Shot of the Day 1 ‘Anything KP can do I can do better’ … Paul Nixon’s obsession with the reverse-sweep attracted mild derision during the CB Series in Australia, when he unfurled it with the same compulsion that Andrew Hilditch once reserved for the hook shot. But suddenly it was the shot that brought England back into the game, as he dropped to one knee and connected sweetly with a shot that sailed over point’s head, to cue a rapturous fit of splashing in the England dominated paddling-pool.Shot of the Day 2 Ravi Bopara’s blazing square drive off the final ball of Lasith Malinga’s spell. Nixon had just fallen, and the requirement had climbed to an uncomfortable 16 from seven balls, when Bopara latched onto the meagrest hint of width and screeched the ball to the backward point fence. It gave his side hope, as did his delicate paddle-sweep off Dilhara Fernando one ball later. Unnoticed amid the excitement, Bopara moved along to his maiden ODI fifty. He didn’t deserve such a cruel denouement.Slow starter of the Day The match didn’t begin at quite such a frantic tempo. Upul Tharanga grafted his way through the early part of the innings and managed his first boundary off the 79th ball he faced, lofting Monty Panesar over mid-off. Tharanga eventually finished with 62 from 103 balls. Suddenly the scoring rates of England’s top-order didn’t seem quite so torpid.
Fielder of the Day Ian Bell has the misfortune of looking a little innocuous in everything that he does, but on this occasion it worked in his favour. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s fierce cut into the covers looked like an easy single and probably more. But Bell, quick as a flash, pounced on the ball as it sped to his left, sprang back to his feet in an instant and, having taken a split second to size up his options, pinged down the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Underestimate him at your peril.Technological glitch of the Day For the duration of this tournament, the umpires are experimenting with an earpiece wired up to the stump microphone. In theory, the equipment should help clarify marginal caught-behind decisions, but today Michael Vaughan suffered for a gremlin in the system. Chaminda Vaas speared one down the leg-side and, to the naked eye, Vaughan appeared to be nowhere near making contact. Unfortunately for him Billy Bowden’s earpiece clicked as the ball entered Kumar Sangakkara’s gloves, and up came the crooked finger.Cataclysmic dismissal of the Day Bell’s run-out could be considered unfortunate, but Pietersen’s departure five overs later, as so often, was the death knell for England’s prospects. He had just got into his stride as well, slapping Muttiah Muralitharan for an extraordinarily forceful sweep through square leg. But two balls later his aggression got the better of him, as he chipped a leading edge into Murali’s midriff. It was the pivotal moment in a collapse of 4 for 32, and for all the excellence of the recovery through Nixon and Bopara, England were never again in control of the contest.Belated gesture of the Day Even when they do the right thing, the ICC can’t help but get it wrong. They’ve had ten days to size up the dismal crowds in Antigua and do something about it, and have persistently done diddly-squat. Until, that is, the 48th over of Sri Lanka’s innings, when a press release arrived declaring that, as a “pre-Easter gift”, local residents would be given free entry for the second half of the match. The timing of the announcement was barking, but even more ridiculous was the insistence that they wouldn’t be doing the same for England v Australia on Easter Day itself. Wouldn’t it be nice, just once in this competition, to have a packed stadium regardless of the coffers?
Guwahati’s standing as an international venue is under serious threat in the aftermath of the fifth India-England ODI where crowd trouble erupted when the umpires called off play because of a wet outfield. There was rioting in the Eastern stands and the police had to fire tear gas shells to break up the mob which was breaking down stands, burning paper and plastic, pelting the ground with any missiles they could lay their hands on, and trying to break down the fence dividing the stands from the playing area. The lack of a swift or efficient response from the police cast a blackmark on the venue that will take some erasing.The real trouble began at approximately 12 noon when Rudi Koertzen and AV Jayaprakash went out to the middle to inspect conditions. There were many areas of concern, including but not restricted to, the bowlers’ run-ups, patches in the 30-yard circle, and the outfield. With the sun shining intermittently, fans in the stands could not understand why play was not getting under way. Although from afar the field appeared dry, it was far from fit for an international match, as Cricinfo verified, walking around the ground, up to the pitch, after the match was called off.”Announcements were being made from time to time on the public address system in Assamese, so the crowd was being kept updated about the situation,” Bikash Baruah, honorary secretary of the Assam Cricket Association, said soon after the match was called off. The fans, however, grew restless, and gave vent to their steadily increasing anger, first by throwing water bottles onto the field and burning scraps torn from advertising hoardings, newspapers and placards. When they ran out of bottles they improvised, breaking down wooden advertising panels and uprooting bamboo poles used for scaffoldings. They then proceeded to attack the short walls that hold the fencing, prying loose bricks and further breaking these down to hurl into the field of play.The crowd lit bonfires, piling on whatever flammable material they could find, and began to throw these lit items over the fence. While all this was happening, the police made brief forays towards the stands causing trouble but retreated swiftly when pelted with missiles. Some policemen were even taking cover behind the sightscreen, using an advertising hoarding as a shield to protect themselves.
