South Africa’s players are understood to be upset about the allegedly spin-friendly track at Newlands, the venue of the first Test against Australia starting today.Christo Erasmus, the groundsman who has already announced his intention to retire after this Test, said the South Africans had conveyed their disappointment. “They came to me and said they thought there would be more green grass,” he told . “I told them that you don’t need green grass to get pace and bounce. The fuss has been made too big. It’s the same story every year.”I’ve learnt to live with them being upset or not. It’s water off a duck’s back. Maybe the guys who are kicking up the biggest fuss will be the ones who score the most runs. Regardless what they see, it won’t be a raging turner like the SCG.”Erasmus said that the prevailing dry conditions took a toll on the pitch. “I want to prepare good pitches,” he said. “We must also ensure the Test last five days so that spectators can get value for their money.”Ricky Ponting said the pitch will assist his spinners. “It looks a bit bald on both sides. This will help our spinners,” he said. “In Melbourne and Sydney [in December and January against South Africa], we went in with both spinners on wickets that were quite juicy on day one, and as it turned out we ended up winning both of those games.”However, Ponting believes that the dry pitches could aid reverse-swing and thinks that South Africa have the wherewithal to exploit it. “I think it will be an issue through the series,” Ponting said. “I actually brought it up in the team meeting. It’s the end of the summer, the wickets are going to be fairly dry I would imagine. The ball reversed a little bit down in Durban in the one-day game. The outfield and ground are a lot harsher than here so it might do a little bit more down there.”It’s pretty much the same sort of time as when we were playing in England. It’s the end of their summer, dry wickets, the ball went a lot over there so we expect it to do a fair bit here as well.”The South Africans had requested the pitch to favour their seam attack. “I don’t think it’s any secret we are looking for wickets with a little bit of grass in it,” Micky Arthur, the South Africa coach, said. “We want to try and negate the Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill factor.”
Scorecard Mansoor Amjad turned in an outstanding allround performance as Pakistan A thrashed their Zimbabwean counterparts by 272 runs in a four-day match at Harare. Resuming at 203 for 6 in their second innings, the Pakistanis added 70 more before declaring at 273 for 9, and then skittled the Zimbabweans out for just 112.The hero of the day was Amjad, who resumed on 54 and went on to make 99 before being bowled by Graeme Cremer. The disappointment of missing his hundred by a run was soon mitigated when he came on to bowl, as he ran through Zimbabwe’s batting line-up for the second time in two games. He finished with a match haul of 9 for 42, as only Neil Ferreira, the opener, managed a score of more than 20.Pakistan A had earlier won the first four-day game by three wickets. The two teams will now clash in three one-day matches, to be played on May 18, 21, and 23.
Bangladesh’s selectors have included eight of the team currently touring Zimbabwe in a 25-strong Bangladesh A squad for two four-day matches and five one-day games against the Zimbabwe A team, who arrive in Dhaka on March 10 for their nmonth-long tour.Faruque Ahmed, the chairman of selectors, explained that the series of washouts in Zimbabwe had robbed the senior players of precious experience, which is why his panel had added Alok Kapali, Al Shahriar, Hannan Sarker, Manjural Islam Rana, Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Shahriar Hossain and Tareq Aziz Khan to the A-team squad.”The tour of Zimbabwe has been very frustrating so far,” said Faruque. “Only one Test match could be held properly, and the players hardly had any chance to take the field. That’s why we wanted to have them in the A squad.” He added that the team needed to be strong, as Zimbabwe’s A side included seven players with Test experience.Some of the players who helped Bangladesh win the Plate Championship of the recent Under-19 World Cup – they beat Australia in the plate final – were also included: the left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Junior, who was the leading wicket-taker in the U19 World Cup, the fast bowler Shahadat Hossain Rajib, his new-ball partner Nazmul Hossain, wicketkeeper Dhiman Ghosh, and opener Nafis Iqbal. Aftab Ahmed, an attacking batsman, missed out as he is sitting exams, while the fast bowler Talha Jubair and U19 captain Ashiqur Rahman were battling injuries.Faisal Hossain, a left-hander from Chittagong who has been a consistent success in domestic cricket this season, also got the call. He was the highest runscorer in the four-day competition with 730 in 18 innings.Bangladesh A squad for series against Zimbabwe A Shahriar Hossain, Hannan Sarker, Alok Kapali, Rajin Saleh, Tareq Aziz Khan, Mohammed Ashraful, Manzarul Islam Rana, Enamul Haque Junior, Al Shahriar, Anwar Hossain Munir, Alamgir Kabir, Nafees Iqbal, Nasiruddin Faruque, Dhiman Gosh, Shahadat Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Rashedul Haq, Mazharul Haq, Tushar Imran, Mohammad Selim, Gazi Alamgir, Jamaluddin Babu, Nazmul Hossain, Faisal Hossain, Ehsanul Haque.
