Owais Shah, the England debutant included in the team after Alastair Cook’s eleventh-hour withdrawal, said the last-minute call didn’t induce any butterflies. “I never thought I would play in the series after Alastair’s century on debut,” he told a press conference. “Since he was scheduled to play over the last two or three days there was no chance of becoming nervous on the eve of the match as I was told I am playing only a few hours before the match.”On his team’s strategy, Shah said, “the basic plan was to keep them on the field as far as we can.” He said batting in the second innings would be a tough ask, although the wicket had not yet showed any signs of affording turn to the slow bowlers.”But what will happen over the next two days cannot be predicted,” he added. “It will be a tough task to bat against the two world-class spinners [Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble]. But our first task is to try and force them to follow on.”Shah said the batting lessons he received from the former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin when he came to India in 2004 had helped him launch his Test career with a flourish. Shah, who made 88 in England’s first innings score of 400, said Azharuddin’s tips were invaluable and he had stuck to them diligently. “I came down to India after hearing Azhar was opening a cricket academy,” he said. “He put me up in a hotel for ten days and gave me batting lessons and after going back to England I stuck to these. They helped me here.”He added that the example of Australia’s Mike Hussey, who made runs by the tons in domestic cricket to force his way into the national squad, was an inspiration to him. “I have seen people like Mike Hussey not getting a chance to play for Australia for years together. He scored heavily and got into the team. I knew that I would get an opportunity to play for England one day and that I should try and get as many runs as I can [in English county cricket]. The selection is not in my hands.”Shah had to retire yesterday owing to cramps in both hands and he said the experience had taught him to take more fluids today to avoid getting dehydrated. “I sweat a lot and get cramps in my hands. I learned the lessons of yesterday and made sure I was high on hydration today.”He dismissed the pleasantries exchanged with Indian pacers Munaf Patel and Sreesanth as light banter. “It was all in good spirit.”
Lions 134 for 4 (van Jaarsveld 64) beat Western ProvinceBoland 129 (Duminy 43, Terbrugge 4-20) by six wicketsLions eased to a six-wicket victory against Western Province Boland in a low-scoring PRO20 Series match at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Western Province got off to a brisk start after choosing to bat, scoring 28 off the first three overs.But three wickets then tumbled before another run was added to put them on the back foot as David Terbrugge got the ball moving around. They recovered, though, JP Duminy (43) and Thami Tsolekile (35) bringing them back into the game with a stand of 62 – then the match swung again, as they lost their final seven wickets for 39 runs. Terbrugge finished off the innings with two furtherwickets to end with 4 for 20 in his four overs.With a moderate target, the Lions paced themselves well to record the win inthe 19th over. Man of the match, Vaughn van Jaarsveld 64 off 49 balls with five boundaries and a six. Neil McKenzie finished the game off, hitting a four and a six off the final two balls to give Lions the five points.The match between the Warriors and the Titans was declared a no-resultwithout a ball being bowled at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.
