Beyond the Test World

Video of cricket in Afghanistan

Will Luke — 2009-07-07T12:10:05+00:00

In April, Matthew Fleming headed to Afghanistan to open cricket pitches and spread the good name of MCC - and, indeed, the sport - among rural communities in the country. It was a triumph, and Leslie Knott - one of the film-makers following Afghanistan's national team - has put up a video of Fleming's tour, which you can see below.

Cricket debuts in Serbia

George Binoy — 2009-07-05T12:01:50+00:00

Serbia's first cricket match © Getty Images

Vladimir Ninkovic

On June 5 2009, the first cricket match in the history of Serbia took place in the picturesque village of Karlovčić, some 20 miles from Belgrade. At stake was the Meridian Bet Belgrade Trophy, played between a Belgrade Cricket Association XII and Carmel & District CC, from Flintshire, North Wales. The guests won, having scored 175 all out versus the hosts 107, but the competitive nature of the match demonstrated that cricket has future in this small Balkan state.

The Belgrade team consisted primarily of local players with only three expatriates, from England, India and Pakistan respectively, and all the Serbian players learned the game only within the last year. Nevertheless, the pace of the trio of Belgrade fast bowlers (Dajč, Pantelić, Bulj), combined with the spin and swing of the expats (Sarang, Muhammad, Bancroft), managed to dismiss the visitors before the 40th over for a score of 175; a fairly achievable target. However, the second innings of the match showed that experience is an extremely valuable asset in cricket. The Serbs were unconvincing with the bat and only Sarang (38), Muhammad (38) and Ninkovic (8) managed to pile-up some runs, which were enough only for an honorable defeat. In the Welsh side, the best players were Marshall (52), Van Es (37 not out, plus two wickets taken), followed by an excellent bowling performance from the Abraham brothers, Andrew and Timothy, with four and three wickets, respectively.

After several unsuccessful attempts, cricket was finally officially established in Serbia in October 2007, when ex-rugby league players and team-mates, Haris Dajč and Vladimir Ninković, decided to found the first cricket clubs in Belgrade: Stari Grad and Mirijevo. Haris says: "Through some friends from the UK and Australia, we learned the basic rules and cricket suddenly felt appealing. We wanted to practice it but there were no clubs in Belgrade. So, we decided to take things into our own hands and founded our own clubs“. Fortunately, we got in contact with a guy from Mumbai, then living in Belgrade, who helped us with the first cricket steps. The first equipment was bought in January 2008, during spring and summer we managed to hold two trainings a week, where we basically played short matches with the people from the Indian and British embassy and some other expats. In January of 2009, having gathered more locals, the Belgrade Cricket Association was founded.

This spring we started holding serious training sessions three times a week, and eventually doubled the number of members. In April, Mr. Dajč and Mr. Ninković visited the ICC-Europe and spoke to the regional development official Mr. Richard Holdsworth, who was extremely satisfied with their efforts. On June 5, the first match took place in the village of Karlovcic, against Carmel & District CC, which our team, with only three expats in it, lost but we were delighted with our performance. The match received extensive media coverage. The most important TV stations, newspapers and news agencies were interested and some of them were even present at the ground.

At the moment a new club in Čačak, a town in western Serbia, is being established and there are plans to form a Serbian National Association by the end of the current year. In addition, the first domestic season is due to start on August 16 and both a 40 over and Twenty20 championships will be played by the 17th October. Three clubs will participate and the limit will be three expats in each.

Therefore, cricket in Serbia easily gains its place between other well established sports and we hope that from 2010, our national team will take part in regional and European competitions. For more information please visit our website - www.serbiacricket.com.

Nepal Women continue running streak

Will Luke — 2009-07-04T16:15:52+00:00

Nepal's Under-19 Women beat Singapore today in a bowl-out, continuing their winning spree in the ACC Women's T-20 tournament in Malaysia. nepalnews.com has the full story.

Canada name Saini as interim president

Martin Williamson — 2009-07-02T08:26:09+00:00

Ranjit Saini has been appointed as interim president of Cricket Canada pending a permanent appointment in the coming months. He succeeds Ben Sennik, who retired on June 30.

“I am excited to take on the new challenges and we have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks and months,” he said. “Sennik has left us a good platform from which to build on and we must do our utmost to ensure Cricket Canada continues to forge ahead”

Bridging immigrant communities in New York

Will Luke — 2009-06-29T21:15:25+00:00

Will Luke

Cricket rarely makes the pages of the New York Times, and if it does, it's usually related to the global game, not the sport in the United States. But today is the exception, with a wide-ranging piece on the power cricket can do for good.

Police Officer Jeff Thomson from the NYPD first got in contact with us a couple of weeks ago, and since then his force have staged a family day to launch their season.

