Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, says the rights of cricketers must be weighed against the importance of retaining strong Test teams as speculation mounts that Shane Bond might join the Indian Cricket League (ICL). New Zealand Cricket is already encouraging its selectors not to choose players who have already taken part in the league and now a report in the suggests Bond has agreed to play in the ICL in 2008.”With New Zealand and these other poorly paid countries, it’s incredibly enticing at the end of their career, or even in the middle of their career, to look after themselves,” May told the paper. “It’s their job and they’re trying to do the best for their families.”You may well see more ICL contracted players signed up. So what are we going to do, have a New Zealand second XI out there? Is it in New Zealand’s national interest to put out a half-baked team?”Is it in world cricket’s interest? These are the questions people really need to sit down and think about. And there is also the rights of the players to ply their trade. We want to encourage people to play cricket professionally, don’t we? It’s not necessarily a bad thing, this ICL.”New Zealand Cricket has told its selectors that when they choose national and representative squads they should consider other players ahead of those who have taken part in the ICL. Daryl Tuffey was the only one of the six affected players who was realistically in the frame for further Test and ODI action.However, if Bond joined the ICL it would provide a major crisis for cricket in New Zealand. The reported that if NZC tried to stop Bond, or any other player, signing up with the ICL it could face legal action for restraint of trade.
Piyush Chawla tied Malaysia in knots as India eased to a seven-wicket win in their tri-series match at Kinrara Oval. He claimed 5 for 17 as the hosts were crushed for 101 before Saurabh Tiwari guided the chase.Malaysia had made deceptively comfortable start as Shafiq Sharif and Faris Almas-Lee added 46 for the first wicket. However, once Swapnil Singh provided the first breakthrough the batting order resembled a pack of cards.Chawla, who has a Test cap against England to his name, was too much for the inexperienced line-up although some poor shot selection didn’t help. All 10 wickets fell for 54 and only extras joined the openers with double figures.India didn’t knock off the runs without a few blips as they fell to 63 for 3. Aminuddin Ramly took two wickets but the match was finished in grand manner by Tiwari who dispatched consecutive sixes in the 19th over.
Venkatesh Prasad, the India Under-19 coach, has said that India are hungry for success and have not been complacent in their preparation for the U-19 World Cup following successes at the Afro-Asian U-19 Cup and against Australia U-19.”They [India] have been very committed and I am extremely happy to work with this bunch of players,”said Prasad. “They have been fantastic and they know exactly what is required by the team, which is something we have focused on ahead of any individual goals. They have come up with their own mission statements and have set their own training and playing standards on their own without me. Those standards are keeping their feet on the ground. They know their jobs and it makes my job a bit easier because of it.”Prasad was happy with the training camp the team had in Chennai prior to their departure for Colombo. “We had the camp there because we felt the weather and pitch conditions were similar to Sri Lanka.” India will play all their group matches at the R Premadasa Stadium. “They tell me the wickets [at the R Premadasa] have been relaid,” said Prasad. “I still remember Sri Lanka scored almost 1000 runs against us there in a Test [it was 952-6 declared in 1997, with Prasad taking 0 for 88 in 24 overs] but that was a long time back.”In the round-robin stage, India have been grouped with Sri Lanka and Associate teams Scotland and Namibia. “A few have said to us we have got an easy draw but we do not think it is easy,” said Prasad. “The players know each and every game is important, no matter whom we play. We respect opponents for who they are and it is a learning curve for us too, even if we are playing against the so-called weaker teams. The draw does not matter as, even if we had been drawn against those stronger sides, we would have gone about our business just the same.”But he admitted that India were looking beyond the group stage to matches against the top sides of Group B that include Australia, West Indies and South Africa.”We have looked at the permutations and combinations if we make it to the quarter-finals. But that quarter-final is not until February 11 and we have got three matches before that on [February] 6th, 8th and 10th. To start with we will cross out the game on the 6th, then move onto the 8th and so on.”
Pakistan were so worried about the umpiring on their Australian tour that they completed a team investigation into contentious decisions which showed the home side was almost six times better off. “It went 29-5 against us,” Bob Woolmer, the coach, told the Brisbane Courier-Mail.Woolmer, who left Australia yesterday after three Tests and the one-day VB Series, said the players had taken the setbacks well, but there were five close calls against them in the opening one-day final, and a first-over knock-back in the second when Adam Gilchrist was “plumb”. “Quite frankly, Australia were the better side against us this summer, but some of these decisions made a huge difference,” he said. “You are talking about decisions which players’ careers rested on.”The Pakistan Cricket Board sent a letter to the ICC during the limited-overs tournament requesting two neutral umpires for one-day matches as well as Tests. One overseas and one local official stood in the VB Series, in line with ICC’s current regulations.Woolmer said Australia were very good at appealing, and that the adjudicators had pressure applied from the players and the crowd. “Umpires are not cheats,” he told the newspaper. “I would never accuse them of that. The way the Australians appeal and the way the crowd supports them creates subconscious pressure on umpires and it shows. People can say an umpire gives a decision on what he sees rather than the appeals, but I disagree. The appeal is very much a part of it. It is a very fine line.”Woolmer said he was looking at ways to improve Pakistan’s appealing. “Even if that means training at it,” he said. “Maybe we need to appeal only when we are certain it is out and appeal very strongly. There are also ways of conducting yourself when you are batting to get the message across to an umpire that an appeal against you is not out. We must look at that as well.”A fan of Hawk-Eye’s ball-tracking technology, Woolmer believes it should be used for decisions even though it is not perfect. “At the very least it is the same for both sides so you take all those other factors out of play,” he said. “I am not having a go at umpires because they get it right well over 90% of the time.”
Munaf Patel, the much-hyped fast bowler from Bharuch, will play for Mumbai in the forthcoming Ranji Trophy season. Munaf made his first-class debut a month ago for India A against New Zealand, and there was much speculation which Ranji team he would play for. Baroda and Gujarat, his home state, were the other sides in the running.Ratnakar Shetty, joint honourary secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), told the Press Trust of India that Munaf met him at the MCA office on Saturday to submit the transfer certificate from Gujarat to Mumbai.This move gives Mumbai a problem of plenty. They already have a host of medium-pacers in the reckoning, including Ajit Agarkar, Aavishkar Salvi, Swapnil Hazare, Robin Morris and Santosh Saxena. But Munaf, with his raw pace reported to regularly cross 140kmph, should have no trouble being a regular in the first XI.
Christchurch’s weather has been much better behaved in the latter part of this week and if it remains that way the stage is set for a thrilling opening to the ICC Under-19 World Cup at Bert Sutcliffe Oval when host New Zealand meet Sri Lanka in the tournament opener.Both teams have had victories in the warm-up games available to them in the rain-affected build-up, New Zealand over Pakistan and Sri Lanka over England.It is a tough task for the New Zealanders, apart from the fact they are playing at home in front of local supporters, they also have to live with the fact that the CLEAR Black Caps are performing so well in Australia, the national side are the defending ICC KnockOut champions and the women are the holders of the CricInfo Women’s World Cup.That realistically should not be a problem as they settle into the tournament because they have enough else to think about.Qualifying for the Super League part of the programme is top of the list. New Zealand and Sri Lanka are in one of the tougher pools with Zimbabwe the other Test-playing nation in their group while Namibia is expected to be a tough competitor.No slip-ups can be afforded.New Zealand coach Mark Greatbatch said losing one of the planned warm-up games was a disappointment and unlike some other sides, New Zealand’s opening game of the tournament meant it had no time for another warm-up game today.Greatbatch said he was very keen to see his team of talented young players perform as naturally as they could with some helpful structures in place so they maximise their opportunities.”We don’t want to stifle their flair but there is a fine line. We would have liked another game.”We have three Test-playing nations in our pool so we can’t take any game lightly,” he said.The Auckland pool where India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Canada meet is the other pool with three Test-playing nations in it.Pakistan and England are joined by Papua New Guinea and Nepal in the second Christchurch pool while Australia and the West Indies are in Dunedin along with Scotland and Kenya.Other pool play begins in all three venues on Sunday.”We need to be urgent in what we do and we need to do the basics right,” Greatbatch said.New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden spoke to the side when it first assembled in Christchurch and reminded them of the methods the senior New Zealand team used when they took part for the first time in the tri-series in Australia in the summer of 1980/81.”They used a policy of hitting straight, bowling straight, containing the opposition and fielding precisely and if they could do that consistently they knew they would go close,” he said.Sri Lankan coach Owen Mottau said the weather had been frustrating for his side but there was nothing that could be done about that. His players were also having to adapt to cooler conditions than those they were used to.”I don’t think out boys have seen such green wickets. The ball doesn’t seem to spin that much but it is a matter of coping with the conditions. That is what they Under-19 tournament is all about, they’ve got to learn to think about it,” he said.The Sri Lankan side was made up of schoolboys. They were a good fielding side and they bowled reasonably well.”If our batting clicks that would make us very competitive.”Expectations in Sri Lanka are high, but they are high whenever Sri Lankan teams play. Our first goal is to make the Super League, we’re not thinking past that,” Mottau said.Teams will be chosen from:New Zealand: Ross Taylor (captain), Simon Allen, Michael Bates, Peter Borren, Neil Broom, Leighton Burtt, Brook Hatwell, Stephen Murdoch, Rob Nicol, Iain Robertson, Jesse Ryder, Ian Sandbrook, Jordan Sheed, Richard Sherlock.Sri Lanka: Dhammika Niroshana, Jeewan Mendis, Kanchana Gunawardene, Chandra Kumara, Chatrith Fernando, Damith Indika, Eashan Abeysinghe, Chrishanth Perera, Lasith Fernando, Upul Tharanga, Prasad Ranwaka, Lakpriya Wijesiriwardene, Mohamed Maharoof, Dammika Prasad.The full programme of games for the weekend is (all games start at 10.30am):Saturday: Group B – New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Bert Sutcliffe Oval. Sunday: Group A – Bangladesh v South Africa, Colin Maiden Park No 1, Auckland; Group B – Zimbabwe v Namibia, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Christchurch; Group C – Pakistan v Papua New Guina, Lincoln Green, Christchurch; Group D – Australia v Kenya, Carisbrook, Dunedin.
Here is a fact. Victoria is at the bottom of the Pura Cup four-day competition.With the way they played on the first day against the West Indies, on a pitchwhich was somewhat slow, but did help the faster bowlers earlier on, one willhave to wonder where the West Indies is in the swing of things at this level.They certainly did not look like the Test team they will be come next week, evenwith the fact that the XI they put out for this four-day game is almost the Testteam itself.Maybe the final score itself was a misleading fact. That the West Indies made167 at all was due almost entirely to the contributions of three batsmen,Sherwin Campbell, who made 29 before he slashed wildly and was caught at thewicket; Ridley Jacobs, who made 28 before he ran himself out, a not uncommon occurrence; and Mahendra Nagamootoo, who after making a pummeling 48, tried abit too hard for his 50 and was well caught by Test selectee Colin Miller,running back at mid-wicket. Simple mathematics suggests that between them,Campbell, Jacobs and Nagamootoo managed 105 runs. That means that the otherbatsmen, including Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jimmy Adams, andRamnaresh Sarwan, could only manage 62 runs. It was simply a continuing storyof poor batsmanship, even giving some credit to the Bush Rangers’ bowlers.What is damning about this is that the same recklessness that ensued when theWest Indies had been bowled out for 132 at Perth last week was again veryevident at the MCG. Already it has been suggested that the discipline necessaryto play well here in Australia is missing. Unfortunately for the West Indies,there is not much time left to correct such faults. Next week this time, the 1st Test at Brisbane would have already been under way. The more things change,the more they remain the same.”We really wanted to bat out the first day”, suggested Sherwin Campbell, theteam’s vice captain. “Being the opening batsman for any Test team brings muchpressure. It is very important, in my case both as an opener and the vicecaptain, that I stay there (at the crease) as long as possible and then allowthe team to gather themselves around me. Maybe both my form and my luck havebeen good for the two centuries I have had so far, but really, it comes down tospending as much time at the crease as is possible.”While it took Campbell all of 160 minutes to get to his 29 from 126 deliveries,so intent he was on survival, the entire West Indies innings only lasted justover twice Campbell’s stay at the crease, 336 minutes. This is only anotherindicator that no-one else, not even the ultra-aggressive Nagamootoo, seemedintent on playing out time, as such.Matthew Inness, the lively left handed opening bowler for Victoria, looked muchbetter than his more illustrious team-mates, Damien Fleming and Colin Miller,the former just coming back from a broken finger, the latter already selectedfor Test No. 1, next week. Inness worked hard, bowled straight at the batsmenand the stumps, and was aided and abetted by some terrible batting. He clearlyjustified his captain, Darren Berry’s decision to field first. Berry himselftook five catches to help his bowlers, none more spectacular than the one heheld, diving to his left, low down, to dismiss the dangerous, focussed andpromising Brian Lara, from Miller’s bowling.Already it is being suggested everywhere that all of the Test matches thisAustralian summer would finish with at least a day to spare, with the WestIndies losing all of them. If the batting, especially that of Brian Lara, ShivChanderpaul, Jimmy Adams and Campbell himself, do not come through, the WestIndies will surely struggle much. Sarwan, incidentally, seemed to have lost his”bounce.” He had better find it quickly.Miller and Fleming bowled creditably, with Miller swinging the ball well when heoperated as a fast bowler, but Inniss deserved his best figures ever, beatinghis 6-70, against New South Wales, achieved earlier this year.The only bright spot for the West Indies was Nagamootoo. His aggressionsuggests that he could well be selected in the Test for his batting, even thoughhe is supposedly, primarily, a leg-spinner. This West Indies cricket team needsevery run it could get, from anyone willing to provide it. With Wavell Hindsand Sarwan fighting for that final middle order position, Nagamootoo could findhimself batting ahead of Ridley Jacobs even.Sherwin Campbell also suggested that he was disappointed. “Since the Test matchis the next game, we certainly are looking to get some good scores here at theMCG. Hopefully, the batters would get a second hit in the 2nd innings, andmaybe we will do better. We definitely need some more runs and much moreconfidence going into the Test. Test match cricket means that we will have toup our game somewhat. We know that we have not batted well here. Our shotselection was poor. We must focus on batting longer. While our batters mightbe overall confident, we are not capitalizing on the starts we have beengetting. We can always say that one should learn from mistakes, but the focusand concentration must be there daily.”If the showing on Day 1 of this last game before the historic 1st Test match isto go by, the West Indies has a lot of work to do in a few days before Test No.1. It could be very messy come next week.
