England’s tour of New Zealand begins in earnest on Tuesday, when Paul Collingwood leads his side out for their opening Twenty20 fixture at Auckland, against a Kiwi opposition that has been severely depleted by injuries and unavailability.Three of New Zealand’s most accomplished limited-overs batsmen – Nathan Astle, Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan – have retired in the last 12 months, while their captain Daniel Vettori, who was rated as the most valuable bowler at last September’s ICC World Twenty20, is missing with an ankle injury. In addition, they will have to make do without the services of their spearhead, Shane Bond, whose contract has been terminated after he signed for the rebel Indian Cricket League.Collingwood, however, is guarding against complacency. New Zealand were, after all, semi-finalists in the World Twenty20 while England failed to beat a single senior nation in their brief campaign. “We’re not going to take them lightly,” he said. “They’ve lost a couple of their more experienced players but they are a dangerous side and they always have been.”We expect them to be as tough and competitive as ever and we’ll be telling the players that,” said Collingwood. “It’s the start of our tour and we need to go out there and set our standards from ball one. It’s a long tour for all of us and hopefully we’ll set off on the right note. It will set the tone for the tour if we play well in this match with good, aggressive cricket.”England have yet to finalise their side, largely because of the complication provided by the early-tour form of Alastair Cook. He made 51 and 138 not out in England’s two warm-up matches, and though he was initially being bracketed as a Test specialist, all that may now have to change. “There are a few tough decisions to make,” said Collingwood. “We’ve got quite a few players in good form and it’s going to be hard to get it down to the final XI.”New Zealand, meanwhile, will be led by their explosive wicketkeeper-batsman, Brendon McCullum, who last month scored an incredible 80 not out from 28 balls to destroy single-handedly Bangladesh at Queenstown. “Tomorrow presents a tremendous opportunity for a couple of players to stand up and see what they’ve got at international level,” said McCullum. “The team we do have is young, it’s fresh and I see it as pretty exciting. If all goes well I think we’ve got the make-up to thrill a lot of people.”McCullum’s opening partner could be a potential star of the future. Jesse Ryder is a 23-year-old left-hander whose spats with New Zealand Cricket have been as explosive as his batting. But circumstance has forced the hands of the selectors, and McCullum for one is delighted his team-mate has been given the chance. “He’s an amazing talent,” he said. “This guy hits the ball as hard as anyone going around the country and you can’t keep talent like that on the sidelines for too long.”Ryder has been criticised for his weight problems but Anthony Stuart, the Wellington coach, believes he is now suited to international cricket. “If I was involved with England I’d be trying to make life as difficult as possible for him,” Stuart told the . “He’s got to be prepared for that but I think deep down he’s actually quite a level-headed guy and not a lot seems to faze him.”The 19-year-old seamer, Tim Southee, could also make his debut as a replacement for Bond. He had originally been preparing for the forthcoming Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, but was promoted to the senior squad after impressing the chairman of selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee. “It’s going to be a great series,” said McCullum. “We’ve got two evenly-matched teams and I guess whichever team can hit their straps and get hot will probably be the team that comes out on top.”New Zealand (probable) 1 Brendon McCullum (capt, wk), 2 Jesse Ryder, 3 Peter Fulton, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris. 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Kyle Mills, 8 Paul Hitchcock, 9 Chris Martin, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Jeetan Patel.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Phil Mustard (wk), 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Owais Shah, 7 Luke Wright, 8 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James Anderson.
Justin Kemp and Herschelle Gibbs suffered injury scares during training on the eve of South Africa’s World Cup warm-up match against Ireland on Monday. Kemp was hit on the left big toe by fast bowler Charl Langeveldt while batting in the nets while Gibbs injured a finger during a fielding drill.Mohammad Moosajee, the South African team doctor, said neither player had suffered a fracture and that both are expected to be back in action soon. However, they could miss the match against Ireland.”We had both of them x-rayed as a precaution and both x-rays came back clear,” Moosajee told reporters. “Their injuries are more of a soft tissue and ligament nature, there is no damage to the bone and they shouldn’t be affected too much.Kemp said he feared the worst immediately after the ball struck his toe. “I really thought that was the end of my World Cup,” he said as he limped through the team’s hotel lobby after consulting the doctor.The match will be played at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground on the University of the West Indies campus.
