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Mark Ramprakash struck an unbeaten half-century to guide Surrey to a seven-wicket win over Northamptonshire on the final day of their County Championship Division Two match at Wantage Road

27-May-2010

ScorecardMark Ramprakash struck an unbeaten half-century to guide Surrey to a seven-wicket win over Northamptonshire on the final day of their County Championship Division Two match at Wantage Road. Ramprakash, who also made 70 in the first innings, hit 79 off 143 balls as the visitors won for the first time in 17 Championship matches, their last success coming in this fixture last year.Former South Africa paceman Andre Nel, who blasted 96 on Thursday, had earlier taken four for 68 as Northamptonshire were reduced to 229 all out, giving Surrey a target of 241. Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown then hammered an explosive 45 off 42 balls as they comfortably made that total with 10 overs to spare.The hosts began the day 165 runs ahead of Surrey on 154 for 4, with captain Andrew Hall on eight and his predecessor Nicky Boje on 18. However, Boje only faced four balls without adding to his overnight score before he smashed Tim Linley straight to Matthew Spriegel at backward point.The hosts were then left floundering on 159 for 6 when David Sales, who has been suffering with a migraine during the match, was run out by Chris Schofield at mid-wicket to bag a pair. Hall made it to 32 before he became Nel’s third victim when he edged him to Surrey wicketkeeper Steven Davies.Nel struck again by trapping James Middlebrook lbw for five before Sri Lankan seamer Chaminda Vaas (17) went via the same method off Jade Dernbach. Dernbach, who hit an unbeaten 56, then wrapped up the Northamptonshire tail by bowling Lee Daggett, who made just two.Chasing 241 with 68 overs left, Surrey made a quick start by crashing 37 off the first seven overs before losing Davies for 25, when David Willey took a superb diving catch at mid-wicket off the bowling of Boje.Arun Harinath, who went for a duck in the first innings, threw his wicket away when two short of his half-century by launching Willey to Rob White at mid-wicket. Hamilton-Brown then blasted his exciting knock of 45 before missing an attempted cut off Middlebrook and was stumped by O’Brien.This left the visitors on 156 for 3 at tea and they needed 85 from the final session for the victory. The runs continued to come freely after the break and Ramprakash reached his second fifty of the match off 94 balls. He and former Northamptonshire man Usman Afzaal, with 33 not out, then shared an unbeaten stand of 88 to carry Surrey over the line.

South Africa allrounder Wayne Parnell has been withdrawn from the South Africa A side that will tour Sri Lanka in August as he is yet to recover from a groin injury

Cricinfo staff25-Jun-2010South Africa allrounder Wayne Parnell has been withdrawn from the South Africa A side that will tour Sri Lanka in August as he is yet to recover from a groin injury. Parnell was expected to be fit for the tour but the injury, suffered while warming up for an IPL match in March, is taking longer than expected to heal, and has already caused him to miss the ICC World Twenty20 and South Africa’s tour of the West Indies.According to a statement from Cricket South Africa, Parnell could need surgery to fix the problem, which would keep him out of the Chevrolet Warriors’ Champions’ League campaign as well. His return would then be postponed to South Africa’s tour of Pakistan in late October.Ethy Mbhalati, who missed the A tour of Bangladesh through injury, has also not recovered in time to make the tour.Francois Plaatjies, who was named in the South Africa Emerging Squad to tour Australia, will replace Parnell while Rory Kleinveldt, who was originally selected only for the limited overs matches, has been added to team for the four-day matches.Plaatjies tok 19 wickets in five matches at an average of 22.10 and a strike rate of 35.57 during the SuperSport Series, He also took 16 wickets at an average of 23.25 in the MTN40 tournament.Four-day squad: Thami Tsolekile (capt), Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar, Quinton Friend, Rory Kleinveldt, Heino Kuhn, Vernon Philander, Francois Plaatjies, Rilee Rossouw, Rusty Theron, Thandi Tshabalala, Jonathan Vandiar, Stiaan van Zyl.One-day squad: Thami Tsolekile (capt), Ryan Bailey, Dean Elgar, Colin Ingram, Rory Kleinveldt, David Miller, Vernon Philander, Francois Plaatjies, Rilee Rossouw, Rusty Theron, Thandi Tshabalala, Jonathan Vandiar, Morne van Wyk, Stiaan van Zyl.

