England suffered an injury scare on the opening morning of the first Test at Hamilton when Ian Bell had to be sent to hospital for precautionary X-rays, after taking a sharp blow to the right wrist while fielding at short leg. Fortunately the scan revealed no broken bones, only heavy bruising, and Bell later returned to the ground with his arm in a sling.The injury occurred midway through the 11th over of the first day’s play. Ryan Sidebottom dropped short and New Zealand’s opener, Matthew Bell, climbed into a fierce pull shot. Bell, standing only yards from the bat, put his hands up in self-defence and the ball crashed into the fleshy area on the outer side of his wrist.Bell fell to the ground immediately and was in clear pain as he was led from the field, with his wrist visibly swollen. It was England’s second visit to the A&E department of Waikato Hospital in as many days, after Phil Mustard suffered a broken nose during net practice on Tuesday, and had a break been diagnosed it would almost certainly have spelled the end of Bell’s tour.Instead he was scheduled to take no further part in the day’s play, and a decision will be taken at a later date as to whether he will bat in England’s innings. “He’s been X-rayed and he’s been MRIed as a double-check,” said Peter Moores, England’s coach. “It’s deep bruising and he’s been icing it every half an hour. Hopefully by tomorrow morning we’ll be able to see where he can bat. At the moment the medical staff are hopeful that, if they treat it all night, he’ll be able to bat tomorrow.”Because the injury is an exterior one, and sustained during play, he will not be required to bat down the order to compensate for his time off the field, although it is likely that England will take as much time as possible to allow the swelling to go down. “It’s a lucky escape as it just missed the bony part of the wrist,” said Moores. “Lucky or unlucky, whichever way you look at it.”
Daren Ganga, the newly-appointed West Indies vice-captain, believes the team can turn around its form after a disappointing World Cup but filling the hole left by Brian Lara would be a huge challenge. Ganga said the players would need to adjust quickly to the different conditions in England.”We’re looking forward to playing better cricket as a team in the longer version of the game especially with the backdrop of the team’s performance in the World Cup,” Ganga said. “Also given the fact that one of our senior players in Brian Lara has left a big void with regards to experience in our side.”It’s going to be important for us to rally around each other and to ensure that we play together as a team knowing conditions in England are very challenging. It will require a big effort on the part of everyone to ensure that we remain competitive and focused on our objectives.”Ganga, who was not part of the World Cup squad, said leading the side along with Ramnaresh Sarwan, the new captain, would be a huge honour. “I’m looking forward to supporting Sarwan in every possible way to ensure that the team comes first and we represent our West Indian people with pride and honour,” Ganga said.”We have a very nice blend of young inexperienced players with players who have been around international cricket for a long time. This is going to ensure that we remain enthusiastic whilst we plan and execute efficiently against our opposition.”
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSuperb bowling from Pierre Joubert and Mandla Mashimbyi led Northerns to the SAA Provincial Challenge title after defeating Western Province by the convincing margin of 100 runs. Chasing 284, Western Province slumped to 184 all out .Needing quick runs in the morning, Kruger van Wyk set about with purpose for Northerns and reached his hundred from 169 balls. However, it was Gerald Dros who gave the innings much-needed momentum with a quick-fire fifty from 38 balls, with five sixes and a four.This left Province a tricky total of 284 from 81 overs, yet they got off to the worst possible start when Alistair Gray fell to the second ball of the innings. With Mashimbyi and Francis Nkuna picking up two wickets each, leaving Province wobbling on 26 for 4, the impetus was with the Northerns bowlers.Only Ryan Canning delayed the inevitable with a brisk and aggressive half-century, but even his bold effort was in vain as Northerns’ bowlers wrapped up the game and the title in the 45th over. Joubert finished with the impressive figures of 3 for 10 from nine overs.
