After asking for his team to be tested during the CB Series, John Buchanan’s words came back to bite him when England secured a 2-0 success in the finals. However, he has no regrets over the comments, still insisting the loss will have long term benefits for the Australians.”It’s important that’s happened because I think it’s important to find out where there are some deficiencies, where we do lack some consistency and so on,” he said. “I’d rather us find that out now than some time in the West Indies.”Buchanan said he did not believe Australia’s three losses constituted a slump in form and felt it would have little effect on how selectors would approach Tuesday’s choice of a 15-man squad for the World Cup.”I don’t think two games in the course of the season, and going back to the ICC Champions Trophy, changes a heck of a lot,” he said, referring to the finals. “It’s just that we haven’t played as consistently as we would have liked over a short period of time.”Certainly, over the last few games we have been tested by England and haven’t consistently responded to that. I think the selectors would have the same questions on their mind that they had prior to the finals.”However, Buchanan, who will coach Australia for the last time at the World Cup before standing down, does have concerns over the workload of some of his squad, especially Adam Gilchrist. Even when Gilchrist returns to the squad after the birth of his third child, Buchanan would like Brad Haddin available as a stand-by.”We’ve been exceptionally fortunate with Adam in his career that he hasn’t sustained any major injury, touch wood,” he said. “But it’s such an important tournament that my leaning is to take a second specialist wicketkeeper, but that second specialist wicketkeeper has to offer us more than just wicketkeeping.Haddin, picked for this week’s three-match Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series in New Zealand with Gilchrist being rested, is the leading run-scorer in the domestic one-day competition with 406 runs at 67 and has batted in all positions in the top seven during his 18-match Australian career.Buchanan also defended the timing of allrounder Shane Watson’s return to the Australian side after his pace bowling was shown to be underdone in both finals. Watson had just 27 overs in state and club cricket but the selectors did not believe the Chappell-Hadlee series would give him enough time to get back into the one-day groove after being a key player as a bowler and opening batsman at last year’s Champions Trophy.”He bowled exceptionally well at the Champions Trophy and in the lead-up to that and batted well so he’s on his way back and the quicker we can give him game time, and finals time as that was, the better,” Buchanan said. “Certainly he hasn’t got the bowling under his belt and the general bowling fitness, but it was important to inject him into the tournament.”Buchanan added Watson was a “frontrunner” to open with Matthew Hayden in New Zealand but indicated he would have to bat well further down at the World Cup. He listed Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge and Michael Hussey as virtual certainties to remain in their positions despite Watson’s game suiting a move higher up the order.
Kenya’s one-day series in Zimbabwe has been cut from five matches to three for reasons as yet unclear.The itinerary for the series was only confirmed last week, and the change has been made eight days before the Kenyans are due to arrive in Harare. While ZC did not offer any explanation for the decision, sources close to the board indicate that it was for financial reasons.A spokesman for Cricket Kenya said that they had not been advised of the alteration. “As of last night, we have had no notification and it surprises me – but we will wait and see.”In a separate development, it seems likely that Zimbabwe will not be taking part in the tri-series in Bangladesh in March which also involves Kenya. Kenya will play three ODIs against Bangladesh instead.
Lions 165 for 6 (McKenzie 35) beat Dolphins 164 for 4 (H Amla 56, Pollock 44, Bacher 3-14) by 4 wickets ScorecardSome poor cricket from the Dolphins at Kingsmead in Durban allowed theLions to snatch a last-ball win and top the Pro20 Series table. Set to make 165, the Lions struggled upto a point where 54 were required in four overs. Two wayward bouncers from Lance Klusener decided the fate of the game. It was an unexpected mistake from an experienced campaigner.After scoring 80 runs in nine overs, the Dolphins threw away a golden opportunity to post a large total and finished on 164 for 4. Hashim Amla (56 off 39) and Kylie Smit (27 off 24) gave the Dolphins the platform to launch from with only Shaun Pollock taking advantage as he smashed 44 off 22 balls. Ahmed Amla managed 24 off 26 while Klusener could only score six as the Dolphins limped through the final five overs. Then David Terbrugge, Garnett Kruger and Adam Bacher pulled it back for the Lions, with Bacher finishing with the amazing figures of 3 for 14 in his four overs.Bacher and Matthew Harris gave the Lions a steady start after some tightbowling from Klusener and Russell Symcox. Neil McKenzie then struck 35 off 31 as the Lions clawed back into the game, leaving it to Marthinus Otto (30 off 14) to see the Lions home off the last ball of the innings.
