Bruce Reid, the former bowling consultant for the Indian team, feels that a reason for India’s poor bowling performance in West Indies is the inability of the bowlers to put enough pressure while bowling in the fourth innings.”The wickets in West Indies can be really dead,” Reid told . “You need bowlers who can bowl something at 90 mph or probably some luck. There is a lot of difference in bowling in the first innings and bowling in the last innings.”On Anil Kumble, who has taken 13 wickets in the two Tests, at an average of 26.76, Reid said, “It is logical to believe that the conditions weren’t close to what Kumble would like to have. The reason why he has succeeded so much on the sub-continent wickets is precisely because the he’s got the much needed help from tracks that are sharp and turn viciously.”Reid, who is now the bowling coach for Hampshire, added that Irfan Pathan has progressed with every series and has developed into a very smart bowler. “But the rest of the attack is very young, very clueless about what is expected of them. You need to give them time, mate.”The third Test between India and West Indies begins on June 22 at St Kitts. It will be the first Test that the island has ever hosted.
Joey Carew, convenor of the West Indies selection panel, does not believe dropped West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Courtney Browne deserves the criticism he has been receiving. Browne, was not among the 13 players invited by the West Indies Cricket Board to sign match/tour contracts for the senior Sri Lanka tour. He was repleaced by Denesh Ramdin.Carew, a former Trinidad and Tobago captain and West Indies batsman, said that Browne had become the scapegoat for West Indies’ dismal performances in the recent home series against South Africa and Pakistan. “He dropped some very important catches during the course of the series, but his performance was no worst, and I shouldn’t use worst, than anyone else,” Carew told the Superior Saturday Sports programme on Q-FM. “I mean Ramnaresh Sarwan’s performance with the bat was atrocious at times, while Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds did not bat consistently either. The point is that the top six batsmen are not doing what they are supposed to do and that is a problem. Whenever we lose, people tend to look for scapegoats. If Browne had taken some of the crucial catches, we could have won.”Carew is excited by the potential of Carlton Baugh, Jr, who has played a few Tests and one-day internationals, and Ramdin but he believes both need to work a little harder at their games. “They need a little bit more preparation and a little bit more coaching, and this leads me to make the point that the territories are not doing enough work with their cricketers,” Carew said. “Baugh should be much more advanced, particularly with Jeffrey Dujon and Jackie Hendriks from his native Jamaica as top-class examples of West Indies wicketkeepers, and in Trinidad, Ramdin should be getting extensive coaching from David Williams, who was very competent, but there is the problem and the answer.”Carew described the captaincy of Shivnarine Chanderpaul as “encouraging, encouraging”. “Any time you start a job like West Indies captain, you may start tentatively, but you are expected to grow in confidence,” he said. “I think he is starting to do this. He carries a tremendous burden with the batting because whenever he went in to bat, we were three wickets down for under 100 runs, and he carried that burden well. I think he is learning well.”Carew also praised new West Indies coach Bennett King for the work ethic that he has been able to instill in the team. “I have always complained that we needed to improve the standard of our practice, and that has to be handed down to the territories,” he said. “All in all, I think under Bennett we have taken a small step forward, and now let’s hope that we can stride out.”Carew is not turned off by the criticisms that have been levelled at him and his fellow selectors because he felt that showed there was still interest in the game in the Caribbean. “Nobody likes a loser,” he said. “We all like winners. We all want to win. We all want to see the West Indies win, and then we will also start to see the crowds returning to the games.”
Nathan Bracken’s repeated success against Virender Sehwag in the recent TVS Cup could see him get the nod ahead of Brad Williams when Australia play the first Test against India at Brisbane.Bracken, with his left-arm seam angling across a hesitant Sehwag, took eight wickets in three games against India at an average of 12.12, and he claimed Sehwag all three times, conceding just four in the 12 balls he bowled to him.”It must be pretty tight between Nathan and Brad,” Adam Gilchrist said. “They both bowled exceptionally well over in India. Williams did a good job in the Test match he played, but Nathan is another option for us as a left-armer. It’s going to be difficult to choose between them.”The pleasing thing about the series we just played is that guys like Nathan and Brad are not just filling in when they get their opportunities, they’re putting pressure on all the time,” Gilchrist added. “Whoever does play, if they do well, it’s then a real challenge for guys who are out to come back in.”The other big selection riddle for Australia concerns the No. 6 slot, recently vacated by an injured Darren Lehmann. Australia will have to choose between Simon Katich and Martin Love, both of whom have done well this season. “They both offer so much in their own individual ways,” said Gilchrist. “Again, it’s a very tough selection decision, but it’s a great position for us to be in, to have options like these.”Gilchrist called India “potentially our biggest challenge,” based on the make-up of the team, and said: “Their batting line-up is on par with any in the world, really, including ours. They’ve got new young tearaway quicks who are pretty aggressive, which is not their traditional way, and of course they’ve got fantastic spinners. It will be crucial how much momentum they are allowed to build up. We’ll be chasing that early momentum.”
