Sacrificial lamb of the Day Luuk van Troost, Holland’s amusingly outspoken captain, decided aftertwo barren outings that he hadn’t been putting his money where hismouth was, and dropped himself – Mike Denness-style – for this, thefinal World Cup outing of his career. It was an act of supremeselflessness that paved the way for one of the most memorable momentsin Dutch cricket history. Not that there’ve been a whole lot of those,of course.Unknown entity of the Day At Graeme Smith’s press conference on Wednesday, and to much amusementfrom the assembled scribes, a question from the veteranIndependent correspondent, Stephen Brenkley, was interruptedwith an “excuse me, but who are you?” from the South African mediamanager, Gordon Templeton. Today, there very nearly wasn’t a pressconference. The “excuse me” question was this time addressed to RickyPonting, who was briefly refused admission to the briefing roombecause he wasn’t wearing the correct accreditation.Wrecker of the Day The Netherlands’ opening bowler, Billy Stelling, missed their gameagainst Australia because of a back problem, but he looked none-the-worse for his lay-off today. He struck with the second ball of thematch, and then twice in two balls to dismiss two former Englandinternationals, Gavin Hamilton and Dougie Brown. By the start of hisseventh over he had conceded just four runs for three wickets, andScotland were down and out.Shot of the Day Ryan ten Doeschate was described by his captain as “too important” torely on for runs, but he didn’t seem to be buckling under the burdenall the while he was giving Scotland’s bowlers the run-around. Hismatchwinning 70 not out included six fours in eight balls as the endcame swiftly, but the highlight was a wonderful straight slap offGlenn Rogers that landed on the roof of the pavilion and couldn’t beretrieved.Butterfingers of the Day Daan van Bunge has had an eventful World Cup. There was thatover against Herschelle Gibbs, of course, followed by a bold 33against Australia on Friday, and he even picked up his first wicket ofthe day today, when Scotland’s No. 11, Paul Hoffmann, ballooned adrive to mid-off. But the one thing he couldn’t pick were his slipcatches. Two of them went down today – Majid Haq and Neil McCallum -which slightly undermined the claim made by his coach, Ian Pont, thatthe Netherlands’ fielding was in the top four for this tournament.
Shahriar Nafees’s brilliant maiden Test hundred gave Australia a rude awakening and Bangladesh their most promising start to a Test match on the first day at Fatullah. His 187-run stand with Habibul Bashar – the highest for Bangladesh in Tests – highlighted a raucous day for the hosts as they finished on 355 for 5.Australia were expected to dominate the match from the start, but from the moment Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat, their batsmen took charge. In a scenario resembling a one-day match, runs ticked along at close to five an over as Nafees and Bashar launched a stirring attack on the No.1 side in the world.The day clearly belonged to Nafees, whose innings was a fine riposte to the Australian juggernaut. That his first hundred in first-class cricket should came against an attack comprising Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee, on the opening day of a Test match, was surreal. Like the Energizer Bunny, Nafees just kept ticking on and on … and on. Having raced to fifty before lunch with some deft cuts and drives off the quicks, Nafees channeled his aggression towards Warne, 674 Test wickets and all. Anything pitched up was driven, anything pitched short was played easily off the back foot. He did not commit himself to the front foot and was impeccable in his ability to judge the length. There was no trace of pressure as he approached his hundred, as he swept into the nineties by taking 14 off Warne’s ninth over – three twos, a cover-drive and a sweep for four.At 2.12pm local time, Nafees nibbled Warne around the corner for his second consecutive boundary to send out a most emphatic statement to Australia. Nafees’s Test career had thus far yielded just a solitary fifty and today he picked a grand stage to move it up a notch. His magnificent innings came to an end on 138 when he was bowled round the legs trying to sweep Stuart MacGill, but for three-quarters of the day Nafees had given all of Bangladesh a chance to stare Australia in the face.While much attention centred around Nafees’s century, Bashar – Bangladesh’s most consistent batsman in their brief Test history – played a gem of an innings. Whether dancing down the track to Warne or cutting through gully, Bashar was confidence personified during his innings of 76. His fluency helped Nafees and ensured that Bangladesh got the upper hand in the morning. It was to Bashar’s discredit, though, that he threw it all away two deliveries before tea – a crude pull at a MacGill long-hop went to Lee at mid-on – when a hundred seemed there for the taking. Mohammad Ashraful came, biffed 29 from 28 and was given out lbw to Jason Gillespie to one that pitched on middle and leg, while Aftab Ahmed pulled MacGill to midwicket just to balance the equation a little. But Rajin Saleh buckled down and was unbeaten on 35 at the close.
