A small amount of general public tickets for the first three days of Melbourne’s Boxing Day Test will go on sale from 9am on Wednesday. Cricket Australia said the extra 6000 seats were mainly AFL members’ seats that were being “put back into circulation”.The announcement means 235 tickets for day one will be up for grabs, as well as 2334 places for day two and 3507 spots for day three. There are still about 17,000 seats available for the fourth day but tickets for day five will not go on sale until the match is on.The new allocation means Victorian cricket fans have one last chance to secure a place to potentially see their home-ground hero Shane Warne become the first man to take 700 Test wickets. The 6000 extra tickets will be on sale through Ticketmaster.
Rain followed Auckland’s cricketers home as just 17 overs were possible in their match against Northern Districts on Eden Park’s outer oval. Northern got through to 47 for 1, with former Aucklander Nick Horsley the only wicket to fall, leg before to Chris Martin for 18. The desperately out of form James Marshall battled through to be 13 not out off 47 balls when play was called off. Auckland’s round two match against Canterbury in Christchurch was ruined by rain.Bowlers dominated proceedings at the Basin Reserve as high-flying Wellington hosted bottom-of-the-table Central Districts. James Franklin, who struggled for form against Australia recently, decimated the Central batting, taking 7 for 30 off 16.5 overs. Only Mathew Sinclair (31), Jacob Oram (41) and allrounder Ewen Thompson (47) got starts as Central stumbled through to 181 in conditions tailor-made for swing bowling. When Wellington batted things didn’t improve. Michael Mason, Lance Hamilton and Oram ripped through the top order with Luke Woodcock offering resistance with 35. Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, was caught behind off Oram for just 6. At stumps Wellington were 102 for 7 with Franklin on 27.The bowlers also held sway in Dunedin as Otago hosted a star-studded Canterbury side. Otago slumped to 146 all out, with Shane Bond, New Zealand fast bowler, picking up 4 for 13 off 12.4 overs. Wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins top scored with 40. Canterbury’s top order fared no better. The out-of-form Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan posted just one run apiece as the visitors slumped to 72 for 5. However Brendon McCullum launched a vicious assault on the bowlers, in particular Jonathan Trott, to score a half-century off just 35 balls. At stumps Canterbury were 147 for 5. McCullum finished 53 not out and Chris Cairns 22 not out.
As exclusively revealed by Cricinfo in November, and subsequently ridiculed by the Kenyan Cricket Association as being “misinformation”, Andy Moles has quit Kenya less than a fortnight after returning from his Christmas break. He has been appointed as Scotland’s new coach and will take uyp his post from March 1.Moles has been linked with the vacancy but returned to Kenya from his winter break a fortnight ago and professed his commitment to his existing role. However, the shambolic situation in the country took its toll , and when the offer of a six-month contract came, he took it.”What I saw in the Scottish team out there, it was a superb unit and 11 guys playing some tremendous cricket for each other,” quoted Moles as saying. “When I heard that the job was coming up and Tony wasn’t going for it I decided to give it a go and I’m obviously delighted that things have worked out.”He commended Judd on his work, admitting it made his job easier. “I have a real belief that the current squad can move forward and qualify for the World Cup in 2007. But I want us to go to the West Indies to compete and I’ll be looking to get an extra 10% out of every one of the players.”Moles’s most pressing task is to help Scotland qualify for the 2007 World Cup with a good performance in the upcoming ICC Trophy, from where the top five will receive World Cup berths.Kenya now face an extremely difficult task to replace Moles. They are virtually bankrupt and with the Kenyan Cricket Association suspended, it is hard to see why anyone would apply for the post until the many issues with the board are resolved. Mudassar Nazar, currently running Kenya’s academy, is one likely short-term candidate, as is Mark Lane, who has done excellent work with development in the country.
