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.
Jeff Wilson will miss the rest of the domestic season because of a chronic career-threatening ankle injury.The injury is a legacy of Wilson’s rugby career, and Otago coach Mike Hesson told the Otago Daily Times newspaper that the omens were not good.”I would say that unless his ankle makes a really good recovery I don’t think Jeff will be back. But who knows?” Hesson said. “He certainly hasn’t retired. It is just a matter of seeing how the body improves over the next six to 12 months.”Wilson, 32, had some bone spurs removed from his ankle in 2000 and underwent a similar operation last year. This season he has limited himself to domestic one-dayers this season in a bid to extend his career but has made only one appearance.”I’m sure Jeff is frustrated. We are all frustrated, because he did put a lot of work in to get himself ready for the season,” Hesson added. “But when it came to the crunch, unfortunately, his body let him down and he was unable to train.”
Three centuries in five innings, and not a victory to show for them. Kevin Pietersen kept his most extraordinary performance of an extraordinary series until the very end, but it was not enough to rescue England from a dire start to the seventh and final one-day international at Centurion. Pietersen made 116 from 110 balls – including 82 in a rollicking last 37 – to haul England back from the brink at 68 for 6 after 25 overs, but South Africa were always ahead of the rate. Despite a late clatter of wickets, Ashwell Prince scored his maiden one-day fifty to guide South Africa to a 4-1 series win.The match ultimately came down to the penultimate over, but at the mid-point of England’s innings, it didn’t seem as though things would last beyond the lunch break. Four South African bowlers – Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Nicky Boje – all struck in the opening over of their spells, as a succession of English batsmen came and went in a series of limp dismissals. Marcus Trescothick made a second-ball duck, Michael Vaughan was bowled by Ntini for 1, and when Paul Collingwood was run out while seeking a suicidal single to square leg, it was as if the team was already checking out the duty free at Johannesburg airport.Pietersen, however, remained steadfast throughout the collapse, hoping against hope that one of his colleagues would find the necessary resolve to stay with him. His faith paid off, however, as Ashley Giles proved once again what a staunch batsman he has become. He and Pietersen set about rebuilding the innings, adding 104 in 13 overs of increasingly assured strokeplay, and the platform was laid for Pietersen’s habitual late assault.The revival began slowly as Pietersen and Giles put mere survival ahead of any run-scoring intent, and by the start of the 35th over, England were still three short of reaching three figures. But Giles responded by clubbing a Pollock slower ball over midwicket for four, and when he followed up with a deft late-cut that also flew away to the boundary, that was the cue for Pietersen to cut loose at the other end as well.Up to that point, Pietersen had made 34 from 73 balls with just two fours to his name, but he then swept Boje over midwicket for six twice in three balls, and would have added a straight-driven four as well, had it not been for the stumps at the non-striker’s end. He brought up his half-century – his fourth in six innings – in the next over before driving Nel through the covers for four, and he had cleared the midwicket boundary on two more occasions before Ntini yorked Giles for 41 – his highest and timeliest one-day score – with his first ball of a new spell.That didn’t stop Pietersen’s fun, however. He cracked Ntini over long-on in the same over, before taking 11 runs from Jacques Kallis’s first over of the match, and six balls later he had reached his hundred – an Ntini full-toss was biffed for four, a length delivery was moosed over midwicket, and with one ball of the over remaining, Pietersen scampered through for a tight single, and celebrated his century with an undignified and unintended moon to the crowd, after an accidental collision with the retreating Ntini.
Two more fours and a sixth six followed as the runs continued to pour, although Andrew Hall eventually removed his off stump with 14 balls of the innings remaining. The Centurion crowd put aside the controversies and stood as one to acknowledge his phenomenal efforts, and though Hall cleaned up with two wickets in three balls, a total of 240 was perhaps 100 runs beyond England’s wildest expectations.South Africa made a measured response – given England’s early travails, they hardly needed to blast out of the blocks – as Smith and Hall added 46 for the first wicket without a great deal of hassle. In the absence of Darren Gough, who was suffering from a virus, England opened with Alex Wharf and the recalled Steve Harmison, who bowled with pace and looked as threatening as he has done all tour. He, at least, seemed inspired by the prospect of a flight home, and demonstrated this with a fantastic low catch at fine leg to remove Hall for 23.With yet more of Centurion’s notorious bad weather lingering, both sides had an eye on the Duckworth-Lewis calculations – and South Africa were easing in front by the 20-over mark, the point at which a result may be calculated. An unforced error from Smith, however, opened the door again for England, as he chipped Giles to mid-on for 47. Harmison immediately returned to the attack and trapped Herschelle Gibbs for a second-ball duck, but he was unable to make any further impressions, as Prince fended him off with skill and style in the gloomy conditions.Harmison’s eventual figures of 1 for 55 didn’t do his efforts justice, but they did reflect the fact that South Africa were firmly in command. That remained the case, even when Jacques Kallis inexplicably holed out to long-on, to give a gobsmacked Vaughan a wicket from his very first ball of the match. It was the start of an impressive spell from Vaughan, whose slow loopy deliveries proved tricky to get off the square, but Mark Boucher chipped in with a punchy 44 from 40 balls to fend off England’s advances.Boucher was run out in a mix-up over a second run, and Justin Kemp and Shaun Pollock fell cheaply, but with Prince in command, the victory was a formality. Which, after reducing England to 68 for 6 after 25 overs, was always likely to be the case, Pietersen’s heroics notwithstanding.
