New Zealand A have fought back to have victory within their grasp overHampshire at Portsmouth. Set to score 337 (the biggest innings of thematch)the tourists need to score only 144 more runs with 8 wickets in hand.Mark Richardson (85) and James Marshall (69) punished a below-strengthcounty side. The former hit eight boundaries in 163 balls at the crease. Themore sedate Marshall was missed twice and was out to the next-to-last overof the day after batting for 255 minutes with seven boundaries in hishighest score of the tour to date.The visitors closed at 193-2 after Hampshire had been put out for 285 with Kendall hitting 92 and Udal 85 in the face of effective bowling – Lance Hamilton (4-85).
Adam Jones has now dropped a big behind-the-scenes reveal involving Everton’s ending of their sponsorship agreement with Cazoo.
The Lowdown: Agreement ends
Writing in his latest piece for The Athletic, Patrick Boyland has revealed that the Goodison Park faithful’s sponsorship deal with Cazoo will now conclude at the end of the season.
The car dealers have been sponsoring their shirts since the summer of 2020, and the termination is not connected to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia – the Toffees announced this week that three other sponsors would be suspended due to recent events.
The Merseyside club are also taking ‘positive steps’ to find a replacement, with their deal with Cazoo thought to be worth roughly £10m a year.
The Latest: Jones reveal
Taking to Twitter following the big sponsorship update, the Liverpool Echo journalist Jones has now given some more detail on the news, revealing that it was a decision made by the Toffees, rather than Cazoo themselves:
“Understand these discussions took place before the turn of the year, and this was a decision the Blues took rather than the other way round.”
The Verdict: Slightly worrying
Given the fact that the Blues have already suspended deals with Russian companies USM Holdings, MegaFon, and Yota, albeit rightly so, it is slightly worrying that another has bitten the dust in Cazoo.
As Boyland details, losing all of them could mean an annual shortfall of close to £30m, which will need to be made up as soon as possible.
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They have already had trouble with Financial Fair Play (FFP) this season, and so will not want to lose any more money before Frank Lampard’s first summer transfer window in charge.
In other news, find out what double injury boost EFC have now been gifted here!
Surrey opener Ian Ward anchored England A’s first innings following a rocky start in the Busta International Series match against Trinidad and Tobago at Port of Spain.
IanWard Photo Paul McGregor
By stumps, put back after two rain interruptions, he had reached 44, moving cautiously towards a second half century in two innings following a 69 against West Indies B in Grenada last week.England A were in reasonably calm waters thanks to his no-risk, utilitarian style of batting and his ability to keep the scoreboard moving with his tickling leg side work and, by the end, the visitors had mustered 83 runs for the loss of two wickets.The departure of both John Crawley and Vikram Solanki inside the first 12 overs was a major disappointment for both batsmen who have claims to stake and points to prove on this tour and need an early success to help them on their way.But Crawley became victim to a delivery from Darryl Brown that swung late and struck him on his pads. There had been little evidence of swing in this match until then and Crawley may have been surprised at such unusual movement but whatever the reasons for his dismissal, his duck from ten balls will have frustrated him.England A were seven for one when he went replying to Trinidad’s 249 all out but someone needed to drop anchor to make sure the Busta Cup points system, which awards bonus points to teams with first innings leads, would ultimately favour the visitors.Solanki’s free-scoring approach did not suit the situation and when the captain Richard Smith replaced his new ball bowlers with spin, the Worcestershire batsman became bogged down. Dinanath Ramnarine’s seventh ball found him attempting to paddle the ball down to fine leg but he misjudged both line and length and was bowled around his legs for 11.When the groundstaff donned their yellow waterproofs in preparation for the rain that was falling over the hills behind and coming south, England A were 38 for two but Ward’s new partner Usman Afzaal was playing the spinners well and he continued his vigil after the shower had passed.In the final session, the pair added 45 without incident though the pressure on the batsmen was intense as Ramnarine, Denis Rampersad and Rajindra Dhanraj used every trick in their spinners’ manual to eke the batsmen out, including constant chatter and vociferous appeals.But it was to no avail and when the umpires offered the batsmen the light ten overs before the scheduled close, they willingly accepted knowing the third day’s play would offer no let-up in the battle against spin.In all, 26 overs were lost to rain, the first shower falling in the ninth over after England had claimed their seventh wicket of the Trinidad innings. It could have been their eighth had Solanki not put down Darrell Brown in the slips earlier.England’s fielding was a talking point since it ranged from excellent, as demonstrated by Ward’s direct throw at the stumps to dismiss Brown, to ragged, Solanki’s misses coming on top of a few fumbles in the field.According to England A coach Peter Moores, the fielding is one area that is being worked on.”Solanki took five catches in Grenada which is a top effort so we are not worried about it. Like all areas of our game we are working hard to improve our fielding. We need to take catches and we want to be clinical but it will take time.”England’s seamers accounted for the final four wickets before lunch with Chris Silverwood finishing as the pick of the bunch with 4-45 after a superb show of effort and accuracy.
Janeiro Tucker has again been hauled before the Bermuda Cricket Board disciplinary committee after an incident during a league match last month.Tucker, who is player/coach at Southampton Rangers, faces charges of displaying unsportsmanlike conduct during his side’s Premier Division match against Cleveland County at Southampton Oval on September 9. He is alleged to have shouted obscenities towards Hector Watson, the umpire, after being dismissed.Earlier this year Tucker received a three-match ban after a similar incident, and he was also punished for swearing in 2002.Despite this latest incident, he was included in Bermuda’s 15-man squad for the tour of Kenya and UAE.
Rory Hamilton-Brown will captain England under-19’s squad for their tour of Malaysia in January and February 2007. And Paul Farbrace, Kent Academy’s Director, will be the coach for the tour, while England’s regular coach, Andy Pick, is on a year sabbatical to coach Canada to the World Cup.The month-long tour starts on 23 January and consists of two triangular one-day tournaments. The first is between England, Malaysia U-19 and Sri Lanka U-19 and the second between England, Malaysia U-19 and India U-19.Tour manager John Abrahams was part of a four-person selection panel that included National Academy manager Peter Moores and England fast bowling coach Kevin Shine.Squad Rory Hamilton-Brown (capt), Greg Wood (wk), Alex Blake, Ben Brown (wk), Karl Brown, Maurice Chambers, Liam Dawson, Steven Finn, Billy Godleman, Andrew Miller, Sam Northeast, Alex Wakely, Mervyn Westfield, Ben Wright.
The West Indies will target Australia’s inexperienced players in the second Test at Hobart beginning November 17, according to a determined Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the opposing captain.Australia are likely to play Brad Hodge, the uncapped middle order batsman, Michael Hussey, the makeshift opener who debuted in the first Test, and Andrew Symonds, the hard-hitting allrounder who has only played two Tests. Speaking to , Chanderpaul maintained that his side will look to exploit this weak link in the second Test. “Obviously you have guys who are now coming into the side and they’re looking to make a name for themselves,” Chanderpaul said. “They don’t have as much experience as the other guys and will probably be a bit shaky in the beginning. Hopefully we can get it right come next game and sort these things out early.”Hodge, who recently stated that he was the most deserving Australian batsman in line for Test cricket, scored a fantastic 177 on day one of the drawn tour match at the Junction Oval and looked at ease against the West Indian attack.Chanderpaul, who scored 59 in the same match, took some positives from the rain-curtailed match. “As a batter obviously you would want to spend some time in the middle and I am happy that I got to spend some time out there,” Chanderpaul said. “We played two games, one before the Test match and in the Test match and not much happened for me and for some of the other guys. This was one of those games where you want to make sure you spend time in the middle and I think it has done some good for us.”His main advice to his batsmen was to be more patient. “It’s a Test match, so you need to go out there and settle,” he said. “We came off a one-day tournament. You need to get the balance right and go out there and put your head down and bat instead of going in and playing all these shots that can get you out.” His team-mates need not look further than Chanderpaul himself, who grafted a patient innings – he was at the crease for over four hours and faced just one ball less than what Hodge needed for his 177 on day one – even as wickets fell around him.Absent from the match against Victoria was Brian Lara, who struggled for runs in the West Indies’ 379-run loss at Brisbane. Commenting on Lara’s form, Chanderpaul was supportive of his team-mate. “Brian, I don’t think he’s struggling. I just think he needs some more time in the middle and he is stroking the ball well and it’s just one of those things. He could go out there tomorrow and just get runs on the board for us.”Chanderpaul also stated that Wavell Hinds, who was sidelined from the first Test owing to a hairline fracture of his finger sustained in a warm-up match against Queensland, would be considered for the Hobart Test, as would Dwayne Bravo, the allrounder.
