All posts by h716a5.icu

Michael Holding, Ian Chappell, Rahul Dravid and Martin Crowe have urged the ICC to regulate the depth of the bat, and not just keep it to the existing size but pull it back

Sidharth Monga31-Mar-20155:16

Chappell: Field restrictions should make captaincy imaginative

Restoring the balance between bat and ball, including regulating bat thickness, easing fielding restrictions and reverting to one white ball per innings, was the way ahead for the one-day game, according to a panel of ESPNcricinfo’s experts. The experts – Michael Holding, Ian Chappell, Rahul Dravid and Martin Crowe – felt these would encourage imaginative captaincy and more aggressive cricket.They were participating in , an ESPNcricinfo discussion on the future of the ODI game, in Sydney after the second World Cup semi-final.The most important issue, they felt, was for the ICC to regulate the depth of the bat, and not just keep it to the existing size but pull it back. As the regulations stand, a bat’s width cannot exceed 10.8cm, but there is no bar on the thickness of the bat. The width of the bat for the purpose of the regulations is the width of the edge or the side face, and not the thickness of the middle of the bat.”I don’t know if the ICC is afraid of the people who manufacture the bat to say exactly what has to go into a bat,” Holding said. “They have limited the width of the bat, but they have never limited the depth. There used to be a sweet spot on the bat years ago. Actually one company – I don’t want to name it – used to have a spot on the back of the bat, which was pretty much parallel to the one on the front of the bat. Now that would have to cover the entire bat because there is no sweet spot, there is a sweet bat.”Once you get a piece of bat on the ball, it disappears. You can see it on the television. There are a lot of slow-motion replays where you see a batsman hitting the ball, you can see the bat actually twisting in their hands. Obviously not hitting the ball well, and the ball disappears nonetheless. That is one aspect that has to be looked into. If the ICC do nothing else, they have to look at that.”When people used to hit sixes at the MCG, you used to think they were Superman or Samson. Now a No. 11 can hit a six at the MCG because of the bats they are using. You have to look at that.”Chappell said the unfair domination of batsmen was only one of the problems that the thick bats have brought to the game. “Sooner or later, a bowler or an umpire is going to getting seriously hurt,” Chappell said. “Because the ball is getting back so quickly they have got no time to react. They have got a similar problem in baseball, another game that I follow. It has got to a point where last season they were offering pitchers padded caps. Because guys were getting hit in the head more regularly. Because the ball was getting back to the other end so quickly. Even if we don’t believe that the balance is out of whack because of the depth of the bat – and if they don’t believe that they are out of whack – there is this danger aspect and they have got to seriously look into that.”Apart from leading to an unfair domination by batsmen, thicker bats also present a safety challenge, for the crowds and on-field officials•AFPCrowe brought up the issue of the safety of the crowds. An unattended kid was hit by a David Warner six in Perth, but it was a surprise none of the other 460 sixes hurt anyone in the stands. Dravid, though, worried about the safety of the lesser-appreciated net bowlers. “One of the people who I really worry for is net bowlers,” he said. “I have worked in the IPL. We have young kids who bowl in the nets. All university kids, college kids. All 17-, 18-, 19-year-olds bowling in the nets, and you have the likes of Shane Watson and Chris Gayle batting in the nets and practising T20 batting. I am amazed no one has seriously got hurt.”Two of the big talking points of this World Cup have been the field restrictions that allow only four fielders outside the circle in non-Powerplay overs and the two new balls. Both have resulted in higher scores. Chappell wanted most of the restrictions removed thus allowing the captains to captain the sides and not the regulations. There was also an agreement that bowlers be allowed to more than 10 overs with a restriction on a certain number of overs to be bowled by five bowlers so that teams don’t stack their teams up with eight batsmen and just three bowlers.”As far as restrictions are concerned, I like as few as possible,” Chappell said. “I’d like to something as simple as a regulation that stops a cluttering of the boundaries at any stage of the innings. The rest of it I’d like to leave it to the imagination of the captains. You might say they are all going to go defensive, but I don’t think they will. You are going to have captains like Michael Clarke and Brendon McCullum who will attack. What I think would happen is that the negative ones will be shown up because they would probably lose more often. Ones with more imagination would win more often. What you generally find in sport is that if some team is winning a lot, people tend to follow their example. That’s the first thing with field restrictions.”As far as the overs are concerned I’d like something as simple as: ‘Five bowlers have got to bowl 25 overs and the rest of them the captain makes up however he wants.’ If he has got someone bowling well, he can bowl 14, 15, whatever he can fit in. The reason I say that is, you would hope if you have got better bowlers he will attack. Whereas if he has got lesser bowlers and he is having to bowl them for 10 overs then he is more likely to be defending. It will encourage more imaginative captaincy if you allow the better bowlers to bowl more overs. It’s also a captain’s gut feel, who is bowling well today.”If I was a current captain, I’d say to the ICC, ‘If you want to captain this bloody team, you come and captain it. Allow me to captain. Don’t try to captain with your bloody regulations.'”Dravid and Holding agreed that the new fielding restrictions did part of their job successfully by forcing the captains to pick five specialist bowlers and eliminate the part-timer, but they worried about the consequent domination of the bat. “I can understand what Rahul is saying, that now teams have to pick better bowlers, better bowlers now get more opportunities,” Holding said, “but at the same time, a lot of teams, especially the Associate teams, are not going to be able to find those five good bowlers to be competitive.”The panel could see why two balls were being used but agreed that it took reverse swing out of the game, and that on flat pitches they only helped the batsmen. “It [this World Cup] has clearly shown that on flat good wickets and especially in the subcontinent the two new balls and fielding restrictions are not working because the scores are just going out of hand,” Dravid said.”The white ball behaves a little bit differently to the red ball,” Holding said. “If the manufacturers can get the white ball to behave similarly to the red ball, you would have to look at two new balls as well. If you had two red balls, because years ago, if you had two red balls, bowlers would have dominated. With two white balls the bowlers have no chance of dominating because the balls don’t do enough.”

