The England & Wales Cricket Board are emerging as key players in the gradual restructuring of cricket’s world order, after talks between David Morgan, the ECB chairman, and Inderjit Singh Bindra of the BCCI resulted in an agreement in principle for the two countries to play each other every alternate year.As two of the biggest drawcards in the world game, it would be an itinerary that replicates the Ashes scenario of a home-and-away cycle over four years, and India are keen to increase the frequency of their clashes with Australia as well. The situation is being closely monitored by the ICC, who last week went out of their way to remind India of their commitment to the Future Tours Programme, which requires all countries to play one another over the course of a five-year cycle.England, for their part, are keen to forge closer links with India, the new powerbrokers of the world game who are responsible for 60% of the game’s global income. “We’ve had exploratory discussions and are very interested,” a spokesman for the ECB told Cricinfo. “We believe [such a situation] would be mutually beneficial.”But equally, the ECB remain keen to stay on the right side of the ICC, who are in danger of being marginalised by India’s increasingly confrontational attitude to the FTP. They have threatened to withdraw from future Champions Trophy tournaments, and are increasingly adverse to hosting unprofitable series against the likes of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Last week Bindra told a press conference in Mumbai that Bangladesh would be afforded “meal allowance only” if they were ever to take part in a Test series in India. After five years of Test status, India is the only country they have yet to tour.”All cricket boards have to honour their ICC commitments,” Morgan emphasised to The Daily Telegraph, although with an ICC Board meeting looming next month, the prospect of a rejigging of the FTP is very much on the cards. “We’re moving to a six-year cycle for our Future Tour Programme and, within that, countries can play each other more frequently,” Ehsan Mani, the president of the ICC, told The Daily Telegraph. “The Indians don’t have to re-invent the wheel.”Under the ICC ten-year plan, England had originally been pencilled in for a Test tour to Bangladesh in February next year – a short stop-over between the Ashes and the World Cup. But such is the fixture congestion of the modern-day tour, this was simply not a realistic option. “The first match of the World Cup begins on March 5, and our tour of Australia could finish as late as February 13,” explained an ECB spokesman. “There’s simply no time.”It is little wonder then, given the fixture overload that will require England’s cricketers to be on international duty for more than 300 days in the coming 12 months, that the ECB are proving receptive to these new proposals. “We’ve always wanted to develop closer ties with India,” Morgan concluded. “This was on our wish list that we gave to the ICC. They have a middle class which is as big as the entire population of the United States. Bindra was pushing at an open door.”
ScorecardGuyana beat Trinidad and Tobago by 148 runs in the round-six Carib Beer match at Albion. Guyana, who dominated the game throughout, were made to struggle until the final hour of play, thanks to a maiden first-class century from Denesh Ramdin and middleand lowerorder resistance from T&T. Guyana moved to joint 2nd position with Windward Islands on 34 points amd T&T were left in 5th position with 24. Reon King, the pick of the bowlers, snapped the last wicket to end with four for 78. T&T were boosted by a strong performance from Ramdhin, who hit 107, and the injured opener, Imran Khan, who batted at No. 8, chipped in with 46. Dwayne Bravo, the T&T allrounder, only added 12 to his overnight 28. Damodar Daesrath, the Guyana vice-captain, picked up three for 38.Jamaica 448 (Bernard 102, Pagon 84, Jeremy 5-77) drew with Leeward Islands 510 for 9d by 62 runs ScorecardPlay was abandoned on the fourth day without a single ball being bowled due to heavy overnight and morning showers.
New Zealand, under interim coach Ashley Ross, are going to great lengths to replicate the conditions that they are likely to face on their tour of India next month, and their final training camp – at Christchurch next week – will feature noisy headphones and dirty pitches.Ross is trying to acclimatise New Zealand’s players to every scenario they are likely to face on Indian grounds, developing their mental strength by looking at how other experts, such as violinists and chess players, learned to cope with stress.”We’ve done similar things in the past before heading to India and Sri Lanka and the players are always receptive to new ideas that are going to make them better players,” said Ross to .The batsmen will practice on indoor artificial pitches with dirt, string and paper sprinkled on them. Ross is also keenly aware of noise levels in Indian stadia; at a recent coaching programme, he had a group of 10-year-olds shout constantly for 15 minutes at Matthew Sinclair when he was batting. At the camp, batsmen will don headphones under their helmets, and CDs with sudden noises will play through them during batting sessions.”The basic concept is looking at different ways of stressing our athletes,” Ross said. “If they can survive batting in an unpleasant training environment then it has to help their mental strength.”