Despite a forecast of rain in the morning, play began on time and Nafees and Javed Omar gave Bangladesh a great start with a 51-run stand in just over ten overs and paved the way for Bashar and Nafees to take it up a notch. In conditions slightly more humid than in South Africa, Australia’s bowlers looked woefully out of depth on a pitch that did little. There were too many full-tosses and long-hops, and the batsmen found the boundary with ease.Stuart Clark, not used to such situations in his three-Test career, looked a far cry from the bowler who reaped 20 wickets against South Africa. Faltering in line and length and with the pitch not responding to his efforts, Clark was clicked to the tune of 5.67 runs an over from his initial spell. Warne struggled to find his radar and was welcomed to Bangladesh – he had bowled 38,733 deliveries in Tests but none to this opposition – with a series of sublime cuts, drives and sweeps. It’s a rare day when you see Warne go for 5.60 on the opening – nay, any day – of a Test match.Gillespie gave Australia their only moment of celebration in the morning with Omar’s wicket in his first over in Tests since August and got rid of Ashraful later on, and was the best bowler on view. Subtract his consistency and cool head and Australia’s bowling figures could have been a lot worse. MacGill was the most successful with three wickets – all to unnecessary shots – but was guilty of also offering too many four-balls. Lee managed a hint of swing when he pitched it up, but otherwise the threat of a formidable Australian attack was negated. This was no David-slays-Goliath but the efforts of Nafees and Bashar may just have shaken Australia a little.How they were outJaved Omar lbw b Gillespie 27 (51 for 1) Habibul Bashar c Lee b MacGill 76 (238 for 2) Shahriar Nafees b MacGill 138 (265 for 3) Mohammad Ashraful lbw b Gillespie 29 (295 for 4) Aftab Ahmed c Hayden b MacGill 29 (351 for 5)
Joey Carew, the convenor of West Indies’ selectors, has paid tribute to their former wicketkeeper, Ridley Jacobs, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket.Jacobs, now aged 37, was a sprightly 31 when he made his Test debut for West Indies in 1998-99, two years after his first one-dayer, and went on to play in 65 Tests and 147 limited-over internationals. Only Jeff Dujon, among West Indian wicketkeepers, has played more in both forms of the game.His first experience of Test cricket was a 5-0 whitewash in South Africa, but Jacobs withstood the barrage better than any of his colleagues, and was more or less a permanent fixture for the next six seasons, until a chronic knee injury began to limit his effectiveness.”It would be remiss of me if I did not place on record the profound appreciation various selection committees have had over the years for the commitment to West Indies cricket and grit he always showed,” said Carew, as West Indies prepared to play for pride in the fourth and final Test against South Africa in Antigua.”I can only hope and pray that some percentage of that kind of commitment, discipline and dedication to the game would be emulated by present and future cricketers in the region.”
The West Indies women are preparing to play their first day-night game in international cricket on Tuesday in the second one-dayer against Pakistan.Ann Browne-John, coaching the West Indies, said that the team had discussed and prepared themselves for cricket under lights. "We have had a lot of discussion about it," Browne-John said. "I have tried to discuss with them all that they should expect and all that we will expect to happen in the day-night game, and hopefully once they put their heads to it, they will be successful."West Indies beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the first one-day international, after the Pakistan women struggled to 142 for 8 in their allotted 50 overs. The coach was effusive in her praise.”They did just as I expected, they played very efficiently. They bowled well and very, very economically,” Browne-John said. "Pakistan never got a chance to dominate the bowling and once they had bowled out Pakistan for a low score, then I knew it was going to be a matter of time before we won the game, because they really batted sensibly."
