MELBOURNE, Dec 28 AAP – English fast bowler Andy Caddick received an official reprimand here today after pleading guilty to an on-field misconduct charge during the fourth Ashes Test.Caddick received a Bronx cheer from the crowd yesterday after 100 runs were recorded against his bowling and in response gave his knockers the finger.Match referee Wasim Raja conducted a hearing this morning and Caddick apologised.Raja said in a statement that he took into account Caddick’s previous excellent record, but warned him about his future conduct.
* Dambulla stadium removed from list of venuesThe Sri Lanka Cricket Board’s (BCCSL) interim committee on Thursdaytook the decision to remove the controversial Rangiri DambullaInternational Stadium from its list of venues for next month’s one-daytriangular series. Interim committee sources said the decision to takethe matches away from Dambulla was arrived at on the advice of theirlawyers and, with the consultation of the Sports Minister. They saidlegal implications on the ownership of the land was the main issueregarding the change of venue.The interim committee was looking out for an alternative venue to playthe three matches involving Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand. Thematches are due to be played between July 25-28. Galle InternationalStadium and the Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo are being looked atas alternate venues.The Dambulla stadium, built in a record time of 175 days at aninitially estimated cost of Rs. 300 million, hosted the first one-dayinternational between Sri Lanka and England on March 23. Since then alegal dispute over the ownership of the land and the allegedmismanagement of finances which is currently under investigation haveraised a question mark against staging of international matches atthis venue. The first four-day unofficial Test between Sri Lanka A andPakistan A is currently being played there.* Blind cricketers preparing for World CupThey are fans of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.Whenever they have the opportunity, they rush to the Eden Gardens tosee these stars play. Now, they themselves are preparing for the WorldCup at New Zealand in December this year. Every day, one can find themsweating out on a small piece of land in the Maidan area of Kolkata.But ask them, and they will tell you that even though they have beento the Gardens, they have never seen the stars play. They have noteven seen pictures of the Indian cricketers on the telly or in thenewspapers. Surprising isn’t it? But then these cricketers are blind.Gaurav Goenka, Chandan Maity, Pradip Jha, Santosh Sahani and LNAdhikari are four blind cricketers from Bengal who are practicing dayand night to be ready for selection to the camp for the probables. Onewas surprised to see the manner in which they played the game. The batwas the normal one. The ball was of plastic with small ball bearingsinside. The bowling was under arm and the batsmen played their shotsdepending on the sound that the bearings made as the ball was rolledalong the pitch. The fielders also did the same, moving in thedirection of the sound that the ball emitted. "We do not find itdifficult," said Goenka. He even asked this correspondent to bowl andconfidently handled under arm leg spin. Even when the pace was varied,Goenka was equal to the task.The cricketers however, have one complaint. The apathy of the CricketAssociation of Bengal (CAB) towards them. "We do not have a properplace to practice," laments Pradip Jha. Repeated requests to the CABhave been of no avail. "But then we fight on simply because we lovethe game," said Jha. One can see their tenacity. They do not want anysympathy but help for going ahead in life. "We will not be able tosee what you write for us," is their chorus. But please come again.We need your moral support," says Goenka. One realizes that eventhough the cricketers are blind, they give a light of hope to allthose who fight darkness.* Newly formed associations in wrangling matchWrangling between two newly-formed cricket associations of the newstate has taken a curious turn with the Cricket Association ofJharkhand (CAJ) filing two cases against the JCA (Jharkhand CricketAssociation) in two courts praying for injunction on JCA’s election onJune 17.Both the cases were filed on Wednesday by CAJ annual member Jaki Ahmedin the Munsiff Court in Jamshedpur and the CAJ secretary Prabir Kumarin the Saraikela Court in Saraikela-Kharswan district praying for thepermanent injunction on the JCA election on June 17 or on any otherdate. Both petitioners contended “JCA is a fake organisation,practically not in existence.” Contending that the CAJ was the onlylegally constituted organisation in Jharkhand formed with members fromthe Bihar Cricket Association (BCA), the petitioners said on thenotice of former BCA secretary, BN Singh on January 7, theconstitution of the CAJ was drafted on March 18.Following the notification of the JCA to conduct elections on June 17,the CAJ counsels prayed for permanent injunction on JCA to hold anyelection on June 17 or on any other date. “JCA’s notice on May 31 isillegal and inoperative” as it has “no legal right, authority or locusstandi to hold election of office bearers on June 17 or on any otherdate,” they said in the courts. The petitioners also accused the JCAchief, Deval Sahay and the chairman of adhoc committee, SP Sinha fortrying to create disturbances in the smooth running of CAJ after beingfrustrated in their attempt to capture power.The two organisations came into being after the creation of Jharkand.The election of CAJ was held here on May 13 in the presence of theChief Judicial Magistrate, AK Singh in which 298 members participatedand office bearers and committee members were duly elected.
