Four days ago, Jamaican left-arm spinner Nikita Miller did not know what if felt like to take five wickets in an innings at the first-class level.Within three days of a one-sided Carib Beer Challenge final which saw Jamaica prevail over Trinidad and Tobago by nine wickets at Sabina Park, he has two five-wicket hauls, and ten in a match for the first time.”It’s been a long time coming, and I must say that I’m really, really elated,” Miller told the . “I’m really, really happy. I’ve been working really hard this season, and I’m very grateful.”He attributed his performances this season, which landed him 42 wickets, one more than T&T off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth, and the Bowler-of-the-Series accolade, to hard work and “a bit of luck”.”I love the game of cricket and I put in a lot of work for it, and maybe that’s what has worked for me this season,” Miller said.Like many of the region’s slower bowlers, he is sitting in wait to be noticed and acknowledged by the West Indies selectors. “It [being selected] would be on my mind, but the only thing I can do is to go on and perform to my best. If the coach or the selectors see it fit, then they will select me. I can’t say that I deserve a game or not. So I’ll just wait and see what they’ll do.”Tamar Lambert, Jamaica’s stand-in captain, also had high praise for Miller. “Nikita has been exceptional for us this season. And to get 42 wickets in just six games has been a good season for Nikita Miller. He just continues to bowl well year in, year out,” he said.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBabar Hayat led the way with an unbeaten 65•HKCA/Bridget Rive
Unbeaten half-centuries from Babar Hayat and Mark Chapman helped Hong Kong to a comfortable eight-wicket win in the third T20 with Oman. The series had already been decided, however, with Oman winning the first two games.In the highest-scoring of their three encounters, Oman set a target of 150 to win, which Hong Kong achieved in the 19th over, Chapman finishing the game with his third six. Hayat and Chapman put on a unbroken stand of 127 to guide their side home after early wickets for Ajay Lalcheta and Mehran Khan had left Hong Kong on 28 for 2.Oman’s innings had got off to a fast start before congealing in the middle overs. Opener Zeeshan Maqsood struck five fours in 23 from 15 balls but he was third man out in the eighth over, with the score on 48. Oman also lost No. 3 Aaqib Sulehri to injury after facing just one ball.Adnan Ilyas and Aamir Kaleem put on 101 for the fourth wicket, both players opening their shoulders towards the end as 22 came off the 18th over, bowled by Haseeb Amjad. Another 15 came off the last over before Haseeb picked up his second wicket by having Ilyas lbw for 49 off the final ball.
Robert Croft has been appointed as a spin bowling consultant to the England ODI side. He played 21 Test and 50 ODIs during his England career and will spend 12 days with the limited-overs team in South Africa.A vastly experienced offspinner, Croft represented Glamorgan for 23 years and, even into his 40s, proved highly effective as a limited-overs performer with changes of pace – even changes of action – helping him make a successful transition to the T20 age.While the ECB do already have a full-time spin bowling coach – Peter Such – Croft retired from playing recently enough to have played against most of the England squad and has experience of playing international limited-overs cricket. Such, who never played ODIs and retired before the advent of T20, also already has a wide area of responsibility and was in the UAE with the performance squad before Christmas and is expected to travel with the England U19 squad as they prepare for the U19 World Cup. While Such might be described as a coach in the traditional sense, helping bowlers build a technique, Croft’s role may relate more to specific match situations and tactics.Since retiring as a player at the end of 2012, Croft has moved into coaching. He is currently with Glamorgan and has previously been invited to work with the England performance squad. He hopes to complete his Level 4 coaching qualification in 2016.”Robert has had success in both domestic and international cricket during his career and he’ll have plenty to offer the dressing room,” Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, said. “It’s an opportunity for players and coaches to exchange different ideas which is so important particularly at this stage in the side’s development.”He has worked with our performance programme in the past and has proved a popular and valuable addition and I’ve no doubt this group of players will also gain a lot from his involvement. I’m sure he’ll return with ideas that Glamorgan will benefit from as they prepare for the coming season.”The appointment of Croft continues England’s policy of utilising the skills and experience of recently retired former players. Paul Collingwood, the only man to lead England to a global limited-overs trophy at the 2010 World T20, is also expected to join up the squad for the World T20 in India while Mahela Jayawardene spent time with the Test players at the start of their tour of the UAE. The other coaches for the ODI segment of the South Africa tour will be Trevor Bayliss, Paul Farbrace, Ottis Gibson and Graham Thorpe.The development will surely do Croft’s own coaching credentials no harm. With Toby Radford having recently left the role of head coach at Glamorgan, Croft is probably the favourite to replace him. A coaching appointment with the England side coming 10 days before the closing date for applications would seem perfectly timed.”It’s extra experience for me and if the opportunity presents itself to help the lads I will,” Croft said. “I’m there to observe and primarily be a sounding board for the spin bowlers, but will give any additional help as required.”It is another opportunity to increase my coaching experience. The November before last I was invited out to work with Andy Flower with the development squad in Sri Lanka and this time it’s the full squad in South Africa. I’m looking forward to meeting up with two excellent coaches with different styles in Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace and to absorbing their ideas.”It is always good to have an open mind in the profession you are involved with, you can learn every day, so I hope to pick up things that will help me be a better coach.”The England squad flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg on Sunday and, after a brief break, will resume training on Monday morning.
