All posts by h716a5.icu

Netherlands failed to build on their strong performance against England, while West Indies flexed muscle against minnows after they were beaten by South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Delhi28-Feb-2011West Indies came sashaying back into this World Cup with a performance so calypso it was a pina colada for the eyes. It had flamboyant batting, destructive bowling, over-the-top celebrations and that essential ingredient, something orange that had been turned to pulp.The colour was provided by Netherlands, who came into this match on a high, anticipating a decent performance after their competitive showing against England. Ryan ten Doeschate’s century had propped them up comfortably, and even though they weren’t able to secure victory with the ball, they had shown a determination beyond their minnow status. They had arrived in Delhi with a real base on which to start from.They came to the capital with so much to live up to, so much promise, so much expectation and so much belief that they were going to compete in the tournament. Against West Indies, they were even spoken about as competing as equals. In a daze of hype, it looked as though the Dutch forgot that beyond the confidence and the positivity, they would actually have to turn up and play, before any of that became a reality.They had spoken about an improved performance in the field, which they were not able to execute half as well as they talked about. Even though batting has been their strength, without getting the other half of their game to work, it’s negated. Peter Borren had no answers, no excuses and by the looks of it, no motivation at the end of the match.After the game, his one statement summed up an evening that left his team gutted. “If we are going to bat and bowl and field as poorly as we did today, it actually makes no difference if we bat or field first.” With that empty statement, and the hollow expression that accompanied it, he left the room. It’s going to take a lot for Netherlands to pick themselves up from this demoralising defeat, and they only have three days to figure out how to.For West Indies, the three days between games can’t be over with soon enough. After their initial defeat to South Africa, their 12th in succession, the critics were saying the same thing: that the West Indians were not good enough and would have to battle for their place in the quarter-finals. Then, albeit against an associate side, all the big guns fired. Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard belted out half-centuries and Kemar Roach, their premier strike bowler, ended up with 6 for 27, including the tournament’s first hat-trick.Roach said the victory buoyed the team, particularly for their next challenge in Dhaka. “We take a lot of confidence into the game against Bangladesh,” he said. “This match was good preparation for the Bangladesh game. We’ll go there on a high. Bangladesh are an improving team but we are better than them.”That kind of confidence is rare for a current West Indian bowler, especially because bowling is considered their weak link, with some suggesting that they would always need big runs because they would struggle to bowl sides out. Roach, who often operates as the lone strike bowler, said that although being a seamer in the subcontinent is challenging, he is adapting. “It’s tough coming here as a bowler to the subcontinent, you have to be very accurate and consistent, once you get that right, you get wickets.”Roach opened the bowling with spinner Sulieman Benn in the last two matches, and even though West Indies were renowned for hunting in fast-bowling pairs, he said he doesn’t miss not having another quick on the other end. “I don’t feel as though as I am left out. Benn is a very good partner of mine. To see that two guys from Barbados are opening the bowling for the West Indies is great.”Although Ravi Rampaul and Andre Russell are waiting in the wings to add to the seam contingent, Roach is happy to carry the load, with Kieron Pollard to help out, if he has to. Roach has been particularly inspired by a message the injured allrounder Dwayne Bravo gave him. “He is my big brother. He said go hard and enjoy it and be confident in whatever you do.”

Leeds United have been dealt a huge double setback ahead of their Premier League meeting with Chelsea this evening.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his pre-match press conference (via football.london), Thomas Tuchel revealed that both N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are in contention to make a late return to Chelsea’s first-team squad at Elland Road, with the duo having returned to training this week after recovering from their respective injuries.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-much-more” title=”Read the latest Leeds United news and rumours!”]

Regarding the current condition of the midfield pair, the German manager said: “We are fighting for Jorginho and fighting for N’Golo for tomorrow but it will be close but I don’t know if we make it.”

Marsch will be devastated

Considering just how important a part of the Chelsea side both Kante and Jorginho are, in addition to the fact that Leeds simply must pick up a result this evening in order to give themselves the best possible chance of avoiding relegation, the news that the duo could be in line to feature against the Whites is sure to have left Jesse Marsch devastated.

