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.
ScorecardAshish Nehra ripped through West Zone to give North Zone the edge in teir Duleep Trophy match at the KD Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow. After North lost the toss and were asked to filed Nehra first provided the early breakthrough and then ran through the lower order to end with figures of 6 for 57 from 19 overs. Only Parthiv Patel, batting at No. 6, resisted the bowling, scoring 55 of a total of 201.Having bowled the opposition out in just 65.1 overs, North Zone had to play out a minimum of 24 overs on the first day. They started badly, losing Gautam Gambhir on 16. Soon after Virender Sehwag, the real dangerman, was caught behind by Patel off Rajesh Pawar on a 30-ball 33. Fortunately for North Aakash Chopra (44 not out) and Ravneet Ricky (19 not out) managed to take the score to 177 for 2 at stumps, without further loss. North still trail by 87 runs. ScorecardEast Zone, minus the services of Sourav Ganguly, struggled to 194 all out on the first day of their match against Central Zone at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior. East had no answer to the mediumpace of Jai Prakash Yadav, who took 5 for 29 from 15.3 overs. Sanjib Sanyal (66) was the only batsman to score a half-century.When it was their turn to bowl East found some solace as Shib Sankar Paul dismissed both openers before there were 10 runs on the board. Faiz Fazal and Sanjay Bangar were both back in the pavilion and it fell to Mohammad Kaif (31), who is leading Central, and Abbas Ali, to shore up the innings. They resisted for a period, but Paul, assisted by Ranadeb Bose, struck again, reducing Central to 74 for 4 when bad light stopped play on the first day. Paul had the remarkable figures of 10-4-11-3.
Tasmania 215 for 8 (Dighton 48) v Western Australia 6 for 0 – no result ScorecardTasmania’s ING Cup meeting with Western Australia was washed out in second over of WA’s run-chase, as thunder and lightning brought the match to an abrupt end. It was just as well for Tasmania, who had been made to struggle after winning the toss and batting first, although their effort was interrupted in mid-innings by the first bout of bad weather.All of Tasmania’s top seven reached double figures, but none were able to dig in for the big score – the best effort of the innings was Michael Dighton’s 48. They were kept in check by some persevering bowling efforts , in particular Paul Wilson, whose eight overs failed to take a wicket but went for just 20 runs.After the match had been reduced to 48 overs a side, WA were set 216 for victory. But there were already menacing banks of clouds looming as the innings got underway, and the heavens opened after 12 deliveries had been bowled.
Bangladesh ‘A’ almost blew their chance of registering their firstvictory in the Busta Cup, triumphing over Windward Islands in thesixth round by a slender margin of eight runs. But the visitors couldnot have espoused too many hopes of a win when, put in to bat, theymade only 163 in their first innings at St Vincent.But Naimur Rahman returned brilliant figures of 26.1-14-31-5 as hisside bowled out Windwards for 151, garnering a first-innings lead of12 runs. The batsmen, inspired, hit up 288 in their second innings,with Mazharul Haque making 90 and Tushar Imran 79. This set Windwardsa target of 301, and Junior Murray delivered many scares in making 125before falling as the final wicket with the score on 292. MosaddekHossain took five wickets this time around, helping Bangladesh ‘A’ tothe victory. Imran was picked as Man of the Match.At St Elizabeth, Jamaica, the hosts registered a comfortable sevenwicket win over Trinidad & Tobago. Put in to bat, the visitors madeonly 132 in their first innings, with skipper Richard Smith being thesole significant contributor with 64. Jamaica, in reply, piled up 298,with Robert Samuels making 65 and Gareth Breese scoring 83.The 166-run lead was too much for Trinidad & Tobago to handle; despitemaking 282 in their second innings, they could only set Jamaica atarget of 117. It took only 23.1 overs for Jamaica to knock off theruns, aided by a fine 62 from Chris Gayle at the top of the order.Breese was named Man of the Match.The batsmen dominated the match between Barbados and Leeward Islandsat Anguilla, with the match being drawn and Leewards picking up sixpoints. Batting first, Barbados posted 373, with Floyd Reifer making82, Philo Wallace 59, and Suleiman Benn 59. Despite Goldwyn Prince’sfive wickets for Leewards, it looked as if Barbados had the upper