Ryan Watson will miss Scotland’s Intercontinental Cup match against UAE in Sharjah next month, but his hopeful he will be back in time for the triangular ODI series with Kenya and Canada in Mombasa.He was struck in the face while he top edged an attempted hook in the first ODI against Bangladesh last week. He underwent surgery in Dundee earlier this week to repair a fractured cheekbone and eye socket.”I’m told it’s a four-to-six-week healing process after the operation,” he said, “so at best I am looking at being back for the tri-series in Kenya.”
The fit-again England fast bowler Simon Jones wants to become the best bowler in the world in 2006, beginning with the tour of India next month.In a major interview in the February issue of , Jones says: “I want to try and become world No.1 in the next year. I want to have a go at it.”To achieve his goal Jones, currently ranked 18th behind top-of-the-table Glenn McGrath and England team mates Andrew Flintoff (5), Matthew Hoggard (11) and Steve Harmison (15), will once again need to prove his fitness.Talking about his well-chronicled injury problems he tells the magazine: “I’m pretty realistic, I’m as fit as I ever can be, but you can’t exactly prepare your bones to play. My knee was a freak injury. There’s nothing I could have done about that. This one has just come from wear and tear. Everyone gets injuries, every bowler in the world. I’ve just been unfortunate that mine have been quite lengthy ones.”You realise you get sent these tests every now and again, they’re there to see how you deal with them and if you can’t push yourself that extra bit harder to get back from them.”Jones believes last summer’s Ashes success has raised his stock with the England captain Michael Vaughan. Before Australia he was regarded as a reverse swing specialist, often not tossed the ball until it was dirt-brown. “There’s nothing I could do: I couldn’t go up and say ‘Look, Vaughany, I want to bowl,’ because maybe I wasn’t in his plan of attack. So I took it on the chin and worked my socks off last summer.””People labelled me a one-trick pony at the start of the series,” he says. “But when I bowled those spells at Trent Bridge I was bowling with a normal ball and swinging it conventionally.”Jones claimed 18 Aussie scalps in four Tests. “I think I’ve gone up a little bit in his [Vaughan’s] estimations,” he says modestly.But not content with his current armoury of deliveries, Jones has been working on a looping trajectory, Shoaib Akhtar-like slower ball. “I can bowl one at 95 miles-an-hour; I did it in South Africa. It’s just about getting it right; Troy [Cooley] and I have been working on different ball positions. Hopefully this year I’m going to be rolling out a good slower ball.”Talking of Cooley, Jones says his decision to return home is, a “sickening blow”. “England are going to lose a very, very good bowling coach and I’m going to lose a very good friend,” he says.A new approach to his game includes curbing his temper, which has made him the England player with the shortest fuse and the most frequent visitor to the match referee’s office. It was not always the case. “When I first came to the Academy I was a lot shyer than I am now. Rod Marsh really brought me out of my shell. Now I’m thinking you’re here to do a job and, if you’re intimidating someone, then you’re doing a good job and don’t worry about it.”So does he ever regret his actions? “No, I’ve never regretted them to be honest because I’ve never done anything that bad.” Nevertheless, he does plan to learn more self-control. “Yeah definitely. I’d be skint otherwise.”
Sri Lanka Cricket is pleased to forward the flight details of the Sri Lanka National Team tour to New Zealand 2004/2005.
Sri Lanka National Team Departure date 16th December 2004, Time – 10.55 A.M., Flight No. EK 348.
Team leaves Sri Lanka Cricket Headquarters on 16th December 2004 at 8.00 A.M.
Practice SessionThe final practice session of the Sri Lanka National team before their departure to New Zealand will be on Tuesday 14th December 2004 at 2.00 P.M. at SSC Grounds.
