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WIPA pays bail; to provide legal assistance to the two players

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2011Runako Morton, the West Indies and Trinidad batsman, and Tonito Willett, the Leeward Islands allrounder, have been released on bail after being arrested in Port of Spain on Saturday for possession of marijuana. The bail amount was paid by the West Indies Players’ Association, the representative body for cricketers in the Caribbean, which will also provide the players legal assistance.”WIPA has been in close contact with their families and both men have expressed deep regret for the unfortunate incident and the embarrassment and hurt it has caused their teammates, their country, their families and cricket fans throughout the world and they hope that their remorse would not prejudice them in the determination of this matter,” Dinanath Ramnarine, the president and CEO of WIPA, said on Tuesday.”WIPA is committed to ensuring that the players are provided with the necessary support throughout this process. In this instance, WIPA has today, taken the responsibility of ensuring that both players are afforded the necessary legal representation required in this matter.”Morton had been expelled from West Indies’ Elite Athletes Assistance Programme last Wednesday but the reason given was not the charge based on which he was arrested, but that he broke a team curfew. The matter will come up for hearing on Thursday morning at the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court.

Geoff Boycott has said the ECB needs to schedule County Championship games during the course of a home Test series to enable batsmen from the national team return to their counties and work on any weaknesses in the first-class format

Siddhartha Talya01-Sep-2010Geoff Boycott, the former England opener, has said the ECB needs to schedule County Championship games during the course of a home Test series to enable national players to return to their counties and work on any weaknesses in the first-class format. Several England batsmen, including Kevin Pietersen, struggled for form during the recently-concluded Test series against Pakistan and Boycott claimed that was a major worry ahead of the Ashes.”The England players play so much international cricket that it’s almost impossible to play any County Championship games in between matches,” Boycott said on Cricinfo’s fortnightly audio show . “Pietersen is one of England’s players who plays everything. The fixtures for four-day matches in England are so badly arranged that the England players, even when they get a space between Test matches, they can’t get matches with their counties, i.e four-day cricket matches.”They find that when there’s a week off between Test matches, they find their counties are playing a 40-over match or a Twenty20, which is not ideal. It’s not the best form of practice.”Since the start of 2006, Pietersen has played just one non-England first-class match while Paul Collingwood, another batsman who’s involved in all three formats, has represented Durham in just four four-day games. That pair averaged 23.33 and 19.83 respectively in the four Tests against Pakistan. Those few who have had an opportunity, Boycott said, have been able to show the benefits.”The only ones in the England team that can play County Championship fixtures are the guys who are not picked for the international ODIs,” he said. “It’s no coincidence that the two guys who played best for England in the series against Pakistan have been Jonathan Trott and wicketkeeper Matt Prior.”Now they didn’t play in England’s ODIs against Bangladesh and Australia, so there was a big period when they went back to their counties and batted well for them. They could take their time and play properly out in the middle. Many of the [other] England batsmen are playing poorly. It’s a big worry for the Ashes.”The solution, according to Boycott, was to schedule the Championship fixtures in between Tests where there was a reasonable gap. “There are periods when England play two Tests back-to-back, where you can’t return to your counties. But there are periods when there are nine days before the next Test. So if they organise the fixtures in that period where all the nine counties play Championship matches, then any batsman or bowler who felt he needed more practice could go back and play a proper four-day match.”England host India and Sri Lanka next summer but Boycott doubted the ECB would adopt a change in approach by giving precedence to first-class games over limited-overs. “They are so besotted, are the ECB, with making sure they have a four-to-six-week window to play Twenty20 cricket – about three matches a week for every county. It’s difficult then to fit Championship matches in,” he said.”They’re only interested in making money through one-day cricket. They think they can make Twenty20 in England like the IPL in India and they can’t. We have 60 million people in England but there are a billion people in India who’re nuts about cricket. So there is a bigger catchment area in all the cities to watch. It’s never going to happen [in England].”

