Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Stephen Fleming have made themselves available for the Indian Premier League (IPL), an officially-sanctioned domestic Twenty20 competition to be held in India in April 2008.”Warne, McGrath and Fleming have signed contracts to play in the IPL,” Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president, told . “The trio will be a part of our centralised pool of players and available for signing by the franchises.”The said Warne had accepted the IPL’s offer of “significantly less” than the US$700,000 a season that the Indian Cricket League (ICL) was reportedly prepared to pay him. The ICL pursued Warne for more than four months but he was reluctant to commit as that group was not approved by the ICC.The IPL is modelled on the system of franchises used by the American NFL and NBA. Each franchise will pay a fee to the BCCI, which will give it access to shared revenues and the right to exploit exclusive revenue. There will also be a draft, similar to the one used in the US, which will allow the buying and selling of players.McGrath and Fleming were present at the launch of the Champions League – the proposed international tournament featuring top teams from four countries – in New Delhi on September 13. According to the report, Fleming, who was on the verge of signing with the ICL, made himself available to the IPL for a lower fee. McGrath, who retired from all forms of cricket at the end of the World Cup, had said he was tempted by the ICL offer but now he could be playing for an Indian domestic team by April next year.The ICL, backed by the Essel group in India, is also a Twenty20 league – though not recognised by the ICC or any of the national boards – that has signed at least seven international players including Brian Lara, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq, as well as more than 50 Indian domestic players. In its first year the ICL will feature six teams with two Indian internationals, four overseas players and eight juniors in each side. They play their first tournament next month.The newspaper reported that Warne would play for Hampshire until the end of the English season and then go to India and join one of the IPL teams. If his team qualified for the league final he would play in the Champions League, where he could possibly be traded to the highest bidder.
The PCB has clarified the confusion surrounding the sample testing of Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar who, it was revealed today, were tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone.”Normal procedures for such testing require each player to submit two urine samples, A and B. Sample A is tested initially and the results sent back to the concerned party,” Salim Altaf, PCB director of operations, told Cricinfo. “If the player in question protests against the findings, only then is the second sample, B, tested and the results sent back. Until then, sample B remains with the testing laboratory.”The confusion arose this morning when the PCB stated they were waiting for the samples to be re-tested and confirmation of the results sent back. Dr Nasim Ashraf, the new chairman of the PCB, told reporters in Rawalpindi in the afternoon, ambiguously, that results of the second sample had also been completed and confirmed the existence of nandrolone.As Altaf explained though, “we simply asked for a reconfirmation of sample A’s results from the laboratory. Sample B is still with them and will only be called upon if the players protest the findings of the first sample.”
Simon Jones’ chances of playing against Pakistan are only 50-50, says the England physiotherapist Kirk Russell. Jones missed the final Ashes Test at The Oval after developing a bone spur on his right ankle, and had been a key component in England’s bowling attack all summer. With his ability to swing the new and old ball, conventionally and with reverse swing, the dry and dusty pitches of Pakistan ought to suit his style of bowling.But he continues to be troubled with his ankle injury, and is due to go for a scan on Friday. Speaking to , Russell conceded the Welshman is struggling: “It is very much 50-50 with him,” he said. “We have an England camp on October 17 and 18 at Loughborough; he needs to be bowling then for him to be declared fit to tour Pakistan.”If things continue to progress well, we will look to increase the amount of weight the ankle is bearing before Simon starts running again.”
