Despite losing two close contests to go down 2-1 in the five-match one-day series, Rahul Dravid was confident that the Indian team could bounce back in the Trinidad double-header over the weekend. Looking back at the third ODI in St Kitts, Dravid agreed that the Indian batting in the last 15 overs – they scored 41 runs and lost six wickets – cost them the game. “The last 15 cost us. We played really badly and the three run-outs were critical.”The biggest worry for India has been their poor batting in all three matches. Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag have each played one big innings while Mohammad Kaif has chipped in with two half-centuries, but the rest of the middle order has struggled to come to terms with the slow West Indian pitches. “We need to get more runs from the lower order but we will come back,” Dravid said. “The batsmen are getting used to the slow wickets and will get better.”Looking ahead to the last two games, Dravid remained upbeat about India’s chances. “We can win the next two matches. The one positive in this series has been that all three matches have been close and we have not played anywhere near our best.” The last two games will be played on Friday and Sunday.
Australia launched their tour of England with a comprehensive eight-wicket win against a PCA Master’s XI at Arundel. Although they reached their target of 168 with a ball to spare, the result was never really in doubt after an opening stand of 131 between Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden.Both batsmen got in some early practice, taking advantage of friendly bowling from the PCA XI and a fast outfield. Ricky Ponting sealed the win by hitting a six off the first ball of the last over and a four off the fifth.Paul Collingwood managed to dismiss Hayden and Chris Tremlett accounted for Gilchrist but Australia scored freely. Devon Malcolm, 42, opened the bowling for the PCA XI and was dispatched for 38 in three overs.Hayden was impressed with Tremlett, who had figures of 1 for 17 from his four overs. “There’s some quality fast bowlers [in England],” he said. “We saw that today with Chris Tremlett. He is a huge bloke [6ft 7”] and I felt like a midget. I was playing for Hampshire with his old man Tim and I saw him as a young boy. It makes me feel a bit old at 33 to be honest.”Australia stamped their authority on the game from the first ball when Stephen Fleming edged Brett Lee to second slip, where Ponting held a sharp chance. Collingwood managed a useful 38 before he was the first victim in a Michael Clarke hat-trick.
Clarke then had Kevin Pietersen caught off a top-edged sweep and Graeme Swann was stumped first ball. Pietersen had come to the game fresh from trying to hit balls over the River Thames and was attempting a similar blow when he perished after five deliveries.However, Darren Maddy, the leading run-scorer in the 2004 Twenty20 tournament, used his experience of the format to compile 70 and was aided by a quick-fire 39 off 25 balls from Mark Ealham.This was a gentle introduction for Australia in a festival atmosphere, but a crowd of 11,000 will know they mean business. Their next stop in the build-up to Monday’s Twenty20 game against England at Southampton is a match against Leicestershire on Saturday.”We haven’t played a great deal of it,” Hayden said of Twenty20. “The England team have been a little bit more fortunate to see just how the game’s come to life. We haven’t had that opportunity yet but we are catching up slowly and we’re enjoying it.”
Najmul Abbas, a Pakistani who sought a court order to stop Wasim Akram from coaching India’s bowlers, has been reprimanded and fined by a judge at Lahore.Abbas put forward his case last September after Wasim was reported to be teaming up with India. However, it was today dismissed by Anwar Gondal, a civil judge. He said, “Wasim has been a national hero and unnecessary harassment has been caused to him.”Chowdhry Fawad Hussain, Wasim’s lawyer, said Abbas’s fine of 15,000 rupees (£144) would be going to the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Research hospital, which is run by Imran Khan. Fawad said, “The case was frivolous and a publicity stunt against Wasim, and we are delighted that it is dismissed."Wasim, who retired last May last year, was also happy with the outcome. “I am delighted because publicity mongers have caused disturbance not only for me, but for the court, and such cases should not be accepted in future,” he said. “I can never think of passing any secrets but if a young bowler comes to seek advice, I will help him, irrespective of his nationality.”In the end, the Indian board hired Bruce Reid, the former Australia Test bowler, as their bowling coach last November. However, Wasim has been helping India’s attack on their current tour of Australia, and he was forced to defend his position last week when Javed Miandad, the coach, accused him of passing on his secrets.Wasim’s association with India has also prompted the Pakistani media to question his loyalty ahead of the proposed series between Pakistan and India this March. But Wasim hit back by saying, “I have not modified their actions or anything like that. Nor have I handed them any secret weapons.”
