England’s three-month tour of Australia will beextended by another seven days after PaulCollingwood’s 106 set up an unpredictable triumph. Twoweeks ago England’s players were praying to go home,but now they have a best-of-three finals seriesagainst Australia to prepare for and moreopportunities for consistency before the World Cup.Having done well to score 7 for 270, England quicklygave up their strong position with a wayward openingand Stephen Fleming clipped a century that appeared tobe sending England to the international airport.However, despite raising his first hundred in three years,Fleming was unable to carry his team and was light onsupport as they finished with 8 for 256.In a tense and often scratchy second innings, NewZealand began well, were pegged back after the first15 overs, worked themselves into comfort throughFleming and Ross Taylor and suffered terminal blowswhen Scott Styris, Jacob Oram and Brendon McCullumleft in quick succession. Wanting 19 from the lastover to tie and go through, the eventual margin was 14runs and it was a disappointing end for a team thatplayed well until the final week of qualifying.After Collingwood and Andrew Strauss worked their wayout of bad patches, Fleming also shook off a lean runin an innings that needed his leadership. Fleming, whosuffered a painful blow on the hand from AndrewFlintoff, played well until he approached his centurywhen he stalled and was unable to recharge. His 106from 149 balls was his seventh ODI century but thecause was lost when he edged Flintoff and his nextengagement is the Chappell-Hadlee Series at home.New Zealand’s openers wiped 81 off the chase beforeLou Vincent was caught trying to slog Monty Panesar to midwicket. The swift start was boosted by the tardiness of England’s new-ball men, who gave up 56 runs between them in eight overs, and Liam Plunkett was the early offender with an 11-delivery over that included nine runs in wides.Plunkett sprayed the ball and Sajid Mahmood also hadtrouble controlling Fleming and Vincent before Panesar arrived to end the damage. Panesar picked upVincent for 31 off 32 balls in the 14th over and NewZealand’s progress continued to slow when Peter Fultonarrived, taking 11 deliveries to get off zero.Departing to a leading edge, Fulton occupied 30 ballsfor 12 and the dip in the scoring rate had lastingeffects.Collingwood’s century was the high point for Englandas they produced a competitive total despite a fineeffort by Shane Bond, who captured 4 for 46. At timesduring the series Collingwood, who had 83 runs in hisprevious six attempts, had looked lost, but he pickedan ideal day to fire.
England’s struggles were again on show when Bonddropped them to 2 for 28, but Collingwood re-floatedthe side in partnership with Strauss and thencompleted the job by almost staying until the end.Both batsmen have struggled during the limited-oversstage of the tour, but their 103-run stand in 118balls provided extra confidence and put England on theright track.Strauss fell pulling for 55 and Collingwood continuedto grab runs through nudges, glides and firmboundaries. There were moments of doubt, including adropped caught-and-bowled chance by Jacob Oram on 18,but he grew more assured as the innings progressed anddeserved his reward. He left in strange circumstanceswhen Jamie Dalrymple dropped his bat at thenon-striker’s end as Bond was in his delivery stride. Collingwood noticed and appeared to be put off as he moved across his stumps and was bowled.In Bond’s first spell of five overs he capturedMichael Vaughan and Ian Bell for nine runs andreturned in his second to remove Andrew Flintoff (17)before he became too dangerous. Michael Vaughan’sreturn from three weeks out with a hamstring injuryended in almost immediate disappointment after he wonthe toss. Bond began the second over of the inningswith a wide, but his first legal effort wassensational and he bowled Vaughan with an inswingingyorker.Collingwood engineered the fightback and added to hisbright day with two victims while Plunkett managedthree despite his accuracy problems. Flintoff was also important to the success and with Vaughan back in charge they will feel better prepared to test Australia at the MCG on Friday.
Matthew Hayden will play his first Pura Cup match in more than two years when he lines up for Queensland against New South Wales at the Gabba on Thursday. Hayden is joined by Shane Watson, whose rehabilition from a partially dislocated shoulder continues, as the Bulls aim to stay in touch with the joint leaders NSW and South Australia.Hayden, who missed Queensland’s outright win over Western Australia two weeks ago because of a chest complaint, last batted in a Pura Cup match in December 2003, but his dropping from the national one-day side has given him a chance to find some first-class form before the tour of South Africa.Ryan Broad and Ashley Noffke have been replaced and Daniel Doran, the legspinner who took five wickets on debut against the Warriors, retains his spot. Terry Oliver, the Bulls coach, said Michael Kasprowicz and Andy Bichel were certain to play after overcoming niggling complaints.New South Wales have made no changes to the initial line-up that drew with Victoria in Lismore earlier this month. Brad Haddin, who left mid-match to play in Australia’s one-day outfit, will lead the Blues as they attempt to move ahead of South Australia, who are also on 20 points. Queensland sit in fourth place on 16, two behind Victoria.New South Wales squad Phil Jaques, Matthew Phelps, Craig Simmons, Corey Richards, Dominic Thornely, Brad Haddin (capt, wk), Aaron O’Brien, Grant Lambert, Matthew Nicholson, Aaron Bird, Doug Bollinger, Stuart MacGill.Queensland squad Jimmy Maher (capt), Matthew Hayden, Martin Love, Shane Watson, Clinton Perren, Brendan Nash, Lachlan Stevens, Chris Hartley (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Andy Bichel, Michael Kasprowicz, Daniel Doran.
St Thomas College needed just eight overs on the third morning at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo to wrap up a thumping innings-and-28-run victory over their arch-rivals, Royal College, to secure their first victory in the “Battle of the Blues” since 1999.A St Thomas victory was always on the cards after rolling Royal College over for 94 in the first innings, but they had been held up on the second evening by a dogged 102-run stand between D Wijeratne and Sukitha Senaratne, who had compiled a fine unbeaten 92. Senaratne, however, could not add to his overnight score, and with his departure, the end was swift.Wijeratne added nine more runs to his overnight 39, but appropriately enough, it was St Thomas’s captain, Videsh Balasubramaniam, who applied the coup de grace, sweeping through the tail for figures of 4 for 54 from 15 overs.St Thomas’s victory takes them ahead of Royal in the overall record between the two sides. In their 126 encounters, St Thomas have now won 33 matches to Royal’s 32, with 61 draws.
Once again India fell at the final hurdle, losing both VB Series finals to Australia by wide margins, and once again questions have been asked about their failure to win tournaments after playing well on the way to the final.There was no shame in being beaten by Australia – they are the world champions, after all – away from home. What stuck in the throat was the manner and size of the defeats. And Sunil Gavaskar, writing in his syndicated weekly column, spoke for many when he said that “the way the Indian team just capitulated is what is so depressing.”It was an impossible task alright, but so ordinary and unedifying was the sight of the batsmen getting dismissed regularly that the tag of ‘chokers in the crunch matches’ now probably belongs to them and not the South Africans, who had monopolised it for a long time now. More than the defeat, it was India’s meek surrender that would have disappointed their supporters and followers.”The batsmen gave the impression that since the target was so big they would just throw their bats at everything and see if it worked,” Gavaskar continued. “What it conveyed was a “couldn’t care a damn” feeling than an honest effort.”Nobody likes to criticise for the heck of it and there’s genuine joy when they do well so if there’s sadness and no little anger at the manner of the loss, then that should also be understood.”And former Australian captain Ian Chappell said that Australia’s “mental toughness” was the key to their success. “In the end it was the Australians who remained mentally strong through the summer and the Indians wilted. The Aussies will be hoping this final hammering has a lasting affect on India considering the next contest is on their turf.”
Demand for tickets still remaining for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 peaked again today when tickets came back into the system for some of the high profile matches. These tickets became available after some people failed to make their purchases after being allocated seats in the Ticket Window random draw ballot system which closed last week. Some tickets also came back from sponsors who did not want to purchase their full allocation.About 15 000 tickets were sold today.Those matches sold out today were:- England vs India – Durban – South Africa vs West Indies – Cape Town – India vs Pakistan – Centurion – New Zealand vs South Africa – Johannesburg – Super Six – Durban – England vs Pakistan – Cape Town – South Africa vs Sri Lanka – Durban – 1st Pool A vs 1st Pool B (Super Six) – Centurion – Super Six – Johannesburg – Australia vs India – Centurion Matches almost sold out are:- Super Six – Cape Town – Semi Final – Port Elizabeth – 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B (Super Six) – Centurion Matches sold out before today:- The Final – Johannesburg – Semifinal – Durban There are still 95 000 tickets available for many other matches at all 12 venues hosting CWC matches in South Africa.There are also still some tickets available for the Opening Ceremony on Feb 8 in Cape Town.Tickets may be purchased on the ticket hotline 083 123 2003, via the website www.cricketworldcup.com or at the hosting stadiums.
Steve Waugh, laughing off an English newspaper that depicted him as a prawnon a barbecue, has begun his fourth Ashes tour by revealing it might not behis last.Waugh and his twin, Mark, turn 36 on Saturday but the Australian captainadmitted his previously nominated retirement date of the 2003 World Cup wasnot set in stone.”I’m not absolutely sure this is my last,” he said before the Australianone-day squad’s fitness and net sessions on the picturesque Worcestershireground ahead of Friday’s tour opener.”Look, I’d like to go to another World Cup and try and retain our trophy andI may go beyond that – or I may go before that.”I love playing cricket and playing cricket for Australia. Wearing thatbaggy green is something special, so I want to soak that up as long as Ican.”The Mirror newspaper superimposed the heads of Waugh, Glenn McGrath andShane Warne atop three sizzling prawns on a barbecue beneath the back pageheadline: “Let’s throw a few prawns on the barbie … and watch Englandclean up the Ashes.”Waugh would not be baited.”They don’t look like Aussie prawns, they’re not big enough,” he told apacked press conference.”It’s a nice look, thanks very much – something to show the kids when I getback home.”With Test regulars Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Michael Slater, Justin Langerand the Waugh twins all over the age of 30, a changing of the guard inAustralian cricket is only a few years away.More than half the current one-day and Test players will not be back inEngland in four years, so an extension to Waugh’s career would have obviousbenefits to an evolving squad.He claimed his sights on tour were set no farther than next month’s one-daytournament against England and Pakistan, but his eyes lit up when talkturned to the Tests, which begin on July 5.”I’ve got a gut feeling this series is going to be very competitive, veryclose, it will be exciting and we’re here to play aggressive and positivecricket and win every Test match,” he said.”Getting that urn at the end of the series is very important to allAustralians.”Asked the highlight of his Ashes career, Waugh said: “It hasn’t come yet.”Meanwhile, the ACB is yet to decide whether Australia will wear coloured orwhite clothing in the three-day fixture against Worcestershire.
Craig Hope has delivered an update on Newcastle United’s transfer pursuit of Lille defender Sven Botman.
What’s the story?
Writing on Twitter, Hope said: “Sven Botman is interesting. They watched him when Lille played at Chelsea recently but there’s also now a suggestion they’re looking at other options. I’d say Diego Carlos is looking less likely given age & fee, it felt like one for January only.”
Better than Van Dijk?
Standing at 6 foot 5, Botman is a physically imposing defender, much like his Dutch compatriot Virgil van Dijk. Described as someone who is emerging as a “leader” by his boss at Lille, the centre-back has produced some superb performances this season for the French side.
Indeed, speaking on his podcast, Duncan Castles revealed that Botman’s teammate at Lille, Jose Fonte, had told him he rated him better than anyone else he has played alongside.
He said: “Fonte has played with an array of top-class centre-backs in his career including Virgil van Dijk, Toby Alderweireld, Pepe in the Portuguese national team and Gabriel last season who is now at Arsenal. From what I understand of Fonte’s impression of Botman, he thinks he’s the best of all of them.
“He describes him as a machine and a man who doesn’t make mistakes and also indicates that for a young player playing alongside an experienced professional, he’s very open to learning and taking instruction and improving his game.”
For Fonte to suggest Botman is better than even someone like Van Dijk, who of course is a Champions League and Premier League winner now at Liverpool, is certainly a massive statement to make, but one that makes the prospect of him joining Newcastle even more mouth-watering than it already is.
And when you compare some of the key defensive stats between the duo, there’s not a lot between them.
As per Sofascore, Botman wins 3.9 total duels per game at an impressive average of 67%, which only just falls shy of Van Dijk’s 4.4 and 72% respectively. The Lille man actually also makes more than double the amount of tackles as the Dutchman, while they both register 0.9 interceptions per match.
