Sourav Ganguly, the former Indian captain, has applauded the man-management skills of the current Indian coaching staff and was pleased that the tour has proceeded without any “hiccups”.Ganguly, who had some major differences with former India coach Greg Chappell, was happy with the current atmosphere in the dressing room, adding that the team did not need a “professor” to coach them at this level.”The youngsters have enjoyed themselves,” Ganguly told Cricinfo when asked about the dynamics in the team. “It’s been a lovely dressing room, a free dressing room. No hiccups, not many controversies off the field, not too much rubbish going around, which has been good. It’s been fantastic.”Did he think the lack of a head coach had affected the team in any way? “We have coaches – Robin [Singh] and Venky [Prasad] have been superb,” he said. “They’ve been nice, their man-management skills have been worth watching. Chandu Borde has been nice. Lot of people said he’s 73 when he got appointed. He may not be the most active because of his age but thebatting ideas he gives – stands behind in the nets, watches every ball – that’s all you need.”You don’t need a professor at this level. You don’t need to treat international players like students. What are you going to teach Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or Anil Kumble? What are you going to tell them? [There are] minor things which you notice in the nets you come and tellthem, ‘This is what I feel, this is how you can do it better’. And Mr Borde does it perfectly.”After India’s Test series triumph at The Oval, their captain, Dravid, had also acknowledged the efforts of Prasad, Robin and Borde. However, when asked about the lack of a coach before the first game of the one-day series, he was guarded with his stance. “We’ve had some goodsuccess on this tour, but it will be too simplistic to say it’s because we haven’t had [a coach],” he said. “There are other factors that have gone into us playing well. You can’t just focus on the coach.”Sometimes you’re in the team and looking at it from one perspective. People from outside can look at a team and see the direction it’s going in. They must provide some intelligence and input as well.”
The Australian board has suggested that umpires from England and Australia be allowed to stand during this year’s Ashes series. The ICC rules stipulate that all Test matches should have third-country umpires, but the Australians believe that the quality of decision-making will be better if the umpires from the two countries are part of the panel.According to , though a formal request hasn’t yet been placed, Cricket Australia directors have been exploring the option with the ICC. Peter Young, a spokesman for Cricket Australia, said that a contest between the two best teams in the world should have the best officials as well. “It’s one of those issues that is frequently discussed socially. Australia and England are the two top-ranked sides in the world, and by chance the top-ranked umpires in the world … won’t be able to umpire in that series.”In a perfect world, it would be great for a series that will not only determine who wins the Ashes but could decide the world No. 1 ranking to be officiated by the world’s top-ranked umpires.” Australia’s Simon Taufel is regarded as the best umpire in the world at the moment, while England’s Mark Benson – their only representative in the Elite Panel – is highly rated as well. Daryl Harper and the controversial Darrell Hair are the two other Australian umpires currently in the Elite Panel.
Points TableShaun Udal spun Hampshire to a convincing win against Warwickshire by an innings and 86 runs, ahead of the teams’ C&G trophy final on Saturday. Starting the day on 145 for 4, Nick Knight moved through to his second hundred of the season, but he was the sixth wicket to fall when Dimitri Mascarenhas trapped him LBW for 116. Warwickshire’s first innings subsided quickly, apart from some lusty blows from Machaya Ntini, crumbling to 258 all out. Following on, they faired no better, as Udal took his season-best figures of 6 for 44, as Hampshire dismissed the visitors for a lowly 232 to take them to the top of the first division.Glamorgan hold a slim lead of 158 against Nottinghamshire with just one wicket left in hand, at Cardiff. Nottinghamshire were earlier bowled out for 283, with Dean Cosker grabbing 4 for 57 to give the visitors a first-innings lead of 132. Glamorgan, who were dismissed for just 151 in their first innings, stumbled to 94 for 5, but a sixth wicket partnership of 118 between Mike Powell and Alex Wharf steadied their innings. Powell fell four short of his hundred but Wharf ended the day undefeated on exactly 100, with Glamorgan on 290 for 9.Middlesex lost their last four wickets for 59 runs, as Gloucestershire dismissed the visitors for 297 to hold a slender first-innings lead of 36. Malinga Bandara ended with 5 for 71, his best figures of the season. All Gloucestershire’s batsmen got useful starts in their second innings, but only Kadeer Ali went on to capitalise: he top-scored with 61, as the hosts ended the day on 261 for 6, with a lead of 297.
