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James Pattinson has been recalled to Australia’s ODI squad at the expense of Ryan Harris after proving himself fit to return from more than a month out of action due to a foot injury

Daniel Brettig28-Feb-2012James Pattinson has been recalled to Australia’s ODI squad for the final phase of the triangular series at the expense of Ryan Harris, after proving himself fit to return from more than a month out of action due to a foot injury.Having delivered a hostile display for Victoria’s Futures League team against South Australia in Adelaide, where he returned match figures of 6 for 37, Pattinson was deemed the right man to replace Harris, who has struggled for rhythm during his ODI appearances in the triangular series.However John Inverarity, the national selector, stressed that Harris remained a part of Test match plans for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies in April. He was subsequently named as part of the Queensland squad for Thursday’s Sheffield Shield fixture against New South Wales at the SCG.Australia ODI Squad

Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson, Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner

“James Pattinson is fit again and after impressive recent form in a Futures League match in Adelaide, comes into the squad at expense of Ryan Harris, who has been dropped,” Inverarity said. “Ryan remains strongly in contention for selection for the Test matches on the tour of the West Indies.”Pattinson was a staunch performer for Australia in the home Tests, winning match awards in Brisbane against New Zealand and Melbourne against India for his fast, aggressive outswing bowling and tidy lower-order batting.However, he complained of foot soreness during the SCG Test and missed the remainder of the India series as medical staff took care to ensure his stress hot spots did not bloom into fractures.The other quandary facing the selectors is whether or not to play the captain, Michael Clarke, in Friday’s final round-robin fixture against Sri Lanka in Melbourne.Clarke missed Australia’s previous match against India in Sydney due to a back complaint, and after Shane Watson led the side ably at the SCG there may be cause to let Clarke rest until the first final on Sunday in Brisbane.Inverarity said another player may yet be called into the squad if the circumstances dictated it.”Michael Clarke is making a good recovery and is likely to resume on Friday,” he said. “The selectors will consider adding an extra player to this squad for the Finals matches, if conditions warrant it.”Edited by Brydon Coverdale

Salman Butt, the ex-Pakistan Test captain accused of being involved in spot-fixing, said on the tenth day of the trial in London that he “misjudged” his former agent Mazhar Majeed

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court18-Oct-2011Salman Butt, the ex-Pakistan Test captain accused of being involved in spot-fixing, said on the tenth day of the trial in London that he “misjudged” his former agent Mazhar Majeed, labelled corruption in cricket “terrible” and admitted to “suspicions” about Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif after the no-ball scandal was revealed.”I didn’t realise what kind of man he was,” Butt told the court on his current feelings towards Majeed, as his lawyer Ali Bajwa QC neared the close of his opening defence.”But now with the things that have come out I think I have misjudged somebody completely. I just took his word and trusted him. I knew him for a long time and never thought there would be another side to him that would be this bad.”Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.Butt admitted he was suspicious of his former team-mates honesty in the Lord’s Test when the published their expose. “The suspicion was there but I never wanted to believe it,” was as much as Butt would say.When Bajwa inquired as to Butt’s feelings on what he was accused of, he said: “I would never do that. Cricket is my passion. Look at what I am getting accused of (£2,500 of money found in his room). I’m earning every match nearly four times that. It’s a very bizarre thing.”I have always played my cricket with passion and I try to do well, to win. Players in the sub-continent know what the difference is when we do well and when we don’t do well. If we do well it’s really good and we have all the luxuries available. But if we don’t do well the reaction is not like people in the west know about. “When Bajwa prompted Butt for his thoughts about corruption in cricket generally, he replied: “It’s a terrible thing to do. It’s not very good for the game or for the country. And it speaks of the man’s character himself.”The case continues.

Australia’s cricketers must be mature enough to accept changes to the team for reasons of balance or rotation will become more frequent under the new team performance regime