Jimmy Maher belted himself, and Queensland, into the record books in their crushing ING Cup win against Western Australia at the Gabba. Maher struck 187 off only 129 balls to help his side charge to a whopping 4 for 405 from their 50 overs, and then storm to a 207-run victory.Maher’s breathtaking knock broke the record for the highest individual score in domestic one-dayers, while Queensland’s total was the biggest team innings in the 35 years of the competition. Western Australia, meanwhile, were consigned to the blackest Friday of all.Queensland smashed records and set countless milestones on the way to becoming the first team in the ING Cup to score two victory bonus points by doubling their opponents’ total.When Chris Simpson scampered a quick single off the last ball of the 49th over Queensland became the first team to pass the 400 barrier in Australia. The previous best total was New South Wales’s 4 for 397 against Tasmania at the small Bankstown Oval two seasons ago.Queensland’s astonishing score, the fifth-highest in any 50-over match at first-class level, was built on the back of discarded Australian one-day batsman Maher.In a day when everything he touched turned to gold, Maher blazed 26 boundaries and three sixes in oppressive heat before taking three key catches.Maher passed the previous-best individual domestic one-day innings, Murray Goodwin’s 167 against NSW in Perth at 2000-01, in fine style when he belted successive sixes off Michael Hussey. But Goodwin only had himself to blame for his mark being eclipsed after dropping the simplest of catches at cover off Paul Wilson when Maher was on 105.The only Australian to have scored more runs in a one-day match was Darren Lehmann, who blazed 191 for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire in Scarborough, England in 2001.Queensland’s run glut was also a perfect one-day send-off for Stuart Law, who launched proceedings with 95 from 69 balls. Law belted 13 fours and three sixes in his knock and threatened to break his own record for the fastest domestic one-day century (69 balls, set this season against Tasmania) before cutting Aaron Heal to backward point.He brought up his half-century in only 37 balls and produced a swashbuckling opening with Maher to reap 138 runs from the first 15 overs, including 79 runs from 30 balls between the ninth and 14th overs.WA didn’t help their cause, with some loose bowling and poor fielding assisting Queensland. Things went from bad to worse for them when Andy Bichel had Justin Langer caught by Maher at second slip in the first over. Only Hussey had the better of the bowlers and when he fell at 6 for 170, the Warriors were only batting to deny the double bonus point.
In one of two opening matches of the 2003 edition of the Deodhar Trophy, East Zone comprehensively dominated West Zone to win their tie at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, by nine wickets.Winning the toss, West Zone opted to take first strike, but they could not maximise the advantage. Apart from Vinayak Mane, who came in at number three, no batsman could really get going, and Mane’s 43 (67b, 3×4) was consequently the highest score of the innings.For East Zone, veteran spinner Utpal Chatterjee took three wickets from nine tight overs that conceded only 25 runs. He was well backed up by Rohan Gavaskar and Pravanjan Mullick, who took two wickets apiece.Bowled out for 173, West Zone did not have the runs to defend, but even if they did, Debang Gandhi may well have chased those down too. Gandhi was in good form, hitting a sparkling 109 off just 112 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes. He was given good support by opener MS Dhoni (55, 97b, 1×4, 1×6), and the pair took East Zone to a nine-wicket win in 35 overs.
The SACA have contracted 22 players to the 2001/2002 Southern RedbacksSquad. The players are:
Ben Higgins
Ben Johnson
Brad Young
Brett Swain
Chris Davies
Daniel Harris
David Fitzgerald
Graham Manou
Jeff Vaughan
Luke Williams
Mark Harrity
Michael Smith
Mick Miller
Nathan Adcock
Paul Rofe
Paul Wilson
Peter McIntyre
Ryan Harris
Shane Deitz
Rookies
Cameron Borgas
Mark Cosgrove
Matthew Weekes
These players join the ACB contracted players Jason Gillespie, DarrenLehmann and Greg Blewett in the South Australian Team.This year the ACB have set down a rule for Rookies allowing young up andcoming players to be included in the squad in order for them to continue todevelop in the game.Under player movement regulations set down by the ACB, States must havesigned a minimum of 14 players by June 8th, allocating 90 percent of theirplayer payment pool. All states must finalise the complete list ofcontracted players and fully allocate their player payment pool by September30.Newcomers to the Redbacks squad are fast bowler Mick Miller, batsmen BenHiggins and Nathan Adcock (previously in the 1999/2000 squad) as well asRookies Cameron Borgas, Matthew Weekes and Mark Cosgrove. All three Rookieswere members of the South Australian Cricket Academy last year and have beenincluded in the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy Squad this season.
Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to the latest transfer rumour, and they don’t seem all too happy about the links to Kerem Demirbay.
According to Bild, Liverpool have sent scouts to watch Demirbay, who has been in superb form for Hoffenheim this season.
The 25 year-old has been linked with a move to Liverpool in the past, and the report claims Jurgen Klopp is a still a big fan.