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In terms of bringing the ball out from the back, the pair average 0.2 dribbles per game although Botman has a perfect success rate of 100% – that’s not to mention he is incredibly similar when passing out too, boasting an 88% pass accuracy to Van Dijk’s 89%, and having the same percentage when it comes to successful long balls.
The 6 foot 5 defender could be a superb addition to this Newcastle side in the summer.
AND in other news – Sold for £36.9m, now worth £720k: Newcastle enjoyed a blinder with “unplayable” flop
Queensland have suffered another setback with Jimmy Maher ruled out of the FR Cup match against South Australia on Sunday with a hernia. Maher, who will be replaced by James Hopes, hurt himself during an optional training session and his withdrawal is untimely as his side struggles following heavy first-class losses.”I guess it is a one-off at this stage with Jimmy and Chris Simpson unavailable but it should be a good experience,” Hopes, who will lead the state for the first time, said. “I’ve had a bit of captaincy experience but I’ll be keeping a close eye on Ricky Ponting today to see what tips I can pick up in the meantime.”The Bulls have been boosted by the return of Hopes, who is playing in the final game of the Chappell-Hadlee Series in Hobart. They need some spark after suffering another severe Pura Cup loss on Monday, leaving them last on four points after six matches. Queensland are better placed in the one-day competition and are desperate to hold on to second spot.Hopes comes into the side for the medium-pacer Chris Swan and Ashley Noffke is back after missing the loss to New South Wales while debuting for Australia in the Twenty20. Simpson was not considered after breaking his finger in the Pura Cup defeat to New South Wales.Lee Carseldine will continue his strong season as Maher’s replacement and he has also been picked in the squad for the New Year’s Eve Twenty20 against Victoria in Townsville. Carseldine, who has scored more than 500 grade runs, can add the representative honours to his FR Cup appearance last month. South Australia named an unchanged team after Matthew Elliott’s century put them on track for the win over Western Australia on Wednesday.Queensland FR Cup squad James Hopes (capt), Shane Watson, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, Aaron Nye, Nathan Reardon, Lee Carseldine, Ashley Noffke, Chris Hartley (wk), Michael Kasprowicz, Scott Brant, Grant Sullivan.South Australia FR Cup squad Matthew Elliott, Daniel Harris, Mark Cosgrove, Dan Christian, Callum Ferguson, Cameron Borgas, Nathan Adcock (capt), Graham Manou (wk), Ryan Harris, Jason Gillespie, Dan Cullen, Paul Rofe.Queensland Twenty20 squad Shane Watson, James Hopes, Clinton Perren, Jimmy Maher (capt), Craig Philipson, Aaron Nye, Chris Simpson, Michael Buchanan, Lee Carseldine, Nathan Reardon, Ashley Noffke, Chris Hartley (wk), Michael Kasprowicz.
Shoaib Akhtar has been fined by Pakistan’s team management in South Africa for his role in a televised spat with Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, during the second Test at Port Elizabeth, as details of what actually transpired emerge.A PCB official confirmed to Cricinfo that Talat Ali, Pakistan’s manager, had fined Shoaib an undisclosed amount – US$2500 according to unconfirmed reports – and the matter was likely to be investigated further. “He has been fined for that incident and we will look into the matter further. The chairman is there in South Africa so they will discuss the issue,” he said.The incident occurred on the second morning of the Test, TV cameras capturing pictures of a clearly incensed Shoaib having a heated discussion with Woolmer. Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, was seen to placate matters shortly after.Woolmer told Cricinfo that there was an argument, but refused to go into further details about the nature of the incident. “Shoaib and I did have a disagreement. It got heated as well, which was unfortunate and maybe could have been handled better,” he said.He also denied, categorically, that he had threatened to resign at any stage, as reported in an Urdu newspaper, , if no action was taken against Shoaib. “That is just rumour-mongering. I did no such thing at all and neither do I intend to. Talat Ali has taken the action he felt appropriate and that was his decision.”Though there are conflicting reports, it appears that the argument was over Shoaib’s fitness. Having arrived in South Africa ahead of the second Test – he was left out of the squad originally because he was considered unfit – Shoaib lit up the first day, taking four wickets in 11 overs to help bundle out the hosts for a paltry 124. But in a twist typical of much of his career, Shoaib picked up a hamstring injury and told the team management during morning practice on the second day that he could not bowl any more in the Test.”After he told the management, his commitment was questioned,” eyewitnesses told Cricinfo. “It was a crucial Test and obviously he was needed to