A statement issued by Clive Field, chief executive of the Zimbabwe Professional Cricketers’ AssociationDespite a number of recent attempts to find a way forward with ZC regarding the various issues outstanding in the negotiations between ZPCA and ZC, I have not been able to provide ZPCA with any progress.ZPCA have thus instructed me to issue the following public statement on their behalf:1. ZPCA fail to comprehend how ZC can close its offices early and at short notice for its annual shutdown, when important operational issues still remain outstanding between ZPCA and ZC. To recap briefly on these:Contractual issues
Retainer Fee – payable at the official (Interbank) Rate
Match Fees for NZ and India series- late/non payment and purported unilateral variation by ZC of agreed contractual basis for payment of match fees from USD into local currency
Non availability of vehicles and fuel for playersGovernance Issues
Continued tenure of the chairman of the board, Mr. Chingoka
Continued tenure of the MD of ZC, Mr. Bvute
Non-resolution of financial questions asked of ZC by provincial chairmen, which gives rise to continued question marks over the viability of ZC and, thus, the decision to play cricket as a professional career2. It is the opinion of ZPCA that ZC has been given a reasonable opportunity to address these issues and take steps to progress matters, and to meet its outstanding financial obligations to players. In the face of burgeoning costs and at a time when most employees in Zimbabwe are receiving their annual bonuses, the players have been overlooked by ZC and are still waiting for match fees, more than two months late.3. Nevertheless, the players selected for the Afro-Asia Cup and SA tours have out of decency been prepared to show faith by continuing to train and prepare for those tours, despite having immediate pressing financial needs and suffering operational difficulties in sourcing fuel and transport to attend training, as well as facing the threat of imprisonment on allegations of forex irregularities.4. In the light of the persistent and continued failure by both the Chairman and the MD of ZC to address the legitimate concerns of their players, effective immediately no player will train or avail himself for national duty. In light of the imminent tours of Bangladesh and South Africa, we suggest that the organizers need to be notified accordingly as soon as possible.5. ZPCA very much regret the need for this step, which has been forced upon us by our circumstances.
The voice of Australian cricket will be heard for at least three more seasons after Richie Benaud accepted a deal to stay in the commentary box. Speculation of Benaud’s retirement had grown to the extent that an apparent successor had been agreed in Mark Nicholas, the former England A captain.But Nine today ended the rumours that Benaud, 74, was hanging up the microphone and beige jackets. “Richie is an icon of Australian cricket and he has signed a contract to stay on for another three years,” the spokesman Jamie Campbell said. “He loves the game. Cricket is his passion and his life and he has no intention of stopping as a commentator any time soon.” Campbell said there was no point discussing potential replacements for Benaud, who started with the network in 1977.Campbell also said Ian Chappell was being rested from the Adelaide Test as part of the commentary team’s rotational policy, a method under consideration for Australia’s bowlers. “There are three different teams coming to Australia this summer and overseas commentators will be used,” Campbell said. “As a result we have Tests where the commentators have the chance to take a break.” Chappell was reportedly angry at the move.
Hampshire look set to announce the signing of Chaminda Vaas as their overseas replacement for veteran Pakistani Wasim Akram who quit the county earlier in the month.Vaas, 29, who has taken 216 wickets in 68 Tests for Sri Lanka, held talks with Hampshire after Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s captain, turned down an offer of a second spell with the county. Paul Terry, Hampshire’s manager, said that an official announcement will be made later in the week.Streak turned down Hampshire’s approaches as he wanted to spend more time with his family after Zimbabwe’s recent tour of England.Wasim Akram left Hampshire halfway through a one-year contract because of his continuing battle with diabetes which had restricted him to just five of their eight first-class matches.
