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It appears that other Zimbabwe cricketers might be about to follow Tatenda Taibu’s lead and quit the national team and are due to meet on Monday to discuss following his lead.A fortnight ago 74 players signed a petition demanding the resignation of Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman, and Ozias Bvute, the MD. The board has done little since then, and when Taibu met with Chingoka earlier this week, it became clear to him that the board was not planning to address those demands in the near future.Some of the national side met with Clive Field, the players’ representative, yesterday. “We discussed at some length the Taibu development and where it left them all personally,” he said. “We decided they should go away for the weekend, consider their own feelings and talk to their families. We won’t be making a collective decision on Monday. That wouldn’t be relevant. Each man must make his own stay-or-go decision. There is a lot of concern about their own careers and also the team situation.”Taibu was a quality batsman and wicketkeeper and undoubtedly inspirational as captain. His departure is a big setback for the others. He will leave a considerable void. In addition, many of the other national players have no other job and they are worried.”Zimbabwe has lost a stream of their best players since the 2003 World Cup. Andy Flower and Henry Olonga both quit after the tournament, Sean Ervine, Grant Flower and Ray Price are all now playing in England, and in the last three months Craig Wishart, Stuart Carlisle and Heath Streak have turned their backs on the side.It is thought that some of those, particularly Streak and Taibu, would be prepared to return to the national colours, other commitments permitting, were the domestic mess to be sorted.A dossier compiled by the provincial chairmen detailing a large number of allegations against the board is understood to have been delivered to the ICC, although Cricinfo is still waiting for a response to a query as to whether this will alter the ICC’s approach to the growing crisis.Some board officials have been questioned by representatives of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe over allegations that the country’s foreign exchange rules have been broken. Those investigations are said to be ongoing.

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Herschelle Gibbs managed just 4 in his comeback game© Getty Images

Western Province-Boland claimed victory in the final match in the preminary stages of Standard Bank Cup after winning the toss and batting against the Titans at Newlands. But it wasn’t enough for them to progess any further in the competition.Herschelle Gibbs, who had been recalled into the national team and hadn’t played any competitive cricket since early November due to a finger injury, lasted just five balls before he was trapped leg-before for 4. Andrew Puttick’s woeful season continued when he was caught in the slips for 16. Derrin Bassage and JP Duminy then put on an 82-run partnership with Bassage falling two short of back-to-back fifties. Duminy and Ashwell Prince continued the recovery with a 101-run partnership for Western Province Boland to end on 219 for 3 with Duminy scoring 85 and Prince 55.The Titans’ chase never got the impetus that it needed, with both openers out inside the first 10 overs. Martin van Jaarsveld struggled to 20 before Daryll Cullinan and Gerald Dros put on 86 for the fourth wicket. Cullinan was run out for 47, three balls after Alviro Petersen came out as a runner for him, and Dros fell for 41 off the very next ball flashing at a one outside the off. Albie Morkel smashed a six before top-edging to third man for 8.With the game well out of reach, Kruger van Wyk (34 not out) and Alfonso Thomas (27 not out) decided to block out the final overs, taking the Titans to 205 for 6 and a second spot in the table. Despite the win, Western Province finished at the bottom of the pile at the end of the preliminary stages of the Standard Bank Cup.The semi-finals, which will take place in February, are both day-night games. Eagles and Lions play each at Bloemfontein on the 17 Febrauary, and two days later Titans take Dolphins at Centurion. The final will be played at the homeground of whichever finalist finished with the most points in the preliminary stages.Franchises now have a Christmas break before the recess before SuperSport Series, the four-day competition, resumes on January 6.

