All posts by csb10.top

Ireland 279 for 3 (Carroll 100, J Bray 89, E Morgan 43) beat Eastern Province XI 219 (Wessels 62, J Smuts 60, T Johnston 4-34, D Langford-Smith 3-39) by 60 runsTwenty-three-year-old Dublin postman Kenny Carroll has given Irish coach Adrian Birrell a selection headache, after the Railway Union opening bat scored a marvellous century in a 60-run win over Eastern Province.The batting disappointment of yesterday was quickly erased as Carroll and Jeremy Bray shared an unbeaten opening stand of 183 in just 34 overs, before both batsmen retired to give the others practice ahead of the World League which gets under way on Monday. Carroll struck 13 fours and one six in his score of 100, while Bray was just a little slower, taking 117 deliveries for his 89, which included 12 fours.The only batsman to be dismissed was Eoin Morgan of Middlesex, who looked in supreme touch in his knock of 43 off just 30 balls. He struck three sixes and the same number of fours being being caught off the bowling of Newton. Northants new signing Niall O’ Brien scored 24 not out, while Andrew White also finished unbeaten on 9, as the Irish racked up a formidable 279 for 3 in their 50 overs.However, Eastern Province set about the total in positive fashion, and thanks to a 104 run stand for the second wicket between Jan Smuts (60), and Rikki Wessels (62), were well placed at 157 for 1 in the 30th over. Ireland’s most capped player, Kyle McCallan made the decisive breakthrough, having Smuts caught by Andy White at backward square leg. When skipper Trent Johnston then had Wessels caught at midwicket, again by White, in the next over, it sparked a dramatic collapse.Johnston took 4 for 34, while Dave Langford-Smith came back well to finish with 3 for 39. The other wicket takers were Boyd Rankin, 2 for 37, and McCallan, 1 for 35 in his 10-over spell. Easter Province finished on 219 all out in the 48th over, giving the Irish a welcome win.Coach Adrian Birrell was delighted with the performance, “We batted superbly, with everyone taking advantage of the fantastic batting conditions on offer. Carroll continues to impress, and I’m delighted for him. It’s the result of hard work put in over the last few years, and his time at the ICC Training Camp has taken his game to a completely new level. It gives me plenty of options both at the top and in the middle of the order.”He also had special praise for both Johnston and McCallan. ” The two guys bowled extremely well at a time when Eastern Province looked like they were getting on top. They tightened things up, applied the pressure, and got their rewards as the run rate increased. The fielding has been sharp, and it’s something I’ve worked on a lot over the winter. I’m hoping for more of the same in the day/night game tomorrow.”

Group A

Test-discard Mohammad Sami took a career-best 8 for 39 as Sialkot were dismissed for 142 in their second-innings thus handing Karachi Whites a 209-run victory at the UBL Sports Complex. Sialkot, who were set 351 to win after a Khalid Latif century, were left limping overnight at 9 for 3 and failed to fare any better on the final morning as wickets fell regularly, bar a 54-run seventh-wicket partnership that took the visitors past the 100-mark. Sami’s pace and accuracy was evident from the fact that three of his victims were bowled, one was dismissed leg-before while three were caught behind.An Ammar Mahmood century and two healthy partnerships ensured hosts Faisalabad drew their match against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) at the Iqbal Stadium. Resuming on 75 for 2, the home side showed no urgency as healthy batting from both sides on the first three days had slid the match towards a draw. Mahmood scored his 106 off 226 deliveries Usman Arshad provided useful assistance with a 123-ball 50 as none of the WAPDA bowlers were able to make an impact on proceedings.Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC) rounded off an impressive nine-wicket win over Hyderabad at theNiaz Stadium as the required target of 156 was easily surpassed thanks mainly to an 104-ball 87 by opener Asif Zakir. A fine 134 by Shahid Qambrani and late-order hitting propelled Hyderabad to 344 in their second-innings after a disastrous start saw them lose their first two wickets for no score. Sohail Khan picked his five second-innings wickets to finish with nine wickets in the match as SSGC needed just under 33 overs to claim nine points.Riding on a mammoth 514 for 9 in their first innings, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) stormed to an innings and 53 runs victory over Multan at the Gymkhana Ground. Requiring another 155 to make NBP bat again after resuming on their overnight 113 for 2, Multan were in trouble regularly as none of their batsmen were able to prolong their stay in the middle. Irfanuddin finished with three wickets while legspinner Mansoor Amjad claimed two to add to his brace in the previous innings.

