Kiran More and Pranab Roy have been retained as members of India’s national selection panel. The three men joining them will be VB Chandrasekhar from the South Zone, Yashpal Sharma from the North Zone and Gopal Sharma from the Central Zone.The new committee will meet later this week in Bangalore to pick the Indianteam for first Test starting on October 6. None of them are present at thepractice match between India and India A in Bangalore.More will be the chairman of selectors. Yashpal is the seniormost member of the panel, with 37 Tests and 42 one-day internationals to his name, but More has been a selector longer, and got the appointment on those grounds.Syed Kirmani, who was the chairman in the previous committee, wasunfortunate to go out after serving only one year. But he was serving outthe term of his fellow-Karnataka member Brijesh Patel who resigned midway onhealth grounds, and as per the zonal quota system, it was Tamil Nadu¹s turnto nominated the South Zone representative. They chose Chandrasekhar, acavalier opening batsman who played seven one-dayers between 1988 and 1990, with one half-century to his name.Gopal Sharma, who is the only player from Uttar Pradesh to have played Testcricket, replaced Sanjay Jagdale from Central Zone. Jagdale has served outhis full four-year quota. Yashpal took the place of the fellow Delhi-ite KirtiAzad.Interestingly, More and Roy, the only surviving members, were embroiled in acontroversy over an alleged bribe offer from Abhijit Kale from Maharsatra.Kale is currently serving out a suspension after More and Roy reported himfor offering them a bribe for a place in Indian side. However, questions hadbeen raised about the timing of the revelation - More and Roy had kept thematter to themselves for months - and there had been speculations that theywould not be re-nominated.
Canterbury 215 (Fulton 90, Wiseman 65, Orchard 5-10) and 136 for 3 (Stewart 78) trail Northern Districts 434 by 83 runs Scorecard The weather may turn out to be be Canterbury’s ally in the race for a place in the State Championship final. While nearly a full day was possible at Gisborne, Wellington and New Plymouth were subjected to the heavy rain that hit most of the North Island. If no further play is possible in the other two games, Canterbury will hang on by their finger nails, with the knowledge that they will have to beat Wellington outright to claim the title.Canterbury will also need to put up a better show than they produced after being asked to follow on. Peter Fulton’s innings ended on 90, soon after the resumption, while Paul Wiseman scored 65 after 231 minutes of graft. But he became the first of the victims who were involved in a hat-trick by Mark Orchard. It was only the fourth occasion in ND’s 51-year history that a hat-trick had been achieved, as Orchard finished with superb figures of 5 for 10.In their second innings, Canterbury lost two early wickets, including Fulton for a duck, but then recovered to reach 136 for 3 at stumps. Shanan Stewart (78) fell towards the end of the day after a 111-run partnership with Gary Stead (39 not out). However, Canterbury were still 83 runs behind ND’s first innings total.Otago 154 for 2 (Gaffaney 69) trail Wellington 482 for 9 dec (Walker 126, Nevin 124*) by 328 runs Scorecard Canterbury 145 for 5 (Fulton 74*) trail Northern Districts 434 (Hatwell 68, Yovish 65, Hart 64) by 289 runs Scorecard
A rapid century from Australian opener Liam Davis ensured a hard day in the field for England as the hosts took a first-innings lead after day two of the first Test in Adelaide.Australia, 18 for one overnight, soon lost their captain, Greg Hunt, bowled by Liam Plunkett, who also accounted for Mark Cosgrove. Davis was then joined by Theo Doropoulos, who made 44 to take Australia past the 200 mark before he was bowled by Samit Patel.Davis was eventually bowled by Shafayat for 132 (187 balls, 17 fours) to leave Australia at 225 for five. But Michael Bright continued to attack, with a 106-ball 97 (one six, 14 fours) which took Australia into the lead.Aaron Bird finished unbeaten on 65 as the hosts were eventually dismissed for 414. Plunkett returned figures of four for 72 from 16 overs, while Patel took three for 89.At stumps England were 15 for no wicket off five overs, 68 runs behind.
