Shoaib Akhtar is confident that recent surgery on both of his knees will not hamper his career and is aiming to return in around two months, prior to Pakistan’s tour of England.Shoaib had his knees operated on in Australia last month after being diagnosed with a degenerative disease. He missed Pakistan’s one-day series against India in February and was ruled out of an ongoing tour of Sri Lanka.He said: “I have started light training and will be back in action on Pakistan’s tour to England late June.” Pakistan will play four Tests and five one-day internationals in England this summer.Shoaib added that his operations went smoothly and vowed they would not shorten his much talked about long bowling run-up. “The arthroscopy went well and now I have started upper body training and will start light cycling and swimming from next week. The operation won’t curtail my run-up and won’t have any affect on my bowling.”However, he said that he hoped to play only in selected matches in future. “The Australian surgeon David Young feared the worst initially, but after the operation he told me that my knees are stable and I can still play five to six years. Now I want to play selected matches so that I can contribute to the best effect whenever I am on the field.”Shoaib has missed 35 Tests out of 71 since he made his debut in 1997, but played all six Tests in Pakistan’s last two home series against England and India. He took 17 wickets in Pakistan’s 2-0 triumph over England.He said an ankle injury he recently picked up was also healing fast. “The surgeon told me that my ankle injury would heal with time and it is healing fast. I am happy to learn from the surgeon that I have a stronger ankle than Brett Lee.”Fears that the surgery could shorten his career were baseless according to Shoaib. “I heard people raising doubts over my career after the operations but I am hopeful that I can play for another five to six years.”
Scorecard Worcestershire’s seamers put in an impressive performance as they took control on a rain-shortened day at New Road. Lancashire were indebted to a feisty innings from their former skipper Warren Hegg, after Andrew Flintoff’s first-class comeback resulted in a fifth-ball duck as he edged Kabir Ali to Graeme Hick at second slip, as Lancashire slumped to 81 for 4. That became 130 for 8 before a ninth-wicket stand of 66 between Hegg and James Anderson gave the score some respectability. Hegg smashed ten fours and a six from 64 balls, but Lancashire fell just short of a batting point. Ali, Matt Mason and Chaminda Vaas picked up three wickets apiece. Dominic Cork hit back immediately with the wicket of Stephen Moore for a duck, but Hick and Stephen Peters took Worcestershire through to the close with any further mishaps. Scorecard Bilal Shafayat struck an unbeaten career-best 156 as the Northamptonshire openers made hay while the lights shone at Derby. On an overcast day, the County Ground became the first English ground to use floodlights during a first-class match when the umpires signalled for them to be switched on just after 4pm. But they did nothing to brighten the Derbyshire bowling attack. After putting Northants in to bat they were made to chase leather for the 83 overs’ play that was possible. Shafayat, after his winter move from Nottinghamshire and in a new role as opener, hit 20 fours and two sixes, while Martin Love hit his second century of the season. None of Derbyshire’s five seamers or the left-arm spin of Ant Botha could make an impression as their tough start to the summer continued.Scorecard Essex made good use of the 38 overs possible at Taunton as Somerset’s batting struggled once again. After the innings defeat against Yorkshire, Sanath Jayasuriya dropped down the order to accommodate the return of Marcus Trescothick, but he fell early to Alex Tudor, who struck again in an impressive spell to dismiss Michael Burns. Simon Francis (35) was trapped lbw by Darren Gough. then Graham Napier struck two huge blows in the same over. After his double failure against Yorkshire, Jayasuriya managed to get a start this time before he was caught behind, and two balls later Ian Blackwell was trapped lbw as Somerset slipped to 90 for 5. James Hildreth, one of most promising young batsmen on the circuit, held firm to the close and it will be down to him and the lower order to boost the total tomorrow.