Hansie Cronje: new revelations

The death of Hansie Cronje, South Africa’s disgraced former captain who was killed in a plane crash in the Western Cape in June 2002, may have been no accident, according to a report in the latest edition of Observer Sport Monthly. The report alleges that Cronje, who had been banned for life from cricket for his part in the match-fixing scandal, may have been murdered to ensure that the full extent of the corruption never reached the light of day.Cronje, who had been forging a new career as a businessman, was killed along with two pilots when his chartered plane crashed in mountains near his estate in George, a small town on South Africa’s Garden Route. It later transpired that Cronje had missed an earlier flight and had arranged a lift in a cargo plane, but at the time no suspicious circumstances were reported. Given that Cronje was a devout Christian, it struck many as being the ultimate act of divine retribution.But Gavin Branson, the chief executive of AirQuarius, the owners of the crashed plane, is one of many people who remains troubled by the circumstances. “There are a lot of unknowns about what happened,” Branson is reported as saying. “I think it will be a long time before the [Civil Aviation Authority] report comes out. I have a million questions that I haven’t even started asking yet. We’d been flying that route daily and in far worse weather without experiencing even a hint of trouble.”The investigation is destined to take a long time, especially as there are unconfirmed rumours that the ground landing system at George Airport had been tampered with. “I understand that police have found evidence of sabotage,” one investigator is reported as saying. “But they’re reluctant to go public on this. The full cost of a follow-up investigation would be too great in a country that is already riven by crime. It suits the police to have a closed case.””A lot of people wanted Cronje dead,” adds the source. “They feared that he would one day tell the full truth, and then many more would be implicated. I know people who have looked closely into what happened but who were warned off by threatening phone calls. They’re scared of getting a bullet in the head.”Cronje, who first stood in as South Africa’s captain at the age of 24, finished his career with a record of 27 victories in 53 Tests, making him South Africa’s most successful captain in Test history. He scored 3,714 runs at an average of 36.4, including six centuries, and to this day remains revered by many of his former team-mates, despite his spectacular fall from grace.At the King Commission in 2000-01, which investigated the extent to which match-fixing had permeated the game, Cronje confessed to what he called “an unfortunate love of money”. He claimed to have accepted at least $130,000 from illegal bookmakers, although recent revelations suggest that he possessed as many as 72 bank accounts in the Cayman Islands. His death, one way or another, has ensured that the full story may never be told.Click here to read the full Observer Sport Monthly article

Auckland has not been shy in boosting its promising youth players straight into the hurly-burly of the State championship which starts next Monday.Four young players, Nick Horsley, Sam Whiteman and Reece Young who attended the New Zealand Cricket Academy this year, and New Zealand Cricket’s young player to Lord’s this year Rob Nicol, have been named in the side which will field seven players with international experience.Not considered for selection were CLEAR Black Caps in Australia Adam Parore, Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent, and the injured Dion Nash.State Auckland’s opening game in the State championship is against the State Central Districts side on Eden Park’s Outer Oval starting on Monday.The squad is: Andre Adams (Grafton United), Aaron Barnes (Cornwall), Tama Canning (Suburbs New Lynn), Chris Drum (Birkenhead), Mark Haslam (East Coast Bays), Matt Horne (Grafton United), Nick Horsley (Parnell), Llorne Howell (East Coast Bays), Tim McIntosh (Parnell), Kyle Mills (Howick Pakuranga), Richard Morgan (Cornwall), Rob Nicol (Cornwall), Richard Pudney (Grafton United), Brooke Walker (captain – Howick Pakuranga), Sam Whiteman (Howick Pakuranga), Reece Young (Suburbs New Lynn).The Auckland A squad to contest the Provincial ‘A’ Team Competition from December 2001 to January 2002 is: Gene Andrews (North Shore), Scott Barnes (Howick Pakuranga), Hamish Barton (Parnell), Terry Crabb (Birkenhead), Guy Coleman (Grafton United), Michael Hendry (East Coast Bays), Nick Jury (Grafton United), Brad Nielsen (Howick Pakuranga), Stephen Pearson (Waitakere), Akshay Reddy (Parnell), Gareth Shaw (Papatoetoe), Tane Topia (Grafton United).

Tottenham will be ‘inundated’ with offers for Joe Rodon if they choose to sell him this summer, according to Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge.

The Lowdown: No future under Conte?

The 24-year-old has barely had a look-in under Antonio Conte and was duly linked with a move away from the club in January.

The centre-back arrived at Spurs in 2020 following an £11m agreement with boyhood club Swansea, but his career in the Premier League has not started the way he would have wanted. The 6 foot 4 Welshman has made just 13 appearances in the Premier League and played a mere 78 minutes of top-flight football this season.