Group B

Lahore Shalimar survived a few nervous moments towards the end of play as they narrowly held on for a draw against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the Gaddafi Stadium. Facing a massive deficit of 264 after the first-innings, Lahore were left struggling on 73 for 3 overnight and it was left to an unbeaten 129 from Suleman Khan that ensured safety for the home side. Facing 294 deliveries, Suleman shared useful partnerships with Mohammad Hussain and then the tail to ensure it was only bonus points that KRL won in the end.A much-improved performance by the Abbottabad batsmen while following on ensured a draw against hosts Quetta at the Bugti Stadium. Fawad Khan, Rahimbaz Khan and Adnan Raees all made amends for their earlier failures by stroking watchful 70s to ensure the 179-deficit was not only overhauled, but a stiff target could be set during closing stages if a collapse was to occur. However, yet more watchful batting towards the end ensured a panic-free close to the match as Quetta managed three bonus points.A late Rawalpindi collapse saw them lose their last six wickets for eight runs to hand Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) a 94-run victory at the KRL Ground. Placed well for a win at 212 for 4 while chasing 306 for victory, Rawalpindi succumbed to the pace of Imran Ali who finished with 6 for 41 in the innings and nine wickets for the match as Usman Saeed’s 50 and Adnan Mufti’s 45 failed to inspire the Rawalpindi late-order

Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi both struck powerful cameos as Pakistan beat an International XI side in a charity match at The Oval, despite 50 from Sachin Tendulkar. Rain and gloom reduced the Twenty20 clash to a ten-over-a-side encounter but a 20,000-plus crowd were entertained by the glittering array of stars on show and raised £250,000 for survivors of last October’s earthquake in Pakistan.On a wet and gloomy evening in south London, chasing 124, Afridi did what he does best and clobbered the bowling around the park. In the space of just 12 balls, he smashed 41 runs – 22 of which came from his first four balls. The unlucky victim was Zaheer Khan who, bowling in near darkness, was hit for three sixes and a four in typically violent manner.Inzamam then finished off Afridi’s work with a pugnacious 36 as Pakistan, needing 18 off the last over, sneaked home off the penultimate ball.Earlier, Tendulkar and Brian Lara put on 72 for the first wicket with Tendulkar bringing up his 50 from 26 balls with eight fours and a six. He might have been facing bowlers of international experience for the first time in close to four months but there was little to suggest any sort of discomfort. He fetched boundaries off three powerful pull shots – two fours against Shahid Nazir and a huge six off Waqar Younis – and appeared to have his shoulder worries under control.The free-flowing delight of Lara and Tendulkar was soon overshadowed by some brutal hitting from Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Not only did he crunch 35 from 13 balls, unleashing his characteristic hoicks, but also added to Pakistan’s woes in the bowling department. With Rana Naved-ul-Hasan ruled out of the series and Mohammad Asif doubtful for the first Test, starting in Lord’s on July 13, the last thing Pakistan would have wanted is a further denting of their bowlers’ confidence.Mohammad Sami was nowhere close to his best; Umar Gul, bowling with a high-arm action, got only one over; Shahid Nazir was carted to various corners and Abdul Razzaq , on today’s performance at least, won’t be sending too many shivers down too many batsmen’s spines.Of course, it was just a charity match; of course, the bowlers weren’t stretching themselves; and of course, it didn’t even matter to the eventual result. When you have a monster hitter like Afridi in your ranks, why sweat over minor trifles like your pace-bowling attack?

Magic ball
Abdur Rehman may have bowled many good deliveries in his career but probably none better than the one with which he dismissed AB de Villiers. Rehman came round the wicket and looped one that landed outside the leg stump. As de Villiers leant forward, hoping to play against the spin, the ball turned sharply and evaded his turning bat to peg back off stump. Unaware of what had happened, de Villiers lunged back towards the crease. As Rehman celebrated wildly, the dismissal brought to mind how Herschelle Gibbs was outdone by Shane Warne in the 1999 World Cup semi-final.Curse of the Twenty20s
As Mohammad Hafeez strode out to open the innings, a mammoth target of 424 welcomed him on the new scoreboard. The words patience and concentration would have been drilled into him in the dressing room. But as Dale Steyn fired in a wide delivery in the second over, Hafeez played a loose shot – something between a drive and a cut – and only managed to drag it back on to his stumps. Hafeez may still be in Twenty20 mode, as a lot of Pakistan batsmen are, but it was still an awful dab of the bat and completed a disappointing match for the allrounder.Seize of the day
Salman Butt, the other opener, had a point to prove in the match after failures in the recent past. He stuck around for 14 deliveries and was unlucky to be dismissed when an inside edge off his pad made its way to short leg. Hashim Amla, out of nowhere,yanked out his right hand and about managed to slide his fingers under the ball before it touched the grass. The decision was referred to the third umpire and was upheld.A change of gears and hands
With Paul Harris spinning the ball and troubling the batsmen, Graeme Smithdecided to bring himself into the attack to add pressure. He bowled a good first overas Younis Khan only managed a flick to fine leg. In Smith’s next, however,Younis targeted the third-man boundary. Down on one knee, Younis reverse-swept two consecutive over-pitched deliveries for fours and forced a change in the field. As Smith held back the line of the next delivery, Younis charged down for a mighty six over midwicket. Smith was not seen at the bowling crease again.

