Not only are the futures of some of Australia’s ageing cricketers on the line on their return home from the Ashes tour this month, but also the fate of team coach John Buchanan.Buchanan’s contract with Cricket Australia expires next month and CA said discussions would take place with him upon his return from England, the said on Sunday. There has been much debate over Buchanan’s influence on the team, even though he has an impressive coaching record of 54 wins and 11 losses in 76 Tests.One of Buchanan’s fiercest critics has been Ian Chappell, the former Australian captain, who has urged Ricky Ponting to seek guidance from senior players like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath rather than Buchanan.However, Buchanan has spoken of his keenness to continue in the job through to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. “There have been initial discussions but both parties have agreed not to hold any more until the end of the Ashes,” a CA spokesman told . “We’ll see what the situation is then.”Buchanan was at the helm as the national team marched to a record 16-straight Test victories between 1999 and 2001 and then triumphed at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. But he has been under pressure along with the Australian team in the Ashes series, with Duncan Fletcher, his England counterpart, and Michael Vaughan generally winning the tactical battles.Chappell was withering in his damning of Buchanan’s role in the Australian team. “If I was Ponting, I would be relying on those types of cricketing brains,” Chappell said at the launch of his new book, Chappelli Speaks Out, last week. “Warne is one of the great cricket brains of any time and McGrath is behind him a bit, but not bad either, why would you listen to Buchanan when you can listen to these blokes.”All this crap I hear about plans now, plans, everybody has a plan when they go out and the plans that come off, they only come off all the time because you are up against a mediocre player,” he said. “But if you are bowling to [Garry] Sobers or Viv Richards, you better have seven or eight plans and you better be ready to run right through them four or five times in a day, and be able to suddenly develop another plan when you might see something a bit different. See how angry Buchanan is getting [on tour], people are starting to ask him some pertinent questions.Bob Simpson, the former Australian captain, was another who queried Buchanan’s training methods, claiming that he doesn’t spend enough time on Australia’s deteriorating fielding skills as witnessed by the number of dropped catches in the Ashes series. Michael Slater, the former Australian opening batsman, has also called for specialist assistant coaches to boost the back-room set-up.
A pitch that was batsman-friendly for the first two days became even more placid as South Africa A made steady inroads into New Zealand A’s 502 for 8 declared on day three at Sedgars Park.Boeta Dippenaar and Andrew Puttick, who both have international experience, matched each other ball for ball, stroke for stroke and boundary for boundary as they put together an opening stand of 148. Puttick, after being dropped on 57 by Gareth Hopkins, was dismissed for 70 to the fourth lbw decision of the match, as a ball from James Franklin kept uncharacteristically low and beat the bat.Dippenaar went to his hundred, but was then caught and bowled by Jamie How for 103. His five-hour stay included 18 boundaries with an equal spread of runs on both sides of the wicket.Justin Ontong’s confidence grew steadily as he struggled through the early part of his innings. Given a life by Matthew Sinclair in the slips when on 13, Ontong went on to make 48 before also being trapped in front by Franklin.Ashwell Prince became Franklin’s third leg-before victim as he pushed forward, played down the wrong line, and headed back to the change-rooms for 16. South Africa, at 246 for 4, were still 106 runs short of saving follow-on.Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla were determined to preserve their wickets, and the scoring of runs dried up considerably. At the close of play they had taken the total to 325 for 4, with McKenzie on 36 and Amla on 42.
SK Nair, the BCCI secretary, has denied reports of the Indian government refusing permission for the under-19 team’s tour to Pakistan. Speaking to Wisden CricInfo, Nair said that the board was awaiting the government’s sanction for the tour. “We are following it up with the Indian government at various levels.”Nair also said that the dates given in the news report in question were incorrect. He said that the Asian Cricket Council had proposed to hold four tournaments for junior, academy and A teams from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The tournament for the National Cricket Academy teams was proposed to be held in Sri Lanka in September, followed by an under-19 event in Pakistan in November. India were scheduled to host the last two tournaments – the A-team competition in December and the under-17 Asia Cup in January 2004.
Indian selectors have done the expected by naming Virender Sehwag in the 14-member squad for the first Test due to start at Mohali on December 3. This despite the International Cricket Council’s clear directive that Sehwag was ineligible for the Test.Chandu Borde, the chairman of selectors while explaining the decision, said, “Like I said yesterday, we have based our decisions on merit.”Sehwag’s selection aside there were many surprises in the squad announced by Borde at Jaipur. None of the fast bowlers who went to South Africa have been retained. While Javagal Srinath had declared himself ineligible following a fracture that he sustained at Centurion, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Venkatesh Prasad and Ajit Agarkar were all left out in the cold.The surprise inclusions included Iqbal Siddiqui, the Maharashtra and India ‘A’ right-arm opening bowler who returned figures of 4-36 in the ongoing match against England at Jaipur on Wednesday. The other new faces were all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and Kerala fast bowler Tinu Yohannan.Opener Connor Williams has also been retained, while Deep Dasgupta, one of the finds of India’s controversy-ridden tour of South Africa, will be the wicket-keeper.Squad: Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Connor Williams, Shiv Sunder Das, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Iqbal Siddiqui, Tinu Yohannan, Sanjay Bangar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Deep Dasgupta, Sarandeep Singh
Agarkar: AB the best batsman in the world in all formats
South Africa won their first-ever bilateral series in India after Faf du Plessis’ first, Quinton de Kock’s second and AB de Villiers’ third centuries of the series helped the visitors soar to the highest total in the five matches, the highest at the Wankhede and the highest against India. They did not subject India to their biggest margin of defeat, but they did bowl them out more than 200 runs short of the target, no mean feat in batsmen-friendly conditions.South Africa’s line-up enjoyed the track, which offered almost no bounce or turn, and applied aggression in waves reminiscent of the day nine years ago when they scored this exact number of runs against Australia at the Wanderers. Then, South Africa were chasing, this time they were making India’s bowlers do that. India have never conceded more runs in an ODI; South Africa have scored more but only by one. This was their sixth score over 400 and fourth in 2015 alone, and it underlined their ability to dominate opposition on their own turf.India will be disappointed by the way their challenge died in both departments. Their bowlers began with an over-reliance on the short ball and then just ran out of ideas while their batsmen showed the right intent upfront but lost wickets trying to sustain the scoring rate. In the end, they conceded a second series to South Africa on the tour with the main event, the Tests, still to come.The signs of South African authority were evident from the start. They raced to fifty inside six overs during which Hashim Amla became the fastest batsmen to 6,000 ODI runs. Amla was dismissed cheaply for a fifth time in the series but that did not have an impact on South Africa’s morale.De Kock owned the pull shot and with the seamers failing to generate anything, MS Dhoni introduced spin in the seventh over. Harbhajan Singh kept things tight at first but the tension was routinely broken at the other end. South Africa grew in confidence, brought up 100 in the 15th over and appeared unstoppable until de Kock hit Amit Mishra in the air to mid-off and presented a chance. Mohit Sharma got fingertips to the ball but could not hold on. De Kock was on 58 at the time and Mohit’s mistake would prove costly.He was seeing the ball well and found the rope so regularly, there was barely a need for singles. More than two-thirds of his runs came in boundaries but he reached his century, his fifth against India and eighth overall, with a single.Du Plessis had almost been a spectator in the proceedings and allowed de Kock most of the strike but when de Kock was caught on the long-off boundary, he knew he had to take over. With de Villiers egging him on, du Plessis upped the ante, assisted by Dhoni using part-timers Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli against South Africa’s two most destructive batsmen. They pierced the gaps and hit with power as the intensity increased.De Villiers injected impetus into the innings with his scoring rate – his fifty came off 34 balls – and du Plessis followed suit. After taking 61 balls to score fifty, he needed just 44 more deliveries to get a century, even as he battled cramps to get there.South Africa entered the last ten overs on 294 for 2 but would have been wary of the squeeze that can strike with the new playing conditions. This time, they were not strangled. Du Plessis plundered 24 runs off the 43rd over, bowled by Axar Patel, even though he could barely stand up and had to retire hurt on 133.Then, it was de Villiers’ turn. His century came off the 57th ball he faced to chants of “ABD” from the Wankhede crowd. South Africa were on the brink of 400 when de Villiers edged an attempted pull and was caught behind and India had finally got through the senior batsmen. Farhaan Behardien and David Miller had free reign to slog as hard as they wanted and they made the most of what time they had. South Africa scored 144 runs in the last ten overs. By the time India had that many, it looked as though a thriller might just play out.India lost Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the first eight overs of the reply but Shikhar Dhawan, who had been middling until this match, and Ajinkya Rahane kept them in it. Rahane was particularly severe on Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir but neither of them targeted South Africa’s fifth bowler, Behardien, as much as they should have. Still, they applied pressure, forced mistakes from South Africa in the field and were on track despite the length of the journey.Then it all changed when Kagiso Rabada proved there is no substitute for pure pace. He was brought back on in the 23nd over, angled a fuller ball across Dhawan and drew the leading edge. Hashim Amla fell face first taking the catch and India were faltering. In Rabada’s next over, he dished up a leg-stump yorker than snuck past Suresh Raina and broke the back of the Indian chase.Rahane, who batted with composure and class and scored 50 off 41 balls, was feeling the heat. He holed out to midwicket off Dale Steyn, whose veins popped. In South Africa, the corks would have been doing the same as the series was all but sealed. India lost their last five wickets for 29 runs and South Africa secured a second limited-overs series on their longest-ever visit to India.
