A jury in Jamaica has recorded an open verdict on the death of the former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, after deciding that there was insufficient evidence of either a criminal act or natural causes. The 11-member jury, which began considering a verdict last week after five weeks of evidence, received more instructions from the coroner Patrick Murphy before agreeing they were unable to decide.Murphy originally told jurors about possible outcomes a week ago as they began to consider whether Woolmer’s death occurred by natural causes, accidental death, suicide, murder and involuntary or voluntary manslaughter. The verdict came after 26 days of testimony from 57 witnesses and the local police have closed their case.”We do not intend to go any further with these investigations,” said the Jamaican deputy police commissioner Mark Shields said. He explained the police had already “conducted a thorough and one of the largest investigations in recent years and had always been confident that Woolmer died of natural causes”. They interviewed more than 400 people, collected statements from 250 witnesses and pursued 500 lines of inquiry.Murphy, who presided over the inquiry, said the cause of death would now be left up to Jamaica’s chief prosecutor, adding that another inquest was not possible. “You’ve done your job, thank you very much,” he told the jury. “The inquest is now over and you are excused.”The ICC, in its reaction to the verdict, noted that extensive investigations by the Jamaican Constabulary Force and the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit found no evidence of match-fixing or corruption of any kind in this case.Woolmer was found in his room at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on March 18, one day after Pakistan crashed out of the World Cup. He was later pronounced dead at the University Hospital of the West Indies.A post mortem conducted by the government pathologist Ere Sheshiah led him to conclude that Woolmer was killed by asphyxiation due to manual strangulation. Jamaican police decided they had a murder on their hands but later abandoned the investigations after consulting with other experts who determined Woolmer’s death was due to natural causes. Sheshiah and those who found no evidence of wrongdoing each made their case over the past two months before the jury’s verdict.
England’s Ashes drubbing appears to have done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of their home supporters, certainly not in the North-East. With five months to go until the fourth and final Test against West Indies in June, all tickets for the Saturday of the match at the Riverside have been sold out.”There is undoubtedly a real sense of excitement about the England side returning to the North-East,” said Gordon Hollins, Durham County Cricket Club’s commercial manager. “It will be the biggest sporting event ever staged in the region.”Durham’s ground at Chester-le-Street has been hosting one-day internationals since the 1999 World Cup, and has staged two Tests since 2003, against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The visit of a marquee team such as West Indies, however, has created another level of interest.”Cricket is always passionately supported in the region and it is no surprise that day two has already sold out,” added Hollins, “especially with the likelihood of three of our players being included in the England squad.” Those players are Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett.Tickets for day one, three and four are still available, with prices starting at £20 for adults and £10 for under 16s. “I would encourage anyone planning to come along to the match to book their tickets as soon as possible,” said Hollins, “to ensure they get the best possible seats.” The match gets underway on June 15.
His knowledge of the Guaracara Park pitch notwithstanding, Daren Ganga, the Trinidad and Tobago captain, did not bat first when he called right at the toss yesterday.By the end of day one of this Carib Beer Series fixture against Guyana, he had been forced to second guess his risky choice. Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, the appointed leader and deputy leader of both Guyana and West Indies, first spoilt the T&T skipper’s plans with a century fourth wicket stand. And then, Sarwan and Travis Dowlin pressed on with an unbroken stand of 88.To further emphasise the backfiring of Ganga’s plan, Sarwan got himself a good century – 113 not out (237 minutes, 15 fours) – to leave his side with the edge on 257 for four. Exposed by more skilled and ruthless opponents at Test level in Australia, Sarwan returned to the familiar and more accommodating surroundings at Guaracara to get back into the runs. Regional cricket is no longer the proving ground for a veritable Test match veteran, even at age 25. But Sarwan’s fifth regional century was of great value to his side in their quest for Carib Beer points. Ganga won’t need reminding about that.The first session produced two wickets, slightly less perhaps than Ganga might have hoped for at the start. Neither he, nor his