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The Tasmanian Cricket Association (TCA) Chief Executive, David Johnston today announced the appointment of Cameron Hodgkins to the vacant position of Head Curator at Bellerive Oval.Mr. Johnston said; “For the TCA to be able to obtain the services of a person with Cameron’s experience and knowledge is a real coup and we look forward to Bellerive Oval regaining its high reputation under his management.”Hodgkins joins the TCA, highly recommended and qualified after 14 years in the first class cricket/sports industry as a Curator and Turf Manager.During that time Cameron was employed for 3 years at Lords Cricket Ground in London as a groundsman reporting to Head Groundsman, Michael Hunt.He moves to Bellerive Oval from the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) where he has worked for 11 years and held the position of Assistant Arena Manager under Tony Ware for the past 6 years. He has during his long association with the MCC been exposed to cricket pitch preparation and Sports Field Management at the highest level.At the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Cameron has had the responsibility of preparing both first class and international cricket pitches, his most recent being the one-day international between Australia and Bangladesh at Marrara Oval in Darwin.His achievements and involvements include the Olympic Soccer Project in 2000, portable cricket pitch development, Challenge Series 2 during 2002, VB Series in Darwin 2002 and the reconstruction of the MCG Arena in 1992.Upon his appointment Hodgkins stated that the opportunity to be involved with Bellerive Oval and the TCA was extremely exciting and he was looking forward to commencing duties on September 15.

Sri Lanka commence their three-Test series against West Indies on Tuesdayknowing that a series win will guarantee will see them climb up the ICC TestChampionship table.This will be the first full Test series between the two countries in SriLanka following a one-off Test as long ago as 1993/94. A win for the homeside would increase Sri Lanka’s points average from 1.08 to 1.14 (16 pointsfrom 14 series) and move it up to joint third place on the table withEngland.Victory for the tourists would mean West Indies replacing Sri Lanka infourth position, as its points average would increase to from 1.00 to 1.07(15 points from 14 series), with Sri Lanka’s dropping to 1.00 (14 pointsfrom 14 series).A drawn series would not affect the standing of either country; Sri Lankawould remain third despite a marginal points average decrease to 1.07 (15points from 14 series) from 1.08. The West Indies would hold onto fifthplace with exactly the same points average of 1.00 (14 points from 14series).

ICC TEST CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE, NOVEMBER 2001Team Played Won Lost Drawn PointsAustralia 13 10 2 1 21 1.62South Africa 16 11 3 2 24 1.50England 14 7 5 2 16 1.14Sri Lanka 13 6 5 2 14 1.08West Indies 13 6 6 1 13 1.00New Zealand 15 6 7 2 14 0.93Pakistan 15 3 7 5 11 0.73India 13 3 7 3 9 0.69Zimbabwe 15 2 11 2 6 0.40Bangladesh 1 0 1 0 0 –

