Ben Hollioake will miss next week’s opening one-day international against New Zealand after tests were carried out on his troublesome left knee.The all-rounder, 24, missed the last two ODIs in India because of the injury, which sparked fears that he might be forced out of the reminder of the tour.But to Hollioake’s relief, a scan yesterday revealed no cartilage defect, and he has been told to rest for a week, which rules him out of the first ODI of the five-match series in Christchurch.Hollioake also missed today’s opening warm-up match against a NorthernDistricts XI under the lights of the WestpacTrust Park Stadium.
The optimism, the hope, the expectation. It only lasts about 90 minutes of the opening day for most…
Saturday’s last minute defeat to newly promoted Yeovil Town is of course not the best start to the season, but some fans are overreacting massively to the first game.
The game was not only Steve Lomas’ first competitive game in charge, but realistically no team wants to play a newly promoted side on the first game of the season. They are usually still on a high and have a winning mentality still, there an unknown package in this league.
Look when ‘Wall went to Bristol City first game they were promoted – they went and won 3-0 at Ashton Gate.
Lomas is a novice in management in English football, and he made a couple of mistakes with his line-up. Why start Richard Chaplow, an experienced, competent Championship midfielder on the wing, and play Jimmy Abdou and Josh Wright in the centre?
Wright is a midfielder who can’t tackle, but can’t pass a ball forward, there’s a myth that he’s a “passing midfielder”. On the other hand all Millwall supporters love Jimmy, but he can only do one thing and that’s to defend.
In reality, Nicky Bailey and Richard Chaplow should be our centre midfield pair. A half fit Bailey came on in the second half against Yeovil and was the best player on the pitch, that may show you how good Bailey is, but most likely shows how bad Wright and Jimmy were together.
And Danny Shittu, the man-mountain and hero of last season, looks even slower than last year, it may have been only one game but he looks like he has the turning pace of a cruise liner. Robbo might be a better option this year no fully fit.
Of course it’s not the best start to have to the season, but give the new signings time to gel into the team, we have decent players here now, we just need time for the jigsaw pieces all to fit.
Lomas picked up his first win as manager on Tuesday night after goals from Martyn Woolford and Andy Keogh secured a 2-1 win against AFC Wimbledon in the Capital One Cup. Lomas made seven changes to his team against Yeovil, it seems he stuck to his word after declaring he will give all players a chance.
It also gave the chance for players to shine, Nicky Bailey certainly took up the chance, his second man of the match performance in four days. He seems to be one of the only midfielders we have who seems comfortable on the ball, and seems to know what he’s going to do with the ball before he receives it.
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On a free transfer he seems to be a great signing, and hopefully he’ll be paired with Richard Chaplow in centre midfield. Can be a devastating partnership at this level.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has said that Bangladesh could have shown more resolve in chasing a mammoth target of 336 in the second one-day international in Napier yesterday. Bangladesh failed to build on a solid opening stand of 63, losing three wickets for the addition of only five runs and went on the defensive for the rest of the chase. Bangladesh ended on 181 for 6 before rain forced an early end to the match, handing New Zealand a 102-run victory by the D/L method, and the series 2-0.”There was probably a little bit of frustration about the style of play,” Vettori said. “We thought Bangladesh would chase a little bit harder – whenever you chase 330 [sic] you have to take a few risks. If you don’t, you stall and that’s what happened.”Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said the quick loss of wickets, including that of captain Mohammad Ashraful, was rather unfortunate as it threw the team’s plans off balance.”We had a plan in mind and we were going along according to that plan but we lost three wickets for five runs and the plan changed,” Siddons said. “The batsmen really did not get going after that and we probably lost our biggest strokemakers.”Siddons also backed his batsmen to go for their strokes, despite several instances of experienced players throwing away their wickets in the first two matches. He said a lot of improvement was needed on the bowling front, after each of the New Zealand batsmen enjoyed a good hit in the middle, in particular Jacob Oram ,who clubbed 55 off 31 balls in the slog overs.”If the ball is not swinging or spinning, which it really didn’t today apart from the early overs where I think we bowled really well today, then it is a problem,” he said. “The pace is also not there.”Despite the heavy defeat, Siddons was willing to be patient. “These are young players and it’s going to take time. We are going to suffer some pain, there’s no way round it.”The other topic of discussion was Ashraful’s controversial dismissal, after he spooned a low catch to Ross Taylor at cover. Taylor claimed the catch while Ashraful stood his ground, convinced that it was a bump ball and that prompted the umpires to confer. Vettori backed Taylor’s honesty and the umpires’ decision.”You saw Ross’ reaction,” Vettori said. “He left it in the umpires hands and they made the call. From what I’ve heard it was the right call.”The third and final one-day international will be played in Queenstown on December 31.