The Australian board has expressed its reservations over the state of the new stadium in Hyderabad, where Australia are scheduled to play their only warm-up game of the Indian tour. The local association, though, is confident of getting the stadium in top shape in a week’s time.The game is due to be played in a new stadium in Uppal, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, and a few photographs sent from India this week left the Australian officials tentative. The Australians are scheduled to play the Board President’s XI in a three-day game starting on September 30., a daily based in Melbourne, quoted a Cricket Australia spokesman as saying, “There clearly was a lot of work that still needed to be done and there’s been a close monitoring process and continuing discussion.”Our continuing concern is that it is an important match because we are coming off the back of two one-day tournaments, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is one of those iconic trophies so we need to have comfort that the venue, including the practice wickets and the wicket, are going to be appropriate for the running of a practice match.”Michael Brown, the operations manager, and Tim May, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers’ Association, had made a routine pre-tour visit six weeks ago. The facilities at the new stadium were far from complete then with the outfield bereft of grass and raised concerns about whether the match would need a change of venue or not.It is learnt that Hyderabad was originally supposed to host the tour game against South Africa, in November. The board later interchanged the tour games and Hyderabad was awarded them the game against Australia, leaving them racing against the clock.However, Shivlal Yadav, the secretary of the Hyderabad Cricket Associaion, was confident of overcoming the obstacles. He told Wisden Cricinfo that they had found a sponsor for the naming of the stadium and added, “The preperation is going on at a very brisk pace and we had a practice match today between two local teams.”Yadav also confirmed that Brown and May were due to visit the stadium on September 18 and watch a two-day practcie game. “The wicket on which they are going to play is also being prepared. We still have 14 days more, so we are confident of getting it ready.”
Jagmohan Dalmiya reckons that the contracts row, which hogged so much attention in the build-up to the World Cup, is certain to be resolved now that Ehsan Mani has taken over from Malcolm Gray as the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC). In a thinly-veiled attack on the previous incumbent, Dalmiya said that the issue had not been “handled the right way”.In a television interview, Dalmiya went on to add, “Everybody wants to serve the game well, but the methods are different. I have no problem with Gray. No jealousy or anything. Somewhere down the line, it might have appeared that we were not going in the right direction. That’s why we are not great buddies.”The ICC have withheld India’s share of the World Cup revenue, which comes to almost US$9 million, until an agreement can be reached with the Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), which marketed the event. The GCC had filed for compensation of $50m, claiming breach of player contracts.Dalmiya and Mani worked closely together during the Dalmiya’s tenure as ICC chief, and he’s convinced that Mani will sort things out at the earliest. “He (Mani) has now put the matter on the right track. It could have been sorted out earlier. I know him personally and I’m sure he’ll do what is in the best interest of the game.”Dalmiya launched a scathing attack on the GCC last month, claiming that they had not marketed the tournament properly. But a full-scale confrontation was avoided when Mani intervened. “We have accepted Mani’s request to avoid confrontation and also do not want the matter settled through arbitration,” said Dalmiya. “There is a lot of behind-the-scenes activity going on which I do not want to disclose now, but I am confident the matter will be settled amicably.”
Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya provided the perfect answer to criticswho 24 hours earlier had lambasted the team for their go-slow tactics on thefourth day.The home team chiseled out a 142 run lead on Friday after batted throughoutthe day at a miserly run rate. Critics argued that the Sri Lankan’s failureto push the pace had cost the side valuable time and runs.In the end, Sri Lanka had plenty of time as the West Indies collapsed forthe second time in the match and were bowled out for just 144 in 78.3 overs.”Different individuals have different opinions, but we knew that batting onthe fifth day was not going to be easy and we had 96 overs to bowl at theWest Indies,” he said.”The key was getting 590 in our second innings. The wicket was good forbatting and all the batsmen capitalised on that to give us a 142 run lead.”Our only worry was Lara and Hooper because they had the experience andknow-how to handle Murali.””We stuck to the basics against both players. We didn’t want to try anythingsilly, as the wicket was turning more. The bowlers just needed to be patientand concentrate on their line and length.”Sri Lanka chopped and changed the bowlers throughout the day.”The wicket was not turning as much as we have seen in the past at Galle andwe didn’t want the batsmen to settle against one bowler for a long time,”explained Jayasuriya. “We even wanted Murali to change ends regularly.”When Lara was eventually dismissed, caught at mid-wicket for 40 off ThilanSamaraweera in his first over of the innings. The wicket precipitated thefinal collapse, as the West Indies lost their final five wickets for just 13runs”Samaraweera is a good all-rounder and we wanted to try someone else, so wegave him a chance and that was the turning point today.”Sri Lanka have now won their last four consecutive Tests in Galle, but havealso lost their last three matches in Kandy.”Kandy is a problem for us,” he admitted. “It’s a different mood there. Onceagain I have to say that we will try our best. The players have to lifttheir game for the match.”
