Rahul Dravid expressed his satisfaction at another perfectly-executed run chase, but added that he wouldn’t tolerate any complacency in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.He praised the spirit and attitude of his young team, but added that they were far from being the finished article. “It was a very good way to finish,” he said, “chasing down 290 the way that we did. We played very well right through the series, and it’s satisfying to take it so convincingly. To win with such a young batting order, and one guy making his debut, was a fantastic effort. The way we fought back after the Mumbai Test has been brilliant.”It’s hard to single anyone out,” he explained when asked to name a standout performer or two. After rattling off several names, he added: “The number of names mentioned is a reflection of how well we’ve played as a team. Everyone in the squad, and all the support staff have contributed.”While praising S Sreesanth, whose 6 for 55 stifled England’s charge in the final overs, Dravid said that no one could take their places for granted. “I hate telling anyone that they’re a regular, including myself. We’ve all got to keep performing.” He also brushed off the hackneyed questions about experimentation, saying: “We’ll continue to see what combination gives us the best chance to win games. And in many cases, experimentation has been necessary because of lack of form or fitness.”When asked if the younger brigade had pushed some of the senior bowlers out of the reckoning, Dravid went back to the perform-or-perish mantra. “Whoever performs will keep getting chances. There’s no question of junior or senior. Some have been injured and others have lost form, and we’ve had to give the younger ones responsibility. They’re learning quickly.”Yuvraj Singh, who scooped a third consecutive Man-of-the-Series award, was quietly content with his efforts, but suggested that the matches against South Africa and Pakistan had provided a stiffer test. “I’ve improved a lot, and the year has been very good for me.”Dravid added that the responsibility of being one of the senior players in the squad had aided Yuvraj’s development. “He’s playing a lot straighter,” he said, when asked to delve a little deeper. “The way he’s finished games off for us has been exceptional, and with Raina and Dhoni, he’s formed a potent combination down the order.”After another resounding defeat, Andrew Strauss, standing in for the rested Andrew Flintoff, preferred to look at some of the positives. “The young seam attack did very well in testing conditions,” he said. “We’ve gained a lot of experience about what it takes to win in these conditions which are very foreign to us.””Momentum’s very important, and India are on a bit of a roll at the moment. Whenever you’re missing experienced players, it’s going to be tough. Even India found that in the last game. It’ll stand us in good stead to have more players with international experiences ahead of challenges like the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.”According to Strauss, the failure of the batsmen to kick on was the difference between the two sides. “We’ll have to look at our batting,” he said. “We didn’t score a hundred in six games. And at important moments, we lost too many wickets. The inexperience showed a little, and we’ve got to learn our lessons from that.”Asked about the absent Flintoff, who was restricted to ferrying drinks to the middle, Strauss suggested that a rest was long overdue. “He’s a very very important player for us. We have a lot of cricket coming up, and it’ll be good to have him refreshed before the first Test of the summer.”
Northamptonshire made their way into the last eight of the C&G Trophy with a 19-run win over Middlesex at a cold and sunny Lord’s. It was Middlesex’s second home one-day defeat in three days, and whereas on Sunday they had been batted out of the game, today they were undone by tight bowling and enthusiastic fielding from Northamptonshire.Chasing what had appeared to be a below-par total of 238, Middlesex’s innings never really built any momentum, only briefly sparking into life when Paul Weekes and Andrew Strauss found their touch with 42 runs off six overs. The turning point came when Strauss, who had shown only glimpses of form, was well caught low down at second slip by Martin Love off Ben Phillips. Middlesex at that stage were 48 for 1 in the 13th over, but that was as good as it got.Weekes never found any rhythm despite being the penultimate man out in the last over for 105. Had he found support for his anchor innings, once Ed Smith had departed for 42, then Middlesex would probably have won and he would have been a shoe-in for the Man of the Match. As it was, he was unable to accelerate when the pressure was on – he hit just six fours in all, and all but one of those came early on. With the in-form Owais Shah and Ed Joyce both falling trying to make up for lost time, the pressure mounted.But Northamptonshire kept a stranglehold as the asking rate crept towards double figures. Scott Styris, who smacked 26 off 17 balls, briefly caused a few butterflies with two sixes over cow corner, but when he perished attempting a third to a catch a yard inside the long-on boundary, the game was up. Damien Wright picked up four late wickets by virtue of keeping the ball up in the blockhole, and Johann Louw gave him excellent support as Middlesex lost their last six wickets for eight runs.Northamptonshire had earlier suffered a collapse of their own after reaching 175 for 2, largely thanks to Usman Afzaal’s 75. With Sales (40), Afzaal added 80 for the third wicket, but when he departed aiming an ambitious swipe at Melvyn Betts it started a slide in which seven wickets fell for 40 runs in 56 balls. But Rob White, who looked to be batting too low down the order, cracked 36 from 22 balls, including a straight six off Richardson into the pavilion, as the last two overs yielded 18 runs.As the innings ended a Northants supporter muttered that their total was so poor that the team “might as well get on the bus now.” In the event, White’s late flurry proved decisive.
