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Bernard Aluvihare Stadium

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.

COYL

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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.

Fleming: ‘Tomorrow is one of the biggest games this team will play’ © Getty Images

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.

Fleming’s 352 runs places him in the top 12 run-getters of the World Cup, and for New Zealand he is second only to the prolific Scott Styris © Getty Images

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 believes there are options after Shivnarine Chanderpaul © Getty Images

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.

Indian viewers will have a wider choice of sports channels © Getty Images

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.

The Chief Executive of Cricket NSW David Gilbert has announced the NSW 2nd XI to play Tasmania’s 2nd XI in a Cricket Australia Cup match at the T-C-A Ground in Hobart from Monday February 9th to Thursday February 12th, 2004.

Matthew Phelps (C)
Ed Cowan
Grant Lambert
Paul Maraziotis
Damien Wallace
Nathan Pilon
Liam Zammit
Jason Krejza
Aaron Bird
Don Nash
Mark Cameron
Glenn McGrath (subject to fitness)

12th man to be named on the morning of the match.The 2nd XI will train at the SCG Nets on Thursday February 5th, 2004 at 4:00pm when Glenn McGrath will undergo a final fitness test.

Warwickshire’s Ian Bell has been declared fit to join his fellow England hopefuls at the ECB’s Academy in Adelaide this month.Bell, 20, has spent the last three months recuperating from a fracture in his lower back, but has now been given the all-clear and he will fly out to Australia on Thursday.Bell said: “I am certainly looking forward to two weeks intensive coaching from Warwickshire’s new coach, John Inverarity before linking up with my colleagues at the Academy and going on to tour Sri Lanka.”Naturally slightly longer term it is my ambition to break into the Test team, but given the opportunity I would jump at the chance of playing against the Australians.”Bell, a former England Under-19 captain who won a gold award in last year’s Benson and Hedges Cup Final, has also agreed a two-year deal with cricket manufacturer Slazenger.”After my recent injury worries it is nice to have some positive news – hopefully my relationship with Slazenger will prove very profitable in terms of runs,” Bell added.”However the next three months are crucial to me, as I start my preparations for the 2003 domestic season.”

A whirlwind 94 by Australian Jimmy Maher and an impressive all-roundperformance from Robert Croft helped Glamorgan to a 111-run victory overWorcestershire in their Norwich Union National League Division Two clashat Cardiff.The Queenslander fell six short of his first league century but notbefore he had shared in a match-winning 151-run partnership for thesecond wicket off just 20 overs with Croft after Glamorgan hadwon the toss.It was the backbone of Glamorgan’s 305-6 – a record league score for thecounty beating the 294-4 against Surrey at Pontypridd in 1999.Both Maher and Croft scored their half-centuries from just 41 deliveriesas the Worcestershire seam attack was put to the sword. The visitorsweren’t helped by their fielding which saw Croft dropped three times andMaher once on 65.The off spin of Graeme Hick slowed Glamorgan up and also accounted forthe wickets of Croft and Maher in the space of two overs. Maher’s 94came up off 76 with 18 fours.The rest of the Glamorgan innings couldn’t quite match the scoring rateof Maher and Croft but at the end Adrian Dale cruised to a 36-ball 50.Worcestershire started their reply in encouraging manner reaching 100 inthe 15th over but at the cost of three wickets – Anurag Singh, JamiePipe and Phil Weston.Worcestershire’s hopes rested on the shoulder of Hick and Vikram Solankibut both fell victim to Croft who produced a superb spell of three for31. Once those two perished the visitors innings slowly subsided andthey were bowled out with 10.3 overs remaining.

Are Liverpool going to complete a deal for Bournemouth’s high-flying talisman, Antoine Semenyo, this January?

Well, someone’s going to, with all the reliable sources confirming that the Ghana international is set to leave the Vitality Stadium having scored eight goals and supplied three assists across 16 Premier League appearances this season.

At this hectic Christmas stage, it looks as though he’s set to head to Manchester City with David Ornstein revealing on the 23rd that the player’s “preference is to join Man City.”

While many frustrated Reds fans would point toward central defence as a priority position this winter, Alexander Isak’s injury and the lingering uncertainty around Mohamed Salah may well have changed things for FSG and sporting director Richard Hughes.

How Liverpool can react to Isak's injury

Isak’s ice-cold finish to set Liverpool on their way against Tottenham was supposed to be the start of a bright spell for the British-record signing.

Having cost Liverpool £125m, to say the former Newcastle forward has been disappointing would be an understatement, and now, he faces a lengthy layoff after breaking his leg when cut down by Micky van de Ven in the act of scoring.

There are a number of routes Liverpool can head down as they try to find ways to replace the Sweden striker, but pushing ahead with a deal for Semenyo feels the most prudent.

But Semenyo is a wanted man, and Liverpool do have another option they could fall back on.

After all, Vinicius Junior is the better player. Reports from this month, as relayed by Football FanCast, outline Liverpool’s interest in Real Madrid’s wantaway winger. Talks have allegedly been held with the player’s representatives and there could be a price tag of around £131m.

Real would supposedly consider offers in the ballpark of £80m, and given Semenyo has a £65m release clause with Bournemouth, it may be worth pushing ahead with a deal for Vini Jr instead, should a deal truly be doable.

Why Vini Jr should be Liverpool's top pick

It’s worth drawing attention right off the bat to Vinicius Junior’s contractual situation: the Brazil “superstar”, as he has been labelled by former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric, is halfway through the penultimate year of his deal, thus limiting the parameters Florentino Perez can set at the negotiating table.

The £400k-per-week talent has yet to fall toward a particular eventuality as he creeps toward the exit at Santiago Bernabeu, but Liverpool might be the perfect location for him, with the 25-year-old comfortably established as one of the world’s best forwards and sure to become one of Slot’s main men, playing off the left flank.

He might even prove himself to be a bigger talent than Isak. Liverpool’s star striker is one of the sharpest finishers in the game, with elite movement and athleticism when fully fit. But Vini boasts a unique repetoire.

Vinicius Jr vs Alexander Isak (past 12 months)

Stats (per 90)

Vini Jr

Isak

Goals scored

0.28

0.59

Assists

0.28

0.12

Shots taken

3.29

2.83

Touches (att pen)

8.94

5.50

Shot-creating actions

5.25

2.20

Pass completion (%)

75.4

75.2

Progressive passes

3.42

2.52

Progressive carries

7.28

2.48

Successful take-ons

2.84

0.98

Ball recoveries

3.22

1.65

Tackles + interceptions

1.23

0.79

Data via FBref

While Vinicius Jr is more of a wide forward than a focal frontman like Isak, he has played plenty at number nine, and there’s no question that he has a wider breadth of quality to complement his ferocious killer instinct. The goals have dried up of late, but he’s scored bucketloads in his time.

Subscribe for deeper Liverpool transfer insight in our newsletter Get clearer verdicts—subscribe to the newsletter for expert transfer analysis on Liverpool’s striker options, data-led comparisons, and realistic takeaways that cut through the noise around Semenyo and Vinicius Jr. Subscribe Subscribe for deeper Liverpool transfer insight in our newsletter Get clearer verdicts—subscribe to the newsletter for expert transfer analysis on Liverpool’s striker options, data-led comparisons, and realistic takeaways that cut through the noise around Semenyo and Vinicius Jr.

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Even as he plods along through 2025/26, out of sorts and potentially feeling unloved in a team he has led to two Champions League titles, does Vincius Jr return solid numbers that would be hallmarks of lesser forwards’ careers. He has five goals and eight assists from 24 matches, having notched 22 goals and 19 assists across all competitions last year.

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Isak is one of the best strikers in the Premier League. One of the best in Europe. However, Vinicius Jr came within a whisker of Ballon d’Or gold, and he would arrive in Liverpool with a point to prove, taking control of an outfit that perhaps needs such a profile as Salah winds down.

Related Liverpool must drop £150k-p/w dud who's a bigger concern than Isak

Liverpool laboured to a narrow win over nine-man Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

Posts ByAngus Sinclair