The strict action taken by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) against the top players for their dismal performance during the tour of Australia, has drawn mixed reactions from former players

Cricinfo staff10-Mar-2010Inzamam-ul-Haq: “What sort of message are we delivering to the world by taking such decisions at a time when nobody is agreeing to come to Pakistan to play cricket?”•AFP

Players’ power was affecting team’s performance badly. There was no discipline in the team and it had become impossible for the board to tackle the players. That was why the board has been budging down to players’ pressure. The decision is beneficial even if we lose in the Twenty20 World Cup. The move has a lesson for budding players. They will always have in mind that if senior players can be punished, then they too are no exceptions
Zaheer Abbas,
Younis and Yousuf should go to court to challenge the decision. This is not a good decision for Pakistan cricket. The board is not setting a good example before young cricketers. I don’t understand the thinking that led them to take such a decision. The committee comprised employees of the PCB and there was no neutral person in it. What sort of message are we delivering to the world by taking such decisions at a time when nobody is agreeing to come to Pakistan to play cricket?
Inzamam-ul-Haq,
Our main problem was discipline, but barring players, I am not sure, it doesn’t look nice to just end the international careers of such talented players. It is surprising, but at the end of the day, the PCB needed to make an example and took a step to clean up the lack of discipline in the team. I am sure the players will challenge the life ban though.
Ramiz Raja,
Younis I think has been treated unfairly for long now, what was his fault and yet he is banned for life. This is not the way to improve things in Pakistan cricket. If things were so wrong in Australia then what was the team management doing. I am getting a feeling that the board has taken these decisions to save themselves after the recent poor performances and controversies.Rashid Latif,
It’s the end of players’ power from our national team, which is a very good sign. From now on, every player will be very careful because they know that they can be fined or banned if they violate
discipline. Younis and Yousuf had played their innings in international cricket as they have got too old, but Naved and Akmal should have also been banned for one year.
Sarfraz Nawaz,

Jim Allenby enjoyed another good day at Derby to help Glamorgan recover after
Welsh paceman Steffan Jones had blown away the top order

21-Apr-2010

ScorecardVeteran Steffan Jones took four crucial wickets•Getty Images

Jim Allenby enjoyed another good day at Derby to help Glamorgan recover after
Welsh paceman Steffan Jones had blown away the top order.Jones took 3 for 24 in a seven-over opening spell but Allenby, Ben Wright
and Mark Wallace scored half-centuries as Glamorgan fought back to reach 272
before Derbyshire closed on seven without loss.Allenby scored 96 and 52 for Leicestershire at Derby last year and his latest
fifty at the County Ground was his third in this season’s Championship. He came in with Glamorgan in trouble after electing to bat first on a pitch that had enough in it to keep the seamers interested.Jones struck a big blow with the ninth ball of the day when Australian opener
Mark Cosgrove was lbw playing forward with only six on the board. Mike Powell also went cheaply after he failed to control a pull shot and Tom Lungley took a well-judged diving catch on the run at long leg.When Jones conjured up a good one to have Gareth Rees caught behind, Glamorgan
were 43 for 3 and there was another big wicket for Derbyshire on the stroke
of lunch. Jamie Dalrymple had been a big thorn in their side last season, scoring
centuries in both County Championship matches and two fifties in one-day games,
so the home side were relieved when he departed in the penultimate over of the
morning.The Glamorgan skipper looked set on 21 but he reached for a ball from Greg
Smith outside off stump and edged to first slip. That left the visitors in trouble on 80 for 4 but that was Derbyshire’s last success for 25 overs as Wright and Allenby added 73.Allenby came down the pitch to lift Robin Peterson over long off for six to
bring up the fifty stand and Wright reached his second half-century of the
season when he cut the South African spinner for his eighth four.He survived a sharp chance to short leg on 51 but nine runs later, he went back
to a quicker one from Peterson and edged the ball into his stumps. Allenby and Wallace took their side to a batting point before Allenby appeared unlucky to be given out lbw for 57 when he was hit high up on the pad by Peterson in the last over before tea.Wallace made sure Glamorgan banked a second point by completing his second
fifty in consecutive matches before he was caught behind aiming a loose shot at
Lungley’s first ball back.Jones took the last wicket to finish with 4 for 60 which left Derbyshire
with four overs to negotiate, and they sent in a nightwatchman in Lungley who
did his job to deny Glamorgan’s bowlers any success.

