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Dale Steyn has said he did not do well in the first two Tests and is hungry to turn it around in the series-deciding Test in Perth

Firdose Moonda in Perth28-Nov-2012When Dale Steyn shows signs of irritability, the opposition should start worrying. The last time Steyn looked really angry, he returned from an ordinary day in the field to take two wickets in two overs and spark an England collapse that later proved to be series-defining.In Perth, he will turn up after “two Tests where I have not done too well,” and the bristle has begun. “Why would I want to come to Australia and be below average or average? You always want to come here and take five-fors,” Steyn said. “Just like as a batter you want to come here and score hundreds under immense pressure against one of the best teams in one of the most difficult places to tour in the world. Hopefully I can have a fantastic game in this one.”On average, Steyn has taken just under five wickets a Test in the 59 he has played. In Brisbane, he claimed only one of the five the South African attack managed in total. In Adelaide, he got closer with four scalps and thought he bowled a lot better. Although there was no swing, Steyn had better control and a touch more pace but he stopped short of spitting fire.The smouldering mood he was in at the SCG late on the last day of the tour match has yet to ignite, though. There, he sent down one of his fastest spells in Jacques Rudolph’s recent memory and it may take a real pressure-cooker of a situation before he explodes again.Something like Perth. Being the Test that will decide the series, Australia coach Mickey Arthur expects that Steyn will be readying for the big occasion and the man himself confirmed that. “There is a bit more want, a bit more need and that extra push. I know I will probably have a couple days off after this and I will do everything I can to get a result and to get the wickets South Africa need in this match.”But he won’t be able to do it alone. Steyn emphasised the rest of the attack will have to keep adding to the incremental progress they made from Brisbane to Adelaide so that they bring the full package to Perth. “It’s going to take everything out of everyone to win it,” he said.Although it is Steyn who has become Graeme Smith’s go-to man, in the same way Peter Siddle is Michael Clarke’s, he maintains he is not the only one with the tools to do the job. His reputation, according to him, was built only on been given the opportunity to dust off the tool box more than most and knowing how to use them well. “I don’t think I am the best bowler in the world and I am not the most skilful,” he said. “I am just fortunate enough to play every game for South Africa, I bowl a lot of overs for South Africa and I am able to take wickets when we need them.”Hopefully I can take wickets in this game. That’s what I am employed to do and that’s what I love doing. It comes down to one last game and it’s going to be a team contribution to winning this series. It’s not going to be just me standing up and taking seven or five wickets. Morne Morkel took eight in the last game. We will need a massive contribution from all of our bowlers.”One of the regular members of the attack who will not be able to contribute in any way is Jacques Kallis. While the physiotherapist is racing against the clock to get Kallis fit to bat, he has been ruled out from bowling in Perth and will leave a significant gap. “He is massive for us,” Steyn said. “Everyone can see he has been batting really well. But he can also hold up an end, he can take wickets, he is a valuable asset to this unit. An injury likes this puts a massive emphasis on what a great cricketer he really is and what a massive contribution he makes to the side. If he just misses one game, it’s massive but the day he retires, it’s going to be a whole different story.”Even without him, South Africa showed some glimpses of the attack that are known as the best in the world. “When we picked up the last five wickets in Adelaide for not many runs is pretty much how I know this attack can bowl and hopefully if we can string it together properly here in Perth, which is just around the corner for us, we could go home 1-nil.”With that in mind, Steyn extended his bullishness to the whole team. South Africa need only a draw to keep their Test mace but Steyn warned that they are still aiming for the Australian jugular. “We want to win the series. We didn’t come down to Australia to draw. We’ve played below what we are capable of but Australia have thrown everything they can at us and they still haven’t beaten us. If we can play to what our potential is, I think we will go home 1-nil.”

