For all its uncertainty and drama, there are certain instances in sport where the expected almost always happens. Celtic or Rangers normally win the Scottish football title and the Chinese generally win everything in table tennis. If these teams don’t win, it is big news. Winning is a formality. In India, Mumbai usually win the Ranji Trophy.So when the 2004-05 season kicks off tomorrow, with seven Elite Group matches around the country, Mumbai start as strong favourites. History favours them overwhelmingly – 36 titles with their closest rivals winning six. More importantly, they are champions for two seasons running and hardly faced any challenge last time around. Their batsmen cruised along merrily and their bowlers chipped in at the vital moments. They wrapped up the semi-finals within three days and the final was all but over on the second. At the end of it all Chandrakant Pandit, their coach, was talking about the 15-year winning streak from 1959 to 1973.Another massive advantage that Mumbai have this season is that they play five matches at home. With the most balanced bowling line-up in the country, they usually thrive on the sporting Wankhede wicket – assuming of course that the Test match pitch was an anomaly. Three spinners of varied style and strengths – Sairaj Bahutule, Ramesh Powar and Nilesh Kulkarni – and three medium pacers who can consistently hit the right rhythm make them a formidable combination to face up to. Their batting will revolve around Wasim Jaffer, Amol Muzumdar and Vinod Kambli and they have enough allround strength to call up if needed.Their first game, though, against Railways in Delhi, will probably be one of their biggest tests. Railways entered the semi-finals last year and relied on the sum being greater than the parts. Sanjay Bangar and Harvinder Singh have international experience while Kulamani Parida, the offspinner, has been on the fringes of national selection for a while.The other big battle on the opening day will be between Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad at Chennai. Like last season, Tamil Nadu will rely on their high-voltage batting line-up to carry them through, and the first-day collapse in the final would surely rankle. Sadagoppan Ramesh, Sridharan Sriram, Sreedharan Sharath and Hemang Badani form a formidable combination and will have solid back-up in the form of Subramanium Badrinath, who topped the run-charts for them last season, and Dinesh Karthik, the wicketkeeper who slammed crucial hundreds in the semis and finals. Hyderabad don’t have too many stars in their team but they will ride on a mix of experience and youth: their captain, Venkatapathy Raju, and Ambati Rayudu, the 19-year old batsman hailed by some as the next great Indian batting star.It will be interesting to note the progress of Punjab under the guidance of Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistan captain who became the first foreign coach to be in charge of an Indian domestic team. They play their first match against Uttar Pradesh and like last season one would expect their medium pacers to come to the fore.Delhi and Karnataka were good in patches last season, with a few experienced players disappointing. Both teams begin their campaigns away from home – Karnataka against Bengal and Delhi against Gujarat.But whatever all these teams do, it will require something special to upset Mumbai’s quest for their hat-trick of titles. When Richard Cashman, the manager of the New York Yankees, was asked about the difference between his team and the rest he said, “The only difference is that the Yankees always win.” It is a similar story.
Amid much media attention and under a massive downpour Virender Sehwag got married to Aarti, the woman to whom he had dedicated his history-making 309 at Multan. The wedding took place at the residence of Arun Jaitley, the union law minister, in Delhi on Thursday.The function was conducted in a traditional manner, and a grand reception is planned for Saturday, April 24. In close attendance on the day of the wedding were family members, Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Ashish Nehra, and several members of the Delhi Ranji Trophy team. Also present were several leading politicians from various parties.On Ashoka Road, where the Jaitley residence is located, a big crowd of curious onlookers gathered. However, tight security at the gates meant that no-one was able to enter the premises without an invitation. A large media contingent, which included a number of television channels, was also waiting – fruitlessly as it turned out.The wedding itself was conducted in traditional fashion, with elaborate arrangements for the stage that included flowers imported from Thailand and Chennai. The Jea Band of Red Fort provided the music while dinner was an elaborate affair, with over 200 dishes reportedly served up.Incidentally several thousand weddings took place on the day in Delhi, Akshay Tritaya, as it was a particularly auspicious day.