Undefeated Hampshire Cricket League leaders Ventnor travelled across to the mainland – only to find Eastleigh & Otterborne’s Doncaster Farm pitch had not been cut or rolled.The creases and boundary had been marked out, but both clubs agreed the pitch was unsafe to play on.Winchester KS turned up with only seven players and were forced to concede their County Division 1 game against Sarisbury Athletic.
Steven Smith, the Australia batsman, regained his number one spot in ICC’s Test batsmen rankings after a strong performance in the recently concluded fifth Ashes Test. Joe Root had overtaken Smith on the rankings after the fourth Test, but a 143 in the first innings of the fifth Test helped Smith reclaim the top spot with 910 ranking points. Root managed scores of 6 and 11 in that Test and subsequently moved to third, one point behind second-placed AB de Villiers.Kumar Sangakkara finished his Test career in the seventh spot after a match tally of 50 runs in his final Test against India in Colombo. Sangakkara held the top spot for 812 days in his Test career before being displaced last by de Villiers in December 2014.Michael Clarke, who also retired from Test cricket after the final Ashes Test, concluded at No. 25. He too was the top-ranked Test batsman, for a period spanning 70 days. Chris Rogers, who also called time on his international career after the last Ashes Test, scored 480 runs in the series, behind only Smith’s 508. As a result, he leapfrogged into the top ten – moving from the 23rd spot to the tenth.In the team rankings, if India win 2-1 against Sri Lanka, they will overtake New Zealand and move into fifth place. However, a Sri Lanka series victory would see them overtake India into sixth place. In the event of a drawn series, India will remain in sixth place, four points clear of Sri Lanka.
Chris Hughton ’s sacking seems like an awfully long time ago now. Newcastle fans were devastated and opposition fans were perplexed. It was a move that just didn’t appear to make any sense. During his brief reign at the club Hughton had done a stand-up job and deserved better treatment. When I ask if Ashley was right to sack Hughton, I don’t mean was he right in the moral sense, because Chris had done nothing to merit his dismissal. But surely it is worth considering that it may actually have been the best move for the club?
Many Newcastle fans were flabbergasted with Alan Pardew ’s appointment and saw him as something of a step-down in class. He has turned out to be anything but. Discounting the second-half of last season where he seemed to be biding his time until the summer, he’s had an excellent start to his Newcastle tenure.
I remember fans at the time claiming that Pardew couldn’t match Hughton in terms of man management, but it strikes me that Pardew’s getting the most he possibly can out of each and every one of his players right now. Furthermore, I can’t help but feel that Pardew is tactically more astute that Hughton too. Not such a step-down after all.
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Hughton had managed to obtain the backing of both players and fans, something of a rare occurrence on Tyneside and deserved more of a chance to show what he could do. Mike Ashley ’s decision to send him packing could well have triggered a mutiny in the dressing room and potentially another relegation for the club. It was simply awful timing.
Luckily Pardew proved to be a better manager than most people thought and over the course of his ten months in charge he has more than proven that he knows how to galvanise a dressing room. It’s not like Pardew has had an easy ride. He has overseen some high profile departures that led fans to question the future of the team.
Instead, Newcastle has only grown stronger and Pardew deserves a healthy share of the credit for how the club has improved. Given his professionalism and ability, is there anybody out there who really believes that Hughton is the better manager?
Still, that doesn’t make the decision to sack Chris any more right. Strange that what first appeared to be a moment of madness may end up being one of the best decisions of Ashley’s career.
Article courtesy of Harry Cloke from This is Futbol
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AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso has been handed a four-match suspension for headbutting Tottenham assistant Joe Jordan.Gattuso fronted UEFA’s disciplinary committee with a charge of gross unsporting conduct following the ugly incident, which occurred in the aftermath of Milan’s 1-0 loss at home to Tottenham last Tuesday.The defeat left Milan on the brink of Champions League elimination, with the Serie A leaders set to visit Spurs for the return leg of their last-16 tie next week.Gattuso was already suspended from the trip to White Hart Lane having received his third caution of the competition in the first leg.The ban will apply to four UEFA club competition matches following next week’s return leg, meaning Gattuso will be available for the Champions League final at Wembley should Milan progress that far.A statement on UEFA’s official website said the 33-year-old was found to have ‘assaulted’ Jordan after the match. The Italian later blamed his outburst on racist remarks allegedly made by the Spurs assistant coach, a charge Jordon denied.Gattuso has three days to lodge an appeal.
Bill Shankly once said of Everton: “If they were playing down the bottom of my garden- I’d draw the curtains.”
While that may have been true from every Liverpool manager’s benchmark, the prospect of the Netherlands training in my ‘garden‘ made me do anything but draw the curtains.
Staying in Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg for the duration of the World Cup, I was informed that the Dutch team would be training in the stadium next to my block.
Despite a trip being organized by the tutor who’s leading the newsroom I’m working on for the next four weeks, which involved looking at Lions and Elephants, I decided I could always see Elephants anytime, but how often do you get the chance to see Dirk Kuyt miss from 2 yards?
So after grabbing a ticket from the University office- which was for the Grandstand seating no less- I joined the many assembled Dutch fans in the queue as we waited to be let in.
Holland are well supported here in South Africa as many white South Africans or Afrikaans are descended from the Dutch.
The Dutch fans mainly seemed to be South African residents although there were still a few who’d made the trip from the country that gave us legalized weed and clogs.
After two Wits Uni’ students and I had taken our seats in the Grandstand- think Unibond Prem- we waited for about fifteen minutes before the team arrived on the pitch.
Looking out into the ‘Sea of Orange’, sorry I promised myself I wasn’t going to say that but couldn’t help it- it struck me that there must’ve been at least a few thousand who’d turned up to see Bert Van Marwijk’s men.
As the team walked onto the pitch the sound of vuvuzela’s –which had already been blaring intermittently- rose to a crescendo –with the shouts of ‘Robin’ or ‘Ryan’ or ‘Manchester United’ -for some inexplicable reason- barely audible.
The training session itself was fairly routine stuff, a bit of jogging and sprinting followed by passing and a bit of ‘keep ball.’
While the players had a bit of a breather I spoke to a couple of fans to see how they viewed their team’s chances.
After finally finding three lads from Holland- at the tenth time of asking- I got the lowdown on just whether they thought they really could go all the way.
Moike Sovavacs – I think that’s its name but to be honest he’s a little drowned out by vuvuzula’s – from Rotterdam.
When asked how well he thinks Holland will do he says he believes they will be champions, pointing at his friend before adding he is from Brazil and even he thinks Holland are the best.
Speaking about the group he says with a big smile that he thinks it’s very easy and not until the second round does he expect any difficulty.
When I ask him which is the best Dutch player his smile fades slightly : “Robben….but he don’t come here.
“Other than him Van Persie, he is the best one now, he will make the goals now.”
When I ask him which teams he’s wary of, he lists Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Spain.
Jose Antonio is one of Moike’s friends and he tells me that he believes Holland will go far stating he’s “90 per cent confident we will win.”
Again he believes the group stages will be easy and laments the loss of Robben but believes Wesley Sneijder is good enough to shoulder the burden, he also expects to meet Argentina in the final.
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It’s now time for the Dutch team to play a match against each other so after the player’s move the goalposts to the edge of the 18 yard box, the game kicks off.
It was a fairly routine affair, with Dirk Kuyt volleying wide from two yards, Robin Van Persie looking a tad rusty to be perfectly honest and Sneijder holding onto the ball well. Klaas Jan Huntelaar rifled a first half winner, while Rafael Van Der Vaart hit the bar from twenty yards with the last kick of the game. There was a slightly shaky moment for the assembled fans when Sneijder started limping and holding his foot after a challenge but he soon ran it off. Overall the Dutch looked pretty impressive with Sneijder and Van Der Vaart being particular stand-outs.
I grabbed another fan just before the end and asked him the same questions I’d posed earlier- he was a little bit more pessimistic than the previous two, stating that he was worried about Argentina and Brazil- although he felt confident that they’d get through the group easily.