Martin Love notched a neat century while Stuart Law fell a run short but Queensland didn’t have it all their own way on the opening day of their Pura Cup clash against Tasmania at Bellerive Oval. A 190-run partnership between Love and Law put Queensland in a strong position at stumps, as they finished on 6 for 289.However the Tigers remained well and truly in the hunt, taking four wickets for 31 in the final session. At close of play Wade Seccombe was unbeaten on 11, with Ashley Noffke on 19.Love, a former Test player, only briefly enjoyed his second Pura Cup century of the season. After facing 221 balls, Love was bowled by Gerard Denton, the Tigers fast bowler, without adding to his 100. Law was not so lucky. Chasing his first Pura Cup ton for Queensland since March 2001, Law came agonisingly close before he was caught at mid-off by Michael Di Venuto off Xavier Doherty, a left-arm finger spinner, for 99.The Tigers, who sent the Bulls into bat after winning the toss on a pitch renowned for producing runs, took two wickets for 40 in the opening session but endured the second empty handed. They clawed back after tea, with two of the four Bulls wickets rounded up by Damien Wright. Wright, who together with Doherty has been selected in the Prime Minister’s XI to take on India in Canberra next week, finished the day with 3 for 65 off 22 overs.Dan Marsh, the Tigers captain, said he was pleased with the day’s work. “I don’t think we bowled badly, I just thought they batted well,” he said. “I would say it’s pretty level. We have seen it’s a pretty good batting wicket out there, so no doubt the four wickets are going to be hard to get tomorrow. We have to bowl really well and then try and chase down whatever they’ve got.”Queensland captain Jimmy Maher agreed the match was evenly poised heading into day two. “All in all, it’s a pretty even day,” he said. “Close to 300 in a day and six wickets down … we look to press on tomorrow.”The Tigers are second on the Pura Cup ladder on 20 points, with the Bulls in third spot on 16 points.The match was preceded by a minute’s silence for cricketing legend David Hookes who died on Monday night. Flags flew at half-mast as players sported black armbands in a show of respect for Hookes.
New South Wales batsman Graeme Rummans has tonight been handed a one-month ban from all cricket and hit with a fine of $A2000 after being found guilty of a drug offence. The 25-year-old incurred the penalties following the return of a positive test to the banned masking agent probenecid late last year.Following a hearing that spanned close to eight hours at the offices of the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) in Melbourne, a specialist panel found that Rummans had breached his responsibilities under the terms of the Anti-Doping Policy that applies to all state cricketers in Australia.But the three-person Anti-Doping Committee also established that he had not gained an unfair advantage over other players in taking the substance. It is understood to have accepted the explanation that Rummans’ use of probenecid had been for therapeutic purposes.On entering the hearing, Rummans had faced the possibility of a two-year ban from all cricket conducted under the auspices of the ACB and the six state associations in Australia. The potential imposition of a penalty of that magnitude was the consequence of the return of two samples each found to contain traces of probenecid before a New South Wales state squad training session in December.However, it is believed that the committee opted for a more lenient sentence when it learned that he had taken the drug to help remove a boil on his shoulder that had not responded successfully to other medication.Acting on the basis of evidence provided by ACB Anti-Doping Medical Adviser, Dr Peter Harcourt, the committee fined Rummans and reduced his penalty to a one-month sentence that will sideline him from a maximum of four state games in total.He had already been forced to miss the Blues’ ING Cup Final win over Queensland last Sunday, and the team has two preliminary matches remaining in this season’s Pura Cup competition. It also retains a remote chance of qualifying for the final of that competition beginning on 20 March.The ban takes effect retrospectively from 24 February, which means that Rummans will potentially be free to play district cricket again later this season.A left handed batsman from the St George club in Sydney, Rummans has played a total of 21 first-class and 25 one-day matches for New South Wales since making his senior debut for the state in 1997-98. He was the captain of the state’s colts team in 1996-97 and 1997-98, and also toured Zimbabwe with an Australian Academy team in 1998-99. His solitary first-class century was registered in the second match of that tour.He appeared in six first-class and two limited-overs games for the Blues this season before the ACB was made aware last week of his positive test result.Former Western Australian paceman Duncan Spencer is the only other Australian cricketer to have returned a positive drug test. In a case heard in April of last year, he was barred from participating in international and interstate cricket for a period of 18 months in the wake of his use of the banned steroid nandrolone.
