John Buchanan is in the final week of his seven-year coaching role with Australia, but he has not stopped talking about the future by suggesting Michael Clarke could be the next captain. After being dropped two years ago, Clarke has returned stronger and more mature and has been a crucial part of Australia’s march into the World Cup final with 464 runs, including 60 not out in the semi-final win over South Africa.The leadership debate is not an immediate issue as Ricky Ponting is only 32, but Buchanan has tipped Clarke as a contender when he retires. He was a captain of the Australia Under-19s and was named deputy to Michael Hussey for the one-day tour of New Zealand in February before he went home with a hip injury.”I see him growing as a person and he is obviously performing pretty well in the field,” Buchanan said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “Obviously he is [considered a future captain] because he should be around the team for years to come.”By that stage he will be a senior player and should have an incredible record behind him. But who is to know what will happen in the future?”Clarke began his Test career in India when his friend and coach Neil D’Costa was his manager, but before the Ashes series he swapped to the management group that looks after Matthew Hayden. “He is associating himself with the right people,” Buchanan said in the . “No disrespect to people before him, but for Michael’s future he needs to associate and be educated by the right people. I see him making those sort of choices.”While Buchanan looked ahead, he also allowed himself to go back over the relationships with some of his current and former charges. In the Herald Clarke, Hayden and Shane Watson were listed as some of Buchanan’s successes, but he regretted he was unable to connect with the legspinners Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill.”People are not compatible with each other all the time and probably their style and my styles were never going to nicely coalesce,” he said. “There have been moments when they have gone in the same direction and moments when they haven’t, not necessarily due to them or due to me. It’s just the way it is.”I always regret that you don’t have the perfect relationship with everybody because if you don’t it’s very difficult, I think, to bring out the best in them. That to me is one of the roles of the coach, that you’re always trying to expand somebody’s horizons and if you don’t have a good relationship with someone there’s no way you can achieve that. I regret that.”
Wasim Jaffer and MS Dhoni speak to the press Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”) Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAThe fourth day of the Antigua Test was marked out by two innings: Wasim Jaffer’s 212 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s belligerent 69. Both these men spoke to the press after the day’s play.Jaffer spoke about how getting dropped from the Indian team made him a more mature player, and how Rahul Dravid’s advice helped him on his way to this double-century. Dhoni, meanwhile, explained the sequence of events that led to his controversial dismissal, including Brian Lara’s plea to him to walk. Listen in.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”) Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA
The sun is hot in Chennai, but the Australians know it well. They have played some tough games here – they tied a historic Test in 1986, when Chennai was Madras and Dean Jones battled fatigue, cramps and dehydration to make a double-century. They were beaten in 1998, when Shane Warne followed up 4 for 85 with 1 for 122 as Sachin Tendulkar followed up 4 with 155. And they were beaten again in 2001, heartbreakingly so, when a win in the first Test at Mumbai wasn’t enough to win the series, and a Matthew Hayden double-century in the first innings wasn’t enough to make up for what Harbhajan Singh did to the other batsmen. This time, though, it is different.”Just as the Indians are hungry for success,” said Adam Gilchrist on the day before the Test, “so are we.”The Australians have come come to India chastised by their loss last time, and having learnt from their mistakes. They showed as much at Bangalore, eschewing all-out attack, for so long their chosen approach to the game, for a more considered way of playing. They have a plan for every bowler, and in how to maximise the conditions – and nowhere was this more apparent than in Adam Gilchrist’s abstaining from playing the sweep until he had made 87. They have a plan for every batsman, and the men to execute that plan to perfection, as Glenn McGrath demonstrated by bowling as well as he ever