Liton Das’ 73-ball 85 led a strong batting performance by Abahani Limited, who brushed aside Prime Bank Cricket Club by 60 runs in the 2017 DPL’s first Super League game – a rain-affected affair at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar.Das’ effort was complemented well by Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Mohammad Mithun, the Abahani captain, who both struck quick half-centuries of their own to lift Abahani to 321 for 6 in an innings curtailed to 47 overs. In reply, Prime Bank were snuffed out in 43.3 overs for 273.Das laid out a solid platform for Abahani with a century stand for the second wicket in the company of Saif Hassan who struck a more sedate 46. After Das fell, having struck eight fours and four sixes, Shanto and Mithun added 107 more for the fourth wicket. Atif Hossain and Manan Sharma then raced away to unbeaten cameos to shore up Abahani.Prime Bank’s innings was strewn with batsmen perishing after getting off to starts. Five of their top six made a score in excess of 20, but Zakir Hasan’s 55 was the highest score. Prime Bank captain Asif Ahmed mounted a late fightback, but ran out of partners. He struck 32 of the 44 runs his team scored after his arrival at 229 for 7, before becoming the last man to be dismissed. Manan led Abahani’s bowling efforts with 3 for 54, while Afif, Shuvagata Hom and Mohammad Saifuddin took two each.A 641-run slugfest at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium ended with Mohammedan Sporting Club prevailing by seven runs, consigning Gazi Group Cricketers to their third consecutive defeat.Mohammedan ran up 324 for 8 after half-centuries from Rony Talukdar (92) and Shamsur Rahman (74) at the top. Chasing a stiff target, Gazi Group were off to a flying a start, but ended up on 317 for 8.Anamul Haque and Munim Shahriar kicked off the chase with a 61-run opening stand in 6.4 overs. Kamrul Islam Rabbi struck in the seventh over to end Anamul’s burst on 36 off 22 balls. He had struck three fours and two sixes. Mominul Haque fell soon after, but Shahriar repaired the damage with identical stands of 64 for the third and fourth wickets, with Jahurul Islam and Parvez Rasool respectively.Shahriar fell for 88 in the 39th over, after which Suhrawadi Shuvo kept Gazi afloat with a 51-run seventh-wicket stand with Mahedi Hasan. Though Shuvo and Mahedi struck a combined 84 runs, they only managed three fours between them, and the lack of boundaries hurt Gazi in the end. Kamrul, Bipul Sharma and Sajedul Islam took two wickets each.When Mohammedan batted, they were lifted by a 148-run second-wicket stand between Shamsur and Talukdar. The stand ended with Shamsur’s dismissal for 74 that had one four and five sixes. Talukdar fell in the 35th over, after the score had crossed 200. Thereafter, Bipul (28 off 31) and Nazmul Hossain Milon (47 off 33) made handy contributions to propel them to a big total. Mahedi (1 for 49) and Rasool (1 for 51) impressed in their respective quotas.In another curtailed game, at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar, Imtiaz Hossain’s career-best 128 vaulted Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club to a 40-run win over Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.Imtiaz, who struck 17 fours and four sixes, made nearly half his team’s runs as Prime Doleshwar put up 274 for 7 in an innings shortened to 46 overs. In reply, Dhanmondi Club were bowled out for 251 after their batsmen failed to convert their starts.Imtiaz’s second-wicket stand of 176 with Shahriar Nafees (67) formed the bulwark of Prime Doleshwar’s total. Sharifullah later made a valuable late contribution through a 27-ball 35.Three of Dhanmondi Club’s batsmen made 40s, including Tanbir Hayder, who top-scored with 46, while Ziaur Rahman made 37. But none hung on to make a big score.Five of the six bowlers used by Prime Doleshwar were among the wickets. Chathuranga de Silva and Arafat Sunny were the most impressive of the lot with figures of 2 for 38 and 2 for 41 in their respective nine overs.
