Brad Hogg relishes the challenge of bowling to Sourav Ganguly, India’sbest batsman over the last 12 months. Ganguly was Hogg’s first Test victim, back in1996 in Delhi, and he was thrilled to have dismissed him in both innings inMelbourne.”Ganguly was my first Test and international wicket and it was good to get him outin his 100th Test match,” Hogg said. “And to get him out twice was pleasing but atthe end of the day we have another Test match, so I have to be on my game to do thesame thing.”Hogg nailed Ganguly with a flipper in the first innings, skidding on to the stumps,and induced a close-in catch in the second. Not only did Hogg ably support thefast bowlers, with four wickets in the big win, but also silenced doubters about hisability to bowl to India’s much-vaunted batting line-up.Hogg’s googly has troubled batsmen in the one-day format but he pulled out theflipper to surprise India in Melbourne. “I really have not bowled it for the pastcouple of years,” Hogg said of his flipper. “A couple of the boys have told me toput it in my locker. It is just one of those things I thought if there is a momentthat I might just try it in a game and it just happened that it worked, so yeah ifyou have got it you might as well use it as the saying goes.”Hogg said he viewed the MCG opportunity as a chance to fill Stuart MacGill’s shoesbut went on to suggest that he was ready to take his spot. “But you never know whatis going to happen down the track,” he said. “I could not play tomorrow and play ayear later. I have just come in here and want to lap up every moment as much aspossible and you never know what is around the corner.”Was there any area of his game that he was keen to work on for Sydney? “Patience, Ithink. I’m an impatient bloke myself. It’s important I bowl with the same patiencethat the faster bowlers did. The pitch at Sydney has changed quite a bit. I guessspinners may have to work a lot harder. It was a bit nerve-wracking in the earlystages in Melbourne. But my batting in the second innings calmed it down a bit.Nerves are about wanting to do well.”
The ECB have confirmed the seven-man review committee which will undertake an assessment of English cricket following the Ashes whitewash. As announced earlier this week Ken Schofield, the former executive director of the PGA Tour, will head a group containing six former Test cricketers.Nasser Hussain, Nick Knight, Angus Fraser, Hugh Morris and Micky Stewart are joined by Brian Rose, the director of cricket at Somerset, who played nine Tests but will also bring an administrative and business point of view. However, there is no place on the panel for Mike Atherton, who’d been widely expected to take a role.Between them the panel has a total of 179 Tests and 232 ODIs over first-class careers stretched from 1954 to 2006, with Knight having only retired from Warwickshire last summer. Stewart, meanwhile, has also been coach and manager of the England team.The inclusion of Morris, who is the ECB’s deputy chief executive, seems to go against the statement that the review will be “fully independent”, but David Collier, the chief executive, defended the move. “He’s not a board director and he’s not in charge of that area [international cricket], whereas I am a board director, so that’s the logic there.”The review panel will take a comprehensive look at the game, not just the Ashes defeat, and recommend what needs to be done to give England its best chance of regaining the Ashes in 2009 and winning a global one-day event by 2011.David Morgan, the ECB chairman, said: “The board has determined that this review forms a critical element of ECB’s planning for the four-year cycle, which commences immediately after the 2007 World Cup.”The board is delighted that such a high-profile team has been assembled with great experience of both playing and coaching at international and domestic level and looks forward to receiving the report at our March meeting.”
