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Wolves host already-relegated Norwich City in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, with the Canaries set to be without at least five first-team players going into their trip to the Black Country.

What’s the latest?

As per Norfolk Live, Andrew Omobamidele (back), Adam Idah (knee), Ozan Kabak (thigh), Kenny McLean and Josh Sargent (ankle) have all been ruled out for the rest of the seaosn.

However, the East Anglia outfit could also be without Mathias Normann and Christoph Zimmermann, who have both missed recent games, with the former set to receive results from a scan.

“It is as it was for Leicester City on Wednesday,” said Norwich manager Dean Smith ahead of the match, with his side losing 3-0 to Leicester last time out.

Lage and Wolves will be delighted

With just one point from Wolves’ last five matches, Sunday could prove to be Bruno Lage’s side’s best chance of ending their winless run.

The Old Gold have been woeful of late, with Wednesday’s 5-1 thrashing at home to Manchester City, not long after a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Brighton at the end of April, emphasising how subpar they have been recently.

For a team which prides itself in its defending given how few goals they score, to concede ten goals in their last three matches is extremely worrying for Lage’s side.

However, against a team already relegated from the Premier League and without a handful of key players, Sunday’s match will be a golden opportunity to get back on track ahead of the final day of the season next weekend.

Although highly unlikely, Wolves do still have an outside chance of sneaking into a European position. West Ham in seventh have a five-point advantage over the Old Gold in eighth and would have to lose their remaining two league fixtures, with Wolves winning both of theirs, for Lage’s side to qualify for the Europa Conference League.

Therefore, it is imperative that the Molineux outfit end the season on a high in order to give themselves an outside chance of sneaking into a European place, and that starts with victory over Norwich.

With the Canaries suffering from a number of injuries, Lage will certainly be confident of his team’s chances of getting a first win since early April.

AND in other news: Wolves heading for big summer disaster over “breath of fresh air”, Lage surely gutted

Prithvi Shaw and Amit Mishra also made telling contributions to Delhi Capitals’ win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator

ESPNcricinfo Stats team08-May-2019Rishabh Pant contributed 32% more than anyone else to Delhi Capitals’ win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2019 Eliminator. This is according to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, which shows the value of performances in the game by taking into account match situation and relative strike rates among other factors. While ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats validate Rishabh Pant as the official choice for the Player of the Match for his 21-ball 49, what they also do is ascribe a number to the value of Pant’s contribution to Capitals’ win. Pant’s contribution is valued at 36.3%, almost nine percentage points (or 32%) more than Prithvi Shaw’s 38-ball 56, which is valued second-highest at 27.5%.ESPNcricinfo LtdPant’s 49 runs were worth 60 according to Smart Stats, given the situation in which he scored his runs. With Capitals needing 52 from the last five overs, Pant hit 37 off the last 13 balls he faced, helping Capitals knock Sunrisers out.Amit Mishra made the next-best contribution to Capitals’ cause after Pant and Shaw. Introduced after the Powerplay, by when Sunrisers were 54 for 1, Mishra struck immediately by dismissing a threatening Martin Guptill. He bowled out his full quota on the trot without conceding a boundary. His four overs went for just 16 runs and by the time he finished, Sunrisers had added just 34 in seven overs after the Powerplay. Smart Stats values Mishra’s contribution as the third-best for Capitals at 20.2%.Smart Stats is a part of Superstats, a new set of metrics by ESPNcricinfo to tell more enriching and insightful numbers-based stories. To know more about Superstats, click here.

This Bangladesh are crazy if they think they can beat Sri Lanka in their own den. Right?