Matabeleland’s ten-wicket drubbing of Mashonaland at Harare Sports Club on Monday was – on paper – a superb result. The reality is that the victory was a hollow one.Mashonaland, traditionally one of Zimbabwe’s strongest sides, were a hastily-assembled group of willing, but limited and woefully inexperienced , youngsters. The reason for that is simple. Bruce Makovah, the province’s head selector, refused to name players from the six big clubs which last year defied a provincial directive not to play any league matches.The origins of the row are complex, but stem from dissatisfaction within the clubs with the stand taken by board members. It culminated in Makovah trying to physically break-up a match between two of the “rebel” clubs last October, when allegations were made that he and others racially abused and threatened players. Zimbabwe Cricket still does not appear to have looked into the incident.Back to Monday’s match. Not a single Mashonaland player who took the field in Harare had played List A or first-class cricket. Finding any information has proved a tough ask. Even seasoned cricket-watchers in Zimbabwe know almost nothing about them. One observer noted that overlooked in all the row is that by fielding the side they did, Mashonaland made a virtual mockery of provincial cricket.This might seem to be yet another little local difficulty in a country with bigger issues, but it will impact on the national side. In the same fixture last season, Mashonaland fielded no fewer than eight internationals, including Tatenda Taibu, at the time Zimbabwe’s captain.Given that Zimbabwe will only be playing one-day cricket for the next year, the Fairweather provincial tournament is the only chance the selectors have to watch players in that format before they pick the squad to tour West Indies (assuming that even takes place). Even with the best available squad, Zimbabwe will struggle. But Makovah’s action has potentially left an already sparsely populated cupboard even more threadbare.The irony is that Makovah is also the newly-appointed head of national selection, so he knows what he is doing. That dual role also makes it highly unlikely that, unless sat on from above, he will relent and pick players he has blacklisted from his province for the national side.In normal circumstances, the head of selection might expect to be called to account by his board. But in Zimbabwe, who you know is more important than what you do. Makovah is an ally of Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman, and Ozias Bvute, the MD, so few expect this latest farce to even be commented on. It was telling that the Herald, Zimbabwe’s state-controlled newspaper, did not mention the match.
South Africa’s selectors have resisted the temptation to rest leading players en masse in the forthcoming three-match one-day series against Zimbabwe, with only Jacques Kallis being allowed time to recharge his batteries.But Haroon Lorgat, the selection convenor, said that several leading players would be allowed to sit-out at least one of the games. “We have decided to give Jacques Kallis a complete break, and we will be looking to give Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Graeme Smith a rest at some stage in the series,” he told reporters. “They have done an enormous amount of work over the last few months and we must be mindful of the Test series and the tour of the West Indies.”Kallis has been replaced by allrounder Albie Morkel. “Albie is one of a group of very fine young allrounders in the country at the moment,” Lorgat explained. “He has impressed us with his good form for both South Africa A and the Titans and we hope he continues that form for the senior team.”The only injury doubt is Justin Kemp who is battling to recover from a strained intercostals muscle and will undergo more treatment before having a fitness test before the opening match on Friday.South Africa squad Graeme Smith (capt), Nicky Boje, Adam Bacher, Mark Boucher (wk), AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp, Albie Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Rudolph.
Lancashire have reappointed Warren Hegg as their captain for the 2004 season. Hegg, 35, made his debut for Lancashire in 1986, and has skippered them for the last two years. In 2003 Lancashire finished as runners-up in the County Championship, and won the Second Division of the one-day National League.Next year Hegg, who kept wicket for England in two Tests in Australia in 1998-99, will lead a team bolstered by the recruitment of the England allrounder Dominic Cork from Derbyshire. Hegg said today: “I’m thrilled that the club have decided to award me the captaincy again. It’s a huge honour to lead the team and I’m looking forward to a successful season next year.”