Rodon has featured on three occasions for Conte, with two of these appearances coming in the FA Cup, from which they were eliminated by Middlesbrough last week.

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The Latest: Bridge’s claim on Rodon…

Bridge has claimed that Tottenham would not be short of buyers if they decide to sell the Wales international in the summer.

Speaking to GiveMeSport, the journalist said of Rodon: “He could be one of those players who never catches a break at Tottenham and goes on somewhere and does really well. But if Tottenham decide to say, look, it’s not going to happen, they’ll be inundated with offers this summer.”

The Verdict: He needs the move

Whilst Tottenham are in no means blessed with a wide array of centre-back options, Conte has seemingly passed on selecting the 24-year-old at every given opportunity.

Therefore, he clearly has a case for possibly feeling aggrieved over a lack of playing time; especially since the Italian has opted to play a natural left-back in Ben Davies as a makeshift centre-half instead of trusting in the ex-Swansea defender.

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If Rodon wants to continue playing at the top level, he may need to move elsewhere in pursuit of first-team action, and it doesn’t appear that Conte would stand in his way if the 24-year-old were to push for an exit from N17.

With the Welshman having drawn glowing comparisons with three-time Premier League winner John Stones in the past, he could indeed be the subject of much interest if Spurs are willing to offload him, as Bridge has suggested.

In other news: Carlton Palmer makes worrying claim about these two big personalities at Spurs

Craig Kieswetter, Somerset’s wicketkeeper-bataman has pledged his future to England despite appearing for his native South Africa Under-19 at the World Cup last year. Kieswetter, whose mother is Scottish, holds a British passport and will qualify for England through living there for four years.The talented player, who made his senior debut this summer, is on part of the National Academy skills set, which he will attend this winter.Kieswetter started the 2007 season playing for Somerset 2nd XI, but after some impressive early form, soon forced his way into the senior side and helped them to promotion to the Championship top flight.”I want to make it in first class cricket and eventually go on and play for England,” he told the . “I have to say that I was a bit surprised to get invited [to the Academy] after just one season in the game over here.”I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity and thrilled to think I have been noticed.”

Justin Langer says he is in some of the best form of his career © Getty Images

Justin Langer has scoffed at suggestions the Australia team is too old to pose a threat to England during the Ashes. Ian Botham and Dennis Lillee have both argued that the home side’s starting 11 for the first Test, which should include at least six players aged 35 or over, could be Australia’s undoing.Langer, who turns 36 next week and is the oldest of Australia’s batsmen, was one of the players lampooned by England’s newspaper as part of an Australian “Dad’s Army” photo. He said such criticisms worried him less now than in the past. “I’m better at handling it now than I was six or seven years ago,” Langer told .”I understand how it all works with the media so I don’t get too caught up in it. I say to people who reckon I’m past my best, in my last few first-class matches I’ve made my highest first-class score [342 for Somerset] and made 188 not out [against Victoria].”Langer, who topped Australia’s batting averages in the 2005 Ashes series, was struck on the helmet by Makhaya Ntini in the South Africa series earlier this year and then missed Australia’s tour of Bangladesh. “Last year was the toughest year I had for four or five years because of injuries, which I’ve never had before,” Langer said.Despite debate about the age of Australia’s team for the opening Ashes Test on November 23, Ricky Ponting said it was unlikely the in-form Phil Jaques, who is 27, would play. “I wouldn’t have thought so, no,” Ponting told the . “[Phil’s] doing everything he can, but Justin’s the incumbent and he’s been doing such a great job for Australia over such a long time, I think that would be unrealistic.” The Australia team for the first Test will be announced on Thursday.

