Asim Kamal narrowly missed out on a ninth first-class century as Habib Bank Limited were bowled out for 315 by the combined side of North West Frontier Province-Baluchistan on the first day of their Pentagular Cup match at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex in Karachi.Kamal was bowled at 95 by Nasir Jalil who ended the day with 3 for 89 from almost 20 overs. Along with Humayun Farhat who made 56, Kamal added 76 runs for the sixth wicket. Aftab Alam (33) and Sajid Shah (44*) also chipped in with useful scores.Shah contributed with the ball as well giving Habib Bank the advantage when he trapped opener Fawad Khan leg before with his right-arm fast-medium bowling as NWFP-Baluchistan closed at 14 for 1.Through half-centuries by Atif Ali (63) and Rizwan Ahmed (83*) Sind plodded to 281 for 7 against Khan Research Laboratories at the National Stadium in Karachi.Mohammad Irshad, KRL’s right-arm fast-medium bowler, gave his side an early breakthrough when he dismissed Sind opener Agha Sabir with the score at one. But then Wajihuddin and Ali steadied the ship with a 79-run partnership. Irshad got 2 for 38 while Saeed Ajmal, an offbreak bowler, took 3 for 29. Rizwan was batting alongside Tanvir Ahmed who had made 36 when stumps were drawn.
Minute-by-minute scrutiny of Sachin Tendulkar’s injury continues as he batted for 25 minutes at the Mumbai Cricket Association ground, watched by Ian Fraser, the bio-mechanist and Gregory King, the Indian team’s trainer. Both Fraser and King were happy with his performance at practice. His fitness will be assessed on May 20 and Andrew Leipus, the team’s former therapist will assist him in his recovery.Tendulkar first batted for five minutes and then after a break batted for 20 more, with the ball thrown at him. This was his second time wielding the bat since the operation, opting for some light batting practice yesterday, with John Gloster, the team’s physiotherapist looking on.Tendulkar pulled out of the seven-match one-day series at home against England in March-April 2006 and had surgery on his shoulder on March 29 after he complained of pain while throwing the ball, though not while batting or bowling.He will not play the one-day series against West Indies beginning May 18 in Jamaica. The decision regarding his availability for the Test squad will be taken once Gloster, Dr. Andrew Wallace, his surgeon and Tendulkar himself are confident of his recovery, Niranjan Shah, the board’s secretary, explained. The Test team will be announced on May 24.In 2004, Sachin suffered a tennis elbow which kept him out of the Champion’s Trophy in England and the first two Tests at home against Australia in October the same year.
As well as missing out on the forthcoming one-day international series in India, Darren Lehmann has also been ruled out of the second Test against Zimbabwe in Sydney after diagnostic scans revealed acute inflammation of his left achilles tendon.Dr Martin Sullivan, a leading foot and ankle specialist, and Errol Alcott, Australia’s physiotherapist, have advised him rest until a review in mid-November, a Cricket Australia press release said.Although disappointed at missing the Test, Lehmann said that he was “realistic enough to know that I could suffer further damage if I do play.””My main focus right now is to try and get things right for good,” Lehmann added. “I did a lot of running during our break prior to the Perth Test and according to Dr Sullivan, that’s where I aggravated the Achilles.”Australia have yet to name their line-up for the Sydney Test.
Beau Casson, the Retravision Warriors most successful bowler of the summer, will return to action for the WA Second XI in their Cricket Australia Cup match against South Australia.Casson has missed the Warriors last two Pura Cup matches with strained ligaments and split webbing in his left hand.Casson injured the hand while fielding in WA’s win over NSW in their ING Cup match at the WACA Ground on January 21.Casson strained ligaments behind the large knuckle on his left ring finger, the finger that imparts the prodigious spin on the ball for which he is renown.The 21-year-old has taken 17 wickets in four matches for the Warriors this season and was man-of-the-match against the Queensland Bulls in his last first-class game when took eight wickets at the WACA Ground.Scott Meuleman captains the talented team that includes nine players with first-class experience. Only left-arm paceman Justin Coetzee (Scarborough), batsman Steve Glew (Subiaco-Floreat) and right-arm quick Andrew James (University) are yet to earn a Baggy Yellow cap.The four-day encounter begins on February 9 at Adelaide Oval.WA Second XI Team Scott Meuleman (c), Beau Casson, Justin Coetzee, Steven Glew, Aaron Heal, Andrew James, Shaun Marsh, Luke Ronchi, Craig Simmons, Callum Thorp, Adam Voges, and Peter Worthington.