Brendon McCullum made scoring look easy for Otago at Carisbrook against Northern Districts in the State Championship match today, but it proved a false dawn.While he scored 50 off 60 balls, in the attacking fashion he has already become renowned for, he wasn’t able to maintain the scoring rate and was out with the score on 63 and the only other batsman on the team able to match his final total was Craig Cumming who scored 56, but off a more sedate 144 balls.Otago’s final total of 215 was a disappointing return, although similar to other returns for teams all around the country on the first official day of the season.Chris Gaffaney scored 22, but the Otago effort overall was not as convincing as it would have wanted to produce.The Northern Districts attack took a pasting from McCullum initially, but with his departure came back well with Bruce Martin finding he was able to get good reward with his left-arm spin to take three for 24 from 10.3 overs.Joseph Yovich and Ian Butler both received some early tap but Yovich, especially, responded well with three for 55.James Marshall ensured ND had a good start to its bid to build a handsome first innings advantage by getting to 45 not out from 76 balls by stumps on what was a drawn out day with play going well after the scheduled finish time of 6pm.Mark Bailey was 12 not out as ND reached 69/1 by stumps. Otago’s solitary success with the ball was achieved by Evan Marshall who secured his first wicket after being out of first-class play for five years.
Graeme Smith, the former South Africa captain who took charge of his country’s Test fortunes as a callow 22-year-old in 2003, hopes that Jason Holder can put the team politics to one side when he takes over as West Indies’ Test captain for the first time in Sri Lanka next month.Holder, 23, was named as Denesh Ramdin’s successor for the two-Test series that gets underway in Galle on October 14 after displaying impressive leadership credentials at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year. Coming only months after a pay dispute led to West Indies’ withdrawal from their tour of India in October 2014 – a move that landed the WICB with a multimillion dollar bill for compensation which is still being thrashed out – the team battled back from an early defeat against Ireland to reach the quarter-finals, where they eventually lost to the finalists, New Zealand.Despite his tender years, Holder has already received the endorsement of one of the region’s greatest players, Brian Lara, who praised his “demeanour” during that tournament and likened his stature to that of a young Clive Lloyd.”Clive Lloyd was not the best batsman, he was not the best bowler back in the early 70s but you could tell that a lot of the players respected him,” Lara told ESPNcricinfo ahead of the Help for Heroes charity match at The Oval. “I hope that Jason gets the same respect from the players, and also the board. He finds himself in a very tough situation where there are unhappy players but if the board give him the support that he needs and he can express himself, then he can become a very successful captain.”There are no better role models for young captains than Smith, whose tenure began against the backdrop of South Africa’s humiliating early exit as hosts of the 2003 World Cup, and with the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal still an open wound for many of the country’s leading cricketers. He went on to lead South Africa for 11 years and a record 109 Tests after being appointed at an even younger age than Holder.However, Smith recalled how he had been forced to learn on the job in the early years of his captaincy and warned that Holder would face as many challenges from outside the dressing-room as from within it.”I think he’s got to understand the unique challenges within West Indies cricket,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo. “From my perspective I had to do that in South African cricket also. It took me three or four years to come to terms with it.””I think when I was 26, I had captained South Africa for four years and I only really started figuring it out then. I think that next period was probably my best period as captain, when I understood my team, the type of players I had, myself as a leader, and how I wanted the team to play.”Smith sustained his authority in the intervening years through his sheer weight of runs, not least his extraordinary scores of 277 and 259 in the opening two Tests of the tour of England in 2003. But, by his own admission, he “bumped his head” as a leader on several occasions, not least during a feisty one-day series in 2004 when he was outmanoeuvred by New Zealand’s veteran captain, Stephen Fleming.”The sooner [Holder] learns his own strengths and weaknesses, the better he’ll be able to lead that team,” Smith said. “We all know West Indies has the unique challenges. I wish him all the best but we all know it’s not going to be easy.”Smith added that the best means of sustaining his authority and escaping the pressures caused by the inter-island rivalries that have often beset cricket in the Caribbean was for Holder to foster a team environment that protects and nurtures West Indies’ competitive spirit.”You’ve got to separate the two,” he said. “You have to understand and manage that space as well as possible outside, but if you can protect that environment, you can get those players playing for you and get the most out of them.””The minute the two environments leak [into each other], when there’s a lot of politics, it’s tough. He’s got to find a way of galvanizing that environment, and create a culture within that team space where the players want to play for him, want to do well, and separate the two in many ways.”Lara praised the selectors for the appointment of Holder, but reiterated the need for the WICB to follow that move up by backing their captain. However, he also believed the new leader would be fully capable of looking after himself.”He’s a tall, good-looking guy,” said Lara. “Nobody would have backed Clive Lloyd into a corner back in the day, looking for a fight. I don’t think anyone is going to back Jason Holder into a corner. I think he’s going to get a lot of respect from his team-mates.”
