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New South Wales denied Queensland first-innings points in their match at the SCG, which finished in a severely rain-affected draw

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2012
ScorecardNew South Wales denied Queensland first-innings points in their match at the SCG, which finished in a severely rain-affected draw. The Bulls needed to score 270 to take two points from the game, but instead they will enter the final round of Sheffield Shield matches level on points with Victoria and Tasmania, and four shy of the competition leaders Western Australia.Joe Burns scored 90 for Queensland and was almost single-handedly keeping them in the contest as wickets fell at the other end. Trent Copeland picked up 4 for 69 but it was Scott Coyte who delivered the points to New South Wales when he collected the last two wickets in consecutive deliveries, the first of which was Burns caught at second slip.Steve Magoffin was then bowled first ball to give two points to the Blues, who cannot make the final. New South Wales started their second innings and reached 0 for 15 as the match petered out to a draw

A round-up of the first day of the seventh round of Division One in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2011Seamer Ahmed Jamal put Abbottabad in control in their contest against Faisalabad, taking 6 for 25 at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi to bowl the opposition out for 74. Jamal was supported by left-arm spinner Khalid Usman, who took three wickets in an economical spell, and the pair ran through the Faisalabad line-up that lasted just 41.2 overs. Only one batsman went past double-figures, the No.8 Shoaib Shah. The extras contributed 18. In their response, Abbottabad lost three wickets before the close, Aqeel Ahmed grabbing two of them. Opener Mohammad Naeem was trapped in front for 44 but Rameez Ahmed remained unbeaten on 34. At stumps, Abbottabad had gained a 36-run lead with seven wickets in hand.On a day of low scores, Habib Bank Limited held the advantage against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Seamer Sarmad Anwar bagged six wickets to restrict ZTBL to 201. Yasir Hameed made 44 and though the lower middle-order chipped in with useful contributions – five of them reached double-figures – none were able to push on. In their reply, HBL were 33 without loss at stumps.Timely breakthroughs helped Rawalpindi gain a slight edge over Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Opener Afaq Raheem made 89 and was involved in an opening stand of 71 with Umair Khan that seemed to have set a solid platform. But allrounder Rashid Latif struck, taking four wickets and preventing another threatening stand from taking root. At one stage, Islamabad lost four wickets for 38 runs. The seventh-wicket pair of Faizan Riaz and wicketkeeper Naeem Anjum added an unbeaten 41 to take the score to 226 for 6 at stumps.A collective bowling effort from State Bank of Pakistan limited National Bank of Pakistan to 282 at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Half-centuries from Aqeel Anjum and wicketkeeper-captain Kamran Akmal had put NBP in a good position at 197 for 3 but they went on to lose their next seven wickets for 85 runs. Seamers Saad Altaf and Rizwan Haider grabbed three wickets and Kashif Siddiq grabbed a couple to polish the tail. In their response, SBP were seven without loss.Pakistan International Airlines edged out a closely-fought day against Water and Power Development Authority at Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad. Fast bowler Anwar Ali picked up four wickets that included a couple of early strikes that left WAPDA reeling at 48 for 5 at one stage. But Aamer Sajjad resisted with 69 and received some assistance from the lower order before he was dismissed by Anwar, who helped skittle out WAPDA for 178. WAPDA, however, staged a spirited fightback, seamer Naved-ul-Hasan taking three wickets. PIA had a horror start, reduced to 3 for 3, and then 57 for 5, but Fahad Iqbal, with an unbeaten half-century, wrested the initiative back towards PIA in an ongoing 54-run stand with wicketkeeper Anop Santosh. At stumps, PIA were 111 for 5, still 67 adrift.Sialkot dominated the first day of their game against Karachi Blues at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Seamers Mohammad Imran and Prince Abbas ran through the Karachi batting, bowling them out for 166 in just 43.5 overs. The pair shared nine wickets, Imran bagged a five-for, as the failure of the Karachi batsmen to put up a fight left them at 83 for 7. Mohammad Sami dealt some big blows batting at No.9, smashing 48 off 36 balls to take his team to 166. Sialkot replied confidently, opener Mohammad Yasin making an unbeaten 58 to take his team to 98 without loss.