Nepal U19s 157 for 9 (Gauchan 51*) beat South Africa 156 (Manjeet 4-15) by one wicket ScorecardOn the fourth day, the Under-19 World Cup really came alive. As if Australia’s collapse against Zimbabwe wasn’t enough of a surprise, along came the lowly Nepalese, who held their nerve in a thrilling finish to beat the highly fancied South Africans by one wicket with two balls of the match remaining.Nepal had showed glimmers of their potential in their opening fixture against England, where they lost by eight wickets despite setting a competitive total of 192. But forewarned was not forearmed for South Africa, who batted first and were restricted to 156 in their 50 overs. And even that total owed everything to a late rally from their No. 9 Keegan Africa, who clubbed 52 not out from 62 balls after South Africa had slipped to 62 for 7.Nepal shared their wickets around, although the pick of the bowlers was Manjeet, who tore through the top of the innings with three early wickets, as South Africa crashed to 11 for 4. He later added Godfrey Stevens for 29, to complete the highly impressive figures of 10-4-15-4. He was ably backed up by Paras Khadka, Shakti Gauchan and Lakpa Lama, with two wickets each.Nepal began their reply with a wobble as Kaniska Chaugai fell for a fourth-ball duck, but after 30 overs they were in a strong position on 95 for 4, with Gauchan going strong on 29 not out, and several capable batsmen to come. But although the run-rate was never an issue, wickets kept slipping away, until 32 were needed from the last nine overs with two men still standing. Crucially, one of these was Gauchan, and he steered his side to victory with a cool unbeaten 51.
New Zealand’s match-winner in the National Bank Series decider in Dunedin last night, Nathan Astle won due recognition for his feats from the English press today.Astle’s career-best innings 122 not out was sufficient to guide New Zealand home to take the series 3-2 and to stop in the water England’s quiet development towards next year’s World Cup.Not only did Astle bat the side home, Chris Cairns and Daryl Tuffey bowled too well for England and they were backed by a fielding performance that rarely wavered throughout the five-game series for New Zealand.Man for man, New Zealand proved the better team.The Guardian: “As New Zealand chased a moderate 219, Astle pulverised the new ball, collected his thoughts in mid-innings and then belted his way to the close. In all there were five sixes and a dozen boundaries in 150 balls.”England had their chances against him. When only 15, he drove Matthew Hoggard low to Nick Knight at shortish extra-cover, but Knight would have trouble catching rabies from a mad dog at the moment. And in the following over he would have been out by yards had Owais Shah hit the stumps at the bowler’s end. But England do not hit the stumps these days; New Zealand did so three times in as many attempts with the match not half an hour old.”England played into Astle’s hands. His attacking game is based on vicious cutting and slashing, in the manner of the great New Zealander Glenn Turner. He drives rarely, and then usually from down the pitch, miles into the air. By the end of his innings he was seeing the ball as big and clear as the full moon that rose over the stands.”Only when (Andrew) Flintoff removed the other opener Chris Nevin and then Craig White got rid of Brendon McCullum and Stephen Fleming in quick succession did England haul themselves back into the game. Astle then lost the strike for a while and was forced to watch Craig McMillan struggling for form.”The Independent: “In the end it was a match too far. The trouble with playing catch-up cricket, as England have done for most of the winter, is that it catches up with you. Having come from 3-1 down in India to draw 3-3, they had managed to pull level 2-2 with New Zealand after trailing 2-0. It was a compelling effort, which did everything to enliven a one-day series in which ball usually had the edge over bat, but Frank Sinatra’s world record for comebacks remains intact.”The home side deservedly won the decisive match of the series by five wickets with seven balls to spare when Nathan Astle struck a full toss for his fifth six in a domineering innings of 122 not out. It was Astle’s 12th one-day century, the highest of his career, the first by any player in this rubber, and eventually irresistible.”While Astle was there, the Kiwis were always going to win. If England could have prised him out they might have nosed home. The chief virtue of this side is that they do