Young Bushranger all-rounder Andrew McDonald is to lead Victoria’s 2nd XI in game two of the Cricket Australia Cup in Western Australia from October 13-16.The team for the match at Richardson Park, South Perth has been confirmed and is as follows:
Andrew McDonald (C)
Matthew Albers
Liam Buchanan
David Hussey
Michael Klinger
Bryce McGain
Matthew Mott
Sean Pietersz
Peter Roach
Graeme Rummans
Tim Welsford
Allan Wise
The Indian under-19 team lost two practice games against youth teams fielded by New South Wales in Sydney and are to play one more practice match against the Bradman Museum XI on Friday before leaving for Auckland to participate in the under-19 World Cup.The first match saw the Indians take on the New South Wales under-19 side in a match that the visitors lost by seven wickets. Chandan Madan, Stuart Binny, Deepak Chougule and Paul Valthaty were dismissed for cameo knocks in the twenties and thirties.The Indian batting failures saw New South Wales chase a moderate target of 194 in under 45 overs, losing just three wickets in the process.In the second game, the Indians bowled first and restricted the New South Wales Colts to 233/7 in their 50 overs. Siddharth Trivedi took three wickets, while Irfan Pathan took two.In the chase, the Indians faltered, with only skipper Parthiv Patel’s 42 and vice-captain Y Gnaneswara Rao’s 62 lending substance to the total. The pair put on 78 runs for the third wicket. The Indians were bowled out for 167 after being 150/5 in the 32nd over, losing the match by 66 runs.
Fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza has been named captain of the BCB XI that will play against the touring Zimbabweans in a one-day game on November 5. Four other members of the current ODI squad – Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman and Jubair Hossain – will also play in the warm-up game at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, two days ahead of the first ODI.This will be Mashrafe’s first competitive game since July 15 after his planned return in the National Cricket League – Bangladesh’s first-class competition – had to be cancelled last month after he was hospitalised with dengue fever. He started training with the squad on October 29 but the team management is carefully managing his recovery from the illness.Das, Mushfiqur, Sabbir and Jubair will feature in the practice game in a move focused on giving them batting and bowling practice ahead of their first international encounter in nearly four months, a period in which these four players have played domestic first-class cricket.The selectors also included Shahriar Nafees after he finished as the highest scorer in this season’s National Cricket League with 715 runs at an average of 79.44 in six matches for Barisal Division. In the last match, he struck 168 and 174 not out.The uncapped members of the 13-member squad are Mehedi Maruf and Sunzamul Islam, and pace bowlers Delwar Hossain and Tawhidul Islam. Maruf, Sunzamul and Tawhidul have been impressive performers in this year’s first-class tournaments but Delwar’s inclusion came as a surprise given that he has only played a single first-class game so far in the 2015-16 season.BCB XI: Imrul Kayes, Anamul Haque, Liton Das, Shahriar Nafees, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Mehedi Maruf, Jubair Hossain, Sunzamul Islam, Delwar Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Tawhidul Islam.
Aston Villa have had a rather turbulent season in their latest Premier League campaign having sacked Dean Smith after a run of five consecutive defeats to then appoint Steven Gerrard in November.
Since the former Liverpool midfielder came in, the Villans have racked up five wins, two draws and six defeats, with only one of those wins coming in their past seven league games.
One player, in particular, that has not had the easiest of seasons in a Villa shirt is defender Ezri Konsa.
With 21 league appearances under his belt, the centre-back has only managed to earn himself a rather underwhelming overall performance rating of 6.44/10 from WhoScored, making him the lowest-rated player currently in Gerrard’s squad that has started more than two league games.
Looking at his defensive statistics, the 24-year-old, who has lost 35 duels this season, has only been able to achieve an average of one tackle per game, which is lower than the likes of Emi Buendia, Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Sanson.
The same can be said for his average of interceptions as well with just 0.6 made per game, the same number as Ashley Young and Axel Tuanzebe who have both played significantly fewer minutes than Konsa.
Even for clearances and blocks, the Englishman has not been able to match the same average as fellow centre-back Tyrone Mings, even though the 28-year-old is seen as a liability for Villa by 66% of voters in a poll ran by Football FanCast earlier this year.
Having got himself sent off in the 3-3 draw against Leeds United earlier this month, it could be argued that Konsa has been a liability for the Villans at times this season, despite previously being labelled as “Mr Consistent.”
