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.”
Townsville teenager Laura Bates and Cairns policewoman Kelly Klibbe will bolster the Konica Minolta Queensland Fire team for their must-win Women’ National Cricket League series against the Western Fury at Allan Border Field this weekend.The regional duo were named today in a 14-player squad for the weekend matches, with Queensland’s hopes of featuring in the Finals this season hinging on a clean-sweep against the Fury.Bates, 18, will make her Queensland debut if she plays while Klibbe, a Queensland regular since 1997-98, will make her first appearance this season after being transferred to Cairns earlier this year.Bates, a right-arm off-spinner, was an Australian U-17 honour selection last season.Both players are members of the Queensland Academy of Sport regional program.The Fury produced a major upset last weekend when they defeated defending champions Victoria in Melbourne by two wickets.Former Queensland pace bowler Cindy Kross, who shifted to Perth in the off-season, will make her return to Brisbane with the Fury, which are captained by former Australian player Zoe Goss.Kross played 38 matches for the Fire, taking 39 wickets at 21.54, and winning the player of the year award two years ago.Both one-day games start at 10am, with admission free.Konica Minolta Queensland Fire v Western Fury, Allan Border Field, Sat,Sun: Melissa Bulow (Captain), Laura Bates, Reanna Browne, Tricia Brown, Sally Cooper, Kelly Klibbe, Renee Lee, Belinda Matheson, Kirsten Pike, Julia Price, Jodie Purves, Leteysha Randall, Rikki-Lee Rimmington, Megan White.
The England spinner Ashley Giles is celebrating the birth of his second child, after being telephoned by his wife with the news in New Zealand.Giles’ Norwegian wife Stine rang him this morning to say that eight-and-a-half-pound Matilde was successfully delivered in hospital near their Droitwich home.”It’s very sad I couldn’t be there, but it’s a special moment for both ofus,” said Giles. “I was on edge all night, waking up every three quarters ofan hour wondering why I hadn’t got the call.”I’m sure there has been a lot of emotional strain on her, but she kept ithidden from me very well and that has helped because it’s been tough for mehere.”She told me to concentrate on my cricket and even last night when she wasgoing into labour, she apologised for interrupting a team meal. That shows thedepths she’s gone to to make things easy for me.”Stine is back at home now and she held Matilde to the phone so I’ve heard her cry for the first time. I have another one to play for and it does give you a lift.”It’s an emotional moment and I will probably always remember being in Napier. Stine has taken lots of pictures of her. I can’t wait to see them if she can get them out to me.”
Heavy overnight rain has left the Bagh-e-Jinnah ground in Lahore saturated, causing a delay to the start of play on the second day of England’s match against the Pakistan Cricket Board XI.An inspection is due to be made after lunch and if conditions are favourable, England will resume their innings on 76 for two. The PCB XI were dismissed for 117 shortly before tea on the first day.
Everton’s worst nightmares are beginning to be realised, with the club flirting with the relegation zone and the prospect of losing both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison a plausible one.
Should the club fail to secure their Premier League status, it seems eminently possible that Frank Lampard will be sacked, and the biggest rebuild of their modern day history would then need to commence.
However, due to Financial Fair Play issues, their next manager – or Lampard if he keeps them in the top flight – may be forced into moulding a number of youth academy stars as a key part of the rebuild, including striker Lewis Dobbin, who has been in good form for the under-23 team. If the club lose the aforementioned star duo, along with Salomon Rondon and Cenk Tosun, the 19-year-old could find himself being the most senior striker at the club, at least temporarily.
However, if Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri made different decisions back in 2020, it would likely have been Rangers youngster Tony Weston leading the line in the Championship next season, should that be where the Toffees are headed.
Everton reportedly wanted the Liverpool-born striker while he was still just a 16-year-old at Blackpool, and valued at around £250k by the Seasiders, before making the move north of the border.
Now aged 18, he has scored four goals in the UEFA Youth League this season, also netting an impressive 21 goals in the Lowland League for the Glasgow giants’ development team.
Rangers coach Steven Smith called Weston “clinical” after he scored two goals in a Rangers B win over Broomhill earlier in the season, saying: “We created plenty of chances last week and we spoke about getting numbers and getting goals and getting assists.
“Those are things that Tony does get. Today, the chances fell in the right areas and he managed to finish them. We spoke about being clinical and he was certainly that.”
