ScorecardTrinidad and Tobago beat Nevis by 74 runs in the second semifinal of the Stanford 20/20 competition and will now play Guyana in the final on Sunday for the big prize. Kieron Pollard played a blistering hand, scoring 83 off just 38 balls, and was well supported by Daren Ganga, the captain, as T & T put a big score on the board and defended it with some ease.Stuart Williams, the former West Indian batsman and currently captain of Nevis, won the toss and chose to put T & T in, a decision that was to backfire spectacularly. Although Nevis managed to get rid of both openers with only 57 on the board, a third-wicket partnership of 114 between Pollard and Ganga (62*) ensured that T & T posted 210 from their 20 overs. Pollard with as many 7 sixes and surprisingly only 4 fours, scored at a strike-rate of over 200 and set up his team’s innings.When it was the turn of Nevis to bat they badly needed a solid, if not desperately quick, start, but they ended up with the opposite. Mervyn Dillon and Samuel Badree knocked the stuffing out of the top order, reducing Nevis first to 8 for 3 and then 37 for 5. This virtually ended the match as a contest, and only a fighting 65 from Joel Simmons, the wicketkeeper, pushed the score towards respectability.In the end Nevis were restricted to 136, 75 short of the target, and Dillon (3 for 30), Badree (2 for 14) and Pollard (2 for 19) shared the spoils. For Pollard, who earlier scored 83, this was a match to remember.
CloseSouth Africa 155 for 0 (20.2 overs: Gibbs 97*, Smith 48*) beat Bangladesh 154 for 9 (50 overs: Ntini 3-28) by ten wickets ScorecardA savage onslaught by Herschelle Gibbs guided South Africa to an embarrassingly one-sided ten-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second one-day international at a sun-drenched Willowmoore Park. Gibbs cracked an unbeaten 97 off just 66 balls as South Africa reached their target of 155 with almost 30 overs to spare.Gibbs began his innings looking for a record his fourth consecutive one-day century. In the end he fell one stroke short. Needing a four to reach his goal, and just one to win the match, he drove Alok Kapali straight but the ball was fielded ten yards in from the boundary. A second straight Man of the Match award was some consolation for Gibbs. Perhaps it was all for the best as it would have been a rather devalued record. Of his three previous centuries, two had come against one-day minnows – Kenya and Bangladesh.An early finish was almost guaranteed from the moment that Shaun Pollock won the toss and put Bangladesh in. Javed Omar and Hannan Sarkar followed a game plan which appeared to be based on survival rather than scoring runs, and to that extent they succeed. Sarkar finally looked to open up and immediately perished, edging Makhaya Ntini to Adam Boucher for 7 (26 for 1). Four balls later Al-Shahriar Rokon was clean bowled by Ntini for 0 and the innings was following a depressingly familiar pattern.Omar briefly threatened to play an innings of some substance after a shaky beginning in which he had looked extremely unhappy with the pace of Ntini. When he edged Lance Klusener to Boucher for 24 in the 21st over (46 for 3) the floodgates were opened. A spirited ninth-wicket stand of 37 between Tapash Baisya, and Monjural Islam only delayed the inevitable.The rare boundaries were cheered enthusiastically by the few hundred flag-waving Bangaladeshi supporters. When Tushar Imran cracked Allan Donald for successive fours they were close to ecstasy, but the pace and experience of South Africa’s fast bowlers left the batsmen outclassed.Once again, Bangladesh were woefully short of being able to compete with the big boys. Their bowling lacked control, their batting generally revolved around crease occuptation rather than run-scoring, and their fielding was poor. To give them as much experience of international cricket as they have had is admirable but they appear to have made little progress. This kind of display does little other than distort the international averages.
