Denmark booked a spot in the World Cup Qualifier with a three-wicket win over Argentina at the Wanderers ground. Freddie Klokker (54) continued his strong form as Denmark survived an early wobble at 24 for 3 to chase down 169 with 23 balls to spare. David Borchersen, Bobby Chawla and Bashir Shah took two wickets each as Argentina, despite Matias Paterlini’s 51, couldn’t bat out their 50 overs.In a low-scoring match at the Centre for Cricket Development, Gerrie Snyman took 5 for 36 to bowl Namibia to a 27-run victory over Uganda to book their place in the qualifier. Namibia suffered a rare batting collapse to be bowled out for 145 in 45.4 overs with new-ball partners Danniel Ruyange and Kenneth Kamyuka sharing five wickets between them. Snyman, who is tournament’s leading run-scorer with 517, compensated for his batting failure by taking a five-wicket haul as Uganda was dismissed for 118 and now has nine wickets in the tournament.In the dress rehearsal for Saturday’s final, Oman overpowered UAE by 25 runs at the United ground after Adnan Ilyas’ eye-catching 113 propelled Oman to an imposing 298 for 8. Ilyas faced 112 balls and hit six fours and five sixes. In turn, UAE were dismissed for 273 despite Amjad Javed’s 71 and Arshad Ali’s 64.Argentina and Uganda are now relegated but will have a second chance to book a place in the 2009 World Cup Qualifier when they play in the next Division Three tournament – the top two there will also make the qualifier.
Dean Jones has warned the Australia team not to concern themselves with the state of the country’s Test pitches. The chorus of cricketers complaining about the uniformity of playing surfaces has continued to gain momentum, with Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and a variety of commentators all lamenting the trend.But Jones said there was little difference in the strips used for this year’s Ashes series compared to past decades and Australia’s bowlers could talk themselves into failure with negative attitudes. “I don’t think they have changed much,” Jones told the . “They are not flatter than they used to be.”The great bowlers still got wickets on them. Great players adapt. They may back off in pace like Dennis Lillee did at the end of his career. Malcolm Marshall was the same. People have to realise when it is in your favour you go hammer and tongs, and when it is flat you make sure if you can’t get a wicket you don’t give them runs. Lillee and Marshall would bowl wide of the crease. They worked on the ball and bowled cutters. They bowled slower balls. They parked their egos at the gate.”They said they didn’t care whether they were the fastest bowlers in the world. They just worked out the best way they could take four or five wickets. If you go into it with a negative thought that it is going to be flat, it will be flat. It is like a batsman thinking, ‘I bet I get the best ball of the day’, and getting out for 20.”Michael Kasprowicz is the latest fast bowler to air his concerns about pitches. “If you go and drop in a generic wicket into every ground, you are going to produce a generic cricketer who can play only on that surface,” Kasprowicz said. “That’s been the beauty and the strength of cricket in Australia, the different conditions. Travelling the world, even in the UK, all of their grounds have subtle differences. There’s an attraction to test yourself in the best conditions. If it becomes too sterile and too much of the same, then I don’t think it’s going to work.”The MCG curator Tony Ware said there was no conspiracy to standardise playing surfaces. “There’s a concern that they’re losing their character but it’s nothing deliberate,” Ware told . “I think it’s happened because this year to date has been a little bit drier, so they will play a bit the same.”
Jagmohan Dalmiya It matters little that he is now merely the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal. The fact that he does not hold high office in the Board of Control for Cricket in India does not preclude him from being the most influential player when the elections come around. A shrewd administrator and wheeler-dealer, Dalmiya has time and again beaten the odds, and the opposition, when it comes to garnering votes and winning elections. He’s right behind Ranbir Singh Mahendra.Sharad Pawar Federal agriculture minister and president of the Nationalist Congress Party, Pawar has a reputation of being a wily politician and a heavyweight to match up against. Tasted bitter defeat in last year’s elections, and the very fact that he has stepped into the fray again this year means he is virtually sure he has enough votes (out of 30) to emerge victorious. Although inexperienced in matters cricketing, Pawar has earned respect in Mumbai circles for the manner in which he has ironed out disputes that dogged the Mumbai Cricket Association, and opened doors for various projects in and around the city.Ranbir Singh Mahendra The incumbent president, who perhaps is growing weary of being referred to merely as Dalmiya’s front man. Son of Bansi Lal, former chief minister of Haryana, Mahendra has been known to hold strong views on a variety of matters. From all reports he would like to use his second term in office – if he gets one – to leave his mark on Indian cricket, and be remembered as more than a “rubber-stamp” president.Inderjit Singh Bindra Once a close confidante of Dalmiya, now a bitter foe and rival. He has waited long for a chance to overthrow Dalmiya and get back in the thick of Indian cricket administration. He built the best cricket facility in India – the Punjab Cricket Association ground at Mohali – in record time, and has impressive credentials as an administrator. Has worked behind the scenes for some time now trying to whip up unity among the anti-Dalmiya cricket associations.Raj Singh Dungarpur An evergreen figure in Indian cricket at the Cricket Club of India, Mumbai, Dungarpur has been more outspoken in his criticism and opposition of Dalmiya than anyone else. For a few years now he has been predicting – perhaps more out of hope than conviction – that Dalmiya’s days were numbered and that Indian cricket would be back in better hands. His tendency to make sweeping statements and proclamations make him a favourite with the electronic media, but have not endeared him overly to the people who matter in cricket.Lalit Modi One of the new breed of young (comparitively) administrators, Modi has overthrown the ruling Rungta family that ran the Rajasthan Cricket Association like a family business, and made a name for himself as a highly efficient if occasionally cocky administrator. His open defiance of all things Dalmiya has won him many friends, not least Bindra. Modi is president of the RCA, and also vice-president of the Punjab Cricket Association.
