Day 2 of 4Victoria 7 for 252 (Hodge 125, McDonald 51*) trail Tasmania 341 by 89 runs ScorecardBrad Hodge scored a superb 125, but Tasmania’s bowlers struck at regular intervals at the other end to reduce Victoria to 7 for 252 at the Bellerive Oval, still 89 runs in the arrears. Hodge’s dismissal reduced Victoria to 7 for 199, but Andrew McDonald, with an unbeaten 51, and Darren Berry (22 not out), prevented Tasmania from gaining a huge first-innings lead.Full report follows …
Former Hampshire opening batsman, Tony Middleton, has been appointed by the England and Wales Cricket Board as Hampshire Cricket’s Academy Director.
Hampshire Manager Director Nick Pike with Tony Middleton
The 38-year-old from Winchester was among ten applicants, some of them from overseas. Middleton played for Hampshire in two winning one-day finals at Lord’s before retiring in 1995. Hampshire have financed the Academy since it was launched in September 1998 but will now receive a £50,000 annual licence fee from the ECB and Sport England.”The support and guidance from the ECB and a network of County Academies will allow us to expand and improve the quality of our Academy students’ programme.” said Middleton.Having run the Academy since it opened, he is responsible for player recruitment and will oversee the entire development of players aged 13-18. Last season, when he also coached Hampshire’s second XI, his Academy side gained promotion to the Southern Premier League’s top flight.Two highly-rated young Hampshire first teamers, Chris Tremlett and John Francis, graduated from the Academy and there are currently six players in the Academy, half of whom live outside the county, who are all considered to be potential first-class cricketers. The extra funding allows for the programme to be extended to accommodate up to 12 players.”Tony Middleton is highly respected, not only as a coach but as an individual,” says Tim Tremlett, Hampshire’s Director of Cricket. “He had Hampshire’s interests very much at heart and will be able to carry out the ECB’s mission statement of taking young cricketers from the playground to the Test match arena.”Tony Middleton made his Hampshire debut in 1984, but his best season came eight years later when he scored nearly 2,000 runs in first-class cricket, including six centuries. He was chosen for that winter’s England ‘A’ tour to Australia.
Australia and Pakistan begin psychological warfare tomorrow in the first of two NatWest Series encounters rendered meaningless before the teams meet in the final at Lord’s on June 23.England’s run of defeats means that the remainder of the qualifying games are largely irrelevant although there will no doubt be some mind games played at Chester-le-Street tomorrow.And Australian coach John Buchanan has hinted that there could be some experimentation from both sides.”It is nice to be in the final. That being the case, there will be a littlebit of room for some experimenting along the way – but certainly we want to keepthe winning run going,” he said.”With the future in mind, it is important for us to continue to have a lookat Pakistan. I dare say they will put on the field a couple of players who we have not seen before, so that will be useful.”He added: “There is the luxury of having got to the final, which means wecan maybe look at one or two different things we would like to try.”We may take a few more liberties than we would normally do. We will betrying to play our best cricket but we will also have an eye on the future.”Australia’s renowned rotation system means tomorrow Glenn McGrath will be rested for the first time in the series, to be replaced by Brett Lee. Ricky Ponting is given a day off while Damien Fleming is back after a minor calf injury.Waqar Younis, who has said he believes it is essential his team wins at least one of the two clashes with Australia before the final, has a fully fit squad to choose from – but offered no further clues as to who would be taking the field.Australia: M Waugh, A Gilchrist (wkt), M Hayden, M Bevan, S Waugh (captain), DMartyn, A Symonds, S Warne, B Lee, J Gillespie, D Fleming.Pakistan (from): Salim Elahi, Shahid Afridi, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq,Abdur Razzaq, Waqar Younis (captain), Rashid Latif (wkt), Saqlain Mushtaq,Younis Khan, Wasim Akram, Azhar Mahmood, Saeed Anwar.
Daniel Farke continues to fight back against previous Premier League critics in the Leeds United hot seat.
Indeed, question marks have always been there regarding the German’s suitability to the daunting top-flight, with only ten career wins in the tense division next to his name making him stand out as a manager more used to EFL success.
