Current and former West Indies players were thoroughly impressed with the talent on show after the first day of the Digicel coaching clinic at the 3Ws Oval.More than 30 youngsters, including members of the Barbados Under-13s, were given coaching and guidance from Chris Gayle, Kenny Benjamin, Keith Arthurton and Ronald Straker along with Ramnaresh Sarwan, Denesh Ramdin and Lance Gibbs.”There is a lot of talent here and this is a good sign for the future,” Gayle said. “Hopefully we can nurture these young talented cricketers, groom them as we go along so that we do not lose them in the future, they need the right guidance, proper training and good facilities.”It was a very good and pleasing start, everyone enjoyed the day’s activities, the kids got a run around and to socialize a bit as well.”The young cricketers were taught a number of innovative fielding techniques in the first half the session before being taken to the indoor centre for various batting drills. Gayle was a particular attraction, in a fielding game he called ‘the weakest link’; players were split into two sides, and the team to drop the first ball was penalised with some strenuous physical exercises.Matthew Greaves, a 12-year-old fast bowler who impressed the coaches, and who is a member of the Barbados Under-13 team, was thrilled with the day.”It was a good experience working with the coaches and West Indies players,” he said. “They taught me a lot about how they play and how to get better than them and I learnt a lot of new drills, different techniques and they taught me the basics of cricket.”The next clinic begins in Trinidad on July 26, with further events in Jamaica, Guyana, St Vincent and Antigua.
Sussex have been given an injury scare during their crucial Championship match against Lancashire at Hove with Mushtaq Ahmed picking up a groin strain. Mushtaq left the field on the second evening with one ball remaining in his 19th over and didn’t bowl on the third morning.Mushtaq entered the match with pain in his neck and shoulders, but with the current encounter being of such importance in the Championship race – Lancashire started one point ahead at the top of the table – he was battling through the pain.If Mushtaq is forced to miss any Championship action it would be a huge blow to Sussex who are already having to do without Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. Mushtaq has 62 wickets this season and with the pitches becoming more spin-friendly he is Sussex’s trump card in the Championship race.The match at Hove has claimed two high-profile casualties, with Dominic Cork injuring a finger while taking a catch at slip and needing hospital treatment for a dislocation.
Damien Martyn’s 71 shone bright on a scorching second day of the Australians’ tour opener in Mumbai. Adam Gilchrist also gained some valuable batting practice, although in a sedate manner, before declaring the innings at 7 for 302. Mumbai had reached 4 for 150 by the close, mainly due to the impetus provided by Wasim Jaffer and Amol Muzumdar.Martyn’s innings brought a more relaxed air to the day’s play, unlike the shock-factor that Matthew Hayden induced yesterday. Relying on assured footwork and lithe wrists, Martyn nudged it around and, along with Brad Hodge, took the score past 200. Hodge, broad-shouldered and punching forcefully, didn’t face too many problems either and even creamed Ramesh Powar for two successive fours in the 14th over of the day – one off either foot and both through the extra-cover region. However, he was undone by the final ball of the same over. Some extra bounce forced him to prod towards the on side and Vinit Indulkar completed a simple catch at short leg (4 for 206).Michael Clarke was bubbling from the moment he walked out, until the silly mid-off fielder made him look … silly. Clarke got right to the pitch of the ball to block Nilesh Kulkarni, but his back foot was just out of the crease and Indulkar’s quick flick hit the stumps (5 for 227). Martyn then retired so that the lower order could get a hit, but Shane Watson muffed his chance with a golden duck. Expecting the ball to turn away, he shouldered arms to Kulkarni and was given out lbw (6 for 248).Gilchrist chose not to bat in top gear and knocked it around the infield. There were two straight sixes and a few bludgeoning sweeps in his 76-ball 42, and he was assured in his footwork against the spinners. The same couldn’t be said of Brett Lee, who had his fair share of problems against the three-pronged spin attack. He finally fell poking at an offbreak from Powar, handing Indulkar another easy catch at short leg to prompt the declaration.Mumbai’s reply was sluggish to begin with – the first four came in the 17th over – as Glenn McGrath bowled his usual metronomic line and length. Vinayak Mane fell to the first forceful shot that he attempted, to a short one from McGrath, as his mistimed pull resulted in a simple catch to Cameron White at square leg (1 for 6). Indulkar survived a couple of confident appeals for lbw against McGrath before his scratchy knock ended when he was trapped in front by Nathan Hauritz, the offspinner.Jaffer was much more composed, and bided his time against the fast bowlers. Though the boundaries were tough to find, he managed to pierce the field repeatedly and gradually grew in confidence against Lee and McGrath. The shackles were broken once the spinners came on, as Hauritz was greeted with two successive fours from his first two balls of the game as one’s mind went back to so many spinners who have been welcomed in a similar fashion in the past by Indian batsmen. Jaffer fell just two short of his fifty, inevitably to McGrath’s accuracy, as an incutter thudded into his pads and trapped him in front.Muzumdar also cashed in on the number of spinners that Gilchrist experimented with – Clarke, Simon Katich and Hodge – and chalked up his 50 in 92 balls. His partnership with Vinod Kambli at the end of the day contained some entertaining strokeplay as the Australians juggled their bowlers around, shifting the ends from which they were bowling while also interchanging between over and round the wicket.Lee tested out both batsmen with a few short ones and nearly had Muzumdar lbw with a swinging yorker late in the day. Watson had his moment of celebration on the point of stumps, as he trapped Kambli lbw. Kambli, though, was less impressed by the decision, and walked off steaming with rage, as if taking a cue from the weather all day.