Andrew Fidel Fernando at P Sara Oval19-Mar-2017Ah, Bangladesh, come, come. How are you, little brother?Is it still okay to call you little brother? I mean of course your country has a bigger economy and far more people, and you keep taking textile manufacturing contracts off our companies, but in cricket, you are still not that big, no? I don’t mean to offend you, but you have to admit, you have never won a Test match against us. Remember how Sanga used to demoralise you, batting session after session after session, just tak-tak-tak? We must frame a photo of his backside and send it to all your wicketkeepers. They must be missing the sight.Anyway, welcome. Sorry, the place is a little bit of a mess – we just got back from a rough time in South Africa. But listen, don’t think we are not ready for you, ah. Did you hear we beat Australia last year? Sha! What a series. This is a young team, no? So, for now, they will struggle overseas. At home, of course, they are lions. You say you are tigers, but please don’t be surprised if you have come to be the prey.Yes, yes, we heard the Bangladesh team is getting better, but come on, it’s all relative. Anyway, isn’t it a Sri Lankan helping you out? See what I mean about you still being the little brother? Maybe some of our great players like Sanga, Mahela and Rangana liked this Chandika Hathurusingha guy, but you have to remember that he is still a reject from our coaching system, so we are still far ahead.I’ll tell you because maybe you don’t know, but it’s because he got sacked from the coaching staff in 2010 only that the fellow had to go to Australia. Then when there was an opening for the Sri Lanka job in 2014, he had again said he was available, but our big shot fellows like Sanath Jayasuriya had turned him right down.Obviously, that shows we don’t need him here, doesn’t it? Some people say there was political interference and this and that, but we have more than enough good coaches. Why get too upset over one guy who thought he was too good to play the system like everyone else?And okay, you are saying you have some decent domestic cricket? Then how many teams? Only eight? All four-day cricket, ah? Twelve matches a season per player? Actually, that is not bad. Look, to be very honest with you, ours isn’t in good shape right now. We have 14 teams mostly playing three-dayers, and another nine first-class teams got added in a second tier this season.And fine, everybody knows that having 250 domestic players a week is not ideal for a country this size. New Zealand have five teams, apparently. Australia have only six. But what to do men? Normal political stuff, no? The clubs control the votes, and our board administrators also have to get elected, isn’t it? They also have families to feed, and brown-nosing lackeys to pay off. How will they survive without big fat travel junkets and business class seats for their big fat butts?But still, even with this system, even if we don’t really have senior cricket in our provinces, don’t worry Bangladesh, we are still better than you.Come to the board office if you don’t believe me, and look at the World Cup we have won. See all the trophies we have from the time Murali was playing. There’s a reason we produce cricketers like him, ah – unlike you, we have cricket in our blood. Did you see how many people came to the Royal-Thomian school match last weekend? You can’t even dream of having anything like that, can you? If you have a cricket culture like ours, then why bother so much about first-class cricket, men? They say our board president Thilanga Sumathipala is just using SLC as a political tool, but let them say what they want. We will always be strong. Look around, will you? See all the talent that we have.Okay, to be fair, maybe in one area, we don’t have that much talent at the moment. I’ll mention it because it was talked about before the series and all: we do tend to drop a lot of catches, and leak runs. And fine, our foreign coach Graham Ford even said it was a deep-rooted problem and that the players coming through to the top level are way below the standard.But you know how these people exaggerate, no? Maybe for now some of our fielders treat the ball like a pretty girl and dance around it instead of stopping it, but I’m sure they’ll get better eventually. It’s temporary – Sri Lanka are the most naturally athletic team in the continent, and it’s only been bad for six months. Well… one year. Okay, two years. But come on, that’s irrelevant. What are you talking? It’s not like it will cost us a game against you!Look, honestly, this conversation is getting boring. Are you hung up on all our flaws because you think you can target them? Do you think our team looks vulnerable because an entire generation of batsmen failed at the top level? Just get lost, men. So what if the top-order inexperienced? So what if you think we are over-reliant on one spin bowler? We’ll show you our natural ability. We’ll show you with our culture, and our flair, and just like Australia, we’ll put you away with a smile.Don’t get too big for your boots here Bangladesh! Keep dreaming. You have never beaten us. We all know you never will.

