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Australia’s quartet of fast bowlers dismantled India for 161 in dishearteningly familiar scenes for the visitors on day one of the third Test at the WACA ground

The Report by Daniel Brettig13-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDavid Warner leaps in celebration after scoring the fourth quickest century in Test cricket•Getty ImagesDavid Warner smote a magnificently brazen century to rush Australia to 0 for 149 after their quartet of fast bowlers dismantled India for 161 in dishearteningly familiar scenes for the visitors on day one of the third Test at the WACA ground.In what was the joint fourth-fastest century in Tests, Warner utterly demoralised India in the company of the relatively obdurate but still free-scoring Ed Cowan. Warner was momentarily stopped by a blow to the head from Umesh Yadav, but recovered to clout his next two deliveries to the fence and moved from 95 to 101 with a rasping club over wide long-on from the bowling of the debutant Vinay Kumar. Unbeaten at the close, he did not give a chance.The match is now streaking away from the tourists, who had placed themselves in a position of peril with another abject batting display. Sent in to bat by Michael Clarke on a pitch promising early movement in addition to its customary bounce and pace, India were 4 for 63 at lunch, and subsided not long after tea to undo the grafting of Virat Kohli and VVS Laxman, who added 68 in the afternoon to momentarily blunt the hosts.That partnership aside, India once again failed to cope with the swing, seam and disciplined line of the home attack, comprising Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc. Upon his dismissal of Laxman, Siddle sank to his haunches, in a sign of how much a hot day in Perth had drained Australia’s bowlers despite their regular wickets, and he did not re-emerge after tea.Hilfenhaus removed Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at either end of the morning session before helping to round up the tail, while Siddle accounted for Rahul Dravid, bowled for the fourth time in five innings. Harris was sturdy in his first Test appearance since November last year, and had the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar to show for it. Starc nabbed two of the last four wickets.Warner and Cowan began not long after tea, intent on building their most substantial opening stand together. There were a few nervy moments early as Zaheer Khan gained some early swing, and Cowan edged centimetres short of Tendulkar at first slip.However Warner was striking the ball crisply, and he was given added impetus when Ishant Sharma chanced a few jibes. Warner responded with fighting words and a flailing bat, in what soon became a rare exhibition of unbridled batting aggression.He drove Zaheer through mid off, pulled Yadav wide of mid on, and greeted Vinay’s entry to Test cricket with the most impudent straight six. Warner would save his most telling blow for Ishant, who delivered a length ball only to watch it sail back over his head and rows back into the crowd.Cowan was moving along quite swiftly himself, driving and pulling with good sense, and together he and Warner looked the most perfect of contrasts. In the space of 17 overs Warner had sprinted to 80, on what now looked the most friendly of pitches.Peter Siddle broke India’s innings by dismissing Virat Kohli and VVS Laxman just before tea•Getty ImagesWarner’s eagerness to attack brought him one moment’s discomfort when he was too swiftly through a hook at Yadav and suffered a blow to the side of the head and helmet. After gathering himself and calling for new headgear, he spanked the next two balls to the boundary – there was toughness to go with the terrorising of India’s bowlers.His century duly and deservedly arrived before the close, and a sell-out crowd rose unanimously to salute two hours of awe-inspiring destruction.India’s openers fared very differently. They were confronted by a pitch that looked green but was already beginning to show evidence of cracking, which suggested it was not as moist as it appeared. Nonetheless there was still plenty of swing, seam and bounce on offer to Australia’s bowlers, requiring astute judgment of line and length.Sehwag had been at the centre of plenty of pre-match bluster surrounding his natural method, and the batsman looked tentative in his brief stay. Sehwag only faced four balls, the last of which was a beautifully pitched Hilfenhaus away swinger that flicked the edge and was well held by Ricky Ponting in the cordon.Dravid walked to the wicket having been bowled in three out of four innings, and played at more than he might otherwise have done to avoid a repeat. He struggled for timing, however, and was so intent on defence that when Siddle delivered a leg side ball of full length, Dravid’s unnecessarily conservative posture turned it into a yorker that clattered into middle stump via the pads.Tendulkar drew applause for a trio of straight drives from Siddle that recalled his sparkling 114 at the ground in 1992, but was not in total command. Harris was rewarded for two unstinting spells before lunch when he seamed one back to pin Tendulkar in front of the stumps.Next over Hilfenhaus ended Gambhir’s stony-faced occupation, whizzing an offcutter across the left-hand batsman to prompt a push away from the body and an edge through to Brad Haddin. Gambhir admonished himself for succumbing to a nick for the fifth time in as many innings, the victim of another intelligent display of full, fast bowling from Australia.Laxman and Kohli were more or less India’s last hope of a substantial total, and their batting in the first hour of the afternoon was suitably grave. Starc, Hilfenhaus, Harris and Siddle continued to bowl well, but neither batsman offered quite so much in the way of probing bats that their predecessors had done. The ball grew older, the pitch settled under the sun, and the batsmen grew a little more comfortable.The stand was gathering strength and tea was less than 10 minutes away when Siddle made a critical break. Bowling full and swinging wider, he tempted Kohli to press too eagerly forward, and the low chance was held by Warner at point. In Siddle’s next over Laxman pushed firmly at a length delivery and offered a catch to Clarke at first slip.Starc had been threatening to bowl the perfect inswinger for most of the day, and it was Vinay Kumar who received it to be palpably lbw. MS Dhoni played an ordinary stroke at Hilfenhaus to be caught in the slips, though Zaheer’s ugly smear at the same bowler was arguably worse. Ishant edged Starc behind to complete what had become a procession – the last six wickets falling for 30.

