The potential of an English Premier League to counter the dominance of its Indian counterpart may be gathering momentum, but already there is a split among the county chief executives.Last week Sean Morris, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, spoke candidly about his vision for the future and insisted that if England are to create a viable competition to the IPL, the 18 first-class counties must merge into six regional sides. Bold though the plan is, the counties are less certain.”My aim is to knock this idea on the head,” Richard Gould, the Somerset chief executive, told the BBC. “We are hugely against regionalising – that would lead, eventually, to the domestic game being reduced to eight regional franchises for all forms of the game.”I don’t have a problem with an EPL, as long as it involves the 18 counties. Otherwise it would drastically reduce the number of English-qualified players available. The Test-match playing grounds might benefit, because they would host the matches but the rest of county cricket would not.”Similarly, Neil Davidson, the Leicestershire chief executive, is concerned that the franchise system might threaten the game’s tradition.”Franchises would be a negative and could turn a lot of people off the game,” Davidson said. “As long as the idea is a revenue generator that favours the game as a whole, I’m in favour. But we need to think about everyone, the minor counties, grassroots cricket and the Test match grounds.”Lancashire’s Jim Cumbes, however, has greater confidence in the idea.”There’s really no need for us to merge, or Yorkshire or a number of other counties, but I think it could work in some areas of the country where the counties are pretty close together,” Cumbes said. “We should be seriously looking at setting up our own Premier League. I could envisage two divisions, with promotion and relegation between the two, like the football Premier League.”And I think it could happen as early as next year, with the top nine teams from our Twenty20 competition this year forming a Premier League.”
ScorecardPeter Borren struck his maiden first-class century as Netherlands staged an outstanding fightback against Canada in their Intercontinental Cup match in Toronto. With four wickets remaining, Netherlands’ lead stood at 98 but Borren and the lower order extended it to a healthy 270.Two early wickets from Henry Osinde plunged Netherlands into trouble on 66 for 5 before Borren, born and brought up in New Zealand, set about his recovery operation. He added 72 with Mudassar Bukhari and 73 with Jeron Smits, who faced 107 balls for his 8. Borren’s century included 17 fours and a six, but even when he and Smits fell within the space of three balls Canada couldn’t wrap up the innings.Mark Jonkman struck seven boundaries in his 43 as the last two wickets added a priceless 99 runs. However, Canada didn’t help themselves by dropping four catches and conceding 44 extras.Borren’s fine day continued when he removed Shahzad Khan early in Canada’s run chase, following Geoff Barnett’s run out for 0, leaving an intriguing final day in prospect as Canada search for a further 227 runs.
Monty Panesar might have attained a hero’s status after his matchwinning performance in the Old Trafford Test but Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has said that Panesar must develop the other areas of his game before he can be assured a permanent spot in the team.Ashley Giles’s lengthy absence because of a hip injury allowed the 24-year-old Panesar a chance to show what he can do in international cricket. So far, Panesar, the first Sikh to play for England, has made an encouraging start with 25 wickets in his first eight Tests, including a superb matchwinning return of 5 for 72 in England’s crushing innings and 120-run victory over Pakistan in the second Test.Panesar’s return at Old Trafford, where England won inside three days to go 1-0 up in the four-match series, was especially impressive as he dismissed five of Pakistan’s top six including Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf – all noted players of spin. His attacking style has led many to suggest that Panesar should retain his place even if the more defensively-minded Giles, a valuable member of England’s Ashes-winning team last year, regains full fitness. But Fletcher said Panesar had to improve his batting and fielding, the latter a particular concern, to secure his place in the England team.”I think Monty is a very good bowler, but we have to produce 11 players who can produce two of the departments efficiently, whoever is playing for England,” said Fletcher. “I still have slight reservations about his batting and his fielding, but he’s an outstanding bowler and doing a job for us because there’s no-one else at the moment who can fulfill that role.”He needs to work hard at it because if you work hard at your fielding you can really improve that a great deal. It’s not easy to turn you into a No.6 batter, but I just think you need to work at those two areas.” Giles, capable of taking some sharp catches in the gully, had developed into a handy lower-order batsman with an average just over 20.Asked to identify England’s leading spinner, Fletcher said: “It will depend on when Ashley is going to be ready and how Monty bowls on other wickets and we’ll have to make a decision when Giles is ready. We’ll also have to look at the balance of the side. It was a good wicket for Monty to bowl on and he bowled damn well on it, but we’ve got to make sure in the future we get wickets that help our bowlers like that. Quite often when you get onto a wicket like that you can try too hard because you know it all depends on you, but he went out there and bowled a good line and length and spun the ball on occasions a great deal.”Meanwhile Giles, speaking on BBC Radio’s Sportsweek programme, admitted he had a fight on his hands. “Monty is the man in possession and I have to get my place back – that’s the danger if you do get injured. My recovery is going OK, it is just frustrating. I cannot bowl and cannot run but the rehab is going well. It is going to be another four or five weeks until we reach that point.”Giles also paid a generous tribute to Panesar, saying: “Monty is a brilliant technician and works extremely hard. He is able to land the ball in good areas and put batsmen under pressure.”England are due to announce their squad for the third Test at Headingley on Monday. However, Geraint Jones, who took the field at Old Trafford despite a fractured right ring finger, remains doubtful and his long-standing rival Chris Read, who played for England A against Pakistan earlier this season, could be called in as cover.
