England’s cricketers were delayed en route to Wellington, the venue for Saturday’s opening one-day international against New Zealand, after Christchurch airport had to be closed for two hours following a security alert.According to police, a 33-year-old woman passenger on an incoming plane from Blenheim stabbed at least one of the two pilots and then threatened to blow up the aircraft. The woman was arrested and sniffer dogs were deployed while the passengers were evacuated, but no explosives were found.The incident caused a major backlog of flights, and England’s departure was delayed for two-and-a-half hours, during which time they remained at their Christchurch hotel. Their scheduled training session at Wellington had to be abandoned and instead they held a team meeting at their hotel.Paul Collingood, England’s ODI captain, felt the two Twenty20 wins had given his side some positive headaches. “There’s going to be some tough decisions, there’s no question about that – the boys who have come in for the Twenty20 format have done really well,” he said. “But you have to also remember the performances that we put in in Sri Lanka. I know we have different conditions here in New Zealand, but we’re a well-oiled one-day side at the moment.”England sprung a surprise when they beat Sri Lanka 3-2 in an away series last year. They now play New Zealand for five ODIs.
While Bangladesh’s senior team continued to create shock waves in the Caribbean, their A side had a somewhat disappointing tour of Sri Lanka where they were beaten convincingly in the two unofficial tests and the three one-day limited-overs matches.Anura Tennekoon, the Sri Lanka A team manager and former Sri Lanka captain, felt that the series did not assess the real strength and weakness of the team. “It was a good achievement by our team to win both series but we should not go overboard with that success,” said Tennekoon.”I would like to see our team tested against better opposition like Australia, South Africa and India. The series gave us the opportunity to play some kind of cricket and an overall improvement of what we are doing,” he saidTenekoon said that the Bangladesh A side had some raw talent particularly in their batting order but added that they were not good at shot selection. “They play far too many shots too early.”Meanwhile, Sri Lanka A coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, was a lot more impressed by the opposition and stated that in the given conditions they were a better side than England A. “The opposition was not so bad as the scores suggested,” said Hathurusingha. “We played exceptionally well.”Hathurusingha added that though Bangladesh A at times lacked intensity on the fieldThey challenged Sri Lanka A in all aspects of the game except quality fast bowling.In Tenekoon’s opinion, Malinda Warnapura, Sri Lanka A’s right-arm offbreak bowler, was the stand-out cricketer of the series. Warnapura, 27, represents Colombo Colts CC in the Premier tournament. He excelled in both forms of the game in the series reeling out a double-century (242) in the first unofficial test and then following it up with an undefeated 104 in the second unofficial ODI.”He is more suitable for the longer game than the shorter one,” said Tenekoon. “His strength is his mental ability to overcome different situations. He has the shots required to become a good batsman and he has the ability to pick the gaps.”He has made all of his runs in the subcontinent in India and Sri Lanka. In the West Indies he was ill and missed most of the matches. It would be interesting to see how he would perform in countries like England, Australia and South Africa.”Tennekoon was also happy with the way Jehan Mubarak performed in the series. “He showed a little bit more consistency by scoring a few fifties. He seems to have improved from getting out in the 20s and 30s,” he said. He also praised fast bowlers Akalanka Ganegama and Ishara Amarasinghe and felt they had shown the progress to become future regulars in the national team.
Brad Hodge produced a fine century that put his name back in front of the Australian selectors and pushed Victoria into a strong position on the first day of the Pura Cup final. Queensland’s bowlers suffered as Hodge, who was cut from the South Africa tour squad despite a Test average of 58, targeted them, and the Bushrangers were firing on a damp day at the Gabba until they lost three late wickets to finish at 5 for 269.James Hopes started the surge with the wicket of Nick Jewell, ending a 192-run stand for the third wicket, and Andy Bichel drove the Bulls home by removing Hodge and the captain Cameron White in a spirited spell. Bichel’s first delivery with the second new ball deceived Hodge, bowling him for 108, and the Bulls will start day two buoyed by their recovery.Three sets of showers interrupted the day, including one a minute into the match, and Queensland struck twice in the opening session with Mitchell Johnson and Ashley Noffke removing both openers for 15 with catches to Chris Hartley. Hodge arrived at 2 for 46 and shared a punishing partnership with Jewell as the visitors upset the plans of Queensland, who as hosts need only to draw the five-day match to win the trophy.Hodge crashed 14 boundaries in an innings that lasted only 168 balls and showed he had re-found his form at a crucial time. Overlooked for Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke, Hodge has said he wants a place on the Bangladesh trip and delivered an ideal calling card.”I guess that every time I play I have to make runs so that’s going to be my job from here on in,” he told . “I still feel a part of that [Test] group and my aim is to be back in that group. Today’s a pretty good step in trying to achieve that goal.”Hodge’s combination with Jewell, who was more patient in crafting 89, ended when his partner hit Hopes to Shane Watson at square leg before Bichel finished with 2 for 56. David Hussey was unbeaten on 20 when he accepted an offer of the light while the nightwatchman Mick Lewis was on zero.
