Kapil Dev, the former Indian captain who is heading the unofficial Indian Cricket League, has said the tournament will go ahead despite pressures from various boards around the world.The ICL has been facing a slew of problems since its launch, from the active opposition of the Indian board to the massive wage bill incurred by promising dozens of players’ hefty packages that start at Rs30 lakhs (US$ 80,000 approx). But Kapil was determined to prove the doubters wrong.One key problem is the availability of grounds, with the BCCI barring the use of any of its facilities to the ICL. However, he claims to have found a functioning ground at Panchkula near Chandigarh. “We have done the pavilion and the lights will be ready,” Kapil was quoted as saying in the London-based . “The advertisements are running on Indian television, the publicity has started, and we have prepared the uniforms for all six teams.”We are very determined and very proud of what we are doing, which will promote the game of cricket and give many young players the chance to build a career. If people think they can block us, that’s fine. The best thing is just to wait and watch.”News related to the ICL has been trickling into the Indian media on a daily basis. It has conducted two camps so far, the second of which ended in Chennai on October 25, and is now planning regional camps in Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. The Kolkata camp, starting on Friday, will be overseen by Daryll Cullinan, the former South African batsman roped in to coach the Calcutta Tigers team.However the reported that the camp could run into difficulties because the venue, the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CC&FC), is an affiliated unit of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). It’s also one of the founding members of the CAB. The connection could force the ICL organisers to look out for another venue.The Calcutta Tigers currently comprises 13 players from the domestic circuit — seven from Bengal, four from Assam and two from Jharkhand – while the names of the five international players allocated for the side from the east zone will be announced in a couple of days’ time. Following the Kolkata camp the players will fly down to Mumbai for a round of warm-up matches before heading to Panchkula.Meanwhile there was some controversy surrounding ICL in Bhopal, in central India. Former Indian allrounder JP Yadav and Mohnish Mishra, another first-class cricketer, were not allowed to play in the All India Manish Agnihotri Memorial Cricket Tournament in Bhopal because of their alignment with the league.
Scorecard Despite a solid batting effort, Central Districts went down to Wellington in a Duckworth-Lewis ruled thriller at Nelson’s Trafalgar Park. Matthew Sinclair (69), Greg Hay (55) and Ewen Thompson (50 not-out from 33 balls) powered CD to 241 before Michael Mason and Thompson reduced Wellington to 32 for 3. Rain intervened with Wellington on 100 for 4 in the 23rd over, and when play resumed the target was reduced to 232 from 46 overs. Grant Elliot (78) and Stu Mills (49) added 123 to take their side close to victory, and though they fell in quick succession, a 42-run stand for the seventh wicket between Luke Woodcock (21 not-out) and Dewayne Bowden (24 not-out) took them home with one ball to spare. Scorecard Powered by half-centuries from Mal Loye and Richard Jones, Auckland overhauled their target of 240 for the loss of just five wickets and with 15 balls to spare against Northern Districts. Having restricted ND to 239 for 9 – only Alun Evans and Hamish Marshall crossed 50 – Loye’s 79-ball 90, with 13 fours and a six, and Jones’s 56 carried the hosts to an easy win. Paul Hitchcock (39) and Rob Nicol (39) played crucial hands in supporting Auckland’s two half-centurions. Scorecard Following a Craig McMillan-led batting effort, a combined bowling display from Canterbury kept their control over Otago’s innings en route to a 23-run win at the Mainpower Oval in Rangiora. Put in to bat, Canterbury owed much to McMillans’s 52-ball 69 and an unbeaten 35 from captain Chris Harris in a total of 238. Hamish Bennett, Canterbury’s opening bowler, then reduced Otago to 28 for 3 before Aaron Redmond (53) and Greg Todd (43) added 88. A lower order collapse at the hands of Harris and the support bowlers ensured Otago lost their way and were bowled out for 215.