Concerns over prospective terrorist action against Westerners in Kenya is expected to be a catalyst for the removal of World Cup games planned for that country back to South Africa.New Zealand Cricket (NZC) have told the International Cricket Council (ICC) today that they have serious concerns about the safety of the New Zealand side which is about to play a World Cup match in Kenya on February 21.Last year, the New Zealanders were within 10 minutes of being even more exposed to a terrorist bomb than they already were while travelling from their Karachi hotel to their Test venue in Pakistan. As it was their hotel was badly damaged in a bomb blast which forced the end of the tour.New Zealand team manager Jeff Crowe and the NZC security advisor Reg Dickason were part of the ICC security delegation that recently visited Kenya.NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said today: “The delegation received strong information that there are active terrorist organisations currently operating in Nairobi which have the means and capability of launching a terrorist attack.”We have received information which strongly suggests it is not safe for the New Zealand team to travel to Nairobi for the scheduled match on February 21.”The information was that these terrorist groups are looking to target Western interests in Nairobi.”The information indicates that Kenyan authorities are not capable of providing adequate security,” he said.Snedden expects the ICC executive board will make a decision on Thursday night (New Zealand time) about whether the two matches to be played in Kenya should be rescheduled.”I would anticipate that in the light of the information on the table the ICC’s executive board will recognise the risk to player safety and move the games to South Africa,” Snedden said.Dickason reported to NZC that a security document that had been prepared for the matches was not of a suitable standard.From what Dickason viewed it was his opinion that neither the Kenyan Cricket Association nor the Government and Police had the required level of security available to ensure the safety of players.While official briefings were held in Kenya, Crowe and Dickason also sought independent meetings.Australian advice was that the Kenyan police were poorly equipped to deal with security threats and that they (the Australians) were in receipt of information about potential targets. They were not able to disclose what these might be. The source of that information had advised three weeks before the Mombasa incident that it could happen.American advice was that there was a terrorist cell in operation in Nairobi that had already established the means and assets for an attack and the threat was “real and present.”The likely targets were: civil aviation, kidnap, car bombings and attacks against Western interests.United States intelligence has Kenya, and specifically Nairobi, on critical alert status, its highest status of alert.The inability of the Kenyan police to track down the perpetrators of the Mombasa incident showed how vulnerable the Kenyan security system was because the police themselves lacked the skills to adequately combat a potential terrorist threat.At a meeting with the deputy regional security officer for the US Embassy in Nairobi, Ed Fortney, he outlined five points which influenced potential target selection.They were: availability of a soft target, the opportunity to assemble assets to commit a terrorist act, the impact and publicity an attack would generate globally, the diminished likelihood of detection and apprehension in relation to the attack and the profile of the targets.”When consideration is given to the points raised by Fortney, and, in particular, the five points he raises in relation to the factors influencing potential target selection, it is clearly apparent that a high level international sporting event in Nairobi meets all the criteria to put it in the high-risk category the likelihood of attack,” Dickason said.Based on the information gleaned and the fact that it came from sources with no vested interests he strongly urged that matches planned for Kenya be played in South Africa.