SYDNEY, Dec 22 AAP – Stuart MacGill is back in the Test side and ready to shoulder the burden in the absence of Shane Warne – all the way to the World Cup and West Indies.The New South Wales (NSW) leg spinner was the only change to the Australian side named today for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, taking the place of Warne, who is recovering from a dislocated shoulder.It’s been 11 months since MacGill last pulled on the baggy green cap against South Africa in Sydney.And it’s an opportunity he hopes will open the door for a permanent return to the national team, starting with the World Cup in South Africa in February.MacGill was left out of a preliminary 30-man World Cup squad named by the national selectors earlier this month but Warne’s dislocated shoulder has brought him back into calculations.”On the World Cup, I think in my mind, there’s absolutely no doubt that I am one of the best one day players in Australia,” MacGill said today.”To be left out of the 30 to me didn’t mean that I wasn’t. It just meant that the make-up of the team at that particular time didn’t include me.”It doesn’t mean that I am not one of the best one day players. I will always believe that.”For the selectors to have left me out of the 30 is understandable based on the selection criteria.”Now things are slightly different and if the opportunity arises I am sure I will do a great job.”With a four Test series against the West Indies to follow the World Cup, MacGill could be forgiven for feeling a sense of deja vu.Four years ago he took a bagful of wickets against England to secure a trip to the Caribbean, where his form eventually squeezed Warne out of the Test side.On that occasion Warne was coming back from shoulder surgery – a scenario which could be repeated next year.MacGill isn’t looking to make Warne expendable this time, but admits he’d love to play alongside the spin wizard in the Australian side once more.”I had hoped that this would be the time we would tour the West Indies and tear them apart together,” MacGill said.”I got to the stage last time where it was very difficult to leave me out of the team.”That can happen again this time. That’s certainly what I aim to do every time I play, even with New South Wales.”I feel if I am a vital part of the team it’s just going to make the selectors job easier, not harder.”If history is any guide, MacGill could do just that.The wine-loving leggie has an impeccable record against the tourists, having taken 27 wickets in four Tests at an average of 17.70.He was dubbed the “logical replacement” by chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns today despite lean pickings – by his own high standards – this summer for the Blues.The 31-year-old has taken 20 wickets in NSW’s six matches at an average of 38.45. He bowled only 26 overs, taking 3-56, as the Blues slumped to a nine wicket loss to Victoria on an SCG greentop in his latest Pura Cup outing.”He is a high-class performer with a big-match temperament, something that is shown by his figures in Test matches, and he has an outstanding record against England,” Hohns said in a statement.”We are delighted to be able to call on someone of his ability as we look to continue our good form in this series.”