West Indies enjoyed a magnificent day at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, and had Pakistan running for cover, on the verge of defeat, at the end of the third day. Shivnarine Chanderpaul added an unbeaten 153 to his first-innings 92, and powered West Indies to 371, setting Pakistan an unlikely 573 for victory. From 1 for 2, to ending on 113 for 4 at stumps, forget the unlikeliest of victories, Pakistan were struggling just to find a way to eke out a draw. They still trail by 460.If Bennett King, the West Indies coach, had written a script for his team to follow, it could not have been too different from the way things panned out. Bang on the stroke of tea they were bowled out, with more runs on the board than needed, and an inexperienced Pakistani batting line-up to bowl at. Fidel Edwards, hero of the first innings, combined with a diving Chris Gayle at second slip to strike, sending back Salman Butt before a run was scored.But there was a spot of bother for West Indies as Edwards limped off the field in the middle of an over, with his right hamstring acting up again. Reon King stepped up to complete the over, and incredibly, another wicket fell. Yasir Hameed drove to cover, and sauntered down the pitch; the sprightly Younis Khan had already reached the other end, and Chanderpaul’s lob hit the stumps at the bowler’s end, sending Younis packing (2 for 1).Darren Powell then stepped up to the plate, and produced a fine delivery – pitching on off and leaving the righthander – to tempt Hameed into edging to the wicketkeeper (16 for 3). West Indies’ bowlers then lost their stride momentarily, spraying the ball a touch and struggling with no-balls, before a shower brought much-needed relief to Pakistan with the score on 46 for 3. It proved to be a false dawn. When the players came back out, after a break of close to an hour, Bazid Khan was trapped lbw by the second ball delivered. Corey Colleymore got a ball to jag back in off the seam, and Bazid was palpably lbw (47 for 4). Asim Kamal (38 not out) and Shahid Afridi (32 not out) then controlled the damage, taking Pakistan safely to stumps at 113 for 4.But it was West Indies determined showing with the bat that set things up in the first place. Chanderpaul and Wavell Hinds shepherded the game through a dull first session, but did virtually everything they could to consolidate on the gains of the first two days. Barring the fact that Hinds (52) was bowled going for a big heave at the end of the session, West Indies barely put a foot wrong. They went from an overnight 168 for 4 to 271 for 5. Hinds had played his part, and though never dominating the bowling, bucked down well to stitch together a 134-run stand with Chanderpaul.The fact that West Indies suffered a mini-collapse thereafter is of little relevance, other than that Pakistan’s tired bowlers had something to show in the wickets column. Chanderpaul had already made the most of a situation tailormade for him. There was no hurry to score quickly, the pitch was not doing an awful lot, and bad balls were by no means in short supply. Why, for a change a West Indian tail-ender even stuck around – Edwards made a career-best 20 and shared in a 46-run partnership. In his uniquely unorthodox manner Chanderpaul biffed his way to 153, hitting 10 fours and 2 sixes in the process.Pakistan’s bowlers had suffered heavily. Rana Naved-ul-Hassan toiled hard, but only troubled batsmen when the ball was new and swung. Kaneria had been distinctly below par while Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq did not quite have the firepower to make a dent in the top-order. They could do nothing to stop Chanderpaul, and West Indies, as they marched relentlessly towards victory.
How they were out
Pakistan Salman Butt c Gayle b Edwards 0 (0 for 1) Brilliantly caught at second slip after flashing at a full oneYounis Khan run out (Chanderpaul) 0 (1 for 2) Left stranded attempting a quick one to coverYasir Hameed c Browne b Powell 11 (16 for 3) Tickled one that was shaping awayBazid Khan lbw b Colleymore 23 (47 for 4) Caught on the crease by one that nipped back inWest Indies Devon Smith c Akmal b Razzaq 10 (59 for 1) Tried to cut a ball too close and too shortRamnaresh Sarwan c Akmal b Afridi 1 (64 for 2) Bottom edge attempting to cutChris Gayle c Kamal b Kaneria 50 (65 for 3) Bat-pad catch to short legBrian Lara st Akmal b Afridi 48 (137 for 4) Just failed to slide his back foot over the line after missing attempted driveWavell Hinds b Kaneria 52 (271 for 5) Attempted a big shot to a legbreak that spun in sharplyCourtney Browne c Akmal b Afridi 1 (274 for 6) Outside-edged a sharp legbreakDaren Powell b Naved-ul-Hasan 5 (307 for 7) Lost his off stump to a peach that swung away lateFidel Edwards c Akmal b Shabbir 20 (353 for 7) Feathered a short one angled into his bodyReon King b Shabbir 5 (367 for 9) Missed a straight yorkerCorey Collymore lbw b Razzaq 0 (371 for 10) Deceived by a slower ball that was full and on middle stump
