Duncan Brede, a cricketer who represents the Australian Capital Territory, has been banned for two months under Cricket Australia’s Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for prohibited substances. The positive test came from a sample taken from Brede after the game between ACT and the Queensland Academy of Sport at Allan Border Field on November 15, 2004.The prohibited substances that were present in Brede’s sample were the stimulants: amphetamine and methamphetamine. Brede also acknowledged committing a doping offence and waived his right to a hearing while the Australian board offered him help with counselling. The two month ban is effective from January 21.
Shane Warne’s use of a banned drug left Ricky Ponting, Australia’s one-day captain, annoyed at what he described as Warne’s “madness”. In his World Cup diary, which is published this week, Ponting said that his sympathy for Warne was tinged with “a feeling of annoyance”.Ponting said the Australians have a lecture on drugs every year, and as a result he was aware of the issues and checked any drugs before he took them. “That is common sense, and for Warney, who has been playing international cricket for over a decade, to ignore that approach is just madness.”Not surprisingly, given the campaign he was about to embark on in defence of the World Cup, Ponting said he was upset that the controversy came up when it did in South Africa.”I think there was plenty of shock in the room already,” he wrote. “But to then see the greatest bowler in Australian cricket so distressed in front of us all was as sobering a sight as you could ever wish to see.”The room was reduced to complete silence, an awkward silence, as Warney tried to regain his composure and finish what he was saying.”Ponting said Warne was more composed when he addressed his teammates again later that night, telling them: “You are a better team than just one person, and even though I am going to go home, you can and will win the World Cup without me.” Ponting wrote: “Whatever you might think of Warney, it took a lot of guts and quality for him to stand up, admit what he had done and wave goodbye to his dream of one last crack at the World Cup.”However, Ponting did say that he was looking forward to having Warne back in his armoury when the 12-month suspension for using a banned diuretic ends on February 10. “He’s a great player and I really hope I get to play some more cricket with him.”
Run machine Matthew Hayden will again force Australian selectors to split stable openers Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh when the triangular one-day series begins on Friday.Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns confirmed Hayden would be used in the opening role and elsewhere in the batting order as the Australians rotate their best players through the series against New Zealand and South Africa.”We’ll probably rest a batsman from time to time as we have done previously and then the batting order is shuffled around,” Hohns said.”You’ll see (Hayden opening) at some stage but any decisions will be made by the selectors in conjunction with the captain.”It was a predictable step after Hayden unleashed the most lucrative calendar year of any Australian Test batsman, hitting 1391 runs at an average of 66.23.Captain Steve Waugh declared he could not “imagine anyone playing any better than that” after Hayden began the New Year with another Test century in the whitewash against South Africa.But the aggressive Queenslander hasn’t earned the same reputation in the one-day arena despite averaging 34.26 at a respectable clip in his 27 matches.Gilchrist and Mark Waugh are the greatest opening pair in Australian one-day history but the door remains ajar for Hayden if selectors opt for a settled combination for the World Cup in South Africa in 13 months.Hayden opened twice in the Australia’s most recent one-day outings against Pakistan and England seven months ago after opening in four of the five clashes with India on the sub-continent in March and April.The left-hander smashed more than 2000 runs in domestic one-day matches for Queensland before replenishing his international reputation in New Zealand two years ago.Despite his outstanding summer, Hayden is no certainty to play in the opening tri-series match on Friday when Australia meets New Zealand at the MCG.Hohns said selectors were looking towards the World Cup defence but he said the championship was “too far away to speculate” on any personnel changes.”There is a lot of water to flow under the bridge before that,” Hohns said.”We’re always looking towards it but plenty can happen in that time and this series is another in which we want to build the winning momentum.”Hohns said the 14-man Australian squad for the tri-series had not beenselected for a particular number of matches. That leaves Jason Gillespie with a chance of returning if he can prove his fitness when he resumes from injury for Australia A against New Zealand at the Gabba tomorrow.”He has two matches with Australia A to show us that he is fully fit andthen we would have to reassess it from there,” Hohns said.