Ricky Ponting has avoided the need for surgery on his broken left thumb, and is hopeful of returning to action with Australia’s Test team as soon as possible.Ponting, who was due to lead Australia in their pursuit of a first series victory in India for 35 years, has already been ruled out of the first Test in Bangalore. He suffered the injury while dropping a slip catch during Australia’s Champions Trophy defeat against England at Edgbaston on Tuesday.He is unable to pick up a bat for two weeks, so there is still no guarantee that he will be match-fit in time for the second Test at Chennai, but the avoidance of an operation has boost his prospects. He was examined in Sydney on Saturday by a specialist, Dr Ian Hargreaves, who diagnosed a fracture to the distal phalanx of the left thumb.”After discussion with Ricky, we have decided he should rest for the next few days,” said Dr Trefor James, Cricket Australia’s medical advisor. “We will organise a re-examination for later next week to check his progress and better assess when he might be able to grip a bat and field.”Fortunately, the specialist has advised that the bones are sitting well and surgery will not be necessary, but it is difficult at this stage to assess how long will be needed before he can resume playing. While it is difficult to assess, it is highly unlikely he will be ready to play by the time of the first Test, which is due to start at Bangalore on October 6.”Ponting admitted he was “shattered” to have suffered the setback ahead of such a critical series for Australia. They have not won in India since Bill Lawry’s 3-1 victory in 1969-70, and on the last tour in 2000-01, they lost a thrilling series 2-1, in spite of leading after a handsome victory in the first Test at Mumbai.”We’ve been looking forward to the Indian tour for a long time, and for me personally, being captain of the side, I was pretty keen to get there and play well,” said Ponting. “Knowing what the build-up will be like in India, it’ll be huge over there … everything was pointing to the direction of it being a huge series. It’s just a real big blow for me and a big blow for the team. It’s going to be a frustrating couple of weeks.”
Dwayne Smith has been ruled out of West Indies’ first Test against England, which starts on Thursday in Jamaica. Smith dislocated a finger in his right hand while fielding in the nets.”It was a most unfortunate development for the young man,” Ricky Skerritt, the team manager, said. “But Dwayne has the right attitude towards situations likethis and there is no doubt he’ll be back stronger than ever.”The West Indian selectors have decided against naming a replacement for Smith, which means that Ricardo Powell or Ryan Hinds will take the No. 6 spot in the line-up. Dave Bernard has been added to the squad as an emergency fielder.
