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The Italian media has blasted Virgil van Dijk for his failure to control Rafael Leao during Milan's 4-2 pre-season win over Liverpool in Hong Kong.

Leao provided a goal and an assistVirgil given 4.5/10 for performance.Slot insists Liverpool are solid at the backFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

were harsh in their criticism of the Dutch centre back, giving Van Dijk a rating of 4.5/10 for his performance in Saturday's loss. Liverpool did struggle to contain Leao's threat, with the Portuguese star scoring once and setting up another goal for the Rossinieri. named Leao as the player of the match for his performance.

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Italy's leading sports paper said the Portugese "demolished" van Dijk. Typically operating on the wing, the makeshift striker impressed nonetheless, with Gazzetta writing, "He [Leao] hasn’t yet become a natural centre-forward, but not even Van Dijk was able to stop him when he sprinted."

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Liverpool's strength at centre half has been brought under question. Van Dijk started the game alongside Ryan Gravenberch, while Ibrahima Konate spent the second half in a makeshift partnership with left back Kostas Tsimikas. The sale of Jarrell Quansah, Joe Gomez's persistent injury woes and a rare sub-par performance from Van Dijk are causes for concern. Arne Slot, however, insists the Reds are suitably stocked at centre half for their Premier League title defence. He told reporters: "I don’t think we have a concern at centre-back."

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Liverpool will look to put the disappointing result behind them when they finish their pre-season tour of Asia with a tie against Yokohama FC on Wednesday.

Leao and Milan can build on a promising performance when they square off with Perth Glory on Thursday.

Starc revealed words from a former Australia coach spurred him to push through pain barrier as he closes in on Dennis Lillee’s tally

Alex Malcolm05-Mar-20241:39

Clarke: Marnus needs to believe in himself

Mitchell Starc has the strong words of former Australia coach Tim Nielsen still ringing in his ears as he stands on the brink of a remarkable achievement.If he takes two wickets at Hagley Oval this week against New Zealand in the second Test he will surpass Dennis Lillee on Australia’s all-time leading Test wicket-takers list and move to fourth behind Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Lyon.Related

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As impressive as that is, Starc is arguably prouder of the fact he is set to play his seventh straight Test of a southern hemisphere summer. It is something he has not done in his 14-year international career. The closest he has come was 2017-18, where he missed one Test out of eight when Australia played five against England at home and three against South Africa away in the span of four months.A once fragile Starc has become Australia’s iron man, pushing through pain to play game after game for his country. He distinctly remembers a conversation on one of his early tours with Australia in 2010, that led him to realise that pushing through pain was part of the job.”I was still learning what all those pains were and obviously the reports get around from physios to coaches and I sort of got told to harden the f*** up a little bit,” Starc said. “Timmy Nielsen probably made me aware that early doors. Obviously, there’s plenty of times you need to be honest with the medical staff but other times you got to know when to push through things.”The last 12 months has been one of those times. Starc was Australia’s leading wicket-taker in the away Ashes last year despite only playing four Tests.He was supposed to go on the limited-overs tour of South Africa before the ODI World Cup but was withdrawn due to lingering groin soreness. Starc has never revealed the exact details of the issue nor has he outlined the pain he was in. He remains tightlipped on both.Mitchell Starc has often pushed through the pain barrier•Getty ImagesBut there were grave concerns for him during the World Cup, where he hardly trained and had to make slight changes to his run-up to mitigate against long-term injury.That he got through the tournament without issue was impressive. That he has been able to back up and play seven Tests in a row since is even more so.”I think a lot of work goes into that a lot of work that people don’t see or whether it be the rehab or the handling of niggles or there’s certainly sore mornings for a lot of people,” Starc said. “But I think that comes down to experiencing and knowing how to deal with certain things and finding ways through them to still make an impact with a team or perform and carry out your role.”Surpassing Lillee will be a monumental achievement. He is the only bowler in Australia’s top eight wicket-takers with a strike-rate under 50. Of the 27 men who have taken more than 350 Test wickets, only Dale Steyn, Waqar Younis and Malcolm Marshall have a better strike-rate than Starc.”It’s cool. It’s humbling,” Starc said. “It means I’m old. I’ve played a little bit of cricket.”Starc also has another landmark in sight. Tim Southee will become the latest pace bowler to bring up 100 Tests in Christchurch this week and Starc is 12 away. If his body and form hold up, he could join the club in 2025.”To play 100 Test matches as a fast bowler is a huge achievement for [Southee],” Starc said. “If I can get that far, that’d be nice as a bowler and again that’s probably showing a bit of age and experience but a bit of longevity as well and then the work to become resilient and to push through a few things. So if I can get that far it’d be a nice touch but at this stage, it’s one week at a time.”

