Sri Lanka’s captain, Mahela Jayawardene, praised the performance of his young team and said that their efforts ranked up there with the best, as the first Test at Lord’s was saved through a brilliant rearguard action.Having followed on a whopping 359 runs in arrears, Sri Lanka ground their way through 199 overs on the final two-and-a-half days before bad light brought their epic innings to an end on 537 for 9. No fewer than seven batsmen recorded fifty in the innings, and after slumping to 91 for 6 in the first innings, Jayawardene was thrilled with the fight they had shown.”It was a brilliant effort which showed a lot of character from top to bottom,” he said, after being named as Man of the Match for his twin scores of 61 and 119. “It will have given a lot of confidence to the youngsters, and that’s what they need, belief that they can do it at this level of cricket, because most of them haven’t achieved anything in their careers yet.”The effort will also have given Jayawardene a lot of belief. Since assuming a senior role in the side, he has endured criticism of his leadership skills, and still remains as the official vice-captain on this tour, in the absence of the injured Marvan Atapattu. But he was able to answer the doubters by leading from the front and watching his charges take inspiration from his resistance.”In the past when I’ve been given responsibility, people have said how difficult it is for me to concentrate on my batting at the highest level,” he said. “I think I’ve proved people wrong. It’s how I go out there and perform that matters. It’s all to do with team efforts.”Jayawardene admitted that the thought had crossed his mind to declare once they had established a lead of 140-150, but added that good sense had prevailed, given the placid nature of the wicket. Even so, had England managed to take that final wicket and set themselves up for a run-chase, his side were ready and waiting for the challenge.”If we had been put in that situation we would definitely have gone for it,” said Jayawardene. “It was really flat out there but with three or four wickets we would have had a chance. It was all about the effort we had put in, and we couldn’t have let it go like that.”Jayawardene insisted that the spate of dropped catches shouldn’t detract from his team’s achievement, but he did recognise Sri Lanka had issues to address. “We’ll need to show the same determination in our bowling,” he said, “and we might have to look at different combinations when we get to Edgbaston. We have to get England out twice to win Test matches, and we only got five wickets. Those are the areas we have to improve.”
West Indies275 for 4 (Lara 125*, Sarwan 55) trail Pakistan 374 (Younis 106, Kamal 51, Collymore 7-78) by 99 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details How they were out
Brian Lara produced another batting masterclass on his way to a 30th Test century as West Indies dominated the second day at Sabina Park. Having wrapped up the Pakistan innings for the addition of only 38 runs in the morning, West Indies were given a flying start by Chris Gayle, before Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who responded to failure in Barbados with a gritty 55 here, stitched together 146 for the third wicket. And even though Pakistan stemmed the flow of runs in the final session, it wasn’t until Shivnarine Chanderpaul was out to the last ball of the day that they made any sort of impression.Lara started in circumspect fashion, having arrived at the crease after Devon Smith’s assured 25 had been ended by a worm-killer that knocked back off stump. Gayle had taken heavy toll of Rana Naved-ul-Hasan – whose right thumb was badly hurt by a delivery from Daren Powell – stroking some splendid drives and flicking the ball nonchalantly off his pads. There was also one magnificent six over long-on off Shabbir Ahmed before Abdul Razzaq got one to nip away a shade and take the edge.As many as 59 had come from 11 overs before lunch, but the innings was becalmed after the interval, with Danish Kaneria proving especially miserly. But having taken his time to get his eye in, Lara opened up as only he can to send the fielders scattering and give Inzamam-ul-Haq plenty to ponder by teatime.Having taken 68 balls to reach 33, Lara then sauntered along at a run-a-ball until he reached the 90s. The purple patch included two massive sixes over long-on off Kaneria, and when Naved, who had been flayed for 22 in two overs with the new ball, was brought back, Lara responded with two coruscating pulls interspersed by the most gorgeous cut for four.At the other end, Sarwan overcame early jitters against Kaneria to give his former captain sterling support. Kaneria, who conceded just 18 from his first 11 overs, went for 32 from his next five as West Indies went from 100 to 200 in just 142 deliveries. The stage was set for an assault after tea, but when Sarwan, who had got to 50 with a tremendous square-drive off Shabbir, mistimed a hook, the momentum was irrevocably lost.Chanderpaul pottered around initially, and with Lara also going into a shell of sorts as he neared three figures, Pakistan were able to gather breath and regroup. Lara, who scored as many as three-fourth of his runs on the leg side, finally reached his hundred with a delicate glance for four, and then opened up