The law is the law is the law.Canterbury Cricket have been wrestling with an issue that must raise its head at various times through every season somewhere in the world.The idea that on a rainy day, one game was allowed to carry on while all others were ordered off.The implication being that the players in the game that carried on were given an unfair advantage to collect competition points.So it was in Christchurch on December 7 last year.In a senior grade match between High School Old Boys’ (HSOB) and Marist, the umpires allowed play to continue for an hour longer than other matches. The result was that HSOB achieved an outright win.The other senior Christchurch clubs used their collective muscle to protest the action on the basis of the Canterbury Cricket Association’s Rule 24A and an amendment passed on September 25, 2002 that precluded any time being extended on the second day of a two-day game.Canterbury Cricket upheld the protest.But HSOB appealed and request a review.Canterbury Cricket’s board of directors granted the appeal and appointed an appeal panel. That panel comprised the Association’s code of conduct commissioners Lee Robinson and Keith Hales, the Association president Brian Adams.Under their decision, Law 21.8 was invoked, that being the law stating umpires having the sole responsibility for the correctness of scores and, as a result of that, Law 21.10 that once the umpires have agreed the correctness of the score with the scorers at the end of the team, the result could not be changed.The 12 points returned to HSOB carried them from second to first on the senior two-day competition table.
Derbyshire’s batsmen fought back strongly after they were left to score 347 to avoid the follow-on at Derby.Worcestershire recorded their highest-ever score in Derbyshire, 496, which left the home side facing a rearguard action with only ten men.Batsman Chris Bassano, who scored a century in each innings of his Championship debut last month, was forced to pull out of the game and return to Tasmania after his father Brian suffered a stroke.But Derbyshire, who lost their last Championship match by ten wickets, responded by advancing to 134-1 from 38 overs at the close for the loss of Luke Sutton.Worcestershire were already strongly placed on 390-5 going into the second day and the lower order all chipped in to add another 106 runs.Steve Rhodes, dropped at second slip by Dominic Cork before he had scored, made an unbeaten 37 and then took the catch which removed Sutton in the tenth over of Derbyshire’s reply.Andrew Bichel and Alamgir Sheriyar had made the ball zoom around on another steamy day but it was Kabir Ali who made the breakthrough when he got one to bounce and move away from Sutton who could not avoid getting an edge.The second stoppage for rain kept the players off the field until 5.20 and Worcestershire should have taken another wicket when Stubbings was dropped at first slip by Vikram Solanki on 38.The left-hander went on to complete a half-century from 89 balls and with Titchard also applying himself, Derbyshire showed they would make Worcestershire work hard on a pitch which has so far given no help to any of the bowlers.
Sunderland have now posted an exciting training update ahead of their game at home to Gillingham in League One on Saturday afternoon.
The Lowdown: Close to return?
Speaking ahead of the match at the weekend, Alex Neil revealed that both Alex Pritchard and Nathan Broadhead have recovered ‘quicker than anticipated’ after originally thinking that they were going to be out for the longer term.
He did not rule out the possibility of them returning against Gillingham, while Danny Batth could also make his return, having played for the U23s.
The Latest: Training photos
Taking to Twitter, the Stadium of Light faithful have now posted photos of each of the three players in training, with the caption ‘Continuing on the comeback trail!’
The fact that they are training outside and with the rest of the squad suggests that they could all now feature on Saturday.
The Verdict: Big boost
It would certainly be a big boost for the Wearside club if all three players are available against Gillingham.
Pritchard and Broadhead have ranked among their best players in the division so far this season, while Batth has also made a mark since signing from Stoke City in the January transfer window.
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The central defender is ranking highly among his new teammates in terms of average aerial duels won, tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks per game (WhoScored), and so having him back will give Neil another handy squad option.
In other news, find out who SAFC are now battling Wigan Athletic to sign here!
Essex have continued their strong coaching association with Yorkshire by naming Anthony McGrath as assistant head coach.McGrath becomes No. 2 to a former Yorkshire team-mate, Chris Silverwood, who was promoted up to the head coach role after the departure from the post of another Yorkshireman, Paul Grayson, late last season.McGrath, who has recently been fulfilling part-time coaching duties at Yorkshire, spent his entire first-class career with his home county, making 583 appearances across all three formats during a 17-year career. He also played four Tests for England.After his retirement, he was appointed by Yorkshire as a player mentor before his coaching duties expanded with the departure of Richard Dawson, the academy head, to Gloucestershire.Silverwood said: “I’ve known Anthony for a very long time, and he is a great addition to our staff. He has excellent cricket knowledge, and during his interview it was clear he had a real passion for this job.”He is a very good coach, and will help our batsmen improve their game. He has experience of working with some of the best batsmen in the country – names such as Bairstow, Root, Ballance, Lyth – so his experience will be invaluable to our players.”We have a strong batting line up, and I am confident Anthony will complement it perfectly.”For Yorkshire, who also lost Paul Farbrace to Sri Lanka – and then England – in recent times, it is another raid on their coaching staff to which they are now accustomed.Farbrace’s influence on Yorkshire’s academy was widely praised and his relaxed style as England’s assistant coach after returning to the international circuit has received widespread plaudits. Dawson, his replacement, has also had instant success at Gloucestershire, leading them to Royal London Cup success in his first season.”We are sorry to see Anthony leave the club,” Yorkshire’s director of cricket Martyn Moxon said. “He was a major part of our success over the past couple of years as a coach.”Mags has been at Headingley for nearly 20 years as a coach and a player. He has been an outstanding servant. It is a great opportunity for him and we wish him well.”