Daniel Brettig06-Dec-2011Be they bowlers or batsmen, Australia’s cricketers must become mature enough to accept that changes to the team for reasons of balance or rotation will become more frequent under the new team performance regime, the head coach Mickey Arthur has said.As the national selectors, Arthur among them, deliberate over whether to bolster Michael Clarke’s bowling resources with the allrounder Daniel Christian for the Hobart Test against New Zealand, the possibility of wider and more frequent rotation is dawning on the team.The senior batsman Michael Hussey has expressed reservations about shuffling batsmen in and out for fear that it would flirt with form and confidence, but Arthur said all players had to be prepared to accept the possibility, irrespective of their role. His words echoed those of the Argus review about “adult conversations” surrounding selection.”That’s a maturity that we want to try to get into the group getting down the line,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo. “Players need to be mature enough to realise that it is a balance shift or something like that, and we’ll communicate that all very well to the guys and they’ll understand exactly where they’re at.”Christian remains a chance to become Australia’s 427th Test cricketer, pending assessments of how the bowling quartet has backed up from a comprehensive defeat of New Zealand in the first Test in Brisbane. Also a factor in discussions is the tendency of the Hobart pitch to flatten out into a strip less reminiscent of the Gabba than Allan Border Field, where the visitors batted far more comfortably against Australia A.”You always want that extra bowling option, an allrounder in the team is like gold,” Arthur said. “So with Shane [Watson] not playing there is a position there for an allrounder within our squad and the selectors have felt that he’s the next best.”We’ll just have to see when we get down to Hobart how all the different permutations work out. We need to keep rotating guys through the summer because there is just so much cricket, guys are going to break down and we need others ready to come in at any given time.”Phillip Hughes’ present troubles are less physical than technical, and Arthur stressed a balance needed to be struck between advising the 23-year-old on how to straighten his bat and granting him the freedom to indulge the appetite for runs that has already reaped 17 first-class centuries.”I think we need to see him tighten up his technique just a little bit, because he’s getting out in the same ways and that’s, not the alarming thing, but that’s an area of concern that he keeps getting out in exactly the same way,” Arthur said.”But he is an incredibly talented player with a very big future, so we just want to tighten up his technique but give him the wings to fly with the bat, because he’s still got a major role to play down the line for Australian cricket.”In planning ahead for the series against India, Arthur is aware that the problems posed for Hughes by Chris Martin are most liley going to be magnified through the lens of Ishant Sharma, who delivers with a similar trajectory and a knack for shaping the ball across left-handers.”One hundred per cent [we’re aware of Ishant coming up],” Arthur said. “Chris Martin has troubled a lot of left-handers because of his angle, and he is going to continue to do that, but it’s not going away, that is always going to be a challenge for the left-handed batters, and Hughesy in particular, so that is something we’ve got to make sure we get right.”

Newcastle United are reportedly set to reignite their interest in Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard, according to recent reports.

What’s the word?

As per the NorthernEcho, the Magpies are said to have ‘initiated talks’ regarding a potential deal to bring the Englishman to St James’ Park, although are set to face ‘intense competition’ from clubs across the continent in the race for the 29-year-old’s signature.

The report suggests that there have been ‘preliminary talks’ between the player’s representatives and the northeast side, with the £18m-rated gem set to be available on a free transfer once his current deal expires, albeit with that fact sparking interest from the likes of AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.

The 32-cap international had come close to linking up with Eddie Howe’s side in January, although the deal collapsed late in the window due to the Red Devils’ demands, including a reported £12.5m bonus to be paid should he help the club stave off relegation.

Howe delighted

It would appear then that PIF are keen to rekindle that interest in the upcoming window, with the versatile star almost certain to end his 22-year association with the Old Trafford outfit this summer, despite suggestions that incoming boss Erik ten Hag may offer him a lifeline.

In truth, the £80k-per-week man has endured a dismal season at the Theatre of Dreams, making just two league starts in total thus far, while he was also seemingly ‘saddened’ at having been denied an emotional send-off from his current side during the win over Brentford on Monday evening – United’s last home game of the season.

While he has seemingly wasted another season back at Carrington, that’s not to downplay the potential impact he could have for the Magpies were he to sign this summer, having previously shown his quality during a remarkable loan stint at West Ham United last term.

In that brief, six-month spell at the London Stadium, Lingard – who has been dubbed “unique” by former teammate Michael Carrick – looked a rejuvenated figure, chipping in with 14 goal contributions in just 16 appearances for David Moyes’ side.

Equally, when handed the chance back in Manchester he has previously proven his worth, notably recording eight goals and six assists in the Premier League during the 2017/18 season under Jose Mourinho.

It is also easy to forget that this is a player who has netted at a World Cup, as well as in three Wembley triumphs for the Red Devils, doing so in the 2016 FA Cup final, the 2017 Carabao Cup final and the 2017 Community Shield.

Pundit Rio Ferdinand has previously suggested that the Warrington-born playmaker “could play in any top team” such is his quality, although those of a Newcastle persuasion – particularly Howe – will be hoping that it is in the famous black and white stripes that he is lining up in next term.

