Tag Futebol

The BCB could hold back Mustafizur Rahman from playing in the forthcoming PSL. While the board has mentioned Mustafizur’s workload as the major worry, ESPNcricinfo has learned there is also concern within the Bangladesh team management of overexposing the left-arm pace bowler too soon.Mustafizur was picked up by the Lahore Qalandars franchise for $50,000 for Pakistan’s domestic T20 tournament to be held in the UAE from February 4. It is understood that there have been discussions within the BCB over compensating Mustafizur if he misses the tournament, thought it is not yet confirmed whether he will be stopped from playing in it.The BCB’s chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said the board would take the advice of their doctors before taking a decision on Mustafizur, considering Bangladesh’s busy schedule, which includes the Asia Cup T20 in Dhaka from February 24 and the World T20 in India from March 9. Before the PSL, Bangladesh are also scheduled to play four T20s against Zimbabwe from January 15 to 22.”Basically we will take the observation of our physician before giving him the NOC,” Chowdhury told the Dhaka-based . “He [Mustafizur] is a young prospect, so we don’t want to take any risk with him. We must consider his age and see whether he can take the load as there are other T20 assignments coming up after the PSL.”There is also talk that playing in the PSL would mean Pakistan’s players gaining a familiarity with Mustafizur’s bowling and his variations, which have been a significant factor in his early success, before they meet Bangladesh in the Asia Cup and potentially in the World T20.Mustafizur, who in 2015 became the first Bangladesh cricketer to feature in the ICC’s ODI team of the year, is among four Bangladesh players picked in the PSL’s draft, alongside Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim.

Kapil Dev has reacted to his sacking as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) by criticising the BCCI’s refusal to talk to him.”They [BCCI] did not bother to talk to me before announcing this. I think they felt it was below their dignity to talk to me. They have been doing this for the last 70 years and I’m afraid they will continue like this,” Kapil told Aaj Tak, a Hindi news channel. He was removed from the NCA post for his involvement with the Indian Cricket League.”But I’m not shattered or surprised. It’s not as if lightning has struck me,” he said. “This was surely not a bolt from the blue, for such a possibility was doing the rounds for quite sometime.””It feels bad that though I wanted to teach them [his former wards at the NCA] a few things, I can’t do that any more. They have to learn things themselves. I did not get the opportunity to help them learn.”The BCCI sacked Kapil – who is chairman of the ICL’s executive board – a day after the league announced a host of new recruits, including 44 domestic cricketers and a few international cricketers such as Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq and Lance Klusener, who will take part in a Twenty20 competition.The domestic cricketers who have signed up for the ICL have been barred from playing in tournaments affiliated to the BCCI and they will not be able to derive any benefits from the board.

Wasim Raja, the former Pakistan batsman who went on to become an ICC match referee, has died while playing for Surrey Over 50s at Marlow in Buckinghamshire. He was 54.”Wasim had a big heart attack on the field,” a Surrey spokesman told Cricinfo. “He felt dizzy, and mentioned this to the slips, saying that he felt he had to go off. He was carried off but then collapsed on the boundary.”Wasim, the brother of Rameez Raja, was a bearded left-hand middle-order batsman, whereas Rameez was a clean-shaven right-hand opener. Wasim could bowl, too; brisk, flat top-spinners rather than legbreaks, pioneering the style followed by Anil Kumble and Shahid Afridi. Wasim also had one outstanding series when he proved himself the most effective of some very fine Pakistan batsmen in the West Indies in 1976-77.He might have made a good Pakistan captain in a rather old-fashioned amateur swashbuckling fashion, but coming from the country’s elite, studying in Durham and marrying an Englishwoman, he tended to be above the political battle. This, however, stood him in good stead in later life, when he was appointed as one of the ICC’s elite panel of match referees.”It is a very sad and heart-breaking news. As a teenager, I used to go and watch all the games in which Wasim Raja used to play,” former captain Wasim Akram said. “He was a crowd favorite not only because of his hard-hitting abilities but because he was a charismatic character. He was an idol of most of the youngsters in the 70s and 80s.””We grew together and played our cricket not only as team-mates but also as opponents,” said Javed Miandad. “He was not only a true sportsman but a thorough gentleman. We have been involved in some of the best matches. It is sad to lose a great cricketer, a good sportsman and a true ambassador of the country.”Wasim played 57 Tests between 1973 and 1985, scoring 2821 runs at 36.16 with four hundreds, the best of which was 125. He also took 51 wickets at 35.80 with a best of 4 for 50. Both his career-best performances came against India at Jalandhar in 1983-84. He also played 54 ODIs. He was subsequently a match referee in 15 Tests, the last of which was in 2003-04.

