Tag Futebol

England women cricket’s leading batsman Claire Taylor is going to try her hand playing for Canterbury in the State League competition this summer.Taylor, one of the most consistent of England’s players over the last two years, and one of their best performers at the CricInfo Women’s World Cup at Lincoln University, has been named in a women’s trial to be played against Otago at Geraldine at Labour Weekend.Canterbury has lost more top players and coming on top of the loss of three of its stalwarts of recent history the year before, Debbie Hockley, Catherine Campbell and Katrina Keenan, it is facing another rebuilding year.Missing from the team, which will be led by new captain Haidee Tiffen, will be Paula Flannery, who has decided to stay overseas, Emily Travers who is taking a break, Delwyn Brownlee and Fiona Fraser, who has decided to stay in Wellington, her home town.Another English player, Mandie Godliman, a wicket-keeper, started the season in Christchurch but is going to try out for the Wellington team. She has played eight matches for England and along with Taylor, has been named in the side to play in the four-nations series in New Zealand in January, against Australia, New Zealand and India, and then to play in the Ashes series in Australia.England fast bowler Clare Taylor is to play for Otago again this season while Charlotte Edwards is to play here as well. She played for Northern Districts after the last Women’s World Cup.Tiffen, New Zealand’s leading all-rounder, had her position as Canterbury captain announced at tonight’s Canterbury season launch. Nicola Payne will be the vice-captain.Canterbury men’s coach Michael Sharpe outlined the work the State Wizards had been doing in the off-season and commented on the extensive back-up the side will have this year with input from New Zealand Cricket Academy personnel Warren Frost and Ashley Ross.Canterbury chief executive Richard Reid said he had received sign-off from clubs and districts in the province for a new form of competition next summer and said he hoped that people would embrace the system when it was put in place.He had been very pleased with the way a new points system had been accepted this season, along with new hours of play, and he was sure there would be a wide measure of satisfaction with the changes.All senior clubs were presented with an allocation of match balls at the opening function which was held at Canterbury Draught’s brewery, one of the Canterbury Association’s sponsors.

We stuck to the basics and were disciplined enough to do well in all three departments of the game. We are playing as a team and that is what we have been emphasising. It is working well at the moment and everyone’s focus is right.
He is making a habit of this [winning Man of the Match awards]. In the past he had enough critics, but he is facing them now and has come good for Sri Lanka and giving 100%. As captain, I have to say he is marvellous now.
This pitch has changed now. It used to be a 250 plus wicket, but now it has started to seam about more. With the grass having not been cut the ball retained its shine and it moved around under the lights.
We are looking at the composition of the side and we have to be fair by individuals. It was tough on Saman [Jayanatha] but there was no question about bringing Sanath [Jayasuriya] back. He is good enough to prove them [Sanath’s critics] wrong.

Steve Waugh has promised fans that Australia would “put on a good show” when his side takes on bottom-ranked Bangladesh in the first of two Tests at Darwin this week.”We haven’t played much cricket in the past four or five weeks, so it should be a good contest,” said Waugh, in a remark that can fairly be called an exaggeration of pre-match non-committal neutrality. “We expect it to be a Test match and we’re going to play as hard as we can. I don’t know what the result is going to be, but we play as if it’s going to be a tough Test match.”Odds of 17-1 are being offered on Australia winning the Test within one day, but Waugh dismissed such speculation, saying that it was “more a problem for the media. It’s exciting. It’s a new venue for us all. We’ve never played Bangladesh in a Test before, in a Test series, so we’re looking forward to the challenge of playing up here.””At this stage of Bangladesh’s experience, to play against the supposed top five in world cricket is important,” added Waugh.Bangladesh added a second tour win to their kitty when they beat the Northern Territories Chief Minister’s XI by two wickets yesterday, and Waugh said that was “good to see. Emerging sides … need a lot of match practice. They’ve played a couple of good games and I’m sure their form is okay.”Waugh refused to reveal the intended combination of the side at Darwin, stating merely that it would be as balanced a side as possible. “The West Indies was a bit different because the wickets were slow and low. We needed an extra bowler,” said Waugh. “If we think we need that, we’ll go with that mix again.If he scores a century in either of the two Tests, Waugh achieves the personal milestone of having notched up a hundred against every Test-playing nation. “I haven’t played a Test match against these guys and neither has any of the other players, so to score a hundred is something to look forward to, but there’s a lot of work to be done before that,” said Waugh.”It’s going to be a big crowd up here and we want to put on a good show,” he added. “Bangladesh may play well and you never know, that’s what sport is all about. It doesn’t matter if you beat them by a massive margin or a single run, that’s whats it’s about.”

