The Israel national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Israel in international cricket matches. Despite being geographically part of the Middle East, they are members of the European Cricket Council.
They regularly take part in the European Championship, and are currently ranked as the 12th best non-test team in Europe by the International Cricket Council, having been an associate member of that organisation since 1974.
Beginnings: As is most often the case, cricket was introduced to Israel by the British. Local enthusiasts managed to keep the game going once the British had left in 1948, but the game was struggling until the mid 1960s, when an influx of Jewish immigrants from cricket playing countries revived the game, mainly South Africa, United Kingdom, and the sub-continent.
The first national league was formed in 1966, which lead the formation of the Israel Cricket Association (ICA) in 1968. The league prospered despite conditions ill-suited to cricket. Games were played on dusty, grass-less football fields, on matting wickets. However, the enthusiasm of the players has overcome these drawbacks.
ICC Membership: Israel became an associate member of the ICC in 1974, with only Pakistan opposing their membership. Israel competed in the first ICC Trophy in 1979, failing to get past the first round. They also failed to progress beyond the first round in the 1982 tournament and 1986 tournament.
They reached the plate competition of the ICC Trophy in 1990 and 1994 and in 1996 competed in the first European Championship in Denmark, finishing eighth in the eight team tournament. The 1997 ICC Trophy in Malaysia gave them a brief, though unwanted, moment in the spotlight. Malaysia does not recognise the state of Israel, and they faced political demonstrations throughout the tournament from the Islamic Party of Malaysia. They were the first Israeli sports team to play in the country and finished in 21st place.
In 1998, they finished ninth in the European Championship ahead of only Gibraltar and the following year travelled to Gibraltar to take part in a quadrangular tournament also involving France and Italy, losing to France in the third place play-off.
21st Century: Israel have been playing in Division Two of the European Championships since 2000, finishing fifth in 2000, fourth in 2002 and sixth in 2004. In the 2006 tournament, the Israeli team were again met with protests, due to the then ongoing crisis in the Middle East. Their first match, against Jersey was cancelled and their remaining two group games were met by protests. Their play-off games were then moved to RAF Lossiemouth to be played under armed guard. The second of these games, against Greece was forfeited by the Greeks, who had travel problems. Israel thus finished in seventh place.
In November 2007, Israel were defeated in a relegation match against Croatia, in the first international cricket game played in Israel. The loss meant that they were relegated from the 2nd European division, to the 3rd. Their next competition will be in 2009.
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators.
The club plays most of its home games at the County Cricket Ground, Bristol. Currently, each season a number of games are played at both the Cheltenham and Gloucester cricket festivals held at the College Ground, Cheltenham and The King’s School, Gloucester.
Records:
Team totals:
Highest Total For: 653-6 declared v Glamorgan at Bristol (Greenbank) 1928
Highest Total Against: 774-7 declared by the Australians at Bristol 1948
Lowest Total For: 17 v the Australians at Cheltenham (Spa) 1896
Lowest Total Against – 12 by Northamptonshire at Gloucester 1907 Batting:
Highest Score: 341 Craig Spearman v Middlesex at Gloucester in 2004
Most Runs in Season: 2860 WR Hammond in 1933
Most Runs in Career: 33664 WR Hammond 1920-1951
Most Hundreds in Career – 113 WR Hammond 1920-1951
Best Partnership for each wicket:
1st: 395 DM Young & RB Nicholls v Oxford University at Oxford 1962
2nd: 256 CTM Pugh & TW Graveney v Derbyshire at Chesterfield 1960
3rd: 336 WR Hammond & BH Lyon v Leicestershire at Leicester (Aylestone Road) 1933
4th: 321 WR Hammond & WL Neale v Leicestershire at Gloucester 1937
5th: 261 WG Grace & WO Moberly v Yorkshire at Cheltenham 1876
6th: 320 GL Jessop & JH Board v Sussex at Hove 1903
7th – 248 WG Grace & EL Thomas v Sussex at Hove 1896
8th – 239 WR Hammond & AE Wilson v Lancashire at Bristol 1938
9th – 193 WG Grace & SAP Kitcat v Sussex at Bristol 1896
10th – 131 WR Gouldsworthy & JGWT Bessant v Somerset at Bristol 1923 Bowling:
Best Bowling: 10-40 EG Dennett v Essex at Bristol 1906
Best Match Bowling: 17-56 CWL Parker v Essex at Gloucester 1925
Wickets in Season: 222 TWJ Goddard in 1937 and 1947
Wickets in Career: 3170 CWL Parker 1903-1935
Earliest cricket: Cricket probably reached Gloucestershire by the end of the 17th century. It is known that the related sport of “Stow-Ball” aka “Stob-Ball” was played in the county during the 16th century. In this game, the bat was called a “stave”. See Alice B Gomme : The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland.