Skipper says domestic players can stake claims ahead of T20 World Cup and the Ashes

Matt Roller19-Apr-2024Heather Knight, England’s captain, has challenged her squad to “go out and dominate” in regional cricket this summer and hopes domestic players will stake strong claims for selection ahead of the T20 World Cup and the Ashes later this year.The 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy begins on Saturday with a full round of games and while many of England’s centrally-contracted players will miss the opening weekend to attend Tammy Beaumont’s wedding, they will have some opportunities to feature for their regions ahead of England’s T20I series against Pakistan, which starts on May 11.”It’s never a closed door, if people are performing well,” Knight said at the ECB’s launch of a national tape-ball competition. “The standard of those regional games has gone through the roof in the last couple of years, so those performances are worth more. It’s a really exciting time and obviously we’ve got huge competition in the squad as well.”You want to see England players go and dominate, and really put their name forward to keep being in that England side. It’ll be an individual basis as to who plays what… most of us will miss the first round at least. But I always keep a close eye on what’s going on, what young talent is coming through, and it’s going to be no different this year watching those games.”Related

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There is substantial competition for places in England’s T20 set-up ahead of the World Cup in Bangladesh later this year, and Knight took confidence from the recent 4-1 series win in New Zealand. “We’ve got Mahika Gaur [who missed the tour due to school commitments] and Freya Kemp coming back from injury as well,” she said. “We’ve got a real depth of players we can pick from.”It’s super exciting. It makes selection a lot of tougher and sometimes you have more unhappy players – which is completely fine. It’s a really good place to be. With that World Cup in October, it’s really important that we keep moving forwards… Bangladesh is a tough place to go and play, so that’s the focus of the summer: trying to get in a really good place, ready for that tournament.”England were without four first-choice players for the first three T20Is in New Zealand due to their Women’s Premier League commitments, which gave them the opportunity to test their depth. With the chance to bat in the top three, Maia Bouchier was the tour’s breakout star and finished the T20I series as the leading run-scorer with 223 in five innings.Knight bats at the ECB’s launch of a national tape-ball competition in Birmingham•ECB/Getty Images”She had a really good tour, particularly in the T20s off the back of a really good summer last year,” Knight said. “She’s always had the talent, but she’s just starting to work out how to manage herself in the middle and how to convert her talent into performances. That has been pretty cool to watch. She’s someone that you watch and think, ‘how does she play that shot?'”It’s remarkable, some of the shots she’s played. Obviously she had a brilliant tour, and now for her it’s about building on that and having that consistency. She’ll get a bit of a run in the team, particularly in that T20 opening spot which we haven’t quite nailed on so for her to grasp that [means that] she’ll get a little bit of a run. Hopefully, she continues the form that she’s had.”Edgbaston have already sold more than 10,000 tickets for England’s opening match of their T20I series against Pakistan, and Knight believes that the ECB’s joint marketing campaign with the men’s series against the same opposition can help build on the commercial success of last summer’s Ashes series.”It was a really awesome summer to be involved with: you felt the support and momentum for cricket around the country,” she said. “It’s obviously slightly different to an Ashes summer, but the amount of people that came along and – anecdotally – have said, ‘we want to come back, we want to come watch you guys’ has been pretty cool. Hopefully we can put on a show.”

Newcastle United have reportedly named their price for Alexander Isak after rejecting Liverpool’s opening offer, with the Magpies demanding £150 million to consider a deal. The Swedish striker is pushing to leave this summer and has been training at former club Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, Newcastle are eyeing Ollie Watkins as a possible replacement if Isak departs.

Liverpool's £120m Isak bid rejected by Newcastle UnitedMagpies demand £150m and line up Watkins as replacementSwede striker training at Real Sociedad amid transfer standoffFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Newcastle have turned down Liverpool’s first formal offer for Isak, worth £120 million. The Daily Mail has now reported that the bid from the Reds falls well short of their £150m valuation. Despite his desire to leave, the Magpies have made it clear they will only sell on their terms. 

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The 25-year-old has not joined Newcastle’s pre-season tour in Asia, citing a thigh injury while training at Real Sociedad. Newcastle have not denied that Isak has gone AWOL, and sources suggest he is pushing for a move behind the scenes. Liverpool’s opening bid was reportedly worth around £120m, but the Magpies want at least £150m to part ways.

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The Daily Mail's report have also suggested that Newcastle are considering Aston Villa’s Watkins as a possible successor to Isak. The Magpies have drawn up a shortlist of replacements that also includes Yoane Wissa and Jorgen Strand Larsen. RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko was their top target, but Manchester United are now leading that race.

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WHAT NEXT FOR ISAK?

Liverpool are expected to return with an improved offer if they remain serious about landing Isak. Newcastle, meanwhile, are likely to only act on Watkins if they receive encouragement and progress with outgoing business. For now, Isak has been told he will not be allowed to leave without the right deal in place.

