Chanderpaul digs in for another dogfight

Updated May 20, 2012 07:53:30

Shivnarine Chanderpaul carried West Indies hopes on his shoulders yet again as the touring side battled to avoid defeat by England in the first Test at Lord's.

West Indies bowled England out for 398 in its first innings to trail the hosts by 155 runs, but lost three wickets in nine balls just before tea to undo the good work.

Chanderpaul, who made 87 not out in the first innings, and Marlon Samuels dug in, however, and they reached the close on the third day on 4 for 120, 35 runs behind.

The world's top-ranked batsman Chanderpaul, at the heart of another rearguard action, was unbeaten on 34 with Samuels on 26.

England resumed on an overcast morning on 3 for 259 and captain Andrew Strauss added just a single to his overnight 121 before nicking pace bowler Kemar Roach through to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.

Jonny Bairstow struck three fluent fours on his Test debut but his bright innings ended on 16 when Roach jagged a ball sharply back to trap him lbw.

Matt Prior also looked confident in his knock of 19 but he became Shannon Gabriel's first Test victim, playing an airy shot at the young fast bowler to be bowled through the gate.

Bresnan edged Darren Sammy to Ramdin for a duck and England had slumped to 7 for 323.

Ian Bell batted through the morning session to reach lunch on 38 not out but he lost Stuart Broad soon after the interval, bowled by a superb delivery from Fidel Edwards that hit the top of his off stump.

Graeme Swann played a forceful innings, striking six clean fours in his 30 from just 25 balls.

Bell reached a patient fifty before Gabriel bowled Swann. Bell was last man out for 61, well caught at deep square leg by the diving Powell off Gabriel who finished with figures of 3 for 60 on his debut.

Barath and Powell withstood a fierce examination from James Anderson and Broad, surviving 12 overs of high quality fast bowling surrounded by a ring of close fielders.

But with tea looming, Barath edged a catch to Prior off Bresnan, and Powell and Edwards soon joined him back in the pavilion after two inexplicable rushes of blood.

Powell foolishly pulled a short ball from Broad straight to Bell at deep square leg and Kirk Edwards was brilliantly run out by a direct hit from Bairstow attempting a non-existent single.

Darren Bravo joined Chanderpaul and made a fluent 21 before Swann bowled him with a clever delivery which the deceived the left-hander into offering no shot.

Reuters

Tags: cricket, sport, england, united-kingdom, jamaica

First posted May 20, 2012 06:16:59

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Australia leave Lyon call for another day

Updated January 13, 2012 12:40:01

Australia captain Michael Clarke says the home side will wait until Friday morning to decide if it will leave out spinner Nathan Lyon and employ a four-man pace attack on the bouncy WACA pitch.

The Perth wicket is expected to offer plenty of assistance for Australia's quick bowlers as they attempt to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with victory in the third Test against India.

Clarke, who is one of five selectors, says generally speaking he finds it hard to leave out a spinner from the Test side.

But if he sees plenty of grass on the pitch and it looks hard and bouncy, he will be tempted to go with four quicks and leave out spinner Lyon.

That would mean Ryan Harris and Mitchell Starc come into the side for Lyon and quick James Pattinson, who was ruled out with a foot injury after Australia's second Test win at the SCG.

"Yesterday it had a lot of grass. I really need to assess the conditions before we make a decision on who plays," Clarke said.

"I find it really hard to leave a spinner out of my team, no matter what conditions are like. But in saying that, you need to do whatever's best to win the game."

WACA curator Cameron Sutherland says the media has been getting carried away with speculation over how much assistance the quicks will gain from the pitch.

"You go out there today and you'll see it's lost a fair bit of colour with the heat. That was the same last year," Sutherland said.

"It looked really green three days out. It'll have a green tinge tomorrow, there's no doubt about it.

"But it's certainly not the Incredible Hulk or the green monster any more. And certainly the weather's been hotter than we first thought ... so it's taken a bit of the sting out of the colour."

Australia, which leads the four-match series 2-0, has recent history on its side if it goes with a four-man pace attack.

The hosts used four quicks when it powered to victory in the Ashes Test in Perth last summer.

AAP

Tags: sport, cricket, perth-6000, wa, australia

First posted January 12, 2012 19:30:37

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Another Bellerive crowd conundrum

Peter Newlinds

Updated December 12, 2011 13:12:53

As surely as a rain delay or two, wide TV shots of the river and top notch lunches, a Test at Bellerive wouldn't be the same without crowd sizes becoming a matter of contention and discussion.

On the final day of a match that has been on a knife's edge since it began, there's a nice Monday crowd.

The hill is comfortably populated with enough patches of grass in between groups of people for it to retain its soothing appeal.

The members are in. Both decks filled with attentive committed cricket people getting the very best value from the annual subscription, careful not to miss a thing.

In the vast southern stand it's a familiar story - it's barely a quarter full.

Clumps of spectators fill the bank directly behind the wicket line for a right-arm bowler. Otherwise to use a polite euphemism, there's plenty of room if people want to come down.

The ground is by no means full but it does have a pleasant and inviting atmosphere.

On interstate radio this morning I overheard a talkback session on the empty appearance of the ground over the weekend.

Talk jocks were drumming up business by pushing the line that if a Tasmanian Test ground can't be filled on the weekend of Ricky Ponting's (presumably) farewell game then maybe Cricket Australia would be better off staging the Test elsewhere.

The local press pursued that argument yesterday and the matter has been raised on Grandstand's coverage across the weekend as well.

Hobart, a city of 250,000 has no professional team to call its own.

Hawthorn play AFL matches in Launceston (two hours and 20 minutes to the north) four times a year and North Melbourne are booked to play two games a year at this ground next season.

There's not a pattern of regular, large-drawing sports events.

It's as if without an ingrained culture of regular attendance at big sport, the option of spending leisure time and money somewhere or somehow else has taken precedence with the locals.

There are issues of the crowd killers - cost and the weather.

Crowds at Test matches in most centres in the world seem to be thinning each year.

Recently I watched the first Test of the India v West Indies series in Mumbai and the stadium in the seething megalopolis of India's commercial capital was about a quarter full, as Bellerive is today.

On that basis Hobart cricket fans are fanatical attendants in comparison with the 12.5 million residents of Mumbai.

The per capita argument can be used to compare Hobart's and Brisbane's crowds during this series as well.

The first Test I went to was at the SCG in January 1977.

Imran Khan steamed in from the Paddington end and regularly picked up scalps on his way to a 12-wicket haul.

The crowd on the hill bayed and pleaded to see more of their idol Dougie Walters.

The stands were majestic, the scoreboard a regal and logical facade, the smell of beer, sweat and sunscreen intoxicating.

Every player seemed immaculately presented. I knew nothing of their technical and character flaws.

It was an important and unforgettable introduction to the grandest form of the game.

In today's small crowd, there are several school groups as there was on Friday.

Yesterday kids were in for free with a paying adult. If a percentage of these primary age children are enticed to come back, hasn't the Test played a crucial role?

Tags: cricket, sport, hobart-7000, tas, australia

First posted December 12, 2011 13:09:42

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