bowlers Richard Kelly or Rayad Emrit, would have been pleased to see first Lendl Simmons at second slip, then Denesh Ramdin put down Narsingh Deonarine on zero and ten, respectively.That first escape came in the same over in which Kelly, getting movement through the air and off the pitch, had trapped Krishna Arjune lbw with a full delivery with the total only eight in the seventh over. Deonarine, already with a century and half century this season, never seemed quite likely to capitalise on his escapes. He was somewhat loose and prone to rashness-like when Emrit pinned him down from the southern end, going round the wicket.He was the opposite of Siewnarine Chattergoon, his compact fellow left-hander who found the boundary seven times, mostly with well placed and timed drives through the cover/extra cover region. Chattergoon went to lunch on 43, but not partnered by Deonarine. In the last over before the break, he soured lunch for his team by attempting to slog-sweep Dave Mohammed’s left-arm wrist spinners, against the turn, only to sky a catch to Sanjiv Gooljar at short midwicket. Wasted completely was his stay of practically an hour and a half.Deonarine’s submission rescued the morning somewhat for T&T. But in the second session, Ganga had to deal with the greater problem of separating Sarwan and Chanderpaul. First, though, Chattergoon’s innings of promise ended in more self-destruction in the third over after lunch. Enticed by Dwayne Bravo to chase a ball wide of off-stump, he slashed and edged into Sherwin Ganga’s hands at first slip to leave Guayan at 65 for 3.It was not going to be so easy, though, to remove the West Indian pair on a pitch now free of moisture and typically accommodating to the batsmen. And despite a shaky start, not untypical of Sarwan, the pair began to build the kind of solid first innings platform Ganga would have been gambling against at the toss. While Chanderpaul, square-on as can be, was his usually measured self, Sarwan, like Chattergoon, enjoyed himself with cover drives pleasing to the eye.The encouragingly large crowd, which had assembled at Guaracara even before the first ball, were getting a bit of their money’s worth, even if it was not yet Brian Lara at the crease. By tea, the partnership had risen to 64 and the total to 144 for 3. Sarwan had already collected six of his boundaries in making 51. The T&T spinners- Mohammed, Gooljar, rookie leg-spinner, and Sherwin Ganga – had been disciplined but hardly adventurous with their flight against batsmen against whom some risk needed to be taken to succeed.Gooljar eventually did so. Just 17 minutes after the break, he drew Chanderpaul out of his crease for Ramdin to complete an important stumping on what was not one of his best days. Dismisssed for 44 (128 minutes, seven fours) after adding 104 for the fourth wicket with Sarwan, Chanderpaul left to decent applause, slightly more exuberant perhaps than the reasonably warm ovation which had greeted him on his entry.At 169 for 4, the T&T bowlers had the chance to seize upon the opening surprisingly handed them by Chanderpaul. But Sarwan, fully settled and intent on cashing in much, much more, got more steady support from Dowlin, himself coming off a century against the Leeward Islands in the previous round. He finished on 33 and seems capable of adding significantly to that score. The crowd that arrives on day two could well see much more of him and Sarwan before Lara and company get their belated turn.
Andy Bichel, who won the State Player of the Year award at last night’s Allan Border Medal, has not given up on an Ashes place and hopes a strong end to the domestic season will strengthen his claims. Dumped from Cricket Australia’s contract list last April, Bichel is the Pura Cup’s leading wicket-taker with 46 at 19.43 and is on track to beat his career-best first-class season of 60 in 1999-2000.”My goal is to represent Australia and if the opportunity came for that to happen again then I’d be delighted,” Bichel said. “An Ashes tour would be a wonderful bonus, but I know that the most important thing I can do is to keep working hard and performing for Queensland. We are in the hunt for both finals and there is a lot of hard cricket coming up in the next two months.”Bichel will lead the attack in the ING Cup match against Victoria at Ballarat on Sunday as the Bulls finalise their preparations for hosting the final at the Gabba on February 20. Victoria, who need a win to stay in touch of the second-placed Tasmania, have made one change with Andrew McDonald, the allrounder, replacing Tim Welsford after successfully recovering from thumb surgery.Victoria Cameron White (capt), Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Matthew Elliott, Ian Harvey, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Brad Knowles, Michael Lewis, Andrew McDonald, Jon Moss, Graeme Rummans, Shane Warne.Queensland Jimmy Maher (capt), James Hopes, Martin Love, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, Brendan Nash, Wade Seccombe, Andy Bichel, Nathan Hauritz, Ashley Noffke, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Jurgensen.