Andrew McGlashan reviews the county season

Andrew McGlashan26-Sep-2005

Paul Collingwood was a key player for Durham when not on England duty © Getty Images
Durham
After years struggling at the bottom of the county table, Durham had their best season since joining first-class cricket in 1992. Martyn Moxon was rewarded for some shrewd signings, including both overseas and Kolpak players, as Durham gained promotion in both forms of the game. Mike Hussey, Dale Benkenstein and Paul Collingwood formed a strong batting triplet – but it was the form of Liam Plunkett and Mark Davies which heartened supporters the most. With Steve Harmison absent on England duty, the two young bowlers led the bowling attack with great success. There is enough talent at Chester-le-Street to suggest that their rise to the first division won’t just be a fleeting visit.
Player of the season Dale Benkenstein – runs, wickets, catches and stand-in captain.Derbyshire
Although their bottom-placed position suggests little progress has been made, there have been some promising signs coming out of Derby. They managed to register their first Championship win for 14 months in the last match of the season, but it was the one-day game which showed the most significant improvements. Narrowly missing out on promotion in the National League, as well as reaching the quarter-finals in the Twenty20 competition, gave hope for a brighter future.
Player of the season Graeme Welch – Bowled endless overs, and scored useful runsEssex
It was a progressive season for Ronnie Irani’s team, who were head and shoulders above the competition in the National League. Their one-day attack was well led by Darren Gough and they used their spinners to good effect. With Alastair Cook and Ravinder Bopara maturing rapidly, the batting quickly became settled; Andy Flower was a constant run machine, averaging over 65 in the Championship. Danish Kaneria, the legspinner, bowled nearly 400 overs in seven Championship matches but his wickets cost 33 runs apiece.
Player of the season Alastair Cook – made the step up from promising youngster to leading batsman.

It was a tough season for Glamorgan, with relegation in the Championship © Getty Images
Glamorgan
Their season never got going, especially in the Championship where they registered just a single victory. Their decision to sign only one overseas player backfired when Matthew Elliott left with a knee injury; his replacement Sourav Ganguly then returned to India. When the squad was further depleted by injuries, the writing was on the wall. But the arrival of some promising youngsters brightened their season, admit the poor results. Robert Croft never gave less than 100% and showed his commitment by signing an extended contract. In the days of quick-fix Kolpak and overseas stars, Glamorgan’s approach to home grown talent has to be admired – but it left them seriously exposed over a long season.
Player of the season David Hemp – the shining light in a weak batting orderGloucestershire
It was a forgetful season at Bristol and there isn’t much light at the end of the tunnel. When Ramnaresh Sarwan manages to average only 31 in a season, it highlights the problems that exist. No one got close to 1000 runs – although Craig Spearman had mitigated circumstances after a season of personal issues. The bowling attack lacked the firepower to dismiss opposition teams cheaply. Jon Lewis worked hard but his injury – and the relatively meagre return of Upul Chandana – left Chris Taylor with few options. The one-day trophies have also dried up, leaving supporters thinking long and hard about where the club is heading.
Player of the season Stephen Adshead – solid behind and in front of the stumps.Hampshire
The Warne factor was everywhere at the Rose Bowl. He launched Hampshire’s season while his countrymen were busy with the one-day matches against England, and his adventurous captaincy conjured victories from nowhere. When he departed on Test duty, his legacy was clearly visible around the team; they played with a confidence and conviction not often seen in county cricket. They were helped by Shane Watson and Andy Bichel who were ideal locum overseas players. Though they couldn’t quite take the Championship down to the wire, they produced a superb all round performance in the C&G Final; their season ended disappointedly however, when they were relegated in the National League. Hampshire were not afraid to throw the youngsters in: the likes of Kevin Latouf and Jono McLean had their cricketing education put into overdrive by playing with Warne.
Player of the season Nic Pothas – scored the runs of a frontline batsman while keeping consistently to Warne and Shaun Udal.Kent
Chasing the pennant in the penultimate round, then having to be content with fifth place in the Championship at the end. It was that sort of season for Kent – not quite hitting form at the right time. They were unfortunate in having to release Justin Kemp and Andrew Hall before the end of the season when they were still in the Championship race. One-day cricket was less successful as they struggled to get any promotion race going in the National League and imploded during the Twenty20. Martin Saggers’s injuries and loss of form were a crucial factor, but they have a well balanced team.
Player of the season Robert Key – Kept his name at the forefront of the England selector’s thoughts.

Mal Loye was Lancashire’s leading batsman as they won Championship promotion © Getty Images
Lancashire
On paper, it appears to have been a reasonably impressive season for Lancashire, but fans and players would have expected more. Their main aim was promotion in the Championship, which they achieved fairly comfortably and also secured the second division title. However, given the all-star squad they have, their cricket should have been more dominant. The semi-final capitulation against Warwickshire left Mark Chilton lost for words – although the fans found a few suitable phrases. They again fell just short in the Twenty20, after carrying all before them in the group stages, and were left to cling onto their National League status on the last day of the season. They snapped up Andrew Symonds, and benefited from having Jimmy Anderson participating all season. However, the development of Sajid Mahmood came a worrying halt.
Player of the season Mal Loye – Comfortably the leading batsman, although for sheer presence Symonds runs him close.Leicestershire
There was no Twenty20 triumph to cling to this summer – they were beaten at their own game by Somerset – and the Championship again proved to be a struggle for them. The bowling attack lacked firepower and the batting didn’t build big enough totals to keep the team afloat. Darren Maddy suffered a particularly poor season but there was some encouragement with the emergence of two highly talented young players; Tim New, the wicketkeeper, and Stuart Broad, the quick bowler who has earned a place at the National Academy.
Player of the season Darren Robinson – Held a flimsy top order together.

