John Davison might be able to devote more time to Canadian cricket after he was dropped by South Australia in a move which could signal the beginning of the end of his time with the state.Although Davison is currently South Australia’s one-day vice-captain, Paul Nobes, SA’s chairman of selectors, said that Davison had “no future” with the state.”Davo’s form hasn’t been up to the standard we would like,” Nobes admitted. “He’s been dropped from the first-class arena and now the one-day arena. As a 34-year-old, the way we’re heading, his chances are very, very limited.”Davo is pretty much resigned to the fact,” Nobes added. “It’s just one of those things … the time has come.”
South Africa 251 for 3 (Smith 72) beat City Nazim XI 250 for 4 (Farhat 64) by eight wickets (12 men per team) Scorecard South Africa dusted off the cobwebs and applied themselves to some much-needed batting practice under the lights at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. After losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, South Africa saw off a strong City Nazim XI by eight wickets, in a match that was arranged as a 12-a-side affair to ensure maximum time in the middle ahead of Friday’s first ODI.Graeme Smith continued his happy habit of leading from the front. His 72 underpinned South Africa’s pursuit of a handy total of 250 for 4, and he was ably supported by all his batsmen. Jacques Kallis was the second-highest scorer with 55, while Herschelle Gibbs, Neil McKenzie and Mark Boucher each chipped in with timely 30s.The basis of City Nazim’s total came from an eyecatching innings by Imran Farhat, whose impressive 64 contained seven fours and three sixes, and only came to an end when he skied Andrew Hall to Herschelle Gibbs at point. Gibbs also accounted for the captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who was turned down for a quick single and run out by a smart pick-up-and-throw to Mark Boucher behind the stumps.About 2,000 police, outnumbering a handful of spectators, were deployed in and outside the ground as part of tough security measures in place for the South Africans.
Pakistan Juniors scored a remarkable 37- run victory overPCB XI Monday at the Rawalpindi Stadium in a low-scoringmatch. The juniors, preparing for this month’s World Cup inNew Zealand , found the going tough and could only manage apaltry 134 after being put in. But they made up for the lowtotal with an impressive bowling and fielding display andbundled out PCB XI for 97, Arsalan Mir claiming four for 24.In the juniors’ innings, except for wicketkeeper AminurRehman who topscored with 39 and Junaid Zia’s 25 down theorder, no other batsman could do much. Paceman Waqas Ahmeddid most of the damage taking four for 46 while Jaffar Nazircaptured three.PCB XI batting crumbled in the face of fine bowling andtight fielding by the under-19s and the entire side wasdismissed in juts over 28 overs.Besides Arsalan’s four wickets, Umer Gul snapped up twowhile Junaid and Najaf Shah had one each.The junior side had earlier beaten the PCB XI in the firstmatch by four wickets.
Everton Matambanadzo returned to bowling form in Zimbabwe A’s second match of the Emerging Nations tournament, against Kenya, when he took four good wickets in a match left drawn after rain in mid-afternoon. He talks to John Ward about the match.JW: Everton, can you describe the conditions during the match, please?EM: When we arrived this morning the pitch looked quite hard, a good batting track, and there was a bit of moisture and some grass there so we decided to bowl. Bryan Strang and I were hoping to use the new ball quite well and we did; we got two early wickets. We had them in trouble quickly at 12 for two, and then they batted quite well; they just grafted their runs. Tikolo stroked it quite nicely, timed the ball very well, played some good shots off Craig Evans, and then we got him out and wickets fell from then on.JW: Which other batsmen impressed you?EM: I thought Maurice Odumbe and the left-hander Hitesh Modi played well and put on quite a good partnership there just when they needed it. Unfortunately for them they got out at a crucial stage for them, but that’s just one of those things; you’ve got to play shots and can’t just sit on the handle all day.JW: Can you describe how you took your wickets?EM: The first one was bowled, Francis Otieno, with an off-cutter that he misread and it knocked him over. I was bowling away-swingers to the other guy, and I’m sure he was told it was going to be away-swingers and he was looking to leave it, but it jagged back. My second wicket was Odumbe. He chased a wide one and was caught at third man.Then I yorked the