The former Australian coach Bob Simpon said England’s ability to swing the ball could be the trump card that helps them retain the Ashes in Australia. Simpson believes a lack of quality swing bowlers around the world – including in Australia – has reduced batsmen’s ability to counter the tactic.He said nobody should assume the ball will fail to move under Australian conditions. “If England swings the ball as much as they did in England, and quite frankly I think the ball swings more out here anyway, they are going to be very, very tough to beat,” Simpson told . “I think the ball swings more out here, always has.”The Kookaburra ball is more conducive to swing bowling than any ball in the world. The English balls always have a thick lacquer over it and you have to wait a few overs for the lacquer to go because of the dampness over there.”Australia’s batsmen had trouble handling the reverse-swing of the England bowlers during last year’s Ashes series and Simpson puts the problem down to a focus on express pace rather than movement in the air. “I have been writing for the last six or seven years of the need to get more [Australian] bowlers bowling swing,” he said. “Like the rest of the world, the Australian batsmen do not play the moving ball well.”Simpson said promoting Mitchell Johnson to the Test team would be a positive step for Australia. “I am all for giving youth a chance, one of the disappointing things is that youngsters who have been given opportunities have not taken the chance and it would be great [if he did],” he said. “We need the younger guys coming through to push the older guys into greater effort and if Mitchell Johnson can come through that is a huge bonus.”
Reacting angrily to a media report suggesting ego clashes between them, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar have sought an apology and also threatened to take legal action if such “misleading” reports continue to be published in the future.In a joint statement, the duo rubbished the media report, pertaining to Ganguly calling Tendulkar a “tourist” and the latter conveying to Kiran More, the chairman of the selection committee, his unwillingness to play under Ganguly’s captaincy – thereby pushing Rahul Dravid for the role.”We state that the story of Sourav calling Sachin a tourist and Sachin refusing to play under Sourav and thereby pushing Dravid is completely untrue,” the statement said.”[Kiran] More conveying to his colleagues that Sachin did not want to play under Sourav is completely false and misleading,” it added.The two players said they expected an apology on behalf of the newspaper “[because] such made up, false stories are harmful for Indian cricket. If this is not rectified, legal action will have to be taken in future,” they said.
ScorecardMumbai romped to an innings victory over Bengal at Kolkata. The innings and 132-run margin was made possible by Wasim Jaffer’s 162 and incisive bowling by Romesh Powar, who took three wickets in the second innings to claim a match haul of 10 for 114. Bengal stuttered to 181 in the second innings after Ajit Agarkar struck twice early and then wrapped up the game. Sole resistance came in the form of Rohan Gavaskar, who struck nine boundaries on his way to an unbeaten 70. Agarkar had figures of 4 for 32 in 19 overs. ScorecardA thriller at the Jamia Millia Cricket Ground in New Delhi ended when bad light was declared late on the last day with Delhi requiring two wickets for victory, and Madhya Pradesh only 17 runs away from their target of 173. Shikhar Dhawan set it up in the morning with his 88, which guided Delhi to 227. But Amit Bhandari turned it Delhi’s way again when it looked like a lost cause after Madhya Pradesh reached 102 for 2. He soon prised out three middle-order wickets to have Madhya Pradesh in deep trouble. But Amay Khurasiya was still there, and only when he was the eighth man out, for 48, were the gates finally open for Delhi. Then, anticlimactically, bad light struck. ScorecardKarnataka rode over early setbacks in their second innings to post a five-wicket win over Andhra at Bangalore. They reached their target of 155 in a flurry of boundaries – seven came in the last 19 balls of the game. Venugopal Rao prised out 4 for 47 to reduce Karnataka to 98 for 4 and then 127 for 5, but a rapid 31-run stand between Sunil Joshi and V Naidu saw them home. Joshi had wrapped up Andhra’s innings for 245 in the morning to register 4 for 63 for the innings, but it had been a fightback of sorts by Andhra, who were precariously placed at 188 for 6 the previous evening. In any event, it wasn’t enough. ScorecardRajesh Pawar and Rishikesh Parab struck unbeaten 90s to guide Baroda to a five-wicket win over Hyderabad at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad. Their stand, worth 149 runs, rescued the team from a perilous 130 for 5 and withstood whatever Hyderabad’s eight bowlers could toss down the pitch. What made Baroda’s victory remarkable was that they were dismissed for 93 in their first innings. ScorecardGujarat batted out the whole day and laboured to 227 for 5. They had two points for the first-innings lead and did not force the issue thereafter, preferring to play for a draw. Nilesh Modi continued his good run with 68 – his second fifty of the game – and Mukund Parmar, the captain, scored 61. ScorecardTamil Nadu opted to bat out most of the last day of their game against Assam at Guwahati. The result was a draw. They took away 2 points for their first-innings lead after restricting Assam to 430. But try as they did, the bowlers were unable to dislodge Rajagopal Sathish, who remained unconquered on 204, off 295 balls. The attack was led by Rangachary Srinivas, who claimed six wickets. Then Tamil Nadu put up 224 for 4, with Vikram Kumar scoring 81 and Sridharan Sriram unbeaten on 62.