Mitchell Starc called for Snicko to be “sacked” after the edge-detection technology’s reliability came under the scanner for a second consecutive day in the third Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval, as Cricket Australia’s chief executive sought answers over its previous malfunction.England had a review reinstated by match referee Jeff Crowe on the second morning after BBG Sports, the suppliers of Snicko, conceded operator error had led to an incorrect reprieve for Alex Carey during his opening-day century. The ECB plans to lobby the ICC to review its protocols and systems as a result of the error.Australia’s players were then incensed when Jamie Smith was adjudged not out when the on-field umpires reviewed a possible catch at first slip by Usman Khawaja off Pat Cummins’ bowling. Chris Gaffaney, the TV umpire, suggested that the ball had hit Smith on the helmet after consulting Snicko, but Australia were convinced that it had hit him on the glove.Related
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“Snicko needs to be sacked. That’s the worst technology there is,” Starc said, standing close to the stump microphone, after the decision was confirmed. “They make a mistake the other day, and they make another mistake today.”Smith himself was left frustrated when given out caught behind off Cummins two overs later, when Snicko showed a spike one frame after the ball had passed the bat (within the accepted margin for error). The on-field umpires had not made a decision and instead referred it to Gaffaney.Simon Taufel, the award-winning former umpire, argued that the ICC had made an error when removing the ‘soft signal’ from the game two years ago. “I love to see umpires making decisions,” Taufel told Channel 7. “Technology is there to support [umpires]; technology is not there to replace.”We’ve gone back 20 years. We’ve gone back to, when there’s an element of doubt with the technology, the batting side are always going to get the benefit and the batter is going to stay there… The game deserves better than that and I would love to see the soft signal back in there.”Snicko, officially Real-Time Snickometer, is one of two edge-detection technologies licensed by the ICC along with the more commonly-used UltraEdge, which is owned by HawkEye. The choice of technology falls on the host broadcaster, who are also responsible for its funding, and Snicko is understood to be the cheaper of the two options.Todd Greenberg, CA’s chief executive, told SEN Radio that the governing body were “asking the right questions of the right people” after the error on the opening day. “The short answer is we’re not happy with it,” Greenberg said. “We don’t think it’s good enough, and we definitely think that we need to be assured that it won’t happen again.”Any changes to protocols or licensed technologies would need to be approved and signed off by the ICC’s cricket committee and chief executives’ committee at their next meetings. The ICC declined to comment when contacted by ESPNcricinfo.Marcus Trescothick, England’s batting coach, called on “the powers that be” to resolve the matter. “It’s not an ideal situation,” he said. “Of course, we’ve been on the back end of a poor one yesterday, and a few ones that you sort of question over the course of today. It’s up for the powers that be behind the scenes to try and work that out.”Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, was critical of Snicko earlier on the second day. “This technology that we are using here is simply not as good as technology that’s used in other countries,” he told Channel 7. “You talk to the umpires, they’ll tell you the same thing. They can’t trust it.”They’ve got a third umpire sitting up in there that’s got to make decisions based on what he’s seeing that the technology is providing, and sometimes they have a gut feel that it’s not right. That can’t happen. You’ve got to be able to trust the technology that’s in place.”Nathan Lyon refused to answer questions about Snicko in his close-of-play press conference, saying: “I’m not going to comment on the DRS.”
After failing to win a fourth successive Premier League title or anything else of note at Old Trafford this past season attentions have once again been focused on ownership issues, protests and underperforming stars, is it time that Sir Alex Ferguson oversaw a summer clean up at Manchester United?
David Gill, Manchester United chief executive, had previously told the Green and Gold movement to stop moaning as the club have £95million to spend this summer. However, BBC News recently revealed that the Red Devils’ owners the Glazer family are £1.1billion in debt – £400million that had previously been thought – after borrowing extensively against their shopping mall business, as well as their NFL franchise the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
So, with the ownership issue rumbling on and showing no signing of coming to a happy conclusion for the United fans Sir Alex may opt to sell in order to bring in funds to refresh the squad as they have many saleable assets.
Probably their most saleable asset who they could probably live without is former Tottenham player Dimitar Berbatov. The 29-year-old is a talented and misunderstood player, but it just has not happened for him at Old Trafford. It may be better for all parties concerned to sell the player as another season being labelled as a ‘flop’ would make his stock fall further. His goal scoring record has not been terrible at Manchester United (14 in 43 games in 2008/09 and 12 in 43 games in 2009/10), but it isn’t great and a lot less than the Old Trafford faithful were expecting from a player who cost the club over £30m in transfer fees. It’s rumoured that AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and Juventus are interested in the player and it wouldn’t be a bad shout for Tottenham to go back in for him as they search for a front man.