Steve Bucknor has rejected criticism of his umpiring during the first Test between Australia and India at Brisbane, especially his controversial leg-before decision against Sachin Tendulkar in India’s first innings.And Bucknor, long regarded as one of the best umpires in the world, dismissed suggestions that his form was on the wane. “Just recently I was umpiring the World Cup final so I don’t understand what is happening, but at the moment I am pretty comfortable with my form,” he told the Australian Associated Press. “The criticism doesn’t bother me. Mistakes are going to be made. I know that. Everyone makes mistakes including myself.”The plethora of television replays indicated the ball which trapped Tendulkar would have sailed over the top of the stumps. But Bucknor delivered his verdict – described by the media in terms such as “a disgrace” and “an insult” – after his customary long deliberation.”I give myself enough time to think about my decision, to replay just about everything about that delivery, and by so doing I should in the end be able to make that [correct] decision,” he explained. While refusing to discuss the Tendulkar decision itself, he added, “Sometimes it doesn’t go that way … it’s not because my brain is working slowly. Once the hit is made I have a fair idea of what my decision is it’s a matter of seeing whether something else could have happened.”Although the Tendulkar dismissal was the one which grabbed the headlines, Bucknor was also criticised for other decisions during the match. He gave Australia’s batsmen the benefit of the doubt on three well-justified appeals, and also appeared to mistakenly reprieve Akash Chopra for what looked like a good bat-pad catch shortly after Tendulkar’s wicket.
McLean Park’s faster pace and superior bounce may well see the bouncer become a significant factor for the first time in the National Bank One-Day International Series when New Zealand meet England in their third match in Napier tomorrow.Conditions in the lead-up to the game have been a welcome change from the rain-affected build-ups in previous games. Both sides have had lengthy practices in the fine and warm conditions.There is also a hard and fast pitch and the new law allowing one bouncer an over could be a factor in the final result of the match.England 2-0 down in the five-game series desperately need a win tomorrow while New Zealand are equally determined to take out the series by completing their third win.At the back of the minds of players in both sides must be the historic point of the last series in New Zealand between the two in 1996/97 when England were 2-0 up and New Zealand came to Napier to tie the match here and then win the last two games to draw the series.New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said: “We’ve enjoyed the three days and in a way it has helped us refocus. If you keep going the way you are going, you sometimes make mistakes and the word complacency comes in.”For three days we have been very thorough to make sure we carry on what we have started.”When it is going well, and it is enjoyable, you don’t want it to stop. That’s certainly the feeling that we have in the camp at the moment,” he said.The pitch tomorrow will decide New Zealand’s final selection but it is most likely that fast man Ian Butler will come into the side. He has been most impressive in the nets and if he can tighten his line in the face of what is certain to be an English assault to unsettle him, he could play a big role in the game.But supplementing him is the new found respect for Andre Adams whose fast bowling was a big factor in New Zealand’s win on Saturday.For England the requirement is survival, especially after the magnitude of their 155-run loss in Wellington on Saturday.Putting that behind them has to be the key to their hopes.They certainly need Marcus Trescothick to get among the runs, and to see Nick Knight, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe give the side a high-scoring start to give them their best chance, whether batting first or chasing.Fleming said: “We obviously want to win every game we play in our home country.”Naturally we expect them to come back stronger, we would be foolish if we didn’t.”And the guys feel the same way which is often a good gauge to how much, not of motivation, but how much they are looking forward to the remainder of the series. That is the way we have been training and the way we are looking forward to the next three games,” he said.”We want to win the series and if we can win it tomorrow it will be great and then we can look forward to bigger possibilities, but the series is first and foremost.”It’s an oiling process as time ticks by where we are down the track to where we want to be for South Africa and it’s just a case of working with what we’ve got or giving guys more experience.”The Napier ground was, for a long time, New Zealand’s most successful ODI venue but some recent results have not been so impressive. The side want to rebuild their successful record at the ground.”It is quite a unique ground with its size and quite a good atmosphere. We do enjoy playing here, it’s traditionally been a pretty good wicket and with those square boundaries you get a good amount of runs as well.”We had a very proud record before the last couple of years and we’re looking forward to getting that back,” he said.
