The Indian board (BCCI) has told Cricinfo that it will be lodging a complaint with the ECB following confirmation that the PCB has issued No Objection Certificates to Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, allowing them to play county cricket in 2008.The two players are involved with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League and Niranjan Shah, the BCCI’s secretary, told Cricinfo that “we have an understanding with the other countries’ boards that they can’t allow players who are associated with the ICL to be allowed to play at any level, regardless of the reason the player has a contract with his board or not.”If the news is true that the two players have been given NOCs by the PCB then we will take up the issue with the ECB since the two counties – Sussex and Yorkshire – come under the jurisdiction of the England board.”The ECB, however, is legally powerless to take any action in the light of the NOCs being granted and is likely to pass the matter back to the Indian board to sort out directly with its Pakistan counterparts.The situation is further muddied by confusion within the PCB about the issuing of an NOC to Naved-ul-Hasan. On Thursday, Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, told Reuters that “the factual position is that some counties had asked the PCB to issue NOC’s for these players. But we’ve now informed them very clearly that since these players are not contracted to us nor eligible to play in Pakistan we don’t come anywhere into this issue at all.”But less than a day later, Naghmi gave Cricinfo an altogether different picture. “Our board’s policy on the ICL remains as it has always been and these players cannot play in Pakistan,” he said. “But the board also felt that there is no legal or moral reason in stopping someone from playing cricket in another country. That is subject to their laws. So, on this basis, we have sent an NOC, which maybe wasn’t as well-worded as planned, but the intention was made clear.”Stewart Regan, the Yorkshire chief executive, told Cricinfo that the NOC had in fact been received last week and was dated March 17. “We have a signed letter that is very clear in confirming they [the PCB] have no objection,” he said. This was then sent to the ECB, along with the player’s registration form, and was accepted by the board.Today’s news follows the revelations last week that the ECB had refused registrations for five players because of their participation in the ICL. But with Pakistan approving Mushtaq and Naved-ul-Hasan, and in so doing leaving the England board with no room for manoeuvre, there are certain to be some terse exchanges between the PCB and the BCCI in the coming days.
A match that swung from one side to the other was decided by two exceptional overs from L Balaji, the India international: he first picked up two crucial wickets in the 13th over to seize the initiative for his side, then picked up the IPL’s first hat-trick in the final over to finish the match. Balaji’s performance, in front of an ecstatic home crowd, pushed Chennai Super Kings to second place in the points table and ended Kings XI Punjab’s streak of five successive wins.Chasing a stiff 182, Punjab lost two early wickets but Shaun Marsh stayed calm at the other end, working the Chennai bowlers into the gaps for runs while picking up the odd boundaries. As the asking-rate escalated to over ten, Marsh decided to step it up, punishing Palani Amarnath for two sixes over the straight boundary and bringing up his fifty with another clean straight hit, off Balaji.If Marsh appeared as if he’d just arrived after a stint at a driving range, Ramnaresh Sarwan, with whom he put on 66, was a touch slow with 20 off 22 balls and his inability to hit a boundary suggested why his Twenty20 strike-rate is less than a run-a-ball.Their partnership was looking threatening, though, before both fell in one match-turning over from Balaji. Ambling in from a shortened run and putting in the effort in his final stride, he varied his deliveries, mixing up slower balls with shorter ones, with some surprising the batsmen. He got Sarwan with the first ball, the batsman bowled while giving the charge. Four balls later Marsh followed, top-edging to Amarnath on the square-leg boundary.Amarnath tightened the screws in the next over, having Yuvraj Singh caught by Stephen Fleming at point, and the match was almost over as a contest. Not as a spectacle, though.The 15th over saw a mini-battle between Muttiah Muralitharan and his Sri Lanka team-mate Mahela Jayawardene, who got down on his knees and dispatched him over deep midwicket. Two balls later, though, a repeat effort resulted in a top edge to S Vidyut at short third man, and Jayawardene, normally accustomed to running to congratulate his leading bowler, had to head back to the dugout.And then there was the hat-trick, in the last over of the match. There were four balls to go and 19 runs to get when Balaji bowled to Irfan Pathan, who’d already hit him for a six off the first ball. This time, he holed out to a slower ball to deep square leg. Next, Piyush Chawla lofted one towards long-off for an easy catch, and the hat-trick was completed when VRV Singh managed to back away and top-edge one straight to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.Badrinath, a local boy like Balaji, and Dhoni had earlier threatened to take the game away as Michael Hussey had done in the previous encounter between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab, but Punjab’s bowlers did well to restrict the flow of runs in the final five overs of the innings.Dhoni, Chennai’s adopted hero and captain, sent the crowd into raptures soon after his arrival by clobbering Chawla for three sixes; the first two sailed into the leg-side stands, while the third was hit flat over the bowler’s head. Yuvraj soon went in for damage control, bringing on Pathan, his side’s leading wicket-taker, for his second spell as early as the 13th over. Badrinath took two sixes off Pathan and brought up his fifty off 37 deliveries. The two had added 80 off 49 deliveries, and a final flourish was on the cards.Punjab came back well to rein in the rampaging batsmen. Sreesanth had bowled a good first spell in which he removed Chennai’s openers and his final one – the 16th of the innings – went for just five, James Hopes and VRV took the cue and targeted the blockhole, and the run-scoring abated. Chennai got 181, but would be disappointed at not having been able to go past the 200-run mark, which looked likely at one stage.