Another Red Devil who could be sold to raise funds is also an ex-Tottenham player Michael Carrick, 28, who has been warming the bench for much of the last Premier League campaign, so it was a surprise for some when he managed to find himself in England’s World Cup squad ahead of Tom Huddlestone, who hasn’t got the experience but is the better player in my opinion.
According to chief exec Gill the midfielder cost the club £14m, which had various clauses attached to it which could have risen to £18.6m…I doubt they will get their money back there.
Manchester United also paid over the odds (reportedly around £17m) for young Brazilian midfielder Anderson. The 22-year-old has become something of a misfit at Old Trafford and perhaps it is time that he was sold on. I don’t doubt that he is a promising young player, but he was bought as an attacking midfielder and has mostly been deployed in a deep role…much in the same way many argue Jon Obi Mikel has been played out of position at Chelsea.
After the Premier League champions have let the likes of Joe Cole (a Red Devil’s target), Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti go out the door, with Deco and Paulo Ferreira also likely leaving the club they will undoubtedly seek to strengthen their squad, which could make the need for United to have a team shake up a must.
With cash raised from sales it could go some way to pay for their reported targets such as Lassana Diarra, Karim Benzema, Luis Suarez and David Silva. Their need to freshen up the squad is made all the more important as they have many old players like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and the very much injury prone players Michael Owen, Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand.
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Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has laughed off reports that he was considering walking out on the Premier League new boys.
Holloway was reported to be considering his future at Bloomfield Road just weeks after guiding the Seasiders into the top-flight after failing to agree terms on a new contract.
"Anyone that thinks I would walk out on the club must be mad," he told the Blackpool Gazette.
"For people to think that I would walk out without saying anything and that (chairman) Karl (Oyston) and I would fall out badly is quite ridiculous.
"My intention is to lead Blackpool in the Premier League next season and that's the chairman's intention too.
"It's gone on for a few weeks, but we are pretty close to sorting it out I think. We are still in talks.
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From ‘zero to hero’ is a common expression that has been used to describe a lot of footballers and it is certainly a tag that can be given to Kevin-Prince Boateng.
The newly capped Ghanaian midfielder was playing reserve team football for Tottenham two years ago, after failing to make the grade at White Hart Line. Now he is one of the darlings of his country after Ghana reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. His middle name Prince, adorns the back of his shirt for Ghana and that couldn’t be more fitting of how his country regards him after his fantastic World Cup.
He was arguably Ghana’s best player of the tournament and his displays often ran the midfield, his exploits included a stunning goal against the USA in the second round which helped to take them through. Boateng proved to be one of the revelations of the World Cup and the same can be said for his club Portsmouth, who despite their woeful season Boateng managed to come out of it with some credit. He gave his all for the team and he scored the winning goal at Wembley that incredibly took Portsmouth to the final of the FA Cup against Chelsea. In the final however he was guilty of missing a penalty for Portsmouth when the scores were 0-0 and that possibly could have won them the game had he been able to convert it. The FA Cup final also had some implications on the World Cup as Boateng injured Michael Ballack, which ruled him out of the World Cup finals for the nation of Boateng’s birth Germany. As a result his half-brother, Jerome Boateng who is a German international petulantly decided that he no longer wished to speak to Kevin-Prince any more.
Kevin-Prince Boateng didn’t play for Ghana until the week the World Cup was due to commence as he played in Ghana’s 1-0 friendly victory against Latvia at Stadium:mk in England. Boateng started every single game for Ghana in the World Cup, and it’s incredible how such a lynch-pin for team didn’t play a single game for Ghana until just before the start of the tournament. When Boateng moved to Tottenham in 2007 he was highly regarded as a promising youngster, but shortly after his arrival he looked off the pace and not suited to the Premier League. Arguably he didn’t get a fair crack of the whip at Spurs as he only managed 14 appearances for the club. He thrived at Portsmouth this year and after their relegation and money troubles as well as the fact that he had such a good World Cup, means that there is no doubt that he will move on.
It seems as though a move to Italy is in the offing with Genoa and Lazio being linked, and the latest reports claim that the clubs may reach a co-ownership agreement for his services. Whoever does land Boateng this summer will have a talented player at their disposal who has shown that hard work can take you far in football, and it’s nice to see a player who was written off countless times go and make a name for himself and Kevin-Prince Boateng certainly looks like he will be rewarded for his efforts.