Tamil Nadu played themselves into an impregnable position at stumps on the second day of the three day South Zone (under 25) tournament for the Coca Cola Trophy at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday. In reply to Karnataka’s first innings total of 209, Tamil Nadu were 245 for five at close of play.The Tamil Nadu innings was built around an opening partnership of 139 runs between Ravindra John (83) and S Badrinath (53). Ravindra John was the dominant partner and the two scored their runs off 36.2 overs. Badrinath was first out after facing 103 balls and hitting seven fours. NC Aiyappa, who dismissed Badrinath, then had Ravindra John leg before with the total on 160. He faced 133 balls and hit six fours and a six. Then N Lokesh (28) and Hemant Kumar (45) took Tamil Nadu to within 11 runs of the Karnataka total before the former was leg before to GV Ravi, who in his next over, dismissed R Satish for two. Hemant Kumar and J Harish (18 not out) however took Tamil Nadu past the Karnataka total until off what turned out to be the last delivery of the day, Hemanth Kumar was caught by Vinod off Sudhindra Shinde. He faced 75 balls and hit six boundaries. Play was called off almost as soon as Hemanth Kumar was out because of rain. Aiyappa (2 for 59 off 16 overs) and GV Ravi (2 for 55 off 17 overs) toiled gallantly for Karnataka during the day.In the morning, Karnataka resuming at 201 for eight, were all out for the addition of only eight runs. Off spinner Dhandapani picked up another wicket to finish with six for 60 off 23.5 overs.
The battle for top spot between the two forces, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Army, continued with the former taking the lead on the third weekend of matches in the Premier League Tier B.Navy thrashed Police SC by an innings, the key features of the match being the legspin bowling of Dulanjana Mendis (he bagged nine wickets in the match) and a maiden first-class hundred from Chanaka Ruwansiri that enabled Navy to recover from a shaky 99 for 4 to 309.Army were held to a draw by Panadura, who took a first innings lead of 142.Burgher RC moved to third place with their first win of the season. They beat Saracens by seven wickets with left-arm spinner Malan Madusanka picking up nine wickets in the match.Gayan Manesha, the former Maliyadeva College left-hand batsman, narrowly missed scoring a century in each innings of a match, making 115 (his maiden first-class century) and 94 in Kurunegala Youth CC‘s drawn encounter against Sri Lanka Air Force at the Welegedara Stadium.
Patrick Vieira has been rebuilding Crystal Palace by adding a number of young players into the squad since his arrival last summer and will surely be looking to continue his progression by recruiting further this summer.
However, the Frenchman could be set for his first howler with the latest transfer news at the club.
What’s the word?
According to reports, via the Daily Mail, Crystal Palace have joined Southampton in registering their interest in Tottenham Hotspur player, Harry Winks ahead of the summer transfer window.
After struggling to prove his worth at Spurs, the 26-year-old is now reportedly set for a move away at the end of the season, and Palace could be an option for him.