Robert Lewandowski was at his best in Barcelona's 5-1 win over Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday.

If anyone had any doubts about Lewandowski's move to the Blaugrana – which they shouldn't have given his entire career – those are quickly fading now.

The Polish star was spectacular in his first Champions League game since making the move from Bayern Munich, scoring a hat-trick to lead Barcelona past Viktoria Plzen.

He was joined on the scoresheet by another new signing, Franck Kessie, as well as Ferran Torres, who came off the bench to provide a goal and an assist.

Yes, it was Viktoria Plzen, certainly no match for Barcelona, but what a performance it was from the Catalan side, led by their star striker.

Xavi's team will be so difficult to stop when he's in this mood.

GettyThe Winners

Robert Lewandowski:

No matter what shirt he's wearing, Lewandowski gets his goals.

He delivered three of them in this one, his first Champions League finishes since making the move to Barcelona. The first was a lovely one, a perfectly-place finish into the bottom corner. The second? A header on the back post thanks to the work of Ousmane Dembele (more on him later). And then a third in the second half, another absolute missile of a finish.

This is what Lewandowski does. He scores and scores, then scores some more. It's why Barcelona brought him into the club, and why there is reason for optimism about their chances in this competition.

Ousmane Dembele:

Now that's a £100 million player right there!

Dembele is finally looking like the player Barcelona thought they bought from Borussia Dortmund, with the second half of last season showing the level he can reach when healthy.

On Wednesday, it wasn't the £100 million talent, but the £100 million effort that shined through. Barcelona's third goal was all Dembele, as he made a tackle, recovered the ball, dribbled to the line and played an absolute peach of a cross straight onto the head of Lewandowski.

What a sequence from Dembele, and what a player Barcelona have on their hands.

Ferran Torres:

Talk about taking your chance…

Inserted into the game in the second half, Torres made his presence felt immediately, assisting Lewandowski's hat-trick goal. Moments later, he had a goal of his own, a lovely volleyed finish to make it five for Barca.

In a crowded Barcelona attack that includes the likes of Dembele, Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay and Raphinha, every moment matters and every showing could be the difference between starting or sitting the next game.

Torres made the most of his moment, perhaps earning more time going forward.

AdvertisementGettyThe Losers

Ansu Fati:

Fati is a young player who still has plenty of growing to do. That was on full display as he made his first start in quite some time.

The young winger was the weakest of the front three, although that's to be expected considering the level that Lewandowski and Dembele are playing at. He was active, sure, but Fati was also wasteful, squandering several chances with poor shots.

He wasn't bad, but in a performance this complete from most of those around him, he stood out.

With Fati, things will take time, given his layoff and age. Are Barcelona patient enough to give it to him given the embarrassment of riches in the attack? Time will tell.

There's a hell of a player somewhere in there; he just wasn't quite there today.

Inter:

Bayern are Bayern, so you know they won't slip up. And, knowing that, the race in this group always looked like it would be for second.

Barcelona's new-look squad vs. Inter's Serie A champions. That was the expected battle.

If Wednesday was any indication, Barcelona will feel good about their chances.

As Inter were thoroughly beaten by Bayern in a 2-0 defeat, Barcelona ran rampant. They now have three points and six goals on Inter in the goal difference column, giving them a massive advantage.

There are plenty of twists and turns to come, but Inter will have work to do after checking the Barcelona score.

The doubters:

"I want you to put the word out there that we back up."

It may be a BIT too soon to coronate Barcelona, especially since they just beat a team from the Czech Republic. But given what Barcelona fans have had to watch the last few years, this was a refreshing scene.

The transfers have shined, with Kessie, Lewandowski and Kounde all playing well. Dembele, a player who nearly left this summer, was fantastic as well.

Lots to feel good about at Camp Nou.

