Shane Watson’s unbeaten 69 steered Queensland to an eight-run lead over South Australia as they finished a hard-working day at 6 for 245. The Bulls scrapped to the initial target of 237, a task which had became more difficult when Ryan Harris removed Chris Simpson (10) and Ashley Noffke (2) in quick succession.Martin Love’s 62 and a slow 32 from Jimmy Maher put Queensland on track for the small total, but once Maher departed things started to get a bit shaky and they were 6 for 190 when Watson was joined by Chris Hartley. Watson’s innings was also a calm one, taking 136 balls and including only six fours, but it was essential to Queensland achieving first-innings points late in the day.The visitors started the morning on 0 for 8 and lost Greg Moller to Harris for 3 before Jason Gillespie captured Ryan Broad, his first wicket in his final game for the state. Harris returned 3 for 68 while Mark Cleary captured the wickets of Maher and Love.
Muttiah Muralitharan has been picked by Wisden as the Leading Cricketer of the Year ahead of Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne and Mohammad Yousuf. The Almanack, which is published today, awarded Muralitharan the prize after taking 90 Test wickets at 16.90 last year.Yousuf was named as a Cricketer of the Year alongside Monty Panesar, Paul Collingwood, Mark Ramprakash and Mahela Jayawardene based on their influence in an English season. Jayawardene led a striking Sri Lankan fightback in their Test series against England; Yousuf, with 631 runs in four Tests, saved Pakistan from complete disaster in theirs; Collingwood and Panesar established themselves as England matchwinners, while Ramprakash, aged 36, had an astounding summer for Surrey.In his article celebrating the new No. 1, Simon Barnes attacks Murali’s critics: “They are a familiar type: sneerers and begrudgers, the pusillanimous possessors of small minds and large opinions. Muralitharan is a truly great cricketer, and those that cannot go along with such a sentiment have something lacking in their souls. The spirit of cricket, perhaps.”However, Murali does not make the cover of the 144th edition of the Almanack, which instead carries Warne for the second year in a row. Last year he shared the space with Andrew Flintoff, but he has the front to himself after retiring from Tests after the 2006-07 Ashes series. “The heart of this year’s is the dramatic tale of the Ashes and Warne’s last hurrah,” the editor Matthew Engel said. “It’s a great picture and it conveys the year’s biggest cricketing story.”The new Wisden takes the leading cricketer award a step further and considers what might have been had it been invented more than a century earlier. A panel of 16 writers and historians researched back to 1900 and picked an outstanding player for each year.With no ban on repeat winners, an extraordinary coincidence emerged when only five players won the title more than twice. Don Bradman (ten times), Garry Sobers (eight) and Jack Hobbs, Viv Richards and Shane Warne (three times each) were the multiple victors and each was named as a Cricketer of the 20th Century in Wisden seven years ago.
Luke Williams, the captain of the Adelaide Buffalos, has won the 2006 Bradman Medal for South Australian grade cricketer of the year.Williams, 26, polled 30 votes, seven clear of Mark Higgs from Northern Districts. He had an outstanding season for Adelaide scoring 820 runs at 117. Two members of the South Australian squad, Matthew Weeks and Gary Putland, both earned 22 votes, with Ben Johnson, the 2005 winner, getting 21.Sturt won the team award, which goes to the side that polled the most player votes in the Bradman Medal count, while the Fred Godson Medal for XXXX Gold Cup player of the series went to Daniel Harris, the Woodville captain, ahead of Dean Waugh.Full awards list Bradman Medal – Luke Williams Team Award – Sturt Fred Godson Medal – Daniel Harris (Woodville) C.W. Walker Memorial Trophy (outstanding wicketkeeper) – Todd Ferguson (Sturt) Talbot Smith Fielding Trophy – Matthew Heffernan (Glenelg) Coach of the Year – Bob Lisle (South Districts) Women’s player of the Year – Karen Rolton (Scorpions) Vince Copley Medal (indigenous medal) – Shaun McLennan (Koonibba) and Ken Karpany (Gerard) Team of the Year – Luke Williams (Adelaide), Glenn Ashmead (Sturt), Shane Deitz (Southern District), Todd Ferguson (Sturt), Jason Borgas (Sturt), Chris Slattery (University), Nathan Adcock (University, capt), Mark Barber (Kensington), Ben Johnson (Adelaide), Nick Roberts (University), Mark Higgs (Northern Districts), Jamie Panelli (Kensington)