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Although he is still developing, Weston has an abundance of talent which could have been of use to Everton in the coming years, particularly if they are to lose their star strikers this summer amid relegation. It could be one that Moshiri looks back upon as a howler on his part.
In other news: Sold at £1m, now the next Wayne Rooney: Everton had a mare on 20-goal “wrecking ball”
Harbhajan Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who missed the mandatory fitness tests prior to their inclusion for the first two Tests against South Africa, will undergo the procedure at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on March 21.Both Harbhajan and Dhoni were included by the selectors in the 14-member squad, and were asked to report to the NCA for fitness tests on March 21. Harbhajan was a doubtful starter for the series since he had been suffering from a hamstring injury, while Dhoni had sprained his finger during the second final against Australia in the CB Series.If Dhoni doesn’t clear the test, Dinesh Karthik will take up the wicketkeeping duties, while Harbhajan’s absence may pave the way for Piyush Chawla to take over the second spinner’s role behind captain Anil Kumble. Fast bowler Ishant Sharma has already been ruled out of the first Test, and his selection for the second is subject to fitness.Sachin Tendulkar is another member of the 14-man squad who has not taken the test. According to new BCCI norms, players who have been out of action for a month need to prove their fitness at the NCA ahead of any series. Although Tendulkar had taken part in the CB Series earlier this month, he had been advised two weeks’ rest by John Gloster, the outgoing team physio. However, Tendulkar later said he was fit to take part in the series.
Daryl Tuffey should be ready to bowl before the end of the month, as his recovery from a shoulder injury progresses. Tuffey, who was sent home from the World Cup when he sustained the problem in March, said he was focusing on a potential international return at the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September.”The arm is pretty good,” Tuffey told the . “If I needed to bowl I could be bowling but they [New Zealand Cricket] don’t want me to take any chances.” He said he should be “in the mix” for the Twenty20 squad, and if selected it would be a good way to ease back in with short matches.Tuffey also voiced his support for his Northern Districts team-mate, Daniel Vettori, who is a strong chance to be made New Zealand’s new one-day captain after the resignation of Stephen Fleming. Tuffey said the two had different perspectives on the field.”I’ve been under both of them and I found they are kind of different,” he said. “Flem is a batsman so comes from that mentality and Dan is a bowler. I think Dan’s a fine captain. He will make a fine one-day captain from what I witnessed with him at ND.”
The Welsh women’s team received television coverage last night when their first tour abroad to Barbados was featured in a documentary.The documentary – in the Wynebau Newydd (New Faces) series – followed two players: Rachel Nicholas and Rhian Davies, both aged 24 and both bowlers for the team.”We’ve taken enough stick from boys over the years that women can’t play cricket,” Nicholas said, “but now they’ve seen that we’re good enough to take them on.”Davies added that Wales are planning a tour to South Africa in the autumn. “Things are looking up for the team now, but it’s been a long journey. After the tour, we got a new coach, Keith Newell, but we also became more close-knit as a squad,” she said. “We have learnt to talk to each other and to play for each other and not as individuals. It was character-building for us and the tour was a turning point.”
While it is generally assumed that the best cricket archives are found in the main cricket-playing countries, one of the best such archives is right here in the USA, at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. The C. Christopher Morris Cricket Library and collection is the largest collection of cricket literature and memorabilia in the Western Hemisphere.It includes over a thousand volumes, and a very large collection of related printed and photographic materials and items of cricket history. The initial suggestion for a cricket repository at Haverford College was made by John Lester, who proposed that cricket, “with a history and literature second to none,” should be given a permanent home in the United States. Haverford College would be an especially appropriate headquarters, he pointed out, because the library already held a considerable nucleus of material including a complete run of the original American Cricketer, a long run of Wisden’s Almanack and much other cricket literature no longer obtainable.The Library’s primary efforts focus on preserving the history of the game of cricket, especially in America, in all forms. The library’s mission is to be a repository where cricket records and memorabilia are exhibited, catalogued, researched and preserved for posterity. It is a place where the traditions of this unique game remain as an available part of the American heritage and where new generations may learn.Recently, the Library has added extensive computer capability at allow internet access to its collection. It has also started a collection of cricket videos, both historical and current in content, that are available in the library for viewing. The C. Christopher Morris Cricket Library is an experience into the rich history of the sport in America with the collection and exhibits bringing to life over 150 years of active cricket the US.