ScorecardChris Benham’s riproaring century consigned West Indies A to a convincing defeat by 62 runs at the hands of Hampshire. Benham wasted no time in making 122 from 145 balls to lift Hampshire to an unassailable 292 for 8 and ultimately heap further misery on the tourists.He and Mike Brown put on 122 for the first wicket, a strong opening platform and the home side simply motored on from there. There was a mini-wobble after Brown fell for 44, with four wickets falling for 37, but some powerful lower-order hitting from Mitchell Stokes (36 off 18 balls) and Shaun Udal (32 not out from just 11 balls) boosted Hampshire late on.West Indies’ innings got off to a woeful start at 4 for 2 and, despite Runako Morton’s 102, they couldn’t recover. In fact, they were never in the hunt as they lost wickets steadily. James Bruce did the damage to the top order, grabbing 3 for 14 from seven overs, and there were three wickets too for Greg Lamb.
Michael Clarke was stunned by Darren Lehmann’s offer to stand down when Ricky Ponting returns, but the third Test, starting at Nagpur tomorrow, will be the first of a series of unofficial bat-offs between the two.Ponting’s comeback from a broken thumb, either in the fourth Test against India at Mumbai next week or the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba from November 18, means one of the current batsmen will be squeezed out. Lehmann, at 34, is the most vulnerable unless the selectors make the unlikely move of dumping Clarke, 23, despite an amazing start to his Test career.Lehmann said after the first Test that he may stand down when Ponting returns to keep Clarke in the side but Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, rejected the selfess suggestion. Clarke himself was unhappy at the situation: “It was an unbelievable comment from such a great guy and someone who has been such a great player for Australian cricket. I want to keep playing but that call comes down to the selectors. I hope ‘Boofer’ [Lehmann] does not step down. I call him the veteran. He is the veteran of the team and like the father. Everybody goes to him for support.”In this series Clarke is well ahead of Lehmann, making 212 runs at 70.67 to Lehmann’s 62 at 15.50. As unlikely as his sacking seems, Clarke said he would be fine if the selectors omitted him when Ponting comes back. “I was selected because Ricky got injured,” he said. “If I got dropped I would not have an issue with it at all.”Clarke unwound from his heady first fortnight of Test cricket by spending four days at a luxury resort in Singapore with Damien Martyn during the team’s mini-break. “After the first day of the Chennai Test he [Martyn] was on 25 or 26 and I said if you make a hundred I’ll go with you,” Clarke said. “He initially wanted to go on his own. It turns out I was booking on the flight that night. We just had a good time and relaxed. We sat by the pool.”Clarke’s dream-like efforts with the bat at Bangalore and Chennai were marred slightly by two dropped catches at second slip. “There’s nothing worse in cricket than dropping a catch,” he said. “It’s definitely disappointing but we’re standing so close to the bat over here that the ball is coming pretty quickly.”
He has barely been in Pakistan a week, but that has been enough time for some to start questioning how well the Bob Woolmer experiment will work. The new coach has rebutted claims that several senior Pakistani players had failed a fitness test he had devised with Murray Stevenson. A report in a local newspaper on Monday had quoted officials within the PCB as saying, “most of the senior players failed to come up to the required (fitness) standards” of Stevenson’s tests. Woolmer, speaking to Wisden Cricinfo, said, “We weren’t conducting tests so nobody failed. We were just trying to gauge the level of fitness of players now, and where we would like it to be later. To say that they failed is wrong.”Woolmer, who is due to fly out tonight to Cape Town – and not the UK as was erroneously reported – for a coaching assignment he had committed to prior to becoming coach of the Pakistan team, was satisfied with the start of a three-year tenure. “It has been fantastic to be here, I have come to Pakistan before but it has been great. The players have been very good throughout the camp, and there is clearly a lot of talent here. By their own admission the team needs to work on its fitness and fielding and that is what we have been looking at with Inzamam and Haroon [Rasheed, the team manager],” said Woolmer. He added, “Shoaib Akhtar is fit, otherwise he wouldn’t be bowling here and he is very much part of the set-up. It’s also been working out well with Inzamam; he is a quiet man, but very calm and controlled and a world-class