A game in Gloucester on 22 September 1729 is the earliest definite reference to cricket in the county. From then until the founding of the county club, very little has been found outside parish cricket.
Origin of club: Records from 1863 have been found of an organisation in Cheltenham that is believed to have been the forerunner of Gloucestershire CCC, which had definitely been founded by 1871. Exact details of the club’s foundation have been lost.
The club played its initial first-class match versus Surrey at Durdham Down near Bristol on 2, 3 & 4 June 1870. Gloucestershire joined the (unofficial) County Championship at this time.
Club history: The early history of Gloucestershire is dominated by the Grace family, most notably W G Grace. WG’s father, Dr H M Grace, was involved with the formation of the club. It was a successful period with Gloucestershire winning three “Champion County” titles in the 1870s.
Since then Gloucestershire’s fortunes have been mixed and they have never won the official County Championship. They struggled in the pre-war years of the County Championship because their best batsmen, apart from Gilbert Jessop and briefly Charlie Townsend, were very rarely available. The bowling, except when Townsend did sensational things on sticky wickets in late 1895 and late 1898, was very weak until George Dennett emerged – then it had the fault of depending far too much on him. Wally Hammond, who still holds many of the county’s batting records formed part of an occasionally strong inter-war team, although the highest championship finish during this period was second in 1930 and 1931, when Charlie Parker and Tom Goddard formed a devastating spin attack.
Outstanding players since the war include Tom Graveney, “Jack” Russell and overseas players Mike Procter, Zaheer Abbas and Courtney Walsh.
Gloucestershire enjoyed a run of success in one-day cricket in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They won several titles mainly under the captaincy of Mark Alleyne whilst being coached by John Bracewell.
The club’s captain for the 2006 season, Jon Lewis, became the first Gloucestershire player for nearly 10 years to play for England at Test Match level, when he was picked to represent his country in the Third Test against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge in June 2006. His figures in the first innings were 3-68, including a wicket in his very first over in Test cricket, and he was widely praised for his debut performance.
Gloucestershire reached the final of the 2007 Twenty20 Cup, where they narrowly lost to Kent.
Links to more information on the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club:
Shaun William Tait (born 22 February 1983 in Bedford Park, Adelaide, South Australia) is a professional Australian cricketer. Tait plays domestic cricket for South Australia and is also a representative for Australia at Test, One Day International and Twenty20 International level. He is a right arm fast bowler.
Bowling style: Tait’s delivery action is unique and marked by significant lateral twisting of the spine. The ‘slingy’ nature of his action has led to comparisons with former Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson. Dubbed “The Wild Thing”, Tait is considered one of the fastest bowlers in the world and delivers the ball with phenomenal speed, at around 150km/h, and occasionally faster. One delivery was measured at 160km/h in an One Day International on 4 February 2007 against New Zealand. Despite his speed, Tait has often been described as “erratic” and is capable of bowling many extras. His unpredictability, however, is seen as a weapon to some, and his exceptional strike rate seems to confirm this. Tait has also been criticised as “expensive”, however others have mentioned that this is irrelevant, as his main role as a “strike bowler” is to take wickets rather than keep the run rate down.
After a Twenty20 match against New Zealand on 11 December 2007, in which Tait troubled the batsmen and took 2/22, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori and coach John Bracewell publicly raised doubts over the legality of Tait’s bowling action. Tait labelled the comments as a “disgrace” and added that he’d be willing to undergo tests to prove his action is legal. Only two days after Vettori made them, he was dismissed by Tait in the opening match of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.
