Matthew Bell, the former New Zealand opening batsman, has announced his retirement from all forms of the game, after struggling with injuries over the past two seasons

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2011Matthew Bell, the former New Zealand opening batsman, has announced his retirement from all forms of the game, after struggling with injuries over the past two seasons.”It’s a decision that’s been coming for a while now,” Bell said. “But it’s time for me to get on with the next phase of my life and to let some of the younger guys have the same chances that I’ve had. Retirement is a bit of an emotional thing but it was important to me to call time on it at the right time for the right reasons.”Bell, who made his Test debut against India in 1998 in Wellington, played 18 Tests for New Zealand scoring 729 runs at an average of 24.30. Following a poor Test series against Australia in 2001, he was dropped from the Test side only to be recalled seven years later in 2008 for the series against Bangladesh at home.He scored a century against Bangladesh in the first Test at Dunedin but played only four Tests after that, with his last Test against England in Napier in March 2008. Bell also played seven ODIs for New Zealand between 1998 and 2001.Bell represented Wellington at the first-class level in New Zealand for 14 seasons from 1997-98 and captained them for eight seasons. He scored 20 first-class centuries and is the only New Zealand batsman to twice score 1000 first-class runs in a domestic season and is the leading run-scorer for Wellington with 6565 runs.

The Mumbai fire brigade department has asked the Wankhede Stadium to undertake measures to improve its fire safety mechanism as it is currently not in compliance with fire safety norms

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2011The Mumbai fire department has asked the Wankhede Stadium to undertake measures to improve its fire safety mechanism as it is currently not in compliance with fire safety norms. The stadium, which will host the World Cup final, was inspected by two fire officials on Wednesday.”The [inspection] team has found that the newly renovated stadium has many loopholes in its fire safety mechanism,” chief fire officer Uday Tatkare told PTI. “We will write a letter to the Mumbai Cricket Association stating there is a need to comply with fire safety norms. Once they abide by the terms we will conduct another inspection.”MCA joint secretary Lalchand Rajput, however, said there were only a few minor changes required. “We have already received the NOC and what is left now is the compliance certificate,” Rajput told ESPNcricinfo. “We were visited by the department day before yesterday [Wednesday] and they pointed out a few minimum requirements that we will have no problems complying with. It is not as if this is a new ground that has never passed fire safety requirements before. We have just redeveloped the stadium and this is minor stuff.”There have been previous worries about the progress of renovations at the Wankhede, which began soon after the conclusion of the 2008 IPL season. Back in 2010, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed stating the work at Wankhede was in violation of several environmental and safety norms. One of the main concerns was the lack of access of the fire brigade to all parts of the venue, as required under the National Building Code of India.The stadium was then supposed to be ready by November to host a Test match between India and New Zealand, but was dropped as a venue for that series. In December last year, the ICC inspection team slammed the stadium, saying it was not possible to confirm that it would be in a suitable condition to be handed over by January 31.The Wankhede managed to recover from that setback and was given the go-ahead by the ICC on January 27, even as Eden Gardens lost the India-England fixture. The Wankhede will host two World Cup group matches featuring New Zealand, Canada and Sri Lanka, apart from the final.