COME February 9 – Cape Town, South Africa – the West Indies will be ready.You can count on it.So says president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Reverend Wes Hall, who said the team heading to the upcoming World Cup would be the best prepared West Indies ever to attend the prestigious tournament. The Windies started a two-week camp in Antigua yesterday, and will leave via Barbados on January 28."The board has done everything to ensure the team is ready," Hall said yesterday afternoon. "During the two-week camp there will be a very packed programme and this will be the best prepared West Indies team ever."Hall, a fast bowling legend who took 192 wickets in 48 Tests between 1958 and 1969, also said the West Indies would be contracting a South African physiotherapist and massage therapist to join the team during the World Cup.Tour officialsThe officials on tour would therefore be manager Ricky Skerritt, chairman of selectors Sir Viv Richards, coach Roger Harper, trainer Ronald Rogers, analyst Garfield Smith, as well as the two to be contracted.The president also expressed delight at the wonderful form of star batsman Brian Lara during his 71 in the Gerry Gomez Classic on Saturday. The WICB had given Lara, who was out of the game with "suspected hepatitis" since last September, permission to miss the opening day of the camp and remain in his homeland for some time in the middle."It was a cricketing decision and those are decisions cricketers make," Hall said. "We understood the position and we recognised what would be needed after being out of the game for a long period."Hall was excited about the team’s chances and said as long as the groundwork was put in during the camp the West Indies should be among the top sides.He said that former West Indies batting legend Sir Everton Weekes, who is in Antigua for the WICB’s cricket committee meeting, was slated to deliver a speech tonight. Bob Wieland, the American motivational speaker with no legs, was invited through Barbadian Errol Griffith and will also deliver a lecture."We have been playing for the last ten months and this camp will be geared to suit the side," Hall said. "The players will be using the Jolly Beach facility with gym, pool, the grounds are wonderful and preparations have been carefully analysed to meet the team’s needs."We have come up with a great programme. The first week will be under Rogers and the second week under Harper. During the second week, when we have the simulated matches, we have asked Andy Roberts to make the pitches quicker; something along the line we would encounter in South Africa. We have [Vasbert] Drakes and [Nixon] McLean in the team and they would be able to share some of their knowledge of the conditions there."The West Indies are grouped in Pool B with South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya and Canada.
Harbhajan Singh’s recent marvelous feats against Australia, claiming 13 for 196 at Calcutta and 15 for 217 at Chennai, prompted me to take a look at instances of 11 or more wickets in a Test by Pakistani bowlers. The results of this study are:Eleven or more wickets in a Test Match
Performance
Bowler
Opponent
Venue
Year
14-116
Imran Khan
Sri Lanka
Lahore
1981-82
13-101
Abdul Qadir
England
Lahore
1987-88
13-114
Fazal Mahmood
Australia
Karachi
1956-57
13-135
Waqar Younis
Zimbabwe
Karachi
1993-94
12-94
Fazal Mahmood
India
Lucknow
1952-53
12-99
Fazal Mahmood
England
The Oval
1954
12-100
Fazal Mahmood
West Indies
Dhaka
1958-59
12-130
Waqar Younis
New Zealand
Faisalabad
1990-91
12-165
Imran Khan
Australia
Sydney
1976-77
11-79
Zulfiqar Ahmed
New Zealand
Karachi
1955-56
11-79
Imran Khan
India
Karachi
1982-83
11-110
Wasim Akram
West Indies
Antigua
1999-2000
11-118
Iqbal Qasim
Australia
Karachi
1979-80
11-119
Waqar Younis
Sri Lanka
Kandy
1994-95
11-121
Imran Khan
West Indies
Georgetown
1987-88
11-125
Sarfraz Nawaz
Australia
Melburne
1978-79
11-130
Intikhab Alam
New Zealand
Dunedin
1972-73
11-130
Mohammad Zahid
New Zealand
Rawalpindi
1996-97
11-160
Wasim Akram
Australia
Melburne
1989-90
11-179
Wasim Akram
New Zealand
Wellington
1993-94
11-180
Imran Khan
India
Faisalabad
1982-83
11-190
Sikandar Bakht
India
New Delhi
1979-80
11-218
Abdul Qadir
Australia
Faisalabad
1982-83
Notes:
Imran Khan claimed 11 or more wickets on 5 occasions
Fazal Mahmood on 4 occasions
Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis on 3 occasions
Abdul Qadir on 2 occasions
Mohammad Zahid achieved the feat on his debut
Pakistan bowlers have claimed 11 or more wickets on 6 occasions against Australia, 5 times against New Zealand, 4 times against India, 3 times against West Indies, twice against England and Sri Lanka and once against Zimbabwe.
Speaking to Calciomercato (via Sport Witness), Italian sporting director Matteo Superbi has delivered an interesting prediction regarding reported Tottenham Hotspur target Nicolo Zaniolo.
The lowdown: Big admirers
This comes following a recent report from Gazetta dello Sport claiming that Spurs are keen on signing the AS Roma attacking midfielder.
Having been left out of a recent Rome derby clash with SS Lazio, the 22-year-old was believed to be weighing up his options ahead of the summer window, apparently left ’embittered’ by Jose Mourinho’s selection decisions in recent months.
Now, a club chief seems to have shed more light on the possibility of a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The latest: No surprises
Superbi, who is currently the sporting director at Serie C Group B side Virtus Entella, told Calciomercato, as translated by SW, that Spurs could be set to swoop at the end of the season.