not know when they are beaten, otherwise they might have suffered some frightful hammerings. There was an extremely hard chance to short cover just before Astle moved rapidly through the gears and another difficult caught-and-bowled chance towards the end. To win tight matches, and this one was tight in the sense that it was the final, you have to take tight catches.”The Times: “Nathan may be a familiar Old Testament figure, but New Zealand’s most famous batsman of that name tends rather to defy biblical wisdom. Nathan Astle beat England largely off his own bat in the fifth and deciding game of the one-day series yesterday, emphasising in the process that New Zealand are still the better side, yet he remains a prophet without honour except in his own country.”That is to stretch a point, perhaps, but certainly this small, strong, resourceful all-rounder is undervalued beyond the North and South Islands. Few outside New Zealand would place him high among the stars of the international game and even the statistical wizards who produce the PricewaterhouseCoopers ratings place him, after his innings of 122 not out, just outside the top ten.”The fact is that, when he scored his twelfth one-day hundred in his 150th international match for his country, he drew level with Gary Kirsten, of South Africa, and now lies behind only six other batsmen in the world in this table of achievement.”Kirsten has played in 20 more games and those above them on the list of century-makers – Sachin Tendulkar, Saeed Anwar, Sourav Ganguly, Mark Waugh, Desmond Haynes and Brian Lara – have played even more.”Only Lara does not regularly open the batting in one-day cricket. It is the best place to bat, without doubt, especially when a player combines a good technique with a certain weight of stroke, as Astle does. He hit five sixes yesterday, five more than England could manage between them, on a firm if not especially fast pitch and another ground with invitingly small boundaries.”The Telegraph: “Big match performances from the Black Caps’ two classiest acts, Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns, condemned England to a 3-2 defeat in their one-day series, and left them with five wins and six losses since landing in India in January.”But this tour was never about results as much as team evolution, which took another step forward last night. Replacing the injured Michael Vaughan at No 5, Owais Shah scored his second half-century in nine one-day internationals.”After Paul Collingwood’s four for 38 at Napier, and Vaughan’s majestic 59 in Auckland, Shah’s innings extended a run of eye-catching form among the junior players. “All I’m worried about is trying to make us a better team, and I think we are going in the right direction,” said team captain Nasser Hussain afterwards.”Hussain won a good toss, and elected to bat, but England were always short of the big individual score they needed to reach a par total of 250. Five an over has been the gold standard in New Zealand – anything else left the bowlers too much to do.”Though Marcus Trescothick produced his second-longest innings of the series, England’s explosive opener had faced only 11 balls when he sliced a drive to backward point. Half-an-hour later, Nick Knight fell in exactly the same fashion (c Harris b Tuffey), and when Graham Thorpe played around a straight ball, the tourists had lost their three left-handed bankers for only 62 runs.”The Sun: “This time, Andrew Flintoff held his head in his hands after a final over which brought only pain and punishment.”Flintoff was hoisted for two sixes by century-maker Nathan Astle as England were condemned to defeat in the one-day series.”Astle’s assault in the 49th and, as it turned out, last over clinched New Zealand’s victory by five wickets – and the fluctuating series 3-2.”It meant England ended their congested winter of limited-overs cricket with a 5-0 win over Zimbabwe, a 3-3 draw with India and now this loss to the Kiwis.”What a contrast for Flintoff from his last over of the series in India 23 days previously when he tore off his shirt and whirled it above his head.”Then, the Lancashire all-rounder restricted India to five runs, took a wicket and helped England to a memorable five-run victory.”It would be wrong to heap blame on Flintoff. The reason England lost was that their batsmen failed to muster any more than 218-8 on a decent pitch.”England captain Nasser Hussain and Owais Shah, back in for the injured Michael Vaughan, both made half-centuries but England’s innings never gained sufficient momentum.”