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With Calum Chambers being brought in during the recent January transfer window and having the likes of Joe Gomez linked with a summer transfer move to the Midlands club, the defender will have to fix up his performances throughout the remainder of the campaign or else he could be at risk of being left out of the team for the foreseeable future if Gerrard doesn’t believe in him.
In other news: Big mistake: “Bullish” AVFC gem with an “abundance of talent” is proving Gerrard wrong – opinion
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The Australian team held a round-table discussion on the spirit of cricket on Sunday night, the first such meeting after the ill-tempered Sydney Test against India.The reported that leadership consultant Ray McLean, a former officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, moderated the session. Tim Nielsen, the coach, and the manager Steve Bernard attended along with the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and operations manager Michael Brown.The focus was on the messages and criticism directed at the team after the Sydney Test, with all involved invited to trace their feelings on the match and the Spirit of Cricket pledge that was devised during Steve Waugh’s captaincy in 2003.”I think it will be a general chat about what we live by, what we stand for, the spirit of cricket that the Australian cricketers sat down and wrote down,” Michael Clarke said before the meeting. “I think it will be a general reminder of what we do to be the best team in the world and the things we can continue to improve on. It’s probably why Australia have been so successful, because we never say we can’t improve.”The session came a day before the meeting between opposing captains Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble, convened by Ranjan Madugalle, the ICC’s chief match referee, who has been appointed to mediate. Brad Hogg, the left-arm wrist spinner, is due to attend a hearing on Friday concerning offensive remarks made to Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
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Greg Chappell has reiterated that his face-off with Sourav Ganguly was never a battle between two personalitiesâ but merely a cricketing issue that was blown out of proportionâ. Chappell also said that he considered Ganguly’s comeback as one of his “success storiesâ, adding that the time spent away from international cricket had done him good.”I look at it as one of my success stories,â Chappell said in an interview to . “He has resurrected his batting and could play another three years for India, which is fantastic. The only way he could address certain issues was to spend some time away reassessing all of his goals and ambitions. Somebody had to tell him that.â”It was never Chappell v Ganguly,â he continued. “It was never a battle between two personalities. I only look at cricketing issues. How the others see it is their choice. The whole thing has been completely blown out of proportion. If the same situation arose, I would have the same view on it. It was about somebody needing to improve to offer 100% to the Indian team. Ganguly has come back extremely well and all credit to him. Zaheer Khan too faced similar issues and has responded well. Sometimes the only way you can enforce non-negotiable issues is through selection. But right now I have nothing but praise for Ganguly and Zaheer.âChappell believed that Virender Sehwag too would benefit from the current forced break, after having been dropped from the side, while expressing his faith in him. “Having some time away from the team might help him clear his head, freshen him up and help him come back with a much clearer focus,â he said. “We have had many conversations and we intend having several more conversations in the future. Like in all players, the mind sometimes gets confused. The time away will help him reassess himself what he wants to achieve and whether he has the passion to come back and play for India. I have no doubt he will.âSehwag and Irfan Pathan, he felt, could emerge stronger from their current loss of form. “India doesn’t have the sole possession of players who have bad days,â he said. “The level of expectation is so high that sometimes the perspective is lost.â
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Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chief, revealed that measures have been taken to curb the overdose of India-Pakistan cricket, saying that the two boards have reached an understanding to have the series only once every two years. “We are playing each other too much now. We don’t want the edge to go out,” he told .He was confident that the proposed Twenty20 charity match to raise funds for the earthquake victims would take place in the current tour. He said: “It is now just a question of working out the date once Mr. Sharad Pawar (BCCI president) arrives here next week.”Khan watched Pakistan A take on the Indians on the second day of the three-day practice match at the Bagh-e-Jinnah ground in Lahore. He said that although the two sides, India and Pakistan, were evenly matched, the Pakistan bowlers might just have the upper hand. He said, “Always remember that bowlers win matches. You got wonderful batsmen. But if we can find a chink in the armour, then that will be the decisive factor in my opinion.”He also expressed his satisfaction over his team’s performance in the recently concluded series against a strong England side. He said, “Our team spirit and discipline have optimised our potential. And the fact that we have a captain (Inzamam-ul-Haq) who is such a wonderful man, such a great cricketer, and such a great leader, you don’t have to be upfront all the time to be a great leader, has helped immensely. Inzamam and Bob Woolmer (the coach) have done a tremendous job.”Khan added the Pakistan public had shown a lot of maturity of late, taking victories and defeats in its stride, marking the transition from seeing cricket as a `pitched battle’ to just a game between two sides.