The Ranji Trophy is set to kick off from November 23 and Cricinfo previews the Elite Group’s teams in bunches of three

19-Nov-2006

Sourav Ganguly will add flair to Bengal with his captaincy and batting © AFP
Bengal
Bengal, one of the most improved teams last season after finishing as runners-up, will be the team to watch this time around. While last year’s champions Uttar Pradesh rose in a more mercurial manner, Bengal’s ascendancy suggested their best was yet to come. Sourav Ganguly captaining the side provides all the more reasons to follow their progress.The team’s core comprises proven performers at the domestic level, though none of them are even close to national selection. Subhomoy Das, Arindam Das, and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala formed the strongest top order last season. A notable and most decisive exclusion from mid-way last season was that of Devang Gandhi, the former Indian opener, and the confidence shown in younger players paid off. The middle order has an experienced, almost veteran, look: Ganguly, Rohan Gavaskar, Deep Dasgupta and Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Ganguly will be expected to add a dash of flair, something Bengal lacked last year, with both his captaincy and batting.In Shib Shankar Paul and Ranadeb Bose Bengal have an opening bowling pair who can prove a handful. Offspinner Saurashish Lahiri can be a tricky customer on a wearing track and his development as a late-order batsman makes him a handy allrounder. The discipline that the team acquired last season can be attributed to Paras Mhambrey, the former Indian medium-pacer, whose emphasis on fitness and discipline has paid dividends. Bengal are pitted in Group B of the Super League, the tougher of the two groups consisting of Mumbai, Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Punjab – teams capable of beating any side on their day.What they did last season
Bengal lost the final of the Ranji Trophy on the basis of first-innings points. The first-innings contest was a tense one and they fell short of UP’s 387 by 14 runs. After starting off the season well with first-innings points against Maharashtra and an outright win against Delhi, they lost their way in the middle stages. Having lost to Tamil Nadu in the sixth round, Bengal needed to win the last match against Railways. That’s when they stood up to the challenge and beat Railways outright at home to march into the semi-finals. In a superlative performance on a flat Kolkata wicket, Paul restricted a strong Baroda side to 241 in the semi-finals. After which Bengal’s batsmen plundered 619 to move to the finals. (Click here for Bengal’s batting and bowling stats last season.)One to watch
There’s no way we can ignore him and if Ganguly does manage some exceptional performances, there’s a small chance that we may not see him for the entire Ranji season. He’s already scored one century in a Duleep Trophy match; he has agreed to lead Bengal and is looking forward to the season. He, more than anyone else, will know this is his last chance to put up a consistent performance and make a way back. Ganguly, when cornered, does make for compelling viewing. If you’re looking for drama, look no further.
Karnataka
There was a time in the late ’90s when Karnataka was responsible for half the players in the Indian side but the last few years have seen a steady decline in their numbers. The recent retirement of Vijay Bharadwaj, the former Indian batsmen who was one of the mainstays of the Karnataka middle order, will leave a void. The bigger blow, though, was the news of Dodda Ganesh, their opening bowler, shifting to Goa. The emphasis on youth has produced a few results – with players like Bharat Chipli, C Raghu and Vinay Kumar emerging with credit – but Karnataka will need their batting line-up to deliver if they harbour hopes of entering the last four, a feat they last managed back in 2000.For a side that prides itself on producing quality batsmen by the bushels, the last few seasons have been a forgettable phase. The stagnation of Barrington Rowland, an opening batsman who moulded his game on a solid technique, and the inability to unearth any other grafters has hit Karnataka hard. The return of Yere Goud couldn’t have come at a better time for dashing batsmen like Robin Uthappa and Chipli will have his calm presence, almost adhesively sticking to the crease and building determined innings.”We have worked very hard on various aspects like fielding and physical strength,” Venkatesh Prasad, the former Indian opening bowler and current Karnataka coach, told Cricinfo. “As far as talent goes, we have extraordinary potential. We haven’t been able to live up to it probably because collective effort wasn’t there. If we have to succeed, we have to be together, perform together and take responsibility. Most of our matches are away but it’s not a disadvantage. This is a true test of character. They are all very talented cricketers. It depends on how they adapt to various challenges and conditions.”What they did last season
Four draws and two victories gave Karnataka a good chance of qualifying for the semi-finals but a first-day collapse in the final league game against Gujarat ended their hopes. Rain ruined their vital clash against Tamil Nadu and with just one batsman (Chipli) managing a hundred they lost out on first-innings points in two games. Kumar and Sunil Joshi, the former Indian left-arm spinner, carried the bowling – with 41 wickets between them – but question marks remained over the consistency of the support cast. Karnataka’s batsmen can point to 12 fifties but there’s no way you’re going to win a Ranji Trophy without scoring big, and regularly. Click here for Karnataka’s batting and bowling stats last seasonMen to watch
In Chipli and Vinay Kumar, Karnataka have two emerging talents who’ve shown the ability to stand up when it counts. In only his second game against Bengal last season, Chipli smashed 15 fours and three sixes against a quality Bengal attack to bring up a fine century on debut. His aggressive instincts worked well at the top of the order, especially when his opening partner Robin Uthappa also got going. Kumar’s nippy medium-pace troubled a number of teams and his ability to generate extra pace once in a while could prove crucial. In Ganesh’s absence, he’ll have to shoulder a larger burden and take all precautions against injury.

