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
Ricky Ponting will need to take a big risk if Australia are to equal the world record of 16 consecutive wins. The mark set by Steve Waugh does not bother Ponting, who refuses to be swayed by statistics, but winning matters a lot to him.India’s impressive first innings has shorn Ponting of time, which has been one of his greatest assets since the drawn match against South Africa in 2005-06. Now he has to dictate proceedings with a declaration that has many consequences.A victory would retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, continue the streak and evaporate the confidence gained by the tourists over the first four days. If India overcome the total set by Ponting suddenly the series is level and the captain will have lost his fourth Test in 40 games. The disruptions caused by rain and bad light on Saturday, which cut 12 overs from the day, did not help Australia’s momentum and a draw remains the most likely result even though play will start half an hour early on the final day.Australia will begin with a lead of 213 that was secured by Matthew Hayden’s 123 and Michael Hussey’s 87 not out. Ponting’s dilemma over how many runs to set India is an unusual one for him. For most of his rule there have been a couple of days to dismiss his opponents rather than the limited opportunities that will be available on day five. This time he has to weigh up his tunnel-vision for victory with the reality of miscalculating a total and suffering defeat. A target of 320 would probably be out of India’s reach, but 270 over two-and-a-bit sessions might be enticing. It is a tricky call.The next Test starts in Perth on January 16 and Australia will be confident of a quick success if the pitch delivers the same steep bounce that was a feature of Australia’s Twenty20 victory over New Zealand last month. India’s discomfort against the short ball will be on display and the series is likely to be decided there if the home side’s fast bowlers perform. It could be a reason for Ponting to play it safe in Sydney.During one of the handful of rain breaks a video of Waugh’s unbeaten run from 1999-2001 was shown to entertain the remaining spectators. It could have stirred the Australians as they sheltered in the dressing room. They spoke about the record only once in the lead-up to the game – Ponting told them to ignore it and concentrate on this match – but it must be hard to avoid getting excited by the chance to equal a world mark.The sense of history and the push for new limits was a feature of the partnership between Waugh and the coach John Buchanan. Buchanan was overseeing the team for the first 12 victories of this streak, but his replacement Tim Nielsen does not motivate the players with the same sort of carrots. When the declaration comes it will be Ponting’s decision and it will show how much he is willing to gamble on victory.
Silver League final Fading light curtailed play on the second day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Silver League final at at the Gaddafi Stadium but not before Multan had taken their overnight 326 for 4 against Islamabad to 514 for 9 declared.Islamabad’s hopes of winning the Silver League final and getting promoted to next season’s Gold League circuit had already been dented, as their captain Rao Iftikhar and allrounder Azhar Mahmood left for South Africa for the one-day international series. Their pace attack had thus been weakened considerably.The result was obvious from Multan’s 500 plus first-innings score. After their overnight batsman Bilal Khilji added only five more runs to be dismissed for 137 off 274 balls with 23 fours and a six, the lower-order batsmen continued in the same relentless manner.Allrounder Kamran Hussain hit an exact 50 off 130 balls with eight fours and with Abdul Rauf helped add 61 runs for the eighth wicket. Rauf made 57 runs off just 83 balls with seven fours and two sixes.Every Multan batsman got into double-figures, except Yasir Arafat, who faced nine balls before getting out for a duck.At 21 for no wicket at stumps, Islamabad still have a mountain to climb. They need another 294 runs to avoid the ignominy of being forced to follow-on. Multan are hoping to return to the Gold League section next season. In 2005-06, they had finished at the bottom of the circuit’s points table and were demoted to the Silver League.Gold League Faisalabad made a strong reply to Karachi Harbour’s first-innings score of 366 with 287 for 3 