India’s disappointing run in both Tests and one-day internationals this season has increased speculation that a change of coach might be imminent, and John Wright, the current coach, did nothing to quash those rumours when speaking to reporters in Kolkata before India’s second Test against South Africa.”I hope to be going to Bangladesh,” was all that Wright offered when asked about his future. “These kind of rumours gain ground when your team is not performing to its potential. I have had my chats with Mr Dalmiya about my stay and other stuff. But the BCCI itself is in a limbo. So you have to wait.”There were hints, though, that a change might be in the offing. “After four years as coach, I feel that it is very important for a team to be moving forward. I want to see the team constantly improving. If at any point of time I feel that I am not achieving anything for the team, then someone else can come forward and take my place.”Looking ahead to the second Test against South Africa, Wright indicated that the Indians could opt to go in with more balanced attack for the match. “We may play two medium pacers and two spinners. But that decision will be taken on the morning of the Test after consultations with the selectors and the captain.” If India do opt for two spinners, Murali Kartik is likely to miss out, while Irfan Pathan will come in to replace him.
India A tours are a superb stepping stone for a place in the national side – the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly owed their big breakthroughs to India A performances. The latest India A tour, to England, was a perfect stage for fringe players to make a case for higher honours. There have perhaps never been as many A team players in serious contention for national selection; Aavishkar Salvi, the medium-pacer from Mumbai known for his Glenn McGrath-esque action and accuracy, Wasim Jaffer, the elegant opening batsman who has already enjoyed a stint in the Test team, and Sridharan Sriram, the doughty top-order batsman, were three of the players to impress. They spoke to Wisden CricInfo about what this tour meant for them.Aavishkar Salvi I was very eager to get started as I was injured for the first five games of the tour. Even before going to England I had a right-hand webbing injury, but the selectors gave me the green signal as the injury was a minor one and would heal soon. With the stitches removed on the morning of the first game, I took the ball to test myself during warm-up, only to cut the webbing again and get three stitches. It was frustrating to have to wait in the sidelines, but I had to be patient till the sixth match, which took 15 days.The English conditions were good for swing bowling and the wickets were true – good for both batting and bowling. All the fast bowlers in the squad performed well, taking advantage of the movement in theair. I picked up three wickets in my first game and was happy to contribute with the bat, scoring 20 runs and taking part in a crucial last-wicket partnership of 46 with Irfan Pathan, which enabled us to scrape past Lancashire.My best came against the South Africans, who had fielded a full-strength batting line-up in preparation for the first Test against England. I was delighted to keep them at bay and pick up four wickets. Madan Lal, who was the bowling coach at the preparatory camp at the NCA in Bangalore, had told me that my strength was to pitch short of length, whereas in England it was important to pitch it fuller. I kept that in mind and it worked wonderfully. But I ended on a bad note: my leading arm was dropping and I was just bowling on one side of the wicketthe off side. I came back well on the second day but it was not enough to erase the disappointment of the first day.After each game Wasim [Jaffer] – who was my roommate – and I used to discuss the game for ten minutes. We would then do the gym workouts before