It took Trinidad and Tobago less than an hour after lunch to beat Jamaica.The afternoon sun was still out, though a shower was on the way to St Augustine. But in a real sense, Daren Ganga’s side hardly had to break a sweat to complete their comprehensive and thoroughly deserved 282-run win in this Carib Beer Cricket Series fixture at the Sir Frank Worrell Ground at UWI, St Augustine. Routed for an embarrassing 89 in their second innings, due in the main to Dave Mohammed’s five-wicket haul and Rayad Emrit’s telling opening spell yesterday morning (10-3-13-3), the defending four-day champions will not look back with either pleasure or pride on their work in this match, particularly yesterday.On a pitch where the greatest difficulty for the batsmen was its slowness, the Jamaicans – with West Indies players Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels and even Carlton Baugh, the wicketkeeper-batsman, in their line-up – let themselves down badly with their approach.With T&T declaring overnight on 178 for 7, the Jamaicans knew that survival was their only recourse, not chasing 372 for victory on the fourth and final day. It is not a prospect they relish, this playing for time. But, sadly, they never seemed to try. For that, credit focused T&T and Emrit in particular. He went wicket-less in the first innings, but yesterday morning he put up his hand, bowling three of the first four in the order.With the score on just seven, out-of-touch Hinds’s defence was breached. At 22, Samuels showed his careless side again, bowled middle stump as he drove loosely, and then at 24, Tamar Lambert also lost his middle stump to another full and deadly accurate Emrit delivery. Ganga’s somewhat controversial decision not to enforce the follow-on was being justified very early. And before lunch, Mohammed made his skipper’s decision look even better with the wickets of Brenton Parchment – who drove tamely to Jason Mohammed at mid-off-and upset Dave Bernard Jnr, who lost an lbw decision to a ball which skidded onto him as he played back.Lunch was taken at 58 for 5 and perhaps only Bernard could be excused for his failure. Baugh, the near hero of this corresponding fixture last year in Tobago with a century that threatened to get Jamaica to an improbable victory target, had the usually steady Gareth Breese for his partner. But neither of them would give much trouble this time. With one run added after the interval, Breese, strangely reckless, skied a lofted drive to Jason Mohammed off Dave. The Jamaican UWI students, watching upstairs in Canada Hall at the southern end, must not have felt like waving their large national flag. There was no pride in performance to applaud out on the field.Baugh, who didn’t attempt to curb his natural aggression in the circumstances, followed 17 runs later at 76, for a top-score of 39 made in 43 balls. Predictably, he fell on his blade, miscuing an attempted swing at Mohammed to substitute fielder Serwin Ganga, deputising for Gregory Mahabir, who Baugh had earlier struck a blow on the right arm.The end came even more swiftly thereafter, the last three wickets falling for the addition of 13. Mohammed put Jamaica out of their misery with his fifth wicket-Andrew Richardson, who pushed him into Tishan Maraj’s hands at silly point. But before that, debutant leg-spinner Sanjiv Gooljar had got himself on a hat-trick with the successive dismissals of Jerome Taylor and Jermaine Lawson.Full points to T&T. Fully deserved.
Matthew Hayden is in danger of missing the third one-day match against New Zealand with a shoulder injury after re-sealing his spot with a satisfying hundred at Christchurch last night. Hayden, who was unable to collect the Man-of-the-Match award, ended the game with his right arm in a sling having left the field following a diving catch to remove Chris Cairns.The injury, a grade-one strain to the AC joint, is an untimely blow for Hayden in his successful comeback from being dropped for the two VB Series finals against Pakistan. Hayden collected 71 in the first match against New Zealand and 114 in the second to set up Australia’s 106-run win, which gave them a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.”It’s pretty sore, as you expect ten hours out from the injury,” Hayden told . “But as a gut feeling it’s probably a little bit better than I first anticipated.”Alex Kountouri, the team physiotherapist, will monitor Hayden’s improvement over the next two days before a decision is made on his fitness for Saturday’s game at Auckland. “There is a fair amount of swelling around the joint, so we will have a clearer picture as to how Matthew is progressing once that swelling subsides,” Kountouri said. “While there is some doubt over his chances to play in the third game, he certainly hasn’t been ruled out.”Cairns hit Andrew Symonds towards deep square leg and Hayden rubbed his shoulder as he stood up from the spectacular rolling catch. Hayden went quickly from the team huddle to the dressing room and his arm was put in a sling to ease pressure on the joint.
