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Ireland Women begin their new season in a new division this weekend. They were promoted to Division three of the ECB County Championship last season.

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2012Ireland Women begin their new season in a new division this weekend. They were promoted to Division Three of the ECB County Championship last season.The new campaign begins against Leicestershire at Bardon Hill and on Monday they play Huntingdon & Cambridgeshire on Monday at Sawston.Head coach Jeremy Bray is hopeful of another successful season: “The squad has got a great blend of youth and experience and I’m sure will be rewarded for all their efforts during the close season.”It’s an exciting time for Irish cricket in general and you can feel there’s a real buzz about the game at the minute. I’m sure it won’t be too long before the women are emulating the men’s team in terms of results.”2012 Squad
Isobel Joyce (capt), Clodagh Conway, Laura Delany, Emma Flanagan, Cecelia Joyce, Shauna Kavanagh, Louise McCarthy, Rebecca Rolfe, Melissa Scott Hayward, Clare Shillington, Alison Smith, Elena Tice, Mary Waldron

The BCCI has invited Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf to watch the final of the IPL to be played in Chennai on May 27

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2012The BCCI has invited Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf to watch the IPL final to be played in Chennai on May 27. Ashraf confirmed that he received the invitation from the Indian board a few days ago.”I see the invitation as another positive step forward in further normalising bilateral cricket ties between the two countries,” Ashraf said. “The invitation will allow me to undertake a two-day visit to India and I plan to use this visit to have informal discussions with the Indian board officials regarding enhancing chances of restoring bilateral cricket ties.”Recently, the BCCI had announced that it had no objection to the participation of Pakistan T20 title-holders Sialkot Stallions in this year’s Champions League Twenty20 tournament, a move welcomed by the PCB.”We want to play India regularly in bilateral matches and we are willing to talk to them at every level to achieve this,” Ashraf said. “I will be speaking to them on this when I go to India.”The PCB had been pushing for the inclusion of a side from Pakistan, the only major Test-playing nation to not have had teams in the CLT20 since its inception. Sialkot were invited to the inaugural edition of the tournament towards the end of 2008, but it was put off after the terror attacks in Mumbai in November that year.Those attacks strained political relations between India and Pakistan and, subsequently, bilateral cricketing ties between the two countries were severed. Pakistan players – with the exception of Azhar Mahmood (who also has a British passport) this year – have not been a part of the IPL since.

Surrey’s last-ball defeat at Essex at least allowed the healing process to begin in their first match since the death of Tom Maynard.