left-hander, Modi, a reverse-swinger from around the wicket, and then Thomas Odoyo. I did him with a slower ball. He had missed a couple of them earlier on, so I started off bowling him yorkers and slower balls, and he was caught at deep square leg.JW: You looked to be bowling pretty well, better than I’ve seen you for some time.EM: I had a nice rhythm; I decided I was just going to let it go and bowl as quick as I can, and whatever happens, happens.JW: Who else bowled well?EM: Bryan Strang bowling very well; he swung it, he seamed it,he bowled line and length, especially up front. At the end hepicked up three wickets, and with the tail-enders it’s goodbowling; he just bowled straight and if they missed he hit. Ofthe spinners Gavin Rennie surprisingly bowled quite well, andthey didn’t play him very well. He came from over the wicket,bowled on off stump and they just couldn’t get him away. He gottwo wickets for almost nothing. Raymond Price did okay; he did agood job for us, but in my opinion bowled too many arm balls,which denied him wickets. I think if he had bowled more spinnershe would have taken wickets too.JW: There was pretty good support in the field.EM: Yes, the fielding was pretty good. As is usual in thesematches we had our ups and downs, some bad patches, especiallybetween the fifteenth and twentieth overs. The guys got a bittired after quite a long session for us. But after then wepicked up and we kept up the pressure to the end.JW: What are your comments about the Zimbabwean innings, as faras it went?EM: We seemed to start very well. Mark Vermeulen was strokingit with good timing, played a lot of shots, gave some chances butat the same time gave us a great start. We got to 50 in eightovers, between him and Doug Marillier, which put us in a goodposition to kick on and chase a total like 220. When we have agood opening stand like that, it simplifies the chase.JW: It’s a pity the rain should come with the match so wellbalanced.EM: Yes, yes. Under the new rules we have to play 25 overs toconstitute a match, so hopefully we’ll get back on and get thosefive overs bowled. I know we only need four runs to do it[without losing a wicket].JW: A much better performance than yesterday, I thought.EM: I didn’t watch all of yesterday’s game, but certainly therewas a lot more purpose about the batting. I watched bits andpieces, but the way the innings started, at least. You couldsee, we had a game plan when we went out there to try and achievethis total, rather than walking out there and just batting.
Rangers have been handed an injury lift ahead of their return to action at Ibrox on Thursday night…
What’s the latest?
Gers boss Gio van Bronckhorst has revealed that Steven Davis is the only confirmed absentee for their UEFA Europa League clash.
He has admitted that there are question marks over others but has not completely ruled them out, with this coming after blows to Amad Diallo and Aaron Ramsey in recent weeks.
The club’s official Twitter account quoted him as saying: “Davis is not available as he has an injury. We have a couple doubts for tomorrow but we will be fine.”
Buzzing
Ibrox supporters will be buzzing with this news as it is a big boost for multiple reasons.
Firstly, they will be delighted to learn that there have been no major issues following on from the 1-0 win over Aberdeen at the weekend.
It was a scrappy game as the away side committed 16 fouls and received three yellow cards, which may have left some supporters anxious as to whether or not any of the players came out of the match with knocks that would see them miss out against Red Star Belgrade.
Instead, every player appears to have come out of it relatively unscathed and van Bronckhorst will have a full squad to pick from aside from Davis and long-term absentee Ianis Hagi. This will give him plenty of options to name in his starting XI, whilst also allowing him to utilise his bench if needed on the night.
Supporters will also be buzzing to know that Ramsey will be available for selection and has not suffered another setback. He has only played ten minutes in the Europa League for the Gers so far and fans will surely be eager to see him add to that on Thursday night.
The Wales international produced six goals and three assists in his last 13 appearances in the competition with Arsenal and this suggests that he has the quality to make a big impact at this level.
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He has shown throughout his career, with 142 direct goal contributions for the Gunners and Juventus combined, that he can score and create goals and fans will be keen to see that for the Scottish giants between now and the end of the campaign.