Gloucestershire have booked their place in a hat-trick of Lord’s finals, asthey beat Lancashire by 15 runs at Bristol on Monday. Mike Smith led theGloucester charge, with figures of 4-27, as the Lancashire chased falters.The victory furthers Glouctershire’s claim to be the premier one-day side inthe country.A near capacity crowd cheered the Bristol-based side on, with a place in thefinal against Glamorgan beckoning. Despite Mike Smith’s efforts, it was RobCunliffe who earned the man of the match award, for a sparkling 71.Gloucestershire won the toss, electing to bat on a pitch which didn’t seemto have suffered any ill effects of the weekend rain. The game, of course,actually began on the reserve day, after Sunday’s effort was ruined thanksto a sodden outfield. Soon enough, openers Tim Hancock and Kim Barnett werehitting their straps. Hancock peppered the off-side boundary withregularity, whilst Barnett was dismissed just as he began to look settled.The veteran was neatly caught by Hegg, from the bowling of Peter Martin. Atthe other end, Ian Austin was his typically miserly self, bowling at acracking line and length which the batsmen could do nothing with.Chris Schofield entered the attack, and was immediately launched way overlong on, then through the covers, by an ever confident Hancock. Just asHancock looked as if he may destroy the Lancashire attack, he played a looseshot, and was well caught down the leg side by Hegg.New men Rob Cunliffe and Matt Windows kept the score moving, as theyscampered between the wickets at every opportunity. Windows was particularlysavage on anything short, cutting ferociously, whilst Cunliffe played theshot of the day, a perfectly timed off-drive. With the partnership locked on71, Windows found the bucket hands of Peter Martin at long on, dismissed fora fine 43. England all-rounder Mark Alleyne joined Cunliffe, as the boardticked at six an over. Cunliffe was rattled by a bouncer from Flintoff, thenmeekly spooned him to mid-off. It was a sad end to a very fine innings, froma player with enormous potential. In the final slog, Snape and Alleyne felllooking for runs, Alleyne for a classy 32.A target of 221 was certainly within Lancashire’s grasp. Gloucestershirewere weakened without their overseas star Ian Harvey, dubbed the finestdeath bowler in the world. Still, they were not prepared to lie down. JonLewis ripped out Mike Watkinson’s off-stump, whilst Mike Smith removed JohnCrawely’s leg peg. When Smith got rid of Andy Flintoff, to an ill-judgedpull edged onto the stumps, Gloucestershire were well on top. Mike Athertonplodded along at the other end, but was given a torrid time by Smith, whostruck him first on the finger, then on the box.Atherton and Fairbrother gave Lancashire hope, as Fairbrother used the sweepshot to great effect. Snape was in for particular punishment in his firstfew overs, and it was brave of Alleyne to keep him in the attack. Alleyne’sfaith was justified, as Snape got rid of Atherton. The off-spinner, who was(according to the speed-gun at least) varying his pace from 40-65mph, lobbedone up to Atherton who chipped it to mid-wicket. Snape picked up anotherwicket when Lloyd tried to turn to leg, trapped lbw. By now, the requiredrate was well over six.Warren Hegg, with 30, kept Lancashire’s hopes alive. At the other end,Fairbrother, who was batting with a runner, was supreme. He hit five foursand a six in his 74, which was ended by a fine catch in the deep from MattWindows. Chris Schofield played a cameo, and Ian Austin clubbed a few, butit was too little too late.Mention should be made of two others. James Averis, whose figures of 1-37betrayed a brilliant spell tarnished by two expensive overs at the death.Also, Chris Taylor. The youngster, who has played less than half a dozengames for his county, didn’t bat or bowl. But he scampered round theoutfield, fielding with enthusiasm that personified this, truly excellentGloucestershire team.
Newcastle United are renewing their attempts to sign Napoli star Victor Osimhen, and would have to stump up a record-breaking fee to sign him…
What’s the story?