Despite the wickets that fell on the final day, this Cape Town Test still ended up with the highest runs per wicket among all Tests in South Africa

S Rajesh06-Jan-201674.47 The average runs per wicket in this Test, despite the flurry of wickets on the final day. It is the highest average for any Test in South Africa, comfortably going past the previous best of 58.85 in the South Africa-West Indies Test at Newlands in 2004. The three highest averages in a Test in South Africa have all been in Cape Town.78.33 The difference between England’s runs per wicket in their first and second innings in this Test. In the first innings, they averaged 104.83 runs per wicket, and in the second their average dropped to 26.50. The difference is the fourth largest for a team in a Test, in instances when they have lost at least five wickets in their second innings. The three higher ones are West Indies against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2013 (difference 104.45), Australia against Pakistan in Peshawar in 1998 (difference 91.95), and England against Australia in Adelaide in 2006 (difference 78.93).6 Successive Tests in Cape Town which had produced a decisive result before the draw here. In 2011, the South Africa-India Test ended in a draw, while the previous year, England had hung on to save the game despite being nine down in their second innings. The last two Tests in Cape Town involving England have both ended in draws.2 Man-of-the-Match awards in Tests for Ben Stokes; his previous one was against New Zealand at Lord’s last year.29.9 Alastair Cook’s batting average in South Africa, his poorest among all countries where he has played Tests. In the 2009-10 series he scored 287 runs at an average of 41, but in the current series he has scored only 42 in four innings. His overall average of 35.54 against South Africa is also his lowest among all opposition teams.5 Number of times, out of eight innings that he has bowled in in Tests, that Dane Piedt has taken three or more wickets. In four Tests, he has 21 wickets at an average of 32.76.35.45 Nick Compton’s strike-rate in Tests – in 18 of his 21 innings he has scored at a strike-rate of less than 45. Among all top-order batsmen (Nos. 1-6) who average 35-plus and have played at least 20 innings since 1980, only one batsman has a lower strike rate: New Zealand’s John Reid had a scoring rate of 35.31 in 29 innings during this period.2004 The last time the new year Tests in Australia and South Africa both ended in draws: India played out a draw in Sydney that year, while West Indies were the touring team in Cape Town. With rain washing out the last two days in the ongoing Sydney Test, that game is certain to end in a draw as well.

A five Test series has brought challenges this India side have not faced before and, after the high of Lord’s, it has found out many of them, whether technically, physically or mentally

Sidharth Monga at The Oval15-Aug-2014Let’s make all the allowances first. This was possibly India’s sternest test of the series. The pitch was damp, it was cloudy overhead, and clearly more happened off the seam than it did at Old Trafford. It behaved a lot like the Lord’s pitch, but with James Anderson and Stuart Broad bowling much better than they did north of the river. This pitch against this attack with a slip cordon catching well – Joe Root manufactured one by standing halfway with a helmet on – would have tested any batting line-up in the world. And when he was in the moment, MS Dhoni fought bravely and deftly – taking blows on the body, farming the strike, refusing a single on 49 – and Ishant Sharma provided