Category Uncategorized

The International Cricket Council has criticised South Africa and India forgoing ahead with their match in Centurion without official ICC match refereeMike Denness.The former England captain upset India’s cricketing public when he penalised six players, including Sachin Tendulkar, for various offences during the second Test at Port Elizabeth.As India threatened to pull out of the third and final Test should Denness officiate, the United Cricket Board of South Africa sided with the tourists, appointing a new referee in Denis Lindsay.The ICC has refused to sanction the match as a Test, and awarded the series toSouth Africa.”The ultimate response by the Indians would appear to be an over-reaction, while South Africa for their part did not act correctly,” said ICC spokesman Jonathan Hemus.”Our focus is on protecting the power of the referee and umpire – otherwise there would be anarchy in cricket.”The ICC is deeply concerned with the integrity of the officials – they mustbe protected and if not it sets a very bad precedent.”Hemus refused to rule out the possibility that South Africa and India wouldface further punishment. But he said there was a possibility that the game might regain Test status in the future.”This is a dynamic situation … it is not a closed book. But while saying that, the ICC is determined to be resolute in its decision,” said Hemus.”Our chief purpose is to protect the rights of referees and umpires. In other sporting codes – for example soccer – the referee’s decision is final and teams have to abide with his decision regardless of circumstances.”In cricket the referee has hindsight and time for consideration increasing his perspective on the incident.”

The two greatest batsmen of their generation will now get a chance to bat together as captain Sachin Tendulkar drew Brian Lara’s name along with 13 other players as part of the “Sachin’s Blasters” squad for the Cricket All-Stars series beginning at Citi Field on Saturday.In a random draw conducted Thursday in Times Square, Tendulkar drew Lara as well as former Indian teammates VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. Tendulkar also no longer has to spar with Glenn McGrath, having picked the Australian pacer for his side in a bowling group that also includes Curtly Ambrose, Shaun Pollock and Muttiah Muralitharan.While the luck of the draw meant that Tendulkar wound up with his Indian batting brethren, Shane Warne wound up drawing a slew of his former Australian teammates to play for “Warne’s Warriors” including Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds. Warne also wound up with a dream fast bowling trio of Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald and Wasim Akram.While the first 26 players were drawn by lots, Shoaib Akhtar’s status was decided by a coin flip. Warne called heads, but the coin came up tails, drawing a big sigh of relief from Tendulkar. The first All-Stars match begins on November 7 at Citi Field in New York with two more in Houston and Los Angeles on November 11 and 14.Sachin’s Blasters: Sachin Tendulkar (c), VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene, Carl Hooper, Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock, Moin Khan, Graeme Swann, Glenn McGrath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shoaib Akhtar, Curtly AmbroseWarne’s Warriors: Shane Warne (c), Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Michael Vaughan, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Andrew Symonds, Jonty Rhodes, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram, Daniel Vettori, Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald, Ajit Agarkar

Jurgen Klopp could be facing a crisis like none he has faced before during his time as Liverpool manager, as both Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah’s contracts are set to expire at the end of next season.

The likes of Darwin Nunez, Marco Asensio and Jarrod Bowen have all been linked with a move to Anfield in the near future, while Kaide Gordon is showing some impressive potential in the academy, and Takumi Minamino has been thoroughly impressive when called upon this season.

However, back-up striker Divock Origi is set to leave at the end of this campaign, and Klopp’s priority for the Summer could be to replace him with a new number nine.

What’s the news?

German striker Karim Adeyemi has been linked with a move to Liverpool for some time now, and have just been given a boost in their pursuit according to Sky Germany, as front-runners Borussia Dortmund are still yet to agree a fee with his club Red Bull Salzburg.

The Austrian club are holding out for £34m to commit to a sale, while the German giants currently are at least £5m apart in their valuation – giving hope to other potential suitors who are more willing to negotiate like the Merseyside club.

Liverpool need to act now

With Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig also keen on the 20-year-old, Liverpool will need to act now on the starlet, who was described as “ice cold” by Germany manager Hansi Flick.

Having scored 15 goals in the Austrian Bundesliga so far this season, Adeyemi is the top-performing Salzburg forward this season with an average match rating of 7.18, as well as the current top scorer in the league.

For his performances in the Champions League, he ranks in the top 1% among strikers in Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions for carries into the penalty area per 90 (2.24) as well as penalties won per 90 (0.60).

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

With a scoring frequency of one goal every 99 minutes in league football, the “atomic” speed demon could emulate former Salzburg star Erling Haaland and quickly become one of the best strikers in the world – which is why Liverpool need to act fast if they want to sign him in the Summer.