Reports back in the January transfer window from Calciomercato (via Sport Witness) initially claimed that Eddie Howe’s side have got “concrete” interest in signing the Nigeria international, and that if a sizeable offer does come in for him, then Napoli owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, would be willing to come to the table.
Now, some further reports from Italy (via Sport Witness) have delivered an update on the situation.
They suggest that the Magpies are at the front of the queue to sign the star striker, and that they are ready to go crazy with their offer – it’s added that with Napoli having spent a mammoth €80m to get him in from Lille in the first place, they would want a significant return on that.
Fans would be excited
In the form of Osimhen, Howe would be getting an elite goal-scorer who has proven himself at the highest level with Napoli, both in the Serie A and in European competition too.
This campaign has seen him score 11 goals in just22 games for the Italian giants, including bagging four in just three Europa League group stage games – a couple of those coming away from home against Leicester to rescue a point for his team.
And, as per Whoscored, Osimhen also appears to be a far more complete striker than what Newcastle already have in Callum Wilson, averaging far more shots, key passes and dribbles per game this campaign, while his average match rating comfortably trumps that of the former Bournemouth star.
Even during his time with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, the Nigerian made an immediate impression on his coaches, with then manager Andries Jonker saying: “He has great potential in him. He is ambitious, quick and highly unpredictable, he will be a star in the future if he maintains his focus.”
But perhaps the biggest indication of why Osimhen may be the perfect signing for Newcastle is the way his former Nigeria teammate Odion Ighalo has raved about his mentality.
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He said: “He’s the future, he’s going to do so well in football. I love him, he’s down to earth, he’s hard working, he has a future and he has the mentality of a winner, that’s what I love about him. He has that lion’s heart. I love him, I just want him to keep working hard the way he’s doing, he’s going to break so many records in Europe and Nigeria.”
The £54m-rated star would be a very exciting signing for the Magpies, and one that would surely get the pulses racing of the Toon Army.
Meanwhile, Newcastle have an exciting academy star on their hands…
Apart from a lot of sweating and snake-spotting, England weren’t ableto ascertain too much from their opening warm-up match at the ColomboCricket Club. The bowlers toiled with little reward on a dead pitchwhile the batsmen enjoyed a succession of misleadingly unchallenginginnings. Nevertheless, for Alastair Cook, who top-scored with 63before retiring at the lunch break, the chance to build an inningsover the course of two-and-a-half hours was not to be sniffed at.For Cook, however, the more significant cricket took place not inColombo, but in Brisbane and Hobart, where he watched with interestthe success enjoyed by Australia’s domineering batsmen, not least hisfellow left-hander, Mike Hussey, who racked up hundreds in the firstinnings of each Test. Australia lost only 11 wickets out of a possible40 en route to a 2-0 series victory, and Cook believes that thepositive mindset they demonstrated – and the knock-on effect it willhave on Sri Lanka’s morale – is something that England have tocapitalise on in the course of the next month.”Obviously we don’t know what these wickets will be like, but we sawhow aggressively [Australia] played, and we know that you’ve got to bepositive and look to score,” said Cook. “On those wickets you couldprobably hit through the ball more, but if you just look to survivethere will be a ball that gets you out.” With that in mind, he’sdetermined to master the sweep – a shot that was his undoing onseveral occasions in the summer. “I’ve been working quite hard on thatas a gameplan B, and if I have to resort to it, I will.”Muttiah Muralitharan, who needs just five more wickets to overhaulShane Warne’s record tally of 708, is likely to be the target of thatstrategy. Few people, Cook included, doubt that the record will fallat some stage this series, but in Australia Murali managed just fourwickets at exactly 100 apiece. It’s proof that the man is notinvincible, and Cook believes that the experience he gained fromfacing Sri Lanka in 2006 will help him go some way towards emulatingthat success.”He’s a good bowler but picking him is the key,” said Cook. “Towardsthe end of the series in England I was picking him more and more, andif you can pick him and survive defensively, rather than defending andthinking you’re going to get out, it gives you a base to work from. Icertainly can’t score as quickly as the Aussies did, but we’ll just dothe normal stuff like rotating the strike and playing from the other end.”The strike rotation will be especially important now that England havesettled on their new left-hand right-hand combination – the firstthey’ve used since Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick were aregular partnership from 2002 to 2004. There is more than a decade’sdifference between the ages of Cook (22) and Vaughan (33), but theyounger man is more than happy to have acquired such an experiencedsidekick – even if it means he’ll have to take first strike for thefirst time in his career.