Indeed, over Kante’s 24 Premier League appearances this season, the £45m-rated midfielder has been in excellent form for the Blues, scoring two goals, registering four assists and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.0 interceptions, 2.2 tackles, 0.9 key passes and winning 4.5 duels per game.

These returns have seen the £290k-per-week World Cup-winner average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.13, ranking him as Tuchel’s eighth-best performer in the English top flight.

Meanwhile, over Jorginho’s 27 league outings this term, the £40.5m-rated dynamo has also been in exceptional form for Chelsea, scoring six goals, providing two assists and creating six big chances for his teammates, in addition to making an average of 1.3 interceptions, 2.1 tackles, 0.8 key passes and winning 4.5 duels per fixture.

These metrics have seen the £110k-per-week European Championship-winner average an equally impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.06, ranking him as the Blues’ 12th-best player in the division.

As such, it is clear for all to see that the return of both Kante and Jorginho will undoubtedly come as a huge blow to Leeds’ chances of picking up a result tonight, with a loss potentially bringing with it disastrous consequences for the Whites’ bid to retain their Premier League status in 2022/23.

AND in other news: Marsch axes “shocking” dud & unleashes teen who’s “like a whippet”: Leeds predicted XI

Ray Illingworth, the former England captain, will soon be discharged from Leeds General hospital after suffering a heart attack on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2011Ray Illingworth, the former England captain, will soon be discharged from Leeds General hospital after suffering a heart attack on Tuesday.Illingworth, 78, is in his second year as president of Yorkshire, the county of his birth. Over a glittering playing career, which included 61 Tests for England, he scored 24,134 first-class runs and took 2,072 wickets.Robin Smith, a former president of Yorkshire, said: “I have spoken to his wife, Shirley, and it is expected that Raymond will be able to return to his Farsley home soon. The club sends every good wish to Raymond and his family. He is doing a tremendous job as Yorkshire president, and we trust it will not be long before he is back with us at Headingley.”

An inspired recovery from Chennai’s faltering bowlers and a controlled approach to the chase from Suresh Raina and Michael Hussey lay at the heart of a comfortable win

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya04-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMr. Cricket took charge in typically assured style•AFPChennai Super Kings continued their dominance at home and eased to a fourth-successive win in conditions where power play took a backseat to opportunistic strokemaking, and stamina and steady consolidation were more crucial than short outbursts of runs. The sweltering Chennai heat and a slow pitch made it a tiring ordeal for batsmen, and it seemed at one stage that Rajasthan Royals, riding on the back of Rahul Dravid’s fluent half-century, would have the better of the contest. But an inspired recovery from Chennai’s faltering bowlers and a controlled approach to the chase from Suresh Raina and Michael Hussey set up a comfortable win – their fifth in five games at home this season.The Rajasthan openers, Dravid and Shane Watson, had displayed excellent determination to occupy the crease and set a strong foundation to their team’s innings. The pair ran well between wickets, rotated the strike, picked the gaps to scramble back for the twos, before Dravid took charge against the spinners. He pulled R Ashwin twice in an over to the midwicket fence, reverse-swept and punched Suraj Randiv for three fours in an over to different parts of the ground. The highlight of the first ten overs was his inside-out drive over extra cover off Shadab Jakati, as Rajasthan coasted to 86 in the first ten overs.The trigger for the fightback was a brilliant return catch from Jakati off Watson, as he put his hands up and intercepted a ferocious thwack back towards him in the 11th over. Despite an encouraging run-rate, and with plenty of ammunition left in the batting for a surge at the death, the desire for clearing the ropes overrode any thought of building the innings for a few more overs. Ashok Menaria holed out needlessly against Ashwin, and Johan Botha, who had picked a cheeky boundary, succumbed when he tried to use force against Jakati. Dravid was swimming in sweat in the Chennai heat and fell to a tiring shot, and not long after, the seamers returned to contain the flow further. A couple of fours from Ross Taylor was offset by a double-strike from Albie Morkel in the penultimate over, and Rajasthan only managed 61 in the last ten, losing six wickets.The wicket of M Vijay was an early boost for Rajasthan but some sloppy fielding, a difficult opportunity that was grassed, and the maturity of the Raina-Hussey combine put paid to Rajasthan’s hopes. Stuart Binny conceded eight runs in the field, through a misfield and an overthrow, and was listless with the ball. Raina was let off by Watson diving full stretch in the deep, but otherwise there weren’t any opportunities.Like the Chennai bowlers had done in the first ten overs, Rajasthan’s attack erred in line and length, giving the batsmen timely opportunities to pierce the field. Siddharth Trivedi bowled too often down the leg side, and the more accurate Watson and Botha were worked around. With both batsmen settling in well, left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi was carted for two sixes in the 11th over – the same passage in the Rajasthan innings had marked a decisive turn of events. As the shoulders drooped, Binny doled freebies outside off which Hussey cut for successive fours before delivering the same treatment to Menaria on the leg side. Raina’s dismissal was against the run of play, but his knock, along with Hussey’s, had made a relatively one-sided contest out of a potential cracker.

