It’s often said that the wicketkeeper sets the standards of fielding for ateam. If that is true, then this Indian team should do well in the comingyears for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s glovework has been outstanding in recenttimes. It’s premature to suggest that the elevation to captaincy may haveplayed a part in this, but from someone who was seen as a batsman whocould keep wickets adequately, Dhoni has grown into a force behind thestumps.In Baroda, a city that has produced two of the best Indian wicketkeepersof the recent past, there was rich conversation about glovework,especially in the light of Dhoni winning the Man-of-the-Match award in thefourth one-dayer in Chandigarh. “Looking at his percentage of takingcatches it’s better than any of the other keepers we have had recently,”Kiran More, one of the former Indian wicketkeepers from Baroda, told. “He doesn’t miss when the chances come his way. He’sreally good at assessing situations and his temperament is fantastic. Hedoesn’t look good in the conventional sense in that he’s not a stylishwicketkeeper but his temperament under pressure sets him apart.”But it was not long ago that Dhoni was struggling in England, especiallyin the early part of the tour having to contend with the considerable movement after the ball crossed the batsman. This is something all keepers have to adjust to whenplaying in England. The other Baroda wicketkeeper, Nayan Mongia, pointsout that it was a flaw in technique that caused Dhoni problems in England.”He struggled in England because his technique was not right. He washalf-squatting and so could not always gather the ball,” said Mongia, “Butafter that he has done really well. He is improving with every match. Heis watching the ball, staying low and moving with the ball. Hence, hismistakes have come down considerably.”More too concedes that Dhoni struggled in England, but says that was onlyto be expected. “In England people criticised him but you shouldunderstand that wicketkeepers always struggle there,” said More. “To hiscredit Dhoni’s concentration level is very high. He has improved a lot.Look at one-and-a-half years ago and now. Look at his hand position. Hepicks things up quickly.”Mongia, who was an expert at keeping wickets on rank turners and evenunderprepared pitches where Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh made the ballexplode out of the rough, says Dhoni will be tested fully in suchconditions. “It is always difficult to keep in India because the ballkeeps low. But Dhoni is high on confidence and that is helping him dowell,” said Mongia. “When keeping to the pacers, he dives around tocollect the ball. If there’s one area in which he should improve, it is inhis sideways movement. He needs to be on his toes much more. That willgive him a chance to cover much more ground on both sides without needingto dive.”On the issue of leading the side, playing a role with thebat and keeping wickets – and the heavy burden this places on Dhoni -Mongia and More have slightly different takes. “I am worried that hemight have a lot on his hands in the coming days,” Mongia said. “As it is a keeper has toconcentrate more than others and as a captain, he will certainly have alot more to think about.”More struck a more optimistic note. “This guy is a little different. He can take the pressure of doing everything. He can prove lot of pundits wrong,” said More. “Keepingwickets and captaining is always difficult. But he loves thechallenge. That’s what I like most about him. That makes the best ofwicketkeepers. Standing back and waiting for things to happen is nevergood. Dhoni is the kind of guy who will create something and win matches.That’s the difference between Dhoni and other keepers.”
Day 3 The third day’s play of the ICC Intercontinental Cup between Kenya and Bermuda at Nairobi was washed out. Bermuda, after conceding a 72-run first innings lead were 19 for 2 at the end of the second day’s play. The loss of play has loosened Kenya’s grip a bit, but they should still be backing themselves to bowl Bermuda out and chase, if they have to, successfully, in case they get a full day’s play on Wednesday.
Shoaib Akhtar faces a make-or-break fitness test at Pakistan’s practice camp this week to determine how much of a role he will play in the upcoming series against England.Akhtar, 30, has faced constant criticism for his poor fitness record and many still question his attitude. Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan, a supporter of Akhtar, said: “With his age he is at the crossroads. I think the England series is make-or-break for Akhtar. He is 30 so he has four years left in him but it is Akhtar who gives Pakistan the hope to win against England.”Akhtar has a reputation for breaking down mid-series and has previously been fined for going out on late nights. Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer, who has publicly asked for more commitment from Akhtar, said: “He is in our scheme of things because he is a genuine fast bowler but the question mark is whether he can last five days of a Test and 15 of a series.”Rameez Raja, a former Pakistan captain and ex-chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board, said Akhtar has a lot to prove. “It’s up to Akhtar to prove everyone wrong, he should understand the importance of playing for Pakistan,” he said. “There are always lots of expectations of Akhtar and he has got to prove a point to everyone against England and then against India.”
Justin Langer On the heat I feel pretty good and we’re in a pretty goodposition. I started cramping – I tend to do that atAdelaide – after lunch and that probably affected myconcentration. But that went away and I felt prettygood.On the century I don’t think it’s one of my best. Besides the firstcouple of overs and a couple with the second new ball, it wasa gritty innings. But my balance was really goodbecause footwork is one area of my game that I’ve hadto improve over the last 12 to 18 months.On it being his 20th hundred Statistics are a really funny thing in cricket. Whenyou are playing the game they mean a lot. I spoke toTugga [Steve Waugh] a couple of months ago and he saidthat in retirement statistics mean nothing. While I’mplaying and getting paid to score runs it means Ihopefully get a game next week.On the pitch It’s a very good wicket and is actually getting morecarry than I’ve seen before. I’m not sure it’s goingto get up and down. We’re going to have to giveourselves plenty of time to get 20 New Zealandwickets.On Hayden’s caught-and-bowled It was a big banging double noise so he must havethought that he’d thumped it into the ground. He wasprobably hoping it was a bump ball because he wasstarting to hit it pretty well. I thought it was out.On using the third umpire for a catch I’m not saying it was obvious, but it looked to methat it was it probably out. The umpires did the rightthing. If the technology is there they might as welluse it.On New Zealand’s performance They fought hard all day. Jacob Oram is an outstandingcricketer to bowl that economically on that track.Chris Martin runs in hard all day and hasn’t had thatmuch luck, but definitely has the spirit.On their mood in the field They were a bit quiet, but I’m not sure how they play.They had a tough week last week, it was 38 degrees orso, they lost the toss on a good wicket. They did anadmirable job.On his run-burst in the first two overs I keep telling Haydos that he’s the blocker and I amthe aggressor. I can’t believe he’s playing one-daycricket and I’m not. [The rooms laughs loudly] Heknows how I feel about this.Paul Wiseman On his performance I started off a bit rusty but came back well in thesecond spell and had good rhythm.On the heat compared to Bangladesh It was hot and dry; Bangladesh was humid. You don’tget wet out there, it’s just dry, your mouth’s dry.But we had a breeze today.On Hayden’s catch I thought it was just a regulation caught-and-bowled.He wasn’t sure whether he’d squeezed it into theground. I was pretty sure, but it put doubt in my mindwhen he didn’t go. He’s entitled to stick around. Itwas pretty amicable, no dramas.On the feeling in the side It was good honest toil. We lost the toss on a prettygood batting wicket and the Aussies played very well.There weren’t too many chances and the boys stuck atit. Jacob Oram bowled beautifully, Chris Martin ran inwith good rhythm and Dan [Vettori] did a good job on awicket that’s not turning much yet. The guys are okand certainly not down.On the side’s position It would have been nice to get a couple more at theend and maybe we could have done better with thesecond new ball, but we had an opener who was 120 bythat stage.On the pitch spinning I think it will start turning quite a bit by daythree, especially if the heat stays. If we get to bowla second time I look forward to it.
The WACA Selectors have released the Retravision Warriors Second XI for the Cricket Australia Cup match against Tasmania at the WACA Ground.The four-day fixture begins on Monday.The Second XI team is: Scott Meuleman (Captain), Kade Harvey, Sam Howman, Andrew James, Brett Jones, Shaun Marsh, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Luke Ronchi, Craig Simmons, John Taylor, Michael Thistle and Adam Voges.The team includes Vodafone Cup players Sam Howman from Subiaco-Floreat and Dimitri Mascarenhas from Melville.Swing bowler Howman was the Vodafone Cup’s most prolific wicket-taker last season with 56 victims.All-rounder Mascarenhas is a star in English County cricket. He has played over 100 games for Hampshire.