In other news, Newcastle plot bid to sign player with 191 PL apps, he’d be a big upgrade on Lascelles

Karnataka made heavy weather of a 177-run target but Amit Verma saved their blushes with a serene 57 to guide them to the Ranji semi-final

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2010
Scorecard
R Vinay Kumar, the Karnataka captain, was a nervous man through the day, but Amit Verma triggered celebrations in the camp with his assured knock•ESPNcricinfo LtdKarnataka made heavy weather of the 177-run target they were set, but Amit Verma saved their blushes with a serene, unbeaten 68 to guide them to the Ranji Trophy semi-finals. The Karnataka coach Sanath Kumar was miffed with his batsmen for wasting starts in the first innings and they threatened to repeat the same mistakes in the second, but Verma held the chase together with a responsible knock.Verma himself was one of the batsmen Sanath had criticised for throwing his wicket away in the first outing. “Amit is not getting the big runs,” Sanath said then. “I have been speaking to him about it, and gave him a piece of my mind.” It’s not known whether it was the talk that did it but Verma seemed a transformed man today. He showed great patience in leaving deliveries outside off stump and rarely played a false stroke. His judgement of length was precise – he was rarely caught at the crease – and employed square drives against the seamers, and cuts against the spinners to great effect.The other batsmen, barring CM Gautam, lacked the same discipline and wickets fell at regular intervals. KB Pawan was trapped lbw, Manish Pandey ran without looking at his partner after pushing to mid-on, Ganesh Sathish collected a pair, Robin Uthappa holed out to mid-off, and Stuart Binny poked one to silly point. However, Uthappa and Binny managed to contribute some vital runs to ease Verma’s burden. Uthappa, in particular, tried to play a responsible hand – he faced 92 balls for his 37, but the mode of his dismissal would rankle him. He had just survived a plausible shout for lbw against left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma but charged down the track the very next ball and couldn’t clear mid-off.Binny, too, survived a good shout for lbw against Sharma, with Karnataka on 84 for 4, but recovered to play some positive strokes. He cut and slog-swept the offspinner Jalaj Saxena before Sharma induced a fatal prod to silly-point.Madhya Pradesh might have sensed an opportunity when Binny fell to leave Karnataka wobbling at 109 for 5 but Verma found good support in Gautam, the wicket-keeper batsman. Gautam played a few stylish drives and punches and hit five boundaries in his unbeaten 31. Karnataka have reached the semis but they won’t be entirely happy with the way they got there.

Mitchell Johnson has rated his devastating return of 6 for 38 as better than his career-best haul against South Africa here two summers ago

Peter English at the WACA17-Dec-2010Mitchell Johnson has rated his devastating return of 6 for 38 as better than his career-best haul against South Africa here two summers ago. But despite swinging the ball further than he ever has, he said he wasn’t even trying to curl it into the pads of England’s right-handers.”I think it’s a bonus,” he said of the shape that helped him pick up the lbws of Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood before lunch on the second day. The dismissals were part of a damaging burst of 4 for 7 in 27 balls that started England’s fall for 187, and he finished off the tail to gain his second-best Test figures.The performance surged Australia back into the series – they had a lead of 200 at stumps – but Johnson isn’t expecting to swing the ball in every innings and was thankful for a helpful breeze. “I like to run in and try to hit the wicket hard,” he said. “When the ball does swing, it definitely puts doubts in the mind of the batsmen.”I haven’t got all my wickets bowling inswingers to the right-handers. I do get the ball to go across right-handers and get nicks. When I swing it back in, it definitely helps me pick up more wickets.”Johnson spent the week before the Test with Troy Cooley, the bowling coach, and the conditioner Stuart Karppinen to rectify a string of technical and physical faults. It was a controversial decision at the time because it kept him out of Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield game, but the plan turned out to be perfect.”One thing I was working on in the nets with Troy and Stuart was getting my momentum going forward, instead of just dropping off to square leg,” he said. “I think that’s definitely helped me and got my arm higher and wrist behind the ball a bit better. I also worked on getting my lower-half body strength back to where I needed to be.”Johnson now has 27 wickets at 18.51 in four matches at the WACA, his home ground, and his best Test figures of 8 for 61 came here against South Africa in 2008-09. “I think I bowled better today than then,” he said. “But it’s only one innings. We need to go out there in the second innings and do it again. There’s a long way to go.”The outstanding display also showed England how much of a menace Johnson can be and helped him to move on from his troubled times during the 2009 tour. “To be a big part of this Ashes series is exciting for me,” he said.