has – and that is saying a lot. There wasn’t a single weak link in the Australian side, and not a man who didn’t know what his job was, or lacked the ability to do it.When you play in Chennai, of course, you don’t just play the other side, you battle the conditions as well. “It [Chennai] is more demanding physically,” said Gilchrist. “If you’re physically exhausted, mentally you start to whine as well. We’re aware of that. We’ve played a lot of cricket on the subcontinent now, and we fully understand and expect the conditions to be tough, and hopefully we’ve prepared appropriately.”Gilchrist wasn’t worried about the pitch either, which is expected to take more and more turn as the match goes along, and offer substantial bounce to the bowlers. “There’s a lot of talk about the extra bounce in the wicket,” he said, “which is obviously going to pose more of a threat for us. Harbhajan and Anil [Kumble] are spin bowlers who rely as much on bounce as on sideways movement. Hopefully it’ll have a positive effect for Warnie, and I feel without doubt that it’s a positive thing for our fast bowlers. We’re born and bred on bouncier tracks.”There has been much talk that the toss in Chennai may be crucial, but both Gilchrist and Sourav Ganguly brushed that suggestion aside. “Whether you bat first or second,” said Gilchrist, “you have to score a big total in your first innings. You can’t allow a huge gap between you and your opposition. I think that’s where we won the game in Bangalore, not only in scoring 400 but by bowling the Indians out in the first innings.”Ganguly, speaking to reporters after a net session, reiterated that point, saying that the toss would not decide the game. “To win a Test, you have to put 400 on the board in the first innings.” But while these words mirrored Gilchrist’s, his demeanour did not. Gilchrist was calm and assured when he met the press, while Ganguly seemed in a hurry to get it over with. Gilchrist was clear about Australia’s game plan and team composition, Ganguly was anything but.”Kaif will play,” he said, when asked about the team, and when asked to elaborate, he said that Kaif would “bat in the middle order”. While Ganguly would not be drawn on whom Kaif might replace, murmurs from within the Indian camp indicated that Aakash Chopra was likely to make way. The buzz was that Yuvraj Singh would open with Virender Sehwag. Gilchrist was sanguine about that prospect. “We’ve got a plan for Yuvraj,” he said, “wherever he bats in the order.”Ganguly does have another stopgap opening option open to him: Parthiv Patel opening. Yuvraj and Patel, incidentally, were the first two Indian batsmen to get a session in the nets in the morning. Of course, India’s bevy of out-of-form under-confident batsmen wasn’t Ganguly’s only problem – he had effectively been a bowler short at Bangalore, with Zaheer Khan bowling in a lacklustre manner, perhaps lacking full fitness, certainly lacking intensity. But Ganguly refused to accept that the Indian bowlers had fallen short and, when asked if Ajit Agarkar would replace Zaheer, insisted that Zaheer would play.Despite the conditions and the heat – not Chennai’s worst, more sapping than searing – Australia are favourites to win the second Test. Everyone in their side performed well at Bangalore, while India carried passengers. Ganguly’s batsmen were diffident, and his bowling attack was one good man short. Of course, India have been in just such a position in the past, against Australia, and they have fought back. But Australia are prepared for it this time.”I’ve been in this situation before,” said Gilchrist, “where they’ve had a loss, and a lot of ex-players have come out and spoken harshly of them, everyone’s got an opinion on them, who should go and who should stay … we’ve been here before, and we’ve seen them fight back.” But Australia, Gilchrist insisted, were more prepared this time. That hot wind, well, it can huff and it can puff but the Aussies will not let it blow their house down.
Andy Caddick is set to sign a new four-year contract with Somerset. Caddick, who has not played international cricket since the fifth Ashes Test last January, began work in the nets this week for the first time since undergoing back surgery last September.”I’ve had a couple of meetings with him and we’ll sort it out soon,” Peter Anderson, Somerset’s chief executive, told BBC Radio Bristol. “He looks OK in the nets although he’s only bowling off a few paces, but his back has mended well and he’s in good shape.”Caddick was rumoured to be moving to Warwickshire for next season, but if this deal with Somerset goes through, Caddick, 35, will end his career at Taunton, where he started it in 1991.