They will also be pleased with this news as it suggests that Amad Diallo has overcome his knock. He has struggled since joining on loan from Manchester United but he is a young player and it may take him a little bit longer to bed in. The sooner he gets back out on the pitch the sooner he can turn things around and prove his ability.
AND in other news, GvB could save Rangers millions in “clinical” 26-goal teen with “pure enthusiasm”…
Bhargav Bhatt’s four-for dismantled Tamil Nadu•Sivaraman Kitta
Baba Aparajith’s half-century was the sole innings of prominence for Tamil Nadu as they were dismantled for 176 by Andhra’s bowlers in Chennai. Bhargav Bhatt and Y Prithvi Raj shared seven wickets between them to run through TN’s batting line-up, while Bandaru Ayyappa and Shoaib Md Khan picked the rest.TN’s India players, M Vijay and R Ashwin, were both dismissed for single-digit scores, making 4 and 9 respectively. Vijay was the first wicket to fall, in the seventh over, and in the next over, Prithvi Raj dismissed Abhinav Mukund to leave the score at 15 for 2. Kaushik Gandhi and B Indrajith attempted to steady the innings with a 26-run partnership for the third wicket, but Bhatt thwarted them by dismissing Indrajith. Aparajith, meanwhile, anchored one end to take TN to 140, after which the tenth-wicket pair of Rahil Shah and Krishnamoorthy Vignesh helped lift them to 176.Andhra ended the day at 8 for no loss, with Prasanth Kumar (1*) and Srikar Bharat (7*) at the crease.A 199-run fifth-wicket partnership between Devendra Bundela and Shubham Sharma propelled Madhya Pradesh from 69 for 4 to a solid 268 for 5 against Baroda in Indore. Bundela was dismissed on 99 by seamer Atit Sheth off the last ball of the day.Madhya Pradesh were in the midst of a wobble after losing openers Waseem Ahmed (4) and Rajat Patidar (4) within the first ten overs, and slipped further when Naman Ojha (24) and Harpreet Singh (32) were dismissed before lunch. A middle-order charge from Bundela and Shubham made Baroda’s bowlers toil without reward until the end of the day, when 40-year old Bundela was caught by wicketkeeper Pinal Shah, thus missing out on his 27th first-class hundred.The first day’s play between Odisha and Tripura was washed out without a ball being bowled in Cuttack
Former Zimbabwe cricket stakeholders have broken their recent silence by urging the ICC to take decisive measures if auditors find the current Zimbabwe Cricket administration responsible for the misappropriation of funds.In June the ICC appointed a top South African audit company, KPMG, to look into Zimbabwe Cricket’s accounts after Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, said in a leaked document that he believed board funds had been squandered.The auditor’s findings were expected to be presented to the ICC’s board meeting in Dubai this week, but that was postponed and the ICC accepted an undertaking that the exercise will now be finalised “as soon as possible.”A former influential board member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said if the audit named culprits then they must be booted out of sports administration for good. “Once the audit results are known, [if anyone is named they] must never be allowed to administer cricket and sports again, they must be must be brought to book because they have enriched themselves while the game suffers.”Cricinfo sources have also said an audit arm of the Sports and Recreation Commission, led by experienced Zimbabwean sports administrator, Mark Manolios, was also doing its own investigations into ZC’s financial handlings in order to lead by example as the country’s supreme sports regulatory body.Another former Zimbabwe provincial administrator, who spoke to Cricinfo from South Africa, urged the ICC to use the audit results to take a firmer stand on the Zimbabwe issue. “This is a brilliant opportunity for the ICC to redeem itself on Zimbabwe,” he said. “Us, as the legitimate stakeholders of Zimbabwe cricket, feel the ICC has neglected our cricket in Zimbabwe and let it die. We await too see what sort of action they will take this time. It’s not late for them to save the situation.”