Incoming chief executive for New Zealand Cricket Martin Snedden heads to London this week and into the biggest issue facing the world game, match-fixing.Not that he will be involved in any of the decision-making on the recommendations in Sir Paul Condon’s report. That is being left to the executive committee of the International Cricket Council where New Zealand will be represented by Sir John Anderson.Snedden will be meeting with other chief executives from around the cricket world on the first occasion he will have had to rub shoulders with them. Clearly, an early contact will be with Australia’s newly-appointed CEO James Sutherland.Snedden did say that he expected the Executive Board would decide on Condon’s recommendations and how many of them they could support.Condon provided a list of 24 but Snedden said that from what he understood the practical application of the recommendations had to be considered.And the Board would have to consider what could be put in place to prevent the same sort of thing happening in the future.”New Zealand Cricket will have to do something fairly promptly afterwards and implementing that will have to be one of my first priorities,” he said.Snedden, while not officially starting in his new role until July 30, said he is already spending half of his day on cricket matters which had two benefits. It allowed him time for the winding down of his role in his legal firm while it also allowed him to build up for his new role.On his immediate agenda in London will be matters relating to New Zealand’s staging of the Under-19 World Cup this summer and the full World Cup to be held in South Africa in February-March 2003.He also expected some discussion on the new one-day laws approved by the cricket committee although any disagreement would be largely irrelevant as the decisions of the committee were binding.Snedden may also be making some inquiries about the international players’ association that is slowly developing.He is an advocate of player representation, being a players’ advocate himself when playing in the 1980s, and he believes it would be a good idea if New Zealand’s players got something up and running in the same way as is done in other countries, most notably Australia.”I do believe in strong players’ representation. Any way that makes it easier to communicate the players’ point of view has got to be good.”It is good for the players to be organised. There are a lot of things that might be raised by players that would not be thought of by administrators,” he said.Snedden added that the Employment Relations Act favoured that sort of approach and there were different times when issues could be resolved when working sensibly with people.
During his latest press conference, Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has shared some ‘really good’ news in the hours building up to the Magpies’ clash against Southampton.
The Lowdown: Howe’s tenure
Things got off to a rocky start when Eddie Howe arrived at the Tyneside club at the end of November. In his first six Premier League matches in charge, the Magpies lost four. It was at this time when fans were patiently waiting until January, when the new leadership could be unleashed upon the transfer market.
Newcastle were quick to act, bringing in five additions to bolster the squad’s options and boost its quality. As a result, Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and Matt Targett all arrived at St. James’ Park.
Following on from this, Newcastle have seen a drastic change in their results. In their last eight league games, the Magpies have picked up 18 points.
The Latest: Howe’s news…
Ahead of Newcastle’s away fixture to Southampton, Howe took to his press conference to confirm the team news, revealing some ‘really good’ information.
As quoted by Chris Waugh, of The Athletic, Howe claimed:
“Nothing new of major concern. We have a few niggles. Matt Ritchie has returned to training, which is a really good thing.”
This comes after the Scot was spotted in training this week, so we can safely assume he is now an option for the boss against Southampton.
The Verdict: Boost for NUFC
This follows Ritchie sustainment of a knee injury in January’s shock FA Cup defeat to Cambridge United.
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This news will come as a boost to the Newcastle squad, as they are set to enter a congested schedule, where they will undertake three games in a seven-day period.
The 32-year-old, who has featured for the Magpies 186 times, will bring a calming and experienced presence to the side, even if only as a rotational option in a hectic flurry of games.