No other decision than that made today by the board of New Zealand Cricket regarding forfeiture of their World Cup match in Kenya was possible.New Zealand, more than any other country on the world scene, has been closer to serious injury and even death occurring from terrorist acts in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.New Zealand Cricket (NZC) could do nothing else.The decision of the International Cricket Council to stand by Kenya as a venue for the match may have been made for all the right cricketing reasons, but realistically the New Zealanders, who last year escaped horrendous consequences by good luck rather than good management, have a different view.The bomb that killed 11 French engineers in a bus outside theirs and the New Zealand team’s hotel in Karachi on the scheduled first morning of the second Test against Pakistan was the closest call yet for a team which had ended its tour of Sri Lanka in 1987 when a bomb exploded in a downtown Colombo bus deport.In 1992, an assassination by car bombing occurred right outside the team’s hotel and caused the immediate disintegration of the tour with five players and their coach opting to return home and New Zealand having to prop up their obligation to Sri Lanka by flying players out from New Zealand.No-one should doubt New Zealand’s commitment to cricket around the world.It has taken the risks and so far it has not had to pay any cost other than missing some cricket opportunities.Given the strength of the intelligence received by what can only be described as reasonable security investigation in Kenya, New Zealand had little other choice than to forfeit their game.That took strength because the points to be earned at Kenya’s expense may well determine where New Zealand ends up in the final scheme of things at the World Cup.But to have security information that came from American and Australian Embassy personnel, which was not sought by the ICC delegation on an official basis, and not put it to use would have been unfortunate in the extreme.Once again chief executive Martin Snedden has had to make a difficult call. It has been an extraordinary 18 months in his position with a tour to Pakistan having to be cancelled, its replacement called off after the Karachi bomb, the abandonment of a women’s tour to India because security was not available to an acceptable standard, a players’ strike that demanded careful handling and now this.These have not been easy times, but in a manner that has not often been demanded let alone seen by administrators in other positions in the game, Snedden has once again emerged triumphant.He has had the full backing of the NZC board on the matter after a full day meeting today.Extra security information was also presented to that meeting.The issue is not over yet.The ICC is clearly likely to be unimpressed and there could be monetary issues that come out of this and while a fine may be applied there could also be some fall out in the television revenues to be distributed after the World Cup.That has a compounding effect on the way NZC runs its game.But there will not be a New Zealander who doesn’t applaud the decision that has been taken.It has taken guts.Snedden, a former international, who won praise during his career for putting his hand up and doing the extraordinary for the good of his team, has also been exposed to the terrorist threat himself in 1987.However, even if New Zealanders did not back his move, he will have won the plaudits of his players and they surely have to be the final consideration.The reality is that the security risk is too high, despite the protestations out of Kenya, predictable as they may have been.New Zealand has carried the cricketing torch when others have dared not pick it up and this decision may yet be seen as the finest of them all as far as Snedden and NZC are concerned.
Sussex hauled themselves off the bottom of the second division after a narrow nine-run win over Derbyshire in their Norwich Union League encounter at Arundel.The Scorpions looked on course for victory when Chris Bassano, a former Sussex triallist, and Karl Krikken were putting on 67 for the sixth wicket in 12 overs.But Krikken was run out for 33 by Chris Adams’ direct hit running round from mid-on and Derbyshire faltered in the last five overs which began with 32 still needed.Bassano was bowled by Billy Taylor and Nathan Dumelow yorked by James Kirtley as they finished on 201-8 in reply to Sussex’s 209-9.Earlier left-armer Mike Yardy had taken two wickets in successive overs, removing former Sussex star Michael Di Venuto courtesy of a great catch by Taylor on the fine leg boundary before trapping Rob Bailey lbw.Sussex were indebted to Murray Goodwin and Bas Zuiderent whose 120 in 25 overs for the third wicket effectively won the match for them after Tim Munton had removed Richard Montgomerie and Adams with 23 on the board.Goodwin made 65 and Zuiderent 63, but the innings subsided badly after they were dismissed in the space of four overs, the last seven wickets falling for 62 runs in 14 overs. Munton (2-28) was the pick of the Derbyshire attack while Richard Illingworth took 3-52.
