The ICC will hear out an appeal by Shabbir Ahmed, the Pakistani medium-pacer, on January 19 in Dubai against the one-year ban imposed on him for having an illegal bowling action. Shabbir, 29, was banned last month by the ICC after he was reported twice in 2005 for a suspect action, the last time during the first Test against England at Multan in November. Saleem Altaf, Director Cricket Operations of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said the ICC would constitute an appeal committee to hear out Shabbir’s case.”I’ll be accompanying him for the hearing and we are confident we can at least get the one-year suspension reduced. We’ll contest the ban on the grounds that there is still no standard protocol for dealing with bowlers with suspect actions,” he stated. Shabbir’s action has been reported four times since his debut in 1999 and he is the first bowler to be banned for a year from international cricket under the new ICC bowling action regulations.Altaf said the PCB had asked Sarfraz Nawaz, former Pakistan international, to work for a ten-day period on Shabbir’s action before the appeal hearing. Sarfraz played 55 Tests and took 177 wickets besides grabbing 63 one-day wickets for Pakistan.”Obviously if we are going to plead his case we need to ensure we’ve some evidence when appearing before the committee that his action has improved. Sarfraz will work with him and then prepare a video of his modified action which we’ll submit at the hearing. We’ll also discuss the various protocols applied by the ICC to judge a bowler’s action,” he stated.Altaf said a strong case was being prepared in Shabbir’s defence, as it was obvious if the one-year ban remained his career could be finished. “We are heartened by the fact that Professor Bruce Elliot, the biomechanic specialist, in his official report has noted that Shabbir is capable of bowling within the ICC limit of 15-degree tolerance level for bowlers to extend their elbow,” he said. Shabbir has taken 51 wickets in 10 Tests and 33 wickets in 32 one-dayers.
Pakistan’s captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, has been fined 100% of his match fee, after being found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct for his side’s slow over rate in their victory over West Indies on Tuesday.Chris Broad, the ICC’s match referee, found Inzamam guilty of breaching Clause C1 of the Code of Conduct, which states that players shall at all times conduct play within the spirit of the game and that, in particular, captains are responsible at all times for ensuring that this is adhered to.At a hearing conducted after the close of play on Tuesday, Inzamam was found guilty of a Level 2 breach, and because he was captain, he was fined an additional 30% of his fee, which means that he was actually paying for the privilege of playing. The rest of the Pakistan players were fined 15% of their fees.All Level 2 breaches carry a minimum penalty of a 50% fine, and a maximum penalty of a full match fee and/or a one Test or two one-day international ban. The match referee’s decision is final and binding.Actually Inzamam should have received a ban under the strict interpretation of the code, since this was his second such offence within the last 12 months. But since the hearing did not take this into account before the fine was announced the ICC has decided not to take the matter further, in fairness to Inzamam. Chris Broad admitted: “In applying the provisions of the ICC Code I neglected to consult Inzamam’s past record. It was an honest mistake and the matter has been dealt with.”
