Worcestershire are still hopeful of securing the signing of Simon Jones although he hasn’t yet made a decision on where his future lies.Jones was due to meet with Matthew Maynard, Glamorgan’s cricket manager, on Monday but a bout of food poisoning put that back a day. He is out of contract and is considering offers from big-spending Hampshire as well as Worcestershire and his current county.However, Glamorgan’s lowly results over the last few seasons are likely to tempt Jones into making a move away from Wales as he tries to get his career back on track following a series of serious knee injuries since the 2005 Ashes series. He hasn’t played for England since the Trent Bridge Test in August 2005 and managed just four Championship matches this season.Jones lost his ECB central contract when the latest batch were announced last month but, although it means he will come with a hefty price tag, that hasn’t quelled interest in trying to sign him.”I haven’t heard anything yet,” Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, told the . “I’m remaining optimistic that he will still come here. I’m hoping that I will hear something this week.”I have spoken to Simon on the phone since our meeting and I have texted him as well He hasn’t committed himself but I am optimistic.”Worcestershire are currently trying to strengthen their seam attack after Championship relegation and are also showing interest in Middlesex seamer Chris Whelan. He is out of contract at Lord’s and has played only three Championship and five one-day games since making his debut in 2005
On Tuesday, England’s most valuable bowler underwent an emergency tutorial behind closed doors at the Adelaide Oval, in a desperate bid to rectify his wonky action. Two days later, Australia’s main man did exactly the same, with one subtle difference. Far from shielding his flaws from public consumption, Shane Warne’s back-to-basics bowling stint took place in the full gaze of several TV crews, eavesdropping reporters and gobsmacked fans.It was typical Warne. No sooner had Duncan Fletcher gone on record to congratulate his batsmen for the positive manner in which they played him at Brisbane, he was back in the nets, working with his personal spin doctor, Terry Jenner, to add some extra bite to his bowling. As a rule, Warne has little time for coaches. He has been famously scathing of Australia’s out-of-the-box thinker, John Buchanan, almost from the moment he took office in 1999. But as with all rules there are exceptions and in Jenner, Warne has a guru he trusts with his livelihood.Warne describes his regular sessions with Jenner as a “grease and an oil change”, but his contemplative demeanour as he listened to the advice and acted accordingly, was proof that, even at the age of 37 and with 689 Test wickets under his belt, he’s never too old to learn new tricks.Today’s lesson was designed to impart an extra rip on the ball, something that – with the exception of one big-turning delivery to Alastair Cook in the second innings – was noticeably lacking in Warne’s Brisbane performance. Jenner had him following through between two white bowling markers, an exercise designed to twist his body into such a position that his arm couldn’t help but impart that extra side spin. To judge by the number of times the off stump was pegged back in the brief session, something was going right.Warne and Jenner’s partnership dates back to 1990, when Shane was a tubby but talented surf-bum and Terry was rebuilding his life after a two-year jail term for embezzlement. He was invited to assess the intake at the newly established Australian Cricket Academy, having been described by Ian Chappell as the best thinking legspinner in the country, and immediately found himself bewitched by the talent he saw before him. “I know his action better than he does,” Jenner told The Daily Telegraph, “and sometimes having watched him on telly I’ll just ring and leave a message like ‘TJ here. Front leg. Bye.'”The fine-tuning has come at an opportune moment for Australia, especially given the doubts surrounding Glenn McGrath’s fitness, but Ricky Ponting scoffed at Fletcher’s claims that England had got the better of Warne in the first Test. “A couple of their guys played Shane okay, but I’m not sure they played him well,” he said, recalling in particular the over-spinning tempter that had Paul Collingwood stumped for 96. “That’s how Warney reads batsmen. That wasn’t an accident, that was classy bowling.”