Ahead of West Ham United’s big Premier League clash against Manchester United on Saturday afternoon, David Moyes will have some major calls to make about his line-up.

The Hammers were on the wrong end of a 3-2 score-line against Leeds United last time out at the London Stadium, and know that in the battle for the top four, suffering back-to-back defeats, and that too to a Champions League rival in the Red Devils would be a damaging blow.

One man who looked all at sea in that game against the Whites last week, was Issa Diop.

The Frenchman was at the heart of defence for the Hammers, but got dragged this way and that by Leeds’ dynamic front three of Dan James, Raphinha and hat-trick hero Jack Harrison.

As per Sofascore, Diop was dribbled past twice over the course of the 90 minutes, the most of any player on the pitch, while he also looked extremely shaky on the ball, losing possession ten times and completing just one of his four attempted long passes.

It was no surprise that he duly came in for some big criticism from some sections of the Hammers fan-base, with a few calling for him to be dropped and pining for the return of his fellow Frenchman Kurt Zouma.

Writing in his post-match player ratings for Football.London, Tom Clark gave him a three, saying: “Should have done better with Leeds’ second goal where Luke Ayling ran off him and nodded down an assist for Harrison. Fortunate Mateusz Klich’s goal was disallowed after letting Raphinha get away from him too easily.”

With such a crucial game against Ralf Rangnick’s side on the horizon, Moyes desperately needs his back-line to be as reliable as ever, and Diop just hasn’t shown he can be the man to provide that in such a crunch clash.

The £16m-rated defender simply needs to be dropped for the trip to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, West Ham have identified this striker as their main target…

Nottinghamshire edged their way to the 400 runs required to secure a vital fifth batting point