The Indian board has suggested that it will seek legal opinion over the six-match ban imposed on Sourav Ganguly for India’s slow over-rates in the one-day series against Pakistan. “We are getting the issue legally examined,” Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the president-elect of the BCCI, was quoted by Indo-Asian News Service. “We will do as our counsels advise.”Ganguly was handed the ban by Chris Broad, the match referee, after India fell behind in the over-rates during two consecutive matches of the one-day series, at Jamshedpur and at Ahmedabad. He then lost his appeal against the verdict when Michael Beloff QC, the ICC appeals commissioner, ruled that Broad’s decision was justified. Ganguly missed the last two games of the series, and will miss most of the triangular tournament in Sri Lanka in August if the decision stays.Radha Rangaswamy, a BCCI counsel, indicated that the board needed to spell out the next course of action. “They have to tell us [about exploring the legal option] after their meeting, possibly, by the end of this month.”Speaking to the media before leaving on a vacation to Europe, Ganguly himself stated that the matter was now in the board’s hands. “The matter is not in my hands. I have left it to the board. They’ll do whatever is necessary. There is no hurry. There is time till July. The BCCI bosses will take an appropriate decision in due time.”When asked for his opinion on who might be India’s next coach, Ganguly’s reply was quite non-committal: “There is a six-member team to select the new coach. I am not in any way involved in influencing their choice. I have no opinion on the selection.”Ganguly is expected to catch a few days of action at the French Open Tennis Championships in Paris, and is scheduled to return home on June 10.
Bruce Blair’s exposure to the preparation and planning required for international play was greatly enhanced by his stint as a coaching observer with the New Zealand team during the recent Test series with India. Blair was sent, at New Zealand Cricket’s expense, to India to be part of the tour management team. Auckland coach Mark O’Donnell is there now, and Wellington coach Vaughn Johnson will be in Pakistan for that leg of the tour.Blair had been to India before, but many years ago, and said as always India had been an awakening, a life experience in a culture so diverse from New Zealand that it was pretty eye-opening.But as far as the playing and preparation was concerned he felt there was a lift in intensity from that he had experienced on the first-class scene in New Zealand with his Northern Districts side. “When you go into a Test series, you know who you are going to play against and that is different to domestic cricket. The level of planning for the Tests was extremely comprehensive and New Zealand’s effort was no accident.”Blair said he felt the New Zealanders had surprised the Indians in terms of how competitive they were. “It was quite disappointing at the end of the second Test that we had not been able to force a victory. We were right on the money with where we wanted to be during the Test but just couldn’t finish it off. It was a quiet dressing room afterwards because we were so close.”But the plan turned out to be a good plan and I think that did surprise the Indians. As a batting unit we left New Zealand with no player having scored a Test century in India and now five have scored them, while Jacob Oram added another against India A,” said Blair.Everyone had contributed from a bowling point of view while the fielding had also been good. Blair said from a coaching point of view having observed Daryl Tuffey working harder at his own game and fitness, which didn’t suggest he hadn’t worked hard before, to lift himself to a new level and then get the results, such as on the last morning in Mohali, had been most enjoyable.For medium-fast bowlers having to run in and bowl hard on flat tracks, Tuffey, Ian Butler and Jacob Oram couldn’t help but come back as better bowlers for the experience. Butler had hurried up some good bowlers in those conditions which was a demonstration of his capabilities. With speed guns in India showing Butler constantly bowling around the 147 km/h mark, Blair was not surprised that he showed up faster than he had in New Zealand.”I knew he was bowling too briskly onto batsmen for the New Zealand speed figures to have been slower.” Another of his Northern Districts charges, Daniel Vettori had been highly respected by the Indians. He had a good economy rate and the batsmen were playing him into the safety zones to minimise the risks.Asked what he felt the benefits might be for Northern Districts from his trip away, Blair said that his goal had always been to have all the players in his side capable of stepping up to international cricket. He said he came away from the tour with the view that cricket can only be enhanced, not only for the Northern Districts Knights but also for all the other cricketers he comes into contact with.”There are various systems I saw that I will introduce straight away, there are some that I will explore to a new level but there was plenty of good to come out of it overall,” he said.”It was fantastic to have the opportunity to go and if it is ongoing then the next time they need to select a New Zealand coach there should be six first-class coaches who put their hands up. If it goes ahead, it can only be good for New Zealand.”Blair was full of admiration for Nathan Astle’s effort to overcome illness to go out on the last afternoon of the first Test in Ahmedabad and help save the match. “He was physically sick with not a lot of control. But he adjusted to batting in extremely difficult conditions of 37-38 degrees. He showed tremendous courage and determination. I think they can take great heart out of the way they performed. They scored a lot of points over there,” Blair said.