Peter Fulton, the New Zealand batsman, will return home because of a knee injury that flared up during the tour match against the South African Invitation XI in Paarl

Firdose Moonda29-Dec-2012Peter Fulton, the New Zealand batsman, has been ruled out of the two-Test series against South Africa because of a tendon injury to his right knee. The problem is an old one that has recurred throughout Fulton’s career and flared up again during the practice match against the South African Invitation XI in Paarl.Fulton had opened the batting with Martin Guptill and was at the crease for an hour and six minutes on the first day. He scored 39 and did not appear to be in any discomfort, but on assessment on the second morning the injury was deemed too serious for him to stay on the tour.”We have been monitoring the injury closely and Peter played yesterday in an effort to determine whether the injury would affect his batting. By the end of his innings the pain was significant and it became clear that the injury would prevent him from playing a full range of shots,” Paul Close, the New Zealand physiotherapist said. “Due to the condensed nature of the tour there is insufficient time to fully recover and he has therefore been withdrawn from the squad. We believe it is best for Peter to return to New Zealand where he can undergo further assessment and continue his rehabilitation.”Fulton was unlikely to play in the two-Test series, with Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum set to open the batting. New Zealand retained Colin Munro from the Twenty20 series as cover and also have Daniel Flynn as an extra batsman in the squad.This is the second withdrawal from New Zealand’s Test squad after Tim Southee had to pull out of with a thumb injury. Southee was replaced by left-armer Mitchell McClenaghan, who was also part of the T20 squad and impressed with his performances in that series.

A round-up of the Qaid-e-Azam Trophy matches

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2013
Scorecard
Abbottabad picked up their first win of the competition, beating Faisalabad in a low-scoring game that finished in two days. Abbottabad justified their decision to field first by bowling out the opposition for 92 in the first innings, with legspinner Yasir Shah taking six wickets. But Abbottabad themselves didn’t have much of an edge at the end of their innings, as they were skittled out for 135. Yasir Hameed made 49 and Yasir chipped in with 26, but there wasn’t much they could do against Waqas Maqsood, who took 7 for 40.A second batting failure, however, proved too costly for Faisalabad. Yasir was among the wickets again, taking his match tally to 12, to keep Faisalabad to just 152. Ammar Mahmood made 49 but there wasn’t much support from the rest. Set just 110 to win, Abbottabad achieved their target for the loss of just two wickets. Hammad Ali Shah made 56.
ScorecardLahore Shalimar’s collapse in the first innings proved to be the difference as they lost a low-scoring match to Rawalpindi by a narrow margin. Shalimar had bowled Rawalpindi out for 157 after putting them in, with seamers Aizaz Cheema and Zia-ul-Haq sharing seven wickets between them. But in response, Shalimar started poorly, losing two early wickets, and then crumbled to 116 all out. Only opener Umar Siddiq was able to put up a resistance with a 145-ball 46. Left-arm seamer Nasir Malik did most of the damage with four wickets, but it was Hammad Azam who picked up the crucial wicket of Siddiq and helped wrap up the innings quickly.Shalimar opening bowlers responded with three quick wickets, but a 98-run fourth-wicket stand between Awaiz Zia and Haseeb Azam proved to be crucial in the context of the match as the