The team then did a lap with much of the crowds chanting seemingly reserved for Robin Van Persie- although it was difficult to hear much as there were a few vuvuzela battles going on near me.
It struck me that none of the fans I’d spoken to, including the two South African students I’d gone to the session with, rated England as one of the top teams, maybe that’s a good thing, but who knows?
The sun was shining as we left the stadium to the sound of more vuvuzela’s- yes they do get very annoying and I’m dreading to think what several thousand are going to sound like- all in all not a bad way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.
“You’d think he was a Spanish player, a real European player.” beamed Brendan Rodgers as he finally captured the signature of Joe Allen on Friday night. South Wales’ very own version of Xavi was finally in his possession once again. Yet are the Kop faithful convinced by the Northern Irishman’s transfer policy that has seen acquire two players he is accustomed to working with? Are his targets really that limited? Theres a clear distinction as to the direction Rodgers wants to take the Reds in next term after offloading a number of senior players and replacing them with 22-year-old Allen and 21-year-old striker Fabio Borini. But at a combined £25 million there have been comparisons to the reckless spending that ultimately cost predecessor Kenny Dalglish his position in the Anfield dugout. Theres even talk of Daniel Agger being sacrificed in order to fund more signings on the scale of Allen and Borini – in terms of age and price. Will this strategy really take the club back into the Champions League? Answers on a postcard…
This week on FFC can Stewart Downing finally live up to his hefty price tag next term and how much would it cost Roberto Mancini to prise Agger away from Merseyside?
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Best of FFC
The Top 15 Players Who Only Look ‘Good On MOTD’
A bitter pill worth swallowing for Liverpool?
Liverpool’s new vision is impressive…given the time
Why Liverpool must hit the ground running
A long-term trend of rotten transfers at Anfield
The Boy’s a bit special…Jack Robinson
Make or break time for Liverpool ace
Does Liverpool star really have a price?
City need ridiculous offer to get Daniel Agger
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Best of WEB
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The Most Important Signing of the Summer? – Live 4 Liverpool
Confirmed: £29m 30-goal star striker ‘wants to leave’ La Liga. Sign him, FSG! – Liverpool Kop
LFC – Living within our means – This is Anfield
Brendan Rodgers Stats 2008-2012: Entire career to date. Good enough…? – Liverpool Kop
Exclusive John Henry Q&A – The Tomkins Times
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700 Examples Of Passion & Commitment, In Red – Live 4 Liverpool
Charlie Adam: The Latest Victim of Bullying in the Managers’ Playground? – This is Anfield
Signed! But Is Joe Allen Worth £15m? – Live4Liverpool
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Quote of the Week
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“You’d think he was a Spanish player, a real European player. I would have paid many more millions for this kid. He is a unique player in that he’s a British player who doesn’t give the ball away. When he comes into this team you’ll see the difference he can make. He’s incredible on the ball, his intelligence for a 22-year-old is frightening, his game understanding is very, very good and he’s in love with the football. He loves the ball.”Brendan Rodgers lauds over new signing Joe Allen.
Bolton boss Owen Coyle looks set to fine striker Ivan Klasnic, after the forward was given a straight red card for an altercation with Marc Tierney in The Trotters 2-1 defeat against Norwich.
The Croatia international was given his marching orders in the first half on Saturday, whilst his team were 2-0 down, and Coyle is not happy with his player.
“The skipper [Kevin Davies] and Tuncay both had to be sacrificed because of Ivan’s folly in getting himself sent off. Will I fine him? He certainly knows my feelings on the subject,” the Scot told The Telegraph.
“Sometimes, you can understand it when a young boy gets caught up in the heat of the moment, but he is an experienced player. He is a seasoned international who has played at the very highest level all his career.
“That is when you have to use your experience, because going down to 10 men when you are already 2-0 behind is not exactly ideal,” he stated.
Coyle has revealed that Klasnic is repentant after the sending off, but this may not be enough to avoid the 31-year-old getting a fine.
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“He is full of remorse, but the bottom line is, you’ve got to keep your full personnel on the pitch. It is tough enough in this league as it is,” he concluded.