Rashid Latif has finally stepped down as coach of Afghanistan after weeks of growing discontent within the squad about the coach

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2011Rashid Latif has finally stepped down as coach of Afghanistan after weeks of growing discontent within the squad about the coach. His resignation has been accepted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board.”I take responsibility for the series defeat to Pakistan A and am therefore stepping down from the position,” Latif told ESPNcricinfo. “I cannot continue any longer because of my own commitments.”Latif joined the side as batting coach in July last year, eventually taking over as head coach after Kabir Khan left the post abruptly in August. Under his watch, the side beat Pakistan in the T20 semi-finals of the Asian Games before losing to Bangladesh in the final. They also beat Scotland in the ICC Intercontinental Cup and Canada in a warm-up game for the 2011 World Cup.But they were whitewashed in three 50-over games by a Pakistan ‘A’ side in Pakistan last month, after which murmurs of the players’ and board officials’ unhappiness with Latif grew. Latif is said to believe that some players deliberately underperformed in the series against Pakistan ‘A’ to undermine his position.Latif’s contract with the board was till July 20th. It is believed the players are now keen to bring Kabir back as coach, though he is currently with UAE.”I enjoyed my stint with Afghanistan and learnt a lot from the players and about the culture as well,” Latif said. “I am happiest that we held camps in Afghanistan for training and hope that more grounds are built there because that is how they will progress further. I wish them the best of luck for the future.”Afghanistan don’t play again until August, when they take on Canada in an Intercontinental Cup game in Canada followed by two one-day internationals.

A superb innings from Robert Key took Kent to a convincing eight-wicket win over
Essex in Friday`s Friends Life t20 encounter at Canterbury

01-Jul-2011
ScorecardA superb innings from Robert Key took Kent to a convincing eight-wicket win over Essex in Friday’s Friends Life t20 encounter at Canterbury.Key, the Kent captain, scored 75 in a quality innings as he helped Kent reach their target of 154 with 13 balls to spare after Essex had been restricted to 153 for 8 in their innings.Key and Joe Denly got the innings off to a brisk start as they put on 55 in
under seven overs before Denly departed for 20 when he gave a return catch to
left-arm spinner Tim Phillips.Phillips, the competition’s leading wicket-taker this season, took his tally to
20 with Denly’s scalp.However, Essex failed to curb Key or Azhar Mahmood as the pair added 97 runs
for the second wicket in 11 overs that included some lusty hitting and was
boosted by some sloppy Essex fielding.Key was finally run out with only two runs needed for victory. He had faced 52
balls and collected nine boundaries. Mahmood sealed the victory with a
boundary that also completed his 36-ball half-century.Essex had earlier failed to find the necessary tempo despite 36 from opener
Mark Pettini that included the only two sixes of the match.He and Owais Shah, who contributed 34 off 38 balls, put on 55 for the second
wicket and although James Foster (17) and Scott Styris (19) later added 34 in
3.2 overs, the innings generally lacked impetus.Styris was beginning to move into an imposing mode when he was hampered with a
recurrence of his calf injury and required the services of a runner during his
innings.It proved to be a night to forget for Ravi Bopara, who was temporarily released
from the England one-day international squad to play in this match. He was dismissed for a single and then saw Key collect three boundaries
as his only over of the evening went for 14.

In a series where a half-baked DRS is being used after Hawk-Eye was made optional, England are unconvinced by the Hot Spot technology after they were sure VVS Laxman had edged a delivery but the third umpire couldn’t overturn the decision