with some gorgeous strokes, none more exquisite than two off-drives off Kaneria.Chanderpaul took imbibed some of the attacking intent, slamming a wayward Shahid Afridi for two fours through midwicket before Kaneria ensured that he wouldn’t be around for fun and frolic on day three.Earlier in the day, West Indies had been indebted to another seasoned campaigner. Corey Collymore, who reined in Pakistan during the final session yesterday, picked up three more to finish with stunning and richly deserved figures of 7 for 78.Razzaq and Kamran Akmal were the last recognised pair at the crease, but any hopes that Pakistan had of posting a huge total were dealt a severe blow in the day’s first over when Collymore trapped Razzaq in front without any addition to the overnight score. Akmal continued to pull and cut in positive fashion, stitching together 19 with Naved before Powell intervened with a quick delivery that smashed into Naved’s hand.Shabbir didn’t bother the scorers, giving Collymore his sixth victim of the innings, and when Powell sneaked one in low to trap Kamran one short of his half-century, Naved strode bravely out to the middle. He couldn’t make any impact, however, as Collymore mopped up the innings with a full delivery to Kaneria. It took just 10.3 overs to thwart Pakistani ambitions of a huge total, and thereafter Lara was to the fore as West Indies went in search of a total that would shut the door as far as both match and series are concerned.
How they were out
PakistanAbdul Razzaq lbw Collymore 19 (336 for 7) Ball nipped back, struck in frontShabbir Ahmed c Browne b Collymore 0 (360 for 8) Good length ball, edge behindKamran Akmal lbw b Powell 49 (374 for 9) Trapped in front by one that kept lowDanish Kaneria b Collymore 6 (374 all out) Bowled by a full deliveryWest IndiesGayle c Kamran Akmal b Abdul Razzaq 33 (48 for 1) Swung away from round the wicketSmith b Abdul Razzaq 25 (59 for 2) Ball didn’t rise more than a couple of inches after pitching.Ramnaresh Sarwan c Danish Kaneria b Shabbir Ahmed 55 (205 for 3) Set up by a short ball, which he hooked on the swivel to fine leg.Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Kamran Akmal b Danish Kaneria 28 (275 for 4) Undone by a googly that reared up at him. Thin edge to the keeper.
Wasim Akram has been fined by a Lahore court after failing to appear to answer changes that he hurt religious sentiments by appearing in an advertisement for an Indian liquor company.The civil court ruled against him by default as a result of his non appearance, although Wasim’s solictor later claimed that his client had never been notified of the hearing. He dismissed the claim as a "frivolous petition".The case was brought by a local individual who claimed that he had suffered as a result of the advertisement. He asked for a public apology and damages of Rs 25,000 (US$500).Wasim appeared in the advertisement last year, along with other cricketers such as Harbhajan Singh and Glenn McGrath. He previously denied the accusation, arguing he worked for the company which also manufactured sports equipments.
West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels will fly to the United States to seek medical treatment for his left knee on Thursday.The decision was reached following dialogue between Rev. Wes Hall, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board; John Pinnock, Samuels’ United States-based agent; Samuels and two medical specialists in the United States."Marlon will fly to Barbados and onto New York on Thursday and will see Dr. Ainsworth Allen to get an evaluation of his knee," remarked Michael Hall, the chief cricket operations officer of the WICB."From New York, Marlon will travel on Monday to Baltimore to see Dr. Michael Mont, a highly-rated knee specialist, to get a second opinion."Samuels was withdrawn from the West Indies’ 15-member squad to the Cricket World Cup 2003 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya after a medical report on his left knee – on which he had surgery earlier this year – revealed there was a strong chance it could deteriorate during the competition.
The residents of Matale could get a glimpse of former and present Sri Lankan cricketers when the Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association played a friendly match at Bernard Aluvihare Stadium yesterday. The stadium – situated in the Matale town, about 20 kilometers away from Kandy – was filled by 4,000 people, who flocked to see their heroes, who have conquered the world of cricket.The cricketers obliged willingly to the autograph hunters. For those who had come to witness them, the result of the match was secondary. The real winner of the day was the Matale District Cricket Association who had organised the event with the intention of promoting the game in the area and encouraging their budding youngsters.Fifteen past and present Sri Lankan cricketers gathered to play the friendly game. Don Anurasiri, Kumar Dharmasena, Ruchira Perera, Kumar Sangakkara and Kaushalya Weerarathne had to sit out of this game, but were seen going around the ground obliging the autograph hunters and posing for photographs.The match played between SL Cricketers’ Association and the Matale District Cricket Association, the only serious cricket team from the district, started around 10 o’clock in the morning.
