Tag Futebol

All of the five matches will be played in UAE from March 22, with the fourth one significant to Australia because Warner and Smith will have served out their bans

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2019Australia will not, after all, play any of their five-match ODI series against Pakistan in Pakistan. The PCB finally released the schedule for the series, which begins from March 22 and sees the bans handed out to Steven Smith and David Warner end in the middle of it.The scheduling of the series has long been a subject of interest, partly because of the PCB’s hopes of organising at least part of it in Pakistan, which would have meant Australia’s first visit to the country in over 20 years. But its timing is important because it could be the scene of the returns to international cricket of Warner and – injury permitting – Smith.The five games will be played across ten days from March 22 to March 31, and kicks off with two ODIs to be held in Sharjah, the first international game the venue will host in over a year. The final two games will take place in Dubai, with the third ODI in Abu Dhabi. March 29, when the fourth ODI is to be played, is the first day Smith and Warner become available again after the bans imposed on them in the wake of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal. Smith though isn’t expected to feature, still recovering from an elbow injury that also ruled him out of the Pakistan Super League.

Pakistan vs Australia in UAE 2019

22 March – 1st ODI, Sharjah (d/n)
24 March – 2nd ODI, Sharjah (d/n)
27 March – 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi (d/n)
29 March – 4th ODI, Dubai (d/n)
31 March – 5th ODI, Dubai (d/n)

For the past few months, the PCB had tentatively harboured hopes of Australia committing to playing some of the five ODIs in Pakistan. Wasim Khan, former chief executive of Leicestershire who recently arrived in Pakistan to take over as managing director of the PCB, had promised he would “ask the question” of CA, assuring them the highest level of security.Earlier this year, CA officially turned down the chance of playing any of the series in Pakistan. At the time, the PCB insisted discussions were still ongoing and had asked CA to at least visit for a security recce. The team may not be traveling but CA will at least gain first-hand experience of the security protocols the PCB puts in place.”The PCB was optimistic it would be able to convince Cricket Australia to send its side for some matches after successfully staging high-profile bilateral international series and the HBL Pakistan Super League matches in the past 18 months,” the PCB director Zakir Khan said. “We are disappointed for the enthusiastic and passionate cricket fans in Pakistan who will now have to wait for some more time before they can see the Australia cricket team live in action for the first time since 1998.”However, the CA has confirmed that they will send their security expert to oversee the execution of security plans for the HBL PSL 2019 matches and bilateral series against other international sides in Pakistan, and will also speak with the ICC-recommended PCB security consultant. In the meantime, the CA have confirmed they will maintain regular contact with the ICC,” Zakir Khan added.Pakistan has seen international cricket begin to trickle back to the country over the past three years with West Indies arriving in April 2018 to play three T20Is in Karachi. An ICC-approved World XI played three T20Is in September 2017, while Sri Lanka played a T20I the following month. The PSL has also begun to move increasing numbers of matches to Pakistan since the 2017 final was held in Lahore. Three further games took place in Pakistan in 2018, with eight scheduled to be played across Karachi and Lahore during the upcoming season of the PSL.

Former South Africa fast bowler Andre Nel is set to coach provincial side Easterns at the Africa Cup T20 tournament

