Peter Roebuck, the cricketer turned columnist, wrote recently about the two phases when a batsman is praised. “The first comes after a fellow has stroked a couple of boundaries as a teenager, whereupon he is proclaimed a genius. The second comes 20 years later, when a player long since consigned by even the gentlest critic to the rubbish dump manages to rouse himself sufficiently to push the ball around for an hour.”Neil McKenzie is currently experiencing the second phase. At 32, he was offered a last chance to play for South Africa and he has grasped the opportunity gleefully. Dearth of openers back home meant McKenzie was converted from a middle-order batsman to an opener, replacing Herschelle Gibbs in the line-up.The experiment appeared to be heading nowhere when he failed to go beyond 30 in the first two Tests as opener but two innings later he’s seen as someone who can be depended upon. Everyone knew about his shrewd cricketing brain, and a few others thought there was serious talent in there, but it’s only now that he’s beginning to look the part. A mammoth 226 in Chittagong could have been brushed aside as a one-off, but a fluent 94 on the first day of the series here showed his worth.The first ball he faced was turned away to the square-leg boundary, a start from where he didn’t take his foot off the accelerator. The first 20 runs came exclusively in fours, all struck with crisp timing, and he made the most of the errant length from the new-ball bowlers. He didn’t appear in any sort of discomfort against spin and even endeavoured to use his feet boldly.At the other end was Graeme Smith, his school-mate with a contrasting style. McKenzie himself was once seen as a potential captain of the side and the two seemed to enjoy batting together. Coming on the back of the 415-run stand in Chittagong, they obviously had plenty of confidence behind them.Has he had to change much after he converted from a middle-order batsman to an opener? “I think if there is one place that you want to bat in the subcontinent it is opening the batting,” he said. “So I have seen it in a positive way, I have seen it as a responsibility to see the new ball away. I am 32, and I want to enjoy my cricket and wherever they want me put I want to give 100%.”The fact that he’s at the latter stages of his career has obviously helped him enjoy his game more. “I think I played for five years when [I was] 23 after which I was left out for a couple of years. I love playing for South Africa, and would like to play for another couple of years, but am not taking anything for granted. I try to play every Test as if it’s my last.”For someone who used to cover his bat with a blanket and put it to sleep the night before he batted, McKenzie seems to have left some things behind. “I had certain rituals and habits which I followed before I batted but I’m 32 now, have a wife and a kid and there are too many others things to think about.”Bits of sagely wisdom frequently appear while he talks, and he turned a bit philosophical when asked about missing out on a hundred. “Test cricketers are really greedy guys,” he smiled. “At the start of the day I would have taken 90 gladly, but it’s never enough. I’m happy to get runs, but very disappointed that I missed out on a Test hundred.”There’s also a slightly mellow tone that comes when asked about his expertise against spin. “I have been around,” he says with the tone of a battle-scared veteran. “I’ve played against quite a few of the best spinners. Obviously there are world-class spinners here but I think it’s down to experience. There are footages and analyses that go along… you pick quite a few things along the way and with your team-mates.”There was a danger of him being remembered as a trivia question – which South African cricketer’s wife and sister are famous models? – but he seems to be determined to carve a niche of his own. By the look of his previous two innings, he’s getting things just right.
Two of greatest cricketers produced by Barbados and the West Indies were honoured for their outstanding contributions to the game on Sunday night.Sir Clyde Walcott and Wes Hall, who were brilliant players and highly-respected administrators, were inducted into the Sticky Wicket West Indies Hall of Fame during a lavish ceremony in Antigua at the Stanford Cricket Ground.Sir Clyde died last August at age 80. He was an outstanding batsman and member of the famous 3Ws. After his playing days he became chairman of West Indies selectors, manager of the team, president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the first non-Englishman to be appointed president of the ICC. He had a superb batting record, making 3 798 runs in 44 Tests with 15 centuries, at an average of 56.68. He was represented at the ceremony by his wife Lady Walcott and son, Michael.In his heyday Hall was a barrel-chested fast bowler and was the best in the game in the 1960s, and ended his career with 192 wickets in 48 matches. After hanging up his boots he too was chairman of selectors and manager of the Windies team, and was also president of the WICB. He was a minister of Government in the 1980s. Fast bowling legend Michael Holding played in the West Indies with both Hall and Sir Clyde as manager. In his tribute to Sir Clyde, he outlined how he was instrumental in helping to develop his career especially when he had been struggling in the unfamiliar conditions on the 1976 tour of England. Holding said Sir Clyde genuinely cared about people and was an individual who instilled discipline.Holding referred to Hall as “chief” and described the 69-year-old as a “great” manager and stressed he was “still a great man”. He pointed out that Hall, who also served as manager after retiring from international cricket, was very accommodating and had made time for players under his charge.In his address, Hall said he was honoured to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, which was the brainchild of Texan billionaire Allen Stanford. Hall also noted that his aim was to continue to make a contribution to the game.Lady Walcott spoke to the media and said she was thrilled by the tribute paid to Sir Clyde. She also noted that if he were still alive, Sir Clyde would have graciously accepted the honour.The event was attended by several other outstanding cricketers including Barbados National Hero Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Viv Richards, Sir Everton Weekes, Lance Gibbs, Joel Garner, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop, and Colin Croft.