Andrew McGlashan at Trent Bridge30-Jul-2011In a series where a half-baked DRS is being used after Hawk-Eye was made optional, England are unconvinced by the Hot Spot technology after they were sure VVS Laxman had edged a delivery but the third umpire couldn’t overturn the decision.England were trying to force any early wicket on the second morning when James Anderson and the slips were convinced Laxman had got a thin edge which led to Andrew Strauss calling for a review. However, the Hot Spot camera didn’t show any white mark on the bat and despite the third umpire, Billy Bowden, saying he could hear a sound there wasn’t enough evidence for him to suggest to Asad Rauf that he should change his call.It led to a small confrontation between Laxman and Kevin Pietersen, but while that was soon nipped in the bud Broad admitted the players are beginning to have reservations about the part of DRS that is now the mandatory requirement.”All of our players thought that was quite a clear edge and Hot Spot hasn’t really shown up the faint edges which is a bit of a flaw I think,” he said. “There was a question of what it hit and the answer wasn’t what KP thought it was.”There is a suggestion that using Vaseline on the edge of a bat makes it difficult for the Hot Spot cameras to detect an edge, but Broad confirmed for himself that Laxman had used nothing on his equipment. “I actually had a cheeky feel of his edge when the ball went past, but there’s no Vaseline or anything on there,” he admitted. “I think it’s just Hot Spot, we’ve found the really faint edges don’t show up. It’s just one of those things.”The DRS can only be used for catches in this series after an agreement between the teams that it wouldn’t be implemented for any element of lbws following the ruling at the ICC meetings in Hong Kong last month to make ball-tracking optional. India are very sceptical of the accuracy of the Hawk-Eye technology, but England have always said they would prefer the full system to be used.They have experienced both sides of the current set-up during this Test. In the first innings Alastair Cook was lbw to a delivery passing over the stumps but on the second day they benefited from the lack of reviews when Harbhajan Singh, the middle victim of Broad’s hat-trick, was given leg before despite a big inside edge. In the previous Test at Lord’s, Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina survived lbw shouts that would have been overturned with the full DRS. Overall, though, the standard of on-field umpiring in the two Tests has been outstanding.Although the potential flashpoint at Laxman’s survival didn’t escalate there was an England player who found himself in trouble. Graeme Swann was reprimanded by the ICC after kicking off the bails in frustrating at the end of his 12th and final over during a tough day with the ball where he conceded 76 runs.Swann is the second player to be pulled up by the ICC on the opening two days of this match after Praveen Kumar was fined 20% of his match fee on Friday, following an outburst at Marais Erasmus, when an lbw appeal against Pietersen which was turned down.

ESPNcricinfo preview Friends Life t20 finals day

The Preview by Sahil Dutta26-Aug-2011

Match Facts

Saturday August 26, Edgbaston
1st semi-final: Lancashire v Leicestershire: 11.00am
2nd semi-final: Hampshire v Somerset: 2.30pm
Final: 6.45pm

Big Picture

Leicestershire

For Leicestershire this competition is the chance to bring cheer to a very gloomy season. A struggle in the Championship has left them rooted to the foot of the table and they face a fight to keep their major players. Yet – in the brief history of top-level Twenty20 – Leicestershire are titans. They won the tournament in 2004 and 2006 and come to finals day with this year’s highest run-scorer in Andrew McDonald (563 runs at 62.55) and the highest wicket-taker of the four finals teams in Harry Gurney. Though they don’t possess the stars of Somerset, they have experience of winning which – as their stirring quarter-final chase of 203 against Kent – breeds a less visible but vitally important confidence.

Watch out for…

“There are no fairytales in sport,” said Steve Waugh. Another of cricket’s self-styled hard-men Paul Nixon bows out after 23 years in professional cricket chasing exactly that. Hard working, hard talking and occasionally hard-hitting the grandstand finale is fitting. If he can ride the emotion like he did in the quarter-final win against Kent, Leicestershire might just have the star of the day.

Lancashire

Contrary to the grim expectations of the supporters ahead of the season, the Red Rose has bloomed this summer. Perched at the head of the Championship table Lancashire have their sights set on the grand prize, but if the winning confidence spills over they have the chance of a memorable, cup-and-league double. After finishing third in the North Group they beat Sussex at Hove to reach finals day and after sharing their group-stage duels with Leicestershire 1-1 this match is the decider in so many ways.

Watch out for…

In Twenty20 cricket it is often the spinner that makes the telling contribution and in Gary Keedy, Lancashire have one of the best in the circuit. Unlucky to have never been given a game by England, Keedy gets a chance on the big stage to be Lancashire’s matchwinner like he was against Sussex in the quarters. Pushing 37-years-old he has nothing to discover about his game and his rock-solid temperament will be crucial.