With two of Friday’s scheduled three Standard Bank Cup matches abandoned without a ball bowled, it was left to Northerns Titans and the Eastern Province Jumbos to provide the drama as Friedel de Wet edged a four off the last ball of the match to secure a tie at SuperSport Park.No play was possible in the games between Western Province and KwaZulu-Natal at Newlands and Boland and Easterns in Paarl, but the Titans and the Jumbos more than made up for this with a thrilling finish.The Jumbos had built their 238 for eight around Dave Callaghan’s 65 with Carl Bradfield (44) and Mark Benfield (45) chipping in with handy contributions and looked to have the match pretty much wrapped up when they had the Titans reeling at 184 for eight at the end of the 39th overs.But Mulligan George and De Wett took 18 off the 42nd over, 14 off the 43rd and nine off the 44th to leave them needing six off the last over to win. George was bowled by Johan Botha for 23 off the third ball of the over following two dot balls, De Wett and Greg Smith took a bye off the fifth and De Wett edged the final ball to the third man boundary to level the scores. He finished not out on 31 off just 15 deliveries to earn the man of the match award.
Veteran left arm spinner and skipper Diana Edulji and opening bowlerSunita Kanojia put Railways on course to retaining the Nationalwomen’s cricket championship for the CricInfo Trophy at the Jorhatstadium in Jorhat on Sunday. Replying to Railways’ first innings totalof 353, Air India, last year’s runners-up, were all out for208. Railways then extended their 145-run first innings lead to 158 byscoring 13 for two in their second innings by close.In the face of an imposing total, a good start was imperative but AirIndia did not get it. They lost openers Anju Jain (9) and Anjum Chopra(0) with only ten runs on the board. Mithali Raj (30 off 84 balls withfour boundaries) and skipper Poornima Rau (65) then initiated arecovery process by adding 57 runs off 22.3 overs. Mamatha Maben (4)did not last long but Poornima and Smitha Harikrishna (31 off 68 ballswith three fours) kept Air India’s hopes alive with a fifth wicketpartnership of 56 runs off 20 overs.At 138 for four, Air India were still in the game. But then Diana whohas been in women’s cricket for nearly quarter of a century showedthat she still retained much of her skill. She broke the stand byhaving Smitha caught behind by the wicketkeeper. And a little later,in three successive overs, she broke the back of the innings by takingthe wickets of Poornima (65), Manju Nadgoda (4) and V Kusumlatha(2). The experienced Poornima batted 193 minutes, faced 154 balls andhit ten of them to the ropes. But suddenly Air India were now 153 foreight and facing a follow on.Sunaina Mehan (33 off 86 balls with four boundaries) and Seema Pujare(11) however added 40 runs for the ninth wicket off 17.2 overs. ThenSunaina and Usha Bogade (8 not out) averted the follow on by adding 15runs for the last wicket. Diana finished with four for 45 off 22 overswhile Sunita had three for 46.Railways lost two quick wickets late in the day. Reshma Gandhi (1) wascaught behind off Smitha Harikrishna and Poornima Choudhury (6) wasrun out. Opener Rajani Sharma (6) and Rajani Venugopal (0) were at thecrease at stumps.
With Mark Noble’s 17-year West Ham United career coming to an end this summer, as the 34-year-old is hanging up his boots after making over 500 appearances for the Hammers, the club captain’s departure will leave a rather significant hole in the middle of David Moyes’ midfield.
Indeed, while the £900k-rated man has been far from a first-team regular in recent seasons, having so far made just four Premier League appearances in the current campaign, as well as starting eight league fixtures last term, the veteran has nevertheless played an important role for the Irons from the bench, as well as in the various domestic and European cup competitions.
As such, this role would appear to be perfect for one of the club’s up and coming central midfielders next season, allowing them to gain valuable first-team experience in the cups, while also being used as a substitute in the Premier League.
And, considering just how impressive Conor Coventry has been while out on loan at Milton Keynes Dons this term, the 21-year-old would very much appear to be the prime candidate to replace Noble this summer.
West Ham’s next Noble?
Following his January switch to Liam Manning’s MK Dons side, Coventry immediately established himself as a starter for the League One club, having played the full 90 minutes in each of his side’s last seven league fixtures.