In other news: Newcastle United: Magpies agree fee for first summer signing
ScorecardRoelef van der Merwe followed up a fifty with four wickets as the Titans clinched the MTN Domestic Championship with a 38-run win over the Warriors in the final in Centurion.The Titans were the leaders after the group stage of the tournament, which helped them edge out Cape Cobras after the semi-final – also in Centurion – between the two sides was washed out.Warriors put Titans in to bat, and the top-order batsmen built a solid foundation. The openers added 44 in nine overs, and van der Merwe put on a 79-run third-wicket stand along with Francois du Plessis. van der Merwe hit two sixes off Robin Peterson, but holed out to deep midwicket for 52, which came off 58 balls.Peterson struck again with the wicket of Martin van Jaarsveld, but an unbeaten 31-ball 59 from Farhaan Behardien boosted the Titans to 269 for 6, their highest total in the tournament. For the Warriors, Juan Theron, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, was the pick of the bowlers – with 2 for 36 off his nine overs.Both the Warriors openers scored 60s in reply; Hylton Ackerman hit 11 fours in his 62 in an opening stand of 80, which took only 13.3 overs. His partner, Justin Kreusch, made a patient 63 off 86 balls, but the Titans managed to chip away with wickets at the other end. Arno Jacobs, the top run-getter, fell to Albie Morkel for 1, and when Kreusch was dismissed by Titans captain Pierre Joubert, the Warriors were at 174 for 5, needing another 96 from 59 deliveries.Johan Botha’s quickfire 30 kept his side in the chase, but van der Merwe ended his innings, and removed Nos 10 and 11 as the Titans bowled the Warriors out for 231 in 42.4 overs, 39 runs short of their target. Joubert got rid of both the openers in his 3 for 52, while Man of the Match van der Merwe took 4 for 42 with his left-arm spin.”I think we chased well, but we lost the way at a crucial time,” Zander de Bruyn, the Warriors’ captain, said after the game. Joubert hailed his team for their consistency through the campaign. “Our preparations were not ideal as we were distracted by rain, but we don’t have any control on the weather,” he said. “Our self-belief carried us through. It is important for us to keep on believing in ourselves going forward. We need now to re-focus our attention on the Pro20 Series.”The teams will feature in the Standard Bank Pro20 Series, which begins on March 25.
South Africa’s demolition job on England killed off any hopes of WestIndies getting back-door entry into the semi-finals, and they now go into Thursday’s game against Bangladesh with only pride on the line. It willhave escaped no one’s attention that West Indies are currently level onpoints with Bangladesh and Ireland, an unacceptable state of affairs in aregion that dominated the game for nearly two decades.For Brian Lara, the tie against Bangladesh will mark his 298th in WestIndian colours and the penultimate step on a journey that started on aNovember day in Karachi more than 16 years ago. It will forever be asource of regret for Lara that for all his individual achievements, WestIndies accomplished little at the five World Cups that he was part of.Apart from the semi-final that Shane Warne stole from them at Mohali in1996, each campaign has been as abysmal as the other.”The two remaining games are of utmost importance to us,” he said on theeve of Thursday’s game. “It’s important that we do start the second round.We still haven’t actually. We want to finish on a high. These next twomatches are of no consequence in terms of the World Cup, but they are veryimportant for us, and the guys are fully aware of that.”The West Indian meltdown in the Super Eights, after they topped theirfirst-round group, has been one of the most disappointing aspects of thiscompetition, but Lara wasn’t interested in playing the blame game. “Thisis not the time for condemnation but constructive criticism,” he said. “Wejust did not play good cricket, we were beaten by better teams on the day.We have disappointed ourselves and our fans.”He accepted, however, that the prime reason for the debacle was thefailure of the marquee players to deliver when it mattered most. “A lot ofour seniors, including myself, have not performed like seniors in otherprominent teams have done,” he said. “The contributions from the seniorsand the experienced players in the reason why teams like Australia, SouthAfrica and Sri Lanka are in the semi-finals.”Several former players were scathing in their assessment of the team’sperformances against the tournament’s best sides, with Colin Croft inparticular pinpointing the lack of intensity at training sessions.According to Lara, such things were par for the course when things weregoing wrong. “There’s no lethargy in the team and the boys are veryupbeat,” he said. “The result yesterday cast us out of the competition.The guys tried their best and have been under a lot of scrutiny lately.Unfortunately, that goes with the fact that we are not playing well.”Bennett King and the support staff have been working really hard, but ourtrainer left last December, and we not had a trainer since. That is nofault of the players. The players are trying their best, but it isdifficult at this time without a professional trainer.”With the pressure off, West Indies will hope to express themselves as bestthey can in front of the disappointed home support. As for Bangladesh, they have already embarrassed India and South Africa, but Habibul Bashar,the captain, brushed off suggestions that West Indies would be an easiermark.”I don’t think so,” he said. “They’re still a good team. For us, itdoesn’t matter who we play. It’s how we play on that particular day. Webeat India and South Africa, but also lost other games quite easily.”That inconsistency ruined any chance of a semi-final place, and the 