handat that point.But Stuart Williams, in splendid form throughout this tournament,finally carried out his threat of hitting a big one. Making 195 at thetop of the order, the Leewards skipper was assisted first by fellowopener Fabian Adams (68) and then by Runako Morton (61). Ridley Jacobsalso hit 51 further down the order, before Leewards were bowled outfor 502, Benn taking six wickets.Barbados’ reply was just as forbidding. Wallace hit another fifty, butthe star this time around was D Smith, who made 102 and, along withCourtney Browne (85) and Benn (61), made sure that his side did notcollapse to an innings defeat. Barbados ended the match on 381/9, Bennscooping the Man of the Match award ahead of Williams.Rain ruined what was potentially an exciting match at Albion, Guyana,with West Indies ‘B’ taking six points from the drawn encounter. Thevisitors made 415 after being put in to bat, Donovan Pagon making 110,and Roland Holder, Patrick Browne and A Sealy all making fifties. Thefirst innings was interrupted by rain as no play was possible at allon the second day.Guyana responded disastrously, bowled out for 216 and being forced tofollow on. But the second essay saw their batsmen do better. AzeemulHaniff made 51 and Lennox Cush an unbeaten 100; Guyana ended thefourth day on 190/3, but it would have been interesting to see whowould have won if the second day had not been rained out – West Indies’B’ on the strength of their first-innings total, or Guyana bowlinglast on the track. Pagon was named Man of the Match.
The Pakistan A team is soon to arrive in Colombo where they will play threeunofficial Test Matches and three One-Day matches. The Sri Lankan coach,Hemantha Devapriya, who played first class cricket for Colts Cricket Club asa wicket keeper batsman and joined the rebel tour of South Africa in 1983,is looking forward to the three-week tour despite the inclement weatherwhich has marred preparations.Devapriya believes that members of the final A team squad, which is topicked from a 27-man training pool shortly, have a chance to push for placesin the senior team. “It’s a good opportunity for these youngsters to putpressure on the national side. The players are very keen to perform and thenational players will have to be on their toes. With a triangular and Testseries so soon after they have a great opportunity to further theircareers.””There is plenty of talent in the side including many players who haverepresented Sri Lanka in the national level before like Tilan Samaraweera,Avishka Gunawardene, T.M. Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Lanka de Silva, AkalankaGanegama, Indika Gallage, Dilhara Fernando, and Prasanna Jayawardene.”The selectors are keen to unearth a partner for Muralitharan and a middleorder batsman,” he revealed. “It is up to the players to prove themselves.”Pakistan too has named a strong 15-man squad. Ten members have representedPakistan at international level and some played in Sri Lanka last yearduring the Under 19 World Cup.”We are looking forward to win, but you know, the “A” team concept is notonly about winning,” he said. “We want to give the players a chance toimprove their skills. The main idea of the A team is to give exposure tothese youngsters and provide them a chance to prove themselves.”The players have had some match practice in Mercantile Cricket Tournament,but team practice has been restricted because of the poor weather in SriLanka recently. Most of the training has taken place indoors. Indeed, theconditions have been so bad that the first Test Match on June 13th will nowbe played in Dambulla, which is situated in a dry zone.”During the last few weeks we haven’t been able to train outdoors as muchas we would have liked to. We have been restricted to practicing indoors andhave been having very short practice sessions. It’s been verydisappointing.”Interestingly, the tour represents a significant turnaround in policy, asSri Lanka’s cricket authorities have decided to move away from thetraditional preference for preparing slow spinning tracks, surfaces whichhave discouraged the faster men from really bending their backs.”The selectors, the board and everyone is keen that we play on goodwickets,” revealed Devpriya. ” We want a little bit of grass and some bouncein the wicket to give some encouragement to the faster bowlers. In fact, wehave been preparing on some grassy surfaces as well. I am sure that thecurators can provide the fair wickets that we need.Pakistan arrive in Sri Lanka on June 10th and the First Test Match inDambulla will be played June 13th.