Alan Gardner at Chelmsford22-Jun-2012
ScorecardFor Surrey this match against Essex allowed the healing process to begin. Touched by tragedy once again with the death of Tom Maynard in an accident on the London underground, their young squad put the events of Monday behind them and fought every inch of the way before they lost to the last ball of the game. The result did not matter: at a time of dislocating sadness, the cricket was comfortingly familiar.Surrey’s game against Hampshire on Wednesday had been postponed to allow the club to come to terms with their loss. This was their first outing without the popular Maynard, a player who was expected to follow in his father Matthew’s footsteps, as an England international and as a product of Glamorgan, a reminder of the ECB’s silent W.Chris Adams, Surrey’s cricket manager, had said that his team needed to get back into the routine of playing after the numbing news of Maynard’s death. The 23-year-old batsman was found dead on the tracks near Wimbledon Park tube station on Monday, robbing Surrey of a young star, the Maynard family of a son. Speaking after the match, Adams praised the response of his players on a raw night.”It’s been a desperately difficult week for them,” he said. “I don’t think any of us expected to not be highly emotional today. It was a lovely gesture by Essex to start the day off with the wreath, which meant that the two lads walking out to bat were visibly upset and so were the people in the dugout.”I can be proud of the lads, they have shown amazing character through the week – I think just turning up today was enough for me. They did it and got through it and we nearly won a game. This is a very difficult place to come and win anyway, under any circumstance, but after a week like that to get so close gives me great heart.”We came back in yesterday to The Oval, and we all expected that to be quite difficult. It was the first time back in the changing rooms, first time the lads will have seen Tom’s locker and there were some very, very sombre and quiet moments.”I think the best counselling that they will have in the whole process is tonight, is getting out there, back in the arena and doing what they do best, which is playing cricket. There will be a lot of proud people, supporters, a family back in Wales – I know, as soon as the game was over I had a text from Matthew to say so.”We’ll move on, and our cause for the rest of the season is defined: whatever we do, it will be to make sure that Tom Maynard is looking down, very proud of what he stood for, the team stands for and how we want to play our cricket.”Chris Tremlett, the England fast bowler, making his first appearance of the season for Surrey’s first XI, took 3 for 19 off his four overs but James Franklin’s 63 from 51 balls and some late hitting from Tim Phillips were decisive as Essex secured a dramatic victory. In scoring 26 off the final 11 deliveries Essex triumphed by a fine margin for the third successive evening, in exhilarating fashion. It was, if nothing more, a fleeting, enthralling distraction from real life.A minute’s silence preceded the start, with the teams lined up on the outfield wearing black armbands. Several Surrey players were visibly affected by the emotion of the occasion and Jason Roy, who walked off with a consoling arm around his shoulder, had to immediately don his helmet and return to the middle to open the batting.He hit the first ball he faced straight back down the ground for four, following it up with several further boundaries in a highly charged 36 off 20 balls before holing out to deep midwicket. On being dismissed, he looked to the heavens before dragging himself from the pitch on heavy legs. Twenty20 is often a game of frivolity but Roy’s reaction spoke of weightier matters on his mind.Rory Hamilton-Brown, the Surrey captain and Maynard’s flatmate, had been given compassionate leave – though he was present for the minute’s silence – with Gareth Batty leading the side. There was an added poignancy to the commonplace sight of the players in a huddle on the outfield, missing as it was Surrey’s No. 55, as well as Hamilton-Brown and the England international Jade Dernbach, a close friend of Maynard’s. “It’s been the most difficult week of my career certainly,” Batty said at the toss. “It’s bringing the club together. Our thoughts are with his mother and father down in Wales.”The loss of a team-mate in such circumstances is, mercifully, not something that many players will have to deal with in their careers. Stuart Meaker, the Surrey fast bowler, had tweeted after being called into the England squad for the third ODI against West Indies that he and Dernbach had “been given a chance to play this Friday for the memory of Tommy Maynard. I hope we can do him proud.” Rain at Headingley denied Meaker and Dernbach such an opportunity but Meaker made the 200-mile journey to Chelmsford in time to feature in this fixture.He celebrated with a pump of both arms after bowling James Foster with his third ball and for while, as Essex struggled against the pace of Meaker and Tremlett, slipping from 93 for 3 to 119 for 7 in 28 balls, it looked as if Surrey might secure the win they almost visibly strained for. It wasn’t quite to be. But, on this occasion, there was something more important to play for.

Yorkshire reached their first T20 Finals Day with a 29-run win over Worcestershire, inspired by Joe Root’s maiden Twenty20 half-century

Alan Gardner25-Jul-2012
ScorecardJoe Root hit 65 and then pulled off an excellent piece of fielding as Yorkshire reached their first Finals Day•Getty Images