bowl in the second innings. But Shoaib argued that the injury was genuine and was picked up during his first-day spell, because of the heavy ground he was bowling on. Naturally there was frustration and it carried on in the dressing room, where cameras got hold of it. The situation threatened to turn ugly there but Inzi intervened eventually.”Since the argument, a doctor in South Africa confirmed a hamstring injury though it was uncertain about how long it would keep him out. One report suggested he was out for two weeks while another said he was “fifty-fifty” for the third Test. In the end, the management decided to send him back to Pakistan, along with Umar Gul who is carrying an ankle injury.The incident caps what appears to be a strangely dysfunctional tour thus far for Pakistan. While results on the field have been promising – and a five-wicket series leveling win was memorable – off the field there has been tension and growing frustration within the camp, especially over the long injury list.Gul and Shoaib Malik have been injured since almost the beginning of the tour and apart from Shoaib’s single-day return, Mohammad Hafeez and Inzamam have also suffered niggles and knocks. It is also being said that Inzamam is deeply unhappy with the selection committee for first having Shoaib hoisted upon him and then for not allowing Shabbir Ahmed to go as cover for the third Test. Inzamam had asked for him, but the request was turned down by the selection committee, who understandably don’t want to stand accused of sending another unfit player on tour.
Even before Australia’s lengthy howzats in the second innings at the MCGthis series had been the most appealing at home for years. Groomed ondominating visiting outfits, Ricky Ponting’s team had to wait eight daysover two Tests before wrestling control from a willing, competitive, butinexperienced South Africa, who start Monday’s third and final match needinga win to equal their best result in the country.The cricket has been absorbing and when combined with the side issues ofover-appealing, race issues and the war of words it has led to a simmeringDecember, which ended with a 42C day as the teams flew on Saturday fromMelbourne to Sydney. The SCG is the site of South Africa’s most famousvictory in Australia, a five-run thriller in 1993-94, and they need anothernever-say-die performance to recover from the 1-0 deficit.Graeme Smith will have to do it without Makhaya Ntini, the strike bowler whohas returned home with a knee injury. Andre Nel will assume theattack-leading responsibilities – his main pace support will come from ShaunPollock and Jacques Kallis – and he has talked tough during the first twoTests, turned the apparent hatred from Australian crowds into a spur andcreated many problems for his opponents. Unfortunately for South Africatheir fielders have let them down with poor catching; Ricky Ponting andMichael Hussey were both dropped before reaching 30 in the first innings atMelbourne and went on to score crucial centuries.Mickey Arthur, the coach, has worked his players hard at training on thistour and is worried he might have pushed them too much. Smith saidthe team had absorbed the pressure well, but wondered how the situationwould have been different if the extra chances had been held.”It’s almost like quicksand, the harder you work the further you slip,” hesaid. “It’s just about relaxing and letting natural ability take over. We’velet ourselves down and we know that.” South Africa will undergo somereshuffling to cater for Ntini’s absence and may play the offspinner JohanBotha – either in tandem with Nicky Boje or instead of him – if the pitchlooks like a big-turner.
Only something extreme would push Australia to interrupt the Shane Warne andStuart MacGill partnership as they attempt to win the series before thereturn leg in South Africa in March. MacGill calls the SCG his “house” andin seven Tests there has taken 49 wickets at 23.71, including fivefive-wicket hauls.Australia’s only change will be Justin Langer returning for Phil Jaquesafter he recovered from a hamstring strain suffered in the first Test atPerth. Langer has experienced a disrupted season, but there is no doubt overhis position when fit and as a veteran of the side he will be an importantfigure in making sure they take advantage of the strong position.Both teams believe they can win and their attitudes set up a thrillingend to an already brilliant series. “We go to Sydney a stronger outfit,”Arthur said. “Our bounce-back ability is brilliant.”Australia (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 RickyPonting (capt), 4 Brad Hodge, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 AdamGilchrist (wk), 8 Shane Warne, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Stuart MacGill, 11 GlennMcGrath.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB de Villiers, 3Herschelle Gibbs, 4 Jaques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Jacques Rudolph, 7Mark Boucher, 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Johan Botha, 10 Nicky Boje, 11 Andre Nel.