Round 8 Team Announcements and Match Reports

[Simon]

This is for both first class and one day round 8, lets see a few more in the next few weeks...

 

[Simon]

Comets Name Strong Line Up

ACT Comets coach Simon Fitzsimmons has made a few minor changes for this week's Four Day clash with highflying Western Australia. The Warriors have been one of the surprise packets of the season and the Comets see this as a danger match. Fitzsimmons has resisted strengthening the batting line up to combat WA's fierce new ball attack of Jenkins and Dean. Instead the Comets will go in with 4 front line bowlers and young spinner Ismail Tamhane will again fill the all rounders spot. With Ryan Watson struggling in the 2nds last week he again misses out as do opening batsmen Martin Phadke and Ed Howarth.

ACT currently sit first on the table and will be looking for another strong victory this week, it is expected the in form middle order will need to stand up against WA's bowlers, we will also be looking for some runs from the lower order. There was some talk over the weekend middle order batsman Misbah Ul Haq would miss out through injury but he has pulled through and will take his spot at number 5. Pete Conran is on stand by if Ul Haq's injury flares up later in the week but club doctors say hes a 90% chance of playing.

Misbah Ul Haq - "90% chance of playing"

The full line up for this weeks match is;
AB De Villiers+, Marcus Trescothick, Ricky Ponting, Yashpal Singh, Misbah Ul Haq, Owen Cardew*, Ismail Tamhane, Ben Marshall, Dean Bent, Paul Marlowe and George Goff.

 

[NZTailender]

Slow batting costs Yorkshire - twice.
Yorkshire fell short chasing twice this week, which saw them crash to three losses in the space of four days.
On Friday, Yorkshire faced NSW at Headingley. Bowling first on a great batting wicket, the Yorks bowlers struggled to make an impact in the face of a spectacular innings by NSW opener S Cook. Cook hit 174 runs off 150 deliveries before finally falling to veteran paceman Darren Gough, who finally got into the wickets with 3-54.
Chasing a big 332, Yorkshire - amazingly - lost no wickets, blitzed the bowlers yet were too slow and ended up falling short by 25 runs. W Beasley continued his fine form with 148* while Salman scored 7 less for 141*.

M Salman celebrates his century. Salman scored 141* and 75 in two matches.

On Monday, Yorkshire played Mumbai at neutral Auckland in the CW Bar Cup quarter finals.
Mumbai set a solid total of 253, Cornwall and Robertson taking 2 wickets each.
Beasley, fresh from an unbeaten hundred, batted uncharacteristically slow, made 84 from 123 deliveries. This time, Yorks fell short by 28 runs and were knocked out of the tournament.
Later that day, the Yorks 2nd XI tried to save some pride for the English club. The rookies dominated as wicket-keeper batsman Foster scored 134, backed up by Lyon's 85.
NSW chased down the target 260 in 49 with just one wicket in hand, to round off a bad weekend for Yorkshire.


Yorkshire vs NSW
NSW 5-332
S Cook 174, F Khan 62
D Gough 3-54, W Robertson 1-69

Yorkshire 0-307
W Beasley 148*, M Salman 141*

NSW won by 25 runs.
MOTM: S Cook

Yorkshire MVP points:
3. W Beasley
2. M Salman
1. D Gough


Yorkshire vs Mumbai (CW Bar Cup)
Mumbai 6-253
W Adhikari 78, F Athar 44*
W Cornwall 2-44, W Robertson 2-57

Yorkshire 2-225
W Beasley 84, M Salman 75
A Flintoff 1-34, G Joshi 1-47

Mumbai won by 28 runs
MOTM: M Salman

Yorkshire MVP points:
3. W Beasley
2. M Salman
1. W Cornwall


Yorkshire 2nd XI vs NSW 2nd XI
Yorkshire 2nd XI 3-259
B Foster 134, T Lyon 85
I Bloom 1-8, E Parris 1-40

NSW 2nd XI
G Jones 43, S Fleming 41
A Dave 3-44, G Belle 2-40

NSW win by 1 wicket.
MOTM: G Jones


For Round 8, manager Greg Thomas has kept the side that comprehensively beat Guyana.
Lou Vincent retains his opening position after a fine maiden hundred last week.
A number of changes for the 2nd XI due to Laker's injury. Cornwall replaces Laker while J Patel will open with Beasley bumped up the batting order and P Marsden demoted yet again.

