Two days before the Perth Test the sun finally shone through the cloud that has been hanging over this series for the past week, with India dropping their charge of abuse against Brad Hogg, Australia’s chinaman bowler. Later in the day, it would emerge that the two captains had agreed to scrap the contentious catching agreement that sparked off the controversy surrounding Michael Clarke.Hogg was accused of making an offensive remark to Anil Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the second Test in Sydney and charged under Level 3 of the ICC Code of Conduct following a complaint by Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan.The decision to drop charges was taken at a meeting of the two captains, Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble, convened by Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC’s chief match referee, who was flown in in the aftermath of the Sydney Test controversy. It capped an evening of fast-moving developments that saw six statements read out at the local Hyatt in the space of a couple of hours.It gives the Indian team the moral high ground and transfers pressure back on to Australia to drop the racism charge levelled at Harbhajan Singh – which will now be heard after the Test series – and Kumble, it is believed, indicated during the meeting the ball was in Australia’s court. However, it is understood that Australia will not be able, on technical grounds, to drop the racism charge against Harbhajan. The charge against Hogg was levelled by Chauhan, who withdrew it on Monday, while in Harbhajan’s case, the charges were brought by both the on-field umpires after a complaint by Ponting.Nonetheless, it was a significant decision and Kumble, explaining it, said the game had to move on. “Ricky and I had a discussion with Ranjan [Madugalle] and after that it was important that the game of cricket moves on,” he said. “Cricket is larger than any individual. It is important we forget what happened in Sydney, it was just one of those bad moments, just an incident probably in the heat of the moment. And we decided as a team to move on and remove the charges against Brad Hogg. It’s important that we moved on.””I enjoyed a productive meeting which I had with Anil Kumble and Ranjan Madugalle in which we talked through all the issues thoroughly,” Ponting said. “I am convinced that both the teams can move into the next game clearly understanding the parameters under which the game should be played and the teams acknowledge that the game must be played in its true spirit.””It’s a kind gesture, lovely gesture by the Indian team,” Hogg said. “It’s much appreciated by myself and the Australian cricket team. Hopefully the future contests between India and Australia are good viewing for the spectators and enjoyable for the teams.”Madugalle, who had earlier met the team managements separately, met the two captains at 5:15 pm. After the meeting, which lasted about half an hour, he was optimistic of the series carrying on in the right spirit.”Over the last couple of days we’ve had very useful discussions with captains and managers of both teams resulting in meeting with Anil and Ricky today,” Madugalle said after the meeting. “Both of them realise the importance of moving the game forward as opposed to reflecting on the events of the last week. And as captains they have the responsibility to uphold the game in the right spirit and play the game with mutual respect for one another. And I’m very confident that the next five days will see just that. So let’s all look forward to a great Test match.”Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said he hoped the decision would help get the focus back to the game. “The decision to drop the charge against Brad Hogg was taken in the larger interest of the game,” Shetty told . “India has always upheld the spirit of the game and the on-field issues should not be taken outside the field.” On whether Australia would reciprocate and drop the charges against Harbhajan, Shetty said, “We really hope that Australia looks at it positively”.Mike Procter, the match referee at the SCG and the man in charge of the hearing today, called it a “magnificent” gesture. “I was tendered a letter from the [India] captain and the manager when the hearing started. So that’s all behind us now and we can get on with the cricket, which is great news. A wonderful gesture by India showing sportsmanship they possess and the way they play their game.”
Glenn McGrath wants to ease Australia’s fast-bowling problems by taking the new ball and returning to his best for his farewell at the World Cup. McGrath spent most of the CB Series at first change as Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken opened but was given the chance to lead when Lee was ruled out of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with an ankle injury.Australia are still considering the use of a four-man pace attack and Shaun Tait would shape as a likely replacement for Lee. “With Brett not being here, it will be interesting to see what we do with our bowling line-up and whether I take the new ball again, or whether we think about Mitch [Mitchell Johnson] or Taity taking the new ball,” McGrath told the .”I love taking the new ball, obviously that’s the way I would prefer to go. But I’ll sit down and I’ll have a think about the game and which is best suited to the team as well as talk to Buck [John Buchanan] and Ricky [Ponting] and the other guys.”McGrath, who has 45 World Cup wickets from his previous three tournaments, will be a key if Australia are to regain their ability to strangle the opposition in the final overs and during powerplays. Besides Bracken and Stuart Clark, Australia’s attack is relatively inexperienced and Johnson, Tait and Shane Watson will rely on McGrath to lead by example.”The advice I have been giving to the other guys is as long as you are bowling where you want to bowl the ball, at least you can change if the plans are wrong,” he said. “If the ball is not going where you want it, then you have got no hope.”We will just focus on that, hopefully hit our yorkers a bit better than we have done and mix it up with a slower ball or a short ball. You don’t want to get too predictable on these grounds. These days 80 to 100 runs is pretty much standard [in the last ten overs]. Obviously it’s up to the bowlers to execute things a little bit better.”McGrath said it was sad to be embarking on his last tour with his Australian team-mates after a 14-year international career. “But the other side of it is come the end of this tour I get to spend more time at home and get on with the rest of my life,” he said. “I am really looking forward to that.”