Mohammad Kaif has been recalled by the Indian selectors for the five-match one-day series in Pakistan, which starts on March 13. Ramesh Powar, the Mumbai offspinner, was called up for the first time, but surprisingly there was no place for Rohan Gavaskar, who made a reasonable start to his one-day career in the recent VB Series in Australia.After a four-hour meeting in Mumbai, the selectors eventually emerged to reveal the names of the 15-man party. The team for the Tests will be uinveiled on March 22.Powar, 25, replaces Anil Kumble, who has not fully recovered from a shoulder injury sustained in Australia. Ajit Agarkar, too, misses out after his shin injury was slow responding to treatment. But there is a return for Zaheer Khan, who missed the latter part of the Australian tour. Kulamani Parida and Sarandeep Singh were reportedly also considered for the spare spinner’s spot, but Powar’s superior batting – he has four first-class centuries under his belt – swung the issue.India one-day squad Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid (vice-capt), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Hemang Badani, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ramesh Powar, Irfan Pathan, Murali Kartik, L Balaji, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.
The Somerset trio, Ian Blackwell, Andy Caddick and Marcus Trescothick and the rest of their England colleagues have now moved onto the next stage of their World Cup preparations.Over the weekend Ian Blackwell told me: "We are now in Port Elizabeth having just come to the end of a well deserved three day break in Sun City which was absolutely fantastic."For `Blackie’ who is a very capable and competitive golfer, Sun City with it’s well appointed golf courses was an ideal venue for a break. The young all rounder who has been one of the success stories of the England tour this winter continued: "We had two days golfing playing both courses, the Lost City and the Gary Player, where they play the Nedbank Two Million Dollar Challenge, and what fantastic courses they are. The Gary Player is ranked the third best course in the world and boy it was in good nick."He continued: "We picked two sides and played a Ryder Cup format competition. Our side lost 7 points to 3 although I did bring in 2 of the points playing really well. I shot a 90 on the Lost City course which wasn’t too bad in the circumstances. There is a crocodile pit on the side of the green by the thirteenth hole which was a bit scary, but thankfully I didn’t lose a ball in there."`Blackie’ went on: "I then shot an 85 on the Gary Player which I was over the moon with. The best thing was meeting Darren Clarke who played with Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff on one of the days. He shot a lazy 70 apparently."He continued: " We had three cracking days and we are now in Port Elizabeth where we are going to be based for a while. We play against Eastern Province on Tuesday in our first game, and their side will include James Bryant, one of Somerset’s new signings, which will be interesting. It will be good to meet him and also gauge how good he is. I’m sure our coach Kevin Shine will be after a report."Looking ahead to the World Cup `Blackie’ said: "Things are looking in good shape for the big tournament. We regroup now and will be practicing in Port Elizabeth ahead of our first game, which is not too far away now and I’m really looking forward to it."
Australian Southern Stars all-rounder Karen Rolton was presented yesterday with the Peden-Archdale Medal as the outstanding player in this year’s England v Australia women’s cricket series.Rolton was presented with the medallion by IWCC president Christine Brierley following the conclusion of the Second Test in the CricInfo Women’s Series at Headingley, won by Australia by nine wickets.On Saturday Rolton broke the world record for the highest individual score in women’s Test cricket, scoring 209 not out in the Australian first innings. Named as Australia’s player of the series in both the Tests and one-dayers against England, Rolton scored 176 runs at 59.33 in the limited-overs matches, and 216 at 216.00 in the Tests (having also made a duck in the first game at Shenley). She also took four inexpensive wickets in the one-day games.The Peden-Archdale Medal is named after the two captains in the first England versus Australia women’s Test series in 1934-35, namely Margaret Peden (Australia) and Betty Archdale (England). Inaugurated last year, it is given to the most outstanding player in a series (Test and/or one-day) between England and Australia.Rolton is the second winner of the Peden-Archdale Medal. The first, given following the 1999-2000 English tour of Australia, was Victorian fast bowler Charmaine Mason, who yesterday announced that she is retiring from international cricket.
Everton’s financial issues could act them to move smart in the summer transfer window, and it’s quite likely that unless a number of key players are sold to raise funds, free agents and loan moves will be targeted.