BRISBANE, Dec 16 AAP – Australia’s world champion cricketers could share Shane Warne’s pain in the coming weeks according to Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya.Sri Lanka plays its first match in the triangular one-day series tomorrow when it meets England at the Gabba, before playing the Warne-less Australia in Perth on Sunday.Warne dislocated his shoulder last night and Jayasuriya knows the pain after suffering the same injury while playing against South Africa earlier this year.”I did a similar thing in Morocco. It is a painful injury and it’s still not 100 per cent now,” Jayasuriya said.”He is a key bowler for them and it will affect them.”How much Warne’s injury affects Australia depends on the performances of England and Sri Lanka after poor summers in the southern hemisphere.England is winless in Australia while Sri Lanka was paddled 4-1 on its recent South African tour, raising doubts over its World Cup chances in Africa in February and March.The Sri Lankans are not comfortable on the bouncier wickets in South Africa and Australia, winning just 15 of the 73 completed one-day internationals in the two countries.Sri Lanka was outgunned by Australia A in a warm-up match at the Gabba on Sunday and coach Dav Whatmore admitted his players had to adjust to unfamiliar surroundings.”The bigger picture is to develop a team, and the players within it, who can perform in these conditions,” Whatmore said.”We’re not happy with (the loss to Australia A) but we’ve got that game under our belt.”Sri Lanka has been installed as slight favourites by some bookmakers to beat England in an important match for both teams.Sri Lanka has a fully fit squad, with the exception of star off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, and Jayasuriya has said the tourists will always try to play entertaining cricket.They should get the chance on a typically good Gabba wicket and against an England team frazzled by its summer losses.But Jayasuriya, while having no sympathy for England, would not make any predictions about the triangular series.”You never know what will happen, especially in a one-day game,” he said.Whatmore said tour selectors would probably settle on a team tonight, but it won’t be announced until tomorrow.The England squad arrived in Brisbane today following last night’s 89-run loss to Australia at the MCG.Its senior players won’t feel any comfort walking into the Gabba, revisiting the scene of England’s 384-run loss to Australia in the first Ashes Test last month.
Chris Harris might be New Zealand’s leading One-Day International wicket taker but his desire to be a serious bowling option for the Test side has seen him develop a new bowling style.The 31-year-old has been working during the winter on a new action which sees him bowling with his left foot on the ground, instead of his familiar left-foot-in-the-air style that he has used throughout his career.The new style results in him bowling quicker and produces more spin. Harris started out as a medium-slow inswing bowler who then developed a leg roller option.While those two options were effective in one-day play, it is the Test arena which still beckons for him.”I have been seriously working on it. After last season I enquired of the selectors where they saw me and I was told to be considered for the Test team I needed to be a wicket-taking option,” he told CricInfo today.Harris is eyeing a role for himself similar to what Colin Miller fills for Australia.”I wouldn’t have changed otherwise,” he said when confirming his desire to become more of a Test regular.Harris has played 19 Tests for New Zealand but his 15 wickets have been at a cost of 66.93 compared to his 164 ODI wickets at 35.95.Making the change hasn’t proved easy.”After 25 years of bowling in one way it is pretty hard to change. It has been pretty tough but I am getting their slowly,” he said.He will not be trying his new style in one-day cricket in Sri Lanka next month and it is more likely to be the New Zealand domestic season before it is unveiled.”It could be that in the future I could bowl both styles during one-dayers but that would depend on conditions,” he said.Harris was happy with how his one-day summer finished up last season, and especially after the treatment he received during the home series when Andy Flower unleashed his reverse sweeping on Harris.”That’s not happened to me before. But I was happy with the way I came back against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. I just went through a little phase when things didn’t go too well against Zimbabwe,” he said.NZC’s director of player development Ashley Ross, who has been working with Harris said that Harris’ delivery style meant he wasn’t getting as much power into his bowling as he could.”His lower body power was not being transferred to the trunk and the bowling arm. He always released the ball with his left foot in the air and he was getting his power from a very small portion of his body.”His new style will be more efficient and while it is hard to quantify, he has probably picked up 20km in speed, and bowls more at Nathan Astle’s speed.”By bowling medium pace leg rollers he is also working at utilising the extra power on the side of the ball to bowl a genuine leg spinner.”Once he has it worked out he will have more variety in his bowling.”Chris is a very talented guy and he will have to see how it happens in the heat of battle,” Ross said.Shayne O’Connor had a similar problem, but not to the same degree, and like Harris, once his left foot was in the correct place he had a lift in the speed he could bowl.Harris also has another change coming in his life. He and wife Linda are expecting their first child in two months.