Contrary to reports that have appeared in sections of the Indian media, Harbhajan Singh’s action has not been given the all-clear by the International Cricket Council. What’s more, he is still very much under the spotlight.Cricinfo has learnt that the ICC is on the verge of appointing a biomechanical expert to determine whether there is any discrepancy between Harbhajan’s action as seen in the laboratory and as seen in match situations. The result of this process will determine whether they will ask Harbhajan to appear once again for testing in laboratory conditions. At any rate, it has emerged that the ICC has not, at this stage, either given a blanket approval, or suspended investigations, into Harbhajan’s action.Harbhajan was reported for a suspect action on March 20, the final day of the second Test against Pakistan at Kolkata, when his doosra, the delivery that leaves the right-hander, was reported again. This meant that, under the new procedures for dealing with suspect actions, he would have to appear before an ICC-appointed panel within 21 days to take the process forward. However, this 21-day period comes into effect from the time the Indian board received the official communication from the ICC, and not 21 days from March 20 as widely believed. This 21-day period is now coming to an end, although time has not quite run out yet.The ICC has not acted in haste, because they already have a library of biomechanical data on Harbhajan. When Harbhajan was first reported for a suspect action, back in 1998, he travelled to England and spent some time with Fred Titmus, the former Middlesex and England offspinner. More recently, he was at the University of Western Australia under the watchful eyes of Bruce Elliott, and was filmed in great detail. Aside from this the ICC also has plenty of footage from live-match situations.
Stats Guru: Croft’s Test career Stats Guru: Croft’s ODI career England offspinner Robert Croft has announced his retirement from international cricket.”I’ve come to the conclusion that I will no longer offer myself for selection for any future England Test or one-day side,” he said. “In making this decision I was conscious that I’ve had a challenging and full career with England both at Test and one-day level of which I am extremely proud.””It’s been a great honour and privilege to represent England as much as I have and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I would also like to thank my fellow players for all their help and huge contribution to my career over the years.”Croft made his debut for England against Pakistan in 1996, but struggled to hold down a regular place in the England side. In 21 Tests he took 49 wickets at 37.24, but no great turner of the ball, he was more effective overseas. In nine Tests abroad he took 35 wickets at 24.65, compared with 14 at 68.71 at home.His best performances for England were in Sri Lanka three years ago when his nine wickets and useful contributions with the bat helped England come back from behind to win the series 2-1. But after what turned out to be his final Test appearance, against Australia in 2001, he refused to tour India in 2001-02 because of security concerns and he was always on the periphery thereafter. He was picked for the Sri Lanka tour this winter, but he remained on the sidelines for all three Tests as England persevered with Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty.In one-day cricket, Croft was a useful utility player, taking 45 wickets in 50 matches, the last against Australia in 2001.Croft, 33, now intends to concentrate on Glamorgan, and said that he has “another four or five seasons” in him. “As captain of Glamorgan I intend to concentrate my efforts to further develop our success and to be consistently competitive in the four-day championship and one-day competitions.”Those efforts will involve not only actions on the field but also the further nurturing of our young Academy players and the development of many exciting plans for the future of Glamorgan.”