But it is cricket's global appeal that can forge ties locally. With the game so popular in south asia and the Caribbean, those two communities in New York who sometimes struggle to integrate are given a vehicle to do just that.

“The Muslim community is not a community we had great outreach to in the past,” said Deputy Inspector Amin Kosseim, who runs special projects for the department’s Community Affairs Bureau.
And so the police decided to experiment with cricket, a game with a huge following across the Caribbean and South Asia. The response has cut across community lines. Tuesday’s opening match pitted the SuperStars — made up largely of players from Guyana — against the KnightRiders, a predominantly Pakistani team.

The NYPD have also had to make other adaptations to fit New York conditions.

For example, a strip of rolled and immaculately trimmed grass is normally used as the playing surface on which a ball bounces before it is struck by a batsman. But that strip is expensive and rare in this country. So the league’s matches, played at Spring Creek Park in Brooklyn and Kissena Park in Queens, use a substitute: a heavy, fibrous mat that is staked to the ground before a game.
At a SuperStars training session recently in Baisley Pond Park, youngsters on a neighboring basketball court looked on askance as the team carried the mat from a metal locker and used mallets to secure it to the damp earth. The bounce, according to the team’s coach, Ajaz Asgarally, was satisfactory.

It remains to be seen if the Police Department is able to nurture cricket talent in the way that other law enforcement agencies have. According to Keith A. P. Sandiford, a professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba who has written extensively on cricket, a police boys club established in Barbados to keep wayward boys off the streets once showcased the talents of a young Garfield Sobers.

Read the full piece and leave your comments below.

Scotland go for youth against Canada

Jamie Alter — 2009-06-29T12:21:30+00:00

The Scottish selectors have invested in youth by selecting a young squad with an average age of 25 against Canada in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and two ODIs in Aberdeen over the next ten days. Scotland will play a four-day Intercontinental Cup match from July 2-5 before taking on Canada for two 50-over fixtures on July 7 and 8.

Scotland, looking to rebuild in the wake of their failure to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, have named two teams with distinctive challengers under two different captains. Gordon Drummond will lead the Intercontinental Cup squad for the four-day match and Gavin Hamilton will take over for the ODIs.

"With these selections, we are starting to look ahead over the next four years and, broadly speaking, we are seeking to give the younger generation as much experience as we can," said coach Peter Steindl. "We believe that some cricketers are more suited to the longer form of the game, while some flourish in the one-day variety. With more and more top-quality youngsters pushing for places in the national squads, those squads may show more differences as time goes on. It’s up to the players to make their case on the field."

Drummond termed this an exciting time for Scottish cricket. "I am delighted to have been asked to take responsibility for the Intercontinental Cup squad, where we need players who are in for the long haul. The matches against Canada and, next month, Ireland, will certainly be a test to be savoured. The players will, I’m sure, rise to the occasion."

Intercontinental Cup squad:

Gordon Drummond (capt), Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Jan Stander, Neil McCallum, Simon Smith (wk), Qasim Sheikh, Moneeb Iqbal, Majid Haq, Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Ewan Chalmers.

ODI squad:

Gavin Hamilton (capt), Navdeep Poonia, Gordon Drummond, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Jan Stander, Neil McCallum, Simon Smith (wk), Majid Haq, Richie Berrington, Calum MacLeod, Ross Lyons.

Kenya stripped of 2010 Under-19 World Cup

Martin Williamson — 2009-06-26T20:12:40+00:00

Kenya have been stripped of the rights to host the 2010 Under-19 World Cup after an ICC report concluded that with only eight months to go before the event, it was "unrealistic" to expect Kenya to be ready to host the tournament. New Zealand will be hosts, subject to the agreement of satisfactory terms.

The decision was described by one leading Associate official as a "sad, sad day", while another accused the ICC of engineering "little more than a stitch-up".

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat described the outcome as "a difficult conclusion to have reached and a regrettable one".

While Cricket Kenya has yet to respond, other Associates have privately told Cricinfo that the decision effectively kills the chances of a non-major country hosting such an event again.

Kenya, who have spent more than US$150,000 on ground improvements, now face a massive loss. The ICC was not able to provide anything by way of solace other than assurances it would look into the situation.

In theory, the U-19 World Cup is an event which is used to boost the profile of the game outside the Full Member countries.

Argentina begin recruitment of new coach

Will Luke — 2009-06-26T14:19:55+00:00

The Argentine Cricket Association have begun recruiting a new coach to replace Hamish Barton, who has left to join Cricket New Zealand.

In a press release, the board says:

The successful candidate will have two major challenges within the next twelve months, the World Cricket League Division 4 tournament, and an ICC Americas Division 1 championship. In addition to coaching the senior men’s national squad, the position will also include managing Argentina’s high performance program, which also includes working with the senior fringe players, the best players in the U23, U19 and U15 age brackets, as well as the senior women’s team.