Luke Butterworth’s four wickets rolled Western Australia for 176 before Tasmania battled to 5 for 142 at stumps on day one of the Sheffield Shield match at the WACA ground

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2011
Mitchell Johnson had to leave the field after he slipped in his delivery stride•Getty ImagesLuke Butterworth’s four wickets rolled Western Australia for 176 before Tasmania battled to 5 for 142 at stumps on day one of the Sheffield Shield match at the WACA ground.Mitchell Johnson was forced to leave the field with a rolled ankle while Ricky Ponting could make only 33 on an eventful day in the west. The Tigers captain, George Bailey, was dropped twice on his way to compiling an unbeaten 49.The Warriors never quite recovered from being reduced to 3 for 41 as Butterworth cut through the top order in a manner reminiscent of his success in Tasmania’s Shield-winning 2010-11 season. He pinned Liam Davis lbw before Marcus Harris and Marcus North edged deliveries angled across them.Butterworth later accounted for Adam Voges, the only WA batsman to make a score of any great substance, before the innings petered out.Tasmania’s reply was kept in check by the WA seam bowler Michael Hogan, who started off by having Ed Cowan caught in the slips then adding the wickets of Nick Kruger and James Faulkner.Johnson, who tipped the young paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile out of the WA XI for reasons of team balance, was dismissed cheaply and then bowled indifferently before he slipped in his delivery stride and walked gingerly from the field without finishing his seventh over.Ponting looked in good touch, but failed to go on from his start, squeezing a catch off bat and pad to short leg from the bowling of the left-arm spinner Michael Beer.

The top Associate nation doesn’t want to contribute verbally to the current debate; they want to give the ICC reasons to include them through their performances on the field