Cricket Australia believes its rotation policy will strengthen the side by giving greater opportunities to young players

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jan-2012Cricket Australia believes its rotation policy will strengthen the side by giving greater opportunities to young players. Pat Howard, CA’s general manager of high performance, has outlined a plan to ensure the best players are available for major series, although he said it was important not to enter any series with a sub-standard side for the sake of resting players.”We do look at different series differently and obviously we took the Indian series very much about trying to drive performance, so if a player was touch and go, we’d probably push him for this series knowing that if we had to rest him for part of the ODI series so be it,” Howard told the Age. “For New Zealand we took more of a conservative approach, took the chance to get people right.”There are risks associated with that and we have to keep that balance. Without question we want to win every series and we’re never going to go in with a B-team against anybody, that’s for sure. But we will take the opportunity to introduce players and with the downside of losing Hobart the upside is that we got to see David Warner at his best. At times we will take educated risks during a series to maintain overall opportunity to introduce players.”Warner, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson all made their Test debuts during the recent series against New Zealand, with Pattinson and Warner both making strong contributions. However, Howard said had Australia not been willing to try the new men during the two-Test series, Pattinson might still be on the fringe.”James Pattinson is a well-regarded player now but going into that series he wouldn’t have been considered top of the tree,” Howard said. “You’ve got to take the chance to introduce these players and find out. Some people say, ‘is this the best player’? Well the selectors believe they have the potential to be, and in James Pattinson’s case that has proven very right.”For India, it was very much about trying to get the best players on the field. We knew Ryan Harris would be injected at some stage during the [India] series so we kept him and Mitchell Starc very close to the team, knowing the likelihood we would lose a player or two during the series.”Australia will be without Pattinson in the third Test against India in Perth due to his foot injury, but it has emerged that he was likely to be rested anyway, following his heavy workload over the past four Tests. Howard said there had even been consideration of resting Pattinson for the Sydney Test.”We’d monitored his workload and knew that the time was coming for James and it was either going be the second or third Test that was going to be a pretty novel time for his workload,” Howard said. “He’s 21 years of age and we’ve got about three years of data on him, and we knew that would be around about the time.”It was a really touch-and-go decision for Perth but even for Sydney. He was obviously in very good form and we thought we’d go ahead and give him the best chance. We’d been planning for James to miss that and coincide with Ryan’s availability as well.”

Maybe it is Warwickshire, not Lancashire, who are the team most likely to foil Durham’s bid to reclaim the County Championship title