It was an action packed opening day’s play in the second Test matchbetween India and Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Friday. Afterbeing restricted to 237 in their first innings, India struck back todismiss three home team batsmen for 31 runs at stumps.In generally fine weather, Sourav Ganguly won the toss and decided tobat on a good-looking batting pitch. Heath Streak, had he won thetoss, said he would have decided to field in view of Zimbabwe’s poorrecord batting first on this ground, but Ganguly’s decision appearedcorrect in view of the conditions.Zimbabwe replaced the injured Henry Olonga with pace-bowling allrounder Travis Friend, making his Test debut. India made two changes,replacing opener Sadagoppan Ramesh and left-arm pace bowler ZaheerKhan with Hemang Badani, also making his debut and Ajit Agarkar.Before the start of play, the teams observed a minute’s silence inmemory of recent Test batsman Trevor Madondo, who died of cerebralmalaria on Monday. Several hundred enthusiastic school children,bussed in by the Mashonaland Cricket Association, added atmosphere asBrighton Watambwa bowled a good opening over to Shiv Sunder Das. Quitea degree of bounce was evident, which would be of benefit to Zimbabwe.Badani did not last long on his Test debut, scoring just two beforebeing trapped lbw to a straight ball from Watambwa. Das and VVS Laxmanhad some taxing overs to face from both Watambwa and Streak, but theyhandled them well, taking runs off the odd stray delivery, usually toleg. Then Watambwa had to leave the field with a hamstring strainduring his fourth over, and Friend took over. He was rather tentative,and the attack lost its menace.At this point Streak produced a fine delivery that rose just outsideoff stump and Laxman (15), drawn into an unwise shot, edged a sharpcatch to Andy Blignaut at second slip. Sachin Tendulkar made a slowstart to his innings, but was ready to pounce on the bad ball andpulled a short ball from Friend for a huge six to square leg. For themost part, though, India were content to play out the morning sessionand departed for lunch with 85 on the board for two wickets, with Dason 44 and Tendulkar on 20.After lunch, Tendulkar had not yet added to his score, when hesuffered a rather unlucky dismissal. He moved too far across hisstumps to a delivery from Streak, and the ball appeared to hit his padand bounce off his boot on to his leg stump. Friend, gradually findinghis feet, began to bowl with considerable hostility, but Das, playinga composed innings at all times, reached a creditable fifty. He fellfor 57, though, as Blignaut got the first ball of a new spell to liftjust outside the off stump, and the batsman got a thin edge to thekeeper.Rahul Dravid got off the mark in fine style, with a handsome off-drivefor four, while Sourav Ganguly struggled in vain to find his touchbefore edging Streak to third slip with just nine runs to his credit.At 122 for five, with Streak bowling superbly, India were unexpectedlyin trouble and Zimbabwe were rampant.Dravid counter attacked with some classic strokes and Zimbabweinvoluntarily released the pressure with some less accurate bowling,perhaps through striving too hard. Sameer Dighe (20) proved a goodpartner for Dravid until he became Friend’s first Test wicket,slashing a catch to gully. At tea Zimbabwe still held the advantage,with India 166 for six with Dravid on 35 and Agarkar on 1.Soon after resumption, Blignaut took his third catch of the innings atthird slip as Agarkar (6) sparred at a short ball from Friend andprovided the edge. Harbhajan Singh again proved a thorn in Zimbabwe’sflesh with his unorthodox hitting, after an early lucky escape when heskied a ball into no-man’s-land. It looked as if the curse of theeighth wicket was hitting Zimbabwe again until leg-spinner BrianMurphy brought a ball in to bowl Harbhajan through the gate for 31.India were 227 for eight after a stand of 55.Javagal Srinath (0) was controversially given run out by the thirdumpire to a brilliant direct hit from Murphy, and the same player hadAshish Nehra (0) caught close in to end the innings. Dravid was leftstranded with a fine 68. Streak with three for 69 was the best of thebowlers, while Friend was the most economical of the seamers.An assessment of just how good or bad the Indian total was could notbe made until Zimbabwe had batted. Zimbabwe had 13 overs to play out,light permitting. Guy Whittall (0) fell quickly to a superb low batpad catch by Dravid off Nehra, and then the same bowler had StuartCarlisle (3) caught in the gully off a loose drive.Alistair Campbell (8) followed, driving across the line at Nehra tolose his off stump and reduce his team to 18 for three. Nehra hadtaken all three wickets in his first three overs and Zimbabwe hadalready thrown away their hard-earned advantage. Well as Srinath andNehra bowled, only Whittall could escape blame. Ebrahim, to hiscredit, continued to bat positively and finished the day unbeaten on13, partnered by Andy Flower with 5.