Sidharth Monga in Dhaka21-Feb-2011With opinion divided world over on the Associates’ participation in future World Cups, with opinions ranging from that of Ricky Ponting’s to Graeme Swann’s, the one voice that should matter the most, that of Ireland, is typical of how the team plays its cricket. Four years ago, they not only won two big matches and tied one, they also won the hearts of the cricket followers all over the world. Despite continuing the good work, they are still waiting for the elusive Test status perhaps after the Bangladesh misadventure, the ICC is cautious inviting teams into the Test family. The top Associate nation, though, doesn’t want to contribute verbally to the current debate; they want to give the ICC reasons to include them through their performances on the field.Niall O’Brien, Ireland’s wicketkeeper-batsman, knows the uninspiring show by Canada and Kenya on Sunday provides the ICC, and more importantly its commercial partners, reasons to keep the number of non-Test-playing nations in the tournament down. “It’s obviously two disappointing results from Canada and Kenya,” he said. “I am disappointed with how they played, but from my point of view, we pride ourselves in being the top of the so-called Associates and the so-called minnows. So from my point of view, we have got a good enough team to go a long way in this tournament. Yes it is disappointing the way they played, but they have five games to rectify that. Hopefully they put in strong performances in the next three or four weeks.”O’Brien didn’t harp too much on the decision to prune the next World Cup down to 10 teams. “Yes, it is a shame, because the game has got to grow,” he said. “[However], it’s up to the ICC to decide who is going to be a part of the next World Cup. Hopefully we will be a part of that. In the next six weeks, if we can put in strong performances, and win matches, against teams we so-called ‘shouldn’t beat’, as we have done in the past, we only strengthen our case. From our point of view, we are not thinking too much about it. It’s for ICC to think, it’s out of our hands.”Bangladesh, being a Test nation, are one team they so-called ‘shouldn’t beat’, but they have done so at the world events of both the formats they are qualified to play in – and at 74 runs and six wickets, the margins are quite comprehensive too. This game, crucial as it is for both teams’ ambitions to progress to the next round, will be a different kettle. The conditions here will be the most foreign to Ireland, despite all their training against spin in their one-month camp in Pune last year. When they toured here last, Ireland failed to win a game in the three-ODI series.”That was a long time ago, and that schedule, that tour, was a bit hard on us,” O’Brien said. “We only turned up on a Monday, and played 36 hours later in some pretty difficult conditions. That’s a long time ago, that’s past, and we have beaten Bangladesh three of the last four times we have played them. Confidence is high, and we know we have got a good enough team to win here Friday night.”Bangladesh spinners, the likes of [Abdur] Razzak and skipper [Shakib Al Hasan], we have to play them with the respect they deserve, but at the same time we have to be proactive and quite aggressive.”Ireland know a good performance in subcontinent conditions will be a natural progression from four years ago. As long as they can do that, O’Brien feels, the rest will fall in place. “We have got the next four to five weeks to concentrate on our cricket, and 2015 in a long way away. We have got a World Cup here, we have got the T20 world cup in Sri Lanka in not too distant future. We have got plenty of cricket to look forward to. We played Australia in August in Dublin, and should have beaten them. We have got England in August this year, so hopefully we go out there and put in good performances, and let the rest look after themselves.”So 2011 it is, and O’Brien and his side are looking forward to playing in front of full houses, as opposed to in front of four people and their dog back home. On the way if they spoil a few parties, that may or may not include Bangladesh’s, then so be it.

Durham’s 450-mile round trip to New Road proved to be a wasted journey when their fixture with Worcestershire was abandoned without a ball being bowled

05-Jun-2011
ScorecardDurham’s 450-mile round trip to New Road proved to be a wasted journey when their Friends Life t20 fixture with Worcestershire was abandoned without a ball being bowled.Steady rain set before the scheduled start and, despite the provision for an additional hour, umpires Nick Cook and Nigel Cowley took the call-off decision at 4.45pm.Worcestershire chief executive David Leatherdale confirmed the club had taken out insurance cover for games in the competition.It is the first time Worcestershire have had a ‘no result’ in a Twenty20 home match since the floods of 2007 forced them to move to Kidderminster in the second half of the summer.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has been retained as Sri Lanka captain for the home series against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2011Tillakaratne Dilshan has been retained as Sri Lanka captain for the home series against Australia beginning in August. Sri Lanka Cricket named a pool of 20 players in contention for spots in the ODI and Twenty20 squads, and left out Thilina Kandamby, who was vice-captain in the ODIs in England. Dilshan had led Sri Lanka on the tour of England in the wake of Kumar Sangakarra’s decision to resign after the 2011 World Cup.Dilhara Fernando, who picked up an injury in the third Test at the Rose Bowl and subsequently missed the ODI series in England, was also left out, but the pool included the rest of the 50-overs squad. Offspinner Sachithra Senanayake was the only uncapped player in the pool.Sri Lanka are scheduled to play five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals against Australia, as well as three Tests. The series begins with a T20I on August 6.Sri Lanka pool: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera, Jeevan Mendis, Chamara Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Kulasekera, Isuru Udana, Suraj Randiv, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath, Malinga Bandara, Sachithra Senanayake

Chris Gayle has joined the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad for the 2011 season as a replacement for injured Dirk Nannes, Vijay Mallya, the owner of the franchise has confirmed

