Lou Vincent’s 72 and a steady 43 from Vikram Solanki helped Worcestershire fell Yorkshire by four wickets in their Pro40 encounter at Leeds. Yorkshire reached the rather paltry total of 191 for 9 in their 40 overs after winning the toss, with Matt Mason taking 3 for 26. But Worcestershire got off to a terrific start with Vincent smashing 10 fours and a six in his 74-ball knock. And though he fell, the tail edged them over the line with 11 balls to spare.
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Yashpal Sharma and Gopal Sharma, two former Indian selectors, have reacted sharply to the recent statements of Kiran More, the outgoing chairman of the national selection committee. More had implied that the decision to include Sourav Ganguly in the Test squad for the home series against Sri Lanka in November 2005 was pre-planned by three of the five selectors.More was quoted by , a news channel, as saying that three selectors had come to the meeting with a finalised squad. ” … three selectors walked into the meeting and said this is what they want. Greg Chappell [coach] and Rahul Dravid [captain] were also present. There is no further discussion.”Ganguly, who had earlier been stripped of Test captaincy, was one of three players, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rudra Pratap Singh being the other two. They were brought in at the expense of Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Karthik and Dheeraj Jadhav. More had then explained that Ganguly had been picked as a “batting allrounder” .Since the interview was aired, VB Chandrashekhar, another selector in the same panel, has backed More’s claims, leaving no doubt about the identity of the three selectors in question: Yashpal, Gopal and Pranab Roy.Yashpal and Gopal, though, insisted that all decisions were taken collectively. “If he wants to reveal details, he should come on air and say all details,” Yashpal told Cricinfo about the Chennai meeting . “I have given my view on air nearly a year back. I am not changing my stance. All other selectors gave their opinion and I gave mine. Everyone gave their own verdict. It was not as if three of us walked in with some previously-made decision.”Ganguly was struggling in one-dayers, he was taking rest but the way he performed in Test cricket – he got a hundred in Zimbabwe – he deserved to be in the side. The whole nation voted for that. The whole media wanted Sourav to be in the side. It was not the way to treat a man who was the most successful captain for India. I felt that he had cricket in him and he deserved that on performance.”Also, Ganguly has been picked in the team even after we finished our terms. He was taken to Pakistan. So why can’t you ask him why Ganguly was picked then? If we three selectors voted for Ganguly that time then some other selectors must have picked him for Pakistan tour.”The other Sharma – Gopal – also backed the claims. “I don’t know what he’s saying,” he said. “because the Chennai incident was a collective decision. When you have five selectors picking a side, you have to go by majority. It was discussed. Not as if we had decided everything before the meeting. It’s never happened. You can rarely have all five selectors agreeing on a player.””Nobody can say Zaheer Khan was dropped because of us,” Yashpal continued, “because he hasn’t found a place even after that. Why can’t they pick him now? More is leaving his seat now, that’s why he is saying all this out of frustration.”Gopal couldn’t understand the fuss behind the other decisions. “The other selections have turned out to be good decisions,” he said. “Dhoni was selected ahead of Karthik and he’s proved his worth. RP Singh had a good tour of Pakistan and showed he deserved to be selected. If More felt strongly about anything, he should have said all this after the selection meeting. He should have said it in the press conference. There he said Ganguly was picked as an allrounder.”