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero will be fit to play against Aston Villa on Saturday, but Roberto Mancini is weighing up whether to risk the attacker.
The Argentina international has had a scintillating start to his time in England, but suffered an adductor strain in the 4-0 win over Blackburn in the Etihad Stadium outfit’s last game.
With a crucial fixture against Villarreal in the Champions League coming up on Tuesday, the Italian coach may rest his in-form frontman.
“Sergio could be ready for Saturday but I don’t know if we will take the risk. I am sure [he will be] 100% for Villarreal on Tuesday,” he told the side’s official website.
City’s form domestically has been good, but with only one point from two games in Europe, the English team need a victory against their La Liga opponents in midweek to keep their chances of progression alive.
Ironically enough, if Mancini does decide to rest Aguero for the Villa clash, the side are short of options in attack, with Carlos Tevez not currently being considered.
Mario Balotelli may be able to deputise however, as he seems to have shaken off a back knock that prevented him from inclusion in Italy’s Euro 2012 qualifiers with Serbia and Northern Ireland.
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Fast bowler Iain O’Brien has been released from New Zealand’s squad for the upcoming Chappell-Hadlee Series.O’Brien was included after Shane Bond was ruled out due to an abdominal strain, but he too will take not part in the series after a poor start to the tour. His four overs during New Zealand’s warm-up loss at Lilac Hill cost 52 runs, though he did pick up a wicket.O’Brien, 31, has yet to make his ODI debut but played in both Test losses in South Africa last month.He will return home in time to play for Wellington in their State Championship match against Central Districts starting in Napier on Monday.New Zealand play Australia in a Twenty20 international in Perth on Tuesday before the first of three ODIs at the Adelaide Oval on December 14.
Michael Holding believes that Glenn McGrath should bring the curtain down on his Test career at the end of the Ashes series and retire completely following next year’s World Cup.McGrath returned to the Australia Test line-up to face England after taking time out to care for his ill wife and has faced questions about his long-term position in the team. Despite six wickets in the first innings at Brisbane, there have been clear signs that he is not the force of old, especially when conditions offer little encouragement.”I think Glenn has been magnificent for Australian cricket and no one can ever question his contribution,” Holding told Sydney’s . “I’d say he’s in the top three fast bowlers I’ve seen, alongside Dennis Lillee and Malcolm Marshall, but he’s at an age where he cannot produce what he did two years ago.”Obviously it’s up to Glenn but he has nothing left to prove. I hope he recognises when it is time to go. The World Cup would be a great time for Glenn to say goodbye.”Holding, who retired at 33, thinks McGrath should leave the game before it gets to the stage where he is taken apart by batsmen. “It’s a fine line,” he said. “I hope he doesn’t hang around too long. It’s better to get out when you have a little bit left rather than hang around and end up past your best. McGrath doesn’t need that.”
Pakistan turned on the style in the second one-day international as they inflicted a thumping seven-wicket defeat on England, levelling the series with six overs to spare. Shoaib Akhtar and Kamran Akmal produced most of the sparkle as one confirmed his rejuvenation as an international force and the other confirmed his potential as one for the future. Back in the present, both were far too good for England in a match that showed how quickly fortunes can change in the limited overs game.Akmal’s second one-day century came from 108 balls, his first against West Indies was also as an opener, and followed on from Shoaib’s fiery five-wicket haul which knocked the stuffing out of England. Chasing 230, Pakistan did not need to race along but Akmal was in a hurry from the start. Despite kick-starting his knock with an uppercut for six off Steve Harmison he did not take any undue risks and found few problems with any of the bowlers. He indulged in his favourite cover drive, peppering the off side with timing and placement.Defending a well-below-par total, England knew that early wickets were their only chance and needed a repeat of Shoaib’s performance which had earlier left them floundering on 130 for 8. A bowler light after subbing James Anderson with Vikram Solanki, they threw their new-ball heavyweights at the Pakistan openers. Akmal and Salman Butt responded to the challenge by setting a rapid pace, latching on to any hint of width and having the confidence in the pitch to drive through the line.Marcus Trescothick tried to regain some control by delaying his Powerplays but, unlike the first match, the Pakistan batsmen did not need to force the pace against Ian Blackwell and Paul Collingwood. Even Flintoff’s strike with the first ball of his second spell and Collingwood’s well-disguised slower ball to Younis Khan did not slow the tempo. Akmal was not bothered whether the field was in or out and it was only a moment of over-confidence that brought his downfall with the job almost done – and Inzamam-ul-Haq finished it with a flourish.