To analyse Rahul Dravid’s game, there is probably none betterqualified than Keki Tarapore, his coach and greatest influence in hisimpressionable years. The 78-year-old Tarapore who, like Dravid, wasalso born in Indore and attended the St. Joseph’s Boys High School inBangalore is a former Ranji Trophy player himself. He made his debutfor Mysore against Madras at Bangalore in 1945 under the captaincy ofPE Palia.Tarapore’s foray into coaching began when he joined the RajkumariSports Coaching Scheme in 1959 at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay,now known as the NIS (Netaji Institute of Sports). He was posted toJaipur for six months to coach the Rajasthan team and later shiftedback to Bangalore to work under the aegis of the Mysore CricketAssociation. From 1960 to 1991, Tarapore worked as coach to the Mysore(later Karnataka) team.From 1977 to 1991 he was also involved with the national campconducted by the BCCI every summer, first under Col. Hemu Adhikari aschief coach, and for the last two years under Hanumant Singh. Duringthis period a number of future Indian stars like Kapil Dev, RaviShastri, Kiran More, Shivlal Yadav, Roger Binny cut their teeth underTarapore’s watchful eyes.During his service to Karnataka, Tarapore was involved in the earlydevelopment of many exceptional players like EAS Prasanna, BSChandrasekhar, GR Viswanath, BP Patel, SMH Kirmani, SadanandViswanath, Anil Kumble and of course Rahul Dravid. In 1991, he washonoured with the Rajyotsava award for lifetime achievement in thefield of coaching, bestowed on him by the Chief Minister of Karnataka.In this conversation with CricInfo, Tarapore makes a thoughtfulappraisal of the current Indian vice-captain (and future Indiancaptain as he suggests).When did Dravid first come to you and when did you first spot thetalent in him?I first saw Rahul when he was a 11-year-old boy and a student of St.Joseph’s Boys High School. He attended a coaching camp conducted bythe Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) at the M. ChinnaswamyStadium where I was the only coach. He was a boy with tremendousdetermination and eager to learn the right technique for a batsman. Hefirst started to represent the state at the junior level. Once hestarted playing Ranji Trophy for the state and consistently producedruns, I could recognise that he had a chance to play for the country.He was always very hardworking and consistent in the matches played atthe camp.Was he always a batsman from the beginning or did he also bowl a bitor keep wickets?He came as a pure batsman, later on he took up a little bit of wicketkeeping and started bowling off breaks. That’s why even now he keepswickets for the country in case of an emergency. As a fielder he isquiet competent, especially in close positions which he has proven.What were the specific areas in which you fine tuned his game?From the beginning Rahul concentrated on the basics of the game. Evennow whenever he is not in form I advise him to go back to the basics.The most important factor in his career has been that he was alwaysready to learn and take proper advice and apply the same on the field.What do you think are Dravid’s strengths and weaknesses?Rahul’s main strength has been his sound defence and his weakness evennow sometimes has been his tendency to play too far across which hascost him his wicket.Do you agree that he does not have the ability to dominate thebowling?I don’t agree with that. In some circumstances, for the sake of theteam he has scored fast but normally he plays the role of ananchorman. When the side loses early wickets, Rahul’s contribution hasbeen beneficial to the team.How would you assess his leadership qualities? Do you think he is afuture captain of India?I noticed in Rahul at a young age that he had a natural ability tocaptain the side. Whenever he got the opportunity to lead he showedgood promise. Given the opportunity to lead the Indian team, I don’tthink he will fail in his duty as captain.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is bemused by his lack of playing time, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Rashford considering his future

Romano shared a huge update regarding Rashford less than 24 hours on from United’s 4-1 defeat to rivals Manchester City on Sunday.

The transfer expert revealed that the 24-year-old is considering his Old Trafford future and wants clarity from the club. Rashford has less than 18 months remaining on his current deal and hasn’t started any of United’s last four Premier League fixtures.

The Latest: Romano’s update on Rashford

Romano took to Twitter once more a few hours after claiming the forward is considering his future with The Red Devils.

He shared ‘more’ news on the England international, stating that United have an option to extend his contract for a further 12 months, with no decision made as of yet.

The journalist revaled:

“More on Marcus Rashford story. His contract expires in June 2023 but Man United have an option to extend for further season, I’m told. No decision made yet. MUFC Sources tell me that he’s ‘concerned’ and bemused with his role within the team due to a lack of playing time.”

The Verdict: All change?

United have a number of players who will be out of contract in the summer, and with a new manager looking likely to come in, it looks set to be a crucial summer for the club off the pitch.

A new manager should have a say on Rashford’s future, but it seems as if the forward’s mind may already be made up before Rangnick’s replacement comes through the door, judging by Romano’s claim.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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A run of starts could help to win the 24-year-old around, so it could be an interesting few months ahead of the summer transfer window.

In other news: Rangnick green-lights high profile Man Utd exit as news emerges on ‘unbelievable’ player

Sri Lanka once again rallied behind Muttiah Muralitharan and rejected former Indian spin wizard Bishen Singh Bedi’s recent demands to ban the magician from international cricket.Bedi urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ban Muralitharan arguing that he chucks. But the team management dismissed charges as flimsy, baseless and far from reality with manager Chandra Schaffer saying it was an opinion of a disgruntled individual. “I don’t know how many people take Bishen Bedi seriously nowadays. I think he thrives on controversies, so I leave it to that,” Schaffer said.Schaffer said Muralitharan had been cleared once and for all but agreed that the spinner had not been given the licence to throw. “That can happen to anybody. Even Waqar Younis can be no-balled by the umpire tomorrow. That’s part of the game. But the bottomline is that Muralitharan’s action has been cleared and that’s the end of the story.”Muralitharan was no-balled seven times in an over by Darrel Hair in a 1995-96 Test in Australia. Fingers have pointed as Muralitharan since but has never been reported or called after Arjuna Ranatunga withdrew his team from the ground and later the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) threatened to take the ICC to the court. It was on BCCSL’s request the ICC did not post Hair in any of the 1999 World Cup matches involving Sri Lanka.Hair’s compatriot Daryl Harper is the ICC umpire in the Asian Test Championship final. But another Australian Dav Whatmore ruled out fears that Muralitharan might be called or reported again. “I don’t think Muralitharan is under scrutiny. There is no chance of being called or reported again. Frankly speaking, I am not expecting anything like that,” he said.He reiterated that Muralitharan’s action had been proven free of any guilt and urged the critics to forget the issue and move forward. “If it (Bedi’s views) were meant to disturb anyone, it has not worked because we are firmly behind Muralitharan and things haven’t changed really,” he added.Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lanka captain, said he was disturbed and disappointed to read Bedi’s observations and demands. “I think he has played enough cricket to say such a thing. Muralitharan has been cleared by everyone after it was proven medically that he doesn’t throw.”Pakistan captain Waqar Younis chided: “It’s too late to ban him now after he has taken 400 wickets and bamboozled best of the teams on every surface.” Bedi last month had argue that a blind man cannot be given permission to fly a plane and if Muralitharan had an abnormality with his bowling arm, it was just bad luck for him. Muralitharan has more than 400 Test wickets.

Grant Lambert is hoping for an opportunity to open © Getty Images

New South Wales number plates say it is Australia’s premier state and Shaun Tait has called its cricketers arrogant, but finishing last in the one-day and Twenty20 competitions was a humbling experience for the Blues. The poor 2006-07 limited-overs performances, which were complemented by a fall at the final Pura Cup hurdle against Tasmania, have provided ample motivation for a form reversal this summer.While there have been no major player changes in the off-season, the Blues have a new coach in Matthew Mott, who has graduated from his three years as the assistant to take the head role following Trevor Bayliss’ departure to Sri Lanka. The allrounder Grant Lambert said the transition to Mott as mentor has been seamless. “Matty is fitting in well,” Lambert says. “He’s been around us for a few years now, so he’s settled in.”Lambert has been in and out of the New South Wales side since his debut in 2001-02 but has been a more regular feature in the past two years. A flood of runs in the Sydney grade competition led to a state recall in 2006-07 and the breaking of the 63-year-old record set by Bill Alley. Lambert finished with 1527 at 95.94, 114 more than Alley. “It was a bit of an honour,” Lambert says. “It was good to actually do it in the end because there was a lot of talk about it leading up to it.”At club level Lambert, 30, opens the batting and bowling, and his belief that he’s an “equal allrounder” was shown in his 2006-07 New South Wales averages of 39 in each discipline. “I played the last six games and then the final of the Pura Cup and it was great to get back in the team,” he says. “I didn’t go too badly, but there’s always room for improvement.”Despite his 353 runs last season and a stint as opener, Lambert is expected to bat No. 7 and his medium pace will be used at first or second change. However, with Phil Jaques in contention for a Test spot, there is the possibility of Lambert slotting in at the top of the order during the campaign. “I’d love to open the batting,” he says. “Hopefully Phil does get the call up to the Australian side and if I get the chance I’d love to give it a crack.”The 14-man squad for the Blues’ season-opening trip to Perth was touted as a “good blend of youth and experience” and Lambert has nominated Peter Forrest and Stephen O’Keefe as ones to watch. “Pete’s doing really well so far this year, he’s scored a few runs already,” he says. “Stephen is playing very well too, so we’ve got a few good young players coming through.” Forrest, a 21-year-old batsman, received a senior contract for the first time after three seasons on the rookie list while O’Keefe retained his junior deal.

Phil Jaques is waiting to see if he will make the Test team © Getty Images

With Brad Haddin on the fringes of national selection, the reserve keeper Daniel Smith should play more of a role. Smith, 25, got four Pura Cup starts in 2006-07 – one was as a specialist batsman alongside Haddin – and was behind the stumps during the final loss at Bellerive Oval.Australia’s selectors will again have an impact on the success of the Blues. Seven squad members hold national contracts and they might translate into regular international appearances for Stuart MacGill and Jaques. Simon Katich, the captain, seems to have disappeared from the national radar and he was re-signed on a five-year deal during the winter.Previously the percentage of troops drafted into the Australian side hasn’t stopped New South Wales from achieving success. Having won the Pura Cup in 2004-05, finished runner-up in March and taken the one-day title in 2005-06, the Blues now want to prosper in all forms of the game. They’ve got the players and, according to Lambert, “it’s just a matter of doing it”. If successful the state’s confidence would be justified.Captain Simon Katich
Coach Matthew Mott
Squad Aaron Bird, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Mark Cameron, Beau Casson, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Ed Cowan, Scott Coyte, Peter Forrest, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Moises Henriques, Phil Jaques, Simon Katich, Grant Lambert, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Greg Mail, Matthew Nicholson, Aaron O’Brien, Ben Rohrer, Craig Simmons, Daniel Smith, Dominic Thornely. Rookies Tom Cooper, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Stephen O’Keefe, Martin Paskal, Steven Smith, David Warner.2006-07 results Pura Cup 2nd, FR Cup 6th, Twenty20 6th.