Few Australian first-class matches would test players’ commitment to the new Spirit of Cricket code more than Victoria v Queensland.But Bulls coach Terry Oliver said the fine imposed on West Australian paceman Paul Wilson during a Pura Cup match last month had shown Cricket Australia meant business with its tougher player behaviour rules.Victoria will host its arch-rival from tomorrow in a Pura Cup match at Junction Oval, followed by Sunday’s ING Cup one-dayer at the MCG.They have a history of hard-fought games, but Oliver said their conduct had been “really good” last week when they played a Pura Cup match and a one-dayer in Brisbane.”Everyone stood up and took notice when he (Wilson) was fined,” Oliver said.”We all had to learn from that – if our game had been the first one (of the season), you never know.”I’d like to think it (the new code) wouldn’t interfere with people being really competitive.”Sometimes you’ve got to get into the opposition’s face, but you can’t cross that line between gamesmanship and getting personal.”While last week’s matches might have been played in the right spirit, the five-wicket Pura Cup loss stung Queensland.Last Wednesday was the first time in 20 years it had lost a four-dayer to Victoria at the `Gabba.Oliver said his side had performed below-par in all areas – batting, bowling and fielding.”It hurt – it always hurts to lose, it’s never good fun, but the fact we let Victoria win in Brisbane for the first time in 20 years isn’t something we’re very proud of,” he said.”Let’s hope that motivates us into a bit of action.”Captain Martin Love also felt the Queenslanders knew some of the younger Victorian players a little better after last week.Love said the Junction Oval was a “bit of an MCG wicket” – probably lively early before flattening out into a good batting strip.Queensland recalled paceman Ashley Noffke for Mitchell Johnson (side), while Lee Carseldine will return for Craig Philipson.Victoria made one change, promoting leg-spinner Bryce McGain for Shane Harwood (hip), while captain Darren Berry remains sidelined with a broken finger.Squads (12th men to be named)VICTORIA: Cameron White (capt), Jason Arnberger, Matthew Elliott, Brad Hodge, Bryce McGain, David Hussey, Mathew Inness, Michael Lewis, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Jonathan Moss, Peter Roach, Allan Wise.QUEENSLAND: Martin Love (capt), Lee Carseldine, Joe Dawes, Steve Farrell, James Hopes, Shane Jurgensen, Stuart Law, Ashley Noffke, Daniel Payne, Clinton Perren, Wade Seccombe, Chris Simpson.
Nepalese vice-captain Bardan Chalise’s dominating innings of 69 set his side up for a 10-run victory over Namibia in their Plate Championship match at the ICC Under-19 World Cup match at North Harbour Stadium at Auckland today.Nepal scored only 137 runs, of which 15 were extras, and the only other double figure score on the card was 13 by Kanishka Chaugai.As reflected in the scorecard all the Namibian bowling was tight but the real destroyer of the Nepal innings was the run out curse which has probably been the prevailing problem for most sides at the tournament. Four run outs occurred in the innings, three of them in the top order.Paul Steyn, the left-arm spin bowler, took two wickets for 23 runs from his 10 overs.Namibia got off to a good start but at 86/2, the rot set in well and truly and the next eight wickets fell for only 41 runs, and the last six wickets fell for 14 runs.Hugo Ludik, the Namibian No 3 batsman top scored with 33 runs but Binod Das and Lakpha Lama tore through the innings taking three wickets each, Das for 21 runs and Lama for 23.
Steve James (62) pointed the way as Glamorgan strengthened their positionagainst Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Captain while Matthew Maynard was playing for England at The Oval, James hit eight fours in taking the visitors to 223-9, a lead of 290 runs with two days still to play.Adrian Dale (53) complemented his bowling success with a fifty from the bat. Not that it was all easy: off-spinners Jason Brown and Graeme Swann shared five wickets in 12 overs. On a day in which there had been four breaks for showers Northamptonshire were bowled out for 167. They had started at 85-7 overnight but progressed through a persistent 79 runs eighth-wicket partnership between David Ripley (44) and Darren Cousins (29 n.o.).Wicketkeeper Adrian Shaw broke the 150 minutes stand by catching Ripley downthe leg-side from Wharf’s bowling. Brown was l.b.w to the next ball but Devon Malcolm prevented him from repeating Emrys Davies’ feat of making a century and taking a hat-trick in the corresponding fixture in 1937. Wharf had the last word by catching Malcolm, running back from mid-in, from Cosker’s bowling.James and Matthew Elliott prospered from some untidy bowling in putting on 72runs for the first wicket. Tony Penberthy gave the home team a fighting chance by dismissing Elliott, Michael Powell and James.
Southampton are through to the quarter-final of the FA Cup after a superb 3-1 victory at home to high-flying West Ham, who could not find an answer up against a team who had made nine changes to their starting XI.