Matthew Maynard, the former England batsman, has been awarded a testimonial season for Glamorgan next summer. Maynard, 38, became the county’s leading century maker by scoring his 53rd hundred against Leicestershire at Cardiff yesterday.Maynard made his debut for Glamorgan back in 1985, and captained the club from 1996 to 2000, leading them to the Championship title in 1997. He played four Tests for England between 1988 and 1994, two each against Australia and West Indies. He was also picked for 14 one-dayers, his last match being in the 2000 NatWest Series.”I’m honoured to be awarded a testimonial year and extremely grateful to the club for granting it to me,” Maynard said. “It’s been a great privilege to serve Glamorgan for the past 20 years, one of its most successful eras, and there is still, in my view, no better county on the circuit to play for.”He added, “I have been fortunate to play alongside some great players, none better than the current squad, and also to have represented a club which has some fantastic supporters. Hopefully I can play my part over the next year or two in trying to deliver some more success for them.”Maynard’s record-breaking century took him past Alan Jones and Hugh Morris in Glamorgan’s hall of fame, and he celebrated with a drop of whisky during the match. “Darren Thomas spilt it the first time around, so it was kind of lost in the moment,” said Maynard. “It was a little tipple of whisky – but I didn’t play the next over so well as it was still burning in my throat.”
Saturday, March 1, 2003::: “I don’t want to look at the political side. Just like playing Australia or South Africa it’s just another game and we’re approaching it in the same frame of mind.” Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, ahead of the game against Pakistan Source: The BBC, UK “Let’s hope there are a few scars there and let’s hope we can open them up again.” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, on the match against England Source: The Courier Mail, Australia”He has a lion heart, walks like a lion and has the strength of a lion.” Kenyan skipper Steve Tikolo, on Collins Obuya, the leg-spinner who spun Kenya to a shock win over Sri Lanka Source: The Hindu, India”It has become obvious that, in the matches played under lights in this World Cup, teams winning the toss are getting an unfair advantage. I would say any team which wins the toss has won the match 75 percent (of the time) and that is grossly unfair.” Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis, after the loss against England Source: CricmaniaWednesday, February 26, 2003::: “We didn’t bowl well at the end. Brett Lee wasn’t at his best at the end – his yorkers weren’t quite there – there were full tosses and ‘hit me’ balls. So we have got to go away and work on that and make sure that it’s a bit sharper the next time we play.” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, after the game against Zimbabwe Source: The BBC, UK”I wouldn’t call him a mentor as such, that’s probably more Martin Crowe for me. But it’s the lessons I have learned out of cricket from him, from the way he plays the game.” New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, on Steve Waugh’s influence on his career Source: Stuff, New Zealand”Henry’s (Olonga) omission has nothing to do with his protest or politics. We needed to have more depth in our batting, hence the inclusion of Andy Blignaut ahead of Olonga. It was as simple as that – nothing else.” Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak, after the match against Australia Source: The Age, Australia”We’re grown men, we’re enjoying the country and we’re friends who’ve been together for a long time. We’re going to have fun – we’re not going to stop that – but we’re still here to play cricket very seriously.” Canadian skipper Joe Harris Source: Gulf Times, UAE
Somerset County Cricket Club has been overwhelmed by the number of members wanting tickets for the Cheltenham and Gloucester Final at Lord’s on September 1st.The original allocation of 4,500 had all but sold out by late afternoon yesterday, and despite the office closing early, staff were at the County Ground until late into the evening to process all the applications that they had received from members during the day.The club has applied to Lord’s for a further 1,000 tickets, and if any of these still remain unsold early next week they will go on sale to the general public.Members of the public can also apply direct to Lord’s for their tickets by telephoning 0207 432 1066.According to a source at the Lord’s ticket office large numbers of Somerset fans have already obtained their tickets direct, which is likely to mean that when the ‘Cidermen’ walk out onto the pitch on September 1st they will be cheered on by as many as 9,000 of their fans.
