Paceman Stephen Harmison and skipper Jon Lewis kept Durham afloat in a high-scoring game against Sussex at Chester-le-Street today.Harmison completed the first six-wicket haul of his career as Sussex slipped from 434 for five to 442 all out, then Lewis made 83 not out as Durham replied with 166 for one.Their efforts took some of the gloss off the second century of Umer Rashid’s career, which included 13 fours and two sixes and came off 177 balls.He was four short of his career-best 110 when he edged Harmison to wicket-keeper Andrew Pratt to spark a spell of four for two in 14 balls for the paceman.Figures of one for 80 on the first day were transformed into six for 111 for Harmison, whose one wicket in his first spell today ended Richard Montgomerie’s vigil, which lasted a shade over seven hours.The opener had moved on from 134 to 156 when Harmison went round the wicket and had him well caught by Paul Collingwood at wide third slip.Play had begun 50 minutes late in miserable conditions and batting looked more difficult than on the first day until Rashid suddenly began to find the middle of the bat.He pulled Danny Law for his second six and put on 77 with Matthew Prior, who cut straight to gully two overs after his partner’s exit.James Kirtley edged the next ball to Pratt, Mark Robinson played and missed at the hat-trick ball then Mark Davis chopped on. The collapse was complete when Robinson was run out.
Cricket Australia has announced that Jess Cameron will take an indefinite break from domestic and international cricket.Cameron will play out the remainder of the WNCL season for Western Australia but will not play for the Perth Scorchers in the WBBL and is unavailable for international selection until further notice.Cameron is believed to have lost her former enjoyment for the game and has told team-mates she needs a break.A member of the squad that toured England this year for the Women’s Ashes series, Cameron played one ODI and three T20s against England in that series.
I think it was Nat “King” Cole, the Blues & Soul singer, who had a major hit song called “Again” some time in the past. That song must have been specially dedicated to the West Indies cricket team, for, again, they were destroyed by some good fast bowling. While good, the bowling was not so good that the West Indies cricket team should only have made 125 on such a perfect batting pitch. The West Indies batting on Day 3 was shameful, at best. They can hide behind no excuses this time. 54; 61; now 125. What next, one wonders!The West Indies started at 11:00am BST at 13-0. By 11:35am BST, they had progressed to 32-0. Then hell, or more aptly, Andy Caddick, Darren Gough, Dominic Cork and especially Craig White broke loose. Perhaps that is the concept of “hell” that the West Indies cricketers now have. In exactly three hours, at 2:35pm BST, the West Indies had been dismissed; the 1st innings in complete disarray, all out for another “lottery number”.Again, Sherwin Campbell played away from his body to Dominic Cork. Again he got an inside edge, since the batsman’s feet had not moved. Again that inside edge cannoned on to the off stump. One wonders if Campbell will learn at all, or if the Coaches are getting through to him, or if the Coaches are getting through to anyone at all.From 32-0, the West Indies were destroyed by some of the most determined and careful fast bowling seen for some time, except the aggression was not the “bouncer and body-line” type, but the type which suggested that a plan had been devised by England for the plethora of left handers that the West Indies presented as players masquerading as batsmen. The English fast bowler, in contrast to the ‘body-line” aggression at Lord’s during Test No. 2, bowled at a much fuller length, but the batsmen wilted just the same; again!Again, playing as mindlessly as he had done at Leeds, Adrian Griffith drove away from his body to a Craig White delivery, immediately after Campbell’s dismissal, only to see the resultant flying edge taken high but well by Graeme Hick at 2nd slip. Remembering that he lost his off stump in a similar manner at Leeds, one wonders if this team has any hope. They just keep doing the same things over and over again.Then, the real nail in the West Indies coffin was effected. Brian Lara, whom the press everywhere had put great pressure on by suggesting that he will be the man to change things for the West Indies in this Test, played across the first delivery he received, from Craig White, bowling around the wicket, instead of playing fully out, and heard rather than saw his leg stump disturbed behind his back. The shout of celebration from White, his team-mates and the English supporters could have been heard all the way to Maraval, where Lara lives in Trinidad & Tobago.I am convinced that the English cricket team had done their homework on the left handers in the West Indies cricket team. Immediately that Craig White came on to bowl, he started from around the wicket to Adrian Griffith, the batsman just digging out a yorker, because he was at the crease for a spell; White’s first delivery. Lara was not so lucky, He saw nothing as the ball slanted into and away from him to leg, to hit the leg stump.That did not happen by accident, as White never bowled over the wicket for the entire day while bowling to a left hander. That was definitely a plan!Wavell Hinds soon took a delivery on his pad which was headed to middle stump, and suddenly, the West