The last time these two teams played each other, the pitch at Eden Gardens took centrestage as the ball kicked up, scooted low, jagged around, and in general made life miserable for the batsmen. VVS Laxman hit out at the surface after his team was at the wrong end of the result, but here his team have a chance to avenge that defeat, and more importantly, inject some momentum into what has so far been a disastrous campaign – with two wins in eight games, they are sitting at the bottom of the table and each of their last six matches are virtually must-win games for them.Kolkata arrested a worrying four-match slide with a thrilling five-run win against Bangalore, but the fact that the worst team in the tournament pushed them all the way remains a cause for worry, as does the fact that the batting hasn’t yet inspired any confidence yet. They have played one less game than Deccan, though, and a win on Sunday will put them on eight points from as many games, and in a good position to push for a semi-final spot.Both teams will also have to battle their unfavourable home and away records. Deccan have lost all three games at home, while Kolkata have lost three out of four away matches. Deccan also have a huge problem when batting first: they have lost all five games when setting a target, and most of those defeats have been convincing ones.
Adam Gilchrist versus Kolkata’s impressive new-ball attack of Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda, who have both been among the wickets.
Shahid Afridi. He has scored just 47 runs in six innings and is due a big one.
Team news
Deccan’s batting has been a huge worry – they’ve depended far too much on Rohit Sharma and Adam Gilchrist, and they could do with more contributions from Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi and Scott Styris, three foreign stars who have contributed little so far. The bowling was lacklustre in the previous game, and Chaminda Vaas could return to the squad to bolster the attack.Deccan Chargers: 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt & wk), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Venugopal Rao, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Shahid Afridi, 6 Ravi Teja, 7 Sanjay Bangar, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 RP Singh, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 DP Vijaykumar.Kolkata have included Shoaib Akhtar in their 14-man squad, but he might find it difficult to break into the XI, considering how well their pace attack has performed. Murali Kartik’s position might be jeopardy after an ordinary performance with the ball against Bangalore, but his vital runs in that match might just give him another opportunity. Salman Butt is almost certain to get a game, after Brad Hodge left the IPL to join the Australian team on their tour to the West Indies.Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Aakash Chopra, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 David Hussey, 5 Tatenda Taibu, 6 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8 Murali Kartik, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda.
Stats and trivia
Adam Gilchrist averages 163 in the two matches that Deccan have won. In the games they have lost, he averages 20.17.
Deccan average 50.67 runs per wicket and 9.12 per over when batting second. When batting first, those numbers drop to 19.74 and 7.70.
Kolkata’s four fast bowlers – Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Ajit Agarkar and Umar Gul – have taken 23 wickets at an average of 23.96 and an economy rate of 7.
Sourav Ganguly has struggled for runs so far, getting just 116 at an average of 16.57 and a strike rate of 88.54.
Quotes
“One can’t take the Chargers lightly. They have Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi, and any one of them can turn the game around.”