ScorecardRene Farrell claimed 3 for 17 to help Australia wrap up victory and reclaim the Ashes•Getty Images
Australia secured their first Women’s Ashes victory in England in 14 years with a ruthless bowling display in the second T20 in Hove.In a low-scoring match – only seven players reached double figures and the highest individual score was Lydia Greenway’s 26 – England imploded as they chased what had seemed a comfortable 108 for victory and when Greenway was caught at deep midwicket off the excellent bowling of Rene Farrell in the final over they were still 20 runs shy of Australia’s tally.Victory put Australia 10-4 up on points, with only one T20 to play, and ended England’s faint hope of coming from behind to draw the series and hang on to the Ashes.The loss of early wickets, some of them to unforgivably soft shots, left Greenway vainly trying to marshall the tail and, after drawing strong criticism for their dismal batting in the solitary Test match of the series, England must now face the ignominy of posting their lowest ever score in T20 internationals.Australia’s batting was hardly at its best – this was their second-lowest successful defence batting first in T20 – but two wickets in two balls from Ellyse Perry sparked a collapse from which England found it increasingly difficult to recover as Meg Lanning changed her bowlers and directed her fielders superbly.In a start that echoed the first T20 encounter, England sent Australia into bat and set about effectively smothering their top order through the tight lines bowled by Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole.Australia were again unable to score freely throughout the Powerplay; in Chelmsford they were 26 for 1 after six overs, in Hove they found themselves at 19 for 1 after Ellyse Perry chipped Shrubsole to midwicket.The arrival of Lanning heralded the introduction of spin and the dual attack of Danielle Hazell and Rebecca Grundy.Grundy, coming into the side for Jenny Gunn, justified her call up when she trapped Lanning lbw and took a solid catch off her own bowling to dismiss Alex Blackwell, while Hazell accounted for opener Elyse Villani with a full, straight delivery that rapped the front pad.From 51 for 4, Australia were dragged up past the hundred mark by Jess Jonassen and Jess Cameron, with a cameo from Grace Harris, who launched the ball into the hospitality area of the sold-out crowd for the only six of the match.Perhaps England were lulled into complacency by the small target ahead of them. Perhaps they were overconfident after successfully chasing down a slightly more challenging total at Chelmsford. In taking nothing away from Australia’s efforts with the ball and in the field, it must be said that several England players threw their wickets away and panicked as the challenge grew steeper.Edwards departed in the second over, chopping on as she tried to play late to the left-arm spin of Jonassen, but more disappointing was Lauren Winfield’s loose drive off Perry straight to mid-off in the following over.Perry had two from two deliveries when Nat Sciver played across the line to her first delivery only to see the ball clatter into the stumps and when Taylor – the key to England’s victory in the first T20 – and Heather Knight continued the procession to the pavilion, England had slumped to 28 for 5 by the end of the Powerplay.Brunt offered some resistance – aside from Greenway she was the only England player to pass 8 – but once she was bowled, by Megan Schutt, Greenway was left with a mountain to climb and no batting sherpas to help carry the load.Australia’s bowling efforts shouldn’t be overlooked and the inclusion of Farrell on what looked a slow and wearing pitch proved a masterstroke. Australia bowled only four overs of spin as their quicker bowlers cleaned up and there were some terrific efforts in the field, including a brilliant catch from Lanning at midwicket to dismiss Shrubsole and a fine, low take by Jonassen to end the match.But England will rue the lack of composure and application that made a small target seem gargantuan and they must now travel to the double-header with the men in Cardiff for the final T20 knowing they have been soundly beaten across the three formats.
The Arsenal today is practically unrecognisable from the one that hired Mikel Arteta six years ago.
The North Londoners have transformed themselves from a fallen giant stuck in mid-table to a team genuinely capable of winning the Premier League and the Champions League.
Arteta has helped create one of the very best teams in the country, and the board has been working to ensure the future is even brighter.
It’s this goal that led new Sporting Director Andrea Berta to secure a deal for one of the most exciting talents in the game, someone who could become Arsenal’s answer to Michael Olise.
How Arsenal are getting ready for the future
While fans and Arteta, for that matter, are focused on the here and now, Arsenal as a club have to be preparing for the next iteration of the team and the one after that, if they want to keep up with their rivals.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
Fortunately, the powers that be at the club seem well aware of this and have been taking steps to do just that, from signing some seriously exciting youngsters from around the world to nurturing the best at Hale End.
For example, while they’ve already become a part of the first team, the likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly most certainly fall into the second category.
Nwaneri in 25/26
Appearances
10
Minutes
427′
Goals
1
Assists
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.1
Minutes per Goal Involvement
427′
All Stats via Transfermarkt
After all, they are still just 18 and 19 years old, so while they’re already making an impact, they won’t hit their peak for quite some time.
