NARINE BATTLE KEY FOR AUSTRALIA

Australia v West Indies, 2nd semi-final, World Twenty20, Colombo 

by Jarrod Kimber

October 4, 2012

West Indies tours for Aussie fans are often dream-like. They're late at night, often look like someone had smeared Vaseline on the lens and have a kicking soundtrack. It also means that more people hear about great deeds by Aussie players in the Caribbean, than actually see them.

It also means when something happens in an ODI series as Australia tour the West Indies that no one cares about, few fans notice.

Had they stayed awake, looked through the soft-focused Vaselined screen and kept the sound down as not to wake anyone in the house, they would have seen one man tormenting the Australian batsman: Sunil Narine. In a five-match series he took 11 wickets at an average of 14.45 and a scary economy rate of 3.32. He stopped the top order from scoring and dismissed the middle and lower order with ease. Narine was still a mystery to world cricket, his faux-hawk was barely known, his mystery knuckle ball was unplayable and his offspinner gripped and ripped off the dusty surfaces. It was even before he became a cult hero in the IPL.

In the oppressive heat of Sri Lanka, Australia will again meet West Indies, a side who have many players who can win a T20 match on their own. Chris Gayle can decapitate a bowling unit, and he's done that to Australia before. Marlon Samuels can score with ease and make decent bowlers doubt themselves. Dwayne Bravo changes the game with the bat, the ball or with his hands. Kieron Pollard can score at a strike rate that previously never existed. Fidel Edwards bowls swinging yorkers. And even backup players like Andre Russell are capable of amazing destruction.

Yet when the West Indies looked like they would lose to New Zealand and fall out of the tournament, it was Sunil Narine who bowled two overs for only five runs in the 17th and 19th of the match. He also took two wickets.

Australia have already shown they can beat West Indies at the Premadasa in this tournament. In that match, Narine bowled two overs for 15 before the rain came down before he got to bowl his last two overs, and the Australians played him quite cautiously. If they find themselves in another big chase, with a soaring run rate required, their battle with Narine could be the difference between playing in the final or not.

The group game against West Indies was not all smooth sailing for Australia. They punished their bowlers and actually should have made more than the 192 they ended with. No Australian bowler went for less than seven-an-over. The West Indies handled the pace of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins easily, Johnson Charles aside. Dan Christian just didn't look like a viable option with the ball. Brad Hogg tried hard, and took one of his two wickets in the tournament. And Glenn Maxwell got Gayled for 17 runs in his one over. But it was a great pitch for batting, as the Australian top order showed when they smacked the West Indian bowlers everywhere.

While all of Australia's matches have been in Colombo, the pitch has changed on Australia. It is no longer the pace-friendly wicket of late September, it's quickly becoming the spin-happy track of early October. The constant use of this square has brought it back in favour of the spinners and sub-continental batsmen.

Starc and Cummins' pace was a real factor at times early in the tournament. Cummins beat up the Indians and barely went for a run. Starc was almost as good against the Pakistanis and took three wickets. Sohail Tanvir showed that, even though the pitch is spinning more, the fast bowlers could still be important, although their pace will be less so against West Indies.

But there is no doubt that spin will play a massive part from here on in. The England v New Zealand women's match was dominated by the English spinners, and for the first men's semi-final the ball continued to spin considerably. Xavier Doherty came in for Christian a few matches back and has by far been Australia's best spin option in this tournament. His early wickets against South Africa set up the game, and against Pakistan he took the wicket of their best batsman Nasir Jamshed.

Brad Hogg has struggled far more. It's not that Hogg has been a catastrophe; he's just not had the impact he had when he first made his comeback. His economy rate of 7.5 is fairly high - only Cummins is worse for Australia - and Hogg's batting is now non-existent. At the age of 41 his eyes can no longer allow him to bat like a man with an average of 35. Australia are yet to bat all the way down in this tournament, and they may not, but Hogg is now probably Australia's No. 11.

With the middle order struggling to get a hit, or look good when they do, it seems Glenn Maxwell is the man who may make way for David Hussey. Maxwell has done little wrong, but he is being barely used as a bowler, and has had little chance to perform with the bat, only batting twice in the tournament for one failure. It would also be a panic move from Australia, as Hussey was in terrible form in the UAE, and most of the Australian middle order have had only one chance to bat under pressure.

Australia could also drop Hogg for David Hussey. Maxwell and Hussey could combine as the fifth bowler whilst strengthening the batting. When Doherty came in for Christian, Australia lost another batting option, this would fix that problem, and while Hussey's bowling is not of the standard of Hogg's in the real world, this is T20, where Hussey's step, step, sling, offspin can work.

