The Indian players today had their way on the contentious contracts issue, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) returning to the graded system under which the top five players get a retainership of Rs 50 lakh each annually.The graded system had been abolished after the team’s disastrous performance in the World Cup and replaced by a combination of match fees and bonuses. The BCCI had also capped players’ endorsements by restricting the number of products they could endorse to three and introducing a performance-based payment system. The contracts, due from October 1 last year, could not be signed before the team went for the World Cup in early March.Faced with stiff resistance by the top players such as captain Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly, the board’s Working Committee backed off and chose to revert to the system under which the top 15 players are graded A, B, and C.The committee which met in New Delhi with Dravid being present decided to have the graded system till September this year. The ‘B’ and ‘C’ category players get Rs 35 lakh and Rs 20 lakh each per annum.Meanwhile, the BCCI extended the contracts of Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh, the bowling and fielding coaches respectively, for one year.N Srinivasan, the BCCI treasurer, refused to take questions about the launch of Indian Cricket League (ICL) launced by the Zee Network. But after repeated queries on the subject, when asked if the committee had given permission for Zee to go ahead with their plans, he said, “no”.Incidentally, sources in the board said that no show cause notice would be issued to Kapil Dev and Kiran More, who have been appointed on the board of directors of the ICL.The committee also announced the itineraries for the forthcoming home series against Australia and Pakistan. Australia are scheduled to play seven ODIs between September 29 and October 17. Pakistan’s visit will be a full Test tour, starting with a five-match ODI series starting on November 6, followed by three Tests. The Tests will be played in New Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore.SchedulesAustralia in IndiaSeptember 25 – Arrival in India September 29 – 1st ODI, Bangalore October 2 – 2nd ODI, Kochi October 5 – 3rd ODI, Hyderabad October 8 – 4th ODI, Guwahati October 11 – 5th ODI, Baroda October 14 – 6th ODI, Nagpur October 17 – 7th ODI, Mumbai Pakistan in IndiaNovember 2 – Arrival November 6 – 1st ODI, Faridabad November 9 – 2nd ODI, Mohali November 12 – 3rd ODI, Kanpur November 15 – 4th ODI, Gwalior November 18 – 5th ODI, Jaipur November 22-26 – 1st Test, Delhi November 30 – December 4 – 2nd Test, Kolkata December 8-12 – 3rd Test, Bangalore
India suffered an injury blow ahead of the second Test in St Lucia when their fast bowler, Sreesanth, was ruled out with a sore heel. John Gloster, the team physio, revealed that Sreesanth, who bowled the final over of the tense draw at Antigua, would need three to five days of rest before he gets back to full fitness.”Sreesanth pulled up sore in the [left] heel at the end of the last Test match,” Gloster observed. “He has got an inflammed bursar at the back of the heel. We saw a specialist this morning, and he has just taken an injection in that heel. The specialist is confident it will settle down reasonably quickly but at this stage, we are going to give him three to five days’ rest. We will then work him back to full fitness after that. At this stage, he will be unavailable for Saturday.”Sreesanth had missed the first matches of the recently concluded one-day series owing to a heel injury, but Gloster confirmed that the situation was slightly different this time. “This one came on during the last match, so it’s a little bit unfortunate for him. But we are pretty confident the injection he took this morning will get on top of the injury, and we will see how he goes over the next three to five days.”Gloster also said that the injury hadn’t affected Sreesanth’s bowling in the previous game. He added that there weren’t any other injury concerns. “Apart from him, at this stage everybody else is pretty fit. I think we are pretty fortunate to have got this far with just a little niggle.”At this stage, with a generous smattering of green on the pitch, it would appear that Irfan Pathan would be the obvious choice to replace Sreesanth.
The Bangladesh opening batsman Hannan Sarkar has paid the price for a dismal run of form, as he has been dropped for the second Test against New Zealand, which starts at Chittagong on Tuesday.Sarkar, who in the Caribbean earlier this year earned the dubious distinction of falling to the first ball of consecutive Test matches, managed scores of just 0 and 1 at Dhaka this week, as Bangladesh slumped to defeat by an innings and 99 runs. His place has been taken by the uncapped middle-order batsman Aftab Ahmed, a former Under-19 player.”We have decided to call Aftab Ahmed into the middle order as we had a bitter experience in the first Test,” said Bangladesh’s chief selector, Faruk Ahmed. Aftab made his one-day debut in the recent Champions Trophy in England.And following the relative success of Bangladesh’s spinners – Mohammad Rafique and Manjural Islam Rana shared nine first-innings wickets between them – the selectors have recalled Enamul Haque junior for the second Test, at the expense of the seamer Alamgir Kabir. Khaled Mashud continues to captain the side, in the absence of Habibul Bashar.Bangladesh squad Khaled Mashud (capt, wk), Rajin Saleh, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Nafis Iqbal, Manjural Islam Rana, Tareq Aziz, Mushfiqur Rahman, Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali, Tapash Baisya, Mohammad Rafique, Enamul Haque jr.
