All posts by csb10.top

Netherlands captain Peter Borren has his sights set on victory ahead of the ICC World Cricket League Division One from July 1 to 10. Having finished third both in 2007 in Nairobi and in 2009 in South Africa, his side is eager to go all the way, especially so being the hosts.”Things like the development of the side and preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 can be put on a hold for the time being,” Borren said. “The immediate task is to play and perform in the most important and competitive tournament featuring the top Associate and Affiliate sides. It is imperative for us to not only do well but win it. I’ll be extremely disappointed if we don’t win this tournament.”It is a great opportunity for us to play in this tournament where every match is an ODI. We need to make optimum use of this great opportunity and give a good account of ourselves,” he said.Netherlands have a strong ODI record against Associates, and go into the tournament on a high, following the six-wicket victory against Scotland in Rotterdam last Tuesday. “We have a very settled side in one-day cricket and we’ve been gelling very nicely as a team. We’ve always done reasonably well in ICC events against the other top Associates so I think we’ll be very competitive, especially considering we’ll have home advantage,” Borren said.His side have some injury woes to deal with since they will be without top players like Ryan ten Doeschate, Edgar Schiferli and Daan van Bunge, while Alex Kervezee will not be around for the initial part of the tournament. Borren acknowledged that these players were “hard to replace”.”I realise we will be without some of our star performers due to injuries or other commitments. I also understand that experience is difficult to replace but we have players in our ranks who have the required skills and talent to deliver the goods at this level. We have played without these players recently and have enjoyed some success which has been excellent for the confidence of the younger players,” he said.Schiferli has been out of action with a knee injury since the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates, while ten Doeschate picked up an injury while playing for Essex in the English County Championships. van Bunge is not available due to work commitments and Kervezee is tied up with his commitments Worcestershire commitments.”Kervezee has commitments with his clubs in England. Look, the players have shown a lot of commitment to Dutch cricket and we’d just love to have them. But as an Associate Member, you can’t have everything. You need to live with these facts and the reality is Kervezee will only be available for a maximum of two matches.”The younger players have shown a lot of potential, especially Mark Jonkman who has blossomed under the wing of Schiferli and is now ready to stamp his mark at the bigger stage. He is fast and keeps coming back at the batsmen. He is an excellent bowler in the death overs. As far as I’m concerned, he is the one to watch out for in this tournament,” Borren said.Borren believed his side was well-prepared for the tournament. “We have been playing a lot of limited-overs cricket this season with our involvement in the Clydesdale Bank Pro40 competition in England and this has really helped us.”We have been playing pretty well in that – we beat Derbyshire and we should have won a couple of other games too but we couldn’t quite get over the line. We hadn’t played in an English competition for years and we saw how much it did for cricket in Ireland and Scotland so it’s great to be involved in that. I think all this has been good preparation for the World Cricket League.”Borren however was quick to acknowledge that it will be a keenly contested tournament. “Ireland has done well over the years at this level while Afghanistan is another dangerous side. However, I think all the sides will start on an even keel as they are all evenly matched. I think it will boil down to the fact which side adjusts quickly to the conditions, handles the pressure, plays to its strengths and converts the opportunities.”He also refused to make much out of his side’s home advantage. “It can be a double-edged sword. While you’re best placed to understand the weather and your knowledge about the pitches and their characters are second to none, on the other side of the coin when you’re playing at home there are so many things that are running in your mind like work commitments which can easily distract you.”Squad: Peter Borren (capt), Tom de Grooth, Mark Jonkman, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Adeel Raja, Maurits Jonkman, Muhammad Kashif, Alex Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Nicolas Statham, Bas Zuiderent.

