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Greenway secures 2-0 series lead

ScorecardShelley Nitschke top-scored for Australia with 27•Getty Images

Lydia Greenway played her third match-winning innings in a row as England took a 2-0 lead in the Twenty20 series with a five-wicket success at the MCG. Following her crucial efforts in the final ODI and opening T20, Greenway hit an unbeaten 30 to guide the chase of 100 in a match reduced to 16 overs per side.Given the torrential rain that lashed Melbourne for the previous 36 hours it was remarkable that any length of match was possible but the sun broke through in early afternoon and the ground dried swiftly. The fielding of both teams was poor and Australia’s last chance went in the 15th over when Rene Farrell dropped a return catch off Greenway with six needed from eight balls.England had made a swift start to their chase but from 39 for 1 in the sixth over lost 3 for 17 in the next four as Lisa Sthalekar bowled a fine spell. Danielle Wyatt (18) heaved across the line, Charlotte Edwards (16) got a leading edge that was superbly caught and Suzie Rowe found deep midwicket.Greenway, though, is rapidly becoming the women’s version of Eoin Morgan in the manner she can finish an innings. There was solid support from Jenny Gunn as the pair added 43 for the fifth wicket. The boundary count was low on a large outfield, even though the square ropes had been brought in, but the pair ran well.The final momentum shift came in the 14th over from Rachael Haynes as Greenway and Gunn collected 11 although Gunn sliced to point with the scores level.It meant a shoddy England fielding display didn’t prove costly. At one point they spilled a hat-trick of chances all offered by Leah Poulton, firstly off Gunn who then became the bowler to suffer. However, Australia struggled to find large-scoring overs regularly with England’s spinners again doing a good job.Poulton was eventually caught by a superb reflex return effort by Gunn leaving Sthalekar and Alex Blackwell to scamper 24 off the last three overs. But again Australia weren’t good enough to defend a total leaving them needing to win all three matches in Canberra to take the series.

Tremlett named World Cup reserve

Chris Tremlett, the England fast bowler, will fly out to Bangladesh as a traveling reserve with England’s World Cup squad. He has recovered from a side strain, and will be on stand-by to be added to the 15-man squad in the event that the selectors need to replace an injured player.Tremlett, 29, was awarded an incremental contract after his role in England’s victorious Ashes campaign, and played in the first four one-dayers against Australia in January, taking six wickets at 33.50.Eoin Morgan has already been ruled out of the World Cup due to a fractured finger and England are currently sweating on the fitness of five more members of their squad. Paul Collingwood received an injection on Monday, having suffered a back spasm during the penultimate ODI in Sydney. Tim Bresnan is stepping up his training having succumbed to a calf strain, while Ajmal Shahzad’s hamstring injury is still causing concern.Stuart Broad is believed to be on track having torn a stomach muscle back in December, while Graeme Swann is set to test his injured knee in the nets on Tuesday, having missed the latter stages of the Australia tour.ECB National Selector Geoff Miller said: “While the injured bowlers in the 15-man squad are all progressing well, the selectors have decided it would be prudent to have an additional player on hand who is acclimatised in case we need to apply to the Event Technical Committee for a replacement due to injury.”