Andhra completely dominated the opening day’s play in the South ZoneCooch Behar Trophy (under-19) tournament match against Kerala at theUkku stadium in Vishakapatnam on Monday. After skittling out Keralafor 56 runs, Andhra replied with 164 for one wicket at stumps.Opting to bat after winning the toss, Kerala struggled for 37 overs tocompile their meagre total. Only NJ John (18) reached double digits.Three batsmen failed to score. Md Faiq was quite unplayable andfinished with the excellent figures of 13-5-15-5. He was wellsupported by Appala Raju (two for 10) and Gnaneswara Rao (two for 9).Kerala had the comfort of an early wicket when D Vinod was out fornine when the total was 27. But for the rest of the day, the otheropener Tahir Hussain (79) and Gnaneswara Rao (61) batted confidentlyto register 137 runs for the unbroken second wicket partnership off38.1 overs. While Hussain faced 175 balls and hit eight of them to theropes, Rao faced 94 balls and hit six fours and a six. Andhraoverhauled the Kerala total in 26.2 overs.
The agent of Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic has dismissed rumours that the Premier League champions will sell the defender to Juventus this summer.
The Serbian centre half has been injured for the majority of the season with cruciate ligament damage, after picking up the injury against Basel in the Champions League back in December.
With a raft of younger central defenders coming through the ranks at Old Trafford, rumours were rife that Vidic may well be shipped on once the transfer window reopens.
Juventus are thought to be long-term admirers of the eastern European defender, but Silvano Martina has rubbished a potential move to Turin for his client.
“Vidic is still out with a cruciate ligament injury,” he told Italian reporters, translated to English by Mirror Football.
“A future in Italy? You have to consider that he has a non-EU passport, and that would make it difficult for him to arrive in Serie A.
“I can assure you that I have never spoken with Juventus about Nemanja,” he concluded.
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Talk about a difficult task. Naming the best composite XI to have played Premier League football is incredibly complicated and an inevitably divisive issue. I have tried to create a side that have achieved excellence through longevity and, on the whole, all eleven players have an outstanding array of moments and performances to fall back on.
Inevitably, when drawing up a side of this nature, there will be very good players bound to miss out. I apologise in advance to Messrs Schmeichel, Vieira, Bergkamp, Fowler, Cole, van Nistelrooy and Scholes but I was unable to find a place for any of you in my team, despite convincing cases presented by each.
I’m sure my list will provoke debate and in some places, derision, but wouldn’t this sort of thing be boring if we all agreed on the occupants? Let me know who you would have included here instead and who is lucky to have made the cut. And to Jody Morris, sorry mate I’m going to have to give you your £50 back – I couldn’t quite squeeze you in!
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Click on the image below to see the Greatest Premier League XI
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Deep breath. Go on – let me have it. Who have I left out? Was Luke Chadwick unlucky to miss out on a slot in midfield or was Massimo Taibi a shoo-in in goal? Find me on Twitter and let me know.
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A weekend of shock results and poor performances has had a lot of managers on the defensive in the past 24hours over their tactics and formations. Chelsea crashed to 3-0 drubbing at home to Sunderland that saw Ancelotti claim it was the worst performance he had known since he became Chelsea’s manager, while Arsene Wenger was crowing at the Champions like showing his Arsenal side displayed at Goodison Park.
Elsewhere there has been plenty of comment on Fabio Capello’s shock inclusion of Jay Bothroyd; calls for Villa’s young starlets to be given their opportunity with the national side, while Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that one day he fancies a return to the national side.
Johnson hits out at ‘boring’ Hodgson – Guardian
Wenger reveals “regret” over Bothroyd departure – Mirror
Villa stars just Fab for Capello – Sun
Bothroyd: I dreamt of England call-up – Daily Telegraph
I miss Manchester United! Ronaldo hints he’d love Old Trafford return – Daily Mail
Dani Alves prefers Chelsea over Manchester City as he enters crucial Barcelona talks – IM Scouting
Mancini defends tactics after City blank – Guardian
We’re in Di wide-awake club – Sun
Wenger has big plans for Bendtner – Daily Telegraph
Gallas has perfect chance to win over Spurs doubters with return to Emirates – Daily Mail
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