two took Rawalpindi’s lead past 150. Once the partnership was broken, Cheema and Zia-ul-Haq ran through the rest of the batting order to keep the target to a tricky 240.Unlike their first innings, all Shalimar batsmen got starts but were unable to construct big partnerships. The only notable stand was the one between Umar Akmal and Salman Ali which gave the team a good platform. But Rawalpindi bowlers attacked in a pack, with Saad Altaf, Hammad and Haseeb Azam, all picking up three wickets, and picked up the last six wickets for 37 to clinch a tight win and remain on the top of the Group II table.
ScorecardCenturies from Rizwan Ahmed and captain Aqeel Anjum, and nine wickets from offspinner Nasir Awais took Hyderabad to a commanding innings-and-46-run victory against Bahawalpur at the Bahawal Stadium. The collective bowling effort, led by Awais, helped them bowl Bahawalpur out for less than 200 in both their innings, after Hyderabad’s mammoth first-innings score of 513 for 9.After being put in to bat, Hyderabad’s openers began positively. Rizwan and Anjum consolidated on the strong start, and from 175 for 3, they added another 192 runs as their team took a strong hold on the contest. Their bowlers kept a tight leash on Bahawalpur, who collapsed for 194 and were forced to follow on. Besides Usman Tariq, who scored a half-century, no one scored more than 26. Awais, Nauman Ali and Zahid Mahmood took three wickets.Bahawalpur’s batsmen struggle against Hyderabad’s bowlers in their second dig too. Awais, who eventually took six wickets in the innings, helped reduce them to 65 for 6, before a fightback from lower-order batsman Ansar Javed delayed the inevitable.Hyderabad, however, still remain at the bottom of the Group II table.
ScorecardA knock of 150 from Mohammad Waqas helped Karachi Blues gain a crucial 47-run lead – and thereby three points – against Multan in a closely fought drawn contest at the Multan Cricket Stadium.The top order, led by Waqas, took them to 322 for 4, before the rest of the batsmen fell relatively cheaply to Zulfiqar Babar’s offspin. Multan replied strongly to Blues’ 410, and after a poor start strung together productive partnerships. Saeed Anwar jnr, Sohaib Maqsood, Naved Yasin and No. 9 Rizwan Haider scored half-centuries to get Multan close to their opponents’ score, but the lack of a big innings hurt them as they fell short of gaining the lead, scoring 363.Blues’ batsmen prevented the chance of an outright result by consuming the final two days in their second innings, batting at a considerably slower rate than in their first innings.The result consolidates their position at the top of the Group I table, while Multan lie second from bottom.
ScorecardPeshawar, bottom-placed in Group I, stayed dominant throughout the match against Sialkot, but were unable to force a result at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. The home team chose to bat first and was in some trouble at 115 for 4 before wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan scored only his second first-class century to revive the team to a good first-innings total.The Peshawar bowlers, led by Afaq Ahmed, then responded with regular wickets and helped their team to a 77-run lead. The scoring rates of both teams, however, remained slow, and by the time Sialkot ended their first innings, only a day remained in the match.Peshawar were then given a scare as they lost the openers with only nine runs on the board. On the fourth day, the home team continued to add runs at a slow pace. By the time Peshawar declared their innings – after batsman Aftab Alam got to his century – not much time was left in the match to force a result and the match petered to a draw.