Firdose Moonda02-Sep-2015Andre Nel, South Africa cricket’s original scary eyes, is back. Not to inflict another bruise on a hero, like he did when he felled Allan Donald with a fierce bouncer in a first-class match, or to stick his tongue out at the opposition and induce impromptu bat-swinging breakdance like he did against Sreesanth, but to teach others how to.Nel, who has been coaching at a school and a university academy, will coach provincial side Easterns at the Africa Cup T20 tournament, a coming-of-age position for the now-placid paceman. “I feel like life has come full circle for me because this is where I started and now I just want to help Easterns get back to the where they were,” he told ESPNcricinfo. Nel was part of the Easterns provincial side that won the premier first-class competition in the 2002-03 season, before South African domestic cricket was franchised.Since the franchise system formed, Easterns have been one of the feeder teams to the Titans. But as a semi-professional side, Easterns have underwhelmed in the three-day and List A competitions, with no titles to their name. Nel wants to begin changing that in his first assignment, a T20 competition, played between South Africa’s provincial teams as well as invited outfits from Zimbabwe, Kenya and Namibia, which starts this weekend.Easterns are grouped with their franchise partners, Northerns, Western Province and Zimbabwe. Only the top team in each pool advances to the knockouts, so Nel knows he has a difficult task ahead. “We’re in a tough pool and everybody expects us not to win so it’s definitely going to be a challenge,” Nel said. “But if everything in life was easy, everyone would be doing it.”But Easterns have two major advantages. The weekend’s fixtures, which incorporate all six matches in the group, will be played at their home ground, Willowmoore Park and they have a rejuvenated international in their squad. Quinton de Kock will turn out for Easterns in a bid to continue with his new-found form and play himself back into the national team after he was dropped during the Bangladesh series.Nel hopes to nudge de Kock in the right direction by putting no pressure on him and providing advice as someone who also had to work his way back into the senior side.”He has been through a tough time. I know what it is like to be dropped and then have find your way back and the most important thing is to be humble. When you get in quite young, there is extra pressure on you to stay in the side and you have to take that out of the equation.”I just want to give him the freedom to go out and express himself. Sometimes maybe he gets too nervous. He must just go out and be Quinton de Kock and not try to be someone else.” Although Nel was no batsman, his only other advice for de Kock is “work on his on-side game.”The technical tidbits will be saved for the bowlers and Nel has a number to work with, including Junior Dala, who featured regularly for the Titans last season.Dala is quick with an unusual slingy action and Nel is looking forward to moulding him for future success. “I worked with Junior at the University of Johannesburg academy so I know him pretty well. He has just come back from Sri Lanka with the South African Emerging side so he is definitely on the radar and he should be. He is looking strong and fit and he offers something different.”

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the SLPL final between Nagenahira Nagas and Uva Next

The Preview by Andrew Fernando30-Aug-2012

Match facts

August 31, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)
Uva’s Jacob Oram has been the SLPL’s most miserly bowler with an economy rate of 3.94•Shaun Roy/SPORTZPICS/SLPL

Big Picture

Before the tournament, few would have imagined either Nagenahira Nagas or Uva Next would reach the final, let alone both at once. On paper, Ruhuna Royals boasted bigger overseas stars, Basnahira Cricket Dundee the better local talent, and Wayamba United the X-factor players. Yet, the finalists have each performed at crucial moments to earn their passage.Both sides have ridden their fortune too. Nagenahira were lucky that a washout in the semi-final against Kandurata Warriors granted them automatic qualification, but were luckier still that the resurgent Kandurata were unable to play Uva Next in their round robin match on Saturday, robbing Kandurata of the chance to leap above them on the points table and go through to the final instead. For Uva, Jacob Oram’s all-round brilliance happily coincided with an off-colour Wayamba show on Tuesday, in the heist of the tournament.Nagenahira will have the psychological advantage of having beaten Uva comfortably on Monday, and are slight favourites. They may lack for a few star names, but they have relied on a few key players to lift the side. Imran Nazir’s blazing starts and Angelo Mathews’ calculated finishes have provided formidable bookends to their innings, while the attack has taken its cues from Shaminda Eranga and Ajantha Mendis.Bowling, meanwhile has been Uva’s forte. Following his three-wicket haul in the semi-final, Oram is now not only the league’s most miserly bowler with an economy rate of 3.94, he is also only one scalp short of being among the tournament’s top wicket-takers. Umar Gul may not have been picked for Pakistan’s ODIs against Australia, but his yorkers remain fearsome at the death, while Sachithra Senanayake and Seekuge Prasanna provide both variety and penetration with spin. If the Uva attack can topple Nazir early and silence Mathews towards the end, they will be favourites to win the trophy after qualifying fourth for the semi-finals.

Path to final

Nagenahira Nagas – Four wins and two losses in the round robin, qualified for the semi-finals at second place. Through to final on points after Wednesday’s semi-final was abandoned due to rain.Uva Next – Three wins, two losses and one draw (match abandoned due to rain) in the round robin, qualified for the semi-finals in fourth place. Through to the final after defeating top-placed Wayamba by 20 runs.

Watch out for

Ajantha Mendis (Nagenahira) has reclaimed a spot in Sri Lanka’s World Twenty20 side through a strong SLPL performance and seems to have rediscovered the accuracy that saw him demolish international sides at the beginning of his career. He has added more flight to his deliveries as well, and his mystery remains largely intact in a domestic tournament that lacks the video analysis resources available at the top level.Dilhara Fernando (Uva) is tipped to return for the final, after missing all but three matches through injury, and will augment an already impressive seam battery. Fernando has the only five-wicket haul in the SLPL, and his split-finger slower ball still deceives batsmen who have played him for years. Overs from him at the beginning of the innings will allow the captain Thilina Kandamby to reserve more of Gul’s yorkers for later.

Team news

Nagenahira will be without Mushfiqur Rahim, who left the country on the eve of the final to join the Bangladesh tour to the West Indies, extending the trend of overseas players leaving for national duty just as the tournament reaches its climax. TM Sampath is likely to take over the gloves instead.Nagenahira Nagas (probable) : 1 Imran Nazir, 2 Udara Jayasundera, 3 Travis Birt, 4 Colin de Grandhomme, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Angelo Perera, 7 TM Sampath (wk), 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Shaminda Eranga, 10 Ben Laughlin/ Kanishka Alvitigala, 11 Ajantha MendisGul and Fernando having recovered from their niggles, Uva have a fully fit squad to choose from. None of their major players have left the tournament either.Uva Next (probable): 1 Dilshan Munaweera, 2 Upul Tharanga (wk), 3 Thilina Kandamby (capt), 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Chinthaka Jayasinghe, 6 Andrew McDonald, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Sachithra Senanayake, 9 Seekkuge Prasanna, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Charith Jayampathi

Stats and trivia

• Shaminda Eranga and Ajantha Mendis have taken 11 and 10 wickets respectively. The remaining Nagenahira bowlers have 14 between them
• Jacob Oram’s most expensive figures, 1 for 22 from three overs, came against Nagenahira
• Dilshan Munaweera is the only batsman from either team among the tournament’s five top runscorers, with 168 runs and a strike-rate of 135.
  

  Pitch and conditions

  Three days of heavy rain in the lead-up does not bode well for the final, particularly as scattered thunderstorms are forecast for Friday evening. A shortened final may well be on the cards. The Premadasa pitch may also be more conducive to swing, having had precious little sunshine to dry it out over the past week.

  Quotes

  “I don’t think Jacob [Oram] gets the new ball much when he plays for New Zealand. We’ve given him the new ball here and he has become a totally different bowler.”
  “I always try to give myself a chance to bat till the end because I know I can catch up later on. I know how to approach the game from that position and go about finishing off an innings.”
  .

Mushfiqur Rahim said poor shot selection hindered Bangladesh’s chances of saving the second Test

Mohammad Isam21-Dec-2011The shots played by Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, Bangladesh’s captain and vice-captain, were dreadful examples of leading from the front. The captain getting out with his team just a session away from safety was the bigger offender. Pakistan eventually beat the clock and the fading light, chasing down the target of 103 to win the series 2-0.With bad light being so much of an issue in the second Test in Mirpur, it was likely to come into play as Bangladesh fought for a draw. Mushfiqur had done the hard work of keeping the two-hour morning session wicketless, with 86 runs in 29 overs. He added 107 for the sixth wicket with Nasir Hossain, who batted without trouble against a Pakistan attack that waned at times.The pair surged along, knocking off Pakistan’s 132-run lead, and both batsmen reached half-centuries. However, Abdur Rehman found a way through Nasir Hossain’s defences after lunch, and it was all down to Mushfiqur and the tail. What the captain did next is another example of how Bangladesh implode all of a sudden. After batting nearly three hours, Mushfiqur skipped down the wicket and, in his effort to attack Rehman, ended up lofting one to Saeed Ajmal at mid-off to depart for 53.”Of course I will take the blame. If I didn’t get out, we could have batted 30 minutes more,” Mushfiqur said after the defeat. “I feel guilty for my shot as I let my team down.”I was set so I thought if I take a chance, I could score 20-30 more runs. My plan was correct but execution was wrong. They only had square-leg back. I tried it earlier but couldn’t get to the ball.”The timing of Mushfiqur’s dismissal was a sickening blow to Bangladesh’s pursuit for safety. It was all over in 25 minutes.On the fourth evening, Mushfiqur’s deputy, Mahmudullah, had committed a similar blunder. After Tamim Iqbal and Shahriar Nafees suffered poor decisions, Mahmudullah’s shot was hard to comprehend. He chased a wide delivery from Aizaz Cheema and top-edged to deep point to be dismissed for 32 off 50 balls.”He [Mahmudullah] knows it well that when he got out, it was a bad time. He was having good partnerships with Nazimuddin and Nasir,” Mushfiqur said. “We have to cut down on some shots in such situations.”Ever since I started playing for Bangladesh, this has happened. This is the fact. We make mistakes in situations and we can’t recover. If we had taken all the catches, they wouldn’t have taken the 130-run lead. It would have been a different ball game if we took a 250-280 lead.”Mushfiqur, however, believed his team had improved with every innings during this Test series against Pakistan. “Overall batting-wise, we have gradually improved. Some of our batsmen could bat for a long time, which was our goal. We often get out after a quick 30-40. These are the positives.”If we lose four, five wickets in a session, or they score 100 for 0, it becomes difficult to come back. Our bowlers created a lot of chances in this game, but we couldn’t capture it.”

Andrew Strauss could only curse England’s injury crisis as a shortage of bowling options meant a record-breaking batting effort went to waste at Sydney

Andrew McGlashan at the SCG02-Feb-2011Andrew Strauss could only curse England’s injury crisis as a shortage of bowling options meant a record-breaking batting effort went to waste at Sydney. The visitors were handsomely placed after piling up 333 but Paul Collingwood suffered a back spasm and was unable to fill his role with the ball as Australia won by two wickets.Collingwood, who was picked primarily for his bowling, joined England’s lengthy casualty list from this one-day series which has left Strauss with the bare bones of an attack. Tim Bresnan (calf) and Graeme Swann (back) are already back in the UK and will soon be joined by Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Chris Tremlett (side), who will fly home from Sydney on Thursday.Liam Plunkett, the Durham allrounder, has completed a 36-hour journey from the Caribbean to Perth where England head to tomorrow for the final one-day international on Sunday, and Collingwood’s injury gives him a decent chance of at least being rewarded with a match for his brief visit Down Under.The loss of Collingwood also turned the spotlight on England’s gamble of playing just five bowlers with the fill-in 10 overs from Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott costing 72. Strauss admitted they will have to reassess the balance of the side heading into the World Cup, but added the injury situation hadn’t left much breathing space in this match.”He had a back spasm so he couldn’t walk very well and he certainly couldn’t bowl,” Strauss said. “At the moment we are a bit short on bowlers full stop. So we were forced into right that at the moment. It’s a fair question to ask. It’s not ideal – I need five bowlers, there is no doubt.”Ideally you will have six bowlers at your disposal; five specialists and a Collingwood-type bowler. We are going to have to decide what the best way of winning games out on the sub-continent is. The likelihood is there are going to be two spinners involved and that allows you to play with six bowlers.”The conditions also made it a tough day with temperatures nudging 40 degrees although England avoided the worst of the heat by batting first. Even then it took its toll on the batsmen with Jonathan Trott suffering from cramp during his 137 and needing a runner to complete the innings.”It was certainly one of the hottest days I’ve ever batted in. That takes it’s toll on the players, the players have played a lot of cricket over the course of this Australian summer,” Strauss said. “It was hard work. It was very frustrating to do all that hard work and not get the result at the end of it.”Trott, who managed to take on fluids during the interval and fielding for most of Australia’s innings, said the coloured one-day kits make it even harder. “It was really tough. It’s just one of those things, also with the blue clothing, it’s not the white stuff, so it heats up pretty quickly.”For a moment during Australia’s innings it appeared another player may have gone down when Kevin Pietersen slid in the outfield and hurt his ankle. He limped off for treatment but returned to send down six overs and claim the wicket of Mitchell Johnson. Too many more injuries and England will struggle to name an eleven in Perth.

The Chennai police have registered a case against Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, and six others on allegations of criminal conspiracy and cheating

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2010The Chennai police have registered a case against Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, and six others on allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and falsification of accounts, according to a report in the . The case is based on a complaint filed by the BCCI on Wednesday.Four of the six others named in the case are from the World Sport Group: its chairman Seamus O’Brian, its chief operating officer, Andrew Georgio, and the president and vice-president of its South Asia operations, Venu Nair and Haris Krishnamachari. The other two are Ajay Varma, representative of software and security firm Visual Impact and Kunal Dasgupta, the former head of Multi-Screen Media, the broadcast rights holder for the IPL.The case has been registered under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 477 A (falsification of accounts) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.This is the first step of a police investigation under Indian law; the allegations will now be probed by police and legal experts, who will press charges if they find evidence and eventually take the case to court.The move to file charges is a continuation of the decisions taken at a special general meeting of the board in June this year. “It has taken the BCCI a while to press the criminal charges because we were getting legal opinions and all the paperwork ready,” A BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. “The case grew in recent months when we came across the contract around the virtual security van”.The allegations revolve around three issues – the facilitation fee payment to WSG for the India media rights to the IPL, the sale of mid-over ads and the hiring of security vans for the tournament. The board has argued that the fee paid to WSG was an “improper payment” and the matter is currently under arbitration in Singapore.A WSG spokesperson said they had not seen the complaint and therefore had no comment.The rights to sell mid-over ads was given to Pioneer Diagsys, an ad-sales agency run by Dasgupta, without a contract and the BCCI claim that since Modi did not issue a tender for the contract, he has cost the board moneyThe board also claimed that Visual Impact, the company Modi contracted to provide security vans does not exist, and that the money paid to them was misappropriated.

The buyers of the Kochi franchise have said that, despite what seems to be an “exorbitant” price paid to buy the IPL team, in reality the figure was far lesser when spread over the ten-year contract period

Cricinfo staff28-Mar-2010

Kochi’s five investors

• Anchor Earth, part of the Anchor Group, a diversified FMCG company, represented by Atul Shah and Mehul Shah

• Film Waves, promoted by Harshad Mehta of Rosy Blue Group, a global diamond merchant, who lives in Dubai. Representatives: Keshav T and Kailash Singhal

• Parinee Developers, a Mumbai-based firm, led by Vipul Shah and Bhavya Patel

• Vivek Venugopal, part of Elite and Cholayil group, a successful FMCG group based out of Thrissur, the only Kerala-based investor

• Saket Mehta of Anand Shyam Real Estate, part of the Sur Gems group. He is a 40-year-old into diamond business

• Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited is a part of the consortium, though it has existed for 15 years

The buyers of the Kochi franchise have said that, despite what seems to be an “exorbitant” price paid to buy the IPL team, in reality the figure was far lesser when spread over the ten-year contract period. Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited, a consortium of five companies, bid US$333.33 for Kochi and was awarded the franchise on March 21.”I know it seems we have paid an exorbitant price to buy the team but, if you look at the discounted value of what we are paying over the next ten years, it is not as high as it seems,” Keshav T, one of the investors in Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited, said.Going by the annual expenditure of the eight existing franchises, Kochi will have to shell out at least $33 million (10% of winning bid) annually. Keshav, representing Film Waves, one of five investors that form Rendezvous, said the valuations worked out internally suggested their investment would be secure. “The cost that we pay is based on the business plan, which we feel is viable,” he said at a media conference arranged to discuss plans and reveal various members on the board.It seemed like an entire cricket team was on stage as 12 people, representing various business groups, took their seats, making it difficult to understand who exactly held the controls of the Kochi ship. Shailendra Gaikwad, who runs the Rendezvous group, will be Kochi’s chief operating officer and its public face. The engine room will comprise the five investors (see sidebar) based in different parts of the world, from Kerala to Dubai, with the operational base in Mumbai.Keshav said, though was no long-term relationship of any kind between the partners, some, like him, had been doing business with Anchor Group for two decades. They had worked on the plan for the last six months before deciding to make the move. The seriousness of their intentions can be gauged from the fact that no one backed out of the deal despite the original tender process being cancelled and rescheduled from March 7 to 21. Back then the face of the bid was Jaypee Group, but two weeks later Jaypee decided to opt out, forcing the other partners to hurriedly re-organise things.Doubts were raised about how the two new entrants – Rendezvous and Sahara Group (owners of the Pune franchise for $370m) – expected to recover their investment after paying a sum exceeding the combined value of the eight existing franchises. It remains unclear how many franchises have broken even yet but Keshav said Kochi would not be hindered by such fears because their goals were long-term. “We are there for the long haul and we don’t expect to make profits in the first year. We have the capacity based on the business plan to sustain.”A more immediate worry would be the absence of big names in the auction pool for the fourth IPL, considering the original group of eight teams will have the advantage of retaining few of their best players – both domestic and foreign. Keshav admitted it was unfavourable but said they had to play by the rules. “The fact that teams will be allowed to retain some of their best players will reduce the availability for us,” he said. “But we don’t see that as a major issue. So we don’t expect the best players to play for us in the first year but we definitely will try to hire the best.”When asked if it wasn’t harsh on the two new franchises to miss out on buying the best players, especially when they had spent so much to buy a team, Keshav put a positive spin on it. “Not having the best players cannot be taken for granted at this point in time. There will definitely be opportunities for us to pick players. Already you have seen there are a lot of players who have come up, who have performed very well. So it is not necessary we need established or best players, we will try to get best composition.”Vivek Venugopal, representing the Elite and Cholayil group from Thrichur, the only Kerala-based investor, said the IPL had not “defined” any catchment areas. “There aren’t any specific or defined catchment areas. The players who will not be retained by the eight original franchises will be up for the auction.”

Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s captain, Bangladesh’s captain, is aiming to hold India to a draw in the upcoming first Test starting January 17 in Chittagong

Cricinfo staff15-Jan-2010Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s captain, is aiming to hold India to a draw in the upcoming first Test starting January 17 in Chittagong. Bangladesh have not played a Test since July and have been fed a steady diet of one-day matches since, but Shakib did not believe the team would be rusty ahead of what will be their toughest series since January of last year.”I think the battle between India and Bangladesh this time will be an interesting one because the opponents have a long batting line-up while we have a few quality bowlers. However, we don’t bother much about the result of the match,” he told reporters during a training session in Chittagong. “But a draw will be good for us. I am confident that we will have a good chance if we can score 700 runs in the two innings.”Bangladesh’s last Test assignment, against a severely depleted West Indies, saw them win their first overseas series. That contest was highlighted by good bowling, especially from the spinners. Since that series, Bangladesh have played only limited-overs cricket, which included a series win over Zimbabwe at home and a winless streak in the recent tri-series featuring India and Sri Lanka.”It is true we didn’t play a Test match for quite sometime, but hopefully that won’t pose any major problem for us to adapt to the Test mould,” said Shakib. “We batted well in the last ODIs of the tri-nation series and want to show improvement in our game in the field, not through words.”