That Mahendra Singh Dhoni shredded a bowling attack is no surprise; that he did so in just his fourth Test against the ferocity of Shoaib Akhtar, with his side skidding into disaster-zone, was what caught Pakistan unaware. Rahul Dravid had no qualms in admitting that Dhoni’s was “one of the best counterattacking innings” he had seen in a long time, and warned that he could only get better after this.”It’s one of the best innings I have seen under pressure,” he said while speaking to the media at the end of the day. “He had to face the new ball and he attacked the bowlers.” Dravid also stressed that this wasn’t just a crash-bang-wallop sort of knock but one executed with a lot of planning. Having reached his fifty in a 34-ball blaze, he settled into a relatively sedate mood in the second half, taking 59 balls for the second fifty. “It was a very sensible innings,” he added. “He played his shots initially but later controlled the innings along with Irfan Pathan. It was a great innings and I am confident that he will play much better after this. He would have gained a lot of confidence.”Watching Dhoni get even better is surely a mouth-watering prospect. Having seen him pound one-day hundreds against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and then play the way he did today, one wonders what lies in store if he in fact does get better. Dravid revealed that he hadn’t sent out any instructions and hailed Dhoni for the character he showed. “There were no instructions,” he added, “I just told him to go out and play his game and do what he knows best. And he attacked brilliantly. It’s one of the best counterattacking innings I have seen in a long, long time. Considering the situation of the game when he came in, to play the way he did showed a lot of character, it showed courage and ability.”Struggling at 281 for 5, India might have been concerned not only about their relatively inexperienced lower order, but also with the fact that they were a batsman short in this game. Dravid explained their thinking before the game and was happy that their selection was vindicated. “We went in with five specialist bowlers knowing that Dhoni and Irfan can bat really well. Both are top quality players with minimal experience at this level, especially Dhoni, but we were confident that they could do well. We knew that we’ve got a bit of back up if we go wrong.”Dravid wasn’t too perturbed with Yuvraj Singh’s dismissal, pulling despite two fielders stationed in the deep. “We’ve entrusted faith in Yuvraj Singh because he’s a very good cricketer. He’s got two 70s in crucial situations in the last two Test matches to help us win them. He was the Man of the Series in the one-day competition leading up to this series so we have entrusted him with responsibility and confidence because he’s a proven performer. We all make mistakes, and it’s not the first one he’ll make in his career. He’s a kind of cricketer who’ll learn from it. If there’s talent we have to give them the opportunities.”On a day that one batsman overshadowed most, it was the Dravid-Laxman combine that had warded off the early danger. “My partnership with Laxman was very important just from the point of view of calming the nerves,” he added, “Chasing 588, to go in there and have a big second-wicket partnership sort of calmed everyone down in the dressing-room. It settled the nerves. It’s unfortunate that both of us got out just before the new ball came on. One of our goals was to be there when the new ball was taken.”