Wellington produced an outstanding comeback to avoid following on against Canterbury in their State Championship match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Led by Chris Nevin, who was unbeaten on 143 when the innings ended, Wellington finished only 106 runs behind Canterbury on the first innings.That was largely due to an eighth-wicket stand of 160 between Nevin and Matthew Walker, who scored 68. While they didn’t complete the follow-on mission, they ensured there would be no hiccups, and it was Andrew Penn who joined Nevin to see Wellington to safety.The day was unusual in more ways than one. Play was held up for nearly an hour as a result of the southern sightscreen having blown over during strong overnight winds, and also because one of the umpires, Neil Mallender, who is to stand in the first Test between New Zealand and Pakistan, reporting ill.Few of the Canterbury bowlers could make any impression on Wellington’s pair, although the pick of them was Paul Wiseman who took 5 for 67 from 26 overs. He was included in New Zealand’s Test squad announced during the day.Canterbury did not have a good start to their second innings, losing Brendon McCullum and Michael Papps by the time 21 runs had been scored. Gary Stead, a first-innings century maker, like Papps, was also out at 54. But Peter Fulton and Craig McMillan took Canterbury to stumps at 103 for 3, Fulton being 48 not out and McMillan 18 not out. James Franklin had 2 for 21.
New Zealand had to play the conditions on memory but their handling of a difficult pitch to beat England by 155 runs in the National Bank Series One-Day International on WestpacTrust Stadium in Wellington tonight was a clinical lesson in adaptability.Recent efforts by administrators and groundsmen in New Zealand have made these sorts of pitches a thing of the past, and it was only because of watering, to eliminate the scars of last weekend’s IRB Rugby Sevens at the same venue, being followed by two and a half days of torrential rain, that this pitch slipped through the net.It wasn’t a pretty sight, nor was it a comfortable ride for batsmen unprepared to play themselves in, adapt to the pace, and to recognise that boundary hitting was always going to be a luxury on such a slow outfield.That New Zealand appreciated this was obvious from their score of 244/8 – in that score there were only 14 fours and three sixes. Or 74 runs out of 244. That left an awful lot of running to be done by batsmen using placement and timing to gain maximum utility from the ground.England failed to bowl either the right length or line consistently enough to pressure New Zealand. When confronted by those requirements being met by New Zealand’s bowlers, their batsmen couldn’t cope.New Zealand have been looking to develop their batting along these lines and recognition of what was required under the circumstances was a hint of greater consistency emerging.Some facts:England were dismissed for 89 in 37.2 overs.The 155-run loss was the third highest they have suffered. The worst remains defeat by the West Indies by 165 runs at Kingstown in 1993/94 and by 162 runs in Melbourne against Australia in 1998/99.It was the lowest total they have scored against New Zealand. The previous worst was at Lancaster Park in 1982/83 when they scored 127. Their all-time lowest score is 86 against Australia at Manchester last year.In that same series they suffered their worst margin of defeat by New Zealand by 103 runs at the Basin Reserve.From a New Zealand perspective, the win was its second highest winning margin against Test-playing nations. The highest remains a victory by 206 runs against Australia in Adelaide in 1985/86. (A big win against East Africa was recorded at a World Cup and Bangladesh were beaten in Sharjah).New Zealand have now won four games in a row against England and been unbeaten in five (after the tie at Napier in 1996/97).In plain words, this was a rout.England bowled badly, fielded and caught worse, and their batting disintegrated.On a pitch of which the New Zealanders were given first use by Nasser Hussain, New Zealand batted by accumulation to achieve domination.There were long periods without boundaries, but the score kept ticking over and once the batsmen were established they were better equipped to hit out.Chris Nevin continued to give an edge to the opening and while the opening stand was only worth 25 when Nathan Astle departed, it was still the second best start of New Zealand’s ODI summer.Nevin scored 21 off 20 balls before he was out. Then after impatience got the better of Brendon McCullum, Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan worked well to see the side through a potentially difficult patch while 58 were added for the fourth wicket.The disappointment was that Fleming, having scored 40 got out cheaply again when he was handling the situation so well. One six he hit off Craig White over the mid-wicket boundary was a beautifully fluid shot. Two straight drives were examples of Fleming at his best, but they were of the quality side of his game that, unfortunately, he is not showing as often as New Zealanders