Somerset

This was supposed to be the season where Somerset righted the triple wrongs of last year. The punters’ favourites in all formats they were slow out of the blocks but are on a run of form that might yet give them the titles they just missed out on last season. With Marcus Trescothick, Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler in the ranks Somerset are bursting with batting stars but their attack is not as strong as their semi-final opponents Hampshire. Lewis Gregory, 19, has been their top wicket-taker but the pressure is on fit-again Murali Kartik and the ever-green Alfonso Thomas.

Watch out for…

There aren’t many in the English game who strike a cleaner ball than Jos Buttler. He has audacity and adventure, yes, but it is his crispness when hitting that makes Buttler so exciting. Though he has not has as productive a season as last year – with 215 runs from 14 games – he revels in the spotlight and will want to celebrate his England Twenty20 call-up in style.

Hampshire

If bowlers win matches Hampshire, reigning champions, start finals day with an advantage. Their attack includes a delicious phalanx of spinners: Shahid Afridi, Imran Tahir and Danny Briggs who has taken 22 wickets in the tournament. It was largely thanks to these bowlers that Hampshire topped the South Group despite a two-point deduction. The batting is led by James Vince who has been far more consistent in this format than he has been in the Championship. Last year they were taken to the title by the bristling competitiveness of Dominic Cork and a vocal home crowd, this year they will have to rely more on their spinners weaving magic at Edgbaston.

Watch out for…

It says plenty about Danny Briggs that he has managed to outbowl Imran Tahir and Shahid Afridi at times this season. He has the experience of one finals day behind him and his coolness is very impressive. There are plenty of big names at finals day, but Briggs has it in him to upstage them all.

Quotes

“It means a lot to everybody associated with the club and we all want to bring the trophy back to Grace Road.”

“We have lots of people at the club who have been to finals day before. I am looking forward to having a big crowd there and I think the players will as well. You want to be tested as a coach and a player, it’s part of the game”

“As defending Champions it was one of our priorities right from the beginning of the season to be at finals day again, so we’re over the moon to still be in the mix for a chance to defend our crown at Edgbaston.”

Shakib Al Hasan has said although the conditions in Bulawayo were more to Bangladesh’s liking, it was a good performance that led to their first victory of the tour

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2011A change of venue brought a change of luck for Bangladesh as they picked up their first win of the tour, at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. It was their fifth win in seven completed matches at the ground, but their captain Shakib Al Hasan played down the role of the conditions, saying it was a good performance that brought the change in fortune.”I think this suits us more than the Harare ground,” Shakib said. “The wicket had some spin, enough for our bowlers to do something. I don’t think we always win here because it suits us; we played good cricket today. The spinners were steady and Rubel [Hossain] bowled brilliantly. Today all the three parts clicked, though we can still improve our game and be more consistent.”Bangladesh came into the ODI series as favourites, having dominated Zimbabwe in recent years – they had won the last six bilateral ODI series between the two countries before this one. Shakib admitted that now that they had lost the series there was less pressure, which helped, but pointed to the team’s lack of cricket in recent months as one of the main reasons for the 3-1 scoreline in favour of Zimbabwe.Before this tour Bangladesh had not played since April, and apart from Shakib, who played in the IPL and then for Worcestershire, and Tamim Iqbal, who played for Nottinghamshire in the Friends life T20, the rest of the Bangladesh players have not had much cricket since then.”There was individual pressure on players; plus we haven’t played competitive cricket for three months, except for me and Tamim,” Shakib said. “It was difficult to adjust for the others. I and Tamim had the mindset, but the rest felt some pressure. If we could have adjusted a bit earlier, it would have helped.”Though the win will not affect the series result, Shakib said there were positives to take from it, and was particularly happy with the new players in the Bangladesh team. Nasir Hossain and Shuvagoto Hom have both made impressive starts to their careers, and Shuvagoto helped steer Bangladesh to victory today in the company of Shakib. “I am very satisfied with them. The way Shuvagoto batted, I really liked it. It didn’t seem as if he was someone new to international cricket.”I still think we should have finished today’s game better. We needed 70-odd and we had lost four wickets. If I had got out suddenly, there would have been a lot of pressure on the new batsmen. Senior players should take the responsibility of finishing the game. But I liked the way our top-order batsmen showed a positive mindset, something that we wanted from the beginning. We still have one more game to go and if we can finish that on a high note, there’ll be some positives we can take back home.”Alan Butcher, Zimbabwe’s coach, said his side had not become complacent and were determined to stop Bangladesh from winning the last game, on August 21 in Bulawayo.”We spoke a lot about not getting complacent because we have already won the series,” Butcher said. “We wanted to win the series 5-0. But on the day we’ve played poorly and Bangladesh deserve to win. We had a good wicket to bat on and ended up 60-80 runs short of a competitive target. There were soft dismissals, a silly run-out and a collapse at the end. Apart from [Brendan] Taylor, who was excellent, the rest of the batting was ordinary.”Zimbabwe were without their star bowler of this tour, Brian Vitori, in Bulawayo because of an injury, but Butcher said he could be back for the last game.”Vitori was having problems with his calf muscle during the last game in Harare so we decided it was better to rest him before it got worse. Hopefully he’ll be ready for Sunday. But we won’t play him if he’s not 100% fit.”Butcher said he was aware Bangladesh were improving as the series went on but said the defeat was more due to their own mistakes. “We saw in the last game in Harare that Bangladesh were improving, but we expected more of ourselves than what we produced today. We need to turn that around on Sunday.”