Australia received another blow before their first one-dayer against South Africa as Ricky Ponting, their captain, was ruled out with an abdominal strain on the morning of the clash at Centuron Park. Ponting joined Andrew Symonds and Stuart Clark on the sidelines as Australia, who lost the Twenty20 international, geared up for the opening game.The spate of injuries meant that Australia had just 11 fit players for the game, set to begin at 10am local time. However the chances of a delayed start were imminent with evening and early morning rain playing spoil sport.”Ricky suffered an abdominal strain whilst batting in the nets yesterday,” Errol Alcott, the Australian physio, said. “MRI scans have revealed a low-grade strain. It is a painful condition which is central to all movement so it affects his batting, bowling and running – pretty much everything. He will undergo intensive treatment and will be reassed late next week.”Expectedly, Ponting was crestfallen at having to miss out but looked at the flip side of the coin as well. “As always it is disappointing to miss a game, particularly a tour opener,” he said. “The positive is that it is a good opportunity for some of the guys to move up the batting order and show us what they can do.”
It is not often in a series that one team starts favourites for the Tests and the other for the one-day internationals. But this will be the case tomorrow when India, who were heavily fancied in the Tests but could not prevent Pakistan from sharing the spoils, now find the onus of playing out of their skins on themselves when they take on a pumped-up Pakistan side heavy on allround talent and with the weight of recent history behind them.Having taken a severe barracking from all quarters after his miserable show with the bat in the Tests, Sourav Ganguly once again finds the familiar sense of being under siege upon him as he tries to rouse a team that has underperformed severely in one-day cricket in the last year.Ganguly put up a brave face at the pre-match press conference, uttering some of the usual platitudes about one-day cricket being a different ball game from the Tests, and about wanting to do his best with the bat since he had a special responsibility as captain.He would not reveal anything about team composition, but it is so hot in Kochi – the players will sweat it out tomorrow in 40-degree heat – that it is difficult to see India going in with more than two out of Irfan Pathan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, and Zaheer Khan. That would leave room to play both spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik.That said, it is difficult to see bowling keeping the batsmen quiet at Kochi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. A combination of a good pitch, short boundaries, oppressive bowling and fielding conditions, and two lineups heavy on high-quality batting should make tomorrow a game in which no first-innings score is safe. Indeed, two of the three international games to have been played at this ground have produced scores in excess of 300.Pakistan, who have won their last four games against India and boast of a 11-4 win-loss record against India India, have a lot of heavy-duty ammunition to throw at their opponents. In fact, the likely absence of Younis Khan, suffering from fever, solves some of their selection problems, because there are probably four or five good ways in which they could make up an eleven. Salman Butt, who made a dazzling century the last time the two sides met in an ODI, in the BCCI Platinum Jubilee game at Kolkata, should open, and Inzamam-ul-Haq hinted that the idea of using Kamran Akmal as an opener would be discontinued, allowing Shahid Afridi to return to the position from which he caused so much damage in the Tests.Shoaib Malik, Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana should follow, and be backed up by Abdul Razzaq and Akmal. That leaves place for two fast bowlers – almost certainly Mohammad Sami and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan – and two spinners from Arshad Khan, Danish Kaneria, and the allrounder Mohammad Hafeez. Were Malik allowed to bowl – he cannot currently because his action is under the ICC’s scrutiny – it would make for an even more powerful line-up.Inzamam asserted that the team’s morale was high after the win in the Bangalore Test, and agreed that conditions were inimical to pace bowling. He answered all the questions directed at him with a calm, pleasant air until some mischievous soul piped up to ask him if he was missing the services of Shoaib Akhtar. Not content with Inzamam’s deadpan “No,” the scribe then asked what the problem was between the Pakistani captain and Akhtar. “Nothing,” snapped Inzamam. The Shoaib issue is about the only thing that rankles with him at the moment.India have two form worries – that of Ganguly