What a different atmosphere there could be tomorrow evening in Totton’s two premier cricket clubs whose grounds lie less than two miles apart.At Southern Gardens, BAT Sports will be celebrating the recapture of the ECB Southern Electric Premier League championship trophy from Havant if they win their penultimate 50-over match at Liphook & Ripsley.But at nearby Loperwood Park, Calmore Sports could be in mourning – if they fail to win their bottom-of-the-table battle with Portsmouth. Both matches start at 1 o’clock.BAT, who have fitness worries over James Schofield and Mark Page, need 18 more points to make sure Bournemouth cannot overhaul them.But that will become mathematically irrelevant if the second-placed Dorset club fail to glean anything less than a maximum 22-point return from a testing trip to Havant.Liphook, safe with nothing to play for save pride, are unlikely to provide undue resistance to BAT’s title claim.But Havant, facing their lowest finishing point for many years, are determined to complete a treble over Bournemouth, whom they upstaged in the recent SEC Cup final at the Rose Bowl.There is an outside chance that Richard Hindley, who broke two fingers during his Hampshire heroics against Glamorgan in June, could play for Havant.Calmore expect to be more or less back to full strength for the do-or-die clash against Portsmouth, who appear to be in some junior section disarray – a factor that could affect their Premier 1 accreditation status."We’ve got to pull out all the stops and produce our best performance of the season tomorrow," said Calmore all-rounder James Hibberd."It’s a day when people’s characters have got to shine through. We’ve got the ability to win – so let’s go and do it."Calmore lie 29 points behind Portsmouth, whose last match is at Havant. Calmore finish at Andover.The Hampshire Academy, one of three sides chasing third spot, have switched their match with Andover from the Rose Bowl to London Road.Teenager James France, who has taken 22 wickets in his debut season for Bashley (Rydal) 2nd XI, gets rare Premier 1 outing against South Wilts at Bemerton.Bashley’s aim is to finish in third spot for a third season in a row, but captain Matt King knows it’s far from straight-forward."It looks like we find ourselves in contesting third spot with Havant and the Hampshire Academy, so we have a mini-battle to focus on for the last fortnight of the season," he said.King remains top Premier 1 wicket-taker, with 36 victims, compared with Kevin Nash’s 31.