Aston Villa fell to to a second consecutive Premier League defeat this afternoon as Arsenal beat them 1-0 at Villa Park in the lunchtime kick-off.
Bukayo Saka’s goal on the half-hour mark was enough to separate the two sides, whilst Villa defender Tyrone Mings was on the wrong end of a controversial decision, with some suggestions that he could have been sent off for a tackle on the goalscorer.
Steven Gerrard’s side remain ninth in the league, with numerous top-flight matches postponed due to the FA Cup quarter-finals taking place this weekend.
Having won three games in a row prior to last weekend’s defeat to West Ham, the Villa manager will certainly be disappointed with the subsequent defeats, albeit against two Champions League-chasing teams.
The 41-year-old will also be disappointed with the performance of Ollie Watkins, who was off-colour at Villa Park today.
Bad day for Watkins
According to SofaScore, the 26-year-old had just 22 touches during his 82 minutes on the pitch, losing the ball on ten occasions at a rate of every 2.2 touches. Moreover, the only shot that he could muster ended up being blocked, whilst he also failed to complete a single dribble.
Watkins was also careless on occasion with his passing, ending the afternoon with a 57% passing accuracy as he completed just eight out of his attempted 14 passes.
With Gerrard reverting back to a 4-3-3 with the Englishman as the lone striker, there was certainly a lack of a physical presence up front, with the forward winning just one of seven attempted duels.
The 41-year-old eventually decided to make a straight swap after 82 minutes by bringing on Danny Ings, a signal that it was an afternoon to forget for the ex-Brentford marksman.
This season we certainly hasn’t seen the best of Watkins, with the striker scoring seven goals so far this term compared to the 14 he netted in the top flight in 2020/21. A six-game drought was ended in Villa’s 2-0 win at Brighton last month with the 26-year-old netting the decisive goal against the Seagulls and then finding the net against Southampton the following week.
However, it is now three games without a goal for Watkins, something which is becoming a regular occurrence in recent months, with the striker certainly capable of more frequent goal returns.
The West Midlands club have invested heavily on strikers over the past two summers, with the 26-year-old joining from Brentford in 2020 for a then club-record fee of £28m before Ings was lured from Southampton for £25m last summer.
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This season, the duo have scored a combined 12 goals, rarely both appearing on the pitch at the same time. Today shows that it is certainly a puzzle which Gerrard is still trying to solve.
At 26, there is no doubt that Watkins can still improve massively, and there have been glimpses of brilliance on occasion when playing in claret and blue. In fact, last season saw the striker called up for England, despite having what he called a “stinker” against Newcastle shortly prior to the call-up.
He now needs to find consistency in his goalscoring in order to get back into the Three Lions reckoning and show that today’s performance was a rare off-day.
In other news – 58 appearances, £1.2m-per-goal: Sherwood flop was a disastrous signing for Aston Villa
The last thing on the minds of a team sandwiched between two Test series is a limited-overs tournament but South Africa may have enjoyed casting their eyes over the World T20 schedule. Their men’s team has been grouped with three former champions – England, West Indies and Sri Lanka – which speaks to the magnitude of their task but they will still consider themselves in the easier pool.South Africa avoided hosts India, who accounted for their exit at the last World T20, Pakistan, who got the better of them in 2009, Australia, a constant nemesis in their quest for major tournament silverware, and New Zealand, the team who beat them in the last two 50-over World Cup knockouts. Given South Africa’s current T20 form – they have beaten Bangladesh and India in T20 series away in the last five months – they will fancy their chances of breaking their trophy drought in the same place their nine-year unbeaten run on the road as a Test side ended.”With the World T20 around the corner, the T20s in India was quite important for us because conditions in India is what we will be faced with at the World Cup,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach said when delivering his assessment of the entire tour of India at the team’s arrival home. “Our ODI and T20 cricket seems to be in a good space at the moment.”