GettyBarcelona Ratings: Defence

Marc-Andre ter Stegen (6/10):

Not too much to do as Barcelona held the ball.

Jordi Alba (6/10):

Helped set up one goal and was solid enough on the left. Was caught out on Plzen's finish, though.

Jules Kounde (7/10):

Fantastic header on the opener set up Kessie. Looked solid enough.

Andreas Christensen (6/10):

Took an elbow to the face and was also nearly sent off, only for VAR to intervene to correctly overturn the call.

Sergi Roberto (6/10):

Had a good first half before being taken out at half-time due to an apparent injury.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty ImagesMidfield

Franck Kessie(8/10):

Great finish and lots of energy. Was everywhere.

Frenkie de Jong (6/10):

A few very nice passes, playing the Busquets role well enough as he continues to adjust to it.

Pedri (8/10):

Does so many little things well. Deservedly saluted by the crowd on his way out.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola saw his side have just two shots against Aston Villa, the fewest ever by a team under his management.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

City lost 1-0 at Villa ParkChampions had just two shots on goalTitle race wide openWHAT HAPPENED?

City were roundly outplayed by Villa on Wednesday evening in a 1-0 defeat away from home. The Premier League champions had just two shots on goal, the fewest ever recorded by a team managed by Guardiola. Villa, by comparison, had 22 shots, the joint-most faced by a Guardiola side in his career, per .

AdvertisementGetty/ GOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE

City have been in poor form in recent weeks and have failed to win their last four games. The defeat to Villa has followed draws with Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, and has left them six points behind leaders Arsenal. They are also now two points behind fourth-placed Villa, who leapfrogged them in the table.

DID YOU KNOW?

The two shots recorded by City came within seconds of each other, as Erling Haaland first saw a shot and then a header saved by Emiliano Martinez. After the 11th minute, the champions failed to test the opposition goalkeeper, and Leon Bailey's goal proved decisive.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

GettyWHAT NEXT FOR CITY?

The champions must refocus. They have not gone on a run of four games without a win since before Guardiola was manager. They face Luton Town this weekend and will be out to break their unwanted streak.

Alastair Cook was able to offer a more clear-headed appraisal of his views on the captaincy, after indicating last week that he could give up the one-day job

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2014Alastair Cook was finally able to smile in a post-match press conference after England secured a first win over Australia, at the ninth attempt, on a demoralising tour. England’s previous victory in international competition came in the Cardiff ODI back in September and Cook was relieved to avert a record-equalling tenth successive defeat in all formats since then.He was also able to offer a more clear-headed appraisal of his views on the captaincy, after indicating last week that he could give up the one-day job. Speaking in the aftermath of another comprehensive defeat at the SCG, Cook suggested that “English cricket needs a little bit of a change”, but he confirmed in Perth his desire to retain the position, with the World Cup just over a year away.”It’s been a long time coming,” he said, after finally beating Australia, albeit a side missing four key players, including Cook’s counterpart, Michael Clarke. “We know the series has gone but the thought of losing 10-0 – the prospect was there starting today but we played a pretty good game.”Describing last week as “a tough three days”, during which James Faulkner wrenched the second ODI away from England in Brisbane before Australia took a 3-0 lead and clinched the series, Cook said he wanted to move on from his comments about the captaincy, when he appeared at his most despondent since succeeding Andrew Strauss in 2011.”I spoke what I was feeling, sometimes you probably shouldn’t do,” he said. “I think, what I’ve learned over three years as one-day captain, it would be wrong so close to the World Cup to change. We’re getting some very valuable experience here, in the conditions which we’re going to play in the World Cup. So obviously if I’m still given the opportunity, then…”England’s one-day planning in recent years has been methodical and, if Cook’s desire remains, a change in tack would seem unlikely, despite the temptation to further test the captaincy acumen of Eoin Morgan. Cook and Ashley Giles, England’s limited-overs coach, took the team to the final of the Champions Trophy last year and the current series against Australia, despite being already lost, will inform their thinking for the 2015 World Cup, to be held in Australia and New Zealand.’Worst we’ve bowled’ – Bailey

George Bailey, Australia’s stand-in captain, conceded that a poor opening with the ball, when England put on 87 for the first wicket in 12.2 overs after being asked to bat, was one of the main factors in defeat at the WACA. England also managed to shake 93 runs out of the last ten overs, as Australia lost their unbeaten record against the tourists and Bailey, who was deputising for the rested Michael Clarke, said that ‘death bowling’ was one of the key areas the team were working on.
“They got more than I hoped but I thought it was a score we could chase down,” he said. “From the start they got, I thought at one stage it was probably going to be more like 350, so we were probably happy that it was only 316, but it was more a 290-wicket. Having said that, we might have been one wicket too many down, but I thought with 16-17 overs to go we were in a good position.
“[The decision to bowl] was more the tackiness of the wicket, it certainly felt like for our bowlers it swung around a lot, I don’t think we utilised that well at all. I thought that was probably the worst we’ve bowled, certainly at the start of the game, perhaps it was the swing that made it difficult, the bowlers found it a little hard to control. We always talk about coming to the WACA from elsewhere that you’ve got to adjust your lengths really quickly and it took us a little while to do that.
“One of the areas we highlighted at the start of the series is nailing our death bowling. I generally think our one-day cricket’s in really good order; [but] I think it’s really hard to be good at the death at the moment, particularly when you’re playing against a side who have batters in. I think we’ve got some bowlers who are going to be really skilled at it, in James Faulkner and Nathan Coulter-Nile. But it’s just a matter of mapping out their plans really clearly to each batter and also working out how they best bowl at the death.”

The coming 12 months will also see a much heavier focus on ODI cricket, with a triangular series in Australia this time next year providing England with a final rehearsal ahead of the World Cup. Cook has taken plenty of criticism for his captaincy but he said that speaking to team-mates over the last few days had helped to restore his confidence and vowed put the lessons of the last two weeks to good use.”You do learn all the time, three years is quite a long time, in terms of how much you learn,” Cook said. “I think the tough thing is when you come to new conditions with the five men in the circle, you have to learn very quickly. Certain fields which you can do here you can’t really do, say, in the subcontinent. That’s the stuff we have to learn and learn very quickly.”We need to make sure we remember some of this stuff so we hit the World Cup running; I know we’ve got five warm-up games against Australia before that but it’s important that we end the tour well and then when we come back here for one-day cricket, we’re back at that level.”The guys can take a lot of confidence. We batted very positively, we always took the positive option, which in these conditions I think you have to do. There’s always a bit of risk with that but you have to be good enough as a top-order batsman to make those shots. If we’re being quite harsh we could have done with a guy getting a big hundred and we could have got 340 and put the game to bed. But I think we’re still pretty close to really putting a big score on.”With 300-plus totals increasingly the norm, the fluent opening stand between Cook and Ian Bell at the WACA provided a tonic for England. Cook remains without an ODI fifty since the Champions Trophy in June but his 43-ball 44 hinted at the possibility of greater returns to come.”My game is improving in terms of the way I’m striking the ball, the last three weeks I really felt as though I’ve turned a bit of a corner in that way,” he said. “Thirties and forties aren’t what you bat for but, when you go through tough times with the bat, you know there are big scores round the corner and when you get them you’ll be even more hungry.”

Victory for Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street last season did not stop Durham ultimately winning the Championship but Andrew Gale will feel there is no harm in setting down a marker again

Jon Culley in Chester-le-Street04-May-2014
ScorecardGraham Onions was repelled for once on his favourite hunting ground•Getty ImagesVictory for Yorkshire in this match last season did not stop Durham ultimately winning the Championship but Andrew Gale will feel there is no harm in setting down a marker again, not least with the wounds inflicted at Scarborough last August still feeling raw. It was there that Durham effectively clinched the title.Joe Root’s second-innings 182 was at the heart of Yorkshire’s April win. In the first innings they had been bowled out for 177, which was as good almost as any visiting team fared in the bowler-friendly conditions that are the norm at Chester-le-Street. Only Warwickshire topped 200 all season, and even then only just.Yorkshire will use that as they measure of their performance this time. Not since Lancashire in May 2011 have Durham conceded 300 first-innings runs to anyone here yet Yorkshire stand just one run away and only three men down, a handsome reward for Andrew Gale’s boldness in choosing to bat first. Gale does not shy away from tough decisions, as he demonstrated last week at Lord’s, when the name omitted from the scorecard to accommodate Root was his.There is no Root this time, of course, following his selection, along with Gary Ballance, for the opening one-day international of the summer. They might see little more of them, which will make their performance here doubly reassuring if they are again to sustain a title bid.Jonny Bairstow and Tim Bresnan are back, at least for the moment, although it was to Adam Lyth and Kane Williamson that Gale was indebted for supporting his bravery. Lyth made his ninth first-class century, batting with a level of self-restraint that goes against his natural instincts; Williamson very nearly matched it.Lyth was not flawless, although with plenty in the pitch and the atmospheric conditions to interest the bowlers that came as no surprise. Of his streaky moments, the streakiest came when he was on 88, when an edge off Mark Wood flew high to Scott Borthwick, who parried the ball high enough for Paul Collingwood to scamper round from first, hoping to catch it coming down. He got his hands to it but it did not stick.Yet the left-hander did not take risks unduly, curbing his aggression for much longer periods than is his normal habit. He picked up a boundary, squirted off the edge, in the first over of the day but had faced 69 balls before he hit another. When he did attack, though, he made it pay, gathering 15 fours along the way.He was out just after tea, a little tamely in the end, pushing at a ball from Jamie Harrison he might have left alone, to be caught at second slip. By then Yorkshire had claimed their first point. Williamson, solid where Gale scratched around at the other end, guided them to a second before on 97, equalling his best so far for Yorkshire — in the Scarborough match, as it happens — he drove at a full-length delivery from Chris Rushworth, in his first over with the second new ball, and was bowled through the gate.Durham, it should be pointed out, bowled well short of their usual standards. Graham Onions, who took five first-innings wickets in this match last April, struggled with his line and length and while Harrison and Rushworth looked threatening sporadically, no one in the home attack achieved any consistency.They did not catch that well, either. Apart from giving Lyth a life, they allowed Williamson to escape on 92, when Phil Mustard, diving to his right, dropped a low chance offered off Mark Wood’s bowling. And a forgettable day for Onions was compounded when Gale, on 13, edged at comfortable height to third slip where Kumar Sangakkara, on his Durham debut, had the ball in his grasp only to let it pop out again.

Moeen Ali followed up taking three wickets with a blistering half-century from 21 balls as England completed a confidence-boosting win over Sri Lanka A in their opening warm-up match

David Hopps at the SSC21-Nov-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMoeen Ali’s 21-ball half-century set England on their way•Getty ImagesMoeen Ali had readily admitted that he liked the sound of an opening role should it ever come along. His opportunity came sooner than he might have expected, in England’s first warm-up match of their Sri Lanka tour. A scoreboard reading 25 for 0 after only two overs, one of which was a maiden to Alastair Cook, told that he could not have begun the job much more emphatically.”I said to Cookie at the end of the over that I didn’t mean to hit six fours, it just happened,” Moeen said, all matter-of-factly. But hit six fours he did, as Sri Lanka A’s left-arm quick Vishwa Fernando knew only too well: a quartet of off-side drives, the first from a full toss, followed by two blows to leg in an over which also included a wide that encapsulated Fernando’s confusion.There had been so much consternation in the public prints over the replacement of Alex Hales at the top of the order – a decision that strengthened England’s reputation for caution – that Moeen’s attacking qualities had almost passed unremarked upon. But Moeen, as he showed in flashes during his debut international summer, can catch a quick tide. “I can adapt,” he said. “I am very comfortable batting there.”Moeen’s presence in the top six also gave England an extra spin-bowling option, more than useful in Sri Lankan conditions, and his reputation gained further lustre by three wickets earlier in the day as Sri Lanka A reached 198 for 6 in a match reduced to 43 overs by overnight rain. As for Fernando, from the Bloomfield club, he did not bowl again after his fateful over. With England well on the way to victory, he sprained an ankle in the field and was carried off, never to be seen again.Watching England’s one-day side at the start of an innings is normally an experience to settle into. The temptation as the lunch interval ticked away at the Sinhalese Sports Club had been to catch a tuk tuk to Coffee Bean and to forego the formalities. It is fortunate the temptation was resisted: in roughly the time it would take to down a giant size latte with chocolate cake, Moeen had a 21-ball 50.”Play without fear” had been the intonation from all and sundry ahead of the seven-match ODI tour that England hope will bolster their self-belief for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Dropping Hales, a batsman who symbolises that sense of adventure, suggested that England were still intent on playing a waiting game.But Moeen does not need encouragement to play freely; it is in his nature. He lofted the offspinner Ramith Rambukwella, over long-on to reach his 50 but it was his last extravagant moment and he finished in somewhat sedate fashion before he perished at fine leg.By the time light abruptly fell out of the day, England’s chase looked a formality – the Duckworth Lewis tables made the victory 56 runs – and Alastair Cook had assembled a half-century of his own, one of acceptable tempo, too, 54 from 62 balls when an unflustered innings came to grief at deep mid-on as he tried to loft Lahiru Gamage down the ground.Kusal Perera’s half-century provided the bedrock for Sri Lanka A before they subsided to 122 for 6, but an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 76 between Jeevan Mendis and Rambukwella took them close to 200 on a slow pitch.England’s most uncomfortable moments belonged to Chris Jordan, who was expensive and whose second over contained three wides, a no-ball and a free-hit six over long-on for Perera. But Moeen took two wickets in a single over, Niroshan Dickwella succumbing to a top-edged sweep and Dinesh Chandimal, a former Sri Lanka T20 captain, falling for a second-ball duck as Cook clung on at leg slip. Mendis and Rambukwella then made a match of it, but in a single over Moeen indicated that their efforts would be in vain.