A collective effort from Pakistan’s batsmen lifted them to anexciting win over New Zealand at Lahore. An inspired spell ofbatting, in which Abdul Razzaq clouted 47 from just 22 balls, helpedPakistan chase down a mammoth 292 with two overs to spare. Thisgave Pakistan the surge of confidence they have lacked in recenttimes. The three-wicket win gave Pakistan a 1-0 lead inthe five-match one-day series.When New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat, they needed toput a big total on the board. Having done that, they couldhardly believe their eyes as Pakistan ran away with the game.New Zealand handed debuts to six players: Craig Cumming, RichardJones, Hamish Marshall, Michael Mason, Matthew Walker and KerryWalmsley. With massive inexperience in the ranks, New Zealandneeded one of the seniors to step up and take charge. Cairns,leading the side in the absence of Stephen Fleming, played therole to perfection.After a shaky start, Mathew Sinclair and Marshall batted withcaution, and strung together a 99-run stand that kept thePakistan bowlers at bay. They kept the scoring rate ticking over,making their 99 runs from 21.2 overs.Against the run of play, Sinclair and Marshall were bothdismissed. Each had made 55, and their dismissals, with more thanten overs to go, brought Cairns and Jacob Oram together. Curiouslyenough, the fall of these two wickets close to the 40th overproved to be a blessing in disguise for New Zealand. Cairns andOram boosted the scoring rate with lusty blows and as many as 112runs were scored in the final ten overs, taking New Zealand to amassive 291.Cairns’s intent was obvious, even as he walked out to the middlewith the score on 178 and with more than 10 overs to go. Hecould make the difference between a merely healthy total and animposing one – and he did so in emphatic fashion. Cairns cut and drovethe medium-pacers with power, but reserved his most brutal effortfor the hapless Danish Kaneria.Kaneria’s last over, the 48th of the innings, went for 22 runs.The second, third and fourth balls of the over were alldespatched into the stands in style. After pulling the ball overmidwicket, Cairns showed he was no one-trick pony. He came downthe track and dumped one ball into the stands over long off, andfinished with a big heave over midwicket.Jacob Oram (35) provided Cairns with good support, and was onlydismissed off the first ball of the final over. By then, though,it hardly made a difference. Cairns’s 51-ball 84, inlcuding five fours and sixsixes took New Zealand to a strong position.Pakistan have chased down big totals in the past, and stillremain a dangerous, if incosistent, force in internationalcricket. They got off to the worst possible start, when they lostImran Farhat off only the third ball of the innings. Then, YousufYouhana (42) and Yasir Hameed (52) laid the foundation blocks toa famous win, adding 90 runs for the second wicket in 17 overs.
The fact that Pakistan scored 292 in 40 overs with no-one makingmore than 52 is testimony to the manner in which they builtpartnerships and always remained within striking distance of theasking rate. Inzamam-ul-Haq (49) played with characteristicfluency, mixing big hitting with careful defence. When he wastrapped lbw by Cairns in the 37th over (194 for 4), Pakistan werein deep trouble.Moin Khan (43), promoted to No. 5, used his experience togood effect, stealing runs from under the noses of the NewZealanders. He set himself up for a final charge, but could notresist cutting at a wide one from Daniel Vettori, and edged acatch to Brendon McCullum behind the stumps (196 for 5).Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik fell without causing a flutter andPakistan looked dead and buried at 227 for 7 in 43.2 overs. Theystill needed 65 runs from 40 balls with only Razzaq and the tailto follow. In an innings that will long be remembered by thosefortunate enough to witness it, Razzaq hit the cover off the ballin a 22-ball display of power hitting. At 47 not out (three fours, twosixes), he found himself an unlikely hero. Pakistan were over theline, and New Zealand could scarcely believe it. The last 65 runshad come off only 28 balls. Things happened so fast, that NewZealand will need a day or two to recover.