Yet, having recently masterminded a win and a draw over Chelsea and Liverpool, and a hard-fought point against Brentford was secured last time out, the under-fire boss has certainly won himself more time in the Elland Road dug-out.
Still, even he won’t be happy with one big underperformer in his ranks. He’s up there with high-profile flops Rodrigo and Luis Sinisterra before him.
Leeds’ most expensive signings
Player
Cost
1. Georginio Rutter
£35.5m
2. Brenden Aaronson
£28.5m
3. Rodrigo
£26m
4. Dan James
£25m
5. Luis Sinisterra
£21m
Why Rodrigo & Sinisterra were a waste of money at Leeds
Looking at the table above, Leeds would feel they have a compelling argument to state that a large portion of their most expensive recruits have been hits, rather than misses.
For example, both Georginio Rutter and Dan James stood out as firm fan favourites when Leeds routinely competed in the Championship, with a stunning 77 goal contributions collected between the entertaining attacking duo at Elland Road.
The jury is still out on Brenden Aaronson’s £28.5m price tag, but he does have a promotion next to his name, with the 25-year-old also up to three goal contributions for the season, showing off glimpses of his quality.
Both Rodrigo and Sinisterra are likely to be dismissed as flops, though, when remembering their spells, with the combined £47m spent on their services arguably wasted.
For their big fees, a lot more would have been anticipated, with the Spain international a hit-and-miss presence throughout his 97-game spell, considering he mustered up just 13 goals across his first two Premier League seasons. He would also boast a steep £100k-per-week wage.
Sinisterra’s stint would also go by in an underwhelming blur, with only 28 games falling into his lap in West Yorkshire. His five goals in Premier League action during his solitary season up North also couldn’t save his employers from the drop, with the bumper deal leaving a bad taste in the mouth.
Leeds United forwardLuis Sinisterra.
Still, with 36 goals tallied up collectively, there are some rays of positivity to hang onto from their forgettable playing days, unlike this man..
Leeds have a bigger waste of money than Rodrigo and Sinisterra
On another occasion, Leeds could well have run out as winners at the G-Tech Community Stadium.
Farke’s visitors mustered up 15 shots next to the hosts’ eight, as Dominic Calvert-Lewin thankfully bailed the Premier League newcomers out again.
While the former Everton striker continues to impress after moving on a free transfer, the same cannot be said for Lucas Perri, who looked shaky once more in between the sticks for the away side, after a major £13.9m move from Lyon in the summer.
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.
Worryingly, only eight of Perri’s 30 passes reached their intended target against Brentford, with the “dreadful” ‘keeper – as content creator Lewis Deighton lambasted his distribution post-match – also only completing one save all match, leading to Jordan Henderson powering home his first ever Bees strike past the ropey stopper.
Perri’s numbers vs Brentford
Stat
Perri
Minutes played
90
Goals conceded
1
Goals prevented
-0.16
Saves
1
Touches
36
Accurate passes
8/27 (30%)
Possession lost
20x
Stats by Sofascore
For £13.9m, considering last season saw Leeds curse Illan Meslier’s error-prone performances in goal, the newly promoted side would have expected Perri to be a far more solid performer than he currently has shown, with his last clean sheet for the club coming all the way back in August.
With a £50k-per-week wage also thrown into the mix, which makes him a higher earner than both Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu, who take home a lesser £40k-per-week pay packet each, it isn’t ludicrous to suggest from his early days in West Yorkshire so far that Perri is going down the route of being a bigger waste of money than both Rodrigo and Sinisterra, as more errors in between the sticks could prove to be Leeds’ undoing in the relegation fight.
After all, former Leeds player Jon Newsome has even come out already to criticise the signing as “wasted funds” on the end of the 49ers, with Perri likely to go down as a miss, as opposed to a hit, in the transfer department, if he can’t turn around his dismal narrative soon.
Worse than Bijol: Farke must drop Leeds dud who made just 29% of his passes
Daniel Farke should drop this Leeds flop who was even worse than Jaka Bijol against Brentford.
