Beyond the Test World
From China to Cleethorpes
Chinese cricketer Jiang Shuyao is playing a full season in England this year
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Chinese cricketer Jiang Shuyao is playing a full season in England this year. The 25-year-old batsman, who played in the 2010 Asian Games, is making quite an impact at Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire. There is an interview in the local Grimsby Evening Telegraph.
Six other young players are also spending two months in London with Capital Kids Cricket.
ESPN's Inside Cricket did a feature on the Chinese Cricket Championships in 2009, and several of the players now in the UK would have been playing at that tournament.
Full postDisgraced Tikolo delays Cricket Kenya elections
A remarkable last-minute court order obtained by disgraced former board chief executive Tom Tikolo prevented Sunday’s already delayed Cricket Kenya elections being held.
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
A remarkable last-minute court order obtained by disgraced former board chief executive Tom Tikolo prevented Sunday’s already delayed Cricket Kenya elections being held.
Tikolo’s action prevented most of the the country’s largest body, the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NCPA), from participating in the elections. The NPCA has yet again been mired in in-house bickering over the past few months.
"It's very disappointing that the whole process keeps being frustrated by people who don't want to see elections being held," said outgoing chairman Samir Inamdar. "We didn't want to go against the court ruling. But we will keep an eye on Nairobi and we plan to take legal action against the branch for delaying the election process."
That Tikolo threw the spanner in the works raised more than a few eyebrows as he was considered a peripheral figure following his dismissal for stealing funds from the board at the end of 2010. He withheld a payment of around $10,000 due to Cricket Kenya in respect of a tournament in the West Indies, an act that was only discovered when his email was hacked into and details revealed to the press.
Full postChallenge is to develop Chinese players in Hong Kong
By Charlie Burke
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
By Charlie Burke
I have been in the role of coach of the Hong Kong national team for about 18 months, and I am the senior coach for the national senior men's and women's teams, as well as the Under-19s men's and women's teams.
Unlike coaching national teams at the very highest level of international cricket, there's a fair amount of development work to do. This is something I am really keen on doing. Cricket has been around for about 160 years in Hong Kong, but we still don't have a lot of local Chinese players. I reckon at the moment we'd be close to having 200-250 local Chinese people playing the game regularly, being part of a team and playing on weekends. About a third of my role, if not more, is taken up by the development side of the game, and that's something we need to focus on if we are going to become more competitive.
Full postI'm starting to do well with the bat
By Calum MacLeod
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
By Calum MacLeod
I have really enjoyed the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier so far and it has obviously being going well from a personal perspective.
My hundred against Oman was my first for Scotland, so I was delighted with that, as it had been a long time coming, so I was very, very pleased with it. It was obviously nice to have my dad here to see it as well, as he was person who inspired me to play as a kid – the school I went to, where Gallic was the first language, really only played football. My dad is a professional photographer and is covering the event for most of the newspapers back home, so I suppose you could say he had a good day at work!
Full postA great start for Namibia
By Louis van der Westhuizen
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
By Louis van der Westhuizen
Ireland is the strongest team here and it is a great start to the tournament to beat them first up. I saw the ball really well and we had a really good team spirit which helped us in the tense closing overs.
Namibia can be quite an unpredictable team, but when it comes off we can beat anybody. The biggest challenge for us will be to be consistent throughout the event and keep up our performance levels. We have had such great preparation for this event, playing in the South African provincial league and having some specialist training camps, where we have been lucky to receive some coaching from Daryll Cullinan, who is also in the UAE with the team.It is fantastic to be able to call on his experience to focus on specific skills. It has made a real difference to my Twenty20 cricket. On the tracks in Dubai, it is really important to use the crease, and he has strengthened our skill-base.
Full postGuernsey hope to host WCL
Guernsey captain Stuart Le Provost believes the Channel Island could be in line to host the 2014 edition of World Cricket League Division Five
Alan Gardner
25-Feb-2013
Guernsey captain Stuart Le Provost believes the Channel Island could be in line to host the 2014 edition of World Cricket League Division Five. Guernsey secured their place in the division by finishing third out of six teams - the top two teams were promoted, while the bottom two drop down.