England’s victorious Twenty20 captain, Paul Collingwood, believes that his team’s triumph in the Caribbean is on a par with last summer’s Ashes win

Cricinfo staff18-May-2010England’s victorious Twenty20 captain, Paul Collingwood, believes that his team’s triumph in the Caribbean is on a par with last summer’s Ashes win, but insists that there will be no problem whatsoever as he prepares to hand the England captaincy back to Andrew Strauss, who has been taking a break since the end of the tour of South Africa in January.England’s seven-wicket win over Australia in Barbados ended the country’s run of 35 years without a major ICC trophy, and was made possible by an exciting new brand of attacking cricket which was entirely at odds with the diffident displays England have shown in previous limited-overs campaigns. But the focus now returns to Test cricket, with the series against Bangladesh looming next week, and with that in mind, Collingwood was very happy to relinquish the leadership.”Andrew Strauss is obviously our captain in the one-day format and in the Test format,” Collingwood told reporters at Gatwick Airport. “This was solely my job as Twenty20 captain, to go out and win the World Cup, which is exactly what we’ve done. There’s no pressure on him coming back in.”He’s a fantastic leader, and a lot of this kind of success we’ve had over the last few weeks can go down to a lot of the values he and Andy Flower have installed in us over the past year. The team ethic has certainly helped the team gel together and become a strong unit.”With his return to the ranks imminent, Collingwood was able to reflect with satisfaction on his moment of glory. “We went over there to win a World Cup and we achieved that,” he told Radio 5 Live. “It’s a massive achievement. We’ve had a monkey on backs having not won an ICC trophy and put that right. It’s right up there with last year’s Ashes win.”We had a team with plenty of belief and a team with plenty of skill. The brand of cricket we played was exciting, and we really took it to the opposition. Really it was about consistent performances right the way through and we built on that momentum right the way through to final.”

Senior members of Pakistan’s team management on the tour to Australia raised concerns about a run-out wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal fluffed during the Sydney Test, hinting that it may have been more than just a cricketing error