Trinidad’s Brian Lara Stadium should be completed before year end, according to Gary Hunt, Trinidad & Tobago’s sports minister.Work on the stadium has been behind schedule for months and the whole project has attracted considerable criticism. Hunt said that it was 80% complete but would not give an exact date when it was expected to be finished.”The contractors indicated that the facility would be finished this year, but to give you an exact date, I do not have that,” he said. “I have to consult more closely with the contractors to supply a very accurate date … and even in today’s terms, you know that is subject to many conditions as we see in the construction industry today.”Opposition MPs have attacked what they have described as the “rampant corruption and financial mismanagement” of the project, but Hunt denied these charges.”We indicated that we are going to look at a value for money principle in all projects that we execute and this project is no different,” he said. “With regard to the exact cost, I believe that the past minister of Sports gave a statement in the parliament with regard to this and the figure put forward then was US $87.5 million. To give you a present estimate, I do not have that figure, and I would have to consult with the contractors.”
ScorecardNew Zealand Under-19 scraped home by one wicket in a thriller at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln to square the series 1-1 after two matches. Chasing a modest target of target of 153, New Zealand were staring at defeat at 131 for 9, but a resolute last-wicket stand between Timothy Muir and Trent Boult saw them home off the last ball of the match.Seamer Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh took his second-consecutive four-wicket haul to rock the hosts and three run-outs pegged them back further. New Zealand were in a spot of bother at 4 for 48 but were later revived by a 49-run partnership between Corey Anderson and wicketkeeper Bradley Cachopa. However, the wheels threatened to come off when legspinner Piyush Chawla sent both batsmen packing and effected a run-out as well. A couple of late blows by Mahesh saw the hosts lose their last five wickets for 34 runs and thereafter it was upto the tail to see them through.Earlier, the Indians were sent into bat and their innings lasted just 37 overs. Tanmay Srivastava top-scored with 57 while the rest capitulated, only three managing to cross double figures. Seamer Timothy Southee made early inroads and finished with figures of 4 for 29.
Rob Nichol, the right-hand middle-order batsman, scored a boundary off the final ball to steer Auckland to the finals of the inaugural Twenty20 competition, defeating Wellington by five wicketsat the Eden Park Outer Oval on Sunday. Nichol’s 78 came off 72 balls with five sixes as Auckland crossed the target of 154 with five wickets to spare.Earlier, Wellington were put in to bat by Richard Jones, the Auckland captain. Neal Parlane, coming in at number four, top-scored for Wellington with 38. Auckland bowled economically to restrict the opposition to 153 for 7, as Charlie Shreck and Jesse Ryder bowled the first maiden overs recorded in the competition.Auckland will meet Christchurch in the finals on February 5.
New Zealand’s middle and lower order piled on the misery for Sri Lanka on the second day, building on the foundations laid on the opening day by Hamish Marshall. Nathan Astle cashed in with his tenth Test hundred, Brendon McCullum entertained with a fine 99 and James Franklin showed off some potential with 55. New Zealand scored a massive 561 to leave Sri Lanka facing a three-day rearguard.Having been ill-treated for most of the day, Sri Lanka ended it on a better note as Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya sprinted out of the blocks, racing to 48 without loss at the close with a series of emphatic strokes. Both appeared to be in good touch and the short session was a gentle warning to New Zealand’s bowlers who, despite having a mountains of runs to play with, must recognize the pitch is still a road.After being ruthlessly dominated by unflinching Australian bowlers for the past few weeks, the Sri Lanka tour has provided New Zealand’s batsmen an ideal balm for their bruised egos. Without Murali and with Chaminda Vaas well below par, Sri Lanka’s bowling attack, barring the effervescent and unconventional Lasith Malinga, lacked teeth. It would have helped if their fielders had held their chances though – Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Chandana were all guilty of costly misses.Sri Lanka’s only realistic chance of staying in the game was to blast through New Zealand’s lower-middle order during the morning with a new ball and wrap up the innings for below 400. Although the hosts had a shaky period midway through an extended morning when Marshall and Lou Vincent both fell in quick succession, New Zealand were safe by lunch on 379 for 5, meaning the