The trouble escalated when the crowd began to target the television cameras, in place to cover the match. The television crew moved as many cameras as they could to safer positions, but there was nothing they could do about the two fixed cameras in place square of the wicket to judge run outs. When one of those cameras was totally wrecked by stones and other missiles, the police realised that the situation was fast growing out of control and began considering counter measures. By this time, however, the crowd had literally taken apart one of the six cameras used to generate Hawkeye images. The camera and its stand were dismantled and dumped in a bonfire, totally destroying it.”We are just in the process of assessing the damage. As the cameras are taken down and our engineers inspect them, we will have a fair idea of how bad the situation is,” James Rego, executive producer of Nimbus, said. “At the moment, I can tell you that at least four cameras have been badly damaged.” In all 31 cameras are used in the coverage of these ODIs. Whether Nimbus can source replacements in time for the next match is not entirely clear.”Hawkeye will definitely be affected for the next game as we have to get replacements from England,” said Rego. What is an area of immediate concern is the run out cameras, which are High Density cameras and far more expensive than the regular cameras used in other positions. If these are irreparably damaged, and suitable replacements cannot be found in time for the Jamshedpur ODI, on Wednesday, April 12, that match will be affected as the ICC has ruled that international matches cannot take place without the third umpire in place.”The damage is likely to be in the region of hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Rego, while slamming the security apparatus in place. “This is a total security disaster,” he said, referring to the fact that the police were slow to take action even after the first camera went down. It was later revealed that the damage was around 6.5 to 8 million rupees (US$146,000 to 180,000).
The police attempted to defuse the situation by firing tear gas shells into the stand but both shells they fired lobbed well over the stands and out of the ground. Finally the police’s hand was forced as a gate in the Eastern stands was breached and fans started to come onto the ground. Then the police charged and grabbed hold of two young men while most of the rioters made good their escape through gate No. 11. The two who failed to make it received a severe thrashing in full view of the media and public as policemen took out their frustration. In the resultant melee, two policemen were also severely injured and later had to be taken away on stretchers.”The frustration was obvious because the spectators had waited since morning. They were expecting to see some action but once they realised the match had been abandoned, some of them indulged in pelting stones and bottles,” said Avinash Joshi, the District Commissioner “It was controlled quickly by the police and we ensured the trouble did not last by taking some effective measures. We have taken two men in custody and will interrogate them before taking further action.” The men are likely to be formally charged for destroying government property.
Scorecard Hong Kong were skittled out for 91 by Nepal on the second day of the latest Intercontinental Cup match in Kathmandu. Following the first day wash-out Nepal set about making up for lost time, led by Binod Das who took 6 for 29.Das ripped through the Hong Kong top-order as none of the top six reached double figures and they slumped to 40 for 8, after Nepal had won the toss and put them into bat. There was some late resistance from Nasir Hameed, who made 32 from 94 balls in over two hours of steady accumulation, but he was the last wicket to fall with Hong Kong still short of the hundred mark.However, before Nepal could begin their reply the rain returned and is set to be the deciding factor in this match.
Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana needed just 3.5 overs to knock off the 28 runs Pakistan needed to win the Test and wrap up the series 1-0. On a cold and blustery day at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, the weather briefly threatened to ruin Pakistan’s party – play was initially delayed for 30 minutes, and when the players did walk out, another passing shower sent them back to the pavilion without a ball being bowled.However, the clouds passed quickly and play started just after noon. Inzamam showed that he was in no mood to hang around, as he pulled the first ball of the day from Daryl Tuffey to the square-leg boundary for four.Ian Butler suffered a similar fate at the hands of Inzamam when he bowled his first ball, and Yousuf Youhana joined in the fun, creaming two more fours as 13 came from Butler’s first over. The final blow was delivered in Butler’s next over when Youhana smashed a wide ball behind point to secure the victory that takes Pakistan to third place in ICC’s Test championship table.Both teams will now clash in the five-match one-day series, with the first of those games to be held at Auckland on January 3, 2004.