Pakistan completed an eight-wicket victory, and went one up in the series, when they speedily knocked off the 24 runs they needed this morning at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. It was Pakistan’s first Test win at home against South Africa, coming six years after a 1-0 series defeat.Pakistan lost Taufeeq Umar (63) this morning – cleaned up by a ball from Paul Adams that kept really low – but by then, the script was done and dusted. A Shoaib Malik boundary finally sealed the triumph. The fate of the match had been decided by two lethal spells of fast bowling – of contrasting styles – from Shoaib Akhtar that crashed through the batting sluice-gates.South Africa had run away with the first session on the opening day, but with a nasty mix of reverse-swing and blasting pace, Akhtar got Pakistan back into the contest. The turning point came when he smacked Gary Kirsten on the face, as he attempted to pull a short one, forcing him to retire hurt. He then picked up Neil McKenzie first ball to well and truly dent the South Africans’ morale.Again, on the fourth morning, after the pendulum had swung back towards South Africa, Akhtar produced a blistering spell – characterised by steepling bounce and ruthless precision – that had the top-order batsmen hopping.It was also a memorable Test for Shoaib Malik – the replacement for Saqlain Mushtaq – who bowled a teasing spell on the first day, and Danish Kaneria, who spun his web on the fourth. Taufeeq Umar’s gritty hundred, Asim Kamal’s fine 99 on debut, and Imran Farhat’s positive approach were the other gains that Pakistan will take with them to the second Test at Faisalabad. Both Umar and Farhat, who was making a comeback to the Test team, were under pressure to perform, and they won hearts with the manner in which they chased down a potentially tricky fourth-innings target.Mark Boucher’s attacking approach with the bat and Paul Adams’s seven wickets in the first innings were some consolation for South Africa. But the biggest positive was the courage shown by Kirsten in the second innings. Not fazed by the way he had been felled in the first, he took on everything the bowlers threw at him. His team-mates will need similar grit to take on Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami in Faisalabad, assuming that Akhtar is cleared to play.South Africa were a spinner short on a wearing pitch at Lahore, and will definitely blame some of their shot-selection for the batting collapses, but the problems began with Shoaib Akhtar, who gave them no respite at all. Richie Benaud (who is to consider Akhtar’s appeal against a one-match ICC ban) will now decide whether South Africa have to face another examination by raw pace in the second Test.
Fast bowler Brad Williams and the use of bonus points will feature in an Australian one-day international for the first time when the home team takes on New Zealand in the opening match of the VB Series tomorrow.Williams, the blond-headed speedster from Western Australia, will figure as part of a three-pronged Australian pace attack in a match likely to be contested on a fast and bouncy pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.The 27-year-old was named in the Australian squad for the two closing matches of the recently-completed Test series against South Africa but did not win selection in the final eleven in either game.His domestic career began in Melbourne seven years ago, when he was chosen as a 20-year-old and claimed five wickets in an innings for a Victorian team that played Queensland in a Sheffield Shield match.Under the rotation policy that will ensure that each of the 14 players in the Australian squad will play at least one game through the opening stages of the series, Williams’ debut appearance will give him the chance to complement Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee as part of a pace bowling trio.Queenslanders Andy Bichel, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds will be the three players rested.And, while Williams makes his first foray into international cricket, so a bonus point system will be in operation for the opening time in a limited-overs international on Australian soil.An additional point will be added to the four on offer for victory in each match of the VB Series in those situations where a team finishes a game with a run-rate that is at least 1.25 times higher than that of its opponent.Designed to encourage attacking cricket, the incentive rewards sides batting second for overhauling targets quickly and sides bowling second for dismissing their opponents cheaply.The use of bonus points in elite-level cricket is an Australian invention, having been pioneered in the Australian domestic one-day competition during the 2000-01 season.The VB Series will represent the fourth international tournament in which bonus points have been employed following their adoption by the International Cricket Council four months ago.
Shane Warne enjoyed himself at Kent’s expense to give Hampshire the best oftheir championship match at Portsmouth. First he made 69, his highest scoresince joining the county, and then when Kent began their reply to Hampshire’s 320 the Australian leg-spinner dismissed two batsmen in his first over.Pugnacious Warne struck 56 runs in boundaries, which included sixes from David Masters and Min Patel, and then was bowled moving out to drive the latter. He increased his previous highest for Hampshire by 19 by is still a way of his ambition of hitting his first hundred.Jason Laney made the highest score for the home county with a forthright 81 in which there were nine boundaries. Within sight of his first century for two seasons he hit a rising ball from Ben Trott to be caught by Robert Key atmid-wicket.Patel, who bowled with life and lift for just under forty overs, was Kent’s most successful bowler. He dismissed Derek Kenway and Robin Smith to catches by wicket-keeper Paul Nixon and Adrian Aymes to a catch by Matthew Walker in the slips. Earlier Walker had missed two easier chances from Will Kendall.Trott, who had represented Hampshire earlier this season, was included because of the absence of fast bowlers Dean Headley, Martin McCague and Julian Thompson. Trott also dismissed Dmitri Mascarenhas. Then, however, the home lower-order contributed 102 runs for the last three wickets of which Shaun Udal made 31 and Peter Hartley 23.Hampshire were all out in the 94th so their opponents ad to face a further nine before the close. For the fifth Warne was called on to bowl and with his second ball had Robert Key caught by Giles White at short-leg before he had scored andfour balls later had nightwatchman Masters leg-before. David Fulton and Rahul Dravid took the score to 31-2 at the close.
