Salim Dhanji, who was chairman of the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association until January 2007, has contacted Cricinfo to confirm that rather than being absent from Kenya, he resigned on leaving for a two-year sabbatical in Australia.He also clarified the position regarding the ongoing review of the NPCA’s constitution. While NPCA officials have maintained to Cricinfo that there was no obligation on them to amend it to bring it into line with Cricket Kenya’s requirements, Dhanji said that was not the case.”I should also point out that as one of the persons that drew up the CK constitution, it was not only part of our mandate but our wish that all provincial bodies should and would amend their existing constitutions in order to bring them in line with the CK constitution,” he said. “To this end, during my tenure as the NPCA chairman, I set up a subcommittee to deal with this specific issue. If my memory serves me correctly, one John Moyi headed this subcommittee.”At the time of my resignation I was informed that the existing constitution had been amended and would be discussed at a meeting early in the New Year (2007).”Last year Moyi told Cricinfo, in response to suggestions that Dhanji had entered into such an agreement, that he was unable to answer and if he had done so it was “without our agreement”.The delays in obtaining the Nairobi clubs’ approval to constitutional changes has delayed elections, both for the NPCA and CK, for more than nine months and continues to rumble on.
For the second time in the match Matt Prior hauled Sussex out of a hole after the top-order slumped and set the platform for a final-day dart at victory. Luke Wright also played a vital hand as they added 115 for the sixth wicket and built an advantage of 278 to set up a fascinating finish. Mushtaq Ahmed’s 5 for 83 earned a 99-run lead as Kent did well to avoid the follow-on before striking back to reduce Sussex to 54 for 5 shortly after tea.It was a spirited resurgence from Kent who began the day on 65 for 6 and fell away to 122 for 9. Geraint Jones and Yasir Arafat added 82 for the last wicket and when Azhar Mahmood claimed two quick wickets, followed by Chris Adams going early in the final session, the game was alive for Kent.However, Prior continued from his first-innings 105 with a 67-ball half-century although he was given a life on 9 when James Tredwell dropped a tough chance at first slip. Prior earlier told Cricinfo: “I enjoy playing when there’s something on it in a pressurised situation…you know the amount of work you put into a certain innings and you do get reward out of it.” When playing well he is one of the crispest drivers of the ball and he repeatedly went straight down the ground while also unleashing his favourite square drive.Wright, who combined with Prior in a first-day stand of 82, kept up with him throughout the partnership. Wright is eager to develop his first-class batting to remove the tag of a one-day hitter and began the season with 155 against MCC. There was nothing other than pride riding on that innings, it was a different case here. His half-century came off 64 balls before the partnership was ended when Ryan McLaren found one to keep low at Prior. Wright was bowled by the final ball of the day from Tredwell, but it wasn’t the worst thing to happen to Sussex as it keeps the match moving.The complexion of the game changed throughout the day and as in the first innings Sussex’s collapse started with a run out when Carl Hopkinson was beaten for the second time in the match. It was ill-judged single as he dropped the ball into midwicket, where Joe Denly collected cleanly and had time to take aim at the non-striker’s end and still catch Hopkinson a yard short. Chris Nash was then well caught by Jones when he clung onto an outside edge in front of first slip.Michael Yardy was clearly unhappy about the decision he received from Jeremy Lloyds, slamming his bat as he trudged off, and on the stroke of tea Murray Goodwin was well caught from a top edged hook by Arafat at long leg. The onus was on Adams to steady the innings, but his footwork hasn’t looked quite right this season. He fell to another sharp catch, this time Martin van Jaarsveld at second slip, as he fished outside off stump against the deserving Mahmood.At that point the lead of 99 looked even more important. It hadn’t appeared as though Kent would be able to save the follow-on as Mushtaq continued to chip away, although it’s unlikely Adams would have enforced to allow Mushtaq final use of the pitch. He ended Tredwell’s stubborn 40 and then, in a wicket to give him plenty of personal satisfaction, had Mahmood taken at silly point.Jones played with patience he rarely showed for England – even when in good form he was never one to hang around – and took more than 50 balls to reach double figures. His innings only contained three boundaries, partly down to a slow outfield, and his fifty took 117 deliveries as he pushed Kent towards an unexpected batting point.Arafat is much better than a No. 11, pushed into that slot by the nightwatchman, but Kent have so many allrounders that he is often buried down the order. Once the follow-on was saved he opened his shoulders with consecutive boundaries off Chris Liddle. Mushtaq completed his first five-wicket haul of the season when Arafat inside-edged a googly and was bowled. Mushtaq operated unchanged during the third day, no doubt a sign of things to come for the final day of this match and the season ahead.