Plate Group Points Table ScorecardDeepak Mangaraj ripped apart the top order with his medium pace, while S Sehgal tore into middle order and Sanjay Satpathy, the offspinner, spun out the tail as Orissa shot out Vidarbha for a paltry 87 to register a stunning victory on the final day at Nagpur. Earlier, half-centuries from Subit Biswal and Pravanjan Mullick allowed Orissa to declare their second innings after gaining a 261-run lead. by 5 wickets ScorecardSyed Abbas Ali’s breezy 93 not out and 50 from Nikhil Patwardhan steered Madhya Pradesh to an outright victory over Jharkhand at Indore. Shahbaz Nadeem, the 16-year old left-arm spinner, struck twice to push MP to a wobbling 120 for 5 when Abbas Ali, the captain, decided to impose himself on the proceedings carting three sixes and eleven fours in a 79-balls knock.ScorecardA good allround performance from Shadab Jakati got Goa close to an improbable victory but in the end they had to settle for two points as Tripura hung on to draw the game at Margoa. Jakati reached his maiden hundred and Swapnil Asnodkar his double-century as Goa declared after stretching their lead, overnight on 7, to 119. Jakati and Robin D’Souza, the right-arm medium pacer, grabbed two wickets apiece to leave Tripura tottering at 96 for 5 in the 47th over. ScorecardKerala earned two points from a drawn game as Rajasthan, having resumed at 23 for 0, batted out the final day at Jaipur. Anshu Jain hit 71 as he added 68 runs with Dishant Yagnik to lift Rajasthan to 231. ScorecardHalf-centuries from Sajjad and Arshad Bhatt saw Jammu & Kashmir bat out a draw to give Assam two points in the Plate match at Guwahati. J&K, overnight on 12 for 0, settled for some batting practice on the final day.
Javed Miandad has come out strongly against Bob Woolmer’s coaching methods and is extremely sceptical about Pakistan’s chances in the Test series against Australia. Miandad’s comments came just two days before the start of the first Test at Perth, with the Pakistan team suffering crushing defeats in the last warm-up game.Miandad, who was sacked from the coaching position before Woolmer took over, pinpointed what he says are some basic flaws in the set-up. “When you are constantly experimenting with the team, when you are not sure about your playing XI and batting positions, when the coach is unaware of the particular cricket culture and psychology of Pakistan cricket, what do you expect?” Miandad told .These comments came in the wake of Pakistan’s humiliating ten-wicket defeat at the hands of Western Australia in their latest tour game. “It hurts to see a talented bunch of players struggle like this,” Miandad said. “The problem lies in the fact that Woolmer doesn’t have any idea of our cricket culture and background. Read his statements and you know this is a man not confident and sure about what he is doing.”Results, according to Miandad, were the bottom line in gauging a team, and he felt nothing much had changed ever since he was forced to step down. “He [Woolmer] has been in the saddle for six months now and we are still as inconsistent and erratic. When I left, the team was among the top three in Tests and one-day internationals, although when I took over after the 2003 World Cup we blooded several new players. Since I left has there been any improvement in the rankings or our performances?”Elaborating on the coaching methods that he felt were ideal for Pakistan’s players, Miandad said, “Our players need to be told and coached things in a simplified manner. If you drop a batsman to even give him a bit of rest to recover from a bad patch he loses his confidence and forgets everything he has learnt while in the team. That is why Yasir Hameed is now struggling to score runs.”And Miandad had no hesitation in pointing out that Pakistan will be the team playing catch-up throughout the series. “Given the present state of conditions in the team I am not really hopeful of any major surprise being sprung by our players in the Test series. A series in Australia is not the time or place for experiments or building for the future.”
The Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) has been stung by accusations that its selection of only one black player in the 14-man U19 squad for the World Cup qualifying tournament is racist.As soon as the squad was named the protests started with critics arguing that the selection did not mirror Kenya’s multiracial society. Timothy Muange, a wicketkeeper-batsman who played for the title-wining Swamibapa side, is the only indigenous Kenyan in the side.The objections have been given more force by the inclusion of three Kenyan-based Indian citizens. Jimmy Rayani, chairman of the KCA, defended the decision by withdrawing behind the ICC’s player eligibility rules under which the three qualify to represent Kenya. "We do not want to be disadvantaged against other teams at international level," he explained, "and that is why it is our desire that we send our strongest team possible for the tournament."But that hasn’t mollified the protestors. "The message we are sending to other cricket-playing nations is that we don’t have enough players to make up a truly Kenyan team," one said. "What is the use of having foreigners in the team when we are trying to get Test status? Who knows where they will be tomorrow?"The reality is that cricket in Kenya continues to be far more popular among the Asian community, and despite the best efforts of the ICC and KCA the indigenous population remain largely indifferent to the game.