and of Irfan Pathan, who looked under the weather for most of the Test series after returning from injury, and appears to have temporarily lost his banana inswinger, rendering him vulnerable to the attention of hitters like Afridi. Ganguly defended Pathan, saying that he had bowled brilliantly for an extended stretch of time and could not be expected to be at his best in every game, but there is no denying that Pathan’s form is a serious concern. As for Ganguly himself, he may take some comfort in the fact that, with VVS Laxman having been dropped, he can now bat at No.3. But he will have to produce something mighty spectacular, against bowlers who know all his weaknesses, to ward off his detractors.But India also, while knowing more or les all there is to know about each member of their opposition, have an unknown quantity of sorts to throw at them – wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni, who in a tournament in Nairobi last year took two centuries off a Pakistan A attack that included, of the current squad, Iftikhar Rao Anjum. A scintillating striker of the ball, Dhoni failed to do anything of note with the bat in his debut series in Bangladesh last December, but he will be itching to go here, and a surprise promotion up the order for him is not out of the question.Teams (probable) India 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Mahendra Dhoni (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Lakshmipathy Balaji, 11 Murali Kartik.Pakistan 1 Shahid Afridi, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Yousuf Youhana, 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Arshad Khan, 9 Mohammad Sami, 10 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, 11 Danish Kaneria.Wisden Asia Cricket
Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting shared an unbeaten 151-run stand off a mere 24.2 overs to power Australia to a nine-wicket win against Zimbabwe at Sydney. The victory – which sealed the short series 2-0 – was set up in large measure by Simon Katich’s left-arm wrist-spin. His 6 for 65 ruined Zimbabwe’s hopes of setting Australia a challenging fourth-innings target.Set a modest 172 to win, Australia romped home in emphatic style, with Hayden scoring his second century of the series off just 84 balls. His innings included 11 fours and three sixes, and took his series aggregate to 501, and his tally for the calendar year to 951, at an average of 79.25.Hayden finished it off for Australia, but a large chunk of the credit should go to Katich. Given Brett Lee’s absence, the Zimbabweans had a realistic opportunity to take advantage of the situation, but Katich came up with crucial breakthroughs, many of which were, admittedly, down to poor strokes by the batsmen.When they reflect on the Test match, the Zimbabweans will identify the morning session on the fourth day as the period where they let it slip away. They added only 79 runs and lost four wickets, all of them through silly errors. Especially vital were the dismissals of Craig Wishart (45) – who charged down the wicket to Katich and was stumped – and Heath Streak, whose promising innings of 25 ended in a run-out after a mix-up with Tatenda Taibu (212 for 6). Taibu battled hard, facing 150 balls for his 35, before he was dismissed in an unlucky fashion. He pulled the first ball of a new spell from Katich, but Ricky Ponting, fielding at short leg, held on to the rebound after the ball hit his chest (230 for 8).Three balls after lunch, Raymond Price was dubiously given out lbw to Katich for a duck, when replays suggested that the ball would have missed off. With only Blessing Mahwire left, Andy Blignaut launched into a belated assault. Brad Hogg suffered in the next over, as Blignaut pulled him for six and then cut and off-drove two fours. But his luck ran out when Brad Williams held on to a lofted shot off Katich at long-on. Blignaut made 44, the fourth Zimbabwean in the innings to get out in the forties.Australia’s run-chase began poorly, when Justin Langer failed again, nicking to Taibu off Streak for just 8 (21 for 1). However, Hayden soon put the innings on track with his powerful hitting – most notable was the brutality of his sweeping against Price’s left-arm spin. Ponting, who was caught off a no-ball from Blignaut when on 7, used his feet superbly against Price, and was severe on Streak as well. Two overs after his letoff, he hammered 12 from a Streak over with drives past the bowler, through mid-on and through cover. It was majestic batting, and the Zimbabweans were powerless to stop the scoring.Hayden toyed with the bowling, and brought up his 16th Test century with his third six of the innings, a huge hit over midwicket off Gavin Ewing. That shot also tied the scores, allowing Ponting, the Man of the Match, the privilege of scoring the winning single and to end on 53 not out off 71 balls.