player.”The 14-man Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup will be announced on Thursday, and Woolmer, with Inzamam-ul-Haq and Haroon, has given an idea of the team they would like to the selection committee headed by Wasim Bari. Refusing to shed any light on the composition of the team, Woolmer would go only as far as to reveal – not surprisingly – “it will have some batsmen, some bowlers and a keeper or two.”Since his arrival, Woolmer has insisted on meeting ex-players in Pakistan to discuss ideas about the team, and last night, he got his wish; a “working dinner” with the man he replaced, Javed Miandad. “I like to do things by committee and have tried to get as much input into selection as possible. I am new to the players here so it is natural that I ask around about them and try to find out more about them. Javed is a legend and he knows more than most about this team as well as Pakistan cricket, so we’ll be chatting about that.”Woolmer also shot down reports that communication between him and the players was problematic. Sourav Ganguly was the latest member of a group of players and coaches in Pakistan who questioned how effectively Woolmer would be able to communicate with his players. Ganguly, in an interview to the last week, said, “It would not be easy for Bob. Pakistan cricketers come from diverse backgrounds and are individualistic – it is difficult to mould them together.” He continued, “Communication is an art and an essential aspect of coaching – Woolmer would not find it easy to communicate what he wants with the players.”To this Woolmer replied, “I have had absolutely no problems in communicating with my players and I don’t foresee any problems in the future. Despite what Ganguly says or thinks, the whole process of communication has been very smooth so far, and you can tell him that.”Woolmer plans to meet up with the squad in Sri Lanka on July 13 – three days before the start of the competition. “The team is good enough to win the cup, there is enough talent here. But in ODI cricket, it literally is a matter of what happens on the day and who plays better on the day. But I am confident.”One week gone, and only a potential 150-odd weeks to go. Welcome to Pakistan, Bob.Osman Samiuddin is a freelance writer based in Karachi.
Shane Warne’s prizemoney allocation for Australia’s World Cup win has been defended amid claims the banned leg spinner did not deserve it.Warne is set to receive up to $15,000 from Australia’s victory despite not bowling a ball in the tournament and being banned from cricket for one year for failing a drug test.Warne was in South Africa for 11 days and will collect the cash through a pro-rata system adopted by the players for the 55-day tournament.His allocation – believed to be between $10,000 and $15,000 – has come under fire from Australian cricketing great Neil Harvey and is likely to anger large sections of the public.But Warne’s manager and brother Jason said the banned star deserved his share of Australia’s $3.36 million windfall.”From my own point of view it’s a tough one, but how far back do you go? He’s already being punished enough as it is, but do you go back and make it retrospective?” Jason Warne said.Jason Warne said his brother’s input into Australia’s victory could not be quantified.But he said it was a “bit harsh” to strip Warne of his stake given his involvement in team planning and training and World Cup promotions.”He is already missing out on income for the next 12 months and you’ve got to draw the line somewhere,” Jason Warne said.”The (anti-doping) committee drew the line in the sand when the suspension was started from February 10.”You can only go by what’s done and what the players decide.”How can you say he didn’t have any input into the games?”He was there to help Brad Hogg bowl in the nets and he was there for the structuring of the team plans which is an important part of it, so I suppose he has earned his stake in the money.””You can’t shift back his suspension and ping him both ways. That’s a bit harsh.”Australian Cricket Board public affairs general manager Peter Young said the Australian team wanted the payment system and adopted it specially for the World Cup.Young said each of the Australian players were paid the same “day rate” for every day they took part in the successful cup campaign.Warne is not the only member of the squad to benefit despite playing no games.His replacement Nathan Hauritz will also profit immensely, as will fast bowler Nathan Bracken, who replaced the injured Jason Gillespie.Gillespie played four matches.Young could not say how much each player would receive.But The Daily Telegraph newspaper said Hauritz would earn about $270,000, Bracken about $130,000 and Gillespie $180,000.