Pakistan 78 for 2 beat New Zealand 77 (Anwar Ali 5-34) by eight wickets
ScorecardZimbabwe captain Sean Williams said before the tournament he was targeting England as a must-win game and he led from the front as his side secured a two-wicket win that ensured they topped Group D.They now face holders Pakistan in the quarter-finals while England have an equally daunting task against Bangladesh. Williams’ 3 for 35 was crucial as spin again dominated, and Zimbabwe knocked over England for 172 and then chased down the score for the loss of eight wickets with 2.5 overs in hand.”I feel relieved after what I said beforehand,” Williams said. “I am also very proud of my players because we stuck to our plans, worked hard and got our rewards.” That plan involved spin, spin and more spin as Williams used four slow bowlers, including himself, to get through 34.5 overs between them. And in the face of that trial by spin England were found wanting.They did reach 157 for 4 at one point but the pressure exerted by the spinners and the need to press on in the later stages of the innings prompted a collapse as their last six wickets tumbled for just 15 runs.The Zimbabwe spin quartet was led by Williams, who dismissed Rob Woodman (6), Rory Hamilton-Brown (47) and last man Andy Miller (4), but the other spinners – all of them legbreak bowlers – also played their parts. Ryan Higgins (2 for 33) picked up the important top-order wickets of Varun Chopra (31) and Ali (19) while Gary Balance (who bowled the last over in the win against Nepal) took 3 for 21. Balance mopped up the tail while Graeme Cremer, although wicketless, did an effective job of containment, conceding just 28 runs in his ten-over spell. Chopra and Hamilton-Brown were the only England batsmen to pass 30, although Ben Wright chipped in with a useful 27.”The pitch was one where the slower you bowled it the harder it was to hit so I told Gary (Balance) to slow things down,” said Williams. “It was important for us to top the group but now we have a tough game against Pakistan. They will be out to prove a point but maybe they will be complacent and we hope to use that against them.”Balance followed up his bowling exploits with a timely contribution with the bat. While wickets were tumbling around him he dug in to make a crucial 47 batting at No. 3 and pulled his side around from a precarious 29 for 3. Despite Balance’s Man-of-the-Match effort England were still favourites when they took Zimbabwe’s seventh wicket with 65 required but Cremer (29) and `Chamu’ Chibhabha, with a nerveless unbeaten 29, saw their side through that sticky period.England’s spinners were also excellent, with Graeme White (0 for 24), Nick James (2 for 25) and Ali (2 for 29) all impressing and pace bowler Andy Miller (2 for 28) also looking good early on.But in the end they did not have enough runs to play with. “The batting let us down again today,” said Ali afterwards. “Their spinners bowled really well but we did not play them all that well. The positive is that it is good to get a game like that out of our system.”England’s next opponents Bangladesh gave them a torrid time on a tour there in November and December and England returned home from that trip without winning a match. “All we can do is to go out there and give it everything and maybe Bangladesh might underestimate us. In some ways it was good to play like we did today because we can learn from that when we play tomorrow,” added Ali.England were without opener Mark Stoneman and seam bowler Huw Waters, both of them suffering from stomach upsets.