Yorkshire reached their first T20 Finals Day with a 29-run win over Worcestershire, inspired by Joe Root’s maiden Twenty20 half-century, not to mention an impudent piece of fielding on the deep midwicket boundary that brought a boisterous Headingley crowd to their feet. Root also opened the bowling – admittedly to slightly less spectacular effect – in a display that will have again given the England selectors a tug on the sleeve.Phil Hughes’ unorthodox power and placement helped keep Worcestershire in the game but his unbeaten 80 was not enough, as fellow Australia international Mitchell Starc returned to keep a lid on the final overs, finishing with 3 for 24 from his allocation. In the face-off between the tournament’s leading run-scorer and its leading wicket-taker, Starc was the victor on points.After Hampshire’s dramatic victory over Nottinghamshire later on Wednesday, Yorkshire were drawn against big-hitting Sussex for what promises to be an explosive semi-final encounter between the North and South Group winners on August 25.Worcestershire, who were also aiming to reach Finals Day for the first time, kept pace with the Yorkshire par score but were lacking the blast of nitrous oxide provided by the batting of David Miller and Gary Ballance, who hammered 82 from the last five overs earlier in the day. A similar power-up was not forthcoming from the visitors’ middle order, despite forceful twenties from James Cameron and Gareth Andrew.The former was sent on his way by Root – though his name won’t appear on the scorecards. Having hoisted Rich Pyrah high into the outfield, Cameron may have been expecting to record his second six; but Root, running round from long-on, demonstrated quick-thinking to go with his quick feet, catching the ball, steadying himself in front of the rope and then tossing it back to Miller as his momentum took him out of bounds.The third umpire was consulted, as a matter of course, but both Root and his team-mates knew he had pulled off a piece of fielding that is no less exhilarating now that T20 has made it a more common sight. “The cameras are here aren’t they, so you’ve got to make it look good,” Root said, over his on-pitch mic.Root’s contribution with the bat was even more important, if a little less showy. He is an accomplished strokeplayer in the classical mould, though he repeatedly turned to the reverse sweep in a largely unsuccessful attempt to show he could play the peacock too. Perhaps hitting three of his four first-class sixes in a superb innings of 222 not out at West End earlier this month has convinced him to broaden his batting horizons.His runs were scored all around the wicket, though his first boundary came via an edge between keeper and slip. He could – possibly should – have been dismissed on 40, when a reverse dab against Brett D’Oliveira looped off the top edge to Andrew’s left at short third man but the fielder went at it one-handed and only succeeded in fisting the ball to the boundary. Two overs later, Root drove Aneesh Kapil behind square to reach his fifty, from 36 balls, and he was in full flow against Worcestershire’s England Under-19 allrounder, cutting, driving and pulling three more boundaries off successive deliveries before spooning a slog straight up to be caught and bowled.Root, appropriately, had anchored Yorkshire, as Worcestershire chipped away early on. Yorkshire have twice broken the club record for opening stands in T20 this season but Andrew Gale and Phil Jaques combined to less sparkling effect in the first over of the innings, with the Australian run-out off a wide. Jack Shantry’s delivery swung down the leg side, before deflecting away off the wicketkeeper Ben Scott’s pads, and Jaques was three-quarters of the way down before it became apparent that Gale was not for haring.The Yorkshire captain had missed a month of cricket with a hip injury, so was perhaps just feeling a bit ginger early on. After scoring three singles off his first eight balls, he crashed five fours off his next ten, taking 16 off a Shantry over before chipping Daryl Mitchell’s extremely slow medium-pace back to the bowler. Worcestershire’s captain also accounted for Jonny Bairstow, whose mighty bash wasn’t quite mighty enough to clear long-on and at the halfway stage Yorkshire were 83 for 3, behind the rate on a good pitch.Kapil’s costly over, though it saw off Root, was the trigger for a run rush that saw Yorkshire pile on 104 from the last seven. Miller hit the first six of the innings from the last ball of the 16th over, slog-sweeping Moeen Ali into the stands, and Ballance cracked the next ball, from Shantry, over cover for six more. Miller then smacked sixes over long-on and long-off, before pulling a flat missile through midwicket for four more, progressing to a 23-ball fifty in the following over before miscuing a heave at David Lucas.Shantry finished with 0 for 46 from three overs but Lucas, bowling the final over, was not to be spared either. A single off the first ball brought Ballance on strike, red-faced but cool at the crease, and he cleared the ropes four more times – a bottom-handed club over wide long-on; a flat swipe through midwicket; a stand-and-deliver punch down the ground; and a wristy flick over deep backward square leg – to lift Yorkshire to their highest total in this year’s FLt20 and just one run shy of their best in T20.Root, a slight 21-year-old, is not yet the man for such power-hitting but his all-round abilities meant he was given the new ball as Yorkshire started with an over off offspin. Root went for 10, though both of Moeen’s boundaries – an inside edge past the stumps and a paddle past the diving Moin Ashraf at short fine leg – could have resulted in wickets. Starc then struck in the second over, Vikram Solanki pinned lbw despite the ball looking a touch high, to bring Hughes to the middle.His first boundary was a six down the ground but a succession of partners could not match his efforts. As Root showed, it isn’t over until it’s over the rope – and neither could Worcestershire get over the line.

