Forty-two years after making his debut as a television commentator in England, Richie Benaud bowed out today at The Oval.His final words were simple and typically Benaud. “Thank you for having me,” he said. “It’s been absolutely marvelous. I’ve loved every moment of it.’A little while before his last stint, the crowd at The Oval had been informed over the PA that Benaud was about to embrak on his final spell, and they reacted with spontaneous applause. The players also stopped and clapped.”He knows his subject inside out and has a sense of timing and a wit that few people can match,” Channel 4’s Mark Nicholas, a former captain of Hampshire, said in an interview. Benaud, 74, insisted that he remained in love with the game, and was delighted to end with such a dramatic series. “It’s my view, and people may disagree with it, that this series shades that tour,” he explained. “And that’s saying something.”He will continue to be heard regularly in Australia where he recently signed a new three-year deal with Channel Nine. And Michael Slater, a co-commentator at Channel 4, hinted that Benaud would be looking for another extension at the end of that deal.Benaud ended with some words of encouragement for the beaten Australians. “There are plenty of good young players around in Australia,” he said. “They’ll fight back very quickly.”
Kumar Sangakkara’s marathon 232, the third double-century of his career and thefourth-highest score against South Africa, handed Sri Lanka control of the second Test in Colombo. An early strike from Chaminda Vaas, and a double-wicket maiden from Sanath Jayasuriya just before the close, then tightened their grip on the game as South Africa closed on 116 for 3.Herschelle Gibbs had worked feverishly hard to overcome his ankle injury,but he came into the second Test with no match practice for many months – hardly ideal preparation for the deciding match of a series. Vaas allowed him no time to shake off the early-season rustiness with a peach of an inswinger first ball that would have knocked back middle stump (1 for 1).Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s new round-armed pace sensation, or “pocketrocket” as he is described by his coach, bowled a remarkable first over thatincluded five wicket-taking outswingers and one rank full-toss to leaveMartin van Jaarsveld utterly perplexed. But the shock value of his weirdaction wore off soon and van Jaarsveld and Graeme Smith settled in.Their next moment of alarm came when Thilan Samaraweera claimed a catch offvan Jaarsveld, on 13, at slip off Rangana Herath. But the TV replaysindicated that the ball may have brushed the turf, and the batsman was given the benefit of the doubt. Thereafter South Africa, with Muttiah Muralitharan safely out of the way, ticked along smoothly.But just when the day appeared to be drifting towards a quiet end, Jayasuriya’s magic arm struck twice in his first over. First, van Jaarsveld(51) mistimed a drive to cover moments after reaching his third Test fifty,and then Nicky Boje, the nightwatchman, was bowled through the gate (109 for3).Smith, who finished on 49 not out, and Jacques Kallis sweated their waythrough the last five overs, leaving South Africa with a fight on their hands to reach the follow-on target of 271 on the third day – although, in such draining conditions, Sri Lanka would probably bank the lead and bat again.Earlier, South Africa’s pace bowlers, led by Shaun Pollock, dragged theirteam back into the match by bowling out Sri Lanka for 470. Samaraweera’s top-edged hook six minutes before lunch proved to be the trigger for a rush of wickets. Five wickets tumbled for 26 as Sri Lanka, who had looked set for a mountainous total, slumped from 392 for 4 to 437 for 9.When Sangakkara finally succumbed to tiredness after nine hours ofconcentration and focus, flashing at a wide delivery and edging to slip,Pollock celebrated with a mixture of joy and relief: Kallis hadgiven Sangakkara a letoff at slip on 57 off him, and Pollock had missed a difficult one-handed return catch off his own bowling this morning when Sangakkara had reached 177.
