Brendon McCullum knows New Zealand’s Test tour of England is more important, but he admits it will be difficult to depart the Indian Premier League after his final game on Tuesday. McCullum was an early star of the experimental tournament, smashing 158 in the opening contest, and is aware the atmosphere of the warm-ups in England will be significantly less than at the throbbing stadiums in India.”It’s going to be hard to leave this,” McCullum told the Dominion Post. “This is where it is all happening, but having said that I understand that there is a tour to England about to begin which is really important.”Five New Zealand players were given permission to arrive late and while the tourists start the opening game against MCC on Sunday, McCullum will be preparing for his final fixture for Kolkata on Tuesday. The first-class affairs with Essex and England Lions will be the only chances for the quintet to switch from Twenty20 to Test mode and adjust to the conditions.”The couple of warm-up games before the Test are going to seem incredibly low key when compared to what is going on here,” McCullum said. “The hype here is huge. The Kolkata fans are regarded as some of the more passionate and so we’ve not ventured outside the hotel very often.”McCullum said the opening week of the IPL had been “pretty special” and he compared it to a golfer making the cut at the US Masters. “The fanfare is quite amazing,” he said. “As a young kid I always aspired to play in front of big crowds, it was always something I wanted to do, but you don’t really imagine things like this.”After being bought for US$700,000 at the auction, McCullum felt the pressure before the opening game and classed his century as a career highlight. “At the World Cup you had to wait about two months until the semi-finals came around, but here it was only about two minutes,” he said. “I think it was because of the occasion … and probably most of all the expectation because of the value placed on me.”
Ishank Jaggi’s unbeaten 62 helped Jharkhand round off a relatively straightforward chase against Haryana by nine wickets after Rahul Shukla, Varun Aaron and Shahbaz Nadeem chipped in with vital contributions with the ball.Haryana’s 133 was achieved largely on the back of Rahul Dagar’s 38, even as five other batsmen who got into double figures couldn’t convert their starts. Aaron, the captain, dismissed the openers, with Shukla and Nadeem scything through the middle and lower order as Haryana’s innings ended in 33 overs. Harshal Patel picked up the wicket of Anand Singh, but Jaggi and Kumar Deobrat (38 not out) ensured MS Dhoni wasn’t required to bat as Jharkhand registered their third win in four matches.Kerala bounced back from their loss to Jharkhand on Sunday by consigning Jammu & Kashmir to their third successive loss. The stars for Kerala were Fabid Ahmed, the offspinner, who picked up three wickets to bundle out J&K for 130 before Nikhilesh Surendran, the opener, hit 12 fours and a six in his unbeaten 85 to see Kerala home in 29.5 overs. Kerala’s second win in four matches kept their knockout hopes alive.Manish Pandey’s unbeaten 94 helped Karnataka beat Gujarat by 15 runs (VJD method) at Alur. Chasing 234, Gujarat, courtesy Priyank Panchal’s 52 and Chirag Gandhi’s 43, were 160 for 5 in 40 overs when bad light stopped play. Set a revised target of 205 in 44 overs, Gujarat now needed 45 in 24 balls. They only managed 29, losing three more wickets to finish on 189 for 8.Sent in to bat, Karnataka lost KL Rahul and Sadiq Kirmani cheaply, before Mayank Agarwal (58 off 77) and Pandey added 72 for the third wicket. None of the lower middle-order contributed substantially, barring a 24 from Stuart Binny, and it was left to Pandey to manoeuvre Karnataka to a decent total. He managed this, remaining unbeaten on 94 off 123 balls (6×4, 1×6), to steer Karnataka to 233 for 8.
Trevor Bayliss is “all for” Jos Buttler appearing in this year’s IPL, now that Jonny Bairstow has earned a prolonged run in England’s Test side.Bairstow’s maiden Test century in Cape Town, a fine innings of 150 not out that, in partnership with Ben Stokes, led England from a precarious to a dominant position, underlined his status as first-choice keeper in England’s Test team.While he did drop an important chance during the second Test, Bayliss believes that Bairstow’s keeping will improve if he is given a run in the side and suggested that none of the other keepers vying for selection – notably Buttler – are significantly better with the gloves.
‘We won’t stifle Stokes’
Trevor Bayliss has promised not to “stifle” Ben Stokes’ positive instincts as he develops as an international player.
Stokes plundered an outrageous 258 in Cape Town, but was then caught on the boundary for 26 in the second innings as England battled to save the Test.
At 24, he is the youngest member of the England squad and Bayliss believes he needs to be allowed to mature in his own time.
