Category Uncategorized

The sun finally shone in Kandy, but that did not brighten the mood of theWestIndian players, who suffered yet another batting collapse; a capitulationthat squashed any faint hopes of squaring this Janashkathi National Testseries and leaves them with a desperate fight for survival tomorrow.This morning a draw appeared a near certainty after two rain-ruined days,but Sri Lanka dominated the day to such extent that they now have a goodchance to finish off the Kandy jinx.Sri Lanka bowled out West Indies for 191 and then added 128 for one in theirsecond innings to finish the day with a healthy 225 run lead on a pitch thatis offering both the pace bowlers and spinners encouragement.With Brian Lara waiting in the wings, setting totals is a dangerous businessand no easy targets will be offered tomorrow. Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmoresaid afterwards that they were looking at 300-odd in 80 overs (105 overs arescheduled tomorrow) depending on how quickly they are able to score.In normal circumstances, the West Indies would be expected to salvage adraw. But so meekly did the batsmen play today that a further calamitousperformance cannot be ruled out.After three innings so far in the tour, there is the widespread belief thatthe West Indies fifth wicket signals the eminent innings close. In Galle thelast five wickets yielded just 25 and 13 runs respectively. Here, theyrealised 24 runs.One dare not wonder their plight had Brian Lara not been batting somewherenear his regal best. He followed scores of 178 and 44 in Galle with abrilliant 74 before he was last man out today.West Indies, starting the fourth day on 39 for one, lost regular wicketsthroughout their 66.5 over innings. The early damage was inflicted byMuttiah Muralitharan, who took three wickets in the morning and four in all,but the most eye-catching performance came from Chaminda Vaas.Vaas, normally the team’s journeyman, has been working hard during the last12 months to try to master the art of reverse swing. Today he showed he hadgone a long way towards learning that devastating skill, as the old ballbent all over the place in a final six over burst that yielded four wickets(6-3-12-4).He was pulled into the attack by acting captain Marvan Atapattu after afrustrating 41 stand between Lara and Ridley Jacobs, who had swept his wayto 24. Second ball, though, he dragged the ball onto his stumps.Mervyn Dillon, back in good health after his mystery chest injury, thenplayed and missed four times before edging a low catch to Kumar Sangakkarabehind the stumps.Vaas’s next ball veered into Dinanath Ramnarine’s pads at the last momentand umpire John Hampshire upheld the appeal. Pedro Collins averted ahat-trick but was also trapped lbw for a 21-minute duck.Vaas should also have been awarded the wicket of Lara, with another sharpinswinger, but it did not prove expensive. Lara left high and dry by hiscolleagues, tried to farm the strike, but was eventually trapped lbw byMuralitharan.Earlier in the day, Ramnaresh Sarwan started the Caribbean procession inMuralitharan’s second over of the morning, as he lost his balance and wasbowled through the gate for 17.Chris Gayle had looked in prime form last night, hitting the ball withtremendous power. This morning he started more cautiously, but havingfinally opened his boundary count with two rollicking drives off Vaas andthen Muralitharan, he flailed wildly at an inswinger from Nuwan Zoysa andlost his middle stump.Three wickets down for 72, the onus once again fell up captain Carl Hooperand Brian Lara. They battled hard in the opening stages, as both Zoysa andMuralitharan bowled good spells, but runs started to flow freely whenleft-arm spinner Niroshan Banadaratillake was brought on to bowl.Muralitharan was reintroduced from the opposite end and he finally won abattle of pad play with Hooper, who was caught stranded on his crease andadjudged lbw by umpire Gamini Silva.Marlon Samuels has looked totally at sea against Muralitharan and he quicklyedged a catch behind for a duck.In a long evening session Sri Lanka’s openers started the second inningscautiously, mindful of collapses in previous situations in Kandy.Jayasuriya went onto score 53, his first half-century of the tour, before hedrove straight into the covers. Marvan Atapattu batted out the day and was58 at the close.

