The timing couldn’t have been better. Trailing 2-1 in the series after three heart-stopping games, India arrived in Trinidad, large chunks of which are distinctly Indian. If they switch on the radio, they are likely to hear Bollywood numbers; if they take a walk, they are likely to be offered roti and dal. Past Indian teams have enjoyed Trinidad – just ask Sunil Gavaskar – and the only ground where they have won Tests in the West Indies, three games in all, is the Queen’s Park Oval.In the larger scheme of things, for most of the locals at least, all the above is mere piffle. This is Brian Lara country. He’s made it amply clear that these will be his last two one-day games in front of his doting crowd. He stands on the threshold of leading West Indies to a famous series win, one that could trigger off some sort of resurgence. More worryingly for India, he hasn’t made too many in this series. In 28 previous games at Trinidad, he’s spanked seven fifties and two hundreds. He averages 55.76 at home. He’s a man with a sense of occasion. Don’t bet against this fella. Don’t even try.So far in this series, it’s been other batsmen giving India all the headaches. Ramnaresh Sarwan has spoken about improving his consistency and backed up the talk with two magnificent innings; Chris Gayle has, customarily, blown hot and cold; and Shivnarine Chanderpaul has failed, limped, succeeded and limped off. Lara has urged players like Dwayne Bravo and Marlon Samuels to deliver more often. Also, there’s Sewnarine Chattergoon and Wavell Hinds to contend with. India have to stop not one, but several, bullet-loaded barrels.India may get back their chief weapon, with Yuvraj Singh likely to play. “He looks OK,” commented Rahul Dravid, “we’ll get him to bat in the nets and see how it goes.” India need all their batsmen to come good. The cracker called Mahendra Singh Dhoni is yet to explode and it’s a bomb that has no timer. Watch out for it.West Indies will bank on home advantage. “We played here recently against Zimbabwe and have a fair idea about how the pitch behaves,” Lara said on the eve of the match. “But this one [pitch] looks different. Normally, when we have back-to-back matches, there’s usually some moisture on the pitch and in the outfield. But this one is devoid of moisture. I’m more worried about how it will hold for Sunday.”For India, Sunday can wait. They need to first stay alive, then start kicking, then think of levelling the series, and then – only then – can they harbour hopes of winning it. Like against South Africa at home, late last year, and in Pakistan a few months back, the bounce-back-ability will be tested. They’ve pulled it off before; this one might just be their toughest test yet.India 1 Rahul Dravid (capt), 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Ramesh Powar, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 SreesanthWest Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Sewnarine Chattergoon, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Carlton Baugh (wk), 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Fidel Edwards, 11 Corey Collymore
Marcus Trescothick warned England would have to raise their game against Australia for the remainder of the season after a shoddy fielding display in their five-wicket win against Bangladesh at Headingley.The result set up an England-Australia final to the NatWest Series, at Lord’s on July 2, and ended Bangladesh’s interest in the tournament ahead of their final group match against Australia, at Canterbury, on Thursday.”It took us about 15-20 overs really to get going before we’d switched on to playing the sort of cricket we have been over the past couple of months,” said Trescothick. “If we take 20 overs to get going against Australia they are going to hurt us. We can’t play against Australia for the rest of the summer and not be as good as we have been.”England overpowered Bangladesh by an innings in both their Tests and had already recorded two crushing wins over Bangladesh in the NatWest Series before today’s game. Asked if that had led to a lack of intensity, Trescothick said: “Possibly. We’ve been on the road for a while. I don’t want to use that as an excuse because everyone’s playing the same amount of cricket so we can’t afford to switch off when we think we can. It looked wrong, all the energy we normally have wasn’t there today.”Trescothick praised Andrew Flintoff’s bowling, which allowed England to regain control: “He bowled really well today, his figures obviously showed that. He came on at two interesting times when the momentum of the game was changing and he changed it for us. There were those two wickets in two balls and then at the end he bowled some cracking yorkers, better than I’ve seen him bowl for a long time.”Andrew Strauss took England to the brink of victory with 98 but was fortunate to come through a frenetic start, which saw him dropped on 14, before he regained his composure only to lose it at the end. But he said he wasn’t too disappointed to miss his hundred. “Twos don’t count if you need one to win but going for a massive hack is probably not the best way to do it. But it’s not something that’s important to me. I don’t know why but I felt like going harder at the ball early. But once 10 overs had gone I played my normal game which served me a little bit better.”Javed Omar top scored with 81 for Bangladesh who at least had the satisfaction of batting out their 50 overs Australia rolled them over for 139 in 35.2 overs during the10-wicket defeat at Old Trafford. Stuart Karppinen, their fitness coach, in temporary charge after Dav Whatmore flew to Melbourne on Saturday to be with his ailing father, said: “There have been improvements along the way. Getting 300 in the second Test at Durham, Mohammad Ashraful’s batting and Mashrafe Mortaza’s bowling. But the win against Australia was easily the highlight.”