David Sheppard, the former England batsman who became an ordained minister and rose to become the Bishop of Liverpool, died yesterday, the night before his 76th birthday.A graceful driver, Sheppard came to the fore on Cyril Coote’s pluperfect batting pitches at Fenner’s. For the strong Cambridge University side of 1950 Sheppard (227) and John Dewes (183) shared an opening stand of 343 against the West Indian tourists – in response Everton Weekes hammered an unbeaten 304 out of 730 for 3 after Cambridge declared at 594 for 4. Later, in front of Sheppard’s home-county crowd at Hove, he and Dewes (212) improved on that with a stand of 349 against Sussex.Such form won Sheppard a place in the 1950 Test Trial, a match rather ruined by Jim Laker, who found the Bradford pitch to his liking and bowled out The Rest for 27 before lunch on the first day, taking 8 for 2. Sheppard only made 4, but he did escape Laker’s clutches (Trevor Bailey got him instead). But he was in the selectors’ thoughts, and made his debut in the final Test of the summer, scoring 29 and 11 at The Oval as England lost again to go down 3-1 to West Indies.Sheppard toured Australia that winter, with Freddie Brown’s young but outgunned side, and played in three of the Tests with little success. He fell out of favour for a time, but returned in 1952 with 119, his first Test century, in the final Test against India at The Oval.The following year he captained Sussex, and spirited them up to second in the table, equalling their best performance until that long-awaited first Championship triumph in 2003. He also led England in two Tests in 1954, but Len Hutton returned to take charge of the Ashes tour in Australia.It was two years before Sheppard, by now an ordained minister, returned to the Test side, scoring 113 in Laker’s Match at Old Trafford. It was the middle one of an impressive hat-trick of hunches from the selectors – Cyril Washbrook (who actually was one of the selectors) was brought back for the third Test, his first for five years, and scored 98 after England had been 17 for 3; then in the final Test at The Oval Denis Compton made a comeback after a knee operation and made 94.Sheppard continued to make occasional appearances for Sussex, but his Test days appeared to be behind him – until 1962, when there was some debate about who should captain England on that winter’s Ashes tour. Ted Dexter was the man in possession, but Colin Cowdrey captained in one Test against Pakistan that summer, and the waters were further muddied when Sheppard emerged from semi-retirement. He scored 112 for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord’s and then, in his next match, 83 in the fourth Test. He was heavily tipped for the captaincy in Australia – but in the end it went to Dexter.
Sheppard did go to Australia for his second tour there, and scored 113 in the second Test at Melbourne, and 66 in the fifth at Sydney. In between, some fallible catching irked Fred Trueman, who reportedly advised him to keep his hands together a bit more often in the field. Another possibly apocryphal story has Sheppard eventually clinging on to a spectacular catch in the outfield, and showing the ball to the crowd who had been hooting his errors … only for Fred Titmus to run over from his fielding position and ask for the ball back “as it was a no-ball and they’ve already run five”.Sheppard wrapped up his first-class career with the three Tests that followed in New Zealand. He finished with 1172 runs (37.80) in 22 Tests, and 15,838 runs in all first-class cricket at the useful average of 43.51, with 45 centuries.Concentrating on the Church, Sheppard worked for a time at the Mayflower Centre in London, before becoming Bishop of Woolwich in 1968, and moving up to Liverpool in 1975. He retired in 1997, and was made a Life Peer in 1998. He wrote two volumes of autobiography: Parson’s Pitch in 1966, and Steps Along Hope Street in 2002.He kept in touch with cricket over the years, being one of the main voices opposing the South African tour in the apartheid days of 1970 (and being disappointed that previous friendships were ruptured by his views), while in 1995 he gave an entertaining speech at the annual launch dinner of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.His wife of 47 years, Grace, survived a skirmish with cancer early in their married life, but Sheppard himself contracted bowel cancer in 2001. The early signs were encouraging, but he eventually succumbed to the disease after a relapse.
Tamil Nadu 71 for 0 (Srikkanth 47*) beat Rajasthan 70 (Krishnakumar 22, Suresh 3-20) by 10 wickets with 41.2 overs to spare ScorecardTamil Nadu ambushed Rajasthan in 40.1 overs of absolute carnage, as a target of 71 was achieved in fewer than nine overs. Krish Srikkanth and Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut ran riot to give their side a 10-wicket victory, and a bonus point as well.After being put into bat, Rajasthan simply collapsed. The scorecard resembled a first-standard maths problem, and only Pudiyangum Krishnakumar playing a substantial innings of 22. He was involved in a 35-run partnership with Dewara (12), whose dismissal started another slide. Tamil Nadu’s bowlers kept a tight leash on the batsmen, and strangled them. No bowler conceded more than 20 runs and Somasetty Suresh, the most successful bowler on the day, took 3 for 20 in seven overs.And then, just when things couldn’t get any worse for Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu’s openers came out to bat.
