The Pakistan-Australia series scheduled to start in March could be relocated to Australia if player safety cannot be guaranteed in Pakistan, according to a report in the . The paper quoted an unnamed Pakistan board member who said the PCB would consider swapping hosting duties with Australia.That would mean that if the switch went ahead the next scheduled Australia home series between the two sides, listed for November 2009, would be held in Pakistan. “It is only the last resort, only a worst-case scenario, but if something happens and Australia can’t come, then the board will discuss playing the series in Australia,” the board member told the paper.”If worst comes to worst, then perhaps [playing in Australia] is a better idea, as long as we swap. That would be an acceptable scenario. I would like the Pakistani spectators to watch Australia in their own stadiums, now or next year. But the first priority is that Australia comes here.”A neutral venue is out. It doesn’t help anybody to play at a neutral venue, if it is played in a third country those spectators wouldn’t be interested, and we would rather entertain Australian crowds than fans from other countries.”Pakistan are still keen for Australia to visit despite the political unrest in the country, and Cricket Australia are planning to send a security delegation to assess the conditions next month. Switching the games to Australia would pose logistical problems with most of the major venues packed with rugby and Australian rules football matches from late March onwards.Phil Jaques, who has twice toured Pakistan with Australia A in recent years, said the players had full confidence in whatever Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association decided. “There’s obviously a few issues there at the moment,” he told , “which Cricket Australia will have a look at closer to the time. Cricket Australia and the ACA will have processes in place and we will go by what they say.”I’ve been there before and people have always been good but they’re in a different time in their whole make-up at the moment with elections on. I was a little bit uneasy before I went I suppose but everything went to plan, everything went smoothly.”It’s a little bit confined to the hotel, that’s how we approached it last year. Generally speaking, the security is pretty tight and they give presidential-style security. The processes will be in place this time around, so we will see what the climate is like over there.”
Inzamam-ul-Haq and Bob Woolmer refused to speculate about their futures after this humiliating defeat, but Pakistan cricket can certainly expect a night of the long knives similar to that which followed the debacle in 2003. Both men suggested that winning the toss had evened up the contest, though neither was prepared to make excuses for a diabolical batting display that reduced them to 72 for 6 before a late flourish took the total to 132.”We have to wait and see what happens next,” Woolmer said. “Basically, our World Cup is over. I didn’t think their bowling was anything special. From my perspective, we just didn’t score enough runs.” Inzamam chose to sing from the same sheet, but he wasn’t quite as dismissive of Ireland’s bowling effort. “The pitch was difficult, they bowled well and we batted poorly,” he said, face downcast after what he called “the worst day of my cricketing career”.For Inzamam, whose World Cup adventure started back in the halcyon year of 1992, it will all end with a meaningless outing – for Pakistan anyway – against Zimbabwe. But even in this darkest of hours, he didn’t lash out at those who had let him down so badly. When asked if Mohammad Yousuf’s dismissal could be cited as the moment when the tide turned to swamp Pakistan, Inzamam said: “He was set, and we needed a big score from him. But when everyone has flopped, it’s not right to pinpoint any one thing as a turning point.”Before taking charge of Pakistan in 2004, Woolmer was closely associated with the ICC’s High Performance Programme, which has endeavoured to improve standards of play in the Associate nations. And while he didn’t think that such countries were ready to mix it with the big boys on a day-to-day basis, Woolmer reckoned Ireland’s triumph was vindication of the effort put in.”I’m not going to say that they’ll close the gap soon,” he said. “There were extenuating circumstances today. It was a grassy pitch, and the toss was important. But I’m fully in favour of 16 teams. Playing against such teams can be a banana-skin, and you saw that today, with Bangladesh beating India as well. I think you can say that March 17, 2007 will be a historic day for cricket.”Woolmer’s contract runs out after the World Cup, and an extension is unlikely after this reverse. He wouldn’t say whether this was the end of the road as far as coaching international teams was concerned. “I’d like to sleep on my future as coach,” he said. “I’ve had bad days before, the worst of them was at Edgbaston in 1999 [when his South Africa team missed out on the final despite the game ending in a tie]. Things like this happen in cricket.”