Sports journalists from across the country came together last week at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Delhi for an unusual event: an encounter with seven members of the Australian team, not with dictaphones and notebooks, but with bat and ball. The Australian team’s sponsors on tour, Travelex, had organized an unusual event called the Media Bowling Masterclass, with the intention of getting the players to pass on some hints and tips to the scribes, many of whom play cricket at some level.The event was conceived like this: some of the bowlers from the Australian squad would help the members of the press – young, old, fat, slim, competent, incompetent – with their bowling, after which Adam Gilchrist and Michael Bevan would line up in adjoining nets and have a bat against them. Rod Kohler, brand manager for Travelex, explained that a similar experiment had been made in the World Cup last March, except that that had been a batting masterclass. “We got out some kit for the press, and some of our batsmen helped them out with their technique, after which Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie had a bowl at some of them. But the bowlers held nothing back – it’s not their nature to do so – and some of the sports writers didn’t have the most pleasant time. After that we decided that it would be more interesting to let the journalists bowl rather than bat.”The Australians brought along Brad Williams, Nathan Bracken, Andrew Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz to advise eager members of the press about their bowling. For a while there was much talk of inswingers and outswingers, seam position and head position, front leg and leading arm, while shutterbugs clicked away and cameras rolled.Of course, the Australians did some bowling themselves to illustrate points of technique, and many were blissfully happy to be running up to bowl in the wake of a Williams or a Bichel. Even Adam Gilchrist turned his arm over, bowling some beautiful curving outswingers and explaining he’d learnt it all watching his pacemen bowl.After a brief break, Gilchrist put on his pads, as did Bevan, and the most eagerly awaited part of the event began. Bevan, batting with his dark glasses on, did not exert himself unduly, but Gilchrist, ever the sport, warmed to the task, and soon had the stadium abuzz with excitement as surely as in a real international game. Several cracking hits flew into the heavens, accompanied by cries and gasps from those watching, and kept the security guards at the edge of the arena busy retrieving balls. Those of us who took some stick also had the pleasure of seeing, from closer than ever before, evidence of the quickness of his eye and his spectacular bat-speed. As the afternoon drew on, even those who were there merely to cover the event could not resist the temptation of rolling their arm over. One portly cameraman entrusted his instrument to a colleague, scurried in, and let fly some deliveries of surprising pace.The event was useful for many, and entertainment for all. Perhaps the only problem with it that journalists, photographers and cameramen all got in each others’ way – not that they don’t usually, but here they were present both as actors as well as reporters. It was not long before the run-ups were besieged with those seeking soundbites, autographs and advice on matters unrelated to the occasion. Perhaps those of us who keep emphasizing the need to play more disciplined cricket ought to take a note.Chandrahas Choudhury is staff writer of Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.
Vineet Sharma and Babloo Kumar helped to bowl Jammu & Kashmir out in no time to provide the first act to an eight-wicket Punjab win in their Ranji one-day match at Ludhiana on Wednesday.Batting first after winning the toss, Jammu & Kashmir could not take advantage of first strike. Apart from Ashwani Gupta’s 46, no other significant score was registered. Jammu & Kashmir were bowled out for 114 in 42.4 overs, with Sharma and Kumar taking four wickets apiece.The low total never looked like bothering Punjab. With opener Dinesh Mongia making 65, the runs were knocked off in just 15.1 overs for the loss of two wickets. Mongia’s 65 came off 54 balls, with seven fours and one six. Although Surinder Singh took two wickets for Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab cantered to their eight-wicket win in style.