A 102-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal allowed Pakistan to put on their most competitive batting display in limited-overs matches against South Africa in the last month and break a six-match winless streak

The Report by Firdose Moonda22-Nov-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Akmal helped Pakistan break a six-match winless streak•Getty ImagesA 102-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal allowed Pakistan to put on their most competitive batting display in limited-overs matches against South Africa in the last month and break a six-match winless streak. With both batsmen enjoying their first half-centuries in 13 innings, South Africa were required to chase the second-highest total in T20s at Newlands.The hosts started as though they would get there but their innings was halted by Pakistan’s spinners, led by Shahid Afridi who took the first three wickets. Bilawal Bhatti, in just his second match, showed the variations needed to stem the run flow of runs so that even a 34-run blitz in two overs by David Miller and JP Duminy at the end was not enough, with Sohail Tanvir bowling low full tosses at the death.The example for seamers was set by Bhatti, who used both the yorker and the slower ball bouncer to good effect, unlike South Africa’s seamers. They lacked the control that is usually provided by Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn started well but both fell into an over-reliance on the short-ball.This time, Pakistan’s openers were able to deal with them comfortably. They saw off the barrage and attacked the rest. Nasir Jamshed showed ominous signs when he tore into both South Africa’s front-liners.Ahmed Shehzad was equally confident but he slashed at Wayne Parnell’s first ball and was caught at slip. That over turned into a wicket maiden as Mohammad Hafeez gave himself time to settle in.The next shot in anger was off a free-hit, when Parnell overstepped and Hafeez sent his bouncer into the stands. Jamshed tried to charge Aaron Phangiso, off the first ball of spin he faced, and was stumped, to allow South Africa to pull Pakistan back to a scoring rate of under six an over before Hafeez really got going.He beat Steyn at short third man to hit his first four, played a delicate leg glance off David Wiese and then launched Phangiso for two straight sixes down the ground. Akmal started his boundary count with a similar shot. Hafeez brought up his half-century – the first of this marathon limited-overs series against South Africa – with a sweep off Duminy.With the spinners nothing but cannon fodder, Faf du Plessis brought back Wiese but he could not land two balls in the same area. Morkel’s third over was similarly wayward. He pitched it up and Akmal hit him for six, he went short and wide and Akmal did the same, just with a different shot. Parnell was also unable to contain and it was only when Steyn came back that runs dried up.Hafeez was caught at mid-of, trying to hit Steyn over the top and that slowed Pakistan down. They promoted Shahid Afridi up the order in the hope of finishing strongly but he was horribly out of touch. He played and missed at most of the next over before handing back to Akmal.While Afridi was a liability to Pakistan at the end, and they managed just 31 runs in the last four overs, he made up for it with the ball.Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock seemed up for the task as they motored their way to 49 runs in the first five overs. De Kock played the expansive shots, a drive through extra cover, a pull off Junaid Khan, while Amla accumulated runs with the fine-tuned placement and timing he is known for.Saeed Ajmal kept things quiet in the last over of the Powerplay before Bhatti continued his impressive start to international cricket. Nine runs came off their first two overs and it was enough to prompt de Kock into going for a big shot.He tried to slog sweep Afridi’s first ball but did not get enough on it and Jamshed took a good catch at fine leg to give Pakistan their first breakthrough. Bhatti kept up the strangulation with an array of short balls and varied pace to frustrate du Plessis.In Afridi’s next over, de Plessis pulled to deep midwicket to take the catch. With AB de Villiers still at the crease, South Africa’s hopes stayed alive. But when he tried to be innovative against Afridi, he failed. De Villiers stepped outside the leg stump and was bowled.South Africa needed 90 runs off 51 balls and despite Amla and Duminy’s efforts to work the ball around and find the occasional boundary, the required run-rate became too great. Miller and Duminy turned it on against an out of sorts Junaid Khan as the end approached to leave themselves with 17 runs to get off the last over.Tanvir took the pace off while keeping his length full to ensure Pakistan squared the series and moved up to No.4 on the rankings. South Africa have dropped from second to third.

Even the most optimistic of Tottenham fans would be pushing it to expect a deadline day before the close of play today, with murmurs emerging from the club strongly hinting that the long-term strategy will take precedence over knee-jerk, short-term thinking. 

The end of the transfer window is looming on the imminent horizon and Tottenham look set to go back-to-back windows without making a single new addition to their squad.

Reports linking the club with a handful of talented players have run rife this month but nothing by way of a formal bid appears to have been lodged for a rumoured target.

It seems clear that the stadium move and the need to offload a handful of players deemed surplus to requirements is dictating their activity, but a recent report from football.london appears to suggest that this short-term phenomenon should become a thing of the past in the summer.

The report claims that Spurs are monitoring the development of Jarrod Bowen, Max Aarons, Jack Clarke, Che Adams and Luca Connell, all of which are young English players under the age of 22, with Adams and Bowen representing the oldest of the bunch.

Clearly, Levy and Pochettino have devised a long-term strategy which is well aligned with the club’s identity and current philosophy. The Argentine has made no secret of his desire to trust in young players, and the fact Spurs are targeting five of the Championship’s most promising talents is far from surprising.

Supporters may well feel frustrated by the club’s refusal to spend money once again this month, but it must be considered that the short-term suffering will merely represent an anomalous blip in their history as they prepare to undergo a transition both on and off the field.

Once they have freed up their wage budget by offloading the likes of Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente, Levy will be in a strong position to assess Tottenham’s financial capabilities and make accurate judgements on exactly the type of players they need to bolster the squad.

