Certain Indian players are reportedly unhappy with the terms of the central contracts offered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and could put off signing them until a clause relating to personal endorsements is removed.According to a report in , the players do not want to disclose their personal endorsement and sponsorship details to the board. The BCCI has inserted a clause in the contracts which requires them to do so, and most players are said to be unwillingly to go along.SK Nair, the board secretary, said that the contracts had been mailed to the cricketers, but the general opinion is that they would sign only once the clause pertaining to personal endorsements was removed. There were other areas of conflict too, but none as serious as this.Some players were said to be unhappy about squad members being paid only 50 percent of what those on the field would be. They had asked for 70 percent, but the board had insisted that the bench-strength would only be paid half as much. The players had also asked for 20 to be offered central contracts. So far, the BCCI have only considered 17, though they haven’t ruled out the possibility of more players being added to the list.Sourav Ganguly, the Indian captain, didn’t attend the meeting which was held to discuss the awarding of the central contracts last Sunday. It’s believed that Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, who were central to the initial negotiations, also declined to attend.The Khaleej Times suggests that Nair was among those not inclined to offer a grade A contract to Kumble, but Syed Kirmani, the chairman of the selection panel, pushed it through after Jagmohan Dalmiya also insisted that Kumble be rewarded for his services to the game in India.
"England contrived to achieve the near-impossible yesterday by producing a collective batting performance inferior to the derided effort of two days earlier," wrote Richard Hobson in . "Embarrassingly, a floodlit game was completed more than three hours ahead of schedule, before twilight had the chance to kick in, defeat stemming from hot-headed shot selection and lack of gumption. James Franklin, the left-arm seam bowler, could not have found victims much easier to snare when he was playing for Rishton in the Lancashire League a few weeks ago."John Westerby, also in , summed the situation up by saying: "While England have played musical chairs with their batting line-up recently in an attempt to create harmony among their top order, the only noises emanating from that end of the orchestra at the moment are bum notes."In the , Derek Pringle also put the blame on England’s clueless batsmen: "Most of them were toying with disaster with their gung-ho approach in challenging conditions." He continued, "the shot-a-ball culture prevailing among England’s top order appears to treat every pitch as a belter and every bowler as a dobber in a misguided quest to score 250-plus, irrespective of conditions."At one stage wickets seemed to be falling every seven runs, which meant spectators were treated to endless replays of Eminem’s Lose Yourself a strident ditty that contains the lyric: `You only get one shot, so don’t miss your chance.’ It was prescient too. Most of England’s batsmen did only have one shot – an awful one."As usual, didn’t hold back. "One-day quicket!" read the headline, under which John Etheridge was just as scathing. "England produced another shocking performance yesterday that plunges the whole future of this one-day team into doubt," he decreed. "Maybe the thief who pillaged their dressing room also stole England’s batting brains as well as a complete set of coaching manuals.It is almost impossible to comprehend — but this was an even worse display than their inept effort against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Sunday.""Frankly, that was rubbish!" ran the . "This woeful defeat extended Vaughan’s record of England losing every one-day international in which they have batted first, and winning in every run chase, since he took over 20 games ago," Mike Walters pointed out. "Just as they had shot their bolt far too early against the Windies at Trent Bridge, England were a busted flush inside the first 20 overs."So what can be done now? Well, Mark Nicholas, writing in the , had an idea. "Three consecutive World Cup failures are an embarrassment to a country which plays so much of the limited-overs stuff in its own first-class structure," he said. "Specialists must be chosen and used in the position which led to their choice. If England put the successful, confident and better-balanced Test team on the park at Headingley tomorrow, would they fare better than the one in their place? Yes, quite probably, is the answer." He’s got a point.
