Michael Vaughan is preparing to head out to New Zealand to lead England’s Test team with a huge drive to ensure he is around to captain the side in next year’s Ashes and also has ambitions to play until the 2010-11 series in Australia.After England’s 1-0 defeat against Sri Lanka, their second consecutive series loss following the 1-0 reversal against India, there have been a few murmurings that Vaughan’s captaincy spell may come under pressure, especially with the one-day side under Paul Collingwood showing promising improvement.With the bat, though, Vaughan has proved his worth since returning to the Test side last summer against West Indies. He scored two centuries last year – a memorable ton on his comeback at Headingley and a stylish 124 against India at Trent Bridge – and feels he could have had plenty more runs to his name.”I know I am good enough to be there,” Vaughan told the at an Urban Cricket event in Sheffield. “That’s never ever been in question.”In the nine games since I have come back and played, I have probably found a rhythm to bat in that I have not had for a few years, which is a really great sign. I could have even averaged 75-80 with the way I played. I had two or three opportunities to go on and get 150s, 200s, massive scores and I didn’t take them.””If I can continue to play in that rhythm and form, I believe there will be a purple patch around the corner where I get big scores on the trot,” he said. “Whether I am there in 2009 – it is still a long way off – I still have ambition to go on beyond it.”I don’t just think 2009 will be it for me, I look maybe at the Australians in Australia the time after that. I would like to still be playing in that.”However, if he is around for the next trip down under he doesn’t think it will be as captain. He first took up the role in 2003 and would like to end his career purely as a batsman.”I don’t think I will do it [captaincy] for that stretch,” said Vaughan. “I really would love to play as a non-captain towards the latter stages of my career. I love the captaincy but I also wouldn’t mind having a ‘do’ eventually at just playing.”That’s why I have enjoyed this little six-week period out of the game when I can just focus on me, if you like: get my body and form to the standard I want it to be at, arrive in New Zealand fitter, and I probably will do, than I have been for years and years.”When I get there, I have to look after all the team so, in these little periods I have, I have to make sure I look after myself and arrive in decent form.”
Ricky Ponting is confident Australia have the right blend of youth and experience to snatch a third successive World Cup. Despite losing the No. 1 ranking to South Africa last month, Ponting is unconcerned as his team prepares for its opening Group A match with Scotland in St Kitts on Wednesday.”For some players it could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in a World Cup,” he said. “I’ve played in three World Cups, and this will be my fourth, and I know what it is like to play in and win a World Cup. At the same time, there are some younger guys in our squad and this is an opportunity for them to stamp themselves on the international game.”Ponting believes he has the right squad mix required to win a fourth World Cup to add to the triumphs in 1987, 1999 and 2003. “The last World Cup for me was one of the most satisfying periods of my career – going through a World Cup undefeated was fantastic,” he said. “One of the things that you do have with World Cups, the way that they are set up now, is that you have quite a bit of time in between games to prepare exceptionally well for the opposition teams.”Australia have lost their past five one-day internationals but Ponting is confident they have improved on the deficient areas. “The thing that worried me the most was that there were 10 or 15 overs through the course of those games, where they slipped away from us,” he said. “In this tournament, you cannot afford to not be playing your best cricket. There are some areas that we can tighten up, and the guys are confident.”Australia completed strong warm-up wins against Zimbabwe and England in St Vincent and they also expect to be strengthened by the return of Matthew Hayden for the game against Scotland. While claiming not to pay much attention to the No. 1 ranking, Ponting said it would be great to finish the tournament on top.”We want to win every game that we play, and that’s the way we train, and we prepare,” he said. “If we are able to win a few more games in this World Cup, and South Africa does not, we will probably leapfrog them again.”