Domestic career: Tait has represented South Australia for a majority of his first-class career, however has also played matches for Australia A and Durham. He has taken over 150 first-class wickets at a strike rate of under 50.
At the age of nineteen, Tait made his first-class debut for South Australia against Western Australia on 19 December 2002 at the Adelaide Oval. He only bowled in one innings on his debut, yet finished with respectable figures of 3/77 off 22.2 overs. Tait played 5 games in his first season, taking 20 wickets at an average of 22.55. As a result of his strong first season, Tait was awarded with a place at the Australian Cricket Academy alongside such players as Ben Hilfenhaus and Luke Ronchi.
In the 2003-04 season, an in form Tait was selected in the Australia A team to take on the touring Indians. Tait took 3/85 in the Indians first innings, including the wicket of Virender Sehwag. Tait once again had a strong Pura Cup season, taking 30 wickets at 28.33. This helped earn Tait Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year for 2004. He was further rewarded as he was named in Australia’s squad to tour Sri Lanka after Brett Lee was ruled out through injury. While he didn’t play a match on the tour, his inclusion signalled that the Australian selectors saw him as a prospect for the future.
In July 2004, Tait was signed by Durham for the second half of the English County Championship season. His first match was against a Somerset side captained by Ricky Ponting. His County debut was a poor one and saw him take 0/113 off 12 overs including 21 no balls. Tait only played one more first-class match for Durham before flying home again.
Tait was rewarded with his first Cricket Australia contract for the 2004-05 season, being included ahead of Queensland fast bowler Andy Bichel. Tait repaid the selector’s faith in him by having his best Pura Cup season to date. He took 65 first-class wickets at an average of 20.16, surpassing Clarrie Grimmett’s record for most wickets in a season for a South Australian bowler. Perhaps Tait’s best performance of the season was his spell of 7/99 against Queensland at the Adelaide Oval in November 2004 in which he claimed the wickets of Australian representatives Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, James Hopes, Jimmy Maher, Andy Bichel and Nathan Hauritz. His record breaking season helped him gain a place on the Australian 2005 Ashes tour. On this tour, Tait made his Test debut, and played one other first-class match against Worcestershire.
Tait missed the opening half of the 2005-06 Pura Cup season with an injury to his right shoulder which he sustained on the 2005 Ashes tour. He struggled on his return taking only 14 wickets at 38.35 in the 4 matches he played. Despite this, Tait was still named a part of the Australia A squad to play in the 2006 Top End Series. While he failed to pick up any wickets against Pakistan A, he managed to take 3/67 in India A’s first innings. Tait also had a strong first-class season in 2006-07 taking 29 wickets at 27.10. He also played a first-class match against the touring English side and took 3/87, including the wickets of Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell. Due to his good season, he won the Lord Hampden Trophy for South Australia’s best player for 2006-07.
An elbow injury kept Tait out for the opening parts of the 2007-08 Pura Cup season, however upon recovery a match against Queensland at the Brisbane Cricket Ground saw him take his first 10 wicket haul in first-class cricket. He took 3/69 in the first innings and 7/29 in the second, his best ever first-class figures.
International career: Test cricket: Tait was named in Australia’s Test squad to tour Sri Lanka in 2004 as a replacement for the injured Brett Lee. Tait didn’t play a Test on the tour, however after an impressive domestic summer, in April 2005 Tait was named in Australia’s squad to tour England for the 2005 Ashes series.
Tait made his Test debut against England on 25 August 2005 at Trent Bridge. Some suggested that Tait should’ve played in the first Test of the series, but it was injury to Glenn McGrath and the poor form of Jason Gillespie that gave Tait his chance. Tait bowled 24 overs and took 3/97 in his first innings, the best figures of any Australian fast bowler in the match. Tait’s first Test wicket was that of Marcus Trescothick. He also picked up the scalps of England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and batsman Ian Bell. While Tait went wicketless in the second innings, he held his spot to play in the final Test of the Ashes series at The Oval, taking 1/61 in the first innings and 1/28 in the second.