him unflinching support.Yet you cannot overlook how India have not learned from their mistakes. And a side that refuses to correct its mistakes cannot hope to win a five-Test series. ODIs, yes. Short Test series, maybe. Not five Tests that will find you out at some point. And then it will keep exposing you ruthlessly. India have had no response to it. This is the last Test of the series, and India have not yet put their best XI on the field.It was a noble thought, and a brave move on the part of Dhoni the batsman to play an extra bowler at the start of the series, but it was clear Stuart Binny was not the man. He might have saved them the first Investec Test on the final day with the bat, but that was not what he was picked for. His primary job was to bowl 12-15 good tight overs a day. He was not used in the second innings at Lord’s, a Test he should not even have been playing.Rohit Sharma, Binny’s replacement, was dropped after he played a poor shot at the Ageas Bowl, but there has been no such finality with Gautam Gambhir. When he was asked about whether India are at a stage where they might want to say “to hell with the other opener”, and go with an extra middle-order batsman, Dhoni basically said Rohit has hardly played any cricket in this series and it would not be right to have him come in “all of a sudden” for a big game. Binny had played two Tests, Gambhir one and Rohit one before this; yet the likeliest man to do a job sat out. Gambhir got out first ball.You can tell Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli have got worse over the series, they are fighting the demons in their heads and their techniques, but they are getting out in the same manner. Pujara’s back foot has not moved across all series, and suddenly out of nowhere for one odd delivery his bat comes down from wide. He has been missing straight balls. He has been either lbw or bowled 14 out of 37 times in his career, which, closing in at 40, is a high percentage. There has not been an improvement on that front.Kohli was seen working hard on his batting in the nets, especially trying to get his back lift straight, but he is still chasing balls well outside off. It does not help that he has got out leaving twice; one of them, at Lord’s, was a poor leave. Kohli and Pujara’s continuous, and in some ways similar, failures will send them back with question marks against their credentials, and also the support staff’s. It does not help that the schedule has not allowed them any time off to work on their games.Their runs in the past helped gloss over the small things, but they, too, are being exposed now. Dhoni, who has shown fortitude with the bat and has come out of his comfort zone there, has been ordinary behind the stumps. He has not gone for catches between him and first slip. He stands upright as the bowler runs in. He is not athletic either. You wonder if the team has made peace with it, or if they have pointed it out to him and have worked on it without any effect. Who in the team can tell him that? We don’t know.So in the end you get a day that is the perfect storm. The pitch seams, the overheads swing the ball, you lose the toss, the opposition bowlers get it right for the best part of the day, Pujara is out there batting in the first over, Kohli gets a slightly tough lbw call, Root pulls off a blinder to send M Vijay back, and the brave Dhoni is stranded. Yet there is little sympathy for them. For this was a side that had turned up to take its last beatings. There are no knockouts, technical or otherwise, in five-Test series, or this series would have been called off at Old Trafford.