Dipak Patel and his Central Districts selectors, Basil Netten and Barry Roberts, know they are in for a tough season.Not because they don’t have enough players, on the contrary, they have more than they know what to do with.Last season’s bowling woes which ripped through New Zealand cricket last year like blight through a 19th Century Irish potato patch, hit CD harder than most.Losing Michael Mason and Lance Hamilton, almost from the outset of the season, threatened to rob CD of two of its most potent bowlers.Instead, CD found its resources were deeper than imagined and produced Brent Hefford and Andrew Schwass to provide a superb back-up for Ewen Thompson.Now all five are lining up at the starting post and the cull is going to make for some disappointments. Mason is nearly back at full speed after recovering from his broken ankle while Hamilton is about a week away with his leg injury.Patel talked about that to CricInfo while watching Canterbury’s rain throw CD’s Cricket Academy camp at Lincoln University into turmoil.Instead of four days early season cricket, such as their Otago counterparts enjoyed last week, the CD players have been honing up on their card skills.”It is a very difficult situation for the bowlers. But we made it plain and clear at the end of last season that they had done very well.”But we told them that when they came back this year they should be under no illusions – they would all have to fight for their places,” Patel said.”It’s hard, but it is healthy. They are all playing for a spot.”Patel was delighted with the way the CD bowlers responded to the potential crisis last year and admitted that Hefford had made a big impression.”The great thing about it was that he took his Shell Cup form into the Shell Trophy. And at the end of the season he made an impression in Perth on very flat wickets when he was playing against quality players.”Jeff Thomson and Dean Jones had a lengthy chat with me at the end of the tournament and they couldn’t believe he wasn’t playing for New Zealand,” he said.The signs that have been seen so far, and the players did get some net time on Sunday before the bad weather set in, suggest that Hefford is set to go again and there should be none of the traditional second season blues for him.”I predict that he will be just as successful as he was last year,” Patel said.While CD looked to have strength in most areas, the real test would come when it was seen how hard hit the side was from the absence of players with the CLEAR Black Caps.The loss of Craig Spearman, through unavailability, as a quality player with experience and as a player who had captained the side would be tough.But, Patel said, Jamie How had taken the challenge on at the end of the season in Perth and has had the benefit of a year at the Cricket Academy.One acquisition the side has had is Richard Scragg, a young player to Lord’s three years ago. He has been playing grade cricket in Perth for two years under former Australian coach Geoff Marsh.”Geoff spoke very highly of him and the very creditable results he had achieved in Perth grade cricket. He’s a very solid, opening batsman,” he said.Greg Todd, another who impressed at the end of the season, especially in games for the New Zealand Under-19 team, has suffered a stress fracture of his shin and is out of action for six weeks. However, as another Academy graduate he has made bigger strides and will be pushing for selection.Patel said the pressure would be on the batsmen in the side, including the likes of David Kelly who, after the double century he scored last summer, was well capable of building on that with more consistency this year.Having achieved such good results in winning the Shell Cup last year the side would be in the new position of facing a different sort of pressure as defenders of the title and that would be a challenge.”We talked about that at our camp and the lads are keen to show that it was not just a one-off. We are an up and coming province and we want to prove that,” Patel said.However, Patel said the four-day State Championship was the title he would most like to have.”From a personal point of view it is the truest test of a cricketer and a cricket team. It is a true test of what type of player you are,” he said.While there is disappointment over the way the weather has treated them at Lincoln, the Central Districts players return to their respective regions knowing there are a lot of district games to be played and a couple of trial matches to be held in Wanganui before the season is underway.Central Districts will be away to Auckland when the State Championship starts on November 26.