Tait injured his shoulder ahead of the Super Series against the ICC World XI, and as a result was ruled out of playing any of the matches. Despite calls from Jason Gillespie and Ian Chappell for his inclusion in the side for the 2006-07 Ashes series in Australia, Tait didn’t get a place in the team with the selectors opting for Stuart Clark who proved effective and quashed hope of Tait cracking the side for a while longer.
Tait was selected in the 13 man squad for Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia in November 2007, however his ongoing elbow injury forced him out, being replaced by Ben Hilfenhaus, with Mitchell Johnson making his Test debut. Having returned to fitness in December, he once again earned a spot in the Australian squad, this time for the Test series against India. While there was some suggestion that Australia might use Tait in a four pronged pace-attack as early as the first Test, spinner Brad Hogg was selected over for Tait for the first two tests. Tait was eventually chosen above Hogg for the third test, with the WACA wicket expected to suit. Although seam and swing dominated the match, Tait went wicketless in his 21 overs giving away 92 runs at an economy of 4.3.His claims to “bowl over” the Indian team had evidently backfired and he announced that he would take an indefinite break from cricket after this test.
One Day International cricket: Tait made his One Day International debut on 2 February 2007 against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the 2006-07 Commonwealth Bank Series. Tait claimed 2/68 off 10 overs on debut and his first One Day International wicket was that of Ed Joyce. He was much more economical against New Zealand at the MCG, bowling a miserly 1/26 from 10 overs and clocking 160 km/h on the radar. Tait played no more games for the series, finishing with 3 wickets at an average of 31.33.
Later that month, Tait was selected as a part of Australia’s squad to take on New Zealand for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in New Zealand. Tait was selected for the final two games of the series, which were batsman dominated. He took a mere 2 wickets at an average of 62.00 as New Zealand chased down scores of over 300 twice and whitewashed a very understrength Australia.
Despite his lack of matches in the Chappell-Hadlee series, Tait was selected in Australia’s 15-man squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies. As a result, both his greatest goals in cricket had been achieved, having already played two Ashes tests in 2005.
Tait wasn’t originally expected to play a large part in the World Cup, however with Brett Lee ruled out for the tournament due to an ankle injury, a relatively inexperienced Tait assumed Lee’s mantle as the spearhead of the bowling attack. Despite the added pressure, Tait performed to much acclaim in the World Cup, finishing the tournament as the equal second leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets at an average of 20.30. Tait’s best efforts of the tournament included a Man of the Match performance against England in a Super 8s match at Antigua in which he claimed 3/41 off 10 overs, as well as 4/39 off 10 overs, his best One Day International figures at the time, against a strong South African team in the Semi Final at St Lucia. While Tait went wicketless in a rain affected Final against Sri Lanka, Australia won the match and Tait’s efforts throughout the tournament helped Australia secure their third consecutive and fourth overall Cricket World Cup title in the “most dominant campaign” by a team in World Cup history.
Tait missed the Australian cricket team’s tour of India in October 2007 due to a complicated recovery after elbow surgery in June 2007 however once he recovered he gained selection ahead of Stuart Clark for the 2007-08 Chappell-Hadlee series in December 2007. In a series in which his bowling action was questioned, Tait performed well, taking 5 wickets at an average of 17.80.
Awards:
Donald Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year: 2004
Lord Hampden Trophy: 2007
ICC Emerging Player of the Year: 2007
Australian Cricketers’ Association All-star Ford Ranger Cup team: 2007-08 Links to more information on Shaun Tait:
The Gibraltar national cricket team is the team that represents the British overseas territory of Gibraltar in international cricket. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1969. They are currently ranked sixth amongst European non-Test teams.
History:
Early years: Cricket has been played in Gibraltar by British servicemen since the late 18th century. A cricket ground is known to have existed north of the Rock of Gibraltar in 1800. Civilians were playing the game as well as servicemen by 1822. The Gibraltar Cricket Club was formed in 1883, and formed the backbone of civilian cricket until well into the 20th Century.