Former Essex captain Mark Pettini revealed a more tenacious side to his game in a ding-dong battle at the St Lawrence ground where the visitors edged to within 77 of avoiding the follow-on against Kent

Mark Pennell30-Jul-2010

ScorecardFormer Essex captain Mark Pettini revealed a more tenacious side to his game in a ding-dong battle at the St Lawrence ground where the visitors edged to within 77 of avoiding the follow-on against Kent.Pettini, who abdicated the Essex captaincy in June with his county only three games in to their disappointing start to the Friends Provident t20 campaign, proved the star of Tuesday night’s quarter final win over Lancashire with a swashbuckling 81 of 56 balls that took the Eagles through to finals day with five balls to spare.Barely 72 hours later and crease occupation was the order of the day for Pettini as he carried his bat through to stumps with an unbeaten 80 scored over four-and-a-half hours to thoroughly frustrate Kent’s victory push.Responding to Kent’s workmanlike 420 all out, makeshift Essex opener Pettini lost first-wicket partner Jaik Mickleburgh in the 23rd over when the right-hander fenced at an Amjad Khan lifter and edged a throat- high chance to Darren Stevens at third slip. Three balls later, Tom Westley (0) followed a Simon Cook leg-cutter and edged low to slip where James Tredwell held a sharp chance that made it 50 for 2.Former St Lawrence crowd favourite, the diminutive left-hander Matt Walker, reached only 10 – a little matter of 265 runs short of his ground record score by a Kent player – when he nicked a beauty from Azhar Mahmood that lifted and left to edge through to Geraint Jones.Jones blotted his copybook by missing a stumping chance offered by Pettini with his score on 39 against Tredwell, allowing James Foster and Pettini to combine in a gritty fourth wicket stand worth 73 before Kent enjoyed their next success after tea.With his score on 41 from 81 balls, Foster went back in defence to Azhar Mahmood who rushed one down the Nackington Road slope to peg back the right-hander’s off stump.Wrist spinner Malinga Bandara claimed his first wicket of the game by having Tim Phillips (11) snaffled at short leg from a bat pad chance by Joe Denly, then Ravi Bopara’s miserable game continued when he fell after only four balls.Having missed all but six overs of the opening day with a back strain Bopara came in at No. 7 only to quickly become Amjad Khan’s second victim of the day. Rushed into his defensive push from the crease, Bopara edged through to Jones and marched off with only two to his name leaving Pettini and David Masters to see the visitors through to stumps without further alarm.At the start of day two Kent made heavy weather of reaching 400 for their fifth batting bonus point.
Resuming on 360 for 6, they lost Tredwell (19) to a catch at the wicket and then night watchman Khan for only a single as he played across the line of a David Masters off-cutter.It was left to Bandara and Mahmood to ease Kent to maximum batting points with a ninth-wicket stand of 52 in 15.5 overs to which Mahmood contributed a stylish 28.But once he sliced a drive to mid-off, so last man Simon Cook (8) soon followed. Mesmerised by the wrist spin of Bryce McGain, Cook edged to Foster to start the Essex response half-an-hour before lunch. McGain, on his Essex debut, finished with expensive figures of 5 for 151.

A dozen wickets fell on the opening day at a bright and breezy Lord’s where Leicestershire’s captain Matthew Hoggard revelled on centre stage with a first-class exhibition of good old-fashioned swing bowling

09-Aug-2010

ScorecardMatthew Hoggard picked up 6 for 63 to keep Middlesex to 219 in their first innings•PA Photos