Osman Samiuddin20-May-2010Senior members of Pakistan’s team management on the ill-fated tour to Australia earlier this year raised concerns about a run-out wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal fluffed during the second Test in Sydney, hinting that it may have been more than just a cricketing error. This has emerged in a video, leaked to a leading Pakistan sports channel, of meetings between officials and the six-man inquiry committee which investigated Pakistan’s performance in the aftermath of the tour.The tour is currently being investigated by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) to establish whether Pakistan’s on-field performance was the result of what it called a “dysfunctional” team or “something more serious”. This was announced on Thursday by the ACSU’s outgoing chief, Paul Condon.The leaked segments of the video centre around the testimony given by Aaqib Javed and Intikhab Alam, assistant coach and coach respectively on that tour, to the committee. Akmal dropped Michael Hussey three times in the second innings, allowing the batsman to score a hundred that was pivotal in Australia winning the Test having conceded a 204-run lead.But the miss that has aroused suspicions was a run-out chance against Shane Watson, when Akmal cleanly collected a throw from the outfield but neglected to remove the bails with Watson short of the crease. In his statement, Akmal denied any wrongdoing. “I got the ball but was totally blind and couldn’t run out the batsman,” he said.Aaqib says of the miss that it was the “most shocking” of all his errors. “But the run-out, that was shocking, really shocking,” Aaqib says to committee members, including the head Wasim Bari, the PCB’s chief operating officer. “What did he do? How can this happen?”Asked specifically by a committee member how firmly he believes that Akmal’s mistakes were deliberate, Aaqib says, “I’m not sure, but my suspicions are pretty high. They are high because of other things I know about the process, the people in the surroundings. There is a high percentage. These things are not new in Pakistan cricket. These things have happened and I was a victim of them. There is a question mark, yes.”Intikhab, asked about the same incident, appears more reluctant to point to anything untoward. While describing the incident, though, he repeatedly refers to how shocked he was initially. “That run-out I saw, I was flabbergasted. If you see it, it is shocking….the ball came, he was diving so far out, what can I say? We couldn’t believe it. I heard many stories about match-fixing also.”The video, aired first by , a Pakistani sports channel, is particularly significant because it is the first time people within the board have spoken of match-fixing, an issue that has swirled relentlessly over Pakistan cricket over the last year. In the past, however, such statements have come only from ex-cricketers, or senators and parliamentarians. It isn’t clear, however, whether these suspicions were included in the various written reports handed to the PCB by touring officials or in the final inquiry committee report; it is understood, for example, that Intikhab’s written tour report did not raise this alarm.After these meetings, the inquiry committee decided to ban four senior players and fine three others heavily. Many of the other incidents in the video have already become public knowledge since the PCB completed its findings. Intikhab and Aaqib talk, for example, of Umar Akmal and the allegations that he faked a back ailment before the third Test in Hobart in protest at the dropping of his elder brother.Intikhab is also critical of the players’ behaviour away from the field, questioning their education levels and upbringing, their mental aptitude and ultimately concluding that they “seem to be mentally retarded.” He suggests, as remedial measures, that Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan be removed from the team, though he says of Younis that “he is not a troublemaker but he has other issues.”Parts of the interaction between Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, another player facing a one-year ban from the national side, and the committee are also on the video. Rana talks at length about the players’ unhappiness with Younis when he was captain last year, admitting that he was part of a concerted movement to try and remove him.

Netherlands captain Peter Borren has his sights set on victory ahead of the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 from 1 to 10 July

Cricinfo staff25-Jun-2010Netherlands captain Peter Borren has his sights set on victory ahead of the ICC World Cricket League Division One from July 1 to 10. Having finished third both in 2007 in Nairobi and in 2009 in South Africa, his side is eager to go all the way, especially so being the hosts.”Things like the development of the side and preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 can be put on a hold for the time being,” Borren said. “The immediate task is to play and perform in the most important and competitive tournament featuring the top Associate and Affiliate sides. It is imperative for us to not only do well but win it. I’ll be extremely disappointed if we don’t win this tournament.”It is a great opportunity for us to play in this tournament where every match is an ODI. We need to make optimum use of this great opportunity and give a good account of ourselves,” he said.Netherlands have a strong ODI record against Associates, and go into the tournament on a high, following the six-wicket victory against Scotland in Rotterdam last Tuesday. “We have a very settled side in one-day cricket and we’ve been gelling very nicely as a team. We’ve always done reasonably well in ICC events against the other top Associates so I think we’ll be very competitive, especially considering we’ll have home advantage,” Borren said.His side have some injury woes to deal with since they will be without top players like Ryan ten Doeschate, Edgar Schiferli and Daan van Bunge, while Alex Kervezee will not be around for the initial part of the tournament. Borren acknowledged that these players were “hard to replace”.”I realise we will be without some of our star performers due to injuries or other commitments. I also understand that experience is difficult to replace but we have players in our ranks who have the required skills and talent to deliver the goods at this level. We have played without these players recently and have enjoyed some success which has been excellent for the confidence of the younger players,” he said.Schiferli has been out of action with a knee injury since the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates, while ten Doeschate picked up an injury while playing for Essex in the English County Championships. van Bunge is not available due to work commitments and Kervezee is tied up with his commitments Worcestershire commitments.”Kervezee has commitments with his clubs in England. Look, the players have shown a lot of commitment to Dutch cricket and we’d just love to have them. But as an Associate Member, you can’t have everything. You need to live with these facts and the reality is Kervezee will only be available for a maximum of two matches.”The younger players have shown a lot of potential, especially Mark Jonkman who has blossomed under the wing of Schiferli and is now ready to stamp his mark at the bigger stage. He is fast and keeps coming back at the batsmen. He is an excellent bowler in the death overs. As far as I’m concerned, he is the one to watch out for in this tournament,” Borren said.Borren believed his side was well-prepared for the tournament. “We have been playing a lot of limited-overs cricket this season with our involvement in the Clydesdale Bank Pro40 competition in England and this has really helped us.”We have been playing pretty well in that – we beat Derbyshire and we should have won a couple of other games too but we couldn’t quite get over the line. We hadn’t played in an English competition for years and we saw how much it did for cricket in Ireland and Scotland so it’s great to be involved in that. I think all this has been good preparation for the World Cricket League.”Borren however was quick to acknowledge that it will be a keenly contested tournament. “Ireland has done well over the years at this level while Afghanistan is another dangerous side. However, I think all the sides will start on an even keel as they are all evenly matched. I think it will boil down to the fact which side adjusts quickly to the conditions, handles the pressure, plays to its strengths and converts the opportunities.”He also refused to make much out of his side’s home advantage. “It can be a double-edged sword. While you’re best placed to understand the weather and your knowledge about the pitches and their characters are second to none, on the other side of the coin when you’re playing at home there are so many things that are running in your mind like work commitments which can easily distract you.”Squad: Peter Borren (capt), Tom de Grooth, Mark Jonkman, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Adeel Raja, Maurits Jonkman, Muhammad Kashif, Alex Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Nicolas Statham, Bas Zuiderent.

