Ponting to retire from all forms of cricket

	Ricky Ponting will play for Mumbai Indians at the Champions League T20 before retiring from cricket

Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain and one of the greatest batsmen of the modern age, will retire from all cricket in October. The 38-year-old is currently in England playing county cricket for Surrey but he has said that the Champions League T20 campaign with Mumbai Indians, winners of this year's IPL, will be his last competitive outing. 

"While I'm enjoying my cricket as much as ever, it just feels like the right time to finish playing," Ponting told the Daily Mail. "My body and mind are in great shape and I know I'm going to really enjoy these last few months before the next stage of life begins." 

Ponting announced his Test retirement during Australia's home series against South Africa last year, making a farewell appearance in the defeat at Perth. In 168 Test matches he amassed 13378 runs, second only to Sachin Tendulkar, as well as 13704 runs in ODIs, winning three World Cups, two as captain.

Pomersbach replaces Chanderpaul in CPL

West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has withdrawn from the inaugural edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) due to contractual obligations with English county Derbyshire. He will be replaced in the St Lucia franchise by Australia batsman Luke Pomersbach. 

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Chanderpaul signed a contract with CPL offering himself for selection but later realised that his commitment to Derbyshire allowed a release only if it pertained to playing for West Indies. 

"I am extremely sorry that I will not be able to participate in the CPL because of contractual obligations," Chanderpaul said. "I would definitely like to make myself available for the next edition, and will have my contracts carry a clause that will permit me to play in future editions of T20 tournaments."

Results from Round 2 Div 2

Hustlers 2 def. Warriors @ L’hill Mdl Sch / Guyana Heat def. Diamond @ Forest Park / D’Diamond def. Starlite @ Lindsey Ewing / Takers def. Radiers @ Veterans Park /  Miami Royals def. Lehigh Indians.

After 2 rounds of games played, the Hustlers team remain undefeated so far. It is always nice to start off the season winning games but tougher tests await later on in the season.

Hustlers beat Warriors in a rout

Hustlers put on a master display of cricket as they faced Warriors in Round 2 of the SFSCL today.

Game action.

Hustlers 2 v Warriors

Hustler captain Basil won the toss and decided to bat first and with early losses of Chris, Cliff, and Mohan within the first 13 overs faced, they were still sitting pretty at 76 for 3 at the break.

The next 12 overs saw some aggresive batting by the Hustler middle order as firstly Ravi 38, Basil 37no, and Sookraj 44 all displayed fine stroke play as they pushed the Hustler end of innings score to 193 for 7. Sookraj played the innings of the day as he hit 4 sixes in his short innings and with Basil 37no, they put on 73 runs in 6 entertaining overs.

Warriors got off to the worse start imaginable at the beginning as they lost their first 3 batsmen for only 18 runs on the board. Amar 2 for 8 and Ravi 5 for 24 including a hattrick were the chief destroyers with the ball as they saw the Warriors batsmen fail to score quickly and were soon struggling to stay in the game.

Team huddle at the break.

The rest of the Warriors innings came to a premature end as Mohan bowling in his first over finished off the innings with 3 quick wickets to end up with figures of 3 for 7 and leave Warriors total at 56 all out in 11 overs faced.

In all it was a top performance firstly by the Hustler batters and then was backed up by the Hustler bowlers as they secured a comprehensive victory to avenge the loss they suffered at the hands of Warriors last season.

After game munch.

Ravi once again put in a top all round performance with both bat and ball as he led his side to a brilliant victory. Surprisingly, he still classes himself as a batter who can bowl at bit when conditions favour him. The rest of us players tend to agree with him and his thoughts at the moment.

Next sunday Hustler 2 CC entertain Lehigh Indians at Lauderhill Middle School.

