Worcestershire are preparing to host their scheduled County Championship match against Kent on July 8 at New Road, barely a week after the flood waters finally subsided following the torrential rain in late June.”This has been a tough and risky decision but all my colleagues have ‘bought’ into the desire to see cricket being played on Sunday at 11am,” said chief executive Mark Newton. “The flood water is still on some of the outfield and car parks and in the marquee but we are able to get into the buildings and start the clean up.”The most difficult piece of the jigsaw is the wicket but we think a decent wicket can be prepared. I am told by those who know that the normal recovery period is two to three weeks but we have just six days. The entire infrastructure may not be ready but we owe it to our members and supporters to show what we can achieve.”Newton added that the smell around New Road was still fairly strong and said he would be calling on members to help with the clean-up operation later this week to get the ground ready.This was the first summer flood at New Road since 1969 and the second worst ever after 1924. The club has already announced costs and lost revenue of around £150,000 to £200,000 due to the disruption to their Twenty20 programme. One home match was cancelled while others have been moved to Kidderminster and Himley.
How can it take longer to purchase tickets to a day’s cricket then it can to watch it? Cricket Australia has done extremely well to alienate the Australian public. Couldn’t they have staggered the release of tickets to avoid such a debacle? I guess that is too logical. Ticketmaster isn’t entirely blameless either; it is a regular occurrence for its website and phone lines to get overloaded when they sell tickets for a major event.Ben MaroneyAt 9.01am I made the first of probably 100 phone calls to Ticketmaster, it was busy. At 11am I was annoyed, but not angry at the non-loading web page and busy phone line. But by 1pm, I was angry and now, at FOUR O’CLOCK, I am not one step closer to having a ticket and feel like tearing my hair out. I must say a big warm-hearted thank you to Cricket Australia for inviting me into their family. How about next year we, the fans, organise the family banquet? Surely we couldn’t do any worse of a job.Morgan GibsonI’ve had to give up after nearly six hours of busy signal and servers down. How on earth did other people get through? Sadly, I don’t like my real family much, but my newly adopted one doesn’t like me! Absolutely ridiculous, Cricket Australia. I doubt I will ever try to attend a match again thanks to you. Not just a disappointed cricket fan.Chris WrightI don’t think I’ve ever been as upset about anything as I have with this experience. The anticipation and excitement of having an opportunity to book in advance remained unabated until around 10am. I was ready and had done all my homework and from 9am I was consistently, non-stop, trying the phone and the internet. I think I now have RSI. After 60 minutes of `pages not available’ and Ticketek’s irritating message I got through …YES! I was delighted. I could see celebrations in the street and much adulation from my wife. I eagerly put in my membership number and got through to the Venue Tix page – yes you read correctly, I had ended up in Adelaide, but of course I didn’t know till my membership number had been accepted. The end result was good though – well, fairly good. I did eventually get on to the Sydney booking and I even was able to use my membership number. The only problem nothing was that nothing was left.Paul BuckinghamEvery year I purchase tickets day-night ODI in Sydney and the event is used as a family reunion. This year I was again “hanging-out” to purchase tickets. Can you imagine my surprise and disappointment to find out about the new “cricket family” system and not being able to join and take advantage of this system because I missed the deadline. The deadline I didn’t know about. Cricket Australia has alienated me and others like me. I do attend other first-class cricket matches during the course of the season as well. Maybe I should organise my annual family event at the Adidas International tennis event in Sydney. It’s hard to remain loyal to cricket when you’ve been slapped in the face.Michael LangleyAfter waiting so long and being sold out within hours, I won’t be watching cricket anymore. If that’s the best the administration can do they don’t deserve Australian supporters.Ken MangravitiWhy did we bother registering if we can’t get tickets for the Ashes? I will naturally look towards the ODIs, but it’s the Ashes that we all want to see. I am going to keep trying, but I am going to be spitting chips if I don’t get two tickets for my wife and I to go together.Steve BrayIt’s the greatest failure in Australian cricket history. I gave up after our hours of trying to get onto the website to purchase tickets. It’s easier to fly to England and wait