The West Indies selectors yesterday named two changes to the currentteam for the upcoming triangular One Day Series, which starts onDecember, 8.Barbadian all-rounder, Ryan Hinds, has been elevated to represent thesenior West Indies, along with compatriot Corey Collymore, who makeshis return to the senior team.Hinds and Collymore, are the only two changes announced yesterday tothe West Indies team which have already conceded the Test series, andnow must try and salvage some pride during the remainder of the tour.Collymore, who was overlooked for the present Test series against SriLanka after coming highly recommended during the West Indies’ homeseries earlier this year against South Africa, returns to the seniorWest Indies team. His selection however, is sure to raise someeyebrows across the Caribbean. Collymore only represented Barbados intwo preliminary round matches of the Red Stripe Bowl, and lost hisplace because of lack of form and control. It is for this reason whyhis inclusion in the West Indies’ team for the triangular series issure to cause some unease and certain discomfort.The West Indies selectors however, have lived up to their widelyregarded reputation as “never failing to surprise”, and surprise theydid since their are obviously more qualified seam bowlers and allrounders available in the West Indies, especially at a time when theWest Indies bowling is depleted.Hinds and Collymore will replace Jamaican Leon Garrick and Guyanese,Colin Stuart in the West Indies squad, which is already in Sri Lanka.The two One-Day selectees are scheduled to leave the Caribbean onFriday and arrive in Sri Lanka on Sunday morning (Sri Lanka time).Twenty-year-old Hinds on the other hand, made his first-class debut in1999 against the Windward Islands and is widely regarded as one of thefew genuine all-rounders in the Caribbean. He last representedBarbados in the 2001 Red Stripe Bowl when he led the team, averaging75.20 runs with two half-centuries in the four matches he played. Healso captured five wickets in the tournament at an average of 26.20runs apiece.The triangular One Day Series begins on December 8.
An unflinching, unbeaten century from England Test discard Mark Ramprakashhas guided Middlesex to a score of 227 all out on the first day of itsCounty Championship clash with Sussex at Southgate.Come rain, thunder and shine all in the one day, Ramprakash was not to bemoved from the crease in an innings that showcased all of his trademarkdetermination. His smooth-stroking 110 was certainly the best possibleriposte in the wake of his omission from the team to play West Indies atOld Trafford next week.Aside from the diminutive right hander’s play, though, this was anothertough day for the Division Two cellar dwellers. In overcast conditions,there was little resolve about their batting. Medium pacers James Kirtley(5/50) and Robin Martin-Jenkins (3/55) revelled in the early going,reducing the locals to 26/2 inside the first hour. The former was evenmore impressive later in the day, coming back in a second spell to inspirethe quick destruction of the home team’s middle order in a collapse thatsaw six wickets lost for the addition of a meagre 95 runs.Middlesex made two strikes of their own – including one in the shadows ofstumps – to have Sussex at 84/2 in reply by the close, but there remains noimmediate indication that its bowlers will be able to summon adequatereward for the considerable skill of their number four batsman.
Aston Villa have a wide range of forward players but Steven Gerrard has struggled to establish which combination of a front three is the best for the team, and despite having a number of options there is no doubt that the Villa manager will bring in even more players if he can identify the right player to get the job done.
Moussa Diaby has been linked to Aston Villa yet again, after he was a hot prospect for the club last summer ahead of the signing of Leon Bailey, and now the winger is reportedly drumming up interest from other Premier League clubs including Newcastle United.
The Frenchman has been making a huge impact on his Bayer Leverkusen team in the Bundesliga this season, with 15 goals and nine assists across all competitions in 31 appearances, so it is no wonder that the 22-year-old is gaining lots of attention from other clubs.
According to One Versus One, only Thomas Muller and Christopher Nkunku have created more chances in the Bundesliga this season so far, with the £47k-per-week gem who was hailed “clever” by team mate Kerem Demirbay, currently the fourth highest assister and has the second most key passes in the German league.
This attacking output and creativity is something Gerrard will find hard to ignore, and will definitely not want to lose out on the opportunity to have a young player of Diaby’s calibre going to Newcastle United who will be easily competing for a higher position in the Premier League alongside Villa next season.
Ollie Watkins was predicted to have a goal rich relationship with his strike partner, Danny Ings, when Villa signed the Southampton striker to work with the 26-year-old last summer. However the pair have failed to find that connection on the pitch, and Watkins definitely benefits playing in a centre forward role, as opposed to out wide.