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2011Chris Gayle, the West Indies opener, has joined the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad for the 2011 season as a replacement for injured Dirk Nannes, Vijay Mallya, the owner of the franchise has confirmed. The development means that Gayle will not be available for the home limited-overs and Test series against Pakistan, which begins on Thursday.”It’s official now. The explosive Chris Gayle is now a part of the RCB squad after receiving clearance from the WICB,” Mallya said on Twitter.Gayle, along with Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, had refused the West Indies board’s central contracts so that he would be free to pursue his Twenty20 interests in the IPL. In a media release on April 4 regarding the participation of West Indies players in the IPL, WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire had this to say about Gayle: “With Chris Gayle it has not been a productive discussion and therefore it is a little more difficult for me to make any pronouncements as it relates to Chris. But we are open to discussing with players what their plans and objectives are and how best we can accommodate them within the commitment that they must also play for country and to represent West Indies cricket.”In January, Gayle, who scored 463 at a strike-rate of 141.59 for Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous three IPL seasons, surprisingly went unsold at the player auction. His base price of $400,000 found no bidders over concerns that he would not be available for much of IPL 2011 because of international commitments.He has since been left out of West Indies’ ODI squad (for the first two matches) that will take on Pakistan from April 23, with the WICB deciding to focus on grooming youngsters after the quarter-final exit from the World Cup.Nannes, who was injured during Bangalore’s second match of the league, was bought for $650,000 at the auction. IPL rules prevent franchises from signing replacement players at a higher value than the player they are replacing. Bangalore made a poor start to the IPL, losing three of their first four matches, and are languishing at the bottom of the table.

The PCB has responded to Shahid Afridi’s retirement by putting together a showcause notice detailing several breaches of the code of conduct, which he will eventually be expected to respond to

Osman Samiuddin31-May-2011The PCB has responded to Shahid Afridi’s retirement by suspending his central contract and putting together a showcause notice detailing several breaches of the code of conduct, which he will be expected to respond to within a week.Announcing his retirement to a TV channel, the board said in a press release, was in itself a breach of Clause 2.1.4 of the Central Contract dealing with Covenants of the Cricketer.Afridi’s criticism of the board officials in the same interview to also constituted a breach. “In passing disparaging remarks about the board and its officials, Shahid Afridi is in breach of Clause 4.4 dealing with Media obligations.”A showcause notice has been issued to him seeking his explanation on these comments. Afridi has been asked to respond to the letter within seven days. His Central Contract has been suspended with immediate effect. Consequently, all NOCs granted to him have been revoked. All payments on account of Central Contract have been suspended.”A day after Afridi’s outburst against the administration on TV, and his decision to not play international cricket under this board, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said he was “disappointed” by the remarks and that the “retirement” was not an issue at all.”It was disappointing to hear what he said,” Butt told ESPNcricinfo, “and it wasn’t correct or true. It was wrong of him to do that. If he doesn’t want to play under this administration, then he’s welcome. We’ve detailed several instances where he has breached the code of conduct and will issue a showcause notice to him, which he has seven days to respond to.”Senior board officials spent much of the day in a budget meeting, but the issue of Afridi was a live one throughout. The board took legal advice before acting on the suspension of the contract, as well as the withdrawal of the NOCs given to him for a T20 stint with Hampshire, and one for his participation in the upcoming Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL).Afridi was sent a separate showcause notice earlier this month for comments he made on his return to Pakistan from the Caribbean about the team management, remarks which landed him in trouble in the first place. Disciplinary action, if any, is pending on that notice as well.

For the past three months Canada’s squad has been hard at work preparing for their country’s fourth appearance at the World Cup

Umar Ali 11-Feb-2011For the past three months Canada’s squad has been hard at work preparing for their country’s fourth appearance at the World Cup.In squad are five players aged 20 or younger – Nitish Kumar, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Hamza Tariq, Hiral Patel and Parth Desai – all five of whom played in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup team, and are now looking ahead to their first outing on the main stage.”The Under-19 World Cup experience really helped me [become] knowledgeable of what level the other Under-19 players in the [ICC] member countries are at and how to fine tune my game to become a better cricketer,” said stand-out batsman Gunasekera.”A lot of players came through the Under-19 World Cup [team], so it was a good experience and I got to know what international cricket is going to be [like],” added fellow batsman Patel.With such a young group, it’s understandable to think the long road training for the World Cup would grow tiresome, but they see it as an experience they’ve been waiting for their entire lives. “My goal was to play in this World Cup in 2011 and I’ve been preparing for a much longer time than the three months,” said Gunasekera. “From the day I picked up a bat my dream was to play at a World Cup and I think all of the players here that’s what they dreamt of when they picked up a bat or a ball.”Since beginning their World Cup training process in India back in November, Canada have participated in a number of tours and the youngsters have been able to stay concerned with the task at hand to overcome the gruelling regime en route to the World Cup. “We don’t think that far ahead when we’re on other tours, so that’s how we stay focused every time we go on tour,” said Patel. “Yeah we’re away from families but it’s World Cup time.”Though it’s a privilege for the young group to play on the world stage, participating amongst the elite is not the ultimate goal. Rather, producing results that have never been seen for Canada is on the minds of the youthful core.”Make a name for Canada at the World Cup, since we’ve only won one game [at the World Cup]. The first thing that comes to my mind is Ireland reaching the Super 8 [at the] last World Cup, so I think we have to at least repeat that,” said Gunasekera.With such lofty goals the youngsters understand what it will take for the team to reach the quarter-finals. “We know what we have to do, what the team has to do to succeed, we all know our roles and goals, so it’s hard to lose focus as long as we stick with the team,” said backup wicketkeeper Tariq.There’s no shortage of experience on the Canadian roster and the younger members have used all the experience available to improve their own games, inheriting the enthusiastic work ethic the elder players demonstrate.”Looking at all the senior players and how you get [there] pushes you when you’re practising. You want to do what they’ve done to get to where they are right now,” said Tariq. “They share their experiences with me so that’s helped me a lot and they’ve gone through the system as well, so their experience I use as my guidelines to help me survive at this level,” added Patel.Though the older players are there to assist their younger counterparts, Gunasekera says it’s ultimately up to the players themselves to improve. “I think all their experience [will] help you transition to the national system and once you’re there I think it’s up to you how you handle the situation and how to improve from there.”