Andhra needs Venugopal Rao to come good, as batsman, part-time bowler, and captain © AFP
Andhra
Andhra have never made it to a Ranji Trophy final, despite possessing some talented individuals. Grouped with Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the South zone – before the Elite and Plate format began four years back – Andhra, along with Kerala, were the perennial whipping boys. MSK Prasad was the first Andhra player to represent India – against New Zealand in 1999 – but a host of talented youngsters have emerged recently. The Rao brothers – Venugopal and Gyaneswara – have acquitted themselves well at the India Under-19 level and in Kalyankrishna and Lakshman Kishore they have bowlers with a bright future. Their home games are played on largely attritional surfaces – encouraging draws rather than outright results – and the lack of bench strength often leave them exposed.What they did last season:
Andhra’s cricket last year may well be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Ambati Rayadu, who switched from Hyderabad to Andhra at the start of the season, was walking off after being dismissed when Arjun Yadav, the opposing captain, let fly a volley of abuses and ungentlemanly gestures before uprooting a stump and tried to hit him. The timely intervention by the umpires pacified the players but the fisticuffs were enough for the match to be called off. That sad scene aside, Andhra managed just one win in six games, a poor performance that led to their exclusion from the semi-final round. MSK Prasad, the former India wicketkeeper, and Rayudu were Andhra’s highest run-scorers last season, though averages in the mid to high 30’s were disappointing. There were no hundreds all season, and the highest wicket-taker was Syed Sahabuddin, a right-arm medium pacer, with 32 victims. (Click here for Andhra’s batting and bowling stats last season.)Men to watch:
Venugopal Rao, the middle-order batsman, had an average last season but his experience with the national side puts added pressure on him. With Yuvraj Singh’s immediate future uncertain and Suresh Raina struggling at the highest level, there may be a spot up for grabs in the Indian middle order. Runs from Venugopal will definitely boost his chances of a recall. With no big success stories in their roster at the moment – Rayudu shifted back to Hyderabad after one season – Andhra cricket fans will hope Venugopal comes good, as batsman, part-time bowler, and captain.

Praveen Kumar’s tidy performance against Sri Lanka showed up the misery of Munaf Patel