After them, it looks like Andre Harriman-Annous could be the next one to be integrated into the first team.
Finally, at least for now, perhaps the two most exciting prospects from the academy for quite some time are Max Dowman and Marli Salmon.
The former has already made five games for the first team, becoming the youngest to start for the club and the youngest player in Champions League history.
Salmon, on the other hand, has only made one competitive appearance this season, but has been described as “the best CB Hale End has produced” by respected analyst Ben Mattinson.
Now, when it comes to signing some of the most exciting youngsters from around the world, the Gunners have also improved.
For example, just a couple of months ago, they secured the services of 16-year-old Victor Ozhianvuna from Shamrock Rovers, who has been described as blessed “with explosive acceleration” by Mattinson.
A year before that, the North Londoners signed the then-17-year-old goalkeeper Tommy Setford from Ajax, whom Mattinson once again gave the seal of approval, describing him as “England’s most talented ball-playing GK’s.”
Finally, and undoubtedly most exciting of all, Arsenal have secured the services of two incredible Ecuadorian talents earlier this month in Holger and Edwin Quintero, the latter of which could be the club’s answer to Olise.
Arsenal's answer to Olise
Earlier this month, seemingly out of nowhere, it was announced that Arsenal had signed both Holger and Edwin Quintero, and that, once they turn 18 in 2027, they will join the first team.
Now, both youngsters have been talked about as having massive ceilings, but when it comes to which one could emulate and become the Gunners’ answer to Olise, it can only be Edwin.
There are a few reasons for this, with one of the most important being the fact that, unlike his brother, his primary position is right-wing.
Moreover, like the former Crystal Palace star, the 16-year-old gem is not simply a goal threat, but also someone more than capable of creating chances.
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In fact, Mattinson described him as someone with “the ability to run games and create something out of nothing.”
What makes his ability to create even more impressive is the fact that he can do so in multiple ways.
For example, U23 scout Antonio Mango has highlighted that, on the one hand, he “likes to play with short pass-and-move principles,” while Mattinson has dubbed him an “explosive” dribbler who uses flair to fool defenders.
Finally, respected scout Jacek Kulig has also weighed in on the teenager, describing him as “an absolute joy to watch” and more crucially, a “10/10 talent.”
Ultimately, Arsenal have an exceptional squad today, and thanks to smart planning and youth development, look set to have one in the future, in which Edwin Quintero could be their own Olise.
Arteta must bin £40m star who was "Pires-like" in his first years at Arsenal
It’s time for Arteta to take the frustrating Arsenal star out of the team.
The Wankhede Stadium has an expectant air about it. Enter through the Polly Umrigar gate and it resembles a construction site, while on the other side the Vinoo Mankad gate leads one to the swank BCCI office, a sign of a huge shift in progress. The ground itself is expecting a complete overhaul, which will put it out of action for some time. But before that happens, Wankhede has some cricketing business to take care of: the Duleep Trophy final, and North Zone and West Zone – the finalists – owe it a good contest over the next five days.It helps that both teams are battle-ready, after having fought their way into the final from a difficult corner in their respective final league matches.North were 28 for 3 on the first morning against East Zone, but their captain Mithun Manhas led a middle- and lower-order resistance to take them to 183 for 6. The last four added 177 more as they wore the East bowlers down. In the second innings, Manhas and Aakash Chopra completely dominate the bowlers in their 368-run unbeaten partnership and sealed North’s participation in the final at Wankhede.West Zone had more trouble entering their match against the England Lions. They needed an outright win to enter the final. A draw was not an option even if they ended on the favourable side. Things looked bleak when the England Lions ended the first day at 273 for 4, but West stuck to it to bowl the Lions out for 355 and then gained a 139-run first-innings lead to get to a position from where their bowlers could at least work towards an improbable Lions collapse. Yusuf Pathan and Siddharth Trivedi did just that to set up an easy win in the end.What’s more North and West are evenly-matched sides with similar line-ups. They both have at least two batsmen in the top order who have been prolific in the domestic season so far; they both have an allrounder each who has stepped up every time his team has needed him; and they both have uncertain bowling attacks.To add to Parthiv Patel and Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle order, West now have the services of Wasim Jaffer who scored 151 to set up the win against the Lions. North have Chopra and Manhas, who when teamed up with Yashpal Singh and Shikhar Dhawan on their good days, make a potentially dangerous batting line-up.Chopra and Jaffer provide an interesting individual contest within the final. India are still without stable Test openers, and they will be looking for one before South Africa come for three Tests in late March. Jaffer, who was dropped for the last two Tests in Australia, has come back and scored big. Chopra, on the other hand, has done enough throughout the season to remain in the selectors’ minds. He scored three centuries to aggregate 783 in the Ranji Trophy, the most important innings being his century in the final to resist the Praveen Kumar onslaught. His double-century against East was his third this first-class season.But perhaps the Most Valuable Players might just be Rajat Bhatia and Pathan – their zonal and state teams will have realised that by now. Bhatia has good memories of Wankhede, as it was him and Chopra who scripted an amazing turnaround to help Delhi win the Ranji Trophy.Pathan scored his third whirlwind century of the season in the Duleep Trophy opener, and then took the crucial five-for against the Lions. If one were to pick an XI from the current domestic season, Bhatia, for his consistency, and Pathan, for his audacity, would fight for the allrounder’s slot. The next five days might be a good stage to settle the imaginary contest. Moreover, the two will want to end what has been perhaps their best first-class season on a high note.But the two sides haven’t fared well in their bowling. An obvious reason is they haven’t had the time to figure out the best combination; they have played only two matches together. Munaf Patel and VRV Singh’s availability and non-availability hasn’t helped either. In the one match he played for North, VRV Singh has shown the ability to bowl in devastating bursts. North will look at VRV to be the main strike bowler, with Vikramjeet Malik and Bhatia doing their steady medium-pace bits.The big decision for Manhas is whether to go with two spinners or an extra seamer. If he picks an extra seamer, he has to choose between Ashok Thakur and Samiullah Beigh, and drop either Amit Mishra or Chetanya Nanda. Manhas will have to discuss his match strategies with senior players since North don’t have a coach any more. They had Vijay Dahiya for the first match but he was called back by Delhi to be with the Ranji one-day team.Munaf’s absence, having played the first match and then leaving to join the Indian team in Australia, leaves West without any fire power in the bowling department. Trivedi and Sandeep Jobanputra haven’t really carried their Ranji form over to Duleep and they are left with the difficult task of leading the attack in the final. Rajesh Pawar, who hasn’t made any impression, and Ramesh Powar, who hasn’t even been picked in final XI, have given West further headaches. Parthiv might look towards his state team to strengthen the attack by picking Ashraf Makda and Mohnish Parmar, the latter having made his way into the squad after Powar was dropped.The bowling gives North a slight edge, but this one promises to be a contest between the batsmen. The Wankhede wicket hasn’t troubled the batsmen much this season, and the one for the final looks like another good wicket for them. Both captains said they expected some early movement with good bounce and little lateral movement. That should make stroke-playing easier and productive.Teams: North Zone: Aakash Chopra, Shikhar Dhawan, Karan Goel, Mithun Manhas (capt), Yashpal Singh, Rajat Bhatia, Uday Kaul (wk), Amit Mishra, Chetanya Nanda, Vikramjeet Malik, VRV Singh, Ashok Thakur, Joginder Sharma, Samiullah Beigh, Sachin Rana.West Zone: Sahil Kukreja, Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel (capt/wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Rakesh Solanki, Yusuf Pathan, Rakesh Dhurv, Sandeep Jobanputra, Siddharth Trivedi, Ashraf Makda, Mohnish Parmar, Samad Fallah, Pinal Shah.
Ravi Bopara, the allrounder, insists England need to be at their best if they are to win their Super Eights clash against Ireland. “Ireland have been playing some good cricket,” Bopara, 21, said. “I’ve been watching a few of their games and they look a good side.”The neighbouring countries will play for the second time in less than a year when they walk out in Guyana on Friday. “They’ve already proven they can beat some of the top sides in the world and the main thing for us is to be on top of our game when we face them,” Bopara said. “We may be expected to win, but we all know that cricket doesn’t work like that.”Ireland produced a shock by defeating the former champions Pakistan in the first round and tying with Zimbabwe. England, who like Ireland carry no points from the opening stage, qualified with wins over Kenya and Canada and will appear in the second phase for the first time since 1996.Bopara, who played against Canada when Andrew Flintoff was suspended, said England were targeting a place in the semi-finals. “We played well in the last couple of games in the group stages and we are feeling confident going into the Super Eights,” Bopara said. “It’s always a great feeling to go out and play some games and I am feeling good, I am feeling confident and I am just enjoying myself.” Bopara, who has appeared in three ODIs, scored 29 and picked up 2 for 43 against Canada before bowling only one over against Kenya.