Otago opening batsman Brendon McCullum has forced his way into the CLEAR Black Caps side to compete in the VB tri-series with Australia and South Africa starting next week.It is a rapid rise for McCullum from the New Zealand Under-19 side which he led so capably last summer in a home series against South Africa where he dominated with the bat.He is a graduate of New Zealand’s Cricket Academy in 2001 and recently achieved his maiden first-class century for his Otago side in the State Championship.He has been preferred to Mathew Sinclair who the selection panel chairman Sir Richard Hadlee said had to address some problems with his technique.”He has been very vulnerable with the new ball and taking him back to Australia and the hostile environment of the two teams [Australia and South Africa] is not a good option at this stage,” he said.The selectors were looking further down the track with McCullum’s selection and the panel were keen to test him in the VB environment.”We are not apologetic about introducing youth,” Hadlee said.The team is: Stephen Fleming (captain), Andre Adams, Shane Bond, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Kyle Mills, Dion Nash, Adam Parore, Mark Richardson, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.Whether McCullum plays in many of the matches on the tour would depend on the tour selection committee.”Brendon has been scoring prolifically for the State Otago Volts and at a strike rate of over 90.”He’s young and talented and it’s his challenge now to take the step up to the highest level,” Hadlee said.The selection of Adam Parore as the preferred wicket-keeper ahead of Chris Nevin was in response to Parore’s own reaction to being excluded from the team named to tour Pakistan.”We put the pressure on him and gave him reasons why he had not been selected. He is the best ‘keeper in world cricket at the moment and he is back into some sort of batting form,” he said.Hadlee said the selectors had been on the phone all day and there had been one or two split decisions in the selection but they were all agreed on the side now.There would be some disappointed players, like Chris Martin, Sinclair, James Franklin and others but there were just not enough places to put all these players in the side.Hadlee also announced there was a much more pleasing prognosis on Nathan Astle’s broken hand and there was every indication that he would be ready to prove his fitness in some State Shield games being played on January 20 and 22.Astle would be asked to take part in those games and if he came through them satisfactorily he would probably join the side as New Zealand’s 15th player for the back-to-back games in Adelaide later that week.Mark Richardson has also been included in the one-day side for the first time.Hadlee said the selectors had not wanted to complicate things for Richardson after he made his Test debut last summer.However, this season the selectors felt his range of stroke play had broadened and he was in good form.”He deserves his opportunity,” Hadlee said.”Mark has been very consistent and he has shown us that he has increased his range of scoring shots.”He really wants to play one-day cricket and he now has the opportunity to prove his worth,” Hadlee said.The options for an opening partner for him centred on Lou Vincent or McCullum. Either player could also bat No 6 in the order.Kyle Mills has also been included. He had gone through some difficult times recently and Hadlee was hopeful the expression of faith given him by the selectors would be a boost for him.Andre Adams has also been included and with his outstanding play this summer is shaping as a central player in New Zealand’s strategy for the future.”As well as being an aggressive middle to lower order batsman, we believe Andre will have an important role to play bowling at the death.”It’s our belief in his ability to bowl with control in that situation that gave him the edge over some other contenders.”
Hemalatha helped Indian Railways to a comfortable seven wicket winwith 9.3 overs to spare against South Zone in the CricInfo Rani JhansiTrophy women’s tournament at the Southern Railway ground in Chennai onWednesday. This was the fourth straight defeat for South Zone in thetournament.Having to score 170 for a win, Railways started in real earnest whenopeners Balvir Kaur and Purnima Choudary. Though Balvir thrashed twoconsecutive square cuts in the first over, she was adjudged leg beforeto Swarnalaxmi at the score of 16 in the fourth over. Rajni Venugopaljoined Purnima but the partnership did not last long. Purnima wascaught behind off Mamta in the ninth over while trying to steer theball to backward square leg.Purnima’s dismissal brought together Rajni and Hemalatha. Both werelooking to play their shots, especially Hemalatha. They chose theballs to be hit and never hesitated to run the singles hard. But Rajniin a rare misjudgement, found herself short of the crease when Mamtathrew the stumps down with a direct hit.Shyama now joined Hemalatha in a fruitful partnership. They added anunbeaten 101 runs for the fourth wicket in 24.1 overs. The two puttheir heads down and steered the score to 109 at the second drinksbreak in the 27th over. Hemalatha was more sensible in the selectionof her shots and her placement than Shyama who was moreflamboyant. But the two in tandem were more than a handful for themediocre South Zone attack. During the last stretch, Shyama tried tofinish off in style by hitting two crisply struck boundaries.Earlier, South put up a poor batting display. Openers Vanita and SudhaRani started their innings by conceding a maiden. With a predominantlyoff side field, the Railways bowlers Sunita and Umesh bowled far toomany balls down the leg side. But the openers were not able tocapitalise on this. Vanita was willing to go for her shots but all shecould find were the Railways’ fielders.The twelfth over saw a double change in the bowling as off-spinnerRupanjali and left arm-spinner Neetu David replaced Sunita andUmesh. They struck a good line and length and restricted the Southopeners to mostly singles. At the first drinks break after the 19thover, both Neetu and Rupanjali had conceded only eleven runs in eightovers between them. Soon after the drinks break, the openers tried toget out of the rut and tried making some lofted shots. But that speltdisaster as South soon lost Vanita when she mistimed a drive andspooned an easy catch to Shyama Shah at point.The entry of Karuna saw some good running between the wickets. Theystarted to take some good singles, peppered with boundary hits. Aftera good spell of bowling by the two spinners Neetu (1 for 19 in 10overs) and Rupanjali (none for 20 in 10 overs) Diana replaced Neetuand continued in the same vien. In the 35th over Diana had Karuna legbefore, when she was starting to look good.After holding the South inings together during a fine innings of 52,Sudha was run out in the 39th over. Her departure prompted both Harshaand Manjula to go for some risky running between the wickets and itwas only a matter of time before both of them were dismissed. Towardsthe closing stages of the innings, South did make an attempt to stepup the scoring rate but instead they lost wickets in a flurry. Thelast ten overs saw 55 runs being scored but for the loss of eightwickets. The innings folded up in the 50th over at the score of170. There were six run outs, ample proof of the fine performance byIndian Railways on the field.