In 1890, a ship carrying the Australia national cricket team on the way to a tour of England, docked in Gibraltar Harbour after a collision with two other ships. The Australians played a game against a Gibraltar Garrison team. The local side were dismissed for just 25, and the Australians won the game, scoring 150/8.
The game was flourishing in the 1930s, with Gibraltar producing many locally born players. However, the Second World War meant a cut back in the game, with many cricket fields giving way to the military, one even being converted into an airfield. Post-war years: The 1950s saw an increase in clubs, and the Gibraltar Cricket Association was formed in 1960. They were elected to associate membership of the ICC in 1969. Essex County Cricket Club visited after the conclusion of the 1973 English domestic season, and played a Rock XI in a one day game, winning by 178 runs. Visits by English sides of various ability levels have continued ever since.
In 1982, Gibraltar took part in the second ICC Trophy, without winning a match. They improved on this performance in the 1986 tournament, gaining their first international win against Israel. They performed even better in the next tournament, beating East and Central Africa, Singapore and Israel reaching the plate competition. Israel toured Gibraltar in 1992, winning the match they played against the national side.
Gibraltar finished in 20th place in the 1994 ICC Trophy, and played in the first European Championship in Copenhagen in 1996, finishing sixth after losing to Scotland in a play-off. They finished 19th in the following years ICC Trophy and played poorly in the 1998 European Championship, finishing last in the ten team tournament.
In 1999, Gibraltar hosted a quadrangular tournament also involving France, Israel and Italy, losing in the final to Italy. The European Championship was split into two divisions in 2000, with Gibraltar placed in Division Two, which they won. The following year they travelled to Canada to take part in the 2001 ICC Trophy. A withdrawal by Italy and the non-arrival of West Africa left Gibraltar with just three matches to play against Germany, Namibia and Nepal, losing all of them and not progressing beyond the first round.
Tournament History: ICC Trophy:
1979: Did not participate
1982: First round
1986: First round
1990: Plate competition
1994: 20th place
1997: 19th place
2001: First round
2005: Did not qualify
European Championship:
1996: 6th place
1998: 10th place
2000: Division Two winners
2002: Division Two winners
2004: 5th place (Division Two)
2006: 4th place (Division Two)
2008: 3rd place (Division Two)
Gibraltar defended their European Division Two title in 2002, but could not continue this success in 2004, finishing fifth out of six teams. They did not qualify for the 2005 ICC Trophy, and finished fourth in Division Two of the European Championship in 2006 after losing a play-off to Germany.
In 2008, Gibraltar took part in Division Two of the European Championship in Guernsey, playing against the hosts in addition to France, Germany, Jersey and the winner of a play-off between Israel and Croatia. In a recent ICC reshuffle, Gibratar will now play in ICC World Cricket League Division 7.
The Scotiabank National T20 Championship is the first ever Twenty 20 domestic competition in Canada held by Cricket Canada. First season started in 2008 from May 17th to 19th, at Maple Leaf Cricket Club near Toronto, Ontario. Held on a rotational basis, this year the Ontario Cricket Association hosted teams from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and the Nova Scotia. Ontario ‘B’ were champions defeating Quebec in the final.
Teams: The eight teams are represented by their respective states, only the Ontario has two teams.
Ontario
Ontario B
British Columbia
Alberta
Nova Scotia
Quebec
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Sponsorship: Scotia Bank is the sponsor for this Twenty 20 event. Links leading to more information on the Scotiabank National T20 Championship:
Glamorgan County Cricket Club (Welsh: Criced Morgannwg) is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire (Welsh: Morgannwg). Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Its limited overs team is called the Glamorgan Dragons. Kit colours are dark blue and red. Shirt sponsorship is by Paramount Office Interiors of St Mellons,Cardiff and Cuddy Group of Neath who are involved in civil engineering and demolition.
The club is based in Cardiff and plays most of its home games at the SWALEC Stadium in Sophia Gardens, which is located on the bank of the River Taff. Matches have also occasionally been played at Swansea, Colwyn Bay and Cresselly (despite the latter towns being in Denbighshire and Pembrokeshire respectively).
