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As someone mentioned very early in the piece, “This was old fashioned Test cricket”. That was exactly the truth. With England scoring 221 while losing 5 wickets in 89.4 overs, the sold-out crowd of about 19,000 paying patrons could not be dissatisfied. Honors would be about even too, with England, at 159-0 at one stage, winning the first part of the day, up to exactly the tea interval, then allowing that initiative to slip away somewhat as the West Indies rebounded to take five wickets, one immediately before tea, the rest after the second interval of the day. Yes, it was an old fashioned Test day.When Jimmy Adams won the toss and elected to field first, he took the easier, and in my mind, the better, way out. Okay, the pitch was supposed to do nothing, as the recent Oval pitches have done, for the faster bowlers. If there has been a better batting track during the Test series so far, I have not seen it, but bowl the West Indies had to. When comparing the relative returns of the West Indies team, the bowlers and their efforts far outweighed the batters, so with a 60-40 equation to the bowlers, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose and Jimmy Adams had no choice but to field first, especially with the thought of trying to square the series at the back of their minds.Mike Atherton and Marcus Trescothick started well, and I was sure that Atherton was good for a big innings here. He is much too good a batsman not to score at the right time, especially on this pitch, and he was simply due some runs. My feeling was amplified when he and Trescothick took nearly six overs to get the score board moving. They simply were taking their time, with no rush at all. I was sure then that the West Indies were in for a hard day.By the time lunch had arrived, with England on 66-0 from 29 overs, one thing was already very evident. For once, Ambrose and Walsh were struggling to maintain the impeccable length and especially line that they are so renowned for. For once, the two great fast bowlers took a session off. That progressed to the second session, as both Atherton, playing majestically, and Trescothick, playing with the aplomb of a veteran after just a few Test matches, looked as if nothing would remove them. Then, wonder of all wonders, Mahendra Nagamootoo, the leg-spinner, struck.Actually Nagamootoo bowled pretty well. He finished his first day of Test cricket, the 235th (only) person to have played Test cricket for the West Indies, with a very credible 24-7-63-2; not bad figures at all for a player who was brought on this tour to, more or less, learn something about bowling, after being rewarded with this tour for his 31 wickets in the Busta Cup first class series back in the Caribbean this year. That he was selected at all for this Test must have depended greatly on the fitness of the other faster bowlers. He held his own well.Nagamootoo is a nephew of that wonderful Guyanese and West Indies left-handed batsmen, Alvin Kallicharran. Indeed, he could well have been selected, too, because he has just made his maiden first class century, against Somerset; selected for his first Test because of his batting, even though he is supposedly a leg-spinner. He is also the 4th such bowler that the West Indies have used on tours in the last four years, the others being Dininath Ramnarine and Rajendra Dhanraj, both of Trinidad & Tobago, and Rawl Lewis, of Grenada. At least, Nagamootoo looked more aggressive that any of his predecessors, even if he does not turn the ball as much as perhaps Lewis and Ramnarine.Once Thescothick had gone for a well made 78, on the tea interval, and Nasser Hussein was also dismissed in the same over, two balls after that interval, for no score, the West Indies were in with a fighting chance of winning the day. The West Indies continued their afternoon effort well with another support bowler, Nixon McLean, beating Mike Atherton, who looked certain for his 15 Test hundred, for pace and removed his off bail with a good off-cutter; Atherton out for an excellent 83, including twelve superlative fours. His only regret could be that he did not eventually make 100. Then both Alec Stewart, playing at home, and Michael Vaughan, were out LBW, and a day when the West Indies would have wondered if they had made the wrong decision came back to some parity.My own belief is that England are still ahead somewhat, as “real” batsmen Graeme Hick and Graeme Thorpe still remain. Hick was involved, remember, with a partnership with Vaughn, at the last Test at Leeds, which was worth 98, the winning partnership of that game. England’s ploy of keeping the extra batsman was again paying off well.Come Day 2, the West Indies have the option of taking the new ball. Though Ambrose and Walsh did look somewhat out of sorts early in the 1st Day, and somewhat tired at the end of it, Adams will have no trouble in making that decision to get that new ball working first thing in the morning. If the West Indies are to win this game, they must bowl England out before lunch on Day 2, for less than 275. Then they must set about batting for two days. On this pitch, perhaps the words of the West Indies Assistant Coach, Jeffrey Dujon, would come to pass:”We must endeavor to bat only once,” he says, “then we can put the pressure on England to save the game if we have at least a first innings lead of about 150-200.”That is true, and on such a pitch as this, it can be done, but Brian Lara and company will have to bat with blood in their eyes, fight to the death. England might have something to say about that.

Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino has emerged as an unlikely hero in recent weeks, popping up with some big goals in cup games – including a brace against Norwich City in the week – leading him to be dubbed a “new Luis Suarez” due to the former Kop hero’s history of also terrorising the Canaries.

The Japan international has netted a goal every 47 minutes this season in the Premier League, as well as a goal every 68 minutes in the FA Cup and every 77 minutes in the Carabao Cup – and it would be harsh to pin that all down to him mainly appearing off the bench when teams are already tired.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp labelled him “incredible” after the match in midweek, while experienced midfielder James Milner also gave him some high praise, saying: “What a guy, what a player. He’s patient. Every time he comes in and he delivers.

“He just carried on. He’s brilliant in training. Great temperament. I’m absolutely delighted for him.”

The performance should be enough for Klopp to decide on giving him more chances in the Premier League from the start, beginning with this evening’s game against West Ham, where he could really give Pablo Fornals and Aaron Cresswell nightmares should he be given the nod.

Statistically, Minamino is one of the best wingers in the world right now at pressing high and defending from the front, ranking in the top 1% in Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions for successful pressures with 7.88 per 90; and also for pressures in the middle third, with 12.82 per 90.

With an attack as good as Liverpool’s, it’s hard to pick a player to drop. However, one man who could benefit from a rest is Diogo Jota. The Portuguese forward has suffered a slight dip in form since his brace against Leicester in the second week of February, failing to register a goal or assist in his four games since.

The 25-year-old has featured in every single Liverpool league game since mid-October and covered well for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane while the star duo were at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Minamino’s recent form could provide Klopp with a good opportunity to not only rest Jota over the next few weeks, but also test out whether or not the 27-year-old can truly reach a new level of his game and put in some equally impressive performances in the Premier League with goals and assists.

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If the Japanese maestro carries his cup form into this evening’s clash and is given an overdue first league start of the campaign, he could terrorise West Ham’s backline.

In other news: Liverpool dealt big injury setback ahead of West Ham clash, fans surely gutted

	Scott Styris has called time on his Test career © Getty Images

New Zealand’s fragile batting order was left with even less depth with Scott Styris announcing his retirement from Tests and first-class cricket. Styris was dropped from the Test side for last month’s series against Bangladesh and he said he was resigned to remaining on the fringes for the upcoming England games.Styris said he wanted to quit playing Tests in a bid to prolong his ODI and Twenty20 career. “The rigours of international cricket have become increasingly demanding and I would like to extend my career by focusing on shorter versions of the game,” he said. “I am really enjoying both one-day and Twenty20 cricket and I’m looking forward to being heavily involved with the New Zealand national team on our journey to the World Cup in 2011.”Styris’ retirement leaves New Zealand with several changes to their Test line-up compared to 13 months ago. Shane Bond has joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and Nathan Astle quit at the start of 2007, while Craig McMillan and Hamish Marshall, neither of whom were certainties in the Test team, have also walked away.Injuries, including back problems, have been a constant concern for Styris in recent years. “I have found the niggles and injuries associated with the longer form of the game were making it difficult for me to get on to the park.”The decision has been coming for a few months and I have been in regular contact with the selectors in relation to this decision.” In his 29 Tests Styris scored 1586 runs at 36.04, including five centuries.New Zealand Cricket CEO Justin Vaughan said Styris had the full support of the New Zealand board in making his decision. “Scott has a lot to offer in the shorter versions of the game and I am certain that this decision will help Scott to be available for the national team for several years to come.” Styris was New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in ODIs in 2007, making 848 runs at 56.53.

James Anderson’s injury jinx has struck again © Getty Images

England won’t decide on James Anderson’s availability for Friday’s game against New Zealand until the morning of the match.Anderson cracked his little finger during the team’s fielding practice in St Lucia on Wednesday and, though he trained with the team today – batting, bowling and fielding with a heavily strapped hand – the decision will be delayed until tomorrow.Anderson flew home early from Australia after suffering pain in his lower back. Last year he missed a whole season with a stress fracture of the spine but was starting to find his best form during the CB Series before the England management took the precautionary measure of sending him home.He’d been expected to come back into the England line-up against New Zealand although he would have faced stiff competition with Liam Plunkett, Sajid Mahmood and Jon Lewis for the pace bowling slots.