On Wednesday, West Brom entertain promotion chasers AFC Bournemouth with both sides looking to secure all three points.
Over the last five games, the Baggies have taken eight points from a possible 15, with the recent 1-0 defeat against West Midlands rivals Birmingham City proving as a potential detriment to their outside chances of sneaking into the play-off places.
Results have been poor since the start of the year and even with the appointment of Steve Bruce, West Brom have struggled to settle on a formation. They have made some improvements, with Bruce deploying a 3-5-2-flat formation across the last five games, and it has seen the Baggies begin to pick up much-needed points at what is such an important time in the season.
There is a slight issue with the system though; it does not cater for all of their talent, with prospects like Grady Diangana, who has been described as a “special talent” by The Athletic reporter Steve Madeley, failing to get a look in over the last five games.
Since Bruce’s system change, Diangana’s game time has suffered drastically with the former England youth player making six-eight minute cameos off the bench for the Baggies in four of the last five games.
Just a year-or-so ago, West Ham skipper Mark Noble slammed the Hammers’ decision to let Diangana leave and shared his view in response to the club’s official tweet regarding Diangana’s departure. He said:
“As captain of this football club I’m gutted, angry and sad that Grady has left, great kid with a great future!!!!!!”
At the time of Diangana’s departure from West Ham, there were also links to Ajax, with Erik ten Hag said to have been interested in the now £7.2m-rated winger.
On the chalkboard
Diangana’s talent is unquestionable but his potential is not being filled.
A slight system change could allow Diangana to shine, whilst also aiding the Baggies in their pursuit of the Championship play-off places.
Bruce’s three at the back experiment has so far worked for West Brom, but the defensive constraints on the wide players translate to less freedom for Diangana, which may be why Bruce is giving him limited minutes.
If Bruce were to issue a 3-4-3-box system (3-2-2-3), as used by Xavi at former club Al Sadd, he would be able to give his wingers freedom to attack, with the two central midfielders and central defensive midfielders able to cover defensively.
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Diangana can play on either wing, but being left-footed could offer Bruce an inverted option on the right, in what would be a threatening attacking trio of Robinson, Grant and Diangana (RGD for short).
The link-up between Diangana and Grant could spell real trouble for the rest of the Championship.
In other news – Fewer touches than Johnstone: WBA lightweight who made just 3 passes let Bruce down – opinion
Mahela Jayawardene has urged his side to adopt a smarter approach following Sri Lanka’s 63-run loss to Australia in the sixth CB Series match in Perth.Sri Lanka were in with a great chance to notch up their first win over Australia but a meek batting performance put paid to their chances. “We need to go hard, but the shot selection has to be a bit better,” he said after the loss. “In world cricket a lot of guys do go hard up front, with the power plays and all that, but the guys have got to be a bit smarter.Kumar Sangakkara played a lone hand in the Sri Lankan run-chase but the rest gave it away with some poor strokeplay. “The way we lost wickets was not good,” he said. “At crucial times, we keep losing wickets and you can’t do that in a run chase.”The tailenders once again failed to make an impression – the last five wickets put together only 14 – and Jayawardene wanted to see Chamara Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Chamara Kapugedera and Nuwan Kulasekera take up more responsibility with the bat. “These guys can bat and they have scored runs and we need to get their confidence back,” he said.Sri Lanka, who were off to a poor start in the series, revived their chances with a thumping eight-wicket win against India on Tuesday. However, Sri Lanka’s batsmen are yet to fire against Australia – having collapsed against them on both occasions. Sanath Jayasuriya has shown only glimpses of form, with 46 runs at 15.33, while Jayawardene, Silva and Tillakaratne Dilshan all fell cheaply when up against Australia.Sri Lanka take on India in their next match in Adelaide on Tuesday.