India will not risk easing up when they play Kenya in their first match of the World Cup Super Six under the Newlands lights here on Friday.The Indians remember only too well the shock 70-run defeat against the unfancied Africans when they batted second under lights during a triangular series match in Port Elizabeth last season.”We’re preparing exactly the same way we have for our other games. It’s an important match,” coach John Wright said today.India go into the Super Six phase trailing the Kenyans, who carry forward 10 points from the first round after their win by forfeit against New Zealand and their surprise victory over Sri Lanka in Nairobi.India take eight points into the next round, which places them third behind unbeaten Australia (12) and Kenya.Kenya’s win against India in Port Elizabeth was something of an anomaly as it was sandwiched between a 10-wicket trouncing of the Kenyans five days earlier, when the Africans were bowled out for 90, and a 186-run win a week later.It was enough, though, to provide Wright with ammunition when he warns his players of complacency after the emotional high of their triumph against Pakistan last Saturday.The Indians had a two-day break following the Pakistan match but were back in full work mode at the nets at Newlands today.”It’s a very big opportunity,” he said of India’s chance to reach the semi-finals. “But we have to guard against complacency. The players have to be hungry to win their next match and they must respect the opposition.”Kenya, meanwhile, confirmed the fears of neutrals that they could be on the wrong end of some one-sided matches in the Super Six when they lost by 142 runs in their final Group B match against the West Indies in Kimberley on Tuesday.The Kenyans travelled to Cape Town today and will only have one full session in the nets on tomorrow morning.If the Africans are to be a threat to an in-form Indian team they will probably need to bat first and post a reasonable total, then try to put the Indians under pressure.Opening batsmen Ravindu Shah and Kennedy Otieno both made half-centuries in the upset in Port Elizabeth and will need to get their side off to a good start, while classy batsman Steve Tikolo, the Kenyan captain, will be seeking to find better form than he has so far shown in the tournament.Wright said he was not concerned about any possible changes in conditions under floodlights. “Whether we bat first or second, we have the batting to do the job,” he said.Meanwhile, the Indians were relieved to learn that opener Virender Sehwag had not fractured the index finger of his right hand after being injured during fielding practice today.The swelling, however, persists and team official Amrit Mathur said a decision on whether Sehwag will play on Kenya will be taken on Friday morning.Teams (from):India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble, Harhajan Singh, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay BangarKenya: Steve Tikolo (captain), Maurice Odumbe, Ravindu Shah, Asif Karim, Alpesh Vadher, Hitesh Modi, Joseph Angara, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Kennedy Otieno, Thomas Odoyo, Martin Suji, Tony Suji, Peter Ongondo, Brijal Patel
Jeremy Snape and Jack Russell revived Gloucestershire’s second innings atBristol today in the low-scoring CricInfo Championship Division Two game withWarwickshire.The pair came together with Gloucestershire on 100-5 in the 45th over andwith a lead of only 41. But by the premature close they had taken the score to 157-5, with Snape on 42 and Russell on 15, and put the game back in the balance.Bad light and rain wiped 35 overs off the day’s play, with 27 of them lost in the last session.Alan Richardson, Dougie Brown and Neil Smith claimed a wicket apiece in themorning as Gloucestershire lost Dominic Hewson (11), Kim Barnett(21) and Matt Windows (14) in reaching 85-3.Warwickshire’s victory hopes were raised further when Mark Alleyne and ChrisTaylor were then removed in successive overs after the interval.Alleyne cut a Brown delivery to Mark Wagh at third man, to fall for ten, thenTaylor gave a legside catch to wicket-keeper Keith Piper off Richardson for33.Warwickshire had to do without seamer Melvyn Betts in the afternoon sessiondue to illness and the rest of their attack were frustrated by Snape and thetypically obdurate Russell.The scoring rate was only just above two an over, but Snape and Russellbriefly broke the stranglehold with a boundary apiece off Vasbert Drakes inthe 56th over.Snape took two more boundaries off Richardson in one of the three-and-a-half overs possible, the second of which brought up the half-century stand.Richardson finished with 2-40 from 20.3 overs, while Brown has 2-17 from 15 overs. Off-the-field, Gloucestershire have been dealt another injury blow ahead of next Saturday’s Benson & Hedges Cup final with Surrey at Lord’s with news that vice-captain Tim Hancock broke a bone in his right hand during fielding practice.Hancock has not been selected for Gloucestershire’s last three Championship matches, but he is a key member of the one-day team and has no chance of being fit for the Lord’s showpiece.Gloucestershire are also expected to be without pace bowlers Mike Smith (groin) and Jon Lewis (back) for the game due to injury.
Despite being cruelly denied a first title in 24 years when for so long it seemed like the Premier League trophy was destined to be heading for Anfield, last season was still a roaring success for Liverpool.
The Reds’ only requirement was to qualify for the Champions League – which they managed with three games to spare – and while missing out on a majestic return to their perch was a crushing disappointment given how close they had come to being crowned champions, Liverpool could still look forward to a long-awaited return to Europe’s elite club competition after five years in the wilderness.
Of course, Reds fans had every reason to be excited. The club prides itself on its European pedigree, and for the vast majority of supporters, memories of Istanbul – where they won their fifth European title in 2005 – are still joyously fresh.