ScorecardSairaj Bahutule spun out Gujarat in quick time on the final day as Mumbai ran away to an innings-and-64-run win. It took just 25.2 overs for Gujarat to be wiped out as Bahutule and Ramesh Powar, the offspinner, claimed seven wickets between them. Mukund Parmar, the Gujarat captain, and Parthiv Patel couldn’t bat because of injury. Gujarat had struggled in the first innings as well with Powar being the tormentor in chief. Barring Parthiv Patel, who made a gritty 87 on the first day, none of the Gujarat batsmen passed 50 in either innings. ScorecardGnaneswara Rao steered Andhra to a tense four-wicket win against Bengal at Vishakapatnam. Chasing 191 on the final day, Andhra rode on Gnaneswara’s 63, which included eight fours and a six. There were handy contributions from Prasad Reddy, the wicketkeeper, and Venugopal Rao, Gnaneswara’s elder brother. Ranedeb Bose, the Bengal opening bowler, claimed three wickets and reduced them to 143 for 5, but RV Ch Prasad joined Venugopal and the two took Andhra to their first win of the season. ScorecardNarender Pal Singh bowled Hyderbad to a thrilling 22-run win over Uttar Pradesh at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad. Chasing just 143 for a win, UP faltered against the medium-pace of Singh and Vishnuvardhan, and collapsed for 120 in 36.3 overs. Suresh Raina’s breezy 36 gave the innings a much-needed surge, but the rest of the middle order couldn’t chip in with enough. Ali Hameed and Ashish Winston Zaidi got UP close, but neither could clinch the issue as UP fell 22 just runs short. ScorecardKulamani Parida’s eight-wicket haul gave Railways a great chance but their batsmen couldn;t manage the 138 required as the game at Indore finished in a draw. Parida, the offspinner, knocked over all the MP batsmen to fall today to finish with 8 for 68. But Devendra Bundela, with a fighting 98, managed to eat up valuable time before being the last man to be dismissed with a lead of 137. Railways began in rollicking fashion, racing to 32 in just the fifth over, but a few quick wickets pegged them back and they finally fell 56 short of victory and had to settle for two points from the game, by virtue of their first-innings lead. ScorecardTamil Nadu didn’t push for an outright victory on the final day against Punjab at Chennai and were content to take away first-innings honours from the top-of-the-table clash. Sreedharan Sharath (112) and Subramaniam Badrinath (97) added 163 for the fourth wicket, and collected some useful batting practice as the game petered out to a tame draw. Rajesh Sharma and Navdeep Singh picked up three wickets apiece for Punjab but it was too late to force the issue. ScorecardDelhi were denied their first victory of the season as the Karnataka lower order resisted on the final evening at the Jamia Millia Ground in Delhi. After gaining a 135-run lead, Delhi raced to 115 in only 18 overs in their second innings. Aakash Chopra led the charge with a 61-ball 66, and Delhi declared 250 ahead. Karnataka were in the hunt at 134 for 3, with Barrington Rowland anchoring the chase, but he fell at that point and the lower order ensured that a defeat was averted.