Canada have joined the Twenty20 bandwagon and will host their first tournament in Toronto on May 17 and 18. Eight teams from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia will compete.”In the light of what is happening in the IPL in India at the moment, what we are undertaking in Canada is a major step to restore this sport to its former glory which it enjoyed till ice hockey replaced it,” the board’s CEO Atul Ahuja said.Ahuja was present at the launch of the IPL in Bangalore last month and said that the owners of the franchises had indicated a willingness to send teams to Canada. “All of them … promised to send Twenty20 teams to Canada in the summer to help us groom players. We have a huge talent from the South Asian and Caribbean communities in Canada.”However, if they do, the sides are unlikely to bear much resemblance to those playing in the IPL at the moment and most of the high-profile players will be on international duty elsewhere.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has all but ruled out the India-Pakistan series, given the short window ahead of India’s limited-overs tour of Australia, which begins on January 12.”It’s 19th already and even if a decision comes in the next week, it might not be possible to host a series in such short notice,” Thakur said at the press conference in Delhi, where the ODI and T20 squads for the tour of Australia were announced.He, however, said the onus of making that call rested with Pakistan, who are the hosts for the series in accordance with the MoU signed between the BCCI and PCB. “This is not a decision for us to make,” Thakur said. “It is for Pakistan to make should the Indian government grant permission. But, given the situation today, it appears difficult.”The series has remained in limbo for a while now with little progress made in the last few weeks. While the Pakistan government has green-lit the series, there has been no word from its Indian counterpart yet.
Mumbai captain Aditya Tare will miss his team’s quarter-final against Jharkhand in Mysore after failing to recover from a finger fracture sustained during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 competition. Allrounder Abhishek Nayar will stand in as captain, and Mumbai have included wicketkeeper batsman Eknath Kerkar as Tare’s replacement in their 15-man squad.
Bengal’s consistency this season can’t be overstated. They won two games in the league stage and lost none, and their only blip came in the first game against Karnataka when they dropped first-innings points. Bengal never conceded the lead thereafter, and eventually went on to finish second in Group A. A graph of their performance would reveal a smooth upward stroke gaining height with every game. Minus the backstory it would be easy to believe such an impressive performance was borne out of a harmonious set-up that nurtured the winning habit. But there was very little that was harmonious about Bengal’s build up to the season.Their pre-season tour to Sri Lanka was tarred by reports of alleged infighting, culminating in Laxmi Ratan Shukla stepping down as captain and Manoj Tiwary replacing him. Then there was the spat between Tiwary and Gautam Gambhir in Delhi and the controversy over an ‘underprepared’ Kalyani pitch after the two-day finish against Odisha. Bengal also had a revamped bowling attack that had no place for veteran offspinner Saurashish Lahiri, and had Pragyan Ojha making his first appearance for the team. The batting unit also had a fair bit of green about it. So what went right for the team?”I would say Sairaj Bahutule has played a very important role along with [Cricket Association of Bengal president] Sourav Ganguly because he also chips in with his valuable inputs [on] how to go about as far as all these things are concerned,” Tiwary told reporters after Bengal’s practice session ahead of their quarter-final against Madhya Pradesh at the Brabourne Stadium. “Other support staff like [bowling coach] Ranadeb Bose and [fielding coach] Joydeep Mukherjee have made sure our team doesn’t get distracted with all this things.”Tiwary said controversies were inevitable in Bengal, and so the players had to work around them. “Each and every season in Bengal, you know, there are a lot of unnecessary controversies which are not required,” he said. “This time around we made sure each and every one is focused in their job.”It’s a kind of a challenge you can say. Along with batting and bowling in the middle this is also a challenge for us to just to handle things better off the field. It’s important for a captain or any individual to be as calm as possible and think of the things which are related to cricket only rather than wasting energy on other things.”Tiwary said the senior players pulled their weight and that in turn rubbed on to the younger players. Ojha and Dinda have topped the bowling charts with 33 and 31 wickets respectively, but Tiwary was particularly pleased that the selection punts on youngsters like offspinner Aamir Gani, preferred to Lahiri, and seamer Mukesh Kumar had come good.”It’s important we [seniors] take extra responsibility to perform consistently and this season our performance in the Ranji Trophy we have been very consistent,” he said. “Bowlers, especially Dinda and Ojha, have contributed a lot. Mukesh is a find for Bengal for the season. Our team looks very confident and balanced.”According to Tiwary, Sudip Chatterjee – the team’s highest scorer with 712 runs – and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran had the potential to play Test matches for India. “[Sudip] is a determined youngster. He has that hunger to do well. It’s that desperation [that has contributed to his success],” Tiwary said. “Along with him, Abhimanyu Easwaran is one of them. They have the potential [to play for India]. It’s just that they have to be on the right track and work the way they are working.”Tiwary is carrying a niggle in his right calf but he felt playing through pain was a small price for the joy that a Ranji Trophy title offered. “It’s a very important match for Bengal cricket, so you will have to [play through pain] at times,” he said. “I don’t think every cricketer is always 100% fit. It’s important to get through the pain. I have been jogging a lot, touch wood nothing will happen.”[A Ranji title] is due as well. This is the best period of Bengal cricket. The chances of getting the trophy are much higher. But we have to take it as another match and not put too much pressure.”Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, have had an intriguing run to the knockouts. Having started off in reasonably solid manner, they went through a phase where they won successive games against Baroda and Railways before losing the next two. Then, in a must-win game against Andhra, they grabbed seven points and scraped through to the quarter-finals by virtue of a better net run rate than Gujarat. This was welcome respite for a side that had missed out a knockout berth by a whisker last season.”Qualifying for the knockouts was our first aim when we started off,” Madhya Pradesh captain Devendra Bundela said. “Our first two games didn’t go well but we made a good comeback. Of course there was the disappointment of last year so we put in more effort and concentrated harder this time. We have also had the same group of players over the last three-four years, so there is good bonding. We will play with three medium pacers and two spinners tomorrow.”Both captains were united in their assessment that the Brabourne pitch had decent grass cover and would offer assistance to the seamers early on before going on to become a good batting surface.