Match Facts

Friday, June 18, 2010
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)
How long will Mohammad Ashraful continue to waste his opportunities?•Associated Press

The Big Picture

Don’t say it aloud. Just whisper. You don’t want to scare a Bangladesh fan. What if Tamim Iqbal’s form runs out? Or worse what if he is dragged down by the mediocrity that surrounds him? It’s the scariest thought for a Bangladesh fan. They are used to unanswerable questions though. Sample these: How long will Mohammad Ashraful continue to waste his opportunities? How long will Bangladesh continue to squander good starts? When will the captain Shakib Al Hasan temper his batting approach? Is Mahmudullah already taking a back step when he should have built on his strengths that he showed when India toured Bangladesh? Has Mushfiqur Rahim joined the rest in flattering to deceive?Shakib knows where the problem lies: “We played well as individuals but not as a team… put team performances together, only then can we win some games.” Is it a matter of skill? Is it a matter of passion? On their best day, Bangladeshi players seem to posses both in ample measure: they can stun and woo you with their brand of play but their their best days don’t come often enough. Or is it a matter of blind expectations? Should we accept their mediocrity as a fact and move on? Surely not. Take that first game against India. 81 for 1 to 167 all out. Surely, Shakib, Rahim, Mahmudulah, Ashraful, and Naeem Islam can do better than that? Of course if it was just one bad day, there wouldn’t be any problem but this is the pattern now. You can almost hear the dirge once the openers fall. Will they stop the rot and begin the change against Sri Lanka?Sri Lanka seems to have just one problem: Chamara Kapugedera. An average of 21.66 from 74 games reeks of underperformance. The beauty is that no one in the Sri Lankan cricketing fraternity doubts his talent. six against Brett Lee, and that six off the last ball against India in the World Twenty20 will be mentioned but the fact of the matter is that many new players are gunning for his spot. It was Thillina Kandamby for a while but he too couldn’t hold his spot. However the young Dinesh Chandimal has already done what Kapugedera couldn’t: get an ODI ton. This Asia Cup might be the last great chance for Kapugedera.

Form guide (most recent first)

Bangladesh LLLLL
Sri Lanka WWLWW

Watch out for…

Mushfiqur Rahim is the pluckiest cricketer in Bangladesh. Tamim has the more audacious talent, Shakib the captaincy, Mashrafe the aura but it’s young, diminutive and talkative Rahim that is the life and soul of the team. He is not entirely dissimilar to Tatendu Taibu and has the skill to be a pretty handy no. 4 batsman. Will he make that spot his own?Farveez Maharoof bowled just couple of bad deliveries against Pakistan. Both came in his first over. He very quickly learnt that short of length was the region to bowl and did exactly that. On these pitches he should be a pretty handy bowler. With a short cover and short midwicket prowling, he can force a batsman to drive early. He is the bowler in this current line-up that the opposition are most likely to attack, and he has the ability to make them pay for the arrogance.

Team news

Despite the meek showing against India, Bangladesh are unlikely to change their eleven going into their second game. Sri Lanka ticked in perfect harmony against Pakistan and could look to retain their combination. Kandamby will hope to get a chance at the expense of Thilan Samaraweera or Kapugedera.Bangladesh (possible) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Mohammad Ashraful, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Naeem Islam, 8 Shafiul Islam, 9 Rubel Hossain, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza, 11 Syed RaselSri Lanka (possible) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Chamara Kapugedera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have won 26 of their 28 games against Bangladesh. The two losses came in Bangladesh. Furthermore, Sri Lanka have won 18 of their 25 games at Dambulla.
• Bangladesh’s best batsman Tamim Iqbal averages just 19 .80 from 10 games against Sri Lanka. The strike rate is also poor at 63.50 and he has just hit one fifty.
  

  Quotes

  “In the first 10 overs we played really well, but it needs to be continued with our middle order batsmen.”
  

Match Facts

Saturday, May 22, Start time 1530 (1930 GMT)
Sunday, May 23, Start time 1200 (1600 GMT)
Can Mahela Jayawardene win new fans with his methods that are far removed from what the USA expects from its baseball hitters?•AFP

The Big Picture

It is tempting to look at these matches – two Twenty20 internationals between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, being played in the USA – as precisely the reason why tournaments like IPL prosper. Twenty20 is the best vehicle for the globalisation of the game, which somehow – rightly or wrongly – seems to be a big concern for the administrators. The ICC sees the USA, with a team full of Asians and a country boasting enough immigrants to constitute a crowd for a match, as a prospective market. Since the two teams had been to the Caribbean, why not have them stop over on their way back.Yet, on another level, there is much to suggest that this series is yet another example of the ICC sanctioning an ill-timed series, one without context. It hasn’t been even a week since the end of the World Twenty20, and the fatigue, even for the slam-bang format, was evident among the audience during the bilateral series earlier this week between West Indies and South Africa. It would have been foolish to expect anything but in the first place: there is only so much Twenty20 people can take.In any event, it is going to be a huge weekend for cricket in the USA, especially as a venue. Already the series has been cut short because of poor floodlighting. It is the first time two Test teams are playing in America, and how the matches go from an organisational point of view will have a bearing on the future of international cricket in the USA.There has also been concern over whether New Zealand and Sri Lanka, small countries with small diaspora, will be able to attract enough supporters, leave alone taking the game to the natives, which should be the real aim. The onus will be on the teams to play attractive cricket; it is not easy to make a pitching-obsessed nation fall in love with bowling. They can’t turn up jaded, like West Indies and South Africa did, three days after the World Twenty20 final.