In other news: 24 y/o “joke” who wanted to “disappear from Liverpool” is now proving Klopp very wrong

Islamabad, who are languishing in the relegation zone, were facing an uphill battle to avoid an innings defeat against leaders Karachi Whites on the third day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I Cricket Championship match at the KRL Stadium here on Wednesday.Islamabad were tottering at 139 for eight in their second innings after conceding a lead of 201. Left-arm mediumpacer Ali Raza was the main wrecker-in-chief with four for 38 and Test all-rounder Shahid Afridi claimed two for 31.Earlier, Karachi Whites, who resumed their first innings at 299 for three, added 109 before applying closure at 408 for eight. Hasan Raza, who was 73 overnight, went for 75 but Saeed bin Nasir went on to score 54 off 96 deliveries with five boundaries.

Matthew Hayden has been a menace for the Indian bowlers during the series © AFP

The problem, for any team in the world, with playing against Australia is that you’re always trying to catch up. It is Australia who set the standards, Australia who call the shots, Australia who control the game. Of course, a team as talented as this Indian one has the ability to beat anyone, even the Australians, on their day. What remains to be seen is whether the fifth ODI will be one such day.The script, even before the toss is done, suggests Australian dominance, and the challenge before Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team is to break this mould as early as possible. For the Australians, the fifth match in Vadodara, with the first of the series being washed out, is a chance to shut India out. It’s a chance for them to ensure that they can’t lose the series, and this is likely to translate into all-out attack.”This is like a finals game for us,” Ricky Ponting conceded on the eve of the match. “Generally when the bigger games come around the Australian team plays its best cricket. We’ll play our best cricket [on Thursday].”India were represented by Murali Kartik at the pre-game press conference, and he too said things would have been completely different had India not won the last match and earned themselves some breathing space. “Against Australia you need that momentum,” he said. “Once they have a foot on you they keep it there. Now, with this win in the last game we’ve got that foot away, it’s a question of momentum. It would have been difficult to comeback from 3-0.”There is one small problem for India, though. The IPCL ground has always been a high-scoring one. The average total here is around 280, and from the looks of things, this game is going to be no different. The outfield is well-maintained and quick, the boundaries are not especially long, and only the stifling heat should come in the way of batsmen scoring heavily.”It is a very good wicket,” Kartik said. “Every time I’ve played here, either for Central Zone or for India, it’s been a 320-wicket. I’ll only say, hopefully it’ll take a bit of spin.”Whether it takes turn or not, Australia’s batsmen are ready to take full toll. They, more than the Indians, are benefititng from the new rule that stipulates a ball change after 34 overs. “It will have an effect on the game,” Ponting said. “The hardest time to bat in an innings is generally around that period where the ball starts to get a bit soft and lose a bit of colour and now that they are changing the ball at 35 overs, it [the ball] is generally getting a lot newer and a lot harder. If you have got wickets in hand when the ball changes you can really accelerate the score quite a lot through that last 15 overs.”

Generally when the bigger games come around the Australian team plays its best cricket Ricky Ponting

This means that the new, hard ball comes on to the bat nicely, somethingAustralian batsmen relish. And none more so than Matthew Hayden, who has made 261 runs in the series, and Andrew Symonds, only three short of that mark. They have not merely been scoring heavily, they’ve been the difference between the two teams.”Once those two guys get in and start striking the ball like they have in these last few games – and they are intimidating players, both are six feet tall as well – and both tend to get down the wicket a little bit and put the bowlers under some pressure,” Ponting said. “That’s the way one-day cricket is going, to tell the truth, I think the more one-day cricket is played we are going to see more batsmen of that sort of stature playing the one-day game.”Kartik admitted the burly pair were giving India plenty of grief. “You have to give it to them, they are good players,” he began, before turning to humour when asked how Hayden and Symonds could be stopped. “Take them away and lock them up … But seriously speaking, they’re both going through a very good patch at the moment. They’re in sublime form but it will stop one day, hopefully soon. We’ve been persisting with whatever plans we have.”With all the worries over Symonds and Hayden, though, India will not lose sight of that other big gun at the top of the order. Even with Gilchrist making only 12, 0, 18 and 29, Australia have barely ever looked like they won’t rack up 300. If Gilchrist also fires, and he’s due, then India will have that much more to worry about.