Preview of the Caribbean T20 final between Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago in St Lucia

The Preview by Nagraj Gollapudi20-Jan-2013Match factsJanuary 20, 2013
Start time 2000 (0000GMT)Christopher Barnwell helped power Guyana into the final with a six-wicket win over Chris Gayle’s Jamaica•WICB MediaBig PictureFittingly, the final of the last edition of the Caribbean T20 (due to be replaced by a franchise-based Caribbean Premier League) will be played by Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana, the two teams who have shared the title on the previous five occasions. They contested the 2006 final of the Stanford 20/20 (as the tournament was called in the first two years), with Guyana winning with a ball to spare. Guyana then regained the crown in 2010. T&T won the title for the first time in 2008 and have been the defending champions for the last two years.Yet both teams have taken contrasting paths to success over the years. Guyana have always surprised the form sheet with cavalier displays, like the determined effort from Christopher Barnwell against Jamaica on Saturday in the play-off. In contrast, T&T have subdued their opponents convincingly through consistent performances.T&T were the only team not to lose a single match during the preliminary round, which they topped with 21 points, to book a final berth about a week in advance. In contrast, Guyana had to sweat late into Saturday night. That only reveals their desperation right through, including two last-ball victories.T&T have looked more assured on both the batting and bowling fronts, with more than one match-winner in their ranks. Darren Bravo has been the tournament’s leading scorer, including three consecutive fifties, and has looked more dominant with every match. Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin and Kieron Pollard have played around him to consolidate later. Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree have posed many difficult questions to the opposition batsmen, bowling aggressive lines throughout to maintain the pressure built by the batsmen. For Guyana, barring Barnwell and Steven Jacobs, the rest have remained inconsistent.A big factor that could give T&T an upper hand is the fact that they enter the final on the back of a four-day break. Expect them to be more fresh and agile. In comparison, the final will be Guyana’s fifth straight match in six days but, having won their last three games, they may fancy momentum being on their side.Form guide(most recent first, completed matches only)Guyana WWWLL
Trinidad & Tobago WWWWWIn the spotlightDarren Bravo might be the tournament’s leading scorer but “young” Bravo, as he is popularly known, understands that he needs to show his spark in the biggest match, the final. He has spoken about the team management giving him the responsibility of playing until the end, so look out for him to play the finisher’s role. Bravo failed to accomplish the same for West Indies during the one-day series in Bangladesh and would like to play a more dominant role during the forthcoming ODI series in Australia.After Christopher Barnwell’s match-winning innings in the play-off, he galloped to No. 2 on the run charts, behind Darren Bravo. Powerful wrists allied to smart thinking have allowed Barnwell to throw opposition plans into disarray at important moments and he can be expected to stand up to a stiff challenge once again on Sunday. Even with the ball in hand, Barnwell has shown good presence of mind: he has been accurate without feeding the batsman’s strengths as he showed against Chris Gayle on Saturday.Team newsShivnarine Chanderpaul ran on to the field joyously to hug his team-mates after Guyana’s spirited victory against Jamaica to make the final. Does that mean Chanderpaul, who had pulled a leg muscle and had to abort his batting in the victory against Windward Islands on Friday, is fit for Sunday’s summit clash? If he is not Trevon Griffith, who shared a match-turning partnership with Barnwell should retain his spot.Guyana (probable) 1 Derwin Christian (wk), 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul/Trevon Griffith, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Christopher Barnwell, 5 Narsingh Deonarine, 6 Leon Johnson, 7 Royston Crandon, 8 Steven Jacobs, 9 Veerasammy Permaul (capt), 10 Devendra Bishoo, 11 Ronsford BeatonT&T are likely to play the same team as in their final league match, barring any injuries.Trinidad & Tobago (probable) 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Denesh Ramdin, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Yannick Ottley, 8 Rayad Emrit, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Samuel Badree, 11 Shannon GabrielStats and triviaGuyana’s victory against Jamaica was the biggest successful chase in the history of Caribbean T20 in six editions.T&T batsmen have scored five half-centuries, the most by any team.Sunil Narine is the most economical bowler in the tournament with an economy rate of 3.85 (more than two overs).Guyana have won the tournament twice and, coincidentally, both times they scraped past the finishing line with just one ball to spare.Quotes”We had a bad game in the earlier round against Trinidad & Tobago. Hopefully our bowlers will bowl in the right areas and restrict them to a right total. It is a big final.”
“The boys have been working on specific areas of their game over the last few days and the time away from matches has allowed us the time to assess our game again and see what we need to enhance.”

A match haul of 10 for 67 by left-arm spinner Nikita Miller helped Jamaica hand Barbados a 63-run defeat in the Regional Four Day Competition in Bridgetown