On paper the West Indies side looks like a side that should beat Australia, but on the field they seem to be unsure and their decision to bowl Marlon Samuels in the Super Over against New Zealand seemed to stem from the input of too many people apart from Darren Sammy. They are a dangerous opponent, but one that Australia will believe they can beat.

 SOURCE: http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-world-twenty20-2012/content/current/story/585563.html

WORLD FOOD PRICES RISE, STAY CLOSE TO CRISIS LEVELS

DAILY TIMES

 

ROME: World food prices rose in September and are seen remaining close to levels reached during the 2008 food crisis, the United Nations’ food agency said on Thursday, while cutting its forecast for global cereal output.

The worst drought in more than 50 years in the United States sent corn and soybean prices to record highs over the summer, and, coupled with drought in Russia and other Black Sea exporting countries, raised fears of a renewed crisis.

Grains prices have retreated in recent weeks due to rapid harvest progress and concerns about weak demand in a slowing global economy. But the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) price index, which measures monthly price changes for a food basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, rose 1.4 percent to an average of 216 points in September after remaining stable at 213 points in August.

The rise reflected mainly higher dairy and meat prices, with more contained increases for cereals, it said. “Prices are remaining high... prices are sustained, it’s highly unlikely we will see a normalisation of prices anytime soon,” FAO senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He added however that it was not clear whether the small increase in September meant prices were now on an upward trend, but he expected volatility in markets could intensify in coming months. Parmjit Singh, head of the food and drink sector at law firm Eversheds, said higher prices would place further pressure on squeezed international food supply chains.

“Manufacturers and producers will naturally want to pass on increased costs to their clients but they will meet with stiff resistance from retailers who are reluctant to increase checkout prices for increasingly value-conscious customers,” Singh said. FAO’s index is below a peak of 238 points hit in February 2011, when high food prices helped drive the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, but current levels are very close to those seen in 2008 which sparked riots in poor countries.

October meeting: The Rome-based agency said it had cut its 2012 world cereals output forecast by 0.4 percent to 2.286 billion tonnes from a previous estimate of 2.295 billion tonnes, mainly due to a smaller maize crop in central and southeastern parts of Europe, where yields have been hit by prolonged dry conditions. It also decreased its forecast for world cereal stocks at the end of the 2013 season to 499 million tonnes, down 4 million tonnes from its projection last month.

Despite the rise in food prices, the United States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome said on Thursday it had agreed with other countries that a meeting of the emergency Rapid Response Forum to discuss food prices under the G20 agriculture body AMIS was not necessary. “Agricultural commodity markets are functioning,” the mission said.

Abbassian said a ministerial meeting on the food market situation was still planned for Oct 16. Aid agency Oxfam called on governments to tackle the root causes of food price volatility at the meeting. “They need to boost food reserves and strengthen social protection programmes for populations that are at risk of hunger,” Oxfam spokesman Colin Roche said in a statement. “We cannot afford to sleepwalk into the next food crisis.” reuters

SOURCE: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\05\story_5-10-2012_pg5_27

SAMMY FORCE DRIVING WINDIES

Published by ikhan on Sat, 09/29/2012 - 06:52

Pallekele, Sri Lanka – There’s a force driving West Indies cricket at the moment. There’s something happening with that team that is holding the people of several different countries together, and causing them to do some outrageous things on a cricket ground. And we’re not referring to Chris Gayle’s Gangman Style celebratory jig.

In the last few months, West Indies have gone from being a team that was ridiculed by those who clung on to a golden past to a team that is showing signs of a brighter future. The team has gone from being one that stronger opponents encourage in a patronising manner to a side that has struck fear into the best units around.

For years, West Indies did not produce one cricketer who nailed down a place, who inspired anything beyond a collection of disparate islands that a majority of the cricket world knew only for rum, pirates and white-sand beaches. No player from the Caribbean took the baton from Brian Lara and ran with it, and there was the serious threat that the next generation would only want to sprint like Bolt and Blake, not bowl like Marshall or bat like King Viv.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has stood like a rock through the decimation of one of cricket’s great legacies, but it’s a sign of his age that he played in a club game last week alongside his son, Tagenarine. No surprise that the two were hard to dislodge and stitched together an unbroken partnership of 256. But, as much as you love Chanderpaul for what he’s done, he’s an unlikely candidate for a youngster to idolise. For starters, anyone who copied his crab-like stance would end up looking very silly, and not hitting too many balls.