Earliest cricket: Cricket probably reached Wales and Glamorgan by the end of the 17th century. The earliest known reference to cricket in Glamorgan is a match at Swansea in 1780.
Origin of club: The formation of Glamorgan CCC took place on 5 July 1888 at a meeting in the Angel Hotel, Cardiff.
The club competed in the Minor Counties Championship for many years and then applied for first-class status after the First World War.
Glamorgan CCC played its initial first-class match versus Sussex CCC at Cardiff Arms Park on 18, 19 & 20 May 1921 and thus increased the County Championship to 17 teams. Glamorgan won this first match, by 23 runs, under Captain N.V.H. Riches. Only one more victory was achieved that summer, Glamorgan lost 14 games and finished with the wooden spoon. Club history: Glamorgan famously won the county championship in 1948 under the captaincy of Wilf Wooller, whose advocacy of high fielding standards was the key to beating much stronger batting and bowling teams.
Glamorgan was the unintentional venue for a piece of cricket history on 2 September 1968 when, during Glamorgan v Notts at Swansea, the great Gary Sobers hit all six balls in an over from Malcolm Nash for six.
Glamorgan won the championship again under Tony Lewis in 1969 and Matthew Maynard in 1997. Maynard, who retired at the end of the 2005 season, was one of the most destructive batsmen in first class cricket over the past 20 years. The 2005 captain, off spinner Robert Croft proved effective on England tours, and is a useful pinch hitter in List A one day games.
The club has current plans (April 2006) to extend its grounds in the Grade 2 Listed Heritage Park that is Sophia Gardens with a 17,500 seat super-stadium. This is opposed by local residents’ groups and earlier plans were objected to by Cadw and local MPs, Councillors and Assembly Members. See the Hit It For Six website.
On 20 April 2006, it was announced that, subject to the development being completed, one of the Tests against Australia in the 2009 Ashes series would be held at Sophia Gardens. Links to more information on Glamorgan County Cricket Club:
Shakib Al Hasan, also known as Saqibul Hasan, (Bengali: সাকিব আল হাসান) (born 24 March 24 1987 in Rajshahi) is a Bangladeshi cricketer who made his One Day International debut against Zimbabwe in August 2006. He is a left handed middle order batsman and Slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He emerged from Bangladesh’s only educational sports institution.
Hasan is a slow left-arm orthodox, who in only six first-class matches has already taken 28 wickets for his local team, Khulna Division. He has played in 12 under-19 ODIs for Bangladesh, taking 15 wickets and has shown a lot of potential for future success. He took his first Test wicket against South Africa, bowling AB De Villiers. He has become an increasingly important part of Bangladeshi test cricket including taking a record breaking 7 wicket haul and scoring a half century against New Zealand in October 2008. He then got 5-70 and 96 against Sri Lanka in the boxing day test at Dhaka; He was named man of the match.
Revealing his talent on his ODI debut with an undefeated 30*, Hasan is already becoming a key member to the Bangladesh squad. Averaging 31.60, he provides great support to his teammates, like steadying the ship for his partner Shahriar Nafees to score a century. He has one of the highest batting averages on the Bangladeshi team and has played face saving performances in the middle order for Bangladesh many times. He is currently ranked as the best ODI all-rounder in the world according to the ICC ODI rankings. Links to more information on Shakib Al Hasan:
Shakib Al Hasan, also known as Saqibul Hasan, (Bengali: সাকিব আল হাসান) (born 24 March 24 1987 in Rajshahi) is a Bangladeshi cricketer who made his One Day International debut against Zimbabwe in August 2006. He is a left handed middle order batsman and Slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He emerged from Bangladesh’s only educational sports institution.
Hasan is a slow left-arm orthodox, who in only six first-class matches has already taken 28 wickets for his local team, Khulna Division. He has played in 12 under-19 ODIs for Bangladesh, taking 15 wickets and has shown a lot of potential for future success. He took his first Test wicket against South Africa, bowling AB De Villiers. He has become an increasingly important part of Bangladeshi test cricket including taking a record breaking 7 wicket haul and scoring a half century against New Zealand in October 2008. He then got 5-70 and 96 against Sri Lanka in the boxing day test at Dhaka; He was named man of the match.