Ireland’s Niall O’Brien wants to follow his countryman Ed Joyce in playing for England. O’Brien was Ireland’s hero in their World Cup victory against Pakistan on Saturday, striking 72.”I want to play cricket at the highest level and obviously that’s Test match cricket,” he told Reuters news agency. “Whether that’s for Ireland or England I’m not really sure,” he began, with some loyalty, before adding: “realistically, it’s with England.”O’Brien, a wicketkeeper/batsman, spent four years at Kent but lost his place there when Geraint Jones was demoted from the England set-up. Northamptonshire soon snapped him up and he is set to make his debut for them later on this year.But he is grateful for his time at Kent. “It proved to be a great stepping stone and I want to push on with Northants now.”In the meantime, he is focused on taking Ireland as far as they can in the World Cup, and with a win and a tie under their belts already, their ambitions to make the next stage are looking realistic: “Hopefully we’ll be in the Super Eights and I will be able to do my pre-season out here in the sun rather than the cold and rain in Northampton.”
Brett Lee is enjoying the extra responsibility of being Australia’s main bowling man following the unfortunate absence of Glenn McGrath. While McGrath is missing the one-day tour to look after his sick wife Jane, Lee is stepping up to guide an inexperienced attack in the Twenty20 International on Friday and the five-match one-day series.”[Lee] has been vital to us in both forms of the game – to be able to take wickets with the new ball – and we will be looking for him to do that again for us,” Ricky Ponting told . “When he is bowling the way he is, bowling fast and swinging the ball, he’s very difficult for any batsman to play.”Only Muttiah Muralitharan and Nathan Bracken took more wickets than Lee’s 15 at 29.26 in the VB Series, and Ponting said he was looking forward to unleashing him in South Africa. “Because he has got his own game in such good shape at the moment, he’s really enjoying that extra responsibility,” Ponting said. “We’ll have other guys around him in the one-day side, and even when the Test matches come around, who can do the other jobs. Brett’s strengths are his pace and being able to use that in short bursts, so that’s the way we’re planning to use him.”Bracken and Stuart Clark, the New South Wales team-mates, are likely to be the first-choice back-up for Ponting, who also has Mick Lewis and Mitchell Johnson in the squad. “I couldn’t really have been much happier with the way Stuart and Nathan have performed over the summer and really matured into good international bowlers,” Ponting said. “We’re not exactly sure if we are going to have Glenn for the Test part of the tour. We’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.”McGrath must play for New South Wales if he is to be considered for the tour and Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie, who both performed strongly in the Pura Cup match at the Gabba this week, are the leading contenders to fill any vacancy. The first Test starts at Cape Town on March 16.
Harbhajan Singh will work under Bruce Elliott, the biomechanics expert from Australia, to correct his action. Harbhajan’s doosra, the delivery that leaves the right-handed batsmen, was recently reported by Chris Broad, the match referee for India’s series against Bangladesh, and he was give six weeks to complete the corrective procedure and report back to the International Cricket Council.SK Nair, the secretary of the Indian board, confirmed this to Reuters: “We have identified Bruce Elliott for Harbhajan to work on his action and we have informed the ICC on the action we are taking.” Nair added that the ICC had extended the deadline until February 18 following a request by the BCCI.Ravi Shastri, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan and Javagal Srinath were also expected to be on the experts’ panel and Nair said that the BCCI were awaiting their acceptance of the assignment.Harbhajan action had earlier come under scrutiny in 1998 but he was cleared after after undergoing remedial work in London.
The showdown between Phil Jaques and the England & Wales Cricket Board moved a step closer with the news that Jaques has signed a three-year deal with Northamptonshire despite being told that he is no longer regarded as an English-qualified player.In 2003, Jacques, a 24-year-old Australian whose parents are English, turned out for Northants as a domestic player, but in October he made his debut for New South Wales. Under ECB regulations that meant his qualification status changed to that of an overseas player – as even those holding British or European passports are classified as overseas players if they appear in first-class cricket in their homeland in the preceding 12 months.Jaques’s lawyers have warned the ECB that they are prepared to take legal action unless their client is recognised as a domestic player. He has the backing of Northants, who are known to be keen to challenge the existing rules.If the ECB backs down then it could open the floodgates to even more overseas players to play in England using their ancestral qualifications. And ff the board does not, then it seems likely to face a potentially expensive outing to the law courts.
A spectacular thunderstorm brought an end to the round eight State Shield game between Northern Districts and Otago at WestpacTrust Park, Hamilton.It came in mid-afternoon, with ND 130/4 after 34.3 overs, having won the toss.The bulk of ND’s runs, 112, came in a partnership between James and Hamish Marshall. The twins improved the record stand for ND’s fourth wicket against Otago by one run. It was previously held by Barry Cooper and Grant Bradburn, at Mt Maunganui in 1994.The Marshalls rescued ND from the parlous position of 13/3. King of the pinch-hitters Simon Doull was first to go. Extra bounce accounted for him as he tamely edged a Kerry Walmsley delivery to Lee Germon, who was deputising for the injured Martyn Croy behind the stumps.Grant Robinson fell to a brilliant diving catch by Chris Gaffaney at square leg as he attempted to hook James McMillan. Robinson has failed to translate his composure at the crease into runs in the State Shield. His three today gives him a total of 16 in three innings.Matthew Hart lasted only two deliveries, playing around a low full toss from Walmsley for a duck. Having won defending an improbably low total against CD in New Plymouth two days ago, it seemed that ND were set on repeating the strategy.The Otago opening attack was tight and disciplined, Walmsley finishing his first spell with figures of 6-0-19-2, while McMillan had 6-1-16-1. Walmsley in particular made good use of the bouncy nature of the pitch, also achieving movement away from the right handers.Slow pitches have limited the impact of the revised regulation allowing one head-high bouncer an over in New Zealand. It was a factor today with the batsmen tentative about getting on the front foot, making themselves vulnerable to lateral movement.The threat subsided when the medium pacers took over the attack. The Marshall brothers built their partnership sensibly, rejecting big shots in favour of working the ball around and sharp running.James Marshall dominated the strike and the scoring in the early phase of the stand. Hamish’s first boundary did not come until his 56th delivery.As the thunder began to rumble James Marshall was out, caught behind off a thin edge off Nathan McCullum for 49, including six fours.Then it rained. The Hamilton ground staff battled heroically against the elements, but after so much rain in recent weeks there was nowhere for the water to go.Both sides receive two points for an abandoned fixture. That is enough to secure ND’s place in the knock-out stage of the State Shield and to maintain the challenge for top spot, with Canterbury beating Auckland today, Otago have lost ground, and are now heavily dependent on other results going their way if they are to stay in the competition.
India coasted to a 39-run victory at the RMCCG ground in Rajkot toclose out the one-day series against Zimbabwe by four games to one.They owed the win largely to the frail looking Ajit Agarkar who looksready and capable to ensconce himself into the role of the all rounderIndia does not have. After a splendid 102 run stand in just 99 ballsbetween Hemang Badani and Reetinder Sodhi strengthened the edifice ofthe Indian innings, Agarkar produced a spectacular late blitz of 67 in25 balls that lifted India to a once unthinkable 301. Despite earningthe springboard of a rollicking start, the visitors sputtered in themiddle overs and the loss of Trevor Madondo and Grant Flower insuccessive overs signalled the end of the road for them.The younger members of the Indian team also stepped up a notch andindicated they were quite capable of standing the heat at this level.After the early exits of the two senior batsmen in the team, Badaniwas the stabilising influence in the middle order that affordedAgarkar the luxury of going for broke in the end. Skipper Rahul Dravidsaid it was a fantastic feeling to post a win in his first match ascaptain. The depth in the Indian bowling also provided for a plethoraof options as Dravid said. “We were just discussing that we had tenguys in the side who could bowl, other than the keeper, and I thoughtSriram and Shewag did a very good job in the middle overs”.Alistair Campbell had begun with a flurry of attacking shots which wasnothing new but as usual, to the frustration of his team-mates, hefailed to convert that start into anything like a substantial score.Campbell presented Reetinder Sodhi, given custody of the new ball inZaheer Khan’s absence, with his first ODI scalp. His partner TrevorMadondo was in ominous touch and it certainly baffles the imaginationwhy Zimbabwe tarried till the end of the tour to give him a stage toannounce his undoubted ability. Madondo generated plenty of power offhis strokes which came all around the wicket as the Zimbabwe fiftycame up in just 6.2 overs. He shrugged off the loss of a secondpartner in Gavin Rennie and greeted the first appearance of spin inthe form of Aashish Kapoor by smacking a four over cover, wasting notime in getting acquainted with the bowler’s craft.An Andy Flower reverse sweep that beat a very square short finelegstationed to cut off the very stroke brought up the hundred in the14th over, a good 11 overs earlier than India took to reach thecorresponding milestone. Agarkar was working up a good burst of paceto keep the batsmen on their toes after the gentle medium pace of theopening pair of Prasad and Sodhi. At 103, Zimbabwe suffered whatseemed to be an irreconcilable blow as Andy Flower flicked Agarkarinto the waiting hands of Sodhi at square leg. Madondo refused