New Zealanders 128 for 3 (Astle 64*) drew with British Universities at Fenner’s ScorecardNew Zealand were frustrated by the weather for the third day running, as the opening fixture of their tour of England – against a British Universities XI – was abandoned as a draw.Nevertheless, at least they made it onto the pitch today, and in the 35.1 overs available to them, Nathan Astle scored an unbeaten 64 to confirm that he is well on the way to full match fitness after his lengthy injury lay-off.Scott Styris thumped three fours and a six in a brief cameo before the rains arrived, after Mark Richardson had located the middle of his bat in compiling a solid 39. But for Michael Papps the day was less of a success. He was trapped lbw by David Wigley for a first-ball duck.Assuming the weather clears, New Zealand will have another chance to get their tour off the ground when they take on Worcestershire in a four-day match at New Road on Friday. The first Test begins at Lord’s in little more than a fortnight – on May 20.
Zimbabwe cricket did very well indeed at the annual Zimbabwe Sportsmen of the Year awards ceremony held last night. In front of guests of honour Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, Zimbabwe cricket picked up three of the five major awards. Andy Flower won the Sportman of the Year Award, the Zimbabwe cricket team Team of the Year award, and Mluleki Nklala Junior Sportsman of the Year award. Congratualtions to all on their fine acheivement.
Paddy Kenny has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur now have ‘every chance’ of signing Paulo Dybala in the summer.
The Lowdown: Dybala will leave
As per Italian football journalist and transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, Dybala will now leave Juventus as a free agent this summer, as he is ‘not happy’ with the contract proposals that the Old Lady are offering him.
He will now ‘open talks’ with other clubs, and Spurs are thought to be one of the teams that are strongly interested in his signature.
The Latest: Kenny reacts
Speaking to Football Insider, former Leeds United and Premier League goalkeeper Kenny has since given his reaction to the news, and the 43-year-old has claimed that the North London club now have ‘every chance’ of signing Dybala:
“Tottenham have every chance of signing Dybala, there are clearly good links with Juve and Spurs.
“There is just one thing that worries me. Look at what happened in January.
“Spurs went for these players, Traore and Diaz. They went to Barcelona and Liverpool instead.
“So there are other clubs who could sign these players ahead of Tottenham.
“But you look at the players Tottenham did sign, two of them from Juventus.
“Conte was at Juve as well so if he stays at Tottenham then maybe he can convince Dybala to join.
“What a statement that would be, by the way, he’s a brilliant player and one Tottenham would love to have.”
The Verdict: Exciting
These are certainly exciting times for the Lilywhites faithful, as they could now stand a realistic chance in signing a top, top player in Dybala, even better for no transfer fee.
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THFC have already negotiated deals with Juve to bring in both Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur in the January transfer window, and of course Fabio Paratici used to be their Managing Director.
Thus, the clubs should be on good terms, and Dybala is another player who could make the switch.
Nonetheless, he would be such a good coup, given what he has won, and his overall pedigree in the game.
In other news, find out which Tottenham target surely impressed Daniel Levy on international duty here!
Kate Hoey, the former sports minister and the chair of the UK’s all parliamentary committee on Zimbabwe, has called on the government to renew attempts to obtain a copy of the independent forensic audit commissioned from KPMG by the ICC.The audit, which the ICC executive board voted not to release, is believed to have been unsuccessfully requested by the government last month. David Morgan, the ICC’s president-elect, revealed at the weekend that Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, was one of those on the ICC executive that voted not to make the report public.Speaking in a debate on Zimbabwe in the House of Commons, Hoey, who is also a honorary vice-president of Surrey, renewed her demands that Peter Chingoka, Zimbabwe Cricket’s chairman, not be allowed to enter the country.”[Robert] Mugabe is a ZCU patron, and Chingoka and managing director, Ozias Bvute, are both deeply implicated in the financial corruption that props up the regime,” she said. “Through cricket, they have access to hard currency, which they misuse to exercise corrupt patronage in collaboration with the bigwigs of Zimbabwe’s ruling party.”At international matches Chingoka uses the VIP pavilion to host the ZANU-PF politicians, CIO operatives and senior army officers on whom he relies for protection.”Zimbabwe cricket is an extension of the worst aspects of Mugabe’s regime. Those of us who care for Zimbabwe and cricket in particular, or human rights and sport in general, must do all we can to support the prime minister’s proposal to ban the Zimbabwean cricket team from touring in the UK. I hope the [foreign] minister will confirm that no UK visa will be given for Chingoka to come here to attend any ICC meetings, or for any other reason, in the next few months.”The minister did not respond to the questions but it is likely Hoey will seek a formal answer in the coming days.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has taken over the possession of the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad (Sind), ending a decade-long struggle for cricket fans, players and organisers.Dr Nasim Ashraf, the board chairman, will arrive to take over the possession of the stadium and finalise the arrangements for upgrading it to international standards for meeting the requirements of the ICC.Ashraf will also sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the District Nazim Hyderabad, Kanwar Naveed Jamil, at the stadium. With the possession of this stadium, a historic cricket centre, it is expected that the board will not neglect Hyderabad in future while allotting Tests or ODI matches. It is the only venue in the country where Pakistan has never lost a Test or one-dayer.The venue last hosted an international match in September 1997, a one-dayer between India and Pakistan.