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Stephen Fleming will lead – on paper at least – the rustiest team in the Champions Trophy. New Zealand haven’t played international cricket since May this year and their last one-day series was against West Indies at home in March which they won 4-1. They are short of match practice, although several players played during the English domestic season, and need to switch to match mode from the word go. They’ll have a lot on their plate when they take on South Africa in Mumbai on October 16. However, the lay-off has also allowed several players to heal injuries and Fleming now has a full-strength squad at his disposal. Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori and Scott Styris have recovered from back injuries but the biggest boost will be the return of spearhead Shane Bond, who has recovered from the knee injury that forced him out of the tour of South Africa in April.Whom to watch
Bond is a delight to watch and has often been irresistible during the brief periods when fully fit. He missed the Chappell-Hadlee trophy in December 2005 because of a hamstring strain but when he returned for the home series against Sri Lanka and West Indies he took 40 wickets in four Tests and nine ODIs. In his first series after a two-year injury lay-off, he made India hop, skip and jump during a searing spell that reaped 6 for 19 in the tri-series in Zimbabwe. Bond bowls in one fashion, extremely fast – and his pace in the air could set flat Indian tracks alight. However, he hasn’t played in India before and the hot and humid conditions will test every bit of his fitness. If Bond lives up to expectations, he could well out shine the other menacing fast bowlers in New Zealand’s group – Shoaib Akhtar and Makhaya Ntini.New kid on the block
Mark Gillespie is New Zealand’s unknown quantity. A strong performance for Wellington – 43 wickets at 23.16 – and a successful development tour to Australia won him a ticket to India. Word has it that his run-up evokes memories of Bob Willis and Dennis Lillee. However, his pace doesn’t. Few outside New Zealand would have seen Gillespie bowl. John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, hinted that Gillespie would be used as a slog-over specialist – the hardest role for a bowler made harder by the tarmac-like pitches on the subcontinent. If Gillespie holds up well against the likes of Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq during the slog, chances are he’ll do pretty well in most situations.Stats
New Zealand haven’t been happy travellers to the subcontinent where the conditions are diametrically opposite to the cold weather and fast, seamer-friendly tracks of home. They’ve lost 24 of their 36 matches in India and won just ten. While their batting average per wicket – 27.5 – is marginally higher in India than elsewhere, their bowlers concede 37.6 runs per wicket in India compared to 29 in other countries. Daniel Vettori, their lone spinner among several seamers, will play a crucial role. He’s toured India twice with moderate returns – 13 wickets from 11 ODIs at 26.92 each which is a significantly better than his career 33.58.
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South Africa earned a creditable draw on their last one-day campaign in India. Their battery of fast bowlers coped with the tough conditions and neutered India’s celebrated batting line-up and they’ll take that confidence into the Champions Trophy. South Africa’s batsmen will feel that no target is beyond them after stacking up totals in excess of 400 twice in their last four games. Their sick bay is currently empty: Graeme Smith is back at the helm after an ankle injury sidelined him for two months and Jacques Kallis has also recovered from an elbow injury. Although he played against Zimbabwe and domestic teams trying to get some practice ahead of the Champions Trophy, sterner tests await in India. But Kallis revels in the Champions Trophy. He is the tournament’s second highest run-scorer and wicket-taker and South Africa will bank on him.Whom to watch
Herschelle Gibbs could be in the spotlight for events off the field as much as his exploits with the bat and at point. He is visiting India for the first time since the match-fixing scandal broke out on South Africa’s tour in 1999-00. Gibbs had opted out of tours to India in 2004-05 and 2005-06 for fear of being detained by the police. This time, however, he decided to tour even though the police said that they would question him on his involvement in the match-fixing scandal. Gibbs will join the team for their first practice game on October 13. For the record, he averages 47.71 with a century and a fifty in seven games in India.New kid on the block
in Afrikaans means launch. And launch is what Loots Bosman tries to do to the bowling every time he bats. If he gets a game during the Champions Trophy, expect him to go hard at the bowlers. He may lose his wicket to an indiscreet shot but that won’t make him shelve his shots. Bosman’s exploits in the Standard Bank Pro20 Series include a 43-ball century and 50 off 22 balls, a record for the competition. He was picked for the Twenty20 international against Australia and thanks to injures to several players made the cut for the tri-series in Sri Lanka. However, South Africa abandoned that tour because of a bomb blast in Colombo. Bosman eventually made his debut against Zimbabwe and smashed 88 of 70 balls in his third match.Stats
South Africa’s pace battery – though not their deadliest in history – was enough to quell the Indian batsmen on their tour of India last year. In November 2005, Makhaya Ntini and co reduced India to 35 for 5, 71 for 5 and 83 for 3 in three of the four ODIs. Pollock, though much reduced in pace, was extremely potent, taking seven wickets at 17.28 apiece. And if he could snare Sachin Tendulkar cheaply thrice in four games in his backyard, you’d reckon he could get anyone. South Africa have a favourable win-loss record in India, winning 13 of their 25 games and losing 11. They also had the better of both the identified teams in their group – they beat New Zealand 4-0 in their last series and won seven out of their last ten games against Pakistan.