The report suggests that Vieira wants to add strength and depth to his current side for the 2022/23 season, with Winks now a target for the club.
Vieira set for howler
It’s safe to say that the Eagles boss has made all the right moves when it comes to transfers so far in his short tenure at Palace, signing up the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Marc Guehi and Michael Olise in permanent deals, all of whom have become important first team players since they joined.
Signing Winks from Tottenham could easily become Vieira’s first howler in his rebuild, with the player failing to make a credible impact on Tottenham and often scathed for his performances at the London club.
Spurs insider John Wenham slammed the 26-year-old after Tottenham crashed out of the Europa Conference League earlier this season.
“Winks was so bad he was omitted from the West Ham squad completely when we can have nine substitutes.
“Winks was poor on the night and he’s been poor all season, so disappointing.
“He’s well down the pecking order. The fact he felt the need to go to the press is terrible.”
According to SofaScore, the £91k-per-week midfielder has failed to impress at Spurs with his performance statistics highlighting his mediocrity in his 14 Premier League appearances. He has made two errors leading to shots from the opposition, is only successful in 50% of his dribble attempts and aerial duels and is dribbled past 0.9 times on average per game.
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As a result, there is definitely time to look into better options for Crystal Palace going forward and Winks should not be made a priority signing for Vieira given his lack of impact on the Spurs team.
If the club wants to progress into consistent top half finishes in the Premier League they should be looking for more effective players who could become available in the summer.
In other news: Parish must finally axe “valuable” £80k-p/w CPFC dud, he doesn’t fit Vieira’s vision
With one day of the league matches left, we finally know the teams that will be relegated: Bengal, for the first time since the introduction of the relegation system, and Himachal Pradesh, who were promoted last year.Delhi, Saurashtra and Uttar Pradesh seem likely to join Baroda in the semi-finals, though things may yet turn out otherwise. Saurashtra have frustrated Mumbai long enough to almost ensure the one point they need to make it to the semi-finals. Delhi are 95 short of an outright win, which will take them clear of Mumbai who can at best draw against Saurashtra. UP need eight Hyderabad wickets on the final day to end as Group B leaders. If they can get only three points from the match, they will be tied with Andhra at 17 points, but with a better quotient. ScorecardDelhi shot out Tamil Nadu for 174 to lay the foundation of what should be an easy win to seal a semi-final place and possibly also take them to the top of Group A. Chetanya Nanda took his third five-wicket haul to hasten the end for Tamil Nadu after Pradeep Sangwan and Rajat Bhatia had removed the openers. It was a quick half-century from No. 8 R Ramkumar that took Tamil Nadu beyond 100 as Ramkumar and H Gopinath, from 61 for 6, added 82 for the seventh wicket.Delhi were 10 for 0 at stumps, chasing 105. Scorecard Mohammad Kaif’s unbeaten century and three other half-centuries helped Uttar Pradesh set Hyderabad an improbable target and UP took two wickets before stumps, leaving Hyderabad needing another 383 on the final day. UP started the day at 28 for 0 and the opening stand between the Srivastavas – Tanmay and Rohit Prakash – continued for another 72 runs. After both of them got out for half-centuries, Kaif and Ravikant Shukla took over, scoring at a strike-rate of over 60 to enable UP declare 16 overs before stumps. This was Kaif’s second century of the season, making him UP’s leading run-getter so far.When Hyderabad came out to bat, Praveen Kumar struck in the third over with Abhinav Kumar’s wicket and in the last over Praveen Gupta accounted for Anoop Pai. Scorecard With their fourth loss in six matches which yielded only eight points, Bengal have been relegated to the Plate League for the 2008-09 season. Andhra’s P Vijay Kumar and Y Gnaneshwara Rao took five wickets each to ensure a sixth