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2013
Scorecard File photo: Nikita Miller’s ten-for was the centrepiece of Jamaica’s victory over Barbados•West Indies CricketA match haul of 10 for 67 by left-arm spinner Nikita Miller helped Jamaica hand Barbados a 63-run defeat in the Regional Four Day Competition in Bridgetown. Chasing 192 runs for a win with two days of play left in the game, the hosts struggled to occupy the crease, losing wickets regularly, and were eventually dismissed for 128.Except for wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich, who scored an unbeaten 31, none of the other batsmen crossed a score of 20, as the Jamaican spinners, led by Miller, held sway. Offspinner Tamar Lambert took a couple of wickets, as did leg-spinner Odean Brown.Bowlers from both sides dominated the match and it was the Barbados bowlers who gave their side a clear advantage on the first day, dismissing Jamaica for just 165. At one stage, Jamaica, who chose to bat, were three wickets down without a run on the board. Jermaine Blackwood and David Bernard added 67 runs for the fifth wicket, taking Jamaica towards a respectable first-innings score. Blackwood, who scored 81, was involved in another 50-plus partnership, with Andrew Richardson, as Jamaica scraped out 165.The home side hardly fared better in their first innings. It took a half-century from Jonathan Carter and 35-run, ninth-wicket stand between Chris Jordan and Ashley Nurse to take Barbados to 162, giving Jamaica a slender, three-run lead.Jamaica were hoping to fare better in their second innings, but opener Simon Jackson was the only batsman who spent some time at the crease, scoring 59. An exceptional spell of bowling from medium-pacer Jonathan Carter, who finished with figures of 3-3-0-4, cleaned up the Jamaican lower order. However, in the end, Jamaica’s effort proved quite enough to secure a win in the opening round of Regional Four Day games.

Preview of the fourth Test between India and Australia in Delhi

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran21-Mar-2013Match factsMarch 22-26, Delhi
Start time 0930 (0400 GMT)Shane Watson will have a huge task on his hands•Associated PressBig Picture”This is a young Australian team. They are even getting beaten on their home grounds consistently. We should defeat them easily and a 4-0 whitewash is a real possibility.” When Harbhajan Singh said those words at the start of the tour, most people laughed it off as a gratuitous jibe based on wishful thinking. A day ahead of the final Test, though, a whitewash looms as an all-too real possibility.The series victory comes as a salve for India, smarting after the home defeats to England. What will be particularly pleasing for Indian fans is that the win has been built on the back of a new generation, shorn of most of the stalwarts of the past decade. Of the middle-order heavyweights only Sachin Tendulkar remains; India’s most successful opening is on the sidelines, long-time pace spearhead Zaheer Khan hasn’t played in months and Harbhajan remains a bit-part player even after his career was handed a lifeline at the start of the series.Most of India’s heroes have been players in the early stages of their Test career – M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Whether they can thrive in unfamiliar overseas conditions is a debate for later; for now they are spearheading India’s charge towards a fourth victory in the series – an unprecedented feat for the team.From being pilloried for their defeats in Test cricket, India now have an outside chance of finishing the series as joint No. 2 in the rankings. Australia, on the other hand, had the No. 1 within their grasp a few months ago but, after a dreadful tour highlighted by indiscipline, injuries and technical ineptness, could slip down to fourth. Shane Watson and the rest of the “gang of four” are back after sitting out the Mohali Test but Mitchell Starc has become the latest to pull out of the tour due to an injury, and Australia’s captain Michael Clarke is still nursing a bad back which could keep him out of Delhi. If Australia manage to avoid the whitewash from here, it will be a huge achievement.Form guide India WWWDL (Last five matches, most recent first)
Australia LLLWWWatch out for…One Test after being axed for indiscipline, calling the punishment “very harsh” and that he would weigh up his future, Shane Watson could return not just to the team, but as Australia’s captain. There are question marks over his relationship with Clarke, and there are still plenty of people sceptical about his Test performances. Having given up bowling in this series, he hasn’t yet delivered a substantial score in his four innings. It extends a fallow spell that has yielded just one half-century in 12 Test innings. Ahead of an Ashes-heavy season, Watson needs a big performance in Delhi.Ravindra Jadeja has his share of doubters, and few thought he could deliver at the Test level, but he has been convincing as a second spinner so far in this series. Not only has he kept things tight, he has dismissed Australia’s best batsman five times, and his 17 wickets in the series are more than the combined haul of Australia’s spinners. He hasn’t yet made a significant score with the bat, though there were a couple of cracking boundaries to ease India home in Mohali.Teams newsIndia had sent Shikhar Dhawan for the pre-match press conference in Mohali ahead of his debut, but it wasn’t Ajinkya Rahane who faced the press ahead of this game. That doesn’t necessarily rule out a long-awaited debut for Rahane, but it indicates that the team management have not yet made up their minds about blooding him.India (probable) 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar and 11 Ishant Sharma.With Clarke not training on Thursday, it is unlikely he will play the Test, leaving Watson in charge. Phillip Hughes has probably done just enough in the Mohali second innings to save his place, while Xavier Doherty’s underwhelming performances should see him on the bench. Moises Henriques will also be a nervous man ahead of the game, after having failed to build on his bright debut.Australia: (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Shane Watson (capt), 5 Steven Smith, 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Peter Siddle, 11 Nathan Lyon.Pitch and conditionsDelhi is one of India’s favourite venues, having won eight out of nine Tests there since losing to Viv Richards’ champion side in 1987. Given the vast gulf in quality between the spinners in the two sides, it will surprise no one if the Kotla track turns out to be a turner. It is nowhere near the peak of summer, but Delhi will still be warm, with temperatures in the mid-30s.Stats and trivia The last time Australia lost four Tests in a series was during the Ashes in 1978-79, and their only 0-4 whitewash was against South Africa in 1969-70 Fast bowlers have had a difficult time in recent years at the Feroz Shah Kotla, averaging 43.57 since 2000Quotes”Till the time the ball gets old, I have to play the defensive role of trying to contain the batsmen. Everyone has been assigned a specific role and we perform our roles accordingly.”
Ishant Sharma
“Of the eight times their batsmen have passed 50, they’ve passed 100 six times and 200 twice. We’ve had eight instances where we’ve passed 50, but we only have one century to show for it.”
Michael Clarke