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Pakistan have suffered severe turbulence in their build-up to the Champions Trophy. But while the rest of the world watched agape as the events unfolded, Pakistan would have wondered what the commotion was about for they often travel with controversy in their kitbags. After The Oval hearing, the captaincy shifted from Inzamam-ul-Haq to Younis Khan, Younis to Mohammad Yousuf, and then from Yousuf back to Younis. Why exactly? Not many people know. Captaincy turmoil aside, Pakistan enter the tournament with enough firepower to cause serious damage. Provided they remain fit, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will form a formidable opening attack backed up by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and the spinners. Their batting even without Inzamam oozes destructiveness and if Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Razzaq – not counting the two Ys – get going the spectators will have to scramble for cover.Whom to watch
Younis and Yousuf. Younis has averaged 47.91 in ODIs in 2006 while Yousuf averaged 49.66 in recent one-dayers in England and was prolific in the Tests as well. When they bat together, their potency seems to skyrocket. Both batsmen have a point to prove in India where Younis averages a meagre 16 and Yousuf 23 . In Inzamam’s absence, they will have to form the eye around which the hurricane blows and should they falter, Pakistan will suffer. Will all the commotion over the captaincy affect their performances although Younis reassured everyone that it wouldn’t? Can they make Inzamam’s absence irrelevant? It’s a tall ask but given their performances in recent months, the two Ys can.Stats
Pakistan have been in mixed one-day form over the past year. They beat England 3-1 at home in December 2005, then lost 1-4 to India, beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in an away series and surprisingly drew 2-2 in England when all and sundry expected them to walk over England. However, their recent record in India is heartening; they’ve won five of their last seven matches since November 2004, including four wins in a row to win the series after being 2-0 down in 2004-05.
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Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, was today named captain of the World ODI Team of the Year at the annual ICC Awards ceremony being held in Mumbai. Jayawardene also earlier won the Captain of the Year award.Five countries are represented in the 12-man line-up but only three players – Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Symonds – also appeared in the World ODI Team of the Year in 2005.The 12 were chosen by a selection panel made up of Sunil Gavaskar, Waqar Younis, Arjuna Ranatunga, Ian Healy and Allan Donald based on performances between the voting period of August 1 2005 to August 8 2006. Statistics were available as a guide but were not necessarily a determining factor in the choices made.World ODI Team of the Year (in batting order):
1 Adam Gilchrist (Australia, wk), 2 MS Dhoni (India), 3 Ricky Ponting (Australia), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka, capt), 5 Yuvraj Singh (India), 6 Michael Hussey (Australia), 7 Andrew Flintoff (England), 8 Irfan Pathan (India), 9 Brett Lee (Australia), 10 Shane Bond (New Zealand), 11 Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), 12 Andrew Symonds (Australia)
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Billy bruised but ego unhurt
Billy Bowden is usually happy to make a spectacle of himself, but even in his wildest publicity dreams he wouldn’t have contrived for Geraint Jones to sweep a ball into his lower back at square leg. Billy went down faster than a beach ball snatched by a security guard and when he got up looked as dazed as he must have been when he gave Kevin Pietersen lbw. As the crowd chanted “Billy, Billy” – Craig McDermott must have felt a pang of nostalgia in his corporate box – England supporters wished Jones had struck it harder.Fans get shirty
Much of the time between Ashes series has obviously been spent coming up with slogans and arty t-shirts for the rematch. A Barmy Army version has Captain Cook (it depends on your world view whether he was an invader or discoverer of the Queensland east coast in 1770) making an early deposit on Australian soil while reading a newspaper headlined “England invent cricket”. The sanitised version of the accompanying text says “Captain Cook only stopped here for the toilet”.Where’s the Barmy Army?
Queensland upset some sections of the world when they used the line “Where the bloody hell are you?” in a worldwide tourism campaign. The description became so popular locally it was used in an advertisement in the lead-up to the series and was taken a step further by cheeky Australian supporters this morning. “Barmy Army! Where the bloody hell are you?”Fans for female fans
England’s supporters are sprinkled throughout the stadium and are sure to find their true voices on the hills at Adelaide and Perth in the next two Tests. At least their female contingent was cool today. As part of Ladies Day all the girls in the stadium got traditional hand fans from Cricket Australia to provide some fresh air.