Since the golden years of the 1970s and 1980s, Liverpool have had an obsession with the competition. The domestic title has proved elusive for nearly a quarter of a century, which means that the definition of success for the Reds is dependent entirely on whether or not they are in Europe.
In the period between 2009 and 2014 – when Liverpool were absent from the Champions League – the club won the League Cup and reached both the FA Cup final and the semi-finals of the Europa League. Not bad for a team which was going through some of its most troubling times, but the fact that the dark cloud engulfing Anfield only really dissipated last season with qualification to the Champions League – which, it must be remembered, came during an ultimately trophyless campaign for the Reds – shows that dreams of Europe on Merseyside still rule.
And yet, much has changed in the Champions League since 2009.
The days when the old Big Four of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal would consistently reach the latter stages of the tournament are over. Since its zenith in the mid-2000s, the Premier League has been in rapid decline as the Spanish La Liga and the German Bundesliga have emerged as the strongest leagues in world football in terms of quality. Chelsea are now the only English team capable of progressing far into the competition, and even then, they are still considered underdogs compared to the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
This sobering reality has hit Liverpool hard this season. Their back-to-back deafeats against Real Madrid in the group stage highlights the contrasting recent fortunes of both clubs.
Just five years ago, a relatively weak Reds side thrashed the Spanish giants 5-0 on aggregate to progess to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. In the present day, Real are the most dominant side on the planet, having won their tenth European title in May, while Liverpool are battling it out with FC Basle and Ludogorets Razgrad to even make it out of the group.
Their difficulties in Europe are also having an adverse effect on their domestic campaign as the Reds have already lost five league games, one fewer than they managed during the whole of last season. This raises a difficult question that many Liverpool fans are likely to have asked themselves already: why even bother with the Champions League?
Many attributed the Reds’ unexpected title charge last year to their lack of European football, which gave Brendan Rodgers’ side more time to rest and prepare for league matches than their rivals competing on the continent. However, now that Liverpool have qualified for Europe, they seem to have no chance of winning neither the Premier League nor the Champions League.
Surely sacrificing one for the sake of having a shot at success in the other makes sense, and given that the Champions League contains a greater amount of superior sides than the Premier League, should the latter not be a priority for the Reds?
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Liverpool may yet qualify from their group and improve on their dismal start to the season, but already it is beginning to look like a case of the grass being greener for the Anfield club. For the executives, board members, chairmen and owners of European football’s top sides, qualification to the financially lucrative Champions League will always remain a top priority. But for the fans who demand actual, tangible, trophy-shaped success above all else, it is hard to see the appeal of the competition if a select number of teams are the only one realistically capable of winning it.
The Reds have a talented, ambitious manager who may one day build a squad which is strong enough to emerge as serious competitors for Europe’s ultimate prize. However, that day is a long way off.
What do you think? Follow me on Twitter @GruffuddOwen
David Morgan, the ICC president-elect, confirmed that the decision to put Malcolm Speed on gardening leave for the last two months of his contract as CEO was as a result of a “fundamental breakdown” in the relationship between him, Ray Mali, the president, and some of the executive board and not, as widely suggested, Speed’s handling of issues relating to the ICL.Speaking at Lord’s, Morgan said that the breakdown had come about over a number of issues, and insisted that they pre-dated the executive board meeting in Dubai in March when Speed declined to attend the press conference in protest over the ICC’s decision to take no action against Zimbabwe.”It’s not been [a problem] for years but, yes, for some months,” Morgan said. “It pre-dates the March meeting but it doesn’t pre-date the death of Percy Sonn [in June 2007]. Matters take some time to come to the surface.”Zimbabwe is an issue where the president and the chief executive have disagreed, there is no doubt about that,” he said. “You know what the board decision was in relation with the KPMG report … Speed was clearly uncomfortable with that.”But he refused to specify which members of the executive were involved and how many. “I’m not prepared to reveal the names of the other board members. I’m unprepared to go into the details of the other issues, but I’m very ready to say that contrary to that has been gossiped on a widespread basis, it is nothing to do with the ICL or the IPL.”Morgan said the agreement for Speed to go had “not been imposed on him” but had followed discussion between him, Mali and Speed. “It’s a very unfortunate ending to what has been a very successful term of office,” he added.However, Morgan accepted that the image of the ICC was “not good” and it was “something we need to address”. He went on: “The ICC has achieved a huge amount in Malcolm’s time. I do not believe at all times that we govern in the optimum way, but govern we certainly do”In the statement yesterday the ICC said that David Richardson, the ICC general manager – cricket, will serve as interim CEO until Speed’s replacement, Haroon Lorgat, assumes the role at the ICC’s annual conference at the beginning of July.