The Reds have scored four goals in each of their last two games, but were definitely struggling for creativity before that.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”310054″ player=”12034″ title=”Rafa’s Pub Facts Fake Madrid & Ross Barkley Emulates… David Ngog”]
Philippe Coutinho was perfect for playing just off of the Reds’ ferocious front three, and the workhorse midfield of this season hasn’t quite given them the same service.
Demirbay could be the perfect fit for that advanced role on the left of Klopp’s midfield trio, but fans don’t seem too convinced.
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The German did miss most of last season through injury, and fans are split on moving for him to solve their midfield creativity issues.
You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
Wasim Jaffer and Laxmi Ratan Shukla have been named captains of the West and East Zones, respectively, for this season’s Deodhar Trophy.Jaffer, after a dismal Test tour of Australia, has been in solid form during the Ranji Trophy one-dayers. His 349 runs at 116.33, with a best of an unbeaten 178 from just 132 balls, are a main reason Mumbai top their group.The West team comprises names such as Rohit Sharma, who scored 235 runs in ten innings during India’s CB Series triumph, Ajit Agarkar, Parthiv Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Under-19 winner Iqbal Abdullah and Munaf Patel, who also featured in the tour of Australia.Sourav Ganguly and Manoj Tiwary have been named in the East team, as has another victorious U-19 player, Saurabh Tiwary.The limited-overs tournament will be played at four centers in South Zone from March 14.Teams West Zone: Wasim Jaffer (captain), Ajit Agarkar, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Venugopala Rao, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Nayar, Mohnish Parmar, Iqbal Abdulla, Munaf Patel, Sandeep Maniar, Siddharth Trivedi, Kedar Jadhav, Pinal Shah.East Zone: Laxmi Ratan Shukla (captain), Sourav Ganguly, Anustup Majumdar, Arindam Das, Manoj Tiwary, Ranadeb Bose, Wriddhiman Saha, Shib Shankar Paul, Ireash Saxena, Haladhar Das, PR Sinha, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Manish Vardhan, SS Rao, Deeraj Goswami, S. Purkayastha.
England cruised into the Super Eights with a seven-wicket win over Kenya in St Lucia as Ed Joyce and Kevin Pietersen made light work of the run chase through a stand of 103. Joyce struck his second half-century of the World Cup while Pietersen enjoyed an extended net against the gentle Kenyan attack. Steve Tikolo had been the only one to stand up to England’s bowlers as the pacemen put in a strong effort.Michael Vaughan had been more than happy by Tikolo’s decision to bat after a two-hour delay, due to heavy morning rain, reduced the contest to 43 overs per side. Being in the field first allowed England to settle any early nerves and overall this was a very competent performance in the manner the team needed. James Anderson struck with the new ball, Andrew Flintoff was fiery on his return to the ranks and Paul Collingwood’s medium-pace wobblers were productive.Ideally, chasing 178, England would have wanted a nice confident start from Joyce and Vaughan. But Kenya bowled tightly with the new ball, Peter Ongondo extracting some tennis ball bounce to undo Vaughan for just 1. Collins Obuya made excellent ground to his right, dived and held an impressive catch to complete another failure for the England captain.Joyce, though, was quickly into his stride and showed excellent timing. He waited for the ball and worked the gaps on both sides of the wicket, while also remaining aware to punish the loose balls. His cover driving was in fine order and a Graham Thorpe-style pull shot was also in evidence.Ian Bell made a steady start, keen to use his feet to the medium-pacers, but after doing the hard work lazily lofted a drive to mid off as Thomas Odoyo was rewarded for a persevering spell. But Joyce latched onto Lameck Onyango, cracking him off the back foot before swivelling onto a pull which went into the stand at deep square-leg, to keep the innings on track.Pietersen imposed himself immediately with an elegant straight drive off his first ball, but Kenya missed a chance to keep themselves in the match when he edged Hiren Varaiya’s first ball only to watch Maurice Ouma shell the chance. From then on it was one-way traffic as Pietersen used his innings as a useful sighter ahead of the next stage and Joyce went to a calm 62-ball fifty. Pietersen’s half-century took 54 deliveries and included a glimpse of some of his power and craft as he milked the spinners. When Joyce was bowled by Tikolo’s doosra England were home and hosed and completed the job with 10 overs to spare.
