Beyond the Test World
Bangladesh want cricket in 2008 South Asian Games
Bangladesh intends including cricket as a new event when it hosts the 11th South Asian Games in 2008
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Bangladesh intends including cricket as a new event when it hosts the 11th South Asian Games in 2008. Eight nations - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - are expected to participate in the biennial meeting.
"We have four test playing nations among us. So we could easily include the cricket in the SA Games," Ishtiaq Ahmed, a senior official of the Bangladesh Olympic Association, told Reuters. "We understand it will be difficult for the test playing nations to send a full-strength side in the SA Games. In that case we would happily accept age-level teams," he said.
The events will be finalised at a meeting of representatives from participating nations in Dhaka next February. "As the host, we primarily underlined 15 disciplines including cricket for the meet," Ishtiaq explained.
Cricket was last included at a major international tournament in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpar. It also featured in the Olympics once, when a side from Britain beat France in Paris in 1900.
Full postUganda women's coach defiant
In the aftermath of Uganda 's below par performance in the inaugural ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers in Nairobi, coach Charles Lwanga has insisted his team is more talented than other teams in the region.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
In the aftermath of Uganda 's below par performance in the inaugural ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers in Nairobi, coach Charles Lwanga has insisted his team is more talented than other teams in the region.
Uganda lost to Zimbabwe by 63 runs and Tanzania by 20 runs, before restoring pride with a 91-run win over Kenya in the penultimate game. "The players forgot that we had a World Cup berth at stake. It was like they were playing friendlies and warm ups till when the team put their act together. The players didn't play to their full potential," said team coach Lwanga.
Lwanga, also a former national team opener, disclosed that the eventual winners of the tournament Zimbabwe were beatable and didn't have anything special in their armoury. "They won the tourney because they applied basics, which was everyone else's undoing," added Lwanga.
The next tournament for the girls will be the ICC East Africa Women Championship in Tanzania next year and that is enough time for the team to bounce back and reclaim its lost regional accolade.
Full postConcerns grow as Bermuda struggle
Bermuda's recent performances have been the subject of some intense media criticism in the wake of a poor African tour where they were whitewashed by Kenya and also beaten by Netherlands and Canada
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Bermuda's recent performances have been the subject of some intense media criticism in the wake of a poor African tour where they were whitewashed by Kenya and also beaten by Netherlands and Canada. Now Richard Done, the ICC's High Performance Manager, has questioned the side's fitness levels.
"It's generally application of what they've already got," Done told the Royal Gazette in Bermuda. "There's some talented players there. But I think they don't always give themselves the best opportunity to get their minds right and their bodies right to perform on the field.
"Fitness is critical, not just at this level playing one-day internationals, but also playing the longer version of the game," he continued. "You just can't get by without it in the modern game. West Indies, through the 1980s and Australia through the 1990s and the early part of this decade have been outstanding, and I think without doubt they've been the fittest sides in world cricket, and the most athletic and most physical sides playing the game. Of course, they've had great skill levels as well."
Gus Logie, the former West Indian batsman and current coach of Bermuda, expressed concern over the margin of defeats; Canada and Holland won by nine and seven wickets recently. "In the field, we were the slowest team in the competition," he said. "A lot of excuses can be given. People talk about playing for their places in the World Cup, but if that's the way they're going to play for their places well, I'm sorry, their places will be up for grabs."
Full postTatsuro Chino making waves
Japanese wicket-keeper/batsman Tatsuro Chino may be small in stature but he is making a big splash in East Asia Pacific cricket circles.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Japanese wicket-keeper/batsman Tatsuro Chino may be small in stature but he is making a big splash in East Asia Pacific cricket circles.
Full postAcademy for Italy
The Italian Cricket Federation are planning to hold their first cricket academy in April 2007
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
The Italian Cricket Federation are planning to hold their first cricket academy in April 2007. 16 players from the first division of the Italian Cricket League, aged between 15 and 19, will be selected. The aim of the venture is to bridge the gap between schools cricket and senior club cricket.
As encouraging as this sounds, cricket in Italy is still very much a minority sport. The Academy director, James Cheyne who grew up in Britain, says the lack of tradition and history of the sport in Italy is a major obstacle to it prospering in the future.
“Youngsters do not grow up with cricket and miss out on the opportunity to pick up the tricks of the game and do not encompass its unique spirit.”