Indies were 34-4. England’s bowlers were being tremendously accurate, and Craig White and Dominic Cork, the 2nd tier of England’s attack, were the destroyers this time. What an attack this is turning out to be.For once Ramnaresh Sarwan let ambition become greater that his team’s position, for, as he drove with his head in the air, he lost his balance, the resulting edge careening to Marcus Trescothick at gully for the fieldsman to take a great sharp catch. At 39-5, the West Indies looked as if they were not even going to be able to save the follow-on; 82 required.It was suggested by many that Jimmy Adams looked very tired when he approached the crease to bat. Certainly his stroke, to give catching practice to Hick at slip from Cork’s bowling, suggested that Adams was indeed tired, probably from the tour, probably from his team’s efforts. 56-6 was not a great position to be in when England had already made 281.Had it not been for a real face saving partnership of 44 between a much improved and gutsy Nixon McLean; both his batting and bowling looked tremendously useful; and the resurging Ridley Jacobs, the West Indies would have been embarrassed even further. They had come to the crease after Mahendra Nagamootoo, picked to bowl leg breaks, but recognized as a fair batter, showed his worth for 18, helping Jacobs to carry the score from 51-6 to 74-7. What a completes shambles this was!!Once Mc Lean was gone, bowled from the inside edge from White, again from around the wicket, it was all over, not including the shouting. That, of course, continued apace, and rightly so. The West Indies were again decimated by fast purposeful fast bowling, operating with a plan. That final score of 125 attested to that.A final thought on England’s 3rd Day efforts. There was no real help from the pitch for the bowlers. It was true and firm and played very well. The bowlers simply put the ball down in the right places and allowed the West Indies to, again, make themselves look like fools batting. How a team could manage to make itself look like a kindergarten school’s cricket team as well as the West Indies cricket team does is anyone’s guess. England’s bowlers were magnificent, and Craig White, who got his best Test figures to date, 11-1-32-5, deserves to be the head of the pack. He, and the rest of the English contingent, planned their efforts well and executed well.Even with the eventual wickets of Marcus Trescothick and the luckless Nasser Hussein, the West Indies are slowly being, if indeed it has not yet happened, played out of the game. With a lead of already 212 with eight wickets in hand, and only six sessions left in the game, it is still possible for the West Indies to pull of a magnificent, magical win, but not very likely.England hold all of the aces now. All they have to do is bat at least two of those sessions and score perhaps another 100 runs. Making over 300 runs is possible, but who would bet on the West Indies doing a Barbados again, when Lara and his boys managed a miracle? Again?
Sunderland have not been in the top-flight since they were relegated in the 2016/17 season as the Black Cats head towards the end of their fourth season in League One.
The Mackems went down five years ago after they scraped survival in the previous campaign under Sam Allardyce. The veteran boss came in to keep Sunderland in the top flight after Dick Advocaat was sacked in October 2015.
In the summer of 2015, the northeast side brought in the likes of Wahbi Khazri, Jeremain Lens, Younes Kaboul and Lamine Kone, among others, and they just about managed to do the job in the end, before going down the following year.
However, things may have been different had they been able to land one of their other targets in that transfer window – Virgil van Dijk from Celtic.
Advocaat wanted to bring the centre-back to the Stadium of Light and there was talk of a deal involving Steven Fletcher heading to Parkhead in exchange.
However, Southampton ended up completing a £13m swoop to sign the Dutch defender on 1 September, with his compatriot being unable to beat the Saints to the player’s signature.
In his first two seasons with the south coast club, Van Dijk averaged WhoScored ratings of 7.56 and 7.43 respectively as he consistently showcased his quality at the back. He took to the Premier League like a duck to water upon coming from the Scottish top flight, and his statistics show that he barely missed a beat.
His form caught the attention of Liverpool in the 2017/18 campaign and Jurgen Klopp moved to snap him up for a £75m fee – the most that had ever been paid for a centre-back at that time.
Since moving to Anfield, he has won the PFA Player of the Year award, the Premier League and the Champions League, whilst also being named in the UEFA Team of the Year. In his first three seasons for the Reds, he averaged WhoScored ratings of 7.35, 7.44 and 7.32 respectively in the Premier League, carrying over his form from Southampton.
His team-mate Joel Matip once dubbed him “complete”, while former Watford striker Troy Deeney said earlier this season that the Dutch defender is “world-class”, with his statistics and accolades living up to that praise.
By September 2019, he was valued at a whopping £90m by Transfermarkt. This is some improvement on the £13m for which Sunderland had the opportunity to sign him when they tried to snap him up from Celtic in 2015, and it illustrates why the Black Cats had a shocker with him that summer.