returning to the room after dinner. With all our time going in traveling, we had hardly any time to chill out.There are always lessons to learn from such tours. I have always taken each selection as a stepping stone for further success and having done fairly well during this tour, I think I have a good chance to be picked for the national squad. However, having said that, I have learnt another important thing: to play at the Test level, one needs to be super-fit. I am working seriously on my fitness, with the help of the programme that Adrian Le Roux [former trainer of the Indian team] had given me.Wasim JafferAt the start of the tour I knew that if I did well, I would be a favourite for an opening slot in the Indian team. With John Wright himself present at the NCA camp in Bangalore, all the players knew that this was an important chance to prove themselves.During India’s tour of England last year I performed miserably – I made just one fifty in four innings, and at the international level you need to be more consistent and. It was playing on my mind before this tour, and I had no excuse – like the conditions and the wickets – having played here for nearly five years now.My aim for this series was to occupy the crease for as long as I could. As an opener I wanted to tighten my defence, play the new ball well, and not do anything silly in the first hour – I have got out too often within the first ten overs. A number of people have helped me improve this area of the game: John Wright, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sunil Gavaskar among them. All of them gave me the same advice: “Stay at the crease, get your eye in and the runs will come automatically.”I was especially keen on doing well in the game against South Africa, and I ended up making 90 and 54 against their full-strength bowling attack. That match, and the 67 I made against Yorkshire in a one-dayer, gave me the confidence that I could score my runs at a quick pace. That was important for me, as I am not an automatic inclusion in the shorter version of the game.We wanted to keep a clean slate and finish the tour without losing a game. We followed on in our last match, against Warwickshire, but recovered well, and I made a double-century to end the tour on a good note. I hadn’t begun the tour too well, but once I got into my groove, things got better for me.
Sridharan SriramI had gone to England with an open mind for two reasons. Firstly, I saw it as a great opportunity to I’d never been to England as a batsman before. I’d been there with Sandeep Patil as a bowler in 1994, when I played for India under-19s. I didn’t really know what to expect of the wickets and the conditions, as a batsman. Before I left, I’d spoken to John Wright at the camp and he told me how important it was to be tight outside the off stump as the ball moves around a great deal more. “Play long,” that was my motto on the tour.I should be thankful to Sandeep Patil and the captain for making me stay back. I was injured early on and we didn’t know how long I would take to recover. But Patil made me stay back and that was a very good gesture on his part. I got a chance to play against Surrey at the Oval and I had not practiced for a long time before that. I wasn’t in good touch at all. When I began my innings I was struggling a bit and not really timing the ball well. I then decided that the best thing to do was to hang around. Gradually things worked out for me, I started hitting the ball well and I got my rhythm back. From then on, I think I was quite consistent.This tour’s given me the confidence that I can do well in the international arena. I have not had a great start to my international career, I’m aware of that, but getting runs abroad, in alien conditions, always gives you a lot of satisfaction. The most important thing this tour has done for me is that it’s given me great self-belief.