The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has given a broad hint that it will make a decision over next autumn’s planned tour of Zimbabwe when its management board meets on February 25. And, more importantly, it has indicated that it has shifted from its policy of only being concerned about cricketing issues, and is now prepared to consider "political and moral arguments".Reacting to weekend speculation over the future of the tour, Tim Lamb, the ECB’s chief executive, said that the tour was still on at the moment but that, "We will make a decision at the right time, for the right reasons and with the right people making that decision. We are well aware of the pressure that we will come under. It’s going to be a question of balancing the political and moral argument with our obligations to the international fraternity.”During the World Cup fiasco which culminated in England boycotting their match in Harare, but only after seemingly endless meetings and changes of heart, the official stance was that only the safety of the tour party mattered. At the time, Lamb said: "The ECB is not a political body and we do not take decisions on that basis. We do not believe that it is our role to make subjective moral judgements about the various regimes in the different cricket-playing nations. These are matters for elected Governments to consider and take a decisive and early lead. They are not matters for sports administrators."The change makes it almost certain that the tour will be cancelled. The political situation in Zimbabwe has continued to deteriorate under Robert Mugabe, repression of anyone opposed to the government has become increasingly brutal, and earlier this month Zimbabwe withdraw from the Commonwealth.”We are that much wiser now than we were then,” Lamb admitted. “But that is not to say this will be an easy decision. We still have our obligations to the ICC and the international community.”Wisden Comment by Martin Williamson The ECB’s change of heart is not because it has suddenly become a more moral organisation. What it has done is realise that it’s sport-and-politics-don’t-mix line adopted during the World Cup just doesn’t wash, with either the public or, far more importantly, sponsors.Indecisive leadership a and total failure to tackle the issue until it was too late left the ECB looking weak and money-orientated back in March. The cost, image aside, was crippling to an English game hardly awash with money. The full ramifications have yet to be felt, and the ICC are still holding over £2 million as a result of the last-minute cancellation of the match in Harare.Perhaps the one thing that influenced the ECB the most was the broad hint by Lord MacLaurin, once chairman of the ECB and now heading Vodafone, it’s largest sponsor, that if England went to Zimbabwe then they could kiss Vodafone’s £3 million-a-year investment goodbye. Another factor is that, unlike the World Cup, the tour is not an ICC event, and so financial penalties for cancellation are unlikely.Cynical? Perhaps. But in cricket, it’s all about the bottom line.
With South Africa having conceded the psychological and public relations advantage to Australia during the current Test series already won by the home team, the United Cricket Board of South Africa has taken the unprecedented step of issuing a vote of confidence in team manager Goolam Rajah.In a statement released in Johannesburg on New Year’s Eve, UCB chief executive Gerald Majola says that: "Rajah was a long-serving manager and that the UCBSA wasconfident in him and in the manner in which he had conducted himself on thetour to Australia".The statement goes on to say that: "it was not fair for the media to compare the SouthAfrican team on tour away from home in Australia with the Australian team ontheir home soil".The statement makes particular reference to an article published in the Johannesburg Sunday Times at the weekend in which senior cricket writer Colin Bryden criticised the performance of Rajah on tour. Bryden, who is also the editor of the Mutual and Federal SA Cricket Annual, South African cricket’s official mouthpiece, said that Rajah "whose name might as well be Dr No for his contribution to public relations on tour, flatly refused all requests for photographs or coverage of the team’s Christmas luncheon. He wouldn’t even allow an SABC news crew, flown to Australia at some expense, inside the room."Bryden also said that: "The players started the tour suspicious of the media and this has grown into something approaching paranoia, which embraces anyone not actually in the team. Board members and selectors, too, are seemingly barely tolerated. Instead of offering wise counsel, or cracking the whip, the manager panders to the introspective urgings of the cricketers".Rajah has been in charge of the South African team since 1998 when he took the side to England. Previously he had been assistant manager with a UCB board member being appointed manager of the team on a tour-by-tour basis.Rajah’s tenure has not been an easy one. The match-fixing scandal broke shortly after he had taken the team to India in early 2000 while earlier this year six members of the touring party were disciplined after admitting to smoking marijuana during South Africa’s Test series against the West Indies in the Caribbean.That the UCB should have seen fit to publicly endorse the manager, even as the South African tour of Australia crumbles about the side, is unusual to say the least. Cynics will no doubt point to the votes of confidence given to English football managers shortly before their dismissals.Whether this will be the case in Rajah’s case remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that the post mortems after the tour, following Australia’s comprehensive capture of the Test series, will focus on the roles played by Rajah, team captain Shaun Pollock, coaches Graham Ford and Corrie van Zyl and Rushdi Magiet’s selection panel.