Canterbury assumed a surprising, but deserved, 178-run lead over Wellington in their State Championship match at Rangiora’s Dudley Park today.Wellington was dismissed for 126 in 51.3 overs when replying to Canterbury’s 242.By stumps on day two with a first innings lead of 116, Canterbury had reached 62/4, not as comfortable as it would have hoped as two quick wickets fell just before the end.The big task of pulling this match safely in Canterbury’s direction rests with the experience of captain Gary Stead and Chris Harris when they resume batting today. Harris with his first innings 70 is the big prospect for his side, especially with his history of high run scoring at the ground.The chances are however, that the improved batting conditions of late today could carry over into tomorrow meaning the more runs Canterbury can score the tougher it is going to be for Wellington.Star of the day was undoubtedly emerging pace bowler Wade Cornelius, who took career-best figures of seven for 53 for 17.3 overs in only his fifth first-class match.The temperature was up at Rangiora’s Dudley Park but that was no reason for the Wellington batting to melt the way it did.As if going to lunch at 14/3 was not bad enough, the Wellington players lost four more wickets while only 15 runs were scored as Warren Wisneski and Cornelius did their combine harvester impersonation, a not inappropriate comparison in this neck of the woods, by cutting down everything that moved in their path.They like their duck shooting in North Canterbury but they were in danger of being pulled up for out-of-season infringements as a result of the number of Wellington ducks being shot at Rangiora.That had to be of little comfort to captain Richard Jones, Selwyn Blackmore, Grant Donaldson, Chris Nevin and Matthew Walker who were all back in the pavilion with none of them having scored a run.Wisneski bowled with all his customary vigour and bustle while Cornelius found some early swing to go with his pace and in many ways looked like a younger Simon Doull. It was an impressive display from the both, and they have the makings of just the sort of formidable opening combination Canterbury has been seeking.Canterbury had earlier made the most of some enterprising batting from Paul Wiseman as the innings teetered towards its end, even if he did target CricInfo for some treatment when hitting a six into the scoring and media tent.While he lost Wisneski and Stephen Cunis, he found a good ally in Cornelius who had a good look at the conditions while helped Wiseman add 35 runs for the last wicket. Wiseman was last man out for 32.James Franklin ended with four wickets for 60 runs from 26 overs while Andrew Penn took three for 41 and Walker had two for 40.Wellington had plenty to be thankful for from Franklin and Penn, two unlikely saviours in the normal course of events. But Penn has always been handy with the bat while it was a timely chance for Franklin to demonstrate that he has the potential to develop into a top-flight all-rounder.Watch this space because he may have plenty of chances to bat this summer if Wellington keeps batting in this fashion.The pair added 84 runs for the eighth wicket, and most significantly for Wellington they ensured Canterbury would have no cause to invoke the follow-on by taking the score past 93.Penn was more prepared to belt anything loose and in the process scored 45 runs until the tea break proved his downfall when falling just after the return when trying to pull a ball from Cornelius only to sky it high in the direction of square leg where Brad Doody took the catch.Franklin batted on, sensibly accumulating runs to the point he scored 38 at which stage he ran out of partners as Cornelius’ pace proved too much for Jeetan Patel and Ash Turner.
Cricket Australia will make a decision on whether to proceed with the Test tour of Bangladesh after its security manager Sean Carroll meets with officials in Bangladesh over the coming days. Australia’s players were due to fly out for Bangladesh on Monday morning but that departure has been postponed due to new security advice from the Australian government.The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) issued updated travel advice on Friday, stating that “there is reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh”. The government contacted Cricket Australia directly on Friday afternoon to relay the latest advice, which has led to Carroll being dispatched to Bangladesh to assess the situation.Carroll is expected to meet with the Australian High Commissioner in Bangladesh on Sunday, ahead of further meetings with Bangladesh government, police and security officials from Monday. The Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said that while CA wanted the two-Test tour to proceed, it would not be possible to make any decisions until such meetings had taken place.”Our position is we want the tour to go ahead as planned,” Sutherland told reporters in Brisbane on Sunday. “This has obviously come very suddenly and we’ve needed to make this response. Our preferred position is to continue with the tour, but the safety and security of our players and staff is the absolute priority and the first priority for us is to secure that.”We’ll be endeavouring to get some undertakings and understandings of what the situation is in Bangladesh before making any further decisions in regard to the tour.”Sutherland said Cricket Australia had been advised by the Australian government on Friday that there would be an adjustment to the official recommendations for traveling in Bangladesh as a result of intelligence advice from DFAT and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).Although DFAT’s Smartraveller website often advises general caution when travelling in Asia, the wording of Friday’s updated advice – that “militants may be planning to target Australian interests” – is unusually specific. There is no such specific wording listed in the travel advice for neighbouring countries in the region.”The government came to us on Friday afternoon to advise us that they had some credible threats to western interests and on that basis, knowing that the team was not far away from leaving, that we should understand that there would probably be some alteration or adjustment to the travel advice for Australians going to Bangladesh,” Sutherland said.”What we’ve heard from our government and the Department of Foreign Affairs is that there are credible threats to Australian and western interests in Bangladesh. We obviously take that very seriously and we need to respond, and are responding in the manner that we have so far.”However, he also noted that the travel advice was for ordinary Australians travelling in Bangladesh, and the Australian squad would have extremely high levels of security if the tour went ahead.”The DFAT advice is for ordinary civilians who are travelling on holidays or on business in Bangladesh, which is very different to the Australian cricket team, which is afforded the highest level of security by Bangladesh police and armed forces while they’re there,” Sutherland said. “Those things need to be weighed up in the circumstances.”Cricket Australia has kept its players updated on the situation by email and the general manager of team performance, Pat Howard, has spoken directly to some players. Sutherland said he had also been in direct contact with Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the CEO of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, to keep the BCB updated on the situation.”I’ve spoken to my equivalent in Bangladesh and they understand our position,” Sutherland said. “They understand that we’ve taken advice from our government and they will go to every length to provide whatever support is necessary including arranging whatever meetings are necessary for our head of security and others to be able to get an understanding of the situation and what security response there may be from Bangladesh police, government and other security forces.”Australia’s former captain Michael Clarke said on Sunday that he hoped the tour would be able to go ahead, but that the decision should be made by the government and administrators rather than the players. Clarke said he was disappointed that during his international career of more than a decade he had never been able to tour Pakistan, due to security concerns.”A lot of the time as a player you leave decisions like this up to the experts,” Clarke said on Channel Nine’s . “This is one of the occasions you want, DFAT, CA, the Australian Cricketers’ Association to make the decision for you.”If they’re saying lets hold the guys’ travel off for a few extra days, that shouldn’t affect the tour at all. If they’re still saying don’t go in a week or two weeks’ time then we’re having a different conversation.”For the game we need to see teams be able to travel the world and play in all different conditions. I never got to play in Pakistan. I hope over time cricket is played all around the world and we don’t have these problems.”The short nature of the two-Test tour gives Cricket Australia little time to make a decision, and it would be unlikely that the matches could be rescheduled to another location at such short notice. The Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Alistair Nicholson said the ACA would work with Cricket Australia to keep the players informed.”We continue to be in close contact with the players, who fully understand that their safety is our foremost concern, that and any recommendations we make will be made with this in mind,” Nicholson said. “We’re also liaising with our security experts, CA and FICA – as the peak body for cricket player associations. We’re awaiting updated and more detailed assessments and will keep the players informed of any developments.”
West Ham United have suffered a blow in their pursuit of Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips after Newcastle swooped in to hijack the move.
The Lowdown: Failed January bid
Irons fans endured a disastrous January transfer window after failing to sign a single player in the mid-season market.
The Hammers boss claimed that this was not down to a lack of trying; the Daily Mail previously reported that West Ham had made a club-record £55m bid for the 26-year-old on deadline day.
Whilst it was reported that negotiations had started three weeks prior, the east London club made their move too late in the month and ultimately failed in their pursuit.
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The Latest: Newcastle hijack Phillips move
According to a fresh report by the Daily Mail, Leeds’ hopes of keeping Phillips are under threat, as Newcastle are prepared to hijack any move to east London by bumping the Yorkshireman’s salary from £25,000 per week to a staggering £120,000-a-week.
This follows Sportsmail’s claim that the Leeds player has told his club that he is willing to extend his stay with the Whites beyond his contract expiry date of 2024, despite growing interest from Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham.
Therefore, it appears that the Hammers may have slipped down Phillips’ pecking order, given the seemingly preferable choices of remaining at Elland Road or moving to the financially-welcoming Magpies.
The Verdict: Big blow for West Ham
This news represents a serious blunder from GSB and West Ham, who now seem set to miss out on the holding midfielder due to their lack of urgency in January.
Rising to prominence during Euro 2020 as he partnered Irons star Declan Rice in the middle of the park for England, Phillips received huge plaudits for a number of his performances during the tournament, with Arsenal legend Ian Wright hailing him as “phenomenal”.
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When compared with similar players in Europe’s top five leagues, the 26-year-old ranks in the 99th percentile for pressures and the 97th percentile for blocks made (via FBRef), so his quality as a midfueld destroyer is plain to be seen.
Therefore, with Newcastle hijacking the Irons’ move for the Leeds maestro, this will come as a huge blow to the east London club.
In other news: These were West Ham’s three worst performers against Everton
Stephen Outerbridge will fly home immediately after picking up an injury to his right knee in Bermuda’s defeat in the third and final one-dayer against Kenya. The BCB confirmed that scans showed cartilage damage.He will miss the four-day Intercontinental Cup match against Kenya which begins on Thursday, but he will not be replaced. A board statement said: “Based on the extent of the injury it is anticipated that Stephen will be not be able to train or practice for at least six to eight weeks. It has been decided that there is no need to send a replacement player for the Intercontinental Cup game.”His injury further compounds Bermuda’s woes. Bermuda slumped to a 3-0 series defeat by Kenya, and in the process their allrounder Lionel Cann was banned for two ODIs after being found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during his team’s three-wicket defeat to Kenya in Nairobi on Saturday in which he showed ‘serious dissent’.