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His incredible statistics and achievements since coming to England suggest that he would have had a major impact on Sunderland’s team. Perhaps they would not have tumbled down the leagues if they had Van Dijk’s towering presence at the back, but it is impossible to say with certainty.
What we can say, however, is that this is one that got away…
AND in other news, Sold for £4m, now worth £11.7m: Sunderland had a howler over “very solid” colossus…
It is reported that as many as eight players are ready to resort to legal action depending on today’s ECB decision on whether to allow overseas cricketers who have signed with the unauthorised ICL to register for counties.Cricinfo has been aware for some time that players were willing to take the England board to court should it carry out threats to impose bans, and it is believed that some of the funding for one or two players for such action might be coming from the ICL itself.The ECB maintains that it cannot register players such as Shane Bond and Jason Gillespie unless it obtains permission, via a No Objection Certificate from their home boards. However, the boards concerned are distancing themselves from the row and are declining to grant or refuse such certificates.The ECB has maintained that it is on sound legal ground, but that is disputed by Andrew Fitch-Holland, who represents Andrew Hall and Hamish Marshall. “My clients are suffering because they have signed contracts that start this summer,” he told Cricinfo. “But they signed good-faith contracts and at the time had no reason to think that there would be consequences. How is it fair and reasonable that they are now prevented from playing?”Under the ECB’s own regulations, any player refused registration has a right to a personal hearing or an appeal in front of a three-man panel with one representative from the ECB, one from the Professional Cricketers’ Association and one from an independent arbitration organisation. However, this has not been offered to Marshall and Hall as an option.Fitch-Holland is also concerned that any appeals process could drag on and compromise both his clients and the counties. “If Hamish cannot play for Gloucestershire then are the points they miss out on because he is not scoring the runs expected going to be returned? Of course not.”Marshall’s case is more complex than most because he is an Irish passport holder and, strictly speaking, not even a Kolpak player. He has been refused because he last played for New Zealand on April 8, 2007, eight days after the April 1 cut-off. Had he played on March 31 then his registration could not have been declined.It is possible that the ECB could compromise by allowing those affected to play while their appeals are heard, but that would put them into direct conflict with the Indian board which has zealously insisted that any ICL-contracted players be banned from playing anywhere.
Nimbus, the Indian production company, has secured the rights for India’s offshore series against South Africa in Ireland in June. The series was under threat yesterday when the BCCI’s deal with Zee Sports fell through, but Nimbus have stepped in to alleviate Ireland’s fear of the whole tournament being cancelled.Nimbus agreed to pay US$24.20 million for the series and, according to Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president, bagged the rights after Zee failed to pay the stipulated amount by the deadline of May 28.”Nimbus have agreed to pay US$6.05 million per match for the four matches in Ireland [against South Africa on June 26, 29 and July 1] and Scotland [against Pakistan on July 3],” said Modi. “We have terminated the contract through a letter sent to Zee today.”According to Ashish Kaul, Zee’s senior vice-president, his company had pulled out of the deal because they were not given the same discount offered to Nimbus for telecasting the matches held in India, after the broadcasters were forced to share the feed with public broadcaster Doordarshan. But Modi denied this claim.”Zee were offered the same discount as Nimbus but it was not agreeable to them,” said Modi. If Doordarshan, with whom all broadcasters have to share their feeds, does not encrypt its signals, Nimbus will be given a discount of Rs 257 crore from their overall deal of US$612 million with the BCCI to telecast all cricket played in India till March 2010.”We recognise the problems faced by broadcasters over the non-encryption of Direct to Home (DTH) signals by Doordarshan and have come to an amicable settlement with Nimbus,” added Modi. “We have held many meetings with both Nimbus and Zee over the issue.” After Zee’s pull-out the BCCI held talks with ESPN Star Sports, Ten Sports and Nimbus who were the only ones who accepted the board’s offer.Modi also disagreed with Zee’s views that the BCCI kept the broadcasters in the dark about offshore ventures and said, as per the agreement, the telecasters were told about future offshore ties six months in advance.Harish Thawani, Nimbus’s chief, expressed satisfaction with the four-match deal and said they would be interested in televising further offshore matches organised by the BCCI. “We have come to an amicable amount and we are happy that the BCCI have quantified our losses and compensated us,” said Thawani. “Cricket has to go on. One or two technical matters have also been dealt with.”Thawani added that the matches would not necessarily be shown on Nimbus’s Neo Sports channel but there was a possibility of it being syndicated to six other channels, including regional ones, as was done with the Bangladesh series.These developments come 24 hours after Nimbus pulled out of broadcasting the Afro-Asian Cup beginning in India on June 5. They cited the absence of several big stars in the Asian XI as the reason for pulling the plug. However, the series will take place as planned after the Asian Cricket Council struck a last-minute deal with ESPN-Star.