Liam Brickhill16-Sep-2010
ScorecardShivnarine Chanderpaul’s dismissal sparked wild celebrations from Nottinghamshire•Getty ImagesIn a result that seemed almost unthinkable this morning, Nottinghamshire have stormed to the County Championship title on a thrilling afternoon at Old Trafford. Needing to secure six bonus points to pull level with Somerset at the top of the table – and squeeze ahead by virtue of winning seven games to Somerset’s six this season – Nottinghamshire edged their way to the 400 runs required to secure a vital fifth batting point, with the tenth-wicket pair of Darren Pattinson and Ryan Sidebottom, in what could be his final game for the county, putting together 10 runs in 5.1 overs fraught with tension.Having declared, Nottinghamshire were left needing three wickets in 15 overs in order to secure the title, and Sidebottom soon came to the fore with the ball, snaffling Mark Chilton before Andre Adams’ double-strike sparked wild celebrations at Old Trafford. With Somerset settling for a draw at Chester-le-Street after quick wickets had put paid to their hopes of chasing down 181 in 17 overs, Nottinghamshire went into the final hour of the Championship campaign knowing exactly what they needed to do to secure the title. It took less than five overs, at the end of a long and arduous season, for a pumped-up Sidebottom and Adams to get them there.Sidebottom struck first as Karl Brown edged his eighth ball to Alex Hales at first slip. Though Brown might have left the delivery alone, in the next over Mark Chilton could do nothing about his dismissal as he got a feather on an unplayable delivery from Adams. Adams has been Nottinghamshire’s stand-out bowler in their Championship campaign, and he then struck for the 68th time and final time, having Shivnarine Chanderpaul caught by Samit Patel at third slip, to set the champagne corks popping.Nottinghamshire’s other option going into the final day had been to persuade Lancashire to forfeit an innings and set them a gettable total to chase this afternoon. Ultimately, however, their victory was hard-fought as they were given no quarter by Lancashire and it took a special partnership between Adam Voges and Samit Patel to push them towards the magic 400-mark.There would have been some frayed nerves in their dressing room during Sidebottom and Pattinson’s partnership, but the fact that Nottinghamshire got that close at all was thanks largely to Voges and Patel’s 153-run stand for the fifth wicket, which came before Simon Kerrigan ran through a nervous lower order to pick up 5 for 80.After a delayed start at 11.35am with 80 overs to be bowled after the players took the field in bright sunshine, the onus was on scoring quickly from the start. There was no sign of declaration bowling from Lancashire, with Tom Smith and Gary Keedy starting proceedings, but without being overtly reckless Voges and Mark Wagh managed to score at better than a run a ball almost from the first over of the morning.Sajid Mahmood replaced Smith at the Stretford End and his extra pace soon brought about a breakthrough as Wagh jabbed at an inswinger from the crease and had his stumps pegged back. Ali Brown looked to have settled, putting together 28 with Voges in good time, but fell on the stroke of lunch as Mahmood slanted one in to strike him above the left knee roll.The signs that Nottinghamshire would try to press on quickly after the interval were soon apparent, as Voges started aggressively by thrashing Mahmood to the cover boundary to go to his half-century. Soon after he charged out of his crease and clipped Keedy to the straight midwicket boundary to take Nottinghamshire past 200 – and their first batting point.Voges was on hand once again to secure another point when he took Nottinghamshire past 250 in partnership with Patel. Patel, who once again demonstrated the natural stroke-maker that has left England so frustrated by his fitness issues, eased to a rapid half-century from 60 balls and soon after brought up the century stand – from 117 balls – with a wristy cut through backward point.As Nottinghamshire neared 300 Voges and Patel upped the tempo noticeably, both using their feet to seamers and spinners alike and appearing unafraid to hit the ball in the air. Voges came down the track and bunted Keedy to long-on to register his first hundred for Nottinghamshire, and despite his head start, Patel rapidly caught up with him and had already reached 91 by the time he had gone to his ton. But he would not follow Voges to the landmark, falling in the pursuit of quick runs as he lofted Kerrigan to Kyle Hogg at long-off to depart for a 91-ball 96 that included 11 fours and a six.Kerrigan removed Chris Read and Steven Mullaney in quick succession, but with Nottinghamshire just 10 runs short of their 400-target and with two wickets in hand, Adams missed a wild mow into the leg side to be bowled by Kerrigan – the spinner’s fifth wicket. Then came Sidebottom and Pattinson’s vital stand, and Nottinghamshire declared their innings immediately after reaching the 400-mark to leave them 15 overs to push for the title.Despite Nottinghamshire’s fears that they would have to engage in horse-trading and negotiations in order to force a result in this game, ultimately they secured the title under their own steam and finished as deserved champions in a truly breathless finale to the county season.

Alex Hales returned to haunt Durham by smashing an unbeaten 96 in Nottinghamshire’s five-wicket Clydesdale Bank 40 triumph at Chester-le-Street

25-Jul-2010
Scorecard
Alex Hales returned to haunt Durham by smashing an unbeaten 96 in Nottinghamshire’s five-wicket Clydesdale Bank 40 triumph at Chester-le-Street.On his last visit to the ground, 21-year-old Hales held a controversial boundary catch which turned a Twenty20 match in his side’s favour. He insisted the catch was clean and Dale Benkenstein, who was on 40, took his word for it when a six had been signalled.This time Hales was dropped on two by Gareth Breese at slip off Chris Rushworth and went on to see Nottinghamshire to victory with 4.1 overs to spare. It looked like being even more comfortable when Hales and Samit Patel were putting on 86 in 13 overs. But, with only 25 needed off 10 overs, Patel was stumped for 46 and then David Hussey fell for a duck, brilliantly caught above his head by Phil Mustard off a steeply-rising ball from Mitch Claydon.The same combination accounted for Steve Mullaney, attempting a big pull, before Hales guided Liam Plunkett to third man for his ninth four to go with a six pulled off the same bowler. His runs came off 113 balls. Patel joined Hales at 71 for two in the 16th over and was soon timing his drives well enough to suggest Durham could not blame a sluggish pitch for their struggles.In an otherwise dismal display by Durham, Gordon Muchall made 77 in a total of 181 for 8, which was nowhere near enough to prevent them from suffering their third successive defeat in this competition.Even skipper Mustard, the fourth man out after trying to hold things together, was never able to time the ball in making 29 off 58 balls with one four – a leg glance off Paul Franks’ first ball.That was in the ninth over and Durham did not hit another boundary until the 24th, when Ian Blackwell drove past mid-off. Shortly afterwards he offered a return catch off the first ball sent down by Patel, who had come on for the last two balls of an over when Luke Fletcher limped off.Mustard lost patience in the 22nd over, when he went down the pitch and was bowled by Graeme White, and in the left-arm spinner’s next over Muchall gave his only chance when deep mid-off got his right hand to a firmly-struck drive.That signalled the start of Muchall’s acceleration and he drove two successive balls from White for four in the 26th over, adding a boundary clipped wide of long-on to his tally just before reaching 50 off 73 balls. Durham scored 15 off the 37th over, bowled by Franks, but managed only 15 runs off the remaining three overs as Muchall lofted a return catch to Mullaney.