Andrew Strauss insists there is still plenty of room for improvement from England in the final ODI at Lord’s as they search for a 4-1 series victory

Brydon Coverdale at Lord's02-Jul-2010Andrew Strauss insists there is still plenty of room for improvement from England in the final ODI at Lord’s as they search for a 4-1 series victory. The loss at The Oval on Wednesday ruined their chances of a clean-sweep and although Strauss maintains there is nothing to be gained from the series ahead of the Ashes, he does believe every win is important less than a year from a World Cup.England will consider making changes for Saturday’s game, with the possibility that players might be rested ahead of Bangladesh’s tour. But Strauss doesn’t want to risk Australia finishing the series with a pair of victories, after England’s powerful start gave them a realistic chance of completing a whitewash.”Having pretty much dominated the first three games, we don’t want the series to finish 3-2,” Strauss said. “It would not be the sort of way to finish the series we would have anticipated at 3-0 up. But we’ve got to play better than we did at The Oval, there’s no doubt about that, and look back to what we’ve done well over those first three games and make sure we repeat it.”We’ve had one hundred in the series, so you always want your top order to get hundreds, there’s no doubt about that. That’s an area we’ve identified that we can improve. As a batting unit I think we can probably play better than we have done. The bowling has been pretty good, the fielding his been pretty good, but there’s still room for improvement in both of those disciplines as well.”One man England would love to see lift is Kevin Pietersen, who has shown promise during the series without making use of his starts. Pietersen has now gone 16 ODIs without a half-century, stretching back to the tour of India in November 2008, and Strauss said that while such a lean patch was unexpected, he had no concerns over Pietersen’s form.”You expect him to score runs consistently and he has done so much in the past,” Strauss said. “What I would say is he has contributed in a lot of those one-day internationals without getting fifties. He’s still the player that opposition teams fear the most in our side. If you see him playing in the nets, you know there’s absolutely no reason to believe he’s not going to go out and get a hundred tomorrow. We’ve got no concerns with him.”While victory for England would cap off an outstanding series, Australia will consider it a minor triumph if they come from 3-0 down to end up with a 3-2 scoreline. There have been some real positives for the visitors over the past two games, including the form of the pace trio of Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris.The Australians are also keen to take some momentum into their Twenty20s against Pakistan, which begin two days after the Lord’s ODI. The coach Tim Nielsen said the group was in better spirits after the 78-run win at The Oval.”We feel a bit better about ourselves,” Nielsen said. “We were probably building to that game throughout the first three. It would be nice to finish 3-2. If we do that, we know we’ve played well tomorrow and it’s probably a pretty fair reflection of the series.”

Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott produced the highest partnership in England’s one-day history as England crushed Bangladesh by 144 runs

The Bulletin by Andrew Miller at Edgbaston12-Jul-2010England 347 for 6 (Strauss 154, Trott 110) beat Bangladesh 203 (Mahmudullah 42, Bopara 4-38) by 147 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndrew Strauss was inventive and expansive as he set the tone for England’s crushing win•Getty Images

Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott produced the highest partnership in England’s one-day history, surpassing the 226 that Strauss and Andrew Flintoff recorded against West Indies at Lord’s in 2004, as England crushed Bangladesh by 144 runs to atone for their historic defeat in Saturday’s second ODI at Bristol, and secure a record-equalling fourth consecutive series win.Strauss and Trott’s second-wicket stand of 250 was complemented by a late onslaught from Ravi Bopara, who slammed 45 not out from 16 balls, and Bangladesh never came close to challenging a formidable target of 348. Their key man, Tamim Iqbal, skied an Ajmal Shahzad slower ball to mid-on in the third over, and Shahzad followed up by blasting Imrul Kayes from the crease with a fearsome gloved lifter. A pair of miscues and a comical run-out left Bangladesh floundering on 86 for 5 in the 19th over, whereupon Bopara put the seal on a spirited return to the side with 4 for 39 in 10 skiddy overs.It was not an entirely flawless performance from England: the loss of six wickets for 46 between overs 41 and 47 once again raised concerns about the solidity of the middle order, with Luke Wright’s directionless summer continuing as he flailed his way to a first-ball duck after being pushed up the order for a late slog. And the closing stages of the match meandered mercilessly, with Mahmudullah and Abdur Razzak adding 56 in 15.3 overs to haul the total up towards 200. But seeing as Strauss and Trott had already put the contest beyond doubt with the 11th highest one-day stand of all time, there was not a whole lot to quibble about.England’s second-wicket pairing left nothing to chance as they batted in tandem for exactly 40 overs of the innings. Strauss was the star performer with 154 from 140 balls, his fourth and highest ODI hundred but his first since the tour of the Caribbean in March 2009, while Trott put to one side the bitter memory of his last-over dismissal to Shafiul Islam at Bristol to improve on his career-best for the second match in succession. He made 110 from 121 balls before wellying the disciplined Mashrafe Mortaza to midwicket. Mortaza’s final figures of 10-2-31-3 were outstanding, but he was the only Bangladeshi to keep a lid on England’s aggression.For that, the credit belonged to Strauss, who once again belied his self-appointed reputation as a “stodgy” opener, to blister along at a tempo rarely witnessed in England’s one-day history. In all he struck 16 fours and five sixes, each of them deposited up and over the leg-side boundary, as he took personal responsibility for Saturday’s setback to put England’s one-day revival back on track.It was a commanding performance against a Bangladesh team that was unable to raise its game for a second match in succession, but England still had to earn their right to the ascendancy. They lost the toss after a 45-minute rain delay, and were sent into bat in overcast conditions, and when Craig Kieswetter was bowled through the gate in Mortaza’s first over for a second-ball duck, the prospect of further embarrassment could not be ruled out.Strauss and Trott, however, responded to the setback with an initial volley of boundaries – including a brace of fours as Shafiul Islam strayed onto Trott’s pads, and an agenda-setting six from Strauss as Mashrafe dropped short – before settling back into a holding pattern to ease the score along to 45 for 1 at the end of the 10-over Powerplay. Shafiul, whose crucial final wicket had sealed the Bristol victory, this time conceded a record 97 runs in nine overs. Strauss dismantled his line and length early on, before Bopara crushed him in a final over that cost 28.Mashrafe did his best to keep England on a tight leash in an unchanged eight-over spell that yielded just 17 runs, but at the halfway mark of the innings, England were sitting pretty on 117 for 1, and perfectly placed to increase the tempo. Strauss nudged Shakib for a single to reach his hundred from 106 deliveries, before cutting loose with a bold array of improvisatory strokes, including a variation on Eoin Morgan’s ambidextrous “paddywhack”, and a bona fide right-hander’s nurdle to third man (or rather, fine leg). He needed just 29 more deliveries to rush to his second score of 150 in ODIs – the other also came against Bangladesh, at Trent Bridge in 2005.Trott maintained a more measured approach, as is his wont, picking off his runs with clips, drives and pulls as he capitalised on the absence of Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, and built on his double-hundred in the Lord’s Test back in May with another unflappable performance. In his five home appearances since August 2009, Trott has now amassed an Ashes-winning century, a Test double-century, a maiden ODI hundred and a 94 to boot. It’s food for thought for those who continue to question his bottle.

