Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan fast bowler and captain, has lashed out at Inzamam-ul-Haq and called him a “dictator” in Pakistan cricket. In an interview on ESPN, Akram said that Inzamam had become so powerful that Bob Woolmer, the former coach who died under unexplained circumstances in Jamaica, and the support staff approached him for leave.”I have seen senior PCB officials sitting at his residence and awaiting orders,” Akram said. “These things are not good for cricket.” With Pakistan looking for a new captain, after Inzamam resigned from the post and announced his retirement from ODIs, Akram felt that Shoaib Malik, the allrounder, was a good choice.”The only ones who can handle the job are Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf,” he said. “Malik is young and he is talented. I don’t think we have much of a choice, if Younis [Khan] is not interested.”Younis officially declined the captaincy, citing continuing mental strain after the traumatic events of the recent weeks as the main factor in his decision. He had been vice-captain under Inzamam for two years and was expected to take over the leadership. Younis had earlier rejected the post of captaincy during the Champions Trophy in India, when Inzamam was facing a four-match ban, on the grounds that he didn’t want to be a “dummy” captain.Akram felt that Younis would have been the best person to replace Inzamam but added that it was silly of Younis to make comments about absolute power and control. “For any captain, he must first win the trust of his teammates, get some victories under his belt and power will automatically come,” Akram said. “You don’t have to clamour for power.”Disagreeing with former captain and coach Javed Miandad’s comments that the captain must not be given full authority, Akram said that in India and Pakistan the captain must be the boss as he leads the team out on the field. “Javed has been my mentor but I sometimes don’t understand what he says,” Akram said.”When he was captain, Javed wanted full control and now he is saying something else.” Akram said that everything would fall into place as long as there was a healthy interaction between the captain and selectors.
Ken Gordon, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), has said his organisation could no longer be identified as “anti-player” or opposed to the interests of West Indies cricketers in light of the recent involvement of many former players in the administration and conduct of the regional Board’s affairs.Gordon was speaking to the West Indies cricket team in the VIP Lounge at Piarco International Airport on Thursday after they arrived for this weekend’s two one-day Internationals against Zimbabwe at the Queen’s Park Oval.The WICB president said the board was doing a lot to bring the players and the board closer together. “The board has traditionally been accused of being opposed to the interest of players and even being ‘anti-player’ by some,” he said, before citing the numerous positions held by former players, including chairman of the WICB’s Cricket Committee, Clive Lloyd, and chairman of the Board’s negotiating team, Deryck Murray.”Former West Indies players are now at the heart of all the decisions that guide West Indies cricket,” Gordon pointed out. “Whatever further refinements may be ahead, no one in his or her right mind can persist with the longstanding accusation of indifference by the WICB to the interests of players. For so many of them who guide WICB decisions were once players like you are. And let us remember that this transformation did not come about because it was forced on us. They were all freely made by a forward thinking West Indies Cricket Board in preparing for the future.”Gordon noted that a lot of the misunderstanding in the past that led to prolonged and bitter contract negotiations and fall-outs was because of faulty communication. “So often difficulties can be cleared up when the misunderstandings which must inevitably occur are addressed promptly and before they become big misunderstandings. Then we have to understand that we are really part of one team.”Along with the multi-million dollar windfall from the 2007 World Cup, Gordon also spoke of plans to boost the regional game’s financial status with the recent signing of an agreement between the WICB and the Indian Cricket Board. But it would only be beneficial if the West Indies return to their winning ways.”There is, as some of you may be aware, tremendous potential for developing cricket in North America, where the diaspora is large, vibrant and only too anxious to embrace the game,” Gordon explained. “We expect this to open many opportunities, but we must go there as winners, not as the supporting act in a two-part series with India.”Let us therefore set our sights and our targets one at a time, first Zimbabwe, next India, next Champions Trophy and then the World Cup.”He said Brian Lara, the newly appointed captain, had emphasised the benefits of goal-setting, a path also being followed by the WICB that is “well on the way to accomplishing them”.”Now we are at the threshold of the big one, but only you can deliver that, for the big one is getting the right results on the field. We need to see the spark of a new era in everything you do,” Gordon emphasised. “Let us comprehensively bury the complaints and baggage of the past. We need to think positive. Become positive and by your performance, send an unmistakable message to the cricketing world – ‘things are different now, for the new West Indies team is on the move’.”