The Sri Lankan bowlers struggled in a tour game at Bangalore on Sunday ahead of the three-Test series against India set to begin on December 2 at Chennai. The visiting side’s decision to field on the second day, after the opening day was washed out, did not get them any gains as the Indian Board President’s XI reached 217-2 after a delayed start curtailed play to just 49 overs.Openers Robin Uthappa (76) and Shikhar Dhawan (65) figured in a 133-run stand to frustrate the Sri Lankans, who were recently drubbed 6-1 by India in a seven-match one-day series. Uthappa, who plays for the southern state of Karnataka in India’s domestic league, slammed a robust 96-ball knock with nine fours and two sixes while Delhi left-hander Dhawan slammed eight boundaries in his half-century.New-ball bowlers Lasith Malinga and Chaminda Vaas, who led the side in the absence of Marvan Atapattu, were easily foiled. The spin attack also lacked venom in the absence of ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who too sat out the three-day match.
The International Cricket Council may have asked Muttiah Muralitharan to keep the doosra wrapped up in cotton wool, but he insisted that there was still enough in his armoury to pose severe questions of the formidable Indian batting line-up when the two teams meet in the Asia Cup in a few days’ time.Muralitharan had a quiet chat with the media at the Nondescripts Club in Colombo’s Maitland’s Place, as India played their warm-up match a few yards away. “If you don’t allow a bowler to use his weapon, it is like asking someone to run on just one leg,” he said. “That has been my main weapon and that is being denied to me. It surely is going to affect me.”And while he acknowledged the Indians’ batting prowess, there was no diffidence about facing up to them. “They are all good batsmen, but it is a matter of how well they are batting on a day and how well I am bowling on that day,” he said, before adding that the battle would be won in the mind. “It is a mental game and I am very focused on myself. I practise very, very hard. Extra spin still remains my most potent weapon in this battle.”The spin doctors have conveniently labelled the India-Sri Lanka match as a confrontation between him and Sachin Tendulkar, but Murali refused to be drawn on the age-old debate about the identity of the world’s best batsman. “It is hard to compare Brian Lara to Tendulkar,” he said. “Both are great, only I have bowled more to Lara in Tests than to Tendulkar. I haven’t bowled to Tendulkar in a Test for six years, and that is half of my Test career. It’s hard to say who the better of the two is. Anyway, Indian batsmen are all good players of spin and good judges of the ball.”He said that he could relate to the pressure that has become a daily part of Tendulkar’s life. “The pressure he gets from outside is tremendous. I also get the same kind of pressure, and I know how tough it is to live with it,” he said. “It is tough because you have to perform every day. To control that pressure and still remain No. 1 is difficult.”He wasn’t unduly fazed by the fact that Shane Warne had drawn level with him on 527 Test wickets. Warne himself has suggested that his younger rival might finish up with 1000 Test victims, and Muralitharan wasn’t about to rule out the possibility. “I think I can play for six more years,” he said. “I can still bowl a straighter one and can still impart great spin to my deliveries.”There was also the hope that the powers-that-be would lift the ban on his lethal weapon. “Hopefully, I can also use my doosra in the near future,” he said. “It took me four or five years to develop this art.”
Everyone acknowledges that Kenya need to build their domestic cricket base before they advance into the Test-playing arena, but who should be in charge of the operation appears to be holding back the game’s development.A surprise semi-finalist at the recent World Cup, Kenya are looking to introduce domestic leagues but a dispute between the game’s ruling body in the country, the Kenyan Cricket Association, and the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association has broken out.The International Cricket Council has committed to helping the setting up of domestic cricket to the tune of US$1 million over the next two years.The Government has come down on the side of the Nairobi Association, but the game’s ruling body wants to disaffiliate the Nairobi body and launch its own league in the nation’s capital. The Nairobi Association wants to run a 20-team league and it had hoped to start on Sunday. However, the wrangle is likely to result in a month’s delay.Even as the two sides squabble, they acknowledge that the dispute is costing them time in the development of Kenya’s cricket – and might even be delaying their elevation to Test status.
Himachal Pradesh negated in part the advantage that Services gained byvirtue of their sizeable first-innings total in their Ranji Trophyleague match at Una.Services, winning the toss, made 329 in their first innings, withJasvir Singh top-scoring with 81 off 238 balls. He received goodsupport from Sanjay Verma (73), and their partnership formed the spineof the total. For Himachal Pradesh, Shakti Singh picked four for 67.Himachal Pradesh, responding to Services’ total, lost an opener early.Sandeep Sharma and Rajiv Nayyar put on 101 runs for the second wicketbefore the former fell with the score on 119, having made 80.At the close of play, Himachal Pradesh were 142/2, with Nayyar (50*)and Sangram Singh (3*) at the crease.