The national cricket selectors have appointed Sri Lanka all-rounder Upul Chandana to lead Sri Lanka A in the unofficial three Tests and three one-day international series against Kenya who arrive on Wednesday for a seven-match tour.Chandana (29) is given the opportunity to captain the side in the hope thathe may, like his predecessor Tilan Samaraweera, successfully clinch a permanent place in the national team.Samaraweera got several opportunities to prove himself as an all-rounder when he captained Sri Lanka A teams against Zimbabwe and Pakistan. His performances in these games eventually saw him graduate into the national Test side where he has done extremely well, mainly as a batsman. It is hoped that Chandana would follow on the same lines.Being captain gives him a great opportunity to display his right-arm leg-spin in the series against the Kenyans. The national team is in dire need of a bowler of his type and Chandana, with his experience of six Tests and 81 one-day internationals, looks the best bet.Chandana was recalled to the national side for the final Test against Zimbabwe at Galle and distinguished himself with a Test-best score of 92. He has a Test bowling average of 32.06 for 16 wickets, and 31.08 in one-day internationals for 80 wickets. More than for his batting and bowling, Chandana is renowned for his outstanding fielding.The Sri Lanka A squad of 20 players are currently undergoing training under the watchful eyes of manager/head coach Roshan Mahanama and coach Hemantha Devapriya. The squad will be pruned down to around 13 players for the unofficial Test series.The first four-day ‘Test’ commences at the Sara Stadium on January 31. Kenya, led by World Cup captain Maurice Odumbe, open their tour with a two-day game against a Development Squad captained by Anushka Polonowita at the NCC grounds on January 27.
Kent had Sky Television pundits to thank for facing a fired-up Andrew Caddick on the opening day of the Championship match at Bath.After taking 6-57 to help dismiss the visitors for 261, Caddick admitted that criticism of his Test Match performance against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge had stung him into a swift response.”Hopefully, that has shut a few Sky TV commentators up,” he said. “One minute you are God’s gift and the next it is back to normal as far as the media are concerned.”I didn’t bowl well in the Test, but it was mainly because the run-ups were so wet. I felt really uncomfortable running in and never got into any sort of rhythm.”A lot of rubbish was talked about the new policy of resting centrally contracted players in the build-up to international games. But everyone should be behind Duncan Fletcher and Nasser Hussain in what they are trying to achieve.”How I bowled at Trent Bridge had nothing to do with preparation. Everyone should be entitled to one bad game and it annoyed me to hear it being analysed to intently.”Kent’s batsmen suffered the backlash after Matthew Fleming had won the toss as Caddick bent his back and extracted far more life from the Recreation Ground wicket than any other bowler on either side.Only Indian Test batsman Rahul Dravid had the technique to cope for long. He needed one or two moments of good fortune, but displayed skill and courage in combating a succession of threatening deliveries during the morning session.Thanks largely to his world class ability, Caddick was frustrated at first, taking 1-26 from his initial nine-over spell. Robert Key helped add 62 for the second wicket and by lunch Kent were handily placed at 102-2.Caddick removed Alan Wells soon after the interval. But Dravid blossomed against the other bowlers, stroking 14 fours on his way to 90 before getting a faint leg-side deflection off Graham Rose to wicketkeeper Rob Turner.It was a high quality innings and particularly praiseworthy for the fact that Dravid had only arrived in England the previous morning having represented India in the Asia Cup.From 170-3 the Kent innings subsided in disappointing fashion. After tea Caddick took 4-22 from seven overs, sending back Mark Ealham and Min Patel in the space of three deliveries.Extra bounce undid most of his victims as he made use of a slight ridge in the Festival pitch. “I wasn’t looking for it, but it was apparent on occasions,” he admitted.The final total of 261 was made to look modest as Somerset openers Jamie Cox and Marcus Trescothick launched a confident reply. Cox set the tone by square cutting the opening delivery of the innings from Ealham for four and the Australian looked in ominous form.Left-hander Trescothick is gunning for England honours this summer and appeared equally untroubled as the home side posted 47 without loss from 20 overs in blustery conditions.
Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch has suffered a fresh injury setback as news emerges on Junior Firpo’s status.
What’s the story?
The Whites went down 3-0 to Aston Villa on Thursday night, dragging them further into a relegation dogfight as we head into the business end of the Premier League season.
Firpo was forced off on a stretcher in the second half following a strong challenge, and it now appears that he could be out for the foreseeable future.
Speaking about that setback in his post-match press conference, Marsch revealed: “We don’t [know] yet but it’s probably something on the inside of his knee like an MCL so we’ll evaluate that and see where’s he at. I would guess it keeps him out for a while.”
Another worrying blow for Leeds
Firpo had an awful display against Villa, losing Matty Cash for the second goal and being run ragged by the away side’s constant movement – a performance which had former Leeds goalkeeper Paddy Kenny fuming.
He said: “I’ve not been impressed by Firpo. He doesn’t have much defensive awareness and his positioning is poor. I watch him so often and he’s flat-footed or fast asleep. Leeds let Alioski go and I think that was a mistake. Firpo is not an upgrade on Alioski. Is he good enough for Leeds and to wear that shirt? No, I don’t think he is.”
However, while Firpo’s performance against Villa and general performances this season have left a lot to be desired, he’s still a vital member of this squad at a time when the Whites can ill afford any more injuries.
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The club don’t have a natural senior left-back to cover for the Brazilian while he’s out, and that is likely to see another unwelcome reshuffling of the pack, with potentially Stuart Dallas moving across or Pascal Struijk filling in again.
AND in other news: Marsch must unleash “phenomenal” rarely-seen Leeds star, he’s more exciting than Joffy
Powered by Praveen Kumar’s eight-wicket haul and Suresh Raina’s attacking 85, Uttar Pradesh threatened to take control of the game before the bowlers brought Delhi roaring back into the game in the final session of the third day’s play at the Wankhede Stadium. Praveen Kumar swung UP to a 52-run lead and Raina, dropped on 20, extended it further but four quick wickets saw Delhi restrict UP to a 206-run lead but with four wickets stillstanding, the fourth day’s play promises to be a cracking affair.UP was leading by 175 runs at tea, with eight wickets intact, but were done in by a combination of disciplined bowling, injudicious shot-selection and the famous Marine-Drive high tide . The ball started to dip in late for a brief while in the last session and the batsmen perished one by one, pushing away from the body.Mohammad Kaif edged an ambitious on-the-up drive while Raina, who was troubledby Sangwan a lot early in his knock, edged one to the keeper. Fellow left-hand batsmen Ravikant Shukla and Piyush Chawla too departed in the same manner. A healthy 123 for 2 had turned dramatically to 130 for 6 but Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Amir Khan ensured there wouldn’t be further damage before close of play.The game turned on several hinges and it was Praveen Kumar who first tilted it with the sixth-best ever-bowling performance in a Ranji final. He finished with 8 for 68 and will be pleased that he is the only medium-pacer in that elite bracket, the others were spinners – Rajinder Singh Hans (9 for 112 against Delhi in 1977-78), Padmalkar Shivalkar (8for 16 against Tamil Nadu in 1972-73), Manohar Hardikar (8 for 39 againstBengal in 1955-56), HJ Vajifdar (8 for 40 against Northern India 1934-35) and Maninder Singh (8 for 54 against Haryana in 1985-86).In an enthralling morning session, Praveen Kumar cut through Delhi’s heart with a lovely exhibition of swing bowling, using the second new ball, and helped UP snatch a handy lead despite Rajat Bhatia’s gritty unbeaten 139.The new ball was taken after 13 overs – Delhi added 31 runs – and immediately, Praveen Kumar started to tease the batsmen with swing. He bent one back in to strike Chopra’s pad but the impact was just outside off stump. He repeated the dose next ball and Chopra was caught plumb in front. Chopra had played a fabulous knock, steering Delhi out of trouble with an assured 102, but Praveen Kumar would feel he had the wood on him.Chopra