would like to see.McMillan then joined up with Lou Vincent, a not insignificant liaison in terms of New Zealand’s prospective ODI batting order, to add 84 off 97 balls before the stand ended in the 43rd over.The artisans had finished their job, now it was time for the demolition squad and while they struggled with the pace of the pitch, they did add 46 runs in the last six overs. Chris Cairns 11 off six, Chris Harris 14 off 19 and Andre Adams 25 off 18.Darren Gough is clearly the most combative bowler in the side but his three wickets cost 47 runs. White bowled a tidy first spell of five overs for 19 runs, figures only marred when 12 come off the fifth.Then when New Zealand came out to bowl it was as if the runs had dried out of the pitch in the tea break.Daryl Tuffey’s first two overs were maidens while Adams conceded a single off his first ball and then had Marcus Trescothick caught by wicket-keeper Nevin.Adams maintained some sterling pressure and in the process helped himself to a more permanent place in the New Zealand side. He generates good pace and bowled with great accuracy to take three for 13 from seven overs.Fleming decided that was enough and put him out of sight of prying English eyes but, one suspects, not out of their thoughts.Hussain departed to a bad shot which saw Fleming complete a good catch for a Tuffey wicket while Nick Knight was bowled by Adams for nine. When Graham Thorpe departed, leg before wicket to Adams for 10, it was effectively the end of the England cause.Andrew Flintoff provided some final resistance to score 26 and Ashley Giles hit 12 but the final destroyer proved to be Astle who took three for four to polish off the innings.
Toronto, Canada – Yet again so near but so far for the spirited Argentina cricketteam. A horrible bowling start saw the USA race into a commanding position before adetermined fightback and some characteristicly outstanding fielding, on the groundand in the air, saw Argentina bowl out the USA for 243 in 47 overs. Another resoluteand intelligent batting display saw Argentina on target nearly all the way through,until later in the innings when the pressure of runs and a sudden USA hat-trick sawArgentina’s innings end for 202 in the 49th over. Hero was Argentina’s Player of theSeries, Matias Paterlini, with a cultured 63, well-supported by 37 from skipperKirschbaum, and 34 from make-shift opener Perez Rivero. At one point 78 without loss,and later 142 for 1, too many careless runs, in my opinion in excess of 80, givenaway by untidy bowling, saw the task tantalisingly out of reach.
Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring Flynn Downes to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a recent report by The Times, who claim that, with Aston Villa, Newcastle United and West Ham United all believed to be plotting a £60m move for Kalvin Phillips, should the England international go on to leave Jesse Marsch’s side at the end of the current campaign, Victor Orta could look to bring in the Swansea City midfielder as the 26-year-old’s replacement.
Phillips 2.0
Considering just how impressive Downes has been for Swansea since his £1m move to the Liberty Stadium last summer, in addition to his remarkably similar profile to Phillips, it is easy to see why Leeds have identified the 23-year-old as a potential successor to the England star.
Indeed, over his 31 Championship appearances this season, the £1.08m-rated midfielder has been one of Russell Martin’s standout performers, scoring one goal, registering one assist and creating one big chance for his teammates, as well as making an average of 61.8 passes, 0.9 interceptions, 1.2 tackles and winning four duels per 90 minutes.
These returns have seen the £9.3k-per-week dynamo average a SofaScore match rating of 6.82, ranking him as the Swans’ tenth-best player in the second tier of English football.
Furthermore, Martin has clearly been extremely impressed with the development of Downes, stating of the former England U20 international after a 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town back in September last year:
“Flynn was incredible, it’s difficult to single people out, but he does the dirty work perfectly well. He enables other people to do their roles brilliantly, he knows exactly what his role in the team is. Kyle Naughton and the guys at the back appreciate him a lot, I know I would have if I had him playing in front of me.
“He has an excellent willingness to learn, his attitude, his attention to detail and how quickly he learns is outstanding. He’s playing in a completely different role to what he used to play at his previous club, as most of the guys are. His desire to win and athleticism, with his increasing and improving technical ability, shows how much he wants to work.”
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As such, with a great deal of the traits Martin attributes to Downes also being easily applicable to Phillips, should the 26-year-old indeed move on to pastures new this summer, it would appear as if Orta could very well unearth Leeds’ next midfield maestro in a move for the Swansea City star.