However, not only has the £270k-rated midfielder been a near-constant presence in the middle of the park, but he has also highly impressed over his eight appearances for the Championship hopefuls, registering one assist and creating one big chance for his teammates, as well as making an average of 44.8 passes – 0.8 of which have been key – 0.5 interceptions, 1.6 tackles and winning 4.8 duels per game.
Arguably the West Ham loanee’s best performance for MK Dons came in the recent 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic, in which Coventry enjoyed 95 touches of the ball, completed 79 passes – at a success rate of 93%, with two being key – made two tackles, won six duels and registered one assist.
These returns saw the £5.4k-per-week midfielder earn an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.7, ranking him as the best player in the match, while the MK Dons Twitter administrator stated after the victory: “Conor Coventry is EVERYWHERE.”
Furthermore, ExWHUemployee recently revealed that the 21-year-old is extremely highly thought of by a number of Moyes’ backroom staff at the London Stadium, as well as suggesting that the youngster could be given a shot in the Hammers first team next season.
Regarding Coventry, the West Ham insider said: “I can’t understand why we signed [Alex] Kral, especially when we had Conor who had done really well in pre-season. I think the plan was to give him more games so he can come back even more experienced, but I think he would have gained as much from staying with us and getting that Europa League experience than perhaps going to MK Dons.
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“But, if MK Dons get promoted, which they’re looking like they will, either via the play-offs or via an automatic spot – now, that’s a good experience to have. And, hopefully, he can come back in the new season and prove himself, which I believe he will be given the chance. Coaches like [Kevin] Nolan and [Paul] Nevin especially, really rate him and I think they will give him a go.”
As such, should the player who Darragh MacAnthony dubbed a “wonderful talent” go on to replicate the form he has shown at MK Dons for West Ham early next season, Moyes could well already have found Noble’s long-term successor in East London.
In other news: Moyes must finally axe Pellegrini’s “aggressive” £4.2m WHU flop, he’s stealing a wage
The second one-dayer in Napier turned out to be hopelessly one-sided as New Zealand’s batsmen made best use of a placid surface to help register a 102-run win to take the series 2-0.Jamie How, Peter Fulton and Jacob Oram scored half-centuries to power New Zealand to 335 for 5 and Bangladesh’s chase hit a dead end as soon as Kyle Mills struck with three quick wickets in the early stages. Bangladesh were already out of the match when rain stopped play after 43 overs.Captain Daniel Vettori took the opportunity to give his batsmen a shot at notching up some runs and confidence and they obliged. How took the aggressive route with a 77-ball 74 at the top while Fulton’s innings was more workmanlike, running the singles and keeping the fielders on their toes in the middle overs. Oram then clubbed four sixes in his 31-ball 55 and led his side’s late charge towards a total that proved way out of reach for the opposition.Fulton and the middle order thrived on another productive opening stand between How and Brendon McCullum, who added 82 at more than a run a ball with a mixture of flamboyant strokeplay and electrifying running. McCullum stood a foot outside the crease to pick the ball on the full. While he regularly charged down the track and shuffled across the stumps, How preferred to stay put at the crease and respect the coaching manual, still ensuring that the poor deliveries were rightfully dispatched.Bangladesh, however, were at the receiving end of a poor decision when a genuine outside edge off How’s blade convinced everybody except the umpire Peter Parker. To add further insult to injury, How bludgeoned the next ball through the covers and hung around to add another half-century stand, this time with Fulton. He brought up his fifty with an off drive off Farhad Reza, but his pursuit of the elusive three-figure mark ended when he was trapped in front of the stumps by Abdur Razzak.Fulton, who came in during the third Powerplay, made good use of the restrictions by fetching four boundaries. With the slower bowlers operating from both ends, Fulton and Scott Styris settled down by rotating the strike. Fulton was constantly on the lookout for singles and his efficient half-century was characterised by firm punches past cover, flicks to midwicket and cheeky paddle sweeps. The fact that there were no boundaries between the 26th and the 38th overs almost went unnoticed because the scoreboard kept ticking away.Styris fell seven short of his fifty after succumbing to a slower ball from Reza, scooping to short third-man. Ross Taylor too enjoyed a good hit in the middle, clubbing Razzak for consecutive boundaries over midwicket before getting down on his knees and slogging Mortaza high over long-on. Towards the end, not a single bowler was spared and the one to suffer the most was Razzak, who conceded 75 off his ten overs, a rare bad day for a bowler known for economical spells.Reza was at the mercy of Oram’s blade as he conceded two huge sixes in his ninth over, the first over midwicket and the second over long-on. Oram found time to deposit two more over the same region, as if teeing off like a golfer.Bangladesh’s only noteworthy passage of play with the bat came at the start as Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique added 63 at just over five an over. A boundary past the covers got the chase off to an emphatic start and the pair showed good application in getting behind the line and driving on the up past the infield on the off side. Tamim was the more dominant partner, picking Mark Gillespie for a six over backward square-leg and following it up with a trademark flat-batted biff past the bowler after advancing down the track.