Adam Gilchrist, Australia’s most successful one-day opening batsman, is expected to be demoted to No. 7 when he returns to the side from a short holiday next week. The reports Trevor Hohns’ selection panel, which wants a stable combination before next year’s World Cup, has decided on the move after Gilchrist’s disappointing returns this summer.Gilchrist was slotted in at the top of the order on a Steve Waugh hunch in 1997-98 and since then he has blasted 7147 runs in 201 matches. However, he has struggled after the three Super Series games and scored only 24 runs in his past five matches, including a first-ball duck in Sunday’s loss to South Africa. However, Hohns said on Sydney radio he had no plans to shuffle Gilchrist down the line-up, and Ricky Ponting defended his team-mate.Brad Haddin will replace the resting Gilchirst when Australia face South Africa in Melbourne on Friday and Sri Lanka in Sydney on Sunday. The paper reported the selectors were keen to ease Gilchrist’s load and ensure stronger starts from the opening pair than during the VB and Chappell-Hadlee series. The candidates for Gilchrist’s opening spot alongside Simon Katich, who will miss Friday’s game against South Africa with a groin injury, include Michael Clarke, Damien Martyn and Michael Hussey. Martyn was given the first chance to cement a spot when he was named alongside Phil Jaques for the clash at the Telstra Dome.Another opener in need of runs is Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain who has not posted an international half-century on the tour. Smith, who was unlucky to be given out lbw for 3 in Tuesday’s loss to Sri Lanka, said it was important for the senior players to make contributions after the tour-ending injuries of Kallis, Nel and Ntini.”We’ve got a lot of young guys around and the guys who have been around for a little bit need to take a lot more weight on their shoulders,” he said in . “That includes me. It’s important for me to stand up and get performances.”

Bennett King, the West Indies coach, has brought a change in one vital area of his team’s game: fielding. King knows the importance of saving every run and never misses the opportunity to stress the importance that fact to his boys.On the eve of his team’s third game in the IndianOil tri-series in Dambulla, King was rounding off the practice session with the fielding drills. Hitting the ball low, he made the players dive forward to take the catches. Tino Best, always the livewire was in his own world when he failed to stop the ball and didn’t even attempt to show any intention to bend or dive forward. An infuriated King, unimpressed, shouted at the staring Best, “You can’t dive. Does that mean you will allow a four on the ground?” A man never short for words, this time Best was speechless. The arrogant pupil had been rapped on his knuckles and for the rest of the session an attentive Best made sure not to commit any further mistakes.King’s discipline was bearing fruits. It was seen on Saturday evening when the Windies fielders threw themselves at everything and managed to overwhelm the favourites Sri Lanka in the end. Omari Banks, though he dropped two catches, agreed that King’s fielding lessons were good. “Bennett has been working hard on the fielding aspect and expects us to give our best when we go out field so its good to see that the guys showed the same courage and commitment we show during practice.”Despite not having their regular captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul while defending their target, the young Caribbeans, led by their stand-in skipper Sylvester Joseph, showed enough passion to keep the pressure lid tight over the Lankans. The result was their first victory on this tour of Sri Lanka and also the first in the tri-series. This was a much-needed win for the depleted Caribbean side who had lost most of its top players in the endorsement imbroglio.Joseph, who top-scored for the Windies with 58 thought the people in the Caribbean would be happy for the efforts put into this victory. “It means a lot. We had been struggling with the top order throughout the tour. Our bowlers were doing the job but we were failing with the bat and we didn’t stick to our plan and didn’t have wickets in the end. We applied ourselves and it worked.”With the absence of the regular stars, people like Joseph knew they had enough opportunities to prove their worth. But time and again they fell way short of the mark. “The situation is very difficult when you play a second-string team and your top players, who have been doing well for the past few years, are not around and we miss them. But it is an opportunity for us to show that we are capable and we have shown that we have the potential and we continue to work hard we can become a good team to reckon with.”Joseph believed the change in the batting order was one of the most important catalysts in the top order clicking. West Indies top order had failed throughout this series, but today Chanderpaul opened the innings with Joseph and provided the much-required stability his young partners wanted. It worked. “He took control and took charge and we needed someone up there to really stick it out and he did that.”The Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody also acknowledged Chanderpaul’s contribution. “West Indies batted well early on especially Chanderpaul, though unwell, lead from the front and got the momentum going and the rest of the players got that going. We pulled them back as they were on target for 250 through some good bowling and some good fielding in the latter stages.”Both Moody and Mahela Jayawardene, the stand-in captain, gave credit to the opposition for their hardwork but at the same time felt that the Sri Lankans paid for their mistakes. “We made it difficult with the position we put ourselves into by losing early wickets” was Moody’s verdict while Jayawardene fell. “We were not complacent. West Indies bowled well especially Omari Banks but we created our own pressure by losing too many wickets.”Banks, who finished economically with figures of 2 for 24 in his 10 overs, said, “I was trying to just put the ball in the right areas and try and improve my length.” That effort was enough to earh him his first Man-of-the-Match reward.Alhough none of Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers managed to take a wicket, Moody didn’t seem worried. “The fast bowlers early on and beat the bat regularly and then we just lacked a little bit of consistency so its hard to maintain the pressure early on.” Instead Moody was focussing on the positives of his first loss after taking over as the coach of the Lankan team.”It’s a timely wake-up call. The team has had a successful run in the Tests and the one-dayers up to date and today we played below par. But you can look at it in the positive way. Our batting needs to be looked at, as there is a lot of inconsistency at the top order. If the top order clicks then it means we not relying on some excellent partnerships down the order. In one-day cricket most of the games are won by the top order doing the hard work.”The focus now shifts to the crucial game tomorrow, the last of the league games of the series where West Indies play India. West Indies need to win that match if they have to make the final against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, next week. But they are not looking that far ahead. They just want to carry on today’s good work to tomorrow. “We have worked really hard in the past weeks and it would be fitting if we can go out tomorrow and play positive and try to win to make to the final”, said Joseph who would be wishing that his captain gets back healthy in time for Sunday’s vital game.Chanderpaul suffered a viral infection two days ago, but thought he was fine for the game and so he batted. But his condition worsened and he couldn’t field. Windies’ media manager, Imran Khan, said the team was concerned. “We will monitor the situation through the night and the decision will be taken in the morning. But it’s a concern.”But the Windies can hope for the best and get some encouragement from Moody’s words of praise for them. “The Windies, despite not having their full-strength side, have shown a lot of spirit. A youthful side that shows a lot of spirit carries a lot of weight and that is what we saw this evening.”

Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg will host the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa next year. The 12-nation tournament will be staged between September 21 and 30.Steve Elworthy, the tournament director, announced the three venues – Kingsmead (Durban), Newlands (Cape Town) and Wanderers (Johannesburg) – following a Policy Committee meeting earlier this week. The ICC is due to approve the venues when its executive board meets in Dubai next month. The format, fixtures and the venue for the final will be decided soon.”These are world class venues for what is going to be a world class event,” Elworthy was quoted in a media release. “This will be a wonderful opportunity to showcase South African cricket and South Africa to millions of television viewers around the world.”Earlier, all six Test venues in South Africa had submitted their bids to host the championship and the above venues were chosen based on key requirements.

England’s failure to reclaim the Ashes in a home series for the first time in almost two decades can in part be put down to unhelpful pitches, according to the team’s senior fast bowler James Anderson. While a calf injury limited Anderson’s involvement to bowling just four overs in the first Test at Edgbaston, he suggested that the playing surfaces have better suited Australia’s attack and said local groundsmen might consider being “a little bit more biased” towards England in future.Defeat on Anderson’s home ground of Old Trafford last week left England 2-1 down in the Specsavers Test series and unable to prise back the urn from Australia. While Anderson gave a nod towards Steven Smith for his “phenomenal” batting – in three Test appearances Smith has scored 671 runs, almost twice as many as anyone else – he said England had been disappointed by the pitches served up and that more could be done to exploit home advantage.”I think they’ve probably suited Australia more than us,” he said. “I would have liked to have seen a bit more grass but that’s the nature of the game here. When you’re selling out – like Lancashire selling out five days of Test cricket – it’s hard not to produce a flat deck but, you know, that’s one of the frustrations from a player’s point of view. We go to Australia and get pitches that suit them. They come over here and get pitches that suit them. It doesn’t seem quite right.”I thought they were good pitches here against India [last year]. I thought they weren’t green seamers but I thought they suited us more than India. We as a country don’t use home advantage enough. When you go to Australia, go to India, Sri Lanka, they prepare pitches that suit them. I feel like we could just be a little bit more biased towards our own team.”Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, in particular, have led the way for Australia, taking 24 wickets at 17.41 and 18 at 16.88 respectively – separated only by Stuart Broad (19 at 26.63) for England. It has been a bowlers series in general, with only two Australians (Smith and Marnus Labuschagne) and three Englishmen (Ben Stokes, Rory Burns and Joe Root) averaging above 30 with the bat.James Anderson at The Oval•Getty Images