If, when Russell Domingo started coaching, he had been told he would inherit a Test team at the top of the rankings and limited-overs sides that had suffered because of it, he would have taken it. When such riches rain on you, you do not consider the subsequent drain even if you know that in any functioning sporting system, there has to be one.Player pools change every few years so no matter whether you jump in at the shallow or the deep end, you are joining a cycle. From the shallow side, things will improve as the younger swimmers are schooled, a community is formed and they find their preferred stoke. From the deep end, the seas get rough, not everybody slips into the same stream and the waters begin to empty.What has made Domingo’s tenure so topsy-turvy is that these two processes have happened at the same time. “When I took over, there was a little bit of instability in the T20 and ODI teams and the Test side was very stable. Now, roles have reversed,” he said during his assessment of South Africa’s tour of India on their return home.South Africa came back with a perfect illustration of that. They T20 and ODI trophies were part of their luggage, which will boost their confidence ahead of next year’s World T20, but their nine-year unbeaten run on the road in Test series was broken. The gains of the former may not outweigh the disappointment of the latter, which is why so much focus has fallen on the longer format.”There is a lot of work to do with the Test side,” Domingo admitted. “Let’s not be naive about that. There are a lot of spots that people have questions about.”Some of those questions were answered a day later, when the selectors named their 13 to face England in the first two Tests. They stuck with opener Stiaan van Zyl despite the difficulties he faced in India, but deposed gloveman Dane Vilas. Their reasoning was that van Zyl needs to be tested in home conditions, having only opened in the subcontinent – he was promoted to the job in July for the Bangladesh series – but Vilas, who has also only played on the subcontinent, was superfluous to requirements that actually called for an extra batsman.That Vilas and his nearest rival Quinton de Kock are also batsmen was not part of the thinking because Temba Bavuma, the middle-order man who impressed when thrust into a role at the top, is more of a batsman and batsmen are in the spotlight. Domingo wants them to know their sails have not been ripped off, they have merely been blown a little off course.”As far as I’m concerned, India was a very tough tour for any batter to go on. We’ve got quality in our batting line-up that wasn’t able to showcase their skills under those conditions against those bowlers but that doesn’t make them bad players,” he said. “Those conditions were really extreme as it shows with the stats of the Indian batters as well.”India struggled only a little less than South Africa until Ajinkya Rahane’s twin tons in the Delhi Test. But the reality remains that no South African scored a hundred and only AB de Villiers managed to pass 50. Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis stonewalled impressively later in the series but balls faced and time batted do not count as much as runs. Bavuma showed some promise, Dean Elgar was caught and released a few times but eventually caught and the rest all took the bait the India spinners put out.In general, South Africa approached spin like a fish out of water but Domingo does not think they could have prepared any differently. Their batting consultant Mike Hussey was with them for a week before the first Test but could not stay. There is no word on if he will back before the England series. “We would have loved to have him longer but he had some other commitments so he wasn’t able to stay through the series but he did add a lot of value prior to the series,” Domingo said.Even when he had left, the team used any extra time as productively as they could. “We kept complimenting the players about the extra work they were putting in and the meticulous way they were trying to work on how to play against the Indian spinners,” Domingo said.Their floundering took place in the mind where the constant threat posed by both pitch and opposition players took its toll. “We were always under pressure and that can wear you down, whether it’s physically or mentally,” Domingo said. “I’m sure players’ confidence would have been knocked because we pride ourselves on being good players of spin but the fight that was shown on the last day [in Delhi], shows there’s still some fight left there. It shows that they can do it and these next 10 days will be important to make sure they freshen up and get themselves in the right frame of mind of England.”The quick turnaround has been cited by Domingo and captain Amla as the best way to recover. “We’ve got the ideal break,” Amla said. “Everybody will take a couple of days to rest up and get back into the nets and face the new ball on wickets with a bit of nip.”Home conditions are going to cast a different net over batsmen who will have to prepare for the ball flying past their noses instead of reaching down to smell it but Amla is not worried about how his team will tackle that. “I don’t think it’s a huge adjustment because these are the conditions we are accustomed to,” he said. So, in their own waters, Domingo and Amla are hopeful South Africa’s Test team will become big fish again.