Surrey gave their promotion hopes a large boost as they bowled Essex out for 239 to claim victory by 109 runs in their Division Two clash at Chelmsford

10-Sep-2011
ScorecardSurrey gave their promotion hopes a large boost as they bowled Essex out for 239 to claim victory by 109 runs in their Division Two clash at Chelmsford. Essex resumed overnight at 142 for 5 chasing 349, and the visitors completed their third successive win before lunch to move within one point of second-placed Northants, each county having only one match remaining.But it was not all plain sailing for Surrey, with Graham Napier causing a few palpitations as he smashed 80 from 64 balls. However, any realistic hopes that Essex may have entertained of reaching their victory target of 349 disappeared in the second over of the day. Ryan ten
Doeschate despatched the first ball he received from paceman Tim Linley to the square leg boundary but the third trapped him lbw.That paved the way for Napier and initially he adopted a cautious approach in company with captain James Foster. The pair added 34 in nine overs but once Foster’s obdurate innings of 29 from 87 deliveries was ended by Chris Jordan, Napier really cut loose.He took a particular liking to seamer Stuart Meaker as he plundered 41 runs in a spell of 16 deliveries he sent down. These included two successive sixes with deliberately executed shots over third man and a mighty blow over long-on. Napier, who struck a career-best 196 when the counties met earlier in the season, also cleared the ropes against Jordan before the paceman gained his revenge.Attempting another big hit, he skied to extra cover where Mark Ramprakash took a fine running catch. Napier also gathered 11 fours and deservedly walked off to a standing ovation. Jordan, who had earlier got rid of David Masters, was to bring the Essex innings to an end with his next delivery.Again Ramprakash provided a helping hand with another fine catch, this time in the gully to get rid of Tom Craddock, who did not contribute a run to a stand of 53 with Napier. Jordan will certainly remember this match, from which Surrey claimed 22 points. After posting a career-best 71 in the first innings and bettering it with an undefeated 79 in the second, he emerged with 4 for 57 – again a personal best.Essex were left to settle for three points, after having two deducted for a slow over rate.

Bangladesh ended the first day on 255 for 4, a solid performance, but their position could have been so much better