Division Two
Points TablePaul Collingwood enhanced his claims for selection in England’s squad ahead of the fifth Ashes Test next week, with an unbeaten and patient hundred, his sixth of the season for Durham. He came to the wicket after Jimmy Maher had been dismissed for 7. Two further wickets fell to leave the home side struggling on 59 for 3, but Collingwood combined with Dale Benkenstein, who also struck a century, in an unbeaten partnership worth 204. Earlier, Derbyshire were bowled out for 326 with Luke Sutton remaining unbeaten on 55. Durham lead by 167 runs with seven second-innings wicket left in hand.Lancashire gained a slim lead of 12 in their match against Northamptonshire, as they were bowled out for 301. James Anderson dismissed both Martin Love and Robert White cheaply to leave Northants tottering on 33 for 2 in their second innings. But Uzman Afzaal and Bilal Shafayat then put on 183 to stabalise the innings: Afzaal struck his second century of the season, falling three short of 150, and Shafayat made 80. David Sales struck 77, as the home side went to stumps on 361 for 6, with a lead of 349 runs.Gareth Batty struck 46, and Kabir Ali an unbeaten 37, as Worcestershire were bowled out for 290 against Leicestershire, who had yesterday compiled 405 in their first innings. Leicestershire, in their second innings, were forced to consolidate after losing three quick wickets with just 77 on the board. Tom New struck 49 before Kabir Ali bowled him, and Aftab Habib was left unbeaten on 52 as Leicestershire reached 197 for 5 at stumps, with a lead of 312.
Every now and again Test cricket throws up an epic individual battle that sticks in the memory. Dexter v Hall here at Lord’s in 1963. Greig v Thommo (and Lillee) at Brisbane in ’74-75. Atherton v Donald at a hushed Trent Bridge in 1998. And today we had a contender: Gayle v Harmison, Lord’s, 2004.Chris Gayle, fresh from a forthright 66 in the first innings, was ready to back his formidable eye. Meanwhile Stephen Harmison, who had been strangely subdued in the first innings himself, was ready to move up a gear or two. It made for enthralling cricket, and emptied the bars almost as fast as Andrew Flintoff’s blazing half-century earlier in the day.Gayle had skeetered to 46 when Harmison hurtled in again. Gayle was in stand-and-deliver mode, hardly moving his feet and thrashing through the line. Harmison moved one away at speed, Gayle followed the ball, and edged it. Marcus Trescothick had just moved a little wider at slip, and he and Geraint Jones waved the ball through and looked at each other. Meanwhile Gayle was celebrating his half-century, and rubbed it in next ball with another four. And before the crowd had got its breath back Harmison was at it again, rocketing a lifter onto Gayle’s edge … but it ballooned out just past the despairing dive of Graham Thorpe, who could only get his (wrong) right hand to it from gully.The fun wasn’t over. Gayle turned his attention to Ashley Giles, who was straining for his 100th Test wicket, and larruped him into the Mound Stand for six. Giles will have to wait – unluckily, because Shivnarine Chanderpaul later punched one straight to short leg with his glove, only for Rudi Koertzen to turn down the appeal.And then it was back to the main event: Harmison jinked in again, Gayle teed off again. A cut flew away for four, then a less-voluntary shot screamed between the two gullies.In the 24th over of the innings Gayle brought up the West Indian 100 – and took himself into the eighties – with another bullet cut over the infield. It was his 13th four, to go with that six … but it was also his last. Harmison was operating almost at warp speed now, and a pinpoint yorker zeroed in towards Gayle’s boots. They didn’t move, but his bat did. This time, though, he could only get an inside-edge, which detonated leg stump.Gayle was gone for 81, out of just 102. He’d won a few battles, but with 376 runs more to score, West Indies might well have lost the war. Given fine weather tomorrow, England should be one-up by tea-time.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden Cricinfo.