Jon Culley at Aigburth01-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Neil Carter had a day to remember with a career-best 6 for 30 against Lancashire•PA PhotosMaybe it is Warwickshire, not Lancashire, who are the team most likely to foil Durham’s bid to reclaim the County Championship title. An argument along those lines could probably be built purely on the basis of three straight wins coming into this match but there are other factors to provide encouragement.Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who flew into Birmingham on Sunday, will give some substance to their batting on the run-in and Neil Carter, who took 51 Championship wickets last season, is at last back in the four-day side and, on this evidence, in fine fettle.Carter, who missed the early part of the season because of a pelvic injury, returned to play Twenty20 matches at the beginning of June and has four 40-over matches under his belt but this was his first taste of first-class cricket in 11 months. As Lancashire were bowled out for 189, it could hardly have gone better for the 36-year-old from Cape Town.Exploiting humid, overcast conditions that encouraged the ball to swing, Carter began with a slightly fortunate wicket with a delivery that was no better than a loosener but ended with a career-best 6 for 30 from 8.5 overs.”It has been frustrating to be out for a long period at this stage of my career and while I had no problems bowling four overs in T20 matches I did not know until I had a second eleven game how I would be bowling longer spells,” he said. “But I pulled up pretty well after that and it is great to be back in the side now.”I wasn’t really in rhythm today. It was a difficult wicket to bowl on because the ground was a bit soft and it was hard to get purchase when you land your front foot. But the ball swung and if that’s what happens on a non-rhythm day I can’t wait for when I am in rhythm.”The ‘lucky’ wicket was Stephen Moore, who had for the most part batted impressively to reach 76 in what had been a struggle for the home side against a moving ball.He had been dropped on 43, Rikki Clarke shelling what should have been a routine take at second slip off Keith Barker, but was making sure-footed progress until he was dismissed, hitting the unfortunate Barker for three fours off the reel to raise his boundary count to 14 after completing his 50 from 66 balls.But as Carter’s first delivery began to drift harmlessly away to leg, Moore was tempted into an attempted glance and paid the price, wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose diving to his left to take the catch.The wicket sparked a Lancashire collapse, all of it brought about by Carter, as they collapsed from 131 for 4. The Moore wicket put Carter on what would have been among the more unusual hat-tricks — it had been his dismissal of Matt Coles that had completed a win over Kent in his last game of 2010.He did not pull it off, but in the same over swooped in his follow-through to take a return catch as Gareth Cross fell without scoring, giving Carter two wickets from his first four balls. Then Will Porterfield held a catch at gully when Glen Chapple drove at an away swinger and Carter was on a hat-trick again after bringing one back to have Saj Mahmood leg before, offering no stroke.Smith survived this hat-trick ball, at the start of his next over, but it was not long before Kyle Hogg nicked another ball slanted across him and Porterfield reacted superbly to take his second catch, at third slip. Smith became victim number six when he skied one to mid-off.Earlier, as Boyd Rankin struggled to get his lines right, conceding 20 runs off the bat in his first two overs, as well as four byes, Lancashire had made a brisk start. But ultimately they came up short against the swinging ball, Paul Horton and Karl Brown both edging Chris Woakes to second slip, Mark Chilton falling to an ankle-height catch at first slip off the same bowler, before Barker had Steven Croft leg before.There was some consolation for Lancashire when Chapple had Varun Chopra, driving, caught at third slip before rain brought an early end to a day, already interrupted by stoppages, that was limited to 58 overs.

Michael Hussey believes Australia’s 273 places them in a stronger position than would appear, on what he declared the “driest” first day pitch he had encountered