Top officials tried hard to convince Inzamam-ul-Haq to resume play at The Oval but he refused to comply © Getty Images

The Oval Test forfeiture and the long-awaited constitution were on the menu of discussion as Nasim Ashraf, the new Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, faced a Senate committee on sports over the recent turbulence that has gripped Pakistan cricket.A member of the committee, Senator Enver Baig, said that a detailed discussion was held on the Oval Test and the chairman subsequently agreed to hold a thorough probe into the affair. Baig revealed to Karachi-based daily that Ashraf had initially refused to speak before the committee about the Oval incident but later admitted that the decision of staging the post-tea boycott on the fourth day was the sole decision of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.”All the officials present at The Oval including myself, manager Zaheer Abbas and Bob Woolmer tried hard to convince Inzamam to return to the ground but he refused to comply,” Ashraf was quoted as saying. Inzamam had repeatedly stressed that he had the support of his team-mates in the decision.More damagingly, Baig voiced concerns over the result in light of reports that a leading British bookmaker was offering odds on an England win. “We informed him that the bookie was offering 14-1 rate in favour of England while the match was in Pakistan’s pocket.”Baig said he told Ashraf that the PCB should not overlook the bookies factor since match-fixing allegations have been levelled against the players in the past. “The matter is a serious one and you should consider all the aspects and an inquiry should be held into the affair.”Meanwhile, the long-absent constitution of the board was also discussed and Ashraf assured the committee that it would be in place by January 31, 2007. Ashraf said that the constitution is almost finalised and would be implemented following approval from President Pervez Musharraf, the board’s patron-in-chief.”For us, it is very important that the PCB has a constitution and is run according to it as soon as possible,” Baig told . “We have been told by the PCB chairman that the constitution would be ready soon and would be implemented by January 31 next year. We would get back to him on February 1 over this matter.”Baig also said that the constitution should lead to the board having a chairman who is elected by representatives of its provincial association and other affiliated units. “There should not be any direct appointments in the board by the president of Pakistan. The president is the patron-in-chief of the PCB but we believe he should not be involved in the working of the board.”This is not the first time the committee has called in the PCB chairman. Through his three-year tenure, Shaharyar Khan, Ashraf’s predecessor, was summoned to face questions on a number of occasions over the board’s finances and the team’s performances.

Scotty Styris sat out two matches, but will look to recover by Friday © Getty Images

Despite being 2-0 on the tour of South Africa so far, New Zealand are not without their share of injury concerns. Scott Styris (hamstring), Jacob Oram (back) and James Franklin (heel) are all causes of worry for Stephen Fleming, their captain.Fleming hopes that they will be fit to play in the international Pro20 match against South Africa at the Wanderers on October 21. “Our bowling is a concern, with Franklin, Styris and Oram all probably underdone. We want some selection dilemmas, we don’t want injuries to play a part in this series, it happens too much to us,” Fleming was quoted as saying by .Styris, who missed both warm-up games against South Africa A, bowled and batted at the Wanderers nets on Tuesday, and should bowl in Friday’s match. Fleming, however, will look at Styris to contribute with the bat as well, given the top order’s erratic batting form. Fleming has led from the front on the tour, scoring a fine century in Potchefstroom on Sunday, but the only other batsmen with scores over fifty have been Craig McMillan and James Marshall.However, Fleming maintains that it is too early to be worried about the batting, saying that his players had not had much game time recently. “We’re pleased that we’ve got a couple of hundreds on the board, we could so easily have gone through these games with none of us in any nick at all. We do want the others to fire and they’ve got to do the work during the week to get up to speed.”He added that New Zealand would treat the Pro20 international the same as any other big match. “We put a lot of importance on it. It’s certainly not a hit and giggle. It plays an important part in the tour. We are looking forward to it and we want to win it.”