afternoon was all about damage limitation. However, as Astle and McCullum, a busy body of a batsman, turned the screws during a 129-run stand for the sixth wicket, they started to wilt.Astle, New Zealand’s Mr. Fix-it, plodded along steadily, surviving a few scares along the way, including an edge that dropped just short of first slip in the morning besides an lbw reprieve from Darrell Hair – one of three good appeals turned down by Hair – when he missed a straight ball from Chandana on 91. McCullum, meanwhile, was industrious, actively searching out runs and often gambling with pre-meditated or high-risk strokes. However, having played himself in he batted superbly, almost batting Gilchrist-like verve.As the runs piled up and the partnership continued through the afternoon, Mahela Jayawardene peered on ruefully from the slips, aware that his fumbled attempt at first slip when McCullum was just six was a crucial miss. Marshall had just spooned up a catch to mid on out of the blue and Lou Vincent was caught in the slips after nibbling outside his off stump to leave New Zealand wobbling, slightly, on 317 for 5. If Jayawardene – the third first slip of the game in a merry-go-round slip cordon – had pouched McCullum moments later then the day could have ended very differently.In the end it took a brilliant two-handed catch by Jayasuriya at gully off a powerfully-hit square-drive to end Astle’s resistance: 114 from 203 balls with 17 boundaries, most of them punchy drives or neat clips. McCullum and James Franklin frustrated Sri Lanka further with a 41-run stand. Tillakaratne Dilshan was literally given a headache after a full-blown sweep thudded into the back of his helmet at short-leg. He was visibly dazed but undeterred and stayed on the field for the final half hour of the session.Malinga, still brimming with energy, pounded in relentlessly, his already horizontal arm dipping lower and lower as he tried to conjure up some reverse swing. The umpires, who removed their dark maroon ties to help the batsmen pick up Malinga’s point of delivery, may have feared the removal of their smart dark slacks. Malinga ended McCullum’s hopes of a second Test century with a clever and skillfully executed change of pace. McCullum, clearly seeing the ball like a beach ball at the time, was completely flummoxed and palpably lbw. He marched off holding his head in a mixture of disbelief and disappointment.Malinga was by now firing on all cylinders, hunting for his first-ever five-for. Kyle Mills was bowled third ball by a curving full toss that slammed into the base of his stumps. Atapattu persisted with Malinga after tea but gradually he ran out of steam and Franklin then tucked into the slower bowlers, carting four boundaries and one six during a maiden Test fifty. Rangana Herath finally mopped up the tail midway through the evening to leave Sri Lanka with a potentially tricky session to bat before the close. They survived with some style but a long fight awaits tomorrow.How they were out Spooned an innocuous-looking delivery to mid-on with a mistimed push. An early-innings push at a good length delivery and edged to second slip. Slicing square-drive that was brilliantly caught at gully. Completely deceived by a perfectly-pitched slower ball. Clean-bowled by fast reverse-swinging yorker. A mistimed clip to midwicket. Skied into the deep.
Dilhara Fernando, Sri Lanka’s liveliest pace bowler and first-choice new-ball partner for Chaminda Vaas, will miss the forthcoming one-day series against Australia following another stress fracture in his lower back. Barring a miraculous recovery, Fernando is also a serious doubt for the three-match Test series, which starts on March 8 at Galle.Fernando, who had only just returned from another stress fracture to play a major hand in Sri Lanka’s series-clinching Test win against England in December, broke down after playing two domestic matches for Western Province.”Scans have shown that he has a stress fracture on the right-hand side of his lower back, and he will not be able to bowl for four weeks,” said Paul Klarenaar, the team physio. “He’ll have a CT scan next week which will reveal more, but the current prognosis is that he may be bowling again towards the end of the one-dayers.”The news is disappointing for Sri Lanka. The return of Fernando, in a country with limited fast-bowling resources, had added an extra cutting edge to the attack. The selectors, currently pondering the make-up of the one-day squad, will now have a difficult job searching for a replacement.Prabath Nissanka, another injury-prone, but exciting prospect, is making a slow but steady recovery from knee surgery. He’s targeting a return in time for the Sri Lanka A tour of New Zealand in March.Dinusha Fernando, who opened the bowling with limited success during the first two Tests against England, is now struggling for form, leaving the door ajar for the possible return of Nuwan Zoysa.