There’s no guarantee that Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi will return to action before the end of the season, journalist Pete O’Rourke says. 

The lowdown

Furuhashi hasn’t played for The Hoops since Boxing Day, when he lasted only 15 minutes against St Johnstone before aggravating a hamstring injury.

Manager Ange Postecoglou said late last month that the Japanese attacker was ‘nowhere near’ resuming team training.

Celtic are in the midst of a closely-contested battle with Rangers for the Scottish Premiership crown. They currently lead the way on 73 points, but Rangers are just three points behind.

The latest

O’Rourke says the apparent uncertainty over the return to play timeline is deeply concerning.

He fears that Furuhashi’s injury could prove to be decisive in the title race.

“To be missing him, and not being sure when he might return, who knows, he might not even play again this season, is going to be a huge blow because you want your best players, especially this season when you are challenging for honours,” he told Give Me Sport.

“And to be missing Kyogo will be a big loss for Celtic.”

The verdict

He hasn’t played in 2022, and yet Furuhashi is still Celtic’s top scorer with 13 goals in all competitions.

For context, he’s played 22 games, while second-place man Liel Abada (11 goals) has now featured in 39.

Furuhashi has largely been used as a centre-forward this season, and so it’s falling to Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda to deputise.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The former recently bagged a hat-trick against Dundee FC but has only found the net in two of his other 13 league appearances, while Maeda holds a steady record of five goals in 12 appearances.

Thankfully for Celtic, wingers Abada and Jota have shown they can be a source of goals too.

In other news, Kevin Campbell reacts to the latest update on Cameron Carter-Vickers.

	The owners of the Rajasthan Royals have spoken to Shane Warne after receiving the IPL’s letter © Rajasthan Royals

The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) governing council has reacted to the series of recent controversies that has dented their inaugural season by sending a letter to all the team owners, asking them to rein in their players, particularly the captains.The letter was sent last week by Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, and asks the owners, including Bollywood actors and top Indian industrialists, to ensure that their skippers use official channels to lodge their protests during the 44-day tournament, rather than go public about them. Modi’s letter also reminds them to ensure that the IPL code of conduct, which is an adaptation of the ICC’s norms, is strictly adhered to, said sources.Fraser Castellino, the CEO of the Jaipur franchise that owns the Rajasthan Royals, confirmed to Cricinfo that they have received the IPL’s letter. “We understand the IPL’s concerns and I have already had a chat with Shane Warne, our captain and coach, about the letter,” Castellino said.The IPL’s umpires have been separately warned, too, after it emerged that Amiesh Saheba, the on-field official for the tournament’s most controversial game so far, in Mohali on April 25, gave both teams 10/10 in his confidential report to the match referee, the sources said. Saheba later told a Mumbai tabloid that he had repeatedly warned Sreesanth during the heated game after which the Kings XI Punjab fast bowler was slapped by Harbhajan Singh, the rival Mumbai Indians’ skipper.Harbhajan was banned from the rest of this IPL edition, but it was yet another incident seven days later, involving Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly, rival skippers for a match in Jaipur, which finally prompted the governing council to sound out the team owners officially, said sources.After that encounter between the Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders, Warne created a stir during the post-match press conference when he accused Ganguly of flouting the spirit of the game by forcing an on-field umpire to refer a disputed catch to the third umpire. Minutes later, Warne also criticised Ganguly of turning up late for the start.Later, GA Pratap Kumar, the on-field umpire for that Jaipur match, was suspended for succumbing to pressure from Ganguly. Two days later, Ishant Sharma, Kolkata’s fast bowler, was fined for kicking down the stumps in a fit of anger during another match against Kings XI Punjab.However, IS Bindra, a member of the IPL council, has dismissed the series of controversial incidents as “aberrations”. He said that they merely reflected the “passion and intensity” with which players have approached the tournament.”Such incidents show the passion and intensity with which players play in the tournament,” Bindra told Cricinfo. “Players have developed intense loyalties to their teams and we are surprised. We thought this would take two years, but it has happened in just two weeks. Of course, we can’t let players cross the line of acceptable behaviour. But we also have to understand the passion to win that leads to such incidents.”