With very little in the pitch to assist the bowlers, only a momentary lapse in concentration could have yielded a wicket and Siddique succumbed, falling to a miscued pull. Mills, who came back well after the early pasting, plucked out Tamim in the same over, inducing an edge outside the off stump. Ashraful fell in controversial circumstances, standing his ground after Ross Taylor claimed a low catch at cover but the umpires upheld the appeal.Following his dismissal, Aftab Ahmed and Tushar Imran went on the defensive, struggling to find the boundaries as New Zealand tightened the noose. Aftab, obviously bogged down by the situation, waited for the third Powerplay in the 35th over to free his arms but it was a little too late. A flurry of boundaries, including a cheeky scoop over fine-leg for six, hastened his progress to a half-century.Mills returned to dismiss Shakib Al Hasan, caught hooking to fine leg, and finished with commendable figures of 4 for 40. Aftab continued to assert himself but didn’t last too long after his fifty, holing out to a diving Oram at deep square-leg. The rain only cut short the inevitable.
A quickfire half-century from Albie Morkel led the Nashua Titans to victory by four wickets off the last ball of their Standard Bank Pro20 match against the Gestetner Diamond Eagles at SuperSport Park on Sunday.A target of 170 looked to be out of the Titans’ reach as they bumbled to 108 for 5 after 15 overs, but that was before Morkel bashed the second-fastest half-century in Pro20 history, off 23 balls, to steer them home against the defending champions in another thrilling match.Morkel’s tremendous firepower brought him two fours and five sixes as he blazed 56 off just 28 balls to leave the Eagles stunned and beaten. The Eagles looked to be in control when they removed the Titans top-order by the 14th over, with their slower bowlers serving them especially well after Francois du Plessis had punished the new ball to the tune of 33 runs off just 19 balls.But the introduction of Nicky Boje and Thandi Tshabalala changed the course of the innings, Tshabalala producing two wonderful pieces of flight and dip to remove Gulam Bodi for a run-a-ball 23 and Gerald Dros for 14, the ball after he had been hit for six.But once the spinners left the scene, Tshabalala taking two for 27 in four overs, Morkel bared his teeth. Victor Mpitsang bowled his first over for just three runs, but then Morkel ripped him to shreds as he took 20 off the 17th over.More heroics followed in the 18th over from Johan van der Wath, in which another 20 runs were scored, leaving 15 required off the last two overs.Morkel’s superhuman effort ended with two runs needed off three balls when he holed out at long-on off Van der Wath, but Farhaan Behardien, who scored a gritty, valuable 23 not out off 18 balls, had spanked the first ball of the over through the covers for four and, with the scores tied, a wayward over ended with a wide.The Eagles, who had won the toss and chosen to bat, were given a rapid start by opener Jacques Rudolph, who top-scored with 61 off 44 balls, slamming six fours and three sixes.Morne van Wyk (27) once again shared a fine opening stand with Rudolph – 69 off 53 balls – but the Eagles then threw away wickets with something approaching gay abandon.Boeta Dippenaar (14), trying to run a single to alert wicketkeeper Heino Kuhn, and Ryan McLaren (10) were both run out, while Ryan Bailey (12) and Van der Wath (18) both made starts before holing out off poor deliveries.The Titans kept their composure well in the field and Brendon Reddy (4-0-23-1) and Dale Steyn (4-0-26-1) deserved their fine figures as they bowled the last four overs of the innings for just 21 runs.