The record books were spared but Queensland’s bowlers were not as Victoria continued using their licence to bat with abandon on the second day of the Pura Cup cricket final at the MCG. With Victoria 6 for 592 at stumps in 186 overs and 723 minutes, the innings was a statistician’s delight but prolonged agony for Queensland, who faced another three days of formalities before Victoria were crowned champion.Needing only a draw to secure its first first-class title since 1990-91, Victoria appear certain to continue batting on the third day to become just the third side after Queensland (in 1994-95) and Western Australia (1986-87) to post 600 in a Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup final. Darren Berry, Victoria’s captain, said, “We’ll bat until Queensland get us out.”While the first day produced a stack of records to century-maker Matthew Elliott, the second day was more like a thousand cuts, with the Victorian middle order knuckling down after Queensland’s pacemen picked up three wickets before lunch. The star of the day was Jonathan Moss, who made an entertaining 98, and was denied a century when he failed to get to the pitch of the ball for possibly the first time all day, and chipped Nathan Hauritz to short mid-on.Moss and Cameron White (54) put on 135 to regain Victoria’s ascendancy and then Ian Harvey (34 not out) and Andrew McDonald (37 not out) rounded off another dominant batting performance.Berry smiled when asked if it would be hard keeping a lid on celebrations for the next three days. But he said that Victoria were still chasing an outright win, and could get some help from a pitch that has been dead for two days but starting to show signs of life.”Speaking to McDonald and Harvey, they said a few kept a little bit low today towards the end of play today, which is obviously very encouraging for us with almost 600 runs on the board,” Berry said. “There was a few cracks in it at the start of the first day so I’ll have a look at it again in the morning, but I would imagine it will be difficult to bat on day five.”Although disappointed at missing a century, Moss was pleased to have played his part in such a crucial match given that Victoria lost three wickets in the space of 33 runs early in the day. “The fact is if we win the Pura Cup I won’t let it bother me too much,” he said. “It would have been great to get the hundred but as cricket goes, sometimes you’ve got to cop the disappointment. It might hit me later on tonight … but it’s great we’re in such a good position and that I contributed to putting us into that good position.”Victoria resumed at 1 for 322 but the morning belonged to Queensland, as Joe Dawes, Andy Bichel and Ashley Noffke removed Brad Hodge (89), Elliott (155) and David Hussey (16) respectively.But as the sun emerged from the cloud, it rendered the pacemen to spectators and the batsmen went largely untroubled against Hauritz and the part-time spin of Stuart Law and Chris Simpson. Moss hit a six off Law into the MCG construction site and the resulting delay for getting a replacement ball only drew Queensland’s agony out further.
Somerset Under 13 have enjoyed mixed fortunes on their tour to South Africa, and found the first two matches tough going when they were comfortably beaten by Lions and K.E.P.S.However they quickly returned to winning ways and their following two matches both resulted in resounding victories.In the first match, against Penryn, Somerset fielded first and thanks to all of the bowers performing well their opponents were dismissed for 58.The pick of the bowlers was Jason Strong, who ended with 4 for 22 in his 8 overs. His bowling spell in tandem with Mick Le Mare did the real damage, with Le Mare conceding just 3 runs in 8 overs. They were well supported Will Robinson who ended with 3 for 19 and Callum Haggett 2 for 9.In reply two early losses did not prevent an easy victory thanks to Matthew Green who was the mainstay of the innings with 24 and Matthew Horsley who gave good support to see the side home by 6 wickets.In the day night match against their Worcestershire counterparts the midland county batted first and were all out for 192, thanks to some tight bowling by Alex Thomson, Johnathan Mould and Haggett who ended with two wickets a piece, and a good fielding display.In reply the Somerset pair of Jos Butler and Haggett quickly put their side in control and shared a partnership of 156 from 19 overs, before Butler was out for 92, just 8 runs short of what would have been a thoroughly deserved century.Haggett remained until the end to guide his side home to an 8 wicket victory with eleven overs to spare.The Under 13’s have two games remaining on the their South African tour before travelling back to England.