Salman Butt continued to shake off a wretched Quaid-e-Azam trophy campaign. His second unbeaten half-century in three games helped Lahore Whites trounce Peshawar by 27 runs. Butt’s 58-ball 85 took his side to the top of the standings.His fellow opener Kamran Akmal also joined in to make a 40-ball 52 as the Whites notched up 163. In response, the struggling Peshawar – who now have one win in six matches – could not find a single batsman to score over 25. That meant the chase never really took off. Lahore’s bowlers picked them off at ease with Umaid Asif starring with four for 26 to break the back of the Peshawar chase. Ehsan Adil and Asif Ali took two wickets apiece as Peshawar were cleaned up for 136, with their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals officially extinguished.A century stand between Umar Amin and Zain Abbas wasn’t enough for Rawalpindi as they lost to Faisalabad, thereby falling out of contention for the last four. Amin and Abbas scored 67 and 62 respectively, with Sohail Tanvir adding a quickfire 32 off 16 as Rawalpindi surged to 193. It was, surprisingly, the international stars in Faisalabad’s bowling attack who were the most expensive, with Faheem Ashraf, Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah conceding a whopping 115 runs in their combined 11 overs.But Faisalabad gave the daunting chase a right go, thanks largely to a 43-ball 87 from Sohaib Maqsood, even as the top order fell cheaply around him. By the time he was dismissed, he had contributed 87 to Faisalabad’s score of 108, but 86 were still required off a mere seven overss, the balance firmly in favour of the hosts. But sensational hitting from Khurram Manzoor – who finished with an unbeaten 52 off 25 – and Ashraf helped Faisalabad sneak home with a ball to spare and strengthen their hold on a semi-final position.
England coach Fabio Capello has revealed his torment of losing captain Rio Ferdinand to injury during the squad's first day of training at their base in South Africa.
The Manchester United defender damaged knee ligaments after an innocuous collision with team-mate Emile Heskey on Friday and he was rushed to a nearby hospital for tests.
After undergoing a scan, the extent of his injury was determined and he will be missing for around six weeks, meaning he will miss the showpiece and Capello has admitted it was big blow for all concerned.
He said:"It was a tackle and then there was big pain. He put his feet in the grass with Heskey and then he moved.
"The other players were upset. They stopped training. All the players who are here with me are important. But he is one of the starting players, the captain, a leader.
"It couldn't have been much worse on my first day. It is obviously bad news and everyone with the squad is very disappointed and sorry for Rio.
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"It was an accidental injury in training, but had nothing to do with the pitch. It is the curse of the captain."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
It’s an event that comes by once every four years so we can be forgiven for wanting something memorable immediately. I know it’s premature and that the best teams haven’t played yet but my impatience has led to a little disappointment at these early stages of the World Cup in South Africa.
The opening game couldn’t have started any better for the home nation as an incisive break and thunderous strike from Siphiwe Tshbalala led to the opening goal of the World Cup. But the hope for goals and more open matches was quickly quashed by a largely forgettable match between Uruguay and France. The only thing more frustrating than watching a group of talented players not perform is when their body language conveys a lack of ambition. Why Ribery is regarded by many to be in the upper most echelon of football talents is lost on me. This was yet another match of his that left me wondering just how he built this reputation. France looked disjointed and Uruguay looked to be relying on Forlan to produce anything near a goal.