for the next series there than it is to get any tickets here. I’d saved my work leave and fully intended travelling interstate to all the test matches. But its impossible to get tickets.Ian KenyonI will be extremely annoyed if on the second of January I sit down on my lounge chair to watch the game and see the Barmy Army watching the game live at the SCG. I guess time will tell.Glen GallagherObviously there were a lot of sickies today as getting tickets are impossible. Mind you I did get through once only to find there were no tickets on that day – then the next, then the next. Obviously I was doing something wrong else there is some unfair advantage somewhere. David Flint I skipped my second last day of university, when I should’ve been studying for final exams, to sit in front of a computer with a phone in my hand all day. After hours of an engaged phone, “Ticketmaster busy” error screen and even my mum making a last minute ditch to go to an actual Ticketmaster store, I was greeted by an “Allocation exhausted” message. My mates have gone to every opening day of the Gabba Test since we could legally drink. This year was going to be our first five-day experience. I am annoyed. They’ve been touting this for months and constantly reminding us to get in early. You think they would’ve been ready for the response they we’re boasting about.Allan AllportI called Ticketmaster at 8:58am exactly to see if the lines had opened up early, but they were shut. I rang back three minutes later and it was engaged, and I heard nothing but that engaged signal for the rest of the day. Somehow, with two computers operating at a furious pace pressing refresh every five seconds, we were able to, in the space of six hours, book the tickets that myself and my group required for this summer’s action. Strangely enough, I encountered no problems booking tickets for the Adelaide and Sydney Tests. However, Ticketmaster were a disgrace. I would sometimes stand with the phone to my ear and press on, redial, end, on, redial, end for twenty minutes or half an hour at a time without a break at all, and all I would hear is the engaged signal. My arms started to cramp! Not happy Cricket Australia, or Ticketmaster.David GallichioFolks, Ticketmaster have dropped the ball. Absolutely useless. I have missed hours of work today attemping to buy Melbourne test tickets and I haven’t even got close. They knew exactly how many people were going to apply and they didn’t take any steps to ensure good service. How are we meant to support our country when our own ticketing companies obviously don’t want us to be there? They should lose their contract for this debacle.Dan McMahonAfter reading the stories from other not so lucky buyers, I consider myself fortunate to have managed to get tickets to all five days of the Adelaide Test. I too started at 9am and by virtue of a work phone conference was able to keep clicking till about 11:30am, when I was finally able to get in and purchase day five. Not so lucky were my friends in Sydney who didn’t manage to get a single ticket for their annual day at the Sydney test. I’ve suggested to them that they come to Adelaide. Peter KelleyAfter patiently waiting in front of the computer screen for 9am to roll around, I was met by a sequence of “unavailable” screens. I managed to proceed through to the purchase tickets page after 30 minutes, only to have the system go down and an ultimatum of having to start again! Forty minutes further and two glorious day-one Boxing Day reserved tickets are now mine! I can assure you that they will be going nowhere near ebay!JacqeleneFrom the CA web site: “The Australian Cricket Family is a new initiative from Cricket Australia that aims to reward loyal cricket fans” … I don’t think so! After wasting the day with mouse in one hand and phone in the other, I’m left wondering if CA will help me purchase one of the many Ashes tickets already listed on Ebay for $550! Some reward!Andy Chambers, former Australain Cricket Family memberYou would think after the problems faced by Football Australia, who were unable to cope with demands for tickets to the Fifa World Cup, Cricket Australia would have learnt a thing or two. But no. After six hours of trying, the only page I managed to get to says that Ticketmaster’s system is currently busy. If they couldn’t cope with this, then perhaps a bigger company should have been put in charge of selling the tickets, because quite frankly this is just amateur stuff. Cricket Australia and the method used by their ticketing agencies amounts to nothing more than a lottery that rewards neither the loyal customer who has been turning up for years or new members who have been caught up in the post 2005-Ashes bandwagon. Life just isn’t fair.Ganesh BalendraThe ACF’s been a great initiative by Cricket Australia – the only two things I could suggest could have been improved is that the ticket releases for each match could have been scattered, and