Scotland defeated Canada by 12 runs in a thrilling match while UAEraced to a five-wicket victory over slumping Singapore on the thirdday of the ICC Trophy here Saturday.Five more matches were decided at different cricket centres in Torontoand its adjoining areas. Ireland cruised to an eight-wicket win overHong Kong, Namibia trounced Germany by nine wickets, Argentinacompleted last-over win over East and Central Africa, Papua New Guineaheld on to beat USA in a tense game and France defeated Israel with anover to spare.At King City Stadium, the Canadians suffered their first defeat losingto Scotland who had scored 201 for eight. Brilliant catching and finebowling from James Brinkley (2-34), Craig Wright (2-22) and GreigWilliamson (3-22) saw the Scots home.Singapore again suffered from a lack of starch in its batting as itfell to a five-wicket defeat at the hands of the United Arab Emirates.Kiran Deshpande (35) and Zubin Schroff (34) shared a 53-runpartnership for the fifth wicket as Singapore reached 191 for 9 in thestipulated 50 overs.Muhammad Nadeem (63) and all-rounder Khuram Khan (57 not out) safelynegotiated the middle stages of the UAE’s innings and guided theirteam to victory.Malton’s first game of the tournament produced a convincing ninewicket win for Namibia over Germany.Argentina ensured that it will record its best-ever ICC Trophyperformance here in Canada when it made two wins from two matches withits four-wicket success over East and Central Africa at Ross Lordground. Inspired by a fine innings from Simon Hewitt (52), theFrenchmen posted a three-wicket win over Israel who suffered theirsecond defeat.Elsewhere, it was Papua New Guinea’s shock eight-run win over theUnited States that stole most of the attention.On Friday, tailender Kenneth Kamyuka created history when he scored ahurricane stroke-filled century powering Uganda to 64-run victory overMalaysia.Batting at No 10, Kamyuka scored exactly 100 runs off 54 balls liftinghis side from 99 for eight to 223 for eight in allotted 50 overs.During his 71-minute stay at the crease, he hit eight sixes and fourfours to the delight of enthusiastic cricket fans at Toronto’sEglington East sports ground.Carsten Pedersen also scored a century – third of the tournament – asDenmark crushed Hong Kong by 181 runs. In other matches, United ArabEmirates were flattened by the Netherlands while USA romped to a sixwicket win over Ireland.In Division Two’s Group B match, Malaysia’s twin-spin attack of RohanSuppiah (4 for 24) and S. Vickneswaran (3 for 41) had contained theUgandans to 99 before the arrival of Kamyuka at the crease. The latterchanged the whole complexion of the game.Batting in the style of Pakistani Shahid Afridi, Kamyuka despatchedthe ball to all corners of the ground reaching 100 off the last ballof the 50th over. He produced 124 in an astonishing partnership withNo. 9 batsman Benjamin Musoke whose contribution was 21.In reply, Malaysians slumped to 159, all out, in 30.2 overs withSuresh Navaratnam (46) being their top scorer.At King City Stadium, Denmark’s Pedersen showed his batting prowess ashe scored 103 off 135 balls taking his team’s score to 284 for sixagainst Hong Kong. During his 180-minute innings, he scored a toweringsix and four hits to the rope. Pedersen’s teammate Amjad Khanestablished his credentials as a dynamic all-rounder as he slammed 73studded with two sixes and five boundaries. Later Khan picked up threewickets for 11 as Hong Kong crashed to 103, all out, in 29.1 overs.
Sunday afternoon was just another reminder that this is going to be a long and brutal season for West Ham United.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have been in pretty reasonable form over the last couple of months, losing just two of their previous seven games.
However, the defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend has left the East Londoners in the relegation zone, three points adrift of Leeds United in 17th.
It wasn’t a horror show against the Villans, but there were a few players who let the fans down, including someone who, at one point, looked like he could be West Ham’s best signing since Jarrod Bowen.
West Ham's better performers against Villa
Starting with the positive, then, who played well for West Ham on Sunday afternoon?
Chalkboard
Well, despite the result, it was another brilliant showing from Mateus Fernandes, who not only opened the scoring in the first minute but was a constant threat in the middle of the park.