Dubious umpiring and some unintelligent bowling by the hosts left both Uttar Pradesh and Bengal hanging desperately on the edge with two more days to go in the Ranji Trophy final. At the end of the third day, when bad light stopped play an hour before regulation time with 27 overs still remaining, the match was on a knife’s edge with Bengal at 349 for 8. UP require two wickets while Bengal need 39 more runs to snatch the vital first-innings lead.It was a day that was mostly dominated by the cavalier batting of Laxmi Ratan Shukla and the attacking bowling of Piyush Chawla, the young legspinner. Shukla, who last played for India in an ODI in 1999 as a bowler, and who has now grown into an allrounder, was carrying the Bengal flag with an unbeaten 50, along with Ranadeb Bose who put a dead bat to almost everything for his 38-ball 3.Shukla walked in when Uttar Pradesh were smelling blood. The old war horse Ashish Winston Zaidi had just removed Deep Dasgupta, the Bengal captain and centurion in the previous game, when the batsman, attempted a wild cut off an innocuous straight one outside off, only succeeded in edging to Amir Khan, the wicketkeeper. Dasgupta’s 20 was well short of what his team needed from him especially after Rohan Gavaskar was sent back by umpire AV Jayaprakash in controversial circumstances at the stroke of lunch.Till his unfortunate dismissal, Gavaskar was the batsman of the first session. After the early fall of Arindam Das, the overnight batsman who was caught at the wicket off Chawla, Kaif brought on Shalabh Shrivastava, the well-built left-arm pace bowler, who peppered Gavaskar with constant short-pitched deliveries. But Gavaskar was unruffled and counterattacked with gusto, pulling and cutting. A couple of pulls either side of square leg and a spanking cut shot off Shrivastava were the highlights of his innings. When Kaif replaced the slow cutters of Zaidi with the pace of Praveen Kumar, Gavaskar pulled him over midwicket and caressed a late-cut past point to put the pressure back on the bowler.But Kumar hit back soon, albeit with the help of the umpire. Bowling from round the wicket and wide of the crease, Kumar got one to bend in to Gavaskar, who was slightly late into his defence, and his head fell over in the process. The ball was clearly moving down the leg side, but Jayaprakash thought otherwise.With most of the top and middle order back in the dressing-room, Manoj Tiwary and Shukla had plenty to do, but soon after lunch they were in their stride, confidently dealing with the constant fielding changes of an increasingly impatient and desperate Kaif and handling the bowlers with ease. After unsuccessfully trying to bounce out Gavaskar in the morning, Shrivastava continued his barrage of short ones against Shukla, but the batsman was defiant even after once being rapped hard on the fingers.With the tea break fast approaching and Uttar Pradesh getting increasingly desperate for a breakthrough, Jayaprakash committed his second blunder of the day. Getting some reverse swing with a ball which was barely 25 overs old, Kumar got one to bend into Tiwary and rapped him on the pads. The ball was sliding down leg, but once again Jayaprakash didn’t hesitate to raise the finger. It was a sad end to a 50-run partnership that had looked set to give Bengal the edge at the end of the day.