There was a great hue and cry about the pitches in our country exactly ayear ago when the Indian team was faring badly in Australia. The pitch at theMotera Stadium at Ahmedabad was nothing to write home about as the top surfacejust kept coming off repeatedly. Ironically the curator at the Motera is amember of the pitches committee of the BCCI. Yet the score card of both thesides suggest that the pitch was one hell of a belter. One wonders whether thebatting needs to be complemented or the bowling deserves to be criticisedseverely. The Indians coasted to a convincing victory and everything will beforgiven and forgotten as a result.Saurav Ganguly dictated the course of the game from the outset despitelosing Sachin Tendulkar early on. His timing was as good as ever on a pitch,which was not a paradise for stroke play. Dravid played the second fiddle roleto perfection and watched his skipper unleash strokes all round the wicket.Travis Friend did work up good pace and accounted for Tendulkar with a peach ofa delivery. Tendulkar was surprised by not only the pace but also the bounceextracted by Friend.The second wicket partnership between Rahul Dravid and Ganguly virtuallysealed the fate of the visitors. It has to be mentioned that the visitors reallymade a mess of things with their innocuous attack. The lack of a reasonably goodspinner in their ranks was felt rather badly. The medium pace oriented attackwas also guilty of conceding too many extras by way of wides and no balls.The dropped chances compounded the misery of the Zimbabwean captain,Heath Streak. He could only watch Ganguly plunder his bowlers with his customaryelegance and pluck. The Indian skipper reached his century and he celebrated theoccasion with some explosive blows. Sunil Joshi made merry in the latter stagesof the innings hitting a few lusty blows. Anything above 250 was a stiff targeton a deteriorating surface and the Indians would have settled for that. But whatensued in the final ten overs was something incredible and this was one occasionthe hosts made the most of the slog.Chasing 300 plus successfully even on a firm pitch is not an everydayoccurrence, but the manner in which the visitors started their innings onlyreaffirmed the result. Marillier appeared like one who was in a hurry to getback into the dressing room for a shower. His repeated thrusts at thin airrubbed off on even Stuart Carlisle who is a batsman in the conventional mode.While Prasad brought Marillier’s misery to an end, Zaheer Khan with sheer pacebeat Carlisle. Alistair Campbell played some attractive shots and a big inningswas required from either Campbell or Andy Flower for Zimbabwe to make a match ofit. But the problem was going to be the spinners for the visitors and theintroduction of Tendulkar portended the things to come for Zimbabwe. Campbellwas dismissed in his first over and the purchase he obtained from the track putpaid to Zimbabwe’s hopes.Sridharan Sriram, who did an opportunity to bat, utilised the helpfulpitch to end up with three wickets. This would make the youngster feel muchbetter as he is under minute observation at the moment. He has to be encouraged,as Sodhi as yet cannot be termed as an all-rounder. With Robin Singh out of theside, Sriram appears the best bet to fill up the all-rounder’s slot.
According to 90min, amid all the noise surrounding pre-summer talks for Paulo Dybala, it appears Tottenham Hotspur have made contact to sign another superstar forward in Darwin Nunez.
The Lowdown: Nunez in demand…
Touted by reliable reporter Fabrizio Romano as one of the ‘big name’ players who could be on the move this summer, Benfica’s star striker is apparently attracting interest from across Europe and the Premier League.
As well as Spurs, north London rivals Arsenal, Aston Villa, Newcastle United and West Ham are all harbouring an interest in Nunez, who could leave for £65 million this summer (90min).
This is significantly less than his release clause, which is estimated to be over £100m, and 90min believe that the Lilywhites are already making their first moves for the player before July 1.
The Latest: Spurs in contact…
While the links to Dybala are hotting up, according to 90min’s information, Tottenham are also in contact with Nunez’s representatives to find out what sort of agreement is possible to back manager Antonio Conte with the forward’s signing.
The report adds that Nunez himself is ‘ready to move’ this summer and a switch to England is very much ‘in his sights’.
The Verdict: Promising target…
While it will require a hefty investment on Tottenham’s part, the 22-year-old has been in scintillating form for Benfica this season, leaving little wonder why they are set to demand a hefty fee.
He’s racked up a quite incredible 20 goals in 22 league appearances over 2021/2022 with his young age and versatility across the forward line coming as yet more incentives for Spurs to attempt a move.
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As Spurs officials allegedly make contact, this could be an indication that the club have real ambition to satisfy Conte.
In other news: Paratici sets sights on ‘phenomenal’ £100m man who Spurs have been offered before! Find out more here.