Contented Cusack cherishes upset

In 2007, when Ireland were celebrating the great triumph in their cricket history, Alex Cusack was still a carpenter by trade. Originally a Brisbane boy, he had two years earlier packed up his chisel and saw, his bat and helmet, and swapped the Queensland sun for the Dublin drizzle.And on that St Patrick’s Day, like many of his countrymen, he was watching Ireland stun the cricket world with victory over Pakistan in the World Cup. Four years later, he has played a key role in another joyous day for the cricket fans back home.”I was sitting at home on the couch in Dublin, glued to the television. It’s quite incredible looking back on it now,” Cusack says. “Now I have a full-time cricket contract. If I never have to go back to a building site I’ll be happy.”Cusack, 30, is softly spoken, and like his older Ireland team-mate Trent Johnston, he hasn’t lost much of his Australian accent. The morning after the win over England he reflected on the part he played in a 162-run partnership with Kevin O’Brien, the star of the match.”He was hitting them so well that I thought if I could just get the singles and get him on strike and chip in with a two or a four or whatever as well, that would keep the partnership ticking,” he says. “I was just trying to play straight and get bat on ball. If anything was up there I was going to have a go at it.”And that’s what Cusack the carpenter did, chipping away and building an innings of 47 that, by the time he was run out, left Ireland needing 55 more from 51 balls. He walked off to cheers from the Irish fans at Chinnaswamy Stadium, and watched the rest of the victory unfold.”Everyone in the rooms was cheering every run,” he says. “The boys were 100% behind them. It was very nervy as well, but we just had a feeling at the end there that we were going to do it, it was going to be our day.”Kevin’s done it before, big innings like that in county cricket, I think it was against Hampshire he got 93 off about the same amount of balls. He’s definitely got the ability, and once he’s hitting them like that he’s hard to stop.”But unlike some others in the Ireland side, Cusack, who got his passport because his father is Irish, is in no hurry to pursue a career in county cricket. He’s happy sticking with Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin.”We’ve got the full-time contract with Cricket Ireland now, so there’s no need for me to be trying to play county cricket,” Cusack says. “I think they play too much cricket anyway. I’m happy enough with what I’m doing, it’s a great ride. If I can keep it going for a few more years, all well and good.”They play every bloody day. You look at other cricket like Australian cricket, they don’t play anywhere near as much in state cricket. It’s a lot of cricket to be playing, and then on top of that if you play for Ireland, I don’t know how the boys do it.”Cusack is just happy to be an international cricketer and this week, the Irish fans are pleased he came to their country.

Tahir advised ten days' rest after fracturing thumb

Imran Tahir, South Africa’s Pakistan-born legspinner, will require ten days of rest after sustaining a chip fracture on his left thumb. He remains available for South Africa’s match against India on Saturday and could start his recovery after that.”The selection committee will decide whether that 10-day period will start before or after the game,” Mohammed Moosajee, the team manger said. “He will still be a part of the World Cup going forward.” Moosajee could not confirm when a final call will be taken on Tahir, saying that it may be “on the morning of the game.”Tahir sustained the injury during last Sunday’s six-run defeat to England, when he took a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Stuart Broad. His thumb has been immobilised, is in a splint, and he was X-rayed on Wednesday in Nagpur. The scans were sent back to South Africa, to hand specialist Dr Mike Solomons, who recommended the 10-day rest period.The fracture is not on Tahir’s bowling hand and he was able to bowl in the nets on Thursday, an indication that he may be considered for the match against India. Tahir was part of South Africa’s squad that defeated India 3-2 in January, but did not play a game because he was being preserved as a secret weapon for the World Cup. He has since impressed, with 11 wickets in three matches, and is the leading wicket-taker in the team. In the ten-day period after the India game, South Africa play Ireland and Bangladesh – a possible opportunity to rest Tahir – before the knockout stage. Johan Botha is in line to replace Tahir when his rest period begins.Tahir is not South Africa’s only injury concern. AB de Villiers has been unable to keep wicket in the last two matches because of a stiff back but was seen practicing specific drills to test his flexibility on Thursday.

Delhi back to winning ways on green track

by 29 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPace and bounce? Yes, please, said Sehwag and Warner•AFP