The last round of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy matches, which were indefinitely put on hold following the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, will not be replayed. Instead, Habib Bank (HBL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL), who topped their respective groups going in to the final round, will now contest the final of the tournament, to be held in Karachi from January 7-11.The decision represents a u-turn of sorts from the Pakistan board, who earlier had said that the affected matches – ten in all, of which eight were in progress – would be replayed.But Zakir Khan, PCB’s director cricket operations, told reporters after a board meeting that according to domestic rules under which the tournament operates, matches could not be replayed. However, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Sialkot played out a replay of an earlier game that wasn’t completed due to an unsuitable pitch, a move which drew protests from several teams in the tournament.The last round of matches would have made little difference in Group B, where SNGPL were already assured of their place in the final. And HBL were on the verge of securing their place in the final in any case; they were about to win against Karachi Whites, a result that would’ve sent them through ahead of NBP.Some repercussions might have been felt for the relegation spots in each group though it still isn’t clear how many teams will be eventually relegated. All matches will now be considered drawn though no points will be awarded to the teams.The meeting also decided to postpone the domestic Twenty20 championships indefinitely. The tournament, among the most popular domestically, was originally scheduled to be played from January 8-14. It was then rescheduled to February 9, but has now been put on hold altogether.However, the Pentangular trophy, played among the top five teams of the country, will go ahead from February 10. It will have a break between as the country goes to the polls from February 18, before resuming again from February 22 and running till March 15.The board will also hold a two-day High-performance camp from January 12, for players who impressed during the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. Twenty-four players are expected to attend the camp, to be held in Karachi.
It’s been an interesting few days since the Perth Test match, trying to work out what the Ashes urn actually means. Since 2005 it’s been an amazing thought process for a lot of us to think about what actually happened to try and get the urn and those Ashes back.For me it was a mission to try and get that urn back and today I sit here a very happy man at getting that urn back and I’m going to announce my retirement from international cricket, domestic cricket for Victoria and St Kilda as well. It’s been unbelievable. I think my journey and my ride in international cricket has been phenomenal.I don’t think I could have written my script any better. It’s been an amazing journey, an unbelievable ride. There’s so many people to thank. Today I thought I’d be sad. A lot of people said “you’ll know when your time’s up, you’ll know when your time’s right”. And I sort of doubted that, I didn’t really understand what they meant, and I sit here in front of you today and I know exactly what they mean.I couldn’t have asked for things to go any better. The script leading up to these last two Test matches – I’m going to retire at the end of the Sydney Test match – the reason for doing it that way, I wasn’t going to do anything ahead of the team. The team always came first and once the urn was back then it was going to be time to announce the retirement.If that had to wait until the end of the Sydney Test match then it would be then. But as it’s worked out, the script’s been written, three-nil, we’ve got the urn back from Perth. [It’s a] good opportunity to play out here at the MCG in front of my family and friends who I’ve grown up with and spent a lot of time with and then to Sydney where it all started. Sixteen cricket seasons ago – or nearly 20-odd years of first-class cricket ago – it started in Sydney and it’s still my proudest moment, playing my first Test match.It’s an amazing feeling, so to have that opportunity to walk off in Sydney, where it all began a long time ago, where the ride began, then I think that’s a great opportunity and something to celebrate with the team.I sit here today with every single trophy available in international cricket in the Cricket Australia offices. So I think as a player I like to think I’ve played my part in helping those trophies getting to Cricket Australia. I sit here today a very happy man, it’s been on my chest for a while. I probably would have retired at the end of 2005 Ashes series if we had’ve won but it wasn’t to be.My life has been unbelievable, to be honest. Cricket is a statistic-based game but it’s not about statistics and money and financial and those types of things. For me if it was about that sort of stuff I would keep playing because I feel like I’m still bowling well enough to keep playing. It’s about knowing the right time and I’d like to go out on top. I think I’m going out on my terms – I’d like to think I’ve earned that right to go out on my terms. But it’s a day of celebration, celebrating a wonderful ride.