With less than a week to go until the new elections to appoint the board of the Kenya Cricket Association, the race to replace Sharad Ghai as chairman has boiled down to a three-way battle between Tom Tikolo, Salim Dhanji and Samir Inamdar.Dhanji, who heads the powerful Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association, and Inamdar, who runs the Coast Cricket Association, are both lawyers who have been instrumental in bringing down the Ghai regime. And both recognise that there is much work to be done to restore the fortunes of a game which has been run down through poor administration and a lack of funding.”Whoever goes in will be inheriting a mess,” Inamdar told the Nation. “He will need to overhaul the whole KCA structure and improve internal governance of the KCA. My development plan would work towards spreading the game out of Nairobi to bring out the talent that is there in the provinces.”Dhanji is equally aware that there are tough times ahead, and his immediate goal would be to restore good relations with the ICC, which has grown tired of the endless infighting, as well as establishing an effective and transparent committee structure. “These committees are the most important tools of operations and I intend to ensure they are made up of people from all the cricket provinces as a way of involving everyone in the management of the game.”Dhanji added that the country needed an effective structure of provincial leagues, and said that contact had already been made with the authorities in Zimbabwe and South Africa to discuss the possibility of Kenya participating in their leagues.Tikolo, the third candidate, has a superb playing and coaching pedigree, but it is that very closeness to the players that could count against him. There has been unease with the way the national squad has been selected, and also the task facing the new chairman is as much about politics as it is about cricket. It might be felt that this is the time for an experienced administrator to take the helm.
Pakistan 277 for 4 (Hameed 127*, Farhat 107) beat New Zealand 228 for 6 (Marshall 62*, Jones 49) by 49 runs, and won the series 5-0 Scorecard Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat notched up commanding hundreds as Pakistan beat New Zealand by 49 runs in the final one-day international at Rawalpindi. The victory completed a 5-0 rout in the series, and struck a psychological blow to Pakistan’s opponents before the upcoming tour of New Zealand.Hamish Marshall stood out for New Zealand, scoring an fighting unbeaten 62, after his more distinguished team-mates failed to make much of a fist of the run-chase. Good technique, a keen eye, late adjustments, and good judgment of a run were the building blocks of Marshall’s innings.New Zealand required a good start – the kind the Pakistan openers have provided with astonishing consistency – if they were to have a fighting chance. However, Richard Jones and Craig Cumming found it difficult to get the ball away on the slow pitch. Not many strokes were played with authority, except for Cumming’s savage hook off Shoaib Akhtar and a glorious cover-drive off Shabbir Ahmed’s first delivery. Even singles were hard to find. The run-drought continued when Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood replaced the opening bowlers with their sharp medium-pace.Cumming struggled throughout his stay, and though he showed glimpses of attacking form, the miserly bowling had him groping for runs, until an offcutter by Razzaq trapped him in front (50 for 1). Even Jones, otherwise characteristically watchful, had a zany moment in the 21st over, when he casually flicked Razzaq over midwicket for six. One run short of his half-century, though, Jones played the ball on to his pad and ran halfway down the pitch, only to hear Mathew Sinclair shout a late refusal. Farhat picked up the ball and threw down the stumps before Jones could regain his crease (106 for 2).The mounting run rate claimed its next casualty when Sinclair (36) played a delivery to short third man and wandered down the pitch for a single. Azhar collected the ball and hurled it to Moin Khan, who did the rest (141 for 3). Chris Cairns’s atrocious day at the office came to an end when he swung a delivery from Akhtar to Shoaib Malik at square leg. Jacob Oram then ran himself out, and Brendon McCullum stood no chance when Azhar struck him right in front with an inswinging yorker (179 for 6).Amid the carnage, Marshall refused to concede ground, tackling pace with daring cuts, and Malik’s spin with deft glances. An express delivery from Akhtar was lifted over the keeper’s head for four with time to spare. His fine exhibition made him New Zealand’s highest runscorer in this series.The first session had also belonged to Pakistan, as Farhat and Hameed put on 197 and strode to the pavilion with enhanced reputations with a pair of centuries to their name. New Zealand will remember the first match of the series with longing: Pakistan’s opening stand in that one was 2. After that, the openers put on four century stands, a telling comment on how the team has achieved big totals with regularity.Farhat rode his luck against some good-length bowling by Oram and Daryl Tuffey, edging the odd delivery past slip. But the hazards of attacking on a tricky pitch did not hold him back as he powerfully hooked and drove successive balls to the fence. The friendly medium-pace of Cairns and Paul Hitchcock served