The ICC Americas region has announced the regional winners for the ICC Development Program Annual Awards for 2005.Nine different countries share the awards from the four person panel of judges. The region received a record breaking number of nominations in this the fourth year since the awards were instituted.Martin Vieira, the ICC Americas regional development manager,congratulated the winners and commented: “The nine winners and other nominees are only a small group of the hundreds we rely on to spread the development of this wonderful sport. With our large geographical area crossing many cultural and language barriers, volunteers are essential to our success in developing cricket in the “new world”. To the winners, a well deserved recognition, but to all volunteers I extend our appreciation and gratitude for your efforts”.The Americas regional winners will now compete with the other regions for the Global Awards to be announced on March 30, 2006. The global winners will be selected by a distinguished panel comprising of Ehsan Mani (ICC president), Malcolm Gray (past ICC president), Dr. Ali Bacher (former Development Committee chairman) and Roger Knight (MCC secretary and CEO).The Regional Winners for the 2005 DPAABest Overall Development Program Bermuda Cricket ProgramBest Junior Cricket Initiative Brazil – School Program In ParanaBest Women’s Cricket Initiative Cuba – Santiago De Cuba ProgramBest Cricket Promotional Program Canada – Celebration Of CricketBest Spirit Of Cricket Initiative Chile – All Chilean Team TourPhoto Of The Year Cayman – Keep Your Eye On The BallUnaids Award Argentina – U15 Tour Of South AfricaVolunteer Of The Year Costa Rica – Richard IllingworthLifetime Service Award Mexico – Brian Gay
Through one day of fiercely determined cricket the Pakistan team have gone from being ‘the worst of its kind to tour India’ to being regarded as a serious contender. Inzamam-ul-Haq has pleaded, time and again, for a show of character, for someone to put their hand up and rise to the occasion. Often his pleas have fallen on deaf ears, but in Mohali Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq showed that this team believe in themselves. And it is this spirit that make them a dangerous side when the second Test begins in Kolkata.Sourav Ganguly has insisted all along that the underdog title should not be bestowed lightly on Pakistan. Despite being unable to close out the last Test, Ganguly knows that his team played better cricket on four of five days. He has the benefit of having a settled side, and the option of a great spinner waiting in the wings in Harbhajan Singh, should the need arise. India still remain the better team on paper but, as we are constantly reminded, this game is played out in the middle, not on paper.The groundThe Pakistanis certainly won’t get the same kind of warmth and hospitality from the Bengalis as they did from their Punjabi brethren, but they will not complain about playing at Eden Gardens. In five Tests here they have never lost to India, drawing on four occasions, and pulling off a stunning come-from-behind win in 1999, when they were reduced to 26 for 6 on the first day, and still managed to claw their way back.The pitchThe early clamour over the grass on the pitch seems to be settling as the time for the match draws close. From afar, it appears that there is still some grass on the pitch, but those who have seen the pitch over the last week insist that there has been less grass with every passing day. Kolkata is famous for producing slow turners, and though this strip may not quite be that dead, it is unlikely to be as quick as the one in Mohali, or seam as much as the one on which India played Australia in Nagpur.The teamsPakistan have a real hassle on their hands when it comes down to picking eleven players for this match. There’s still enough doubt about how the wicket will be when the umpires call ‘play’, for Pakistan to consider all options. The top order has been a problem, and it is certain that either Yasir Hameed or Shahid Afridi willfind a place, with either Salman Butt or Taufeeq Umar making way.Naved-ul-Hasan is suffering from a shoulder injury, and this could well rule him out of the game. He did not bowl at all in the nets when Pakistan practised, and a local doctor who treated him recommended a week’s rest. This opens a door for Arshad Khan, if Pakistan choose to gamble and leave Mohammad Sami and Razzaq to share the new ball. In the event that Afridi plays, this looks a serious possibility.
India’s selection dilemma is a simple one. Their batting line-up is set and Dinesh Karthik still has the confidence of the team. The state of the pitch will determine whether India go into this match with the same combination that played the first Test, although that seems extremely unlikely. Harbhajan Singh has a fine record on this ground (29 wickets in four Tests), and Ganguly’s saying, “The chances of us playing three fast bowlers is bright,” could just be gamesmanship.Weather, etc.The change of weather from the cool, relatively less humid climes of Dharamsala and Mohali to the hot, balmy Kolkata, is bound to be a factor. Already Mohammad Sami has felt the debilitating effect and was dehydrated at the end of a practice session two days before the match. This will mean that both captainshave to use their bowlers, especially the quick men, in shorter spells, making it harder to apply pressure if one bowler goes off the boil. To add to this, some unseasonal showers hit Kolkata on Monday, and the met office has not ruled out the chance that there might be more rain around the corner.
