Chief Executive of Cricket NSW David Gilbert has announced the SpeedBlitz Blues squad to play Queensland in a Pura Cup match at the Gabba starting on Sunday February 1st, 2004.
Steve Waugh (c)Team to be finalised on the morning of the match
Greg Mail
Phil Jaques
Dominic Thornely
Mark Waugh
Brad Haddin
Aaron O’Brien
Stuart MacGill
Grant Lambert
Matthew Nicholson
Stuart Clark
Nathan Bracken (subject to fitness)
Doug Bollinger
CricInfo has recorded an outstanding week of Internet traffic during the first National Bank Series Test match between New Zealand and India at Wellington.According to Hitwise, which measures Internet usage, CricInfo achieved a 92% share of visits to all cricket sites by New Zealand users between December 7-14.Paul Hashfield from Hitwise said: “The site showed a massive increase in category share in the global Sports parent category in the days leading up to the National Bank Tests, and it has now been consistently placed at No 1 for several months.CricInfo commanded more than 15% of all New Zealand visits to the global sports category on Saturday, December 14. This category covers over 1400 sport sites monitored by Hitwise.CricInfo’s own traffic reports show that on the first day in Wellington there were 4.2 million page impressions made, which was more than for all of the second or third Tests against England earlier this year.Preliminary internal CricInfo figures show that there 1.2 million page impressions for the Super Max International, 3.4 million impressions for the Central Districts tour match and 10.2 million for the first Test.
India had set their eyes on a big score against the comparatively weakNetherlands. They eventually ended batting first after being put in by theopposition which very much suited them as I guess they would have battedfirst even if they had won the toss.Indian openers Anju Jain and Anjum Chopra began on a sedate note. WhileJain was more open to the idea of scoring runs, Chopra appeared to getherself tied down with her attempt to play, more often than not, square onboth sides of the wickets. She appeared more cramped for space in theprocess but played a determined innings. Anju Jain appeared to be a victimof a leg before decision, bringing Mithali Raj to the middle.The entry of Raj accelerated the scoring rate to an extent especially onaccount of some very good running between the wickets by Chopra. The101-run partnership for the second wicket between these two laid thefoundation for an onslaught later on. Chopra’s attempt to play in front ofthe wicket came rather late in the innings but she eventually fell in theprocess of lofting one over extra cover.The run rate was none too impressive even after Raj fell but the fourthwicket pair of Hemalatha Kala and Chandrakantha Kaul smashed the Dutchattack to smithereens and when the Indian innings ended, the score read ahealthy 275 for 4 with 75 runs coming in quick time from this partnership.Kala’s innings stood out as a shining example with her 56 runs coming offjust 40 balls. It was not just her score but the authentic andauthoritative manner in which she got those runs that warmed the handful ofspectators watching the match.Kaul (39 off 37 balls), who has been out of touch with the game after hersojourn in England, returned unbeaten, obviously happy with her formalthough it was against one of the babes of the women’s cricket arena. Itis interesting that Netherlands are playing in their fourth World Cup butthe difference in standard between the top five teams and the rest israther vast.Set target of 276, Netherlands never seemed to be in the run. SunitaKanojia, who opened the attack, bowled against the breeze but appeared tobe the best medium pacer insight with her ability to swing the ball awayfrom a right hander which pays better dividends against the moreaccomplished batsmen. But she was decisively unlucky not to be amongst thewickets though she bowled economically.In the end the Netherlands team managed to score 121 for 6 resulting in anIndian victory by a huge margin of 154 runs. But what has been disturbingout here has been the inability of the Indian team to get any team all outin the competition and in the two warm up games prior to it. This is inspite of the fact that all the teams respect the Indian spin attack and themedium pacers have made the initial breakthroughs. May be the think thankof the team needs to address this issue and sort out the strategicallyproblematic areas that may have crept into their game plan.But the defeat of England at the hands of South Africa has made it easierfor India even though it has thrown open the competition and made it harderfor England to qualify for the semi-final. But then it is early days yetand one can’t write away the tenacious England team at this stage.
West Ham United have been handed a potentially huge boost ahead of their upcoming Europa League fixture.
What’s the latest?
That’s according to a claim made by Claret & Hugh, who revealed in a recent post that Declan Rice – who missed the Liverpool defeat due to a virus – has travelled with David Moyes and the rest of the West Ham squad to Sevilla.
The club insider went on to state that, while the midfielder is still a doubt for the Europa League round of 16 clash tomorrow evening, it is understood that the 23-year-old is feeling better than he was on Tuesday.
In the update, Claret & Hugh said: “Declan Rice travelled with the lads but there is no certainty at this stage he will play. Although, we understand he is feeling better than yesterday when he was still under the weather with a mystery bug.
“However, no decision on his involvement can be taken until the squad has been in the country for another 24 hours given the importance of the round of 16 game.”