Spurs have been handed a major transfer boost in their chase to sign Inter defender Stefan de Vrij this summer.
What’s the story?
According to Italian publication TuttoMercatoWeb, Serie A giants Inter have slashed their asking price for the Netherlands international, who is attracting admiring glances from the Premier League in both Spurs and Newcastle United.
The report adds that out of the two of both him and fellow centre-back partner Milan Skriniar, it’s De Vrij who looks most set for a departure from the San Siro this summer.
Imagine him and Romero
Having arrived from Atalanta last summer, Cristian Romero has quickly set about becoming a cult hero at Spurs with his wholehearted performances and aggressive style of defending.
But while the Argentine has quickly become a mainstay of this Spurs side, he could certainly do with another genuinely quality defender besides him, and De Vrij fits that bill to a tee.
His former teammate, Mauricio, raved: “Stefan is a great defender and deserves to be at a big club. He’s very tall, he’s strong and fast, he runs a lot – he’s a monster. He’s a calm defender who never gets agitated.”
Conte of course knows the Dutchman well from his time at Inter, and the pair rekindling their successful partnership in north London could be a stroke of genius.
Indeed, De Vrij himself has previously spoken highly of the Spurs boss, saying: “Simone Inzaghi and Conte are two important coaches because they’ve won. I had already worked with Inzaghi at Lazio, Conte has had a great career because he’s always won.
“We won the title under Conte and you can see it now. Inzaghi has been working on a solid base and is doing an important season now.”
If Spurs are to take that next step from competing for the top four to challenging for the title like Conte will no doubt want, then signings of the calibre of De Vrij is the way to go.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Partnering Romero in defence with someone of De Vrij’s considerable experience and quality would give Spurs a formidable duo in the heart of their defence that no Premier League striker would relish going up against.
The £31.5m-rated centre-back could form a dream partnership at the back with Romero.
AND in other news – Left for £0, now worth £40m: Spurs suffered huge howler over “very explosive” U21 star
The appointment of long-term support staff and the ratification of decisions taken by the various sub-committees will be the key points on the agenda of the board’s working committee meeting on Tuesday in Chennai. Though the board has given a two-year contract to Paddy Upton, who will work as the physical trainer and strategist of the Indian team, there is no permanent physiotherapist as John Gloster decided not to renew his contract after the recent CB Series.The board has asked Paul Close, the physio at NCA, to fill the vacancy temporarily. The board also needs to give a nod to the appointments that were done at the behest of Gary Kirsten, India’s head coach, though that is likely to be a mere formality. It is possible that the board might also look at a permanent candidate as Close is part of the team headed by Dav Whatmore, the NCA director.Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh were appointed bowling and fielding coaches respectively after the World Cup last year and had a got a positive response from the players. Their agreement with the BCCI runs till May, so there is time for the board to take a considered decision.The working committee members will also discuss matters relating to the IPL, India’s international commitments, the junior committee report, the women’s committee report, the tour programme and fixtures committee report, the Vizzy Trophy and the special committee formed to resolve issues related to Bihar and Jharkhand.The recommendations of the junior committee, headed by BCCI joint secretary MP Pandove, that had stated the need for a ‘quality-oriented’ junior competition is likely to be accepted by the BCCI. “I have interacted with all the state associations and it’s been decided to recommend the scrapping of the Under-15 and U-17 tournaments and organise a national competition at the U-16 and U-19 level,” Pandove said. The junior committee has also decided to rename the U-22 state teams as ‘A’ teams.Meanwhile, the women’s cricket committee had a meeting in Pune on Sunday and are awaiting the formal approval from the BCCI for the various tours this year leading up to the preparation for next year’s World Cup in Australia. It begins with the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in April and May, followed by the ODI series in England and a proposed tour of Australia in November.