THE Western Australian Cricket Association selectors today added batsman Marcus North to the Western Warriors team for the Pura Cup match against New South Wales in Newcastle from January 23-26.North, 23, joined the team in Newcastle along with fast bowler Matthew Nicholson who is making a comeback following recovery from a wrist injury and illness last month.North was added to the Warriors team following advice from Australian team management to the WACA that fast bowler Brad Williams will remain with the Australian team which begins the VB Series finals series on Thursday, January 23.The Warriors Pura Cup team to play NSW is:Justin Langer (captain), Mike Hussey (vice-captain), Jo Angel, Ryan Campbell, Beau Casson, Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Shaun Marsh, Matthew Nicholson, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Callum Thorp.
Every day, as the sun rises over Lake Ontario and sweeps across the adjoining collection of beaches and bays, it would be possible to imagine a million potentialities for this city. The vast urban sprawl that it has become in the wave of the amalgamation of six far smaller cities only three years ago, Toronto offers a mixture of activity that caters for almost every conceivable taste.Or so any self-respecting tourist brochure – or almost any observation of everyday life here for that matter – will tell you.North America’s fourth biggest city hardly shapes as an archetypal venue for international cricket. Amid the hustle of daily events, there are certainly few obvious clues that it is about to play host to cricket’s biggest gathering of national teams.At a local level, summer sporting passions here are fuelled in person, in print and on the airwaves by the fortunes of baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays. As for a tangible fervour for far-reaching international competition, it is the flags that exhort the city’s residents to “Expect the World” in the lead-up to the decision next month on its bid to host the 2008 Olympics which dominate.Happily, the lack of exposure for them within the area bounded by Toronto’s frequently jammed highways and leafy, tree-lined avenues doesn’t particularly bother most of the players or teams that have assembled for the 2001 ICC Trophy tournament. Moreover, they have learnt to live with an absence of international notoriety, hype and hysteria for most of their careers.It is, in fact, hard to imagine too many more amenable settings for the hopes, aspirations and dreams of twenty-three developing cricketing nations to collide.In the four years that have passed since the Trophy’s last incarnation – in Kuala Lumpur – cricket has been afflicted by arguably its deepest-ever scandal. The scourge of match fixing and corruption has scarred its soul, ravaged its reputation, and played havoc with its credibility. At various times, those responsible for charting the sport’s very future have seemed under siege.Yet there can be probably be few greater demonstrations of the game’s enduring appeal than in the way in which nations from backgrounds as diverse as Uganda and the United States or centres as distant as Fiji and France continue to come together for this event.Through the twenty-two years of its history, no other cricket tournament in the world has brought together so many nations nor so effectively melded drama, tension and exhilaration with the basic grass-roots ideal of participation. It remains a remarkable celebration of the game and its prospects.On the battlefront itself, a close and compelling contest for glory can be anticipated. Scotland, with the legacy of one World Cup campaign already behind it, will enter the fray as the favourite. Yet no mortgage on another Cup berth – a prize which lies in wait for each of the three best sides in this event – can be automatically assumed. Strong competition is expected to come from the likes of Ireland – the team which it narrowly nosed out in the race for third-placed honours four years ago – as well as from the Netherlands and host nation Canada.The development of complex seeding and points systems has seen to it that many of the lower-ranked sides will find the goal of a World Cup spot as elusive as ever before. Their visions of emulating nations like Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Kenya (for each of whom success at this level has paved the way for eventual admission to fully-fledged Test and/or One-Day International status) will, accordingly, almost certainly have to be put on hold in the short term.For Italy, such ambitions have already been over-ridden by an International Cricket Council ruling that four of its leading players were ineligible to compete. The respective passages of Nepal, West Africa and the United Arab Emirates were far from smooth either; visa problems promoting a flurry of late diplomatic activity.Nonetheless, everything is now set in place for a spectacular and successful event. The rankings have been formulated. The schedule has been unveiled. Twenty-two days in the midst of an increasingly warm Toronto summer have been set aside. An infrastructure has been made to measure and ten grounds, replete with turf pitches which have been crafted in often unsympathetic conditions, have been beautifully prepared.As four years of earnest preparations approach their climax, it is over to the players.
