The Hyderabad squad for the opening match of Quaid-i-AzamTrophy Grade-I tie against Bahawalpur has not yet beenannounced, till the filing of this report Monday , either bythe defunct District Cricket Association (DCA) Hyderabad orthe ad hoc committee.No statement has so far been issued by the ad hoc committeepertaining to the selection of team. The team was expectedto leave for Bahawalpur late Monday.Meanwhile, a rowdy scene was witnessed here at Niaz StadiumSunday when a practice-cum-warm-up match between two teamsof Hyderabad district was disrupted by around 60 to 70youths, who trespassed into the outfield and forced thecancellation of match.The joint secretary of DCA, which has been dissolved by itspresident Dec 24, has accused Mir Haider Ali Khan Talpur,chairman selection committee of the defunct DCA, of leadingthe youths to force the closure of match.Mir Haider has, however, denied the allegations and saidthat he had talked to Faheem Baig for calling a meeting ofselection committee to discuss names of team members.Witnesses said that a practice match between HyderabadGreens and Whites was in progress at 11.30am when around 60to 70 persons entered the ground, raising slogans.
Railways were staring at the prospect of surrendering the firstinnings lead to Punjab as they were reduced to 176 for 9 at stumps onthe third day of the Ranji Trophy Super League group B match at theKarnail Singh Stadium at New Delhi on Tuesday.Earlier, some good batting by tail-enders Sharandeep Singh (44 notout) and Navdeep Singh (42) saw Punjab push their score to 355. Endingday one on 246 for 7 there was very little chance that Punjab couldsalvage the situation. However, the two Singhs combined well, adding65 runs for the eighth wicket. While 355 is not the score they wouldhave been looking at when they began their innings, it is a score theywould settle for given the fact that they were 164 for 5.Punjab’s Kulamani Parida bowled his off breaks to good effect andended with the more than respectable figures of 6/84 off his 36.2overs.In response, Railways were neck deep in trouble. Losing their top fivebatsmen before tea was taken, Railways were reduced to 90 for 5.Opening the bowling, Gagandeep Singh was both economical and effectiveinitially as he picked up 2/17 off his 9 overs. In the post teasession Yere Goud (64 of 151 balls) and Kilamani Parida (34 of 46balls) added 46 runs in 13 overs between them for the ninth wicket .But Railways were to end the day with the score of 176 with only thelast pair at the crease, as Punjab consolidated on their first inningstotal.Navdeep Singh was easily the pick of the Punjab bowlers as he endedthe day with an analysis of 4 for 46 from 21 overs.
Antonio Conte has dropped an injury update on Oliver Skipp ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League clash with Everton.
What’s been said?
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Italian revealed that, despite previously suggesting that the midfielder should be in line for a return to action in mid-February, the 21-year-old remains unavailable for selection for the fixture against Everton this evening – as the England U21 international is still yet to recover from a groin injury.
The 52-year-old went on to state his belief that Spurs’ club doctors should publicly explain the reasoning behind Skipp’s continued absence, something which suggests he does not have a lot of faith in the Tottenham Hotspur medical staff.
Regarding Skipp’s injury, Conte said: “Oliver Skipp, it is a pity. In England, I think that sometimes you should have a [press] conference with the medical department. It is too easy for the doctors to work here because they don’t speak, they don’t explain what happens.
“Sometimes I think that could be good… if, in two weeks… to have a good press conference with the medical department to explain about the situation that they are trying to take care of their players. Skipp is not ready. He’s having this problem with groin pain. He is fighting. He could recover before but maybe something was wrong. And now we have to wait.”
Conte will be fuming
Considering just how important a part of Conte’s side Skipp has become since the manager’s arrival at Tottenham back in November, the news that the midfielder will once again be unavailable for selection this evening is sure to have left the Italian fuming.
Indeed, over his 18 Premier League appearances so far this season, the £18m-rated academy product has been in extremely fine form, making an average of 42.3 passes, 0.7 interceptions, 1.8 tackles, 0.4 clearances and winning 3.6 duels per game – with these returns seeing the 21-year-old average a SofaScore match rating of 6.81.
Furthermore, despite having missed Tottenham’s last seven fixtures due to his injury, the £24k-per-week dynamo has still been Conte’s joint 12th-most selected player since his appointment at the club last year.
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As such, it is clear for all to see exactly why Conte is so frustrated with the continued absence of Skipp, as the youngster is very much a crucial part of the former Inter Milan manager’s first-team plans in North London – with the 21-year-old’s unavailability for the Everton clash, as well as potentially the Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion fixtures, sure to come as a huge blow to the 52-year-old.