Chaminda Vaas would provide backbone to Middlesex’s lower-order and incision with the ball © Getty Images

Following the news that Ben Hutton has stepped down from the captaincy of Middlesex, the club are on the verge of signing Chaminda Vaas, the Sri Lankan seamer, in what is believed to be the first step to a major squad overhaul.Middlesex suffered a dreadful season; they finished bottom of Division One in the Championship, by some margin, and are relegated into Division Two and were also relegated in the Pro40 league. John Emburey, the club’s director of cricket, is also expected to sign another overseas player in addition to Vaas – most likely a senior spinner.”We need a stronger spin bowling attack and we need to add an experienced swing bowler to counter the fact that our pitches at Lord’s do not offer much carry or movement to the seamer,” Emburey said.Vaas, 32, has taken 307 wickets in Tests and is an accomplished one-day player; he also contributes nuggety lower-order runs. He represented Hampshire in 2003 and Worcestershire last season.

Scorecard
How they were out

Justin Kemp celebrates hitting the winning boundary © Getty Images

Justin Kemp blasted South Africa across the line at Port Elizabeth and carried them to an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Herschelle Gibbs laid the foundations for the run chase with a stylish 81, but a committed performance in the field by New Zealand took the game down to the final over. South Africa needed nine and it took Kemp just two balls as he dispatched Shane Bond for six and four to seal the win.When Kemp was joined by Shaun Pollock South Africa needed 42 off 30 balls and New Zealand sensed a chance to keep the series alive. Mark Boucher was brilliantly run out by a diving Lou Vincent at cover and the pressure was starting to mount. However, Kemp is becoming the next Lance Klusener and believes he can achieve any target with his powerful strokeplay. On this occasion St George’s Park wasn’t big enough for him and New Zealand were left to ponder how they are going to beat this South Africa side after wasting three gilt-edged chances.Their total of 244 represented a decent recovery after the top order slumped against the new ball on a juicy wicket. Scott Styris held them together with a well-paced 78 before Andre Adams gave the innings a grandstand finish by clubbing 24. But South Africa knew that, with a short boundary and quick outfield, a good start would put them in the driving seat.Their rapid opening stands have become customary in this series – but so has their inability to build on them. This time Graeme Smith had a new partner – the recalled AB de Villiers – but the pattern was the same.

Andre Adams celebrates Graeme Smith’s dismissal © Getty Images

de Villiers was especially impressive, cracking a series of cover-drives and one mightily pulled six onto the roof of the stand at deep square-leg. Adams provided the much-needed breakthrough when Smith played an airy drive and inside-edged a catch to Brendan McCullum. Mills then struck a second blow when de Villiers also edged an attempted drive. Despite abundant talent de Villiers has yet to transfer his impressive start at Test level (average 53) to the one-day arena. His top-score is 39 after 10 matches and, with such a dominant start, the manner of his dismissal was a waste with a big score for the taking.The innings stalled as Jacques Rudolph, also on his return to the side, struggled against tight medium-pace bowling. At least Gibbs was finding his touch, locating the cover boundary with sweetly timed drives. Gibbs’ form has been building throughout the series and today he was near the top of his game. He took an aggressive approach against Daniel Vettori – Stephen Fleming’s trump card – taking 15 off one over to put New Zealand on the back foot.He formed a series of useful – but not match-sealing stands – with Rudolph, Boucher and Ashwell Prince, but when he spooned a slower ball to point, where Hamish Marshall held a stunning catch, the result wasn’t a certainty. Pollock struck two crucial boundaries before Kemp added his finishing touches as South Africa’s superb run in ODI matches continued.

Athleticism from Herschelle Gibbs © Getty Images

Although the match finished as a relatively close encounter, South Africa always held an advantage from the moment they had first use of a helpful pitch. Fleming was frustrated at having to bat first, his demeanour all day was of a captain annoyed by how the tour was going, and his mood didn’t improve when the top three all fell to flat-footed wafts.Styris’s 78 gave them the chance to post a defendable target as he formed a series of rebuilding partnerships in the middle order. He and Fleming added 59 but, just as the score was ticking along, Fleming’s day went from bad to worse. After reaching a composed half-century from 80 balls he was run out in freakish circumstances. A fierce straight drive by Styris ricocheted off Kemp’s ankle and smashed into the stumps.Craig McMillan and Styris scampered between the wickets and managed to locate the fence with the occasional boundary. But another run out at a vital time, via a brilliant piece of fielding for Pollock, caught McMillan short. The ball dropped at McMillan’s feet and Pollock collected in his follow-through, turned and hit the stumps at the bowler’s end with the batsman a couple of inches short. However, McMillan could have made Pollock’s task harder by running the line of the stumps.While the bowling of Pollock and Ntini was impressive the back-up was less on the mark. Charl Langeveldt had an especially poor day and, although he ended Styris’s innings during the closing overs, Adams clubbed his last over for 15. But it still wasn’t enough for New Zealand, as this well-drilled South African outfit again showed their ability to win the tight matches.