New Zealand Cricket is considering mothballing the No. 6 shirt worn by Chris Cairns following his retirement from international cricket.Lindsay Crocker, the team manager, said the idea had been raised by some senior players and it has also won support among board officials. He added that there was no need to be rushed into a decision. He also dismissed suggestions that qualification levels needed to be set for future candidates “otherwise we’ll start getting into more double numbers and possibly three numbers. Also it’s just not Cairnsy. Obviously you’ll have [Stephen] Fleming and Chris Harris who have played for a long time.”Crocker also pointed out that greats from earlier eras when shirts did not have numbers would not be comparable to modern stars. “Ten years ago you had Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe who played without numbers but were the best in the game, but they never had a shirt retired.”The only other New Zealand player to have had a shirt retired is Gavin Larsen, whose No. 36 top was put to one side on his retirement.

New Zealand Cricket’s inquiry placed Tuffey in an awkward position© Getty Images

Daryl Tuffey was fined $1000 (US$740) this week for acting against the interests of New Zealand Cricket after he failed to destroy promptly a digital film. Despite doing little else wrong, Tuffey suffered unnecessarily after his case was made public.The facts are simple. Tuffey got caught on video with a woman, doing what adults who fancy one another do, got filmed doing it and, after he realised he had been recorded, didn’t act quickly enough to remove the evidence. NZC said Tuffey had acted against their interests and committed serious misconduct, which he admitted to.It would seem an open and shut case: set the penalty and get on with playing cricket. Yet the formal inquiry dragged on for a week and became the latest hot topic for talkback radio and office gossip. The media widely reported that the matter involved Tuffey and a woman, and a logical inference from the serious nature of the inquiry was that whatever went on was not consensual. But Hugh Rennie QC, who conducted the investigation, found the contact between Tuffey and the woman was consensual and discontinued by them voluntarily.Mr Rennie heard the matter on March 8 and interviewed further witnesses before releasing his report on Tuesday. The need for more questions was odd as Tuffey admitted the charge at the hearing. If it was a criminal matter, the charge would have been read and Tuffey would have been asked to plead. If he admitted the charge, as he did in this case, he would then have been sentenced.Mr Rennie said he received extensive information from people with direct knowledge of the events and that Tuffey had openly and frankly answered all matters raised. “The formal allegation made by NZ Cricket is admitted by Mr Tuffey,” Mr Rennie said in the report. “He took this action immediately and voluntarily.”The last sentence is significant. The implication from Mr Rennie’s report is that Tuffey admitted his guilt when the charge was laid before the hearing. If NZC wanted independent input from that situation Mr Rennie’s role could have been merely to sentence Tuffey rather than put him on trial.The strangest aspect of the report was that it didn’t spell out what the serious misconduct was. Instead of finding the information in the first paragraph, the best description is at the end of the findings where Mr Rennie said Tuffey “acknowledged to me that his conduct was serious misconduct in terms of his agreement with NZ Cricket” and that “from the inquiries I have made, he has acted correctly in making these admissions”. What the matter is really about – Tuffey acting contrary to the interests of NZC – is buried in Mr Rennie’s analysis of the gravity of the offence on page 3.Although Tuffey did little wrong, the $1000 fine is probably justified as he admitted the offence. If his actions were at the serious end of the scale then what penalty would await a player whose misconduct is of a minor nature? The real problem lies in the ambit of a crime. Just as the basic criminal charge of disorderly behaviour catches even the most harmless of activity, it is unavoidable that the expression “contrary to NZC’s interests” will pick up almost any incident.There are no winners here. Tuffey has suffered public humiliation far beyond what his actions justified. NZC may cop flak for bringing up an allegation that the public cannot be faulted for struggling to see what Tuffey did wrong.

Following their selection in the Australian team for the first 3 Test against India in Brisbane next week, Steve Waugh, Simon Katich, Stuart MacGill and Nathan Bracken have been named in the SpeedBlitz Blues team to play Tasmania in an ING Cup match in Hobart on Saturday November 29th, 2003.The Chief Executive of Cricket NSW David Gilbert has announced the side, which hopes to win its third match of the Summer, after victories over Victoria and Western Australia.