Hammers will be buzzing
Considering just how vital Rice is within the West Ham side, the news that the England international has travelled to Spain with the rest of the squad – something which leaves open the possibility of the midfielder playing some sort of role in Sevilla – is sure to have left Hammers supporters buzzing.
Indeed, over his 26 Premier League outings in the current campaign, the £75m-rated dynamo has been in the form of his life, scoring one goal, providing four assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.7 interceptions, 2.4 tackles, 51.9 passes and winning 5.4 duels per game.
These metrics have seen the £62k-per-week star average a breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.20, ranking him by far and away as Moyes’ best performer in the top flight of English football.
Furthermore, the 23-year-old has also been in exceptional form over his four Europa League appearances, bagging a further two goals, in addition to making an average of one interception, 2.8 tackles, 57.3 passes and winning five duels per fixture – with these returns seeing the midfielder average an even more remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.30.
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As such, it is clear to see that even a half-fit Declan Rice would provide a huge boost to West Ham’s chances of leaving the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium with a positive result tomorrow evening – with both Moyes and supporters of the club undoubtedly praying the England ace will be available for selection.
AND in other news: Huge blow: West Ham dealt fresh setback ahead of Sevilla clash, Moyes will be fuming
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Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum have been recalled for the first two one-day internationals against Bangladesh, but there is no room for Shoaib Akhtar in a near-full-strength Pakistan squad. Three finds from the ODI series against Zimbabwe at home recently – Nasir Jamshed, Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz – were handed another opportunity to impress, while there was a recall for Bazid Khan after a fine Pentangular Cup.Gul, who travelled to Australia for a medical check-up on a longstanding back problem that prevented him from taking any part in the Test series against India last year, and Iftikhar – who had a poor series against Zimbabwe – return from injury to boost the bowling. With Mohammad Asif ruled out and Shoaib waiting to be cleared by the PCB’s disciplinary committee, Pakistan’s bowling attack also included Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan and allrounders Fawad Alam and Shahid Afridi, who make up the spin quotient.Bazid, who played one Test and three ODIs in 2004-05, finished as the Pentangular Cup’s second-highest run-scorer with 522 at 74.57, including three hundreds.In the ODIs against Zimbabwe, Pakistan tried out opener Jamshed and bowlers Sohail Khan – who shot to fame in his debut first-class season by grabbing 91 wickets – and Riaz, among other young hopefuls. Jamshed impressed with 197 runs at 39.40 as did the two bowlers. Both wicketkeepers from that series, Kamran Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed, have been retained.While announcing the 16-man squad Salahuddin Ahmed, head of the selection committee, said that players such as Yasir Hameed, Yasir Arafat, Faisal Iqbal, Naumanullah, Abdur Rauf, Kamran Hussain, Junaid Zia, Yasir Ali, Umair Khan – who have all performed well on the domestic circuit – would be considered for the next three ODIs.The five-match series runs from April 6 to April 20.Pakistan squad Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Bazid Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk).
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According to Bruce Aanensen, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive, the crucial factor surrounding the next coach will be ability and not nationality. Bennett King, the first foreign coach of West Indies, recently resigned after their failure to reach the World Cup semi-finals.”What we want to do is get the best possible coach for the team and it really doesn’t matter to us where that coach comes from,” Aanensen told the Caribbean Media Corporation. “I think if you look at most of the foreign teams, most of them have coaches that are not local to their establishment. It’s the same thing in the football World Cup, I think that all but four of the teams in the last World Cup finals had foreign coaches so to speak.”So this thing that people have that we must have a local coach, we must have the best possible coach that can take our cricket forward and whether is West Indian, English, Australian, New Zealander as far as I am concerned it doesn’t matter.”King succeeded Gus Logie in 2004. It was a controversial decision with many in the region insisting that a local should be put in charge.The WICB is scheduled to name a new captain on Sunday to take over from Brian Lara who retired from the international game. “A full board meeting is scheduled for Sunday, April 29, in Barbados. At that time the matter will be addressed,” said a WICB statement. “The new captain will then join the other selectors on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 to select the other members of the team. The WICB expects that it will be able to release the names of the players on Wednesday May 2, 2007, after the convenor of selectors has notified the players.”Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lara’s long-time vice-captain, is expected to be given the job of leading the squad on the tour to England which gets underway in May.