Rangers boss Gio van Bronckhorst is in for a busy summer transfer window as he looks to shape his squad ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

With the Gers currently sitting six points adrift of the Premiership leaders, the Dutch head coach is set to head into next season with the aim of winning the title back from their Glasgow arch-rivals – unless of course there is a very late twist in the current campaign.

This means that the club will have an extra edge in their transfer dealings, as they will be motivated to improve their squad to a point where they will be confident of finishing above the Hoops.

One player who must be brutally axed from the Rangers squad in the summer is Finland international Glen Kamara, as the timing is perfect for him to leave.

Ibrox chief Ross Wilson can seal a masterclass by cashing in on the 26-year-old, whose form has nosedived of late. He has only started one Premiership match since 5th March as John Lundstram and Ryan Jack have been preferred to him in the two deep-lying midfield roles.

In all competitions since that date, he has recorded a SofaScore rating of 6.8 or lower in each of his appearances, while he has struggled in the Europa League all season. He has averaged an underwhelming SofaScore rating of 6.68 in Europe across 11 appearances, showing that he has not been one of the key players in their charge towards glory in that competition.

Earlier this year, it was reported that the club value him at £15m. It would be a stroke of genius from Wilson if he is able to sell Kamara for that amount, as it would generate significant funds for Van Bronckhorst to strengthen the squad in other positions without weakening the club’s best XI.

In his last Premiership start, the Finland midfielder was culpable for Motherwell’s goal and was dubbed an “all-round shambles” by Andrew Dickson for his involvement in that play. The 26-year-old was given the opportunity to show Van Bronckhorst that he can be a reliable, regular starter for him in the middle of the park, but instead he let the manager down with a poor mistake.

Kamara has struggled to get into the team of late and has not been able to catch the eye whenever he has played, so that is why this summer will be the perfect time for him to be sold. Wilson must cash in on the player whilst his value is still reasonably high, whether that is the £15m previously quoted or a similar fee, and then use that money to reinvest in the team.

If he can pull that off, then it will be a transfer masterclass from the former Southampton chief…

AND in other news, Rangers now plot exciting bid for £1.8m-rated sensation, it’ll leave Van Bronckhorst thrilled…

Ricky Ponting has called on the ICC to ensure that Ireland cease to suffer by having promising players lured away from Irish cricket by lucrative contracts and the promise of better opportunities to play international cricket overseas.