Bringing in some of the most talented players the Championship has to offer, such as Clarke and Bowen, will give Pochettino some of the tools he needs to lay the foundations for a glowing future.

Naturally, Spurs will also need to enter the market for experienced players to ensure the club are well prepared to remain strong in the event that Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld follow Mousa Dembele out the exit door.

It’s a tempestuous time in north London right now both on and off the field, but the long-term transfer strategy which has been put in place should guarantee the arrival of an influx of precocious homegrown players ahead of the first full season at the new White Hart Lane.

Tottenham fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

Preview of the fourth match of the Champions Trophy, between New Zealand and Sri Lanka

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit08-Jun-2013Match factsSunday, June 9, Cardiff
Start time 9.30am GMTTime is running out for Sri Lanka’s greats to script a happy ending at a world tournament•Getty ImagesBig PictureNew Zealand are the David Ferrer of cricket. They are the good, friendly triers. They try to make up for lesser talent compared to the big boys with honest effort. Of course, plain honest effort does not get you the big titles. But more often than not, it gets you towards the closing stages of the big tournaments: the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the extremely occasional final. Once there, they are widely expected to make way for the Nadals or the Australias. Both have no qualms about that; they know reaching where they do using what they posses, in relation to what the big boys have, is no mean achievement.On Sunday, Ferrer, at age 31, will play his maiden Grand Slam final in Paris in a career that has seen about ten Slam campaigns fail at the quarter-final and semi-final hurdles. Across the Channel, New Zealand – admittedly with slightly more experience of making big-tournament finals, courtesy the Champions Trophy – will begin their campaign in the tournament that has given them their lone ICC trophy till date.Very rarely do you not count a New Zealand side as one of the underdogs, but a team that has beaten South Africa and England on their home soils in one-day series recently has to be treated with some respect. The Champions Trophy might just be to New Zealand’s liking. The crunched format means they don’t have to sustain their run of form for too long.And unlike in Ferrer’s case, their opponent on Sunday will not be that impenetrable returning wall that goes by the name of Rafael Nadal. It is a side whose lot might be compared with that of Andy Murray before he finally, to Britain’s relief, won a Grand Slam.All the quality of Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lasith Malinga has not been able to deliver a world title for Sri Lanka in over a decade. More than being told by the outside world that they have it in them, they know they are too good a side to have finished on the wrong end of four successive final appearances in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012. In the last one, at the World Twenty20 final at home, they had West Indies 32 for 2 after ten overs and still blew it. Age was on Murray’s side; it is not on the side of these four Sri Lankan greats. On Sunday, they will begin one of their last attempts to not go down in history as one of the best collections of men to not have won a world title.Form guideNew Zealand: LWWLL (completed games, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: LWWLL
Watch out for…Two new balls? Helpful conditions for the fast bowlers? MS Dhoni defeated South Africa primarily through the stranglehold of his spinners in the opening match of the tournament in Cardiff. New Zealand could possibly face the combination of Sachithra Senanayake, Jeevan Mendis and Dilshan at the same ground. Tackling the lone English spinner in the one-dayers was one thing; even Suresh Raina bowled as many as six overs in Cardiff a couple of days ago. How the New Zealand batsmen go against the Sri Lanka spinners will be crucial to the outcome.There may not have been too much swing in Cardiff when India played South Africa, but there was lots of bounce, and a couple of India batsmen copped blows to their helmets. While New Zealand may not have someone with extreme pace, they would have had a look at how South Africa overdid the short ball against India, and will come with a better strategy against another side from the subcontinent. How well will the Sri Lanka batsmen deal with the bounce?Team newsNew Zealand are still sweating on the fitness of Daniel Vettori and to add to that, Grant Elliott has a calf injury. Brendon McCullum said he was waiting on both before finalising the team on the morning of the game.New Zealand (possible) 1 Luke Ronchi (wk), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Eliott/Colin Munro, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt), 7 James Franklin, 8 Daniel Vettori/Nathan McCullum, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Mitchell McClenaghanSri Lanka have not spent much time together as a squad after the IPL, compared to New Zealand who have been in England for over a month. But they do not seem to have as many injury worries, last-minute flare-ups notwithstanding.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Mahela Jayawardene, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Angelo Mathews (capt), 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Jeevan Mendis/Dilhara Lokuhettige, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Lasith MalingaPitch and conditionsWhen AB de Villiers won the toss against India, the skies were heavy enough to make it a straightforward decision to bowl on a cold morning. Soon after India started their innings, the sun came out and Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma prospered. There was little swing, some seam, and bounce was the only testing thing to handle for the batsmen.Cardiff had terrific, clear weather on the eve of the match, and more of it is expected on Sunday, with a high of 21 degrees.Stats The last ODI Daniel Vettori played was the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka in Colombo. The last international match he played, in September 2012, was also in Sri Lanka, during the World Twenty20 Sri Lanka and New Zealand have met three times in the Champions Trophy. Sri Lanka won in 1998 and 2006, New Zealand in 2009 Seven of the eight completed ODIs at Cardiff have been won by the chasing side. Only India have won batting firstQuotes”I don’t know what it is that makes us do well in big tournaments. We give ourselves every chance and we seem to be thereabouts semi-final or finals stage. Whether it’s the nature of being able to bounce between different opposition and making sure that we’re well prepared, I’m not sure.”
“To me Lasith hasn’t put on that much weight. He’s very professional the way he goes about things and he knows exactly what to do and how to do it. He’s our premier bowler and he tries to give the maximum each time he walks into the middle.”