Lancashire’s VVS Laxman set England on course to win the Ashes with a match-winning and potentially series-turning innings for India against Australia in Mohali , a performance of classically Lancastrio-English cricketing resolve, fit to set

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Lancashire’s VVS Laxman set England on course to win the Ashes with a match-winning and potentially series-turning innings for India against Australia in Mohali, a performance of classically Lancastrio-English cricketing resolve, fit to set alongside this nation’s great Ashes-triumphing performances of recent times, such as Pietersen’s 158 at The Oval in 2005, Botham’s 1981 mega-heroics, Australia’s top-order batting in 1985, and Kerry Packer running World Series Cricket at the same time as the 1978-79 series.Laxman, alongside Ishant Sharma (who must now surely have inked himself into England’s line-up for Brisbane on November 25), saw Indiland home in a breathtaking late rearguard after Australia’s useless, impotent and morally inept seam bowlers had fortuitously scythed through the Englian top order.The Baggy Greens, despite being only 0-1 down in the seven-match series, have now surely proved that they will never win a relevant cricket match again – any half-decent team would have appealed more convincingly for leg-before against Pragyan Ojha when just six more runs were needed to lose, and only a fracturing side staring into an abyss of imminent nothingness would have allowed their substitute fielder to narrowly miss the subsequent run-out attempt. Ricky Ponting’s best hope now is to avoid a 7-0 whitewash, and attempt to resign with his dignity and batting average still at least partially intact.From an environmental point of view, it is a deeply regrettable shame that the obvious formality of England retaining the Ashes for the third series in a row after their triumphs in 2005 and 2009 will have to proceed to satisfy advertisers and spectators, at a cost to the planet of innumerable pointless aeroplane flights, when a ceremonial handing over of the Ashes to England captain Mahandrew Singh Strauss on the steps of Buckingham Palace would surely be more appropriate.I’m confused.I apologise if I have taken a slightly Anglo-centric view of the Mohali Test, a modern classic that fluctuated mesmerically amidst outstanding individual performances, crucial injuries and curious umpiring, and which featured one of the most dramatic single deliveries in cricket history. It is hard to think of a more incident-packed ball than Johnson’s to Ojha in the final over – if it was possible to score four for two off one ball, India almost did it. Australia should have taken the last wicket, then could have taken the last wicket, but instead gave away four of the required six runs, and lost a couple of balls later.For those who missed it, Billy Bowden’s magic umpirical sonar apparently detected an edge that eluded the rest of the cricketing universe before Ojha’s pads diverted the ball from catapulting middle stump into the Punjab skies, whilst the batsman, perhaps momentarily deranged by the pressure and excitement of (a) the occasion, (b) there actually being an adequately sized crowd at a Test match in India, and (c) not being 100% lbw, set off for the most non-existent quick single in cricket history, as the Australian 12th man, Smith, hoved in on the ball and hurled it within centimetres of stump-splattering victory, only to see the leg-side fielders, similarly distracted by the heart-befuddling tension of the moment, admiringly watch his hurl scoot to the boundary for four decisive overhurls.Perhaps the only individual balls that come close to matching it are the last ball of the 1999 World Cup semi-final, when South Africa finally choked harder than Australia in one of the great simultaneous choke-offs in sporting history, and the penultimate ball of the tied Test in 1960-61, when Grout was narrowly run out by Hunte’s sizzling throw from the boundary as he scampered for what would have been the winning third run. But to have two near-wickets and a boundary must be a first.The finale of the Brisbane tie remains the most dramatic over in Test history – it began with five minutes remaining of the match, and Australia requiring six runs with three wickets remaining. There then followed, in just seven balls: five runs of varying degrees of luck, one catch, one dropped catch, one missed run-out, and two run-outs (both preventing the winning run, the second sealing the tie with a direct hit from midwicket). Plus one dot ball when not much happened. Something for everyone. One can only imagine how the average modern-day commentator would have relayed the action – presumably with a cocktail of window-shattering decibels and spontaneous combustion.Mohali, a superb Test match throughout, gave the world the latest of Laxman’s sporadic masterpieces, innings of sublime perfection that have punctuated his oddly inconsistent career. English fans have never seen the Hyderabad Hyperstylist at his best. He has a worse Test average against England (34) than, amongst others, Russel Arnold, Boeta Dippenaar and Paul Reiffel (the 1990s version of Garfield Sobers). Against Australia, since 2000, Laxman averages 62, comfortably outperforming, amongst others, Russel Arnold, Boeta Dippenaar, Sachin Tendulkar, and every other batsman in world cricket.Laxman’s career alone therefore proves, if proof were needed, that England are 82% better at cricket than Australia, and will certainly win the Ashes by approximately 3.22 Tests to 1.78. Unless Hauritz steps up a couple of gears, or Swann gets injured, or Australia’s superior flat-wicket seam-bowling proves decisive, or the innate class and home experience of their ageing batsmen outdoes England’s seldom consistently high-scoring line-up, or it is not uncharacteristically and unbrokenly cloudy for seven weeks, or Peter Siddle develops an unplayable googly, or England’s selectors panic and recall the late Wally Hammond in the vain hope he can repeat his 905 runs of 1928-29, or this happens, or that happens. Tough series to predict.Meanwhile, as we English and our cricketing media obsess about the forthcoming confrontation in Baggy Greenland, the world’s current and former No. 1 nations bring their irritatingly short two-match series to a conclusion in Bangalore. In the frequently indigestible smorgasbord of an international cricket schedule that is force-rammed down the throats of the world’s fans, this is a rare case of underkill, like Federer playing Nadal over one set, or Usain Bolt taking on Tyson Gay in a 40-metre sprint, or Kiefer Sutherland starring as Jack Bauer in a new series of .

A review of the current status of all the court cases the BCCI are involved in, related to the IPL

