Category Uncategorized

Division Two

The game of the day – although, in truth, there wasn’t much competition – came at Taunton where Marcus Trescothick and Neil Edwards helped to hunt down 121 in the last session to help Somerset climb to the top of Division Two.But Trescothick injured his quad muscle and had to bat with a runner during his innings of 69. Nevertheless, he and Edwards batted with an Australian-like aggression to post 50 in the first five overs. In the end, their stand was worth 95, with Cameron White then anchoring as Trescothick saw them home with 69 from 42 balls.Earlier, Lance Klusener’s 122 led Northamptonshire‘s brave battle to hold out for the draw. Starting with three down and trailing by 161 runs, Northants lost three quick wickets and were in some trouble at 120 for 6. Then came a remarkable seventh-wicket stand of 173 between Klusener and Alex Wakely, who added 66. Johan wan der Wath contributed 37 as Northants reached 358 to make Somerset bat again.Andrew Caddick ended with 4 for 91 in the second innings, to finish with seven wickets this match. He now has 46 in his nine Championship matches this term.Two days of rain at Trent Bridge, rendered Nottinghamshire‘s match with Gloucestershire a draw, as Somerset eased past them to the top. Notts moved on from 271 for 4 to 400 for 8 – David Hussey moving on to 180 and Chris Read made 52 – before Gloucestershire declared after the first ball to bring an early finish.

Division One

A similar story at Edgbaston where, also after two rained-out days, Yorkshire had to settle for a draw with Warwickshire. In another parallel, Yorkshire made 400 before declaring (with nine down). Anthony McGrath was left unbeaten on 188. Warwickshire eased to 254 for 2 in reply, Darren Maddy not out on 135 and there were fifties too for the Ians Westwood (51) and Bell (65). Yorkshire gained enough bonus points to squeeze ahead of Sussex at the top of the table.Division One

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Pts
Yorkshire	9	3	1	0	5	117
Sussex	9	4	2	0	3	116
Warwickshire	9	2	1	0	6	103
Durham	9	3	4	0	2	98.5
Lancashire	8	2	0	0	6	95
Hampshire	8	3	1	0	4	93
Kent	7	2	3	0	2	71
Surrey	8	1	4	0	3	65
Worcestershire	7	0	4	0	3	43

Division Two

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Pts
Somerset	9	5	1	0	3	144
Nottinghamshire	10	4	1	0	5	140.5
Essex	9	3	2	0	4	111
Northamptonshire	9	3	4	0	2	92
Middlesex	8	3	1	0	4	90.5
Derbyshire	8	2	1	0	5	90
Leicestershire	9	1	4	0	4	75
Gloucestershire	9	1	4	0	4	70
Glamorgan	7	1	5	0	1	46

Dean Jones: paying the price for his indiscretion © Getty Images

The reactions to Dean Jones’s ‘terrorist’ remark towards Hashim Amla have come thick and fast not only from South African fans, but from the commentators’ box as well. Various experts and media personalities – including former cricketers – agreed that commentators must always be accountable for their comments.Harsha Bhogle, a prominent broadcaster with ESPN Star Sports, pointed out that commentators have to always be on their guard. “We work in a news room or commentary box, so we have to be careful of what we say,” he told . “You have to assume that the microphone is always on. There will be some network somewhere who will be on live even when there is a break. We have directorial microphones too, so we have to be very careful. Sometimes producers do tell us that it is leaking, be careful. I have made up my mind not to swear even when not on air.”Syed Saba Karim, the former Indian wicketkeeper-turned-commentator, did not condone Jones but believed it could have been an honest mistake. “We do chat off camera and off air but I have never experienced anything like this. Nowadays with the ICC being strict with what comes on air, strong action has already taken place,” he said. “Dean Jones is popular with so many cricketers, maybe it came out inadvertently. He must be given a chance to explain his stand.”Madan Lal, the former Indian allrounder, termed it a mistake that could have been avoided. “You have to take precautions while you are on air,” he stated. “You should make no personal comments, especially against religion. Producers anyway warn us from making comments against individuals. I haven’t made or heard such remarks from my co-commentators. However, mistakes do happen and some pay a big price for it, like Jones.”Similiarly, Arun Lal, the former Indian batsman and prominent commentator, maintained that it was a bad mistake. “It’s a very unfortunate incident. Just one of those things, when he has probably tried to sound witty. Knowing the gentleman I am sure he did not mean it. It was just a mistake, nothing else. An apology would have been fine, because as a sportsman you never in indulge in racism. I am sure Deano himself would have been embarrassed with what has happened.”There were others who saw the incident as more than a goof-up. Kirti Azad, the former Indian offspinner, called it “derogatory” and far from a joke. “Jones has been tarnished forever, now no channel would want his services,” he said. Vijay Amritraj, the former Indian tennis player who has been a commentator for various channels, said it was up to the individual to be careful. “Such kind of comments and remarks cannot be allowed for commentators and there is no way what Jones said can be condoned,” he said. “But every individual has a standard of ethics and it is up to every channel to decide one for itself. I do not think that there is any need for a code of conduct in this regard.”

India 6 for 150 (Ganguly 45) trail Australia 474 (Clarke 151, Gilchrist 104, Harbhajan 5 for 146) by 324 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A century on debut for Michael Clarke – and many more to come, surely© Getty Images

Two sensational hundreds, two sensational balls, and a thoroughly ruthless and professional performance helped Australia assume control on the second day of the first Test at Bangalore. With their miracle workers gone, India found themselves staring at defeat, 324 runs behind with only four wickets left.It was a perfect day for Australia. Adam Gilchrist andMichael Clarke dominated the first three hours withsparkling footwork and spanking drives, and then theirbowlers coaxed life out of what had seemed afeatherbed pitch till then. Glenn McGrath showed whatAustralia had missed during their home series lastyear by winkling out two wickets in his first twoovers and Michael Kasprowicz, who won Australia aTest at this ground in 1998, showed how to bowl on aslow pitch by striking two vital blows after India hadsteadied themselves through an enterprisingpartnership between Virender Sehwag and SouravGanguly. Shane Warne then capped a great day for Australia by claiming VVS Laxman with a ball he willcherish: it drifted in, pitched on a perfect spot onleg, and beat Laxman’s prodding bat with sharp turn tohit off.The hope for India lay in an early breakthrough – but itdidn’t come until the last ball before lunch. In thosetwo hours, Gilchrist left the Indian spinners cluelessas he struck a fine balance between caution andattack. He scored quickly, but differently to his usual approach, choosingto go down the ground instead of behind square ashas been his custom. He carted bothAnil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh straight for sixes intheir first overs, and then opened up the field and pushedaround for easy runs. All through the morning, theIndians posted two men on the fence for thesweep, but unlike Matthew Hayden yesterday, Gilchrist didn’tfall for the trap.His first sweep didn’t come until he had 87, a controlled four tolong leg, and his century came up a couple of overslater, with two successive cover-driven fours thatbeat long-off. It wasn’t his usual swashbucklingstyle, but the hundred still came off 103 balls and theIndians just didn’t know where to bowl to him. He fellon the stroke of lunch, to a brilliant return catch,as Harbhajan dived full-length to his right to latchon to one that skimmed inches above the ground (5 for 423).

Shane Warne finally nails his nemesis, VVS Laxman, as Australia take charge at Bangalore© Getty Images

Gilchrist also played a crucial part in guiding Clarketo his hundred. With three figures in sight, Clarke wasa bundle of nerves early in the day. His first two fourscame through edges, before he survived a hugeleg-before shout against Kumble. With a seven-twofield against bowling that was directed outside off, Clarke swished and missed, changed his gloves,and made frequent forays to square leg between balls.But as soon as he traded his helmet for a baggy greencap, Clarke got to the landmark with a clipped two tomidwicket, becoming the first Australian since GregBlewett in 1994-95 to score a century on Test debut. Thenext 50 runs were made in unfettered style, and hesprayed the bowling to all parts as India’s slowbowlers, especially Kumble, were found wanting.Just after lunch, Kumble was thumped for two fours anda six over midwicket, as Clarke moved his feet withballet-like precision.He fell immediately after reaching his 150 as anattempted cover-drive off Zaheer Khan took the edge andwent straight through to Parthiv Patel (8 for 471). Harbhajan mopped up the tail in next to notime to finish with an expensive five-for – but by then, India were already requiring a mighty turnaround.McGrath struck with the fourth ball of the Indianinnings as Aakash Chopra shouldered arms to one thatdarted back in. Replays showed that the ball might havegone just over the stumps (1 for 0). But the body blowcame in McGrath’s second over as a peach of delivery,pitched outside off and cutting in, sneaked throughRahul Dravid’s defence to crash into the stumps (2 for 4). McGrath had struck twice in six balls, and Dravidleft to a stunned silence at his home ground.Ganguly scythed through that tension with two gorgeouscover-drives that had everyone gasping. He didn’t hold backwhen the ball was dug in short, and rolled his wristswhile executing the pull. At the other end, Sehwag letrip as the cover fielders chased some lashed drives.After bowling one over before tea, Warne returned in the 20th over of the innings. Sehwag immediately made room for himself and the ball teasedthe fielder at short extra cover before escaping thegrasp of the one at mid-off.But the introduction of Kasprowicz provided Australia with the double break. Gangulywas cut in half in Kasprowicz’s first over, as heintelligently varied the pace of delivery as well asthe extent of seam movement. Sehwag chipped a straightone uppishly to midwicket, where Justin Langer leapt up and latched on (3 for 87). And then Ganguly was done in by abrute of a cutter, and only managed to edge it toGilchrist (4 for 98).Until he received that Warne Special Delivery, Laxman looked inregal touch, with a couple of sublime flicks of McGrath andKasprowicz. It took a ripping, accurate legbreak toget him out and India finished the day seeking amiracle of Kolkata ’01 proportions.