VVS Laxman has termed the Eden Gardens pitch on which his Deccan Chargers lost their IPL opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders “shocking” and said the power failure towards the end of the match contributed to the defeat as it affected the players’ concentration.”It was not a good pitch for any form of the game. It was a shocking wicket,” said Laxman after Hyderabad were shot out for 110 on a track that provided a lot of assistance to both seamers and spinners. “In the Twenty20 format you expect high scores. Though the match became exciting in the end, it was tough for the batsmen to go for shots.”Ricky Ponting later revealed that the curator had apologised to both the teams at the end of the match. “It was a shocker for all of us,” he said in a television interview, “but the curator apologised to both the teams later. Hopefully it will be a better surface when we’re out here next.”After the first two days of the IPL was dominated by the bat, Eden Gardens provided a bowler-friendly surface. It has everything from extremely variable bounce – the first ball Laxman faced kept low while the third jumped viciously from a length to crash into his gloves – and big turn as Andrew Symonds found out when a Mohammad Hafeez delivery landed well outside off and spun past him down the leg side. Even local boy Sourav Ganguly struggled to come to terms with the pitch, getting hit on the chest from a length ball that took off.Laxman felt that the nature of the Eden Gardens track was changing. “I played here in the Ranji Trophy and also a Test sometime back. The wicket was slow on both occasions. I think you are not getting the wicket we expect at Eden.”Laxman also complained about the floodlight failure as the match was heading towards a tight finish. Kolkata needed 22 from 20 with five wickets in hand when one of the light towers went off, holding play up for about half an hour. When play resumed, David Hussey guided Kolkata to victory with one over to spare. “The interruption definitely affected us. The momentum was towards us. And the bowlers were in great rhythm,” Laxman said. “But having said that, I must say that the bowlers were in great rhythm when play resumed.”Hussey, whose unbeaten 38 fetched him the Man-of-the-Match award, played down the difficult nature of the track and admitted his side were helped by the interruption in play. “It was a good break for us,” he said. “We got to collect our thoughts, have a drink and re-adjust our game plans and that probably worked in our favour.”
Jersey will host the ICC World Cricket League Division Five (WCL Div. 5) tournament in 2008.The ICC’s decision follows a recent visit to the island by a development team to inspect the country’s suitability for promotion to Associate membership, which will be voted on at the ICC Annual Conference at Lord’s in June.Jersey has been an Affiliate Member of the ICC since June 2005 and as such is one of the more recent additions to the ICC’s Development Program. Selection to host this global event is recognition of the successful developments that the Jersey Cricket Board (JCB) has achieved over the past two years since gaining membership.The largest of the Channel Islands, Jersey is located off the north coast of France and has a population of around 90,000 people. Approximately 3,500 participate in the game in Jersey. There are six grounds with turf squares on the island, which play host to a league structure made up of more than 40 teams competing across two weekend divisions, three evening league divisions and two indoor league divisions. There are also a further 47 teams that compete at junior level.Chris Minty, JCB’s director of cricket, said: “This is tremendous, not only for Jersey cricket, but also for Jersey. We are looking forward to the challenges that this will present and will be doing all we can to ensure it is a successful tournament.”Keith Dennis, chairman of the JCB, commented: “We feel very proud and honoured that the ICC has awarded this big tournament to Jersey and it’s a tribute to the structure we have in place here and, of course, our facilities, together with support from our local government and sponsors. This has created the opportunity to be in a position to host such a tournament and we are looking forward to it.”The WCL Divison 5 is scheduled to take place sometime in May or June of 2008, but the exact date is yet to be confirmed. Originally planned to be an eight-team event, a recent decision at the ICC Development Committee meeting earlier this month opted to expand the league to include 12 teams – Botswana, USA, Afghanistan, Norway, Nepal, Singapore, Jersey, Mozambique, Bahamas, Germany and two teams yet to qualify from the East-Asia Pacific region.The WCL is made up of five divisions with the Europe region contributing eight teams to the overall event: Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland (Division 1), Denmark (Division 2), Italy (Division 3), Norway, Jersey and Germany (Division 5).ICC Regional Development Manager for Europe Richard Holdsworth said: “Jersey’s excellent facilities and administration will ensure this is a memorable event for those countries participating. This will do the game of cricket a tremendous service in Jersey.”The top two teams from the Division 5 tournament will progress to WCL Division 4 which is a six-team round-robin event to be staged in late 2008 at a venue yet to be confirmed.