Trevor Bayliss will be interviewed by Sri Lanka next week as a potential replacement for Tom Moody as the country’s head coach. Bayliss is competing with at least one other Australian, Terry Oliver, who is in charge of the Queensland team and has already met with Sri Lankan officials.Bayliss, the coach of New South Wales since 2004-05, told The Sydney Morning Herald he was due to be interviewed in Colombo on June 14. The paper reported Bayliss was likely to take the role if it was offered, although he recently rejected overtures from Bangladesh and Australia’s Centre of Excellence.”It’s a job with an international team, and one of the better international teams, so you’d be nuts not to hear them out,” Bayliss said. “And if something was offered, you’d be silly to knock it back. I spoke to Tom [Moody] about a week ago just to find out what I can expect in the interview. So now it’s just a case of going over and seeing what they have to say.”Bayliss played 58 games as a middle-order batsman for New South Wales during the 1980s and ’90s. He was the state’s Second XI mentor before taking over from Steve Rixon in the senior job. He guided the Blues to the Pura Cup title in his first season at the helm.Dave Gilbert, the chief executive of Cricket New South Wales, said the state would have no problems with Bayliss leaving to take on an international position. “We won’t be standing in the way of Trevor,” Gilbert told the paper. “If he wants to prove himself on the international stage, we will stand aside.”We don’t want to lose him, but we realise he is very ambitious, and in the long term he wants to coach Australia. Coaching another international side would be a big step towards that goal. Just look at the way it catapulted Tom Moody to the upper echelons of world cricket.”
Rain and bad light were the only things that could stop Surrey’s openers today. Scott Newman and Jon Batty moved their side to 126 without loss when inclement weather put paid to proceedings; bottom-placed Worcestershire were delighted to go off.Newman, the man they nickname Ronaldo, showed skills every bit as silky as the footballer en route to a chanceless fifty. More than once did the left-handed Newman open his shoulders and dispatch the wayward stuff, not to mention the better stuff, too. He particularly favoured the offside and was brutal around the coverpoint area. He and Batty strolled steadily at three an over.The battle of the Battys was bossed by the batsman, Jon, who refused to succumb to any of the tantalizing stuff offered by Gareth as Worcestershire searched in vain for the sniff of a chance. Batty and Kabir Ali put the most pressure on the batsmen when they were bowling in tandem, shortly before lunch, yet all they could elicit was the odd edge which fell short – there were sniffs, but no chances.Just after the resumption Vikram Solanki turned to Zaheer Khan and Matt Mason, but again to no avail. Then rain had the final say – and, with more bad weather due to follow, this could be Worcestershire’s hope of their first draw this season.In fact, across the country it was much the same story – a good day for batsmen and good weather for ducks.In the other second division match, Michael di Venuto was well in sight of his 34th first-class hundred when rain put paid to proceedings for the day at Derby. Steve Stubbings was on course for his fifty, he had made 38 of an unbeaten opening stand of 130 as Derbyshire bossed proceedings against Leicestershire.In division one, Durham‘s Jimmy Maher was the only faller in the 37.5 overs that were possible at Trent Bridge. Paul Franks claimed the wicket for Notts, caught by Jason Gallian after Maher had made 33 in a solid opening stand of 62. His partner was John Lewis, who reached 36 not out before play was called off, with Durham 88 for 1. Headingley was the only venue where at least two full sessions of play were possible. Lancashire piled up 417 for 9 on what is the second day of their match, before making a tea-time declaration against Yorkshire – which proved the end of the day as stumps were called early. Stuart Law joined Mal Loye as Lancashire’s second centurion, romping to 101 from 144 balls. His knock included 17 fours. Loye added 25 to his overnight score before falling for 138, Tim Bresnan’s third victim.