Southampton registered their first Premier League clean sheet after convincingly beating Newcastle at St Mary’s.
The Saints made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season to lift themselves out of the relegation zone and they now stand just three points behind the beleaguered Magpies in the table.
Alan Pardew, returning to his old club for the first time since being dismissed in August 2010, saw his side turn in another listless display on the South Coast as they suffered a third league defeat on the bounce.
The visitors were on the back foot from the outset and had Tim Krul to thank for keeping out a 25-yard free-kick from Gaston Ramirez before he thwarted Jason Puncheon with a fine block.
Nigel Adkins’ men continued to press and went even closer to breaking the deadlock only to see Rickie Lambert’s dead ball strike slam off the crossbar. It wasn’t until 10 minutes before half time that their pressure was finally rewarded with Newcastle the architects of their own downfall.
A poor clearance from Krul was seized upon by Nathaniel Clyne, whose long range effort was unconvincingly headed away by Mike Williamson into the path of Ramirez and his low cross was turned home by Adam Lallana.
Pardew rallied his side at the break and Vurnon Anita came closest to an equaliser but couldn’t find the telling finish to beat Paulo Gazzaniga when clean through on goal.
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That miss was duly punished by Ramirez on the hour mark as he stabbed the ball home from close range after Krul had spilled a low cross from Puncheon, who saw a fierce effort cannon back off the post soon after,
Jose Fonte was also denied by the woodwork, his header crashing against the bar, before Gazzaniga stooped low to keep out a powerful header from Davide Santon.
Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh’s captain, was embroiled in a row when he was accused of scuffling with two men during the team’s practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.Reports say that Ashraful, who is under pressure following some poor results, got into an altercation with two men after returning from a practice session – he had already been booed by some spectators – which ended up with security guards having to intervene. As a result, security was increased for all players.The news came shortly after it was announced that Mashrafe Mortaza, the vice captain, and two other members of the national squad were facing disciplinary action after going absent on Saturday to play in a match.”We have to get the reports from team management to know what actually happened regarding these players,” Sajjadul Alam Bobby, chairman of the BCB media committee, told reporters. “That’s why we have asked our team manager to submit a report within a short time. We will definitely take action if they are found guilty.”
Shane Watson will know his immediate World Cup future when he tests his injured calf in a training session in the West Indies on Tuesday. Australia have been debating whether Watson could wait to return in a high-pressure semi-final, but the preferred option is for him to be ready for their last Super Eights game against New Zealand on Friday.After batting in the nets last week, Watson began running at the weekend and will need to prove he is on track during a bowling session in Grenada. Alex Kountouris, the team physiotherapist, said the goal was to have him ready for New Zealand.”There are always risks with someone coming back from a muscle injury,” he said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “Playing him in a Super Eights game if we’re already through to the semi-final would represent a lower risk than playing him in a semi-final or final.”Australia are desperate to have Watson return as his all-round skills give the side greater balance. Ricky Ponting said the selectors would prefer Watson played before the semi-finals, but there was still the option to increase his practice load.”We can monitor him pretty closely in all the training that he does,” Ponting said in The Australian. “If he doesn’t for some reason come up for Friday, then we just have to make sure that if we think he is going to play in the semi, we have to push him as hard as we can in every training session leading into that game to know that he is 100% right.”