New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum thinks his side’s greater experience of conditions in Mirpur could give them the edge over South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Mar-2011New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum thinks his side’s greater experience of conditions in Mirpur could give them the edge over South Africa in their quarter-final clash on Friday. New Zealand will have bitter memories of the ground – it was here that Bangladesh beat them in four successive one-day internationals in October last year – but those games will at least have given them in-depth local knowledge of what to expect.”We are used to the conditions, which has got to help us,” McCullum said. “To play South Africa in those conditions is not a bad draw at all. They obviously prefer a little more pace and bounce in their wickets. Dhaka won’t quite give them that and I’m sure they’ll be a little disappointed.”South Africa have also recently played at the ground, however, knocking co-hosts Bangladesh out of the World Cup with a thumping 206-run win last Saturday. In a ruthless performance, South Africa took the upper hand when they were allowed to acclimatise to the conditions by some wayward Bangladesh bowling and racked up 284 for 8. They then skittled their opponents for just 78.The scale of South Africa’s win over a team that had the better of New Zealand not long ago could have given New Zealand cause for concern, but McCullum insisted his team’s focus is on achieving their own goals, rather than what tactics their opponents might use.”Our game plan is reasonably basic,” he said. “Be pretty disciplined with the ball, incredibly desperate in the field and with the bat lay the platform for the big hitters later on. If we do that we’ll give ourselves the best opportunity.” If New Zealand can do that, McCullum suggested, “hopefully, South Africa will fall by the wayside and we can move on to our next opponent”.New Zealand will no doubt also draw confidence from their World Cup record against South Africa, to whom they have not lost a match in the global tournament since 1999. New Zealand have also made it to the semi-finals of the event on five occasions, a fact their seamer Daryl Tuffey said gave them a mental edge.”We know their [South Africa’s] record at World Cups and it will be in the back of their minds that they haven’t progressed as well as they should have,” Tuffey said. “For us, we’ve made it to the semi-finals regularly here.””We know what the conditions are like. It’ll be a slow track taking turn and both teams know what to expect. The Dhaka wicket is slow and low which negates their main strength with bounce, but they have some good spinners at this tournament, as do we; so it’ll come down to the middle overs and at the death.”Tuffey was a member of the touring squad that was humiliated by Bangladesh last year, and said the quarter-final was a chance to put right those failures and improve New Zealand’s record at the ground. “This is a chance to right the wrongs from October, especially the way we batted on those slow decks,” he said. “Hopefully we’ve done enough to get into a mindset of doing well.”

Co-hosts Australia want the 2015 World Cup to be contested by the 10 teams that most deserve to be there.

Daniel Brettig20-Apr-2011Co-hosts Australia want the 2015 World Cup to be contested by the 10 teams that most deserve to be there, and will state that position when the ICC reconsiders the tournament format at its annual conference in Hong Kong.The initial decision to simply allow cricket’s 10 Full Member nations, including the struggling Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, to take their places at the next World Cup without any kind of qualification process was met with global indignation. However the ICC president Sharad Pawar has flagged a reconsideration of the wishes of the Associate nations, including 2011 tournament bright sparks Ireland, meaning several possibilities are now on the table for the June meeting.”Our starting point on ICC Events has always been that qualification should be based on merit,” a Cricket Australia spokesman told .”We support moving to a 10-team ICC World Cup in 2015 and longer term, support moving to ICC World Cups which are 10-team contests based on merit, [like] the top 10-ranked nations in the world. The ICC has discussed reviewing the position on 2015 and we will be an interested participant [both as an ICC member and also as a co-host] in that discussion.”Options include an expansion of the number of competing teams from 10 to the 2011 model of 14 or the more likely choice of 12, or simply the addition of a qualifying tournament between the best two Associate nations and the stragglers among the Full Members. Such a solution is clearly Cricket Australia’s preference, for administrators have begun plotting the 2015 event with New Zealand based on a 10-team plan.New Zealand coach John Wright joined the already loud chorus asking for a qualification process for the 2015 World Cup. In an interview with , Wright said, “The World Cup has got to be about the world – they (the ICC) have to be sure they have got the ten best teams in it. No matter where they come from. Otherwise it’s a nonsense. Surely it doesn’t take eight years to sort that one out.”Wright cited Ireland’s example saying the team had been, a “revelation” in the World Cup, where New Zealand played the supposed minnows in a warm-up match. He said, “Ireland have shown they can knock over big sides. There needs to be some incentive for the (Associate) teams to get the opportunity to play in the World Cup.”During the World Cup, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat had said that the ICC Board would meet in May to decide on the qualification format of the 10-team 2015 World Cup. Two days after the final of the 2011 World Cup though, the ICC Board announced that the 2015 tournament would include the ten full members with qualification coming into play only in 2019. Following criticism around the cricket world and a request by the Associates, the ICC has announced that it would “revisit” the decision to shut the Associates out of the 2015 event.Numerous Associate nations have also reacted angrily to the suggestion that a reduced field for the 50-over World Cup is effectively counter-balanced by the expansion of the World Twenty20 event to 16 teams. However CA remain certain that Twenty20 can be used to grow the game in developing countries, despite its lack of the subtleties available in Test and limited-overs cricket.”James [Sutherland, CA chief executive] has always argued that ICC Events should be assessed in the full context of the ICC World Cup and ICC Twenty20 World Championship,” the spokesman said.”In keeping the ICC World Cup tight [which is what fans want], it is on the basis that the ICC Twenty20 can be run as a tight event with, say, the top 16. Twenty20 offers the top 16 an ideal chance to develop, progress, develop international success and profile.”