Delhi finally feels like home for Delhi Daredevils. With players such as Virender Sehwag, David Warner and Morne Morkel in the side, they had been frustrated by lifeless home tracks that made stroke-play and pace bowling difficult. Before this game Sehwag demanded pace, and then in the company of Warner showed just why. They added 146 for the first wicket in 11.4 overs, an ideal platform for a comfortable win despite an equally remarkable innings by Shaun Marsh, and despite the continuing good luck of Kings XI Punjab’s openers who were both dropped on nought.With the ball coming on well on this green pitch, Warner and Sehwag let the bowlers feel their wrath. They were like beasts who had been uncaged after years of confinement, gorging on anything remotely loose. It is a scary thought to imagine what Sehwag would have managed had he not got out for 77 off 35, trying a fourth successive six off the fourth delivery of a David Hussey over. Sehwag even dived into his crease, one of the very few times he has committed that unbecoming act while batting, to bring up his half-century off 28 deliveries, one fewer that Warner took to reach his.Warner got to his landmark with a trademark pull deep into the stands, his second pulled six and third overall. Sehwag was on only 36 then. It takes some special hitting to dominate the strike and still not frustrate Sehwag. Warner managed that nicely. He began in earnest in the first over, pulling and cutting Praveen Kumar for fours. Ryan Harris managed to trouble him for a bit with the extra bounce, but Warner’s comeback was emphatic: a huge pull over midwicket to end Harris’ spell of 2-0-13-0 in a score of 35 for 0 after four overs.The floodgates had just begun to open then. Sehwag tucked into Praveen with three fours in the fifth over, Warner went down on a knee and lofted Shalabh Srivastava’s medium-pace over the sightscreen. The middle overs and spread fields mattered little as both batsmen moved to 59 each by the end of the 11th over. Enter Hussey, Punjab’s expensive signing, playing his first game this IPL. Sehwag showed his famous disdain for spin through sixes over long-on, cow corner and midwicket. A mis-hit off the fourth ball brought some decorum to the proceedings, with only 38 coming in the next 5.2 overs.That phase included Warner’s wicket for 77 off 48 balls. Temporary relief. Lull between storms. Harris came back to have his figures rearranged, ending with 48 off four to join two other colleagues with 40-plus aggregates to their names. Venugopal Rao and Naman Ojha took 47 off the last three overs to post the third-highest total in IPL history, and Delhi’s biggest.Morkel made a further show of why a pitch with bounce suits Delhi more. He got lift, he got movement, he got an edge second ball, one that was dropped by Ojha. However, Morkel’s first spell of three overs for 20, four of which came through a misfield and 10 off free hits, left Punjab an asking rate of 13.2. A period of superb hitting followed, but despite 57 coming off the next four overs, they were just about keeping up with the rate. A five-run over from James Hopes turned the pressure back on, forcing Gilchrist to slog debutant Varun Aaron and miss.Marsh batted beautifully for his 46-ball 95, fetched mainly through proper cricketing shots in an innings that deserved to be on the winning side. He, though, was swimming against the current, and the current won.

Himalayan task ahead of Punjab

Match Facts

Tuesday, May 17Start Time 2000 (1430 GMT)Chris Gayle destroyed Kings XI Punjab last time around•AFP

Big Picture

You come into the tournament with the weakest team on paper; shock everyone by winning three of your first four matches; give the IPL its first surprise hero of the tournament; have an inexplicable seven-day break that seems to derail your campaign; claw your way back into contention with three wins; and your reward is to play for survival against an unstoppable Chris Gayle on a miniature ground in Dharamsala. Who’d be Kings XI Punjab?Gayle’s 436 runs at an average of 87.20 and strike-rate of 201.85 have left even his illustrious team-mates in the shade. Punjab will have particularly bad memories of him; in the first encounter between the two sides, Gayle scored 107 off 49 balls and then took three wickets.The good news for them is the seemingly-bionic Gayle has not had the most comfortable stay in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh since arriving on Sunday. Cold showers, ill-timed construction work and his fans on twitter kept him awake for most of his first night, and Punjab will be grateful for any further assistance in disconcerting the man who has smashed 32 sixes in seven games since arriving in India.They would be ill-advised to fixate on Gayle, though, because unlike Delhi Daredevils, who are lost without their main man, Bangalore have plenty in reserve. Don’t be surprised if Gayle goes for a duck and Bangalore win anyway.Adam Gilchrist has been talking up his players after their big win against Delhi Daredevils at the same ground, prophesising a bright international career for Piyush Chawla, and likening Paul Valthaty’s style of batting to his own. Is that his way of boosting their confidence before they take on a side whose seven-match winning streak has given new meaning to that elusive IPL quantity – “momentum”? Or is it simply placing them on a wobbly plank, or a precipice from which Gayle and Co. would be only happy to push them down.