Lou Vincent, who ended a run of noughts at the World Cup with 101 in New Zealand’s comfortable win over Canada, has thanked his wife for making the difference.Vincent rediscovered his touch with an entertaining century in New Zealand’s final league match at St Lucia. Asked what had changed on Thursday, Vincent replied: “My wife’s on tour.”Vincent, 28, had to survive a torrid first over from Anderson Cummins before getting off the mark in style, with a crisp six over cover. “It’s been an interesting start to the tour,” Vincent said. “I really haven’t enjoyed it too much. It’s been good to put my hand up today and get through a tough stage and then cash in with the boys scoring at the other end which made it easier to anchor an end.”Vincent’s innings was the centrepiece of a New Zealand score of 363 for 5 – their highest World Cup total. “Whenever you’ve missed out a few times, it’s natural to feel that you are not very good but the confidence from the boys around me and the season I’ve had so far, there’s a lot of confidence within my game at the moment so I just knew it would come right if I hung in there and batted some time. When I was about fifty or sixty I felt the pressure release a little bit.”Reflecting on a third convincing win, after a six-wicket victory over England was followed by a 148-run success against Kenya, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said: “I couldn’t really have asked for much more. There’s no area where we have been found out, no area ticked that hasn’t been ticked off. We move away from here pretty comfortable but also pretty confident.”One concern for New Zealand, who rested the regular new-ball duo of Shane Bond and James Franklin, was the way in which Canada, despite a daunting target to chase, attacked Daryl Tuffey and Michael Mason to the extent that 43 runs came off the first four overs. The charge was led by the Canada captain John Davison, who scored the fastest World Cup hundred (off 67 balls) in the previous edition of the tournament against the West Indies. This time around he made 52 off 31 balls.Fleming added Davison was a hard man to contain. “He’s a very good hitter, we’ve seen John’s talents before. We could have been better, but we weren’t as accurate as we could have been. The positive out of today is we learned a couple of things, especially about those first two bowlers.”Fleming added that Tuffey had sustained an arm injury which prevented him bowling a second spell. He joined batsman Ross Taylor (calf) and seam bowler Mark Gillespie (shoulder) as fitness concerns for New Zealand heading into the Super Eights.
On the evening of the second Test Mohali was abuzz with speculation on the Indian team’s final composition and it emerged that India were certain to go into the Test match with five bowlers. This automatically meant that VVS Laxman and Mohammad Kaif would miss out, with Sreesanth, struggling with flu, also likely to sit out the game. The last time India played five bowlers in a Test match was in the drawn second Test against Pakistan at Faisalabad in January.While the Indian thinktank would not confirm or deny that they were set to go into the Test with five bowlers, it is understood that Irfan Pathan will have Anil Kumble, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh and either RP Singh or Piyush Chawla for company. A final decision on whether Chawla or RP Singh will get the nod will be made on the morning of the game.Yuvraj Singh, who is fit to play will replace Kaif, who scored 91 in the first Test at Nagpur. Rahul Dravid, though not answering directly on the question of Kaif, admitted that it was tough for a captain to leave out someone who had done well. “It’s a tough one, to be honest,” he said, when asked what it was like to have to explain to someone why they were dropped even after performing well.”It’s not always easy but as captain, all you can do is be as honest as you can and explain the situation. You tell the player that while he continues to be in your scheme of things for the long term, for this particular match, it may not be able to fit him in, especially when a proven, experienced performer comes back in,” said Dravid. “You tell him that it’s not meant to be an indication of his performance. We will try and give him as many opportunities as possible over a period of time, you just tell him that he has to be patient and keep working hard.”At the same time Dravid admitted that it was good to be in a position where the team was spoiled for choice, rather than the other way round. “In a way, it’s a good situation to have because you have choices to make. It’s a good feeling to know that you can call up anyone in the squad and that everyone can perform.”Probable squad Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla.