Sri Lanka have called up Russel Arnold for the forthcoming A team triangular series also involving Pakistan and England. Arnold is one of eight frontline batsmen picked in a 15-man squad captained by Jehan Mubarak.Arnold injured his finger during the recent Provincial Tournament and was then overlooked for the two unofficial Tests against England A although he also failed to make an 18-man training pool for New Zealand.But Arnold was in good form prior to Christmas and Sri Lanka’s abandoned tour to New Zealand, and he will be looked at closely as the selectors work out their one-day squad for Sri Lanka’s five-match tour to India in late April.Saman Jayantha will also have an opportunity to find some form and cement his place on the tour, although several others, including Avishka Gunawardene and Thilna Kamdamby, will be eying an opportunity to break back into the one-day squad.
Brett Lee has declared that he is fit for a Test recall, after bowling 10 overs for New South Wales against Victoria in an ING Cup match. Lee bowled for the first time in six weeks after resuming from an abdominal tear and clean-up surgery to his left ankle, and said he was available for the second Test against India in Adelaide, starting Friday.Lee said, “I’ll keep my fingers crossed, I think I’m definitely ready to play, I knew that if I was to get through these 10 overs and do it well I’m certainly thinking I’m ready to play.”While Glenn McGrath is struggling to overcome his own ankle surgery, Lee made good progress in the match which ended in a thrilling tie. Lee nearly had a wicket in his very first ball but the umpire turned down a huge lbw appeal.Lee added, “I felt really fit out there, I thought the ball came out at good speed and I was really impressed. The first ball of the match, I thought this was too good to be true – but the umpire didn’t give it out unfortunately, he said it was sliding down [the leg side], but that happens – but I was really pleased the way the ball came out.”Mark Waugh, who captained NSW for the first time, also felt that Lee was ready to resume at Test level. Waugh said, “We know what sort of bowler he is, he’s a matchwinning bowler so yeah I would [play him].It was pretty good first-up, there wasn’t much in the wicket for him, so I thought he bowled well.”Lee will play in the Pura Cup match against Victoria at the MCG starting Friday if not selected for the second Test.
Queenstown’s sun finally broke through on the third afternoon but it didn’t shine on either Otago or England as a draw was all England could manage against the worst-performed side in New Zealand’s domestic cricket this summer.That has to be of concern to England who struggled through two top order collapses when only three full playing days lie ahead of the side before they meet New Zealand in the first Test of their three-match series.There was a moment on this full day of cricket, when Otago might have been entertaining thoughts of an international scalp with England 162/8 in their second innings and time for a reasonable chase to occur.But that chance slipped away, like so many others for Otago this summer, on the backs of the batting of tail-enders, James Ormond, Richard Dawson and Andy Caddick.Canterbury with their international players involved will be a much more stern test for England and they will need a significant rise in performance to escape defeat against a better-equipped side on Hagley Oval.England scored 257 in their second innings, for a lead of 260. That was thanks mainly to an innings of 68 by stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick and 38 off 31 balls by Ormond, 35 not out off 50 by Dawson and 16 to Caddick as 95 were added by the last three batsmen.Earlier, Otago did the decent thing and declared at their overnight score, three runs behind England.Otago’s reward was the wicket of Mark Butcher before a run had been scored. He attempted a pull shot to a shortish ball from Kerry Walmsley, sort of a Butcher’s hook, and it flew high in the air from a top edge and Craig Pryor, running back from first slip, got his hands around the ball to complete a good catch.Graham Thorpe completely misjudged a ball from Walmsley and played over it, losing his off and middle stumps as a result. He too departed for a duck with the team score on seven.Then, as if to make a mockery of the departed batsmen, Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash took to the bowling in determined style scoring 99 for the third wicket off 105 balls in 73 minutes.It was, literally, thrill a minute stuff. Trescothick climbed into one over from David Sewell taking 20 runs while Pryor, who had bowled with such good effect in the first innings to secure a five-wicket bag, lasted only three overs while 28 runs were taken from his bowling.Ramprakash hit a lovely six over point off Walmsley but the bowler had the final say having him caught by Simon Beare for 42 off 46 balls.Trescothick brought up his 50 off 64 balls and was on 68, and just back from a brief rain break, when he was caught by Beare at point off an ineffectual shot from the first ball of Sewell’s second spell.Otago set out with the best of intentions but it was always going to take nothing short of a miracle for them to get anywhere near.Openers Robbie Lawson and Brendon McCullum rattled on 30 in nearly five overs but once Lawson was caught behind from Caddick’s bowling for 11, the collapse all Otago supporters feared began.Four wickets fell for four runs before captain Craig Cumming steadied the ship and then, with Pryor’s help, set about righting it.They got through to 57 before Pryor offered a simple caught and bowled chance to Craig White and Duncan Drew followed soon after for a duck.Cumming proved the rock, even if he started out as more the flaky, schisty kind of Central Otago rock than the tougher greywacke of the Southern Alps, as he hooked successive balls from a tiring Ormond for boundaries to lift his score to 23 and the team to 70.With Nathan Morland as a fine support, Cumming dominated the latter stages to blunt the English attack and saw the draw achieved, a minor triumph for an Otago team down on its luck in recent times.They deserved credit for their approach in the match. They provided England with a competent contest, they made the running with their declaration and by bowling England out twice and Cumming was able to reflect on 57 not out off 116 balls while Morland was 19 not out off 49 as Otago finished on 124/6.Caddick ended with three for 43, giving him seven for 85 for the match while today White bowled very tightly and took two for seven from seven overs. Andrew Flintoff did not bowl as he has some problems with a knee.
North West bowled out the reigning Supersport Series Champions the HighveldStrikers for 224 on the first day of their four-day match in Potchefstroomon Friday.West Indian Mark Lavine was the key figure as he took six for 55 to reducethe visitors to a very average score. It was his best return in first classcricket. At stumps the hosts were six without loss.Lavine bowled with aggression, pace and bounce which rattled the Highveldtop order as the side slumped to 33 for four.Nic Pothas and West Indian Otis Gibson managed to make amends and put on anentertaining 84 for the six wicket at a run a ball.Gibson’s swashbuckling style could not last however and he was dismissed byLavine trying to slog one too many it left Pothas to keep the inningstogether. He tried manfully but with the arrival of the tail, Pothas decidedto attack when circumspection might have been better.Pothas fell agonisingly short of his century when he was caught by AndrewLawson off the bowling of Lavine for 93. Once he was back in the pavilionthe end was near for the Highveld innings. Lavine duly wrapped it up withhis sixth wicket which surpassed his previous best of five for 44 againstFree State.
Manchester United have had their fair share of controversy and negative headlines this season, especially surrounding the culture at the club and the ongoing reported issues in the dressing room, and they could now be about to take a huge hit ahead of next season as new information emerges on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future.
What’s the word?
Reliable journalist Jacque Talbot took to Twitter to make a bold claim about the current situation for the 37-year-old and what his next moves are likely to be after he was notably missing from the Manchester derby on Sunday afternoon.
Talbot tweeted: “Understand if Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently in Portugal, moves in the summer it will most likely be to PSG. A lot depends on Manchester United if reach a Champions League spot this season. A new manager won’t change matters if they fail to get the top four.”
Supporters will be fuming
The ever-growing storm cloud which covers Old Trafford may well burst this summer, and whilst supporters of the club may have been expecting this to happen for months, it will surely hurt the fanbase to lose such an iconic and influential player who gives them not only hope for success in the future, but reminds them of what the club was about when he joined back in August 2003.
Fans must be furious with the current state of the club for many reasons, but losing Ronaldo due to a lack of Champions League football would sting even further. The veteran’s prospective departure from the club could have a severe knock-on effect for the Red Devils when it comes to appointing a top manager in the summer and attempting to attract world-class players to join a club without Champions League football and without Ronaldo.
With that being said, it is essential for the Glazers and Ralf Rangnick to implement some damage control and prepare for the 37-year-old’s potential departure ahead of the summer. Although United still have genuine hope to finish in the top four this season, they should not be hiding from the potential repercussions if they fail in that mission.
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With Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and now Cristiano Ronaldo all heavily linked with moves away from the club this summer, the Red Devils could find themselves in a much weaker position than they are in now if they don’t meticulously plan for the immediate future.
In other news: Gary Neville reveals his theory on Man Utd’s managerial search
Shane Bond’s international career is in all likelihood finished after weeks of speculation because of his association with the Indian Cricket League, leaving a huge dent in New Zealand’s side. The ICL is not recognised by the ICC and the national boards and any players who sign for it effectively rule themselves out of international selection under a gentlemen’s agreement.However, Bond had hoped for an agreement with New Zealand Cricket allowing him to represent his country, and at the very least for the England series. According to the Sunday Star-Times, extensive negotiations between NZC and the New Zealand Players’ Association reached a deadlock and Bond has now been released from his international obligations and is free to play in the Indian competition.The newspaper suggested that the players’ association argued that an email from NZC gave Bond the belief he was eligible for both the ICL and his country through an exemption. NZC said the email could not be so construed in the context of all the other emails he received.A spokesman for NZC told Cricinfo the situation would be clarified later this week after the selectors had met on Monday. “The squad should be announced this week so we will know more then,” he said.It was hardly a surprise that Bond accepted the ICL offer, even at the sake of his international career, because under the terms of the deal he will be paid huge sums regardless of whether he is physically hurt. For such an injury-prone player – he has managed only 17 Tests in a stop-start career – the clause is attractive enough to warrant sacrificing any further international appearances. He is now the seventh New Zealand player who is effectively ineligible for country duties.NZC’s chief executive, Justin Vaughan, had been so keen to keep Bond he had even offered to help him financially to be released from the ICL contract. However, with the deal thought to be worth three times what he could earn with New Zealand – plus, of course, the tempting injury arrangement – he chose to take the Indian money.
Several of England’s players at the World Cup were fined for a “breach ofteam discipline” on Saturday and Andrew Flintoff reportedly had to berescued after a late-night boating mishap. Andrew Walpole, the England teamspokesman, said the transgressions had taken place in St Lucia on Fridaynight following England’s six-wicket defeat by New Zealand in their openingWorld Cup.The players were, a source said, fined for a late night drinking session atthe Rumours Nightclub near England’s team hotel in St Lucia. They had beenout late ahead of their second Group clash against Canada on Sunday – amatch England must win if they are to qualify for the Super Eights. Fans whowitnessed events then contacted several British newspapers to tell them whatthey’d seen.The Newsof the World reported Flintoff, the vice-captain, had been involvedin a separate incident of his own. Its back-page headline, “Sunk’ n’ Drunk -Freddie fined after pedalo booze shame”, topped a story saying Flintoff hadto be rescued at 4am after capsizing at sea.The breach was reported to the England team management at breakfast onSaturday and the decision to fine the players involved was taken at asubsequent team meeting, which was attended by the whole squad andmanagement.Walpole, who refused to name the players involved, the extent oftheir fines, or the exact nature of the breach, said in a statement: “TheEngland team management today [Saturday] announced that a number of Englandplayers had been fined by the head coach, Duncan Fletcher, after admittingto a breach of team discipline last night.”
After the most absorbing day of cricket in this series so far, such has been the dominance of batsmen and the insipidity of the pitch, Bob Woolmer told reporters he still felt a draw was the most likely result. Although Pakistan were in the ascendancy for a brief period when Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed to leave India at 281 for 5, an unbroken stand of 160 (at a run-a-minute) between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan for the sixth wicket took India comfortably past the follow-on mark and their side, to a position of relative comfort 147 runs behind Pakistan’s first innings.Woolmer said, “I suppose we need to get five quick wickets and India need to think the other way. Those two batted really well. At the moment it’s looking like a draw and the pitch doesn’t look to be breaking up. Yesterday I thought the wicket was more uneven but today it looked pretty flat. There were periods where there were a rush of wickets but basically it looks very tough for one side to bowl another out.”Dhoni’s dazzling counterattack was helped initially, felt Woolmer, by some indisciplined bowling. “At 281 for 5, there was some turn there and we just needed to get two more wickets and we could have seen a possibility of a result. But I thought the two youngsters played very well. We didn’t bowl intelligently when they came in and we bowled really well at the end when they had settled. If the ball had gone to hand, we might have got both out. It’s on such little things that such matches turn.” But he was quick to laud the batting of Dhoni. “I think he’s a belligerent, hard-hitting cricketer. His innings has certainly changed the game for India. He took on Shoaib Akhtar which is a brave thing to do at any stage and he was ably supported by Pathan.”India’s collapse post-lunch, when they lost four wickets for 45 runs in just under 11 overs was due in some part to a blistering six-over spell by Shoaib Akhtar. But as he tired, Dhoni and Pathan both settled down and Woolmer rued the possibilities another two overs from Shoaib would have brought. “I don’t know why he didn’t bowl more. You have to ask him that question. I wasn’t out in the middle and I haven’t asked the captain. Maybe two more overs in that spell might have turned the game, but you never know. But as an ex-cricketer I wouldn’t have liked to be out there facing him. As a coach of the team, I would say it was a very good spell.”Woolmer also praised Younis Khan, standing in as captain for the injured Inzamam-ul-Haq. “I thought Younis did very well out there, he handled it very well. He was little bit unlucky in periods but like all captains, you learn as you go along and learn by experience. One of the hardest things in the world is to be able to put the fielders in the gap before the shot goes there.”By dismissing Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Asif picked up his first Test wicket and also capped another bright day with the ball. In a probing spell at the end of the day, he could have ended up with a couple more, but Woolmer said he was satisfied with his bowling. “I thought he bowled beautifully the whole day, it was an excellent performance. It’s just a shame that he didn’t get the two wickets in the evening. Both catches didn’t go to hand and one touched the end of Kamran’s fingers.”