Form guide (most recent first)

New Zealand LWLWW
Sri Lanka LWLWW

Watch out for…

Mahela Jayawardene and Daniel Vettori are the complete antitheses of hitters and pitchers from baseball. If they are both at their best, who knows the Americans might just see the light.
The pitch and conditions are a complete unknown. “There’s a New Zealand groundsman here looking after it [the pitch] and preparing it,” said Ross Taylor. “To be honest, we don’t really know what to expect.” Isolated thunderstorms are also forecast for the weekend.

Team news

Between the World Twenty20 and now, New Zealand have lost Jesse Ryder to another injury, and Shane Bond for good. Gareth Hopkins has a knee injury so Brendon McCullum is likely to keep wicket, while offspinning allrounder Rob Nicol is set to make his debut.New Zealand (possible): 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Aaron Redmond, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt.), 8 Rob Nicol , 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Ian Butler, 11 Andy McKay.Sri Lanka should retain their combination from the World Twenty20 before Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya take a break.
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Mahela Jayawardene 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt. & wk), 4 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 5 Chamara Kapugedera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Chinthaka Jayasinghe, 8 Thissara Perera, 9 Suraj Randiv, 10 Thilan Thushara, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Stats and trivia

• Brendon McCullum, at 1081, is the highest run-getter in T20Is. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, with 743 and 711 runs, are numbers four and five on the list.
• New Zealand have won four out of their seven games against Sri Lanka, including their latest victory in the World Twenty20.
  

  Quotes

  “Miami is a new place for all of us. Most of the guys haven’t been to the States. We’ve had a look around, went to a baseball game. It’s something different, going out of your routine of playing against top nations in venues you’re quite familiar with. It will be good fun.”
  
  “We’ve been waiting a long time for this. This is part of what we’ve been calling Destination USA. We took, with the board’s help, a view to try and bring in the best teams in the world and show that the United States is open for business as far as cricket is concerned.”

ScorecardVikram Solanki’s silky hundred rescued Worcestershire from a tricky position•PA Photos

A third-wicket partnership of 223 between Vikram Solanki and Moeen Ali saw Worcestershire recover well from the shock of losing both openers without scoring on the second day of their County Championship match against Surrey at Whitgift School.Facing an intimidating Surrey total of 493 in the Division Two encounter, Worcestershire started poorly when Andre Nel claimed Daryl Mitchell leg before in his first over and Iftikhar Anjum had Phil Jaques caught behind in his second.But Solanki and Moeen countered with a century apiece before Worcestershire closed on 262 for 3, 122 runs behind. The pitch was remarkably dry for April and the ball was turning for Gareth Batty and Chris Schofield, two former England spinners, but Solanki, still one of the best batsmen in county cricket at 34, and Moeen, the former England Under-19 captain, did not allow them to dominate.Solanki greeted both spinners by hitting them for four and six in their first overs and on one occasion Moeen hit Schofield for eight – a six over long-on and two penalty runs for a no ball.Solanki had a fright on 94 when he gave Schofield a return catch off another no ball but was the first to his hundred off 153 balls with four sixes and 12 fours. He had made 114 when he was bowled pushing forward to a ball from Nel that seemed to nip back at him.Moeen reached his century off 179 balls with two sixes and 14 fours and was still there on 122 at the close. Their partnership was a record for Worcestershire’s third wicket against Surrey, beating the 165 set by Solanki and Ben Smith at New Road in 2007.Surrey had started the day on 415 for 6 but lost Schofield in the second over without addition to their score when he drove Richard Jones to Moeen at cover point. Steve Davies, playing against his former county, added 18 to his overnight 119 before skying Moeen to mid-wicket where he was well caught by Alan Richardson running round from mid-on. He had scored his 137 off 200 balls with a six and 16 fours.There were more useful runs from Nel until he was run out by Solanki’s direct hit from mid-off and Iftikhar before he holed out to mid-on off Moeen .