the limit of ten tickets per day could have been reduced to six or eight to stop scalpers. It was a great initiative in order to give more Australian fans a chance to get to the games. At the end of the day, demand exceeded supply and there was never going to be a situation where everyone could be pleased. I may be a little bias now that I have my tickets.Matt CossI have no problem with the system chosen to get tickets out to Australians – I think the cricket family was a good idea. But I cannot understand how CA and the ticketing agencies have not been able to cope with the demand. They knew before today that they were going to have to cope with 128,000 people accessing the system, potentially at the same time, and had plenty of time to prepare their systems to cope. I have been trying to access the system both via computer and phone for five hours and 20 minutes today without luck. I’m sure a creative lawyer out there could have a field day with this! Oh well – the best seats in the house will be at my house. Andrew HornWhen I got through to Ticketek, I was told the ACF allocation had been exhausted. However, I was also told that the majority of seats will be on sale when general public sales commence. Thus, at the SCG, some 22,000 tickets (or more) remain per day.For the fair dinkum Aussies who are desperate to catch even one day of the Ashes, and registered with the family, why haven’t more tickets been allocated to us? Now we have to either jam the phone lines, crash the internet, or line up in the wee hours of the morning all over again, along with the rest of the public. I am disappointed now, but will be even more so if I miss out to someone who never bothered to register with the ACF, and just got lucky.Andrew Rutherford
In and out: Simon Katich listens to the advice of Stuart MacGill, who is out of the second Test against Zimbabwe
If Zimbabwe had any reason to think that the list of Australian injuries might make their job in tomorrow’s second Test a little easier, then they should think again. Newcomers in any side want to make an impression, and so rarely do opportunities come in the Australian side that Brad Williams, Simon Katich and Brad Hogg have everything to play for at Sydney.Stuart MacGill’s calf strain was the latest in a line of injuries for the Australians, who have been forced to make three changes to the previous side which walloped Zimbabwe by an innings and 175 runs at Perth. MacGill aggravated his calf while bowling in the first Test but had hoped to be fit in time. However, he failed to pass a fitness test and Hogg steps in to take his place.Williams makes his debut in place of the injured Jason Gillespie, while Katich, set to play only his second Test after a two-year gap, replaces Darren Lehmann, out with a sore achilles tendon. Katich has played 100 first-class games and averages 49.02, including 21 centuries, while Williams has taken 181 wickets at 30.34 in 51 matches. It can be a long wait for international recognition in Australia.Steve Waugh, in his 53rd Test in charge, gave Katich the thumbs up before the match. “He’s ready made for Test match cricket. He’s got a great temperament, a very determined cricketer. I thought he batted very well towards the end of last season. He’s had a good season for Hampshire too.”On Williams, Waugh said: “He’s come back from serious back injuries. He was a tearaway four or five years ago, probably the quickest in Australia, he’s still pretty quick now, but he knows his game better now. He’s worked hard, he’s been 12th man a number of occasions. He’s looking forward to it so it’s a great opportunity for him.”Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s aim will be to improve their top-order batting and be more competitive in this Test, their first at Sydney. They are expected to name an unchanged team, but were encouraged by Douglas Hondo getting through a full training session yesterday. However, he is still woefully short of match practice. There was also a slight concern over a knee strain to Sean Ervine, but it is not bad enough to prevent him from playing tomorrow.If, as expected, Australia secure another innings victory, it will be their fourth in succession. But one of the most interesting features of the match will be how the Zimbabwe bowlers shape up, how much hunger Matthew Hayden has after his record-breaking innings at Perth, and who, among the other Australian batsmen, can cash in on their opportunity.TeamsAustralia 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Simon Katich, 6 Steve Waugh (capt), 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Andy Bichel, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Brad Hogg, 11 Brad Williams.Zimbabwe (probable) 1 Dion Ebrahim, 2 Trevor Gripper, 3 Mark Vermeulen, 4 Stuart Carlisle, 5 Craig Wishart, 6 Craig Evans, 7 Heath Streak (capt), 8 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 9 Sean Ervine, 10 Andy Blignaut, 11 Ray Price.