Stars attract large crowds in Matale
Roshan Mahanama, captained the Cricketers’ Association while P.K. Aluvihare, captained the Matale Side. Aluvihare has been a consistent performer with the ball for the Matale side in the domestic tournament getting more than 75 wickets. Mahanama, winning the toss, elected to bat first and the residents of the area were presented with an entertaining display of batsmanship.The man who rose to the occasion was Michael Vandort, the promising tall youngster. Vandort, opening the innings, smashed 60 off just 46 deliveries with 11 boundaries and a six. He put up 90 runs for the first wicket with Lanka de Silva before he retired.After Vandort retired, there was a mini collapse for the visitors as Lanka de Silva, Indika de Saram and Roshan Mahanama got out within the space of few runs. But Ruwan Kalpage, batting at number six, made a fine 40 with the help of four boundaries and a six. If Kalpage’s 40 helped the visitors to go past 200 run mark, Eric Upashantha’s 38 with six fours and a six helped them to score an imposing 246 in 40 overs.In the bowling department, I. Abeyrathne picked up three wickets for 39 runs while M.B. Tillakaratne picked up three for 63 runs. J.C. Welagedara too bowled impressively getting two wickets for 36 runs.The home side started the run chase impressively with D.L. Wijewardene leading the way in top of the order. Wijewardene made 51 in 41 balls with 11 boundaries. But after his dismissal, the innings fell apart and none of the middle order batsmen managed to impress. However, the tail-enders provided some entertainment later in the innings. But they ended 54 runs short, as they were bowled out for 192 in the 39th over.Champaka Ramanayake, though retired from competitive cricket, was the most impressive. He picked up three wickets for 18 runs. Dinuk Hettiarchi and Ruwan Kalpage picked up two wickets a piece.The scores:
SL Cricketers’ Association XI. 246/9 (40) M. Vandort 60, L. de Silva 22, C. Silva 25, R. Kalpage 40, E. Upashantha 38.I.Abeyratne 3/39, M.B Tillakaratne 3/63, J.C Welagedara 2/36.
Matale District Cricketers’ Association XI. 192 all out (39.2)
D.L Wijerwardene 51, M.B. Tillakaratne 21, N. Bokalawela 35.C. Ramanayake 3/18, D. Hettiarchi 2/17, 2/15.
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.
Easterns have won Zimbabwe’s provincial Twenty20 tournament with a seven-run win over Westerns in the final on Good Friday, but concerns over standards of play over the three days hogged the limelight.Zimbabwe Cricket were using the tournament, a last-minute fixture in place of the twice-postponed Logan Cup, to prepare for South Africa’s domestic Standard Bank Pro20 contest. But the ever-tumbling domestic standards were in evidence.It gave indications that the Zimbabweans could expect pretty much the same or even worse treatment on the field against the South African franchises as they did in the MTN domestic championship, more so as their opponents in South Africa have more adept and experienced at this version. What’s more, they have already identified their Twenty20 specialists while the Zimbabweans are still searching.And neither did they find them in this tournament. No one set the competition alight, although the usual suspects, Brendan Taylor (Northerns), Hamilton Masakadza (Easterns), Tatenda Taibu (Northerns) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (Easterns) all showed good consistency with the bat and threw caution to the wind when necessary, perhaps conscious of their role as the best Zimbabwe can manage at the moment. They could ill-afford to have their best misfiring.If this was a positive, its one that quickly wipe the smile off the selectors’ faces because few from outside the pool of current national and A side players staked claims and showed Twenty20 attributes. Perhaps it’s a good thing because now the coaching staff can only concentrate on few, targeted players at Twenty20.But then, Zimbabwe Cricket has been boasting about the success of its outreach programme where new cricketers are being churned out in the new structures. Besides, Zimbabwe needs to widen its pool now more than any other time. It was generally acknowledged that the available talent wasn’t that big when Zimbabwe were doing well before the senior players left, and with not much resources now as in the past, it will be a real struggle to get things right.Without experienced bowlers, those in the tournament, particularly the seamers, tried too hard to adjust their actions for Twenty20, thus overcomplicating their bowling and not getting the balance between defence and attack. They went for aggression and in the process losing the basic line and length. The only time they looked good was when the batsmen were getting themselves in trouble. To the better bowlers, it was so easy to read the batsmen’s good shots thereby getting them to play outside their comfort zones and drying up runs.Attendances were far from encouraging, largely because few outside the inner circles knew about the tournament due to poor publicity. Only a handful stumbled upon the final day play while patronising the Keg & Maiden bar on Good Friday.The victory by Easterns, formerly Manicaland, means they become the new dominant side in Zimbabwe provincial cricket after winning the Logan Cup last year. But the province is made up almost entirely of players from Harare, drawn from the Takashinga club in particular, and cricketers based in the province hardly got a chance to play, as was the case last year. The purpose seems to be to fool people into believing these is strength outside the capital.Southerns (Masvingo) and Centrals (Midlands) do have a fair number of players originally from the provinces, but Harare players are also posted to strengthen the sides. That leaves Northerns, the former Mashonaland, and Westerns (Matabeleland), the only sides without exported players.