Bashley (Rydal) lie second in the ECB Southern Electric Premier League after an convincing three-wicket win over lowly Liphook & Ripsley.The victory took them above Havant – who lost by 70 runs to the Hampshire Academy – and into the runners-up slot behind runaway leaders BAT Sports, who put their unbeaten nine-match record at risk at the BCG on Saturday.Seventeen wickets fell for 190 runs at Ripsley Park, but former Bashley skipper Neil Taylor felt that poor batting was to blame, rather than an undistinguished pitch."Lets say it was lack of application that caused most of the wickets to fall," he said diplomatically."It wasn’t a great strip to bat on, but it was more a 140 wicket than 94 all out in Liphook’s case."John Whiting (4-13)and Kevin Nash (3-28) were more than a handful for Liphook, who sank from 31-2 to 43-7 against the two Bashley seamers.David Wade (32) and Glyn Read (17) showed the application that was needed, but despite their eighth-wicket rally, Liphook were almost bowled out for 94 by lunch.Bashley hardly batted much better, with Andy Sexton (17) the only batsman in the top six to get into double figures.Tim Wheatley (3-32) and left-armer Read (2-20) created panic in the visitors’ ranks as Bashley faced an improbable defeat at 41-6.But Neil Sexton, with a carefully hit 33, and Neil Taylor (15 not out) turned the match in Bashley’s favour by doubling the total with a decisive eighth-wicket partnership which all but secured the points.Bournemouth experienced far less hassle in beating struggling Portsmouth by six wickets at Chapel Gate – but they did make rather hard work of their victory.Nick Reeves (2-30) struck two key blows early on, having former Hampshire all-rounder Lee Savident caught behind and re-arranging South African Andrew Locke’s stumps, both without scoring.It meant Ben Thane (28) and Naqeeb Ali Mohamed (19) having to squeeze out every run, particularly off Jo Wilson, who sent down his initial 13 overs of seam at a personal cost of five runs !The Liverpudlian, who finished with 3-25 off 18 overs, removed Naqeeb, Dean Oliffe and Paul Ancell in quick succession to have Portsmouth reeling at 68-6.Matt Keech, who made 87, found himself fighting a lone battle, although either side of lunch student Dan Neville provided valued support.With left-arm spinners Shaun Walbridge (5-48) and Adam Voges bowling in tandem, runs were always hard to come by and once the Dorset vice-captain had removed Portsmouth’s seventh-wicket pair, the end was nigh.When the watchful Nick Park (45) and Voges (40) took Bournemouth’s reply to 96-1, Portsmouth’s 159 all out appeared an academic target.But Bournemouth found themselves bogged down and lost four wickets before Matt Swarbrick (28 not out) and Charlie Holcomb took them home.