Daniel Brettig in Galle31-Aug-2011Michael Hussey, the Australia batsman, believes the tourists’ 273 places them in a stronger position than would appear in the first Test against Sri Lanka on what he declared the “driest” first-day pitch he had encountered.Without Hussey’s steely 95, Australia would have been in a far poorer state, and as it is, are in a difficult position on a turning pitch when their spin resources consist of the debutant Nathan Lyon and the part-time fare of the captain Michael Clarke.As he sought a positive spin on a day that resembled numerous others during last summer’s Ashes series in terms of results if not conditions and opposition, Hussey said the success of Sri Lanka’s seamers gave the visitors hope of a strong second day.”It is certainly the driest first day pitch I’ve played on in Test match cricket,” Hussey said. “Their quicks got wickets as well. They obviously got four of the wickets, got a bit of reverse swing, so we’ve got to use that to our advantage tomorrow hopefully. It certainly took a lot of turn on the first day but I thought in general, the guys played the spin pretty well.”It was quite a difficult pitch to start on really. It was really slow so it was hard to find your timing initially. I guess my message was just to try and play as straight as possible and just try to hang in there for as long as you can because it does get easier the longer you go.”Having said that, it’s sort of an apprehensive feeling as well because there might be one ball that explodes and takes the glove or takes your edge and you’re gone anyway. I think the message [to the other batsmen] is to try to play their game, be positive and just try to take time to get used to the pace of the pitch because it was a little difficult to time the ball early.”While he complimented the bowling of Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv, Hussey admitted he was surprised that Ajantha Mendis had not been chosen to test the Australians with his unusual variations.”I wasn’t sure at all what the make-up of their team would be. Maybe a little surprised that Mendis didn’t play,” Hussey said. “But having said that I thought their two spinners bowled really well. [They] obviously had a fair bit in their favour.”I think that’s one of the strengths of our batting order really. All of them play spin in their own way so that makes it hard for their spinners as well. I know all the guys have good experience and they will stick to their plan against their spinners no matter what the conditions.”Hussey was the last man out, lbw as he sought to farm the strike, and might have been able to reach his century if not for a misguided decision not to refer the lbw verdict against Ryan Harris. Both Hussey and Harris felt the umpire’s initial call was right, but replays showed that while Harris had not offered a shot, the ball would have missed off stump.”Yeah I think we mucked up there. We should have used the referral, we both probably thought it was out,” Hussey said. “I asked Ryan and said ‘what did you think’ and he said he felt pretty much out, from my angle – which wasn’t the best angle – it looked out but in hindsight we definitely made a mistake there. We should have referred it, especially with only a couple of wickets to go. We made a blue.”Much will rest on Lyon’s ability to hold his own against Sri Lanka’s batsmen on day two, and Hussey also said Clarke would have a part to play in setting the right fields for his inexperienced offspinner.”It’s just important for him to take away all the euphoria of his first Test,” Hussey said. “That’s going to be hard to do, with the excitement of it all, and just really focus on his job of bowling well. In the first-class match in Colombo, ‘Pup’ set some really good fields for him and I think that’s going to be important tomorrow. A lot of in-out fields.”The way they play, they will look to maybe try and dominate him and try to put some pressure on him. If we can have some protection in certain areas and keep our catchers around the bat then I think he’s got a great chance. There’s a lot in his favour but he’s going to have to be patient, he’s going to have to be disciplined and he’s going to have to bowl a lot of overs. Big job for him tomorrow.”Herath, who was the pick of Sri Lanka’s spinners, said Hussey had batted with great care for the scenario in front of him on a pitch he reckoned was not too far from the norm in Galle. Herath dismissed Shane Watson, Clarke and Ricky Ponting, but could not find a way past Hussey.”I think he batted according to the situation, against myself and Suraj [Randiv],” Herath said. “The other three guys batted well too, but that time I have bowled well. That is a difference, the whole innings Michael Hussey batted really well.”As for Sri Lanka’s goals on day two, Herath suggested a tally of 300 for 5 would be satisfactory as the hosts seek to bat Australia out of the match.”I think, if we can bat through the first session without giving them a wicket, that’s the best we can do against Australia,” he said. “Definitely [we are happy], but if we can end up tomorrow at 300 for 5 [we will be in a good position] and I’m sure the guys can do that.”

Cricket South Africa will spend R8 million ($1,142,857) on a new semi-professional competition that will replace the amateur provincial format from the 2011-12 season

Firdose Moonda07-Jun-2011Cricket South Africa will spend R8 million ($1,142,857) on a new semi-professional competition that will replace the amateur provincial format from the 2011-12 season.The 13 provincial teams currently in the fray, will be able to contract seven players, who must be South Africa-based and qualified, and not Kolpak-contracted. The competition will consist of first-class three-day cricket, 45-over and 20-over matches.”The players will be paid out of our [CSA’s] budget,” Gerald Majola, chief executive of CSA told ESPNcricinfo. “We will also look for a sponsor for the competition.” The competition was sponsored by Standard Bank until the end of the 2010-11 season, when the company ended all sports sponsorships. CSA are yet to announce a new sponsor for the competition.The semi-professional league will provide players with the opportunity to be selected for a seventh franchise, which will compete in the Twenty20 competition along with the six existing franchises. The seventh outfit will operate out of the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, overseen by former national coach Corrie van Zyl. The semi-professional seventh side will be allowed to contract four international players and field a maximum of three per match, while the other six franchises can sign two foreign players apiece.Under the current system, the six franchises play each other, while the 13 provinces, affiliated to the different franchises, compete in another league. The amateurs turning out for the provinces were not allowed to be contracted, but had the chance to be selected by the franchises based on their performances. Now they have a chance to earn more since they have the opportunity to sign contracts with the provinces.Majola said the changes were made in order to “bridge the gap between provincial and franchise cricket”. With 13 amateur teams feeding the country’s six franchises, there was concern among cricket administrators that players were either lost in the system or struggled to make the leap into professional cricket when coming up from the provinces.There is also an effort being made to smooth the transition process from domestic to international cricket with the MTN40 changing to become a 45-over competition. Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors, had in April said that the MTN40 would change in order to bring it more into line with the ODI format. The change does not exactly mirror the international competition, but was made with some elements of marketing in mind.”We had to also consider the crowd figures,” Majola said. “If we play 50-overs and start at 2pm we will have empty stadiums, especially mid-week. We will start the 45-overs game at 4pm. All the rules will be the same as ODIs – there will be three Powerplays and no substitutions. The bowlers will bowl nine overs each.”South Africa’s limited-overs competition was a 45-over event until two seasons ago, when it changed to 40-overs. It allowed franchises to name squads of 13 players per match and make use of substitutes. It included three Powerplays in the first season and was reduced to two in 2010-11. The innovation was in keeping with an anticipated change in the ODI format, which now appears to have been shelved.