Inzamam too had no idea what the future would hold. “It’s only been a few minutes and I can’t say what I’ll do,” he said. “Since we haven’t performed, changes are likely and needed too.” Asked if it was a heartbreaking way to end his World Cup innings he said: “Every player has to go some day. I’ve had my innings, and you can’t really choose the way you leave.”To add to Inzamam’s woes he was fined 50% of his match fee for Pakistan’s slow over rate, which fell four short. Inzamam pleaded not guilty to the level two offence, but Chris Broad, the ICC match referee, ruled against Pakistan’s captain and each player was also docked 20% of their payment.Despite the setbacks, there was still time for a droll moment, as someone asked what sort of reaction he anticipated when the team arrived home. “In my view, there won’t be a reception,” said Inzamam poker-faced, as a laugh escaped Woolmer’s lips.When asked what went wrong, Woolmer didn’t sugar-coat his words. “We hit balls in the air to fielders, we stopped balls with our pads in front of the stumps, that’s what went wrong. We’re sorry we performed like we have. We didn’t mean to do it.”It’s unlikely that such an explanation will wash with a nation in mourning. And with India also humbled, more than half the subcontinent certainly won’t be engaged in any St Patrick’s Day revelry.
Ricky Ponting expects Australia to adapt quickly to the extra bounce of Perth for the start of the South Africa Test series after the less-than-ideal preparation of a one-day series in New Zealand. After experiencing slow and seaming wickets during the Chappell-Hadlee Series, Australia face three heavy training days to acclimatise for Friday’s match while their opponents have had two weeks to settle in.Ponting said the change in conditions and outlooks was more of a “mental” adjustment. “It’s not a huge skill thing,” he said in . “We’re still playing cricket, we’re still getting bat on ball, and the bowlers are expected to bowl certain lines and lengths, it’s just a matter of adjusting to those.”It takes time, anyway, when you’re coming from another Test match to go to Perth,” Ponting said as the team left Christchurch. “So we’ll get there and train really hard and make sure we’re as prepared as we can be.”The timing of the one-day series was strange and Cricket Australia has already said it would review the player-workload demands after Adam Gilchrist was originally given the tour off by the selectors before being overruled by the board. Instead of a short summer holiday Gilchrist struggled through the three matches with scores of 3, 8 and 0.”We’ll review the process we had in place for New Zealand and look to make it better,” Michael Brown, the Cricket Australia operations manager, said in the . “Managing player workloads is very important to us.”Paul Marsh, the Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive, told the paper the players supported the idea but in this instance the process was flawed. “It wasn’t so much that he played in New Zealand, that’s their job and they want to play for Australia, but more the order in which it took place,” Marsh said. “If the CA hierarchy didn’t want him to miss that tour, they shouldn’t have gone to him in the first place. The idea is obviously keeping them fresh and giving them the chance to have long and successful careers.”Ponting said he was not worried about Gilchrist’s form entering the Test series. “He’s not always going to be the most consistent player, just because of the way he looks at the game and the way he plays the game,” he said. “He’s performed over a long period of time and I’m sure when he gets home and gets to Perth that he’ll be right.”
Derbyshire’s offspinner, Nathan Dumelow, has been released from the final year of his contract.Dumelow, 23, made his first-class debut against the touring Pakistanis in 2001, and made an instant impact with four top-order wickets, including Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-ul-Haq.His opportunities have since been limited, however, and he has played just 25 first-team games in four years, of which only four came in the 2004 season."It was unlikely that Nathan would have the opportunity to play much first-team cricket this summer so we have agreed to his request to leave," said Derbyshire’s director of cricket, David Houghton. "We wish him well with his future career, whether that lies in the professional game or elsewhere.""I am sorry to be leaving Derbyshire but have realised that my future lies elsewhere," said Dumelow. "I have enjoyed my years with the club and wish them well for this season and beyond."