In other news: Conte must finally unleash Spurs’ £41m-rated “blue-collar” machine, he’d petrify Dele
ScorecardBermuda might have gained a first-innings lead of 166 over UAE, but most of their batsmen barely contributed. Once again, it was David Hemp who led the way with a fine 174, remaining unbeaten when Bermuda were finally bundled out for 311.Bermuda’s middle-order offered scant resistance against the UAE bowlers, which was a trend on their tour of Kenya last month. The tourists were facing capitulation when Dwayne Leverock fell to Arshad Ali at 163 for 8 – with a slender lead of 20 runs. In came Kevin Hurdle, more comfortable with a ball in his hand than a bat, who stuck with Hemp in a ninth-wicket stand of 132 – though he only added 26 himself.Hemp was defiant in his unbeaten 174, helping Bermuda gain a sizeable lead of 166. Malachi Jones picked up the early wicket of Gayan Silva, but Arshad Ali (76) and Naeemuddin Aslam (31) led a steady reply as UAE finished 51 runs in the red on day two, with two more days remaining.
Jacques Kallis today clarified that his alleged refusal to sing the national anthem was related to his father’s death with whom he used to sing the anthem. “Jacques recently lost both his parents, and he was particularly close to his father who was his cricket mentor. They would often sing the anthem together, and his father was very proud of his son playing forSouth Africa,” Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa’s CEO, said after meeting the player.A report in South Africa’s had implied that Kallis’s silence when the rest of the team sang the national anthem had more than met the eye. “Jacques has explained why he is silent during the singing of the anthem before international matches and his explanation is completely acceptable to Cricket South Africa,” Majola said in a statement.”Jacques told me that he sings the anthem in his heart in a quiet momentin remembrance of his parents and in gratitude for what they did toallow him to be good enough to represent his country. He has great respect for the anthem and cherishes every moment he has represented South Africa around the world,” the statement added.On his part, Jacques Kallis said that “The questioning of my patriotismand commitment to South Africa can easily be answered by visiting mywebsite www.kallis.co.za and seeing theJacques Kallis Scholarship Foundation I have set up and this willclearly illustrate my passion and willingness to redress the imbalancesof the past.”I hope my personal and family wishes would be respected and this matterwould be settled.”
Kenya have included three players currently in the ICC’s Winter Training Camp in South Africa in their 14-man squad for the Afro-Asia tournament in Bangladesh next month.The Kenya Cricket Association chairman of selectors David Waters said allrounder Kalpesh Patel and fast bowlers Alfred Luseno and Nehemiah Odhiambo, who are undergoing the training with players from six other ICC Associate members in Pretoria, will form the backbone of the team.He added that legspinner Collins Obuya, who has also been out of the country working with Australia’s legspin coach Terry Jenner in Adelaide, would join the team as the most experienced player in the side.No captain was named, but is expected that Rageb Aga will lead the side if he can get time off from his studies in England. If he cannot, then Maurice Ouma will probably take charge.The January 16-29 tournament in the southeastern Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong will also feature other A teams from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Zimbabwe were to have been the fifth side but they withdrew after their players refused to participate.Kenya squad Alfred Luseno, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Kalpesh Patel Collins Obuya, Maurice Ouma, Rageb Aga, Amit Bhudia, Tanmay Mishra, Rajesh Bhudia, Malhar Patel, Hafiz Manji, Jimmy Kamande, Abeed Janmohamed, Alex Obanda.
Reacting to a story about the possibility of Muttiah Muralitharan missing cricket for eight to ten weeks, the Australian surgeon who treated Muralitharan’s shoulder downplayed the injury, saying it wasn’t as bad as the MRI suggested.David Young put Muralitharan through an arthroscopy following a scan that revealed a tendon tear, and was pleased with what he found. AAP quoted Young as saying, “I’m rapt. I’m very, very reassured by the scope compared to what the MRI had suggested. It was a quick scope, little more than diagnostic. It’s a partial tear, he doesn’t need it repaired and he will head home on Friday.More reassuringly for fans who missed Muralitharan for much of last year, he added that Muralitharan had a chance of participating in the tour of New Zealand.