England’s cricket authorities are being forced to walk a tightrope to avoid being sucked into a political storm over the World Cup match scheduled to be played in Harare against Zimbabwe on February 13th. Nevertheless, with senior government figures realising that once again sport can be used for political ends, the dangers for cricket become all too obvious.While there is growing international outrage at the policies and behaviour of Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, no attempt was made to stop England playing a series of one-day internationals in the country as recently as last year. Now, however, politicians appreciate that an event with the profile of the World Cup offers a far more prominent stage on which to make a statement.Aware of the problems, the ICC sent a fact-finding delegation to Zimbabwe, including the countries that are scheduled to play World Cup matches there. The result was that they all signed up to continue with arrangements as they stood on the grounds of safety and security with the proviso that the ICC would monitor the situation in case of any deterioration.The chief executive of the ICC, Malcolm Speed, has reiterated that those circumstances remain, despite increased political activity in the UK."We’ve talked to the ECB about this," he said. "The decision is that if England doesn’t play because of political considerations, they will not receive any points from that match, in effect they will forfeit that match. If the situation deteriorated and it was unsafe for England to play, the points will be shared."I don’t see it so much as a moral dilemma. A decision has been taken by the ICC board that the only factor to take into account is safety. We’ve done that, we’ve assessed the situation in Zimbabwe with regards safety and we’ve resolved to move forward."There have been a number of comments from members of the British government. What we’ve said consistently is that it’s up to the politicians to make political decisions, we make our decisions based on sporting factors and we’ve done that."We’ve made our decision and the ECB have said, that from England’sperspective, they will abide by that decision, so hopefully we can move forward."We can only make our decision based on cricketing considerations and sporting considerations. We have 84 member countries that come under all sorts of political regimes. We’re aware of the political difficulties, we’re aware of the economic difficulties, but they’re factors that we don’t take into account."Speed’s comments come after Downing Street and the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, commented on remarks made by Clare Short, the International Development Secretary. She said that England should refuse to play in Harare, adding that a decision to go would be "deplorable and shocking.""An election has been stolen and people are being starved because they dared to vote freely," she said. "I think they should not go. It is like pretending everything is OK in Zimbabwe and it is not."A spokesman from Number 10 said: "We have no power to order a teamnot to go. It is up to them but our advice is that they should not go."A statement from the Foreign Office explained Mr Straw’s view. “While it is not for us to tell the International Cricket Council or the England and Wales Cricket Board what to do, it is Mr Straw’s personal view that it would be better if England didn’t go.”We ask the cricketing authorities to reflect on the humanitarian and political crisis that is happening in Zimbabwe and the fact that the situation could deteriorate over the coming weeks.”Interestingly, chairman of the England selectors, David Graveney, has stated that he would refuse to go if he was asked to play in Zimbabwe. This is even though he managed a rebel tour to South Africa during the apartheid years.The chief executive of the ECB, Tim Lamb, has made his stance quite clear. “We don’t believe it’s our position as a sporting body to make political judgements about the appropriateness of regimes in host countries for playing cricket.”Cricket is a soft target and is being treated differently to the 300 other businesses which continue to trade with Zimbabwe which ministers aren’t discouraging. There are some double standards here.”Writing on the subject in his Sunday Telegraph diary, England captain Nasser Hussain takes a line that would not disgrace professional politicians. “It must be right that the decision is made at a higher level than sport, by a government body."Even if it means that England will forfeit points by not playing inZimbabwe, that would be willingly done if the Government believes it right that England should not play."Cricket, and qualifying for the Super Six stage of the World Cup, comes a long way down the list of what is important, especially compared with people starving."Such a government body was needed last winter, it is needed now and it will be needed again as there are sure to be similar situations which come up in future."