It was well after the midway point of last season when heads started to turn and take serious notice of Lyon’s Clement Grenier. Those free-kicks against Nice and Rennes did a lot for his reputation and the comparisons to former Lyon midfielder Juninho were naturally rising to the surface. And what can only be described as fairly routine, the rising star in French football has been linked with a move to Arsenal, even amid hope that Arsene Wenger would deviate from his well-trodden hunting ground of Ligue 1.
Following the links between Grenier and Arsenal, which only really came into being following Wenger’s praise of the player, there have been fans stating that the current Arsenal squad are not in need of another player whose intelligence and play resembles that of Samir Nasri. ‘What will he bring to the club?’ and ‘the money should be focused elsewhere’ are the most common reactions to this potential signing, completely ignoring the idea that football clubs do generally add gifted players, especially those who could be had for bargain fees, with a view to the long term.
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Maybe there’s a reason why it took so long to completely appreciate Grenier’s qualities. Jean-Michel Aulas, the Lyon president, was ready to sell Grenier last summer but was persuaded to keep hold of the player. Now, 12 months on, Aulas is quick to compare Grenier’s worth to Lyon as identical to that of Mario Goetze to Dortmund, stating that the player can be had for €37million.
But that’s not the case – far from it. Where once Aulas and Lyon held such a strong stance in the transfer market, that authority simply doesn’t wash on this occasion. Grenier’s contract is up next summer, and considering Lyon didn’t play Champions League football last season, they can hardly afford to let the player walk for free.
Wenger, despite having the most prominent voices inside the Emirates promise fans a summer of excitement and ‘real’ spend, is highly unlikely to look past a young talent who can be of genuine use to Arsenal even after this coming season.
The promising nature of Arsenal’s squad at the moment means they certainty don’t need Grenier, meaning his addition will only go on to strengthen the club’s charge for silverware. It’s a matter of bringing in numbers rather than just replacing – and how often have Arsenal supporters sung that line to Wenger? Grenier does have the talent to be a hit in English football and with Arsenal, even if he is a little way off from reaching his peak. The talent is there, but this isn’t a Mario Goetze, as Aulas tried to imply.
The Lyon midfielder has already done some excellent things in Ligue 1 this past season, showing evidence of his ability to create and score. But Arsenal aren’t stretched for cash going into the summer market, and there really is little in the way of a gamble when the once proud and resilient Lyon hold such little power in the negotiations for this particular deal.
This will be a transfer that echoes what Wenger has tried to do in the past, picking up young players who have already displayed a quality that can be moulded to fit the needs of a club of Arsenal’s stature. Even with all the money that’s said to be available, Arsenal cannot spend £25-30million on three or four players each summer. And it really shouldn’t matter how much Grenier is likely to cost or whether he is needed in the team. Bayern Munich spent around €15million on Xherdan Shaqiri when they already had Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Thomas Muller for the wide positions. Following their treble-winning campaign, there continues to be enormous admiration for the quality in depth at the Allianz Arena. If Mesut Ozil were to become available to Arsenal, would fans turn their noses up at the German simply because the squad are well-numbered in attacking midfielders?
Grenier is a prospect for now, despite showing plenty of potential over the past few months. He is also very much a player who can adapt and execute the style of play that so many want to see at Arsenal again. It should be about the club filling their squad with technically able players and those who can complement one another. Grenier, alongside the necessary big names this summer, could be a very good signing for Arsenal.
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Are Arsenal right to target Clement Grenier and would he be a good signing for the future?
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlex Ross crunched seven fours and three sixes•Getty Images
A record partnership between Brad Hodge and Alex Ross ensured Adelaide Strikers’ coach Jason Gillespie enjoyed a fairy-tale homecoming. The pair complemented each other perfectly during a record BBL fifth-wicket stand of 115 to punctuate Striker’s 19-run win over the fancied Melbourne Stars at the Adelaide Oval.Defending 187, Strikers overcame a nervous start in the field to restrict the power-packed Stars batting line-up to 7 for 168. Assisted by a pitch offering turn, English import Adil Rashid menaced with figures of 2 for 27, including the prized scalp of Glenn Maxwell who threatened to seal the deal for the Stars.Strikers fluffed as many as five chances early in the chase, most notably Craig Simmons’ dropped sitter at first slip when Marcus Stoinis was on 2, but they recovered to grasp the initiative. The bowling attack stepped up to curb Stars’ batting line-up with discipline highlighted by the visitor’s inability to hit a six until the 14th over.Stars seemed on track to overhaul the target when they reached 1 for 90 after 11 overs, but Ben Laughlin changed the complexion of the match, taking the key wickets of Stoinis and Kevin Pietersen in the next over. Apart from a brief whirlwind partnership between Maxwell and captain David Hussey, the total appeared beyond Stars.Amid sweltering conditions where temperatures hovered at 38 degrees when the match started, Hodge and Ross starred and rescued Strikers from early trouble, after being sent in by Hussey.When Travis Head (16) fell to a questionable caught-behind decision, despite replays showing the ball appearing to land in front of wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb, Strikers slumped to 4 for 64 in the 10th over, and were in serious peril of posting a competitive total on a flat pitch.Hodge, the Strikers’ new captain, showcased his experience and composure during a stabilising period of batting where he was content in rotating the strike with clever singles. Juxtaposing this was Ross’ audacious batting complete with a plethora of bold sweep shots, which accounted for two of his three sixes in the innings.Fittingly, Ross notched his maiden BBL half century, off just 25 balls, when he swept pacer Scott Boland for a massive six. Boland then got his revenge by trapping Ross lbw in the last over of the innings, but the damage had been done.Showcasing his class, Hodge timed his innings to perfection scoring 29 off as many balls before accelerating towards the end to finish unbeaten on 56 from 41 deliveries. The Strikers plundered 67 runs in the final four overs.The Hodge and Ross brilliance came after Strikers’ top order had failed to fire, despite a tease from openers Craig Simmons and Tim Ludeman, who hit two sixes each. However, they were unable to produce scores of substance. Mahela Jayawardene, a replacement into the Strikers’ squad for the injured Kieron Pollard, seemed likely to try to bat throughout the innings but looked out of touch. Jayawardene was dropped by Handscomb before he had scored, but soon perished attempting a rash slash off James Faulkner, who was the pick of the Stars’ bowlers finishing with 1 for 21.It eventually turned out to be a satisfying start for the Strikers’ new leadership combination of Gillespie and Hodge.
It was as emphatic a result as everyone expected, West Indies rolling Netherlands over at a decidedly chilly Clontarf, in Dublin, by 10 wickets. They were led by their captain, Chris Gayle, whose rollicking 51 took West Indies home in just the 15th over – on a low, slow, peaty surface with the Dublin Mountains looming in the distance.”Yeah it was a slow track. Daren [Powell] has been bowling with a lot of pace in England and the adjustment did take a while here today. It was frustrating at the start, but regardless he came back well and he’ll now know what is required for the rest of the games.”Powell wasn’t quite as slippery as his 90mph performances in the recent one-day series against England, and struggled on a boggy pitch. Instead, it was Dwayne Smith’s medium-pace wobblers which proved most effective, picking up 4 for 8 from his six overs. After restricting Netherlands to 80, Gayle was content with his side’s performance.”I’m happy, because we wanted to maintain the discipline in this game, and I thought the guys really lifted their standard,” he said. “They did really well to restrict [Netherlands] to 80 and to get a 10-wicket win was superb.”Coming from the intensity of England, playing in front of large crowds and against an unpredictable team, the contrast here at Dublin couldn’t be greater. A poor side, lacking confidence, and a crowd of no more than 50 die hard Irish fans (and one lone Jamaican). But Gayle said there was no danger of West Indies slipping on a potentially huge banana skin.”No danger at all. When you look at the conditions – the wicket was really slow – the guys had to make adjustments and it was quite difficult at times. But they did well.”West Indies now face Scotland – a team Gayle admitted he knew precisely nothing about – on Thursday, and are still buoyed by their performance against England last week. “Yeah, looking forward to it. We’re not taking anyone for granted; we’re just here to play some good cricket and keep the standard very high.”It’s done a lot for us [beating England] and we just want to keep [the momentum going],” he said. “It’s been a while since we’ve been in a winning mood – we have just won three games straight – so hopefully we can capitalise on the start and look forward to the future. We’re just enjoying it – two more to go.”West Indies are clearly in no mood to let up their intensity. And while the opposition may not test his side’s mettle to the limits, Gayle is continuing to prove he has more than sufficient nous as a captain, not to mention the support of his entire team. How often has it been possible to say that about a West Indian skipper?
Sourav Ganguly admitted to being disappointed after he was overlooked for the Champions Trophy but reiterated his commitment to find his way back into the national squad.Asked whether he was hurt by the non-selection Ganguly, currently playing in the Moin-ud-Dowla tournament in Hyderabad, told , the Mumbai-based tabloid, “Well, it’s more of a disappointment rather than being upset. But I know there is no use of thinking about it now. The Indian team is travelling to Malaysia while I am playing at Hyderabad. Yes, I have adjusted myself with these things now. But the hunger is still there and that is why I am continuing my cricket.”On whether he was expecting a call-up, he said: “There was news in the air that the team that went to Sri Lanka would be retained. And that’s what happened. So there was no hope this time.”Ganguly re-emphasised his intent to find a place in the national squad on the back of strong performances in domestic cricket. “When I was dropped from the team, I did not get many opportunities to prove myself in domestic cricket and make a comeback. It was the fag end of the season. If you go through the last year’s domestic cricket scorecards, you will see that I am the second highest scorer after Wasim Jaffer. The season is beginning again with Moin-ud-Dowla and my aim there would be to score runs and take wickets. I am only concerned about scoring runs and nothing else at this juncture.”Ganguly last played in the Moin-ud-Dowla tournament eight years ago and spoke about the similarities then and now. “When I went to play in the Moin-ud-Dowla 13 years ago, my target was the same as it is now – to get back to the national team. The difference is I was trying to be back for the second time. It is a coincidence, this time, I am trying to make a come back for the third time.”Playing for Bengal XI against Mumbai Colts, Ganguly put in a miserly spell on the first day, ending up with figures of 13 – 3 -13 – 2.
An expanded version of the Twenty20 Cup is to form the centrepiece of the forthcoming county season, after the England & Wales Cricket Board unveiled their fixtures list for 2005.The tournament, which comprised 45 fixtures in its inaugural season in 2003, and 52 in 2004, has leapt again to 79 matches, spread across a six-week period in mid-June and July. An expansion of the group stages guarantees each county four lucrative home games, and seven of those fixtures will be played under lights, at Chelmsford, Hove and Sophia Gardens.”Domestic cricket is enjoying a well-earned renaissance with talented players, close matches and some of the largest crowds on record supporting the Twenty20 Cup,” said John Carr, the ECB’s director of communications. “With an exciting international season already announced for 2005, we anticipate a huge rise in the interest around the game as a whole and county cricket can capitalise on this upsurge in a sporting season where cricket will take centre stage.”The 2005 domestic season, which runs from April 8 to September 25, promises to be the most jam-packed on record. The Frizzell county champions, Warwickshire, will set the ball rolling with the traditional season curtain-raiser against MCC at Lord’s, before their title defence begins in earnest against Glamorgan on April 13.Gloucestershire, who have dominated the C&G Trophy in recent years, will launch their campaign against Berkshire on May 3, with Denmark, Holland and Ireland all facing first-class opposition on that day as well. Ireland will be seeking to match their giant-killing exploits of last season, by defeating Yorkshire in a home tie.Three teams have joined the top division of the totesport League – Middlesex Crusaders, Worcestershire Royals and Nottinghamshire Outlaws. Although it is the Glamorgan Dragons who are the dominant force in that particular competition. There will be 33 matches played under lights, with the final games bringing down the curtain on the season.