The Zimbabweans are due to arrive tomorrow night and open their Sri Lanka tour with two one-day practice matches on December 1 and 3 in Colombo before departing to the beach during the Sri Lankan elections.For the next three days they will be at Taj Exotica in Bentota before returning to Colombo for the commencement of the one-day triangular series with Sri Lanka and West Indies on December 8.The West Indies will remain in Colombo after the Test having net practice at the SSC on December 4 and 6. On the advice of the police, the Cricket Board has kept the dates from December 3-7 free of any cricket due to the December 5 parliamentary elections.Sri Lanka’s one-day squad is expected to be announced soon after the third Test ends on December 3.
Yasir Shah is expected to be fit for the second Test against England in Dubai after recovering from the back spasm which ruled him out of the opening contest. However, team manager Intikhab Alam hinted there could be a surprise addition to the squad after Pakistan’s attempts to call up Zafar Gohar for this match were thwarted by visa issues.Responding to criticism from Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, over the lack of spin cover in the initial 16-man squad, Alam told ESPNcricinfo. “We don’t want to reveal anything at the moment but we have some plans.”That could throw an intriguing couple of names into the frame. A long shot would be Saeed Ajmal, who tormented England here in 2012, but has had to remodel his action and was not effective for Worcestershire in the County Championship this year, while another option may be offspinner Bilal Asif even though his action is under scrutiny after the one-day series in Zimbabwe.Bilal was reported after taking 5 for 25 in Harare, but the reporting and assessment process laid down by the ICC allows him to continuing bowling until the results of the tests are known. The testing has to take place within 14 days of the report and he is due to travel via Dubai to Chennai, one of the ICC’s approved testing centres, on October 18 and be tested the following day. He would be available for selection until the results come through, a process that takes a further 14 days and means, in theory, he would at least be available for the Dubai Test starting on October 22.Ajmal, meanwhile, who on Friday was traveling from Faisalabad to Lahore, told ESPNcricinfo he was not expecting to be called-up. “Of course everyone might be thinking about me right now but I can confirm that they haven’t asked about my passport,” Ajmal said. “But I am sure in the present scenario they are definitely thinking about me.”At the toss Misbah expressed his frustration at the lack of an extra spinner in the squad, thoughts echoed by the head coach Waqar Younis when he spoke to TV on Friday. Pakistan’s plan was to play two fast bowlers and at least two specialist spinners but they were forced to bring in Imran Khan as part of a three-man seam attack after Yasir and Gohar didn’t make it.Over the last two days Yasir has been seen jogging around the ground during intervals and having a bowl in the nets. “He is fit and will be match fit by the second Test,” Alam said. “We no more require Zafar as he was only named replacement for the first Test but he didn’t make it, so we have plenty of time ahead of the next game to decide.”With Yasir set to be available it would appear unlikely that Pakistan would alter their first-choice spin pairing even though Zulfiqar Babar, by lunch on the fourth day, had bowled 48 wicketless overs. The first Test was still awaiting its first wicket for a spinner.
Scorecard Seamer Rayad Emrit starred with a four-wicket haul to help Trinidad and Tobago comprehensively beat Guyana at Providence. Guyana fought back after a poor start but their total of 208 wasn’t enough as Kieron Pollard helped his side ease to the target.Guyana were weakened when captain Ramnaresh Sarwan pulled out before the start of play after sustaining an ankle injury during training. Sent into bat on a pitch which tested the batsmen with variable bounce, the Guyana openers added 36. However, they lost their way as Mervyn Dillon dismissed Sewnarine Chattergoon with a good delivery that moved away from him and Emrit proceeded to take three wickets in quick succession.At 77 for 5, with Guyana in danger of folding up early, Neil McGarrell and Leon Johnson counter-attacked with half-centuries. Johnson added 43 for the sixth-wicket with Derwin Christian that pushed the total to 120. McGarrell continued the rebuilding process as he supported Johnson in a quick-fire stand of 47 for the seventh wicket. Johnson’s 50 came off 72 balls with four fours and two sixes while McGarrell’s 51 was more aggressive, coming off 39 balls with three fours and a six. Guyana added 42 off the last five overs to finish on 208 for 8 at the end of 50 overs.The target wasn’t enough for the Guyana bowlers to defend as Mario Belcon and Daren Ganga led a steady reply. Dwayne Bravo chipped in with 28 but the finishing touches were added by Pollard who helped himself to an unbeaten half-century. His 52 came off 62 balls with three fours and a six as T&T reached the target with four overs to spare. T&T now head the Zone B table with 12 points and the win has given the defending champions a boost ahead of the semi-finals. ScorecardAn impressive performance by the spinners helped Windward Islands ease to a five-wicket win over Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in Berbice. After wrapping up CCC cheaply for 131, Darren Sammy and Under-19 batsman Donwell Hector reached the target in the 34th over. It was a consolation win for Windwards who were already eliminated from the tournament after losing their two opening games.After being put into bat by Rawl Lewis, the openers Shirley Clarke and Omar Phillips began steadily, adding 45. However, spinners Shane Shillingford and Gary Mathurin struck quickly to peg CCC back at 54 for 3. The spinners continued to make life difficult for the batsmen as Lewis and Liam Sebastien ran through the middle and lower order, sharing six wickets between them. CCC lost their last six wickets for 20 runs and were left to defend a rather modest score.On a pitch with variable bounce, the CCC bowlers had their moments, picking up three quick wickets after the Windwards openers added 43. Sammy and Hector then added 43 for the fourth wicket to push their side closer to victory.
Mark Vermeulen has been charged by the police in connection with two arson attacks earlier this week which destroyed buildings at the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy and damaged an office at the headquarters of Zimbabwe Cricket. He is expected to appear in court in the next few days.A source said that Vermeulen, who played eight Tests between 2002 and 2004, had been due to fly to Johannesburg on Wednesday.”He’s been detained since yesterday on charges of arson,” Vermeulen’s father Roland said. “We don’t know at the moment where they are holding him … but we are trying our best to get him out and sort matters while he is outside.”He flew back to Zimbabwe in September ostensibly to try to win back his place in the national side. But he was not picked in the provisional squad for the forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe and his chances of a recall appeared almost non existent.His summer in England ended in controversy when he was banned – initially for ten years but that was reduced on appeal – following an altercation during a Lancashire League match.
A career-best 158 from Morne van Wyk kept the Eagles in with an outside chance of pulling off a comeback against the Lions although a target of 173 should not provide too many problems on the final day. van Wyk added 143 for the eighth-wicket with Ryan McLaren to help guide the Eagles from 213 for 7 to 381 all out. Garnet Kruger was the pick of the attack with a hard-earned 5 for 114.The third day at Paarl was low on excitement as an attritional performance from the Cape Cobras produced 192 runs in 96 overs. An unbroken eighth wicket stand of 49 between Vernon Philander and Paul Adams edged them past the follow on after Dale Benkenstein produced a surprising performance with the ball for the Dolphins. The Cape Cobra’s early progress was steady as Gerhard Strydom reached 82 before Benkenstein burst through with three quick wickets with his medium pace. Ian Harvey struck a valuable half-century, but Ugasen Govender’s three wickets kept the Dolphins in control.Alviro Petersen and Zander de Bruyn cracked impressive centuries to take the Titans into a first-innings lead against the Warriors at East London. Petersen faced 289 balls before falling to Tyron Henderson but then de Bruyn and Albie Morkel added an unbeaten 110 for the sixth wicket. A draw is the favourite result on a pitch that has been a batsman’s paradise.
The ICC Anti-Corruption Unit will return to Kenya in January to interview a further 10 players as part of its ongoing investigation into allegations of match-fixing resulting from the recent hearing which banned Maurice Odumbe.Martin Hawkins and Alan Peacock, the two ICC officials who have been in Nairobi since Tuesday, had rather a wasted trip. Most of the players they had hoped to speak to were either out of the country or refused to meet with them. Allan Kosgey, who represents the players, explained that his clients had been given insufficient notice of the visit.”I am discussing with my clients which dates would suit them,” Kosgey told Reuters. “We agreed that they will return in January to interview my clients [who] are happy to be interviewed at a future date which is convenient to them.”It is understood that Hawkins and Peacock did speak to Ravindu Shah, Brijal Patel, Lamech Onyango and Alpesh Vadher.