Ravi Bopara missed a golden opportunity to press his claims for a place on the
Ashes tour this winter when he failed to perform in front of national selector
Geoff Miller at Colchester

18-Aug-2010

ScorecardBen Phillips put Essex under pressure with two wickets in his opening spell•Getty Images

Ravi Bopara missed a golden opportunity to press his claims for a place on the
Ashes tour this winter when he failed to perform in front of national selector
Geoff Miller at Colchester.He made just a single as Essex replied to Somerset’s 215 all out, falling lbw
to Charles Willoughby. It signalled the continuation of a disappointing sequence for Bopara. Since scoring a century in each innings of the match against Yorkshire, he has scored just 41 runs in his last five trips to the middle in the County Championship.On an absorbing opening day Essex reached the close on 126 for 6, to leave
the contest intriguingly poised going into the second day. While Bopara’s struggles continue, Miller must have been impressed with the efforts of James Hildreth who maintained his season’s fine form.He came into this match with an average well over 50 and made 84 to keep
Somerset afloat after Marcus Trescothick had been caught at slip from the third
ball of the match, without a run on the board, to provide David Masters with one
of his five wickets.Coming in with the total on 32 for 3, Hildreth batted with fluency to
gather a dozen boundaries before he chipped Masters to short mid-wicket. Next highest score was Zander de Bruyn with 34, but not before he was called back to resume his innings.When he had made 16 he was given out lbw by umpire Peter Willey, but following
a consultation between Willey and his colleague John Steele he returned to
continue with his innings which was eventually ended by Danish Kaneria, thanks
to a fine diving catch by Mark Pettini at first slip.Masters went on to finish with 5 for 43 from 21.1 overs, his best figures of
the summer. Tony Palladino and Chris Wright weighed in with two wickets each. Somerset, who are nursing realistic hopes of being county champions, will have been disappointed with their efforts with the bat against opponents looking favourites to drop into the second division.However they fought back strongly. Either side of Bopara’s departure Ben
Phillips struck to remove Jaik Mickleburgh and Matt Walker before paceman
Alfonso Thomas raced in to make further inroads into the innings.First he trapped Billy Godleman lbw for 32 before cutting short the promising
innings of Pettini who had reached 34 when he was caught behind. Then in the final over of the day Willoughby had Foster caught in the gulley for 16 to end a partnership of 47 with Ryan ten Doeschate, who will resume on 36.In all, 16 wickets fell on the day for 341 but pitches liaison officer Jack
Birkenshaw announced himself “reasonably satisfied” with the pitch. However, Birkenshaw revealed he will again be in attendance tomorrow to see if there is any marked deterioration.