Otago made rather a sandwich of their first innings of only 241 when they won the toss and batted first on the opening day of their State Championship match against Auckland at Colin Maiden Park today.The sandwich had a substantial and hearty filling built round a marvellous 111 by the 26-year-old captain Craig Cumming, supported by a solid and patient 39 by the No 6 batsman Craig Pryor.These two put on 106 for the fifth wicket. Sadly, the outside parts of the Otago sandwich were soggy bread. The first four wickets were lost for 81 runs. The last six went for 54 runs.There were few demons in the pitch, as Auckland showed in the 19 overs before stumps when they scored 56 without loss from 19 overs. Mark Richardson was 43 not out (eight fours) and promised, or threatened, depending on the point of view, to do some substantial damage to his old Otago team-mates tomorrow.Otago also face the prospect that another southern favourite Matt Horne has been in wonderful form this summer, and only a bruised foot (a temporary injury) prevented him from joining Richardson in the entree this evening.Otago lost Robbie Lawson for one in the fifth over, but once Simon Beare had made a nervous start (his three previous innings were ducks) and Cumming quickly settled in Otago prospered.These two went steadily along to 62 before Beare, 98 minutes over his 22, misjudged the line of Gareth Shaw’s medium-fast line, and shouldered arms while his middle stump was being knocked out. Chris Gaffaney went quickly, also to Shaw and when Andrew Hore gave Chris Drum his second wicket without scoring Otago were 81 for four, and had wasted good batting conditions.With Pryor showing poise and good judgement, Cumming was able lead a counter-attack of quite splendid quality. The Otago skipper’s fifth first-class century was not an affair of sparkling stroke-play from some fancy batting manual. Rather Cumming batted with quite marvellous efficiency, and with the rare ability to make the most of any ball that did not threaten his castle.Pryor gradually joined in the counter-thrust, and while the first 50 of their partnership was a solid foundation, the second 50 produced a flow of firmly-struck boundaries by Cumming, and with Pryor occasionally lending an attacking hand.Cumming sailed past the 100 in 216 minutes, from 157 balls and there seemed the prospect that he and Pryor would completely dominate an Auckland attack without any sharp teeth left.Unfortunately for Otago Pryor lifted a solid drive at Tama Canning’s bowling and at a shortish cover Llorne Howell took a brilliant two-handed catch. All a sudden, the face of the game changed. Cumming seemed to be half-forward when given out lbw to Canning – Otago 194 for six.Martyn Croy played some solid blows, but he, too, fell to a fine catch by Howell, and the door was open for the Auckland bowlers.Suddenly Brooke Walker, the Auckland captain and leg-spinner, began to confuse the Otago tail-enders with the ball which went quickly and straight through. This brought him three lbw victims, from Barry Frost, the umpire, which took the last three Otago wickets at 232, 236 and 241.So Otago, which probably needed a first innings of 300-plus to justify batting first in favourable conditions, fell seriously short of their target, and they must have had the worry beads out tonight as they regarded the mastery that Richardson enjoyed before stumps.
The Orange city provided an ideal batting strip for the Indians totake on Zimbabwe in the second and final Test. Shiv Sunder Das notchedup his maiden century, Rahul Dravid neared his eighth hundred andIndia chalked up a comfortable 306/2 after electing to bat first. TheZimbabwean bowlers simply did not have the firepower to stop theIndians. Everything now depends on Zimbabwe. If they can get their acttogether with the bat, they just might be able to hold on for a draw.When play began, Sadagoppan Ramesh and Shiv Sunder Das were verycomfortable against the Zimbabwean bowlers. Driving through the offside with characteristic ease, Ramesh was soon scoring at a run aball. Shiv Sunder Das at the other end was the ideal foil for Ramesh.Solid as a rock when it was needed, Das treated the bowling on merit.Being a short man proved to be a blessing, as he unveiled the cut shotevery time the ball was short of a length.Just when he looked good for a big score, Ramesh was involved in anunnecessary run out. Playing the ball to the mid on area, Rameshunderestimated Streak’s throwing arm. A good strong throw found Rameshshort of his ground. Ramesh’s 48 included seven hits to the fence.If the Zimbabweans came to India fearing Sachin Tendulkar, they aregoing to leave with nightmares of Rahul Dravid. Cutting and drivingwith precision, Dravid found the gaps with ease and it was no surprisethat he brought up his third consecutive score of fifty or over.Das was in good nick all day, displaying why he is a natural choicefor the opening slot. His shot selection was impeccable on the day,and his persistence bore fruit. After plodding on manfully for overthree hours, Das came down the track to a well flighted delivery fromMurphy and flicked magnificently. As the ball thudded into theadvertising hoardings, Das held up his bat to acknowledge the crowd’scheers. The young opener from Orissa had found the fence on 17occasions on the way to his century.The wicket was so flat that the Zimbabwean bowlers could not pick asingle wicket. Ramesh was run out and Das’ wicket really belonged toumpire Arani Velayudham Jayaprakash. Brian Murphy did what he knowsbest and tossed up a big leg break, Das, trying to play his favouriteshot, the cut, missed the ball altogether. Alright, so the ball wastoo close to the body to cut. But you can’t give a batsmen out forthat. The ball