But, quietly, an untelevised revolution has swept the West Indies. Gayle has returned to the fold, and this has infused the team with a joyousness and credibility that is worth emulating. Darren Bravo has made enormous strides as a Test batsman and given his sheer quality, it’s only a matter of time before he works out how to make it count in the shorter versions.

Sunil Narine had eyebrows touching the ceiling when he fetched US$700,000 in the India Premier League auction, but it was instantly apparent that this was money well spent. Today, he’s grown into a spinner that opposition teams are forced to think about ahead of a game, and it’s a sign of his class that batsmen prefer to play him out rather than take chances and fall.

Another cricketer to emerge is Kieron Pollard, who hasn’t yet had the chance to stretch himself enough. His high-impact innings in Twenty20 cricket have come mostly in the dying stages of matches and his underrated bowling is not used as often as it could be. The time when he features more prominently is not far.

Through this all, though, there’s been a streak, an invisible thread binding the team. Invisible, not because it’s been hidden, but because fans, journalists and others have been guilty of not taking one person seriously. Given that he plays the clown so enthusiastically, in some ways it’s not surprising that Darren Sammy has not got the credit he deserves, but the time has come to give the man from St Lucia his due.

When we left the Caribbean that was the most important thing in our minds, winning this tournament for our fans,” said Sammy with a steely determination belied by the exuberant smile plastered across his boyish face. “We last won silverware in 2004. It is a good opportunity for us to do that here. We’ve been playing well as a team and we have to take it one game at a time.”

It’s been difficult too for fans to fairly gauge Sammy’s worth because he’s a cricketing oddity – not fast enough to be an outright threat with the ball, not polished enough to play as a batsman alone – and it has been cruelly remarked that he’s in the team for his captaincy. When the same was said of Mike Brearley, it was meant as a compliment, for the former England captain was obviously blessed in man-management terms.

What Sammy has accomplished, however, is not unlike what Brearley did, even if the paths taken to get there were completely different. “I just keep everybody cool,” said Sammy. “We have a lot of cool guys so when you’re out there you need to have someone in charge. When I’m out there, I try to get all the senior players involved in decision-making so everyone feels a part of the team. That’s the important thing for us that everyone in the squad feels a part of the team. It’s easy to do that for me, as my character allows me to involve everyone.”

It’s this character in Sammy that has allowed others to grab the headlines, even as the team has made big enough strides to be a serious threat to Sri Lanka, who West Indies next play on Saturday. The obvious change would be to bring back Fidel Edwards, in place of Samuel Badree, given how well Sri Lanka play spin. The West Indies know that one win could fire them into the knockouts. And from there on, all it takes is two good days for one of its big guns.

GROWTH IN JAMAICA STUNTED BY CRIME

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Friday September 28, 2012 – Crime in Jamaica is viewed as the main impediment to the country’s economic and social prosperity, and Minister of National Security Peter Bunting says that the government is placing focus on prevention and control measures as it works to curtail the problem.

"We just completed a National Security Policy and one of the things it identified was that crime, violence and corruption were the main obstacles to rapid growth and development in Jamaica," Bunting told members of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry at a meeting held in the resort city last week.

"Statistics have shown that our per capita GDP (gross domestic product) would be conservatively three times what it is now and more aggressively ten times what it is now, if we didn’t have this high level of crime," the minister stated.

According to Bunting, the prevention measures will focus on community intervention through the work of the Citizens Security and Justice Programme (CSJP), among other initiatives.

In terms of control, the minister said, "We are doing a number of things. The police force is in transition, which is being accelerated. It is more professional, more community-based, shifting an emphasis from a national security emphasis to a citizen security emphasis… realising that it’s the only way that we are going to have sustained success."

Bunting urged all Jamaicans to support the police and the related groups and agencies to put a dent in crime, especially in St James, which has the highest murder rate of all parishes. He stated that the aim was to reduce crime to first-world levels.

"We want to go to 12 per 100, 000," he said.

The National Security Policy, which forms part of the administration’s strategic policy response to crime and violence, sets out the new priorities, policies and strategies for the period 2012 to 2017.

Key imperatives include: more aggressive use of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA); focus on key players and their facilitators in illicit activities, such as money laundering; addressing "dysfunctional elements" in the judicial system; accelerating reform of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF); adopting a strong, coherent anti-gang strategy; and rehabilitating communities deemed “at risk”, through regeneration and employment creation programmes.

SOURCE: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/jamaica_news/619646.html#ixzz288U9ym74