Yorkshire could look back on a highly satisfying season after their final game ended in a 239-run win over Essex

George Dobell at Chelmsford 14-Sep-2012
ScorecardSteven Patterson wrapped up the Essex innings to finish Yorkshire’s season in triumphant fashion•Getty ImagesThey may not have been promoted as Division Two champions, but Yorkshire could look back on a highly satisfying season after their final game ended in a 239-run win over Essex.It was not just that they had won promotion that was pleasing. It was that in this side they have the nucleus of a team that could flourish in the county game for a decade or more. After letting themselves down with a poor campaign in 2011, Yorkshire overcame the challenge of bad weather – no team lost more overs to poor weather this season – England and Lions call-ups and the pressure of expectation to win promotion with some style. They finished the season the only undefeated side in either division and having won three Championship games in succession for the first time since 2005. Few would dispute they deserve their success.Fittingly, it was the bowling of a 21-year-old who hurried them to victory on the last day. Azeem Rafiq, gaining impressive turn with his offspin and utilising the breeze with rare skill, finished with his maiden five-wicket haul and his best match figures in first-class cricket. Suffice it to say he has a golden future.He is not the only one. Jonny Bairstow has already been elevated to the England set-up and Joe Root may not be far behind him. Adam Lyth could yet prove to be the best of the lot of them, while 20-year-old seamer Moin Ashraf was described by Essex captain, James Foster, as “exceptional”. Around such men will the future of Yorkshire be built, with the club also confirming they are keen to bring James Harris to Leeds and that Anthony McGrath will be offered another playing contract.It was a far cry from the emotions of 12 months ago. After last season’s relegation, Yorkshire’s executive chairman, Colin Graves, called performances “unacceptable” and “a disgrace” and warned that “there will be some heads rolling” if the club’s fortunes did not improve.He put his money where his mouth is, too. Graves has invested £7m of his own money into Yorkshire as well as personally guaranteeing bank loans. He reorganised the coaching staff, allowing Martyn Moxon to concentrate on his role as director of cricket and bringing in Jason Gillespie as first-team coach and Paul Farbrace to oversee the second team.”At the end of last season I said what a lot of people were thinking,” Graves said, as Yorkshire began to celebrate their success. “But it had to be said. If it gave them a spur then I’m glad because this just proves that we had the ability to do what we’ve done. The players have responded and I’m pleased for them.”The disappointing thing is that we have virtually the same group of players, apart from Phil Jaques coming in. And they’ve all performed. Last year some of them just didn’t perform, which is what I said. Gillespie has made a very big difference. The coaching structure now is entirely different and it has worked. Andrew Gale has had a fantastic year, too, and captained them very well. He’s brought the younger ones through as well, like Rafiq and Ashraf who have been a revelation.”We believe with the squad we’ve got here we have the makings of a good team for the next ten to 15 years. We’ve proved in the last three matches what we can do and if we can carry that back into the first division we can have another team of the 60s. I think we can challenge for the Championship next year. If you look back two years we ended third in the Championship with virtually the same team. So why can’t we do the same next year?”We’ll end up with a profit of £250,000 – £300,000 this year. I’ve never cut the cricket budget and the money is there if the right player comes along. Everybody in county cricket would tell you that they could do with another seamer. One or two new good seamers would make a difference. James Harris is a name that is mentioned with everybody, but let’s see what happens. I certainly don’t want McGrath to leave and I’ve told him there’s always something there for him at Yorkshire.”For Essex, however, this was a disappointing end to a disappointing season. Indeed, any year that starts with a former player being sent to prison and ends with a fifth-placed finish in Division Two might be described as grim.It is a puzzling club. In terms of talent production, Essex have a wonderful record. The likes of Reece Topley, Tymal Mills, Adam Wheater and Ben Foakes all possess the talent to follow Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara into the England team. Any club with a production line like that is clearly doing something right.The fact is, however, that few of their players are fulfilling their potential for Essex. For some reason, the likes of Varun Chopra, Chris Wright, Stephen Peters, and Tony Palladino all had to leave the club to flourish. Tellingly, Wright – who finished with 62 Championship wickets for County Champions Warwickshire – was left out for Lonwabo Tsotsobe last year and replaced by Charl Willoughby this. The club needs to ask itself why it has failed to coax the best out of such players and what is failing in the management or coaching environment.There is something just a little bit cosy about Essex, something that seems a little too accepting, so it remains to be seen if the hard questions will be asked. But there is little evidence that a search for quick-fixes in the form of overseas players or expensive imports from other counties – the likes of Greg Smith or Owais Shah – is the answer.