India and Pakistan have played a lot of exciting games in bothversions of the game. At the same time, both these teams can be asunpredictable as the English weather. The talent in both the sides isimmense yet sometimes the scorecards suggest that both these teamshardly play to their full potential. It was one of those kind of gamesat Sharjah with India making heavy weather of chasing a lowscore. Eventually the target was achieved after losing half the side,which was not convincing by any standards.Srinath, who has had very ordinary games on his return after a breakwas left out, which would help him in sorting out his problems. Thedecision deserves to be appreciated, as it is an indication that thecurrent form overrides either an individual?s reputation or pastdeeds. One can only hope that this criterion is followed consistentlyin order to produce the required results. Prasad replacing Srinathprovided the breakthrough by dismissing the dangerous Afridi whileAgarkar got rid of the talented Razzak. It has been a while since anearly breakthrough was achieved and the heartening thing is that theinitiative gained was not squandered away.The young opener Imran Nazir played with pluck and in the company ofInzamam looked like putting Pakistan in sight of a big total. He hitKumble over the top for boundaries with elan before his inexperienceled to his downfall when he played across the line to Joshi. Muchdepended on Youhana and Inzamam but a comedy of errors resulted inYouhana being adjudged run out. Yet another coincidence where Inzamamwas involved in a run out but at least on this occasion he was not atfault. Robin Singh had Inzamam snapped smartly by Karim behind thewicket who had a very good match.The lower order did not offer many problems despite some consciouseffort by Moin Khan and Wasim Akram. The low total of Pakistan canonly be attributed to their under par batting and some very ordinaryrunning between the wickets.Ganguly and Tendulkar had to get off to a decent start to ensure thatnothing untoward happened during the chase. Ganguly played a crispinnings and the departure of both the openers in quick successionprovided a glimmer of hope to the Pakistanis. Dravid and Azharuddinbatted resolutely as the required rate was not a demandingfactor. Akhtar worked up real pace even on a slowish track but he wasnegotiated safely by both Azharuddin and Dravid. Just as the matchwas petering to a dull finish the Indians lost quick wickets to evokesome interest in the proceedings.The target was achieved much later than expected and also by a lessernumber of wickets. The trio of Akram, Akhtar and Younis tried veryhard and it was due to their efforts that the match lasted as long asit did. The Indians will not grumble with the result but they have totry and work out a formula to gain and maintain overall consistency.This victory has given the Indians the advantage of knowing what isrequired of them before they get into their next round of leaguematches. It remains to be seen if Pakistan can make the tournamentwide open by winning against South Africa.
Everton could be tempted to sell Tom Davies if a ‘decent offer’ arrives, journalist Paul Brown has told GiveMeSport.
The lowdown
Davies came through the youth ranks at Everton, making his senior debut for the club in 2016. He has since gone on to reach 158 appearances for the Toffees at the age of 23, but he is now into the final 18 months of his £25,000-per-week contract at Goodison Park.
He has not yet had the opportunity to impress new manager Frank Lampard, having injured his knee in November and then damaged his hamstring while on the road to recovery. Indeed, the player is not expecting to be back on the pitch until next season (via Daily Mail).
The latest
Brown pointed out that Everton’s precarious Financial Fair Play (FFP) situation could play a part in their thinking when it comes to Davies’ future, believing that if the Blues are receptive to offers for the 23-year-old, then it’s possible that he has already played his last game for the club.
The journalist told GiveMeSport: “The problem for him, and the club, is that because of their FFP situation, and him being a homegrown player, I think if ever there was a decent offer to come in for Tom Davies, they’d realise a lot of profit on him because he’s come through the ranks there.
“They haven’t had to pay a fee. So, I think his future is a bit uncertain, really.”
The verdict
Everton’s issues with FFP last summer were well documented. Their spending was ‘very much constrained’ by the rules after years of ‘significant losses’ (in the words of football finance expert Kieran Maguire), and based on what Brown is saying here, those problems haven’t gone away just yet.
Sacrificing Davies, valued at €18m (about £15m) by Transfermarkt, could therefore be a smart move from a business perspective.
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Furthermore, Everton have other options in the middle of the park in the likes of Abdoulaye Doucoure, Allan, Fabian Delph and January signing Dele Alli. They could also potentially try to make Donny van de Beek’s loan move permanent come the summer, strengthening their midfield depth further and duly making Davies more dispensable.