New Zealand’s longest-serving international umpire Steve Dunne will become the first umpire in the world to stand in 100 One-Day Internationals when walking out for the National Bank Series decider between New Zealand and England in Dunedin tomorrow.Dunne was unavailable to discuss his career yesterday, as he wanted to prepare for the game without any distraction. But before he ended the call he did acknowledge that he was unaware of the fact that he will be the first to achieve the milestone.The top 10 list of most appearances in ODIs by umpires reads: Steve Dunne (NZ) 99, David Shepherd (England) 97, Steve Randell (Australia) 88, Tony Crafter (Australia) 84, Steve Bucknor (West Indies) 83, Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe) 82, Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) 77, David Orchard (South Africa) 77, Darrell Hair (Australia) 74, Dickie Bird (England) 70.The top five New Zealand ODI umpiring list is: Dunne 99, Doug Cowie 63, Brian Aldridge 45, Steve Woodward 30, Dave Quested 30.It started for Dunne back in the summer of 1988/89 when he stood in his first One-Day International, on the same Carisbrook ground he had graced during his playing career for Otago. New Zealand were playing Pakistan and the most notable feature of the game was that it was a replacement match for the first Test of the series that had been abandoned without a ball being bowled.New Zealand won a low scoring game.His list of appointments was slowed by the fact that he was not on New Zealand’s list of World Cup umpires in 1992, as Aldridge and Woodward were the preferred umpires. However, he was on the panel for the 1996 and 1999 World Cups.His first overseas appointments under the independent umpires scheme was at Sharjah in 1995/96 for a series involving Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the West Indies.Forty-six of his games have been in New Zealand, 24 in Sharjah, eight each in India and Canada, five in England, three each in Pakistan and Bangladesh and two in Sri Lanka.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Eric Dier has been the victim of a disgraceful decision by Gareth Southgate after the Spurs man missed out on a place in the England squad, claims Spurs source John Wenham.
The Lowdown: Dier’s form
Since returning from a thigh injury in February, the 28-year-old has jumped straight back into the action at his best, having played the full 90 minutes in every Premier League fixture since.
The £92k-per-week centre-back has made featured 26 times for the Lilywhites in the top-flight this season. This adds to his impressive tally with the north London club, where he has amassed 310 appearances during his eight-year tenure.
However, following a recent announcement, Dier has missed out on a place in the England squad for their upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and the Ivory Coast.
Wenham, an N17 insider who drops news on his Lilywhite Rose social channels, thinks it is an outrage that Dier has been omitted from the England squad.
Speaking with Football Insider, he claimed:
“I think it’s an absolute disgrace for Southgate to exclude Dier from the latest England squad.
“This is a guy who has done things for that manager on the biggest stage.
“That includes a winning penalty in a World Cup quarter-final. His form this season has been brilliant.
“Tyrone Mings has not been good this season, Conor Coady is not as good as Dier.
“I just find it baffling. From a Tottenham point of view, it will benefit us because he has a week or so to rest before our nine cup finals.
“I don’t think it’s fair that players like Marc Guehi and Ben White have been called up when Dier has just been better than them.”
The Verdict: Good for Spurs
Whilst Wenham may be outraged with the Tottenham man’s omission, this news can be looked at in a positive light for the club.
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Having just recovered from an injury which kept him sidelined for four of Spurs’ Premier League games across January and February, Antonio Conte will be relieved that one of his key defenders will not be risking a potential injury over the international break.
If the Lilywhites are to make a final push for a top four finish, they will need every squad member to be at full fitness to play at Conte’s desired level, so Dier’s omission could be a blessing in disguise.
In other news: Tottenham Hotspur: Fabio Paratici linked with Paulo Dybala move
Younis Khan, standing in as captain for the injured Shoaib Malik, has dissociated himself from the decision to include Shoaib Akhtar in the playing XI for the second Test, saying such questions should be put to decision-makers and not to him.”I am not captain here, nor the coach,” Younis wrote in his column in the on Sunday. “I’ve been asked about the decision to to play Shoaib who is obviously not well. I am not responsible for certain decisions that have been taken. I was informed on the morning of the match that I would lead the team and I’m doing my best in leading a team that has been given to me.”Shoaib Akhtar, who took six wickets in the first Test, was laid low by a chest infection ahead of the second match in Kolkata and was taken to hospital for treatment. Mohammad Sami was also suffering from a chest infection but both were included in the XI.Younis also wrote that, had he been part of the decision-making process, he would have done things differently. But he admitted the coach and the manager were in an uncomfortable position at the start of the Test as Pakistan faced several injury problems. “[They had] to count bodies and see whether we could field a full team or not.”Younis has twice turned down the captaincy offer – in October 2006 just before the Champions Trophy and in April this year following Pakistan’s exit from the World Cup. But he accepted the vice-captaincy for the tour of India, replacing Salman Butt in a role that he had played for nearly two years under Inzamam-ul-Haq.