India had a day they could be proud of at the Gabba. Sterling performances from Sourav Ganguly (144) and VVS Laxman (75) went a long way in assuaging the pain of seeing Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar dismissed for only a run between them. There was a passage in play between lunch and tea when India were well and truly on top. Australia’s bowlers were under pressure, the field was spread and India’s traditional strength, their batting, came to the fore. India reached 362 for 6, a lead of 39, with one day left in the game.When the day began, with India on 11 for no loss, there was still plenty of work to be done. Steve Waugh unleashed Australia’s bowling firepower on a bright, sunny day, but India had answers to most of the questions asked of them. Akash Chopra and Virender Sehwag looked the part at the top of the order.Sehwag made the most of Andy Bichel’s ordinary spell earlier on, driving and flicking with confidence. It was only the full, swinging deliveries outside the off stump that created trouble. He was dropped by Damien Martyn off Nathan Bracken in just the fourth over of the day. But, Bracken had his revenge, and first Test wicket, later on, when Sehwag’s flashing drive resulted in an edge to Matthew Hayden in the slip cordon (61 for 1). Hayden wrapped his hands gratefully around the ball, and ended Sehwag’s breezy 45.Soon after, Gillespie imposed himself on the game. He tricked Rahul Dravid (1) into poking at a delivery that swung, seamed away and kissed the edge on the way to Hayden at slip (62 for 2). In the same over came the moment that Steve Bucknor will be reminded about by every Indian supporter he comes across in the rest of his life.
Gillespie let rip a quick one on the stumps. Tendulkar picked up the length of the ball early and shouldered arms in the firm knowledge that the ball would clear the stumps. As the ball thudded into pad, Gillespie, wild mullet flapping in the wind and fire in the eyes, went up in appeal. Bucknor looked back blankly till Gillespie gave up hope, and then raised his finger. Tendulkar gone for a duck, 63 for 3, and suddenly talk about the follow-on target of 124 seemed valid.But Ganguly did not entertain any such negative thoughts. He hit the crease running, and drove through the off side with the panache that once prompted Dravid to say, “in the off side there is God, and then there is Ganguly.” He leaned into the line of ball, not necessarily moving his feet in exaggerated fashion, and stroked, nay caressed, the ball to the fence. The timing was spot on, and soon the placement matched it.Even the fall of Chopra, in the first over after lunch, for a well-made 36, once again to the firm of Hayden and Gillespie (127 for 4) did not slow down Ganguly. For that, much credit must go to Laxman. When Laxman played a characteristic swivel-pull, that left square leg dead in his place, for four, it seemed as though he was batting on a hundred. There were several more gorgeous shots, fit for a king. There was the flick off the hips, the on-drive and the backfoot punch through covers.When Ganguly brought up his century with a sweep off Stuart MacGill, a well of emotion poured forth. Under pressure, against the best side in the world in their backyard, the captain of India had come good. It sent out a strong signal and did much to set up the series.Laxman, another man who has been under needless pressure in recent times, was out in the middle to share the moment with his captain. Sadly, even though he himself looked good enough for a hundred, Laxman gave his wicket away, completely against the grain of play. He sliced a short, slightly wide delivery from MacGill straight to Simon Katich at point (273 for 5). Laxman had made an elegant 75, laced with 11 delectable boundaries.Unfazed, Ganguly carried on in the company of Parthiv Patel (37 not out) and racked up 144, with 18 boundaries, before he holed out to Gillespie off MacGill (329 for 6). By this stage, India had taken the lead, and stretched it to 39 when play was called off due to bad light.Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Wisden Cricinfo.
Lights off in Hamilton.What should have been a historic day for Northern Districts has turned into an anti-climax with the cancellation of New Zealand’s first day/night first-class fixture.The State Championship match between ND and Central Districts will now be played as a day game, starting at 10.30am on Tuesday.The decision was reached after both squads practised under WestpacTrust Park’s new lights on Sunday evening. ND coach Bruce Blair takes up the story.”We had had some red ball work under the lights previously and we were confident that we could get away with it, but last night, with older balls, fielding was difficult with the ball coming out of a dark sky and a couple of the bowlers were just above the sightscreen at delivery.”The teams practised and towards the end it became common concensus that, though the lights are fantastic, it’s difficult with a red ball.It’s an important game for the CD Stags and it’s an important game for us in terms of getting back on track, so we have to have the best conditions for the game, which means traditional daylight hours and a red cricket ball.”ND CEO John Turkington denied that the postponement was embarrassing.”If you don’t think of trying things, you’re never going to make advances. Some people involved have had to make minor re-arrangements to their weeks, but there has been no real inconvenience. This was always going to be a trial,” he said.In Australia and India orange balls have been used to avoid the problems involved with red and white ones. According to Turkington, this was not a possible soution here.”Orange balls are hard to access. If we go ahead next year we will import some.”Turkington remains ambitious for the future of first-class cricket under lights in Hamilton.”We’ve got the best lights in New Zealand and we’d like to think that one day we can have a day/night Test match here.”The WestpacTrust Park lights have proved a great success with players and public alike for one-day games with the white ball, but it seems that the red ball is a non-starter.Experimentation with alternatives is necessary, perhaps further in advance than the night before the game is due to start.