For example, in his 90 minutes of action, the Portuguese dynamo took 68 touches, recovered the ball 11 times, made one interception and completed 48 passes, 25 of which were in Villa’s half.
Alongside him in the middle of the park, it was also another promising display from Freddie Potts.
The academy ace was secure in possession, constantly winning the ball back, and completed 96% of his 45 attempted passes.
Potts’ game vs Villa
Minutes
88′
Assists
1
Big Chances Created
1
Key Passes
1
Touches
59
Fouls Won
2
Interceptions
1
Clearances
1
Recoveries
1
Ground Duels (Won)
7 (5)
Aerial Duels (Won)
2 (2)
All Stats via Sofascore
Moreover, it was his scuffed attempt that led to Bowen’s goal.
The former Hull City star was another of the host’s better players on the day, as in addition to his goal, he completed two dribbles, played a key pass and generally looked a threat.
However, while these three starters put in a good shift against the Villans, there were more than a few who underwhelmed, including one player who looked like an incredible signing not that long ago.
The West Ham star who looked like the best signing since Bowen
While there were a few poor performances on Sunday, the most disappointing, and potentially most worrying, came from El Hadji Malick Diouf.
The reason is that, not that long ago, the former Slavia Prague star was looking like one of West Ham’s best signings in a very long time.
During the first couple of months of the season, his explosive and marauding runs up the pitch were one of the few genuinely exciting aspects about the Hammers.
Moreover, while it wouldn’t always come off, the Senegalese international would often fire off a wicked cross at the end of his journeys up the pitch.
It was this ability to get the ball into dangerous areas that saw him chalk up three assists in the first five league games of the season.
What was so impressive was that even if he didn’t get the assist, his crosses were still leading to goals, as was the case away to Everton in Nuno’s first game in charge.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
At that point, it looked like the Hammers had a star in the making on their hands, so much so that Sky Sports’ Joe Thomlinson claimed he was “one of the finds of the season.”
Unfortunately, since then, the attacking output has all but dried up, with no more assists or goals added to his tally. In fact, according to Understat, he’s actually overperforming his expected assists figure by 2.32.
This lack of attacking output wouldn’t be such a problem if he were a reliable defender, but he’s not, and over the last couple of months, he’s been caught out on more than one occasion.
For example, on commentary for 5 Live, Chris Sutton described the 20-year-old’s defending for Jacob Murphy’s goal for Newcastle United as “pretty shambolic.”
The former Slaiva star was poor on Sunday as well, winning just 50% of his tackles, losing the ball nine times, losing five of eight ground duels and committing two fouls.
Ultimately, there is still time for Diouf to come good; he has the talent, but as things stand, he is looking like a growing problem for West Ham.
Nuno's a big fan: West Ham hold very strong interest in "fantastic" forward
The Hammers’ plans for the January transfer window are now starting to take shape.
It’s a battle between one team on the rise and another on the slide: Kings XI Punjab have strung together three wins in a row after the opening two reverses while the Kolkata Knight Riders appear to have lost their way after two early victories. Punjab’s comfortable win against the Deccan Chargers showed they had the quality to overcome the loss of Simon Katich and Brett Lee but Kolkata are yet to prove they can shrug off the absence of their top international stars.The game will showcase some relatively unknown Australians: Shaun Marsh made a fine impression on his IPL debut while James Hopes, if fit, provides some valuable fire-power. Brad Hodge’s innings was cut short in Jaipur but he comes with the reputation of being a Twenty20 killer. David Hussey is yet to explode and can’t choose a better stage to showcase his entire range, one that has made him a big name in the Australian domestic circuit.
Watch out for …
… Sourav Ganguly v Yuvraj Singh provides an intriguing clash between the senior and the apprentice. There could also be an interesting tussle between the two pace attacks – VRV Singh and Sreesanth up against Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul and the surprisingly nippy Ashok Dinda. For those inclined towards Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan v Preity Zinta may make for an interesting spectacle.
Team news
Punjab may want to stick to a winning combination, though Hopes’ fitness could make them think about a change. There was a doubt over how they would make up for Brett Lee’s absence but Gagandeep Singh turned in a reasonably good show the other night.Punjab (probable) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh (capt), 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Tanmay Srivastava, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Gagandeep Singh, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Sreesanth, 11 VRV Singh.Salman Butt and Hodge are likely to retain their spots, despite doing little in their first games. Murali Kartik, who was surprisingly left out of the previous match, could expect a recall at the expense of Ajit Agarkar.Kolkata (probable) 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Salman Butt, 3 Brad Hodge, 4 David Hussey, 5 Debabrata Das, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Murali Kartik, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda.