West Ham United have been dealt a huge blow ahead of their upcoming Europa League round of 16 clash.
What’s the latest?
That’s according to a report by Spanish media outlet Diario de Sevilla, who claim that, after missing Sevilla’s last two fixtures due to a muscle injury, Anthony Martial could now be in line for a return to action against David Moyes’ side on Thursday.
Speaking about the current state of the Sevilla squad, the club’s director of football, Monchi, said: “I am optimistic that between now and Thursday some of them can recover. And before the break, almost all of them.”
Moyes will be fuming
While Martial has endured something of a turbulent start to life in Spain following his loan move from Manchester United in the January transfer window – scoring one goal and registering one assist over his four appearances for Los Nervionenses before picking up an injury – should the 26-year-old indeed make it back in time for Thursday, it will undoubtedly be an outcome that will leave David Moyes fuming.
Indeed, the France international has proven to be something of a rather large thorn in West Ham’s side since his move to the Premier League back in 2015, scoring six goals – the second-most he has managed against any side – and registering five assists – the most he has provided against any team – over his 13 appearances against the East Londoners.
As such, while the current Hammers side are certainly a much better outfit than the ones Martial will have faced throughout the vast majority of his six and a half year spell at Old Trafford, the return of the £28.8m-rated forward will nevertheless come as a huge blow to West Ham’s chances of leaving the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium will a positive result on Thursday – something that is sure to have Moyes concerned in his pre-match planning.
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In other news: West Ham dealt yet another huge injury blow ahead of Sevilla, Moyes will be devastated
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKane Williamson rose to the challenge of the short ball, when the rest simply crumbled•Getty Images
The sun was out, the sky was blue and the Sunday crowd added to a picture postcard day in Hamilton. Sri Lanka took a trip to Seddon Park to while the time away with a bit of cricket and were ambushed by New Zealand’s bouncers.Sri Lanka began the day needing one wicket to end New Zealand’s first innings; they got it in six balls. Then came their best opening stand in 2015 – 71 runs – and then they lost 10 wickets for 62 runs in 13.5 overs to hasten the Test to its climax. The hosts need 47 more for victory, and they have Kane Williamson at the crease, looking at a century and the record for most Test runs by a New Zealander in a calendar year. He is 22 runs away from both landmarks.Sri Lanka kept the contest alive with a few late strikes, and need five more to level the series. But they would rue the batting collapse earlier in the day – a wicket every six runs. You would think Tim Southee and company pulled elephants out of their hats to make that happen. Nope, all they did was decide they’d bowl short. Dimuth Karunaratne and Udara Jayasundera fell fending. Dinesh Chandimal picked out leg gully. Kusal Mendis, the top-scorer with 46, and Angelo Mathews, the captain, fell hooking and to cap it all off, there was a comical run out involving the tailenders. Nuwan Pradeep and Dushmantha Chameera were clumped at the keeper’s end, giving a gleeful Neil Wagner the time to collect the throw from third man, run to the other end and knock the stumps over.The bounce on this Hamilton pitch has been ample and true. Batsmen were given the luxury to leave balls even on middle stump if the length was short. They wouldn’t be bowled, but no one from either side has caught onto that fact. As a result 31 of the 35 wickets in this Test have been out caught.The other trait of this surface – its sharpish pace – may have worked against the batsmen though. So too the number of catching fielders for the defensive shot. Leg slip and short leg were permanent fixtures and as the day wore on, New Zealand dabbled with silly point, short midwicket and a fly slip as well. The ball was coming onto the bat, so aggressive strokes seemed a pertinent option to evade them. Except Sri Lanka couldn’t.Tom Latham and Martin Guptill fared no better in the second innings against Chameera. Williamson, even with a bum right knee, kept Sri Lanka at bay by putting on 67 runs with Ross Taylor and 52 more with Brendon McCullum. It took Chameera to break both stands and that was Sri Lanka’s problem; none of the others made New Zealand nervous, until three minutes to the stumps when a lovely Suranga Lakmal outswinger got rid of Mitchell Santner.There has been clear cut phases of play whenever this match has turned – Chandimal’s ferocity on the first day, Chameera’s burst on the second and on the third, it was Doug Bracewell’s two wickets in three balls.Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis had controlled the innings capably until then. They had walked out with a 55-run first-innings advantage on the back of their mind and the responsibility of turning that into a match-winning one on their shoulders. They were together for 22.4 overs; an age of prosperity in the context of the chaos that followed.It took an excellent delivery to break through their resolve, and it took a lot out of the bowler Bracewell as well. He had just changed ends, and changed tactics as well. Every ball of the 23rd over was short and the fourth one came right at Karunaratne’s nose. He was stuck in the crease and could only fend it into the slips. Two balls later, Jayasundera was walking back. He had barely marked his guard when a ripper of a short ball came his way. The attempt to sway away seemed to have worked – New Zealand’s appeal was denied by on-field umpire Paul Reiffel – but DRS came into the picture to change all that.It had seemed a straightforward call for TV umpire Richard Kettleborough when a flash appeared on Jayasundera’s glove as the ball went past. The problem though was it vanished in the next frame. There was no spike on real time snicko either. But a zoomed-in camera angle from behind the batsman broke the deadlock. There seemed to be definite deflection, Kettleborough said he saw the glove move as well and gave it out.Reiffel looked rather disgruntled as his call was overruled and Jayasundera was even more so as he made a slow trudge back. Later, a split-screen replay indicated the change in direction happened before the ball was anywhere near the glove. Kettleborough did not get to see this though at the time of his adjudication.Sri Lanka’s rage against the (DRS) machine would grow later in the day when Taylor survived a close lbw shout. Rangana Herath, who had induced the mistake by getting the ball to straighten, walked off in a stormy mood as replays showed the impact was marginally outside off. Had umpire Reiffel given it, DRS would have ended up confirming that and New Zealand could have been 34 for 3.Barring that episode, it was pace that had the greatest impact. Specifically bouncers, which are Wagner’s strength. He nabbed Chandimal, Sri Lanka’s best batsman of the series, at leg gully. Sri Lanka’s best batsman of the morning though was Mendis. He was approaching a maiden Test fifty at lunch, having weathered a blow to his right hand. It didn’t hurt his timing too much, considering the eight fours he had. Going for another one soon after the break to claim the landmark, he picked out square leg and Santner took a stunning catch on the boundary’s edge. Eighty-nine balls of hard work undone by a poor shot. It broke Southee’s duck in the wickets column, he went on to take four of them. Less than as many Sri Lanka batsmen made it to double-figures.
Loots Bosman, the South Africa opening batsman, has been suspended for one domestic match after being found guilty of “unbecoming or detrimental” conduct by Cricket South Africa.Bosman was withdrawn from South Africa’s World Twenty20 squad with a back injury, but he angrily denied he was anything other than fit to play. In the newspaper , he accused Mickey Arthur, the national coach, of lying.The reports said the first specialist Bosman visited had said he should recover in time to play in the tournament. A second opinion recommended that he did not play for six weeks. Arthur found Bosman’s reaction and comments to the whole affair “shocking”, but defended himself and the procedures he followed.”I have the findings of the leading neurosurgeon in the land. How can I argue against that?” he said. “Does Loots not realise that there is a possibility that he could be paralysed?”Bosman is suspended suspended for the Eagles’ match against the Dolphins in Durban from October 11 to 14.
Otago poured on the runs and the misery against a star-studded Canterbury when they declared on 601 on the second day of their State Championship match in Christchurch. Incidentally, it was just one run less than their record score against Canterbury.Greg Todd, in his first match back for Otago after a horrific leg injury he suffered last season, hit a career-best 160. He was well supported by wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins (38) while bowlers Bradley Scott (52*) and Craig Smith (49) put on 75 for the ninth wicket.In reply, Canterbury limped to stumps at 144 for 4. Brendon McCullum, in the unfamiliar role as an opener, blitzed his way to 67 off just 72 deliveries, but found little support. Peter Fulton (17) and Nathan Astle (6) both fell to McCullum’s brother Nathan. Much of Canterbury’s resistance tomorrow will centre on Craig McMillan and Chris Harris, both at the crease.