South Wilts Cricket Club wish to pass on the following message to all visiting teams in the month of August.The A36 at Skew Bridge (just before the ground on way out of Salisbury) will be closed from Friday 10pm to Monday 6am on at least the first two weekends in August and possibly other weekends.Alternative routes…..From South (Southampton, Bournemouth roads), follow diversion signs. About 300 yards short of traffic lights where road rejoins A36 at Wilton, turn right through Quidhampton. At the end of the village fork left and then right onto A36 to approach the ground from the West.From South (Southampton, Bournemouth roads), take usual route but when on Wilton Road turn left after the Shell garage into Cherry Orchard Lane. Under the railway bridge and turn right at the end of the road. Follow the narrow road round and turn sharp right at the small church up Church Lane. At top of hill turn left and ground is almost immediately on left.From East/North, head towards Wilton and join A36 at roundabout in Wilton. Heading towards Salisbury the ground is on your right.Please inform your players, umpires and officials. Any problems/questions, please call Brian White or any other club official.Matches that are likely to be affected:Saturday 2nd August – South Wilts II v Flamingo (Southern Premier League)Saturday 2nd August – South Wilts II v Hook & Newnham II (Hampshire League)Saturday 9th August – South Wilts v Andover (Southern Premier League)Saturday 9th August – South Wilts IV v Wherwell (Hampshire League)Saturday 16th August – South Wilts II v Leckford (Southern Premier League)Saturday 23rd August – South Wilts v Bashley (Rydal) (Southern Premier League)Saturday 30th August – South Wilts II v New Milton (Southern Premier League)Saturday 30th August – South Wilts IV v Donnington (Hampshire League)Sunday matches in the Cross Solent League include South Wilts v Hursley Park and South Wilts v Portsmouth.
NSW leg spinner Stuart MacGill tonight was fined $1,500 after being found guilty of breaching two clauses of the Australian Cricket Board’s code of behaviour.A NSW Cricket spokesman said that MacGill was fined $750 for each of the charges, which related to showing dissent and crude and abusive behaviour during the second day’s play of the Pura Cup match between the Blues and Tasmania at the SCG today.MacGill was placed on report after he vented his anger at umpire David Brandon, who had turned down an lbw appeal from the former Test spinner.Code of Behaviour commissioner Terry Buddin SC found MacGill guilty of the charges but dismissed a charge of unbecoming behaviour.The NSW Cricket spokesman could not provide any more details on the incident.
Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Asirbad Behara has said the state association will need to be more vigilant in the future to prevent incidents like the bottle throwing that disrupted the second T20 international between India and South Africa in Cuttack.Behara said spectators had been allowed to carry water bottles into the stadium to cope with the heat but that such allowances might have to be removed. Bottles, and other objects that can be used as projectiles, are not allowed inside most stadiums in India.”We decided to let spectators carry water bottles so that they can cope better with the sweltering heat and not have to climb down three storeys every time they had to drink water,” Behara told ESPNcricinfo. “But some of them decided to misuse the bottles. No way will we think of providing comfort to the spectators in future.”The episode also tells up to be extra-vigilant in future to avoid any such instances. We will take all the precautionary measures possible.”A BCCI official confirmed the board was still taking stock of the situation, and Behara said the OCA had not yet been asked for an explanation. “From what I understand, based on the match referee’s report, the ICC may write in to BCCI and the BCCI will then ask OCA for an explanation,” he said. “We will explain our side to the authorities.”All of us know cricket fans are crazy and tempers had been flared after India’s innings but still something like this is unfortunate and unacceptable. We must also realise that in a crowd of around 50,000, it was barely 100 or 150 spectators who kept throwing bottles, so it may be a ploy to defame Barabati. Over the last three decades, this is the first time some such incident has happened in Cuttack.”The first bottle-throwing incident was in the break between innings – India were bowled out for 92, their lowest T20I total at home – and did not interrupt play. The second came after 11 overs of South Africa’s chase and stopped play for 27 minutes. The players remained in the middle through the delay and play resumed at 10pm, with security personnel lining the boundaries. However, a third wave of bottle-throwing two overs later forced them off. Play resumed after a 24-minute hold-up once the police had cleared the section of the crowd causing the disruption. South Africa required another 4.1 overs, which passed without further incident, to complete the chase and seal the series 2-0.India captain MS Dhoni downplayed the incident, but South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said it was disappointing and expressed his desire to not see a repeat during the rest of the tour.