THE WORLD CUP TEAMThe only problem I can see with leaving Mbangwa out is that it doesn’t do his confidence much good knowing he hasn’t been considered to be in the list of the best 30 one-day cricketers in Zimbabwe, knowing that players like Mahwire and Mwayenga, who have hardly even touched first-class cricket have been selected instead.The biggest problem I can see is not one caused by the selectors but this. When Streak, Blignaut, Hondo, Friend and Olonga are fully fit, who will play out of them? A tricky situation for the selectors, I feel, especially with the racial quota.This would be my final 15.1. Alistair Campbell 2. Mark Vermeulen 3. Andy Flower 4. Stuart Carlisle 5. Craig Evans 6. Grant Flower 7. Doug Marillier 8. Guy Whittall or Barney Rogers 9. Tatenda Taibu 10.Brian Murphy 11.Andy Blignaut 12.Heath Streak 13.Douglas Hondo 14.Travis Friend 15.Henry Olonga How Wishart was selected for the recent one-day series I will never know. He only adds depth to the side. No one has really seen him do an awful lot in international cricket. Carlisle, despite being out of form, adds depth and experience. He has performed on occasions in international cricket and deserves another chance. I sure if Campbell had a lean domestic series he still would have been selected for the series against Pakistan and Kenya.Thanks. What do the other readers think?James Matthews (Australia)DIFFERENCE IN OPINIONReply To Muslim Karimjee from KenyaI don’t mean to sound rude or anything but I think you are just about the most narrow-minded person I have come across. You say that Kenya could beat Zimbabwe. Have you seen the stats? Not once EVER has Kenya beaten Zimbabwe. The last result being of course a stroll in the park for Zimbabwe.I also believe you are mistaken about Kenya being able to thump our A side. If you look at the last year’s series, one draw and one loss doesn’t to me sound like a thumping. If you look at the second `Test’ 199 for 1. That to me doesn’t sound very encouraging for your bowlers. Now you want Test status. Apart from Tikolo and Odumbe you have NO batsmen who would even make a full-strength Midlands team.I don’t mean to sound too negative about Kenyan cricket. I would love to see them gain Test status but not until they can play somewhere near Test standard.Apart from that I would like to know more about Paul Strang. The last time I heard about him he wasn’t bowling leg-spin because of injury. Is that still the case? Is Guy Whittall injured or are the selectors just ignoring him as usual?Sibusiso Nkomani (Belgium)Reply: Paul still hasn’t been able to resume his usual leg-spin. Guy Whittall can bat but is still doubtful for bowling, and this may well be why the selectors have excluded him.KENYA DISAPPOINTINGIn regards to the letter published in the last ZCO newsletter on Kenya in cricket, I believe that Zimbabwe are a lot better team than Kenya and would definitely have beaten Kenya in the First ODI if it hadn’t rained.With due respect Kenya are a good and talented team and may well beatZimbabwe one day, but not too soon in my eyes. They are a strong batting side but lack the bowling they deserves. They need someone to back Martin Suji and at the moment that’s just not happening.Surely there must be better cricketers in Kenya then some of the guys in the team at the moment. In my opinion they should have been given Test status before Bangladesh without a doubt, but because they didn’t I’m sure they will work harder to receive that status and give teams like India, Pakistan and so on a run for their money.Adam Pfeiffer (Australia)THE STATE OF KENYAN CRICKETA couple of points* I did feel you were a little harsh on your comments about Kenya’s current status last week, despite the results against Zimbabwe. In the last two years they seem to have play Sri Lanka A (twice), West Indies, Zimbabwe A & Bangladesh A in first class games. However I agree more matches of this type can only help. It has to be asked what has happened to the plan of the major Test playing nations, sending their `A’ teams to the leading associates each year?* As for Test Status for Kenya, their players deserve to be playing a more regular, higher class of cricket (as do some other individuals from associate nations). However, what is the strength of the their junior system? I’m surprise to see no Kenyan team playing in the Under-17 national South African championships, while both Namibia and Zimbabwe have entered teams. Maybe I’m mistaken or is there a good reason???* Let’s hope that Zimbabwe, Kenya & Nambia can work together (where possible) to raise the standard of cricket in their respective nations and surprise a few in the World Cup.Richard Jones (Australia)