Tinu Yohannan is the complete athlete; faster, higher and stronger allput together. He is also the first player from the state of Kerala to beincluded in the Indian cricket squad. The 22-year-old tall fast bowlermight very well play his first Test on Monday at Mohali against England.Yohannan had earlier impressed the selectors with his bowling in theIrani Trophy match against Baroda, where he charged in and bowled atgood pace even at the fag end of the day, prompting one of the selectorsto say that India needs players with such commitment.Yohannan took to high-jump as a young boy and won gold at the stateschool level and also silver at the junior state level. The genes havebeen passed from his father TC Yohannan, gold-medal winner in long jumpin the 1974 Asian Games and the first Asian to cross the eight-metremark.Yohannan is from the small hamlet of Edapally near Kochi, the queen ofArabian Sea, in Kerala. He represented his school – Bhavan’s VidyaMandir Elamakkara – in the state CBSE championships and won gold in highjump. It was during the summer vacation after his tenth-gradeexaminations that Yohannan went over to the MRF Pace Academy to learnfast bowling. Yohannan had earlier talked to the head coach at MRF, TASekhar, over the phone. The selection trials were all over and yetSekhar called him in to the nets to have a bowl along with othertrainees, a decision that makes Sekhar that much more proud today.Talking over the phone with CricInfo, the usually shy lad couldn’t hidehis happiness. “I am really happy to be selected for the Indian team. Iam really thankful to the Kerala Cricket Association and the MRF PaceAcademy for helping me through to make it thus far. I will always beindebted to Dennis Lillee and TA Sekhar for their guidance and support.I am proud to be an Indian and I will give more than my best for theteam.”In his eight Ranji Trophy appearances for Kerala, Yohannan has pickedonly 24 first-class wickets. Clearly, the selectors have gone in fortalent and work ethic than the number of wickets. Yohannan played forthe Board President’s XI against England in Hyderabad and, soon afterthe match, he spoke about his career and ambitions in an exclusiveinterview to CricInfo. “If I know anything about fast bowling, it is allbecause of my guru Dennis Lillee. The four years that I spent withSekhar at the MRF academy have taught me a lot about fast bowling.”Here is a player who believes in plain hard work. He has two five-wickethauls in the Ranji Trophy so far and reckons that being selected for theIrani Trophy was a pivotal moment in his career. “I just wanted to give100 percent and wait for the results,” says Yohannan about his approachto the Irani Trophy match. When asked about his playing against aninternational side for the first time, which was incidentally againstEngland at Hyderabad last week, Yohannan said, “I was very happy to hearabout the selection, which I came to know about through the morningnewspaper. I was nursing some hope of making it into the team.”Yohannan bowled 11 overs in four different spells in the first inningsand struggled to find his rhythm. But the young man took it as anopportunity and a learning experience to be bowling at the foreignplayers. It was a determined Yohannan who charged in to bowl at theEnglish batsmen in their second essay. Madan Lal, who was the teammanager, had advised him to bowl stump-to-stump on a docile track. Theadvice from the former Indian opening bowler and the current nationalselector did the trick; Yohannan bowled with a lot of fire to surprise afew Englishmen.The young fast bowler was very much impressed by Nasser Hussain’sdriving on the rise and the back-foot play of Michael Vaughan. Thechampagne moment of the three-day match was when Yohannan shattered thestumps of Vaughan, who was shaping to play at a really quick deliverythat cut back in a shade. The off and middle stumps went flying in aspectacular manner. Perhaps that was the one ball that changed the lifeof this soft-spoken youngster.Yohannan was looking forward to playing in the four Ranji Trophy matchesfor Kerala. Talking about the goals that he has set for the season,Yohannan said, “I want Kerala to qualify for the knock-out stage. I haveto give my best, bowl aggressively and retain my fitness to achievethat.” His mates would not mind missing him from the Ranji team; it isindeed an honour for the small state of Kerala that one of their boyscould well be playing in a Test match on Monday.
Aston Villa defender Calum Chambers is a doubt to face his former club Arsenal this lunchtime, according to the BBC.
The Lowdown: West Ham injury
Villa fell to a 2-1 defeat to West Ham last weekend and also left the capital with a number of injury problems.
Chambers, who has been labelled ‘magnificent’ by Ian Wright, played the entirety of the defeat to David Moyes’ side but suffered a facial injury.
Lucas Digne and Douglas Luiz also suffered problems at the London Stadium, with Gerrard now facing some big selection calls as he looks to get his side back to winning ways.
The Latest: BBC’s preview
BBC shared a preview of Villa’s meeting with Arsenal on Friday lunchtime. When it came to team news, they initially said that Chambers, along with Luiz, was a doubt but have now claimed they have been pictured in training, possibly leaving their participation up in the air.