Andrew Strauss was satisfied with England’s efforts after a useful two-day work-out against Western Australia at Perth. Strauss, who was captaining England in the absence of Andrew Flintoff, made 88 in a first-wicket stand of 183 with Alastair Cook, who top-scored with a composed 106. “The wicket was pretty flat and both Cooky and I appreciated some length of time in the middle,” said Strauss after the match had ended in a predictable draw.”It’s a practice match and the best practice is to get some runs,” he added. Strauss was England’s form batsman in the opening stages of the tour, but managed scores of just 12, 11, 14 and 34 in the first two Tests. “It’s not gone quite according to plan in that respect,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t have been desolate if I hadn’t scored runs, but it’s nice to get some time in the middle.”Realistically, England have to win Thursday’s third Test if they are to get anything out of this series, and Strauss added that the real bonus of their performance was the chance to get a sneak preview of the WACA conditions. “The guys have said it’s been slow and low in recent years, but there’s was bounce and carry on the first morning for our bowlers, and it played slightly better than I expected.”The success of England’s batting meant that Michael Vaughan’s much-vaunted comeback had to be put on hold. “Vaughany was due to come in at No. 4,” said Strauss, “but as the day went on it was more a case of giving the guys who may be involved in Test matches a run-out in the middle, so he slipped down the order. If we lost a few early wickets he’d have come in.”We’ve not had a huge amount to do with Vaughan,” said Strauss, when asked whether it was a distraction having a non-playing captain hanging around the squad. “He’s encouraged by how his recuperation is going, but he realises it’s better to keep a low profile. But he came through his fielding really well. He was really happy with it, so that’s encouraging.”Changes are anticipated for the third Test, with Monty Panesar widely tipped to come into the side for his first appearance of the tour. “I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Strauss said with a grin after it was pointed out he had bowled more than three times as many overs as his rival Ashley Giles. “I think it was important that Monty got a good bowl, and the wicket maybe suited a quicker left-arm spinner.
Strauss couldn’t tell from his sighting of the pitch quite how much of a part spin would play in the Test. “It’s hard to say because we haven’t seen how the wicket deteriorates,” he said. “It’s wasn’t overly difficult to face the spinner, but as the game goes on, they’ll become more difficult because of the turn and bounce, which is something spinners always look for.”The seamers will have to be disciplined,” added Strauss. “There may be a wicket or two early, but then it’s a case of being really disciplined. I thought Jimmy [Anderson] bowled exceptionally. He swung it late and bowled very few bad balls. It was a tough time in those first couple of Tests, but he got some really useful rhythm out of this match.”The form of Steve Harmison remains a worry for England, however. He took 1 for 99 in 21 overs in this match, but Strauss insisted he was getting back towards his best. “He’s coming alright, but he’s not having a lot of luck. There were a few occasions yesterday when it was outrageously bad luck that he didn’t get wickets. Hopefully that luck changes, because sometimes all you need is one or two wickets and it all falls into place.”He’s been hurting to be honest,” added Strauss. “Harmy had a big contribution to make in this series, but he needs to be patient and things will happen. You don’t go from world-class to nothing overnight. He has all the attributes to bowl very, very well in Australia, and I’ve never seen him work so hard in the nets.”Strauss glossed over the reported divisions in the England camp, and backed his coach, Duncan Fletcher, to ride out the current storm. “Duncan is always good in a crisis,” he said. “He doesn’t lose his head, he keeps focussed, and he’s always drumming in simple things we need to not lose sight of.”He hasn’t changed at all,” Strauss added. “He’s been there and done it all before, and it’s important not to get sidetracked by off-the-field issues. The guys have got a point to prove and the squad’s still together.”