Shane Warne was on fire for Hampshire, taking 11 for 133 against Durham © Getty Images

Shane Warne helped Hampshire resurrect their title ambitions with an 11-wicket match haul that earned them a 50-run victory over Durham. Despite the efforts of Michael Di Venuto, who top-scored for Durham in each innings, Warne and Chris Tremlett, the England fast bowler, stopped the visitors short in their chase of 254 at Southampton.Warne followed his first-innings 6 for 83 with 5 for 50 in the second, including four that were lbw, and chipped in with two catches as Tremlett ran through the tail. Di Venuto made 124 and 50 but his side could only manage 203 and missed the opportunity to jump to the top of the Division One table. Hampshire are sixth but only one win separates the top seven sides.Andy Bichel’s seventh first-class century gave him a memorable start to his county season. In his first appearance for the year, Bichel made a brisk 102 as Essex turned around their wobbly opening to reach 376 and take the lion’s share of the points in a draw with Middlesex at Lord’s.In ideal bowling conditions, Essex struggled to 6 for 97 before Bichel and James Middlebrook consolidated with a 161-run partnership. Bichel cleared the boundary three times in his 138-ball innings against an attack that boasted the international players Chaminda Vaas and Murali Kartik. Middlesex crumbled for 177 in reply – although Bichel grabbed only one wicket – and ploughed along to 6 for 360 in the second innings to force a draw.Brad Hodge finally transferred his one-day form to the first-class arena, scoring an unbeaten 156 in Lancashire’s win over Kent at Old Trafford. It was Hodge’s first time past fifty in his five games so far, but he was one of the leading run-scorers in the Friends Provident Trophy with 428 at 142.66. Stuart Law’s 58 helped as the home team pile on 5 for 451 declared, before they dismissed Kent for 272 and 190. Lancashire are fifth on the Division One table, meaning their season remains alive.In a draw between Warwickshire and Worcestershire at Edgbaston, Doug Bollinger finally got some reward with 4 for 102 and Phil Jaques made 34, but the star was Graeme Hick. Although his international career ended six years ago, Hick, 41, is still turning out for Worcestershire and his 49 took him to exactly 40,000 first-class runs, making him the 16th player to reach the milestone and the first since his old team-mate Graham Gooch.It took only three days for Somerset to beat Gloucestershire by an innings and 151 runs at Bristol, where the hero was another England old-timer, Andy Caddick, 38. Caddick took seven wickets in the first innings and five in the second to finish with match figures of 12 for 71 as the home side was routed for 121 and 138. Somerset’s impressive season continued and Cameron White (65) and Justin Langer (32) were among the contributors in their 7 for 410 declared, which kept them on top of the Division Two table.While it was Warne who dominated the four-day game for Hampshire it was his Australian team-mate Stuart Clark who earned them a limited-overs semi-final berth. Clark’s wonderful spell of 6 for 27 from ten overs – the best figures in the competition this season – restricted Surrey to 181 at Southampton. Hampshire made hard work of the win – Matthew Nicholson claimed 2 for 27 as they reached 7 for 182 with ten balls to spare – but will now face Warwickshire for a place in the decider.Langer finished his tournament strongly with 82 but it was a lone hand and Somerset went down to Essex at Chelmsford. At Trent Bridge, David Hussey made 51 and took 2 for 18 in Nottinghamshire’s win over Lancashire, while Jaques ended with a solid 69 for Worcestershire against Scotland at Worcester.

Ricky Ponting: “A sea of green and gold will give us a massive boost” © Getty Images

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.

Dav Whatmore at practice with local boy Nafis Iqbal© Getty Images

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.

Anil Kumble has been on the job for ages, but obviously the contract he helped draft was not good enough for some of his colleagues © Getty Images

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”.