PERTH, Dec 20 AAP – Paul Collingwood’s maiden one-day international century guided England to 9-258 off 50 overs in its day-night cricket match against Sri Lanka at the WACA Ground.But the Sri Lankans only had themselves to blame for not restricting England to a minuscule total after missing five regulation chances in the field including Collingwood on 11.The 26-year-old Durham batsman’s timely knock of 100 off 127 balls featured four fours and two sixes on a day which topped 40 degrees celsius.Collingwood rode his luck early in his innings as his side’s batting lineup lost its way with some reckless shots.He brought up his 100 by pulling a sharp short ball from Dilhara Fernando (4-48) for a single in the last over before being dismissed with the final delivery of the innings.He was well assisted in resurrecting the England innings in his 27th one-day international by Craig White (48) and they put on 110 for the seventh wicket after England had slumped to 6-122.Outstanding Sri Lankan paceman Chaminda Vaas (3-36) earlier cashed in on some ambitious England shots ripping through the top order on a typically bouncy WACA pitch.The 28-year-old left-armer claimed the scalps of openers Marcus Trescothick (15) and Nick Knight (11), and also Ronnie Irani for four.But he should also have dismissed Collingwood after Thilan Samaraweera dropped a straightforward opportunity at first slip.Poor fielding has been a sad theme of Sri Lanka’s opening two tri-series matches after putting down three catches at the Gabba.Knight and Trescothick opened the innings in aggressive fashion smashing opening bowler Pulsasthi Gunaratne out of the attack before Vaas struck.The classy paceman sent both players back to the pavilion in the fifth over after they attempted to pull him over the infield.Beleaguered No.3 batsman Irani entered and exited early again but not before almost running captain Nasser Hussain out and more than tripling his series average.Irani survived second slip Russel Arnold dropping a sitter off Fernando’s bowling but was unable to add to his score as Vaas trapped him in front.Hussain was also given a chance edging the second delivery he faced between the wicketkeeper and first slip at waist height off Fernando as well.But it didn’t stop England’s reckless array of shots with Collingwood top-edging a six off the unlucky Fernando before Samaraweera’s costly miss.Hussain (25) and Collingwood put on a half-century partnership before he was caught behind to the recalled Prabath Nissanka.Veteran Alec Stewart only lasted three balls before he guided a Nissanka delivery to Mahela Jayawardene at second slip to be 5-93.Fernando claimed his first scalp picking up the wicket of Ian Blackwell (19) just moments after Jehan Mubarak spilt a tough chance in gully off the same batsman in the same over.However Collingwood and Craig White guided the score towards a respectable total with their sensible century seventh wicket stand.Fernando finally received the rightful rewards for his fine bowling efforts picking up the last three wickets to fall.
A feast of runs in the sunshine at Lord’s produced a magnificent seventh wicket partnership, which ended just one short of a double century, took Nottinghamshire to 409 for eight at stumps.In the process, Kevin Pietersen reached an unbeaten maiden first-class century and his stand with Paul Franks broke the seventh wicket record of 177 for Nottinghamshire against Middlesex which had stood since 1885.Franks, who hit his first half-century of the season fell fifteen short of what would also have been a maiden first-class hundred. He was dismissed straight after the second new ball was taken by Tim Bloomfield who trapped him leg before wicket and then with the next ball brought about a similar dismissal of Andy Harris and Nottinghamshire were 390 for eight.Franks played with ease and confidence as the innings progressed and he hit so freely that in one over from off spinner Paul Weekes he took four boundaries.But the day belonged to the six-foot-four-inch tall, South Africa born Pietersen whose entertaining, unbeaten innings of 135 lasted over four hours and containined eighteen boundaries and two sixes. With his unblemished, 187-ball innings, he brought great comfort to Nottinghamshire who were beginning to struggle on 134 for four when he came to the crease.He settled into fluent strokeplay quickly and used his feet well against the two spinners and took advantage of the short boundary on the mound stand side of the ground. His timing was perfect in his cuts and he drove elegantly on either side of the wicket. The finest shot of his innings was when he came down the wicket to drive Phil Tufnell to the extra-cover boundary.Middlesex pace bowler, James Hewitt, brought into the side in the absence of their injured captain Angus Fraser, had earlier struck twice after Nottinghamshire had elected to bat.After half-an-hour’s play the visitors were 38 for two with Hewitt claiming the wickets in his fourth and eighth overs. Guy Welton was the first to go, pushing off the back foot to be caught in the cover.Hewitt then removed Greg Blewett who mistimed his pull and top-edged to square leg for 12. But a third wicket partnership, between left-handers Darren Bicknell and Usman Afzaal which brought the hundred up on the board in the twenty eighth over and seemed to be developing so well, was broken three overs before lunch.Bicknell, having faced 96 balls and hitting five boundaries, was caught at slip from a top edge as he attempted to sweep. He had scored 38 and Nottinghamshire were 106 for three. After lunch Middlesex claimed three more wickets.Hewitt took his third having Afzaal caught at second slip for 43 and with the next two falling cheaply, Nottinghamshire had lost three wickets in a space of an hour to be reduced to 191 for six before Pietersen and Franks took charge dominated the play.
The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland has defended Everton winger Anthony Gordon after the Toffees’ embarrassing display against Tottenham.
The Lowdown: Poor performances
Apart from their all four of their other Premier League games with the ex-Chelsea man in charge.