Mohammad Isam21-Oct-2011Bangladesh ended the first day on 255 for 4, a solid performance, but their position could have been so much better against a West Indies attack that flagged for periods in Chittagong. The inability to stay focused at crucial junctures – after a big appeal, at the fall of a batsman, celebrations – has often resulted in Bangladesh losing wickets from positions of strength in the past. The challenge of switching on and switching off has been a problem and once again the little distractions played a part in the dismissals of Bangladesh’s batsmen.For the best part of the first hour, Imrul Kayes had found the pace of Fidel Edwards and length of Ravi Rampaul manageable. In Rampaul’s sixth over, Kayes ducked under a bouncer and then wafted needlessly at a delivery that was slightly wide outside off stump. He berated himself with a tap on the helmet. His concentration wasn’t there, though, and Kayes edged the next ball, which was closer to him, to the wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh. By this time, it was clear that Tamim Iqbal was trying to bat long rather than unleash a flurry of shots. Shahriar Nafees did that instead, before he appeared unsettled by a confident lbw appeal against him.In Edwards’s fourth over, Nafees was caught on the crease by a delivery that straightened slightly but the umpire turned down the lbw appeal. In the fifth, having fended off a delivery that bounced awkwardly, Nafees tried to pull an accurate bouncer from Edwards. The ball slammed between his helmet’s grille and peak, pushing the visor on to his nose and cutting it. Nafees went off the field, his injury coming soon after that lbw shout.Tamim began to rebuild the innings and found an ally in Raqibul Hasan. They added 52, 29 of those in singles, and were in control of the situation. Tamim had reached his third half-century in four innings at this venue when a wild slog against offspinner Marlon Samuels resulted in a top edge that was caught by Kraigg Brathwaite at midwicket. Whether the distraction of reaching a half-century had played on Tamim’s mind is debatable, but again a position of control was lost through a poor shot.Tamim, however, did not regret playing the shot. “I don’t have any regrets about the shot I got out to. I have scored plenty of runs with this shot. It is one of my favourite shots,” he said. “I don’t have an answer for this [why I got out after being set]. I try to stay in the middle as long possible and score runs. I have to work this out. I think I’m not at my best but I was satisfied with the way I batted today.”Raqibul did not buck the trend of giving it away. As tea approached, Raqibul had moved to 41 and Darren Sammy was toiling without success. Then there was a confident appeal for lbw, which was turned down by umpire Kumar Dharmasena, and on cue Raqibul found himself stuck on the crease against an in-ducker that hit the pad. Bangladesh were 159 for 3.Shakib Al Hasan then batted serenely with Mushfiqur Rahim and they scored the runs promised by Tamim’s sound start. Just when the passage to stumps seemed smooth, though, Shakib began to get frustrated by Samuels’ line. A string of dot balls culminated in Shakib trying to cut a ball that was too close to him and edging to the wicketkeeper. Mushfiqur remained firm at the other end, though, mixing a defensive game with a few strokes that ensured a final burst by Edwards and the rest was thwarted.”I think it is a good achievement that we batted one whole day,” Tamim said. “It is difficult to say how much we’ll score since this isn’t a fast-scoring wicket. Batsmen have to work hard on it. I think 320-350 will be a very good score.”Normally when I drive a ball away from the body, it comes to the bat easily but it wasn’t coming here. Hitting the ball was difficult unless it was pitched up or a really bad delivery.”

The interim committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, headed by Upali Dharmadasa, has been dissolved by the country’s sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage ahead of elections next month

Sa'adi Thawfeeq15-Nov-2011The interim committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, headed by Upali Dharmadasa, has been dissolved by the country’s sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage ahead of elections next month.”The sports minister has by gazette notification dissolved the Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee today and has appointed the sports ministry secretary Udaya Seneviratne as the competent authority to oversee the day to day operation of Sri Lanka Cricket until such time elections are held,” Harsha Abeykoon, media secretary to the sports ministry, said. “The minister will call for nominations within the next three weeks and then decide on a date for the election.”The date for the election is expected to be December 15. The minister appointed the interim committee on July 1 this year for a period of six months to tide over the financial crisis that had arisen due to SLC funding the building of three cricket stadiums to host the 2011 World Cup matches.Despite Dharmadasa taking over, the board continued to suffer from financial trouble with the contracted players and SLC employees not receiving their salaries since the World Cup in April. SLC has been administered by interim committees for the past seven years.