If there’s one thing that this World Cup has taught us, it is that all things have a shelf life. Duncan Fletcher is perhaps the most prominent example of a good coach turned bad, but there have been enough off-colour performances from the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Michael Vaughan to suggest that what once may have glittered on the international stage may not necessarily remain golden.But then, poking proudly through the haze of smouldering reputations is a man who bucks the trend, and has done so for more than a decade. New Zealand’s captain, Stephen Fleming, has been described so often as the greatest captain in world cricket that it has, at times, been hard to ascertain precisely what he’s done to deserve such an accolade. In the past six weeks, however, he’s reaffirmed his reputation as the thinking man’s leader. Now, at the age of 34, he stands on the brink of fulfilment.It was once said of Tim Henman that he was one of life’s semi-finalists, and perhaps that’s the same of New Zealand. Four times they have come this far, punching above their weight of population, but never have they gone further. But under Fleming’s leadership, which he inherited from Lee Germon in the week of his 24th birthday, they have contested three World Cups, and only in the 2003 campaign, which was undermined by the costly forfeiture of a match in Nairobi, have they failed to get this far.”It’s just a case of dealing with the anxiety and nerves because it’s unknown territory for New Zealand to go past this point,” said a plain-speaking Fleming on the eve of the match. “Tomorrow is one of the biggest games this team will play. The pressure’s on and it’s a big occasion, but we know what to expect from Sri Lanka and we feel worthy of being here. We know that if we win one game at a time against these two sides, the World Cup’s ours.”Standing in his way are a trio of captaincy opponents who, like Fleming, have moulded sides in their own image. Tuesday’s counterpart is Mahela Jayawardene, whose deft touch, genial popularity and personal weight of performances has helped pull his country out of a tailspin since taking over from Marvan Atapattu last February. Awaiting him on the other side of the draw are two driven men who prefer to lead by example; South Africa’s Graeme Smith and Australia’s Ricky Ponting. Each would be a worthy man to lift the trophy, but they are all still young enough to come back for another tilt. For Fleming, who will be 38 come the 2011 edition, one senses this must surely be his last – and finest – chance.If so, there is very little else he could have done to spur on his side. His leadership has been first-rate throughout the campaign, quick-witted when opportunities arose, but quick to learn on the occasions he has found himself outflanked. “Captaincy isn’t a science,” he said after losing to Sri Lanka at the Super Eights stage of the competition. “There is no right and wrong.” Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean you can’t right your wrongs. Two days after that match, in a display of pride-swallowing that is the mark of the man, he changed his team and his tactics on the same sluggish Grenada pitch, and delivered the victory over South Africa that propelled his team into the knock-outs.