up some shortand over-pitched deliveries, which were dispatched to the boundary with panache, and even Hameed, who had played with extreme caution, cashed in on a few loose balls. The openers reached their half-centuries in contrasting fashion, with Farhat on the attack while his partner played it safe.And there were no nerves when Farhat reached his first one-day century after three near-misses. But his quest for quick runs brought about his downfall, as a lofted shot off Canning ended in a catch in the deep (197 for 1). A mini-collapse ensued, and demonstrated the difficulty in scoring runs, before Hameed took the onus on himself to score rapidly, and reached his century in a flurry of boundaries.Razzaq, a success in every previous knock in this series, could not help chipping a ball to long-on bringing, a meek end to his explosive series (204 for 2). Shoaib Malik misjudged a quick run to cover, and was short of his crease by a comfortable margin. It was left to Moin Khan to score 14, including an effortless six over midwicket, as Pakistan scampered 277 – rather less than looked likely when the openers were going so well.But in the end it was more than enough, as New Zealand conceded the advantage to a reinvigorated Pakistan team that played with great style throughout this five-match series.
Northern Districts’ fast bowler Ian Butler has been rushed into the CLEAR Black Caps for Wednesday’s first One-Day International against England at Jade Stadium.Butler, who turned 20 in November, has been called in to take the place of speedster Shane Bond who has been forced out for the remainder of the season with a suspected stress fracture of his left ankle.Butler made his first-class debut this year and has played three State Championship games and two State Shield (New Zealand’s domestic one-day competition) games. He also played for Northern Districts in the two one-day matches against England on Friday and Saturday.Butler said there was a silence on the telephone after selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee contacted him today.”I was about to go to the driving range but there was no chance after that,” he said.Butler was catching a plane from Auckland to Christchurch tonight where he will make himself known to all the other members of the side who, apart from his Northern Districts team-mates Daniel Vettori and Daryl Tuffey, and his New Zealand Under-19 team-mate from last year, Brendon McCullum, have still to meet him.Butler said the ND pace attack of Joseph Yovich, Tuffey and Simon Doull worked well together and they passed on tips and advice to him regularly.Butler was confident he wouldn’t be too nervous on Jade Stadium as he felt he didn’t bowl too badly against England for ND.Hadlee said the selectors were taking a big punt but added that if Butler did half as well as Bond had done then they would be very happy.Hadlee said the loss of Bond was a devastating blow to Bond and to the team.”When we have just got a tremendous resource and asset to lose him like that is a great blow. So now we have got to try and groom somebody else to do that role,” he said.He said the selectors were unanimous in giving Butler a try in a bid to keep the pace option as part of New Zealand’s attacking arsenal during the England series. Butler will be instructed to bowl flat out.Hadlee also pointed to the history in New Zealand of taking a punt on faster bowlers as had happened to him, to Gary Bartlett, Bruce Taylor and his brother Dayle Hadlee.”If somebody has got something a little bit different, and special, it gives an advantage over somebody else and that is often influential in making the final call,” Hadlee said.”If we are looking down the track at the World Cup and potentially as a young Test bowler of the future as well, sometimes you have got to take a bit of a punt on a player.”This is probably the biggest call we have made in my time as a selector.”Hadlee said he had not seen a lot of him bowling although he did see him last year at Under-19 level when ND played Otago and he bowled very quickly and took four wickets in his first four overs as well as giving McCullum “a bit of a hurry up.””So there were signs going back last year. The other selectors have been around the ground domestically this year and when you talk to coaches they are our eyes and ears anyway.”The information is positive but still, it is a huge call,” he said.Bond first felt the ankle two weeks ago in Australia and it was thought he was only suffering bruising. However, he bowled in the last of the VB Series finals in pain and upon coming back to New Zealand had the ankle looked at and the stress fracture was revealed today.Hadlee said the one-day game had changed and quicker bowlers were now being used not only for the short-pitched delivery.”The way the law is used quick bowlers have got a more important role to play so you are looking for specialist fast bowlers, in fact, if anything, the all-rounder who bowls at 120kph and bats a bit off the front foot is going to find it difficult now to survive in the one-day game,” he said.ND coach Bruce Blair had advised Hadlee that Butler’s lines were the best of the quick bowlers in the ND side.Hadlee said there would be some comment about how Butler had leap-frogged other players like James Franklin and Chris Drum to name two.”But this guy Butler has pace whereas the others don’t have that. They have other skills. Let’s just see what happens,” he said.
