Alastair Cook and James Anderson are being flown in to India as cover for an injury-hit England side. They will arrive in Nagpur tomorrow to join the England side ahead of the first Test beginning on March 1.Cook and Anderson, part of the England A side touring the West Indies, had been put on stand-by to join the England squad in India as injuries and illness continue to hamper the senior tour. However, the need of the hour has forced the England management to press the red light button. The pair flew out of the West Indies, where the first Test is being played, and landed in the UK yesterday.Andrew Walpole, the England team spokesperson, clarified the news at the start of the third day’s play of the tour match at Vadodara. He did not confirm whether any of the current England squad will be returning home.Michael Vaughan (knee), Paul Collingwood (back) and Simon Jones (virus) were ruled out of the current warm-up match against a Board President’s XI, while Kevin Pietersen joined the casualty list after retiring hurt with back spasms. Liam Plunkett was also unable to bowl on the second day after picking up a bruised heel.Cook was added to the England squad in Pakistan when Vaughan succumbed to his knee injury ahead of the first Test at Multan. He has already hit form on the A tour, scoring 101 in the warm-up match against an Antiguan XI. Anderson went wicketless, but towards the end of the one-day series in Pakistan showed signs of a return to form.
Mudassar Nazar has arrived back in Kenya and is set to resume his coaching duties despite reports that he was about to turn his back on the country.Mudassar was the Kenya Cricket Association coach, but given the deep-rooted problems blighting the board, it was thought that he would not return from a break in Pakistan, and he had been linked with a vacancy at Pakistan’sa academy in Lahore.But Mudassar reportedly resumed his coaching duties at the Aga Khan Sports Centre earlier in the week, with Alfred Boi Njuguna, the man named as Cricket Kenya’s coach, working as his assistant.The pair have less than three weeks to get the side ready for the ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Uganda on April 22 to 24 at Kampala.At least they will have a full side to pick from. At the weekend the striking players said they were willing to play again following an agreement by the KCA to hold elections in May.
India have been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate in their last one-day international against Australia by Clive Lloyd, the match referee.The ICC’s Code of Conduct states that each player will be fined 5% of his match fee for each of the first five overs that the side is behind the required rate, while a figure of 10% applies to the captain. Since India were three overs behind, the players were fined 15%, and Sourav Ganguly, 30%.Ganguly was also charged with a level two offence, described as “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game, on the basis of time wasting”. For this, Ganguly was fined an additional 50% of his match fee.
December 7th saw the second away game for Lancaster Park, this time at Burwood Park, one of the smaller women’s grounds in Christchurch. We eventually won a rain-affected match by 55 runs against a youthful East Shirley team. In the other club match, St Alban’s thrashed a Riccarton side who had lost players to the weekend’s State matches – Nic Payne in good form, hitting 181 of her side’s 360 runs.Before each tour, England players must complete medical and physical examinations, so this week I was poked and prodded and pulled around by doctors, nurses and physiotherapists. Everything checked out okay. I also took the opportunity to meet up with a nutritionist to talk about my diet, in particular eating the right foods at the right times of the day. From our discussions, I’ll be eating much more breakfast and frequent light snacks throughout the rest of the day.December has seen the end of the real hard yards of training before the winter tour. Sessions at the gym have been much more physically demanding and sessions outdoors have concentrated on pure speed and agility. This has made rest and recovery all the more important and I’ve been very happy to add sports massage to the weekly diary!On Friday 13th the Canterbury Magicians headed down to Timaru to kick off our state league fixtures against Otago. After a team dinner that night, the squad had its final meeting and all players were in very good spirits. The Saturday match was fairly close, Otago winning the toss and electing to bat on a good pitch with a lightening fast outfield. They scored 210 for seven off their 50 overs with England’s other Clare Taylor getting her 50 with the last ball of the match. Canterbury then batted conservatively to reach victory in the 47th over with only three wickets down. In my first state match I got 59 runs and shared a good partnership with the in-form Payne.The second match on the Sunday was a much more one-sided affair. Canterbury bowled much better and took some outstanding catches in the field to dismiss Otago for 103, Beth McNeil taking five wickets. Canterbury openers Nic Payne and Kirsty Craig batted well to complete a 10-wicket victory and claim the first bonus point of the competition.After the game, I travelled down to Dunedin to spend some time with Romper (the other England Clare Taylor). We spent the first couple of days training and looking around Dunedin. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk to Billy Ibadullah about cricket and his thoughts on batting over lunch one day.Later that week, Romper and I headed off on a short tour of Southland. From Dunedin to Invercargill on the Southern Scenic Route, stopping here and there for pictures of beaches, sea lions and waterfalls. From Invercargill, through the foothills up into the mountains at Te Anau on the borders of the Fiordland National Park. The landscape is beautiful, the water clear and blue and very very cold, as I found out when I went for a short (very short) swim. After the landscape around the Milford track and the drive up to Milford Sound, Mitre Peak was a little underwhelming, it’s best seen in the morning rather than the gathering dusk in which we saw it!On the way back from Te Anau we stopped off in Owaka, a small farming community between Invercargill and Dunedin whose main cricketing claim to fame is Rachel Pullar, the current Kiwi opening bowler. We took a coaching session for some of the town’s young cricketers before staying the night on a working hill farm. Next morning we were put to work hand-feeding lambs.Christmas was fast approaching and after a game of cricket back in Dunedin, Romper and I headed back up to Christchurch. For Romper a flight to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test and for me some last-minute shopping and then down to St Andrew’s for Christmas Day with the Tiffen whanau.I’ve had a lovely break from training and now it’s definitely time to get back into things. The state competition gets hectic from now with six state matches and four training sessions before the England girls arrive on the 16th. I’m looking forward to those matches which will be great preparation for the one-day internationals we’ll play later in the month.
New South Wales’ determination to continue a policy of rejuvenating its state squad has been reflected in the announcement of its initial list of contract holders for the 2001-02 domestic season.Amid a squad that still contains a nucleus of established senior players, the Blues have awarded berths to as many as three newcomers on their eighteen-strong list of full contract holders. An emerging quartet of players have also taken up so-called rookie offers made available under the terms of the recently-signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and the Australian Cricketers’Association.The names not to have been previously seen on full Blues’ contracts are those of Dan Horsley, Grant Lambert and Michael Goldsmith. Western Suburbs fast bowler Horsley, 28, has already made one appearance for New South Wales in the first-class arena, having been called up to join the team for its match against Queensland at the end of last season. Lambert, 23, is a polished all-rounder whose consistent form with Fairfield-Liverpool has made him a standout in Sydney grade competition over recent seasons. Goldsmith, meanwhile, is a 23-year old from Penrith whose skills as a right arm paceman and handy lower order batsman have, in the past, won him berths in various New South Wales Colts sides as well as among the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy’s 1999 scholarship intake.Another addition to this season’s list is fast bowler Anthony Stuart. He makes a surprise return to the New South Wales senior squad following a three-year absence which also included a stint with the Canberra Comets, the ex-Mercantile Mutual Cup team based in the Australian Capital Territory. Stuart, 31, is a former one-day international fast bowler and even took a hat-trick in that arena in 1996-97. But he gradually fell out of favour with his state’s selectors – and his career duly stalled – after a disappointing series of returns at interstate level.The four players to have been offered the new rookie placements are batsman Aaron O’Brien, all-rounder Stephen Phillips, and bowlers Steven Coombes and Peter Wooden. All four have distinguished junior records behind them, although O’Brien is probably the best known given that he has recently been the captain of the state’s under-19 team. Coombes hit the headlines earlier this year when he was included in an elite ACB development squad which participated in an eight-day training tour of India under the tutelage of former spin bowling greats Bishen Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna.Players from last year’s contract list who have either retired or have not been re-signed at this stage are batsman Andrew Sainsbury, all-rounder Matthew Betsey, fast bowler Simon Cook and spinners Gavin Robertson and Jamie Stewart.Given that nine of the ACB’s twenty-five currently contracted players come from New South Wales’ ranks, the Blues have the comparative luxury of being able to field a bigger squad than any of their five rivals. By the time that the contract process is finalised on 29 September, there could potentially be as many as thirty-five New South Wales-based players holding 2001-02 contracts with either their state or national controlling body.The list of players with New South Wales state contracts for 2001-02 is: Shawn Bradstreet, Anthony Clark, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Michael Goldsmith, Brad Haddin, Jamie Heath, Mark Higgs, Dan Horsley, Phil Jaques, Grant Lambert, Greg Mail, Don Nash, Matthew Phelps, Corey Richards, Graeme Rummans, Anthony Stuart, Brett van Deinsen.Rookie contracts: Steven Coombes, Aaron O’Brien, Stephen Phillips, Peter Wooden.ACB contracts: Michael Bevan, Nathan Bracken, Brett Lee, Shane Lee, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath, Michael Slater, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh.
West Ham United defender Issa Diop has struggled to make a positive impact at the London Stadium since his £22m move from Toulouse in 2018, a fee that, at the time, was a club record for the East London outfit.
Almost four years on from joining the Hammers, the French centre-back has struggled to win over supporters.
Recently, the 25-year-old received plenty of criticism for his display against National League North side Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup, with the Premier League defender struggling against a sixth-tier outfit.
However, the main measurement of Diop’s struggles at the London Stadium can be identified by his market value, which has steadily declined since swapping Ligue 1 for the English top flight.
In fairness to the defender, his first season was tolerable as the Frenchman made 33 Premier League appearances as the Hammers finished tenth. As a result, Diop saw his market value increase from £19.8m to £31.5m, according to Transfermarkt.
Unfortunately for West Ham, this appreciation in value was a false hope and the £61k-per-week defender’s time in the English capital has been a nightmare.
Over the past three years, the 25-year-old has seen his market value drop staggeringly from £31.5m to £10.8m, now worth three times less than three years ago.
It also means that the defender is worth less than half of what the East London outfit bought him for.
The centre-back has made 118 appearances thus far for the Hammers, with this season seeing manager David Moyes call upon him mainly in cup competitions, playing 12 times across the Europa League, EFL Cup and FA Cup as well as 11 Premier League matches.
There is no doubt that the 25-year-old is at the bottom of the West Ham’s defensive hierarchy below Kurt Zouma and Craig Dawson, with Angelo Ogbonna still recovering from an ACL injury that has kept the Hammers light at the back.
With just one year left on his contract after this season, Diop will certainly be considering his future and whether or not he could revive his tenure at the London Stadium.
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If the Hammers are to re-qualify for Europe for next season, there may be the occasional opportunity for the defender as West Ham juggle four competitions once again. However, after a disappointing January transfer window, it appears likely that the East Londoners will invest somewhat heavily in the squad this summer.
Therefore, it appears as though Diop’s days in claret and blue could be numbered as we enter the final two months of the 2021/22 campaign.
In other news: West Ham must swoop for £75k-p/w monster who Moyes will love, he’s “the new Vidic”
The 2007-08 Premier League got off to a sensational start when defending champions Colombo Cricket Club were beaten inside two days by Moors SC in a low-scoring game played at Braybrooke Place. Seventeen wickets fell on the opening day of the match and another 19 on the second as Moors wrapped up the contest to win by four wickets. The low scores might suggest that the pitch was at least partly to blame, but Sumithra Warnakulasuriya, the Colombo coach, disagreed. “I don’t blame the wicket but our batsmen for batting so irresponsibly,” he said. “There was a little grass but the nature of the wicket was not the reason to be bowled out for such low scores.”What was most disappointing was that we were at full strength with national players Michael Vandort, Chamara Kapugedera and Jehan Mubarak and could not make 150 on both occasions.”Colombo were shot out for 149 and 147, falling to the left-arm spin of Rangana Herath who took nine wickets in the match.”There was a lack of temperament from our batsmen,” Warnakulasuriya said, “and I fear that some of them are not so committed when it comes to playing for their club.”Sajith Fernando was Tamil Union’s saviour, scoring an undefeated 142 to stave off certain defeat against Nondescripts CC at the Saravanamuttu Stadium. Set an unlikely 409 for victory, Tamil Union were greatly indebted to Fernando. Batting at No.3, Fernando battled through 114 overs as Tamil Union clung on to deny Nondescripts the win. Fernando’s match-saving innings overshadowed Chanaka Wijesinghe’s knock of 250 – the first double-hundred of the season.Nuwan Kulasekera, the Colts fast bowler, celebrated his recall to the national team for the tour of Australia by bowling his side to victory over Bloomfield on their home ground. Set 187 to win, Bloomfield fell short by 29 runs as Kulasekera grabbed 7 for 27.In another close game Badureliya CC stunned Chilaw Marians, winning by 19 runs at Badureliya Sports Club. Chasing 322, Marians were dismissed for 302 despite a century from Harsha Cooray. Dinusha Fernando took 5 for 69 for Badureliya.Sinhalese Sports Club completed a 240-run win over Ragama CC in the other Tier A match at the SSC, with Sachithra Senanayake, the offspinner, picking up 5 for 50 to prevent Ragama chasing a daunting 482.Player of the Week It is not often that you find a batsman making a double-century in the opening round of a tournament, but that’s exactly what Chanaka Wijesinghe achieved for Nondescripts. In their first innings of 194, he top-scored with 61 not out and, after Nondescripts had conceded a first-innings lead of 31, he gave them an outside chance of victory by compiling 250 off 307 balls in the second innings. That NCC failed to achieve victory (falling short by one wicket) could not be blamed on him. Wijesinghe, 25 who hails from Kandy has been around for some time representing Kandy Youth CC, Ragama CC and Moors SC before coming to NCC.”What is so striking about Chanaka’s batting is that he has tightened his defence and is prepared to wait for the loose balls to make runs,” Ranjith Fernando, the former Sri Lanka batsman, said. “If Chanaka can show a degree of consistency during the season with his batting and make some really big innings it will be rather difficult for the selectors not to have a closer look at him.” Wijesinghe’s previous highest score in 39 first-class matches was 146.
Australia have used an 18th-century St Vincent fort as the stage for a crucial pre-tournament team meeting. Before heading to the opening ceremony in Jamaica, the Australians spoke about togetherness and how it would be important during their campaign for a third consecutive trophy.”We really used the fort, and what a fort is,” Ponting said in the Herald Sun. “The fort is there to keep people in inside, but it’s also to keep people outside.”We had a good discussion about that, things we want kept out and things we want kept in among the group. Every player sat down and gave a couple of examples of both.”While the chat at Fort Charlotte was a success, the players were not happy at being unable to practice in the nets over the weekend due to travel and the opening ceremony. On Monday Australia arrived in St Kitts, which is their base for the next two weeks, and they will have only one training session before the opening game against Scotland on Wednesday.”You would like to have a bit more time in the country where you are playing your first game before your first game,” Ponting said. “But that’s not the way it is. It’s not the way it is in professional cricket these days anyway.”
Allan Wise, the fast bowler, has been added to the Victoria squad for the Pura Cup match against Tasmania at St Kilda starting on Monday as the Bushrangers attempt to extend their lead. Victoria have three homes games in their run into the final and they still hold some hope of adding Mick Lewis to the final side.Lewis has replaced Glenn McGrath in the VB Series finals squad and if Australia win the contest in two matches the national players may be released to their states for next week’s games. Wise, who has played five Pura Cup fixtures and taken 23 wickets this season, is the only addition to the line-up that beat South Australia by seven wickets last week.Cameron White, the captain, has been pleased with Victoria’s recent form, but he knows they have to gain rewards from their remaining matches to retain their two-point buffer. “We’ve worked hard in recent games, but need to continue putting in strong performances to give ourselves the best possible chance of making the final,” he said. Queensland are second on 22 points with New South Wales and South Australia third on 20.Tasmania, who are last on eight points, have named their squad and Dan Marsh will again captain the side after returning from injury in the loss to Western Australia last week.Tasmania David Dawson, Michael Di Venuto, Michael Bevan, George Bailey, Travis Birt, Dan Marsh (capt), Sean Clingeleffer (wk), Xavier Doherty, Adam Griffith, Brett Geeves, Brendan Drew, Ben Hilfenhaus.Victoria Lloyd Mash, Jason Arnberger, Brad Hodge, Nick Jewell, David Hussey, Jon Moss, Cameron White (capt), Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Warne, Shane Harwood, Gerard Denton, Allan Wise, Mick Lewis.
Harbhajan Singh, the Indian offspinner, has taken credit for triggering Matthew Hayden’s batting slump while maintaining that the cricketing world has missed Hayden’s attacking batting this season. Hayden, who was dropped for the first final of the VB Series, has averaged 14.28 in his last seven one-dayers and only 10.5 in the VB Series.”I am disappointed because I love watching him against other teams,” Harbhajan told . “We had very good plans against him, about where to place our fielders and how to bowl to him and we were successful, but I do miss watching him bat now.”Hayden, who was expected to dominate the series like he had in 2001 with a staggering average of 109.8, managed just 244 runs at an average of 30.5 in the four Tests. Harbhajan dismissed him three times in the series, including luring him into the sweep-trap in the first Test at Bangalore. “He is a stroke-player, and we tried to take away his boundary shots. I bowled to him a lot of the time. We all learned our lesson from his last tour here. But now I am disappointed because he is one of the best batsmen I have ever bowled to, and you love watching someone like that in good form – when it’s not against you.”Harbhajan also felt that other teams had taken India’s cue and learnt to tackle Hayden effectively. “Maybe those teams watched us and have their own plans against him now,” Harbhajan continued. “Now maybe everyone knows where to bowl to him. But at the end of the day, he is a great player and I hope he comes out of this stronger. I would like to watch him score over 350 again in a Test – just not against us.”