Doug Marillier, a Zimbabwe A player and a member of the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy last year, is currently based in Kwekwe where he coaches and plays. Here he talks to John Ward about the recent match between Midlands and Mashonaland, which he missed with a broken finger, and Midlands cricket in general.Unfortunately it wasn’t a fantastic pitch at Harare Sports Club, and the Mashonaland bowling attack is a lot better and a lot more experienced than the Midlands bowling attack. We won the toss and did the right thing by fielding. The Mashonaland side is a good side and we got them out for 165, which we thought was pretty good for our bowling attack.Unfortunately though our batsmen didn’t show, I think, enough commitment. A couple did – Ken Connelly showed a fair amount of commitment, but everyone else tried to get themselves out of a tough position by playing big shots. I think that’s something you learn by experience; the Midlands haven’t played a lot of first-class cricket, and a lot of guys haven’t played any first-class cricket before. The most experienced guys in the Midlands side apart from the pros have played a maximum of four first-class games, so we haven’t a wealth of experience.Being our first year, there are a lot of good things that have come out of it. I know we haven’t done particularly well but we beat Matabeleland in one game, and it was great for us to come into a competition like this from playing league cricket to playing a much higher standard of cricket although the Logan Cup isn’t at its strongest, with most of the national cricketers being away. But it’s very encouraging to see that we’ve done as well as we have. We lost three games and won one, but to go through a season, our first in first-class cricket, and not lose all of them, we’ve done pretty well, and the guys have shown a lot of commitment.Raymond Price, David Mutendera and myself are all down in Kwekwe to try and broaden the base of cricket. Obviously we want to get cricket restarted in places where it used to be played, like Chaplin and Guinea Fowl High Schools, because obviously later on that’s where our young cricketers are going to come from. We want to try and get cricket ‘amongst the millions’, as they say. So we’re doing an awful lot of coaching. We coach on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from about two in the afternoon until about eight at night, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays we coach from two until five in the afternoon, different schools and different age groups. The standard of cricket in the Midlands has improved an awful lot, I would say, since we got there three months ago.Hopefully next year we are trying to get some of our youngsters into the CFX Academy. We have two of them in this year, Travis Friend and Gregg Haakonsen, who are both from the Midlands, although Travis went to school in Harare and Gregg was down south. They will come back to the Midlands after this year at the Academy, and they’re both Midlands boys so the community will really accept them. What we’ll try and do is bring on two young players, Justin Lewis and Luther Mutyambizi, so they will go to the Academy next year. That way we’ll always get Midlands players coming back to the Midlands instead of having Harare guys sent out there.Our Midlands captain is Colin Sanders, and he and Ken Connelly are probably the most dedicated people I’ve met in my life. Although Colin isn’t the most experienced player he did a fantastic job. I know we lost three matches, but in the one game we did win his captaincy was an inspiration. And he’s still learning – who knows, in two or three years he may be the best captain in the country.Guy Savory also did very very well, but he seems to have a problem in the thirties. He got to 30 several times and then got out. He’s going overseas to play as a pro this year for Kenilworth in the Birmingham league, where I had a contract.The Kwekwe ground has improved a lot. It used to be what they call in England a village ground, because obviously Kwekwe isn’t a fantastically popular place. But I believe that Kwekwe Sports Club has one of the best wickets in the country in terms of batting, anyway. It’s a fantastic place to be able to play cricket. The field is coming on a lot, the community is showing a lot of dedication to making Kwekwe Sports Club a much better place. They’ve drawn up plans to make it into a really big, impressive ground, with seating and good facilities. It’s looking really good. We have the centre of excellence at Kwekwe Sports Club, and kids come from all over the place and we coach them there, pretty much like the centre of excellence they have at the CFX Academy. At the moment we’re staying in lodgings, but we’ll move into a house at the ground when we go back for the third term. They’re building a house and an office at the ground, and the intention is that next season basically the professionals will be running Midlands cricket, taking the load of those who have to hold down jobs.
According to a report from Italian outlet Calciomercato [via Sport Witness], West Ham are interested in signing Cagliari midfielder Nahitan Nandez.
The lowdown: Return acts as a reminder
The 26-year-old is nearing a comeback following a spell sidelined through a positive Covid-19 test as well as a knee injury.
This imminent return has brought about fresh speculation regarding a possible summer move having previously been heavily linked to Inter Milan.
Now it appears that there is heightened interest in the Uruguay international as two Premier League sides show their admiration.
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The latest: Let the bidding commence
According to Italian sources, as translated by SW, West Ham and Leeds United are both keen and Cagliari are hoping to open an ‘auction’ for the versatile midfielder.
As such, the Serie A club hopes that the interest from English clubs would allow them to achieve close to a previous €35million (£29.4million) valuation.
However, Inter are said to have taken ‘concrete steps’ to sign the 49-cap ace and would appear to be in the driving seat.
The verdict: Fits the bill
David Moyes has built a team packed full of hardworking, dyed in the wool triers for the cause in east London, traits that would perfectly suit Nandez, described as a player who ‘leaves the last drop of sweat on the pitch’ by football agent Pablo Bentancur.
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Previously hailed elsewhere as ‘amazing’ by journalist Mina Rzouki following a performance against Napoli containing two key passes, two clearances and one goal (Sofascore), the Uruguayan has certainly caught the eye in Italy, racking up nearly two tackles per game with his tenacity in midfield.
Valued at £16.2million and under contract until 2024 (Transfermarkt), signing Nandez for anything below the previous mooted asking price would be a worthwhile piece of business from the Hammers.
