England’s hopes of squaring their series against Sri Lanka are all butover, after an abject second-day surrender at Galle. The city’sseventeenth-century walls have withstood mightier invaders than havebeen on display these past two days, and by the close of play,England’s tormentor-in-chief, Mahela Jayawardene, had taken togoading them from the ramparts. Not content with locking them out ofthe contest with a steadfast and brilliant 149 not out, he accusedthem afterwards of lacking the will to win.”At times I felt they came hard at us but then gave up pretty easily,”said Jayawardene. “I was surprised. When you’re one-down you shouldtry to attack more and create more opportunities. But they were a bitnegative with their over-rates so I knew they were not pushing us thatmuch. We took that advantage away from them and put the pressure backon them, which happens when a side is in a negative frame of mind.It’s quite easy to push for a win now.”At 147 for 4 overnight, Sri Lanka’s position at the start of play wasprecarious. England had not bowled especially well on the opening day,but they papered over their inadequacies by showing great heart insapping heat. Second-time around, in cooler conditions and beneathheavy cloud cover, they capitulated. Thanks to an overnight tropicalstorm, the ball zipped around in the first session much as it had doneon the first morning, and it remained playful all day long. ButEngland’s only breakthroughs came via Ravi Bopara in a pre-teagiveaway.”We batted through some difficult conditions,” said Jayawardene. “Wewere in a bit of a bother last night, so my target was to get SriLanka out of a dangerous situation and take the game away fromEngland. The wicket still had quite a bit even when Ryan [Sidebottom]was bowling with a 70-over old ball, but they didn’t bowl thatstraight to me so I managed to be pretty patient. With the movement onthis pitch you can create opportunities, and hopefully our guys willbe better than that.”A spate of dropped catches undermined England’s efforts, but thebottom line was that they were not equal to the challenge thatJayawardene posed. “We’ve no complaints,” said their coach, PeterMoores. “The pitch has done enough for us to bowl them out, we justhaven’t bowled well enough. We went chasing wickets, got a bit toofull and weren’t consistent enough. And we’ve had chances and wemissed them.”The first of those opportunities came as early as the tenth ball ofthe day, when Alastair Cook failed to cling onto a sharp chance in thegully, and things went steadily downhill from there. Matt Priorendured another rough day with two misses diving to his right, takingEngland’s series tally of misses in the slip cordon to six. A wealthof expertise in that area has been lost in recent months – AndrewFlintoff, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss were permanentfeatures in Duncan Fletcher’s heyday – but nevertheless, Mooresadmitted that the quality of his team’s close catching was a growingconcern.”We’ve been working very hard on our fielding full stop, and we’vemade some reasonably good moves, but it takes time to improve when youchange people,” he said. “We’ve lost some of our natural slippers likeFred [Flintoff], but it’s an ongoing thing. The ECB have signed afielding coach [Richard Halsall] because we know it’s something wehave to address, not just at international level but all the way down.It’s a key area of top-flight sport, and we’re not hiding from thatfact. When you drop a catch it’s the worst feeling in the world.”However, the fact that England are being asked to comment on suchbasic areas of their game in the middle of a match emphasises the gulfthat has grown between the two teams over the course of this series.England’s youthful exuberance kept them in the contest for the firstthree days at Kandy, but since then Sri Lanka have displayed theirgreater expertise at every critical juncture. “Sri Lanka are a goodteam, there’s no doubt about that,” said Moores. “England are agrowing team with lots of changes, which is quite exciting. We’ve gota couple of debutants and we’ve lost a couple of senior players,that’s part of international sport. We’ve been put through some propertough cricket and we’ve got to find some answers.”The first task is to battle through to the end of a tour that, ontoday’s evidence, has already proved tougher than most of the Englishparticipants had bargained for. Only Michael Vaughan and PaulCollingwood have had prior experience of the Galle blast-furnaceeffect, and after ten hard-fought days at Kandy and Colombo, it was aweary band of cricketers who went through their paces in the field.”Fifteen days’ cricket in 22 is hard work, but we’re not into makingexcuses,” said Moores. “You take the good days with the bad days as asportsman. We always knew it was an intense schedule, but it’s thesame for both sides, and it’s one we signed up for.