As a wave of fanfare and a splash of headlines has made clear in recent weeks, it will soon be that Australian cricket has its first million dollar player. Within such a context, it has been easy to lose sight of the unprecedented opportunities also being created for cricketers at the other end of the spectrum.In the elevation of young wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine to Tasmania’s new list of contracted players for the 2001-02 domestic season, though, there can’t be too much room for misunderstanding.At his tender age of 16 years and 188 days, Paine’s stunning emergence is significant for a number of reasons.And not simply because he has just become Australian cricket’s youngest ever contracted player; younger, certainly, than new state teammate and personal idol Ricky Ponting was when he made his domestic debut all those years ago in 1992-93 as a prodigious teenage talent himself. Younger, also, by six months than South Australia’s Mark Cosgrove, a fellow newcomer to a state list for 2001-02. Younger by five months even than Western Australia’s Shaun Marsh was when he was offered a contract with the Warriors at this time last year.In short, Paine’s acceptance of a so-called ‘rookie contract’ with the Tigers is also significant in that it is symbolic.Although talk might still rage about the ageing complexion of the current national squad, attention these days is increasingly being paid to the development of genuine cricketing career-paths for Australia’s aspiring young players. Introduced as part of the recently-signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Cricket Board and the Australian Cricketers’ Association, the sort of deal to which Paine has been tied provides evidence of the latest innovation in such thinking.”It’s all going to be a really good experience, I think,” says Paine of the chance not only to join the Tigers’ inner sanctum but to become one of the first players in the country to accept an agreement of this type.Potentially available to as many as thirty players in total across the country, the advent of the rookie contract scheme has been aimed at reducing the gap between junior and domestic cricket and at making the transition between the two arenas less daunting. It not only permits each of the six state associations the chance to recruit, retain, and financially assist five previously-unsigned players under the age of 23. As such, it also supplies incentives to cricketers who might not otherwise have received the opportunity to train with, and/or form part of, their state’s first-class squad.”These new contracts are a great idea; I’m pretty happy about them anyway!” adds Paine.”It’s good to give young players something (along these lines) to show them that they’re in the back of the minds of the administrators and the coaches.”The sort of opportunities that await Paine – now that he has been handpicked as one of at least two Tasmanian youngsters worthy of such encouragement for at least the next twelve months – have simply never been available before.He is not expected to become a serious challenger for selection in the state team for some time yet. He also potentially faces the enduring curse for wicketkeepers of having to bide his time behind another player – in this case Sean Clingeleffer, a similarly accomplished young gloveman who currently occupies the post.But even to a talented and versatile young athlete with a passion for, and a noteworthy pedigree in, at least one other sport, it means that a long and successful career in cricket has now become the central focus of his sporting ambitions.Where a burgeoning career as a hard-running half-forward flanker in Australian Rules Football might have lured others away previously, this early investment of faith from cricket administrators seems set to be a decisive catalyst in settling the issue.The nephew of Robert Shaw (a well-known figure in Australian Football League circles as the current assistant coach at reigning premier Essendon and former senior coach at fellow league clubs Adelaide and Fitzroy) has seen enough of what cricket can potentially offer him to know where his future lies.”Cricket would have been a pretty important priority still without the contract, but definitely not as important as it is now. I’ve pretty much got to train now all the time so it’s taking over from footy from here on in. My attention is on cricket.”In truth, it won’t really be possible to make worthwhile judgements about the effectiveness of the new system until much further down the track. And, on basic retainers of $A10,000, players like Paine still remain a long way away on the pay scale from those of their countrymen whose salaries are soon expected to traverse the seven figure mark. But, even this early, he is proof positive of its potential utility.
Leeds United managed to secure a top-half finish in the Premier League table in their first season back in the division after a lengthy 16-year absence.
Despite this impressive feat, the Whites were susceptible to conceding goals throughout the campaign, with 54 in total, which is more than Fulham managed to who ended up getting relegated.
Things have been much worse for the Yorkshire club on that front this season, with 61 now conceded with 27 league games played.
They have now appointed Jesse Marsch as the new manager following the departure of Marcelo Bielsa, meaning there could potentially be some changes made by the American if he feels it’s necessary to help his side avoid relegation.
One possible change that could be made for a short-term and possible long-term benefit for the club is to give left-back Liam McCarron a chance to prove himself in the senior side.
Since joining the Elland Road outfit back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Carlisle United, the defender has made 32 appearances for Leeds’ U23 side, scoring four goals and providing one assist along the way.
Labelled as having an “unbelievable” work rate by Carlisle academy manager Darren Edmondson, the 21-year-old made his senior debut for the Whites back in December during their 4-1 defeat against Arsenal where he came on for a nine-minute cameo.
Even though Junior Firpo has played in the majority of Leeds’ league games this season, the fact that he has managed to rack up fewer interceptions (26), blocks (24) and successful tackles (26) than a fair number of his teammates, could sway Marsch into taking him out of the side to see if McCarron could be a better option.
While it could be a gamble to throw the youngster into the side at such a crucial stage of the campaign given his lack of senior game time, it may be a risk that heavily pays off for the team if he can impress defensively and offer something going forward.
