before that – a bit up and down – but I’ve been really pleased with my performance in the last two years. The challenge is to try to keep improving and push on.”Anderson claimed two five-wicket hauls in Test cricket over the 12-month period: 5 for 65 against India at Lord’s and 5 for 72 against Sri Lanka in Galle. Perhaps more impressively, he showed he now has the skills to adapt to any conditions with a series of fine performances in the UAE and Sri Lanka. It is hard to recall a single poor spell from him on either tour.”Knowing my game has been the biggest thing,” Anderson said, explaining his consistency over the last couple of years. “Knowing that I can bowl a ball on a length for a period of time is what all bowlers strive for and is something that was missing from my game for the first part of my career. Being able to do it game after game is something I’ve been able to develop really well over the past couple of years.Leading Test wicket-takers for England

Ian Botham 383

Bob Willis 325

Fred Trueman 307

Derek Underwood 297

James Anderson 258

“I’ve always been able to swing the ball but I’ve added different skills throughout my career, and I think being able to bowl in all sorts of conditions has been a problem – not just for me, but for a lot of English bowlers over the years when we’ve gone away with unfamiliar conditions, we’ve struggled with that. But I think now all of the bowlers in this group have got good skills to take away from us, and that’s really exciting when we’ve got tours of India and places like that coming up.”Anderson insisted he had no thoughts about overtaking Ian Botham’s record as England’s leading wicket taker – Botham claimed 383 Test wickets – but said he hoped he could continue playing for many years to come.”If I maintain the same work ethic that I have done throughout my career, I don’t see why I can’t keep this form up for a good few years,” Anderson said. “I feel fit and strong and I think the fitness is probably going to play the biggest part in how long I keep playing for.”I keep getting reminded about the record. It’s nice to be up there, and having taken 250-plus Test wickets is an amazing achievement for me and I’m really proud of that. But I just want to stay on the field and play games for England. When I sit down at the end of my career, I can look back on 500-600 wickets hopefully.”Although the award is meant to recognise “outstanding performances in all formats of international cricket over the past year” it is safe to conclude that Anderson won for his Test form. He has not played international T20 cricket in the period and, though his ODI form improved steadily after a disappointing World Cup in early 2011, he is no longer an automatic selection in that format.”I’d love to be with England involved in all three formats,” he said. “It’s not been the case in the last couple of years but I was in the squad for the last World Cup and I’d love to get into the side. I’m in a position now where I’ve got to knock on the door of that team, so if I get the chance to play any T20 cricket for Lancashire this year I’ve got to use that to try to put pressure on the guys who are in the team already. I’ve just got to wait for a chance to arise.”Cook might consider himself unfortunate not to have won. Cook not only scored three ODI centuries (two against Pakistan and one against Sri Lanka) and averaged 54.29 over the period but he grew in stature as the ODI captain and led England to series victories over both World Cup finalists – India and Sri Lanka – as well as a rare victory in overseas conditions in Pakistan. His Test form was less consistent, but he still averaged 55.47 over the year, with a career-best 294 against India and two centuries against Sri Lanka the highlights.Broad, meanwhile, averaged 31.41 with the bat and 23.04 with the ball in Tests over the 12-month period. He is also the only one of the three shortlisted candidates currently playing in all three formats. But he did enjoy some consolation as he won the Fans’ Moment of the Year Award, voted for by members of ECB’s Twelfth Man fan community, for his hat-trick against India in last summer’s Trent Bridge Test.