.Inclement weather forced the abandonment of the second one-dayer at the Khulna Divisional Stadium before a ball was bowled.Bangladesh Under-19 beat their counterparts from Nepal by 111 runs in the first match and lead the best-of-three series going into the final game on January 28.
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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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Shane Warne may be pushing the line with his aggressive appealing for wickets, but team-mate Justin Langer, who returns to the Australian side for the final Test at Sydney, says his style provides some of cricket’s great theatre.”It’s indicative of his passion for the game,” Langer told reporters before leaving Melbourne. “I remember as a kid watching Dennis Lillee appeal. It was one of the great sights of cricket. I used to run around as a 10-year-old, bowl and then appeal like Lillee. He thinks it out and he gives it a big appeal. To me that’s just part of the game, part of the great theatre of the great Shane Warne.”Langer said critics had to realise that constant appealing by slow bowlers was part of the game when fielders were crowding around the bat in a tense atmosphere. “When you play on a wicket that is spinning a lot like we saw in Melbourne, there are a lot of people around the bat and there’s a lot happening. In the past we’ve been critical of over-appealing on the subcontinent but if you look at it, that’s almost the nature of the game in those circumstances.”There are people around the bat, there’s a lot of action, particularly when you’ve got class bowlers. India have [Anil] Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, here we have Warnie and [Stuart] MacGill,” he added. “It’s not a tactic or anything like that. If we see it, we appeal if we think it’s out. I don’t think we are over-appealing at all. To me it’s just a part of the game.”Meanwhile, South African paceman Andre Nel says South Africa may copy Australia’s aggressive appealing at Sydney. He said that if Australian bowlers like Warne can get away with it, then maybe South Africa should follow suit.”I think they are very, very clever about the way they do things with umpires,” Nel told reporters at Sydney Airport. “They put a lot of pressure on the umpires and sometimes it counts in their favour. Maybe we can learn something from them in a certain way by doing this. But sometimes they go a bit overboard and it gets a bit annoying, but that’s the way they do it and it’s working for them.”Nel also said he was looking forward to opening the bowling alongside Shaun Pollock with Makhaya Ntini having been forced home with a knee injury. “It’s always nice to get the chance with the new ball and to bowl with Polly,” he added. “I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
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Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has marked out Steve Harmison as one of England’s weak links in the forthcoming Ashes. In an interview to the newspaper of England he said, “I said before the series began that he [Harmison] is a big confidence bowler, and because of that we certainly targeted him, as I’m sure Australia will do.”Smith went on to add that Harmison, for all his improvement in recent times, was not all that different from the man he faced about two years ago when England and South Africa last met. “He didn’t start well and his confidence levels dropped as the series went on,” he said. “It looked to me like he was trying to find something that was missing all the way through. He never really found it. We felt he was pretty much the same bowler we faced two years ago.”But it was not all negative in Smith’s report card. “The one thing that did impress me about England on this tour was their resilience,” he conceded. “We’ve often heard stories in the past about batting collapses, and that if you get on top of England they are the type of team to fold. We didn’t get that feeling this time, so that is obviously something that has come with winning and with keeping a settled team. We often had them at about 260 for six but we could never quite close the deal. They are a tough team to beat now.”In the end, though, the outlook for England in the Ashes was not particularly bright. “I don’t believe you can play conservatively against the Australians and win. You have to take a few risks,” said Smith. “I think England’s bowling will be OK and the series will boil down to two areas: how the batsmen cope with Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and whether England can stay with Australia at the start of the series. If they don’t do either, they’ve got no chance.”