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Some cheer at last for England: Simon Jones believes he’ll be ready to make a comeback to cricket in April. Jones, a pivotal bowler in the 2005 Ashes, missed the latest contest Down Under following knee surgery in June.Injuries have forced him out of cricket for more than a year, but he is confident of returning for his county, Glamorgan, at the start of the 2007 County Championship.”I’m working hard and pushing for next season,” Jones told BBC Sport. If and when he does return, there will be a new regime at Sophia Gardens, with a new coach Adrian Shaw. At least, that’s the plan so far – Glamorgan are reportedly trying to lure Duncan Fletcher back to Cardiff when his existing contract with the ECB expires after the World Cup.The club are rumoured to want him to return to the county where he enjoyed such success before leaving in 1999. The one obstacle could be the county’s finances which are believed to be under severe pressure due to the cost of redeveloping the Sophia Gardens ground in preparation for it staging Test cricket in 2009.Jones expressed his confidence in Shaw. “Adrian’s been at the club a long time, he knows the game and it will work out well for him. The club has been struggling a bit financially so they have to be careful, and Adrian was the obvious choice to take over.”He’s a good motivator and someone who is straight down the line, if someone needs a kick he’ll give it to them. We all respect him immensely and wish him all the best in the job.”
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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Stuttering, stumbling, bumbling, New Zealand eventually managed to find a way home, beating Sri Lanka by five wickets at Eden Park to ensure that the two match Twenty20 series was shared one-all. After James Franklin and a menacing all-pace New Zealand attack had bundled out Sri Lanka for 115, New Zealand squandered a flying start, losing their way, before the experience of Nathan Astle eventually guided them home with nine balls to spare.It should never have even gotten that sweaty, especially after Franklin had sashayed his way through the top order as Sri Lanka were put into bat by Stephen Fleming. From the very first ball of the match, he was at it, a thin edge from Upul Tharanga unnoticed by everyone, apart from technology. Not that it mattered for two balls later, he was bowled. That set a pattern for the rot that followed.It helped that the surface had both pace and bounce, lifelong enemies of subcontinent teams, but arguably the zest with which New Zealand’s grey shirts (a tribute to their 1992 World Cup innovators) bowled and fielded helped even more. Chamara Kapugedera tonked an impressive six over long-on in Franklin’s second over but Mahela Jayawardene fell in the same over.Kapugedera went himself next, slicing Michael Mason to third man, where Franklin – who seemed to be everywhere all at once at that stage – made a difficult chance look easy. Kumar Sangakkara, in regal touch all tour, briefly fought, hoicking and then flicking consecutive boundaries through leg in the sixth over.As it turned out, those were the last boundaries for nearly seven overs, a veritable lifetime. Batsmen, meant to be lords of this format, were reduced to paupers. They fed off stolen, surreptitious singles and boundaries, their staple diet, all but vanished. Franklin came out of the attack, having dismissed Marvan Atapattu only for Mark Gillespie and Andre Adams to take over.Gillespie charged, a quicker, less stocky Mick Lewis – touching 140kmph and getting bounce, he was altogether more threatening. Adams was skiddier, a mutant version of Imran Khan’s action, but both picked up wickets during the middle overs and choked runs. At that stage the only bad news for New Zealand was Gillespie limping off with a knee injury in his last over.Nathan Astle replaced Gillespie, a change that allowed Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando a worthy tailend punt. Malinga hoisted a massive six over midwicket off Astle. Almost like a top-order batsman, he dabbed him through point for four before lifting him for another six over long-on. Fernando played the wonky sidekick, inside edging and outside edging a couple of boundaries as a hundred was belatedly brought up. Two more conventional boundaries arrived, but they were merely a last, meek hurrah, Malinga falling to Jeetan Patel’s off-spin with ten balls still left to go.
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As often happens in these type of games, the pitch took on a different hue when the other side bowled. Sri Lanka were missing thousands of wickets’ experience in Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya (all rested) and it showed.A worse Boxing Day was difficult to imagine for Ruchira Perera, smashed liberally to all parts of the ground as New Zealand began in a hurry. Brendon McCullum, in particular, recreated his hustling, bustling, all-action persona from the first game. Perera’s action looked rickety but his bowling was even worse, McCullum and Fleming taking six boundaries from his first two overs.As he was taken off, Sri Lanka briefly recovered. For as long as there is limited overs cricket – of ten, twenty or fifty overs – there will remain the Sri Lankan spinners’ mid-innings choke and Tillekeratne Dilshan and Malinga Bandara did it here. Boundaries momentarily dried up, singles evaporated and two run-outs in one Dilshan over pegged New Zealand back. At 65 for three, Sri Lanka squeaked.But Astle simply played smart. Content to pick up singles and doubles where he could, he bided his time, waiting for the pacers, especially Perera, to return. When he did, in the 16th over, Astle immediately drove him over extra cover for four. And in his next over, he pulled him first for four through long-on before lifting him for a giant six over long-on: 15 from the over and the deal, with a little negotiating, was sealed.