Cricinfo staff16-Jun-2010Ahead of Australia’s tour opener in Dublin, Ricky Ponting has called on the ICC to ensure that Ireland, as a developing cricket nation, cease to suffer by having promising players lured away from Irish cricket by lucrative contracts and the promise of better opportunities to play international cricket overseas.”I’m very sympathetic to countries like Ireland that potentially could keep losing their better players. It’s something that shouldn’t happen I feel,” Ponting said. “I think the ICC should be worried about that as far as trying to develop countries like Ireland and having some of their best young players poached, even in county cricket.”As a leading Associate nation, Ireland’s player drain has received exposure in recent times after Eoin Morgan and Ed Joyce’s move to England. Though Joyce has since made clear his intention to return to Ireland once more ahead of the 2011 World Cup, Morgan has cemented a spot in England’s middle order in limited-overs cricket and made a start to his Test career with a debut against Bangladesh at Lord’s last month.England also appear to have an eye on Boyd Rankin, who plays county cricket for Warwickshire and was included in the ECB’s enhanced England Performance Programme, and 17-year-old spinner George Dockrell’s promising performances at the World Twenty20 will also surely have registered him on England’s radar.”If the ICC look at that and are fair dinkum about Ireland continuing to grow as a nation and maybe one day being a Test-playing nation they can’t afford to have their better players going off at a young age. The counties are jumping on 17, 18-year-old kids who have maybe had a good tournament or a few good games here or there. They offer them some decent money and away they go.”Ireland have attempted to stem the player drain by professionalising their structures, and in January six players were given full-time central contracts while county-based players were offered additional financial support. They have also made their ambition to play Test cricket clear, but there are fears that unless Full Member status is granted soon, talented players will continue to drift away from Irish cricket.”You can understand that as far as the players are concerned, but I think the ICC have to step in and do their best to ensure the young Irish kids that are coming along get a chance to play for their country first and foremost,” Ponting added.

Australia could host a team from Zimbabwe, for the first time in over seven years, following a meeting between Cricket Australia and the Zimbabwe sports minister, David Coltart

Cricinfo staff17-Jun-2010Australia could host a team from Zimbabwe, for the first time in over seven years, following a meeting between Cricket Australia and the Zimbabwe sports minister, David Coltart. If the tour, tentatively set for mid-2011 takes off, it could be the first step towards a reciprocal arrangement of A tours between the two countries.”There is a spot in 2011, but the trouble is that slot was for two Tests in Australia and even though Zimbabwe wants to re-commence playing Test cricket next year, there’s a recognition that to throw this young team into the Test arena against Australia at this stage would be counter-productive,” Coltart told .”We’ve discussed other means of utilising that slot but with more appropriate opposition. It’s very much tentative at this stage. (An A series) is what the discussions are centering on, the exchange of A teams rather than at Test level.”Coltart hopes to firm up the plan during his meeting with Australia’s foreign minister Stephen Smith on Thursday.Australia have shunned bilateral cricketing ties with Zimbabwe since 2003, following the political turmoil in the African nation. There has been a thrust towards resumption of contact in recent times, with the Department of Foreign Affairs saying there will be no diplomatic opposition to the resumption of formal cricket contact.”I’ve had a number of very constructive meetings with the Australian ambassador to Zimbabwe, John Courtney, and he’s certainly been very sympathetic to my arguments and I know his view reflects Canberra’s view, so I don’t anticipate difficult meetings tomorrow,” Coltart said.Cricket in Zimbabwe has undergone a facelift in recent months, with an improvement in the basic facilities and domestic structure. That has translated itself into better performances in the field, with recent victories against India and West Indies. Resumption of ties with Australia could be a major shot in the arm as they look to return to the Test fold in 2011.

What started out as a slow-moving transfer window for Newcastle United ended on a very positive note, and Eddie Howe will no doubt feel the signings his club made in January have addressed some of the desperate issues facing his squad.

Bruno Guimaraes’ big-money arrival from Lyon was no doubt the highlight, with reports suggesting that fellow Premier League side Arsenal were interested in his services.

But, while the Brazilian could be a big player for the future for the Magpies, it might be Dan Burn’s signature from Brighton that really makes the difference for the Tyneside club this season.

With the second-worst defensive record in the Premier League this year with 43 goals conceded, Newcastle were in bad need of a really dominant defender, and while Burn has predominantly played at left-back for the Seagulls this campaign, he would surely be much more of an influence by returning to the heart of defence.

The 6 foot 7 defender himself said: “I’ve enjoyed centre-back. When I was playing left-back or wing-back I was enjoying it. It wasn’t my natural position, there were some things I was limited on going forward. Now playing centre-half again I’ve realised how much I’ve missed playing there. I’ve always known I could play centre-half at this level. I’m proving to people that I can do it now.”