Daryl Mitchell hit a well earned century as bottom-of-the-table Worcestershire attempted to ease the threat of relegation

28-Aug-2012Worcestershire 295 for 8 (Mitchell 129*, Kervezee 55) v Middlesex
ScorecardToby Roland-Jones was the main wicket threat for Middlesex•Middlesex CCC

Daryl Mitchell hit a well earned century as bottom-of-the-table Worcestershire attempted to ease the threat of relegation on the first day of their Division One match against Middlesex at New Road. Worcestershire’s captain made 129 not out to help lift his side to 295 for 8 at stumps.It was Mitchell’s second Championship century of the season and came off a stately 273 balls. He put on 114 in 38 overs for the fourth wicket with Alexei Kervezee, who made 55 on his return to first team action for Worcestershire – who dropped Surrey-bound Vikram Solanki and wicketkeeper Ben Scott for this contest.After being put in, Mitchell’s men made an aggressive start to their innings thanks mainly to Phil Hughes, who darted to 34, including six fours off 28 balls, before being comfortably caught at deep fine leg by Ravi Patel off Toby Roland-Jones.Hughes’ departure signalled the start of a decline in Worcestershire’s run-rate. They reached 50 in the 14th over, which saw Roland-Jones strike again to trap Matt Pardoe leg before wicket. Roland-Jones then accounted for Moeen Ali for a duck to finish his opening spell with impressive figures of 8-3-17-3.Opener Mitchell and Alexei Kervezee, making his first Championship appearance for four months following a loss of form and injury, then steadied the ship to take Worcestershire to 104 for 3 at lunch.Mitchell continued to make healthy progress after the interval and completed his half-century with five fours off 128 balls. Kervezee rode his luck on a couple of occasions before his well crafted partnership with Mitchell topped the three-figure mark.The 22-year-old completed his first 50 in first-team cricket this season before a loose uppish drive against Neil Dexter led to him being easily caught at mid-on by Roland-Jones. Neil Pinner fell to spinner Patel before Mitchell went in at tea on 71 not out.Shortly after the break the hosts picked up the first of two precious bonus points before Joe Leach was yorked by Steven Crook. Young wicketkeeper Ben Cox, making his first Championship appearance for Worcestershire for 16 months, was then removed by Tim Murtagh before Mitchell completed the 12th first-class century of his career in nearly five-and-a-half hours.Roland-Jones took his wicket haul to four by ousting Gareth Andrew but Mitchell ended the day unbeaten and with a further batting point just around the corner.

Brendan Taylor will have the treble role of leading the side, anchoring the batting and playing as the first-choice wicketkeeper at the World Twenty20