 

[Perm]

Titans 2nd XI Make Two Changes

The Northern Titan's have made two changes to the team that drew with the Auckland Aces in Bloemfontein last week. O Hutchinson comes in for W Pointer in an attempt to strengthen the batting and add something to the bowling. Pointer has been left out of the team because of his poor contributions in last weeks game and has been named as 12th man. In the other change V Harkness has come into the side at fellow spinner R Afridi's expense. Afridi was largely unsuccesful against the Aces, failing to snare a single wicket.

The Titan's will be hoping to gain a victory over fellow strugglers Warwickshire in an attempt to salvage some respectability from their season so far. They will be wanting to add to their tally of two wins from seven games when they walk out onto Birmingham Stadium to face a Warwickshire side that has seen even less success, still searching for their first win of the season.

Team to play Warwickshire: A Wykes(c), AS Das (wk), K Pieterson, J Watambwa, D Dawson, M Vardhan, O Hutchinson, E White, T Gavaskar, V Harkness, F Naylor

 

[Eyes_Only]

Changes afoot at Hampshire

After consulation with the Hampshie 1st XI Manager, Eyes_Only has made some changes to the 2nd XI team to take on Tamil Nadu in Round 8. The man on everyone's mind, T Thomas comes into the side as wicketkeeper as T Naidu is rested.

Shetty comes in for Drake who has been dropped for the match. Aldridge and Bond make their return after playing in the 1st's One Day Team and join Jewell as the main bowling attack.

The team for Round 8 is: S Highsmith, W Beatty, N Shetty, G Rahman, S Qambrani, P Thompson, T Thomas (Keeper), L Bassue, L Jewell, S Bond, G Aldridge (Captain)

 

[lord_of_darkness]

hope to god our batting holds up there!

 

[Magrat Garlick]

SA aim to maintain an unbeaten record in Division Two, as their first XI are still waltzing through the ranks against substandard opposition. Manager Håkon Mørk claimed that "the difficult part of tomorrow's game will be to avoid the rain. We're going to make more than enough runs, but the question is whether Trevor can get enough time to run through them twice. Mind, if he takes 13/39 the rest should be easy. No pressure, Trev."

When asked about the injury to Mark Bruyns, Mørk said that "it's obviously come at the worst possible time, Mark's played himself into some really good form and we were considering playing him in this fixture as he might have something to provide over Sanjay. Still, Sanjay at eight has given us just the right balance this year."

 

[Eyes_Only]

hope to god our batting holds up there!

You and me both Lord...should be interesting to see what happens

 

[new_age_ar]

Injuries force changes to the Colts sides

With batsmen Ian Bell and Ebrahim Stone falling to injuries during train this week. The Colts management team has been forced make some changes to the Colts batting line ups. With Upul Gordon returning from injury this week many thought that the young English seamer will replace his countrymen Ian Bell in the 1st XI, with all rounder Imraan Khan and Quintaz Birch moving up the order to fill the batting aviod left by Ian Bell injury. But instead the Colts went with Club Captain and Australian International Andrew Symonds. After Andrew Symonds recent hundred in the 2nd XI One Day match against Guyana and 50 in his last 2nd XI FC match, the management team felt he was the best possible replacement for Ian Bell. Captain Rana Wickramaratne has struggled since moving up to five, so Symonds promotion means he can drop back to seven, where he feels move comfortable.

Andrew Symonds brings up his hundred against Guyana last week

Changes have also been made to the Colts 2nd where Upul Gordon gets a chance to improve his fitness and push for a 1st XI, when Colts play away from home in the comming week. With Andrew Symonds getting promoted to 1st and Stone coming down with an injury chances have also been made to the batting line up. With Salman Butt moving up to open the batting with Jayasuriya Squires. 2nd XI capatin Gerry Leibenberg moves into the vacant number 3 spot, with Aravinda Peck making his 2nd appearance for the 2nd XI at number 4. Upul Gordon will bat at 11 and open the bowling with either Jason Lewry or Andrew Tweedie.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Western Province - Round 8 FC Sides

Western Province has named an unchanged 1st XI side for this week's match against Leics, which shapes to be a vital game in their chase for success this year. Oliver Clarke, a man in the middle of much controversy this year, is on his last chance and needs to perform.