Left-arm spinner David Wainwright has signed for Derbyshire after being allowed to leave Yorkshire in search of regular first-team action

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2011Left-arm spinner David Wainwright has signed for Derbyshire after being allowed to leave Yorkshire in search of regular first-team action.Wainwright, 26, spent a month on loan with the club during the 2011 season and will now try to revive his career having drifted down the pecking order at Yorkshire. In early 2010 Wainwright was an outside chance of making the England Twenty20 squad having been named in a Lions team to tour UAE but then suffered a loss of form before struggling to retain his place in four-day or one-day county cricket.For Wainwright previous experience of working with Karl Krikken, the Derbyshire head coach, helped make up his mind about where his future lies. “There was a little bit of interest from other counties but I’d worked with Karl before in India and got on really well with him, so he was a big influence,” he said.”I can see the club is going in the right direction and we have a good core of young players to take us forward over the next few years. The signs look good and it made the decision a lot easier.”Krikken, meanwhile, is looking forward to working with Wainwright. “First-team opportunities have sometimes been limited for him at Yorkshire,” he told the Derbyshire website. “But the move to Derbyshire will increase his chances of playing more regular cricket and I expect David to become an important player for us in all forms of the game.”In 35 first-class matches Wainwright has taken 82 wickets at 36.62 with a best of 6 for 40 while he has a batting average of 34.54 with two hundreds. In one-day cricket he has 43 wickets at 35.67 while in Twenty20 has 21 from 26 matches plus an economy rate of 7.26.

Tasmania will look to their captain George Bailey to deliver victory on the final day in Hobart, after South Australia made a stunning fightback by fixing the seemingly irreparable damage caused by their first-innings collapse for 55