West Brom have been in horrendous form, picking up just one point from their last seven games, and new manager Steve Bruce will be hoping that he can capitalise on Hull City’s inconsistency to seal all three points when his side travel to Humberside this afternoon.
Despite the injury picture remaining mostly unchanged, with Daryl Dike, Matt Phillips and Kenneth Zohore all still unavailable for selection, the former Newcastle boss will be able to bring more experience back into the side, with Jake Livermore returning from suspension for the match against the Tigers.
With that in mind, here is how Football FanCast expect to see West Brom line up against Hull today…
We expect to see three changes to the team which lost 2-0 to Swansea City on Monday night, as Bruce has hinted at making a few changes in his pre-match press conference.
The first change we expect to see is the addition of Taylor Gardner-Hickman in the backline for his first starting appearance since the 61-year-old was appointed as Albion manager last month. The 20-year-old – who was hailed as “bright” by Chris Lepkowski – was handed a permanent contract by the club at the end of 2021 after impressing former Baggies manager Valerien Ismael.
If Bruce’s comments are anything to go by, the youngster will get his opportunity to impress once again today against Hull City, with the Albion boss telling the press on Friday: “Certainly, he will get his opportunity and he is right in my thoughts for tomorrow.”
The second change we predict is the return of Livermore in the starting XI, returning from suspension following a four-match ban due to receiving his second red card of the season.
The 32-year-old worked with his current manager, coincidentally at Hull, and it would be no surprise at all to see him instantly restored to the starting XI, with the ineffective Adam Reach axed to accommodate his return and Jayson Molumby moved over into the left central midfield position.
The third and final predicted change to the starting line-up is the return of Karlan Grant, replacing Grady Diangana in the forward line just behind Andy Carroll in an attempt to freshen up the attacking threat after the disappointing defeat at The Hawthorns earlier this week.
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Grant is currently the Baggies’ top scorer this season, with 10 goals in the current campaign, and he will be hoping that Bruce will give him the opportunity to start against Hull today to prove that he can get back to his goalscoring ways, having failed to find the net since West Brom’s last victory in January against Peterborough.
A win for the Baggies this afternoon is an absolute must, as they has now fallen to 13th in the Championship and are running out of time to gain a play-off place, and Bruce will be hoping to secure his first win at the club to take the pressure off amid some question marks over his appointment.
In other news: Steve Madeley has dropped a worrying update on this Baggies gem
Alastair Cook has admitted England will be taking “a risk” if they select James Anderson in their team for the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town.Anderson missed the first Test after sustaining a mild calf strain and, though he is confident he should be fit for this match, has not been able to deliver the overs he would have liked before heading into a major match. He bowled just five overs in the tour match in Potchefstroom and, while he bowled in training over the last couple of days in Durban, he usually does very little the day before a Test in order to ensure he is fresh.With England having seen Dale Steyn break down during the first Test after coming into the match having recently recovered from injury, they will be very keen not to make the same mistake.”We have to be really careful with heart and head,” Cook said. “He’s desperate to play but we just have to make sure it’s the right decision for him. We don’t want to hinder ourselves and have an injury caused that we could have prevented. Obviously there will be a bit of a risk about it.”Ultimately, it seems Anderson will be trusted to make the decision himself. As a highly experienced bowler who knows his body, the management are confident that his heart will not rule his head. He bowled at full pace and batted in the nets on Friday and all things considered, he looks likely to play.”If he’s fit to go, then he’ll play,” Cook said. “It’s an interesting call because of how many overs he’s bowled so far on this tour – it’s not a huge amount – and the conditions will be tough for all of us. We’ll have a good chat in the changing room and see how he feels.”You want your best players playing. If he’s fit and ready and confident, then he’ll be opening the bowling. But we have to make sure we’re right.”England’s other concern is their consistency over recent times. In 2015, they won six and lost six Tests sometimes following an excellent performance (Grenada and Cardiff) with a pretty wretched one (Barbados and Lord’s).”I certainly haven’t got to the bottom of why we’ve been so inconsistent as a side over the last ten months,” Cook admitted. “Have we as a side learned? Can we be more