The successful candidate will be expected to commence in October of 2009, and must be available for at least one year. An attractive salary and benefits package will be offered, including accommodation.

Applications are invited, and should include application letter, full CV, plus at least two contactable references. Short-listed candidates will be notified and may need to be available for an interview. Any enquiries and/or full applications should be sent to the following email address:

admin@cricketargentina.com

The closing day is Friday July 17.

Canada doubts over 2012 U-19 World Cup

Martin Williamson — 2009-06-26T13:10:56+00:00

In the aftermath of the ICC’s decision to strip Kenya of hosting rights for the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, Cricket Canada, who are due to stage the following tournament in 2012, is believed to have expressed serious doubts about its abilities to act as hosts.

Officially, Kenya lost out because of a report stating the grounds would not be ready in time, although it is increasingly looking as if the decision was made some time ago, possibly for commercial reasons.

In light of that, Canada has flagged that it might struggle to meet ICC requirements which sources claim have become much stricter in recent months.

Ireland A take on young Yorkshire side

Will Luke — 2009-06-24T11:39:41+00:00

The 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup is just around the corner, and Ireland are this weekend due to announce their squad for their first match against Kenya on July 3. Ahead of that, however, Ireland A are taking on a young Yorkshire team who yesterday compiled an impressive 337, with Chavez Younes top-scoring on 71. Cricket Europe has the full report and a scorecard.

Kenya search for new captain and coach

Martin Williamson — 2009-06-17T15:05:01+00:00

Cricket Kenya is looking for a national team coach after deciding not to offer Andy Kirsten a new contract.

Kirsten, who only took up the post in March 2008, will remain in charge until the end of July and will accompany the side when they visit Ireland for a short tour starting at the end of the month. A board official told Cricinfo that it had decided to start afresh and to seek a new coach to work with a new captain in the build-up to the 2011 World Cup.

Although Kenya qualified for that tournament at the recent ICC World Cup Qualifiers, results have not been consistent and they failed to reach the ICC World Twenty20.

A source close to the process denied reports that it was a two-horse race between Balwinder Sandhu and Alan Butcher, saying there had been a number of good-quality applicants.

Meanwhile, five players have been shortlisted in the search for someone to replace Steve Tikolo as captain. Collins Obuyo, Hiren Varaiya, Thomas Odoyo, Maurice Ouma and Jimmy Kamande will all be interviewed by the national selectors and an appointment is expected within a week.

Zimbabwe enters side into ICC competition

Martin Williamson — 2009-06-17T09:07:12+00:00

Zimbabwe Cricket has confirmed that it will enter an A side into the 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup, in accordance with the recommendations of the ICC's task force.

Saqib Ali banned for a year after umpire attack

Martin Williamson — 2009-06-17T08:07:26+00:00

UAE international Saqib Ali has been banned for a year after he was found guilty of attempting to assault an umpire during a local Twenty20 cup tie.

The Dubai-based National newspaper reported that Saqib had a heated argument with Mohammed Asif, who was standing as the square-leg umpire, after an appeal for a catch behind was turned down by Asif's colleague. It is claimed that Saqib then grabbed a bail and threw it at the umpire - it missed, but Saqib had to be hauled away by team-mates.

"We do not tolerate such on-field behaviour from any player," Wajahat Husain, the new president of the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council, told the newspaper.

The ban means he will miss the ACC Twenty20 Cup and World Twenty20 Qualifiers, as well as most of UAE's Intercontinental Cup matches.

He does have the right to appeal.

Netherlands' two-day competition dead in the water

Martin Williamson — 2009-06-17T07:16:16+00:00

Cricket Europe has reported that the Netherlands’ attempts to introduce a two-day competition appear to be all but dead in the water as a result of a marked lack of enthusiasm and a problem finding suitable dates.

The announcement of matches at home to Canada in July may well be the final nail in the coffin as far as this season is concerned, and there is a growing feeling that it might not be resurrected in 2010.

“So inadequate has been the KNCB’s promotion of the proposed new competition that there were already rumours that many players were going to decline to take part anyway,” wrote Rod Lyall. “But the truth is that this experiment has not been given a fair chance, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the will to make it work simply did not exist.”

The Dutch board hardly helped their own project, and one of the most controversial ideas was to have compulsory declarations after 65 overs in the first innings, something critics claimed made the two-day games effectively two one-day matches.

Canada confirm European tour dates

Martin Williamson — 2009-06-16T09:57:37+00:00

Canada have confirmed details of their European tour which will include four ODIs and the opening two games in the 2009-10 Intercontinental Cup.

The trip will start with the Intercontinental Cup tie against Scotland (July 2 to 5) and that will be followed by two ODIs, also against Scotland, on July 7 and 8.

From there the team fly to the Netherlands where they play two more ODIs (July 11 and 12), finishing off with their second Intercontinental Cup match between July 15 and 18.