Sachin Tendulkar is close to regaining full fitness ahead of the triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka, according to India’s coach, Greg Chappell.”We are confident he will be, if not fully fit, so close to it that it will be satisfactory for everyone,” Chappell told reporters before the team’s departure for Colombo. “His fitness is improving everyday.”Tendulkar, who has a world-record 39 one-day centuries to his name, returned to the squad after being out of international cricket since March due to shoulder surgery. India meet Sri Lanka on August 16 in their opening match of the three-way tournament, which also features South Africa.”I thought his batting during the [training] camp here was very good,” added Chappell, “but we have not pushed him very hard at this stage with regard to his fielding.”India’s captain, Rahul Dravid, said the tri-series was an opportunity for his team to better their record in Sri Lanka. “We are playing against two very good teams,” he said. “It is a big challenge but also an opportunity to boost our confidence.”India were thrashed 4-1 in their last one-day series, against West Indies in May, and they have not won a one-day tournament in Sri Lanka in recent times, losing both the 2004 Asia Cup final and a triangular series the following year.”The important thing is to score runs on Sri Lankan pitches, which are slow,” said Dravid. “It is always a challenge because they always play better at home. We need to work on certain areas, like batting in the middle order and rotating the strike.”
The television rights for the 2005 Afro-Asia cup have finally been confirmed this morning, with Nimbus Sports International of Singapore announced as the sole partner. A lack of interest by the front-runners ESPN/Star and Ten Sports, both of whom are otherwise committed, had dampened the appeal of the event, as had the lack of availability of leading players.In a statement released today, the chief executive of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Syed Ashraful Huq, said: “Nimbus made a terrific offer, well in excess of any prior media speculation, to acquire the worldwide rights to the next three Afro-Asia Cups. Not only will cricket fans the world over get the opportunity to watch some spectacular cricket between the best players from Africa and Asia, young cricketers across both continents will benefit because of the funds raised by these matches.”The 2005 Afro-Asia Cup, to be hosted by South Africa, starts later this month with three one- day Internationals, the first being held at Centurion. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the ACC president and chairman of the Afro-Asian Cricket Co-operation, was delighted with the announcement: “The Afro-Asia Cup will do much to raise the funds necessary to boost activity and support for youth and junior cricket across Africa and Asia,” he said. “Our working slogan is ‘Cricket for Unity.’ Singly we are strong, together we are even stronger.”The ICC match referee appointed for the Cup is Clive Lloyd, and the umpires Steve Davis (Australia) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies) will officiate in the three games.
The five greatest Caribbean players of all time have been named at an awards ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of West Indies cricket. But, somewhat surprisingly, not one of the chosen few is a fast bowler.In a three-hour ceremony at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, a leading panel of judges named George Headley, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Frank Worrell and the current captain, Brian Lara, as their five greatest players. Richards was one of the invited guests, with other big names including Joel Garner, Gordon Greenidge and Sir Everton Weekes.None of the mighty fast bowlers of the 1980s made it onto the list, with Malcolm Marshall perhaps the most unfortunate absentee. But, as Lance Gibbs, West Indies’ former world-record-holding spinner, told the BBC: “Cricket, as you know, is a batsman’s game.”Three other awards were given out during the evening. Michael Holding’s 8 for 92 against England at The Oval in 1976 was voted the best bowling performance in West Indian history, with Gibbs’s 8 for 38 against India in Barbados and Curtly Ambrose’s 46-all-out demolition of England earning a mention in dispatches.Lara pipped Greenidge and Roy Fredericks to the batting award, thanks to his wonderful unbeaten 153 that shocked Australia in Barbados in 1999, while Richards’s 189 not out against England at Old Trafford in 1984 was voted the top one-day performance.