Ben Stokes cracked an unbeaten hundred – his third of the Championship – to guide Durham to the relative safety of 279 for 3 on the second day at Chester-le-Street

Jon Culley at Chester-le-Street30-May-2011
Scorecard
Gordon Muchall contributed a useful fifty before Ben Stokes took charge of Durham’s innings•PA PhotosJames Whitaker, the England selector, found himself understandably distracted by goings-on at Cardiff as Durham advanced steadily towards parity in the clash of second and first in the Division One table but for a while it seemed that each time he looked away from the television screen it was to see Ben Stokes rocking on to the back foot to crash another four to the cover boundary.He could not fail to be impressed. The young allrounder, who will be 20 on Saturday, confirmed not only the immense power with which he can strike a cricket ball but his growing maturity as a batsman. The pitch here is flattening out nicely but Lancashire have not made the start they have to this season without being able to bowl well in all conditions and promotion to No. 4 in the batting order this season has given Stokes new responsibility. When he arrived at the crease at 90 for 2, Durham were still 223 behind.So when he raised his bat to acknowledge the applause of spectators and his colleagues on the Durham balcony, Stokes would have been pleased not only to have completed his third Championship century of the season with his 13th boundary but with his shot selection, too, and the measured pace at which he had built the innings. He is naturally an aggressive batsman but took care to limit his mistakes here, taking 94 balls to make his first 50 and then accelerating gradually.As the clock ticked down on the day’s overs allocation, trimmed by 25 after a morning lost to rain was followed by a brief stoppage mid-afternoon for bad light, he might have been tempted to rush things, but resisted. In the event, the umpires allowed an extra over and Stokes reached three figures with a four through extra cover off the last ball of the day, although the ball from Steven Croft, bowling off spin, deserved to be given the treatment.The only chance he gave came when he had made 84, on which he edged a ball from Gary Keedy that Paul Horton, diving to his left at slip, could not hold on to. Had it stuck it would have been a good catch.Benkenstein, whose first 50 coincidentally took 94 balls also, was as much advisor as partner as the two added 185 (so far) for the fourth wicket, the highest for any wicket for Durham against Lancashire. At nearly 37, the former captain is not far off twice Stokes’s age and there are few cannier batsmen on the English domestic circuit. He resumes on 67.Between them, they made sure that a mid-afternoon stumble did not damage Durham’s innings too severely. It came following the stoppage for bad light soon after three o’clock, at which point they were 86 for 1.Gordon Muchall, who rode his luck early on after play began at 1.40pm, had settled down and he and Will Smith appeared to be well in control when the umpires decided the dark clouds overhead might be a problem. They were back within eight minutes but the batsmen’s concentration had clearly suffered for the interruption.Smith, who looked to be carrying the confidence drawn from his first century since 2009 at Edgbaston last week, fell for 30 when he stretched into a drive against a wide ball from Luke Procter and edged to wicketkeeper Gareth Cross. It was a disappointing end, given that he had played some pleasing shots. Nonetheless, after the torrid time he went through last season, when he lost the captaincy and his place in the team in quick order, there had been just enough to feel he may have found a sustainable return to form.Within six more balls, however, alarm bells sounded as Muchall was lbw when Tom Smith brought one back off the seam, having just completed his half-century. The opener had led something of a charmed life earlier, a sizeable proportion of his nine boundaries going either wide of or through the slip cordon.Their partnership had added 84 following the third-over dismissal of Michael di Venuto, who tried to leave a ball from Glen Chapple only for the ball to brush the glove en route into the hands of wicketkeeper Gareth Cross.The double breakthrough did not lift Lancashire’s spirits for long, however. A sizeable lead will not be easily obtained but Durham bat deep and will feel they are in a good position.