successive batting failure for Bengal. Chasing 214 for a win that would have given them some chance of avoiding relegation, Bengal were shot out for 112, captain Laxmi Shukla being the top scorer with 39. Manoj Tiwary was the only other batsman to reach double figures; he scored 35.Resuming the day at 147 for 6, with a lead of 170, Andhra added 43 more, thanks to MSK Prasad who scored 54. Ranadeb Bose finished with 7 for 74. ScorecardRajasthan turned the tables on Himachal Pradesh as they bowled them out for 122 in the second innings, knocked off the 185-run target easily, and won the relegation face-off even after having conceded a 62-run first-innings lead. Sumit Mathur was the chief destructor for Rajasthan as he took 7 for 49 to wreck the Himachal innings after they were 56 for 0 at one stage. With a healthy opening stand, and a first-innings lead already in the bag, Himachal looked on their way to avoid relegation, but they lost seven wickets for 31 runs to be reduced to 87 for 7 in a characteristic collapse. The last three wickets showed some resistance, but could take them to 122 only.Rajasthan then batted with intent, and riding on Vineet Saxena’s unbeaten century and Rajesh Bishnoi’s unbeaten 63, they chased the target down in 41.5 overs.Maharashtra 276 and 18 for 3 (Vinay Kumar 3-3) need another 251 runs to avoid an innings defeat against Karnataka 545 for 9 dec Chipli 135*, Goud 122) Scorecard After Bharat Chipli and Yere Goud piled the runs on for Karnataka, R Vinay Kumar struck with a hat-trick to set up a depressing end to the season for Maharashtra after they led the Group A halfway into the Ranji Trophy. At the end of the third day, Maharashtra required 251 runs to make Karnataka bat again, with seven wickets in hand.Vinay Kumar’s hat-trick was the fourth in the last three rounds of Ranji Trophy and second against Maharashtra after Delhi medium-pacer Parvinder Awana had demolished Maharashtra with one in the fifth round.Earlier Chipli and Goud feasted on an inexperienced attack to score centuries and take the lead to 269 before they declared with seven overs to go in the day. Goud scored 122, while Chipli stayed unbeaten on 135. Thilak Naidu chipped in with a a half-century. Scorecard A solid batting display by Amol Muzumdar and Ajinkya Rahane might not be enough to take them to the semi-finals as Mumbai ended the day 297 behind Saurashtra’s 484, with eight wickets in hand. Even if they manage to take a first-innings lead, they will have to hope Delhi don’t beat Tamil Nadu outright, which seems highly likely.To begin the day, Mumbai were frustrated by Shitanshu Kotak furthermore, as they took 11.2 overs to take the last Saurashtra wicket, No. 11 Sandip Maniar who partnered Kotak for 73 mintues out of his 796-minute stay at the wicket.Ajinkya Rahane and Amol Muzumdar scored unbeaten eighties, but with a run-rate of 2.46 per over to score 187 for 2 they were always operating against the clock. ScorecardBaroda took the last seven Orissa wickets for 81 runs, but could not prevent them from taking a first-innings lead. Three points from this game would have ensure Baroda the top position in Group B. In the second innings, Baroda had scored 120 for 3 by stumps, sending the game down the draw path unless there is a dramatic collapse on the final day.Rajesh Pawar took five of the Orissa wickets to fall today to finish his 10th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
England Under-19s have lost their captain for their tour of Malaysia which gets underway in three weeks. Rory Hamilton-Brown has failed to recover sufficiently from a shoulder operation in November.Greg Wood, the Yorkshire wicketkeeper, will replace him as captain. He has two Tests and seven one-dayers for the under-19s under his belt. The tour comprises two triangular one-day tournaments, the first between England, the hosts Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, and the second between England, Malaysia and India U19.Adam Lyth has been called in to bolster the squad.Surrey’s Hamilton-Brown, meanwhile, will continue to recuperate in Loughborough and train with the England A squad ahead of their tour of India. “I am obviously very disappointed to miss out,” he said. His next aim will now be to get fit for the county season in April.