South Africa’s WT20 fixtures
Men v England, Mumbai, March 18 v Q1B, Mumbai, March 20 v West Indies, Nagpur, March 25 v Sri Lanka, Delhi, March 28
Women v Australia, Nagpur, March 18 v Ireland, Chennai, March 23 v New Zealand, Bangalore, March 26 v Sri Lanka, Bangalore, March 28
South Africa beat India 2-0 in a three-match series (one game was washed out) and chased successfully both times. In the first match, they hunted down 200 thanks to a solid opening stand and a good finishing effort from JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien. In the second, they shot India out for 92 after Albie Morkel’s career-best figures on comeback. Both games would have showed South Africa the combination they need for the tournament itself.Promoting AB de Villiers to open the batting alongside Hashim Amla and keep wicket allows for an extra batsman lower in the line-up, while Morkel is a welcome addition to the bowling stocks and Imran Tahir remains an effective first-choice spinner in the format. However, Domingo indicated South Africa actually wanted to use the dead-rubber to experiment with other combinations.”Unfortunately the third game was rained out so the opportunities we were hoping to give to Eddie Leie, Khaya Zondo and Quinton de Kock in the T20 format did not take place because of weather,” Domingo said.That is actually where South Africa need to be most careful. They still have five* T20s before the event, all at home. Two are against England, their opening opponents at the World T20, and three against Australia, who will be sure to test them in every discipline. Overcomplicating things by altering combinations that already work could muddle South African minds ahead of an event they need to go into with clarity.Currently, South Africa are comfortable with their T20 cricket structure. “All in all we were very happy with the way we’ve played,” Domingo said. “We’ve beaten Bangladesh and India in the subcontinent and performances like that can only give you confidence.” Once they have found that confidence, there is nothing wrong with pushing the pause button and letting that sink in.Instead, South Africa have been casting their eye over how to get even stronger. “We’ve been watching the Ram Slam – it was on in India – and great to see players who are in the national side putting in good performances. Quinton de Kock has been leading the way but we’ve also seen Aaron Phangiso, Eddie Leie and David Miller’s got some runs. It’s good to see the players in the national side doing that well.”De Kock leads the run-charts in the competition with 425 runs, including three fifties, at an average of 42.50 and strike rate of 142.61, and may yet play himself back into the World T20 side. He has already done so in the 50-over game. Leie should provide an additional option to Tahir unless Phangiso, who was dropped from the T20 squad, is recalled and the left-arm spinner is making a case for himself. Phangiso is third on the wicket-takers’ table with 15 scalps at 15.20 while Leie has taken 14 at 19.78.Chris Morris, also part of South Africa’s plans, leads the list with 18 at 14.16, while Miller’s runs, which include one fifty, are important after a lean patch. But beyond that, South Africa probably don’t need to look too much further and should remind themselves not to when they are tempted. Luckily for them, the domestic T20 competition ends on Saturday.It has so far produced several tight finishes, including a last-ball win for the Dolphins over the Cobras in the play-off where young quick Andile Phehlukwayo was the hero. Phehlukwayo, a team-mate of Kagiso Rabada’s at the Under-19 World Cup, defended 10 off the last over. Eye-catching as it was, he should be shelved under the one-for-the-future category and South Africa should stick with what has already worked at the World T20.While the men grapple with when to accept that they have done enough, South Africa’s women – who also reached the last four in 2014 – will gear up to face defending champions Australia in their first match. Three South Africa players, captain Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk, are at the women’s Big Bash League and the experience they gain there could be handy for the tournament.* 3pm GMT – This was corrected from six to five, with two against England