India’s external affairs ministry has approved a proposal to issue visas to cricket fans in the border city of Amritsar, The Times of India reports. "We have today conveyed to Pakistan our approval of the proposal for a visa camp in Amritsar to facilitate people from that region who wish to go to Pakistan to watch cricket matches," a ministry spokesperson said.* * *India’s players have been forbidden from accepting gifts during their tour of Pakistan, an official from the home ministry told The Times of India. Accepting personal invitations was prohibited, and only official receptions could be attended. The regulations laid down were to ensure there was no security risk. For the higher risk factor in Peshawar, the ministry advised that the team would not step outside the ground and the hotel.* * *Khawar Rabbani, a computer analyst and Javed Miandad’s friend, has been hired to assist the Pakistan team for the forthcoming series against India. Part of a four-man computer team, Rabbani’s duties will include preparing and passing appropriate footage on to the bowlers. Speaking to Press Trust of India, Rabbani said, "The wing has been given the task to cast a web around the Indian batsmen and pinpoint their weaknesses and strong points."Pakistan’s last effort to spin a web ended with last year’s unsuccessful World Cup campaign, and the analyst, Sikander Bakht, was promptly sacked. Even Intel gave up their plans to establish a computer lab at the Pakistan cricket board after the administrators made their disinclination clear.But back to Rabbani. People weren’t too happy with his inclusion by Miandad. Sources said, "Rabbani does not know much about computers and the other experts feel that in the presence of a lesser knowledgeable man, the system cannot be used to the best effects."* * *According to The Times of India, during India’s tour of Pakistan in 1982-83, the media had more than a few problems with the facilities. One problematic area was the scorer – in Lahore and Karachi the scorers were inaccurate, while in Faisalabad there was none.* * *Just as Parthiv Patel and Irfan Pathan were giving up all hope of taking their 12th standard exam, the Gujarat cricket association has come out fighting for their cause, according to PTI. The cricket association appealed to the state government to allow the two players to take their exams at a later date. "Unfortunately, Parthiv has been missing his board exams for the last three years due to his selection in the Indian squad," Narhari Amin, the cricket association’s president, said. "If the government could conduct exams in two phases when the earthquake occurred, why not for these cricketers who are playing at the international level?"These were misplaced but welcome words for Parthiv, who said, "I feel awkward remaining in the 12th standard for the last three years. It would be good if the state government considers my request for a retest, as a special case."* * *The Pakistan cricket board said it had not yet decided whether to introduce a Kapil-Imran trophy for India-Pakistan contests, according to The Times of India. Zakir Khan, a manager for the Pakistan board, pooh-poohed media reports, saying, "Reports appearing in the media are apparently based on speculations."* * *The Pakistan cricket board has spent a large amount on Andy Atkinson, an English curator, who will remain in Pakistan for a month and direct pitch preparation for the upcoming series against India. Nothing wrong in that, except that a source who spoke to The News said that Atkinson was brought in to prepare pitches desired by the Inzamam-ul-Haq and Javed Miandad. But any budding conspiracy theories were popped when a board official declared Atkinson’s appointment was to ensure result-oriented pitches.* * *The ICC’s special investigators will watch every ball of India’s tour of Pakistan with keen interest, and keep an eye out for any signs of betting and matchfixing. According to a report in The Times of India players have been barred from using mobile phones and email on match days, and close-circuit cameras will monitor the dressing rooms. The level of betting during the series was expected to hit $15 million, and The Guardian reported that security officials would be employed to discourage feelers from potential matchfixers during the upcoming series. The officials will accompany the players constantly, and visitors will be screened. Besides the officials, regular security guards would also be present.* * *Hemang Badani, picked for the one-day squad, said the contest was between India’s batsmen and Pakistan’s bowlers, The Times of India wrote. "Playing Pakistan in Pakistan is never going to be easy," Badani said. "We have good bowlers and good batsmen, so it’s like more of [our] batting against their bowling." He admitted it was tough to live up to the expectations of well-wishers, but said the team would give it its all."We cannot say we will come back with a 5-0 win," he said. "When we play Pakistan we are going to put in that much extra – that’s what we as players can do and we will be surely doing that. Playing Pakistan means a lot for every cricket team no matter whatever way it is. I have been in the team for four years but I never got a chance to play against them," Badani continued. "It has been years since we have played each other. We haven’t really gone there and played any cricket – for that reason it should be a very good tour.”* * *To end on a cheery note, the chief minister of Sindh has declared a holiday in Karachi for the opening one-day clash Saturday, March 13. Acknowledging the cricket match was an honour for Sindh, Ali Muhammad Mahar said the holiday would allow people to watch the match live at home.