New Zealand will play its limited overs tri-series games in Australia next summer in one block in the New Year meaning the home domestic series is unlikely to see any international one-day players.The Victoria Bitter Series was announced yesterday and starts on January 11 with New Zealand playing Australia in Melbourne.That will follow New Zealand’s expected home one-day series with Bangladesh and a warm-up game in Australia before the VB series.While the New Zealand domestic season programme has still to be announced, it is unlikely to allow the country’s top players to be included.New Zealand is touring Australia for the Test match leg of the tour before Christmas and has two Tests against Bangladesh on either side of Christmas.Meanwhile, New Zealand has not yet received an invitation to take part in the Hong Kong Sixes tournament in November this year.The tournament will be played on November 10-11 after being off the international scene for four years.Eight top international countries will be taking part, although the final eight have yet to be named.While New Zealand’s leading Test players will be in Australia, several one-day specialists may be available for selection if, as is expected, an invitation is issued to New Zealand during the International Cricket Council’s meeting next week.Meanwhile, New Zealand has agreed to play an Australian Country XI during what would have been a seven day break in its VB programme. The match will be played at Bowral, the home of the Sir Donald Bradman Museum.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been dealt a setback for today’s FA Cup quarter-final clash against Manchester City as injury news emerges.
The Lowdown: Saints looking to bounce back…
Following an impressive five-game unbeaten run in the Premier League stretching from late January to late February, the Saints and Hasenhuttl have been brought back down to earth after three consecutive top-flight losses (Transfermarkt).
Defeats away to Aston Villa and at home to Newcastle and Watford haven’t exactly got Southampton off to a great start this month, but those results could be swiftly forgotten if they pull off an FA Cup upset today.
The Saints take on Premier League champions and current frontrunners Man City at St Mary’s as they look to build upon their impressive 3-1 win over West Ham in the last round.
While most of Hasenhuttl’s squad are now available for selection, the 54-year-old will be without defender Lyanco and goalkeeper Alex McCarty, with the former’s absence in particular coming as a setback.
The Latest: Hasenhuttl dealt Lyanco setback…
As relayed by Daily Echo reporter Alfie House, the Brazilian will miss today’s crunch encounter with Pep Guardiola’s side, with Lyanco having still not recovered from injury.
He tweeted: “#SaintsFC have only two players out for #MCFC, Alex McCarthy and Lyanco. Everyone else is in training and available for selection.”
The Verdict: Bad news
Hasenhuttl will want the 25-year-old back in action as soon as possible for the final Premier League run-in, mainly to boost his options in defence and provide more strength in depth.
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Called an ‘incredible’ player by journalist Josh Stewart, Southampton’s manager has held no shortage of praise for Lyanco this term. Professing his ‘love’ for the defender recently, the Austrian also drew attention to the player’s character and how it fits perfectly at Southampton.
Clearly rated quite highly by those inside and outside St Mary’s, it appears that he still isn’t available, and Hasenhuttl won’t be pleased that he has to do without him again today.