Brad Hogg tore cartilage in his left knee at training © Getty Images

Australia suffered a double injury blow today with Shaun Tait and Brad Hogg ruled out of the Super Series. Tait is expected to miss at least three months with a right-shoulder problem while Hogg suffered torn left-knee cartilage at training yesterday.Stuart Clark, the New South Wales bowler who was twice on standby during the Ashes series, will step in for Tait during the one-day series and Cameron White, the Victoria legspinner, replaces Hogg. Tait experienced pain while bowling for his Adelaide club side Sturt on Saturday and again during training this morning.A Cricket Australia spokesman said diagnostic scans and a review by the specialist Greg Hoy showed Tait had torn cartilage and he was expected to undergo surgery later in the week. “Cricket Australia’s medical staff anticipate that he will be sidelined for a minimum of three months,” the spokesman said.The injury is a severe blow for Tait after he performed solidly in two Tests during the Ashes series and was in line for a limited-overs debut at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne this week. He will have to recover ahead of schedule to play a Test this summer and will probably look to the South Africa tour in March for an international recall.Hogg, who is expected to miss between three and six weeks, was also disappointed to pull out of the three ODIs and will have surgery tomorrow. “I will get back to Perth tonight and get straight on the operating table tomorrow lunch-time,” Hogg told at the official tournament launch today. “It’s disappointing, but that’s the way it goes. I may never have an opportunity like this again, to be a part of such a prestigious event.”Errol Alcott, the Australia physiotherapist, said Hogg was in pain after a training session on Sunday. “MRI scans taken earlier today have revealed the cartilage tear,” he said, “but we are confident that with the correct surgery he will make a full recovery.”Ricky Ponting said White was likely to come into the team for the first of the three matches on Wednesday. “There’s a good opportunity for an up-and-coming legspinner to get a chance to play some cricket for Australia,” he said. “With a negative there always comes a positive, so that’s the positive side to it.”White, 22, knows the Australian set-up after touring India in 2004, and he picked up the wickets of Shahid Afridi and Chris Gayle in the World XI’s warm-up against Victoria on Sunday. He has played 39 first-class games for Victoria, who he has captained since 2003-04, and 38 domestic limited-overs matches.

Bob Merriman: his role in the review under fire© Getty Images

One of Kenya’s most influential organisations, the Coast Cricket Association (CCA), has called on the International Cricket Council to intervene to halt the constitutional review currently being undertaken by the Kenyan Cricket Association.The review was announced by the KCA in October, and was backed by the ICC, who appointed Bob Merriman, the chairman of Cricket Australia, to oversee the process. But opponents of the board – and there are many – argued from the start that it was little more than a cosmetic exercise aimed at maintaining the current management’s control.In a letter to the ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, Samir Inamdar, the CCA’s influential chairman, wrote: “Having regard that over 90% of cricket is played in Nairobi and Mombasa, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that the KCA national executive have, by using the name of the ICC, embarked on an exercise in subterfuge by hand-picking its own appointees simply to serve their own narrow personal interest without regard to the views and wishes of any of the other stakeholders in Kenya cricket, and such an exercise is clearly doomed to fail.” He concluded that the review would deepen hostility between the board and the bulk of stakeholders.And Inamdar was unhappy that the KCA set up the review and appointed members without any reference to stakeholders. “The composition of this committee appears also to have changed,” he told Wisden Cricinfo, “again without any notification.”He continued: “No account appears to have been taken either by the ICC or KCA of the fact that the existing KCA constitution is under scrutiny by the courts, and that at the heart of the dispute between the KCA and its provinces is the question of democracy, transparency and accountability … all of which are underlying problems which need to be addressed first before launching into a review of this kind.”Inamdar said that a properly constituted review was needed, but not one designed simply to authenticate the KCA’s existing structure. The KCA, he added, had recently told him that it would be holding meetings in Mombasa without asking for the input of the CCA, which runs the region. Nor had the views of the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association, Kenya’s largest single stakeholder, been sought.The KCA is embroiled in an ongoing court case with the CCA over its constitution. Sources explained that the announcement of the review was made without any reference to them, and that the general consensus was that it had been instigated for two reasons: one was to bypass the legal process, and the other was to appease the ICC, which had privately been understood to have grown weary with the constant in-fighting.The main thrust of the opponents’ objections stemmed from one simple fact. Given that the constitution being used by the KCA was subject to legal review and is, it is argued, illegal, the board had no right to take such a major review until that fundamental point had been resolved.They were also deeply unhappy that Merriman’s involvement was likely to give the process authenticity. Apart from a brief visit to Nairobi, where he was landed by the KCA with a press conference he was not expecting, Merriman’s role was more of an overseer than a hands-on representative.Inamdar said that Merriman scored an own goal when, in that conference, he “welcomed the formation of this ‘independent’ body and asked everyone to take careful heed of what happened in Zimbabwe”. Said Inamdar: “Many of us here fail to see the connection between our constitutional review and the findings of the ICC’s commission of inquiry into the allegations of racism in Zimbabwe cricket. Having made these observations to the local press, Merriman flew out of Nairobi less than 24 hours after his arrival. This committee includes his name as a member. Presumably he will not participate in any active sense, which makes a nonsense of the ICC’s stated role in overseeing this review for the betterment of Kenyan cricket.”Speed is understood to have replied to the letter, and has promised to investigate the claims.