Half centuries to Matthew Hayden and Martin Love, together with a disastrous Victorian batting collapse, have helped Queensland assume control by the halfway mark of the Pura Cup match between the teams in Brisbane. At stumps on day two, the Bulls are placed at a score of 4/243 – one that leaves them just six runs shy of the Victorians’ first innings tally with six wickets still in tact.For the Victorians, the devil came in the detail of a debilitating batting collapse through the opening fifty-five minutes of the day’s play. Having resumed at a healthy 4/229 when proceedings began, the Bushrangers surrendered their last six wickets for a mere twenty runs to be reduced, in the end, to the very disappointing total of 249. Pacemen Andy Bichel (4/69) and Adam Dale (3/50) were the chief destroyers, their ability to swing the ball in humid conditions proving too much for the succession of Victorian batsmen who were forced to shuffle their way to and from the pavilion. Wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe also indulged himself, ending with six catches following another fine innings of work behind the stumps.The Bulls then compounded Victoria’s agony by racing off in pursuit of first innings points at a scoring rate of close to four runs per over. With a polished hand, Hayden (81) went a long way toward parcelling up one of the opening spots for the First Test in Brisbane in a fortnight’s time, while Love (51) continued on from where he had left off against Tasmania last week, again timing the ball beautifully to both sides of the wicket. And just for good measure, Andrew Symonds (38*) played another electrifying cameo to thoroughly reinforce Queensland’s advantage before bad light intervened at the end of the day.After their solid start to the match yesterday, the injury-riddled Victorians had headed into the day’s play in a positive frame of mind. But they suffered from a lack of application with the bat, and an inability to restrict Hayden and Love in the course of their 122 run partnership for the second wicket. Pacemen Mathew Inness (2/47) and Michael Lewis (2/43) battled bravely, but there were few ways past the bat for the Bushrangers on a still placid pitch. Also hanging over the fielding team’s head was the absence for much of the day of veteran gloveman Darren Berry, who left the field during the second session on account of a stomach virus.
Luke Edwards has now revealed the transfer budget that Newcastle United will have this summer.
The Lowdown: January spree
The St. James’ Park faithful went on a shopping spree in the January transfer window, forking out £90m on Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood.
It has been reported that they will target a new central defender, midfielder and striker this summer, in what promises to be another busy window in the North East.
The Latest: Budget reveal
Replying to a fan on Twitter, The Daily Telegraph journalist Edwards has now revealed that the budget will be ‘less’ than the £90m that was spent in January, but that does not include potential sales of players:
“I don’t know a precise figure – that was a rough estimation – but I’ve been told it’s less than the £90m in January.
“That doesn’t include player sales obviously and they need to move players on. Squad already too big. There are loans and free transfers too. It’s not a negative.”
The Verdict: Surprise
I think if you told Premier League fans that the Magpies would only be able to spend £90m this summer, they would be surprised.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Public Investment Fund (PIF) dwarfs the wealth of the owners of Manchester City and PSG in terms of their assets, while the Premier League tend to spend more money than any other division in the world.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
However, they can raise that figure by selling a few fringe players in the squad, like Jamal Lewis, Ciaran Clark and Isaac Hayden, who have been left out of their 25-man Premier League squad.
Nonetheless, the board should not look to spend money for the sake of it, and instead carefully pick out the right targets to join Eddie Howe’s team.
In other news, find out which NUFC star is now ‘making good progress’ on his injury comeback here!
The Indian one-day team returned from the CB Series in Australia to a rousing reception at the Delhi airport, where they were greeted by hundreds of fans and received by officials of the Indian board and the Delhi and District Cricket Association.After a hard-fought series, where they won the finals 2-0, the team reached Mumbai in the morning and took a chartered flight to Delhi for a function at Feroz Shah Kotla. They were joined there by two members of the World Cup-winning under-19 side – Virat Kohli, the captain and Pradeep Sangwan – who play for Delhi.Speaking at the function, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the team captain, praised his side, which became the first Indian team to win a triangular one-day series in Australia. The series was played out amid some controversy and Dhoni made special mention of the team’s behaviour: “The conduct of my team on and off the field is responsible for our victory.”Sachin Tendulkar, who played match-winning knocks in both the finals, told news channel CNN-IBN that the team hadn’t been distracted by the controversies – which originated in the Sydney Test – during the tour. “Plenty of things happened on the field, but we were focussed on the cricket.”Rohit Sharma, who made a vital 66 in the first final, echoed Tendulkar’s sentiments. “We tried to enjoy our cricket as much as possible,” he said. “All the controversies motivated us.” The BCCI had initially planned an open-top bus parade from the airport, similar to the welcome the team had received after winning the World Twenty20, but decided against it later. “The players have been in Australia for more than two-and-a-half months and will also be tired after the two flights,” BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told PTI. “That’s why we have not made any elaborate arrangements as the players will be eager to go home.”A reward of Rs 10 crore (US$2.5 million) had already been announced for the team.