Gerrard has since confirmed that Digne and Kortney Hause will also miss the game through injury.
The Verdict: Shame
Chambers was just beginning to establish himself as a regular under Gerrard after joining Villa in January, featuring as a starter in five of the club’s last six Premier League fixtures.
Ezri Konsa was an unused substitute against West Ham, so you’d expect that he will slot straight in alongside Tyrone Mings, should the 27-year-old miss out.
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Hopefully Chambers won’t be out for long and will give Gerrard another selection headache against Wolves following the international break, providing he doesn’t feature today.
In other news: Gregg Evans drops Aston Villa contract news after ‘important’ deal confirmed
Dale Steyn has said that the notion he is coming towards the end of his international career due to his recent run of injuries is “absolutely ridiculous” and added he is desperate to help lead the recovery of South Africa’s fortunes.With Steyn being ruled out of the final Test against England in Centurion, due to the shoulder injury he sustained in the opening match of the series in Durban, it means he will have missed six of South Africa’s last eight Tests.Amid the problems swirling around South African cricket – including the doubts over AB de Villiers’ future – the long-term prognosis for Steyn has been questioned but he has no intention of packing it in.”It’s absolute rubbish,” Steyn told . “I played 48 Tests in a row, didn’t miss a single one, and now suddenly I’m an injury liability at the age of 32? It’s ridiculous. Injuries can happen to anybody but I’m still one of the fittest players in the squad and I have many, many overs left in me.””The Test team is going through some huge changes and I want to help lead the way as one of the senior players. This is no time to turn your back and walk away, that’s the last thing on my mind.”Steyn said that he retains ambitions in all three formats of the game but for now his immediate aim is to regain fitness for the World T20, which he concedes may be his last global limited-overs event, and that he will not be rushing back for the ODIs against England if not fully ready.”I’d love to be involved in the ODI series against England but I’m not going to rush back from injury, like I did in India, and make it worse. I’m desperately keen to be fit and play in the T20 World Cup in India in March. It might be my last World Cup so I’d like to help win the bloody thing.”
Simon Katich made an emphatic statement in the lead-up to Australia’s six-Test summer, smashing a career-best 306 in front of a national selector while also earning New South Wales first-innings points against Queensland. Katich crawled to triple-figures from 204 balls but cut loose in the middle session, cracking 184 in the two and a half hours between lunch and tea.His second hundred took 75 deliveries and his third came in 67 as the spinners Chris Simpson and Daniel Doran suffered the most. With Jamie Cox, one of the Australia selectors who axed Katich from the contract list during the off-season, watching on, Katich struck 30 fours and nine sixes in reaching the highest first-class score at the SCG since Don Bradman made 452 in 1929-30.Brad Haddin was in fine form as well, striking 123 as he and Katich added 334 for the fifth wicket. Dominic Thornely (64) supported Katich during the opening session after New South Wales resumed at 3 for 151, still 316 short of Queensland’s total.It seemed Katich would bat on indefinitely until Ashley Noffke, who grabbed 5 for 108, ended his seven-hour innings. Mitchell Johnson’s 0 for 134 was hardly the result he wanted ahead of a potential Test debut, as the Blues finally declared at 8 for 601. The Bulls had cut their deficit to 111 at stumps, reaching 0 for 23 with Matthew Hayden on 14 and Ryan Broad on 9.
Scorecard It was very much Ryan ten Doeschate’s day as the Netherlands established a commanding position after day one of their ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Canada in Pretoria. ten Doeschate took a career-best 6 for 20 as Canada were routed for 103 in only 36.2 overs before backing that up with another flamboyant century.The other notable feature of the innings was a hat-trick for the young left-arm spinner Mohammad Kashif, who finished with 4 for 39 in only his third first-class match. Canada had been handily placed on 76 for 2 before Kashif wrecked the middle order. They never recovered as ten Doeschate added the tail to his three top-order wickets with the new ball.ten Doeschate was not finished there however, as he scored a century off 116 balls to stabilise a Netherlands innings that had wobbled from the prosperity of 118 for 1 to 159 for 6, with Henry Osinde claiming three wickets. By the close they had advanced to 239, a lead of 136, with ten Doeschate unbeaten on 135.It was 26-year-old ten Doeshate’s sixth first-class century, and he has now reached three figures in four successive innings in the ICC Intercontinental Cup.