Ricky Ponting has urged Australian supporters to provide a “sea of green and gold” for the summer’s Ashes series. Tickets for the 2006-07 international matches go on sale to the Australian Cricket Family on Thursday morning and Cricket Australia is determined that the grounds will not be over-run by England supporters.”The Australian team can’t wait for this Ashes series to start and having a sea of green and gold supporters in the stand will give us a massive boost,” Ponting said. “Make sure you get in early on June 1 and we’ll see you during the biggest summer of Australian cricket.”The 128,500 members who registered on the organistation’s website can buy tickets from 9am eastern standard time on Thursday until June 15. Seats will go on general release for overseas supporters and those not in the “family” on June 19. Cricket Australia has predicted all Test grounds will be sold out for the first day and there are hopes of a world-record crowd for Boxing Day at the MCG.A Cricket Australia spokesman said family members must be Australian residents and provide an Australian postal address to buy tickets. “If these conditions are not met, tickets shall be cancelled,” he said. The first Test starts at Brisbane on November 23.
After winning the first Test by the massive margin of an innings and 99 runs, New Zealand will hope to complete their first series win in the subcontinent since Geoff Howarth’s side beat Sri Lanka 2-0 over 20 years ago. In Dhaka, Bangladesh were undone by Daniel Vettori, who returned the excellent second-innings figures of 22-13-28-6, but they will expect to put up sterner resistance this time.”The wicket was quite slow and we got some bounce that helped me a lot. It was good for spinners but not the best.” said Vettori. “Patience is key to surviving on such wickets. They can learn a lot from our style of batting in the first innings.”To strengthen their batting, Bangladesh have replaced Hannan Sarkar, who had scored only 54 in his last nine innings, with Aftab Ahmed, who will make his Test debut on his home ground if selected: “I know this wicket better than anybody else and I want to leave my mark in front of fans here.” Like Nafis Iqbal, and Enamul Haque junior, who joined the squad to bolster the spin attack, Aftab was part of the side that defeated Australia in the Plate final of the Under-19 World Cup in March this year.Wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud will continue as captain, since Habibul Bashar has not yet recovered from the thumb injury that ruled him out of the Champions Trophy and the first Test.The plan for Bangladesh is to bat as long as possible, to make a first-innings score above 300, and try to force the New Zealanders to bat on a wearing pitch. The spin attack is one area in which the Bangladeshis can compete. But it is a scheme that could work for either team according to Khokon, the curator of MA Aziz Stadium: “The team that wins the toss and chooses to bat first might establish control over match as the first two days will promise a lot of runs.”The pitch will be quite similar to that in Dhaka. “Even the pace bowlers would not be able to get any assistance during this time,” Khokon added. “The wicket will only take a little turn on the third day while the fourth and fifth day will definitely belong to the bowlers. Maybe the only difference will be a slight change in bounce.”John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach, is reluctant to make any major changes tothe side, but with one eye on the series against Australia next month, there is the temptation to include Kyle Mills or Chris Martin, who have yet to play a match on this tour. Ian Butler, who went wicketless at Dhaka, may be rested.There is no room for complacency, however tempting, for New Zealand. Oram, who took only three wickets in the first Test, said: “The fact that we played with the ruthlessness which was expected was very good. We’ve come over here to get some results after recent poor performances, notably the 0-3 whitewash in England, and it doesn’t matter who it’s against.”Whichever way the result goes, history, either long-standing or recent, will be turned around.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Javed Omar, 2 Nafis Iqbal, 3 Aftab Ahmed, 4 Rajin Saleh, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Khaled Mashud (capt, wk), 8 Manjural Islam Rana, 9 Enamul Haque jr., 10 Mohammad Rafique, 11 Tapash Baisya.New Zealand (probable): 1 Mark Richardson, 2 Matthew Sinclair, 3 Stephen Fleming (capt), 4 Scott Styris, 5 Nathan Astle, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Brendon McCullum (wkt), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 James Franklin, 10 Paul Wiseman, 11 Chris Martin.
If India’s cricketers don’t have central contracts yet, they have only themselves to blame. The abrupt cancellation of the meeting of the screening committee formed to allot central contracts to the Indian players was brought about not by the prevarication of the board, but by a lack of consensus among the players.The matter has now been postponed to allow a group of the players who have expressed their reservations about the structure of the contract to come up with their own suggestions. It is understood that a group of players argued against the proposed grading system, which was to be determined by the screening committee on merit. They felt the seniority (number of Tests and one-dayers played) rather than a subjective decision by the committee should be the sole criterion.It is understood that the objections cropped up at the last moment, after the draft contracts were handed out to the players at the Indian team’s preparatory camp in Chennai. Some time back Ratnakar Shetty, the joint secretary of the BCCI, met the players at the conditioning camp in Bangalore to explain the contract, which had been finalised in consultation with a few senior players, including Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.However, some of the other players felt that the subjective element in the structure could lead to disharmony, and that it would be better to decide the gradings by the number of matches played. The flip side of this is that a senior player would be guaranteed a higher-grade contract, irrespective of his true worth to the team. For example, if this contract had been enforced ten years ago, Sachin Tendulkar, already India’s best player, would have received a B-contract behind some lesser lights on account of the number of matches he had then played. Interestingly, the suggestion that seniority should be the main criterion came from a group of younger players.Some players were also unhappy about a proposed clause under which reserves would get only 50% of the match fee paid to the playing XI. In the existing system, they receive 90%, but without the security blanket of an annual retainer.The end result is that the players will now have to wait before they can reap the rewards of a central contract, something Kumble, the player in the forefront of negotiations in this issue, recently called “The best thing to happen to Indian cricket”.