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It was inevitable that Andrew Symonds would finally come good – given that it was Pakistan, and given that there were murmurs about his form again. Almost two years ago, he had magnificently resurrected his own career and his team’s innings in the World Cup opener, against Pakistan, with an awesome 143. And, up until about a month ago, he had remained just that – awesome. But his form with the bat slipped in the last month, and had remained in freefall until today when, against the same opponents, he took his opportunity.At 3 for 53 in 14 overs, Australia were on the back foot as they often are, yet – within just three overs – Symonds had effected a shift in momentum. Twenty-five runs were nurdled, glided and bludgeoned in that time, mostly off the middle of his bat. Advantage gone. Thereafter, with Damien Martyn in tow, he barely broke sweat, exposing an astute cricket brain in running his singles, marvellous fitness in pushing twos, and fantastic strength and timing in finding the boundary.Martyn’s contribution was in keeping with his low-key, unsung nature. He didn’t hit a single boundary and, although he stayed till the 41st over, it almost felt as if he hadn’t been there. Like Symonds, he had won something at Australia’s glittering awards dinner the other night – Best Test Player. And, if those medals made them heroes among heroes, their partnership confirmed that status. But that their stand didn’t seal victory as emphatically as Symonds’s century at Johannesburg is both a testament to Pakistan’s resilience and the morsel of hope that they must cling on to for the second final on Sunday.It is not ironic, just fitting, that Pakistan have looked more cohesive and scrapped harder Shoaib Akhtar than at any stage him on this tour. It has been one of the central failings of Pakistan cricket over the years that the concept of the individual, the matchwinner, has taken precedence over that of the team.It has been a singularly fortunate misfortune that they have possessed some of the most exquisitely talented individuals; men whose gifts and achievements have almost demanded lopsided attention. But their improved performance in the VB Series has been the upshot of a number of players – and not just one – performing at various times with bat, ball and in the field.Certainly, their top order is still worrisome, and today Brett Lee bullied and battered it redundant. But the form and firmness of the middle and lower orderhas been such that the top order’s early dismissals have almost been a blessing. Only for a team like Pakistan could this ever be the case. Inzamam, with his fifth half-century of the series, was once more as untroubled as he was threatening. He has been like this all series, and now has five fifties.In partnership with Shoaib Malik – who has been strangely subdued – hebriefly sparked a fightback. The allround lower order, with the rekindled Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq, have also played key, cataclysmic roles and,for the first half of today, it seemed they had done so again.Special mention, though, for the embodiment of this resolve, the real heart and soul of this team’s revival – Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan. He is the antithesis of the starry Shoaib, and Pakistan has had few players with his courage, the commitment and spirit. He was the butt of much ridicule from local journalists when Pakistan played Sri Lanka in a Test last November when, on debut and on a flat pitch, he toiled without reward over after over, often being smacked around by Kumar Sangakkara.The press box, perhaps unused to a bowler who wasn’t lightning-quick on the field and a personality off it, suggested he would be slaughtered in Australia,laughing him off as a balding, ageing, ineffective toiler. He took the crucial wicket of Sangakkara, though, opening up that match and he ended with three forthe innings. They should have known better; in March, he received a fearful mauling at the hands of Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly in Karachi – yet came back to take both their wickets.And he isn’t just indefatigable. Today he revealed yet again, with both new and old ball, a brain almost as sizable as his heart. And what’s more, he has reverse-swung the ball with more success than either Shoaib or Mohammad Sami have in the last year. That he played after the death of his father as little as two days ago adds not only to the poignancy of his performance but to the stature of the man. His batting today took Pakistan to within 18 runs of the target; if Pakistan can continue to feed off his spirit, they may get muchcloser on Sunday.