Glamorgan County Cricket Club has today confirmed that David Hemp is torejoin the county on a three-year contract. Hemp, 31, began his career withGlamorgan before leaving to join Warwickshire prior to the 1997 season butafter five years with the Bears, where he was Vice Captain, he has decidedto return to Wales.David Hemp said:”I’ve enjoyed my five years with Warwickshire but when I knew Glamorgan wereinterested in re-signing me it was just too attractive a proposition for meto turn down. I learned all of my cricket in Wales and I’m looking forwardto playing my part in helping the side regain their place in theChampionship first division and hopefully pressing for some one-day honoursas well. It’s a great move for me, a fantastic opportunity, and I can’twait to get started.”Glamorgan Captain Steve James said:”I think David is an outstanding cricketer and I’ve no doubt his best yearsare still to come. It’s nice to be welcoming him back into the fold and I’msure he’ll have a significant impact. His signing means we can target anoverseas bowler to fill the gap left by Steve Watkin’s retirement but we’dlike to publicly thank Jimmy Maher for his contribution on and off the fieldlast summer. Hopefully there will be the opportunity for Jimmy to return toGlamorgan in the future”
Basil Williams, the former West Indies opening batsman, has died at the age of 65. Williams played seven Tests during 1978 and 1979 when the West Indies line-up was weakened by the defection of many leading players to World Series Cricket and he proved an effective replacement, scoring 469 runs at 39.08.He also became the tenth West Indian to score a century on Test debut, when he struck 100 off 118 balls in the second innings against Australia in Georgetown in 1978. He performed well in that series and was picked for the tour of India later that year, where he scored 111 in Kolkata, but after the return of the WSC players he was dropped.The report of Williams’ debut hundred noted that he “kept on playing his shots in spite of several narrow escapes, particularly against [Jeff] Thomson”, and that having scored his century he hooked the next ball and was caught at fine leg.”We mourn the loss of another servant of the game in the Caribbean,” WICB president Dave Cameron said. “Indeed, the Jamaica Cricket Association and the Kensington Cricket Club family of which he was a part for all of his life will miss him.”I knew ‘Shotgun’, as he was affectionately known, having been a member of Kensington for so many years. He was captain of the first team and I had the honour of playing with him. He was a tough, but fair captain and a no-nonsense guy.”Williams made his debut for Jamaica in February 1970 and ended his first-class career in 1985. He struck five centuries in his 46-game first-class career and averaged 36.02.
Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has attracted widespread interest from some of the top clubs in Europe over the course of the past 18 months, with Barcelona and Real Madrid prime among them, but just how realistic is a move to one of Spain’s big two?
The main stumbling block to any deal to one of La Liga’s hegemonic duo is the price above all else. When you look at his value to Andre Villas-Boas and how integral he is to the squad, the price of around £40m often mentioned seems around the right mark. The club have no pressing need to sell and having just sold Luka Modric to Real Madrid for north of £30m, nor will they want to start repeating the trap that Arsenal have fallen into the last few years of selling your best player each summer – a vicious cycle if ever there was one.
It’s clear that the money floating around the Camp Nou isn’t quite as rich as it once was, and if Tito Vilanova were to sanction a move for Bale around the €40m (£32m) mark, still significantly less than what Tottenham would deem an acceptable price for their man, then they would be blowing the vast majority of their transfer budget on one player, something that they will be loathe to do.
You also have to ask yourself, where exactly would he fit in to this current Barcelona side? The club’s acquisition of Spain left-back Jordi Alba from Valencia in the summer for the modest amount of €14m (£11m) on the face of it would appear to end any need for the club to pursue Bale in the future and he may have missed his chance.
Alba came through the ranks at La Masia before leaving the club after failing to break through into the first-team, finding his success elsewhere first like both Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique before him; a continuation of a fairly expensive transfer policy of bringing former players back to the club.
However, his success this term can be directly attributed to how familiar he is with the style and methods of the club so ingrained into their younger players and at just 23 years of age, he’s a long-term purchase. This means that the previously assumed role at left-back as Eric Abidal’s successor is no longer available, so would he fit in further up field?
Bale has shown that he can be effective drifting in off the flank at times, but far too often this has a more detrimental impact on the balance and overall threat of the rest of the side. He has displayed the ability to play quick one-touch football through the middle, with his goal away at Manchester City last term a testament to that, but it’s clearly not his natural game.
No, the Welshman is at his best when running onto a ball at pace or driving into the space in front of him. The possession-based game that Barcelona play means that the only position he’d be able to do that from is as an attacking full-back, and unless he actually bothers to develop a right foot any time soon that he can use consistently enough, I simply don’t see that happening, even if question marks remain over Daniel Alves’ future at the club beyond the end of this season.
Alexis Sanchez has at times struggled with the little space he receives closed in around the box and his natural game has been restricted somewhat and you could see Bale suffering in the same way in a more advanced role. He doesn’t possess the skill to beat a player at close quarters that a Cristiano Ronaldo or Luis Suarez does. Moreover, the likes of Christian Tello, Isaac Cuenca, Pedro and the exciting and emerging talent of Gerard Deulofeu would mark Bale’s purchase as a needless indulgence in an area where they are well stocked, with buying a recognised centre-half, rather than a versatile holding man capable of filling in seemingly a much more immediate and higher priority.
Speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo, he is the player which Bale is often compared to and he has developed that arrogant swagger in recent times. The 23-year-old has shown a worrying lack of work-rate in tracking back to help out his defender this season, almost as if he views it as beneath him and it’s no coincidence that both Manchester City and Arsenal absolutely tore Tottenham’s left flank apart in recent games. Off the ball, he is not only positionally naive and tactically unaware, it has got to the point where that area of the pitch is being targeted and it’s costing them in important games; for an arch pragmatist such as Jose Mourinho, you suspect that might be something of a problem looking further ahead.
As part of Luka Modric’s £33m move to join Real Madrid this summer, the two clubs signed a ‘commercial partnership’ deal, with Tottenham set to reap the benefits from this transfer long after the Croat has retired from the game, but part of that arrangement had many suspicious about what Tottenham may have given away to secure that lucrative relationship, with a first option on Bale the rumoured benefit for the Spanish giants.
When you look at the Real Madrid squad, they play a much more expansive, counter-attacking style of play than Barcelona, which would seem to suit Bale down to the ground a lot more and you could imagine him in a more advanced role on the left wing at the Bernabeu, particularly with Angel Di Maria continuing to frustrate and excite with almost crushing regularity, and his inconsistency could see Mourinho look elsewhere.
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They seem pretty well set at left-back, with the excellent Marcelo and disappointing Fabio Coentrao left to battle it out for a starting spot, but despite the Portuguese international’s struggles since moving from Benfica, the club parted with €30m (£24m) just last summer, so for Mourinho to give up on him now before he has truly shown his best form would represent something of an embarrassing climb down and confession of a flawed transfer; a move which he is unlikely to sanction at the risk of handing the critical Spanish press more ammunition.
There’s no denying that Bale would not sit comfortably in both of these sides, for he has occasionally shown the form and standard required, even if he looks incapable of doing it for prolonged spells at the moment. Aside from him not being quite ready to make the step up in my eyes, I just can’t see either club wanting to part with a fee of around £40m for someone neither of them realistically need to still compete at the highest level. You have to ask yourself, would he improve either side that much to warrant such an outlay?
The artificial inflation of British players means he could be priced out of any future move and while he may desire to move elsewhere further down the line in the pursuit of silverware, a move to either Manchester club would make much more sense. At the moment he is worth £40m to Tottenham but someway short of that for the Spanish pair, and bridging that divide remains the biggest stumbling block of all.
Ashish Nehra, former India and Delhi left-arm seamer, has been ruled out for the next two months of the Indian domestic season after being advised to rest his ankle, which was operated upon recently. He missed Delhi’s first two matches of the Ranji Trophy Super League and is likely to return only by the end of January.”I had gotten my ankle operated during the domestic off-season and have been advised by the doctors to rest it for the next two months till I am fully fit,” Nehra was quoted in the . “I am sure to play the Duleep and Deodhar Trophies and one-dayers, and the Ranji Trophy knockout matches as well, if Delhi qualify.”Nehra will travel with the team for their fourth- and fifth-round matches against Himachal Pradesh (in Dharamsala) and Maharashtra (in Pune) respectively, and train with the team physio. John Gloster, the Indian team physio, will also work with Nehra during the first Test between India and Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi.Nehra, among the most injury-prone Indian players in recent times, said he was intent on taking things cautiously to avoid breaking down again.”I do not want to make the mistake again of playing until I am fully fit,” Nehra said. “Not only will that hamper my performance but also aggravate my injury. So I am going to take it light this season and come back the moment I know I am ready.”Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya admitted that Nehra’s absence would be felt, yet backed his decision to play it safe. “From a team’s point of view even an 80% Nehra is essential for the team, but from an individual perspective I think this is a good decision that Ashish has taken,” Dahiya said. “He aggravated his injury last season and this season he has chosen wisely to rest it and recover fully.”Nehra last played for India during the tour of Zimbabwe in 2005. Last season, he took 15 wickets in the Ranji Trophy at 41 runs apiece, and 13 wickets in nine one-day games.