England 95 for 4 (Flintoff 47*, Streak 4-21) beat Zimbabwe 92 (Gough 4-26) by six wicketsMichael Vaughan On Darren Gough (4 for 26): Throughout the tournament he has bowled well and been an invaluable member of the squad. Throughout the one-dayers this summer he has been a lynchpin in the team.On the pitch: If the game finishes so early in front of a big crowd you might obviously think it is not a great wicket. [But] it was definitely very sporting – I wouldn’t have minded being a bowler out there. Jimmy struggled to control the swing, because it was doing so much.On the chase: It was always going to be a tricky little total, and the way Heath Streak bowled put us under pressure. But Flintoff did really well, in his new role batting up the order from No. 7. This was the perfect opportunity for him to go out and play the way he did and settle our nerves from 25 for 4. We had to win, because the pressure was on to get to the final. I am pretty pleased with the way we bowled and fielded – and the way Freddie batted was outstanding.Heath Streak On the pitch: It was not a good one-day wicket. There was too much emphasis on the toss. There was a lot of moisture out there and early movement. It was tough even for their [England’s] players who are used to swing and seam bowling. We don’t have a lot of experience to call on.On retirement: I’ve no immediate plans to go anywhere. I’m still enjoying my cricket. You’re always up against it as Zimbabwe. Not much has changed.On his team: We have a very young side, and the guys have to learn a lot from this tour. It’s tough but it’s also very rewarding to see the youngsters coming through. I hope they can go away and have a bit of a break and be better players next time they come and play in these conditions.
After three days of wonderfully entertaining cricket in the first Castle Lager/MTN Test match, India folded up on the fourth day as South Africa swept to a nine-wicket victory and, almost certainly, a considerable psychological advantage in the three-match series.India had just about matched South Africa over the first two days, but the home side took a grip on the game during the third day and on Tuesday they squeezed the life out of the Indians.From a position of some respectability at 96 for one on the third evening, India lost their last nine wickets for just 141, leaving South Africa 54 to win. This they did with little difficulty despite losing the wicket of Herschelle Gibbs along the way.It was an efficient and sometimes exhilarating effort from the South Africans in a Test match that belted along throughout. The difference between the sides in the end was the fact that whenever the South Africans found themselves in a tight spot, they had the sense and the skill to wriggle out of it. India, by contrast, finally wilted under the pressure.The Indians will no doubt point to the absence of Harbhajan Singh as a major handicap, and he was badly missed as South Africa built their first innings total of 563. At the same time, India shot themselves in the foot by picking two left-arm seamers, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, neither of whom had bowled a ball in the country. On a pitch that had bounce and carry and assisted the bowlers prepared to put something into it, Ajit Agarkar was left on the sidelines.And so the South Africans were able to build a 188-run lead on the first innings, thanks, in no small part, to Lance Klusener’s return to form after a very ordinary year. Klusener’s 108 took the game away from the Indians and then Shaun Pollock turned the screws on the Indians during the fourth day.The South African captain had never taken 10 wickets in a match before this Test, but he had taken four for 91 in the Indian first innings and when the opportunity, or opportunities, presented themselves, he grabbed them.None of the Indians got going in the second innings. Or, rather, many of them did, but failed to carry on. VVS Laxman was caught at slip in the second over of the day for 29. SS Das was caught at the wicket, slashing wildly at Nantie Hayward in the third over for 62 and then Jacques Kallis struck a crucial blow for South Africa when he had Sachin Tendulkar caught at point.From there on India were doomed and they knew it. Makhaya Ntini, who had an indifferent game, produced a snorter of a ball to get Sourav Ganguly caught at the wicket (and, no doubt, ensure that the Indian captain gets any number of balls stuck up his nose every time he goes to the crease in the South Africa) and then Pollock worked his way down the order.He bowled Virender Sehwag off an inside edge for 31 and, after Nantie Hayward had trapped Anil Kumble leg before, finished off the last three wickets.There was some biffing and banging around from Nehra and Javagal Srinath as the last wicket pair put on 31, but eventually Neil McKenzie caught Nehra in the deep and Pollock had his 10th wicket.South Africa lost the wicket of Gibbs early in the quest for 54 runs, but Jacques Kallis joined Gary Kirsten, the captains agreed to forego tea and South Africa took just 59 minutes to wrap up victory.It was, as Indian coach John Wright conceded, an impressive effort from the South Africans. “They’re a very good team,” he said, adding that, “since the first day we’ve been outplayed. We didn’t put on enough runs on the second morning.””Today was a disappointing batting performance,” he said. “If you lose nine wickets in a day, you’re not going to win many matches that way.”
The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas has provided the latest update on Jarrod Bowen’s injury ahead of West Ham’s Europa League clash against Sevilla.
The Lowdown: Bowen excelling for West Ham
Bowen has gone from strength to strength this season, having emerged as one of the Premier League’s most exciting talents. The 25-year-old has netted eight goals and produced 10 assists as West Ham continue to make a bid for Champions League qualification.
However, in a huge blow for David Moyes and co, the former Hull City winger suffered a heel injury during the Irons’ 1-0 loss to Liverpool at the weekend.