Troy Cooley, who played at the same club and in state sides with Ricky Ponting, is a crucial figure behind the men currently troubling Australia. As England’s bowling coach, Cooley, a former Tasmania fast bowler who played 25 Sheffield Shield games, has worked heavily with Harmison, Flintoff and Jones, the trio which has taken 41 wickets in three Tests.Cooley, 39, has devised the plans to help Simon Jones exploit reverse-swing and get Andrew Flintoff to charge around the wicket to Gilchrist, Katich, Hayden and Langer. The movement both ways in the air also surprised Michael Clarke, who offered no shot to Jones in the second innings at Old Trafford and was bowled for 39.”People think [reverse-swing] is a complicated thing but, in fact, it’s pretty simple,” Cooley told the . “Simon has a very fast arm action. Glenn McGrath still gets it, but it becomes a more dangerous weapon with the quicks. Simon also has a good wrist to get the seam in the right position.”David Boon, who coached Cooley when he was at Tasmania, said he had “enormous talent” as a bowler, but his playing career was cut short by back injuries and glandular fever. Cooley moved into coaching and worked with Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh, who took him to England when he set up the ECB Academy.”We’re seeing the fruits of his labour with the English bowling at the moment,” Boon told The Australian. “The only thing I mentioned to him when I saw him in England was that I didn’t think red, white and blue suited him. We had a laugh about his attire in English gear. He’s enjoying the role he’s playing there and he’s obviously contributing to English cricket.”Cooley had no problem signalling his allegiance to the blue cap instead of the baggy green. “I’ll be supporting my team 100%,” he said in the . “I’m a part of the England set-up now.”

Sourav Ganguly has named Yuvraj Singh as Virender Sehwag’s opening partner for India’s next Test series, against Australia, in October. Yuvraj, 22, will replace Aakash Chopra, who has suffered criticism for his slow scoring, for the four-match home series. “At the present moment Yuvraj is the first choice, considering the number of games he has won for us,” said Ganguly.Yuvraj, who built a reputation as a hard-hitting batsman in one-day matches, has played just four Tests in the middle order, but Ganguly is confident he has the ability to succeed in his new role. “Virender Sehwag also never used to open before, but has done amazingly well,” he said. “Yuvraj has got the ability to open the innings, and a player of his stature should not be kept out of the team.” In the first Test against Pakistan in March, Sehwag became the first Indian batsman to score a triple-century in Test cricket, smashing 309.Ganguly also said he was looking forward to the return of Harbhajan Singh, who has not played since December last year, when he suffered a finger injury in the opening Test against Australia. “I am looking forward to Harbhajan’s return as he is a match-winning bowler,” he said. “I want him to be fit before the Australians arrive here.”Ganguly added that he was confident his team would put in a good performance against Australia and South Africa, who play a two-match series after Australia’s visit. “We have been playing well as a team for the past couple of years. The boys are playing their best cricket. I hope we continue that,” he said. “I do not see any reason why we cannot win.”