Cayman Islands were the other team to remain in Division Five but the Caribbean nation has just two cricket pitches. Guernsey, meanwhile, has hosted four ICC tournaments since becoming an Associate nation in 2008.
"Generally what the ICC try and do is try and give it to one of those sides so they can plan for the future," Le Prevost told the BBC. "If they can get it in place early hopefully we've got a good chance."
Singapore, the 2012 hosts, claimed the Division Five title after beating Malaysia by nine wickets in a one-sided final; both sides had already been promoted to Division Four. Guernsey secured third place with a narrow one-run win in their play-off against Cayman Islands, while Bahrain beat Argentina to condemn the South Americans to last place.
Full postMalaysia stay top after tense win
Malaysia stayed top of the table in the World Cricket League Division Five after a tense four-run victory against Guernsey in a match that seesawed, at the Kallang Ground in Singapore
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Malaysia stayed top of the table in the World Cricket League Division Five after a tense four-run victory against Guernsey in a match that seesawed, at the Kallang Ground in Singapore. A poor finish meant Malaysia ended with 194. Guernsey were on track in their chase at 109 for 3, but five wickets fell in ten overs, three to medium-pacer Hiran Brahman Ralalage, and Malaysia seemed to have sealed victory. There was to be yet another twist: Nos. 9 and 10, Jamie Nussbaumer and Stuart Bisson, strung together a partnership and got Guernsey to within six runs of the target with seven balls remaining, before Bisson was run out. Nussbaumer managed two off the first ball of the final over but was bowled by Ralalage with the second to give Malaysia the win.
Ross Kneller's 47, and contributions from GH Smit and Jeremy Frith, seemed to have put Guernsey on the way to a third win in the tournament, but Ralalage's 4 for 28 was the deciding factor in keeping Malaysia's 100% record in the tournament intact. Malaysia had seemed set for a bigger total after most of the top order got starts. A flurry of wickets saw them slip to 115 for 5, but Suresh Navaratnam got 31 at No. 7 to revive the innings. Another collapse towards the end meant Malaysia were bowled out in their 50 overs. Medium-pacer Nussbaumer took 3 for 27 in his 10 overs. His heroics with the bat were almost enough to complete the job for Guernsey.
Hosts Singapore stayed in touch with Malaysia on the points table by beating Bahrain easily at the Padang to move to six points. Slow half-centuries from Chaminda Ruwan and Anish Param got Singapore to 205 for 8 in their 50 overs. It was more than enough as medium-pacers Shoaib Razzak and Saad Janjua took four wickets each to skittle Bahrain for 103. Adil Hanif fought to get 57 but only two other Bahrain batsmen reached double figures. Razzak did the early damage before Janjua ran through the lower order.
Argentina's wait for a first win in the tournament continued after they were thrashed by Cayman Islands at the Indian Association Ground. Argentina were shot out for 93 and Cayman Islands chased the target for the loss of no wickets in 22.1 overs. Medium-pacers
Conroy Wright and Ryan Bovell ripped through the Argentina line-up, with Bovell finishing with 5 for 9 in his seven overs. Ainsley Hall got a quick 62 in the chase to ensure the match finished early.
Full postIrish coach honoured by ICC
The Irish coach behind international stars including Eoin Morgan, Kevin O’Brien and George Dockrell has been honoured by the ICC.
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
The Irish coach behind international stars including Eoin Morgan, Kevin O’Brien and George Dockrell has been honoured by the ICC.
Brian O’Rourke, 41, has been given an ICC Outstanding Contribution to Cricket Coaching award after 17 years working with Leinster during which time may of Ireland’s finest players have gained from his guidance. One of his more significant impacts was to persuade Dockrell to switch from medium-pace to left-arm spin.
"It's a fantastic honour not just for me personally but also Irish cricket,” he said. “There's a real buzz in the country about cricket at the moment, and the game is clearly on the rise. The numbers of coaches and participants are growing significantly, and there's still a lot of talent out there to be unearthed. There are a lot of opportunities now for young cricketers and I'm confident that Ireland will continue to be a major player on the world circuit for generations to come."