Aston Villa have been scouting Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara for ‘the past few weeks’, according to But! Football Club (via Sport Witness). 

The lowdown

The 22-year-old defensive midfielder is also capable of operating as a centre-back. His contract expires on 30 June, which means he is currently free to negotiate pre-contract terms with clubs outside of France.

Villa signed Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho in January but were unable to land a defensive midfielder as they’d hoped, having refused to meet the asking price for either Yves Bissouma or Rodrigo Bentancur.

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has said that the club are now expected to address that perceived weakness in the summer.

The latest

The report from But! Football Club (via Sport Witness) stated that recruitment staff from Aston Villa have been watching Kamara during the month of February.

The expectation is very much that the player will ‘pack his bags’ and leave Jorge Sampaoli’s side come the end of the season.

The verdict

Could Kamara be the answer for Villa in the middle of the park?

The Daily Mirror’s David Anderson has talked up his potential to GiveMeSport, hailing him as ‘one of the next big things’.

Indeed, figures from FBRef illustrate that the 22-year-old is a well-rounded number 6 in the same mould as Liverpool’s Fabinho. He ranks in the 70th percentile or better (relative to positional peers) for pass completion, progressive passes and interceptions.

One potential problem for Villa, though, is that Manchester United are also said to be tracking the £22.5m-rated Frenchman, and they will hope to use the significant carrot of potential Champions League football to persuade him to choose Old Trafford over Villa Park.

In other news, Ashley Preece has an update on Bertrand Traore

Leeds United’s medical staff have been particularly busy throughout the current Premier League campaign, with the Whites being hit by a number of injury blows.

Even though there are only a handful of games left to play before the season draws to an end, it seems as though Jesse Marsch will have to get through this period without one player in particular.

What’s the news?

In a recent post on Twitter, The Athletic’s Phil Hay revealed that Leeds midfielder Adam Forshaw will be out of action for the remainder of 2021/22 after fracturing his knee cap.

In his post, the journalist said: “A fresh injury setback for Leeds United as Adam Forshaw ruled out for the rest of the season.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-marsch-raphinha-dest-philhay” title=”Read the latest Leeds news!”]

Terrible news for Leeds

Since arriving at the Yorkshire club back in the 2018 January transfer window, the Englishman has gone on to make 78 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with three assists along the way.

With 22 league appearances under his belt this season, the midfielder has been a rather important figure for the Whites in this campaign.

The 30-year-old has been one of Leeds’ best passers of the ball in the campaign, with only Jamie Shackleton, Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk having a higher pass completion percentage than Forshaw – out of players to have played more than one game.

And, taking into account how Leeds are quite light in the central-midfield position, as well as having only just seen Kalvin Phillips back on the pitch following his hamstring injury, this news on Forshaw will certainly come as a huge blow to Marsch and his side heading into the final stages of the season.

Also, with the Englishman having recovered from a very significant hip injury that kept him out of action for a total of 560 days between September 2019 and April 2021, this latest setback will also be a disappointing blow for him on a personal level.

Moving forward, with the Whites having some big games ahead of them against the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, Marsch will have to make sure that his side can pick up as many points as possible so they don’t potentially end up at risk of getting relegated.

Then, for next season, everyone at the club will undoubtedly be hoping that Forshaw can make another recovery and play a big part in their campaign.

AND in other news: Orta must launch Leeds bid for “complete” £72k-p/w gem, he could be their Luis Suarez