Sri Lanka 89 for 0 (Jayasuriya 46*, Kaluwitharana 36*) beat England 88 (Collingwood 31, Vaas 3-15) by 10 wickets
Scorecard
All at sea: Dinusha Fernando celebrates dismissing Michael Vaughan © Getty Images |
What a difference six days and 1300 miles makes. Last week England were casually duffing up Bangladesh, the smallest boy in the playground. Today it was their turn to be on the receiving end of a sound thrashing by a more skilful and determined opponent. England were shot out for 88 – only just scraping past their lowest in ODIs, 86 against Australia at Old Trafford in 2001 – then Sri Lanka made a mockery of that by knocking off the runs in just 13.5 overs to go one-up in this three-match series.After their collapse England needed quick wickets when play resumed under the floodlights, the questionable quality of which had helped Michael Vaughan to decide to bat first after winning the toss. In the event, though, it was lights out for England.Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s former captain, spanked the first ball of the reply for four, and collected another boundary later in that same over from Jimmy Anderson. In all Jayasuriya sprinted to 46 from only 41 balls – there were four more fours too, and a scything six over cover off Rikki Clarke – while his old sparring partner Romesh Kaluwitharana was no slouch either, flailing 36 from 42 balls with seven punchy fours of his own. It was only England’s third 10-wicket defeat in ODIs – one of the others came in Sri Lanka, too (at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo in 2000-01, in the previous match between these two sides in Sri Lanka), while the other was an equally speedy despatch by Australia, Adam Gilchrist to the fore, at Sydney last winter.In Bangladesh England’s batsmen – with the exception of Vikram Solanki – scored runs with ease. But on a green and moist pitch at Dambulla they appeared to have forgotten how to get the ball off the square. That should not take anything away from Sri Lanka’s bowlers, who all exercised excellent control and accuracy – the intense pressure they applied in the first 15 overs undermined the whole England innings. Chaminda Vaas finished with the best figures, while Upul Chandana’s 2 for 23 were the most expensive … until England bowled, that is.Andrew Strauss’s delight at being given his first cap was short-lived, and it was one of Sri Lanka’s own debutants who spoiled the moment. Strauss looked to drive a half-volley back past Dinusha Fernando, but the ball seamed back into him and Fernando took a good low return catch. Strauss, brought in to replace Solanki, had made 3 (8 for 1).Nine balls earlier and it had been Fernando whose debut was starting poorly, as Marcus Trescothick smashed his first ball, a wide half-volley, to the cover boundary. But after that Trescothick was pegged back, and eventually frustration got the better of him. In the seventh over he came down the pitch to Chaminda Vaas and had a lucky escape as he edged to fine leg for four. But next ball he wasn’t so lucky, as he again gave Vaas the charge but only skyed the ball to Nuwan Kulasekara – another debutant – at mid-on. Trescothick made 9 (12 for 2).It got worse for England, and even better for Fernando. Michael Vaughan, who had looked far from confident in making 2 from 19 balls, pushed defensively at Fernando, and inside-edged onto his leg stump (17 for 3). And then Andrew Flintoff, England’s hero in Bangladesh, aimed a loose, limp drive at Vaas, and only looped the ball to Kumar Sangakkara in the covers. Flintoff had made 3, and England had managed 13 scoring strokes in 15 overs as they limped to 26 for 4.Clarke came and went, bowled for 2 by a delivery from Kulasekara which seamed back into him and kept marginally low (36 for 5). Ian Blackwell followed in Kulasekara’s next over, also for 2, his aggressive cut well held low down by TM Dilshan at point (44 for 6).Thereafter it was damage limitation, and those who last week had moaned about Bangladesh’s pedestrian scoring and goal of simply batting out the full allocation of overs were made to swallow their words. Only Paul Collingwood, with a patient 31 from 96 balls, looked remotely comfortable but the damage had already been done. He eventually scooped a return catch to Chandana (59 for 8).Ashley Giles was the only other man to reach double figures, managing 21 before a fine low catch by Mahela Jayawardene at first slip ended the struggle. Giles and Anderson scraped together 21 for the last wicket, but overall it was a forgettable display by England – and a commanding one by Sri Lanka.
Tripura’s batsmen ensured that their side did not lose to Assam in their Ranji Trophy league match at Guwahati on Thursday.Overnight on 80/1 and facing a deficit of almost 200 runs, the visiting batsmen held their nerve to play steadily for a draw. Opener Rasudeb Dutta fell after almost 20 overs of play, making 45 off 145 balls.SD Chowdhury and A Sattar, however, proved equal to the task ahead of them. Putting on 81 runs for the third wicket in almost 30 overs, they proceeded to grind Assam’s bowling successfully. Chowdhury made 76 off 170 balls, while Sattar scored 69 off 190 balls.Both fell before the close of play, but Tripura ended the day on 288/6, with Sandip Bannerjee and R Dutta at the crease. With this draw, the visitors pick three points by virtue of their first-innings deficit, while the hosts pick up five points.