A round-up of the fourth day’s play of the seventh round of matches of the Ranji Trophy Elite, 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2011Group BA sustained bowling effort from Haryana carried them into the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals as they beat Gujarat by 140 runs in Surat. The result also condemned Gujarat to the Plate League next season, as they finished bottom of the group.With Baroda falling to Bengal, Haryana needed an outright win to go through while Gujarat needed a win to stay in the Elite League. Ashish Hooda gave Haryana the perfect start by having Jaisal Karia caught behind for 19 in the second over the day. Harshal Patel and Sachin Rana then picked up an early wicket apiece to leave Gujarat reeling at 49 for 4. Bhargav Merai and India wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel knuckled down to take Gujarat past 100 but India legspinner Amit Mishra trapped Parthiv leg-before to end the 55-run partnership.Haryana were now into the lower order and they were not about to throw away their opportunity,. Pratharesh Parmar was dismissed by offspinner Jayant Yadav for 4 and Manprit Juneja was bowled by Mishra for 1. When Merai, who had battled to 47, was caught off Mishra, the writing was on the wall. The ninth-wicket pair of Ashraf Makda and Mehul Patel frustrated the bowlers for 8.3 overs and 21 runs, but Yadav cued the celebrations by snaffling Makda (16) and last man Ishwar Chaudhary in the same over. He finished with 3 for 37, while Mishra took 3 for 25.Bengal narrowly missed out on a spot in the quarter-finals despite beating Baroda by nine wickets at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. A ten-wicket win would have seen them match Haryana’s total of 14 points and they would have gone through on the basis of a better quotient. But they lost Arindam Das chasing a mere 36 for victory and his dismissal meant Haryana would move on to play in the quarter-finals.The loss marked the end of what had been a promising campaign for last year’s beaten finalists, Baroda, who needed only a point to progress. Unfortunately, their batsmen failed to show up when it mattered most, with five zeros and a 2 littering their scorecard. Rakesh Solanki was the only batsman to offer any resistance, and once he was out for 59 in the first over of the day, Baroda quickly capitulated, losing their next four wickets for 32 runs. Dinda, who had taken three wickets on the previous day, took another two to finish with 5 for 66 while Sourav Sarkar took 4 for 32.Needing just 36 for their first win of the season, and to avoid losing wickets to make the knock-outs, Bengal managed the first, but not the second.Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, both of whom have qualified for the next round, played out a draw in Chennai. Amarjeet took four wickets as the hosts tumbled for 208 in the second innings, with Yo Mahesh top scoring with 58 while Malolan Rangarajan made 48. MP did manage to reduce Tamil Nadu to 61 for 4, but since they conceded a 179-run lead, it meant Tamil Nadu were never in any danger.”We didn’t take advantage of the seamer-friendly conditions after winning the toss on the first day,” Madhya Pradesh coach Mukesh Sahni said. “We could have batted and fielded better. Our approach was a little defensive too. “There is now time for us to rectify those mistakes in time for the knockout stage.”

Wasim Jaffer overtook Amol Muzumdar to become the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy history

Abhishek Purohit at the Wankhede22-Dec-2011Wasim Jaffer, the Mumbai captain, became the highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy, surpassing his former team-mate Amol Muzumdar, who was present at the Wankhede Stadium as part of the commentary team and had just moved into the commentator’s chair when his record was broken.It was a typical Jaffer stroke that brought up the milestone after the drinks break in the second session on the second day. He went past Muzumdar’s tournament tally of 8237 runs, and also reached his fifty, when he drove a flighted Rahul Sharma legbreak against the turn to the midwicket boundary. Jaffer acknowledged the standing ovation from the Mumbai dressing room and the applause from the handful of supporters with a raised bat. He calmly went back to the job at hand, that of earning Mumbai a big first-innings lead against Punjab.Looking back on a prolific career, Jaffer said that right from his early days, he knew he would have to score consistently to keep his place in a strong side like Mumbai. “I got a triple-century in my second first-class game, against Saurashtra, and that certainly helped,” he said. Jaffer maintained that winning the Ranji Trophy multiple times for Mumbai was what had given him more satisfaction than breaking the individual record.Muzumdar told fellow commentator Ajay Mehra on air that it was fitting that a Mumbai batsman had broken the record held by a Mumbai batsman and hoped that Jaffer would go on to score thousands of more runs in his career. Though Muzumdar had gone past the erstwhile record-holder Amarjit Kaypee while playing for Assam, he was a permanent fixture in the Mumbai line-up for 16 years till he moved to the eastern state for two seasons in 2009.Jaffer, who made his first-class debut at the Wankhede in 1996, has made all his Ranji runs playing for Mumbai, something he said he was proud of. He has also Mumbai led to two Ranji titles, and won the trophy on five other occasions.