Stephen Waugh (C)
Brad Haddin
Simon Katich
Michael Clarke
Mark Waugh
Phil Jaques
Dominic Thornely
Stuart MacGill
Nathan Bracken
Stuart Clark
Matthew Nicholson
Shawn Bradstreet

HD Ackerman has withdrawn from the Nashua WP team to play EP Jumbos in a vital Standard Bank Cup match in Port Elizaberth on Friday. Ackerman has not recovered from a shoulder injury suffered during last Friday’s match against Griquas at Newlands.

NASHUA WESTERN PROVINCE Vs  EASTERN PROVINCESTANDARD BANK CUPSt. Georges Park25   January 20021)Graeme Smith2)Lloyd Ferreira3)Neil Johnson   ( C )4)Andrew Puttick5)Ashwell Prince6)Jonathan Trott7)Thami Tsolekile8)Claude Henderson9)Roger Telemachus10)Quinton Friend11)Charl Willoughby12th )Renier Munnik

A pitch giving a little help to bowlers resulted in another LoganCup match in which the first-innings advantage was settled on thefirst day, and when the lack of quality of much of the cricketwas compensated for by a goodly portion of interest andexcitement. Mashonaland batted poorly to total 170, whileMatabeleland looked to be matching them error for error until alusty ninth-wicket partnership took them into a 27-run lead bythe close, with two wickets still in hand.The pitch, according to the players, had more bounce than anormal BAC pitch, but as usual it had a bit of movement for theseamers early on, playing easier as the match went on.Matabeleland captain Mark Abrams therefore put Mashonaland in tobat on winning the toss and had instant reward, as Matabelelandtook wickets with the fifth balls of the first two overs. JohnRennie swung the first ball in and only just missed DarlingtonMatambanadzo’s off stump as he shouldered arms. Off the fifthball Matambanadzo, who had already flicked and missed outside offstump, nudged a catch to keeper Warren Gilmour without a run onthe board. At the other end, after a leg-bye, his replacementBrad Robinson drove a four through the covers but then presentedGilmour with another catch off a loose stroke outside off stump.Both batsmen revealed their lack of three-day experience andtechnique.Gavin Rennie looked in fine form, though, taking advantage ofsome loose bowling to play some fine strokes, especially off theback foot through the covers. After ten overs Mashonaland were42 for two, Rennie having 25 of them. Dirk Viljoen playedhimself in slowly, and the fifty partnership had just come upwhen John Rennie won a most unbrotherly lbw appeal against Gavin(32). Craig Evans flattered briefly but only to deceive, hittinghis first three Logan Cup fours of the tournament beforeobligingly hooking Mark Abrams down the throat of long-leg JasonHitz, making Mashonaland 87 for four.Viljoen was looking in good form, but as so often he failed to goon to a big score, caught at the wicket fishing outside off stumpfor 36 to Rennie, who persuaded his captain to keep him on forover after over. This was on the stroke of lunch, whenMashonaland were on 111 for five (Don Campbell 13).After the break, captain Gus Mackay was soon pulling and drivingfiercely in typical fashion, hitting four powerful fours and athree in his 19 before slashing Rennie to backward point – 133for seven. A solid partnership then formed between Campbell, whohad been most unconvincing at first, and Anton Hoffman, who byway of contrast was soon into his stride with some powerfulstrokes. Rennie carried on bowling until suddenly, in his 22ndover unchanged, he pulled a tendon and had to leave the field.Perhaps he was not properly warmed up. He had exploited theconditions superbly, getting both seam and swing, and taken fivegood wickets for 70.When the stand was finally broken, Hoffman (20) swinging a catchbackward of square leg to Abrams off Hitz at 170, the inningscollapsed without addition. Ian Engelbrecht came on to bowl hisfirst over of left-arm spin, and that proved to be enough.Campbell, trying to sweep, was yorked leg stump, and last manGary du Plessis sliced a catch to backward point, and Mashonalandhad put up another unconvincing batting performance, with most oftheir batsmen falling to soft dismissals. There was too muchextravagant strokeplay, a luxury when the pitch was rather slowand the ball not coming on to the bat. The innings lasted a mere45 overs.Mashonaland soon picked up a fortuitous wicket as Wisdom Siziba,before he had scored, flicked a ball off the full face of the batstraight into the chest of short-leg Brad Robinson, where itstuck. Mark Vermeulen immediately showed how he has grown inconfidence since his 197 against Midlands last weekend, takingtoll of some loose bowling with some cultured drives. Perhaps hewas a little over-confident at first, as he played a couple ofuppish strokes that just evaded the field, but he soon settleddown to reveal his genuine class, albeit against rathersecond-rate bowling.Charles Coventry kept him company with a useful 19 before beingcaught at the wicket driving outside the off stump, makingMatabeleland 49 for two at that stage. Dion Ebrahim also playedsome good strokes but did not last, being well caught slashing byCampbell, standing up to the medium-paced du Plessis. WithAbrams adjudged lbw to Viljoen without scoring, Matabeleland wentin to tea on 70 for four (Vermeulen 39).Afterwards Vermeulen continued his calm demolition of thebowling, playing some particularly exquisite cover drives. SanyoNyakutse looked uncertain at first, but then hit two off-sidefours off Hoffman and seemed to be settling down. But he wasthen deceived by the flight of Peacock and moved down the pitchto be yorked for 16, making Matabeleland 117 for five.Wicket-keeper Warren Gilmour immediately looked a soundreplacement, playing the bowling on its merits and allowingVermeulen to take centre stage.So well was Vermeulen batting that he looked set to challenge his197 of last week, but on reaching the eighties he became boggeddown. The bowling and fielding tightened up and he suddenlyfound himself unable to pierce the field. Eventually, with 87 tohis credit, he latched on to a short ball from Evans but hit itstraight down the throat of Dan Peacock on the midwicketboundary. Two more wickets quickly followed, as Gilmour (27) wascaught behind while fencing outside off stump, and IanEngelbrecht (0) was adjudged lbw despite playing well forward,both to Everton Matambanadzo.At 162 for eight, a first-innings lead by Matabeleland was now indoubt, but John Rennie and Jason Hitz battled it out, without arun coming off the bat for several overs. Finally Hitz slammedViljoen high to cow-shot corner for a four to take the lead, andfollowed it with another four to long leg. At which Rennie, notto be outdone, pulled Matambanadzo for two fours and then Viljoenfor a six. He continued to hit merrily until the close, whenMatabeleland finished on 197 for eight, with himself on 20 andHitz 10.