Shoaib Malik, whose unbeaten 96 had kept Pakistan on course during a severely tense chase of 277 in Harare, admitted he was disappointed by the way the match ended after the umpires took the players off for bad light. At the time, Pakistan needed another 21 runs to win in two overs with two wickets in hand. But with play being curtailed, Duckworth-Lewis calculations indicated the visitors were short by five runs.”The way we were batting then, I think the game was in our favour,” Malik said. “Obviously there are certain ICC rules and we have to follow them. I think overall it was a great game, but at the end of the day it’s a little bit disappointing the way it ended. But being a professional cricketer and representing your country, you have to follow certain rules and regulations.”Malik batted for almost 42 overs and helped Pakistan recover from a precarious 76 for 6. He added 111 runs for the seventh wicket with Aamer Yamin, who struck a maiden ODI fifty, and an unbeaten 63 for the ninth wicket with Yasir Shah.”I had one thing in my mind,” Malik said. “If we play the full 50 overs, then we might have a chance. The minute that Aamer Yamin came in he gave me that hope, ‘okay I’m here and I can hit boundaries’. So he started hitting boundaries and I started taking singles. And it was just one thing that I always had in my mind during the game: that I have to play until the 50th over. And whichever way the game goes, either to Zimbabwe or us, I still have to play the fifty overs.”Yamin departed with 90 still needed from 61 balls and Pakistan were left with three wickets in hand. But Malik insisted he never felt the game had slipped away. “I never thought of it that way. The way [Yamin] batted, he gave us hope. Even when Yasir Shah came in, the way he was batting I think the pressure was on the Zimbabwe team. It’s like a team thing. Obviously we lost, but at the end of the day we have achieved a lot from this game.”Earlier in the day, three of Pakistan’s top-four batsmen had fallen playing aggressive strokes. But Malik said an attacking approach had been part of the visitors’ gameplan. “The way cricket is going I think you have to play aggressive cricket, and that’s what we even talked about in our meeting before this game. Sometimes you lose wickets, sometimes you score runs. It’s part of the game.”Malik also gave credit to the Zimbabweans for the way they played, singling Elton Chigumbura out for particular praise. “We started off well bowling as a unit, but obviously we must also give credit to the Zimbabwean batsmen, especially [Chamu] Chibhabha and Chigumbura. Especially Chigumbura and the way he batted at the end. There are areas of improvement for us, which we’ll look at and come back hard.”

Journalist Liam Keen has revealed a Wolves concern over the availability of Ruben Neves, as he is not fully fit and at risk of suspension amid their relegation fight.

What's going on with Neves and Wolves?

The Portugal international has been a standout player for Julen Lopetegui's side this season, scoring five times as Wolves aim to surivive the drop.

However, they could lose their captain ahead of a crucial few weeks as he struggles with a calf knock that is being carefully managed. He has been withdrawn in each of his side's last two games, having played the full 90 minutes in every previous league start this season.

He has also accumulated nine yellow cards this season, and one more will see him pick up a two-match suspension.

Speaking on the Express and Star podcast, Keen bemoaned the situation, which means Wolves either have to gamble on the availability of their talisman or purposefully rest him in crucial matches.

He said: "I think Neves is difficult. I think they probably are trying to save him, but you can't do that for the next four games, you can't take him off every single game.

"At the same time, Lopetegui has said that he was at the limits with a calf injury and they've been managing it, so it's a difficult one.

"If they are trying to save him for games, I don't think you can do that, I think you have to just play him and hope that he gets through.

"Of course, he did it last season where he got through eight games without a booking, so it's something he's capable of doing, albeit it's difficult."

Who could Wolves play in his absence?

Rio Ferdinand once referred to Neves as "fantastic", and he will be difficult to replace if he picks up an injury or a suspension.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The £50k-per-week captain has missed just one game this season, which was the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea, and Wolves will be eager to avoid a similar disaster should they have to play without him.

One option could be to bring Matheus Nunes back into the starting XI. The summer signing has been benched for the last two games, and could return having been made available after the club won their appeal against a three-match ban for the midfielder.

Joao Moutinho and Joao Gomes could come in alongside Nunes to fill the three-man midfield, and this could be a taste of what is to come next season. With one year left on his deal, Neves looks likely to depart the club as it stands, and Lopetegui could trial his internal solutions in his absence now before turning to the transfer market.