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2010
ScorecardAiden Blizzard’s switch to South Australia has worked wonders•Getty ImagesTasmania will look to their captain George Bailey to deliver victory on the final day in Hobart, after South Australia made a stunning fightback by repairing the seemingly irreversible damage caused by their first-innings collapse for 55. Aiden Blizzard counterattacked with his second century of the season and Daniel Christian’s blazing 93 helped the Redbacks set the Tigers a target of 221The fast bowler Rob Cassell then destroyed the local top order to leave Tasmania at 4 for 15 in their chase, before Bailey and James Faulkner (44) resurrected the innings in a match that has had more twists and turns than the ongoing Gabba Test. By stumps, Bailey was on 77, with Luke Butterworth on 12, and at 5 for 144 the Tigers needed a further 77 for victory.It was a remarkable day’s play at Bellerive Oval, where South Australia began with a 105-run deficit and only seven wickets in hand, and defeat seemed inevitable after the early loss of Callum Ferguson, who was lbw to Faulkner for 36. But Blizzard and Graham Manou (77) did everything in their power to restore balance during a 152-run stand that delivered the lead to South Australia.Manou was caught off the bowling of Jason Krejza before Blizzard finally departed for 115, caught at slip off Butterworth. Blizzard is in his first season with South Australia after an off-season switch from Victoria, where he managed only two first-class games and wasn’t offered a contract for this summer, and the move has worked wonders – he is now on top of the Sheffield Shield run tally.Christian picked up the scoring rate in his 69-ball innings, which featured five sixes, and soon the hosts were staring at the prospect of a very challenging chase. Faulkner helped finish the tail, to end up with 3 for 92 to add to his incredible first-innings figures of 5 for 5, but Tasmania’s prospects in the match will rely heavily on Bailey and Butterworth, the last two recognised batsmen.

Pakistan’s four-wicket win at The Oval against England last summer has been part of the ICC’s investigation into spot-fixing allegations against three Pakistan players, it emerged in the Doha hearing

Osman Samiuddin in Doha11-Jan-2011Pakistan’s four-wicket win at The Oval against England last summer has been part of the ICC’s investigation into spot-fixing allegations against three Pakistan players, it emerged on Tuesday after the Doha hearing.The hearing, looking into allegations against Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, was widely thought to have revolved only around the final Test of that series, held at Lord’s. But a statement by Michael Beloff QC, the head of the anti-corruption tribunal hearing the case, revealed that the previous Test at The Oval was also under investigation.The very opening of Beloff’s statement caught most off-guard; “The tribunal has been constituted to determine charges against Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif brought under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code in relation to two Test matches played during August 2010 in the series between Pakistan and England, The Oval Test and the Lord’s Test.”But Beloff added that Amir and Asif have been acquitted of all charges relating to The Oval. One charge still stood, against Butt who was captain at the time. “The ICC has withdrawn all charges against the three players in relation to The Oval Test except for one against Mr Butt. The tribunal has formally acquitted the players in respect of the charges which have been withdrawn.”Neither the three-man tribunal nor the ICC gave details about the charges or incidents that were under investigation in the Oval Test. Until a report on the yesterday, in fact, it wasn’t public knowledge that The Oval Test was even under investigation.The , the tabloid that broke the story after an undercover sting operation, had, in fact, referred in its original report to a plan to bowl deliberate no-balls in The Oval Test which was eventually cancelled. There was another reference to a maiden over Butt was allegedly supposed to play out on one of the days. It is believed that it is the charges related to those incidents that have been under investigation.But it is believed that, in a bid to expedite a verdict against the three players, all the charges save one around The Oval Test, were dropped by the ICC’s lawyers during the hearing. The ICC was keen for the tribunal to announce verdicts against the three on Tuesday, the last day of the hearing, and believed that dropping charges, for which evidence is known to be insufficient, might achieve that.The news is a further blow for Butt, who as captain of the side was under particular scrutiny during the hearing. He spent a day and a half answering questions first from his lawyer, then the ICC’s lawyers as well as Asif’s lawyer – more than either Amir or Asif. In addition, the questioning of one witness by his own lawyer is thought to have hurt his case considerably. And differences between him and Asif are thought to have further worsened his case.The decision on the one charge against Butt relating to The Oval Test will also be announced on February 5, the date on which decisions concerning the Lord’s Test against all three are expected to finally be announced.Asif’s London-based lawyers released a statement expressing his delight at having been acquitted of all charges brought against him in relation to The Oval Test.