Kent Spitfires remain in second place in the NUL Div One after defeating the Notts Outlaws by just one run at Trent Bridge.Having set the home side a victory target of 197 it was nail-biting time for the Spitfires as Darren Bicknell with 64 and then Kevin Pietersen, with 48, threatened to condemn them to their first NCL defeat of the season. With two needed from the final ball though, Andrew Symonds throw from the long on boundary ran out Pietersen.Replying to the visitors’ all-out total of 196 Darren Bicknell’s first four scoring strokes all raced to the boundary boards as Notts began in confident fashion. His only moment of real concern in the early stages was an unintentional beamer from Ben Trott which narrowly avoided his head.Trott caused problems of a different sort in his next over when he found the outside edge of Greg Blewett’s bat but ‘keeper Paul Nixon dropped a straightforward offering moving to his right.Blewett had again looked out of touch and made only 13 when he tried to hit across the line to Trott and was bowled.Usman Afzaal, keen to celebrate his call-up for the Second Test, made only eight before being stumped advancing down the track to try to slog Min Patel over mid-wicket.Bicknell moved to his fifth league half-century of the season (81 mins 69 balls 9x4s) to cement his position as the leading run scorer in the NUL. Paul Johnson continued his fine recent form, combining deft touches with aggressive pulls.The pair had put on 47 runs in 12 overs when Johnson stepped back to give himself room against Patel but only succeeded in hitting the ball straight into the midriff of Andrew Symonds in the covers.Patel and Symonds dragged Kent back into the contest with miserly spells and the Outlaws needed more than a run a ball from the last ten overs. Mark Ealham’s return to the attack supplied the most important moment of the innings thus far, as his second ball induced Bicknell to chip straight to Fulton at mid-wicket.Ealham also bowled Bilal Shafayat and Chris Read but Kevin Pietersen upped the tempo and hit Saggers for a huge six as 21 were needed from the final three overs and then 12 from two. Richard Logan played his part to leave just six needed from the last over.A single took Pietersen to 48. Logan missed the next two but then got his partner back on strike. The canny Ealham then deceived everybody as Notts dashed through for a bye. 194-6 with one ball to go. Logan drove it straight but Pietersen couldn’t get back for two and was easily run out to leave the Spitfires victors by one run.Earlier Kent, who won the toss and elected to have first use of the wicket, were dismissed for 196 in the final over of their innings. They overcame the loss of James Hockley in the first over to reach 53-1 but then lost wickets steadily throughout with only David Fulton topping 30. Six different Outlaws bowlers shared the wickets, with Greg Smith carding the best figures with 3-37.
Celtic simply must seal the permanent signing of centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers this summer, according to journalist Stephen McGowan.
The Lowdown: Carter-Vickers superb on Sunday
The Hoops picked up arguably their biggest win of the season so far on Sunday afternoon, clinching a 2-1 victory away to their bitter Glasgow arch-rivals.
It was Carter-Vickers who scored the winning goal at Ibrox and his all-round performance was sensational as he ensured that Celtic held on for victory during a tense second half.
As per Sofascore, the 24-year-old made a hugely impressive eight clearances during the game, also winning eight out of 10 duels and making three interceptions as he posted a man-of-the-match rating of 7.7.
The Latest: McGowan urges Celtic to stump up for Carter-Vickers
Taking to Twitter after the match, McGowan urged Celtic to make Carter-Vickers’ loan move permanent in the summer following the American’s tremendous display against Rangers.
The Scottish Daily Mail’s Chief Football Writer gushed: “Irrespective of whether Celtic get that Champions League money they should pay whatever it takes for Cameron Carter-Vickers.”
It makes complete sense for Ange Postecoglou to bring in Carter-Vickers permanently, with the 24-year-old’s performances for Celtic catching the eye throughout the season.
He has made 27 Premiership starts and won 4.3 aerial duels per game, and there are real signs that he is forging a dominant partnership with Carl Starfelt at the back. As per WhoScored, they both rank in the top five players this season currently in Postecoglou’s squad.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Also, at 24, he is at an ideal age in terms of his peak years most likely still being ahead of him.
The eight-cap USA international’s current deal at Tottenham expires in 2023 and they may be keen to receive a fee for him while they still can this summer. That could play into Celtic’s hands if there is both a willing seller and an enthusiastic buyer.
In other news, three Celtic players shone most in the win over Rangers. Find out who they are here.