Cricket Kenya is set to announce the launch of a national elite league with matches starting this November.In the aftermath of Kenya’s performances at the ICC World Twenty20 there was widespread media criticism of the fact that there was no such competition, but it emerges that the board’s plans were already at an advanced stage.The proposals are for a four-side zonal league in which teams will play in three formats – three-day, one-day and Twenty20. The zonal sides will be geographically based, with it appearing likely that two will come from Nairobi, one from the Coast and one from the other regions.Players in the centrally-contracted national squad will be divided between the four sides to ensure there is balance between the teams and to ensure that the standard of all matches is as high as possible. In practice, that will probably mean that each team has seven local players supplemented with four members of the national side.”This will give ample opportunity for people to play for the zones who will be able to show us what they can do in each type of format,” Samir Inamdar, CK’s chairman, told Cricinfo. “The selectors will then be able to distinguish between players who are good at one format but not at another, rather than have the same squad throughout.”Inamdar admitted that getting sides out for three-day matches could pose the biggest problem. Most non-contracted players are unavailable in the week, and five players who were invited to join the national squad as they prepared for the ICC World Twenty20 all declined because of work commitments. To work round this Inamdar said that three-day matches might be played over long weekends or scheduled to coincide with public holidays.CK is seeking corporate sponsors for each region to help offset travel costs, and also an overall tournament sponsor. It is likely to receive a US$20,000 grant from the Africa Cricket Association to help cover costs.

England expects: the squad prepares to leave for Australia © Getty Images

At 9.30pm tonight, England’s cricketers depart from Heathrow Airport to embark on the biggest challenge of their sporting lives – the Ashes series in Australia. Already, their ignominious exit from the Champions Trophy has been consigned to the dustbin of history, as Andrew Flintoff and his squad prepare to focus on the five Test matches that could make or break their reputations.”It’s going to be incredible,” Flintoff told The Sun on the eve of his side’s departure. “Our win last summer was the first time I’d experienced The Ashes and it was an amazing, emotional roller-coaster. But this series it is likely to be even bigger and tougher because we’re in Australia. It’s a fantastic prospect for everyone on the trip.”Flintoff was England’s leviathan in last summer’s epic triumph, scoring 402 runs and taking 24 wickets to secure the narrowest of 2-1 victories. He is now the captain of the side as well, taking over where Michael Vaughan left off, and is relishing the challenge of leading the team out at Brisbane on the morning of November 23, a date that has been etched on his brain for months.”I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about what it will be like leading out England in those matches. There’ll be all the attention, all the spotlight, all the rivalry and all the history. Of course I’ve thought about it — and it gives me a tingle. I’m chomping at the bit to get started.”It has been a race against time to get Flintoff fit for this tour, after his 2006 season was disrupted by a long-standing ankle problem that required further surgery. But he had a decent work-out during England’s Champions Trophy campaign, spending some time out in the middle in the final match against West Indies and bowling five decent, if rusty, overs to boot.Even so, he will remember only too well his traumatic experience on the last Ashes tour in 2002-03, when he arrived unfit after undergoing a hernia operation, and was forced to fly home without playing a single Test. “It was a pretty miserable time for me,” he conceded. “But I’m fortunate to have another chance and I’m going to relish that rather than thinking what might have been.”I’m not one for making big statements or predictions but we’re going down there in a confident frame of mind. We’ll have to play well to succeed, probably even better than we did in 2005. But we have lads who can perform at the highest level. I believe we have a good chance.”England arrive in Sydney, via Hong Kong, on Sunday afternoon, where they will enter into a maelstrom of publicity as the Australian public gear themselves up for a massive contest. “I don’t know if the series can be as good as the one last year,” said Flintoff, “but one thing I know is, it will be very tough and competitive.”England open their tour with a one-day game against an Australian Prime Minister’s XI at Canberra on 10 November, followed by three-day games against New South Wales and South Australia.

England’s tour opener at Rawalpindi may be switched to Lahore © Getty Images

The opening match of England’s forthcoming tour to Pakistan could be switched from Rawalpindi to Lahore, following the devastating earthquake that struck in the north of the country on Saturday.In the aftermath of the disaster, which has so far claimed upwards of 30,000 lives, the neighbouring city of Islamabad has been made a centre for the relief efforts, and there is the possibility that hotel rooms allocated to the cricket teams and entourage may be needed to house the homeless or provide a base for aid workers.Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, was confident that the tour would go ahead as planned, but would wait for an update from security officials. “The situation … is very much monitored and managed by the security firm appointed by the ECB and the PCA,” Bevan told Sportinglife. “So in terms of what happened at the weekend, our security people have already written to us advising us that they are monitoring and liaising with the relevant authorities in Pakistan.”I would imagine [the earthquake] is probably not going to have an effect on the tour,” he added. “It may have some impact on the logistics, but again we won’t know what our advice is on that for a few days. It may be something that can assist in the feelgood factor and helping Pakistan get back to normality.”Bevan added that he had spoken to the players, all of whom were happy about the procedures being put in place, while according to the Pakistan Cricket Board, the Rawalpindi stadium had suffered no structural damage during the tremors.