Fluent centuries from Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia combined with the loss of ten overs due to rain gave India B a resounding 82-run win against India A in the final league match of the Challenger Series. India B batted first on a belter of a wicket and piled on a mammoth 340 for 2, which comprehensively shut the door on India A. Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar gave the A side the slightest whiff of hope when they set out to chase a revised target of 308 from 40 overs. But when the two of them were dismissed, the wheels fell off, wickets tumbled and India A were all out for 225.When the day began, warm and sunny, Dravid was glad to win the toss and bat first. Mithun Manhas, who is playing his first game for India A in this tournament, dropped Mongia off the very first ball of the match at second slip. Aavishkar Salvi was the unlucky bowler, and Mongia practically grinned his way to 121 (117 balls, 19 fours). Yuvraj, though needed no help in getting to an unbeaten 111.Yet again, there was nothing in the wicket to aid any type of bowler, and the batsmen realised this early on. After his early reprieve, Mongia put his head down and began to take full toll. His driving through the off was impeccable. He used his height and upright stance to great effect, getting right on top of the ball and driving through covers. Anything on the pads was whipped away and the boundaries began to come at a fast clip.Satyajit Parab (41) made a sensible start, but missed out, driving Kumble to Mohammad Kaif at cover. That was the only blip in the India B innings.Yuvraj Singh swaggered out to the middle at No. 3 and brought confidence and vigour to the batting. He played a lot of cricket with Mongia and knew exactly what to do with the bowling. A high bat speed combined with effective placement sent perfectly good deliveries to the off-side fence. Fielders were left stranded as fiercely-hit balls pinged the advertising hoardings.Mongia meanwhile continued to score freely. When he reached his hundred, the floodgates opened. He went after almost everything that was bowled at him cutting, flicking and driving with gay abandon. Eventually it was an air of overconfidence that did him in. He attempted a reverse sweep to a Kumble slider and was palpably lbw (219 for 2). Mongia’s 121 (117 balls, 19 fours) helped add 118 runs for the second wicket.There was no reason for Yuvraj to improvise though. Swinging cleanly through the line of the ball Yuvraj treated the spinners and pacemen with utter contempt. He played the pick-up shot to perfection, depositing Kumble and Salvi into the stands over midwicket off consecutive overs.The most brutal blow came in the last over of the innings. Irfan Pathan sent one down in the slot and Yuvraj simply teed off. The ball sailed over the bowler’s head and landed on the roof of the stands at long-on. Another six and four followed, taking his tally to 10 fours and four sixes out of 111 off just 82 balls.If India A were sweating at the prospect of chasing 341, their task was made harder when 45 minutes were lost to rain and their target was revised to 308 off 40 overs. Tendulkar (22) and Gambhir (58) got the side off to a frenetic start, reaching 47 from just 4.5 overs. After hooking Amit Bhandari for one magnificent six, Tendulkar presented Dravid at mid-off with the simplest of catches (47 for 1).Gambhir kept hopes up, picking up boundaries with regularity. When he was bowled around the legs by a Sarandeep Singh offbreak, India A slipped to 87 for 2 and never recovered.Mongia (4 for 31) added to Manhas’s and India A’s misery, picking up four cheap wickets as India A limped to 225 all out. India B, the least fancied team in this series won the dress rehearsal comprehensively. The same two teams will be back tomorrow for the final and fans will look forward to a more keenly contested game.
India took the initiative on day one of the first Test against England at Mohali, after the tourists were reduced from the promising position of 172 for 2 to 238 all out. At the close India had reached 24 for 1 in reply.With the pitch looking a seamer’s paradise before the start, the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and gave his fast bowlers first use of it. All three of the faster bowlers, Tinu Yohannan, Iqbal Siddiqui and Sanjay Bangar, are making their Test debuts, as are England’s Richard Dawson and James Foster, who received their England caps in the now traditional on-field ceremony.India broke through in the very first over as Mark Butcher, after driving Yohannan through the covers for four, was caught at second slip by VVS Laxman off the same bowler. Nasser Hussain flexed his muscles with a delightfully cut boundary off a short, wide ball from Yohannan. After an uncharacteristically quiet start, Marcus Trescothick opened his shoulders at the end of the seventh over, driving a half volley from Yohannan through the covers for four.Siddiqui was on the receiving end as well, as Hussain first cut and then drove boundaries. Bangar fared little better, going for two more boundaries as England posted 50 in the twelfth over. Anil Kumble came on for Yohannan, and Trescothick looked fortunate to survive an lbw appeal when he was hit on the toe and credited with four runs to third man. He celebrated with boundaries through extra cover and long on, as England reached 70 for one at the end of an expensive first over for the leg-spinner. Hussain maintained the flow with two more offside boundaries off Bangar. Trescothick swept Kumble to fine leg for a single, and then reached the boundary with a similar shot off the same bowler to bring up England’s 100 and his eighth Test 50. Hussain hoisted the century partnership with a delightful dab to the third man boundary, and at lunch England were healthily placed at 107 for 1.Hussain