[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-latest-developments-4/” title=”West Ham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]
The Latest: Bowen injury update
On Sunday, West Ham’s official website claimed that Bowen had not sustained any significant damage with his heel injury.
However, Thomas took to Twitter to dampen what was seemingly positive news. Speaking ahead of the Irons’ upcoming fixtures, he claimed: “Jarrod Bowen likely to miss games against Sevilla and Aston Villa. More info #WHUFC”.
The Verdict: Could be worse…
It certainly is a setback if Bowen is ruled out of action for the first leg of their tie against Sevilla in the Europa League, and it would come as a huge blow for Moyes, who at times has been heavily reliant on his top scorer from this season.
West Ham have now dropped down to sixth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who have three games in hand, which makes a top-four finish now seem improbable.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
However, it seems that the outcome could have been a lot worse. Bowen is only set to miss one game in either competition, so if he can return quickly (possibly for the second leg against Sevilla) and maintain his superb form, the Hammers should be able to overcome the setback of his absence.
In other news: Noel Whelan believes that one West Ham player’s absence is leaving a ‘massive void’ in the team
If today Mumbai are embarrassed to find themselves scraping the bottom of the IPL barrel they have no one but themselves to blame. If they faltered during the bidding process – for example, forsaking local boy Wasim Jaffer for Ashwell Prince – equally baffling was the decision to pick a coaching staff that has only Lalchand Rajput with any international credentials. Sameer Dighe, Atul Bedade and Subroto Banerjee have played international cricket but would agree they still are novices when it comes to coaching at the highest level.It can be seen in the team’s limitations on the field. Mumbai are yet to win a game in four attempts so far. Not one of the Mumbai batsmen has recorded even a half-century (the highest so far has been Robin Uthappa’s 48 against Bangalore Royal Challengers in Mumbai). No wonder no Mumbai name features in the top-five run-getters so far in the tournament. And apart from Harbhajan’s 3 for 32 against Kings XI Punjab no other Mumbai bowler has had a telling impact on the opposition.Martin Crowe, who was famous for being innovative during his tenure as the New Zealand captain, and now with the Bangalore team, said Twenty20 is all about tactics. Sadly, Mumbai have displayed none of that, thereby increasing their strife.Despite the constant failure of their opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Luke Ronchi – 15 is the highest opening partnership – Mumbai have persisted with the duo. In Twenty20 cricket, flexibility in not uncommon. Dwayne Bravo, Uthappa and Abhishek Nayar, their three most reliable batsmen, have all shown aggressive intent, with the first two having opened in ODIs, but the think-tank is reluctant to shuffle the batting order.John Buchanan, coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai’s opponents on Tuesday, felt it was relatively too early to work out the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, but said “the top sides have shown the tendency to have a strong top-order batting and also have bowlers strike fast”.Buchanan said Mumbai have lagged on that front. “When you look at Mumbai they are lacking at the top of the order. Jayasuriya hasn’t really got going and he is definitely a key player. And in terms of the strike bowling capacity, possibly, Shaun Pollock and Ashish Nehra haven’t fulfilled the expectations”.Pollock, the stand-in captain on Sunday, said his team lacked the attacking instincts that would provide the thrust. “We are not firing yet and once we do that we will get the inspiration”, Pollock said minutes after Adam Gilchrist’s whirlwind century had floored Mumbai on Sunday.Successful teams have been boosted by the fire power of the top-order batsmen or the top bowlers. Instead whenever Mumbai have batted first they have failed to raise the total anywhere in the vicinity of the 200-mark, which is now the par score on the flat wickets here. The two times they batted first they set 166 and 155 as targets. It didn’t help the team’s cause when Harbhajan Singh won the toss twice and both times put the opposition in when the thumb rule is: win the toss, bat first.The team’s performance also exposed the flaws in their selection policies. Jaffer, a Mumbai lad, was bought by Bangalore for just $150,000 while Mumbai picked up the South African pair of Prince and Loots Bosman for $175,000 each. Even if critics might point out Jaffer’s limitations as a Twenty20 player, what’s puzzling is that Sachin Tendulkar didn’t stress on recruiting local players like Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma, who were all allowed to be snapped by rival franchises.It’s also strange why Bosman wasn’t picked for their previous game against Deccan Chargers, despite him arriving on time for the match from South Africa. Bosman has established a reputation for himself as an explosive batsman at the Twenty20 competition in South Africa.It is not too late for Mumbai, with ten more games to go, as Pollock said there was no need to push the panic button yet. “We have worked out if we go on to win seven games we still are favourites to end up as the fourth semi-finalist”, Pollock said. Buchanan agrees too, and felt the nature of the game is such that fortunes can swing either way. According the former Australian coach, teams will soon work out the winning methods.For Mumbai to start wining they need Tendulkar fit and playing, especially in these difficult times when they know one of their senior players has been banned. Shane Warne has proved that inspiration can make a player believe in his abilities and forget about pressure. Rajasthan Royals’ success has been the story of the IPL so far, after being labeled as the weakest franchise before the tournament began.Mukesh Ambani, the richest Indian and one of the top-20 billionaires in the world wouldn’t have put his money on Mumbai Indians without giving it a thought. But before he enters the dressing room the team needs to work out a winning script soon.
