Tag Futebol

R Ashwin, India’s No. 1 spinner, has said he is close to full fitness, which should come as relief to the team after losing both the T20I and ODI series to South Africa.”I’m close to full fitness and I’m confident of bowling well in the Test series,” Ashwin said at a promotional event in Chennai.Ashwin strained his side during the first ODI, played in Kanpur. When he pulled out of that game, his figures read 4.4-0-14-1 and had dragged India back into the contest after a fiery South Africa start. India missed Ashwin throughout the series.Over the last few seasons, India’s home Test cricket has gone back to revolving around spinners, especially with the whitewash of Australia in 2012-13. Ashwin was also Man of the Series in India’s last Test series, in Sri Lanka in August. He will be India’s main weapon against a side that has a well-earned reputation of being the best travellers in world cricket.Ashwin’s fitness becomes more important considering the uncertainty around legspinner Amit Mishra, who has been booked by Bangalore Police for an alleged assault on a woman. Mishra remains free to travel and should be eligible for selection, but it is unknown yet how the BCCI sees this. Or indeed what kind of mental space Mishra will be in should he play the Mohali Test in nine days time. The third spinner in the squad is Ravindra Jadeja, who returned for the South Africa Tests after being dropped for the recent tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.About India’s performance in the ODIs, Ashwin said, “Ours is a relatively inexperienced side. We have just a few players who have played 100-odd games. We need to give some cushion and time to this side. They have players like AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis who are very experienced players. We knew it was going to be hard-fought series. Had the last over in Kanpur gone our way, the result could have been different.”

As expected, Tatenda Taibu has been recalled to the Zimbabwe squad for next month’s Twenty20 World Championship almost two years after he quit international cricket following threats against his family.Brendan Taylor, who also fell out with the board after ignoring its demand that he should not play cricket abroad this summer, also made a return, as did Sean Williams who had been in South Africa undergoing treatment for a back injury.There were some new faces. Timycen Maruma, an offspinner, was rewarded for a good domestic season in which he took 36 wickets at 17.62.Johnson Marumisa, a veteran by Zimbabwe standards at 24, is an opening batsman whose form has been solid rather than spectacular. He edged out Tino Mawoyo who has failed despite being given a long run in the side, and the other established opening batsman, Terry Duffin, was considered far too pedestrian with bat and in the field for Twenty20.Slow left-armer Keith Dabengwa elbowed his way into the squad with an outstanding domestic season in which he took 34 wickets at 12.88, and his style should be well suited to the format.Zimbabwe squad Prosper Utseya (capt), Gary Brent, Chamu Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikinyeri, Johnson Marumisa, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams.

Division One

Shane Warne’s negotiating skills were almost sufficient to wangle a result at Lord’s, but in the end Hampshire and Middlesex were forced to settle for the draw with both sides within touching distance of victory. Middlesex had resumed on 181 for 2, but with Warne calling upon all 11 of his bowlers, including the wicketkeeper, Nic Pothas, they eventually declared on 309 for 4, leaving Hampshire a stiff 330 for victory. It looked highly improbable when Hampshire slumped to 170 for 7, with Chris Silverwood in the thick of things with 3 for 41, but Warne and Pothas combined superbly with an unbeaten 113-run stand that first averted a crisis, and then turned the pressure right back on Middlesex. In the end though, time ran out for both parties.Craig White and Anthony McGrath both struck hundreds for Yorkshire on the final day at Old Trafford as the Roses match ended in a predictable draw. White, who resumed on 78, eventually fell for 116 to Gary Keedy who ended with 3 for 156 from 59 overs. Oliver Newby bowled tidily for Lancashire in his 4 for 69, and Matthew Lumb played neatly for his 68 as Yorkshire declared on 450 for 9 as the match dribbled into a draw.Warwickshire pulled off a fine win over Nottinghamshire in the closing overs of the day at Edgbaston, thanks to 5 for 83 from James Anyon. Jason Gallian and Darren Bicknell got the visitors off to a confident start in their second innings with an opening stand of 109, and Stephen Fleming batted fluently for his 60 – but Warwickshire struck back to cut a hole in Nottinghamshire’s middle-order who rather fell away. It was left to Paul Franks, batting at No. 9, to see Notts home – and he appeared to be on course as Charlie Shrek, the No. 11, hung around for nearly an hour. However, Neil Carter struck to remove Franks, handing Warwickshire a 59-run win.

Division Two

Another remarkable innings from Cameron White couldn’t prevent Derbyshire from securing their first home victory in the Championship in four years when they beat Somerset by 80 runs. Despite White’s valiant and unbeaten 260 – which took him just 246 balls and included no less than 40 fours – Somerset were soundly beaten, with Stefan Jones (4 for 119) impressing against his former county. The victory – their first at Derby since beating Glamorgan on June 1, 2002 – was celebrated with champagne and cheering outside the dressing room. Graeme Welch, their captain, bowled through his Achilles injury in order to see his team home safe. “It seems that long ago I can’t remember,” he told BBC Sport. “It’s been embarrassing not winning at home for the last four years. We needed to get the monkey off our backs.”Kadeer Ali and Hamish Marshall both struck fine hundreds to lift Gloucestershire to 596 for 6 against <b<Northamptonshire, as their match at Northampton petered out into a draw. Ali faced 279 balls for his knock of 145, while Marshall was marginally more aggressive in his 133, smacking 18 fours and a six. Northamptonshire batted out the remaining 21 overs without alarm and took 12 points to Gloucestershire’s 10.

All those who have classified Virender Sehwag as an exciting one-day strokeplayer who does nothave the temperament for the longer game had better think again. Sehwag showed today, as hehas in the past in Tests at Bloemfontein, Trent Bridge and Mumbai, that playing strokes andbeing judicious are not contradictory qualities. He played with the discretion of a quintessential Test player today, while hitting everything that was hittable.His 128 came off 212 balls at a strike-rate of 60% – not quite as belligerent as his one-dayperformances, but pretty much the rate the dominating Australians play at most of the time.Consider where his runs came. Sehwag is normally a fluent strokeplayer in the point region andjust behind – while he gets a lot of his runs there, he had also got out on occasion slashingto gully. Stephen Fleming played to this tendency of his: in the first Test, Fleming sometimeshad three gullies and a third man for Sehwag, and he followed a similar policy this time.Sehwag’s response: to eschew all shots in that region. Only three of Sehwag’s 128 runscame in the point region – so much for all of Fleming’s gullies. This is an astonishingstatistic that indicates the thought that Sehwag has put into the game, and his capacity forself-denial – an essential characteristic in any Test player.

As many as 53 of Sehwag’s runs came in the cover region, 23 came in the midwicket region and32 in the V between mid-on and mid-off. The 22 full-length deliveries bowled to him went for37 runs and the 18 short balls he received went for 17 – Sehwag, with his superb range ofshots, took full toll of the loose balls he received. Fleming might have plugged the pointregion – but what about the rest of the field.

On paper, the St Lucia Test and the series should be a cakewalk for West Indies. But given how inconsistent and poor they have been in recent times, it could well be a banana skin. Bangladesh are unrecognisable from the rabble that disgraced themselves, the game and their fans during last year’s World Cup, thanks in no small measure to the coaching of Dav Whatmore, while West Indies are just coming off a Test series where they were annihilated by England.The one-day series might have ended 3-0 in West Indies’ favour, but at least two of those games – especially the nail-biting opener – could have gone either way. And though Bangladesh didn’t do themselves justice in the three-day match that followed, they have enough ability in their side to punish any complacency from the West Indies.With the exception of the Antigua Test match against England – a dead rubber, with nothing at stake but pride and averages – it’s been a while since West Indies batted with any real conviction. Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan are still maddeningly inconsistent, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul veers between limpet-like adhesion – runs are almost incidental – and a cavalier approach. For Dwayne Smith, this two-Test series is a perfect opportunity to ease himself into the international groove. Steve Harmison and friends – who he will encounter in England in July – will certainly pose far more difficult questions than Tapash Baisya and his cohorts.It looks altogether more promising on the bowling front. Jermaine Lawson is back, hopefully without that obvious kink in his action, while Fidel Edwards and Tino Best impressed in patches against England when they relied on intelligence rather than bluster.Bangladesh’s chances will once again revolve around the batting of Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful and Rajin Saleh. Bashar had a marvellous series in Pakistan last year, but the responsibilities of captaincy have weighed him down in recent times. And while both Saleh and Ashraful have the potential to compete against the very best, neither has yet shown the levels of concentration required to change the course of a Test match.Baisya, who generates decent pace despite possessing a frail frame, is the pick of the pace bowlers, though the star performer could well be Manjural Islam Rana, the left-arm spinner who has caught the eye since coming into the side. West Indies have a long history of being vulnerable to spin, and his guile could be just what Bangladesh need to tear up the form book.This though is a team that has yet to master the art of winning. The fact that they have come far closer to that goal in recent times is testament to the work that Whatmore has done. But the journey is nowhere near complete, and that lack of familiarity with the winning habit should ensure that West Indies salvage something from a desperately disappointing home season.West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Tino Best, 9 Fidel Edwards, 10 Jermaine Lawson, 11 Pedro Collins.Bangladesh 1 Habibul Bashar (capt), 2 Rajin Saleh, 3 Hannan Sarkar, 4 Shahriar Hossain, 5 Mohammad Ashraful, 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Mushfiqur Rahman, 8 Khaled Mahmud, 9 Khaled Mashud (wk), 10 Mohammad Rafique, 11 Manjural Islam Rana, 12 Faisal Hossain, 13 Tapash Baisya, 14 Tareq Aziz, 15 Abdur Razzaq.

The Southern Electric Premier Cricket League is facing a shortage of qualified umpires barely a week into the new season.Roy Harrison, appointments secretary of the South Coast Panel of Umpires who officiate Premier League matches, has told clubs that there are only four Saturdays during the 18-week season that he has enough officials to go round.In total, the Premier League is 36 umpiring appointments short over the course of the season.Speaking in the Premier League’s new handbook, chairman Alan Bundy reckons there is a twofold reason for the shortage of officials.”Many umpires no longer enjoy the role due to the adversarial nature of the game today.”They have to put up with excessive appealing, players forever questioning decisions and, in some instances, cheating,” he points out.”Secondly, there are an unsufficient number of ex-players wishing to become umpires, resulting in a lack of new blood joining the South Coast Panel.”Bundy, a regular official on the Second XI Championship and Minor Counties circuit until this season, has reminded players that the umpires are there to enjoy the game as much as the players themselves.”If players adhered to the Spirit of the Game, everyone would enjoy the game that much more,” he added.Bundy is urging clubs to persuade one ex-player every season to take up a winter’s umpiring course and get themselves suitably qualified to officiate in Premier League matches.”If every club did this, our problem would be solved inside two years,” he said.

Multan’s hot weather festival for the Asian Test Championship match with Bangladesh ended with Pakistan’s fabulous victory by an innings and 264 runs. As forecast by the majority of cricket observers, the one-sided contest finished in less than two and a half days.The feature of the last morning’s play was a magical spell of bowling by young leg spinner Danish Kaneria who claimed 6 wickets for 52 and a short but spirited spell of fast bowling by skipper Waqar Younis who claimed 4 for 19. Pakistan would have won the contest anyway but the combination of pace and spin made the job easy.Bangladesh batting proved too fragile. Except for some bold resistance offered by Habibul Bashar who remained unbeaten with a valiant 56 and a defiant innings of 31 by Hasibul Hossain, the remaining batsmen came and returned to the pavilion without making a tangible contribution. This made them crumble for 148 runs.Earlier Bangladesh resumed the 2nd innings at the overnight score of 55 for 3 facing a big 1st innings deficit. Playing the sheet anchor role, Habibul Bashar kept one end intact while wickets continued to fall from the other.Danish Kaneria mesmerised the batsmen with his guile dominating the whole show. With the spin that he generated from a flat pitch, he proved too good for the young and upcoming Bangladesh batsmen and augurs well for Pakistan in future.Kaneria was deservedly chosen `Man of the Match’. Another notable feature of the day was 4 excellent catches held by Younis Khan, who substituted for Inzamam-ul-Haq in the field.The match was very one sided and indicates that Bangladesh needs to put in a big effort to raise the standards of cricket in the country if they desire to achieve a respectable position in the mainstream of test cricket.As for organising the match, Multan’s cricket association as well as the civil administration deserve bouquets for putting up a grand show. The cricket fans also deserve a pat for coming out to witness the match in such scorching heat.

In an order with far-reaching implications, the RM Lodha committee has suspended India Cements and Jaipur IPL, the owners of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals teams, for a period of two years. The committee has also banned for life Gurunath Meiyappan, a former team official of Super Kings, and Raj Kundra, a former Royals co-owner, from any involvement in cricket matches.The committee’s order effectively leaves the two companies with teams that cannot play. Super Kings have twice won the IPL, and are perennial tournament favourites, while Royals won the inaugural edition. The onus is now on the BCCI and the two companies to work out the way forward, to decide whether the teams will be in a two-year limbo or play under different ownership.The news sent officials of the two franchises, and also of the BCCI, which owns the IPL, into a series of meetings as they began to make sense of the judgement. The IPL governing council is likely to meet over the weekend, and the BCCI’s working committee might meet before that. In a brief statement Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, said it was “committed to honour and respect judicial decisions and it would give its observations after the entire report is read and a collective decision is taken.”Among the franchises, the initial sense was that both would appeal against the decision, though the sheer composition of this committee – Lodha is a former Chief Justice of India and Ashok Bhan and RV Raveendran are retired judges of the Supreme Court – suggests any court would be wary of overturning the decision.The committee, which made its report public in a 45-minute session in New Delhi, said its ruling was based on disciplinary grounds, on behalf of the BCCI. It refused to accept the argument that the acts of Gurunath and Kundra were personal, and that the franchises could thus not be held responsible.”Disrepute has been brought to cricket, the BCCI and the IPL to such an extent that there are doubts abound in the public whether the game is clean or not,” Lodha, a former Chief Justice of India, said.”Jaipur IPL claims it is highly celebrated as a nursery of players. But three of its players have accused of alleged spot-fixing. This shows that all is not well in their handling of affairs. The position of Raj Kundra with the Rajasthan Royals franchise – part owner and team official – means his actions brought the game, BCCI and IPL into disrepute.”Kundra responded on Twitter by saying, “Many inaccuracies…Have requested for a copy of the judgement. Obviously very shocked and disappointed…”Gurunath Meiyappan has been suspended for life from any involvement in cricket matches•Hindustan Times

The panel came down hard on Gurunath, who they felt had caused “huge injury” to the image of the game, and said that India Cements had not shown to have taken any action against him.”Any agony suffered by him because of media coverage or any hardship that may have been caused to him is too small in comparison to the huge injury he caused to the reputation and image of the game, the IPL and the BCCI. If the reputation and image of the sport are lost, what remains? Being 40 years of age, he is not young but middle-aged. It is difficult to accept that he has passion for the game.”Not only that no urgent action was taken by India Cements against Gurunath Meiyappan but as a matter of fact no action has been shown to have been taken against him. The order of suspension passed by the BCCI against GM after his arrest is not an action by India Cements against its official.”Former High Court Judge Mukul Mudgal, who was part of the three-member probe panel which conducted an independent investigation into the corruption allegations, called the verdict a “temporary setback” for the IPL, but one that was taken for the “greater good” of cricket.”I’m sorry, but if the franchise is banned, how can the team escape? So this has to happen,” Mudgal told the news channel. “It’s a consequence of some wrongdoing and it also sends a message all across, right to the top, don’t indulge in any wrong doing.”Please remember however great it may be, however popular it may be, it’s about the game of cricket. And therefore in the long run it will benefit the IPL. There is a current feeling that all matches in the IPL are fixed, which is a totally wrong feeling. I can only think that this step will restore people’s confidence in the game of cricket and in the IPL.”

Sourav Ganguly has brushed aside notions of Twenty20 being a young man’s game, pointing out how seniors players have thrived in the Indian Premier League.”It’s fashionable to talk of age, but I’ve always maintained that class and performance matter,” Ganguly said ahead of Kolkata’s clash against Mumbai. “If you look at the IPL, almost everybody who has got a hundred is over 30 … Sanath Jayasuriya is almost 39 … I myself missed a hundred narrowly.”Ganguly had revealed his hopes of a one-day comeback after Kolkata’s win against Delhi – “I hope the selectors are watching” – and went one step further here. “I’m sure my turn will [again] come in ODIs,” he said. “What I feel bad about is that after 13 years, I still [need to] surprise people.”Ganguly was controversially dropped from the one-day side earlier this year and has gone on to hit out against the selectors. Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, though, didn’t rule out the possibility of Ganguly coming back.”He has done extremely well,” he said in an interview to . “Yes, we have been watching him, especially his brilliant fielding, with great interest.”Sachin Tendulkar has also dismissed the perception of Twenty20 being unsuitable for senior players. “This tournament is the biggest proof that age doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s performance … this IPL should stop such questions …”Brendon McCullum, 26, is the only IPL centurion who is below 30 years of age. Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and Jayasuriya are all on the other side of 30.

Dave Houghton, Derbyshire’s director of cricket, is set to quit his post immediately though his contract with the county expires only at the end of 2007. Derbyshire chairman Don Amott said that the parting was amicable.”I am obviously disappointed to be leaving because I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here but this is the best way forward for both the club and myself,” said Houghton. “I hope to find another role in cricket before too long and wish Derbyshire every success for the future.”Simon Katich, the captain, and the remaining coaching staff would take over Houghton’s duties for the rest of the season. Derbyshire are currently languishing in the fifth spot of the second division of the County Championship. They have won only two of their nine one-day matches and none of their Twenty20 Cup games. The 2006 season was no better as they finished fifth in the county championship one-day tournament and the Twenty20 Cup and a miserable eighth in the Pro40.Despite the poor performances, Amott said that Houghton had to be commended for dramatically improving the ability of Derbyshire’s playing squad over the past couple of years and attracting players of real quality to the club. “His enormous experience has been of great benefit, particularly to the younger players we have coming through our system,” he said.Houghton, who was Zimbabwe’s first Test captain, later coached the Zimbabwe side as well as Worcestershire. He was sounded out by the Bangladesh board this June to be their national coach but at that time Houghton was reluctant to take up the job as he had relocated his family to England from Zimbabwe. But reports that “negotiations between Houghton and Bangladesh are at an advanced stage and that an announcement can be expected within days.”