had faced only nine deliveries during Praveen Kumar’s swinging opening spell yesterday and succumbed to the second ball off him on the third day.He also proved too hot for the lower-order batsmen. Puneet Bisht fell for a first-ball duck, shouldering arms to another inswinger, Sumit Narwal was done in by an around-the-stumps line and Praveen Kumar hastened the end by trapping Pradeep Sangwan and Amit Bhandari with late inswingers.Bhatia, the other centurion, was left stranded but he had played a stellar role in taking Delhi close to the UP total. He had taken painkillers to play in this final after injuring his left hand – a hairline fracture is suspected – and fought bravely for 323 minutes. He added 23 runs with Sangwan and lashed 20 runs in a single over – three fours and a pulled six- from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to ensure Delhi faced only a moderate deficit.Following the heroics of Praveen Kumar, UP began their reply in a positive fashion. Though they lost first-innings centurion Tanmay Srivastava for a duck – run out going for a non-existent single – Raina led the way with a whirlwind knock. He started off with four fours in the fourth over of the innings from Narwal yet survived quite a few scares, especially against Sangwan, early in his knock. He was beaten a few times – edges twice falling short of the slip cordon – and once when it carried Aakash Chopra failed to hold on to a diving chance off Sangwan at second slip.Showing a penchant for on-the-up drives, Raina repeatedly bisected the off-side field and forced Mithun Manhas, the stand-in captain for the injured Gautam Gambhir, to post a man at deep point. But the bowlers were guilty of bowling a touch short and the runs kept flowing. Raina launched the legspin of Chetanya Nanda over long-on and with Mohammad Kaif for company, took UP to a strong position at the break.But the Delhi bowlers triggered a mini-collapse to leave the game fascinatingly poised.
The former England opener, Geoff Cook, has been appointed as the new head coach at Durham, following the resignation of Martyn Moxon, adding weight to the speculation that Moxon will shortly be named as Yorkshire’s new director of cricket.Cook, who played seven Tests for England in 1982-83, captained Northants for eight seasons from 1981 before joining Durham as captain a decade later. In 1992, Durham’s first season as a first-class county, he was appointed director of cricket, and was one of the first coaches in the country to receive his Level Four qualification.”We are delighted to be able to give this opportunity to one of our coaching team,” said David Harker, Durham’s chief executive. “Geoff has enjoyed enormous success running the Durham Academy, with four of its intake already involved in the England set-up. Geoff enjoys the full support of the playing squad, with the captain, Dale Benkenstein, particularly excited about the prospect of working with the man who brought him to the Riverside.”Cook himself added: “I am absolutely delighted to take responsibility for the professional squad and have the chance to work with what I think is the most promising group of players in the country. This season is certainly going to be an exciting one and I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead.”Moxon, who still lives in Wetherby in Yorkshire and has found the commute to Chester-le-Street an arduous one, admitted his decision to stand down was not one he had taken lightly. “My time at Durham has been thoroughly enjoyable,” he said, “and have felt great satisfaction in working with such a fantastic group of people, both on and off the field. The team has developed over the years and it has been wonderful seeing the young talent emerging from the region. “However, in recent days Moxon’s name has been linked to the vacant position at Yorkshire after Allan Donald had initially been the favourite. If Moxon does return to Headingley it will be the second significant move in a matter of days after Darren Gough’s comeback as captain. Moxon was Gough’s captain for part of his first stint at Yorkshire and the club are believed to have made him an attractive offer.Clive Leach, Durham’s chairman, said: “We would like to thank Martyn for his commitment and dedication to Durham during his time with us and would like to wish him the best of luck for the future.”