Dele Alli is now set for a shock exit from Everton this summer after only signing for the club in January, saving the Toffees £10m in the process.
The Lowdown: Lack of minutes
Since arriving from Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window, Alli has still not managed to start a game at Goodison Park, and was left out of the squad entirely during the team’s last outing, a 4-0 loss away at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup (Transfermarkt).
He has clearly fallen out of favour under Frank Lampard, who once called him a ‘special’ player back in 2017 when he was in his pomp at Spurs, after winning the PFA Young Player of the Year.
The Latest: Could be axed
As per TEAMtalk, the Merseyside club are now ready to axe Alli in the summer, before being required to pay the Lilywhites any money for him.
The report details that he joined from North London for free, but there were some instalments included in the deal which could make it worth up to £40m.
However, a first payment of £10m would be due once he played 20 first-team matches, which it does not look like he will do, at least by the end of this season.
The Verdict: Get rid
It seems harsh to get rid of Alli so quickly after signing him, after all, he was showing promise of getting back to his best when at THFC earlier this campaign, as Ian Wright cited how ‘fantastic’ he was after impressing against Wolves.
However, there are no signs that he will get regular game time under Lampard, and to avoid paying any money to Tottenham, the Toffees should just take the hit and let him go – Farhad Moshiri has already splashed out far too much on failed signings in recent years.
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Alli is still only 25 years of age, and so could still spark a revival in his career, but there seems to be no signs of improvement emerging.
In other news, find out which 6 ft 4 colossus the Blues are now eyeing here!
Andrew Symonds says the loyalty of Australia’s best players will be tested over the next couple of years as they weigh up representing their country with accepting huge payments to join Twenty20 competitions. Symonds said in his Sunday Mail column the baggy green was still the “jewel in Australian cricket’s crown”, but admitted the big money would be tempting.”The way things are heading loyalty is really going to become a major issue, particularly when you can make more money in six or eight weeks than what you can in a whole season,” Symonds said. “Loyalty versus money always makes for an interesting debate. Who wouldn’t be tempted to take a job offering more money for less work?”Symonds warned the game’s administrators to be careful about the “serious threat” caused by it being more financially rewarding to retire from Tests and ODIs and appear in the Indian Premier League or the Indian Cricket League. “They need to find a way to be able to work with the IPL so everyone’s available,” Symonds said. “Otherwise you’re going to have blokes retiring early or just saying: ‘Look, it’s not worth the heartache. I can earn more in a very short period of time.”Last Sunday Symonds was gagged by Cricket Australia over his column when the board felt the allrounder did not understand the complicated nature of the issues. Protecting sponsors is one of Cricket Australia’s main concerns, but other problems surround a rule where only two Australians can appear in overseas domestic teams.A decision is still to be made on whether Australia goes to Pakistan next month – the players are not keen to go and the trip isn’t mentioned in Symonds’ column – and if they are given permission to appear in the IPL the time is limited. The squad is due to depart on May 10 for the West Indies while the IPL runs until June.”Right now you’d have to be nervous if you’re a cricket administrator of any of the big cricket-playing countries,” Symonds said. “I’m talking the likes of Australia, South Africa and England.”The pressure’s on big time to really look after the players, especially at the peak and then coming down the back end of their careers. The bottom line is the money on offer in India is not going away and it may even get more and more tempting.”