As a result, bringing in a winger with the creativity levels Diaby is displaying and combining it with Watkins’ finishing means the pair could form a fantastic partnership.
However, the former Rangers boss does have a large amount of attacking players on his books and would surely need to offload some of his current attacking options to accommodate any new arrivals in the forward line to actually enable him to offer them first-team football. That’s especially when many of the current forward players are struggling with getting consistent game time.
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Gerrard will have a lot of decisions to make about his attacking players at Villa this summer, and will need to put a plan in place to either make his forward players happy with consistent rotation, or offload the ones that he won’t get the best out or be able to offer game time to, which could then in turn open up a spot for Diaby to come into the team.
In other news: Jacob Ramsey let down Gerrard vs Southampton
It was the first match of the 2000-01 Carlton Series of one-day internationals. But it was barely distinguishable from the Test series which went before it. Amid sweltering heat, Australia crushed West Indies by seventy-four runs to claim victory in the opening ‘contest’ of this triangular tournament here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.On a day during which the temperature ascended to forty degrees on the Celsius scale, the Australians’ play had the same glow of discipline and efficiency about it that it has carried for so much of this summer. But, for as hot as it was, so their opponents’ form was icy cold. Glacial even.Theoretically, there was much to which to look forward during the course of this match. A shift away from a largely lopsided and predictable Test series to the potentially more exciting one-day international arena should have brought with it new possibilities and new challenges for each of these two teams. Alas, it merely allowed the Australians to saunter to victory again.As the pipe-opener to something more enthralling, it was a damp squib. Once the Australians had overcome the inconvenience of losing Adam Gilchrist (7) to an impetuous stroke in the match’s third over, the West Indians barely seemed to make an effort to thwart them. Instead, their bowling, fielding and their batting became part of an exercise in damage limitation.Following Gilchrist’s hasty exit – as he tried to lift a Cameron Cuffy (2/45 off nine overs) delivery over the leg side only to balloon the shot in the direction of third man – Ricky Ponting (73) and Mark Waugh (51) joined to add 111 in partnership in the space of 134 deliveries. It was an association that made light of any difficulties that might have been posed on a slowish MCG pitch that has offered encouragement to new ball bowlers all season. Neither found too many difficulties in piercing the field; through the opening fifteen overs, a succession of strokes were slammed over the infield and, later, shots were cleverly eased into yawning gaps that were paradoxically created as West Indian captain Jimmy Adams sought to discover a method of imposing more restrictive field settings.A way through for the West Indians finally came via a lazy stroke from Waugh at the medium pace of Laurie Williams (2/39 from eight overs) in the twenty-fifth over. A further trickle of breakthroughs in the overs thereafter also helped retrieve the cause to an extent. But the tourists did not really help themselves; only a wonderful catch from Ricardo Powell at deep mid wicket to remove Ponting and a fine running interception from Nixon McLean at third man to remove Gilchrist assisting eliminate the stains on a copybook blotted by erratic bowling and sloppy ground fielding. Matters in the field became so unpleasant, in fact, that Williams even had to depart the arena in the forty-ninth over after his attempt at backward point to leap and catch a mistimed cut by Andrew Symonds (38*) resulted in him crashing head first into the MCG turf.In truth, the Australians didn’t completely capitalise as they might have done upon their victory at the toss. Wickets were thrown away needlessly in the middle and latter stages of the innings in particular: Mark Waugh (51) lobbed a stroke to long on; Michael Bevan (17) failed to ground a cut shot; Ponting (73) mistimed a pull; and, Steve Waugh (29) presented a regulation catch to long off. Notwithstanding the impact of a half-century stand at the end between Damien Martyn (42) and Symonds, fewer runs came from the closing overs of the innings than might