ScorecardEngland A came close to an improbable victory on the third and final day of a hard-fought contest against a BCB Academy XI at Mirpur, with the Durham seamer, Graham Onions, capitalising on Michael Carberry’s unbeaten century to grab three top-order wickets in seven overs.England had started the day with the slenderest of one-run advantages after bowling the Academy out for 326 on the previous evening, but Carberry and Michael Yardy demonstrated the friendly nature of the batting conditions to add 71 for the first wicket. Yardy was eventually dismissed by Mosharraf Hossain for 21, but Steve Davies picked up where he had left off to add a further 122 for the second wicket.Carberry reached an excellent century from 187 balls but retired hurt immediately afterwards, leaving just enough time for Adil Rashid to become Hossain’s second victim of the innings before Yardy declared on 226 for 3. That gave England’s seamers 20 overs to make an impression, and they took their opportunity instantly, with Onions dismissing the first three batsmen inside the first eight overs.Stuart Broad, England’s first-innings bowling star, then removed Nasiruddin Faruque for 10 before Tom Smith grabbed the captain, Nadif Chowdhury, caught behind for 4. Marshall Ayub was on hand to prevent a complete meltdown with an unbeaten 23, but the performance will have given England’s tourists heart at the start of a tough tour.
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Pakistan’s injury concerns have been partially eased with Umar Gul cleared to take his place in the World Cup squad. He flew home early from the tour of South Africa without playing a match after developing a shin problem, which resulted from a previous ankle injury, but has come through Pakistan’s training camp in Lahore.”Gul is fine now and has been bowling in the nets with the team. His availability is a big boost for the team,” coach Bob Woolmer told reporters. “[He] is the most improved bowler over the last year.”Gul, who has taken 30 wickets in 25 ODIs, is shaping as a vital member of the bowling attack with doubts remaining over whether Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will make it to the World Cup. Woolmer added he had no new details of Shoaib and Asif’s progress, with the pair receiving treatment in London for their knee and elbow injuries.Pakistan have been hit by a series of injury problems during the season, especially on tour in South Africa where Shoaib Malik missed the Test series, Akhtar was restricted to half a Test and Shabbir Ahmed flew home days after arriving as a replacement. Malik has been included in the World Cup squad but Shabbir missed the cut.
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Mark Shields, Jamaica’s deputy commissioner of police, told the media on Thursday that Bob Woolmer could have been strangled with some sort of fabric – possibly a hotel towel – which would help explain why no marks were found on his neck.Speculation has intensified in the last few days over Woolmer’s death, with some beginning to question whether he was in fact murdered. The lack of marks of the neck has been put forward as one of the oddities in the case, but Shields reiterated that it was “categorically” a murder investigation.”If it’s some form of manual strangulation and there are no physical marks on the neck of the victim, therefore there may have been something between the hands of the assailant and the neck of the victim,” he said. “That is as far as I will go.”Shields also said that examination of the CCTV from the night of Woolmer’s death had now been analysed and that the police now had images of everyone who had been in the Pegasus Hotel’s 12th-floor corridor.However, he admitted that there was still uncertainty over the time Woolmer had been attacked. All that was known for sure was that he sent an email sometime between 8pm and 9pm, and that he had also ordered room service during that period. “Until I establish an exact time of death it is very difficult to tie down when we should be looking at the tape,” he added.Meanwhile, Dr Ere Seshaiah, the pathologist who carried out the autopsy on Woolmer’s body, spoke out after increasing speculation that his conclusions were open to doubt.”Questions are always there but I’m confident of my ability,” he said. “I worked on this post mortem for two hours. I did a complete post mortem and arrived at a cause of death. Then I prepared my report and handed it over to the top police command. I did the best of my abilities and so did my team. We did our best.”Shields earlier said that he had no reason to doubt Dr Seshiah’s findings and stressed that there were additional factors which had not been made public that backed up the case that Woolmer had been murdered.