Patel returns to the 2nd XI outfit, while David Evans gets his first chance in FC cricket this season.

 

[Goughy]

South Australia 2nd Team manager, KJ Goughy, today said that he hopes the opitmism and fine form of the 1st XI rub off on his team. "Mr Mork, or Sir as he make me call him, has done a great job with the 1sts and we hope we can join the party"

Goughy also added that he wished Bruyns a quick recovery as he is an important player but added "..in my day it didnt take over 4 weeks for a broken finger to heal, even for a keeper"

 

[cometer]

Leicestershire have made a late change to their batting line up for the important match against Western Province. Marston has been demoted to #3 in the hope that assists him with producing a big score. Rogers has moved up the list to opening spot after a fairly dismal display at 6, and the manager thought an opening position might help him find some much needed form by playing through the innings. A much needed win is required as slowly but surely, the team has been slipping ever closer to the bottom 3 and really is not the position we are striving to achieve. No excuses here, a win is required or else we face the consequences later in the season.

 

[andyc]

Straw returns to FC

The week after he returned from injury, Mashonaland allrounder Ben Straw was named in a predicatbly shaken-up Mashonaland FC line up. The team named by manager Andy Cameron has also seen allrounder Vince Walker retained after his 5-fer on debut, while Rohan Gavaskar makes a comeback after hitting 68 and 44* for the 2nd XI. At a press conference, Cameron spoke candidly about the changes made.

"We've been getting really frustrated recently with the lack of form from the players, which is why we've been moving some players up and down between the 1st and 2nd teams. However, with Ben Straw returning, we're confident that we can field a match-winning side. Straw helps with the balance of the side, while Gavaskar's recent form should come in handy in the middle order. We also decided to keep Vince Walker after his good debut last round. This means that Danny Prasad has been dropped to the 2nds, where we're hoping he can find some form and push for his spot back."

The main feature of the new side, according to Cameron, is it's long tail, as Walker, who boasts a batting average of 32.5, is coming in at number 9.

"The batting's been our weakest point this season, so we're hoping that this should help with that. The team's been batting well in our OD games, so we're trying to get them to replicate some of that form here, especially with Straw after his innings [148 off 106] last round. We're going well bowling wise though, with Ben Joshi and Brad Matthie putting in good performances, and we're expecting Walker and Straw to be able to back them up."

Rohan Gavaskar finds himself back in the FC side this week after some good scores in the 2nds

 

[tadeusz]

Thad Bochat has made only one forced change to WA's 2nd XI. F Milligan's recent good form saw him promoted to the first team. J Ryder is his replacement.

 

[Robertinho]

Tamil Nadu March On
2nd XI manager backs players to continue revival

At a press conference to announce Tamil Nadu's 2nd XI lineup heading into the game against Hampshire, South American manager Robertinho Dela Cruz enthusiastically discussed the fortunes of his embattled team and boldly stated that he believed his side was one of the best in competition.

"Last week's performance was terrific - most of what we'd set out to do went to plan. Imran Farhat taking 3 wickets, with Zac Edmonds and Kieran Dye bowling very tightly was one of the pluses from a bowling perspective," he said, "...for our captain, Martin [van Jaarsveld], to step up to the plate under enormous pressure and hit an unbeaten, match-winning 150 was well beyond what anyone had expected and shows not only his ability, but his composure. He was aided by Ben [Hoon], who, at an incredible 17 years, vice-captained the side for the first time and displayed maturity beyond his years by stroking his way to a fine half-century. A morale boosting team-effort that also had some individual talent on show," beamed an over-the-moon Dela Cruz.

"This week we are visited by the ever-formidable Hampshire. We'll definitely be up against it but I think the lads will relish the opportunity to play one of the stronger sides. Replacing Zac [Edmonds], who has been rewarded for his fine form by having a prolonged run in the 1s, will be Paul Kumble.He's well known around the club and is a prolific wicket-taker, so he'llcertainly add a great deal to our already formidable bowling lineup. Another late inclusion was Dinesh [Mongia], who's come in to replace Imran [Farhat], who has been called up to the 1sts," he said. "Ben [Hoon] has showed good form in the longer form and he will be retained as vice-captain. I am very confident in this side and if either side isn't at 100%, the game could be lost like that," he explained candidly.