Karachi Whites put themselves in driving seat in the Quaid-i-AzamTrophy Grade-I cricket championship final after obtaining a 102-runlead on the first innings against Peshawar at National Stadium hereSaturday.By close of play on day two of the five-day clash, the home team hadPeshawar struggling at 164 for four in their second innings with thelast pair of specialist batsmen at the crease.Peshawar’s slim hopes of setting a reasonable target for their bowlersrest squarely on the shoulders of Yasir Hameed, who is batting with acomposed 60, and all-rounder Taimur Khan (3). But with only 62 runs infront, Peshawar are in considerable trouble at the moment.Collectively, 287 runs were scored Saturday for the loss of ninewickets compared to opening day’s 295 runs with as many 15 wicketsgoing down. This generally suggests that the pitch is beginning toease out in favour of the batsmen.Karachi Whites lost their skipper Moin Khan in the day’s third overwhen Kabir Khan won a LBW verdict after just five runs were added tothe overnight 137 for five.All-rounders Imran Javed and Arif Mahmood were the main scorers forthe Whites with both hitting half-centuries. Imran, who was let off on32 late Friday, top-scored with 57 before being adjudged leg-beforewicket by Test umpire Mohammad Nazir Junior.Imran’s 96-ball knock in a stay of nearly two-and-a-half hours wasspiced with eight boundaries and his seventh-wicket stand with Arifrealized 46 runs in 57 minutes.Arif, a strongly built right-handed batsman, took heavy toll of FazleAkbar’s short-pitched deliveries by smashing boundaries with hooks,pulls and cuts. In all, Arif struck nine fours in his 73-ball 54 injust over two hours. His luck finally ran out when he flashed at awide delivery outside the off-stump but only succeeded in becomingwicket-keeper Zulfiqar Jan’s fourth victim.Tanvir Ahmed, who added 44 with Arif for the ninth-wicket in 43minutes, was left stranded with 25, which included four fours.Kabir bowled unchanged in the two-hour morning session to claim threefor 37 in 13 overs from the pavilion end. His final figures of threefor 65 were only bettered by his left-arm team-mate Waqar Ahmed, whofinished well deserved five for 74.Fazle Akbar, Peshawar’s spearhead, was extremely disappointingSaturday by spraying the ball all over the place during a forgetfulspell of six overs for 36.Peshawar’s second innings began shortly after lunch when the Whiteshad been bowled out for 260.Javed Iqbal hit a brace of attractive boundaries until he tried anambitious stroke and was brilliantly taken by Moin Khan behind thestumps.Zeeshan Mohsin, the other opener, was forced to come off the fieldwith a slight hamstring on his left leg one run after Javed was out.But he came at the fall of third wicket to share the most productivepartnership in the innings. Together with Yasir, Zeeshan put on 59before his exuberance got the better of him.In the penultimate over of the day, Zeeshan, attempted to lift DanishKaneria over mid-on but only found a grateful Tanvir holding onto awell-judged catch.Zeeshan stroked eight boundaries in scoring 40 off 64 balls in 102minutes. Otherwise, he really looks a fine prospect for the future ifproperly nurtured.In between, Wajahatullah Wasti, the Test discard, played an outrageousshot to get out when he cut Kaneria straight down Saeed bin Nasir’sthroat at point. Peshawar desperately needed Wajahat, who scored amatch-winning 135 in the final on the very same ground three yearsago, to bail them out.Aftab Khan, who led Peshawar to the Under-19 Grade-I title thisseason, can considered himself unfortunate to be given out LBW toImran Javed bowling from the edge of the crease. Aftab was well-set on20 when umpire Iftikhar Malik sent him on his way.