But Pollock, by far the best of the South African bowlers in this series,was rewarded for all his hard work with excellent final figures of 4 for 81from 30 overs on a placid pitch. If his colleagues – especially Makhaya Ntiniand Nantie Hayward – had shown the same skill and control, South Africa wouldnot have conceded the intiative again.It was Pollock who found the edge of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s bat tobreak through after lunch (399 for 6), and Hayward who sent RomeshKaluwitharana packing after a nick from a swivel-pull was safelypouched by Mark Boucher (416 for 7). Ntini tidied up his figures a touch asRangana Herath chopped one onto his stumps (437 for 9).But it wasn’t all plain sailing for South Africa, on another afternoon of sweltering 39-degree heat, as Upul Chandana cobbled together 40 and frustrated them, putting on 33 for the last wicket with Malinga. Chandana flew out of the blocks with a flurry of meaty boundaries, before South Africa dropped the field back and reduced the scoring to a crawl. Finally, though, with the innings meandering to a tedious standstill, he tried to launch Boje into downtown Colombo and was stumped: Sri Lanka finished on 470.In the morning, after Vaas, the nightwatchman, had fallen to the secondnew ball for 10, Sangakkara batted briskly, with no hint of nerves as he cruised through the 190s. But that was hardly surprising because he has now doubled up all of his last three Test centuries – the last two were his 230 against Pakistan in 2001-02 and 270 against Zimbabwe this May.It was a fine innings, during which he curbed a natural instinct forattack as South Africa plugged the gaps and tried to wear down his patience.He interspersed solid defence with his full repertoire of stylish strokes,scoring an equal percentage of his runs on either side of the wicket andfinishing with 31 fours and one swept six. It was his second-highest score, and only Don Bradman (299 at Adelaide in 1931-32), Eddie Paynter (243 at Durban in 1938-39) and Mahela Jayawardene (237 at Galle last week) have made higher scores against South Africa.Off the pitch, it was announced that Muralitharan, who pulled out yesterday morning, would fly to Australia tonight for surgery. He was already ruled out of the five-match one-day series that follows this Test. However, until his shoulder is opened up, it is not clear quite how long he will be out of action.
England newest bowling hero Richard Johnson was back at the County Ground in Taunton this morning, after playing a major part in defeating Zimbabwe inside three days and winning the Man of the Match Award.Twenty eight year old Johnson who moved from Middlesex to join the Cidermen for the 2001 season with the express aim of rekindling his international career has achieved that aim and in some style.In his first over he removed two batsmen with successive balls and was on a hat trick, and ended the Zimbabwe innings with the astounding figures of 6 for 33 on his England debut, figures that have assured him of a place in the record books.When I asked him about his Test match debut and his time with the England team `Johnno’ told me: "It was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Meeting up with the players three days before the game felt good because having been around the scene for a while I knew most of the guys and have grown up with them, so I felt very much at home in their company.""The practice days went well for me, but I didn’t know whether I was going to be in the final line up till the morning of the match. I had an idea that I would be playing, but after so many disappointments I don’t take anything for granted," he said."It’s always nice to bat first and chill into the game, rather than bowling right at the start, and it’s always good to get runs. I just went out there and played my normal game, I didn’t feel nervous about the situation I just looked to play the way that I do for Somerset."When did he know that he was going to open the bowling. "I only found out just before the start of their innings, although I had a feeling that it I might open the attack because they have been using Steve Harmison as a first change bowler," he said."I couldn’t have asked for a better start. The ball didn’t swing away it just angled in so I used the conditions. The captain (Nasser Hussain) set a split field for me and said to go for bowled and LBW decisions and I got two in my first over which was a great start."What about the second innings. " I did the same job in the second innings, and with a split field went for bowled and LBW’s. I had two good shouts turned down and didn’t go for many runs so even though I didn’t get any wickets I was quite pleased and did what was asked of me," he said.After such an impressive debut what lies ahead I asked. "Now we have the One Dayer’s, with a friendly against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday, and then Pakistan at Old Trafford on Tuesday which is a day nighter. I’m looking forward to that because it’s a different game and there will be a great atmosphere up there."Looking further ahead he said: "I hope that I get my chance in the Test series against South Africa, but some of the senior guys like Darren Gough will be back so there will be a lot of competition for places, but after my experience against Zimbabwe of course I want to hold onto my England place."