With just Kyle Walker-Peters and James Ward-Prowse retaining their places in the team, opportunities were given to the likes of Romain Perraud – who has had to drop out of the team due to the former’s incredible recent form, as well as Tino Livramento’s return from injury.
Despite having not played since the Saints’ draw away against Manchester United on the 12th February, the Frenchman, who arrived for £10.8m in the summer from French Ligue 1 side Stade Brestois 29, looked extremely sharp.
He opened the scoring in the 31st minute of the game with an absolute thunderbolt from almost 30-yards out, an effort which The Times described as a “wonder strike”, before a James Ward-Prowse penalty and Armando Broja strike wrapped the game up, with Michail Antonio scoring the Hammers’ only goal.
The 24-year-old left-back also completed 87% of his passes as well as making three clearances, one block, one interception and two tackles in another defensively solid performance.
The Saints star also hinted that he believes the team could go on to win the trophy in his post-match interview, with an answer that will surely be music to the ears of fans.
“We are ninth in the Premier League and in the last eight of the FA Cup. We can dream,” said Perraud.
His encouraging performance and excellent goal will give boss Ralph Hasenhuttl something to think about going into the final few months of the season, as Livramento and Walker-Peters at the moment seem to be the first-choice pairing.
However, after losing possession 16 times in the game, there are still clear areas in his game that need improvement, providing the manager with a headache over whether to use him on a more regular basis.
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And while the former Spurs wing-back has been playing in place of Perraud in recent weeks despite being a natural right-footer, and the former being described by teammate Stuart Armstrong as a “top quality player”, it’s hard to see a way-in for the French defender.
However, with Livramento being linked with a move away from St Mary’s Stadium, the Saints won’t be weakened too much should his potential sale go through, with Walker-Peters also impressing on the right-side of defence when called upon and Perraud proving that he is a reliable option more often than not this season.
In other news: Hasenhuttl howler: “Dynamic” Saints dud with 0.1 goals per game has been a huge flop
Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly long held an interest in Konrad Laimer and they could make their move in this summer’s transfer window.
That’s according to German outlet Sport Bild, who claim that the 24-year-old’s form for RB Leipzig this season has alerted teams in the Premier League, in which Spurs are named as one keen party.
The Austria international has actually been considered by Lilywhites scouts for several years, ever since his involvement in the Bundesliga outfit’s two-legged demolition of the north Londoners in the Champions League in 2020.
Ahead of Laimer entering the final 12 months of his current contract, Spurs could finally strike on their long-time target.
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It’s no surprise to see manager Antonio Conte interested in the £23.4m-rated powerhouse as his playing style has earned quite the praise indeed, even drawing comparisons to the Italian’s former Chelsea star N’Golo Kante.
The 52-year-old led the Blues to a Premier League and FA Cup triumph during his time at Stamford Bridge and the Frenchman was a key signing in that run. Conte could do with a similar player over in N17 now.
‘You’ll be hard-pressed to find a player who harries the opposition quite as intensively as Laimer, who is also a dab hand at shielding the ball, recycling possession and facilitating counter-attacks. ‘Dirty Work’ could be his middle name,’ wrote Bundesliga.com.
Indeed, the 24-year-old – who grew up idolising Steven Gerrard – has earned similar acclaim from others around him.
His former boss Adi Hutter lauded him as “incredibly aggressive on the ball”, whilst former West Ham forward and international compatriot Marko Arnautovic believes he can cover a “crazy” amount of ground and that he has a “huge future”.
At the weekend, Laimer dropped two goals and one assist on Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund to take his total for the season to nine direct goal contributions, so evidently he can add more in the final third than Kante.
That doesn’t take away from his defensive attributes whatsoever, having averaged 4.78 tackles and interceptions per 90 across five seasons at Leipzig, on top of 31.6 pressures per game, only emphasising his impressive and industrious work rate in the engine room, as per FBRef.
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Compared to his positional peers across Europe over the last year, the Austrian machine ranks inside the top 1% for pressures and 4% for non-penalty xG+A (expected goals and assists) too.
In the year that Chelsea won the league title with Kante in midfield in 2017, he averaged 3.6 tackles and 2.4 interceptions per game, via WhoScored, so you can instantly see the similarities between the two players.