on the second day of their sixth-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold League match, at the National Stadium on Thursday.Faisalabad middle-order batsman Naved Latif struck top form as he blasted a quick fire 105 off 130 balls with 15 fours and three sixes. He posted his first-class career’s 11th hundred. With captain Misbah-ul-Haq, his third-wicket partnership of 181 runs came in a mere 170 minutes.Earlier, the opening stand was worth 58 runs and the second wicket fell on 102. Imran Ali contributed 46 off 71 balls with six fours and a six while Asif Hussain took just 39 balls to score 33 runs with six fours.The last four Karachi Harbour wickets fell cheaply yesterday morning, colappsing from 323 for 6 to 366 all out. Faisalabad fast bowler Asad Ali finished with figures of 5 for 122 while Ahmed Hayat took 3 for 59. Danish Kaneria, who recently returned from South Africa, conceded 80 runs in his 23 overs without any success.Faisalabad managed to lift themselves from the bottom position in the table and thus may have averted the ignominy of being demoted to next season’s Silver League circuit. They are now only 79 runs behind Karachi with seven wickets in hand.Karachi Harbour are currently placed at number five in the seven-team Gold League table with a tally of just 12 points, through a win, two defeats and a draw from their four previous appearances. Like Rawalpindi and Peshawar above them, they don’t appear to have any chance left to make it to the final.Defending champions Sialkot appear ready to displace Karachi Urban from the top of the Gold League points table as they bagged a 166-run first-innings lead on the second day at the Jinnah Stadium on Thursday.Aiming to overhaul Karachi Urban’s first-innings total of 164, Sialkot responded strongly with a score of 330 that gave them the advantage. By the close of play, Karachi had made 76 in their second innings for the loss of three wickets. They were still 90 runs in deficit.Having resumed at their overnight 53 for 0, Sialkot were rattled by Urban pace bowler Rajesh Ramesh who claimed all six wickets as the home side slumped to just 130 for 6, still 34 runs behind. A 132-run seventh-wicket stand then changed the entire complexion of the match.Middle-order batsman Ayub Dogar scored his maiden first-class century in his 21st match, his 127 combined with a rollicking knock of 77 by wicketkeeper Haafiz Khalid took Sialkot well beyond Karachi’s total.Rajesh didn’t take any more wickets and returned figures of 6 for 145 in 22 overs and took a battering from Ayub and Khalid. The tail was polished off by Asif Zakir, who took all the remaining four wickets for 40 runs in 8.5 overs with his off-breaks.Having lifted themselves from the fifth position in the Gold League table to occupy the second spot last week, Sialkot with 21 points are now looking towards retaining their national cricket title that they won last season. They have assured for themselves a spot in the final from February 19 to 23.Karachi Urban, with 24 points from their four previous matches, would still remain with a chance to make the final even if they are beaten here by Sialkot. But they will have to defeat Faisalabad in their seventh and last round match starting next week.Salman Butt played a captain’s knock as Lahore Shalimar made 291 for 5 in reply to Rawalpindi’s 330 runs at the Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) Ground .Butt scored the ninth century of his first-class career and lifted his team’s morale with a knock of 166. He was involved in two fruitful partnerships on the way and hit 12 fours and a six. From 38 for 2, he and Imran Farhat, who played in the recent Test series in South Africa, boosted Lahore with an 85-run third-wicket stand.Farhat scored 42 off 82 balls with nine fours. Butt was then joined by Aamer Sajjad in a fourth-wicket stand that produced 155 runs. Sajjad remained unbeaten on 49 off 111 balls with six fours.Lahore Shalimar were only 39 runs behind Rawalpindi with five wickets intact. Of their five wickets to fall, fast bowler Yasir Arafat took 3 for 60.Rawalpindi, who for a while occupied the top spot in the Gold League table, are playing their last match of the competition. They now appear to have lost the battle to make it to the final of the tournament. They have 21 points and are third in the ranking. Lahore Shalimar are already at rock bottom in the table. In case they stay there, they will be demoted to the Silver League circuit of the next season.