Match facts

Chennai v Punjab in Chennai
Sunday, March 21
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

Big picture

Kings XI Punjab will be wary of Matthew Hayden and his Mongoose which wreaked havoc against Delhi•Indian Premier League

Kings XI Punjab’s horror start to the IPL, continued on Friday when they were defeated by a team they had never lost to before. Kumar Sangakkara would love to set the balance right on Sunday by winning against a team they have never beaten.Punjab may have lost all three matches so far, but none of them have been knock-outs. They will also take heart from the performance of fellow strugglers Rajasthan Royals, who shrugged off their long injury-list to get the better of Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad on Saturday.Punjab’s opponents, Chennai Super Kings, are again going to miss their star player and regular captain, MS Dhoni, but are high on confidence after two impressive wins in a row. Their home fans will also be eager to see the Mongoose bat which Matthew Hayden used to such brutal effect in the victory over the fancied Delhi Daredevils. That win featured the first significant batting performances from Hayden and stand-in captain Suresh Raina, their two most important batsmen along with Dhoni.However, Chennai’s bowling, with the exception of the accurate Muttiah Muralitharan, remains a source of worry – they have conceded 185 or more twice in three matches.

Team talk

Chennai’s batting wears a settled look, and they are likely to go with the same top seven they played against Delhi. The only major selection headache for the Chennai think-tank is which of the Indian seamers should partner L Balaji – Sudeep Taygi, Manpreet Gony and Joginder Sharma have all got a game each without inspiring confidence.Punjab will have to decide whether they want to pick four overseas batsmen again, or whether to choose one of the South African fast bowling pair of Yusuf Abdulla and Rusty Theron, especially after Sreesanth’s two horror matches, where his seven overs have leaked 93 runs. If they stick with the four foreign batsmen policy, medium-pacer Love Ablish, who had a solid domestic season, is a potential starter.

Previously…

Chennai 5 Punjab 0
Chennai have won all five previous encounters between the two sides, including the semi-final of the first season in Mumbai. Most of Chennai’s batsmen have had at least one good game against Punjab: in the first game the two teams played in the IPL, Michael Hussey’s century overpowered Punjab, in the next it was 60s from Subramanian Badrinath and Dhoni, and Raina’s brisk half-century finished off the semi-finals early. Hayden bludgeoned 89 in the first encounter in 2009, and Parthiv Patel top-scored with 32 in a low-scoring skirmish the last time the teams met.

In the spotlight

Yuvraj Singh’s return from injury hasn’t quite gone to plan, failing to get into double-digits in each of his three innings so far. A return to form is vital for Punjab’s most imposing batsman.Chennai’s fielding was one of the factors in their win over Delhi Daredevils – Justin Kemp’s one-handed effort ended Virender Sehwag’s onslaught, and Raina held a couple of smart ones to send back two other dangerous batsmen – Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers.

Prime numbers

• Yuvraj may not have contributed with the bat, but he is Punjab’s most economical bowler this season, giving away only 5.55 runs each over
• Suresh Raina is third on the list of most sixes hit in the IPL, behind only Adam Gilchrist and Yusuf Pathan

Chatter

“I am surely happy on winning two games. But there are another eleven matches to go. We have experienced that one can go in superb form and suddenly lose the momentum.”

“We executed our plans on the field well but it was the first six overs that cost us the match… Hopefully we can turn around the results in the next games. The guys are working very hard.”