Park Ji Sung scored a lovely goal to sink a very poor Greece side. And the less said about Slovenia-Algeria the better. My criticism about Slovenia and Algeria isn’t that I expected high quality from teams who don’t possess the players, but I did expect a proactive desire to win considering the draw between USA and England. Their encounter probably encapsulates the opening days of the World Cup, where a more conservative approach has prevailed and the desire not to lose has outweighed any need to win.
Watching Holland-Denmark at the moment is another disappointing match that should be far more entertaining. An own goal has gifted the Dutch the lead in an otherwise dire performance from both teams. It is only Germany who have created a stir (and to a lesser extent Argentina, who could have scored a handful of goals if not for some inspired goalkeeping) by hitting four goals past Australia.
Finally, the issue of the vuvzelas. I don’t have too much of a problem with the noise except that it lessens the atmosphere of hearing a crowd’s voice. And had the games until now provided more entertainment perhaps the plastic horns wouldn’t be discussed so widely. Though far too early, after looking forward to an event for so long the quality of matches has certainly failed to live up to expectations. Hopefully by the end of the week after the likes of Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Italy have played and the veritable need to win matches comes into the fold, the quality of football will increase and produce some memorable moments.
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The signing of Joe Cole on a free transfer from arch-rivals Chelsea, has filled Liverpool supporters with fresh hope and vigour. After a desperate season last year, the appointment of Roy Hodgson and recruitment of Cole gives Liverpool a huge burst of confidence amongst the fans and players. Days after Cole signed, Steven Gerrard committed himself to Liverpool; Hodgson will be hoping Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano do likewise, the latter however, appears to have his eyes on a move to Internazionale. Even if Mascherano was to leave, the Liverpool squad is looking strong, though a left back will need to be brought in before the start of the season. If one examines the likely first eleven, then Liverpool fans have good cause to be optimistic.
Pepe Reina is one of the standout goalkeepers in the league, and many would argue that he is in fact the best. Johnson, Carragher, Agger and an as yet unknown left back will form the backline, and despite being relatively solid, this is perhaps the weakest area of the Liverpool team. If Mascherano leaves Lucas could fill the gap in defensive midfield, whilst Alberto Aquilani may finally get a chance to prove his quality in the centre of the park. Gerrard may operate in central midfield or off the front man, and with his confidence restored, he may want to prove something after a tepid season last year. Joe Cole can add guile on the left or behind the strikers, whilst the hard-working Kuyt will probably keep his position on the right. If Torres can provide the spearhead, then this is a team that can easily challenge at the summit of the Premiership. Milan Jovanovic may also prove his worth up front if Hodgson opts to play two strikers or if Torres is injured. One player who could also make a difference, is the seemingly forgotten Ryan Babel.
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When he was bought by Liverpool from Ajax, Babel was one of the hottest prospects in European football. During the 2007 UEFA Under-21 Championship Babel was widely hailed as the best player in the tournament as part of the victorious Dutch side. Soon after the tournament Liverpool parted with £11.5 million to land the player. Despite performing superbly as a striker, Benitez decided to play Babel on the wing, a position where he seemed lost and was ineffectual. As the seasons progressed Babel played less and less until Benitez appeared to have no faith in the Dutchman whatsoever. However, with a new manager at the helm, and still only 23, Babel will have a fresh chance to play and perform to the potential he once displayed. If Hodgson can get Babel firing, along with Gerrard, Cole, Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez, Torres and Jovanovic, Liverpool will have a potent attacking threat, and one with a good deal of depth and variance. Without Champions League football, Liverpool will be focussing virtually all their efforts on the league, and when one examines their team and manager, then the conclusion has to be that Liverpool can be a major contender in the forthcoming season. The cloud that continues to hang over Anfield is the ownership issue, and the fans will be hoping that this can be remedied sooner rather than later.
It is becoming increasingly likely that Kenwyne Jones will be transferred from Sunderland to Stoke City in a £9million deal this month.
The Trinidad and Tobago international has been a long-time target of Potters boss Tony Pulis who is keen to improve on his team’s mid-table finishes in each of the last two campaigns.
Jones was condemned for a poor display in Sunday’s 3-1 pre-season defeat at Hoffenheim and appears resigned to leaving Wearside.
Black Cats boss Steve Bruce will step up his pursuit of Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck on a loan move if Jones leaves the Stadium of Light.
Jones only signed a new four-and-a-half year deal with Sunderland in January when Tottenham were rumoured to be interested in snapping him up.
He moved to Sunderland from Southampton for £6million three years ago and has gone on to score 28 goals in 101 appearances for the club.
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Stoke boss Pulis is continuing his attempts to offload Dave Kitson and James Beattie which would give him the capability to sign Jones.
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