A round-up of matches of the Campus Cricket World Final 2012-13 played on April 5

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2013A late charge from the University of Moratuwa middle order was not enough to haul in the tall total set by DAV Chandigarh, who have booked a place in the Campus Cricket final, with a 16-run win in the first semi-final. Chandigarh made 210 for 4, batting first at the Premadasa Stadium, thanks to an impressive start and an explosive finish. Wicketkeeper batsman Gaurav Tandon made 53 from 33 deliveries after arriving at the crease in the third over, and put on 81 runs in 48 balls alongside opener Jaskaran Singh, who made 47 from 32 balls.Once both batsmen had departed, Chandigarh were well on the way to a large total, and heavy hitting from Gurinder Singh, who struck five sixes and five fours in his unbeaten 60 from 25 balls, ensured his side crossed 200. His unbeaten fifth wicket partnership with Simran Singh was worth 86 runs from 42 deliveries. Of the Moratuwa bowlers, only Sahan Perera emerged from the onslaught with respectable figures, having taken 2 for 29 from his four overs.Early wickets of Chandigarh’s opening batsmen then nearly scuppered the chase inside the Powerplay, as Moratuwa sunk to 26 for 4 in the fifth over, and then 53 for 5 in the eighth. However, a valiant sixth wicket stand between Randika Perera and Rumesh Madhushanka, who put on a tournament-high 141 together, revived Moratuwa’s hopes. Randika made 72 not out, from 47 balls and Madhushanka hit 69 from 39, bludgeoning five sixes and six fours. Despite their heroics, Chandigarh had got too far ahead in the game by the time their resistance began, and Moratuwa only made 194 from their 20 overs.Karachi University then confirmed themselves as the other finalists, as they brushed aside Great Britiain Combined University Team by 76 runs, in the second semi-final. Batting first, a half-century to opener Faraz Ali helped set a strong foundation for Karachi, before Nabeel Khalid and Shahzaib Khan made useful contributions from the lower-middle order, to help Karachi score 154 all out in 20 overs. Simon Watkins was the best of Great Britain Combined’s bowlers, taking 4 for 27 from his four overs.In response, Great Britain Combined lost opener Harry Bush on the first ball of the innings, and it hardly got better from there. Chris Wakefield and Luke Blackaby began a recovery, but could not sustain their innings long enough to make a difference, and after their demise, the remainder of the batting order succumbed quickly. Shahzaib Khan and Mirza Jamil took three wickets apiece, to help dismiss the opposition for 78, in 15 overs.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and his predecessor Ross Taylor have been released early by their IPL franchises and will join the tour of England ahead of schedule