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has hit back at claims by Waqar Younis, recently removed as bowling coach, that he was treated unfairly by team management and the board and has accused the former Pakistan fast bowler of behaving in an unprofessional manner.”Waqar has behaved in an unprofessional manner and has resigned as Pakistan’s bowling coach in a burst of anger. The PCB has accepted his resignation,” Ehsan Malik, PCB’s director communications, told .”Waqar went on unauthorised leave which was against the terms of the contract he had signed with the PCB. That shows his unprofessional approach towards an important job,” he added. Waqar had gone to perform late last month with Mohammad Yousuf and other cricketers. He returned to Lahore on Saturday, handing in his resignation later that evening.The original cause of the dispute was the appointment of Waqar only for the Test series in South Africa and not the subsequent ODIs. Malik reiterated that the decision had been taken by the team management, after concluding that Waqar’s contribution to the ODI side was minimal.”According to the contract signed by Waqar, the PCB has the right to include him in the team management whenever his services are required. The PCB prepares performance reports of all of their coaching staff and according to one of those assessments, Waqar had contributed very little as far as ODIs were concerned.”A source close to the team also confirmed to Cricinfo that the team management was “not happy with Waqar’s performance as they felt his heart wasn’t in the coaching role. They also felt that Mushtaq Ahmed (newly reappointed assistant coach) was a harder worker and with a far greater sense of responsibility.”Meanwhile, Waqar criticised Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, for not telling him of the decision personally. Speaking to , another Karachi-based daily, Waqar said, “Inzamam has kept regular contact with Saeed Anwar (former Test opener) who was with me during , but he never spoke to me about the decision despite knowing that I was staying with Saeed. Inzamam could have informed me about the decision and taken me into confidence but I believe they (Inzamam and Bob Woolmer) are more comfortable with Mushtaq.”Since I am supposed to coach the bowlers only, I solely concentrated on that area and did my best to improve their skills. All I can say is that probably Woolmer felt a bit threatened by my presence.”Waqar added, scathingly, that it wasn’t the first time the PCB had disgraced ex-players. “In the past too, the PCB sacked Javed Miandad in the middle of his contract while the present chairman axed Mushtaq Ahmed barely hours before the team’s departure for the ICC Champions Trophy last November. And now his attitude has been downright insulting, leaving me no choice but to resign.”There has been speculation in local papers that the decision to part company with Waqar was a trade-off between Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, and Inzamam over the decision to appoint Aaqib Javed as chief coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Ashraf appointed Aaqib to the post last week, a decision that allegedly upset Inzamam, apparently because of the former fast-medium bowler’s constant criticism of his leadership. In return, it is thought, the chairman acceded to Inzamam’s request that Mushtaq be reinstated.
Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan piled on the runs, and another old tormentor – Shahid Afridi – scooped on the misery before Faisal Iqbal, the comeback kid, produced a maiden century of the highest class to shut India out of the Karachi Test. It was only the fourth time that all six top-order batsmen had made at least a half-century and by stumps, Pakistan’s lead had swelled to an insurmountable 518. With two days still to play and no team having made more than 418 to win a Test, Pakistan were perfectly placed to push for the victory that would avenge the series loss on home soil two years ago.India’s bowlers didn’t lack for effort, but they were stymied by their inadequacies and a pitch that was so benign as to make you wonder if it was the same one on which 14 wickets had fallen on the opening day. And with conditions in their favour, the batsmen had no intention of letting things drift, with Iqbal especially impressive in his role as Inzamam-ul-Haq’s replacement. A little over three years ago, he scored a magnificent 83 at the P Sara Stadium in Colombo, against an Australian bowling line-up at its peak. After a lengthy spell on the sidelines and a first-innings failure here, he came up with an innings of similar quality, defending with a straight bat and severe on anything that asked to be hit.Some of the cover-drives he played were just peachy, and the pulls and cuts also exemplified the confidence of a man who believes that he belongs in such an arena. With the sun setting and the bowlers spent, an emphatic pull for four off Kumble took him to three figures, and he received a stirring reception from his home crowd. There was also a hug from Abdul Razzaq, who had played his part with two huge sixes off Kumble during anaccomplished knock of 44.Any hopes that India had of salvaging this game had evaporated much earlier in the morning sunshine, as Younis and Yousuf brought up their fourth century partnership of the series – their fifth in the last five Tests against India. The bowlers toiled 25 overs without reward after Yousuf, who had gone past 5000 Test runs on the second day, set the tonefor the morning with a superb cut for four off Rudra Pratap Singh. Singles were scampered with great ease, and the occasional sloppy effort in the field resulted in singles becoming twos.