We did really well to get to 249, especially after losing wickets at regular intervals in the first innings. And then to bowl South Africa out for 84 was the turning point – you don’t bowl Test teams inside 30 overs. Despite the pitch fiasco at the beginning of the game our bowlers still had to go out there and bowl in the right areas, which they duly did. Both Sree and Zaheer got swing early on; that’s what the Kookaburra ball does when it’s new, it generally swings early on. But once the ball becomes older and the seam flattens out it becomes difficult unless the wicket has something in it.The seam is key on wickets like these even if you slow down on the pace. For Sree to take five-for was just magnificent. He normally bowls at a good pace and is able to swing it. What he did in Jo’burg was he bowled at the right lengths, something the South African bowlers failed to do. When you pick up five or six wickets with the new ball the opposition is always going to be in trouble unless someone plays a mighty rearguard. Even in the South African second innings our bowlers, with the old ball, stuck to their lengths. With the unevenness of the wicket it was always going to be difficult for the batsman to face up against the moving ball. And a pitch like this, from which you can extract so much, is exciting because you don’t get too many of them around the world these days.The problem is, coming from Indian wickets and conditions it is difficult to get the ball in the right areas; our bowlers did well to do that. To top it all our fielding was top class and we didn’t give the South Africans any room. Forget winning, I don’t think anyone gave us the chance even to draw except those 15 in the dressing room and I would’ve loved to be there with the team now.
Strategy and Teamwork: Ajit Wadekar (England v India, The Oval, 1971) – ‘The seniors inspired the juniors’Rahul’s decision to bat showed we were not afraid of the bouncy track or their much quicker bowlers. That must have given confidence to all the players and they might have thought, “Ok, our captain is bold enough to have that much faith in the team.” Rahul did the right thing to help us forget what happened in the one-day series. The result was there in the body language.Normally Rahul picks India out of batting collapses but he is going through a rare lean patch with the bat; this time, the others like Sourav, VVS Laxman and Sachin pitched in to carry us to safety. The team now is a balanced composition of experience and youth. And the youngsters will learn a lot lessons from the seniors not only verbally but through their actions. A fine example was that of Sourav. After South Africa had put the Indian top order to the sword, it was experience that told Sourav to stay at the wicket. Despite being a strokeplayer, he curtailed his shots and even copped a few blows. He did an extremely good job and showed the youngsters that every ball can’t be – needn’t be – hit for a four but instead you’ve got to stay there and see that a good enough score can be reached. I am sure a youngster like VRV Singh got the confidence from Sourav being there at the end and we got some valuable runs in the end. The bowlers walked in confidently, bowled a good line and length and what I liked most about someone like Sreesanth was his aggression. His statement is “Hum bhi kuch kam nahin (We aren’t inferior to anyone).” Not only does it play on the opposition, it also gives your teammates that extra confidence. That was shown by VVS Laxman in the second innings as he knew he would be giving his bowlers a lot of confidence by increasing the lead. This is the nucleus we should concentrate on and we should stop experimenting.
The Batting: Anshuman Gaekwad (West Indies v India, Port-of-Spain, 1976) – ‘Determination and concentration’Batting on wickets of this kind you need tremendous determination and concentration besides the adjustment you need to do especially if you are not used to such wickets. Obviously, you also need the will to score the runs. Once you are determined you are willing to adjust to the pace and bounce and then only you can survive. That is exactly what Sourav did against all the odds and not once did he look tentative in the first innings. That laid down the base. By deciding to leave as many balls as possible and play only those he could score against he looked very much in control and it never appeared he was making a comeback. The South Africans did all that they could by bowling from both sides of the wicket, pitching it short thinking the Indians are susceptible, but it didn’t work. Both Sourav and VVS made use of their experience and applied themselves very well.