Carl Hooper, the former West Indian captain, is expected to sign forLancashire next week, as a replacement for the injured Harbhajan Singh.Hooper, 36, had been expected to play against the Australians in the currentTest series in the Caribbean, but he retired abruptly after being replacedas captain by Brian Lara. It was not the first time Hooper had left theinternational stage – he emigrated to Australia in 1999, only to return ascaptain in 2001.Jimmy Adams, the man whom Hooper replaced as captain, defended his decisionto play county cricket ahead of Tests. “Test cricket is highest level of the game,” said Adams, “and if for whatever reason you don’t feel up to it, then leave it alone.” Adams also speculated that the way the captaincy issue had beenhandled was a significant factor in the decision.In all, Hooper played 102 matches for West Indies in a 15-year career,scoring 5762 runs at 36.46, with 13 centuries and 27 fifties. He also took114 wickets with his offbreaks, which are sure to come in handy on thespin-friendly Old Trafford wickets.

ECB Premier Division 1 – (50 overs)Andover 125 (1pt) (M Miller 55, Dibden 5-15, Goldstraw 3-27)
BAT Sports 129-1 (22pts) (Kenway 48, Carson 43, Shirazi 33)
BAT Sports won by 9 wicketsBashley (Rydal) 189 (20pts) (A Sexton 57, Boston 3-26)
Calmore Sports 176 (8pts) (Middleton 3-21)
Bashley (Rydal) won by 13 runsBournemouth 241-7 (22pts) (Webley 86, Swarbrick 47, Cassell 37, Jenkins 3-52)
Burridge 73 (3pts) (Dixon 34, K Wilson 4-25, Kidner 3-13)
Bournemouth won by 168 runsHungerford 165 (5pts) (Rider 70, Berry 5-28, Wheatley 3-34)
Liphook & Ripsley 167-6 (21pts) (Wright 30)
Liphook & Ripsley won by 4 wicketsSouth Wilts 177 (5pts) (Rowe 61, Wade 37, Gillies 3-32)
Havant 178-4 (22pts) (Perry 67, Gover 40, Gillies 35, Rowe 3-32)
Havant won by 6 wicketsPremier Division 2 – (50 overs)Hambledon 213-7 (8pts) (Hobson 55, Magrath 50)
Trojans 214-8 (20pts) (Subnaik 63, Williams 44, Turner 3-34)
Trojans won by 2 wicketsLymington 237 (21pts) (Craft 92, Treagus 35, Ellis 3-44, Frith 3-52)
Sparsholt 195-9 (8pts) (Foyle 39, Gunyon 30, Allen 3-31, Clemow 3-45)
Lymington won by 42 runsPortsmouth 346-6 (22pts) (Cook 163, Prittipaul 109, Curtis 5-64)
Old Basing 99 (2pts) (Dew 6-27, Maru 3-29)
Portsmouth won by 247 runsOld Tauntonians & Romsey 126 (4pts) (I Tulk 41, Baglow 4-20)
Cove 127-7 (19pts) (Short 50)
Cove won by 3 wicketsUnited Services 172 (5pts) (Ainsley 42, Hounsome 40, St Green 4-36)
Easton & Martyr Worthy 173-6 (21pts) (A Birch 57, Sh Green 53)
Easton & Martyr Worthy won by 4 wicketsPremier Division 3 – (50 overs)Alton 160 (3pts) (Ballinger 45, Cambray 4-32)
Hursley Park 161-2 (22pts) (Edwards 46, Halder 44, Miller 32)
Hursley Park won by 8 wicketsBashley (Rydal) II 111 (1pts) (C Yates snr 3-14, C Yates jnr 3-23)
Rowledge 113-3 (20pts) (C Yates jnr 52)
Rowledge won by 7 wicketsFlamingo 189-7 (7pts) (Fengian 64, Brittan 57, Taylor 3-34)
New Milton 190-9 (18pts) (R Beck 58, Bott 53, Fenigan 3-11, McMurray 3-79)
New Milton won by 1 wicketHavant II 214 (6pts) (Harland-Jones 47, Saunders 44, Openshaw 42)
Portsmouth II 215-4 (22pts) (J Moon 114, Sewell 64)
Portsmouth won by 6 wicketsHook & Newnham Basics 266-7 (20pts) (Kaminski 92, Hall 39, Buckingham 35)
Leckford 253 (8pts) (Richmond 93, Kay 44, Rivers 3-52, Poulter 3-57)
Hook & Newnham Basics won by 13 runsLymington II 145 (2pts) (Tapper 48, Jackson 31, Charman 3-17, Adams 3-31, Perry-Lewis 3-32)
St Cross Symondians 149-2 (22pts) (Adams 43, Barrett 42)
St Cross Symondians won by 8 wicketsPaultons 163 (2pts) (James 35, S Marks 3-42)
Winchester KS 169-1 (22pts) (Mullally 67, P Marks 58, Naik 30)
Winchester KS won by 9 wicketsPurbrook 284-7 (22pts) (Hellyer 73, Repsold 58, McKintosh 58, Lowe 3-71)
United Services II 112 (3pts) (Stanley 5-27)
Purbrook won by 172 runsWaterlooville 233-8 (9pts) (Baumann 71)
Gosport Borough 235-8 (21pts) (Adams 102, Edwards 30)
Gosport Borough won by 2 wickets