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After the second Test had petered out into a tame draw at Cape Town, Stephen Fleming countered criticism of his decision to bat on into the third day by saying he declared too early. He thought the best chance of winning had been to force South Africa to follow on.”I needed everything I could get. I probably needed more. The follow-on was our only real chance. We had to bowl South Africa twice. When you commit to that you have to get enough cash in the bank.”He said it might have been better to let James Franklin and Jeetan Patel continue their free-scoring unbeaten ninth-wicket partnership of 58 for another half hour. “It might have been given us more cushion but we thought we had enough overs to bowl them out.”Graeme Smith said he was surprised New Zealand had batted on so long, “especially the way the Test match had gone with light in the evening and dew in the morning. They went past a point of having to make a game of it, they had to try and make us follow on.”South Africa responded by scoring 512, with centuries by Hashim Amla and Ashwell Prince, batting until after lunch on the final day. “We all want results but when you are put in a corner you have to play the situation,” said Smith. “We’re 1-0 up in the series. We were forced into being defensive and getting through this game and that’s what we did.”Smith said South Africa would look to play more aggressively in the final Test starting at the Wanderers on Friday. “We want to play positive cricket, winning cricket. We felt it better to grind their bowlers into the ground with the next Test starting three days later.”It gave us a great opportunity to go to the Wanderers with a bit of momentum. The batters have got runs under their belt. I’m sure the wicket there will be a little more juicy. It always has a bit more of a result in it than most other wickets.”Fleming said New Zealand were disappointed not to have a chance of winning the series. He said personal satisfaction at his own man-of-the match innings of 262 was tempered by the lack of a win. “It’s disappointment because we came here to win a series. We created some opportunities in this Test and couldn’t convert.”He added they were determined to try to level the series by winning the final Test. “It should be a result wicket. There’s been a lot of inclement weather up there and hopefully we can get on the right side of it.”
The triangular tournament involving India, Sri Lanka and West Indies, starting on July 30, will not be played under the new rules for one-day internationals. The Sri Lankan cricket board have informed the BCCI of its decision not to introduce the changes, which officially take effect on July 31.Gautam Dasgupta, joint secretary of the BCCI, said: “We have received a letter from the Sri Lankan cricket board in this regard. It is the prerogative of the hosts to decide on this matter.” He added that the BCCI had no problem with the decision of the Sri Lankanboard to stick to the old rules.The new rules, which will come into effect from July 30, allow every team to make one substitution during the game and has 20 overs of fielding restrictions instead of 15, of which two blocks of five are used at the fielding captain’s discretion.England and Australia will become the first teams to trail the new rules during the NatWest Challenge, which starts on July 7, after both sides agreed to adopt the changes.
| Jagmohan Dalmiya: has been in regular touch with the Pakistan board © Getty Images |
A report in India Today magazine claims that India’s players are seeking assurances from the Indian board (BCCI) about their personal safety before agreeing to travel to Pakistan for March’s ground-breaking series.The article adds that several players believe that the BCCI has spent more time focusing on the financial windfall likely to accrue from the games than it has on the welfare of the team.”Is anyone in the BCCI going to do a recce before the tour and see what the arrangements are for the team?” the magazine quotes an unnamed player as saying. “We get a feeling they are happy to just have the tour and send us off. There seems to be more talk of television revenues rather than security which is disturbing.”Recent reports have indicated that the tour could generate huge sums of money, with the cash-strapped Pakistan Cricket Board alone set to earn around $30 million in broadcast and sponsorship rights.Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, dismissed the concerns, insisting that he had been in regular touch with the Pakistan board to discuss all aspects of the tour, including player security.
HOBART, Dec 21 AAP – Queensland, led by Ashley Noffke, tightened its grip on the Pura Cup cricket match against Tasmania in Hobart today.At stumps on the third day, Tasmania, after being forced to follow on, was 4-99 in its second innings and trailed by 118 runs.Scott Mason was 40 not out and Dan Marsh was on three.Noffke took three wickets in the first innings and the first two in the second to ensure Tasmania was left with an impossible rearguard action.On a Bellerive Oval wicket wicket still playing dreadfully low at times – embarrassed curator Peter Apps said he was perplexed by its behaviour – Tasmania was bowled out for 191, 217 runs behind Queensland’s 8-408 declared, with captain Jamie Cox making 88.Only briefly did Tasmania, which resumed at 2-50, look capable of averting the follow on.After losing two early wickets, Cox and Marsh stayed for almost an hour and a half while adding 70 runs.But eight minutes before lunch Marsh, on 32, got a faint edge to Andrew Symonds, after which the only question was whether Cox could get a deserved century.He was second last out when Noffke ended his defiant, 330-minute vigil.Cox gave two tough chances and needed treatment after being cracked on the hand, but also hit 15 boundaries – many of them cracking cover drives – and showed, as Martin Love did before him, that despite its difficulties, scoring was possible on the wicket.He barely had time for a shower, however, before he was back in the middle and this time lasted only three balls before Noffke produced a rare rearing delivery that flew to gully.With Michael Dighton and Michael Di Venuto falling cheaply either side of tea the Tigers appeared to be subsiding to an embarrassingly lopsided defeat.But Mason and Scott Kremerskothen frustrated the Bulls for 100 minutes and ensured the match went into the fourth day.Kremerskothen finally fell for 34, trying to pull a Lee Carseldine delivery that kept low and trapped him in front.Mason, a fringe state player for years who is cementing his place in the team through sheer grit, has grafted for 148 minutes.But there’s no batting form to follow him and Marsh.