David Collier, the ECB chief, came out in defence of the scheduling of international matches, citing the larger gaps between matches as the reason why the England players are not as overworked, compared to their other counterparts.His comments came in the wake of widespread criticism of the scheduling of England’s winter tours to India and Pakistan, which forced a few players to withdraw due to injuries and left others jaded. This prompted the coach Duncan Fletcher to rest Andrew Flintoff, England’s stand-in captain, for a couple of ODIs, with the series already decided. England were without the services of five of their key players in the Ashes series, namely Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Simon Jones and Ashley Giles and Fletcher expressed concern about more players succumbing to injuries and burn-outs.”There is a limit of 15 Tests and 30 one-day internationals around the world which was respected in the Future Tours programme,” he told the PA Sport news agency. “That is the guideline certainly England are sticking to and we are actually considerably less than that in terms of Test matches and one-day internationals.”We cannot do anything to lessen the impact of the tours but I think one of the things where England is different to every other nation is that we are playing more or less 12 months of the year. That means we do have bigger gaps between our games than other nations but there is not an extended period of break that some of the other teams have.”Flintoff led a depleted side in India, which exceeded expectations in the Tests, drawing the series 1-1 but were exposed in the ODIs, losing the seven-match series 5-1. Despite the result, Collier felt that some positives had come out of the tour, giving Duncan Fletcher, the coach, the chance to identify new players ahead of next year’s World Cup.He said, “Any side in the world would have struggled having lost five senior players but it has given Duncan an opportunity to look at the players who are on the fringes of selection for the World Cup and that will give us a much stronger squad going into the World Cup build-up.”Collier also had some encouraging news for England fans hoping to acquire sufficient tickets for this year’s Ashes series in Australia. He said that negotiations were on with Cricket Australia to provide for English fans, expected to turn out in large numbers following England’s thrilling victory in previous year’s edition of the Ashes.”We have had discussions with Cricket Australia about obtaining tickets. England fans are always tremendously resourceful and have managed to get contacts in Australia and certainly tour groups and the Barmy Army have got some tickets so some are being made available”, he said. “It is similar to this country last year when we had such a huge interest – a bigger interest than we have had in a series before.”
Scorecard Lancashire were left to thank Mark Chilton, their captain, for salvaging a draw against Northamptonshire after another wicket-filled day at Old Trafford. Although not as dramatic as the third day, when 18 wickets fell, there was a tense finish with Lancashire eight down at the end. Their target of 252 was never a realistic proposition after they slipped to 8 for 2 and as Jason Brown as running through the middle order defeat became a distinct possibility. However, Chilton remained firm and chose the perfect time to make his first century of the season. He was grateful, too, to Gary Keedy, who stayed with him for the final half an hour and survived 20 balls. Chilton was the first person to pass 50 in a match dominated by the bowlers, a pattern which had continued as Muttiah Muralitharan removed Northants’ lower order, ending with 4 for 68. Scorecard John Francis scored a battling century as Somerset finally found their backbone to seal a draw on the final day at Oakham School. After following-on 233 runs behind they needed someone to show some grit and Francis put his hand up. He lost Graeme Smith early in the day, when he edged Charl Willoughby, his Western Province team mate, to Paul Nixon. Francis received sterling support from Michael Burns, who batted for over four hours while compiling 59 from 202 balls. Burns was finally trapped lbw by Stuart Broad and although Sanath Jayasuriya failed a repeat of the first innings collapse was never in cards. James Hildreth reined in his natural attacking instincts to partner Francis for final period of the day Scorecard Ravinder Bopara’s first first-class century guided Essex to a draw, leaving Derbyshire to rue their decision to not declare until lunch. Michael di Venuto and Ben France had taken their opening stand to 147, and di Venuto was unbeaten on 110 when the innings was closed, but Derbyshire only left themselves with two sessions to bowl out Essex. Graeme Welch created an early opening, removing Will Jefferson and Grant Flower in two balls to reduce Essex to 14 for 2. But Bopara and Alistair Cook added 127 for the third wicket and, when Cook fell, Andy Flower scored a quick fire 41 from 30 balls. Bopara reached his century just before play was called off, after facing 145 balls. After piling up 462 in their first innings, then having Essex on the ropes in their first innings, Derbyshire will feel they missed a opportunity to force their first Championship win of the season. Scorecard This match drifted to a draw, with Paul Collingwood gaining the most for the final day with an unbeaten 103. It was useful time in the middle for Collingwood, who will shortly be joining up with the England squad for the one-day matches. Collingwood’s century – from 155 balls – was the last action of the match and he added 137 with Jon Lewis, following the early loss of Nicky Peng to Kabir Ali. Collingwood’s century was the second of the match, after Ben Smith’s 123, which was ended during the morning session by Ashley Noffke. The stand between Smith and Chaminda Vaas was extended to 115 for the eighth wicket before Noffke and Collingwood wrapped things up.