Team talk

Preity Zinta’s pep talk hasn’t had much of an impact on David Hussey’s form. He’s scored 64 runs from seven innings; Ryan Mclaren scored more in the three innings he had, and gives the side another seam-bowling option in conditions that offered some swing during the Punjab-Delhi match. If Punjab can look beyond Hussey’s $1.4mn price tag, they may consider a swap.Bangalore have qualified for the play-offs, but are still fighting to be in the top two. So there shouldn’t be too much experimentation with their winning combination. With Tillakaratne Dilshan gone, 21-year-old South African Rilee Rossouw may get a call-up.

In the spotlight

The last time Piyush Chawla bowled to Chris Gayle, he was greeted with two thumping sixes, but got his man in the end, albeit after Gayle had already taken the game away from Punjab. This time, Chawla is coming off his best Twenty20 performance. Will Gilchrist risk throwing him the ball early to remove Gayle?Zaheer Khan has not had the same kind of impact on the IPL that he had on the World Cup, or for that matter any series he plays for India. Praveen Kumar, though, got some prodigious swing at this ground, and it would be just like Zaheer to take on the responsibility of removing the core of a top-heavy Punjab line-up.

Prime numbers

  • Paul Valthaty is two runs ahead of Chris Gayle in the run charts, so Tuesday’s game will be a shoot-out for the orange cap. Gayle, of course, has played five less matches
  • Praveen Kumar’s four maidens is the highest for any bowler in a single season of the IPL. Yet somehow his economy-rate is 7.70.
  • Out of six IPL innings in Dharamsala, five have seen scores of more than 170

Chatter

“Seriously though, Punjab really take a brother in to the mountains. It’s the coldest shower I ever had in my life. No TV. Hill and gully bus ride!”

“Valthaty has an attacking style of play and in such a style results are always inconsistent. I know this because I’m speaking through personal experience.”