Karachi, Nov 16: A century partnership between Faisal Iqbal and FarhanAdil lifted Karachi Blues to 238 for six in their first inningsagainst Peshawar on the opening day of the Quaid-i-Azam TrophyNational Grade-I Cricket Championship match at the UBL Sports Complexhere on Thursday.Faisal and Farhan put on exactly 100 for the fifth-wicket in 111minutes after the Blues had lost four wickets for 98 runs.Faisal, the 18-year-old nephew of former Pakistan captain and presentcoach Javed Miandad, played some exquisite shots in making 71 off 159balls. His 191-minute included nine fours. He was the sixth man outwhen he was caught in the covers.Farhan also posted his fifty but after making 53 off 99 balls in 111minutes, he was bowled by slow left-armer Mohammad Aslam Qureshi.Farhan’s innings was laced with five hits to the fence.Aslam, in fact, turned out to be the most successful bowler afterKarachi Blues skipper and Test discard Rashid Latif elected to batfirst upon winning the toss. Aslam has so far captured four for 60while Test off-spinner Arshad Khan has claimed two for 89.Openers Maisam Hasnain and Afsar Nawaz were out in identical fashionafter making 17 each.But Nomanullah (11) and the left-handed Asim Kamal (32 off 50 ballswith four fours) were extremely unhappy at being adjudged out toPeshawar captain Arshad Khan. Noman was caught behind by Shoaib Khanwhile Asim was ‘caught’ at silly-point by Riffatullah.
A major Tottenham Hotspur transfer claim has emerged this week regarding what they want to do in July…
What’s the talk?
Alasdair Gold has provided an update on the club’s plans for the upcoming window and the positions that they want to strengthen in ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
He wrote in his Football London Q&A: “There’s been a lot of talk about Tottenham having to spend this summer in order to convince both Conte and Kane of their ambition, while Fabio Paratici also likes a free transfer. I think Spurs will be pretty busy this summer.
“They need to be. In terms of positions, at this point they want a new striker, a right wing-back, a left-sided centre-back and another creative player. Anyone who leaves will have to be replaced as well. Like I say, it has to be a busy one.”
Excitement
Spurs fans will surely be excited by this news as it suggests that they have plenty to look forward to in the upcoming window.
Gold has claimed that they want at least four new additions and that does not take into account any players they will sell and replace over the course of the summer. This means that the supporters can expect to see plenty of outgoings and incomings, which should delight them as it brings with it the prospect of Antonio Conte’s squad being bolstered with additional quality.
The fans will be particularly excited by this claim after the impressive work by Fabio Paratici in the January transfer window. He brought in Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus and both players have caught the eye since making their respective moves.
Kulusevski has produced two goals and one assist in five Premier League games whilst averaging an impressive SofaScore rating of 7.20. All three of his direct goal contributions have come in his last three appearances as he is showing that he has the quality to make an impact at this level.
Bentancur, meanwhile, has been a solid presence in the middle of the park. He has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.88 in his four league outings, making 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game and completing 84% of his attempted passes.
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If Tottenham can replicate these successes four or five more times in the summer window then it could be a terrific few months for the fans to enjoy. This is why they will be delighted by the prospect of Paratici looking to add four or more new signings to the squad.
AND in other news, Major boost: Spurs handed big double injury lift pre-Everton, Conte will be buzzing…
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Shoaib Malik hopes Pakistan will put the miseries of 2007 behind them and bounce back with strong performances in the next 12 months.”Apart from a few positives the last year was not very good for us, but I am sure that the team will settle and do well in the new year, in which we have to play Australia and [compete] in various important tournaments,” Malik said.Pakistan had a year to forget, crashing out of the World Cup in the first round, where their coach Bob Woolmer also died. Woolmer’s death came a day after Pakistan’s loss to Ireland and overshadowed Pakistan’s premature ejection.The defeat prompted Inzamam-ul Haq to relinquish the captaincy and quit one-day cricket. Malik, 25, took over after first-choice Younis Khan declined to take charge citing personal reasons, while Mohammad Yousuf was not considered for the job.Malik led Pakistan to a one-day series win over World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka before his team reached the final of the Twenty20 World Championship held in September in South Africa. “Our series win over Sri Lanka and runners-up finish to India in the Twenty20 were the bright points and if we keep that sort of intensity we can also improve our Test performance,” he said.Pakistan lost all three of their Test series – two against South Africa (home and away) and to India in India late last year. They also lost the one-day series against South Africa and India and were relegated to sixth in both one-day and Test rankings.”It’s not that we lost one-sided contests, but the notable thing was that we made minor mistakes and if we have learnt from those mistakes, which I am confident we have, then we can do well in this new year.”Pakistan face Zimbabwe in a five-match one-day home series later this month before playing hosts to Australia – a series which Malik hopes will raise his team’s confidence. “Whenever you play against Australia your confidence rises because they are a world-class team and I hope that if we do well it will help us in the Champions Trophy later this year,” he said.Malik also played down fears that Australia could pull out of the tour after last week’s assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the ensuing unrest in the country. Ricky Ponting said he was keen to play Pakistan, but at a neutral venue. “I don’t see the series being disturbed over security fears because things will settle down and the Pakistan Cricket Board and players like me will do our best to have this series on our grounds,” Malik said.
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.