Chris Harris could be the latest former international to join the Indian Cricket League, with reports from New Zealand that the allrounder has already reached an agreement with the group. However, his domestic side Canterbury and the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association (NZCPA) were doubtful that Harris had made a decision.A number of news sources said this week that Harris would be joined in the ICL by Chris Cairns and Nathan Astle, with a fourth unnamed player also set to follow their lead. The reports said Harris had rejected a new deal with Canterbury and would further boost the league’s list of international players that includes Brian Lara, Lance Klusener, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf.But Heath Mills, the manager of the NZCPA, told the no New Zealand players had made agreements with the ICL. “I’d definitely know if Harry had signed,” Mills said. “The ICL have approached a number of our players, but I’m not aware of any who have signed.”The chief executive of Canterbury Cricket, Richard Reid, was also unconvinced by the reports. “I don’t know whether he’s signed or not,” Reid said. “I would presume that he would tell me if he had. Neither Dave Nosworthy [the Canterbury coach] nor I know that he’s signed.”Harris, 37, has not played for New Zealand since 2004-05 but has remained a first-rate contributor in domestic fixtures. Last season he was Canterbury’s top one-day run-scorer with 362 at 60.33 and chipped in with nine wickets, while also averaging 42.80 in a solid first-class campaign.He was outstanding in the State Twenty20 competition, where he led the competition’s tally with 237 runs from five games at a strike-rate of 160 and claimed seven wickets with an economy rate of 6.45. The only man to make a State Twenty20 century last summer, Harris was included in New Zealand’s preliminary 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship but was cut from the final line-up.Cairns and Astle, both of whom have retired from first-class cricket, have been mentioned for some time as potential ICL recruits but they have not confirmed the rumours. Stephen Fleming has also declined to publicly comment on the speculation that he would join the group.
The Pakistan Under-19s lost badly to the India Under-19s because Pakistan had fielded a relatively inexperienced team, said Iqbal Qasim, the chairman of Pakistan’s nations cricket junior committee.”Actually their [India] players also have experience of the last Under-19 World Cup besides first-class matches, but we have just included the youngsters who showed their best in the ongoing domestic activities,” Qasim told .Pakistan lost 2-0 to India in the two-‘Test’ series held in September. While they lost by 271 runs in the first match at Rawalpindi, the defeat in the second match at Peshawar was even more comprehensive with India wrapping up the proceedings inside three days to win by an innings and 240 runs.”Pakistan has had less time to form a combined team from among the best available players at the junior level, besides the regional event [Inter-region championship] is still going on due to that the selector did not find much time to see and find out the best among the existing talent,” said Qasim. “I hope with the passage of time these youngsters would improve their performance,” he added.The two teams will meet next on September 19 to play the first game of the four-match one-day series.
Brett Lee has been ruled out for the rest of the second Test against Zimbabwe, and for the tri-series in India later this month. Diagnostic scans taken after he left the field in the second Test have revealed that he has a torn abdominal muscle, and will take around four weeks to recover.`I am bitterly disappointed,” said Lee. “I’ve worked really hard on my fitness and have basically gone through the past three seasons unscathed, so to miss this tour now is a major blow. I pretty much knew from my first ball this morning that something was wrong. There are times when I have stiffness and I can pretty much bowl through it – that’s part and parcel of bowling – but this certainly felt worse. But hopefully we’ve identified the problem early and it won’t turn into a bigger problem.”Errol Alcott, the physiotherapist of the Australian team, said, “The MRI and ultrasound revealed a disruption in Brett’s stomach muscle. He will placed in a rehabilitation program and I am anticipating a recovery period of at least four weeks.”
New Zealand A 336 for 3 (Bell 92, How 92) lead Sri Lanka A 276 (Daniel 124) by 60 runs ScorecardFour batsmen passed 50 as New Zealand A made a strong reply to Sri Lanka A’s total of 276 at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln. Having started the day on 14 for 0, New Zealand A finished at 336 for 3, with Matthew Bell and Jamie How – both made 92 – narrowly missing out on their centuries.There was little to celebrate for the Sri Lankans as Bell and How added 193 for the first wicket. There were also half-centuries for Mathew Sinclair (50) and Lou Vincent (62 not out) as those on the fringes of New Zealand’s Test side made the most of good batting conditions.