Eight overs into the day’s play, this match effectively ended as a contest when the first innings lead was decided; as the match meandered to a draw on a lifeless pitch, Delhi, who took two points, spent the rest of the day getting batting practice. It put into sharp focus what Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, said in Hyderabad today, that India needed more sporting domestic pitches.Pawar’s reference point was the Durban debacle, and how better pitches at home would help Indian batsmen when they played abroad, but he might also have addressed the other, possibly larger, concern: Domestic cricket needs better pitches for better contests, to simply improve as a spectacle.In any case, this match was dead when Rajat Bhatia picked off a single off D Tamil Kumaran to take the Delhi score past Tamil Nadu’s 347. With the first-innings lead secured, there was little to look forward to for either side, and Bhatia and Vijay Dahiya made the most of a cool, wintryday to post big hundreds.There was just the slightest chance that Tamil Nadu could put in aninspired spell on the final morning and hold Delhi back. Themorning session at the Kotla has always been tricky but Delhi had got theirplans dead right on the third day itself when Dahiya came out to bat andhit a succession of boundaries. “I had not planned to goafter the bowling. But I knew that it could be hard to bat in the morningso I played aggressively,” said Dahiya. “I wanted to ensure that we had aslittle to do as possible on the final morning.”Dahiya, who had reached 51 at the end of the third day, and is making acomeback to the Delhi team after sitting out the whole of the last season,continued to bat with a fluency and effectiveness no other batsmanhad shown in the game. “It just happens that sometimes one batsman scoreswhile others miss out. I didn’t do anything different,” said Dahiya, whose152 included 29 boundaries.Bhatia, who made a big hundred against Tamil Nadu last season aswell, looked well set to get to a double-century when he holed out to RSathish at long off against the now occasional left-arm spin of S Vidyut.He’d probably have got there had he decided to bed down instead oftake chances but, with 166 runs under his belt and close to 10 hours at the crease, he decided to have a go and failed to clear long off.Dahiya’s dismissal, hitting S Badrinath to midwicket, prompted Delhito declare at 491 for 7 and give their spinners anextended bowl. Ishant Sharma, the young medium-pacer, sent down just oneover in the second innings, while Ashish Nehra, who had toiled for 40overs in the first innings, did not even take the field. With Tamil Naduon 66 for 2 the match was called off at the start of the mandatory overs.”We have been training hard for the last 40 days, especially on thephysical fitness aspect, and this is the result,” said ChetanChauhan, the Delhi coach. He added that there was hope that the Delhi andDistrict Cricket Association would prepare better pitches for the gamesahead where “the balance between bat and ball is more even.”Woorkeri Raman, Tamil Nadu’s coach, told Cricinfo that he did havepositives to take from this match. “One has to realise that there’s a fairbit of inexperience in the bowling attack. Yomahesh bowled well and thisis only his third Ranji Trophy match, he’s just learning the ropes,”he said. “Considering that this was an away game and we played threedebutants, in a way it was good that we got the warning signs early on.This gives you a chance to take something out of the game and then try andrectify what you have to and get things in order for the rest of theseason.”Raman also listed the performance of M Vijay, the debutant openingbatsman, as a positive. “It’s a completely different thing for a youngsterto come into first-class cricket,” he said. “What was especially pleasingwas the fact that he showed the ability to graft, unlike the flamboyancewhich you normally associate with Tamil Nadu batsmen.”Raman is not known for mincing words, though, and you can be surehe would have had a few blunt things to say to his players in the privacyof the dressing-room. But made no excuses for his team’sperformance. “We didn’t take the chances that came our way. We did nottake off when we had a launching pad while batting. Badri and Vijay did agood job in stabilising the innings, but from there on we did notcapitalise,” he said. “On this wicket, which was a nightmare for bowlers,450-500 was definitely possible. We didn’t get that, and even then, whenwe bowled, having got the early breakthroughs and picking up a wicket withthe second new ball, we did not capitalise.”