David Graveney: ‘We were mindful of the need to learn lessons from the drawn series against South Africa’ © Getty Images 2003 |
England’s selectors today named the parties for the first section of this winter’s tour. England play two Tests and three ODIs in Bangladesh before flying to Sri Lanka for three more ODIs and three Tests. The tour starts on Oct 8 and finishes on Dec 23 – the players then return home for Christmas before a revised team travels to the West Indies in March.Only eight of the players who took part in this week’s amazing victory over South Africa at The Oval have been included in the 15-man Test squad. The odd ones out are Martin Bicknell and Ed Smith – and Alec Stewart, who has announced his retirement. Stewart’s likely replacement is Chris Read, the Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper who has already won three Test caps, but there is also a place for the highly rated Kent keeper Geraint Jones. At 27 – two years older than Read – Jones was a late starter in county cricket but has made a fine impression since taking over fulltime from Paul Nixon at Canterbury this year. He has had an interesting path to England colours: he was born in Papua New Guinea and schooled in Australia. But, as that Christian name suggests, he has Welsh parents, which qualifies him for England selection.Smith misses out after a mixed showing in his three Tests against South Africa. He started well, with 64 at Trent Bridge, but struggled afterwards – although his fielding, thought to be a worry beforehand, stood up well, culminating in a fine swoop to take the final catch at The Oval. But with Graham Thorpe a certain selection after his own Oval heroics and Nasser Hussain returning after injury, there was no room for another batsman once the selectors decided against taking 16 players.Bicknell is unfortunate to miss out after his fine second-innings form at The Oval, but lack of pace and surfeit of years counted against him. James Kirtley misses out too, despite taking five wickets on debut at Trent Bridge. Instead the pace battery comprises James Anderson, Stephen Harmison and the returning Matthew Hoggard. Kirtley does at least feature in the squad for the one-day section of the tour.There was no recall at this stage for Robert Croft, the Glamorgan offspinner who has done his best work for England overseas, with 35 wickets in nine Tests. Instead the selectors have opted for Ashley Giles (a star of England’s previous trip to Sri Lanka in 2000-01) and Gareth Batty, the Worcestershire offspinner who was in the squads for the third and fifth Tests against South Africa this summer but failed to make the final cut. But, with the pitches in Sri Lanka expected to help the spinners, the selectors may bolster the spin department after the Bangladesh leg of the tour – and Croft may come back into the reckoning then.The main surprises came in the form of call-ups for the allrounders Rikki Clarke and Paul Collingwood. Clarke, 22, has had a subdued season for Surrey – only 491 runs (admittedly at an average of 49) and nine wickets in nine County Championship matches to date. Collingwood, previously seen as something of a one-day specialist, he missed most of the season with a shoulder injury, but has returned successfully recently.Apart from Kirtley, five other players have been named only in the one-day squad – the usual suspects Vikram Solanki, Anthony McGrath, Ian Blackwell, and Richard Johnson, plus Andrew Strauss, the 26-year-old Middlesex captain. Strauss, who was born in Johannesburg, has enjoyed a fine season, and has the advantage of being an opener. He is also seen as an outsider to become Vaughan’s eventual successor as captain.There was no place for Darren Gough in the one-day squad, suggesting that the international career of England’s leading fast bowler of the past decade has come to an end. Gough predictably took it badly: “I’m bitterly disappointed,” he said. “They’ve picked that many bowlers this summer they had to fit them in somewhere so they’ve shared them out and I was the easy target to miss out. In one-day cricket in the last game I was Man of the Match [the NatWest Series final against South Africa] and I think a lot of people expected me to be still in the one-day squad because I’m still a good one-day bowler. I expected to be picked.”David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, explained his panel’s thinking: “In choosing the Test squad, we were mindful of the need to learn lessons from the drawn series against South Africa and ensure we have the right options available in the very different conditions we will face in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Our batting line-up at present is strong and we can draw on a nucleus of highly experienced Test batsmen plus a genuine all-rounder in Andrew Flintoff. The inclusion of Paul Collingwood and Rikki Clarke in the squad will also give us the option, where necessary, to strengthen our batting line-up still further and build totals which the captain can defend with what is a young and relatively inexperienced bowling attack.”Martin Bicknell and James Kirtley both made strong contributions in the recent npower Test series and were considered as seam bowlers, but Matthew Hoggard was preferred as we feel that his type of bowling will be most effective in the conditions we are likely to face on the subcontinent. We decided not to opt for a third spin bowler in the Test