Caribbean countries hoping to host matches in the Cricket World Cup 2007 will have the opportunity of experiencing the behind-the-scenes operations, challenges and requirements of staging World Cup matches when an official Windies World Cup 2007 delegation visits the World Cup 2003 in South Africa.Managing Director and CEO of Windies World Cup 2007, Chris Dehring has written to Caricom governments and local cricket associations inviting their countries’ participation in the delegation that he will lead from February 25 – March 11.Dehring explained that invitations were being sent to the heads of government because the leaders and the West Indies Cricket Board had agreed that bids for hosting World Cup 2007 matches would be submitted by each country and not just the cricket association.”We would like Caribbean countries to be able to make the best bids possible for hosting World Cup matches. We are therefore assembling this delegation to offer the unique opportunity of learning from the experience of the only Cricket World Cup before 2007 so that each potential venue can ensure that infrastructure, facilities and arrangements outlined in their bid meet the required standard” Dehring noted.Over the two-week visit Venue Delegates will also benefit from access to a specialist in world games organization, Don Lockerbie who is a consultant to the delegation. Lockerbie has extensive experience in venue assessment and development for events such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup.While in South Africa the delegation will tour venues, observe match day operations and benefit from meetings and seminars with venue operators, contractors and other organisations such as the International Cricket Council, the South Africa Cricket World Cup Organizing Committee, the Global Cricket Corporation – the main commercial rights holders for the event and Octagon CSI – an international sports marketing and television production company.
It was India’s 467th and West Indies’ 426th match.
It was the 64th match between these two sides. The record now reads:India 22,West Indies 40,tied one and abandoned one.
Umpires C Coventry and QJ Goosen were officiating in their third andeighth match respectively.
Harvinder Singh was making a comeback into Indian side after more thantwo years. He had last appeared for India against Australia at Sharjahon April 22,1998 thus missing 110 matches in between. Only AshishKapoor (157) and Robin Singh (146) have missed more matches in betweentwo consecutive appearances for India than Harvinder. Harvinder’s newball partner Debasis Mohanty was also making a comeback into Indianside after missing 35 matches.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was playing his 100th match. He became 17thWest Indian and 113th player overall to do so.
Mohanty, at the end of this match, has a tally of 50 wickets from 35games in `away’ matches with an average of 25.18 and strike rate of30.92 . Interestingly he has taken only 6 wickets in 7 matches at homesoil with an average of 49.00 and strike rate of 55.00 !!
Mohanty thus became the 11th Indian to aggregate 50 wickets in acareer in `away’ matches. Only Manoj Prabhakar (33) and Ajit Agarkar(33) have completed 50 wickets on foreign soil in lesser matches thanMohanty. However Mohanty now holds the Indian record of being thefastest to capture 50 wickets on foreign soil (1546 till the end ofthis match) The previous record for India was held by Manoj Prabhakarwho had bowled 1700 balls for his 50 wickets. The table `A’ givesdetails of Indian bowlers with most wickets in `away’ matches , whiletable `B’ lists Indian bowlers in terms of ball required.