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If this were to happen and McCarron was able to cement himself as a regular first-team player for Marsch’s side, he could potentially save Victor Orta millions in future transfer fees if they aim to secure big-money replacements for the likes of Luke Ayling or Stuart Dallas.
In other news: Major blow: Phil Hay reveals yet another Leeds injury setback, Marsch surely fuming – opinion
Rahul Dravid is pleased with the players the Bangalore franchise had procured in the IPL auction, and believes his side has individuals who can handle pressure.Dravid, the icon for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, played down the talk of his side not buying any big names. “This is an erroneous perception,” he told Cricinfo. “The quality of Indian and international players in our team speak for themselves. They may not be glamorous in the areas people typically judge them by, but in terms of cricket they are fantastic and at the end of the day this is a cricket tournament and cricket is what is important.”We are fortunate to have such great players in the side. With them in the squad, we will get so much more experience and ability.”Unlike the others, the Bangalore franchise preferred innings builders, like Jacques Kallis, Wasim Jaffer and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, to aggressors. “We have players who have played under pressure,” Dravid said, “and therefore are confident that under similar circumstances in the Twenty20 matches, they will perform exceedingly well.”Although the franchise bought Anil Kumble, they failed in their bid to purchase Robin Uthappa, another Bangalore-based player in the Indian team. Uthappa, who was bought by the Mumbai franchise for a whopping US$800,000, would have not only provided a balance to Bangalore’s batting line-up but his purchase would have also helped fill up one slot among the four catchment area players.”As a Bangalore player, I obviously would have liked to have had Robin, who is from our catchment area, in the team,” Dravid said. “However, in an auction where there are rules and restrictions, it is not always possible to get every player one wants.”In fact, none of the teams were able to get all the players they would have liked to. However, having said that I would like to add that I am excited with the team we have got.”On the potentially match-winning bowling attack that his team has lined up – Dale Steyn, Nathan Bracken, Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble, Dravid said, “The idea was to have a good balance, which is very important for the tournament.”Dravid said Australian allrounder Cameron White, whomBangalore bought for US$500,000 at the auction, was an “exciting” addition.”I think people are getting a bit confused by the price aspect. It’s just reflective of the current situation in cricket and what people want. White is a very exciting Twenty20 player and his domestic record [with two Twenty20 hundreds] in Australia is phenomenal. He was always on our wishlist.”Asked whether he viewed the 44-day Twenty20 tournament starting in April 18 as a platform to stage a comeback into the Indian one-day team, Dravid said: “I am not looking at this that way. To be honest, this is something new for all of us. There are so many things you want to experience as a player. Personally, I have seen and experienced a lot over the last 12 years [in international cricket]. Now, I am just so glad that at this point of my career, I will be a part of this new experience.”Dravid didn’t want to divulge much about the strategies that his side were planning to adopt during the tournament, set to start on April 18. “It is still too early for me to comment on this. At the moment I am focused on getting fit after my finger injury [sustained during the Test series in Australia] and preparing for the Test matches against South Africa.”
Lord MacLaurin, the former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has called for a major review of the ICC in the wake of the murder of Bob Woolmer last Sunday.”When you have a terrible situation like we are now facing, one’s got to look at the whole of the operation: the directorship; the way it’s run; the calibre of people that are doing it,” he said. “We’ve got to have the very best people running world cricket, otherwise we will continue to have problems.”Although police do not, as yet, have any proof that corruption and match-fixing are the heartbeat of the whole investigation, the smoke signals are there. Rumours abound that Woolmer’s forthcoming book was to reveal the true extent of the game’s rotten core and have invited reactions from across cricket’s community, with Michael Vaughan, the England captain, conceding corruption is, in his “gut instinct,” still part of the game.”When you’ve got something like this happening, which has really besmirched this World Cup, we’ve got to look at absolutely everything in cricket and make sure no stone is left unturned to make sure we do the very, very best for cricket around the world,” MacLaurin said.It was during MacLaurin’s tenure as ECB chairman, in 2000, that the first thorough investigation into cricket’s match-fixing was undertaken. MacLaurin employed Sir Paul Condon, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner who, although now retired, is on standby to assist. In his 2001 report Condon recommended a permanent Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) be installed which, since 2003, has been in West Indies preparing for the World Cup and identifying suspect gangs and syndicates.”The only way I can suggest you stop it – or try to stop it – is to make sure you have the finest people running world cricket that you can possibly have,” MacLaurin said. “But you will always have a problem, whether it be cricket or soccer or even in business.”