In contrast to Anderson’s lugubrious take, Australia coach Justin Langer was perhaps unsurprisingly full of praise for the “bowler-friendly wickets” on which his team had prevailed in their mission to retain the Ashes.”It’s most important for the health of Test cricket moving forward that you’re playing on competitive wickets,” he said ahead of the final Test at The Oval. “Great players make runs, games always moving forward, you’re on the edge of your seat. I think the wickets this series have been fantastic for that.”Anderson’s frustrations have been compounded by being forced to watch from the sidelines after suffering from a persistent calf problem that saw him hobble through the first Test at Edgbaston, having being declared fit, then suffer a recurrence while going about his rehabilitation with Lancashire.There is little doubt that not being able to call upon the most-prolific Test fast bowler in history has hurt England’s chances – despite the resurgence of Broad and a potent display from Jofra Archer in his debut series. However, Anderson has quietened any expectations he may be contemplating retirement, writing in his newspaper column that he intends to try and play on until he is 40.He proclaimed himself “open-minded” to making changes to his diet and lifestyle in order to prolong his career; perhaps a chat about the benefits of veganism with old Ashes foe Peter Siddle is in order following the conclusion of the series?”When I start this rehab, I’m going to try and investigate every possible avenue of what do I need to do at my age to keep myself in good shape,” Anderson said. “I feel in really good condition. I feel as fit as I ever have. It’s just the calf keeps twanging.”I’m going to look at every possible thing I can to make sure I can play for as long as possible. I’ll look at how other sportspeople have done it throughout their careers to keep going into their late 30s. Whether there’s anything specific I can do, diet, gym programme, supplements, whatever it might be. Because I’ve still got a real hunger and desire to play cricket. I still love the game and still feel like I can offer something to this team and still have the skills and can bowl quick enough to have a positive effect.”It’ll be an ongoing process through the rest of my career. I still feel like I can be the best bowler in the world. So as long as I’ve got that mentality I’m going to keep pushing myself. Keep trying to improve my skills with the ball, work hard at my batting, and try to find every possible thing to help me stay fit.”Anderson’s first goal is to be available for the two Tests in New Zealand towards the back-end of November, after which comes a tour of South Africa. His desire to keep playing means he is set to feature under a fifth different England coach – depending on when the successor to Trevor Bayliss is appointed – and he suggested the new management needed to map out with Joe Root a pathway to rebalancing priorities between Test and limited-overs cricket.”Going forward, it’s important whoever takes over has got the same sort of vision as Joe as captain, on how the team moves forward. Obviously the last four years has been a real focus on one-day cricket, trying to win the World Cup. We’ve now done that.”I think we need to find a good balance. We’ve kind of been one or the other. In my career, it’s been Test priority in the first bit and then this last four-year cycle has been a push for the white-ball stuff. We need to find a balance, it’s as simple as that. We’ve got to try to give equal attention to both.”Whether or not he develops a craving for bananas, Anderson’s appetite for cricket remains strong – though he grimaces wearily at the idea of resuming battle with Smith once again in 2021-22. There is an acceptance that he won’t go on forever, an understanding that one day, perhaps not too far in the future, he will be able to inspect a flat pitch with a shake of the head before heading towards the media facilities rather than the dressing rooms.”I’m realistic. If I’m not good enough and feel I’m detracting from the team and I’m too slow, or whatever it might be, then I’m not going to embarrass myself or drag the team down. I’ll only keep playing if I think I can be one of the best bowlers in the world and if I think I can help this team win games of Test cricket. I’m not just blinkered thinking I’m going to just drag out as many possible games as I can.”James Anderson was speaking on behalf of ‘The Test Experts’ Specsavers, Official Test Partner of the England cricket team ahead of the final Test of the Specsavers Ashes Series at The Oval

Pakistan legspinner Yasir Shah has been provisionally suspended under the ICC’s anti-doping code for testing positive for a banned substance. A sample taken from Yasir on November 13, when Pakistan played an ODI against England in Abu Dhabi, was found to contain chlortalidone, which is on WADA’s prohibited list of diuretics and masking agents.While he is provisionally suspended, Yasir cannot play – or be involved in any capacity in – international matches, and games organised by any national cricket board or its affiliated members. He can request for his B sample to be tested, and if that test does not confirm a positive result then the entire test will be considered negative and the suspension will be lifted with immediate effect.Yasir can also request for a hearing before an anti-doping tribunal through a written application that must be received by the anti-doping manager within 14 days. Should he want a hearing, Yasir must state in his application how he responds to the charge and his explanation for the same.Yasir, 29, has become a key member of the Pakistan team since debuting in Test cricket in October 2014. Currently ranked No. 4 in the Test bowlers rankings, he has 76 wickets from 12 Tests at 24.17. Forty-nine of those wickets have come in 2015, making him the fourth-highest Test wicket-taker overall this year till date.Pakistan’s next international assignment is a limited-overs tour of New Zealand in January.