Kamran Akmal and Aizaz Cheema starred with bat and ball respectively to help Lahore Lions sink Quetta Bears in the opening fixture of the RBS Twenty20 at the National Stadium in Karachi. Kamran made 68 in Lahore’s 196 but Quetta’s response was so meek, they failed to reach 100. An opening stand of 44 was the launchpad for Kamran and his brother Umar Akmal to shape a stand of 62 for the third wicket. Kamran added 38 with Kashif Siddique and remained unbeaten, hitting eight fours and a six in his knock. Cheema, the right-arm seamer, sliced through the top order to leave Quetta reeling at 24 for 6. They never recovered from that position, limping to 91 for 9. Cheema finished with 4 for 17.The day-night fixture at the same venue was a closer affair, with Multan Tigers beating Peshawar Panthers by 22 runs. It was a commendable fightback by Multan after they were reduced to 23 for 4, recovering to 146. Jannisar Khan did the early damage for Peshawar, before the lower order led the fightback. The 58-run stand for the seventh wicket between Naved Yasin and Mohammad Hafeez was the best of the innings. Yasin top scored with 35 while Hafeez remained on 32. Peshawar began very confidently with the openers adding 48 before it all went downhill. Hafeez and Zulfiqar Babar (4 for 26) shared the bulk of the wickets to bring Multan back in the game. Israullah scored 48 but after his dismissal, in the 14th over, the match slipped further away from Peshawar and they were ultimately bowled out for 124.

Sialkot Stallions held their nerve in a cliff-hanger to overcome Karachi Zebras by four runs in the final game of the day at the National Stadium. The Zebras were favourites to finish it off as the rampant association between Khurram Manzoor and Faisal Iqbal, which had realised 125 runs in 82 balls, had to knock off 14 off 1.2 overs to finish the game. That was when panic set in, as both batsmen departed to run-outs off consecutive balls to throw away the initiative. Fourteen off six, with two new batsmen at the crease, became five required off the last ball, a task that proved too steep for Akbar-ur-Rehman as the canny Rana Naved-ul-Hasan dismissed him LBW to seal the thriller. The win was earlier set up by a strong batting effort, led from the front by the captain Shoaib Malik, who was risk-free and effective at the same time, striking just three fours in a 44-ball 67. Abdul Razzaq chipped in with a quick 38 as the score swelled to 171, despite the effort of Anwar Ali whose 3 for 24 had kept things quiet at the start. Mohammad Asif did likewise for Stallions, before Manzoor and Faisal nearly spoiled the day for the visitors, but only nearly.

Faisalabad Wolves opener Mohammad Hafeez picked the perfect time to smash the first century of the tournament, his 53-ball 100 sinking Lahore Lions in the semi-finals at the National Stadium. Hafeez’s effort was the cornerstone of Faisalabad’s 211, the first 200-plus total of the competition, which proved 45 runs too many for Lahore.After being sent in, Hafeez plundered 117 runs with Asif Hussain at 10-an-over to drive Faisalabad towards a big score. It was Hussain who was the aggressor in the early overs, before Hafeez opened out. There was no let-up in the momentum even when Hussain fell for a 34-ball 54 in the 12th over – the next over, from Waqas Ahmed, was the most expensive of the innings, Hafeez blasting a six and three fours to take 20 runs. Hafeez was dismissed in the 17th over, after crashing 16 fours and two sixes, with the score at 176, after which Waqas Ali’s cameo made sure Faisalabad crossed 200.Lahore didn’t wilt in the face of the big target, making a spirited start to the chase despite losing Nasir Jamshed early. Salman Butt and the Akmal brothers kept up with the asking-rate but no one besides Butt could sustain the onslaught. The fight went out of Lahore with the loss of Kashif Siddiq and Waqas Ahmed in consecutive overs in the middle of the innings. The asking-rate started to rise and when Butt was dismissed for 59 in the 15th over, the match was all but decided.In the other semi-final, defending champions Sialkot Stallions reached yet another domestic Twenty20 final by edging out Karachi Dolphins by seven runs in what was a rematch of last year’s title clash.It was a game with plenty of twists. Sialkot opener Imran Nazir started the match with two fours off the first two balls, then smacked a six over square leg and a four to midwicket in the second over before retiring hurt with the score at 29 in two overs. After a steady spell, Sialkot lost three wickets in the space of three overs, followed by another burst of hitting, from Shoaib Malik and Nazir, who returned after the fifth over.Sialkot had reached a strong 89 for 3 after ten when Karachi started to reel in the run-rate, with the help of the legspin of Shahid Afridi, who took wickets in three consecutive overs. Malik remained unbeaten on 40 but Sialkot never hit the gear they had in the early part of the innings to finish on a middling 149.The Karachi chase had a bizarre first 12 overs. They reached 82 for 6, but 49 of those runs came in three frenetic overs, while in the rest they struggled to score. Shahzaib Hasan started in a hurry, carting Mohammad Asif’s first over for 18 but Abdul Razzaq struck twice in the second over to check the scoring. Asif then took two wickets of his own in the third over and Karachi were down to 22 for 4.Afridi didn’t bother about the wickets lost, belting three fours and two sixes before top-edging a catch to cover to fall for a 11-ball 29. The required-rate was less than seven at that stage, so Fawad Alam and Sheharyar Ghani sensibly went about accumulating the runs in singles and twos.After Ghani was dismissed in the 12th over, Fawad brought the required-rate back under control by crashing a six and a four off two free-hits in a Abdur Rehman over. His exit in the 15th over, to a superb diving catch from Shahid Yousuf at short midwicket, turned the game but Karachi managed to take it to a stage where the last pair needed 19 off two overs.When Mohammad Sami took eight off the first three balls from Naved-ul-Hasan, the match could have tilted either way, but he was run out off the next delivery to send Sialkot through to the final.

Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports has asked for an explanation from security officials over the delay in the release of a report on the terror attack on Sri Lanka’s cricketers in March last year. However, a senior federal government official told the panel that the government had yet to receive a report on the incident from the provincial authorities.The report was compiled by a judicial commission last year and was supposed to be submitted to the parliamentary committee by the Punjab government by September. “On numerous occasions we demanded a copy of the report but have not received any from the Punjab government,” Ismail Qureshi, the official, told the committee.The Sri Lankan team was on its way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the third day’s play in the second Test, when terrorists opened fire at their bus, killing six policemen and two civilians, and injuring six team members and reserve umpire Ahsan Raza. The attacks forced the Sri Lankan government to recall its team, and in the aftermath, Pakistan lost the right to host the 2009 Champions Trophy and its share of 2011 World Cup matches.Parliamentary sports committee chief Jamshed Dasti informed the chief secretary of Punjab, and the inspector general of its provincial police had been summoned to appear before his committee later this month.The committee also recommended that all PCB accounts should be kept with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) – a move that would help in checking the PCB’s financial autonomy, which has been a concern. It believed that the federal government would then be able to plug any financial irregularities which have damaged the reputation of the board.”Keeping the accounts with so many private banks will not resolve the financial issues of the board,” Dasti said. “The only solution which all the members have agreed with is to keep the keys with the SBP.”The committee also discussed the team’s dismal performance in Australia recently, the IPL fiasco as well as former captain Javed Miandad’s dispute with the board. Ijaz Butt, the PCB chief, also came under severe criticism for not running PCB affairs properly.

On a day when the young Mahmudullah experienced the special joy of his successful baby steps in Test cricket, another young man sighed in relief thinking about his past. Ishant Sharma has been through tough times and though only the upcoming home series against South Africa will offer the real evidence of his escape from the hellhole, he reckons he is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”I had never seen such hard times in my life,” Ishant said about those dark days when he lost form and his critics found their voice. “It was a really big challenge and I was so desperate to perform at that time. Nothing was working. Before that, for two to three years, I was just going up, up and up.” And then he crash landed.Last year, he only picked 10 wickets from four Tests at an average of 46.90, and let’s not even talk about his horrors in ODIs. In his last Test, before this series, he leaked 135 runs from 35 overs. He was overlooked for Sreesanth in the next Test (in Kanpur). Life would have been anything but beautiful.The first fall from success can be the hardest to handle, and Ishant is just 21. Insecurity can make you can feel very alone in those times. However, luckily for Ishant, he was given a shot at a comeback. “I would like to thank the management for giving me chances in the ODIs against Sri Lanka,” he said. “Even I didn’t feel I deserved the spot in those two games. I am really thankful for the confidence and support.”Virender Sehwag was the captain in both those games, in Cuttack and Kolkata. Ishant’s selection might just not be a coincidence, as he himself said. “I am very thankful to Veeru because he because he had a lot to do with me playing in the first Test [in Chittagong].”Ishant also talked about learning from those dark days. “You needed patience to get out of those times. I have realised that a cricketer has to go through those kinds of patches in his life and it has been a great learning experience for me. It was needed, I guess.”Through this series, one visual has been a recurring theme: Zaheer Khan chatting with Ishant during and at the end of the overs. Ishant said he was really grateful for the words of advice, “Zaheer has been always helpful. He always talks to me, whether I am bowling well or badly, and I am really thankful for such support.” He also responded to a direct question on the contribution of Eric Simons, India’s new bowling consultant. “Till now, it’s going good with him; he has given tips about my wrist position and bowling action.”There has been a definite improvement in the lines he bowled but since it came against a batting line-up which has shown a tendency to self-destruct, the stamp of seal can only come after his battles against South Africa.”I am bowling better, in better rhythm and it has been a very good start to the New Year. It feels good to do well and be confident going into next tough series coming up against South Africa.”