South Africa 227 for 3 (Kallis 82*, Rudolph 71*) beat England 223 for 7 (Trescothick 60) by seven wickets
Jacques Kallis launches Ashley Giles for six at Old Trafford
An unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership of 145 between the two Jacques, Kallis and Rudolph, guided South Africa to an easy and emphatic win against England in the fifth match of the NatWest Series. Batting second under the Old Trafford lights, Kallis continued his sparkling form with an authoritative 82 not out, while Rudolph played with impressive control and maturity for an unbeaten 71 – his second one-day international fifty. For England, however, they will be ruing a lack of runs and an un-enterprising bowling attack, which lacked in penetration.Kallis and Rudolph were completely unflustered in their calm advance, with both concentrating on placement rather than power, despite the odd big shot towards the end of the victory march. Kallis used his experience to pace his innings to perfection and play in the style the dry and slow Old Trafford dictated, which was to show application and the right temperament – and there aren’t many than better than Kallis at that. Although the bulk of his runs came in singles, he treated the crowd to a few exquisite cover drives, and one towering six off the ineffective Ashley Giles.While Kallis passed 300 runs in the series, Rudolph was like a mirror image at the other end. Left-handed and maybe not as elegant as Kallis with a dominating bottom hand, he too made batting look alarmingly easy. His success was no secret, play the ones and twos and hit the bad ball for four, which is exactly what he did to great effect.After Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith had fallen early, Kallis and Rudolph – and, to a lesser extent, Andrew Hall- took the sting out of the England attack a little too easily for Michael Vaughan’s liking. Hall’s wicket (82 for 3) threatened to get things going again, but England showed little stomach for the fight.Darren Gough started brightly but the batteries quickly ran out, while James Anderson had another disappointing game. He has set himself high standards to maintain, but he was affected when twice warned by Billy Bowden for following through on to the danger area. Even though he got his revenge on Graeme Smith, with whom he collided in mid-pitch with a peach of an inswinger, like the rest of the bowlers, he became more and more ineffective.Giles bowled round the wicket to the right-hander for the first time in the series, but rather than adding to his solitary wicket this summer, he conceded 18 from his first three overs. He later reverted to his customary line of attack, but it made little difference.As Kallis and Rudolph strolled ever nearer to their target, England were in desperate need for a wicket and Vaughan turned first to the old campaigner Gough to make something happen. But Rudolph was having none of it and cut him immediately for four. Kallis then cover-drove Richard Johnson for four in following over, the fifty partnership came up in 74 balls, and you sensed South Africa were winning the race.England didn’t bowl well, and despite a late repair job from Chris Read and Giles, they didn’t bat well either. Marcus Trescothick, playing in a record 68th consecutive one-day international for England, and Anthony McGrath shared a rescuing record third-wicket partnership for England against South Africa, but their total of 223 for 7 was not nearly enough.Shaun Pollock took a bit of stick at The Oval, and while questions were being asked about his form and hunger, he showed he was back to his miserly best, removing Vaughan for 3 in a stingy spell of 1 for 21 from his 10 overs.For South Africa it was sweet revenge for The Oval, for England it revived bad memories of their defeat against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge where a lack of invention in the field cost them dear.Click here for the Wisden Verdict
Zimbabwe’s tour of the United Arab Emirates for the Sharjah Champions Trophy triangular one-day series looks set to proceed as scheduled next week. Thenational selectors named a 14-member squad for the tournament, which also involves Pakistan and Sri Lanka and starts on October 26th.Former Australia coach Geoff Marsh will be in charge of the team after taking over from fellow-countryman Carl Rackemann, who returned home soon after theone-day series against England.Opening batsman Alistair Campbell and former vice-captain Guy Whittall are both dropped, together with spinner Dirk Viljoen, because of poor form.Convenor of selectors Ali Shah said yesterday that the two regular players Campbell and Whittall had been playing badly of late.”The two players were dropped due to lack of form. We felt that they needed to regain their form,” said Shah, adding that Campbell’s dropping had nothing to dowith his racial remarks to the British media in Bulawayo last week.”We did not drop him because of that incident. The ZCU board is going to deal with it as Campbell has already been summoned to appear before a disciplinarycommittee.”Campbell, 29, who made his one-day international debut against West Indies in February 1992, has played in 172 matches. Only Andy Flower has played more, with180. Campbell has scored 4794 runs in 168 innings at an average of 31.12. He has scored seven centuries, the most by a Zimbabwean in one-day cricket ahead of Grant Flower (5) and Andy Flower (3).Despite his good overall record, Campbell scored a mere 69 runs in five innings against England at an average of 13.80. He was also the stand-in captain in the last two one-day matches in Bulawayo in the absence of the injured Heath Streak.Whittall has the fourth highest number of one-day appearances for Zimbabwe with 139 matches. Brian Murphy has replaced him as vice-captain. Murphy is returning to the squad after a lengthy lay-off due to injury. Also joining the team is Harare Sports Club all rounder Trevor Gripper.The new selection panel started its work soon after the series against England at the weekend. The selectors are looking at building a strong side for the 2003 World Cup with an emphasis on youth.Seamers Andy Blignaut, Brian Strang and Brighton Watambwa were not considered because of injuries, while Churchill schoolboys Hamilton Masakadza and TatendaTaibu were left out as they are preparing for final Advanced Level examinations.Youngsters Douglas Hondo, Guy Croxford and Stuart Matsikenyire were not considered because they are preparing to leave for Australia to play gradecricket.