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2013New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and his predecessor Ross Taylor have been released early by their IPL franchises and will join the tour of England ahead of schedule.Neither player has had much involvement in the IPL with McCullum playing one match for Kolkata Knight Riders, after recovering from the hamstring injury he picked up in the final Test against England in Auckland, and although Ross Taylor has appeared five times for Pune Warriors he has made just 63 runs at a strike-rate under 100.McCullum is due to arrive in England on Friday so could yet be available for the opening tour match against Derbyshire, which starts on Saturday, while Taylor is expected over the weekend. Both players were previously set to arrive shortly before the match against England Lions at Grace Road next week. Kane Williamson was due to the lead the team in McCullum’s absence.New Zealand players have an agreed five-week window where they can appear at the IPL and when Mike Hesson, the coach, was asked about missing two senior players for the start of the trip he even sought to see it in a positive way. “I’m actually quite happy with it because with a squad of 15 it’s quite hard to get everyone a game,” he said.It has become a feature of the May Test series in England, which clashes with the IPL, that senior players from the visiting team have arrived late. It has previously happened with Sri Lanka and West Indies, leaving them precious little time to adjust to the conditions.McCullum, who took over the captaincy from Taylor late last year, had a productive series against England in March, but Taylor struggled for fluency on his return after opting out of the South Africa tour following the loss of the leadership. During a radio interview after the visit of England he said that he was still not entirely comfortable back in the set-up.

Brendon McCullum is not the sort to shirk a challenge so when BJ Watling was ruled out of the second Test at Headingley he wasted little time in deciding to take up the gloves