Moises Henriques produced an allround display of sheer class as Australiacrushed Sri Lanka at the SSC to progress to the semi-finals. Not contentwith knocking the stuffing out of the Sri Lankan batting, he then smashedan uncompromising 79 off 60 balls against a deflated attack. Tom Cooperwas no slouch either with 84 off 93 as the pair flayed a stand of 146 in21 overs.While the clean striking from Henriques was breathtaking, his massive hits were effortless, sailing miles into the stands. He cleared the ropes on six occasions, one of which landed on the roof of the press box – a monstrous blow – and never came down again. Cooper had begun the chase in emphatic style, piercing the field off front and back foot and displaying another example of the form he produced against South Africa inthe opening match, where he made 104.Australia’s intent to finish this match quickly, and not give the SriLanka spinners a chance to dominate, was evident when Henriques came in atNo. 3. The team management explained they didn’t see any point nudgingaround for the runs, something the top order clearly agreed with.Henriques was delighted with the crushing nature of the win: “Everythingwent our way. It is sometimes difficult chasing a low target and you canstart pushing around a little, but we just went out there and played asthough we were batting first.”He also added that the cut-throat approach was something that had beendiscussed by the team. “Being ruthless is one thing we have really workedon, when a team is down and are we are on top we need to nail them. It showed atthe end, where we could have easily lost a late wicket, but we fought hardto make sure we didn’t lose our intensity and make it all the moreconvincing.”Each Sri Lankan bowler was treated with equal disdain, the slow left-armerMalinga Pushpakumara being creamed for 52 in five overs. They werehampered by Angelo Mathews’ inability to bowl, owing to a groin strainwhich has troubled him throughout the tournament. His injury created amoment of controversy when he was allowed a runner, despite having comeinto the match carrying the injury.However, even if Mathews had been fully fit it would not have made muchdifference. Sri Lanka never looked like being able to replicate thetriumph of their senior side in Adelaide, yesterday, and were underpressure from the moment that Adam Ritchard removed Dimuth Karunaratne inthe second over. By the end of the ninth over Henriques had begun his tourde force with two wickets, and the innings was struggling at 23 for 3.Once again in this tournament, the Australia seamers managed to extractbounce from the pitch that no other team has managed. Twice the Sri Lankanbatsmen were struck on the body or helmet and the quicks were not shy of using the short ball – and to good effect. Ritchard ensured Sri Lanka could never find any momentum, bowling his ten overs off the reel for just 20 runs, and Henriques explained: “The ball was swinging around early so we decided to keep him on as long as we could and he ended up bowling all ten.”Only when Mathews and Dilhan Cooray were together did the innings threatento gain any semblance of control, their stand of 62 the only obstacle to Australia’s march. Henriques broke the stand – no surprise given the day he was having – with a great delivery that squared-up Mathews, shortly after the Sri Lankan captain had asked for the runner.This is not a bad Sri Lankan team but they had nothing to offer againsttheir rampant opponents, despite having home advantage. After a scareagainst West Indies in the qualifying matches, Australia are peaking whenit really matters. They are two wins away from burying the memories of2004 in Bangladesh, and in this form they will take some stopping.
As the Zimbabwe squad prepares to travel to South Africa for the forthcoming Test and ODi series, Dean du Plessis, a local analyst, claimed that most players are not fit enough for the demands of international cricket.”The majority of the players need to bulk-up, to play at the highest level," he told the Zimbabwe Standard. "Our bowlers do not benefit from the weight-load that comes with a bigger physique. The other thing is our bowlers are not consistent enough … impressing in one match only to flop in the next. Those were our biggest let-downs in Bangladesh and unless the team improves on those, then we will be in big trouble when we tour South Africa."Zimbabwe led the five-match one-day series against Bangladesh 2-0 before squandering that lead and losing the last three matches. Many blamed the side for not being fit enough and quite literally running out of steam when it mattered.The Standard also quoted Nick Chouhan, a former board member, as saying that the administration lacked professionalism in its approach, making it hard for the team to function to its full potential. He cited the comments made by Richie Kaschula to the effect that the defeats were the fault of coach Phil Simmons as being a prime example."What Kaschula has done is highly unprofessional and deplorable," Chouhan told the paper. "They should have waited for Simmons to present his report on what transpired first and in private, rather than condemn the man in the press. You would not expect such things from a national selector.”