ScorecardFile photo: Kamlesh Makvana picked up 7 for 100 to run through Jammu & Kashmir’s line-up•K Sivaraman
Saurashtra wrapped up an innings and 63-run victory against Jammu & Kashmir to book their spot in the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, thanks to a seven-for from offspinner Kamlesh Makvana. Saurashtra, who had ridden on a century from Sheldon Jackson and fifties from Samarth Vyas and Jaydev Unadkat, eventually ended their innings on 497, earning a lead of 359 runs. J&K, who had folded for 138 in their first innings, once again lost wickets in a hump in their second, falling to 89 for 4. Ian Dev Singh held the innings together by scoring a brisk 127, but no other batsman gave him company at the other end to forge a threatening partnership. Makvana collected 7 for 100 to run through the line-up and bowl J&K out for 296. ScorecardJharkhand were on course to qualifying for the knockouts, as Saurabh Tiwary’s unbeaten double-hundred earned the team a big lead, before the bowlers reduced Hyderabad to 169 for 6 in their second innings. Four more wickets on day four in Uppal will mean Jharkhand will join Saurashtra from Group C in the knockout stage. Jharkhand, who began the day at 360 for 6, declared for 388 for 8 soon after Tiwary, the overnight batsman, reached his double-hundred, meaning that Hyderabad needed to score at least 243 to make the visitors bat again. Those plans were thrown into disarray, as Hyderabad lost wickets at key intervals. Despite a half-century from Bavanaka Sandeep, three blows towards the end of the day meant the team was staring at defeat. Rahul Shukla and Shahbaz Nadeem picked up two wickets apiece. ScorecardServices took firm control of their clash in Tripura, after bowling Tripura out for 229 and enforcing the follow on, though they are now out of the running for a place in the knockouts. Tripura, who began the day at 45 for 1, failed to gather any momentum in their innings and lost wickets at regular intervals, with Diwesh Pathania (3 for 49), Muzzaffaruddin Khalid (2 for 62) and Anshul Gupta (2 for 11) making key strikes. Saurabh Das, the No.8 batsman, was the team’s highest scorer with 53, but it was not enough to drag Tripura anywhere close to Services’ first-innings total of 512, as the hosts folded for 229. After being asked to bat again, Tripura saw out the last three overs of the day in their second innings without any damage.
The Rubies, captained by Gill Richards, claimed the Super 4s title after completing an unprecedented clean-sweep throughout the competition, their second title since the inaugural victory in 2002.In the final round of matches, which were held at Loughborough University on July 7 and 8, the Rubies finished unbeaten, claiming their sixth victory in a row as they brushed aside the Emeralds and Sapphires.”It’s an awesome achievement to win the Super 4s trophy. We worked hard as a team throughout and it has paid off,” said Richards. “Players like Lydia Greenway and Holly Colvin have played particularly well. Lydia finished as top run scorer and Holly took three marvellous five-wicket hauls. But it is a team game and all of us showed great team spirit all the way through””To remain unbeaten for the whole competition is a tremendous achievement. The players can be really proud of themselves and I am sure many of them will be back next year for another season at Super 4s. I am so happy for all the team.”On Saturday they took on the Emeralds, their then closest rivals for the title. Colvin took another five wicket haul as they bowled out the Emerald’s for a paltry 69. In reply, the Rubies knocked the runs off with the loss of three wickets. The victory ensured the title for the Rubies who then completed a clean sweep by beating the Sapphires by 15 runs.In the other matches, England captain Charlotte Edwards returned to action with an unbeaten 69 as the Diamonds beat the Sapphires by eight wickets, then followed this with 94 not out as they beat the Emeralds by nine wickets.