Firdose Moonda12-Sep-2012All 12 captains at the upcoming World T20 will have issues on their mind ahead of the big event, none more so than Zimbabwe’s leader Brendan Taylor. He will have the treble role of leading the side, anchoring the batting and playing as the first-choice wicketkeeper. Taylor has done all three jobs before but never all at the same time. That makes this tournament as stern an examination of his ability as multi-tasker as it will of his team and the progress they have made since their return to Test cricket last August.Taylor took over the captaincy shortly before Zimbabwe were ready to re-enter the elite club of the game and has shown himself to be creative, unafraid and a strong performer while in charge. He led Zimbabwe through a successful comeback and has kept the armband for longer than most of his counterparts. He has also earned many personal accolades in the time and was being picked up by T20 leagues in New Zealand and Bangladesh as reward for his efforts.He has developed into one of the country’s most reliable batsmen and when Tatenda Taibu announced his retirement from the game in July, to follow his spiritual calling in the church, Taylor had to become its premier gloveman as well. Whether he will do the job in the longer format remains to be seen but he is man in possession for now and has shown no signs of being overburdened.Taylor took the gloves in the unofficial T20 tri-series played in June, which Zimbabwe won after beating a South African XI in the final of the competition, which also featured Bangladesh. Taylor was the second highest run-scorer in the tournament, making 163 runs in five matches, including a half-century.Zimbabwe’s openers, Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda, ensured that Taylor was rarely under pressure in at No.3. On one of the occasions when he was, in the final, Taylor featured in a 118-run partnership with Masakadza and scored 59 to guide Zimbabwe to victory.It was a small example of the way Taylor responds to increased responsibility. Zimbabwe’s most experienced player, Ray Price, has no doubt that Taylor would continue in that vein at the World T20. “I think he’ll sweat quite a bit in this weather but I think he’ll do well,” Price said at Zimbabwe’s arrival press conference in Colombo. “When you’re keeping it’s also easier to manoeuvre the field and in T20, he’ll be pressed for time, so that will be a big advantage for him.”Taylor’s position behind the stumps is not the only thing he has going for him ahead of the tournament. He was the only Zimbabwean player to feature in the recently completed SLPL and while he did not find any form for the Uthura Rudras, with just 46 runs in his six innings, he was able to get first-hand experience of conditions in Sri Lanka and gathered information to pass on to his charges.Most notably Taylor thought that there would be more life in the tracks on the subcontinent, despite their reputation. “I thought the wickets moved around a bit so it was fairly challenging,” Taylor said. “Last year we were here for the World Cup and I think the wickets have changed a little bit since then so it will be quite interesting to see how it goes.”Price said he also expects something for Zimbabwe’s bowlers in the group stage. “Hambantota does swing around and there’s quite a bit of wind there as well,” he said. “The most important thing is to attack as much as we can. Kyle Jarvis and Chris Mpofu have been bowling really well, so it will be interesting to see how they apply what they’ve learnt from those past experiences.”More than the conditions, the place itself may give Zimbabwe an advantage. Known as one of the most remote international grounds, Hambantota has been criticised for the lack of other facilities, such as hotels and shops, in the area close to the ground. Taylor is aware that some teams, including the hosts, would be uncomfortable in the city. “It’s new to the South Africans as well and I know the Sri Lankans would probably rather play elsewhere,” he said.For Zimbabwe though, just playing international cricket is enough. Their national team has not been in action since January when they toured New Zealand and have had to make do with unofficial tournaments and training camps since then. Lack of preparation has been a common thread for Zimbabwe.”It hasn’t been ideal but our preparations back home have been close to what we’ve wanted. We had a good six or eight weeks together, playing a lot of T20 matches and team-building so we feel prepared and we’re all ready to go. I think we’ve covered all the angles. We’ve all played enough cricket in the past so it’s just we’re all ready to go.”Sparse competition at the top level means that Zimbabwe do not see their role as making up the numbers, even though the groupings would suggest otherwise. Each three-team ensemble has one outfit that are likeliest to exit early and Zimbabwe are under no illusions. Taylor insists he won’t let that stand in the team’s way.”We know what we’re up against and to be honest we’re not too flustered about it,” he said. “It’s going to be extremely tough but that’s why we’re here. We want to showcase our talent and skills and it’s great to be part of a good tournament. Hopefully we can have a so-called upset but we feel we’re good enough to go out there and win.”As Price will remind him, it will only take one good performance to advance to the Super Eights. “The good thing is if you win one game you’ve got a good chance of going through,” he said. “If we can scratch a win between the two of them it will be very good for us.”

Hampshire remain on course for a domestic double in limited-overs cricket after Sussex’s semi-final frailties were exposed for the second week running

Alan Gardner at Hove01-Sep-2012
ScorecardMichael Carberry launched into the Sussex’s bowlers with a 36-ball 68•Getty Images

Hampshire remain on course for a domestic double in limited-overs cricket after Sussex’s semi-final frailties were exposed for the second week running. Despite a century of controlled aggression from Luke Wright, Hampshire shredded what could have been a testing chase with a 129-run stand inside the first 13 overs, to set up a repeat of their 2005 C&G Trophy final against Warwickshire.With FLt20 silverware already in the cabinet, there was a thought that one or two of the more ‘experienced’ members of the Hampshire side may have had a eye on some deckchair time by the seaside but even without the taped-up talisman of their T20 triumph, injured allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas, there was no sign that the visitors had begun to build mental sandcastles. Rather it was Sussex, FLt20 semi-finalists and defeated at the same stage in this competition last year, who were left to rue another failure to launch.James Vince and Michael Carberry eviscerated the home attack with a calculated onslaught that took Hampshire more than halfway to their target, silencing the crowd and, in Carberry’s case, endangering a few of them too. “It looked difficult to score in the middle period so we had to do the early damage up front while the ball was hard and coming on to the bat,” he said.While Vince pierced the field with a series of back-foot drives, Carberry was a more muscular aggressor, smashing five sixes back down the ground. The biggest came via a huge mow that cleared the video screen on the north-east corner of the stadium, as the left-hander reached his fifty from 25 deliveries during a sequence of 6-4-4-4 against Chris Liddle.Carberry has been mentioned as a potential successor to Andrew Strauss at the top of England’s Test order and his Man of the Match performance, like Wright’s display in defeat, will not have gone unnoticed. He departed trying to smash a second six off Will Beer, underhitting by a matter of inches to be caught at long-on, before Vince fell to the same bowler one run later but Jimmy Adams and Simon Katich went about accumulating the further 90 required in the same unfussy manner of their t20 Finals Day contributions.”We’ve come into a fair amount of these games as the underdogs in various people’s eyes and that never does any harm,” Hampshire captain Adams said. “We’ve got guys capable of being match-winners and as a team there’s a belief we can do it. Today there were some standout performances that swung the game for us.”England’s south coast may often be characterised as a slumbering retirement destination but this was a feisty, energetic encounter between two sides with significant one-day pedigree. Recent t20 successes aside, Hampshire (in 2005) and Sussex (2006) were the last two winners of the C&G Trophy, while they contested the final of its successor, the FP Trophy, in 2009. Hampshire won that Lord’s encounter and repeated the trick by an even more comfortable margin here, despite the chasing given them by Wright.Wright has not played international cricket in over a year but he once again demonstrated his clean striking and the ability to clear the ropes – a much yearned-for quality among England batsmen – in a knock that provided more than half his side’s runs. He is timing his run of form into the World Twenty20 to perfection and although there will be competition from the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler when it comes to providing the middle-order gunpowder, his extra experience gained around the world, in the Big Bash league, IPL and South Africa’s domestic T20, stands him in good stead.”I suppose the silver lining is that I’ve got myself in good nick going into the Twenty20s, so fingers crossed I can push for a place and if I get a chance I can do well,” said Wright, a member of England’s successful 2010 team in the Caribbean. “The harder bit is getting in the XI and winning the title again.”In Sussex’s innings, Chris Nash started much the quicker of the openers and had scored 23 of the first 25 runs before Wright decided to even the ledger. With his spiky hair and slightly crooked grin there is a touch of anarchy to Wright’s appearance and he brought chaos where there had briefly been calm. David Griffiths, replacing Chris Wood, began with a maiden to Nash, while Wright had pottered his way to 7 from 16 balls when the two first collided – and it was the Hampshire seamer who came off significantly the worse.From the eighth over of the match, Wright carved four fours, all through the off side, then mugged Griffiths again in his next, smoking a six and a four back down the ground. To compound the bowler’s pain, with Wright on 35, Bilal Shafayat clutched at an aerial hook to deep square-leg like it was a bar of soap and put down a simple chance.Wright made sure it was an expensive fumble, reaching his second consecutive hundred in the competition and progressing to 122 before steering a short ball from Sean Ervine into the hands of Danny Briggs at short third-man. In all, Wright faced 19 deliveries from Griffiths and picked up 49 runs, including two of his three sixes. “Punk” may have been one of the one of the more repeatable words muttered by the bowler.Partnerships of 71 and 88 had put Sussex in a position, at 159 from 28 overs, to cause some real destruction but after Nash and Matt Prior had departed in the twenties, the middle order were quickly scattered like seagulls on the square. Sussex lost five wickets for four runs in 12 balls and Hampshire, having scrapped their way back into the game, once again proved that underdogs still know how to bite.