A dozen wickets fell on the opening day at a bright and breezy Lord’s where Leicestershire’s captain and principal bowler Matthew Hoggard revelled on centre stage with a first-class exhibition of good old-fashioned swing bowling. After electing to bat first, Middlesex played an array of poor strokes to be shot out inside two sessions for 219, after which Leicestershire recovered from a sticky start to reach 105 for 2 in the 30 overs through to stumps – a
deficit of 114 going into the second day.Fresh from taking his career wickets tally past 700 against Derbyshire at Grace Road last week, 33-year-old Hoggard excelled to claim three more wickets before lunch. The former Yorkshire and England star switched to the Pavilion End after the interval to complete his season’s best return of 6 for 63 in 20 overs as Middlesex were hurried out by tea.Bowling full and straight, Hoggard made the most of late movement through the air and some profligate batting by a Middlesex top-order who seem to have forgotten the art of allowing seemingly innocuous deliveries to go by. Hoggard’s rout started as early as the fifth over when Scott Newman felt for one outside off stump to be caught behind to make it 14 for 1.Eight runs later and Hoggard bagged two more in as many deliveries as Owais Shah went leg before then, to the next delivery, Dawid Malan hung the bat out to a near wide and steered it to gully where Greg Smith took a tumbling catch.Nadeem Malik also got the ball to swing and enticed John Simpson to follow one and edge to Tom New then Toby Roland-Jones obligingly spooned an in-ducker straight into the hands of the man at square leg.Home skipper Neil Dexter, who was dropped at slip on 42, steadied his ship by contributing 47 to a fifth-wicket stand of 98 with Gareth Berg, which ended when Dexter’s prod against Hoggard was snaffled by Jacques du Toit at slip. Having just posted his 83-ball half-century, Berg (53) played outside the line of a Claude Henderson arm-ball to be pinned lbw, then Shaun Udal’s airy drive ballooned to point to give Hoggard his fifth victim.Josh Davey was caught at third slip leaving 10th-wicket partners Tim Murtagh and Pedro Collins to see the home side past 200 for their sole batting bonus point with an entertaining stand of 58 in 10 overs. They achieved the milestone in no little style, by clubbing 22 in one over from
Malik, but Collins was bowled through the gate by Jigar Naik, leaving Murtagh unbeaten on a breezy 41-ball 50 that included four fours and three sixes.Leicestershire started their reply at 4.15pm and were soon in trouble themselves as Matthew Boyce went leg before to a Collins yorker. Collins then dipped one back in to Du Toit who played late and across his left pad to become another leg before victim.Collins bowled too short thereafter and, having seen off the new ball, Leicestershire fought back with a third-wicket stand between Smith and James Taylor that took them through to the close without further alarm. Smith crafted the most convincing innings of the day to reach 64 while Taylor played second fiddle with an equally composed 32.

Sean Williams’ unbeaten 88 formed the backbone of Zimbabwe XI’s 175 for 3 as they replied to Ireland’s first innings total of 465

Cricinfo staff21-Sep-2010
ScorecardSean Williams in action on his way to an unbeaten 88•Zimbabwe Cricket

Sean Williams’ unbeaten 88 formed the backbone of Zimbabwe XI’s 175 for 3 as they replied to Ireland’s first innings total of 465 on the second day of their Intercontinental Cup game at Harare Sports Club. John Mooney reached 87 – his second first-class half-century – to ensure that Ireland passed 400 after Andrew White’s century but both men eventually fell to Shingi Masakadza, who finished with 5 for 107.Masakadza didn’t receive much support from Zimbabwe XI’s other seamers as the hosts were made to toil by some gritty resistance from Ireland’s lower order with the last three wickets adding 112 runs after White was bowled shortly after reaching his ton, although young legspinner Natsai Mushangwe did contribute three scalps. After Mushangwe’s third strike ended Ireland’s innings, fast-medium seamer Trent Johnston put the Zimbabweans under immediate pressure by removing Stuart Matsikenyeri – pushed up the order to open – in the fourth over.Williams and the in-form Steve Marillier – who struck a first-class career-best 148 not out against Midwest Rhinos over the weekend – steadied Zimbabwe XI with a 100-run stand before Johnston returned to remove Marillier three runs short of his fifty. Johnston had captain Vusi Sibanda caught behind in his next over as Zimbabwe XI slipped to 111 for 3, but Williams then found an able partner in allrounder Keith Dabengwa.Together they added an unbeaten 64 runs for the fourth wicket, with Williams doing the bulk of the scoring as Dabengwa opted for all-out defence in a 61-ball 17. Their partnership ensured there were no further scares for the hosts, but there is plenty of work still to be done and the Zimbabwean lower order may well have to emulate Ireland’s stubborn resistance if they are to remain on a level-pegging in this match.