Old Trafford’s future is much brighter after the Court of Appeal’s ruling to allow their development to go ahead, but Lancashire now face another crucial decision later this season

Andrew McGlashan09-Jul-2011Old Trafford’s future is much brighter after the Court of Appeal’s ruling to allow their development to go ahead, but Lancashire now face another crucial decision later this season when the ECB allocate the remaining Ashes Tests for 2013.The club have made their submission to the board along with other interested counties and will make a presentation at Lord’s on August 2 before the final decision is reached by the Major Match Group in September. Now that approval has been given for the full-scale redevelopment of Old Trafford, the club are confident they can secure a match against Australia, who they last hosted in 2005.”We have talked about being a model Test match ground and we tick every box,” Jim Cumbes, the Lancashire chief executive, said. “I don’t think even Lord’s ticks every box.”Although the drawn-out legal process to gain permission to renovate has finally ended, there has been a fall-out for Lancashire as the funding from the North West Development Agency has been cut by £2million due to the delays in the commencement of work on the stadium. There was a fear the money would be withdrawn altogether which would have left the club with huge problems.”The delays created problem with funding; we lost £2m off our grant and nearly lost it all,” Cumbes said. “It was £7.2 million and they were going to take it all away, but we ended up convincing them that if we didn’t get the grant we couldn’t go ahead with the development so got it down to five million.”Four floodlights are now in place at the ground and the next stage of construction will be the new player and media facilities at the Brian Statham End. The whole project is due to be completed by April 2013, a few months before the club hope to host the Ashes Test. There is also the prospect of the naming rights to the ground being sold, although Cumbes said the Old Trafford brand would need to remain.Since the Court of Appeal judgement Lancashire have been inundated with messages of support from around the world. “I’ve been astonished by the support we’ve had,” Cumbes said. “New Zealand, Australia, India, Singapore on Tuesday.”For Cumbes himself it marks the end of a battle that has seen him delay his retirement by two years to help fight the legal battles, but he won’t be staying on to see the completion of the building work. “That’s me finished at the end of this year,” he said. “We’ve got to where we need to be.”

James Taylor hit an unbeaten 161 to provide nearly half Leicestershire’s total on the opening day of Sri Lanka A’s tour

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2011Leicestershire 332 for 8 v Sri Lanka A
ScorecardJames Taylor hit an unbeaten 161 to provide nearly half of Leicestershire’s total on the opening day of Sri Lanka A’s tour. The county side reached 332 for 8 as Kosala Kulasekara took 4 for 64 for the visitors at Grace Road.Taylor hit 17 fours and two sixes in his first first-class hundred of the season after averaging a slightly disappointing 34.50 in the first half of Leicestershire’s County Championship campaign. He added 109 with Matthew Boyce (43) after the hosts had been 33 for 2.While unable to remove Taylor, Sri Lanka chipped away at the other end. Kulasekara removed Josh Cobb and Wayne White to leave Leicestershire 182 for 5 before Tom New joined Taylor to add 86 for the sixth wicket.Again Sri Lanka struck back to keep themselves in the contest as legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna claimed two wickets but couldn’t wrap up the innings. Nathan Buck survived the final 50 minutes alongside Taylor who will hope the final two wickets can see him to a double hundred.

The Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh later this year will feature 10 teams and be played at four venues in Dhaka

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Aug-2011The 2011 Women’s World Cup Qualifier will feature 10 teams and be played at four venues in Dhaka, the ICC has said. The tournament is scheduled between November 14 and 25.The four venues will be the Sher-e-Bangla stadium, Narayanganj Osmani Stadium, Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (Bangladesh Institute of Sports) 1 and BKSP 2. Hosts Bangladesh will be joined by South Africa, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, USA, West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland and Japan to battle it out for the four remaining spots at the 2013 Women’s World Cup in India. England, Australia, India and New Zealand already qualified for the event because they were the top four teams in the 2009 Women’s World Cup.The teams for the qualifiers will be split into two groups. Bangladesh play Pakistan in the first game of the tournament on November 14 at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.Group A
South Africa, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, USA
Group B
West Indies, Pakistan, Ireland, Japan, Bangladesh

Michael Hussey says Shaun Marsh has the composure to deal with being 87 not out overnight and praised the debutant’s concentration

Daniel Brettig in Pallekele09-Sep-2011Michael Hussey batted with Shaun Marsh when he made his first-class debut, and again when Marsh clouted a first century for Western Australia. He hopes to be there again to see Marsh mark his Test debut with a century.Marsh was unbeaten on 87 when he and Hussey, 76 not out, were sent to the dressing room more than an hour before the scheduled close of play on the second day in Pallekele due to bad light. Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka batsman, made sure to remind the debutant that he was stuck on a score considered unlucky in Australia because it is 13 runs short of a hundred. But Hussey said Marsh had shown the composure of a Test batsman in an innings played in fluctuating conditions and circumstances, allying it to the talent he had first displayed when spanking 119 against New South Wales in 2003.That day Steve Waugh had attempted to unsettle Marsh in the 90s and, as Hussey recalled, the response was emphatic.”That was an amazing innings,” Hussey said. “I remember that vividly because Steve Waugh was at cover and Mark Waugh was bowling. Shaun got into the 90s and Steve just got into his head a bit saying `don’t get nervous now Shaun, you know you’ve played so well, don’t throw away a hundred now’, and he hit the next two balls for six to bring up his 100. Obviously there is still a lot of work to go in this match and as long as he keeps sticking to his game he’ll be fine.”It’s a bad score to be stuck on and Mahela did give him a little wink as he was walking off and said `Jeez, you wouldn’t want to be 87 not out overnight’. But it’s not going to bother him I don’t think. I said something like `I’d much rather be on 87 than seven overnight’.”In Pallekele, Marsh withstood a sharp early spell from Suranga Lakmal when he first arrived, then matched wits with the spin of Suraj Randiv for most of the day, which saw Australia recover from an iffy 116 for 3 to be powerfully placed at 264 for 3 by the early close. Hussey said Marsh’s concentration was the most impressive feature of his innings, which saw him face 211 balls on the second day.”I thought he showed tremendous concentration because there were periods when scoring was difficult. They bowled really tight for a while and it was tough. Obviously in your first Test match you’re going to be pretty nervous but he got his feet moving well. He showed good composure to be able to get through a tough early period and even beyond that.”They still continually bowled well to him and it was difficult to get any momentum going with his innings. He showed great concentration and then you could just see the confidence grow a little bit as the innings wore on. I think when he got that legspinner [Seekkuge Prasanna] away for a few boundaries in a row you could see him start to believe that he belonged there.”That sense of belonging at the international level has not always been evident, perhaps because Marsh’s overall record is somewhat underwhelming. He averages 37.71 in first-class cricket and has made only six hundreds, but can add to that tally on the third day by employing the more measured and consistent approach Hussey has witnessed him develop in Western Australia.”It’s been well documented that early in his career he was a bit inconsistent but I think if you look at the way he’s played in the last two or three years in first-class cricket he’s been a lot more consistent. With the way he’s prepared, the way he’s approached his innings and the way he’s played out in the middle, he’s had a lot more understanding of his game and the conditions and probably his routines. Obviously he wants more hundreds in the column but it’s pretty tough to make first-class hundreds let alone Test hundreds.”Hussey admitted to struggling for concentration and touch at times throughout his own innings, but it was another vital contribution on a tour during which he has made many, from the 95 on the first day in Galle to the stunning gully catch and freak wicket with the ball to start the Pallekele Test.Kumar Sangakkara had been a most unlikely Test victim of Hussey’s slow-medium seamers on the first afternoon, and attempted to get his own back by not only bowling but taking the new ball. Hussey admitted considerable relief when the ball was given back to a specialist.”You don’t want it to last for very long. I was pretty happy when he took the new ball; I thought at least it might come on a little more, but he got a little swing as well, so it was a relief when he went off. I didn’t want to get out to Kumar and for him to pay me back.”