The possibility of the Feroz Shah Kotla being disqualified from hosting the 2011 World Cup remains high after ICC match referee Alan Hurst classified the pitch as “unfit” in his official report to the ICC, which was forwarded to the BCCI. The report was submitted in the aftermath of the abandonment of the fixture between India and Sri Lanka due to a dangerous pitch.The classification is the harshest among the six stated categories – very good, good, above average, below average, poor and unfit. The venue could have got away with a fine had Hurst classified the surface as “poor” but given his most critical assessment, the consequences could be much worse.”This pitch did not meet the requirements for an ODI match,” Hurst is quoted by the as saying in his report. “This meant the players were unsure of what the ball would do. Playing shots was risky because of the unpredictable bounce. However, of more concern was the dangerous bounce that occurred randomly and accounted for batsmen being struck on a number of occasions.”At the other extreme, bounce was often very low. This pitch did not allow players to play with any confidence and was totally unsuitable for international cricket.”The ICC’s latest code of conduct regarding poor pitches states that a first such breach should be met with “a suspension of the venue’s international status for a period of between 12 and 24 months together with a directive for appropriate remedial action and the need for prior ICC re-accreditation as an international venue”.The BCCI has been given 14 days to respond to Hurst’s report. Its reply, in addition to the report, video footage of the abandoned game and other significant documents, will be studied by the ICC’s chief referee Ranjan Madugalle and its cricket operations manager Dave Richardson, who will determine the penalty.In his report, Hurst also enumerated 14 points to chronicle the lead-up to the abandonment. “Early on Saturday morning the fourth umpire Subrat Das went to the ground to check that a number of things were in place. He reported to me that the wicket was quite green in patches, but the Curator had told him that extra rolling during the day would mean that ‘the green would turn to brown’. It was still quite green tinged when the umpires and I did our ground inspection later that afternoon,” he wrote.Hurst recorded that the Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss and manager Brendon Kuruppu approached him at two stages during the game – in the tenth and the 24th over -expressing concern over the behaviour of the pitch. The report noted that play had to be stopped on three occasions — at 9.54am, 10.05am and 10.46am — for Sri Lanka’s batsmen to receive medical treatment after being struck by the ball.Of all the deliveries that bounced excessively or kept low over 23 overs, the umpires estimated that six were outright dangerous. Following complaints by players, the field umpires Shavir Tarapore and Marais Erasmus consulted Hurst, who walked out onto the field and spoke to the two captains, who agreed the pitch was unfit for play.”At the edge of the ground I spoke with President DDCA (Delhi & Districts Cricket Association) Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr Narinder Batra DDCA Treasurer, BCCI Hon Secretary Mr Srinavasan, DDCA Vice-President Mr Chetan Chauhan and other local officials. I was asked whether another prepared pitch on the square could be substituted,” Hurst said. “I went to the square with Mr Chauhan to look at the option, which had been partially prepared as back-up prior to the game. Although reasonably hard, it was quite heavily, but unevenly grassed. In keeping with the Playing Conditions, I then spoke with the Captains about this option. Both gave emphatic negatives.”Following the embarrassment, and facing the prospect of a dire penalty, the BCCI, in an act of damage control, moved quickly to dissolve its grounds and pitches committee. The DDCA pitch panel members resigned soon after, but any moves to rectify the situation may have come too late.The ICC had warned the DDCA in November about the condition of the pitch and said it required “considerable improvement” before hosting its next fixture. “There is an ODI at this venue on 27th December 2009 and considerable improvement of the pitch block will be required by then to make the pitch provided more acceptable” said the report, a copy of which is with Cricinfo. The inspection was carried out on November 4, three days after third ODI of the India-Australia series.