Worcestershire 210 and 59 for 3 trail Sussex 510 for 5 dec (Wright 226*, Brown 103, Nash 90) by 241 runs
ScorecardLuke Wright passed 1000 Championship runs and recorded a double-hundred for the first time in his career•Getty Images

It was hard to see much hope for Worcestershire as they hauled themselves off the field after conceding 510 for 5. Sussex, their supposed companions in distress, will have high expectations of forcing an innings victory on the final day and, with Hampshire also winning at Chester-le-Street, Worcestershire are braced for the likelihood that they will enter the weekend as Division One’s bottom club.They have already lost three second-innings wickets, two them from the spinners as they were forced to bowl in indifferent light. They began this round with a points tally of 118 – the information number – and if they are foolhardy enough to ring it, they will probably receive directions to Division Two.Their undoing came against Luke Wright, who formulated a career-best 226 not out, the first double-century of his career, and shared in a fourth-wicket stand with Ben Brown of 282 in 64 overs – the fourth highest for that wicket in Sussex’s history. As with all Wright’s best innings, it was full of stocky aggression, a reminder of why England valued him so highly and gave him 101 caps in the two limited-overs formats.He finds himself the leading run-scorer in Division One, no longer able to be viewed as solely a white-ball specialist. “To be fair to Jonny Bairstow, he’s only had a couple of innings,” he laughed. “It will mean more if we stay up. This year I’ve been able to prepare, practice and play. It is my benefit year and I was determined not to let it affect my form.” The lack of bowling also takes the strain out of his knees.As for Brown, he has four Championship hundreds this summer and the best compliment that can be paid to him is that the retirement of Matt Prior because of a wrecked Achilles, so removing any possibility of him playing out his career in county cricket, has hardly been noticed. He struck 103, falling when he hooked Morris to deep square. They put on 335 together last season against Durham. “We complement each other,” Wright said. “I stay a bit more leg side and that can help us.”By the end of their suffering, Worcestershire’s pace trio looked spent. When Sussex called off the punishment, only three Division One pace bowlers – Steve Magoffin, Chris Rushworth and James Harris – had sent down more overs than Joe Leach (third in the PCA’s Most Valuable Player table for the Championship), Charlie Morris and Jack Shantry.With Saeed Ajmal’s magic no longer in evidence, they have shouldered the burden manfully, but the competitiveness seems to be draining from them and, although they will have the West Indies quick Shannon Gabriel in support for the last two games, they are more in need of help from Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Ajmal is departing early to celebrate Hajj, a long-standing arrangement that will not weaken Worcestershire on September surfaces.There are two Luke Wrights as far as entertainment in England goes. Luke Wright, the cricketer, has not as far as can be ascertained ever been confused with Luke Wright the performance poet. He has never been described as a decadent booze hound or as flouncing around looking fabulous and he has never played the Edinburgh Fringe. He is one of cricket’s solid citizens: even tempered, dependable, good to watch.But Luke Wright, the poet, did once write a poem called Mondeo Man, essentially about the ambitions of someone born in suburbia, and there was a time when his namesake was England’s Mondeo Man: solid, unspectacular, expected only to achieve so much. It is good to see him blossoming as he enters his 30s, not just a travelling T20 specialist, but a Sussex one-day batsman and a dangerous Championship batsman who has passed 1000 runs in a season, comfortably, for the first time.Wright had 98 overnight and spent 25 balls over his century. Immediately, he stepped up the tempo. There were lusty blows towards all Worcester’s oft-described landmarks: Ajmal lofted straight for six towards the old scorebox, a slog-swept six off Ajmal sailing towards the cathedral, tawny brown against a grey skyline, and another six, this time against the jauntily geometrical puzzle of Shantry, peppering the stand in front of the Ladies Pavilion. Luke Wright the poet once complained in a poem about Nigel Farage about England’s “cod lament for tea and scones” so on this occasion we had better not reference the cakes.There were no sixes towards the Premier Inn, as far as can be recalled, although that is unlikely to gain a mention unless brutish architecture comes into vogue.The only Sussex batsman to find life taxing was their stand-in captain, Chris Nash, who had retired hurt with mild concussion the previous day when he was struck by a bouncer from Morris and, soon after returning to the crease upon Brown’s dismissal, he was rapped on the hand by the same bowler. At least he made 90 for his troubles.Wright was dropped three times by a Worcestershire side that spurned half a dozen in all, the first of them, on 118, an edge to third slip which came just after Leach had taken the second new ball. Leach was deputising as captain for Daryl Mitchell, who was absent until early afternoon to see his wife give birth to a daughter, Ava. When Mitchell returned, somewhat disorientated, and missed the simplest of chances at extra cover off Shantry, it was lugubriously observed that he was the second Mitchell to drop one that day – the sort of mordant observation that might find its way into one of Luke Wright’s more risqué stanzas. The performance poet, not the cricketer.