Tamil Nadu 2nd XI vs Hampshire
1. D Mongia
2. S Bin Nasir
3. M van Jaarsveld (c)
4. B Hoon (vc)
5. G Glenday
6. O Bolton
7. F Reifer (wk)
8. P Kumble
9. O Henshaw
10. T Durani
11. J Sullivan

"We have a lot to play for and the hunger is there. I think we are one of the best sides in the competition, so we've just got to get the results."

 

[The Baconator]

Midlane defies Tasmania

A gutsy 43 from Jamie Midlane against his former club denied Tasmania a win as Mashonaland held out for a nail biting draw. Set 234 to win in 88 overs, a positive result for either side looked more likely than a draw, but Mashonaland made a slow start, Mullick and Oulton took their time to score runs after the losses of Lewis and Roll. Once these two were dismissed, Gavaskar and Straw's attempts to knuckle down were thwarted by Dhamika and Lampard. At this point, Midlane, the sole remaining recognised batsman, opted to shut up shop and play for the draw. It looked like the wicketkeeper wouldn't make it when Sharma dismissed Walker and Joshi to leave them 9 down with 8 overs left. Despite the desperate efforts of Tasmania's bowlers Midlane farmed the strike excellently, and Matthie mustered all his ability to keep them at bay. Midlane did receive a huge let off though,a regulation chance was put down by keeper Neil Ferreira. Nevertheless, the Zimbabwean outfit showed huge courage, though it was surprising they didn't push a little harder for the win, which they finished 13 runs short of.

After each team's first innings though, Mashonaland were comfortably on top. They knocked over Tasmania for 158, with Straw and Joshi sharing 7 wickets between them. Mashonaland looked as if they might be heading in a similar direction when Tasmania reduced them to 75-4, but Gibbs and Gavaskar dug out half centuries to take them to 279 despite Jimmy Sharma's 6-60.

Tasmania were much better in their second bat. In a match where gritty defensive batting was the order of the day, Russel Arnold, part of the deal that took Midlane to Zimbabwe, scored a fluent 109 from 169 balls, and recieved good support from fellow left-hander Suresh Raina (59) as Tasmania scored 354 to set up Mashonaland's chase.

 

[Mister Wright]

Donald Dumped for Gayle to face TN

Guyana manager Kyle Wright has made one change to the side that beat the Colts in round seven, by dropping contracted batsman Donald for in form 2nd XI opener Gayle. Manager Wright said it was impossible to keep picking Donald with his recent poor form and Gayle was putting too much pressure on the selectors.

"We've given Donald as many chances as we can, but unfortunately for him and for us he hasn't been able to score many runs. It is hard for us now, as Donald is a contracted player so if he doesn't play first eleven, he doesn't play at all, which is disappointing, but it is something that we are forced to deal with." M,anager Wright said.

Guyana go into the clash desperate for a win to break away from the middle of the pack on the division one table. Manager Wright said that the team has been performing well of late in the one day arena and is hoping for another good performance in rouhnd 8.

"In previous seasons, it is about this point in the season where we start to fall off, so it is important that we win this game and keep the momentum of this season going strong. Tamil Nadu are a tough side to play, particularly in the one dayers, so we will need to be at our best. I'm sure we can put in a strong performance." Manager Wright said

 

[Perm]

Titan's Coach Thrilled

Newly appointed coach of the Northern Titans 2nd XI Zac Ritchie was thrilled with his first win as part of the Titan's management set-up. "Obviously I'm very happy" he said to the media after his side's crushing defeat of strugglers Warwickshire. "You have to have confidence in the boys, we have a lot of talent here and when things start to click we can expect some big things". The 255 run win was testament to the talent that Northern posess.

In the batting department O Hutchinson set the tone with a rearguard half century that boosted his side's first innings total up to 241. His good work was followed up in the second innings with K Pietersen top scoring in the match with 88, he received good support from M Vardhan who notched up 53. H Varkness then snared 5 wickets in the last innings to reduce Warwickshire to 109 all out and complete his match figures of 9/ 55. His hard work was rewarded with the Man of the Match Award.