Law admits to Cardiff embarrassment

Sri Lanka’s interim coach, Stuart Law, says that the time for talking is over, as Sri Lanka seek to atone for their dreadful final-day display in Cardiff by bouncing back to form in Friday’s second Test at Lord’s. Despite being renowned as one of the best batting line-ups in world cricket, Sri Lanka proved powerless to resist as England rolled them aside for 82 to win the match by an innings and 14 runs, and Law admitted that embarrassment had been the over-riding emotion in the dressing-room after the match.”We didn’t really compete on that last day,” Law told reporters after Sri Lanka’s practice session at Lord’s. “It was obviously very disappointing but embarrassing as well, to get bowled out in 25 overs with some of the world’s best batsmen in our line-up. We sat down for a good 40 minutes after the day’s play and spoke about different aspects and ways of coming back. We didn’t dwell on the negatives. We batted well in first innings, we batted well in second innings in Derby [against England Lions], but in each game we haven’t batted well in both. That’s what we need to do in this Test.”The events of the final afternoon in Cardiff were quite extraordinary. A game that had been meandering to a soggy draw burst into life after a 3pm start, thanks to some outstanding bowling from Chris Tremlett and Graeme Swann, as well as an inhibited Sri Lankan line-up that baulked at the prospect of batting for 51 overs to secure the stalemate. With nothing apparently at stake, the players simply failed to switch on mentally, and were caught napping by an England team that has now secured six innings victory in the past 12 months of action.”It can’t be a skills issue because our boys are highly skilled players,” said Law. “It was a stop-start Test match with weather intervention, and we were not sure when we were going to start and always guessing when we’d be ready to go. We had a mental block coming into bat because we should have been able to bat for 51 overs easily, but suddenly you lose a few wickets and you’re under pressure. It’s amazing what pressure can do to you, it makes the mind think wrong decisions.”Having lost an unloseable Test in Cardiff, Sri Lanka are now back at a venue where, five years ago, they drew an undrawable one. At Lord’s in the first Test of the 2006 tour, England led by 359 runs on first innings with almost two-and-a-half days in which to close out the match. However, with Mahela Jayawardene leading the way with his second Lord’s century, Sri Lanka dug in for 199 overs to save the match with nine wickets down.”It’s a good thing we’ve come straight to Lord’s, it’s a good inspiration,” said Law. “The wicket will as always be even paced and even bounced, and it’s one of my favourite grounds to come and play, so hopefully that will inspire our boys to greater heights. The boys aren’t stupid, they know what’s expected, and there’s no-one more disappointed than the 11 guys who played that game in Cardiff. They are ready to go out and show they can compete at this level, because if things continue like that it won’t be much fun on the rest of this trip.”The bowling attack that awaits them, however, could be one of the most physically daunting line-ups in Test history, with Tremlett, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn – James Anderson’s likely replacement – all measuring between 6’6″ and 6’8″. The uncapped Jade Dernbach could yet be selected to provide variety to the pace attack, but he will not exactly provide respite, having picked up nine wickets in that Lions game in Derby.The challenge of replicating such a towering line of attack is a stiff one for Sri Lanka, none of whose bowlers come close to such heights, but Law appealed to his batsmen to rediscover the fighting qualities that went missing in the closing stages at Cardiff.”Whichever combo they play will be tough work, but we have to come up with better plans on how to attack and defend,” he said. “It’s difficult trying to get into the mindset of getting forward to a half-volley that’s hitting you in the chest, but that’s what we’ve got to face, and our players are skilled and talented enough to work it out.”Talk is cheap,” he added. “You can provide talk and words, but it’s a matter of the players absorbing that and putting it into action. The talking is finished. We can’t just keep talking a good game, we’ve got out to play a good game.”Despite lacking depth with the bat and a cutting edge with the ball during England’s only innings at Cardiff, Law insisted that Sri Lanka had no regrets about the balance of the side they put out for the first Test, and hinted they would persevere with five specialist batsmen in a bid to take the 20 wickets needed to get back into the series.”We’re 1-0 down, but we’re not here to lose,” said Law. “I don’t think the combination we played in Cardiff was wrong, we just didn’t play well for 25 overs. Sri Lankan cricket should never go into its shell. Our players should always think positive, because when they think positive they think clearly, and that’s half the battle won.”Law said that he expected Dilhara Fernando to be available once again after missing the first Test with a knee injury, and hinted that the spinner Ajantha Mendis would be regarded as a horses-for-courses pick after struggling on an unresponsive Cardiff surface. But one player he did not envisage calling upon at this stage is the veteran Chaminda Vaas, who claimed match figures of 10 for 82 in Northants’ innings victory over Glamorgan on Wednesday, and who has signalled a willingness to return to international cricket at the age of 37.”It’s good to see Vaasy going strong, and he looks after himself,” said Law. “But we’ve picked a squad, and settled on it, so to draft someone in to make up numbers wouldn’t be the right way to go about it. We’ve got to put faith in the players we’ve got in the squad now, and try to go forward, although if there’s an injury then we’ll consider.”But now we’ll be better for the knowledge on the England players, and how to bowl in Test match cricket in England. For this Test we’ll be better prepared.”