Dileep Premachandran26-Feb-2008
Praveen Kumar’s tidy performance contrasted with another miserable day for Munaf Patel © Getty Images
Watching Munaf Patel bowl in his first Test match at Mohali was a bit like reading the first page of a novel that hinted at greatness. It wasn’t thatIndia hadn’t produced fast bowlers before him, but here was a young man taking his first steps on the big stage as though he belonged there.After his retirement, Javagal Srinath admitted that it had taken him years to learn the right length to bowl. Munaf, by contrast, seemed to have an instinctive feel for which length to bowl to which batsman. He took seven English wickets in the game, and showed off many skills along the way.Seeing an Indian bowler nudge the speedometer past 145 kph was rare enough, but in Munaf’s case, it was accompanied by movement with the new ball, reverse-swing, lethal yorkers and even a clever slower ball. With a wiry frame and an easy rhythmic action, India appeared to have stumbled on the man who could lead their attack for the best part of a decade.Watch him bowl less than two years on, and you find it hard to believe you’re not watching an impostor. The pace is gone, the yorkers are nowhere to be seen, and the only movement on view is the swing of the batsman’s bat before the ball disappears. Apart from one over where he had Kumar Sangakkara edging over slip and then inside-edging just short of the ‘keeper, Munaf’s spell was an exercise in listlessness.Even when he returned to the fray with only Chamara Kapugedera and the tail to bowl at, he was ineffectual, merely bowling length and getting hit for his troubles. At times, the pace dropped to 120 kph, sad when you consider that it wasn’t even an attempted slower ball.It’s hard to put a finger on where things have gone wrong for Munaf. After that superb debut, he went on to excel during a tour of the Caribbean. Since then though, he has seldom been anything more than a passenger. The headlines he’s made have been for poor fitness and dismal fielding, and a whole assortment of pace bowlers had gone past him in the pecking order.Munaf’s travails at the Bellerive Oval were in stark contrast to the success enjoyed by Praveen Kumar. A star at domestic level, Praveen might have been lost to international cricket if he hadn’t been selected in the squad for the Pakistan series last November. At the time, he had an offerfrom the Indian Cricket League, and he would most likely have said yes if the door had been shut on him yet again.Born into a family of wrestlers, Praveen has had to grapple for every chance that’s come his way. He’s no Brett Lee and his batting skills are rudimentary at best, but he’s made the most of whatever ability he has. Asked to open the batting for Uttar Pradesh when they won the Ranji Trophy two seasons ago, he often produced telling cameos, before returning topick up key wickets with the ball.This season, he played a huge part in the team’s run to the final, picking up eight wickets against Delhi, albeit in a lost cause. It was that performance, against a team that included Gautam Gambhir, that probably clinched his seat on the plane to Australia.He hadn’t taken a wicket in his previous two one-day outings, and there was certainly an element of complacency in Sangakkara’s leisurely charge down the wicket. It wasn’t a great ball, but his opponent’s impetuousness gave Praveen the breakthrough that he must have dreamt about for two seasons at least.After that, he bowled like a man with belief. Mahela Jayawardene’s wicket arrived gift-wrapped thanks to a wonderful low catch from Rohit Sharma at point, and was followed by a magnificent delivery to Chamara Silva. From just short of a length, it kicked like a mule and moved away a touch to take the outside edge. A splendid catch from Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the last act, and Praveen had his first three-wicket haul at this level.What it also did was set the game up for India. From 1 for 72, Sri Lanka lost 6 for 21, and only Kapugedera’s defiance saved them from abject humiliation. And while Praveen took the wickets, it was Irfan Pathan that tightened the noose, giving nothing away in a tremendous spell that alsosnared Sanath Jayasuriya.With Ishant Sharma and Praveen going on to pick up four-fors, Munaf’s woes were even more painful to behold. There was the customary misfield too, and the cruel barb from the commentary team, and watching him, you couldn’t help but think of an explorer without a map.India’s pace stocks may be in rude health right now, but it simply cannot afford to let Munaf slip through the net. When he takes charge in a few days time, Gary Kirsten, along with Venkatesh Prasad, the bowling coach, must make his rehabilitation top priority. The eyes certainly weren’tplaying tricks on that March morning in Mohali two years ago, and such special talent must be allowed to find its way.

What does a specialist spinner have to do these days to get a fair chance in the West Indies side?