Already enjoying a marked advantage in batting and bowling, Auckland hit Northern Districts with an even sharper third fielding skill as they completed their second cricket Max win, following yesterday’s win at Kaipara Flats with an even stronger 36-run win at Cornwall Park today.Today Auckland may have been slightly below their most efficient form in reaching 119 for three wickets after batting first, and Northern Districts opened strongly in their first innings, against some wayward Auckland bowling.However, just when ND seemed on the point of taking control the Auckland fielding pulled in five stunning catches of varying stages of brilliance. Tama Canning took two in the outfield, Chris Drum pulled in a hard chance to remove the danger man Michael Parlane, and Heath Davis plunged forward at point to take a difficult, low catch which brought Hamish Marshall back to earth after gaining New Zealand selection earlier in the day.Then, with the finest catch of them all, John Aiken dived across and forward to pick up a centimetre or two above the grass tops a cover-drive by Grant Bradburn which was a good imitation of a white tracer bullet.So ND were cut short at 91 for six wickets in their first innings, and seemed daunted as the Auckland batsmen swung onto attack to develop their first innings lead of 28.Aaron Barnes, the Auckland opener, seemed upset – with cause – when he was run out after being impeded by a Northern Districts fieldsmen.He had the consolation of watching Lou Vincent (52 not out) and Llorne Howell (42) set Auckland racing away to 137 for three, helped by some slapdash ND fielding at the end.Only while Bailey was blasting away did ND look as if they might challenge Auckland, reaching 80 after five overs, but once Davis had Bailey caught and bowled Neal Parlane and Simon Doull in one over, ND were finished.After two of five preliminary matches Auckland have seven points and Northern Districts one, so an Auckland win on Sunday at Cornwall Park will give Auckland an unbeatable lead in the five-match series.
Wolves this season have been excellent defensively, with just the Premier League’s top three teams conceding less than them, and that is partly due to the development of a player the fans have labelled a “beast”; Max Kilman, who is now on the verge of an England call-up having impressed throughout the campaign.
However, there comes a price as soon as a young English talent outside of the top six steps onto the stage in the top flight regularly and performs consistently, with that being the inevitable interest from the nation’s top clubs – and some of Europe’s heavyweights too.
The 6 foot 4 centre-back, currently averaging a 7.02 match rating in the top flight, is currently a target for his boyhood favourite club Chelsea, but journalist Pete O’Rourke has already claimed he expects more potential suitors interested, saying: “Everything’s going well for Max Kilman at the minute, but Wolves will be desperate to keep hold of him.
“But I’m sure there will be a few clubs looking in the summer, ready to test their resolve.”
As a left-footed central defender, the 24-year-old could find himself in demand at the end of the season – and though he would be a monumental loss to Wolves, manager Bruno Lage may already have his replacement in the squad for a man that reporter Chris Fischer dubbed an “animal.”
Toti Gomes, a £900k arrival from Estoril back in 2020, signed a new five-year deal at the club yesterday, which will keep him at Molineux until 2027 – suggesting that Lage has complete faith in him to make the step-up to first-team regular in the near future.
At 23-years-old, it would be strange to offer a player a long-term deal if the club doesn’t view him as an important part of the team, and with Gomes being left-footed, he could be able to fill in a Kilman-shaped whole in the squad – more so than any of the other right-footed centre-backs currently at the squad.