“The Italian Cricket federation held a 3 day U13 championship in which around 120 boys and girls participated.
Full postFace reality and bite the bullet
Bermuda have returned from their African tour with their World Cup preparations in tatters.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Bermuda have returned from their African tour with their World Cup preparations in tatters.
A year ago, Bermuda cricket was on a high and expectations were high - possibly unrealistically so, but there was a general expectation that the country was about to be elevated from the middle of the also-runs of the ICC Associates to the brink of the top flight. And yet, despite a massive financial investment by the government, less than three months before the jamboree in the Caribbean kicks off, the side is in turmoil are facing possible humiliation.
The results in Africa confirmed what many suspected by few wanted to believe. Bermuda, for all the enthusiasm and passion, are simply not good enough to hold their own among the leading Associates, let alone scrap with the big boys. They lost all three ODIs in Kenya, and what is worse, locals expressed surprise at how poor and out of condition the Bermudans were.
Full postCricket fever to hit Kenya
The countdown for the 2009 women's World Cup begins this Friday when four African countries will assemble in Nairobi, Kenya for the start of the World Cup regional qualifiers.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The countdown for the 2009 women's World Cup begins this Friday when four African countries will assemble in Nairobi, Kenya for the start of the World Cup regional qualifiers.
Joining the host nation Kenya will be Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Uganda and the one-day competition will be played in a simple round-robin format, with the winner heading to the next qualifying stage, a tournament in Pakistan at the end of next year. Eight teams will vie for two spots at the 2009 World Cup in Australia.
Full postSennik comes out fighting
In an open letter to Cricinfo, Ben Sennik, the president of the Canadian Cricket Association, has hit back at recent critcisms of the board and him personally.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
In an open letter to Cricinfo, Ben Sennik, the president of the Canadian Cricket Association, has hit back at recent critcisms of the board and him personally.
would imagine in common with most national cricketing bodies operating under the ICC umbrella, the Canadian Cricket Association (CCA) prefers to avoid conducting its business via the media. In the case of the CCA, we avoid doing so simply out of a desire not to bore cricket fans around the globe with the myriad of background situations and challenges which confront any national cricket organization.
However, due to the litany of aggressive commentary appearing on the Cricinfo website in recent months about the CCA, I feel compelled to offer some defence. I do so not out of any need for personal gratification, but rather as recognition of the on-going support of Canada's Provincial Cricket Associations and the thousands of players across the country.
I refer specifically to four articles:
Full postCanada lose warm-up
Canada lost a warm-up one-day match against TUCS (the University of Pretoria) by seven wickets
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Canada lost a warm-up one-day match against TUCS (the University of Pretoria) by seven wickets. Canada batted first and made 228 for 6. Openers Desmond Chumney (19) and Sandeep Jyoti (17) got the innings off to a reasonable start but the main scoring came in a fifth-wicket stand between Ashish Bagai (80 not out) and Abdool Samad (100).
Canada used several bowlers in this practice match but went down to solid batting from TUCS opener Phil Haupt (67 and No. 3 batsman Gert Lotries, who starred with 146 not out.
Canada, Bermuda and the Netherlands meet in a series of official ODI matches over the next week. Canada will then close their trip to South Africa with the final match in their ICC Intercontinental Cup group.
Eddie Norfolk
Full postEddie Norfolk
The blinkered world of the Canadian Cricket Association
In April 2006, Eddie Norfolk joined the Canadian Cricket Association as their marketing and communication manager
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
In April 2006, Eddie Norfolk joined the Canadian Cricket Association as their marketing and communication manager. A little more than two months later he was effectively ousted without reference to the main board.
It was obvious from the moment he arrived that Norfolk would be a breath of fresh air in a previously semi-secret organization. Before his arrival the CCA provided almost no information on the game, had no functioning media department, and at times even seemed hostile to attempts to give the game there a higher profile. Within weeks that had changed.
However, it seemed that Norfolk quickly rubbed senior CCA figures up the wrong way. Looking in from the outside, it is hard to see just what he did wrong. But it seems that some within the CCA would have preferred to retain a cloak of anonymity. There is also a clear suspicion that people were jealous that Norfolk was becoming more identifiable as the voice of Canadian cricket than they were.
Full post