Table `A’ : Most `away’ wickets by Indian Bowlers
Wkts
Bowler
M
Balls
Runs
Ave
Best
SR
RpO
5W
171
J Srinath
124
6529
4844
28.33
5/23
38.18
4.45
1
168
A Kumble
137
7235
5024
29.90
5/33
43.07
4.17
1
153
N Kapil Dev
140
7137
4228
27.63
5/43
46.65
3.55
1
129
BKV Prasad
113
5718
4395
34.07
5/27
44.33
4.61
1
92
M Prabhakar
65
3244
2209
24.01
4/25
35.26
4.09
0
77
RJ Shastri
93
4281
2875
37.34
5/15
55.60
4.03
1
70
AB Agarkar
49
2648
2250
32.14
4/35
37.83
5.10
0
59
RMH Binny
50
2233
1560
26.44
4/29
37.85
4.19
0
52
SR Tendulkar
181
3510
2863
55.06
4/34
67.50
4.89
0
51
S Madan Lal
39
1946
1220
23.92
4/20
38.16
3.76
0
50
DS Mohanty
35
1546
1259
25.18
4/56
30.92
4.89
0
Table ?B? : 50 ?away? wickets in least balls by Indian Bowlers
Bowler
Mts
Balls
Runs
Ave
SR
RpO
Vs
Venue
Date
DS Mohanty
35
1546
1259
25.18
30.92
4.89
WI
Bulawayo
30-06-2001
M Prabhakar
33
1700
1077
21.54
34.00
3.80
WI
Melbourne
16-01-1992
AB Agarkar
33
1757
1538
30.76
35.14
5.25
Pak
Sharjah
23-03-2000
RMH Binny
40
1774
1255
25.10
35.48
4.24
NZ
Adelaide
25-01-1986
S Madan Lal
38
1892
1195
23.90
37.84
3.79
WI
Sharjah
30-11-1986
J Srinath
38
1963
1406
28.12
39.26
4.30
Pak
Sharjah
22-04-1994
BKV Prasad
40
2025
1605
32.10
40.50
4.76
Pak
Colombo SSC
20-07-1997
N Kapil Dev
41
2240
1336
26.20
43.92
3.58
Pak
Melbourne
10-03-1985
A Kumble
42
2262
1463
28.69
44.35
3.88
Pak
Sharjah
15-04-1996
RJ Shastri
52
2494
1560
30.59
48.90
3.75
SL
Sharjah
25-03-1988
SR Tendulkar
173
3336
2716
54.32
66.72
4.88
NZ
Nairobi Gym
15-10-2000
Just for the record, Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar has taken 50 `away’wickets in least balls ?1283 to be exact. Shoaib also shares therecord of being the fastest with West Indian Andy Roberts in terms ofleast matches. Both Shoaib and Roberts captured their 50th wicket in27th match.
Mohanty’s figures of 10-1-18-3 (RpO 1.80) equalled the most economicalfigures by an Indian medium pace bowler in a ten over spell againstWest Indies. He equalled India’s Kapil Dev’s figures of 10-3-18-2 inthe Hero Cup final at Calcutta on November 27,1993.
Ridley Jacobs (53* and three dismissals) was performing the allroundfeat of scoring 50 runs and effecting three dismissals in the samematch for the third time in his career. The other such occasions forhim came against New Zealand. Jacobs made 80* and held 5 catches atSouthampton on May 24,1999.He followed it up with 65 runs and threecatches at Auckland on January 2,2000.
Sachin Tendulkar won his 40th Man of the Match award in 271st match.This was also his fifth award against West Indies which equalsPakistan’s Imran Khan’s record of most award against West Indies.
Aston Villa had a fairly miserable return to Premier League action this afternoon after losing 2-1 to their Midlands rivals Wolves at Molineux.
The Villans found themselves 1-0 down after just seven minutes as full-back Jonny Otto got his name on the scoresheet. Things then got worse for the away side as Ashley Young, who replaced the injured Lucas Digne just a few minutes after the opening goal, ended up turning the ball into his own net with 36 minutes on the clock.
A late penalty scored by Ollie Watkins ended up merely being a consolation goal as Steven Gerrard’s side left Molineux with no points.
One player in a Villa shirt who had a particularly disappointing afternoon, arguably more so than Young, was right-back Matty Cash.
Having played the entire 90 minutes, the full-back had 55 touches of the ball but could only complete 26 passes. Out of the four crosses he attempted, three of them were inaccurate, in addition to the one and only long ball he played failing to find its intended target.
The defender, who has been slammed in the past by former Villa manager Dean Smith for his “stupid” decision making, ended up losing possession of the ball for his side 15 times throughout the match.
From a defensive point of view, the Poland international lost 71% of his ground duels, was dribbled past on two occasions and failed to make even one tackle, showing how much of a liability he was at the back.
This display ultimately earned the 24-year-old a disappointing overall match rating of 5.9/10 from SofaScore, making him the lowest-rated Villa player on the day – even lower than Digne, who was only on the pitch for 13 minutes.
Birmingham Live journalist Ashley Preece also picked up on the defender’s shaky performance by saying that he was “caught out far too often being high up the pitch as Marcal and Podence had real joy down Cash’s side on the break.”
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“The Polish international was guilty of slipping over in dangerous areas which allowed Wolves to get their tails up,” he added.
Taking all this into account, it’s safe to say that it was a bad day at the office for Cash, and one to forget for him and the team as a whole.