The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) today released a list of all state-contracted players for the 2001-2002 domestic season.This season will see the introduction of a rookie system, which allows each state to contract between two and five players under the age of 23, over and above their senior list. Players deemed rookies receive an annual retainer of $10,000 and are automatically upgraded to a state contract upon Pura Cup or Mercantile Mutual Cup selection.Today is the cut-off for uncontracted players to nominate for the ACB transfer pool. From the transfer pool, state associations can contract up to two players on top of their original list. These contract offers must be lodged with the ACB before 29 June 2001. Following this deadline, states may also contract up to two additional players (including rookies) at the minimum retainer either on or prior to 28 September 2001.Each state has nominated a squad of 15-20 players to share the approximate $700,000 allocated to the state associations by the ACB (up $270,000 from last year), with contracts ranging between $22,500 (up $10,000) and $65,000 (up $15,000).On top of retainers, players receive $3100 per Pura Cup match and $1100 for each Mercantile Mutual Cup match.The increase in this year’s player retainers stems from a higher total player payment pool, which is shared between ACB contracted players (55 per cent) and state contracted players (45 per cent).The total player payments pool is determined as a function of projected Australian Cricket Revenue (ACR) for season 2001-2002. ACR is a figure determined by the consolidated revenue streams of the ACB and the state associations.State contracted players for the 2001-2002 season are:
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has stated that he is open to discussing a new contract, as the progression at the Etihad Stadium outfit continues.
The Italian coach led the big-spending team to the top of the Premier League after a 4-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, and with his current deal to run out in July 2013, is eager to extend.
“I have this year and another year on my contract. I don’t want to leave,” he told Sky Sports.
“When the club decides on the contract and, if they are happy and I am happy to stay here, I don’t think we have any problems. It’s important for every manager to work well and get good results to take the team to the top.
“We can improve every year and I’m happy to be here. I have a good relationship with the owner and the chairman of the club, and I think it is important that both sides here are happy.
“We have improved a lot in the last 18 months. The squad has improved. The club is the same, but it’s important we are not stopping here,” he stated.
In comparing the Premier League manager’s role to that of a Serie A coach, he feels he can have more say over how the club is run, and is keen to continue in this capacity.
“In England the manager has more power regarding the team and that is a good thing. I’m probably moving towards that.
“I’m not saying I can have the power of someone like (Sir Alex) Ferguson, but it is important that if one manager stays in one place for three, four, five or six years it’s easier.
“We have to continue to improve because to be a strong team we need three or four years,” he concluded.
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City are flying domestically but need a result at home to Villarreal on Tuesday in the Champions League, as they have only picked up one point from two games in Europe.
Roger Twose had become increasingly conscious, even broodingly concerned, that his form for Wellington through this Shell Cup season had not been commensurate with his status as one of the best one-day batsmen in the world.Twose wanted desperately to contribute for Wellington, consistently and well as he felt a player should who was both a professional and an international, but had been bedevilled by an unaccountable series of dismissals for low scores.It wasn’t that Twose was out of form – quite the contrary, he had a sense that he was well prepared, settled and in a frame of mind to make substantial one-day totals. But each visit to the crease seemed more brief and unproductive than the last and he had a sense that while he was ready to perform, luck was against him.It was a coincidence, clearly, but still a point of relevance that while Twose’s form lagged behind his expectations, Wellington’s ability to win Cup matches was also reduced. They were unlucky to lose matches against Northern Districts at Mt Maunganui and Central Districts at Waikanae and they were gradually losing their standing in a close race for places in the Cup finals.So there was considerable celebration in the Wellington dressing room this evening from Twose, who made 45 in an innings of typically earthy and uncomplicated style and from Wellington who took advantage of that contribution to beat Auckland by five wickets in a match vital to their Cup hopes.Wellington dismissed Auckland for 157 in 48.1 overs after their opponents had won the toss and batted, and made 158/5 in 42.2 overs in reply to grab two points which made their failing Cup campaign more sturdy.They still face three more matches over the next six days, against Otago and Northern