The players in St Kitts currently seem to exist in a parallel universe. Upsets may be raining down in Jamaica and Trinidad, but the status quo in the World Cup’s smallest base camp hasn’t come close to being rattled. As Australia went through the motions ahead of their clash with The Netherlands at Warner Park on Sunday, Adam Gilchrist gave an indication of the relaxed mood in their camp, by admitting he didn’t even know how crushing South Africa’s 221-run victory over the Dutch had been.It’s a safe bet that this match won’t be providing the next great upset of what is already proving to be a spectacular World Cup. Herschelle Gibbs’ historical onslaught has left the Dutch morale dangling at their bootstraps, and their captain, Luuk van Troost, conceded that they would be hard-pressed to get over such a beating in just 24 hours.”We must clear our minds and try to forget what happened on Friday,” van Troost said. “We didn’t enjoy what happened against South Africa, there weren’t many positives, and I don’t want any more world records against my team. We need to do the basics right against Australia. If we bowl well and field with discipline we can be a better side.”Gilchrist did his best to avoid any complacency, although his confidence was understandable. “No result is a given, we’re well aware of that,” he said. “But winning is expected of us and we’d be disappointed if we lose. Some of the wickets here are going to provide assistance to slower bowling and that brings everyone into the game a bit more than an absolute flat road does where batsmen can swing freely. But securing the victory is the main thing.”Australia are unlikely to risk a recall for Andrew Symonds for such a low-key battle, although his return cannot be far off. In the nets on Saturday he was bowling his offbreaks for the first time since tearing his right bicep seven weeks ago, and to judge by some of the straight drives that scudded into the sightscreen, his big hitting has not been diminished by surgery.”It’s been really good solid progress from Symmo,” Gilchrist said. “He is right on track from where we had planned and plotted [he would be] prior to coming over here. When he gets back to playing an actual game, I’m not sure when that it is, but as far as being where we would like him to be, he’s progressing well.” The South Africa game next Saturday is the most likely option.
As for Australia making their own assault on the record books, Gilchrist wouldn’t be drawn into a six-hitting competition with the South Africans, although he was pretty confident his team-mates would put on a similar show. “Most of the top teams have got power hitters now in one-day cricket,” he said. “I don’t see any team really having an advantage. Most of the grounds in this region are pretty small, and such is the way that batsmen approach the closing overs in one-day cricket, there is going to be a lot of sixes hit.”As for the Dutch, to judge by van Troost’s resigned air, they are braced for the inevitable. “We haven’t decided on our final line-up,” he said, although having omitted both of their spinners, Adeel Raja and Mohammad Kashif for the South Africa match, that mistake is unlikely to be repeated. “We have a meeting coming up in the evening and only then we will decide. As for whether we bat or bowl first, we have no idea.”Australia (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Brad Hodge, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Shane Watson, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Glenn McGrath, 11 Shaun Tait.The Netherlands (probable) 1 Darron Reekers, 2 Bas Zuiderent, 3 Alex Kervezee, 4 Ryan ten Doeschate, 5 Daan van Bunge, 6 Eric Szwarczynski, 7 Tim de Leede, 8 Adeel Raja, 9 Luuk van Troost, 10 Billy Stelling, 11 Jeroen Smits (wk).
Darren Lehmann and Daniel Harris led a strong South Australian reply to a commanding Western Australian total at the WACA, as the batsmen continued to dominate. The pair added 133 for the second wicket to give the Redbacks a fair chance of matching WA, who had been boosted by Marcus North’s century and Brett Dorey’s 53.Lehmann scored at nearly a run-a-ball, striking 14 boundaries, but Harris didn’t loose much in comparison, hitting 13 fours during his 139-ball innings. However, Harris couldn’t quite play out the day, falling two overs before the close to North’s off spin. He had earlier played second fiddle in an opening stand of 79 with Shane Deitz, who scored 48 of his 55 in boundaries.WA consolidated their innings during the first half of the day, despite the best efforts of the South Australian attack to chip away. Jason Gillespie, Paul Rofe and Dan Cullen took a wicket apiece, and at 7 for 323 the home team were in danger of not building on their solid work from the opening day.However, North remained firm and reached his second hundred of the season. The total was then given a somewhat unexpected boost as Dorey clubbed a maiden first-class fifty, carrying WA towards their declaration.