While Rafa Benitez will certainly not go down in Everton history as anything more than a disastrous appointment, his successor Frank Lampard may need to follow in his footsteps from the Spaniard’s dealings in last summer’s transfer window, and control the club’s finances well.
Signings like Andros Townsend and Demerai Gray may not have been the kind of marquee, electrifying signings that fans would have been hoping for before the start of this season, but they have both got excellent re-sell values that will bring in good profit for the club, should they depart.
One free agent that the club almost secured a number of years ago was Lukas Nmecha, who at the time was contemplating whether or not to renew his contract at Manchester City.
This was back in 2017, former Everton director of football Steve Walsh planning to complete the deal according to reports, via Sports Illustrated – and should he have succeeded in persuading the German striker to make the move across the North West to Goodison Park, the Toffees would have reaped the rewards – evident by his recent form with current club Wolfsburg.
After signing a new deal in 2018 with City, the striker joined the Bundesliga outfit at the start of this season for £7.2m, and his performances have led to his valuation increasing to £16.2m according to Transfermarkt.
Described as a “baller” by German journalist Jasmina Schweimler, the 23-year-old has featured in 18 German top-flight games this season, starting 11 of them, and has netted six goals so far while operating more as a wide-man, earning his first four caps with his country.
He has also netted two Champions League goals with Wolfsburg – proving that he can perform on the big stage, having already proved his ability at international level, having scored 12 goals for Germany’s U21s, also winning the U21 Top Scorer award at last summer’s UEFA European U21 Championship – helping his country to win the trophy.
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Among attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions, Nmecha ranks in the top 5% for goals per 90 (0.51), top 4% for aerials won per 90 (2.21) and top 18% for pressures in the attacking third per 90 (7.01) – proving that he is becoming a more “complete” forward as he has been previously described by former teammate and City captain Vincent Kompany.
In other news: “They’re looking at..” – Transfer insider drops big Everton claim, Lamps surely gutted
Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard will have the opportunity to fight for their England places from the start of the domestic season after being released to their counties for all the matches ahead of the first Test against New Zealand on May 15.Most of the players who have been involved throughout the winter are given some extra time off, although Ian Bell is available for Warwickshire’s first Championship match against Worcestershire on April 16.Kevin Pietersen won’t appear for Hampshire until the Friends Provident Trophy match against Somerset on May 2 while Paul Collingwood is also rested until that Bank Holiday weekend. Michael Vaughan has been made available for all Yorkshire’s first-class matches ahead of the first Test.Given that it is England’s one-day cricket that needs developing it is interesting that Bell and Alastair Cook have only been released for County Championship matches and not FP Trophy games. Tim Ambrose, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and James Anderson are all rested from the first round of Championship matches.Owais Shah, Andrew Strauss, Phil Mustard and Graeme Swann are also available to their counties from the start of the season.
The ECB has offered a solution to Derbyshire’s ongoing problem with the sun – or more exactly the fact that it sets behind the bowlers’ arm at the County Ground.At least two matches in the past two years have been shortened because play has been suspended while the sun sets. But the ECB has agreed to an amendment to playing regulations in the Twenty20 Cup and the Pro40.The change means that provision will be made for a maximum of one hour of extra time to make up for time lost in respect of low, bright sunlight. This means that no overs will be lost if play has to be suspended because of the sun unless more than one hour of time is lost.”Due to the problems we have experienced with the low sunlight we have looked at a number of possible solutions to the problem and after lengthy consultation with the ECB we have come up with what we believe is the best immediate solution,” Tom Sears, Derbyshire’s chief executive, said. “The new regulation ensures that the thousands of spectators who enjoy Twenty20 and Pro40 cricket at the County Ground will be able to watch a full match in the event of the sun affecting play.”This provision is made in respect of low, bright sunlight only. The provision does not apply in respect of time lost for any other reason.
The ICC has responded to Martin Crowe’s comments in his recent Spirit of Cricket Lecture at Lord’s by saying that it is dealing with the issue of suspect bowling actions more effectively than ever. In his address, Crowe criticised the new 15-degree law and said that all bent arms should be banned.However, the ICC says the current regulations, in place since March 2005, provide a scientific basis for judging a player’s action while at the same time recognising the reality that almost all bowlers are likely to straighten their arm to some extent during delivery.”The regulations are based on the views of an expert panel of former players including Angus Fraser, Michael Holding and Tony Lewis – the current Chairman of the MCC’s Cricket Committee,” said David Richardson, the ICC’s General Manager – Cricket. “This group studied the research of prominent bio-mechanists Professor Bruce Elliot, Dr Paul Hurrion and Mr Marc Portus and the scientific evidence they were presented with was overwhelming.”The facts are that some bowlers, even those never suspected of having flawed actions, were found likely to be straightening their arms by 11 or 12 degrees. And at the same time, some bowlers that may appear to be throwing may be hyper-extending or bowl with permanently bent elbows.”Under a strict interpretation of the Law they were breaking the rules but if we ruled out every bowler that did that then there would be no bowlers left. The game needed to deal with that reality and the current regulations do just that.Richardson added that the new laws have made the umpires’ job easier and provide a scientific base for testing actons. “What they do is take the pressure off umpires because it is now no longer one person’s view of whether or not a bowler has an illegal action. It is something that can be proved scientifically and the assessment is independent and not partisan.”At the same time the umpire retains the right to call a bowler for throwing and the first judgment he makes is still based on his instincts after viewing an action with the naked eye,” he added.The regulations include a 15 degree level of tolerance in elbow extension for all bowlers during delivery, which was identified by the panel of experts as the point after which the bend is likely to become visible to the naked eye.Five senior international bowlers have been reported under the new process – Harbhajan Singh of India, Pakistan’s Shabbir Ahmed and Shoaib Malik, Jermaine Lawson of the West Indies and Johan Botha of South Africa.Richardson also responded to Crowe’s comments about the value of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in Test cricket. “Bangladesh has taken time to adjust to the demands of Test cricket but that mirrors the experience of every side that has stepped up to the top level.”Bangladesh is a cricket-crazy country and has shown encouraging signs of development and, given time, we fully expect it to become more and more competitive at Test level. Zimbabwe has already stepped back from its Test commitments to allow itself time to regroup and we are keen to help it in that process in any way we can.”
Thilina Kandamby and Rangana Herath have been recalled into the Sri Lankan side for the upcoming Paktel Cup in Pakistan. Lasith Malinga was the only player to be dropped from the squad that was chosen for the Champions Trophy. The 15-man squad is scheduled to take part in the tri-series tournament along with Pakistan and Zimbabwe, which starts on September 30.Dilhara Fernando, who has been nursed carefully back to full fitness after a string of back injuries, retains his place in the squad. However, Malinga is likely to be included for the two-Test series that follows the tournament.Sri Lanka will once again miss Muttiah Muralitharan, who is recovering well from shoulder surgery. Herath, the left-arm spinner, is among three specialist spinners in the squad – Upul Chandana and Kaushal Lokuarachchi, both legspinners, are the other two.Kandamby will provide an extra middle-order batting option but is unlikely to play unless there are injuries to one of the regular members. Nevertheless, his inclusion ahead of Russel Arnold, who appears to have been ostracised by the new selection panel, was the most controversial choice.Sri Lanka resumed training on Monday after returning from the Champions Trophy, and are due to leave for Pakistan on Sunday. Their first match of the tournament will be against Pakistan at Karachi on October 6.Sri Lanka squad 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Saman Jayantha, 7 Avishka Gunawardene, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Upul Chandana, 11 Nuwan Zoysa, 12 Dilhara Fernando, 13 Thilina Kandamby, 14 Rangana Herath, 15 Kaushal Lokuarachchi.