For the first time in Sri Lanka’s cricket history international umpireAsoka de Silva has been assigned by the International Cricket Council (ICC)to officiate in two Tests of a three-Test series between Pakistan and NewZealand commencing next month in Pakistan.De Silva (45) who represented his country in ten Tests as a right-armleg-spinner, will officiate the first two Tests of the series at Peshawar(October 2-6) and at Faisalabad (October 13-17).He is the fourth Sri Lankan umpire to figure in the ICC’s internationalpanel of umpires after K.T. Francis and B.C. Cooray – both retired, andPeter Manuel.De Silva officiated in two Tests of the recently concluded home seriesagainst India. Having first come into the Test scene against Pakistan atGalle in June 2000, De Silva has so far officiated in five Test matches.The new assignment will be his second as an ICC umpire. He did one Test inZimbabwe against India early this year.Presently, Sri Lanka has only one umpire (De Silva) in the ICC panel. Theywill nominate their second choice very shortly.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou sprung what has arguably been the biggest surprise of his short tenure as on Thursday evening, starting what was effectively a B team side in the Europa Conference League tie against Bodo/Glimt.
Indeed, the 56-year-old opted to go with the likes of Stephen Welsh, Liam Scales, Nir Bitton and James Forrest from the off, while regular first-teamers Cameron Carter-Vickers, Josip Juranovic, Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate, Jota and Liel Abada all had to make do with a spot on the bench – a move that was seemingly the Greek-Australian manager throwing the towel in after a heavy 3-1 defeat in the first leg of the tie.
Subsequently – although perhaps expected, considering the lineup – the Bhoys rather unceremoniously bowed out of Europe in the shape of a 2-0 defeat to their Norwegian opponents, with the fixture ending 5-1 on aggregate – although, in truth, Celtic were fortunate this did not turn into a cricket score.
Indeed, a number of the Hoops players failed to cover themselves in any glory whatsoever on Thursday night, with stand-in left-back Scales, as well as central midfield duo Matt O’Riley and Tom Rogic, all having a game they will be hoping to put behind them as quickly as possible.
However, following an equally disappointing performance in the first leg, it will undoubtedly be the latter of this trio most gutted with his display last night, as the Australia international very much looked to be out of his depth against the Norwegian minnows.
Rogic’s Celtic shocker
Indeed, over the course of his 45 minutes on the pitch, the £1.35m-rated midfielder enjoyed just 30 touches of the ball – the third-lowest of any Celtic starter – completed a mere 12 of his 19 attempted passes – the second-lowest of any Celtic starter – and ceded possession of the ball on 12 separate occasions.
The £15k-per-week Aussie also struggled in a defensive capacity, losing four of his six duels, committing one foul and being beaten by an opponent once.
These returns saw the 29-year-old earn an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.3, ranking him as the joint third-worst player to feature in the match, while The Athletic’s Celtic correspondent, Kieran Devlin, also appeared far from impressed with Rogic’s display.
Indeed, before the fixture, the journalist stated of Rogic: “I’m not convinced he’s cut out for games this high-intensity and fast-paced.”
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Then, shortly after the 51-time capped international’s display, Devlin added: “Rogic really poor tonight too… Severe lack of quality and composure across the entire pitch.”
Indeed, while Postecoglou made it abundantly clear that he is prioritising the Premiership title race with his team selection, should Rogic and his teammates turn in a display similar to that of last night’s against Hibernian this weekend, the Bhoys boss could easily be made to look even more foolish than the 29-year-old did for once again starting the midfielder against Bodo/Glimt.