74-runloss to rank outsiders Ireland was hugely disappointing for a team lookingto kick on after the famous victory against South Africa. “There’s been abig contrast in our performances,” admitted Bashar. “Some days we’re oneof the best fielding sides. Other days, we’re ordinary. It’s veryimportant that we learn to be consistent in all three departments of thegame.”Bangladesh have only come close to beaten West Indies once in 12 attempts,at St Vincent three years ago, but such statistics didn’t really worryBashar. “Before we played South Africa [in Guyana], we had never beatenthem before,” he said. “Winning any game at the World Cup is veryimportant for Bangladesh. We don’t want to be No.8 in the Super Eights.”What is a worry is his form, or lack of it. “As captain, you always wantto do something, to set an example for other players,” he said. “It’simportant for me and my side that I score some runs.”In many ways he might do well to learn from his younger team-mates, who’veshown oodles of confidence – perhaps too much at times – and no fear whenconfronted by illustrious opponents. “Bangladesh are really competitive inthe Under-19s, and the boys think they can win,” said Bashar, when askedabout the impact of the youth brigade. “They have come to this level withthat frame of mind.”It makes for a fascinating contest, a dead rubber with a fair bit atstake. “We have been disappointing,” said Lara. “For Bangladesh, everygame against the Test-playing nations is of utmost importance and we areaware of that. We don’t want to be one of their victims. We want to comeout and play our best cricket. Everyone wants to finish on a high, and wewant to win back the support of the fans.”You sense that it will take more than one win to do that.
On paper, Zimbabwe’s five-match series against Kenya was about bragging rights as to which country could legitimately claim to be Africa’s second-best side. That it ended in stalemate after the deciding match was washed out was probably fair, as neither side gave any indication that they were good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as the South Africans.It was a series that passed by with few even realising, even in Zimbabwe where the attendances at the games were very poor. Only on the Sunday at Bulawayo did the crowd even come close to a thousand. Local media coverage was unimpressive – especially for the two games at Queen’s Club – and not even the local TV companies bothered to cover the matches. Overseas interest was non existent.The standard of the cricket was not good, but both had legitimate excuses. Zimbabwe fielded a side that was hugely inexperienced under a captain that had never played an ODI. Few had played any meaningful cricket for some time, and had been embroiled in a bitter dispute with the authorities. Kenya, whose players are recovering from a dispute of their own which undermined their progress for almost two years, had not played an ODI since September 2004.But Zimbabwe should, in theory, have wiped the floor with the Kenyans. While the Kenyans scrape by on a minimal budget, Zimbabwe’s income from sponsorship, TV rights and ICC handouts runs into millions. They also had home advantage. While the authorities will look to put a positive spin on the outcome, the result should be a real worry.They won the fourth game in Harare impressively, but their other win, in the opening match at Bulawayo, came against a Kenyan side who had been in the country 30 hours and whose one net session had been washed out. The Kenyans certainly felt they were caught in unfamiliar conditions and were tired. Zimbabwe’ s batting against a very ordinary attack was unimpressive in the second match, and embarrassing in the third, where they were skittled for 69.There were plusses. For Zimbabwe, Brendan Taylor looked good with the bat and opener Piet Rinke showed he could hit the ball, and if he can temper his attack-at-all-costs approach, he could be a useful asset. Ryan Higgins, one of three players from the Under-19 World Cup, impressed with his legspin even if his batting disappointed.Kenya would have been encouraged by the good form of Kennedy Otieno with bat and gloves, and Thomas Odoyo, named Player of the Series, showed form with both bat and ball. Peter Ongondo, who triggered Zimbabwe’s demise in the third match, finished with 11 wickets, more than any other bowler.What this did show was that these two sides are probably scrapping for 10th and 11th places in the world rankings. The series between Bangladesh and Kenya later this month should confirm that there is now a big and growing gulf between the Bangladeshis and the two African countries.Kenya will travel with more satisfaction. Five years ago, Zimbabwe would have wiped the floor with them, but now they are on level footing. The Kenyans could even argue that they have moved ahead of the Zimbabweans – the ICC rankings support that – when home advantage and a lack of preparation is taken into account. Like the Kenyans, it was vital for Zimbabwe to get matches under their belt. Kenya will probably solider on to the World Cup in a year’s time before clearing the decks and bringing in more youth.Zimbabwe have had a youth-first policy forced on them by internal disputes, but they have some youngsters with real promise, as the Under-19 side showed in Sri Lanka. The question remains whether Zimbabwe Cricket can keep them on board or whether they too will be allowed to drift – or be driven – away. With the cupboard almost bare, that simply cannot be allowed to happen.After they turned down an invitation to meet Kenya and Bangladesh in a tri-series, Zimbabwe’s next outing will be in the seven-match one-day series in the Caribbean. On the evidence of these games, they face some very difficult outings and probably one or two humiliations against a side desperate to get their own one-day form back on track.