Kenya appeared to hand themselves a disadvantage when they batted first and Anderson exploited the early conditions to remove both openers in his first spell. Tikolo responded with a rush of boundaries – some off the middle and others the edge – and Kenya’s run rate remained a healthy four-an-over.But Sajid Mahmood struck with a well-disguised slower ball to remove Tony Suji and Tanmay Mishra dragged Collingwood into his stumps as the innings stumbled to 74 for 4. With his main men back in the pavilion the onus was on Tikolo to carry the innings, and his fifty came off 58 balls. But he continued to lose partners at the other end and had a hand in Obyua’s run out when, after playing a sweep against Monty Panesar, he was more interested in the appeal rather than Obuya racing up the pitch. By the time Tikolo sent him back it was too late and a furious Obuya trudged back to the pavilion.Flintoff finally got his first wicket of the tournament when he trapped Odoyo in front, although his shout was so half-hearted it nearly passed everyone by. He could have had a second next ball but Jimmy Kamande escaped a close lbw shout. All the while Tikolo soldiered on, was dropped on 52 by Joyce at mid on, and showed his class with a couple of late deflections and deft sweeps off Panesar. He was eventually cleaned-up by Flintoff, who produced a rapid yorker and offered Tikolo a pat on the back, while England’s late-innings bowling and fielding was on target.It wasn’t a faultless performance from England but after a week to sweat on this match they’ll just be glad to have come through unscathed. Next up is the home nations clash with Ireland; what a day that promises to be in Guyana.
A skin cancer scare will force Michael Clarke to ditch his baggy green cap for a wide-brimmed hat if he regains his Test place. Clarke, who was dropped from the Test side during the West Indies series in November, was diagnosed with a low-grade spot on his nose at a screening after a New South Wales training session.”It was certainly a bit of a shock when they told me what it was,” Clarke said in the . “After I got it checked they got back to me two weeks later with the photos and sent me some information and told me to see my doctor. I saw a doctor in Perth when I was back with the one-day squad; he took a sample of it and sent that away. He said it was some form of very low-grade skin cancer and he organised me to see a dermatologist.”Clarke told the paper he now covered up more of his body when he played and he wore a long-sleeve lycra suit under his one-day outfit during the VB Series. A wide-brimmed hat will also become an essential item during extended fielding stints. “It has reminded me how dangerous the sun is, and we’re obviously out in it a lot,” he said. “I will be double-checking the suncream and zinc.”It’s a bit of a wake-up call, because I’ve got the kind of skin that is susceptible to this. I was trying to get it treated before I came here to South Africa but I ran out of time. I’m told it won’t make any difference if I get it done after I get back from Bangladesh. It should take two laser treatments to get rid of the cells.”Clarke’s first-class chances have been limited due to his ODI duties, but he has spoken to Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, about whether it will upset his plans for a Test return. “He said it doesn’t matter what form of the game you play, just score runs,” Clarke said. “I’ve had a lot of support from the selectors and they’ve been very positive. They know it’s something I can’t help.”Clarke is hopeful he will win a spot in the Test squad for the South Africa series, which begins at Cape Town on March 16, as the reserve batsman. “The major goal for me is to continue scoring runs in the one-day game,” he said. “I feel like I’m batting and bowling pretty well in the one-dayers.”
“It hasn’t been easy playing 100 Tests,” Inzamam-ul-Haq said beforethe match. “I never thought I would get so far.” But in this 100thTest, walking in with Pakistan on 7 for 2, he showed that he still hasplenty of juice left in him. Playing with an ease that made bowlers’efforts seem almost comical, he stroked his way to his 21st century.He got there by guiding the 131st ball he faced, from Irfan Pathan, tosquare leg for a single. He reached the other hand, took off hishelmet, raised his arms, and smiled broadly. He looked with pride andaffection towards the pavilion, where his team-mates stood clapping.The audience applauded too, as did Anil Kumble, another weatheredgiant who knew how it felt to be underestimated.