The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) has announced a 12-man squad, featuring the 2003 Bradman medalist, Ryan Harris, to compete in this week’s Cricket Australia Cup match to be played in Adelaide against the ACT.The match will take place on Adelaide No. 2 ground from today, Monday, November 10 until Thursday, November 13.Ryan Harris, who has overcome a chronic groin strain, will compete in his first four-day game since the 2002-03 season.The 24-year-old bowling all-rounder played in only his second Grade match on Saturday for his team Northern Districts, starring with the ball, taking 6 for 93 off 24.3 overs against A Grade leaders West Torrens.Harris is joined by fellow Redbacks players Ben Johnson, who will captain the side, Mark Cosgrove, Trent Kelly and Mark Higgs, along with Redbacks rookies Ben Cameron and Callum Ferguson.Andrew Staunton is making his first appearance for South Australia having moved to Adelaide from Sydney this year to further his cricket career. He played for NSW’s second XI side last season and is playing A Grade for Southern District.The team, which is coached by Redbacks assistant coach Jamie Siddons, is:
The Queensland selectors will rely on the same XXXX Queensland Bullsteam that finished 2001 in style to get the New Year off to a winningstart in the ING Cup competition.The side named today is the same twelve that defeated Tasmania by95-runs at the Gabba on Tuesday night to take the Bulls to equal topspot with NSW on the ING Cup ladder.Queensland take on the Western Warriors on Friday January 4 at theWACA ground in a day/night game.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Western Warriors, Jan 4, WACA: Stuart Law (c),Martin Love, Jimmy Maher, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, BrendanNash, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Andy Bichel, Nathan Hauritz, AshleyNoffke, Michael Kasprowicz.
Michael Bevan scored the 44th first-class hundred of his career in givingSussex a good grip on their Division Two championship match with Essex. Hissecond hundred of the season put Sussex 231 runs ahead at 243-5. He wasunbeaten on 105 at close having received good support from Chris Adams (53)and Robert Martin-Jenkins (37) in a day that belonged to Sussex.The Australian struck two sixes and nine fours in his almost 270 minutes at thecrease. Adams,who hit two sixes and five fours in just 83 balls at the crease, shared with Bevan in a stand of 103 runs in 29 overs. His innings ended to a magnificent one-handed catch at first slip by Stuart Law. After which Ronnie Irani was l.b.w to Tony Cottey first ball.Then Martin-Jenkins and Bevan put on 89 runs for the fifth wicket but three latter was caught at the wicket in the final over. Earlier James Kirtley had his best summer return of 6-85 as Essex collapsed from 234-6 overnight to 277 all out in 80 minutes. He took three wickets for four runs in 14 deliveries. First he had Stephen Peters (46) taken in the slips,and had Ashley Cowan l.b.w without further score, and finished by knocking back Mark Ilott’s off-stump.
A big update has emerged over Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton’s injury situation…
What’s the latest?
Magpies coach Eddie Howe has revealed that the Brazilian powerhouse is a major doubt to face Everton in the Premier League tonight.
Joelinton has not played a competitive minute since the 2-1 win over Brighton on the 5th of March, missing the 2-1 win over Southampton and the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea last time out at Stamford Bridge.
The club quotes Howe as saying: “He is touch and go for this game. We have a decision to make. Whether we look after him with the break we have afterwards or whether we push him back out there – we’ll have to make a late call on that one.”
Grave danger
Howe must avoid playing the midfielder against Everton as he is in grave danger of ruining the £80k-per-week machine’s resurgence at St. James’ Park.
On the one hand, you could argue that it is worth the risk because of the importance of the match. A win would send them 12 points clear of the bottom three as they equal 18th-placed Watford’s number of games played, whilst also condemning the Toffees to another defeat and knocking their confidence down another peg or two.
This would all but secure Newcastle’s safety as it seems unlikely that Watford and Everton will amass 12 points more than the Magpies in the final nine games of the campaign. Both teams would have 22 points after 29 and 27 matches respectively, which means that they would have to jump from less than a point per game to more than a point per game – with no evidence to suggest that they will do that as it stands.
On the other hand, Howe is risking further damage to Joelinton and ruining the end of the campaign for him, which would be a major blow. Whilst it may not have much of a bearing on this season, with the club on course to avoid the drop, it could have major repercussions heading into the next term.
The midfield monster, who journalist Mark Douglas dubbed a “student of the game”, has been in fine form since Howe took the job. He has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.9 or higher in each month from November through to the end of February, showing that he has been consistently impressive in the middle of the park.
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He has been riding the crest of a wave and ending his season prematurely for the sake of playing against Everton does not seem worth it, on paper.
Suffering such a killer blow after his recent highs could set him back and mean that he struggles to recapture his form in the following campaign because he would be back at square one instead of being full of confidence, which is why the benefits do not outweigh the negatives to starting him tonight.