Chennai, and not Ahmedabad, should have been allotted a Test match against England, Cricinfo has learned. The last few weeks have been filled with vociferous complaints from the England and Wales Cricket Board, and the English media, over the itinerary for England’s forthcoming tour of India. While, on the surface, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is strictly adhering to its rotation policy, deeper investigation reveals that something questionable has indeed occurred.The Tour Programmes and Fixtures Committee of the BCCI, which chalks out itineraries for all home matches, met in Mumbai on September 6 to sort out the schedule for the forthcoming season. At the time, however, the committee only decided on the venues for the one-day internationals that were coming up against Sri Lanka and South Africa. Why this was done, no-one is able to answer satisfactorily. And this has made a big difference to how the rotation policy has been applied.According to the rules followed by the board, the Test and ODI rotations run parallel. This means that a situation could arise where it could be a venue’s turn to host both a Test and an ODI in a series. When this happens, it has been the practice that the venue must stage the Test, and wait its turn for the next series for the ODI.Therefore, if the Programmes and Fixtures Committee had worked out for the venues for the forthcoming ODIs and Tests, then Ahmedabad would have been forced to stage a Sri Lanka Test match (Sri Lanka are now playing at Chennai, Delhi and Kanpur). This would have meant that when England’s turn came around, Chennai would have been an automatic allotment for a Test match.There has also been some discrepancy in the allotment of practice matches to the North-Eastern centres of Jamshedpur and Agartala. The fixtures committee met in Delhi to allot the venues for the England Tests and ODIs but did not rule on the warm-up matches. In the past, on most occasions when the Test and ODI fixtures are announced the committee also announces the venues for the side games. In this case, however, it appears that that the chairman of the Tour Programmes and Fixtures Committee, in consultation with the BCCI president, has later allotted the venues to Jamshedpur, Agartala, and Dharamsala for a practice match before the ODIs, which only came to light when representatives of the ECB visited Kolkata for discussions on the itinerary.Staging a three-day game against a touring team is the first step in a venue’s movement towards becoming an international venue. If they stage this warm-up match against England, Agartala will be in a strong position to stake a claim to holding an ODI in a couple of years’ time, a board source told Cricinfo. Dharamsala has already staged a tour match, against Pakistan, and this will only strengthen their case. The most recent instance of this happening is Vijayawada, who hosted a warm-up match when the Zimbabweans toured in early 2002. Just nine months later they were handed their first, and so far only, ODI when West Indies toured.It has also been reported, in that there was some uncertainty over Kanpur hosting the Sri Lanka Test match in December this year owing to a money dispute with the Kanpur District Association, who own the ground. However, as a permanent Test venue, Kanpur has already refused to host Tests in the past, on grounds that the stadium was not ready for play. When New Zealand toured India in 2003 Kanpur was to host a Test, but refused to do so.The BCCI pressurised Kanpur to stage the game, but the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association refused to relent, fearing that if they did stage the game in substandard conditions (poor pitch, outfield, facilities) then they were in danger of being blacklisted as a venue by the ICC. But a long time has passed since 2003 and the BCCI refused to relent this time round, rightly contending that the UPCA had enough time to get its act together. Soon after it was decided, Cricinfo has learned, that if Kanpur was to attempt to forego a Test again when its turn came, stern action would be taken that could have resulted in it being stripped of Test status, which would be accompanied by a loss of a place in the working committee. Therefore it was a fait accompli that Kanpur hosted a Test against Sri Lanka.
New Zealand Cricket want to host one-day and Twenty20 domestic competitions with Cricket Australia to help improve the quality of their game. Martin Snedden, the NZC chief executive, said he had met with his CA counterpart James Sutherland to discuss the events earlier in the year.”We first started talks six or seven months ago and we’ll have quite a bit of contact over the next few months with the reciprocal tours,” Snedden told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We’ve not discussed it further, but it’s still out there and it’s a live issue.An initial proposal suggests a week of Twenty20 matches between the state and provincial teams and a game between the winners of each country’s one-day competition. “My view is that the more playing time and exposure our cricketers have to different players and conditions, the better it is for us,” Snedden said. “But it’s also a question of whether Australia would be willing to go ahead with some of these things.”Stephen Fleming has already suggested that North and South Island sides compete in the Pura and ING cups. New Zealand played in knockout one-day touraments in Australia for three years until 1974-75.