In other news – O’Neill disaster: Aston Villa will surely rue call on “charismatic” 300-goal “tiger”
The Sri Lankan umpire Asoka de Silva and Steve Davis of Australia have been promoted to ICC’s Elite Panel, following the body’s decision to expand the pool from 10 to 12 umpires.de Silva, the former legspinner who played 10 Tests and 28 ODIs between 1985 and 1992, was one of eight full-time umpires selected for the ICC’s Elite Panel when it was first introduced in 2002. de Silva has stood in 33 Tests and 76 ODIs after making his debut in 1999 and has served previously on the Elite Panel between 2002 and 2004.Davis, 56, has stood in 11 Tests, 71 ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals having made his top-level debut in 1992.”Their promotions are a result of perseverance, hard work and commitment and I am sure these two umpires will serve as an inspiration to the other international umpires who are striving hard to break into the Elite Panel,” Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general manager, said. “For Asoka, it will be his second time in the Elite Panel and he has returned after performing outstandingly on the international panel over the past 12 months.”Asoka brings with him a combination of playing and umpiring skills and that combination is one that we believe will serve him well in the months and years to come.”Steve has served an apprenticeship on the fringes of the Elite Panel and his elevation reflects not only his consistency during recent years but also his excellence over the past year in particular.”I have no doubt that the elevation of these two quality umpires will strengthen the Elite Panel.”de Silva was understandably delighted in his promotion, adding: “It has required a lot of hard work leading to good decision-making on a consistent basis and I am glad my efforts have been recognised. I am now keen to ensure I maintain the high standards I have set myself.””I am thrilled to be appointed to the Elite Panel,” Davis said, “as it has to be the aim of every umpire to be appointed to this select group. I have worked hard for this and now I look forward to concentrating on umpiring on a full-time basis. I have always enjoyed the company of those umpires already on the Elite Panel and now I have the chance to work with them all on a more regular basis. I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
Jack Kerr, who played seven Tests for New Zealand in the 1930s and later went on to become the president of New Zealand Cricket, died in Christchurch on Sunday at the age of 96.At the time of his death he was the second oldest living Test cricketer, being ten days younger than Eric Tindill, who toured England with him in 1937. He is the third longest lived Test player of all time, behind Tindill and Francis MacKinnon.A World War II veteran, Kerr maintained a link with cricket after his playing days, taking up coaching and the administration of the game. He was the manager of the New Zealand team which toured South Africa in 1953-54 and he also had a stint as the chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Council.”Jack [Kerr] made a significant contribution to New Zealand Cricket and the New Zealand Cricket Foundation over a number of years and his support was warmly welcomed and greatly appreciated,” New Zealand Cricket Chairman Sir John Anderson said.Kerr, who was an accountant by profession, was a right-hand opening batsman who had a long domestic career. He scored 4839 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 32.19. He was at his best in 1935-36 when he made 146 not out and 71 for Canterbury against Percy Holmes’s MCC tourists, and followed up with two centuries in the unofficial “Tests” – 105 not out at Wellington and 132 at Christchurch.He passed fifty only once in his seven Tests, when he scored 59 against England at Christchurch in 1932-33. Kerr toured England twice, in 1931 and 1937, and his second trip was the more successful as he tallied 1205 runs at 31.71.