Virender Sehwag and Shahid Afridi; safely we can say that cricket has never known the likes of them before. It may not ever again. They turn matches in instants we know and that is not so rare. But cricket has known, and knows now, many who can do it, yet it is fitting that the chances of a decisive result were created by Afridi today and are likely to rest on Sehwag tomorrowYesterday, Sehwag through his very ballast tore into a daunting first innings total carrying the world’s heaviest batting line-up with him and created momentum within it. And today, Afridi single-handedly created time when there seemed none. When Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman defied Pakistan for 53 runs, it wasn’t so much the lead they ate into as the time. They took, potentially a crucial hour and a half from Pakistan in which to build a sizeable target. In just over an hour, he found that lost time and set up a match.But what holds more allure than changing a game is the way they do it. Almost certainly both would have played the way they did, whatever the situation. Context is not important because they create it. When Irfan Pathan peppered Afridi with bouncers and three men patrolling the long-on, deep-midwicket and square-leg boundaries, he didn’t shirk, he took him on, pulling twice for six and once for four. When Anil Kumble tried to curb the scoring by bowling a leg-stump line, Afridi didn’t pad, he tried to reverse pull him, failing once and succeeding the second time. Would he do the same if Pakistan were trying to save a match? He did in Kolkata.By expressing themselves, both regularly shun traditions in what can be a stifling sport. We look, particularly in batting, for correct techniques, of playing within certain areas with the bat at certain angles, with certain stances and grips. Sehwag and Afridi challenge this openly, they rebel against this conformity.Sehwag in a floppy hat yesterday seemed right, for it stirred a refreshing spirit, of flexibility not rigidity, of not being confined. Leaning like a lethargic lord, with one hand on bat and other on hip, he could have been playing at club or school level, or even in a maidan. The hat, as opposed to helmet, made for a cute and apt symbol for this. Not for him is the endeavour for perfection or precision in his technique, in his strokes. He does what is necessary, get bat on ball and score runs by doing so. High left elbow, straight bat, nimble footwork, they are rendered meaningless by his brazen defiance of the essence of batting. In any case, he is gifted with admirable traits, but he doesn’t strain for them, they come naturally. Simply, if the ball can be hit, it will be and if it can’t, it won’t. All else, how he does it, against whom he does it and in what situation he does it, this is frivolous.Afridi is more rustic, more rudimentary but within him rests a similar approach. The very first ball he faced today was pulled for four as if playing a tape-ball midnight Ramzan tournament in Karachi. There was no lining up of the ball, of attuning to the light or the pitch. No strokes were practiced diligently between deliveries, no poses were kept. Only the ball was struck, as hard as possible with minimal concession made to technique or footwork. Here instinct is masterand Afridi its slave.If Sehwag is the more destructive and successful, it is because he has a sharpened batting nous. He wouldn’t charge down the pitch as Afridi did today to lollipop tempters, but over an hour, both are equally ferocious, and often Afridi can be more so. Of course, we should treasure them because of the way they have changed this game, one that seemed consigned to a meandering, high-scoring draw from the very first day. But what we should cherish even more is the inimitable manner in which they have done it.