squad at this stage. But we will review the position after the tour to Bangladesh. Jason Brown, Robert Croft and Ian Blackwell will be considered as possible spin bowling options for the Sri Lankan Tests if required. Chris Read will be our first choice wicketkeeper and Geraint Jones will understudy him.”The one-day squad performed well to win both the NatWest Challenge and the NatWest Series this summer and the bulk of that squad has been retained for the winter. The injection of youth and energy in the field was an important factor in our success and we have kept faith with a number of younger players who we feel could play a part in the World Cup in 2007. Darren Gough still remains a selection option for the second part of the winter in one-day cricket. However, as part of our planning for 2007, the selectors needed to look at other options regarding bowling bearing in mind the playing conditions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.”Andrew Strauss has performed well in both forms of the county game this season and his inclusion will give us another batting option and also maintain the high standards of fielding we are seeking to achieve in one-day cricket.”The selectors also named a 14-man Academy squad, which will undergo training at Loughborough as well as undertaking tours to Malaysia and India. It includes Simon Jones, the Glamorgan fast bowler on the comeback trail, and Kevin Pietersen, the prolific Nottinghamshire batsman who was born in South Africa and doesn’t become eligible for full England selection until the end of the 2004 season.England Test squad
Michael Vaughan (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Paul Collingwood, Rikki Clarke, Chris Read (wk), Geraint Jones (wk), Ashley Giles, Gareth Batty, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson.One-day squad
Vaughan (capt), Trescothick, Vikram Solanki, Andrew Strauss, Anthony McGrath, Flintoff, Collingwood, Clarke, Read (wk), Ian Blackwell, Giles, Batty, Richard Johnson, James Kirtley, Anderson.England Academy squad
Kadeer Ali (Worcs), Simon Francis (Somerset), Alex Gidman (Gloucs), Simon Jones (Glamorgan), Shaftab Khalid (Worcs), Michael Lumb (Yorks), Sajid Mahmood (Lancs), Graham Napier (Essex), Scott Newman (Surrey), Kevin Pietersen (Notts), Matthew Prior (Sussex), Bilal Shafayat (Notts), James Tredwell (Kent), Graham Wagg (Warwicks).
We have informally dubbed ourselves the Rain Kings so far on this tour of Australia.I have never been on a tour where I have experienced as much rain as we have, and that includes England in May!Normally this tour is played under great conditions but the rain has been both frustrating and a blessing for us.Frustrating because with rain it is always hard to get into the rythym of a match as interruptions causing you to be on and off the field, the ball getting wet and making it harder to bowl with and then with batting rain can freshen the wicket up for the bowlers.The blessing comes in the form of allowing us to escape from Hobart with a draw and still be in contention to win the series with the Test match in Perth left to go.Now I don’t think I would be fooling anybody if I said that in the last Test Australia outplayed us especially in their first innings at bat.In the last two Tests it has been brought home to us how attacking this Aussie outfit is.While this approach is hard to contain at times, there will be situations where it will also cause their demise.They just figure it won’t be that often if they play positive attacking cricket all the time.Our statistics reveal that both teams’ bowling lines and lengths have been similar, but there are some distinct differences which account for the rate of run scoring for both teams.Firstly, the average pace that the Aussies bowl at is higher so our batsmen have to be very exact in their decision-making as being caught in two minds at this pace will bring about your demise.Secondly, when we bowl the Aussie batters are very adept at square-of-the-wicket shots which gives you a very small margin of error because over-pitching full, then adjusting slightly shorter, gives them the opportunity to pull the ball also.As a series evolves opposition players become more familiar and you get used to what style people are playing.We will have to be very exact in our method, tenacious in our performance at the crease, and field like how we know we can in this next Test.While this is a very good cricket side we are up against, this has now come down to a one-off Test and an opportunity for some CLEAR Black Caps to raise their hands and perform on a stage that if they are successful will be one that they will carry with them forever.The rain delays in Hobart gave us plenty of time to discuss the goings on in the aftermath of the Mike Denness debacle.It was sad to see political ramifications being touted against another country’s trading partner because of over-appealing by a little known Indian cricketer.The phrase “it’s only a game” has now truly been scrapped because of the determination of a few to rise higher than the game and go against the governing body.If there was justification for these people to hang on to their beliefs that they were hard done by I would be the first to support them.But there is not.They should, in this scenario, back down for everyone’s sake so that common sense can prevail and cricket after a tumultuous two years can keep on the journey to get its credibility back.