In Laimer, who is also dubbed an “elite presser”, Spurs sporting director Fabio Paratici could well land Conte his next Kante-like monster.
AND in other news, Spurs handed big transfer boost in pursuit of Premier League enforcer…
I’m back The moment Shoaib Akhtar’s name was inked on to the team-sheet, some excitement was expected. But in his very first over back, playing an ODI after 13 months and a 13-match ban? His first ball caught Herschelle Gibbs completely off-guard and struck him on the shoulder. Gibbs flicked a boundary next, before two successive no-balls and free hits. Graeme Smith then played-on the first ball he faced and the over finally ended, eightminutes after it began, with South Africa 7-1. Not a bad way to come backinto the side.Oops I’ve dropped it again Is there a man in Pakistan luckier than Kamran Akmal? He has gone through over a year dropping catches like Elizabeth Taylor dropped husbands and yet remains the first-choice wicketkeeper. He’s dropped Jacques Kallis already in the Test series, though that was at least off spin, against which Akmal has as much clue as Inspector Clouseau. But his clanger today, dropping Kallis on 2 off Shoaib, has to go down as the worst of his drops,and there is stiff competition. Drop him? No, we’ll take him to India as the only keeper. Meanwhile, Indian batsmen are queuing up to sign on to Pakistan’s ‘Give a batsman another chance’ policy.Six or out? Already in his short career, Sohail Tanvir has made a habit of looking completely nonchalant in all areas of his work. When Shaun Pollock launched a sky-high loft towards long-on, the ball took some catching. Tanvir moved in, took it cool as a cucumber and just inside the boundary. Or was it? Replays suggested some doubt for it appeared as if Tanvir might have brushed the rope with his foot. He even looked back to see if he had, but walked away, naturally too cool for school. Pollock stayed at the wicket, and trudged off slower than Inzamam-ul-Haq when given out. He stopped at regular intervals but the umpires were unmoved and no replay was called for. Technology: it’s either too much or too little.He who laughs last If international cricket ever has a five-over game, Imran Nazir would be its king. In Makhaya Ntini’s very first over, Nazir punched, clipped and whipped the last three balls for boundaries, through extra cover, midwicket and square leg respectively. Off the first ball of Ntini’s next over, he drove past mid-off to make it four emphatic boundaries in four Ntini balls: Pakistan were blazing, Nazir was the arsonist. But as has been a hallmark of Nazir’s career – and a testament to the bowler’s perseverance – it was Ntini who laughed last and loudest. Off the last ball of that over, Nazir tried to drive again, his feet not budging an inch, and only succeeded in edging behind. Like most Nazir knocks, it was short, sweet and pointless.
It’s a long-on, no it’s a long-off, no wait it’s a two-in-one Johan Botha was going to bowl the 27th over and Graeme Smith decided that he wanted to save a fielder. So he placed Shaun Pollock directly behind the bowler in front of the sight-screen to do the duties of both long-off and long-on. The batsmen – Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf had a word with the umpires who in turn had a word with Smith. Pollock was not moved after the discussions. Botha, however, bowled a tight over and was not driven down the ground even once.And that’s how Jonty would do it Pakistan needed 16 off 26 balls with three wickets remaining, but no sweat, Shahid ‘Boom-Boom’ Afridi was still around. Not quite, though. He threw his bat at an Ntini delivery on the off stump, but only managed a top edge. The ball flew towards the backward point and third man region and just as it seemed to fall safe, AB de Villiers emerged, sprinting hard from point to take a tumbling catch. Even outside the context of Pakistan’s panicky batsmanship, this was spectacular.
Dr Roland Toppin has been appointed the new chief executive of the West Indies cricket board (WICB) and will take up his position on February 1, 2007. He fills the vacancy left by Roger Braithwaite who stepped down in April.Toppin said: “Having followed, with interest, the progress of West Indies cricket from as far as I can remember, I consider it a great honour to have been chosen as CEO of the WICB at this critical time and I will do all in my power to put the policies in place which will ultimately lead to the return of the West Indies cricket team to the top of the world standings.”Toppin is currently the general manager of Duraplast Inc in Barbados, a recycling company which manufactures roofing tiles. He is a member of the Barbados Cricket Association and played first division cricket.He will take up his new role in time for the World Cup, which is being held in the Caribbean in March and April 2007.