Shivanarine Chanderpaul has launched a wide-ranging attack on the West Indies management, claiming it interfered with his batting during matches and subjected him to questioning

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2011Shivnarine Chanderpaul has launched a wide-ranging attack on the West Indies management, claiming it interfered with his batting during matches and subjected him to unreasonable questioning. He also compared the present regime unfavourably to those of previous coaches John Dyson and Bennett King, under whom Chanderpaul felt this same West Indies squad had far better results.Relations between Chanderpaul and the West Indies management have been strained since he was dropped from the ODI squad for the series against Pakistan, which the visitors won 3-2 (he is in line for a Test recall). Chanderpaul had demanded an explanation from WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire, who had made general comments about the attitude of West Indian players over the past 15 years, following wholesale changes to the squad.When asked whether he was happy with his form over the past year before he was dropped, Chanderpaul – speaking to local radio station – said he could have done better had he not been hampered by batting at different positions and dealing with external pressure during his innings.”I think, given the opportunity, I might have got bigger scores. Every time I settled in and started to get runs, messages would come telling what to do and what not to do, how to bat and how not to bat,” Chanderpaul said. “I’ve been doing it for 17 years. When John Dyson was coach he never said anything to me. When Bennett King was coach he said, ‘You go and do your job, we don’t have to tell you what to do.’ I had no problem then.Shivnarine Chanderpaul claims people have been telling him how to bat during his innings•Associated Press

“Now we have people here, who are telling me how to bat. And when the game is over, I have to answer questions. I have to answer those questions and when I do, and it’s not suitable, then I have to agree with whatever answers they want before the meeting is over.”Been called into meetings everyday, or every other day, spending hours answering questions. You never leave a meeting until they get whatever answer they want. That is what I’ve been going through. When you batting there are messages coming to you telling you how to bat, it happens until you get out, you know.”Chanderpaul had objected to Hilaire’s comment that the management needed to put a new system in place because no individual was bigger than the team and no one was a “superstar”. When asked if he knew any player who fitted that description, Chanderpaul said: “None of us did that. We’ve been doing what we’ve been told to do. The CEO and the executive members of the board made a decision to get rid of the senior players. They will have passed on that information to the chairman of selectors and the coach and let them pressure us in every way they can, which they did.”I see Christopher Gayle in the gym working, Sarwan doing extra work. All of us doing extra work and yet we’ve been cast aside just like that.”A criticism of the present West Indies team has been its poor results against top sides – the victory against Pakistan in the fourth ODI was their first against a Full Member other than Bangladesh since June 2009. Chanderpaul, however, said the team had been “doing pretty OK.””I’ve been hearing a lot of things recently, about how this team hasn’t been doing anything, haven’t been winning against a top team. The same team, the same team, when John Dyson was coach, we were winning against England, winning against Sri Lanka, winning against South Africa, winning against top teams around the world.”Chanderpaul also reiterated that he was asked to retire but refused, which had left the management unhappy. “They called me into a meeting and asked me to retire. I said I’m not retiring and when I left the meeting they were all pretty upset about it. You telling me I haven’t done anything the last 12 months and I’ve been ranked among the top ten batsmen around the world. Just because I have been batting all over the place, I haven’t had an opportunity to do anything much …”

Kent’s England offspinner James Tredwell bagged 4 for 46 as 13 wickets fell during an action packed day of Championship cricket against Leicestershire in Tunbridge Wells

