Sachin Tendulkar has joined the debate regarding India’s opening pair for Tests, stating that it would be extremely difficult to pick between Aakash Chopra and Yuvraj Singh as the partner for Virender Sehwag in the coming season.Speaking to the media during the Indian team’s fitness training camp in Bangalore, Tendulkar said: “It’s going to be a tough call. Either way, somebody is going to miss out. Both are equally good. It’s going to be a difficult decision.”If you pick Yuvraj, you lose out on a very good opener. And if you pick Aakash, you lose out on somebody who is exceptionally talented. It’s a very tricky situation.”The opener’s spot has come into focus over the last few days, after Sourav Ganguly picked Yuvraj as Sehwag’s likely partner for the forthcoming home series against Australia. Sehwag himself disagreed with the move, stating the need for a technically sound, defensive batsman at the other end to balance his own aggressive instincts.Chopra did an exceptional job at the top of the order in Australia, blunting their pace attack and providing solid starts which India’s formidable middle order then built on. Chopra’s contribution to India’s success on that tour wasn’t lost on Tendulkar. “Chopra has done exceedingly well as an opener on two tough tours of Australia and Pakistan. In the recent past, he is one of the best opening batsmen,” Tendulkar said. “He looked very confident, solid and mentally tough. That’s what you require as an opener.”
India and Pakistan are no closer to resuming cricket ties, according to an Indian news agency, after negotiations between the two countries stalled.Both sides have shown a recent willingness to get out of the boardroom and onto the cricket field, and tentative tour plans had even been discussed, with one-day internationals in each country in September, followed by a full series in Pakistan in February 2004. But for the time being, it’s back to the drawing-board.”After those few days of excitement, there is a general despondency in the two camps as we seem to be heading nowhere,” an unnamed cricket official was quoted as saying. “At the moment, I doubt if we could have any cricket between the two countries in September. But we cannot afford to be lax and want to keep everything in place should we get positive signals from the government.”The Pakistan Cricket Board is particularly eager to resume ties. It is suffering a financial squeeze from cancelled tours and needs to play as much cricket as reasonably possible.
As widely anticipated, Michael Atherton today announced his retirement frominternational and first-class cricket as a whole at the end of this season.In making his announcement, Atherton said: “The Oval Test match was my last for England and I now intend to fulfil my commitments with Lancashire before retiring from cricket at the end of the current season. I have enjoyed 15wonderful years in cricket and would like to thank all the players and staff I have been involved with at Lancashire and England since I first came into the professional game.”Atherton’s decision to retire hardly comes as a surprise. Rumours about the future of the England opener have been circling ever since the severity of his degenerative back condition became apparent several years ago.Aged just 33, he is still a relatively young man. Players of the calibre ofGraham Gooch and Steve Waugh have had arguably their best years after that age, but they did not suffer from the same persistent and painful injury problems.Atherton’s defiance and determination have characterised the best qualities of the English side throughout the 1990s, indeed he has been the top Test runscorer in all Test cricket since January 1990. A good performance fromAtherton was the pre-requisite for a decent total from his side, and duringsome pretty dark years English cricket was primarily dependent on Atherton’s stubborn nature.Having played in 115 Tests and captained England a record 54 times, Athertonis assured of a distinguished place in history. But his record may not dohim full justice. A final career average of 37.69 does not tell of his fullworth to England over the past decade. Often targeted by the opposition fastbowlers as ‘the’ key wicket, he has been burdened with more than his share in a weak period for English cricket.Atherton’s 185 not out v South Africa in Johannesburg in December 1995 was described by Ray Illingworth as one of the great Test innings, and will probably go down as Atherton’s finest hour. In fact several of his finest innings came against South Africa. At Trent Bridge in July 1998 he defied Allan Donald at his most ferocious in one of the most compelling duals in Test history. He finished not out on 98 as England completed an eight-wicket win that was instrumental in a long-awaited series win.Atherton’s 94 in the first innings at Christchurch, February 19, followed by 118 in the second took England to victory in an epic fourth innings struggle against New Zealand. More recently a century in Karachi (December 2000) wasinstrumental in a series win for England against Pakistan.His one-day international record is also far better than is often assumed. An average of 35.11 is more than respectable, and though he was later seen as being surplus to requirements for England, innings of 113 not out and 64 intwo of his last three games dispute the wisdom of that decision.Atherton has had his share of disappointments too. The controversy over the ‘dirt in the pocket’ affair and subsequent fine imposed by match referee Peter Burge in July 1994, while playing against South Africa is the most notorious.Atherton never played in an Ashes winning side, and has an average of fewer than 30 against England’s oldest foe due, in large part, to Glenn McGrath taking his wicket a remarkable 19 times. It is the highest number of dismissals of an individual batsman by a single bowler in Test history.Atherton’s team-mates have been quick to pay tribute. Mark Butcher said: “He’s been a magnificent servant to English cricket, he’s also become a really goodfriend to me as well and he’s someone I’ll really miss if this is his lastgame.”He was my first England captain, my first England opening partner, he stands next to me and bores the pants off me at slip – he’s a great guy. Personally speaking I don’t want to see him go because he’s a great guy and I’ve learned a lot off him cricket-wise and he’s also a great mate.”Australian coach John Buchanan gave an Australian perspective. “This series may be not absolutely the highlight of his career, but I think in Michael Atherton we have a man who embraces and embodies the whole spirit of English cricket. I guess Glenn [McGrath] and potentially Curtly Ambrose have been a bit of athorn in the side of Atherton, but he’s resilient, he’s really been the faceof the English spirit and I think he will be sorely missed.”Atheron’s farewell was typically undemonstrative. No announcement before the game in order not to detract attention from the Test itself, and only a little wave of the bat as he made his way off the field for the final time betrayingeven a hint of sentimentality. An outpouring of emotion would have beenuncharacteristic from the man who requested that there be no unseemly publiccollections during his benefit season.What the future holds for Atherton is uncertain. He has never hidden hisdistaste for county cricket, and a coaching position is unlikely too, as he has disputed the usefulness of such a role. Offers from the press box will be plentiful, but he has hinted at a complete change of career, and certainly has the intelligence and contacts to reinvent himself in the style of another former England captain, Mike Brearley.One thing is for sure; Atherton’s retirement ends an era and leaves an enormous hole at the top of the England batting order.
ScorecardFile photo: Mohammad Mithun hit three fours and a six during his 60•BCB
Half-centuries from Rony Talukdar and Mohammad Mithun set up Bangladesh A’s 122-run victory against Zimbabwe A at the Harare Sports Club, ensuring the visitors also swept the series 3-0.Bangladesh A, after being inserted, began positively as Talukdar and Tasamul Haque shared a 90-run opening partnership. After Tasamul fell, Mithun kept the runs flowing by stroking a 64-ball 60, with three fours and a six, while Talukdar hit six fours and three sixes for his 77. The pair’s 57-run stand laid a solid groundwork, which Bangladesh A’s middle and lower order built on, as handy knocks from Mahmudul Hasan (31) and Muktar Ali (20*) powered the team to 286 for 8.Zimbabwe A lost wickets right from the off during the chase, and were eventually bundled out for 164 inside 42 overs. The opener Kevin Kasuza top-scored with 43, and Ryan Burl chipped in with 41, but only one other batsman – the captain Godwill Mahmiyo with 36 – managed to make more than 12. Mohammad Shahid was the pick of Bangladesh A’s bowlers, collecting 3 for 13.
Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez could potentially join Newcastle United in the summer transfer window, according to journalist Dean Jones.
The Lowdown: Gomez out of favour at Liverpool
The 24-year-old has had a frustrating season to date, finding himself behind Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate in the centre-back pecking order at Anfield.
Gomez has only started one Premier League game all season and even that was at right-back against Norwich City last weekend.
It is only natural that he may be keen on earning more regular playing time elsewhere, with other clubs rumoured to be eyeing up a move for him.
The Latest: Journalist backs Newcastle move for Gomez
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones claimed that Newcastle could end up being Gomez’s next destination this summer amid links with a move to Tyneside, seeing him as a more realistic signing than someone like Paul Pogba.
The journalist stated: “I think when names like Pogba get thrown around, and then you’re also seeing Joe Gomez, you’re like, ‘Well, that seems much more sensible’. And from what we’ve seen so far, a much more likely route that they go down.”
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The Verdict: Keep hold of him
Gomez may currently be struggling to make his mark at Liverpool but he is a proven defender who remains relatively young, having been hailed as ‘sensational’ by Jurgen Klopp in the past.
It would be a huge shame to see him move on, and with Van Dijk and Matip both turning 31 this year, he should still be viewed as a long-term option at the back for the Reds.
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While serious injury problems may have had an impact, which could alter Liverpool’s thinking, it makes more sense to persevere with him into the future, rather than possibly allowing him to excel at another Premier League club.
In other news, one pundit is excited about a potential Liverpool signing. Read more here.
A major Rangers development has emerged regarding their B team at Ibrox ahead of the 2022/23 campaign…
What’s the talk?
The Daily Record have confirmed, via an official statement, that the Gers’ reserve team will remain in the Lowland League for at least another season. Of the other 15 teams in the division, 11 voted to keep the Ibrox giants and their Parkhead rivals in it for another year.
They will not be allowed to be promoted or relegated from the fifth tier of Scottish football, which means that their participation is not preventing any teams from moving up or down the pyramid.
Buzzing
Gio van Bronckhorst will surely be buzzing with this news, as it is a huge boost to the club’s academy setup ahead of next season.
It allows the young prospects at Ibrox to play regular football at senior level without going out on loan. This means that the Gers can closely monitor their development and pick and choose when they are ready to make the step up to the Dutchman’s squad.
Instead of playing against other youth sides and not knowing how they can deal with the physicality of men’s football, playing in the fifth tier gives Rangers a broader perspective on their young players’ talents.
Speaking about the benefits, Ross Wilson previously said: “We want to test our players in different scenarios. Playing in the Lowland League would provide a completely different test for the young players, as well as our best-v-best games programme that we would continue to operate against some of the best teams in Europe.”
The sporting director also spoke about the need for the B Team to play in the division prior to the approval. He said: “We haven’t really seen any progress at all on some of the things that we think are to the betterment of Scottish football and player development in particular. Those things are steeped in data and research, not just something we have plucked out of thin air. They are concepts that have worked in other countries.”
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Teenage striker Tony Weston is currently the second-top scorer in the league with 21 goals, six behind The Spartans forward Blair Henderson. Alex Lowry, who found the back of the net for Van Bronckhorst’s team in the Scottish Cup, has also scored seven goals in the Lowland League, which suggests that he has reaped the rewards of playing senior football.
Lowry is one player who has already benefited from playing in the fifth tier and hopefully he will be the first of many to do so. This is why the Dutch head coach will be delighted that his academy prospects will be playing in the division for another year.
AND in other news, Was £2.7m, went to £162m: Rangers fumbled deal for “alien” who’s the “god of football”…
Seamer Glen Querl made an eye-catching entrance to Zimbabwean first-class cricket as a match haul of 9 for 101 from him helped set up a nine-wicket win for Matabeleland Tuskers over Southern Rocks at Masvingo Sports Club.Querl grew up in Zimbabwe and played Under-19 cricket for them before heading to England to further his career, and landing a spot on MCC’s Young Cricketers programme. From there, he was picked up by the Unicorns – a team of non-contracted professionals in the English domestic one-day competition – and become an established member of their seam attack.After a couple of speculative matches for the Mountaineers’ B side at the end of last season, he returned to Zimbabwe and won a contract with Tuskers, sharing the new ball with Keegan Meth in the first innings against Rocks. He made a telling start on his first-class debut, his 6 for 38 helping to skittle Tuskers for 148. Half-centuries from opener Terry Duffin and wicketkeeper Adam Wheater ensured a lead for Tuskers, after which Meth’s five-for set a fourth-innings target of exactly 100. Tuskers lost Brian Chari early, but Duffin and Gavin Ewing saw them home with minimum fuss against the struggling Rocks, who are yet to win a first-class match this season.Mid West Rhinos very nearly pulled of a remarkable win in their match against Mashonaland Eagles at Kwekwe Sports Club. Having conceded a first-innings lead, Rhinos seemed to be out of contention after setting Eagles a target of just 158 in the fourth innings. In a remarkable turnaround, Rhinos clawed their way back in to the match and eventually held Eagles to a tense draw, reducing them to 154 for 9 before the match came to an end.Rhinos had reached 321 in their first innings after being put in to bat, thanks mainly to the efforts of the in-form Gary Ballance, who cracked 83, and Solomon Mire’s career-best 96. Eagles captain Stuart Matsikenyeri then underpinned a strong batting effort, his 144 adding to three half-centuries from Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva and Peter Moor as Eagles reached 463.Ballance, who has now scored 421 runs in his last three first-class innings, carried the batting once again in the second innings, his his 128 – and Riki Wessels’ 73 – guiding Rhinos to 299 all out. Eagles stumbled through the early stages of their chase on the final evening, but appeared on course during an 81-run fifth-wicket stand between Chakabva and Moor. Once they were parted, however, panic set in and three run-outs reduced Eagles to 154 for 9 in the final over of the day.
Andrew Symonds believes it is a shame that Twenty20 is being legitimised to the point of staging a World Championship and says Australia would prefer to keep having fun with the concept. Symonds said his team-mates had viewed previous Twenty20 internationals as “a bit of a spectacle” but they would need to take their must-win attitude to South Africa in September.”The thing people love about Twenty20 is that it’s fun and fresh, but it’s also not played that often,” Symonds told the . “It’s a good thing as long as it’s not taken that seriously. Now there’s a World Cup it’s obviously going to be taken seriously. That might be a bit of a shame.”Symonds’s comments have come a week after Nathan Bracken also expressed his concerns about the World Championship and said Australia should not get too stressed over the tournament. Symonds said the players, like the fans, enjoyed the laid-back nature of Twenty20 matches.”The best part is having the captains wired up for TV and being able to play with the kids on the boundaries,” he said. “We’ll lose all that because everyone will take it seriously.”So far Symonds has enjoyed his Twenty20 international experience – he has played four matches and made 125 runs from 63 balls at an average of 62.50. Australia’s World Championship begins with group matches against Zimbabwe and England in Cape Town but to win the 12-team competition they will need to play a further five games.
What a difference a few weeks can make to a belittled side. Their confidence sapped by Sri Lanka in both the Test and one-day series, England have stormed back into form with the most comprehensive of victories in the second Test at Old Trafford to take a 1-0 series lead.Remarkably, just two men – Monty Panesar and Steve Harmison – shared the wickets in both innings, the pair combining quite brilliantly to take 19 for 169 to crush Pakistan by an innings and 120 runs. After squashing Pakistan for 119 in the first innings, it was déjà vu in the second, too, as the unlikely marriage cut the visitors’ batting apart with controlled, directed aggression. Only Younis Khan, with a fighting 62, showed any semblance of authority; in spite of England’s excellence, Pakistan’s batsmen simply weren’t up for the fight and wilted under the pressure.Every hack and their editor were calling, pleading for Harmison to shake off his midwinter blues, apply fresh Duracell to his radar and finally return to his lethal best. No coincidence, then, that in taking his first 10-wicket haul, England dominated their opponents so well. The vice-like grip they held over Pakistan for nearly every session in this match owes much to Harmison, of that there is no doubt. Equally, however, his and England’s performance would not have been so impressive were it not for Monty Panesar, England’s latest jewel in a crown which, since winning the Ashes, had lost diamonds and pearls aplenty. The pair, in both of Pakistan’s innings, were as irresistible as Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in their pomp.Harmison was the overwhelming difference. In just his second over today, a violent lifter accounted for Kamran Akmal who fended it awkwardly to Geraint Jones, diving smoothly to his right to take a fine catch. It was the start England craved, if only to see their gangling fast bowler show no sign of the twinge in his back which forced him off the field late last night. No sooner had Harmison put Pakistan on the back foot than Panesar was rightly brought into the attack by Strauss, who hardly put a foot wrong in the Test.Panesar, already so loved by the public in just his eight matches, had his finest performance on the field to date with a beautifully controlled (and at times unplayable) spell of bowling. The remarkable turn he gained – he is, after all, a finger spinner – surprised as many as it delighted. On countless occasions, deliciously flighted balls on the right-handers’ leg-stump ripped and spat past their outside edge; such was the profuse spin of one delivery that it landed in Marcus Trescothick’s lap at first slip. Pakistan were spun out, all the more remarkable given their oh-so-natural ability to play slow bowling.Even Mohammad Yousuf, who only last week demonstrated such impenetrable defence with a double hundred at Lord’s, appeared clueless to the mercurial Monty. Immediately after lunch, much as was the case in Pakistan’s first innings, Panesar struck; this time it was Yousuf when Jones pulled off a slick stumping in what has been a faultless Test for him, again, with the gloves. With Yousuf gone, in strode Inzamam-ul-Haq who Harmison peppered with a selection of well-directed, calculated bouncers. He was decidedly shaken up.
As Harmison put the batsmen on the back foot, Panesar drew them forward and Inzamam clubbed one into his foot, handing England’s resident short-leg, Ian Bell, a simple catch. Yousuf and Inzamam gone, and England’s grip suddenly tightened. Younis briefly flirted with an aggressive counterattack – hooking Harmison with unabashed audacity in a bold, if slightly vain attempt to shift the momentum – before Panesar trapped him leg before and the gates were open.Harmison returned with a glint in his eye and, bowling his fastest spell of the match fired out Pakistan’s lower-order with tremendous venom. In dismissing Umar Gul, he took his first ten-wicket haul for England while also becoming the first since Jim Laker, 50 years ago to the week, to take ten-for at Old Trafford.With the unfortunate injuries affecting Pakistan’s squad, their coach Bob Woolmer has quite a task to lift them in time for next week’s third Test at Headingley. Such a naturally gifted side, they were shellshocked by Harmison in this Test. For England, their summer has begun.
How they were out
Click here to read Cricinfo’s description of each wicket
Kevin Pietersen, England’s newly qualified South African-born batsman, has hit out at his non-selection for this winter’s tour of South Africa, hinting that politics may have played a part in his omission.”I was disappointed not to go to South Africa because I have scored more than 5000 first-class runs in county cricket at 54 in the past four years,” Pietersen told The Guardian. “I haven’t spoken to the selectors but I have heard that they don’t want to take me back to South Africa, with all the extra pressures.”Pietersen, who was born and raised in South Africa, has an Afrikaaner father but an English mother, and he has already earned himself something of a reputation for plain-speaking. His resentment of non-white quotas in South African sport played a major part in his decision to shift his allegiance to England, and his burning ambition led last season to a major rift with his county side, Nottinghamshire, where he has been spending his four-year qualification period.”You are brought up to be loyal to the country you are in,” added Pietersen, “but I have never been totally patriotic to South Africa. It is a case of how I was brought up at home. My mum ruled the roost and she is English through-and-through. Dad is an Afrikaner but he doesn’t speak Afrikaans at home. If England go to South Africa and win, I’ll be a happy boy.”Rod Marsh, Pietersen’s coach at the National Academy, is adamant that his country of origin played no part in his omission from the South Africa tour, adding that England will benefit from his desire to play at the highest level. “English cricket’s spirit will be strengthened by him, not diluted,” said Marsh. “He has made an enormous sacrifice of leaving his own country. Maybe English cricket’s spirit has been diluted in the past by those English players who have not wanted it enough.”