The four day Goa-Hyderabad Ranji encounter at the Panjim Gymkhana Grounds ended in a draw on Friday. Hyderabad secured five points by virtue of the 94-run first innings lead that they had secured on Thursday. Goa, meanwhile, had to be content with three.Earlier, Goa, who resumed their second innings at 28 for no loss, decided to bat out the remainder of the day. Their openers – captain Vivekanand Kolambkar and Sudin Kamat – put on 90 before Kolamabkar was dismissed for 36. Kamat went on to make 47.Of the remaining batsmen, No. 4 Kiran Powar stood out, making an unbeaten 101 off just 142 balls before stumps were drawn. Powar went after the bowling on completing his fifty, scoring his last 51 runs off just 48 with five fours and two sixes. Goa ended the match with their second innings score reading 263 for six.
Bristol University vs UWE, Sunday 4th June 2pm – 7pm at Gloucestershire CCC, Nevil Road Bristol University claimed the inaugural Bristol Varsity Cricket Trophy thanks to an impressive match winning performance from all-rounder Mark Farmiloe. Twice the 20 year old Middlesex player, rescued his side as UWE raced from the traps with both bat and ball. Inserted on a damp wicket, Bristol found themselves in a precarious position of 29-3, as the impressive James Hamblin tore through their top order. Farmiloe’s measured knock rebuilding the innings with Ed Grant provided the platform for lower middle order pair of Simon Whitton and in particular Rob Bruce to pile up 81 runs in the last 10 overs.Any thoughts UWE had about having let them off the hook were seemingly dispelled as some wayward Bristol bowling saw UWE race along at over 6 an over, with Extras making a serious claim for the Man of the Match award. Then Farmiloe intervened and from 92-2, UWE crashed out losing their last remaining wickets for 18 runs as the left arm spin of Farmiloe 3-27 and the swing of Richard Williams 4-25 hastened the end.All in all a disappointing day, despite fine weather the majority of Bristol’s students couldn’t be bothered to turn this day into a special day. The 300 or so mainly UWE fans that did turn up during the day enjoyed themselves immensely creating their own atmosphere. But, the organisers are left wondering how on earth over the next two weeks can cricket be sold to the 18-22 age group? The product is good, the apathy rules!
Taking to Twitter, journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke of The Athletic has dropped a Tottenham Hotspur revelation as he makes a ‘£2.3 billion’ claim.
The Lowdown: ENIC protests…
Tottenham fans and the club’s board have endured a turbulent relationship with protests having been held over the Lilywhites’ ownership in recent times.
This has lead to rumours of potential buyers and questions surrounding whether chairman Daniel Levy or the ENIC Group would even consider selling the club (The Athletic).
Levy has played host to potential investors over this past year, including Singaporean entrepreneur Forrest Li back in December, who was an esteemed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium guest.
While a potential takeover doesn’t appear close for the time being, Pitt-Brooke has now claimed one American tycoon in Todd Boehly came pretty close in 2019.
The Latest: Pitt-Brooke makes claim…
Pitt-Brooke, making an interesting claim on Twitter, says Chelsea’s prospective buyer was actually nearing a purchase of Spurs for around ‘£2.3 billion’ at the time.
“Todd Boehly got close to buying Tottenham for roughly £2.3bn in 2019,” he explained.
The Athletic reporter also goes on to reveal ‘more on that’ offer in a recent article.
The Verdict: Interesting claim…
As Boehly joins the list of parties interested in buying Chelsea, with Roman Abramovich having put the club up for sale, his background comes as a mixed bag.
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Owning 20 per cent of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Eldridge Industries’ CEO has come under scrutiny for some of his dealings, with his business model even likened to The Glazers of Man United.
Though his personal net worth stands at around £4 billion, it is heavily debatable whether he would’ve backed Tottenham enough financially on the field.
In other news: ‘I’m told’…Journalist makes exciting Spurs transfer claim involving £50m star, find out more here.