In other news: Postecoglou could unearth Celtic’s next Dembele by unleashing 17 y/o “wonderkid”
The round started without high-profile players such as Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Amir, Nasir Jamshed, and Yasir Shah , who had all been released to play in the Bangladesh Premier League. National Bank of Pakistan, who drew with Water and Power Development Authority, continued to top Pool B with 33 points, while United Bank Limited lead Pool A with 32 points. FATA, though, are yet to break their duck this season, with two losses and three draws in five matches.Azhar Ali, Pakistan’s ODI captain made his first hundred of the season, setting up SNGPL’s innings-and-119-run win against Port Quasim Authority after a shouldering some heavy workload in international cricket in the last three months. Azhar struck 15 fours, shaking off the rust accumulated during the England series.Fawad Khan, the FATA captain, gave his team something to cheer about as he struck a century before lunch on the first day against Lahore Whites, a rare feat in the competition. Fawad played 46 first-class games for Abbottabad before joining FATA in 2013. However, he made his debut for FATA only this year. He had also played one match for North West Frontier Province.Mohammad Amir-less Sui Southern Gas Corporation managed to salvage a draw after being asked to follow on by United Bank Limted, who posted 514 on the back of five half-centuries. Sui Southern Gas were bowled out for 244 in the first innings but showed more fight in the second dig, opener Babar Azam showing the way with 90. The side is placed third in the Pool A table, with one win and four draws. Amir, who had been released to play for Chittagong Vikings in the BPL, is likely to miss at least two more rounds.
Andrew Symonds has agreed to a request to concentrate on offspin as Australia prepare for life after Shane Warne. Symonds is a versatile performer who mixes medium pace with slow bowling, but Warne’s retirement has forced a change in outlook.”That was mentioned to me, that I’ve got to concentrate a bit on spin,” Symonds said in the Courier-Mail. “That is just covering all bases, we have tours to India and other places like that coming up.” Australia play a seven-match one-day series in India after the Twenty20 World Championship and there are Test tours planned for Pakistan and India in 2008.Stuart MacGill is almost certain to be Warne’s replacement and Australia’s other options in the contracted players’ list include Cullen Bailey, Dan Cullen, Brad Hogg and Cameron White. White, Bailey, Cullen and MacGill will tour Pakistan in September as part of the Australia A squad.Symonds’ first international duties of the season will be at the Twenty20 event next month. He is prepared to use his medium pace if the conditions suit, but will also chase spin tips. “I will tap into whoever I can,” he told the paper. “I haven’t talked to Stuey [MacGill] in the last few months but I’m sure we will have a chat about things.”
Darren Gough, the England fast bowler who is currently out of international cricket with a shin injury, is open to playing domestic cricket in India if a suitable opportunity arose. When contacted about the rumours linking him with a possible stint with Maharashtra, the state team that plays in the Ranji Trophy, he did not confirm that talks were on, but equally did not deny that he might be interested.For a while now, the Indian media has been flush with stories over who will or will not be recruited by Maharashtra for the forthcoming season. When Gough was queried on this through the media manager of the Essex County Cricket Club, he told Cricinfo, “I’ve heard the rumours too but until they develop into discussions there is no point in me commenting.””If it came along it would be a wonderful opportunity to help the youngsters out there, using my experience gained over the last 20 years,” Gough added. “India is a wonderful part of the world so I would definitely think hard about doing it.”Gough recently made a comeback to the England one-day international team, but it was to be short-lived. After two matches in the limited overs series against Pakistan, where some commentators suggested Gough had lost the pace that once made him such a tough bowler to negotiate, he suffered a shin injury and was ruled out of the remainder of the series, and also the forthcoming Champions Trophy in India.Maharashtra have been at the forefront of many changes in Indian domestic teams. Last season they hired Darren Holder, the Australian, as coaching director of the team, and for a while have expressed a keenness to take on foreign players to boost their chances of success in the Ranji Trophy. They have already hired professional cricketers from other states – notably Sairaj Bahutule from Mumbai, and more recently Sridharan Sriram from Tamil Nadu.