Abdur Rehman, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, has been banned for 12 weeks by the ECB after testing positive for the recreational drug cannabis during his stint with Somerset

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2012Abdur Rehman, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, has been banned for 12 weeks by the ECB under its anti-doping rules after testing positive for the recreational drug cannabis during his stint with Somerset in the English domestic season. The penalty is binding on all countries signed up to the World Anti-Doping Code.Rehman will be suspended until midnight of December 21. He has already been withdrawn from the Sialkot Stallions squad for the Champions League T20, which begins on October 9 in South Africa.The sample that tested positive for cannabis was provided by Rehman on August 8, during the County Championship match between Somerset and Nottinghamshire. “I apologise to my family, the PCB, the ECB, Somerset County Cricket Club, my team-mates and my fans,” Rehman said. “It was an error of judgement on my part that will cost me dearly and I would like it to be a lesson to all others in sports elsewhere.”I will do my best to stay fit and focussed during my suspension, and, god-willing, will be available for selection for the India series should the PCB see it fit.”Somerset chief executive Guy Lavender said the club supported the ECB’s decision. “The club does not condone the use of illegal drugs in any circumstances and all Somerset players are made fully aware of this policy on a regular basis.”Rehman played four Championship matches for Somerset and took 27 wickets, which included 9 for 65 against Worcestershire. He had established himself as a key player for Pakistan over the past year and caused England plenty of problems during the Test series in UAE, where he claimed 19 wickets in three matches. Overall he has 81 wickets in 17 Tests at 28.40 apiece.

The debutant Faf du Plessis helped South Africa hang on for a thrilling draw on the final day in Adelaide

The Report by Brydon Coverdale26-Nov-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Faf du Plessis became the fourth South African to score a century on Test debut•Getty Images