Brian Lara has been appointed the captain of West Indies captaincy for a third time. The formal announcement was made at midday in Trinidad.”It’s a great honour,” Lara told reporters. “It’s the third time I’m taking the job and I feel I have the necessary support. [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul did a wonderful job under the circumstances. He’ll reap the benefits later in life. He called me and he said he’d support me and asked that I give it some consideration.”The fact that a lot of former players called me was humbling. This was followed up by phone calls from present team-mates who thought I should assume the mantle of leadership at this juncture. I called past and present players for an objective view on the matter. They unequivocally thought the same as the others who were trying to influence me.”Ken Gordon, the board chairman, was quick to stress that Lara was not a stopgap choice. “His appointment is not an interim one,” he said. “His appointment as captain stands and it is not for any fixed period of time.”It is logical to go back to Lara. Of all the players available, they each had varying strengths but there were also varying weaknesses. He brings a lot to the table at this time which will make a material difference. Whatever the risks, the best is to go with Lara, whose experience and knowledge is unquestioned.”Lara has already led West Indies 40 times, winning 10 and losing 23. He was first captain between 1996-97 and 1999-2000, resigning after a dismal series in New Zealand. He was appointed for a second time in 2002-03, eventually being replaced by Chanderpaul in March 2005 when he stood down because of an ongoing contractual dispute with the board.
Baloo Gupte, the former Indian legspinner, has died this morning after a prolonged illness. The 70-year-old Baloo, the younger brother of Subash, the legendary Indian legspinner, was suffering from cancer for the last few years. He is survived by his wife, a son anddaughter.Born on August 30, 1934, Baloo played three Tests for India between 1961 and 1965, all at home, and managed to pick up only three wickets. He made his debut against Pakistan at Madras in 1960-61 – ironically replacing his brother Subash, who was dropped – but had a miserable baptism when he conceded 116 runs in 35 overs and finished wicketless. He played his third and last Test four years later against New Zealand.But he was a colossal presence in the domestic circuit, when he played for Mumbai, Bengal, and Railways, and one of the leading wicket-takers in the Ranji Trophy of his time (he finished with 255 Ranji wickets at 23.47). His 9 for 55 for West Zone against South Zone in the 1962-63 Duleep Trophy final is still the best in the competition. He ended with 417 wickets in 99 first-class games at an average of 24.88, including a staggering 26 five-wickets hauls and five ten-wicket hauls.
Less than 24 hours after wrapping up their historic series victory in the Caribbean, four of England’s key players have been awarded six-month summer contracts by the England & Wales Cricket Board.The new contracts, which take immediate effect, have been awarded to England’s pacemen Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard – who shared 47 wickets between them – as well as the veteran batsman, Graham Thorpe, who scored 274 runs in the series, including a matchwinning century in Barbados.”Each of these players has made an outstanding contribution to England’s successful tour of the Caribbean,” said David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, “and the award of contracts is richly deserved. The team now faces a busy period of international cricket this summer and all four players will have an important part to play in our plans.”The contracts system, which was introduced at the beginning of the decade, has been a vital component in England’s steady improvement over the past four years. “The lads face a really heavy schedule,” Graveney told BBC Radio. “We won in the West Indies as we kept our bowlers fit and we need to keep doing that.”The game isn’t flushed with money but it’s a balancing act between cricketing needs and finances,” added Graveney. “Harmison and James Anderson were on summer contracts last season. These give control to look after bowlers and counties get compensated for services lost by these lads.”Harmison’s county, Durham, was delighted by the news. “Stephen is proving what a great bowler he is,” said Martyn Moxon, the head coach. “The contract is justification for all the effort he has been putting in. The downside, for Durham, is that we are unlikely to see much of him this year.””We are delighted that Stephen’s continued excellent form has led to him being granted a central contract,” added David Harker, Durham’s chief executive. “The contract is the result of months of hard work following his back injury in Bangladesh and no one deserves it more than Stephen.”The four join eight other players who were awarded 12-month contracts by the ECB last September: James Anderson, Mark Butcher, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick.
Essex fast bowler Ashley Cowan will miss the whole of the 2003 season afterhaving surgery on his right knee. He was forced to restrict the majority ofhis appearances in 2002 to one-day cricket due to continuing problems withan arthritic condition.Essex Chief Executive David East commented: “Ashley has undergone a grafting treatment on his knee. The operation wasconducted in stages, but the final surgery was delayed until January so thatall other options could be considered. He has been advised by hisconsultants not to play during 2003 as the graft will take time to settledown, although it is hoped that he will be fit for the start of the 2004season. There is no question that Ashley will be missed, but it is essentialthat we give him the best chance of extending his career with thisrevolutionary new treatment.”