Hartlepool United’s opening game of the season – a Capital One Cup first round tie at Crewe – involved them being the recipients of a romping, and watching an exhibition of football played in front of them.
However good Crewe were, Pools were poor. Scratch that, diabolical is a better word.
The front two of Max Clayton and Ajay Leitch-Smith caused dizziness that matched only that of a drunken night’s out for Peter Hartley and Sam Collins through the duo’s perpetual movement and ingenious dances behind the back line. The sickness feeling wasn’t a direct result of the circles been ran round the blue and white shirts, it was a result of watching appalling defending. Last season’s defence was, on the whole, locked shut. Clayton and Leitch-Smith had obviously turned locksmiths during the summer, unlocking the defence as easy as an open door.
Yet it would be criminal not to laud Alexandra. For every misplaced, slack and predictable pass served up by Pools, Crewe responded with their own brand of tika-taka.
Crewe arrived at kick off on the back of a highly successful pre-season, and they were clearly fine tuned for the start of the new campaign. Neale Cooper’s side, on the other hand, dished up a performance marred with rustiness and the fair few doses of calamities. Against a forward line of Clayton, Leitch-Smith and the robust Mathias Pogba, being punished was inevitable.
Such damage arrived after only 7 minutes. Peter Hartley clattered into a red shirt, making its way towards goal. A yellow followed, but worse was to come. The ball was chipped over the wall and Leitch-Smith swiveled, demanding the scoreboard’s first work of the season.
The scoreboard was quickly back in use, signalling goal 2, 3 and 4. Leitch-Smith portrayed poetic running in tandem with Clayton, the former tucking the ball back inside off the by-line, teeing up Clayton who side footed beyond Flinders.
Goal three was next, and the third episode in what would later be a series of defensive nightmares being broadcast. Neil Austin turned ball-watcher, allowing Pogba to slip in behind him and meet a driven ball from the right.
If Austin was embarrassed then he was well and truly custard pied on 41 minutes. Clayton made another laughing stock out of Austin – and Jonathan Franks – to make full use of a counter attack and make it four.
If Crewe were fortunate to lead so early on having been on the end of an opening 7-minute battering, which saw Franks target Steve Howard with delicious crosses and Howard, Evan Horwood and Simon Walton both testing their fortune, their 4-0 half time lead was certainly not flattering; it was deserved.
James Poole was introduced at the expense of Luke James at half time but Pools couldn’t mastermind what would have been a cup comeback to end all cup comebacks. Yes, Pools enjoyed the ball’s comfort at more periods in the second half, but they failed to make any use out of it.
Walton, Monkhouse and a dejected-looking Howard registered efforts from outside of the box, but the chances of success ebbed away almost as soon as connection with the boot was made
Evan Horwood was the delivery man from the left. The deliveries were good, but there was no enthusiasm to meet them. Antony Sweeney – guilty of not assisting Walton in the middle – looped an effort over. Monkhouse was denied by the post, the closest Pools coming.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Abdul Osman and Ashley Westwood controlled the midfield as if presented with the ground’s deeds. Allowing Pools in sight of the ball didn’t unease Alexandra, for they were safe in the knowledge that their cup run was never in doubt.
Pogba made sure of the hosts’ passage into the next round by adding Collins to his victim tally late on, outmuscling him before finishing cooly. Pools were thankful the ninety minutes was up. At least it wasn’t the league.
You can find me on Twitter @cmbell310 for more football chat.