New bat Saurasish Lahiri played some fluent drives but was caught at short leg to become Chawla’s fourth victim, with Bengal still 58 runs away from taking the lead. Amid these edgy moments Shrivastava faltered with his line and length and struggled to bowl to his field. He still continued with the questionable tactic of trying to bounce out Shukla. With an off-side cordon which included two slips, two gullies, a cover and a mid-off, the line of attack should have been around off, but Shrivastava continually bowled from round the wicket and slid the ball down the leg side. Shukla brought up his fifty with a push towards long-off. UP had one opportunity to nail him, on 25, when Suresh Raina failed to latch on to a difficult chance at point off Kumar.Early in the morning Kaif had erred by taking the new ball when he should probably have persisted with Chawla, who had troubled the batsmen. With two more days to go, an outright victory for either team is still a possibility, but both sides will be desperate for the first-innings lead, which could be the deciding factor in this match.
Arindam Das c Amir Khan b Piyush Chawla 60 (143 for 3) Tried to cut a simple leg break, caught at the wicketShivsagar Singh b Piyush Chawla 23 (186 for 4) Caught in two minds against a fastish Chawla turner from round the wicket, bowled.Rohan Gavaskar lbw b Kumar 49 (204 for 5) Trapped plumb to one that came in from Kumar.Deep Dasgupta c Amir Khan b Zaidi 20 (252 for 6) Went for a wild cut off Zaidi, gifts a catch to keeper Amir KhanManoj Tiwary lbw Kumar 43 (302 for 7) Caught in front of stumps trying to play a forward defensive against Kumar’s reverse swingSaurashish Lahiri c Shukla b Piyush Chawla Tried to drive, takes an edge to the short leg
Jeff Thomson has angrily rejected calls for Brett Lee’s promotion to the Test side against New Zealand at Christchurch tomorrow. Thomson said Michael Kasprowicz had done the “hard yards”, and deserved to retain his place in the most contentious selection issue of the tour.The debate will rumble for another day after Australia delayed naming their team until they had another look at the Jade Stadium pitch tomorrow morning. Ricky Ponting said Lee had a strong claim, but the form of the three other fast bowlers meant they did not deserve to be dropped.”All those guys deserve their spot in the side, and we’ve got Brett, who’s been outstanding on this tour and right through the VB Series as well,” Ponting said. “At the moment Brett has a bit of a psychological edge over some of the NZ batsmen. So there’s all those things you have to consider. I know if I was in their side and looked at a teamsheet and saw his name wasn’t on it I would be reasonably relieved at this stage of the tour.”Thomson told the Brisbane Courier-Mail that the decision was easy: “Lee’s bowled well in one-day games against a team of no-hopers. One-day cricket is a joke. Kasper has done the hard yards, done nothing wrong. An idiot can get wickets in one-day cricket.”Thomson said Lee was dropped because he “doesn’t do the job” in Tests, and he was not impressed with his limited-overs performances. “Why should he get picked again? It’s not as if he is taking a bagful of one-day wickets. If Brad Hogg, Andrew Symonds and Darren Lehmann take wickets in one-day cricket then what does that tell you about bowling in one-day cricket?”Clive Lloyd this week rated Thomson, who had 200 victims in 51 Tests, a more intimidating proposition for batsmen than Lee, but Justin Langer said that his team-mate would scare the New Zealand batsmen. “There’s always some sort of fear factor,” observed Langer. “You know in the back of your mind that even if you have a great day you’ve got to put up with some bruises and aggression, and you’ve got to be quite strong to get through that.”Stephen Fleming has confirmed that he will open, filling the gap left by Mark Richardson’s retirement after the Australia home series, and has given himself the job of blunting Australia’s attack. Fleming said he was under pressure after a poor one-day series, where he was a regular target of Lee, but was confident he could give his side a strong start.
Despite a public roasting from their coach, Rod Marsh, England A crashed to their third tour defeat in a row, as India A overwhelmed them by 55 runs in Bangalore.After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, England were filleted by a 209-run second-wicket partnership between Sridharan Sriram (92) and India’s World Cup finalist Dinesh Mongia, who top-scored with 116. When Mithun Manhas followed up with a brisk 42 not out, India had posted a formidable total of 324 for 4 in their 50 overs.In mitigation, England were without two of their key players. Simon Jones continues to ease his way back to full fitness and missed the match with a sore knee, while their captain Alex Gidman was also forced to look on from the sidelines, after injuring his hand prior to England’s arrival. In his absence, the captaincy passed to James Tredwell.There were few silver linings in England’s fielding performance. Although Sajid Mahmood claimed the wickets of both openers, Mongia and Gautam Gambhir, his 10 overs disappeared for 58 runs. And the back-up bowling was flogged – Bilal Shafayat and Kevin Pietersen bowled five overs between them, and conceded 46.In response, Essex’s Graham Napier top-scored with 61, and Tredwell – primarily a bowler – rose to the occasion with 48 not out, but it was a forlorn pursuit. The pair added 75 for the eighth wicket after Sairaj Bahutule had grabbed three early wickets to reduce England to 175 for 7.Although England had started promisingly through the efforts of Ed Smith (30) and Matt Prior (41), the middle order fared poorly with Pietersen, Michael Lumb and Kadeer Ali contributing 21 runs between them. There was little but pride to play for by the end, as they were restricted to 269 for 9.
A wicket apiece for Australia’s trio of fast bowlers consolidated their position of dominance at the end of the second day of the Melbourne Test. Justin Langer eventually reached a career-best 250 and Steve Waugh 77, while an unbeaten 62 from Martin Love contributed usefully to another awesome total of 551 for six before Waugh’s declaration. By the close England had reached 97 for the loss of Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher.Glenn McGrath made Australia’s first breakthrough when Vaughan, after reaching 11 without apparent difficulty, got a bottom edge onto his stumps as he tried to force a delivery of the back foot.Brett Lee then accounted for Trescothick, and was unfortunate not to dismiss Nasser Hussain as he reached 97 miles per hour in a hostile spell. Trescothick had made 37 and was threatening a major innings when he tried to avoid a short ball which brushed his glove on the way through to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist.Hussain survived a concerted appeal in Lee’s next over when a delivery brushed his shoulder. The England captain also survived trial by television when he drove Stuart MacGill to mid-on, where Jason Gillespie appeared to take a low catch. Hussain was ruled not out when replays were inconclusive. However Gillespie had his own slice of good fortune when he removed Butcher lbw despite an inside edge.Earlier Langer moved past his highest Test innings of 223 against India in Sydney three years ago. He would not have done so if Vaughan had held on to a straightforward catch at short extra cover off Craig White, allowing Langer to move on to 224. Eventually after hitting a six and 30 fours, he was dismissed two overs before the declaration, caught at short third man by Andrew Caddick off the expensive Richard Dawson.England’s first success of the morning was the wicket of Waugh, who had added 15 runs to his overnight total when he edged a lifting White delivery to JamesFoster. Martin Love was missed on 25 when he drove Mark Butcher to Vaughan at point, who again spilled the catch. Love had added 151 runs for the fifth wicket with Langer when he was finally dismissed. Gilchrist was then bowled heaving at Dawson to trigger the declaration.
Dissatisfied with the way the Barbados Cricket League (BCL) has beenmanaged in recent times, general secretary Carl Chapman has quit withimmediate effect.BCL president Glyn St Hill, however, has responded by saying Chapman’sperformance in the job could have been better.Chapman, an experienced cricketer and a former BCL Division 1 captain,submitted a resignation letter to St Hill last Friday.In the letter, he stated that recent events led him to believe thatthe board of management made decisions without any ideological orphilosophical concepts."It is my belief that members, void of independent thought, also makedecisions based not so much on the issue but moreso on the personputting forward the issue," Chapman said.This is quite sad, as their opinion on the same matter can fluctuatefrom side to side and time to time, dependent on the personnel who putforward the issue at the time.When contacted, St Hill said he was amazed by Chapman’s charges."Whenever we make a decision, it is always a majority or unanimousdecision," St Hill said. "There is always discussion and it is nevera unilateral decision."In his letter, Chapman also expressed disappointment in the manner theboard of management handled some constitutional matters and the choiceof the BCL First XI captain this season.Chapman, an all-rounder who performed with some distinction for theBCL Division 1 side in the early and mid-1990s, said he was constantlyreminded of the scenario between the smart and the powerful."It is simply a case where the smart put forward brilliant ideas butthese ideas are always opposed by the powerful and labelled as stupidand unable to work," Chapman said.Later, when it pleases the powerful, they reintroduce and implementthe same ideas so as to make it seem like an original of the powerful.Chapman took over general secretary in 1999 after unsuccessfullycontesting the post of president against St Hill.St Hill said he immediately told Chapman he was willing to work withhim, but he said that over a period of time he was not happy withChapman’s output."I have tried my best to bend over backwards to co-operate with him,but I don’t think he expected the workload that was involved," StHill said.While Chapman is no longer interested in serving in office, he stillremains a member of the BCL."I would like to wish the members all the best in their futureendeavours and pledge my undying support for the teams of the leagueand the management of the league," he said. "I will continue topractise in the hope of gaining selection to the senior team at somepoint in time."