originally have been expected too. But, virtually from the moment that Ponting and Waugh came together in the third over of the innings, things still flowed smoothly Australia’s way.It was an impression reinforced by a terrible start to the West Indian innings – one that quickly settled any lingering doubts about the way in which the match was headed. There was nothing startling in the opening bowling of either Glenn McGrath (1/7 off six overs) or debutant Nathan Bracken (1/30 from nine) as the West Indian response began. But it was made to look as though the pair was bowling on a minefield; poor shots from openers Wavell Hinds (1) and Sherwin Campbell (4) leading to a disastrous early decline that condemned the tourists to the mark of 2/9 as they pursued the Australians’ 6/267.Hinds was dismissed after being drawn into driving at a delivery wide of off stump from McGrath and playing uppishly into the point region. Campbell failed to last much longer and was, in fact, guilty of playing an even more irresponsible shot. He chased a short, wide delivery from Bracken and attempted to play a scything shot through point. Instead, a ball that he could have planted to virtually any part of the ground ended in the hands of Bevan at third man.That set the scene for a period of inactivity from a West Indian point of view so chronic that it looked as though they have already resigned themselves to the exercise of trying to play for second place in a triangular series that also involves Zimbabwe. At number three, Brian Lara (28) issued a few typically daring strokes through the field but he was restrained in his shot selection for the most part. Youngster Marlon Samuels (57) did what he has done for most of the tour and unleashed a rearguard action. Williams (26*) and Adams (25*) also fought determinedly toward the end. But by that stage there were simply no battles of any consequence left to fight.”We knew we had them in big trouble after ten overs,” said Steve Waugh of his opponents’ grisly predicament.Like a vulture, Symonds (4/35 from ten overs) helped himself to the spoils with his nagging off spin. Even a slightly nervous-looking Shane Warne (0/38 off ten) was allowed to slip his way seamlessly back into international cricketing ranks. Australia’s entire attack, based around just three specialist bowlers, encountered very few problems.”Their body language wasn’t that great,” added Waugh in a masterful piece of understatement about his rivals.”They probably dropped a couple of catches which could have been costly. If they’d taken those catches, we might have only made 230 and it would have been a different game.”Three hundred matches into his one-day international career, it’s doubtful that Waugh could have experienced too many easier, or too many more predictable, victories. It was amazing that so many of the 56732 people who came to the ground stayed until he and his team formally completed the job.
Darrell Hair told the Central London Employment Tribunal that he was barred from standing in top-level matches because of decisions “motivated along racial lines”.Giving evidence on the second day of his claim of racial discrimination against the ICC, Hair, who argues that his colleague at The Oval in 2006, Billy Doctrove, was treated differently by the ICC because of the colour of his skin, said: “If I had been from West Indies or Pakistan or India, I might have been treated differently, like Doctrove.”At the time we told Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, that we believed the marks we found on the ball were deliberately put there. After the match I was continually pilloried in the media by Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and Inzamam, which was clearly in breach of ICC conduct … and yet it did nothing to prevent this.”In the week after the Oval Test, Hair said that he was not given time to consult lawyers before his email exchange, in which he offered to stand down for payment of US$500,000, was made public. He added that Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive who was in the hearing, listening to the evidence, told him in the aftermath of the Test: “We have something in common … the ICC wants to sack both of us.”Under cross-examination, Hair revealed that he would lose about £1.7 million (US$3.4 million) in fees for Tests and one day internationals on the assumption his career as an ICC umpire did not continue after his contract with the ICC ends next March. Hair said that while he has been retained on the ICC’s panel of elite umpires since August 2006, he has not received any match fees in that time.