In other news, these were Everton’s three worst players v Man City
The General Council of Cricket South Africa (Genco) has given a cautious vote of confidence to Norman Arendse, the CSA president, and Gerald Majola, the chief executive, in the wake of the quota controversy that has overshadowed South Africa’s current tour of Bangladesh.A series of meetings were held in Johannesburg to discuss the issues raised over recent weeks, starting with the squad selection for the tour of Bangladesh. Arendse and Majola will now hold another meeting to discuss a way of preventing similar situations in the future.”Genco expressed its displeasure in the manner in which the recent events had been handled,” said a statement. “The president and the CEO expressed their commitment and made an undertaking to work together for the good of cricket in South Africa and to follow processes laid down by CSA in dealing with such issues.”Therefore, Genco resolved that in dealing with the complaints made, the President and CEO will meet within seven days to define a plan for Genco’s approval that will lead South African cricket into the future.”Genco reiterated the council’s support for the transformation policy across all areas of the game. Currently, South African squads are meant to include seven players of colour in a 15-member team, but there are only five in the 14-man Test squad currently in Bangladesh.
As you might expect from members of an old-boys network, Graeme Smith and Ryan Watson – opposing captains in St Kitts and former pupils of King Edward’s school in Johannesburg – talked up the prospects of the other team. Scotland and South Africa now prepare for the grand finale of a group phase that until now has been as predictably one-sided as the world rankings suggest.”Scotland are a better unit [than The Netherlands],” Smith said after South Africa’s seven-wicket win. “They’ve got a few better bowling options and a few decent batters in the top six.”Watson fancied his former countrymen to put one over the Australians in their seismic tussle on Saturday. “I like the way South Africa are playing at the moment,” he said, “but I worry they don’t have a spinner in the side because these wickets are quite flat.”Today such weighty matters had to be put on hold, as Scotland took their turn to feel the wrath of the South African blades. There was no shame in the defeat, only weary resignation. Scotland leaked four-balls galore to succumb with more than half of their overs to spare. “We’ve improved a lot in terms of scorelines,” Watson said after posting their highest World Cup total of 186 for 8, “but we’re slightly disappointed with how we bowled up front. We bowled a lot better against Australia.”As has been the case throughout the past week’s mismatches, there wasn’t a lot that could be read into the result. For the fourth match running, the better side was professional to the core. Watson conceded that – regardless of what has been happening in Ireland’s group – against such focused opponents, the Associate teams don’t really have a prayer.”If any of the Test nations brings their A-game to an Associate nation they are always going to do well,” Watson said. “The problem with South Africa and Australia is they are never complacent – they are definitely always up for the game. I’ve played against Pakistan in the past, and whether it’s complacency or whether they take their foot off the gas, I don’t know. But they have the tendency to do that against smaller teams and that gives you half a chance.””As a team you cannot afford to take teams for granted,” Smith said. “You have to be ready for each day, because if you’re slightly off the mark, any team can beat you. But now the first two games are out of the way, and that’s a good thing because Australia is the game that everyone’s been looking forward to. The World Cup is really starting for us now, and the first part of that is Saturday.”
Scotland did provide moments of troubling resistance that Smith was both grateful to have been alerted to, and eager to rectify before the Australia clash. In particular, he took on board the flurry of runs that Scotland’s tail had provided in the closing stages of their innings, as John Blain and Paul Hoffmann helped Dougie Brown to add 55 in five overs.”At the death on this ground you’re going to go for a few boundaries,” Smith said, “so you’ve got to come up with a few different strategies. I’m glad that we bowled first, because we were able to learn that and see what it’s like out there. It allows us to think about that now and plan for the Australia game. The winds were blowing strongly and that changed a bit of death-bowling tactics, but we bowled solidly and it was a good work-out.”It was Watson’s Scots, however, who were taught the most from this match-up. “We learnt how to field today,” Watson, who was run out while taking on AB de Villiers’ exocet arm in the covers, said. “South Africa were simply magnificent and those are the standards we need if we are going to compete. Also our batting up front needs some work. These guys come at us and hit us over the top – we need to apply the same pressure on them.”Smith, who thrashed 91 from 65 balls, was relaxed and content with his form after a low-key build-up to the Australia match, and he intended to keep things that way. As the hype prepares to be cranked up a notch for Saturday’s showdown, Smith revealed the squad’s intentions were to take things easy.”The guys have found a good balance since we’ve been in St Kitts,” Smith said. “It’s easy to find. Tomorrow I’m going to get a lesson on how to fish – a couple of our farm boys are taking me fishing tomorrow. It’s definitely a full day off and we won’t even plan any training sessions tomorrow night. We’ll take the two days and make sure those two days before Australia are real training sessions. I just hope I don’t get seasick.”