Tariq Engineer08-Apr-2011The BCCI has been embroiled in one court case after another ever since it decided to suspend Lalit Modi as IPL chairman last April for alleged financial irregularities. Some cases have seen resolution, with the court deciding against the BCCI in the temporary reinstatement of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, while Bombay High Court last week dismissed Modi’s petition challenging the BCCI’s disciplinary committee proceedings against him.Here’s a status report on the legal issues that have beset the IPL over the last year:BCCI v Rajasthan Royals
What the issue is: The BCCI allege that Rajasthan violated their franchise agreement and should therefore be terminated. Rajasthan insist that no such violation has taken place and that the board has been aware of every move they have made.Current status: The Bombay High Court ordered the two parties to enter arbitration, and the case is currently being heard by Justice Sri Krishna.BCCI v Kings XI Punjab
What the issue is: Similar to the case against Rajasthan, the BCCI allege that Punjab violated their franchise agreement and should therefore be terminated. Punjab deny all the allegations and again, like Rajasthan, claim that the BCCI has been aware of all their decisions.Current status: The Bombay High Court directed their case to arbitration as well.BCCI v World Sport Group
What the issue is: The board claims that the facilitation fee of $80 million paid to World Sport Group (WSG) by Multi Screen Media for the Indian broadcast rights of the IPL was an “improper payment” and cancelled its rights agreement with WSG on the grounds of fraud. WSG has denied any wrong doing and has taken the board to court to enforce their contract.Current status: The case is before the Indian Supreme Court, which has allowed the BCCI to auction certain international rights in the interim, subject to the final decision in the case.BCCI v Lalit Modi
What the issue is: The BCCI had suspended Modi immediately following the conclusion of IPL 3 in April and charged him with financial irregularities relating to the bidding process for IPL franchises, the mid-over ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights. He was also charged with colluding to set up a rebel league in England. Modi has denied all the charges and repeatedly accused BCCI president Shashank Manohar and the president-elect N Srinivasan of harbouring personal grudges against him.Current status: The board’s disciplinary committee hearings had been suspended by the High Court while it heard Modi’s appeal. Now that the appeal has been denied, the hearings are set to resume next week.Modi has other troubles besides the hearings being conducted by the BCCI. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) wants to question him over potential foreign exchange violations related to the second season of the IPL in South Africa, and the Chennai Police are investigating alleged financial irregularities after board secretary, N Srinivasan, filed a criminal complaint against him.The Mumbai Regional Passport Office has also revoked his passport on the recommendation of the ED, which has repeatedly asked Modi to appear for questioning in India. However, Modi, who is living in London, says he cannot appear in person because of threats against his life.

Stephen Fleming looks back at ten years in charge of New Zealand and reflects on the difficult art of captaincy, his role models, and why his country doesn’t produce top-class players nearly as often as it would like to

Interview by Utpal Shuvro10-Jan-2008

After being captain for so long, you probably got used to the ball coming to you at the end of every over. How have you adapted to the change?

I guess the difference is not being involved in the decision-making. You are so used to it, and conditioned after ten years of watching the game and instinctively making moves, moving a field, trying to read the game and see the game through your own eyes. To some degree you lose that when you are not captain. Still, I watch and pass information to Daniel [Vettori], but he sees it differently at times. Therefore your impact on the game is a lot less. Stepping back is a difficult transition.But in a sense is it a big relief as well? There must be a lot of stress in captaining an international side?
Having done it for ten years, it was just the way I knew the game. The time of being tired of it was gone. I was so conditioned and so used to it.No, I wasn’t relieved. I was disappointed to lose the Test captaincy, because I still loved it and still thought I had lot to offer. So I am disappointed that I am still not the Test captain.Ian Chappell has a theory that no captain should continue for more than four or five years.
That is fine. But I only felt the last three or four years was my time as captain. The years building up to that were mostly a case of having no one else. I was just lucky to get some grounding or experience, but I only deem the last three or four years as my captaincy years. As a general rule, I agree, three or four years.During those three or four years that you consider your captaincy years, you were considered one of the best in the business. What do you think is the most challenging part of being an international cricket captain?

Man management. Managing players, making decisions about player’s welfares, futures, and managing that is a tough job.People often judge captains on what they can see on the field, but a lot of work is done off the field too. How important is that part?

Huge. There is a lot off the field, a lot of leadership work these days. I tended to work a lot off the field because it made me calm as a captain on the field. It gave more direction, if you like.Like in an interview – if you do your homework, the interview goes a lot easier rather than coming with no preparations. Then the interview can be fifty-fifty. It’s the same in cricket. If you do a lot of work and preparation for the game, you tend to have more opportunities to make the right decisions.About the off-the-field management of the players – you have to be careful about not intruding into their private lives, don’t you?
Yes, space is important. But it is up to the players. You have to adhere to the team rules. You respect a player’s free time. Also, when they come to work, you make sure it is purposeful and the time is managed well. I think the biggest thing is managing time, because it becomes tough these days with so many tours, so many commitments, meetings.What has been the most satisfying part of your captaincy career, and the most disappointing one?
I guess the most disappointing was, we never won a series against Australia, and also the World Cup – not being able get to the World Cup final.