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Click on image below to see the SPANISH babes at the World Cup
For the second season in a row, Swansea have had their manager poached from under their noses. 12 months ago Wigan swooped for Roberto Martinez for whom the lure of the Premier League proved too much, and now this summer fellow Championship club Leicester have secured the services of Paulo Sousa. The loss of Sousa is not as bad as that of Martinez a year ago, with the proviso that Chairman Huw Jenkins made a quality replacement, but does the arrival of new gaffer Brendan Rodgers fit that brief?
The summer period hasn’t exactly proved to be a good time for the Swans in recent years. The departure of Martinez and top scorer Jason Scotland a year ago looked on paper as though it would be disastrous, and I for one was surprised at how well Swansea fared in the Championship, just missing out on the playoffs once more. Just when the Liberty Stadium club are looking to strengthen, yet again their manager walks out on them and Swansea have to rebuild once more.
It’s never a good sign when a new manager comes in and says he’s determined to win over the doubters, fighting what could well be a losing battle right from the start. Brendan Rodgers has to do just that, and it’s no wonder given his managerial CV to date. Seven months at Watford was followed by six months at Reading, before he was sacked due to the club flirting with relegation, which resulted in a dramatic upturn in fortunes for the Championship club. So the pressure will be on Rodgers right from the get go, but will it be an environment he can thrive in?
Nicknamed the Special One because he worked under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, the real Special One has always believed in Rodgers. “I like everything in him, he is ambitious and does not see football very differently from myself” Mourinho has previously said. Thus should his time at Reading just be viewed as a blip? A time when he was building a young team and who knows, maybe he would have got them to the right end of the table if given time.
I’ve no doubt that the Swansea faithful will fully get behind the Northern Irishman but will not tolerate a similar start to the one he had at Reading. The 37-year-old has a tough task ahead of him, and will firstly have to fight off Premiership interest in key players such as Darren Pratley and Ashley Williams, before looking to strengthen for the upcoming Championship campaign. Having failed at Reading, is there any reason why the fortunes of Brendan Rodgers will be different at Swansea? I’m not overly confident.
Click on image to see a gallery of the BEST BABES at the World Cup this summer
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In an age where footballers are as equally recognised for their obscene pay packets, fast cars and playboy lifestyles, as for their actual ability on the football pitch, it’s good to know that there are some players who still uphold the long-established and time-honoured traditions on which the game was built. Fernando Torres’ decision to stay at Liverpool this season, made with a minimum amount of fuss and objection, was a victory for the purists of the game and for class, tradition and good old fashioned loyalty.
It comes as no surprise that a player of Torres’ class and quality on the pitch is as equally so off it. Torres upholds the game’s morals of hard work and fair play every time he crosses the white line and appreciates the privileged position he is in by getting paid a handsome sum for kicking around a football. You do not see Torres diving around the pitch looking for free kicks or penalties, or play-acting to deceive referees. You also get a humbleness and humility from Torres and not the arrogance and egotism often seen with similarly gifted players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba.
The Spanish striker could have easily requested a move this summer following three years of underachievement and broken promises at Anfield but has decided to stay and help the club turn a corner under new manager Roy Hodgson. As seen with Javier Mascherano’s refusal to even return Hodgson’s phone calls over the summer to discuss his future and Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas shamelessly trying to engineer a move to Barcelona, some footballers show a distinct lack of regard for the club that employs them and pays their wages. Torres chose to keep a dignified silence amid speculation regarding a transfer before returning to the club to clarify reports and publicly commit his future to Liverpool.
Torres is now entering the prime of his career and has still yet to win a major trophy at club level. With Chelsea and Barcelona, as well as the ambitious Man City, all reportedly keen on the Liverpool No.9, the Spaniard would have been tempted to pack his bags and leave. Liverpool are a side that finished 7th last season and are faced with the prospect of Europa League football this season. The club’s inability to find new investment this summer and finally start work on a new stadium would have also all been crosses in the ‘against’ column as Torres was figuring out his future. However Torres must now sense new investment is close and will be confident he can fire The Reds up the table this season.
Torres’ decision to stay will further enhance is glowing reputation on Merseyside in the eyes of his adoring public who worship him following his remarkable 56 goals in 79 league games for the club. Torres now has to prove his fitness on the pitch following a season disrupted by injury last year. Should he do so, then Torres can continue to light up the Premier League in a red shirt for years to come. While Liverpool are now optimistic heading into the new season under the stewardship of manager Roy Hodgson, Torres’ decision to stay could prove pivotal to the club’s future successes.
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