All-round Pyrah keeps Yorkshire alive

ScorecardRichard Pyrah claimed Yorkshire’s best-ever t20 figures at Scarborough as his side beat Durham by three wickets to keep alive their slender hopes of going through to the Friends Life quarter-finals. Man of the match Pyrah topped off a great day’s work by thrashing a six to win the match with three balls remaining.In front of a 6,500 crowd, the medium-pacer took five for 16 off his four overs to help restrict Durham to 144 for eight after they had been put in to bat on a slow pitch which made it difficult for batsmen to time their shots.It was the first time that any bowler had taken five wickets for either side in a Yorkshire t20 match and the first time that it had been achieved against Durham who are still fighting to make it into the quarter-finals themselves.Inspired by Pyrah’s fine effort, Yorkshire responded by charging to 150 for seven to record their fifth win of the season. Coming on as first change, Pyrah soon got rid of both openers after Phil Mustard and Gordon Muchall had got Durham off to a bright start with 28 inside four overs, Mustard giving an easy catch to David Wainwright at mid-wicket and Muchall falling to the same fielder.In between these dismissals, Ian Blackwell hit high to Andrew Gale at extra cover off Ben Sanderson, who was making his seasonal debut, and Durham slumped to 39 for four when Paul Collingwood drove Pyrah hard to Adil Rashid at mid-off.Pyrah later returned to fire out Dale Benkenstein and Gareth Breese with consecutive deliveries and he would almost certainly have claimed a hat-trick if Liam Plunkett had not got a nick on to his pad. By far the best of Durham’s batting came from David Miller who flew into Leeds-Bradford airport earlier in the day on rejoining his county after playing for South Africa A in Zimbabwe.He struck the ball sweetly to make 54 off 41 deliveries with four fours and two sixes and he figured in the biggest stand of the innings with Benkenstein (33), the fifth wicket pair adding 75 in nine overs. Miller hammered a six and two fours off three consecutive balls from Wainwright but after driving a big straight six off Rashid he cut the leg-spinner to Gary Ballance at backward point.Yorkshire also began at a furious pace as Gale and Joe Sayers charged to 42 in five overs, Sayers smacking two sixes and a four in his 20 off 12 deliveries before giving Breese the first of his four catches.Gale had hurried on to 34 from 19 balls with five fours and a six by the time he was dismissed by Plunkett. Ballance batted sensibly while wickets fell around him and he finally departed to Chris Rushworth in the penultimate over for 48 with six boundaries, leaving Pyrah to win the match by blasting Mitch Claydon through the legside for four and then six.

Flower denies double standards over run-out reprieve

England’s coach, Andy Flower, believes his team was right to ask India to rethink their controversial run-out of Ian Bell at Trent Bridge, adding that it would have caused an “international incident” had Sachin Tendulkar been dismissed in a similarly bizarre fashion.Bell’s 159 was the cornerstone of England’s revival in the second Test, as they turned a first-innings deficit of 67 into a thumping 319-run victory. However, he might have been sent on his way for 137 on the stroke of tea, when a half-hearted throw from Praveen Kumar the boundary’s edge led Abhinav Mukund to remove the bails with Bell already walking back to the pavilion.Bell conceded he had been “naive” in failing to wait for the umpire to signal the end of the over, but with boos ringing out around the ground, Flower and England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, took the decision to visit the Indian dressing room to request a change of heart. Such an approach was at odds with England’s attitude during an ODI at The Oval in 2008, when New Zealand’s Grant Elliott was run out after colliding with Ryan Sidebottom. Flower, however, said that those who criticised England’s actions on this occasion were guilty of “double standards”.”We didn’t think sitting in our changing room and fuming quietly to ourselves was going to do any good,” Flower told reporters at Trent Bridge. “We thought communicating like that would be the way to go. We felt that Bell wasn’t attempting to take a run and therefore we wanted to ask the Indian side to reconsider their appeal.”Dhoni was asked three times by the umpires whether he was happy for the appeal to go ahead, and though he later suggested that he had changed his mind before England’s intervention, it has since been claimed that Tendulkar was the instigator of the retraction.Perhaps India were mindful of the potential for controversy had Bell remained out. During England’s 1974 tour of the Caribbean, Tony Greig ran out Alvin Kallicharran in the final over of the day, only for the batsman to be reinstated overnight at the behest of the British high commissioner, after angry spectators had stormed the ground and laid siege to the pavilion.”I’m not convinced there wouldn’t have been uproar,” said Flower of such a scenario. “If an England side had done that in Mumbai [against Tendulkar], I think there would have been a proper international incident on the cards. I don’t think that’s being overly dramatic. We’ve seen similar things happen before. In evaluating the situation, I don’t think you should have double standards.”England’s crushing victory has left them needing just one more victory, or back-to-back draws, in the final two matches of the series to be crowned the No. 1 Test side. Flower refused to think that far ahead, though, and reiterated that the series had not even been won yet, let alone by any title-clinching margin.”I would like to emphasise right now that we’re ahead in the series but we’re only halfway through the series,” he said. “So there is no point in triumphalism, we don’t even know if we’re going to win the series yet. At the forefront of our minds right now should be resting and recuperating after the back-to-back Tests and then getting our minds and bodies ready for the next challenge at Edgbaston. It’s actually not only pointless looking further ahead than that, it’s dangerous.”With the Edgbaston Test starting on August 10, England have a week to determine the fitness of Jonathan Trott. Flower said he was “still in a bit of discomfort and nowhere near 100% yet” after landing heavily on his shoulder while fielding during the second Test. Trott’s possible replacement is the uncapped Leicestershire batsman, James Taylor, who stole a march on Ravi Bopara by making 76 for England Lions against Sri Lanka A in Scarborough on Tuesday. However, there may yet be the temptation to play five bowlers, given that Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan both racked up more than 100 runs in Nottingham.The expected return to fitness of Chris Tremlett means that Bresnan may yet have to make way. “If we keep with three seamers and a spinner, it will be a difficult call to make,” said Flower. “We need to see conditions first but our four seamers are all performing exceptionally well. Bresnan, Tremlett, [Jimmy] Anderson and [Stuart] Broad are battling for the top spots in a very healthy way. That sort of competition is a great thing for English cricket.”

