Beyond the Test World
Hamid Hassan - All set for celebrations in Kabul
It is hard to describe how excited I am at Afghanistan reaching the World Cup Qualifiers
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Hamid Hassan
It is hard to describe how excited I am at Afghanistan reaching the World Cup Qualifiers. When I think that we came so close to being defeated by Cayman Islands on Friday and getting knocked out, I still can’t believe that the rain saved us from defeat!
Full postUSACA's inactions speak louder than words
While the intentions of the USA Cricket Association might be genuine, it hardly sets out to help itself.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
While the intentions of the USA Cricket Association might be genuine, it hardly sets out to help itself.
Last weekend’s annual meeting was arguably one of its most important given that the ICC’s patience with the ongoing lack of transparency and failure to appoint of CEO is well documented. A reasonable person might expect that stakeholders would be kept in the loop. And yet for several days around the meeting the USACA website was down and while it has now resurfaced, it has nothing about the meeting other than a feeble month-old message advertising the date and location.
Thousands of clubs manage to run small sites so it is utterly unacceptable that a board receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the ICC in grants cannot manage to run a simple website. It’s been the case for several years and despite lots of bullish promises, nothing has changed.
Critics point out, with increasing justification, how on earth can an executive who continuously fail to do the basics with any degree of professionalism be trusted to look after the interests of the cricket fraternity in the USA.
Full postAfghanistan and Uganda through to World Cup Qualifiers
Afghanistan booked their place in April's qualifying tournament for the 2011 World Cup on Saturday when they defeated the Cayman Islands by 82 runs to finish top of the World Cricket League Division 3
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Afghanistan booked their place in April's qualifying tournament for the 2011 World Cup on Saturday when they defeated the Cayman Islands by 82 runs to finish top of the World Cricket League Division 3. Uganda beat Argentina by 99 runs to secure the second place in the qualifying round to take place in South Africa. Papua New Guinea, who also finished with eight points, missed out on qualifying on Net Run Rate.
Full postCricket Canada plunged into crisis
Cricket Canada has been thrown into confusion after the announcement that chief executive Atul Ahuja had been replaced on an interim basis by Ingleton Liburd, the cricket development officer and a former national captain.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Cricket Canada has been thrown into confusion after the announcement that chief executive Atul Ahuja had been replaced on an interim basis by Ingleton Liburd, the cricket development officer and a former national captain.
Rumours had been circulating for two days that Ahuja had been dismissed following a major falling out with Ben Sennick, the board’s chairman. Other than a terse statement which made almost no reference to Ahuja other than to say he was being replaced, nobody from Cricket Canada was available for comment.
Liburd does not appear to be a long-term option for a board which still harbours ambitions of expanding the game internally and becoming a major player among the Associates internationally. Prior to joining Cricket Canada in 2008, he served as president of the St. Kitts Cricket Association and as a territorial development officer for the West Indies Cricket Board.
"Ingleton has a tremendous knowledge of the game of cricket and has demonstrated his leadership skills throughout his association with the game”, Sennik said. “On behalf of the Cricket Canada board of directors, we are pleased to have Ingleton as a key part of our team as we continue to enhance cricket’s appeal across Canada at the professional and community levels.”
Full postPNG's Gleeson remains confident
Martin Gleeson, the Papua New Guinea coach, insists his side still have the belief to win despite losing to Afghanistan yesterday in the World Cricket League.
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Martin Gleeson, the Papua New Guinea coach, insists his side still have the belief to win despite losing to Afghanistan yesterday in the World Cricket League.
“We haven't lost confidence in our ability to achieve what we came here to achieve,” Gleeson said. “We have played well this week and we had a discussion after the game on the areas that we need to improve on and what we need to do to get back on track.”
Gleeson said PNG will seek to secure the win without thinking about the need to improve their run-rate, which is the worst of the three teams which have a realistic chance of finishing in the top two, which would automatically earn it promotion to the World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa in April.
“First thing's first - we must win the game. If we don't then run rate won’t be a factor at all. We can't control what happens in the other games so naturally our primary focus will be on winning the game whilst of course keeping half an eye on our run rate. Hopefully with a good win all else will fall into place.”
Full postCroft offers coaching help to Bermuda
Colin Croft, the former West Indies fast bowler, has offered his services as a bowling coach to Bermuda
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Colin Croft, the former West Indies fast bowler, has offered his services as a bowling coach to Bermuda.
According to the Royal Gazette, Croft asked the newspaper to pass on his details to the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB)'s vice president, Allen Richardson. "This guy should be coaching England or the West Indies!" Richardson told The Gazette. "His resume is impressive, but at the moment I don't know what the Board's plans are."
Full postBrazier bowls PNG to third straight win
Papua New Guinea won their third match in a row, defeating Uganda by 26 runs at Belgrano while Afghanistan beat the hosts, Argentina, on the third day of the World Cricket League
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Papua New Guinea won their third match in a row, defeating Uganda by 26 runs at Belgrano while Afghanistan beat the hosts, Argentina, on the third day of the World Cricket League. Hong Kong handed Cayman Islands its third straight defeat, too. Click here for the round-up.
Full postHamid Hassan - I need to learn Spanish
We are all so relieved that we managed to beat Hong Kong on Sunday to get ourselves back into the tournament and give us a chance of getting a place in the World Cup Qualifiers
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Hamid Hassan
We are all so relieved that we managed to beat Hong Kong on Sunday to get ourselves back into the tournament and give us a chance of getting a place in the World Cup Qualifiers.
Our matches against Hong Kong are always very close and it was another tense finish; I was praying after every ball towards the end that we would be able to take the final wicket. It was such a relief when we finally got out Nadeem Ahmed. I was thinking in the field of all the people back in Afghanistan who would be praying for us to do well and that was a real inspiration as well for the team.
The first game against Uganda was very disappointing, as we didn’t bat very well, even though we did almost end up winning the game in the end after Rais’s fantastic innings.
Full postDainty upbeat about USA's future
Gladstone Dainty, the president of the USACA, told the association’s annual general meeting in New York that there was no truth the ICC were reviewing the operation of USACA and that there was any question of another suspension.
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Gladstone Dainty, the president of the USACA, told the association’s annual general meeting in New York that there was no truth the ICC were reviewing the operation of USACA and that there was any question of another suspension.
Dainty, speaking under the watchful eyes of Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, and IS Bindra, the ICC’s special advisor, insisted the the ICC was “happy we are all getting along” and that there was a general air of stability.
Behind the scenes, the ICC are believed to be increasingly concerned that almost one year after the implementation of a new constitution and fresh elections, the post of chief executive remains unfilled.
Dainty, however, said that the ICC appreciated that the process could not be hurried and that 41 applications had been received of which 20 were considered to be credible. Five had been asked to interview and the appointment would be announced after that.
Full post