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.
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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.
x
x
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.
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.
Allrounder Robbie Frylinck has been suspended from his franchise, Dolphins, with immediate effect, although the reason for and length of his sanction is unknown. Pete de Wet, Dolphins’ CEO, told ESPNcricinfo: “I cannot elaborate on the details except to say that this is in no way linked to the CSA investigation into match-fixing.”Frylinck last played for the franchise during the Momentum One-Day Cup at the end of October, before turning out for provincial amateur side Kwa-Zulu Natal during a break in the one-day cup. He was due to join up with Dolphins for the remainer of the one-day cup, which resumes on Friday, but will not be part of their plans for now.Frylinck has been on South Africa’s domestic scene for over 11 years, during which time he has also played as a Kolpak player for Surrey and was on the books of IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils.
India get into action with their first tour game against Victoria on Thursday, two days after their arrival in Australia. The Indians won’t be taking the game lightly given that it’s the only practice match before the first Test, but both sides have concerns over injuries and the weather with rain forecast for the next three days.Victoria have been in good form this season, equal on points with top-ranked New South Wales, and will take the game against India as a chance to blood allrounder John Hastings and batsman Aaron Finch.Victoria’s bowling will not be at full strength with fast bowlers Shane Harwood and Gerard Denton injured and Dirk Nannes being rested. Cameron White, the captain, is ruled out while Brad Hodge, who is to lead the side in White’s absence, is an uncertain starter and will be passed fit only after his back is assessed on Thursday.The visitors will look to playing most of their first-choice Test XI but Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan, who didn’t take part in training on Tuesday, are uncertain for the clash. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who along with Tendulkar and Zaheer missed the final Test against Pakistan in Bangalore, is fit to play the opener and said the game was a crucial one for the team.”It’s always better to have a few sessions before a big Test match [and] we don’t really have much time for practice,” Dhoni told the . “Tomorrow is crucial … I think most of the players would love to play.”Tendulkar, Dhoni said, was improving, “[but] if he needs some more time to rest himself and recover, to be 100% for the first game, he can take it.”Dhoni played down talk of the team not having enough practice and of the importance of the forecast of rain. “You’d love to have more time [for practice], but that’s too many ifs and buts,” he said. “Even if it rains there’s nothing can be done about it – we’ll go indoors and have a knock, do whatever we can.”Dhoni said the team were aiming for a win. “If you are on the field and if you are playing you have got to win, there is no question of just playing the game for practice.”He said the team would have to adapt to the bouncy pitches in Australia. “Getting used to the conditions is very important … so the practice game is important, especially when you’re coming from a series in India,” he said. “When you’re playing in Australia, the length you’re bowling is very important, very different to where you bowl in the sub-continent or England.”Meanwhile, Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, said despite missing a few regulars, his team would give India a tough fight. “We will come out and play some good quality cricket and I’m sure probably surprise them,” he told sportal.com.au. “I think it [the pitch] will be quite grassy – it will be hard and I’m sure it will be a good cricket wicket with plenty of pace in it.”He said the team had enough strength in bowling and was expecting legspinner Bryce McGain to make an impression, which could aid him in winning the nod for a place in the Australian Test squad. Ricky Ponting revealed that McGain was considered by the selectors as a candidate for the Boxing Day Test.”A four- or five-for from Bryce McGain here certainly throws his hat into the ring for the second Test,” Shipperd said. “I was disappointed for Bryce [missing out on the Boxing Day Test] because I thought it was a 50-50 bet between him and Hogg.”Teams (from): Victoria : Brad Hodge (capt), David Hussey, Aiden Blizzard, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Nick Jewell, Michael Klinger, Andrew McDonald , Bryce McGain, Robert Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade (wk), Allan Wise.India: Anil Kumble (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Pankaj Singh.