Jonathan Trott is ICC Cricketer of the Year

Jonathan Trott, the England batsman, has been named the Cricketer of the Year for 2011, the ICC’s top accolade. He received the Sir Garfield Sobers trophy at the annual ceremony in London, after his team-mate Alastair Cook had won the Test Cricketer of the Year award.”It’s fantastic to be part of a successful team and I never envisaged winning this award. It’s a brilliant feeling to be recognised,” Trott said.In 12 Tests during the period under consideration, Trott scored 1042 runs at an average of 65.12, including four centuries and three half-centuries. He also played 24 ODIs, scoring 1064 runs at an average of 48.36 with two centuries and nine 50s. Trott was chosen for the award ahead of Cook, last-year’s winner Sachin Tendulkar and South Africa batsman Hashim Amla.Previous winners of the Cricketer of the Year award include Rahul Dravid (2004), Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis (joint winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting (2006 and 2007), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008), Mitchell Johnson (2009) and Sachin Tendulkar (2010).Cook, however, won the Test Cricketer award after having a prolific year in the format. Cook played 12 Tests, and in 18 innings he scored 1302 runs at an average of 76.58, including six centuries and four half-centuries. His 235 not out against Australia in Brisbane kick-started England’s first Ashes victory away from home since 1986-87.Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka captain, was the only player to win two awards on the night. He was named the ODI Cricketer of the Year and also picked up the People’s Choice Award. Sangakkara scored 1049 runs at an average of 55.21 in 25 ODIs. He also had 26 catches and 10 stumpings as wicketkeeper and led Sri Lanka to the final of the 2011 World Cup.Though India spent most of the period under consideration at No. 1 in the Test rankings, and won the 2011 World Cup, their only award winner was the captain MS Dhoni, who was given the Spirit of Cricket accolade. Dhoni was not present at the ceremony despite being in England.The ICC chose West Indies legspinner Devendra Bishoo, ahead of other nominees Darren Bravo, Wahab Riaz and Azhar Ali, for the Emerging Player Award. Bishoo, 25, played five Tests in the voting period and took 21 wickets at an average of 35.42. He also picked up 19 wickets at 21.57 each in 11 ODIs.Ryan ten Doeschate, the Netherlands allrounder, was named the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year for the third time in four years, and for the second year running. ten Doeschate was chosen ahead of Afghanistan allrounder Hamid Hassan, and the Irish duo of Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien, both centurions in the 2011 World Cup.New Zealand seamer Tim Southee won the award for Twenty20 International Performance of the Year, for his spell of 5 for 18 against Pakistan in Auckland.Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar has won the David Shepherd trophy for the Umpire of the Year for the third consecutive time. He beat competition from Steve Davis, Ian Gould and five-time winner Simon Taufel.Stafanie Taylor, the West Indies women’s allrounder, was named the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

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