The job was started, and in destructive fashion, by Shoaib on a pitch that offered more pace and carry than on Saturday. He sparked Pakistan into life, bringing out his full box of tricks in a stunning seventh over of the innings. He produced a perfect slower ball which Trescothick failed to pick and Andrew Strauss couldn’t get out of the way of a searing bouncer, Akmal leaping to hold a fine, high catch.Rana Naved-ul-Hasan then delivered the crucial over of the match, removing England’s powerful middle order in the space of five balls. Firstly Pietersen, clearly in discomfort after aggravating a rib injury, swished and missed after a brief boundary flurry. Next Andrew Flintoff, after his early alarm call to receive the Sports Personality of the Year award, was given another wake-up when he was cramped for room trying to play a pull.As England tottered, five wickets down, Shoaib returned from receiving treatment on a calf injury to produce another of his spine-tingling overs of extreme pace. His second ball back accounted for Geraint Jones, who couldn’t get his gloves below a rapid, well-directed bouncer. Blackwell then had no answer to the pace in the following over as he failed to get in the same postcode as a full, fast, straight ball that sent the off stump flying.With Shoaib reaching his blistering best a swift end to the innings was on the cards but Solanki and Liam Plunkett restored respectability with a record ninth-wicket stand of 100.They milked the spinners, as Inzamam strangely opted not to bring a quick back, but it was far from all nudge and nurdle as Plunkett launched a handsome six off Shoaib Malik while Solanki frequently flicked through midwicket. Plunkett’s first international fifty confirmed his allround promise and is another tick for him on an impressive tour.But if England thought they had been given a sniff, that notion was quickly snuffed out by another of the impressive youngsters. With the crushing nature of this win Pakistan now have the momentum in the series but, as this double-header in Lahore has shown, that can change in the blink of an eye.
Pakistan have announced that they will add Shahid Afridi to the squad for the rest of the series, but will otherwise keep the same players. Afridi is back from his suspension.
Marcus Trescothick b Shoaib 16 (30 for 1) Andrew Strauss c Akmal b Shoaib 0 (30 for 2) Kevin Pietersen b Naved-ul-Hasan 28 (75 for 3) Andrew Flintoff c sub (Hameed) b Naved-ul-Hasan 0 (75 for 4) Matt Prior b Razzaq 32 (89 for 5) Geriant Jones c Younis b Shoaib (103 for 6) Ian Blackwell b Shoaib 10 (120 for 7) Paul Collingwood c and b Kaneria 23 (130 for 8) Liam Plunkett c and b Shoaib 56 (230 for 9) Steve Harmison run out (Younis) 0 (230 all out) PakistanSalman Butt b Flintoff 43 (86 for 1) Younis Khan b Collingwood 15 (113 for 2) Kamran Akmal c Solanki b Harmison 102 (187 for 3)
A fourth-wicket stand of 169 between Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen guided an England XI to a six-wicket win over South Africa A with almost eight overs to spare under the lights at Kimberley. The margin was comfortable, but until the last third of the match, England often looked anything but.Pietersen and Bell came together with the innings tottering at 57 for 3, and 40 of those had come from the stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick after Vikram Solanki (6) and Kabir Ali (0) had both failed. At that stage, England, who rested all but two of the side which had played in the last Test – Trescothick and Geraint Jones – were in trouble on a slow and low pitch. But Pietersen and Bell led a gutsy counter-attack at more than six an over with none of the bowlers able to contain them. By the time Pietersen fell three short of a deserved hundred, the game was decided.The day had started badly for England as Morne van Wyk and Boeta Dippenaar cracked 110 for the second wicket, which seemed to put South Africa A on target for a big total. After 31 overs they were 158 for 1, but a good containing performance by the bowlers pegged them back after that.
van Wyk, who made an excellent 104, was especially brutal on James Anderson, whose first three overs were smashed for 28, and when he was replaced by Ali it hardly stemmed the flow as his first two overs yielded another 16.Dippenaar clattered 66 from just 68 balls, including nine fours, but when he perished trying to loft Gareth Batty back over his head, some of the momentum went with him. The experiment of trying Adam Bacher at No. 5 failed, as he was bowled by Ali, stuck on the crease after making only 3.This heralded a great containing effort by England, as the ball softened and the bounce became lower and lower. South Africa A might have expected to post around 300 after that jet-propelled start, but England took wickets at regular intervals to slow them down. Ali finished with 4 for 40 and Batty 2 for 42, including van Wyk who was well caught by a diving Alex Wharf three balls from the end.