Leeds United have shown since getting promoted back to the Premier League after a 16-year absence that they are capable of splashing the cash in the transfer window to bring new players to the club in the hope that they can improve the team and keep them as a regular top-flight side.
However, as is the case with most clubs that are particularly active in the transfer market, not every deal ends up being a particularly successful one in terms of value for money.
For example, one player that the Whites had to pay a lot to sign is Spanish attacker Rodrigo, who joined in the 2020 summer transfer window from Valencia in a deal worth a reported fee of £26m.
Since making the move to Elland Road, the 31-year-old has made 51 appearances across all competitions but has only managed to find the back of the net on ten occasions, meaning he has cost them a startling £2.6m per strike.
Meanwhile, he’s provided just three assists along the way as well, which is undeniably less than what the club would have been hoping for based on the hefty fee they shelled out for him.
In October 2020, just a few months after becoming a Leeds player, Transfermarkt rated Rodrigo’s market value at £27m, whereas it now stands at just £13.5m, highlighting a significant drop of 50%, possibly as a result of his lack of consistent goal contributions.
Even though only Raphinha and Dan James have taken more shots at goal in the Premier League than the former Valencia star this term, his percentage of shots on target stands at just 32.4%, which is lower than the likes of Mateusz Klich, Tyler Roberts, Joe Gelhardt, Jack Harrison, Adam Forshaw and Diego Llorente.
This shows that in the absence of Patrick Bamford for the majority of the campaign through injury, the 31-year-old has not been able to provide much of a real goal threat for his side.
As a result, it’s hardly a surprise that former striker and pundit Kevin Phillips dubbed him “non-existent” for his efforts.
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Taking all of this into account, it could be said that Andrea Radrizzani made the wrong choice in choosing which player he was going to break the bank and spend a big sum of money on.
Moving forward, the best way Rodrigo can repay his transfer fee now would be to fire his team to safety with some goals that can result in them picking up enough points to avoid getting relegated back to the Championship.
In other news: Orta can seal dream move after Leeds plot bid for £20m gem, he’s a “new Luis Suarez” – opinion
A round for knife-edgesUntil yesterday Indian first-class cricket had recorded only four matches ending in victories of three runs or less. In a span of a few minutes, Jhalawar and Mysore produced two more. Barely had Mumbai sneaked to a dramatic two-run win against Rajasthan in Jhalawar than Saurashtra almost matched them with a three-run triumph in Mysore. Mumbai needed three wickets off the final over and Rajasthan, nine runs. Murtuza Hussain, a medium-pacer in just his second first-class game, prised out two wickets and saw a third fall to a run-out.Karnataka, needing six runs in the last mandatory over, also committed hara-kiri. No. 11 KP Appanna did well to steal a single off the first ball, only to see Yere Goud, the captain, pick up another single instead of finishing it on his own. This brought Appanna back on strike and he had no answer to a well-directed short one that ballooned up in the air. For Indian first-class matches that have ended with margins of five runs or less, click hereBouncing in KarnailDomestic cricketers who have visited the Karnail Singh Stadium never tire of complaining about the lack of bounce. Jharkhand, the latest visitors, had a surprise in store. An interesting piece in the talks about an old-school idea coming in handy: using jaggery to bind the pitch. Abhay Sharma, the Railways’ coach, told the newspaper: “I recalled what I had seen in a Duleep Trophy match in Bikaner a long time ago. I remember playing that match and that wicket had a tennis-ball bounce. I had asked the groundsman, who was about 70 years old then, how he managed this and he told me to use jaggery, and its syrup is very good for making a stiff base.”That’s how I tried it here. But we have to be extra careful while using it on the top soil. A little overdose and insects will eat into the wicket.” Curator Rakesh Mehrotra, who represented Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy in 1986 and has been involved in preparing tracks for the last five years, said: “We have also used a special glue so that the wicket doesn’t break, and also sprayed lot of insecticide to prevent damage to the grass. That way, the grass doesn’t die even when the roller is used and assists movement. Also, it’s important to increase the clay content of the soil and also observe little methods to preserve it.”Tricks from Sony and AwanaSony Cheruvathur became only the second bowler from Kerala, after Sreesanth, to grab a hat-trick. Snapping up the best match-figures in the Plate Group so far (12 for 105) Cheruvathur’s hat-trick comprised Nos. 9, 10 and 11 – Amit Singh, Siddharth Trivedi and Hitesh Majumdar – to clean up the innings. Three days later Parvinder Awana matched him with a hat-trick to allow Delhi to force the issue against Maharashtra. Awana became the fourth Delhi bowler to take a Ranji hat-trick, after Ravinder Pal, Bishan Bedi and Shankar Saini.