“Over a period of time, he’ll become more consistent and maybe take lot more right options,” Bayliss said. “In the second innings it was probably the right shot but he maybe didn’t have to go after it as hard as there wasn’t anyone fielding around the corner. That’s Ben’s natural game.
“To be honest we didn’t say anything to him in either innings. That’s just the way he went out and played. He just let it happen. One of the things batting on the last day – the thing that’s important – is not just batting to survive but scoring runs as well. We could have blocked it out and been 50 runs and six or seven or eight wickets down. But we were proactive and looked for the runs when they were on offer.
“So making the right decisions is an area that’ll he learn going forward. But you don’t want to stifle that sort of ability. He’s going to be one of those players who can win a team a match and at different times he’s going to disappoint as well, as all of those types of players in history have shown.”
That leaves Buttler unlikely to be required for the early season Tests against Sri Lanka in May and June. With the England management keen to give their white-ball players more experience of other domestic T20 leagues, especially the IPL and the Big Bash, Buttler will then be free to appear in the IPL if he wins interest in the auction.As things stand, it seems likely that he will gain interest from several franchises and, as ESPNcricinfo reported, Kolkata Knight Riders are particularly interested in signing him. The deadline to register for the IPL auction is January 15.England made a similar decision recently with Adil Rashid. Although he remains part of their plans in all formats, the management concluded that he was unlikely to play a role in the Test series in South Africa so encouraged him to take part in the Big Bash instead. There, he has so far impressed with 10 wickets in five matches for Adelaide Strikers, including a Man of the Match performance against Perth Scorchers, that have helped propel his team towards the semi-finals.The difference this time is that Buttler is being encouraged to play in the IPL (which this year runs from April 9 to May 29) during the England season. While fringe Test players have, in the past, been encouraged to remain in county cricket and fight for their places, the England management is currently taking a different view. Whether that is because they see Buttler as a white-ball specialist, or simply because they feel he will learn as much in the IPL as he would in the county championship, is unclear.”If the opportunity arises and Buttler is not in the Test team and that IPL window is a possibility, I’d be all for it,” Bayliss said.”It’s something we’ve spoken about. Personally I’d think it would be something similar along the lines of Adil Rashid.”If Jos is in the Test team he’ll be playing Test cricket for England. He definitely wants to play more Test cricket for England which is great. But obviously Jonny’s there at the moment.”Bayliss suggested Bairstow had kept “pretty well” in Cape Town, but accepts that part of his game needs to improve. Bairstow only allowed through four byes in the entire South Africa innings – a decent effort given that England were in the field for 211 overs – but he did put down a relatively straightforward chance to his right off the bowling of Stuart Broad when Temba Bavuma had scored 77. He missed a similar chance in Durban, as well as missing stumpings in Durban and in the previous Test in Sharjah.”Apart from that one chance I thought he did a pretty good job,” Bayliss said. “He fumbled two balls and unfortunately one of them was a nick.”Certainly his wicketkeeping is a work in progress, but I think our other wicketkeepers are as well. Plenty of other wicketkeepers around the world have started off their international careers not in the greatest fashion but ended up pretty decent keepers. It’s only fairly early in Jonny’s wicketkeeping career.”He works very, very hard at it and I’d expect over a period of time for him to get better. Both Jonny and Jos work terribly hard on their keeping. I’d expect over a period of time for him to get better.”He knows the number one reason he is in the team is to keep wicket. So that is definitely a focus of ours: to make him better, as it is with Jos as well.”And we know that both of them, in form, can quite possibly play in this Test team as a batter anyway. So it’s all in front of both of them.”
Former South Africa batsman Neil McKenzie has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. McKenzie had already retired from first-class cricket in March, but continued playing limited-overs cricket for his franchise Lions.The franchise has agreed to release McKenzie from his contract with immediate effect. The batsman is currently a part of the Virgo Super Kings franchise in the Masters Champions League, a tournament for retired players, and played his first match in the tournament on January 29.McKenzie scored 8571 runs at an average of 37.92 in his 298 List A matches and 3357 runs in his 155 domestic T20s. The Lions have agreed to release McKenzie from his contract with immediate effect.”Cricket has given me a career, passion and terrific memories. Few players can say that they have been able to play at a professional level for this long and I am grateful for the opportunities, friendship and memories that I can take away from my playing career. The Bullring will always remain my home away from home and I hope to still be involved in the game at some level,” McKenzie told .
A blistering knock by Virender Shewag rescued North Zone from anembarrassing position as their battle for the first innings lead againstWest Zone spilled over into the final day at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. Thehosts ended the penultimate day of this Duleep Trophy clash on 217/5, still67 short of West’s 284. For once, the fog did not interfere markedly withthe proceedings, with 85.4 overs being flung down.North seamers Ashish Nehra and Surendra Singh struck thrice in quicksuccession in the morning after they resumed at 174/5. Nehra bowled skipperNayan Mongia for 10 in the day’s second over. The new ball which was takenafter 81 overs hustled out both Niraj Patel and Zaheer Khan to leave Westin a pickle at 211/8. Sairaj Bahutule led a tailend rally that fetched 73runs for the last two wickets, including a 47 run ninth wicket associationwith Iqbal Siddiqui in just 8.2 overs. Bahutule was last out, trapped legbefore by the third seamer Gagandeep Singh for 42. Both Nehra and SurendraSingh ended with four wickets apiece.Zaheer Khan made the breakthrough in the 11th over of North’s reply,trapping skipper Vikram Rathour leg before. From 63/1, North lost threewickets in less than six overs as the West seam attack mercilessly probedtheir weaknesses. After hitting three boundaries in a forty minute longvisit to the middle, Yuvraj Singh was caught behind by Mongia off Siddiqui.Last week’s double centurion Dinesh Mongia barely troubled the scorers ashe had his stumps rattled in Siddiqui’s next over and when Santosh Saxenamarched back Reetinder Sodhi into the dressing room for a five ball duck,North were 75/4.Opener Akash Chopra had survived the onslaught, but shortly after postinghis half century he became Siddiqui’s third victim, trapped leg before for54 (121 balls, 9 fours). Shewag and wicket keeper Pankaj Dharmani proceededto frustrate West with an unbroken 105 run stand in 22.4 overs. Havingstruck 110 balls and struck 15 boundaries, Shewag ended the day twelve runsshort of his second successive ton in the competition, while Dharmani hadnotched up 28. The three West speedsters had bowled 54 of the 60 overs withSiddiqui returning figures of 3/79.
ScorecardWilliam Porterfield played a captain’s innings to lead Ireland to a notable victory against Warwickshire. He made a well-paced 69 off 110 balls as they reached the target of 212 with 20 balls to spare.The result adds to Warwickshire’s problems, the team have struggled badly in this year’s Friends Provident trophy and this defeat won’t help to appease the unhappy members who made their feelings known following last week’s loss to Northamptonshire.Instead of the trip to Stormont being a chance to get back to winning ways Warwickshire came unstuck as the top order collapsed to 93 for 5. Tony Frost’s 56 and an unbeaten 47 from Michael Powell hauled them over 200, but the home side paced their chase expertly.Reinhardt Strydom’s 30-ball 35 provided the ideal start, allowing Porterfield to anchor the innings. Warwickshire chipped away and when Gary Wilson fell to Neil Carter the match was still in the balance at 132 for 4. But Andrew White and Kevin O’Brien offered important support to Porterfield, who fell 16 runs short of victory. O’Brien and Kyle McCallan finished the job without any further alarms and Warwickshire will fly back home with their tails between their legs.
Midlands Division
Team
Mat
Won
Lost
Tied
N/R
Pts
Net RR
For
Against
Nottinghamshire
4
3
0
0
1
7
+0.529
560/128.0
500/130.0
Leicestershire
5
3
1
0
1
7
+0.520
864/173.0
774/173.0
Northamptonshire
6
3
2
0
1
7
+0.271
1143/216.4
1141/228.0
Ireland
4
1
3
0
0
2
-0.600
788/196.4
886/192.2
Warwickshire
5
0
4
0
1
1
-0.595
839/173.0
893/164.0
ScorecardA destructive early burst from Yasir Aarfat consigned Essex to a crushing 106-run defeat at Chelmsford. He ripped out the top order to leave the home side floundering and his scalps included Ravi Bopara for a first-ball duck.Essex sank to 80 for 8 as Robbie Joseph and Simon Cook played their part and the innings came to end in the 26th over.Kent’s 230 was built around a series of useful performances, lead by Justin Kemp’s 86-ball 51 and 41 from captain Robert Key. Bopara and Graham Napier shared six wickets, but the total proved more than enough.
Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson and Ibrox manager Gio van Bronckhorst will be working alongside each other this summer to bolster the squad with new additions.
The Gers will be hoping to find the new superstars of tomorrow to improve the team by sniffing out gems in the transfer market.
Over the years, the likes of Ronald De Boer, Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup represented the Glasgow giants, and some other legendary players also came close to making the switch.
One player for whom the club reportedly chased a deal was Dutch icon Dennis Bergkamp in the 1990’s before he signed for Premier League giants Arsenal.
The Ger were keen to snap him up from Italian outfit Inter Milan but failed to get a move over the line quickly enough, allowing the Gunners to come in and secure his services in 1995 for a fee of £7.5m.
This ended up being a big howler from then-manager Walter Smith, who did win 10 Premiership titles with the Gers, as Bergkamp went on to demonstrate his immense quality in England.
He ended his career with 410 appearances for Arsenal, winning three Premier League titles and four FA Cups along the way. The mercurial playmaker produced 113 goals and 94 assists for the north London club in all competitions as he consistently showcased his ability in the final third.
Instead of regularly delivering goals and assists in the Scottish top flight for the Gers, he enjoyed a phenomenal spell south of the border.
Jaap Stam called him “world-class” and former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger once lauded his talents, saying: “Dennis is a player who is admired by all the other players and was the first push of Arsenal into the modern, international era. [ . . . ] He brought creativity to this group of very strong players and it was a good marriage.”
His sublime goal against Newcastle United in 2002 has been ranked as one of the greatest in the history of the Premier League. Now… imagine if he produced moments like that in a Rangers shirt!
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Who knows what would have happened had Smith and the Gers moved with a bit more urgency to get the deal over the line. Bergkamp may not have fulfilled his potential in the way that he did at Arsenal, or maybe he could have exploded at Ibrox and been a joy for the fans to watch.
Talk about one that got away…
AND in other news, Was £2.7m, went to £162m: Rangers fumbled deal for “alien” who’s the “god of football”…
There is still a month to go till the World Twenty20, but no side other than India can claim to know their first XI so much in advance. In the team that beat Sri Lanka 2-1, thus retaining its No. 1 ranking in T20Is, there will only be one change made – Virat Kohli replacing Ajinkya Rahane – barring an extraordinary pitch or an opposition full of left-hand batsmen, but MS Dhoni also knows the fickle nature of the T20 format. He knows his side will be difficult to beat, but he also knows his side can be beaten. Two of the areas that can derail India’s campaign are a big hitter in the opposition and India’s somewhat suspect lower middle order, which can struggle to play the big shots from ball one.”We are always a top contender when it comes to shorter formats,” Dhoni said after India beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets in Visakhapatnam. “Also with the World Cup to be held in India we know the spinners will come into action. It gives us the added benefit. Also the exposure of having played the IPL over here. Out of the eight seasons we have played seven seasons in India. We have got a lot of players, especially ones who are the part of the team, who have got very good experience of playing in India.”All of that will definitely count, but what the shortest format really does is, it narrows down the difference between the two teams. What you have to do is keep the [opposition’s] big hitters out of the game. Also the knockout games, you have to be at your best. Once the knockout stage starts it is more like lottery cricket. To be consistent is something that is very important.”Asked if any aspect of his side was untested, Dhoni spoke of the lower middle order. “Everybody has not got a chance to bat, but we will keep facing this problem,” Dhoni said. “Because also our batting line-up is quite deep. We will try to give batting to a few of the players who haven’t batted so far. But usually people who are batting close to 6, 7 and 8, will have to develop more of going in and straightaway play the big shot. That’s something that will certainly be very important for us. It is not about how many runs you score at that point of time. You may be facing just three or four or five deliveries. If you can get 10 or 12 runs, that will be of real benefit.”But overall, other than that everybody has got an opportunity to bowl, which is a good thing. I think, in the last three games, everybody has gone for runs a bit. If it is the spinners or the fast bowlers, to an extent. They were under pressure at some point of time, which is a good thing for them. Overall we are looking good, but a bit more batting to the middle order will help.”One of the final ticks is R Ashwin’s performance with the new ball after Dhoni had tended to bowl the six Powerplay overs with his quicks in Australia. Ashwin’s success – he has claimed eight wickets in the two matches that he has taken the new ball against Sri Lanka – takes away that predictability from India’s attack. “Ashwin is the pick of the bowlers when it comes to giving him the new ball, [with seven men] in the circle. He still flights the ball, asks the batsmen to step out and play the big shot. That is crucial in this format. At times you tend to bowl too flat, but he is somebody who mixes it up really well.”He gives us that liberty of using the fast bowlers in the middle overs, especially when you are playing with just two fast bowlers. Gives us the liberty of mixing up the bowlers at different levels. But it’s something we will keep doing throughout the coming games. We will see the conditions and the opposition at the same time, how many left-handers they have, and how many right-handers they have. Also what gives me that option is having Suresh Raina in the mix. You have literally two proper offspinners, especially when it is turning, and you have two left-arm spinners in [Ravindra] Jadeja and Yuvraj Singh in the XI so even if one of them has to bowl upfront it doesn’t really matter because the others can do the job.”