Defeats for Guyana and Mumbai tomorrow will knock them out, making the Bangalore-Lions game a sudden death. The opposite result, however, will, theoretically, keep all four teams in contention

The Preview by Siddhartha Talya18-Sep-2010

Match facts

Sunday, September 19
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)

Big Picture

Will Jacques Kallis return?•AFP

The clash between these two IPL heavyweights is the biggest draw in Group A and the stakes have increased with South Australia Redbacks sealing their place in the semis after three straight wins. Mumbai Indians face a must-win clash while Royal Challengers Bangalore have a bit more breathing space, given they’ll be facing the Lions in their final league game after the results of Sunday’s fixtures will have either intensified or narrowed down the race for the final four. Defeats for Guyana and Mumbai tomorrow will knock them out, making the Bangalore-Lions game a sudden death. The opposite results, however, will theoretically keep all four teams in contention.Mumbai and Bangalore brushed aside Guyana and their defeats to South Australia were also similar. Both fielded terribly and were beaten by South Australia’s century-opening stands but the difference lay in the batting. While Mumbai’s innings was laced with several important contributions, a feat repeated against Guyana, Bangalore had just three batsmen reach double-figures en route to 154, which included 13 extras. Each of the front line Indian batsmen fell cheaply and though Bangalore were rescued by the counterattack led by Ross Taylor and Dillon du Preez, it’s a failure they can ill-afford to repeat against an equally power-packed Mumbai batting line-up. The loss of Jacques Kallis due to a sore back had its impact at the top of the order and with the ball. A return could prove a timely boost to a side slightly behind on momentum.

Team news

Bangalore may have a few tough calls to make in the event of Kallis’ return. du Preez was his replacement against South Australia and he smashed a 25-ball 46. Bangalore could be made to choose between him and Cameron White. They tried out Vinay Kumar in place of B Akhil but without much success; Abhimanyu Mithun remains an extra pace option.Royal Challengers Bangalore (possible): 1 Jacques Kallis/Manish Pandey, 2 Rahul Dravid, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Dillon du Preez/Cameron White, 7 Praveen Kumar, 8 Abhimanyu Mithun/Vinay Kumar, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Anil Kumble, 11 Nayan Doshi.Mumbai got most things right against Guyana, and could go in with the same team. Abhishek Nayar, who came in as a replacement for Dhawal Kulkarni in the squad has himself been replaced due to a flu and respiratory infection. Assam seamer Abu Nechim takes his place.Mumbai Indians (possible): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Kieron Pollard, 4 Saurabh Tiwary, 5 Ambati Rayudu, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Ali Murtaza.

Watch out for …

Rahul Dravid was far from comfortable against South Australia, scoring 4 off 11 and, not for the first time, got out trying to overcome his frustration by attempting the paddle. He took his time while chasing a paltry target against Guyana in Bangalore’s first game. Under pressure, however, his position in the batting order could be reconsidered given the presence of several explosive batsmen in the line-up.In each of this three appearances this tournament, Kieron Pollard has reaffirmed the reputation that won him a bumper bid at the IPL auction. He’s struck 14 sixes, entertained the crowd with his brute power and raised the price-bar for the next auction. And he’s enjoying it, jiving to the music on the pitch with Dwayne Bravo after he sent Shaun Tait over cow corner. In a do-or-die encounter, Mumbai have the game-changer they need to stay alive.

Key contests

Opening stands: Both teams possess plenty of ammunition in the middle order and solid batsmen making up the opening partnerships. Shikhar Dhawan and Sachin Tendulkar have been productive at the top while Bangalore’s results have been mixed thus far. In the battle of the bats, against pace bowlers who’re adept with their skills and variations, the start to each innings involves a keen contest.

Stats and trivia

• Dwayne Bravo is one of seven bowlers to have grabbed a four-wicket haul in the Champions League Twenty20, but for Trinidad and Tobago against Somerset in 2009.
• Kallis, with an average of 8.66 for his six wickets, has the best average for anyone who has bowled three overs or more in the competition.