Worcestershire have brought in West Indies pace bowler Shannon Gabriel for two Championship matches in a late toss of the dice intended to save their Division One status.Gabriel replaces Saeed Ajmal, who was due to leave after Worcestershire’s game against Sussex. Ajmal’s impact has been limited since he was forced to remodel an illegal action and he has only taken only 16 wickets at 48.50 in a season in which three Worcestershire seam bowlers – Jack Shantry, Joe Leach and Charlie Morris – have carried a heavy workload.Ajmal will return to Pakistan after his Worcestershire contract expires next week, leaving Gabriel free to step in away to Durham and at home to Middlesex, subject to the granting of a No Objection Certificate from the WICB.Moghees Sheikh, Saeed Ajmal’s manager, told ESPNcricinfo*: “There was no sacking or early termination of Saeed Ajmal’s contract as some media are reporting. His contract with Worcestershire is until September 4 as he will be leaving for Hajj the day after his return to Pakistan next week.”Worcestershire had wanted him to play for them for the whole season but he had decided and agreed with Worcestershire prior to signing the contract this season that he wouldn’t be able to play the whole season and would return to Pakistan prior to the end of the season.”Worcestershire, second bottom in Division One, lie four points behind Sussex, with Somerset a further nine points ahead.Gabriel, 27, has played 14 Tests for the West Indies and made his debut against England at Lord’s three years ago. He has taken 32 wickets for his country at an average of 35.81 and was part of the Windies side which took on Australia in June ahead of the Ashes. He has most recently been playing for St. Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League.He is the latest of several West Indies internationals to play for Worcestershire in recent years including Kemar Roach in 2011 and Andre Russell in 2013.Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes said: “We are hoping with the extra pace he has, a 90 miles an hour bowler, he will just give us something slightly different. We are looking forward to him playing a part for the last two matches and hopefully making a difference.”It is not easy for any bowler just coming in for two games but if you are looking for someone who can make an impact as a strike bowler, then Shannon is an ideal man.”I’ve admired his pace and he has played in some games where he has bowled quicker balls in the day than Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc so that is testament to what pace he has got.”We just hope he can repeat some of that in the Championship fixtures. The ball tends to move around a bit at Durham so that we might be a good option there and we will see what we’ve got at Worcester for the last game.”*August 28, 3pm BST – This story was updated with a quote from Ajmal’s manager
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has stated that he feels Steven Gerrard can play at the highest level for many years to come, and that his style of play will not change as he gets older.
The England international has been on the sidelines with a groin injury since March, but is set to start for the Anfield side against Manchester United on Saturday.
The skipper’s return will be a major boost for the Merseyside team, and their Scottish coach has spoken highly of Gerrard and ageing team-mate Jamie Carragher.
“Carra and Steven have been fantastic for this football club, whether they have been playing or not,” he told The Daily Mail.
“Anybody who is an asset to the football club I am sure we will look forward to keeping. I don’t have a figure in my mind and Damien (Comolli) has never told me a figure they have in mind that when they get to 30 they only get a one-year contract. You judge a player on what they are doing on the pitch. It doesn’t matter what their age is.
“I got a long contract when I was 33, which I couldn’t believe. If you are 20 and not making a contribution you are not going to get a contract. If you are 30 and making a contribution you have more chance of getting one,” he stated.
Despite Gerrard getting older, Dalglish still expects the midfielder to continue his barnstorming style of play.
“Steven is not on a Zimmer! When he plays, you’ll still see him charging forward. He did that against Wolves the other week when he came on. Steven isn’t going to change. He’s probably fitter now than he was before,” he concluded.