New ZealandNathan Astle c Kemp b Ntini 11 (18 for 1)
Played away from body, edged to second slipLou Vincent c Boucher b Ntini 11 (23 for 2)
Limited foot movement, thin edge attempting backfoot punchHamish Marshall c Smith b Nel 7 (49 for 3)
Back-foot slash, edged hard straight to first slipStephen Fleming run out (Kemp) 54 (108 for 4)
Craig McMillan run out (Pollock) 19 (155 for 5)
Brendan McCullum b Ntini 19 (203 for 6)
Scott Styris b Langeveldt 78 (206 for 7)
Daniel Vettori c Gibbs b Nel 6 (224 for 8)
Andre Adams run out (de Villiers/Boucher) 25 (243 for 9)
South AfricaGraeme Smith c McCullum b Adams 18 (40 for 1)
AB de Villiers c McCullum b Mills 29 (48 for 2)
Jacques Rudolph run out (H Marshall) 17 (101 for 3)
Ashwell Prince c Mills b Adams 21 (150 for 4)
Herschelle Gibbs c H Marshall b Bond 81 (187 for 5)
Mark Boucher run out (Vincent) 24 (202 for 6)

Brian Lara’s twin failures in the Lord’s Test against England has meant that Rahul Dravid has, for the first time in his career, taken over as the top Test batsman in the PwC ratings. Lara aggregated only 55 runs in his two innings at Lord’s, resulting in his rating points slipping to 881, while Dravid’s remained at 892, three more than Matthew Hayden, who moved into second place ahead of Lara.Dravid’s rise to the top has been the result of an amazingly consistent run over the last couple of years – since the tour to the West Indies in 2001-02, he has scored 2526 runs in 23 Tests at an outstanding average of 76.55, with eight centuries, four of them double-hundreds.Apart from a change at the top, the latest ratings also gave Michael Vaughan top billing among England’s batsmen. Vaughan rose five places to 18th, thanks to centuries in each innings at Lord’s. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who failed to emulate that landmark by just three runs, climbed 12 places to 16th.

Rank	Batsman	Points	Average
1	Dravid	892	58.09
2	Hayden	889	58.14
3	Lara	881	53.43
4	Kallis	833	54.07
5	Ponting	832	54.33
6	Gibbs	815	49.40
7	Inzamam	785	49.63
8	Tendulkar	784	57.39
9	Sehwag	782	52.72
10	Richardson	761	47.94

Meanwhile, Ashley Giles’s Man-of-the-Match performance not only secured him a place on the famous dressing-room honours board, it also propelled him into the top twenty of the PwC Ratings for the first time in his career.In general, it was a match in which bowlers struggled, but Giles rose above the dominance of the bat to take 9 for 210, his best figures in a home Test. Following on from a six-wicket haul against New Zealand at Trent Bridge earlier in the summer, Giles has climbed nine places to 19th, while Pedro Collins – the pick of West Indies’ attack – was up eight places to 15th, thanks to his figures of 7 for 175.Prior to the match, all eyes had been on Steve Harmison, who could have gone top of the list had he taken five or more wickets. Instead he had a disappointing game by his recent high standards, taking just two scalps in the second innings. Even so, he remained second behind Muttiah Muralitharan, and still has the No. 1 spot in his sights as the second Test begins at Edgbaston on Thursday.

Rank	Bowler	Points	Average
1	Muralitharan	886	22.76
2	Harmison	864	24.95
3	Pollock	837	21.46
4	Shoaib	826	24.47
5	McGrath	805	21.61
6	Warne	762	25.47
7	Kumble	751	28.22
8	Gillespie	740	25.71
9	Ntini	722	29.67
10	Harbhajan	635	28.47

Click here for the complete ratings.