AND in other news: Phil Hay drops behind the scenes Leeds update that will have Jesse Marsch buzzing
ScorecardThe Haryana-Goa match in Margao was set for an exciting fight for a first-innings lead after a four-wicket haul from left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati left the visitors at 205 for 7 at the end of the second day, 66 short of Goa’s total. Jakati, who also scored a valuable 25 with the bat, dismissed all four Haryana batsmen who had got starts, including half-centurion Sumeet Sharma and Sachin Rana (44) within 26 runs of each other.When Goa resumed the day at 258 for 8, Joginder Sharma finished their innings swiftly to end up with figures of 4 for 66. ScorecardGujarat bowled Assam out for 189 – a first-innings lead of 39 – and made a confident start to place themselves in firm control at the end of the second day’s play in Ahmedabad. At an overnight 56 for 4, Assam relied on the three former Tamil Nadu batsmen – S Ramesh, S Sharath and S Suresh. They all got starts but could not convert them into big innings, Ramesh top-scoring with 43. Gujarat’s legspinner Timil Patel took four wickets to hasten the end of Assam’s innings.Gujarat lost their first wicket for 1, but Parthiv Patel and Nilesh Modi ensured there was no further loss till stumps. Parthiv finished unbeaten on 48. ScorecardDecent contributions through the batting order put Railways in a position of strength against Jammu & Kashmir at the Karnail Singh Stadium. J&K struggled to follow breakthroughs with quick wickets as Railways slowly but surely moved past their total. Karan Sharma, making his debut at No. 8, top-scored with an unbeaten 64, while Amit Pagnis, Sanjay Bangar and Sanjib Sanyal narrowly missed half-centuries.Samiullah Beigh, J&K’s right-arm opening bowler, toiled 31.2 overs for his 4 for 83. ScorecardAt Agartala, Services nipped out Tripura’s last eight wickets for 105 runs and got off to a good start in the second innings, after they were bowled out for 102 the day before. Tripura secured a crucial 96-run first-innings lead, but a good start put Services back in the game.Offspinner Ashish Mohanty and opening bowler Hari Prasad took three wickets each to contain Tripura, who would rue that none of their four batsmen who reached the 30s could not carry on for a big innings. Services opener Tahir Khan, on a pair, made a better start and was unbeaten on 60 at stumps. ScorecardAfter an unbeaten hundred by Jatin Saxena took Madha Pradesh to 223, their bowlers struck early to reduce Jharkhand to 83 for 5 at the end of the second day in Jamshedpur. Saxena came in at No. 3 and scored 125. It was his 102-run sixth-wicket partnership with Rahul Bakshi that rescued MP from 100 for 5. After Bakshi got out for 56, the last four wickets fell for 21 runs, leaving Saxena stranded. Kuldeep Sharma and SS Rao, Jharkhand’s opening bowlers, took four wickets each.Jharkhand made a poor start, losing their first wicket in the second over and regularly thereafter, but their captain and opener Manish Vardhan waged a lonely battle with an unbeaten 34.
Nick Jewell and Brad Hodge continued their outstanding form and gave Victoria a healthy first-innings lead against New South Wales. The pair built a 181-run second-wicket partnership and pushed past the Blues’ total of 249, helping Victoria reach 4 for 316 at stumps.Jewell’s 112 was his second century in three matches, while Hodge’s 88 moved him past 500 runs in the Pura Cup season and he now trails only Western Australia’s Chris Rogers in 2006-07. Hodge joined Jewell at 1 for 84 after Nathan Bracken enticed an edge behind from Lloyd Mash on 52.Jewell’s innings took nearly six hours and ended in the final session when he was bowled by Bracken having hit 13 fours and one six. Hodge recorded the same boundary tally before he was caught behind off Matthew Nicholson.Cameron White made 8 and gave the debutant fast bowler Scott Coyte his first Pura Cup wicket but David Hussey (22 not out) and Andrew McDonald (19 not out) extended the home team’s lead to 67 runs. The game is a crucial one for both the Blues and the Bushrangers, who sit third and fourth on the competition table.
Troy Cooley, who earlier this week was appointed bowling coach to Australia, has spoken of his disappointment of the ECB’s decision not to offer him a two-year extension to his contract. Cooley requested the deal in May but, he claims, the ECB would only offer a one-year appointment.”I would have been happy to stay with England – but May was really the time to have settled it,” Cooley told The Guardian. “By the time I got around to negotiating with them [the ECB] again, towards the end of the Ashes, other people were talking to me.”Cooley is widely acknowledged as the man responsible for turning England’s bowlers into a world-beating force; in joining the England coaching set-up in 2003, with fellow Australian Rod Marsh at the helm, England’s status as a world-class side regained prominence, culminating in winning the Ashes this summer.Both Marsh and Cooley have now returned to their homeland, but Cooley was quick to state that salaries weren’t part of his decision to leave: “The money was not a huge factor, though I do believe in a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. I am an Australian, though, and at some stage, I suppose, I was always going to return,” he said. “It’s happened sooner than I expected, but it’s a great opportunity.”It’s been a fantastic journey and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, not only helping the bowlers to perform as a unit but also playing a part in the setting up of what is now a very impressive fast-bowling programme.”