Districts in Wellington and Canterbury in Christchurch, and must win each of those, and be favoured by other results, to have any chance of reaching the finals.But their win today and Twose’s contribution to it lifted the spirits of both and made the disappointing events of the recent past lose a little of their black appearance.”We can’t afford to slip up again and this win today was just the start of a big six-day run for us but it was very satisfying,” Wellington coach Vaughn Johnson said.”We were pleased with the way the bowlers set up the game for us. The channels were excellent and our ground fielding was superb. We showed lots of energy in those first 15 overs.”It’s been one of those campaigns where we haven’t had the rub of the green and we’ve lost a couple of games that we probably should have won. But we’re not looking back, we’re only looking forward and we’re in much better spirits after this win today.”It was nice for us all to be able to get up today and have such a complete performance. And I’m delighted on Roger’s behalf. He was thrilled to make a contribution today. We know how good he is and we were all thrilled that he got a chance to show what he could do. He told us today that he felt in good nick lately but he kept on getting out cheaply and he couldn’t explain it. He just wanted to contribute but things weren’t going his way. He feels a lot better this evening.”Wellington’s win was set up, as Johnson suggested, by an outstanding bowling performance supported by an energetic and skillful effort in the field. Auckland would have been happy to have the chance to bat first after winning the toss but when they lost both openers, Llorne Howell and John Aiken, for 13 runs in the first six overs, their innings lost direction and it stumbled rather than galloped to an early conclusion.Carl Bulfin, James Franklin and Andrew Penn bowled accurately in the first 15 overs to limit Auckland to 38/2, then Stephen Mather and Matthew Walker stepped in and took the heart of Auckland’s middle order.Franklin removed Howell, Bulfin took Aiken, spinner Mark Jefferson wrung out the wicket of Adam Parore, then Mather quickly contributed the wickets of Dion Nash, Blair Pocock and Tama Canning and Auckland were 109/6. At the same time, Walker bowled 10 consecutive overs for 16 runs and Auckland’s innings has been robbed of its heart.Even the few batsmen who made runs did so too slowly to help the revival of the innings. Parore lingered for 48 balls for his 18 runs, Pocock for 91 minutes for 26 and Canning for 41 balls for the same score.Kyle Mills batted through the second half of the innings, for a total of 90 minutes, for Auckland’s top score of 31 but the progress of the Auckland batting effort was always more sluggish than sprightly.Mather finished his eight overs with 3-24 and Franklin, who bowled seven overs to take 1-19 at the top of the order, returned to claim another wicket for only two runs at the death.Wellington, in reply, were slightly shaken by the loss of Chris Nevin for 10 when they were 11 and Matthew Bell for 15 when they were 38, both out to soft dismissals. They needed an anchor for the innings and they found it in Richard Jones who batted 135 minutes for 62 – his best Cup score for the Firebirds – and was out three overs and five runs before the end.But Twose gave the innings the boost it needed in its middle stages when he blasted 45 from only 46 balls. His first six scoring shots were boundaries and he ended with a flourish, hitting Mark Haslam out of the ground for six before being caught and bowled, to the immense delight of the bowler, from the next ball.His innings included eight fours – to all parts of the ground – and that six for a total of 38 runs from boundaries. Seldom has a player made a more resounding announcement of his return to form.Spinner Haslam bowled his 10 overs and took 3-30, Chris Drum removed Bell and Nevin and had 2-26 but the Auckland bowlers always had too few runs to defend.
After 20 days of cricket including five ODIs and three Tests, several injuries and rumours about captaincy, Pakistan leave India with little to show in terms of hard results. They won two ODIs, one of which was a dead rubber, and were playing catch-up in each of the three Tests. Shoaib Malik, their captain who missed the last two Tests because of injury, thought otherwise however, suggesting their performance wasn’t as bleak as the 3-2 and 1-0 scoreline in the ODI and Test series suggested.”We were competitive in all the three Tests,” he said after the final day’s play. “If you look at it, we played badly in the morning session on the third day of the Delhi Test, and that cost us the series. There were a lot of positives to emerge. India scored more than 600 runs not once but twice in a row and we replied with 500.”A significant reason behind Pakistan’s competitiveness in the Tests was the form of Misbah-ul-Haq. He scored 464 runs in six innings and his centuries in Kolkata and Bangalore played crucial roles in Pakistan drawing the last two Tests. Malik had high praise for the batsman who stepped in to fill the gap left by Inzamam-ul-Haq.”He was tremendous throughout the series,” said Malik. “He and [Kamran] Akmal played a big role in us saving the Kolkata Test. Here also, the same pair put on a