‘Icertainly can’t score as quickly as the Aussies did, but we’ll just dothe normal stuff like rotating the strike’
“Vaughany’s a good man to bat with,” said Cook, after the pair had puton 77 in their first outing of the tour. “He’s a serious player who’sseen a lot in his career. He’s been here [to Sri Lanka] twice and heis quite good technically at picking out something that you’re notquite doing right – just one word and he reminds you of your basicskills. It worked well yesterday, and hopefully that’s just a goodstart.”He looks after a lot of the players in his own way,” said Cook.”He’ll wander over for a chat, and make sure everyone’s alright. Andwhen he’s playing he just checks up on you, because his game is quitebasic in terms of how he thinks about batting, and he relates that tothe way we bat. If your head’s falling over, for instance – simplethings that when you’re in the heat of the battle you forget about.That’s what I picked up from batting with him.”Vaughan’s batting looked to be back to its sublime best during thehome series against India, most notably during his century at TrentBridge, and he was once again full of attacking intent during hisbrisk innings of 38 on Thursday. By and large, however, Cook is awarethat he and his new partner tend to bat at the same tempo – much as heand the out-of-favour Andrew Strauss did during their summerpartnerships.”We’ll just look to get the side off to a good start in the mostnatural way we can,” said Cook. “It’s vital that we bat well togetherbecause we want to keep as many wickets as we can against the newball. That means it’s more overs that Murali has to bowl. The lastthing we want is to be four or five-down when he comes on.”
Muttiah Muralitharan was the ringmaster, claiming his ninth ten-wicket haul of the year, as Sri Lanka wrapped a series-levelling 217-run victory just before tea on day four at the Basin Reserve. Only Daniel Vettori (51) and James Franklin (44) provided substantial resistance as New Zealand, set a towering 504 run target, were bowled out for 286 in 85.1 overs.Muralitharan wrapped up an incredible year with 6 for 87, completing a match analysis of 10 for 118, the fifth time he has taken ten-fors in his last six Test matches. His latest haul, achieved on a slow and drying pitch, left him with 90 wickets from 11 Tests during the calendar year: an amazing performance even by Muralitharan’s prolific standards. Murali now has a 10-wicket match-haul against each of the Test playing nations,Sri Lanka’s discovery of the series, Chamara Silva, was rightly adjudged the Man of the Match for his superb comeback from a pair in Christchurch, scoring 61 and 152 not out. Mahela Jayawardene hailed his performance afterwards: “There were some brilliant performances, including Sanga’s hundred, Malinga’s bowling in the first innings and Murali, but Chamara’s batting in this game was magnificent. He showed immense character to comeback in the way he did after a pair in the first Test.” Stephen Fleming admitted that his team had been thoroughly outplayed, identifying “the unorthodox nature of the Sri Lanka attack” as the key problem for his team.New Zealand, starting the day on 75 for 2, survived the best part of an hour without losing a wicket as Stephen Fleming (27) and Matthew Sinclair (37) played themselves in diligently against Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan. But the first change in the bowling brought instant success as Fleming was sucked into a loose drive to Lasith Malinga’s second ball of the day and was caught behind.Thereafter, the wickets fell in a slow drip. No New Zealand top order batsman passed fifty in the match and there were no substantial partnerships. Sri Lanka’s ground