There was some swing for Pathan, and also movement off the pitch, but he bowled at such leisurely medium pace that the batsmen were never hustled into a false stroke. Rudra Pratap was a little better and on the one occasion that he tried to surprise Younis with a bouncer, a withering pull sent the ball to the midwicket fence.Younis took just 65 balls for his 50, and when Dravid called on Ganguly to bowl at gentle pace, Yousuf followed suit with a glorious on-drive for four. Thereafter, the runs kept coming, with a nudge here and a cut there, and two gorgeous straight-drives from Yousuf off Zaheer merely emphasized Pakistan’s dominance. For India, playing a game of patience, the wait for a wicket was interminable.It ended only after lunch but by the time Kumble trapped Younis in front, he had taken his series tally to 553, 45 more than the slim pickings he managed in India last year. It might have proved a window of opportunity, but Iqbal came in and batted with such confidence that thoughts of a collapse were soon swept away. He started with a fabulousback-foot punch for four off Ganguly, and then produced a forceful pull over midwicket.Kumble kept plugging away at one end, and was unfortunate not to have Yousuf, when a mistimed drive just cleared Zaheer at mid-on. He had got to within three of his third century of the series when Kumble was again rewarded for his perseverance. The flipper did the trick, and Yousuf departed with 461 runs from the three matches.Afridi arrived to a crescendo of noise, and quickly increased the din with three thumping off-drives. After a delicate late-cut for four, words were exchanged with Kumble, prompting the umpire to step in and have a word. But Afridi played sensibly, tempering his natural aggression, and his approach also seemed to encourage Iqbal, who played two splendidsquare-drives off Kumble. After 92 overs, Dravid had had enough, calling for the second new ball to try and rediscover the magic of the first morning.Instead, he had to watch silently as Afridi went berserk, hammering Pathan for two fours and a six in an 18-run over. By the time he got carried away, much to the Indians’ relief, he had thumped 60 from 46 balls in a blistering cameo that ensured that India would have to score more than they ever had to win a Test match. By stumps, however, even the honourable draw wasn’t an option, unless a few million rain-dances did the trick.
Younis Khan lbw Kumble 77 (280 for 3) Mohammad Yousuf lbw Kumble 97 (318 for 4) Shahid Afridi c Tendulkar b Rudra Pratap 60 (402 for 5)
When the Australian selectors decide that a player is past his sell-by date, there is usually no way back for the poor unfortunate, no matter how weighty his reputation may be. In recent years, Steve Waugh and Ian Healy have both felt that ominous tap on the shoulder, and when Michael Bevan was unceremoniously dumped from their one-day plans last summer, it was widely assumed that his reign as the undisputed master of limited-overs batting had been brought to an inglorious end.The man himself, however, has other ideas. At the age of 34, and reinvigorated by a move from New South Wales to Tasmania, Bevan has embarked on a spree of run-scoring that not even the most inscrutable Aussie selector can afford to turn a blind eye to. His 115 in Tasmania’s current Pura Cup fixture against Western Australia at Perth was his eighth century in nine first-class fixtures this season, and has carried him past 1400 runs before any other batsman has topped the 1000-mark.Perhaps more significantly, Bevan was also the first to pass 500 runs in the ING Cup, Australia’s premier one-day tournament, and given the insulting manner in which he had his Cricket Australia contract withdrawn last summer, he retains a burning desire to prove his former paymasters wrong, and force his way back into the reckoning for the 2007 World Cup.Bevan’s eight hundreds in a season is a Pura Cup record and, after his latest effort, he told the Sun Herald newspaper: “I’m a better player now than when I was in the Australian side, no doubt about it. The World Cup is a long way off but I don’t think it’s out of the question. I hope it isn’t.”Tasmania is an unfashionable team when it comes to international recognition – for all that the current Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, hails from the state – and given that Bevan’s contract expires next year, he has not ruled out a return to New South Wales for the 2006-07 season, when he would hope to thrust himself firmly back into the spotlight"It’s nice to know that at this stage of my life I’m hitting the ball the best I’ve ever hit it," Bevan told the same newspaper. "I still feel I’m continuing to improve, which is a great feeling to have at a later stage of your career. If I’ve a chance of playing in [the World Cup], I’ve just got to keep improving even more and continue to score runs and keep enjoying my cricket and see where all that leaves me."If a recall proves beyond even Bevan’s considerable abilities, then he instead has an eye on moving into coaching.