Hampshire Cricket’s day started badly with the announcement that their Pakistan all-rounder had pulled out of his one season contract due to ill health, and the rumour mill was winding about the future of Ed Giddins, and Shaun Udal pulled out before the start of the Frizzell Championship match against Glamorgan with an ongoing shoulder injury.In Udal’s absence Hampshire gave a debut to 28 year old Richard Hindley, an allrounder who recently scored a century for the 2nd XI, and with Robin Smith and Alan Mullally still injured, John Crawley took a young side out to face the Welsh county.On a hot sunny day, losing the toss did not make the day any better, and despite Glamorgan losing opener Jonathan Hughes early on it was a day of toil in the heat for the youngsters. The term “sticking to their task” would be a good statement as that is what they did.All the bowlers performed admirably, although a couple of fielding blips proved costly. Adrian Dale secured his first century of the season with a patient innings, which included 19 fours. Matthew Maynard’s class showed out as well scoring a superb 129 in which his stroke play was the event of the day. Hitting 18 fours and two hugh sixes, he batted for two and a half hours before Chris Tremlett snared him with the second new ball.Tremlett in fact took three late wickets that allowed Hampshire maximunm bowling points, and at 436 for 9 the home side should feel reasonably satisfied. It could have been worse.Debutant Hindley started well, but Maynard took a liking to his bowling, but much of the spin duties was performed by Simon Katich, he like Tremlett took 3 wickets, with the persevering Mascarenhas stepping in with two.
The Soweto Cricket Oval became the focus of international attention on Thursday whenit was turned into dazzling scene of colour and song for the official launchof the eighth ICC Cricket World Cup to be staged in South Africa in Februaryand March of 2003.More than 400 guests – who included South Africa’s Minister of Sport andRecreation Ngconde Balfour and the International Cricket Council’s chiefexecutive officer Malcolm Speed – were treated to a taste of what Africa’sfirst cricket World Cup will be about.In an event televised around the world, Mr Balfour performed the ceremony ofraising the new 2003 World Cup flag for the first time on a day in which theeye-catching official logo and Dazzler, the tournament’s zebra mascot were unveiled.The president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, Adv Percy Sonn,said it was symbolic that the launch function should be staged in Sowetowhere so much of the future of South African cricket lay. It was, he said,demonstrably the greatest cricket function that Soweto had ever hosted.More than 100 Soweto schoolchildren, dressed in bright World Cup regalia,celebrated the event by taking part in a mass cricket clinic.The SA Post Office’s chief executive officer Mr Maanda Manyatshe also usedthe occasion to reveal the first in a series of 13 World Cup postage stampsand hand over commemorative issues.The guests, who included the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, MrRonnie Kasrils, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Aziz Pahad,were reminded of Ali Bacher’s prophetic words, uttered in a speech to theWisden Dinner in London 12 years ago, promising that cricket in South Africawould survive its international isolation and that “out of Africa will comesomething new. It will be dazzling, it will be strong, it will be good.”As the executive director of the 2003 World Cup, Dr Bacher’s use of the word”dazzling” in 1989 now takes on special significance. The collective nounfor zebras is a “dazzle” and the World Cup mascot – a zebra in 12 cricketposes – will be known as Dazzler.Nathan Reddy, of the agency TBWA Gavin Reddy, who designed the logo andmascot, explained that the zebra colours represented the fusion of black andwhite peoples and the cultural diversity of South Africa.Dr Bacher reaffirmed the World Cup’s mission statement that promises toenhance the lives of South Africans in all walks of life through the event.He said the teamwork of the United Cricket Board, the International CricketCouncil and the Global Cricket Corporation, who hold the television andsponsorship rights, would ensure the success of the tournament, as would thestrong partnerships that had already developed with, among others, the SAPost Office, Department of Trade and Industries, Reserve Bank, SA SportsCommission and SA Mint.Mr Speed, who came to Soweto from London especially to attend the launch,emphasized the scope of the event internationally when he announced anexpected television audience of 1 billion people. He said he was confidentthat South Africa would deliver an excellent event.The World Cup’s information website was also launched with a big-screensneak preview. It can be accessed on www.cricketworldcup.com
Spurs insider John Wenham has shared his concern over the fact the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is yet to announce any new events this summer, as per Football Insider.
The Lowdown: On-field issues
Antonio Conte has struggled in recent weeks to get a string of positive results, with Spurs’ only win in their last five Premier League games coming against Manchester City.
They have lost the other four, including most recently against Burnley, with Conte reportedly holding crisis talks with Daniel Levy on Thursday.
Spurs insider Wenham was talking to Football Insider, citing his concern over the fact that there have been no new dates added for the summer, hinting that some could help the club when it comes to their transfer activity.
He stated:
“With [virus] restrictions lifting, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium should be hosting lots of events this summer.
“I saw Ed Sheeran is doing eight or nine dates at Wembley and I just wonder where our Stadium comes into that.
“We still have the Guns N Roses gigs that were meant to be played a couple of years ago.
“But it doesn’t seem like any more shows are happening over the summer and I’m concerned about that.
“It’s a multi-purpose arena and I’m not sure why we aren’t out getting more events to keep the stadium in use.
“Other venues, like Wembley, are announcing events and we aren’t for some reason.
“I’m a bit concerned Tottenham’s marketing and hospitality teams aren’t doing more to get more events to the stadium.
“Hopefully there are some announcements soon because as I’ve said before if Tottenham aren’t playing the stadium should still be in use.
“That’s why it was built. That’s more revenue that can be invested in the squad.
“Because of [the pandemic] we are yet to actually see any of those benefits.”
The Verdict: Least of Conte’s problems
Tottenham have bigger problems to resolve at this moment in time instead of worrying about the stadium’s summer schedule.
Wenham stated that Spurs could earn more revenue for the playing squad with further events held, but should the club fail to qualify for the Champions League, it could be a tough ask to bring in the quality of player that Conte wants.
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The next few months appear to be crucial for both Spurs and Conte, and should things fail to improve, the Italian may well decide to cut ties with the club for good.
In other news: Tottenham gem who Conte called ‘important’ could now pack his bags and quit, find out more here
Kumar Sangakkara’s 192 was the big difference between the scripts in Brisbane and Hobart but Sri Lanka were denied a fairytale ending as Brett Lee grabbed four wickets and Australia secured a 2-0 series victory with their 14th consecutive Test win. Despite a collapse early in the morning when Sri Lanka lost 5 for 25, Sangakkara gave Australia a few nervous moments with an audacious assault that only ended with an unfortunate umpiring call shortly before lunch.It is hard to predict how close Sri Lanka would have come to the record 507 they needed to win had Sangakkara stayed at the crease, but the way he was playing he just might have got them home. He could have given up once Lee and Mitchell Johnson sparked the early crashes but instead Sangakkara simply altered his game plan and formed a 74-run stand with Lasith Malinga.Sadly for the visitors Sangakkara was denied his third double-century for 2007 when he tried to hook Stuart Clark and the ball flew off his shoulder to Ricky Ponting at slip. Rudi Koertzen agreed with the Australians that there was some bat involved but Sangakkara, and the replays, knew that was not the case. It was a disappointing finish to a superb display from Sangakkara, who blasted 27 fours and one six in his remarkable innings.Once he found himself with the tail, Sangakkara refused singles off the first few balls of overs and then when the field came in, he reverted to one-day mode with some clean strikes over the off side. There were a few streaky shots too – thick edges flew to vacant spaces and not everything came off the middle – but it was a courageous fightback from a Sri Lanka outfit that desperately needed some spark.In the end his assault did not affect the outcome but it let him register the highest score by a Sri Lankan in Test in Australia, beating Aravanda de Silva’s 167 in 1989-90, and the highest score in a Test at Bellerive, passing Michael Slater’s 168 in 1993-94. It also gave Sangakkara 677 runs for the 2007 calendar year at a phenomenal average of 225.66.A few late fireworks from Malinga (42 not out) and Muttiah Muralitharan followed – Malinga clubbed three sixes, all off Clark – but Lee finished the job by rattling Muralitharan’s stumps and confirming the 96-run victory. Lee’s 4 for 87 gave him eight wickets for the match, 16 for the series, the Man-of-the-Match title, the Player-of-the-Series award, and the respect of anyone who believed he could not step into the spearhead’s role in the absence of Glenn McGrath.Fittingly it had been Lee who started the procession earlier in the day – not for the first time this series – by breaking Sangakkara’s 107-run partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya. Australia were just at the point where Ricky Ponting might once have looked imploringly to McGrath or Shane Warne, when Lee switched to over the wicket and troubled Jayasuriya, who tried to cut too close to his body and was caught behind for 45.Sparked by Lee, Australia’s attack suddenly became deadly. Johnson found Chamara Silva’s edge to slip and had Prasanna Jayawardene lbw leaving a good inswinger first ball. Like Lee on the fourth day, Johnson missed the hat-trick – he slipped it down leg side against Farveez Maharoof – but the script had nearly been finalised.After Maharoof was run out due to his runner’s incompetence in the first innings he had nobody to blame but himself for his dismissal for 4 in the second. Stuart MacGill, who had struggled on the fourth day, dropped one short and Maharoof miscued his pull over mid on, where Lee ran back and took a well judged catch.Dilhara Fernando followed with a poor piece of running from his first ball. He clipped Clark through midwicket and scored an easy two but Sangakkara wanted the strike and Rhett Lockyear, the Tasmania player who was substituting for Andrew Symonds, provided an excellent throw from the deep to have Fernando caught short attempting the third.From there it looked like it would be downhill for Sri Lanka. Sangakkara disagreed and gave Australia’s new attack a thorough examination in their second Test as a unit. Again they passed the test, maintaining Australia’s dominance and their hope of breaking the record of 16 straight Test wins.