However, Monday night’s display against Tottenham was the worst of the lot, with a number of extremely poor performances taking place.
As per statistical experts SofaScore, Everton’s average rating across the team was 6.16, a monumental difference when compared with Spurs’ 7.41. The Toffees even had four players rated below a six, with Jordan Pickford on the receiving end of a very poor 4.9 rating.
The Latest: Boyland defends Gordon
One of the only positives for Lampard was Anthony Gordon, due to the determination he put in throughout. The 21-year-old had an 84% pass completion rate and made four successful dribble attempts, whilst winning an enormous 12 ground duels (via SofaScore).
Taking to Twitter, Boyland defended Gordon after the game, who was pictured clapping to the away crowd.
“Gordon goes over to clap the remaining Everton fans, gets applause back. Deserves that for the effort he put in. Raises his hand up apologetically and then limps off. Wasn’t on him”
The Verdict: Deserves more?
At just 21 years old, Gordon has played a substantial part in Everton’s season. He has made 22 Premier League appearances, 14 of which came in the starting XI.
When compared with some of the dire performances in the Spurs game, it was evident that Gordon deserved better around him, as a number of players seemingly looked disinterested after the first few goals went flying in.
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This isn’t the first time the winger has been singled out for praise. When Everton drew 1-1 with Manchester United in October, former Toffees attacker James McFadden hailed the youngster’s display as “sensational”.
Thus, if this pattern continues to occur, it would not be surprising to see transfer news arise, especially if Everton get relegated this season.
In other news: Everton: Pickford, Coleman and Keane’s nightmare performances vs Spurs
Three former Australian Test players, Damien Martyn, Michael Kasprowicz and Matthew Elliott, have signed up with the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL). Kasprowicz, the fast bowler, and Elliott, the opening batsman, retired from the game in Australia earlier this month while Martyn has not played since walking away during the 2006-07 Ashes.Martyn had reportedly joined the ICL ahead of its inaugural tournament, but didn’t take part when it was held late last year. “These high-stature Australian cricketers will definitely boost the quality of cricket and strengthen the teams, making the league showcase competitive cricket,” Kapil Dev, the chairman of the ICL, said. “It will provide our young domestic players the challenge to test their skills with some of the best exponents of the game, thus fulfilling one of the key objectives of ICL.”Elliott had indicated he would join the ICL when deciding to stand down at South Australia. “I’m thinking about it,” Elliott said. “It’s more about what’s best for me after my cricket career.”The three will join fellow Australians Stuart Law and Ian Harvey in the league, while Michael Bevan and Steve Rixon are in charge of the Chennai and Hyderabad teams. Jimmy Maher, who will play his last game for Queensland from Friday, and Jason Gillespie, who is expected to retire in the next couple of weeks, are also expected to be chased by the ICL. Any Australians who play in the unofficial Twenty20 event are banned from taking part in domestic competitions at home.
Even two months ago, the idea that South Africa, one-day cricket’s upwardly mobile force, might have to face off with England for a semi-final spot would have been considered preposterous, but after indifferent campaigns for both, Tuesday’s encounter at the Kensington Oval does have a winner-takes-all feel to it.On paper, it should be a no contest, with South Africa having won 33 of their last 50 one-day games, despite an indifferent start to this competition. The corresponding figure for England is a measly 19, and prior to the four-match winning streak that won them the CB Series in Australia, they had eked out six wins in 25 games.Michael Vaughan wasn’t part of that improbable triumph in Australia and, since his return, England have lapsed back into their old ways, losing to New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka, and just about inching past a meagre Bangladesh total of 143.Vaughan’s form has mirrored that of the team, with 113 runs from seven games, and apart from Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Paul Nixon, no batsman has shown a semblance of consistency. Vaughan though wasn’t about to dwell on the negatives. “It’s a great opportunity to raise our levels,” he said. “It’s a game that could take us to the semi-finals, which will be a great feat for an England side.”We’re a side that can turn up and produce on the day. We did it in the CB Series when we were down and out and it’s because we have players who enjoy big games, pressure situations and big crowds. They have been similar to us in many ways. They’ve played well at times and not so well other times. It’s the biggest match of the World Cup.”One of the clutch players he was talking about was Andrew Flintoff, struggling with a chest infection since Antigua. Vaughan though dismissed suggestions that Flintoff, in the World Cup news for all the wrong pedalo reasons, might be running on empty. “I don’t think so. I still think he’s got a performance in him.”England’s pace bowlers enjoyed the extra bounce at the Kensington Oval when they played Bangladesh, and an unchanged side is likely to step onto the park on Tuesday. Having said that, the pitch subsequently used for Bangladesh’s game against Ireland was rather different in nature. Whichever captain wins the toss faces a tricky decision, though South Africa, who lack a quality spinner, will almost certainly wish to bowl first.”It’s a tricky one,” said Vaughan, who had little hesitation in unleashing his fast bowlers against Bangladesh. “I would like to win it. In one-day cricket, if you can win the toss and the team’s happy doing what they have talked about, you always think you’re one up.”