Following the confirmation of Rafael Benitez as the new manager of European and Italian champions Inter Milan, several sources this week have predictably claimed that the Spaniard is set to raid cash-strapped former club Liverpool for several of their crown jewels. This phenomenon of players following managers is not something new; previously we have seen the likes of Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira follow former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho from Porto to Stamford Bridge. Unconfirmed reports have suggested that Benitez has been handed a staggering €80m to spend this summer, fuelling rumours that he will be able to force Liverpool’s hand into selling several star players over the next few months.
As manager of the reigning Serie A, Champions League and Coppa Italia champions, Benitez is already in possession of an immensely talented squad at Inter. Should Benitez decide to acquire players from L4, who would he bring, and where would they fit in?
Javier Mascherano
Since having his head turned by interest from Barcelona last summer, the little Argentine anchorman has not been the same player at Anfield. On his day, the tigerish destroyer is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, blessed with tenacity, dogged determination and strength.
It is thought that ‘El Jefe’ heads Benitez’s list of summer transfer targets, and Mascherano is understood to be receptive to a move to Inter, having recently confessed that he is learning Italian whilst in South Africa with the Argentine national side. The Argentina captain, who blossomed under the tutelage of Benitez, is said to be keen to link up with the Spaniard, having said of Benitez that “his football is my football.”
Despite Benitez’s proclivity for the use of two holding midfield players, Mascherano is likely to face stiff competition for a first-team berth at Inter Milan. The central midfield position is one department that is well-stocked at the San Siro, with Esteban Cambiasso, Thiago Motta, Sulley Muntari, McDonald Mariga and Javier Zanetti all capable of operating in the holding role. However, the arrival of Mascherano would surely place question marks over the futures of one or two of the aforementioned players.
Glen Johnson
With Brazilian international Maicon set to follow Jose Mourinho to Real Madrid this summer, it appears that Rafael Benitez will be on the lookout for a new right-back. Perceptive tabloid types, including Spanish daily AS, have touted England international Glen Johnson as a potential replacement for the foraging Brazilian.
Maicon, regarded by many as the world’s finest full-back, has endeared himself to Inter Milan fans by way of his attacking displays down Inter’s right flank. Although not as accomplished as Maicon, Johnson has a similar penchant for forward play, and would be likely to command a first-team berth should Maicon depart for the Bernabeu.
However, unlike Mascherano, Johnson has not alluded to the fact that he is seeking a move away from Anfield.
Dirk Kuyt
As a long-time favourite of Rafael Benitez, recent speculation concerning the Liverpool future of Dirk Kuyt comes as no surprise. The converted right-winger, who is currently starring for the Netherlands at the World Cup, is rumoured to be one of Benitez’s targets this summer.
Kuyt’s agent Rob Jansen has added credence to such conjecture, having stated that “[Kuyt] has an excellent relationship with Benitez, but we are commenting only on an hypothesis, because there is nothing concrete. When and if an offer arrives, we’ll see. Dirk is happy at Liverpool and has a contract until 2012. Would he follow Benitez? Anything is possible, but, again, there is currently nothing.”
Notwithstanding the wealth of attacking options currently at Benitez’s disposal, Kuyt’s ability to operate as a right-winger, second striker and centre-forward would certainly vindicate any decision to move for the Dutchman. Given Benitez’s preference for ‘grafters’, Kuyt’s industry and hard-working nature would certainly be welcomed at Inter.
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Are the trio likely to leave, or is it simply the World’s media stirring the pot?
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Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes could play on for another year after denying that this season will definitely be his last.
Scholes, 35, penned a new one-year contract at Old Trafford earlier in the summer despite a previous assertion that the 2009/10 campaign could be his last.
The midfielder made 38 appearances in all competitions and was even approached by England coach Fabio Capello about the possibility of coming out of international retirement for the World Cup.
Scholes declined the invitation but has suggested that his lengthy United career – which now includes almost 650 first-team appearances – may not come to an end at the end of the forthcoming season.
"I do not know if it will be my last season," he said."I will just take every game as it comes.
"If I am feeling okay and doing the job that the manager wants me to do then we will see how things are at the end of next season.
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