Jumping Jaques Phil Jaques continued his fine scoring streak since replacing Justin Langer with his fifth consecutive innings of at least a half-century. Since re-entering the team in November he has 100, 150, 68, 66 and 51, which make him the team’s leading run-scorer of the year. This is only Australia’s fourth Test of 2007 and Jaques (435) is ahead of Michael Hussey (374) while Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke are both on 320.Harbhajan sings when Ponting steps out Harbhajan Singh has moved to third on Ricky Ponting’s list of least-liked bowlers. The pair has played in eight Tests together and when Ponting glided Harbhajan to Rahul Dravid at first slip on 3 it was the sixth time he had fallen to the bowler. “I have some success against him, but I don’t know how or why,” Harbhajan said. “It was my 250th wicket, that means a lot.” Anil Kumble, who will have to wait till Sydney to try to add to his tally, is second in Ponting’s nightmares on seven, one behind Darren Gough.Costly misses Zaheer Khan delivered the ball of the match with an outstanding offcutter that bowled Andrew Symonds on 7. The initial problem was that it was a no-ball, but as the Indian fielders questioned their luck, the ball squirted passed Mahendra Singh Dhoni and was ignored. Once Symonds realised he wasn’t headed for the stands he signalled Michael Clarke for a cheeky run. “It was an amazing ball, it skidded on, and both Symmo and myself were a bit surprised,” Clarke said. “Then he called me through for a single. I was like: ‘What are you running for? You’ve just been bowled.’Out of step A couple of overs later Zaheer transgressed again and his loud lbw appeal for Clarke was cut short by Billy Bowden’s out-stretched arm. Anil Kumble did well to remain calm during Zaheer’s 12 no-balls for the innings.Things we learned today “I call the MCG Shane Warne’s ground because I used to see him on TV bowling here,” Harbhajan said. He also revealed what Ponting said after Harbhajan was hit a stinging blow on the chest by Brett Lee on day two. “He asked me if the ball had gone out of shape. I’m still fine.” Harbhajan then patted the area and smiled.Cap’s on for Clarke Three years ago Clarke called for his baggy green when he was in the 90s so he could wear it when he made his century on debut. With Kumble and Harbhajan operating in tandem, Clarke had another chance to send the helmet to the dressing room, but this time there was no bat raise. He missed Kumble’s wrong’un and was stumped on 73.
South Africa and Pakistan are the last two sides to begin their final World Cup preparations as their five-match series gets underway at Centurion Park on Sunday. Both sides have issues to resolve, although it is Pakistan with most questions to answer.Their 10-wicket hammering in the Twenty20 International was a harsh reintroduction to limited overs action and, although too much shouldn’t be read into the defeat, it certainly showed Pakistan at their worst.The fresh faces brought in following the 2-1 Test series defeat hardly inspired. Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman feasted on the bowling and the batting line-up was undone by some fine seam and swing bowling. Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi, two experts at one-day level, appeared short on form and must up their game over the next five matches.Bob Woolmer was less than impressed by his side at the Wanderers: “I was very disappointed with both the batting and the bowling and we have to pull up our socks in both departments.”Mohammad Asif will strengthen the bowling attack after resting for the Twenty20 but the decision to send Danish Kaneria home leaves the spin department exposed. Pakistan are hopeful that Inzamam-ul-Haq will have recovered from his back problem to lead the side and the batting could also do with his guidance. Kamran Akmal played purely as a batsman on Friday and his role could be anyway from opener to No. 7.South Africa, too, have a question mark over the top order. AB de Villiers’ poor Test season has left him under pressure for a place, although his dynamic fielding is a major asset in the one-day team. Bosman showed his clean-hitting ability in the Twenty20 and could slot in alongside Smith as de Villiers slips down the order. Who misses out when Herschelle Gibbs returns from his ban can be left for another day.”There are a couple of different scenarios when it comes to replacing Herschelle,” said Mickey Arthur, “but otherwise we would like to start with the side that finished against India. You can almost consider that our best XI.”On the bowling front South Africa are spoilt for choice and, coming at the end of a packed season, it won’t be a surprise to see Smith and Arthur employ an Australian-style rotation system during the series.South Africa (probable) Graeme Smith (capt), Loots Bosman, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Makhaya Ntini, Andre NelPakistan (from) Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Yousuf, Naved-ul-Hasan, Shabbir Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Yasir Hameed, Zulqarnain Haider