The last time Ricky Ponting faced the media at the end of an Ashes series, the first question he received came from a hard-talking TV news reporter who demanded his on-the-spot resignation for the “humiliation” of losing the closest and greatest Ashes contest in history. This afternoon, it was Andrew Flintoff who was coming to terms with the true definition of the word, after his England side had been served up on a platter by their ruthlessly focussed opposition.”Australia have raised the bar in this series,” admitted Flintoff, whose crest has fallen so far already that he seemed immune to further disappointment. “In patches we’ve competed with them, but whenever we’ve put a foot in the door it’s been closed on us. From our point of view, it’s not for a lack of trying or character. We’ve just been beaten by a better team.”The latter part of that statement certainly could not be quibbled with. Australia have been magnificent all series long. Every single one of their seven batsmen made centuries; each and every member of the bowling attack topped 20 wickets for the series. “I couldn’t be any more satisfied than I am at the moment,” said a beaming Ponting at his press call. He was a man at peace with the world after the indignities he suffered in 2005.As for the rest of Flintoff’s statement, however – something was undoubtedly amiss. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from the lads,” he insisted for the fifth match out of five. “Their efforts throughout the series – they’ve kept coming back, kept working, and kept their intensity. They’ve tried to improve and perform, and you just can’t fault that.”Well, frankly, you can. England on this final day were a shower. They lost their two overnight batsmen without an extra run on the board, and they would have lost even more humiliatingly had it not been for the improbable intervention of Steve Harmison, who top-scored for the day with 16 not out and then launched into a futile assault with the new ball that had Justin Langer admitting afterwards that it was the best he had faced all series. What a strange moment to come to the party.England have been rudderless and directionless on this tour, and sadly the lack of drive has to derive from the attitude of the captain. In fairness to Flintoff, he is still finding his feet in the role. Each of his immediate predecessors, Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan, endured torrid times before they defined their style – and only last week, Duncan Fletcher cited Vaughan’s first Test in charge, at Lord’s against South Africa in 2003, as the worst defeat of his career.But it is not unfair to criticise Flintoff’s unthinking support for his men. “It’s not through a lack of practice or wanting to do well,” he reiterated. “We wanted to string together performances for full five days at a time. We wanted to stay with them and nick a result at the end, but unfortunately that’s not been the case.”If that approach sounds familiar, that is because it is exactly the approach that Flintoff first encountered under Hussain – an emotional, attritional leader who was also the captain of a young side in times of adversity. His single rule of thumb, however, was the polar opposite to Flintoff’s nice-guy approach to the leadership. He would stand at mid-on throughout England’s tours of the subcontinent, cajoling and haranguing, and demanding extra effort even when there was nothing extra to give.
And yet, Hussain also failed his acid test. He succumbed 4-1 on the last Ashes tour and 8-2 in his two series against Australia, which just goes to show that there’s only so much that any team can do when faced with a great opposition with their sights fully set on revenge. “I’ve never mentioned that word once,” insisted Ponting, although he did concede that the victory in this series was all the sweeter for the defeat that had preceded it.”The last time we won the Ashes in Australia was the shortest period of time ever,” he said. “We played a bit harder this time. The cricket we’ve played has been as good as I can ever remember. Lots of so-called experts said England would win when they arrived here, but look at the results. It’s a great feeling right at the moment, and we can’t take that feeling for granted either.”For Flintoff and England, it is time to look to the future. Come 2009, revenge will be the buzzword once again, only this time it’ll be emanating from the England dressing-room. “It can’t be a pointless exercise to be beaten 5-0,” said Flintoff. “We’re a young side, and as long as we’ve learned something from this, we can improve going forward.”Some of the lads have already shown that they can compete with the best team in the world. But after the jubiliation and joy of 2005, we have experienced the other side. But, hearing the Aussies speak about The Oval and using it as a spur, I’m sure that’s something the lads will remember for next time. Conceivably, everyone in that room could be playing in 2009.”