A round-up of the seventh day of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2010

North Zone

Delhi made it two in two, beating Jammu and Kashmir by 19 runs at the Model Sports Complex. Opener Chetan Sharma top scored with 47, an innings laced with five fours and a six, and was supported by Rajat Bhatia in a 56-run stand for the third wicket. However, the J&K bowlers, led by medium-pacer Raman Dutta (3-28) and captain Abid Nabi (2-21), struck back to keep Delhi down to a chaseable 142. J&K appeared to begin in encouraging fashion, with the openers adding 25, but things soon began to worsen. Medium-pacer Kapil Yadav made inroads to reduce J&K to 35 for 5 at one stage and had it not been for Javed Ahmed’s 47, his team would have struggled to get past three-figures. They had to eventually settle for 123 for 9, with Yadav taking 4-15 in only his second Twenty20 game.Hemang Badani’s 42 off 30 deliveries took Haryana to a six-wicket victory against Services in Delhi•Hamish Blair/Getty Images

Punjab held their nerve to prevail over Himachal Pradesh in a thrilling finish at the Model Sports Complex in Delhi. Set a target of 129, they were bolstered by a strong opening stand of 41. However, Punjab experienced a scare when Karan Goel and Ravi Inder Singh fell in a space of three deliveries with the score on 77. When Rahul Sharma fell, the fourth wicket with 95 on the board, 34 were needed off four overs. It was Mandeep Singh who stepped up and guided his team to a nerve-wracking win, scoring a boundary off the final delivery of the game off which a single was needed. He remained unbeaten on 33 and was supported by Bipul Sharma, who made a run-a-ball 8. Earlier, VA Indulkar had provided some impetus to the Himachal innings with 41 but it proved inadequate.A half-century by Dhruv Singh who received support in a 68-run stand from Hemang Badani helped Haryana to a six-wicket win over Services at the Model Sports Complex in Delhi. In their chase of 133, Haryana were struggling at 32 for 3 but Badani, whose aggressive approach took the pressure off Dhruv, put his team back on track. He struck four fours and a six in his 42 while Dhruv held firm at the other end and eventually saw Haryana through. A three-wicket haul from left-arm seamer Sanjay Budhwar had restricted Services, though captain Yashpal Singh had set up a competitive score with 54.

Central Zone

Dishant Yagnik’s half-century and some disciplined bowling took Rajasthan to a 16-run win against Uttar Pradesh at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Yagnik hammered six fours and two sixes in his 54 off 40 deliveries after his opening partner Aakash Chopra was run out for 22. However, Sudeep Tyagi and Ali Murtuza struck to reduce Rajasthan to 100 for 5 from 97 for 1. Vineet Saxena slammed an unbeaten 39 off 27 to help his team to a competitive 155 for 7. Medium-pacer Afroz Khan then picked up 3 for 28 as none of the Uttar Pradesh batsmen could score quickly enough to pose a threat to Rajasthan. Uttar Pradesh finished on 139 for 6, Ravikant Shukla top scored with 35 off 32.Railways scraped to a one-wicket win off the last ball against Vidarbha at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Chasing Vidarbha’s 155, Railways were given a rollicking start by PM Madkaikar, who hammered 27 off 14 deliveries as his side raced to 51 without loss in the fifth over. However, Vidarbha led by offspinner Akshay Wakhare hit back to leave Railways tottering at 89 for 6. Karan Sharma slammed 30 off 15 to bring his side back on track, and captain Murali Kartik held his nerve as Railways scampered home. Himanshu Joshi’s 64 off 43 had earlier set up Vidarbha, but his dismissal off JP Yadav in the 19th over meant they managed only 13 off the last 10 deliveries, which made all the difference in the end. Yadav finished with 3 for 21.

East Zone

Orissa‘s bowlers led by offspinner Rakesh Mohanty defended a modest target of 130 at the Sunshine Ground in Cuttack, dismissing Assam for 107. Mohanty took 3 for 18 after medium-pacer Santosh Jena had struck twice in three balls to reduce Assam to 10 for 2. Gokul Sharma resisted with an unbeaten 31 off 20 deliveries, but ran out of partners as wickets fell regularly. Mohanty and Niranjan Behera had earlier helped Orissa to 129 for 7, after offspinner Gokul and fast bowler Dhiraj Goswami had taken two wickets apiece to reduce them to 69 for 6 in 12 overs.Legspinner Subal Chowdhury’s 3 for 19 set up a comfortable six-wicket victory for Tripura against Jharkhand at the Ravenshaw College Ground in Cuttack. Jharkhand were dismissed for a paltry 96, which Tripura chased down with 13 deliveries to spare. Put into bat, Jharkhand had begun well, reaching 40 without loss in the seventh over. However, Rameez Nemat’s run-out triggered a collapse, and Chowdhury snapped up three wickets to leave Jharkhand struggling at 48 for 5. Keshav Kumar and Shahbaz Nadeem took the score to 81, but Jharkhand again lost wickets in a heap to be dismissed for 96. Tripura’s batsmen knocked off the runs without much fuss.