Graeme Swann will captain England in the two-match Twenty20 series against West Indies later this month

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2011Graeme Swann has said he is “delighted” at the prospect of captaining England in the two-match Twenty20 series against West Indies later this month, in the absence of Stuart Broad and Eoin Morgan.Broad, the regular Twenty20 captain who began his reign earlier this season against Sri Lanka, was ruled out of the remainder of England’s home season, as well as the five-match ODI series in India next month, after sustaining a muscle tear to his right shoulder in the fourth ODI against India at Lord’s. Morgan, Broad’s vice-captain, was earlier ruled out until January with his own shoulder problem.With Kevin Pietersen continuing his rest period, Swann was one of the few viable options within the current Twenty20 set-up. The other route would have been to give the job to Alastair Cook, the ODI captain, but that would have disrupted the top order which Andy Flower is trying to form ahead of England’s defence of their World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka next September.”I’m obviously delighted,” Swann said. “I’d looked at the [likely] squad and thought: ‘I might have a chance.’ It’s a case of being fairly mature in the changing room, because we’ve got a few young guys who’ve not played before and need to have at least a semi-sensible role model to look up to.”Two uncapped players – Yorkshire’s Jonathan Bairstow and Hampshire’s Danny Briggs – have been included in the 14-man squad. There is also a Twenty20 recall for James Anderson who hasn’t played the shortest format for England since November 2009.”Graeme Swann is a highly respected member of the England side and his experience and leadership qualities will be invaluable when he leads a young England team next week – a role he is very much looking forward to,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, said.Such high praise from the ECB hierarchy would have seemed a world away at the start of Swann’s international career, when his care-free attitude led to him being mistrusted by his first England coach, Duncan Fletcher, and banished from the set-up for seven long years.Since his recall, however, his quick-witted outlook on life has become an integral factor in England’s squad mentality. Though he promised that captaincy would not cramp his exuberant style completely, he admitted that the jokes would “stop to a certain extent”.”I’ve captained every game I’ve played, in my head, throughout my entire career,” he added. “So I’ll just do that a bit more vocally when I’m on the field.”Cook, who admitted his disappointment at once again being overlooked for the Twenty20 squad, backed Swann to lead from the front in his brief opportunity to take command. “The enthusiasm he has for the game will run off on peoplecompletely,” he said. “He just loves it. I think he will do well.”He definitely thinks about the game when he is bowling,” added Cook. “He’s always thinking about what the batsman will do. He’s always thought like a captain when he bowls so I think it’ll be quite easy for him. I don’t know if he’ll be orthodox or adventurous. But that’s his character, so if he’s going to stay natural…”Of the squad in general, Miller said: “We have once again selected a blend of experienced international performers along with exciting young players with a great deal of talent. We have had a successful summer to date and will be looking to continue our form during the Twenty20 series against West Indies and finish the summer with two strong performances.”We have selected ten of the players who were involved in last month’s Twenty20 victory over India while the injuries to Stuart Broad and Eoin Morgan and the continued period of rest for Kevin Pietersen means we bring four players into the squad; James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Scott Borthwick and Danny Briggs.”Borthwick made his international debut against Ireland, in Dublin, last month while Bairstow was in that squad but didn’t make the final XI. There are four spinners in the party which is a clear indication that the selectors are using the two matches against West Indies as a chance to look ahead at their options for the World Twenty20.Squad Graeme Swann (capt), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Samit Patel, Ben Stokes.