Tottenham Hotspur is reportedly a realistic destination for Romelu Lukaku in the summer.

The Lowdown: Lukaku’s struggles

It is safe to say that the Belgian has had his struggles since returning to Chelsea last summer, with a bust-up between Thomas Tuchel and him over an interview the striker gave claiming that he was unhappy at Stamford Bridge being widely reported.

On the pitch, he has not been able to have the sort of impact that you would expect from a player who cost a whopping £97.5m to sign from Inter Milan.

He has scored just 10 goals across all competitions so far this season, with only five in the Premier League (record of a mere seven touches of the ball in the Blues’ 1-0 win away to Crystal Palace, the fewest of any outfield player to feature for a full 90 minutes in a top-flight match since such records began being taken.

Thus, with Kai Havertz scoring in midweek in the Champions League against Lille in a false-nine position, there are now question marks over whether Lukaku should really play instead of him in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on Sunday.

The Latest: Tottenham move for Lukaku?

As per Calciomercato, Tottenham is now the ‘only realistic escape route’ for Lukaku if he is to move on in the summer.

The Belgium international reportedly ‘wants’ to leave the Blues, and he could make the switch to north London if the deal is right.

The Verdict: Shock

It would certainly be a shock if Lukaku moved across the capital to Spurs, even if his former manager Antonio Conte is in charge at N17.

Having excelled under the Italian’s management, scoring no fewer than 64 times and supplying a further 17 assists in just 95 matches under the 52-year-old at Inter (Transfermarkt), it would not be a surprise if Conte wanted to work with him once more.

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The Italian even called the 28-year-old a ‘gentle giant’ when he was managing at the San Siro, so it seems clear that they have a good relationship off the pitch as well.

However, it seems strange that Lukaku, who Thomas Tuchel has dubbed ‘world-class‘, would leave Chelsea after just one campaign when so much money was spent on him, especially to a major London rival in Tottenham.

In other news, Spurs are also eyeing a move for this ‘quality’ playmaker