AND in other news, Howe must unleash “breathtaking” £93k-pw NUFC gem today, he “will reach” a Ballon d’Or…
Michael Clarke says he has cleared the air with Anil Kumble over two of the controversies that flared in the second innings of the Sydney Test. Clarke stood his ground after edging Kumble to first slip and then, as India were fighting to save the game, he claimed a catch off Sourav Ganguly while fielding in the slip cordon, although there were doubts over whether the take was clean.”I wanted to speak to Anil before I spoke to the media on both cases – the catch and my dismissal,” Clarke said. “I still, to this day, feel 100% positive that I caught the catch fairly. I told him that and said with my dismissal that it was more out of shock and disappointment more than anything else.”Anil was very supportive and said ‘mate I understand’. We’ve played a fair bit of cricket against each other and he knows I’m not the kind of person to try and harm the game; the last thing I’d want is to put the game in jeopardy.”Kumble had criticised Clarke for not walking after edging to slip and called it “unsportsmanlike” behaviour. “Huss [Michael Hussey] and Haydos [Matthew Hayden] batted fantastic in the second innings, so I sat and waited for a couple of hours dying to get out and have a bat,” Clarke said.”I was really excited to get out there and do well, with family and friends all at the game, after failing in the first innings. When I went to cut the ball and it come off my glove and went to slip it was more just the shock and disappointment of failing and getting my first first-baller in Test cricket.”In hindsight and if I had my time again, I wish I had just walked straight off the field. I hope it doesn’t happen too many times, I hope I don’t get too many ducks in Test cricket, but if it happens again, I’m certain I will react differently.”Clarke would not be drawn on the Harbhajan-Symonds controversy but said there was no room for racism in the game. “That’s why the ICC and the Indian board dealt with the stuff with spectators in India [during the ODI series in October].”He said he was not sure how Australia would have reacted if “we were in their shoes” but hoped that India would not boycott the series. “Fingers crossed I’m hoping they definitely stay for the rest of the Test series and the one-dayers because you look forward to every chance you get to play India. It’s up to BCCI and Anil and whoever is in charge.”Clarke said he was positive the Perth Test, which starts on Wednesday, would be played in the right spirit after the problems in Sydney. Australia will be pushing for their 17th consecutive Test victory, a triumph that would break the world record set by Steve Waugh’s Australians between 1999 and 2001.”The Australians are keen as mustard to get out here and win this 17th Test match in a row,” he said. “It’s a reminder about why we are the best cricket team in the world, what we do to achieve such highs in all forms of the game except Twenty20 at the moment. I think he [Ricky Ponting] will want to remind us about that and make sure that we keep playing it like that for a long time.”It might one day be Clarke who sets outs to guide an Australian side past the record again, as there has been much speculation that he is being groomed to eventually succeed Ponting as the Test captain. But Clarke said he was unsure how he would have handled the events of the past week had he been in Ponting’s shoes.”Full credit to the way he has stood tall,” Clarke said. “It’s been a hell of a ride in the last week. I don’t think many players have experienced what we’ve experienced. I think it’s opened everybody’s eyes as to how big this game of cricket is. You don’t know until you are sitting in the chair, I don’t know if I’d have handled it like Ricky; I am not sure how I would have approached it.”
Daniel Vettori’s eyes might well have lit up when he saw the effect spin had in the first match at New Zealand’s group venue. Kenya’s three slow bowlers applied the brakes superbly during Canada’s innings at St Lucia on Wednesday and Vettori hopes the pitch will be just as helpful to him against England on Friday.”What we saw in the match between Kenya and Canada was that everything came to a standstill when the spinners came on,” Vettori told . “If you’ve got spin bowlers and you see that it is turning and slowing up you think it’s going to make an impact throughout the tournament, particularly in St Lucia.”Vettori said he was looking forward to his first spell in the battle of the Group C big guns. “I am pretty excited,” he said. “John Bracewell [the New Zealand coach] won’t leave me alone so I guess he is expecting me to do something out there.”The spin load will not be entirely on Vettori, however, with Jeetan Patel’s offspin also likely to play a key role in the Caribbean. “We seem to go in tandem quite well,” Vettori said. “Throughout this tournament we will play together for the majority of the time so we will hope it is to the New Zealand team’s advantage.”Vettori said it would also be interesting to see how Monty Panesar handled the conditions. “Monty’s one of the spinners around the world who’s willing to learn, willing to talk to you about anything,” he said.”If you’ve seen his development over the short time he’s played the game, he’s obviously taken a lot of advice from what people have said. I think he’s a great bowler with a huge future.”