As per Whoscored, Burn’s average of 1.7 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per game in the Premier League this season is far better than that of any Newcastle centre-back, while only Jamal Lascelles has won more aerial duels than him.

Indeed, some analysis done by The Athletic revealed: “Burn’s aerial presence could be a real advantage at both ends of the pitch. When accounting for the strength of the opponent faced in an aerial battle, you can see below how he comes out a lot stronger than Diego Carlos — he is certainly used to the style of the Premier League.”

It’s no surprise then that his former boss at the Seagulls, Graham Potter, is a big fan of the defender, dubbing him as “incredible” and saying: “Anyone that criticises someone like Dan Burn doesn’t understand football, ultimately. I wouldn’t listen to them. It’s irrelevant to me. Dan just gives his best every day.

“He’s playing at the highest level. He’s a fantastic example of what a top athlete should be in terms of it’s not going to go well every day but he recovers, he fights; he fights for the team. He’s everything you’d want from a professional footballer, so just let the ‘experts’ talk.”

As well as that much-needed Premier League experience, Burn appears to be the right kind of person mentality-wise, which is exactly what Newcastle will need in a relegation scrap.

So while Bruno’s signing is the one that might have got Magpies fans very excited, it’s Burn who could make the real season-defining impact given that he’s much more likely to hit the ground running.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are now set to make this decision…

Boeta Dippenaar, the former South Africa cricketer, has said the South African team needs a coach who can “challenge them”

Firdose Moonda23-Dec-2010Boeta Dippenaar, the former South Africa opener, has said South Africa needs a coach who can “challenge them”. Corrie van Zyl, the team’s current coach, will step down after the 2011 World Cup and Dippenaar is one of the five members of the panel appointed to select a new national coach.Dippenaar, who will represent the South African cricketer’s association on the panel, and van Zyl will be joined by Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola, Andrew Hudson, the convenor of selectors and Andy O’Connor, cricket committee chairman, to choose the national coach. van Zyl will return to the High Performance Centre in Pretoria in April, where he was the coach prior to his appointment with the national team.Applications for the position close on 7 January 2011, after which the panel will meet to form a short-list. “It’s important that the panel finds common ground and that we know what we are looking for in order to appoint the best coach for this particular group of players. We want to appoint someone who can take them forward and help them grow,” Dippenaar said.Dippenaar, who played 38 Tests and 107 ODIs for South Africa, said it will be vital to find a coach whose character will blend well with that of the players. “We will have to look at the different personalities in the national team and find someone who can work with them.”The issue of personality clashes has been closely associated with the South Africa coaching job. Former coach Mickey Arthur was rumoured to have resigned because of differences with the administrators. He was also labelled a puppet of the senior players in Herschelle Gibbs’ autobiography .Dippenaar played under four national coaches, the last of them being Arthur, and said he could not provide an objective view of the Arthur regime because he didn’t spend enough time under him. He was full of praise for current Dolphins coach Graham Ford, who coached South Africa from 1999 to 2002. “He was a great coach and unlucky because he had two bad series against Australia and then lost the job.” South Africa won eight out of 11 series under Ford, but lost back-to-back series against Australia in the 2001-02 season, which cost him his job.The other coach Dippenaar played under, whom he has kind words for, is India’s current bowling consultant, Eric Simons, who took South Africa to the 2003 World Cup. “I think Eric was before his time. I don’t think he had a mature team at the time, but now the team is more settled and more mature.”Simons is part of a three-man South African contingent that is currently charge of the Indian team. Gary Kirsten is the head coach while Paddy Upton is the mental conditioning coach of the team. Rumours are rife that Kirsten will be head-hunted for the South African job and Simons and Upton may be tempted to follow him. Dippenaar would not be drawn into whether Kirsten is being targeted by the panel, simply saying “everybody is in the running.”