Curtly Ambrose, the former West Indian fast bowler, has told the current lot of bowlers to avoid trying to be too ambitious on the Caribbean’s unhelpful pitches. He said the players needed to understand that conditions were different to when he was playing.”Just keep it simple,” Ambrose said. “The pitches nowadays aren’t really conducive to fast bowling and it can be a big turnoff. I would say to the guys, just try and forget about the pitch and go out there and do the best you can.”The West Indies have lost all three of their World Cup Super Eights matches so far and must win their next three, as well as rely on other teams’ results, if they are to have any hope of making the semi-finals. The hosts have just two points in the standings, courtesy their win over fellow qualifiers Ireland in the group stage.Their bowlers conceded 322 in their first Super Eights match against Australia, which they lost by 103 runs, a match where Ambrose felt the bowlers got carried away. “Bowl a proper line and length consistently, you will get wickets and will be successful,” he said. “They tried too many things against Australia.”Surprisingly, the hosts dropped Jerome Taylor in their second match against New Zealand to accommodate an extra batsman, Lendl Simmons, but still lost by seven wickets. Ambrose said omitting a bowler was a blunder.”I have always been of the opinion that you should never weaken your bowling to strengthen the batting, I figure if the batsmen you have selected can’t do the job, then you replace them,” he said. “I really don’t comment on selection but I am going to say ‘support the guys’ whichever team is playing out there.”The West Indies also lost to Sri Lanka by 113 runs, a defeat which further hit their chances of reaching the last four. Ambrose, who took 405 Test and 225 one-day wickets during his illustrious career, said like all other West Indian fans he too was upset with events at the World Cup. “I can’t say that I am a happy man at the moment because we are not doing too well and as a West Indian and a patriot I can’t stand losing,” he said.The defeats have left millions of Caribbean fans disappointed, former players looking for scapegoats and organisers fearing for the financial implications of seeing even emptier stadiums for the remaining matches. West Indies take on South Africa in Grenada on Tuesday where a defeat will confirm their elimination from the tournament.
Michael Papps, the Canterbury opener, has been recalled to the New Zealand Test squad for the tour of South Africa beginning next month. Allrounder Jacob Oram has also been declared fit to tour after missing the ongoing Tests against West Indies.Papps made his debut against the South Africans during their three-Test tour in 2004, scoring a half-century at Hamilton. He last played for New Zealand in the Leeds Test against England in 2004 and has played four Tests overall with reasonable success.John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, expressed confidence that his side would adjust well to the conditions in what looks to be a challenging tour, against a strong South African side. He also defended the selection of Papps, who has notched up some good scores for Canterbury in the domestic season.”We expect to have a challenging time in South Africa. It is important that we quickly make the transition to the altitude, climate and playing conditions, as well as to the intensity that the South African team will bring to these matches,” Bracewell said.”Michael Papps provides us with cover as a specialist opener and adds balance to the team. He has performed well for the Blackcaps in the past and now appears to have addressed issues with his technique.”Lou Vincent and Mathew Sinclair, two other openers, were not considered due to personal commitments. Vincent wishes to be home for the birth of his first child, due April 15, while Sinclair is getting married, also on the same date. Both players would be on standby after the first Test, should the team management seek any replacements.The tour begins with a three-day match against the Rest of South Africa at Benoni on April 7. The first Test will be played at Centurion beginning April 15 while the remaining matches are scheduled at Cape Town and Johannesburg.The selectors were due to name the squad after the final Test against West Indies at Napier but persistent rain means that a draw is almost certain, resulting in the early announcement of the team.Squad Stephen Fleming (capt), Daniel Vettori, Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Peter Fulton, James Franklin, Jamie How, Brendon McCullum (wk), Hamish Marshall, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris
Shabbir Ahmed, the Pakistan fast bowler, made an unimpressive Twenty20 Cup debut as the Multan Tigers were thrashed by Sialkot Stallions on the third day of the tournament at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.Shabbir was returning after recovering from a knee injury, which he sustained last year, but the early signs weren’t too promising. He was carted for 48 runs in his four overs and the Stallions easily overcame a target of 110 with seven overs to spare.Shabbir’s knee injury had been detected before the Champions Trophy last year and a cartilage tear had ruled him out of action. After missing the Australian tour, Shabbir was in line to make it for the one-day series in India. Pakistan’s second-string bowling attack performed impressively in India and with both Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul set for comebacks, Shabbir will need some incisive spells to return to the international fold.