went past the bat, brushed the wicketkeeper’s glovesand went through to Alistair Campbell at slip. After pouching theball, the appeal that followed was neither spontaneous nor unanimous.In the eyes of the man in the middle however, 110 runs was all Das wasdestined to make. Although one has to concede that these things happenin the course of the game, Das’ look of disbelief on being given outtold its own story.The youngster had played well for his 110 runs. Taking as much time aswas required, Das waited for the right ball to hit. On nineteenoccasions in his 252 minute essay he put the ball away. At 227 fortwo, India were still very well placed.Amidst roars from the mediumsized Nagpur crowd, Sachin Tendulkarwalked out to the middle. However, there were to be no real fireworksfrom Tendulkar. Although he showed bursts of aggressiveness, hisinnings of 49 was largely a sedate one. As the day’s play was drawingto a close, Tendulkar opened his shoulders and played a trademarkcoverdrive. This brought the crowd back to life after a series of dullovers. Three balls later the umpires called stumps and that was that.Rahul Dravid on a patient 93, and Tendulkar on 49 were bothirritatingly close to the century and half century marks respectively.Tomorrow, when India resume on 306 for two, both Dravid and Tendulkarwill look to quickly cross those marks and get on with the scoring.
As Tottenham boss Antonio Conte looks to further stamp his authority on his squad, one former Spurs player he might wish he still had, is Kyle Walker-Peters.
The 24-year-old was involved in the deal that saw him go to Southampton and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg head to the Lilywhites back in the summer of 2020, and it’s fair to say he has really stepped up his game since then.
His manager at Southampton, Ralph Hasenhuttl, dubbed the full-back a “role model” who “knows what he has to do on the ball” and is a “complete” package, while there have also been comparisons made with an England and Liverpool star.
Former Saints man, Jason Dodd, said: “He’s a modern-day full-back like Trent Alexander-Arnold. He’s great going forward, he’s quick, defensively that I like, in one vs ones there’s probably not too many people getting by him.”
And, if Conte needed any evidence on just how badly his side could do with him right now, then he need look no further than his performance in Southampton’s 3-2 victory against Spurs just last month.
As per Sofascore, he made four defensive contributions on the night, including one tackle, one blocked shot and two clearances, while he also showed his tenacity by winning three out of his five contested ground duels.
Going forward, he was also a significant threat for the Saints, managing one key pass and one official big chance created, while he looked supremely comfortable on the ball in boasting an 82% pass accuracy.
The £18m-rated star’s display against the Lilywhites, and his performances as a whole since his switch to St Mary’s has surely left the north London side wondering what could have been if they had simply held on to him.
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The likes of Emerson and Doherty haven’t worked out, and given this new wing-back system under Conte, Walker-Peters would surely have thrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Meanwhile, Tottenham have been handed a boost in their chase for this star…
On paper, the margin of South Africa’s win over West Indies in the second ODI at Newlands was considerable, but even that doesn’t give a clear idea of how much West Indies lacked intent and never even tried to win.Once Graeme Smith and JP Duminy had steered South Africa to 255 for 9, West Indies seemed to throw in the towel and even the TV commentators, usually the last to admit when a game has reached the pointless tediousness stage, were calling it way before the end. The final third of the match was utterly uncompetitive, and it was only that the bulk of the 17,500 crowd were happy with watching their side thump a substandard opposition that the old ground wasn’t empty long before the finish.On this performance it is hard to see how West Indies can get back into a series they are already two down in with three to play. They were a bowler and a half light, their batting was flimsy and their fielding again let them down under pressure. As if things couldn’t get worse, already without Chris Gayle they now face losing Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was reduced to a hobble by an unspecified leg injury.It had all started so promisingly. Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor forced South Africa, who had won the toss, on the back foot in a lively opening spell, with Taylor making the early inroads. Herschelle Gibbs, a shadow of the one-day bully he once was, again fell early, nibbling at one with minimal footwork, and then Jacques Kallis drove loosely on the walk and spooned the ball to mid-off. Five overs in, South Africa were 18 for 2.The remainder of the first Powerplay was all caution from Smith and AB de Villiers, but the innings turned on its head with the introduction of the insipid Rampaul. Bravo immediately brought back Edwards but the horse had bolted. West Indies suddenly looked messy in the field, and the bowlers offered too many bad balls which both batsmen invariably pounced on, de Villiers in particular hammering high and hard through midwicket.The brakes were applied by the unlikeliest of combinations, Marlon Samuels and Sewnarine Chattergoon, the latter the most occasional of part-time bowlers. Neither did much with the ball, but both concentrated on putting it there or thereabouts and at a time when the innings should have been accelerating, it spluttered and almost stalled.