very good and important stand, and that augurs well for us.”Akmal, after a poor one-day series, struck form in the Tests. His century in Kolkata complemented Misbah’s and he scored an aggressive fifty in Bangalore to help Pakistan past the follow-on mark. However, his keeping in the ODIs was poor and didn’t get much better in the Tests.But Pakistan’s biggest disappointment was perhaps the form of Danish Kaneria. He picked up 19 wickets in three Tests on his last visit to India and played a vital role in the series-levelling win in Bangalore. This time he hardly troubled the batsmen and, although he took 12 wickets, they cost him 52 apiece. Malik defended Kaneria saying that “like a batsman has a bad patch, a bowler too sometimes can go through it.”The other main concern would be over the fitness of key players, an issue that hampered them through the Test series. Malik acknowledged that “problems with physical fitness” significantly affected their competitiveness and stressed that it was an area they needed to improve upon.Mohammad Asif was ruled out of the series before it even began and their bowling attack was further weakened by Umar Gul’s back injury and the illnesses that affected Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami before the second Test in Kolkata. Shoaib’s back injury during the Bangalore Test left them with a three-man bowling attack in the first innings, allowing India to pile up an impregnable first-innings total.Pakistan now have a long gap before their next Test series in March. It provides an ideal window to get their first-choice fast bowlers match-fit and as it is Australia who are visiting, how Pakistan fare in the series could well hinge on the fast bowlers.
If anyone thought England’s tour of Australia couldn’t get any worse they’ll need to think again – the coloured clothing is coming out. The tri-series acts as the final run-up to the World Cup, but first there’s the chance for England to shed some inhibitions in the Twenty20 International at Sydney.The game hasn’t quite worked out how to judge the latest format of limited-overs cricket, with Ricky Ponting’s comments showing that it still has some way to go to achieve respectability. However, it is rapidly becoming part of the cricketing landscape with most major nations now playing a domestic version and the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship taking place in South Africa in September.There are also plenty of issues providing interest for the match at the SCG, most notably the return of Michael Vaughan as England captain. If any form of cricket will test out his knee it will be the quick-fire nature of Twenty20.He will bring some much-needed calmness, and a fresh outlook, to the battered England squad which is once again lacking major experience. Paul Collingwood, England’s middle-order fulcrum, is aware that the senior players have a key role to play in guiding the youngsters.”I can always remember my debut watching [Shahid] Afridi smashing it over backward point off Darren Gough and thinking to myself ‘what is going on here?”‘ Collingwood said. “It’s likely to be exactly the same for the new guys. There will be times when they will probably miss a good line and length by a matter of inches and get smashed for a big six. This is what you learn at international level – the margins are so small and you have to be right on your game.”England have played three Twenty20 Internationals, winning one – against Australia at the Rose Bowl in 2005 – and losing both their matches last year against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Australia hold a 50-50 record having defeated New Zealand but lost to England and South Africa. They also managed to beat South Africa in the first game in Australia last season.Australia can never take a sporting contest lightly, but following on from Ponting’s remarks Andrew Symonds says they won’t be gauging much from the result. “You still do have that element of pride at the end of the day but it doesn’t have that complete sense of seriousness about it. If you win, you win, but we won’t be taking it into the first one-day international saying ‘We rolled England in a Twenty20 game’.”Australia have resisted the temptation to use the match as a chance to rest leading players such as Ponting and Adam Gilchrist, although Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark do miss out, giving Ben Hilfenhaus, the Tasmania fast bowler, a chance. Cameron White, who set Twenty20 records during his time at Somerset last season, is also back in the frame. Despite Ponting having his reservations about the format don’t expect Australia to take their foot off England’s throat.
Play was abandoned for the third successive day in the Carib Beer Series match between the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands at the Mindoo Phillip Park.Eddie Nicholls and Lawrence Thomas, the umpires, made the decision to call off proceedings just around tea after it became clear that play would be impossible. Rain fell through the night and during the day again, leaving the already-waterlogged field even wetter with pools of water on the outfield.With only one day remaining and the ground still wet, it is quite likely that this match will be called off without a ball being bowled.