The jury in the Chris Cairns perjury trial has retired to consider its verdict and will reconvene at Southwark Crown Court on Friday to continue its deliberations.The presiding Judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, concluded his two-and-a-half days of summing-up at 1.02pm this afternoon, at which point he advised the jury that they should feel under no time pressure to return a verdict in a case that is already into its eighth week.Cairns denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, relating to his successful libel action against Lalit Modi, the founder of the IPL, at the High Court in 2012. His co-defendant and former legal advisor, Andrew Fitch-Holland, denies one count of perverting the course of justice, after allegedly attempting to secure a false witness statement from Lou Vincent to support Cairns’ case against Modi.If the jury finds Cairns guilty of perjury, in relation to his statement at the High Court that he had “never” cheated at cricket and would not contemplate doing so, then they can move onto the charge of perverting the course of justice, in which Fitch-Holland is considered the primary perpetrator. If Fitch-Holland is found not guilty, then Cairns must also be acquitted of that charge. If he is found guilty, the jury can then consider whether Cairns had conspired with Fitch-Holland in a “joint enterprise” to obtain the statement.In his final day of summing-up, Mr Justice Sweeney took the jury through the evidence provided by Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain who, along with Vincent and Vincent’s ex-wife, Eleanor Riley, is considered one of the three key witnesses to the perjury charge. The judge reminded the jury that at least two of those testimonies must be considered true for the charge to be upheld.Revisiting McCullum’s evidence, Mr Justice Sweeney reminded the jury that McCullum had claimed to have been approached three times by Cairns to match-fix, firstly on the eve of the inaugural Indian Premier League in Kolkata in April 2008, then by phone a few days later, and finally in person in Worcester on June 11, during New Zealand’s Test tour of England.The details of these approaches, which Cairns denies, only came to light after an ICC anti-corruption briefing in Bangladesh in February 2011, on the eve of the World Cup. McCullum, who had previously confided in two team-mates, Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills, was encouraged to come clean and did so in the course of three interviews with the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) briefings between 2011 and 2014.John Rhodes, the ACSU officer who conducted the interviews, said in his evidence that McCullum had come across as a “very nervous young man” who was “struggling in relation to his relationship to Chris Cairns”.”The inference was clear”, Rhodes had added, that McCullum had been approached to underperform, but it was not his role, as the interviewer, to put words in McCullum’s mouth. However, the ICC did not go on to investigate Cairns in the wake of McCullum’s statement, even though, in the words of Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the ACSU chairman, it was added to a file on Cairns which contained other information that went “beyond rumour”.In each of his three interviews with Rhodes, the transcripts of which were available to the jury in a Q&A format, McCullum added extra details, including the name of Ricky Ponting, who had been present in the hotel bar in Kolkata when Cairns had phoned to make his first approach, and who also gave evidence earlier in the trial.Mr Justice Sweeney told the jury that “it is a matter for you” whether McCullum had deliberately altered his account to serve his own interests, as the defence have suggested, or whether the extra details were innocently provided on account of more careful questioning in each of the three interviews.