It says something for Wade Cornelius’ attitude that he rated the advance in his batting average, minuscule as it may have been, almost as enjoyable as the career-best bowling figures of seven for 53 he achieved for Canterbury against Wellington at Rangiora today.The New Zealand Cricket Academy graduate this year helped rock Wellington to the point where they were 29/7 at one stage before a late recovery saw them reach 126.But Cornelius, bowling with fire and brimstone in not especially helpful conditions, provided an early example of his potential after only five first-class games.”They were my best figures in any form of cricket. I’ve had a couple of six-fors but just as important was the fact I was four not out when we batted and I moved my average from 0.2 to one, so I am on the right side of the ledger now,” he said.That was the immediate pay off for the Academy as a lot of work was put into his batting during his time at the centre of cricket learning at Lincoln University.But there was also plenty of attention paid to his bowling which was borne out today.”There was a bit of swing early on out there but it flattened out after a while.”But I always like playing out here, there’s always a bit of a crowd. I just decided to give it everything and bowl as fast and as intimidatingly as I could,” he said.Cornelius also acknowledged the support of the experienced Warren Wisneski at the other end.”I reckon he probably deserved a five-for more than I did. He is great to bowl with and there were stages when he would run up to me from slip and give me a hint. He’s good at pulling the reins in a bit when you are getting wound up and that is great.”He’s had so much experience and he is a bowling mentor for the guys,” he said.As Wellington tumbled to 29/7 Cornelius was surprised at the way they kept losing wickets in pairs. Both he and Wisneski were sitting on hat-tricks at different stages.It was the hope of every bowler that he could have such a haul of wickets early in his career, he said, but what it did show him was that he could go on and compete at first-class level.”I have to give a lot of credit to the Academy. I was averaging 62 with the ball before today and 0.2 with the bat.”I’ve got a long way to go but today’s performance was very satisfying.”The Academy had not resulted in any significant changes to his bowling action, rather fine tuning and the develop of an outswinger to the right-hander. That had worked well for him today while there was still shine on the ball.”I use it sparingly, if you let them see it too much they will work it out,” he said.”What the Academy did do was encourage me to know my action and it definitely helped my game,” he said.That was apparent to Wellington today as another name was launched onto the first-class scene in conditions that were not as helpful as bowlers generally like.And that bowling average of 60?It now stands at a much more respectable 30.25.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShahid Afridi’s first match in charge of Sylhet was memorable as they brushed aside Barisal by nine wickets to record their second win in BPL 2015•BCB
Sylhet Super Stars made an unbelievable turnaround in the BPL by bowling out the red-hot Barisal Bulls for 58, the lowest-ever total in the BPL and then chasing it with ease to win by nine wickets. The massive swing in fortune – Sylhet lost five of their six matches previously – coincided with Shahid Afridi replacing Mushfiqur Rahim as captain for the remainder of the tournament.This was also the second time in the competition that Barisal were bowled out for a sub-100 score and the fourth instance in this year’s competition for the team batting first. Sylhet also completed the fastest chase, closing out the game with 51 balls to spare, overtaking the previous record help by Comilla Victorians, who beat Rangpur Riders with 49 balls to spare.It was all so different before the game started. The whole focus was on what damages would be done by the returning Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis for Barisal.But the dream opening partnership lasted just three overs as Evin Lewis dragged a pull to be caught at mid-on off Sohail Tanvir, for 12. Gayle struck Mohammad Shahid for a six over cover but departed next ball, well caught at long-on by Nazmul Hossain Milon. Afridi dropped Rony Talukdar at cover but was caught and bowled by Rubel off the next ball.Mahmudullah was the first of Ravi Bopara’s three wickets in the tenth over, after the Barisal captain holed out to mid-on. Seekugge Prasanna, shaping to cut a ball that was coming in, missed it to be bowled before Mehedi Maruf edged one to wicketkeeper Mushfiqur to cap off the three-wicket over. Afridi had the number of Taijul Islam and Sajedul Islam before Mohammad Sami was the last wicket to fall, in the 16th over.The previous lowest total was Khulna’s 67 all out in the 2013 edition. Ravi Bopara’s three wickets apart, Afridi bowled the most economical four-over spell in the BPL, giving away just five runs to take two wickets while Shahid and Rubel also finished with two wickets each.Dilshan Munaweera ramped a catch to third-man in the first over before Junaid Siddique and Nurul Hasan took control of the shortest chase quickly. Junaid was unbeaten on 34 off 37 balls with six fours while Hasan was 23 not out. The speed at which they knocked off the target would have pleased the Sylhet’s fans.