Boyd Rankin has given Ireland a major boost ahead of next year’s World Twenty20, by officially giving up on his hopes of adding to his solitary Test cap with England and has instead pledged his allegiance once again to the country of his birth.Rankin, 31, met last week with Cricket Ireland to complete his return to the national team, for whom he made 82 international appearances between 2007 and 2012, including the last World Twenty20 in Bangladesh three years ago.In between whiles, he featured in seven ODIs and two T20Is for England in 2013-14, as well as his one-off Test appearance at Sydney in the final match of an ill-fated Ashes campaign. He claimed a solitary wicket in an injury-blighted performance and never looked likely to add to that tally.Instead, his future lies in his past, as Rankin follows the path taken by his Ireland team-mate, Ed Joyce, who qualified for England in time for the 2007 World Cup, but was back in Irish colours in India four years later, where he and Rankin both played in the famous victory over England at Bangalore.”I’m delighted to be returning to Irish cricket, where I was born and learned the game,” said Rankin. “I’ll always be grateful to England for the chance to play Test cricket, but with little opportunities in the last two years, I felt it was time to move on at this stage of my career.”There’s a real opportunity for Ireland to get Test status now, and that prospect was a real lure for me – I’d love to be part of history. Before that of course there’s a T20 World Cup in India – I’ve played in three before with Ireland and it’d be great to make it four.”I’ve also very happy memories of both the 2007 and 2011 50-over World Cups in the West Indies and India, and I’d like to make it a hat-trick of appearances in 2019 in England.”Rankin was approached for an Ireland recall earlier in the summer, but chose to wait until the make-up of this winter’s England tour parties was known. However, he was overlooked for both the senior squads and the England Lions trips to South Africa and the UAE, and will become officially available for Ireland on January 18, having played the last of his England matches, an ODI against Australia at Brisbane, on January 17, 2014.Cricket Ireland Performance Director Richard Holdsworth was delighted to have Rankin back in the Irish set-up. “It’s fantastic news for Irish cricket to have a bowler of his undoubted quality back in the fold.”We’ve had a number of retirements in recent times, losing quality and proven performers such as Trent Johnston and John Mooney. That has severely depleted our quick bowling stocks so to have Boyd returning gives everyone a tremendous boost.”His height and the extra bounce he generates makes him such a difficult proposition for opponents, and it gives skipper William Porterfield a fantastic extra option in his armoury.Rankin’s first assignment in Ireland’s colours will be an Intercontinental Cup fixture against Papua New Guinea in Townsville, Australia, from January 31-February 3. They are currently top of the table with a maximum 40 points from their wins against the UAE and Namibia.He can then expect to travel to India for the World Twenty20 in March and April, where Ireland have been drawn in Group A alongside The Netherlands, Oman and Bangladesh. If they win the group they will proceed to the Super Ten phase where they will face India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAhmed Shehzad applauds Umar Akmal following his 40-ball 93•PSL
Umar Akmal bludgeoned the highest score of the Pakistan Super League, his 40-ball 93 guiding Lahore Qalandars to their first win of the season, against Quetta Gladiators in Dubai. The 63-run defeat was Quetta’s first of the tournament, after they had set the early pace with three consecutive wins.Not many could have seen Akmal’s blast coming when Lahore crawled to 62 for 1 in 10 overs. But with Cameron Delport providing the initial spark and Akmal the finishing punch, Lahore cruised to 194 for 3 at the end of 20 overs. The pair added 95 runs in only 42 balls, with Delport smoking a 55-ball 73, an innings that featured eight fours and three sixes. Although the carnage could have been cut short – Akmal survived a close lbw shout off the third ball he faced and Zulfiqar Babar was visibly distraught when it was given not out.Babar eventually trapped Delport lbw when the batsman attempted an extravagant reverse flick, but any hope Quetta had of drying up the runs were quickly dashed by Akmal, who treated himself to six fours and eight sixes, including 18 runs off the penultimate over, bowled by Umar Gul. Akmal could not reach his maiden T20 ton, but he made sure Quetta needed to score at nearly 10 an over right from the off. They could not.Lahore’s spinners took wickets at regular intervals and only Mohammad Nawaz (42) and Sarfraz Ahmed (31) offered any resistance. Once Sarfraz was dismissed in the 13th over, Quetta lost their next six wickets for 13 runs and folded for 131. Zafar Gohar was the pick of the bowlers, collecting 4 for 14, while Ajantha Mendis chipped in with 3 for 17.