If the opening semi was a forthright one-sided affair, this one was a steamily unpredictable battle of heart and soul, with a steely Kent finally emerging triumphant over Sussex in the last over. Kent will now meet Gloucestershire in what promises to be a tight battle, after the fielding of both finalists had a massive part to play in their success.A polished Kent stifled Sussex’s early charge to dismiss them for 140 but despite another dominant opening stand of 65 between Joe Denly and Rob Key, some smart Sussex bowling threatened to upset the cart. Key’s huge hits, though, were the other decider as he posted an unbeaten 68 to lead from the front and take them to the final. He picked off three boundaries in the penultimate over from James Kirtley then Rana Naved-ul-Hasan’s two no-balls in the last sealed the result.Denly continued to prove his class, with some clean cover-driving the highlight. He eventually holed out sweeping Saqlain Mushtaq at midwicket for 31, and was quickly followed by Martin van Jaarsveld for 2, sweeping Mushtaq Ahmed onto his stumps (69 for 2). Matthew Walker’s 18 then proved very useful as Kent continued their final push.”It’s the mark of a good side that you can struggle and come back strong again later on,” said Sussex captain Chris Adams beforehand. This attitude saw them to their first finals day, but this time, as they slipped from 59 for 0 to 140 all out, it was not enough – despite never giving up. That total was way short of what they could have expected, losing their last nine wickets for 59 runs off 58 balls.It was all so different first up. A confident decision to bat looked to be paying off when Murray Goodwin and Chris Nash were going great guns early on. But when Nash miscued a pull high to mid-on for 37, his highest Twenty20 score, his dismissal punctured the momentum.Once Goodwin lost his new partner, Luke Wright, early the pressure was very much on, and he fell one run later. Wright – much like Andrew Flintoff earlier – came in amid much hype, didn’t get going, had a let-off early (in case on 2, backing up) and then fell for 3, Darren Stevens the bowler. Stevens conceded 13 runs from his four overs.Goodwin was next, the first of three tight run-outs, with Chris Adams and Robin Martin-Jenkins the other victims. Matt Prior was another to feel the heat – his desperate sweep to deep midwicket off James Tredwell another effort to boost his flagging side. Tredwell picked up a second when Michael Yardy was stumped, then Malinga cleaned up, with three wickets.A Kent/Gloucestershire final was an unlikely one on paper, not least because Lancashire and Sussex have four each of the nine England Twenty20 squad members today. However, that squad was even criticised by one of its members – Jon Lewis saying “I think they should pick the best players” – and the two finalists showed the class of their own.Kent won the mascot race – the Spitfire bombing past a sorry Lanky the Giraffe at the last – and, with a little batting firepower, they will compete for the real prize.
Fourth day Dominic Cork’s 154, his first-class century and second highest score, enabled Lancashire to collect full batting points against Durham at Old Trafford meaning they take 11 from the match. That prospect appeared unlikely at the start of the day as they resumed on 210 for 5. Glen Chapple began positively, but edged Gareth Breese to slip, before Cork entered the fray and joined Luke Sutton. The pair added 105 for the seventh wicket, but even when Sutton fell Cork wasn’t finish. If anything he went even harder at Durham and moved from 100 to 150 in 41 balls. Tom Smith reached his highest first-class score as they added 131 for the eighth wicket, which finally ended when Cork thumped a return catch to Gary Scott but Durham missed a vital bowling point. Lancashire had one final dart at the Durham batsmen, time enough for Cork to remove Scott, but thoughts had already turned to the final round of matches. Sussex will start with an eight point advantage at the top, while Durham have been pulled well into the relegation fight, as the season goes down to the wire.Yorkshire kept their division one survival hopes alive with an outstanding 68-run victory against Nottinghamshire Headingley. Once again they had their legspinners – Mark Lawson and Adil Rashid – to thank as the pair shared another seven wickets, the same as the first innings. Yorkshire had dangled the carrot, setting Nottinghamshire 282 to win after Michael Lumb’s unbeaten 84. Jason Gillespie struck in the first over, but the visitors progressed to a promising 172 for 4 before Deon Kruis removed Graeme Swann and Mark Ealham on the same score. The tail then folded to Rashid and Lawson, despite a second valiant innings from David Hussey who followed his 119 from yesterday with an unbeaten 86.The final day at Edgbaston turned into a farewell for Nick Knight as Warwickshire and Kent played out a draw. Once it became clear a result wasn’t on the cards, Knight was given the chance to take centre stage. In a rare spell of bowling he sent down nine overs of medium pace in his final outing for Warwickshire before retirement and also claimed two catches. Matthew Walker milked the easy offerings for a century before Kent declared and Knight had a final chance at the crease. He stroked the last two boundaries of his first-class career, meaning he ended his Warwickshire days with an average of 50, before stumps were drawn.