Northerns 2nd XI vs Warwickshire 2nd XI
Northerns 241
O Hutchinson 50, J Watambwa 37
J Lawrence 4-42
Warwickshire 184
D Cooper 54
V Harkness 4-28
Northerns 307
K Pietersen 88, M Vardhan 53
S Akhtar 4-85
Warwickshire 109
H Francis 37
V Harkness 5-27

Northerns Won by 255 Runs
Man of the Match: V Harkness
MVP Points:
3. V Harkness
2. K Pietersen
1. O Hutchinson

 

[tadeusz]

WA's 2nd XI have won their second match of the season after beating ACT by 51 runs at Manuka this week. Batting first, WA's top order crashed spectacularly to 5/30, with L Dyer claiming 3 in a fiery opening spell. P Hoare led a middle-order revival with 81, and, along with some careless ACT bowling (41 extras), helped the score to 238.
WA's bowlers started reasonably well, with Virtue and Friend reducing ACT to 4/55. However, another middle-order revival saw ACT claim first innings points with a total of 295.
WA's top order didn't mess up second time round, with openers Ryder (106) and Hopcutt (63) adding 154 for the first wicket. Some solid contributers down the list saw WA post 316, leaving ACT 260 to win.
After losing 2 early wickets, ACT recovered to 6/206 and looked likely to claim victory, until they lost their lost 4 wickets for only 2 runs.

 

[NZTailender]

Mix up leaves Yorkshire toothless
A mix up with transport left Yorkshire without their star strike bowler and the star strike bowler without transport to South Africa.
Rumoured to be orchestrated by Free State management, quick bowler F Evans was unable to make the match in time and was forced to sit it out. Back up keeper Mohammed Salman was forced to step in as the only other member of the touring squad.
It was quickly becoming a tour to forget for the Yorkshire players.
Without Evans, Dawn had to call upon recently promoted batsman R Kripal Singh. The part timer sent down 36 overs resulting in one wicket, but conceding 97 runs. Danish Kaneria fared no better, picking up 2-109, while Saeed picked up the other 2 wickets as Free State cruised to 5-400 declared.

In reply, Yorkshire started horribly. After losing the openers and Martin Love, Zahid Saeed and Danish Kaneria were used as nigh****chmen to stem the loss of wickets. It did not work and soon after W Tendulkar was back in the pavilion after falling victim to Ecclestone who claimed 6 wickets in the innings.
On 6 for 49, Yorkshire would need something special to avoid being skittled out for under 100.
Enter out of form captain Michael Dawn and Mahela Jayawardene, who had a shocking run of form leading up to his first century. They combined for a Yorkshire record partnership of 330 and saved some face. They were eventually all out for 468 after 146 overs.

Mahela Jayawardene celebrates after brining up his 150.

The match petered out to a rather boring draw, as Free State faced 45 overs, making 98 runs and losing just one wicket.


After the match had finished, it was the time for the 2nd XI clash. Evans was allowed to play for the 2nds and subsequently tore it up 8 wickets.
It was a low scoring but exciting match which resulted in Yorkshire's first 2nd XI win in first class. Neither side went past 200 in their innings in a fine show of bowling from both sides.
Yashpal continued his fine form with 85 runs as J Patel and T Lyon contributed with a couple of 40's.


Free State vs Yorkshire
Free State 5-400 declared
S Westwood 95, I Bowes 88
Z Saeed 2-97, D kaneria 2-109

Yorkshire all out 468
M Dawn 171, M Jayawardene 162
Z Ecclestone 6-131, H Venkat 3-121

Free State 1-98
S Westwood 64*, Z Court 16*
D Kaneria 1-30

Match Drawn

MOTM: S Westwood

Yorks MVP points:
3. M Dawn
2. M Jayawardene
1. D Kaneria


Free State 2nd XI vs Yorkshire 2nd XI
Yorkshire 2nd XI all out 172
J Patel 42, T Lyon 41
O Walcott 4-28, D Nicholson 3-48

Free State all out 198
T Ambrose 70, I Javed 66*
F Evans 3-37, Y Arafat 3-53

Yorkshire 2nd XI all out 176
F Yashpal 85, K Davies 18
G Bateman 5-46, D Nicholson 3-42

Free State 2nd XI all out 145
W McPhee 28, T Ambrose 26
F Evans 5-34, G Belle 3-33

Yorkshire won by 5 runs.

MOTM: F Evans


Yorkshire manager Greg Thomas has named an unchanged line up going into their match against top of the table team Hampshire.
"It's going to be a tough match but our bowlers are in great form. If we bowl first I am confident that we can chase down any total they set" he said earlier today.