Umpires Rudi Koertzen and Darrell Hair from the ICC Elite Panel have been appointed to officiate the first Test between India and Pakistan at Lahore starting January 13. Koertzen will be joined by Simon Taufel for the second Test at Faisalabad starting January 21 while Taufel will be joined by Daryl Harper for the third and final Test, at Karachi starting January 29. Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee for the Tests and will be replaced by Chris Broad for the five-match ODI series.Taufel will stay on for the first three matches of the ODI series (at Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore) before Steve Bucknor takes over for the last two games, at Multan and Karachi.Apart from the India-Pakistan series, the ICC has also announced the Elite Panel and International Panel match referee and umpire appointments for all Tests and ODIs up to late March 2006.Jeff Crowe will be the match referee for the VB Series between Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. If the finals go to a third and deciding match (which would be played at Brisbane) that encounter would be Crowe’s 50th as a referee. The umpires for the VB Series are Aleem Dar and Mark Benson. Dar will stand in eight matches (if the third final is required) and Benson will officiate in seven matches.For the West Indies tour of New Zealand starting February, match referee Mike Procter will officiate in all matches. Rudi Koertzen and Daryl Harper will officiate the ODI series. Harper will then stand in the first two matches of the Test series alongside Koertzen at Auckland and Mark Benson at Wellington. Benson will stand alongside Ian Howell, in the final match at Napier.For Sri Lanka’s tour of Bangladesh, the match referee for the tour will be Clive Lloyd. Umpire K Hariharan will officiate in the ODIs. Asad Rauf will be joined by Steve Bucknor in the first Test at Chittagong and Hariharan in the second Test at Dhaka.Chris Broad will be the match referee for Australia’s five-ODI and three-Test tour of South Africa. Jeremy Lloyds will stand in the first four ODIs before Aleem Dar takes charge of the final match. Lloyds will stand in the first two Tests of the series, at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth respectively, alongside Dar and Steve Bucknor. Bucknor will stay on for the final match at Centurion where he will be joined by Tony Hill.Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee for the Test series between India and England.The umpires for the first Test will be Aleem Dar and Ian Howell. Simon Taufel and Darrell Hair will then stand in the second and third Tests of the series at Mohali and Mumbai respectively. The appointments for the ODI series between India and England, together with other future series, will be made in due course.Full details of the umpires and refereeing appointments can be viewed at the umpires and referees section of the ICC website.
Pakistani officials are optimistic that the controversy surrounding playing a Test at Ahmedabad will be resolved when India’s foreign minister visits Islamabad next week. of Karachi quotes a top official as saying, “The way we look at it Natwar Singh’s visit would be crucial from our point of view. Because we believe that the issue of playing at Ahmedabad should now be resolved at the meeting of the foreign ministers next week.”The Indian foreign minister is due to visit Islamabad next week to hold talks with various Pakistani officials as part of the peace initiatives between the two countries. The minister’s visit coincides with the board’s working committee meeting on February 17, which will finalise the dates and venues for Pakistan’s three-Test and five-ODI series.The Pakistan Cricket Board had expressed grave concerns about playing in Ahmedabad in West India on the basis that the place was communally sensitive, and has witnessed some of the worst clashes between Hindus and Muslims in recent times.Recently Rajeev Shukla, a member of parliament and vice-president of the cricket board, met with the Pakistani president’s security advisor, and related officials, to discuss playing in Ahmedabad.
Steve Waugh provided an already exciting Test with one final twist by declaring late on the final day, just when no-one expected it. Australia set India an improbable victory target of 199 from 23 overs, on the back of a savage 99 from Matthew Hayden. India then lost both openers cheaply before Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman took them to a respectable 73 for 2 from 16 overs, at which point play was called off, and the Test drawn. Amazingly, even with almost ten hours lost, this Test kept spectators interested till the very end.When Akash Chopra and Virender Sehwag walked out to bat, chasing over 8.5 runs an over, they had little to gain and almost everything to lose. They could either shut up shop and help themselves to some time out in the middle, or go for quick runs and risk being dismissed cheaply. What the openers decided to do, we may never know, but the results were there for all to see. Sehwag (0) tried to flick the first ball he faced, from Nathan Bracken, closed the face of his bat too early, and could only get a leading edge to Damien Martyn at midwicket (4 for 1). Chopra (4) poked at the very next ball, and presented Justin Langer with a catch in the slips.In an instant, the match came alive, and Bracken was on a hat-trick on his Test debut. VVS Laxman came out to the middle. Sachin Tendulkar, who was off the field for 48 minutes of the Australian innings, could not bat till that much time had elapsed, or five wickets had fallen. Laxman squirted the first ball he played through gully to avoid the hat-trick.From then on, there were no scares for India. Dravid dominated Stuart MacGill to pick up an unbeaten 43 from 47 balls, while Laxman (24 not out) was his charming self, as India reached 73 for 2 from 16 overs, and the match was drawn.
But apart from the last session, and Hayden’s savage assault, the day did not hold as much interest as the scorecard might suggest. On the fourth day, India’s tail had wagged with all the enthusiasm of a terrier’s when in pursuit of a fox, but it subsided limply on the morning of the final day. India lost two wickets without adding to their overnight score of 362 for 6. Ajit Agarkar (12) slashed one to the slips, and Parthiv Patel’s top-edged hook was well taken by a diving Andy Bichel at fine leg and he was on his way for 37.Zaheer Khan then merrily drove three boundaries, and lofted one glorious straight six in his 27, while Harbhajan Singh swatted the ball in inimitable fashion as India pushed along to 409. Zaheer took some effort to convert a MacGill delivery into a yorker, and was bowled (403 for 9). Ashish Nehra then confirmed his No. 11 position by padding up to a fuller one from MacGill. While Nehra might have looked quizzically back at Steve Bucknor when the finger went up to confirm the lbw, it is unlikely to inspire any of the outrage another similar incident did.India had taken a first-innings lead of 86, which in itself was an achievement for a team written off by many even before the series began. And when Langer edged Agarkar to Patel before he’d scored, the Indians were cock-a-hoop. Australia were 6 for 1 and suddenly Test cricket Down Under did not seem such a tough ask after all.