Satisfying … you’re satisfied with the little things. If you had a plan and it worked, or you spend a lot of time working
a batsman out and it came off. In the series in Australia [2001-02] it worked a number of times. So there was a lot of satisfaction in putting Australia under pressure. We haven’t won a series there but we put a number of great players under pressure for the first
time in their careers. That was very satisfying.The last time I interviewed you, you spoke very highly of Steve Waugh. Would you say that Waugh has been the ultimate captain of your time?
Martin Crowe and Steven Waugh were the two biggest influences in my captaincy career. Martin Crowe because he was so innovative and he didn’t have a great side. He was able to lift the team and get them to enhance their performances.Steve Waugh had a different challenge: of managing some great players. He had to maintain the high standard as well. Both these two were geniuses of the time.At the press conference after the World cup semi-final defeat against Sri Lanka in the Caribbean, you came out with a surprisingly honest statement about New Zealand’s repeated failure to reach the World Cup final and New Zealand’s inability to produce enough world-class players. My question is related to that. Why has New Zealand produced so few flair players
like Chris Cairns or Shane Bond? Why are New Zealand cricketers more dour, generally? Is it to do with national characteristics?
Maybe. Maybe something to do with our way of coaching. I think [the size of] our population as well.We only rarely produce world-class players. Australia seems to have an abundance of them. It goes back to the conditions they play in. You see, it’s the middle of the summer here, but we still do not have the conditions that will make people want to go out and train and become flair players. We have to grow inside and do the hard work.I think there is perhaps a little bit of acceptance that we are always going to be the team that will occasionally have its good days.If you have to pick the ideal batsman, who would it be?
I will pick three players – Lara, Ponting, Tendulkar. Combinations of these three. They have consistently performed under pressure.Tendulkar has always been been under pressure from his fans, from the Indian public. Lara because he was very much holding
the team together. Ponting, because he saw the expectation of his cricketing heritage. All three had to perform under pressure and consistently do so. Great players!Is there a particular shot any batsman plays that makes you think, ‘Wish I could play like this’?
As a left-handed batsman, while watching Lara – he’s a different player, you cannot play like him – but watching the way he hits the ball to the off side, so languid and loose. I always wished I could do that. The way he played the spinners, hitting the ball over the top – I never had the grace to do that.Lot of things he did went against the coaching manual. That’s the beauty of the game.Look at Malinga, Murali … you can be different and still succeed. There should be different way of coaching those [kinds of] players. We tend to try and bring everyone back into, say, Ricky Ponting’s technique rather than allow people to play and have their natural instinct take over.

As one of the most senior players in international cricket, what do you see as the game’s main challenge ahead?
One thing can be the managing the emergence of Twenty20 competitions and the impact that’s going to have on the international programme. And combined with that is the amount of cricket is played, keeping a balance so that players have enough time off.
That’s the challenge, the new form of the game, Twenty20.Do you see Twenty20 as a threat to one-day internationals?
I think so. One-day cricket might become a little stagnant. You already see not as many people are going to the one-dayers as before. Twenty20 is the shot in the arm cricket needs. And that will affect the longer form. I think Test cricket and Twenty20 cricket are going to be the way forward.There is a conception that most international cricketers live in a cocoon, not very conscious of social and political happenings. What about you? Do you keep track of what’s going on around the world?

Yeah, I do. I do try to keep an eye on what’s going on. Cricket to me has been great, but certainly there are bigger issues I am looking to getting into. Business-wise there are new challenges there. Yes, there are some courses and other interests that I want
to explore. I have now got a little more time but a young family and children as well. Children are a pretty strong part of what I want to do in moving forward.To be aware of things outside of the game also give you a better perspective on cricket, does it not?