Nagothane nuggetsFor the smaller and far-off venues, a first-class match is a big occasion. It was no different for Nagothane, as at the end of the match they had a proper post-match conference organised, something that is not usual with Ranji Trophy matches. The spin here was that there were school kids questioning the captains at the presentation ceremony. Also Vijay Dahiya, mistaken for Virender Sehwag, was being asked for his autograph by one of the kids. While Dahiya had a hard time trying to convince the biy that Sehwag and he were two were different people, Aakash Chopra said, “No no it’s him only,” before dashing away.Mumbai and the left-arm curseMumbai didn’t have to face a left-arm seamer in this round but they’ve struggled against the breed this season. In the third and fourth rounds, Delhi’s Pradeep Sangwan and Maharashtra’s Samad Fallah accounted for 12 wickets, most of whom were top-order batsmen. Mumbai are obviously aware of this weakness, getting their trainer and left-armer Amogh Pandit to bowl at them, but a real test awaits them in the next round: Himachal Pradesh’s Ashok Thakur, the highest wicket-taker in the Super League so far, on home turf. Interestingly (apart from Zaheer Khan) the last left-arm medium-fast bowler in the Mumbai ranks was Sandeep Dahad, who was in and out of the side in 2001 before moving to Goa.Stat snapsAssam offspinner Arnald Konwar and Karnataka’s medium-pacer R Vinay Kumar now have 100 wickets in first-class cricket. Meanwhile former Indian Sanjay Bangar, playing for Railways, picked up his 200th wicket in the game against Jharkhand in Delhi. Bangar became the fourth Indian to manage the double of 200 wickets and 6000 runs. He has a bit of catching up to do, though with ML Jaisimha (8942 runs, 325 wickets), Vijay Hazare (8504 runs, 311 wickets) and Madan Lal (8141 runs, 512 wickets) ahead of him.
Baroda beat Western India by 3 runs in Rajkot, 1942-43 Western India beat Gujarat by 3 runs in Rajkot, 1945-46 Andhra beat Tamil Nadu by 1 run in Salem, 1974-75 Haryana beat Mumbai by 2 runs in Bombay, 1990-91 Madhya Pradesh beat Karnataka by 5 runs in Bangalore, 1992-93 Tamil Nadu beat Sri Lanka by 3 runs in Madras, 1972-73 (Gopalan Trophy)
Shaun Pollock was delighted by the manner in which South Africa foughtback on the second day at Newlands, but he wasn’t about to take anythingfor granted with his side still 270 adrift on first innings. Pollock’s naggingaccuracy fetched him figures of 4 for 75, and contributed to India losingtheir way in the afternoon – the last five wickets fell for just 19.By stumps, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla had taken South Africa to 144 for1 after Sreesanth had got AB de Villiers early. According to Pollock, thefate of the match rested largely in the hands of South Africa’s batsmen,with batting supposed to be at its easiest on day three.”We haven’t discussed that at this stage,” said Pollock, when asked whatsort of score his team was looking at. “There’s a lot of cricket to beplayed. We can’t afford to get too ahead of ourselves. We need to find apartnership tomorrow and launch from there. But the quicker we do get abig score, the more time it gives us to try and win the Test match.”That’s the ideal route. We find ourselves in a good position now becausewe got those five wickets so quickly at the end. That was really theturning point for us. And to have batted the way we have sets up a base tolaunch from. We were pretty comfortable throughout the afternoon.”While Pollock’s wickets came as no surprise, there would have been someconsternation in the Indian dressing room over the identity of the otherfour-wicket man. Paul Harris was making his debut, and at times thismorning, he was clouted over the infield. But each time, he held his nerveto strike back with a telling blow, showing the sort of character that wonPollock’s approval.”They do score quickly, and their idea was to take on the spinner,” saidPollock. “There was a little bit of risk involved [in bowling Harris fromone end], but we always knew there was going to be an