fielding was a little ragged, but their bowling was gun-barrel accurate and Jayawardene was always asking different questions with his innovative fields. Behind the stumps, Kumar Sangakkara chirped away happily.Sinclair was the next to go and the first of Muralitharan’s scalps, deceived by a perfectly pitched doosra that caught the outside edge and carried low to Jayawardene’s left at slip. After 33 balls of defiance, Nathan Astle was trapped lbw to Muralitharan for the third time in the series, pinned to his back foot by a quick 95kmh delivery that still spun sharply.The Sri Lankans were now in full chorus, sensing the start of New Zealand’s final slide. Vaas returned to the attack – with Sangakkara standing up to the stumps – and Jacob Oram, handicapped by his thigh injury, was somewhat predictably trapped lbw, stumbling across his stumps. Sri Lanka then rounded off a good morning’s work with the wicket of Brendon McCullum, who chopped on having been surprised by Muralitharan’s extravagant turn from around the wicket.Sri Lanka were frustrated after the interval by a 96-run stand between Vettori and Franklin. Both players had moments of good fortune, most notably Vettori who was bowled by a glorious Malinga yorker that was harshly called a no ball and later cracked on the wrist by a brutish lifter, but they battled hard and showed the kind of application that was missing in New Zealand’s top order.But Muralitharan, shortly after Vettori became the first New Zealander to pass fifty in the match, finally broke through in the second hour of the afternoon with a doosra. Vettori missed the change in action and padded away only to see the ball pitch and straighten. Franklin then tried to raise the tempo, lofting one huge six off Muralitharan over mid-wicket, but the innings was soon wrapped up with Shane Bond nicking behind and Franklin hoisting a catch into the deep.
David Shepherd, who last season retired from international umpiring, has been awarded Honorary Life Membership of MCC – the guardian of the Lawsof the game.Shepherd made an immense contribution to cricket, first as a player with Gloucestershire and, more recently, as an umpire who stood in 92 Test matches and172 one-day internationals – including three successive World Cup Finals between 1996 and 2003.”I am honoured and delighted to have been given lifetime membership of MCC,” said Shepherd. “It has capped a truly memorable year for me. I have many cherished memories from my career as both a player and umpire, and standing in a World Cup Final at Lord’s – the `home of cricket’ – is right up thereamongst them.”Lord’s is a wonderful ground and I look forward to returning there, as an MCC LifeMember, for many seasons to come.”Roger Knight, MCC’s secretary & chief executive, said: “It is fitting that MCC, as the guardian of the Laws of the game, should recognise David Shepherd’s immense contribution to cricket. No one could have done more to uphold the Laws and Spirit of Cricket than `Shep’ – a much respected umpire whose levels of performance and consistency were of the very highest class.”We are delighted that David has accepted our offer of Honorary Life Membership ofthe Club and I look forward to welcoming him back to Lord’s once the new seasonhas started.” Other Honorary Life Members of MCC include Sir Garfield Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar, Ian Botham, Henry Olonga and Dickie Bird.David Shepherd began his 40-year cricketing career in 1965, as a middle-order batsman with Gloucestershire, and became a first-class umpire in 1981. He retired from the elite panel of international umpires almost 25 years later – in July 2005 – after the England v Australia NatWest Challenge match at The Oval.