West Indies have brought fast bowler Daren Powell into their 15-man squad for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka as a replacement for the injured Jermaine Lawson. Lawson is struggling to recover from the back injury he sustained during the Antigua Test against Australia.Allrounder Ryan Hurley was named in the squad after recovering from a shoulder injury.Brian Lara said that his aim was to build on the three successive wins over Australia. “Sri Lanka are not as strong as Australia,” he told reporters, “although of course they have a couple of match winners, but we are looking to keep up the standard we achieved in the last three one-day games.”West Indies Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith, Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, David Bernard, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Ryan Hurley, Omari Banks, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Daren Powell, Ricardo Powell.
Robert Croft cracked a maiden one-day century as Glamorgan showed their Norwich Union League Division Two champions credentials by beating Middlesex by 41 runs at Cardiff.The England off spinner’s sparkling 100 came off 105 balls with a six and 10 fours out of Glamorgan’s challenging total of 272-4.And it was Croft who chipped in with two wickets as Middlesex could only manage 231-8 in their 45 overs.As well as Glamorgan receiving the Division Two trophy it was supposed to be the day that the county also said goodbye to the retiring Steve Watkin after 16 seasons at Sophia Gardens.But although Watkin led the Glamorgan players on to the pitch at the start of the Middlesex reply and got a standing ovation before he bowled the final over of the match, Croft rather stole his thunder.Without Angus Fraser in their attack Middlesex failed to contain the Division Two title winners. The mainstay of Glamorgan’s innings was a partnership of 189 in 29 overs between Croft and Steve James, who perished seven short of three figures.Croft had scored 92 against Essex in a day-night clash last month and was determined to score a 100 although he was put down in the deep on 74 by Ed Joyce.But he had to wait until the final over of the innings to seal his 100 and then celebrated by hitting Paul Weekes for two straight sixes.Apart from the presentation of the trophy at the end of the game the match was largely irrelevant, as Glamorgan had been confirmed champions last weekend when Worcestershire lost to Durham.
Newcastle United return to Premier League action this weekend as they take on Brighton at St James’ Park on Saturday.
The Magpies are currently on a seven-game unbeaten run in the division and will be hoping to extend their impressive string of results as they face off against Graham Potter’s side.
Eddie Howe’s men beat Brentford 2-0 last time out as a powerful header from Joelinton and a composed finish from Joe Willock secured all three points for the Toon in west London.
Unleash Manquillo
Despite that result, one change that the ex-Bournemouth boss must make from the win over the Bees is to bring Javier Manquillo into the starting XI in place of Emil Krafth.
The Spaniard suffered a knock in the win over Aston Villa and was only fit enough for the bench against Brentford last week, but he has now had seven days to train and get himself ready to play 90 minutes.
Krafth has simply not been good enough for the Magpies this season. He has averaged a dismal WhoScored rating of 6.38 across 10 Premier League appearances (eight starts) and made two tackles and interceptions per game for the Toon.
This shows that his performances have been below-par over the course of the campaign, which is why he must be axed from the line-up for this clash, as the £37k-per-week dud has been a liability to the team with his worrying displays.
Meanwhile, Manquillo has averaged a score of 6.61 in the top flight across 15 outings. Whilst this is not a mind-blowing rating for the Spaniard, it is still far better than his Swedish team-mate’s score, and that makes him less of a risk to the team on the pitch. It shows that he is a solid, albeit unspectacular, performer at the back for Newcastle.
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He has also shown that he can put in excellent displays from time to time, with Steve Bruce once describing him as “terrific” and Chris Waddle stating that he has a “good engine”. Therefore, the 27-year-old is the better option out of Howe’s two available right-backs and should be selected in the starting XI.
Howe must unleash him from the start against Brighton and axe Krafth in the process, as the evidence suggests that the former will be less of a liability throughout the match, giving Newcastle a greater chance of picking up all three points.
AND in other news, Newcastle facing potential setback before Brighton, Howe will be worried…
The Nashua Dolphins allrounder, Jon Kent, has been found guilty of dissent and suspended for one match following a disciplinary hearing in Johannesburg.Kent pleaded guilty to Cricket South Africa’s disciplinary commissioner, Adv. Michael Kuper SC, after being reported by the umpires, Shaun George, Dennis Smith and Karl Hurter, and the match referee, Cyril Mitchley, following an incident during the Dolphins’ fixture against Zimbabwe Chevrons at Kingsmead last Wednesday.Kent admitted to have breached clause 1.2 of Cricket South Africa’s Rules and Code of Conduct which states that “Players and team officials must at all times accept an umpire’s decision and must not show dissent at an umpire’s decision.”Kent is suspended from the Dolphins’ next Pro20 match, against Nashua Titans at Kingsmead on April 9. In handing down the sentence, the disciplinary commissioner took into account a previous conviction for a similar offence.