ScorecardA stunning unbeaten 158 by Adam Bacher at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom was instrumental in the Lions successfully chasing down a steep target of 305 set by the Warriors. It was Bacher’s highest score in the competition, as well as the Standard Bank Cup’s second-highest score, and the result was that the Lions cantered home with eight wickets to spare in 43.4 overs. In the last ten overs of their innings, 105 runs were scored.The Warriors had come out blazing after choosing to bat first on a batsman’s dream pitch. When the Lions removed Dumisa Makalima early, Arno Jacobs came out and ravaged the bowlers with 102 runs off 105 balls. Tyron Henderson struck seven boundaries and two sixes in his 69 while Mark Boucher added a quick 42 in what appeared to be a winning total of 304 for 7. Derek Crookes, although expensive in his eight overs, took 3 for 72.In reply, the Lions started briskly, but could not keep up with the required run-rate. Bacher stood firm, while Hylton Ackerman attempted to raise the scoring-rate. His 75 in 62 helped but they still needed nearly 10 an over in the final 10 overs. Bacher had taken 115 balls to reach his hundred and then decided to go into overdrive. In another 27 balls, he had 158 and the Lions had won a game in which 612 runs had been scored. ScorecardAt Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein, Western Province Boland beat the Eaglesin a game that could have gone either way to the very end. The Eagles began in a determined fashion after losing the toss and being asked to bat. Morne van Wyk and Jonathan Beukus put on 131 runs before van Wyk was stumped while trying to up the tempo. Van Wyk’s 65 had opened the door for Benjamin Hector to score a quick 35 off 31. Beukus, playing the anchor role, scored a patient 77. In trying to score quickly, Nicky Boje and Johannes van der Wath fell within two balls of each other as the Eagles finished on 229 for 5.A second-wicket partnership of 184 between Andrew Puttick and Ashwell Prince followed the early wicket of Herschelle Gibbs. The wickets of Prince for 77, Puttick for an excellent 109 and Jean-Paul Duminy for eight swung the game, leaving it on a knife’s edge. In the end, Neil Johnson swung the game in Province’s favour, scoring 21 off 13 balls to see them to 233 for 4 with only two balls to spare. ScorecardAfter winning the toss and batting first in Durban, the Dolphins were in trouble, but were rescued by Imraan Khan and Dale Benkenstein. Even then, they could only muster 216 for seven in the 45 overs allocated.When rain interrupted after 20 overs, the Titans had struggled to 90 for 4, and were behind the Dolphins on Duckworth-Lewis. But on resumption, Albie Morkel took matters into his own hands and smeared the ball around the ground. Having an able partner in Justin Kemp, he saw the Titans regain control, but fell for 44 (31 balls) to a good boundary catch. Once again the game was in the balance but Kemp, with 79 not out, and an unbeaten 31 from Geoffrey Toyana saw the Titans home by 5 wickets.
Pakistan will host the next edition of the Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in 2006. On Sunday, the Pakistan Cricket Board was awarded the hosting rights for the tournament and Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the PCB, said that the dates would also be finalised soon.This will be the first time that the Asia Cup will be held in Pakistan, “Pakistan could not host the Asia Cup because of our problems in cricket relations with India,” Shaharyar was quoted as saying in . “But now as we have started playing against each other and I don’t think there should be a problem in hosting the tournament in 2006.”Ashraf-ul-Haq, the chief executive of the Asian Cricket Council, confirmed that Pakistan had given their formal agreement for hosting the tournament. “The 2004 event was originally scheduled to be staged in Pakistan,” he added, “but had to be shifted to Sri Lanka last year. Now with the revival of Indo-Pak relations we deemed it fit to stage the event in Pakistan.”In the wake of the revival in cricket relations between India and Pakistan, the recently concluded Asia Cup was a hugely marketed event. The same newspaper estimated that the ACC had earned US$19million from the sale of rights to ESPN-Star.There was, however, no decision taken on the next edition of the Asian Test Championships, held previously in 1999 and 2001. “We need at least 45 days to host the Asian Test Championship,” Ashaf said, “and in the hectic international schedule a firm proposal will be discussed later.”The meeting also decided that the four Test playing countries will receive US$2.5million each from the tournament and Hong Kong and UAE will get US$300,000 each. The rest of the fund will be spent on the development of cricket in the associate-member countries.Oman and UAE, the two finalists in the 2004 ACC Trophy, will also participate in the 2006 event. However, if the ACC Trophy is held before the Asia Cup in 2006, the qualifiers from that tournament will get a chance to play in the next Asia Cup.