Scorecard Ashok Thakur starred for Himachal Pradesh, picking up three of the six wickets that fell today, as they held their nerve to clinch a 14-run win against Vidarbha to earn four points in a close encounter at Nagpur. Vidarbha, who started the day needing 121 runs to win, lost both the overnight batsmen quickly but fought hard through a valiant 47-run seventh-wicket partnership between Vikarant Gonnade (35) and Pritam Gandhe (25). Himachal then fought back to remove Gonnade and Harshal Shitoot, the next man in, and looked to have sewed up the game when Thakur, the left-hand medium-pacer, struck twice in an over to have Vidarbha reeling at 142 for 9. Gandhe fought on gamely, hanging around with the last man Pawan Yadav, as they inched close to Himachal before Vikramjeet Malik delivered the decisive blow removing Gandhe. Scorecard Sanjay Pandey grabbed a five-for and Narendra Hirwani, the former India legspinner, picked up four to bowl out Rajasthan for 267, gaining a 126-run lead, to put Madhya Pradesh in a commanding position by the end of the third day’s play at Indore. Rajasthan, resuming at 10 for 1, were propped up by 113-run fifth wicket partnership between Dishant Yagnik and Ajay Jadeja, the captain, but that was not enough as the toporder could not handle the medium pace of Pandey while the others struggled against the wiles of Hirwani. Madhya Pradesh lost Naman Ojha, the opener, and were at 17 for 1 at close. Scorecard Despite crumbling from their overnight 182 for 5 to 194 all out, Saurashtra fought back to dismiss Tripura for 119 before hitting the required 32 runs to win by eight wickets at Agartala. Sandeep Jobanputra and Sandip Maniar tore into the Tripura toporder while Kamlesh Makvana took care of the tail as Tripura were shot out for a paltry score in their second innings. Earlier, Vineet Jain, the medium-pacer, and Sujit Roy, the offspinner, triggered a collapse as Saurashtra lost five wickets for just 12 runs but that was not enough to prevent Saurashtra picking up four points from this game. Scorecard Pravaranjan Mullick, overnight on 51, went on to a score a superb century as Orissa gained a vital 102-run lead in the Ranji Plate match against Goa at Margoa. Avinash Aware, the fast-medium bowler, cleaned up the tail to end with a five-wicket haul but Mullick by then had guided Orissa to a comfortable position. In reply, powered by Nikhil Haldipur , Goa erased the deficit and were 26 runs ahead but it might not be enough to prevent Orissa from earning at least two points from this game, courtesy the first-innings lead. Scorecard Shahid Khan, the left-arm spinner, and Sanjeev Gupta, the medium-pacer, snared seven wickets to leave Jammu & Kashmir struggling at 155 for 8 as Jharkhand gained upper hand by the end of the third day’s play at Jammu. Earlier in the day, Sameer Khajuria, the J&K offspinner, scalped four wickets and bagged a five-for but Mihir Diwakar’s breezy 50 off 50 balls studded with 10 fours had ensured a 90-run lead for Jharkhand. Scorecard Sreekumar Nair, the left-arm spinner, struck twice in the space of four balls to unsettle the lower middleorder after Tinu Youhannan had grabbed the key wicket of Vasanth Saravanan early on the third day to bowl out Assam for a paltry 169 to gain the upper hand at Dibrugarh. Somasetty Suresh remained unbeaten on 30, after the early dismissal of Sadagoppan Ramesh, the former India and Tamil Nadu opener, as Kerala reached 58 for 2 at close.
Anil Kumble On taking a five-wicket haul in Kanpur in three matches I would have been lot more happier if I would have bowled fewer than those 54 overs.On feeling disappointed with the pitch We just need to play with whatever surface we are provided with, and go on doing our job. We always knew the Kanpur wicket was on the slower side, and we had to show that we can play good and that’s what we did today when we batted. We were able to restrict South Africa and have so far batted well, so we are in a good position at the end of day three.On the strategy for tomorrow Just keep batting – and get as soon as possible past the 310-mark which is not far away. Keep batting tomorrow and see what holds us from there. The wicket is still good for the batting and, with a capacity crowd, we should be able to do that.On Gautam Gambhir’s batting He’s done pretty well and is going for the target. And chasing a 500-plus target its not easy for a youngster in only his second Test. Hopefully he goes on to score his first hundred tomorrow and bats long.Ray Jennings On the day’s proceedings It was interesting day. We started off positive, though the fog was different in the morning as we haven’t experienced anything like that. Then I saw really superb batting display by the Indian openers which I haven’t seen for a long time, so all credit to them.On whether the Indian fightback was expected From a top side you can expect anything. Obviously the 50-50 stumping chance [Thami Tsolekile missed stumping of Virender Sehwag off Robin Petersen] didn’t go our way. We could have stopped their acceleration and that put pressure on us. Both the Indian openers batted very correctly and exploited our weaknesses.On the South African bowling We didn’t bowl in the right areas today and will be addressing that later in the evening and you will see them different tomorrow.On the timing of their declaration We are an inexperienced side and the declaration timing for us was just a sort of guarantee. We could have always attacked and sped the game up – but the fog in the morning changed our way of thinking. We were going to be a lot more cautious than normal, but we could have accelerated our game at least in one session in the last two days but I am happy to gain that experience and put the 11 players through the experience they had never had before.