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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday May 14, 2015
Zimbabwe’s Whatmore confident of successful Pakistan tour By Nick Said CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) - Zimbabwe coach Dav Whatmore expects their tour of Pakistan later this month to be a “tremendous success” and said he would not travel if he thought lives were in danger. Zimbabwe will be the first country to tour Pakistan since a gun attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009 left seven players injured and six policemen plus two civilians dead. The team will leave on Sunday to play two T20
Charles Coventry returns after four years. matches, starting on May 22, and a three-match oneday International series that begins four days later. “I’m fully behind the
tour and I believe it’s going to be a tremendous success,” Sri Lankan-born Whatmore, who coached Pakistan for two years from 2012, told Reuters via telephone from Harare. “I understand others feel differently, but I would never put anybody else in an unsafe environment. I understand the significance of this tour to Pakistan and I’m very happy to go. “To have a full member nation play international cricket in Lahore and the state of Punjab is hugely important for Pakistan and
transcends cricket.” A delegation including Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Alistair Campbell travelled to Lahore last week and was satisfied with the security measures to be put in place by local authorities. The Zimbabwe squad announced on Tuesday sees the return of a number of experienced players. Aggressive middle-order batsman Charles Coventry returns after four years away from the team, having turned down the opportunity to participate at the 2014 Twenty20
Dallaglio says England right to turn back on Pietersen By Martyn Herman LONDON, England (Reuters) - Dressing room harmony is crucial if England are to have a chance of reclaiming the Ashes even if it means discarding the country’s most d es tru ctive b atsman, according to former England rugby skipper Lawrence Dallaglio. As the fall-out over Kevin Pietersen’s failed bid to return to the international fold continues, Dallaglio offered his support to England’s new director of cricket and former Ashes-winning captain An-
drew Strauss. “I think culture is really important in a team, particularly in a sport like cricket,” Dallaglio, 42, said yesterday at the Daily Telegraph Business of Sport event in London. “These guys spend a huge amount of time together and trusting each other is very important. “I know from my own experience both at club level with Wasps and with England that we spent an enormous amount of time putting together a culture and certain values and certain ways of behaving, both together and
outside of the team environment.” Dallaglio, a key member of the team that won the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2003, said current England rugby coach Stuart Lancaster had been faced with dressing room issues when he took over but had worked hard to establish a new team ethos. He said it was the way forward for English cricket. “When Stuart took over he had to reconnect the players with their responsibilities and what it means to play for England,” said Dallaglio. “He had to relocate the mor-
al compass of the team and the identity of the team; that was the first criterion. “That took about 18 months, then he could start focusing on performance and we are seeing the benefit now. Strauss said on Tuesday that Pietersen was not in his plans because of a complete breakdown of trust. “I wasn’t surprised to hear the comments made yesterday about Pietersen,” added Dallaglio. “It’s a great shame because he has been a fantastic cricket player and scored lots of runs and still is, but the team should come before the individual.
Kings XI Punjab find elusive win; RCB slip to fifth KINGS XI Punjab secured a 22-run consolation victory, after their bowlers trussed up an explosive Royal Challengers Bangalore top order, in a rain-curtailed 10-overs-aside contest in Mohali. Axar Patel played impactful hands with bat and ball, holding together the back end of the Kings XI innings, before claiming two wickets and conceding only 11 runs from his two overs. Seamers Beuran Hendricks and Anureet Singh also helped defend 106 for 6, which was kick-started by Wriddhiman Saha’s 31 from
12 balls. Kings XI began their innings at full pelt, as Saha swiped Mitchell Starc to the leg-side boundary off successive balls in the first over, before carting three fours and a six over long-on to loot 20 from Sreenath Aravind in the second. His dismissal bought Royal Challengers some cheaper overs, followed by two more wickets. Manan Vohra holed out to long-off for 11 in the fifth over, before Glenn Maxwell picked out deep midwicket two balls later, off Harshal Patel.
David Miller would help the hosts briefly regain impetus, slamming two towering sixes off the leg-spin of Yuzvendra Chahal, but got himself stumped off a wide soon after. Axar saw the innings to its conclusion hitting a six and a four in his 15-ball 20, while George Bailey hit 13 from 9. Kings XI still had enough batsmen to finish more violently, but were curbed by Harshal and Starc, who conceded five and six runs from their final two overs respectively. The fall of the first wicket dampened Royal Chal-
lengers’ advance too; Kohli played Anureet onto his stumps after adding 33 off 17 balls with Chris Gayle. Sandeep Sharma had Gayle caught behind soon after, before AB de Villiers also failed to move the chase along falling for 10 from 9 balls. Mandeep Singh gave the visitors some hope, cracking his first ball to the cover fence, then reverse-sweeping Axar for four two overs later. But wickets continued to fall at the other end, and boundary attempts were repeatedly thwarted.
World Cup. Leg-spinner Graeme Cremer quit cricket for golf last year but is now back with ball in hand having failed to further his career with the clubs, while there is a first selection for batting all-rounder Roy Kaia. HUGE BLOW “All these boys have been brought in because of their performances. Kaia was the top run-scorer in the domestic Pro50 competition and had an average of 70,” Whatmore said. “Coventry is back specifically for the T20 team and has been playing really well, and Graeme Cremer can be a big value add and has settled in beautifully.” This will be a first tour without stalwart batsman Brendan Taylor, who retired from international cricket after the 50-over World Cup earlier this year. Whatmore is concerned about who can fill his boots.
“It’s a huge blow to lose him ... a huge blow. It’s difficult to cover for someone like that in a short space of time, but we can only try the best we can.” The tour to Pakistan will be a first for Whatmore since he signed a new four-year contract to coach Zimbabwe after his short-term deal lapsed at the end of the World Cup. He is excited by the potential he sees in Zimbabwe cricket and his short-term target is to help improve their ODI ranking. “I really think it’s a challenge, a different type of challenge to most places,” the former Australia batsman said. “Zimbabwe are ranked at number 11 in ODI cricket and that is unacceptable and something that has to change. “But there is real potential here to move ahead, I would not have signed on if I did not believe that. But it is something that needs time.”
Bangladesh plans to revive scandal-hit T20 league
DHAKA, Bangladesh (Reuters)- The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is planning to revive a controversial Twenty20 league which was shut down two years ago following a match-fixing scandal. Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful was slapped with an eight-year ban in the wake of the scandal that led to the postponement of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) after its second edition in early 2013. The troubled tournament faced further scrutiny from the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) last year, the organisation advising players to avoid future editions over claims of unpaid salaries. “We are looking at a window in December to hold the third edition of the BPL if everything goes to plan and the international schedule is sorted out,” Ismail Haider Mallick, the BPL’s governing council member-secretary, was quoted as saying by www.espncricinfo.com. Though modelled on the Indian Premier League, the new-look league would be a much more modest tournament, he said. “The financial structure of the next tournament will have big changes, so that we can hold the tournament every year. We are trying to keep it reasonable and realistic.” Mallick added that 90 percent of player payments had been made and the BCB would welcome new franchises after all seven teams defaulted, leading to their termination.