Kepler Wessels, the former South Africa captain, is believed to have expressed his interest in the job of India coach. A report in said Wessels contacted the board indirectly, his agent speaking to the BCCI through a senior member of the Indian team.This would take to four the number of people – the others being Australian John Dyson, Terry Oliver, the current Queensland coach, and New Zealand A coach Dave Nosworthy -associated with the job since Graham Ford turned it down. The position has been vacantsince Greg Chappell’s exit after this year’s World Cup.Wessels, who is currently coach of the South Africa team for theEmerging Players Tournament to take place in Australia, said: “I aminterested in the job and my agent in London is handling the issue on mybehalf. He was supposed to contact the Indian board. I have lefteverything to him.”Wessels’s agent, David Ligertwood, informed , “Wemanage a few Indian cricketers and one of them spoke to the board aboutKepler. The answer was that the board would be interested in speaking tohim. I have not heard anything after that, but will follow up shortly.”Ligertwood works for Athletes 1, the same agency that manages a fewIndian players and has even secured county contracts for the likes ofSourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh.Wessels has been the coach for Northamptonshire, while Dyson has earlierbeen in-charge of the Sri Lankan team.The BCCI has so far not issued any statement.
Scorecard</aVijaykumar Yomahesh's glorious hat-trick killed off England to gloss a performance of pure Indian silk at Cardiff.Tanmay Srivistava may have lost the toss but from then on neither he nor his team put a foot wrong, smothering the England batsmen with suffocating fields, bowling tight lines and then knocking off the 165 required runs inside 30 overs for just one wicket to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in this three-match series.England may be playing for pride only now, but there will be no let-up for them as the teams return to Sophia Gardens tomorrow. It was their batting that let them down today; they were a clear 90 runs shy of a competitive target and the game was pretty much up at the half-way stage. India's openers Uday Kaul and Parveez Aziz promptly confirmed matters with a rollicking stand of 125, showing just how flat the pitch was.Kaul made a polished 58 not out, while Aziz scorched his way to 79 from 55 balls with some sumptuous cover-drives before holing out in the deep going for glory. This was supposed to be a floodlit match, but the lights were needed for just three overs as India well and truly dazzled.While Yomahesh's memorable three-card trick of hostile quality put paid to England's tail, the innings had melted long before under a sultry sun. On a true pitch, the only gremlins were those in England heads, created by India's demon bowling and equally devilish fielding.Frustrated by the lack of scoring opportunities, too many batsmen sent easy catches straight to fielders – that is, when they weren't being blasted out by Ishant Sharma. He used all of his six foot four inches to slam down delivery after nagging delivery and take three wickets, all bowled. Both openers fell to him: Varun Chopra for a duck, bowled through the gate, and he then yorked Moeen Ali (51 for 2). Later he removed England's topscorer Adam Lyth for 36, just as the batsman was looking like he could push England to at least 200.Sharma hunted well with Yomahesh: at the start and end of the innings they really put the skids under England. Yomahesh followed up his destructive three-wicket haul in the opening match with the hat-trick here. Paul Dixey stopped on a cover-drive, Andrew Miller was clean-bowled, and then it was as much as Steven Finn could do to feather through to bring England's misery to an end on 164 and complete only the second one-day international hat-trick at this level, following Luke Wright's example a few years ago.An ecstatic Indian team, who had been chirruping all of England's innings, then whooped around the field for joy. They knew Yomahesh had done something special. They also knew what a strong position they were in, even after just 50 overs. England's bowlers stuck well to their task, and they fielded with application, but despite the game attempt at geeing each other up, they knew their batting hadn't been at the races. India cantered home in style.