On the day that Zimbabwe’s batting folded against Australia at Sydney, Murray Goodwin provided more indelible evidence of how much they are missing his influence, as he strolled to an effortless century against Queensland.Goodwin’s 156 scorched the Bulls’ attack on a boiling opening day, as Western Australia added 104 runs in the final session alone, to reach the close on 378 for 6. Queensland did rally in the final hour, however, as they nipped in with three wickets. Goodwin has now scored 753 first-class runs this summer at 83.66, including three Pura Cup centuries, although Western Australia has not taken 20 wickets in a match all season.The first two sessions belonged to Chris Rogers, who fell just before tea, six runs short of his second century in three days. Rogers had his fair share of luck – Mike Kasprowicz eventually had him caught-behind, but not before he had been dropped on 65, by Jimmy Maher at short cover. Maher had to leave the field for treatment, but was only suffering from bruising.Goodwin cut loose in the last session, and had lives on 120 and 142 before Wade Seccombe completed a neat stumping off Nathan Hauritz. WA lost three wickets for 10 runs in the final hour, after Marcus North’s 67 ended abruptly with a direct hit from Clinton Perren in the deep.Kasprowicz, who had to leave the field with a leg injury, was Queensland’s best bowler. He had Justin Langer caught at gully for 20, and deserved better luck.
The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) today confirmed that tickets for the third One Day International final will go on sale to the public tomorrow, Wednesday December 18.This is the first time that Adelaide has hosted a One Day final and the first time a final has been held outside of Sydney or Melbourne.The One Day International VB Series during 2002/03 sees England and Sri Lanka play in Adelaide on January 17, and Australia and England in a day-night match on January 19.The third final, if required, will take place on January 27 and will be day-night match.The SACA chief executive, Mike Deare, says it is an exciting opportunity for South Australia to show how well it can stage world-class events.”The One Day International series is an enormously popular sporting event and as a State, we have the opportunity to showcase how well we can stage events of this calibre,” Mr Deare said.”This is a fabulous opportunity, particularly in the lead-up to the World Cup Rugby 2003, to show the world that Adelaide Oval and South Australia can really shine when it comes to hosting events.”Tickets are available from Venuetix and start at $35 for adults. An outlet fee of $2 will be charged for pre-booked tickets, which will not be refunded in the event the third final is not required.
Having reached a score of 4/229 by stumps on a day shortened by a combination of rain and bad light, Victoria has made a solid start to its Pura Cup match against Queensland at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane today. Capitalising on first use of a benign pitch, the Bushrangers overcame inclement late afternoon weather and some persistent bowling from the home side to make their way to their score.Naturally, it did not bring with it quite the same sense of occasion (nor the same level of drama or emotion) but the day’s play shared many characteristics with some of those seen during the Pura Milk Cup Final between the same states at the same venue seven months ago. It was tough, it was combative, no quarter was given nor asked.The Bushrangers’ problems with both form and injury were acute enough to force them to accede to the unlikely idea of using the sadly out of form Shawn Craig (23) as an opening partner for Jason Arnberger (64). But, upon winning the toss, they looked suitably determined to put several lacklustre performances with the bat this season firmly behind them.Arnberger was given a life at 12 (when Stuart Law dropped a catch at second slip) and Craig made a rather tentative beginning but the two batsmen otherwise looked in little trouble through the majority of the opening session. In humid conditions, Arnberger looked especially comfortable. Happiest when given the chance to rock on to the back foot, he hit two glorious pull strokes – one for four and the other for six – in successive overs half an hour before lunch. Craig, meanwhile, played the majority of his scoring shots through the off side in an innings in which he strove to put the horrific memory of his last-match pair behind him. It was not until the latter glanced lazily at the very last delivery before lunch, and was brilliantly caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe off the bowling of Andy Bichel (1/59), that Queensland experienced any joy whatsoever.Duplicating the efficiency of their team’s start, Michael Klinger (37*) and Ian Harvey (35*) ensured that the Victorians also enjoyed a good finish to the day. Before bad light finally put an end to matters at 5:10pm local time – around ninety minutes after play had resumed following a separate forty minute break for rain – the two added an unbroken sixty-eight runs for the fifth wicket in enterprising style.The rate at which the pair scored offered quite a contrast, in fact, with the extent of their team’s progress in the period immediately following lunch. It was during that phase that the Victorians allowed themselves to be pinned down by some accurate bowling from Adam Dale (0/40) and Joe Dawes (2/75) in particular. Dawes struck twice in one spell in the hour before tea, luring both Arnberger and Brad Hodge (14) to edge low catches to Martin Love at slip. Before he was finally drawn into cutting at a wide ball from Andy Symonds (1/47), only to feather a catch through to Seccombe, Matthew Mott (31) had also struggled to work his way on top of the Bulls’ bowling through this period.
Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is attracting increasing interest ahead of the summer transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), who claimed that Jose Mourinho is desperate to bring the 26-year-old to AS Roma this summer. The former Tottenham manager is said to be more than willing to work with the Denmark international once again at the Stadio Olimpico.
However, the report added that, because of Antonio Conte’s fondness for the midfielder, Spurs would demand a figure in the region of €40m (£33.5m) in order to part with the former Southampton colossus at the end of the current campaign.
Paratici must avoid Hojbjerg disaster
Considering just how important a part of Conte’s side Hojbjerg has become since the Italian’s arrival in north London last November, it is an easy argument to make that Fabio Paratici sanctioning the £33.5m sale of the 26-year-old this summer would be something of a disaster by Tottenham’s sporting director.
Indeed, in the 19 Premier League fixtures that the 52-year-old has overseen at Spurs, Hojbjerg has featured in all but two, He was unavailable for the 2-2 draw with Liverpool in December and left on the bench in the 2-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in February.
Furthermore, over his 27 league outings in total this term, the £58.5m-rated destroyer has been one of Tottenham’s standout performers. He has scored two goals, registered two assists and created three big chances for his team-mates, averaging 1.3 interceptions and 2.3 tackles and winning 5.2 duels per game.
These returns have seen the £100k-per-week “monster” – in the words of Morten Bisgaard – average an impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.17, ranking him as Conte’s fourth-best player in the English top flight in 2021/22.
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As such, it is clear to see that selling a player whose “simplicity is genius” according to Mourinho, particularly for an amount roughly £25m less than his current valuation, would be a catastrophic call for Paratici to make this summer, not to mention one which would surely leave Conte furious.
AND in other news: Paratici can land Spurs the next Vieira in “superb” 18 y/o with “world-class potential”
England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar has said he doesn’t regard himself as his side’s primary spinner, ahead of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka. Panesar’s spin partner on the tour will be Nottinghamshire’s offspinner Graeme Swann, who impressed during last month’s one-day series in Sri Lanka, but Panesar is sure to play if England opt for only one spinner in the XI.”I don’t see myself as the number one spin bowler in the side,” Panesar told Reuters. “The only reason I say that is because I am still young and need to learn. That number one tag is quite a strong statement.”Panesar has played 20 Tests while Swann, who is a capable lower-order batsman, is as yet uncapped. England could also opt to play two spinners as they did during their 2-1 Test series triumph when they visited Sri Lanka in 2001.Panesar said he was grateful for the tips he got from Muttiah Muralitharan when Sri Lanka toured England in 2006. “He said you should always try to turn the ball but not complicate things by trying to bowl too many different types of deliveries and just keep it simple.”England play two three-day warm-up games in Colombo before the first Test starts in Kandy on December 1.
The ICC has confirmed that the Ruaraka ground in Nairobi will be allowed to stage full ODIs.Chris Broad inspected the venue on behalf of the ICC earlier in the year but his report recommended that some work needed to be done to the changing-rooms and scoreboard before it could be considered suitable to host major matches. Those issues have now been resolved.The news means that two of the three grounds (Ruaraka and Nairobi Gymkhana) scheduled to host matches in the World Cricket League have now been passed by the ICC. The third, Nairobi Jaffery has its inspection on January 7 and the only question mark seems to be over the state of the outfield.”The umpires facilities have already been dealt with and are in an acceptable state,” said a local source. “A lot of work has gone into preparing this venue and over 250 tonnes of sand have been used to level it. Much of the outfield has been replanted in an effort to ensure an even growth of grass.” The source said that the authorities were confident it will be approved.The news is another boost after Mombasa was awarded full ODI status in August.