Faf du Plessis would not have been playing in this Test were it not for JP Duminy hurting his Achilles tendon at the Gabba. And just as Duminy did on debut in Perth four years ago, du Plessis has grabbed his first chance at Test cricket to provide a remarkable result for the South Africans. At the WACA it was a near-record chase of 414 for victory; this time South Africa’s challenge was to bat for four and a half sessions on a wearing Adelaide Oval pitch to salvage a draw.Thanks to du Plessis, they did so. Thanks to du Plessis, the scoreline remains at 0-0 heading into the decider in Perth, despite Australia having had the best of the first two Tests. And thanks to du Plessis, Australia’s bowlers will have only four days to recover from some serious exhaustion, especially Peter Siddle, who sent down 63.5 overs for the match and was so debilitated by the time he bowled the final over of the match that he could barely stand up.Of course, it wasn’t all down to du Plessis. Early in the day, AB de Villiers played against type to score 33 from 220 balls without a boundary. Jacques Kallis again fought off his hamstring strain to provide important support in a 110-ball innings of 46. And Dale Steyn, Rory Kleinveldt and Morne Morkel did just enough to ensure that the No.11, Imran Tahir, would not be required. For South Africa, who will lose the No.1 Test ranking if Australia take the series, it was a draw that felt like a win.For Michael Clarke and his men, it was an opportunity missed. There wasn’t a lot more the Australians could have done, especially with James Pattinson’s injury leaving them a bowler short throughout the fourth innings. But there were some half-chances that they were unable to take, the kind of tiny openings that on a day like this must not be wasted. An Australian victory was still possible until the final over of the last hour of the match.By that stage, Siddle looked as if he’d just run a marathon. Somehow, he kept running in and his pace barely dropped, but Morkel was good enough to block out the over, which left South Africa on 8 for 248 when stumps was called. The score was irrelevant to the South Africans, who had given up on the chase of 430 on the fourth afternoon. Wickets were all that mattered. And a couple of breakthroughs in the final 40 minutes kept the contest alive.Steyn fell for a 28-ball duck when he chipped an inswinging full toss from Siddle to midwicket, where Rob Quiney snapped up a sharp catch. And Kleinveldt survived for 17 deliveries before he missed a yorker and was bowled by Siddle for 3. In the end, Siddle finished with 4 for 65 from 33 overes, but his herculean effort was more than matched by du Plessis, who ended up unbeaten on 110 from 376 balls. For any batsman, it would have been a magnificent innings; for a debutant, it was preposterously good.Most notable was the fact that du Plessis did not become overawed by the situation. He spent an eternity in the nineties but was not flustered, the team goal of survival overshadowing his own ambitions. When he eventually pushed two runs through cover off Ben Hilfenhaus and became the fourth South African to score a century on Test debut, after Andrew Hudson, Jacques Rudolph and Alviro Petersen, he acknowledged the applause and then settled straight back down to continue his job.The milestone took him 310 deliveries, but he was far from stagnant. He played his shots when the opportunity arose and finished with 14 boundaries. He was as calm as Duminy had been back in 2008; in fact, his effort was much more impressive because the conditions were tougher and nobody else in the line-up managed so much as a half-century. The Australians thought they had du Plessis twice in the first session, only to be denied on review.Both came off the bowling of Clarke, who drew positive lbw calls from Billy Bowden when du Plessis had 33 and again on 37. The first time, the batsman’s review showed the ball had pitched a fraction outside leg stump; the second time it revealed that the two noises Bowden had heard were bat on ball and bat on ground – the ball had not even struck du Plessis on the foot or pad.The Australians also used up their final review shortly before lunch when du Plessis, on 49, offered no shot to a Nathan Lyon delivery that pitched and struck him outside the line of off stump but was turning enough to interest Clarke. However, Eagle Eye suggested the ball would have bounced over the top of the stumps, and Clarke was left to consider how he would find six wickets in two sessions with no further reviews available.In the last over before tea, they had a chance when du Plessis edged Hilfenhaus and Matthew Wade, standing up to the stumps, couldn’t grasp the catch. Ed Cowan also put down a tough chance at short leg in the final session when Steyn clipped Siddle off his pads and the ball flew low to the ground, and they were the kind of opportunities the Australians couldn’t afford to miss.Cowan did complete a much easier catch in close when Lyon, who bowled 50 overs in the innings and 94 for the match, drew an inside edge onto pad from Kallis that popped up to short leg. Kallis had made 46 and given his injury, his effort was just as critical as that of du Plessis. De Villiers also played a key role until he was bowled by Siddle for a laborious 33 from 220 deliveries, an innings that did not include a boundary and was second only to Chris Tavare’s effort at Madras in 1982 in terms of the lowest strike-rate for an innings of at least 30 runs in Test history.De Villiers was happy defending and that was all South Africa really needed. They also required someone to stick around for the whole day, and du Plessis obliged. For the first time since 1921, Australia and South Africa had played out two consecutive draws. And for the second time this series, Australia saw a potential victory evade them. It all comes down to Perth.