Children are taught to walk before they run, but it’s a lesson Australia’s cricketers quickly forgot. A couple of extra runs were always more important than truth when it came to taking the thick edge with the thin.Until Adam Gilchrist, the country’s most famous walker was Jane Saville, an athlete disqualified at the Sydney Olympics within a Brett Lee run-up of a gold medal. There will now be more uproar after Gilchrist took the decision into his own index finger for the second time in two Tests. Jason Gillespie also joined his stand-in captain, Michael Kasprowicz volunteered himself at 8 for 228, and then Yuvraj Singh burst off without a glimpse towards the umpire. Australia’s delicate tummies expect 24-hour bugs in India, but this dead-man walking is becoming an epidemic.English gentlemen will insist it’s always been the right thing to do, but uncouth Australian club cricketers will sit in their pubs yelling them down. The international game has become breathlessly entertaining but ethically unconscious. Helped by the television cameras, Steve Waugh recognised the problem, started the repairs by instilling a good-behaviour bond with his team and downscaled the sledging. Gilchrist is continuing the crusade. He started the charity walk in the World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka in 2003 and brought the same boots to India.For Gilchrist it is clearly not a fad. Anil Kumble was the beneficiary both times today, and he didn’t look half as confused as the poor umpire David Shepherd when Kasprowicz, a genuinely honest man, drifted off to the dressing-room despite a “not out”. Shepherd is getting close to the pension, but he’s got a few sound judgments left and was still shaking his head – in disbelief rather than decision – as Kasprowicz neared the boundary. He was not the only one asking ethical and trivial questions.Would they walk if the first series win in India since 1969-70 rested on it? Imagine the text messages from Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Ian Chappell then.Is it disrespectful to ignore the umpire in the same way a bowler does when running down the pitch appealing to the wicketkeeper? Will a batsman be allowed to stay if he swears he didn’t touch it? And could a walking coach one day sit next to the team’s physio and security officer?Honesty has a place in the game, and it should be applauded. Nobody thought it possible to score consistently at four runs an over, win 16 Tests in a row or have a wicketkeeper belting 11 centuries either. Gilchrist has helped bring many fine habits to the game. This one might take the longest to get used to.Peter English is Australasian editor of Wisden Cricinfo.
Hampshire continued their preparations for the start of the 2004 season with the visit of Warwickshire to the Rose Bowl today.In between the showers, Hampshire batted first in a 50 overs match, played under championship conditions.The heroes of the truncated match the previous day at Hove, Derek Kenway and Michael Brown both made starts, but fell in quick succession. James Hamblin was then bowled without scoring.Will Kendall and Lawrence Prittipaul restored the innings as both achieved half centuries. Kendall finished on 57 not out, hitting 10 fours, and Prittipaul 7 fours in his 59 not out. Hampshire’s innings closed on 158 for 3 after their allotted 50 overs.Alan Mullally dismissed Mark Wagh with the score on 10, but Nick Knight and Ian Bell held on till the close. Knight a patient innings of 29, and Bell a more belligerent 63 not out. At the close Warwickshire were 106 for 1 after 33 overs.The practise continues on Thursday with Warwickshire, with the captains deciding the format of the contest in the morning.
An Englishman is set to try his hand at saving the West Indies’ fledgling cricket fortunes.Bob Woolmer, the former England allrounder, believes he could be the man selected as new West Indies coach at the end of the ongoing World Cup.He confirmed yesterday he was interviewed by highly-placed West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) officials in Kimberley, South Africa, last week."I had been told by good friend Dr Rudi Webster [former West Indies team performance enhancer and current director of the West Indies Academy] the job would soon be vacant and he asked whether I wanted to submit my CV, which I did," Woolmer was quoted by BBC Online.The BBC also quoted a source as saying: "The WICB has progressed to the point of talking dollars with Woolmer, so it’s a safe bet he is the man they want."Along with Woolmer, three other candidates – Australian academy coach Bennett King, former Leeward Islands West Indies allrounder Eldine Baptiste, and former West Indies batsman Gus Logie, who coached Canada at the World Cup – were interviewed.The interviewers will report to the WICB and a board meeting is expected to to be held a few days after the March 23 World Cup final. The key item on the agenda will be to discuss and ratify the nominations of the interviwers."It is a case of sooner rather than later," a source close to the matter told the DAILY NATION yesterday. "Time is of the essence as we have the Australian (Tests and One-Day) series upcoming and we want to be well prepared."Woolmer was the man behind South Africa’s return to prominence after their readmission to international cricket. At present he is the International Cricket Council’s high performance manager with responsibility for non-Test playing teams.He also told the BBC: "I had a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the West Indies selection panel in Kimberley early last week. I am not sure what will come of it. It is up to them to call me now. But it goes without saying, for the meeting to last as long as it did means it was encouraging on both sides."He added: "The one thing I did make clear was if I was going to coach a national side again, I would expect to be able to implement the various techniques that I have developed over the years."But I am interested in the job. Otherwise I would not have expressed my interest."Guyanese Roger Harper has not re-applied for the position which expires after the World Cup.When contacted yesterday, WICB president Wes Hall had little comment, only saying it was being dealt with by interviewers in South Africa who would then send their report to be considered at the upcoming board meeting.
It was New Zealand’s 380th and Sri Lanka’s 356th match- 48th betweenthese two sides. The record now reads : Sri Lanka 19, New Zealand26,tied one and abandoned 2.
It was the 100th match on Sri Lankan soil. Sri Lanka became countryafter Australia (386), India (219) ,England (202), United ArabEmirates (174), New Zealand (161), Pakistan (132) and South Africa(105) to host 100 or more ODI matches.
Umpires LV Jayasundra and DN Pathirana were officiating in their fifthand 10th match respectively.
Sanath Jayasuriya, leading Sri Lanka for the 54th time in his career,completed his 2000 runs as captain. He became second Sri Lankan afterArjuna Ranatunga and 13th captain in ODIs to achieve this landmark.The accompanying table has details :
Captain
For
M
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
100s
50s
0s
A Ranatunga
SL
193
183
34
5606
131*
37.62
4
37
14
M Azharuddin
Ind
174
162
29
5239
153*
39.39
4
37
6
AR Border
Aus
178
165
27
4439
127*
32.17
2
27
6
WJ Cronje
SA
138
128
20
4070
94
37.69
–
31
6
Imran Khan
Pak
139
122
29
3247
102*
34.91
1
18
2
IVA Richards
WI
106
92
11
3203
181
39.54
2
23
3
SR Tendulkar
Ind
73
70
5
2454
186*
37.75
6
12
4
SR Waugh
Aus
98
82
14
2398
120*
35.26
2
15
8
SP Fleming
NZ
93
88
9
2356
116*
29.82
2
14
5
MA Taylor
Aus
67
65
1
2098
105
32.78
1
15
2
ADR Campbell
Zim
76
74
8
2075
102
31.44
2
13
3
RB Richardson
WI
87
83
13
2042
122
29.17
2
10
–
ST Jayasuriya
SL
54
54
1
2029
189
38.28
5
14
4
Craig McMillan , on 5,completed his 2000 runs in ODIs. He was playinghis 89th match and 83rd innings. He became 12th New Zealander and 94thbatsman in all to do so.
The wicket of Vincent was 50th for Muttiah Muralitharan on Sri Lankansoil. He became second Sri Lankan after Sanath Jayasuriya (74 wicketsin 60 matches) to do so.
Adam Parare was scoring a fifty after 61 matches. His last fifty hadalso come against Sri Lanka (54 at Dhaka on October 26,1998). It wasthe fourth fifty by a New Zealander wicketkeeper against Sri Lanka.All four have been scored by Parore !
During his innings, Parore also completed his 2000 runs in `away’matches for New Zealand. He became fourth New Zealander to do so afterMartin Crowe (2820 runs in 86 matches), John Wright (2752 runs in 106matches) and Stephen Fleming (2344 runs in 90 matches).
The two wickets in this match has taken Muralitharan’s tally to 32 inthe year 2001 which makes him the bowler with most wickets in onedayers along with Pakistan’s Waqar Younis (32 in 16) and Australia’sShane Warne (32 in 18). This was Murali’s 18th match in year 2001.
The defeat was New Zealand’s 50th under Stephen Fleming’s captaincy.Fleming became first New Zealander and fifth captain in ODIs toachieve this dubious distinction. Others to do so are Sri LankanArjuna Ranatunga (95 losses in 193 matches), Indian MohammadAzharuddin (76 losses in 174 matches),Australian Allan Border (67losses in 178 matches) and Pakistani Imran Khan (59 losses in 139matches). However all other four captains had won more matches thanthe matches they lost.
Sanath Jayasuriya was winning his 26th Man of the Match award. Withthis he equalled West Indian Desmond Haynes’ tally of awards. Now onlyIndia’s Sachin Tendukar (41),West Indian Viv Richards (31), PakistaniSaeed Anwar (27) and former teammate Aravinda de Silva (27) are aheadof Jayasuriya in this form of cricket.
Wilfried Nancy will soon have the opportunity to make his first signings as Celtic manager when the January transfer window opens for business next week.
The French head coach has lost four of his five matches in charge of the Hoops in all competitions so far, although he did win his first game against Aberdeen last weekend.
He will have learned a lot about his squad in those five matches and that could shape what he wants the club to do in the next transfer window, which is why Johnny Kenny may be in trouble.
Why Celtic need to replace Johnny Kenny
The Ireland international’s performances in the Scottish Premiership this season suggest that Celtic need to replace the striker when the January transfer window opens for business.
Celtic’s biggest xG underperformers
25/26 Premiership
xG
xG performance
Johnny Kenny
7.45
-3.45
Hyun-jun Yang
2.14
-2.14
Shin Yamada
1.47
-1.47
Kelechi Iheanacho
3.41
-1.41
Adam Idah
0.98
-0.98
Stats via WhoScored
As you can see in the table above, Kenny has been the most wasteful finisher in the entire squad, by some distance, with four goals from 7.45 xG this season.
The 22-year-old star has started the last two matches in the Premiership against Dundee United and Aberdeen, with Kelechi Iheanacho missing through injury, and struggled in both games.
In those two outings, the young Celtic centre-forward missed a whopping four ‘big chances’ to find the back of the net, from nine shots in total, and failed to score a single goal, per Sofascore.
Ultimately, Kenny has been incredibly unreliable in front of goal as the main man for the Hoops in the number nine position, which is exactly why the Scottish giants must replace him in January.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Now, Celtic can ensure that the Irish flop does not have to start another league game for the club by adding a reported target to their squad next month.
Why Celtic should sign Evan Ferguson
Earlier this month, it was reported that the Scottish giants have been offered the chance to sign Evan Ferguson on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, as his loan from Roma may be cut short.
Whilst it is not yet confirmed that the Irishman will be available next month, the Hoops should be pushing hard to bring him in if that aforementioned report is accurate and his loan in Italy does come to an end.
Ferguson, who has a £34m purchase option in his loan, has only scored one goal in 12 Serie A matches for Roma, per Sofascore, in what has been a frustrating spell for the young centre-forward, but he did showcase his quality in the Europa League against Celtic.
The Ireland international proved to be too hot for the Celtic defence to handle on the night, with the clip above showing that he was too sharp for Liam Scales to deal with.
Vs Celtic
Evan Ferguson
Minutes
69
Shots
3
xG
0.81
Goals
2
Touches
28
Passes completed
10/16
Key passes
1
Stats via Sofascore
Ferguson scored two goals from just 0.81 xG against the Scottish giants, which shows that he can be a clinical finisher, and that is backed up by his Premier League record with Brighton.
Prior to loan spells with West Ham and Roma, the 21-year-old number nine scored 13 Premier League goals from 10.30 xG for the Seagulls, per Understat.
The Roma loanee, who was hailed as “absolutely mustard” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has shown that he can finish chances at an impressive rate at the top level, in the Europa League against Celtic and in the Premier League.
Subscribe for incisive Celtic transfer analysis Looking for smarter takes on Celtic transfers? Subscribing to the newsletter unlocks focused analysis of target players, finishing and xG data, and how signings would alter squad roles — valuable reading for anyone tracking Celtic recruitment and striker options. Subscribe for incisive Celtic transfer analysis Looking for smarter takes on Celtic transfers? Subscribing to the newsletter unlocks focused analysis of target players, finishing and xG data, and how signings would alter squad roles — valuable reading for anyone tracking Celtic recruitment and striker options.
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Unfortunately, it has not quite worked out for him at Roma, with intense competition from the likes of top-quality forwards Artem Dovbyk and Paulo Dybala, but he has shown enough in his career so far to suggest that he could be a phenomenal signing for Celtic.
Ferguson is a striker who has the finishing qualities to come in and take advantage of the high-quality opportunities that the Hoops have been creating for Kenny this season.
This means that he could come in as an instant upgrade on his international teammate, who has been far too wasteful in front of goal, which would provide Nancy with a new regular starter up front.
Bad news for Scales: Celtic opens talks to sign "immense" star in January
Celtic have reportedly opened talks to sign a star in a deal that could spell bad news for Liam Scales.
ByDan Emery
If Celtic can agree a deal to sign Ferguson on loan and manage to keep Iheanacho fit for the second half of the season, Kenny may never get the chance to start again if he ends up being the third-choice option, which would be fair based on his struggles this season.
South Africa will not be playing a Test series against Pakistan in the near future, scuppering the Pakistan Cricket Board’s increasingly frenzied efforts to try and fill up an empty international calendar.Pakistan sent an official proposal to Cricket South Africa (CSA) yesterday, thoughlocal reports had revealed the proposal some time ago. Yesterday, some Urdu newspapers carried quotes from Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, claiming that South Africa had agreed to play a Test series in October, though the venue had yet to be agreed upon.But another PCB official told Cricinfo that the proposal was only sent yesterday and is unlikely whether CSA would have received it. “We are free during October and South Africa are also free, so we have proposed a three-Test series in that period, to be played in either Pakistan or South Africa,” Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer PCB, said. “We only sent the proposal yesterday so are not sure how they will respond.”A CSA official, however, said that no such proposal had yet been received and even if there is one, South Africa will not be available. “Statements in the media attributed to the Pakistan Cricket Board relating to a possible Pakistan vs South Africa Test series, are without substance,” a statement from Brian Basson, General Manager Cricket Operations, said.”Cricket South Africa is yet to receive a formal request from the PCB. Should a request of this nature come through from PCB, CSA would unfortunately not be in a position to accept such a proposal due to its intense tour schedule.”After the ICC Champions Trophy in September, to be held in Pakistan, South Africa are due to host Bangladesh in November, before heading off to Australia. Not only does the refusal come as a further blow to the PCB’s efforts to fill up its calendar, it will raise further questions about the method in which the board has approached the task.Since Australia pulled out of its tour for March-April, due to security concerns, Pakistani officials have scurried around trying to line up commitments in a calendar where they play six Tests between December 2007 and November 2009.They have succeeded only in inviting Bangladesh for a series of five ODIs in April and though Sri Lanka agreed to a similar series, a clash with the Indian Premier League (IPL) has temporarily sidelined that. Though the PCB denied that the IPL had anything to do with it, Cricinfo believes that alongside SLC, both boards agreed to not play the series as originally proposed between April 23 and May 5 as it would deprive the IPL of several big names from either side.The Pakistan board says the series could instead be played in June, but in the same breath mentions a possible tri-series in Bangladesh, also in the same month. June in any case is earmarked for the Asia Cup, due to be held in Pakistan for the first time. Additionally, the extreme summer temperatures make cricket impossible in most parts of the country, except Karachi.Earlier in March, board officials were ‘99%’ convinced that India would agree to play a three-match ODI series in Pakistan, a conviction never shared by the BCCI. The series with Sri Lanka, also apparently confirmed, seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. Now South Africa have refused a proposal before even receiving it, confirming perhaps that the PCB is approaching the problem with a series of knee-jerk reactions and ill-conceived proposals as opposed to a proper strategy.
Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh captain, said his decision to continue playing one-day cricket was prompted by Sourav Ganguly. Bashar, who is in poor personal form even as his team has been improving, had earlier announced that the recently concluded series against India would be his last.Bashar told the Kolkata daily Anandabazar Patrika that the decision was taken following a conversation over dinner with Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday night. “He gave me the idea and the enthusiasm. He asked me, ‘Is it that you don’t enjoy the game any more?’ I said that wasn’t the case so he said, ‘What’s the point in giving up something you enjoy for no reason?'”We chatted for a long time, after which I realised, it’s true, why don’t I just continue playing? ‘Dada’ is always so positive that I feel charged after chatting with him.”Asked about his poor run of form, Bashar said it was a normal blip in a long career. “Yes, I had a poor World Cup but the two years or so prior to that were pretty good for me. Such blips happen to everyone. It seems the limelight is on me.”Bashar spoke of the weight of expectation among supporters that has increased following the team’s good run in the World Cup. “I sense that every day. It’s changed. Take the recent one-day series against India. Earlier, fans would have said, ‘Bad luck, you fought well.’ Now they ask me, ‘Mian, why didn’t you win?'”
Yuvraj Singh played an inspired innings of rare quality after Rahul Dravid won an important toss on a sluggish pitch as India posted a mammoth 294 and overwhelmed England by 49 runs to take an impressive 3-0 lead in this seven-match series. A raucous Goa crowd cheered India all the way as a strident batting performance laid the base for a strong win.When India began to bat it was immediately obvious that this 22-yard strip of real estate was not unlike life one of Goa’s beaches – slow and not particularly conducive to getting anywhere in a hurry. The pitch at the Nehru Stadium in Goa has not been used for a single first-class match this season, and till late February the ground had been used for football. In that sense it is understandable – though by no means excusable – that the surface is as it was, slow, crumbling, taking spin, breaking up and deteriorating with every passing hour. Virender Sehwag was hardly amused when the first few deliveries shot under his bat and after having a biff or two was cleaned up by one that came back in a touch. India’s decision to leave out Gautam Gambhir worked well as Dravid opened, and he was best equipped to show the way to bat on this pitch.Dravid knuckled down and realised that protecting his stumps was priority No.1 with the ball being up and down. Only when he had picked the length really early did he reach for the ball outside the off stump, and even then he fetched it and placed it into the gap rather than trying to hit it too hard. Another thing that worked for India was pushing Irfan Pathan up the order. His uncomplicated technique worked well, and a partnership of 78 for the second wicket set things up nicely before Dravid (46) dragged Paul Collingwood back onto his stumps.Soon England sniffed a chance as Pathan failed to clear the infield and the out-of-form Mohammad Kaif tickled one to the keeper and India wobbled at 131 for 4. What they would not have accounted for was Yuvraj Singh playing as superbly as he did, using his power and free-stroking ability to best effect on a pitch where run-making was desperately difficult. Though he played and missed a few early on, and even inside-edged towards fine-leg as he tried to force the ball through the off side, Yuvraj settled down beautifully to play an innings that would form the backbone of India’s effort. His trademark big shots did not suffer even though the ball was barely coming onto the bat. The sweep was struck firmly and placed well, the booming cover-drive was a thing of beauty, the pick-up shot over midwicket was effortless. After laying a solid foundation through a long partnership with Raina, Yuvraj really let rip, taking 22 off the 44th over.
Yuvraj’s knock, a rollicking 76-ball 103 that included 10 fours and 3 sixes, made a mockery of the tough batting conditions. Ably assisted by Raina, who shared in a 142-run partnership in making 61 very compact runs of his own, Yuvraj had taken India to a score that would take some getting on a flat deck, forget about a slow crumbler. Mahendra Dhoni had his say in the few balls that he faced and India ended very comfortably placed.With a big score on the board India only had to bowl sensibly given the conditions to put the pressure firmly on England. Pathan showed that he was the man for the job, his well-disguised slower deliveries proving to be the undoing of the top order. With the ball gripping the surface all Pathan had to do was put the ball in areas where a mistake in timing would create problems and he did just that.Three slower deliveries accounted for Andrew Strauss, who tickled one to the ‘keeper, Ian Blackwell, who was bowled playing and missing early, and Owais Shah, who failed to get to the pitch of the ball and chipped to point. Matt Prior had battled hard for 37 and when he was run out in a mix up with Andrew Flintoff, England were in deep trouble at 48 for 4. Mere trouble gave way to complete disaster soon enough when Flintoff holed out to midwicket off Ramesh Powar. When the halfway mark came England were 100 for 5 and needed to score at 7.8 from the remaining overs to reach 295.Collingwood threatened to do a Yuvraj, showed he had the stomach for a fight, and battled it out for a belligerent 93 but there was just too much for him to do after the top-order had failed. After he holed out going for a big one England folded for 245 and India closed out the match by 49 runs.How they were outVirender Sehwag b Anderson 15 (27 for 1) Rahul Dravid b Collingwood 46 (105 for 2) Irfan Pathan c Collingwood b Flintoff 36 (130 for 3) Mohammad Kaif c Jones b Plunkett 0 (131 for 4) Yuvraj Singh c Collingwood b Flintoff 103 (273 for 5) Suresh Raina b Flintoff 61 (288 for 6) England Andrew Strauss c Dhoni b Pathan 7 (8 for 1) Ian Blackwell b Pathan 9 (27 for 2) Owais Shah c Yuvraj b Pathan 7 (47 for 3) Matt Prior run out (Patel/Dhoni) 37 (48 for 4) Andrew Flintoff c Sehwag b Powar 15 (83 for 5) Vikram Solanki c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 10 (100 for 6) Geraint Jones c Sehwag b Pathan 32 (205 for 7) Paul Collingwood c Raina b Harbhajan 93 (223 for 8) Liam Plunkett b Agarkar 18 (242 for 9) Sajid Mahmood b Agarkar 8 (245 for 10)
Sussex and Nottinghamshire squeezed in just seven overs on a heavily rain-affected second day at Arundel, but it was enough time for Chris Harris to dismiss Robin Martin-Jenkins. Jenkins added 12 to his overnight score of 25. Sussex ended the day on 274 for6.Harbhajan Singh ripped through the Hampshire middle-order, taking 6 for 36 as Surrey grabbed thesecond-day honours at The Rose Bowl. Surrey added 35to their overnight score to finish on 361 all out.Dominic Thornely was eventually dismissed for 73, thefourth of Chris Tremlett’s victims. Tremlett returnedfigures of 4 for 106. Harbhajan also chipped in withthe bat, posting a useful 25 before he was bowled bySean Ervine. Then came the bowling onslaught. MartinBicknell struck first, removing Jimmy Adams. MichaelBrown was the next to fall, to Mohammad Akram. ButHarhbajan did the bulk of the damage. And Hampshirewere in dire straits at 146 for 8 by the close.Daniel Cherry struck a sweet double century – thefirst of his career – as Glamorgan strode to animposing 584 for 3 declared. There were centuries toofor David Hemp (103) and Jonathan Hughes, who wasunbeaten on 134. Hughes shared an impressivepartnership of 239 for the third wicket as Glamorgansteered themselves into a very solid position. BenHutton turned to nine bowlers in all in a bid to gainbreakthroughs, but wickets were few and far between.And he failed to cash in on a belter of a pitch,making 16 before falling to Dean Cosker. Middlesexended the day at 96 for 1, with Ed Smith unbeaten on57, but the home side still have much work to do atSouthgate.Kent wrested control at Edgbaston through Robert Key(75) and Martin van Jaarsveld (62). At the end of theday Kent were 270 for 3, a lead of 18 with sevenwickets in hand.
Division Two
Dale Benkenstein and Phil Mustard each struck 80 asDurham added 200 to their overnight score to reach334. Johannes Wright was Northamptonshire’s mostsuccessful bowler, with 4 for 71. Northants’ reply gotoff to a steady start, with Martin Love and BilalShafayat sharing an opening stand of 54. But RobertWhite fell just before the close to leave Northants on98 for 2 and the match in the balance.Lancashire will feel the happier of the two sides,just, as they ended the second day against Derbyshirewith a lead of 51 and one wicket remaining. DominicCork chipped out the last two wickets for Derbyshireearly, to end with 4 for 40. Lancashire’s reply gotoff to a bad start, as they lost Mark Chilton and MalLoye with the score just 12. They were going along nicely, but a further threewickets fell for just eight runs to leave them in somedisarray at 128 for 6. Cork again came to the rescueand was unbeaten on 63 by the close, with some stronglower-order support from Muttiah Muralitharan (24 notout).Zander de Bruyn struck an unbeaten half-century asWorcestershire shaded the day at Grace Road. NadeemMalik took 5 for 71 as Leicestershire wickets fellsteadily – they ended on 225. In reply, Worcestershirewere in some difficulty at 27 for 2 – with SimonDavies and Graeme Hick back in the pavilion courtesyof Ottis Gibson, but Ben Smith (45), Stephen Moore(41) and de Bruyn all batted well to add stability.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has decided to initiate legal proceedings against Rashid Latif for alleging that the fourth one-dayer was fixed. The Indian Express also reported that a request had been made to prevent Latif from issuing such statements. Shaharyar Khan, chairman of the cricket board, said, “We feel Latif’s assertions were baseless and unpatriotic, so we have decided to take legal action against him.”But Latif, who had first brought matchfixing to light, said that he was ready for a battle in court. “I am ready to face any legal action, I have done so in the past and since I believe that there was wrongdoing, I am ready to face legal action. I have some basis to form such allegations, and I have met the [ICC’s] Anti-Corruption Unit people in a hotel in Karachi and have shared my basis with them.”Latif met with Martin Hawks and Alan Peacock, both anti-corruption investigators, a day after the fourth ODI.* * *Javed Miandad is unsurprised by the allegations of matchfixing, and says that a Pakistan loss always provokes a whispering campaign, according to Press Trust of India. “I am not surprised that we have some people again questioning the commitment of the players and starting a whispering campaign about the match being fixed. It happens every time we lose. Why don’t people say anything when we are winning matches?”Miandad attributed loose bowling to the defeats, but believed that Pakistan could still win if the bowlers tightened up their game. “I think it is time they [the bowlers] sorted out this problem with their individual hard work. I can only work for hours with them and tell them why they are overstepping or bowling wides. I have done my best. Now they have to stand up and take responsibility. These extra runs and overs are costing us heavily. But I am confident that if we control this problem of gifting runs through extras, we can beat them despite their strong batting line-up.”* * *Rahul Dravid played down India’s underwhelming record in crunch matches, and spoke about a good run against Pakistan in pressure games instead. The Times of India quoted Dravid as saying, “It is true that we have not done so well in finals, but it is mainly against Australia. We had not played to our full potential in the past and we are aware of it. If we play to our full potential, the result will take care of itself.”He emphasised the importance of positive thinking, and said, “We have not done well against Australia in the finals, but we probably have better results against Pakistan. We have to go into the match with a positive frame of mind.”