opportunity. Ithought he bowled very well. To take some big scalps like he did – I thinkSehwag and Sachin are pretty good players of spin. For him to come intohis debut Test match and have those two was pretty big for him.”Though the pitch showed few signs of deterioration late on day two,Pollock was hopeful that things would be different once the game went intothe final two days. “If we can bat well in this innings, it might beeasier for the bowlers later on with variable bounce and the cracksstarting to widen.”We’d like to get as much as we possibly can. It’s very dangerous to talkabout big targets; it can easily backfire on you. Any lead we can get willbe fantastic. If we can get them into a pressure situation and be 150ahead, then they will be behind the eight-ball fighting back to try andget back into the game. If the wicket starts misbehaving, then we’rereally in the front seat.”His one-time new-ball partner, Makhaya Ntini, went wicketless; a rareoccurrence for him in a home Test, and Pollock admitted that bowling on aplacid pitch had been no vineyard stroll. “There’s probably not that muchin it for the seamers,” he said. “Maybe, there’s a little bit of reverseswing going. There’s some assistance for the spinners, especially from outof the rough at one end.”You’d expect that day three is best for batting, and you’d expect thepitch to wear on days four and five. If we can build up a big scoretomorrow, we can use the wear and tear on days four and five. It onlyneeds two or three balls to misbehave to get you wickets.”Before all that though, he might need to bat. And on the evidence ofDurban, where his accomplished second-innings 63 set India an imposing 354to chase, few will be as well-equipped to handle the Kumble factor.
Jimmy Adams, the former West Indies captain, has been named as the new manager of West Indies Under-19s ahead of the World Cup in Sri Lanka. Adams replaces Roger Harper who left the position to take up the coaching role with Kenya.Zorol Bathley, the cricket operations manager of the WICB, told the : “We have appointed Jimmy because of his leadership skills and knowledge of the game and what goes on within the game.”Adams added that he was pleased to have a part to play with the future generation: “I’m excited about the role and I’m happy to serve West Indies cricket again. I’m excited to work with the boys and help to guide the next generation of West Indies cricketers.”His first role will be to co-ordinate the five-day training camp being held at the cricket development centre in Trinidad. The squad then leaves to play five matches against Pakistan Under-19s before the World Cup starts on February 5. West Indies’ first match is against the USA a day later.Adams played 54 Tests and 127 one-day internationals for West Indies in a nine year career.
Shoaib Akhtar has refused to shorten his bowling run-up, a suggestion put forth by Bob Woolmer, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain. Shoaib compared himself to a jet plane gathering speed on a runway and said he would not compromise on his 40-yard run-up.Woolmer was concerned about Pakistan’s sluggish over-rates in the first Test at Perth, where they were humbled by a massive 491-run margin, and pinpointed that as one of several areas that needed to be rectified ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Woolmer had termed the over-rate “ridiculous and very poor”. Shoaib, though, whistled a different tune and told the : “We’re going to go through our overs quickly. We talked about it. I’m not going to change, but I’m going to go back to my run-up quickly.”I’ll ask you a question. Can a plane take off without a run-up? No, so I’ve got to take the run,” he said. “It’s how I generate my pace and everything flows into the right action. I’m not going to cut down.”Imran had spoken to Shoaib in Kolkata recently, where Pakistan played India in the BCCI’s Platinum Jubilee game. “I used to bowl all day at his age,” said Imran. “He sprints such a long way that he could easily cut it down without losing any pace, but he would have more stamina.”