In other news: ‘It is true’…Southampton backed by close source as they now eye 29 y/o ‘star’, find out more here
Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, will take up an assignment with the Delhi Daredevils, the Delhi-based IPL franchise, which also appointed TA Sekar, the chief coach at the MRF Pace Academy, to be in charge of it’s cricket operations.Meanwhile, the GMR Group, the owners of the franchise, said that Virender Sehwag will lead the side in case their request to the IPL governing council to grant him ‘icon’ status, which means that he will not be available for tomorrow’s player auction, is accepted.”Though it has not been finalised, he would lead the team if our request is considered,” B Vanchi, a senior director of GRM Group, said at a press conference organised at the Ferozshah Kotla, where the Delhi-based team kick off their IPL campaign when they take on their Jaipur counterparts on April 19.Meanwhile, Sekar said that one of his first tasks would be to get the Delhi Ranji trio of Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia and Shikhar Dhawan, on board, adding, “In the mandatory under-22 category, we have identified Viraat Kohli, Pradeep Sangwan and Tanmay Srivastava of UP [Uttar Pradesh]”.
Ricky Ponting is eager to have the injury-prone Shane Watson back in his side at the World Cup because he is so important to the balance of the team. Watson, 25, sustained a calf strain during Australia’s thrashing of Bangladesh and will miss the game against England.The initial prognosis was that Watson would be available for the April 20 clash against New Zealand in Grenada, which would be Australia’s final fixture before the semi-finals should they qualify. But Ponting said he hadn’t given up hope of Watson being fit to face Sri Lanka four days earlier.”The earlier we can have him back the better,” Ponting said. “If we get him back for the Sri Lanka game that would be great but we’ll just keep our fingers crossed and hope he keeps coming along well. Originally everyone was hoping he’d be back for the New Zealand game. He’s getting around okay now.”His program has been not to do anything at all, not for this first week and let it heal as much as he can. He’s been doing all his rehab, four or five times a day and he’s had lots of physio.”James Hopes is on standby back in Australia but Ponting is hopeful Watson will be able to recover after a “horrible run of injuries”. “Maybe he has to have a good look and all of our staff have a good look at the way he’s training, his weight program and his training programs and everything like that and give him a more resilient body,” he said.”He’s an extremely talented player and any team round the world is looking for an allrounder that can give you what he can give you in both forms of the game, so let’s hope his body can stand up a bit better because I think he’s got a very bright future. The great shame about it being someone like Shane is that he works harder than anybody else on his body and at the moment he’s having a bad run.”
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian wicketkeeper, said the Indian team was not receiving the kind of support sportspersons needed, especially when they were going through a bad phase.Dhoni refused to elaborate but hinted at the boorish crowd behaviour in the Test match against England at Mumbai last week.”We are not getting the support we want from our fans, particularly when things are not going well for us. I can understand if we are playing abroad, the support is going to be less for us there. When we are playing in India, we expect good support for us. It helps if you back us strongly,” Dhoni said at a function to felicitate him in Delhi.”I don’t want to be specific but you know what happened in Mumbai and here [in the first one-dayer in Delhi],” he added.Dhoni got out to a rash shot in India’s second innings in Mumbai as the hosts capitulated to a 212-run defeat but said he would not change his style of batting, though. “No, I won’t. I would say I should have batted like I did in the first innings,” when he scored a responsible 118-ball 64 that helped India recover from 142 for 5 to post 279.Asked if the team’s collective failure and his shot selection on the last day at Mumbai resulted in his slow batting in the first one-dayer at Feroz Shah Kotla, Dhoni replied in the negative. “It was just that Harbhajan was playing well and I had played only 20-30 balls,” he said. “There should not be an impression that if I am a strokemaker I have to play my strokes. If somebody is playing shots, I can go slow. Even the ball I got out, I was trying to keep it to the ground. That’s why I actually got out.”So, how does one keep playing his shots when the situation demands a bit of caution? “I cannot exactly put it in words. I cannot say what happens when you are under pressure. It cannot be easily explained.”