Even in the game, it helps. Too many of our players left the game feeling bitter and angry that they were not selected or whatsoever. I will never do that.
Martin Crowe was your idol, and you have also been very close to him. I have seen you spend lot of time with him. But at times he has come out in the media with very strong criticism of you. How do you react to that?
I listen to it. Because there can be something in it. If there’s not, then move on. I don’t get too caught up in criticism, because it’s a game. If it is a personal attack, then I will take an issue. But if it is to do with the game, tactics, subjective criticism, it can be helpful, especially if it is from a quality captain like Martin Crowe, I would certainly listen.

The Durban-based Dolphins have won the Division One title in South Africa’s first-class competition bringing the curtain down on the 2022-23 domestic season.Dolphins also competed in the final of the T20 competition, which they lost to Titans, but finished last in the one-day cup, which was won by Lions. All three teams will remain in Division One next season, alongside Western Province, Boland, North-West and Warriors, with Bloemfontein’s Knights the first team to be relegated in the restructured system. Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) Inland have moved up to Division One for the 2023-24 summer.The promotion-relegation system came into effect when the two-tier franchise and provincial structure was scrapped at the end the 2020-21 season. They moved to a 15-team entirely provincial set-up (though some provinces retained the names of the franchises they were part of), separated into two divisions, and allowed two seasons of settling-in time before the annual one-up-one-down comes into play.That means results for the first round of the promotion/relegation calculations were made on two seasons worth of competitions, in each format, for a total of six tournaments. From the 2023-24 summer, it will be one season’s worth – three tournaments – that will determine who stays in Division One and who moves down.In the 2021-22 and 2022-23 summers, Knights finished sixth out of eight in the first-class competition, sixth in the one-day tournament, and seventh and fourth respectively in the T20s. Although they were never placed last, the combined final placings meants they were the worst-performing Division One team over two seasons.Their relegation left no team from the central region of the country in Division One. The central region covers the Free State province, and has produced players including Allan Donald, Hansie Cronje, and more recently Dean Elgar and Gerald Coetzee, and is home to several elite sporting schools including Grey College. With Bloemfontein also excluded from the SA20, the isolation of the province from the country’s cricketing consciousness is growing and CSA is concerned about the development.”This is one of the issues that was unenvisaged when the system started. If someone had shown you the teams then, you would not have thought the Knights would be the ones to be relegated,” Eddie Khoza, CSA’s head of pathways, told ESPNcricinfo. “It is important for each member to take responsibility and show accountability for their systems. The franchise system provided comfort and we couldn’t see the gaps that were there. Now, we will need to take a deep dive into what is happening with some of our members and see what we can do to support them.”On the other hand, CSA is delighted with the progress of KZN Inland, who were only reinstated as an affiliate team last November, after several years under administration. In the 2021-22 season, they were third in the four-day competition, and won the one-day cup; this summer they were second in the four-day series and reached the final of the one-day cup. Division Two teams do not play a standalone T20 tournament. Their promotion meant they would be entitled to contract 16 players instead of the 11 at Division Two level, and are eligible to contract players for more money.Knights will suffer the opposite fate and are expected to lose their big names, including Coetzee, who is moving to Titans. The player-contracting window opens today and will close at the end of March.

MatériaMais Notícias

Erison pode se juntar a lista de contundidos do São Paulo. O jogador deixou o gramado do Nabi Abi Chedid, aos 37 minutos do primeiro tempo do confronto do Tricolor paulista com o Red Bull Bragantino.

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O reforço chegou nas últimas semanas, para ser uma opção reserva de Calleri. O camisa 9 argentino, por sua vez, foi desfalque pela segunda vez seguida por conta de dores no tornozelo. Erison sentiu o posterior da coxa e saiu chorando.

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Em seu lugar, entrou Giuliano Galoppo. Assim como aconteceu no clássico com a Portuguesa, o argentino foi improvisado mais uma vez como um 9, justamente pela falta de opção.

O São Paulo viajou para Bragança sem contar com praticamente um time de jogadores contundidos. No total, são dez baixas. Entre elas, Caio Matheus, Moreira, Diego Costa, Ferraresi, Rafinha, André Anderson, Igor Vinícius, Arboleda, Calleri e Alisson.

Este foi a segunda partida de Erison com a camisa do São Paulo. O jogador disputou os 90 minutos contra o Santo André, no último final de semana.