He may be older, he may be struggling with injuries, he may not even be batting as well as he once was, but Sachin Tendulkar, the icon, the brand, still sells. This much at least, after signing a new three-year marketing deal reportedly worth in the region of US$40 million, hasn’t changed.Tendulkar signed the deal with Iconix, a newly-formed marketing branch of international advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi. The deal comes after the expiry of a successful ten-year agreement with WorldTel, run by the late Mark Mascarenhas and a man whom Tendulkar once described as being like an older brother.”It’s great to have a legend like Sachin as the first client of Iconix,” said V. Shantakumar, the chief executive officer and managing director of Saatchi’s Indian operations. “Sachin is more than just a cricket player. He’s a role model for young and old India. He’s still the nation’s youth icon and he’s still considered by cricket pundits as the world’s best batsman. The value he commands comes from the respect and love people feel for him.” Shantakumar refused to confirm, however, the value of the deal, saying only that “the amount mentioned is a nice sum, but I am not going to say more.”In a statement, Tendulkar said, “I’ve entrusted Iconix with managing my affairs and have confidence in its ability to provide requisite continuity to the brands I am associated with.” And it is a fair number of brands, as despite the emergence of new stars and his own poor form, Tendulkar has endorsed soft drinks, motorcycles, credit cards, mobile phone operators and much more. He is widely-believed to be cricket’s top money-earner.Tendulkar has been bedeviled by injuries and poor form over the last year and following a poor Test series against England and Pakistan (admittedly sandwiching a superb ODI series against the latter), is likely to miss at least the ODI series against West Indies while recovering from shoulder surgery. Additionally, he also sat out the ODI series against England. He has started light batting drills and although he is aiming to make the Test series in the Carribean, a final decision will rest on an assessment of his fitness next week.In his last 10 Tests, he averages only 28 with one hundred and after a low dismissal at his home ground of Mumbai against England in March, Tendulkar was booed off the field by a section of the crowd. But 132 Tests, 10,469 runs, 35 Test centuries, 362 ODIs, 14,146 runs and 39 ODI hundreds, a 16-year career and only 33 years of age, still hold considerable value, as Iconix have now confirmed.
1st day Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe cream of South African cricket came face to face at Kingsmead in Durban as the Dolphins took on Western Province Boland (WPB) in the first SuperSport Series match of the season. Losing the toss, was asked to bat first. Thanks to an undefeated 105 by JP Duminy and a 99 from Jacques Kallis they ended on 310 for 6 in 89.4 overs when bad light stopped play. Mfuneko Ngam, after a long lay-off, pulled up in his seventh over with a shoulder injury and had to leave the field. Shaun Pollock, taking the first three wickets, that of Graeme Smith (14),Herschelle Gibbs (42) and Andrew Puttick (0), was ably assisted by Lance Klusener, who bagged two for himself.1st day Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn Potchefstroom the Lions won the toss and batted first against the Warriors. An opening partnership of 87 between Stephen Cook (40) and Adam Bacher (49) was overshadowed by Justin Ontong scoring 60 and HD Ackerman getting 54. Some disciplined bowling from Makhaya Ntini, Mornantau Hayward and Monde Zondeki never allowed the Lions to get above three runs an over. At close of play the Lions had crawled to 241 for 6 from 97 overs.1st day Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSuperSport Park saw the Eagles misread the pitch, asking the Titans to bat first. Jacques Rudolph (88) and Daryll Cullinan (75) were the destroyers-in-chief and were followed by Zander de Bruyn, who ended undefeated on 74, seemingly picking up from where he left off last season.