Hayden could miss the decider on home turf© Getty Images

Matthew Hayden, whose partnership with Adam Gilchrist at the top of the order provided much of the impetus for Australia’s thrilling 17-run victory over New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground, could miss the third and decisive game of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with a hamstring strain.Hayden has scored heavily in most of his appearances in front of home crowds at the Gabba, and Australia’s medical staff are treating his hamstring in a bid to get him fit for the encounter. Hayden himself was desperate to play, after some lackadaisical batting from the top order in recent matches.According to , he said, “We’ve all got off to starts, well the top three in both games have got off to decent starts, and haven’t gone on and got a big score, which you need to. That’s an area, losing wickets in bundles is a problem area.”Torrential rains lashing the Brisbane area have also created logistical problems. Kevin Mitchell, the curator, has been forced to abandon his first-choice strip, and use the pitch that was prepared for an ING Cup game between Queensland and Tasmania. That will in turn affect spectators, with sightscreens and TV camera vantage points also having to be moved.The series is beautifully poised at 1-1, with New Zealand having eked out a thrilling four-wicket win in the first match at Melbourne. Victory in Brisbane would edge them closer to Australia at the top of the ICC table.

All Today’s Yesterdays – August 6 down the yearsAugust 5| August 71998
Lucky numbers for Mark Butcher, who scored his maiden Test hundred in his 13th Test, against South Africa at Headingley. It was a vital contribution: England won by only 23 runs to take the series 2-1.1997
Sanath Jayasuriya’s date with destiny. He woke on 326 not out, within 50 of the highest score in Test history, against India in Colombo. But Jayasuriya added only 14 before he fell to Rajesh Chauhan for 340. There were a few other records though: Sri Lanka stormed to 952 for 6 – the highest score in Test history – and Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama batted throughout two full day’s play. In all they added 576, a record for any Test wicket. Pity poor Indian spinner Nilesh Kulkarni. He nabbed Marvan Atapattu with his first ball in Test cricket – and ended with figures of 70-12-195-1.1999
The day Peter Such got a standing ovation – for a duck. Such had survived 51 balls and 72 minutes against New Zealand at Old Trafford – and helped Mark Ramprakash add 31 – but his reception summed up the desperate, almost blackly comic, mood of English cricket. Rarely has it got any lower than this. England didn’t lose this Test, but their first-innings 199 came off a buttock-clenching 109.1 overs, and then New Zealand took 496 pieces of candy off a desperate England attack. Rain gave England a reprieve … but only for two weeks. Thirteen days later, at a dark, dank Oval, England lost the match, the series – and became the worst team in the world according to the Wisden World Championship table.1953
Slow left-armer Iqbal Qasim was born. Often partnered by Abdul Qadir, he took 171 wickets in 50 Tests for Pakistan and his 7 for 49 against Australia in 1979-80 is in the Wisden 100.1994
In a drawn match at Headingley, South Africa’s Peter Kirsten scored his only Test century at the age of 39. His half-brother Gary Kirsten was also in the team. The next Test at The Oval, which England won to square the series, was Peter’s last.1985
A captain’s innings of 146 not out by Allan Border saved Australia from defeat at Old Trafford after England had led by 225 on first innings.1966
Opening batsman Peter Lashley took the ball and dismissed Geoff Boycott with his third delivery in Test cricket, the only wicket he took for West Indies, whose win at Headingley sealed the series.1933
Birth of Indian batsman Kripal Singh, who scored 100 not out in his debut Test innings, against New Zealand in 1955-56, but managed only another 322 runs in the rest of his 14-Test career.Other birthdays
1911 Norman Gordon (South Africa)
1947 Tony Dell (Australia)
1965 Vince Wells (England)
1969 Simon Doull (New Zealand)
1971 Piyal Wijetunge (Sri Lanka)