30-May-2011
ScorecardKent’s England offspinner James Tredwell bagged 4 for 46 as 13 wickets fell during an action packed day of Championship cricket against Leicestershire in Tunbridge Wells. Bat dominated ball on the opening day at The Nevill Ground as Kent amassed 376 for 3, their biggest total to date of a disappointing campaign, yet the reverse was true on Monday when a dozen wickets tumbled inside the opening two sessions.Having lost their last seven wickets for 30 runs in the space of 9.4 overs, Kent set about reducing the visitors to 161 for 6 before England Test prospect James Taylor led a revival for the East Midlands outfit with a stoical, unbeaten 43 scored in a shade over two hours.When rain and bad light led to an early conclusion just before 6pm, Leicestershire had reached 220 for 6 after 64 overs and trail by 239 going into the third day of the 109th year of Festival Week cricket in the Royal Spa Town. The Foxes need a further 90 to avoid following on.Responding to Kent’s 459 all out, Leicestershire made a measured start through Matt Boyce and Will Jefferson as Kent’s attack, in stark contrast, started dreadfully. Matt Coles gave away four wides and Robbie Joseph overstepped and sprayed the new ball around in a scrappy pre-lunch burst when Jefferson received a life at third slip even before getting off the mark.The hosts turned the screw in the mid-session however, with Tredwell coming to the fore.
He had Jefferson (77) and White (five) stumped by former England keeper Geraint
Jones, who also played a part in the demise of Boyce, for 23, by taking a catch
from an ill-judged drive against Coles.Veteran Paul Nixon reached eight against his former county before clubbing a loose one to point where Adam Riley claimed the chance at the second attempt. McDonald gifted Tredwell another scalp by flicking to short midwicket, then Tom New snicked one to second slip.Taylor and Jigar Naik dug in thereafter to add 59 for the seventh wicket before rain and bad light ended the entertainment prematurely. At the day’s start Kent resumed with sights set firmly on posting 600-plus, but a clutch of poor shots coupled with a little more help for the seam bowlers from a pitch with only the merest flecks of green in it, saw wickets tumbling.Experienced fourth-wicket partners Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens progressed their side’s score on to 429 by adding 53 inside the opening hour before the wheels came off Kent’s bandwagon as both went in the 30s. Van Jaarsveld was caught at slip playing around a good ball from Wayne White then Stevens, hampered by a trapped nerve in his shoulder, went leg before to a shooting offcutter from Nadeem Malik.Kent had little to offer by way of resistance thereafter as three went for ducks and two more for single-figure scores. White led the Foxes attack with 4 for 66 and Malik provided excellent
support with 3 for 87.

A round-up of the third day’s matches and semi-finals at the ICC East Asia-Pacific Region Division One Twenty20 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2011Papua New Guinea secured a comprehensive 141-run victory over Samoa, continuing their unbeaten run in the East Asia-Pacific Region Division One Twenty20 in the first semi-final in Port Moresby. After choosing to bat, PNG’s opening pair – who have impressed throughout the tournament – put on 186 in little over 15 overs. Left-arm bowler Naa Vaasili finally got Samoa’s first breakthrough, as Asad Vala fell eight short of a second century in the tournament. Tony Ura, however, completed his ton before getting out in the 18th over. Though the next three wickets fell quickly to new-ball bowler Faasao Mulivai, the damage had been done with PNG posting 234 for 5 in their 20 – the highest score in the tournament so far.The mammoth total proved to be too much for Samoa as they folded for 90. Opener Sean Cotter was the only batsman who made it into the 20s as the PNG bowlers, barring opening bowler Willie Gavera, produced miserly spells. Medium pacer Chris Amini snagged the last three wickets conceding just eight runs, to end Samoa’s innings with two balls to spare.In the second semi-final, Vanuatu defeated Fiji by 35 runs, setting up a final with PNG on Thursday. Fiji chose to field and their bowlers responded well, keeping Vanuatu to a modest 126 in 20 overs. Andrew Mansale top-scored with a run-a-ball 42, but none of the others managed to go past 19. Mohammad Kahn was the pick of the bowlers, claiming three wickets, including those of the openers.Fiji’s chase lacked momentum. They finished seven down for 91 in their 20. Josefa Dabea managed 28 off 33 balls, but lost partners at the other end at regular intervals, before being run out himself. The Vanuatu bowlers were all tidy and did not allow any significant partnerships to build, but Jelany Chilia was the pick with two top-order scalps at 4.25 runs an over. Fiji will take on Samoa for third-place on Thursday.Earlier in the day though, in a match proved to be a second-place decider, it was Fiji that came out on top, crushing Vanuatu by six wickets with five overs to spare at Colts Cricket Ground, Port Moresby. Choosing to bat, Vanuatu folded for 73, with a little more than three overs remaining, as three of their top four batsmen recorded ducks. The Fiji bowlers shared the wickets around, legspinner Viliame Yabaki claiming two in a five-ball spell without conceding a run. In reply, Fiji, aided by a generous 15 extras, chased down the total without much drama.Samoa beat Japan by six wickets in a close-fought match at Amini Park, Port Moresby, to complete the semi-final line-up. Choosing to bat, Japan scored 123 for 3 in their 20, riding on an unbeaten 44 by Jarrad Shearer, and 42 by opener Qureshi Naeemuddin. Samoa’s chase was steered by an unbeaten 41 by opener Sean Cotter. They paced the chase well, accelerating in the second-half of the innings – Faasao Mulivai struck four sixes in a cameo – to chase down the total with four balls to spare. Japan exited the tournament without a win.