O’Rourke has also coached all Ireland’s age-group sides from Under-15 to Under-19, taking charge of U-19 World Cup campaigns in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
Full postWins for Malaysia, Guernsey and Cayman Islands
Argentina slipped to their third straight defeat, going down by 29 runs to Guernsey in a rain-affected match at Padang , which was eventually reduced to 29 overs a side
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Argentina slipped to their third straight defeat, going down by 29 runs to Guernsey in a rain-affected match at Padang, which was eventually reduced to 29 overs a side. The start was delayed by rain and the Argentina opening bowlers, led by Pablo Ryan, made early inroads, taking two top-order wickets to reduce Guernsey to 53 for 4. The complexion of the innings changed when Ross Kneller came out and blasted 86 off 54 balls, with six sixes. He took the score to 213 for 7 after rain reduced the game to 42 overs a side. It was reduced further to 29, following another rain interruption when Argentina were struggling at 54 for 3. Grant Dugmore top scored with 42 but lacked support as Guernsey, led by David Hooper, chipped away at the wickets.
At the Indian Association Ground, Cayman Islands coasted to an eight-wicket win over Bahrain in another rain-affected encounter. Bahrain were put in to bat, and like Guernsey, were struggling at the start before they were revived by the middle order. Adil Hanif made a patient 56 off 86 balls to steady the innings, before Tahir Dar made an unbeaten 60 off 50 balls to take the score past 200. He hit six sixes in his knock. Rain intervened 17 overs into the chase, when Cayman Islands proceeded steadily to 50 for 1. However, Duckworth Lewis reduced the game to 21 overs, leaving Cayman Islands needing 30 off the last four. Ramon Sealy and Omar Willis ensured they reached the target with three balls to spare.
Malaysia recorded their third-straight win, beating hosts and neighbours Singapore by 27 runs at the Kallang Ground. Malaysia's opening duo, R Madhavan and Shafiq Sharif, made half-centuries but the rest of the batsmen failed to measure up, stumbling to a combined bowling effort. Sharif fell for 48, but Madhavan remained unbeaten on 77, off 141 balls. The next highest score was 13. Chasing 185, Singapore were in trouble at 117 for 5 in 30 overs when rain interrupted play. Their target was reduced to 161 from 39, and they eventually folded up for 133.
Full postGuernsey rout Bahrain in quick time
A match that could have gone 100 overs was finished in 26.4 at The Padang
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
A match that could have gone 100 overs was finished in 26.4 at The Padang. Bahrain were shot out for 49 in 13.5 overs by Guernsey, who completed the chase in 12.5 overs with nine wickets in hand. Jamie Nussbaumer opened the bowling and took 5 for 19 in six overs for Guernsey, while David Hooper claimed 3 for 1 in his only over. GH Smit was the only Guernsey batsman to fall during the chase.
The players had to toil for much longer at at theIndian Association Ground, where Malaysia beat Argentina by 47 runs on the D/L method. Malaysia batted first and made a brisk start - their openers adding 50 in 8.5 overs. Shafiq Sharif top scored with 61 but the rest of the batsmen did not contribute substantially. Malaysiya's total had been boosted to 210 by 39 extras conceded by Argentina's bowlers when rain ended the innings after 44.5 overs. Argentina were set a target of 162 in 29 overs but their chase was derailed by three run-outs that reduced them to 63 for 4. They were eventually restricted to 114 for 7. Hian Ralalage completed a fine all-round performance for Malaysia, following up his 31 off 34 balls with figures of 6-2-16-1.
Singapore won another rain-hit contest at Kallang Ground, beating Cayman Islands by 80 runs on the D/L method. Singapore's top and middle-order batsmen made useful contributions to reach 141 for 3 in 34 overs, when rain interrupted the innings. Chetan Suryawanshi's 42 off 43 balls was the best score. The revised target for Cayman Islands was 203 in 32 overs and they were restricted to 122 for 8. The top order collapsed and they were 58 for 6 before Conroy Wright scored 46 to lead his team past 100. Mulewa Dharmichand took 3 for 12 in five overs for Singapore.
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