The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) announced today that their three-year television, radio and sponsorship deal with WSG Nimbus had been terminated.An official BCCSL release issued this afternoon from Colombo states: "The Master Rights Agreement between the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) and WSG Nimbus Pte. Ltd. has ceased to exist.""The BCCSL has called for expressions of interest for the television rights, radio rights, title sponsorship and ground runners from the companies which were short-listed by the pervious administration."According to a BCCSL spokesman, WSG Nimbus had paid for the England and Indian tours to Sri Lanka earlier this year, but had "repeatedly delayed payments" to the extent that the board was being put in a "serious financial situation."They claim that WSG Nimbus’s failure to meet payment deadlines in the run-up to the scheduled West Indies tour of Sri Lanka forced them into taking action.The BCCSL sought the advice of the Attorney General last week and, according to the BCCSL, he was in agreement that the "terms of contract had been breached" and that the agreement therefore "ceased to operate."The BCCSL then sought and received an injunction from the Commercial High Court in Sri Lanka, which prevents WSG Nimbus in interfering in negotiations with other rights brokers and broadcasters.Earlier in the year, just before England’s tour, the BCCSL had also taken action in the courts against WSG Nimbus. On that occasion the dispute was settled amicably, but BCCSL now maintains that the terms of that settlement were not fully adhered to.The BCCSL has called for fresh tenders for a three-year period, starting November 2001, which includes tours by West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Pakistan, England, Australia and South Africa.Despite the potentially devastating effects of America’s war against Afganisation on tours to the Asian region the BCCSL remained upbeat about the future negotiations."Sri Lanka has steadily risen up the Test and One-Day ratings," said the board spokesman. "We have some high profile and very exciting players and with a number of top teams coming to Sri Lanka over the coming three-years we are optimistic of reaching an excellent deal for Sri Lankan cricket."Trans World International (TWI) narrowly lost out on the original deal, reputed to be USD 27.1 million, and are now believed to be favourites to secure the rights.WSG Nimbus had also been negotiating a new three-year team sponsorship deal in recent weeks. The BCCSL claimed today that this would not be affected, saying that the successful company, believed to be Dilmah Tea, was now dealing directly with the board and was expected to formally sign on Friday.

Pakistan’s strong record against England in the UAE remains intact, even though there is no longer a chance of them emulating the 2012 series by completing a 3-0 clean sweep. However, in the wake of England’s near-miss in the fading light in Abu Dhabi, where they came within 25 runs of a remarkable victory, Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, says his team needs to take the visitors much more seriously for the remainder of the series.Pakistan started the first Test with a major setback when their legspinner Yasir Shah was ruled out due to a back spasm. For the first four days, the pitch was cursed for its slowness and unresponsiveness but on day five the twist started when Pakistan collapsed swiftly to set England up for their race against time.”Obviously that match is gone and there were some positives and some negatives,” Misbah said ahead of the second Test in Dubai. “At the end of the day it was important for us, in whatever situation we were, we had to save the match. I think this [Dubai] venue is better suited for spinners and more result-oriented. The team which plays spin well and have better spinners, they have a good chance.”This is a very important Test for us,” he said, “so we are positive and have to improve our performance. We are looking forward to good cricket. We have to take them seriously and we already are. I think it maybe is different in perception for the viewers but I am saying this from the first day. They are a professional team and are very determined.”They have learned from their previous mistakes in the past and are a totally different team and that is what we have seen [in Abu Dhabi]. So we have to lift our performance if we want to win.”Misbah praised the lengths to which England went to stay in contention in the first Test, when the inexperienced nature of their batting line-up in particular might have played to Pakistan’s strengths, much as they had done in the last UAE series three years ago.”I have already said that this is a young team and obviously being knocked out in 2012 they know they have a goal and are much more prepared than before,” he said. “We have to just get a breakthrough and we have to really work very hard to counter their plans on what they are doing. At the moment they have really shown some good resilience and they really played well in the first Test match.”Pakistan’s record in Dubai is not quite as good as at Abu Dhabi, but formidable nonetheless. They have won four of their eight matches with two defeats and two draws, and spin, unsurprisingly, has been their decisive weapon. Pakistan has three spinners to call upon – the fit-again Shah, as well as the left-armer Zulfiqar Babar and the offspinner Bilal Asif, who has been called up as cover.”I think it is a typical Dubai pitch it should suit us,” said Misbah. “But at the end of the day we have to play good cricket and that is the only way to do well in a game and win a game. As far as the look of the pitch, it is just what we want.”Bilal, who was reported for a suspect action following the third ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare earlier this month, underwent testing in Chennai on October 19 but is available for selection because ICC protocol allows him to continue bowling until the result of his test is known. That is likely to take another couple of weeks.”That is not an issue for us,” said Misbah, when asked if having a bowler with a suspect action was a concern. “If that had been an issue for us he would not be here. If he is here we are confident enough to pick him for the Test match. We are looking how we go in our combination, if he just settles in or if he is there in our combination, we will definitely pick him in the eleven.”We think that he is [correct in his action], that is why we have been really supporting him and promoting him and picking him. He has just gone through the test. We think his action is okay and that is why he is here.”