Jacques Kallis has announced that he will retire from Test cricket after the Boxing Day match against India.

Firdose Moonda25-Dec-2013Jacques Kallis, one of the game’s greatest allrounders, will retire from Test cricket after the Boxing Day match against India. Kallis announced his decision on Wednesday, on the eve of the second Test against India, but stated that he would still like to play the 2015 World Cup for South Africa.In a statement, Kallis said: “It wasn’t an easy decision, with Australia around the corner and the success this team is enjoying, but I feel the time is right. I don’t see it as goodbye, I still have a lot of hunger to push South Africa to that World Cup in 2015 if I am fit and performing. The last two years specifically have been a memorable journey with an exceptional group of cricketers. I am fortunate enough to have ended my Test career amongst a group of talented cricketers but, more importantly, friends whom I will cherish for years to come.”Kallis, who made his Test debut against England in December 1995, and has played 165 Tests, scoring 13174 runs at an average of 55.12, with 44 centuries and 58 half-centuries. He is currently fourth on the list of leading run-getters in Test cricket, and is also second on the list of batsmen with most Test centuries, apart from having scored the most runs for South Africa in Tests. Kallis’ status as the pre-eminent allrounder of his era stemmed from his contributions as a bowler – 292 Test wickets at an average of 32.53 – and fielder, whose 199 catches ranks him only behind Rahul Dravid in the Test list. He has one more match to add to those numbers.Batting has been the reason for questions surrounding Kallis’ form. He last scored a century more than a year ago, in November 2012, against Australia in Brisbane. In 2013, he has scored just 194 runs with no hundreds – a first for Kallis in a calendar year – and only two half-centuries. He has been dismissed in single figures in five of his last seven innings, twice for a duck, and on four occasions playing across the line and being struck lbw.On South Africa’s recent visit to the UAE, Kallis had the leanest series of his career. He did not get into double figures once and did not take a single wicket either. Asked then whether there were concerns about how much longer Kallis would play, Graeme Smith had dismissed them. “He still has a great desire to play for South Africa,” he said.Kallis’ struggles were brushed off as nothing more than rustiness after a long lay off. While most of the team hadn’t played competitively for three months, Kallis was coming in from a much longer break that started when the IPL ended in May. South Africa did not play Test cricket in that time and Kallis, who initially made himself available for the Champions Trophy, withdrew from the squad citing personal reasons. He had not played fifty-over cricket for South Africa for 15 months at that stage, because of his workload management. He also played no part in the tour of Sri Lanka in August, in keeping with the policy of leaving him out of bilateral limited-overs series.Kallis’ wish to win a World Cup medal had not dimmed. So at the end of that month, after a meeting with new coach Russell Domingo, Kallis recommitted to the ODI squad. Domingo announced that Kallis would play in most of South Africa’s ODIs in the lead-up to 2015, starting with the home series against India.He played in the hastily organised home series against Pakistan and celebrated his comeback with a half-century. Kallis has turned out in three ODIs since then, sitting out of the dead-rubbers against both Pakistan and India, scoring 26 runs and claiming three wickets.South Africa do not play any one-day cricket until next July against Zimbabwe, which means Kallis will disappear from the international arena for at least seven months after this Test. Following that, they have a five-match series against Australia and another five matches against West Indies at home before the 2015 World Cup.If Kallis plays in all those matches, he will turn out 13 more times for South Africa before the tournament. That scarcity is something Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said the team would take some getting used to because Kallis has been a constant in the dressing room. “The impact Jacques has made on South African cricket has been immense, not just as a player but as a human being,” Domingo said. “I’m not sure we will ever see another player of that stature very soon. Jacques’ calmness, maturity and presence in the change room will sorely be missed and hopefully he will still be able to play a role in this team’s success in the near future. He has ambitions of playing in the 2015 World Cup and it will be important for us to manage him accordingly so that he is in prime form leading into the tournament.”Haroon Lorgat, Cricket South Africa’s chief executive, praised Kallis, calling him South African cricket’s “Rock of Gibraltar”. “He has been a stalwart for many years and South Africa’s recent triumphs and greatness have been built around him. He is a legend and his statistics speak volumes,” Lorgat said. “Jacques has been ever present for the Proteas in the past 18 years and it is fitting that his final Test should be on the same ground as the one on which he made his debut against England back in 1995.”