Matthew Hoggard says his Leicestershire side are underdogs for the Champions League Twenty20 2011 because they do not have star players

Abhishek Purohit in Hyderabad17-Sep-2011The contrast could not have been more obvious. Six Leicestershire players swaggered in for the media briefing behind their captain Matthew Hoggard, who was grinning from ear to ear, trying his best to appear excited and interested. After seeing that the reporters were sitting about 20 feet from his table, he even implored them to “shout” out the questions, before realising that there were microphones in place.A couple of hours later, a pale-looking Mahela Udawatte trudged in, his only accompaniments being Ruhuna coach Sumithra Warnakulasuriya and a weak promise of a possible late appearance by Sanath Jayasuriya.Given the gregarious mood Hoggard was in, it did not take him long to move beyond the standard phrases which press conferences are routinely littered with. “We are the underdogs. Everyone expects us to go home,” Hoggard said. Why should a side that has just won a gruelling domestic Twenty20 tournament – after 16 league matches and a tied semi-final decided by an eliminator – be treated as the underdog? Hoggard had an answer. “We do not have too many star players,” he said.”But we have got some good solid match-winners. We have Andrew McDonald, Abdul Razzaq. It’s going to be an interesting tournament. India is a tough place to come and get results. Two games [per side for the qualifiers] is a bit of a lottery but it also takes only two good games to take it away from the opposition. We have come with high hopes.”Leicestershire have sufficient reason to hold sky-high expectations. They had a loss of £400,000 last year and Mike Siddall, their chief executive, admitted earlier that it has been a financial struggle for the club. They stand to gain substantially if they can make it through to the main draw of the Champions League Twenty20.Money was the last thing on Hoggard’s mind though. “You don’t play for money. It is a challenge for us to come here and test ourselves at this level against competitive and top sides from around the world. The money looks after itself.”Testing themselves against top T20 opposition is something that Sri Lankan sides haven’t found too easy in the previous editions of the Champions League but Udawatte was hopeful of a turnaround this time. “We’ve got a good side of youngsters as well as experienced players like Sanath,” Udawatte said. “Batting is our strength but we have also got some decent spinners and fast bowlers.”It is the bowlers that are absent though that are a cause of worry for coach Warnakulasuriya. “We are missing out on Chanaka Welegedara, Suraj Randiv and Shaminda Eranga who are all doing national duty against Australia. The bowling department is a bit weak.”Not having heard such an honest admission throughout the day, all the reporters suddenly went very quiet. Udawatte tried looking at some positives. “We are really lucky to have Sanath. He is always giving good ideas in the dressing room.”The mood wasn’t getting uplifted so easily though. And when it was finally announced that Jayasuriya was not going to make an appearance after all, the briefing ended in disappointed groans.

Maharashtra’s Ankit Bawne has been named captain of the India Under-19 squad for the quadrangular series to be played between September 27 and October 9 in Visakhapatnam

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2011Delhi’s Unmukt Chand has been named captain of the India Under-19 squad for the quadrangular series in Visakhapatnam replacing Maharashtra’s Ankit Bawne, who was named captain at the time of the announcement of the squad on September 18. A release from the BCCI stated there was a discrepancy between Bawne’s date of birth as mentioned in the BCCI’s database and his passport, following which he was omitted from the squad.Chand made his Ranji Trophy debut last season, and scored a century against Railways in his fourth match. An aggressive opener, he was signed by Delhi Daredevils for the IPL but played only two games. Karnataka’s Shreyas Gopal was included in the squad in place of Bawne.Jharkhand’s Kumar Deobrat is the vice-captain while Sandeep Sharma from Punjab and Mumbai’s Harmeet Singh are the only two players in the squad who were at the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand last year, when India finished sixth.Harmeet, a left-arm spinner, impressed in his first two Ranji Trophy matches in 2009-10, taking 12 wickets, and then bagged his first five-for in the 2010-11 season. Also in the squad is Delhi left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra, who took 18 wickets in the 2010-11 Ranji season. Deobrat score 191 runs at an average of 63.66 and strike-rate of 84.51 during Jharkhand’s successful campaign in the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy.The tournament will also feature Under-19 teams from Australia, West Indies and Sri Lankato and will be be played between September 27 and October 9.Squad: Unmukt Chand (captain), Kumar Deobrat (vice-captain), Akhil Herwadkar, Baba Apparajith, Hanuma Vihari, Smit Patel, Akshdeep Nath, Vikas Mishra, Harmeet Singh, Kamal Passi, Rush Kalaria, Mohsin Sayyad, Sandeep Sharma, Manan Vohra, Shreyas Gopal