At just before five o’clock, with the shadows lengthening and everyone anticipating an Indian declaration, confusion reigned. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in the midst of a savage attack, hoicked Dave Mohammed to the midwicket region, and Daren Ganga backpedaled to take the skier. Ganga completed the catch, took a couple of steps back, moved a couple of steps sideways and ran towards his team-mates in jubilation. Dhoni turned back to walk towards the pavilion, Rahul Dravid stood up in the dressing-room, appearing to want to signal a declaration, but Asad Rauf, the umpire at the bowler’s end, had his doubts.Rauf first checked with Simon Taufel, the square leg umpire, and then took out his walkie-talkie to consult Billy Doctrove, the third official. The whole issue revolved around whether Ganga had stepped on the boundary rope (with a sponsor banner wrapped around) while taking the catch, and the two television replays were inconclusive. For the next 15 minutes, nobody knew what was happening. Ganga spoke to Lara, Ganga spoke to the batsmen, Lara spoke to the umpires, Lara spoke to the batsmen, replays continued to be inconclusive, Dravid waited, the crowd waited, the music played, but hardly anyone danced.As time wore on, Lara appeared to grow more and more agitated and was seen wagging his finger towards Rauf and, a few minutes later, after a conversation with Rauf, he snatched the ball away from him. Further discussions followed before, after what seemed an age, Dhoni finally began walking towards the dressing-room.At the end of the day, Dhoni clarified what had gone on: “Brian came up to me and said, ‘I’m taking the charge of my players’, as in taking the responsibility of his players, and ‘I think you should walk off. What they [my players] say is going to be the truth’. Then we decided that I should walk off. He came late to me. Daren came first and it was tough for him because it [the boundary rope] was on his back side. And it’s hard to feel a piece of paper when it’s behind you. So he was not entirely sure about it, he said, ‘I’m not really sure if I stepped on it’.”He added that he didn’t want to dwell too much on the topic saying, “I think I accepted the fielder’s words and came back. It was between them [the umpires and fielders] and I think it’s a topic that can be left alone.”Bennett King, the West Indies, coach who also came for the press conference didn’t want to comment on the matter; Imran Khan, the West Indies media manager, said that the two captains, match referee and two umpires had spoken about it and were happy.Why Doctrove didn’t pass a verdict remains baffling. There was clearly some doubt and, under normal circumstances, the benefit should have gone to the batsman. Neither team had, officially at least, agreed on accepting the fielders’ word and it would have surely been tough for Ganga to judge if he touched the paper banner or not.Lara too was treading on shaky ground but his moot point might have been that Dravid had already signalled the declaration – something which appeared a possibility. Maybe he was arguing about Dravid calling the players back after the catch was taken, in which case Dhoni, whether he was out or not, could not be allowed to bat again. It’s a tough one to interpret, yet not that grave as to warrant such angry gestures.The official word was that “normal play” would resume tomorrow. If at all those six runs would make a difference in the eventual outcome, everything may not necessarily be normal.
Still smarting from his omission for the tour of the West Indies, Shoaib Akhtar has promised to utilise his stint with Worcestershire to come back fitter and better than ever. In an exclusive interview with Cricinfo, Shoaib insisted that innuendo over his fitness was unfair, and rubbished rumours that his weight had ballooned while he was recovering from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the series in India.Shoaib, who sat out Pakistan’s last tour of the West Indies with an injury, was desperately disappointed at missing out again, but insisted that he had done all he could to convince the selectors. “I was saying that I’m fit and keen, but I have no clue what Grant Compton (the PCB physio) told the Board in his report,” he said. “But it’s history now. The team’s been selected and they’ve gone. I’m gearing up now for my county games, the Super Series and England’s tour of Pakistan. I’ll be supremely fit for those games.”As for the barbs about his weight, Shoaib’s response was a laugh. “A lot of these people don’t have a clue about the gym, they’ve never even been inside one,” he said. “Anyone will tell you how necessary gym-work and cardio (cardio-vascular exercises) are these days. I weigh 84 kg now. In Australia, it was 83. So I’ve put on one kg, and that’s muscle. During the off-season, you have to work on your muscles to prevent wastage. I have a six-pack on my belly right now, so I don’t know how people can call me fat.”The fact remains though that he has rarely managed to make it to the final match of a series, leave alone finish one, and when asked whether he was worried that such absenteeism would be an integral part of his story, he was quickly on the defensive. “I have completed a few series. If you look at it, McGrath didn’t play that full series and Gillespie didn’t either [both did, with only Michael Kasprowicz making way in Sydney]. They were rested. You can’t play a full series these days. You have to use your fast bowlers sensibly.”