Everton will travel to Turf Moor tonight in an important relegation clash against Burnley that could either put the side in a much better position if they win, or damage their chances of safety even further if they lose, and now there has been some bad news from Frank Lampard ahead of the game.
What’s the word?
The Blues boss took to his pre-match press conference to deliver an update on Donny van de Beek’s fitness after he was pulled from the team during the warm-up ahead of the West Ham United game at the London Stadium last weekend.
Lampard told the press:
“Donny won’t be fit. It’s a small grade thigh injury, which will make him fit for the match against Leicester City. He is ineligible to play against Manchester United at the weekend anyway.”
Supporters will be worried
At such a vulnerable time in the season losing players will be an absolute nightmare for Lampard and will surely leave supporters worried about what lies ahead when you consider the difficult fixtures coming up in the remaining weeks for Everton.
The Toffees still need to take on Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United and go to Anfield in the Merseyside Derby in their last ten league games and it is imperative that they pick up points wherever they can to maintain their Premier League status next season.
There is a silver lining in the storm for Everton as Fabian Delph has been confirmed as available for selection, however his lack of match fitness and sharpness returning from a long period of injury could be a cause for concern, but Lampard will surely be hoping he can hit the ground running and make an instant impact with his experience in the squad to deliver what is need.
As the ex-Chelsea boss has confirmed that the injury to the Man United loanee is small, there is hope that the midfielder could be available for selection again by next weekend which will be an absolute blessing for Lampard, and the fact that he is not eligible to play against his parent club at Goodison Park this weekend should give him the extra rest he needs to come back fresh.
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Everton have a challenging week with a tight fixture schedule after playing West Ham on Sunday, Burnley tonight and then the early kick-off against Manchester United on Saturday, so Lampard must do everything he can to ensure the side not only pick up important points but must keep the squad fresh in this tight run of games, avoiding more injuries and suspensions.
In other news: Lampard must finally axe £19.8m-rated “liability” who has “cost Everton dearly” again
Persistent rain in Sydney gave New South Wales and Queensland their first points of the FR Cup as the match was abandoned with the Bulls sitting at 4 for 127. The fourth and final rain stoppage came in the 28th over as Ryan Broad (55 not out) was trying to set the Blues a challenging target.He had survived a tough new-ball period after the Bulls chose to bat and fell to 3 for 44. Aaron Nye provided a flicker of entertainment for the spectators who braved the conditions, belting 43 from 44 balls before skying a catch to Nathan Hauritz in the outfield from what proved to be the final ball of the match.The no-result meant Queensland’s under-strength attack – Andy Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz are injured – earned a reprieve against a New South Wales line-up boasting Phil Jaques, who is pushing for a Test call-up. Both sides had lost their opening one-day games and the Blues now sit fourth on the table ahead of the fifth-placed Bulls.
Michael Clarke has been added to Australia’s first Test squad as cover for Shane Watson after the allrounder picked up a hamstring injury. Watson is still to be assessed by Alex Kountouri, the Cricket Australia physiotherapist, but the selectors indicated they would not replace him with another allrounder if Watson is ruled out of the Ashes opener.Watson strained his right hamstring while bowling in a domestic one-day game in Perth on Friday and was expected to arrive in Brisbane later on Saturday. Cricket Australia said it did not expect to know the severity of Watson’s injury until Sunday. Clarke’s inclusion indicates the selectors may opt for the extra batsman to bolster the batting line-up.However, Watson has not given up hope of winning his fourth Test cap next week: “We just have to see how it continues to be over the next couple of days,” he said after arriving in Brisbane. “I’ll be doing everything I can to be ready for Thursday, but we’ll see what happens.”Playing an extra batsman could also decide the bowling combination, with Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson in the fray. If Australia plays only four bowlers instead of the five Watson’s inclusion would allow, the selectors might decide to choose someone who can deliver a number of steady overs, a fact that may favour Clark over Tait and Johnson.Clarke, 25, played all five Ashes Tests last year, and scored 335 runs at 37.22. He lost his place in the Test team during the last Australian summer and regained it in Bangladesh in April, although he failed to seal his spot with scores of 19, 9 and 23 not out. Clarke looked in good touch against England for New South Wales in Sydney a week ago, when he made 50 and 68.