The Sri Lankans controlled their final warm-up before running into Australia as they recorded a 22-run victory over New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2010Sri Lankans 4 for 167 (Jayawardene 59) beat New South Wales 2 for 100 (Khawaja 32*) by 22 runs on D/L method
ScorecardMahela Jayawardene was quick off the mark, racing to 59 in 35 balls•Getty ImagesThe Sri Lankans controlled their final warm-up before running into Australia as they recorded a 22-run victory over New South Wales in Sydney. After the visitors posted 4 for 167 from their 20 overs, the local innings was interrupted by rain – the target was reduced to 123 in 14 overs – and they finished at 2 for 100.The game started 15 minutes late because the Sri Lankans were caught in traffic on the way to the ground at Blacktown in western Sydney, but the captain Mahela Jayawardene quickly put on the accelerator after he won the toss. Jayawardene, who replaced the resting Kumar Sangakkara, raced to 59 in 35 balls as he and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened with 57 in 5.3 overs.Dilshan fell for 21 as the main batsmen found some decent practice ahead of Friday’s Twenty20 international against Australia in Perth. Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews both collected 24 while Chamara Kapugedera picked up 26 off 18. Brett Lee was upset to be overlooked by Australia this week, but did not impress in giving away 44 runs in his four overs, including being hit for six twice by Kapugedera.New South Wales started well in their reply but rain interrupted them at 0 for 32 after 3.3 overs. The offspinner Suraj Randiv then struck twice to halt the hosts’ momentum and finished with 2 for 13 off three.Daniel Smith was lbw for 13 and Phillip Hughes (30) departed after Randiv took a fine running catch off his own bowling. The assignment was too tough for the locals and Usman Khawaja was left unbeaten on 32.The Sri Lankans beat Queensland on Friday in a 50-over fixture before Sunday’s game in Sydney was washed out. The three-match ODI series begins in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Nottingham Forest boosted their Championship promotion hopes on Monday night, with an impressive 4-0 drubbing over rivals West Bromwich Albion.

Steve Bruce’s side found themselves at an immediate disadvantage, when Darnell Furlong was shown a second yellow in the 17th minute of play.

Though, Forest – who were out to respond to their loss against Luton Town last time out – made the most of their extra man advantage to secure a massively important three points.

The game featured some brilliantly taken goals from the likes of Brennan Johnson, Ryan Yates and Sam Surridge – with Jack Colback’s screamer from out wide being the pick of the bunch.

Forest boss Steve Cooper had his say on his side’s 4-0 demolition job:

“To win a game 4-0, you have to do a lot of things well – and we did. We took real control.

“It was a job well done. We just played really well.”

The Reds were superb in Monday’s game at The City Ground, though there were two players that really stood out.

Academy graduate, Brennan Johnson was excellent, slotting a cool penalty home and bagging an assist for Colback’s contender for goal of the season.

Though, it was Manchester United loanee James Garner who impressed the most, with a metronomic performance that saw him make 63-passes with an 89% accuracy. 

The £20k-per-week talent has been one of Forest’s main creative outlets in a season that has seen him chip in with ten goal contributions (four goals and six assists) in 36 appearances, in what is his second campaign with the Reds.

Consistency has been a big part of Garner’s game this season and Monday night’s game against Bruce’s Baggies side saw him deliver on his average of around two key passes per match.

Though it was from a set-piece in which Garner got his assist, with a pin-point corner kick that met the head of Ryan Yates who took his goal well.

The 21-year-old was active in front of goal himself with his three shot attempts threatening to add to David Button’s misery between the West Brom sticks. This, despite the young Englishman occupying a position that requires defensive responsibility – with his positional acumen a positive indication of both his “football brain” and his composure in progressing the ball.

According to SofaScore, Garner received a rating of 7.4, making him the joint-third best player on the pitch for what was an all-round impressive performance for the young Manchester United loanee.

In other news: Cooper set for Forest disaster on “sensational” £25k-p/w star who’s like “Collymore” – opinion