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Stuart MacGill has confirmed he will come out of retirement to play for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2011Stuart MacGill has confirmed he will come out of retirement to play for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League. As reported by ESPNcricinfo a fortnight ago, MacGill, 40, will join Shane Warne, Brad Hogg and Matthew Hayden on the list of former players returning for the Twenty20 tournament, which begins on December 16.MacGill’s 44-Test career ended in the West Indies in 2008, when he retired mid-tour due to problems with carpal-tunnel syndrome. However, MacGill has decided to test himself in the BBL and has been playing club cricket in Sydney to prepare for the tournament.”To be honest, the second I heard there was a team based here at the SCG, I did start wondering whether I could do it,” MacGill said on Fox Sports News. “There was never a question of me lining up for anyone else, as soon as I found out that there was a team playing here at the SCG I guess it was always bouncing around in my head, to play here for one more time.”[The ball is coming out] a lot better than I thought they would. I’ve had a pretty easy workload so far [in grade cricket], because the weather in Sydney is pretty ordinary. But it’s not far off to be able to hold my head high, and I’m enjoying it.”The Sixers play the tournament opener against the Brisbane Heat and on December 27 at the SCG they will take on the Melbourne Stars, setting up a MacGill-Warne showdown.

A round-up of the latest round of matches of the SuperSport Series 2011-12

Firdose Moonda15-Jan-2012In Port Elizabeth, the Lions revived their title hopes with a 94-run win over the Warriors.The Lions first innings effort of 519 for 8 declared was built on a sturdy middle order performance. Recalled international Alviro Petersen scored 165, Jonathan Vandiar contributed 58, Neil McKenzie 52 , Temba Bavuma 170 and Shane Burger 70. The Warriors seamers were unsuccessful and it was up to left-arm spin of JJ Smuts and offspin of Simon Harmer, who shared seven wickets between them, to do some damage.Pumelela Matshikwe got an early breakthrough for the Lions, removing Kelly Smuts for a duck but the Warriors also took advantage of favourable batting conditions. Michael Price, JJ Smuts, Ashwell Prince and Arno Jacobs all scored half-centuries but none of them could push on to a three-figure score.Spin caused the damage again, with Eddie Leie claiming three wickets and Petersen two. The Warriors lost their last six wickets for 18 runs and were bowled out for 340, giving the Lions a lead of 179.Wickets fell speedily on the third day and the Lions top and middle order were obliterated. They crashed to 20 for 5 but had Bavuma on hand to score a careful 73. The Lions declared on 171 for 8, setting the Warriors a target of 351.The Lions had enough time to bowl their opposition out, despite being defied. Kelly Smuts’ 100 and Price’s 52 combined for a first-wicket stand of 139. Leie broke the stand and nipped JJ Smuts out for a duck to put the Lions on course for victory.As in their first innings, the Warriors collapsed spectacularly, losing seven wickets for 48 runs. Chris Morris took four wickets, including a hat-trick. Leie finished with four as well, to take his match total to seven.The Cape Cobras pulled away from the chasing pack after seven rounds of the SuperSport Series. They drew with the Dolphins , after dominating the match for the most part.After choosing to bat, the Cobras made the Dolphins bowlers work hard in the Pietermaritzburg sun as their top four piled on 257 runs. There were half centuries for Yaseen Vallie and Justin Ontong and a hundred for Stiaan van Zyl. Robbie Frylinck removed three of the top four in his marathon 56 overs, which yielded four wickets in total.Johann Louw and Siya Simetu frustrated the Dolphins further with a 52-run eighth wicket stand as the Cobras were bowled out for 432.In reply, the Dolphins stumbled to 97 for 6. Vaughn van Jaarsveld’s 27 was the highest score from their top six but Cody Chetty’s 46 saved them from total embarrassment. Left-arm spinner Simetu took 3 for 58 and the Dolphins were bowled out for 192, 240 behind.The Cobras did not enforce the follow-on but opted to bat third on a pitch that is known to crumble later on. Van Zyl and Ontong were among the runs again, the former scoring an unbeaten 77 and the latter 33 not out off 40 balls to hurry the Cobras along as they sought to declare. They did on 160 for 2, setting the Dolphins a target of 401 and giving themselves more than a day to bowl them out.The Dolphins were more assured in their second knock. Divan van Wyk and Imraan Khan scored 63 and 73 respectively in an opening stand of 149, before both were dismissed with the score unchanged. Simetu then took the wicket of Daryn Smit for 2 to create an opening for the Cobras but van Jaarveld’s 48 and Frylinck’s efforts at the end ensured the Cobras ran out of time. The match ended with the Dolphins 130 runs away from victory with four wickets in hand.

The day after its historic auction, the Bangladesh Premier League has seen a cloud of doubt over the participation of Shahid Afridi, the most expensive player, in the 2012 season

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2012The day after its historic auction, the Bangladesh Premier League has seen a cloud of doubt over the participation of Shahid Afridi, the most expensive player, in the 2012 season. Afridi was bought for $700,000 by the Dhaka Gladiators but has told the he will not participate in the Twenty20 competition as it clashes with Pakistan’s limited-over series against England.The Dhaka franchise, though, has said Afridi will definitely be available for the tournament’s semi-finals and final, should Dhaka get that far, and may even play the season opener if it is before February 13, the date of the first Pakistan-England ODI.Franchise officials told ESPNcricinfo they were aware of Afridi’s schedule before the auction and knew he might only be available for the final. Since Afridi will be paid on a pro-rata basis they decided to buy him anyway.Afridi said he wanted to concentrate on playing for Pakistan and would use the days before the ODIs against England in the UAE to prepare for that series. “My preference has always been my national team and I’m looking forward to giving my best against England,” Afridi said. “I will utilise the days before the series for training. I can only think about playing in the league when I don’t have national commitments.” He has not, however, informed his franchise or the BPL of his unavailability.Afridi apart, though, there was much to celebrate about the auction, especially for the Bangladesh cricketers who earned lucrative contracts.Allrounder Nasir Hossain was the highest earner among Bangladesh players, getting a $200,000 deal with the Khulna Royal Bengals, while the Chittagong Kings picked up Mahmudullah and Jahurul Islam for $110,000 each. Though these amounts were significantly less than those paid for big-name foreign players, six-figure dollar contracts were a first for most of the Bangladesh cricketers.Nasir, 20, drew the most attention from local media but the signing of Mashrafe Mortaza was also noteworthy. Mortaza, the former Bangladesh captain, had famously been bought for $650,000 by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the second IPL season, but has not played cricket since April 2011 due to a persistent knee injury. He drew a modest price at the BPL auction, going to the Dhaka Gladiators for $45,000.”I was expecting a price like this since I haven’t been playing for quite a while,” Mortaza told the Bangladesh newspaper . “Still, I got myself a team. It isn’t that bad.”Even without Afridi, the Dhaka franchise seems to be one of the more balanced sides in the competition along with Chittagong, while many praised the Khulna picks too. “I think Chittagong are the strongest and Dhaka are equally strong,” Athar Ali Khan, advisor to Duronto Rajshahi, told .Meanwhile, the BPL commissioner Mahbubul Anam told the Bangladesh Cricket Board would take responsibility for compensating the players should they not receive payments in time from their franchises. “The board has the bank guarantee on the players’ payments,” Anam said. “If anything goes wrong, the BCB will pay the money from that fund.”

The BCCI top brass have denied reports of an alleged rift in the Indian team, saying that the media have taken an “exaggerated” stand in the wake of stand-in captain Virender Sehwag’s contentious comments following India’s defeat to Sri Lanka on Tuesday

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Feb-2012The BCCI top brass have denied reports of an alleged rift in the Indian team, saying that the media have taken an “exaggerated” stand in the wake of stand-in captain Virender Sehwag’s contentious comments following India’s defeat to Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Sehwag had said that he was unaware that one of reasons MS Dhoni wanted to rotate the three openers (Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir) was because he feared they would leak at least 20 runs in the field.”I don’t think there is any rift within the team,” Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI vice-president who was meeting with other board officials in Mumbai at the IPL governing council meet, said. “It is only speculation by a section of the media. The team is united. So I don’t think there is a problem.”Shukla said the board was constantly in touch with the team management. “From what we have understood, Sehwag has been misquoted.”Sehwag had lead India against Sri Lanka in the absence of Dhoni, who was serving a one-match ban for not meeting the required over-rate in the previous game against Australia. In the post-match media conference, speaking on the rotation policy, Sehwag said that Dhoni had had chats with him, Tendulkar and Gambhir individually, telling them that the young players in the squad should get enough exposure in Australian conditions, keeping in mind that the next World Cup will be played in Australia and New Zealand. Sehwag said he was fine with that reasoning, but was unaware that Dhoni had said, after the February 19 match against Australia, that he could not fit all three openers into the XI because of their slowness in the field. That statement sparked speculation in the media, raising the question as to whether there was a divide in the team.The BCCI president, N Srinivasan, said there was nothing to be “concerned” about. “We have to see what exactly they [Sehwag and Dhoni] have said. They were responding to some question in a press conference. I have spoken to the media manager there [in Australia]. I think the reports here are exaggerated.”Asked if the pair of Duncan Fletcher and Dhoni had informed the board of their plans to try out the younger players and adopt the rotation policy, Shukla said that matter was entirely the decision of the tour selection committee, comprising the captain, coach and team manager. “It is for the coach and captain to decide on the team composition,” Shukla said.Edited by Nikita Bastian

Mustafa Kamal, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president, has said he will with work with PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf at the ICC level to return international cricket to Pakistan