Fazeer Mohammed04-Apr-2008
It makes sense to have a frontline spinner like Sulieman Benn is the XI on a pitch that is hosting a Test match for the first time © AFP
Hopefully the water cart attendants at the Queen’s Park Oval were sensible enough not to place any napkins near the drinking glasses when they were first called into action yesterday. Things are bad enough for West Indies without the further setback of players being hospitalised for cuts from wet paper.It felt like the vengeance of Moko had descended upon us, obliterating almost any semblance of good fortune, producing fundamental errors from fairly decent cricketers, questionable decisions by selectors and even poorer judgment from one of the umpires. It’s probably just as well that hardly anyone had turned up to watch the first hour of this second Test, in itself a telling reflection of the inescapable reality that the traditional form of the game is barely surviving around here, to the extent that even some of the diehards’ appetite for the standard fare has waned considerably.We’ve seen some action-packed opening exchanges of Test matches at the Oval over the years (the late Roy Fredericks would not have had happy memories here, being bowled first ball by India’s Abid Ali in 1971 and second ball by another Indian, Madan Lal, in 1976) but the drama had actually started unfolding long before the start of play when the selectors chose to omit both specialist spinners from the home side’s final XI.No doubt they would have been influenced by a pitch with a healthy tinge of green, in stark contrast to the lifeless brown track in Guyana last week. Still, in omitting both specialists, Sulieman Benn and Amit Jaggernauth, and preferring to rely on Chris Gayle to turn his arm over slowly every now and then (or maybe longer, you never know), the utter disregard by key personnel in the Caribbean game for the art of spin bowling is now confirmed.Even if you argue that Jaggernauth’s ten wickets last weekend at Guaracara Park were against some of the jokiest Barbadian batting ever seen, even if the general consensus that Benn’s three wickets in the second innings at Providence were only because the Sri Lankans were taking more than a few chances in the quest for quick runs, surely it makes sense to have the option of a frontline spinner on a pitch hosting a Test match for the first time ever, the square having been re-laid a few months after the last Test on this famous venue three years ago (Brian Lara 196, Makhaya Ntini 13 wickets… remember?).Given this considerable element of the unknown in such a vital aspect of the game, you would have thought that the benefit of local knowledge was essential. Yet there was former Test opener and long-time Queen’s Park coach and official Bryan Davis informing schizophrenic radio interviewer Justin Dookhi at the water-break that no-one in the West Indies team set-up felt it necessary to seek his opinion on the playing surface. Maybe others were consulted. At least you hope so.Still, you have to ask, what does a specialist spinner have to do these days to get a fair chance in the West Indies side – migrate to a country with a higher quality of domestic cricket, take wickets and then hope that the selectors back home are noticing? Maybe then the contention will be that they need to succeed in home conditions to really judge them. So we should shift the Australian domestic competition to our part of the world, play the spinners, and then pick them if they perform.Parochial sentiment surrounding Jaggernauth (40 wickets so far this season) notwithstanding, it should be noted that this sentiment also covers Benn, a player set to join the lengthening list of practitioners of flight and guile who have come to associate a career as a West Indies Test cricketer as a succession of one-match spurts spread over several years. Well, at least he, like Rangy Nanan, got a game.Hardly anyone seemed to be on their game in that weird first hour yesterday.Only a loss of concentration could be explained for Billy Bowden not giving Michael Vandort lbw to the second ball of the match from Daren Powell. Despite the comments coming from the Constantine Stand, the New Zealander is not a thief, nor is he completely incompetent, although the preoccupation with showmanship, amusing at the best of the times, are infuriating when seen in the context of the occasional critical error. It’s probably just as well that hardly anyone had turned up to watch the first hour of this second Test, in itself a telling reflection of the inescapable reality that the traditional form of the game is barely surviving around here, to the extent that even some of the diehards’ appetite for the standard fare has waned considerably Then we had Dwayne Bravo putting down a sitter at third slip off Jerome Taylor to let Malinda Warnapura off the hook and Powell failing to snare a sharp caught-and-bowled chance presented by Vandort. That’s three catches floored already by the usually flawless (certainly in the field) allrounder, while there weren’t too many around feeling sorry for Powell, especially after he suffered yet another delusion of batting grandeur at the end of the first Test.In that context, it was probably expected that Sri Lanka would have raced away to 60 without loss by the water-break, thanks to a succession of loose deliveries that facilitated the crashing of 12 boundaries by the two left-handers.At least Fidel Edwards justified his recall immediately with two wickets in the hour before lunch. A third scalp for the Barbadian pacer before the heavens opened up in the early afternoon may have made further amends.Still, it’s only the start of a Test match, and therefore way too early before the Oval doubles vendors alter their policy of serving West Indies cricketers the delicacy on plastic instead of moistened brown paper.

With 619 on the board for New Zealand, the third day was going to be one where the pitch would be taken out of the equation. It was going to be a day decided by mental and physical battles

Sidharth Monga in Napier28-Mar-2009Tea break on the third day. Chris Martin had just nicked out Yuvraj Singh. Both teams went off McLean Park to rest, but two men stayed out, bowling to one of the assistant coaches who wore a baseball glove. Martin and James Franklin had smelled blood, and they didn’t want to let their meal cool down in the shade. It was just one part of the lesson that the No. 8 Test team in the world handed out to the one aspiring to be No. 1 – a lesson on how to bowl and field on flat pitches.With 619 on the board for New Zealand, the third day was going to be one where the pitch would be taken out of the equation. It was going to be a day decided by mental and physical battles.The pitch was the same batting beauty as on the first two days, but India needed to play with a free mind, not under the pressure of the New Zealand score. The hosts knew there would be partnerships, given the quality of the Indian batting line-up and the pitch, but they would need to be smart, with the ball and in the field, and not relent.In the mind and in the body, New Zealand were fresher than their opponents. While India seemed to have made their minds up that this match would be a draw as early as on the first day, New Zealand persisted even during India’s batting onslaughts. They didn’t attack unwisely, though. The field placements were not too different from those used by India. Daniel Vettori started the day with a sweeper-cover, and employed one almost throughout. But the fielders were alert and ready to help out the bowlers when they needed them the most.When Sachin Tendulkar took apart Jeetan Patel for 14 in one over, the offspinner was not taken out of the attack. He bowled a smart drifter first ball next over, and got his reward. Before that the fast bowlers had busted their gut, keeping Rahul Dravid on the defensive with short-pitch balls that pinned him to the crease.”[It was] just a tough grind,” Martin said later. “The results showed the discipline that we bowled with today. Sachin and dravid were batting really well at the start of the day. So we had to keep plugging away at them during those phases of the game.”For two hours or so after Tendulkar fell, Dravid and VVS Laxman looked inseparable. The legend seemed to be repeating itself; the second-most prolific fifth-wicket pair in Tests was churning out the runs again.It would have been tempting for the bowlers to give up then. No one would have complained, for Dravid and Laxman have brought the best attacks down to their knees. But the bowlers stuck to their disciplines in the middle session. Some of the wristy shots that Laxman played today can be demoralising, but the bowlers just kept bowling to their fields. The first 25 overs of the middle session cost only 55. Vettori even bowled one over with the wicketkeeper standing down the leg side. The deficit, despite close to two-thirds of a day of good batting, still read 373.Test cricket is as much about persisting for long periods as it is about seizing the precise moment. Jesse Ryder, in his first over, provided New Zealand with that moment, drawing a false shot from Dravid, and Vettori seized it. Twelve balls had to be bowled with the old ball, and Vettori couldn’t have been more eager to take the new ball once it became due.Martin charged in, the most aggressive he has looked all series, sensing that a tentative Yuvraj Singh was there for the taking. And then Yuvraj edged. The difference between the two teams over the last three days became most apparent: when Zaheer Khan had created an opportunity soon after Ross Taylor’s wicket, Yuvraj dropped James Franklin. New Zealand held on to every opportunity after that, and India gave them plenty. In the end, eight wickets in a day was more than what New Zealand had expected when the day began, but they fully deserved those rewards. “It’s quite difficult to picture getting eight wickets on that pitch in a day,” Martin said. “For us to actually end up with that result is something we weren’t expecting at the start of the day.”India received criticism over the last two days for employing defensive fields too early but New Zealand’s fields weren’t too different. They even bowled restrictive lines at times. Their aggression lay within. They seemed to know when to raise the intensity. No doubt they were helped by a mountain of runs that they could lean against.Zaheer had said yesterday that the Indian bowlers had done the best they could. If he had watched New Zealand operate in the field today, he would have seen a lesson or two for India’s attack, especially when nothing was going their way.