David Hopps22-May-2013Brendon McCullum is not the sort to shirk a challenge so when New Zealand’s wicketkeeper, BJ Watling, was ruled out of the second Test at Headingley because of injury, he wasted little time in deciding to take up the gloves that he supposedly relinquished for good in Test cricket nearly three years ago.McCullum kept for part of England’s second innings at Lord’s – without pads on day three – after Watling injured his left knee attempting to run out Joe Root with a dive. Watling left the field and speculation began over who would take the gloves at Headlingey.Watling seemed to come through practise on Wednesday reasonably well to most observers, which begs the question whether New Zealand viewed his bruised knee as an injury of convenience after what McCullum himself described as their “hour of madness” – the collapse to 68 all out as England forced an abrupt victory in the opening Test at Lord’s.Watling’s absence allows New Zealand to slot in Martin Guptill, who has extensive experience in English conditions with Derbyshire, as an extra batsman at No. 6, rather than as an opener in place of Peter Fulton whose tour of England has so far brought 34 runs in five knocks.Captain, wicketkeeper and New Zealand’s most pugnacious batsman: McCullum will not be short of roles when the second Test begins in Leeds on Friday. All this with a back complaint which puts him under strain whenever he returns to the keeping role.McCullum announced that he would only keep wicket for New Zealand in limited-overs cricket after the IPL in 2010. In New Zealand’s next Test against India in Ahmedabad, Gareth Hopkins deputised and in 24 subsequent Tests, the role has passed between Hopkins, Reece Young, Watling and Kruger van Wyk. Watling has been the only one to suggest he might make a long-term go of it and he can expect to return after this series.Such heavy demands upon McCullum make it almost inevitable that Dan Vettori, a former New Zealand captain, will make his Test comeback for the first time for almost a year’s absence with Achilles trouble. McCullum, an “ideas” captain, likes to keep lines of communication open with his bowlers, but he feel less need for endless dashes up and down the pitch in the middle of an over if he sees the familiar figure of Vettori fielding.One of the New Zealand bowlers to recognise the advantage of that was Neil Wagner. He is a garrulous sort – a refreshing change in the sanitised media conferences of today – and it was all he could do to stop himself pronouncing that Vettori would definitely get the final place ahead of Doug Bracewell and an all-seam attack. These days at Headingley, the temptation to rely on pace bowling alone should be resisted because the pitches can show extremes of character and are just as likely to go flat if the clouds lift. Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire legspinner, took five wickets in the second match of the season at Headingley, so it should not automatically be assumed that a spinner has no role here.”Brendon’s back has been playing up a bit, but he is going to grit his teeth and do a job for the team, that’s just the sort of guy that Brendon is,” Wagner said. “There is going to be quite a bit of running up and down because he likes to talk to the bowlers about plans but having the opportunity maybe to have Dan at mid-on and mid-off and pick his brains and pass on messages will be pretty awesome.”It’s exciting seeing Dan around the changing room and training with us again. He is just one of those guys you can always rely on. He brings a good spirit into the team, and brings in humour in tough situations sometimes, but he also has such massive experience. If as a bowler you want to pick someone’s brain, he is going to be the one you want to talk to.”Vettori will be a like-for-like replacement for his fellow left-arm spinner, Bruce Martin, who has left the tour because of a calf injury he picked up at Lord’s. That will at least stop the England fans wondering – as they have for the past three months – why nobody is clobbering him down the ground.Vettori, veteran of 112 Tests, bowled for half-an-hour, had a bat against some throw-downs and took some high catches on a middling Leeds morning, dry and largely overcast. Mike Hesson, New Zealand’s coach, then rejected requests to speak to him, leaving the bowling coach, Shane Bond, to indicate that Vettori himself would be trusted to make the call on his fitness.”He’s the sort of guy who will know whether he can do it or not,” Bond said. “He’s got that experience and he knows how he’s going physically. Either way I’m sure the right decision will be made.”Vettori’s last Test came against West Indies in Antigua last July. After an inactive time in the IPL, even a long-haul flight from New Zealand could not disguise the feeling that he was itching to play again.Vettori would join an attack that has come close to breaking England’s batting on several occasions over the four Tests stretching back to March, something Wagner takes comfort from.”We have come close a couple of times so it has been a bit frustrating for us as a bowling unit,” he said. “At Lord’s we got ourselves into a perfect position and then two guys came out with serious class and bowled unbelievably well.”Jonny Bairstow at the moment is trying to find his feet a bit. Nick Compton played a bit of a rash shot in the first innings after showing a bit of patience. Matt Prior hasn’t got a run in two innings. There is stuff we can thrive on.”

Two Sri Lankan umpires who were named in a television sting operation last year dealing with illegal payments for influencing first-class matches have been banned by Sri Lanka cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2013Sri Lanka Cricket has banned two umpires, Sagara Gallage and Maurice Zilva, who were named in a sting operation last year dealing with illegal payments for influencing first-class matches. A third umpire, Gamini Dissanayake, has been downgraded from the top umpire’s panel for a year and issued a “severe warning” by the board CEO.The decisions came after an emergency executive committee meeting in Colombo, where the recommendations of the disciplinary committee’s recommendations were endorsed.The sting, broadcast by India TV, claimed to have “exposed” several first-class umpires from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan who were allegedly willing to give decisions favouring players for a fee. In the sting, conducted in July and August 2012, the reporters claimed to belong to a sports management company and promised the umpires officiating assignments in events of all kinds around the world, largely domestic Twenty20 leagues.The hardest hit of the three Sri Lankan umpires was Gallage, who was banned for 10 years from all cricket, while Zilva got a three-year ban. Dissanayake, the third Sri Lankan umpire named in the sting, was the most high-profile of the three, having regularly been the fourth umpire in international matches, though he was yet to be one of the main officials in an international game.The Pakistan and Bangladesh boards have already handed out punishments to their umpires caught in the sting. Bangladesh’s Nadir Shah was banned for 10 years by the BCB on corruption charges, and Pakistan’s Nadeem Ghauri and Anis Siddiqi have already been slapped with bans.Zilva and Gallage were the reserve umpires in two warm-up matches each before the World T20 in Sri Lanka last year.