Not so long ago, it wasn’t unusual to find international cricketers still playing as they neared 40, and in several instances well into their forties. Less than a decade ago, Graham Gooch was still England’s No. 1 opener at the age of 41, and last month Alec Stewart played his last match as England’s first-choice keeper at 40.But top-flight cricket is increasingly seen as a young man’s game – well, at least it is by selectors. Whereas the early thirties used to be viewed as being near a player’s peak (often later for spin bowlers), now they are almost on the scrapheap when they turn 30.Against that backdrop, Darren Lehmann admitted to reporters that he feared that by missing the second Test against Zimbabwe and the forthcoming one-day series in India because of an Achilles tendon injury, he might be considered too old to persevere with by the selectors. Lehmann is 33.He had hoped to play in the Test – he admitted that he was not up to the demands of a one-day match – before an MRI scan revealed that he had a tear in the tendon that he risked rupturing were he to put any stress on it. “As the doctor said, if it did rupture that is probably it,” Lehmann shrugged. “No play again.” He now faces six weeks in a plastic boot and an enforced lay-off until the end of November.It is perhaps ironic for a man with no reputation as a keep-fit fanatic that Lehmann’s injury came not on the cricket field but on the running track. “I just had too much exercise for my frame,” he admitted. “I should’ve stayed how I was for the last 15 years instead of doing the right thing for a change.” The pressure to maintain fitness increases with each birthday.Lehmann’s form of late has been excellent, with three centuries in his last six Tests, but he is aware that the vultures are circling in the form of talented – and crucially younger – batsmen. Martin Love, who was dropped recently following the return of Damien Martyn, is 29 and highly rated. Michael Clarke is 22 and ever more highly regarded. Lehmann is a worried man. “Yeah, you would be, too,” he said. “I’m 33 and I’m not getting younger.”All Lehmann can do is hobble round and wait. If one of his replacements plays well, then it will be increasingly hard for him to force his way back into the side, especially when the team contains Steve Waugh, another geriatric who is subjected to endless questions about his age and appetite for the game as if anyone over 35 had no right to be walking, let alone playing sport.”Obviously things had been going really well over the last two years and now it’s back to square one,” Lehmann said. The reality is that it could be worse than just being back to square one.
Among those few fans who give a toss, all eyes will be on the toss when Australia play Zimbabwe in Harare this evening. If Australia bat first no record looks safe; if they bowl it should make for swift and excruciating viewing.Much will depend on the zest of Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting. On the eve of his team’s departure for Zimbabwe 12 days ago, he made ruthlessness his motto. “One thing I’ll stress to the players,” he said back then, “is that we’re there to play the best cricket we possibly can. If that means the games are over pretty quickly then so be it.”Since then, the two scheduled Tests have been abandoned – due to fears of a mismatch, not a miscarriage of justice – and the Australians have appeared increasingly queasy about playing against what amounts to a fourth-string Zimbabwe XI. Ponting, in particular, has softened his take-no-prisoners stance, suggesting that slaughtering minnows is not such wonderful sport after all and that teams such as Zimbabwe should be rubbed out of mainstream international cricket. Several players are reportedly irritated that the three one-dayers were not scrapped too.”The ICC has drawn a line between Test cricket and one-day cricket to maintain the value of Test cricket,” said Tim May, chief executive of the Australian Cricketers Association. “The players’ association does not see or agree with the ICC view.”Still, from disagreement may well come dismantlement, disdain, disaster. Should Australia bat first and heed Ponting’s instructions to play their best possible cricket, the worst possible carnage seems inevitable. Highest team total in a one-day international is up for grabs; Sri Lanka’s 5 for 398 against Kenya in 1995-96 is the present record, while Australia’s personal best is the 2 for 359 they helter-skeltered against India in the last World Cup final.And Zimbabwe’s weakest link, despite the fact they were skedaddled for 35 against Sri Lanka on this same ground one month ago, would seem to be their attack. In five matches they dismissed only 22 Sri Lankan batsmen. For the Australian series they have brought in two 19-year-old quicks: Waddington Mwayenga, who has one previous ODI (figures 9-0-74-0) to his name, and the left-armer Ed Rainsford, who has none. Both were left out of today’s game and a largely unchanged side retained.The chances of Australia becoming the first side to crack the 400-run barrier do not seem altogether remote. Manage that and the heftiest ever victory margin – currently the 256 runs by which Ponting’s men knocked off Namibia in the last World Cup – looks a formality.The one great unknown is how quickly the Australians can click into top gear after nearly two weeks of fishing, trekking around game parks and watching TV. But as Adam Gilchrist joked in his newspaper column this morning: “To be honest, the boys shouldn’t find the adjustment too hard as it feels as if white balls are about all we’ve seen this trip – golf balls.”Australia plan to rotate all 14 players during the three matches. They will name their first-up XI just before the start of today’s game.For those interested, Fox Sports 2 will broadcast the wreckage live from 5.20pm (AEST). For everyone else, as they say in the trade, please look away now.