Having played just two Premier League games in which he has averaged a fairly solid 6.80 match rating, making four tackles per game as well as 4.5 clearances, two interceptions and one successful dribble on average, the signs so far have been promising – but we need to see more in order to be sure he can make the step-up.
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Either way, it could just be a big hint that the club are preparing for life without Kilman, a player who could leave for a fee in the region of £30m.
In other news: Fosun masterclass: Wolves dodged a bullet on “awful” barely-used £15m “nightmare”
The PCB is confident that the home series against Zimbabwe will go ahead as planned despite the recent political turbulence that has hit the country. There are likely to be, however, changes to the itinerary.”The series should take place on the same dates but there is a possibility of some changes being made to the venue list,” Ahsan Malik, the board’s spokesperson, told reporters after a board meeting.A board official is expected to contact the Zimbabwe board to discuss the itinerary and venues. Hyderabad has all but been taken off the list of venues to host the five-match ODI series, after the hotel the teams were scheduled to stay in was burnt down by rioters following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last week. The Indus, the only hotel in the city considered suitable for the purpose, was set on fire last week as violence erupted through the country after Bhutto’s death.”We will not be able to host any match [of the Zimbabwe series] in Hyderabad because there is no hotel in the city where the two teams and the officials could be accommodated after the burning of the Indus,” Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s chief operating officer, earlier told .Naghmi said that the PCB will take a decision on a new venue for the first ODI within the next few days, adding that the match could be shifted to Karachi – which is hosting the second ODI – or Lahore, which was not on the venue list for this series.The burning of the hotel means that Hyderabad, once a Test venue, will once again be deprived of the opportunity to host an international match. The city’s Niaz Stadium last played host to an international game almost ten years ago when Pakistan clashed with India in the 1997 series. Zimbabwe are scheduled to arrive in Karachi later this month where they will play two warm-up matches prior to the ODI series.
The landmark came in a characteristically low-key manner, with a drive to long-on for a single, as Rahul Dravid became only the sixth player to get to 10,000 runs in one-day internationals. Of the batsmen who have reached the milestone, Sachin Tendulkar has done it in the least number of innings – only 259 – while Dravid’s 287 innings puts him in fourth place. (Click here for the list of highest run-getters in ODIs.) Interestingly, four of the six batsmen went on to get a 50-plus score in the innings in which they got to 10,000 runs: apart from Dravid, who made 66 today, Sanath Jayasuriya (67) and Sourav Ganguly (51) made half-centuries, while Tendulkar went on to make 139 against Australia at Indore in 2001. Brian Lara (44 against Pakistan at Karachi in 2005-06) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (41 against India in the Champions Trophy in 2004) were the ones who missed on celebrating the landmark in style.
The 10,000 club, and the number of ODIs they needed to get there
Batsman
Innings
Runs
Average
100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar
259
10,105
42.63
28/ 50
Sourav Ganguly
263
10,018
41.22
22/ 60
Brian Lara
278
10,019
40.56
19/ 61
Rahul Dravid
287
10,044
39.08
12/ 77
Inzamam-ul-Haq
299
10,018
38.98
10/ 70
Sanath Jayasuriya
328
10.057
32.13
18/ 58
Dravid had been through a bit of an ODI trough last year, but his recent numbers show he has clearly come out of it – in his last 11 innings, Dravid’s notched up six half-centuries plus a 49, and averages nearly 47.Dravid’s milestone was prominent, but the performance of the day came from Zaheer Khan, whose 5 for 42 was his first five-for in ODIs. Since coming back into the international fold on the tour to South Africa late last year, Zaheer has been in superb form, with 15 wickets in nine matches at an average of 23.13, which is a noticeable improvement on his career average of 27.54.These are also turning out to be more profitable days for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose unbeaten 67 was his fourth half-century in his last 12 innings, during which period he averages a healthy 49.78. Dhoni’s 133-run partnership with Dravid was their third century stand in just 17 innings. They also have five half-century partnerships, and average an excellent 65.20 runs per stand.For Sri Lanka, there wasn’t as much to celebrate. The one player who came out of this defeat with his confidence enhanced was Russel Arnold, who had scored just 85 in his previous seven ODI innings.