consistent and harder to beat?”If South Africa play out of their skin and we hit the same standards then I’ll be happy. But we have to hit the same standard. In Durban, we set a benchmark. It’s just a case of whether we have the same hunger in us to do that again.”In the longer term, England have some scheduling concerns. Both sides go into this match with just a two-day turnaround between games – it seems incredible to think that Tests used to contain rest days – and it starts a year when England are scheduled to play 17 Tests (though it is rumoured the five Test series in India could be reduced to a four-Test series).Such a schedule – and that is before ODIs and the World T20 is considered – gives England’s top players little chance to play at their optimum. Given more rest and care, Anderson and Stuart Broad might still be capable of producing their sharpest spells more often.Equally Graeme Swann’s elbow might not have caused so many problems and Jonathan Trott may have had time to recover his equilibrium. Andy Flower, too, may reflect that the relentless pressure of the England coaching role saw him change, over time, and become, for a while, a less positive figure.Many of the players have their families with them at present – one of the coaching staff saw his family at Christmas for the first time since September – but there is a concern that the demands on those involved now stretch to around 300 days a year and create strains on family life that cannot be fully compensated by a large salary. International careers are becoming shorter; the demands are unsustainable.”A two-day turnaround isn’t great for the players,” Cook said. “If we’d bowled 140 overs in the dirt in Durban and then had a two-day turnaround in 40 degrees, which it has been here, that’s a gruelling ask to keep the standards up. Hopefully, this is just a one-off and people see sense. You need a couple more days between Tests.”We started in April saying that we had 17 Test matches and it was a gruelling schedule. But we certainly won’t be using that as an excuse at the end of this week if we don’t play well.”The players, like the coaches, are pawns in a game that sees the ECB demanding more to sustain a business model that is creaking under the weight of the demands upon it. It is not easy for the ECB: pay any less and players may prefer a future in T20 leagues; play any less and the money may not be there for the academies, the development tours, the county system and salaries. But the current demands on the players are too great and, in time, will become self-defeating.
Nepal have qualified for next year’s Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia after defeating a spirited Afghanistan side by 48 runs in the final of the Asian Cricket Council Under-19 Elite Cup at the Kinrara Oval. Nepal successfully defended a modest of 172 to bowl out Afghanistan, who lost their last four wickets for three runs in 11 balls.The tournament also served as the Asian qualifier and by virtue of winning it, Nepal joined Papua New Guinea (from the East Asia-Pacific region), Ireland (from the Europe region), Bermuda (from the Americas region), the ICC’s 10 Full Members and hosts Malaysia at the 16-team World Cup to be played from February 17 to March 2, 2008.Deciding to bat first, Nepal found the going tough against the disciplined Afghanistan bowlers who continued to take wickets at regular intervals. The only partnership of any substance was for the sixth wicket between Sagar Khadka and Aakash Kumar Gupta who added 61 runs after Nepal had slumped to 60 for 5 in the 22nd over.Khadka scored a painstaking 32 from 79 balls with one four while Gupta scored run-a-ball 48 with six fours and a six. Captain Paras Khadka was other notable run-getter with 28. For Afghanistan, Asghar Hussain, Obaidullah Kunari and Aimal Wafa took two wickets each.Afghanistan began in similar style and fell to 67 for 5, but couldn’t produce the same sort of fightback. Shir Shirazi and Shabir Noori tried to stabilise the innings, however, Shirazi’s departure opened floodgates as Afghanistan lost their last five wickets for 16 runs.Roy Dias, Nepal’s coach, was delighted with the success of his team which also gives him the unprecedented honour of appearing at his fourth U-19 World Cup. “These kids have shown that they are tough and can come through against any opposition and in any conditions,” he said.”We were not given any realistic chance of qualifying this time because we could hardly practice in Nepal because of rain. However, we were rescued by Sri Lanka Cricket who funded our week-long tour [in August]. And although we lost a couple of matches, it was a big tour in terms that the boys got match practice and managed to fine-tune their talent.”Dias felt the key stage of the final was the sixth-wicket stand between Khadka and Gupta. “I think that was the turning point because that partnership made sure we had enough runs on the board. And once we picked up Afghanistan opener Sajed Khan very early in the innings, we knew we had the match under control because bowling was our strength and we showed tremendous discipline in that department throughout the tournament.”