Revealing his talent on his ODI debut with an undefeated 30*, Hasan is already becoming a key member to the Bangladesh squad. Averaging 31.60, he provides great support to his teammates, like steadying the ship for his partner Shahriar Nafees to score a century. He has one of the highest batting averages on the Bangladeshi team and has played face saving performances in the middle order for Bangladesh many times. He is currently ranked as the best ODI all-rounder in the world according to the ICC ODI rankings. Links to more information on Shakib Al Hasan:
The origins of the Cuban cricket team began when baseball was introduced into Cuba in the 1860s by Cubans who studied in the United States, American sailors who ported in the country and American settlers during the 19th century; at the same time, at the end of the 19th century, economic immigrants of the Caribbean countries landed in Cuba, brought this sport to the eastern part of the island. In the 1920s, an influx of sugar workers from Jamaica and Barbados brought cricket with them to the plantations on the east of Cuba. Their teams played in leagues and cup competitions in Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Baraguá.
Cuba’s first international match in 1952, against a Jamaican team, included Jamaica’s current Governor-General, Howard Cooke.
By the late 1990s cricket had spread to Havana, where there are more than 500 players. More than 2,000 juniors and adults play cricket today, with it being taught in some schools. More than 20 teams recently took part in a national under-15 tournament.
Today there is pressure to expand cricket in Cuba with the government stating that it wants to be more closely aligned with other Caribbean countries. In 2002 Cuba became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council.
The president of the Cuban Cricket Commission is Leona Ford. After hearing of a speech she had given, Cooke persuaded Courtney Walsh to become involved and raise equipment for Cuban teams. Donations have also come from South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Guyana, Canada, India and Britain. Former Indian One-day all rounder Robin Singh travelled to Cuba in 2007 forming a coaching team to train young players. Links to more information on Cuba Cricket:
Danish Parabha Shanker Kaneria (Urdu: دانش پرابھا شنکر کنیریا) (born 16 December 1980), is a Pakistani cricketer (leg spin bowler). He was born in Karachi. He made his international debut in 2000 against England at Faisalabad. Kaneria has continued the tradition of Pakistani leg spin bowlers and possesses a very well disguised googly. However his failure to develop an effective straighter delivery has prevented him from reaching his full potential.
In January 2002, he took 7 wickets for 77 runs in the Test match against Bangladesh in Bangladesh, which are his career best figures so far in Test cricket. Earlier, in the same season, he had taken 6 wickets in an innings twice against Bangladesh during Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan. In October 2004, he took 10 wickets against Sri Lanka at Karachi, with a second-innings haul of 7/109, setting up Pakistan’s 6-wicket win. More recently he has played an important role in Pakistan’s Test wins over West Indies, England and India.
In One Day International cricket, he has been economical so far with an economy rate under 4.8 runs per over. His best bowling in ODIs came against New Zealand in Sri Lanka in 2003. He also had a good series against Zimbabwe in Sharjah just before that. He also impressed in English county cricket taking 32 wickets in seven championship matches for Essex in 2005. Although unable to play English county cricket in 2006 due to Pakistan’s tour of England, it has been confirmed that Kaneria would return to play for Essex in 2007.
Success in the one day arena has been more elusive, Pakistan usually opting to play the two spinning all-rounders Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik instead.
Despite representing the Muslim-majority Country of Pakistan, Kaneria is a devout Hindu and is of Marwari heritage. He is only the second Hindu to play Test cricket for Pakistan (the first, his cousin Anil Dalpat, was briefly their wicketkeeper).
Kaneria suffered a broken finger in Essex’s LV County Championship Division Two match against Worcestershire at Colchester on August 21, 2008. The bowler was injured attempting to take a catch off Ben Smith. An X-ray confirmed he had broken a finger and may miss the remainder of the 2008 English domestic season. Links to more information on Danish Kaneria:
Cricket, the Brilliant Game! 