Batsmen from both teams struggled – Bangladesh against a subtle change of pace and Australia against left-arm spin – but Adam Gilchrist’s brutal brilliance made the difference and spurred Australia to a victory that was in little doubt after the 10th over of the chase. Gilchrist’s assault came after a disciplined bowling performance by an inexperienced attack had dismissed Bangladesh for 195 in the first one-day international at Chittagong.Gilchrist’s whirlwind 76 off 46 balls blasted away a huge chunk of the target before Bangladesh’s spinners came into play. Australia galloped to 96 off 10.5 overs but after Gilchrist’s dismissal the remaining 99 runs took 33.1 overs to get. Abdur Razzak applied the brakes with his left-arm spin, taking 3 for 36 and Mohammad Rafique, though wicketless, conceded a miserly 14 runs in ten overs. Eventually, Michael Hussey and Brett Lee steered Australia to victory but if not for Gilchrist’s blitz, it could have well been Bangladesh’s match.Australia started cautiously, only 11 runs came off the first three overs. In the fourth over, Gilchrist exploded. A slap through covers, followed by a fierce cut off the back foot and a drilled drive down the ground made it three fours in a row off Mashrafe Mortaza. Three more fours came off Syed Rasel’s next over and in the sixth, Gilchrist rocked back and man-handled Mortaza by carting him high and far over midwicket for the first of five sixes. In that same over, he miscued another attempted six and the top edge swirled down to long leg where Syed Rasel floored a crucial catch. Rasel had to bowl the very next over and Gilchrist rubbed it in by clouting another six to bring up his fifty off just 29 balls. Habibul Bashar brought on Razzak but Gilchrist hammered him for two sixes over midwicket. He eventually did get Gilchrist out, trapped in front while attempting a slog-sweep, but the proverbial horse had bolted several overs ago.Though all this carnage, Simon Katich remained a spectator, accumulating 14 off 22 balls as it rained runs at the other end. He miscued a pull off Mortaza to midwicket soon after and Razzak trapped Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting with arm balls in quick time. Michael Clarke’s run-out reduced Australia to 155 for 5 and gave Bangladesh a window of opportunity. But Razzak and Rafique had finished their overs and Bangladesh couldn’t find that extra something to pounce on the jugular.While Australia had to scrap for their runs against quality spin, Bangladesh’s batsmen brought about their own misfortune by playing indiscrete shots at inappropriate moments during what was a rudderless innings. To play out the new ball and take advantage of Australia’s inexperienced support bowlers, should have been the plan but Bangladesh’s top order had other ideas. Dan Cullen was making his debut and Mitchell Johnson had played just two ODIs, but Bangladesh lost two wickets each to Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken before the 20th over and were unable to put the untested bowlers under any sort of pressure.Only Bashar showed the needed concentration during a gritty half-century but by then there were hardly any batsmen left to follow his example. After opting to bat on a flat deck with a speedy outfield, Bangladesh made an ideal start by scoring 26 from the first three overs. Then Bracken, who conceded 13 off his first over, began to cleverly change his pace and conceded just nine off his next five overs. Saleh’s top-edge off Bracken to third man was the first of several rash strokes and soft dismissals.
The runs dried up at one end but Aftab Ahmed had no trouble in maintaining a healthy strike-rate at the other. While Aftab was playing stunning shots like the swivel pull off Johnson that sailed over deep square leg for six, Mohammad Ashraful, normally a flamboyant batsman, struggled to even rotate strike and his frustration ended with a failed attempt to clear mid-off. Aftab’s wicket, spooning Lee’s slower ball to point, left Bangladesh struggling at 79 for 4. Such was their plight that when Cullen was introduced on his ODI debut, he bowled two consecutive maidens.Bashar and Khaled Mashud added 54 for the sixth wicket, the only partnership of note in the innings. Though he didn’t score at a rapid pace, Bashar bound the innings together in the middle overs. His stumping off Hogg in the 43rd over snuffed out any hopes of Bangladesh posing a challenge during the slog and hastened the collapse.Had Bangladesh snared Gilchrist early, 195 may have been enough. But they didn’t, and his innings made all the difference.
BangladeshRajin Saleh c Lee b Bracken 7 (26 for 1) Shahriar Nafees c Gilchrist b Lee 16 (33 for 2) Mohammad Ashraful c Cullen b Bracken 5 (52 for 3) Aftab Ahmed c Clarke b Lee 30 (79 for 4) Tushar Imran c Gilchrist b Hogg 20 (117 for 5) Habibul Bashar st Gilchrist b Hogg 52 (171 for 6) Khaled Mashud b Mitchell Johnson 27 (182 for 7) Mashrafe Mortaza c Gilchrist b Hogg (185 for 8) Mohammad Rafique c Hogg b Symonds 8 (194 for 9) Syed Rasel c Gilchrist b Symonds 0 (195 all out) AustraliaAdam Gilchrist lbw Razzak 76 (96 for 1) Simon Katich c Bashar b Mortaza 18 (101 for 2) Andrew Symonds lbw Razzak 0 (109 for 3) Ricky Ponting lbw Razzak 14 (133 for 4) Michael Clarke run out Ashraful 16 (155 for 5) Hogg c Razzaq b Tushar 7 (174 for 6)