CPL.....Caribbean Premier League News

Antigua: Antigua Hawksbills

Barbados: Barbados Tridents

Guyana: Guyana Amazon Warriors

Jamaica: Jamaica Tallawahs

Trinidad & Tobago: T&T Red Steel

St Lucia: St Lucia Zouks

 

The Caribbean Premier League announced the team names and logos for the six participating franchises through a media release on Friday. The inaugural Caribbean Premier League is scheduled to begin on July 30.

 

Suggestions for the team names were invited through social media and CPL chief Damien O'Donohoe said: "We are thrilled with the final team names and the logos. We believe they are reflective of the character and culture of each country, and I'm sure each team will live up to their name. Our fans had some very inspired suggestions, which were taken into consideration, and definitely contributed to the creative process which resulted in these names."

 

The 15-man squads for the six teams were finalised through a draft on June 6. The League features top West Indies players like Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo. Among international players, Ricky Ponting, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Herschelle Gibbs and Ross Taylor have been been signed on by franchises.

USACA plans to resume national tournaments

The USA Cricket Association (USACA) announced on Friday its intention to stage a Men's National Tournament at a newly developed cricket facility in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana beginning in 2014. A joint press release by USACA and Indy Parks stated that USACA will host a four-day national championship involving eight regional teams in Indianapolis every summer from 2014-2016.

Last month, the city of Indianapolis approved plans for a $6 million multi-sport facility to be built on the east side of the city at the site of Post Road Community Park. Plans for the cricket facility were first reported by ESPNcricinfo in 2009. In addition to cricket, the facility will also have sports fields designed for soccer, rugby and lacrosse among other sports. According to a source, the cricket fields will have artificial pitches in order to make the facility easier to maintain for multi-sport purposes.

Rumors have been circulating since May that the West Indies and Pakistan have agreed to play a pair of T20 matches in Florida next month following Pakistan's scheduled ODI tour to the Caribbean, but a USACA official would not confirm that any matches have been agreed to be staged in Florida. No formal announcement has been made by the PCB or WICB either.

South Africa through after rain-affected tie

It has been a decade since South Africa's miscalculation of Duckworth-Lewis saw them exit the World Cup in the first round. Finally, they will consider themselves redeemed. 

In a twist of fate as perfectly formed as the ringlet on a young girl's crop of hair, West Indies exited the Champions Trophy after a rain-affected tied match. After 26.1 overs, with six wickets down, they needed 191 runs to win the match. They left the field on 190 for 6 as the drizzle drifted down. The result awards a point to each side and South Africa will progress to the semi-finals by virtue of a greater net run rate. 

If ever one ball was wholly decisive for the outcome of a match, this was it. Kieron Pollard was dismissed off the first ball of the 27th over when he threw his bat at a Ryan McLaren short ball, and was caught at third man. Had Pollard not been dismissed, West Indies would have won the match because they were ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis par score for five wickets down. 

South Africa 230 for 6 in 31 overs (Ingram 73, Dwayne Bravo 2-43) tied with West Indies 190 for 6 in 26.1 overs (D/L method)

Hustlers next game v Warriors

Hustlers 2 meet Warriors CC in Round 2 of the SFSCL this sunday.

The game will be played at Lauderhill Middle School with a 12 30pm start time.

Last season Warriors beat Hustlers in a high scoring game and this time around the Hustler team will look to turn the tables and look for the win.

Congrats to the new Hustler addition....

The Hustler team players would like to congratulate Hustler Michael and Victoria on the birth of their newborn beautiful baby boy.

We would like to wish them all the best for the future and to make sure to remember to register him up with Hustlers 2 as soon as he can walk.

Steven Taylor to captain USA U-19s in Canada

USA senior team wicketkeeper-batsman Steven Taylor has been named the Under-19 captain of a 14-player squad set to travel to Canada next month for the 2013 ICC Americas U-19 Division One tournament.

Taylor made headlines in March when he became the first USA senior team batsman to score a century in Twenty20s, doing it off 61 balls against Bermuda, and was the leading scorer at ICC WCL Division Three in May, where he made 162 off 102 against eventual Division Three champions Nepal.