When the recent competition winner’s name was announced as Maddy Ferrari, Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding contacted the club website to say that he knew the winner and he felt that reader’s of the site would be interested to hear it.In his office at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground Andrew Moulding told me at, “Maddy Ferrari made contact with me in my official capacity, from her home at Witham Friary last summer to say that she had a group of youngsters who wanted to play cricket.”Andrew continued, “I went up to meet her and half a dozen Mums in the village which is in the north east of the county not far from Frome.They told me that they were determined to set something up.”The Cricket Development Officer went on, “The local parish has given them some ground, and we are trying to get a new Flicx pitch to help them out and give them a start. We have also put them in touch with the Lord’s Taverner’s who will hopefully be able to help them.”Well done Maddy on winning the prize, and well done to all the Mums in Witham Friary. If any of you read this please contact the site so that we can report any progress that has been made in recent months.
Newcastle United were active throughout the January transfer window as they made a number of signings to bolster Eddie Howe’s squad.
The Magpies made a host of fresh additions to their ranks, including Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood, Matt Targett, Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier.
However, not every player that they wanted to bring to St James’ Park ended up making the switch, as they failed to land some of their targets.
One man that the club reportedly wanted to sign was Mainz centre-forward Jean-Philippe Mateta. The Toon were said to have made a £20m offer to snap him up ahead of Crystal Palace, but the south London outfit eventually signed him to a permanent deal, duly ending Newcastle’s chances of landing him.
PIF brought in Wood from Burnley to improve Howe’s options in the number nine position, but he has scored just one Premier League goal for the club so far across 11 starts in place of the injured Callum Wilson.
How do Mateta and the ex-Clarets marksman compare for their respective clubs?
As you can see in the graphic above, the Palace striker offers more than the New Zealand international on and off the ball for his side. He has scored more goals from fewer starts, whilst pressing more from the front and completing a higher percentage of his passes.
Journalist Alex Howell dubbed the Frenchman a “cult hero” for Palace and it is easy to see why the supporters have been able to take to him. In Europe’s top five leagues, he ranks in the 89th percentile for pressures and the 95th percentile for clearances, which shows that he works his socks off for the team. Supports love to see players who put in 100% on the pitch, and these statistics suggest that Mateta does exactly that.
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These statistics suggest that he would have been an upgrade on Wood. He has offered more of a goal threat than the Magpies colossus and his link-up play shows that his overall game has been more effective in the top flight, as he has more to his game with his ability in possession in terms of his passing and dribbling.
At 24, Mateta is also six years younger than the Newcastle marksman, which means that he would have had more long-term value to the club. Therefore, PIF had a big shocker by missing out on the Palace striker, who would have been a brilliant signing in comparison to the ex-Burnley machine, based on their respective form this season.
AND in other news, Newcastle now plotting huge £120k-p/w bid for £50m “destroyer”, he’d be Howe’s “rock”…
USA and Fulham forward Clint Dempsey believes that England were lacking in confidence during the 1-1 draw between the two sides in Rustenberg last weekend.
Dempsey rescued a share of the spoils for his side with a fortunate equaliser, as England goalkeeper Robert Green made a huge error in allowing a long-range effort to slip through his fingers.
Dempsey told The Sun:“Honestly, it seemed during the game that they were dealing with a lot of pressure.
“I don’t know why that is, you could just sense it a little bit. Even though they did score early, when we came back and we equalised, they just seemed edgy.
“You wouldn’t think that would be the case for some of the best players in the world being on teams of the quality of Chelsea or Liverpool, winning the Champions League or the title.
“You would think these players would be full of confidence. There just seemed to be an edge to the team, but it could have just been the opening game.
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“They were edgy, there was an edginess to their game, but I think they’re a team with quality and they should play with confidence.”
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Everton defender Leighton Baines is desperate to do his best to try and persuade South Africa playmaker Steven Pienaar to remain with the Toffees next season.
The 28-year-old midfielder has been linked with a number of clubs, both in England and elsewhere in Europe, but Baines hopes that his team-mate opts to stay put.
He told the Daily Echo:"We've been texting each other, I've got a decent relationship with Steven.
"It's awkward discussing his future with him, because you want to leave him to it. But then at the same time I'm like my mate who is a season ticket holder and asks me what is happening.
"I start saying to him 'what's happening? Hurry up and get it sorted'. I've tried to get into him a few times about it and he just laughs it off. I am desperate for him to stay.
"He is a dream to play with, not just for me, but for all of us. You saw how important he was last year to the way we play.
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"I'm so desperate for him to stay and hopefully it will get done soon."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email