The blush was unmistakable. Chris Gayle, when asked about his “relationship” with St Kitts, couldn’t hide a naughty smile. Gayle had played a first-class match in St Kitts only once before, scoring 78 in two innings, but the questions were obviously pointed references to Natasha Berridge, Gayle’s Kittsian girlfriend. Gayle said that he wasn’t showing any “favouritism” to the ground but his quickfire 83 definitely made the first day of Test cricket at Warner Park a memorable affair for the locals.Think Gayle, and you think spontaneity. The ease with which he carries himself, the lilt with which he jives, the calm shouldering of arms, the sudden burst of power, all appear impromptu. Yet, there’s a calculated streak that adds to the danger and Gayle admits to a certain level of premeditation. He’d decided to bide his time – in the first eight overs, even loose balls were only tapped or flicked; he’d decided to take the “fight” to the “aggressive Sreesanth” – in the eighth over, with clouds hovering over the ground, he punched a four to long-on and upper-cut, in true Sanath Jayasuriya-style, over point; he wanted to take on Harbhajan Singh – “He was playing his first Test of the series and I tried to put the pressure on him as early as possible” – and soon had the commentators running for cover.Rahul Dravid recently compared Gayle to Virender Sehwag, for being able to start with an impact. Both can demoralise, make good balls look ordinary and generally leave the whole place in a total mess. But one area where Gayle falls short is with regard to conversion. While Sehwag manages a hundred every other time he gets a fifty (12 hundreds, 11 fifties), Gayle has missed out on a hundred 24 times after crossing 50. Gayle admits it’s a concern, as does Lara. “It was another excellent knock by Chris,” said Lara, “but I don’t know if I’m more disappointed or he is [at the end].”I think he’s played four out of five very good innings and hasn’t gone on to get a triple-figure score. That’s unfortunate but I suppose when it comes the flood-gates are going to open … But Chris is improving and personally I would like to see him go on to get big scores. That’s the trademark of an opener – you get rid of the new ball, get to 30-40 and then go on to get a big score.”It’s been more than a year since Gayle’s reached a three-figure score – in May last year he amassed a monumental 317 against South Africa. Gayle knows it’s a problem. “I’m very disappointed with not being able to get the big scores. It’s been a while since I have a Test century and I really work hard to achieve it. I’m a strong guy and next innings or next game I can achieve it. You never know. One of the things that’s worked is that I’ve tried to be more consistent with my batting. I try to aggressive at the start of my innings, whenever I’m aggressive I’m in control of the game more.”Gayle and Daren Ganga might sound like a duo specialising in fusion music, but Lara pointed out their effectiveness by pulling out a telling stat. “I don’t know if you guys heard, but Chris and Daren has a partnership of 43, compared to Desmond and Gordon who average 47.” Of course, these two have walked out to open in only 31 innings – compared to the 148 that the legendary Greenidge and Haynes managed – but the start’s been promising.”Myself and Daren talked a lot and tried to utilise the wicket,” said Gayle of their collaboration. “The first hour was very important and we tried not to lose a wicket as much as possible and communicate well between the wickets as well … Daren and I are very close, good friends off the field as well. We really communicate and share a joke with each other while batting out there. He always tells me to look to drop the ball and run. If I have a problem with a bowler, we communicate that as well and he tries to take more strike. And I might do it as well.”Going by today’s evidence, Ganga had slightly more problems – facing 105 balls compared to Gayle’s 127. Yet, one wonders what strike rotation Gayle was talking about. Having got 19 singles, one double and 13 boundaries, he didn’t need to. He was in St Kitts, remember.
The England & Wales Cricket Board are hopeful that the forthcoming NatWest Challenge matches at Lord’s and The Oval will not be affected by Thursday’s terrorist attacks on London.”We are certainly not complacent about the threat from terrorism,” said an ECB spokesman during England’s nine-wicket win at Headingley. “We are expecting the NatWest Challenge to proceed as planned, but we shall be guided by police advice.”The four bomb blasts, which crippled London’s tube network during the morning rush-hour on Thursday, are sure to have spill-over effects into the weekend. The entire system was closed for the remainder of the day, and with full houses expected to descend on Lord’s on Sunday and The Oval on Tuesday, access to the grounds may prove tricky.Michael Vaughan admitted after the Headingley match that it had been hard to focus on the game at hand, given the distractions in the capital. “It’s difficult,” he said. “It certainly puts cricket and sport into perspective.”Yesterday we were celebrating London getting the Olympics and then you put the telly on this morning and you see those kinds of things – it just puts sport and life into perspective. If our win today can go any way towards making a few people happy, that’s fantastic.”