Taylor first represented the USA U-19 team as a 15-year-old in 2009 and was one of the youngest players at the 2010 ICC U-19 World Cup, where he scored a half-century in the group stage against Ireland. At the 2011 ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland, he set a USA U-19 record with 140 off 120 balls against Papua New Guinea and was tied for second overall in the tournament with 455 runs at 56.87 including two centuries.

Today India beat the West Indies in the Champions Trophy

Four years ago, almost to the day, in the same city of London, Ravindra Jadeja was a hare caught in the headlights. He could neither get out nor hit out, and his 25 off 35 in that Twenty20 match against England - India were knocked out of that World T20 - earned him what seemed like a lifetime of ridicule. He wasn't supposed to succeed at international cricket. He did. He wasn't supposed to succeed outside Asia at least. He has, for now.

The Indians celebrating their win.

When Jadeja was introduced in this Champions Trophy match, West Indies had marched to 92 for 1 in 17 overs, and Johnson Charles, an awkward batsman to deal with, was timing everything he hit. He had carted Bhuvneshwar Kumar, deflected Umesh Yadav and lofted Virat Kohli and even R Ashwin. India were staring at a big total, but Jadeja twirled that ball like he does his new 'tache. Some turned and some didn't; most of them were headed for the stumps, but at different speeds; five of them got wickets, two lbws and one bowled; West Indies went from 102 for 1 to 182 for 9, and India into the semi-final of the Champions Trophy.

 

West Indies now need to beat South Africa to progress; Pakistan were knocked out.

 

India 236 for 2 (Dhawan 102*, Karthik 51*, Rohit 52) beat West Indies 233 for 9 (Charles 60, Sammy 56*, Jadeja 5-36) by 8 wickets

Hustlers 2 dampen down the Guyana Heat.

Hustlers 2 put in a strong performance against the Guyana Heat yesterday in round 1 of the SFSCL to start their season with a win and 6 points on the league table.

Guyana Heat won the toss and suprisingly put Hustlers into to bat first with rain predicted for the afternoon later.That decision would later comeback to haunt the Heat's captain in the outcome of the game.

Cliff and Chris scored quickly early on before Cliff (19),was out in th 4th over with the score on 41. Chris and Ravi then put on a solid batting performance and added an even 100 partnership before Chris was out for 78. Ravi soon followed for 53. The other batsmen who contributed were Deo (20no), and Basil (16).

Ravi 4 for 5 with the ball and 53 with the bat.

 

Chris 78

The Hustlers team finished at 211 for 5 in their 25 overs.

Guyana Heat's run chase was halted with a torrential downpour at the mid innings break. After a 10 minute break, the players went back out and with the wicket now being wet, all the Heats batsmen found it hard to score. At the 13th over interval they were 74 for 5. Some lusty blows by ex Hustler Joe late in the innings made their score a bit more respectable, but they were never going to challenge the 212 for victory and were bowled out for 147.

Top bowling performances came from Ravi 4 for 5 and Retesh 3 for 34. The other bowlers,Amar, Amir, and Mukesh all bowled well in tandem as well.

Next week Hustlers entertain Warriors CC at Lauderhill Middle School in Round 2.

Ramdin charged for claiming Misbah catch......

West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin has been charged with breaching the ICC Code of Conduct for claiming a catch off Misbah-ul-Haq during the Champions Trophy match against Pakistan at The Oval. 

Ramdin has pleaded not guilty and will attend a hearing on Monday. 

Ramdin was charged with breaching article 2.2.11 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game". The range of penalties for all first Level 2 breaches are fines of between 50-100% of a player's match fees and/or suspension for up to two ODIs. 

The incident took place in the ninth over of the Pakistan innings, when Misbah bottom-edged a Kemar Roach delivery to Ramdin. The wicketkeeper initially appeared to have caught the ball but lost control of it as he fell forward, and it slipped out of his gloves on to the grass. Instead of bringing his mistake to the notice of the umpires or his team-mates, Ramdin returned the ball to the square-leg umpire and joined his team-mates in the celebratory huddle.