Ireland’s former coach Adrian Birrell, who enjoyed so much success at the recent World Cup, has been selected to coach an all-star European line-up in a fixture against MCC at Lord’s on June 7.”It is a great honour for me to be selected in this role,” Birrell said. “Since arriving in Ireland in 2001, I have learned a lot about Associate cricket and I really think there is huge potential for development within the next tier of the international game.”The performances of Ireland and other supposedly weaker teams during the World Cup have shown that the gap between the best and the next best is closing, although there is still a long way to go.”This will be the second time that MCC have played this fixture. In 2006 MCC won by five wickets at VOC Cricket Club in Rotterdam
Ian Blackwell, Somerset and England’s allrounder, is to undergo surgery after injuring his shoulder in Somerset’s Championship match against Leicestershire.Blackwell, Somerset’s captain, is likely to require at least three or four months to recuperate – a bitter blow for him, and England, after his encouraging bowling in the one-dayers in the subcontinent. He will certainly miss the one-dayers this summer against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and is a serious doubt for the ICC Champions Trophy in October.”He has been diagnosed as having a SLAP lesion in his left shoulder which has been confirmed by shoulder consultant Mr Alan Dunkley,” Brian Rose, director of cricket at Somerset, said. “This is where part of the joint capsule is damaged along with part of the bicep tendon. The severity is yet to be confirmed but surgery is required regardless.”Blackwell, 27, has played 14 one-day internationals, and a single Test against India.
Michael Clarke entered Australian folklore at the Chinnaswammy Stadium today, by converting his overnight 76 into a brilliant 151 on his Test debut. And batting alongside him at the crucial moment was his captain, Adam Gilchrist, who also went on to score a century of his own.”It’s an absolute dream come true,” said Clarke, “firstly for Australia, but also for me personally as well. I’ve scored a hundred on debut, and in Bangalore as well, which is a great place where I’ve enjoyed some good one-day games in the past, and to do it with my captain at the other end is fantastic.”As the century approached, the first signs of nerves crept into Clarke’s game, but Gilchrist was on hand for reassurance and was regularly seen applauding his team-mate’s patience.”The communication levels in this team are well established,” explained Gilchrist afterwards. “It’s two of us against 11 of them, so we talk to each other as much as we can. They bowled a really tight line and length and tightened Clarkey up in that nineties period, and it was inevitable he was going to be nervous. But I was simply there to keep him keep focussed on the bigger picture and, more importantly, the next ball. It was a very special moment.”Clarke’s nerves had been exacerbated by the arrival of his family, who arrived en masse to witness the event. And in a moment of symbolism to bring a tear to every Australian eye, Clarke chose to don the Baggy Green cap as his hundred approached. “It was all pre-planned,” he explained. “I told my father and manager, that if I ever got the opportunity to score a hundred, I’d do so wearing the Baggy Green. And it all worked out perfectly.”I didn’t sleep well at all last night,” he admitted. “I woke early, and then couldn’t get back to sleep, but it’s all been worth it. The last four restless nights have definitely been worth it. And my parents were able to get on a flight and get over here, so to be able to look up into the stands and see them there was brilliant.”Gilchrist admitted that the emotion of Clarke’s achievement had swept his team along, but he was keen not to lose sight of the primary objective, which was to win the Test match. “Let’s not get too overrun by the personal issues,” he urged. “Great though they are, the real excitement is for the team to be in this position, after performing with both bat and ball.”Gilchrist’s own innings was somewhat relegated into the shadows, although the comparisons with his start to the 2001 series were hard to ignore, especially given that he followed his 122 at Mumbai with two runs in four more innings. “I’ve been thinking back to the way I started the series then,” he admitted. “[That century] was probably a more flamboyant hundred, but a bit risky. It all came off that day, but I failed for the rest of series.
“I’ve had three long years to think about it, and today I adopted a different gameplan. The wicket played well, but because I expected it to spin more, I felt more confident playing straight. I never thought I’d get a hundred in India with one sweep shot, so that’s pleasing. Now, hopefully, I won’t get a dirty, dodgy little lbw decision like I did in Kolkata three years ago! Moments like that can change your life.With 2001 in mind, the question of whether Gilchrist would adopt the follow-on was a hot topic among the local media. But he refused to get carried away with Australia’s position.”The wicket is not breaking up as we expected,” he said, “although it could yet get difficult, with a bit of inconsistent bounce and some reverse swing. There are still 270 overs left in this match, so anything can happen. I remember being cock-a-hoop with our position in Kolkata, but we are wise to that experience, and we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. Today is a day to enjoy individual feats, but tomorrow we’ll be executing our plans as best we can.”