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLL Kings XI Punjab: LWWW
Dinda’s economy rate of 5.52 is the best among bowlers who have sent down at least five overs in the IPL. Kolkata are the only team with three bowlers – Mohammad Hafeez and Ishant are the other two – who have an economy rate of less than 6.50.
Punjab’s Irfan Pathan is the most successful bowler of the tournament with nine wickets at an average of 15.88 and a strike rate of 13.3 balls per wicket.
“This is not a team issue. I suppose it has been discussed by the IPL officials. We have moved beyond that (incident). We want to concentrate on our cricket and win the game Saturday.”
4th dayDurham overcame some early jitters to complete a six-wicket with over Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street. Graham Onions took two balls to end Yorkshire’s second innings and completed his five-wicket haul, leaving a target of 131. But Darren Gough and Tim Bresnan reduced Durham to 35 for 3 before an aggressive half-century from Michael Di Venuto put them back on course. An unbroken stand of 54 between Dale Benkenstein and Phil Mustard completed the job as Durham sealed a full hand of 22 points.Sean Ervine and Dimitri Mascarenhas defied Kent as Hampshire battled strongly to secure a draw at Canterbury. Five dropped catches – three from Martin van Jaarsveld – didn’t help Kent’s cause. The sixth-wicket pair put on an unbeaten 89, with Ervine reaching his 18th first-class fifty. Jimmy Adams and Michael Brown set a solid platform with an opening stand of 58, before both were removed by Yasir Arafat, who went on to grab four wickets, dismissing John Crawley for 38 and Michael Carberry for 6. But Andrew Hall was the only other striker, with one wicket, as Ervine (56*) and Mascarenhas (33*) did the rest.2nd daySussex picked up their second win of the season with a thumping innings-and-109-run victory over Worcestershire at New Road – in spite of a majestic 108 from Graeme Hick. Worcestershire were reduced to 50 for 4 – Robin Martin-Jenkins removing Steven Moore, Vikram Solanki and Ben Smith all falling in a hurry. Hick was Hick, stroking 15 fours and two sixes, but it was always going to be a lone fight – in spite of a fighting partnership with Gareth Batty (64). Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana Naved each picked up three wickets to dismiss Worcestershire for 303 and condemning them to their fourth defeat in five games.
Division Two
Andy Caddick tore through Gloucestershire’s lower-order to take 6 for 111 and set Somerset up for a convincing eight-wicket win at Taunton. Resuming on 389 for 4 with Marcus North on 101, Gloucestershire slipped to 465 all out leaving Somerset 172 to win. Marcus Trescothick couldn’t open with Justin Langer due to tendonitis in his foot, but Somerset raced to their target in just 32 overs. Langer carved six fours in his bristling 41 before James Hildreth saw his side home with a solid 51.Northamptonshire completed a six-wicket victory against Derbyshire at Northampton, 11 overs into the final day. David Sales went early to leave then tottering in 23 for 4 chasing 79, but Rob White settled any nerves with a 34-ball 43. Stephen Peters remained firm at the other end as Northamptonshire take 21 points for their four day’s work.
Bermuda have named a 15-man squad for their short tour of England and Guernsey.Absent from the team were Kwame Tucker and Azeem Pitcher. The selectors said that Tucker had not recovered from a torn groin while Pitcher, who endured a disastrous run of form in the Trinidad tri-series, had work commitments. Seamer Jim West was drafted in after recovering from a shoulder problem.Bermuda play two matches in England against Sussex 2nd XI and Lloyds Bank before flying to Guernsey for three games against a side they beat by six wickets in the lead-up to last year’s ICC Trophy.Bermuda squad Janeiro Tucker (capt), Irving Romaine, Saleem Mukuddem, Dean Minors, OJ Pitcher, Dwayne Leverock, Hasan Durham, Kevin Hurdle, Treadwell Gibbons Jnr, Delyone Borden, James West, George O’Brien Jnr, Daniel Morgan, Ryan Steede, Jekon Edness.Itinerary May 31 v Sussex 2nd XI (East Grinstead CC)June 2 v Lloyds Bank (Beckenham CC)June 3 v Guernsey June 4 v Guernsey June 5 v Guernsey