Somerset stepped up their challenge for the Division One title in the County Championship with victory by an innings and eight runs after polishing off Worcestershire for 95 at New Road

29-Jul-2011
ScorecardSomerset stepped up their challenge for the Division One title in the County Championship with victory by an innings and eight runs after polishing off Worcestershire for 95 at New Road. Peter Trego (4 for 22) spearheaded a well-balanced attack with the variety to run through the relegation-threatened home side as a wearing pitch offered bounce for the seamers and some turn for Murali Kartik.Back-to-back wins have lifted fourth-placed Somerset to within 23 points of leaders Durham although Warwickshire could be the team to watch with their game in hand on the other contenders. Somerset were the nearly men of last season when they lost the championship on the last day, but this year they are gearing up to make a late run for a prize that has always eluded them.Four of their last five matches are at home, and while results can be hard to come by on the flat pitches at Taunton, it could boil up to a decider with Lancashire, currently in second place, in the final fixture. For Worcestershire it is back to the drawing board after briefly escaping from the bottom two with a couple of home wins. Now they have to re-build from a deflating defeat after posting their highest and lowest totals of the season in the same match.Somerset bravely followed their strategy to make close to 600, which they did after a double century by Marcus Trescothick, and then bowl out Worcestershire when the pitch began to deteriorate. Overhead conditions on a gloomy morning probably gave their seamers another advantage as a number of bowling changes paid off with immediate wickets.Steve Kirby angled his second delivery across Matt Pardoe to have the opener caught at first slip and Vikram Solanki edged Trego’s fifth ball to second slip. Moeen Ali, having made a career-best 158 in the first innings, got to 10 before a top-edged pull gave Alfonso Thomas an early success and worse still for Worcestershire, this led to a clutch of wickets.Jack Manuel was bowled by Kartik from only the third ball he faced and Thomas (3 for 13) accounted for Gareth Andrew and Alexei Kervezee, the latter giving James Hildreth his fifth catch of the match. Captain Daryl Mitchell stayed for nearly two hours but went for 26 when the second ball of a new spell by Trego kept horribly low.Trego and Kartik then mopped up the last three wickets for 11 runs in six overs after lunch, leaving Ben Scott unbeaten on 15.

23-Aug-2011
ScorecardRob Newton struck a half-century to give Northamptonshire the edge on day one of their top-of-the-table County Championship Division Two clash against Middlesex at Wantage Road.Poor weather delayed the start for over three hours, and then Newton made 66 from 104 balls including eight fours as leaders Northamptonshire closed on 145 for 3. The home team’s former player Steven Crook took two wickets for Middlesex, and Northamptonshire could have lost further wickets if it had not been for two catches being taken off no-balls delivered by Toby Roland-Jones.Middlesex won the toss and chose to field but persistent rain in the morning forced the start to be delayed until 2.20pm, meaning 34 overs were lost. The visitors approached the vital match 22 points behind their opponents in the table and 22 ahead of Gloucestershire, but with a game in hand on both.And they struck early as Tim Murtagh took his 64th County Championship wicket of the season in the third over when he forced Stephen Peters, on eight, to edge to Middlesex wicketkeeper Josh Simpson. Ollie Rayner then took a fantastic one-handed catch to his right at second slip after a drive by Kyle Coetzer, who was on 12 at the time, only to find out Roland-Jones had over-stepped.Scotland international Coetzer, making his home debut, made it to 22 before he was again caught by Rayner at second slip, this time off a legitimate delivery by Crook. Alex Wakely was to only make 14 before throwing his wicket away by chipping a fairly innocuous ball from Crook straight to Middlesex captain Chris Rogers at extra cover.Newton then survived a scare on 38 when he was caught by Rogers at mid-off off another Roland-Jones no-ball as Northamptonshire made it to tea on 113 for 3. A few minutes after the players came off, rain began to fall again but it stopped before the players were due to come out again.Newton completed a half-century from the first ball of the evening by pulling Rayner for four through square leg. After a single over had been bowled, the rain returned to cause a further delay. Once it abated, Newton returned to comfortably see out the day, with David Sales at the other end also surviving the fading light to reach 26 not out.