Since returning to Australia I have been trying to find permanent employment without success … I do not have any confidence in being able to find a suitable place in the workforce for some considerable time, if at all
Had he officiated in the number of games he would usually have been expected to stand in, he estimated that in 2007 his income would have been around £50,000 (US$100,000). “My projected earnings from fees in ICC Associate matches in this year would now appear to be a maximum of US$30,000 (£15,000),” he said. “Since returning to Australia I have been trying to find permanent employment without success. I have applied for positions at the Australian Rugby League and with a charity as a fund-raising manager, but I have been unsuccessful on each occasion. I do not have any confidence in being able to find a suitable place in the workforce for some considerable time, if at all.”I feel devastated and let down by the ICC. Since … the final Test at The Oval, no-one from ICC has shown any concern for my welfare or for the welfare of my family. My family has suffered the pain of reading headlines such as ‘disgraced former umpire’ and ‘sacked former umpire’ and I have found it difficult to cope with daily life in the knowledge that I have not been given a reasonable opportunity to defend myself or make a representation to the board in person.”Hair explained that at no time has his ability as an umpire been questioned by the authorities. “There has never been any criticism about my match management capabilities by either Doug Cowie, the ICC umpire manager, the match referees or the captains. I find it incredulous that an ICC sub-committee adopted a position leading to my removal from umpiring top level cricket without me being given a chance to defend the charges against me or even to know what I am alleged to have done wrong.
I was at a loss to understand how my career could possibly be effectively ended unless it was by a racially motivated and racially-discriminated process
“Even more astonishing to me is the fact that the ICC maintains there are no minutes or transcript of either the sub-committee’s discussion or the subsequent board discussion or the voting on the resolution.”I asked Speed if it could possibly be performance related but he agreed that my performances since joining the elite panel had been generally very good and I had been continually ranked in the top three umpires. I was at a loss to understand how my career could possibly be effectively ended unless it was by a racially motivated and racially-discriminated process.”In his cross examination, Michael Beloff QC, the ICC’s barrister, stated to Hair that the decision to sack him had been unanimous – it had not, and he also asked if he thought it appropriate to call the action of Muttiah Muralitharan, who Hair infamously no-balled during a Test in Australia, “diabolical”. Hair replied that he was applying the Laws of Cricket as they existed at the time.The hearing continues on Wednesday.
South Africa’s bowling limitations were further exposed in a warm-upmatch at Centurion on Sunday, as the Titans swept to a 26-run win to raise concerns over the side’s form and preparations ahead of next month’s Champions Trophy.After electing to field first Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and JacquesKallis kept things relatively tight but there are concerns as to the backup bowlers. As was the case against a relatively weak Zimbabwean team the South African support bowlers lacked the cutting edge in the middle and latter stages of the Titans’ innings, and were incapable of closing off the match. Andrew Hall, for example, was only disciplined for five out of six balls, the last being severely punished. Andre Nel also has a lot of work to do, both in terms of line, length and especially pace, while Robin Peterson simply cannot be relied to tie up one end for 10 overs.Early wickets had the Titans struggling at 30 for 2 after 10 overs but AlbieMorkel soon put paid to that as he played aggressively for 37 runs off 33balls and twice hit Nel for towering sixes. Goolam Bodi paced his innings well andpunished wayward balls to reach 100 off 129 balls but threw it away with awild swing at Nel in the final overs.Johann Myburgh was similarly untroubled, breezing to a 55-ball fifty and shared a 100-run partnership with Bodi at a run-a-ball. Myburgh batted through to the end and finished with 75 off 76 balls as the Titans set the South Africans a target of 270.But South Africa’s innings never really got going with the top four only managing twenties. Both Loots Bosman and Boeta Dippenaar fatally chased wide deliveries while Jacques Kallis was too late in defence. AB de Villiers, his first outing of the season, was clearly very rusty and will need more time in the middle if he is to be a threat in India. Mark Boucher and Kemp could not recreate their form of late and suddenly the South Africans, thanks to 25 extras (11 wides and 12 no balls) from the Titans, found themselves at 156 for 6 after 29 overs. It became 177 for 7 when Hall held out at mid-on and the writing was on the wall.Shaun Pollock was the one, last hope for South Africa and he took control of proceedings, smashing 50 from 56 balls and starring in a 48-run partnership with Makhaya Ntini – whose contribution to their stand was just two. However, it was too little, too late and South Africa were dismissed for 243.To add to all the woes, the South Africans were once again slow in bowlingthe 50 overs in the required time, but were excused because a rather lenient19 minutes were added for a few hold-ups in play. Will those in control beas lenient during the Champions Trophy? Only time will tell.