Hayden then brought the Indians crashing back to earth with an array of heavy strokes that would have done a wood-chopper proud. He stood on the crease, transferred his weight from back to front foot, and simply bludgeoned the ball in all directions. The straight hits were particularly savage, and left the bowlers spinning in their followthroughs to track the flight of the ball back towards the fence. And he did this with gay abandon even as Ricky Ponting made as less-than-inspiring 50 and departed. He continued to biff the ball as the hundred approached, and moved from 93 to 99 with a big six.His confidence high – perhaps too high – on a wave of form that has made him the first man to score 1000 runs in a calendar year three times in succession, Hayden holed out. He swatted Harbhajan straight down Sehwag’s throat at the midwicket fence. Hayden’s 98-ball 99 had put India on the back foot.With the field well spread out, and Zaheer Khan back in the pavilion nursing a hamstring niggle, Waugh (56 not out) and Martyn (66 not out) kept the scoreboard ticking over at a steady pace. A brace of sweetly timed straight sixes from Martyn signalled that a declaration was imminent. It came with 23 overs left in the day, with the lead 199, but it did not change the end result.Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.
Lance Hamilton of Central Districts, showed he might be a left-arm bowler in New Zealand who can fill the boots of the now-retired Geoff Allott with his five-wicket bag against Canterbury at the Village Green today.In his comeback year, after missing the 2000/01 season through injury, Hamilton took four wickets in 10 balls at either end of Canterbury’s innings today as the early-season pacesetters stumbled against accurate swing bowling on a dead pitch.Five wickets went for 45 runs this morning, with the last three going to Hamilton, as Canterbury collapsed to a first innings score of 153.Hamilton’s career-best of 5-30 was complimented with two wickets in his opening over when Canterbury followed on 212 runs behind.But then Robbie Frew, with 79 not out, and Shanan Stewart (54) added 111, the highest partnership of the match, to give Canterbury a chance of setting a target on the fourth day in a match where teams have made whole sessions belong to them.CD took all three on the first day, Canterbury the first yesterday and the last two today, and Hamilton ensured the Stags, took the opening session today.”We had two good sessions, but they were definitely needed,” laughed Canterbury coach Michael Sharpe.”After that Auckland pitch,” Sharpe explained, “where our batters were in a bit of a different mind about what to play and what not to play, I think it overran into this game as well.”Canterbury had its first loss of the season, by an innings, on a suspect Auckland wicket last week.”Even up in Auckland Robbie Frew showed some good signs. He’s come into the side and waited for a couple of games and he’s really taken his opportunity, occupying the crease very well,” said Sharpe of his 31-year-old opener, who saw off Hamilton today after his devastating start.Hamilton took 14 wickets in three matches for New Zealand A in England during June 2000 after taking 31 at 20.22 for CD in 1999/00.Missing the whole of last season through injury, the Papakura-born 28-year-old has now taken 18 wickets this term.”He actually got the ball to swing back in from over the wicket,” noted Sharpe. “To be able to angle the ball back in is very dangerous on a low, slow wicket.”Canterbury lost Jarrod Englefield (completing a pair) and Michael Papps in Hamilton’s opening six balls, but survived a further 83 overs in the rest of the day, occasionally batting eloquently towards stumps.When Stewart was unluckily lbw to the second ball after tea, a third Riccarton club player, Gary Stead, helped Frew see Canterbury to within 34 runs of CD by the close.Frew nudged to his highest score for a year, after joint top scoring in Canterbury’s first innings, while Stead also hung around, increasing his stroke play to the spinners towards the close. They made CD bowl top lines, leaving everything that wasn’t straight and, in Frew’s case, after being left out for most of the season, reproducing his second team form today.At a ground where the southwesterly wind was so cold CD coach Dipak Patel wore a scarf, Canterbury may be able to set Central a target tomorrow and copy their 102-run comeback win at Pukekura Park early in the season.”It’ll be great to get into that position where we can put some pressure onto them, but its a long way to go yet,” smiled Sharpe after his team showed the mettle for a fight to reward their new coach yet again today.