All throughout the Super Eights, Fleming had been the one leader who displayed the sort of spatial awareness that comes with such overwhelming experience. Tunnel vision has been the preferred method of Ponting and Smith in particular – nothing but the end game has mattered to them. In Ponting’s case that has delivered nine emphatic victories in a row; Smith’s in the meantime has been more up and down, but the up when it arrived was the biggest high of the competition to date – the surging victory against England in Barbados when the stakes were truly at their highest.Fleming has not played it like that at all. He’s displayed throughout a carefully cultivated inner meekness. He’s been happy to embrace the role of the underdog but all the while he has been plotting and scheming to give his men that extra half-an-inch. His cunning manipulation of New Zealand’s net run-rate, for instance, was an insurance policy that he did not, in the end, have to cash in. But had South Africa beaten the Kiwis, as they have done on four out of six occasions in the past 18 months, New Zealand would still surely have made it to the knock-outs through Fleming’s carefully unlatched back door.Fleming’s batting has also been a revelation. One of the big questions that has hung over his career is “how good could he have been?” As a youngster, he shared more than just an April Fool’s birthday with David Gower; he shared a languid line of strokeplay that was, by necessity, shelved when the burden of leadership was foisted upon him. For an eternity, he possessed one of the worst 50 to 100 conversion rates the game has ever seen, with just two Test centuries in his first eight years of international cricket. Now however, he is mature enough to lead with the bat and the brain in one go. His tally of 352 runs places him in the top 12 run-getters for the tournament, and for New Zealand he is second only to the prolific Scott Styris.In less than a week, the speculation will be over and the 2007 World Champions will have been crowned. It may well be that the greatest prize is destined to elude the longest-serving leader in international cricket. But if it does, he will still be able to say that he carried out his campaign to the absolute limits of both his abilities and those of his countrymen. To reach your peak after a decade at the top is a rare and impressive achievement.
Bennett King, the coach of West Indies, says there are several players who can take up the mantle of captaincy of the national team.Speaking on the heels of Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s resignation, King pointed to players like Sylvester Joseph, the A-team captain, as possible candidates for the job.”There are a number of players I suppose in the side that have got reasonable experience, having been around international cricket for quite some time. There are some people,” King told the . “I thought Sylvester Joseph did a very good job with the West Indies A side as well. But certainly the players that we have got and the help that is surrounding them, I think there is always room for development and improvement.”King pointed out that leadership was an area in West Indies cricket which needed to be addressed. “Certainly leadership is one of those areas that I think the West Indies need to take a good look at as well,” he said. “It is an area in our cricket which we need to try to nurture and develop, and great leaders just don’t fall out of trees. They come along every now and then and if they are backed up with a very good team, people automatically think that he is a very good leader, but that is not always the case either.”He said that even though an individual leader was important, the entire team needed to be responsible for the leadership of the side. “You want more people contributing to the total development of the side. I think Utopia for a sporting team is a side in which players take complete ownership and coaches aren’t necessarily required any more,” he said. “Moving forward I think that is what any coach would want – for the players to be the ones who ultimately run the entire show. I think in the past it has been proven in certain sporting teams. The best sides are the ones that are self-driven.”The West Indies Cricket Board are expected to announce a new captain shortly.
Zee Telefilms Ltd, the Indian television company which which bid unsuccessfully for the telecast rights to Indian cricket, has launched its own 24-hour sports channel.”The sports-programming genre is growing at a fast pace,” Punit Goenka, the CEO of Zee, was quoted as saying by Reuters. “What we felt missing was content relevant to the average Indian apart from cricket. With that in mind, we aim to bridge the gap by providing a programming mix that is entertaining, relevant and catering to our core viewer base.”An investment of Rs 1.5 billion has been allocated for the channel which will air sports shows and news meant for youth, along with interviews and live sports action.The Indian Supreme Court recently rejected Zee’s plea to grant them the telecast rights for international cricket in India till 2008. Zee had challeged the decision by the Indian board to cancel the bidding process.However, Zee hasn’t lost hope and will wait for telecast rights for cricket in other countries. “In the next 18 months, cricket rights in England, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies would be up for bidding and we intend to be contenders with reasonable means,” said Gary Lovejoy, CEO, Zee Sports. “We have plans to cover lifestyle sports such as golf, motor sport and adventure sports, and also looking at the creation of events.”Zee has also expressed interest in securing rights of a few domestic events. It has placed its bid for Indian football at the committee meeting of the All India Football Federation.On the television rights controversy, Himanshu Mody, executive vice president, Zee Sports, said, “As an operational strategy, it (the telecast controversy) has had a positive effect. We had to think a lot harder. We will bid aggressively but sensibly.”After the entry of Zee Sports, India will have as many as five sports channels, including ESPN, Star Sports, Ten Sports and DD Sports.