Australia put themselves in a strong position after two days of the one-off Adelaide Test, forcing India to follow on and then reducing them to 3 for 51 in their second innings. Dismissed for 93 in their first innings in reply to Australia’s 250, India lost the key wickets of Mithali Raj and Anjum Chopra in the final session to Lisa Sthalekar’s offbreaks.India were in trouble as soon as their innings started and were unable to cope with some aggressive bowling. Sarah Andrews, on debut, prised out Monica Sumra – caught by the captain Karen Rolton – in the fourth over before triggering a dramatic collapse.From 1 for 41, India fell to 6 for 51 at lunch with Andrews trapping Karu Jain – India’s highest scorer with 21 – and Cathryn Fitzpatrick removing Raj (16) and Rumeli Dhar (4). Nooshin Al Khader stuck around for 41 minutes for 16, but Julie Hayes removed her as India were bowled out in 61.4 overs. Fitzpatrick was the most successful bowler with 3 for 24.Rolton had little hesitation in enforcing the follow on and gave her side the breakthrough with Jain’s wicket. If India enjoyed a reasonably good day with the ball yesterday, then today it was Australia’s turn to show their abilities.Resuming on 8 for 230, Australia lost Hayes and Andrews early and were bowled out for 250, with Jodie Purves remaining unbeaten on 43. Jhulan Goswami was the pick for India with 4 for 43 off 24 overs.
CloseSouth Africa 130 for 6 need another 214 runs to avoid the follow-on against West Indies 543 for 5 dec Scorecard and ball-by-ball details How they were out
West Indies’ bowlers carried on where their batsmen left off, in glorious critic-defying mood, reducing a quivering South Africa to 130 for 6 and in big trouble in the first Test in Guyana. Fewer than 37 overs were possible on the third day after heavy rains delayed the start and bad light brought an early finish, but West Indies more than made good use of what they had: after an impressive cleaning-up operation from the groundstaff came an even more outstanding mopping-up display as their pace bowlers applied the cosh.Pedro Collins and Daren Powell started the rot, each striking twice to set South Africa reeling at 30 for 4 in the hour that was possible before tea. Powell accounted for both Jacques, Rudolph and Kallis, and both departed without scoring as South Africa were rocked by an explosive display of devastating swing bowling. But it was the early departure of Kallis, the ultimate flat-track bully, that provided the biggest boost to a frustrated West Indies team who had been waiting patiently for play to commence.Kallis sought to exploit the bowling from the off on a docile pitch that should have favoured his accumulative style. Instead he hooked his second ball – a short one outside off stump – straight onto his stumps. It was an injudicious shot so early in his innings, particularly with his team in so much trouble. Their situation worsened when Collins trapped Herschelle Gibbs just before tea, and a buoyant West Indies further turned the screw in the final session.AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher stabilised the innings for a time, aware that the follow-on was looming, but de Villiers mixed edges with class shots and finally went too far, as the wayward Reon King strayed close enough to induce the edge.Boucher held firm and he was joined by Nicky Boje; they were unbeaten at the end of the day. But South Africa are still way short of safety: they need 214 runs to avoid the follow-on, with just four wickets remaining. The forecast for tomorrow is for more rain. It may be South Africa’s only hope of saving this game.How they were outSouth AfricaSmith c Browne b Collins 2 (15 for 1) Prodded regulation edge at one swinging away.Rudolph c R Hinds b Powell 0 (16 for 2) Thick-edged first ball to third slip for good, low catch.Kallis b Powell 0 (16 for 3) Looked to pick up short one on off-side, but slashed hook straight onto his stumps.Gibbs lbw Collins 0 (30 for 4) Trapped plumb in front.de Villiers c Browne b King 41 (71 for 5) Inside-edged through to keeper.Hall c Collins b King (95 for 6) Poor stroke to innocuous delivery – but an impressive tumbling forward catch at wide mid-on.