soon reached his 50 in fine style, pulling to the boundary just in front of square. It was his eighteenth 50 in Tests. An error of judgement then led to Trescothick’s downfall, as he left a ball from Yohannan that held its line when Trescothick expected it to seam away. It sent his off stump cartwheeling. Trescothick had made a fluent 66 and England were 129 for 2. Graham Thorpe then got away with an uppish hook for a single. Siddiqui returned in place of Yohannan in the 43rd over, and Thorpe struck a half volley with perfect timing to the extra cover boundary, repeating the stroke in Siddiqui’s next over as he over-pitched again. But to his chagrin Thorpe was dismissed in the same over, flashing at a ball outside the off stump and giving a straightforward catch to Laxman at second slip. Siddiqui had his first Test wicket; Thorpe had made 23 and England were 172 for 3.Mark Ramprakash immediately made the most of a wide half volley from Harbhajan, driving it to the cover boundary. Hussain then advanced down the wicket to hit Harbhajan for four over mid-off, before being missed in the same over behind the stumps by Deep Dasgupta. An edge in Harbhajan’s next over fell just short of Laxman at slip. The England captain’s response to adversity was aggressive. Twice he hit Harbhajan over the top, first for a magnificent six over extra cover long off, and then a miscued swing over midwicket for three. Ramprakash took three more off Siddiqui as he pierced the covers again, and Harbhajan then made way for Anil Kumble. A single from Ramprakash brought up the 200, but Kumble then struck a vital blow, dismissing Hussain for 85, caught by Laxman at silly point off pad and bat as he pushed defensively forward. The tourists reached the interval on 207 for 4.England’s run rate dropped substantially after tea, and a bowling change by Ganguly paid immediate dividends as Ramprakash, playing Harbhajan defensively across the line, was beautifully caught at silly point by Shiv Sunder Das for 17. 224 for 5 became 227 for 6 when Flintoff perished for 18, aiming to hit Harbhajan over the top and finding Kumble at backward point. Harbhajan missed out on his third wicket in three overs when Dasgupta failed to gather a thin outside edge from Craig White.Harbhajan was not to be denied for long, dismissing Foster for a duck as he tried to sweep a ball from around his off stump. Kumble then dismissed White for five as he dabbed a late cut straight to Rahul Dravid at first slip without addition to the total. Dawson, popped up a straightforward catch for Laxman at silly point off Harbhajan, and Matthew Hoggard lasted just one ball, caught off bat and pad by the substitute Connor Williams at short leg to give Harbhajan his fifth wicket. He finished with 5 for 51, and on a day when many expected the seamers to dominate, seven wickets had fallen to spin and England had subsided to a mediocre total.England opened their attack with Hoggard and James Ormond, and Dasgupta immediately looked in good touch. taking four off Ormond as Hussain chased unavailingly to the midwicket boundary. Butcher was brought on as first change, and provided the breakthrough England desperately needed in his second over when Das left a delivery, which hit his off stump. Anil Kumble entered the arena as nightwatchman, and by the close India had reached 24 for 1.
Zimbabwe’s morale received a welcome boost just five days before the second Test match when they beat Yorkshire in this Vodaphone Challenge match.Heavy rain just before the scheduled start meant that play was delayed for 10 minutes, but Zimbabwe soon had their first success. With Yorkshire needing 180 to win opening bowler Mbangwa stuck in the second over with his second ball. He had Yorkshire skipper David Byas caught at forward short leg by Murray Goodwin.In his next over he removed Richard Harden for one. Harden hit a leading edge straight to Nkala at mid on. With the first ball of Brian Strang’s third over Victor Craven was caught by Grant Flower in the gully. There was more bad news for Yorkshire when Wood became the fourth man out. He was caught by Brent at mid off. Yorkshire were now 13 for four and Mbangwa had taken three wickets for just three runs.Michael Lumb who was making his first class debut for Yorkshire joined Garry Fellows. Michael who is the 21-year-old son of former Yorkshire vice Captain Richard Lumb cannot play county cricket for Yorkshire until next season because he was born in South Africa. The pair looked comfortable and took the score to 54 before Fellows was out. He pushed forward to Strang and was caught behind by Any Flower.Gavin Hamilton was nearly out before lunch but the ball dropped short of second slip when he was only three. Hamilton and Lumb were realistically Yorkshire`s last chance of winning the match. Lumb played some wonderful square drives and looked the mirror image of his father, because Michael is a left hander and his dad was a right hander. The pair added 40 when Hamilton was caught behind by Flower of Nkala’s first ball of his second spell.Middlebrook looked uneasy troughout his innings of 7 before he was caught by Grant Flower at point off Nkala. Guy hung in with Lumb and took the score to 128 before he was caught by Andy Flower off Strang. Next ball Hutchison was caught by Carlise at second slip after the ball had rebounded of Goodwin at third slip.Last man Hoggard tried to slog Yorkshire to victory and scored ten in no time. His attitude was followed by Lumb who also started to hit out. Hoggard was the last wicket to fall when he was LBW to Nakala. Lumb remained unbeaten on 66. When Lumb brought up his fifty he had scored 44 in boundaries.Brian finished with four for 41 and Nkala took two wickets for 24 runs. Mbangwa who was named man the match took four wickets for 39 runs but ended up with career best figures of 10 for 53.