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Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has thrown his support behind the idea of scrapping the toss, while he is also open-minded about the concept of four-day Test cricket. While Australia and New Zealand pioneered day-night Test cricket in Adelaide last week, other suggestions have also been made in the debate around making Test cricket more competitive and more attractive to spectators.One idea is to abolish the coin toss before matches and instead allow the visiting team the choice of whether to bat or bowl, which proponents argue would encourage the host country to produce a fair pitch. Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Michael Holding have all expressed support for the idea, while the ECB will next year trial a similar concept in county cricket.Under the ECB’s trial, the visiting county will automatically be given the option of fielding first and only if they decline will the coin toss go ahead as usual.”That is one that should definitely come in to cricket, where the opposition gets the right to choose what they want to do,” Lehmann told reporters in Adelaide on Thursday. “I reckon it will stop all the wickets suiting the home team.”As you saw in Perth, the wickets don’t suit how we want to play sometimes and in Australia in general the wickets have been fantastic for years, it doesn’t really matter on the toss, who wins or not. But in some other places it certainly has a big bearing on the game.”The MCC World Cricket Committee also expressed its concerns about pitch preparation last week and said in a statement that home advantage had become too significant in Test cricket, and it would monitor with interest the ECB trial next year. It was the MCC World Cricket Committee that pushed for day-night Tests six years ago and Lehmann said he loved the roll-out of the inaugural pink-ball Test.”I thought it was a great concept,” he said. “It was probably over a little bit quick for my liking in terms of the game but it was exciting for three days and it could have gone either way. Maybe a little less grass [on the pitch] and maybe get the ball a little bit darker in the seam, but it’s only a little bit of tweaking. I was quite impressed by it. I know the fans loved it … we have just got to make it better.”Four-day Test cricket has also been floated as a possible way of keeping fans interested in the longest format. Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland has an open mind about the concept, with the possibility that the four days could be extended so that little play was lost overall. Lehmann said he did not mind the idea, but was unsure whether the extra overs could be easily fitted in.”We don’t bowl our 90 overs in a day as it is, so that is probably the only thing,” he said. “But I’m open to all those sorts of things. Whatever makes the game better for the fans is pretty important.”
According to Tapan Chowdhury, Bangladesh’s Sports Advisor, the national cricket board will be restructured once a new chairman is named. Recent reports indicated that the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB’s) next president, whose identity is yet to be confirmed, will be announced upon his arrival in the capital next week.In regards to these reports, former BCB general secretary Syed Ashraful Haq told ,”It is no magic figure, but the number of members would be between nine to 13. I have asked him to keep it to around ten, as it is with the International Cricket Council or Asian Cricket Council but it is up to him.”He did not comment on who the new BCB boss would be.Haq, also the ACC chief executive, recently came to Dhaka for a meeting with Chowdhury. “We only talked about cricket. I told him about my ideas and how I see the board evolving into a more professional and a lot more accountable body,” he said. “There should be people who will not be holding honorary posts rather there should be people who will be paid for their job. That is what we basically talked about.”According to Haq, Chowdhury preferred 12 to 13 members on the new committee. “I did not discuss any names with him but whoever they are, must have cricketing background, both internationally as well as in the domestic front,” he said. “I gave him my views on how it should be structured, to be more specific. It should be structured like it is in a big cricket organisation so that we can compete with them in that regard too.”Haq believed the BCB should operate around a business plan, with an executive board, but felt that it also needed to have representatives from not just Dhaka, but exterior cities and towns, such as Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and Sylhet.He was also critical of the current board’s handling of domestic cricket.”In the next few years, the BCB will receive an astronomical amount of money from the ICC so it would not be wise for someone with an honorary post to handle that much because that person would not have any accountability,” he said. “A general secretary cannot exist when there is a CEO. But here, the CEO should be someone with some cricketing knowledge because he represents Bangladesh in the important ICC meetings. But for that matter, if you keep both, then I don’t think it makes any sense.”
Brian Lara’s press conference Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”) Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAAfter the end of the fourth day’s play, Brian Lara addressed the media and defended his decision not to enforce the follow-on with the reason that his bowlers were tired. While many believed that the bold and positive decision would have been to enforce the follow-on and go for broke with a day and a session to play, Lara thought otherwise.VVS Laxman, who scored a painstaking hundred, told reporters that he was glad to have contributed to his team’s cause, and praised Anil Kumble for his role in a vital stand down the order. Cricinfo’s Siddhartha Vaidyanathan reports from St Kitts. Listen in!Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”) Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA