New South Wales will look to Mark Cameron and Doug Bollinger to bolster their fast-bowling stocks in the Pura Cup match against Victoria at the SCG from Tuesday. Cameron, a 25-year-old quick, is in line to play his second game for the Blues after making his debut in 2002-03 while Bollinger has recovered from a side injury.Nathan Bracken’s elevation to the Australia one-day squad has created one of the openings while Scott Coyte has been dropped. Daniel Smith, the wicketkeeper-batsman, was also not included and his place has been taken by Aaron O’Brien.The game will mark 150 years of first-class matches in New South Wales. The opening contest between the states was held in Melbourne in March 1856 and the return fixture was hosted in Sydney in January 1857. At the halfway point of the current competition New South Wales are tied with Victoria for third on 12 points, two behind Tasmania and six adrift of Queensland.New South Wales squad Simon Katich (capt), Phil Jaques, Ed Cowan, Dominic Thornely, Aaron O’Brien, Brad Haddin, Grant Lambert, Beau Casson, Doug Bollinger, Mark Cameron, Matthew Nicholson, Stuart MacGill.
ScorecardImran Farhat blasted an unbeaten hundred as Habib Bank posted a healthy total of 285 for 2 on the opening day of their four-day Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the UBL Sports Complex. Imran and Taufeeq Umar gave Habib Bank a great start of 144 runs. Imran was in terrific touch as he smacked boundaries in his unbeaten 142 in 347 minutes off 246 balls. Hasan Raza finished on 47 not out that included four boundaries. Imran and Raza had added 137 runs for the unbroken third wicket after Rafatullah Mohmand had gone for three. Imran looked in punishing mood as he hammered Fazl-e-Akbar, Umar Gul and Najaf Shah as well as Imran Tahir, who finished with 1 for 86 off 25 overs. Faisal Iqbal, PIA’s stand-in captain, won the toss and put Habib Bank into bat deceived by the greenish look of the pitch. Moin Khan, the usual captain, missed the match as he was recovering after bout of illness. ScorecardKhan Research Laboratories (KRL) crawled to 200 for 7 in their first innings on the first day of their Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match against Pakistan Customs at the NBP Sports Complex. Electing to bat first, KRL, after a great start of 100 for 1, crashed to 141 for 6 with Murtaza Hussain, the offbreak bowler, grabbing 3 for 70 runs off 33 overs. Mohammad Wasim, the KRL captain, made a steady 62 off 149 balls in 205 minutes laced with eight boundaries. KRL lost five wickets for 42 runs in the post lunch session as the Customs bowlers took back the initiative. Imran Ali picked up 2 for 22 runs in a tight 22 overs to give good support to Murtaza.
ScorecardDay 4 Bulletin – Australia clinch the series Verdict – Hope and resistance Roving Reporter – ‘How can you not love this team?’ The Big Picture – Hameed in the firing line Day 3 Bulletin – Martyn makes it Australia’s day Verdict – The unique Mr Gillespie News – Razzaq taken to hospital The Big Picture – Closing in Day 2 Bulletin – Martyn resists Pakistan’s charge Verdict – The power of the counterpunch The Big Picture – Goodbye Darren Day 1 Bulletin – A Youhana special on Boxing Day Verdict – Loosening the shackles Commentary – A resounding riposte Roving Reporter – The Once A Year Day The Big Picture – Youhana falls The Big Picture – Gillespie strikes Preview package Preview – Australia seek 300th win News – Inzamam ruled out
How do you fancy controlling the Southern Electric Premier League purse strings and being League Treasurer? It’s an important, enjoyable and rewarding role, but far from time consuming and onerous.What’s involved :- 1) controlling the actual League and Development Fund bank accounts (along with other signatories). 2) accounting for receipts and payments. 3) preparation of Annual Budget for assessment of charges to clubs and arranging them. 4) settlement of League expenses and collection of monies due. 5) preparation of annual accounts for both the League and the Development Fund and submission for audit. 6) presentation of accounts to Annual Meetings and reporting to the monthly Management meetings. It’s a role that would probably be ideal for a cricketer, or club member, embarking on a career in the banking or accountancy world and who would relish the opportunity of practical experience in treasurership.A responsible approach to handling third party funds is required, but the volume of book-keeping is not onerous.If you are interested, then have a word with our retiring treasurer Brian Funnell (01264 889793) who will be pleased to provide more information.
Dareen Veness, the Head of Injury Prevention at Somerset County Cricket Club, and Fitness Instructor Andy Hurry were busy at the Academy Fitness Centre at the County Ground this morning, “Plotting the next set of fitness tasks for the Somerset players” they said.Darren told me, “The idea is to get the players stronger, but not bigger -we’re not after beach lifeguards. We want stronger joints and muscles, and to get that we need a power lifting programme for them.”He continued, “Some of the players are heading towards this already, like Steffan Jones and Joe Tucker. Steffan is really good, he’s not afraid of trying anything if it’s going to help him. Matt Bulbeck and Carl Gazzard are both a couple of weeks ahead of all of the others and have been like “guinea pigs” for us.”Fitness instructor Andy Hurry, a former Royal Marine who joined the club at the start of last season told me that he was going to introduce some yoga exercises, “To help with relaxation and flexibility in the players.” Darren added ,”The more pressure that we put on them the more that they need relaxation.””All of the players have had a few days off for Christmas, but they will all be back in next week,” they told me.In fact several of the players have been into the Academy over the Christmas break, including Marcus Trescothick who was in training on Christmas Eve, and as we spoke veteran Graham Rose was hard at work on one of the fitness machines.Both Darren and Andy told me how impressed they were with the attitude that the players had towards their fitness routines.Andy said, “The main aim is to change their lifestyle. Look at someone like Mike Burns, he’s a natural athlete and incredibly fit, and Peter Bowler, who is thirty eight is as fit as a twenty five year oldhe was a revelation to some of the youngsters and a great example for them to follow.”Darren concluded, “Most counties would struggle to integrate it like we have been able to, and a lot of it has been due to the more senior players like Peter Bowler, Graham Rose and Mike Burns who have led from the front, and helped us to drip feed it in.”As I left the Academy Fitness Centre the pair continued with their plotting and planning, all of which will help to make the Somerset players even fitter and stronger than they were in 2001, and hopefully lead them onto even greater things on the field in 2002.
Propelled by a fine 117 by opener Rajat Jaswal, North Zone outplayedSouth Zone by 92 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (under-16) crickettournament at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Monday.Opting to bat first on winning the toss, North Zone were given a soundstart by Jaswal and his partner Manik Kohli (34) who put on 91 runsoff 19.2 overs. Then Jaswal and Bhuvnesh Sharma (50) built upon thiswith a second wicket partnership of 107 runs off 17.4 overs. Jaswal,who had dominated both the stands was the second batsman to bedismissed. He faced only 114 balls and hit eleven fours. There was norespite for South Zone after his departure for Bhuvnesh Sharma andskipper Joginder Sharma (45) then got entrenched in a third wicketassociation that yielded 74 runs off 9.2 overs. Both fell offsuccessive deliveries in the 47th over. While Bhuvnesh was run outafter facing 72 balls and hitting two fours, Joginder was out toStuart Binny after facing 31 balls and hitting six of them to theropes. Thanks to their top order, North Zone ultimately were able topost an imposing total of 286 for six in 50 overs. Binny took three ofthe five wickets to fall to bowlers for 72 runs.The match was virtually decided when South Zone lost the first threewickets for 43 runs. After that, all that some rearguard action fromskipper Gnaneswara Rao (34) and DS Chougule (75 not out) could do wasto delay the inevitable. The defiant Chougule batted till the end,facing 103 balls and hitting two fours. But South Zone, never reallyin the game, were all out for 194 in the 46th over.
It may be termed The Friendship Cup and it may be organised by a group ofcharities while celebrating two nations’ 60 years of independence but,when the likes of Tendulkar, Akhtar, Dravid and Afridi emerge from theirrespective dressing rooms on Tuesday, the word “friendship” will surely be forgotten.The teams last met in the scorching heat of Abu Dhabi, where honours wereshared. Fourteen months on, however, the teams assemble in unknownterritory (neither side have played an international matchin Glasgow), in conditions very different to Abu Dhabi (damp and below 20C)and with contrasting run-ups to the showdown.The Pakistan team is severely lacking in match practice. Their lastcompetitive outing was in May against Sri Lanka. Since then, they’ve had atwo-week conditioning camp in order to work on the players’ fitness levelsas well as a few practice matches. Their one-off ODI against Scotland waswashed out on Sunday, depriving them of yet another opportunity togear up for Tuesday’s game.Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain, is nervous about facing India for thefirst time at the helm and is also worried about his team’s lack ofcompetitive opportunities. “India obviously have an advantage over us asthey have had the opportunity to play in the last month or so. However, wehave experienced players like Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar and theirreturn is a good sign for our young team.”While refusing to comment on the drugs ban issue, Malik welcomed theprospect of seeing Akhtar partner Mohammed Asif with the new ball onceagain. “Both Akhtar and Asif are our best bowlers and the conditions willbe ideal for fast bowling. Hopefully, these two will deliver what isrequired of them.”India, on the other hand, will have their confidence level rocketing aftercoming from behind to hand South Africa a series defeat in Belfast. WhileDravid shrugged off claims of a friendly encounter, the prospect ofplaying in front of a small crowd, as opposed to the cricket-mad ferventfollowing that both teams are used to in the subcontinent, could affect theperformance levels.”Games in Pakistan and India are tense,” said Dravid. “You have huge crowds in Kolkata or Karachi behind you and because there won’t be that big a gathering inGlasgow, things will be slightly different in that aspect.”He also pointed out that the series against Ireland and the matchagainst Pakistan was all about providing young cricketers achance to perform and stake their claim for the series against England.He also confirmed that the team had recovered from the illness thatseverely hampered them in Belfast. “Yuvraj [Singh] had a groin niggleafter our final game against South Africa but he has come through fine sowe have no injury concerns.”Both captains restrained from giving away final line-ups but going by theconditions witnessed in Glasgow over the last few days, swing bowling willbe the order of the day. There has been overnight rain in the city, whichmight cause a delayed start to the proceedings. However, according to theweather reports available, the teams, fans and even Prince Charles will belucky to see a start of any sort.India (from) Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-capt, wk), Rohit Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb BosePakistan (from) Shoaib Malik (captain), Imran Nazir, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami.
Sunderland are set for a huge injury lift this week over defender Danny Batth…
What’s the latest?
According to the Sunderland Echo, the centre-back is hopeful of being back fit and available for selection against Gillingham this weekend in League One.
Sunderland Echo quote the player as saying: “It’s been a niggly injury so we’ve kind of had to let it build up and obviously I’ve been working hard off the pitch in the gym and physically.
“The injury was pretty unfortunate, it was in a blocked tackle. I’ve won the ball and the guy has put all his weight into my ankle. There was no massive damage on the scan, it has just been niggling and niggling so hopefully that’s behind me now and I can crack on.“I’ve just been using the international break to get up to speed.” Buzzing
This update will surely leave Alex Neil buzzing, as having the 31-year-old back will be a major boost to the Sunderland squad heading into the final weeks of the campaign.
The Black Cats are vying for a place in the play-offs and need as many of their best players available as possible to give themselves the greatest chance of making the top six. They are currently seventh and two points off sixth in the table, so Batth’s return will be a timely boost.
He has already proven himself to be a reliable option at a higher level. The defender averaged a superb SofaScore rating of 7.10 for Stoke as he won 68% of his duels and made 2.6 tackles and interceptions per game in the Championship this season.
This shows that he has the quality to be an outstanding performer in the second tier as he delivered brilliant displays for the Potters. His statistics prove that he is playing below his station at the moment, and Sunderland supporters can look forward to seeing him hit top gear in the coming weeks.
Therefore, he should be able to replicate that form whilst playing at a lower standard of football. His experience and ability as a centre-back should make him an excellent player for Neil to call upon between now and the end of the season, as he could be able to have a huge say in their campaign if he can get back to the form that he showed for Stoke in the Championship.
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This is why the 40-year-old will be buzzing that the defender is on his way back from injury and could be in contention to face Gillingham next weekend.
AND in other news, Sold at £9m, now worth £720k: Sunderland played a blinder with “unit” whose career has flopped…
Didier Drogba has revealed that he is yet to make a decision over where he will play his football next term, but will make up his mind in the near future.
The African hitman has left Stamford Bridge after his Chelsea contract expired, departing after helping the Blues to FA Cup and Champions League glory in 2011-12.
The Ivory Coast international has been linked with a move to a raft of clubs, with a big-money switch to join former Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Anelka at Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua thought to be on the cards.
Drogba has not dropped any hints of where he will play in 2012-13, but has stated that an announcement will be made in the near future.
“The next step is interesting,” Drogba told reporters, published by Sky Sports.
“I will announce it soon. But as of now, you will just have to wait.
“Chelsea were very good for me. I shared a special relationship with the club.
“It was a difficult decision to leave them,” he concluded.
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Liverpool have agreed a fee for Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing, the Anfield club revealed on Wednesday.Downing, 26, has reportedly been a target of two previous bids from Liverpool during the English Premier League off-season, and it now appears that the Reds are close to landing the England midfielder.
A statement on Liverpool’s website announced a bid had been accepted for Downing, with Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner telling The Guardian that Downing had handed in a transfer request to help push through the move.
“I can confirm that we have reached an agreement with Liverpool following an improved offer received earlier today and the submission of a formal transfer request by Stewart Downing, and have subsequently given them permission to speak with the player,” he said.
“We believe there are replacements available in the market who can strengthen our squad ahead of the coming season, and we are in discussions as such. We are also working hard to conclude a deal for a goalkeeper, who we believe can also strengthen the side.”
Downing joined Villa in 2009 in a package worth 12 million pounds from boyhood club Middlesbrough.
His arrival at Liverpool would be the latest big-money buy for manager Kenny Dalglish.
Strike duo Andy Carroll (35 million pounds) and Luis Suarez (22.8 million) joined in January, while midfielders Jordan Henderson (16 million) and Charlie Adam (seven million) have been off-season arrivals.