Jason Gillespie has lashed out at the South Australian Cricket Association for speaking to the media about in-house problems with the team. The on Thursday reported that the Redbacks’ performance – they are last on both the Pura Cup and Ford Ranger Cup tables – had prompted the SACA to have stern words with the captain Darren Lehmann and the coach Wayne Phillips.The paper said the SACA chief executive Mike Deare and the high-performance director Rod Marsh were concerned with off-field behaviour, lack of team leadership, technical flaws in top-order batsmen, potential salary cap constraints and Mark Cosgrove’s ongoing weight problems.But Gillespie, who spearheaded the team’s return to form with five wickets against Queensland today, said airing their dirty laundry in public was no way to handle the situation. “As a playing group, reading the things said in the press from people within the organisation, it’s disappointing because you want support from your employers,” Gillespie told .”You don’t want people coming out and caning you, having a go at you. We’re all moving in the one direction and I’d like to think they’re supporting us. To come out publicly and have a go at us I think is the wrong way to go about it.”Maybe their idea is let’s put a rocket up them, but it doesn’t work that way. If you’ve got an issue, come and talk to us privately, don’t bring it out in the media, come out and give us support, say ‘we’re behind you 100 per cent guys’. Yesterday’s press didn’t show that.”We can’t win now because they’ll say that’s exactly what we want them to do, put a rocket up the guys and see if you perform, but guaranteed we weren’t doing it for them, we want to do it for ourselves, our support staff and supporters.”
Greg ChappellOn experimenting with new players and the squad for the game We intend to play all the players over the next three games. We haven’t taken a final decision on the squad yet and haven’t even decided on the 13. We will take a call depending on the conditions tomorrow. We need to give everyone a chance. You need more than 11 or 12 players in your side. It’s also good to keep freshness going and managing your assets well. It keeps everyone going and guards against injury and bad form.On the dew factor tomorrow Yes, it’s a factor to consider and we will think about it. But I think we’ve done well either way. It should not be too much of a concern.On Harbhajan Singh’s improvement in this series He has worked very hard. He did well in the Challenger Trophy in Mohali. He’s made technical changes with his flight and bounce and he’s such a good bowler when he’s getting bounce.On Yuvraj Singh’s poor run in the last four games He’s done well in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and saves us a lot of runs on the field. You need everyone to contribute in at least two out of the three aspects of the game and I think we’ve got quite a few allrounders in the side – Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj, Sachin Tendulkar. It would be great for him if he scores runs, but he’s contributing well to the side.On Mahendra Singh Dhoni He’s a confident individual without any cockiness. He has a good mind as he showed with a power innings one day and a finesse innings on another day. His great form with the bat is rubbing off on his wicketkeeping as well. It’s also rubbing off on the others in the side.On the players talking much more about cricket in the dressing-room It’s good for all the players. I think we’re talking much more about cricket, discussing scenarios, debriefing after the matches. It’s important to know what different players think of each other’s games. It’s been great with the seniors getting involved. Sometimes, only when someone asks you a question do you become aware that you know something. The best way to learn is to teach someone.Tom MoodyOn the pitch and conditions for tomorrow’s game It’s another good cricket wicket. Obviously, being a day-night fixture, we’re going to be faced with difference in conditions from afternoon to evening. But both teams have to face it and we need to rise for the challenge.On nothing working for the team during the series I don’t think it’s quite that blunt. I think India came out in the earlier part of the series punching and their chances came off. They shuffled their batting order and that came off. We performed a lot better in the last two games but have fallen short in a couple of areas.On the lessons from this series We need to be realistic. We didn’t perform upto our usual level. Playing here is different and playing in Sri Lanka is different. We’re enjoying the challenge. What we have to realise is that one-day cricket is played all over the world in different conditions and we need to adapt to it.Mahela Jayawardene On the team’s performance In the last two games, I thought the guys performed really well. We almost won the last game before Raina and Dhoni took it away. We’re lacking that final blow, the killer instinct. But as a team everything is coming together and we hope to win in the last three games.On what Sri Lanka learnt in the last four games There are a lot of positives to be taken from this series. We came back even after the Indians attacked. We will look at this as a three-match series from now on and push ourselves to the limit. That will help us get some momentum for the Tests.