Rangers’ Joe Aribo failed to make the desired impact in the Old Firm derby on Sunday, according to official club media partners Heart & Hand.
The lowdown
The Gers lost 2-1 against their arch-rivals in a result which could prove to be decisive in the title race.
Celtic are now six points clear at the top of the Premiership with six games to play after Tom Rogic cancelled out Aaron Ramsey’s opener and Cameron Carter-Vickers then scored the winning goal.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst selected Aribo in the right attacking midfield role in his 4-2-3-1 shape, with Ramsey central and Ryan Kent slotting in on the left.
The Nigerian is one of the most trusted players at the club, starting 28 of the Light Blues’ 32 league matches so far this season.
The latest
During the first half of the game at Ibrox, Heart & Hand tweeted that Aribo was actually landing Rangers in trouble against Celtic.
They made the damning assessment that the 25-year-old was ‘causing us more problems than them’ on Sunday afternoon.
The verdict
What do the stats say about Aribo’s performance?
His SofaScore rating was a rather underwhelming 6.7/1o, the lowest of Rangers’ attacking foursome. The £9m-rated gem wasn’t able to fashion a chance for his team-mates and he didn’t have a shot of any description until the 89th minute of the match.
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Furthermore, he lost possession 14 times and came off second best in four of the five aerial duels that he contested, which makes the criticism from Heart & Hand understandable.
Aribo is largely enjoying a fine season, with seven goals and eight assists under his belt, but this was perhaps a day to forget on a most unfortunate occasion to have it.
In other news, Rangers could be hit with a £5m fine
Steve Waugh has said that England and New Zealand stand to lose the most from the rise of India’s official and unofficial Twenty20 leagues, as well as voicing his concern over the power of India’s administrators.Waugh was speaking shortly after Lou Vincent became the latest player to turn his back on New Zealand and sign for the ICL. “They have lost five or six players to the rebel Twenty20 and they can’t afford to lose their players,” Waugh said. “They haven’t got the depth. England are up and down, I’m not sure where they are going. Again, if they lose players to that rebel league it’s going to affect them.”You can’t have one or two sides dominating … no-one’s going to turn up and watch. If the rebel league continues, you are going to lose a lot of players from Test cricket and probably from county cricket as well because they are going to get offers, and that is going to affect English cricket.”With regard to India’s administrators, Waugh said they have power “because they have money and they have influence and they can determine what is being played where and against who. Whoever is running Indian cricket has a big responsibility to make sure the traditions of the game are kept as well.”
Pre-season friendlies are normally no more significant than batsmen getting time in the middle and bowlers building miles in their legs. However, Glamorgan’s early season warm-up match against Sussex at Hove marked a milestone for Simon Jones, the England paceman, who is completing his recovery from yet another knee injury.Since his starring role in the 2005 Ashes, Jones has barely set foot on a cricket field, and when he has it has usually resulted in him limping off. His comeback for Glamorgan during the 2006 season, following his aborted return on England’s tour of India, lasted four matches before he broke down against Ireland in the C&G Trophy.Now he is trying again, following a winter spent working on his knee at Loughborough, Glamorgan and latterly a warm-weather stint in Cape Town. Statistically the first results have been modest, eight overs for 27 spread over two spells not a full pace, but at this stage it is about the small steps.Ahead of his comeback, Jones said he was feeling confident: “I’m back to bowling at full pace occasionally. I hit 79mph off three steps last week and I’ll be back bowling at 90mph soon; I’m confident now as my knee feels strong. I’ve no negative demons. I’m probably in the best nick of my life.”However, despite the problems England’s pace attack has suffered in Jones’s absence the selectors will be wary of rushing him back into the side especially with the first Test against West Indies starting on May 17, only four weeks into the season. Glamorgan have two Championship matches and a University fixture during the opening stages of the summer, which will give a better indication of Jones’s long term prognosis.