West Zone

Abhishek Nayar’s half-century led Mumbai to a five-wicket victory against Gujarat at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. Opening the innings, Nayar smashed four sixes and as many fours in his 57 off 43 deliveries, as Mumbai reached the target of 146 with an over to spare. Mumbai were in some trouble at one stage as they slid to 115 for 5, but Siddharth Chitnis came in at No. 7 and hammered three sixes in his unbeaten 27 off 11 to settle the matter in Mumbai’s favour. Niraj Patel’s unbeaten 41 had earlier helped Gujarat to post 145 for 5. Several Gujarat batsmen got starts but fell without making substantial contributions.Samad Fallah inspired Maharashtra to a 14-run win over Saurashtra in a low-scoring encounter at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara.Saurashtra, led by Jaidev Unadkat, skittled the defending champions for 81, but left-arm medium pacer Fallah struck early and often to reduce Saurashtra to 3 for 14 in the fifth over, taking the prize wicket of India Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, trapped leg before for one, in the process.Pratik Mehta led Saurashtra’s fightback, making 28 from 32, the highest score of the match, but it was not enough as he got no support from anyone else; only two other Saurashtra batsman got into double figures, while there were six scores of 2 or less. Fallah finished with sparkling figures of 3 for 7 from his four overs, and was ably backed up by the other Maharastra bowlers, all whom took at least one wicket.

Paul Harris, a former Cricket South Africa (CSA) board member has said that the body must undergo a forensic audit in order to fully exonerate chief executive Gerald Majola of financial impropriety

Firdose Moonda22-Nov-2010Paul Harris, a former Cricket South Africa (CSA) board member has said that the body must undergo a forensic audit in order to fully exonerate chief executive Gerald Majola of financial impropriety. “The auditors have been kept away from the process,” Harris, who is a former chair of the remunerations committee, told ESPNcricinfo. He also claims that CSA has lost money because of bonuses paid to Majola and 39 other staff members after last year’s Indian Premier League (IPL).Harris, together with Colin Beggs, former chairman of CSA’s audit committee and Professor Hentie van Wyk, former chairman of CSA’s finance committee, issued a statement disassociating themselves from the findings of the board’s internal commission of inquiry to look into bonus payments. The investigation, run by CSA vice-president AK Khan, was tasked with looking into R4.7 million (US$671,428) in bonuses paid to staff of which Majola received R1.8 million (US$257, 142).The commission made its findings public on Monday and cleared Majola of all charges of wrongdoing. They found that he made an “error of judgment” by not disclosing his bonus to remunerations committee (REMCO), but this was in line with precedents set in past non-CSA events and said they would put processes in place to make sure that all future payments are fully disclosed. They also instructed Majola to pay back R28,169 (US$4,024) for travel costs incurred by his children. Harris, Beggs and van Wyk were among the people who made submissions to the commission.The three claim that they “requested to the see the report before it was made public on several occasions,” according to Harris, but they were not provided with a copy. They have still not seen the report and said they have had to “rely on press reports in regard to the findings and board decisions.” The trio have still not seen the full report but are “dismayed at the press reports of the decision taken” and believe the board was too hasty is letting Majola off the hook.In their statement, the three claim that REMCO paid bonuses to staff, including Majola, in excess of the guidelines in 2009 and 2010 because the body had hosted the IPL and Champions Trophy. These bonuses went through the board and were considered to be CSA bonuses. The event bonuses which were paid independently and were paid by the IPL and International Cricket Council were not disclosed . Harris said this was a “duplication” of the money the board had already allocated to be paid as bonuses.He claims that the money from the IPL and ICC “belongs” to CSA and could have been used to “develop the game at grassroots level rather than … go into the pockets of executives who had already been adequately compensated.” Harris believes the board’s affiliates could have benefitted from the money and had the remunerations committee known the extent of the event bonuses, they would “never have authorised them”.CSA insisted that it distributed the bonuses according to precedents set during other ICC events, particularly the World Twenty20 in 2007. Harris said he was surprised to hear such a precedent existed. “I was always under the impression that bonuses were distributed from money that belonged to CSA and it was a complete surprise to me to hear that some money bypassed the system.” Harris, who is also the chief executive of First Rand Bank, believes that if needs be, the 2007 money should also be investigated.Both the 2007 and 2009 payments took place under the watch of Harris, Beggs and van Wyk, but they have only mentioned the 2009 payments in their statement, presumably because of the controversy surrounding it. They said that they consider themselves to be “legally accountable” for what happened and will consider their options once they have seen the report. Harris, Beggs and van Wyk were voted off the board at CSA’s annual general meeting in August.