The Tasmanian Selectors have today announced the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers team to play the Queensland Bulls in the ING Cup Twighlight match at the Bellerive Oval in on Monday 26th January 2004.

CASCADE TASMANIAN TIGERS
Daniel MARSH (Captain)
Shane WATSON (Vice-Captain)
Xavier DOHERTY
George BAILEY
Michael DIGHTON
Michael DiVENUTO
Sean CLINGELEFFER
Damien WRIGHT
Shannon TUBB
Adam GRIFFITH
Luke BUTTERWORTH
Scott KREMERSKOTHEN

The 12th man will be named on the morning of the match.Selectors have made two changes to the team that played in Adelaide on 9th January.Michael DiVenuto returns to the team after injury and Luke Butterworth will make his debut for the Tigers.Travis Birt and Gerard Denton have been omitted.Butterworth (20 years of age), a Rookie contracted all-rounder from the Glenorchy Cricket Club makes his debut for the Tigers. Luke was a full time scholar at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in 2003 and has represented Tasmania at an Under 19 level and in the Cricket Australia Cup over the past two seasons.The Tasmanian Cricket Association would like to remind Patrons and Media this will be a twighlight match and play will commence at 12 noon with gates open at 11.00 am.During the match patrons will have the chance to win a set of keys to the Ford Focus competition by supporting the Tigers and bringing their entry form from the Mercury Newspaper and placing it in the entry box provided at the ground.

With the storm of the contracts crisis still hanging over the heads of the Indian cricketers, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that the national selection committee has selected the Indian squad of 15 to travel to South Africa for the World Cup in February 2003.The talking point was the omission of VVS Laxman, who was replaced by Dinesh Mongia. This comes in the wake of widespread speculation that Mongia would in fact pip Laxman at the post for a place, thanks to his sharper skills in the field. Mongia was not selected in the 16-member squad that is currently playing a seven-match one-day series in New Zealand.Laxman has scored 1240 runs at an average of just 27.55 in the 50 one-dayers he has played so far, scoring just one century. His strike rate, a mere 67.02 runs per hundred balls, has also gone against him.As expected, young stumper Parthiv Patel has been selected as wicket-keeping cover for Rahul Dravid, who is expected to don the gloves in a majority of the games to enable the team to field an extra bowler or batsman as required. Dravid had a disappointing game behind the stumps against New Zealand at Napier recently and the selectors would have taken this into consideration in naming Patel as a reserve stumper.Veteran campaigners Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath will also heave a sigh of relief when they find their names on the list of 15 for the World Cup.However, none of these players has signed the Participating Nations Agreement (PNA) and cannot take part in the World Cup unless they do so within the stipulated time limit. If any player fails to sign the agreement, the selectors will be forced to name a replacement.Squad: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Dinesh Mongia, Parthiv Patel, Sanjay Bangar, Ajit Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif.

Carlisle:
Cumberland 273 (Williams 75, Metcalfe 54; Graham 5-79) and 86
Suffolk 157 (Pennett 7-63) and 183 (Brown 56; Pennett 4-47)
Cumberland won by 19 runs
Cumberland 22pts. Suffolk 4

Rangers are among the clubs in the race to sign an England international goalkeeper this summer, according to The Daily Mail. 

The lowdown

The £32,500-per-week contract of West Brom netminder Sam Johnstone runs until the end of June, at which point he will be free to choose his next club.

The Englishman was the Baggies’ first-choice ‘keeper in the Premier League last season and wound up staying put despite their demotion to the Championship. He’s made 34 league appearances for Steve Bruce’s side, who sit 12th in the table.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/rangers-news-2/” title=”Rangers news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Rangers may need a new goalkeeper for next season, with 40-year-old veteran Allan McGregor also out of contract over the summer.

The latest

The Daily Mail’s Simon Jones and Sam May wrote that Rangers have ‘expressed an interest’ in signing Johnstone, having identified him as a potential replacement for McGregor. However, they face competition from at least four clubs south of the border.