T&T selector Rangy Nanan has suggested that Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard believe they can earn more money from playing in different leagues

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2010Trinidad & Tobago selector Rangy Nanan has suggested that allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard turned down their national contracts because they believe they’ll have opportunities to play in different leagues, but thinks there won’t be too many others following in their footsteps.”If you are under contract by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) they could prevent you from playing in other tournaments because they are paying your salary,” Nanan told . “If you do not have a contract you will not be paid if you are not selected, and would make [the] player available to play in other leagues.”The WICB had offered contracts to 25 players on August 31. While 23 of those players expressed their willingness to sign the one-year retainers, Bravo and Pollard were reported to have turned them down. The WICB offers players three different grades of contracts – Grade A, B and C – and according to Nanan, only two players were given Grade A contracts.”From what I heard only Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were given Grade A contracts. I am not sure how true that is, but if that is the case maybe they [Bravo and Pollard] believed they could earn more money playing in different leagues. “Pollard and Bravo most recently turned out for the Mumbai Indians in the Champions League Twenty20. Pollard also played for South Australia and Somerset, while Bravo played for Victoria and Essex. All these teams reached at least the semi-finals of their respective Twenty20 tournaments, in part due to the performances of the two players.The pair has been named in Trinidad & Tobago’s squad for the upcoming domestic limited-overs tournament and Nanan believes Bravo, who has played 37 Tests for the West Indies, would opt to play Test cricket if he were selected. The 23-year-old Pollard, on the other hand, has yet to make his Test debut, and turned down a place on the one-day leg of the West Indies A-team tour to England in June in favour of his deal with Somerset for the Friends Provident t20.Pollard’s desire to play Test cricket has been questioned in the past, but former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop is confident that the 23-year-old Pollard has the skills to make a big impact in the longest version of the game.”As far as whether he has aspirations to play the longer form of the game he says he has and I have to take him at his word on that,” Bishop told . “Does he have what it takes skill wise to play the longer form? I think so, yes.”Nanan, who played one Test for the West Indies, does not believe the duo will start a trend of players refusing to sign national contracts, as not all players enjoy the demand they have. At the same time, he said cricketers should be more focused on representing their national side than on how much money they can make.”We need to get back the pride of playing for the West Indies because it is the only thing that keeps the people in the West Indies together,” he said. “If the West Indies lose the people in the Caribbean hurt.”

Andrew White’s unbeaten half-century took Ireland to a six-wicket victory against Canada even as rain threatened to thwart Irish hopes on the last day

Cricinfo staff04-Sep-2010
ScorecardAn unbeaten partnership of 59 runs between Andrew White and John Mooney took Ireland to victory against Canada•Bryan Vandenburg, Cricket Canada

Andrew White’s unbeaten half-century took Ireland to a six-wicket victory against Canada in Toronto even as rain threatened to thwart Irish hopes on the last day of an absorbing match.Play began with Ireland four down and requiring only 52 to win with rain forecast for the day. White and John Mooney began patiently before White opened up in the fourth over, driving and pulling Rizwan Cheema for consecutive fours. With 28 runs still needed, rain interrupted proceedings and no play was possible for a major portion of the day. Ireland’s optimism was turning into despair, but the sun eventually came out and play resumed.White did not waste time, reaching his fifty with consecutive fours off Khurram Chohan. He then pulled Umar Bhatti past midwicket to bring up Ireland’s victory, remaining unbeaten on 59 off 73 deliveries with eight fours. Mooney was not out on 16 off 35 balls with three fours in an unbroken 59-run stand for the fifth wicket. White was named Man of the Match for guiding Ireland to victory after top-scoring with 84 in the first innings.It was a comfortable win ultimately for Ireland after Canada had fought back on the second and third days. Ireland now have 52 points from five matches and are placed fourth in the points table. They take on third-placed Zimbabwe XI in Harare in their last match, which begins on September 20. Canada finished last with five losses in six games.