The 53-year-old claimed that the nine-cap Italy starlet ‘could be worth €50million (£42million)’ and he ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if a major European club stepped in.
Superbi went on to name Tottenham as one of those, alongside Juventus and one of the Manchester outfits.
The verdict: A supreme talent
Market valued at £29.70million and under contract in Italy until 2024 (Transfermarkt), we feel paying the mooted asking price would be a superb piece of business from Fabio Paratici.
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Predominantly an attacking midfielder from central positions, Zaniolo already boasts an impressive 72 direct goal contributions in a fledgeling club career across youth and senior levels, and his versatility would allow Antonio Conte to be flexible in his attacking approach – he has scored goals from five different positions in his career.
Such impact from midfield has even led to comparisons with both Premier League and England icons Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. Described as possessing an ‘incredible natural physique’ by Daniele De Rossi, signing Zaniolo in the summer window would certainly add a new type of threat to Conte’s ranks.
In other news: Spurs want to sign EFL starlet in the summer transfer window, find out more here.
On May 2, Taesongsan Park in Pyongyang will be the host venue for the first ever formal cricket matches in North Korea.Two teams from Shanghai and the newly-formed Pyongyang Cricket Club will take part in a triangular Twenty20 tournament with the winners receiving the inaugural DHL Pyongyang Cricket Friendship Cup. This landmark event will take cricket into one of the last countries left where it has neither been played nor witnessed in the hope that it may start one of the most unlikely development programmes the game has ever seen.An trio comprising a Scotsman and South African both living in Shanghai and a North Korean enthusiast from Angola have been the driving force behind an initiative that has been eight months in the planning and which will feature players from ten nations, including one 14-year-old schoolboy.In recent years there has been a rapid expansion of the game in China where the 2010 Asian Games will include cricket for the first time. The Shanghai Cricket Club has played a key role in the game’s expansion in the country.
Jacques Kallis, the South Africa captain, was proud of the way his side came through a testingrun chase against India at Stormont. He anchored the pursuit with a116-ball 91, but received vital support from Vernon Philander in thematch-winning seventh-wicket stand of 55.”I thought it was a competitive score then once we got a good startthat set the base for us,” he said. “The key here is getting throughthe new ball, the openers played pretty well then we just neededsomeone to bat through and guys to bat around him to get close tothem. Vernon did extremely well there at the end to finish it off.”The chase was shaping up well at 99 for 1, but then Rahul Dravidbrought on his spinners which cut through the middle orderand brought India right back into the contest. “It was the nature ofthe wicket – it just got slower and slower as the innings went on,” Kallis said. “We tried to do the same thing towards the back end of our innings [take the pace off] but certainly the spinners did come into play and bowled pretty well to put the pressure on us.”South Africa made two changes from their win over Ireland on Sundaywith the experienced pair of Andrew Hall and Andre Nel coming into theside. However, it was still a relatively inexperienced side andKallis was full of praise for the way they handled the situationdespite the lack of cricket since the World Cup.”We came in very cold and for the guys to play the type of cricketthey did today was very impressive,” said Kallis who was also delightedwith his Man of the Match form. “It was nice to get some runs andwickets again to carry on the form from the World Cup and hopefullythat will continue for the rest of the week.”After excelling with the ball against Ireland with 4 for 12, Philandershowed a level-head with the bat. When he came in South Africa stillneeded 53, but he calmly partnered Kallis to the final-over win.”To come in and perform the way he has shows big character. He’s doneit back home in domestic cricket, finishing off a lot of games for theCape Cobras and today he did it at the highest level. He’ll gain a lotof confidence and he’s setting himself some high standards tomaintain.”India did well to put up such a strong performance considering thevirus which has been running through their camp for the last few days.They managed to field a strong eleven, but some of the players werestill struggling, and Dravid admitted Kallis’ innings was thedifference.”There were aspects of the game we were quite happy with, not leastthe fact that a lot of the guys were still not 100% right,” saidDravid. “They went out there, tried their best and fought really hard.There were some good performances with bat and ball and it was a closegame.”It was just a little frustrating that having played some good cricketwe couldn’t pip them at the post. Kallis was the wicket we needed butwe just couldn’t get it.”South Africa are going to spend a day playing golf on Wednesday whilethe Indians will, no doubt, be dosing up on the cold and flu remedies.The second match of the series takes place on Friday.