Tottenham Hotspur, who apparently looked poised to sign him at one point in January, want him to provide cover and competition for Hugo Lloris, while recruitment staff at Newcastle United, West Ham United and Southampton have all discussed making a move for the 29-year-old ‘in recent months’ as well.

The verdict

Johnstone would be an excellent signing for Rangers.

He was unfortunate not to get a move last summer, having been a shining light in an otherwise dour to-flight campaign for West Brom. Johnstone was among the nine best shot-stoppers in the division (‘preventing’ 4.4 goals) and was named Player of the Season by both his team-mates and the club’s supporters.

Even after the Baggies’ relegation, the £7.2m-rated stopper earned call-ups for the first three international windows of the 2021/22 season during the autumn. He has won three caps for Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions up to this point, underlining his pedigree.

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He may be seen not only as a successor to – but also an upgrade on – McGregor, who was questioned for his role in Celtic’s equaliser in Sunday’s Old Firm defeat. Ibrox legend Ally McCoist said that the £13,000-per-week veteran ought to have parried Reo Hatate’s strike ‘wider’, duly allowing Tom Rogic to convert the rebound.

Would Johnstone pick Rangers over Spurs? The Daily Mail’s report noted the 29-year-old’s ambition to make the England squad for the World Cup at the end of the year, and you could argue that he would be better served playing weekly at Ibrox than his likely destiny as Hugo Lloris’ little-used understudy if he goes to north London, where the Frenchman is virtually undroppable.

In other news, Rangers could suffer a £5m blow

	Life on the county circuit does not appeal to Steve Harmison © Getty Images

Steve Harmison has said he is likely to quit cricket if he fails to win back his England place.Writing in his column in the Mail on Sunday, Harmison said that without the lure of international cricket, he could see no point in continuing.”The prospect of playing for England is what drives me and if I felt my chance of doing that was gone the probability is I’d retire from first-class cricket altogether. This is not an ultimatum or me trying to impose conditions on anyone. But I am 29 now and if I felt my England career was over I would be tempted to say I want to do something different with my life.”I am absolutely determined to show I have something to offer England,” he continued. “I certainly do not believe I am finished. After a terrible year for me on the field with injuries, operations and so little cricket it is ridiculous, my aim is to bowl fast, take wickets and give the selectors something to think about.”I have spoken informally to the skipper, Michael Vaughan, and the coach, Peter Moores, and stressed that I still want to play Test cricket and they were pretty positive that both Matthew [Hoggard] and I remain in their plans.”

Shivnarine Chanderpaul: named as captain in Brian Lara’s absence© Getty Images

The West Indies Players’ Association has lashed out at the non-selection of Brian Lara and six other leading players who have signed personal endorsement contracts with Cable & Wireless, accusing the West Indies Cricket Board of acting as "judge, jury and executioner" in the matter.On Sunday, the West Indies squad for the first Digicel-sponsored Test against South Africa was announced, and though Lara’s name was officially omitted, with the captaincy passing to Shivnarine Chanderpaul, he was nonetheless offered an invitation to join the squad, which Lara – bound as he is by contractual obligations – was reported to have neither accepted nor declined.In a press release, the WIPA president, Dinanath Ramnarine, was extremely critical of the course of action that the board had taken. "It is clear that as soon as the players cross one hurdle, another is erected in its place, until we have reached the stage where the board has exposed itself as judge, jury and executioner," he wrote. "And all the while, it bold-facedly maintains that it respects the binding decision of Justice Saunders regarding the players’ rights to enter into personal endorsement contracts.”The players and their careers, and the hopes and aspirations of Caribbean people, should not be made scapegoats in this issue," added Ramnarine. "WIPA strongly deprecates the manner in which the Board issued an invitation to Mr Brian Lara to make himself available for selection to the squad for the first Test match. WIPA wishes to strongly record its wholehearted support for the position which Mr Lara has taken in response to the Board.In summary, the WIPA proposed that, in order to ensure the best available side to take on South Africa on March 31, "the status quo achieved for the VB Series in Australia … be maintained." This, they added, would be in the best commercial interests of the two competing companies, and was the desired resolution as voiced "by the overwhelming majority of the Caribbean people." Nevertheless, the WIPA warned that, if such a course of action was not taken, they would be left with "no other alternative but to take such actions as may be necessary to protect our members’ rights and the interest of West Indies cricket”.West Indies squad Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith, Donavon Pagon, Daren Ganga, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), Narsingh Deonarine, Ryan Hinds, Courtney Browne (wk, vice-capt), Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins, Dwight Washington, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Reon King.