to letthat be a dampener on his belligerence, and before long had sweptKapoor for a boundary, that fetched him a half century in 40 balls.Grant Flower joined him in a battling partnership that formed the mainrepository of Zimbabwe’s hopes as they proceeded to 146 at the halfwaystage with the asking rate still at manageable proportions.The specialist spinner Aashish Kapoor had gone wicket less in sevenovers but the back-up, comprising of Sridharan Sriram and VirenderShewag, did a fine job under the circumstances. Having made 71 (70balls), Madondo was deceived in flight by Sriram as he stepped out todrive and played inside the line to have his stumps rattled. WhenShewag trapped Grant Flower leg before on the back foot in thefollowing over – his first – Zimbabwe had lost the plot at 156/5 inthe 28th over. They did have two specialist batsmen left in GuyWhittall and Dougie Marillier but on past record on this tour neitherinspired a particular sense of confidence.Whittall disappointed again, holing out to deep midwicket off Shewagand the asking rate soon spiralled out of reach. Marillier struck afew audacious blows in the course of a swift 38 (42 balls) and thetail never gave up hope but the target remained tantalisingly out ofreach. Even after the 47th over, Zimbabwe were ahead of India at thecorresponding stage, which put the value of the late surge spearheadedby Agarkar in perspective. Having added three wickets to his kitty, hewas the undisputed Man of the Match.In the morning, a brilliant opening spell by Heath Streak, taking thenew ball for the first time in the series, put India firmly on thedefensive from the start. Bowling a relentless off stump line and athree quarter length or thereabouts, he challenged the batsmen toforce him away at their own peril. Given the rare opportunity to batout the full 50 overs, Sridharan Sriram squandered it with impunity.Drawn irresistibly into a ball angled well wide of him, the resultingnick was gobbled by Andy Flower. In six ODI’s, the lefthander is stillto reach double figures, a result not so much deriving from anydeficiency in technique but rather an inability to curb his naturalinstincts.The tight bowling from Streak frustrated skipper Dravid to play a shotout of character and trying to go over the infield, he failed to gethold of the ball and holed out to midoff. Sachin Tendulkar had foundthe pickets at easy intervals and was quick to pounce on any errors inline and length, almost entirely from Strang. One sensed however thathe was exercising all his powers of self-control to guard against afalse shot and open up a middle order that had hitherto promised morethan it had delivered. When Streak took himself off after a tightfirst spell, it just might have been lulled Tendulkar intoindiscretion as he dragged a widish delivery from Mluleki Nkala ontohis stumps.That left India in disarray at 42/3 and although Yuvraj Singh andVirender Shewag both played some delightful shots in their briefappearances in the middle, they did not help the cause by gettingdismissed at inopportune moments. Yuvraj started in blistering fashionwith boundaries off his first two balls off Nkala whom he continued tosingle out for attention, a pull to the midwicket fence beingsingularly contemptuous. The innings was just blossoming when it wassnuffed out by umpire Saheba, making his ODI debut, who gave him legbefore when he seemed to be playing enough forward to induce areasonable doubt in onlooker’s minds.Virender Shewag is another who is built very much in the cavaliermould and there was murder in his eye as he danced down the wicket andcleared Murphy over the straight boundary. Something had to give inthis confrontation and as it turned out, it was the batsman whoblinked first, being caught behind by Andy Flower at 114 in the 27thover. Badani was the guiding light of the innings, allowing for thestrokemakers to blaze away, and then perish, at the other end, whilehe himself carved the ball into the gaps, accumulating the runs withstealth. His half century contained just one boundary – a six in factoff Murphy that thudded into the sight screen at the pavilion end -and there wasn’t an element of extravagance in his stroke play, justlevel-headedness taken to an extreme.Sodhi also blossomed into his own after an unsteady start, aneffortless six over long on off Bryan Strang, being the acme of hisrepertoire after which his confidence started flowing back. He washowever overshadowed by Agarkar who tucked into some loose bowlingwith gusto. Agarkar’s bread and butter strokes were the inside outshot over cover and the lofted heave to deep midwicket as he hurriedto a fifty off just 21 balls. The last five overs produced 73 with allthe bowlers including Streak being severely punished. Dropped early inhis knock by Brian Murphy at point, Agarkar finished off the inningswith two sixes in two balls off Alistair Campbell who was invited tobowl the 50th over by a rattled Heath Streak. The unbroken seventhwicket stand was worth 85 in 39 balls, Agarkar’s share being 67 off25. Sodhi who was already on 39 when his partner joined him, finishedon a comparatively sedate 53 in 67 balls. “The situation was quitesimple. I just had to go out and hit. Today I connected everything”,said Agarkar. A precociously talented batsman as a schoolboy, who oncehit a triple century in Mumbai’s Giles Shield, Agarkar seems to haverediscovered the flair he lost along the way. Combined with his skillwith the old ball, he was simply the revelation of the series.