This wasn’t a Test that you would call great in the traditional sense. It was a no-contest: Pakistan won by an innings and 87 runs, their biggest win over India at the time, and one they went on to better two Tests later at Hyderabad. But the match was significant for the performance of one man – Imran Khan took 11 wickets, eight of them in the second innings, five in the space of 25 balls, and the legend of reverse-swing was born. Sarfraz Nawaz is credited as being the earliest exponent of reverse-swing, but on that third afternoon of the Karachi Test, Imran gave the most fearsome exhibition of the art which was yet to acquire a name.India, trailing by 283 runs, would have nurtured faint hopes of saving the game as Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar took them to 102 for 1 shortly after tea. The new ball had been negotiated comfortably and the only wicket to fall, that of Arun Lal, had been claimed by Abdul Qadir. But Imran returned for his second spell with a semi-old ball and, aided by a strong wind, produced prodigious late swing at a blistering pace that left the Indian batsmen numb.Gavaskar was the first to go, bowled through the gate, and it signalled a procession. India ended the day at 118 for 7, and of Imran’s five victims, four were bowled and only Mohinder Amarnath managed to get his front pad in the way. This was the spell that decided the series. Writing on the series for World Cricket Digest, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi termed it a “case of overkill”. Imran, who started the match with flu, ended the series with 40 wickets, and by the time the Indians arrived in Hyderabad, Pakistani fans were holding up banners likening him to the F-16s, the American fighter planes that were the latest addition to Pakistan’s military stable.India had begun the Test horribly after being sent in on a newly laid, green-tinged pitch, by losing Gavaskar to a run-out from a direct hit by Imran, who then accounted for Vengsarkar with a ball that lifted and swung away. Arun Lal and Gundappa Viswanath put up a brief partnership, but India soon found themselves at 70 for 5. Kapil Dev avoided a total rout by merrily swinging away to a 53-ball 73. He was severe on Qadir in particular, hitting him for five fours and a six. And when Madan Lal removed Pakistan’s first three batsmen for 18, the day didn’t seem so bad for India.However, the second day belonged to Pakistan. Zaheer Abbas, who had scored a double-century in the first Test at Lahore, stroked away to 186, and added 213 runs for the fifth wicket with Mudassar Nazar, who was batting down the order because of flu. With useful contributions from Imran and Wasim Bari, Pakistan ended up with 452. India stayed in the battle for a couple of hours, after which it was all Imran.
Graeme Smith, the South African cricket captain, was named the International Young Cricketer of the Year last night at an awards function in Mumbai, India, sponsored by Electrolux.Smith, who is still only 23, was delighted with the honour. “It’s truly a wonderful honour and a privilege to receive this award,” he said. ” The last year has been an exciting one for me and the South African team, with many highs and a few lows.”Smith went on to thank his team-mates: “They have been fantastic all year and have formed a wonderful unit to make this first year as captain a very special one.”Smith was appointed as South Africa’s youngest-ever captain in March, and led the squad on tours to Bangladesh, England and Pakistan. Despite his extra responsibilities he has enjoyed a highly successful time with the bat, and is the leading runscorer in Test cricket this year. So far he has hit 1008 runs in ten Tests, including 714 (another South African record) in the five-Test series in England.His runs this year have included three centuries. In January he scored 151 against Pakistan at Cape Town, then in the first Test against England at Edgbaston in July, he set a new South African Test record with 277 – and followed that up with a matchwinning 259 in the second Test at Lord’s.In accepting his award, Smith thanked all those who had shown confidence in his ability: “I know that a lot of people thought I might be too young to captain South Africa, but I believe that what we have achieved as a team this year has allayed some fears and far outweighs what any individuals have done. We have made great progress but we still have a lot to learn as a side as do I as captain. “Gerald Majola, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, said: “This award is recognition of Graeme Smith’s achievements since he became South Africa’s youngest captain. He has led from the front with great determination since he took over the captaincy in difficult times, and his rapport with the team, the media and the public is outstanding.Majola concluded: “His batting performances on the tour of England were remarkable, resulting in him becoming the first batsman in the world to pass 1000 Test runs this year. We believe that he can lead South Africa to the highest cricketing honours in the future.”