Hustlers 2 News Updates

Hustlers 2 kick off the summer season against Guyana Heat this sunday at Lauderhill Middle School in their first league fixture of the season.

During the off season player movements have seen Mukesh rejoin Hustlers after playing with his local side Takers CC previously. His addition to the Hustler squad will be greatly appreciated as they strengthen up their middle order as well as gain a top of the line bowler.

Other changes see Chris step down as captain of the club after two seasons in charge and Basil being re-elected as the new team captain. Team man Derek has also been promoted to the position of assistant manager in a very welcome change.

Big things are expected from Michael and Retesh this season as they both continue to improve their respective skills. The future bodes well for the Hustler outfit as long as they all go out to the field of play and realise that playing  team games involves playing as a team win or lose. There will always be ups and downs in a season as there are no guaranteed wins in this league either. All results have to be earned.Whoever is in charge will be our leader and whether he makes the wrong decision on the field of play, then we as team players should always back him 100%.

The core of the squad remains the same for Hustlers and as we all get older and the stiff backs, sore legs, bad hangovers, and neck issues all surface once again, we all look forward to another season in the SFSCL.

SFSCL Update

"A league general meeting (GM ) is scheduled for Saturday, June 1st, 2013 at the Hibiscus Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale starting at 2:00pm.
This is a mandatory meeting as such all teams are expected to have a representative present."

SFSCL

The new season is already on it's way with early season preparations in motion as teams make their mandatory calls to players looking for additions to their own teams.

Talk about town right now involves a 3 division setup for the future which may work out best for all the teams currently involved but is this really the way to go forward for the SFSCL?

Some may say it will work and there are others who will oppose the change just because they are not use to change. The league will have to decide what is the best interest of the league and any future changes will have to be voted by the teams if the 3 division setup comes through.

Whatever the decision, Hustlers 2 will play again hoping to compete against all the sides they face in the summer season next month and most importantly play within the rules win or lose.

Spring Champions

Congratulations to Hurricane CC for becoming Division 1 Champions after they beat United 1.

Berbice CC also became Champions of Division 2 after they beat Vikings CC in a close game.

Both finals were supported well by a big turn out and the celebrations went long into the night with all the spectators having a good time.

The Hustler team management would like to thank all the other team reps/players at the ground looking to poach our players to their teams before the start of the season as per normal off season routine.

First Division teams looking to strengthen up their squad numbers have no consideration for the lesser teams in Division 2. It is always nice to be recognised by other teams and there is no harm in asking players if they are available but to do it on the quiet thinking that nobody will know is always going to be a joke, especially in the SFSCL.

Loyalty and respect are virtues some teams need to practice........

IPL Batsman of the Day....Adam Gilchrist

 

Adam Gilchrist's unbeaten 85 guided Kings XI Punjab to a seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in todays IPL game.

Gilly showing that class is always permanent and form is just temporary earlier today.

Congratulations Mr Gilchrist for turning the clock back once again.

Finals Day 5/19/13

DIVSION 1 FINAL

HURRICANES CC v UNITED 1

DIVISION 2 FINAL

BERBICE CC v VIKINGS CC

VENUE

BRIAN PICOLO PARK

START 11 AM

Congratulations to all the four teams who made finals day this season.
Good luck to all the teams.

IPL Batsman of the day.....Kieron Pollard

 

Kieron Pollard - 66* off 27 balls, including 8 sixes against Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier today.
Powerhouse hitting from Mr Powerhouse himself.........Congrats Mr Pollard in becoming the real Lashman in IPL today.

Hustlers give Starlite walkover in round 11

Hustlers 2 CC have given Starlite CC a walkover in this weeks scheduled league game as their season comes to a premature end with availability of players very poor for sunday.

We would like to wish Hustler 1 the best of luck in their semi final game to be played this sunday against United 1 at Jaycee Park and Hurricanes and Outlaws in the other semi final in Div 1.