Given the packed schedules that you see in international cricket, it’s quite surprising that these two sides haven’t met for over two years now. Then, South Africa clinched a seven-match series 4-1 on home soil – one game was tied – with Justin Kemp’s swashbuckling hitting providing a lot of the impetus despite three centuries from Pietersen in his debut series.With Pietersen having left behind his KwaZulu-Natal roots to go and qualify for England, there was plenty of needle in that series. Vaughan, however, wasn’t about to heighten the tension surrounding the game with any incendiary comments of his own. “Cricket’s a tough sport and when you have 11 guys out there, it can get a little fiery,” he said. “But it’s nothing that gets too personal, just a bit of banter.”England won five of their first six games against South Africa, including both encounters at the 1992 World Cup, but South Africa have emerged victorious in the two World Cup games since. That said, it’s hard to think of South Africa in relation to this competition without thinking of the C word – Chokers – but Vaughan didn’t go down the Australian route and attempt to pray on those insecurities.”I don’t think you can say we have handled it better than South Africa but yes, we have handled it well,” he said, when asked about pressure situations. “We’ve been in such situations before and we know we can come out of them.”His opposite number, Graeme Smith, has been amongst the runs, but also in the news for all the wrong reasons. His abrasive demeanour has rubbed several opponents the wrong way, but Vaughan played down any suggestions of bad blood. “I have no issue with him,” he said. “He’s an excellent captain, the leader of his team. I have a lot of respect for him.”Despite their underwhelming performances on the pitch and the drink-related problems off it, England know that they’re just two good games away from a place in the last four, something that they haven’t managed since Ian Botham and his mullet were still around.”We’re realistic of what we can achieve,” said Vaughan. “If you had told me before the World Cup that we would have one game [actually two] to get to the semifinal, I would have taken it.”
Sajid Mahmood has been withdrawn from England A’s match against the Sri Lankans at Thursday, along with the injured Chris Tremlett, as England prepare to shuffle their fast-bowling pack ahead of the first Test at Lord’s on May 11.Yesterday’s injuries to Simon Jones and James Anderson have thrown England’s Test preparations into a now-familiar disarray. With Steve Harmison already out of the equation, there is a distinct possibility that Mahmood, who featured in England’s recent one-day series in India, will be named in the Test squad on Sunday, alongside Durham’s Liam Plunkett.”You can read what you want into [the decision],” said England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney. “Mahmood will play for Lancashire, because they have a Championship game this week, and the same would have happened with Plunkett, but Durham aren’t playing in this latest round.”Graveney added that it would be “very surprising” if England didn’t play a spinner for the first Test, perhaps mindful of the corresponding fixture four years ago, when Sri Lanka posted a total of 500-plus in conditions that were more akin to St John’s, Antigua, than St John’s Wood.That spinner, however, is unlikely to be Ian Blackwell, who has suffered a back spasm, and is a doubt for Somerset’s championship clash with Northants tomorrow. Graveney added that anyone who is not deemed fit enough to compete in a first-class fixture this week will be ruled out of the Test selection. With that in mind, it comes down to a straight shoot-out between Shaun Udal and Monty Panesar.In the absence of Mahmood and Tremlett, who has suffered an ankle injury to add to the knee problems that beset his pre-season, Gloucestershire’s Jon Lewis and the young Leicestershire prospect, Stuart Broad, have been added to the England A squad for the four-day match at New Road.”Lewis and Broad have both shown fine early season form for their counties,” added Graveney, “and I am sure they will be keen to make the most of this opportunity against Sri Lanka.”Possible squad Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (wk), Shaun Udal/Monty Panesar, Matthew Hoggard, Liam Plunkett, Sajid Mahmood.