England have one hand on the Ashes after Graeme Swann bowled them to victory with a five-wicket haul in Adelaide, where neither rain nor the lower order could save Australia on the fifth morning

The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale07-Dec-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Anderson and Steven Finn combined for the first breakthrough, the big wicket of Michael Hussey•Getty Images

England have one hand on the Ashes after Graeme Swann bowled them to victory with a five-wicket haul in Adelaide, where neither rain nor the lower order could save Australia on the fifth morning. The significance of the win cannot be underestimated, as it gives England a 1-0 advantage heading in to the third Test in Perth, which starts in a week and a half.The triumph came when Swann turned a ball through the gate to bowl Peter Siddle, completing his five-for and confirming the margin of an innings and 71 runs. It was a devastating morning for Australia, who began the day hopeful that they could survive for a draw with six wickets in hand, but it took England less than 90 minutes to skittle the remaining Australians.Last time England took a series lead in Australia, it was 1986-87, and they did not give it away. And as the holders of the urn, Andrew Strauss and his men will retain the Ashes unless Australia can win at least two of the remaining three Tests, a monumental task given that they have now gone five Tests without tasting victory, stretching back to the series against Pakistan in England.There will be changes for both teams at the WACA, with England forced to look to Chris Tremlett or Tim Bresnan, due to a series-ending abdominal injury to Stuart Broad. Australia will have to find a new opener as Simon Katich’s Achilles tendon problem has ruled him out of the rest of the series, while Xavier Doherty and Marcus North will also face a nervous wait to see if they keep their places.North could have saved his position by salvaging a draw for Australia on the final day, but he was one of the wickets to fall cheaply as England wrapped up the contest before lunch. The visitors knew a thunderstorm was expected later in the afternoon, and after they made the initial breakthrough by getting rid of the established Michael Hussey for 52, they tightened the noose on Australia’s lower order.Hussey and North resumed at 4 for 238 after the loss of Michael Clarke from the last ball of play on Monday, and it took only six overs for England to get a sniff of victory. Hussey was dropped by Matt Prior off the bowling of Swann but didn’t survive a second chance when he top-edged a pull off Steven Finn and was comfortably taken at midwicket by James Anderson.There was a roar from Anderson as soon as he had the ball safely in his hands, knowing that the in-form Hussey was big breakthrough England required. Brad Haddin followed soon afterwards for 12 when he edged behind off Anderson, and England were in to Australia’s long tail, with North carrying the home team’s slim hopes at the other end.Anderson quickly found himself on a hat-trick when Ryan Harris made unwanted history by completing a king pair, leaving a ball that swung back in and struck him in line with the stumps. Out of desperation more than belief, Harris asked for a review, but there was no way he was going to be saved, and neither were Australia.There was no hat-trick for Anderson when he began his next over but he didn’t really mind, as in the meantime Swann had removed North, the last of Australia’s specialist batsmen, for 22. This time the review system did overturn a decision; Tony Hill gave North not out as he came forward with bat and pad close together, Swann wanted a referral, and the replays showed it was pad first, hitting the stumps, and a potentially career-busting blow for North.Swann bowled outstandingly on the final day, and deserved his 5 for 91. In the absence of Broad for much of the innings, he sent down 41.1 overs, and collected the final two wickets when he sneaked the ball under the bat of Doherty for 5 and then finished off Siddle.And it all happened under the most perfect, sunny skies. If Australia were hoping for storms, their prayers were not answered. In truth, they never recovered from the hurricane that struck on the first morning when they were 3 for 2. And now, England need only one more victory to retain the Ashes.