Umar Farooq03-Mar-2012Mustafa Kamal, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president, has said he will work with PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf at the ICC level to return international cricket to Pakistan. Kamal was speaking in Islamabad, after meeting with Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik to discuss security issues regarding Bangladesh’s proposed tour in April.Although no formal decision was taken at the meeting, the delegation from Bangladesh was briefed about the security arrangements the Pakistan government would make and Kamal was optimistic about the limited-overs series going ahead. The delegation will inspect facilities in Lahore and Karachi before returning home on March 5 to submit a report to the Bangladesh government.”Now I am here to make a commitment that both Mr Zaka and I will work together to make things right at the ICC level,” Kamal said. “We have our endeavour and always will work hand in hand to convince our other colleagues in the ICC to bring back cricket to Pakistan at the earliest.”I am here with a positive frame of mind and I want us to be in a position to convince our ICC board members, so that they also agree to play in Pakistan as early as possible.”The ICC was not part of the meeting between the BCB and the Pakistan ministry and they will carry out a separate assessment of the security situation if the tour is confirmed. Malik assured the Bangladesh delegation of the security their team would be given, saying the government had taken “total political ownership” of the series.”I have given full assurances regarding security, they will visit two stadiums, let them have a look at all those arrangements which we are proposing,” Malik said in Islamabad. “I assured him [Kamal] from my side, on behalf of the government, that we have taken total political ownership of this match.”I’ve also given him the prerogative that if he wants to add or subtract [to security arrangements] we will do it. We will show our capabilities, and of course then it comes to the planning, the road map, security parameters as to how we’re going to take care of things. So all those things at international standard, they all will be met.”Two members from the Bangladesh delegation went to Karachi to witness the security arrangements that would be put in place should a match go ahead at the National Stadium there.There are two itineraries proposed at present: one is a three-ODI series and the other is two ODIs and one Twenty20 international to be completed in a week in April. Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and Karachi’s National Stadium are the potential venues.”This is the first step, and I am sure they will be fully satisfied with the security plan being given by the ministry and by the provinces of Sindh and Punjab,” Ashraf said, “And when they go back home, they go back home fully satisfied.”It is three years to the day that terrorists with guns attacked the bus carrying the Sri Lankan team to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, and several players and officials were wounded. Since then, no international side apart from Afghanistan, has toured Pakistan. They were removed as co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup and have been playing their home bilateral series at offshore venues such as England, New Zealand and the UAE.Edited by George Binoy

Andy Flower, England’s coach, was aware of Michael Yardy’s battle with depression almost six months before the allrounder withdrew from the latter stages of last year’s World Cup

David Hopps11-Apr-2012Andy Flower, England’s coach, was aware of Michael Yardy’s battle with depression almost six months before the allrounder withdrew from the latter stages of last year’s World Cup and to all intents and purposes ended his international career.Yardy has revealed in the 2012 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, which is published on Thursday, when he told Flower about his problems. “He was unbelievably supportive,” Yardy said. “It was a huge relief just to tell him.”Flower respected Yardy’s confidentiality and put him in touch with Brett Morrissey, a behavioural therapist and sports psychologist based at Warwickshire Hospital, who has also advised the IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils.Yardy’s depression first had a direct impact upon his career when he pulled out of England’s last one-day international against Pakistan at the Rose Bowl in September 2010. At the end of a fractious series, with revelations about Pakistani spot-fixing in full swing, and PCB chairman Ijaz Butt claiming it was all “a conspiracy” against Pakistan, nobody outside the England set-up bothered to consider why Yardy’s Sussex team-mate Luke Wright had been preferred.”Deep down I knew I was in a bad place,” Yardy said. “I was very tense and living on a very short fuse – both with myself and others … I always had high expectations but things were getting out of hand. I could never please myself, was constantly striving for more and setting unrealistic goals, which just increased the pressure I was putting on myself because of the self-doubt.”I have always liked my own space, but now the very act of being around other people became an effort. My mind was saying: ‘They don’t like you anyway. Why would they? You’re a loser.’ Everyone has negative thoughts but I was letting mine rule my life.”Yardy went to the World Cup looking forward to his second experience of cricket in India, after the 2006 Champions Trophy *. But his erratic bowling form was apparent in what was to prove his last ODI. In the group stage against South Africa, he was England’s most expensive bowler – a ploy to give him the new ball almost backfiring – in a tie they sneaked on their way to reaching the quarter-finals.”At night I would lie for hours battling with my mind,” he revealed. “It became a vicious circle: I was missing my family, I was performing badly and my self-belief was low. The harder I tried, the more I kept hitting a brick wall.”When we arrived in Sri Lanka for our quarter-final, I was struggling. I was out of the team and remember operating at a training session in a daze. Our spin-bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed, a great friend and former Sussex team-mate, insisted I needed to think about my health. At this stage I knew I needed to go home.”Edited by Alan Gardner 10.30 GMT, April 11: It was earlier mentioned that Yardy was making his first trip to India in 2011. It has been corrected