That the two spinners were needed was because Ravi Rampaul, Dwayne Bravo’s first change, fell apart in the space of three poor and expensive overs. His first was savaged by de Villiers for 18. He was taken out of the attack, but when he returned it was evident his confidence was shot. Bravo needed to pull something out of the bag and he did just that.South Africa didn’t accelerate in the final overs. Smith perished 14 short of a deserved hundred to the tamest of shots, and Duminy continued to play the kind of knock that he had a week ago, not flashy but keeping the runs coming and giving the innings rigidity. Had someone been able to stay with him a bit longer then South Africa would have made a total nearer 300, but as it was all the lower middle-order mustered were cameos. Taylor benefited, adding two late wickets to his earlier successes to finish with 4 for 34.The way Duminy perished – run out trying to sneak a bye to a ball he missed – was undeserved, but he had done all that was asked of him. The innings subsided in an over of three wickets, two of which were run outs, and one run but South Africa appeared to have done enough.They had, and some. The West Indies innings never got going, spluttering along as if run rate was not an issue. Chattergoon tried to get things moving but nobody else showed much enthusiasm for the task. At one stage there was a 19-over spell – more than 90 minutes – when not one boundary was scored … and it wasn’t as if they were even trying to hit the ball. It was cricket but it was not entertainment, and John Dyson, their new coach, must be wondering quite what he had got himself into.Credit must be given to South Africa’s bowlers who applied the pressure early – Shaun Pollock’s opening spell as parsimonious and niggardly as ever and his 2 for 13 included five maidens – and never allowed the batsmen a glimmer of hope. Morne Morkel bowled with pace and control, deserving his career-best four wickets. The fielding was also tight, typified by de Villiers’ superb pick up and direct hit to run out Bravo. But they were never remotely tested.As the evening went on Chanderpaul, batting with a runner, passed fifty but by then few cared and his presence, like a lone diner in a restaurant at midnight, was simply irritating.
An all-round display by Sairaj Bahutule powered West Zone to a comprehensive 105-run victory over East Zone in their Deodhar Trophy league match at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Friday.Bahutule struck an unbeaten 56 when his team was struggling at 140 for six. He added 90 runs for the seventh wicket with Parthiv Patel (46) to help West put up a fighting score of 239 all out after opting to bat first on winning the toss.Later, Bahuule, the Maharashtra skipper, bowled his legspinners splendidly to bamboozle the East Zone batting line up and finished with a haul of 4 for 23 in ten overs, besides taking a catch to emerge as West’s player of the day.East Zone were bundled out for a paltry 134, with only Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (38) and Rohan Gavaskar (35) crossing the 30s. Rakesh Patel, the mediumpace bowler from Baroda, rocked East Zone by sending back Parvez Azis, the opener, and Manoj Tiwary, cheaply while Sidharth Trivedi accounted for the other opener Wriddhiman Saha to leave East Zone gasping at 36 for three, a position from which they never recovered.East Zone were bowled out in the 40th over when Deep Dasgupta, the captain, who made 23 not out, only needed to play out the complete over with last man Ranadeb Bose to deny West Zone the bonus point. But when Dasgupta took a run off the first ball, exposing the tail-ender, the game was up. Bose was yorked off the very next ball.West Zone thus earned an extra point to take their tally to nine from two ties while East Zone lost one point and were left with three in their kitty after two ties.