Stumps Day Three
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Steve Waugh: the first man to score 150 against all Test opposition

All three Australian batsmen who took guard at Cairns’ Bundaberg Rum Stadium today walked off with milestones that became millstones around Bangladesh’s neck as the tourists chased 261 to merely avoid an innings defeat.That chase started well enough, and Bangladesh at one stage were 87 for 1. But then one of the collapses that have so marred their time in Test cricket occurred, and Bangladesh lost three wickets for three runs. Hannan Sarkar scored another half-century to go with his 76 in the first innings, while Habibul Bashar made 25, those two knocks just about summing up all that was positive in the Bangladesh innings.It was, not surprisingly given their expected dominance of the series, the Australians who hammered their way into the record books. Steve Waugh, Darren Lehmann and Martin Love – Australia’s latest Test centurion – enjoyed their share of the action, as well as the spoils. Waugh, despite his longevity in the game, still finds records to challenge, and today he became the first batsman to register a score of 150 or more against all Test nations.Waugh’s unbeaten 156 – his 14th 150 – places him closer to the 18 scored by Don Bradman. Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar are behind him on 12, and while Gary Sobers and Brian Lara have 11, Javed Miandad, Len Hutton and Walter Hammond have 10. Waugh also moved closer to the highest run-scorer in Tests, Allan Border, and is now only 653 runs behind him.Lehmann came out in attacking vein from the outset and soon surpassed his previous highest score of 160, made against the West Indies earlier this year. He took four successive fours off Anwar Hossain Monir early in the day but, on 177, he spooned an easy catch in the direction of Alok Kapali and was on his way after he and Waugh had added 250 for the fourth wicket.Love then joined Waugh and got off the dreaded nought, building a fine innings as he and Waugh took full toll of a tiring Bangladesh attack. Given his first-ball duck in the first Test in Darwin, there was plenty of incentive for Love to do well, and he thrived on the opportunity. Australia went to lunch at 455 for 4, with Waugh having scored his 32nd Test century and his second in two innings in this series. Love was into his stride in the second session, advancing from his lunch score of 36 to get his second Test 50 off 96 balls and carrying on to his maiden Test century in 152 balls.Waugh was unbeaten on 156 and, as soon as Love reached three figures, he declared the innings closed. Bangladesh’s bowlers faced a tough time of it in the field, with Sanwar Hossain bearing most of the brunt of the Australian assault, taking 2 for 128 from his 30 overs.Bangladesh lost Javed Omar, trapped lbw by Jason Gillespie, for eight when 12 runs were on the board. But Sarkar and Bashar then applied some pressure of their own, scoring at a good clip to add 75. Sarkar, however, attempted to blast a ball from Stuart MacGill over square leg and only found that Matthew Hayden was able to run back and take the catch, sparking off a collapse Bangladesh could ill afford.Four balls later, Mohammad Ashraful became the second Bangladeshi player to secure a pair in the series at MacGill’s hand as he was hit leg-before. Then Brett Lee snapped up Bashar, an intended pull easily pouched at square leg, for 25.It was a miserable end to a demanding day for the tourists, who must now sleep on the fact that yet another loss looms when the Australian attack closes in for the kill tomorrow.Click here for the Day Two bulletin