Latschach was the venue on 12th-13th July 2003 for the first CC Velden 91 International six-a-side cricket tournament. The competition saw teams from Italy (SS Lazio Baseball and Cricket – from Rome and Milan CC), Slovenia (Ljubljana CC) and Carinthia Cricket CLub join the hosts in the tournament. AUCUS umpires Graham Tebb and Walter Blaschke officiated at the tournament, and both will be in action at next month’s ECC Notts Sport® Trophy in Seebarn and Markommannenstrasse.The group stage saw a number of very close games with the Carinthian Derby between Carinthia CC and CC Velden 91 seeing the hosts win by 22 runs. The experienced Carinthia CC side put up admirable performances against Ljubljana and Milan, but but unfortunate to lose both encounters. Hosts Velden lost to Lazio off the final ball (team totals 86 vs 84), but made amends against Milan CC on the Sunday morning, winning by 8 runs, thanks mainly to the batting of Eric Holmes and Stefan Schauss.Ljubljana CC had qualified first for the final, by virtue of having won all three group games, with Lazio edging out the hosts, having been level on points, to qualify for the final. In the final the compact Ljubljana team came out winners, scoring 124 to Lazio’s 116 in reply. The ecstatic victors were able to take home a replica of the Ovedasso-Casinogastromie Cup, with their copy of the cup crossing the Karawanke after lengthy celebrations in Velden, with the main trophy remaining in Velden until a team wins it outright with three victories in the tournament.The final standings were as follows:Winners: Ljubljana CCRunners-up: Lazio CC3rd: CC Velden 914th: Milan CC5th: Carinthia CCThe tournament was organised by CC Velden 91, by Club Chairman Michi Tschernitz, Stefan Schauss, whose idea it had been to stage the tournament, and Eric Holmes. Once again the spectacular backdrops of the Karawanke led visitors to praise the outstanding location of the ground, and they promise to return.It is hope that the 2004 VELDEN SIXES will be a six team affair, with six nations represented, with the Latschach/Velden ground once again being the venue. For preliminary information about the tournament, please contact CC Velden 91 via their website at www.ccv91.at or alternatively send e-mails to the Secretary of the Austrian Cricket Association, who will forward all equiries to the club.

The Indian innings at Kingsmead resembled a pre-climax scene from abad B-movie, where the villain has a noose around the neck of theheroine standing on an ice block. Most of the Indian batsmen appearedto having nooses around their necks, and they only succeeded inpulling it tighter, resulting in their dismissals. The only differencewas that they could not conjure up a hero to save the team from adebacle. South African captain Shaun Pollock was clearly intent onplaying on the psyche of the Indian batsmen by inserting the touristson the day when it mattered most.

What really made a telling impact was the inability of the Indianmiddle-order to play shots off the back foot. The pitch at Kingsmeaddoes have a lot of carry and bounce, but the shot selection ondisplay was poor by any standards.

The Indians somehow got into all sorts of tangles by adopting somestrange tactics. The skipper perished in trying to up the run-rate byplaying, against his opposite number, a shot that had worked well forhim in the series. His dismissal meant that the Indians were peggeddown in the first fifteen overs, from which they never reallyrecovered. The only positive aspect of the Indian innings was the wayin which Virender Sehwag batted, though his mode of exit wasdisappointing.The move to make Rahul Dravid keep wickets opened up a slot for anadditional bowler, but the Indians stuck to their regular formula offour bowlers. Dravid shouldered the additional responsibility withoutany fuss, but it is not a long-term solution. He tried his best totake the Indian score to respectability; in the end, though, it wasnot worth the effort, as the South Africans overhauled the Indiantotal without any problems. But for the mini-partnerships that Dravidbuilt with Sehwag and Reetinder Singh Sodhi, the final would have beenan embarrassment for the visitors.What really made a telling impact was the inability of the Indianmiddle-order to play shots off the back foot. The pitch at Kingsmeaddoes have a lot of carry and bounce, but the shot selection ondisplay was poor by any standards. Nantie Hayward worked up good paceconsistently, and he will be a force to reckon with in the Testseries. A team that had seven batsmen in its ranks was unable to putup a total to even make a contest out of it. The Indians, in fact,gave the impression that they got things wrong in terms of the totalthey planned to set; a total of 220-230 would have been verycompetitive, given the conditions, but it seemed that the visitorswere looking at 250-plus , which might have caused the top order toplay rash shots.Yet another final was lost simply because the Indians as a collectiveunit do not believe in their ability; Sachin Tendulkar and SouravGanguly always have to click with the bat if the Indians are to evennurture hopes of winning. Even they, however, can succumb underpressure when it matters most, in spite of all their achievements ininternational cricket over the years. The Indian victories againstKenya notwithstanding, the limitations of the make-up of the team werealways under the microscope.Looking at a broader perspective, any side that struggles for the 10crucial overs, in both departments of the game, is bound to strugglein a pressure-cooker situation. That is the problem with the Indians,since they are a bowler short and the middle-order batsmen do not makethe most of the last 10 overs, the most vital phase of the innings.The idea of completing a fifth bowler’s quota with Yuvraj Singh andTendulkar is just wishful thinking, and it will be difficult onpitches where the bounce is even and true.It is all history now, however, and one can only hope that the Indiansget their thinking sorted out during the forthcoming Test series. Itgoes without saying that the Tests will be much more demanding, andonly the tougher side will eventually prevail.