Bob Woolmer has suggested that Ricky Ponting’s unfavourable remarks against Shoaib Akhtar might just backfire on Australia in the third Test, which starts at Sydney on January 2.Responding to Ponting’s comments that Akhtar should have shown more aggression in the Australian second innings, Woolmer told : “He [Akhtar] is the one bowler that the Australian batsmen know can decimate them by his pace. We have to remember that, and I’m happy that Ricky is stirring him up. I think it’s good.”Shoaib showed a lot of guts during the game and at a particular stage he was just shattered, basically. He bowled more than he normally does because there were so few bowlers available. He gave it his all for a little bit, and then I think he was probably just tired. To criticise Shoaib is a little bit unfair, but Ponting is entitled to his opinion.”Woolmer reckoned that Akhtar was suffering from a lack of support at the other end. “Most fast bowlers hunt in pairs and when one part of the pair is gone it’s very difficult to expect one person to shoulder everything," Woolmer said, referring to Sami’s heel injury which severely hampered him during the second innings. "That’s why I think Shoaib should develop a short run-up and generate the same sort of pace. Running in so far, you are not going to be able to come back easily unless you’re a triathlete and you have that sort of fitness. Shoaib has been working very hard on this trip, and he needs a partner.”Akhtar bowled at only around 137 kmph as Australia easily chased the 126 they needed for victory, and Ponting later questioned his half-hearted attitude, saying: "I would have been very disappointed if I was the captain and that was my bowler running in and bowling like that."Justin Langer then joined in the debate, hinting that Akhtar didn’t go full pelt in that innings: “I don’t know whether he had niggles or was still tired from the first innings or they would save him up for Sydney. But Sydney comes and the series is over.”If we had got into a similar situation we would have had a red-hot dip to make it as hard as possible for them to score 125,” Langer stated, adding, “I am not saying they did not do that, but just by looking at Shoaib’s body language, it was different to every time I had played against him. From that point of view I am really surprised.”
When you approached the Chinnaswamy Stadium from the south in the afternoon, you saw a sea of people dressed in white – sporting bright green scarves – milling around Mahatma Gandhi Park. They were farmers protesting against the SM Krishna government’s “anti-farmer” policies, though you could also glimpse the odd billboard that said, very dramatically, “Kill the WTO”. While the fat cats in their Saville Row suits divide up the world-trade pie in Cancun, the little man’s voice continues to be heard above the din the world over.One or two of the younger ones seemed a little bored, glancing wistfully in the direction of the stadium. The older bunch contented themselves with peanuts and snoozing, interrupted by the sporadic slogan. In any event, the atmosphere there was a great deal more lively than what you found inside the stadium itself.The smattering of supporters were spread over three stands, and they roused themselves only when a certain Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar started putting bat to ball after a hesitant start. There was also applause for Wasim Jaffer, who started off-driving like a dream, and then went for one too many. The main topic of discussion in the stands then was the “no-ball” with which Lakshmipathy Balaji had made a mess of Tendulkar’s stumps. More than the five wickets he took, bowling with great verve, accuracy and discipline, it was that delivery that made the spectators sit up and take notice of Balaji – who is a far better bowler than his one-day debut against West Indies suggested.Zaheer Khan, by contrast, was all over the place. It should surprise no-one that the key performers in this match were all part of the India A team that toured England. While their senior colleagues appeared woefully short of match practice – even Tendulkar was a pale shadow of his usually authoritative self – the likes of Balaji, Rohan Gavaskar, Sridharan Sriram and Irfan Pathan were in fine fettle. So much for those who write off the Challenger as a waste of time. Imagine India’s plight if its finest had gone into the series against New Zealand on the back of just one Irani Trophy game.The other welcome thing about today was the absence of the M word, Munaf to those of you that have been deprived of news over the past fortnight. If you read some of the reports, you might have been convinced that Munaf Patel was a combination of Dennis Lillee, Jesus Christ, Moses and Harry Houdini, the “secret weapon” who would irreparably scar the Australian psyche this winter.Did we miss something? Munaf has yet to play a first-class game, and already the hype machine suggests that he’s the man to stymie Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist, who only comprise the best batting line-up on the planet. Figures like 150 kmph – only Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar clock that with any consistency – are freely bandied about. But who has put a radar gun on him? The media?To add some weight to flimsy arguments, they quote his coaches at MRF, who are hardly likely to give him anything but favourable press, come to think of it. You can almost understand why Sourav Ganguly, who knows a thing or two about earning the India cap, brushed off the hullabaloo by saying that it would be best to wait until he had actually shown his stuff in the middle. Like some of us, he can remember names like Iqbal Siddiqui and Tinu Yohannan, who aren’t even Challengers anymore. Munaf should forget about the elevator and take the stairs just like everyone else. The thing is, men like Aavishkar Salvi, Balaji and Pathan are already a couple of flights ahead. Munaf Patel – The whirlwind from Gujarat