These are tough times for Australia’s bowlers. While the side’s overall return is diminishing, the fast bowler’s collection improved slightly with his first two-wicket haul in the series in the third Test

Ali Cook03-Nov-2008
Brett Lee: “In the last Test we tried new things and watched what India did. Sometimes they bowled short stuff, then put the ball up and tried to get the nick or lbw.” © AFP
The public confidence in Australia’s squad is so high it would be easy to think they were the team heading to Nagpur with a 1-0 lead instead of facing the prospect of losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In modern sport, keeping up positive appearances during times bordering on despair is essential for sending all sorts of messages – to opponents and team-mates – but it masks what is actually happening.Brett Lee is adept at following the company line and after being the leader of a wobbling attack in the first three Tests believes a change of results is imminent. It has been a popular message over the past month.What the sports-speak doesn’t reveal is that Australia took 14 wickets in Bangalore, 13 in Mohali and 12 in Delhi. While the side’s overall return is diminishing, Lee’s collection improved slightly with his first two-wicket haul in the series on Sunday. These are tough times for Australia’s bowlers.Despite the lack of penetration, Lee is confident of a swift turnaround and convinced this unit is one for the long term. “The bowling squad we’ve got now is great,” he said. “We’d like to keep that going past the Ashes, or even further on. You’ve got to trust the guys around you and trust that we are, as a bowling group, not far away from taking those 20 wickets. It’s hard work in India.”Mitchell Johnson leads the series wicket tally with 12 at 34.58, but the next most-successful Australian is Lee with seven at 57.71 before Shane Watson’s five at 47.40. India have four bowlers with eight or more victims and the tourists will attempt to copy some of their methods in the final game.”We’ll try and experiment with new things,” Lee said. “What we’ve done in the first two Tests probably hasn’t worked. If you’re being critical about not taking wickets, we haven’t achieved that goal. In the last Test we tried new things and watched what India did. Sometimes they bowled short stuff, then put the ball up and tried to get the nick or lbw.”Lee has just finished his third Test in India and said he was still learning and adjusting to the conditions, which were “a lot tougher than anything we’re used to around the world”. In the first two games he got a wicket in each innings before match figures of 3 for 167 from 47 overs in Delhi. It is a big switch from 2007-08 when he picked up 58 wickets in nine Tests.”I was lucky the last couple of seasons to have success, and then when you look up at the scoreboard and you haven’t got many wickets in the first couple of matches, it’s easy to think is it my action? Is it because the ball isn’t swinging? Is it because I’m not fit enough? But you’ve just got to trust your own ability,” he said.Following a tense and at times angry contest, Lee supported Johnson’s bowling and verbal aggression against V.V.S. Laxman on the final day after the batsman had described Australia’s approach as “defensive”. He also felt Johnson was doing a good job of carrying the attack.”He’s bowled well, whether it’s because he’s a left-hander and gets the ball to angle across or not,” he said. “Everyone has patches where they take a bag full. Everyone has been backing Mitch up and he’s really carried the side and done a great job. Why? He’s put the ball in the right areas.”Australia will consider making changes to the line-up for Nagpur, with the legspinner Cameron White likely to make way for Jason Krejza and fast bowlers Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle coming into contention. Stuart Clark bowled economically in Delhi, going at around two an over, but Ishant Sharma was his only wicket. It will be revealing to see where the team stands on tying up an end versus the potential for more breakthroughs.”It’s very tough to sit there and judge and say Stuey hasn’t taken many wickets – he’s a world class bowler,” Lee said. “We’d have Stuey Clark in the side at any stage.