Andrew Flintoff: another day, another fifty, another Man of the match award
England comfortably won the final ODI at Dhaka and thus completed a 3-0 clean sweep in this short series. They were made to work a touch harder for it this time, but Bangladesh’s fighting total of 182, in which their lower order again helped them out, was still never going to be enough. Marcus Trescothick led the reply with a calm half-century before Paul Collingwood and that man Andrew Flintoff again led England home with 10 overs to spare, and to their third consecutive seven-wicket win.After Vikram Solanki, who scored only 11 runs in the series, again fell early with an angled slash outside off stump off Mushfiqur Rahman for 1, Trescothick and Michael Vaughan and took their time to build a winning platform – the first boundary of the innings, from Vaughan, didn’t come until the seventh over.The Bangladesh attack kept things tight, but only Rahman posed any real threat, and he trapped Vaughan lbw in the 16th over with one that moved in off the seam a touch and hit Vaughan plumb in front for 29 (66 for 2). Rahman bowled with good pace and movement, but after he finished his spell of 2 for 29 from his 10 overs, the game was all but over.Trescothick started to stamp a calm authority on the game, picking out the singles with ease and unleashing the odd big hit. He came down the track to Khaled Mahmud and smacked him over long-on for four, and then carved him over point for his fifth boundary. Collingwood, meanwhile, was happy to pick out the many gaps in the field, including a huge heave off the left-arm spinner Manjural Islam Rana over midwicket for four and a dazzling lofted cover-drive.Trescothick, just after reaching his fifty, then played around a straight one from Mahmud which kept low and bowled him (102 for 3). The under-fire Mahmud had some good news for once – but the sight of Flintoff striding out wiped the smile off his face pretty quickly.Flintoff waited for six overs to signal the charge. But after a quiet start he suddenly drove Rafique past mid-on for four and then deposited him over long-on to pass Ian Botham’s record of the most sixes by an Englishman in ODIs. That strike was Flintoff’s 45th maximum, beating Botham’s 44 in 65 matches. Then just for good measure, he smashed Tapash Baisya over midwicket for another four. And you know it’s your day when even the umpires don’t want you to get out. After missing a sweep against Manjural, Flintoff somehow survived a stumping which Akhtaruddin, the third umpire, decided wasn’t out.From then on, it was a stroll under the Dhaka lights for Collingwood and Flintoff, who collected his third Man of the Match award. He hammered a further three sixes to take it his tally to ten in the series, which he has dominated from the start. But at least the England batsmen were pushed a touch harder this time for their routine victory after Bangladesh made a much better fist of things to reach a respectable 182 from 49.1 overs.
James Anderson strikes early, catching Moniruzzaman off his own bowling
After the hapless Moniruzzaman was caught and bowled by James Anderson for a second successive duck (6 for 1), Hannan Sarkar and Habibul Bashar, arguably Bangladesh’s best batsmen, did their best to keep up the a refreshingly competitive run-rate. Collingwood checked their progress with a spectacular throw off balance to run out Hannan (35 for 2), but unlike the previuos two games, there was no sudden wicket landslide. Habibul, with the help of Rajin Saleh, put on a sturdy partnership of 31. It wasn’t exciting stuff, but it represented a definite improvement.But in between the odd big hit, England slowly reasserted the pressure, and Rikki Clarke undid all the batsmen’s good early work with two quick wickets. He struck with his first ball when Habibul played right across the line to a dead-eyed straight delivery and was lbw (66 for 3). In the next over, Gareth Batty’s first, Saleh attempted to sweep a straight ball, but only gloved it over his head to Chris Read for 19 (75 for 4). Things got even worse when Alok Kapali was bowled by Clarke trying a horrible pull shot off a ball far too full, and lost his off stump (83 for 5).Then followed the farcical run-out of Mahmud, the beleagured captain. He and Rahman both ended up at the non-striker’s end, and there was a slight delay as the third umpire worked out who was actually out. England wanted the more dangerous Rahman to go, but the crowd wanted the head of Mahmud – and they got it (103 for 6).However, England’s bowlers again failed to polish off the tail. Rahman injected 36 valuable runs, with five boundaries, to the total before he was unluckily given out lbw to Flintoff (139 for 7). Flintoff’s yorker then again paid dividends when he cleaned up Mashud, who hung around for 16. Manjural and Rafique further frustrated England until two late strikes by James Kirtley ended their innings on 183 with five balls remaining.Vaughan and his side now head to Sri Lanka with a clean sweep in both the Bangladesh series, but it’s a different story for Khaled Mahmud, who may well have played his last match for Bangladesh.