Muttiah Muralitharan, who became only the second bowler in Test history to take 700 wickets, said that his main focus was not on breaking Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne’s world record but for Sri Lanka to win the two-Test series in Australia later this year.Sri Lanka’s next Test assignment is against Australia in November and Murali who took 12 wickets in the third and final Test against Bangladesh at Kandy on Saturday said: “It’s a big achievement taking 700 wickets. I knew anyway that I would get the 700 wickets. I want to go to Australia and try and win the series because we have never won one there. Also I have not taken five wickets in an innings in Australia. They are the No. 1 team in the world but we can also be better than them if we play to our strengths.”Muralitharan finished the three-Test series against Bangladesh with a haul of 26 wickets bringing him nine wickets closer to breaking Warne’s world record of 708. “I think I can achieve a little bit more than the world record. I hope to play until the next World Cup in 2011 and the challenge is before I retire I am thinking of taking 1000 Test wickets,” said the 35-year-old spinner.He described today’s victory by an innings and 193 runs as more special than taking 700 wickets. “If you are winning a match in less than 2 ½ days [taking into account disruption by rain] it is special. The way we batted and the way we bowled in the first innings was amazing. We played good cricket and didn’t allow Bangladesh to raise their heads. We wanted to knock them off every time we bowled and batted. That’s what we have done.”Sri Lanka captain Jayawardene praised his team’s all-round performance. “When you perform to that level it is always tough for a team like Bangladesh to keep up. Credit should go to the whole team, the way we played, the way we executed our game plan was brilliant. We should not take anything away from them. I am surprised the way we finished the series especially today after two days of rain. Mainly the way we bowled in the first innings and scored 470 run in a day put pressure on Bangladesh,” Jayawardene said.Bangladesh coach Shaun Williams said that Sri Lanka had basically given them lesson on how to go about playing good Test cricket. “They allowed us nothing and that’s what you expect from a top quality team. We don’t have enough to challenge top-shelf Test teams. It was very difficult to get many positives out of this sort of result. We were inconsistent in our batting although there were some individual performances. There were good signs here and there. But there were only little things we can take back. We got a lot to learn from Sri Lanka cricket, the way they’ve gone about building a side,” said Williams.”Sri Lanka’s got some superstars like Murali, Mahela and Sanga. The way they have built their A team and youth programme there’s a lot to be learnt from that. It hasn’t happened overnight. If Bangladesh cricket can learn from that then in time we can go forward,” he added.Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful said his side would put up a better performance in the one-day series starting next week. “Playing Test cricket was very tough in Sri Lanka. We know Test cricket is very difficult because Sri Lanka is a very good side especially at home. I am very confident we will put up a better performance in the one-day series,” he said.